Native name

("The Senate and People of Rome") – ["Dominion (Literally 'kingdom') of the Romans"]) and Romania. Res publica, as a term denoting the Roman "commonwealth" in general, can refer to both the Republican and the Imperial era, while Imperium Romanum (or, sometimes, Romanorum) is used to refer to the territorial extent of Roman authority. Populus Romanus, "the Roman people", is often used for the Roman state dealing with other nations. The term Romania, initially a colloquial term for the empire's territory as well as the collectivity of its inhabitants, appears in Greek and Latin sources from the fourth century onward and was eventually carried over to the Byzantine Empire. (See Wolff, R.L. "Romania: The Latin Empire of Constantinople". In: Speculum, 23 (1948), pp. 1–34 (pp. 2–3).)|group=nb}}

|conventional_long_name = Roman Empire |conventional_long_name = Roman Empire |common_name = Roman Empire |national_motto = |era = Classical antiquity |status = Empire |continent = Europe, Asia, Africa |region = Mediterranean |government_type = Autocracy |p1 = Roman Republic |flag_p1 = Spqrstone.jpg |s1 = Western Roman Empire |flag_s1 = Labarum.svg |s2 = Byzantine Empire |flag_s2 = Flag_of_PalaeologusEmperor.svg |event_start = Octavian proclaimed Augustus |year_start = 27 BC |event_end = Deposition of western emperor Romulus Augustus/Fall of Constantinople * |year_end = AD 476/1453 |event_pre = Battle of Actium |date_pre = 2 September 31 BC |event1 = Diocletian splits imperial administration between East and West |date_event1 = 285 |event2 = Constantine the Great establishes Constantinople as a new imperial capital |date_event2 = 330 |event3 = Death of Theodosius the Great, followed by permanent division of the Empire into eastern and western halves |date_event3 = 395 |event_post = |date_post = |image_coat = Vexilloid of the Roman Empire.svg |symbol_type = Vexillum with aquila and Roman state acronym |coa_size = 100px |image_map = Severus210AD.png |image_map_caption = The Roman Empire was at its largest territorially during the reign of Septimius Severus in 210 AD.There were several political centres during the Tetrarchy while Rome continued to be the nominal, cultural, and ideological capital.Constantine re-founded and established the city of Constantinople as the new capital of the empire in 330.Mediolanum (Milan) was its western counterpart during the increasingly frequent East/West divisions. The western imperial court was later relocated to Ravenna. |common_languages = Latin, Greek |religion = Polytheism and Roman imperial cult(to 380)Christianity(from 380) |currency = (a) 27 BC – AD 212: 1 gold aureus (1/40 lb. of gold, devalued to 1/50 lb. by 212) = 25 silver denarii = 100 bronze sesterces = 400 copper asses. (b) 294–312: 1 gold aureus solidus (1/60 lb. of gold) = 10 silver argentei = 40 bronze folles = 1,000 debased metal denarii(c) 312 onwards: 1 gold solidus (1/72 lb.) = 24 silver siliquae = 180 bronze folles |leader1 = Augustus |leader2 = Theodosius I |leader3 = Romulus Augustus / Constantine XI |year_leader1 = 27 BC–AD 14 |year_leader2 = 378–395 |year_leader3 = 475–476 / 1449–1453 |title_leader = Emperor |title_representative = Consul |representative1 = |representative2 = |year_representative1 = |year_representative2 = |legislature = Roman Senate ||stat_year1 = 25 BC |stat_pop1 = 56800000 |stat_area2 = 4200000 |stat_year3 = 117 |stat_area3 = 5000000 |stat_pop3 = 88000000 |stat_year4 = 390 |stat_area4 = 4400000 |footnotes = * These events marked the end of the Western Roman Empire (286–476) Several legions, particularly those with doubtful loyalties, were simply disbanded. Other legions were amalgamated, a fact suggested by the title Gemina (Twin).

In AD 9, Germanic tribes wiped out three full legions in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. This disastrous event reduced the number of the legions to 25. The total of the legions would later be increased again and for the next 300 years always be a little above or below 30. Most, but not all, of the Imperial provinces were relatively recent conquests and located at the borders. Thereby the overwhelming majority of legions, which were stationed at the frontiers, were under direct Imperial control. Very important was the Imperial province of Aegyptus (modern Egypt), the major breadbasket of the empire, whose grain supply was vital to feed the masses in Rome. It was considered the personal fiefdom of the emperor, and Senators were forbidden to even visit this province. The governor of Aegyptus and the commanders of any legion stationed there were not from the Senatorial Order, but were chosen by the emperor from among the members of the lower Equestrian Order.

Senatorial provinces

The old traditional policy continued largely unchanged in the Senatorial provinces. Due to their location, away from the borders, and to the fact that they were under longer Roman sovereignty and control, these provinces were largely peaceful and stable. Only a single legion was based in a Senatorial province: Legio III Augusta, stationed in the Senatorial province of Africa (modern northern Algeria).

The status of a province was subject to change; it could change from Senatorial towards Imperial, or vice-versa. This happened several times during Augustus' reign. Another trend was to create new provinces, mostly by dividing older ones, or by expanding the empire.

Religion

, the present structure built during Hadrian's reign, was dedicated to the worship of all Roman deities.]] As the empire expanded, and came to include people from a variety of cultures, the worship of an ever increasing number of deities was tolerated and accepted. The imperial government, and the Romans in general, tended to be very tolerant towards most religions and cults, so long as they did not cause trouble. This could easily be accepted by other faiths as Roman liturgy and ceremonies were frequently tailored to fit local culture and identity.

An individual could attend to both the Roman gods representing his Roman identity and his own personal faith, which was considered part of his personal identity. There were periodic persecutions of various religions at various points in time, most notably that of Christians. As the historian Edward Gibbon noted, however, most of the recorded histories of Christian persecutions come to us through the Christian church, which had an incentive to exaggerate the degree to which the persecutions occurred. The non-Christian contemporary sources only mention the persecutions passingly and without assigning great importance to them.

Imperial cult

In an effort to enhance loyalty, the inhabitants of the empire were called to participate in the Imperial cult to revere (usually deceased) emperors as demigods. Few emperors claimed to be Gods while living, with the few exceptions being emperors who were widely regarded at the time to be insane (such as Caligula). Doing so in the early empire would have risked revealing the shallowness of what the emperor Augustus called the "restored republic" and would have had a decidedly eastern quality to it. It was, for example, his attempt to make himself a god (in the mold of the kings of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, which he had conquered) that helped to turn Alexander the Great's troops against him. Since the tool was mostly one the emperor used to control his subjects, its usefulness was greatest in the chaotic later empire, when the emperors were often Christians and unwilling to participate in the practice.

Usually, an emperor was deified after his death by his successor in an attempt by that successor to enhance his own prestige. This practice can be misunderstood, however, since "deification" was to the ancient world what canonization is to the Christian world. Likewise, the term "god" had a different context in the ancient world. This could be seen during the years of the Roman Republic with religio-political practices such as the disbanding of a senate session if it was believed the gods disapproved of the session or wished a particular vote. Deification was one of the many honors a dead emperor was entitled to, as the Romans (more than modern societies) placed great prestige on honors and national recognitions. , showing Augustus in military outfit holding a consular baton (now broken off)]]

The importance of the Imperial cult slowly grew, reaching its peak during the Crisis of the Third Century. Especially in the eastern half of the empire imperial cults grew very popular. As such it was one of the major agents of romanization. The central elements of the cult complex were next to a temple; a theatre or amphitheatre for gladiator displays and other games and a public bath complex. Sometimes the imperial cult was added to the cults of an existing temple or celebrated in a special hall in the bath complex.

The seriousness of this belief is unclear. Some Romans ridiculed the notion that a Roman emperor was to be considered a living god, or would even make fun of the deification of an emperor after his death. Seneca the Younger parodied the notion of apotheosis in his only known satire The Pumpkinification of Claudius, in which the clumsy and ill-spoken Claudius is not transformed into a god, but into a pumpkin. In fact, bitter sarcasm was already effected at Claudius' funeral in 54. Chrestus has been identified as another form of Christus; the disturbances may have been related to the arrival of the first Christians, and that the Roman authorities, failing to distinguish between the Jews and the early Christians, simply decided to expel them all.

Historians debate whether or not the Roman government distinguished between Christians and Jews prior to Nerva's modification of the Fiscus Judaicus in 96. From then on, practising Jews paid the tax; Christians did not.

Since the Roman annexation of Greece in 146 BC, the Greek language gradually obtained a unique place in the Roman world, owing initially to the large number of Greek slaves in Roman households. In Rome itself Greek became the second language of the educated elite. There were several other activities to keep people engaged like chariot races, musical and theatrical performances,

Clothing, dining, and the arts

Roman clothing fashions changed little from the late Republic to the end of the Western empire 600 years later.

In the later empire after Diocletian's reforms, clothing worn by soldiers and non-military government bureaucrats became highly decorated, with woven or embroidered strips, clavi, and circular roundels, orbiculi, added to tunics and cloaks. These decorative elements usually consisted of geometrical patterns and stylised plant motifs, but could include human or animal figures. from their mothers in the art of spinning, weaving, and sewing.

Education nominally began at the age of six. During the next six to seven years, both boys and girls were taught the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. From the age of twelve, they would be learning Latin, Greek, grammar and literature, followed by training for public speaking. Oratory was an art to be practised and learnt, and good orators commanded respect. To become an effective orator was one of the objectives of education and learning. In some cases, services of gifted slaves were utilized for imparting education.19841995/620062007200820092009(Approx. year) | style="text-align:center;"| 55m(14 AD) | style="text-align:center;"| 60m(14 AD) | style="text-align:center;"| 55m(100 AD) | style="text-align:center;"| 44m(14 AD) | style="text-align:center;"| 60m(150 AD) | style="text-align:center;"| 70m(150 AD) | style="text-align:center;"| –(14 AD) |- | rowspan="3" | Total GDP | Sesterces | style="text-align:center;"| HS 20.9bn | style="text-align:center;"| HS 13.5bn | style="text-align:center;"| HS 9.2bn | style="text-align:center;"| HS 16.7bn | style="text-align:center;"| HS 13.7bn | style="text-align:center;"| ~HS 20bn | style="text-align:center;"| – |- | Wheat equivalent | style="text-align:center;"| 46.4 Mt | style="text-align:center;"| 29.5 Mt | style="text-align:center;"| 33.8 Mt | style="text-align:center;"| 37.1 Mt | style="text-align:center;"| 30 Mt | style="text-align:center;"| 50 Mt | style="text-align:center;"| – |- | 1990 international dollars | style="text-align:center;"| – | style="text-align:center;"| – | style="text-align:center;"| – | style="text-align:center;"| $25.1bn | style="text-align:center;"| – | style="text-align:center;"| $43.4bn | style="text-align:center;"| – |}

¹⁾ Decimal fractions rounded to the nearest tenth. Cursive numbers not directly given by the authors; they are obtained by multiplying the respective value of GDP per capita by estimated population size.

Italia is considered the richest region, due to tax transfers from the provinces and the concentration of elite income in the heartland; its GDP per capita is estimated at having been around 40% to 66% Vespasians' and Vitellius' armies met in the Second Battle of Bedriacum, and Alexander Severus was proclaimed emperor, who at the end of his reign was murdered in turn. His murderers raised in his place Maximinus Thrax. However, just as he had been raised by the army, Maximinus was also brought down by them and was murdered and in 243, Emperor Gordian III's army defeated the Sassanids at the Battle of Resaena. In 260 at the Battle of Edessa the Sassanids defeated the Roman army

There was a lasting peace between Rome and the Sassanid Empire between 297 and 337 following a treaty between Narseh and Emperor Diocletian. However, just before the death of Constantine I in 337, Shapur II broke the peace and began a twenty-six year conflict, attempting with little success to conquer Roman fortresses in the region. Emperor Julian met Shapur in 363 in the Battle of Ctesiphon outside the walls of the Persian capital. The Romans were victorious but were unable to take the city and were forced to retreat. There were several later wars.

Collapse of the Western Empire (395–476)

After the death of Theodosius I in 395, the Visigoths renounced their treaty with the Empire and invaded northern Italy under their new king Alaric, but were repeatedly repulsed by the Western commander-in-chief Stilicho. However, the limes on the Rhine had been depleted of Roman troops, and in early 407 Vandals, Alans, and Suevi invaded Gaul en masse and, meeting little resistance, proceeded to cross the Pyrenees, entering Spain in 409.

Stilicho became a victim of court intrigues in Ravenna (where the imperial court resided since 402) and was executed for high treason in 408. After his death, the government became increasingly ineffective in dealing with the barbarians, and in 410 Rome was sacked by the Visigoths.

Under Alaric's successors, the Goths then settled in Gaul (412–418) as foederati and for a while were successfully employed against the Vandals, Alans, and Suevi in Spain. Meanwhile, in the turmoil of the preceding years, Roman Britain had been abandoned.

After Honorius' death in 423, the Eastern empire installed the weak Valentinian III as Western Emperor in Ravenna. After a violent struggle with several rivals, Aetius rose to the rank of magister militum. Aetius was able to stabilize the empire's military situation somewhat, relying heavily on his Hunnic allies. With their help he defeated the Burgundians, who had occupied part of southern Gaul after 407, and settled them as Roman allies in the Savoy (433). Later that century, as Roman power faded away, the Burgundians extended their rule to the Rhone valley.

Meanwhile, pressure from the Visigoths and a rebellion by the governor of Africa, Bonifacius, had induced the Vandals under their king Gaiseric to cross over from Spain in 429. After capturing Carthage, they established an independent state with a powerful navy (439), which was officially recognised by the Empire in 442. The Vandal fleet from then on formed a constant danger to Roman seafare and the coasts and islands of the Western and Central Mediterranean.

In 444, the Huns, who had been employed as Roman allies by Aetius, were united under their king Attila, who invaded Gaul and was only stopped with great effort by a combined Roman-Germanic force led by Aetius in the Battle of Châlons (451). The next year, Attila invaded Italy and proceeded to march upon Rome, but he halted his campaign and died a year later in 453.

Aetius was murdered by Valentinian in 454, who was then himself murdered by the dead general's supporters a year later. With the end of the Theodosian dynasty, a new period of dynastic struggle ensued. The Vandals took advantage of the unrest, sailed up to Rome, and plundered the city in 455. As the barbarians settled in the former provinces, nominally as allies but de facto operating as independent polities, the territory of the Western Empire was effectively reduced to Italy and parts of Gaul.

From 455 onward, several emperors were installed in the West by the government of Constantinople, but their authority only reached as far as the barbarian commanders of the army and their troops (Ricimer (456–472), Gundobad (473–475)) allowed it to. In 475, Orestes, a former secretary of Attila, drove Emperor Julius Nepos out of Ravenna and proclaimed his own son Romulus Augustus as emperor.

In 476, Orestes refused to grant Odoacer and the Heruli federated status, prompting the latter to kill him, depose his son and send the imperial insignia to Constantinople, installing himself as king over Italy. Although isolated pockets of Roman rule continued even after 476, the city of Rome itself was under the rule of the barbarians, and the control of Rome over the West had effectively ended. The Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire ended in 1453 with the capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks led by Mehmed II.

Legacy

in the world:Blue – French; Green – Spanish; Orange – Portuguese; Yellow – Italian; Red – Romanian]] world distribution]]

The American magazine National Geographic described the legacy of the Roman Empire in The World According to Rome: and were thus derived indirectly, while the main verb and the preposition in the first sentence are native English (Germanic) forms, though with close Latin parallels (est, in) due to shared Indo-European history. However, the point pertaining to the pervading influence is valid.|group=nb}} }}

Several states claimed to be the Roman Empire's successors after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The Holy Roman Empire, an attempt to resurrect the Empire in the West, was established in 800 when Pope Leo III crowned Frankish King Charlemagne as Roman Emperor on Christmas Day, though the empire and the imperial office did not become formalised for some decades. After the fall of Constantinople, the Russian Tsardom, as inheritor of the Byzantine Empire's Orthodox Christian tradition, counted itself the Third Rome (Constantinople having been the second). These concepts are known as Translatio imperii.

When the Ottomans, who based their state on the Byzantine model, took Constantinople in 1453, Mehmed II established his capital there and claimed to sit on the throne of the Roman Empire. He even went so far as to launch an invasion of Italy with the purpose of "re-uniting the Empire", although Papal and Neapolitan armies stopped his march on Rome at Otranto in 1480. Constantinople was not officially renamed Istanbul until 1930.

Excluding these states claiming its heritage, if the traditional date for the founding of Rome is accepted as fact, the Roman state can be said to have lasted in some form from 753 BC to the fall in 1461 of the Empire of Trebizond (a successor state and fragment of the Byzantine Empire which escaped conquest by the Ottomans in 1453), for a total of 2,214 years. The Roman impact on Western and Eastern civilisations lives on. In time most of the Roman achievements were duplicated by later civilisations. For example, the technology for cement was rediscovered 1755–1759 by John Smeaton.

The Empire contributed many things to the world, such as a calendar with leap years, the institutions of Christianity and aspects of modern neo-classicistic and Byzantine architecture. The extensive system of roads that was constructed by the Roman Army lasts to this day. Because of this network of roads, the time necessary to travel between destinations in Europe did not decrease until the 19th century, when steam power was invented. Even modern astrology comes to us directly from the Romans.

The Roman Empire also contributed its form of government, which influences various constitutions including those of most European countries and many former European colonies. In the United States, for example, the framers of the Constitution remarked, in creating the Presidency, that they wanted to inaugurate an "Augustan Age". The modern world also inherited legal thinking from Roman law, fully codified in Late Antiquity. Governing a vast territory, the Romans developed the science of public administration to an extent never before conceived or necessary, creating an extensive civil service and formalised methods of tax collection.

While in the West the term "Roman" acquired a new meaning in connection with the church and the Pope of Rome the Greek form Romaioi remained attached to the Greek-speaking Christian population of the Eastern Roman Empire and is still used by Greeks in addition to their common appellation.

The Roman Empire's territorial legacy of controlling the Italian peninsula would serve as an influence to Italian nationalism and the unification (Risorgimento) of Italy in 1861.

Notes

;Footnotes ;Citations

References

John Bagnell Bury, A History of the Roman Empire from its Foundation to the death of Marcus Aurelius, 1913, ISBN 978-1-4367-3416-5

Winston Churchill, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Cassell, 1998, ISBN 0-304-34912-7

J. A. Crook, Law and Life of Rome, 90 BC–AD 212, 1967, ISBN 0-8014-9273-4

Donald R. Dudley, The Civilization of Rome, 2nd ed., 1985, ISBN 0-452-01016-0

Arther Ferrill, The Fall of the Roman Empire: The Military Explanation, Thames and Hudson, 1988, ISBN 0-500-27495-9

Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1776–1789

Goldsworthy, Adrian. The Punic Wars, Cassell & Co, 2000, ISBN 0-304-35284-5

Goldsworthy, Adrian. In the Name of Rome: The Men Who Won the Roman Empire, Weidenfield and Nicholson, 2003, ISBN 0-297-84666-3

Goldsworthy, Adrian. The Complete Roman Army, Thames and Hudson, 2003, ISBN 0-500-05124-0

Michael Grant, The History of Rome, Faber and Faber, 1993, ISBN 0-571-11461-X

Benjamin Isaac, "The Limits of Empire: the Roman Army in the East" Oxford University Press, 1992, ISBN 0-19-814926-3

Andrew Lintott, Imperium Romanum: Politics and administration, 1993, ISBN 0-415-09375-9

Edward Luttwak, The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire, Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 0-8018-2158-4

Antonio Santosuosso, Storming the Heavens: Soldiers, Emperors and Civilians in the Roman Empire, Westview Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8133-3523-X

External links

Adena, L. The 'Jesus Cult' and the Roman State in the Third Century, Clio History Journal, 2008.

Roman battlefield unearthed deep inside Germany

BBC Romans for Children

Classics Unveiled

Complete map of the Roman Empire in year 100

Detailed history of the Roman Empire

Historical Atlas (Swedish)

Roman Numismatic Gallery

The Celts and Romans

The Roman Empire

The Roman Empire in the First Century from PBS

UNRV Roman History

Category:476 disestablishments Category:1453 disestablishments Category:Former countries on the Italian Peninsula Category:Roman Empire Category:Roman States Category:States and territories established in 27 BC

Title	Ruler of Bulgaria
Caption	Monument in Dobrich, Bulgaria
Reign	668–700
Predecessor	Kubrat
Successor	Tervel
Issue	Tervel Ajjar
Royal house	Dulo

Asparuh (or Isperih) () was ruler of a Bulgar tribe in the second half of the 7th century and is credited with the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire in 680/681. He is the most famous Bulgar ruler. The accuracy of the Turkic title khan commonly applied to him and his successors is a subject of some dispute.

Early life

The Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans states that Asparuh belonged to the Dulo clan and reigned for 61 years. This long period cannot be accepted as accurate due to chronological constraints, and may indicate the length of Asparuh's life. According to the chronology developed by Moskov, Asparuh would have reigned 668–695. Other chronologies frequently end his reign in 700 or 701 but cannot be reconciled with the testimony of the Namelist. According to the Byzantine sources, Asparuh was a younger son of Kubrat, who had established a spacious state ("Great Bulgaria") in the steppes of modern Ukraine. Asparuh may have gained experience in politics and statesmanship during the long reign of his father, who probably died in 665 (apud Moskov). After his father's death, Asparuh would have acknowledged the rule of his older brother Bat Bayan, but the state disintegrated under Khazar attack in 668, and he and his brothers parted ways, leading their people to seek a more secure home in other lands.

Establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire

Asparukh was followed by 20,000 to 30,000 Bulgars. He reached the Danube and while the Byzantine capital Constantinople was besieged by Muawiyah I, Caliph of the Arabs (674–678), he and his people settled in the Danube delta, probably on the extinct Peuce Island. After the Arab siege of Constantinople ended, the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IV marched against the Bulgars and their Slav allies in 680 and forced his opponents to seek shelter in a fortified encampment. Forced to abandon the leadership of his army in order to seek medical treatment for his ailments, the emperor sabotaged the morale of his troops, who gave in to rumours that their emperor had fled. With segments of the Byzantine army starting to desert, the Bulgars and their allies broke through the blockade and routed the enemy troops at the battle of Ongala in 680. Asparuh then swiftly moved from the Danubian delta down to the Balkan range.

Reign

Asparuh's victory led to the Bulgar conquest of Moesia and the establishment of some sort of alliance between the Bulgars and the local Slavic groups (described as the Severi and Seven Slavic tribes). As Asparuh commenced to raid across the mountains into Byzantine Thrace in 681, Constantine IV decided to cut his losses and conclude a treaty, whereby the Byzantine Empire paid the Bulgars an annual tribute as protection money. These events are seen in retrospect as the establishment of the Bulgarian state and its recognition by the Byzantine Empire. In later tradition Asparuh is credited with building the major centers of Pliska and Drăstăr, as well as at least one of the Bulgarian limes walls from the Danube to the Black Sea. Recent scholarship has questioned whether it was Asparuh that established Pliska as the capital, suggesting that the original capital of Bulgaria was in the vicinity of Varna. While the multi-tribal and hegemonic character of the Bulgarian state in the first century or two after its establishment is readily apparent, Bulgarian historians have stressed the establishment of a capital and of a state tradition that could be viewed retrospectively as national. According to a late tradition, Asparuh died fighting the Khazars on the Danube. According to one theory, advanced by the Bulgarian historian Vaklinov, his grave is located near Voznesenka ("Ascension") on the Dnieper in Ukraine. The 17th century Volga Bulgar compilation Ja'far Tarikh (a work of disputed authenticity) represents Atil'kese (i.e., Asparuh) as the son and successor of Kurbat (i.e., Kubrat), and as the father and predecessor of Tarvil (i.e., Tervel) and Ajjar (otherwise unknown, but possibly the first of two lost names in the Imennik).

Asparuh Peak on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Asparuh of Bulgaria.

Sources and references

John V.A. Fine, The Early Medieval Balkans, Ann Arbor, 1983.

Mosko Moskov, Imennik na bălgarskite hanove (novo tălkuvane), Sofia 1988.

Jordan Andreev, Ivan Lazarov, Plamen Pavlov, Koj koj e v srednovekovna Bălgarija, Sofia 1999.

(primary source), Bahši Iman, Džagfar Tarihy, vol. III, Orenburg 1997.

(primary source), Nikephoros Patriarch of Constantinople, Short History, C. Mango, ed., Dumbarton Oaks Texts 10, 1990.

(primary source), The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor, C. Mango and R. Scott, trans., Oxford University Press, 1997.

Васил Н. Златарски, История на българската държава през средните векове, Част I, II изд., Наука и изкуство, София 1970, pp. 176 – 209.

See also

History of Bulgaria

Bulgars

Asparukh (name)

List of Bulgarian monarchs.

Footnotes

External links

Rulers of Bulgaria - Asparuh

Category:7th-century births Category:700 deaths Category:Monarchs of the Bulgars Category:History of Bulgaria Category:7th-century Bulgarian monarchs Category:Bulgarian people of the Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars

Edward John "Eddie" Izzard (born 7 February 1962) is an English

Activism

Izzard has engaged in campaigning work. He is especially well-known as a pro-European Union campaigner supporting the further integration of the UK into the EU. In May 2005 he appeared on the BBC's political debate show Question Time, describing himself as a 'British-European', comparing this with other cultural identities such as 'African-American'. As part of his integration campaigning, he was one of the first people to spend a euro in London.This pan-European approach has influenced his work: he regularly performs in French, in which he is fluent, and occasionally in German, in addition to English. In July 2003, Izzard received an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England for "pro-Europe campaigning", "his contribution to promoting modern languages and tolerance of other cultures and lifestyles" and for having "transcended national barriers" with his humour.

Izzard speaks French and has performed stand up in French during his shows. He also speaks German and used it in the 2001 film All the Queen's Men.

Critical reception

On 18 March 2007, Izzard was listed as number 3 of the 100 Greatest British National Comedians (just behind Peter Kay at number 2 and Billy Connolly at number 1) as part of British television station Channel 4's ongoing 100 Greatest..., series. However in the 2010 updated version of the list he was ranked 5th In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, Izzard was voted amongst the top 20 greatest comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. He was number 75 in Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.

During the 1999 television special It's... the Monty Python Story, which Izzard hosted, John Cleese said Izzard was the "Lost Python"; Izzard furthered that idea via his substitution for Graham Chapman in public performance of Python material with the rest of the original members of the troupe. He also made a cameo appearance in the Python reunion interview Monty Python Live At Aspen.

In 2008, Izzard received the James Joyce Award of the Literary and Historical Society of UCD, Dublin, Ireland. In March 2010, the Students Union of the University of Sheffield overwhelmingly elected him their honorary President.

Discography and appearances

Stand-up

Live at the Ambassadors (15 November, 1993)

Unrepeatable (1994)

Definite Article (21 October, 1996)

Glorious (17 November, 1997)

Dress to Kill (9 November, 1998)

Circle (18 November, 2002)

Sexie (26 November, 2003)

Stripped (23 November, 2009)

Stage

900 Oneonta (1994)

The Cryptogram (1994)

Edward II (1995)

Lenny (1999)

A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (2001–2002, 2003)

Trumbo (2003)

Filmography

The Oncoming Storm (1995) as Luthor Keeton

The Secret Agent (1996) as Vladimir

Velvet Goldmine (1998) as Jerry Devine

The Avengers (1998) as Bailey

Mystery Men (1999) as Tony P

The Criminal (1999) as Peter Hume

Circus (2000) as Troy

Shadow of the Vampire (2000) as Gustav von Wangenheim

The Cat's Meow (2001) as Charlie Chaplin

All the Queen's Men (2001) as Tony Parker

Revengers Tragedy (2002) as Lussurioso

Alien Invasion (2003) as Brik

Blueberry aka Renegade (2004) as Prosit

Five Children and It (2004) as It (voice)

Romance & Cigarettes (2004) as Gene Vincent

Ocean's Twelve (2004) as Roman Nagel

The Aristocrats (2005) as Himself

The Wild (2006) as Nigel (voice)

My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006) as Professor Bedlam

Ocean's Thirteen (2007) as Roman Nagel

Across the Universe (2007) as Mr. Kite

(2008) as Reepicheep (voice)

Igor (2008) as Dr. Schadenfreude (voice)

Valkyrie (2008) as Erich Fellgiebel

Rage (2009) as Tiny Diamonds

Every Day (2009) as Garrett

The Other Side (2009) as Dean Bellamy

(2009) as Himself

TV appearances

Barf Bites Back (Amnesty International Gala) (1991) - ITV

Open Fire (1994)

Have I Got News for You (1994, 1995 and 1996) - BBC Two

Aristophanes: The Gods are Laughing (1995)

Whose Line Is It Anyway? (1995)

Tales from the Crypt (1996) - HBO

Clive Anderson Talks Back (1996)

Inspector Derrick (1997)

Channel Izzard (1997)

Roseanne Barr Show (1998)

Rex the Runt (1998) - BBC

Shooting Stars (1998) - BBC

Parkinson (3 times)

Dennis Miller Live (1999) - HBO

Pythonland (1999) - BBC

Python Night (1999) - BBC

Good News Week (2000) - Network 10

Mongrel Nation (2002) - Discovery Channel

The Caroline Rhea Show (2002)

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (2002, 2004 and 2007)

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (2009)

40 (2003) - Channel 4

Late Night with Conan O'Brien (2003, 2008) NBC

QI (Unaired pilot- 2002 or 2003, and 2010)

Top Gear (2004) - BBC Two

Last Call with Carson Daly (2005)

The Sharon Osbourne Show (2006)

Late Show with David Letterman (6 times)

Late Late show with Craig Kilborn (4 times)

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2006, 2008, 2009,2010)

The Henry Rollins Show (2006)

The Paul O'Grady Show (2009)

The Secret Policeman's Ball (2006)

Kitchen (2007) - five

Comedy Cuts (interview) (2007)

The Hour (2007)

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (2007 and 2009)

The Daily Show (2000, 2003 and 2007)

The Riches (2007–2008)

The Secret Policeman's Ball (2008)

(2008)

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (2009)

Kevin Pollak's Chat Show (2009)

''BBC Sports Personality of the Year (2009 award winner)

''The Day of the Triffids (2009)

Marathon Man (2010)

The Simpsons episode To Surveil with Love (2010)

Chelsea Lately (2010)

Video game

- Sgt. Tibbs the Cat (voice)

Future projects

Eddie Izzard said in a personal appearance (for his biopic Believe) that he is currently putting together a script for a movie as a conclusion to The Riches. He said the plan is to "pick up exactly where we left off, and we think we're going to make a film of the next bit". As of May 24, 2010 there are no indications that this film will ever be made, leaving The Riches without a conclusion. He has announced for future tours that a dollar out of each ticket sale will be appropriated to supplying Africa with contraceptives and other means of sexual protection.

See also

Cross-dressing in film and television

References

External links

Official web site

BBC America - Eddie Izzard

Interview with Izzard - The Observer, 3 October 2004

It's stupid and I love it - the Goon Show and me - The Guardian, 14 February 2005.

Izzard interviewed by Bono - The Independent, 16 May 2006

Venus Zine Staff Picks: Eddie Izzard, Dress to Kill

Category:1962 births Category:People from Aden Category:Drama Desk Award winners Category:English atheists Category:English buskers Category:English comedians Category:English film actors Category:English voice actors Category:English television actors Category:English stand-up comedians Category:Cross-dressers Category:Living people Category:Old Eastbournians Category:Emmy Award winners