- published: 16 Jun 2011
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- author: vinoseas
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- 27 BC
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Actium
Actium (Greek: Ἄκτιον) was the ancient name of a promontory of western Greece in northwestern Acarnania, at the mouth of the Sinus Ambracius (Gulf of Arta) opposite Nicopolis, built by Augustus on the north side of the strait.
On the promontory was an ancient temple of Apollo Actius, which was enlarged by Augustus, who, to memorialize the Battle of Actium, instituted or renewed the quinquennial games known as Actia or Ludi Actiaci. Actiaca Aera was a computation of time from the battle. There was on the promontory a small town, or rather village, also called Actium.
Actium belonged originally to the Corinthian colonists of Anactorium, who probably founded the worship of Apollo Actius and the Actia games; in the 3rd century BC it fell to the Acarnanians, who subsequently held their synods there. Actium is chiefly famous as the site of Octavian's decisive victory over Mark Antony (September 2, 31 BC). This battle ended a long series of ineffectual operations. It was the Naval Battle of Actium. The final conflict was provoked by Antony, who is said to have been persuaded by his lover, the queen Cleopatra of Egypt, to retire to her land and give battle to mask his retreat; but lack of provisions and the growing demoralization of his army would eventually account for this decision. An ancient Roman festival, Actia, was named after Actium, in Nicopolis, the new city (today Preveza, Greece). Since 2002, Actium is linked with Preveza on the north shore of the Ambracian Gulf by the Aktio-Preveza Undersea Tunnel, or Aktio-Preveza Immersed Tunnel (traffic labels). Also during Summer of 2009 archaeologists discovered in Actium the ruins of the Temple of Apollo (in Greek Ναός του Ακτίου Απόλλωνος) and founted two statues heads, one of Apollo, one of Artemis (Diana).
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Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea (/ɨˈdʒiːən/; Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος, Egeo Pelagos [eˈʝeo ˈpelaɣos] (
listen); Turkish: Ege Denizi or historically Turkish: Adalar Denizi) is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus. The Aegean Islands are within the sea and some bound it on its southern periphery, including Crete and Rhodes. The Aegean Region consists of nine provinces in southwestern Turkey, in part bordering on the Aegean sea.
The sea was traditionally known as Archipelago (in Greek, Αρχιπέλαγος, meaning "chief sea"), but in English this word's meaning has changed to refer to the Aegean Islands and, generally, to any island group.
The Aegean Sea covers about 214,000 square kilometres (83,000 sq mi) in area, and measures about 610 kilometres (380 mi) longitudinally and 300 kilometres (190 mi) latitudinally. The sea's maximum depth is 3,543 metres (11,624 ft), east of Crete. The Aegean Islands are found within its waters, with the following islands delimiting the sea on the south (generally from west to east): Kythera, Antikythera, Crete, Kasos, Karpathos and Rhodes.
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Alexandria
Alexandria (Arabic: الإسكندرية Al Iskandariyya, Coptic: Ⲣⲁⲕⲟⲧⲉ Rakotə, Greek: Αλεξάνδρεια Alexándria, Koine Greek: Ἀλεξάνδρεια ἡ κατ' Αἴγυπτον IPA: [ɑlɛˈksɑndɾiɑ e kɑt ˈɛʝypton] "Alexandria in Egypt", Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه [eskendeˈrejːæ]) is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about 32 km (20 mi) along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving approximately 80% of Egypt's imports and exports. Alexandria is also an important tourist resort. It is home to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (the new Library of Alexandria). It is an important industrial centre because of its natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez.
Alexandria was founded around a small pharaonic town c. 331 BC by Alexander the Great. It remained Egypt's capital for nearly a thousand years, until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in AD 641, when a new capital was founded at Fustat (Fustat was later absorbed into Cairo). Alexandria was known because of its Lighthouse of Alexandria (Pharos), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; its library (the largest library in the ancient world); and the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages. Ongoing maritime archaeology in the harbor of Alexandria, which began in 1994, is revealing details of Alexandria both before the arrival of Alexander, when a city named Rhacotis existed there, and during the Ptolemaic dynasty.
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Ankara
Ankara (Turkish pronunciation: [ˈan.ka.ɾa]; historically known as Angora) is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of 938 metres (3,077 ft), and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million.
Centrally located in Anatolia, Ankara is an important commercial and industrial city. It is the center of the Turkish Government, and houses all foreign embassies. It is an important crossroads of trade, strategically located at the centre of Turkey's highway and railway networks, and serves as the marketing centre for the surrounding agricultural area. The city was famous for its long-haired Angora goat and its prized wool (mohair), a unique breed of cat (Angora cat), Angora rabbits and their prized wool (Angora wool), pears, honey, and the region's muscat grapes.
The historical center of Ankara is situated upon a rocky hill, which rises 150 m (492 ft) above the plain on the left bank of the Ankara Çayı, a tributary of the Sakarya (Sangarius) river. The city is located at 39°52'30" North, 32°52' East (39°52′30″N 32°50′00″E / 39.875°N 32.8333°E / 39.875; 32.8333Coordinates: 39°52′30″N 32°50′00″E / 39.875°N 32.8333°E / 39.875; 32.8333), about 450 km (280 mi) to the southeast of Istanbul, the country's largest city. Although situated in one of the driest places of Turkey and surrounded mostly by steppe vegetation except for the forested areas on the southern periphery, Ankara can be considered a green city in terms of green areas per inhabitant, which is 72 m2 per head.
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Ara Pacis
The Ara Pacis Augustae (Latin, "Altar of Augustan Peace"; commonly shortened to Ara Pacis) is an altar to Peace, envisioned as a Roman goddess. It was commissioned by the Roman Senate on 4 July 13 BC to honor the triumphal return from Hispania and Gaul of the Roman emperor Augustus, and was consecrated on 30 January 9 BC by the Senate to celebrate the peace established in the Empire after Augustus's victories. The altar was meant to be a vision of the Roman civil religion. It sought to portray the peace and fertile prosperity enjoyed as a result of the Pax Augusta (Latin, "Augustan peace") brought about by the military supremacy of the Roman empire, and act as a visual reminder of the Julio-Claudian dynasty that was bringing it about.
The Ara Pacis stood within an enclosure elaborately and finely sculpted entirely in gleaming white marble, depicting scenes of traditional Roman piety, in which the Emperor and his family were portrayed in the act of offering sacrifices to the gods. Various figures bring forth cattle to be sacrificed. Some have their togas drawn over their heads, like a hood; this signifies that they are acting in their official capacity as priests. Others wear laurel crowns, traditional symbols of victory. Men, women, and children all approach the gods. Themes of civil peace are linked to themes of the dynastic Julio-Claudian claims, and the importance of religion as a civilizing force, in rites of which some were consciously being revived for the occasion, according to Augustus himself.
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Arabian peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula (Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية šibh al-jazīrat al-ʻarabīya or جزيرة العرب Ǧazīrat al 'Arab) is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2 (1,250,000 mi2). The area is an important part of the Asian continent and plays a critical geopolitical role of the Middle East and Arab World due to its vast reserves of oil and natural gas. The peninsula formed as a result of the rifting of the Red Sea between 56-23 million years ago, and is bordered by the Red Sea to the west, the Persian Gulf to the northeast, and the Indian Ocean to the southeast.
The Arabian Peninsula is located in the Asia continent and bounded by (clockwise) the Persian Gulf on the northeast, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman on the east, the Arabian Sea on the southeast and south, the Gulf of Aden on the south, the Bab-el-Mandeb strait on the southwest, and the Red Sea on the southwest and west. The northern portion of the peninsula merges with the Syrian Desert with no clear border line, although the northern boundary of the Arabian Peninsula is generally considered to be the northern borders of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
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Baths of Agrippa
Coordinates: 41°53′48.86″N 12°28′37.19″E / 41.8969056°N 12.4769972°E / 41.8969056; 12.4769972
The Baths of Agrippa (Thermae Agrippae) were a structure of ancient Rome, built by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, the first of the great thermae constructed in the city. In their first form, constructed at the same time as the Pantheon and on axis with it, as a balaneion (βαλανεῖον), they were apparently a hot-air bath with a cold plunge, not unlike a sauna. With the completion of the Aqua Virgo, the aqueduct completed by Agrippa in 19 BC, the baths were supplied with water and became regular thermae, with a large ornamental pool (Stagnum Agrippae) attached. Agrippa furnished his baths with decorations that may have been executed in glazed tiles and with works of art: the Apoxyomenos of Lysippus stood outside. He left the baths to the citizens of Rome at his death, 12 BC.
The Baths of Agrippa were damaged by fire in AD 80 (Cassius Dio, lxvi.24), but were restored and enlarged; they were thronged in the times of Martial, and enlarged under Hadrian and later emperors.
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Battle of Actium
The Battle of Actium was the decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic. It was a naval engagement fought between the forces of Octavian and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC, on the Ionian Sea near the city of Actium, at the Roman province of Epirus vetus in Greece. Octavian's fleet was commanded by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, while Antony's fleet was supported by the ships of Queen Cleopatra of Ptolemaic Egypt.
Octavian's victory enabled him to consolidate his power over Rome and its dominions. To that end, he adopted the title of Princeps ("first citizen") and some years after the victory was awarded the title of Augustus by the Roman Senate. This became the name by which he was known in later times. As Augustus, he would retain the trappings of a restored Republican leader; however, historians generally view this consolidation of power and the adoption of these honorifics as the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire.
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Battle of Carrhae
The Battle of Carrhae, fought in 53 BC near the town of Carrhae, was an important battle between the Parthian Empire and the Roman Republic. The Parthian Spahbod Surena decisively defeated a Roman invasion force led by Marcus Licinius Crassus. It was the first of the battles between the Roman and Persian empires, and one of the most crushing defeats in Roman history.
Crassus, a member of the First Triumvirate and the wealthiest man in Rome, had been enticed by the prospect of military glory and riches and decided to invade Parthia without the official consent of the Senate. Rejecting an offer from the Armenian King Artavasdes II to invade Parthia via Armenia, Crassus marched his army directly through the deserts of Mesopotamia. His army clashed with Surena's force near Carrhae, a small town in modern-day Turkey. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Surena's cavalry completely outmaneuvered the Roman heavy infantry, killing or capturing most of the Roman soldiers. Crassus himself was killed when truce negotiations turned violent. His death led to the end of the First Triumvirate and the resulting civil wars between Julius Caesar and Pompey.
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Bologna
Bologna (Italian pronunciation: [boˈloɲɲa] ( listen); Emilian: Bulåggna pronounced [buˈləɲɲa]; Latin: Bononia) is the principal city (capital) of the Emilia-Romagna Region in Northern Italy. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history, art, cuisine, music, and culture. It is the seventh largest city in terms of population in Italy and it is the heart of a metropolitan area (officially recognized by the Italian government as a metropolitan city) of about 1,000,000 inhabitants. The urban sprawl of Bologna, including nearby Modena, whose metropolises are adjoining, is continuously expanding.
The city, the first settlements of which date back to at least one millennium before Christ, has always been an important urban center, first under the Etruscans (Velzna/Felsina) and the Celts (Bona), then under the Romans (Bononia), then again in the Middle Ages, as a free municipality (for one century it was the fifth largest European city based on population). Home to the oldest university in the world, University of Bologna, founded in 1088, Bologna hosts thousands of students who enrich the social and cultural life of the city. Famous for its towers and lengthy porticoes, Bologna has a well-preserved historical centre (one of the largest in Italy) thanks to a careful restoration and conservation policy which began at the end of the 1970s, on the heels of serious damage done by the urban demolition at the end of the 19th century as well as that caused by wars.
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British Museum
Coordinates: 51°31′10″N 0°07′37″W / 51.519459°N 0.126931°W / 51.519459; -0.126931
The British Museum, in London, is widely considered to be one of the world's greatest museums of human history and culture. Its permanent collection, numbering some eight million works, is amongst the finest, most comprehensive, and largest in existence and originates from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present.
The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane. The museum first opened to the public on 15 January 1759 in Montagu House in Bloomsbury, on the site of the current museum building. Its expansion over the following two and a half centuries was largely a result of an expanding British colonial footprint and has resulted in the creation of several branch institutions, the first being the British Museum (Natural History) in South Kensington in 1887. Some objects in the collection, most notably the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon, are the objects of intense controversy and of calls for restitution to their countries of origin.
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Cantabria
Cantabria (English /kænˈtɑːbriə/, /kænˈtæbriə/; Spanish: [kanˈtaβɾja]) is a Spanish historical region and autonomous community with Santander as its capital city. It is bordered on the east by the Basque Autonomous Community (province of Biscay), on the south by Castile and León (provinces of León, Palencia and Burgos), on the west by the Principality of Asturias, and on the north by the Cantabrian Sea (Bay of Biscay).
Cantabria belongs to Green Spain, the name given to the strip of land between the Bay of Biscay and the Cantabrian Mountains, so called because of its particularly lush vegetation, due to the wet and moderate oceanic climate. The climate is strongly influenced by Atlantic Ocean winds trapped by the mountains; the average precipitation is about 1,200 mm (47 inches).
Cantabria is the richest region in the world for archaeological sites from the Upper Paleolithic period, although the first signs of human occupation date from Lower Paleolithic. The most significant site for cave paintings is that in the cave of Altamira, dating from about 16,000 to 9000 BC and declared, along with nine other Cantabrian caves, as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
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Comitium
The Comitium (Italian: Comizio) in Rome is the location of the original founding of the city. The area is marked by a number of shrines, temples, altars and churches today from throughout its history. The location was lost due to the cities growth and development over a thousand years, but was excavated at the turn of the twentieth century. It is the location of the Curia Julia and its predecessor, the Curia Hostilia, the seat of the Roman Senate. It was an open air market and gathering place, but was originally the meeting place of the Curiate Assembly. It is located to the west of the Roman forum and is today much reduced from its original size.
Before the Forum Romanum was fully developed the Comitium served as both a marketplace and seat of political power of the Roman Kingdom and the Republic. It served as a templum - a sacred space for ritual purposes - and it contained many of Rome's earliest monuments, including the Rostra, Column Maenia, the Graecostasis and Tabula valeria.
The Comitium was the original public space in ancient Rome, and had major religious and prophetic significance. It was the location for all political and judicial activity of the early Roman Kingdom and Republic. It is the historic meeting place of the comitia curiata, the grown males of Rome who met as the earliest assembly of organised voting divisions of the republic. The senate meeting house or curia is associated with the comitium by both Livy and Cicero.
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Constantinople
Constantinople (Greek: Κωνσταντινούπολις, Konstantinoúpolis; Latin: Constantinopolis; Ottoman Turkish: قسطنطینیه, Qostantiniyye; and modern Turkish: İstanbul) was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Latin and the Ottoman Empires. It was founded in AD 330, at ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine I, after whom it was named. The city was the largest and wealthiest European city of the Middle Ages, and shared the glories of the Byzantine Empire, which was eventually reduced to the city and its environs.
Although besieged on numerous occasions by various peoples, it was taken only in 1204 by the army of the Fourth Crusade, in 1261 by Michael VIII, and in 1453 by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. An inner wall was erected by Constantine I, and the city was surrounded by a triple wall of fortifications, begun during the 5th century by Theodosius II. The city was built on seven hills as well as on the Bosporus, and thus presented an impregnable fortress enclosing magnificent palaces, domes and towers. The Church of Hagia Sophia, the sacred palace of the emperors, the hippodrome, and the Golden Gate were among the largest of the many churches, public edifices, and monuments lining the arcaded avenues and squares.
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Corsica
Corsica (
/ˈkɔːrsɪkə/; French: Corse, IPA: [kɔʁs]; Corsican: Corsica; Italian: Corsica, IPA: [ˈkɔrsika]) is a French island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the Italian island of Sardinia. Mountains comprise two-thirds of the island, forming a single chain.
Corsica is one of the 27 régions of France, although strictly speaking Corsica is designated as a territorial collectivity (collectivité territoriale) by law. As a territorial collectivity, it enjoys greater powers than other French régions, but for the most part its status is quite similar. Corsica is referred to as a "région" in common speech, and is almost always listed among the other régions of France.
Although the island is separated from the continental mainland by the Ligurian Sea and is closer to Italy than to the French mainland, politically Corsica is part of Metropolitan France. It was once briefly an independent Corsican Republic, until being incorporated into France in 1769. Its culture has French and Italian elements blended into it.
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Curia Hostilia
Coordinates: 41°53′35″N 12°29′07″E / 41.89306°N 12.48528°E / 41.89306; 12.48528
The Curia Hostilia was one of the original senate houses or 'curia' of the Roman Republic. It is believed to have begun as a temple where the warring tribes laid down their arms during the reign of Romulus (r. ca. 771–717 BC). During the early monarchy, the temple was used by senators acting as council to the king. Tullus Hostilius (r. 673–641 BC) is believed to have replaced the original structure after fire destroyed the converted temple. It may have held historic significance as the location of an Etruscan mundus and altar. The Lapis Niger, a series of large black marble slabs, was placed over the altar, known as the Volcanal, where a series of monuments, was found opposite the Rostra. It was demolished in 80 BC by Lucius Cornelius Sulla during his renovations of the comitium and enlargement of the Curia.
There has been a meeting house for the people of Rome through most of Rome's history. There may have been a small shrine to the god Vulcan from an even earlier period, a stone altar with a marble stele inscribed with a dedication from a Latin King. An Honorary column was also among the tightly packed items. This spot was separated from the rest of the comitium with a low rising concrete fence to keep pedestrians from walking atop it.
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Curia Julia
Coordinates: 41°53′34.55″N 12°29′7.45″E / 41.8929306°N 12.4854028°E / 41.8929306; 12.4854028
Curia Julia (Latin: Curia Iulia, Italian: Curia Iulia) is the third named Curia, or Senate House, in the ancient city of Rome. It was built in 44 BC when Julius Caesar replaced Faustus Cornelius Sulla’s reconstructed Curia Cornelia, which itself had replaced the Curia Hostilia. Caesar did this in order to redesign both spaces within the Comitium and Forum Romanum. The alterations within the Comitium reduced the prominence of the senate and cleared the original space. The work, however, was interrupted by Caesar's assassination at the Theatre of Pompey where the Senate had been meeting temporarily while the work was completed. The project was eventually finished by Caesar’s successor Augustus in 29 BC.
The Curia Julia is one of only a handful of Roman structures to survive to the modern day intact, due to its conversion into the basilica of Sant'Adriano al Foro in the seventh century and later restoration.
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Cyprus
Cyprus
i/ˈsaɪprəs/ (Greek: Κύπρος, Kýpros, IPA: [ˈcipɾos]; Turkish: Kıbrıs, IPA: [ˈkɯbɾɯs]), officially the Republic of Cyprus (Greek: Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία, Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía, IPA: [cipɾiaˈci ðimokɾaˈtia]; Turkish: Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti, IPA: [ˈkɯbɾɯs dʒumhuɾijeˈti]), is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria, Lebanon, northwest of Israel and north of Egypt. Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and the Republic of Cyprus is a member state of the European Union.
The earliest known human activity on the island dates back to around the 10th millennium BC. Archaeological remains from this period include the well-preserved Neolithic village of Khirokitia, which has been declared a World Heritage Site with an "enhanced protection" status in the event of armed conflict by UNESCO, along with the archaeological sites of Paphos and the Painted Churches of the Troodos Region. Cyprus is home to some of the oldest water wells in the world.
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Egypt
Egypti/ˈiːdʒɪpt/ (Arabic: مصر, Miṣr, Egyptian Arabic: [mɑsˤɾ] ; Coptic: Ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, Kīmi ; Sahidic Coptic: ⲕⲏⲙⲉ, Kēme), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: جمهوريّة مصر العربيّة (help·info), is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Covering an area of about 1,010,000 square kilometers (390,000 sq mi), Egypt is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west.
Egypt is one of the most populous countries in Africa and the Middle East. The great majority of its over 81 million people live near the banks of the Nile River, in an area of about 40,000 square kilometers (15,000 sq mi), where the only arable land is found. The large areas of the Sahara Desert are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypt's residents live in urban areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria and other major cities in the Nile Delta.
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Forum of Augustus
The Forum of Augustus is one of the Imperial forums of Rome, Italy, built by Augustus. It includes the Temple of Mars Ultor.
The triumvir Octavian vowed to build a temple honoring Mars, the Roman God of War, during the battle of Philippi in 42 BC. After winning the battle, with the help of Mark Antony and Lepidus, Octavian had avenged the assassination of his adoptive father Julius Caesar. He became the first emperor of Rome in 27 BC under the name Augustus, and planned for the temple to be built in a new forum named after himself.
It appears as if construction did not begin on the Forum until around 20 BC, when Augustus avenged Rome once again, this time by negotiating the release of the standards lost by Marcus Licinius Crassus to the Parthians. The land the Forum was to be built on was already owned by Augustus himself. However, the initial plans called for a bit more space than he had. In order to keep those on the land he would need to purchase to build upon, the plans were altered slightly, so some asymmetry is apparent, especially in the Eastern corner of the precinct; for which Suetonius states that Augustus did not dare to take the houses of the nearby owners by force. This self-proclaimed good deed was more than likely just a ploy to save Augustus money and trouble. These land issues, as well as numerous architectural mishaps, prolonged construction. The incomplete forum and its temple were inaugurated, 40 years after they were first vowed, in 2 BC.
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France
France (Englishi/ˈfræns/ FRANSS or /ˈfrɑːns/ FRAHNSS; French: [fʁɑ̃s] ( listen)), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is the largest western European country and it possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km2 (4,260,000 sq mi), just behind that of the United States (11,351,000 km2 / 4,383,000 sq mi).
Over the past 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and around the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America and Southeast Asia; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest colonial empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands.
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Glyptothek
The Glyptothek is a museum in Munich, Germany, which was commissioned by the Bavarian King Ludwig I to house his collection of Greek and Roman sculptures (hence γλυπτο- glypto- "sculpture", from the Greek verb γλύφειν glyphein "to carve"). It was designed by Leo von Klenze in the Neoclassical style, and built from 1816 to 1830. Today the museum is a part of the Kunstareal.
The Glyptothek was commissioned by the Crown Prince (later King) Ludwig I of Bavaria alongside other projects, such as the neighboring Königsplatz and the building which houses the State Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities, as a monument to ancient Greece. He envisioned a "German Athens", in which the ancient Greek culture would be remembered; he had this built in front of the gates of Munich.
The layout of the Königsplatz complex was designed by the architects Karl von Fischer and Leo von Klenze in 1815, the latter arranged it in the style of a forum, with the Glyptothek on the north side. Colorful frescoes and stuccos made by distinguished artists such as Peter von Cornelius, Clemens von Zimmermann, and Wilhelm von Kaulbach adorned the walls of the museum.
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Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain (Welsh: Prydain Fawr, Scottish Gaelic: Breatainn Mhòr, Cornish: Breten Veur) is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, the largest European island, and the largest of the British Isles. With a population of about 60.0 million people in mid-2009, it is the third most populous island in the world, after Java and Honshū. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1,000 smaller islands and islets. The island of Ireland lies to its west. Politically, Great Britain may also refer to the island itself together with a number of surrounding islands which comprise the territory of England, Scotland and Wales.
All of the island is territory of the sovereign state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and most of the United Kingdom's territory is in Great Britain. Most of England, Scotland, and Wales are on the island of Great Britain, as are their respective capital cities: London, Edinburgh, and Cardiff.
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Hispania
Hispania was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divided into two new provinces, Baetica and Lusitania, while Hispania Citerior was renamed Tarraconensis. Subsequently, the western part of Tarraconensis was split off, first as Hispania Nova, later renamed Callaecia (or Gallaecia, whence modern Galicia). From Diocletian's Tetrarchy (AD 284) onwards, the south of remaining Tarraconensis was again split off as Carthaginensis, and probably then too the Balearic Islands and all the resulting provinces formed one civil diocese under the vicarius for the Hispaniae (that is, the Celtic provinces). The name, Hispania, was also used in the period of Visigothic rule. The modern name Spain derives from Hispania.
The origin of the word Hispania is much disputed and the evidence for the various speculations are based merely upon what are at best mere resemblances, likely to be accidental, and suspect supporting evidence. One theory holds it to be of Punic derivation, from the Phoenician language of colonizing Carthage. Specifically, it may derive from a Punic cognate of Hebrew אי-שפניא (i-shfania) meaning "Island of the Hyrax" or "island of the hare" or "island of the rabbit" (Phoenician-Punic and Hebrew are both Canaanite languages and therefore closely related to each other). Another theory, proposed by the etymologist Eric Partridge in his work Origins, is that it is of Iberian derivation and that it is to be found in the pre-Roman name for Seville, Hispalis, which strongly hints at an ancient name for the country of *Hispa, an Iberian or Celtic root whose meaning is now lost. It may alternatively derive from Heliopolis (Greek for "city of the sun"). Occasionally it was called Hesperia, the western land, by Roman writers, or Hesperia ultima.
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India
India (i/ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.
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La Turbie
Coordinates: 43°44′47″N 7°24′06″E / 43.7464°N 7.4017°E / 43.7464; 7.4017
La Turbie (in Italian "Turbia" from tropea, Latin for trophy) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.
La Turbie was famous in Roman times for the huge Monument that Augustus made to celebrate his victory over the Ligurian tribes of the area. During the Middle Ages, the village (called then Turbia) was mainly under the dominion of the Republic of Genoa. Dante wrote in his Divina Commedia that Turbia was the western limit of the Italian Liguria.
It was alternatively part of Savoy or the Principality of Monaco, from where the population of Turbia has assimilated the dialect Monegasque, even if the local Ligurian dialect has maintained some characteristics of the nearby Niçois of Nice. Actually the local dialect is nearly extinct, mainly after the 1860 inclusion of the Savoian County of Nice in France.
The commune formerly includes the communes of Beausoleil and Cap d'Ail, which was disestablished at the beginning of the 20th century. Only the old main town, around the remaining structure of the roman Trophy of Augustus, forms the current commune.
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Lusitania
Lusitania (Portuguese: Lusitânia, Spanish: Lusitania) or Hispania Lusitania was an ancient Roman province including approximately all of modern Portugal south of the Douro river and part of modern Spain (the present autonomous community of Extremadura and a small part of the province of Salamanca). It was named after the Lusitani or Lusitanian people (an Indo-European people). Its capital was Emerita Augusta (currently Mérida, Spain), and it was initially part of the Roman Republic province of Hispania Ulterior, before becoming a province of its own in the Roman Empire.
The etymology of the origin of the Lusitani who gave the province their name, is unclear. The name may be of Celtic origin: Lus and Tanus, "tribe of Lusus", connecting the name with the personal Celtic name Luso and with the god Lugh.
Early modern scholars derived the name from Lucis, an ancient people mentioned in Avienus' Ora Maritima and Tan, from Celtic Tan (Stan), or Tain, meaning a region or implying a country of waters, a root word that formerly meant a prince or sovereign governor of a region. The name has been connected with the personal Celtic name Luso and with the god Lugh.
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Maison Carrée
The Maison Carrée is an ancient building in Nîmes, southern France; it is one of the best preserved temples to be found anywhere in the territory of the former Roman Empire.
It was built c. 16 BC, and reconstructed in the following years, by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, who was also the original patron of the Pantheon in Rome, and was dedicated or rededicated c. 2-4/5 AD to his two sons, Gaius Caesar and Lucius Caesar, adopted heirs of Augustus who both died young. The inscription dedicating the temple to Gaius and Lucius was removed in medieval times. However, a local scholar, Jean-François Séguier, was able to reconstruct the inscription in 1758 from the order and number of the holes in the portico's facade, to which the bronze letters had been affixed by projecting tines. According to Séguier's reconstruction, the text of the dedication read (in translation): "To Gaius Caesar, son of Augustus, Consul; to Lucius Caesar, son of Augustus, Consul designate; to the princes of youth."
The temple owes its preservation to the fact that it was rededicated as a Christian church in the fourth century, saving it from the widespread destruction[citation needed] of temples that followed the adoption of Christianity as Rome's official state religion. It subsequently became a meeting hall for the city's consuls, a canon's house, a stable for government-owned horses during the French Revolution and a storehouse for the city archives. It became a museum after 1823. Its French name derives from the archaic term carré long, literally meaning a "long square", or oblong - a reference to the building's shape.
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Messina
Messina (Italian pronunciation: [mesˈsiːna] ( listen), Sicilian: Missina; Latin: Messana) is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, Italy and the capital of the province of Messina. It has a population of about 250,000 inhabitants in the city proper and about 650,000 in the province. It is located near the northeast corner of Sicily, at the Strait of Messina, just opposite Villa San Giovanni on the mainland.
The main economical resources of the city are: the port (commercial and military), provided with several shipyards; agriculture (including wine production and the cultivation of lemons, oranges, mandarin oranges and olives); tourism.
The city has been a Roman Catholic Archdiocese and Archimandrite seat since 1548 and is home to a locally important international fair.
Founded by Greek colonists in the 8th century BC, Messina was originally called Zancle, from the Greek: ζάγκλον meaning "scythe" because of the shape of its natural harbour (though a legend attributes the name to King Zanclus). A comune of its province, located at the southern entrance of the Strait of Messina, is to this day called 'Scaletta Zanclea'. In the early 5th century BC, Anaxilas of Rhegium renamed it Messene in honour of the Greek city Messene (Greek: Μεσσήνη). (See also List of traditional Greek place names.) The city was sacked in 397 BC by the Carthaginians and then reconquered by Dionysius I of Syracuse.
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Miletus
Miletus (mī lē' təs) (Ancient Greek: Μίλητος, Milētos; Latin: Miletus) was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia (in what is now Aydin Province, Turkey), near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria. Before the Persian invasion in the middle of the 6th century BC, Miletus was considered the greatest and wealthiest of Greek cities.
Evidence of first settlement at the site has been made inaccessible by the rise of sea level and deposition of sediments from the Maeander. The first available evidence is of the Neolithic. In the early and middle Bronze age the settlement came under Minoan influence. Legend has it that an influx of Cretans occurred displacing the indigenous Leleges. The site was renamed Miletus after a place in Crete.
The Late Bronze Age, 13th century BCE, saw the arrival of Luwian language speakers from south central Anatolia calling themselves the Carians. Later in that century the first Greeks arrived. The city at that time rebelled against the Hittite Empire. After the fall of that empire the city was destroyed in the 12th century BCE and starting about 1000 BCE was resettled extensively by the Ionian Greeks. Legend offers an Ionian foundation event sponsored by a founder named Neleus from the Peloponnesus.
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Monaco
Monacoi/ˈmɒnəkoʊ/, officially the Principality of Monaco (French: Principauté de Monaco; Monégasque: Principatu de Múnegu; Italian: Principato di Monaco; Occitan: Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city state, located on the French Riviera in Western Europe. Bordered by France on three sides, with one side bordering the Mediterranean Sea, its center is about 16 km (9.9 mi) from Italy, and is only 15 km (9.3 mi) north east of Nice, France. It has an area of 1.98 km2 (0.76 sq mi), and a population of 35,986, making Monaco the second smallest and the most densely populated country in the world. Monaco has a land border of only 4.4 km (2.7 mi), a coastline of 4.1 km (2.5 mi), and a width that varies between 1.7 km (1.1 mi) and 349 metres (382 yards). The highest point in the country is a narrow pathway named Chemin des Révoires on the slopes of Mont Agel, in the Les Révoires district, which is 161 metres (528 feet) above sea level. Monaco's most populated Quartier is Monte Carlo, and the most populated Ward is Larvotto/Bas Moulins. After a recent expansion of Port Hercules, Monaco's total area is 2.05 km2 (0.79 sq mi), with new plans to extend the district of Fontvieille, with land reclaimed from the Mediterranean Sea.
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Muziris
Muziris (Muchiri or Mucciri, (Malayalam: മുസിരിസ്) was an ancient seaport and urban center in southwestern India on the Periyar that existed from around the beginning of the Christian era to the 1300s. Muziris has found mention in the classical Tamil Sangha literature and a number of European historical sources. In a massive flood of the Periyar in 1341 CE, Muziris was said to have been destroyed and the centre of commerce was shifted to other ports on the Malabar Coast. Soon the exact location of Muziris was forgotten; currently, it is believed to have been located close to the present day Kodungallur.
The multi-disciplinary and multi-seasonal archaeological research in the area was conducted by the Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR) at Pattanam, a small village at North Parur. It is hypothesized that Pattanam could be an integral part of Muziris. Pattanam was the first site in the Indian Ocean to yield archaeological evidence for Mediterranean, North African, West Asian and Chinese maritime contacts. The evidence suggested that Pattanam was a commercial location exposed to long distance and regional trade, prior to Roman contact.
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Near East
The Near East (French: Proche-Orient) is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other. The term originally applied to the maximum extent of the Ottoman Empire, which had been settled to the north by the Great Turkish War of the late 17th century, ending with the Treaty of Karlowitz, June 26, 1699. This war determined that Austria, Hungary and the Ukraine would not be in the Ottoman Empire and therefore ultimately would not be Near Eastern.
The term Near East was in use exclusively during the 2nd half of the 19th century. In the 1st half of the 20th century it began to share the geographical stage with the term, Middle East. Since then Near East and Middle East have been approximately synonymous. Near East is used in some historic contexts and Middle East in others with no major semantic difference.
At the beginning of the 19th century the Ottoman empire included all of the Balkan Peninsula north to the southern edge of the Hungarian plain, but by 1914 had lost all of it except Constantinople to the expansion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the independence of Greece and various smaller wars of independence resulting in the creation of "the Balkan States". Some of these states were independent and some were still nominally under the Ottomans although occupied by Austro-Hungarian troops. Up until 1912 the Ottomans retained a band of territory including Albania, Macedonia and Thrace, which were lost in the two Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913.
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New Kalabsha
Coordinates: 23°57′39″N 32°52′2″E / 23.96083°N 32.86722°E / 23.96083; 32.86722
New Kalabsha is a promontory located near Aswan in Egypt. It houses several important temples, structures, and other remains that have been relocated here from the site of Old Kalabsha (Arabic: Bab al-Kalabsha, "Gate of Kalabsha;" Ancient Greek: Ταλμις, Talmis) to avoid the rising waters of Lake Nasser caused by the construction of the Aswan High Dam. The major remains are described below:
The Temple of Kalabsha (or Temple of Mandulis) is the major structure in New Kalabsha. The entire Roman Period temple to the sun god Mandulis was relocated here in 1970. It was built by Emperor Augustus and was the largest free-standing temple of Egyptian Nubia. During relocation, the temple was cut into 13,000 blocks.
The temple of Gerf Hussein (originally known as Per Ptah, the "House of Ptah") is dedicated to Ramesses II and was built by the Viceroy of Nubia Setau. Originally, it was partially free-standing and partially rock-cut. During the flooding of Lake Nasser, the free-standing section was dismantled and then rebuilt at New Kalabsha. Most of the rock-cut temple was left in place and is now submerged beneath the waters.
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Nola
Nola is a city and comune of Campania, southern Italy, in the province of Naples, situated in the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines. It is served by the Circumvesuviana railway from Naples.
Nola in Bronze Age times was the site of a settlement that has yielded evidence of the destructive power of an eruption by Mount Vesuvius between 1700 BC and 1600 BC (the Avellino eruption). Excavations revealed extensive evidence of a small village abandoned quickly by its occupants at the time of the eruption so that a wide range of pottery and other artifacts were left behind to survive with the imprint of buildings in the mud from the eruption.
Called Nuvlana on the most ancient coins, it was one of the oldest cities of Campania: it is said to have been founded by the Ausones. The latter were certainly in Nola about 560 BC. When it sent assistance to Naples against the Roman invasion (328 BC) it was probably occupied by the Oscans in alliance with the Samnites. In the Samnite War (311 BC) the town was taken by the Romans, while in the Second Punic War it thrice offered defiance to Hannibal (first, second, and third Battle of Nola) and on two occasions (215 and 214) it was defended by Marcellus. In the Social War it was given by treason into the hands of the Samnites, who kept it until Marius, with whom they had sided, was defeated by Sulla, who in 80 BC subjected it together with the rest of Samnium. Seven years later it was stormed by Spartacus, for which reason Augustus and Vespasian sent colonies there.
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Nîmes
Coordinates: 43°50′16″N 4°21′39″E / 43.8378°N 4.3608°E / 43.8378; 4.3608
Nîmes (/niːm/; French: [nim]; Provençal Occitan: Nimes) is the capital of the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire, and is a popular tourist destination.
The city derives its name from that of a spring in the Roman village. The contemporary coat of arms of the city of Nîmes includes a crocodile chained to a palm tree with the inscription COLNEM, for Colonia Nemausus, meaning the "colony" or "settlement" of Nemausus, the local Celtic god of the Volcae Arecomici. Veterans of the Roman legions who had served Julius Caesar in his Nile campaigns, at the end of fifteen years of soldiering, were given plots of land to cultivate on the plain of Nîmes.
The city was located on the Via Domitia, a Roman road constructed in 118 BC which connected Italy to Spain.
The site on which the built-up area of Nîmes has become established in the course of centuries is part of the edge of the alluvial plain of the Vistrenque River which butts up against low hills: to the northeast, Mont Duplan; to the southwest, Montaury; to the west, Mt. Cavalier and the knoll of Canteduc.
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Palatine Hill
The Palatine Hill (Latin: Collis Palatium or Mons Palatinus) is the centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city. It stands 40 metres above the Forum Romanum, looking down upon it on one side, and upon the Circus Maximus on the other.
It is the etymological origin of the word "palace" and its cognates in other languages (Italian "Palazzo", French "Palais" etc.).
According to Roman mythology, the Palatine Hill was the location of the cave, known as the Lupercal, where Romulus and Remus were found by the she-wolf that kept them alive. According to this legend, the shepherd Faustulus found the infants, and with his wife Acca Larentia raised the children. When they were older, the boys killed their great-uncle (who seized the throne from their grandfather), and they both decided to build a new city of their own on the banks of the River Tiber. Suddenly, they had a violent argument with each other and in the end Romulus killed his twin brother Remus. This is how "Rome" got its name - from Romulus. Another legend to occur on the Palatine is Hercules' defeat of Cacus after the monster had stolen some cattle. Hercules struck Cacus with his characteristic club so hard that it formed a cleft on the southeast corner of the hill, where later a staircase bearing the name of Cacus was constructed.[citation needed]
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Paris
Coordinates: 48°51′24″N 2°21′03″E / 48.8567°N 2.3508°E / 48.8567; 2.3508
Paris (i/ˈpærɨs/; French: [paʁi] ( listen)) is the capital and largest city of France. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region (or Paris Region, French: Région parisienne). As of January 2008 the city of Paris, within its administrative limits (the 20 arrondissements) largely unchanged since 1860, has an estimated population of 2,211,297 and a metropolitan population of 12,089,098, and is one of the most populated metropolitan areas in Europe. Paris was the largest city in the Western world for about 1,000 years, prior to the 19th century, and the largest in the entire world between the 16th and 19th centuries.
Paris is today one of the world's leading business and cultural centres, and its influences in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities. It hosts the headquarters of many international organizations such as UNESCO, the OECD, the International Chamber of Commerce or the European Space Agency. Paris is considered one of the greenest and most liveable cities in Europe. It is also one of the most expensive.
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Parthian Empire
The Parthian (pronounced /ˈpɑrθiən/) Empire (247 BC – 224 AD), also known as the Arsacid (/ˈɑrsəsɪd/) Empire (Modern Persian: اشکانیان Ashkāniān), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Persia. Its latter name comes from Arsaces I of Parthia who, as leader of the Parni tribe, founded it in the mid-3rd century BC when he conquered the Parthia region in Iran's northeast, then a satrapy (province) in rebellion against the Seleucid Empire. Mithridates I of Parthia (r. c. 171–138 BC) greatly expanded the empire by seizing Media and Mesopotamia from the Seleucids. At its height, the Parthian Empire stretched from the northern reaches of the Euphrates, in what is now south-eastern Turkey, to eastern Iran. The empire, located on the Silk Road trade route between the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean Basin and Han Empire of China, became a center of trade and commerce.
The Parthians largely adopted the art, architecture, religious beliefs, and royal insignia of their culturally heterogeneous empire, which encompassed Persian, Hellenistic, and regional cultures. For about the first half of its existence, the Arsacid court adopted elements of Greek culture, though it eventually saw a gradual revival of Iranian traditions. The Arsacid rulers were titled the "King of Kings", as a claim to be the heirs to the Achaemenid Empire; indeed, they accepted many local kings as vassals where the Achaemenids would have had centrally appointed, albeit largely autonomous, satraps. The court did appoint a small number of satraps, largely outside Iran, but these satrapies were smaller and less powerful than the Achaemenid potentates. With the expansion of Arsacid power, the seat of central government shifted from Nisa, Turkmenistan to Ctesiphon along the Tigris (south of modern Baghdad, Iraq), although several other sites also served as capitals.
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Peloponnese
The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus (Greek: Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnisos; see also list of Greek place names), is a large peninsula, located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth. During the late Middle Ages and the Ottoman era, the peninsula was known as the Morea (Greek: Μωρέας, colloq. Μωριάς), a name still in colloquial use.
The peninsula is divided among three regions of Greece: most of it belongs to the Peloponnese region, and parts belong to the West Greece and Attica regions.
It was here that the Greek War of Independence began; the Peloponnesians have had an almost total dominance of politics and government in Greece since then.
The Peloponnese covers an area of some 21,549.6 km² (8,320 square miles) and constitutes the southernmost part of mainland Greece. While technically it may be considered an island, since the construction of the Corinth Canal in 1893 – like other peninsulas that have been separated from their mainland by man-made bodies of waters – it is rarely, if ever, referred to as an "island". It has two land connections with the rest of Greece, a natural one at the Isthmus of Corinth, and an artificial one in the shape of the Rio-Antirio bridge (completed 2004).
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Perugia
Perugia (Italian pronunciation: [peˈruːdʒa] ( listen); (Latin: Perusia) is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about 164 kilometres (102 mi) north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area.
The history of Perugia goes back to the Etruscan period. The city is also known as a university town, with the University of Perugia (about 34,000 students), the University for Foreigners (5,000 students), and some smaller colleges, also. There are annual festivals and events: the Eurochocolate Festival (October), the Umbria Jazz Festival, and the International Journalism Festival (in April).
Perugia is a well-known artistic centre of Italy. The famous painter Pietro Vannucci, nicknamed Perugino, was a native of Città della Pieve near Perugia. He decorated the local Sala del Cambio with a beautiful series of frescoes; eight of his pictures can also be admired in the National Gallery of Umbria. Perugino was the teacher of Raphael, the great Renaissance artist who produced five paintings in Perugia (today no longer in the city) and one fresco. Another famous painter, Pinturicchio, lived in Perugia. Galeazzo Alessi is the most famous architect from Perugia. The city symbol is the griffin, which can be seen in the form of plaques and statues on buildings around the city.
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Portugal
Portugali/ˈpɔrtʃʉɡəl/ (Portuguese: Portugal, IPA: [puɾtuˈɣaɫ]), officially the Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: República Portuguesa) is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula . Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira are part of Portugal. The country is named after its second largest city, Porto, whose Latin name was Portus Cale.
The land within the borders of the current Portuguese Republic has been continuously settled since prehistoric times: occupied by Celts like the Gallaeci and the Lusitanians, integrated into the Roman Republic and later settled by Germanic peoples such as the Suebi, Swabians, Vandals and the Visigoths. In the 8th century most of the Iberian Peninsula was conquered by Moorish invaders professing Islam, which were later expelled by the Knights Templar under the Order of Christ. During the Christian Reconquista, Portugal established itself as an independent kingdom from León in 1139, claiming to be the oldest European nation state.
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Roman forum
Coordinates: 41°53′32″N 12°29′07″E / 41.8922°N 12.4852°E / 41.8922; 12.4852
The Roman Forum (Latin: Forum Romanum, Italian: Foro Romano) is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum.
It was for centuries the center of Roman public life: the site of triumphal processions and elections, venue for public speeches, criminal trials, and gladiatorial matches, and nucleus of commercial affairs. Here statues and monuments commemorated the city's great men. The teeming heart of ancient Rome, it has been called the most celebrated meeting place in the world, and in all history. Located in the small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, the Forum today is a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments and intermittent archeological excavations attracting numerous sightseers.
Many of the oldest and most important structures of the ancient city were located on or near the Forum. The Roman kingdom's earliest shrines and temples were located on the southeastern edge. These included the ancient former royal residence, the Regia (8th century BC), and the Temple of Vesta (7th century BC), as well as the surrounding complex of the Vestal Virgins, all of which were rebuilt after the rise of imperial Rome.
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Roman Forum
Coordinates: 41°53′32″N 12°29′07″E / 41.8922°N 12.4852°E / 41.8922; 12.4852
The Roman Forum (Latin: Forum Romanum, Italian: Foro Romano) is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum.
It was for centuries the center of Roman public life: the site of triumphal processions and elections, venue for public speeches, criminal trials, and gladiatorial matches, and nucleus of commercial affairs. Here statues and monuments commemorated the city's great men. The teeming heart of ancient Rome, it has been called the most celebrated meeting place in the world, and in all history. Located in the small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, the Forum today is a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments and intermittent archeological excavations attracting numerous sightseers.
Many of the oldest and most important structures of the ancient city were located on or near the Forum. The Roman kingdom's earliest shrines and temples were located on the southeastern edge. These included the ancient former royal residence, the Regia (8th century BC), and the Temple of Vesta (7th century BC), as well as the surrounding complex of the Vestal Virgins, all of which were rebuilt after the rise of imperial Rome.
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Rome
Rome (/ˈroʊm/; Italian: Roma pronounced [ˈroːma] ( listen); Latin: Rōma) is a city and special comune ("Roma Capitale") in Italy. Rome is the capital of Italy and the capital of Lazio (Latin: Latium). With 2.8 million residents in 1,285.3 km2 (496.3 sq mi), it is also the country's largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. Between 3.2 and 3.7 million people live in the Rome metropolitan area. The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.
Rome's history spans two and a half thousand years. It was the capital city of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, which was the dominant power in Western Europe and the lands bordering the Mediterranean for over seven hundred years from the 1st century BC until the 7th century AD and the city is regarded as one of the birthplaces of western civilization. Since the 1st century AD Rome has been the seat of the Papacy and, after the end of Byzantine domination, in the 8th century it became the capital of the Papal States, which lasted until 1870. In 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic.
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Rostra
The Rōstra (Italian: Rostri) was a large platform built in the city of Rome that stood during the republican and imperial periods. Speakers would stand on the rostra and face the north side of the comitium towards the senate house and deliver orations to those assembled in between. It is often referred to as a suggestus or tribunal, the first form of which dates back to the Roman Kingdom, the Volcanal.
It derives its name from the six rōstra (plural of rōstrum, a warship's ram) which were captured during the victory at Antium in 338 BC and mounted to its side. Originally, the term meant a single structure located within the Comitium space near the Forum and usually associated with the Senate Cūria. It began to be referred to as the Rōstra Vetera ("Elder Rōstra") in the imperial age to distinguish it from other later platforms designed for similar purposes which took the name "Rōstra" along with its builder's name or the person it honored.
Magistrates, politicians, advocates and other orators spoke to the assembled people of Rome from this highly honored, and elevated spot. Consecrated by the Augurs as a templum, the original Rostra was built as early as the 6th century BC. This Rostra was replaced and enlarged a number of times but remained in the same site for centuries.
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Samos
Samos (Greek: Σάμος) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of Asia Minor, from which it is separated by the 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi)-wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate regional unit of the North Aegean region, and the only municipality of the regional unit.
In ancient times Samos was a particularly rich and powerful city-state. It is home to Pythagoreion and the Heraion of Samos, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that includes the Eupalinian aqueduct, a marvel of ancient engineering. Samos is the birthplace of the Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras, after whom the Pythagorean theorem is named, the philosopher Epicurus, and the astronomer Aristarchus of Samos, the first known individual to propose that the Earth revolves around the sun. Samian wine was well known in antiquity, and is still produced on the island.
The island was an autonomous principality from 1835 until it joined Greece in 1912.
The area of the island is 478 km2 (184.6 sq mi) 43 km (27 mi) long and 13 km (8 mi) wide. It is separated from Anatolia, by the approximately 1 mile (1.6 km)-wide Mycale Strait. While largely mountainous, Samos has several relatively large and fertile plains.
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Sardinia
Sardinia ( /sɑrˈdɪniə/, Italian: Sardegna [sarˈdeɲɲa], Sardinian: Sardigna [sarˈdinja]) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily and before Cyprus). It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are (clockwise from north) the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.
The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[], romanised as sardus (feminine sarda); that the name had a religious connotation is suggested from its use also as the adjective for the ancient Sardinian mythological hero-god Sardus Pater "Sardinian Father" (misunderstood by many modern Sardinians/Italians as being "Father Sardus"), as well as being the stem of the adjective "sardonic". Sardinia was called Ichnusa (the Latinised form of the Greek Hyknousa), Sandalion, Sardinia and Sardo by the ancient Greeks and the Romans.
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 23,821 km². It is situated between 38° 51' and 41° 15' latitude north and 8° 8' and 9° 50' east longitude. To the west of Sardinia is the Sea of Sardinia, a unit of the Mediterranean Sea; to Sardinia's east is the Tyrrhenian Sea, which is also an element of the Mediterranean Sea.
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Scotland
Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Alba ([ˈalˠ̪apə] listen (help·info))) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. In addition to the mainland, Scotland constitutes over 790 islands including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.
Edinburgh, the country's capital and second largest city, is one of Europe's largest financial centres. Edinburgh was the hub of the Scottish Enlightenment of the 18th century, which transformed Scotland into one of the commercial, intellectual and industrial powerhouses of Europe. Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, was once one of the world's leading industrial cities and now lies at the centre of the Greater Glasgow conurbation. Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third largest city in Scotland, the title of Europe's oil capital.
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Sicily
Sicily (Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia, [siˈtʃiːlja]; [sɪˈɕilja]) is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea; along with surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana (Sicilian Autonomous Region).
Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean. It extends from the tip of the Apennine peninsula from which it is separated only by the narrow Strait of Messina, towards the North African coast. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, which is at 3,320 m (10,890 ft) the tallest active volcano in Europe and one of the most active in the world. The island has a typical Mediterranean climate.
The earliest archeological evidence of human dwelling on the island dates from 8000 BC. At around 750 BC, Sicily became a Greek colony and for the next 600 years it was the site of the Greek-Punic and Roman-Punic wars, which ended with the Roman destruction of Carthage. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, Sicily often changed hands, and during the early Middle Ages it was ruled in turn by the Vandals, Ostrogoths, Byzantines, Arabs and Normans. Later on, the Kingdom of Sicily lasted between 1130 and 1816, subordinated to the crowns of Aragon, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and finally the Bourbons, as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. It was united with the rest of Italy in 1860, but a subsequent economic collapse led to a wave of emigration, separatism, and the emergence of the Mafia, whose criminal activities pose problems to this day. After the birth of the Italian Republic in 1946, Sicily was given special status as an autonomous region.
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Sicyon
Sikyon (Greek: Σικυών; gen.: Σικυῶνος) was an ancient Greek city situated in the northern Peloponnesus between Corinth and Achaea on the territory of the present-day prefecture of Corinthia. The king-list given by Pausanias comprises twenty-four kings, beginning with the autochthonous Aegialeus. The penultimate king of the list, Agamemnon, compels the submission of Sicyon to Mycenae; after him comes the Dorian usurper Phalces. Pausanias shares his source with Castor of Rhodes, who used the king-list in compiling tables of history; the common source was convincingly identified by F. Jacoby as a lost Sicyonica by the late fourth-century poet Menaechmus of Sicyon.
Sicyon was built on a low triangular plateau about two miles from the Corinthian Gulf. Between the city and its port lay a fertile plain with olive groves and orchards. After the Dorian invasion the community was divided into the ordinary three Dorian tribes and an equally privileged tribe of Ionians, besides which a class of serfs lived on and worked the land.
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Spain
Spain (i/ˈspeɪn/ SPAYN; Spanish: España, pronounced: [esˈpaɲa] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a sovereign state and a member of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar; to the north and north east by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the northwest and west by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal.
Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast, and two autonomous cities in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, that border Morocco. Furthermore, the town of Llívia is a Spanish exclave situated inside French territory. With an area of 504,030 square kilometres (194,610 sq mi), it is the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union after France, and the fourth largest country in Europe after Russia, Ukraine and France.
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Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu /ˈtæmɨl ˈnɑːduː/ (Tamiḻ Nāṭu [t̪amɨɭ naːɖɯ] ( listen)) is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital is Chennai, the largest city. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. It is bound by the Eastern Ghats in the north, the Nilgiri, the Anamalai Hills, and Palakkad on the west, by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Gulf of Mannar, the Palk Strait in the south east, and by the Indian Ocean in the south.
Tamil Nadu is the eleventh largest state in India by area and the seventh most populous state. It is the fourth largest contributor (as of 2010) to India's GDP and ranks tenth in Human Development Index as of 2006. Tamil Nadu is also the most urbanised state in India. The state has the highest number (10.56%) of business enterprises and stands second in total employment (9.97%) in India, compared to the population share of about 6%.
The region has been the home of the Tamil people since at least 500 BCE. Its official language Tamil has been in use in inscriptions and literature for over 2000 years. Tamil Nadu is home to many natural resources, Hindu temples of Dravidian architecture, hill stations, beach resorts, multi-religious pilgrimage sites and eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
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Taranto
Taranto (Italian pronunciation: [ˈtaːranto] ( listen); Latin: Tarentum; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς Tarās; Modern Greek: Τάραντας Tarantas; Tarantino "Tarde") is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto and is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base.
It is the third-largest continental city of Southern Italy: according to 2010 estimates, it has a population of 195 882.
Taranto is an important commercial and military port. It has well-developed steel and iron foundries, oil refineries, chemical works, some shipyards for building warships, and food-processing factories.
Taranto's pre-history dates back to 706 BC when it was founded as a Greek colony. The ancient city was situated on a peninsula on which the modern city has been built over the ancient Greek city of which only a few ruins remain including part of the city wall, two temple columns dating to the 6th century BC and tombs.
The islets of S. Pietro and S. Paolo (St. Peter and St. Paul) protect the bay, called Mar Grande (Big Sea), where the commercial port is located. Another bay, called Mar Piccolo (Little Sea), is formed by the peninsula of the old city, and has flourishing fishing. Mar Piccolo is a military port with strategic importance.
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Temple of Caesar
Coordinates: 41°53′31″N 12°29′10″E / 41.891943°N 12.486246°E / 41.891943; 12.486246
The Temple of Caesar or Temple of Divus Iulius (Latin Aedes Divi Iuli or Templum Divi Iuli, Italian Tempio del Divo Giulio) also known as Temple of the Deified Julius Caesar, delubrum, heroon or Temple of the Comet Star, is an ancient structure in the Roman Forum of Rome, Italy, located near the Regia and the Temple of Vesta.
It was begun by Augustus in 42 BC after the senate deified Julius Caesar posthumously. Augustus dedicated the prostyle temple (it is still unknown if it was Ionic, Corinthian or Composite) to Caesar (his adoptive father) on August 18, 29 BC, after the Battle of Actium. It stands on the east side of the main square of the Roman Forum (Forum), between the Regia, Temple of Castor and Pollux and the Basilica Aemilia, on the site of Caesar's cremation (Caesar's testament was read at the funeral by Mark Antony).
Caesar was the first resident of Rome to be deified and so honored with a temple. A fourth flamen maior was dedicated to him after 44 BC and Mark Antony was appointed as his flamen.
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Theatre of Marcellus
The Theatre of Marcellus (Latin: Theatrum Marcelli, Italian: Teatro di Marcello) is an ancient open-air theatre in Rome, Italy, built in the closing years of the Roman Republic. At the theatre, locals and visitors alike were able to watch performances of drama and song. Today its ancient edifice in the rione of Sant'Angelo, Rome, once again provides one of the city's many popular spectacles or tourist sites. It was named after Marcus Marcellus, Emperor Augustus's nephew, who died five years before its completion. Space for the theatre was cleared by Julius Caesar, who was murdered before it could be begun; the theatre was so far advanced by 17 BC that part of the celebration of the ludi saeculares took place within the theatre; it was completed in 13 BC and formally inaugurated in 12 BC by Augustus.
The theatre was 111 m in diameter; it could originally hold 11,000 spectators. It was an impressive example of what was to become one of the most pervasive urban architectural forms of the Roman world. The theatre was built mainly of tuff, and concrete faced with stones in the pattern known as opus reticulatum, completely sheathed in white travertine. The network of arches, corridors, tunnels and ramps that gave access to the interiors of such Roman theaters were normally ornamented with a screen of engaged columns in Greek orders: Doric at the base, Ionic in the middle. It is believed that Corinthian columns were used for the upper level but this is uncertain as the theater was reconstructed in the Middle Ages, removing the top tier of seating and the columns.
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Theatre of Pompey
The Theatre of Pompey (Latin: Theatrum Pompeium, Italian: Teatro di Pompeo) was a structure in Ancient Rome built during the later part of the Roman Republican era. It was completed in seven years, starting from 55 BC, and was dedicated early in 52 BC before the structure was fully completed. It was one of the first permanent (non-wooden) theatres in Rome. The building itself was a part of a multi-use complex that included a large quadriporticus directly behind the Scaenae frons. Inclosed by the large columned porticos was an expansive garden complex of fountains and statues. Along the stretch of covered arcade were rooms dedicated to the exposition of art and other works collected by Pompey Magnus during his campaigns.
On the opposite end of the garden complex was a curia for political meetings. The senate would often use this building along with a number of temples and halls that satisfied the requirements for their formal meetings. This is infamous as the place of Julius Caesar's murder by the Liberatores of the Roman Senate and elite.
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Thurii
Thurii (Ancient Greek: Θούριοι), called also by some Latin writers Thurium (compare Θούριον in Ptolemy), for a time also Copia and Copiae, was a city of Magna Graecia, situated on the Tarentine gulf, within a short distance of the site of Sybaris, whose place it may be considered as having taken. Its location is in the frazione of Thurio, comune of Corigliano Calabro, in the Province of Cosenza, Calabria region, Italy.
Thurii was one of the latest of all the Greek colonies in this part of Italy, not having been founded until nearly 70 years after the fall of Sybaris. The site of that city had remained desolate for a period of 58 years after its destruction by the Crotoniats; when at length, in 452 BC, a number of the Sybarite exiles and their descendants made an attempt to establish themselves again on the spot, under the guidance of some leaders of Thessalian origin; and the new colony rose so rapidly to prosperity that it excited the jealousy of the Crotoniats, who, in consequence, expelled the new settlers a little more than 5 years after the establishment of the colony. The fugitive Sybarites first appealed for support to Sparta, but without success: their application to the Athenians was more successful, and that people determined to send out a fresh colony, at the same time that they reinstated the settlers who had been lately expelled from thence. A body of Athenian colonists was accordingly sent out by Pericles, under the command of Lampon and Xenocritus; but the number of Athenian citizens was small, the greater part of those who took part in the colony being collected from various parts of Greece. Among them were two celebrated names – Herodotus the historian, and the orator Lysias, both of whom appear to have formed part of the original colony. The laws of the new colony were established by the sophist Protagoras at the request of Pericles.
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Velletri
Velletri ([velˈleːtri]; Latin Velitrae) is an Italian town of 53,298 inhabitants. It is a comune in the province of Rome, on the Alban Hills, in Lazio (Latium) - Italy. It is bounded by other communes of Rocca di Papa, Lariano, Cisterna di Latina, Artena, Aprilia, Nemi, Genzano di Roma, Lanuvio. Its motto is: Est mihi libertas papalis et imperialis.
It was an ancient city of the Volsci tribe, and its status was influential in the time of King Ancus Marcius, enough to be on a par with Rome and has been the site of two historical battles in 1744 and 1849. In the Middle Ages it was one of the few “free cities” in Lazio and central Italy.
Today, Velletri is home to a circuit court and a prison, in addition to several colleges and high schools. It is the terminus of the Rome-Velletri railway, inaugurated by Pius IX in 1863, and the city is one of the centers through which the Via Appia Nuova passes through.
The territory of Velletri stretches between two distinct areas. The northern part is situated on the southern foothills of the Colli Albani range and was geologically formed about 150,000 years ago, after the collapse of the Volcano Laziale caldera. The southern boundary forms around Agro Pontino, whose reclamation started at the time of Pope Pius VI and was accomplished during the regime of Benito Mussolini.
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Aemilianus
Aemilianus (Latin: Marcus Aemilius Aemilianus Augustus; c. 207/213 – 253), also known as Aemilian, was Roman Emperor for three months in 253.
Commander of the Moesian troops, he obtained an important victory against the invading Goths and was, for this reason, acclaimed Emperor by his army. He then moved quickly to Italy, where he defeated Emperor Trebonianus Gallus, only to be killed by his own men when another general, Valerian, proclaimed himself Emperor and moved against Aemilian with a larger army.
Aemilian was born in the Roman province of Africa. According to the 4th century source Epitome de Caesaribus, he was born at Girba (modern Djerba, an island off the coast of Tunisia) and was a Moor; a reference in the same source hints that he was born around 207. The 12th century historian Joannes Zonaras, who calls him a Libyan (that is, coming from western Egypt-eastern Libya) rather than a Moor, and another chronicle of the 13th century hold that he was forty at the time of his death in 253.
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Aeneas
In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas ( /ɪˈniːəs/; Greek: Αἰνείας, Aineías, derived from Greek Αἰνή meaning "to praise") was a Trojan hero, the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite. His father was the second cousin of King Priam of Troy, making Aeneas Priam's second cousin, once removed. The journey of Aeneas from Troy (with help from Aphrodite), which led to the founding of a hamlet south of Rome, is recounted in Virgil's Aeneid. He is considered an important figure in Greek and Roman legend. Aeneas is a character in Homer's Iliad, Quintus Smyrnaeus' Posthomerica, and Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida.
In the Iliad, Aeneas is the leader of the Trojans' Dardanian allies (Trojans — descendants of Dardanus), as well as a third cousin and principal lieutenant of Hector, son of the Trojan king Priam. In the poem, Aeneas' mother Aphrodite frequently comes to his aid on the battlefield; he is a favorite of Apollo. Aphrodite and Apollo rescue Aeneas from combat with Diomedes of Argos, who nearly kills him, and carry him away to Pergamos for healing. Even Poseidon, who normally favors the Greeks, comes to Aeneas' rescue after he falls under the assault of Achilles, noting that Aeneas, though from a junior branch of the royal family, is destined to become king of the Trojan people. Aeneas killed 28 people in the Trojan War.
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Agrippa Postumus
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus (26 June 12 BC – 20 August AD 14), also known as Agrippa Postumus or Postumus Agrippa, was a son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. His maternal grandparents were Roman Emperor Augustus and his second wife Scribonia.
Born after his father's death (hence the name), he was adopted by the emperor Augustus. For a period he was heir to the throne of Augustus, but in unclear circumstances he was arrested and exiled. Around the time of Augustus' death he was executed by his guards.
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus was born on June 26, 12 BC, the youngest of five children. His father Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa died before he was born. Augustus adopted two of his son-in-law's children, making sons of these grandchildren Gaius Caesar and Lucius Caesar. Postumus he left unadopted, so he could continue the family name.
However, upon the death of Lucius and then Gaius Caesar, Augustus finally decided to adopt both Postumus and his step-son Tiberius as his heirs, with Postumus first in the succession. As the designated heir, he became Marcus Julius Caesar Agrippa Postumus, while his step-brother Tiberius became "Tiberius Julius Caesar". The anxiety over who would follow in Augustus' footsteps naturally set up Postumus and Tiberius in opposition.
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Agrippina the Elder
Vipsania Agrippina or most commonly known as Agrippina Major or Agrippina the Elder (Major Latin for the elder, Classical Latin: AGRIPPINA•GERMANICI, 14 BC – 17 October 33) was a distinguished and prominent Roman woman of the first century AD. Agrippina was the wife of the general and statesman Germanicus and a relative to the first Roman Emperors.
She was the second granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus, sister-in-law, stepdaughter and daughter-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, mother of the Emperor Caligula, maternal second cousin and sister-in-law of the Emperor Claudius and the maternal grandmother of the Emperor Nero.
Agrippina was born as the second daughter and fourth child to Roman Statesman and Augustus’ ally Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. Agrippina’s mother Julia was the only natural child born to Augustus from his second marriage to noblewoman Scribonia.
Her father’s marriage to Julia was his third marriage. From Agrippa’s previous two marriages, Agrippina had two half-sisters: Vipsania Agrippina and Vipsania Marcella Agrippina. Vipsania Agrippina was Agrippa’s first daughter and first child from his first marriage to Pomponia Caecilia Attica. She became Tiberius's first wife and was the mother of his natural son Drusus Julius Caesar.
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Alexander Helios
Alexander Helios (Greek: ο Αλέξανδρος Ήλιος, 25 December 40 BC - possibly between 29 BC - 25 BC) was a Ptolemaic prince and was the eldest son of Greek Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and Roman triumvir Mark Antony. His twin was Cleopatra Selene II. He was of Greek and Roman heritage. Cleopatra named him Alexander in honour of her Macedonian heritage, and after her maternal grandfather. His second name in Ancient Greek means "Sun"; this was the counterpart of his twin sister’s second name Selene, meaning "Moon".
Alexander Helios was born and educated in Alexandria. He is the second oldest of Cleopatra's son, Caesarion being the oldest. In late 34 BC, at the Donations of Alexandria, he was given the title of "King of Kings". His parents also made him ruler of Armenia, Media, Parthia and any countries yet to be discovered between the Euphrates and Indus Rivers, despite the fact that most of this territory stood outside of their control at that time. These areas were, in fact, already ruled by Artaxias II of Armenia (who had been elected King that same year after Antony captured his father Artavasdes II), Artavasdes I of Media Atropatene and Phraates IV of Parthia. In 33 BC, Alexander was engaged to his distant relative Iotapa, a Princess of Media and daughter of Artavasdes I of Media Atropatene. However, Mark Antony and Cleopatra were defeated by Octavian at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. The next year, they committed suicide as Octavian and his army invaded Egypt. Iotapa left Egypt to return to her father and later married her maternal cousin King Mithridates III of Commagene, who was of Armenian and Greek descent.
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Alexander Severus
Severus Alexander (Latin: Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander Augustus; 1 October 208 – 18 or 19 March 235) was Roman Emperor from 222 to 235. Alexander was the last emperor of the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his cousin Elagabalus upon the latter's assassination in 222, and was ultimately assassinated himself, marking the epoch event for the Crisis of the Third Century — nearly fifty years of civil wars, foreign invasion, and collapse of the monetary economy.
Alexander was the heir apparent to his cousin, the eighteen-year-old Emperor who had been murdered along with his mother by his own guards, who, as a mark of contempt, had their remains cast into the Tiber river. He and his cousin were both grandsons of the influential and powerful Julia Maesa, who had arranged for Elagabalus' acclamation as emperor by the famed Third Gallic Legion. It was the rumor of Alexander's death that triggered the assassination of Elagabalus and his mother .
As emperor, Alexander's peace time reign was prosperous. In military conflict against the rising Sassanid Empire, there are mixed accounts, though the Sassanid threat was checked; however, when campaigning against Germanic tribes of Germania, Alexander apparently alienated his legions by engaging in diplomacy and bribery, and they assassinated him.
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Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon (20/21 July 356 – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great (Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας, Aléxandros ho Mégas from the Greek αλέξω alexo "to defend, help" + ανήρ aner "man"), was a king of Macedon, a state in northern ancient Greece. Born in Pella in 356 BC, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle until the age of 16. By the age of thirty, he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from the Ionian Sea to the Himalayas. He was undefeated in battle and is considered one of history's most successful commanders.
Alexander succeeded his father, Philip II of Macedon, to the throne in 336 BC after Philip was assassinated. Upon Philip's death, Alexander inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army. He was awarded the generalship of Greece and used this authority to launch his father's military expansion plans. In 334 BC, he invaded Persian-ruled Asia Minor and began a series of campaigns that lasted ten years. Alexander broke the power of Persia in a series of decisive battles, most notably the battles of Issus and Gaugamela. He subsequently overthrew the Persian King Darius III and conquered the entirety of the Persian Empire. At that point, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River.
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Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus (Greek: Ἀλέξιος Α' Κομνηνός, 1056 – 15 August 1118—note that some sources list his date of birth as 1048), was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118, and although he was not the founder of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power. The title 'Nobilissimus' was given to senior army commanders, the future emperor Alexios I Komnenos being the first to be thus honoured. Inheriting a collapsing empire and faced with constant warfare during his reign against both the Seljuq Turks in Asia Minor and the Normans in the western Balkans, Alexios was able to halt the Byzantine decline and begin the military, financial, and territorial recovery known as the Komnenian restoration. His appeals to Western Europe for help against the Turks were also the catalyst that triggered the Crusades.
Alexios was the son of Ioannis Komnenos and Anna Dalassena, and the nephew of Isaac I Komnenos (emperor 1057–1059). Alexios' father declined the throne on the abdication of Isaac, who was accordingly succeeded by four emperors of other families between 1059 and 1081. Under one of these emperors, Romanos IV Diogenes (1067–1071), Alexios served with distinction against the Seljuq Turks. Under Michael VII Doukas Parapinakes (1071–1078) and Nikephoros III Botaneiates (1078–1081), he was also employed, along with his elder brother Isaac, against rebels in Asia Minor, Thrace, and in Epirus.
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Alexios II Komnenos
Alexios II Komnenos or Alexius II Comnenus (Greek: Αλέξιος Β’ Κομνηνός, Alexios II Komnēnos) (10 September 1169 – 24 September 1183, Constantinople), Byzantine emperor (1180–1183), was the son of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos and Maria, daughter of Raymond, prince of Antioch. He was the long-awaited male heir, and was named Alexius as a fulfilment of the AIMA prophecy.
On Manuel's death in 1180, Maria, who became a nun under the name Xene, took the position of regent (according to some historians). She excluded her young son from power, entrusting it instead to Alexios the prōtosebastos (a cousin of Alexios II), who was popularly believed to be her lover. Friends of the young Alexios II now tried to form a party against the empress mother and the prōtosebastos; Alexios II's half-sister Maria, wife of Caesar John (Renier of Montferrat), stirred up riots in the streets of the capital.
Their party was defeated (May 2, 1182), but Andronikos Komnenos, a first cousin of Emperor Manuel, took advantage of these disorders to aim at the crown, entered Constantinople, where he was received with almost divine honours, and overthrew the government. His arrival was celebrated by a massacre of 80,000 Latins in Constantinople, especially the Venetian merchants, which he made no attempt to stop. He allowed Alexios II to be crowned, but was responsible for the death of most of the young emperor's actual or potential defenders, including his mother, his half-sister and the Caesar, and refused to allow him the smallest voice in public affairs.
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Alexios III Angelos
Alexios III Angelos (Greek: Αλέξιος Γ' Άγγελος) (c. 1153–1211) was Byzantine Emperor from 1195 to 1203.
Alexios III Angelos was the second son of Andronikos Angelos and Euphrosyne Kastamonitissa. Andronicus was himself a son of Theodora Komnene Angelina, the youngest daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Irene Doukaina. Thus Alexios Angelos was a member of the extended imperial family. Together with his father and brothers, Alexios had conspired against Emperor Andronikos I Komnenos (c. 1183), and thus he spent several years in exile in Muslim courts, including that of Saladin.
His younger brother Isaac was threatened with execution under orders of their first-cousin once-removed Andronikos I Komnenos on September 11, 1185. Isaac made a desperate attack on the imperial agents and killed their leader Stephen Hagiochristophorites. He then took refuge in the church of Hagia Sophia and from there appealed to the populace. His actions provoked a riot, which resulted in the deposition of Andronikos I and the proclamation of Isaac as Emperor. Alexios was now closer to the imperial throne than ever before.
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Alexios IV Angelos
Alexios IV Angelos (or Alexius IV Angelus) (Greek: Αλέξιος Δ' Άγγελος) (c. 1182 – February 8, 1204) was Byzantine Emperor from August 1203 to January 1204. He was the son of Emperor Isaac II Angelus and his first wife Irene. His paternal uncle was Emperor Alexius III Angelus.
The young Alexios was imprisoned in 1195 when Alexios III overthrew Isaac II in a coup. In 1201, two Pisan merchants were employed to smuggle Alexius out of Constantinople to the Holy Roman Empire, where he took refuge with his brother-in-law Philip of Swabia,King of Germany.
While there he met with Marquis Boniface of Montferrat, Philip's cousin, who had been chosen to lead the Fourth Crusade, but had temporarily left the Crusade during the siege of Zara to visit Philip. Boniface and Alexios discussed diverting the Crusade to Constantinople so that Alexios could be restored to his father's throne; in return, Alexios would give them 10,000 Byzantine soldiers to help fight in the Crusade, maintain 500 knights in the Holy Land, the service of the Byzantine navy (20 ships) in transporting the Crusader army to Egypt, as well as money to pay off the Crusaders' debt to the Republic of Venice with 200,000 silver marks. Additionally, he promised to bring the Greek Orthodox Church under the authority of the pope. Alexios accompanied Boniface back to the Crusader fleet, which had moved on to Corcyra, and the Venetians were in favour of the plan when they learned of it. In 1202 the fleet arrived at Constantinople. Alexios was paraded outside the walls, but the citizens were apathetic, as Alexios III, though a usurper and illegitimate in the eyes of the westerners, was an acceptable emperor for the Byzantine citizens.
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Alexios V Doukas
Alexios V Doukas, surnamed Mourtzouphlos (Greek: Ἀλέξιος Δούκας Μούρτζουφλος, d. December 1205, Constantinople) was Byzantine Emperor (5 February – 12 April 1204) during the second and final siege of Constantinople by the participants of the Fourth Crusade. He was related to the imperial Doukas family.
His nickname "Mourtzouphlos" referred to either his bushy, overhanging eyebrows or his sullen character. The term has the meaning of one being crestfallen, depressed, despondent, downcast, gloomy, sullen and evidently frowning, scowling.
A Byzantine nobleman, he had risen to the court position of protovestiarios by the time of the Fourth Crusade. He had been married twice but was now allegedly the lover of Eudokia Angelina, a daughter of Emperor Alexios III Angelos. His participation in the attempted usurpation of John Komnenos the Fat in 1200 had caused him to be imprisoned until the accession of Isaac II Angelos, who was restored to the throne after having been deposed and imprisoned by his brother Alexios III, and his son Alexios IV Angelos, who were placed on the throne by the intervention of the Fourth Crusade in July 1203.
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Anastasios II
Artemius Anastasius (Greek: Ἀρτέμιος Ἀναστάσιος Β΄), known in English as Anastasios II or Anastasius II, (died 719), was the Byzantine Emperor from 713 to 715.
Anastasios was originally named Artemios (Ἀρτέμιος), and had served as a bureaucrat and Imperial secretary for his predecessors. After the Opsikian army in Thrace had overthrown Emperor Philippicus, they acclaimed Artemius as Emperor. He chose Anastasius as his regnal name. Soon after his accession, Anastasius II imposed discipline on the army and executed those officers who had been directly involved in the conspiracy against Philippicus.
Anastasios upheld the decisions of the Sixth Ecumenical Council and deposed the Monothelete Patriarch John VI of Constantinople, replacing him with the orthodox Patriarch Germanus in 715. This also put an end to the short-lived local schism with the Catholic Church.
The Empire was threatened by the Arabs both by land and sea (they penetrated as far as Galatia in 714), and Anastasios attempted to restore peace by diplomatic means. His emissaries having failed in Damascus, he undertook the restoration of Constantinople's walls and the construction of a new fleet. However, the death of the Caliph al-Walid I in 715 gave Anastasius an opportunity to turn the tables on the enemy. He had his fleet concentrate on Rhodes with orders not only to resist the approach of the enemy, but to destroy their naval stores, and dispatched an army under Leo the Isaurian, afterwards emperor, to invade Syria.
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Ancus Marcius
Ancus Marcius (r. 640 BC – 616 BC) was the legendary fourth of the Kings of Rome. He was the son of Marcius (whose father, also named Marcius, had been a close friend of Numa Pompilius) and Pompilia (daughter of Numa Pompilius). According to Festus, Marcius had the surname of Ancus from his crooked arm.
Upon the death of the previous king, Tullus Hostilius, the Roman Senate appointed an interrex, who in turn called a session of the assembly of the people who elected the new king.
According to Livy, his first act as king was to order the Pontifex Maximus to copy the text concerning the performance of public ceremonies of religion from the commentaries of Numa Pompilius to be displayed to the public, so that the rites of religion should no longer be neglected or improperly performed.
He waged war successfully against the Latins, and a number of them were settled on the Aventine Hill.
According to Livy the war was commenced by the Latins who anticipated Ancus would follow the pious pursuit of peace adopted by his grandfather, Numa Pompilius. The Latins initially made an incursion on Roman lands. When a Roman embassy sought restitution for the damage, the Latins gave a contemptuous reply. Ancus accordingly declared war on the Latins. The declaration is notable since, according to Livy, it was the first time that the Romans had declared war by means of the rites of the fetials.
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Anthemius
Procopius Anthemius (c. 420 – 11 July 472) was Western Roman Emperor from 467 to 472.
Perhaps the last capable Western Roman Emperor, Anthemius attempted to solve the two primary military challenges facing the remains of the Western Roman Empire: the resurgent Visigoths, under Euric, whose domain straddled the Pyrenees; and the unvanquished Vandals, under Geiseric, in undisputed control of North Africa. He was killed by Ricimer, his own general of German descent, who contested power with him.
Anthemius belonged to a noble family, the gens Procopia, which gave several high officers, both civil and military, to the Eastern Roman Empire. His mother Lucina,[citation needed] born c. 400,[citation needed] descended from Flavius Philippus, Praetorian prefect of the East in 346, and was the daughter of the influential Flavius Anthemius, Praetorian prefect of the East (404–415) and Consul in 405. His father was Procopius, magister militum per Orientem from 422 to 424, who was descended from the Procopius who had been a nephew of Emperor Constantine I and a usurper against the Eastern Emperor Valens (365–366).
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Antonia Major
Antonia Major (in Latin: Antonia Maior, PIR2 A 884) (b. August/September 39 BC), also known as Antonia the Elder, was a daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor and a relative of the first Roman Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
She was a niece of the Emperor Augustus, step cousin of the Emperor Tiberius, paternal great-aunt of the Emperor Caligula, maternal aunt and great-aunt-in law of the Emperor Claudius, and paternal grandmother and maternal great-great aunt of the Emperor Nero.
It is a slight misnomer to call her Antonia Maior, because there was in fact an older half-sister by a previous marriage. This Antonia was the elder of two daughters of Antony and Octavia Minor, but the middle sister. Tacitus Ann. 4.44.2 and 12.54.2 may have confused the two younger Antonia sisters (of whom the younger is far more famous).
In Roman terms, the half-sister was the real Antonia Maior (but she is not famous), the middle Antonia (the subject of this entry) was properly Antonia Minor (the Younger), and her full-blooded sister was properly Antonia Tertia. Even a great historian like Tacitus may have been unaware of the oldest of the three sisters, or perhaps the court deliberately obscured her identity because she was not a niece of Augustus.
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Antonia Minor
Antonia Minor (PIR2 A 885), also known as Antonia the Younger or simply Antonia (31 January 36 BC - September/October AD 37) was the younger of two daughters of Roman politician Mark Antony and Octavia Minor. Tacitus Ann. 4.44.2 and 12.54.2 may have confused the two Antonia sisters (of whom the younger is far more famous). The problem is even more complex: an even older Antonia was born to a previous wife of Antony. That daughter is properly Antonia Maior (the Elder) while the woman usually called Antonia the Younger is in fact Antonia Tertia.
The woman usually called Antonia the Younger was the younger niece of the Emperor Augustus, sister-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, paternal grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, mother of the Emperor Claudius, and both maternal great-grandmother and paternal great-aunt of the Emperor Nero. She was additionally the maternal great-aunt of the Empress Valeria Messalina and Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix, and paternal grandmother of Claudia Antonia, Claudia Octavia, and Britannicus.
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Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius (Latin: Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161), also known as Antoninus, was Roman Emperor from 138 to 161. He was a member of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty and the Aurelii. He did not possess the sobriquet "Pius" until after his accession to the throne. Almost certainly, he earned the name "Pius" because he compelled the Senate to deify his adoptive father Hadrian; the Historia Augusta, however, suggests that he may have earned the name by saving senators sentenced to death by Hadrian in his later years.
He was born as the only child of Titus Aurelius Fulvus, consul in 89 whose family came from Nemausus (modern Nîmes). He was born near Lanuvium and his mother was Arria Fadilla. Antoninus’ father and paternal grandfather died when he was young and he was raised by Gnaeus Arrius Antoninus, his maternal grandfather, reputed by contemporaries to be a man of integrity and culture and a friend of Pliny the Younger. His mother married Publius Julius Lupus (a man of consular rank) suffect consul in 98, and two daughters, Arria Lupula and Julia Fadilla, were born from that union.
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Appian
Appian[pronunciation?] of Alexandria (Ancient Greek: Ἀππιανός Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Appianós Alexandreús; Latin: Appianus Alexandrinus; ca. AD 95 – ca. AD 165) was a Roman historian of Greek ethnicity who flourished during the reigns of Emperors of Rome Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius.
He was born circa 95 in Alexandria. He tells us, after having filled the chief offices in the province of Aegyptus (Egypt), he went to Rome circa 120, where he practised as an advocate, pleading cases before the emperors (probably as advocatus fisci), that in 147 at the earliest he was appointed to the office of procurator, probably in Egypt, on the recommendation of his friend Marcus Cornelius Fronto, a well-known litterateur. Because the position of procurator was open only to members of the equestrian order (the "knightly" class), his possession of this office tells us about Appian's family background.
His principal surviving work (Ῥωμαϊκά, known in Latin as Historia Romana and in English as Roman History) was written in Greek in 24 books, before 165. This work more closely resembles a series of monographs than a connected history. It gives an account of various peoples and countries from the earliest times down to their incorporation into the Roman Empire, and survives in complete books and considerable fragments. The work is very valuable, especially for the period of the civil wars.
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Apuleius
Apuleius ( /ˌæpjʉˈliːəs/; sometimes called Lucius Apuleius; c. 125 – c. 180) was a Latin prose writer. He was Numidian Berber, from Madaurus (now M'Daourouch, Algeria). He studied Platonist philosophy in Athens; travelled to Italy, Asia Minor and Egypt; and was an initiate in several cults or mysteries. The most famous incident in his life was when he was accused of using magic to gain the attentions (and fortune) of a wealthy widow. He declaimed and then distributed a witty tour de force in his own defense before the proconsul and a court of magistrates convened in Sabratha, near Tripoli. This is known as the Apologia.
His most famous work is his bawdy picaresque novel, the Metamorphoses, otherwise known as The Golden Ass. It is the only Latin novel that has survived in its entirety. It relates the ludicrous adventures of one Lucius, who experiments with magic and is accidentally turned into a donkey.
Apuleius was born in Madaurus (now M'Daourouch, Algeria), a Roman colony in Numidia on the North African coast, bordering Gaetulia, and he described himself as "half-Numidian half-Gaetulian." Madaurus was the same colonia where Saint Augustine later received part of his early education, and, though located well away from the Romanized coast, is today the site of some pristine Roman ruins. As to his first name, no praenomen is given in any ancient source; late-medieval manuscripts began the tradition of calling him Lucius from the name of the hero of his novel. Details regarding his life come mostly from his defense speech (Apology) and his work Florida, which consists of snippets taken from some of his best speeches.
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Arcadius
Arcadius (Latin: Flavius Arcadius Augustus; Greek: Ἀρκάδιος; 377/378 – 1 May 408) was the Byzantine Emperor from 395 until his death in 408. He was the eldest son of Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of the Western Emperor Honorius. A weak ruler, his reign was dominated by a series of powerful ministers and by his wife, Aelia Eudoxia.
Arcadius was born in Hispania, the elder son of Theodosius I and Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of Honorius, who would become a Western Roman Emperor. His father declared him an Augustus and co-ruler for the Eastern half of the Empire in January, 383. His younger brother was also declared Augustus in 393, for the Western half.
As emperors, Honorius was under the control of the Romanized Vandal magister militum Flavius Stilicho while Arcadius was dominated by one of his ministers, Rufinus. Stilicho is alleged by some to have wanted control of both Emperors, and is supposed to have had Rufinus assassinated by Gothic mercenaries in 395; though definite proof of Stilicho's involvement in the assassination is lacking, the intense competition and political jealousies engendered by the two figures compose the main thread of the first part of Arcadius' reign. Arcadius' new advisor, the eunuch Eutropius, simply took Rufinus' place as the power behind the Eastern imperial throne.
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Arminius
Arminius (18/17 BC – AD 21), also known as Armin or Hermann (Arminius being a Latinization, similar to Brennus) was a chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci who defeated a Roman army in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Arminius's influence held an allied coalition of Germanic tribes together in opposition to the Romans but after defeats by the Roman general Germanicus, nephew of the Emperor Tiberius, his influence waned and Arminius was assassinated on the orders of rival Germanic chiefs. Arminius's victory against the Roman legions in the Teutoburg forest had a far-reaching effect on the subsequent history of both the ancient Germanic peoples and on the Roman Empire. The Romans were to make no more concerted attempts to conquer and permanently hold Germania beyond the river Rhine.
Born in 18 or 17 BC as son of the Cheruscan chief Segimerus, Arminius was trained as a Roman military commander and attained Roman citizenship and the status of equestrian (petty noble) before returning to Germania and driving the Romans out.
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Artabasdos
Artavasdos, Latinized as Artabasdos or Artabasdus (Greek: Ἀρταύασδος or Ἀρτάβασδος, from Armenian: Արտավազդ, Artavazd, Ardavazt), was Byzantine Emperor of Armenian descent from June 741 or 742 until November 743. His reign constitutes an usurpation against Constantine V, who had retained control of several themes in Asia Minor.
The Armenian Artabasdus was appointed governor (stratēgos) of the Armeniac theme (Θέμα Άρμενιάκων, Thema Armeniakōn, was the successor of the Army of Armenia. It occupied the old areas of the Pontus, Armenia Minor and northern Cappadocia, with its capital at Amasea) by Emperor Anastasius II in c. 713. After Anastasius' fall, Artabasdus made an agreement with his colleague Leo, the governor of the Anatolic theme, to overthrow the new Emperor Theodosius III. This agreement was sealed with the engagement of Leo's daughter Anna to Artabasdos, and the marriage took place after Leo III ascended the throne in March 717.
Artabasdos was awarded the rank of kouropalates ("master of the palace") and became commander (count, komēs) of the Opsikion theme, while retaining control of his original command. In June 741 or 742, after the accession of Leo's son Constantine V on the throne, Artabasdus resolved to seize the throne and attacked his brother-in-law while the latter was traversing Asia Minor to fight the Arabs on the eastern frontier. While Constantine fled to Amorion, Artabasdus seized Constantinople amid popular support and was crowned emperor.
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Atia Balba Caesonia
Atia Balba Caesonia[citation needed] (85 BC – 43 BC), sometimes referred to as Atia Balba Secunda to differentiate her from her two sisters,[citation needed] was a Roman noblewoman. She was the daughter of Julius Caesar's sister Julia Caesaris, mother of the Emperor Augustus, step-grandmother of the Emperor Tiberius, great-grandmother of the Emperor Claudius, great-great grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, and great-great-great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero. The name Atia Balba was also borne by the other two daughters[citation needed] of Julia Caesaris and her husband praetor Marcus Atius Balbus. They were Atia’s older sister Atia Balba Prima[citation needed], and her younger sister was Atia Balba Tertia. In former portrayals of the ancient history the mother of Augustus, Atia, was still described as the elder one from two sisters.
Atia married Gaius Octavius, the Roman governor of Macedonia. Their children were Octavia Minor and Gaius Octavius Thurinus (later known as Augustus). In 59 BC, Atia's husband Gaius Octavius died on his way to Rome to stand for the consulship and Atia married Lucius Marcius Philippus, a consul of 56 BC and a supporter of Julius Caesar. He raised Atia's children alongside his own son and daughter from a previous marriage and arranged Octavia's first marriage, to the consul and senator Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor. Atia and Philippus carefully tutored and educated their children.
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Augustus
Augustus ( /ɔːˈɡʌstəs/;Classical Latin: [awˈɡʊstʊs]; Latin: Imperator Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD. Born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, he was adopted posthumously by his great-uncle Gaius Julius Caesar in 44 BC via his last will and testament, and between then and 27 BC was officially named Gaius Julius Caesar. In 27 BC the Senate awarded him the honorific Augustus ("the revered one"), and thus consequently he was Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus.
The young Octavius came into his inheritance after Caesar's assassination in 44 BC. In 43 BC, Octavian joined forces with Mark Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus in a military dictatorship known as the Second Triumvirate. As a triumvir, Octavian ruled Rome and many of its provinces. The triumvirate was eventually torn apart under the competing ambitions of its rulers: Lepidus was driven into exile, and Antony committed suicide following his defeat at the Battle of Actium by Octavian's fleet under the command of Agrippa in 31 BC.
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Aurelia Cotta
Aurelia Cotta or Aurelia (May 21, 120 BC – July 31, 54 BC) was the mother of Roman dictator Gaius Julius Caesar (100 BC – 44 BC).
Aurelia Cotta was a daughter of Rutilia and Lucius Aurelius Cotta. Her father was consul in 119 BC and her paternal grandfather of the same name was consul in 144 BC. The family of the Aurelii Cottae was prominent during the Roman Republican era. Her mother Rutilia, was a member of the gens Rutilius cognominated Rufus. They were of consular rank.
Three of her half-brothers were consuls: Gaius Aurelius Cotta in 75 BC, Marcus Aurelius Cotta in 74 BC and Lucius Aurelius Cotta in 65 BC; they were the sons of her mother, Rutilia's second marriage with her paternal uncle Marcus Aurelius Cotta.
Aurelia married a praetor Gaius Julius Caesar. Her husband died 85 BC – 84 BC. Their children were:
The historian Tacitus considers her an ideal Roman matron and thinks highly of her.Plutarch describes her as a "strict and respectable" woman. Highly intelligent, independent and renowned for her beauty and common sense, Aurelia was held in high regard throughout Rome.
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Aurelian
Aurelian (Latin: Lucius Domitius Aurelianus Augustus; 9 September 214 or 215 – September or October 275), was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following year he conquered the Gallic Empire in the west, reuniting the Empire in its entirety. He was also responsible for the construction of the Aurelian Walls in Rome, and the abandonment of the province of Dacia. His successes effectively ended the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century, earning him the title Restorer of the World. Although Domitian was the first Emperor who had demanded to be officially hailed as dominus et deus (master and god), these titles never occurred in written form on official documents until the reign of Aurelian.
Aurelian was born in Serdica (today Sofia in Bulgaria) in Moesia or what was later called Dacia Ripensis to an obscure provincial family; his father was tenant to a senator named Aurelius, who gave his name to the family. Aurelian probably joined the army in 235 at around age twenty. He distinguished himself in several wars during the tumultuous mid-century; his successes as a cavalry commander ultimately made him a member of emperor Gallienus' entourage. In 268, Aurelian and his cavalry participated in general Claudius' victory over the Goths at the Battle of Naissus. Later that year Gallienus traveled to Italy and fought Aureolus, his former general and now usurper for the throne. Driving Aureolus back into Mediolanum, Gallienus promptly besieged his adversary in the city. However, while the siege was ongoing the Emperor was assassinated. One source says Aurelian, who was present at the siege, participated and supported general Claudius for the purple – which is plausible.
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Avitus
Eparchius Avitus (c. 385 – after 17 October 456 or in 457) was Western Roman Emperor from 8 or 9 July 455 to 17 October 456. A Gallic-Roman aristocrat, he was a senator and a high-ranking officer both in the civil and military administration, as well as Bishop of Piacenza.
A representative of the Gallic-Roman aristocracy, he opposed the reduction of the Western Roman Empire to Italy alone, both politically and from the administrative point of view. For this reason, as Emperor he introduced several Gallic senators in the Imperial administration; this policy, however, was opposed by both the Senatorial aristocracy and by the people of Rome, which had suffered because of the Vandalic sack of the city in 455.
Avitus had a good relationship with the Visigoths, in particular with their king Theodoric II, who was a friend of his and who acclaimed Avitus Emperor, but the possibility of a strong and useful alliance between Visigoths and Romans ended when Theodoric invaded Roman Hispania and then refused to help Avitus against the rebel Roman generals who deposed him.
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Balbinus
Balbinus (Latin: Decimus Caelius Calvinus Balbinus Pius Augustus; c. 165 – 29 July 238), was Roman Emperor with Pupienus for three months in 238, the Year of the Six Emperors.
Not much is known about Balbinus before his elevation to emperor. It has been conjectured that he descended from Publius Coelius Balbinus Vibullius Pius, the consul ordinarius of 136 or 137, and wife Aquilia. If this were true, he was also related to the family of Q. Pompeius Falco, which supplied many politicians of consular rank throughout the 3rd century, and to the 1st-century politician, engineer and author Julius Frontinus, as well as a descendant of a first cousin of Trajan. He was a patrician from birth, and was the son (either by birth or adoption) of ... Caelius Calvinus, who was legate of Cappadocia in 184. He was one of the Salii priests of Mars. According to Herodian he had governed provinces, but the list of seven provinces given in the Historia Augusta, as well as the statement that Balbinus had been both Proconsul of Asia and of Africa, are likely to be mere invention. He had certainly been twice consul; his first consulate is not certainly known but is believed to have been about 203 or in July 211; he was consul for the second time in 213 as colleague of Caracalla, which suggests he enjoyed that emperor's favour.
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Basil I
Basil I, called the Macedonian (Greek: Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, Basíleios hō Makedṓn; Armenian: Բարսեղ Ա Մակեդոնացի, Barsegh A Makedonatsi; 830/835 – August 29, 886) was a Byzantine Emperor of probable Armenian descent who reigned from 867 to 886. Born a simple peasant in the Byzantine theme of Macedonia, he rose in the Imperial court, and usurped the Imperial throne from Emperor Michael III (r. 842–867). Despite his humble origins, he showed great ability in running the affairs of state, leading a revival of Imperial power and to a renaissance of Byzantine art. He was perceived by the Byzantines as one of their greatest emperors, and the dynasty he founded, the Macedonian (Greek: Μακεδονική δυναστεία), ruled over what is regarded as the most glorious and prosperous era of the Byzantine Empire.
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Basil II
Basil II (Greek: Βασίλειος Β΄, Basileios II; 958 – December 15, 1025) was a Byzantine Emperor from the Macedonian dynasty who reigned from January 10, 976 to December 15, 1025. He was known in his time as Basil the Porphyrogenitus and Basil the Young to distinguish him from his ancestor Basil I the Macedonian,
The first part of his long reign was dominated by civil war against powerful generals from the Anatolian aristocracy. Following their submission, Basil oversaw the stabilization and expansion of the Byzantine Empire's eastern frontier, and above all, the final and complete subjugation of Bulgaria, the Empire's foremost European foe, after a prolonged struggle. For this he was nicknamed by later authors as "the Bulgar-slayer" (Greek: Βουλγαροκτόνος, Boulgaroktonos), by which he is popularly known. At his death, the Empire stretched from Southern Italy to the Caucasus and from the Danube to the borders of Palestine, its greatest territorial extent since the Muslim conquests, four centuries earlier.
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Basiliscus
Basiliscus (Latin: Flavius Basiliscus Augustus; Greek: Βασιλίσκος) (d. 476/477) was Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Emperor from 475 to 476. A member of the House of Leo, he came to power when Emperor Zeno had been forced out of Constantinople by a revolt.
Basiliscus was the brother of Empress Aelia Verina, the wife of Emperor Leo I (457–474). His relationship with the Emperor allowed him to pursue a military career that, after minor initial successes, ended in 468, when he led the disastrous Roman invasion of Vandal Africa, in one of the largest military operations of Late Antiquity.
Basiliscus succeeded in seizing power in 475, exploiting the unpopularity of Emperor Zeno, the "barbarian" successor to Leo, and a plot organised by Verina that had caused Zeno to flee Constantinople. However, during his short rule, Basiliscus alienated the fundamental support of the Church and the people of Constantinople, promoting the Miaphysite christological position in opposition to the Chalcedonian faith. Also, his policy of securing his power through the appointment of loyal men to key roles antagonised many important figures in the imperial court, including his sister Verina. So, when Zeno tried to regain his empire, he found virtually no opposition, triumphantly entering Constantinople, and capturing and killing Basiliscus and his family.
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Boudica
Boudica ( /ˈbuːdɨkə/; alternative spelling: Boudicca), also known as Boadicea /boʊdɨˈsiːə/ and known in Welsh as Buddug [ˈbɨ̞ðɨ̞ɡ] (d. AD 60 or 61) was queen of the British Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire.
Boudica's husband Prasutagus, ruler of the Iceni tribe who had ruled as a nominally independent ally of Rome, left his kingdom jointly to his daughters and the Roman Emperor in his will. However, when he died, his will was ignored — the kingdom was annexed as if conquered, Boudica was flogged, her daughters were raped, and Roman financiers called in their loans.
In AD 60 or 61, while the Roman governor, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, was leading a campaign on the island of Anglesey in northern Wales, Boudica led the Iceni people, along with the Trinovantes and others, in revolt. They destroyed Camulodunum (modern Colchester), formerly the capital of the Trinovantes, but now a colonia (a settlement for discharged Roman soldiers) and the site of a temple to the former emperor Claudius, which was built and maintained at local expense. They also routed a Roman legion, the IX Hispana, sent to relieve the settlement.
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Caesarion
For the episode of the TV series Rome, see Caesarion (Rome).
Ptolemy XV Philopator Philometor Caesar (Greek: Πτολεμαῖος ΙΕʹ Φιλοπάτωρ Φιλομήτωρ Καῖσαρ, Ptolemaios IEʹ Philopatōr Philomētōr Kaisar; Latin: Ptolemaeus XV Philopator Philomētor Caesar; June 23, 47 BC – August 23, 30 BC), better known by the nicknames Caesarion ( /sɨˈzæriən/; Greek: Καισαρίων, Kaisariōn, literally "little Caesar"; Latin: Caesariō) and Ptolemy Caesar ( /ˈtɒlɨmi ˈsiːzər/; Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Καῖσαρ, Ptolemaios Kaisar; Latin: Ptolemaeus Caesar), was the last king of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, who reigned jointly with his mother Cleopatra VII of Egypt, from September 2, 44 BC. Between the death of Cleopatra, on August 12, 30 BC, up to his own death on August 23, 30 BC, he was nominally the sole pharaoh. He was killed on the orders of Octavian, who would become the Roman emperor Augustus. He was the eldest son of Cleopatra VII, and possibly the only son of Julius Caesar, for whom he was named.
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Caligula
Caligula (Latin: Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus; 31 August AD 12 – 24 January AD 41), also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most beloved public figures. The young Gaius earned the nickname Caligula (meaning "little soldier's boot", the diminutive form of caliga, n. hob-nailed military boot) from his father's soldiers while accompanying him during his campaigns in Germania.
When Germanicus died at Antioch in 19 AD, his wife Agrippina the Elder returned to Rome with her six children where she became entangled in an increasingly bitter feud with Tiberius. This conflict eventually led to the destruction of her family, with Caligula as the sole male survivor. Unscathed by the deadly intrigues, Caligula accepted the invitation to join the emperor on the island of Capri in 31, where Tiberius himself had withdrawn five years earlier. At the death of Tiberius in 37, Caligula succeeded his great-uncle and adoptive grandfather.
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Caracalla
Caracalla (Latin: Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Augustus; 4 April 188 – 8 April 217) was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. The eldest son of Septimius Severus, for a short time he ruled jointly with his younger brother Geta until he had him murdered in 211. Caracalla is remembered as one of the most notorious and unpleasant of emperors because of the massacres and persecutions he authorized and instigated throughout the Empire.
Caracalla's reign was also notable for the Constitutio Antoniniana (also called the Edict of Caracalla), granting Roman citizenship to all freemen throughout the Roman Empire for the purpose of increasing tax revenue, according to historian Cassius Dio. He is also one of the emperors who commissioned a large public bath-house (thermae) in Rome. The remains of the Baths of Caracalla are still one of the major attractions of the Italian capital.
Caracalla, of mixed Punic–Roman–Berber and Syrian descent, was born Lucius Septimius Bassianus in Lugdunum, Gaul (now Lyon, France), the son of the later Emperor Septimius Severus and Julia Domna. At the age of seven, his name was changed to Marcus Aurelius Septimius Bassianus Antoninus to create a connection to the family of the philosopher emperor Marcus Aurelius. He was later given the nickname Caracalla, which referred to the Gallic hooded tunic he habitually wore and which he made fashionable.
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Carinus
Carinus (Latin: Marcus Aurelius Carinus Augustus; died 285), was Roman Emperor 282 to 285. The elder son of emperor Carus, he was appointed Caesar and co-emperor of the western portion of the empire upon his father's accession. Official accounts of his character and career have been filtered through the propaganda of his successful opponent, Diocletian.
He fought with success against the Germanic Quadi tribes, but soon left the defence of the Upper Rhine to his legates and returned to Rome, where the surviving accounts, which demonize him, assert that he abandoned himself to all kinds of debauchery and excess. More certainly, he also celebrated the annual ludi Romani on a scale of unexampled magnificence.
After the death of Carus, the army in the East demanded to be led back to Europe, and Numerian, the younger son of Carus, was forced to comply. During a halt at Chalcedon, Numerian was found dead, and Diocletian, commander of the body-guards, claimed that Numerian had been assassinated and was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers.
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Carus
Carus (Latin: Marcus Aurelius Carus Augustus; c. 224 – July or August 283), was Roman Emperor from 282 to 283. During his short reign, Carus fought the Germanic tribes and Sarmatians along the Danube frontier with success. During his campaign against the Sassanid Empire he sacked their capital Ctesiphon, but died shortly thereafter. He was succeeded by his sons Carinus and Numerian; creating a dynasty which, though short-lived, granted further stability to a resurgent empire.
Carus, whose name before the accession may have been Marcus Numerius Carus, was born, probably, at Narbo (modern Narbonne) in Gaul, but was educated at Rome. He was a senator, and had filled various civil and military posts before he was appointed prefect of the Praetorian Guard by the emperor Probus in 282. After the murder of Probus at Sirmium, Carus was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers. Although Carus severely avenged the death of Probus, he was himself suspected of having been an accessory to the deed. He does not seem to have returned to Rome after his accession, but contented himself with an announcement of the fact to the Senate.
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Cassius Dio
Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus (Ancient Greek: Δίων ὁ Κάσσιος, c. AD 150 – 235 , known in English as Cassius Dio, Dio Cassius, or Dio (Dione. lib) was a Roman consul and a noted historian writing in Greek. Dio published a history of Rome in 80 volumes, beginning with the legendary arrival of Aeneas in Italy through the subsequent founding of Rome (753 BC), the formation of the Republic (509 BC), and the creation of the Empire (31 BC), up to AD 229; a period of about 1,400 years. Of the 80 books, written over 22 years, many survive into the modern age intact or as fragments, providing modern scholars with a detailed perspective on Roman history.
Cassius Dio was the son of Cassius Apronianus, a Roman senator. He was born and raised at Nicaea in Bithynia. Byzantine tradition holds that Dio's mother was the daughter or sister of the Greek orator and philosopher Dio Chrysostom; this relationship has been disputed. His praenomen is usually held to have been Lucius, but a Macedonian inscription published in 1970 shows it as Cl., presumably Claudius. Although a Roman citizen, he wrote in Greek. Dio always maintained a love for his hometown of Nicaea, calling it 'his home', as opposed to his description of his villa in Italy ('my residence in Italy').
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Castor and Pollux
In Greek and Roman mythology, Castor ( /ˈkæstər/; Latin: Castōr; Greek: Κάστωρ, Kastōr, "beaver") and Pollux ( /ˈpɒləks/; Latin: Pollūx) or Polydeuces ( /ˌpɒlɨˈdjuːsiːz/; Greek: Πολυδεύκης, Poludeukēs, "much sweet wine") were twin brothers, together known as the Dioscuri ( /daɪˈɒskjəraɪ/; Latin: Dioscūrī; Greek: Διόσκουροι, Dioskouroi, "sons of Zeus"). Their mother was Leda, but Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, and Pollux the divine son of Zeus, who visited Leda in the guise of a swan. Though accounts of their birth are varied, they are sometimes said to have been born from an egg, along with their twin sisters Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra.
In Latin the twins are also known as the Gemini ( /ˈdʒɛmɨnaɪ/; "twins") or Castores ( /ˈkæstəriːz/). When Castor was killed, Pollux asked Zeus to let him share his own immortality with his twin to keep them together, and they were transformed into the constellation Gemini. The pair were regarded as the patrons of sailors, to whom they appeared as St. Elmo's fire, and were also associated with horsemanship.
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Cato the Younger
Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis (95 BC, Rome – April 46 BC, Utica), commonly known as Cato the Younger (Cato Minor) to distinguish him from his great-grandfather (Cato the Elder), was a politician and statesman in the late Roman Republic, and a follower of the Stoic philosophy. A noted orator, he is remembered for his stubbornness and tenacity (especially in his lengthy conflict with Julius Caesar), as well as his immunity to bribes, his moral integrity, and his famous distaste for the ubiquitous corruption of the period.
Cato was born in 95 BC in Rome, the son of Marcus Porcius Cato and his wife Livia Drusa. His parents died when he was young, and he was cared for by his maternal uncle Marcus Livius Drusus, who also looked after Quintus Servilius Caepio, Servilia Caepionis Maior, and Servilia Caepionis Minor from Livia's first marriage (though Quintus Servilius Caepio was generally known to be Cato's full brother), as well as Porcia (Cato's full sister), and Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus (Livius' adopted son). Drusus was murdered when Cato was 4 years old.
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Cherusci
The Cherusci were a Germanic tribe that inhabited parts of the northern Rhine valley and the plains and forests of northwestern Germany, in the area between present-day Osnabrück and Hanover, during the 1st century BC and 1st century AD. Subsequently they were absorbed into the tribal confederations of the Franks and Saxons.
The etymological origin of the name Cherusci is not known with certainty. According to the dominant opinion in scholarship, the name may derive from the ancient Germanic word *herut (Modern English hart, i.e. 'deer'). The tribe may have been named after the deer because it had a totemistic significance in Germanic symbolism. A different hypothesis, proposed in the 19th century by Jacob Grimm and others, derives the name from *heru-, a word for 'sword' (cf. Gothic hairus, Old English heoru) Hans Kuhn has argued that the derivational suffix -sk-, involved in both explanations, is otherwise not common in Germanic. He suggested that the name may therefore be a compound of ultimately non-Germanic origin, connected to the hypothesized nordwestblock.
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Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( /ˈsɪsɨroʊ/; Classical Latin: [ˈkɪkɛroː]; January 3, 106 BC – December 7, 43 BC; sometimes anglicized as Tully), was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, orator, political theorist, Roman consul and constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.
He introduced the Romans to the chief schools of Greek philosophy and created a Latin philosophical vocabulary (with neologisms such as humanitas, qualitas, quantitas, and essentia) distinguishing himself as a linguist, translator, and philosopher.
Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited for initiating the 14th-century Renaissance. According to Polish historian Tadeusz Zieliński, "Renaissance was above all things a revival of Cicero, and only after him and through him of the rest of Classical antiquity." The peak of Cicero's authority and prestige came during the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, and his impact on leading Enlightenment thinkers such as John Locke, David Hume, and Montesquieu was substantial. His works rank among the most influential in European culture, and today still constitute one of the most important bodies of primary material for the writing and revision of Roman history, especially the last days of the Roman Republic.
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Cimbrian War
The Cimbrian War (113–101 BC) was fought between the Roman Republic and the Proto-Germanic tribes of the Cimbri and the Teutons (Teutones), who migrated from northern Europe into Roman controlled territory, and clashed with Rome and her allies. The Cimbrian War was the first time since the Second Punic War that Italia and Rome itself had been seriously threatened.
The timing of the war had a great effect on the internal politics of Rome, and the organization of its military. The war contributed greatly to the political career of Gaius Marius, whose consulships and political conflicts challenged many of the Roman republic's political institutions and customs of the time. The Cimbrian threat, along with the Jugurthine War, inspired the landmark Marian reforms of the Roman legions.
Rome was finally victorious, and its Germanic adversaries — who had inflicted on the Roman armies the heaviest losses that they had suffered since the Second Punic War with victories at the battles of Arausio and Noreia — almost completely annihilated, with the victories at Aquae Sextiae and Vercellae.
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Claudia Augusta
Claudia Augusta (January 63 – April 63) was the only daughter of the Roman Emperor Nero by his second wife Roman Empress Poppaea Sabina. She was born in Antium (Anzio) on 21 January 63.
Nero honored Claudia and her mother with the title of Augusta. Gold statues were placed in temples and circus games were held in Claudia's honor. She died three months after her birth of illness. Nero and Poppaea Sabina mourned her death and Claudia was declared a goddess. A shrine and a priest were dedicated to her shortly afterward.
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Claudius
Claudius (Latin: Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy. Because he was afflicted with a limp and slight deafness due to sickness at a young age, his family ostracized him and excluded him from public office until his consulship, shared with his nephew Caligula in 37. Claudius' infirmity probably saved him from the fate of many other nobles during the purges of Tiberius and Caligula's reigns; potential enemies did not see him as a serious threat. His survival led to his being declared Emperor by the Praetorian Guard after Caligula's assassination, at which point he was the last adult male of his family.
Despite his lack of experience, Claudius proved to be an able and efficient administrator. He was also an ambitious builder, constructing many new roads, aqueducts, and canals across the Empire. During his reign the Empire conquered Thrace, Noricum, Pamphylia, Lycia and Judaea, and began the conquest of Britain. Having a personal interest in law, he presided at public trials, and issued up to twenty edicts a day. However, he was seen as vulnerable throughout his reign, particularly by the nobility. Claudius was constantly forced to shore up his position; this resulted in the deaths of many senators. These events damaged his reputation among the ancient writers, though more recent historians have revised this opinion. After his death in 54, his grand-nephew and adopted son Nero succeeded him as Emperor.
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Claudius Gothicus
Claudius II (Latin: Marcus Aurelius Valerius Claudius Augustus; May 10, 213 – January 270), commonly known as Claudius Gothicus, was Roman Emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alamanni and scored a crushing victory against the Goths at the Battle of Naissus. He died after succumbing to a smallpox plague that ravaged the provinces of the Empire.
Claudius' origin is uncertain. Born on May 10, 213, he was either from Sirmium in Pannonia Inferior or from Naissus Dardania (in Moesia Superior).
Claudius had served with the Roman army for all his adult life, making his way up the military hierarchy until the Emperor Gallienus made him the commander of his elite cavalry force. In September 268 he found himself assigned as a military tribune with the Emperor, besieging the usurper Aureolus in Milan. There, the troops proclaimed him Emperor, amid charges, never proven, that he murdered his predecessor Gallienus. However, he soon proved to be less than bloodthirsty, as he asked the Roman Senate to spare the lives of Gallienus' family and supporters. He was less magnanimous toward Rome's enemies, however, and it was to this that he owed his popularity.
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Cleopatra Selene II
Cleopatra Selene II (Greek:η Κλεοπάτρα Σελήνη, 25 December 40 BC-anywhere from 9 March 5 BC to 6), also known as Cleopatra VIII of Egypt or Cleopatra VIII was a Ptolemaic Princess and was the only daughter to Greek Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and Roman triumvir Mark Antony. She was the fraternal twin of Ptolemaic prince Alexander Helios. Her second name in ancient Greek means "moon", being the counterpart of her twin brother‘s second name Helios, meaning "sun". She was of Greek and Roman heritage. Cleopatra was born, raised and educated in Alexandria, Egypt. In late 34 BC, during the Donations of Alexandria, she was made ruler of Cyrenaica and Libya.
Her parents were defeated by Octavian (future Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus), during a naval battle at Actium, Greece in 31 BC. In 30 BC, her parents committed suicide as Octavian and his army invaded Egypt. Octavian took Cleopatra and her brothers from Egypt to Italy. Octavian celebrated his military triumph in Rome by parading the three orphans in heavy golden chains in the streets. The chains were so heavy that they could not walk. Octavian gave the siblings to Octavia Minor to be raised in her household in Rome. Octavia Minor, who became their guardian, was Octavian's second eldest sister and was their father's former wife.
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Cleopatra VII
Cleopatra VII Philopator (Ancient Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ; Late 69 B.C.E. – August 12, 30 B.C.E.), known to history as Cleopatra, was the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.
She was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Greek origin that ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great's death during the Hellenistic period. The Ptolemies, throughout their dynasty, spoke Greek and refused to speak Egyptian, which is the reason that Greek as well as Egyptian languages were used on official court documents such as the Rosetta Stone. By contrast, Cleopatra did learn to speak Egyptian and represented herself as the reincarnation of an Egyptian goddess, Isis.
Cleopatra originally ruled jointly with her father Ptolemy XII Auletes and later with her brothers, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV, whom she married as per Egyptian custom, but eventually she became sole ruler. As pharaoh, she consummated a liaison with Julius Caesar that solidified her grip on the throne. She later elevated her son with Caesar, Caesarion, to co-ruler in name.
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Clodia Pulchra
Clodia Pulchra, also known as Claudia (born 57 BC/56 BC) was the daughter of Fulvia by her first husband Publius Clodius Pulcher. She was the stepdaughter of Mark Antony and half-sister of Marcus Antonius Antyllus and Iullus Antonius.
Mark Antony was her mother's third husband. As Clodius had done previously, Antony was happy to accept her money to boost his career. Following Julius Caesar's assassination on March 15, 44 BC, Antony formed the second triumvirate with Octavian and Lepidus and embarked on a savage proscription. To solidify the political alliance, Fulvia offered Clodia to young Octavian as wife, while Lepidus offered his wife's niece Servilia. Subsequently, Octavian chose Clodia.
Not much is known about their marriage and little information survives about Clodia. These actions caused political and social unrest, but when Octavian asked for a divorce from Clodia, Fulvia herself decided to take action. Together with Lucius Antonius, her brother-in-law, she raised eight legions in Italy to fight for Antonius' rights against Octavian. The army occupied Rome for a short time, but eventually retreated to Perusia (modern Perugia). Octavian besieged Fulvia and Lucius Antonius in the winter of 41-40 BC, starving them into surrender. Fulvia was exiled to Sicyon, where she died of a sudden illness.
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Commodus
Commodus (Latin: Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus Augustus; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192), was Roman Emperor from 180 to 192. He also ruled as co-emperor with his father Marcus Aurelius from 177 until his father's death in 180. His name changed throughout his reign; see changes of name for earlier and later forms. His accession as emperor was the first time a son had succeeded his father since Titus succeeded Vespasian in 79. Commodus was the first (and up until 337 the only) emperor "born in the purple"; i.e., born during his father's reign.
Commodus was born on 31 August AD 161, as Commodus, in Lanuvium, near Rome. He was the son of the reigning emperor, Marcus Aurelius, and Aurelius' first cousin, Faustina the Younger. Commodus had an elder twin brother, Titus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus, who died in 165. On 12 October 166, Commodus was made Caesar together with his younger brother, Marcus Annius Verus. The latter died in 169, having failed to recover from an operation, which left Commodus as Marcus Aurelius' sole surviving son. He was looked after by his father's physician, Galen, in order to keep Commodus healthy and alive. Galen treated many of Commodus' common illnesses. Commodus received extensive tuition at the hands of what Marcus Aurelius called "an abundance of good masters." The focus of Commodus' education appears to have been intellectual, possibly at the expense of military training.
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Constans
Constans (Latin: Flavius Julius Constans Augustus) (c.323–350), was Roman Emperor from 337 to 350. He defeated his brother Constantine II in 340, but anger in the army over his personal life and preference for his barbarian bodyguards saw the general Magnentius rebel, resulting in Constans’ assassination in 350.
Constans was the third and youngest son of Constantine the Great and Fausta, his father's second wife. He was educated at the court of his father at Constantinople under the tutelage of the poet Aemilius Magnus Arborius.
On 25 December 333, Constantine I elevated Constans to the rank of Caesar at Constantinople. Prior to 337, Constans became engaged to Olympias, the daughter of the Praetorian Prefect Ablabius, although the marriage never came to pass. With Constantine’s death in 337, Constans and his two brothers, Constantine II and Constantius II divided the Roman world between themselves, after first disposing of virtually all of the relatives of their father who could possibly have a claim on the throne. The army proclaimed them Augusti on September 9, 337. Almost immediately, Constans was required to deal with a Sarmatian invasion in late 337, over whom he won a resounding victory.
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Constantine IV
Constantine IV (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Δ', Kōnstantinos IV, Latin: Constantinus IV), (c. 652 – September 685), sometimes incorrectly called Pogonatos, "the Bearded", by confusion with his father; was Byzantine Emperor from 668 to 685. His reign saw the first serious check to nearly 50 years of uninterrupted Islamic expansion, while his calling of the Sixth Ecumenical Council saw the end of the monothelitism controversy in the Byzantine Empire.
The eldest son of Constans II, Constantine IV had been named a co-emperor with his father in 654. He had been given the responsibility of managing the affairs at Constantinople during his father’s extended absence in Italy and became senior Emperor when Constans was assassinated in 668. His mother was Fausta, daughter of patrician Valentinus.
The first task before the new Emperor was the suppression of the military revolt in Sicily under Mezezius which had led to his father's death. Within 7 months of his accession, Constantine IV had dealt with the insurgency with the support of Pope Vitalian. But this success was overshadowed by troubles in the east.
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Constantine Laskaris
Constantine Laskaris (Greek Κωνσταντίνος Λάσκαρης) was Byzantine Emperor for a few months from 1204 to early 1205.
Constantine Laskaris was born of a noble but not particularly renowned Byzantine family. Virtually nothing is known of him prior to the events of the Fourth Crusade. He found favour after his brother Theodore married into the imperial family, becoming the son-in-law of Emperor Alexius III.
During the first siege of Constantinople in 1203 he was given command of the best body of troops available and led the Greek defenders on sorties against the entrenched Crusaders. None were successful in their goal of lifting the siege, and finally Constantine was ordered to attack the Burgundians who were on guard at the time.
The Greeks issued forth from the city, but were soon driven back to the gates, notwithstanding the stones that the defenders on the walls threw down onto the advancing Crusaders. Constantine himself was captured whilst mounted on his horse by William of Neuilly and probably kept for ransom, which was the usual practice of the times. At some point he was released, as he was soon swept up in the events of the second siege of Constantinople in 1204.
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Constantine V
Constantine V (718 – September 14, 775) was Byzantine Emperor from 741 to 775; Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Ε΄, Kōnstantinos V); (he was denigrated by his enemies as Kopronymos or Copronymus meaning the dung-named).
Constantine was born in Constantinople, the son and successor of Emperor Leo III and Maria. In August 720 he was associated on the throne by his father, who had him marry Tzitzak, daughter of the Khazar khagan Bihar. His new bride was baptized as Irene (Eirēnē, "peace") in 732. Constantine V succeeded his father as sole emperor on April 19, 741.
Constantine was crossing Asia Minor to campaign against the Umayyad Caliphate under Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik on the eastern frontier in June 741 or 742. But during this course Constantine was attacked by the forces of his brother-in-law Artabasdos, the stratēgos of the Armeniac theme. Artabasdos was the husband of Anna, an older sister of Constantine.
Defeated, Constantine sought refuge in Amorion, while the victor advanced on Constantinople and was accepted as Emperor. While Constantine now received the support of the Anatolic and Thracesian themes, Artabasdos secured that of the themes of Thrace and Opsikion, in addition to his own Armeniac soldiers.
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Constantine VI
Constantine VI (Ancient Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος Ϛ΄, Kōnstantinos VI) (771–802) was Byzantine Emperor from 780 to 797.
Constantine VI was the only child of Emperor Leo IV and Irene. Constantine was crowned co-emperor by his father in 776, and succeeded as sole emperor at the age of nine under the regency of Irene in 780.
In 782 he was betrothed to Rotrude, a daughter of the Frankish King Charlemagne by his third wife Hildegard. Irene herself broke off the engagement in 788. In 787 Constantine had signed the decrees of the Second Council of Nicaea, but he appears to have had iconoclast sympathies. By then Constantine had turned 16 years old, but his mother did not relinquish executive authority to him.
After a conspiracy against Irene was suppressed in the spring of 790 she attempted to get official recognition as empress. This backfired and with military support Constantine finally came to actual power in 790, after the Armeniacs rebelled against Irene. Nevertheless, she was allowed to keep the title of Empress, which was confirmed in 792.
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Constantine VII
Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos or Porphyrogenitus, "the Purple-born" (Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος Ζ΄ Πορφυρογέννητος, Kōnstantinos VII Porphyrogennētos; September 2, 905 – November 9, 959) was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 913 to 959. He was the son of the emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife Zoe Karbonopsina, and the nephew of his predecessor, the emperor Alexander.
Most of his reign was dominated by other co-regents: from 913 until 919, he was under the regency of his mother, while from 920 until 945, he shared his throne with Romanos Lekapenos, whose daughter Helena he married, and his sons. Constantine VII is best known for his four books, De Administrando Imperio, De Ceremoniis, De Thematibus and Vita Basilii.
His nickname alludes to the Purple Room of the Imperial palace, decorated with porphyry, where legitimate children of reigning emperors were normally born. Constantine was also born in this room, although his mother Zoe had not been married to Leo at that time. Nevertheless, the epithet allowed him to underline his position as the legitimized son, as opposed to all others who claimed the throne during his lifetime. Sons born to a reigning Emperor held precedence in the Eastern Roman line of succession over elder sons not born "in the purple".
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Constantine VIII
Constantine VIII (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Η΄, Kōnstantinos VIII) (960 – 11 November 1028) was reigning Byzantine Emperor from 15 December 1025 until his death. He was the son of the Emperor Romanos II and Theophano, and the younger brother of the eminent Basil II, who died childless and thus left the rule of the Byzantine Empire in his hands.
As a youth, Constantine VIII had been engaged to a daughter of Emperor Boris II of Bulgaria, but in the end he married a Byzantine aristocrat named Helena. By her he had three daughters: Eudokia, who became a nun, Zoe, future empress, and Theodora.
Constantine VIII had been crowned with his brother by their father from 962; he was then only an infant. However, for some 63 out of the 68 years of his life he was eclipsed by other emperors, including Nikephoros II Phokas, John I Tzimiskes, and Basil II. Even when his elder brother became senior emperor, Constantine was perfectly content to enjoy all the privileges of Imperial status without concerning himself with state affairs. On occasion Constantine participated in his brother's campaigns against rebel nobles. In 989, he acted as mediator between Basil II and Bardas Skleros. Otherwise he spent his life in the search of pleasure and entertainment, including spectator sports at the Hippodrome of Constantinople, or amusing himself with riding and hunting.
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Constantine X Doukas
Constantine X Doukas (or Ducas) (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Ι΄ Δούκας, Kōnstantinos X Doukas) (1006 – May 1067) was emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 1059 to 1067.
Constantine Doukas was the son of Andronikos Doukas, a Paphlagonian nobleman who may have served as governor of the theme of Moesia. Addicted to endless debates about philosophy and theology, Constantine gained influence after he married, as his second wife, Eudokia Makrembolitissa, the niece of Patriarch Michael Keroularios. In 1057, Constantine supported the usurpation of Isaac I Komnenos, but gradually sided with the court bureaucracy against the new emperor's reforms. In spite of this tacit opposition, Constantine was chosen as successor by the ailing Isaac in November, 1059, under the influence of Michael Psellos. Isaac abdicated and on November 24, 1059, Constantine X Doukas was crowned emperor.
The new emperor quickly associated two of his young sons in power, Michael VII Doukas and Konstantios Doukas, appointed his brother John Doukas as kaisar (Caesar) and embarked on a policy favorable to the interests of the court bureaucracy and the church. Severely undercutting the training and financial support for the armed forces, Constantine X fatally weakened Byzantine defences (by disbanding the Armenian local militia of 50,000 men) at a crucial point of time, coinciding with the westward advance of the Seljuk Turks and their Turcoman allies. Undoing many of the necessary reforms of Isaac I, he bloated the military bureaucracy with highly paid court officials and crowded the Senate with his supporters.
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Constantius Chlorus
Constantius I (Latin: Marcus Flavius Valerius Constantius Herculius Augustus; c. 31 March 250 – 25 July 306), commonly known as Constantius Chlorus, was Roman Emperor from 293 to 306. He was the father of Constantine the Great and founder of the Constantinian dynasty. As Caesar he defeated the usurper Allectus in Britain and campaigned extensively along the Rhine frontier, defeating the Alamanni and Franks. Upon becoming Augustus in 305, Constantius launched a successful punitive campaign against the Picts beyond the Antonine Wall. However, Constantius died suddenly in Eburacum (York) the following year. His death sparked the collapse of the tetrarchic system of government inaugurated by the Emperor Diocletian.
Born in Dardania, the Historia Augusta claimed Constantius was the son of Eutropius, a noble from northern Dardania, in the province of Moesia Superior, and Claudia, a niece of the emperors Claudius II and Quintillus. Modern historians suspect this maternal connection to be a genealogical fabrication created by his son Constantine I, and that his family were of humble origins. His father, however, might have been the brother of Eutropia, wife of Maximian.
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Constantius II
Constantius II (Latin: Flavius Julius Constantius Augustus; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361), was Roman Emperor from 337 to 361. The second son of Constantine I and Fausta, he ascended to the throne with his brothers Constantine II and Constans upon their father's death.
In 340, Constantius' brothers clashed over the western provinces of the empire. The resulting conflict left Constantine II dead and Constans as ruler of the west until he was overthrown and assassinated in 350 by the usurper Magnentius. Unwilling to accept Magnentius as co-ruler, Constantius marched against him. Magnentius was defeated at the battles of Mursa Major and Mons Seleucus, committing suicide after the latter. This left Constantius as sole ruler of the empire.
His subsequent military campaigns against Germanic tribes were successful: he defeated the Alamanni in 354, and campaigned across the Danube against the Quadi and Sarmatians in 357. Contrastingly, in the east, the two decade old war against the Sassanids continued with mixed results.
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Constantius III
Flavius Constantius (died 2 September 421), commonly known as Constantius III, was Western Roman Emperor for seven months in 421. A prominent general and politician, he was the power behind the throne for much of the 410s, and in 421 briefly became co-emperor of the Western Empire with Honorius.
Constantius was born in Naissus (modern-day Niš, Serbia) and was probably a career soldier, who reached the rank of magister militum under Honorius.
In 411 he defeated Gerontius, the general of usurper Maximus, and Constantine III, another usurper, in Arles. Constantine had revolted against Honorius (407), but then he had broken his relationship with general Gerontius, who had proclaimed Maximus Emperor in opposition to both Honorius and Constantine (409). Gerontius had then besieged Constantine in the city of Arles (411), but the arrival of the troops of Constantius from Italy had put him in serious trouble, being at the same time a besieger and a besieged. Gerontius was abandoned by his troops and then killed in Hispania.
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Decius
Trajan Decius (Latin: Gaius Messius Quintus Decius Augustus; ca. 201 – June 251), was Roman Emperor from 249 to 251. In the last year of his reign, he co-ruled with his son Herennius Etruscus until they were both killed in the Battle of Abrittus.
Decius, who was born at Budalia, now Martinci, Serbia near Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica), in Lower Pannonia was one of the first among a long succession of future Roman Emperors to originate from the province of Illyricum in the Danube. Unlike some of his immediate imperial predecessors such as Philip the Arab or Maximinus, Decius was a distinguished senator who had served as consul in 232, had been governor of Moesia and Germania Inferior soon afterwards, served as governor of Hispania Tarraconensis between 235–238, and was urban prefect of Rome during the early reign of Emperor Philip the Arab (Marcus Iulius Phillipus).
Around 245, Emperor Philip entrusted Decius with an important command on the Danube. By the end of 248 or 249, Decius was sent to quell the revolt of Pacatianus and his troops in Moesia and Pannonia; the soldiers were enraged because of the peace treaty signed between Philip and the Sassanids. Once arrived, the troops forced Decius to assume the imperial dignity himself instead. Decius still protested his loyalty to Philip, but the latter advanced against him and was killed near Verona, Italy. The Senate then recognized Decius as Emperor, giving him the attribute Traianus as a reference to the good emperor Trajan. As the Byzantine historian Zosimus later noted:
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Diadumenian
Diadumenian (Latin: Marcvs Opellivs Antoninvs Diadvmenianvs Avgvstvs) (14/19 September 208 – 218), was the son of the Roman Emperor Macrinus, and served his father briefly as Caesar (May 217–218) and as Augustus (in 218).
Diadumenian was born on the 14th of September 208 or, according to Historia Augusta, on the 19th of September because he shared the same birthday with the Emperor Antoninus Pius. His mother was Empress Nonia Celsa, although little is known of her: she is only mentioned by the Historia Augusta. He was born Marcus Opellius Diadumenianus, but his name was changed and added Antoninus to solidify connection to the family of Marcus Aurelius as done by Caracalla.
Diadumenian had little time to enjoy his position or to learn anything from its opportunities because the legions of Syria revolted and declared Elagabalus ruler of the Roman Empire. When Macrinus was defeated on 8 June 218, at Antioch, Diadumenian's death followed his father's.
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Didius Julianus
Didius Julianus (Latin: Marcus Didius Severus Julianus Augustus; 30 January 133 or 2 February 137 – 1 June 193), was Roman Emperor for three months during the year 193. He ascended the throne after buying it from the Praetorian Guard, who had assassinated his predecessor Pertinax. This led to the Roman Civil War of 193–197. Julianus was ousted and sentenced to death by his successor, Septimius Severus.
Julianus was born to Quintus Petronius Didius Severus and Aemilia Clara. Julianus's father came from a prominent family in Mediolanum (Milan) and his mother was an African woman, of Roman descent. Clara came from a family of consular rank. His brothers were Didius Proculus and Didius Nummius Albinus. His date of birth is given as 30 January 133 by Cassius Dio and 2 February 137 by the Historia Augusta. Didius Julianus was raised by Domitia Lucilla, mother of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. With Domitia's help, he was appointed at a very early age to the vigintivirate, the first step towards public distinction. He married a Roman woman called Manlia Scantilla and about 153, Scantilla bore him a daughter and only child Didia Clara.
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Diocletian
Diocletian (Latin: Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus Augustus; c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305. Born to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia, Diocletian rose through the ranks of the military to become cavalry commander to the Emperor Carus. After the deaths of Carus and his son Numerian on campaign in Persia, Diocletian was proclaimed Emperor. The title was also claimed by Carus' other surviving son, Carinus, but Diocletian defeated him in the Battle of the Margus. With his accession to power, Diocletian ended the Crisis of the Third Century. He appointed fellow officer Maximian Augustus his senior co-emperor in 285.
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Domitian
Domitian (Latin: Titus Flavius Caesar Domitianus Augustus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.
Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War. This situation continued under the rule of his father Vespasian, who became emperor in 69 following the civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors. While Titus effectually reigned as co-emperor with his father, Domitian was left with honours but no responsibilities. Vespasian died in 79 and was succeeded by Titus, whose own reign came to an unexpected end when he was struck by a fatal illness in 81. The following day Domitian was declared Emperor by the Praetorian Guard, commencing a reign which lasted fifteen years – longer than any man who had ruled since Tiberius.
As Emperor, Domitian strengthened the economy by revaluing the Roman coinage, expanded the border defenses of the Empire, and initiated a massive building program to restore the damaged city of Rome. Significant wars were fought in Britain, where his general Agricola attempted to conquer Caledonia (Scotland), and in Dacia, where Domitian was unable to procure a decisive victory against king Decebalus. Domitian's government exhibited totalitarian characteristics; he saw himself as the new Augustus, an enlightened despot destined to guide the Roman Empire into a new era of brilliance. Religious, military, and cultural propaganda fostered a cult of personality, and by nominating himself perpetual censor, he sought to control public and private morals. As a consequence, Domitian was popular with the people and army but considered a tyrant by members of the Roman Senate. According to Suetonius, he was the first Roman Emperor who had demanded to be addressed as dominus et deus (master and god).
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Drusus Caesar
Drusus Julius Caesar (AD 7 – AD 33), was a member of the Julio-Claudian or Imperial family of Ancient Rome. He was a son of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder. He was brother to Emperor Caligula, nephew to Emperor Claudius.
Drusus married Aemilia Lepida, daughter of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, his second cousin. Tacitus reports that during their marriage "she had pursued her husband with ceaseless accusations". In 36, she was charged with adultery with a slave and committed suicide, "since there was no question about her guilt" (Tacitus, Annals 6.40).
Drusus' paternal grandparents were Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor. His maternal grandparents were Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. He was adopted by his paternal great-uncle Tiberius after Tiberius' own son, Julius Caesar Drusus, had died.
Drusus Caesar was later accused of plotting against Tiberius. He was exiled and imprisoned in 30, a year after his mother Agrippina the Elder and his brother Nero Caesar were arrested. He starved to death in prison in 33, reduced to chewing the stuffing of his bed (Annals 6.23).
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Elagabalus
Elagabalus (Latin: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus; ca. 203 – 11 March 222), also known as Heliogabalus, was Roman Emperor from 218 to 222. A member of the Severan Dynasty, he was Syrian on his mother's side, the son of Julia Soaemias and Sextus Varius Marcellus. Early in his youth he served as a priest of the god El-Gabal in his hometown, Emesa. Upon becoming emperor he took the name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus and was called Elagabalus only after his death.
In 217, the emperor Caracalla was assassinated and replaced by his Praetorian prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus. Caracalla's maternal aunt, Julia Maesa, successfully instigated a revolt among the Third Legion to have her eldest grandson, Elagabalus, declared emperor in his place. Macrinus was defeated on 8 June 218, at the Battle of Antioch. Elagabalus, barely fourteen years old, became emperor, initiating a reign known mainly for sexual scandal and religious controversy.
During his rule, Elagabalus showed a disregard for Roman religious traditions and sexual taboos. He replaced the traditional head of the Roman pantheon, Jupiter, with a god held in comparable esteem in Syria, Deus Sol Invictus (in Greek: Helios, hence the name Heliogabulus). He forced leading members of Rome's government to participate in religious rites celebrating this deity, rites over which he personally presided. Elagabalus was married as many as five times, lavished favours on courtiers popularly thought to have been his homosexual lovers, employed a prototype of whoopee cushions at dinner parties, and was reported to have prostituted himself in the imperial palace. Reports of his behaviour estranged the Praetorian Guard, the Senate, and the common people alike.
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Florianus
Florianus (Latin: Marcus Annius Florianus Augustus; died 276), also known as Florian, was Roman Emperor for a few months in 276.
Florian was reportedly a maternal half-brother to the Emperor Marcus Claudius Tacitus. Appointed Praetorian Prefect in Tacitus's army in his campaign against the Goths, according to the available sources, he was chosen by the army in the West to succeed Tacitus in 276, without the Roman Senate consensus. However he minted coins bearing the "SC" legend, thus showing some bonds to the Senate.
He was fighting against the Heruli when the army in the East elected Probus. He had the support of Italia, Gaul, Hispania, Britain, Africa, and Mauretania. The two rival emperors met in battle in Cilicia. Florianus had the larger army, but Probus was a more experienced general, and avoided a direct clash. Florian's western army was unused to the dry and hot eastern climate and Probus likely secured a small victory, and Florian was assassinated by his own troops near Tarsus once their confidence was lost. Florianus died in September 276, having been emperor for only eighty-eight days.
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Gaius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (20 BC – 21 February AD 4), most commonly known as Gaius Caesar or Caius Caesar, was the oldest son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. He was born between 14 August and 13 September 20 BC or according to other sources in 23 September 20 BC with the name Gaius Vipsanius Agrippa, but when he was adopted by his maternal grandfather Roman Emperor Augustus, his name was changed to Gaius Julius Caesar.
Gaius was adopted along with his brother Lucius Caesar in 17 BC by their maternal grandfather, the Roman Emperor Augustus, who named the two boys his heirs. In 6 BC the Roman plebs agitated for Gaius to be created consul, despite the fact that he was only 14 and had not yet assumed the toga virilis. As a compromise, it was agreed that he should have the right to sit in the Senate House, and he was made consul designatus with the intention that he should assume the consulship in his twentieth year. Gaius was at this point created "Prince of Youth" ("princeps iuventutis"), an honorific that made him one of the symbolic heads of the equestrian order. Lucius, three years his junior, was granted the same honours after the appropriate interval had elapsed. Temples and statues were erected in their honour (as in the case of the Maison Carrée in Nîmes). In 1 BC he was made army commander in the East and made a peace treaty with Phraates V on an island in the river Euphrates. In 1 AD, he was made Consul with Lucius Aemilius Paullus as his colleague.
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Gaius Maecenas
Gaius Cilnius Maecenas ( /maɪˈsiːnəs/; 13 April 70 BC – ? October 8 BC) was an ally, friend and political advisor to Octavian (who was to become the first Emperor of Rome as Caesar Augustus) as well as an important patron for the new generation of Augustan poets. During the reign of Augustus, Maecenas served as a quasi-culture minister to the Emperor.
His name has become a byword for a wealthy, generous and enlightened patron of the arts.
Expressions in Propertius seem to imply that Maecenas had taken some part in the campaigns of Mutina, Philippi and Perugia. He prided himself on his ancient Etruscan lineage, and claimed descent from the princely house of the Cilnii, who excited the jealousy of their townsmen by their preponderant wealth and influence at Arretium in the 4th century BC. Horace makes reference to this in his address to Maecenas at the opening of his first books of Odes with the expression "atavis edite regibus" (descendant of kings). Tacitus refers to him as "Cilnius Maecenas"; it is possible that "Cilnius" was his mother's nomen - or that Maecenas was in fact a cognomen.
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Gaius Octavius
Gaius Octavius (about 100 BC-59 BC) was an ancestor to the Roman Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He was the father of the Emperor Augustus, step-grandfather of the Emperor Tiberius, great-great grandfather of the Emperor Caligula, great-grandfather of the Emperor Claudius, and great-great-great grandfather of the Emperor Nero. He descended from an old, wealthy equestrian branch of the Octavii family. Despite being from a wealthy family, his family was plebeian, rather than patrician. As a novus homo ("new man"), he was not of a senatorial family.
His grandfather, Gaius Octavius, fought as a military tribune in Sicily during the Second Punic War. His father Gaius Octavius was a municipal magistrate who lived to an advanced age. He was distantly related to Gnaeus Octavius, the consul of 87 BC who led the opposition to Lucius Cornelius Cinna.
Octavius' first wife was named Ancharia. The two had a child (named Octavia Major). It is not known how the marriage ended, although it is possible that Ancharia died during child birth. He later married the niece of Julius Caesar, Atia Balba Caesonia. How they met is not known, although Atia's family (through her father, the Balbi) lived close to Velitrae, which was the ancestral home of the Octavii. They had two children: Octavia Minor and the Emperor Augustus, the latter of whom was born in 63 BC.
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Galatia
Ancient Galatia ( /ɡəˈleɪʃə/; Greek: Γαλατία) was an area in the highlands of central Anatolia in modern Turkey. Galatia was named for the immigrant Gauls from Thrace (cf. Tylis), who settled here and became its ruling caste in the 3rd century BC, following the Gallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BC. It has been called the "Gallia" of the East, Roman writers calling its inhabitants Galli (Gaul or Celt). The Galateans themselves were not literate, and their name for themselves remains unknown.
Galatia was bounded on the north by Bithynia and Paphlagonia, on the east by Pontus and Cappadocia, on the south by Cilicia and Lycaonia, and on the west by Phrygia. Its capital was Ancyra (i.e. Ankara, today the capital of modern Turkey ).
Seeing something of a Hellenized savage in the Galatians, Francis Bacon and other Renaissance writers called them "Gallo-Graeci", "Gauls settled among the Greeks" and the country "Gallo-Graecia", as had the 3rd century AD Latin historian Justin. The more usual term in Antiquity is Ἑλληνογαλάται (Hellēnogalátai) of Diodorus Siculus' Biblioteca historica v.32.5, in a passage that is translated "...and were called Gallo-Graeci because of their connection with the Greeks", identifying Galatia in the Greek East as opposed to Gallia in the West.
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Galba
Galba (Latin: Servius Sulpicius Galba Caesar Augustus; 24 December 3 BC – 15 January 69), was Roman Emperor for seven months from 68 to 69. Galba was the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, and made a bid for the throne during the rebellion of Julius Vindex. He was the first emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors.
He was born as Servius Sulpicius Galba near Terracina, "on the left as you go towards Fundi" in the words of Suetonius.
Through his paternal grandfather ("more eminent for his learning than for his rank — for he did not advance beyond the grade of praetor" and who "published a voluminous and painstaking history", according to Suetonius), who predicted his rise to power (Suetonius, 4), he was descended from Servius Sulpicius Galba. Galba's father attained the consulship, and although he was short, hunchbacked and only an indifferent speaker, was an industrious pleader at the bar.
His mother was Mummia Achaica, the granddaughter of Catulus and great-granddaughter of Lucius Mummius Achaicus. They only had one other child, an elder son called Gaius who left Rome after squandering the greater part of his estate, and committed suicide because Tiberius would not allow him to take part in the allotment of the provinces in his year. On his father's remarriage to Livia Ocellina, Galba was adopted by her and took her names, remaining Lucius Livius Ocella Sulpicius Galba until becoming emperor.
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Galerius
Galerius (Latin: Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus Augustus; c. 260 – April or May 311), was Roman Emperor from 305 to 311. During his reign he campaigned, aided by Diocletian, against the Sassanid Empire, sacking their capital Ctesiphon in 299. He also campaigned across the Danube against the Carpi, defeating them in 297 and 300. Although he was a staunch opponent of Christianity, Galerius ended the Diocletianic Persecution when he issued an edict of toleration in 311.
Galerius was born in Serdica, though some modern scholars consider the strategic site where he later built his palace named after his mother – Felix Romuliana (Gamzigrad) – his birth and funeral place. His father was a Thracian and his mother Romula was a Dacian woman, who left Dacia because of the Carpians' attacks. He originally followed his father's occupation, that of a herdsman, where he got his surname of Armentarius (Latin: armentum, herd).
He served with distinction as a soldier under Emperors Aurelian and Probus, and in 293 at the establishment of the Tetrarchy, was designated Caesar along with Constantius Chlorus, receiving in marriage Diocletian's daughter Valeria (later known as Galeria Valeria), and at the same time being entrusted with the care of the Illyrian provinces. After a few years Danube campaign against Sarmatians and Goths he receive a command of the legions on the eastern Imperial limits. Soon after his appointment, Galerius would be dispatched to Egypt to fight the rebellious cities Busiris and Coptos.
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Gallic Wars
The Gallic Wars were a series of military campaigns waged by the Roman proconsul Julius Caesar against several Gallic tribes. They lasted from 58 BC to 50 BC and culminated in the decisive Battle of Alesia in 52 BC, in which a complete Roman victory resulted in the expansion of the Roman Republic over the whole of Gaul. The wars paved the way for Julius Caesar to become the sole ruler of the Roman Republic.
Although Caesar portrayed this invasion as being a preemptive and defensive action, most historians agree that the wars were fought primarily to boost Caesar's political career and to pay off his massive debts. Still, Gaul was of significant military importance to the Romans, as these had been attacked several times by native tribes both indigenous to Gaul and farther to the north. Conquering Gaul allowed Rome to secure the natural border of the river Rhine.
The Gallic Wars are described by Julius Caesar as himself in his book Commentarii de Bello Gallico, which is a pertinent and only slightly tendentious and altogether the most important historical source regarding the conflict.
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Gallienus
Gallienus (Latin: Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus Augustus; c. 218 – 268) was Roman Emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260, and alone from 260 to 268. He took control of the Empire at a time when it was undergoing great crisis. His record in dealing with those crises is mixed, as he won a number of military victories but was unable to keep much of his realm from seceding.
Based on the testimony of John Malalas and the Epitome de Caesaribus that Gallienus was about 50 years old at the time of his death, it is generally considered he was born around 218, son of Valerian and Mariniana, a woman possibly of senatorial rank and possibly a daughter of Egnatius Victor Marinianus, and brother of Valerianus Minor. Inscriptions on coins connect him with Falerii in Etruria and this may well have been his birthplace; it has yielded many inscriptions relating to his mother's family, the Egnatii.
He married to Cornelia Salonina about ten years before his accession to the throne. She was the mother of three princes, Valerian II (who died in 258), Saloninus (who, after becoming co-emperor, died in 260 by the hand of his general Postumus), and Marinianus (killed in 268, shortly after his father was assassinated).
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Germanic Wars
The Germanic Wars is a name given to a series of wars between the Romans and various Germanic tribes between 113 BCE and 596 CE. The nature of these wars varied through time between Roman conquest, Germanic uprisings and later Germanic invasions in the Roman Empire that started in the late 2nd century. The series of conflicts which began in the 5th century, under the Western Roman Emperor Honorius, led (along with internal strife) to the ultimate downfall of the Western Roman Empire.
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Germanicus
Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19), commonly known as Germanicus, was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and a prominent general of the early Roman Empire. He was born in Rome, Italia, and was named either Nero Claudius Drusus after his father or Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle. He received the agnomen Germanicus in 9 BC, when it was posthumously awarded to his father in honour of his victories in Germania.
His own campaigns in Germania made him famous after avenging the defeat at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest and retrieving the legion's eagles lost during the battle. Germanicus was the grandson-in-law and great-nephew of the Emperor Augustus, nephew and adoptive son of the Emperor Tiberius, father of the Emperor Caligula, brother of the Emperor Claudius, and the maternal grandfather of the Emperor Nero.
Germanicus was born in Rome in 15 BC. His parents were the general Nero Claudius Drusus (son of Empress Livia Drusilla, third wife of Emperor Augustus) and Antonia Minor (the younger daughter of the triumvir Mark Antony and Octavia Minor, sister of Augustus). Livilla was his younger sister and the future Emperor Claudius was his youngest brother.
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Glycerius
Glycerius (c. 420 – after 480) was a Western Roman Emperor from 473 to 474. Elevated by his Magister militum, Gundobad, Glycerius’ elevation was rejected by the court at Constantinople, and he was ousted by Julius Nepos. He later served as the bishop of Salona in the early Catholic Church.
Sources on Glycerius are scarce and scanty. It is known that, at the time of his elevation to the throne, he was the comes domesticorum, the commander of the Imperial guard of the court at Ravenna. Previous to this posting, he had been the military commander in Dalmatia.
In 472, the Western Roman Empire was plagued by a civil war between Emperor Anthemius and his Magister militum (commander in chief of the army), Ricimer. Ricimer killed the Emperor and put Olybrius on the throne, but in a short time both Ricimer and Olybrius were dead. The Eastern Roman Emperor, Leo I the Thracian, tarried in choosing his successor, so the Germanic elements of the army, represented by the new Magister militum and Patrician, Gundobad (a nephew of Ricimer's), elected Glycerius Emperor on March 3 or 5, 473 in Ravenna.
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Gordian I
Gordian I (Latin: Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus Africanus Augustus; c. 159 – 12 April 238) was Roman Emperor for one month with his son Gordian II in 238, the Year of the Six Emperors. Caught up in a rebellion against the Emperor Maximinus Thrax, he was defeated by forces loyal to Maximinus before committing suicide.
Little is known on the early life and family background of Gordian. There is no reliable evidence on his family origins. His family were of Equestrian rank, who were modest and very wealthy. Gordian was said to be related to prominent senators. His praenomen and nomen Marcus Antonius suggest that his paternal ancestors received Roman citizenship under the Triumvir Mark Antony, or one of his daughters, during the late Roman Republic. Gordian’s cognomen ‘Gordianus’ suggests that his family origins were from Anatolia, especially Galatia and Cappadocia.
According to the Augustan History, his mother was a Roman woman called Ulpia Gordiana and his father Roman Senator Maecius Marullus. While modern historians have dismissed his father's name as false, there may be some truth behind the identity of his mother. Gordian's family history can be guessed through inscriptions. The name Sempronianus in his name may indicate a connection to his mother or grandmother. In Ankara Turkey, a funeral inscription has been found that names a Sempronia Romana, daughter of a named Sempronius Aquila (an imperial secretary). Romana erected this undated funeral inscription to her husband (whose name is lost) who died as a praetor-designate. Gordian might have been related to the gens Sempronia.
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Gordian II
Gordian II (Latin: Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus Africanus Augustus; c. 192 – April 12, 238), was Roman Emperor for one month with his father Gordian I in 238, the Year of the Six Emperors. Seeking to overthrow the Emperor Maximinus Thrax, he died in battle outside of Carthage.
Born c. 192, Gordian II was the only known son of Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus the Elder. His family were of Equestrian rank, who were modest and very wealthy. Gordian was said to be related to prominent senators. His praenomen and nomen Marcus Antonius suggest that his paternal ancestors received Roman citizenship under the Triumvir Mark Antony, or one of his daughters, during the late Roman Republic. Gordian’s cognomen ‘Gordianus’ suggests that his family origins were from Anatolia, especially Galatia and Cappadocia.
According to the notoriously unreliable Historia Augusta, his mother was a Roman woman called Fabia Orestilla, born circa 165, who the Augustan History claims was a descendant of Roman Emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius through her father Fulvus Antoninus. Modern historians have dismissed this name and her information as false. There is some evidence to suggest that Gordian's mother may have been the granddaughter of Greek Sophist, consul and tutor Herodes Atticus. His younger sister was Antonia Gordiana, who was the mother of Emperor Gordian III.
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Gordian III
Gordian III (Latin: Marcus Antonius Gordianus Pius Augustus; 20 January 225 – 11 February 244), was Roman Emperor from 238 to 244. At the age of 13, he became the youngest sole legal Roman emperor throughout the existence of the united Roman Empire. Gordian was the son of Antonia Gordiana and an unnamed Roman Senator who died before 238. Antonia Gordiana was the daughter of Emperor Gordian I and younger sister of Emperor Gordian II. Very little is known on his early life before his acclamation. Gordian had assumed the name of his maternal grandfather in 238.
Following the murder of Emperor Alexander Severus in Moguntiacum (modern Mainz), the capital of the Roman province Germania Inferior, Maximinus Thrax was acclaimed Emperor, despite strong opposition of the Roman senate and the majority of the population. In response to what was considered in Rome as a rebellion, Gordian's grandfather and uncle, Gordian I and II, were proclaimed joint emperors in the Africa Province. Their revolt was suppressed within a month by Cappellianus, governor of Numidia and a loyal supporter of Maximinus Thrax. The elder Gordians died, but public opinion cherished their memory as peace loving and literate men, victims of Maximinus' oppression.
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Gratian
Gratian ([pronunciation?]; Latin: Flavius Gratianus Augustus; 18 April/23 May 359 – 25 August 383) was Roman Emperor from 375 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, during his youth Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers. Upon the death of Valentinian in 375, Gratian's brother Valentinian II was declared emperor by his father's soldiers. In 378, Gratian's generals won a decisive victory over the Lentienses, a branch of the Alamanni, at the Battle of Argentovaria. Gratian subsequently led a campaign across the Rhine, the last emperor to do so, and attacked the Lentienses, forcing the tribe to surrender. That same year, his uncle Valens was killed in the Battle of Adrianople against the Goths – making Gratian essentially ruler of the entire Roman Empire. He favoured Christianity over traditional Roman religion, refusing the divine attributes of the Emperors and removing the Altar of Victory from the Roman Senate.
Gratian was the son of Emperor Valentinian I by Marina Severa, and was born at Sirmium (now Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia) in Pannonia. He was named after his grandfather Gratian the Elder. Gratian was first married to Flavia Maxima Constantia, daughter of Constantius II. His second wife was Laeta. Both marriages remained childless. His stepmother was Empress Justina and his paternal half siblings were Emperor Valentinian II, Galla and Justa.
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Hadrian
Hadrian (Latin: Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus 24 January 76 – 10 July 138), was a Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in all his tastes. He was the third of the so-called Five Good Emperors.
Hadrian was born Publius Aelius Hadrianus to an ethnically Italian family in Italica near Seville. His predecessor Trajan was a maternal cousin of Hadrian's father. Trajan never officially designated an heir, but according to his wife Pompeia Plotina, Trajan named Hadrian emperor immediately before his death. Trajan's wife and his friend Licinius Sura were well-disposed towards Hadrian, and he may well have owed his succession to them.
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Heraclius
Heraclius (Latin: Flavius Heraclius Augustus, Greek: Φλάβιος Ἡράκλειος, c. 575 – February 11, 641) was Byzantine Emperor from 610 to 641.
He was responsible for introducing Greek as the Eastern Empire's official language. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, successfully led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.
Heraclius' reign was marked by several military campaigns. The year Heraclius came to power, the empire was threatened on multiple frontiers. Heraclius immediately took charge of the ongoing war against the Sassanids. The first battles of the campaign ended in defeat for the Byzantines; the Persian army fought their way to the Bosphorus. However, because Constantinople was protected by impenetrable walls and a strong navy, Heraclius was able to avoid total defeat. Soon after, he initiated reforms to rebuild and strengthen the military. Heraclius drove the Persians out of Asia Minor and pushed deep into their territory, defeating them decisively in 627 at the Battle of Nineveh. The Persian king Khosrau II was assassinated soon after and peace was restored to the two deeply strained empires.
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Heraklonas
Constantinus Heraclius (Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος Ἡράκλειος), known in English as Heraklonas, Heraclonas, or Heracleonas (626–641), was the son of Heraclius and his niece Martina, and was Byzantine Emperor briefly between February and September 641.
He was baptised and officially reigned as Constantinus Heraclius, but the diminutive nickname Heraklonas (Ἡρακλωνᾶς), little Heraclius, became established in Byzantine texts and has become standard in historiography.
Heraklonas was probably born at Lazica while his father was on campaign against Khosrau II of the Sassanid Empire. He was probably the fourth son of Martina and Herakleios, but the first one born free of physical deformity and eligible for the throne.
Towards the end of Heraclius' reign he obtained through his mother’s influence the title of Augustus on July 4, 638, and after his father’s death was proclaimed joint emperor with his older half-brother Constantine III (Herakleios Constantine).
The premature death of Constantine III, in May 641, left Heraklonas sole ruler. But a suspicion that he and Martina had murdered Constantine led soon after to a revolt under the general Valentinus, who forced Heraklonas to accept his young nephew Constans II as co-ruler. Martina intended to balance this setback with the coronation of her younger son the Caesar David (Tiberios) as emperor.
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Herennius Etruscus
Herennius Etruscus (Latin: Quintus Herennius Etruscus Messius Decius Augustus; ca. 227 – June 251), was Roman emperor in 251, in a joint rule with his father Decius. Emperor Hostilian was his younger brother.
Herennius was born in near Sirmium in Pannonia (now Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia), during one of his father's military postings. His mother was Herennia Cupressenia Etruscilla, a Roman lady of an important senatorial family. Herennius was very close to his father and accompanied him in 248, as a military tribune, when Decius was appointed by Philip the Arab to deal with the revolt of Pacatianus in the Danube frontier. Decius was successful on defeating this usurper and felt confident to begin a rebellion of his own in the following year. Acclaimed emperor by his own troops, Decius marched into Italy and defeated Philip near modern Verona. In Rome, Herennius was declared heir to the throne and received the title of princeps iuventutis (prince of youth).
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Herod Archelaus
Herod Archelaus (23 BC – c. 18 AD) was the ethnarch of Samaria, Judea, and Idumea (biblical Edom) from 4 BC to 6 AD. He was the son of Herod the Great and Malthace the Samaritan, the brother of Herod Antipas, and the half-brother of Herod Philip I.
Archelaus received the Tetrarchy of Judea by the last will of his father, though a previous will had bequeathed it to his brother Antipas. He was proclaimed king by the army, but declined to assume the title until he had submitted his claims to Caesar Augustus in Rome. Before setting out, he quelled with the utmost cruelty a sedition of the Pharisees, slaying nearly three thousand of them. In Rome he was opposed by Antipas and by many of the Jews, who feared his cruelty; but in 4 BC Augustus allotted to him the greater part of the kingdom (Samaria, Judea, and Idumea) with the title of ethnarch (not king) until 6 AD when Judaea province was formed, under direct Roman rule, at the time of the Census of Quirinius.
The first wife of Archelaus is given by Josephus simply as Mariamne, perhaps Mariamne III (Mariamne bint Aristobulus), whom he divorced to marry Glaphyra. She was the widow of Archelaus' brother Alexander, though her second husband, Juba, king of Mauretania, was alive. This violation of the Mosaic law along with Archelaus' continued cruelty roused the ire of the Jews, who complained to Augustus. Archelaus was deposed in the year 6 and banished to Vienne in Gaul; Samaria, Judea proper, and Idumea became the Roman province of Iudaea.
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Herod the Great
Herod (Hebrew: הוֹרְדוֹס, Hordos, Greek: Ἡρῴδης, Hērōdēs), also known as Herod the Great (born 73 or 74 BCE, died 4 BCE in Jericho), was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his expansion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem (sometimes referred to as Herod's Temple) and the construction of the port at Caesarea Maritima. Important details of his biography are gleaned from the works of the 1st century CE Roman-Jewish historian Josephus Flavius.
The Romans made Herod's son Herod Archelaus ethnarch of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea (biblical Edom) from 4 BCE to 6 CE, referred to as the tetrarchy of Judea. Archelaus was judged incompetent by the Roman emperor Augustus who then combined Samaria, Judea proper and Idumea into Iudaea province under rule of a prefect until 41. Herod's other son Herod Antipas was tetrarch of Galilee from 4 BCE – 39 CE.
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Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus. The rhetorician Quintillian regarded his Odes as almost the only Latin lyrics worth reading, justifying his estimate with the words: "He can be lofty sometimes, yet he is also full of charm and grace, versatile in his figures, and felicitously daring in his choice of words."
Horace also crafted elegant hexameter verses (Sermones and Epistles) and scurrilous iambic poetry (Epodes). The hexameters are playful and yet serious works, leading the ancient satirist Persius to comment: "as his friend laughs, Horace slyly puts his finger on his every fault; once let in, he plays about the heartstrings". Some of his iambic poetry, however, can seem wantonly repulsive to modern audiences.
His career coincided with Rome's momentous change from Republic to Empire. An officer in the republican army that was crushed at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, he was befriended by Octavian's right-hand man in civil affairs, Maecenas, and became something of a spokesman for the new regime. For some commentators, his association with the regime was a delicate balance in which he maintained a strong measure of independence (he was "a master of the graceful sidestep") but for others he was, in John Dryden's phrase, "a well-mannered court slave".
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Hostilian
Hostilian (Latin: Gaius Valens Hostilianus Messius Quintus Augustus; 230? – 251) was Roman emperor in 251. Hostilian was born in Sirmium (now Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia) in Illyricum sometime after 230, as the son of the future emperor Decius by his wife Herennia Cupressenia Etruscilla. He was the younger brother of emperor Herennius Etruscus.
Following his father's accession to the throne, Hostilian received the treatment of an imperial prince, but was always kept in the shade of his brother Herennius, who enjoyed the privileges of being older and heir. In the beginning of 251, Decius elevated his son Herennius to co-emperor and Hostilian succeeded him in the title of princeps iuventutis (prince of youth). Decius and Herennius then set out on campaign against king Cniva of the Goths, to punish him for raids on the Danubian frontier. Hostilian remained in Rome due to his inexperience, and empress Herennia was named regent.
The campaign proved to be a disaster: both Herennius and Decius died in the Battle of Abrittus and became the first two emperors to be killed by a foreign army in battle. The armies in the Danube acclaimed Trebonianus Gallus emperor, but Rome acknowledged Hostilian's rights. Since Trebonianus was a respected general, there was fear of another civil war of succession, despite the fact that he chose to respect the will of Rome and adopted Hostilian. But later in 251, the Plague of Cyprian broke out in the Empire and Hostilian died in the epidemic. He was the first emperor in 40 years to die of natural causes, one of only 13. His death opened the way for the rule of Trebonianus with his natural son Volusianus.
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Irene of Athens
Irene Sarantapechaina (Greek: Ειρήνη Σαρανταπήχαινα), known as Irene of Athens or Irene the Athenian (Greek: Ειρήνη η Αθηναία) (c. 752 – 9 August 803) was a Byzantine empress regnant from 797 to 802, having previously been empress consort from 775 to 780, and empress dowager and regent from 780 to 797. It is often claimed she called herself "basileus" (βασιλεύς), 'emperor'. In fact, she normally referred to herself as "basilissa" (βασίλισσα), 'empress', although there are three instances of the title "basileus" being used by her.
Irene was born to a noble Greek family of Athens, the Sarantapechos family. Although she was an orphan, her uncle, Constantine Sarantapechos, was a patrician and possibly strategos of the theme of Hellas. She was brought to Constantinople by Emperor Constantine V on 1 November 769, and was married to his son Leo IV on 17 December. Although she appears to have come from a noble family, there is no clear reason as to why she would have been chosen as Leo's bride, leading some scholars to speculate that she was selected in a bride-show, in which eligible women were paraded before the bridegroom, until one was finally selected.
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Isaac I Komnenos
Isaac I Komnenos (or Comnenus) (Greek: Ισαάκιος A' Κομνηνός, Isaakios I Komnēnos) (c. 1007 – 1061) was Byzantine Emperor from 1057 to 1059, and the first reigning member of the Komnenos dynasty. His brief reign saw an attempt to restore the Byzantine Empire’s military capability and reputation.
He was the son of Manuel Erotikos Komnenos, the strategos autokrator of the East under Emperor Basil II who in 978 defended Nicaea against Bardas Skleros, and one of his two wives, whose names are unknown, and who on his deathbed in 1020 commended his two surviving sons Isaakios and Ioannes to the emperor's care. Basil had them carefully educated at the monastery of Stoudion, and afterwards advanced them to high official positions. He also had an older son, Nikephoros, who died in 1026, and a daughter, born in 1012 and married around 1031 to Michael Dokeianos, Catepan of Italy, deceased in 1050. It is said that their name was derived from the city of Komne, near Philippopolis, where they were landowners, and that they were of Armenian ancestry from Paphlagonia, which is supported by the use of the name Manuel instead of Emmanouel.
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Isaac II Angelos
Isaac II Angelos (or Angelus) (Greek: Ισαάκιος Β’ Άγγελος, Isaakios II Angelos) (September 1156 – January 1204) was Byzantine Emperor from 1185 to 1195, and again from 1203 to 1204.
His father Andronikos Dukas Angelos, a military leader in Asia Minor (c. 1122 – aft. 1185), married bef. 1155 Euphrosyne Kastamonitissa (c. 1125 – aft. 1195). Andronikos Dukas Angelos was the son of Konstantinos Angelos, Admiral of Sicily (c. 1085 – aft. July 1166, son of Manolis Angelos from Philadelphia) and Theodora Komnene (b. 15 January 1096/1097) who was the youngest daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Eirene Doukaina. Thus, Isaac was a member of the extended imperial clan.
During the brief reign of Andronikos I Komnenos, Isaac was involved (alongside his father and brothers) in the revolt of Nicaea and Prousa. Atypically, the Emperor did not punish him for this disloyalty, and Isaac remained at Constantinople.
On September 11, 1185, during Andronikos' absence from the capital, the latter's lieutenant Stephanos Hagiochristophorites moved to arrest Isaac. Isaac killed Hagiochristophorites and took refuge in the church of Hagia Sophia. Andronikos, in some ways a capable ruler, was hated for his cruelty and his efforts to keep the aristocracy obedient. Isaac appealed to the populace, and a tumult arose which spread rapidly over the whole city. When Andronikos arrived he found that during his absence he had lost popular support, and that Isaac had been proclaimed emperor. Andronikos attempted to flee by boat but was apprehended. Isaac handed him over to the people of the City, and he was killed on 12 September 1185.
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Joannes
Ioannes, known in English as Joannes, was a Roman usurper (423–425) against Valentinian III.
On the death of the Emperor Honorius (August 15, 423), Theodosius II, the remaining ruler of the House of Theodosius hesitated in announcing his uncle's death. In the interregnum, Honorius's patrician at the time of his death, Castinus, elevated Joannes as emperor.
Joannes was a primicerius notariorum or senior civil servant at the time of his elevation. Procopius praised him as "both gentle and well-endowed with sagacity and thoroughly capable of valorous deeds." Unlike the Theodosian emperors, he tolerated all Christian sects. His control over Gaul was insecure: his pretorian prefect of that region was slain at Arles in an uprising of the soldiery there. And Comes Bonifacius, in control of the African provinces, held back the grain fleet from Rome.
"The events of Johannes' reign are as shadowy as its origins," writes John Matthews, who then provides a list of the ruler's known actions in a paragraph. Joannes was proclaimed at Rome and praetorian games were provided at the expense of a member of the gens Anicia. Johannes then moved his base of operations to Ravenna, knowing full well that the Eastern Empire would strike from that direction. There is a mention of an expedition against Africa, but its fate, presumed unsuccessful, is unrecorded. In Gaul, he appears to have caused offense by submitting clerics to secular courts. And that is all.
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John Carew Rolfe
John Carew Rolfe, Ph.D. (1859, Newburyport, Massachusetts – 1943) was an American classical scholar, the son of William J. Rolfe.
He graduated from Harvard University in 1881 and from Cornell University (Ph.D.) in 1885.
He taught at Cornell (1882–1885), at Harvard (1889–1890), at the University of Michigan, and at the University of Pennsylvania.
He was professor in 1907 - 1908 at the American School of Classical Studies and at the American Academy in Rome from 1923-1924. He continued to serve at the Academy until 1940. In 1910 - 1911, he was president of the American Philological Association.
He translated many Latin authors, especially historians, for the Loeb Classical Library: Ammianus Marcellinus, Cornelius Nepos, Aulus Gellius, Quintus Curtius, Sallust, and Suetonius.
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John I Tzimiskes
John I Tzimiskes or Tzimisces, (Greek: Ιωάννης Α΄ Τζιμισκής, Iōannēs I Tzimiskēs; Armenian: Հովհաննես Ա Չմշկիկ Hovhannes A Čmškik, Armenian pronunciation: [hovɑˈnɛs tʃʰəməʃˈkik]; circa 925 – January 10, 976) was Byzantine Emperor from December 11, 969 to January 10, 976. A brilliant and intuitive general, John's short reign saw the expansion of the Empire's borders and the strengthening of Byzantium itself.
John was born into the Kourkouas clan, a family of Armenian origin. Scholars have speculated that his nickname "Tzimiskes" was derived either from the Armenian Chmushkik, meaning "red boot", or from an Armenian word for "short stature." A more favorable explanation is offered by the medieval Armenian historian Matthew of Edessa, who states that "Tzimiskes was from the region of Khozan, from the area which is now called Chmushkatzag." Khozan was located in the region of Paghnatun, in the Byzantine province of Fourth Armenia (Sophene).
Tzimiskes was born sometime in 925 to an unnamed member of the Kourkouas family by the sister of the future Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas. Both the Kourkouai and the Phokadai were distinguished Cappadocian families, and among the most prominent of the emerging military aristocracy of Asia Minor. Several of their members had served as prominent army generals, most notably the great John Kourkouas, who conquered Melitene and much of Armenia.
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John II Komnenos
John II Komnenos (or Comnenus) (Greek: Ίωάννης Β΄ Κομνηνός, Iōannēs II Komnēnos) (September 13, 1087 – April 8, 1143) was Byzantine Emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as Kaloïōannēs ("John the Good" or "John the Beautiful"), he was the eldest son of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Irene Doukaina. The second Emperor of the Komnenian restoration of the Byzantine Empire, John was a pious and dedicated man who was determined to undo the damage his Empire had suffered at the battle of Manzikert, half a century earlier.
John has been assessed as the greatest of the Komnenian emperors. In the course of his twenty-five year reign, John made alliances with the Holy Roman Empire in the west, decisively defeated the Pechenegs in the Balkans, and personally led numerous campaigns against the Turks in Asia Minor. John's campaigns fundamentally changed the balance of power in the east, forcing the Turks onto the defensive and restoring to the Byzantines many towns, fortresses and cities right across the peninsula. In the southeast, John extended Byzantine control from the Maeander in the west all the way to Cilicia and Tarsus in the east. In an effort to demonstrate the Byzantine emperor's role as the leader of the Christian world, John marched into Muslim Syria at the head of the combined forces of Byzantium and the Crusader states; yet despite the great vigour with which he pressed the campaign, John's hopes were disappointed by the treachery of his Crusader allies, who deliberately failed to fight against the Muslim enemy at the crucial moment. Also under John, the empire's population recovered to about 10 million people.
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John IV Laskaris
John IV Doukas Laskaris (or Ducas Lascaris) (Greek: Ιωάννης Δ΄ Δούκας Λάσκαρις, Iōannēs IV Doukas Laskaris) (December 25, 1250 – c. 1305) was emperor of Nicaea from August 18, 1258 to December 25, 1261. This small empire was one of the Greek states formed from the remaining fragments of the Byzantine Empire, after the capture of Constantinople by Western European Christians during the Fourth Crusade in 1204.
John was a son of Theodore II Doukas Laskaris and Elena of Bulgaria. His maternal grandparents were Emperor Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria and his second wife Anna Maria of Hungary. Anna was originally named Mária and was the eldest daughter of Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrude of Merania.
John IV was only seven years old when he inherited the throne on the death of his father. The young monarch was the last member of the Laskarid dynasty, which had done much to restore the Byzantine Empire. His regent was originally the bureaucrat George Mouzalon, but that position was usurped by the aristocrat Michael Palaiologos, who later made himself co-emperor as Michael VIII on January 1, 1259. (Michael was, in fact, John's second cousin once removed, since they were both descended from Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera.)
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John V Palaiologos
John V Palaiologos (or Palaeologus) (Greek: Ίωάννης Ε' Παλαιολόγος, Iōannēs V Palaiologos) (18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was a Byzantine emperor, who succeeded his father in 1341, at age nine.
John V was the son of Emperor Andronikos III and his wife Anna, the daughter of Count Amadeus V of Savoy by his second wife Maria of Brabant. His long reign was marked by the gradual dissolution of imperial power amid numerous civil wars and the continuing ascendancy of the Ottoman Turks.
Coming to the throne at age nine, his reign began with immediate civil war between his designated regent, his father's friend John Kantakouzenos, and a self-proclaimed council of regency composed of his mother Anna, the patriarch John XIV Kalekas, and the megas doux Alexios Apokaukos. It was during this civil war in 1343 that Anna pawned the Byzantine crown jewels for 30,000 Venetian ducats. From 1346 to 1349, the Black Plague devastated Constantinople.
Victorious in 1347, John Kantakouzenos ruled as co-emperor until John V's attack on his son Matthew in 1352 led to a second civil war. It was this conflict that saw the Ottoman Empire acquire its first European territory at Çimpe and Gallipoli. Able to retake Constantinople in 1354, John V was able to remove and tonsure John VI; by 1357, he had deposed Matthew as well.
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John VII Palaiologos
John VII Palaiologos (or Palaeologus) (Greek: Ιωάννης Ζ' Παλαιολόγος, Iōannēs VII Palaiologos) (1370 – 22 September 1408) was Byzantine Emperor for five months in 1390.
John VII Palaiologos was the son of Emperor Andronikos IV Palaiologos and Keratsa of Bulgaria, a daughter of Emperor Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria and Theodora of Wallachia. He should not be confused with his cousin John VIII Palaiologos, the son of his uncle Manuel II, who succeeded his father.
When his father Andronikos IV usurped the throne from his father John V Palaiologos in 1376, John VII was associated as co-emperor. Both father and son were overthrown and partly blinded in 1379, but Andronikos IV kept his imperial status and was granted Selymbria (Silivri) as his domain by John V. When Andronikos IV died in 1385, John VII perhaps succeeded to his father's position.
On April 14, 1390 John VII Palaiologos ousted to his grandfather John V and maintained himself on the throne for five months, until John V was restored by his son Manuel with the help of the Republic of Venice
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Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irishsatirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet and cleric who became Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.
He is remembered for works such as Gulliver's Travels, A Modest Proposal, A Journal to Stella, Drapier's Letters, The Battle of the Books, An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity, and A Tale of a Tub. Swift is probably the foremost prose satirist in the English language, and is less well known for his poetry. Swift originally published all of his works under pseudonyms—such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M.B. Drapier—or anonymously. He is also known for being a master of two styles of satire: the Horatian and Juvenalian styles.
Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin, Ireland. He was the second child and only son of Jonathan Swift (1640-1667) and his wife Abigail Erick (or Herrick), of Frisby-on-the-Wreake. His father, a native of Goodrich, Herefordshire, accompanied his brothers to Ireland to seek their fortunes in law after their Royalist father's estate was brought to ruin during the English Civil War. Swift's father died at Dublin before he was born, and his mother returned to England. He was left in the care of his influential uncle, Godwin, a close friend and confidante of Sir John Temple, whose son later employed Swift as his secretary.
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Julia Drusilla
Julia Drusilla (Classical Latin: IVLIA•DRVSILLA) (16 September AD 16 – 10 June AD 38) was the second daughter and fifth living child of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, and the sister of the Roman Emperor Caligula. Drusilla also had two sisters (Julia Livilla and the Empress Agrippina the Younger) and two other brothers (Nero and Drusus). She was a great-granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus, great-niece and adoptive granddaughter of the Emperor Tiberius, sister of the Emperor Caligula, niece and sister-in-law of the Emperor Claudius, and maternal aunt of the Emperor Nero.
Drusilla was born in Abitarvium, modern day Koblenz, Germany. After the death of her father, Germanicus, she and her siblings were brought back to Rome by their mother, and raised with the help of their paternal grandmother, Antonia Minor. In AD 33, Drusilla was married to Lucius Cassius Longinus, a friend of the Emperor Tiberius. However, after Caligula became emperor in 37, he ordered their divorce and remarried his sister to his friend, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. During Caligula's illness in 37, he changed his will to name Drusilla his heir, making her the first woman to be named heir in an imperial will. This was likely an attempt to continue the Julio-Claudian line through any children she might have, leaving her husband to rule in the meantime. However, her brother recovered and in 38, Drusilla died, at the age of about twenty-two. Her brother went on to deify her, consecrating her with the title "Panthea" (all-goddess), and mourning her at her public funeral as though a widower.
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Julia Livilla
Julia Livilla (Classical Latin: IVLIA•LIVILLA, also called IVLIA•GERMANICI•CAESARIS•FILIA or LIVILLA•GERMANICI•CAESARIS•FILIA) (early AD 18 - late AD 41 or early AD 42) was the youngest child of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder and the youngest sister of the Emperor Caligula.
Livilla was the youngest great granddaughter of Emperor Augustus, great-niece and adoptive granddaughter of the Emperor Tiberius, sister of the Emperor Caligula, niece of the Emperor Claudius, and through her eldest sister Agrippina the Younger, maternal aunt of the Emperor Nero. In most ancient literary sources, on inscriptions and on coins, she is simply called 'Julia'. It is possible that she dropped the use of her cognomen after the damnatio memoriae of her paternal aunt Livilla (sister of Germanicus and Claudius), after whom she was named. However, on her sepulchral inscription, she is explicitly named Livilla, daughter of Germanicus, which leads to believe that in her times, she was called either 'Julia' or 'Livilla'.
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Julia the Elder
Julia the Elder (30 October 39 BC – AD 14), known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia (Classical Latin: IVLIA•CAESARIS•FILIA or IVLIA•AVGVSTI•FILIA) was the daughter and only biological child of Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire. Augustus subsequently adopted several male members of his close family as sons. Julia resulted from Augustus' second marriage with Scribonia, her birth occurring on the same day as Scribonia's divorce from Augustus, who wished to marry Livia Drusilla.
She was the daughter of the Emperor Augustus, stepsister and second wife of the Emperor Tiberius, maternal grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and the Empress Agrippina the Younger, grandmother-in-law of the Emperor Claudius, and maternal great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero.
At the time of Julia's birth, Augustus had not yet received the title "Augustus" and was known as Octavian until 27 BC, when Julia was 12. Octavian divorced Julia's mother the day of her birth and took Julia from her soon thereafter. Octavian, in accordance with Roman custom, claimed complete parental control over her. Once she became old enough, she was sent to live with her stepmother Livia and began her education as an aristocratic Roman girl. Her education appears to have been strict and somewhat old-fashioned. Thus, in addition to her studies, Suetonius informs us, she was taught spinning and weaving.Macrobius mentions "her love of literature and considerable culture, a thing easy to come by in that household".
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Julia the Younger
Julia the Younger (19 BC - c. AD 29) (Classical Latin: IVLIA•MINOR) or Julilla (little Julia), Vipsania Julia Agrippina, Iulilla, Julia, Augustus' granddaughter, or Julia Caesaris Minor, was a Roman noblewoman of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the first daughter and second child of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. Along with her sister Agrippina the Elder, Julia was raised and educated by her maternal grandfather Augustus and her maternal step-grandmother Livia Drusilla.
Julia the Younger was the elder granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus, sister-in-law, stepdaughter and daughter-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, maternal aunt of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, second cousin of the Emperor Claudius, and maternal great-aunt of the Emperor Nero.
About 5 BC or 6 BC, Augustus arranged her to marry Lucius Aemilius Paullus. Paullus had a family relation to her as her first half-cousin, as both had Scribonia as grandmother: Julia's mother was a daughter of Scribonia by Augustus; Paullus' mother, Cornelia Scipio, was a daughter of Scribonia resulting from her earlier marriage to Publius Cornelius Scipio Salvito.
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Julian the Apostate
Julian (Latin: Flavius Claudius Julianus Augustus, Greek: Φλάβιος Κλαύδιος Ἰουλιανός Αὔγουστος; 331/332 – 26 June 363), commonly known as Julian the Apostate, or also Julian the Philosopher, was Roman Emperor from 361 to 363 and a noted philosopher and Greek writer.
A member of the Constantinian dynasty, he was made Caesar over the western provinces, by Constantius II in 355, where he campaigned successfully against the Alamanni and Franks. Most notable was his crushing victory over the Alamanni in 357 at the Battle of Argentoratum - despite being outnumbered. In 360 he was acclaimed Augustus by his soldiers, sparking a civil war between Julian and Constantius. However, Constantius died before the two could face each other in battle, naming Julian as his rightful successor. In 363, Julian embarked on an ambitious campaign against the Sassanid Empire. Though initially successful, Julian was mortally wounded in battle and died shortly after.
Julian was a man of unusually complex character: he was "the military commander, the theosophist, the social reformer, and the man of letters". He was the last non-Christian ruler of the Roman Empire and it was his desire to bring the Empire back to its ancient Roman values in order to save it from dissolution. He purged the top-heavy state bureaucracy and attempted to revive traditional Roman religious practices at the cost of Christianity. His rejection of Christianity in favour of Neoplatonic paganism caused him to be called Julian the Apostate (Ἀποστάτης or Παραβάτης "Transgressor") by the church. He was the last emperor of the Constantinian dynasty, the empire's first Christian dynasty.
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Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (Classical Latin: [ˈɡaː.i.ʊs ˈjuː.lɪ.ʊs ˈkaj.sar], July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.
In 60 BC, Caesar, Crassus and Pompey formed a political alliance that was to dominate Roman politics for several years. Their attempts to amass power through populist tactics were opposed by the conservative elite within the Roman Senate[citation needed], among them Cato the Younger with the frequent support of Cicero. Caesar's conquest of Gaul, completed by 51 BC, extended Rome's territory to the English Channel and the Rhine. Caesar became the first Roman general to cross both when he built a bridge across the Rhine and conducted the first invasion of Britain.
These achievements granted him unmatched military power and threatened to eclipse Pompey's standing. The balance of power was further upset by the death of Crassus in 53 BC. Political realignments in Rome finally led to a standoff between Caesar and Pompey, the latter having taken up the cause of the Senate. Ordered by the Senate to stand trial in Rome for various charges, Caesar marched on Rome with one legion—legio XIII—from Gaul to Italy, crossing the Rubicon in 49 BC. This sparked a civil war from which he emerged as the unrivaled leader of the Roman world.
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Julius Nepos
Julius Nepos (c. 430 – 480) was Western Roman Emperor de facto from 474 to 475 and de jure until 480. Some historians consider him to be the last Western Roman Emperor, while others consider the western line to have ended with Romulus Augustulus in 476.
In contrast, the Eastern Roman Empire, and its line of Emperors, survived this historical period relatively intact.
Nepos, already the ruler of Roman Dalmatia, was nominated by the Eastern Roman Emperor Leo I in early 474, to replace the Western Emperor Glycerius, who was regarded as a usurper. It was probably Nepos' marriage to the emperor Leo's wife's niece which earned him the agnomen of "Nepos" (nephew).
Glycerius surrendered in June 474, shortly after Nepos' arrival in Italy. Nepos spared Glycerius' life, and appointed him bishop of Salona. After this Nepos ruled, briefly, over the whole of the remaining Western Roman Empire; still centered on Italy, the Empire's heartland, and including his native Dalmatia, and the remaining parts of Roman Gaul. Nepos' rule in Italy ended in 475, when he was deposed by his magister militum, Orestes. After fleeing from Italy and Orestes without opposition, Nepos returned to Dalmatia, over which he retained control.
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Justin I
Justin I (Latin: Flavius Iustinus Augustus, Ancient Greek: Ἰουστίνος; c. 450 – 1 August 527) was Byzantine Emperor from 518 to 527. He rose through the ranks of the army and ultimately became its Emperor, in spite of the fact he was illiterate and almost 70 years old at the time of accession. His reign is significant for the founding of the Justinian Dynasty that included his eminent nephew Justinian I and for the enactment of laws that de-emphasized the influence of the old Roman nobility. His consort was Empress Euphemia.
Justin was a peasant and a swineherd by occupation from the Latinophone region of Dardania, which is part of the Diocese of Illyricum. He was born in a hamlet near Bederiana in Naissus (modern Niš, South Serbia). He was of Thraco-Roman stock, and bore, like his companions and members of his family (Zimarchus, Dityvistus, Boraides, Bigleniza, Sabatius, etc.) a Thracian name, and who never learned to speak more than rudimentary Greek. His sister Vigilantia (b. ca 455) married Sabbatius and had two children:Petrus Sabbatius Justinian I (b. 483) and Vigilantia (b. ca 490), married to Dulcissimus and had Praejecta (b. ca 520), married to the senator Areobindus and Justin II (b. ca 520).
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Justin II
Justin II (Latin: Flavius Iustinus Iunior Augustus;Ancient Greek: Φλάβιος Ἰουστίνος ὁ νεότερος; c. 520 – 5 October 578) was Byzantine Emperor from 565 to 578. He was the husband of Sophia, nephew of Justinian I and the late Empress Theodora, and was therefore a member of the Justinian Dynasty. His reign is marked by war with Persia and the loss of the greater part of Italy. He presented the Cross of Justin II to Saint Peter's, Rome.
He was a son of Vigilantia and Dulcidio (or Dulcissimus), respectively the sister and brother-in-law of Justinian. His siblings included Marcellus and Praejecta.
Justinian I died on the night of 14 to 15 November 565. Callinicus, the praepositus sacri cubiculi, seems to have been the only witness to his dying moments, and later claimed that Justinian had designated "Justin, Vigilantia's son" as his heir in a deathbed decision. The disambiguation was needed because there was another nephew and candidate for the throne, Justin, son of Germanus. Modern historians suspect Callinicus may have fabricated the last words of Justinian to secure the succession for his political ally. As Robert Browning observed: "Did Justinian really bring himself in the end to make a choice, or did Callinicus make it for him? Only Callinicus knew."
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Justinian I
Justinian I ( /dʒʌˈstɪniən/) (Latin: Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus Augustus, Ancient Greek: Φλάβιος Πέτρος Σαββάτιος Ἰουστινιανός) (c. 482 – 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.
One of the most important figures of Late Antiquity and the last Roman Emperor to speak Latin as a first language, Justinian's rule constitutes a distinct epoch in the history of the Eastern Roman Empire. The impact of his administration extended far beyond the boundaries of his time and domain. Justinian's reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized renovatio imperii, or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was expressed by the partial recovery of the territories of the defunct Western Roman Empire. His general Belisarius swiftly conquered the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa, extending Roman control to the Atlantic Ocean. Subsequently Belisarius, Narses, and other generals conquered the Ostrogothic Kingdom, restoring Dalmatia, Sicily, Italy, and Rome to the Empire after more than half a century of barbarian control.
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Justinian II
Justinian II (Greek: Ιουστινιανός Β΄, Ioustinianos II, Latin: Justinianus II) (669 – 11 December 711), surnamed the Rhinotmetos or Rhinotmetus (ὁ Ῥινότμητος, "the slit-nosed"), was the last Byzantine Emperor of the Heraclian Dynasty, reigning from 685 to 695 and again from 705 to 711. Justinian II was an ambitious and passionate ruler who was keen to restore the Empire to its former glories, but he responded poorly to any opposition to his will and lacked the finesse of his father, Constantine IV. Consequently, he generated enormous opposition to his reign, and it resulted in his deposition in 695 in a popular uprising, and he only returned to the throne in 705 with the help of a Bulgar and Slav army. His second reign was even more despotic than the first, and it too saw his eventual overthrow in 711, abandoned by his army who turned on him before killing him.
Justinian II was the eldest son of Emperor Constantine IV and Anastasia. His father raised him to the throne as joint emperor in 681 on the fall of his uncles Heraclius and Tiberius. In 685, at the age of sixteen, Justinian II succeeded his father as sole emperor.
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Leo I the Thracian
Leo I (Latin: Flavius Valerius Leo Augustus) (401 – 18 January 474) was Byzantine Emperor from 457 to 474. A native of Dacia Aureliana near historic Thrace, he was known as Leo the Thracian (Greek: Λέων ο Θράξ).
Ruling the Eastern Empire for nearly 20 years from 457 to 474, Leo proved to be a capable ruler, overseeing many ambitious political and military plans, aimed mostly for the aid of the faltering Western Roman Empire and recovering its former territories. He is notable for being the first Eastern Emperor to legislate in Greek rather than Latin.
Born as Leo Marcellus in the year 401 to a Thraco-Roman family (of the Daci or Bessi tribe), he served in the Roman army, rising to the rank of comes. He was the last of a series of emperors placed on the throne by Aspar, the Alan serving as commander-in-chief of the army, who thought Leo would be an easy puppet ruler. Instead, Leo became more and more independent from Aspar, causing a tension that would have culminated in the assassination of the barbarian.
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Leo III the Isaurian
Leo III the Isaurian also known as the Syrian or the Iconoclast (Greek: Λέων Γ΄, Leōn III), (c. 685 – 18 June 741) was Byzantine Emperor from 717 until his death in 741. He put an end to a period of instability, successfully defended the Empire against the invading Umayyads, and forbade the veneration of icons (see Iconoclasm).
Leo, whose original name was Konon, was born in Germanikeia (Maraş/Turkey) in the Syrian province of Commagene. Some, including the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes, have claimed that Konon's family had been resettled in Thrace, where he entered the service of Emperor Justinian II, when the latter was advancing on Constantinople with an army of 15,000 horsemen provided by Tervel of Bulgaria in 705.
After the victory of Justinian II, Leo was dispatched on a diplomatic mission to Alania and Lazica to organize an alliance against the Umayyad Caliphate under Al-Walid I. Leo was appointed commander (stratēgos) of the Anatolic theme by Emperor Anastasius II. On his deposition Leo joined with his colleague Artabasdus, the stratēgos of the Armeniac theme, in conspiring to overthrow the new Emperor Theodosius III. Artabasdus was betrothed to Anna, daughter of Leo as part of the agreement.
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Leo IV the Khazar
Leo IV the Khazar (Greek: Λέων Δ΄, Leōn IV) (25 January 750 – 8 September 780) was Byzantine Emperor from 775 to 780 CE.
Leo was the son of Emperor Constantine V by his first wife, Irene of Khazaria (Tzitzak), the daughter of a Khagan of the Khazars (thought to be Bihar). Crowned co-emperor by his father in 751 Leo then married Irene, an Athenian from a noble family, in December 769. In 775 Constantine V died, leaving Leo as sole emperor.
On 24 April 776 Leo, following the precedent set by his father and grandfather, appointed his son, Constantine VI, co-emperor. This led to an uprising of Leo’s five half-brothers, including Caesar Nikephoros, who had hoped to gain the throne themselves. The uprising was put down quickly, with the conspirators being beaten, tonsured, and exiled to Cherson under guard.
Leo IV was raised as an iconoclast under his father but was married to Irene, an iconodule. Realizing the division in his realm he pursued a path of conciliation towards the iconodules, previously declared heretical under imperial policy. Leo allowed monks, persecuted and deported under his father, to return to their monasteries, and he was anointed by some among the orthodox as “Friend to the Mother of God” for allowing monks to retain images of the Theotokos. In addition to the concessionary actions Leo also appointed an iconophile sympathizer, Paul of Cyprus, to the position of patriarch of Constantinople upon the death of the predecessor. At the end of his reign, Leo reversed his stance of toleration.
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Leo V the Armenian
Leo V the Armenian (Greek: Λέων Ε΄ ὁ Ἀρμένιος, Leōn V ho Armenios; Armenian: Լևոն Ե Հայ; 775 – 25 December 820) was Emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 813 to 820. A senior general, he forced his predecessor, Michael I Rangabe, to abdicate and assumed the throne. He ended the decade-long war with the Bulgars, and initiated the second period of Byzantine Iconoclasm. He was assassinated by supporters of Michael the Amorian, one of his most trusted generals, who succeeded him on the throne.
Leo was the son of the patrician Bardas, who was of Armenian descent (according to a later source, Leo was also of Assyrian descent). Leo served in 803 under the rebel general Bardanes Tourkos, whom he deserted in favor of Emperor Nikephoros I. The Emperor rewarded Leo with two palaces, but later exiled him for marrying the daughter of another rebel, the patrician Arsaber. On the other hand, a contemporary source says that one general Leo of the Armeniakon theme was punished for his humiliating defeat by the Arabs during which he also lost the salaries of his thematic units (a modern scholar suggests that this Leo is not the same with the emperor). Punishment also included depriving of his military rank, beating and hair cutting.
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Leo VI the Wise
Leo VI, surnamed the Wise or the Philosopher (Greek: Λέων ΣΤ΄ ὁ Σοφός, Leōn VI ho Sophos, 19 September 866 – 11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well-read, leading to his surname. During his reign, the renaissance of letters begun by his predecessor Basil I continued, but the Empire also saw several military defeats in the Balkans against Bulgaria and against the Arabs in Sicily and the Aegean.
Born to the empress Eudokia Ingerina, Leo was either the illegitimate son of Emperor Michael III or the second son of his successor, Basil I the Macedonian. Eudokia was both Michael III's mistress and Basil’s wife. In 867, Michael was assassinated by Basil, who succeeded him as Emperor. As the second eldest son of the Emperor, Leo was associated on the throne in 870 and became the direct heir on the death of his older half-brother Constantine in 879. However, Leo and Basil did not like each other; a relationship that only deteriorated after Eudokia's death, when Leo, unhappy with his marriage to Theophano Martiniake, took up a mistress in the person of Zoe Zaoutzaina. Basil married Zoe off to an insignificant official, and later almost had Leo blinded when he was accused of conspiring against him. On August 29, 886, Basil died in a hunting accident, though he claimed on his deathbed that there was an assassination attempt in which Leo was possibly involved.
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Leontios
Leontios (or Leontius) (Greek: Λεόντιος, Latin: LEONTIVS) (died 15 February 706) was Byzantine emperor from 695 to 698. He came to power by overthrowing the Emperor Justinian II, but was overthrown in his turn by Tiberios III. His actual and official name was Leo (Λέων, Leōn), but he is known by the name used for him in Byzantine chronicles.
Leontios was born in Isauria. A professional soldier from an early age, he rose swiftly through the ranks and was appointed strategos (military governor) of the Anatolic theme during the reign of Emperor Constantine IV.
In 686 Leontios was chosen by Justinian II to lead the Byzantine army against the Arabs in Georgia and Armenia. Ruthless even by the standards of the day, Leontios carried the war further into Azerbaijan and Caucasian Albania. His successes eventually forced the negotiation of a treaty between Byzantium and the Arabic Caliph Abd al-Malik with substantial Arabic concessions and tributes to the Byzantine Emperor.
Leontios was less successful when war against the Arabs was renewed in 692. Leading a substantial Byzantine army, he was defeated at the Battle of Sebastopolis when a large Slavic contingent deserted and left his remaining forces exposed. Furious at the loss of the army, the Emperor Justinian imprisoned Leontius for two years.
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Libius Severus
Flavius Libius Severus Serpentius (Lucania, c. 420 – 15 August 465) was Western Roman Emperor from November 19, 461 to his death.
A Roman senator from Lucania Severus was one of the last Western Emperors, emptied of any effective power (the real power was in the hands of the powerful magister militum Ricimer), and unable to solve the many problems affecting the Empire; the sources describe him as a pious and religious man.
On August 7, 461, the magister militum (Commander in Chief) of the Western Roman army, Ricimer, had Emperor Majorian killed, thus leaving the western throne empty. A struggle for the succession thus ensured, with the Eastern Emperor, Leo I the Thracian, the King of the Vandals, Gaiseric, and Ricimer himself involved. The Eastern Emperor traditionally had the right to accept his "colleague," for the Empire was nominally still united.
Ricimer needed a weak Emperor on the throne, in order to control him: his barbaric descent barred him from taking the throne for himself. Gaiseric had captured the wife and the two daughters of the Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III – Licinia Eudoxia, Placidia and Eudocia – during the sack of Rome (455), and, through the marriage of one of them, Eudocia, with his son Huneric, he had entered the imperial family. Gaiseric's candidate to the Western throne was Olybrius, who had married Placidia and was thus a member of his family.
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Licinius
Licinius I (Latin: Gaius Valerius Licinianus Licinius Augustus c. 263 – 325), was Roman Emperor from 308 to 324. For the majority of his reign he was the colleague and rival of Constantine I, with whom he co-authored the Edict of Milan that granted official toleration to Christians in the Roman Empire. He was finally defeated at the Battle of Adrianople, before being executed on the orders of Constantine I.
Born to a Dacian peasant family in Moesia Superior, Licinius accompanied his close childhood friend, the future emperor Galerius, on the Persian expedition in 298. He was trusted enough by Galerius that in 307 he was sent as an envoy to Maxentius in Italy to attempt to reach some agreement about his illegitimate status. Galerius then trusted the eastern provinces to him when he went to deal with Maxentius personally after the death of Flavius Valerius Severus.
Upon his return to the east, Galerius elevated Licinius to the rank of Augustus in the West on November 11, 308. He received as his immediate command the provinces of Illyricum, Thrace and Pannonia.
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Livia
Livia Drusilla, (Classical Latin: LIVIA•DRVSILLA, LIVIA•AVGVSTA) (30 January 58 BC– 28 September AD 29), after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD 14 also known as Julia Augusta, was a Roman empress as the third wife of the Emperor Augustus, as well as his advisor. She was the mother of the Emperor Tiberius, paternal grandmother of the Emperor Claudius, paternal great-grandmother of the Emperor Caligula, and maternal great-great grandmother of the Emperor Nero. She was deified by Claudius who acknowledged her title of Augusta.
She was born on 30 January 59 or 58 BC as the daughter of Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus by his wife Aufidia, a daughter of the magistrate Marcus Aufidius Lurco. The diminutive Drusilla often found in her name suggests that she was a second daughter.Marcus Livius Drusus was her brother. She was probably married in 43 BC. Her father married her to Tiberius Claudius Nero, her cousin of patrician status who was fighting with him on the side of Julius Caesar's assassins against Octavian. Her father committed suicide in the Battle of Philippi, along with Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus, but her husband continued fighting against Octavian, now on behalf of Mark Antony and his brother. Her first child, the future Emperor Tiberius, was born in 42 BC. In 40 BC, the family was forced to flee Italy in order to avoid Octavian's proscriptions and joined with Sextus Pompeius in Sicily, later moving on to Greece.
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Livy
Titus Livius Patavinus (59 BC – AD 17) — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Books from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC through the reign of Augustus in Livy's own time. He was on familiar terms with the Julio-Claudian family, advising Augustus's grandnephew, the future emperor Claudius, as a young man not long before 14 AD in a letter to take up the writing of history. Livy and Augustus's wife, Livia, were from the same clan in different locations, although not related by blood.
Livy was born as Titus Livius in Patavium in northern Italy, now modern Padua. There is a debate about the year of Titus Livius' birth, 64 BC or more likely 59 BC. At the time of Livy’s birth, his home city of Patavium was the second wealthiest city in the Italian peninsula. Patavium was a part of the province of Cisalpine Gaul at the time. In his works, Livy often expressed his deep affection and pride for Patavium, and the city was well known for its conservative values in morality and politics.
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Lucius Caesar
Lucius Julius Caesar (17 BC - 20 August AD 2), most commonly known as Lucius Caesar, was the second son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. He was born between 14 of June and 15 July 17 BC with the name Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa, but when he was adopted by his maternal grandfather Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus, his name was changed to Lucius Julius Caesar. In the year of his birth, his maternal grandfather Caesar Augustus adopted him and his brother Gaius Caesar. He and his brother were raised and educated by their grandparents.
As he and Gaius were the heirs to Augustus they had promising legal and military careers. Lucius died in Gaul of an illness on August 20, 2 AD, at the age of 19. His death was followed 18 months later by the death of his brother Gaius on February 21, 4 AD. His younger brother Agrippa Postumus was consequently adopted by Augustus along with Tiberius.
It has been suggested by Tacitus that there may be been foul play involved in the death of Lucius and that Lucius' step mother Livia may have had a hand in his death. Livia's presumed motive may have been to orchestrate the accession of her own son Tiberius as heir to Augustus.
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Lucius Verus
Lucius Verus (Latin: Lucius Aurelius Verus Augustus; 15 December 130 – 169), was Roman co-emperor with Marcus Aurelius, from 161 until his death.
Lucius Verus was the first born son to Avidia Plautia and Lucius Aelius Verus Caesar, the first adopted son and heir of Roman Emperor Hadrian (76–138). He was born and raised in Rome. Verus had another brother Gaius Avidius Ceionius Commodus and two sisters Ceionia Fabia and Ceionia Plautia. His maternal grandparents were the Roman Senator Gaius Avidius Nigrinus and the unattested noblewoman Ignota Plautia. Although his adoptive paternal grandparents were the Roman Emperor Hadrian and Roman Empress Vibia Sabina, his biological paternal grandparents were the consul Lucius Ceionius Commodus and noblewoman Aelia or Fundania Plautia.
When his father died in early 138, Hadrian chose Antoninus Pius (86–161) as his successor. Antoninus was adopted by Hadrian on the condition that Verus and Hadrian’s great-nephew Marcus Aurelius was to be adopted by Antoninus as his sons and heirs.
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Macrinus
Macrinus (Latin: Marcus Opellius Severus Macrinus Augustus; ca. 165 – June 218), was Roman Emperor from 217 to 218. Macrinus was of Berber (Indigenous people of North Africa) descent and the first emperor to become so without membership in the senatorial class.
Born in Caesarea (modern Cherchell, Algeria) in the Roman province of Mauretania to an equestrian family, Macrinus received an education which allowed him to ascend to the Roman political class. Over the years he earned a reputation as a skilled lawyer. Under the emperor Septimius Severus he became an important bureaucrat. Severus' successor Caracalla appointed him prefect of the Praetorian guard.
While Macrinus likely enjoyed the trust of Caracalla, this may have changed when, according to tradition, he was prophesied to depose and succeed the Emperor. Rumors spread regarding Macrinus' alleged desire to take the throne for himself. Given Caracalla's tendency towards murdering political opponents, Macrinus probably feared for his own safety should the Emperor become aware of this prophecy. According to Dio, Caracalla had already taken the step of re-assigning members of Macrinus' staff.
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Majorian
Majorian (Latin: Flavius Julius Valerius Majorianus Augustus; ca. 420 – August 7, 461), was the Western Roman Emperor from 457 to 461.
A prominent general of the Late Roman army, Majorian deposed Emperor Avitus in 457 and succeeded him. Majorian was one of the last emperors to make a concerted effort to restore the Western Roman Empire. Possessing little more than Italy, Dalmatia, and some territory in northern Gaul, Majorian campaigned rigorously for three years against the Empire's enemies.
After defeating a Vandal attack on Italy, Majorian launched a campaign against the Visigothic Kingdom in southern Gaul. Defeating king Theodoric II at the Battle of Arelate, Majorian forced the Goths to abandon their possessions in Septimania and Hispania and return to federate status immediately. Majorian then attacked the Burgundian Kingdom, defeating them at the Siege of Lugdunum, expelling them from the Rhone valley and reducing them to federate status.
In 460, Majorian left Gaul to consolidate his hold on Hispania. His generals launched a campaign against the Suebic Kingdom in northwest Hispania, defeating them at the battles of Lucus Augusti and Scallabis and reducing them to federate status as well. His fleet for his campaign to restore Africa to the empire from the Vandals was destroyed due to treachery.
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Manuel I Komnenos
Manuel I Komnenos (or Comnenus) (Greek: Μανουήλ Α' Κομνηνός, Manouēl I Komnēnos) (28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180) was a Byzantine Emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean.
Eager to restore his empire to its past glories as the superpower of the Mediterranean world, Manuel pursued an energetic and ambitious foreign policy. In the process he made alliances with the Pope and the resurgent west, invaded Italy, successfully handled the passage of the dangerous Second Crusade through his empire, and established a Byzantine protectorate over the Crusader states of Outremer.
Facing Muslim advances in the Holy Land, he made common cause with the Kingdom of Jerusalem and participated in a combined invasion of Fatimid Egypt.
Manuel reshaped the political maps of the Balkans and the east Mediterranean, placing the kingdoms of Hungary and Outremer under Byzantine hegemony and campaigning aggressively against his neighbours both in the west and in the east. However, towards the end of his reign Manuel's achievements in the east were compromised by a serious defeat at Myriokephalon, which in large part resulted from his arrogance in attacking a well-defended Seljuk position.
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Marcian
Marcian (Latin: Flavius Marcianus Augustus; 392 – 27 January 457) was Byzantine Emperor from 450 to 457. Marcian's rule marked a recovery of the Eastern Empire, which the Emperor protected from external menaces and reformed economically and financially. On the other side, the isolationistic policies of Marcian left the Western Roman Empire without help against barbarian attacks, which materialized in the Italian campaigns of Attila and in the Vandal sack of Rome (455).
Marcian was born in 392 in Illyricum or Thracia. The son of a soldier, he spent his early life as an obscure soldier, member of a military unit located at Philippopolis. Marcian was dispatched with his unit for a war against the Sassanids (probably the Roman-Sassanid war of 421–422), but along the road East he fell ill in Lycia; at this time he might have already been tribunus and commander of his unit.
After recovering from his illness, he went to Constantinople, where he served for fifteen years as domesticus under the generals Ardaburius and Aspar. In 431/434, while fighting in Africa under Aspar, Marcian was taken prisoner by the Vandals; according to a later legend, he was brought before King Geiseric (428–477), who knew by an omen that Marcian was to be Emperor and was released on his oath never to take up arms against the Vandals.
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Marcomannic Wars
The Marcomannic Wars (called by the Romans bellum Germanicum or expeditio Germanica) were a series of wars lasting over a dozen years from about AD 166 until 180. These wars pitted the Roman Empire against the Marcomanni, Quadi and other Germanic peoples, along both sides of the upper and middle Danube. The struggle against the Germanic invasions occupied the major part of the reign of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, and it was during his campaigns against them that he started writing his philosophical work Meditations, whose second book bears the note "Among the Quadi at the Granua".
During the years succeeding the rule of Antoninus Pius, the Roman Empire began to be attacked upon all sides. A war with Parthia lasted from 161 to 166 (under the joint rule of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus), and although it ended successfully, its unforeseen consequences for the Empire were great. The returning troops brought with them a plague (the so-called Antonine Plague), which would eventually kill an estimated 5 million people, severely weakening the Empire. At the same time, in Central Europe, the first movements of the Great Migrations were occurring, as the Goths moved westwards, putting pressure on the Germanic tribes of the area. As a result, Germanic tribes and other nomadic people launched raids along Rome's northern border, particularly into Gaul and across the Danube.
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Marcus Atius
Marcus Atius Balbus (105 BC – 51 BC) was the son and heir of an elder Marcus Atius Balbus (148 BC – 87 BC) and Pompeia. Pompeia was a sister to consul Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, father of triumvir Pompey. The family of the elder Balbus came from a Roman senatorial family plebs status from Aricia (modern Ariccia, Italy). ‘Balbus’ in Latin means stammer. The younger Balbus was born and raised in Aricia.
Balbus married Julia Minor, second eldest sister of dictator Gaius Julius Caesar. Julia bore Balbus three daughters and they were:
He served as a praetor in 62 BC and he managed to obtain the government of Sardinia. Under Caesar in 59 BC, Balbus was appointed along with Pompey on a board of commissioners under Julian Law to divide estates in Campania among the commoners. Cicero stated that Pompey would say as a joke about Balbus, that he was not a person of any importance.
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Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius (Latin: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180 AD), was Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 AD. He ruled with Lucius Verus as co-emperor from 161 until Verus' death in 169. He was the last of the "Five Good Emperors", and is also considered one of the most important Stoic philosophers. During his reign, the Empire defeated a revitalized Parthian Empire; Aurelius' general Avidius Cassius sacked the capital Ctesiphon in 164. Aurelius fought the Marcomanni, Quadi, and Sarmatians with success during the Marcomannic Wars, but the threat of the Germanic tribes began to represent a troubling reality for the Empire. A revolt in the East led by Avidius Cassius failed to gain momentum and was suppressed immediately.
Marcus Aurelius' Stoic tome Meditations, written in Greek while on campaign between 170 and 180, is still revered as a literary monument to a philosophy of service and duty, describing how to find and preserve equanimity in the midst of conflict by following nature as a source of guidance and inspiration.
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Mark Antony
Mark Antony (Latin: M·ANTONIVS·M·F·M·N) (January 14, 83 BC – August 1, 30 BC) was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar. After Caesar's assassination, Antony formed an official political alliance with Octavian (the future Augustus) and Lepidus, known to historians today as the Second Triumvirate.
The triumvirate broke up in 33 BC. Disagreement between Octavian and Antony erupted into civil war, the final war of the Roman Republic, in 31 BC. Antony was defeated by Octavian at the naval Battle of Actium, and in a brief land battle at Alexandria. He and his lover Cleopatra committed suicide shortly thereafter. His career and defeat are significant in Rome's transformation from Republic to Empire.
A member of the Antonia clan (gens), Antony was born on January 14, 83 BC. He was the homonymous and thus presumably the eldest son of Marcus Antonius Creticus (praetor 74 BC, proconsul 73–71 BC) and grandson of the noted orator Marcus Antonius (consul 99 BC, censor 97–6 BC) who had been murdered during the Marian Terror of the winter of 87–6 BC.
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Maxentius
Maxentius (Latin: Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius Augustus; c. 278 – 28 October 312) was Roman Emperor from 306 to 312. He was the son of former Emperor Maximian, and the son-in-law of Emperor Galerius.
Maxentius' exact date of birth is unknown; it was probably around 278. He was the son of the Emperor Maximian and his wife Eutropia.
As his father became emperor in 285, he was regarded as crown prince who would eventually follow his father on the throne. He seems not to have served in any important military or administrative position during Diocletian's and his father's reign, though. Early (the exact date is unknown) he married Valeria Maximilla, the daughter of Galerius. He had two sons, Valerius Romulus (ca. 295 – 309) and an unknown one.
In 305, Diocletian and Maximian resigned, and the former caesares Constantius and Galerius became Augusti. Although with Constantine and Maxentius two sons of emperors were available, they were left out from the new tetrarchy, and Severus and Maximinus Daia were appointed Caesars. Some sources (Lactantius, Epitome) state that Galerius hated Maxentius and used his influence on Diocletian that Maxentius be ignored in the succession; maybe Diocletianus also thought that he was not qualified for the military duties of the imperial office. Maxentius retired to an estate some miles from Rome.
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Maximian
Maximian (Latin: Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus Herculius Augustus; c. 250 – c. July 310) was Roman Emperor from 286 to 305. He was Caesar from 285 to 286, then Augustus from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocletian, whose political brain complemented Maximian's military brawn. Maximian established his residence at Trier but spent most of his time on campaign. In the late summer of 285, he suppressed rebels in Gaul known as the Bagaudae. From 285 to 288, he fought against Germanic tribes along the Rhine frontier. Together with Diocletian, he launched a scorched earth campaign deep into Alamannic territory in 288, temporarily relieving the Rhine provinces from the threat of Germanic invasion.
The man he appointed to police the Channel shores, Carausius, rebelled in 286, causing the secession of Britain and northwestern Gaul. Maximian failed to oust Carausius, and his invasion fleet was destroyed by storms in 289 or 290. Maximian's subordinate, Constantius, campaigned against Carausius' successor, Allectus, while Maximian held the Rhine frontier. The rebel leader was ousted in 296, and Maximian moved south to combat piracy near Hispania and Berber incursions in Mauretania. When these campaigns concluded in 298, he departed for Italy, where he lived in comfort until 305. At Diocletian's behest, Maximian abdicated on May 1, 305, gave the Augustan office to Constantius, and retired to southern Italy.
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Maximinus Thrax
Maximinus Thrax (Latin: Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus Augustus; c. 173 – 238), also known as Maximinus I, was Roman Emperor from 235 to 238.
Maximinus is described by several ancient sources, though none are contemporary except Herodian's Roman History. Maximinus was the first emperor never to set foot in Rome. He was the first of the so-called barracks emperors of the 3rd century; his rule is often considered to mark the beginning of the Crisis of the Third Century. He died at Aquileia whilst attempting to put down a Senatorial revolt.
Most likely Maximinus was of Thraco-Roman origin (believed so by Herodian in his writings). According to the notoriously unreliable Augustan History (Historia Augusta), he was born in Thrace or Moesia to a Gothic father and an Alanic mother, an Iranian people of the Scythian-Sarmatian branch; however, the supposed parentage is highly unlikely, as the presence of the Goths in the Danubian area is first attested after the beginning of the Crisis of the Third Century. British historian Ronald Syme, writing that "the word 'Gothia' should have sufficed for condemnation" of the passage in the Augustan History, felt that the burden of evidence from Herodian, Syncellus and elsewhere pointed to Maximinus having been born in Moesia. The references to his "Gothic" ancestry might refer to a Thracian Getae origin (the two populations were often confused by later writers, most notably by Jordanes in his Getica), as suggested by the paragraphs describing how "he was singularly beloved by the Getae, moreover, as if he were one of themselves" and how he spoke "almost pure Thracian".
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Michael I Rangabe
Michael I Rhangabe (Greek: Μιχαῆλ A' Ῥαγγαβέ, Mikhaēl I Rhangabe; died 11 January 844) was Byzantine Emperor from 811 to 813.
Michael was the son of the patrician Theophylact Rhangabe, the admiral of the Aegean fleet. He married Prokopia, the daughter of the future Emperor Nikephoros I, and received the high court dignity of kouropalatēs after his father-in-law's accession in 802.
Michael survived Nikephoros' disastrous campaign against Krum of Bulgaria, and was considered a more appropriate candidate for the throne than his severely injured brother-in-law Staurakios. When Michael's wife Prokopia failed to persuade her brother to name Michael as his successor, Michael's supporters forced Staurakios to abdicate in his favor on 2 October 811.
Michael I attempted to carry out a policy of reconciliation, abandoning the exacting taxation instituted by Nikephoros I. While reducing imperial income, Michael generously distributed money to the army, the bureaucracy, and the Church. Elected with the support of the Orthodox party in the Church, Michael diligently persecuted the iconoclasts and forced the Patriarch Nikephoros to back down in his dispute with Theodore of Stoudios, the influential abbot of the monastery of Stoudios. Michael's piety won him a very positive estimation in the work of the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor.
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Michael II
Michael II (Greek: Μιχαήλ Β', Mikhaēl II), surnamed the Amorian (ὁ ἐξ Ἀμορίου) or the Stammerer (ὁ Τραυλός or ὁ Ψελλός), reigned as Byzantine Emperor from December 820 to his death on 2 October 829, and the first ruler of the Phrygian or Amorian dynasty.
Born in Amorium, Michael began his career as a soldier, rising to high ranks due to the favour of his old colleague, Leo V the Armenian (r. 813–820). Nevertheless, Michael masterminded a conspiracy which overthrew and murdered Leo in Christmas 820. Immediately Michael faced the long revolt of Thomas the Slav, which almost cost him his throne and which was not completely suppressed until spring 824. The later years of Michael's reign were marked by two major military disasters with long-term effects, the beginning of the Muslim conquest of Sicily, and the fall of Crete to the Saracens. Domestically, Michael supported and strengthened the resumption of official iconoclasm, which had begun under Leo V.
Michael was born in 770 in Amorium in Phrygia, into a family of professional peasant-soldiers who received for their military service land from government. His family belonged to the Judeo-Christian sect of the Athinganoi, whose members were Cappadocians who adopted Jewish rituals. The Athinganoi were numerous in Anatolia and together with the Greeks and Armenians formed the backbone of the Byzantine army of that era.
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Michael III
Michael III (Greek: Μιχαήλ Γ΄, Mikhaēl III ), (January 19, 840 – September 23/24, 867), Byzantine Emperor from 842 to 867. Michael III was the third and traditionally last member of the Amorian Dynasty, also known as the Phrygian Dynasty. He was given the disparaging epithet the Drunkard (ὀ Μέθυσος) by the hostile historians of the succeeding Macedonian dynasty, but modern historical research has rehabilitated his reputation to some extent, demonstrating the vital role his reign played in the resurgence of Byzantine power in the 9th century.
Michael was the youngest child of Emperor Theophilos and Theodora. Already crowned co-ruler by his father in 840, Michael III had just turned two years old when he succeeded as sole emperor on January 20, 842.
During his minority, the empire was governed by a regency headed by his mother Theodora, her uncle Sergios, and the minister Theoktistos. The empress had iconodule sympathies and deposed Patriarch John VII of Constantinople and replaced him with the iconodule Methodios in 843. This put an end to the second spell of Iconoclasm. As the emperor was growing up, the courtiers around him fought for influence. Increasingly fond of his uncle Bardas, Michael invested him with the title kaisar (Caesar – at the time a title second only to emperor) and allowed him to murder Theoktistos in November 855. With Bardas' support, and that of another uncle the successful general Petronas, Michael III overthrew the regency on March 15, 856, and relegated his mother and sisters to a monastery in 857.
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Michael V
Michael V "the Caulker" or Kalaphates (Greek: Μιχαήλ Ε΄ Καλαφάτης, Mikhaēl V Kalaphatēs), (1015 – 24 August 1042), was Byzantine emperor for 4 months in 1041–1042, as the nephew and successor of Michael IV and the adoptive son of his wife, the Empress Zoe.
Michael V was the son of Stephen by Maria, a sister of Emperor Michael IV. His father had been a caulker (hence the son's nickname), before becoming an admiral under Michael IV and botching an expedition to Sicily. Although the emperor preferred another of his nephews, the future Michael V was advanced as heir to the throne by his other uncle John the Eunuch and the Empress Zoe. Shortly before his death, Michael IV granted Michael V the title of Kaisar (Caesar), and, together with Zoe, adopted his nephew as son. On 10 December 1041, Michael V succeeded to the throne.
Determined to rule on his own, Michael V came into conflict with his uncle John the Eunuch, whom he almost immediately banished to a monastery. Michael now reversed his uncle's decisions, and recalled the nobles and courtiers who had been exiled during the previous reign, including the future patriarch Michael Keroularios and the general George Maniakes. Maniakes was promptly sent back to Southern Italy in order to contain the advance of the Normans.
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Michael VII Doukas
Michael VII Doukas or Ducas (Greek: Μιχαήλ Ζ΄ Δούκας, Mikhaēl VII Doukas), nicknamed Parapinakēs (Παραπινάκης), was Byzantine emperor from 1071 to 1078.
Michael VII was the eldest son of Constantine X Doukas and Eudokia Makrembolitissa, and was born c. 1050, in Constantinople. He had been associated with his father on the throne late in 1059, together with or shortly before his newly born brother Konstantios Doukas. When Constantine X died in 1067, Michael VII was 17 years old and should have been able to rule by himself. He exhibited little interest in politics, and his mother Eudokia and uncle John Doukas governed the empire as effective regents.
On January 1, 1068, Eudokia married the general Romanos Diogenes, who now became senior co-emperor alongside Michael VII, Konstantios, and another brother, Andronikos. When Romanos IV was defeated and captured by Alp Arslan of the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Manzikert in August 1071, Michael VII remained in the background, while the initiative was taken by his uncle John Doukas and his tutor Michael Psellos. They conspired to keep Romanos from regaining power after his release from captivity, while he himself felt under no obligation to honor the agreement that Romanus struck with the Sultan. After the dispatch of Eudokia to a monastery, Michael VII was crowned again on October 24, 1071 as senior emperor.
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Nero
Nero (Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus); 15 December 37 – 9 June 68) was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death. During his reign, Nero focused much of his attention on diplomacy, trade, and enhancing the cultural life of the Empire. He ordered theaters built and promoted athletic games. During his reign, the redoubtable general Corbulo conducted a successful war and negotiated peace with the Parthian Empire. His general Suetonius Paulinus crushed a revolt in Britain and also annexed the Bosporan Kingdom to the Empire, beginning the First Roman–Jewish War.
In 64, most of Rome was destroyed in the Great Fire of Rome, which many Romans believed Nero himself had started in order to clear land for his planned palatial complex, the Domus Aurea. In 68, the rebellion of Vindex in Gaul and later the acclamation of Galba in Hispania drove Nero from the throne. Facing assassination, he committed suicide on 9 June 68. His death ended the Julio-Claudian Dynasty, sparking a brief period of civil wars known as the Year of the Four Emperors. Nero's rule is often associated with tyranny and extravagance. He is known for many executions, including those of his mother and the probable murder by poison of his stepbrother, Britannicus.
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Nero Claudius Drusus
Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus (14 January 38 BC – 14 September 9 BC), born Decimus Claudius Drusus also called Drusus, Drusus I, Nero Drusus, or Drusus the Elder was a Roman politician and military commander. He was a fully patrician Claudian on his father's side but his maternal grandmother was from a plebeian family. He was the son of Livia Drusilla and the stepson of her second husband, the Emperor Augustus. He was also brother of the Emperor Tiberius, father of the Emperor Claudius, paternal grandfather of the Emperor Caligula, and maternal great-grandfather of the Emperor Nero. He launched the first major Roman campaigns across the Rhine and began the conquest of Germania, becoming the first Roman general to reach the Weser and Elbe rivers. In 12 BC, Drusus led a successful campaign into Germania, subjugating the Sicambri. Later that year he led a naval expedition against Germanic tribes along the North Sea coast, conquering the Batavi and the Frisii, and defeating the Chauci near the mouth of the Weser. In 11 BC, he conquered the Usipetes and the Marsi, extending Roman control to the Upper Weser. In 10 BC, he launched a campaign against the Chatti and the resurgent Sicambri, subjugating both. The following year he conquered the Mattiaci, while defeating the Marcomanni and the Cherusci, defeating the latter near the Elbe. However, Drusus died later that year, depriving Rome of one its best generals.
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Nerva
Nerva (Latin: Marcus Cocceius Nerva Caesar Augustus; 8 November 30 – 27 January 98), was Roman Emperor from 96 to 98. Nerva became Emperor at the age of sixty-five, after a lifetime of imperial service under Nero and the rulers of the Flavian dynasty. Under Nero, he was a member of the imperial entourage and played a vital part in exposing the Pisonian conspiracy of 65. Later, as a loyalist to the Flavians, he attained consulships in 71 and 90 during the reigns of Vespasian and Domitian respectively.
On 18 September 96, Domitian was assassinated in a palace conspiracy involving members of the Praetorian Guard and several of his freedmen. On the same day, Nerva was declared emperor by the Roman Senate. This was the first time the Senate elected a Roman Emperor. As the new ruler of the Roman Empire, he vowed to restore liberties which had been curtailed during the autocratic government of Domitian.
Nerva's brief reign was marred by financial difficulties and his inability to assert his authority over the Roman army. A revolt by the Praetorian Guard in October 97 essentially forced him to adopt an heir. After some deliberation Nerva adopted Trajan, a young and popular general, as his successor. After barely fifteen months in office, Nerva died of natural causes on 27 January 98. Upon his death he was succeeded and deified by Trajan.
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Nicolaus of Damascus
Nicolaus of Damascus (Greek: Νικόλαος Δαμασκηνός, Nikolāos Damaskēnos) was a Greekhistorian and philosopher who lived during the Augustan age of the Roman Empire. His name is derived from that of his birthplace, Damascus. He was born around 64 BC.
He was an intimate friend of Herod the Great, whom he survived by a number of years. He was also the tutor of the children of Antony and Cleopatra (born in 40 BC), according to Sophronius. He went to Rome with Herod Archelaus.
His output was vast, but is nearly all lost. His chief work was a universal history in 144 books. He also wrote an autobiography, a life of Augustus, a life of Herod, some philosophical works, and some tragedies and comedies.
All of his works are lost, but substantial fragments remain of some of them. There is an article on him in the Suda.
Towards the end of his life he composed a universal history in 144 books, although the Suda mentions only 80 books. But references to books 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, (8), 96, 103, 104, 107, 108, 110, 114, 123 and 124 are known.
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Nikephoros I
Nikephoros I or Nicephorus I, Logothetes or Genikos (Greek: Νικηφόρος Α΄, Nikēphoros I, "Bringer of Victory"; died July 26, 811) was Byzantine Emperor from 802 to 811, when he was killed in the Battle of Pliska.
A patrician from Seleucia Sidera, Nikephoros was appointed finance minister (logothetēs tou genikou) by the Empress Irene. With the help of the patricians and eunuchs he contrived to dethrone and exile Irene, and to be chosen as Emperor in her stead on October 31, 802. He crowned his son Staurakios co-emperor in 803.
His rule was endangered by Bardanes Tourkos, one of his ablest generals, who revolted and received support from other commanders, notably the later emperors Leo V the Armenian and Michael II the Amorian in 803.
But Nikephoros gained over the latter two, and by inducing the rebel army to disperse achieved the submission of Bardanes, who was blinded and relegated to a monastery. A conspiracy headed by the patrician Arsaber had a similar issue.
Nikephoros embarked on a general reorganization of the Empire, creating new themes in the Balkans (where he initiated the re-Hellenization by resettling Greeks from Anatolia) and strengthening the frontiers. Needing large sums to increase his military forces, he set himself with great energy to increase the Empire's revenue. By his rigorous tax imposts he alienated the favour of his subjects, and especially of the clergy, whom he otherwise sought to control firmly. Although he appointed an iconodule, Nikephoros as patriarch, Emperor Nikephoros was portrayed as a villain by ecclesiastical historians like Theophanes the Confessor.
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Nikephoros II Phokas
Nikephoros II Phokas (Latinized: Nicephorus II Phocas) (Νικηφόρος Β΄ Φωκᾶς, Nikēphoros II Phōkas) (c. 912 – 10–11 December 969) was a Byzantine Emperor (963–969) whose brilliant military exploits contributed to the resurgence of Byzantine Empire in the tenth century.
Nikephoros Phokas was born in about 912 and belonged to a Cappadocian family which had produced several distinguished generals, including Nikephoros' father (Bardas Phokas), brother (Leo Phokas), and grandfather (Nikephoros Phokas the Elder), who had all served as commanders of the field army (domestikos tōn scholōn). His mother, whose name is unknown, was a member of another powerful Anatolian clan, the Maleinoi.
Nikephoros joined the army at an early age. He was appointed the military governor of the Anatolikon Theme in 945 under Emperor Constantine VII. When his father, Bardas was wounded in battle in 953, Nikephoros was promoted to supreme commander on the eastern frontier. In the war with the Abbasid Caliphate under Al-Muti, Nikephoros began with a severe defeat in 954, from which he recovered in the following years by victories in Syria, starting in 957.
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Nubia
Nubia is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.
There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate resulting in the Arabization of much of the Nubian population. Nubia was again united within Ottoman Egypt in the 19th century, and within Anglo-Egyptian Sudan from 1899 to 1956.
The name Nubia is derived from that of the Noba people, nomads who settled the area in the 4th century, with the collapse of the kingdom of Meroë. The Noba spoke a Nilo-Saharan language, ancestral to Old Nubian. Old Nubian was used in mostly religious texts dating from the 8th and 15th centuries AD. Before the 4th century, and throughout classical antiquity, Nubia was known as Kush, or, in Classical Greek usage, included under the name Ethiopia (Aithiopia).
Historically, the people of Nubia spoke at least two varieties of the Nubian language group, a subfamily which includes Nobiin (the descendant of Old Nubian), Kenuzi-Dongola, Midob and several related varieties in the northern part of the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan. A variety (Birgid) was spoken (at least until 1970) north of Nyala in Darfur but is now extinct.
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Numerian
Numerian (Latin: Marcus Aurelius Numerius Numerianus Augustus; died November 284), was a Roman Emperor from 282 to 284 with his older brother Carinus. They were sons of Carus, a general raised to the office of praetorian prefect under Emperor Probus in 282.
In 282, the legions of the upper Danube in Raetia and Noricum proclaimed Numerian's father, the praetorian prefect Marcus Aurelius Carus, emperor, beginning a rebellion against the emperor Probus. Probus' army, stationed in Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia), decided they did not wish to fight Carus, and assassinated Probus instead. Carus, already sixty, wished to establish a dynasty; and immediately elevated Carinus and Numerian to the rank of Caesar.
In 283, Carus raised Carinus to the title Caesar, left him in charge of the West, and moved with Numerian and his praetorian prefect Arrius Aper to the East, to wage war against the Sassanid Empire. (The Sassanids had been embroiled in a succession dispute since the death of Shapur, and were in no position to oppose Carus' advance.) According to Zonaras, Eutropius, and Festus, Carus won a major victory against the Persians, taking Seleucia and the Sassanid capital of Ctesiphon (near modern Al-Mada'in, Iraq), cities on opposite banks of the Tigris. In celebration, Numerian, Carus, and Carinus all took the title Persici maximi. Carus died in July or early August, reportedly due to a strike of lightning.
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Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 – 3 September 1658) was an English military and political leader who was part of the joint republican, military and parliamentarian effort that overthrew the Stuart monarchy as a result of the English Civil War, and was subsequently invited by his fellow leaders to assume a head of state role in 1653. As such, Cromwell ruled as "Lord Protector" for a five-year segment (1653–58) of the 11-year period of republican Commonwealth and protectorate rule of England, and nominally of Ireland, Wales and Scotland. As one of the commanders of the New Model Army, he played an important role in the defeat of the King's forces, the royalists in the English Civil War. After the execution of King Charles I in 1649, Cromwell dominated the short-lived Commonwealth of England, conquered Ireland and Scotland, ruling as Lord Protector from 1653 until his death in 1658.
Cromwell was born into the ranks of the middle gentry, and remained relatively obscure for the first 40 years of his life. Along with his brother, Henry, he kept a small holding of chickens and sheep, selling eggs and wool to support himself. His lifestyle resembled that of a yeoman farmer until he received an inheritance from his uncle. After undergoing a religious conversion during the same decade, Cromwell made an independent style of puritanism an essential part of his life. He took a generally (but not completely) tolerant view towards the many Protestant sects of his period. As a ruler he executed an aggressive and effective foreign policy and did as much as any English leader to shape the future of the land he governed. But his Commonwealth collapsed after his death and the royal family was restored in 1660. An intensely religious man—a self-styled Puritan Moses — he fervently believed God was guiding his victories.
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Olybrius
Anicius Olybrius (died October 22 or November 2, 472) was Western Roman Emperor from April or May 472 to his death. He was in reality a puppet ruler, put on the throne by the Roman general of Germanic descent Ricimer, and was mainly interested in religion, while the actual power was held by Ricimer and his nephew Gundobad.
Olybrius was born in Rome, in the ancient and powerful gens Anicia, of Italian descent.
According to an hypothesis, which gathers the consensus of the historians, he was related to the Consul Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius, whose wife and cousin, Anicia Juliana, had the same name Olybrius gave to his own daughter. Other historians consider this a weak clue, as "Juliana" was a common name in the gens Anicia, and because Hermogenianus seems to have begotten only one daughter, who took chastity vows; other possible fathers have therefore been proposed: either Flavius Anicius Probus (suggested by Settipani) or, according to some clues, Petronius Maximus.
Olybrius married Placidia, younger daughter of Western Emperor Valentinian III and of his wife Licinia Eudoxia, thus creating a bond between a member of the senatorial aristocracy and the House of Theodosius. The year of their wedding is not recorded, although the historian Priscus implies it took place before the Vandal sack of Rome (June 2–16, 455). Oost has pointed out that in his chronicle Hydatius wrote Placidia was unmarried as of 455.
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Otho
Otho (Latin: Marcus Salvius Otho Caesar Augustus; 28 April 32 – 16 April 69), was Roman Emperor for three months, from 15 January to 16 April 69. He was the second emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors.
Otho belonged to an ancient and noble Etruscan family, descended from the princes of Etruria and settled at Ferentinum (modern Ferento, near Viterbo) in Etruria. His paternal grandfather, Marcus Salvius Otho, whose father was a Roman knight but whose mother was of lowly origin and perhaps not even free-born, was raised in Livia's household and rose to senatorial rank through her influence, although he did not advance beyond the rank of praetor. His father was Lucius Otho.
The future Emperor appears first as one of the most reckless and extravagant of the young nobles who surrounded Nero. This friendship was brought to an end in 58 because of his wife, the noblewoman Poppaea Sabina. Otho introduced his beautiful wife to the Emperor upon Poppaea's insistence, who then began an affair that would eventually lead to her premature death. After securely establishing this position as his mistress, she divorced Otho and had the Emperor send him away to the remote province of Lusitania (which is now parts of both modern Portugal and Extremadura).
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Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso (20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria, and of the Metamorphoses, a mythological hexameter poem. He is also well known for the Fasti, about the Roman calendar; and the Tristia and Epistulae ex Ponto, two collections of poems written in exile on the Black Sea. Ovid was also the author of several smaller pieces, the Remedia Amoris, the Medicamina Faciei Femineae, and the long curse-poem Ibis. He also authored a lost tragedy, Medea. He is considered a master of the elegiac couplet, and is traditionally ranked alongside Virgil and Horace as one of the three canonic poets of Latin literature. The scholar Quintilian considered him the last of the canonical Latin love elegists. His poetry, much imitated during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, decisively influenced European art and literature and remains as one of the most important sources of classical mythology.
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Parthia
Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, rulers of the Parthian Empire.
The name "Parthia" is a continuation from Latin Parthia, from Old Persian Parthava, which was the Parthian language self-designator signifying "of the Parthians" who were an Iranian people.
Parthia roughly corresponds to the western half of Khorasan region in northeastern Iran. It was bordered by the Kopet Dag mountain range in the north and the Dasht-e-Kavir desert in the south. It bordered Media on the west, Hyrcania on the north west, Margiana on the north east, and Aria on the south east.
During Arsacid times, Parthia was united with Hyrcania as one administrative unit, and that region is therefore often (subject to context) considered a part of Parthia proper.
As the region inhabited by Parthians, Parthia first appears as a political entity in Achaemenid lists of governorates ("satrapies") under their dominion. Prior to this, the people of the region seem to have been subjects of the Medes, and 7th century BC Assyrian texts mention a country named Partakka or Partukka (though this "need not have coincided topographically with the later Parthia").
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Pertinax
Pertinax (Latin: Publius Helvius Pertinax Augustus; 1 August 126 – 28 March 193) was Roman Emperor for three months in 193. He is known as the first emperor of the tumultuous Year of the Five Emperors. A high-ranking military and Senatorial figure, he tried to restore discipline in the Praetorian Guards, whereupon they rebelled and killed him. Upon his death he was succeeded by Didius Julianus, whose reign was similarly short.
His career before becoming emperor is documented in the Historia Augusta and confirmed in many places by existing inscriptions. Born in Alba Pompeia in Italy, the son of freedman Helvius Successus, originally Pertinax made his way as a grammaticus (teacher of grammar), but he eventually decided to find a more rewarding line of work and through the help of patronage he was commissioned an officer in a cohort.
In the Parthian war that followed, he was able to distinguish himself, which resulted in a string of promotions, and after postings in Britain (as military tribune of the Legio VI Victrix) and along the Danube, he served as a procurator in Dacia. He suffered a setback as a victim of court intrigues during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, but shortly afterwards he was recalled to assist Claudius Pompeianus in the Marcomannic Wars. In 175 he received the honor of a suffect consulship and until 185, Pertinax was governor of the provinces of Upper and Lower Moesia, Dacia, Syria and finally governor of Britain.
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Petronius Maximus
Flavius Petronius Maximus (possibly Flavius Anicius Petronius Maximus) (c. 396 – 31 May 455) was Western Roman Emperor for two and one-half months in 455. A wealthy senator and a prominent aristocrat, he was instrumental in the murders of the Western Roman magister militum, Flavius Aëtius, and the Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III. Maximus was killed during the events that culminated in the Vandal sack of Rome in 455.
Petronius Maximus was born in about 396. Although he was of obscure origin, it is now believed that he belonged to the Anicii family. Related to later Emperor Olybrius, Maximus was the son of Anicius Probinus, the son of Anicia Faltonia Proba and Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus, who was Prefect of Illyricum in 364, Prefect of Gaul in 366, Prefect of Italy in 368–375 and again in 383 and consul in 371.
Maximus achieved a remarkable career early on in his life. His earliest known office was praetor, held about 411; around 415 he served as a tribunus et notarius, which was an entry position to the imperial bureaucracy, and led to his serving as Comes sacrarum largitionum (Count of the Sacred Largess) between 416 and 419.
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Philip the Arab
Philip the Arab (Latin: Marcus Julius Philippus Augustus; c. 204 – 249), also known as Philip or Philippus Arabs, was Roman Emperor from 244 to 249. He came from Syria, and rose to become a major figure in the Roman Empire. He achieved power after the death of Gordian III, quickly negotiating peace with the Sassanid Empire. During his reign, Rome celebrated its millennium.
Among early Christian writers Philip had the reputation of being sympathetic to the Christian faith. It was even claimed that he converted to Christianity, becoming the first Christian emperor, but this is disputed. He supposedly tried to celebrate Easter with Christians in Antioch, but the bishop Babylas made him stand with the penitents. Philip and his wife received letters from Origen.
Philip was overthrown and killed following a rebellion led by his successor Decius.
Little is known about Philip's early life and political career. He was born in what is today Shahba, about 55 miles (89 km) southeast of Damascus, in the Trachonitis district, then in the Roman province of Arabia. Philip, who received the nickname "the Arab" because his family hailed from the Roman province of Arabia, was the son of a Julius Marinus, a local Roman citizen, possibly of some importance.
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Philippikos Bardanes
Philippikos or Philippicus (Greek: Φιλιππικός), was Emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 711 to 713.
Philippicus was originally named Bardanes (Greek: Βαρδάνης, Vardanis; Armenian: Վարդան, Vardan), and was the son of the patrician Nikephorus, who was of Armenian extraction from an Armenian colony in Pergamum.
Relying on the support of the Monothelite party, he made some pretensions to the throne on the outbreak of the first great rebellion against Emperor Justinian II; these led to his relegation to Cephalonia by Tiberius Apsimarus, and subsequently to his banishment, by order of Justinian, to Cherson. Here Bardanes, taking the name of Philippicus, successfully incited the inhabitants to revolt with the help of the Khazars. The successful rebels seized Constantinople and Justinian fled (to be assassinated soon afterward, unable to rally substantial support in the provinces); Philippikos took the throne.
Among his first acts were the deposition of the orthodox patriarch Cyrus of Constantinople, in favour of John VI, a member of his own sect, and the summoning of a conciliabulum of Eastern bishops, which abolished the canons of the Sixth Ecumenical Council. In response the Roman Church refused to recognize the new Emperor and his patriarch. Meanwhile Tervel of Bulgaria plundered up to the walls of Constantinople in 712. When Philippicus transferred an army from the Opsikion theme to police the Balkans, the Umayyad Caliphate under Al-Walid I made inroads across the weakened defenses of Asia Minor.
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Phocas
Phocas (Latin: Flavius Phocas Augustus; Greek: Φωκᾶς, Phokas) was Byzantine Emperor from 602 to 610. He usurped the throne from the Emperor Maurice, and was himself overthrown by Heraclius after losing a civil war.
Almost nothing is known of Phocas's early life, although he may have been a native of Thrace. The name of his father is unknown. His mother was named Domentia (or Domentzia). He had at least two brothers, Comentiolus and Domentziolus.
By 600, he was a subaltern officer in the Byzantine army that served during Maurice's Balkan campaigns, and apparently was viewed as a leader by his fellow soldiers. He was a member of a delegation sent by the army in that year to Constantinople to submit grievances to the government. The Avars had defeated the Byzantines in 598, had taken a large number of prisoners, and demanded a ransom. Maurice refused to pay and all the prisoners were killed, causing consternation among the army. The delegation's complaints were rejected, and, according to several sources, Phocas himself was slapped and humiliated by prominent court officials at this time.
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Plutarch
Plutarch (English pronunciation: /'pluːtɑːk/; Greek: Πλούταρχος, Ploútarkhos, Koine Greek: [plŭːtarkʰos]) then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus (Μέστριος Πλούταρχος),c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia. He was born to a prominent family in Chaeronea, Boeotia, a town about twenty miles east of Delphi.
Plutarch was born in 46 AD in the small town of Chaeronea, in the Greek region known as Boeotia. His family was wealthy. The name of Plutarch's father has not been preserved, but it was probably Nikarchus (Greek: Nίκαρχoς), from the common habit of Greek families to repeat a name in alternate generations. The name of Plutarch's grandfather was Lamprias, as he attested in Moralia and in his Life of Antony.
His brothers, Timon and Lamprias, are frequently mentioned in his essays and dialogues, where Timon is spoken of in the most affectionate terms. Rualdus, in his 1624 work Life of Plutarchus, recovered the name of Plutarch's wife, Timoxena, from internal evidence afforded by his writings. A letter is still extant, addressed by Plutarch to his wife, bidding her not give way to excessive grief at the death of their two year old daughter, who was named Timoxena after her mother. Interestingly, he hinted at a belief in reincarnation in that letter of consolation.
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Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey ( /ˈpɒmpiː/) or Pompey the Great (Classical Latin abbreviation: CN·POMPEIVS·CN·F·SEX·N·MAGNVS; September 29, 106 BC – September 29, 48 BC), was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic. He came from a wealthy Italian provincial background, and established himself in the ranks of Roman nobility by successful leadership in several military campaigns. Sulla addressed him by the cognomen Magnus (the Great), and he was awarded three triumphs.
Pompey joined his rival Marcus Licinius Crassus and his ally Julius Caesar in the unofficial military-political alliance known as the First Triumvirate. The first triumvirate was validated by the marriage between Julia Caesar (daughter of Julius Caesar) and Pompey. After the deaths of Julia and Crassus, Pompey sided with the optimates, the conservative and aristocratic faction of the Roman Senate.
Pompey and Caesar contended for the leadership of the Roman state, leading to a civil war. When Pompey was defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus, he sought refuge in Egypt, where he was assassinated. His career and defeat are significant in Rome's subsequent transformation from Republic to Principate and Empire.
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Pupienus
Pupienus (Latin: Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus Augustus; born c. 165/170 – 29 July 238), also known as Pupienus Maximus, was Roman Emperor with Balbinus for three months in 238, during the Year of the Six Emperors. The sources for this period are scant, and thus knowledge of the emperor is limited. In most contemporary texts Pupienus is referred by his agnomen "Maximus" rather than by his cognomen (family name) Pupienus.
The Historia Augusta, whose testimony is not to be trusted unreservedly, paints Pupienus as an example of advancement through the cursus honorum due to military success. It claims he was the son of a blacksmith, was adopted by one Pescennia Marcellina (otherwise unknown), and who started his career as a Centurio primus pilus before becoming a Tribunus Militum, and then a Praetor. He was in fact part of the aristocracy, albeit a minor one, and possibly quite recently. Hailing from the Etruscan city of Volterra, it has been speculated that Pupienus was the son of Marcus Pupienus Maximus, a Senator who was the first member of his family to enter the Senate, and wife Clodia Pulchra.
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Quintilian
Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (c. 35 – c. 100) was a Roman rhetorician from Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quintilian, although the alternate spellings of Quintillian and Quinctilian are occasionally seen, the latter in older texts.
Quintilian was born ca. 35 in Calagurris (Calahorra, La Rioja) in Hispania. His father, a well-educated man, sent him to Rome to study rhetoric early in the reign of Nero. While there, he cultivated a relationship with Domitius Afer, who died in 59. "It had always been the custom … for young men with ambitions in public life to fix upon some older model of their ambition … and regard him as a mentor" (Kennedy, 16). Quintilian evidently adopted Afer as his model and listened to him speak and plead cases in the law courts. Afer has been characterized as a more austere, classical, Ciceronian speaker than those common at the time of Seneca, and he may have inspired Quintilian’s love of Cicero.
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Quintillus
Quintillus (Latin: Marcus Aurelius Claudius Quintillus Augustus; c. 220 – April 270), commonly known as Quintillus, was Roman Emperor for less than a year in 270.
Quintillus was born at Sirmium in Illyricum. Originally coming from a low born family, Quintillus came to prominence with the accession of his brother Claudius II Gothicus to the imperial throne in 268. He had possibly been made Procurator of Sardinia during his brother’s reign, and upon the death of his brother in 270, Quintillus was declared emperor either by the Senate or by his brother’s soldiers.
Eutropius reports Quintillus to have been elected by soldiers of the Roman army immediately following the death of his brother. The choice was reportedly approved by the Roman Senate. Joannes Zonaras reports him elected by the Senate itself. Records however agree that the legions which had followed Claudius in campaigning along the Danube were either unaware or disapproving of Quintillus' elevation. They instead elevated their current leader Aurelian as emperor.
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Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period (starting at about 27 BC). The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor. If a man was "proclaimed emperor" this normally meant he was proclaimed augustus, or (for generals) imperator (from which English emperor ultimately derives). Several other titles and offices were regularly accumulated by emperors, such as caesar, princeps senatus, consul and Pontifex Maximus. The power of emperors was generally based on the accumulation of powers from republican offices and the support of the army.
Roman emperors refused to be considered "kings", instead claiming to be leaders of a republic, however nominal. The first emperor, Augustus, resolutely refused recognition as a monarch. Although Augustus could claim that his power was authentically Republican, his successor, Tiberius, could not convincingly make the same claim. Nonetheless, the Republican institutional framework (senate, consuls, magistracies etc.) was preserved until the very end of the Western Empire.
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Roman emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period (starting at about 27 BC). The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor. If a man was "proclaimed emperor" this normally meant he was proclaimed augustus, or (for generals) imperator (from which English emperor ultimately derives). Several other titles and offices were regularly accumulated by emperors, such as caesar, princeps senatus, consul and Pontifex Maximus. The power of emperors was generally based on the accumulation of powers from republican offices and the support of the army.
Roman emperors refused to be considered "kings", instead claiming to be leaders of a republic, however nominal. The first emperor, Augustus, resolutely refused recognition as a monarch. Although Augustus could claim that his power was authentically Republican, his successor, Tiberius, could not convincingly make the same claim. Nonetheless, the Republican institutional framework (senate, consuls, magistracies etc.) was preserved until the very end of the Western Empire.
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Romanos I Lekapenos
Romanos I Lekapenos (or Romanus I Lecapenus) (Greek: Ρωμανός Α΄ Λακαπήνος, Rōmanos I Lakapēnos; Armenian: Ռոմանոս Ա Լակապենոս, Romanos I Lakapenos) (circa 870 – June 15, 948) was Byzantine Emperor from 920 until his deposition on December 16, 944.
Romanos Lekapenos, the son of an Armenian peasant Although he did not receive any refined education (for which he was later abused by his son-in-law Constantine VII), Romanos advanced through the ranks of the army during the reign of Emperor Leo VI the Wise. In 911 he was general of the naval theme of Samos and later served as admiral of the fleet (droungarios tou ploimou). In this capacity he was supposed to participate in the Byzantine operations against Bulgaria on the Danube in 917, but he was unable to carry out his mission. In the aftermath of the disastrous Byzantine defeat at the Battle of Acheloos in 917 by the Bulgarians, Romanos sailed to Constantinople, where he gradually overcame the discredited regency of Empress Zoe Karvounopsina and her supporter Leo Phokas.
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Romanos II
Romanos (or Romanus) II (Greek: Ρωμανός Β΄, Rōmanos II) (938 – 15 March 963) was a Byzantine Emperor. He succeeded his father Constantine VII in 959 at the age of twenty-one, and died suddenly in 963.
Romanos II was a son of Emperor Constantine VII and Helena Lekapene, the daughter of Emperor Romanos I and his wife Theodora. Named after his maternal grandfather, Romanos was married, as a child, to Bertha, the illegitimate daughter of Hugh of Arles, King of Italy, who changed her name to Eudokia after her marriage. On April 6, 945, after the fall of the Lekapenoi, Constantine VII crowned his son Romanos co-emperor.[citation needed][clarification needed] With Hugh out of power in Italy and dead by 947, and Bertha herself dying in 949, Romanos secured the promise from his father that he would be allowed to select his own bride. Romanos' choice fell on an innkeeper's daughter named Anastaso, whom he married in 956 and renamed Theophano.
In November 959 Romanos II succeeded his father on the throne, among rumors that he or his wife had contributed to the death of Constantine VII by poisoning him. Romanos purged his father's courtiers of his enemies and replaced them with his friends and those of his wife. Among the persons removed from court were the Empress Mother, Helena, and her daughters, all of them being sent to a nunnery. Nevertheless, many of Romanos' appointees were able men, including his chief adviser, the eunuch Joseph Bringas.
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Romanos III Argyros
Romanos III Argyros (or Romanus III Argyrus) (Greek: Ρωμανός Γ΄ Αργυρός, Rōmanos III Argyros) (968 – 11 April 1034) was Byzantine emperor from 15 November 1028 until his death.
Romanos Argyros was the son of an unnamed member of the Argyros family and a great-grandson of Emperor Romanos I. His sister Maria had married Giovanni Orseolo, a Venetian lord in Dalmatia. He also had a brother, Basil Argyros. Under Basil II Romanos served as judge, and under Constantine VIII he became urban prefect of Constantinople. Romanos attracted the attention of Constantine VIII, who forced him to divorce his wife (sending her into a monastery) and to marry the emperor's daughter Zoe. The marriage took place on November 12, 1028, and three days later Constantine VIII died, leaving Romanos III as emperor.
The new emperor showed great eagerness to make his mark as a ruler, but was mostly unfortunate in his enterprises. He spent large sums upon new buildings and in endowing the monks, and in his endeavour to relieve the pressure of taxation disorganized the finances of the state. Idealizing Marcus Aurelius, Romanos aspired to be a new "philosopher king", and similarly desired to imitate the military prowess of Trajan.
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Romanos IV Diogenes
Romanos (or Romanus) IV Diogenes (Greek: Ρωμανός Δ΄ Διογένης, Rōmanos IV Diogenēs) was a member of the Byzantine military aristocracy who, after his marriage to the widowed empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa was crowned Byzantine emperor and reigned from 1068 to 1071. During his reign he was determined to halt the decline of the Byzantine military and stop Turkish incursions into the Byzantine Empire, but in 1071 he was captured and his army routed at the Battle of Manzikert. While still captive he was overthrown in a palace coup, and when released he was quickly defeated and detained by members of the Doukas family. In 1072, he was blinded and sent to a monastery where he died of his wounds.
Romanos Diogenes was the son of Constantine Diogenes and a member of a prominent and powerful Cappadocian family, connected by birth to most of the great aristocratic nobles in Asia Minor. His mother was an anonymous daughter of Basil Argyros, brother of the emperor Romanos III. Courageous and generous, but also quite impetuous, Romanos's military talents had seen him rise with distinction in the army, including serving on the Danubian frontier but he was eventually convicted of attempting to usurp the throne of the sons of Constantine X Doukas in 1067. While waiting to receive his sentence from the regent Eudokia Makrembolitissa, he was summoned into her presence and advised that she had pardoned him and that furthermore she had chosen him to be her husband and the guardian of her sons as emperor. She took this course of action firstly due to her concern that unless she managed to find a powerful husband, she could easily lose the regency to any unscrupulous noble, and secondly because she was infatuated with the popular Romanus. Her decision was met with little protest as the Seljuk Turks had overrun much of Cappadocia and had even taken the important city of Caesarea, meaning that the army needed to be placed under the command of an able and energetic general.
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Romulus and Remus
Romulus and Remus are the twin brothers and central characters of Rome's foundation myth. Their mother was Rhea Silvia, daughter to Numitor, king of Alba Longa. Before their conception, Numitor's brother Amulius had seized power, killed Numitor's male heirs and forced Rhea Silvia to become a Vestal Virgin, sworn to chastity. Rhea Silvia conceived the twins by the god Mars, or by the demi-god Hercules; once the twins were born, Amulius had them abandoned to die in the river Tiber. They were saved by a series of miraculous interventions: the river carried them to safety, a she-wolf found and suckled them, and a woodpecker fed them. A shepherd and his wife found and fostered them to manhood, as simple shepherds. The twins, still ignorant of their true origins, were natural leaders. Each acquired many followers. When they discovered the truth of their birth, they killed Amulius and restored Numitor to his throne. Rather than wait to inherit Alba Longa they chose to found a new city.
Romulus wanted to found a city on the Palatine Hill; Remus preferred the Aventine Hill. They agreed to determine the site through augury but when each claimed the results in his own favor, they quarreled and Remus was killed. Romulus founded the new city, named it Rome, after himself, and created its first legions and senate. The new city grew rapidly, swelled by landless refugees; as most were unmarried, Romulus arranged the abduction of women from the neighboring Sabines. The ensuing war ended with the joining of Sabines and Romans as one Roman people. Thanks to divine favour and Romulus' inspired leadership, Rome became a dominant force, but Romulus himself became increasingly autocratic, and disappeared or died in mysterious circumstances. In later forms of the myth, he ascended to heaven, and was identified with Quirinus, the divine personification of the Roman people.
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Romulus Augustulus
Romulus Augustus (born perhaps around 460 – died after 476, possibly alive around 500), is sometimes considered the last Western Roman Emperor (although by other accounts the last Western Roman Emperor was Julius Nepos), reigning from 31 October 475 until 4 September 476. His deposition by Odoacer traditionally marks the end of the Western Roman Empire, the fall of ancient Rome, and the beginning of the Middle Ages in Western Europe.
He is also known by his nickname "Romulus Augustulus", though he ruled officially as Romulus Augustus. The Latin suffix -ulus is a diminutive; hence, Augustulus effectively means "Little Augustus".
The historical record contains few details of Romulus' life. He was installed as emperor by his father Orestes, the Magister militum (master of soldiers) of the Roman army after deposing the previous emperor Julius Nepos. Romulus, little more than a child, acted as a figurehead for his father's rule. Reigning for only ten months, Romulus was then deposed by the Germanic chieftain Odoacer and sent to live in the Castellum Lucullanum in Campania; afterwards he disappears from the historical record.
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Ronald Syme
Sir Ronald Syme, OM, FBA (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. Long associated with Oxford University, he is widely regarded as the 20th century's greatest historian of ancient Rome. His great work was The Roman Revolution (1939), a masterly and controversial analysis of Roman political life in the period following the assassination of Julius Caesar.
Syme was born to David and Florence Syme in Eltham, New Zealand, where he attended primary and secondary school; a bad case of measles seriously damaged his vision during this period. He moved to New Plymouth Boys' High School (a house of which bears his name today) at the age of 15, and was head of his class for both of his two years. He continued to the University of Auckland and Victoria University of Wellington, where he studied French language and literature while working on his degree in Classics. He attended Oriel College, Oxford between 1925 and 1927, graduating with a First Class degree in Literae Humaniores (ancient history and philosophy). In 1926, he won the Gaisford Prize for Greek Prose for translating a section of Thomas More's Utopia into Platonic prose, and the following year won the Prize again (for Verse) for a translation of part of William Morris's Sigurd the Volsung into Homeric hexameters.
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Saloninus
Publius Licinius Cornelius Saloninus Valerianus (c. 242 – 260) was Roman Emperor in 259 or 260.
Saloninus was born around the year 242. His father was the later emperor Gallienus, his mother Cornelia Salonina, a Greek from Bithynia. In 258 Saloninus was appointed Caesar by his father (just like his older brother Valerian II, who had died around 258) and sent to Gaul to make sure his father's authority was respected there. (The title Caesar in Imperial nomenclature indicated that the holder was the Crown Prince and first in line of succession after the Augustus, the title reserved for the ruling Emperor). Like Valerian II, who was made the ward of Ingenuus, governor of the Illyrian provinces, Saloninus was put under the protection of the praetorian prefect Silvanus (otherwise named as Albanus) As Caesar in Gaul Saloninus had his main seat in Cologne.
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Segestes
Segestes was a noble of the Germanic tribe of the Cherusci involved in the events surrounding the Roman attempts to conquer northern Germany during the reign of Roman Emperor Augustus.
Arminius, the Cheruscan noble and military leader, had married Thusnelda, Segestes' daughter, against her father's will. Segestes, who favored Roman overlordship, bore Arminius a lifelong grudge and eventually found ways to exact his revenge. In 9 AD he warned the Roman governor Publius Quinctilius Varus of the impending uprising of his countrymen, but was not believed. Varus and his three legions subsequently perished in the three-day Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, where several allied German tribes under the command of Arminius ambushed them.
Segestes openly turned against Arminius when Germanicus invaded northern Germany in 15 AD in a renewed attempt to establish Roman rule in the area. Besieged in his stronghold by his own countrymen, Segestes appealed for help to Germanicus who relieved him, and Segestes then handed over his pregnant daughter Thusnelda, Arminius' wife, to Germanicus as a prisoner. Thusnelda was taken to Rome and, together with her brother Segimundus, displayed in Germanicus' victory parade in 17 AD, with her father an honored spectator. Thusnelda never returned to her homeland. Arminius' only son, Thumelicus, whom she bore while in captivity, was trained as a gladiator in Ravenna and died in a gladiator fight before reaching the age of 20.[citation needed]
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Septimius Severus
Septimius Severus (Latin: Lucius Septimius Severus Augustus; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211), also known as Severus, was Roman Emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of Emperor Pertinax in 193 during the Year of the Five Emperors. After deposing and killing the incumbent emperor Didius Julianus, Severus fought his rival claimants, the generals Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus. Niger was defeated in 194 at the Battle of Issus in Cilicia. Later that year Severus waged a short punitive campaign beyond the eastern frontier, annexing the Kingdom of Osroene as a new province. Severus defeated Albinus three years later at the Battle of Lugdunum in Gaul.
After solidifying his rule over the western provinces, Severus waged another brief, more successful war in the east against the Parthian Empire, sacking their capital Ctesiphon in 197 and expanding the eastern frontier to the Tigris. Furthermore, he enlarged and fortified the Limes Arabicus in Arabia Petraea. In 202, he campaigned in Africa and Mauretania against the Garamantes; capturing their capital Garama and expanding the Limes Tripolitanus along the southern frontier of the empire. Late in his reign he traveled to Britain, strengthening Hadrian's Wall and reoccupying the Antonine Wall. In 208 he invaded Caledonia modern Scotland, but his ambitions were cut short when he fell fatally ill in late 210. Severus died in early 211 at Eboracum, succeeded by his sons Caracalla and Geta. With the succession of his sons, Severus founded the Severan dynasty, the last dynasty of the empire before the Crisis of the Third Century.
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Servius Tullius
Servius Tullius was the legendary sixth king of ancient Rome, and the second of its Etruscan dynasty. He reigned 578-535 BC. Roman and Greek sources describe his servile origins and later marriage to a daughter of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Rome's first Etruscan king, who was assassinated in 579 BC. Servius was said to have been the first Roman king to accede without election by the Senate, having gained the throne by popular support, at the contrivance of his mother-in-law.
Several traditions describe Servius' father as divine. Livy depicts Servius' mother as a captured Latin princess enslaved by the Romans; her child is chosen as Rome's future king after a ring of fire is seen around his head. The Emperor Claudius discounted such origins and described him as an originally Etruscan mercenary who fought for Caelius Vibenna.
Servius was a popular king, and one of Rome's most significant benefactors. He had military successes against Veii and the Etruscans, and expanded the city to include the Quirinal, Viminal and Esquiline hills. He is credited with the institution of the Compitalia festivals, the building of temples to Fortuna and Diana, and the invention of Rome's first true coinage. Despite the opposition of Rome's patricians, he expanded the Roman franchise and improved the lot and fortune of Rome's lowest classes of citizens and non-citizens. According to Livy, he reigned for 44 years, until murdered by his treacherous daughter Tullia and son-in-law Tarquinius Superbus. In consequence of this "tragic crime" and his hubristic arrogance as king, Tarquinius was eventually removed. This cleared the way for the abolition of Rome's monarchy and the founding of the Roman Republic, whose groundwork had already been laid by Servius' reforms.
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Sextus Martinianus
Sextus Marcius Martinianus (usually rendered in English as Martinian; died 325) was Roman Emperor from July to September 18, 324. He had been appointed co-emperor by Licinius.
In 324, as the second civil war between Licinius and Constantine I was at its height, the situation for Licinius was not promising. Following his defeat at the Battle of Adrianople, he decided to replace Constantine (in name only) as western Augustus. As his replacement he named Martinian co-emperor, as he had previously appointed Valens during his earlier war with Constantine. Prior to his elevation, which took place some time after the Battle of Adrianople (July 3, 324), Martinian was serving as magister officiorum at Licinius' court.
In the wake of Licinius's defeat at Adrianople Licinius sent Martinian, with an army including Visigothic auxiliaries, to Lampsacus (on the Asiatic shore of the Hellespont or Dardanelles) to prevent Constantine from crossing from Thrace into Mysia and Bithynia in Asia Minor. A naval battle in the Hellespont resulted in the destruction of Licinius' navy by Constantine's eldest son Crispus. Following this defeat Licinius withdrew his forces from Byzantium, which was being besieged by Constantine, to Chalcedon on the Asiatic shore of the Bosphoros. Constantine then crossed over to Asia Minor, using a flotilla of light transports in order to evade the forces of Martinian. Licinius recalled Martinian from Lampsacus to reinforce his main army. On September 18 Licinius was defeated for the last time at the Battle of Chrysopolis.
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Sicilian revolt
The Sicilian revolt was a revolution against the Second Triumvirate of the Roman Republic which occurred between 44 BC and 36 BC. The revolt was led by Sextus Pompeius, and ended in a Triumvirate victory.
Sextus' father, Pompey, had been an enemy of Julius Caesar for many years, and this enmity finally boiled over in 49 BC with the beginning of Caesar's civil war. Pompey was executed in 48 BC by the Egyptians, but Sextus and his brother, Gnaeus Pompeius, continued fighting until 45 BC, when it was clear that Caesar was the victor. After Munda Sextus' brother was executed but Sextus himself escaped to Sicily.
When Julius Caesar was assassinated on March 15, 44 BC, Sextus' name was placed on a proscription list formed by Marcus Lepidus, Marcus Antonius, and Octavian, the members of the Second Triumvirate. The list was designed not only to fill Rome's treasury, but to help in the Second Triumvirate's war on the Cassii and Bruti families, and listed all of Caesar's other enemies and their relatives.
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Staurakios
Staurakios or Stauracius (Greek: Σταυράκιος; died January 11, 812) was Byzantine Emperor from July 26 to October 2, 811 in succession to his father, Nikephoros I, who had fallen at the Battle of Pliska. His rule was cut short by a severe wound suffered in the same battle, and he was forced into retirement in a monastery by his brother-in-law, Michael I Rangabe, where he died soon after.
The son of Emperor Nikephoros I, Staurakios had been crowned as co-emperor by his father in December 803. The chronicler Theophanes the Confessor, on top of stating that he was completely unfit to become co-emperor also claimed that Staurakios was guilty of rape, a claim perhaps colored by his hostility to Nikephoros I. On 20 December 807, the Athenian Theophano, a relative of the deposed Empress Irene, was selected by Nikephoros as Staurakios' wife from a company of young ladies, assembled from around the Empire in a bride show. The two were married that same day. During his father’s reign, he had been given command of the elite tagma of the Hikanatoi.
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Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius[pronunciation?] (ca. 69/72 – after 130), was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era.
His most important surviving work is a set of biographies of twelve successive Roman rulers, from Julius Caesar to Domitian, entitled De Vita Caesarum. He recorded the earliest accounts of Julius Caesar's epileptic seizures. Other works by Suetonius concern the daily life of Rome, politics, oratory, and the lives of famous writers, including poets, historians, and grammarians. A few of these books have partially survived, but many have been lost.
Suetonius was born the son of Suetonius Laetus, who probably came from Hippo Regius (Annaba, Algeria). Laetus was an equestrian who served and took part in the first Battle of Bedriacum for the Emperor Otho and against the future Emperor Vitellius in AD 69.
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Tacitus
Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (AD 56 – AD 117) was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors. These two works span the history of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus in AD 14 to (presumably) the death of emperor Domitian in AD 96. There are substantial lacunae in the surviving texts, including one four books long in the Annals.
Other writings by him discuss oratory (in dialogue format, see Dialogus de oratoribus), Germania (in De origine et situ Germanorum), and the life of his father-in-law Agricola, mainly focusing on his campaign in Britannia (see De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae).
Tacitus is considered to be one of the greatest Roman historians. He lived in what has been called the Silver Age of Latin literature, and as well as the brevity and compactness of his Latin prose, he is known for his penetrating insights into the psychology of power politics.
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Theodor Mommsen
Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician, archaeologist, and writer generally regarded as the greatest classicist of the 19th century. His work regarding Roman history is still of fundamental importance for contemporary research. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1902, and was also a prominent German politician, as a member of the Prussian and German parliaments. His works on Roman law and on the law of obligations had a significant impact on the German civil code (BGB).
Mommsen was born in Garding in Schleswig in 1817, and grew up in Bad Oldesloe, where his father was a Lutheran minister. He studied mostly at home, though he attended the gymnasium Christianeum in Altona for four years. He studied Greek and Latin and received his diploma in 1837. As he could not afford to study at Göttingen, he enrolled at the University of Kiel in Holstein.
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Theodore I Laskaris
Theodoros I Komnenos Laskaris (Greek: Θεόδωρος Α' Λάσκαρις, Theodōros I Laskaris) (c. 1174/1175–1221/August, 1222) was Emperor of Nicaea (1204–1221 or 1205–1222).
Theodore Laskaris was born to the Laskaris, a noble but not particularly renowned Byzantine family of Constantinople. He was the son of Manuel Laskaris (b. c. 1140) and wife Ioanna Karatzaina (b. c. 1148). He had four older brothers: Manuel Laskaris (d. aft. 1256), Michael Laskaris (d. 1261/1271), Georgios Laskaris and Constantine Laskaris (d. aft. March 19, 1205), Emperor of Byzantium (1204–1205); and two younger brothers: Alexios Laskaris, Latin military leader against the Bulgars who fought with the French against John III Doukas Vatatzes and was imprisoned and blinded, and Isaakios Laskaris.
According to "The Latins in the Levant. A History of Frankish Greece (1204–1566)" (1908) by William Miller, the seven brothers may also have had a sister. Miller identified said sister with the wife of Marco I Sanudo and mother of Angelo Sanudo. He based this theory on his own interpretation of Italian chronicles. The "Dictionnaire historique et Généalogique des grandes familles de Grèce, d'Albanie et de Constantinople" (1983) by Mihail-Dimitri Sturdza rejected the theory based on the silence of Byzantine primary sources.
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Theodore II Laskaris
Theodore II Doukas Laskaris or Ducas Lascaris (Greek: Θεόδωρος Β΄ Δούκας Λάσκαρις, Theodōros II Doukas Laskaris) (1221/1222 – August 18, 1258) was emperor of Nicaea, 1254–1258.
Theodore II Doukas Laskaris was the only son of Emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes and Eirene Laskarina, the daughter of Emperor Theodore I Laskaris and Anna Angelina, a daughter of Emperor Alexios III Angelos and Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamaterina. Theodore was born in late 1221 or early 1222, reportedly on the very day his father ascended the throne.
Theodore II received a scholarly education by Nicephorus Blemmydes and remained devoted to science and art throughout his life. In contrast with earlier practice, Theodore II was not crowned co-emperor with his father, though he assisted in the government since c. 1241. On the death of John III on November 4, 1254, Theodore II was acclaimed emperor by the army and the court, but was crowned only after the appointment of a new patriarch, Arsenios Autoreianos, in 1255.
The succession of Theodore II was exploited by the Bulgarians, who invaded Thrace under the leadership of the young and inexperienced Michael Asen I of Bulgaria in 1255. In spite of his own scholarly predisposition, Theodore II immediately marched against the Bulgarians and inflicted a crushing defeat on them. During his second expedition in 1256, he managed to conclude a favorable peace with Bulgaria, which may have plunged the latter into a crisis of leadership. Theodore II followed up his victory against Bulgaria by expanding his control in the west, where he annexed Durazzo and Servia, effectively outflanking his rivals in Epirus.
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Theodosios III
Theodosios III or Theodosius III (Greek: Θεοδόσιος Γ΄), was Byzantine Emperor from 715 to 25 March 717.
Theodosius was a financial officer and tax collector in the southern portion of the theme of Opsikion. According to one theory he was the son of the former Emperor Tiberius III. When the thematic troops rebelled against Emperor Anastasius II, he was chosen as emperor. Theodosius did not readily accept this choice and according to the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor even attempted to hide in the forests near Adramyttium. Eventually he was found and was acclaimed emperor in May 715.
Theodosius and his troops immediately laid siege to Constantinople. Six months later, in November, they gained entry the city. Theodosius showed himself remarkably moderate in his treatment of his predecessor and his supporters. Through the intercession of Patriarch Germanus I of Constantinople Anastasius II was convinced to abdicate and become a monk in Thessalonica.
Little is known of Theodosius' short reign. He immediately faced an Arab invasion deep into Anatolia and the advance of the Arab fleet. In 716 he concluded a treaty with Tervel of Bulgaria favorable to the Bulgarians in effort to secure support against the Arab invasion. This policy paid off in 719, when they helped relieve the Second Arab siege of Constantinople.
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Theodosius I
Theodosius I (Latin: Flavius Theodosius Augustus; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. During his reign, the Goths secured control of Illyricum after the Gothic War, establishing their homeland south of the Danube within the empire's borders. He also issued decrees that effectively made Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire.
He is recognized by the Eastern Orthodox Church as Saint Theodosius. He defeated the usurpers Magnus Maximus and Eugenius and fostered the destruction of some prominent pagan temples: the Serapeum in Alexandria, the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, and the Vestal Virgins in Rome. After his death, Theodosius' sons Arcadius and Honorius inherited the East and West halves respectively, and the Roman Empire was never again re-united.
Theodosius was born in Cauca or Italica, Hispania, to senior military officer Theodosius the Elder. He accompanied his father to Britannia to help quell the Great Conspiracy in 368. He was military commander (dux) of Moesia, a Roman province on the lower Danube, in 374. However, shortly thereafter, and at about the same time as the sudden disgrace and execution of his father, Theodosius retired to Spain. The reason for his retirement, and the relationship (if any) between it and his father's death is unclear. It is possible that he was dismissed from his command by the emperor Valentinian I after the loss of two of Theodosius' legions to the Sarmatians in late 374.
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Theodosius II
Theodosius II (Latin: Flavius Theodosius Junior Augustus; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450), commonly surnamed Theodosius the Younger, or Theodosius the Calligrapher, was Byzantine Emperor from 408 to 450. He is mostly known for promulgating the Theodosian law code, and for the construction of the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople. He also presided over the outbreak of two great christological controversies, Nestorianism and Eutychianism.
Theodosius was born in 401 as the only son of Emperor Arcadius and his Frankish-born wife Aelia Eudoxia. In 408, his father died and the seven-year-old boy became Emperor of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire.
Government was at first by the Praetorian Prefect Anthemius, under whose supervision the Theodosian land walls of Constantinople were constructed.
In 414, Theodosius' older sister Pulcheria was proclaimed Augusta and assumed the regency. By 416 Theodosius was capable of ruling himself, but his sister remained a strong influence on him. In June 421, Theodosius married Aelia Eudocia, a woman of Greek origin. The two had a daughter named Licinia Eudoxia.
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Tiberios III
Tiberios III (or Tiberius III) (Greek: Τιβέριος Γ') (died 15 February 706) was Byzantine emperor from 698 to 21 August 705. Although his rule was considered generally successful, especially in containing the Arab threat to the east, he was overthrown by the former emperor Justinian II and subsequently executed.
Tiberius was a Germanic naval officer from the region of Pamphylia and originally named Apsimaros (Αψίμαρος), who rose to the position of droungarios of the Cibyrrhaeotic Theme. He participated in the failed campaign to regain Carthage in 698. As admiral John the Patrician retreated from Carthage to Crete, the fleet rebelled, deposed and murdered their commander, and chose Apsimaros as his replacement. Changing his name to Tiberios, Apsimaros sailed on Constantinople which was suffering from a plague and proceeded to besiege it.
His revolution attracted the support of the Green faction, as well as detachments from the field army and the imperial guard, and officers loyal to him opened the gates of the city and proclaimed him emperor, after which his troops the proceeded to pillage the city. When he was firmly established on the throne, he commanded that the nose of deposed Emperor Leontius be cut off, and ordered him to enter the monastery of Psamathion. Leontios had also mutilated his predecessor Justinian II in the same fashion three years earlier.
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Tiberius
Tiberius (Latin: Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March 37 AD), was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian. Tiberius would later marry Augustus' daughter Julia the Elder (from his marriage to Scribonia) and even later be adopted by Augustus, by which act he officially became a Julian, bearing the name Tiberius Julius Caesar. The subsequent emperors after Tiberius would continue this blended dynasty of both families for the next forty years; historians have named it the Julio-Claudian dynasty. In relations to the other emperors of this dynasty, Tiberius was the stepson of Augustus, great-uncle of Caligula, paternal uncle of Claudius, and great-great uncle of Nero.
Tiberius was one of Rome's greatest generals, conquering Pannonia, Dalmatia, Raetia, and temporarily Germania; laying the foundations for the northern frontier. But he came to be remembered as a dark, reclusive, and sombre ruler who never really desired to be emperor; Pliny the Elder called him tristissimus hominum, "the gloomiest of men." After the death of Tiberius’ son Drusus Julius Caesar in 23 he became more reclusive and aloof. In 26, against better judgement, Tiberius exiled himself from Rome and left administration largely in the hands of his unscrupulous Praetorian Prefects Lucius Aelius Sejanus and Quintus Naevius Sutorius Macro. Caligula, Tiberius' grand-nephew and adopted grandson, succeeded the emperor upon his death.
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Tiberius Coruncanius
Tiberius Coruncanius (died 241 BC) was Roman consul, and military commander in 280 BC – 279 BC, who was known for his military contests with Pyrrhus (of "Pyrrhic victory" fame). He was the first plebeian Pontifex Maximus in the Ancient Roman Republic, and possibly the first Roman teacher of law.
Coruncanius, of plebeian descent, is believed to have hailed from Tusculum.
He was first elected consul in 280 BC with Publius Valerius Laevinus, and led an expedition into Etruria against the Etruscan cities. When Pyrrhus of Epirus invaded Italia, and defeated the Roman legions of Laevinus at the Battle of Heraclea, Tiberius' legions were recalled to Rome to bolster the defense of Roman territory.
In 254 BC or 253 BC, he was the first plebeian elected Pontifex Maximus, or chief priest of the Roman Republic, which position had been previously monopolized by patricians. He died in 241 BC and was succeeded by another plebeian briefly.
He was the first who publicly professed law (publice professus est), known to be both eloquent and full of knowledge. Like Socrates, he left no writings.
wn.com/Tiberius_Coruncanius -
Titus
Titus (Latin: Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus Augustus; 30 December 39 – 13 September 81), was Roman Emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, thus becoming the first Roman Emperor to come to the throne after his own father.
Prior to becoming Emperor, Titus gained renown as a military commander, serving under his father in Judaea during the First Jewish-Roman War. The campaign came to a brief halt with the death of emperor Nero in 68, launching Vespasian's bid for the imperial power during the Year of the Four Emperors. When Vespasian was declared Emperor on 1 July 69, Titus was left in charge of ending the Jewish rebellion. In 70, he successfully laid siege to and destroyed the city and Temple of Jerusalem. For this achievement Titus was awarded a triumph; the Arch of Titus commemorates his victory to this day.
Under the rule of his father, Titus gained notoriety in Rome serving as prefect of the Praetorian Guard, and for carrying on a controversial relationship with the Jewish queen Berenice. Despite concerns over his character, Titus ruled to great acclaim following the death of Vespasian in 79, and was considered a good emperor by Suetonius and other contemporary historians. As emperor, he is best known for completing the Colosseum and for his generosity in relieving the suffering caused by two disasters, the Mount Vesuvius eruption of 79 and a fire in Rome in 80. After barely two years in office, Titus died of a fever on 13 September 81. He was deified by the Roman Senate and succeeded by his younger brother Domitian.
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Trajan
Trajan ( /ˈtreɪdʒən/; Latin: Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus Augustus; 18 September 53 – 9 August 117), was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against a revolt on the Rhine led by Antonius Saturninus.
In September 96, Domitian was succeeded by Marcus Cocceius Nerva, an old and childless senator who proved to be unpopular with the army. After a brief and tumultuous year in power, a revolt by members of the Praetorian Guard compelled him to adopt the more popular Trajan as his heir and successor. Nerva died on 27 January 98, and was succeeded by his adopted son without incident.
As a civilian administrator, Trajan is best known for his extensive public building program which reshaped the city of Rome and left multiple enduring landmarks such as Trajan's Forum, Trajan's Market and Trajan's Column. Early in his reign, he annexed the Nabataean kingdom, creating the province of Arabia Petraea. His conquest of Dacia enriched the empire greatly — the new province possessed many valuable gold mines.
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Trebonianus Gallus
Trebonianus Gallus (Latin: Gaius Vibius Afinius Trebonianus Gallus Augustus; 206 – August 253), also known as Gallus, was Roman Emperor from 251 to 253, in a joint rule with his son Volusianus.
Gallus was born in Italy, in a family with respected ancestry of Etruscan senatorial background. He had two children in his marriage with Afinia Gemina Baebiana: Gaius Vibius Volusianus, later Emperor, and a daughter, Vibia Galla. His early career was a typical cursus honorum, with several appointments, both political and military. He was suffect consul and in 250 was nominated governor of the Roman province of Moesia Superior, an appointment that showed the confidence of Emperor Trajan Decius in him. In Moesia, Gallus was a key figure in repelling the frequent invasion attacks by the Gothic tribes of the Danube and became popular with the army, catered to during his brief Imperial rule by his official image: military haircut, gladiatorial physique, intimidating stance (illustration, left).
In June 251, Decius and his co-emperor and son Herennius Etruscus died in the Battle of Abrittus, at the hands of the Goths they were supposed to punish for raids into the empire. According to rumours supported by Dexippus (a contemporary Greek historian) and the Thirteenth Sibylline Oracle, Decius' failure was largely owing to Gallus who had conspired with the invaders. In any case, when the army heard the news, the soldiers proclaimed Gallus emperor, despite Hostilian, Decius' surviving son, ascending the imperial throne in Rome. This action of the army, and the fact that Gallus seems to have been on good terms with Decius' family, makes Dexippus' allegation improbable. Gallus did not back down from his intention to become emperor, but accepted Hostilian as co-emperor, perhaps to avoid the damage of another civil war.
wn.com/Trebonianus_Gallus -
Valens
Valens ([pronunciation?]; Latin: Flavius Julius Valens Augustus; 328 – 9 August 378) was the Eastern Roman Emperor from 364 to 378. He was given the eastern half of the empire by his brother Valentinian I after the latter's accession to the throne. Valens, sometimes known as the Last True Roman, was defeated and killed in the Battle of Adrianople, which marked the beginning of the collapse of the decaying Western Roman Empire.
Valens and his brother Valentinian were both born in Cibalae (in present-day Croatia) into an Illyrian family in 328 and 321 respectively. They had grown up on estates purchased by their father Gratian the Elder in Africa and Britain. While Valentinian had enjoyed a successful military career prior to his appointment as emperor, Valens apparently had not. He had spent much of his youth on the family's estate and only joined the army in the 360s, participating with his brother in the Persian campaign of Emperor Julian.
In February 364, reigning Emperor Jovian, while hastening to Constantinople to secure his claim to the throne, was asphyxiated during a stop at Dadastana, 100 miles east of Ankara. Among Jovian's agents was Valentinian, a tribunus scutariorum. He was proclaimed Augustus on 26 February, 364. Valentinian felt that he needed help to govern the large and troublesome empire, and, on 28 March of the same year, appointed his brother Valens as co-emperor in the palace of Hebdomon. The two Augusti travelled together through Adrianople and Naissus to Sirmium, where they divided their personnel, and Valentinian went on to the West.
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Valentinian I
Valentinian I (Latin: Flavius Valentinianus Augustus; 321 – 17 November 375), also known as Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. Upon becoming emperor he made his brother Valens his co-emperor, giving him rule of the eastern provinces while Valentinian retained the west.
During his reign, Valentinian fought successfully against the Alamanni, Quadi, and Sarmatians. Most notable was his victory over the Alamanni in 367 at the Battle of Solicinium. His brilliant general Count Theodosius defeated a revolt in Africa and the Great Conspiracy, a coordinated assault on Britain by Picts, Scots, and Saxons. Valentinian was also the last emperor to conduct campaigns across both the Rhine and Danube rivers. Valentinian rebuilt and improved the fortifications along the frontiers – even building fortresses in enemy territory.
Due to the successful nature of his reign and almost immediate decline of the empire after his death, he is often considered the "last great western emperor". He founded the Valentinian Dynasty, with his sons Gratian and Valentinian II succeeding him in the western half of the empire.
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Valentinian II
Flavius Valentinianus (371 – 15 May 392), commonly known as Valentinian II, was Roman Emperor from 375 to 392 A.D.
Flavius Valentinianus was born to Emperor Valentinian I and his second wife, Justina. He was the half-brother of Valentinian’s other son, Gratian, who had shared the imperial title with his father since 367. He had three sisters Galla, Grata and Justa. The elder Valentinian died on campaign in Pannonia in 375. Neither Gratian (then in Trier) nor his uncle Valens (emperor for the East) were consulted by the army commanders on the scene. Instead of merely acknowledging Gratian as his father’s successor, Valentinian I’s generals acclaimed the four-year old Valentinian augustus on 22 November 375. The army, and its Frankish general Merobaudes, may have been uneasy about Gratian's lack of military ability, and so raised a boy who would not immediately aspire to military command.
Gratian, forced to accommodate the generals who supported his half-brother, governed the trans-alpine provinces (including Gaul, Hispania, and Britain), while Italy, part of Illyricum, and Africa were under the rule of Valentinian. In 378, their uncle, the Emperor Valens, was killed in battle with the Goths at Adrianople, and Gratian invited the general Theodosius to be emperor in the East. As a child, Valentinian II was under the influence of his Arian mother, the Empress Justina, and the imperial court at Milan, an influence contested by the Catholic bishop of Milan, Ambrose.
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Valentinian III
Valentinian III (Latin: Flavius Placidius Valentinianus Augustus; 2 July 419 – 16 March 455), was Western Roman Emperor from 425 to 455. His reign is marked by the ongoing dismemberment of the Western Empire.
Valentinian was born in the western capital of Ravenna, the only son of Galla Placidia and Flavius Constantius. His mother was the younger half-sister of the western emperor Honorius, while his father was at the time a Patrician and the power behind the throne.
Through his mother, Valentinian was a descendent both of Theodosius I, who was his maternal grandfather, and of Valentinian I, who was the father of his maternal grandmother. It was also through his mother's side of the family that he was the nephew of Honorius and first cousin to Theodosius II (the son of Honorius' brother Arcadius), who was eastern emperor for most of Valentianian's life. Valentinian had a full sister, Justa Grata Honoria, who was probably born in 417 or 418 (the history of Paul the Deacon mentions her first when mentioning the children of the marriage, suggesting she was the eldest). His mother had previously been married to Ataulf of the Visigoths, and had borne a son, Theodosius, in Barcelona in 414; but the child had died early in the following year, thus eliminating an opportunity for a Romano-Visigothic line.
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Valerius Valens
Aurelius Valerius Valens (died 317) was Roman Emperor from late 316 to March 1, 317. Valens had previously been dux limitis (duke of the frontier) in Dacia.
In the first civil war between Licinius and Constantine I, the latter won an overwhelming victory at the battle of Cibalae on October 8, 316. (some historians date it in 314), Licinius fled to Adrianople where, with the help of Valens, gathered a second army. There, early in December 316, he elevated Valens to the rank of Augustus, presumably in order to secure his loyalty. Much later, Licinius would use the same trick (with just as little success) in the second civil war with Constantine, by appointing Martinianus co-emperor.
Despite the literary sources referring to Valens as a junior emperor (Caesar), the numismatic evidence indicates his Augustan rank.
After Licinius's indecisive defeat at Campus Ardiensis in later 316 / early 317, Constantine was still in the dominant position from which he was able to force Licinius to recognize him as the senior emperor, depose Valens and appoint their sons as Caesars. According to Petrus Patricius, he explicitly expressed his anger from the elevation of Valens by saying the following to the envoy of Mestrianus:
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Vespasian
Vespasian (Latin: Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus Augustus; 17 November 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman Emperor from AD 69 to AD 79. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Although he attained the standard succession of public offices, holding the consulship in AD 51, Vespasian became more reputed as a successful military commander, participating in the Roman invasion of Britain in 43, and subjugating Judaea during the Jewish rebellion of AD 66.
While Vespasian was preparing to besiege the city of Jerusalem during the latter campaign, emperor Nero committed suicide, plunging the empire into a year of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors. After the emperors Galba and Otho perished in quick succession, Vitellius became Emperor in April AD 69. In response, the armies in Egypt and Judaea declared Vespasian emperor on 1 July. In his bid for imperial power, Vespasian joined forces with Mucianus, the governor of Syria, and Primus, a general in Pannonia. Primus and Mucianus led the Flavian forces against Vitellius, while Vespasian gained control of Egypt. On 20 December, Vitellius was defeated, and the following day Vespasian was declared Emperor by the Roman Senate.
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Vetranio
Vetranio (d. c. 360), born in the province of Moesia in a part of the region located in modern Serbia, is sometimes but incorrectly referred to as Vetriano. He was an experienced soldier and officer when he was asked by Constantina, the sister of Roman Emperor Constantius II, to proclaim himself Caesar (March 1, 350). Her brother Constans had been killed by Magnentius earlier that year and she probably thought Vetranio could protect her family and herself against the usurper. Vetranio accepted and coins were minted in his name, showing the title of Augustus (full emperor), rather than Caesar. Constantius first seemed to accept the new Emperor and sent him money to raise an army, as well as his regalia.
Constantius, who was on a campaign against the Persians when Magnentius came to power, returned to the West and met with Vetranio. Vetranio subsequently abdicated on December 25, 350. He was allowed to live the remainder of his years as a private citizen on a state pension in Prusa ad Olympium, Bithynia.
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Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (October 15, 70 BC – September 21, 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil /ˈvɜrdʒəl/ in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues (or Bucolics), the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid. A number of minor poems, collected in the Appendix Vergiliana, are sometimes attributed to him.
Virgil is traditionally ranked as one of Rome's greatest poets. His Aeneid has been considered the national epic of ancient Rome from the time of its composition to the present day. Modeled after Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, the Aeneid follows the Trojan refugee Aeneas as he struggles to fulfill his destiny and arrive on the shores of Italy—in Roman mythology the founding act of Rome. Virgil's work has had wide and deep influence on Western literature, most notably the Divine Comedy of Dante, in which Virgil appears as Dante's guide through hell and purgatory.
Virgil's biographical tradition is thought to depend on a lost biography by Varius, Virgil's editor, which was incorporated into the biography by Suetonius and the commentaries of Servius and Donatus, the two great commentators on Virgil's poetry. Although the commentaries no doubt record much factual information about Virgil, some of their evidence can be shown to rely on inferences made from his poetry and allegorizing; thus, Virgil's biographical tradition remains problematic.
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Vitellius
Vitellius (Latin: Aulus Vitellius Germanicus Augustus; 24 September 15 – 22 December 69), was Roman Emperor for eight months, from 16 April to 22 December 69. Vitellius was acclaimed Emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors.
Vitellius was the first to add the honorific cognomen Germanicus to his name instead of Caesar upon his accession; the latter name had fallen into disrepute in many quarters because of the actions of Nero.
His claim to the throne was soon challenged by legions stationed in the eastern provinces, who proclaimed their commander Vespasian emperor instead. War ensued, leading to a crushing defeat for Vitellius at the Second Battle of Bedriacum in northern Italy. Once he realised his support was wavering, Vitellius prepared to abdicate in favour of Vespasian, but was executed in Rome by Vespasian's soldiers on 22 December 69.
He was the son of Lucius Vitellius Veteris and his wife Sextilia, and had one brother, Lucius Vitellius the Younger. Suetonius recorded two different accounts of the origins of the Vitellius (gens), one making them descendants of past rulers of Latium, the other describing them as of lowly origins.
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Vitruvius
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (born c. 80–70 BC, died after c. 15 BC) was a Roman writer, architect and engineer, active in the 1st century BC. He is best known as the author of the multi-volume work De Architectura ("On Architecture").
By his own description Vitruvius served as a ballista (artilleryman), the third class of arms in the military offices. He likely served as chief of the ballista (senior officer of artillery) in charge of doctores ballistarum (artillery experts) and libratores who actually operated the machines.
Little is known about Vitruvius' life. Most inferences about him are extracted from his only surviving work De Architectura. His first name Marcus and his cognomen Pollio are uncertain. He was possibly a praefectus fabrum during military service or praefect architectus armamentarius of the apparitor status group. Cetius Faventinus speaks of "Vitruvius Polio aliique auctores" in his epitome; it is possible that the cognomen derives from this mention by Cetius, meaning Vitruvius, Polio, and others - further confusing the cognomen, an inscription in Verona names Lucius Vitruvius Cordo and an inscription from Thilbilis North Africa (near Guelma) names Marcus Vitruvius Mamurra. From this inscription the archaeologist Dr. G. Q. Giglioli nearly concludes that Vitruvius and Mamurra are from the same family.
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Volusianus
Volusianus (Latin: Gaius Vibius Volusianus Augustus; died August 253), also known as Volusian, was a Roman Emperor from 251 to 253.
He was son to Gaius Vibius Trebonianus Gallus by his wife Afinia Gemina Baebiana. He is known to have had a sister, Vibia Galla.
The death of Decius in early June 251 led to Trebonianus Gallus' elevation to the throne. Gallus adopted Decius' son Hostilian and made him co-ruler. Volusianus was named Caesar and Princeps Juventutis. Later in 251 Hostilian died of the plague and Volusianus replaced him as Augustus and co-ruler.
Father and son were both killed in 253 by mutinous troops in Interamna.
Media related to Volusianus at Wikimedia Commons
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Werner Eck
Werner Eck (Born 17 December 1939) is Professor of Ancient History at Cologne University and a noted expert on the history of imperial Rome.
German language publications:
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Wikipedia Persondata
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Zoe Porphyrogenita
Zoe (in Greek: Ζωή, Zōē, meaning "Life") (c. 978 – June 1050) reigned as Byzantine Empress alongside her sister Theodora from April 19 to June 11, 1042. In addition, she was also enthroned as the Empress Consort to a series of co-rulers beginning with Romanos III in 1028 until her death in 1050 whilst married to Constantine IX.
Zoe was one of the few Byzantine empresses who was Porphyrogenita, or "born into the purple" (that is, she was born to a reigning emperor). She was the second daughter of Constantine VIII and Helena, daughter of Alypius. Her father had become co-emperor in 962, and sole emperor in 1025. His reign as sole emperor lasted for only three years, from December 15, 1025 to November 15, 1028.
Her position as an eligible imperial princess saw her considered as a possible bride for the Holy Roman Emperor in the west, Otto III in 996. A second embassy sent in 1001, headed by Arnulf, Archbishop of Milan was tasked with selecting Otto’s bride from among Constantine’s three daughters. The eldest, Eudocia, was disfigured by smallpox, while the youngest, Theodora, was a very plain girl. Arnulf therefore selected the attractive 23-year-old Zoe, to which her uncle, Basil II agreed. in January 1002 she accompanied Arnulf back to Italy, only to discover when the ship reached Bari that Otto III had died, forcing her to return home. Another opportunity arose in 1028, when an embassy from the Holy Roman Empire arrived in Constantinople with a proposal for an imperial marriage. Constantine VIII and the fifty-year-old Zoe rejected the idea out of hand when it was revealed that the intended groom Henry, the son of Conrad II was only ten years old.
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Augustus the First Emperor Full Movie
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 178:09
- Updated: 25 Dec 2012
The Story of the first emperor of Rome
http://wn.com/Augustus_the_First_Emperor_Full_Movie
Augustus
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:43
- Updated: 24 Dec 2012
The first emperor Augustus (27 BC-14 AD) was the most honored and adored man in roman history. The film shows why he came to that power and what he did with it.
http://wn.com/Augustus
The first emperor Augustus (27 BC-14 AD) was the most honored and adored man in roman history. The film shows why he came to that power and what he did with it.
- published: 19 Sep 2008
- views: 102714
- author: Princepsmaximus
Emperors of Rome: Augustus
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:23
- Updated: 03 Dec 2012
The first Emperors of Rome podcast looks at the achievements of Rome's first emperor.
http://wn.com/Emperors_of_Rome_Augustus
The first Emperors of Rome podcast looks at the achievements of Rome's first emperor.
- published: 01 Jan 2011
- views: 6878
- author: Adrian Murdoch
9. From Brick to Marble: Augustus Assembles Rome
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 75:03
- Updated: 22 Jul 2012
Roman Architecture (HSAR 252) Professor Kleiner discusses the transformation of Rome by its first emperor, Augustus, who claimed to have found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble. The conversion was made possible by the exploitation of new marble quarries at Luna (modern Carrara) on the northwest coast of Italy. The lecture surveys the end of the Roman Republic and the inauguration of the Principate and analyzes the Forum of Julius Caesar and the Forum of Augustus. Professor Kleiner shines a spotlight on Caesar's attempt to link himself to his divine ancestress Venus Genetrix and on Augustus' appropriations of Greek caryatids and other decorative motifs that associate his era with the Golden Age of Periclean Athens. Finally, she analyzes the Ara Pacis Augustae, a monument commissioned upon Augustus' return to Rome after achieving diplomatic victories in Spain and Gaul, and serving as the Luna marble embodiment of the emperor's new hegemonic empire. 00:00 - Chapter 1. From Republic to Empire: Julius Caesar 08:39 - Chapter 2. Julius Caesar, Venus Genetrix, and the Forum Iulium 20:43 - Chapter 3. The Ascent of Augustus and Access to Italian Marble 32:43 - Chapter 4. Augustus Assembles His Marble City 44:01 - Chapter 5. The Forum of Augustus and Its Links to the Greek Past 54:03 - Chapter 6. The Ara Pacis Augustae 01:05:32 - Chapter 7. Mussolini, The Meier Museum, and a Jewel on Lungotevere Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website ...
http://wn.com/9_From_Brick_to_Marble_Augustus_Assembles_Rome
Roman Architecture (HSAR 252) Professor Kleiner discusses the transformation of Rome by its first emperor, Augustus, who claimed to have found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble. The conversion was made possible by the exploitation of new marble quarries at Luna (modern Carrara) on the northwest coast of Italy. The lecture surveys the end of the Roman Republic and the inauguration of the Principate and analyzes the Forum of Julius Caesar and the Forum of Augustus. Professor Kleiner shines a spotlight on Caesar's attempt to link himself to his divine ancestress Venus Genetrix and on Augustus' appropriations of Greek caryatids and other decorative motifs that associate his era with the Golden Age of Periclean Athens. Finally, she analyzes the Ara Pacis Augustae, a monument commissioned upon Augustus' return to Rome after achieving diplomatic victories in Spain and Gaul, and serving as the Luna marble embodiment of the emperor's new hegemonic empire. 00:00 - Chapter 1. From Republic to Empire: Julius Caesar 08:39 - Chapter 2. Julius Caesar, Venus Genetrix, and the Forum Iulium 20:43 - Chapter 3. The Ascent of Augustus and Access to Italian Marble 32:43 - Chapter 4. Augustus Assembles His Marble City 44:01 - Chapter 5. The Forum of Augustus and Its Links to the Greek Past 54:03 - Chapter 6. The Ara Pacis Augustae 01:05:32 - Chapter 7. Mussolini, The Meier Museum, and a Jewel on Lungotevere Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website ...
- published: 11 Sep 2009
- views: 14080
- author: YaleCourses
AUGUSTUS PABLO JAVA LIVE 1986
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:34
- Updated: 25 Dec 2012
Pablo live @ Japansplash w. Soul Syndicate Band, Pablo back in the days was given a melodica by a girl and he take it to studio at Randy's, he was waiting outside the studio to record and he came up with the hit called Java. He did an album for Trojan records called Ital dub, versions of Bob Marley tunes, is a must get LP. He also produced a lot of artist, like Ricky Grant, Jah Bull Tetrack, Yami Bolo, Jacob Miller, Jr Delgado, Delroy Williams. He produced and worked on over 70 album, which i have in my collection on vynil. I saw Augustus Pablo in 1986 and also reason with him, very spiritual and uplifting Rasta artist. Visit me at www.myspace.com and www.myspace.com , reggae historian
http://wn.com/AUGUSTUS_PABLO_JAVA_LIVE_1986
Pablo live @ Japansplash w. Soul Syndicate Band, Pablo back in the days was given a melodica by a girl and he take it to studio at Randy's, he was waiting outside the studio to record and he came up with the hit called Java. He did an album for Trojan records called Ital dub, versions of Bob Marley tunes, is a must get LP. He also produced a lot of artist, like Ricky Grant, Jah Bull Tetrack, Yami Bolo, Jacob Miller, Jr Delgado, Delroy Williams. He produced and worked on over 70 album, which i have in my collection on vynil. I saw Augustus Pablo in 1986 and also reason with him, very spiritual and uplifting Rasta artist. Visit me at www.myspace.com and www.myspace.com , reggae historian
- published: 18 Sep 2006
- views: 1293615
- author: rasorder
Junior Delgado - Fort Augustus
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:50
- Updated: 25 Dec 2012
Produced by Sly & Robbie
http://wn.com/Junior_Delgado_Fort_Augustus
Emanuel Augustus Highlight - The Drunken Master
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:54
- Updated: 24 Dec 2012
Augustus clowning everybody. Augustus obviously didn't ALWAYS box this way. This video is purely showing him at his clowning best. And no, you won't find a vid of him getting touched while he's doing it. Also, if you wanna talk about Emanuel's record, go look up the records of the opponents in this vid. Eg the 1st guy in the white shorts (Alex Trujillo) was a top ranked fighter at 23-1 before Augustus embarrassed him and essentially ended his career. Get some knowledge! Boxers co-starring in this vid (in order of appearance along with their record at the time): Alex Trujillo (white) 23-1 Ray Oliveira (red) 47-10-2 Courtney Burton (black w/orange) 20-2 Soren Sondergaard (white) 38-1 Herman Ngoudjo (dark leopard) 11-0 Alvaro Aguilar (black w/white) 16-0 Marteze Logan (leopard) 22-23-2 Allan Vester (white w/black) 10-0 Wale Omotoso (Australian flag) 13-0 Micky Ward (white w/black) 36-10 Dillon Carew (black w/white)16-12-3 Ivan Robinson (blue) 22-0 Floyd Mayweather Jr (black w/white) 23-0 Diosbelys Hurtado (Cuban flag) 21-1 Jun Paderna (yellow) 12-10-3 David Diaz (black) 22-0 Antonio Diaz (white w/red) 29-2 Jon Thaxton (gold w/black) 16-3 Luis Alejandro Ulgade (white w/black) 10-5 Mike Griffith (black) 23-7 Russell Stoner Jones (white w/red) 19-16
http://wn.com/Emanuel_Augustus_Highlight_The_Drunken_Master
Augustus clowning everybody. Augustus obviously didn't ALWAYS box this way. This video is purely showing him at his clowning best. And no, you won't find a vid of him getting touched while he's doing it. Also, if you wanna talk about Emanuel's record, go look up the records of the opponents in this vid. Eg the 1st guy in the white shorts (Alex Trujillo) was a top ranked fighter at 23-1 before Augustus embarrassed him and essentially ended his career. Get some knowledge! Boxers co-starring in this vid (in order of appearance along with their record at the time): Alex Trujillo (white) 23-1 Ray Oliveira (red) 47-10-2 Courtney Burton (black w/orange) 20-2 Soren Sondergaard (white) 38-1 Herman Ngoudjo (dark leopard) 11-0 Alvaro Aguilar (black w/white) 16-0 Marteze Logan (leopard) 22-23-2 Allan Vester (white w/black) 10-0 Wale Omotoso (Australian flag) 13-0 Micky Ward (white w/black) 36-10 Dillon Carew (black w/white)16-12-3 Ivan Robinson (blue) 22-0 Floyd Mayweather Jr (black w/white) 23-0 Diosbelys Hurtado (Cuban flag) 21-1 Jun Paderna (yellow) 12-10-3 David Diaz (black) 22-0 Antonio Diaz (white w/red) 29-2 Jon Thaxton (gold w/black) 16-3 Luis Alejandro Ulgade (white w/black) 10-5 Mike Griffith (black) 23-7 Russell Stoner Jones (white w/red) 19-16
- published: 13 Nov 2011
- views: 286637
- author: mrgor24
Augustus Highlights
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:44
- Updated: 20 Dec 2012
My favorite boxer Emmanuel Augustus going off
http://wn.com/Augustus_Highlights
Augustus Pablo - Pipers of Zion
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:31
- Updated: 20 Dec 2012
Augustus Pablo live at the Charing Cross Astoria, London in December 1989 'ejr' was the umbrella title used by filmmaker Nick Emery (aka ND Emery, Vane Tempest & the ejr, etc...) for all his independent (and predominantly) self-financed films made between 1976 and the cessation of production in 2000. All bar one were non-fiction films, most were proto-music videos -- uncompromising and singular - although a number feature an eclectic variety of subjects ranging from railways to sculpture. Stylistically the films encompass the spectrum from the conventional and linear narrative to the iconoclastic and nihilistic. They often eschew such formalities as continuity and synchronisation, shaking up the moribund repetitiveness of the music video with kaleidoscopic layers of superimposition, jump-cuts and slow-motion stirred into the mix. This was not an approach guaranteed to garner mainstream or MTV-type exposure. The template for early productions was the instantaneous accessibility of the news item developed by TV companies as the basis for their broadcasts and utilising the premise that any story can be told in three minutes (or not at all). They are all defined by an unorthodox approach, limited production values and financial constraints. An entry in a 1994 Exploding Cinema programme describes ejr films as being "....organic, they appear to have been grown rather than made". Influences include Peter Whitehead, Derek Jarman and Don Letts. With the exception of three films ...
http://wn.com/Augustus_Pablo_Pipers_of_Zion
Augustus Pablo live at the Charing Cross Astoria, London in December 1989 'ejr' was the umbrella title used by filmmaker Nick Emery (aka ND Emery, Vane Tempest & the ejr, etc...) for all his independent (and predominantly) self-financed films made between 1976 and the cessation of production in 2000. All bar one were non-fiction films, most were proto-music videos -- uncompromising and singular - although a number feature an eclectic variety of subjects ranging from railways to sculpture. Stylistically the films encompass the spectrum from the conventional and linear narrative to the iconoclastic and nihilistic. They often eschew such formalities as continuity and synchronisation, shaking up the moribund repetitiveness of the music video with kaleidoscopic layers of superimposition, jump-cuts and slow-motion stirred into the mix. This was not an approach guaranteed to garner mainstream or MTV-type exposure. The template for early productions was the instantaneous accessibility of the news item developed by TV companies as the basis for their broadcasts and utilising the premise that any story can be told in three minutes (or not at all). They are all defined by an unorthodox approach, limited production values and financial constraints. An entry in a 1994 Exploding Cinema programme describes ejr films as being "....organic, they appear to have been grown rather than made". Influences include Peter Whitehead, Derek Jarman and Don Letts. With the exception of three films ...
- published: 05 Mar 2007
- views: 239973
- author: ejrvane
Augustus Pablo- Satta Dub
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:21
- Updated: 22 Dec 2012
Augustus Pablo Satta Dub from the album Rocker's Uptown with Augustus Pablo.
http://wn.com/Augustus_Pablo_Satta_Dub
Augustus Pablo Satta Dub from the album Rocker's Uptown with Augustus Pablo.
- published: 04 May 2008
- views: 257109
- author: Fuzzywigger
Augustus Pablo - 555 Dub Street
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:46
- Updated: 24 Dec 2012
Buy the great mans music
http://wn.com/Augustus_Pablo_555_Dub_Street
Hugh Mundell & Augustus Pablo video In the hills + interview '78
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:14
- Updated: 22 Dec 2012
Rare footage of Hugh Mundell with Augustus Pablo playing the music In the hills and interview with Augustus Pablo. I put this video out to show how Rastafarians sing and reason together as one harmony. Rasta must teach the people all over the world through the music and inspiration from Jah, as the world is now, lot of confusion in the world. So i hope everybdoy enjoy the video across the world. Reggae historian, check me out at www.myspace.com and www.myspace.com
http://wn.com/Hugh_Mundell_Augustus_Pablo_video_In_the_hills_+_interview_'78
Rare footage of Hugh Mundell with Augustus Pablo playing the music In the hills and interview with Augustus Pablo. I put this video out to show how Rastafarians sing and reason together as one harmony. Rasta must teach the people all over the world through the music and inspiration from Jah, as the world is now, lot of confusion in the world. So i hope everybdoy enjoy the video across the world. Reggae historian, check me out at www.myspace.com and www.myspace.com
- published: 21 Dec 2008
- views: 95891
- author: rasorder
Hugh Mundell & Augustus Pablo rare acoustic performance (1979)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:13
- Updated: 23 Dec 2012
Filmed by Jerry Stein and Jeff Roth
http://wn.com/Hugh_Mundell_Augustus_Pablo_rare_acoustic_performance_1979
Augustus Pablo - East of the River Nile
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:09
- Updated: 29 Oct 2012
Pablo live at the Astoria Theatre, London in November 1987.Thanks to the late Brent Clarke. Sorry about the timecode in the picture and low sound level. 'ejr' was the umbrella title used by filmmaker Nick Emery (aka ND Emery, Vane Tempest & the ejr, etc...) for all his independent (and predominantly) self-financed films made between 1976 and the cessation of production in 2000. All bar one were non-fiction films, most were proto-music videos -- uncompromising and singular - although a number feature an eclectic variety of subjects ranging from railways to sculpture. Stylistically the films encompass the spectrum from the conventional and linear narrative to the iconoclastic and nihilistic. They often eschew such formalities as continuity and synchronisation, shaking up the moribund repetitiveness of the music video with kaleidoscopic layers of superimposition, jump-cuts and slow-motion stirred into the mix. This was not an approach guaranteed to garner mainstream or MTV-type exposure. The template for early productions was the instantaneous accessibility of the news item developed by TV companies as the basis for their broadcasts and utilising the premise that any story can be told in three minutes (or not at all). They are all defined by an unorthodox approach, limited production values and financial constraints. An entry in a 1994 Exploding Cinema programme describes ejr films as being "....organic, they appear to have been grown rather than made". Influences include ...
http://wn.com/Augustus_Pablo_East_of_the_River_Nile
Pablo live at the Astoria Theatre, London in November 1987.Thanks to the late Brent Clarke. Sorry about the timecode in the picture and low sound level. 'ejr' was the umbrella title used by filmmaker Nick Emery (aka ND Emery, Vane Tempest & the ejr, etc...) for all his independent (and predominantly) self-financed films made between 1976 and the cessation of production in 2000. All bar one were non-fiction films, most were proto-music videos -- uncompromising and singular - although a number feature an eclectic variety of subjects ranging from railways to sculpture. Stylistically the films encompass the spectrum from the conventional and linear narrative to the iconoclastic and nihilistic. They often eschew such formalities as continuity and synchronisation, shaking up the moribund repetitiveness of the music video with kaleidoscopic layers of superimposition, jump-cuts and slow-motion stirred into the mix. This was not an approach guaranteed to garner mainstream or MTV-type exposure. The template for early productions was the instantaneous accessibility of the news item developed by TV companies as the basis for their broadcasts and utilising the premise that any story can be told in three minutes (or not at all). They are all defined by an unorthodox approach, limited production values and financial constraints. An entry in a 1994 Exploding Cinema programme describes ejr films as being "....organic, they appear to have been grown rather than made". Influences include ...
- published: 10 Feb 2007
- views: 146407
- author: ejrvane
Hugh Mundell & Augustus Pablo - Jah Will Provide + Hungry (Dub Version)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:55
- Updated: 24 Dec 2012
Give thanks and praise to the Most High King Selassie I for inspiring I and I to create this video. The images do not include the artists featured on the record but are supplied to provide inspiration to your Irie meditation on the wise consciousness of the tune and its dub version. Praise Jah! No copyright infringment intended, for educational and promotional purposes only. Content owned by Universal Music Group.
http://wn.com/Hugh_Mundell_Augustus_Pablo_Jah_Will_Provide_+_Hungry_Dub_Version
Give thanks and praise to the Most High King Selassie I for inspiring I and I to create this video. The images do not include the artists featured on the record but are supplied to provide inspiration to your Irie meditation on the wise consciousness of the tune and its dub version. Praise Jah! No copyright infringment intended, for educational and promotional purposes only. Content owned by Universal Music Group.
- published: 27 Mar 2007
- views: 226585
- author: TarAntXon
AUGUSTUS PABLO Live in Jamaica East of the River Nile 1998
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:51
- Updated: 03 Dec 2012
Rare live on stage in Jamaica, Pablo and Chris Meredith on bass . Back in the days Pablo was given a melodica by a girl and he take it to studio at Randy's, he was waiting outside the studio to record and he came up with the hit called Java. He did an album for Trojan records called Ital dub, versions of Bob Marley tunes, is a must get LP. He also produced a lot of artist, like Ricky Grant, Jah Bull Tetrack, Yami Bolo, Jacob Miller, Jr Delgado, Delroy Williams. He produced and worked on over 70 album, which i have in my collection on vynil. I saw Augustus Pablo in 1986 and also reason with him, very spiritual and uplifting Rasta artist. Visit me at www.myspace.com and www.myspace.com , reggae historian
http://wn.com/AUGUSTUS_PABLO_Live_in_Jamaica_East_of_the_River_Nile_1998
Rare live on stage in Jamaica, Pablo and Chris Meredith on bass . Back in the days Pablo was given a melodica by a girl and he take it to studio at Randy's, he was waiting outside the studio to record and he came up with the hit called Java. He did an album for Trojan records called Ital dub, versions of Bob Marley tunes, is a must get LP. He also produced a lot of artist, like Ricky Grant, Jah Bull Tetrack, Yami Bolo, Jacob Miller, Jr Delgado, Delroy Williams. He produced and worked on over 70 album, which i have in my collection on vynil. I saw Augustus Pablo in 1986 and also reason with him, very spiritual and uplifting Rasta artist. Visit me at www.myspace.com and www.myspace.com , reggae historian
- published: 14 May 2008
- views: 99891
- author: rasorder
AUGUSTUS PABLO - KG'S HALF WAY TREE
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:27
- Updated: 17 Dec 2012
Augustus pablo track on the recently extended Screaming Target Album by Big Youth
http://wn.com/AUGUSTUS_PABLO_KG'S_HALF_WAY_TREE
Augustus pablo track on the recently extended Screaming Target Album by Big Youth
- published: 04 Jul 2007
- views: 146550
- author: digitronUK
AUGUSTUS PABLO - AP SPECIAL
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:02
- Updated: 21 Dec 2012
Track from the classic Original Rockers Vol
http://wn.com/AUGUSTUS_PABLO_AP_SPECIAL
Augustus Kwmbe's Masterclass Scam - Checkout
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:42
- Updated: 24 Dec 2012
Augustus teaches how to make money from a supermarket checkout in a not entirely legal way....
http://wn.com/Augustus_Kwmbe's_Masterclass_Scam_Checkout
Augustus teaches how to make money from a supermarket checkout in a not entirely legal way....
- published: 17 Dec 2010
- views: 239982
- author: facejackerchannel
"Jah Light" - Augustus Pablo
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:17
- Updated: 23 Dec 2012
Track from the Shanachie Records box, "The Mystic World of Augustus Pablo"
http://wn.com/Jah_Light_Augustus_Pablo
Track from the Shanachie Records box, "The Mystic World of Augustus Pablo"
- published: 13 Mar 2010
- views: 64198
- author: Joe Ferry
I, Claudius. Augustus gets angry at Julia's whorishness
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:55
- Updated: 14 Dec 2012
A favorite part of mine from "I, Claudius"
http://wn.com/I,_Claudius_Augustus_gets_angry_at_Julia's_whorishness
A favorite part of mine from "I, Claudius"
- published: 05 May 2007
- views: 53772
- author: Ilovethingstoogreek
Augustus Pablo - Pablo Satta
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:56
- Updated: 15 Dec 2012
Pablo Meets Mr. Bassie: Original Rockers Vol. 2 1991
http://wn.com/Augustus_Pablo_Pablo_Satta
Pablo Meets Mr. Bassie: Original Rockers Vol. 2 1991
- published: 04 May 2008
- views: 89607
- author: tom360
Augustus Pablo - 1977 - King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown - 07 King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:12
- Updated: 23 Dec 2012
HOME OF REGGAE MUSIC www.dreadinababylon.com HARD TO FIND REGGAE MP3 http
http://wn.com/Augustus_Pablo_1977_King_Tubbys_Meets_Rockers_Uptown_07_King_Tubby_Meets_Rockers_Uptown
HOME OF REGGAE MUSIC www.dreadinababylon.com HARD TO FIND REGGAE MP3 http
- published: 04 Oct 2009
- views: 29537
- author: Dreadinabaylon
photo: AP / Virginie Nguyen Huang
23 Dec 2012
Tweet. Moscow, Dec 23 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Chemical weapons in Syria are under the control of the government, which has consolidated them in one or two locations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. "As of right now, the (Syrian) government is doing all it can to safeguard those weapons," he said. "We are following all leads concerning chemical weapons," Lavrov said ... "My answer is very simple. Why use us as a postman ... pm/ ... ) .. ). ... . ....(size: 3.2Kb)
photo: Creative Commons / Giorgione
24 Dec 2012
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. A deadly silence immediately followed after a bullet penetrated the calf's skull. Against my wishes, Vic had decided against either amputating its leg or contacting a veterinarian-something he reasoned would have been too expensive. The unfortunate calf had slid down into a ravine where its hind leg, which was mangled and torn, became wrapped in barbed wire ... But it was more than a bellow ... 9....(size: 6.3Kb)
photo: AP / Musadeq Sadeq
24 Dec 2012
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan policewoman shot and killed an American adviser outside the police headquarters in Kabul on Monday, the latest in a rising tide of insider attacks by Afghans against their foreign allies, senior Afghan officials said. The woman, identified as Afghan police Sgt ... The woman was taken into Afghan custody shortly after the attack ... As many Afghans, the policewoman uses only one name ... Air Force Lt. Col ... Gen ... ....(size: 4.6Kb)
photo: AP / Altaf Qadri
23 Dec 2012
A commission will be set up to probe the gang-rape and torture of a 23-year-old woman in Delhi and measures to ensure such crimes do not recur while laws will be amended to enhance punishment for rape, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said . He also appealed the thousands of protesters on the capital’s streets, demanding justice for the victim, to withdraw ... “The government is serious on the issue. ... . . ....(size: 2.4Kb)
photo: AP
23 Dec 2012
North Korea's launching of a rocket into space last week amounted to the test of a ballistic missile capable of carrying a half-ton payload over 10,000km, the South Korean defence ministry says. "Based on our analysis and simulation, the missile is capable of flying more than 10,000km with a warhead of 500-600kg," a defence ministry official told reporters on Sunday ... 415 Source.. Agencies. Share. Send Feedback. Featured on Al Jazeera. Jaws....(size: 18.8Kb)
New York Daily News
25 Dec 2012
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.). And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city ... To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child ... ....(size: 1.6Kb)
Grand Junction Sentinel
25 Dec 2012
During the period when the old Roman empire was at the height of its power — that is, in the days of Caesar Augustus — Dec ......(size: 1.1Kb)
The Examiner
25 Dec 2012
“At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire,” (NLT) begins Luke chapter two of the Holy Bible. This is the beginning of the trip which eventually leads to the actual birth of Jesus Christ. The reason Christians celebrate Christmas ... Christ’s birth means a great deal to Christian’s around the world since He was sent to save us from our sins ... 6 & 7) ... ....(size: 2.2Kb)
New York Post Online
25 Dec 2012
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.). And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David) ... ....(size: 2.6Kb)
The Wichita Eagle
25 Dec 2012
Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ Tuesday. The story, as told in the King James Version of the Gospel of St. Luke 2.1-20, is simple, eloquent and beautiful. . And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.). And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city ... ....(size: 2.4Kb)
The Examiner
25 Dec 2012
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.). And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David.) ... ....(size: 3.9Kb)
STL Today
25 Dec 2012
Her mother had told her what she could expect. She had done her best to make preparation. The cradle, the linens and the baby supplies had been gathered and arranged neatly in anticipation of the grand event. But then, the summons had arrived. Caesar Augustus had decreed that those living under Roman rule were to be taxed ... Mary had no choice but to make the trip, even though she was in the final days of her pregnancy ... He loved her ... ....(size: 3.8Kb)
The State
25 Dec 2012
Columbia, SC — TODAY, as is our custom, we turn our space over to St. Luke, whose beloved description of the nativity has inspired Christians for nearly two millennia. ... And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee. blessed art thou among women ... And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed ... ....(size: 4.2Kb)
Tulsa World
25 Dec 2012
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him ... When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy ... - Matthew 2 ... Only three censuses occurred under the rule of emperor Caesar Augustus; these took place in 27 B.C., 7 B.C ... ....(size: 10.2Kb)
Buffalo News
24 Dec 2012
Six Western New York nominations to the State and National Registers of Historic Places were among 25 announced last week by the State Board for Historic Preservation. They are.. • F. N ... • Augustus S ... The 1867 Italianate house was built for Augustus S ... ....(size: 1.4Kb)
The Examiner
24 Dec 2012
ON the 25th of December-. In the year five-thousand one-hundred and ninety-nine from the creation of the world, when in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth; ... In the forty-second year of the reign of the Emperor Octavian Augustus; ... _________________________________ ... ....(size: 1.5Kb)
Rocky Mount Telegram
24 Dec 2012
The Christmas story, from the Gospel of Luke 1.2-20.. In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.). And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David....(size: 2.2Kb)
New York Daily News
24 Dec 2012
It's a slice of justice for Patsy Grimaldi in Brooklyn's ongoing pizza war ... But Queens County Supreme Court Justice Augustus Agate decided against granting a temporary injunction to block the opening, calling it "healthy competition.". "There's no proof that (Grimaldi) took any steps to actively solicit any of the plaintiff's customers," he said in a Dec. 19 decision ... last December ... rblau@nydailynews.com ....(size: 2.1Kb)
For other uses of Octavius, see Octavius (disambiguation). For other uses of Octavian, see Octavian (disambiguation). For other uses of Augustus, see Augustus (disambiguation).
 |
This article's introduction may be too long for its overall length. Please help by moving some material from it into the body of the article. For more information please read the layout guide and Wikipedia's lead section guidelines. (May 2012) |
| Augustus | |
|---|---|
| 1st Emperor of the Roman Empire | |
 The statue known as the Augustus of Prima Porta, 1st century |
|
| Reign | 16 January 27 BC – 19 August AD 14 |
| Full name | Birth to adoption: Gaius Octavius Thurinus Adoption to accession: Gaius Julius Caesar As Emperor: Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus |
| Born | 23 September 63 BC |
| Birthplace | Rome, Roman Republic |
| Died | 19 August AD 14 (aged 75) |
| Place of death | Nola, Italia, Roman Empire |
| Buried | Mausoleum of Augustus, Rome |
| Predecessor | None (Empire founded) |
| Successor | Tiberius |
| Consort to | Clodia Pulchra Scribonia Livia Drusilla |
| Offspring | Julia the Elder Gaius Caesar (adoptive) Lucius Caesar (adoptive) Agrippa Postumus (adoptive) Tiberius (adoptive) |
| Father | Gaius Octavius |
| Mother | Atia Balba Caesonia |
 |
|
| These articles cover Ancient Rome and the fall of the Republic | |
| Mark Antony, Cleopatra VII, Assassination of Julius Caesar, Pompey, Theatre of Pompey, Cicero, First Triumvirate, Roman forum, Comitium, Rostra, Curia Julia, Curia Hostilia |
Augustus ( /ɔːˈɡʌstəs/;[1] Classical Latin: [awˈɡʊstʊs]; Latin: Imperator Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus;[note 1] 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.[note 2] Born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, he was adopted posthumously by his great-uncle Gaius Julius Caesar in 44 BC via his last will and testament, and between then and 27 BC was officially named Gaius Julius Caesar. In 27 BC the Senate awarded him the honorific Augustus ("the revered one"), and thus consequently he was Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus.[note 3]
The young Octavius came into his inheritance after Caesar's assassination in 44 BC. In 43 BC, Octavian joined forces with Mark Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus in a military dictatorship known as the Second Triumvirate. As a triumvir, Octavian ruled Rome and many of its provinces.[note 4] The triumvirate was eventually torn apart under the competing ambitions of its rulers: Lepidus was driven into exile, and Antony committed suicide following his defeat at the Battle of Actium by Octavian's fleet under the command of Agrippa in 31 BC.
After the demise of the Second Triumvirate, Octavian restored the outward facade of the Roman Republic, with governmental power vested in the Roman Senate, but in practice retained his autocratic power. It took several years to determine the exact framework by which a formally republican state could be led by a sole ruler; the result became known as the Roman Empire. The emperorship was never an office like the Roman dictatorship which Caesar and Sulla had held before him; indeed, he declined it when the Roman populace "entreated him to take on the dictatorship".[2]
He was not known as what we would call "Emperor" in his lifetime; "Imperator" was (to begin with) simply a title given to an unusually successful general. But Augustus was given, among other titles, that of "princeps", "the first (of citizens)". Originally it had no royal connotations. By law, Augustus held a collection of powers granted to him for life by the Senate, including those of tribune of the plebs and censor. He was consul until 23 BC.[3]
His substantive power stemmed from financial success and resources gained in conquest, the building of patronage relationships throughout the Empire, the loyalty of many military soldiers and veterans, the authority of the many honors granted by the Senate,[4] and the respect of the people. Augustus' control over the majority of Rome's legions established an armed threat that could be used against the Senate, allowing him to coerce the Senate's decisions. With his ability to eliminate senatorial opposition by means of arms, the Senate became docile towards him. His rule through patronage, military power, and accumulation of the offices of the defunct Republic became the model for all later imperial governments.
The reign of Augustus initiated an era of relative peace known as the Pax Romana, or Roman peace. Despite continuous wars on the frontiers, and one year-long civil war over the imperial succession, the Mediterranean world remained at peace for more than two centuries. Augustus enlarged the empire dramatically, annexing Egypt, Dalmatia, Pannonia, and Raetia, expanded possessions in Africa, and completed the conquest of Hispania. Beyond the frontiers, he secured the empire with client states, and made peace with Parthia through diplomacy.
He reformed the Roman system of taxation, developed networks of roads with an official courier system, established a standing army, established the Praetorian Guard, and created official police and fire-fighting services for Rome. Much of the city was rebuilt under Augustus; and he wrote a record of his own accomplishments, known as the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, which has survived. Upon his death in AD 14, Augustus was declared a god by the Senate—to be worshipped by the Romans.[5] His names Augustus and Caesar were adopted by every subsequent emperor; and the eighth month of the Roman calendar, previously named Sextilis, was renamed Augustus (August in English) in his honour. He was succeeded by his adopted son (also stepson and former son-in-law), Tiberius.
Contents |
Early life[link]
Main article: Early life of Augustus
While his paternal family was from the town of Velletri, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Rome, Augustus was born in the city of Rome on 23 September 63 BC. He was born at Ox Head, a small property on the Palatine Hill, very close to the Roman Forum. He was given the name Gaius Octavius Thurinus, his cognomen possibly commemorating his father's victory at Thurii over a rebellious band of slaves.[6][7]
Due to the crowded nature of Rome at the time, Octavius was taken to his father's home village at Velletri to be raised. Octavius only mentions his father's equestrian family briefly in his memoirs. His paternal great-grandfather was a military tribune in Sicily during the Second Punic War. His grandfather had served in several local political offices. His father, also named Gaius Octavius, had been governor of Macedonia.[note 5][8] His mother Atia was the niece of Julius Caesar.
In 59 BC, when he was four years old, his father died.[9] His mother married a former governor of Syria, Lucius Marcius Philippus.[10] Philippus claimed descent from Alexander the Great, and was elected consul in 56 BC. Philippus never had much of an interest in young Octavius. Because of this, Octavius was raised by his grandmother (and Julius Caesar's sister), Julia Caesaris.
In 52 or 51 BC, Julia Caesaris died. Octavius delivered the funeral oration for his grandmother.[11] From this point, his mother and stepfather took a more active role in raising him. He donned the toga virilis four years later,[12] and was elected to the College of Pontiffs in 47 BC.[13][14] The following year he was put in charge of the Greek games that were staged in honor of the Temple of Venus Genetrix, built by Julius Caesar.[14] According to Nicolaus of Damascus, Octavius wished to join Caesar's staff for his campaign in Africa but gave way when his mother protested.[15] In 46 BC, she consented for him to join Caesar in Hispania, where he planned to fight the forces of Pompey, Caesar's late enemy, but Octavius fell ill and was unable to travel.
When he had recovered, he sailed to the front, but was shipwrecked; after coming ashore with a handful of companions, he crossed hostile territory to Caesar's camp, which impressed his great-uncle considerably.[12] Velleius Paterculus reports that Caesar afterwards allowed the young man to share his carriage.[16] When back in Rome, Caesar deposited a new will with the Vestal Virgins, naming Octavius as the prime beneficiary.[17]
Rise to power[link]
Heir to Caesar[link]
At the time Caesar was killed on the Ides of March (the 15th) 44 BC, Octavius was studying and undergoing military training in Apollonia, Illyria. Rejecting the advice of some army officers to take refuge with the troops in Macedonia, he sailed to Italia to ascertain if he had any potential political fortunes or security.[18] After landing at Lupiae near Brundisium, he learned the contents of Caesar's will, and only then did he decide to become Caesar's political heir as well as heir to two-thirds of his estate.[14][18][19]
Having no living legitimate children,[20] Caesar had adopted his great-nephew Octavius as his son and main heir.[21] Upon his adoption, Octavius assumed his great-uncle's name, Gaius Julius Caesar. Although Romans who had been adopted into a new family usually retained their old nomen in cognomen form (e.g. Octavianus for one who had been an Octavius, Aemilianus for one who had been an Aemilius, etc.) there is no evidence that he ever bore the name Octavianus, as it would have made his modest origins too obvious.[22][23][24]
However, despite the fact that he never officially bore the name Octavianus, to save confusing the dead dictator with his heir, historians often refer to the new Caesar—between his adoption and his assumption, in 27 BC, of the name Augustus—as Octavian.[25] Mark Antony later charged that Octavian had earned his adoption by Caesar through sexual favours, though Suetonius, in his work Lives of the Twelve Caesars, describes Antony's accusation as political slander.[26]
To make a successful entry into the upper echelons of the Roman political hierarchy, Octavian could not rely on his limited funds.[27] After a warm welcome by Caesar's soldiers at Brundisium,[28] Octavian demanded a portion of the funds that were allotted by Caesar for the intended war against Parthia in the Middle East.[27] This amounted to 700 million sesterces stored at Brundisium, the staging ground in Italy for military operations in the east.[29]
A later senatorial investigation into the disappearance of the public funds made no action against Octavian, since he subsequently used that money to raise troops against the Senate's arch enemy, Mark Antony.[28] Octavian made another bold move in 44 BC when without official permission he appropriated the annual tribute that had been sent from Rome's Near Eastern province to Italy.[23][30]
Octavian began to bolster his personal forces with Caesar's veteran legionaries and with troops designated for the Parthian war, gathering support by emphasizing his status as heir to Caesar.[18][31] On his march to Rome through Italy, Octavian's presence and newly acquired funds attracted many, winning over Caesar's former veterans stationed in Campania.[23] By June he had gathered an army of 3,000 loyal veterans, paying each a salary of 500 denarii.[32][33][34]
Arriving in Rome on 6 May 44 BC,[23] Octavian found the consul Mark Antony, Caesar's former colleague, in an uneasy truce with the dictator's assassins; they had been granted a general amnesty on 17 March, yet Antony succeeded in driving most of them out of Rome.[23] This was due to his "inflammatory" eulogy given at Caesar's funeral, mounting public opinion against the assassins.[23]
Although Mark Antony was amassing political support, Octavian still had opportunity to rival him as the leading member of the faction supporting Caesar. Mark Antony had lost the support of many Romans and supporters of Caesar when he at first opposed the motion to elevate Caesar to divine status.[35] Octavian failed to persuade Antony to relinquish Caesar's money to him. However, during the summer he managed to win support from Caesarian sympathizers, who saw the younger heir as the lesser evil and hoped to manipulate him, or to bear with him during their efforts to get rid of Antonius.[36]
In September, the Optimate orator Marcus Tullius Cicero began to attack Antony in a series of speeches portraying Antony as the greatest threat to the order of the Senate.[37][38] With opinion in Rome turning against him and his year of consular power nearing its end, Antony attempted to pass laws which would lend him control over Cisalpine Gaul, which had been assigned as part of his province, from Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, one of Caesar's assassins.[39][40]
Octavian meanwhile built up a private army in Italy by recruiting Caesarian veterans, and on 28 November won over two of Antony's legions with the enticing offer of monetary gain.[41][42][43] In the face of Octavian's large and capable force, Antony saw the danger of staying in Rome, and to the relief of the Senate he fled to Cisalpine Gaul, which was to be handed to him on 1 January.[43]
First conflict with Antony[link]
After Decimus Brutus refused to give up Cisalpine Gaul, Antony besieged him at Mutina.[44] The resolutions passed by the Senate to stop the violence were rejected by Antony, as the Senate had no army of its own to challenge him; this provided an opportunity for Octavian, who was already known to have armed forces.[42] Cicero also defended Octavian against Antony's taunts about Octavian's lack of noble lineage; he stated "we have no more brilliant example of traditional piety among our youth."[45]
This was in part a rebuttal to Antony's opinion of Octavian, as Cicero quoted Antony saying to Octavian, "You, boy, owe everything to your name."[46][47] In this unlikely alliance orchestrated by the arch anti-Caesarian senator Cicero, the Senate inducted Octavian as senator on 1 January 43 BC, yet he was also given the power to vote alongside the former consuls.[42][43] In addition, Octavian was granted imperium (commanding power), which made his command of troops legal, sending him to relieve the siege along with Hirtius and Pansa (the consuls for 43 BC).[42][48] In April 43 BC, Antony's forces were defeated at the battles of Forum Gallorum and Mutina, forcing Antony to retreat to Transalpine Gaul. However, both consuls were killed, leaving Octavian in sole command of their armies.[49][50]
After heaping many more rewards on Decimus Brutus than Octavian for defeating Antony, the Senate attempted to give command of the consular legions to Decimus Brutus, yet Octavian decided not to cooperate.[51] Instead, Octavian stayed in the Po Valley and refused to aid any further offensive against Antony.[52] In July, an embassy of centurions sent by Octavian entered Rome and demanded that he receive the consulship left vacant by Hirtius and Pansa.[53]
Octavian also demanded that the decree declaring Antony a public enemy should be rescinded.[52] When this was refused, he marched on the city with eight legions.[52] He encountered no military opposition in Rome, and on 19 August 43 BC was elected consul with his relative Quintus Pedius as co-consul.[54][55] Meanwhile, Antony formed an alliance with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, another leading Caesarian.[56]
Second Triumvirate[link]
Proscriptions[link]
In a meeting near Bologna in October 43 BC, Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus formed a junta called the Second Triumvirate.[58] This explicit arrogation of special powers lasting five years was then supported by law passed by the plebs, unlike the unofficial First Triumvirate formed by Gnaeus Pompey Magnus, Julius Caesar and Marcus Licinius Crassus.[58][59] The triumvirs then set in motion proscriptions in which allegedly 300 senators and 2,000 equites were branded as outlaws and deprived of their property and, for those who failed to escape, their lives.[60]
The estimation that 300 senators were proscribed was presented by Appian, although his earlier contemporary Livy asserted that only 130 senators had been proscribed.[61] This decree issued by the triumvirate was motivated in part by a need to raise money to pay their troops' salaries for the upcoming conflict against Caesar's assassins, Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus.[62] Rewards for their arrest gave incentive for Romans to capture those proscribed, while the assets and properties of those arrested were seized by the triumvirs.[60]
Contemporary Roman historians provide conflicting reports as to which triumvir was more responsible for the proscriptions and killing. However, the sources agree that enacting the proscriptions was a means by all three factions to eliminate political enemies.[63] Marcus Velleius Paterculus asserted that Octavian tried to avoid proscribing officials whereas Lepidus and Antony were to blame for initiating them.[64] Cassius Dio defended Augustus as trying to spare as many as possible, whereas Antony and Lepidus, being older and involved in politics longer, had many more enemies to deal with.[64]
This claim was rejected by Appian, who maintained that Octavian shared an equal interest with Lepidus and Antony in eradicating his enemies.[65] Suetonius presents the case that Octavian, although reluctant at first to proscribe officials, nonetheless pursued his enemies with more rigor than the other triumvirs.[63] Plutarch describes the proscriptions as a ruthless and cutthroat swapping of friends and family between Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian. For example, Octavian allowed the proscription of his ally Cicero, Antony the proscription of his maternal uncle Lucius Julius Caesar IV, and Lepidus his brother Paulus.[64]
Battle of Philippi and division of territory[link]
Further information: Liberators' civil war
On 1 January 42 BC, the Senate posthumously recognized Julius Caesar as a divinity of the Roman state, Divus Iulius. Octavian was able to further his cause by emphasizing the fact that he was Divi filius, "Son of God".[66] Antony and Octavian then sent 28 legions by sea to face the armies of Brutus and Cassius, who had built their base of power in Greece.[67] After two battles at Philippi in Macedonia in October 42, the Caesarian army was victorious and Brutus and Cassius committed suicide. Mark Antony would later use the examples of these battles as a means to belittle Octavian, as both battles were decisively won with the use of Antony's forces.[68] In addition to claiming responsibility for both victories, Antony also branded Octavian as a coward for handing over his direct military control to Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa instead.[68]
After Philippi, a new territorial arrangement was made among the members of the Second Triumvirate. While Antony placed Gaul, the provinces of Hispania, and Italia in the hands of Octavian, Antony traveled east to Egypt where he allied himself with Queen Cleopatra VII, the former lover of Julius Caesar and mother of Caesar's infant son, Caesarion. Lepidus was left with the province of Africa, stymied by Antony who conceded Hispania to Octavian instead.[69]
Octavian was left to decide where in Italy to settle the tens of thousands of veterans of the Macedonian campaign whom the triumvirs had promised to discharge. The tens of thousands who had fought on the republican side with Brutus and Cassius, who could easily ally with a political opponent of Octavian if not appeased, also required land.[69] There was no more government-controlled land to allot as settlements for their soldiers, so Octavian had to choose one of two options: alienating many Roman citizens by confiscating their land, or alienating many Roman soldiers who could mount a considerable opposition against him in the Roman heartland; Octavian chose the former.[70] There were as many as eighteen Roman towns affected by the new settlements, with entire populations driven out or at least given partial evictions.[71]
Rebellion and marriage alliances[link]
Widespread dissatisfaction with Octavian over his soldiers' settlements encouraged many to rally at the side of Lucius Antonius, who was brother of Mark Antony and supported by a majority in the Senate.[71] Meanwhile, Octavian asked for a divorce from Clodia Pulchra, the daughter of Fulvia and her first husband Publius Clodius Pulcher. Claiming that his marriage with Clodia had never been consummated, he returned her to her mother, Mark Antony's wife. Fulvia decided to take action. Together with Lucius Antonius she raised an army in Italy to fight for Antony's rights against Octavian. However, Lucius and Fulvia took a political and martial gamble in opposing Octavian, since the Roman army still depended on the triumvirs for their salaries.[71] Lucius and his allies ended up in a defensive siege at Perusia (modern Perugia), where Octavian forced them into surrender in early 40 BC.[71]
Lucius and his army were spared due to his kinship with Antony, the strongman of the East, while Fulvia was exiled to Sicyon.[72] However, Octavian showed no mercy for the mass of allies loyal to Lucius; on 15 March, the anniversary of Julius Caesar's assassination, he had 300 Roman senators and equestrians executed for allying with Lucius.[73] Perusia was also pillaged and burned as a warning for others.[72] This bloody event sullied Octavian's reputation and was criticized by many, such as the Augustan poet Sextus Propertius.[73]
Sextus Pompeius, son of the First Triumvir Pompey and still a renegade general following Julius Caesar's victory over his father, was established in Sicily and Sardinia as part of an agreement reached with the Second Triumvirate in 39 BC.[74] Both Antony and Octavian were vying for an alliance with Pompeius, who was ironically a member of the republican party, not the Caesarian faction.[73] Octavian succeeded in a temporary alliance when in 40 BC he married Scribonia, a daughter of Lucius Scribonius Libo who was a follower of Pompeius as well as his father-in-law.[73] Scribonia conceived Octavian's only natural child, Julia, who was born the same day that he divorced Scribonia to marry Livia Drusilla, little more than a year after his marriage.[73]
While in Egypt, Antony had been engaged in an affair with Cleopatra and had fathered three children with her.[75] Aware of his deteriorating relationship with Octavian, Antony left Cleopatra; he sailed to Italy in 40 BC with a large force to oppose Octavian, laying siege to Brundisium. However, this new conflict proved untenable for both Octavian and Antony. Their centurions, who had become important figures politically, refused to fight due to their Caesarian cause, while the legions under their command followed suit.[76][77] Meanwhile in Sicyon, Antony's wife Fulvia died of a sudden illness while Antony was en route to meet her. Fulvia's death and the mutiny of their centurions allowed the two remaining triumvirs to effect a reconciliation.[76][77]
In the autumn of 40, Octavian and Antony approved the Treaty of Brundisium, by which Lepidus would remain in Africa, Antony in the East, Octavian in the West. The Italian peninsula was left open to all for the recruitment of soldiers, but in reality, this provision was useless for Antony in the East.[76] To further cement relations of alliance with Mark Antony, Octavian gave his sister, Octavia Minor, in marriage to Antony in late 40 BC.[76] During their marriage, Octavia gave birth to two daughters (known as Antonia Major and Antonia Minor).
War with Pompeius[link]
Further information: Sicilian revolt
Sextus Pompeius threatened Octavian in Italy by denying to the peninsula shipments of grain through the Mediterranean; Pompeius' own son was put in charge as naval commander in the effort to cause widespread famine in Italy.[77] Pompeius' control over the sea prompted him to take on the name Neptuni filius, "son of Neptune".[78] A temporary peace agreement was reached in 39 BC with the treaty of Misenum; the blockade on Italy was lifted once Octavian granted Pompeius Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, and the Peloponnese, and ensured him a future position as consul for 35 BC.[77][78]
The territorial agreement amongst the triumvirs and Sextus Pompeius began to crumble once Octavian divorced Scribonia and married Livia on 17 January 38 BC.[79] One of Pompeius' naval commanders betrayed him and handed over Corsica and Sardinia to Octavian. However Octavian needed Antony's additional support to attack Pompeius, so an agreement was reached with the Second Triumvirate's extension for another five-year period beginning in 37 BC.[80][81]
In supporting Octavian, Antony expected to gain support for his own campaign against Parthia, desiring to avenge Rome's defeat at Carrhae in 53 BC.[81] In an agreement reached at Tarentum, Antony provided 120 ships for Octavian to use against Pompeius, while Octavian was to send 20,000 legionaries to Antony for use against Parthia.[82] However, Octavian sent only a tenth the number of those promised, which was viewed by Antony as an intentional provocation.[82]
Octavian and Lepidus launched a joint operation against Sextus in Sicily in 36 BC.[83] Despite setbacks for Octavian, the naval fleet of Sextus Pompeius was almost entirely destroyed on 3 September by general Agrippa at the naval battle of Naulochus.[84] Sextus fled with his remaining forces to the east, where he was captured and executed in Miletus by one of Antony's generals the following year.[84] Both Lepidus and Octavian gathered the surrendered troops of Pompeius, yet Lepidus felt empowered enough to claim Sicily for himself, ordering Octavian to leave.[84] However, Lepidus' troops deserted him and defected to Octavian since they were weary of fighting and found Octavian's promises of money to be enticing.[84]
Lepidus surrendered to Octavian and was permitted to retain the office of pontifex maximus (head of the college of priests), but was ejected from the Triumvirate, his public career at an end, and was effectively exiled to a villa at Cape Circei in Italy.[84][85] The Roman dominions were now divided between Octavian in the West and Antony in the East. To maintain peace and stability in his portion of the Empire, Octavian ensured Rome's citizens of their rights to property. This time he settled his discharged soldiers outside of Italy while returning 30,000 slaves to former Roman owners that had previously fled to Pompeius to join his army and navy.[86] To ensure his own safety and that of Livia and Octavia once he returned to Rome, Octavian had the Senate grant him, his wife, and his sister tribunal immunity, or sacrosanctitas.[87]
War with Antony[link]
Main article: Final War of the Roman Republic
Meanwhile, Antony's campaign against Parthia turned disastrous, tarnishing his image as a leader, and the mere 2,000 legionaries sent by Octavian to Antony were hardly enough to replenish his forces.[88] On the other hand, Cleopatra could restore his army to full strength, and since he was already engaged in a romantic affair with her, he decided to send Octavia back to Rome.[89] Octavian used this to spread propaganda implying that Antony was becoming less than Roman because he rejected a legitimate Roman spouse for an "Oriental paramour".[90] In 36 BC, Octavian used a political ploy to make himself look less autocratic and Antony more the villain by proclaiming that the civil wars were coming to an end, and that he would step down as triumvir if only Antony would do the same; Antony refused.[91]
After Roman troops captured the Kingdom of Armenia in 34 BC, Antony made his son Alexander Helios the ruler of Armenia; he also awarded the title "Queen of Kings" to Cleopatra, acts which Octavian used to convince the Roman Senate that Antony had ambitions to diminish the preeminence of Rome.[90] When Octavian became consul once again on 1 January 33 BC, he opened the following session in the Senate with a vehement attack on Antony's grants of titles and territories to his relatives and to his queen.[92]
Defecting consuls and senators rushed over to the side of Antony in disbelief of the propaganda (which turned out to be true), yet so did able ministers desert Antony for Octavian in the autumn of 32 BC.[93] These defectors, Munatius Plancus and Marcus Titius, gave Octavian the information he needed to confirm with the Senate all the accusations he made against Antony.[94]
By storming the sanctuary of the Vestal Virgins, Octavian forced their chief priestess to hand over Antony's secret will, which would have given away Roman-conquered territories as kingdoms for his sons to rule, alongside plans to build a tomb in Alexandria for him and his queen to reside upon their deaths.[95][96] In late 32 BC, the Senate officially revoked Antony's powers as consul and declared war on Cleopatra's regime in Egypt.[97][98]
In early 31 BC, while Antony and Cleopatra were temporarily stationed in Greece, Octavian gained a preliminary victory when the navy under the command of Agrippa successfully ferried troops across the Adriatic Sea.[99] While Agrippa cut off Antony and Cleopatra's main force from their supply routes at sea, Octavian landed on the mainland opposite the island of Corcyra (modern Corfu) and marched south.[99] Trapped on land and sea, deserters of Antony's army fled to Octavian's side daily while Octavian's forces were comfortable enough to make preparations.[99]
In a desperate attempt to break free of the naval blockade, Antony's fleet sailed through the bay of Actium on the western coast of Greece. It was there that Antony's fleet faced the much larger fleet of smaller, more maneuverable ships under commanders Agrippa and Gaius Sosius in the battle of Actium on 2 September 31 BC.[100] Antony and his remaining forces were only spared due to a last-ditch effort by Cleopatra's fleet that had been waiting nearby.[101]
Octavian pursued them, and after another defeat in Alexandria on 1 August 30 BC, Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide; Antony fell on his own sword and into Cleopatra's arms, while she let a venomous snake bite her.[102] Having exploited his position as Caesar's heir to further his own political career, Octavian was only too well aware of the dangers in allowing another to do so and, reportedly commenting that "two Caesars are one too many", he ordered Caesarion—Julius Caesar's son by Cleopatra—to be killed, whilst sparing Cleopatra's children by Antony, with the exception of Antony's older son.[103][104]
Octavian had previously shown little mercy to military combatants and acted in ways that had proven unpopular with the Roman people, yet he was given credit for pardoning many of his opponents after the Battle of Actium.[105]
Octavian becomes Augustus[link]
After Actium and the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra, Octavian was in a position to rule the entire Republic under an unofficial principate,[106] but would have to achieve this through incremental power gains, courting the Senate and the people, while upholding the republican traditions of Rome, to appear that he was not aspiring to dictatorship or monarchy.[107][108] Marching into Rome, Octavian and Marcus Agrippa were elected as dual consuls by the Senate.[109]
Years of civil war had left Rome in a state of near lawlessness, but the Republic was not prepared to accept the control of Octavian as a despot. At the same time, Octavian could not simply give up his authority without risking further civil wars amongst the Roman generals, and even if he desired no position of authority whatsoever, his position demanded that he look to the well-being of the city of Rome and the Roman provinces. Octavian's aims from this point forward were to return Rome to a state of stability, traditional legality and civility by lifting the overt political pressure imposed on the courts of law and ensuring free elections in name at least.[110]
First settlement[link]
Main articles: Constitution of the Roman Empire and History of the Constitution of the Roman Empire
In 27 BC, Octavian made a show of returning full power to the Roman Senate and relinquishing his control of the Roman provinces and their armies.[109] Under his consulship, however, the Senate had little power in initiating legislation by introducing bills for senatorial debate.[109] Although Octavian was no longer in direct control of the provinces and their armies, he retained the loyalty of active duty soldiers and veterans alike.[109] The careers of many clients and adherents depended on his patronage, as his financial power in the Roman Republic was unrivaled.[109] The historian Werner Eck states:
The sum of his power derived first of all from various powers of office delegated to him by the Senate and people, secondly from his immense private fortune, and thirdly from numerous patron-client relationships he established with individuals and groups throughout the Empire. All of them taken together formed the basis of his auctoritas, which he himself emphasized as the foundation of his political actions.[111]
To a large extent the public was aware of the vast financial resources Augustus commanded. When he failed to encourage enough senators to finance the building and maintenance of networks of roads in Italy, he undertook direct responsibility for them in 20 BC.[112] This was publicized on the Roman currency issued in 16 BC, after he donated vast amounts of money to the aerarium Saturni, the public treasury.[112]
According to H.H. Scullard, however, Augustus's power was based on the exercise of "a predominant military power and [...] the ultimate sanction of his authority was force, however much the fact was disguised."[113]
The Senate proposed to Octavian, the victor of Rome's civil wars, that he once again assume command of the provinces. The Senate's proposal was a ratification of Octavian's extra-constitutional power. Through the Senate Octavian was able to continue the appearance of a still-functional constitution. Feigning reluctance, he accepted a ten-year responsibility of overseeing provinces that were considered chaotic.[114][115]
The provinces ceded to him, that he might pacify them within the promised ten-year period, comprised much of the conquered Roman world, including all of Hispania and Gaul, Syria, Cilicia, Cyprus, and Egypt.[114][116] Moreover, command of these provinces provided Octavian with control over the majority of Rome's legions.[116][117]
While Octavian acted as consul in Rome, he dispatched senators to the provinces under his command as his representatives to manage provincial affairs and ensure his orders were carried out.[117] On the other hand, the provinces not under Octavian's control were overseen by governors chosen by the Roman Senate.[117] Octavian became the most powerful political figure in the city of Rome and in most of its provinces, but did not have sole monopoly on political and martial power.[118]
The Senate still controlled North Africa, an important regional producer of grain, as well as Illyria and Macedonia, two martially strategic regions with several legions.[118] However, with control of only five or six legions distributed amongst three senatorial proconsuls, compared to the twenty legions under the control of Augustus, the Senate's control of these regions did not amount to any political or martial challenge to Octavian.[107][113]
The Senate's control over some of the Roman provinces helped maintain a republican façade for the autocratic Principate.[107] Also, Octavian's control of entire provinces for the objective of securing peace and creating stability followed Republican-era precedents, in which such prominent Romans as Pompey had been granted similar military powers in times of crisis and instability.[107]
In 27 January BC, the Senate gave Octavian the new titles of Augustus and Princeps.[119] Augustus, from the Latin word Augere (meaning to increase), can be translated as "the illustrious one".[105] It was a title of religious rather than political authority.[105]
According to Roman religious beliefs, the title symbolized a stamp of authority over humanity—and in fact nature—that went beyond any constitutional definition of his status. After the harsh methods employed in consolidating his control, the change in name would also serve to demarcate his benign reign as Augustus from his reign of terror as Octavian. His new title of Augustus was also more favorable than Romulus, the previous one he styled for himself in reference to the story of Romulus and Remus (founders of Rome), which would symbolize a second founding of Rome.[105]
However, the title of Romulus was associated too strongly with notions of monarchy and kingship, an image Octavian tried to avoid.[120] Princeps, comes from the Latin phrase primum caput, "the first head", originally meaning the oldest or most distinguished senator whose name would appear first on the senatorial roster; in the case of Augustus it became an almost regnal title for a leader who was first in charge.[121] Princeps had also been a title under the Republic for those who had served the state well; for example, Pompey had held the title. Augustus also styled himself as Imperator Caesar divi filius, "Commander Caesar son of the deified one".[119]
With this title he not only boasted his familial link to deified Julius Caesar, but the use of Imperator signified a permanent link to the Roman tradition of victory.[119] The word Caesar was merely a cognomen for one branch of the Julian family, yet Augustus transformed Caesar into a new family line that began with him.[119]
Augustus was granted the right to hang the corona civica, the "civic crown" made from oak, above his door and have laurels drape his doorposts.[118] This crown was usually held above the head of a Roman general during a triumph, with the individual holding the crown charged to continually repeat "memento mori", or, "Remember, you are mortal", to the triumphant general. Additionally, laurel wreaths were important in several state ceremonies, and crowns of laurel were rewarded to champions of athletic, racing, and dramatic contests. Thus, both the laurel and the oak were integral symbols of Roman religion and statecraft; placing them on Augustus' doorposts was tantamount to declaring his home the capital. However, Augustus renounced flaunting insignia of power such as holding a scepter, wearing a diadem, or wearing the golden crown and purple toga of his predecessor Julius Caesar.[122] If he refused to symbolize his power by donning and bearing these items on his person, the Senate nonetheless awarded him with a golden shield displayed in the meeting hall of the Curia, bearing the inscription virtus, pietas, clementia, iustitia—"valor, piety, clemency, and justice."[4][118]
Second settlement[link]
By 23 BC, some of the implications of the settlement of 27 BC were becoming apparent. Augustus' holding of an annual consulate made his dominance over the Roman political system too obvious, whilst at the same time halving the opportunities for others to achieve what was still purported to be the head of the Roman state.[123] Further, his desire to have his nephew Marcus Claudius Marcellus follow in his footsteps and eventually assume the Principate in his turn was causing political problems[note 6] and alienating his three biggest supporters – Agrippa, Maecenas and Livia.[124] Feeling pressure from his own core group of adherents, Augustus turned to the Senate in an attempt to bolster his support there, especially with the Republicans; after his choice for co-consul in 23 BC, Aulus Terentius Varro Murena died before taking office[125] he appointed the noted Republican Calpurnius Piso, who had fought against Julius Caesar and supported Cassius and Brutus.[126]
In the late spring Augustus suffered a severe illness, and on his supposed deathbed made arrangements that would ensure the continuation of the Principate in some form,[127] whilst at the same time put in doubt the senators' suspicions of his anti-republicanism.[128][129] Augustus prepared to hand down his signet ring to his favored general Agrippa.[128][129] However, Augustus handed over to his co-consul Piso all of his official documents, an account of public finances, and authority over listed troops in the provinces while Augustus' supposedly favored nephew Marcellus came away empty-handed.[128][129] This was a surprise to many who believed Augustus would have named an heir to his position as an unofficial emperor.[130]
Augustus bestowed only properties and possessions to his designated heirs, as an obvious system of institutionalized imperial inheritance would have provoked resistance and hostility amongst the republican-minded Romans fearful of monarchy.[108] With regards to the Principate, it was obvious to Augustus that Marcellus was not ready to take on his position;[131] nonetheless, by giving his signet ring to Agrippa, it was Augustus’ intent to signal to the legions that Agrippa was to be his successor, and that no matter what the constitutional rules were, they would continue to obey Agrippa.[132]
Soon after his bout of illness subsided, Augustus gave up his permanent consulship.[129] The only other times Augustus would serve as consul would be in the years 5 and 2 BC’,[129][133] both times to introduce his grandsons into public life.[126] Although he had resigned as consul, Augustus retained his consular imperium, leading to a second compromise between him and the Senate known as the Second Settlement.[134] This was a clever ploy by Augustus; by stepping down as one of two consuls, this allowed aspiring senators a better chance to fill that position, while at the same time Augustus could "exercise wider patronage within the senatorial class."[135]
Augustus was no longer in an official position to rule the state, yet his dominant position over the Roman provinces remained unchanged as he became a proconsul.[129][136] Earlier as a consul he had the power to intervene, when he deemed necessary, with the affairs of provincial proconsuls appointed by the Senate.[137] As a proconsul Augustus did not want this authority of overriding provincial governors to be stripped from him, so imperium proconsulare maius, or "power over all the proconsuls" was granted to Augustus by the Senate.[134] The existence of imperium maius is debated by scholars, and it is also argued that he was only granted imperium aequum, or power equal to that of the governors, but his supreme influence allowed him to control the affairs of the provinces.
Augustus was also granted the power of a tribune (tribunicia potestas) for life, though not the official title of tribune.[134] Legally it was closed to patricians, a status that Augustus had acquired years ago when adopted by Julius Caesar.[135] This allowed him to convene the Senate and people at will and lay business before it, veto the actions of either the Assembly or the Senate, preside over elections, and the right to speak first at any meeting.[133][138] Also included in Augustus' tribunician authority were powers usually reserved for the Roman censor; these included the right to supervise public morals and scrutinize laws to ensure they were in the public interest, as well as the ability to hold a census and determine the membership of the Senate.[139]
With the powers of a censor, Augustus appealed to virtues of Roman patriotism by banning all other attire besides the classic toga while entering the Forum.[140] There was no precedent within the Roman system for combining the powers of the tribune and the censor into a single position, nor was Augustus ever elected to the office of censor.[141] Julius Caesar had been granted similar powers, wherein he was charged with supervising the morals of the state, however this position did not extend to the censor's ability to hold a census and determine the Senate's roster. The office of the tribune plebis began to lose its prestige due to Augustus' amassing of tribunal powers, so he revived its importance by making it a mandatory appointment for any plebeian desiring the praetorship.[142]
In addition to tribunician authority, Augustus was granted sole imperium within the city of Rome itself: all armed forces in the city, formerly under the control of the prefects and consuls, were now under the sole authority of Augustus.[143] With maius imperium proconsulare, Augustus was the only individual able to receive a triumph as he was ostensibly the head of every Roman army.[144] In 19 BC, Lucius Cornelius Balbus, governor of Africa and conqueror of the Garamantes, was the first man of provincial origin to receive this award, as well as the last.[144]
For every following Roman victory the credit was given to Augustus, because Rome's armies were commanded by the legatus, who were deputies of the princeps in the provinces.[144] Augustus' eldest son by marriage to Livia, Tiberius, was the only exception to this rule when he received a triumph for victories in Germania in 7 BC.[145] Ensuring that his status of maius imperium proconsulare was renewed in 13 BC, Augustus stayed in Rome during the renewal process and provided veterans with lavish donations to gain their support.[133]
Many of the political subtleties of the Second Settlement seem to have evaded the comprehension of the Plebeian class. When Augustus failed to stand for election as consul in 22 BC, fears arose once again that Augustus was being forced from power by the aristocratic Senate. In 22, 21, and 19 BC, the people rioted in response, and only allowed a single consul to be elected for each of those years, ostensibly to leave the other position open for Augustus.[146] In 22 BC there was a food shortage in Rome which sparked panic, while many urban plebs called for Augustus to take on dictatorial powers to personally oversee the crisis.[133]
After a theatrical display of refusal before the Senate, Augustus finally accepted authority over Rome's grain supply "by virtue of his proconsular imperium", and ended the crisis almost immediately.[133] It was not until AD 8 that a food crisis of this sort prompted Augustus to establish a praefectus annonae, a permanent prefect who was in charge of procuring food supplies for Rome.[147]
Nevertheless, there were some who were concerned by the expansion of powers granted to Augustus by the Second Settlement, and this came to a head with the apparent conspiracy of Fannius Caepio and Lucius Lucinius Varro Murena.[148] In early 22 BC, charges were brought against Marcus Primus, the former proconsul (governor) of Macedonia, of waging a war on the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace, whose king was a Roman ally, without prior approval of the Senate.[149] He was defended by Murena, who told the trial that his client had received specific instructions from Augustus, ordering him to attack the client state.[150] Later, Primus testified that the orders came from the recently deceased Marcellus.[151]
Under the Constitutional settlement of 27 BC such orders, had they been given, would have been considered a breach of the Senate’s prerogative, as Macedonia was under the Senate’s jurisdiction, not the Princep’s. Such an action would have ripped away the veneer of Republican restoration as promoted by Augustus, and exposed his fraud of merely being the first citizen, a first among equals.[150] Even worse, the involvement of Marcellus provided some measure of proof that Augustus’s policy was to have the youth take his place as Princeps, instituting a form of monarchy – accusations that had already played out during the crisis of 23 BC.[131]
The situation was so serious, that Augustus himself appeared at the trial, even though he had not been called as a witness. Under oath, Augustus declared that he gave no such order.[152] Murena, disbelieving Augustus’s testimony and resentful of his attempt to subvert the trial by using his auctoritas, rudely demanded to know why Augustus had turned up to a trial to which he had not been called; Augustus replied that he came in the public interest.[153] Although Primus was found guilty, some jurors voted to acquit, meaning that not everybody believed Augustus’s testimony.[154]
Then, sometime prior to 1 September 22 BC a certain Castricius provided Augustus with information about a conspiracy led by Fannius Caepio against the Princeps.[155] Murena was named among the conspirators. Tried in absentia, with Tiberius acting as prosecutor, the jury found the conspirators guilty, but it was not a unanimous verdict.[156] Sentenced to death for treason, all the accused were executed as soon as they were captured without ever giving testimony in their defence.[157] Augustus ensured that the facade of Republican government continued with an effective cover-up of the events.[158]
In 19 BC, the Senate voted to allow Augustus to wear the consul's insignia in public and before the Senate,[143] as well as sit in the symbolic chair between the two consuls and hold the fasces, an emblem of consular authority.[159] Like his tribune authority, the granting of consular powers to him was another instance of holding power of offices he did not actually hold.[159] This seems to have assuaged the populace; regardless of whether or not Augustus was actually a consul, the importance was that he appeared as one before the people. On 6 March 12 BC, after the death of Lepidus, he additionally took up the position of pontifex maximus, the high priest of the collegium of the Pontifices, the most important position in Roman religion.[160][161] On 5 February 2 BC, Augustus was also given the title pater patriae, or "father of the country".[162][163]
Later Roman Emperors would generally be limited to the powers and titles originally granted to Augustus, though often, to display humility, newly appointed Emperors would decline one or more of the honorifics given to Augustus. Just as often, as their reign progressed, Emperors would appropriate all of the titles, regardless of whether they had actually been granted them by the Senate. The civic crown, which later Emperors took to actually wearing, consular insignia, and later the purple robes of a Triumphant general (toga picta) became the imperial insignia well into the Byzantine era.
War and expansion[link]
Main article: Wars of Augustus
Further information: Roman–Persian relations
Imperator Caesar Divi Filius Augustus chose Imperator, "victorious commander" to be his first name, since he wanted to make the notion of victory associated with him emphatically clear.[164] By the year 13, Augustus boasted 21 occasions where his troops proclaimed "imperator" as his title after a successful battle.[164] Almost the entire fourth chapter in his publicly released memoirs of achievements known as the Res Gestae was devoted to his military victories and honors.[164]
Augustus also promoted the ideal of a superior Roman civilization with a task of ruling the world (the extent to which the Romans knew it), a sentiment embodied in words that the contemporary poet Virgil attributes to a legendary ancestor of Augustus: tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento—"Roman, remember by your strength to rule the Earth's peoples!"[140] The impulse for expansionism, apparently prominent among all classes at Rome, is accorded divine sanction by Virgil's Jupiter, who in Book 1 of the Aeneid promises Rome imperium sine fine, "sovereignty without limit".[165]
By the end of his reign, the armies of Augustus had conquered northern Hispania (modern Spain and Portugal),[166] the Alpine regions of Raetia and Noricum (modern Switzerland, Bavaria, Austria, Slovenia),[166] Illyricum and Pannonia (modern Albania, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia, etc.),[166] and extended the borders of the Africa Province to the east and south.[166]
After the reign of the client king Herod the Great (73–4 BC), Judea was added to the province of Syria when Augustus deposed his successor Herod Archelaus.[166] Like Egypt which had been conquered after the defeat of Antony in 30 BC, Syria was governed not by a proconsul or legate of Augustus, but a high prefect of the equestrian class.[166]
Again, no military effort was needed in 25 BC when Galatia (modern Turkey) was converted to a Roman province shortly after Amyntas of Galatia was killed by an avenging widow of a slain prince from Homonada.[166] When the rebellious tribes of Cantabria in modern-day Spain were finally quelled in 19 BC, the territory fell under the provinces of Hispania and Lusitania.[167] This region proved to be a major asset in funding Augustus' future military campaigns, as it was rich in mineral deposits that could be fostered in Roman mining projects, especially the very rich gold deposits at Las Medulas for example.[167]
Conquering the peoples of the Alps in 16 BC was another important victory for Rome since it provided a large territorial buffer between the Roman citizens of Italy and Rome's enemies in Germania to the north.[168] The poet Horace dedicated an ode to the victory, while the monument Trophy of Augustus near Monaco was built to honor the occasion.[169] The capture of the Alpine region also served the next offensive in 12 BC, when Tiberius began the offensive against the Pannonian tribes of Illyricum and his brother Nero Claudius Drusus against the Germanic tribes of the eastern Rhineland.[170] Both campaigns were successful, as Drusus' forces reached the Elbe River by 9 BC, yet he died shortly after by falling off his horse.[170] It was recorded that the pious Tiberius walked in front of his brother's body all the way back to Rome.[171]
To protect Rome's eastern territories from the Parthian Empire, Augustus relied on the client states of the east to act as territorial buffers and areas which could raise their own troops for defense.[172] To ensure security of the Empire's eastern flank, Augustus stationed a Roman army in Syria, while his skilled stepson Tiberius negotiated with the Parthians as Rome's diplomat to the East.[172] Tiberius was responsible for restoring Tigranes V to the throne of the Kingdom of Armenia.[171]
Yet arguably his greatest diplomatic achievement was negotiating with Phraates IV of Parthia (37–2 BC) in 20 BC for the return of the battle standards lost by Crassus in the Battle of Carrhae, a symbolic victory and great boost of morale for Rome.[171][172][173] Werner Eck claims that this was a great disappointment for Romans seeking to avenge Crassus' defeat by military means.[174] However, Maria Brosius explains that Augustus used the return of the standards as propaganda symbolizing the submission of Parthia to Rome. The event was celebrated in art such as the breastplate design on the statue Augustus of Prima Porta and in monuments such as the Temple of Mars Ultor ('Mars the Avenger') built to house the standards.[175]
Although Parthia always posed a threat to Rome in the east, the real battlefront was along the Rhine and Danube rivers.[172] Before the final fight with Antony, Octavian's campaigns against the tribes in Dalmatia was the first step in expanding Roman dominions to the Danube.[176] Victory in battle was not always a permanent success, as newly conquered territories were constantly retaken by Rome's enemies in Germania.[172]
A prime example of Roman loss in battle was the Battle of Teutoburg Forest in AD 9, where three entire legions led by Publius Quinctilius Varus were destroyed with few survivors by Arminius, leader of the Cherusci, an apparent Roman ally.[177] Augustus retaliated by dispatching Tiberius and Drusus to the Rhineland to pacify it, which had some success although the battle of AD 9 brought the end to Roman expansion into Germany.[178] The Roman general Germanicus took advantage of a Cherusci civil war between Arminius and Segestes; they defeated Arminius, who fled that battle but was killed later in 21 due to treachery.[179]
Death and succession[link]
The illness of Augustus in 23 BC brought the problem of succession to the forefront of political issues and the public. To ensure stability, he needed to designate an heir to his unique position in Roman society and government. This was to be achieved in small, undramatic, and incremental ways that did not stir senatorial fears of monarchy.[180] If someone was to succeed his unofficial position of power, they were going to have to earn it through their own publicly proven merits.[180]
Some Augustan historians argue that indications pointed toward his sister's son Marcellus, who had been quickly married to Augustus' daughter Julia the Elder.[181] Other historians dispute this due to Augustus' will read aloud to the Senate while he was seriously ill in 23 BC,[182] instead indicating a preference for Marcus Agrippa, who was Augustus' second in charge and arguably the only one of his associates who could have controlled the legions and held the Empire together.[183]
After the death of Marcellus in 23 BC, Augustus married his daughter to Agrippa. This union produced five children, three sons and two daughters: Gaius Caesar, Lucius Caesar, Vipsania Julia, Agrippina the Elder, and Postumus Agrippa, so named because he was born after Marcus Agrippa died. Shortly after the Second Settlement, Agrippa was granted a five-year term of administering the eastern half of the Empire with the imperium of a proconsul and the same tribunicia potestas granted to Augustus (although not trumping Augustus' authority), his seat of governance stationed at Samos in the eastern Aegean.[183][184] Although this granting of power would have shown Augustus' favor for Agrippa, it was also a measure to please members of his Caesarian party by allowing one of their members to share a considerable amount of power with him.[184]
Augustus' intent to make Gaius and Lucius Caesar his heirs was apparent when he adopted them as his own children.[185] He took the consulship in 5 and 2 BC so he could personally usher them into their political careers,[186] and they were nominated for the consulships of AD 1 and 4.[187] Augustus also showed favor to his stepsons, Livia's children from her first marriage, Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus (henceforth referred to as Drusus) and Tiberius Claudius (henceforth Tiberius) granting them military commands and public office, though seeming to favor Drusus. After Agrippa died in 12 BC, Tiberius was ordered to divorce his own wife Vipsania and marry Agrippa's widow, Augustus' daughter Julia — as soon as a period of mourning for Agrippa had ended.[188] While Drusus' marriage to Antonia was considered an unbreakable affair, Vipsania was "only" the daughter of the late Agrippa from his first marriage.[188]
Tiberius shared in Augustus' tribune powers as of 6 BC, but shortly thereafter went into retirement, reportedly wanting no further role in politics while he exiled himself to Rhodes.[145][189] Although no specific reason is known for his departure, it could have been a combination of reasons, including a failing marriage with Julia,[145][189] as well as a sense of envy and exclusion over Augustus' apparent favouring of his young grandchildren-turned-sons, Gaius and Lucius, who joined the college of priests at an early age, were presented to spectators in a more favorable light, and were introduced to the army in Gaul.[190][191]
After the early deaths of both Lucius and Gaius in AD 2 and 4 respectively, and the earlier death of his brother Drusus (9 BC), Tiberius was recalled to Rome in June AD 4, where he was adopted by Augustus on the condition that he, in turn, adopt his nephew Germanicus.[192] This continued the tradition of presenting at least two generations of heirs.[188] In that year, Tiberius was also granted the powers of a tribune and proconsul, emissaries from foreign kings had to pay their respects to him, and by 13 was awarded with his second triumph and equal level of imperium with that of Augustus.[193]
The only other possible claimant as heir was Postumus Agrippa, who had been exiled by Augustus in AD 7, his banishment made permanent by senatorial decree, and Augustus officially disowned him.[194] He certainly fell out of Augustus' favor as an heir; the historian Erich S. Gruen notes various contemporary sources that state Postumus Agrippa was a "vulgar young man, brutal and brutish, and of depraved character."[194] Postumus Agrippa was murdered at his place of exile either shortly before or after the death of Augustus.
On 19 August AD 14, Augustus died while visiting the place of his birth father's death at Nola. Both Tacitus and Cassius Dio wrote that Livia brought about Augustus' death by poisoning fresh figs, though this allegation remains unproven.[195][196] Tiberius, who was present alongside Livia at Augustus' deathbed, was named his heir.[197] Augustus' famous last words were, "Have I played the part well? Then applaud as I exit"—referring to the play-acting and regal authority that he had put on as emperor. Publicly, though, his last words were, "Behold, I found Rome of clay, and leave her to you of marble." An enormous funerary procession of mourners traveled with Augustus' body from Nola to Rome, and on the day of his burial all public and private businesses closed for the day.[197]
Tiberius and his son Drusus delivered the eulogy while standing atop two rostra.[5] Coffin-bound, Augustus' body was cremated on a pyre close to his mausoleum. It was proclaimed that Augustus joined the company of the gods as a member of the Roman pantheon.[5] In 410, during the Sack of Rome, the mausoleum was despoiled by the Goths and his ashes scattered.
The historian D.C.A. Shotter states that Augustus' policy of favoring the Julian family line over the Claudian might have afforded Tiberius sufficient cause to show open disdain for Augustus after the latter's death; instead, Tiberius was always quick to rebuke those who criticized Augustus.[198] Shotter suggests that Augustus' deification, coupled with Tiberius' "extremely conservative" attitude towards religion, obliged Tiberius to suppress any open resentment he might have harbored.[199]
Also, the historian R. Shaw-Smith points to letters of Augustus to Tiberius which display affection towards Tiberius and high regard for his military merits.[200] Shotter states that Tiberius focused his anger and criticism on Gaius Asinius Gallus (for marrying Vipsania after Augustus forced Tiberius to divorce her) as well as the two young Caesars Gaius and Lucius, instead of Augustus, the real architect of his divorce and imperial demotion.[199]
Legacy[link]
Further information: Augustus in popular culture
Augustus' reign laid the foundations of a regime that lasted for nearly fifteen hundred years through the ultimate decline of the Western Roman Empire and until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. Both his adoptive surname, Caesar, and his title Augustus became the permanent titles of the rulers of Roman Empire for fourteen centuries after his death, in use both at Old Rome and at New Rome. In many languages, Caesar became the word for Emperor, as in the German Kaiser and in the Bulgarian and subsequently Russian Tsar. The cult of Divus Augustus continued until the state religion of the Empire was changed to Christianity in 391 by Theodosius I. Consequently, there are many excellent statues and busts of the first emperor. He had composed an account of his achievements, the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, to be inscribed in bronze in front of his mausoleum.[201] Copies of the text were inscribed throughout the Empire upon his death.[202] The inscriptions in Latin featured translations in Greek beside it, and were inscribed on many public edifices, such as the temple in Ankara dubbed the Monumentum Ancyranum, called the "queen of inscriptions" by historian Theodor Mommsen.[203]
There are a few known written works by Augustus that have survived. This includes his poems Sicily, Epiphanus, and Ajax, an autobiography of 13 books, a philosophical treatise, and his written rebuttal to Brutus' Eulogy of Cato.[204] However, historians are able to analyze existing letters penned by Augustus to others for additional facts or clues about his personal life.[200][205]
Many consider Augustus to be Rome's greatest emperor; his policies certainly extended the Empire's life span and initiated the celebrated Pax Romana or Pax Augusta. He was intelligent, decisive, and a shrewd politician, but he was not perhaps as charismatic as Julius Caesar, and was influenced on occasion by his third wife, Livia (sometimes for the worse). Nevertheless, his legacy proved more enduring. The city of Rome was utterly transformed under Augustus, with Rome's first institutionalized police force, fire fighting force, and the establishment of the municipal prefect as a permanent office.[206] The police force was divided into cohorts of 500 men each, while the units of firemen ranged from 500 to 1,000 men each, with 7 units assigned to 14 divided city sectors.[206]
A praefectus vigilum, or "Prefect of the Watch" was put in charge of the vigiles, Rome's fire brigade and police.[207] With Rome's civil wars at an end, Augustus was also able to create a standing army for the Roman Empire, fixed at a size of 28 legions of about 170,000 soldiers.[208] This was supported by numerous auxiliary units of 500 soldiers each, often recruited from recently conquered areas.[209]
With his finances securing the maintenance of roads throughout Italy, Augustus also installed an official courier system of relay stations overseen by a military officer known as the praefectus vehiculorum.[210] Besides the advent of swifter communication amongst Italian polities, his extensive building of roads throughout Italy also allowed Rome's armies to march swiftly and at an unprecedented pace across the country.[211] In the year 6 Augustus established the aerarium militare, donating 170 million sesterces to the new military treasury that provided for both active and retired soldiers.[212]
One of the most enduring institutions of Augustus was the establishment of the Praetorian Guard in 27 BC, originally a personal bodyguard unit on the battlefield that evolved into an imperial guard as well as an important political force in Rome.[213] They had the power to intimidate the Senate, install new emperors, and depose ones they disliked; the last emperor they served was Maxentius, as it was Constantine I who disbanded them in the early 4th century and destroyed their barracks, the Castra Praetoria.[214]
Although the most powerful individual in the Roman Empire, Augustus wished to embody the spirit of Republican virtue and norms. He also wanted to relate to and connect with the concerns of the plebs and lay people. He achieved this through various means of generosity and a cutting back of lavish excess. In the year 29 BC, Augustus paid 400 sesterces each to 250,000 citizens, 1,000 sesterces each to 120,000 veterans in the colonies, and spent 700 million sesterces in purchasing land for his soldiers to settle upon.[215] He also restored 82 different temples to display his care for the Roman pantheon of deities.[215] In 28 BC, he melted down 80 silver statues erected in his likeness and in honor of him, an attempt of his to appear frugal and modest.[215]
The longevity of Augustus' reign and its legacy to the Roman world should not be overlooked as a key factor in its success. As Tacitus wrote, the younger generations alive in AD 14 had never known any form of government other than the Principate.[216] Had Augustus died earlier (in 23 BC, for instance), matters might have turned out differently. The attrition of the civil wars on the old Republican oligarchy and the longevity of Augustus, therefore, must be seen as major contributing factors in the transformation of the Roman state into a de facto monarchy in these years. Augustus' own experience, his patience, his tact, and his political acumen also played their parts. He directed the future of the Empire down many lasting paths, from the existence of a standing professional army stationed at or near the frontiers, to the dynastic principle so often employed in the imperial succession, to the embellishment of the capital at the emperor's expense. Augustus' ultimate legacy was the peace and prosperity the Empire enjoyed for the next two centuries under the system he initiated. His memory was enshrined in the political ethos of the Imperial age as a paradigm of the good emperor. Every Emperor of Rome adopted his name, Caesar Augustus, which gradually lost its character as a name and eventually became a title.[5] The Augustan era poets Virgil and Horace praised Augustus as a defender of Rome, an upholder of moral justice, and an individual who bore the brunt of responsibility in maintaining the empire.[217]
However, for his rule of Rome and establishing the principate, Augustus has also been subjected to criticism throughout the ages. The contemporary Roman jurist Marcus Antistius Labeo (d. AD 10/11), fond of the days of pre-Augustan republican liberty in which he had been born, openly criticized the Augustan regime.[218] In the beginning of his Annals, the Roman historian Tacitus (c. 56–c.117) wrote that Augustus had cunningly subverted Republican Rome into a position of slavery.[218] He continued to say that, with Augustus' death and swearing of loyalty to Tiberius, the people of Rome simply traded one slaveholder for another.[218] Tacitus, however, records two contradictory but common views of Augustus:
Intelligent people praised or criticized him in varying ways. One opinion was as follows. Filial duty and a national emergency, in which there was no place for law-abiding conduct, had driven him to civil war—and this can neither be initiated nor maintained by decent methods. He had made many concessions to Anthony and to Lepidus for the sake of vengeance on his father's murderers. When Lepidus grew old and lazy, and Anthony's self-indulgence got the better of him, the only possible cure for the distracted country had been government by one man. However, Augustus had put the state in order not by making himself king or dictator, but by creating the Principate. The Empire's frontiers were on the ocean, or distant rivers. Armies, provinces, fleets, the whole system was interrelated. Roman citizens were protected by the law. Provincials were decently treated. Rome itself had been lavishly beautified. Force had been sparingly used—merely to preserve peace for the majority.[219]
According to the second opposing opinion:
filial duty and national crisis had been merely pretexts. In actual fact, the motive of Octavian, the future Augustus, was lust for power...There had certainly been peace, but it was a blood-stained peace of disasters and assassinations.[220]
In a recent biography on Augustus, Anthony Everitt asserts that through the centuries, judgments on Augustus' reign have oscillated between these two extremes but stresses that:
"Opposites do not have to be mutually exclusive, and we are not obliged to choose one or the other. The story of his career shows that Augustus was indeed ruthless, cruel, and ambitious for himself. This was only in part a personal trait, for upper-class Romans were educated to compete with one another and to excel. However, he combined an overriding concern for his personal interests with a deep-seated patriotism, based on a nostalgia of Rome's antique virtues. In his capacity as princeps, selfishness and selflessness coexisted in his mind. While fighting for dominance, he paid little attention to legality or to the normal civilities of political life. He was devious, untrustworthy, and bloodthirsty. But once he had established his authority, he governed efficiently and justly, generally allowed freedom of speech, and promoted the rule of law. He was immensely hardworking and tried as hard as any democratic parliamentarian to treat his senatorial colleagues with respect and sensitivity. He suffered from no delusions of grandeur."[221]
Tacitus was of the belief that Nerva (r. 96–98) successfully "mingled two formerly alien ideas, principate and liberty."[222] The 3rd century historian Cassius Dio acknowledged Augustus as a benign, moderate ruler, yet like most other historians after the death of Augustus, Dio viewed Augustus as an autocrat.[218] The poet Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (AD 39–65) was of the opinion that Caesar's victory over Pompey and the fall of Cato the Younger (95 BC–46 BC) marked the end of traditional liberty in Rome; historian Chester G. Starr, Jr. writes of his avoidance of criticizing Augustus, "perhaps Augustus was too sacred a figure to accuse directly."[222]
The Anglo-Irish writer Jonathan Swift (1667–1745), in his Discourse on the Contests and Dissentions in Athens and Rome, criticized Augustus for installing tyranny over Rome, and likened what he believed Great Britain's virtuous constitutional monarchy to Rome's moral Republic of the 2nd century BC.[223] In his criticism of Augustus, the admiral and historian Thomas Gordon (1658–1741) compared Augustus to the puritanical tyrant Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658).[223] Thomas Gordon and the French political philosopher Montesquieu (1689–1755) both remarked that Augustus was a coward in battle.[224] In his Memoirs of the Court of Augustus, the Scottish scholar Thomas Blackwell (1701–1757) deemed Augustus a Machiavellian ruler, "a bloodthirsty vindicative usurper", "wicked and worthless", "a mean spirit", and a "tyrant".[224]
Revenue reforms[link]
Augustus' public revenue reforms had a great impact on the subsequent success of the Empire. Augustus brought a far greater portion of the Empire's expanded land base under consistent, direct taxation from Rome, instead of exacting varying, intermittent, and somewhat arbitrary tributes from each local province as Augustus' predecessors had done.[225] This reform greatly increased Rome's net revenue from its territorial acquisitions, stabilized its flow, and regularized the financial relationship between Rome and the provinces, rather than provoking fresh resentments with each new arbitrary exaction of tribute.[225]
The measures of taxation in the reign of Augustus were determined by population census, with fixed quotas for each province.[226] Citizens of Rome and Italy paid indirect taxes, while direct taxes were exacted from the provinces.[226] Indirect taxes included a 4% tax on the price of slaves, a 1% tax on goods sold at auction, and a 5% tax on the inheritance of estates valued at over 100,000 sesterces by persons other than the next of kin.[226]
An equally important reform was the abolition of private tax farming, which was replaced by salaried civil service tax collectors. Private contractors that raised taxes had been the norm in the Republican era, and some had grown powerful enough to influence the amount of votes for politicians in Rome.[225] The tax farmers had gained great infamy for their depredations, as well as great private wealth, by winning the right to tax local areas.[225]
Rome's revenue was the amount of the successful bids, and the tax farmers' profits consisted of any additional amounts they could forcibly wring from the populace with Rome's blessing. Lack of effective supervision, combined with tax farmers' desire to maximize their profits, had produced a system of arbitrary exactions that was often barbarously cruel to taxpayers, widely (and accurately) perceived as unfair, and very harmful to investment and the economy.
The use of Egypt's immense land rents to finance the Empire's operations resulted from Augustus' conquest of Egypt and the shift to a Roman form of government.[227] As it was effectively considered Augustus' private property rather than a province of the Empire, it became part of each succeeding emperor's patrimonium.[228] Instead of a legate or proconsul, Augustus installed a prefect from the equestrian class to administer Egypt and maintain its lucrative seaports; this position became the highest political achievement for any equestrian besides becoming Prefect of the Praetorian Guard.[229] The highly productive agricultural land of Egypt yielded enormous revenues that were available to Augustus and his successors to pay for public works and military expeditions,[227] as well as bread and circuses for the population of Rome.
Month of August[link]
The month of August (Latin: Augustus) is named after Augustus; until his time it was called Sextilis (named so because it had been the sixth month of the original Roman calendar and the Latin word for six is sex). Commonly repeated lore has it that August has 31 days because Augustus wanted his month to match the length of Julius Caesar's July, but this is an invention of the 13th century scholar Johannes de Sacrobosco. Sextilis in fact had 31 days before it was renamed, and it was not chosen for its length (see Julian calendar). According to a senatus consultum quoted by Macrobius, Sextilis was renamed to honor Augustus because several of the most significant events in his rise to power, culminating in the fall of Alexandria, fell in that month.[230]
Building projects[link]
Main page: :Category:Augustan building projects
Further information: Vitruvius and De architectura
On his deathbed, Augustus boasted "I found a Rome of bricks; I leave to you one of marble". Although there is some truth in the literal meaning of this, Cassius Dio asserts that it was a metaphor for the Empire's strength.[231] Marble could be found in buildings of Rome before Augustus, but it was not extensively used as a building material until the reign of Augustus.[232]
Although this did not apply to the Subura slums, which were still as rickety and fire-prone as ever, he did leave a mark on the monumental topography of the centre and of the Campus Martius, with the Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace) and monumental sundial, whose central gnomon was an obelisk taken from Egypt.[233] The relief sculptures decorating the Ara Pacis visually augmented the written record of Augustus' triumphs in the Res Gestae.[234] Its reliefs depicted the imperial pageants of the praetorians, the Vestals, and the citizenry of Rome.[234]
He also built the Temple of Caesar, the Baths of Agrippa, and the Forum of Augustus with its Temple of Mars Ultor. Other projects were either encouraged by him, such as the Theatre of Balbus, and Agrippa's construction of the Pantheon, or funded by him in the name of others, often relations (e.g. Portico of Octavia, Theatre of Marcellus). Even his Mausoleum of Augustus was built before his death to house members of his family.[235]
To celebrate his victory at the Battle of Actium, the Arch of Augustus was built in 29 BC near the entrance of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, and widened in 19 BC to include a triple-arch design.[232] There are also many buildings outside of the city of Rome that bear Augustus' name and legacy, such as the Theatre of Merida in modern Spain, the Maison Carrée built at Nîmes in today's southern France, as well as the Trophy of Augustus at La Turbie, located near Monaco.
After the death of Agrippa in 12 BC, a solution had to be found in maintaining Rome's water supply system. This came about because it was overseen by Agrippa when he served as aedile, and was even funded by him afterwards when he was a private citizen paying at his own expense.[206] In that year, Augustus arranged a system where the Senate designated three of its members as prime commissioners in charge of the water supply and to ensure that Rome's aqueducts did not fall into disrepair.[206]
In the late Augustan era, the commission of five senators called the curatores locorum publicorum iudicandorum (translated as "Supervisors of Public Property") was put in charge of maintaining public buildings and temples of the state cult.[206] Augustus created the senatorial group of the curatores viarum (translated as "Supervisors for Roads") for the upkeep of roads; this senatorial commission worked with local officials and contractors to organize regular repairs.[210]
The Corinthian order of architectural style originating from ancient Greece was the dominant architectural style in the age of Augustus and the imperial phase of Rome.[232] Suetonius once commented that Rome was unworthy of its status as an imperial capital, yet Augustus and Agrippa set out to dismantle this sentiment by transforming the appearance of Rome upon the classical Greek model.[232]
Physical appearance[link]
The biographer Suetonius describes Augustus' outward appearance as follows: "He was unusually handsome ... He had clear, bright eyes ... His teeth were wide apart, small, and ill-kept; his hair was slightly curly and inclining to golden; his eyebrows met. His ears were of moderate size, and his nose projected a little at the top and then bent ever so slightly inward. His complexion was between dark and fair. He was short of stature ..."[236]
Ancestry[link]
Ancestors of Augustus
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3. Atia Balba Caesonia |
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14. Gaius Julius Caesar (proconsul of Asia, 90s BC) |
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7. Julia Caesaris (sister of Julius Caesar) |
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Descendants[link]
Augustus' only child was his daughter.
- 1. Julia Caesaris, 39 BC – AD 14, had five children;
- A. Gaius Julius Caesar, 20 BC – AD 4, died without issue
- B. Vipsania Julia (Julia the Younger), 19 BC – AD 28, had two children;
- I. Aemilia Lepida (fiancee of Claudius), 4 BC – AD 53, had five children;
- a. Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus, 14 – 54, had one child;
- i. Lucius Junius Silanus Torquatus the younger, 50–66, died young
- b. Junia Calvina, 15–79, died without issue
- c. Decimus Junius Silanus Torquatus, d. 64 without issue
- d. Lucius Junius Silanus Torquatus the elder, d. 49 without issue
- e. Junia Lepida, ca 18–65, issue unknown
- a. Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus, 14 – 54, had one child;
- II. Unnamed illegitimate son (by Decimus Junius Silanus), d. AD 8 (ordered to be exposed by Augustus)
- I. Aemilia Lepida (fiancee of Claudius), 4 BC – AD 53, had five children;
- C. Lucius Julius Caesar, 17 BC – AD 2, died without issue
- D. Vipsania Agrippina II (Agrippina the Elder), 14 BC – AD 33, had six children;
- I. Nero Julius Caesar, 6–30, died without issue
- II. Drusus Julius Caesar, 7–33, died without issue
- III. Gaius Julius Caesar, bef. AD 12 – bef. AD 12 [237]
- IV. Gaius Julius Caesar (Caligula), 12–41, had one child;
- a. Julia Drusilla, 39–41, died young
- V. Julia Agrippina, 15–59, had one child;
- a. Nero Claudius Caesar (Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus), 37–68, had one child;
- i. Claudia Augusta, Jan. 63 – April 63; died young
- a. Nero Claudius Caesar (Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus), 37–68, had one child;
- VI. Julia Drusilla, 16–38, died without issue
- VII. Julia Livilla, 18–42, died without issue
- VIII. Tiberius Julius Caesar, ? – ? (either born before Nero Caesar, between Drusus Caesar and Gaius Caesar (Caligula) or between Gaius Caesar (Caligula) and Julia Agrippina)[238]
- ?IX. Son (name unknown), ? – ? [239]
- E. Agrippa Postumus, 12 BC – AD 14, died without issue
See also[link]
Footnotes[link]
- ^ In Classical Latin, Augustus' name would be inscribed as IMPERATOR GAIVS IVLIVS CAESAR AVGVSTVS.
- ^ The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian after 45 BC. Due to departures from Julius Caesar's intentions, Augustus restored the Julian calendar in 8 BC, and the correspondence between the proleptic Julian calendar and the actual calendar observed in Rome is uncertain before 8 BC.(Blackburn & Holford-Strevens 2003: 670–1)
- ^ Formally Imperator Caesar, Divi filius, Augustus which means Imperator Caesar, Son of the Divus (Divus Julius), Augustus. Because of the various names he bore, it is common to call him Octavius when referring to events between 63 and 44 BC, Octavian (or Octavianus) when referring to events between 44 and 27 BC, and Augustus when referring to events after 27 BC. In Greek sources, Augustus is known as Ὀκτάβιος (Octavius/Oktabios), Καῖσαρ (Caesar/Kaisar), Αὔγουστος (Augustus/Augustos), or Σεβαστός (Sebastos), depending on context.
- ^ Some provinces were governed by the Senate.
- ^ Suetonius, Augustus The "Marcus Octavius" vetoing the agrarian law suggested by Tiberius Gracchus in 133 BC was possibly his ancestor. 1–4.
- ^ If the testimony of Marcus Primus can be believed, where during his trial for illegally launching a war in Thrace, he asserted that he acted on the orders of Marcellus and Augustus – see Southern, pg. 108 and Eck (2003), pg. 55
References[link]
- ^ Wells, John C. (1990). Longman pronunciation dictionary. Harlow, England: Longman. ISBN 0-582-05383-8. entry "Augustus"
- ^ Gruen (2005), 35.
- ^ Dio (1987), 153.
- ^ a b Eck (2003), 3.
- ^ a b c d Eck (2003), 124.
- ^ Suetonius, Augustus 7
- ^ 5–6 on-line text.
- ^ Rowell (1962), 14.
- ^ Chisholm (1981), 23.
- ^ Suetonius, Augustus 4–8; Nicolaus of Damascus, Augustus 3. Archived 25 July 2007 at WebCite
- ^ Suetonius, Augustus 8.1; Quintilian, 12.6.1.
- ^ a b Suetonius, Augustus 8.1
- ^ Nicolaus of Damascus, Augustus 4. Archived 25 July 2007 at WebCite
- ^ a b c Rowell (1962), 16.
- ^ Nicolaus of Damascus, Augustus 6. Archived 25 July 2007 at WebCite
- ^ Velleius Paterculus 2.59.3.
- ^ Suetonius, Julius 83.
- ^ a b c Eck (2003), 9.
- ^ Appian, Civil Wars 3.9–11.
- ^ His daughter Julia had died in 54 BC.
- ^ Rowell (1962), 15.
- ^ Mackay (2004), 160.
- ^ a b c d e f Eck (2003), 10.
- ^ Southern, Augustus pp.20–21
- ^ Southern, Augustus pp.21
- ^ Suetonius, Augustus 68, 71.
- ^ a b Eck (2003), 9–10.
- ^ a b Rowell (1962), 19.
- ^ Rowell (1962), 18.
- ^ Eder (2005), 18.
- ^ Appian, Civil Wars 3.11–12.
- ^ Chisholm (1981), 24.
- ^ Chisholm (1981), 27.
- ^ Rowell (1962), 20.
- ^ Eck (2003), 11.
- ^ Syme (1939), 114–120.
- ^ Chisholm (1981), 26.
- ^ Rowell (1962), 30.
- ^ Eck (2003), 11–12.
- ^ Rowell (1962), 21.
- ^ Syme (1939), 123–126.
- ^ a b c d Eck (2003), 12.
- ^ a b c Rowell (1962), 23.
- ^ Rowell (1962), 24.
- ^ Chisholm (1981), 29.
- ^ Chisholm (1981), 30.
- ^ Rowell (1962), 19–20.
- ^ Syme (1939), 167.
- ^ Syme (1939), 173–174
- ^ Scullard (1982), 157.
- ^ Rowell (1962), 26–27.
- ^ a b c Rowell (1962), 27.
- ^ Chisholm (1981), 32–33.
- ^ Eck (2003), 14.
- ^ Rowell (1962), 28.
- ^ Syme (1939), 176–186.
- ^ Sear, David R. "Common Legend Abbreviations On Roman Coins". http://www.davidrsear.com/academy/roman_legends.html. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
- ^ a b Eck (2003), 15.
- ^ Scullard (1982), 163.
- ^ a b Eck (2003), 16.
- ^ Southern (1998), 52–53.
- ^ Scullard (1982), 164.
- ^ a b Scott (1933), 19–20.
- ^ a b c Scott (1933), 19.
- ^ Scott (1933), 20.
- ^ Syme (1939), 202.
- ^ Eck (2003), 17.
- ^ a b Eck (2003), 17–18.
- ^ a b Eck (2003), 18.
- ^ Eck (2003), 18–19.
- ^ a b c d Eck (2003), 19.
- ^ a b Rowell (1962), 32.
- ^ a b c d e Eck (2003), 20.
- ^ Scullard (1982), 162
- ^ Alexander Helios, Cleopatra Selene II and Ptolemy Philadelphus
- ^ a b c d Eck (2003) 21.
- ^ a b c d Eder (2005), 19.
- ^ a b Eck (2003), 22.
- ^ Eck (2003), 23.
- ^ Scullard (1982), 163
- ^ a b Eck (2003), 24.
- ^ a b Eck (2003), 25.
- ^ Eck (2003), 25–26.
- ^ a b c d e Eck (2003), 26.
- ^ Scullard (1982), 164
- ^ Eck (2003), 26–27.
- ^ Eck (2003), 27–28.
- ^ Eck (2003), 29.
- ^ Eck (2003), 29–30.
- ^ a b Eck (2003), 30.
- ^ Eder (2005), 20.
- ^ Eck (2003), 31.
- ^ Eck (2003), 32–34.
- ^ Eck (2003), 34.
- ^ Eck (2003), 34–35
- ^ Eder (2005), 21–22.
- ^ Eck (2003), 35.
- ^ Eder (2005), 22.
- ^ a b c Eck (2003), 37.
- ^ Eck (2003), 38.
- ^ Eck (2003), 38–39.
- ^ Eck (2003), 39.
- ^ Green (1990), 697.
- ^ Scullard (1982), 171.
- ^ a b c d Eck (2003), 49.
- ^ Gruen (2005), 34–35.
- ^ a b c d CCAA, 24–25.
- ^ a b Gruen (2005), 38–39.
- ^ a b c d e Eck (2003), 45.
- ^ Eck (2003), 44–45.
- ^ Eck (2003), 113.
- ^ a b Eck (2003), 80.
- ^ a b Scullard (1982), 211.
- ^ a b Eck (2003), 46.
- ^ Scullard (1982), 210.
- ^ a b Gruen (2005), 34.
- ^ a b c Eck (2003), 47.
- ^ a b c d Eder (2005), 24.
- ^ a b c d Eck (2003), 50.
- ^ Eck (2003), 149
- ^ Eck (2003), 3, 149.
- ^ Eder (2005), 13.
- ^ Wells, pg. 51
- ^ Holland, pg. 294
- ^ Ando, pg. 140; Raaflaub, pg. 426; Wells, pg. 53
- ^ a b Davies, pg. 259
- ^ Southern, pg. 108; Holland, pg. 295
- ^ a b c Eder (2005), 25.
- ^ a b c d e f Eck (2003), 56.
- ^ Gruen (2005), 38.
- ^ a b Stern, Gaius, Women, children, and senators on the Ara Pacis Augustae: A study of Augustus’ vision of a new world order in 13 BC, pg. 23
- ^ Holland, pgs. 294–295; Southern, pg. 108
- ^ a b c d e Eder (2005), 26.
- ^ a b c Eck (2003), 57.
- ^ a b Gruen (2005), 36.
- ^ Gruen (2005), 37.
- ^ Eck (2003), 56–57.
- ^ Eck (2003), 57–58.
- ^ Eck (2003), 59.
- ^ a b Eder (2005), 30.
- ^ Bunson (1994), 80.
- ^ Bunson (1994), 427.
- ^ a b Eck (2003), 60.
- ^ a b c Eck (2003), 61.
- ^ a b c Eck (2003), 117.
- ^ Dio 54.1, 6, 10.
- ^ Eck (2003), 78.
- ^ Southern, pg. 109; Holland, pg. 299
- ^ Wells, pg. 53
- ^ a b Southern, pg. 108
- ^ Holland, pg. 300
- ^ Syme, pg. 333
- ^ Syme, pg. 333; Holland, pg. 300; Southern, pg, 108
- ^ Wells, pg. 53; Raaflaub, pg. 426
- ^ Swan, pg. 241; Syme, pg. 483
- ^ Wells, pg. 53; Holland, pg. 301
- ^ Davies, pg. 260; Holland, pg. 301
- ^ Holland, pg. 301
- ^ a b Gruen (2005), 43.
- ^ Bowersock (1990), p. 380. The date is provided by inscribed calendars; see also Augustus, Res Gestae 10.2. Dio 27.2 reports this under 13 BC, probably as the year in which Lepidus died (Bowersock (1990), p. 383).
- ^ Eder (2005), 28.
- ^ Mackay (2004), 186.
- ^ Eck (2003), 129.
- ^ a b c Eck (2003), 93.
- ^ Eck (2003), 95.
- ^ a b c d e f g Eck (2003), 94.
- ^ a b Eck (2003), 97.
- ^ Eck (2003), 98.
- ^ Eck (2003), 98–99.
- ^ a b Eck (2003), 99.
- ^ a b c Bunson (1994), 416.
- ^ a b c d e Eck (2003), 96.
- ^ Brosius (2006), 96–97, 136–138.
- ^ Eck (2003), 95–96.
- ^ Brosius (2006), 97; see also Bivar (1983), 66–67.
- ^ Rowell (1962), 13.
- ^ Eck (2003), 101–102.
- ^ Bunson (1994), 417.
- ^ Bunson (1994), 31.
- ^ a b Gruen (2005), 50.
- ^ Eck (2003), 114–115.
- ^ Eck (2003), 115.
- ^ a b Gruen (2005), 44.
- ^ a b Eck (2003), 58.
- ^ Syme (1939), 416–417.
- ^ Scullard (1982), 217.
- ^ Syme (1939), 417.
- ^ a b c Eck (2003), 116.
- ^ a b Gruen (2005), 46.
- ^ Eck (2003), 117–118.
- ^ Gruen (2005), 46–47.
- ^ Eck (2003), 119.
- ^ Eck (2003), 119–120.
- ^ a b Gruen (2005), 49.
- ^ Tacitus Annals 1.5
- ^ Cassius Dio 55.22.2; 56.30
- ^ a b Eck (2003), 123.
- ^ Shotter (1966), 210–212.
- ^ a b Shotter (1966), 211.
- ^ a b Shaw-Smith (1971), 213.
- ^ Suetonius, Augustus 101.4.
- ^ Eck (2003), 1–2
- ^ Eck (2003), 2.
- ^ Bunson (1994), 47.
- ^ Bourne (1918), 53–66.
- ^ a b c d e Eck (2003), 79.
- ^ Bunson (1994), 345.
- ^ Eck (2003), 85–87.
- ^ Eck (2003), 86.
- ^ a b Eck (2003), 81.
- ^ Chisholm (1981), 122.
- ^ Bunson (1994), 6.
- ^ Bunson (1994), 341.
- ^ Bunson (1994), 341–342.
- ^ a b c Eder (2005), 23.
- ^ Tacitus, Annals I.3
- ^ Kelsall (1976), 120.
- ^ a b c d Starr (1952), 5.
- ^ Tacitus, The Annals, I 9
- ^ Tacitus, The Annals, I 10
- ^ Everitt (2006), 324–325.
- ^ a b Starr (1952), 6.
- ^ a b Kelsall (1976), 118.
- ^ a b Kelsall (1976), 119.
- ^ a b c d Eck (2003), 83–84.
- ^ a b c Bunson (1994), 404.
- ^ a b Bunson (1994), 144.
- ^ Bunson (1994), 144–145.
- ^ Bunson (1994), 145.
- ^ Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.12.35.
- ^ Dio 56.30.3
- ^ a b c d Bunson (1994), 34.
- ^ Eck (2003), 122.
- ^ a b Bunson (1994), 32.
- ^ Eck (2003), 118–121
- ^ Suetonius, Augustus 79, translated by J. C. Rolfe.
- ^ CIL 06, 00889
- ^ CIL 06, 00888
- ^ CIL 06, 00890
Bibliography[link]
- Ando, Clifford, Imperial ideology and provincial loyalty in the Roman Empire, University of California Press, 2000.
- Bivar, A.D.H. (1983). "The Political History of Iran Under the Arsacids", in The Cambridge History of Iran (Vol 3:1), 21–99. Edited by Ehsan Yarshater. London, New York, New Rochelle, Melbourne, and Sydney: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-20092-9.
- Blackburn, Bonnie and Holford-Strevens, Leofranc. (1999). The Oxford Companion to the Year. Oxford University Press. Reprinted with corrections 2003.
- Bourne, Ella. "Augustus as a Letter-Writer", Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association (Volume 49, 1918): 53–66.
- Bowersock, G. W. (1990). "The Pontificate of Augustus". In Kurt A. Raaflaub and Mark Toher (eds.). Between Republic and Empire: Interpretations of Augustus and his Principate. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 380–394. ISBN 978-0-520-08447-6.
- Brosius, Maria. (2006). The Persians: An Introduction. London & New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-32089-4 (hbk).
- Bunson, Matthew. (1994). Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire. New York: Facts on File Inc. ISBN 978-0-8160-3182-5
- Chisholm, Kitty and John Ferguson. (1981). Rome: The Augustan Age; A Source Book. Oxford: Oxford University Press, in association with the Open University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-872108-6
- Dio, Cassius. (1987) The Roman History: The Reign of Augustus. Translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-044448-3.
- Davies, Mark; Swain, Hilary; Davies, Mark Everson, Aspects of Roman history, 82 BC-AD 14: a source-based approach, Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2010.
- Eck, Werner; translated by Deborah Lucas Schneider; new material by Sarolta A. Takács. (2003) The Age of Augustus. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing (hardcover, ISBN 978-0-631-22957-5; paperback, ISBN 978-0-631-22958-2).
- Eder, Walter. (2005). "Augustus and the Power of Tradition", in The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus (Cambridge Companions to the Ancient World), ed. Karl Galinsky, 13–32. Cambridge, MA; New York: Cambridge University Press (hardcover, ISBN 978-0-521-80796-8; paperback, ISBN 978-0-521-00393-3).
- Everitt, Anthony (2006) Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor. Random House Books. ISBN 1-4000-6128-8.
- Green, Peter (1990). Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age. Hellenistic Culture and Society. Berkeley, CA; Los Angeles; London: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-05611-6 (hbk.); ISBN 0-520-08349-0 (pbk.).
- Gruen, Erich S. (2005). "Augustus and the Making of the Principate", in The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus (Cambridge Companions to the Ancient World), ed. Karl Galinsky, 33–51. Cambridge, MA; New York: Cambridge University Press (hardcover, ISBN 978-0-521-80796-8; paperback, ISBN 978-0-521-00393-3).
- Holland, Richard, Augustus, Godfather of Europe, Sutton Publishing, 2005.
- Kelsall, Malcolm. "Augustus and Pope", The Huntington Library Quarterly (Volume 39, Number 2, 1976): 117–131.
- Mackay, Christopher S. (2004). Ancient Rome: A Military and Political History. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-80918-4.
- Raaflaub, Kurt A.; Toher, Mark, Between republic and empire: interpretations of Augustus and his principate, University of California Press, 1993.
- Scott, Kenneth. "The Political Propaganda of 44–30 B.C." Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome, Vol. 11, (1933), pp. 7–49.
- Scullard, H. H. (1982) [1959]. From the Gracchi to Nero: A History of Rome from 133 B.C. to A.D. 68 (5th ed.). London; New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-02527-0.
- Suetonius, Gaius Tranquillus (1931). Lives of the Twelve Caesars. New York: Modern Library.
- Rowell, Henry Thompson. (1962). The Centers of Civilization Series: Volume 5; Rome in the Augustan Age. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-0956-5
- Shaw-Smith, R. "A Letter from Augustus to Tiberius", Greece & Rome (Volume 18, Number 2, 1971): 213–214.
- Shotter, D.C.A. "Tiberius and the Spirit of Augustus", Greece & Rome (Volume 13, Number 2, 1966): 207–212.
- Southern, Pat. (1998). Augustus. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-16631-7.
- Starr, Chester G., Jr. "The Perfect Democracy of the Roman Empire", The American Historical Review (Volume 58, Number 1, 1952): 1–16.
- Syme, Ronald (1939). The Roman Revolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280320-4 (pbk.).
- Wells, Colin Michael, The Roman Empire, Harvard University Press, 2004.
Further reading[link]
- Bleicken, Jochen. (1998). Augustus. Eine Biographie. Berlin.
- Buchan, John (1937). Augustus. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
- Galinsky, Karl. Augustan Culture. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998 (paperback, ISBN 978-0-691-05890-0).
- Grant, Michael (1985). The Roman Emperors: A Biographical Guide to the Rulers of Imperial Rome, 31 BC — AD 476. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
- Lewis, P. R. and G. D. B. Jones, Roman gold-mining in north-west Spain, Journal of Roman Studies 60 (1970): 169–85
- Jones, R. F. J. and Bird, D. G., Roman gold-mining in north-west Spain, II: Workings on the Rio Duerna, Journal of Roman Studies 62 (1972): 59–74.
- Jones, A.H.M. "The Imperium of Augustus", The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 41, Parts 1 and 2. (1951), pp. 112–119.
- Jones, A.H.M. Augustus. London: Chatto & Windus, 1970 (paperback, ISBN 978-0-7011-1626-2).
- Massie, Allan (1984). The Caesars. New York: Franklin Watts.
- Osgood, Josiah. Caesar's Legacy: Civil War and the Emergence of the Roman Empire. New York: Cambridge University Press (USA), 2006 (hardback, ISBN 978-0-521-85582-2; paperback, ISBN 978-0-521-67177-4).
- Raaflaub, Kurt A. and Toher, Mark (eds.). Between Republic and Empire: Interpretations of Augustus and His Principate. Berkeley; Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1993 (paperback, ISBN 978-0-520-08447-6).
- Reinhold, Meyer. The Golden Age of Augustus (Aspects of Antiquity). Toronto, ON: Univ. of Toronto Press, 1978 (hardcover, ISBN 978-0-89522-007-3; paperback, ISBN 978-0-89522-008-0).
- Roebuck, C. (1966). The World of Ancient Times. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
- Shotter, D. C. A. (1991). Augustus Caesar. Lancaster Pamphlets. London: Routledge.
- Southern, Pat. Augustus (Roman Imperial Biographies). New York: Routledge, 1998 (hardcover, ISBN 978-0-415-16631-7); 2001 (paperback, ISBN 978-0-415-25855-5).
- Zanker, Paul. The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus (Thomas Spencer Jerome Lectures). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1989 (hardcover, ISBN 978-0-472-10101-6); 1990 (paperback, ISBN 978-0-472-08124-0).
External links[link]
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- Primary sources
- Cassius Dio's Roman History: Books 45–56, English translation
- Gallery of the Ancient Art: August
- Humor of Augustus
- Life of Augustus by Nicolaus of Damascus, English translation
- Suetonius' biography of Augustus, Latin text with English translation
- The Res Gestae Divi Augusti (The Deeds of Augustus, his own account: complete Latin and Greek texts with facing English translation)
- The Via Iulia Augusta: road built by the Romans; constructed on the orders of Augustus between the 13–12 B.C.
- Secondary source material
- Augustus—short biography at the BBC
- Brown, F. The Achievements of Augustus Caesar, Clio History Journal, 2009.
- "Augustus Caesar and the Pax Romana"—essay by Steven Kreis about Augustus's legacy
- "De Imperatoribus Romanis"—article about Augustus at Garrett G. Fagan's online encyclopedia of Roman Emperors
- Octavian / Augustus—pages by Yong-Ling Ow
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Augustus |
| Alternative names | Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus; Octavian; Gaius Octavius Thurinus |
| Short description | first Roman Emperor |
| Date of birth | 23 September 63 BC |
| Place of birth | Rome |
| Date of death | 19 August 14(14-08-19) |
| Place of death | Nola |
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| Augustus Pablo | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Horace Swaby |
| Born | (1954-06-21)June 21, 1954 |
| Origin | St. Andrew, Jamaica |
| Died | May 18, 1999(1999-05-18) (aged 44) |
| Genres | Roots reggae, dub |
| Occupations | Record producer, instrumentalist |
| Instruments | Keyboard, melodica |
| Years active | 1970s–1999 |
| Associated acts | Now Generation |
Horace Swaby (June 21, 1954 – May 18, 1999), known as Augustus Pablo, was a Jamaican roots reggae and dub record producer, melodica player and keyboardist, active from the 1970s onwards. He popularized the use of the melodica (an instrument at that time primarily used to teach children music in the Jamaican public schools) in reggae music. He was a committed Rastafarian.
Contents |
Biography[link]
He was born in St. Andrew, Jamaica, and learned to play the organ at the Kingston College School. It was at that point an unnamed girl lent him the melodica. Fascinated by the instrument, Pablo rarely put it down. He also met Herman Chin Loy, who after working at his cousin Leslie Kong's Beverley's record shop, had set up his own Aquarius store in Half Way Tree. Swaby recorded early tracks including "Higgi Higgi", "East of the River Nile", "Song of the East" and "The Red Sea" between 1971 and 1973 for Chin-Loy's Aquarius Records.[1] Chin Loy had previously used the name Augustus Pablo generically for keyboard instrumentals recorded by Lloyd Charmers and Glen Adams,[2][3] and Swaby took the name for this recording.
"East of the River Nile", a unique blend of East Asian and Jamaican sounds, became a moderate hit. He soon joined Now Generation (Mikey Chung's band) and played the keyboard with them while his friend Clive Chin began his own career as a record producer. Pablo and Chin recorded "Java" (1972) together,[1] as soon as Pablo quit Now Generation and Clive was able to get the studio time. This instrumental was a massive hit and launched Pablo's solo career. He recorded with Chin and various others, including Leonard Chin, his uncle, and Lee Perry. He scored another smash hit with "My Desire" (John Holt).
Pablo formed the labels Hot Stuff, Message and Rockers (named after his brother's soundsystem, Rockers), and released a steady stream of well-received instrumentals, mostly versions of older hits from Studio One. In spite of his success with Rockers, Pablo's 1974 album, This Is Augustus Pablo was recorded with Clive and Pat Chin. This was followed by a collaboration with the legendary reggae engineer King Tubby, 1975's Ital Dub.
In the later 1970s, Pablo produced a steady stream of hits, including the hit "Black Star Liner" (Fred Locks). He also worked with Dillinger, Norris Reid, I-Roy, Jacob Miller, Te -Track, The Immortals, Paul Blackman, Earl Sixteen, Roman Stewart, Lacksley Castell, The Heptones, Bob Marley, Ricky Grant, Delroy Wilson, Junior Delgado, Horace Andy and Freddy McKay. This period was eventually commemorated with critically acclaimed LPs including King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown (1976) and Hugh Mundell's classic Africa Must be Free by 1983. This was followed by East of the River Nile (1978), Original Rockers (1979) and Rockers Meets King Tubby in a Firehouse, another acclaimed hit album.
In the 1980s, Pablo's career slowed significantly. In 1980, he appeared on the soundtrack of the documentary D.O.A. He had begun to establish an American audience and released Rising Sun in 1986 to good reviews and sales. Pablo also produced memorable hits, including "Ragamuffin Year" (Junior Delgado), "Humble Yourself" (Asher & Tremble) and "Far Far Away" (Ricky Grant). In addition, he toured extensively throughout the world, making a memorable live album in Tokyo in 1987. That same year, Rockers Come East re-established his career and he began to release a series of critically acclaimed though somewhat inaccessible albums in the 1990s, including Blowing With the Wind and also producing several, such as "Night & Day" (single) (Dawn Penn) and "Jah Made Them All" (Yami Bolo).
Augustus Pablo died as a result of a collapsed lung on 18 May 1999.[4] He had been suffering for some time from the nerve disorder myasthenia gravis.[5]
Selected discography[link]
- This Is...Augustus Pablo (1974)
- Thriller (1974)
- Ital Dub (1975)
- King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown (1976)
- East of the River Nile (1977)
- Original Rockers (1979)
- Africa Must Be Free by... 1983 Dub (1979)
- Rockers Meets King Tubby in a Firehouse (1980)
- Authentic Golden Melodies (1980)
- Earth's Rightful Ruler (1982)
- King David's Melody (1983)
- Rising Sun (1986)
- Rebel Rock Reggae (1986)
- Rockers Come East (1987)
- Eastman Dub (1988)
- Presents Rockers Story (1989)
- Blowing with the Wind (1990)
- Presents Rockers International Showcase (1991)
- Meets King Tubby at the Control in Roots Vibes (1996)
- Red Sea (1998)
- Valley of Jehosaphat (1999)
- El Rocker's (2000)
- The Great Pablo (2000)
- Dubbing with the Don (2001)
- Jah Inspiration (2001)
- Skanking with Pablo: Melodica for Hire 1971–77 (2002)
- In Fine Style: 7" & 12" Selection 1973–79 (2003)
- The Essential Augustus Pablo (2005)
- Augustus Pablo Meets Lee Perry & the Wailers Band (Rare Dubs 1970–1971) (2006)
- The Mystic World of Augustus Pablo: The Rockers Story (2008)
References[link]
- ^ a b Larkin, Colin: The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae, 1998, Virgin Books, ISBN 0-7535-0242-9
- ^ Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter: Reggae: The Rough Guide, 1997, Rough Guides, ISBN 1-85828-247-0
- ^ Article: In memory of.. Augustus Pablo
- ^ Masouri, John. "Augustus Pablo & Various Artists – The Definitive Augustus Pablo". elrockers.org. http://www.elrockers.org/disco/records/the_definitive_augustus_pablo.html. Retrieved 2010-01-08. "He died in a Kingston hospital on Wednesday may 19th 1999 after being admitted the previous week with a collapsed lung and spending the interim period on a life support system."
- ^ Pareles, Jon (20 May 1999). Augusto Pablo, 46, Musician; Helped Shape Reggae's Sound. The New York Times (Arts).
External links[link]
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Pablo, Augustus |
| Alternative names | Horace Swaby (real name) |
| Short description | Musician and record producer |
| Date of birth | 21 June 1953 |
| Place of birth | Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica |
| Date of death | 18 May 1999 |
| Place of death | Kingston, Jamaica |
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| Junior Delgado | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Oscar Hibbert |
| Born | (1958-08-25)August 25, 1958 Kingston, Jamaica |
| Died | April 11, 2005(2005-04-11) (aged 46) South London, England |
| Genres | Reggae |
Oscar Hibbert (25 August 1958 - 11 April 2005), better known as Junior Delgado, was a reggae singer, famed for his roots style.
Contents |
Biography[link]
Originally from Kingston, Jamaica, he recorded with the group Time Unlimited in the early 1970s before Lee Perry produced his solo recordings. He recorded social comment song "Tition" in 1975 with singer Dennis Brown. Delgado's debut solo album Taste of the Young Heart was released in 1978 and showcased his "raw moan" vocal style. He set up his own label Incredible Jux and was a regular visitor to Britain. In 1985 he attracted controversy by releasing "Broadwater Farm", which predicted violence on the north London housing estate. When a riot broke out shortly afterwards, culminating in the murder of PC Keith Blakelock, the record was banned.
Junior continued to release records such as Dance a Dub and various compilations on his own label before a chance meeting with a young music entrepreneur, Jason Knight, who had grown up listening to his records meant a different path for him musically. He recognised Junior's distinct raw style as one of the great voices of reggae and encouraged him to share it with a new generation.
As well as working on his own music, Junior was also involved with the development of new artists such as Spacek and Custom Blue as well as his own stable of emerging Reggae artists such as Yami Bolo and the White Mice.
Delgado was always open-minded and embracing of music and in 1998 released the album Fearless, featuring rapper Maxi Jazz from Faithless and Jerry Dammers of the Specials as well as lots of the new wave of UK electronica stars such as Spacek, Ballistic Brothers, Kid Loops and Naked Funk.
This album was followed in 2000 by Reasons which was produced by the On-U sound system's Adrian Sherwood and featured performances by Doug Wimbish, Skip McDonald and Keith LeBlanc.
Delgado died 11 April 2005 in South London, England. His spokesman said the death had been unexpected but was believed to have been from natural causes. He was survived by his widow Janet, and seven children.[1]
Delgado was the nephew of Alpha Boys School bandmaster and vibraphone player Lennie Hibbert.[2]
Discography[link]
- 1978 Dance a Dub (originally released under the artist name Incredible Jux)
- 1979 Effort (re-released as Sisters and Brothers)
- 1979 Taste of the Young Heart
- 1981 More She Love It
- 1982 Bush Master Revolution
- 1984 Classics
- 1986 Moving down the Road
- 1986 Raggamuffin Year
- 1986 Stranger
- 1988 One Step More
- 1991 20 Classic Hits
- 1998 Fearless
- 1998 Hypocrites
- 1999 Reasons
- 2003 Original Guerilla Music
- 2005 Sons of Slaves
- 2005 Invisible Music
- 2009 Hot Stepping
References[link]
- ^ [1]
- ^ Katz, David (2000) People Funny Boy: the Genius of Lee "Scratch" Perry, Payback Press, ISBN 0-86241-854-2, p. 210
External links[link]
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Delgado, Junior |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | 25 August 1958 |
| Place of birth | Kingston, Jamaica |
| Date of death | 11 April 2005 |
| Place of death | South London, England |
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
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| Emanuel Ya'Kov Augustus | |
|---|---|
| File:AugustusWIKI.JPG | |
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Emanuel Burton (birth name) |
| Nickname(s) | YA Outlaw The Drunken Master |
| Rated at | Light Welterweight |
| Height | 5' 7 |
| Nationality |  |
| Born | (1975-01-02) January 2, 1975 (age 37) Chicago, Illinois, U.S |
| Stance | Orthodox (Boxrec) |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 78 (Active) |
| Wins | 38 |
| Wins by KO | 20 |
| Losses | 34 |
| Draws | 6 |
| No contests | 0 |
Emanuel Augustus (previously known as Emanuel Ya'kov Burton) (born 1975 in Chicago, Illinois) is a professional boxer. He fights out of Brownsville, Texas
Contents |
Personal[link]
Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Augustus grew up in Louisiana and boxed out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He currently resides in Brownsville, Texas, and boxed at Grechy's Pound 4 Pound Gym located in Sydney, Australia for a brief period of time.
Professional career[link]
Augustus began his boxing career under his birth name Emanuel Burton. However, in 2001, when his parents married, Burton adopted his father's last name of Augustus. He retained the nickname "YA", short for his middle name Ya'Kov. Emanuel has frequently appeared on ESPN2's boxing programs Tuesday Night Fights and its counterpart Friday Night Fights. He achieved a measure of fame after his bout against Courtney Burton on July 6, 2004, which he lost by an extremely controversial decision. The state of Michigan investigated the verdict but did not overturn it. Augustus avenged that loss September 1, 2006, when he stopped Burton in the 8th round on ESPN.
Augustus' televised bouts have garnered him a cult following in part due to his unique style and flair in the ring and his willingness to take on all comers, sometimes taking fights on short notice as a last minute replacement, even in his opponents' hometowns. Augustus frequently clowns in the ring, engaging in his trademark "string-puppet dance." As a result, Augustus is also known for losing close or controversial decisions.
The best win of Augustus' career ratings wise was against Carlos Wilfredo Vilches on the 19th of July, 2002. Augustus took the fight on just 2 days notice after Vilches' original opponent, Vince Phillips, pulled out due to injury. Vilches was 37-1-2 at the time and was a ranked fighter. During the bout Vilches wanted to keep Augustus at bay with a stiff jab but Augustus continued to pressure Vilches and began to land counter right hands over the top of Vilches' jab. A cut opened up near the left eye of Vilches, which eventually resulted in a stoppage in the 8th round. The win vaulted Augustus to #2 in the IBF Light-Welterweight division; however, he followed it up with 4 decision losses and 1 controversial draw to tough opponents including Omar Gabriel Weis, whom Vilches already held a victory over.
Titles[link]
Augustus was the International Boxing Association light welterweight champion between April 2, 2004, and June 18 of that year. Augustus lost his title when referee Laurence Cole disqualified him in his first title defense against Tomas Barrientes. At the time of disqualification Augustus was ahead on all three judges' scorecards.
On December 9, 2006, Augustus became the WBC Continental Americas super lightweight champion by defeating Russell Stoner Jones.
On July 4, 2008, knocked out Jakkirt Suwunnalirt in Sydney, Australia, to win the WBO Oriental welterweight title.
Other achievements[link]
His fight against "Irish" Micky Ward on July 13, 2001, was voted 2001 ESPN "Fight of the Year." as well as 2001 Ring magazine Fight of the Year. In June 2008 ESPN announced that this fight had been nominated for ESPN "Fight of the Decade" award.
Outside the Ring[link]
Augustus is the subject of a documentary film entitled "The Journeyman" currently being filmed in Brownsville, Texas. Documentary filmmaker Sean Lynn will follow Augustus until he gets a shot at a world title or retires. Filming began in March 2006. It Is Said That Ashanti Green his star pupil sadly disobeyed Augustus' wishes and pursued a career of football were he currently plays for Abraham Lincoln Highschool in Brooklyn, Ny were stars such as Stephon Marbury And Company have Studied. Hurt, Augustus no longer trains/mentors.
During a 2012 interview with boxing expert Dan Rafael, Floyd Mayweather Jr. stated that Emanuel was the toughest opponent he's ever faced.
References[link]
External links[link]
- Official Emanuel Augustus Myspace Page
- Official Emanuel Augustus YouTube Page
- Professional boxing record for Emanuel Augustus from BoxRec
- Emanuel Augustus Watch, news service to alert public of Augustus' coming fights
- Augustus interviewed in 2005
- Augustus chat plus fight clips October 2006
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Augustus, Emanuel |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | American boxer |
| Date of birth | January 2, 1975 |
| Place of birth | Chicago, Illinois, U.S |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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| Hugh Mundell | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | The Blessed Youth, Jah Levi |
| Born | 14 June 1962 East Kingston, Jamaica |
| Died | October 1983 Kingston, Jamaica |
| Genres | Reggae |
| Occupations | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1975–1983 |
Hugh Mundell (June 14, 1962 – October 14, 1983) was a Jamaican reggae singer and songwriter.
Biography[link]
Mundell was introduced to reggae by reggae performer and producer Boris Gardiner who was a friend of the family (but did not live next door to Hugh, contrary to popular rumor). With Gardiner's assistance, Mundell recorded his first single "Where Is Natty Dread?" with producer Joe Gibbs at the age of 13.[1]
In 1978, at the age of 16, he recorded the album Africa Must Be Free By 1983, produced by Augustus Pablo, with Mundell writing all the songs. It included two Black Ark-recorded titles: "Let's All Unite" and "Why Do Black Man Fuss & Fight", both supervised and mixed by Lee Perry. The album received five stars from Rolling Stone magazine[2] and was included in Tom Moon's 2008 book, 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die.
Mundell recorded several 12" singles under the alias Jah Levi.[3]
Mundell was shot to death in 1983 while sitting in a vehicle with friend and fellow musician Junior Reid in Kingston, Jamaica.[3] At the time of his death, Mundell had produced five LPs and numerous singles.[4]
References[link]
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Mundell, Hugh |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | 14 June 1962 |
| Place of birth | East Kingston, Jamaica |
| Date of death | October 14, 1983 |
| Place of death | Kingston, Jamaica |
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Wiki Summary
Augustus ( /ɔːˈɡʌstəs/;Classical Latin: [awˈɡʊstʊs]; Latin: Imperator Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD. Born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, he was adopted posthumously by his great-uncle Gaius Julius Caesar in 44 BC via his last will and testament, and between then and 27 BC was officially named Gaius Julius Caesar. In 27 BC the Senate awarded him the honorific Augustus ("the revered one"), and thus consequently he was Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus.
The young Octavius came into his inheritance after Caesar's assassination in 44 BC. In 43 BC, Octavian joined forces with Mark Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus in a military dictatorship known as the Second Triumvirate. As a triumvir, Octavian ruled Rome and many of its provinces. The triumvirate was eventually torn apart under the competing ambitions of its rulers: Lepidus was driven into exile, and Antony committed suicide following his defeat at the Battle of Actium by Octavian's fleet under the command of Agrippa in 31 BC.
