- published: 10 Jul 2010
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- author: 380stroker
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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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Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (Greek: Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Δάφνῃ, "Antioch on Daphne"; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ Μεγάλη, "Antioch the Great"; Syriac: ܐܢܛܝܘܟܝܐ Anṭiokia; Hebrew: אנטיוכיה, antiyokhya; Georgian: ანტიოქია; Armenian: Անտիոք Antiok; Latin: Antiochia ad Orontem; Arabic:انطاکیه, Anṭākiya; also Syrian Antioch) was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.
Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the Near East and was a cradle of Christianity. It was one of the four cities of the Syrian tetrapolis. Its residents are known as Antiochenes. Once a great metropolis of half a million people, it declined to insignificance during the Middle Ages because of repeated earthquakes, the Crusaders' invasions, and a change in trade routes following the Mongol conquests, which then no longer passed through Antioch from the far east.
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British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1922 the British Empire held sway over about 458 million people, one-fifth of the world's population at the time, and covered more than 33,700,000 km2 (13,012,000 sq mi), almost a quarter of the Earth's total land area. As a result, its political, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, it was often said that "the sun never sets on the British Empire" because its span across the globe ensured that the sun was always shining on at least one of its numerous territories.
During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France and the Netherlands began to establish colonies and trade networks of their own in the Americas and Asia. A series of wars in the 17th and 18th centuries with the Netherlands and France left England (and then, following union between England and Scotland in 1707, Great Britain) the dominant colonial power in North America and India. The loss of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after a war of independence deprived Britain of some of its oldest and most populous colonies.
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Carthage
Carthage (Latin: Carthago or Karthago, Ancient Greek: Καρχηδών Karkhēdōn, Arabic: قرطاج Qarṭāj, Berber: ⴽⴰⵔⵜⴰⵊⴻⵏ Kartajen, Etruscan: *Carθaza, Modern Hebrew: קרתגו Qartágo, from the Phoenician Qart-ḥadašt meaning New City (Aramaic: קרתא חדאתא, Qarta Ḥdatha), implying it was a 'new Tyre', is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC. It is currently a suburb of Tunis, Tunisia, with a population of 20,715 (2004 Census).
The first civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic (a form of the word "Phoenician") or Carthaginian. The city of Carthage is located on the eastern side of Lake Tunis across from the centre of Tunis. According to Greek historians it was founded by Canaanite-speaking Phoenician colonists from Tyre (in modern Lebanon) under the leadership of Elissa who was renamed (Queen Dido) in Virgil's Aeneid. It became a large and rich city and thus a major power in the Mediterranean. The resulting rivalry with Syracuse, Numidia, and Rome was accompanied by several wars with respective invasions of each other's homeland.
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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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Denmark
The Kingdom of Denmark (Danish: Kongeriget Danmark, pronounced [ˈkɔŋəʁiːəð ˈdanmɑɡ̊] (
listen)) is a constitutional monarchy and sovereign state consisting the country of Denmark in northern Europe and two autonomous constituent countries, the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. The kingdom is a unitary state with some power being devolved from Denmark proper to Greenland and the Faroe Islands; this polity is referred to as the Danish Realm. Denmark proper is the hegemonial area, where judicial, executive, and legislative power resides. The Faroe Islands are defined to be a community of people within the kingdom, and the Greenlandic people are defined as a separate people with the right to self-determination.
Denmark is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, located southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. The country consists of a large peninsula, Jutland and many islands, most notably Zealand, Funen, Lolland, Falster and Bornholm, as well as hundreds of minor islands often referred to as the Danish Archipelago.
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Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden), the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces (Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Provinciën) — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and ultimately the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands. Alternative names include the United Provinces, Foederatae Belgii Provinciae (Federated Belgic Provinces), and Belgica Foederata (Belgic Federation).
Until the 16th century, the Low Countries – roughly now corresponding to Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg – consisted of a number of duchies, counties and bishoprics, most of which were under the supremacy of the Holy Roman Empire.
Most of the Low Countries had come under the rule of the House of Burgundy and subsequently the House of Habsburg. In 1549 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V issued the Pragmatic Sanction, which further unified the Seventeen Provinces under his rule. Charles was succeeded by his son, King Philip II of Spain. In 1568 the Netherlands, led by William I of Orange, revolted against Philip II because of high taxes, persecution of Protestants by the government, and Philip's efforts to modernize and centralize the devolved-medieval government structures of the provinces. This was the start of the Eighty Years' War.
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France
France (English
i/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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Greece
Greecei/ˈɡriːs/ (Greek: Ελλάδα, Ellada, IPA: [eˈlaða] ( listen) historically in Katharevousa and Ancient Greek: Ἑλλάς, Hellas, IPA: [eˈlas] and [helːás] respectively), officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, Elliniki Dimokratia, IPA: [eliniˈci ðimokraˈtia]), is a country in Southern Europe, politically considered part of Western Europe.Athens is the capital and the largest city in the country (its urban area also including Piraeus). The population of the country is around 11 million.
Greece has land borders with Albania, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of mainland Greece, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km (8,498 mi) in length, featuring a vast number of islands (approximately 1,400, of which 227 are inhabited), including Crete, the Dodecanese, the Cyclades, and the Ionian Islands among others. Eighty percent of Greece consists of mountains, of which Mount Olympus is the highest at 2,917 m (9,570 ft).
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Holland
Holland
Holland is a region in the western part of the Netherlands. The term Holland is also frequently used as a pars pro toto to refer to the whole of the Netherlands. This usage is generally accepted but disliked by Dutch people in the other parts of the Netherlands.
From the 10th century to the 16th century, Holland proper was a unified political region, a county ruled by the Counts of Holland. By the 17th century, Holland had risen to become a maritime and economic power, dominating the other provinces of the Dutch Republic.
Today, the former County of Holland consists of the two Dutch provinces of North Holland and South Holland, which together include the Netherlands' three largest cities: country capital Amsterdam; seat of government The Hague; and Rotterdam, home of Europe's largest port.
Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79) referred to this region as the land between the Helinium and Flevo ("inter Helinium ac Flevum"), the names of the mouths into which the Rhine divided itself, the first discharging its waters in the Mosa in the neighbourhood of Brielle and the second into "the lakes of the north" (present IJsselmeer). The name Holland first appeared in sources in 866 for the region around Haarlem, and by 1064 was being used as the name of the entire county. By this time, the inhabitants of Holland were referring to themselves as "Hollanders".Holland is derived from the Middle Dutch term holtland ("wooded land").[citation needed] This spelling variation remained in use until around the 14th century, at which time the name stabilised as Holland (alternative spellings at the time were Hollant and Hollandt). Popular, but incorrect etymology holds that Holland is derived from hol land ("hollow land") and was inspired by the low-lying geography of Holland.[citation needed]
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Jerusalem
Jerusalem (
/dʒəˈruːsələm/; Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yerushaláyim ; Arabic: القُدس al-Quds and/or أورشليم Ûrshalîm) is the capital of Israel, though not internationally recognized as such, and one of the oldest cities in the world. It is located in the Judean Mountains, between the Mediterranean Sea and the northern edge of the Dead Sea. If the area and population of East Jerusalem is included, it is Israel's largest city in both population and area, with a population of 801,000 residents over an area of 125.1 km2 (48.3 sq mi). Jerusalem is also a holy city to the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. The oldest part of the city was settled in the 4th millennium BCE. In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent. Today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger. Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond its boundaries.
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Mount Athos
Mount Athos (/ˈæθɒs/; Greek: Όρος Άθως, Oros Athos Greek pronunciation: [ˈaθos]) is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site and self-governed state in the Hellenic Republic, Athos is home to 20 stavropegial Eastern Orthodox monasteries under the direct jurisdiction of the patriarch of Constantinople. Today Greeks commonly refer to Mount Athos as the "Holy Mountain" (Greek: Άγιον Όρος, Agion Oros). In Classical times, while the mountain was called Athos, the peninsula was called Akté (Ἀκτὴ) (sometimes Acte or Akte).
The peninsula, the easternmost "leg" of the larger Halkidiki peninsula, protrudes 50 kilometres (31 mi) into the Aegean Sea at a width of between 7 and 12 kilometres (4.3 and 7.5 mi) and covers an area of 335.637 square kilometres (129.59 sq mi). The actual Mount Athos has steep, densely forested slopes reaching up to 2,033 metres (6,670 ft). The surrounding seas, especially at the end of the peninsula, can be dangerous. In ancient Greek history two fleet disasters in the area are recorded: In 492 BC Darius, the king of Persia, lost 300 ships under general Mardonius (Herodotus "Histories" book VI (Erato), Aeschylus "The Persians"). In 411 BC the Spartans lost a fleet of 50 ships under admiral Epicleas. (Diodorus Siculus, "Bibliotheca historica" XIII 41, 1–3).
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Paris Observatory
Coordinates: 48°50′11.18″N 2°20′11.42″E / 48.8364389°N 2.3365056°E / 48.8364389; 2.3365056
The Paris Observatory (in French, Observatoire de Paris or Observatoire de Paris-Meudon) is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world. Its historic main building is to be found on the Left Bank of the Seine in central Paris.
Administratively, it is a grand établissement of the French Ministry of National Education, with a status close to that of a public university. Its missions include:
It maintains a solar observatory at Meudon (48°48′18.32″N 2°13′51.61″E / 48.8050889°N 2.2310028°E / 48.8050889; 2.2310028) and a radio astronomy observatory at Nançay. It was also the home to the International Time Bureau until its dissolution in 1987.
Its foundation lies in the ambitions of Jean-Baptiste Colbert to extend France's maritime power and international trade in the 17th century. Louis XIV promoted its construction starting in 1667, and it being completed in 1671. It thus predates the Royal Greenwich Observatory in England which was founded in 1675. The architect of the Paris Observatory was Claude Perrault whose brother, Charles, was secretary to Colbert and superintendent of public works. Optical instruments were supplied by Giuseppe Campani. The buildings were extended in 1730, 1810, 1834, 1850, and 1951. The last extension incorporates the spectacular Meridian Room designed by Jean Prouvé.
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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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Ravenna
Ravenna [raˈvenna] ( listen) (Romagnol: Ravêna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 402 until that empire collapsed in 476. Afterwards, it served as the capital of the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths. The city formed the centre of the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna until the invasion of the Franks in 751, after which it became the seat of the Kingdom of the Lombards.
Although an inland city, Ravenna is connected to the Adriatic Sea by the Candiano Canal. It is the location of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The origin of the name Ravenna is unclear, although it is believed the name is Etruscan. Some have speculated that "ravenna" is related to "Rasenna" (later "Rasna"), the term that the Etruscans used for themselves, but there is no agreement on this point.[citation needed]
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Roman Kingdom
The Roman Kingdom (Latin: REGNVM ROMANVM) was the period of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a monarchical form of government of the city of Rome and its territories.
Little is certain about the history of the Roman Kingdom, as nearly no written records from that time survive, and the histories about it were written during the Republic and Empire and are largely based on legend. However, the history of the Roman Kingdom began with the city's founding, traditionally dated to 753 BC with settlements around the Palatine Hill along the river Tiber in Central Italy, and ended with the overthrow of the kings and the establishment of the Republic in about 509 BC.
The site of the founding of the Roman Kingdom and eventual Republic and Empire had a ford where the Tiber could be crossed. The Palatine Hill and hills surrounding it presented easily defensible positions in the wide fertile plain surrounding them. All of these features contributed to the success of the city.
The traditional account of Roman history, which has come down to us through Livy, Plutarch, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and others, is that in Rome's first centuries it was ruled by a succession of seven kings. The traditional chronology, as codified by Varro, allots 243 years for their reigns, an average of almost 35 years, which, since the work of Barthold Georg Niebuhr, has been generally discounted by modern scholarship. The Gauls destroyed much of Rome's historical records when they sacked the city after the Battle of the Allia in 390 BC (Varronian, according to Polybius the battle occurred in 387/6) and what was left was eventually lost to time or theft. With no contemporary records of the kingdom existing, all accounts of the kings must be carefully questioned.
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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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Russia
Russiai/ˈrʌʃə/ or /ˈrʊʃə/ (Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə] ( listen)), is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, and the US state of Alaska by the Bering Strait. At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the eighth most populous nation with 143 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning nine time zones and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources and is the largest producer of oil and natural gas globally. Russia has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's fresh water.
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Serbia
Serbiai/ˈsɜrbiə/, officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Република Србија / Republika Srbija, pronounced [rɛpǔblika sř̩bija]), is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans. Serbia borders Hungary to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the east; the Republic of Macedonia to the south; and Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to the west; additionally, it borders Albania through Kosovo, whose status as part of Serbia is disputed. Serbia covers an area of 88,361 km2 and has a population of just over 7.1 million, while the capital and largest city is Belgrade.
The arrival of the Serbs to the Balkans in the 7th century, established several states, eventually forming the Serbian Empire in the 14th century. By the 16th century, Serbia was conquered and occupied by the Ottoman Empire, at times interrupted by the Habsburgs. In the early 19th century the Serbian revolution re-established the country as the region's first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory and pioneered the abolition of feudalism in the Balkans. The former Habsburg crownland of Vojvodina united with Serbia in 1918. Following World War I, Serbia formed Yugoslavia with other South Slavic peoples which existed in several forms up until 2006, when the National Assembly of Serbia declared independence and the legal succession to the former State Union. In February 2008 the parliament of UNMIK-governed Kosovo, Serbia's southern province, declared independence, with mixed responses from international governments.
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Smyrna
Smyrna (Ancient Greek: Σμύρνη or Σμύρνα) was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey. The first site, probably founded indigenously, rose to prominence during the Archaic Period as one of the principal ancient Greek settlements in western Anatolia. The second, whose foundation is associated with Alexander the Great, reached metropolitan proportions during the period of the Roman Empire. Most of the present-day remains date from the Roman era, the majority from after a 2nd century AD earthquake.
In practical terms, a distinction is often made between Old Smyrna, the initial settlement founded around the 11th century BC, first as an Aeolian settlement, and later taken over and developed during the Archaic Period by the Ionians, and Smyrna proper, the new city moved into from the older one as of the 4th century BC and whose foundation was inspired, and perhaps also initiated, by Alexander the Great.
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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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Sweden
Sweden (i/ˈswiːdən/ SWEE-dən; Swedish: Sverige [ˈsværjɛ] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: Konungariket Sverige (help·info)), is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland, and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Øresund.
At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the third largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of about 9.4 million. Sweden has a low population density of 21 inhabitants per square kilometre (54 /sq mi) with the population mostly concentrated to the southern half of the country. About 85% of the population live in urban areas. Sweden's capital city is Stockholm, which is also the largest city.
Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages. In the 17th century, the country expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire. The empire grew to be one of the great powers of Europe in the 17th and early 18th century. Most of the conquered territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were lost during the 18th and 19th centuries. The eastern half of Sweden, present-day Finland, was lost to Russia in 1809. The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Sweden by military means forced Norway into a personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, practicing "non-participation in military alliances during peacetime and neutrality during wartime". However, Sweden has been a member of the European Union since 1 January 1995 and is a member of the OECD.
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Turkey
Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia (mostly in the Anatolian peninsula) and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea is to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between East Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.
Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. The vast majority of the population are Muslims. The country's official language is Turkish, whereas Kurdish and Zazaki languages are spoken by Kurds and Zazas, who constitute 18% of the population.
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United States
The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km2) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity). Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.
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Zeeland
Zeeland [ˈzeɪ̯.lɑnt] ( listen), also called Zealand in English, is the westernmost province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands (hence its name, meaning "sea-land") and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg. With a population of about 380,000, its area is about 2930 km², of which almost 1140 km² is water.
Large parts of Zeeland are below sea level. The last great flooding of the area was in 1953. Tourism is an important economic activity. In the summer, its beaches make it a popular destination for tourists, especially German tourists. In some areas, the population can be two to four times higher during the high summer season. The coat of arms of Zeeland shows a lion half-immerged from water, and the text "luctor et emergo" (Latin for "I struggle and I emerge"). The Pacific nation of New Zealand is named after Zeeland.
From north to south, it consists of
A list of the municipalities, with links to maps:
The province of Zeeland is a large river delta situated at the mouth of several major rivers. Most of the province lies below sea level and was reclaimed from the sea by inhabitants over time. What used to be a muddy landscape, flooding at high tide and reappearing at low tide, became a series of small man-made hills that stayed dry at all times. The people of the province would later connect the hills by creating dikes, which led to a chain of dry land that later grew into bigger islands and gave the province its current shape. The shape of the islands has changed over time at the hands of both man and nature.
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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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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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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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Bede
Bede ( /ˈbiːd/ BEED; Old English: Bǣda or Bēda; 672/673 – 26 May 735), also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede (Latin: Bēda Venerābilis), was an English monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow (see Monkwearmouth-Jarrow), both in the Kingdom of Northumbria. Bede's monastery had access to a superb library which included works by Eusebius and Orosius among many others.
He is well known as an author and scholar, and his most famous work, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (The Ecclesiastical History of the English People) gained him the title "The Father of English History". In 1899, Bede was made a Doctor of the Church by Leo XIII, a position of theological significance; he is the only native of Great Britain to achieve this designation (Anselm of Canterbury, also a Doctor of the Church, was originally from Italy). Bede was moreover a skilled linguist and translator, and his work with the Latin and Greek writings of the early Church Fathers contributed significantly to English Christianity, making the writings much more accessible to his fellow Anglo-Saxons.
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Berber people
Berbers (Berber: ⵉⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⴻⵏ Imazighen / Imaziɣen) are the indigenous ethnic group of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch of the Afro-Asiatic linguistic family. Today, varieties of Maghrebi colloquial Arabic are spoken by a large portion of Berbers besides the Berber language itself. Foreign languages like French are used by the educated in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. Spanish is also known by some Berbers in Morocco and in the annexed Western Sahara and Italian in Libya. This presence of European languages was due to Europe's occupation and colonization of the Berber world. Today, most Berber-speaking people live in Morocco and Algeria, smaller Berber-speaking populations are scattered throughout Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, Mali and Niger, as well as various diasporas living in Europe.
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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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Callippus
Callippus or Calippus (Greek: Κάλλιπος; ca. 370 BC – ca. 300 BC) was a Greek astronomer and mathematician.
Callippus was born at Cyzicus, and studied under Eudoxus of Cnidus at the Academy of Plato. He also worked with Aristotle at the Lyceum, which means that he was active in Athens prior to Aristotle's death in 322. He observed the movements of the planets and attempted to use Eudoxus' scheme of connected spheres to account for their movements. However he found that 27 spheres was insufficient to account for the planetary movements, and so he added seven more for a total of 34. According to the description in Aristotle's Metaphysics (XII.8), he added two spheres for the Sun, two for the Moon, and one each for Mercury, Venus, and Mars.
Callippus made careful measurements of the lengths of the seasons, finding them (starting with the spring equinox) to be 94 days, 92 days, 89 days, and 90 days. This variation in the seasons implies a variation in the speed of the Sun, called the solar anomaly. He also followed up on the work done by Meton of Athens to measure the length of the year and construct an accurate lunisolar calendar. The Metonic cycle has 19 tropical years and 235 synodic months in 6940 days. The Callippic cycle synchronizes days per orbit and rotations per orbit within the Metonic cycle, noting the difference of one after 4 Metonic cycles, a duration of 76 years. Distinguishing rotations and days infers knowledge of the precession cycle.
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Catullus
Gaius Valerius Catullus (ca. 84 BC – ca. 54 BC) was a Latin poet of the Republican period. His surviving works are still read widely, and continue to influence poetry and other forms of art.
Catullus came from a leading equestrian family of Verona in Cisalpine Gaul, and according to St. Jerome, he was born in the town. The family was prominent enough for his father to entertain Caesar, then proconsul of both Gallic provinces. In one of his poems Catullus describes his happy return to the family villa at Sirmio on Lake Garda near Verona. The poet also owned a villa near the fashionable resort of Tibur (modern Tivoli);; his complaints about his poverty described in his works do not reflect his life.
The poet appears to have spent most of his young adult years in Rome. His friends there included the poets Licinius Calvus, and Helvius Cinna, Quintus Hortensius (son of the orator and rival of Cicero) and the biographer Cornelius Nepos, to whom Catullus dedicated the extant libellus which is the basis of his fame. He appears to have been acquainted with the poet Marcus Furius Bibaculus. A number of prominent contemporaries appear in his poetry, including Cicero, Caesar and Pompey. According to an anecdote preserved by Suetonius, Caesar did not deny that Catullus's lampoons left an indelible stain on his reputation, but when Catullus apologized, he invited the poet for dinner the very same day.
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Censorinus
Censorinus, Roman grammarian and miscellaneous writer, flourished during the 3rd century AD.
He was the author of a lost work De Accentibus and of an extant treatise De Die Natali, written in 238, and dedicated to his patron Quintus Caerellius as a birthday gift. The contents are of a varied character: the natural history of man, the influence of the stars and genii, music, religious rites, astronomy, the doctrines of the Greek philosophers, and antiquarian subjects.
The second part deals with chronological and mathematical questions, and has been of great service in determining the principal epochs of ancient history. The whole is full of curious and interesting information. The style is clear and concise, although somewhat rhetorical, and the Latinity, for the period, good.
The chief authorities used were Varro and Suetonius. Some scholars, indeed, hold that the entire work is practically an adaptation of the lost Pratum of Suetonius. The fragments of a work De Natali Institutione, dealing with astronomy, geometry, music and versification, and usually printed with the De Die Natali of Censorinus, are not by him. Part of the original manuscript, containing the end of the genuine work, and the title and name of the author of the fragment are lost.
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Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( /ˈʃɑrlɨmeɪn/ or /ˈʃɑrləmeɪn/; French pronunciation: [ʃaʁ.lə.maɲ]; c. 742 – 28 January 814), also known as Charles the Great (Latin: Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus), was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans (Imperator Romanorum) from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800 in Rome.
His rule is also associated with the Carolingian Renaissance, a revival of art, religion, and culture through the medium of the Catholic Church. Through his foreign conquests and internal reforms, Charlemagne helped define both Western Europe and the European Middle Ages. He is numbered as Charles I in the regnal lists of Germany, the Holy Roman Empire, and France.
The son of King Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, a Frankish queen, he succeeded his father in 768 and was initially co-ruler with his brother Carloman I. It has often been suggested that the relationship between Charlemagne and Carloman was not good, but it has also been argued that tensions were exaggerated by Carolingian chroniclers.
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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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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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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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Cleostratus
Cleostratus (ca. 520 BC; possibly 548 BC to 432 BC) was an astronomer of ancient Greece. He was a native of Tenedos, and the Chaldean astronomer Naburimannu may have been a contemporary of him. He is believed by some scholars to have introduced the zodiac (beginning with Aries and Sagittarius) and the solar calendar to Greece from Babylonia. Censorinus (De Die Natali, c. 18) considers Cleostratus to have been the real inventor of the octaeteris, or cycle of eight years. The octaeteris was used before the Metonic cycle of 19 years, and was popularly attributed to Eudoxus. Theophrastus (de Sign. Pluv., p. 239, ed. Basil. 1541) mentions him as a meteorological observer along with Matricetas of Methymna and Phaeinus of Athens. Gaius Julius Hyginus (Poetica Astronomica, ii. 13) says that Cleostratus first pointed out the two stars in Auriga called Haedi. The crater Cleostratus on the Moon is named after him.
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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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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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Dionysius Exiguus
Dionysius Exiguus (Dennis the Small, Dennis the Little or Dennis the Short, meaning humble) (c. 470 – c. 544) was a 6th-century monk born in Scythia Minor, modern Dobruja shared by Romania and Bulgaria. He was a member of the Scythian monks community concentrated in Tomis, the major city of Scythia Minor. Dionysius is best known as the inventor of the Anno Domini (AD) era, which is used to number the years of both the Gregorian calendar and the (Christianized) Julian calendar.
From about 500 he lived in Rome, where, as a learned member of the Roman Curia, he translated from Greek into Latin 401 ecclesiastical canons, including the apostolical canons and the decrees of the councils of Nicaea, Constantinople, Chalcedon and Sardis, and also a collection of the decretals of the popes from Siricius to Anastasius II. These collections had great authority in the West and still guide church administrations. Dionysius also wrote a treatise on elementary mathematics.
The author of a continuation of Dionysius's Computus, writing in 616, described Dionysius as a "most learned abbot of the city of Rome", and the Venerable Bede accorded him the honorific abbas, which could be applied to any monk, especially a senior and respected monk, and does not necessarily imply that Dionysius ever headed a monastery; indeed, Dionysius's friend Cassiodorus stated in Institutiones that he was still only a monk late in life.
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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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Ennius
Quintus Ennius (c. 239 BC – c. 169 BC) was a writer during the period of the Roman Republic, and is often considered the father of Roman poetry. He was of Calabrian descent. Although only fragments of his works survive, his influence in Latin literature was significant.
Ennius was born at Rudiae, an old Italian (predominantly Oscan) town historically founded by the Messapians. Here Oscan, Greek, and Latin languages were in contact with one another; according to Aulus Gellius 17.17.1, Ennius referred to this heritage by saying he had "three hearts" (Quintus Ennius tria corda habere sese dicebat, quod loqui Graece et Osce et Latine sciret).
Ennius continued the nascent literary tradition by writing praetextae, tragedies, and palliatae, as well as his most famous work, a historic epic called the Annales. Other minor works include the Epicharmus, the Euhemerus, the Hedyphagetica, and Saturae.
The Epicharmus presented an account of the gods and the physical operations of the universe. In it, the poet dreamed he had been transported after death to some place of heavenly enlightenment.
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Eudoxus of Cnidus
Eudoxus of Cnidus (410 or 408 BC – 355 or 347 BC) was a Greek astronomer, mathematician, scholar and student of Plato. Since all his own works are lost, knowledge of him is obtained from secondary sources, such as Aratus's poem on astronomy. Theodosius of Bithynia's Sphaerics may be based on a work of Eudoxus.
His name Eudoxus means "honored" or "of good repute" (in Greek Εὔδοξος, from eu "good" and doxa "opinion, belief, fame"). It is analogous to the Latin name Benedictus.
Eudoxus's father Aeschines of Cnidus loved to watch stars at night. Eudoxus first travelled to Tarentum to study with Archytas, from whom he learned mathematics. While in Italy, Eudoxus visited Sicily, where he studied medicine with Philiston.
Around 387 BC, at the age of 23, he traveled with the physician Theomedon, who according to Diogenes Laërtius some believed was his lover, to Athens to study with the followers of Socrates. He eventually became the pupil of Plato, with whom he studied for several months, but due to a disagreement they had a falling out. Eudoxus was quite poor and could only afford an apartment at the Piraeus. To attend Plato's lectures, he walked the seven miles (11 km) each direction, each day. Due to his poverty, his friends raised funds sufficient to send him to Heliopolis, Egypt to pursue his study of astronomy and mathematics. He lived there for 16 months. From Egypt, he then traveled north to Cyzicus, located on the south shore of the Sea of Marmara, the Propontis. He traveled south to the court of Mausolus. During his travels he gathered many students of his own.
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Faustina the Elder
Annia Galeria Faustina, more familiarly referred to as Faustina I (Latin: Faustina Major; born on September 21, in about 100; died in October or November of 140), was a Roman Empress and wife of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius.
Faustina was the only known daughter of consul and prefect Marcus Annius Verus and Rupilia Faustina. Her brothers were consul Marcus Annius Libo and praetor Marcus Annius Verus. Her maternal aunts were Roman Empress Vibia Sabina and Matidia Minor. Her paternal grandfather had the same name as her father and her maternal grandparents were Salonina Matidia (niece of Roman Emperor Trajan) and suffect consul Lucius Scribonius Libo Rupilius Frugi Bonus. Faustina was born and raised in Rome.
As a private citizen, she married Antoninus Pius between 110 and 115. Faustina and Antoninus had a very happy marriage. Faustina bore Antoninus four children, two sons and two daughters. They were:
On July 10, 138, her uncle, Emperor Hadrian, died and her husband became the new emperor, as Antoninus was Hadrian's adopted son and heir. Faustina became Roman Empress and the Senate accorded her the title of Augusta. As empress, Faustina was well respected and was renowned for her beauty and wisdom. The Augustan History criticized her as having "excessive frankness" and "levity". Throughout her life, as a private citizen and as empress, Faustina was involved in assisting charities for the poor and sponsoring and assisting in the education of Roman children, particularly girls.
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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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Heinrich Bünting
Heinrich Bünting (1545 – 1606) was a Protestant pastor and theologian. He is best known for his book of woodcut maps titled Itinerarium Sacrae Scripturae (Travel book through Holy Scripture) first published in 1581.
Bünting was born in Hannover, Germany, in 1545. He studied theology at the University of Wittenberg graduating in 1569 and became a Protestant pastor in Lemgo. He was dismissed in 1575 and moved to Gronau an der Leine. In 1591 he was appointed superintendent in Goslar. When a dispute arose over his teachings in 1600 he was dismissed and retired from the ministry. He spent the rest of his life as a private citizen in Hannover.
His book of woodcut maps, Itinerarium Sacrae Scriptura, first published in Magdeburg in 1581, was a very popular book in its day. It was reprinted and translated several times. The book provided the most complete summary of biblical geography available and described the Holy Land by following the travels of various notable people from the Old and New testaments. In addition to conventional maps, the book also contained three figurative maps; the world depicted using a cloverleaf design thought to possibly represent the Trinity with Jerusalem in the centre, Europe in the form of a crowned and robed women, and Asia as the winged horse Pegasus.
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Hipparchus
Hipparchus/hɪˈpɑːrkəs/, or more correctly Hipparchos (Greek: Ἵππαρχος, Hipparkhos; c. 190 BC – c. 120 BC), was a Greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician of the Hellenistic period. He is considered the founder of trigonometry.
Hipparchus was born in Nicaea (now Iznik, Turkey), and probably died on the island of Rhodes. He is known to have been a working astronomer at least from 162 to 127 BC. Hipparchus is considered the greatest ancient astronomical observer and, by some, the greatest overall astronomer of antiquity. He was the first whose quantitative and accurate models for the motion of the Sun and Moon survive. For this he certainly made use of the observations and perhaps the mathematical techniques accumulated over centuries by the Chaldeans from Babylonia. He developed trigonometry and constructed trigonometric tables, and he solved several problems of spherical trigonometry. With his solar and lunar theories and his trigonometry, he may have been the first to develop a reliable method to predict solar eclipses. His other reputed achievements include the discovery of Earth's precession, the compilation of the first comprehensive star catalog of the western world, and possibly the invention of the astrolabe, also of the armillary sphere, which he used during the creation of much of the star catalogue. It would be three centuries before Claudius Ptolemaeus' synthesis of astronomy would supersede the work of Hipparchus; it is heavily dependent on it in many areas.
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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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Jakob Christmann
Jakob Christmann (born November 1554 in Johannisberg (Rheingau), Geisenheim - 16 June 1613 in Heidelberg) was a German Orientalist who also studied problems of astronomy.
Christmann, a Jew who converted before 1578 to Christianity, studied Orientalistics at the University of Heidelberg's Collegium Sapientiae and became teacher at the Dionysianum. He followed humanist Thomas Erastus to Basel and continued his study tour in Breslau, Vienna and Prague.
In 1578, Pfalzgraf John Casimir founded the Reformed Casmirianum at Neustadt an der Haardt. Christmann joined the Casimirianum faculty in 1582 and dedicated his Arabic language Grammar, Alphabetum arabicum, to his colleagues there.
After the return of the Reformed faith to the Electoral Palatinate, Christmann returned to Heidelberg to serve on the faculty of the Collegium Sapientiae in 1584. After some internal debate about the location of the chair, Christman was appointed professor of Hebrew at the university in 1585. He compiled a catalog of the manuscripts of Guillaume Postel (1510–1581), located since 1551 at Heidelberg Castle. In 1590 he published a Latin translation of the astronomy of Al-Farghani. In 1609 at the urging of Elector Frederick IV, he was appointed Europe's first professor for the Arabic language.
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Jesus
Jesus ( /ˈdʒiːzəs/; Greek: Ἰησοῦς; 7–2 BC/BCE to 30–36 AD/CE), also referred to as Jesus Christ or simply Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and most Christian denominations venerate him as God the Son incarnated. In Islam, Jesus (in Arabic: عيسى in Islamic usage, commonly transliterated as Isa) is considered one of God's important prophets.
Most modern historians agree that Jesus existed and was a Jewish teacher from Galilee in Roman Judaea, who was baptized by John the Baptist, and was crucified in Jerusalem on the orders of the Roman Prefect, Pontius Pilate. Scholars have offered competing descriptions and portraits of Jesus, which at times share a number of overlapping attributes, such as a rabbi, a charismatic healer, the leader of an apocalyptic movement, a self-described Messiah, a sage and philosopher, or a social reformer who preached of the "Kingdom of God" as a means for personal and egalitarian social transformation. Scholars have correlated the New Testament accounts with non-Christian historical records to arrive at an estimated chronology of Jesus' life.
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Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler (German pronunciation: [ˈkʰɛplɐ]; December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630) was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican Astronomy. These works also provided one of the foundations for Isaac Newton's theory of universal gravitation.
During his career, Kepler was a mathematics teacher at a seminary school in Graz, Austria, where he became an associate of Prince Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg. Later he became an assistant to astronomer Tycho Brahe, and eventually the imperial mathematician to Emperor Rudolf II and his two successors Matthias and Ferdinand II. He was also a mathematics teacher in Linz, Austria, and an adviser to General Wallenstein. Additionally, he did fundamental work in the field of optics, invented an improved version of the refracting telescope (the Keplerian Telescope), and mentioned the telescopic discoveries of his contemporary Galileo Galilei.
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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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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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Juvenal
Decimus Iunius Iuvenalis, known in English as Juvenal, was a Roman poet active in the late 1st and early 2nd century AD, author of the Satires. The details of the author's life are unclear, although references within his text to known persons of the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD fix his terminus post quem (earliest date of composition).
In accord with the manner of Lucilius—the originator of the genre of Roman satire—and within a poetic tradition that also included Horace and Persius, Juvenal wrote at least 16 poems in dactylic hexameter covering an encyclopedic range of topics across the Roman world. While the Satires are a vital source for the study of ancient Rome from a vast number of perspectives, their hyperbolic, comedic mode of expression makes the use of statements found within them as simple fact problematic. At first glance the Satires could be read as a critique of pagan Rome, perhaps ensuring their survival in Christian monastic scriptoria, a bottleneck in preservation when the large majority of ancient texts were lost.
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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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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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Lucan
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (November 3, 39 AD – April 30, 65 AD), better known in English as Lucan, was a Roman poet, born in Corduba (modern-day Córdoba), in the Hispania Baetica. Despite his short life, he is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial Latin period. His youth and speed of composition set him apart from other poets.
Three brief ancient lives, the earliest attributed to Suetonius, another to an otherwise unknown Vacca, and the third anonymous and undated, along with references in Martial, Cassius Dio, Tacitus's Annals, and one of Statius's Silvae, allow for the reconstruction of a modest biography. Lucan was the grandson of Seneca the Elder and grew up under the tutelage of his uncle Seneca the Younger. Born into a wealthy family, he studied rhetoric at Athens and was probably provided with a philosophical and Stoic education by his uncle.
He found success under Nero, became one of the emperor's close friends and was rewarded with a quaestorship in advance of the legal age. In 60 AD, he won a prize for extemporizing Orpheus and Laudes Neronis at the quinquennial Neronia, and was again rewarded when the emperor appointed him to the augurate. During this time he circulated the first three books of his epic poem, Pharsalia (labelled De Bello civili in the manuscripts), which told the story of the civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey.
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Lucretius
Titus Lucretius Carus (ca. 99 BC – ca. 55 BC) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the epic philosophical poem De rerum natura about the beliefs of Epicureanism, and which is translated into English as On the Nature of Things or "On the Nature of the Universe".
Virtually nothing is known about the life of Lucretius. Jerome tells how he was driven mad by a love potion and wrote his poetry between fits of insanity, eventually committing suicide in middle age; but modern scholarship suggests this account was likely an invention. The De rerum natura was a considerable influence on the Augustan poets, particularly Virgil (in his Aeneid and Georgics, and to a lesser extent in his Eclogues) and Horace. It virtually disappeared during the Middle Ages, but was rediscovered in a monastery in Germany in 1417, by Poggio Bracciolini, and played an important role both in the development of atomism (Lucretius was an important influence on Pierre Gassendi) and the efforts of various figures of the Enlightenment era to construct a new Christian humanism.
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Macrobius
Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius was a Roman who flourished during the early fifth century. He is primarily known for his writings, which include the Saturnalia, a compendium of ancient Roman religious and antiquarian lore, the Commentarii in Somnium Scipionis ("Commentary on the Dream of Scipio"), which was an important source for Platonism in the Latin West during the Middle Ages, and De differentiis et societatibus graeci latinique verbi ("On the differences and similarities of the Greek and Latin verb") which is now lost. He was one of the last Latin authors not to have converted to Christianity.
The correct order of his names is "Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius", which is how it appears in the earliest manuscripts of the Saturnalia, and how he is addressed in the excerpts from his lost De differentiis. Only in later manuscripts were his names reversed as "Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius", which James Willis then adopted for his edition of the Commentary. Alan Cameron notes that Cassiodorus and Boethius both refer to him as "Macrobius Theodosius", while he was known during his lifetime as "Theodosius": the dedication to the De differentiis is addressed Theodosius Symmacho suo ("Theodosius to his Symmachus"), and by the dedicatory epistle to Avianus's Fables, where he is addressed as Theodosi optime.
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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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Martial
Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial) (March 1, 40 AD – between 102 and 104 AD), was a Latin poet from Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula) best known for his twelve books of Epigrams, published in Rome between AD 86 and 103, during the reigns of the emperors Domitian, Nerva and Trajan. In these short, witty poems he cheerfully satirises city life and the scandalous activities of his acquaintances, and romanticises his provincial upbringing. He wrote a total of 1,561, of which 1,235 are in elegiac couplets. He is considered to be the creator of the modern epigram.
Knowledge of his origins and early life are derived almost entirely from his works, which can be more or less dated according to the well-known events to which they refer. In Book X of his Epigrams, composed between 95 and 98, he mentions celebrating his fifty-seventh birthday; hence he was born on March 1 (x. 24) 38, 39, 40 or 41 AD, under Caligula or Claudius. His place of birth was Augusta Bilbilis (now Calatayud) in Hispania Tarraconensis. His parents, Fronto and Flaccilla, appear to have died in his youth.
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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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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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Petronius
Gaius Petronius Arbiter (ca. 27–66 AD) was a Roman courtier during the reign of Nero. He is generally believed to be the author of the Satyricon, a satirical novel believed to have been written during the Neronian age.
Tacitus, Plutarch and Pliny the Elder describe Petronius as the elegantiae arbiter (also phrased arbiter elegantiarum), "judge of elegance" in the court of the emperor Nero. He served as consul in the year AD 62. Later, he became a member of the senatorial class who devoted themselves to a life of pleasure, whose relationship to Nero was apparently akin to that of a fashion advisor. Tacitus gives this account of Petronius in his historical work the Annals:
He spent his days in sleep, his nights in attending to his official duties or in amusement, that by his dissolute life he had become as famous as other men by a life of energy, and that he was regarded as no ordinary profligate, but as an accomplished voluptuary. His reckless freedom of speech, being regarded as frankness, procured him popularity. Yet during his provincial government, and later when he held the office of consul, he had shown vigor and capacity for affairs. Afterwards returning to his life of vicious indulgence, he became one of the chosen circle of Nero's intimates, and was looked upon as an absolute authority on questions of taste (elegantiae arbiter) in connection with the science of luxurious living.
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Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus (c. 254–184 BC), commonly known as "Plautus", was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus. The word Plautine ( /ˈplɔːtaɪn/) refers to both Plautus's own works and works similar to or influenced by his.
Not much is known about Titus Maccius Plautus' early life. It is believed that he was born in Sarsina, a small town in Umbria in central Italy, in around 254 BC. According to Morris Marples, Plautus worked as a stage-carpenter or scene-shifter in his early years. It is from this work, perhaps, that his love of the theater originated. His acting talent was eventually discovered; and he adopted the names "Maccius" (a clownish stock-character in popular farces) and "Plautus" (a term meaning either "flat-footed" or "flat-eared," like the ears of a hound). Tradition holds that he made enough money to go into the nautical business, but that the venture collapsed. He is then said to have worked as a manual laborer and to have studied Greek drama—particularly the New Comedy of Menander—in his leisure. His studies allowed him to produce his plays, which were released between c. 205 and 184 BC. Plautus attained such a popularity that his name alone became a hallmark of theatrical success.
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Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (23 AD – August 25, 79 AD), better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian. Spending most of his spare time studying, writing or investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field, he wrote an encyclopedic work, Naturalis Historia, which became a model for all such works written subsequently. Pliny the Younger, his nephew, wrote of him in a letter to the historian Tacitus:
Pliny is referring to the fact that Tacitus relied on his uncle's now missing work on the History of the German Wars. Pliny the Elder died on August 25, 79 AD, while attempting the rescue by ship of a friend and his family from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that had just destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The prevailing wind would not allow his ship to leave the shore. His companions attributed his collapse and death to toxic fumes; but they were unaffected by the fumes, suggesting natural causes.
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Pliny the Younger
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61 AD – ca. 112 AD), better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him. They were both witnesses to the eruption of Vesuvius on 24 August 79 AD.
Pliny is known for his hundreds of surviving letters, which are an invaluable historical source for the time period. Many are addressed to reigning emperors or to notables such as the historian, Tacitus. Pliny himself was a notable figure, serving as an imperial magistrate under Trajan (reigned AD 98–117). Pliny was considered an honest and moderate man, consistent in his pursuit of suspected Christian members according to Roman law, and rose through a series of Imperial civil and military offices, the cursus honorum (see below). He was a friend of the historian Tacitus and employed the biographer Suetonius in his staff. Pliny also came into contact with many other well-known men of the period, including the philosophers Artemidorus and Euphrates during his time in Syria.[citation needed]
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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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Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII (7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was Pope from 1572 to 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake for the Gregorian calendar, which remains the internationally accepted civil calendar to this date.
During his pontificate, Gregory fostered cultural patronages associated with his papacy. He strengthened many ecclesiastical and diplomatic envoys to Asia, namely the islands of Japan and the Philippines. He was also the first Pope to bestow the Immaculate Conception as Patroness to the Philippine Islands on 9 February 1579.
Ugo Boncompagni was born the son of Cristoforo Boncompagni (10 July 1470–1546) and of his wife Angela Marescalchi in Bologna, where he studied law and graduated in 1530. He later taught jurisprudence for some years, and his students included notable figures such as Cardinals Alexander Farnese, Reginald Pole and Charles Borromeo. He had an illegitimate son before he took holy orders.
At the age of thirty-six he was summoned to Rome by Pope Paul III (1534–1549), under whom he held successive appointments as first judge of the capital, abbreviator, and vice-chancellor of the Campagna. Pope Paul IV (1555–1559) attached him as datarius to the suite of Cardinal Carlo Carafa, Pope Pius IV (1559–1565) made him Cardinal-Priest of San Sisto Vecchio and sent him to the Council of Trent.
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Prosper of Aquitaine
Saint Prosper of Aquitaine (c. 390 – c. 455), a Christian writer and disciple of Saint Augustine of Hippo, was the first continuator of Jerome's Universal Chronicle.
Prosper was a native of Aquitaine, and seems to have been educated at Marseilles. By 429 he was corresponding with Augustine. In 431 he appeared in Rome to interview Pope Celestine I regarding the teachings of Augustine; there is no further trace of him until 440, the first year of the pontificate of Pope Leo I, who had been in Gaul, where he may have met Prosper. In any case Prosper was soon in Rome, attached to the pope in some secretarial or notarial capacity. Gennadius of Massilia's De viris illustribus (lxxxiv, 89) repeats the tradition that Prosper dictated the famous letters of Leo I against Eutyches. The date of his death is not known, but his chronicle goes as far as 455, and the fact that the chronicler Marcellinus mentions him under the year 463 seems to indicate that his death was shortly after that date.
Prosper was a layman, but he threw himself with ardour into the religious controversies of his day, defending Augustine and propagating orthodoxy. In his De vocatione omnium gentium ("The Call of all Nations"), in which the issues of the call to the Gentiles is discussed in the light of Augustine's doctrine of Grace, Prosper appears as the first of the medieval Augustinians.
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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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Roman civil wars
There were several Roman civil wars, especially during the late Republic. The most famous of these are the war in the 40s BC between Julius Caesar and the optimate faction of the senatorial elite initially led by Pompey and the subsequent war between Caesar's successors, Octavian and Mark Antony in the 30s BC. Following is a list of civil wars in ancient Rome.
After 30 BC, the Roman Empire was unified under leadership of Octavian. In 27 BC Octavian was granted the title of Augustus by the Senate. These two dates are considered to mark the end of the Republic and the birth of the Roman Empire. The period of rule by the Caesars was known as the "Pax Augusti" (peace of Augustus), and was the beginning of the era known as the "Pax Romana" (Roman Peace). The next serious Roman civil war would not be fought until after Nero's suicide in 68 AD, the year before the year of the four emperors.
From the rule of the Flavian Dynasty until the Year Of The Five Emperors, the Roman Empire experienced an extended period of internal peace and harmony later known as the time of The Five Good Emperors - Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antonius Pius and Marcus Aurelius.
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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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Seneca the Younger
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (often known simply as Seneca; ca. 4 BC – AD 65) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero. While he was later forced to commit suicide for alleged complicity in the Pisonian conspiracy to assassinate Nero, the last of the Julio-Claudian emperors, he may have been innocent. His father was Seneca the Elder and his elder brother was Gallio.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca was born in Cordoba, in the Baetica, the southern highly romanized province of Spain. One of his revisionist modern biographers, however, Miriam Griffin says in her biography of Seneca that "the evidence for Seneca's life before his exile in 41 is so slight, and the potential interest of these years, for social history as well as for biography, is so great that few writers on Seneca have resisted the temptation to eke out knowledge with imagination." Griffin also states, apparently inferring from ancient sources, that Seneca was born in either 8, 4, or 1 BC. She thinks he was born between 4 and 1 BC and was a resident in Rome by AD 5. Seneca says that he was carried to Rome in the arms of his mother's stepsister. Griffin says that, allowing for rhetorical exaggeration, means "it is fair to conclude that Seneca was in Rome as a very small boy." Be that as it may, it is clear that he was in Rome at a relatively early stage in his life.
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Statius
Publius Papinius Statius (c. 45, Naples – c. 96 AD, Naples) was a Roman poet of the 1st century CE (Silver Age of Latin literature). Besides his poetry in Latin, which include an epic poem, the Thebaid, a collection of occasional poetry, the Silvae, and the unfinished epic, the Achilleid, he is best known for his appearance as a major character in the Purgatory section of Dante's epic poem The Divine Comedy.
Information about Statius' life is almost entirely drawn from his Silvae and a mention by the satirist Juvenal. He was born to a family of Graeco-Campanian origin; his Roman cognomen suggests that at some time an ancestor of his was freed and adopted the name of his former master, although neither Statius nor his father were slaves. The poet's father (whose name is unknown) was a native of Velia but later moved to Naples and spent time in Rome where he taught with marked success. From boyhood to adulthood, Statius' father proved himself a champion in the poetic contests at Naples in the Augustalia and in the Nemean, Pythian, and Isthmian games, which served as important events to display poetic skill during the early empire. Statius declares in his lament for his father (Silv. 5.3) that his father was in his time equal to any literary task, whether in prose or verse. He mentioned Mevania, and may have spent time there, or been impressed by the confrontation of Vitellius and Vespasian in 69. Statius' father was a Roman eques, but may have lost his status because of money troubles. At Naples, he was a teacher of Greek and Roman literature who attracted many pupils who were destined for religious offices in Rome. He died in 79 CE.
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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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Terence
Publius Terentius Afer (195/185–159 BC), better known in English as Terence, was a playwright of the Roman Republic, of North African descent. His comedies were performed for the first time around 170–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought Terence to Rome as a slave, educated him and later on, impressed by his abilities, freed him. Terence apparently died young, probably in Greece or on his way back to Rome. All of the six plays Terence wrote have survived.
One famous quotation by Terence reads: "Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto", or "I am a human being, I consider nothing that is human alien to me." This appeared in his play Heauton Timorumenos.
Terence's date of birth is disputed; Aelius Donatus, in his incomplete Commentum Terenti, considers the year 185 BC to be the year Terentius was born;Fenestella, on the other hand, states that he was born ten years earlier, in 195 BC.
He may have been born in or near Carthage or in Greek Italy to a woman taken to Carthage as a slave. Terence's ethnonym Afer suggests he lived in the territory of the Libyan tribe called by the Romans Afri near Carthage prior to being brought to Rome as a slave. This inference is based on the fact that the term was used in two different ways during the republican era: during Terence's lifetime, it was used to refer to non-Carthaginian Libyco-Berbers, with the term Punicus reserved for the Carthaginians. Later, after the destruction of Carthage in 146 BC, it was used to refer to anyone from the land of the Afri (Tunisia and its surroundings). It is therefore most likely that Terence was of Libyan descent, considered ancestors to the modern-day Berber peoples.
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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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Thomas Harriot
Thomas Harriot (Oxford, c. 1560 – London, 2 July 1621) was an English astronomer, mathematician, ethnographer, and translator. Some sources give his surname as Harriott or Hariot or Heriot. He is sometimes credited with the introduction of the potato to the British Isles. Harriot was the first person to make a drawing of the Moon through a telescope, on July 26, 1609, over four months before Galileo.
After graduating from Oxford University, Harriot travelled to the Americas, accompanying the 1585 expedition to Roanoke island funded by Raleigh and led by Sir Ralph Lane. Harriot was a vital member of the venture, having translated and learned the Carolina Algonquian language from two Native Americans, Wanchese and Manteo. On his return to England he worked for the 9th Earl of Northumberland. At the Earl's house, he became a prolific mathematician and astronomer to whom the theory of refraction is attributed.
Born in 1560 in Oxford, England, Thomas Harriot attended St Mary Hall, Oxford. His name appears in the school's registry dating from 1577.
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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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Valerius Maximus
Valerius Maximus was a Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes. He worked during the reign of Tiberius (14 AD to 37 AD).
Nothing is known of his life except that his family was poor and undistinguished, and that he owed everything to Sextus Pompeius (consul AD 14), proconsul of Asia, whom he accompanied to the East in 27. Pompeius was the center of a literary circle to which Ovid belonged; he was also an intimate friend of the most literary prince of the imperial family, Germanicus.
His attitude towards the imperial household has often been misunderstood, and he has been represented as a mean flatterer of the same type as Martial. But, if the references to the imperial administration are carefully scanned, they will be seen to be extravagant neither in kind nor in number. Few will now grudge Tiberius, when his whole action as a ruler is taken into account, such a title as salutaris princeps, which seemed to a former generation a specimen of shameless adulation. The few allusions to Caesar's murderers and to Augustus hardly pass beyond the conventional style of the writer's day. The only passage which can fairly be called fulsome is the violently rhetorical tirade against Sejanus.
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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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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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Julian Calendar History
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:13
- Updated: 23 Feb 2013
Find out which GOD you are worshipping.
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Teach Astronomy - Julian Calendar
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:32
- Updated: 12 Dec 2012
http://www.teachastronomy.com/ Major calendar reform occurred around the time of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. The early Roman calendar was very imprecise. The R...
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http://www.teachastronomy.com/ Major calendar reform occurred around the time of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. The early Roman calendar was very imprecise. The R...
- published: 06 Jul 2010
- views: 312
- author: astropedia
Julian Calendar History 720X480
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:14
- Updated: 09 Oct 2011
Julian Calendar Historyby 380stroker 1988 views; 912. Watch Later It IS Timeby gmoore49 1050 views; 205 ... Who Changed Yahweh's Calendar Part1 13by seekbibletruth 187 views; 122. Watch Later History of Gregorian Calendarby fuadsyazwan 19946 views; 630. Watch Later Hebrew Calendarby madrilenyo 30975 views; 1334. Watch Later Rev Julian Calderon Celebration of Life service 2007part 7by redwingsrv 190 views; 200. Watch Later Gregorian Calendar is Evilby amonshango 2321 views ...
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Julian Calendar Historyby 380stroker 1988 views; 912. Watch Later It IS Timeby gmoore49 1050 views; 205 ... Who Changed Yahweh's Calendar Part1 13by seekbibletruth 187 views; 122. Watch Later History of Gregorian Calendarby fuadsyazwan 19946 views; 630. Watch Later Hebrew Calendarby madrilenyo 30975 views; 1334. Watch Later Rev Julian Calderon Celebration of Life service 2007part 7by redwingsrv 190 views; 200. Watch Later Gregorian Calendar is Evilby amonshango 2321 views ...
- published: 09 Oct 2011
- views: 230
- author: reuben7289
Song for the Julian Calendar
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:13
- Updated: 26 Feb 2013
Sun twinkling on the river this evening The taste of chocolate on my tongue Darkness climbing up the ladders to the sky Rung by agonizing rung Heard firecrac...
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Sun twinkling on the river this evening The taste of chocolate on my tongue Darkness climbing up the ladders to the sky Rung by agonizing rung Heard firecrac...
- published: 06 Feb 2012
- views: 298
- author: JamEaters
The Gregorian Calendar "Missed" the Mark!!!
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:25
- Updated: 26 Feb 2013
1st Chronicles 12:32 "And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had UNDERSTANDING OF THE TIMES, to know what Israel ought to do......" The Mayan c...
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1st Chronicles 12:32 "And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had UNDERSTANDING OF THE TIMES, to know what Israel ought to do......" The Mayan c...
- published: 11 Feb 2012
- views: 800
- author: benjamite144
Welsh valley sticks to the Julian calendar
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:57
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
Watch Later Julian Calendar Historyby 380stroker 2085 views · 10719. Watch Later Calendar Reform in the Orthodox Church by Protodeacon Serge Arlievskywmvby holytrinityseminary 642 views · 4956. Watch Later Sonic Youth Goofull albumby vu lu 7117 views · 416. Watch Later Ethiopian New Year Celebration 20112004 Julian Calendarby Student Activities 16308 views · 713. Watch Later Cutest Christmas Proposal Everby Kendyl Shelton 5855 views · 413. Watch Later What to expect from thedream ...
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Watch Later Julian Calendar Historyby 380stroker 2085 views · 10719. Watch Later Calendar Reform in the Orthodox Church by Protodeacon Serge Arlievskywmvby holytrinityseminary 642 views · 4956. Watch Later Sonic Youth Goofull albumby vu lu 7117 views · 416. Watch Later Ethiopian New Year Celebration 20112004 Julian Calendarby Student Activities 16308 views · 713. Watch Later Cutest Christmas Proposal Everby Kendyl Shelton 5855 views · 413. Watch Later What to expect from thedream ...
- published: 30 Dec 2012
- views: 1
- author: newstimefresher
In 46BC the Roman Calendar was replaced by the Julian Calendar. Who was it that...
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:29
- Updated: 12 Oct 2012
In 46BC the Roman Calendar was replaced by the Julian Calendar Who was it that. Mattias Bergström2923 videos. Subscribe Subscribed Unsubscribe 9. 13 views. Like 0 Dislike 0. Like ... The God of Saturday and the Saturday Sabbathby lunarsabbathmidwest922 views; Webbot Clif High 2012 11 11 the Mayan Calendar and the Roman Catholic Church 505. Watch Later Webbot Clif High 2012 11 11 the Mayan Calendar and the Roman Catholic Church youtube newby john terry496 views; The Medieval ...
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In 46BC the Roman Calendar was replaced by the Julian Calendar Who was it that. Mattias Bergström2923 videos. Subscribe Subscribed Unsubscribe 9. 13 views. Like 0 Dislike 0. Like ... The God of Saturday and the Saturday Sabbathby lunarsabbathmidwest922 views; Webbot Clif High 2012 11 11 the Mayan Calendar and the Roman Catholic Church 505. Watch Later Webbot Clif High 2012 11 11 the Mayan Calendar and the Roman Catholic Church youtube newby john terry496 views; The Medieval ...
- published: 12 Oct 2012
- views: 19
- author: Mattias Bergström
History of Gregorian Calendar
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:22
- Updated: 21 Feb 2013
Further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar PLEASE DO NOT REPORT THIS VIDEO. I KNOW I'VE UPLOADED THIS VIDEO WITHOUT PERMISSION, BUT PLE...
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Further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar PLEASE DO NOT REPORT THIS VIDEO. I KNOW I'VE UPLOADED THIS VIDEO WITHOUT PERMISSION, BUT PLE...
- published: 04 Jun 2008
- views: 20556
- author: fuadsyazwan
Happy January Fools' Day
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:53
- Updated: 10 Feb 2013
From Wiki Julian Calendar: "New Year's Day" "The Roman calendar began the year on 1 January, and this remained the start of the year after the Julian reform....
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From Wiki Julian Calendar: "New Year's Day" "The Roman calendar began the year on 1 January, and this remained the start of the year after the Julian reform....
- published: 01 Jan 2013
- views: 594
- author: vudumojo
2011 julian calendar
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:21
- Updated: 16 Dec 2012
2011 julian calendar.
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Orthodox Christmas starts
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:59
- Updated: 15 Dec 2012
Orthodox Christians have started celebrating the start of their Christmas according to the older Julian calendar.
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Orthodox Christians have started celebrating the start of their Christmas according to the older Julian calendar.
- published: 07 Jan 2012
- views: 766
- author: Epsajee
Julian Calendar 12-11-12 Evaluation
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:16
- Updated: 14 Dec 2012
Julian Calendar 121112 Evaluation. ezspeakers262922 videos. Subscribe Subscribed Unsubscribe 1. 9 views. Like 0 Dislike 0. Like ... Madras Shaker Ice Breaker 112712 Evaluationby ezspeakers2629 No views; 513. Watch Later THE HISTORY OF THE JULIAN CALENDARby Zebulon Hedeqyah 62 views; 549. Watch Later Haz un Calendario 2013 con Fotos ya tu gustoby craftingeek 162896 views; 053. Watch Later MSM Zombie Hunters Calendar shotshow 2013by milspecmonkey 2742 views; 1935 ...
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Julian Calendar 121112 Evaluation. ezspeakers262922 videos. Subscribe Subscribed Unsubscribe 1. 9 views. Like 0 Dislike 0. Like ... Madras Shaker Ice Breaker 112712 Evaluationby ezspeakers2629 No views; 513. Watch Later THE HISTORY OF THE JULIAN CALENDARby Zebulon Hedeqyah 62 views; 549. Watch Later Haz un Calendario 2013 con Fotos ya tu gustoby craftingeek 162896 views; 053. Watch Later MSM Zombie Hunters Calendar shotshow 2013by milspecmonkey 2742 views; 1935 ...
- published: 14 Dec 2012
- views: 9
- author: EZSpeakers2629
2007 julian calendar
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:36
- Updated: 16 Dec 2012
2007 julian calendar.
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2012 julian calendar
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:06
- Updated: 16 Dec 2012
2012 julian calendar.
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Julian Calendar 12-11-12
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:31
- Updated: 14 Dec 2012
Loading comment. Loading. 951. Watch Later Madras Shaker Ice Breaker 112712by ezspeakers2629 No views; 247. Watch Later Andrew Holtz Enjoy The Ride 121112 Evaluationby ezspeakers2629 No views; 216. Watch Later Julian Calendar 121112 Evaluationby ezspeakers2629 No views; 309. Watch Later Madras Shaker Ice Breaker 112712 Evaluationby ezspeakers2629 No views; 522. Watch Later Andrew Holtz Enjoy The Ride Ice Breaker 121112by ezspeakers2629 No views; 112. Watch Later ...
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Loading comment. Loading. 951. Watch Later Madras Shaker Ice Breaker 112712by ezspeakers2629 No views; 247. Watch Later Andrew Holtz Enjoy The Ride 121112 Evaluationby ezspeakers2629 No views; 216. Watch Later Julian Calendar 121112 Evaluationby ezspeakers2629 No views; 309. Watch Later Madras Shaker Ice Breaker 112712 Evaluationby ezspeakers2629 No views; 522. Watch Later Andrew Holtz Enjoy The Ride Ice Breaker 121112by ezspeakers2629 No views; 112. Watch Later ...
- published: 14 Dec 2012
- views: 21
- author: EZSpeakers2629
Julian Calendar Christmas Liturgy in Serbian Orthodox Church, Washington D.C. (6-1-2012).
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:00
- Updated: 02 Jan 2013
Julian Calendar Christmas in Serbian Orthodox Church in Washington D.C. (6-1-2012). Bozicna liturgija u Srpskoj Pravoslavnoj Crkvi, Washington D.C. (6. Janua...
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Julian Calendar Christmas in Serbian Orthodox Church in Washington D.C. (6-1-2012). Bozicna liturgija u Srpskoj Pravoslavnoj Crkvi, Washington D.C. (6. Janua...
- published: 08 Jan 2012
- views: 502
- author: toande77
Let's Play/Suffer: Goolin - Day 30, The Julian Calendar
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:25
- Updated: 22 Dec 2012
The end of Goolin is hopefully slightly nigh. In months past, I wrote: http://indieocean.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/dont-keep-goolin/ -------------------------...
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The end of Goolin is hopefully slightly nigh. In months past, I wrote: http://indieocean.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/dont-keep-goolin/ -------------------------...
- published: 13 Apr 2012
- views: 60
- author: TheIndieOcean
New Year's Eve Service (Julian Calendar)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:47
- Updated: 22 Jan 2013
Saint Sava's Cathedral - January 12, 2013 - Belgrade, Serbia.
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Saint Sava's Cathedral - January 12, 2013 - Belgrade, Serbia.
- published: 22 Jan 2013
- views: 2
- author: Bill Kralovec
Julian Calendar Nativity Vigil
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:46
- Updated: 08 Jan 2011
St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church Chester, PA January 6, 2011.
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St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church Chester, PA January 6, 2011.
- published: 08 Jan 2011
- views: 15
- author: warszawianka
Julius Caesar - The Roman Empire in HD
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 45:58
- Updated: 05 Mar 2013
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general, statesman, Consul and notable author of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise ...
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Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general, statesman, Consul and notable author of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise ...
- published: 18 Jan 2013
- views: 759
- author: EirionnMobileApps
Julian Calendar: Facts in Fifty Number 526
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:51
- Updated: 21 Jan 2013
Narrated.
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Julian Calendar Nativity Vigil
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:38
- Updated: 08 Jan 2011
St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church Chester, PA Jan. 6, 2011.
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St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church Chester, PA Jan. 6, 2011.
- published: 08 Jan 2011
- views: 17
- author: warszawianka
Julian Calendar Nativity Vigil
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:17
- Updated: 08 Jan 2011
St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church Chester, PA January 6, 2011.
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St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church Chester, PA January 6, 2011.
- published: 08 Jan 2011
- views: 8
- author: warszawianka
photo: AP / David Guttenfelder
07 Mar 2013
Posted. March 7, 2013. North Korea threatened a preemptive nuclear attack against the United States ahead of an upcoming vote on additional UN sanctions against Pyongyang. The country also accused the United States of performing military drills in South Korea as a launching pad for nuclear war. North Korea adds that it plans to scrap the armistice that ended Korean War hostilities ... The statement read. ... Category. Asia. Tags ... Posted ... ....(size: 2.5Kb)
photo: AP / Aaron Favila
05 Mar 2013
Manila. Members of a major Philippine Muslim rebel force who were meant to have disarmed in the 1990s as part of a peace pact are involved in deadly battles in Malaysia, the group’s leader said on Tuesday. Nur Misuari, who founded the Moro National Liberation Front in the late 1960s, confirmed “freedom fighters” from his group were part of the militia sent by a self-proclaimed sultan to claim the Malaysian state of Sabah....(size: 2.6Kb)
photo: AP / Ariel Schalit
07 Mar 2013
9.58 PM. The U.N. is demanding the immediate release of 21 peacekeepers seized by members of the Syrian opposition in the disputed Golan Heights area between Syria and Israel. Here's a statement from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. ... "The Secretary-General reminds all actors in Syria that UNDOF is mandated to monitor the Disengagement of Forces Agreement between Israel and Syria ... The U.N ... A U.N ... Here's more from The New York Times. ... U.N ... ....(size: 4.0Kb)
photo: AP / Bullit Marquez
07 Mar 2013
The conflict has wreaked political havoc for both Malaysia and the neighboring Philippines ... Ismail said at least 52 Filipinos have now been killed in the past week since hostilities in the Sabah security crisis escalated ... World news....(size: 1.3Kb)
photo: US Army / Edward N. Johnson
06 Mar 2013
North Korea has threatened to cancel the 1953 ceasefire that ended the Korean War, citing a US-led push for punishing UN sanctions over its recent nuclear test and ongoing US-South Korean joint military drills. The threat came on Tuesday as the United States, with Chinese backing, introduced a draft UN resolution to punish North Korea for its nuclear test on February 12 ... 415 Source.. Agencies. Share. Send Feedback ... China ... News ... ....(size: 7.2Kb)
The Washington Times
06 Mar 2013
Related Columns. New York-March 5, 2013. Reaction to my first two articles, here and here, concerning “Government Motors” ranges from stunned to more than curious ... SEE RELATED ... Unsafe at any price? ... Now days closer to the Ides of March that falls on March 28, 2012 translating the Julian calendar to the modern Gregorian one, we note these wise words from Francis Bacon and suggest that others also consider them carefully. ... Error....(size: 11.7Kb)
Yahoo Daily News
05 Mar 2013
Over the last 20 years, some 60,000 have been sent to America. But now the Russian state has raised a barrier against adoptions to the U.S ... Indeed, the truth goes more like this ... On the Russian New Year's Eve, which occurs later in January according to the old-style Julian calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church, tens of thousands of Muscovites poured into the center of the city to protest AGAINST the law banning the American adoptions....(size: 4.8Kb)
noodls
05 Mar 2013
(Source. GMB - Britain's General Union) Tuesday 5th March 2013. INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY PROTESTS ON MARCH 8TH AT EALING HOSPITAL OVER CLOSURE OF NORTH WEST LONDON MATERNITY UNITS AND IMPACT OF CUTS ON SERVICES ... The details of the demonstration are as follows. ... Ends ... The date the women's strike commenced was Sunday 23 February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia. This day on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere was 8 March....(size: 7.8Kb)
The Independent
05 Mar 2013
In the past, when I went on holiday to Pembrokeshire, I used to seek out the more pleasant spots ... Now it's all changed. Today, when I set out on a break out west, I spend my time on the lookout for sinister locations ... Murder in the cathedral, anyone? Finally, for a really strange setting I might venture into the Gwaun valley, where people celebrate New Year on 13 January, according to the ancient Julian calendar ... Travel essentials....(size: 6.2Kb)
Huffington Post
26 Feb 2013
Indeed, he failed to deliver the new calendar -- but not just any calendar -- that was at the top of my list. No, last year I requested that the New Year be rung in with the adoption of the Hanke-Henry Permanent Calendar (HHPC), which my colleague, Johns Hopkins Astrophysics Prof ... It was not until the 20th century that Russia and several other countries also finally abandoned the Julian calendar....(size: 10.2Kb)
Yahoo Daily News
19 Feb 2013
In order to correct timekeeping errors in the Julian calendar, adopted by the Romans in 46 B.C.E., Pope Gregory XIII implemented a new calendar for the Catholic Church in 1582. By the time the Gregorian calendar was adopted by the British Empire in 1752, there were 11 days difference between the Julian "old-style" calendar and the Gregorian "new-style" calendar ... 19, 1473, according to the old-style calendar, but that's Feb....(size: 3.7Kb)
The Providence Journal
18 Feb 2013
Popes usually publish important church documents or make important announcements on symbolic dates, such as the feast day of a saint or the anniversary of a church council. At first glance, Feb ... George Washington (whose birthday was changed to Feb. 22, 1732, when the old Julian calendar was replaced in America by the Gregorian calendar, in 1752) ... Woolley ... ....(size: 1.5Kb)
The Examiner
18 Feb 2013
5 Fun Facts About Presidents Day ... For most people in Silicon Valley, Calif ... San Jose, Calif ... 22 ... 1 ... A ... B ... C ... D ... Washington was born on February 11th in 1732, when the Julian calendar was still in use. In 1752, the Gregorian calendar was adopted to standardize the small differences in leftover time each year ... This calendar changed his birthday from February 11th to February 22nd, a full 11 days later ... A and D-Washington’s Julian birthday was Feb....(size: 9.3Kb)
The Salt Lake Tribune
18 Feb 2013
Is it President’s Day or Presidents’ Day?. Do we just celebrate one commander in chief or many?. Join the Discussion. Is it George Washington we honor or Washington and Abraham Lincoln? Or do we honor all the presidents? After all, The Associated Press Stylebook calls it Presidents Day ... 11, 1731. But when Britain and the colonies changed their observances from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, his birthday was moved to Feb ... ....(size: 4.0Kb)
The Providence Journal
17 Feb 2013
Popes usually publish important Church documents or make important announcements on symbolic dates, such as the Feast Day of a Saint or the anniversary of a Church Council. At first glance, Feb ... George Washington (whose birthday was changed to Feb. 22, 1732, when the old Julian calendar was replaced in America by the Gregorian calendar, in 1752) ... Woolley ... ....(size: 1.6Kb)
The Washington Times
17 Feb 2013
SAN JOSE, CA, February 17, 2013 - Calendars are useful tools ... and some calendars will accurately designate it so ... When Washington was born on Pope Creek’s Farm in Westmoreland County, Virginia, it was February 11, 1731! This can be blamed on another inaccurate calendar, the Julian Calendar, which was still used by the British Empire until 1752....(size: 12.2Kb)
The Examiner
16 Feb 2013
According to www.archives.gov/legislative/features/washington , George Washington was born in Virginia on February 11th, 1731, the date being set in accordance to the Julian calendar which was used during that time. However, in 1752, the British decided to adopt the use of the Gregorian calendar, which changed Washington's birthday from February 11th, 1731 to February 22nd, 1732 ... It was made official in 1971 when President Richard M ... ....(size: 5.9Kb)
Sydney Morning Herald
06 Feb 2013
what's going on with the Chinese calendar and why is it so different to ours?. We know some Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate Christmas well into January because they still employ the Julian calendar ecclesiastically, but there must be something else going on ... But let's briefly examine the Julian calendar first ... of the Gregorian calendar....(size: 1.7Kb)
The Julian calendar is a reform of the Roman calendar introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC (708 AUC). It took effect the following year, 45 BC (709 AUC), and continued to be used as the civil calendar in some countries into the 20th century. The calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months, as listed in Table of months. A leap day is added to February every four years. The Julian year is, therefore, on average 365.25 days long.
The calendar year was intended to approximate the tropical (solar) year. Although Greek astronomers had known, at least since Hipparchus, that the tropical year was a few minutes shorter than 365.25 days, the calendar did not compensate for this difference. As a result, the calendar year gained about three days every four centuries compared to observed equinox times and the seasons. This discrepancy was corrected by the Gregorian reform, introduced in 1582.
The Julian calendar has been replaced by the Gregorian calendar in all countries which formerly used it as the civil calendar. Most Christian denominations have also replaced it with the Gregorian calendar as the basis for their liturgical calendars. However, most branches of the Orthodox Church still use the Julian calendar for calculating the dates of moveable feasts, including Easter (Pascha). Some Orthodox churches have adopted the Revised Julian calendar for the observance of fixed feasts, while other Orthodox churches retain the Julian calendar for all purposes.[1] The Julian calendar is still used by the Berber people of North Africa, and on Mount Athos.
Contents |
Table of months[link]
| Months (Roman) | Lengths before 45 BC | Lengths as of 45 BC | Months (English) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ianuarius[2] | 29 | 31 | January |
| Februarius | 28 (leap years: 23 or 24) | 28 (leap years: 29) | February |
| Mercedonius/Intercalaris | 0 (leap years: 27) | (abolished) | — |
| Martius | 31 | 31 | March |
| Aprilis | 29 | 30 | April |
| Maius | 31 | 31 | May |
| Iunius[2] | 29 | 30 | June |
| Quintilis[3] (Iulius) | 31 | 31 | July |
| Sextilis (Augustus) | 29 | 31 | August |
| September | 29 | 30 | September |
| October | 31 | 31 | October |
| November | 29 | 30 | November |
| December | 29 | 31 | December |
Motivation[link]
The ordinary year in the previous Roman calendar consisted of 12 months, for a total of 355 days. In addition, a 27-day intercalary month, the Mensis Intercalaris, was sometimes inserted between February and March. This intercalary month was formed by inserting 22 days after the first 23 or 24 days of February; the last five days of February, which counted down toward the start of March, became the last five days of Intercalaris. The net effect was to add 22 or 23 days to the year, forming an intercalary year of 377 or 378 days.[4]
According to the later writers Censorinus and Macrobius, the ideal intercalary cycle consisted of ordinary years of 355 days alternating with intercalary years, alternately 377 and 378 days long. On this system, the average Roman year would have had 366¼ days over four years, giving it an average drift of one day per year relative to any solstice or equinox. Macrobius describes a further refinement wherein, for 8 years out of 24, there were only three intercalary years, each of 377 days. This refinement averages the length of the year to 365¼ days over 24 years.
In practice, intercalations did not occur schematically according to these ideal systems, but were determined by the pontifices. So far as can be determined from the historical evidence, they were much less regular than these ideal schemes suggest. They usually occurred every second or third year, but were sometimes omitted for much longer, and occasionally occurred in two consecutive years.
If managed correctly this system allowed the Roman year, on average, to stay roughly aligned to a tropical year. However, since the Pontifices were often politicians, and because a Roman magistrate's term of office corresponded with a calendar year, this power was prone to abuse: a Pontifex could lengthen a year in which he or one of his political allies was in office, or refuse to lengthen one in which his opponents were in power.[5]
If too many intercalations were omitted, as happened after the Second Punic War and during the Civil Wars, the calendar would drift rapidly out of alignment with the tropical year. Moreover, because intercalations were often determined quite late, the average Roman citizen often did not know the date, particularly if he were some distance from the city. For these reasons, the last years of the pre-Julian calendar were later known as "years of confusion". The problems became particularly acute during the years of Julius Caesar's pontificate before the reform, 63–46 BC, when there were only five intercalary months, whereas there should have been eight, and none at all during the five Roman years before 46 BC.
The reform was intended to correct this problem permanently, by creating a calendar that remained aligned to the sun without any human intervention. This feature proved useful very soon after the new calendar came into effect. Varro used it in 37 BC to fix calendar dates for the start of the four seasons, which would have been impossible only 8 years earlier.[6] A century later, when Pliny dated the winter solstice to 25 December because the sun entered the 8th degree of Capricorn on that date,[7] this stability had become an ordinary fact of life.
Context of the reform[link]
The approximation of 365¼ days for the tropical year had been known for a long time but was not used directly since ancient calendars were not solar (except in Egypt). It was the mean length of the year in the octaeteris, a cycle of 8 lunar years popularized by Cleostratus (and also commonly attributed to Eudoxus) which was used in some early Greek calendars, notably in Athens. The same value was the basis of the 76 years cycle devised by Callippus (a student under Eudoxus) to improve the Metonic cycle. The length of the year in the cycle of Meton was less accurate: about 30 minutes too long (1 day in 48 years).
In Egypt, a fixed year of 365 days was in use, drifting by one day against the sun in four years. An unsuccessful attempt to add an extra day every fourth year was made in 238 BC (Decree of Canopus). Caesar probably experienced the solar calendar in that country. He landed in the Nile delta in October 48 BC and soon became embroiled in the Ptolemaic dynastic war, especially after Cleopatra managed to be "introduced" to him in Alexandria.
Caesar imposed a peace, and a banquet was held to celebrate the event.[8] Lucan depicted Caesar talking to a wise man called Acoreus during the feast, stating his intention to create a calendar more perfect than that of Eudoxus[9] (Eudoxus was popularly credited with having determined the length of the year to be 365¼ days).[10] But the war soon resumed and Caesar was attacked by the Egyptian army for several months until he achieved victory. He then enjoyed a long cruise on the Nile with Cleopatra before leaving the country in June 47 BC.[11]
Caesar returned to Rome in 46 BC and, according to Plutarch, called in the best philosophers and mathematicians of his time to solve the problem of the calendar.[12] Pliny says that Caesar was aided in his reform by the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria[13] who is generally considered the principal designer of the reform. Sosigenes may also have been the author of the astronomical almanac published by Caesar to facilitate the reform.[14] Eventually, it was decided to establish a calendar that would be a combination between the old Roman months, the fixed length of the Egyptian calendar, and the 365¼ days of the Greek astronomy. According to Macrobius, Caesar was assisted in this by a certain Marcus Flavius.[15]
Julian reform[link]
Realignment of the year[link]
The first step of the reform was to realign the start of the calendar year (1 January) to the tropical year by making 46 BC (708 AUC) 445 days long, compensating for the intercalations which had been missed during Caesar's pontificate. This year had already been extended from 355 to 378 days by the insertion of a regular intercalary month in February. When Caesar decreed the reform, probably shortly after his return from the African campaign in late Quintilis (July), he added 67 more days by inserting two extraordinary intercalary months between November and December.[16]
These months are called Intercalaris Prior and Intercalaris Posterior in letters of Cicero written at the time; there is no basis for the statement sometimes seen that they were called "Undecimber" and "Duodecimber".[17] Their individual lengths are unknown, as is the position of the Nones and Ides within them.[18]
Because 46 BC was the last of a series of irregular years, this extra-long year was, and is, referred to as the "last year of confusion". The new calendar began operation after the realignment had been completed, in 45 BC.[19]
Changes to the months[link]
The Julian months were formed by adding ten days to a regular pre-Julian Roman year of 355 days, creating a regular Julian year of 365 days. Two extra days were added to January, Sextilis (August) and December, and one extra day was added to April, June, September and November. February was not changed in ordinary years, and so continued to be the traditional 28 days. Thus, the ordinary (i.e., non leap year) lengths of all of the months were set by the Julian calendar to the same values they still hold today. (See Sacrobosco's theory on month lengths below for stories purporting otherwise).
Macrobius states that the extra days were added immediately before the last day of each month to avoid disturbing the position of the established religious ceremonies relative to the Nones and Ides of the month.[20] However, since Roman dates after the Ides of the month counted down toward the start of the next month, the extra days had the effect of raising the initial value of the count of the day after the Ides.
Romans of the time born after the Ides of a month responded differently to the effect of this change on their birthdays. Mark Antony kept his birthday on the 14th day of January, which changed its date from a.d. XVII Kal. Feb. to a.d. XIX Kal. Feb., a date that had previously not existed. Livia kept the date of her birthday unchanged at a.d. III Kal. Feb., which moved it from the 28th to the 30th day of January, a day that had previously not existed. Augustus kept his on the 23rd day of September, but both the old date (a.d. VIII Kal. Oct.) and the new (a.d. IX Kal. Oct.) were celebrated in some places.
The inserted days were all characterised as dies fasti (F -- see Roman calendar).[21] The character of a few festival days was changed. In the early Julio-Claudian period a large number of festivals were decreed to celebrate events of dynastic importance, which caused the character of the associated dates to be changed to NP. However, this practice was discontinued around the reign of Claudius, and the practice of characterising days fell into disuse around the end of the first century AD: the Antonine jurist Gaius speaks of dies nefasti as a thing of the past.[22]
Intercalation[link]
The old intercalary month was abolished. The new leap day was dated as ante diem bis sextum Kalendas Martias, usually abbreviated as a.d. bis VI Kal. Mart.; hence it is called in English the bissextile day. The year in which it occurred was termed annus bissextus, in English the bissextile year.
There is debate about the exact position of the bissextile day in the early Julian calendar. The earliest direct evidence is a statement of the 2nd century jurist Celsus, who states that there were two halves of a 48-hour day, and that the intercalated day was the "posterior" half. An inscription from AD 168 states that a.d. V Kal. Mart. was the day after the bissextile day. The 19th century chronologist Ideler argued that Celsus used the term "posterior" in a technical fashion to refer to the earlier of the two days, which requires the inscription to refer to the whole 48-hour day as the bissextile. Some later historians share this view. Others, following Mommsen, take the view that Celsus was using the ordinary Latin (and English) meaning of "posterior". A third view is that neither half of the 48-hour "bis sextum" was originally formally designated as intercalated, but that the need to do so arose as the concept of a 48-hour day became obsolete.[23]
There is no doubt that the bissextile day eventually became the earlier of the two days for most purposes. In 238 Censorinus stated that it was inserted after the Terminalia (23 February) and was followed by the last five days of February, i.e. a.d. VI, V, IV, III and prid. Kal. Mart. (which would be the 24th to 28th days of February in a common year and the 25th to the 29th days in a leap year). Hence he regarded the bissextum as the first half of the doubled day. All later writers, including Macrobius about 430, Bede in 725, and other medieval computists (calculators of Easter) followed this rule, as did the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church until 1970. However, Celsus' definition continued to be used for legal purposes. It was incorporated into Justinian's Digest,[24] and in the English statute De anno et die bissextili of 1236, which was not formally repealed until 1879.
The effect of the bissextile day on the nundinal cycle is not discussed in the sources. According to Dio Cassius, a leap day was inserted in 41 BC to ensure that the first market day of 40 BC did not fall on 1 January, which implies that the old 8-day cycle was not immediately affected by the Julian reform. However, he also reports that in AD 44, and on some previous occasions, the market day was changed to avoid a conflict with a religious festival. This may indicate that a single nundinal letter was assigned to both halves of the 48-hour bissextile day by this time, so that the Regifugium and the market day might fall on the same date but on different days. In any case, the 8-day nundinal cycle began to be displaced by the 7-day week in the first century AD, and dominical letters began to appear alongside nundinal letters in the fasti.[25]
During the late Middle Ages days in the month came to be numbered in consecutive day order. Consequently, the leap day was considered to be the last day in February in leap years, i.e. 29 February, which is its current position.
Sacrobosco's theory on month lengths[link]
The Julian reform set the lengths of the months to their modern values. However, a 13th century scholar, Sacrobosco, proposed a different explanation for the lengths of Julian months[26] which is still widely repeated but is certainly wrong. According to Sacrobosco, the original scheme for the months in the Julian calendar was very regular, alternately long and short. From January through December, the month lengths according to Sacrobosco for the Roman Republican calendar were:
- 30, 29, 30, 29, 30, 29, 30, 29, 30, 29, 30, 29.
He then thought that Julius Caesar added one day to every month except February, a total of 11 more days, giving the year 365 days. A leap day could now be added to the extra short February:
- 31, 29/30, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31, 30.
He then said Augustus changed this to:
- 31, 28/29, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31
so that the length of Augustus (August) would not be shorter than (and therefore inferior to) the length of Iulius (July), giving us the irregular month lengths which are still in use.
There is abundant evidence disproving this theory. First, a wall painting of a Roman calendar predating the Julian reform has survived,[27] which confirms the literary accounts that the months were already irregular before Julius Caesar reformed them:
- 29, 28, 31, 29, 31, 29, 31, 29, 29, 31, 29, 29.
Also, the Julian reform did not change the dates of the Nones and Ides. In particular, the Ides were late (on the 15th rather than 13th) in March, May, July and October, showing that these months always had 31 days in the Roman calendar,[28] whereas Sacrobosco's theory requires that March, May and July were originally 30 days long and that the length of October was changed from 29 to 30 days by Caesar and to 31 days by Augustus. Further, Sacrobosco's theory is explicitly contradicted by the 3rd and 5th century authors Censorinus[29] and Macrobius,[30] and it is inconsistent with seasonal lengths given by Varro, writing in 37 BC,[6] before Sextilis was renamed for Augustus in 8 BC, with the 31-day Sextilis given by an Egyptian papyrus from 24 BC,[31] and with the 28-day February shown in the Fasti Caeretani, which is dated before 12 BC.[32]
Leap year error[link]
Although the new calendar was much simpler than the pre-Julian calendar, the pontifices initially added a leap day every three years, instead of every four. According to Macrobius, the error was the result of counting inclusively, so that the four-year cycle was considered as including both the first and fourth years; perhaps the earliest recorded example of a fence post error. After 36 years, this resulted in three too many leap days. Augustus remedied this discrepancy by restoring the correct frequency. He also skipped three leap days over 12 years in order to realign the year. Once this reform was complete, intercalation resumed in every fourth year and the Roman calendar was the same as the Julian proleptic calendar.[33]
The historic sequence of leap years in this period is not given explicitly by any ancient source, though Scaliger established that the Augustan reform was instituted in 8 BC. Several solutions have been proposed, which are summarised in the following table. The table shows for each solution the implied proleptic Julian date for the first day of Caesar's reformed calendar (Kal. Ian. AUC 709) and the first Julian date in which the Roman calendar date matches the proleptic Julian calendar after the completion of Augustus' reform.
| Scholar | Date | Triennial leap years (BC) | Leap year resumes | First Julian day | First aligned day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scaliger[34] | 1583 | 42, 39, 36, 33, 30, 27, 24, 21, 18, 15, 12, 9 |
|
|
|
| Bünting[35] | 1590 | 45, 42, 39, 36, 33, 30, 27, 24, 21, 18, 15, 12 |
|
|
|
| Christmann[35][36] | 1590 | 43, 40, 37, 34, 31, 28, 25, 22, 19, 16, 13, 10 |
|
|
|
| Harriot[35] | after 1610 | 43, 40, 37, 34, 31, 28, 25, 22, 19, 16, 13, 10 |
|
|
|
| Kepler[37] | 1614 | 43, 40, 37, 34, 31, 28, 25, 22, 19, 16, 13, 10 |
|
|
|
| Ideler[38] | 1825 | 45, 42, 39, 36, 33, 30, 27, 24, 21, 18, 15, 12, 9 |
|
|
|
| Matzat[39] | 1883 | 44, 41, 38, 35, 32, 29, 26, 23, 20, 17, 14, 11 |
|
|
|
| Soltau[40] | 1889 | 45, 41, 38, 35, 32, 29, 26, 23, 20, 17, 14, 11 |
|
|
|
| Radke[41] | 1960 | 45, 42, 39, 36, 33, 30, 27, 24, 21, 18, 15, 12 |
|
|
|
| Bennett[42] | 2003 | 44, 41, 38, 35, 32, 29, 26, 23, 20, 17, 14, 11, 8 |
|
|
|
Scaliger's proposal is the most widely accepted solution. It closely matches Macrobius' description and results in a calendar year and leap year cycle which exactly matches the proleptic Julian calendar at the time of Caesar's reform, except for his belief that the first reformed year, 45 BC, was not a leap year. Although some scholars, including Mommsen, support Ideler's view that 45 BC was a leap year, Brind'Amour has proved that there was only one bissextile day before 41 BC.[43]
All proposals which end the triennial cycle before 9 BC are provably incorrect. The Asian calendar reform[44] decreed by the proconsul Paullus Fabius Maximus aligned the calendar of the Asian province to the Roman calendar with a New Year falling on Augustus' birthday. It cannot have taken effect any earlier than 9 BC, and the decree states that the first reformed year was a leap year in a triennial cycle.
In 1999, an Egyptian papyrus was published that gives an ephemeris table for 24 BC with both Roman and Egyptian dates.[31] While the Egyptian and lunar synchronisms match the Roman dates on the proleptic Julian calendar, they do not match them on any previously proposed solution for the triennial cycle. One suggested resolution of this problem, which matches the data of the papyrus, is a new triennial sequence, in which the triennial leap years started in 44 BC and ended in 8 BC, with leap years resuming in AD 4.
Month names[link]
The Julian reform did not immediately cause the names of any months to be changed. The old intercalary month was abolished and replaced with a single intercalary day at the same point (i.e. five days before the end of February). January continued to be the first month of the year.
The Romans later renamed months after Julius Caesar and Augustus, renaming Quintilis as "Iulius" (July)[2] in 44 BC and Sextilis as "Augustus" (August) in 8 BC. Quintilis was renamed to honour Caesar because it was the month of his birth.[45] According to a senatus consultum quoted by Macrobius, Sextilis was renamed to honour Augustus because several of the most significant events in his rise to power, culminating in the fall of Alexandria, occurred in that month.[46]
Other months were renamed by other emperors, but apparently none of the later changes survived their deaths. In AD 37, Caligula renamed September as "Germanicus" after his father;[47] in AD 65, Nero renamed April as "Neroneus", May as "Claudius" and June as "Germanicus";[48] and in AD 84 Domitian renamed September as "Germanicus" and October as "Domitianus".[49] Commodus was unique in renaming all twelve months after his own adopted names (January to December): "Amazonius", "Invictus", "Felix", "Pius", "Lucius", "Aelius", "Aurelius", "Commodus", "Augustus", "Herculeus", "Romanus", and "Exsuperatorius".[50] The emperor Tacitus is said to have ordered that September, the month of his birth and accession, be renamed after him, but the story is doubtful since he did not become emperor before November 275.[51]
Other name changes were proposed but were never implemented. Tiberius rejected a senatorial proposal to rename September as "Tiberius" and October as "Livius", after his mother Livia.[52] Antoninus Pius rejected a senatorial decree renaming September as "Antoninus" and November as "Faustina", after his empress.[53] Similar honorific months were implemented in many of the provincial calendars that were aligned to the Julian calendar.[54]
Much more lasting than the ephemeral month names of the post-Augustan Roman emperors were the names introduced by Charlemagne.[55] He renamed all of the months agriculturally into Old High German. They were used until the 15th century, over 700 years after his rule, and continued with some modifications until the late 18th century in Germany and in the Netherlands. The names (January to December) were: Wintarmanoth (winter month), Hornung (the month when the male red deer sheds its antlers), Lentzinmanoth (Lent month), Ostarmanoth (Easter month), Wonnemanoth (love-making month), Brachmanoth (plowing month), Heuvimanoth (hay month), Aranmanoth (harvest month), Witumanoth (wood month), Windumemanoth (vintage month), Herbistmanoth (autumn/harvest month), and Heilagmanoth (holy month).
The calendar month names used in western and northern Europe, in Byzantium, and by the Berbers, were derived from the Latin names. However, in eastern Europe older seasonal month names continued to be used into the 19th century, and in some cases are still in use, in many languages, including: Belarusian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Finnish, Georgian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Polish, Romanian, Slovene, Ukrainian. When the Ottoman empire adopted the Rumi calendar, the month names reflected Ottoman tradition.
Year numbering[link]
The principal method that the Romans used to identify a year for dating purposes was to name it after the two consuls who took office in it. Since 153 BC, they had taken office on 1 January, the start of the calendar year, and Julius Caesar did not change the beginning of either year. Thus this consular year was an eponymous or named year. In addition to consular years, the Romans sometimes used the regnal year of the emperor, and by the late 4th century documents were also being dated according to the 15-year cycle of the indiction. In 537, Justinian required that henceforth the date must include the name of the emperor and his regnal year, in addition to the indiction and the consul, while also allowing the use of local eras.
In 309 and 310, and from time to time thereafter, no consuls were appointed.[56] When this happened, the consular date was given a count of years since the last consul (so-called "post-consular" dating). After 541, only the reigning emperor held the consulate, typically for only one year in his reign, and so post-consular dating became the norm. Similar post-consular dates were also known in the West in the early 6th century. The system of consular dating, long obsolete, was formally abolished in the law code of Leo VI, issued in 888.
Only rarely did the Romans number the year from the founding of the city (of Rome), ab urbe condita (AUC). This method was used by Roman historians to determine the number of years from one event to another, not to date a year. Different historians had several different dates for the founding. The Fasti Capitolini, an inscription containing an official list of the consuls which was published by Augustus, used an epoch of 752 BC. The epoch used by Varro, 753 BC, has been adopted by modern historians. Indeed, Renaissance editors often added it to the manuscripts that they published, giving the false impression that the Romans numbered their years. Most modern historians tacitly assume that it began on the day the consuls took office, and ancient documents such as the Fasti Capitolini which use other AUC systems do so in the same way. However, Censorinus, writing in the 3rd century AD, states that, in his time, the AUC year began with the Parilia, celebrated on 21 April, which was regarded as the actual anniversary of the foundation of Rome.[57]
While the Julian reform applied originally to the Roman calendar, many of the other calendars then used in the Roman Empire were aligned with the reformed calendar under Augustus. This led to the adoption of local eras for the Julian calendar or its local equivalent, such as the Era of Actium and the Spanish Era, some of which were used for a considerable time.[58] Perhaps the best known is the Era of Martyrs, sometimes also called Anno Diocletiani (after Diocletian), which was associated with the Alexandrian calendar and often used by the Alexandrian Christians to number their Easters during the 4th and 5th centuries, and continues to be used by the Coptic and Ethiopian churches, as well as influencing the modern Ethiopian calendar.
In the Eastern Mediterranean, the efforts of Christian chronographers such as Annianus of Alexandria to date the Biblical creation of the world led to the introduction of Anno Mundi eras based on this event.[59] The most important of these was the Etos Kosmou, used throughout the Byzantine world from the 10th century and in Russia until 1700. In the West, the kingdoms succeeding the empire initially used indictions and regnal years, alone or in combination. The chronicler Prosper of Aquitaine, in the fifth century, used an era dated from the Passion of Christ, but this era was not widely adopted. Dionysius Exiguus proposed the system of Anno Domini in 525. This era gradually spread through the western Christian world, once the system was adopted by Bede.
The Julian calendar was also used in some Muslim countries. The Rumi calendar, the Julian calendar used in the later years of the Ottoman Empire, adopted an era derived from the lunar AH year equivalent to AD 1840, i.e. the effective Rumi epoch was AD 585. In recent years, some users of the Berber calendar have adopted an era starting in 950 BC, the approximate date that the Libyan pharaoh Sheshonq I came to power in Egypt.
New Year's Day[link]
The Roman calendar began the year on 1 January, and this remained the start of the year after the Julian reform. However, even after local calendars were aligned to the Julian calendar, they started the new year on different dates. The Alexandrian calendar in Egypt started on 29 August (30 August after an Alexandrian leap year). Several local provincial calendars were aligned to start on the birthday of Augustus, 23 September. The indiction caused the Byzantine year, which used the Julian calendar, to begin on 1 September; this date is still used in the Eastern Orthodox Church for the beginning of the liturgical year. When the Julian calendar was adopted in AD 988 by Vladimir I of Kiev, the year was numbered Anno Mundi 6496, beginning on 1 March, six months after the start of the Byzantine Anno Mundi year with the same number. In 1492 (AM 7000), Ivan III, according to church tradition, realigned the start of the year to 1 September, so that AM 7000 only lasted for six months in Russia, from 1 March to 31 August 1492.[60]
During the Middle Ages 1 January retained the name New Year's Day (or an equivalent name) in all Western European countries (affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church), since the medieval calendar continued to display the months from January to December (in twelve columns containing 28 to 31 days each), just as the Romans had. However, most of those countries began their numbered year on 25 December (the Nativity of Jesus), 25 March (the Incarnation of Jesus), or even Easter, as in France (see the Liturgical year article for more details).
In Anglo-Saxon England, the year most commonly began on 25 December, which, as the winter solstice, had marked the start of the year in pagan times, though 25 March is occasionally documented in the 11th century. Sometimes the start of the year was reckoned as 24 September, the start of the so-called "western indiction" introduced by Bede.[61] These practices changed after the Norman conquest. From 1087 to 1154 the English year began on 1 January, and from 1155 to 1751 on 25 March.[62]
Even before 1752, 1 January was sometimes treated as the start of the new year – for example by Pepys[63] – while the "year starting 25th March was called the Civil or Legal Year".[64] To reduce misunderstandings on the date, it was not uncommon in parish registers for a new year heading after 24 March, for example 1661, to have another heading at the end of the following December indicating "1661/62". This was to explain to the reader that the year was 1661 Old Style and 1662 New Style.[65]
Most Western European countries shifted the first day of their numbered year to 1 January while they were still using the Julian calendar, before they adopted the Gregorian calendar, many during the 16th century. The following table shows the years in which various countries adopted 1 January as the start of the year. Eastern European countries, with populations showing allegiance to the Orthodox Church, began the year on 1 September from about 988. The Rumi calendar used in the Ottoman empire began the civil year on 1 March until 1918.
| Country | Year starting 1 January[66][67] |
Adoption of new calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Republic of Venice | 1522 | 1582 |
| Holy Roman Empire[68] | 1544 | 1582 |
| Spain, Portugal | 1556 | 1582 |
| Prussia, Denmark/Norway | 1559 | 1700 |
| Sweden | 1559 | 1753[69] |
| France | 1564 | 1582 |
| Southern Netherlands | 1576[70] | 1582 |
| Lorraine | 1579 | 1760 |
| Holland, Zeeland | 1583 | 1582 |
| Dutch Republic except Holland and Zeeland |
1583 | 1700 |
| Scotland | 1600 | 1752 |
| Russia | 1700 | 1918 |
| Tuscany | 1721 | 1750 |
| British Empire excluding Scotland | 1752 | 1752[71] |
| Serbia | 1804[citation needed] | 1918 |
| Ottoman Empire (Turkey)[72] | 1918 | 1917 |
From Julian to Gregorian[link]
Main article: Gregorian calendar
The Julian calendar was in general use in Europe and Northern Africa until 1582, when Pope Gregory XIII promulgated the Gregorian calendar. Reform was required because too many leap days are added with respect to the astronomical seasons on the Julian scheme. On average, the astronomical solstices and the equinoxes advance by about 11 minutes per year against the Julian year. As a result, the calculated date of Easter gradually moved out of alignment with the March equinox.
While Hipparchus and presumably Sosigenes were aware of the discrepancy, although not of its correct value, it was evidently felt to be of little importance at the time of the Julian reform. However, it accumulated significantly over time: the Julian calendar gained a day about every 134 years. By 1582, it was ten days out of alignment from where it supposedly had been in 325 during the Council of Nicaea.
The Gregorian calendar was soon adopted by most Catholic countries (e.g. Spain, Portugal, Poland, most of Italy). Protestant countries followed later, and the countries of Eastern Europe adopted the "new calendar" even later. In the British Empire (including the American colonies), Wednesday 2 September 1752 was followed by Thursday 14 September 1752. For 12 years from 1700 Sweden used a modified Julian calendar, and adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1753, but Russia remained on the Julian calendar until 1918 (1 February became 14 February), while Greece continued to use it until 1 March 1923 (Gregorian).[73]
Since the Julian and Gregorian calendars were long used simultaneously, although in different places, calendar dates in the transition period are often ambiguous, unless it is specified which calendar was being used. In some circumstances, double dates might be used, one in each calendar. The notation "Old Style" (OS) is sometimes used to indicate a date in the Julian calendar, as opposed to "New Style" (NS), which either represents the Julian date with the start of the year as 1 January or a full mapping onto the Gregorian calendar. This notation is used to clarify dates from countries which continued to use the Julian calendar after the Gregorian reform, such as Great Britain, which did not switch to the reformed calendar until 1752, or Russia, which did not switch until 1918.
Throughout the long transition period, the Julian calendar has continued to diverge from the Gregorian. This has happened in whole-day steps, as leap days which were dropped in certain centennial years in the Gregorian calendar continued to be present in the Julian calendar. Thus, in the year 1700 the difference increased to 11 days after February 28 (Gregorian); in 1800, 12; and in 1900, 13. Since 2000 was a leap year according to both the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the difference of 13 days did not change in that year: 29 February 2000 (Gregorian) fell on 16 February 2000 (Julian). This difference will persist through the last day of February, 2100 (Gregorian), since 2100 is not a Gregorian leap year, but is a Julian leap year. Monday 1 March 2100 (Gregorian) falls on Monday 16 February 2100 (Julian).[74]
Eastern Orthodox usage[link]
Although all Eastern Orthodox countries (most of them in Eastern or Southeastern Europe) had adopted the Gregorian calendar by 1924, their national churches had not. The "Revised Julian calendar" was proposed during a synod in Constantinople in May 1923, consisting of a solar part which was and will be identical to the Gregorian calendar until the year 2800, and a lunar part which calculated Pascha (Easter) astronomically at Jerusalem. All Orthodox churches refused to accept the lunar part, so almost all Orthodox churches continue to celebrate Pascha according to the Julian calendar (with the exception of the Estonian Orthodox Church.[75] and the Finnish Orthodox Church)[76]
The solar part of the Revised Julian calendar was accepted by only some Orthodox churches. Those that did accept it, with hope for improved dialogue and negotiations with the Western denominations, were the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, the Orthodox Churches of Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria (the last in 1963), and the Orthodox Church in America (although some OCA parishes are permitted to use the Julian calendar). Thus these churches celebrate the Nativity on the same day that Western Christians do, 25 December Gregorian until 2800.
The Orthodox Churches of Jerusalem, Russia, Serbia, Macedonia, Georgia, Ukraine, and the Greek Old Calendarists and other groups continue to use the Julian calendar, thus they celebrate the Nativity on 25 December Julian (which is 7 January Gregorian until 2100). The Russian Orthodox Church has some parishes in the West which celebrate the Nativity on 25 December Gregorian.
Parishes of the Orthodox Church in America Bulgarian Diocese, both before and after the 1976 transfer of that diocese from the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia to the Orthodox Church in America, were permitted to use the 25 December Gregorian date. Some Old Calendarist groups which stand in opposition to the state churches of their homelands will use the Great Feast of the Theophany (6 January Julian/19 January Gregorian) as a day for religious processions and the Great Blessing of Waters, to publicize their cause.[citation needed]
The Oriental Orthodox Churches generally use the local calendar of their homelands. However, when calculating the Nativity Feast, most observe the Julian calendar. This was traditionally for the sake of unity throughout Christendom. In the West, some Oriental Orthodox Churches either use the Gregorian calendar or are permitted to observe the Nativity according to it. The Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church celebrates the Nativity as part of the Feast of Theophany according to its traditional calendar.[citation needed]
See also[link]
- Berber calendar
- Computus
- Conversion between Julian and Gregorian calendars
- Dominical letter
- Easter
- Gregorian calendar
- Julian day
- Julian year (astronomy)
- Mixed-style date
- Proleptic Gregorian calendar
- Proleptic Julian calendar
- Revised Julian calendar
- Roman calendar
- Roman timekeeping system
- Rumi calendar
- Week
Notes[link]
- ^ Towards a Common Date of Easter. (5–10 March). World Council of Churches/Middle East Council of Churches Consultation, Aleppo, Syria.
- ^ a b c The letter J was not invented until the 16th century.
- ^ The spelling Quinctilis is also attested; see page 669 of The Oxford Companion to the Year.
- ^ Blackburn, B. & Holford-Strevens, L. The Oxford Companion to the Year. Oxford University press, 1999, reprinted with corrections, 2003. p. 669-70.
- ^ Censorinus, De die natali 20.7 (Latin)
- ^ a b Varro, On Agriculture I.1.28
- ^ Pliny, Natural History: (Book 18, LIX / LXVI / LXVIII / LXXIV)
- ^ Lucan, Pharsalia: Book 10
- ^ Lucan, Pharsalia: Book 10
- ^ Émile Biémont, Rythmes du temps, astronomie et calendriers, éd. De Boeck (Bruxelles), 2000 (ISBN 2-8041-3287-0), p. 224
- ^ Suetonius, Caesar 52.1
- ^ Plutarch, Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans: Caesar 59.
- ^ Pliny, Natural History: (Book 18, LVII)
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Sosigenes of Alexandria.
- ^ Macrobius, Saturnalia I.14.2 (Latin).
- ^ It is not known why he decided that 67 was the correct number of days to add. Ideler suggested (Handbuch der mathematischen und technischen Chronologie II 123-125) that he intended to align the winter solstice to a traditional date of 25 December. The number may compensate for three omitted intercalary months (67 = 22+23+22). It also made the distance from 1 March 46 BC, the original New Years Day in the Roman calendar, to 1 January 45 BC 365 days.
- ^ E.g. "... we have a sidelight on what was involved in "the year of confusion" as it was called. According to Dion Cassius, the historian, there was a governor in Gaul who insisted that, in the lengthened year, two months' extra taxes should be paid! The extra months were called Undecimber and Duodecimber." (P. W. Wilson, The romance of the calendar (New York, 1937), 112). The eponymous dating of the cited passage (Dio Cassius 54.21) shows that it actually refers to an event of 15 BC, not 46 BC.
- ^ J. Rüpke, The Roman Calendar from Numa to Constantine: Time, History and the Fasti, 117f., suggests, based on the ritual structures of the calendar, that 5 days were added to November and that the two intercalary months each had 31 days, with Nones and Ides on the 7th and 15th.
- ^ William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities: Year of Julius Caesar), following Ideler, interprets Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.14.13 (Latin) to mean that Caesar decreed that the first day of the new calendar began with the new moon which fell on the night of 1/2 January 45 BC. (The new moon was on 2 January 45 BC (in the Proleptic Julian calendar) at 00:21 UTC, according to IMCCE (a branch of the Paris Observatory): Phases of the moon (between −4000 and +2500).) However, more recent studies of the manuscripts have shown that the word on which this is based, which was formerly read as lunam, should be read as linam, meaning that Macrobius was simply stating that Caesar published an edict giving the revised calendar — see e.g. p.99 in the translation of Macrobius by P. Davies. Smith gives no source or justification for his other speculation that Caesar originally intended to commence the year precisely with the winter solstice.
- ^ Macrobius, Saturnalia 14.9 (Latin). Exceptionally, the extra day in April was inserted as the 26th, a.d. VI Kal. Mai. in the Julian calendar, in order to avoid adding a day to the Floralia, which ran from a.d. IV Kal. Mai (27th day of April in the pre-Julian calendar) to a.d. V Non. Mai.
- ^ Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.14.12 (Latin).
- ^ A. K. Michels, The Calendar of the Roman Republic Appendix II; J. Rüpke, The Roman Calendar from Numa to Constantine 113-114, 126-132, 147.
- ^ W. Sternkopf, "Das Bissextum", (JCP 41 (1895) 718–733).
- ^ Justinian, Digest 50.16.98.
- ^ Dio Cassius 48.33.4, 60.24.7; C. J. Bennett, "The Imperial Nundinal Cycle", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 147 (2004) 175-179.
- ^ Roscoe Lamont, "The Roman calendar and its reformation by Julius Caesar", Popular Astronomy 27 (1919) 583–595. Sacrobosco's theory is discussed on pages 585–587.
- ^ Roman Republican calendar
- ^ Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.13.7 and 1.14.7-8 (Latin), Censorinus, De die natali 20.10 (Latin), (English).
- ^ Censorinus, De die natali 20.9 (Latin), (English)
- ^ Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.14.7 (Latin)
- ^ a b A. R. Jones, "Calendrica II: Date Equations from the Reign of Augustus", Zeitschrift fűr Papyrologie und Epigraphik 129 (2000) 159-166.
- ^ A. Degrassi, Inscriptiones Italiae XIII: Fasti et Elogia 2: Fasti Anni Numani et Iuliani; Accedunt Feralia, Menologia Rustica, Parapegmata (Rome, 1963) 66 (Latin)
- ^ Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.14.13-15 (Latin); Nautical Almanac Offices of the United Kingdom and the United States. (1961). Explanatory Supplement to the Ephemeris London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. p. 410–1.
- ^ J. J. Scaliger, De emendatione temporum (Paris, 1583), 159, 238.
- ^ a b c For Bünting, Christmann and Harriot see Harriot's comparative table reproduced by Simon Cassidy (Fig. 6).
- ^ J. Christmann Muhamedis Alfragani arabis chronologica et astronomica elementa (Frankfurt, 1590), 173. His argument proposed that Caesar had intended leap years to be accounted from 46 BC, the year of Caesar's decree, and not 45 BC.
- ^ J. Kepler, De Vero Anno Quo Æternus Dei Filius Humanan Naturam in Utero Benedictæ Virginis Mariæ Assumpsit (Frankfurt, 1614) Cap. V, repub. in F. Hammer (ed.), Johannes Keplers Gesammelte Werke (Berlin, 1938) V 28.
- ^ C. L. Ideler, Handbuch der mathematischen und technischen Chronologie (Berlin, 1825) II 130-131. He argued that Caesar would have enforced the bissextile day by introducing it in his first reformed year. T. E. Mommsen, Die Römische Chronologie bis auf Caesar (Berlin, 1859) 282-299, provided additional circumstantial arguments.
- ^ H. Matzat, Römische Chronologie I (Berlin, 1883), 13-18. His argument rested on Dio Cassius 48.33.4 which mentions a leap day inserted in 41 BC, "contrary to the (i.e. Caesar's) rule", in order to avoid having a market day on the first day of 40 BC. Dio stated that this leap day was compensated "later". Matzat proposed this was done by omitting a scheduled leap day in 40 BC, rather than by omitting a day from an ordinary year.
- ^ W. Soltau, Römische Chronologie (Freiburg, 1889) 170-173. He accepted Matzat's phase of the triennial cycle but argued that it was absurd to suppose that Caesar would have made the second Julian year a leap year and that the 36 years had to be accounted from 45 BC.
- ^ G. Radke, "Die falsche Schaltung nach Caesars Tode", Rheinisches Museum für Philologie, Geschichte und griechische Philosophie 103 (1960) 178-185. He proposed that Augustus initiated the reform when he became pontifex maximus in 12 BC.
- ^ C. J. Bennett, "The Early Augustan Calendars in Rome and Egypt", Zeitschrift fűr Papyrologie und Epigraphik 142 (2003) 221-240 and "The Early Augustan Calendars in Rome and Egypt: Addenda et Corrigenda", Zeitschrift fűr Papyrologie und Epigraphik 147 (2004) 165-168; see also Chris Bennett, A.U.C. 730 = 24 B.C. (Egyptian papyrus).
- ^ P. Brind'Amour, Le calendrier romain (Ottawa, 1983), 45-46.
- ^ OGIS 458 (Greek); U. Laffi, "Le iscrizioni relative all'introduzione nel 9 a.c. del nuovo calendario della provincia d'Asia", Studi Classici e Orientali 16 (1967) 5-99.
- ^ Suetonius, Caesar 76.1
- ^ Suetonius, Augustus 31.2; Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.12.35 (Latin)
- ^ Suetonius, Caligula 15.2.
- ^ Tacitus, Annals 15.74, 16.12.
- ^ Suetonius, Domitian 13.3.
- ^ Dio Cassius 73.15.3.
- ^ Historia Augusta, Tacitus 13.6. On the chronology see R. McMahon, Tacitus
- ^ Suetonius, Tiberius 26.2.
- ^ Historia Augusta, Antoninus Pius 10.1.
- ^ Surveyed in K. Scott, Honorific Months, Yale Classical Studies 2 (1931) 201-278.
- ^ Einhard, Life of Charlemagne, 29.
- ^ Chronography of AD 354
- ^ Censorinus De die natali 21.6 (Latin). Because the festivities associated with the Parilia conflicted with the solemnity of Lent, which was observed until the Saturday before Easter Sunday, the early Roman church did not celebrate Easter after 21 April — Charles W. Jones, "Development of the Latin Ecclesiastical calendar", Bedae Opera de Temporibus (1943), 1–122, p.28.
- ^ For a partial survey see A. E. Samuel, Greek and Roman Chronology: calendars and years in classical antiquity (Munich, 1972), 245ff. Samuel introduces his survey by saying: "The number of eras which came into use and then expired to be replaced by yet other eras during Hellenistic and Roman times is probably not infinite, but I have not been able to find the end of them." Anatolian eras are exhaustively surveyed in W. Leschhorn, Antike Ären: Zeitrechnung, Politik und Geschichte im Schwarzmeerraum und in Kleinasien nördlich des Tauros (Stuttgart, 1993).
- ^ A. A. Mosshammer, The Easter Computus and the Origins of the Christian Era (Oxford, 2008) 27-29.
- ^ История календаря в России и в СССР (Calendar history in Russia and in the USSR)
- ^ M. L. R. Beaven, "The Regnal Dates of Alfred, Edward the Elder, and Athelstan", English Historical Review 32 (1917) 517-531; idem, "The Beginning of the Year in the Alfredian Chronicle (866-87)", English Historical Review 33 (1918) 328-342.
- ^ Catholic Encyclopedia, General Chronology (Beginning of the Year).
- ^ Pepys Diary, "I sat down to end my journell for this year, ..."
- ^ Spathaky, Mike Old Style New Style dates and the change to the Gregorian calendar.
- ^ Spathaky, Mike Old Style New Style dates and the change to the Gregorian calendar. "An oblique stroke is by far the most usual indicator, but sometimes the alternative final figures of the year are written above and below a horizontal line, as in a fraction (a form which cannot easily be reproduced here in ASCII text). Very occasionally a hyphen is used, as 1733-34."
- ^ John J. Bond, "Commencement of the Year", Handy-book of rules and tables for verifying dates with the Christian era, (London: 1875), 91–101.
- ^ Mike Spathaky Old Style and New Style Dates and the change to the Gregorian Calendar: A summary for genealogists
- ^ The source has Germany, whose current area during the sixteenth century was a major part of the Holy Roman Empire, a religiously divided confederation. The source is unclear as to whether all or only parts of the country made the change. In general, Roman Catholic countries made the change a few decades before Protestant countries did.
- ^ Sweden's conversion is complicated and took much of the first half of the 18th century. See Swedish calendar.
- ^ Per decree of 16 June 1575. Hermann Grotefend, "Osteranfang" (Easter beginning), Zeitrechnung de Deutschen Mittelalters und der Neuzeit (Chronology of the German Middle Ages and modern times) (1891–1898)
- ^ 1751 in England only lasted from 25 March to 31 December. The following dates 1 January to 24 March which would have concluded 1751 became part of 1752 when the beginning of the numbered year was changed from 25 March to 1 January.
- ^ See Rumi calendar for details. It is often stated that Turkey adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1926 or 1927. This refers to the adoption of the Anno domini era.
- ^ Nautical almanac offices of the United Kingdom and United States, Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Ephemeris and the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1961), 413–6. Note that the date given there for Greece -- 10/24 March 1924 -- is actually the date that the Church of Greece adopted the Revised Julian calendar; see Social Security Administration publication GN 00307.180 - Gregorian/Julian calendar. Also, areas of Russia not under Bolshevik control at the start of 1918 adopted the Gregorian calendar on different dates; see the summary at Toke Nørby, The Perpetual Calendar..
- ^ Fourmilab Calendar Converter webpage
- ^ "Estonian Orthodox Church (Estonian Events)". Vancouveri Eesti Apostliku Õigeusu Kirik. 2010. http://www.estonianevents.com/estonianorthodoxchurch.
- ^ Bishop Photius of Triaditsa, "The 70th Anniversary of the Pan-Orthodox Congress, Part II of II"; "HELSINGIN SANOMAT (International edition)". 21 September 2007. http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Moscow-affiliated+Russian+Orthodox+church+grows+in+Helsinki/1135230488329.
Bibliography[link]
- Blackburn, Bonnie; Holford-Strevens, Leofranc (2003, reprinted with corrections). The Oxford Companion to the Year. Oxford University Press.
- Nautical Almanac Offices of the United Kingdom and the United States of America (1961). Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Ephemeris and the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
External links[link]
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- Calendars through the ages on WebExhibits.
- Calendar FAQ
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- Synoptical Julian-Gregorian Calendar – compare the Julian and Gregorian calendars for any date between 1582 and 2100 using this side-by-side reference.
- Date Conversion
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For other uses, see Julius Caesar (disambiguation).
| Gaius Julius Caesar | |
|---|---|
| Dictator of the Roman Republic | |
 The "Tusculum portrait", possibly the only surviving bust of Caesar made during his lifetime |
|
| Reign | October 49 BC – 15 March 44 BC (as dictator and/or consul) |
| Full name | Gaius Julius Caesar |
| Born | July 100 BC |
| Birthplace | Subura, Rome |
| Died | 15 March 44 BC (aged 55) |
| Place of death | Curia of Pompey, Rome |
| Consort | Cornelia Cinna minor 84 – 69 BC Pompeia 68 – 63 BC Calpurnia Pisonis 59 – 44 BC |
| Offspring | Julia Caesaris c. 73 – 54 BC Caesarion 47 – 30 BC Augustus 63 BC – 14 AD (grand-nephew, posthumously adopted as Caesar's son in 44 BC) |
| Royal House | Julio-Claudian |
| Father | Gaius Julius Cæsar |
| Mother | Aurelia Cotta[1] |
 |
|
| These articles cover the Ancient Roman Comitium of the Republican era | |
|---|---|
| Structures- | Rostra, Curia Hostilia, Curia Julia, Lapis Niger |
| Politicians- | Cicero, Gaius Gracchus, Julius Caesar |
| Assemblies- | Roman Senate, comitia curiata |
Gaius Julius Caesar[2] (Classical Latin: [ˈɡaː.i.ʊs ˈjuː.lɪ.ʊs ˈkaj.sar],[3] July 100 BC[4] – 15 March 44 BC)[5] 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.[6] This sparked a civil war from which he emerged as the unrivaled leader of the Roman world.
After assuming control of government, he began extensive reforms of Roman society and government. He centralised the bureaucracy of the Republic and was eventually proclaimed "dictator in perpetuity". A group of senators, led by Marcus Junius Brutus, assassinated the dictator on the Ides of March (15 March) 44 BC, hoping to restore the constitutional government of the Republic. However, the result was a series of civil wars, which ultimately led to the establishment of the permanent Roman Empire by Caesar's adopted heir Octavius (later known as Augustus). Much of Caesar's life is known from his own accounts of his military campaigns, and other contemporary sources, mainly the letters and speeches of Cicero and the historical writings of Sallust. The later biographies of Caesar by Suetonius and Plutarch are also major sources.
Contents |
Early life and career[link]
Main article: Early life and career of Julius Caesar
Caesar was born into a patrician family, the gens Julia, which claimed descent from Iulus, son of the legendary Trojan prince Aeneas, supposedly the son of the goddess Venus.[7] The cognomen "Caesar" originated, according to Pliny the Elder, with an ancestor who was born by caesarean section (from the Latin verb to cut, caedere, caes-).[8] The Historia Augusta suggests three alternative explanations: that the first Caesar had a thick head of hair (Latin caesaries); that he had bright grey eyes (Latin oculis caesiis); or that he killed an elephant (caesai in Moorish) in battle.[9]
Caesar issued coins featuring images of elephants, suggesting that he favored this interpretation of his name. Despite their ancient pedigree, the Julii Caesares were not especially politically influential. Caesar's father, also called Gaius Julius Caesar, governed the province of Asia,[10] while his mother, Aurelia Cotta, came from an influential family. Little is recorded of Caesar's childhood.[11]
Caesar's formative years were a time of turmoil. There were several wars from 91 BC to 82 BC, although from 82 BC to 80 BC, the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla was purging Rome of his political enemies. Domestically, Roman politics was bitterly divided. In 85 BC, Caesar's father died suddenly[12] so at sixteen Caesar was the head of the family. The following year he was nominated to be the new high priest of Jupiter.[13]
Since the holder of that position not only had to be a patrician but also be married to a patrician, he broke off his engagement to a plebeian girl he had been betrothed to since boyhood, and married Lucius Cinna's daughter Cornelia.[14] Meanwhile, having brought Mithridates to terms, Sulla returned to Rome and had himself appointed to the revived office of dictator.[15]
Sulla's proscriptions saw hundreds of his political enemies killed or exiled. Caesar, as the nephew of Marius and son-in-law of Cinna, was targeted. He was stripped of his inheritance, his wife's dowry and his priesthood, but he refused to divorce Cornelia and was forced to go into hiding. The threat against him was lifted by the intervention of his mother's family, which included supporters of Sulla, and the Vestal Virgins. Sulla gave in reluctantly, and is said to have declared that he saw many a Marius in Caesar.[11]
Caesar left Rome and joined the army, where he won the Civic Crown for his part in an important siege. On a mission to Bithynia to secure the assistance of King Nicomedes's fleet, he spent so long at his court that rumors of an affair with the king arose, which Caesar would vehemently deny for the rest of his life.[16] Ironically, the loss of his priesthood had allowed him to pursue a military career, as the high priest of Jupiter was not permitted to touch a horse, sleep three nights outside his own bed or one night outside Rome, or look upon an army.[17]
Hearing of Sulla's death in 78 BC, Caesar felt safe enough to return to Rome. Lacking means since his inheritance was confiscated, he acquired a modest house in a lower-class neighborhood of Rome.[18] Instead, he turned to legal advocacy. He became known for his exceptional oratory, accompanied by impassioned gestures and a high-pitched voice, and ruthless prosecution of former governors notorious for extortion and corruption.
On the way across the Aegean Sea,[19] Caesar was kidnapped by pirates and held prisoner.[20] He maintained an attitude of superiority throughout his captivity. When the pirates thought to demand a ransom of twenty talents of silver, he insisted they ask for fifty.[21][22] After the ransom was paid, Caesar raised a fleet, pursued and captured the pirates, and imprisoned them. He had them crucified on his own authority, as he had promised while in captivity[23]—a promise the pirates had taken as a joke. As a sign of leniency, he first had their throats cut. He was soon called back into military action in Asia, raising a band of auxiliaries to repel an incursion from the east.[citation needed]
On his return to Rome, he was elected military tribune, a first step in a political career. He was elected quaestor for 69 BC,[24] and during that year he delivered the funeral oration for his aunt Julia. His wife, Cornelia, also died that year.[25] After her funeral, in the spring or early summer of 69 BC, Caesar went to serve his quaestorship in Spain.[26] While there he is said to have encountered a statue of Alexander the Great, and realized with dissatisfaction he was now at an age when Alexander had the world at his feet, while he had achieved comparatively little. On his return in 67 BC,[27] he married Pompeia, a granddaughter of Sulla, whom he later divorced.[28]
In 63 BC, he ran for election to the post of Pontifex Maximus, chief priest of the Roman state religion. He ran against two powerful senators. There were accusations of bribery by all sides. Caesar won comfortably, despite his opponents' greater experience and standing.[29] When Cicero, who was consul that year, exposed Catiline's conspiracy to seize control of the republic, several senators accused Caesar of involvement in the plot.[30]
After his praetorship, Caesar was appointed to govern Spain, but he was still in considerable debt and needed to satisfy his creditors before he could leave. He turned to Marcus Licinius Crassus, one of Rome's richest men. In return for political support in his opposition to the interests of Pompey, Crassus paid some of Caesar's debts and acted as guarantor for others. Even so, to avoid becoming a private citizen and thus be open to prosecution for his debts, Caesar left for his province before his praetorship had ended. In Spain, he conquered two local tribes and was hailed as imperator by his troops, reformed the law regarding debts, and completed his governorship in high esteem.[31]
As imperator, Caesar was entitled to a triumph. However, he also wanted to stand for consul, the most senior magistracy in the republic. If he were to celebrate a triumph, he would have to remain a soldier and stay outside the city until the ceremony, but to stand for election he would need to lay down his command and enter Rome as a private citizen. He could not do both in the time available. He asked the senate for permission to stand in absentia, but Cato blocked the proposal. Faced with the choice between a triumph and the consulship, Caesar chose the consulship.[32]
Consulship and military campaigns[link]
Main articles: Military campaigns of Julius Caesar and First Triumvirate
In 60 BC, Caesar sought election as consul for 59 BC, along with two other candidates. The election was sordid – even Cato, with his reputation for incorruptibility, is said to have resorted to bribery in favor of one of Caesar's opponents. Caesar won, along with conservative Marcus Bibulus.[33]
Caesar was already in Crassus' political debt, but he also made overtures to Pompey. Pompey and Crassus had been at odds for a decade, so Caesar tried to reconcile them. The three of them had enough money and political influence to control public business. This informal alliance, known as the First Triumvirate ("rule of three men"), was cemented by the marriage of Pompey to Caesar's daughter Julia.[34] Caesar also married again, this time Calpurnia, who was the daughter of another powerful senator.[35]
Caesar proposed a law for the redistribution of public lands to the poor, a proposal supported by Pompey, by force of arms if need be, and by Crassus, making the triumvirate public. Pompey filled the city with soldiers, a move which intimidated the triumvirate's opponents. Bibulus attempted to declare the omens unfavorable and thus void the new law, but was driven from the forum by Caesar's armed supporters. His bodyguards had their ceremonial axes broken, two high magistrates accompanying him were wounded, and he had a bucket of excrement thrown over him. In fear of his life, he retired to his house for the rest of the year, issuing occasional proclamations of bad omens. These attempts to obstruct Caesar's legislation proved ineffective. Roman satirists ever after referred to the year as "the consulship of Julius and Caesar."[36]
When Caesar was first elected, the aristocracy tried to limit his future power by allotting the woods and pastures of Italy, rather than the governorship of a province, as his military command duty after his year in office was over.[37] With the help of political allies, Caesar later overturned this, and was instead appointed to govern Cisalpine Gaul (northern Italy) and Illyricum (southeastern Europe), with Transalpine Gaul (southern France) later added, giving him command of four legions. The term of his governorship, and thus his immunity from prosecution, was set at five years, rather than the usual one.[38] When his consulship ended, Caesar narrowly avoided prosecution for the irregularities of his year in office, and quickly left for his province.[39]
Conquest of Gaul[link]
Main article: Gallic Wars
Caesar was still deeply in debt, but there was money to be made as a governor, whether by extortion[40] or by military adventurism. Caesar had four legions under his command, two of his provinces bordered on unconquered territory, and parts of Gaul were known to be unstable. Some of Rome's Gallic allies had been defeated by their rivals, with the help of a contingent of Germanic tribes. The Romans feared these tribes were preparing to migrate south, closer to Italy, and that they had warlike intent. Caesar raised two new legions and defeated these tribes.[41]
In response to Caesar's earlier activities, the tribes in the north-east began to arm themselves. Caesar treated this as an aggressive move and, after an inconclusive engagement against the united tribes, he conquered the tribes piecemeal. Meanwhile, one of his legions began the conquest of the tribes in the far north (directly opposite Britain).[42] During the spring of 56 BC, the Triumvirate held a conference, as Rome was in turmoil and Caesar's political alliance was coming undone. The meeting renewed the Triumvirate and extended Caesar's governorship for another five years.[43] The conquest of the north was soon completed, while a few pockets of resistance remained.[44] Caesar now had a secure base from which to launch an invasion of Britain.
In 55 BC, Caesar repelled an incursion into Gaul by two Germanic tribes, and followed it up by building a bridge across the Rhine and making a show of force in Germanic territory, before returning and dismantling the bridge. Late that summer, having subdued two other tribes, he crossed into Britain, claiming that the Britons had aided one of his enemies the previous year possibly the Veneti of Brittany.[45] His intelligence information was poor, and although he gained a beachhead on the coast, he could not advance further, and returned to Gaul for the winter.[46] He returned the following year, better prepared and with a larger force, and achieved more. He advanced inland, and established a few alliances. However, poor harvests led to widespread revolt in Gaul, which forced Caesar to leave Britain for the last time.[47]
While Caesar was in Britain his daughter Julia, Pompey's wife, had died in childbirth. Caesar tried to re-secure Pompey's support by offering him his great-niece in marriage, but Pompey declined. In 53 BC Crassus was killed leading a failed invasion of the east. Rome was on the edge of civil war. Pompey was appointed sole consul as an emergency measure, and married the daughter of a political opponent of Caesar. The Triumvirate was dead.[48]
In 52 BC another, larger revolt erupted in Gaul, led by Vercingetorix. Vercingetorix managed to unite the Gallic tribes and proved an astute commander, defeating Caesar in several engagements, but Caesar's elaborate siege-works at the Battle of Alesia finally forced his surrender.[49] Despite scattered outbreaks of warfare the following year,[50] Gaul was effectively conquered. Plutarch claimed that the army had fought against three million men during the Gallic Wars, of whom one million died, and another million were enslaved. The Romans subjugated 300 tribes and destroyed 800 cities.[51] However, in view of the difficulty in finding accurate counts in the first place, Caesar's propagandistic purposes, and the common exaggeration of numbers in ancient texts, the stated totals of enemy combatants are likely to be too high.
Civil war[link]
Main article: Caesar's Civil War
In 50 BC, the Senate, led by Pompey, ordered Caesar to disband his army and return to Rome because his term as governor had finished.[52] Caesar thought he would be prosecuted if he entered Rome without the immunity enjoyed by a magistrate. Pompey accused Caesar of insubordination and treason. In January 49 BC, Caesar crossed the Rubicon river (the frontier boundary of Italy) with only one legion and ignited civil war. Upon crossing the Rubicon, Caesar, according to Plutarch and Suetonius, is supposed to have quoted the Athenian playwright Menander, in Greek, "the die is cast".[53]
Erasmus, however, notes that the more accurate translation of the Greek imperative mood would be "alea icta esto" let the die be cast.[54] Pompey and much of the Senate fled to the south, having little confidence in his newly raised troops. Despite greatly outnumbering Caesar, who only had his Thirteenth Legion with him, Pompey did not intend to fight. Caesar pursued Pompey, hoping to capture him before his legions could escape.[55]
Pompey managed to escape before Caesar could capture him. Caesar decided to head for Spain, while leaving Italy under the control of Mark Antony. Caesar made an astonishing 27-day route-march to Spain, where he defeated Pompey's lieutenants. He then returned east, to challenge Pompey in Greece where in July 48 BC at Dyrrhachium Caesar barely avoided a catastrophic defeat. He decisively defeated Pompey at Pharsalus in an exceedingly short engagement later that year.[56]
In Rome, Caesar was appointed dictator,[57] with Mark Antony as his Master of the Horse (second in command); Caesar presided over his own election to a second consulship and then, after eleven days, resigned this dictatorship.[57][58] Caesar then pursued Pompey to Egypt, where Pompey was soon murdered.[59]
Caesar then became involved with an Egyptian civil war between the child pharaoh and his sister, wife, and co-regent queen, Cleopatra. Perhaps as a result of the pharaoh's role in Pompey's murder, Caesar sided with Cleopatra; he is reported to have wept at the sight of Pompey's head,[60] which was offered to him by the pharaoh as a gift. In any event, Caesar withstood the Siege of Alexandria and later he defeated the pharaoh's forces Battle of the Nile in 47 BC and installed Cleopatra as ruler. Caesar and Cleopatra celebrated their victory with a triumphant procession on the Nile in the spring of 47 BC. The royal barge was accompanied by 400 additional ships, and Caesar was introduced to the luxurious lifestyle of the Egyptian pharaohs.[61]
Caesar and Cleopatra never married, as Roman law recognized marriages only between two Roman citizens. Caesar continued his relationship with Cleopatra throughout his last marriage, which lasted fourteen years – in Roman eyes, this did not constitute adultery – and may have fathered a son called Caesarion. Cleopatra visited Rome on more than one occasion, residing in Caesar's villa just outside Rome across the Tiber.[62]
Late in 48 BC, Caesar was again appointed Dictator, with a term of one year.[58] After spending the first months of 47 BC in Egypt, Caesar went to the Middle East, where he annihilated the king of Pontus; his victory was so swift and complete that he mocked Pompey's previous victories over such poor enemies.[63] On his way to Pontus, Caesar visited from May 27 to 29, 47 BC, (May 25-27greg.) Tarsus, where he met enthusiastic support, but where, according to Cicero, Cassius was planning to kill him at this point.[64][65][66] Thence, he proceeded to Africa to deal with the remnants of Pompey's senatorial supporters. He quickly gained a significant victory in 46 BC over Cato, who then committed suicide.[67]
After this victory, he was appointed Dictator for ten years.[68] Nevertheless, Pompey's sons escaped to Spain; Caesar gave chase and defeated the last remnants of opposition in the Battle of Munda in March 45 BC.[69] During this time, Caesar was elected to his third and fourth terms as consul in 46 BC and 45 BC (this last time without a colleague).
Dictatorship and assassination[link]
While he was still campaigning in Spain, the Senate began bestowing honors on Caesar. Caesar had not proscribed his enemies, instead pardoning almost all, and there was no serious public opposition to him. Great games and celebrations were held in April to honor Caesar’s victory at Munda. Plutarch writes that many Romans found the triumph held following Caesar's victory to be in poor taste, as those defeated in the civil war had not been foreigners, but instead fellow Romans.[70] On Caesar's return to Italy in September 45 BC, he filed his will, naming his grandnephew Gaius Octavius (Octavian) as the heir to everything, including his name. Caesar also wrote that if Octavian died before Caesar did, Marcus Junius Brutus would be the next heir in succession.
During his early career, Caesar had seen how chaotic and dysfunctional the Roman Republic had become. The republican machinery had broken down under the weight of imperialism, the central government had become powerless, the provinces had been transformed into independent principalities under the absolute control of their governors, and the army had replaced the constitution as the means of accomplishing political goals. With a weak central government, political corruption had spiraled out of control, and the status quo had been maintained by a corrupt aristocracy, which saw no need to change a system that had made its members rich.[citation needed]
Between his crossing of the Rubicon River in 49 BC, and his assassination in 44 BC, Caesar established a new constitution, which was intended to accomplish three separate goals.[71] First, he wanted to suppress all armed resistance out in the provinces, and thus bring order back to the empire. Second, he wanted to create a strong central government in Rome. Finally, he wanted to knit together the entire empire into a single cohesive unit.[71]
The first goal was accomplished when Caesar defeated Pompey and his supporters.[71] To accomplish the other two goals, he needed to ensure that his control over the government was undisputed,[72] and so he assumed these powers by increasing his own authority, and by decreasing the authority of Rome's other political institutions. Finally, he enacted a series of reforms that were meant to address several long neglected issues, the most important of which was his reform of the calendar.[citation needed]
Dictatorship[link]
When Caesar returned to Rome, the Senate granted him triumphs for his victories, ostensibly over Gaul, Egypt, Pharnaces and Juba, rather than over his Roman opponents. Not everything went Caesar's way. When Arsinoe IV, Egypt's former queen, was paraded in chains, the spectators admired her dignified bearing and were moved to pity.[73] Triumphal games were held, with beast-hunts involving 400 lions, and gladiator contests. A naval battle was held on a flooded basin at the Field of Mars.[74] At the Circus Maximus, two armies of war captives, each of 2,000 people, 200 horse and 20 elephants, fought to the death. Again, some bystanders complained, this time at Caesar's wasteful extravagance. A riot broke out, and only stopped when Caesar had two rioters sacrificed by the priests on the Field of Mars.[74]
After the triumph, Caesar set forth to passing an unprecedented legislative agenda.[74][dubious – discuss] He ordered a census be taken, which forced a reduction in the grain dole, and that jurors could only come from the Senate or the equestrian ranks. He passed a sumptuary law that restricted the purchase of certain luxuries. After this, he passed a law that rewarded families for having many children, to speed up the repopulation of Italy. Then he outlawed professional guilds, except those of ancient foundation, since many of these were subversive political clubs. He then passed a term limit law applicable to governors. He passed a debt restructuring law, which ultimately eliminated about a fourth of all debts owed.[74]
The Forum of Caesar, with its Temple of Venus Genetrix, was then built, among many other public works. Caesar also tightly regulated the purchase of state-subsidised grain and reduced the number of recipients to a fixed number, all of whom were entered into a special register.[75] From 47 to 44 BC he made plans for the distribution of land to about 15,000 of his veterans.[76]
The most important change, however, was his reform of the calendar. The calendar at the time was regulated by the movement of the moon, and this had resulted in a great deal of disorder. Caesar replaced this calendar with the Egyptian calendar, which was regulated by the sun. He set the length of the year to 365.25 days by adding an intercalary/leap day at the end of February every fourth year.[77]
To bring the calendar into alignment with the seasons, he decreed that three extra months be inserted into 46 BC (the ordinary intercalary month at the end of February, and two extra months after November). Thus, the Julian calendar opened on 1 January 45 BC.[74][77] This calendar is almost identical to the current Western calendar.
Shortly before his assassination, he passed a few more reforms.[74] He established a police force, appointed officials to carry out his land reforms, and ordered the rebuilding of Carthage and Corinth. He also extended Latin rights throughout the Roman world, and then abolished the tax system and reverted to the earlier version that allowed cities to collect tribute however they wanted, rather than needing Roman intermediaries. His assassination prevented further and larger schemes, which included the construction of an unprecedented temple to Mars, a huge theater, and a library on the scale of the Library of Alexandria.[74]
He also wanted to convert Ostia to a major port, and cut a canal through the Isthmus of Corinth. Militarily, he wanted to conquer the Dacians, Parthians, and avenge the loss at Carrhae. Thus, he instituted a massive mobilization. Shortly before his assassination, the Senate named him censor for life and Father of the Fatherland, and the month of Quintilis was renamed July in his honor.[74]
He was granted further honors, which were later used to justify his assassination as a would-be divine monarch; coins were issued bearing his image and his statue was placed next to those of the kings. He was granted a golden chair in the Senate, was allowed to wear triumphal dress whenever he chose, and was offered a form of semi-official or popular cult, with Mark Antony as his high priest.[74]
Political reforms[link]
Main article: Constitutional Reforms of Julius Caesar
The history of Caesar's political appointments is complex and uncertain. Caesar held both the dictatorship and the tribunate, but alternated between the consulship and the Proconsulship.[72] His powers within the state seem to have rested upon these magistracies.[72] He was first appointed dictator in 49 BC possibly to preside over elections, but resigned his dictatorship within eleven days. In 48 BC, he was re-appointed dictator, only this time for an indefinite period, and in 46 BC, he was appointed dictator for ten years.[78]
In February 44 BC, one month before his assassination, he was appointed dictator for life. Under Caesar, a significant amount of authority was vested in his lieutenants,[78] mostly because Caesar was frequently out of Italy.[78] In October 45 BC, Caesar resigned his position as sole consul, and facilitated the election of two successors for the remainder of the year which theoretically restored the ordinary consulship, since the constitution did not recognize a single consul without a colleague.[79]
In 48 BC, Caesar was given permanent tribunician powers,[80] which made his person sacrosanct and allowed him to veto the Senate,[80] although on at least one occasion, tribunes did attempt to obstruct him. The offending tribunes in this case were brought before the Senate and divested of their office.[80] This was not the first time that Caesar had violated a tribune's sacrosanctity. After he had first marched on Rome in 49 BC, he forcibly opened the treasury although a tribune had the seal placed on it. After the impeachment of the two obstructive tribunes, Caesar, perhaps unsurprisingly, faced no further opposition from other members of the Tribunician College.[80]
In 46 BC, Caesar gave himself the title of "Prefect of the Morals", which was an office that was new only in name, as its powers were identical to those of the censors.[80] Thus, he could hold censorial powers, while technically not subjecting himself to the same checks that the ordinary censors were subject to, and he used these powers to fill the Senate with his own partisans. He also set the precedent, which his imperial successors followed, of requiring the Senate to bestow various titles and honors upon him. He was, for example, given the title of "Father of the Fatherland" and "imperator".[78]
Coins bore his likeness, and he was given the right to speak first during senate meetings.[78] Caesar then increased the number of magistrates who were elected each year, which created a large pool of experienced magistrates, and allowed Caesar to reward his supporters.[79]
Caesar even took steps to transform Italy into a province, and to link more tightly the other provinces of the empire into a single cohesive unit. This addressed the underlying problem that had caused the Social War decades earlier, where individuals outside Rome and Italy were not considered "Roman", and thus were not given full citizenship rights. This process, of fusing the entire Roman Empire into a single unit, rather than maintaining it as a network of unequal principalities, would ultimately be completed by Caesar's successor, the emperor Augustus.
When Caesar returned to Rome in 47 BC, the ranks of the Senate had been severely depleted, and so he used his censorial powers to appoint many new senators, which eventually raised the Senate's membership to 900.[79] All the appointments were of his own partisans, which robbed the senatorial aristocracy of its prestige, and made the Senate increasingly subservient to him.[81] To minimize the risk that another general might attempt to challenge him,[78] Caesar passed a law that subjected governors to term limits.[78]
Near the end of his life, Caesar began to prepare for a war against the Parthian Empire. Since his absence from Rome might limit his ability to install his own consuls, he passed a law which allowed him to appoint all magistrates in 43 BC, and all consuls and tribunes in 42 BC.[79] This, in effect, transformed the magistrates from being representatives of the people to being representatives of the dictator.[79]
Assassination[link]
See also: Assassination of Julius Caesar
On the Ides of March (15 March; see Roman calendar) of 44 BC, Caesar was due to appear at a session of the Senate. Mark Antony, having vaguely learned of the plot the night before from a terrified Liberator named Servilius Casca, and fearing the worst, went to head Caesar off. The plotters, however, had anticipated this and, fearing that Antony would come to Caesar's aid, had arranged for Trebonius to intercept him just as he approached the portico of Theatre of Pompey, where the session was to be held, and detain him outside. (Plutarch, however, assigns this action to delay Antony to Brutus Albinus). When he heard the commotion from the senate chamber, Antony fled.[82]
According to Plutarch, as Caesar arrived at the Senate, Tillius Cimber presented him with a petition to recall his exiled brother.[83] The other conspirators crowded round to offer support. Both Plutarch and Suetonius say that Caesar waved him away, but Cimber grabbed his shoulders and pulled down Caesar's tunic. Caesar then cried to Cimber, "Why, this is violence!" ("Ista quidem vis est!").[84]
At the same time, Casca produced his dagger and made a glancing thrust at the dictator's neck. Caesar turned around quickly and caught Casca by the arm. According to Plutarch, he said in Latin, "Casca, you villain, what are you doing?"[85] Casca, frightened, shouted, "Help, brother!" in Greek ("ἀδελφέ, βοήθει", "adelphe, boethei"). Within moments, the entire group, including Brutus, was striking out at the dictator. Caesar attempted to get away, but, blinded by blood, he tripped and fell; the men continued stabbing him as he lay defenceless on the lower steps of the portico. According to Eutropius, around 60 or more men participated in the assassination. He was stabbed 23 times.[86]
According to Suetonius, a physician later established that only one wound, the second one to his chest, had been lethal.[87] The dictator's last words are not known with certainty, and are a contested subject among scholars and historians alike. Suetonius reports that others have said Caesar's last words were the Greek phrase "καὶ σύ, τέκνον;"[88] (transliterated as "Kai su, teknon?": "You too, child?" in English). However, for himself, Suetonius says Caesar said nothing.[89]
Plutarch also reports that Caesar said nothing, pulling his toga over his head when he saw Brutus among the conspirators.[90] The version best known in the English-speaking world is the Latin phrase "Et tu, Brute?" ("And you, Brutus?", commonly rendered as "You too, Brutus?");[91][92] this derives from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, where it actually forms the first half of a macaronic line: "Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar." It has no basis in historical fact and Shakespeare's use of Latin here is not from any assertion that Caesar would have been using the language, rather than the Greek reported by Suetonius, but because the phrase was already popular when the play was written.[93]
According to Plutarch, after the assassination, Brutus stepped forward as if to say something to his fellow senators; they, however, fled the building.[94] Brutus and his companions then marched to the Capitol while crying out to their beloved city: "People of Rome, we are once again free!" They were met with silence, as the citizens of Rome had locked themselves inside their houses as soon as the rumor of what had taken place had begun to spread. Caesar's dead body lay where it fell on the Senate floor for nearly three hours before other officials arrived to remove it.
Caesar's body was cremated, and on the site of his cremation the Temple of Caesar was erected a few years later (at the east side of the main square of the Roman Forum). Nowadays, only its altar remains.[95][96] A lifesize wax statue of Caesar was later erected in the forum displaying the 23 stab wounds. A crowd who had gathered there started a fire, which badly damaged the forum and neighboring buildings. In the ensuing chaos Mark Antony, Octavian (later Augustus Caesar), and others fought a series of five civil wars, which would end in the formation of the Roman Empire.
Aftermath of the assassination[link]
The result unforeseen by the assassins was that Caesar's death precipitated the end of the Roman Republic.[97] The Roman middle and lower classes, with whom Caesar was immensely popular and had been since before Gaul, became enraged that a small group of aristocrats had killed their champion. Antony, who had been drifting apart from Caesar, capitalised on the grief of the Roman mob and threatened to unleash them on the Optimates, perhaps with the intent of taking control of Rome himself. To his surprise and chagrin, Caesar had named his grandnephew Gaius Octavian his sole heir, bequeathing him the immensely potent Caesar name and making him one of the wealthiest citizens in the Republic.[98]
The crowd at the funeral boiled over, throwing dry branches, furniture and even clothing on to Caesar's funeral pyre, causing the flames to spin out of control, seriously damaging the Forum. The mob then attacked the houses of Brutus and Cassius, where they were repelled only with considerable difficulty, ultimately providing the spark for the Liberators' civil war, fulfilling at least in part Antony's threat against the aristocrats.[99] Antony did not foresee the ultimate outcome of the next series of civil wars, particularly with regard to Caesar's adopted heir. Octavian, aged only 18 when Caesar died, proved to have considerable political skills, and while Antony dealt with Decimus Brutus in the first round of the new civil wars, Octavian consolidated his tenuous position.
To combat Brutus and Cassius, who were massing an enormous army in Greece, Antony needed soldiers, the cash from Caesar's war chests, and the legitimacy that Caesar's name would provide for any action he took against them. With the passage of the lex Titia on 27 November 43 BC,[100] the Second Triumvirate was officially formed, composed of Antony, Octavian, and Caesar's loyal cavalry commander Lepidus.[101] It formally deified Caesar as Divus Iulius in 42 BC, and Caesar Octavian henceforth became Divi filius ("Son of a god").[102]
Because Caesar's clemency had resulted in his murder, the Second Triumvirate reinstated the practice of proscription, abandoned since Sulla.[103] It engaged in the legally-sanctioned murder of a large number of its opponents to secure funding for its forty-five legions in the second civil war against Brutus and Cassius.[104] Antony and Octavius defeated them at Philippi.[105]
Afterward, Mark Antony formed an alliance with Caesar's lover, Cleopatra, intending to use the fabulously wealthy Egypt as a base to dominate Rome. A third civil war broke out between Octavian on one hand and Antony and Cleopatra on the other. This final civil war, culminating in the latter's defeat at Actium, resulted in the permanent ascendancy of Octavian, who became the first Roman emperor, under the name Caesar Augustus, a name that raised him to the status of a deity.[106]
Julius Caesar had been preparing to invade Parthia, the Caucasus and Scythia, and then march back to Germania through Eastern Europe. These plans were thwarted by his assassination.[107] His successors did attempt the conquests of Parthia and Germania, but without lasting results.
Julius Caesar was the first historical Roman to be officially deified. He was posthumously granted the title Divus Iulius or Divus Julius (the divine Julius or the deified Julius) by decree of the Roman Senate on 1 January 42 BC. Though his temple was not dedicated until after his death, he may have received divine honors during his lifetime:[108] and shortly before his assassination, Mark Antony had been appointed as his flamen (priest).[109] Both Octavian and Mark Antony promoted the cult of Divus Iulius. After the death of Antony, Octavian, as the adoptive son of Caesar, assumed the title of Divi Filius (son of a god).
Personal life[link]
Health and physical appearance[link]
Based on remarks by Plutarch,[110] Caesar is sometimes thought to have suffered from epilepsy. Modern scholarship is "sharply divided" on the subject, and some scholars believe that he was plagued by malaria, particularly during the Sullan proscriptions of the 80s.[111] Despite the commonly held belief that Caesar suffered from epilepsy, several specialists in headache medicine believe that a more accurate diagnosis would be migraine headache.[112]
Caesar had four documented episodes of what may have been complex partial seizures. He may additionally have had absence seizures in his youth. The earliest accounts of these seizures were made by the biographer Suetonius, who was born after Caesar died. The claim of epilepsy is countered among some medical historians by a claim of hypoglycemia, which can cause epileptoid seizures.[113][114][115]
In 2003, psychiatrist Harbour F. Hodder published what he termed as the "Caesar Complex" theory, arguing that Caesar was a sufferer of temporal lobe epilepsy and the debilitating symptoms of the condition were a factor in Caesar's conscious decision to forgo personal safety in the days leading up to his assassination.[116]
A line from Shakespeare has sometimes been taken to mean that he was deaf in one ear: Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf.[117] No classical source mentions hearing impairment in connection with Caesar. The playwright may have been making metaphorical use of a passage in Plutarch that does not refer to deafness at all, but rather to a gesture Alexander of Macedon customarily made. By covering his ear, Alexander indicated that he had turned his attention from an accusation in order to hear the defense.[118]
The Roman historian Suetonius describes Caesar as "tall of stature with a fair complexion, shapely limbs, a somewhat full face, and keen black eyes."[119]
Name and family[link]
Main article: Etymology of the name of Julius Caesar
Main article: Julio-Claudian family tree
Using the Latin alphabet as it existed in the day of Caesar (i.e., without lower case letters, "J", or "U"), Caesar's name would be rendered "GAIVS IVLIVS CAESAR"; the form "CAIVS" is also attested, using the old Roman representation of G by C; it is an antique form of the more common "GAIVS". The standard abbreviation was, and this is not archaic, "C. IVLIVS CAESAR". (The letterform "Æ" is a ligature, which is often encountered in Latin inscriptions where it was used to save space, and is nothing more than the letters "ae".)
In Classical Latin, it was pronounced [ˈɡaːjus ˈjuːljus ˈkajsar]. In the days of the late Roman Republic, many historical writings were done in Greek, a language most educated Romans studied. Young wealthy Roman boys were often taught by Greek slaves and sometimes sent to Athens for advanced training, as was Caesar's principal assassin, Brutus. In Greek, during Caesar's time, his family name was written Καίσαρ, reflecting its contemporary pronunciation. Thus, his name is pronounced in a similar way to the pronunciation of the German Kaiser.
In Vulgar Latin, the plosive /k/ before front vowels began, due to palatalization, to be pronounced as an affricate – hence renderings like [ˈtʃeːsar] in Italian and [ˈtseːsar] in German regional pronunciations of Latin, as well as the title of Tsar. With the evolution of the Romance languages, the affricate [ts] became a fricative [s] (thus, [ˈseːsar]) in many regional pronunciations, including the French one, from which the modern English pronunciation is derived. The original /k/ is preserved in Norse mythology, where he is manifested as the legendary king Kjárr.[120]
Caesar's cognomen would itself become a title; it was greatly promulgated by the Bible, by the famous verse "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's". The title became the German Kaiser and Slavic Tsar/Czar. The last tsar in nominal power was Simeon II of Bulgaria whose reign ended in 1946; for two thousand years after Julius Caesar's assassination, there was at least one head of state bearing his name.
Parents[link]
- Father Gaius Julius Caesar the Elder
- Mother Aurelia (related to the Aurelii Cottae)
Sisters[link]
- Julia Caesaris "Major" (the elder)
- Julia Caesaris "Minor" (the younger)
Wives[link]
- First marriage to Cornelia Cinnilla, from 83 BC until her death in childbirth in 69 or 68 BC
- Second marriage to Pompeia, from 67 BC until he divorced her around 61 BC
- Third marriage to Calpurnia Pisonis, from 59 BC until Caesar's death
Children[link]
- Julia with Cornelia Cinnilla, born in 83 or 82 BC
- Caesarion, with Cleopatra VII, born 47 BC. He was killed at age 17 by Caesar's adopted son Octavianus.
- adopted: Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, his great-nephew by blood, who later became Emperor Augustus.
- Marcus Junius Brutus: The historian Plutarch notes that Caesar believed Brutus to have been his illegitimate son, as his mother Servilia had been Caesar's lover during their youth.[121]
Grandchildren[link]
Lovers[link]
- Cleopatra VII mother of Caesarion
- Servilia Caepionis mother of Brutus
- Eunoë, queen of Mauretania and wife of Bogudes
Notable relatives[link]
- Gaius Marius (married to his Aunt Julia)
- Mark Antony
- Lucius Julius Caesar
- Julius Sabinus, a Gaul of the Lingones at the time of the Batavian rebellion of AD 69, claimed to be the great-grandson of Caesar on the grounds that his great-grandmother had been Caesar's lover during the Gallic war.[122]
Political rumors[link]
Roman society viewed the passive role during sexual activity, regardless of gender, to be a sign of submission or inferiority. Indeed, Suetonius says that in Caesar's Gallic triumph, his soldiers sang that, "Caesar may have conquered the Gauls, but Nicomedes conquered Caesar."[123] According to Cicero, Bibulus, Gaius Memmius, and others (mainly Caesar's enemies), he had an affair with Nicomedes IV of Bithynia early in his career. The tales were repeated, referring to Caesar as the Queen of Bithynia, by some Roman politicians as a way to humiliate him. It is very likely that the rumors were spread only as a form of character assassination; Caesar himself denied the accusations repeatedly throughout his lifetime, and according to Cassius Dio, even under oath on one occasion.[124] This form of slander was popular during this time in the Roman Republic to demean and discredit political opponents. A favorite tactic used by the opposition was to accuse a popular political rival as living a Hellenistic lifestyle based on Greek and Eastern culture, where homosexuality and a lavish lifestyle were more acceptable than in Roman tradition.[citation needed]
Catullus wrote two poems suggesting that Caesar and his engineer Mamurra were lovers,[125] but later apologised.[126]
Mark Antony charged that Octavian had earned his adoption by Caesar through sexual favors. Suetonius described Antony's accusation of an affair with Octavian as political slander. Octavian eventually became the first Roman Emperor.[127]
Literary works[link]
Caesar was considered during his lifetime to be one of the best orators and authors of prose in Rome—even Cicero spoke highly of Caesar's rhetoric and style.[128] Among his most famous works were his funeral oration for his paternal aunt Julia and his Anticato, a document written to defame Cato and respond to Cicero's Cato memorial. Poems by Caesar are also mentioned in ancient sources.[129] His works other than his war commentaries have been lost, although a few sentences are quoted by other authors.
Memoirs[link]
- The Commentarii de Bello Gallico (Commentaries on the Gallic War), campaigns in Gallia and Britannia during his term as proconsul; and
- The Commentarii de Bello Civili (Commentaries on the Civil War), events of the Civil War until immediately after Pompey's death in Egypt.
Other works historically attributed to Caesar, but whose authorship is doubted, are:
- De Bello Alexandrino (On the Alexandrine War), campaign in Alexandria;
- De Bello Africo (On the African War), campaigns in North Africa; and
- De Bello Hispaniensi (On the Hispanic War), campaigns in the Iberian Peninsula.
These narratives were written and published annually during or just after the actual campaigns, as a sort of "dispatches from the front." Apparently simple and direct in style—to the point that Caesar's Commentarii are commonly studied by first and second year Latin students—they are in fact highly sophisticated tracts, aimed most particularly at the middle-brow readership of minor aristocrats[citation needed] in Rome, Italy, and the provinces.
Legend and legacy[link]
![[icon]](http://web.archive.org./web/20130307214619/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} |
This section requires expansion. |
In the Middle Ages Caesar was created a member of the Nine Worthies, a group of heroes encapsulating all the ideal qualities of chivalry.
Chronology of his life[link]
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fontsize:S barset:military_career shift:(5,-5) at:-81 text:"Military service in Asia and Cilicia" at:-52 text:"Battle of Alesia" at:-49 text:"Crossing of the Rubicon~Civil war starts" barset:skip at:-48 text:"Defeats Pompey in Greece~at Battle of Pharsalus" barset:skip at:-47 text:"Campaign in Egypt" at:-46 text:"Defeats Cato and Metellus Scipio~in northern Africa" barset:skip at:-45 text:"Defeats the last opposition~in Hispania" barset:skip
barset:political_career
at:-69 text:"Becomes Quaestor in Hispania Ulterior" at:-65 text:"Elected curule aedile" at:-63 text:"Elected pontifex maximus~and praetor urbanus" barset:skip at:-63 text:"Catilinarian conspiracy" at:-61 text:"Serves as Propraetor~in Hispania Ulterior" barset:skip at:-60 text:"First time declared imperator" at:-59 text:"Beginning of the First Triumvirate" at:-53 text:"End of the First Triumvirate" at:-48 text:"First dictatorship" at:-46 text:"Second dictatorship" at:-46 text:"Elected pontifex maximus for life" at:-45 text:"Returns to Rome" at:-45 text:"Named Pater Patriae" at:-45 text:"Second time declared imperator" at:-45 text:"Third dictatorship" at:-44 text:"Appointed perpetual dictator" at:-44 text:"Refuses diadem from Mark Antony" barset:skip
barset:consulships
at:-59 text:"First consulship with~Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus" barset:skip at:-58 text:"Starts first term as~Proconsul of Gaul" barset:skip at:-53 text:"Starts second term as~Proconsul of Gaul" barset:skip at:-48 text:"Second consulship with~Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricu" barset:skip at:-46 text:"Third consulship with~Marcus Aemilius Lepidus" barset:skip at:-45 text:"Fourth consulship~without colleague" barset:skip at:-45 text:"Fifth consulship with~Mark Antony" barset:skip
- extra years
mark:(line,grid1) bar:dummy1 shift:(2,-6) fontsize:XS textcolor:years at:-100 text:-100 at:-90 text:-90 at:-80 text:-80 at:-70 text:-70 at:-60 text:-60 at:-50 text:-50 at:-40 text:-40 bar:dummy2 shift:(2,-6) at:-100 text:-100 at:-90 text:-90 at:-80 text:-80 at:-70 text:-70 at:-60 text:-60 at:-50 text:-50 at:-40 text:-40 bar:dummy3 shift:(2,-6) at:-100 text:-100 at:-90 text:-90 at:-80 text:-80 at:-70 text:-70 at:-60 text:-60 at:-50 text:-50 at:-40 text:-40 bar:dummy4 shift:(2,-6) at:-100 text:-100 at:-90 text:-90 at:-80 text:-80 at:-70 text:-70 at:-60 text:-60 at:-50 text:-50 at:-40 text:-40
</timeline>
Depictions[link]
Main article: Cultural depictions of Julius Caesar
For the marble bust from Arles discovered in 2007–8 alleged to be Caesar's likeness, and the ensuing controversy, see Arles portrait bust.
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Bust in Naples National Archaeological Museum, photograph published in 1902
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Bust of Julius Caesar from the British Museum
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Modern bronze statue of Julius Caesar, Rimini, Italy
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See also[link]
References[link]
- ^ "Julius Caesar". Roman-colosseum.info. http://www.roman-colosseum.info/roman-empire/julius-caesar.htm. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ Fully, Caius Iulius Caii filius Caii nepos Caesar Imperator ("Gaius Julius Caesar, son of Gaius, grandson of Gaius, Imperator"). Official name after deification in 42 BC: Divus Iulius ("The Divine Julius").
- ^ Covington, Michael A. (31 March 2010). "Latin Pronunciation Demystified". University of Georgia. http://www.ai.uga.edu/mc/latinpro.pdf. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
- ^ There is some dispute over the date of Caesar's birth. The day is sometimes stated to be 12 July when his feast-day was celebrated after deification, but this was because his true birthday clashed with the Ludi Apollinares. Some scholars, based on the dates he held certain magistracies, have made a case for 101 or 102 BC as the year of his birth, but scholarly consensus favors 100 BC. Goldsworthy, 30
- ^ After Caesar's death the leap years were not inserted according to his intent and there is uncertainty about when leap years were observed between 45 BC and AD 4 inclusive; the dates in this article between 45 BC and AD 4 inclusive are those observed in Rome and there is an uncertainty of about a day as to where those dates would be on the proleptic Julian calendar. See Blackburn, B and Holford-Strevens, L. (1999 corrected 2003). The Oxford Companion to the Year. Oxford University Press. p. 671. ISBN 978-0-19-214231-3
- ^ Keppie, Lawrence (1998). "The approach of civil war". The making of the Roman Army: from Republic to Empire. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-8061-3014-9.
- ^ Froude, James Anthony (1879). Life of Caesar. Project Gutenberg e-text. p. 67. http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext05/8cesr10.txt. See also: Suetonius, Lives of the Twelve Caesars: Julius 6; Velleius Paterculus, Roman History 2.41; Virgil, Aeneid
- ^ Pliny the Elder, Natural History 7.7. The misconception that Julius Caesar himself was born by Caesarian section dates back at least to the 10th century (Suda kappa 1199). Julius wasn't the first to bear the name, and in his time the procedure was only performed on dead women, while Caesar's mother, Aurelia, lived long after he was born.
- ^ Historia Augusta: Aelius 2.
- ^ Suetonius, Julius 1; Plutarch, Caesar 1, Marius 6; Pliny the Elder, Natural History 7.54; Inscriptiones Italiae, 13.3.51–52
- ^ a b Plutarch, Caesar 1; Suetonius, Julius 1
- ^ Suetonius, Julius 1; Pliny the Elder, Natural History 7.54
- ^ Velleius Paterculus, Roman History 2.22; Florus, Epitome of Roman History 2.9
- ^ Suetonius, Julius 1; Plutarch, Caesar 1; Velleius Paterculus, Roman History 2.41
- ^ Appian, Civil Wars 1.76–102; Plutarch, Sulla 24–33; Velleius Paterculus, Roman History 2.23–28; Eutropius, Abridgement of Roman History 5; Florus, Epitome of Roman History 2.9
- ^ Suetonius, Julius 2–3; Plutarch, Caesar 2–3; Cassius Dio, Roman History 43.20
- ^ William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities: Flamen
- ^ Suetonius, Julius 46
- ^ Again, according to Suetonius's chronology (Julius 4). Plutarch (Caesar 1.8–2) says this happened earlier, on his return from Nicomedes's court. Velleius Paterculus (Roman History 2:41.3–42) says merely that it happened when he was a young man.
- ^ Plutarch, Caesar 1–2
- ^ Thorne, James (2003). Julius Caesar: Conqueror and Dictator. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 15.
- ^ Freeman, 39
- ^ Freeman, 40
- ^ Freeman, 51
- ^ Freeman, 52
- ^ Goldsworthy, 100
- ^ Goldsworthy, 101
- ^ Suetonius, Julius 5–8; Plutarch, Caesar 5; Velleius Paterculus, Roman History 2.43
- ^ Velleius Paterculus, Roman History 2.43; Plutarch, Caesar 7; Suetonius, Julius 13
- ^ Sallust, Catiline War 49
- ^ Plutarch, Caesar 11–12; Suetonius, Julius 18.1
- ^ Plutarch, Julius 13; Suetonius, Julius 18.2
- ^ Plutarch, Caesar 13–14; Suetonius 19
- ^ Cicero, Letters to Atticus 2.1, 2.3, 2.17; Velleius Paterculus, Roman History 2.44; Plutarch, Caesar 13–14, Pompey 47, Crassus 14; Suetonius, Julius 19.2; Cassius Dio, Roman History 37.54–58
- ^ Suetonius, Julius 21
- ^ Cicero, Letters to Atticus 2.15, 2.16, 2.17, 2.18, 2.19, 2.20, 2.21; Velleius Paterculus, Roman History 44.4; Plutarch, Caesar 14, Pompey 47–48, Cato the Younger 32–33; Cassius Dio, Roman History 38.1–8
- ^ Suetonius, Julius 19.2
- ^ Velleius Paterculus, Roman History 2:44.4; Plutarch, Caesar 14.10, Crassus 14.3, Pompey 48, Cato the Younger 33.3; Suetonius, Julius 22; Cassius Dio, Roman History 38:8.5
- ^ Suetonius, Julius 23
- ^ See Cicero's speeches against Verres for an example of a former provincial governor successfully prosecuted for illegally enriching himself at his province's expense.
- ^ Cicero, Letters to Atticus 1.19; Julius Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic War Book 1; Appian, Gallic Wars Epit. 3; Cassius Dio, Roman History 38.31–50
- ^ Julius Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic War Book 2; Appian, Gallic Wars Epit. 4; Cassius Dio, Roman History 39.1–5
- ^ Cicero, Letters to his brother Quintus 2.3; Suetonius, Julius 24; Plutarch, Caesar 21, Crassus 14–15, Pompey 51
- ^ Julius Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic War Book 3; Cassius Dio, Roman History 39.40–46
- ^ Black, Jeremy (2003). A History of the British Isles. Palgrave MacMillan. p. 6.
- ^ Julius Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic War Book 4; Appian, Gallic Wars Epit. 4; Cassius Dio, Roman History 47–53
- ^ Cicero, Letters to friends 7.6, 7.7, 7.8, 7.10, 7.17; Letters to his brother Quintus 2.13, 2.15, 3.1; Letters to Atticus 4.15, 4.17, 4.18; Julius Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic War Book 5–6; Cassius Dio, Roman History 40.1–11
- ^ Suetonius, Julius [1]; Plutarch, Caesar 23.5, Pompey 53–55, Crassus 16–33; Velleius Paterculus, Roman History 46–47
- ^ Julius Caesar, Commentaries on the Gallic War Book 7; Cassius Dio, Roman History 40.33–42
- ^ Aulus Hirtius, Commentaries on the Gallic War Book 8
- ^ "Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, by Plutarch (chapter48)". http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/p/plutarch/lives/chapter48.html.
- ^ Suetonius, Julius 28
- ^ Plutarch, Caesar 32.8
- ^ Thomson, D. F. S.; Sperna Weiland, Jan (1988). "Erasmus and textual scholarship: Suetonius". In Weiland, J. S.. Erasmus of Rotterdam: the man and the scholar. Leiden, Netherlands: E.J. Brill. p. 161. ISBN 90-04-08920-9.
- ^ Plutarch, Caesar 35.2
- ^ Plutarch, Caesar 42–45
- ^ a b Plutarch, Caesar 37.2
- ^ a b Martin Jehne, Der Staat des Dicators Caesar, Köln/Wien 1987, p. 15-38.
- ^ Plutarch, Pompey 77–79
- ^ Plutarch, Pompey 80.5
- ^ Salisbury, Joyce E (2001). "Cleopatra VII". Women in the ancient world. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. p. 52. ISBN 1-57607-092-1.
- ^ Salisbury, Joyce E (2001). "Cleopatra VII". Women in the ancient world. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. p. 52. ISBN 1-57607-092-1.
- ^ Suetonius, Julius 35.2
- ^ Caesar: a history of the art of war among the Romans down to the end of the Roman empire, with a detailed account of the campaigns of Caius Julius Caesar, page 791, Theodore Ayrault Dodge, Greenhill Books, 1995. ISBN 9781853672163
- ^ Paul: The Man and the Myth, page 15, Studies on personalities of the New Testament Personalities of the New Testament Series, Calvin J. Roetzel, Continuum International Publishing Group, 1999. ISBN 9780567086983
- ^ Julius Caesar, page 311, Philip Freeman, Simon and Schuster, 2008. ISBN 9780743289535
- ^ Plutarch, Caesar 52–54
- ^ Martin Jehne, Der Staat des Dicators Caesar, Köln/Wien 1987, p. 15-38. Technically, Caesar was not appointed Dictator with a term of ten years but he was appointed annual dictator for the next ten years in advance.
- ^ Plutarch, Caesar 56
- ^ Plutarch, Caesar 56.7–56.8
- ^ a b c Abbott, 133
- ^ a b c Abbott, 134
- ^ Cassius Dio, Roman History 43.19.2–3; Appian, Civil Wars 2.101.420
- ^ a b c d e f g h i J.F.C. Fuller, Julius Caesar, Man, Soldier, Tyrant", Chapter 13
- ^ Mackay, Christopher S. (2004). Ancient Rome: A Military and Political History. Cambridge University Press. p. 254.
- ^ Campbell, J. B. (1994). The Roman Army, 31 BC–AD 337. Routledge. p. 10.
- ^ a b Suetonius, Julius 40
- ^ a b c d e f g Abbott, 136
- ^ a b c d e Abbott, 137
- ^ a b c d e Abbott, 135
- ^ Abbott, 138
- ^ Huzar, Eleanor Goltz (1978). Mark Antony, a biography By Eleanor Goltz Huzar. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. pp. 79–80. ISBN 978-0-8166-0863-8.
- ^ "Plutarch – Life of Brutus". Classics.mit.edu. http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/m_brutus.html. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
- ^ "Suetonius, ',Life of the Caesars, Julius', trans. J C Rolfe". Fordham.edu. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/suetonius-julius.html. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
- ^ Plutarch, Life of Caesar, ch. 66: "ὁ μεν πληγείς, Ῥωμαιστί· 'Μιαρώτατε Κάσκα, τί ποιεῖς;'"
- ^ Woolf Greg (2006), Et Tu Brute? – The Murder of Caesar and Political Assassination, 199 pages – ISBN 1-86197-741-7
- ^ Suetonius, Julius, c. 82.
- ^ Suetonius, Julius 82.2
- ^ From the J. C. Rolfe translation of 1914: "...he was stabbed with three and twenty wounds, uttering not a word, but merely a groan at the first stroke, though some have written that when Marcus Brutus rushed at him, he said in Greek, 'You too, my child?".
- ^ Plutarch, Caesar 66.9
- ^ Stone, Jon R. (2005). The Routledge Dictionary of Latin Quotations. London: Routledge. p. 250. ISBN 0-415-96909-3.
- ^ Morwood, James (1994). The Pocket Oxford Latin Dictionary (Latin-English). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860283-9.
- ^ It appears, for example, in Richard Edes's Latin play Caesar Interfectus of 1582 and The True Tragedie of Richarde Duke of Yorke &tc of 1595, Shakespeare's source work for other plays. Dyce, Alexander; (quoting Malone) (1866). The Works of William Shakespeare. London: Chapman and Hall. p. 648.
- ^ Plutarch, Caesar 67
- ^ "Temple of Caesar". Anamericaninrome.com. http://anamericaninrome.com/wp/2011/07/caesars-grave/. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ "Temple of Caesar". Findagrave.com. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7181. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ Florus, Epitome 2.7.1
- ^ Suetonius, Julius 83.2
- ^ "Suetonius, Life of Caesar, Chapters LXXXIII, LXXXIV, LXXXV". Ancienthistory.about.com. 29 October 2009. http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_text_suetcaesar.htm. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
- ^ Osgood, Josiah (2006). Caesar's Legacy: Civil War and the Emergence of the Roman Empire. Cambridge University Press. p. 60.
- ^ Suetonius, Augustus 13.1; Florus, Epitome 2.6
- ^ Warrior, Valerie M. (2006). Roman Religion. Cambridge University Press. p. 110. ISBN 0-521-82511-3.
- ^ Florus, Epitome 2.6.3
- ^ Zoch, Paul A. (200). Ancient Rome: An Introductory History. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 217–218. ISBN 0-8061-3287-6.
- ^ Florus, Epitome 2.7.11–14; Appian, The Civil Wars 5.3
- ^ Florus, Epitome 2.34.66
- ^ Plutarch, Caesar 58.6
- ^ Cicero, Phillipic ii.110: Cicero refers to the divine honours of : "...couch, image, pediment, priest" given to Caesar in the months before his assassination.
- ^ According to Dio Cassius, 44.6.4.
- ^ Plutarch, Caesar 17, 45, 60; see also Suetonius, Julius 45.
- ^ Ronald T. Ridley, "The Dictator's Mistake: Caesar's Escape from Sulla," Historia 49 (2000), pp. 225–226, citing doubters of epilepsy: F. Kanngiesser, "Notes on the Pathology of the Julian Dynasty," Glasgow Medical Journal 77 (1912) 428–432; T. Cawthorne, "Julius Caesar and the Falling Sickness,” Proceedings of Royal Society of Medicine 51 (1957) 27–30, who prefers Ménière's disease; and O. Temkin, The Falling Sickness: A History of Epilepsy from the Greeks to the Beginnings of Modern Neurology (Baltimore 1971), p 162.
- ^ Seymour Diamond and Mary Franklin, Conquering Your Migraine: The Essential Guide to Understanding and Treating Migraines for all Sufferers and Their Families, (New York: Fireside, 2001), 19.
- ^ Hughes J; Atanassova, E; Boev, K (2004). "Dictator Perpetuus: Julius Caesar—did he have seizures? If so, what was the etiology?". Epilepsy Behav 5 (5): 756–64. DOI:10.1016/j.yebeh.2004.05.006. PMID 15380131.
- ^ Gomez J, Kotler J, Long J (1995). "Was Julius Caesar's epilepsy due to a brain tumor?". The Journal of the Florida Medical Association 82 (3): 199–201. PMID 7738524.
- ^ H. Schneble (1 January 2003). "Gaius Julius Caesar". German Epilepsy Museum. http://www.epilepsiemuseum.de/alt/caesaren.html. Retrieved 28 August 2008.
- ^ Hodder, Harbour Fraser (September 2003). "Epilepsy and Empire, Caveat Caesar". Accredited Psychiatry & Medicine (Harvard, Boston: Harvard University) 106 (1): 19. http://www.forensic-psych.com/articles/artHarvardMagCaesar.php.
- ^ William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar I.ii.209.
- ^ Plutarch, Alexander 42; Jeremy Paterson discussing Caesar's health in general in "Caesar the Man," A Companion to Julius Caesar (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), p. 130 online.
- ^ Suetonius, Life of Caesar 45: excelsa statura, colore candido, teretibus membris, ore paulo pleniore, nigris vegetisque oculis.
- ^ Anderson, Carl Edlund. (1999). Formation and Resolution of Ideological Contrast in the Early History of Scandinavia. PhD thesis, University of Cambridge, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic (Faculty of English). p. 44.PDF (308 KB)
- ^ Plutarch, Brutus 5
- ^ Tacitus, Histories 4.55
- ^ Suetonius, Julius 49
- ^ Suetonius, Julius 49; Cassius Dio, Roman History 43.20
- ^ Catullus, Carmina 29, 57
- ^ Suetonius, Julius 73
- ^ Suetonius, Augustus 68, 71
- ^ Cicero, Brutus, 252.
- ^ Edward Courtney, The Fragmentary Latin Poets (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993), pp. 153–155 and 187–188. See also Poems by Julius Caesar.
Primary sources[link]
Own writings[link]
- Forum Romanum Index to Caesar's works online in Latin and translation
- omnia munda mundis Hypertext of Caesar's De Bello Gallico
- Works by Julius Caesar at Project Gutenberg
Ancient historians' writings[link]
- Appian, Book 13 (English translation)
- Cassius Dio, Books 37–44 (English translation)
- Plutarch on Antony (English translation, Dryden edition)
- Plutarch: The Life of Julius Caesar (English translation)
- Plutarch: The Life of Mark Antony (English translation)
- Suetonius: The Life of Julius Caesar. (Latin and English, cross-linked: the English translation by J. C. Rolfe)
- Suetonius: The Life of Julius Caesar (J. C. Rolfe English translation, modified)
Secondary sources[link]
- Canfora, Luciano (2006). Julius Caesar: The People's Dictator. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0-7486-1936-4.
- Freeman, Philip (2008). Julius Caesar. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-8953-6.
- Fuller, J. F. C. (1965). Julius Caesar: Man, Soldier, and Tyrant. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
- Goldsworthy, Adrian (2006). Caesar: Life of a Colossus. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-12048-6.
- Grant, Michael (1969). Julius Caesar. New York: McGraw-Hill.
- Grant, Michael (1979). The Twelve Caesars. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-044072-0.
- Holland, Tom (2003). Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic. Anchor Books. ISBN 1-4000-7897-0.
- Jiménez, Ramon L. (2000). Caesar Against Rome: The Great Roman Civil War. Praeger. ISBN 0-275-96620-8.
- Kleiner, Diana E. E. (2005). Cleopatra and Rome. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-01905-9.
- Meier, Christian (1996). Caesar: A Biography. Fontana Press. ISBN 0-00-686349-3.
- Weinstock, Stefan (1971). Divus Julius. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-814287-4.
External links[link]
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This audio file was created from a revision of the "Julius Caesar" article dated 10 January 2007, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. (Audio help)
- C. Julius Caesar Jona Lendering's in‑depth history of Caesar (Livius. Org)
- Guide to online resources
- Julius Caesar in the German National Library catalogue (German)
- History of Julius Caesar
- Julius Caesar at BBC History
- Grey, D. The Assassination of Caesar, Clio History Journal, 2009.
Related information[link]
Succession table[link]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Lucius Afranius and Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer |
Consul of the Roman Republic with Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus 59 BC |
Succeeded by Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus and Aulus Gabinius |
| Preceded by none office last held by Sulla in 81 BC |
Dictator 49 BC (eleven days) |
Succeeded by none office next held by himself in 48 BC |
| Preceded by Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus and Gaius Claudius Marcellus Maior |
Consul of the Roman Republic with Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus 48 BC |
Succeeded by Quintus Fufius Calenus and Publius Vatinius |
| Preceded by none office last held by himself in 49 BC |
Dictator 48 – 47 BC |
Succeeded by none office next held by himself in 46 BC |
| Preceded by Quintus Fufius Calenus and Publius Vatinius |
Consul of the Roman Republic with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus 46 BC |
Succeeded by Gaius Julius Caesar alone without colleague |
| Preceded by none office last held by himself in 47 BC |
Dictator for ten years 46–44 BC |
Succeeded by himself as Dictator in perpetuity |
| Preceded by Gaius Julius Caesar and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus |
Consul of the Roman Republic alone without colleague 45 BC |
Succeeded by Gaius Julius Caesar and Marcus Antonius |
| Preceded by Gaius Julius Caesar alone without colleague |
Consul of the Roman Republic with Marcus Antonius 44 BC |
Succeeded by Publius Cornelius Dolabella (with Marcus Antonius) |
| Preceded by himself as Dictator for ten years |
Dictator in perpetuity and consul for ten years 44 BC |
Succeeded by none, office abolished |
| Religious titles | ||
| Preceded by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius |
Pontifex Maximus 63–44 BC |
Succeeded by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus |
Caesar was acclaimed Imperator in 60 and 45 BC. In the Roman Republic, this was an honorary title assumed by certain military commanders. After an especially great victory, an army's troops in the field would proclaim their commander imperator, an acclamation necessary for a general to apply to the Senate for a triumph. After being acclaimed imperator, the victorious general had a right to use the title after his name until the time of his triumph, where he would relinquish the title as well as his imperium.
Other related Information[link]
|
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|
|||||
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Caesar, Gaius Julius |
| Alternative names | Julius Caesar |
| Short description | Roman dictator |
| Date of birth | 12 July 100 BC |
| Place of birth | Rome, Roman Republic |
| Date of death | 15 March 44 BC |
| Place of death | Rome, Roman Republic |
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