Duffel bag

A duffel bag (duffle bag, kit bag or gym bag) is a large cylindrical bag made of cloth (or other fabric) with a drawstring closure at the top.

The name comes from Duffel, a town in Belgium where the thick cloth used to make the bag originated. More recently, a duffel bag typically refers to the specific style of bag, though the phrase may also be used to refer to any large generic holdall or a bag made of thick fabric.

It is often used to carry luggage or sports equipment by people who travel in the outdoors. Duffel bags are also often used by military personnel. When used by sailors or marines they are sometimes called seabags.

Cultural status

The duffel bag acquired considerable status in the surfer sub-cultures of post-WW II California and east coast Australia. In the case of California, this probably grew out of its use in the late 1940s and 1950s by ex-Navy personnel. In Australia its use became popular in the early 1960s. Carrying a duffel bag was synonymous to being (or pretending to be) a surfie. Australian duffel bags of the early 1960s were made of canvas and were usually light khaki or faded ochre in colour. Dispensing with the use of rope to pull the eyelets of the top together, the surfie would simply hold the throat of the duffel bag—containing towel, swimming trunks and other personal belongings in one hand and sling it over his shoulder (they were very rarely used by beach-going girls). Their use had died out by the mid-1960s.

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire (Latin: Imperium Rōmānum; Classical Latin: [ɪmˈpɛ.ri.ũː roːˈmaː.nũː] Ancient and Medieval Greek: Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, tr. Basileia tōn Rhōmaiōn) was the post-Roman Republic period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterized by government headed by emperors and large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, Africa and Asia. The extended city of Rome was the largest city in the world c. 100 BC – c. 400 AD, with Constantinople (New Rome) becoming the largest around 500 AD, and the Empire's populace grew to an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants (roughly 20% of the world's population at the time). The 500-year-old republic which preceded it was severely destabilized in a series of civil wars and political conflict, during which Julius Caesar was appointed as perpetual dictator and then assassinated in 44 BC. Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesar's adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. Octavian's power was now unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power and the new title Augustus, effectively marking the end of the Roman Republic.

Roman Empire (disambiguation)

The Roman Empire usually refers to the post-republican, autocratic government period of Roman civilization (centered on Rome and its successor capitals on the Italian peninsula) from 27 BC to 395 AD.

Roman Empire may also refer to:

Other uses

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire (Latin: Sacrum Romanum Imperium, German: Heiliges Römisches Reich) was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806. The largest territory of the empire after 962 was the Kingdom of Germany, though it included the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Kingdom of Burgundy, the Kingdom of Italy, and numerous other territories.

On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe after more than three centuries. The title continued in the Carolingian family until 888 and from 896 to 899, after which it was contested by the rulers of Italy in a series of civil wars until the death of the last Italian claimant, Berengar, in 924. The title was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne and beginning a continuous existence of the empire for over eight centuries. Some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, describing a gradual assumption of the imperial title and role.