1.
Western Roman Empire
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Theodosius I divided the Empire upon his death between his two sons. As the Roman Republic expanded, it reached a point where the government in Rome could not effectively rule the distant provinces. Communications and transportation were especially problematic given the vast extent of the Empire, for this reason, provincial governors had de facto rule in the name of the Roman Republic. Antony received the provinces in the East, Achaea, Macedonia and Epirus, Bithynia, Pontus and Asia, Syria, Cyprus and these lands had previously been conquered by Alexander the Great, thus, much of the aristocracy was of Greek origin. The whole region, especially the cities, had been largely assimilated into Greek culture. Octavian obtained the Roman provinces of the West, Italia, Gaul, Gallia Belgica and these lands also included Greek and Carthaginian colonies in the coastal areas, though Celtic tribes such as Gauls and Celtiberians were culturally dominant. Lepidus received the province of Africa. Octavian soon took Africa from Lepidus, while adding Sicilia to his holdings, upon the defeat of Mark Antony, a victorious Octavian controlled a united Roman Empire. While the Roman Empire featured many distinct cultures, all were often said to experience gradual Romanization, minor rebellions and uprisings were fairly common events throughout the Empire. Conquered tribes or cities would revolt, and the legions would be detached to crush the rebellion, while this process was simple in peacetime, it could be considerably more complicated in wartime, as for example in the Great Jewish Revolt. In a full-blown military campaign, the legions, under such as Vespasian, were far more numerous. To ensure a commanders loyalty, an emperor might hold some members of the generals family hostage. To this end, Nero effectively held Domitian and Quintus Petillius Cerialis, governor of Ostia, the rule of Nero ended only with the revolt of the Praetorian Guard, who had been bribed in the name of Galba. The Praetorian Guard, a sword of Damocles, were often perceived as being of dubious loyalty. Following their example, the legions at the increased participation in the civil wars. The main enemy in the West was arguably the Germanic tribes behind the rivers Rhine, Augustus had tried to conquer them but ultimately pulled back after the Teutoburg reversal. The Parthian Empire, in the East, on the hand, was too remote. Those distant territories were forsaken to prevent unrest and also to ensure a more healthy, the Parthians were followed by the Sasanian Empire, which continued hostilities with the Roman Empire
2.
Solidus (coin)
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The solidus, nomisma, or bezant was originally a relatively pure gold coin issued in the Late Roman Empire. Under Constantine, who introduced it on a scale, it had a weight of about 4.5 grams. The Byzantine solidus also inspired the originally slightly less pure Arabian dinar, in late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the solidus also functioned as a unit of weight equal to 1/72 of a pound. The solidus was introduced by Diocletian in AD301 as a replacement of the aureus, composed of solid gold. His minting was on a scale, however, and the coin only entered widespread circulation under Constantine I after AD312. Constantines solidus was struck at a rate of 72 to a Roman pound of gold, each coin weighed 24 Greco-Roman carats. By this time, the solidus was worth 275,000 increasingly debased denarii, with the exception of the early issues of Constantine the Great and the odd usurpers the Solidus today is a much more affordable Gold Roman Coin to collect compared to the Older Aureus. Especially those of Valens Honorius and later Byzantine issues, the solidus was maintained essentially unaltered in weight, dimensions and purity until the 10th century. During the 6th and 7th centuries lightweight solidi of 20,22 or 23 siliquae were struck along with the weight issues. Many of these coins have been found in Europe, Russia and Georgia. The lightweight solidi were distinguished by different markings on the coin, usually in the exergue for the 20 and 22 siliquae coins and by stars in the field for the 23 siliquae coins. In theory the solidus was struck from pure gold, but because of the limits of refining techniques, in the Greek-speaking world during the Roman period, and then in the Byzantine economy, the solidus was known as the νόμισμα nomisma. Initially it was difficult to distinguish the two coins, as they had the design, dimensions and purity, and there were no marks of value to distinguish the denominations. The only difference was the weight, the tetarteron nomisma was a lighter coin, about 4.05 grams, but the histamenon nomisma maintained the traditional weight of 4.5 grams. To eliminate confusion between the two, from the reign of Basil II the solidus was struck as a coin with a larger diameter. From the middle of the 11th century the larger diameter histamenon nomisma was struck on a concave flan, former money changer Michael IV the Paphlagonian assumed the throne of Byzantium in 1034 and began the slow process of debasing both the tetarteron nomisma and the histamenon nomisma. Alexius reformed the coinage in 1092 and eliminated the solidus altogether, in its place he introduced a new gold coin called the hyperpyron nomisma at about 20. 5k fine. The weight, dimensions and purity of the hyperpyron nomisma remained stable until the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders in 1204, after that time the exiled Empire of Nicea continued to strike a debased hyperpyron nomisma
3.
Roman emperor
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The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period. The emperors used a variety of different titles throughout history, often when a given Roman is described as becoming emperor in English, it reflects his taking of the title Augustus or Caesar. Another title often used was imperator, originally a military honorific, early Emperors also used the title princeps. Emperors frequently amassed republican titles, notably Princeps Senatus, Consul, the first emperors reigned alone, later emperors would sometimes rule with co-Emperors and divide administration of the Empire between them. The Romans considered the office of emperor to be distinct from that of a king, the first emperor, Augustus, resolutely refused recognition as a monarch. Although Augustus could claim that his power was authentically republican, his successor, Tiberius, nonetheless, for the first three hundred years of Roman Emperors, from Augustus until Diocletian, a great effort was made to emphasize that the Emperors were the leaders of a Republic. Elements of the Republican institutional framework were preserved until the end of the Western Empire. The Eastern emperors ultimately adopted the title of Basileus, which had meant king in Greek, but became a title reserved solely for the Roman emperor, other kings were then referred to as rēgas. In addition to their office, some emperors were given divine status after death. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in the late 5th century, Romulus Augustulus is often considered to be the last emperor of the west after his forced abdication in 476, although Julius Nepos maintained a claim to the title until his death in 480. Constantine XI was the last Byzantine Roman emperor in Constantinople, dying in the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, a Byzantine group of claimant Roman Emperors existed in the Empire of Trebizond until its conquest by the Ottomans in 1461. In western Europe the title of Roman Emperor was revived by Germanic rulers, the Holy Roman Emperors, in 800, at the end of the Roman Republic no new, and certainly no single, title indicated the individual who held supreme power. Insofar as emperor could be seen as the English translation of imperator, then Julius Caesar had been an emperor, however, Julius Caesar, unlike those after him, did so without the Senates vote and approval. Julius Caesar held the Republican offices of four times and dictator five times, was appointed dictator in perpetuity in 45 BC and had been pontifex maximus for a long period. He gained these positions by senatorial consent, by the time of his assassination, he was the most powerful man in the Roman world. In his will, Caesar appointed his adopted son Octavian as his heir, a decade after Caesars death, Octavians victory over his erstwhile ally Mark Antony at Actium put an end to any effective opposition and confirmed Octavians supremacy. His restoration of powers to the Senate and the people of Rome was a demonstration of his auctoritas, some later historians such as Tacitus would say that even at Augustus death, the true restoration of the Republic might have been possible. Instead, Augustus actively prepared his adopted son Tiberius to be his successor, the Senate disputed the issue but eventually confirmed Tiberius as princeps
4.
Coronation
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The ceremony can also be conducted for the monarchs consort, either simultaneously with the monarch or as a separate event. A ceremony without the placement of a crown on the head is known as an enthronement. Coronations are still observed in the United Kingdom, Tonga, in addition to investing the monarch with symbols of state, Western-style coronations have often traditionally involve anointing with holy oil, or chrism as it is often called. Wherever a ruler is anointed in this way, as in Great Britain and Tonga, some other lands use bathing or cleansing rites, the drinking of a sacred beverage, or other religious practices to achieve a comparable effect. Such acts symbolise the granting of divine favour to the monarch within the relevant spiritual-religious paradigm of the country, in the past, concepts of royalty, coronation and deity were often inexorably linked. Rome promulgated the practice of worship, in Medieval Europe. Coronations were once a direct expression of these alleged connections. Thus, coronations have often been discarded altogether or altered to reflect the nature of the states in which they are held. However, some monarchies still choose to retain an overtly religious dimension to their accession rituals, others have adopted simpler enthronement or inauguration ceremonies, or even no ceremony at all. In non-Christian states, coronation rites evolved from a variety of sources, buddhism, for instance, influenced the coronation rituals of Thailand, Cambodia and Bhutan, while Hindu elements played a significant role in Nepalese rites. The ceremonies used in modern Egypt, Malaysia, Brunei and Iran were shaped by Islam, Coronations, in one form or another, have existed since ancient times. Egyptian records show coronation scenes, such as that of Seti I in 1290 BC, judeo-Christian scriptures testify to particular rites associated with the conferring of kingship, the most detailed accounts of which are found in II Kings 11,12 and II Chronicles 23,11. Following the assumption of the diadem by Constantine, Roman and Byzantine emperors continued to wear it as the symbol of their authority. Although no specific coronation ceremony was observed at first, one gradually evolved over the following century, the emperor Julian was hoisted upon a shield and crowned with a gold necklace provided by one of his standard-bearers, he later wore a jewel-studded diadem. Later emperors were crowned and acclaimed in a manner, until the momentous decision was taken to permit the Patriarch of Constantinople to physically place the crown on the emperors head. Historians debate when exactly this first took place, but the precedent was established by the reign of Leo II. This ritual included recitation of prayers by the Byzantine prelate over the crown, after this event, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the ecclesiastical element in the coronation ceremonial rapidly develop. This was usually performed three times, following this, the king was given a spear, and a diadem wrought of silk or linen was bound around his forehead as a token of regal authority
5.
Toulouse
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Toulouse is the capital city of the southwestern French department of Haute-Garonne, as well as of the Occitanie region. The city lies on the banks of the River Garonne,150 kilometres from the Mediterranean Sea,230 km from the Atlantic Ocean and it is the fourth-largest city in France with 466,297 inhabitants in January 2014. The Toulouse Metro area is, with 1312304 inhabitants as of 2014, Frances 4th metropolitan area after Paris, Lyon and Marseille and ahead of Lille and Bordeaux. Toulouse is the centre of the European aerospace industry, with the headquarters of Airbus, the Galileo positioning system, the SPOT satellite system, the Airbus Group, ATR and the Aerospace Valley. The city also hosts the European headquarters of Intel and CNESs Toulouse Space Centre, thales Alenia Space, and Astrium Satellites, Airbus Groups satellite system subsidiary, also have a significant presence in Toulouse. The University of Toulouse is one of the oldest in Europe and, with more than 103,000 students, is the fourth-largest university campus in France, after the Universities of Paris, Lyon and Lille. The air route between Toulouse Blagnac and Paris Orly is the busiest in Europe, transporting 2.4 million passengers in 2014, according to the rankings of LExpress and Challenges, Toulouse is the most dynamic French city. It is now the capital of the Occitanie region, the largest region in metropolitan France, sernin, the largest remaining Romanesque building in Europe, designated in 1998 because of its significance to the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route. Toulouse is in the south of France, north of the department of Haute-Garonne, the city is traversed by the Canal de Brienne, the Canal du Midi and the rivers Garonne, Touch and Hers-Mort. Toulouse has a subtropical climate which can be qualified as submediterranean due to its proximity to the Mediterranean climate zone. The Garonne Valley was a point for trade between the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic since at least the Iron Age. The historical name of the city, Tolosa, it is of unknown meaning or origin, possibly from Aquitanian, or from Iberian, Tolosa enters the historical period in the 2nd century BC, when it became a Roman military outpost. After the conquest of Gaul, it was developed as a Roman city of Gallia Narbonensis. In the 5th century, Tolosa fell to the Visigothic kingdom and became one of its cities, in the early 6th century even serving as its capital. From this time, Toulouse was the capital of Aquitaine within the Frankish realm, in 721, Duke Odo of Aquitaine defeated an invading Umayyad Muslim army at the Battle of Toulouse. Odos victory was an obstacle to Muslim expansion into Christian Europe. Charles Martel, a later, won the Battle of Tours. The Frankish conquest of Septimania followed in the 750s, and a quasi-independent County of Toulouse emerged within the Carolingian sub-kingdom of Aquitaine by the late 8th century
6.
Petronius Maximus
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Petronius Maximus was Western Roman Emperor for two and a half months in 455. A wealthy senator and a prominent aristocrat, he was instrumental in the murders of the Western Roman magister militum, Flavius Aëtius, Maximus was killed during the events culminating in the sack of Rome by the Vandals in 455. Petronius Maximus was born in about 396, although he was of obscure origin, it is now believed that he belonged to the Anicii family. Maximus achieved a remarkable career early in life, from January/February 420 to August/September 421 he was praefectus urbi of Rome, an office he held again sometime before 439, as praefectus he restored the Old St. Peters Basilica. He was also appointed praetorian prefect sometime between 421 and 439, it was either while holding this post or during his second urban prefecture that he was appointed consul for the year 433. From August 439 to February 441 he held the prefecture of Italy. Between 443 and 445 Maximus built a forum in Rome, on the Caelian Hill between via Labicana and the Basilica di San Clemente. During this year, he was briefly the most honored of all non-Imperial Romans, until the consulate of Flavius Aëtius, generalissimo of the Western empire. The enmity between Petronius Maximus and the powerful Patricius and magister militum of the West Aëtius clearly led to the events that brought down the Western Roman Empire. Initially however, the beneficiary of this was Maximus, who came to the throne as a result of the murders of Aëtius in 454. According to the historian John of Antioch, Maximus poisoned the mind of the Emperor against Aëtius, john’s account has it that Valentinian and Maximus placed a wager on a game that Maximus ended up losing. As he did not have the available, Maximus left his ring as a guarantee of his debt. Valentinian then used the ring to summon to court Lucina, the chaste and beautiful wife of Maximus, Lucina went to the court, believing she had been summoned by her husband, but instead found herself at dinner with Valentinian. Although initially resisting his advances, the Emperor managed to wear her down, returning home and meeting Maximus, she accused him of betrayal, believing that he had handed her over to the Emperor. Although Maximus swore revenge, he was motivated by ambition to supplant a detested and despicable rival. According to John of Antioch, Maximus was acutely aware that while Aëtius was alive he could not exact vengeance on Valentinian, so Aëtius had to be removed. He therefore allied himself with a eunuch of Valentinians, the primicerius sacri cubiculi Heraclius, according to John of Antioch, Maximus was so irritated by Valentinian’s refusal to appoint him as his magister militum that he decided to have Valentinian assassinated as well. He chose as accomplices Optilia and Thraustila, two Scythians who had fought under the command of Aetius and who, after the death of their general, had appointed as Valentinian’s escort
7.
Majorian
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Flavius Julius Valerius Majorianus, usually known simply as Majorian, was the Western Roman Emperor from 457 to 461. A prominent general of the Late Roman army, Majorian deposed Emperor Avitus in 457, Majorian was the last emperor to make a concerted effort to restore the Western Roman Empire. Possessing little more than Italy, Dalmatia, and some territory in northern Gaul, Majorian was the last of the Western Roman Emperors who was able to try to recover the Western Empire with its own forces. His successors until the fall of the Empire, in 476/480, were actually instruments in the hands of their generals, or emperors chosen. After defeating a Vandal attack on Italy, Majorian launched a campaign against the Visigothic Kingdom in southern Gaul, defeating king Theodoric II at the Battle of Arelate, Majorian forced the Goths to abandon their possessions in Septimania and Hispania and return to federate status immediately. Majorian then attacked the Burgundian Kingdom, defeating them at the Siege of Lugdunum, expelling them from the Rhone valley, in 460, Majorian left Gaul to consolidate his hold on Hispania. His generals launched a campaign against the Suebic Kingdom in northwest Hispania, defeating them at the battles of Lucus Augusti and Scallabis and his fleet for his campaign to restore Africa to the empire from the Vandals was destroyed due to treachery. Majorian sought to reform the administration in order to make it more efficient. The powerful general Ricimer deposed and killed Majorian, who had become unpopular with the aristocracy because of his reforms. The life of Majorian and his reign are known than those of the other Western Emperors of the same period. The most important sources are the chronicles that cover the half of the 5th century — those of Hydatius and Marcellinus Comes, as well as the fragments of Priscus. The Gallo-Roman aristocrat and poet Sidonius Apollinaris was an acquaintance of the Emperor, Majorian was probably born after 420, as in 458 he is defined a iuvenis, a young man. He belonged to the aristocracy of the Roman Empire. His grandfather of the same name reached the rank of magister militum under Emperor Theodosius I and, the daughter of the magister militum then married an officer, probably called Donninus, who administered the finances of Aetius, the powerful magister militum of the West. The couple gave the name Maiorianus to their child in honour of his influential grandfather and it was under the same Aetius that Majorian started his military career. Majorian distinguished himself in the defence of the city of Turonensis and in a battle against the Franks of king Clodio, near Vicus Helena. was posted at the cross-roads while Majorian warred as a mounted man close to the bridge itself. Around 450, the Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III considered the possibility of marrying his daughter Placidia to Majorian, Valentinian had two daughters and no sons, and therefore no heir to the throne. Having Majorian as son-in-law would have strengthened Valentinian in the face of powerful generals
8.
Marcian
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Marcian was Eastern Roman Emperor from 450 to 457. Marcians rule marked a recovery of the Eastern Empire, which the Emperor protected from external menaces, the Eastern Orthodox Church recognizes Marcian as a saint for his role in convoking the Council of Chalcedon. Marcian was born in 392 in Illyricum or Thracia, the son of a soldier, he spent his early life as an obscure soldier, member of a military unit located at Philippopolis. Marcian was dispatched with his unit for a war against the Sassanids, after recovering from his illness, he went to Constantinople, where he served for fifteen years as domesticus under the generals Ardaburius and Aspar. Aware that he could never capture the capital of Constantinople, Attila turned to the west and waged his famous campaigns in Gaul 451. Marcian reformed the finances, checked extravagance, and repopulated the devastated districts and he repelled attacks upon Syria and Egypt in 452, and quelled disturbances on the Armenian frontier in 456. The other notable event of his reign is the Council of Chalcedon in 451, Marcian generally ignored the affairs of the Western Roman Empire, leaving that tottering half of the empire to its fate. He did nothing to aid the west during Attilas campaigns, and, living up to his promise, shortly before Attilas death in 453, conflict had begun again between him and Marcian. However, the powerful Hun king died before all-out war broke out, in a dream, Marcian claimed he saw Attilas bow broken before him, and a few days later, he got word that his great enemy was dead. Marcian died on 27 January 457 of a disease, possibly gangrene and he was buried in the church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople, together with Pulcheria. Despite his short reign and his writing off of the west Marcian is considered one of the best of the early Eastern Roman Emperors, the Eastern Orthodox Church recognizes him and his wife Pulcheria as saints, with their feast day on 17 February. Marcia Euphemia was the known daughter of Marcian, and she was married to Anthemius. The identity of her mother is unknown, Pulcheria had taken a religious vow of chastity. The second marriage was a political alliance, establishing Marcian as a member of the Theodosian dynasty by marriage. The marriage of Marcian to Pulcheria was never consummated, and consequently Euphemia never had younger half-siblings, Marcian was played by the Hollywood star Jeff Chandler in the film Sign of the Pagan. Flavia List of Byzantine emperors This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. Arnold Hugh Martin Jones, Marcianus 8, The Prosopography of the later Roman empire, A. D. 260–395, Volume 1, Cambridge University Press,1987, ISBN 0-521-20159-4, imperial unity and Christian divisions, The Church 450-680 A. D. Crestwood, NY, St. Vladimirs Seminary Press, Marcian at the DIR Media related to Marcian at Wikimedia Commons Marcian
9.
Clermont-Ferrand
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Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with a population of 141,569. Its metropolitan area had 467,178 inhabitants at the 2011 census and it is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department. Olivier Bianchi is its current mayor, Clermont-Ferrand sits on the plain of Limagne in the Massif Central and is surrounded by a major industrial area. The city is famous for the chain of volcanoes, the Chaîne des Puys surrounding it, the famous dormant volcano Puy de Dôme is one of the highest of these and well known for the telecommunication antennas that sit on its top and are visible from far away. Clermont-Ferrands most famous square is Place de Jaude, on which stands a grand statue of Vercingetorix sitting imperiously on a horse. The inscription reads, Jai pris les armes pour la liberté de tous and this statue was sculpted by Frédéric Bartholdi, who also created the Statue of Liberty. Clermont-Ferrands first name was Augusta Nemetum and it was born on the central knoll where the cathedral is situated today, known then as Nemossos. It overlooked the capital of Gaulish Avernie, the fortified castle of Clarus Mons gave its name to the whole town in 848, to which the small episcopal town of Montferrand was attached in 1731, together taking the name of Clermont-Ferrand. The old part of Clermont is delimited by the route of the ramparts, the town of Clermont-Ferrand came about with the joining together of two separate towns, Clermont and Montferrand, which was decreed by Louis XIII and confirmed by Louis XV. Clermont ranks among the oldest cities of France, the first known mention was by the Greek geographer Strabo, who called it the metropolis of the Arverni. The city was at that time called Nemessos – a Gaulish word for a sacred forest and it was somewhere in the area around Nemossos that the Arverni chieftain Vercingetorix was born in around 72 BC. Also, Nemossos was situated not far from the plateau of Gergovia, after the Roman conquest, the city became known as Augustonemetum sometime in the 1st century, a name which combined its original Gallic name with that of the Emperor Augustus. Its population was estimated at 15, 000–30,000 in the 2nd century and it then became Arvernis in the 3rd century, and expanded until the mid 3rd century. The city became the seat of a bishop in the 5th century, at the time of the bishop Namatius or Saint Namace, who built a cathedral here described by Gregory of Tours. Clermont went through a period after the disappearance of the Roman Empire and during the whole High Middle Ages. Between 471 and 475, Auvergne was often the target of Visigothic expansion, a generation later, it became part of the Kingdom of the Franks. On 8 November 535 the first Council of Clermont opened at Arvernis, with fifteen bishops participating, including Caesarius of Arles, Nizier of Lyons and Saint Hilarius, bishop of Mende. Sixteen decrees were made there, notably the second canon that recalls that the granting of episcopal dignity must be according to the merits, in 570, Bishop Avitus offered the Jews of his town the alternatives of baptism or expulsion
10.
Brioude
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Brioude is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in the Auvergne region in south-central France. It lies on the banks of the River Allier, a tributary of the Loire, the emperor Avitus had already been buried at the shrine of Julian at Brivas, according to Gregory of Tours. Eurics basilica may have served to both the saint and the Visigothic candidate for Roman Emperor. Brioude was taken by the Franks, then in turn besieged and captured by the Goths, the Burgundians, the Saracens, carolingian Brioude remained a place of some importance, William I of Aquitaine minted deniers at Brioude. When Louis V of France married Adelaide of Anjou there in 980 they were crowned King and Queen of Aquitaine, the couple was mismatched in age, and Adelaide fled Louis house in 982, to Arles. The feast of Saint Julian,28 August, drew crowds to the saints relics that in the mid-11th century the chapter was obliged to build a hostel to care for the indigent pilgrim. Odilo, later the abbot of Cluny, began his vocation at St. Julian of Brioude. For some time after 1361 the town was the headquarters of Bérenger, lord of Castelnau, the knights of St. Julian bore the title of counts of Brioude and for a long time opposed themselves to the civic liberties of the inhabitants. Basilica of St. Julien, the largest Christian church in Auvergne, built in the 11th-14th centuries, it has notable polychrome frescoes. Maison du Saumon et de la Rivière, now an aquarium-museum, eparchius Avitus, buried in Brioude next to Saint Julians tomb. Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe died in Brioude in 1688, pierre Vigouroux, rugby union player in the AS Montferrandaise and till 2004 with the French U-21 team for the U-21 World Championships in Scotland. Emmanuel Mouret, director, filmwriter and actor, hélène Rey, professor of economics, grew up in Brioude
11.
Roman Catholic Diocese of Piacenza-Bobbio
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The Italian Catholic Diocese of Piacenza-Bobbio in northern Italy, has existed since 1989. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Modena-Nonantola, the historic Diocese of Piacenza was combined with the territory of the diocese of Bobbio-San Colombano, which was briefly united with the archdiocese of Genoa. In 1582 Piacenza was made a suffragan of the archdiocese of Bologna, the current bishop is Gianni Ambrosio. The Lombards took possession of Piacenza at the beginning of their invasion, from the ninth century the temporal power was in the hands of the bishops until the twelfth century, when the town became a commune governed by consuls and later by a podestà. St. Antonius, who is said to have belonged to the Theban Legion, suffered martyrdom at Piacenza in the second or third century. The first known bishop is St. Victor, present at the Council of Sardica, St. Savinus, maurus, St. Flavianus, and St. Majorianus. S. B. Most, like the city of Piacenza, are located within the region of Emilia-Romagna, a further 24 parishes fall within five communes of the Ligurian Province of Genoa, while 10 parishes are in the Lombard Province of Pavia. Timeline of Piacenza Ughelli, Ferdinando, Coleti, Niccolo, italia sacra sive de Episcopis Italiae. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles
12.
Gallo-Roman culture
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This article covers the culture of Romanized areas of Gaul. For the political history of the brief Gallic Empire of the third century, the term Gallo-Roman describes the Romanized culture of Gaul under the rule of the Roman Empire. This was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman morals, the well-studied meld of cultures in Gaul gives historians a model against which to compare and contrast parallel developments of Romanization in other, less-studied Roman provinces. The barbarian invasions beginning in the fifth century forced upon Gallo-Roman culture fundamental changes in politics, in the economic underpinning. The Gothic settlement of 418 offered a double loyalty, as Western Roman authority disintegrated at Rome, the plight of the highly Romanized governing class is examined by R. W. Mathisen, the struggles of bishop Hilary of Arles by M. Heinzelmann. Into the seventh century, Gallo-Roman culture would persist particularly in the areas of Gallia Narbonensis that developed into Occitania, Cisalpine Gaul and to a lesser degree, the formerly Romanized north of Gaul, once it had been occupied by the Franks, would develop into Merovingian culture instead. Based on mutual intelligibility, David Dalby counts seven languages descended from Gallo-Romance, Gallo-Wallon, French, Franco-Provençal, Romansh, Ladin, Friulian, however, other definitions are far broader, variously encompassing the Rhaeto-Romance languages, Occitano-Romance languages, and Gallo-Italic languages. Over the course of the Roman period, a proportion of Gauls gained Roman citizenship. In 212 the Constitutio Antoniniana extended citizenship to all men in the Roman Empire. During the Crisis of the Third Century, from 260 to 274, in reaction to local problems the Gallo-Romans appointed their own emperor Postumus. The capital was Trier which was used as the northern capital of the Roman Empire by many emperors. The Gallic Empire ended when Aurelian decisively defeated Tetricus I at Chalons, assimilation was eased by interpreting indigenous gods in Roman terms, such as with Lenus Mars or Apollo Grannus. Otherwise, a Roman god might be paired with a goddess, as with Mercury. In at least one case – that of the equine goddess Epona – a native Gallic goddess was also adopted by Rome, eastern mystery religions penetrated Gaul early on. These included the cults of Orpheus, Mithras, Cybele, some of the communities had origins that predated the third-century persecutions. The exhibition of Gallo-Roman silver highlighted specifically Gallo-Roman silver from the treasures found at Chaourse, Mâcon, Graincourt-lès-Havrincourt, Notre-Dame dAllençon, the two more Romanized of the three Gauls were bound together in a network of Roman roads that linked cities. Via Domitia, reached from Nîmes to the Pyrenees, where it joined the Via Augusta at the Col de Panissars, via Aquitania reached from Narbonne, where it connected to the Via Domitia, to the Atlantic Ocean through Toulouse to Bordeaux. Via Scarponensis connected Trier to Lyon through Metz, Lyon, the capital of Roman Gaul, is now the site of the Gallo-Roman Museum of Lyon, associated with the remains of the theater and odeon of Roman Lugdunum
13.
Roman Italy
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Roman Italy was created officially by the Roman emperor Augustus with the Latin name Italia. It was the first time in history that the Italian Peninsula was united under the same name, in the year 292, the three islands of Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily were added to Roman Italy by Diocletian. Roman Italy remained united until the sixth century, when it was divided between the Byzantine Empire and territories of the Germanic peoples, since then, Italia remained divided for nearly thirteen centuries until 1861 when it was reunited in a similar way in the modern Kingdom of Italy. Italy was the name of the division of the Italian Peninsula during the Roman era. It was not a province, but became the territory of the city of Rome, following the end of the Social War, Rome had allowed its Italian allies full rights in Roman society and granted the Roman citizenship to all the Italic peoples. Although not founded as a city in 330, Constantinople gained in importance. It finally gained the rank of capital when given an urban prefect in 359. In 402, the capital was moved to Ravenna from Milan, the name Italia covered an area whose borders evolved over time. Under Augustus, the peoples of todays Aosta Valley and of the western and northern Alps were subjugated, and the Italian eastern border was brought to the Arsia in Istria. Finally, in the late 3rd century, Italy came to include the islands of Corsica and Sardinia and Sicily, as well as Raetia, the city of Emona was the easternmost town of Italy. At the beginning of the era, Italy was a collection of territories with different political statuses. Some cities, called municipia, had independence from Rome, while others. The Italian economy flourished, agriculture, handicraft and industry had a sensible growth, the Italian population may have grown as well, three census were ordered by Augustus, to record the number of Roman citizens throughout the empire. The surviving totals were 4,063,000 in 28 BC,4,233,000 in 8 BC, and 4,937,000 in AD14, but it is still debated whether these counted all citizens, all adult male citizens, or citizens sui iuris. During the Crisis of the Third Century the Roman Empire nearly collapsed under the pressures of invasions, military anarchy and civil wars. In 284, emperor Diocletian restored political stability and he carried out thorough administrative reforms to maintain order. He created the so-called Tetrarchy whereby the empire was ruled by four co-emperors and he decreased the size of the Roman provinces by doubling their number to reduce the power of the provincial governors. He grouped the provinces into several dioceses and put them under the supervision of the imperial vicarius, during the Crisis of the Third Century the importance of Rome declined because she was far from the troubled frontiers
14.
Sack of Rome (455)
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The sack of 455 was the second of three sacks of Rome, it was conducted by the Vandals, who were then at war with the usurping Western Roman Emperor Petronius Maximus. In the 440s, the Vandal king Genseric and the Roman Emperor Valentinian III, had betrothed their children, Huneric and Eudocia, to strengthen their alliance, in 455 Valentinian was killed, and Petronius Maximus rose to the throne. Petronius married Valentinians widow, Licinia Eudoxia, and had his son Palladius marry Eudocia and this move, however, damaged Genserics ambitions. The king of the Vandals claimed that the betrothal between Huneric and Eudocia was an invalidation of his peace treaty with Valentinian, and set sail to attack Rome. Before approaching the city, the Vandals knocked down all of the citys aqueducts, upon the Vandal arrival, according to the chronicler Prosper of Aquitaine, Pope Leo I requested that Genseric not destroy the ancient city nor murder its inhabitants. Genseric agreed and the gates of Rome were thrown open to him, Maximus, who fled rather than fight the Vandal warlord, was killed by a Roman mob outside the city, possibly together with his son Palladius. There is, however, some debate over the severity of the Vandal sack, the sack of 455 is generally seen as being more thorough than the Visigothic sack of 410, because the Vandals plundered Rome for fourteen days whereas the Visigoths spent only three days in the city. The cause of most controversy, however, is the claim that the sack was relatively clean, in there was little murder and violence. This interpretation seems to stem from Prospers claim that Leo managed to persuade Genseric to refrain from violence, however, Victor of Vita records how many shiploads of captives arrived in Africa from Rome, with the purpose of being sold into slavery. Similarly, the Byzantine historian Procopius reports that at least one church was burnt down, Procopius, The Vandalic War in The History of the Wars, Books III & IV, trans. The Fifth Century Chroniclers, Prosper, Hydatius and the Gallic Chronicler of 452 — for Prospers hagiographic portrayal of Leo, Victor of Vita, History of the Vandal Persecution, trans. The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilisation pp.17 &189
15.
Vandals
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The Vandals are believed to have migrated from southern Scandinavia to the area between the lower Oder and Vistula rivers during the 2nd century BC and to have settled in Silesia from around 120 BC. They are associated with the Przeworsk culture and were possibly the people as the Lugii. Around 400 the Vandals were pushed westwards again, this time by the Huns, in 409, the Vandals crossed the Pyrenees into the Iberian Peninsula, where their main groups, the Hasdingi and the Silingi, settled in Gallaecia and Baetica respectively. In 429, under king Genseric, the Vandals entered North Africa, by 439 they established a kingdom which included the Roman province of Africa as well as Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Malta and the Balearic Islands. They fended off several Roman attempts to recapture the African province and their kingdom collapsed in the Vandalic War of 533–4, in which Justinian I managed to reconquer the province for the Eastern Roman Empire. Renaissance and Early Modern writers characterized the Vandals as barbarians, sacking and looting Rome and this led to the use of the term vandalism to describe any senseless destruction, particularly the barbarian defacing of artwork. However, modern historians tend to regard the Vandals during the period from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages as perpetuators, not destroyers. The connection would be that Vendel is the homeland of the Vandals prior to the Migration Period. Further possible homelands of the Vandals in Scandinavia are Vendsyssel in Denmark, the etymology of the name may be related to a Germanic verb *wand- to wander. The Germanic mythological figure of Aurvandil shining wanderer, dawn wanderer, evening star, much has forwarded the theory that the tribal name Vandal reflects worship of Aurvandil or the Dioscuri, probably involving an origin myth that the Vandalic kings were descended from Aurvandil. Some medieval authors applied the ethnonym Vandals to Slavs, Veneti, Wends and it was once thought that the Slovenes were the descendants of the Vandals, but this is not the view of modern scholars. The Vandals are believed to have migrated from southern Scandinavia to the area between the lower Oder and Vistula somewhere in the 2nd century BC, and to have settled in Silesia from around 120 BC. The earliest mention of the Vandals is from Pliny the Elder, tribes within this category who he mentions are the Burgundiones, Varini, Carini, and the Gutones. Most archaeologists and historians identify the Vandals with the Przeworsk culture, the bearers of the Przeworsk culture mainly practiced cremation, with occasional inhumation. The Lugii have been identified by historians as the same people as the Vandals. The Lugii are mentioned by Strabo, Tacitus and Ptolemy as a group of tribes living between the Vistula and the Oder. Neither Strabo, Tacitus or Ptolemy mentions the Vandals, while Pliny the Elder mentions the Vandals, according to John Anderson, the Lugii and Vandili are designations of the same tribal group, the latter an extended ethnic name, the former probably a cult-title. By the end of the 2nd century, the Vandals were divided in two main groups, the Silingi and the Hasdingi, with the Silingi being associated with Silesia
16.
Visigoths
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The Visigoths were the western branches of the nomadic tribes of Germanic peoples referred to collectively as the Goths. These tribes flourished and spread throughout the late Roman Empire in Late Antiquity, the Visigoths emerged from earlier Gothic groups who had invaded the Roman Empire beginning in 376 and had defeated the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. Relations between the Romans and the Visigoths were variable, alternately warring with one another and making treaties when convenient, the Visigoths invaded Italy under Alaric I and sacked Rome in 410. The Visigoths first settled in southern Gaul as foederati of the Romans – a relationship established in 418, however, they soon fell out with their Roman hosts and established their own kingdom with its capital at Toulouse. They next extended their authority into Hispania at the expense of the Suebi, in 507, however, their rule in Gaul was ended by the Franks under Clovis I, who defeated them in the Battle of Vouillé. After that, the Visigoth kingdom was limited to Hispania, in or around 589, the Visigoths under Reccared I converted from Arianism to Nicene Christianity, gradually adopting the culture of their Hispano-Roman subjects. Their legal code, the Visigothic Code abolished the practice of applying different laws for Romans. Once legal distinctions were no longer being made between Romani and Gothi, they became known collectively as Hispani, in the century that followed, the region was dominated by the Councils of Toledo and the episcopacy. In 711 or 712, a force of invading African Moors defeated the Visigoths in the Battle of Guadalete and their king and many members of their governing elite were killed, and their kingdom rapidly collapsed. During their governance of the Kingdom of Hispania, the Visigoths built several churches that survive and they also left many artifacts, which have been discovered in increasing numbers by archaeologists in recent times. The Treasure of Guarrazar of votive crowns and crosses is the most spectacular and they founded the only new cities in western Europe from the fall of the Western half of the Roman Empire until the rise of the Carolingian dynasty. Many Visigothic names are still in use in modern Spanish and Portuguese, contemporaneous references to the Gothic tribes use the terms Vesi, Ostrogothi, Thervingi, and Greuthungi. Most scholars have concluded that the terms Vesi and Tervingi were both used to refer to one particular tribe, while the terms Ostrogothi and Greuthungi were used to refer to another. In addition, the Notitia Dignitatum equates the Vesi with the Tervingi in a reference to the years 388–391, the earliest sources for each of the four names are roughly contemporaneous. The first recorded reference to the Tervingi is in a eulogy of the emperor Maximian, delivered in or shortly after 291 and it says that the Tervingi, another division of the Goths, joined with the Taifali to attack the Vandals and Gepidae. The first known use of the term Ostrogoths is in a document dated September 392 from Milan and this would explain why the latter terms dropped out of use shortly after 400, when the Goths were displaced by the Hunnic invasions. Wolfram believes that the people Zosimus describes were those Tervingi who had remained behind after the Hunnic conquest, for the most part, all of the terms discriminating between different Gothic tribes gradually disappeared after they moved into the Roman Empire. The last indication that the Goths whose king reigned at Toulouse thought of themselves as Vesi is found in a panegyric on Avitus by Sidonius Apollinaris dated 1 January 456, most recent scholars have concluded that Visigothic group identity emerged only within the Roman Empire
17.
Theodoric II
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For the Lord of Isenburg-Kempenich, see Theodoric II of Isenburg-Kempenich. Theodoric II, Teodorico in Spanish and Portuguese, was the eighth King of Visigoths from 453 to 466, theoderic II, son of Theodoric I, obtained the throne by killing his elder brother Thorismund. English historian Edward Gibbon writes that he justified this atrocious deed by the design which his predecessor had formed of violating his alliance with the empire, in late 458 Western Roman Emperor Majorian entered Septimania to attack Theodoric and reclaim the province for the empire. Majorian defeated Theodoric at the Battle of Arelate, forcing the Visigoths to abandon Septimania, under the new treaty with the Romans, the Visigoths had to relinquish their recent conquests in Hispania and return to federate status. However, after the assassination of Majorian in 461, Theodoric recaptured Septimania, Theodoric was himself murdered in 466 by his younger brother Euric, who succeeded him to the throne. I gladly accede, as far as the limits of my page allow, and first as to his person. He is well set up, in height above the average man and his head is round, with curled hair retreating somewhat from brow to crown. His nervous neck is free from disfiguring knots, the eyebrows are bushy and arched, when the lids droop, the lashes reach almost half-way down the cheeks. The upper ears are buried under overlying locks, after the fashion of his race, the nose is finely aquiline, the lips are thin and not enlarged by undue distension of the mouth. Chin, throat, and neck are full, but not fat, and all of fair complexion, seen close, their colour is fresh as that of youth, they flush, but from modesty. His shoulders are smooth, the upper- and forearms strong and hard, hands broad, breast prominent, waist receding. The spine dividing the broad expanse of back does not project, and you can see the springing of the ribs, the sides swell with salient muscle, the well-girt flanks are full of vigour. His thighs are like hard horn, the firm and masculine. A full ankle supports the leg, and the foot is small to bear such mighty limbs, now for the routine of his public life. Before daybreak he goes with a small suite to attend the service of his priests. He prays with assiduity, but, if I may speak in confidence, administrative duties of the kingdom take up the rest of the morning.1 And now the foreign envoys are introduced. The king hears them out, and says little, if a thing needs more discussion he puts it off, the second hour arrives, he rises from the throne to inspect his treasure-chamber or stable. If the chase is the order of the day, he joins it, after that, he takes his arrows, adjusts, and lets fly
18.
Hispania
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Hispania was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces, Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior, during the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divided into two new provinces, Baetica and Lusitania, while Hispania Citerior was renamed Tarraconensis. Subsequently, the part of Tarraconensis was split off, first as Hispania Nova. The name, Hispania, was used in the period of Visigothic rule. The modern placenames Spain and Hispaniola are both derived from Hispania, one theory holds it to be of Punic derivation, from the Phoenician language of colonizing Carthage. Specifically, it may derive from a Punic cognate of Hebrew אי-שפניא meaning Island of the Hyrax or island of the hare or island of the rabbit. Others derive the word from Phoenician span, in the sense of hidden, and make it indicate a hidden, that is, Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis. Occasionally Hispania was called Hesperia Ultima, the last western land in Greek, by Roman writers, another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for border or edge, thus meaning the farthest area or place. The use of Latin Hispania, Castilian España, Catalan Espanya and French Espaigne, a document dated 1292 mentions the names of foreigners from Medieval Spain as Gracien dEspaigne. You are, Oh Spain, holy and always happy mother of princes and peoples and you, by right, are now the queen of all provinces, from whom the lights are given not only the sunset, but also the East. Navarre followed soon after in 1512, and Portugal in 1580, during this time, the concept of Spain was still unchanged. The King of Portugal would protest energetically when during a public act King Fernando talked about the Crown of Spain and it was after the independence of Portugal in 1640 when the concept of Spain started to shift and be applied to all the Peninsula except Portugal. Even so, Portugal would still complain when the terms Crown of Spain or Monarchy of Spain were still used in the 18th century with the Treaty of Utrecht. The Iberian peninsula has long inhabited, first by early hominids such as Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis. In the Paleolithic period, the Neanderthals entered Iberia and eventually took refuge from the migrations of modern humans. In the 40th millennium BC, during the Upper Paleolithic and the last ice age and these were nomadic hunter-gatherers originating on the steppes of Central Asia. When the last Ice Age reached its maximum extent, during the 30th millennium BC, in the millennia that followed, the Neanderthals became extinct and local modern human cultures thrived, producing pre-historic art such as that found in LArbreda Cave and in the Côa Valley. In the Mesolithic period, beginning in the 10th millennium BC and this was an interstadial deglaciation that lessened the harsh conditions of the Ice Age
19.
Roman consul
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A consul was the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic, and the consulship was considered the highest level of the cursus honorum. Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term, the consuls alternated in holding imperium each month, and a consuls imperium extended over Rome, Italy, and the provinces. Originally, consuls were called praetors, referring to their duties as the military commanders. By at least 300 BC the title of Consul was being used, in Greek, the title was originally rendered as στρατηγός ὕπατος, strategos hypatos, and later simply as ὕπατος. The consul was believed by the Romans to date back to the establishment of the Republic in 509 BC. These remained in place until the office was abolished in 367/366 BC, consuls had extensive powers in peacetime, and in wartime often held the highest military command. Additional religious duties included certain rites which, as a sign of their formal importance, consuls also read auguries, an essential step before leading armies into the field. Two consuls were elected each year, serving together, each with power over the others actions. It is thought that only patricians were eligible for the consulship. Consuls were elected by the Comitia Centuriata, which had a bias in its voting structure which only increased over the years from its foundation. If a consul died during his term or was removed from office, a consul elected to start the year - called a consul ordinarius - held more prestige than a suffect consul, partly because the year would be named for ordinary consuls. The first plebeian consul, Lucius Sextius, was elected the following year and it is possible that only the chronology has been distorted, but it seems that one of the first consuls, Lucius Junius Brutus, came from a plebeian family. Another possible explanation is that during the 5th century social struggles, during times of war, the primary qualification for consul was military skill and reputation, but at all times the selection was politically charged. With the passage of time, the became the normal endpoint of the cursus honorum. When Lucius Cornelius Sulla regulated the cursus by law, the age of election to consul became. Beginning in the late Republic, after finishing a year, a former consul would usually serve a lucrative term as a proconsul. The most commonly chosen province for the proconsulship was Cisalpine Gaul, throughout the early years of the Principate although the consuls were still formally elected by the Comitia Centuriata, they were in fact nominated by the princeps. It was a post that would be occupied by a man halfway through his career, in his early thirties for a patrician, emperors frequently appointed themselves, or their protégés or relatives, consuls, even without regard to the age requirements
20.
Vir illustris
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The title vir illustris is used as a formal indication of standing in late antiquity to describe the highest ranks within the senates of Rome and Constantinople. All senators had the title vir clarissimus, but from the mid fourth century onwards, vir illustris, the custom of Roman senators of late antiquity appending the title of vir clarissimus to their names developed gradually over the first two centuries. The first instance of vir illustris occurred in AD354 with its use by the Praefectus praetorio, for some decades it was used inconsistently, but then more regularly, perhaps in connection with a formal codification of honours by Emperor Valentinian I in AD372. The offices that had a right to the title varied with time, beyond these, the title is also frequently given to consuls, occasionally to lower offices. In these cases the title may show a broadening of the criteria or may be simply an honorary grant to an individual. The Illustres soon were regarded as the membership of the Senate. By the reign of Emperor Justinian I, all senators were considered Illustres, in ancient inscriptions and manuscripts, the spelling inlustris is more frequent. Because the illustres were a subset of the clarissimi, the title is written as vir clarissimus et illustris. The shorter title was commonly abbreviated v. i. v. inl. or vir inl. in Merovingian and Carolingian times, the spellings vir inluster and viri inlustres were common. Hirschfeld, O. Die Rangtitel der römischen Kaiserzeit, Sitzungsberichte der Berliner Akademie, 579-610, reprinted in Kleine Schriften, the Later Roman Empire 284-602, A Social, Economic, and Administrative Survey Löhken, H. Ordines Dignitatum Näf, B
21.
Magister militum
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Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine. Used alone, the referred to the senior military officer of the Empire. In Greek sources, the term is translated either as strategos or as stratelates, the title of magister militum was created in the 4th century, when Emperor Constantine the Great deprived the praetorian prefects of their military functions. Initially two posts were created, one as head of the troops, as the magister peditum, and one for the more prestigious horse troops. The latter title had existed since Republican times, as the second-in-command to a Roman dictator, on occasion, the offices would be combined under a single person, then styled magister equitum et peditum or magister utriusque militiae. As such they were directly in command of the mobile field army of the comitatenses, composed mostly of cavalry. Other magistri remained at the disposal of the Emperors, and were termed in praesenti. By the late 4th century, the commanders were termed simply magister militum. In the Western Roman Empire, a commander-in-chief evolved with the title of magister utriusque militiae and this powerful office was often the power behind the throne and was held by Stilicho, Flavius Aetius, Ricimer, and others. In the East, there were two generals, who were each appointed to the office of magister militum praesentalis. In the course of the 6th century, internal and external crises in the provinces often necessitated the temporary union of the regional civil authority with the office of the magister militum. In the establishment of the exarchates of Ravenna and Carthage in 584, indeed, after the loss of the eastern provinces to the Muslim conquest in the 640s, the surviving field armies and their commanders formed the first themata. Supreme military commanders sometimes also took this title in early medieval Italy, for example in the Papal States and in Venice, whose Doge claimed to be the successor to the Exarch of Ravenna. 383-385/8, Flavius Bauto, magister militum under Valentinian II 385/8-394, Arbogast, magister militum under Valentinian II and Eugenius 383–388, Andragathius after 383-408, –419, Flavius Gaudentius 425–433, Flavius Aetius 435-439, Litorius 452–456, Agrippinus 456–461, Aegidius 461/462, Agrippinus. 468–474, Julius Nepos 477–479, Onoulphus 479–481, Sabinianus Magnus 528, Ascum 529–530/1, Mundus 532–536,550, John 568–569/70, Bonus 581–582, Theognis c. 503–505, Areobindus Dagalaiphus Areobindus 505–506, Pharesmanes. 516-.518,554, Artabanes 588, Priscus 593, Priscus 593–594, Peter 594–ca. Justinian 528, Leontius 528-529, Phocas 520-538/9, Sittas 536, Germanus 536, Maxentianus 546–548, Artabanes 548/9–552, Suartuas 562, Constantinianus 582, Germanus 585–ca. In the Gesta Herwardi, the hero is several times described as magister militum by the man who translated the original Early English account into Latin
22.
Julius Nepos
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Julius Nepos was Western Roman Emperor de facto from 474 to 475 and de jure until 480. He was also the ruler of Roman Dalmatia from 468 to 480, some historians consider Nepos to be the last Western Roman Emperor, while others consider the western line to have ended with Romulus Augustulus in 476. In contrast, the Eastern Roman Empire and its line of Emperors survived this period of history essentially intact, Nepos was elevated to Western Roman Emperor in 474 by the Eastern Roman Emperor Leo I in order to replace the usurper Glycerius. Nepos was deposed in 475 by Orestes, who control of the government at Ravenna on August 28,475. Romulus Augustulus was crowned Emperor but was deposed by Odoacer. Nepos continued to reign from Dalmatia as the Emperor of the West recognized by Constantinople, Nepos was assassinated in 480, and Eastern Emperor Zeno formally abolished the Western division of the Empire. Julius Nepos was appointed Western Roman Emperor in early 474 by the Eastern Roman Emperor Leo I, Nepos was married to Leos niece, hence his agnomen of nepos — nephew. Leo intended to replace the western emperor Glycerius, who he regarded as a usurper, Glycerius had been raised to the throne by the Burgundian magister militum Gundobad in the western capital of Ravenna. Under Roman law, Leo was the sole legitimate Emperor and had the right to select a new western counterpart. Nepos had been governor of province of Dalmatia, technically a part of the western empire, in June 474 Nepos entered Ravenna, forced Glycerius to abdicate, and secured the western throne for himself. Nepos spared Glycerius life and appointed him bishop of Salona, Nepos ruled briefly over the whole of the remaining Western Roman Empire, centered in Italy, still the Empires heartland, and including his native Dalmatia and the remaining parts of Roman Gaul. Nepos rule in Italy ended in 475, when he was deposed by his magister militum, Orestes, in the same year, Orestes enthroned his own teenage son as the new western emperor with the regnal name Romulus Augustus. The boy was probably around 15 years old when he became Emperor and is known to history as Romulus Augustulus, the reasons for Orestes decision to crown his son as a puppet-emperor, rather than become emperor himself, are somewhat unclear. However, Romulus position was not constitutional inasmuch as he had not been recognised by the Emperor at Constantinople, Romulus short reign ended on September 4,476, when Odoacer, head of the Germanic Foederati in Italy, captured Ravenna, killed Orestes, and deposed Romulus. Odoacer sent Romulus Augustulus to Campania in exile or retirement, after which he disappears from the historical record, although his successor had been deposed, Nepos never returned to Italy. He continued to reign from Dalmatia as Emperor of the West, patrician rank was granted, but at Zenos insistence Odoacer also grudgingly acknowledged Nepos Imperial status, and even issued coinage in Nepos name. In name at least, the Western Roman Empire continued to exist after 476 and this political solution lasted approximately four years. In about 479, Nepos began to plot against Odoacer, hoping to control of Italy for himself
23.
Sidonius Apollinaris
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For the Franco-Irish saint, see Sidonius of Saint-Saëns. Gaius Sollius Modestus Apollinaris Sidonius, better known as Saint Sidonius Apollinaris, was a poet, diplomat, Sidonius is the single most important surviving author from fifth-century Gaul according to Eric Goldberg. All of them were linked in the tightly bound aristocratic Gallo-Roman network that provided the bishops of Catholic Gaul and his feast day is 21 August. His father Apollinaris was the Prefect of Gaul under Valentinian III, Sidonius grandfather was Praetorian Prefect of Gaul sometime prior to 409 and a friend of his successor Decimus Rusticus. Sidonius may be a descendant of another Apollinaris who was Prefect of Gaul under Constantine II between 337 and 340, Sidonius married Papianilla, the daughter of Emperor Avitus, around 452. His known acquaintances include bishop Faustus of Riez and his theological adversary Claudianus Mamertus, his life, in 457 Majorian deprived Avitus of the empire and seized the city of Lyons, Sidonius fell into his hands. However, the reputation of Sidoniuss learning led Majorian to treat him with the greatest respect, in return Sidonius composed a panegyric in his honour, which won for him a statue at Rome and the title of count. In 470 or 472, he was elected to succeed Eparchius in the bishopric of Auvergne and his extant works are his Panegyrics on different emperors, which document several important political events. Carmen 7 is a panegyric to his father-in-law Avitus on his inauguration as emperor, while very stilted in diction, these Letters reveal Sidonius as a man of genial temper, fond of good living and of pleasure. The best edition is that in the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, which gives a survey of the manuscripts, an English translation of his poetry and letters by W. B. Anderson, with accompanying Latin text, have been published by the Loeb Classical Library. Among his lost works, is the one on Apollonius of Tyana, gregory of Tours speaks of Sidonius as a man who could celebrate Mass from memory and give unprepared speeches without any hesitation. C. E. Stevens, Sidonius Apollinaris and his Age, der senatorische Adel im spätantiken Gallien. Nora Chadwick, Poetry and Letters in Early Christian Gaul London, Sidonius Apollinaris and the Fall of Rome, AD 407-485. Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius, Briefe Buch I, Sidonius Apollinaris, St. Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
24.
Constantius III
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Constantius, commonly known as Constantius III, was Western Roman Emperor for seven months in 421. A prominent general and politician, he was the power behind the throne for much of the 410s, Constantius was born in Naissus and was probably a career soldier, who reached the rank of magister militum under Honorius. Constantius avenged the killing of his friend and previous magister militum Stilicho by having the principal instigator of the assassination, Olympius, in 411 he defeated Gerontius, the general of usurper Maximus, and Constantine III, another usurper, in Arles. Constantine had revolted against Honorius, but then he had broken his relationship with general Gerontius, who had proclaimed Maximus Emperor in opposition to both Honorius and Constantine. Gerontius had then besieged Constantine in the city of Arles, but the arrival of the troops of Constantius from Italy had put him in trouble, being at the same time a besieger. Gerontius was abandoned by his troops and then killed in Hispania, before the walls of Arles, Constantius confronted and defeated Edobichus, who was later betrayed and killed by a friend. Constantine was forced to surrender to Constantius when his troops on the Rhine left him for another usurper, Constantius granted a safe conduct to Constantine, who had become an ordained priest, but later he captured and killed him. In 412 he expelled from Italy the Visigoths under Ataulf, in 413 he held his first consulate. In 414 he began an offensive against the Visigoths. In response, Ataulf appointed as emperor Priscus Attalus, who had already been a usurper against Honorius in 410, the blockade imposed by Constantius on Gallic ports was so effective that the Visigoths fled from Gaul to Hispania in 415. Attalus too tried to flee but was captured by the forces of Constantius, the agreement also provided for the release of Galla Placidia, Honorius sister, captured during the sack of Rome in 410. Constantius was appointed patricius and in 417, the year of his second consulate held with Honorius as colleague, he married Galla Placidia, the couple had two children, Justa Grata Honoria and the future Emperor Valentinian III. In 420 he was appointed consul for the time, with the Eastern Emperor Theodosius II as colleague. On February 8,421, Constantius was appointed co-emperor with his ineffectual brother-in-law, Honorius, curiously, he complained of the loss of personal freedom implied by the new role. The elevation of Constantius, however, was not recognized by his colleague in the East, Theodosius II, a struggle to replace Constantius swiftly erupted, with some open fighting. Galla Placidia fled with her son Valentinian to Constantinople and her brother Honorius, still childless, died in 423. Bury, John Bagnall, History of the Later Roman Empire Macmillan & Co, burns, Thomas Samuel, Barbarians Within the Gates of Rome, Indiana University Press,1994, ISBN 0-253-31288-4, p.250. 157–160 C. E. Stevens, Marcus, Gratian, Constantine, Athenaeum,35, pp. 316–47 Media related to Constantius III at Wikimedia Commons
25.
Theodoric I
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Theodoric I was the King of the Visigoths from 418 to 451. An illegitimate son of Alaric, Theodoric is famous for his part in defeating Attila at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451, in 418 he succeeded King Wallia. The Romans had ordered King Wallia to move his people from Iberia to Gaul, after the death of Emperor Honorius and the usurpation of Joannes in 423 internal power struggles broke out in the Roman Empire. Theodoric used this situation and tried to capture the important road junction Arelate, but the Magister militum Aëtius, the Visigoths concluded a treaty and were given Gallic noblemen as hostages. The later Emperor Avitus visited Theodoric, lived at his court, but Litorius, with the aid of the Huns, could prevent the capture of the city and drove the Visigoths back to their capital Tolosa. The peace offer of Theodoric was refused, but the king won the battle at Tolosa. Avitus went – according to the orders of Aëtius – to Tolosa, perhaps the Romans recognized at that time the sovereignty of the Visigoth state. A daughter of Theodoric had been married to Huneric, a son of the Vandal ruler Geiseric, but Huneric later had ambitions to wed Eudocia, a daughter of the Emperor Valentinian III. He therefore accused the daughter of Theodoric of planning to kill him and this action caused an enmity between the Visigoths and the Vandals. An enemy of Aëtius, the former Magister militum Sebastianus, came in 444 to Tolosa, so there could have emerged strained relations with Aëtius, but Theodoric soon sent his unwelcome guest away who captured Barcelona and was later executed at the orders of Geiseric. Theodoric was also an enemy of the Suevic king Rechila in Iberia, but the ability of this people to conduct a strong defence and the better relations between Geiseric and the Roman Empire led Theodoric to change his foreign policy. He therefore married in February 449 one of his daughters to the new Suevic king Rechiar, some recent scholars doubt that Theodoric took legislative measures, as it was assumed in earlier times. When Attila the Hun advanced with his army to Western Europe and finally invaded Gaul. Theodoric accepted this coalition because he recognized the danger of the Huns to his own realm, with his whole army and his sons, Thorismund and Theodoric, he joined Aëtius. The Visigoth and Roman troops then saved the civitas Aurelianorum and forced Attila to withdraw, then Aëtius and Theodoric followed the Huns and fought against them at the Battle of Châlons near Troyes in %%about September 451%%. Most Visigoths fought at the wing under the command of Theodoric. Theodorics forces contributed decisively to the victory of the Romans, the body of Theodoric wasnt found until the next day. According to Gothic tradition he was mourned and buried by his warriors on the battlefield, immediately Thorismund was elected as successor of his father
26.
Flavius Aetius
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Flavius Aetius /ˈfleɪviəs eɪˈiːʃiəs/, dux et patricius, commonly called simply Aetius or Aëtius, was a Roman general of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was a military commander and the most influential man in the Western Roman Empire for two decades. He managed policy in regard to the attacks of barbarian federates settled throughout the Western Roman Empire, notably, he mustered a large Roman and allied army to stop the Huns in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, ending the devastating Hunnic invasion of Attila in 451. He has often called the last of the Romans. Edward Gibbon refers to him as the man universally celebrated as the terror of Barbarians, Aetius was born at Durostorum in Moesia Inferior, around 391. Aetius mother, whose name is unknown, was an aristocratic woman of Italian ancestry. Before 425 Aetius married the daughter of Carpilio, who gave him a son, Later he married Pelagia, widow of Bonifacius, from whom he had a son, Gaudentius. It is possible that he had also a daughter, wife of Thraustila who avenged Aetius death by killing emperor Valentinian III, between 405 and 408 he was kept as hostage at the court of Alaric I, king of the Visigoths. According to some historians, Aetiuss upbringing amongst militaristic peoples gave him a martial vigour not common in Roman generals of the time. In 423 the Western Emperor Honorius died, the most influential man in the West, Castinus, chose as his successor Joannes, a high-ranking officer. Joannes was not part of the Theodosian dynasty and he did not receive the recognition of the eastern court. The Eastern Emperor Theodosius II organized an expedition westward, led by Ardaburius and his son Aspar, to put his cousin. Aetius entered the service of the usurper as cura palatii and was sent by Joannes to ask the Huns for assistance, Joannes lacked a strong army and fortified himself in his capital, Ravenna, where he was killed in the summer of 425. Shortly afterwards, Aetius returned to Italy with a force of Huns to find that power in the west was now in the hands of Valentinian III. After fighting against Aspars army, Aetius managed to compromise with Galla Placidia and he sent back his army of Huns and in return obtained the rank of comes et magister militum per Gallias, the commander in chief of the Roman army in Gaul. In 426, Aetius arrived in southern Gaul and took command of the field army, at that time Arelate, an important city in Narbonensis near the mouth of the Rhone, was under siege from the Visigoths, led by their king Theodoric I. Aetius defeated Theodoric, lifted the siege of Arelate, and drove the Visigoths back to their holdings in Aquitania, in 428 he fought the Salian Franks, defeating their king Chlodio and recovering some territory they had occupied along the Rhine. In 430 the Visigoths led by Anaolsus attacked Arelate again but were defeated by Aetius, in May 430, Aetius and the Army accused Felix of plotting against him and had him, his wife, and a deacon killed
27.
Juthungi
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The Juthungi were a Germanic tribe in the region north of the rivers Danube and Altmühl in the modern German state of Bavaria. The tribe was mentioned by the Roman historians Publius Herennius Dexippus and Ammianus Marcellinus, the meaning of their name is “descendants”, and refers to the ancient Suebian tribe of the Semnoni. The Juthungi invaded Italy in 259–260, but on their way back they were defeated near Augsburg on 24–25 April 260 by Marcus Simplicinius Genialis, at this time the Roman Empire lost control of this part of the limes. Between 356 and 358 the Juthungi and the Alamanni invaded the province of Raetia, a second invasion of Raetia in 383 was repelled by an army of Alans and Huns. Between 429 and 431 the Roman general Aëtius also fought against the Juthungi in Raetia, Augsburg Victory Altar Dexippus - FGrHist 100 Panegyrici Latini VIII10.4 Ammianus Marcellinus 17,6 Sidonius Apollinaris, c. 7,233 List of ancient Germanic peoples
28.
Noricum
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Noricum is the Latin name for a Celtic kingdom, or federation of tribes, that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a province of the Roman Empire and its borders were the Danube to the north, Raetia and Vindelicia to the west, Pannonia to the east and southeast, and Italia to the south. The kingdom was founded around 400 BC, and had its capital at the residence at Virunum on the Magdalensberg. Its area corresponded to the part of modern Styria and Carinthia, Upper/Lower Austria west of Vienna, Salzburg, a part of Bavaria. The famous Noric steel was used in the making of Roman weapons. Gold and salt were found in considerable quantities, the plant called saliunca grew in abundance and was used as a perfume according to Pliny the Elder. Noric steel was famous for its quality and hardness, in Noricum, almost all those Celtic invaders are mentioned. The Hallstatt graves contained weapons and ornaments from the Bronze age, through the period of transition, up to the Hallstatt culture, william Ridgeway made a strong case for the theory that the cradle of the Homeric Achaeans was in Noricum and neighbouring areas. The kingdom of Noricum was a provider of weaponry for the Roman armies from the mid-Republic onwards. Especially the Roman swords were made was made of the best-quality steel then available, the strength of iron is determined by its carbon content. The wrought iron produced in the Greco-Roman world generally contained only traces of carbon and was too soft for tools. It thus needed to be carburised to at least 1. 5% carbon content. The main Roman method of achieving this was to heat the wrought iron to a temperature of over 800 C and hammer it in a charcoal fire. This technique had been developed empirically, as there is no evidence that ancient iron producers understood the chemistry involved, the rudimentary methods of carburisation used rendered the quality of the iron ore critical to the production of good steel. The ore needed to be rich in manganese, but also to very little, or preferably zero, phosphorus. The ore mined in Carinthia fulfills both criteria to an unusual degree, the Celtic peoples of Noricum empirically discovered that their ore made superior steel around 500 BC and established a major steel-making industry around it. At Magdalensberg, a production and trading centre was established. The finished products were mostly exported southwards, to Aquileia, a Roman colony founded in 180 BC, Noricum became a key ally of the Roman Republic, providing a reliable supply of high-quality weapons and tools in return for Roman military protection
29.
Burgundians
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The Burgundians were a large East Germanic or Vandal tribe, or group of tribes, who lived in the area of modern Poland in the time of the Roman Empire. This later became a component of the Frankish empire, the name of this Kingdom survives in the regional appellation, Burgundy, which is a region in modern France, representing only a part of that kingdom. Another part of the Burgundians stayed in their previous homeland in the Oder-Vistula basin, the ethnonym Burgundians is commonly used in English to refer to the Burgundi who settled in Sapaudia, in the western Alps, during the 5th Century. Between the 6th and 20th centuries, the boundaries and political connections of Burgundy have changed frequently, in modern times the only area still referred to as Burgundy is in France, which derives its name from the Duchy of Burgundy. The parts of the old Kingdom not within the French controlled Duchy tended to come under different names, the Burgundians had a tradition of Scandinavian origin which finds support in place-name evidence and archaeological evidence and many consider their tradition to be correct. The Burgundians are believed to have emigrated to the Baltic island of Bornholm. However, by about 250 CE, the population of Bornholm had largely disappeared from the island, most cemeteries ceased to be used, and those that were still used had few burials. In Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar, the Veseti settled in an island or holm, alfred the Greats translation of Orosius uses the name Burgenda land to refer to a territory next to the land of Sweons. The poet and early mythologist Viktor Rydberg, asserted from a medieval source, Vita Sigismundi. Early Roman sources, such as Tacitus and Pliny the Elder, knew little concerning the Germanic peoples east of the Elbe river, Pliny however mentions them among the Vandalic or Eastern Germanic Germani peoples, including also the Goths. Claudius Ptolemy lists them as living between the Suevus and Vistula rivers, north of the Lugii, and south of the coast dwelling tribes. Around the mid 2nd century AD, there was a significant migration by Germanic tribes of Scandinavian origin towards the south-east and these migrations culminated in the Marcomannic Wars, which resulted in widespread destruction and the first invasion of Italy in the Roman Empire period. Jordanes reports that during the 3rd century, the Burgundians living in the Vistula basin were almost annihilated by Fastida, king of the Gepids, in the late 3rd century, the Burgundians appear on the east bank of the Rhine, confronting Roman Gaul. Zosimus reports them being defeated by the emperor Probus in 278 in Gaul, at this time, they were led by a Vandal king. A few years later, Claudius Mamertinus mentions them along with the Alamanni and he also mentions that the Goths had previously defeated the Burgundians. Ammianus Marcellinus, on the hand, claimed that the Burgundians were descended from Romans. The Roman sources do not speak of any specific migration from Poland by the Burgundians, in 369/370, the Emperor Valentinian I enlisted the aid of the Burgundians in his war against the Alemanni. Approximately four decades later, the Burgundians appear again, following Stilichos withdrawal of troops to fight Alaric I the Visigoth in AD 406-408, the northern tribes crossed the Rhine and entered the Empire in the Völkerwanderung, or Germanic migrations
30.
Huns
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The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia between the 1st century AD and the 7th century AD. In 91 AD, the Huns were said to be living near the Caspian Sea, by 370, the Huns had established a vast, if short-lived, dominion in Europe. In the 18th century, the French scholar Joseph de Guignes became the first to propose a link between the Huns and the Xiongnu people, who were neighbours of China in the 3rd century BC. Since Guignes time, considerable effort has been devoted to investigating such a connection. However, there is no consensus on a direct connection between the dominant element of the Xiongnu and that of the Huns. Numerous other ethnic groups were included under Attilas rule, including very many speakers of Gothic and their main military technique was mounted archery. The Huns may have stimulated the Great Migration, a factor in the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. They formed an empire under Attila the Hun, who died in 453. Variants of the Hun name are recorded in the Caucasus until the early 8th century, the Huns were a confederation of warrior bands, ready to integrate other groups to increase their military power, in the Eurasian Steppe in the 4th to 6th centuries AD. Most aspects of their ethnogenesis are uncertain, walter Pohl explicitly states, All we can say safely is that the name Huns, in late antiquity, described prestigious ruling groups of steppe warriors. Jerome associated them with the Scythians in a letter, written four years after the Huns invaded the eastern provinces in 395. The equation of the Huns with the Scythians, together with a fear of the coming of the Antichrist in the late 4th century. This demonization of the Huns is also reflected in Jordaness Getica, written in the 6th century, otto J. Maenchen-Helfen was the first to challenge the traditional approach, based primarily on the study of written sources, and to emphasize the importance of archaeological research. Thereafter the identification of the Xiongnu as the Huns ancestors became controversial among some, the similarity of their ethnonyms is one of the most important links between the two peoples. A Sogdian merchant described the invasion of northern China by the Xwn people in a letter, Étienne de la Vaissière asserts both documents prove that Huna or Xwn were the exact transcriptions of the Chinese Xiongnu name. Christopher P. Atwood rejects that identification because of the very poor match between the three words. For instance, Xiongnu begins with a velar fricative, Huna with a voiceless glottal fricative, Xiongnu is a two-syllable word. However, according to Zhengzhang Shangfang, Xiongnu was pronounced in Late Old Chinese, the Chinese Book of Wei contain references to the remains of the descendants of the Xiongnu who lived in the region of the Altai Mountains in the early 5th century AD
31.
Narbonne
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Narbonne is a commune in southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies 849 km from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture, once a prosperous port, and a major city in Roman times, it is now located about 15 km from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is marginally the largest commune in Aude, although the prefecture is the slightly smaller commune of Carcassonne, Narbonne is linked to the nearby Canal du Midi and the Aude River by the Canal de la Robine, which runs through the centre of town. The towns original name is very ancient, the earliest known record of its original name is by the Greek Hecataeus of Miletus in the fifth century BC. In ancient inscriptions the name is rendered in Latin and sometimes translated into Iberian as Nedhena. Narbonne was established in Gaul by the Romans in 118 BC, as Colonia Narbo Martius and it was located on the Via Domitia, the first Roman road in Gaul, built at the time of the foundation of the colony, and connecting Italy to Spain. In addition, it was crossed by the Aude River, surviving members of Julius Caesars Legio X Equestris were given lands in the area that today is called Narbonne. Politically, Narbonne gained importance as a competitor to Massalia, Julius Caesar settled veterans from his 10th Legion there and attempted to develop its port while Marseille was supporting Pompey. Among the amenities of Narbonne, its rosemary-flower honey was famous among Romans, later, the province of Transalpine Gaul was renamed Gallia Narbonensis after the city, which became its capital. Seat of an administration, the city enjoyed economic and architectural expansion. At that point, the city is thought to have had 30, 000–50,000 inhabitants, according to Hydatius, in 462 the city was handed over to the Visigoths by a local military leader in exchange for support, as a result Roman rule ended in the city. It was subsequently the capital of the Visigothic province of Septimania, for 40 years, from 719, Narbonne was part of the Umayyad Empire with a strong Gothic presence. The Carolingian Pepin the Short conquered Narbonne from the Muslims in 759 after which it part of the Carolingian Viscounty of Narbonne. He invited, according to Christian sources, prominent Jews from the Caliphate of Bagdad to settle in Narbonne, in the 12th century, the court of Ermengarde of Narbonne presided over one of the cultural centers where the spirit of courtly love was developed. In the 11th and 12th centuries, Narbonne was home to an important Jewish exegetical school, Jews had settled in Narbonne from about the 5th century, with a community that had risen to approximately 2000 in the 12th century. At this time, Narbonne was frequently mentioned in Talmudic works in connection with its scholars, one source, Abraham ibn Daud of Toledo, gives them an importance similar to the exilarchs of Babylon. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the community went through a series of ups, Narbonne itself fell into a slow decline in the 14th century, for a variety of reasons. One was due to a change in the course of the Aude River, the Aude river had a long history of overflowing its banks
32.
Praetorian prefecture of Gaul
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The praetorian prefecture of the Gauls was one of four large prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided. The prefecture comprised not only Gaul but also Upper and Lower Germany, Roman Britain, Spain and its territory overlapped considerably with what was once controlled by the short-lived Gallic Empire in the 260s. After the permanent partition of the Empire in 395 into West and East spheres of control, augusta Treverorum served as the prefectures seat until 407, when it was transferred to Arelate. In 510, the Ostrogoth king Theodoric the Great re-established the prefecture in the part of Gaul that he had just conquered. This short lived revival lasted until the area was in turn conquered by the Franks in 536, barbarians within the gates of Rome, a study of Roman military policy and the barbarians, ca. 375-425 A. D. Indiana University Press, ISBN 978-0-253-31288-4
33.
Attila
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Attila, frequently referred to as Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. Attila was a leader of the Hunnic Empire, a confederation consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths. During his reign, he was one of the most feared enemies of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires and he crossed the Danube twice and plundered the Balkans, but was unable to take Constantinople. His unsuccessful campaign in Persia was followed in 441 by an invasion of the Eastern Roman Empire and he also attempted to conquer Roman Gaul, crossing the Rhine in 451 and marching as far as Aurelianum before being defeated at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. He subsequently invaded Italy, devastating the northern provinces, but was unable to take Rome and he planned for further campaigns against the Romans but died in 453. After Attilas death his close adviser Ardaric of the Gepids led a Germanic revolt against Hunnic rule, there is no surviving first-hand account of Attilas appearance, but there is a possible second-hand source provided by Jordanes, who cites a description given by Priscus. He was a man born into the world to shake the nations, the scourge of all lands and he was haughty in his walk, rolling his eyes hither and thither, so that the power of his proud spirit appeared in the movement of his body. He was indeed a lover of war, yet restrained in action, mighty in counsel, gracious to suppliants, the Gothic etymology can be tracked up to Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm in the early 19th century. Maenchen-Helfen noted that Hunnic names were not the names of the Hun princes. The names of Attilas brother Bleda, and most powerful minister Onegesius, mikkola connected it with Turkic āt. Gerd Althoff considered it was related to Turkish atli, or Turkish at, the Gothic origin of the name Attila is questionable, Snædal writes. It is at least as likely to be of Hunnic origin, the article points out that the word atta is a migratory term for father/forefather common in multiple languages, including many Turkic languages. He concludes, Of course we do not know how the name sounded in the language of the Huns, sometime, somewhere, somehow a proto-form like *agtala- changed to *attila. We cannot tell if the assimilation of gt to tt, and/or if loss of a final consonant took place in Hunnic or if these changes were part of the process into Latin, Gothic. Truly, our knowledge of the Hunnic language is almost zero, One can only guess a solution to this riddle of Attilas name. The historiography of Attila is faced with a challenge, in that the only complete sources are written in Greek. Attilas contemporaries left many testimonials of his life, but only fragments of these remain and he wrote a history of the late Roman Empire in eight books covering the period from 430 to 476. Today we have fragments of Priscus work, but it was cited extensively by 6th-century historians Procopius and Jordanes,413 especially in Jordanes The Origin
34.
Battle of the Catalaunian Plains
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It was one of the last major military operations of the Western Roman Empire, although Germanic foederati composed the majority of the coalition army. Whether the battle was strategically conclusive is disputed, The Romans stopped the Huns attempt to establish vassals in Roman Gaul, however, the Huns successfully looted and pillaged much of Gaul and crippled the military capacity of the Romans and Visigoths. The Hunnic Empire was later dismantled by a coalition of their Germanic vassals at the Battle of Nedao in 454, by 450 AD Roman authority over Gaul had been restored in much of the province, although control over all of the provinces beyond Italy was continuing to diminish. Armorica was only part of the empire, and Germanic tribes occupying Roman territory had been forcibly settled. Northern Gaul between the Rhine north of Xanten and the Leie river had unofficially been abandoned to the Salian Franks, the Visigoths on the River Garonne were growing restive, but still holding to their treaty. The Burgundians in Sapaudia were more submissive, but likewise awaiting an opening for revolt, the Alans on the Loire and in Valentinois were more loyal, having served the Romans since the defeat of Jovinus in 411 and the siege of Bazas in 414. The historian Jordanes states that Attila was enticed by the Vandal king Gaiseric to wage war on the Visigoths, at the same time, Gaiseric would attempt to sow strife between the Visigoths and the Western Roman Empire. However, Jordanes account of Gothic history is biased and unreliable. Other contemporary writers offer different motivations, Honoria, the sister of the emperor Valentinian III, had been betrothed to the former consul Herculanus the year before. In 450, she sent the eunuch Hyacinthus to the Hunnic king asking for Attilas help in escaping her confinement, allegedly Attila interpreted it as offering her hand in marriage, and he had claimed half of the empire as a dowry. He demanded Honoria to be delivered along with the dowry, Valentinian rejected these demands, and Attila used it as an excuse to launch a destructive campaign through Gaul. Hughes suggests otherwise, saying that the reality of this interpretation should be that Honoria was using Attilas status as honorary Magister Militum for political leverage, another possible explanation is that in 449, the King of the Franks, Chlodio, died. Aetius had adopted the son of the Franks to secure the Rhine Frontier. Bona and more recently Kim take this theory a step further, reasoning that it was the cause of the war. Bona argues that Childeric was a vassal of Attila, and he identifies the founders of the Merovingian dynasty as the two claimants to the Frankish throne, Attila crossed the Rhine early in 451 with his followers and a large number of allies, sacking Divodurum on April 7. Lupus, bishop of Troyes, is credited with saving his city by meeting Attila in person. Many other cities also claim to have been attacked in these accounts and this explanation would support the literary evidence claiming North Gaul was attacked, and the archaeological evidence showing major population centers were not sacked. Attilas army had reached Aurelianum before June, according to Jordanes, the Alan king Sangiban, whose Foederati realm included Aurelianum, had promised to open the city gates
35.
Valentinian III
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Valentinian III was Western Roman Emperor from 425 to 455. His reign was marked by the dismemberment of the Western Empire. Valentinian was born in the capital of Ravenna, the only son of Galla Placidia. His mother was the younger half-sister of the western emperor Honorius, while his father was at the time a Patrician and the power behind the throne. Through his mother, Valentinian was a descendant both of Theodosius I, who was his grandfather, and of Valentinian I, who was the father of his maternal grandmother. It was also through his mothers side of the family that he was the nephew of Honorius and first cousin to Theodosius II, Valentinian had a full sister, Justa Grata Honoria, who was probably born in 417 or 418. When Valentinian was less than two years old, Honorius appointed Constantius co-emperor, a position he would hold until his death seven months later, as a result of all these family ties, Valentinian was the son, grandson, great-grandson, cousin, and nephew of Roman Emperors. In either 421 or 423, Valentinian was given the title of Nobilissimus by Honorius, in 423, Honorius died, and the usurper Joannes took the power in Rome. To counter this threat to his power, Theodosius belatedly recognised Valentinian’s father as Augustus, Theodosius also betrothed him to his own daughter Licinia Eudoxia. Given his minority status, the new Augustus ruled under the regency of his mother Galla Placidia and her regency lasted until 437, and, for the duration, Theodosius II gave her his full support. This period was marked with an imperial policy and an attempt to stabilize the western provinces as far as the stretched resources of the empire could manage. In 425, the court at Ravenna negotiated with the Huns who had accompanied Flavius Aëtius to Italy in support of Joannes and they agreed to leave Italy, and to evacuate the province of Pannonia Valeria, which was returned to the empire. This allowed Felix and the government to restructure the defences along the Danubian provinces in 427 and 428. In addition, there were significant victories over the Visigoths in Gaul in 426/7 and 430, nevertheless, there were significant problems that threatened the viability of the Roman state in the west. The Visigoths were a constant presence in south-eastern Gaul and could not be dislodged, the Vandals in Hispania continued their incursions, and, in 429, they commenced their invasion of Mauretania Tingitana. The loss of these territories seriously impacted the ability to function. The burden of taxation became more and more intolerable as Romes power decreased, in 427, Felix accused Bonifacius of being a traitor and demanded that he return to Italy. Bonifacius refused and defeated an army sent by Felix to capture him, weakened, Felix was unable to resist Aëtius who, with the support of Galla Placidia, replaced him as Magister militum praesentalis in 429, before having him killed in 430
36.
Genseric
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During his nearly 50 years of rule, he raised a relatively insignificant Germanic tribe to the status of a major Mediterranean power. After he died, they entered a decline and eventual collapse. He might have been invited by the Roman governor Bonifacius, who wished to use the strength of the Vandals in his struggle against the imperial government. Genseric caused great devastation as he moved eastward from the Strait of Gibraltar across Africa and he turned on Bonifacius, defeated his army in 430, and then crushed the joint forces of the Eastern and Western empires that had been sent against him. In 435 Genseric concluded a treaty with the Romans under which the Vandals retained Mauretania, in a surprise move on October 19,439, Genseric captured Carthage, striking a devastating blow at imperial power. In a 442 treaty with Rome, the Vandals were recognized as the independent rulers of Byzacena, seizing Sicily in 440 AD and later the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Corsica, and Malta, Genseric’s fleet soon came to control much of the western Mediterranean. His most famous exploit, however, was the capture and plundering of Rome in June 455. Subsequently the King defeated two major efforts by the Romans to overthrow him, that of the emperor Majorian in 460, after dying in Carthage at the great age of 88, Genseric was succeeded by his son Huneric. Genseric was a son of King Godigisel, he is assumed to have been born near Lake Balaton around 389. After Gunderics death in 428, Genseric was elected king and he immediately began to seek ways of increasing the power and wealth of his people, who then resided in the Roman province of Hispania Baetica in southern Hispania. The Vandals had suffered greatly from attacks from the more numerous Visigothic federates, in fact, he seems to have started building a Vandal fleet even before he became king. In 428 Genseric was attacked from the rear by a force of Suebi under the command of Heremigarius who had managed to take Lusitania. This Suebi army was defeated near Mérida and its leader Hermigario drowned in the Guadiana River while trying to flee, taking advantage of a dispute between Boniface, Roman governor of North Africa, and Aetius, Genseric ferried all of his people across to Africa in 429. Once there, he won many battles over the weak and divided Roman defenders and quickly overran the territory now comprising modern Morocco and his Vandal army laid siege to the city of Hippo Regius, taking it after 14 months of bitter fighting. On October 19,439, noting that the forces of the Western Empire were heavily involved in Gaul, Genseric took possession of Carthage, stewart Oost observes, Thus he undoubtedly achieved what had been his purpose since he first crossed to Africa. The Romans were caught unaware, and Genseric captured a part of the western Roman navy docked in the port of Carthage. The Catholic bishop of the city, Quodvultdeus, was exiled to Naples, nevertheless, Genseric gave freedom of religion to the Catholics, while insisting that the regimes elite follow Arianism. The common folk had low taxes under his reign, as most of the tax pressure was on the rich Roman families, added to his own burgeoning fleet, the Kingdom of the Vandals now threatened the Empire for mastery of the western Mediterranean Sea
37.
Arles
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Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence. A large part of the Camargue is located on the territory of the commune, the city has a long history, and was of considerable importance in the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis. The Roman and Romanesque Monuments of Arles were listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1981, the Dutch post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh lived in Arles from 1888 to 1889 and produced over 300 paintings and drawings during his time there. An international photography festival has held in the city since 1970. The river Rhône forks into two branches just upstream of Arles, forming the Camargue delta and its area is 758.93 km2, which is more than seven times the area of Paris. Arles has a Mediterranean climate with an annual temperature of 14.6 °C. The summers are warm and moderately dry, with averages between 22 °C and 24 °C, and mild winters with a mean temperature of about 7 °C. The city is constantly, but especially in the months, subject to the influence of the mistral. Rainfall is fairly evenly distributed from September to May, with the summer drought being less marked than in other Mediterranean areas, the Ligurians were in this area from about 800 BC. Later, Celtic influences have been discovered, the city became an important Phoenician trading port, before being taken by the Romans. The Romans took the town in 123 BC and expanded it into an important city, however, it struggled to escape the shadow of Massalia further along the coast. Its chance came when it sided with Julius Caesar against Pompey, Massalia backed Pompey, when Caesar emerged victorious, Massalia was stripped of its possessions, which were transferred to Arelate as a reward. The town was established as a colony for veterans of the Roman legion Legio VI Ferrata. Its full title as a colony was Colonia Iulia Paterna Arelatensium Sextanorum, Arelate was a city of considerable importance in the province of Gallia Narbonensis. It covered an area of some 99 acres and possessed a number of monuments, including an amphitheatre, triumphal arch, Roman circus, theatre, ancient Arles was closer to the sea than it is now and served as a major port. It also had the southernmost bridge on the Rhône, very unusually, the Roman bridge was not fixed but consisted of a pontoon-style bridge of boats, with towers and drawbridges at each end. The boats were secured in place by anchors and were tethered to twin towers built just upstream of the bridge and this unusual design was a way of coping with the rivers frequent violent floods, which would have made short work of a conventional bridge. Nothing remains of the Roman bridge, which has replaced by a more modern bridge near the same spot
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Roman Senate
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The Roman Senate was a political institution in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, during the days of the kingdom, it was little more than an advisory council to the king. The last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was following a coup détat led by Lucius Junius Brutus. During the early Republic, the Senate was politically weak, while the executive magistrates were quite powerful, since the transition from monarchy to constitutional rule was most likely gradual, it took several generations before the Senate was able to assert itself over the executive magistrates. By the middle Republic, the Senate had reached the apex of its republican power, the late Republic saw a decline in the Senates power, which began following the reforms of the tribunes Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus. After the transition of the Republic into the Principate, the Senate lost much of its power as well as its prestige. Following the constitutional reforms of the Emperor Diocletian, the Senate became politically irrelevant, when the seat of government was transferred out of Rome, the Senate was reduced to a municipal body. This decline in status was reinforced when the emperor Constantine the Great created an additional senate in Constantinople, the Senate in Rome ultimately disappeared at some point after AD603, although the title senator was still used well into the Middle Ages as a largely meaningless honorific. However, the Eastern Senate survived in Constantinople, until the ancient institution finally vanished there c. 14th century, the senate was a political institution in the ancient Roman kingdom. The word senate derives from the Latin word senex, which means old man, the early Roman family was called a gens or clan, and each clan was an aggregation of families under a common living male patriarch, called a pater. When the early Roman gentes were aggregating to form a common community, over time, the patres came to recognize the need for a single leader, and so they elected a king, and vested in him their sovereign power. When the king died, that power naturally reverted to the patres. The senate is said to have created by Romes first king, Romulus. The descendants of those 100 men subsequently became the patrician class, Romes fifth king, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, chose a further 100 senators. They were chosen from the leading families, and were accordingly called the patres minorum gentium. Romes seventh and final king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, executed many of the men in the senate. During the years of the monarchy, the senates most important function was to new kings. While the king was elected by the people, it was actually the senate who chose each new king
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Goths
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The Goths were an East Germanic people, two of whose branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe. In the Gothic language they were called the Gut-þiuda, most commonly translated as Gothic people, gut-þiudai, or Gutans Inferred from gen. pl. gutani in Pietroassa inscription. In Old Norse they were known as the Gutar or Gotar, in Latin as the Gothi, the exact origin of the ancient Goths is unknown. Evidence of them before they interacted with the Romans is limited, Modern academics have generally abandoned this theory. Today, the Wielbark culture is thought to have developed from earlier cultures in the same area, archaeological finds show close contacts between southern Sweden and the Baltic coastal area on the continent, and further towards the south-east, evidenced by pottery, house types and graves. Rather than a migration, similarities in the material cultures may be products of long-term regular contacts. However, the record could indicate that while his work is thought to be unreliable. Sometime around the 1st century AD, Germanic peoples may have migrated from Scandinavia to Gothiscandza, early archaeological evidence in the traditional Swedish province of Östergötland suggests a general depopulation during this period. However, there is no evidence for a substantial emigration from Scandinavia. Upon their arrival on the Pontic Steppe, the Germanic tribes adopted the ways of the Eurasian nomads, the first Greek references to the Goths call them Scythians, since this area along the Black Sea historically had been occupied by an unrelated people of that name. The earliest known material culture associated with the Goths on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea is the Wielbark culture, centered on the modern region of Pomerania in northern Poland. This culture replaced the local Oxhöft or Oksywie culture in the 1st century, the culture of this area was influenced by southern Scandinavian culture beginning as early as the late Nordic Bronze Age and early Pre-Roman Iron Age. In Eastern Europe they formed part of the Chernyakhov culture and it has been suggested that the Goths maintained contact with southern Sweden during their migration. In the first attested incursion in Thrace, the Goths were mentioned as Boranoi by Zosimus, the first incursion of the Roman Empire that can be attributed to Goths is the sack of Histria in 238. Several such raids followed in subsequent decades, in particular the Battle of Abrittus in 251, led by Cniva, at the time, there were at least two groups of Goths, the Thervingi and the Greuthungs. Goths were subsequently recruited into the Roman Army to fight in the Roman-Persian Wars. The Moesogoths settled in Thrace and Moesia, the first seaborne raids took place in three subsequent years, probably 255-257. An unsuccessful attack on Pityus was followed in the year by another
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Ravenna
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Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the city of the Western Roman Empire from 402 until that empire collapsed in 476. It then served as the capital of the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths until it was re-conquered in 540 by the Eastern Roman Empire. Afterwards, the city formed the centre of the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna until the invasion of the Lombards in 751, although an inland city, Ravenna is connected to the Adriatic Sea by the Candiano Canal. It is known for its well-preserved late Roman and Byzantine architecture, 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, the term that the Etruscans used for themselves, the origins of Ravenna are uncertain. Ravenna consisted of houses built on piles on a series of islands in a marshy lagoon – a situation similar to Venice several centuries later. The Romans ignored it during their conquest of the Po River Delta, in 49 BC, it was the location where Julius Caesar gathered his forces before crossing the Rubicon. Later, after his battle against Mark Antony in 31 BC and this harbor, protected at first by its own walls, was an important station of the Roman Imperial Fleet. Nowadays the city is landlocked, but Ravenna remained an important seaport on the Adriatic until the early Middle Ages, during the German campaigns, Thusnelda, widow of Arminius, and Marbod, King of the Marcomanni, were confined at Ravenna. Ravenna greatly prospered under Roman rule, Emperor Trajan built a 70 km long aqueduct at the beginning of the 2nd century. During the Marcomannic Wars, Germanic settlers in Ravenna revolted and managed to seize possession of the city, for this reason, Marcus Aurelius decided not only against bringing more barbarians into Italy, but even banished those who had previously been brought there. In AD402, Emperor Honorius transferred the capital of the Western Roman Empire from Milan to Ravenna, at that time it was home to 50,000 people. However, in 409, King Alaric I of the Visigoths simply bypassed Ravenna, after many vicissitudes, Galla Placidia returned to Ravenna with her son, Emperor Valentinian III and the support of her nephew Theodosius II. The late 5th century saw the dissolution of Roman authority in the west, Odoacer ruled as King of Italy for 13 years, but in 489 the Eastern Emperor Zeno sent the Ostrogoth King Theoderic the Great to re-take the Italian peninsula. After losing the Battle of Verona, Odoacer retreated to Ravenna, Theoderic took Ravenna in 493, supposedly slew Odoacer with his own hands, and Ravenna became the capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy. Both Odoacer and Theoderic and their followers were Arian Christians, but co-existed peacefully with the Latins, Ravennas Orthodox bishops carried out notable building projects, of which the sole surviving one is the Capella Arcivescovile. Theoderic allowed Roman citizens within his kingdom to be subject to Roman law, the Goths, meanwhile, lived under their own laws and customs
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