1.
Austria
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Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a federal republic and a landlocked country of over 8.7 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, the territory of Austria covers 83,879 km2. The terrain is mountainous, lying within the Alps, only 32% of the country is below 500 m. The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, other local official languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene. The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty, from the time of the Reformation, many northern German princes, resenting the authority of the Emperor, used Protestantism as a flag of rebellion. Following Napoleons defeat, Prussia emerged as Austrias chief competitor for rule of a greater Germany, Austrias defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz, during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, cleared the way for Prussia to assert control over the rest of Germany. In 1867, the empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary, Austria was thus the first to go to war in the July Crisis, which would ultimately escalate into World War I. The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919, in 1938 Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss. This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Germany was occupied by the Allies, in 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral, today, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states. The capital and largest city, with a population exceeding 1.7 million, is Vienna, other major urban areas of Austria include Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck. Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, with a nominal per capita GDP of $43,724, the country has developed a high standard of living and in 2014 was ranked 21st in the world for its Human Development Index. Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, joined the European Union in 1995, Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, and adopted the euro currency in 1999. The German name for Austria, Österreich, meant eastern realm in Old High German, and is cognate with the word Ostarrîchi and this word is probably a translation of Medieval Latin Marchia orientalis into a local dialect. Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976, the word Austria is a Latinisation of the German name and was first recorded in the 12th century. Accordingly, Norig would essentially mean the same as Ostarrîchi and Österreich, the Celtic name was eventually Latinised to Noricum after the Romans conquered the area that encloses most of modern-day Austria, around 15 BC. Noricum later became a Roman province in the mid-first century AD, heers hypothesis is not accepted by linguists. Settled in ancient times, the Central European land that is now Austria was occupied in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes, the Celtic kingdom of Noricum was later claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province
2.
Roman Empire
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Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesars adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. Octavians power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power, the imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The first two centuries of the empires existence were a period of unprecedented political stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana, following Octavians victory, the size of the empire was dramatically increased. After the assassination of Caligula in 41, the senate briefly considered restoring the republic, under Claudius, the empire invaded Britannia, its first major expansion since Augustus. Vespasian emerged triumphant in 69, establishing the Flavian dynasty, before being succeeded by his son Titus and his short reign was followed by the long reign of his brother Domitian, who was eventually assassinated. The senate then appointed the first of the Five Good Emperors, the empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan, the second in this line. A period of increasing trouble and decline began with the reign of Commodus, Commodus assassination in 192 triggered the Year of the Five Emperors, of which Septimius Severus emerged victorious. The assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 led to the Crisis of the Third Century in which 26 men were declared emperor by the Roman Senate over a time span. It was not until the reign of Diocletian that the empire was fully stabilized with the introduction of the Tetrarchy, which saw four emperors rule the empire at once. This arrangement was unsuccessful, leading to a civil war that was finally ended by Constantine I. Constantine subsequently shifted the capital to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople in his honour and it remained the capital of the east until its demise. Constantine also adopted Christianity which later became the state religion of the empire. However, Augustulus was never recognized by his Eastern colleague, and separate rule in the Western part of the empire ceased to exist upon the death of Julius Nepos. The Eastern Roman Empire endured for another millennium, eventually falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history, at its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the entire population. Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state. Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the republic in the 6th century BC, then, it was an empire long before it had an emperor
3.
Ptolemy
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Claudius Ptolemy was a Greek writer, known as a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in the city of Alexandria in the Roman province of Egypt, wrote in Koine Greek, beyond that, few reliable details of his life are known. His birthplace has been given as Ptolemais Hermiou in the Thebaid in a statement by the 14th-century astronomer Theodore Meliteniotes. This is a very late attestation, however, and there is no reason to suppose that he ever lived elsewhere than Alexandria. Ptolemy wrote several treatises, three of which were of importance to later Byzantine, Islamic and European science. The first is the astronomical treatise now known as the Almagest, although it was entitled the Mathematical Treatise. The second is the Geography, which is a discussion of the geographic knowledge of the Greco-Roman world. The third is the treatise in which he attempted to adapt horoscopic astrology to the Aristotelian natural philosophy of his day. This is sometimes known as the Apotelesmatika but more known as the Tetrabiblos from the Greek meaning Four Books or by the Latin Quadripartitum. The name Claudius is a Roman nomen, the fact that Ptolemy bore it indicates he lived under the Roman rule of Egypt with the privileges and political rights of Roman citizenship. It would have suited custom if the first of Ptolemys family to become a citizen took the nomen from a Roman called Claudius who was responsible for granting citizenship, if, as was common, this was the emperor, citizenship would have been granted between AD41 and 68. The astronomer would also have had a praenomen, which remains unknown and it occurs once in Greek mythology, and is of Homeric form. All the kings after him, until Egypt became a Roman province in 30 BC, were also Ptolemies, abu Mashar recorded a belief that a different member of this royal line composed the book on astrology and attributed it to Ptolemy. The correct answer is not known”, Ptolemy wrote in Greek and can be shown to have utilized Babylonian astronomical data. He was a Roman citizen, but most scholars conclude that Ptolemy was ethnically Greek and he was often known in later Arabic sources as the Upper Egyptian, suggesting he may have had origins in southern Egypt. Later Arabic astronomers, geographers and physicists referred to him by his name in Arabic, Ptolemys Almagest is the only surviving comprehensive ancient treatise on astronomy. Ptolemy presented his models in convenient tables, which could be used to compute the future or past position of the planets. The Almagest also contains a catalogue, which is a version of a catalogue created by Hipparchus
4.
Vienna
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Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austrias primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million, and its cultural, economic and it is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin, Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region, along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be The City of Dreams because it was home to the worlds first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud. The citys roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city and it is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first for the worlds most liveable cities, between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne, Australia. Monocles 2015 Quality of Life Survey ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world to make a base within, the UN-Habitat has classified Vienna as being the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the worlds number-one destination for international congresses and it attracts over 3.7 million tourists a year. The English name Vienna is borrowed from the homonymous Italian version of the name or the French Vienne. The etymology of the name is still subject to scholarly dispute. Some claim that the name comes from Vedunia, meaning forest stream, which produced the Old High German Uuenia. A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech and Slovak names of the city, the name of the city in Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian and Ottoman Turkish has a different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene-speakers call the city Dunaj, which in other Central European Slavic languages means the Danube River, evidence has been found of continuous habitation since 500 BC, when the site of Vienna on the Danube River was settled by the Celts. In 15 BC, the Romans fortified the city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north
5.
Bratislava
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Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia, and with a population of about 450,000, the countrys largest city. The greater metropolitan area is home to more than 650,000 people, Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia, occupying both banks of the River Danube and the left bank of the River Morava. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the national capital that borders two sovereign states. The history of the city has strongly influenced by people of different nations and religions, namely by Austrians, Croats, Czechs, Germans, Hungarians, Jews, Serbs. The city served as the site and legislative center of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1536 to 1783. Bratislava is the political, cultural and economic centre of Slovakia and it is the seat of the Slovak president, the parliament and the Slovak Executive. It is home to several universities, museums, theatres, galleries, many of Slovakias large businesses and financial institutions also have headquarters there. The capital of Slovakia is the eighth best city for freelancers to live in, mostly because of fast internet, in 2017, Bratislava was ranked as the third richest region of the European Union by GDP per capita. GDP at purchasing power parity is about three times higher than in other Slovak regions, the city received its contemporary name in 1919. Beforehand it was known in English by its German name, Pressburg, as it was long dominated by Austrians. This is the term which the German, the pre-1919 Slovak, the citys Hungarian name, Pozsony, was given after the castles first castellan, Poson. The origin of the name is unclear, it come from the Czech Pos or the German Poscho. Hungarian speakers still use the Hungarian name, Pozsony, the medieval settlement Brezalauspurc is sometimes attributed to Bratislava, however the actual location of Brezalauspurc is under scholarly debate. The citys modern name is credited to Pavel Jozef Šafáriks misinterpretation of Braslav as Bratislav when analyzing medieval sources, thus coming up with the term Břetislaw, during the revolution of 1918–1919, the name Wilsonov or Wilsonstadt was proposed by American Slovaks, as he supported national self-determination. The name Bratislava, which was used only by some Slovak patriots. The name Pressburg was also used in English-language publications until 1919, in older documents, confusion can be caused by the Latin forms Bratislavia, Wratislavia etc. which refer to Wrocław, Poland – not to Bratislava. The first known permanent settlement of the area began with the Linear Pottery Culture, about 200 BC, the Celtic Boii tribe founded the first significant settlement, a fortified town known as an oppidum. They also established a mint, producing silver coins known as biatecs, the area fell under Roman influence from the 1st to the 4th century AD and was made part of the Danubian Limes, a border defence system
6.
Tiberius
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Tiberius was a Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Born Tiberius Claudius Nero, a Claudian, Tiberius was the son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and his mother divorced Nero and married Octavian, later known as Augustus, in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian. Tiberius would later marry Augustus daughter, Julia the Elder, and even later be adopted by Augustus, by which act he officially became a Julian, bearing the name Tiberius Julius Caesar. The subsequent emperors after Tiberius would continue this blended dynasty of both families for the thirty years, historians have named it the Julio-Claudian dynasty. In relations to the emperors of this dynasty, Tiberius was the stepson of Augustus, grand-uncle of Caligula, paternal uncle of Claudius. Tiberius was one of Romes greatest generals, his conquest of Pannonia, Dalmatia, Raetia, and temporarily, parts of Germania, laid the foundations for the northern frontier. But he came to be remembered as a dark, reclusive, and sombre ruler who never really desired to be emperor, Pliny the Elder called him tristissimus hominum, after the death of Tiberius’ son Drusus Julius Caesar in 23 AD, he became more reclusive and aloof. In 26 AD Tiberius removed himself from Rome and left largely in the hands of his unscrupulous Praetorian Prefects Lucius Aelius Sejanus and Quintus Naevius Sutorius Macro. Caligula, Tiberius grand-nephew and adopted grandson, succeeded Tiberius upon his death, Tiberius was born in Rome on 16 November 42 BC to Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. In 39 BC his mother divorced his father and remarried Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus shortly thereafter. In 38 BC his brother, Nero Claudius Drusus, was born, little is recorded of Tiberiuss early life. In 32 BC Tiberius at the age of nine, delivered the eulogy for his father at the rostra. In 29 BC, both he rode in the chariot along with their adoptive father Octavian in celebration of the defeat of Antony. In 23 BC Emperor Augustus became gravely ill and his possible death threatened to plunge the Roman world into chaos again, in response, a series of potential heirs seem to have been selected, among them Tiberius and his brother Drusus. Similar provisions were made for Drusus, shortly thereafter Tiberius began appearing in court as an advocate, and it is presumably here that his interest in Greek rhetoric began. In 20 BC, Tiberius was sent East under Marcus Agrippa, the Parthians had captured the standards of the legions under the command of Marcus Licinius Crassus, Decidius Saxa, and Marc Antony. Augustus was able to reach a compromise whereby the standards were returned, Tiberius married Vipsania Agrippina, the daughter of Augustus’s close friend and greatest general, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. He was appointed to the position of praetor, and sent with his legions to assist his brother Drusus in campaigns in the west
7.
Danube
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The Danube is Europes second-longest river, after the Volga River, and also the longest river in the European Union region. It is located in Central and Eastern Europe, the Danube was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire, and today flows through 10 countries, more than any other river in the world. Its drainage basin extends into nine more countries, the Latin name Dānuvius is one of a number of Old European river names derived from a Proto-Indo-European *dānu. Other river names from the root include the Dunajec, Dzvina/Daugava, Don, Donets, Dnieper, Dniestr. In Rigvedic Sanskrit, dānu means fluid, drop, in Avestan, in the Rigveda, Dānu once appears as the mother of Vrtra. Known to the ancient Greeks as the Istros a borrowing from a Daco-Thracian name meaning strong, in Latin, the Danube was variously known as Danubius, Danuvius or as Ister. The Dacian/Thracian name was Donaris for the upper Danube and Istros for the lower Danube, the Thraco-Phrygian name was Matoas, the bringer of luck. The Latin name is masculine, as are all its Slavic names, the German Donau is feminine, as it has been re-interpreted as containing the suffix -ouwe wetland. Classified as a waterway, it originates in the town of Donaueschingen, in the Black Forest of Germany, at the confluence of the rivers Brigach. The Danube then flows southeast for about 2,800 km, passing through four capital cities before emptying into the Black Sea via the Danube Delta in Romania and its drainage basin extends into nine more. The highest point of the basin is the summit of Piz Bernina at the Italy–Switzerland border. The land drained by the Danube extends into other countries. Many Danubian tributaries are important rivers in their own right, navigable by barges, from its source to its outlet into the Black Sea, its main tributaries are, The Danube flows through many cities, including four national capitals, more than any other river in the world. Danube remains a mountain river until Passau, with average bottom gradient 0. 0012%. Middle Section, From Devín Gate to Iron Gate, at the border of Serbia and Romania, the riverbed widens and the average bottom gradient becomes only 0. 00006%. Lower Section, From Iron Gate to Sulina, with average gradient as little as 0. 00003%, about 60 of its tributaries are also navigable. In 1994 the Danube was declared one of ten Pan-European transport corridors, routes in Central, the amount of goods transported on the Danube increased to about 100 million tons in 1987. In 1999, transport on the river was difficult by the NATO bombing of three bridges in Serbia during the Kosovo War
8.
Vindobona
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Vindobona was a Celtic settlement and later a Roman military camp on the site of the modern city of Vienna in Austria. The settlement area took on a new name in the 13th-century, being changed to Berghof, around 15 BC, the kingdom of Noricum was included in the Roman Empire. Early references to Vindobona are made by the geographer Ptolemy in his Geographica and the historian Aurelius Victor, today, there is a Marc-Aurelstraße near the Hoher Markt in Vienna. Vindobona was part of the Roman province Pannonia, of which the administrative centre was Carnuntum. Vindobona was a camp with an attached civilian city. The military complex covered an area of some 20 hectares, housing about 6000 men where Vienna’s first district now stands, the Danube marked the border of the Roman Empire, and Vindobona was part of a defensive network including the camps of Carnuntum, Brigetio and Aquincum. Under Emperor Trajan, four legions were stationed in Pannonia, Marcus Aurelius is said to have died in Vindobona on March 17 in the year 180AD from an unknown illness while on a military campaign against invading Germanic tribes. Vindobona was provisioned by the surrounding Roman country estates, a centre of trade with a developed infrastructure as well as agriculture and forestry developed around Vindobona. Civic communities developed outside the fortifications, as another community that was independent of the military authorities in todays third district. It has also proven that a Germanic settlement with a large marketplace existed on the far side of the Danube from the second century onwards. The oblique camp border along todays street Salzgries was probably caused by a flood of the river Danube that occurred during the 3rd century. The name “Graben” is believed to back to the defensive ditches of the military camp. It is thought that at least parts of the walls still stood in the Middle Ages, when streets were laid out. The Berghof was later erected in one corner of the camp, wars, administrative and military reforms in the 3rd and 4th century as well as devastating floods led the population to retreat more and more into the military camp. The area lost its importance as a border in the 5th century, remains of the Roman military camp have been found at many sites in the centre of Vienna. The centre of the Michaelerplatz has been investigated by archaeologists. Here, traces of a Roman legionary outpost and of a crossroad have been found, part of a Roman canal system is underneath the fire station am Hof. Directly under the Hoher Markt are the remains of two buildings unearthed during the works of 1948/49 and made accessible to the public
9.
Claudius
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Claudius was Roman emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and he was born at Lugdunum in Gaul, the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy. Claudius infirmity probably saved him from the fate of other nobles during the purges of Tiberius and Caligulas reigns. His survival led to his being declared Emperor by the Praetorian Guard after Caligulas assassination, despite his lack of experience, Claudius proved to be an able and efficient administrator. He was also a builder, constructing many new roads, aqueducts. During his reign the Empire began the conquest of Britain, having a personal interest in law, he presided at public trials, and issued up to twenty edicts a day. He was seen as vulnerable throughout his reign, particularly by elements of the nobility, Claudius was constantly forced to shore up his position, this resulted in the deaths of many senators. These events damaged his reputation among the ancient writers, though more recent historians have revised this opinion, many authors contend that he was murdered by his own wife. After his death in 54 AD, his grand-nephew and adopted son Nero succeeded him as Emperor, Claudius was born on 1 August 10 BC at Lugdunum. He had two siblings, Germanicus and Livilla. His mother, Antonia, may have had two children who died young. His maternal grandparents were Mark Antony and Octavia Minor, Augustus sister and his paternal grandparents were Livia, Augustus third wife, and Tiberius Claudius Nero. During his reign, Claudius revived the rumor that his father Drusus was actually the son of Augustus. In 9 BC, his father Drusus unexpectedly died on campaign in Germania, Claudius was then left to be raised by his mother, who never remarried. When Claudius disability became evident, the relationship with his family turned sour, Antonia referred to him as a monster, and used him as a standard for stupidity. She seems to have passed her son off on his grandmother Livia for a number of years, Livia was a little kinder, but nevertheless often sent him short, angry letters of reproof. He was put under the care of a former mule-driver to keep him disciplined, under the logic that his condition was due to laziness, however, by the time he reached his teenage years his symptoms apparently waned and his family took some notice of his scholarly interests. In 7 AD, Livy was hired to tutor him in history and he spent a lot of his time with the latter and the philosopher Athenodorus
10.
Auxilia
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The Auxilia constituted the standing non-citizen corps of the Imperial Roman army during the Principate era, alongside the citizen legions. By the 2nd century, the Auxilia contained the number of infantry as the legions and in addition provided almost all of the Roman armys cavalry. The auxilia thus represented three-fifths of Romes regular land forces at that time, like their legionary counterparts, auxiliary recruits were mostly volunteers, not conscripts. The Auxilia were mainly recruited from the peregrini, free provincial subjects who did not hold Roman citizenship and constituted the vast majority of the population in the 1st and 2nd centuries. In contrast to the legions, which only admitted Roman citizens, reliance on the various contingents of non-Italic troops, especially cavalry, increased when the Roman Republic employed them in increasing numbers to support its legions after 200 BC. The Julio-Claudian period saw the transformation of the Auxilia from motley levies to a corps with standardised structure, equipment. By the end of the period, there were no significant differences between legionaries and auxiliaries in terms of training, and thus, combat capability. Auxiliary regiments were stationed in provinces other than that in which they were originally raised, for reasons of security. The regimental names of many auxiliary units persisted into the 4th century, but by then the units in question were different in size, structure, despite its formidable strength, the legion had a number of deficiencies, especially a lack of cavalry. Around 200 BC, a legion of 4,200 infantry had an arm of only 300 horse. In addition the legion lacked missile forces such as slingers and archers, until 200 BC, the bulk of a Roman armys cavalry was provided by Romes regular Italian allies, commonly known as the Latin allies, which made up the Roman military confederation. This was Romes defence system until the Social War of 91–88 BC, the Italian forces were organised into alae. Since a pre-Social War consular army always contained a number of legions and alae. The overall cavalry element, c. 12% of the force, was greater than in most peninsular Italian forces. The Roman/Latin cavalry was sufficient while Rome was in conflict with other states in the mountainous Italian peninsula, which also disposed of limited cavalry resources. The decisive Roman victory at Zama in 202 BC, which ended the war, owed much to the Numidian cavalry provided by king Massinissa, from then, Roman armies were always accompanied by large numbers of non-Italian cavalry, Numidian light cavalry and, later, Gallic heavy cavalry. For example, Caesar relied heavily on Gallic and German cavalry for his Conquest of Gaul, as the role of native cavalry grew, that of Roman/Latin cavalry diminished. In the early 1st century BC, Roman cavalry was phased out altogether, after the Social War, the socii were all granted Roman citizenship, the Latin alae abolished, and the socii recruited into the legions
11.
Trajan's Dacian Wars
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The Dacian Wars were two military campaigns fought between the Roman Empire and Dacia during Roman Emperor Trajans rule. The conflicts were triggered by the constant Dacian threat on the Danubian Roman Province of Moesia, in AD85, the Dacians swarmed over the Danube and pillaged Moesia and initially defeated the army that Emperor Domitian sent against them. The Romans were defeated in the Battle of Tapae in 88, Emperor Trajan recommenced hostilities against Dacia and, following an uncertain number of battles, defeated the Dacian King Decebalus in the Second Battle of Tapae in 101. With Trajans troops pressing towards the Dacian capital Sarmizegetusa Regia, Decebalus once more sought terms, Decebalus rebuilt his power over the following years and attacked Roman garrisons again in 105. In response Trajan again marched into Dacia, besieging the Dacian capital in the Siege of Sarmizegetusa, with Dacia quelled, Trajan subsequently invaded the Parthian empire to the east, his conquests expanding the Roman Empire to its greatest extent. Romes borders in the east were governed through a system of client states for some time. Since the reign of Burebista, widely considered to be the greatest Dacian king—who ruled between 82 BC and 44 BC—the Dacians had represented a threat for the Roman Empire, caesar himself had drawn up a plan to launch a campaign against Dacia. The threat was reduced when dynastic struggles in Dacia led to a division into four separately governed tribal states after Burebistas death in 44 BC. Augustus later came into conflict with Dacia after they sent envoys offering their support against Mark Antony in exchange for requests, Augustus rejected the offer and Dacia gave their support to Antony. In 29 BC, Augustus sent several expeditions into Dacia led by Marcus Licinius Crassus that inflicted heavy casualties. Although Dacian raids into Pannonia and Moesia continued for years despite the defeat. The Roman emperor Domitian led legions into the province and reorganized the possession into Moesia Inferior and Moesia Superior. The next year, with the arrival of fresh legions in 87 AD, general Diurpaneus sent an envoy to Domitian offering peace. He was rejected and the praetorian prefect Cornelius Fuscus crossed the Danube into Dacia with 5 or 6 legions on a built on boats. The Roman army was ambushed and defeated at the First Battle of Tapae by Diurpaneus who was subsequently renamed Decebalus, Fuscus was killed and the legions lost their standards, adding to the humiliation. After this battle Decebalus, now the king of the four reunited arms of the Dacians asked for peace which was again refused, throughout the 1st century, Roman policy dictated that threats from neighbouring nations and provinces were to be contained promptly. The peace treaty following the First Battles of Tapae, followed by an indecisive, following the peace of 89 AD, Decebalus became a client of Rome, with acceptance of Decebalus as king. He received a sum of money, annual financial stipends
12.
Amber
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Amber is fossilized tree resin, which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects and it has also been used as a healing agent in folk medicine. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents, because it originates as a soft, sticky tree resin, amber sometimes contains animal and plant material as inclusions. Amber occurring in coal seams is also called resinite, and the term ambrite is applied to that found specifically within New Zealand coal seams, the English word amber derives from Arabic ʿanbar عنبر via Middle Latin ambar and Middle French ambre. The word was adopted in Middle English in the 14th century as referring to what is now known as ambergris, in the Romance languages, the sense of the word had come to be extended to Baltic amber from as early as the late 13th century. At first called white or yellow amber, this meaning was adopted in English by the early 15th century, as the use of ambergris waned, this became the main sense of the word. The two substances conceivably became associated or confused because they both were washed up on beaches. Ambergris is less dense water and floats, whereas amber is too dense to float. The classical names for amber, Latin electrum and Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον, are connected to a term ἠλέκτωρ meaning beaming Sun, according to myth, when Phaëton son of Helios was killed, his mourning sisters became poplar trees, and their tears became elektron, amber. Earlier Pliny says that an island of three days sail from the Scythian coast called Balcia by Xenophon of Lampsacus, author of a fanciful travel book in Greek, is called Basilia by Pytheas. It is generally understood to be the same as Abalus and it is assumed that there were well-established trade routes for amber connecting the Baltic with the Mediterranean. Pliny states explicitly that the Germans export amber to Pannonia, from where it was traded further abroad by the Veneti, the ancient Italic peoples of southern Italy were working amber, the most important examples are on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Siritide to Matera. Amber used in antiquity as at Mycenae and in the prehistory of the Mediterranean comes from deposits of Sicily. Besides the fanciful explanations according to which amber is produced by the Sun, Pliny cites opinions that are aware of its origin in tree resin. Amber is produced from a marrow discharged by trees belonging to the genus, like gum from the cherry. This is confirmed by the recorded Old High German glas and Old English glær for amber, in Middle Low German, amber was known as berne-, barn-, börnstēn. The Low German term became dominant also in High German by the 18th century, the Baltic Lithuanian term for amber is gintaras and Latvian dzintars. They, and the Slavic jantar or Hungarian gyanta, are thought to originate from Phoenician jainitar, Early in the nineteenth century, the first reports of amber from North America came from discoveries in New Jersey along Crosswicks Creek near Trenton, at Camden, and near Woodbury
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Carnuntum". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
