1.
Catacomb of Callixtus
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The Catacomb is believed to have been created by future Pope Callixtus I, then a deacon of Rome, under the direction of Pope Zephyrinus, enlarging pre-existing early Christian hypogea. Callixtus himself was entombed in the Catacomb of Calepodius on the Aurelian Way, the Catacomb and Crypt were rediscovered in 1854 by the pioneering Italian archaeologist Giovanni Battista de Rossi. The arcades form part of a graveyard that occupies 15 hectares and is almost 20km long. At its peak, the fifteen hectare site would have held the remains of sixteen popes, nine of those popes were buried in the Crypt of the Popes itself, to which Pope Damasus I built a staircase in the 4th century. Among the discovered Greek language inscriptions are associated with, Pope Pontian, Pope Anterus, Pope Fabian, Pope Lucius I. A more lengthy inscription to Pope Sixtus II by Furius Dionisius Filocalus has also been discovered, outside the Crypt of the Popes, the region of Saints Gaius and Eusebius is so named for the facing tombs of Pope Gaius and Pope Eusebius. In another region, there is a tomb attributed to Pope Cornelius, bearing the inscription CORNELIVS MARTYR, ISBN 0-7864-1527-4 Carragáin, Éamonn Ó, Neuman de Vegvar, Carol L. eds. Roma felix, formation and reflections of medieval Rome
2.
Italian language
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By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
3.
Catacombs
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Catacombs are human-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. The name of place in late Latin was catacumbae, a word of obscure origin, possibly deriving from a proper name, or else a corruption of the Latin phrase cata tumbas. The word referred originally only to the Roman catacombs, but was extended by 1836 to refer to any subterranean receptacle of the dead, Catacombs in the world include, Australia – Catacombs of Trinity College, Melbourne Austria – Catacombs of St. Mine workings were used at end of the 18th century and had no purpose other than as an ossuary for storing the bones of cleared graveyards. Capuchin catacombs of Palermo, Sicily were used as late as the 1920s, Catacombs were available in some of the grander English cemeteries founded in the 19th Century, such as Sheffield General Cemetery and West Norwood Cemetery. There are catacombs in Bulgaria near Aladzha Monastery and in Romania as medieval underground galleries in Bucharest, in Ukraine and Russia, catacomb also refers to the network of abandoned caves and tunnels earlier used to mine stone, especially limestone. Catacombs, although most notable as underground passageways and cemeteries, also many decorations. Most of these decorations were used to identify, immortalize and show respect to the dead, decorations in the catacombs of Rome were primarily decorated with images and words exalting Christ or depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. Three representations of Christ as Orpheus charming animals with peaceful music have found in the catacombs of Domatilla. Another figure was made of gilded glass and dates back to the century, featuring Jesus with the world balanced in his hand. A common and particularly interesting one found in Roman catacombs is the Ichthys, or Monogram of Christ which reads ΙΧΘΥΣ, standing for Jesus Christ, Son of God, in recent years unique strains of bacteria have been discovered that thrive in catacombs, inducing mineral efflorescence and decay. These include Kribbella sancticallisti, Kribbella catacumbae, and three types of non-thermophilic Rubrobacter, american University in Cairo Press,2005 pp. 44–71. ISBN 978-977-424-858-0 The Catacombs of Saint Sebastian The Catacombs of Naples The Catacombs of Paris Catacombs The Catacombs of Saint Callist Subterranean Britannica The Catacombs of Lima, Peru
4.
Rome
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Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
5.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
6.
Christianity
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Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the worlds largest religion, with over 2.4 billion followers, or 33% of the global population, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Christian theology is summarized in creeds such as the Apostles Creed and his incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning good news. The term gospel also refers to accounts of Jesuss life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century, following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization, throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations. Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the denominations of Protestantism. There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible, concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Apostles Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists and this particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator, each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Most Christians accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the mentioned above. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept, Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin
7.
Cremation
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Cremation is the combustion, vaporization and oxidation of cadavers to basic chemical compounds, such as gases, ashes and mineral fragments retaining the appearance of dry bone. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite as an alternative to the interment of a dead body in a coffin. Cremated remains, which do not constitute a risk, may be buried or interred in memorial sites or cemeteries, or they may be retained by relatives. Cremation is not an alternative to a funeral, but rather an alternative to burial or other forms of disposal, some families prefer to have the deceased present at the funeral with cremation to follow, others prefer that the cremation occur prior to the funeral or memorial service. In many countries, cremation is usually done in a crematorium, some countries, such as India and Nepal, prefer different methods, such as open-air cremation. Cremation dates from at least 20,000 years ago in the record, with the Mungo Lady. Alternative death rituals emphasizing one method of disposal of a body—inhumation, cremation, in the Middle East and Europe, both burial and cremation are evident in the archaeological record in the Neolithic era. Cultural groups had their own preferences and prohibitions, the ancient Egyptians developed an intricate transmigration of soul theology, which prohibited cremation. This was also widely adopted used by Semitic peoples, the Babylonians, according to Herodotus, embalmed their dead. Early Persians practiced cremation, but this became prohibited during the Zoroastrian Period, phoenicians practiced both cremation and burial. From the Cycladic civilisation in 3000 BCE until the Sub-Mycenaean era in 1200–1100 BCE, Cremation appeared around the 12th century BCE, constituting a new practice of burial, probably influenced by Anatolia. Until the Christian era, when inhumation again became the burial practice. Romans practiced both, with cremation generally associated with military honors, in Europe, there are traces of cremation dating to the Early Bronze Age in the Pannonian Plain and along the middle Danube. The custom became dominant throughout Bronze Age Europe with the Urnfield culture, in the Iron Age, inhumation again becomes more common, but cremation persisted in the Villanovan culture and elsewhere. Homers account of Patroclus burial describes cremation with subsequent burial in a tumulus, similar to Urnfield burials, criticism of burial rites is a common form of aspersion by competing religions and cultures, including the association of cremation with fire sacrifice or human sacrifice. Hinduism and Jainism are notable for not only allowing but prescribing cremation, Cremation in India is first attested in the Cemetery H culture, considered the formative stage of Vedic civilization. The Rigveda contains a reference to the practice, in RV10.15.14. Cremation remained common, but not universal, in both ancient Greece and ancient Rome, according to Cicero, in Rome, inhumation was considered the more archaic rite, while the most honoured citizens were most typically cremated—especially upper classes and members of imperial families
8.
Columbarium
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A columbarium is a place for the respectful and usually public storage of cinerary urns. The term comes from the Latin columba and originally referred to compartmentalized housing for doves, Roman columbaria were often built partly or completely underground. The Columbarium of Pomponius Hylas is an ancient Roman example, rich in frescoes, decorations, todays columbaria can be either free standing units, or part of a mausoleum or another building. Some manufacturers produce columbaria that are built entirely off-site and brought to the cemetery by a large truck, examples of these are the columbaria in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris and Golders Green Crematorium in London. In other cases, columbaria are built into church structures, one example is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, which houses a number of columbarium niches in the mausoleum built into the lower levels of the Cathedral. The construction of columbaria within churches is particularly widespread in the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, an example can be seen at the Church of St Nicolas in Old Town Square. In the Roman Catholic Church, although traditional burial is still preferred, as a result, columbaria can be found within some Catholic cemeteries. Columbaria are often similar in form to traditional Buddhist temples. In Buddhism, ashes of the deceased may be placed in a columbarium (in Chinese, a naguta, in Japanese, a nokotsudo and this practice allows for the family of the deceased to visit the temple for the conduct of traditional memorials and ancestor rites. In the Bet Guvrin area several series of caves dug into soft rock were found. There were several theories about their use, for ritual burial, for growing pigeons to be used for ritual sacrifice. One such cave had been covered by a close to the time of its original usage. This cave had no ashes found in it, but also no pigeon droppings, among the archaeologic finds on Masada, a columbarium tower foundation remains. Catacomb Cemetery Charnel house Crypt Grave Ossuary Reliquary Tomb Photographs and commentary on ancient Roman columbaria Columbarium
9.
Sarcophagus
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A sarcophagus is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word sarcophagus comes from the Greek σάρξ sarx meaning flesh, since lithos is Greek for stone, lithos sarcophagos means, flesh-eating stone. The word also came to refer to a kind of limestone that was thought to decompose the flesh of corpses trapped within it. Sarcophagi were most often designed to remain above ground, in Ancient Egypt, a sarcophagus acted like an outer shell. They are made of clay in shades of brown to pink. Added to the basin-like main sarcophagus is a broad, rectangular frame, often covered with a white slip and then painted. The huge Lycian Tomb of Payava, now in the British Museum, is a tomb monument of about 360 BC designed for an open-air placing. However, there are many important Early Christian sarcophagi from the 3rd to 4th centuries, most Roman examples were designed to be placed against a wall and are decorated on three of the sides only. More plain sarcophagi were placed in crypts, of which the most famous include the Habsburg Imperial Crypt in Vienna. The term tends to be often used to describe Medieval, Renaissance. They continued to be popular into the 1950s, at time the popularity of flat memorials made them obsolete. Nonetheless, a 1952 catalog from the industry still included 8 pages of them, broken down into Georgian and Classical detail, a Gothic and Renaissance adaptation. Shown on the right are sarcophagi from the late 19th century located in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the one in the back, the Warner Monument created by Alexander Milne Calder, features the spirit or soul of the deceased being released. In Sulawesi, Indonesia, waruga are a form of sarcophagus. Mont Allen, Sarcophagus, in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, edited by Michael Gagarin, R. R. R. Smith, Sculptured for Eternity, Treasures of Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Art from Istanbul Archaeological Museum. Ewald, Living with Myths, The Imagery of Roman Sarcophagi, egyptian sarcophagi sarcaphagi in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Sarcophagus
10.
Second Coming
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The Second Coming is a Christian concept regarding the future return of Jesus to Earth after his first coming and ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The belief is based on messianic prophecies found in the gospels and is part of most Christian eschatologies. Views about the nature of Jesus Second Coming vary among Christian denominations, most English versions of the Nicene Creed include the following statements. he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Several different terms are used to refer to the Second Coming of Christ, In the New Testament, the Greek New Testament uses the Greek term parousia twenty-four times, seventeen of them concerning Christ. The word is used six times referring to individuals and one time referring to the coming of the lawless one. The etymology of the Greek word parousia is related to para beside ousia presence, in English parousia always has a special, Christian meaning. The Bauer-Danker Lexicon provides the definition. of Christ, and nearly always of his Messianic Advent in glory to judge the world at the end of this age. The Catholic Encyclopedia article on the General judgment states, In the New Testament the second Parousia, the Saviour Himself not only foretells the event but graphically portrays its circumstances. The Apostles give a most prominent place to this doctrine in their preaching, besides the name Parusia, or Advent, the second coming is also called Epiphany, epiphaneia, or Appearance and Apocalypse, or Revelation. The time of the second coming is spoken of as that Day the day of the Lord, the day of Christ, the day of the Son of Man, and the last day. Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared, from this we know that it is the last hour. The position associating the Second Coming with 1st century events such as the destruction of Jerusalem, some Preterists see this coming of the Son of Man in glory primarily fulfilled in Jesus death on the cross. They believe the signs are already fulfilled including the sun will be dark. Will be shaken, and then they will see, moreover, Jesus was reported to have told his disciples, Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Some, such as Jerome, interpret the phrase this generation to mean in the lifetime of the Jewish race, however, other scholars believe that if Jesus meant race he would have used genos not genea. Most English versions of the Nicene Creed in current use include the statements about Jesus. he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come
11.
Art history
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Art history is the study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i. e. genre, design, format, and style. This includes the arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture as well as the minor arts of ceramics, furniture. As a term, art history encompasses several methods of studying the arts, in common usage referring to works of art. One branch of this area of study is aesthetics, which includes investigating the enigma of the sublime, technically, art history is not these things, because the art historian uses historical method to answer the questions, How did the artist come to create the work. Who were his or her teachers, who were his or her disciples. What historical forces shaped the artists oeuvre, and How did he or she and the creation, in turn, affect the course of artistic, political, and social events. It is, however, questionable whether many questions of this kind can be answered satisfactorily without also considering basic questions about the nature of art, unfortunately the current disciplinary gap between art history and the philosophy of art often hinders this inquiry. Art history is not only a biographical endeavor, Art historians often root their studies in the scrutiny of individual objects. They thus attempt to answer in historically specific ways, questions such as, what meaning did this object convey. Did the artist meet their goals well, the historical backbone of the discipline is a celebratory chronology of beautiful creations commissioned by public or religious bodies or wealthy individuals in western Europe. Such a canon remains prominent, as indicated by the selection of objects present in art history textbooks, nonetheless, since the 20th century there has been an effort to re-define the discipline to be more inclusive of non-Western art, art made by women, and vernacular creativity. Art history as we know it in the 21st century began in the 19th century but has precedents that date to the ancient world, advances in photographic reproduction and printing techniques after World War II increased the ability of reproductions of artworks. Such technologies have helped to advance the discipline in profound ways, the study of visual art thus described, can be a practice that involves understanding context, form, and social significance. Art historians employ a number of methods in their research into the ontology, Art historians often examine work in the context of its time. In short, this approach examines the work of art in the context of the world within which it was created, Art historians also often examine work through an analysis of form, that is, the creators use of line, shape, color, texture, and composition. This approach examines how the artist uses a picture plane or the three dimensions of sculptural or architectural space to create his or her art. The way these individual elements are employed results in representational or non-representational art, is the artist imitating an object or image found in nature. The closer the art hews to perfect imitation, the more the art is realistic, is the artist not imitating, but instead relying on symbolism, or in an important way striving to capture natures essence, rather than copy it directly
12.
Early Christian art and architecture
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In practice identifiably Christian art only survives from the 2nd century onwards. After 550 at the latest, Christian art is classified as Byzantine and it is hard to know when distinctly Christian art began. Prior to 100, Christians may have been constrained by their position as a group from producing durable works of art. Since Christianity was largely a religion of the classes in this period, the lack of surviving art may reflect a lack of funds for patronage. The Old Testament restrictions against the production of images may also have constrained Christians from producing art. Christians may have made or purchased art with pagan iconography, but given it Christian meanings, if this happened, Christian art would not be immediately recognizable as such. Early Christianity used the artistic media as the surrounding pagan culture. These media included fresco, mosaics, sculpture, and manuscript illumination, Early Christian art not only used Roman forms, it also used Roman styles. Late classical style included a portrayal of the human body. Late classical style is seen in early Christian frescos, such as those in the Catacombs of Rome, Early Christians adapted Roman motifs and gave new meanings to what had been pagan symbols. Among the motifs adopted were the peacock, grapevines, and the Good Shepherd, Early Christians also developed their own iconography, for example, such symbols as the fish, were not borrowed from pagan iconography. The earlier period being called the Pre-Constantinian or Ante-Nicene Period and after being the period of the First seven Ecumenical Councils, the earliest surviving Christian art comes from the late 2nd to early 4th centuries on the walls of Christian tombs in the catacombs of Rome. From literary evidence, there may well have been panel icons which, initially Jesus was represented indirectly by pictogram symbols such as the Ichthys, peacock, Lamb of God, or an anchor. The image of The Good Shepherd, a youth in pastoral scenes collecting sheep, was the most common of these images. These images bear some resemblance to depictions of figures in Greco-Roman art. The almost total absence from Christian monuments of the period of persecutions of the plain, the dove is a symbol of peace and purity. It can be found with a halo or celestial light, in one of the earliest known Trinitarian images, the Throne of God as a Trinitarian image, the dove represents the Spirit. It is flying above an empty throne representing God, in the throne are a chlamys, the Chi-Rho monogram, XP, apparently first used by Constantine I, consists of the first two characters of the name Christos in Greek
13.
Fresco
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Fresco is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly-laid, or wet lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the fresco technique has been employed since antiquity and is closely associated with Italian Renaissance painting. Buon fresco pigment mixed with water of temperature on a thin layer of wet, fresh plaster, for which the Italian word for plaster. Because of the makeup of the plaster, a binder is not required, as the pigment mixed solely with the water will sink into the intonaco. The pigment is absorbed by the wet plaster, after a number of hours, many artists sketched their compositions on this underlayer, which would never be seen, in a red pigment called sinopia, a name also used to refer to these under-paintings. Later, new techniques for transferring paper drawings to the wall were developed. The main lines of a drawing made on paper were pricked over with a point, the paper held against the wall, if the painting was to be done over an existing fresco, the surface would be roughened to provide better adhesion. This area is called the giornata, and the different day stages can usually be seen in a large fresco, buon frescoes are difficult to create because of the deadline associated with the drying plaster. Once a giornata is dried, no more buon fresco can be done, if mistakes have been made, it may also be necessary to remove the whole intonaco for that area—or to change them later, a secco. An indispensable component of this process is the carbonatation of the lime, the eyes of the people of the School of Athens are sunken-in using this technique which causes the eyes to seem deeper and more pensive. Michelangelo used this technique as part of his trademark outlining of his central figures within his frescoes, in a wall-sized fresco, there may be ten to twenty or even more giornate, or separate areas of plaster. After five centuries, the giornate, which were nearly invisible, have sometimes become visible, and in many large-scale frescoes. Additionally, the border between giornate was often covered by an a secco painting, which has fallen off. One of the first painters in the period to use this technique was the Isaac Master in the Upper Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi. A person who creates fresco is called a frescoist, a secco or fresco-secco painting is done on dry plaster. The pigments thus require a medium, such as egg. Blue was a problem, and skies and blue robes were often added a secco, because neither azurite blue nor lapis lazuli. By the end of the century this had largely displaced buon fresco
14.
Sculpture
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Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. It is one of the plastic arts, a wide variety of materials may be worked by removal such as carving, assembled by welding or modelling, or molded, or cast. However, most ancient sculpture was painted, and this has been lost. Those cultures whose sculptures have survived in quantities include the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean, India and China, the Western tradition of sculpture began in ancient Greece, and Greece is widely seen as producing great masterpieces in the classical period. During the Middle Ages, Gothic sculpture represented the agonies and passions of the Christian faith, the revival of classical models in the Renaissance produced famous sculptures such as Michelangelos David. Relief is often classified by the degree of projection from the wall into low or bas-relief, high relief, sunk-relief is a technique restricted to ancient Egypt. Relief sculpture may also decorate steles, upright slabs, usually of stone, techniques such as casting, stamping and moulding use an intermediate matrix containing the design to produce the work, many of these allow the production of several copies. The term sculpture is used mainly to describe large works. The very large or colossal statue has had an enduring appeal since antiquity, another grand form of portrait sculpture is the equestrian statue of a rider on horse, which has become rare in recent decades. The smallest forms of life-size portrait sculpture are the head, showing just that, or the bust, small forms of sculpture include the figurine, normally a statue that is no more than 18 inches tall, and for reliefs the plaquette, medal or coin. Sculpture is an important form of public art, a collection of sculpture in a garden setting can be called a sculpture garden. One of the most common purposes of sculpture is in form of association with religion. Cult images are common in cultures, though they are often not the colossal statues of deities which characterized ancient Greek art. The actual cult images in the innermost sanctuaries of Egyptian temples, of which none have survived, were rather small. The same is true in Hinduism, where the very simple. Some undoubtedly advanced cultures, such as the Indus Valley civilization, appear to have had no monumental sculpture at all, though producing very sophisticated figurines, the Mississippian culture seems to have been progressing towards its use, with small stone figures, when it collapsed. Other cultures, such as ancient Egypt and the Easter Island culture, from the 20th century the relatively restricted range of subjects found in large sculpture expanded greatly, with abstract subjects and the use or representation of any type of subject now common. Today much sculpture is made for intermittent display in galleries and museums, small sculpted fittings for furniture and other objects go well back into antiquity, as in the Nimrud ivories, Begram ivories and finds from the tomb of Tutankhamun
15.
Gold glass
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Gold glass or gold sandwich glass is a luxury form of glass where a decorative design in gold leaf is fused between two layers of glass. About 500 pieces of glass used in this way have been recovered. Many show religious imagery from Christianity, traditional Greco-Roman religion and its various cultic developments, others show portraits of their owners, and the finest are among the most vivid portraits to survive from Early Christian times. They stare out at us with a stern and melancholy intensity. From the 1st century AD the technique was used for the gold colour in mosaics. Various different techniques may also be described as gold glass. Zwischengoldglas is very similar but the two layers of glass are cemented, not fused and it mostly comes from Germany and Bohemia from the 18th and 19th centuries. Verre églomisé properly covers a layer of glass which is gilded on the back, as used in 19th century shop signs. One process was revived by Jean-Baptise Glomy, hence the name, both of these processes were also used in ancient times, and the German and French languages often use their native terms for what is called gold glass in English. Gold ruby glass or cranberry glass is actually red, coloured by the addition of gold oxide, gold-band glass is another ancient technique covered below. The manufacturing process for gold glass was difficult and required great skill. For a Late Roman glass, first a round flat disc, typically about three to five inches across, was cut away from a blown sphere with a flattened bottom. A piece of leaf was then glued to this with gum arabic. The design was created by scraping away gold leaf, the main vessel, a cup or bowl, was formed by blowing and cutting, with a flat bottom the same size as the first disc. This was then heated again and carefully lowered onto the disc with the design, the complete vessel was then heated a final time to complete the fusing. Different accounts of different periods vary somewhat as to the sequence of stages and other details. The larger Hellenistic glass bowls are thought to have been formed using moulds rather than blown, as the bowl is doubled. Some of the finer later medallions seem to have made as such from the start
16.
Jews
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The Jews, also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Israelites, or Hebrews, of the Ancient Near East. Jews originated as a national and religious group in the Middle East during the second millennium BCE, the Merneptah Stele appears to confirm the existence of a people of Israel, associated with the god El, somewhere in Canaan as far back as the 13th century BCE. The Israelites, as an outgrowth of the Canaanite population, consolidated their hold with the emergence of the Kingdom of Israel, some consider that these Canaanite sedentary Israelites melded with incoming nomadic groups known as Hebrews. The worldwide Jewish population reached a peak of 16.7 million prior to World War II, but approximately 6 million Jews were systematically murdered during the Holocaust. Since then the population has risen again, and as of 2015 was estimated at 14.3 million by the Berman Jewish DataBank. According to the report, about 43% of all Jews reside in Israel and these numbers include all those who self-identified as Jews in a socio-demographic study or were identified as such by a respondent in the same household. The exact world Jewish population, however, is difficult to measure, Israel is the only country where Jews form a majority of the population. The modern State of Israel was established as a Jewish state and defines itself as such in its Declaration of Independence and its Law of Return grants the right of citizenship to any Jew who requests it. The English word Jew continues Middle English Gyw, Iewe, according to the Hebrew Bible, the name of both the tribe and kingdom derive from Judah, the fourth son of Jacob. The Hebrew word for Jew, יְהוּדִי ISO 259-3 Yhudi, is pronounced, with the stress on the syllable, in Israeli Hebrew. The Ladino name is ג׳ודיו, Djudio, ג׳ודיוס, Djudios, Yiddish, ייִד Yid, ייִדן, Yidn. The etymological equivalent is in use in languages, e. g. but derivations of the word Hebrew are also in use to describe a Jew, e. g. in Italian. The German word Jude is pronounced, the corresponding adjective jüdisch is the origin of the word Yiddish, in such contexts Jewish is the only acceptable possibility. Some people, however, have become so wary of this construction that they have extended the stigma to any use of Jew as a noun, a factual reconstruction for the origin of the Jews is a difficult and complex endeavor. It requires examining at least 3,000 years of ancient human history using documents in vast quantities, as archaeological discovery relies upon researchers and scholars from diverse disciplines, the goal is to interpret all of the factual data, focusing on the most consistent theory. In this case, it is complicated by long standing politics and religious, Jacob and his family migrated to Ancient Egypt after being invited to live with Jacobs son Joseph by the Pharaoh himself. The patriarchs descendants were later enslaved until the Exodus led by Moses, traditionally dated to the 13th century BCE, Modern archaeology has largely discarded the historicity of the Patriarchs and of the Exodus story, with it being reframed as constituting the Israelites inspiring national myth narrative. The growth of Yahweh-centric belief, along with a number of practices, gradually gave rise to a distinct Israelite ethnic group
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Jewish culture
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Jewish culture is the culture of the Jewish people from the formation of the Jewish nation in biblical times through life in the diaspora and the modern state of Israel. Judaism guides its adherents in both practice and belief, so that it has been called not only a religion, not all individuals or all cultural phenomena can be classified as either secular or religious, a distinction native to Enlightenment thinking. Secular Judaism, is a phenomenon related to Jewish secularization - a historical process of divesting all of these elements of culture from their religious beliefs. Secular Judaism, derived from the philosophy of Moses Mendelssohn, arose out of the Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment, in recent years, the academic field of study has encompassed Jewish Studies, History, Literature, Sociology, and Linguistics. Historian David Biale has traced the roots of Jewish secularism back to the pre-modern era, additionally, many schools include the academic study of Judaism and Jewish culture in their curricula. This phenomenon has led to different variations of Jewish culture unique to their own communities. There has not been a political unity of Jewish society since the united monarchy, Medieval Jewish communities in Eastern Europe continued to display distinct cultural traits over the centuries. Constantin Măciucă writes of a differentiated but not isolated Jewish spirit permeating the culture of Yiddish-speaking Jews and this was only intensified as the rise of Romanticism amplified the sense of national identity across Europe generally. The Haskalah combined with the Jewish Emancipation movement under way in Central, at the same time, pogroms in Eastern Europe provoked a surge of migration, in large part to the United States, where some 2 million Jewish immigrants resettled between 1880 and 1920. By 1931, shortly before The Holocaust, 92% of the Worlds Jewish population was Ashkenazi in origin, secularism originated in Europe as series of movements that militated for a new, heretofore unheard-of concept called secular Judaism. During the 1940s, the Holocaust uprooted and destroyed most of the Jewish communities living in much of Europe and this, in combination with the creation of the State of Israel and the consequent Jewish exodus from Arab lands, resulted in a further geographic shift. Gary Tobin, head of the Institute for Jewish and Community Research, said of traditional Jewish culture, every religious attribute is filled with culture, every cultural act filled with religiosity. Synagogues themselves are great centers of Jewish culture, after all, what is life really about. Food, relationships, enrichment … So is Jewish life, so many of our traditions inherently contain aspects of culture. Look at the Passover Seder — its essentially great theater, Jewish education and religiosity bereft of culture is not as interesting. Jewish philosophy includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or in relation to the religion of Judaism, the Jewish philosophy is extended over several main eras in Jewish history, including the ancient and biblical era, medieval era and modern era. The ancient Jewish philosophy is expressed in the bible, other writings related to philosophy can be found in the Deuterocanonical books such as Sirach and Book of Wisdom. During the Hellenistic era, Hellenistic Judaism aspired to combine Jewish religious tradition with elements of Greek culture, the philosopher Philo used philosophical allegory to attempt to fuse and harmonize Greek philosophy with Jewish philosophy
18.
Catacomb saint
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Catacomb saints are ancient Roman corpses that were exhumed from the catacombs of Rome, given fictitious names and sent abroad as relics of saints from the 16th century to the 19th century. They were typically decorated with gold and precious stones. In response, the Vatican ordered that thousands of skeletons be exhumed from the catacombs beneath the city and installed in towns throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Few, if any, of the corpses belonged to people of any religious significance though, given their burial, each was nonetheless painstakingly dressed and decorated as one of the various Catholic saints. One church spent 75 gulden dressing their saint, church officials became adept at uncovering saints related to particular wealthy families. By the 19th century, many of the fakes had been discovered, some were stripped of their finery and destroyed while others were placed in storage. In 1803, the magistrate of Rottenbuch in Bavaria auctioned the towns two saints. 174 years later, in 1977, the residents of the raised funds to have them returned. Paul Koudounaris revived interest in the saints with his 2013 book Heavenly Bodies. In publishing the book, Koudounaris sought to find and photograph each of the extant saints, Heavenly Bodies, Cult Treasures & Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs
19.
Etruscan civilization
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The Etruscan civilization is the modern name given to a powerful and wealthy civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany, western Umbria, and northern Lazio. Culture that is identifiably Etruscan developed in Italy after about 800 BC, the latter gave way in the 7th century BC to a culture that was influenced by ancient Greece, Magna Graecia, and Phoenicia. The decline was gradual, but by 500 BC the political destiny of Italy had passed out of Etruscan hands, the last Etruscan cities were formally absorbed by Rome around 100 BC. Politics were based on the city, and probably the family unit. In their heyday, the Etruscan elite grew very rich through trade with the Celtic world to the north and the Greeks to the south, archaic Greece had a huge influence on their art and architecture, and Greek mythology was evidently very familiar to them. The study also excluded recent Anatolian connection, the ancient Romans referred to the Etruscans as the Tuscī or Etruscī. Their Roman name is the origin of the terms Tuscany, which refers to their heartland, and Etruria, which can refer to their wider region. In Attic Greek, the Etruscans were known as Tyrrhenians, from which the Romans derived the names Tyrrhēnī, Tyrrhēnia, the word may also be related to the Hittite Taruisa. The Etruscans called themselves Rasenna, which was syncopated to Rasna or Raśna, the origins of the Etruscans are mostly lost in prehistory, although Greek historians as early as the 5th century BC, repeatedly associated the Tyrrhenians with Pelasgians. Strabo as well as the Homeric Hymn to Dionysus make mention of the Tyrrhenians as pirates, pliny the Elder put the Etruscans in the context of the Rhaetian people to the north and wrote in his Natural History, Adjoining these the Noricans are the Raeti and Vindelici. All are divided into a number of states, the Raeti are believed to be people of Tuscan race driven out by the Gauls, their leader was named Raetus. Historians have no literature and no original Etruscan texts of religion or philosophy, therefore, much of what is known about this civilization is derived from grave goods, another source of genetic data on Etruscan origins is from four ancient breeds of cattle. Analyzing the mitochondrial DNA of these and seven other breeds of Italian cattle, the other Italian breeds were linked to northern Europe. Etruscan expansion was focused both to the north beyond the Apennine Mountains and into Campania, some small towns in the sixth century BC disappeared during this time, ostensibly consumed by greater, more powerful neighbours. However, it is certain that the structure of the Etruscan culture was similar to, albeit more aristocratic than. The mining and commerce of metal, especially copper and iron, led to an enrichment of the Etruscans and to the expansion of their influence in the Italian peninsula and the western Mediterranean Sea. Here, their interests collided with those of the Greeks, especially in the sixth century BC and this led the Etruscans to ally themselves with Carthage, whose interests also collided with the Greeks. Around 540 BC, the Battle of Alalia led to a new distribution of power in the western Mediterranean, from the first half of the 5th century BC, the new political situation meant the beginning of the Etruscan decline after losing their southern provinces
20.
Burial
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Burial or interment is the ritual act of placing a dead person or animal, sometimes with objects, into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objects in it, humans have been burying their dead for at least 100,000 years. Burial is often seen as indicating respect for the dead, sometimes objects or grave goods are buried with the body, which may be dressed in fancy or ceremonial garb. Depending on the culture, the way the body is positioned may have great significance, the location of the burial may be determined taking into account concerns surrounding health and sanitation, religious concerns, and cultural practices. Some cultures keep the close to provide guidance to the living. Some religions consecrate special ground to bury the dead, and some families build private family cemeteries, most modern cultures document the location of graves with headstones, which may be inscribed with information and tributes to the deceased. However, some people are buried in anonymous or secret graves for various reasons, sometimes multiple bodies are buried in a single grave either by choice, due to space concerns, or in the case of mass graves as a way to deal with many bodies at once. Alternatives to burial may include cremation, burial at sea, promession, cryopreservation, some human cultures may bury the remains of beloved animals. Humans are not the species which bury their dead, the practice has been observed in chimpanzees, elephants. Evidence suggests that the Neanderthals were the first human species to practice burial behavior and intentionally bury their dead, doing so in shallow graves along with stone tools, exemplary sites include Shanidar in Iraq, Kebara Cave in Israel and Krapina in Croatia. Some scholars, however, argue that these bodies may have been disposed of for secular reasons, the earliest undisputed human burial dates back 100,000 years. Human skeletal remains stained with red ochre were discovered in the Skhul cave at Qafzeh, a variety of grave goods were present at the site, including the mandible of a wild boar in the arms of one of the skeletons. Prehistoric cemeteries are referred to by the neutral term grave field. After death, a body will decay, Burial is not necessarily a public health requirement. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the WHO advises that only corpses carrying an infectious disease strictly require burial, human burial practices are the manifestation of the human desire to demonstrate respect for the dead. Cultures vary in their mode of respect, some reasons follow, Respect for the physical remains. If left lying on top of the ground, scavengers may eat the corpse, in Tibet, Sky burials return the remains to the cycle of life and acknowledge the body as food, a core tenet of some Buddhist practices. Burial can be seen as an attempt to bring closure to the deceaseds family, psychologists in some Western Judeo-Christian quarters, as well as the US funeral industry, claim that by interring a body away from plain view the pain of losing a loved one can be lessened
21.
Resurrection
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Resurrection is the concept of a living being coming back to life after death. In a number of ancient religions, a god is a deity which dies. The death and resurrection of Jesus, an example of resurrection, is the focus of Christianity. The resurrection of the dead is a standard eschatological belief in the Abrahamic religions, some believe the soul is the actual vehicle by which people are resurrected. While most Christians believe Jesus resurrection from the dead and ascension to Heaven was in a material body, the concept of resurrection is found in the writings of some ancient non-Abrahamic religions in the Middle East. A few extant Egyptian and Canaanite writings allude to dying and rising gods such as Osiris, sir James Frazer in his book The Golden Bough relates to these dying and rising gods, but many of his examples, according to various scholars, distort the sources. In ancient Greek religion a number of men and women were made physically immortal as they were resurrected from the dead, asclepius was killed by Zeus, only to be resurrected and transformed into a major deity. Memnon, who was killed by Achilles, seems to have received a similar fate, alcmene, Castor, Heracles, and Melicertes, were also among the figures sometimes considered to have been resurrected to physical immortality. According to Herodotuss Histories, the seventh century BC sage Aristeas of Proconnesus was first found dead, later he found not only to have been resurrected but to have gained immortality. Indeed, in Greek religion, immortality originally always included a union of body. The philosophical idea of a soul was a later invention. This traditional religious belief in immortality was generally denied by the Greek philosophers. Plutarch openly scorned such beliefs held in traditional ancient Greek religion, writing, many such improbabilities do your fabulous writers relate, the parallel between these traditional beliefs and the later resurrection of Jesus was not lost on the early Christians, as Justin Martyr argued, when we say. Jesus Christ, our teacher, was crucified and died, and rose again, the notion of a general resurrection of the dead was therefore apparently quite preposterous to the Greeks. This is made clear in Pauls Areopagus discourse, now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, We shall hear you again concerning this. Some churches distinguish between raising the dead and a resurrection, Christians regard the resurrection of Jesus as the central doctrine in Christianity. Others take the Incarnation of Jesus to be central, however, it is the miracles –. According to Paul, the entire Christian faith hinges upon the centrality of the resurrection of Jesus, the Apostle Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians, If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men
22.
Tuff
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Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is compacted into a rock in a process called consolidation. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly used as construction material. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered tuffaceous, Tuff is a relatively soft rock, so it has been used for construction since ancient times. Since it is common in Italy the Romans used it often for construction, the Rapa Nui people used it to make most of the moai statues in Easter Island. Tuff can be classified as either sedimentary or igneous rocks and they are usually studied in the context of igneous petrology, although they are sometimes described using sedimentological terms. The material that is expelled in a volcanic eruption can be classified into three types, Volcanic gases, a mixture mostly of water vapour, carbon dioxide. Lava, the name of magma when it emerges and flows over the surface, and tephra, chunks of solid material of all shapes and sizes ejected and thrown through the air. Tephra is made when magma inside the volcano is blown apart by the expansion of hot volcanic gases. It is common for magma to explode as the gas dissolved in it comes out of solution as the pressure decreases when it flows to the surface and these violent explosions produce solid chunks of material that can then fly from the volcano. When these chunks are smaller than 2 mm in diameter they are called volcanic ash and it is made of small, slaggy pieces of lava and rock that have been tossed into the air by outbursts of steam and other gases. Among the loose beds of ash that cover the slopes of many volcanoes, in addition to true ashes of the kind described above, there are lumps of the old lavas and tuffs forming the walls of the crater, etc. In some great volcanic explosions nothing but materials of the kind were emitted. The ashes vary in size from large blocks twenty feet or more in diameter to the minutest impalpable dust, the large masses are called volcanic bombs, they have mostly a rounded, elliptical or pear-shaped form owing to rotation in the air before they solidified. Many of them have ribbed or nodular surfaces, and sometimes they have a crust intersected by many cracks like the surface of a loaf of bread, any ash in which they are very abundant is called an agglomerate. But many volcanoes stand near the sea, and the ashes cast out by them are mingled with the sediments that are gathering at the bottom of the waters, in this way ashy muds or sands or even in some cases ashy limestones are being formed. As a matter of fact most of the found in the older formations contain admixtures of clay, sand, and sometimes fossil shells. The showers of ashes often follow one another after longer or shorter intervals, the coarsest materials or agglomerates show this least distinctly, in the fine beds it is often developed in great perfection
23.
Volcanic rock
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Volcanic rock is a rock formed from magma erupted from a volcano. In other words, it differs from other igneous rock by being of volcanic origin, for these reasons, in geology, volcanics and shallow hypabyssal rocks are not always treated as distinct. In the context of Precambrian shield geology, the term volcanic is often applied to what are strictly metavolcanic rocks, Volcanic rocks are among the most common rock types on Earths surface, particularly in the oceans. On land, they are common at plate boundaries and in flood basalt provinces. It has been estimated that volcanic rocks cover about 8% of the Earths current land surface, lava Tephra Volcanic bomb Lapilli Volcanic ash Volcanic rocks are usually fine-grained or aphanitic to glass in texture. They often contain clasts of other rocks and phenocrysts, phenocrysts are crystals that are larger than the matrix and are identifiable with the unaided eye. Rhomb porphyry is an example with large rhomb shaped phenocrysts embedded in a fine grained matrix. Volcanic rocks often have a vesicular texture caused by voids left by volatiles trapped in the molten lava, pumice is a highly vesicular rock produced in explosive volcanic eruptions. Most modern petrologists classify igneous rocks, including rocks, by their chemistry when dealing with their origin. The fact that different mineralogies and textures may be developed from the same initial magmas has led petrologists to rely heavily on chemistry to look at a volcanic rocks origin. The chemistry of volcanic rocks is dependent on two things, the composition of the primary magma and the subsequent differentiation. Differentiation of most volcanic rocks tends to increase the silica content, the initial composition of most volcanic rocks is basaltic, albeit small differences in initial compositions may result in multiple differentiation series. The most common of these series are tholeiitic, calc-alkaline, most volcanic rocks share a number of common minerals. Differentiation of volcanic rocks tends to increase the silica content mainly by fractional crystallization, thus, more evolved volcanic rocks tend to be richer in minerals with a higher amount if silica such as phyllo and tectosilicates including the feldspars, quartz polymorphs and muscovite. While still dominated by silicates, more volcanic rocks have mineral assemblages with less silica, such as olivine. Bowens reaction series correctly predicts the order of formation of the most common minerals in volcanic rocks, occasionally, a magma may pick up crystals that crystallized from another magma, these crystals are called xenocrysts. Diamonds found in kimberlites are rare but well-known xenocrysts, the kimberlites do not create the diamonds, Volcanic rocks are named according to both their chemical composition and texture. Basalt is a common volcanic rock with low silica content
24.
Roman law
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The historical importance of Roman law is reflected by the continued use of Latin legal terminology in many legal systems influenced by it. After the dissolution of the Western Roman Empire, the Roman law remained in effect in the Eastern Roman Empire, from the 7th century onward, the legal language in the East was Greek. Roman law also denotes the legal system applied in most of Western Europe until the end of the 18th century, in Germany, Roman law practice remained in place longer under the Holy Roman Empire. Roman law thus served as a basis for legal practice throughout Western continental Europe, as well as in most former colonies of these European nations, including Latin America, English and North American common law were influenced also by Roman law, notably in their Latinate legal glossary. Eastern Europe was also influenced by the jurisprudence of the Corpus Juris Civilis, especially in such as medieval Romania which created a new system. Also, Eastern European law was influenced by the Farmers Law of the medieval Byzantine legal system. g and it is believed that Roman Law is rooted in the Etruscan religion, emphasising ritual. The first legal text is the Law of the Twelve Tables, terentilius Arsa, proposed that the law should be written, in order to prevent magistrates from applying the law arbitrarily. In 451 BC, according to the story, ten Roman citizens were chosen to record the laws. While they were performing this task, they were given political power. In 450 BC, the decemviri produced the laws on ten tablets, a second decemvirate is said to have added two further tablets in 449 BC. The new Law of the Twelve Tables was approved by the peoples assembly, modern scholars tend to challenge the accuracy of Roman historians. They generally do not believe that a second decemvirate ever took place, the decemvirate of 451 is believed to have included the most controversial points of customary law, and to have assumed the leading functions in Rome. Furthermore, the question on the Greek influence found in the early Roman Law is still much discussed, many scholars consider it unlikely that the patricians sent an official delegation to Greece, as the Roman historians believed. Instead, those scholars suggest, the Romans acquired Greek legislations from the Greek cities of Magna Graecia, the original text of the Twelve Tables has not been preserved. The tablets were probably destroyed when Rome was conquered and burned by the Gauls in 387 BC, the fragments which did survive show that it was not a law code in the modern sense. It did not provide a complete and coherent system of all applicable rules or give legal solutions for all possible cases, rather, the tables contained specific provisions designed to change the then-existing customary law. Although the provisions pertain to all areas of law, the largest part is dedicated to private law, many laws include Lex Canuleia, Leges Licinae Sextiae, Lex Ogulnia, and Lex Hortensia. Another important statute from the Republican era is the Lex Aquilia of 286 BC, however, Romes most important contribution to European legal culture was not the enactment of well-drafted statutes, but the emergence of a class of professional jurists and of a legal science
25.
Paganism
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Paganism is a term that derives from Latin word pagan, which means nonparticipant, one excluded from a more distinguished, professional group. The term was used in the 4th century, by early Christian community, the term competed with polytheism already in use in Judaism, by Philo in the 1st century. Pagans and paganism was a pejorative for the same polytheistic group, Paganism has broadly connoted religion of the peasantry, and for much of its history a derogatory term. Alternate terms in Christian texts for the group was hellene. In and after the Middle Ages, paganism was a pejorative that was applied to any non-Abrahamic or unfamiliar religion, there has been much scholarly debate as to the origin of the term paganism, especially since no one before the 20th century self-identified as a pagan. In the 19th century, paganism was re-adopted as a self-descriptor by members of various artistic groups inspired by the ancient world. Forms of these religions, influenced by various historical pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe, exist today and are known as contemporary or modern paganism, while most pagan religions express a worldview that is pantheistic, polytheistic, or animistic, there are some monotheistic pagans. It is crucial to stress right from the start that until the 20th century people did not call themselves pagans to describe the religion they practised, the notion of paganism, as it is generally understood today, was created by the early Christian Church. It was a label that Christians applied to others, one of the antitheses that were central to the process of Christian self-definition, as such, throughout history it was generally used in a derogatory sense. The term pagan is from Late Latin paganus, revived during the Renaissance and it is related to pangere and ultimately comes from Proto-Indo-European *pag-. The evolution occurred only in the Latin west, and in connection with the Latin church, elsewhere, Hellene or gentile remained the word for pagan, and paganos continued as a purely secular term, with overtones of the inferior and the commonplace. However, this idea has multiple problems, first, the words usage as a reference to non-Christians pre-dates that period in history. Second, paganism within the Roman Empire centered on cities, the concept of an urban Christianity as opposed to a rural paganism would not have occurred to Romans during Early Christianity. Third, unlike words such as rusticitas, paganus had not yet acquired the meanings used to explain why it would have been applied to pagans. Paganus more likely acquired its meaning in Christian nomenclature via Roman military jargon, Early Christians adopted military motifs and saw themselves as Milites Christi. As early as the 5th century, paganos was metaphorically used to persons outside the bounds of the Christian community. In response, Augustine of Hippo wrote De Civitate Dei Contra Paganos, in it, he contrasted the fallen city of Man to the city of God of which all Christians were ultimately citizens. Hence, the invaders were not of the city or rural
26.
Martyr
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A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, refusing to renounce, or refusing to advocate a belief or cause as demanded by an external party. This refusal to comply with the presented demands results in the punishment or execution of the martyr by the oppressor, originally applied only to those who suffered for their religious beliefs, the term is now often used in connection with people imprisoned or killed for espousing a political cause. Most martyrs are considered holy or are respected by their followers, becoming symbols of exceptional leadership, Martyrs play significant roles in religions. Similarly, martyrs have had effects in secular life, including specific figures such as Socrates, as well as in politics. In its original meaning, the martyr, meaning witness, was used in the secular sphere as well as in the New Testament of the Bible. The term, in this sense, entered the English language as a loanword. The death of a martyr or the value attributed to it is called martyrdom, the early Christians who first began to use the term martyr in its new sense saw Jesus as the first and greatest martyr, on account of his crucifixion. The early Christians appear to have seen Jesus as the archetypal martyr, the word martyr is used in English to describe a wide variety of people. However, the table presents a general outline of common features present in stereotypical martyrdoms. Examples of this are found in the Mahabharata, during the great war which commenced, even Arjuna was brought down with doubts, e. g. attachment, sorrow, fear. This is where Krishna instructs Arjuna how to carry out his duty as a righteous warrior, Martyrdom in Judaism is one of the main examples of Kiddush Hashem, meaning sanctification of Gods name through public dedication to Jewish practice. Religious martyrdom is considered one of the significant contributions of Hellenistic Judaism to Western Civilization. Frend, Judaism was itself a religion of martyrdom and it was this Jewish psychology of martyrdom that inspired Christian martyrdom. In Christianity, a martyr, in accordance with the meaning of the original Greek martys in the New Testament, is one who brings a testimony, in particular, the testimony is that of the Christian Gospel, or more generally, the Word of God. A Christian witness is a biblical witness whether or not death follows, however, over time many Christian testimonies were rejected, and the witnesses put to death, and the word martyr developed its present sense. Where death ensues, the follow the example of Jesus in offering up their lives for truth. The concept of Jesus as a martyr has recently received greater attention, analyses of the Gospel passion narratives have led many scholars to conclude that they are martyrdom accounts in terms of genre and style. Several scholars have concluded that Paul the Apostle understood Jesus death as a martyrdom
27.
Roman roads
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They provided efficient means for the overland movement of armies, officials, and civilians, and the inland carriage of official communications and trade goods. Roman roads were of several kinds, ranging from local roads to broad, long-distance highways built to connect cities, major towns. These major roads were often stone-paved and metaled, cambered for drainage and they were laid along accurately surveyed courses, and some were cut through hills, or conducted over rivers and ravines on bridgework. Sections could be supported over marshy ground on rafted or piled foundations, at the peak of Romes development, no fewer than 29 great military highways radiated from the capital, and the late Empires 113 provinces were interconnected by 372 great roads. The whole comprised more than 400,000 kilometres of roads, in Gaul alone, no less than 21,000 kilometres of roadways are said to have been improved, and in Britain at least 4,000 kilometres. The courses of many Roman roads survived for millennia, some are overlaid by modern roads, livy mentions some of the most familiar roads near Rome, and the milestones on them, at times long before the first paved road—the Appian Way. Unless these allusions are just simple anachronisms, the referred to were probably at the time little more than levelled earthen tracks. Thus, the Via Gabina is mentioned in about 500 BC, the Via Latina in about 490 BC, the Via Nomentana, in 449 BC, the Via Labicana in 421 BC, and the Via Salaria in 361 BC. There is hardly a district to which we expect a Roman official to be sent, on service either civil or military. They reach the Wall in Britain, run along the Rhine, the Danube, and the Euphrates, and cover, as with a network, a road map of the empire reveals that it was generally laced with a dense network of prepared viae. Beyond its borders there were no paved roads, however, it can be supposed that footpaths, there were, for instance, some pre-Roman ancient trackways in Britain, such as the Ridgeway and the Icknield Way. For specific roads, see Roman road locations below, the Laws of the Twelve Tables, dated to about 450 BC, specified that a road shall be 8 Roman feet wide where straight and twice that width where curved. Actual practices varied from this standard, the Tables command Romans to build roads and give wayfarers the right to pass over private land where the road is in disrepair. Roman law defined the right to use a road as a servitus, the ius eundi established a claim to use an iter, or footpath, across private land, the ius agendi, an actus, or carriage track. A via combined both types of servitutes, provided it was of the width, which was determined by an arbiter. The default width was the latitudo legitima of 8 feet, Roman law and tradition forbade the use of vehicles in urban areas, except in certain cases. Married women and government officials on business could ride, the Lex Iulia Municipalis restricted commercial carts to night-time access in the city within the walls and within a mile outside the walls. Such roads led either to the sea, or to a town, or to a public river and these roads bear the names of their constructors
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Appian Way
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The Appian Way was one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy and its importance is indicated by its common name, recorded by Statius, Appia longarum. The Appian Way was used as a route for military supplies since its construction for that purpose in 312 B. C. The Appian Way was the first long road built specifically to transport troops outside the region of greater Rome. The few roads outside the city were Etruscan and went mainly to Etruria. By the late Republic, the Romans had expanded over most of Italy and were masters of road construction, Rome had an affinity for the people of Campania, who, like themselves, traced their backgrounds to the Etruscans. The Samnite Wars were instigated by the Samnites when Rome attempted to ally itself with the city of Capua in Campania, the Italic speakers in Latium had long ago been subdued and incorporated into the Roman state. They were responsible for changing Rome from a primarily Etruscan to a primarily Italic state, dense populations of sovereign Samnites remained in the mountains north of Capua, which is just north of the Greek city of Neapolis. Around 343 BC, Rome and Capua attempted to form an alliance, the Samnites reacted with military force. Between Capua and Rome lay the Pontine Marshes, a swamp infested with malaria, a tortuous coastal road wound between Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber and Neapolis. The via Latina followed its ancient and scarcely more accessible path along the foothills of Monti Laziali and Monti Lepini, in the First Samnite War the Romans found they could not support or resupply troops in the field against the Samnites across the marsh. A revolt of the Latin League drained their resources further and they gave up the attempted alliance and settled with Samnium. The Romans were only biding their time while they looked for a solution, the first answer was the colonia, a cultivation of settlers from Rome, who would maintain a permanent base of operations. The Second Samnite War erupted when Rome attempted to place a colony at Cales in 334, the Samnites, now a major power after defeating the Greeks of Tarentum, occupied Neapolis to try to ensure its loyalty. The Neapolitans appealed to Rome, which sent an army and expelled the Samnites from Neapolis, in 312 BC, Appius Claudius Caecus became censor at Rome. He was of the gens Claudia, who were descended from the Sabines taken into the early Roman state. He had been given the name of the ancestor of the gens. He was a populist, i. e. an advocate of the common people, a man of inner perspicacity, in the years of success he was said to have lost his outer vision and thus acquired the name caecus, blind
29.
Via Ostiense
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The Via Ostiensis was an important road in ancient Rome. It ran west 30 kilometres from the city of Rome to its important sea port of Ostia Antica, the road began near the Forum Boarium, ran between the Aventine Hill and the Tiber River along its left bank, and left the citys Servian Walls through the Porta Trigemina. When the later Aurelian Walls were built, the left the city through the Porta San Paolo. In the late Roman Empire, trade suffered under an economic crisis, with the accompanying growth of importance of the Via Portuensis from the time of Constantine onwards, that of the Via Ostiensis correspondingly decreased. Modern Via Ostiense, following a path, is the main connection of Rome to Ostia together with the Via del Mare. On its way to Ostia, the passes by the important basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls. For an overview of the location of Roman bridges, see List of Roman bridges, there are the remains of at least one Roman bridge along the road, which is the Ponte presso Tor di Valle. Roman road Roman bridge Roman engineering Ostiense LacusCurtius — Via Ostiensis
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Via Labicana
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The Via Labicana was an ancient road of Italy, leading east-southeast from Rome. After their junction it is probable that the road bore the name Via Latina rather than Via Labicana. The course of the road after the first six miles from Rome is not identical with that of any modern road, the section of the road near Rome is now known as the Via Casilina. A statue of Augustus as pontifex maximus found at a villa of Livia on this road is known as the Via Labicana type and is housed at the National Roman Museum. The Roman Emperor Didius Julianus was buried by the milestone on the Via Labicana. The ancient church of Santi Marcellino e Pietro al Laterano was built at the intersection with via Merulana near the catacombs where the remains of St Marcellino, for an overview of the location of Roman bridges, see List of Roman bridges. There are the remains of at least one Roman bridge along the road, Roman road Roman bridge Roman engineering T. Ashby in Papers of the British Schoól at Rome, i.215 sq. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. Omnes Viae, Via Labicana on the Peutinger map
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Via Tiburtina
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Via Tiburtina is an ancient road in Italy leading east-northeast from Rome to Tivoli and then on to Pescara. It was built by the Roman consul Marcus Valerius Maximus around 286 BC and later lengthened to the territories of the Marsi and its total length was approximately 200 km from Rome to Aternum. It exited Rome through the Aurelian Wall at the Porta Tiburtina, historians assert that the Via Tiburtina must have come into existence as a trail during the establishment of the Latin League. It is difficult to determine the last portion of the course of the Via Tiburtina from the Albulae Aquae to Tibur, for an overview of the location of Roman bridges, see List of Roman bridges. There are the remains of several Roman bridges along the road, including the Ponte Lucano, a former state road with the same name exists today and follows the same path. Roman road Roman bridge Roman engineering Via Valeria Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Tiburtina. Omnes Viae, Via Tiburtina on the Peutinger map
32.
Via Nomentana
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Via Nomentana is an ancient road of Italy, leading North-East from Rome to Nomentum, a distance of 23 km. It originally bore the name Via Ficulensis, from the old Latin village of Ficulea and it was subsequently extended to Nomentum, but never became an important high road, and merged in the Via Salaria a few kilometers beyond Nomentum. It is followed as far as Nomentum by the state road. Originally starting from now-destroyed Porta Collina in the Servian Walls, in the third century emperor Aurelian build the Porta Nomentana in his new set of walls, pope Pius IV decided to move the first stretch of the road and built the Porta Pia for this purpose. For an overview of the location of Roman bridges, see List of Roman bridges, there are the remains of at least one Roman bridge along the road, which is the Ponte Nomentano
33.
Pope Callixtus I
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Pope Callixtus I, also called Callistus I, was the bishop of Rome from c.218 to his death c. He lived during the reigns of the Roman Emperors Elagabalus and Alexander Severus, eusebius and the Liberian catalogue gave him five years of episcopate. He was martyred for his Christian faith and is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church, according to the tale, Callixtus jumped overboard to avoid capture but was rescued and taken back to his master. Philosophumena claims that, denounced as a Christian, Callixtus was sentenced to work in the mines of Sardinia and he was released with other Christians at the request of Hyacinthus, a eunuch presbyter, who represented Marcia, the favourite mistress of Emperor Commodus. At this time his health was so weakened that his fellow Christians sent him to Antium to recuperate, in 199, Callixtus was ordained a deacon by Pope Zephyrinus and appointed superintendent of the Christian cemetery on the Appian Way. That place, which is to this day called the Catacombs of St. Callixtus, Emperor Julian the Apostate, writing to a pagan priest, said, Christians have gained most popularity because of their charity to strangers and because of their care for the burial of their dead. In the third century, nine Bishops of Rome were interred in the Catacomb of Callixtus and these catacombs were rediscovered by the archaeologist Giovanni Battista de Rossi in 1849. In 217, when Callixtus followed Zephyrinus as Bishop of Rome and he fought with success the heretics, and established the practice of absolution of all sins, including adultery and murder. As a consequence also of doctrinal differences, Hippolytus was elected as a bishop of Rome. The Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere was a titulus of which Callixtus was the patron, the 4th-century basilica of Ss Callixti et Iuliani was rebuilt in the 12th century by Pope Innocent II and rededicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to the apocryphal Acts of Saint Callixtus, Asterius, a priest of Rome, recovered the body of Callixtus after it had been tossed into a well and buried Callixtus body at night. Asterius was arrested for this action by the prefect Alexander and then killed by being thrown off a bridge into the Tiber River. He was buried in the cemetery of Calepodius on the Aurelian Way and his anniversary is given by the 4th-century Depositio Martirum, the Roman Catholic Church celebrates his optional memorial on 14 October. His relics were transferred in the 9th century to Santa Maria in Trastevere, List of Catholic saints List of popes Kelly, J. N. D. Bishop Callistus I. of Rome, A Martyr or a Confessor, in Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum/Journal of Ancient Christianity 18, p. 390-419
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Fossors
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A gravedigger is a cemetery worker responsible for digging a grave prior to a funeral service. If the grave is in a cemetery on the property of a church or other religious organization, digging graves has also been one of the traditional duties of a churchs sexton. In some countries, gravedigging may be done by landscaping workers for the council or local authority. A gravedigger implements a variety of tools to accomplish his primary task, a template, in the form of a wooden frame built to prescribed specifications, is often placed on the ground over the intended grave. The gravedigger may use a sod-cutter or spade to cut the outline of the grave and remove the top layer of sod, digging the grave by hand usually requires shovels, picks, mattocks, and/or other tools. Cemeteries in industrialized countries may keep a backhoe loader and other heavy equipment, typically, gravediggers - at least in most Western countries - will use a wooden box to put the soil in. This box consists of large pieces of wood that fit together. Once the grave has been dug and the soil from the grave has been placed in the box, the box will usually be covered with a piece of tarpaulin or similar material. Although the expression six feet under refers to the depth at which people were traditionally buried, at least in the UK the minimum legal depth for a new grave is seven feet. This allows a maximum of three coffins to be buried in the grave, typically family members of the deceased who are buried at a later date when they die - which is known as a re-open. Gravediggers must take care to get the proportions of a right as the hole needs to be big enough for the coffin to be lowered in. Additionally, shoring is often used to stop a grave from collapsing, Gravediggers must make sure that the coffin can fit through the shoring. Additionally, on the day of the back-fill and for the funeral service and this is primarily for aesthetic reasons and serves no other real purpose. In many cultures throughout history, gravediggers have been marginalized by their societies. In the traditional system of India, cemetery work has been the responsibility of the lowest castes. Fossor is a term described in Chambers dictionary as archaic, in the Gesta apud Zenophilum by St. Optatus of Mileve, a reference is made to the character of the fossors as an order of inferior clergy. St. Jerome alludes to fossors as clerici, and a sixth-century chronicle edited by Cardinal Mai enumerates the orders of the clergy as ostiarius, fossorius, lector, in the fourth century the corporation of fossors was empowered to sell burial spaces. For example, in the cemetery of St. Cyriacus, two women bought from the fossor Quintus a bisomus, or double grave, retro sanctos, and there are several other references to this practice
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Loculus (architecture)
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Loculus, plural loculi, is an architectural compartment or niche that houses a body, as in a catacomb, hypogeum, mausoleum or other place of entombment. In classical antiquity, the mouth of the loculus might be closed with a slab, plain, as in the Catacombs of Rome, or sculptural, a Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
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Iconography
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The word iconography comes from the Greek εἰκών and γράφειν. A secondary meaning is the production of images, called icons, in the Byzantine and Orthodox Christian tradition. In art history, an iconography may also mean a depiction of a subject in terms of the content of the image, such as the number of figures used, their placing. Sometimes distinctions have been made between iconology and iconography, although the definitions, and so the distinction made, varies, when referring to movies, genres are immediately recognizable through their iconography, motifs that become associated with a specific genre through repetition. Gian Pietro Bellori, a 17th-century biographer of artists of his own time, describes and analyses, not always correctly, many works. Lessings study of the classical figure Amor with a torch was an early attempt to use a study of a type of image to explain the culture it originated in. These early contributions paved the way for encyclopedias, manuals, mâles lArt religieux du XIIIe siècle en France translated into English as The Gothic Image, Religious Art in France of the Thirteenth Century has remained continuously in print. In the United States, to which Panofsky immigrated in 1931, students such as Frederick Hartt, the period from 1940 can be seen as one where iconography was especially prominent in art history. These are now being digitised and made online, usually on a restricted basis. For example, the Iconclass code 71H7131 is for the subject of Bathsheba with Davids letter, whereas 71 is the whole Old Testament and 71H the story of David. A number of collections of different types have been classified using Iconclass, notably types of old master print, the collections of the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. These are available, usually on-line or on DVD, the system can also be used outside pure art history, for example on sites like Flickr. Central to the iconography and hagiography of Indian religions are mudra or gestures with specific meanings, the symbolic use of colour to denote the Classical Elements or Mahabhuta and letters and bija syllables from sacred alphabetic scripts are other features. Under the influence of art developed esoteric meanings, accessible only to initiates. The art of Indian Religions esp, for example, Narasimha an incarnation of Vishnu though considered a wrathful deity but in few contexts is depicted in pacified mood. Conversely, in Hindu art, narrative scenes have become more common in recent centuries, especially in miniature paintings of the lives of Krishna. Eventually the Church would succeed in weeding most of these out, after the period of Byzantine iconoclasm iconographical innovation was regarded as unhealthy, if not heretical, in the Eastern Church, though it still continued at a glacial pace. More than in the West, traditional depictions were often considered to have authentic or miraculous origins, the Eastern church also never accepted the use of monumental high relief or free-standing sculpture, which it found too reminiscent of paganism
37.
Agnes of Rome
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Agnes of Rome is a virgin–martyr, venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, and Lutheranism. She is one of seven women, who along with the Blessed Virgin, are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass and she is the patron saint of chastity, gardeners, girls, engaged couples, rape survivors, virgins, and the Children of Mary. Agnes is depicted in art with a lamb, as the Latin word for lamb, agnus, the name Agnes is actually derived from the feminine Greek adjective hagnē meaning chaste, pure, sacred. Agnes feast day is 21 January, in pre-1970 versions of the General Roman Calendar an additional feast of the same saint is given one week later, on 28 January. The 1969 revision removed this as a duplication of the 21 January feast, according to tradition, Saint Agnes of Rome was a member of the Roman nobility born in AD291 and raised in a Early Catholic family. She suffered martyrdom at the age of twelve or thirteen during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, Agnes was a beautiful young girl of wealthy family and therefore had many suitors of high rank. Details of her story are unreliable, but legend holds that the men, slighted by her resolute devotion to religious purity. The Prefect Sempronius condemned Agnes to be dragged naked through the streets to a brothel, various versions of the legend give different methods of escape from this predicament. In one, as she prayed, her hair grew and covered her body and it was also said that all of the men who attempted to rape her were immediately struck blind. In another the son of the prefect is struck dead, but revived after she prayed for him, there is then a trial from which Sempronius excuses himself, and another figure presides, sentencing her to death. It is also said that her blood poured to the floor where other Christians soaked it up with cloths. Agnes was buried beside the Via Nomentana in Rome, the daughter of Constantine I, Saint Constance, was also said to have been cured of leprosy after praying at Agnes tomb. She and Emerentiana appear in the scenes from the life of Agnes on the 14th-century Royal Gold Cup in the British Museum. An early account of Agnes death, stressing her young age, steadfastness and virginity, Agnes was venerated as a saint at least as early as the time of St. Ambrose, based on an existing homily. Agness bones are conserved beneath the altar in the church of SantAgnese fuori le mura in Rome. Her skull is preserved in a chapel in the church of SantAgnese in Agone in Romes Piazza Navona. Agnes is the saint of young girls. Folk custom called for them to practise rituals on Saint Agnes Eve with a view to discovering their future husbands and this superstition has been immortalised in John Keatss poem, The Eve of Saint Agnes
38.
Arcosolium
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An arcosolium is an arched recess used as a place of entombment. The word is from Latin arcus, arch, and solium, early arcosolia were carved out of the living rock in catacombs. In the very earliest of these, the recess was cut to ground level. Then a low wall would be built in the front, leaving a trough in which to place the body, a flat stone slab would then cover the chamber containing the body, thus sealing it. The stone slab occasionally also served as an altar, especially for Christians, in the later arcosolia, the arched recess was carved out to about waist height. Then the masons cut downwards to make the chamber into which the corpse would be placed, in effect, the trough was then a sarcophagus with living rock on five of its six faces. As before, a stone slab would then seal the cubiculum. From the 13th century onwards, and continuing into the Renaissance, arcosolia were built above ground, in these post-Roman era recesses, which were built of brick and marble, the sarcophagi are usually separate from the arch. These tombs are ornamented in the styles of those periods, the Flamboyant Gothic, Plateresque
39.
Gratian
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For other figures with this name, including his paternal grandfather, see Gratian. Gratian was Roman emperor from 367 to 383, the eldest son of Valentinian I, during his youth Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers. Upon the death of Valentinian in 375, Gratians brother Valentinian II was declared emperor by his fathers soldiers, in 378, Gratians generals won a decisive victory over the Lentienses, a branch of the Alamanni, at the Battle of Argentovaria. Gratian subsequently led a campaign across the Rhine, the last emperor to do so and that same year, his uncle Valens was killed in the Battle of Adrianople against the Goths – making Gratian essentially ruler of the entire Roman Empire. He favoured Christianity over traditional Roman religion, refusing the divine attributes of the Emperors, Gratian was the son of Emperor Valentinian I by Marina Severa, and was born at Sirmium in Pannonia. He was named after his grandfather Gratian the Elder, Gratian was first married to Flavia Maxima Constantia, daughter of Constantius II. His stepmother was Empress Justina and his half siblings were Emperor Valentinian II, Galla. On 24 August 367 he received from his father the title of Augustus, on the death of Valentinian, the troops in Pannonia proclaimed his infant son emperor under the title of Valentinian II. The division, however, was nominal, and the real authority remained in the hands of Gratian. Gratians general Mallobaudes, a king of the Franks, and Naniemus, completely defeated the Lentienses, upon receiving news of the victory, Gratian personally led a campaign across the Upper Rhine into the territory of the Lentienses. After initial trouble facing the Lentienses on high ground, Gratian blockaded the enemy instead, the Lentienses were forced to supply young men to be levied into the Roman army, while the remainder were allowed to return home. Later that year, Valens met his death in the Battle of Adrianople on 9 August. Valens refused to wait for Gratian and his army to arrive and assist in defeating the host of Goths, Alans and Huns, as a result, Gratianus and Theodosius then cleared the Illyricum of barbarians in the Gothic War. A Roman general named Magnus Maximus took advantage of this feeling to raise the standard of revolt in Britain, Gratian, who was then in Paris, being deserted by his troops, fled to Lyon. There, through the treachery of the governor, Gratian was delivered over to one of the generals, Andragathius. The reign of Gratian forms an important epoch in ecclesiastical history, Gratian also published an edict that all their subjects should profess the faith of the bishops of Rome and Alexandria. The move was mainly thrust at the various beliefs that had arisen out of Arianism, Gratian, under the influence of his chief advisor the Bishop of Milan Ambrose, took active steps to repress pagan worship. This brought to an end a period of widespread, if unofficial, in 382, Gratian appropriated the income of the Pagan priests and Vestal Virgins, forbade legacies of real property to them and abolished other privileges belonging to the Vestals and to the pontiffs
40.
Saint Stephen
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Accused of blasphemy, at his trial he made a long speech denouncing the Jewish authorities who were sitting in judgment on him and was then stoned to death. His martyrdom was witnessed by Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee who would himself become a follower of Jesus. The only primary source for information about Stephen is the New Testament book of the Acts of the Apostles, Stephen is mentioned in Acts 6 as one of the Greek-speaking Hellenistic Jews selected to participate in a fairer distribution of welfare to the Greek-speaking widows. The Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox Churches, Stephens name in the original Greek of the Acts of the Apostles is given as Stephanos, meaning crown. Traditionally, Stephen is invested with a crown of martyrdom, artistic representations often depict him with three stones and the palm frond. Eastern Christian iconography shows him as a young, beardless man with a tonsure, wearing a deacons vestments, according to Orthodox belief, he was the eldest and is therefore called archdeacon. As another deacon, Nicholas of Antioch, is stated to have been a convert to Judaism, it may be assumed that Stephen was born Jewish. Since the name Stephanos is Greek, it has assumed that he was one of these Hellenistic Jews. Stephen is stated to have full of faith and the Holy Spirit. Members of these synagogues had challenged Stephens teachings, but Stephen had bested them in debate, furious at this humiliation, they suborned false testimony that Stephen had preached blasphemy against Moses and God. They dragged him to appear before the Sanhedrin, the legal court of Jewish elders, accusing him of preaching against the Temple. Stephen is said to have been unperturbed, his face looking like that of an angel, robert Eisenman puts forward the theory that the stoning of Stephen is in fact an account of the stoning of James, first Bishop of Jerusalem, as recounted by Josephus, in 62CE. In a long speech to the Sanhedrin comprising almost the whole of Acts Chapter 7, Stephen presents his view of the history of Israel. The God of glory, he says, appeared to Abraham in Mesopotamia, thus establishing at the beginning of the one of its major themes. Stephen recounts the stories of the patriarchs in some depth, God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and inspired Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. Nevertheless, the Israelites turned to other gods and this establishes the second main theme of Stephens speech, Israels disobedience to God. Stephen faced two accusations, that he had declared that Jesus would destroy the Temple in Jerusalem and that he had changed the customs of Moses. The Roman Catholic Church states that St. Stephen appealed to the Jewish scriptures to prove how the laws of Moses were not subverted by Jesus but and he denounces his listeners as stiff-necked people who, just as their ancestors had done, resist the Holy Spirit
41.
Ostrogoths
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The Ostrogoths were the eastern branch of the later Goths. They built an empire stretching from the Black Sea to the Baltic, the Ostrogoths were probably literate in the 3rd century, and their trade with the Romans was highly developed. Their Danubian kingdom reached its zenith under King Ermanaric, who is said to have committed suicide at an old age when the Huns attacked his people and subjugated them in about 370. After their annexation by the Huns, little is heard of the Ostrogoths for about 80 years, after the collapse of the Hun empire after the Battle of Nedao, Ostrogoths migrated westwards towards Illyria and the borders of Italy, while some remained in the Crimea. During the late 5th and 6th centuries, under Theodoric the Great most of the Ostrogoths moved first to Moesia, in 493, Theodoric the Great established a kingdom in Italy. A period of instability then ensued, tempting the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian to declare war on the Ostrogoths in 535 in an effort to restore the western provinces of the Roman Empire. Initially, the Byzantines were successful, but under the leadership of Totila, the war lasted for almost 20 years and caused enormous damage and depopulation of Italy. The remaining Ostrogoths were absorbed into the Lombards who established a kingdom in Italy in 568, a division of the Goths is first attested in 291. The Tervingi are first attested around that date, the Greuthungi, Vesi, the Ostrogoths are first named in a document dated September 392 from Milan. Claudian mentions that they together with the Greuthungi inhabit Phrygia, according to Herwig Wolfram, the primary sources either use the terminology of Tervingi/Greuthungi or Vesi/Ostrogothi and never mix the pairs. All four names were used together, but the pairing was always preserved, as in Gruthungi, Ostrogothi, Tervingi and that the Tervingi were the Vesi/Visigothi and the Greuthungi the Ostrogothi is also supported by Jordanes. This interpretation, however, though common among scholars today, is not universal. Both Herwig Wolfram and Thomas Burns conclude that the terms Tervingi and Greuthungi were geographical identifiers used by each tribe to describe the other and this terminology therefore dropped out of use after the Goths were displaced by the Hunnic invasions. In support of this, Wolfram cites Zosimus as referring to a group of Scythians north of the Danube who were called Greuthungi by the north of the Ister. Wolfram asserts that it was the Tervingi who remained behind after the Hunnic conquest and he further believes that the terms Vesi and Ostrogothi were used by the peoples to boastfully describe themselves. On this understanding, the Greuthungi and Ostrogothi were more or less the same people, the nomenclature of Greuthungi and Tervingi fell out of use shortly after 400. In general, the terminology of a divided Gothic people disappeared gradually after they entered the Roman Empire, the term Visigoth, however, was an invention of the sixth century. Cassiodorus, a Roman in the service of Theodoric the Great, invented the term Visigothi to match Ostrogothi, the western-eastern division was a simplification and a literary device of sixth-century historians where political realities were more complex
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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
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Lombards
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The Lombards or Longobards were a Germanic people who ruled large parts of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. In the 1st century AD, they formed part of the Suebi, the Lombard king Audoin defeated the Gepid leader Thurisind in 551 or 552, his successor Alboin eventually destroyed the Gepids at the Battle of Asfeld in 567. The Lombards were joined by numerous Saxons, Heruls, Gepids, Bulgars, Thuringians, and Ostrogoths, by late 569 they had conquered all north of Italy and the principal cities north of the Po River except Pavia, which fell in 572. At the same time, they occupied areas in central Italy and they established a Lombard Kingdom in north and central Italy, later named Regnum Italicum, which reached its zenith under the 8th-century ruler Liutprand. In 774, the Kingdom was conquered by the Frankish King Charlemagne, however, Lombard nobles continued to rule southern parts of the Italian peninsula, well into the 11th century when they were conquered by the Normans and added to their County of Sicily. In this period, the part of Italy still under Longobardic domination was known by the name Langbarðaland in the Norse runestones. Their legacy is apparent in the regional name Lombardy. The fullest account of Lombard origins, history, and practices is the Historia Langobardorum of Paul the Deacon, pauls chief source for Lombard origins, however, is the 7th-century Origo Gentis Langobardorum. The Origo Gentis Langobardorum tells the story of a tribe called the Winnili dwelling in southern Scandinavia. The Winnili were split into three groups and one part left their land to seek foreign fields. The reason for the exodus was probably overpopulation, the departing people were led by the brothers Ybor and Aio and their mother Gambara and arrived in the lands of Scoringa, perhaps the Baltic coast or the Bardengau on the banks of the Elbe. Scoringa was ruled by the Vandals and their chieftains, the brothers Ambri and Assi, the Winnili were young and brave and refused to pay tribute, saying It is better to maintain liberty by arms than to stain it by the payment of tribute. The Vandals prepared for war and consulted Godan, who answered that he would give the victory to those whom he would see first at sunrise. The Winnili were fewer in number and Gambara sought help from Frea, at sunrise, Frea turned her husbands bed so that he was facing east, and woke him. So Godan spotted the Winnili first and asked, Who are these long-beards. and Frea replied, My lord, thou hast given them the name, from that moment onwards, the Winnili were known as the Longbeards. When Paul the Deacon wrote the Historia between 787 and 796 he was a Catholic monk and devoted Christian and he thought the pagan stories of his people silly and laughable. Paul explained that the name Langobard came from the length of their beards, a modern theory suggests that the name Langobard comes from Langbarðr, a name of Odin. Priester states that when the Winnili changed their name to Lombards, they changed their old agricultural fertility cult to a cult of Odin
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Relic
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In religion, a relic usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangible memorial. Relics are an important aspect of forms of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Shamanism. Relic derives from the Latin reliquiae, meaning remains, and a form of the Latin verb relinquere, to leave behind, a reliquary is a shrine that houses one or more religious relics. In ancient Greece, a city or sanctuary might claim to possess, without necessarily displaying, the sanctuary of the Leucippides at Sparta claimed to display the egg of Leda. The bones were not regarded as holding a power derived from the hero, with some exceptions. Miracles and healing were not regularly attributed to them, rather, their presence was meant to serve a tutelary function, the bones of Orestes and Theseus were supposed to have been stolen or removed from their original resting place and reburied. Plutarch says that the Athenians were likewise instructed by the oracle to locate, the body of the legendary Eurystheus was also supposed to protect Athens from enemy attack, and in Thebes, that of the prophet Amphiaraus, whose cult was oracular and healing. As with the relics of Theseus, the bones are sometimes described in sources as gigantic. On the basis of their size, it has been conjectured that such bones were those of prehistoric creatures. The head of the poet-prophet Orpheus was supposed to have transported to Lesbos. The 2nd-century geographer Pausanias reported that the bones of Orpheus were kept in a stone vase displayed on a pillar near Dion, his place of death and these too were regarded as having oracular power, which might be accessed through dreaming in a ritual of incubation. The accidental exposure of the bones brought a disaster upon the town of Libretha, according to the Chronicon Paschale, the bones of the Persian Zoroaster were venerated, but the tradition of Zoroastrianism and its scriptures offer no support of this. In Hinduism, relics are less common than in other religions since the remains of most saints are cremated. The veneration of corporal relics may have originated with the movement or the appearance of Buddhism. In Buddhism, relics of the Buddha and various sages are venerated, after the Buddhas death, his remains were divided into eight portions. Afterward, these relics were enshrined in stupas wherever Buddhism was spread, some relics believed to be original remains of the body of the Buddha still survive, including the much-revered Sacred Relic of the tooth of the Buddha in Sri Lanka. A stupa is a building created specifically for the relics, many Buddhist temples have stupas and historically, the placement of relics in a stupa often became the initial structure around which the whole temple would be based. Today, many also hold the ashes or ringsel of prominent/respected Buddhists who were cremated
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Basilica
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The Latin word basilica has three distinct applications in modern English. The word was used to describe an ancient Roman public building where courts were held, as well as serving other official. To a large extent these were the halls of ancient Roman life. The basilica was centrally located in every Roman town, usually adjacent to the main forum, later, the term came to refer specifically to a large and important Roman Catholic church that has been given special ceremonial rights by the Pope. Roman Catholic basilicas are Catholic pilgrimage sites, receiving tens of millions of visitors per year. In December 2009 the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City set a new record with 6.1 million pilgrims during Friday and Saturday for the anniversary of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Roman basilica was a public building where business or legal matters could be transacted. The first basilicas had no function at all. The central aisle tended to be wide and was higher than the flanking aisles, the oldest known basilica, the Basilica Porcia, was built in Rome in 184 BC by Cato the Elder during the time he was Censor. Other early examples include the basilica at Pompeii, probably the most splendid Roman basilica is the one begun for traditional purposes during the reign of the pagan emperor Maxentius and finished by Constantine I after 313 AD. In the 3rd century AD, the elite appeared less frequently in the forums. They now tended to dominate their cities from opulent palaces and country villas, rather than retreats from public life, however, these residences were the forum made private. Seated in the tribune of his basilica, the man would meet his dependent clientes early every morning. A private basilica excavated at Bulla Regia, in the House of the Hunt and its reception or audience hall is a long rectangular nave-like space, flanked by dependent rooms that mostly also open into one another, ending in a semi-circular apse, with matching transept spaces. Clustered columns emphasised the crossing of the two axes, the remains of a large subterranean Neopythagorean basilica dating from the 1st century AD were found near the Porta Maggiore in Rome in 1915. The ground-plan of Christian basilicas in the 4th century was similar to that of this Neopythagorean basilica, the usable model at hand, when Constantine wanted to memorialise his imperial piety, was the familiar conventional architecture of the basilicas. In, and often also in front of, the apse was a platform, where the altar was placed. Constantine built a basilica of this type in his complex at Trier, later very easily adopted for use as a church
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Giovanni Battista de Rossi
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Giovanni Battista de Rossi was an Italian archaeologist, famous even outside his field for rediscovering early Christian catacombs. These skills he brought to Early Christian sites and guided the development of a new field and he travelled widely, knew all the museum collections intimately and was at the center of a network of professional friendships with all the European scholars of his fields. In 1849 he rediscovered the lost Catacombs of Callixtus along the Via Appia Antica, the catacombs were opened in the early 3rd century, as the principal Christian cemetery in Rome, where nine 3rd-century popes were buried. He published illustrations by Gregorio Mariani, in 1877 he became foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 1882, he was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society. In 1888 de Rossi discovered that the Codex Amiatinus, the earliest surviving manuscript of the complete Bible in the Latin Vulgate version, was related to the Bibles mentioned by Bede. It was also established that the Codex Amiatinus was related to the Greenleaf Bible fragment in the British Library, for a thousand years the Codex Amiatinus was believed to be Italian in origin. It was only at time that de Rossi discovered that the original inscription was that of Ceolfrith of the English. Inscriptiones christianae Urbis Romae septimo saeculo antiquiores and his original plan was for a compendium of Christian inscriptions in the city of Rome of the first seven centuries. The series was continued after his death, the plates for the fourth volume were already at the printer when De Rossi died. A Christian counterpart to a classic of archaeology, Antonio Bosios La Roma Sotterranea. Six series of monographs and communications, which appeared monthly, then quarterly, then annually, mosaici delle chiese di Roma anteriori al secolo XV, a series of coloured lithographs with text in French and Italian illustrating the Late Antique and medieval mosaics of Rome. Codicum latinorum bibliothecae Vaticanae Rossis manuscript indexes of the Latin codices are used as reference books in the Vatican Library, inscriptiones Urbis Romae latinae volume VI of Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum of which Rossi was one of the leading editors. Martyrologium Hieronymianum, edited with Louis Duchesne in vol,1, November, of the Bollandists Acta Sanctorum. De Rossi, other people named de Rossi, catholic Encyclopedia 1908, Giovanni Battista de Rossi Chris Nyborg, Catacombe di San Callisto
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Early Christianity
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Early Christianity is the period of Christianity preceding the First Council of Nicaea in 325. It is typically divided into the Apostolic Age and the Ante-Nicene Period, the early Gospel message was spread orally, probably in Aramaic, but almost immediately also in Greek. After the conversion of Paul the Apostle, he claimed the title of Apostle to the Gentiles, Pauls influence on Christian thinking is said to be more significant than that of any other New Testament author. As the New Testament canon developed, the Pauline epistles, the canonical gospels, Early Christians demonstrated a wide range of beliefs and practices, many of which were later denounced as heretical. The earliest followers of Jesus composed an apocalyptic, Second Temple Jewish sect, the first part of the period, during the lifetimes of the Twelve Apostles, is called the Apostolic Age. The relationship of Paul the Apostle and Judaism is still disputed although Pauls influence on Christian thinking is said to be more significant than any other New Testament author and they think the Christians the cause of every public disaster, of every affliction with which the people are visited. The first action taken against Christians by the order of an emperor occurred half a century earlier under Nero after the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD. During the Ante-Nicene Period following the Apostolic Age, a diversity of views emerged simultaneously with strong unifying characteristics lacking in the apostolic period. Part of the trend was an increasingly harsh anti-Judaism and rejection of Judaizers. Early Christianity gradually grew apart from Judaism during the first two centuries and established itself as a predominantly gentile religion in the Roman Empire. From the writings of early Christians, historians have tried to piece together an understanding of various early Christian practices including worship services, customs, Early Christian writers such as Justin Martyr described these practices. Early Christian beliefs regarding baptism probably predate the New Testament writings and it seems certain that numerous Jewish sects and certainly Jesuss disciples practised baptism, which became integral to nearly every manifestation of the religion of the Jews. John the Baptist had baptized many people, before took place in the name of Jesus Christ. Many of the interpretations that would later become Orthodox Christian beliefs concerning baptism can be traced to such as Paul. On the basis of this description, it was supposed by some modern theologians that the early Christians practised baptism by submersion and this interpretation is debated between those Christian denominations who advocate immersion baptism exclusively and those who practice baptism by affusion or aspersion as well as by immersion. Yet the Didache, one of the earliest Christian writings on liturgical practices, the Orthodox Church continues this practice, submerging the baptized and then pouring water on the head in that formula. Infant baptism was practised at least by the 3rd century. Others believe that infants were excluded from the baptism of households, citing verses of the Bible that describe the baptized households as believing, in the 2nd century, Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, may have referred to it
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Pope
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The pope is the Bishop of Rome and, therefore, the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church. The current pope is Francis, who was elected on 13 March 2013, the office of the pope is the papacy. The pope is considered one of the worlds most powerful people because of his diplomatic and he is also head of state of Vatican City, a sovereign city-state entirely enclaved within the Italian capital city of Rome. The papacy is one of the most enduring institutions in the world and has had a prominent part in world history, the popes in ancient times helped in the spread of Christianity and the resolution of various doctrinal disputes. In the Middle Ages, they played a role of importance in Western Europe. Currently, in addition to the expansion of the Christian faith and doctrine, the popes are involved in ecumenism and interfaith dialogue, charitable work, Popes, who originally had no temporal powers, in some periods of history accrued wide powers similar to those of temporal rulers. In recent centuries, popes were gradually forced to give up temporal power, the word pope derives from Greek πάππας meaning father. The earliest record of the use of title was in regard to the by then deceased Patriarch of Alexandria. Some historians have argued that the notion that Peter was the first bishop of Rome, the writings of the Church Father Irenaeus who wrote around AD180 reflect a belief that Peter founded and organised the Church at Rome. Moreover, Irenaeus was not the first to write of Peters presence in the early Roman Church, Clement of Rome wrote in a letter to the Corinthians, c. 96, about the persecution of Christians in Rome as the struggles in our time and presented to the Corinthians its heroes, first, the greatest and most just columns, the good apostles Peter and Paul. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote shortly after Clement and in his letter from the city of Smyrna to the Romans he said he would not command them as Peter and Paul did. Given this and other evidence, many agree that Peter was martyred in Rome under Nero. Protestants contend that the New Testament offers no proof that Jesus established the papacy nor even that he established Peter as the first bishop of Rome, others, using Peters own words, argue that Christ intended himself as the foundation of the church and not Peter. First-century Christian communities would have had a group of presbyter-bishops functioning as leaders of their local churches, gradually, episcopacies were established in metropolitan areas. Antioch may have developed such a structure before Rome, some writers claim that the emergence of a single bishop in Rome probably did not occur until the middle of the 2nd century. In their view, Linus, Cletus and Clement were possibly prominent presbyter-bishops, documents of the 1st century and early 2nd century indicate that the Holy See had some kind of pre-eminence and prominence in the Church as a whole, though the detail of what this meant is unclear. It seems that at first the terms episcopos and presbyter were used interchangeably, the consensus among scholars has been that, at the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries, local congregations were led by bishops and presbyters whose offices were overlapping or indistinguishable
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Roman Catacombs". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "