1.
Cesare Maccari
–
Cesare Maccari was an Italian painter and sculptor, most famous for his 1888 painting Cicerone denuncia Catalina. Maccari was born in Siena, in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and he was a student of the Institute of the Fine Arts in Siena together with Tito Sarrocchi, working in sculpture and helping complete the Monumento Pianigiani in Siena. He later worked in the atelier of Luigi Mussini in Florence, there in 1864 he was commissioned by an English society to copy works of Bernardino Pinturicchio found in the Cathedral of Siena. Maccari soon won a stipend to study in Rome, that allowed him to travel through Italy. Among his first major oil canvases in Rome, Maccari painted Vittoria Colonna meditates on the Poetry of Michelangelo, another canvas, Sira che sacrifica la propia vita for the padrona Fabiola won a medal at the Exhibition of Termini. Next, his canvas Un palpito del passato was awarded a medal at the Exposition of Parma. He painted two figures in the church of Santa Francesca Romana and he was commissioned a Deposition by the marchesa di Cassibile. From 1870 to 1873, he was active as a fresco artist decorating the interior of the church of the Sudario in Rome and he also painted the lunette above the tomb of the Lombardi in Campo Verano. He painted in tempera, Love crowning the three Graces At the 1878 Turin Exposition, he sent an oil canvas depicting The Deposition of Pope Silverius by Antonina, the prize winning painting was purchased for the Civic Museum of Turin. In 1863, Maccari painted Leonardo che ritrae la Gioconda which won an award in 1865, in his home town Siena he decorated the Sala del Risorgimento in the public palace with frescoes that were well received by critics. The elder senator, Marcus Papirius, bravely seated motionless confronts the Gauls occupying Rome after the Battle of the Allia, samnites trying to bribe Curius Dentatus to convince the Senate to make peace. The museum adjacent to the Basilica has the preparatory studies and paintings by Maccari and they depict events that led to the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854. In later life, Maccari became a lecturer at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome and he became paralyzed while he was working on the Palace of Justice in Rome in 1909 and as a result stopped working as an artist. Among his pupils were Cesare Bertolotti and Giuseppe Aureli, Maccari has been praised for the way his paintings captured the description of events and how Catiline has been avoided by his fellow senators and sat alone while Cicero attacked him. Cicero was 43 years old at the time but looks older, and Catiline
Cesare Maccari
–
Cicero Denounces Catiline (1888)
2.
Palazzo Madama
–
Palazzo Madama in Rome is the seat of the Senate of the Italian Republic. It was built atop the ruins of the ancient baths of Nero, the terrain had been acquired in the Middle Ages by the monks of the Abbey of Farfa, who later ceded it to France. The new building was begun at the end of the 15th century and completed in 1505 and it housed two Medici cardinals and cousins, Giovanni and Giulio, who both later became popes as Leo X and Clement VII, respectively. Catherine de Medici, Clement VIIs niece, also lived here before she was married to Henry, cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte, patron of the artist Caravaggio, lived there until his death in 1627. Thus part of the art collection of the Florentine Medici family was inherited by the Farnese family, the current façade was built in the mid-1650s by both Cigoli and Paolo Maruccelli. The latter added the ornate cornice and whimsical decorative urns on the roof, after the extinction of the Medici in 1743, the palace was handed over to the House of Lorraine and, later, to Pope Benedict XIV, who made it the seat of the Papal Government. In 1849, Pius IX moved here the Ministries of Finances and of the Public Debt, in 1871, after the conquest of Rome by the newly formed Kingdom of Italy, the palazzo became the seat of the Senato del Regno
Palazzo Madama
–
Palazzo Madama, seat of the
Italian Senate
Palazzo Madama
–
Mid-17th century façade with cornice
3.
Ancient Rome
–
In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate the Mediterranean region and then Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and it is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond, its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia, the Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia and it would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of history from the pre-medieval Dark Ages of Europe. King Numitor was deposed from his throne by his brother, Amulius, while Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, because Rhea Silvia was raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine. The new king, Amulius, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, a she-wolf saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor. Romulus became the source of the citys name, in order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent, exiled, and unwanted. This caused a problem for Rome, which had a large workforce but was bereft of women, Romulus traveled to the neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables they all refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins, after a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, one woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they realized that they were in the ideal place to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships, the Roman poet Virgil recounted this legend in his classical epic poem the Aeneid
Ancient Rome
–
Senātus Populus que Rōmānus
Ancient Rome
–
Roman Republic
Ancient Rome
–
According to legend,
Rome was founded in 753 BC by
Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a she-wolf.
Ancient Rome
–
This bust from the
Capitoline Museums is traditionally identified as a portrait of
Lucius Junius Brutus.
4.
Second Catilinarian Conspiracy
–
In 63 BC, Cicero exposed the plot, forcing Catiline to flee from Rome. The conspiracy was chronicled by Sallust in his work The Conspiracy of Catiline, Catiline had been an unsuccessful candidate in the consular election several times. His only remaining chance of attaining the consulship would be through an illegitimate means, so he started a conspiracy, winning the support of a great number of other men of senatorial and equestrian rank. Many of the leading conspirators had faced political problems similar to his in the Senate. Publius Autronius Paetus was also complicit in their plot, since he was banned from holding office in the Roman government. Another leading conspirator, Lucius Cassius Longinus, who was praetor in 66 BC with Cicero, by the time that the election came around, he was no longer even regarded as a viable candidate. Gaius Cethegus, a young man at the time of the conspiracy, was noted for his violent nature. His impatience for rapid political advancement may account for his involvement in the conspiracy, the ranks of the conspirators included a variety of other patricians and plebeians who had been cast out of the political system for various reasons. Many of them sought the restoration of their status as senators, promoting his policy of debt relief, Catiline initially also rallied many of the poor to his banner along with a large portion of Sulla’s veterans. Debt had never been greater than in 63 BC since the decades of war had led to an era of economic downturn across the Italian countryside. Numerous plebeian farmers lost their farms and were forced to move to the city, sullas veterans were in bad economic straits as well. Desiring to regain their fortunes, they were prepared to march to war under the banner of the next Sulla, thus, many of the plebs eagerly flocked to Catiline and supported him in the hope of the absolution of their debts. Catiline sent Gaius Manlius, a centurion from Sulla’s old army, others were sent to aid the conspiracy in important locations throughout Italy, and even a small slave revolt which had begun in Capua. While civil unrest was felt throughout the countryside, Catiline made the preparations for the conspiracy in Rome. Their plans included arson and the murder of a portion of the senators. Finally, they would return to Rome and take control of the government, fortunately for Cicero, he escaped death that morning by placing guards at the entrance of his house who scared the conspirators away. On the following day, Cicero convened the Senate in the Temple of Jupiter Stator, however, some sources suggest that the Senate didnt believe Cicero at all. He finally accused them of placing their faith in a homo novus, Cicero, over a nobilis, supposedly, Catiline violently concluded that he would put out his own fire with the general destruction of all
Second Catilinarian Conspiracy
–
Cicero Denouncing Catiline by
Cesare Maccari
5.
Roman Republic
–
It was during this period that Romes control expanded from the citys immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world. During the first two centuries of its existence, the Roman Republic expanded through a combination of conquest and alliance, by the following century, it included North Africa, most of the Iberian Peninsula, and what is now southern France. Two centuries after that, towards the end of the 1st century BC, it included the rest of modern France, Greece, and much of the eastern Mediterranean. By this time, internal tensions led to a series of wars, culminating with the assassination of Julius Caesar. The exact date of transition can be a matter of interpretation, Roman government was headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and advised by a senate composed of appointed magistrates. Over time, the laws that gave exclusive rights to Romes highest offices were repealed or weakened. The leaders of the Republic developed a tradition and morality requiring public service and patronage in peace and war, making military. Many of Romes legal and legislative structures can still be observed throughout Europe and much of the world in modern nation states, the exact causes and motivations for Romes military conflicts and expansions during the republic are subject to wide debate. While they can be seen as motivated by outright aggression and imperialism and they argue that Romes expansion was driven by short-term defensive and inter-state factors, and the new contingencies that these decisions created. In its early history, as Rome successfully defended itself against foreign threats in central and then northern Italy, with some important exceptions, successful wars in early republican Rome generally led not to annexation or military occupation, but to the restoration of the way things were. But the defeated city would be weakened and thus able to resist Romanizing influences. It was also able to defend itself against its non-Roman enemies. It was, therefore, more likely to seek an alliance of protection with Rome and this growing coalition expanded the potential enemies that Rome might face, and moved Rome closer to confrontation with major powers. The result was more alliance-seeking, on the part of both the Roman confederacy and city-states seeking membership within that confederacy. While there were exceptions to this, it was not until after the Second Punic War that these alliances started to harden into something more like an empire and this shift mainly took place in parts of the west, such as the southern Italian towns that sided with Hannibal. In contrast, Roman expansion into Spain and Gaul occurred as a mix of alliance-seeking, in the 2nd century BC, Roman involvement in the Greek east remained a matter of alliance-seeking, but this time in the face of major powers that could rival Rome. This had some important similarities to the events in Italy centuries earlier, with some major exceptions of outright military rule, the Roman Republic remained an alliance of independent city-states and kingdoms until it transitioned into the Roman Empire. It was not until the time of the Roman Empire that the entire Roman world was organized into provinces under explicit Roman control
Roman Republic
–
Route of Pyrrhus of Epirus
Roman Republic
–
Roman consul accompanied by two
lictors
Roman Republic
–
Gaius Gracchus, tribune of the people, presiding over the
Plebeian Council
Roman Republic
–
A Roman
denarius struck in 56 BC showing on one side the bust of the
Goddess Diana, and on the reverse the Roman general
Lucius Cornelius Sulla is offered an olive branch by his ally
Bocchus I as the captive
Jugurtha kneels beside Sulla with his hands bound.
6.
Senate of the Roman Republic
–
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. It was not a body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls. After a Roman magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic appointment to the Senate, according to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government. However, since the Senate controlled money, administration, and the details of foreign policy, originally the chief-magistrates, the consuls, appointed all new senators. They also had the power to individuals from the Senate. Around the year 318 BC, the Ovinian Plebiscite gave this power to another Roman magistrate, the censor and this law also required the censors to appoint any newly elected magistrate to the Senate. Thus, after this point in time, election to magisterial office resulted in automatic Senate membership, the appointment was for life, although the censor could impeach any senator. The Senate directed the magistrates, especially the consuls, in their prosecution of military conflicts, the Senate also had an enormous degree of power over the civil government in Rome. This was especially the case with regards to its management of state finances, in addition, the Senate passed decrees called senatus consultum, which was officially advice from the Senate to a magistrate. While technically these decrees did not have to be obeyed, in practice, during an emergency, the Senate could authorize the appointment of a dictator. The last ordinary dictator, however, was appointed in 202 BC, after 202 BC, the Senate responded to emergencies by passing the senatus consultum ultimum, which suspended civil government and declared something analogous to martial law. The rules and procedures of the Roman Senate were both complex and ancient, many of these rules and procedures originated in the early years of the Republic, and were upheld over the centuries under the principle of mos maiorum. While Senate meetings could take place either inside or outside of the boundary of the city. Senate meetings might take place outside of the boundary of the city for several reasons. For example, the Senate might wish to meet with an individual, such as a foreign ambassador, at the beginning of the year, the first Senate meeting always took place at the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. Other venues could include the Temple of Fides or the Temple of Concord, or, if the meeting was outside of the boundary of the city. In addition, the Senate operated while under various religious restrictions, for example, before any meeting could begin, a sacrifice to the gods was made, and a search for divine omens was taken. The auspices were taken in order to determine whether that particular Senate meeting held favor with the gods, the Senate was only allowed to meet in a building of religious significance, such as the Curia Hostilia
Senate of the Roman Republic
–
Representation of a sitting of the Roman Senate:
Cicero attacks
Catilina, from a 19th-century fresco
Senate of the Roman Republic
–
Ancient Rome
7.
Second Catilinarian conspiracy
–
In 63 BC, Cicero exposed the plot, forcing Catiline to flee from Rome. The conspiracy was chronicled by Sallust in his work The Conspiracy of Catiline, Catiline had been an unsuccessful candidate in the consular election several times. His only remaining chance of attaining the consulship would be through an illegitimate means, so he started a conspiracy, winning the support of a great number of other men of senatorial and equestrian rank. Many of the leading conspirators had faced political problems similar to his in the Senate. Publius Autronius Paetus was also complicit in their plot, since he was banned from holding office in the Roman government. Another leading conspirator, Lucius Cassius Longinus, who was praetor in 66 BC with Cicero, by the time that the election came around, he was no longer even regarded as a viable candidate. Gaius Cethegus, a young man at the time of the conspiracy, was noted for his violent nature. His impatience for rapid political advancement may account for his involvement in the conspiracy, the ranks of the conspirators included a variety of other patricians and plebeians who had been cast out of the political system for various reasons. Many of them sought the restoration of their status as senators, promoting his policy of debt relief, Catiline initially also rallied many of the poor to his banner along with a large portion of Sulla’s veterans. Debt had never been greater than in 63 BC since the decades of war had led to an era of economic downturn across the Italian countryside. Numerous plebeian farmers lost their farms and were forced to move to the city, sullas veterans were in bad economic straits as well. Desiring to regain their fortunes, they were prepared to march to war under the banner of the next Sulla, thus, many of the plebs eagerly flocked to Catiline and supported him in the hope of the absolution of their debts. Catiline sent Gaius Manlius, a centurion from Sulla’s old army, others were sent to aid the conspiracy in important locations throughout Italy, and even a small slave revolt which had begun in Capua. While civil unrest was felt throughout the countryside, Catiline made the preparations for the conspiracy in Rome. Their plans included arson and the murder of a portion of the senators. Finally, they would return to Rome and take control of the government, fortunately for Cicero, he escaped death that morning by placing guards at the entrance of his house who scared the conspirators away. On the following day, Cicero convened the Senate in the Temple of Jupiter Stator, however, some sources suggest that the Senate didnt believe Cicero at all. He finally accused them of placing their faith in a homo novus, Cicero, over a nobilis, supposedly, Catiline violently concluded that he would put out his own fire with the general destruction of all
Second Catilinarian conspiracy
–
Cicero Denouncing Catiline by
Cesare Maccari
8.
Aristocracy (government)
–
Aristocracy is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning rule of the best, at the time of the words origins in Ancient Greece, the Greeks conceived it as rule by the best qualified citizens—and often contrasted it favourably with monarchy, rule by an individual. In later times, aristocracy was usually seen as rule by a group, the aristocratic class. The Greeks did not like the concept of monarchy, and as their democratic system fell, in Ancient Rome, the Republic consisted of an aristocracy—as well as consuls, a senate, and a tribal assembly. In the Middle Ages and early modern era, aristocracies primarily consisted of an aristocratic class, privileged by birth. Since the French Revolution, aristocracy has generally been contrasted with democracy, however, this distinction is often oversimplified. In exchange feudal aid is received from tenants or vassals, oaths of military allegiance, however an oligarchy, nobility or royalty had the right to set taxes, assemble or raise armies and command loyalty by virtue of traditional authority. In the 1651 book Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes describes an aristocracy as a commonwealth in which the representative of the citizens is an assembly by part and it is a system in which only a small part of the population represents the government. Modern depictions of aristocracy tend to regard it not as the ancient Greek concept of rule by the best, history, John Cannon, Oxford University Press,1997, ISBN 978-0-19-866176-4 Aristocracy in the Modern World, Ellis Wasson, Palgrave Macmillan,2006
Aristocracy (government)
–
Throughout the centuries
kings of Poland were elected by the
nobility in the fields outside
Warsaw
9.
Roman Senate
–
The Roman Senate was a political institution in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, during the days of the kingdom, it was little more than an advisory council to the king. The last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was following a coup détat led by Lucius Junius Brutus. During the early Republic, the Senate was politically weak, while the executive magistrates were quite powerful, since the transition from monarchy to constitutional rule was most likely gradual, it took several generations before the Senate was able to assert itself over the executive magistrates. By the middle Republic, the Senate had reached the apex of its republican power, the late Republic saw a decline in the Senates power, which began following the reforms of the tribunes Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus. After the transition of the Republic into the Principate, the Senate lost much of its power as well as its prestige. Following the constitutional reforms of the Emperor Diocletian, the Senate became politically irrelevant, when the seat of government was transferred out of Rome, the Senate was reduced to a municipal body. This decline in status was reinforced when the emperor Constantine the Great created an additional senate in Constantinople, the Senate in Rome ultimately disappeared at some point after AD603, although the title senator was still used well into the Middle Ages as a largely meaningless honorific. However, the Eastern Senate survived in Constantinople, until the ancient institution finally vanished there c. 14th century, the senate was a political institution in the ancient Roman kingdom. The word senate derives from the Latin word senex, which means old man, the early Roman family was called a gens or clan, and each clan was an aggregation of families under a common living male patriarch, called a pater. When the early Roman gentes were aggregating to form a common community, over time, the patres came to recognize the need for a single leader, and so they elected a king, and vested in him their sovereign power. When the king died, that power naturally reverted to the patres. The senate is said to have created by Romes first king, Romulus. The descendants of those 100 men subsequently became the patrician class, Romes fifth king, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, chose a further 100 senators. They were chosen from the leading families, and were accordingly called the patres minorum gentium. Romes seventh and final king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, executed many of the men in the senate. During the years of the monarchy, the senates most important function was to new kings. While the king was elected by the people, it was actually the senate who chose each new king
Roman Senate
Roman Senate
–
Ancient Rome
Roman Senate
–
The
Curia Julia in the
Roman Forum, the seat of the imperial Senate.
10.
Vestal Virgin
–
In ancient Rome, the Vestals or Vestal Virgins were priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the hearth. The College of the Vestals and its well-being were regarded as fundamental to the continuance and they cultivated the sacred fire that was not allowed to go out. Livy, Plutarch, and Aulus Gellius attribute the creation of the Vestals as a state-supported priestesshood to king Numa Pompilius, according to Livy, Numa introduced the Vestals and assigned them salaries from the public treasury. Livy also says that the priestesshood of Vesta had its origins at Alba Longa, the 2nd century antiquarian Aulus Gellius writes that the first Vestal taken from her parents was led away in hand by Numa. Plutarch attributes the founding of the Temple of Vesta to Numa, ambrose alludes to a seventh in late antiquity. Numa also appointed the pontifex maximus to watch over the Vestals, the first Vestals, according to Varro, were named Gegania, Veneneia, Canuleia, and Tarpeia. In myth, Tarpeia, daughter of Spurius Tarpeius, was portrayed as traitorous, the Vestals became a powerful and influential force in the Roman state. When Sulla included the young Julius Caesar in his proscriptions, the Vestals interceded on Caesars behalf, augustus included the Vestals in all major dedications and ceremonies. They were held in awe, and attributed certain magical powers and this gift was preserved inviolate till the time of the degenerate moneychangers, who diverted the maintenance of sacred chastity into a fund for the payment of base porters. A public famine ensued on this act, and a bad harvest disappointed the hopes of all the provinces and it was sacrilege which rendered the year barren, for it was necessary that all should lose that which they had denied to religion. The College of the Vestals was disbanded and the fire extinguished in 394. Zosimus records how the Christian noblewoman Serena, niece of Theodosius, entered the temple and took from the statue of the goddess a necklace and placed it on her own neck. An old woman appeared, the last of the Vestals, who proceeded to rebuke Serena, according to Zosimus, Serena was then subject to dreadful dreams predicting her own untimely death. The chief Vestal oversaw the efforts of the Vestals, and was present in the College of Pontiffs, the Vestalis Maxima Occia presided over the Vestals for 57 years, according to Tacitus. The last known chief vestal was Coelia Concordia, who stepped down in 394 with the disbanding of the College of the Vestals, the Vestalium Maxima was the most important of Romes high priestesses. The Flaminica Dialis and the regina sacrorum each held unique responsibility for religious rites. According to Plutarch, there were only two Vestal Virgins when Numa began the College of the Vestals and this number later increased to four, and then to six. It has been suggested by some authorities that a seventh was added later, the Vestals were committed to the priestesshood before puberty and sworn to celibacy for a period of 30 years
Vestal Virgin
–
Roman depiction of the Virgo Vestalis Maxima
Vestal Virgin
–
Flamen (250–260 AD)
Vestal Virgin
–
House of the Vestals and Temple of Vesta from the Palatine
Vestal Virgin
–
Early 18th-century depiction of the dedication of a Vestal, by
Alessandro Marchesini
11.
Gens Sergia
–
The gens Sergia, was a famous patrician family in ancient Rome, of which Lucius Sergius Catilina was a member. The Sergii were one of the oldest patrician families in Rome, although they were of consular heritage, the Sergii were by the time of the conspiracy of Catiline in the first century BCE declining in both social and financial fortunes. The last Sergius to be consul had been Gnaeus Sergius Fidenas Coxo in 380 BC, the Sergii regularly used the cognomina Esquilinus, Fidenas and Catilina. For an explanation of this practice, see filiation and he was believed to be the ancestor of gens Sergia. L. Sergius Esquilinus, military tribune in 450 and 449 BC. L. Sergius Catilina, a plot that was exposed by Cicero, forcing Catiline to flee Rome. Sergius Orata, merchant and hydraulic engineer known for the breeding and commercialization of oysters, L. Sergius Paulus, Proconsul of Cyprus under Claudius. Arch of the Sergii This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
Gens Sergia
–
Arch of the Sergii in Pula, Croatia
12.
Virgil
–
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil /ˈvɜːrdʒᵻl/ in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He wrote three of the most famous poems in Latin literature, the Eclogues, the Georgics, a number of minor poems, collected in the Appendix Vergiliana, are sometimes attributed to him. Virgil is traditionally ranked as one of Romes greatest poets and his Aeneid has been considered the national epic of ancient Rome from the time of its composition to the present day. Virgils work has had wide and deep influence on Western literature, most notably Dantes Divine Comedy, in which Virgil appears as Dantes guide through Hell, the tradition holds that Virgil was born in the village of Andes, near Mantua in Cisalpine Gaul. Analysis of his name has led to beliefs that he descended from earlier Roman colonists, modern speculation ultimately is not supported by narrative evidence either from his own writings or his later biographers. Macrobius says that Virgils father was of a background, however. He attended schools in Cremona, Mediolanum, Rome and Naples, after considering briefly a career in rhetoric and law, the young Virgil turned his talents to poetry. From Virgils admiring references to the neoteric writers Pollio and Cinna, it has been inferred that he was, for a time, according to Servius, schoolmates considered Virgil extremely shy and reserved, and he was nicknamed Parthenias or maiden because of his social aloofness. Virgil also seems to have suffered bad health throughout his life, according to the Catalepton, he began to write poetry while in the Epicurean school of Siro the Epicurean at Naples. A group of works attributed to the youthful Virgil by the commentators survive collected under the title Appendix Vergiliana. One, the Catalepton, consists of fourteen poems, some of which may be Virgils, and another. The biographical tradition asserts that Virgil began the hexameter Eclogues in 42 BC and it is thought that the collection was published around 39–38 BC, the Eclogues are a group of ten poems roughly modeled on the bucolic hexameter poetry of the Hellenistic poet Theocritus. The loss of his farm and the attempt through poetic petitions to regain his property have traditionally been seen as Virgils motives in the composition of the Eclogues. This is now thought to be an unsupported inference from interpretations of the Eclogues, the ten Eclogues present traditional pastoral themes with a fresh perspective. Eclogues 1 and 9 address the land confiscations and their effects on the Italian countryside,2 and 3 are pastoral and erotic, discussing both homosexual love and attraction toward people of any gender. Eclogue 4, addressed to Asinius Pollio, the so-called Messianic Eclogue uses the imagery of the age in connection with the birth of a child. Virgil came to many of the other leading literary figures of the time, including Horace, in whose poetry he is often mentioned, and Varius Rufus. At Maecenas insistence Virgil spent the years on the long didactic hexameter poem called the Georgics which he dedicated to Maecenas
Virgil
–
Depiction of Virgil, 3rd century AD ("Monnus-Mosaic",
Rheinisches Landesmuseum,
Trier)
Virgil
–
A
bust of Virgil in
Naples
Virgil
–
Page from the Eclogues in the 5th-century Vergilius Romanus
Virgil
–
Late 17th-century illustration of a passage from the Georgics by
Jerzy Siemiginowski-Eleuter
13.
Aeneas
–
In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas was a Trojan hero, the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Venus. His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy and he is a character in Greek mythology and is mentioned in Homers Iliad. Aeneas receives full treatment in Roman mythology, most extensively in Virgils Aeneid and he became the first true hero of Rome. Snorri Sturluson identifies him with the Norse Æsir Vidarr, Aeneas is the Latin spelling of Greek Αἰνείας. In the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, Aeneas is first introduced with Aphrodite naming him Αἰνείας for the αὶνóν ἄχος he caused her and it is a popular etymology for the name, apparently exploited by Homer in the Iliad. Later in the Medieval period there were writers who held that, as such, in the natural order, the meaning of Aeneas name combines Greek ennos and demas, which becomes ennaios, meaning in-dweller. However, there is no certainty regarding the origin of his name, in imitation of the Iliad, Virgil borrows epithets of Homer, including, Anchisiades, magnanimum, magnus, heros, and bonus. Though he borrows many, Virgil gives Aeneas two epithets of his own in the Aeneid, pater and pius. The epithets applied by Virgil are an example of a different from that of Homer, for whilst Odysseus is poikilios, Aeneas is described as pius. Likewise, Aeneas is called pater when acting in the interest of his men, the story of the birth of Aeneas is told in the Hymn to Aphrodite, one of the major Homeric Hymns. Aphrodite has caused the other gods Zeus, to fall in love with mortal women, in retaliation, Zeus puts desire in her heart for Anchises, who is tending his cattle among the hills near Mount Ida. When Aphrodite sees him she is smitten and she adorns herself as if for a wedding among the gods and appears before him. He is overcome by her beauty, believing that she is a goddess, after they make love, Aphrodite reveals her true identity to him and Anchises fears what might happen to him as a result of their liaison. Aphrodite assures him that he will be protected, and tells him that she bear him a son to be called Aeneas. However, she warns him that he must never tell anyone that he has lain with a goddess, when Aeneas is born, Aphrodite takes him to the nymphs of Mount Ida. She directs them to raise the child to age five, then take him to Anchises, according to other sources, Anchises later brags about his encounter with Aphrodite, and as a result is struck in the foot with a thunderbolt by Zeus. Thereafter he is lame in that foot, so that Aeneas has to carry him from the flames of Troy. Aeneas is a character in the Iliad, where he is twice saved from death by the gods as if for an as-yet-unknown destiny
Aeneas
–
Aeneas flees burning Troy,
Federico Barocci, 1598.
Aeneas
–
Painting Venus and Anchises by
William Blake Richmond (1889 or 90)
Aeneas
–
Aeneas carrying
Anchises, black-figured
oinochoe, ca. 520–510 BC,
Louvre (F 118)
Aeneas
–
Aeneas and Anchises
14.
Consul
–
Consul was the title of one of the chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently a somewhat significant title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other city states and also revived in modern states. The relating adjective is consular, from the consularis, in modern terminology, a consul is a type of diplomat. The American Heritage Dictionary defines consul as an appointed by a government to reside in a foreign country. Throughout most of southern France, a consul was an equivalent to the échevins of the north. The most prominent were those of Bordeaux and Toulouse, which came to be known as jurats and capitouls, the capitouls of Toulouse were granted transmittable nobility. In many other towns the first consul, was the equivalent of a mayor today, assisted by a variable number of secondary consuls. His main task was to levy and collect tax, the Dukes of Gaeta often used also the title of consul in its Greek form Hypatos. The city-state of Genoa, unlike ancient Rome, bestowed the title of consul on various state officials, among these were Genoese officials stationed in various Mediterranean ports, whose role included helping Genoese merchants and sailors in difficulties with the local authorities. This institution, with its name, was emulated by other powers and is reflected in the modern usage of the word. In reality, the first consul, Bonaparte, dominated his two colleagues and held power, soon making himself consul for life and eventually, in 1804. Chief magistrate, an office held for four months by one of the consuls. As noted above, Bologna already had consuls at some parts of its Medieval history, while many cities had a double-headed chief magistracy, often another title was used, such as Duumvir or native styles such as Meddix, but consul was used in some. It was not uncommon for an organization under Roman private law to copy the terminology of state, the founding statute, or contract, of such an organisation was called lex, law. The people elected each year were patricians, members of the upper class. org, see each present country
Consul
–
A portrait of the three Consuls,
Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès,
Napoleon Bonaparte and
Charles-François Lebrun (left to right)
15.
Pompey
–
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, usually known in English as Pompey /ˈpɒmpiː/ or Pompey the Great, was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic. He came from a wealthy Italian provincial background, and his father had been the first to establish the family among the Roman nobility, Pompeys immense success as a general while still very young enabled him to advance directly to his first consulship without meeting the normal requirements for office. His success as a commander in Sullas Second Civil War resulted in Sulla bestowing the nickname Magnus. He was consul three times and celebrated three triumphs, after the deaths of Julia and Crassus, Pompey sided with the optimates, the conservative faction of the Roman Senate. Pompey and Caesar then contended for the leadership of the Roman state, when Pompey was defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC, he sought refuge in Egypt, where he was assassinated. His career and defeat are significant in Romes subsequent transformation from Republic to Empire, Pompeys family first gained the position of Consul in 141 BC. Pompeys father, Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, was an equestrian from Picenum. He fought the Social War against Romes Italian allies and he supported Sulla, who belonged to the optimates, the pro-aristocracy faction, against Marius, who belonged to the populares, in Sullas first civil war. He died during the siege of Rome by the Marians in 87 BC, either as a casualty of an epidemic and his twenty-year-old son Pompey inherited his estates, and the loyalty of his legions. Pompey had served two years under his fathers command, and had participated in the part of the Social War. When his father died, Pompey was put on due to accusations that his father stole public property. As his father’s heir Pompey could be held to account and he discovered that this was committed by one of his fathers freedmen. Following his preliminary bouts with his accuser, the took a liking to Pompey and offered his daughter. Another civil war broke out between the Marians and Sulla, Cassius Dio added that Pompey had sent a detachment to pursue him, but he outstripped them by crossing the River Phasis. He reached the Maeotis and stayed in the Cimmerian Bosporus and he had his son Machares, who ruled it and gone over to the Romans, killed and recovered that country. Meanwhile, Pompey set up a colony for his soldiers at Nicopolitans in Cappadocia, in Plutarchs account Pompey was invited to invade Armenia by Tigranes’ son, who rebelled against his father. The two men received the submission of several towns, when they got close Artaxata Tigranes, knowing Pompey’s leniency, surrendered and allowed a Roman garrison in his palace. Pompey offered the restitution of the Armenian territories in Syria, Phoenicia, Cilicia, Galatia and he demanded an indemnity and ruled that the son should be king of Sophene
Pompey
–
Pompey the Great in middle age,
marble bust in the
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek,
Copenhagen,
Denmark.
Pompey
–
Roman statue of Pompey, at the Villa Arconati a Castellazzo di Bollate (Milan, Italy). It was brought there from Rome in 1627 by Galeazzo Arconati.
Pompey
–
Bust of Pompey in the
Residenz, Munich
Pompey
–
Pompey
16.
Cicero
–
Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator, political theorist, consul, and constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy family of the Roman equestrian order. According to Michael Grant, the influence of Cicero upon the history of European literature, Cicero introduced the Romans to the chief schools of Greek philosophy and created a Latin philosophical vocabulary distinguishing himself as a translator and philosopher. Though he was an orator and successful lawyer, Cicero believed his political career was his most important achievement. During the chaotic latter half of the 1st century BC marked by civil wars, following Julius Caesars death, Cicero became an enemy of Mark Antony in the ensuing power struggle, attacking him in a series of speeches. His severed hands and head were then, as a revenge of Mark Antony. Petrarchs rediscovery of Ciceros letters is often credited for initiating the 14th-century Renaissance in public affairs, humanism, according to Polish historian Tadeusz Zieliński, the Renaissance was above all things a revival of Cicero, and only after him and through him of the rest of Classical antiquity. Cicero was born in 106 BC in Arpinum, a hill town 100 kilometers southeast of Rome and his father was a well-to-do member of the equestrian order and possessed good connections in Rome. However, being a semi-invalid, he could not enter public life, although little is known about Ciceros mother, Helvia, it was common for the wives of important Roman citizens to be responsible for the management of the household. Ciceros brother Quintus wrote in a letter that she was a thrifty housewife, Ciceros cognomen, or personal surname, comes from the Latin for chickpea, cicer. Plutarch explains that the name was given to one of Ciceros ancestors who had a cleft in the tip of his nose resembling a chickpea. However, it is likely that Ciceros ancestors prospered through the cultivation. Romans often chose down-to-earth personal surnames, the family names of Fabius, Lentulus, and Piso come from the Latin names of beans, lentils. Plutarch writes that Cicero was urged to change this name when he entered politics. During this period in Roman history, cultured meant being able to speak both Latin and Greek, Cicero used his knowledge of Greek to translate many of the theoretical concepts of Greek philosophy into Latin, thus translating Greek philosophical works for a larger audience. It was precisely his broad education that tied him to the traditional Roman elite, according to Plutarch, Cicero was an extremely talented student, whose learning attracted attention from all over Rome, affording him the opportunity to study Roman law under Quintus Mucius Scaevola. Ciceros fellow students were Gaius Marius Minor, Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the latter two became Ciceros friends for life, and Pomponius would become, in Ciceros own words, as a second brother, with both maintaining a lifelong correspondence. Cicero wanted to pursue a career in politics along the steps of the Cursus honorum
Cicero
–
A first century AD bust of Cicero in the
Capitoline Museums, Rome
Cicero
–
The Young Cicero Reading by
Vincenzo Foppa (fresco, 1464), now at the
Wallace Collection
Cicero
–
Cicero Denounces Catiline,
fresco by
Cesare Maccari, 1882–88
Cicero
–
Cicero's death (France, 15th century)
17.
Gaius Marius
–
Gaius Marius was a Roman general and statesman. He held the office of consul an unprecedented seven times during his career, Marius defeated the invading Germanic tribes, for which he was called the third founder of Rome. His life and career were significant in Romes transformation from Republic to Empire, Marius was born in 157 BC in the town of Arpinum in southern Latium. The town had been conquered by the Romans in the late 4th century BC and was given Roman citizenship without voting rights, only in 188 BC did the town receive full citizenship. The problems he faced in his career in Rome show the difficulties that faced a new man. Since eagles were considered sacred animals of Jupiter, the god of the Romans. Later, as consul, he decreed that the eagle would be the symbol of the Senate, in 134 BC, he was serving with the army at Numantia and his good services brought him to the attention of Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus. Whether he arrived with Scipio Aemilianus or was already serving in the army that Scipio Aemilianus took over at Numantia is not clear. According to Plutarch, during a conversation after dinner, when the conversation turned to generals, Aemilianus then gently tapped on Marius shoulder, saying, Perhaps this is the man. It would seem that even at this stage in his army career. He ran for election as one of the special military tribunes of the first four legions who were elected. Sallust tells us that he was unknown by sight to the electors but was returned by all the tribes on the basis of his accomplishments, next, he ran for the quaestorship after losing an election for local office in Arpinum. The military tribunate shows that he was interested in Roman politics before the quaestorship. Perhaps he simply ran for office as a means of gaining support back home. Nothing is known of his actions while quaestor, in 120 BC, Marius was returned as plebeian tribune for the following year. He won with the support of Quintus Caecilius Metellus, who was an inherited patronus, the Metelli, though neither ancient nor patrician, were one of the most powerful families in Rome at this time. During his tribunate, Marius pursued a populares line and he passed a law that restricted the interference of the wealthy in elections. In the 130s voting by ballot had been introduced in elections for choosing magistrates, passing laws and deciding legal cases, in the passage of this law, Marius alienated the Metelli, who opposed it
Gaius Marius
–
Bust of Gaius Marius at
Munich Glyptothek
Gaius Marius
–
"Marius Amid the Ruins of Carthage" by
John Vanderlyn
18.
Lucius Cornelius Cinna
–
Lucius Cornelius Cinna was a four-time consul of the Roman Republic, serving four consecutive terms from 87 to 84 BC, and a member of the ancient Roman Cinna family of the Cornelii gens. Cinnas influence in Rome exacerbated the tensions which existed between Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla, after the death of Marius, he became the leading power in Rome until his own death. His main impact upon Roman politics was his ability to veil his tyranny and his policies also impinged on Julius Caesar, who married his daughter. Not much is known about Cinna before his bid for the consulship of 87 BC and he had praetorian rank in the Social War, and had most likely also been praetor previous to this time. Cinna was elected as Roman consul in 87 BC, but historians disagree about who supported his election and what his own political goals. All seem to agree on a chain of events, however. The people had intentionally elected candidates who were not supported by Sulla, Sulla had a little more control over the election for consul, or at least, had enough power to be certain no one who supported his rival, Marius, could be elected. Sulla seems to have supported Cinna as a candidate, but clearly did not trust him. Somehow then, Cinna had enough support to be elected, various theories on who supported him and why are postulated based on what he did while in office, but all agree that Sulla was correct in his distrust. Gnaeus Octavius was elected as Cinnas colleague under relatively similar circumstances, one of Cinnas first decisions as consul was not to let his oath to Sulla influence his decisions as consul. Cinna argued that the oath should not prevent him helping the people of Rome. Soon after this, Cinna sought to remove Sulla from the city and he brought some sort of charge against Sulla soon after coming to power. Sulla, rather than facing the charge, escaped with his army and this left only Octavius and the Senate to defend the causes of Sulla in Rome. Cinna eventually supported many causes, which leads to debate concerning his original goals. Two causes predominated, that of the exiles and that of the Italians, Marius and his supporters, as well as many prominent supporters of Publius Sulpicius Rufus, had been exiled from Rome under Sullas rule, but were still very popular amongst the people. It is clear there were later connections between Cinna and this group, but it is not clear at what point he took up this cause. The other cause, to which Cinna can be more connected, is that of the “novus homo” or “new citizen”. These were members of Italian tribes who had been promised citizenship as a condition of peace in the Social War, technically they had been given citizenship, but in such a way that they had no real power
Lucius Cornelius Cinna
–
Gaius Marius
Lucius Cornelius Cinna
–
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Cinna
–
Cinna's daughter Cornelia, who married Julius Caesar.
Lucius Cornelius Cinna
–
Cornelia and Caesar's daughter Julia
19.
Sulla
–
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, known commonly as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He had the distinction of holding the office of consul twice, Sulla was a skillful general, achieving numerous successes in wars against different opponents, both foreign and Roman. He was awarded a crown, the most prestigious Roman military honor. Sullas dictatorship came during a point in the struggle between optimates and populares, the former seeking to maintain the Senates oligarchy, and the latter espousing populism. In a dispute over the army command Sulla unconstitutionally marched his armies into Rome. Sullas ascension was also marked by purges in proscriptions. After seeking election to and holding a second consulship, he retired to private life, later leaders like Julius Caesar would follow his precedent in attaining political power through force. In Plutarchs Parallel Lives Sulla is paired with the Spartan general, in older sources, his name may be found as Sylla. This is a Hellenism, like sylva for classical Latin silva, lacking ready money, Sulla spent his youth amongst Rome’s comics, actors, lute-players, and dancers. It seems certain that Sulla received a good education, sallust declares him well-read and intelligent, and he was fluent in Greek, which was a sign of education in Rome. Rome declared war on Jugurtha in 111 BC, but for five years Roman legions under Quintus Caecilius Metellus were unsuccessful, Gaius Marius, a lieutenant of Metellus, saw an opportunity to usurp his commander and fed rumors of incompetence and delay to the publicani in the region. These machinations caused calls for Metelluss removal, despite delaying tactics by Metellus, Marius was elected consul and took over the campaign while Sulla was nominated quaestor to him. He had persuaded Jugurthas father-in-law, King Bocchus I of Mauretania and it was a dangerous operation from the first, with King Bocchus weighing up the advantages of handing Jugurtha over to Sulla or Sulla over to Jugurtha. The publicity attracted by this feat boosted Sullas political career, a gilded equestrian statue of Sulla donated by King Bocchus was erected in the Forum to commemorate his accomplishment. Although Sulla had engineered this move, as Sulla was serving under Marius at the time, in 104 BC, the migrating Germanic-Celtic alliance headed by the Cimbri and the Teutones seemed to be heading for Italy. As Marius was the best general Rome had, the Senate allowed him to lead the campaign against them, Sulla served on Marius staff as tribunus militum during the first half of this campaign. Finally, with those of his colleague, proconsul Quintus Lutatius Catulus, Marius forces faced the enemy tribes at the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BC. Sulla had by this time transferred to the army of Catulus to serve as his legatus, victorious at Vercellae, Marius and Catulus were both granted triumphs as the co-commanding generals
Sulla
–
Apparent bust of Sulla in the
Munich Glyptothek
Sulla
–
AR Denarius (3.80 g, 5h). Rome mint. Front: Diana wearing cruciform earring and double necklace of pearls and pendants, and jewels in hair pulled into a knot; crescent above, lituus behind. Reverse: Sulla seated on a raised seat with a bound Jugurtha kneeling beside him; before him kneels Bocchus, offering an olive-branch. The coin portrays Sulla's first great victory, in which he ended the Jugurthine War.
Sulla
–
Asia Minor just before the First Mithridatic War
Sulla
–
Lucius Cornelius Sulla - a denarius portrait issued by his grandson.
20.
Marcus Marius Gratidianus
–
As praetor, Gratidianus is known for his policy of currency reform during the economic crisis of the 80s. Born Marcus Gratidius, Gratidianus was the son of Marcus Gratidius of Arpinum and Maria, after his fathers death, he was adopted by his uncle, Marcus Marius, whose name he then assumed according to Roman custom, becoming Marcus Marius Gratidianus. Gratidianus aunt married Marcus Tullius Cicero, grandfather of the celebrated orator, Gratidianus was a close friend of his cousin, the young Cicero. Gratidius, his father, was a close friend of Marcus Antonius the orator. He was killed circa 102 BC, while serving as a prefect under Antonius in Cilicia, orata was not without his own high-powered speaker, in the person of Lucius Licinius Crassus. Sometime before 91 BC, a claim, probably also a suit, was filed against Gratidianus by Gaius Visellius Aculeo. A Lucius Aelius Lamia spoke on behalf of Gratidianus, but the grounds for the suit are unknown and this Marius defeated Publius Servilius Vatia and took control of his army. By the end of 87, Gratidianus had returned to Rome with Cinna and he took on the prosecution of Quintus Lutatius Catulus, a move that was later to prove fateful. Catulus had been the colleague of Marius during his consulship in 102 BC, and had shared his triumph over the Cimbri, rather than face the inevitable guilty verdict, Catulus committed suicide. The charge was probably perduellio, submitted to the judgment of the people, as praetor in 85, Gratidianus was among those officials who attempted to address Romes economic crisis. A number of praetors and tribunes drafted a reform measure to reassert the former official exchange rate of silver and the bronze as. Gratidianus seized the opportunity to attach his name to the edict, an alternative view of the reform, based mainly on a hopelessly confused statement by Pliny, is that Gratidianus introduced a method for detecting counterfeit money. Cicero says the people expressed their gratitude by offering wine and incense before images of Gratidianus at street-corner shrines, each neighborhood had a compitum within which its guardian spirits, or Lares, were thought to reside. During the Compitalia, a new festival, the cult images were displayed in procession. Festus and Macrobius thought that the dolls were ritual replacements for human sacrifices to the spirits of the dead, in historical times, the Compitalia included a purification and the sacrifice of a pig who was first paraded around the city. Street theater, including farces that satirized current political events, was a feature, because it encouraged the people to assemble and possibly foment insurrection, there were sporadic efforts among the elite to regulate or suppress the Compitalia. The political aspect suggests why the display of Gratidianus image would be viewed as dangerous in the rivalry between the populares and the optimates, the faction of Sulla, Cicero uses his cousins subsequent fall as a cautionary tale about relying on popular support. This form of devotion toward a living man has also pointed to as a precedent for so-called emperor worship in the Imperial era
Marcus Marius Gratidianus
–
The young Cicero may have witnessed the execution of Gratidianus
Marcus Marius Gratidianus
–
This drawing of a fragmentary
bas-relief depicting the
Compitalia shows the kind of images honored at street shrines (compita)
21.
Cilicia
–
In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor and existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia during the late Byzantine Empire. Extending inland from the southeastern coast of modern Turkey, Cilicia is due north and northeast of the island of Cyprus, Cilicia extended along the Mediterranean coast east from Pamphylia, to the Nur Mountains, which separated it from Syria. North and east of Cilicia lie the rugged Taurus Mountains that separate it from the central plateau of Anatolia. Ancient Cilicia was naturally divided into Cilicia Trachaea and Cilicia Pedias by the Limonlu River, salamis, the city on the east coast of Cyprus, was included in its administrative jurisdiction. Homer mentions the people of Mopsus, identified as Cilices, as from the Troad in the northernwesternmost part of Anatolia, the English spelling Cilicia is the same as the Latin, as it was transliterated directly from the Greek form Κιλικία. The palatalization of c occurring in the west in later Vulgar Latin accounts for its pronunciation in English. The district is watered by the Calycadnus and was covered in ancient times by forests that supplied timber to Phoenicia, many of its high places were fortified. The plain is watered by the three rivers, the Cydnus, the Sarus and the Pyramus, each of which brings down much silt from the deforested interior. The Sarus now enters the sea almost due south of Tarsus, but there are indications that at one period it joined the Pyramus. Through the rich plain of Issus ran the great highway that linked east and west, on which stood the cities of Tarsus on the Cydnus, Adana on the Sarus, Cilicia was settled from the Neolithic period onwards. Dating of the ancient settlements of the region from Neolithic to Bronze Age is as follows, Aceramic/Neolithic, 8th and 7th millennia BC, Early Chalcolithic,5800 BC, Middle Chalcolithic, c. 3400 BC, and Early Bronze Age IA, 3400–3000 BC, EBA IB, 3000–2700 BC, EBA II, 2700–2400 BC, EBA III A-B, the area had been known as Kizzuwatna in the earlier Hittite era. The region was divided into two parts, Uru Adaniya, a plain, and rough Cilicia, in the mountainous west. The Cilicians appear as Hilikku in Assyrian inscriptions, and in the part of the first millennium BC were one of the four chief powers of Western Asia. Homer mentions the plain as the Aleian plain in which Bellerophon wandered, the Cilician cities unknown to Homer already bore their pre-Greek names, Tarzu, Ingira, Danuna-Adana, which retains its ancient name, Pahri, Kundu and Karatepe. After the death of Murshili around 1595 BC, Hurrians wrested control from the Hitties, the first king of free Cilicia, Išputahšu, son of Pariyawatri, was recorded as a great king in both cuneiform and Hittite hieroglyphs. Another record of Hittite origins, a treaty between Išputahšu and Telipinu, king of the Hittites, is recorded in both Hittite and Akkadian. Niqmepa, who succeeded Idrimi as king of Alalakh, went so far as to ask for help from a Hurrian rival, Shaushtatar of Mitanni, to try and reduce Cilicias power in the region
Cilicia
–
Fugitive slave treaty between Idrimi of
Alalakh (now
Tell Atchana) and Pillia of
Kizzuwatna (now Cilicia), (c. 1480 BC) Ref: 131447.
Cilicia
–
Cilicia
Cilicia
–
The Persian
Pharnabazus, pictured, as Satrap of Cilicia (379-374 BC).
British Museum.
Cilicia
–
A Roman-period triumphal arch at
Anazarbus, later converted into the city's south gate
22.
Praetor
–
Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities, the commander of an army, or, an elected magistratus, assigned various duties. The prefix prae is an indication that the title-holder was prior, in some way. Livy mentions that the Latini were led and governed in warfare by two of them and the Samnites by one, a dictator was called the praetor maximus. The use of the adjectives in a number of circumstances testify to a general sense. The leadership functions of any body at Rome might be termed praetorial. The praetoria potestas in Republican Rome was at first held by the consuls and these two officials, elected on a yearly basis, inherited the power of the king. Very likely, the king himself was the first praetor, Let there be two with the authority of the king, and let them be called praetors, judges and consuls from their going before, judging and consulting. Let them have the right of command of the military. This etymology of praetor became and remains the standard, cicero considers the word to contain the same elemental parts as the verb praeire. In exactly what way he goes before did not survive, livy explains that in the year 366 BC the praetura was created to relieve the consuls of their judicial duties. The praetor was, in an English sense, the chief justice, the consuls were his peers, he was elected by the same electorate and sworn in on the same day with the same oath. Until 337 BC the praetor was chosen only from the patricians, from then on, praetors appear frequently in Roman history, first as generals and judges, then as provincial governors. Beginning in the late Republic, a former Praetor could serve as a Propraetor, the elected praetor was a magistratus curulis, exercised imperium, and consequently was one of the magistrati majores. He had the right to sit in the sella curulis and wear the toga praetexta and he was attended by six lictors. A praetor was a magistrate with imperium within his own sphere, the potestas and imperium of the consuls and the praetors under the Republic should not be exaggerated. They did not use independent judgment in resolving matters of state, unlike todays executive branches, they were assigned high-level tasks directly by senatorial decree under the authority of the SPQR. Livy describes the assignments given to consuls or praetors in some detail. As magistrates, they had standing duties to perform, especone principle that limited what could be assigned to them was that their duties must not concern them with minima and they were by definition doers of maxima
Praetor
–
Ancient Rome
23.
Africa Province
–
The Roman province of Africa Proconsularis was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day Tunisia, the northeast of modern-day Algeria, and it was one of the wealthiest provinces in the western part of the empire, second only to Italia. The Arabs later named roughly the same region as the original province Ifriqiya, the land acquired for the province of Africa was the site of the ancient city of Carthage. Other large cities in the region included Hadrumetum, capital of Byzacena, the province was established by the Roman Republic in 146 BC, following the Third Punic War. Rome established its first African colony, Africa Proconsularis or Africa Vetus, governed by a proconsul, utica was formed as the administrative capital. The remaining territory was left in the domain of the Numidian client king Massinissa, at this time, the Roman policy in Africa was simply to prevent another great power from rising on the far side of Sicily. In 118 BC, the Numidian prince Jugurtha attempted to reunify the smaller kingdoms, however, upon his death, much of Jugurthas territory was placed in the control of the Mauretanian client king Bocchus, and, by that time, the romanization of Africa was firmly rooted. In 27 BC, when the Republic had transformed into an Empire, several political and provincial reforms were implemented by Augustus and later by Caligula, but Claudius finalized the territorial divisions into official Roman provinces. After Diocletians administrative reforms, it was split into Africa Zeugitana in the north, the region remained a part of the Roman Empire until the Germanic migrations of the 5th century. The Vandals crossed into North Africa from Spain in 429 and overran the area by 439 and founded their own kingdom, including Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, the Vandals controlled the country as a warrior-elite. They also persecuted Catholicism, as the Vandals were adherents of Arianism, towards the end of the 5th century, the Vandal state fell into decline, abandoning most of the interior territories to the Mauri and other Berber tribes of the desert. In AD533, Emperor Justinian, using a Vandal dynastic dispute as pretext, in a short campaign, Belisarius defeated the Vandals, entered Carthage in triumph and re-established Roman rule over the province. The North African provinces, together with the Roman possessions in Spain, were grouped into the Exarchate of Africa by Emperor Maurice, the exarchate prospered, and from it resulted the overthrow of the emperor Phocas by Heraclius in 610. Heraclius briefly considered moving the capital from Constantinople to Carthage. After 640, the managed to stave off the Muslim Conquest, but in 698. Historian Theodore Mommsen estimated that under Hadrian nearly 1/3 of the eastern Numidia population was descended from Roman veterans, even so, the Roman military presence of North Africa was relatively small, consisting of about 28,000 troops and auxiliaries in Numidia and the two Mauretanian provinces. Starting in the 2nd century AD, these garrisons were manned mostly by local inhabitants, a sizable Latin speaking population developed that was multinational in background, sharing the north African region with those speaking Punic and Berber languages. Imperial security forces began to be drawn from the local population, however, the Roman territory in Africa was unevenly penetrated by Roman culture
Africa Province
–
Northern Africa under Roman rule
Africa Province
–
The province of Africa within the Roman Empire
Africa Province
–
Électrum tridrachme struck at Zeugitane in Carthage
Africa Province
–
The amphitheatre of Thysdrus (modern
El Djem)
24.
Roman consul
–
A consul was the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic, and the consulship was considered the highest level of the cursus honorum. Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term, the consuls alternated in holding imperium each month, and a consuls imperium extended over Rome, Italy, and the provinces. Originally, consuls were called praetors, referring to their duties as the military commanders. By at least 300 BC the title of Consul was being used, in Greek, the title was originally rendered as στρατηγός ὕπατος, strategos hypatos, and later simply as ὕπατος. The consul was believed by the Romans to date back to the establishment of the Republic in 509 BC. These remained in place until the office was abolished in 367/366 BC, consuls had extensive powers in peacetime, and in wartime often held the highest military command. Additional religious duties included certain rites which, as a sign of their formal importance, consuls also read auguries, an essential step before leading armies into the field. Two consuls were elected each year, serving together, each with power over the others actions. It is thought that only patricians were eligible for the consulship. Consuls were elected by the Comitia Centuriata, which had a bias in its voting structure which only increased over the years from its foundation. If a consul died during his term or was removed from office, a consul elected to start the year - called a consul ordinarius - held more prestige than a suffect consul, partly because the year would be named for ordinary consuls. The first plebeian consul, Lucius Sextius, was elected the following year and it is possible that only the chronology has been distorted, but it seems that one of the first consuls, Lucius Junius Brutus, came from a plebeian family. Another possible explanation is that during the 5th century social struggles, during times of war, the primary qualification for consul was military skill and reputation, but at all times the selection was politically charged. With the passage of time, the became the normal endpoint of the cursus honorum. When Lucius Cornelius Sulla regulated the cursus by law, the age of election to consul became. Beginning in the late Republic, after finishing a year, a former consul would usually serve a lucrative term as a proconsul. The most commonly chosen province for the proconsulship was Cisalpine Gaul, throughout the early years of the Principate although the consuls were still formally elected by the Comitia Centuriata, they were in fact nominated by the princeps. It was a post that would be occupied by a man halfway through his career, in his early thirties for a patrician, emperors frequently appointed themselves, or their protégés or relatives, consuls, even without regard to the age requirements
Roman consul
–
Flavius Anastasius Paulus Probus Sabinianus Pompeius Anastasius (consul 517 AD) in consular garb, holding a sceptre and the mappa, a piece of cloth used to signal the start of
chariot races at the
Hippodrome. Ivory panel from his
consular diptych.
Roman consul
–
Ancient Rome
25.
First Catilinarian conspiracy
–
The first Catilinarian conspiracy was a plot to murder the consuls of 65 BC and seize power. Historians consider it unlikely that Catiline would have involved in the first Catilinarian conspiracy or, indeed. In all likelihood, Catiline was not involved in the so-called first Catilinarian conspiracy, as it pertains to Catiline, much of the information originates in Cicero’s speech In Toga Candida which was given during his election campaign in 64 BC. Only fragments of this still exist, in the later writing of Asconius Pedianus. The consuls-designate, Publius Autronius Paetus and Publius Cornelius Sulla, were prevented from entering office because of ambitus, electoral corruption, under the Lex Acilia Calpurnia. Thus, the two leading candidates, Lucius Manlius Torquatus and Lucius Aurelius Cotta, were elected in a second election and were to enter office on January 1,65 BC. Then they would name themselves the consuls for the year and then Piso would have sent to organize the provinces in Hispania. Alternatively, Suetonius claims that Julius Caesar and Marcus Licinius Crassus directed the conspiracy, instead of assuming the consulship, Crassus is accused of planning to become dictator and intending to name Caesar magister equitum. In 62 BC, after Catilines death, Cicero defended Publius Sulla in court after he was indicted for being a member of the second conspiracy. In order to free his client of implication in the first Catilinarian conspiracy, he places the blame solely on Catiline who, in the end, Publius Sulla was acquitted, Catilines name was further tarnished, and Cicero received a large loan to purchase a home. Ciceros accusations prior to 63 BC are likely unfounded, since Rome had no penalty for libel, furthermore, Catiline had little motive to participate in this conspiracy, especially since he had been denied very little. He still held the aspiration of obtaining the consulship legitimately the next year, and the conspiracy involved the murder of the consul, Manlius Torquatus, the First Catilinarian Conspiracy, JSTOR, July,1964. The First Catilinarian Conspiracy, A Further Re-examination of the Evidence, Reinvention, a Journal of Undergraduate Research,2011
First Catilinarian conspiracy
–
Comic depiction of Cicero denouncing Catiline. (Note
anachronisms, such as
top hats and other
Victorian clothing.)
26.
Plebs
–
In ancient Rome, the plebs was the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census. From the 4th century BC or earlier, they were known as commoners, literary references to the plebs, however, usually mean the ordinary citizens of Rome as a whole, as distinguished from the elite—a sense retained by plebeian in English. In the very earliest days of Rome, plebeians were any tribe or clan without advisers to the King, in time, the word – which is related to the Greek word for crowd, plethos – came to mean the common people. In Latin the word plebs is a collective noun. The 19th-century historian Barthold Georg Niebuhr held that plebeians began to appear at Rome during the reign of Ancus Marcius and were possibly foreigners settling in Rome as naturalized citizens. In any case, at the outset of the Roman Republic, Plebeians were excluded from magistracies and religious colleges, and they were not permitted to know the laws by which they were governed. Plebeians served in the army, but rarely became military leaders, from the mid-4th century to the early 3rd century BC, several plebeian–patrician tickets for the consulship repeated joint terms, suggesting a deliberate political strategy of cooperation. Although nobilitas was not a social rank during the Republican era. Such a man was a homo, a new man or self-made noble and his sons. Marius and Cicero are notable examples of novi homines in the late Republic, when many of Romes richest and most powerful men—such as Lucullus, Crassus, and Pompeius—were plebeian nobles. Some or perhaps many noble plebeians, including Cicero and Lucullus, by contrast, the populares or peoples party, which sought to champion the plebs in the sense of common people, were sometimes led by patricians such as Julius Caesar and Clodius Pulcher. In the U. S. military, Plebes are freshmen at the U. S, Military Academy, U. S. Naval Academy, Valley Forge Military Academy, the Marine Military Academy, the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy, Georgia Military College, California Maritime Academy, the term is also used for new cadets at the Philippine Military Academy. Early public schools in the United Kingdom would enroll pupils as plebeians as opposed to sons of gentry, vulgarism Bread and circuses Capite censi Plebeian Council Plebgate – a scandal in the United Kingdom in 2012 Proletariat Roman Republic Jackson J. Spielvogel. Smiths Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, article Plebs Livius. org, Plebs Texts on Wikisource, Plebeians
Plebs
–
Plebes (first year students) marching in front of
Bancroft Hall,
United States Naval Academy
27.
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
–
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, known commonly as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He had the distinction of holding the office of consul twice, Sulla was a skillful general, achieving numerous successes in wars against different opponents, both foreign and Roman. He was awarded a crown, the most prestigious Roman military honor. Sullas dictatorship came during a point in the struggle between optimates and populares, the former seeking to maintain the Senates oligarchy, and the latter espousing populism. In a dispute over the army command Sulla unconstitutionally marched his armies into Rome. Sullas ascension was also marked by purges in proscriptions. After seeking election to and holding a second consulship, he retired to private life, later leaders like Julius Caesar would follow his precedent in attaining political power through force. In Plutarchs Parallel Lives Sulla is paired with the Spartan general, in older sources, his name may be found as Sylla. This is a Hellenism, like sylva for classical Latin silva, lacking ready money, Sulla spent his youth amongst Rome’s comics, actors, lute-players, and dancers. It seems certain that Sulla received a good education, sallust declares him well-read and intelligent, and he was fluent in Greek, which was a sign of education in Rome. Rome declared war on Jugurtha in 111 BC, but for five years Roman legions under Quintus Caecilius Metellus were unsuccessful, Gaius Marius, a lieutenant of Metellus, saw an opportunity to usurp his commander and fed rumors of incompetence and delay to the publicani in the region. These machinations caused calls for Metelluss removal, despite delaying tactics by Metellus, Marius was elected consul and took over the campaign while Sulla was nominated quaestor to him. He had persuaded Jugurthas father-in-law, King Bocchus I of Mauretania and it was a dangerous operation from the first, with King Bocchus weighing up the advantages of handing Jugurtha over to Sulla or Sulla over to Jugurtha. The publicity attracted by this feat boosted Sullas political career, a gilded equestrian statue of Sulla donated by King Bocchus was erected in the Forum to commemorate his accomplishment. Although Sulla had engineered this move, as Sulla was serving under Marius at the time, in 104 BC, the migrating Germanic-Celtic alliance headed by the Cimbri and the Teutones seemed to be heading for Italy. As Marius was the best general Rome had, the Senate allowed him to lead the campaign against them, Sulla served on Marius staff as tribunus militum during the first half of this campaign. Finally, with those of his colleague, proconsul Quintus Lutatius Catulus, Marius forces faced the enemy tribes at the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BC. Sulla had by this time transferred to the army of Catulus to serve as his legatus, victorious at Vercellae, Marius and Catulus were both granted triumphs as the co-commanding generals
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
–
Apparent bust of Sulla in the
Munich Glyptothek
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
–
AR Denarius (3.80 g, 5h). Rome mint. Front: Diana wearing cruciform earring and double necklace of pearls and pendants, and jewels in hair pulled into a knot; crescent above, lituus behind. Reverse: Sulla seated on a raised seat with a bound Jugurtha kneeling beside him; before him kneels Bocchus, offering an olive-branch. The coin portrays Sulla's first great victory, in which he ended the Jugurthine War.
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
–
Asia Minor just before the First Mithridatic War
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
–
Lucius Cornelius Sulla - a denarius portrait issued by his grandson.
28.
Proscription
–
Proscription is, in current usage, a decree of condemnation to death or banishment and can be used in a political context to refer to state-approved murder or banishment. The term originated in Ancient Rome, where it included public identification, during the dictatorial reign of Sulla, the word took on a more sinister meaning. In 82 or 81 BC, Sulla instituted the process of proscription in order to avenge the massacres of Gaius Marius and Gaius Marius’ son. He instituted a notice for the sale of confiscated property belonging to those declared public enemies of the state, there were multiple reasons why the ancient Roman government may have desired to proscribe or attribute multiple other forms of pain. One of the most prevalent reasons for punishment are treason crimes, treason crimes consisted of a very broad and large number of regulations, and such crimes had a negative effect on the government. Overall, crimes in which the state, emperor, the tranquility, or offenses against the good of the people would be considered treason. Punishments for treason were quite harsh for today’s standards and were meant to highlight the seriousness and shamefulness of the crimes committed. There were a variety of punishments for crimes, including death, loss of a freedman’s status, loss of citizenship with a loss of family rights. Death was a common punishment and was referred to as summum supplicium. The death sentence was often the punishment for all but the mildest forms of treason, Julius Caesar was an influential framer on the law on treason. The Interdiction from Water and Fire was a civil excommunication resulting in ultimate exile and those who were condemned would be deported to an island. Emperor Augustus frequently utilized this method of exile, as he desired to keep banished men from banding together in large groups, such punishment was only given for the mildest forms of treason, in comparison to the death penalty served for most other treason crimes. Augustus also created the prefect, whose powers included the ability to banish, deport, an early instance of mass proscription took place in 82 BC, when Lucius Cornelius Sulla was appointed dictator rei publicae constituendae. Sulla proceeded to have the Senate draw up a list of those he considered enemies of the state, no person could inherit money or property from proscribed men, nor could any woman married to a proscribed man remarry after his death. Many victims of proscription were decapitated and their heads were displayed on spears in the Forum and this gave rise to a general fear of being taken from ones home at night as a consequence of any outwardly seditious behaviour. Sullas proscription was bureaucratically overseen, and the names of informers, because Roman law could criminalise acts ex post facto, many informers and profiteers were later prosecuted. The proscription of 82 BC was overseen by Sullas freedman steward Lucius Cornelius Chrysogonus, the proscription lists created by Sulla led to mass terror in Rome. During this time, the cities of Italy became theaters of execution, citizens were terrified to find their names on the lists
Proscription
–
The Proscribed Royalist, 1651, painted by
John Everett Millais ca. 1853, in which a
Puritan woman hides a fleeing Royalist proscript in the hollow of a tree.
29.
Cato the Younger
–
A noted orator, he is remembered for his stubbornness and tenacity, as well as his immunity to bribes, his moral integrity, and his famous distaste for the ubiquitous corruption of the period. Cato was born in 95 BC in Rome, the son of Marcus Porcius Cato, drusus was murdered when Cato was 4 years old. Catos stubbornness began in his early years, Sarpedon, his teacher, reports a very obedient and questioning child, although slow in being persuaded of things and sometimes very difficult to retrain. In a playful mood, he asked the support for his cause. All of them nodded and smiled except Cato, who stared at the guest suspiciously, silo demanded an answer from him and, seeing no response, took Cato and hung him by the feet out of the window. Even then, Cato would not say anything, Plutarch recounts a few other stories as well. One night, as children were playing a game in a side room of a house during a social event, they were having a mock trial with judges. One of the children, supposedly a good-natured and pleasant child, was convicted by the accusers and was being carried out of the room when he cried out desperately for Cato. Cato became very angry at the children and, saying nothing, grabbed the child away from the guards. When Sulla asked them whom they would have, they all cried Cato, Sullas daughter Cornelia Sulla was married to the boys uncle Mamercus Aemilius Lepidus Livianus. Sarpedons answer was thus, They fear him, my child, Cato replied to this, Give me a sword, that I might free my country from slavery. After this, Sarpedon was careful not to leave the boy unattended around the capital, after receiving his inheritance, Cato moved from his uncles house and began to study Stoic philosophy and politics. He began to live in a very modest way, as his great-grandfather Marcus Porcius Cato the Elder had famously done, Cato subjected himself to violent exercise, and learned to endure cold and rain with a minimum of clothes. He ate only what was necessary and drank the cheapest wine on the market and this was entirely for philosophical reasons, his inheritance would have permitted him to live comfortably. He remained in private life for a time, rarely seen in public. But when he did appear in the forum, his speeches, Cato was first engaged to Aemilia Lepida, a patrician woman, but she was married instead to Quintus Caecilius Metellus Scipio, to whom she had been betrothed. Incensed, Cato threatened to sue for her hand, but his friends mollified him, later, Cato was married to a woman called Atilia. By her, he had a son, Marcus Porcius Cato, and a daughter, Porcia, Cato later divorced Atilia for unseemly behavior
Cato the Younger
–
Statue of Cato the Younger in the
Louvre Museum. He is about to kill himself while reading the
Phaedo, a dialogue of
Plato which details the death of Socrates. The statue was begun by
Jean-Baptiste Roman (
Paris, 1792–1835) using white
Carrara marble. It was finished by François Rude (
Dijon, 1784 – Paris, 1855).
Cato the Younger
–
Propaganda cup of Cato (the cup to the left, the one to the right being dedicated to
Catilina), for his election campaign for Tribune of the Plebs of 62 BC (left cup). These cups, filled with food or drinks, were distributed in the streets to the people, and bore an inscription supporting the candidate to the election.
Cato the Younger
–
Silver
denarius of Cato (47-46 BC)
30.
Quaestor
–
A quaestor was a public official in Ancient Rome. The position served different functions depending on the period, in the Roman Kingdom, quaestores parricidii were appointed by the king to investigate and handle murders. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials that supervised the state treasury and it was the lowest ranking position in the cursus honorum. In modern usage in Italy and Romania, a quaestor is a ranking officer on the police force. In some organizations, a quaestor is the officer that oversees its finances, the earliest quaestors were quaestores parricidii, an office dating back to the Kingdom of Rome. Quaestores parricidii were chosen to investigate crimes, and may have been appointed as needed rather than holding a permanent position. Ancient authors disagree on the manner of selection for this office as well as on its earliest institution. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials who supervised the treasury and financial affairs of the state, its armies, the quaestors tasked with financial supervision were also called quaestores aerarii, because they oversaw the aerarium in the Temple of Saturn. The earliest origins of the office is obscure, but by about 420 BC there were four quaestors elected each year by the Comitia Tributa, after 267 BC, the number was expanded to ten. The office of quaestor, usually a former broad-striped tribune, was adopted as the first official post of the cursus honorum, once elected as quaestor, a Roman man earned the right to sit in the Senate and began progressing through the cursus honorum. Quaestors were also given a fasces and were entitled to one lictor, every Roman consul, the highest elected official in the cursus honorum, and every provincial governor was appointed a quaestor. Some quaestors were assigned to work in the city and others in the provinces where their responsibilities could include being recruited into the military, some provincial quaestors were assigned as staff to military generals or served as second-in-command to governors in the Roman provinces. Still others were assigned to oversee military finances, lucius Cornelius Sullas reforms in 81 BC raised the number of quaestors to 20 and the minimum age for a quaestorship was 30 for patricians and 32 for plebeians. There were at that time twenty Quæstors elected annually, some of whom remained in Rome, when a Consul took the field with an army, he always had a Quæstor with him. This had become the case so generally that the Quæstor became, as it were, constantine the Great created the office quaestor sacri palatii which functioned as the Roman Empires senior legal official. The quaestor sacri palatii survived long into the Byzantine Empire, although its duties were altered to match the quaesitor, the term is last attested in 14th century Byzantium as a purely honorific title. Quaestor derives from the Latin verb quaero, quaerere, meaning to inquire, the job title has traditionally been understood as deriving from the original investigative function of the quaestores parricidii. However, this connection has been questioned by modern scholars, in Italy a quaestor heads the police of his province, and his office is called questura
Quaestor
–
Ancient Rome
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