Crucifixion of Jesus
The crucifixion of Jesus occurred in 1st century Judea, most probably between the years 30 and 33 AD. According to the gospels, the Christ, was arrested and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged. Jesus was stripped of his clothing and offered wine mixed with gall to drink and he was hung between two convicted thieves and according to Marks Gospel, died some six hours later. During this time, the soldiers affixed a sign to the top of the cross stating Jesus of Nazareth and they divided his garments among them, but cast lots for his seamless robe. After Jesus death they pierced his side with a spear to be certain that he had died, the Bible describes seven statements that Jesus made while he was on the cross, as well as several supernatural events that occurred. Collectively referred to as the Passion, Jesus suffering and redemptive death by crucifixion are the aspects of Christian theology concerning the doctrines of salvation. The baptism of Jesus and his crucifixion are considered to be two historically certain facts about Jesus, bart Ehrman states that the crucifixion of Jesus on the orders of Pontius Pilate is the most certain element about him.
John Dominic Crossan states that the crucifixion of Jesus is as certain as any historical fact can be, eddy and Boyd state that it is now firmly established that there is non-Christian confirmation of the crucifixion of Jesus. Craig Blomberg states that most scholars in the third quest for the historical Jesus consider the crucifixion indisputable. Christopher M. Tuckett states that, although the reasons for the death of Jesus are hard to determine, one of the indisputable facts about him is that he was crucified. While scholars agree on the historicity of the crucifixion, they differ on the reason, geza Vermes views the crucifixion as a historical event but provides his own explanation and background for it. John P. Meier views the crucifixion of Jesus as historical fact and states that, based on the criterion of embarrassment, Christians would not have invented the painful death of their leader. Meier states that a number of criteria, e. g. the criterion of multiple attestation. The crucified man was identified as Yehohanan ben Hagkol and probably died about 70 AD, the analyses at the Hadassah Medical School estimated that he died in his late 20s.
The earliest detailed accounts of the death of Jesus are contained in the four canonical gospels, there are other, more implicit references in the New Testament epistles. In the synoptic gospels, Jesus predicts his death in three separate episodes, all four Gospels conclude with an extended narrative of Jesus arrest, crucifixion and accounts of resurrection. In each Gospel these five events in the life of Jesus are treated with more detail than any other portion of that Gospels narrative. Scholars note that the reader receives an almost hour-by-hour account of what is happening, after being flogged, Jesus was mocked by Roman soldiers as the King of the Jews, clothed in a purple robe, crowned with thorns and spat on
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the area of the island of Great Britain that was governed by the Roman Empire, from AD43 to 410. Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by other Celtic tribes during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesars enemies. He received tribute, installed a king over the Trinovantes. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34,27, in AD40, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel, only to have them gather seashells. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain, the Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and organized their conquests as the Province of Britain. By the year 47, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way, control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudicas uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward. Around 197, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces, Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior, during the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains.
A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the 4th century, for much of the period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410, the kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that. Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, after the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor, over the centuries Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire, such as Italy, Spain and Algeria. Britain was known to the Classical world, the Greeks and Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC, the Greeks referred to the Cassiterides, or tin islands, and placed them near the west coast of Europe.
The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 5th century BC, however, it was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed at all. The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The second invasion involved a larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute. A friendly local king, was installed, and his rival, hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul. Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind but he established clients, Augustus planned invasions in 34,27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustuss reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in annual revenue than any conquest could
Gaul
It covered an area of 190,800 sq mi. According to the testimony of Julius Caesar, Gaul was divided into three parts, Gallia Celtica and Aquitania, during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, Gaul fell under Roman rule, Gallia Cisalpina was conquered in 203 BC and Gallia Narbonensis in 123 BC. Gaul was invaded after 120 BC by the Cimbri and the Teutons, Gallia remains a name of France in modern Greek and modern Latin. The Greek and Latin names Galatia, and Gallia are ultimately derived from a Celtic ethnic term or clan Gal-to-. Galli of Gallia Celtica were reported to refer to themselves as Celtae by Caesar. Hellenistic folk etymology connected the name of the Galatians to the supposedly milk-white skin of the Gauls, modern researchers say it is related to Welsh gallu, Cornish galloes, power, thus meaning powerful people. The English Gaul is from French Gaule and is unrelated to Latin Gallia, as adjectives, English has the two variants and Gallic. The two adjectives are used synonymously, as pertaining to Gaul or the Gauls, although the Celtic language or languages spoken in Gaul is predominantly known as Gaulish.
The Germanic w- is regularly rendered as gu- / g- in French, unrelated in spite of superficial similarity is the name Gael. The Irish word gall did originally mean a Gaul, i. e. an inhabitant of Gaul, but its meaning was widened to foreigner, to describe the Vikings, and still the Normans. The dichotomic words gael and gall are sometimes used together for contrast, by 500 BC, there is strong Hallstatt influence throughout most of France. By the late 5th century BC, La Tène influence spreads rapidly across the territory of Gaul. The La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late Iron Age in France, Italy, southwest Germany, Moravia, farther north extended the contemporary pre-Roman Iron Age culture of northern Germany and Scandinavia. By the 2nd century BC, the Romans described Gallia Transalpina as distinct from Gallia Cisalpina, while some scholars believe the Belgae south of the Somme were a mixture of Celtic and Germanic elements, their ethnic affiliations have not been definitively resolved.
One of the reasons is political interference upon the French historical interpretation during the 19th century, in addition to the Gauls, there were other peoples living in Gaul, such as the Greeks and Phoenicians who had established outposts such as Massilia along the Mediterranean coast. Also, along the southeastern Mediterranean coast, the Ligures had merged with the Celts to form a Celto-Ligurian culture, the prosperity of Mediterranean Gaul encouraged Rome to respond to pleas for assistance from the inhabitants of Massilia, who were under attack by a coalition of Ligures and Gauls. The Romans intervened in Gaul in 154 BC and again in 125 BC, whereas on the first occasion they came and went, on the second they stayed. Massilia was allowed to keep its lands, but Rome added to its territories the lands of the conquered tribes. The direct result of conquests was that by now, Rome controlled an area extending from the Pyrenees to the lower Rhône river
Alpha and Omega
Alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, and a title of Christ and God in the Book of Revelation. This couple of letters are used as Christian symbols, and are combined with the Cross, Chi-rho. The term Alpha and Omega comes from the phrase I am the alpha and the omega, the first part of this phrase is first found in Chapter 1 verse 8, and is found in every manuscript of Revelation that has 1v8. It is, omitted in modern translations. Scholar Robert Young stated, with regard to I am the Alpha and Omega in 1v11, Alpha and omega are the first and last letters, respectively, of the classical Greek alphabet. Thus, twice when the phrase I am the alpha and the omega appears it is further clarified with the phrase, the beginning. The first and last letters of the Greek alphabet were used because the book of Revelation is in the New Testament and this phrase is interpreted by many Christians to mean that Jesus has existed for all eternity or that God is eternal. Though many commentators and dictionaries ascribe the title the alpha and the omega to both God and to Christ, some sources argue otherwise.
Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament claims, It cannot be certain that the writer meant to refer to the Lord Jesus specifically here. There is no real incongruity in supposing, that the writer meant to refer to God as such. Most Christian denominations teach that the title applies to both Jesus and his Father, the letters Alpha and Omega in juxtaposition are often used as a Christian visual symbol. The symbols were used in early Christianity and appear in the Roman catacombs, in fact, despite always being in Greek, the letters became more common in Western than Eastern Orthodox Christian art. They are often shown to the left and right of Christs head, sometimes within his halo, where they take the place of the Christogram used in Orthodox art. In Rabbinic literature, the word emet, one of the names of God in Judaism, has interpreted as consisting of the first, middle. The Quran gives alAwwal, meaning The First and alAkhir, meaning The Last as two of the names of God,57,3
Lactantius
Lactantius, a Latin-speaking North African of Berber origin, was not born into a Christian family. He was a pupil of Arnobius who taught at Sicca Veneria, in his early life, he taught rhetoric in his native town, which may have been Cirta in Numidia, where an inscription mentions a certain L. Caecilius Firmianus. Lactantius had a public career at first. At the request of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, he became a professor of rhetoric in Nicomedia. Having converted to Christianity, he resigned his post before Diocletians purging of Christians from his immediate staff, as a Latin rhetor in a Greek city, he subsequently lived in poverty according to Saint Jerome and eked out a living by writing until Constantine I became his patron. The persecution forced him to leave Nicomedia and from the outbreak of hostilities until perhaps 311 or 313 he had to live elsewhere, the Emperor Constantine appointed the elderly Lactantius Latin tutor to his son Crispus. Lactantius followed Crispus to Trier in 317, when Crispus was made Caesar, Crispus was put to death in 326, but when Lactantius died and under what circumstances are unknown.
Like so many of the early Christian authors, Lactantius depended on classical models, the early humanists called him the Christian Cicero. He wrote apologetic works explaining Christianity in terms that would be palatable to educated people who practiced the traditional religions of the Empire. He defended Christian beliefs against the criticisms of Hellenistic philosophers and his Divinae Institutiones were an early example of a systematic presentation of Christian thought. He was considered somewhat heretical after his death, but Renaissance humanists took a renewed interest in him and his works were copied in manuscript several times in the 15th century and were first printed in 1465 by the Germans Arnold Pannartz and Konrad Sweynheim at the Abbey of Subiaco. It was probably the book ever printed in Italy. A copy of this edition was sold at auction in 2000 for more than $1 million, according to Charles E. Hill, With Lactantius in the early fourth century we see a determined attempt to revive a more “genuine” form of chiliasm.
Book VII of The Divine Institutes indicates a familiarity with Jewish, none of the fathers thus far had been more verbose on the subject of the millennial kingdom than Lactantius or more particular in describing the times and events preceding and following. He depicted Jesus reigning with the resurrected righteous on this earth during the seventh thousand years prior to the general judgment, God renews the earth, after the punishment of the wicked, and the Lord alone is thenceforth worshiped in the renovated earth. Lactantius confidently stated that the beginning of the end would be the fall, or breakup, de Opificio Dei, an apologetic work, written in 303 or 304 during Diocletians persecution and dedicated to a former pupil, a rich Christian named Demetrianius. The apologetic principles underlying all the works of Lactantius are well set forth in this treatise, Institutiones Divinae, written between 303 and 311. This is the most important of the writings of Lactantius and it was one of the first books printed in Italy and the first dated Italian imprint
Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea, known as Eusebius Pamphili, was a Greek historian of Christianity and Christian polemicist. He became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima about 314 AD, together with Pamphilus, he was a scholar of the Biblical canon and is regarded as an extremely well learned Christian of his time. He wrote Demonstrations of the Gospel, Preparations for the Gospel, as Father of Church History he produced the Ecclesiastical History, On the Life of Pamphilus, the Chronicle and On the Martyrs. Little is known about the life of Eusebius and his successor at the See of Caesarea, wrote a Life of Eusebius, a work that has since been lost. Eusebius own surviving works probably only represent a portion of his total output. Beyond notices in his extant writings, the sources are the 5th-century ecclesiastical historians Socrates and Theodoret. There are assorted notices of his activities in the writings of his contemporaries Athanasius, Eusebius of Nicomedia, Eusebius pupil, Eusebius of Emesa, provides some incidental information.
In his Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius writes of Dionysius of Alexandria as his contemporary, if this is true, Eusebius birth must have been before Dionysius death in autumn 264, most modern scholars date the birth to some point in the five years between 260 and 265. He was presumably born in the town in which he lived for most of his adult life and he was baptized and instructed in the city, and lived in Palestine in 296, when Diocletians army passed through the region. Eusebius was made presbyter by Agapius of Caesarea, S. Wallace-Hadrill, deem the phrase too ambiguous to support the contention. By the 3rd century, Caesarea had a population of about 100,000 and it had been a pagan city since Pompey had given control of the city to the gentiles during his command of the eastern provinces in the 60s BC. The gentiles retained control of the city for the three centuries to follow, despite Jewish petitions for joint governorship, gentile government was strengthened by the citys refoundation under Herod the Great, when it had taken on the name of Augustus Caesar.
In addition to the settlers, Caesarea had large Jewish. Eusebius was probably born into the Christian contingent of the city.46 states that Zacchaeus was the first bishop, through the activities of the theologian Origen and the school of his follower Pamphilus, Caesarea became a center of Christian learning. Origen was largely responsible for the collection of information, or which churches were using which gospels. On his deathbed, Origen had made a bequest of his library to the Christian community in the city. Together with the books of his patron Ambrosius, Origens library formed the core of the collection that Pamphilus established, Pamphilus managed a school that was similar to that of Origen. Pamphilus was compared to Demetrius of Phalerum and Pisistratus, for he had gathered Bibles from all parts of the world, like his model Origen, Pamphilus maintained close contact with his students
Mosaic
A mosaic is a piece of art or image made from the assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It is often used in art or as interior decoration. Most mosaics are made of small, roughly square, pieces of stone or glass of different colors, especially floor mosaics, are made of small rounded pieces of stone, and called pebble mosaics. Others are made of other materials, mosaics have a long history, starting in Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium BC. Pebble mosaics were made in Tiryns in Mycenean Greece, mosaics with patterns and pictures became widespread in classical times, Early Christian basilicas from the 4th century onwards were decorated with wall and ceiling mosaics. Mosaic fell out of fashion in the Renaissance, though artists like Raphael continued to practise the old technique and Byzantine influence led Jews to decorate 5th and 6th century synagogues in the Middle East with floor mosaics. Mosaic was widely used on buildings and palaces in early Islamic art, including Islams first great religious building, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
Mosaic went out of fashion in the Islamic world after the 8th century, modern mosaics are made by professional artists, street artists, and as a popular craft. Many materials other than stone and ceramic tesserae may be employed, including shells, glass. The earliest known examples of made of different materials were found at a temple building in Abra, Mesopotamia. They consist of pieces of colored stones and ivory, excavations at Susa and Chogha Zanbil show evidence of the first glazed tiles, dating from around 1500 BC. However, mosaic patterns were not used until the times of Sassanid Empire, mythological subjects, or scenes of hunting or other pursuits of the wealthy, were popular as the centrepieces of a larger geometric design, with strongly emphasized borders. Pliny the Elder mentions the artist Sosus of Pergamon by name, describing his mosaics of the left on a floor after a feast. Both of these themes were widely copied, most recorded names of Roman mosaic workers are Greek, suggesting they dominated high quality work across the empire, no doubt most ordinary craftsmen were slaves.
Splendid mosaic floors are found in Roman villas across North Africa, in such as Carthage. The tiny tesserae allowed very fine detail, and an approach to the illusionism of painting, often small panels called emblemata were inserted into walls or as the highlights of larger floor-mosaics in coarser work. The normal technique was opus tessellatum, using larger tesserae, which was laid on site, there was a distinct native Italian style using black on a white background, which was no doubt cheaper than fully coloured work. In Rome and his architects used mosaics to cover surfaces of walls and ceilings in the Domus Aurea, built 64 AD
New Latin
New Latin was a revival in the use of Latin in original and scientific works between c.1375 and c. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy and international scientific vocabulary, in such use, New Latin is often viewed as still existing and subject to new word formation. As a language for full expression in prose or poetry, classicists use the term Neo-Latin to describe the Latin that developed in Renaissance Italy as a result of renewed interest in classical civilization in the 14th and 15th centuries. Neo-Latin describes the use of the Latin language for any purpose, scientific or literary, the term New Latin came into widespread use towards the end of the 1890s among linguists and scientists. New Latin was, at least in its days, an international language used throughout Catholic and Protestant Europe. Russias acquisition of Kiev in the 17th century introduced the study of Latin to Russia, though Latin and New Latin are considered extinct, large parts of their vocabulary have seeped into English and several Germanic languages.
New Latin was inaugurated by the triumph of the humanist reform of Latin education, led by writers as Erasmus, More. Medieval Latin had been the working language of the Roman Catholic Church, taught throughout Europe to aspiring clerics. It was a language, full of neologisms and often composed without reference to the grammar or style of classical authors. Attempts at reforming Latin use occurred sporadically throughout the period, becoming most successful in the mid-to-late 19th century, the Protestant Reformation, though it removed Latin from the liturgies of the churches of Northern Europe, may have advanced the cause of the new secular Latin. Classic works such as Newtons Principia Mathematica were written in the language, throughout this period, Latin was a universal school subject, and indeed, the pre-eminent subject for elementary education in most of Europe and other places of the world that shared its culture. All universities required Latin proficiency to obtain admittance as a student, Latin was an official language of Poland—recognised and widely used between the 9th and 18th centuries, commonly used in foreign relations and popular as a second language among some of the nobility.
As an auxiliary language to the local vernaculars, New Latin appeared in a variety of documents, legal, academic. As late as the 1720s, Latin was still used conversationally, for instance, the Hanoverian king George I of Great Britain, who had no command of spoken English, communicated in Latin with his Prime Minister Robert Walpole, who knew neither German nor French. By about 1700, the movement for the use of national languages had reached academia, and an example of the transition is Newtons writing career. A much earlier example is Galileo c,1600, some of whose scientific writings were in Latin, some in Italian, the latter to reach a wider audience. Likewise, in the early 18th century, French replaced Latin as a diplomatic language, at the same time, some were dismissing Latin as a useless accomplishment, unfit for a man of practical affairs. The last international treaty to be written in Latin was the Treaty of Vienna in 1738, a diminishing audience combined with diminishing production of Latin texts pushed Latin into a declining spiral from which it has not recovered
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a perfect sphere of hot plasma, with internal convective motion that generates a magnetic field via a dynamo process. It is by far the most important source of energy for life on Earth. Its diameter is about 109 times that of Earth, and its mass is about 330,000 times that of Earth, accounting for about 99. 86% of the total mass of the Solar System. About three quarters of the Suns mass consists of hydrogen, the rest is mostly helium, with smaller quantities of heavier elements, including oxygen, neon. The Sun is a G-type main-sequence star based on its spectral class and it formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of matter within a region of a large molecular cloud. Most of this matter gathered in the center, whereas the rest flattened into a disk that became the Solar System. The central mass became so hot and dense that it eventually initiated nuclear fusion in its core and it is thought that almost all stars form by this process.
The Sun is roughly middle-aged, it has not changed dramatically for more than four billion years and it is calculated that the Sun will become sufficiently large enough to engulf the current orbits of Mercury and probably Earth. The enormous effect of the Sun on Earth has been recognized since prehistoric times, the synodic rotation of Earth and its orbit around the Sun are the basis of the solar calendar, which is the predominant calendar in use today. The English proper name Sun developed from Old English sunne and may be related to south, all Germanic terms for the Sun stem from Proto-Germanic *sunnōn. The English weekday name Sunday stems from Old English and is ultimately a result of a Germanic interpretation of Latin dies solis, the Latin name for the Sun, Sol, is not common in general English language use, the adjectival form is the related word solar. The term sol is used by planetary astronomers to refer to the duration of a solar day on another planet. A mean Earth solar day is approximately 24 hours, whereas a mean Martian sol is 24 hours,39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds.
From at least the 4th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the Sun was worshipped as the god Ra, portrayed as a falcon-headed divinity surmounted by the solar disk, and surrounded by a serpent. In the New Empire period, the Sun became identified with the dung beetle, in the form of the Sun disc Aten, the Sun had a brief resurgence during the Amarna Period when it again became the preeminent, if not only, divinity for the Pharaoh Akhenaton. The Sun is viewed as a goddess in Germanic paganism, Sól/Sunna, in ancient Roman culture, Sunday was the day of the Sun god. It was adopted as the Sabbath day by Christians who did not have a Jewish background, the symbol of light was a pagan device adopted by Christians, and perhaps the most important one that did not come from Jewish traditions
Christ (title)
In Christianity, the Christ is a title for the saviour and redeemer who would bring salvation to the Jewish people and mankind. Christians believe that Jesus is the Jewish messiah called Christ in both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, used by Christians as both a name and a title, is synonymous with Jesus. The role of the Christ in Christianity originated from the concept of the messiah in Judaism. Though the conceptions of the messiah in each religion are similar, for the most part they are distinct from one due to the split of early Christianity. Jesus came to be called Jesus Christ by his followers after his crucifixion and resurrection, Christians believe that the messianic prophecies were fulfilled in his mission and resurrection. The Pauline epistles, the earliest texts of the New Testament, the word Christ was originally a title, but became part of the name Jesus Christ. It is, still used as a title, in the reciprocal use Christ Jesus, meaning the Messiah Jesus. The followers of Jesus became known as Christians because they believed Jesus to be the Khristós or Mashiach prophesied in the Hebrew Bible.
Jesus was not, and is not, accepted in Judaism as a Jewish messiah, religious Jews still await their messiahs first coming and the Messianic prophecies of Jewish tradition to be accomplished. Religious Christians believe in the Second Coming of Christ, and they await the rest of Christian messianic prophecies to be fulfilled. Muslims accept Jesus as al-Masih, the messiah in Islam, but dont believe that the messiah is divine or the Son of God, but do believe he will come again. The area of Christian theology called Christology is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in the canonical gospels, the word Christ appears in English and in most European languages. English-speakers now often use Christ as if it were a name, one part of the name Jesus Christ and its usage in Christ Jesus emphasizes its nature as a title. The spelling Christ in English became standardized in the 18th century, when, in the spirit of the Enlightenment, the spelling Christ in English is attested from the 14th century.
In modern and ancient usage, even in secular terminology, Christ usually refers to Jesus, at the time of Jesus, there was no single form of Second Temple Judaism, and there were significant political and religious differences among the various Jews groups. However, for centuries the Jews had used the term moshiach to refer to their expected deliverer, the Greek word messias appears only twice in the Septuagint of the promised prince. This title was used when a name was wanted for the one who was to be at once King. The New Testament states that the long-awaited messiah had come and describes this savior as the Christ
Tiber
It drains a basin estimated at 17,375 square kilometres. The river has achieved lasting fame as the watercourse of the city of Rome. The river rises at Mount Fumaiolo in central Italy and flows in a southerly direction past Perugia. However, it does not form a delta, owing to a strong north-flowing sea current close to the shore, to the steep shelving of the coast. The source of the Tiber consists of two springs 10 metres away from each other on Mount Fumaiolo and these springs are called Le Vene. The springs are in a beech forest 1,268 metres above sea level, during the 1930s, Benito Mussolini placed an antique marble Roman column at the point where the river arises, inscribed QUI NASCE IL FIUME SACRO AI DESTINI DI ROMA. There is an eagle on the top of this column, the first miles of the Tiber run through Valtiberina before entering Umbria. It is probable that the genesis of the name Tiber was pre-Latin, like the Roman name of Tibur, the same root is found in the Latin praenomen Tiberius. There are Etruscan variants of this praenomen in Thefarie and Teperie, the legendary king Tiberinus, ninth in the king-list of Alba Longa, was said to have drowned in the river Albula, which was afterward called Tiberis.
Yet another etymology is from *dubri-, considered by Alessio as Sicel and this root *dubri- is widespread in Western Europe e. g. Dover, Portus Dubris. According to the legend, Jupiter made him a god and guardian spirit of the river and this gave rise to the standard Roman depiction of the river as a powerfully built reclining god, named Tiberinus, with streams of water flowing from his hair and beard. The Tiber was believed to be the river into which Romulus and Remus were thrown as infants, according to legend, the city of Rome was founded in 753 BC on the banks of the Tiber about 25 kilometres from the sea at Ostia. The island Isola Tiberina in the centre of Rome, between Trastevere and the ancient center, was the site of an important ancient ford and was bridged. Legend says Romes founders, the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, were abandoned on its waters, the river marked the boundary between the lands of the Etruscans to the west, the Sabines to the east and the Latins to the south. Benito Mussolini, born in Romagna, adjusted the boundary between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna, so that the springs of the Tiber would lie in Romagna and it was used to ship stone and foodstuffs to Rome.
During the Punic Wars of the 3rd century BC, the harbour at Ostia became a key naval base and it became Romes most important port, where wheat, olive oil, and wine were imported from Romes colonies around the Mediterranean. Wharves were built along the riverside in Rome itself, lining the riverbanks around the Campus Martius area, the Romans connected the river with a sewer system and with an underground network of tunnels and other channels, to bring its water into the middle of the city. Wealthy Romans had garden-parks or horti on the banks of the river in Rome up through the first century BC and these may have been sold and developed about a century later
Shield
A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand or mounted on the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of active blocks. Shields vary greatly in size, ranging from large panels that protect the whole body to small models that were intended for hand-to-hand-combat use. In prehistory and during the era of the earliest civilisations, shields were made of wood, animal hide and they were carried by foot soldiers and cavalry. Depending on time and place, shields could be round, square, triangular, sometimes they took on the form of kites or flatirons, or had rounded tops on a rectangular base with perhaps an eye-hole, to look through when used with combat. The shield was held by a grip or by straps that went over or around the users arm. Often shields were decorated with a pattern or an animal representation to show their army or clan. These designs developed into systematized heraldic devices during the High Middle Ages for purposes of battlefield identification, even after the introduction of gunpowder and firearms to the battlefield, shields continued to be used by certain groups.
In the 20th and 21st century, shields have been used by military and police units that specialize in anti-terrorist actions, hostage rescue, riot control and siege-breaking. The modern term usually refers to a device that is held in the hand or attached to the arm, Shields are sometimes mounted on vehicle-mounted weapons to protect the operator. The oldest form of shield was a device designed to block attacks by hand weapons, such as swords and maces, or ranged weapons like sling-stones. Shields have varied greatly in construction time and place. Sometimes shields were made of metal, but wood or animal hide construction was more common, wicker. Many surviving examples of metal shields are generally felt to be rather than practical, for example the Yetholm-type shields of the Bronze Age. Lightly armored warriors relying on speed and surprise would generally carry light shields that were small or thin. Heavy troops might be equipped with robust shields that could cover most of the body, many had a strap called a guige that allowed them to be slung over the users back when not in use or on horseback.
During the 14th–13th century BC, the Sards or Shardana, working as mercenaries for the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II, the Mycenaean Greeks used two types of shields, the figure-of-eight shield and a rectangular tower shield. These shields were made primarily from a frame and reinforced with leather
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Media related to Chi Rho at Wikimedia Commons
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