1.
Type 89 I-Go
–
The Type 89B model was the worlds first mass-produced diesel engine tank. The code designation I-Go comes from the letter for “first”. The designation is also transliterated Chi-Ro and sometimes Yi-Go, the Type 89 evolved from Japans first domestic tank project initiated by the Japanese Armys Osaka Technical Arsenal in 1925. The original plan was for two types of tanks to be created, a light tank at 10-ton based on the French Renault FT tank and a 20-ton design modeled after the Vickers Medium tank. By February 1927, the Type 87 Chi-I medium tank was ready for trials, however, it was 20-ton and under-powered. The new design was modeled after the Vickers Medium C which had been bought by the Japanese Army in March 1927, by April 1928, the new light tank design was finished and designated as the Type 89. The prototype of the Type 89 light tank was completed in 1929, later, the Type 89 was re-classified as a medium tank because the weight increased to over 10 tons due to several improvements. As the Armys Sagami Arsenal lacked the capacity for production, a contract was awarded to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Production of the Type 89 began in 1931 and it became the main tank of the Imperial Japanese Army. Work continued on improving the Type 89 after the production started, the Type 89 required a crew of four. The design of the Type 89 was relatively conventional with a gun turret carrying the main armament. One was placed in the turret and pointed towards the rear, a practice followed with most Japanese tanks, rather than using soft iron armor, as on the earlier Type 87, the designers chose to use steel plate armor developed by the Nihon Seikosho Company. The type of armor was referred to as Niseko steel, an abbreviation of Nihonseikosho, the Type 89 was driven through the rear drive sprocket and featured nine bogies, mounted in pairs on each side, with the forward bogie on an independent suspension. Five smaller return wheels were mounted along a steel girder, the Type A could only communicate with signal flags. Some vehicles were provided with two searchlights for night operations, later the Type 94 Mk 4 Hei radio communication device with range of 0.6 miles and weight of 198 lb, linked with a radio antenna of 29 ft 6 in in a reverse L shape was installed. Type 89A I-Go Kō - The initial production model had a water-cooled Daimler-type 100 hp engine 6-cylinder gasoline engine and this design could only attain 15.5 km/h, and was also limited by the severe winter climate in northern China. A total of 113 tanks were produced, Type 89B I-Go Otsu - The Ko was superseded in production from 1934 by the model Otsu with an air-cooled Mitsubishi A6120VD120 hp diesel engine. The improved model had a new asymmetric shaped gun turret complete with a cupola for the commander, the multiple armor plates of the front hull were replaced by a single shallow-sloped frontal armor plate which provided more protection for the driver
Type 89 I-Go
–
A restored Type 89 I-Go at Tsuchiura GSDF Base open day
Type 89 I-Go
–
Experimental tank No.1 (ja:試製1号戦車), 1927 (Imperial year 2587)
Type 89 I-Go
–
Type 89 medium tank Ko early model.
Type 89 I-Go
–
Japanese tanks moving toward
Manila, January 1942.
2.
Cheiro
–
William John Warner, popularly known as Cheiro, was an Irish astrologer and colorful occult figure of the early 20th century. His sobriquet, Cheiro, derives from the word cheiromancy, meaning palmistry and he was a self-described clairvoyant who taught palmistry, astrology, and Chaldean numerology. During his career, he was celebrated for using these forms of divination to make predictions for famous clients. Cheiro was born in a village outside Dublin, Ireland and he took the name Count Louis Hamon. As mentioned in his memoirs, Cheiro acquired his expertise in India, as a teenager, he traveled to the Bombay port of Apollo Bunder. There, he met his Guru, an Indian Brahmin, who took him to his village in the valley of the Konkan region of Maharashtra. Later Cheiro was permitted by Brahmans to study an ancient book that has many studies on hands, Cheiro was reluctant to marry but was aware that he was destined to marry late in life. This did happen after a woman took care of him during a serious illness, a separate chapter is devoted to this matter in his memoirs. Cheiro had a following of famous European and American clients during the late 19th. Of the Prince of Wales, he wrote that I would not be surprised if he did not give up everything, including his right to be crowned, Cheiro also predicted that the Jews would return to Palestine and the country would again be called Israel. T. Stead, Richard Croker, Natalia Janotha, and other prominent people of his era, the book Titanics Last Secrets includes a detailed account of one of Cheiros palm readings with William Pirrie, chairman of Harland and Wolf, builders of the Titanic. Cheiro predicted that he would soon be in a fight for his life, so popular was Cheiro as a Society Palmist that even those who were not believers in the occult had their hands read by him. The skeptical Mark Twain wrote in Cheiros visitors book, Other mentions in the book include. I have met and consulted scores. In almost ever respect I consider Cheiro the most highly gifted of all and he helps as well as astonishes. - Ella Wheeler Wilcox. What more can I say- Madame Nellie Melba, after some years in London, and many world travels, Cheiro moved to America. He spent his years in Hollywood, seeing as many as twenty clients a day. From Time Magazine of October 19,1936, Died, Count Louis Hamon,69, celebrated oldtime palmist, after long illness, in Hollywood. Author of a book on palmistry at 13, he amassed $250,000 from rich female clients, owned an English-language newspaper in Paris, on the night he died, said his nurse, the clock outside his room struck the hour of one thrice
Cheiro
–
William John Warner
3.
Christogram
–
A Christogram is a monogram or combination of letters that forms an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ, traditionally used as a religious symbol within the Christian Church. One of the oldest Christograms is the Chi-Rho and it consists of the superimposed Greek letters chi and rho, which are the first two letters of Greek χριστός Christ. It was displayed on the military standard used by Constantine I in AD312. The IX monogram is a form, using the initials of the name Ἰησοῦς Χριστός Jesus Christ, as is the ΙΗ monogram. The name Jesus, spelt ΙΗΣΟΥΣ in Greek capitals, has the abbreviations IHS, in Eastern Christian tradition, the monogram ΙϹΧϹ is used for in both Greek and Cyrillic tradition. A Middle Latin term for abbreviations of the name of Christ is chrisimus, similarly, Middle Latin crismon, chrismon refers to the Chi Rho monogram specifically. In antiquity, the cross, i. e. the instrument of Christs crucifixion was taken to be T-shaped, while the X-shape had different connotations. In Platos Timaeus, it is explained that the two bands which form the world cross each other like the letter chi, possibly referring to the ecliptic crossing the celestial equator. The most commonly encountered Christogram in English-speaking countries in modern times is the Χ, representing the first letter of the word Christ, in such abbreviations as Xmas, the Alpha and Omega symbols may at times accompany the Chi-Rho monogram. Chrismon since the 17th century has been used as a New Latin term for the Chi Rho monogram. Because the chrismon was used as a kind of invocation at the beginning of documents of the Merovingian period, the term also came to be used of the cross-signatures in early medieval charters. Chrismon in this context may refer to the Merovingian period abbreviation I. C. N. for in Christi nomine, later also I. C. for in Christo, and still later just C. for Christus. The Greek letter iota is represented by I, and the eta by H, while the Greek letter sigma is either in its form, represented by C, or its final form. Because the Latin-alphabet letters I and J were not systematically distinguished until the 17th century, JHS and JHC are equivalent to IHS, IHS is sometimes interpreted as meaning Jesus Hominum Salvator, or connected with In Hoc Signo. Such interpretations are known as backronyms, used in Latin since the seventh century, the first use of IHS in an English document dates from the fourteenth century, in The vision of William concerning Piers Plowman. The IHS monogram with the H surmounted by a cross above three nails and surrounded by a Sun is the emblem of the Jesuits, according to tradition introduced by Ignatius of Loyola in 1541, english-language interpretations of IHS have included In His Service. On icons, this Christogram may be split, ΙϹ on the left of the image and it is sometimes rendered as ΙϹ ΧϹ ΝΙΚΑ, meaning Jesus Christ Conquers. ΙϹΧϹ may also be inscribed on the Ichthys
Christogram
–
Icon of
Christ Pantokrator with the Christogram ΙϹ ΧϹ on either side of Christ's head.
Christogram
–
IHS monogram of the
Holy Name of Jesus.
Christogram
–
Intertwined IHS monogram.
Christogram
–
IHS christogram on the keystone of a gate of
Palaio Frourio in Corfu
4.
Chi (letter)
–
Chi is the 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet, pronounced /ˈkaɪ/ or /ˈkiː/ in English. Its value in Ancient Greek was a velar stop /kʰ/. In Koine Greek and later dialects it became a fricative along with Θ and Φ, in front of low or back vowels and consonants, it is pronounced as a voiceless velar fricative, as in German ach. Chi is romanized as ⟨ch⟩ in most systematic transliteration conventions, in addition, in Modern Greek, it is often also romanized as ⟨h⟩ or ⟨x⟩ in informal practice. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 600, in ancient times, some local forms of the Greek alphabet used the chi instead of xi to represent the /ks/ sound. This was borrowed into the early Latin language, which led to the use of the letter X for the sound in Latin. Chi was also included in the Cyrillic script as the letter Х, in the International Phonetic Alphabet, the minuscule chi is the symbol for the voiceless uvular fricative. Chi is the basis for the name literary Chiastic structure and the name of Chiasmus, in Platos Timaeus, it is explained that the two bands that form the soul of the world cross each other like the letter Χ. Platos analogy, along several other examples of chi as a symbol occur in Thomas Brownes discourse The Garden of Cyrus. Chi or X is often used to abbreviate the name Christ, when fused within a single typespace with the Greek letter Rho, it is called the labarum and used to represent the person of Jesus Christ. These characters are used only as mathematical symbols, stylized Greek text should be encoded using the normal Greek letters, with markup and formatting to indicate text style. In statistics, the term chi-squared or χ2 has various uses, including the distribution, the chi-squared test. In algebraic topology, Chi is used to represent the Euler characteristic of a surface, in neurology, the optic chiasm is named for the letter Chi because of its Χ-shape. In chemistry, the fraction and electronegativity may be denoted by the lowercase χ. In rhetoric, both chiastic structure and the figure of speech Chiasmus derive from their names from the shape of the letter Chi. In engineering, chi is used as a symbol for the factor of relevant buckling loads in the EN1993. In graph theory, a lowercase chi is used to represent a graphs chromatic number
Chi (letter)
–
The Greek alphabet on a
black figure vessel, with a cross-shaped chi.
5.
Rho
–
Rho is the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 100 and it is derived from Phoenician letter res. Its uppercase form is not to be confused with the Latin letter P, although both use the same glyph, P. Rho is classed as a liquid consonant. In both Ancient and Modern Greek, it represents a trilled or tapped r, the name of the letter is written in Greek as ῥῶ or ρω/ρο. Letters that arose from rho include Roman R and Cyrillic Er, the characters Ρ, ρ and ϱ are also used outside its Greek alphabetical context in science and mathematics. In such occasions, it is represented as ϱ, to avoid confusion with the Latin letter p In ecology to represent the population damping ratio where ρ = λ1 / |λ2|. Former Rhodes Scholars are entitled to use the Greek letter rho as a designation of their status, when used, the symbol should precede the name. These characters are used only as mathematical symbols, stylized Greek text should be encoded using the normal Greek letters, with markup and formatting to indicate text style. Р, р - Er R, r - Latin P, p - Latin
Rho
–
The Greek alphabet on a
black figure vessel, with an R-shaped rho.
6.
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, Christ, 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, death, and resurrection. The Pauline epistles, the earliest texts of the New Testament, the word Christ was originally a title, but later became part of the name Jesus Christ. It is, however, 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, social, 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
Christ (title)
–
The oldest known icon of
Christ Pantocrator –
Saint Catherine's Monastery. The
halo is a representation of the divine
Logos of Christ, and the two different facial expressions on either side emphasize Christ's
dual nature as both divine and human.
Christ (title)
–
The Mocking of Christ by
Cavalier d'Arpino
Christ (title)
–
First page of
Mark, by
Sargis Pitsak (14th century): " The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God ".
Christ (title)
–
The
Anointing of Jesus, c. 1450.
7.
Roman Emperors
–
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period. The emperors used a variety of different titles throughout history, often when a given Roman is described as becoming emperor in English, it reflects his taking of the title Augustus or Caesar. Another title often used was imperator, originally a military honorific, early Emperors also used the title princeps. Emperors frequently amassed republican titles, notably Princeps Senatus, Consul, the first emperors reigned alone, later emperors would sometimes rule with co-Emperors and divide administration of the Empire between them. The Romans considered the office of emperor to be distinct from that of a king, the first emperor, Augustus, resolutely refused recognition as a monarch. Although Augustus could claim that his power was authentically republican, his successor, Tiberius, nonetheless, for the first three hundred years of Roman Emperors, from Augustus until Diocletian, a great effort was made to emphasize that the Emperors were the leaders of a Republic. Elements of the Republican institutional framework were preserved until the end of the Western Empire. The Eastern emperors ultimately adopted the title of Basileus, which had meant king in Greek, but became a title reserved solely for the Roman emperor, other kings were then referred to as rēgas. In addition to their office, some emperors were given divine status after death. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in the late 5th century, Romulus Augustulus is often considered to be the last emperor of the west after his forced abdication in 476, although Julius Nepos maintained a claim to the title until his death in 480. Constantine XI was the last Byzantine Roman emperor in Constantinople, dying in the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, a Byzantine group of claimant Roman Emperors existed in the Empire of Trebizond until its conquest by the Ottomans in 1461. In western Europe the title of Roman Emperor was revived by Germanic rulers, the Holy Roman Emperors, in 800, at the end of the Roman Republic no new, and certainly no single, title indicated the individual who held supreme power. Insofar as emperor could be seen as the English translation of imperator, then Julius Caesar had been an emperor, however, Julius Caesar, unlike those after him, did so without the Senates vote and approval. Julius Caesar held the Republican offices of four times and dictator five times, was appointed dictator in perpetuity in 45 BC and had been pontifex maximus for a long period. He gained these positions by senatorial consent, by the time of his assassination, he was the most powerful man in the Roman world. In his will, Caesar appointed his adopted son Octavian as his heir, a decade after Caesars death, Octavians victory over his erstwhile ally Mark Antony at Actium put an end to any effective opposition and confirmed Octavians supremacy. His restoration of powers to the Senate and the people of Rome was a demonstration of his auctoritas, some later historians such as Tacitus would say that even at Augustus death, the true restoration of the Republic might have been possible. Instead, Augustus actively prepared his adopted son Tiberius to be his successor, the Senate disputed the issue but eventually confirmed Tiberius as princeps
Roman Emperors
–
Augustus
Roman Emperors
–
Vexillum
Roman Emperors
–
Statue of
Augustus, c. 30 BC–20 BC; this statue is located in the
Louvre
Roman Emperors
–
Imaginary portrait of
Constantine XI, the last Roman emperor
8.
Constantine I (emperor)
–
Constantine the Great, also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was a Roman Emperor from 306 to 337 AD. Constantine was the son of Flavius Valerius Constantius, a Roman Army officer and his father became Caesar, the deputy emperor in the west, in 293 AD. Constantine was sent east, where he rose through the ranks to become a military tribune under the emperors Diocletian, in 305, Constantius was raised to the rank of Augustus, senior western emperor, and Constantine was recalled west to campaign under his father in Britannia. As emperor, Constantine enacted many administrative, financial, social, the government was restructured and civil and military authority separated. A new gold coin, the solidus, was introduced to combat inflation and it would become the standard for Byzantine and European currencies for more than a thousand years. He called the First Council of Nicaea in 325, at which the Nicene Creed was adopted by Christians, in military matters, the Roman army was reorganised to consist of mobile field units and garrison soldiers capable of countering internal threats and barbarian invasions. The age of Constantine marked an epoch in the history of the Roman Empire. He built a new residence at Byzantium and renamed the city Constantinople after himself. It would later become the capital of the Empire for over one thousand years and his more immediate political legacy was that, in leaving the empire to his sons, he replaced Diocletians tetrarchy with the principle of dynastic succession. His reputation flourished during the lifetime of his children and centuries after his reign, the medieval church upheld him as a paragon of virtue while secular rulers invoked him as a prototype, a point of reference, and the symbol of imperial legitimacy and identity. Beginning with the Renaissance, there were more critical appraisals of his due to the rediscovery of anti-Constantinian sources. Critics portrayed him as a tyrant, trends in modern and recent scholarship attempted to balance the extremes of previous scholarship. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on his orders at the site of Jesus tomb in Jerusalem. The Papal claim to power in the High Middle Ages was based on the supposed Donation of Constantine. He is venerated as a saint by Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholics, though Constantine has historically often been referred to as the First Christian Emperor, scholars debate his actual beliefs or even his actual comprehension of the Christian faith itself. Constantine was a ruler of major importance, and he has always been a controversial figure, the fluctuations in Constantines reputation reflect the nature of the ancient sources for his reign. These are abundant and detailed, but have strongly influenced by the official propaganda of the period. There are no surviving histories or biographies dealing with Constantines life, the nearest replacement is Eusebius of Caesareas Vita Constantini, a work that is a mixture of eulogy and hagiography
Constantine I (emperor)
–
Colossal marble head of Emperor Constantine the Great, Roman, 4th century, located at the
Capitoline Museums, in Rome.
Constantine I (emperor)
–
Remains of the luxurious residence palace of
Mediana, erected by Constantine I near his birth town of
Naissus
Constantine I (emperor)
–
Head from a statue of
Diocletian, Augustus of the East
9.
Military standard
–
The Roman Empire also made battle standards a part of their vast armies. It was formalized in the armies of Europe in the High Middle Ages, as armies became trained and adopted set formations, each regiments ability to keep its formation was potentially critical to its, and therefore its armys, success. In the chaos of battle, not least due to the amount of dust and smoke on a battlefield, Regimental flags are generally awarded to a regiment by a head-of-State during a ceremony. They were therefore treated with reverence as they represented the honour, Colours may be inscribed with the names of battles or other symbols representing former achievements. Regiments tended to adopt colour guards, composed of experienced or élite soldiers, as a result, the capture of an enemys standard was considered as a great feat of arms. They are never capriciously destroyed – when too old to use they are replaced and then laid-up in museums, religious buildings and other places of significance to their regiment. However, in most modern armies, standing orders now call for the Colours to be destroyed if they are ever in jeopardy of being captured by the enemy. Due to the advent of modern weapons, and subsequent changes in tactics, Colours are no longer carried into battle, but continue to be used at events of formal character. The Armed Forces of the Argentine Republics military Colours of the Argentine Army, Argentine Navy and Argentine Air Force are the Flag of Argentina as the National War Colour and the Unit Colour. The National War Colour is a variation of the Argentine national flag made for use, while the Unit Colour differs per service arm. Only the Regiment of Patricians uses company colors, cadet squadron colours are used by the Argentine Air Force Academy. Units of the Brazilian Armed Forces carry a stand of two Colours, differing per service, the standard of the Army measures 80 ×120 cm, white with the Army coat of arms in the centre, trimmed with gold fringe. The name of the service is inscribed in letters on a green scroll beneath the shield. Above the shield is a helmet with red and sky blue mantling. The staff is topped by a nickel-plated lance-head finial,32 cm high, ten red streamers with campaign honours inscribed in sky blue letters are also attached below the lance-head. The staff is 212 cm long, not including the lance-head and it is covered in sky blue velvet with a red spiral strip. The colour belt is 10 cm in width, covered with sky blue velvet with red velvet stripes, the Navys flag uses dark blue colours, the Air Force flag ultramarine blue. Brazilian military units also carry the flag as a National Colour
Military standard
–
Napoleon I awarding the
Legion d'Honneur to a
dragoon for the capture of an
Imperial regimental flag.
Military standard
–
In the age of line
tactics, the unit colour was an important rallying point for infantry soldiers.
Military standard
–
Joint colour guard showing the organizational colours of each branch: L-R:
National,
Army,
Marine Corps,
Navy,
Air Force, &
Coast Guard.
Military standard
–
The
130th Engineer Brigade, its subordinate units and their colours.
10.
Vexillum
–
The vexillum was a flag-like object used as a military standard by units in the Ancient Roman army. The word vexillum is a diminutive of the Latin word, velum, meaning a sail, in the vexillum, the cloth was draped from a horizontal crossbar suspended from the staff. That is unlike most modern flags in which the hoist of the cloth is attached directly to the vertical staff, the bearer of a vexillum was known as a vexillarius or vexillifer. It was the standard of some types of unit, especially cavalry, however, it was regarded as less important than a legions aquila, or eagle. However, that is not entirely clear from surviving sources, the only existent Roman military vexillum is dated to the first half of the 3rd century AD and is housed in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. It is an almost square piece of linen cloth with the image of the goddess Victoria. The lower edge has remains of a fringe, the vexillum was once attached to a piece of reed wood. It is unknown to which unit the vexillum belonged. The vexillum was found in Egypt shortly before 1911, but its provenance is also unclear. Vexillology, or the study of flags, derives its name from this word, nearly all of the present-day regions of Italy preserve the use of vexilla. For example, vexillum is used by the Legion of Mary as the term for its standards, a small version is used on the altar and a larger one leads processions. In the Middle Ages, the type of banner draped from a horizontal crossbar became known as a gonfalon, vexilla Regis, early Christian hymn whose first line uses this word, referring to the Cross as a standard. Vexillum, the upper petal of a papilionaceous flower Vexillum, a genus of snails in the family Costellariidae Inquisitor vexillum
Vexillum
–
Modern reproduction of a Roman cavalry vexillum
Vexillum
11.
Labarum
–
The labarum was a vexillum that displayed the Chi-Rho symbol ☧, a christogram formed from the first two Greek letters of the word Christ — Chi and Rho. It was first used by the Roman emperor Constantine the Great, since the vexillum consisted of a flag suspended from the crossbar of a cross, it was ideally suited to symbolize the crucifixion of Christ. Ancient sources draw a distinction between the two terms labarum and Chi-Rho, even though later usage sometimes regards the two as synonyms. The name labarum was applied both to the standard used by Constantine the Great and to the many standards produced in imitation of it in the Late Antique world. Beyond its derivation from Latin labarum, the etymology of the word is unclear, the Oxford English Dictionary offers no further derivation from within Latin. Some derive it from Latin /labāre/ to totter, to waver or laureum, an origin as a loan into Latin from a Celtic language or Basque has also been postulated. There is a traditional Basque symbol called the lauburu, though the name is attested from the 19th century onwards the motif occurs in engravings dating as early as the 2nd century AD. Lactantius states that, in the night before the battle, Constantine was commanded in a dream to delineate the heavenly sign on the shields of his soldiers. Obeying this command, he marked on their shields the letter X, with a line drawn through it and turned round thus at the top. Having had their shields marked in this fashion, Constantines troops readied themselves for battle, from Eusebius, two accounts of a battle survive. The first, shorter one in the Ecclesiastical History leaves no doubt that God helped Constantine, in his later Life of Constantine, Eusebius gives a detailed account of a vision and stresses that he had heard the story from the emperor himself. According to this version, Constantine with his army was marching somewhere when he looked up to the sun and saw a cross of light above it, the traditionally employed Latin translation of the Greek is in hoc signo vinces— literally In this sign, you will conquer. However, a translation from the original Greek text of Eusebius into English gives the phrase By this. At first he was unsure of the meaning of the apparition, Eusebius then continues to describe the labarum, the military standard used by Constantine in his later wars against Licinius, showing the Chi-Rho sign. Those two accounts have been merged in popular notion into Constantine seeing the Chi-Rho sign on the evening before the battle and its first appearance is on a Constantinian silver coin from c. 317, which proves that Constantine did use the sign at that time and he made extensive use of the Chi-Rho and the labarum later in the conflict with Licinius. The vision has been interpreted in a context, which would have been reshaped to fit with the Christian beliefs of the later Constantine. A Description of the Standard of the Cross, which the Romans now call the Labarum, now it was made in the following manner
Labarum
–
A coin of Constantine (c.AD 337) showing a depiction of his labarum spearing a serpent.
Labarum
–
Labarum of Constantine I, displaying the "Chi-Rho" symbol above.
Labarum
–
Coin of
Vetranio, a soldier is holding two labara. Interestingly they differ from the labarum of Constantine in having the Chi-Rho depicted on the cloth rather than above it, and in having their staves decorated with
phalerae as were earlier Roman military unit standards.
Labarum
–
The emperor
Honorius holding a variant of the labarum - the Latin phrase on the cloth means "In the name of Christ [rendered by the Greek letters XPI] be ever victorious."
12.
IX monogram
–
The IX monogram or XI monogram is a type of early Christian monogram looking like the spokes of a wheel, sometimes within a circle. The IX monogram is formed by the combination of the letter I or Iota for IHSOYS, the spokes can also be stand-alone, without the circle. These monograms can often be found as ancient burial inscriptions
IX monogram
–
Constantinople Christian sarcophagus with XI monogram, circa 400.
IX monogram
–
The 5th century Byzantine
Column of Marcian displays the XI monogram inside a wreath.
IX monogram
–
Detail of IX monogram on Constantinople sarcophagus, end of 3rd, early 4th century.
IX monogram
–
Cover of
Merovingian sarcophagus,
Musée de Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
13.
Ptolemy III Euergetes
–
Ptolemy III Euergetes was the third king of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. Euergetes was the eldest son of Ptolemy II Philadelphus and his first wife, Arsinoe I and he married Berenice of Cyrene in the year corresponding to 244/243 BC, and their children were, Arsinoe III, born in c. She later married her brother Ptolemy IV Ptolemy IV Philopator, born c.244 BC Possibly Lysimachus, the name of the son is not known, but he is said to have been born in c.243 BC. Alexander, born in c.242 BC Magas, born in c.241 BC, scalded to death in his bath by Theogos or Theodotus, at the orders of Ptolemy IV. Berenice, probably born in c.239 BC and died a year later, Ptolemy III Euergetes was responsible for the first known example of a series of decrees published as bilingual inscriptions on massive stone blocks in three writing systems. His stone stela is the Canopus Stone of 238 BC, Ptolemy IIIs stone contains decrees about priestly orders, and is a memorial for his daughter Berenice. But two of its 26 lines of hieroglyphs decree the use of a day added to the Egyptian calendar of 365 days. Also, the reliefs on the pylon were only completed in the reign of Ptolemy XII. He, like many Pharaohs before him, also added to the Temple of Karnak, due to a falling out at the Seleucid court, Ptolemys eldest sister Berenice Phernophorus was murdered along with her infant son. In response Ptolemy III invaded Syria, during this war, the Third Syrian War, he occupied Antioch and even reached Babylon. In exchange for a peace in 241 BC, Ptolemy was awarded new territories on the northern coast of Syria, including Seleucia Pieria, from this capture he received fifteen hundred talents of silver, roughly a tenth of his annual income. During his involvement in the Third Syrian War, he managed to regain many Egyptian works of art that had been stolen when the Persians conquered Egypt. While he was fighting, he left his wife, Berenice II, in charge of the country. The Ptolemaic kingdom reached the height of its power during this reign and he maintained his fathers foreign policy of subduing Macedonia by supporting its enemies. He continued his predecessors work on Alexandria, especially in the Great Library and he had every book unloaded in the Alexandria docks seized, had copies made of each one, and gave the copies to the previous owners while the original copies were kept in the Library. He was even more liberal towards Egyptian religion than his predecessors, Ptolemy IIIs reign was also marked by trade with other contemporaneous polities. In the 1930s, excavations by Mattingly at a close to Port Dunford in present-day southern Somalia yielded a number of Ptolemaic coins. Among these pieces were 17 copper mints from the reigns of Ptolemy III to Ptolemy V, as well as late Imperial Rome, history of Ptolemaic Egypt- Ptolemais - towns and cities named after members of the Ptolemaic dynasty
Ptolemy III Euergetes
–
Gold coin depicting Ptolemy III issued by
Ptolemy IV to honor his deified father
Ptolemy III Euergetes
–
Statue of Ptolemy III in the guise of
Hermes wearing the
chlamys cloak.
Ptolemaic Egypt.
Ptolemy III Euergetes
–
Bronze coin issued by Ptolemy III depicting Zeus-Amun (
obverse) and traditional Ptolemaic eagle (reverse). Ptolemy III did not issue coins with his own image.
14.
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, next, 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
Lactantius
–
Lactantius
Lactantius
–
Beginning of Lactantius’ Divinae institutiones in a Renaissance manuscript written in
Florence ca. 1420–1430 by Guglielmino Tanaglia
Lactantius
–
Page from the Opera, a manuscript from 1465, featuring various colours of pen-work
15.
Latin
–
Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
Latin
–
Latin inscription, in the
Colosseum
Latin
–
Julius Caesar 's
Commentarii de Bello Gallico is one of the most famous classical Latin texts of the Golden Age of Latin. The unvarnished, journalistic style of this
patrician general has long been taught as a model of the urbane Latin officially spoken and written in the floruit of the
Roman republic.
Latin
–
A multi-volume Latin dictionary in the
University Library of Graz
Latin
–
Latin and Ancient Greek Language - Culture - Linguistics at
Duke University in 2014.
16.
North Africa
–
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of Africa. The United Nationss definition of Northern Africa is, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, the countries of Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya are often collectively referred to as the Maghreb, which is the Arabic word for sunset. Egypt lies to the northeast and encompasses part of West Asia, while Sudan is situated on the edge of the Sahel, Egypt is a transcontinental country because of the Sinai Peninsula, which geographically lies in Western Asia. North Africa also includes a number of Spanish possessions, the Canary Islands and Madeira in the North Atlantic Ocean northwest of the African mainland are included in considerations of the region. From 3500 BC, following the abrupt desertification of the Sahara due to changes in the Earths orbit. The Islamic influence in the area is significant, and North Africa is a major part of the Muslim world. Some researchers have postulated that North Africa rather than East Africa served as the point for the modern humans who first trekked out of the continent in the Out of Africa migration. The Atlas Mountains extend across much of Morocco, northern Algeria and Tunisia, are part of the mountain system that also runs through much of Southern Europe. They recede to the south and east, becoming a steppe landscape before meeting the Sahara desert, the sediments of the Sahara overlie an ancient plateau of crystalline rock, some of which is more than four billion years old. Sheltered valleys in the Atlas Mountains, the Nile Valley and Delta, a wide variety of valuable crops including cereals, rice and cotton, and woods such as cedar and cork, are grown. Typical Mediterranean crops, such as olives, figs, dates and citrus fruits, the Nile Valley is particularly fertile, and most of the population in Egypt and Sudan live close to the river. Elsewhere, irrigation is essential to improve yields on the desert margins. The inhabitants of Saharan Africa are generally divided in a manner corresponding to the principal geographic regions of North Africa, the Maghreb, the Nile valley. The edge of the Sahel, to the south of Egypt has mainly been inhabited by Nubians, Ancient Egyptians record extensive contact in their Western desert with people that appear to have been Berber or proto-Berber, as well as Nubians from the south. They have contributed to the Arabized Berber populations, the official language or one of the official languages in all of the countries in North Africa is Arabic. The people of the Maghreb and the Sahara regions speak Berber languages and several varieties of Arabic, the Arabic and Berber languages are distantly related, both being members of the Afroasiatic language family. The Tuareg Berber languages are more conservative than those of the coastal cities. Over the years, Berbers have been influenced by contact with cultures, Greeks, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, Europeans
North Africa
–
Market of
Biskra in Algeria, 1899
North Africa
–
Northern Africa (UN subregion)
North Africa
–
The
kasbah of
Aït Benhaddou in Morocco
North Africa
–
The first
Roman emperor native to North Africa was
Septimius Severus, born in Leptis Magna in present-day Libya.
17.
Crispus
–
Flavius Julius Crispus, also known as Flavius Claudius Crispus and Flavius Valerius Crispus, was a Caesar of the Roman Empire. He was the son of Constantine I and Minervina. Crispus year and place of birth are uncertain and his mother Minervina was either a concubine or a first wife to Constantine. Nothing else is known about Minervina, in 307, Constantine allied to the Italian Augusti, and this alliance was sealed with the marriage of Constantine to Fausta, daughter of Maximian and sister of Maxentius. The marriage of Constantine to Fausta has caused historians to question the status of his relation to Minervina. If Minervina was his wife, Constantine would have needed to secure a divorce before marrying Fausta. However, Minervina may have already been dead by 307, a widowed Constantine would need no divorce. Neither the true nature of the relationship between Constantine and Minervina nor the reason Crispus came under the protection of his father will probably be known. The offspring of an illegitimate affair could have caused problems and would likely be dismissed. This can be seen as evidence of a loving and public relationship between Constantine and Minervina which gave him a reason to protect her son, the story of Minervina is quite similar to that of Constantines mother Helena. Constantine in turn may have had to put aside Minervina in order to secure an alliance with the same man, Constantius did not however dismiss Constantine as his son, and perhaps Constantine chose to follow the example of his father. Whatever the reason, Constantine kept Crispus at his side, surviving sources are unanimous in declaring him a loving, trusting and protective father to his first son. Constantine even entrusted his education to Lactantius, among the most important Christian teachers of that time, by 313, there were two remaining Augusti in control of the Roman Empire. Constantine reigned as a Western Roman Emperor and his brother-in-law Licinius as an Eastern Roman Emperor, on 1 March 317, the two co-reigning Augusti jointly proclaimed three new Caesars, Crispus, alongside his younger half-brother Constantine II and his first cousin Licinius Iunior. Constantine II was the son of Fausta but was probably about a month old at the time of his proclamation. Thus only Crispus assumed actual duties, Constantine apparently believed in the abilities of his son and appointed Crispus as Commander of Gaul. The new Caesar soon held residence in Augusta Treverorum, regional capital of Germania, in January 322, Crispus was married to a young woman called Helena. Helena bore him a son in October,322, there is no surviving account of the name or later fate of the son
Crispus
–
Crispus on a coin issued to celebrate
Constantine I 's victory over
Goths in 323
18.
Latin language
–
Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
Latin language
–
Latin inscription, in the
Colosseum
Latin language
–
Julius Caesar 's
Commentarii de Bello Gallico is one of the most famous classical Latin texts of the Golden Age of Latin. The unvarnished, journalistic style of this
patrician general has long been taught as a model of the urbane Latin officially spoken and written in the floruit of the
Roman republic.
Latin language
–
A multi-volume Latin dictionary in the
University Library of Graz
Latin language
–
Latin and Ancient Greek Language - Culture - Linguistics at
Duke University in 2014.
19.
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, knights and cavalry. Depending on time and place, shields could be round, oval, square, rectangular, 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 also 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, axes 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 then reinforced with leather
Shield
–
Zulu warriors with shields, a detail from an 1847 drawing
Shield
–
Wall painting depicting a
Mycenaean Greek "figure eight" shield with a suspension strap at the middle, 15th century BC,
National Archaeological Museum, Athens -The faces of figure eight shields were quite convex. The cited "strap" may be the ridge on the front (so denoted by the visible pattern of the ox hide) of the shield.
Shield
–
Two wooden round shields survived at
Thorsberg moor (3rd century A.D.)
Shield
–
A portrait probably made by a Mughal artist. The courtier dressed in floral robes facing left and carrying weapons and a black shield.
20.
Maxentius
–
For the saint of the same name see Saint Maxentius Maxentius was Roman Emperor from 306 to 312. He was the son of former Emperor Maximian and the son-in-law of Emperor Galerius, the latter part of his reign was preoccupied with civil war, allying with Maximinus II against Licinius and Constantine. The latter defeated him at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312, Maxentius exact date of birth is unknown, it was probably around 278. He was the son of the Emperor Maximian and his wife Eutropia, as his father became emperor in 285, he was regarded as crown prince who would eventually follow his father on the throne. He seems not to have served, however, in any important military or administrative position during the reign of Diocletian, the exact date of his marriage to Valeria Maximilla, daughter of Galerius, is unknown. He had two sons, Valerius Romulus and an unknown one, in 305, Diocletian and Maximian abdicated, and the former caesares Constantius and Galerius became Augusti. Although two sons of emperors were available, Constantine and Maxentius, they were passed over for the new tetrarchy, Maxentius retired to an estate some miles from Rome. When Constantius died in 306, his son Constantine was crowned emperor on July 25 and this set the precedent for Maxentius accession later in the same year. Maxentius accepted the honour, promised donations to the citys troops, the usurpation obviously went largely without bloodshed, the prefect of Rome went over to Maxentius and retained his office. Apparently the conspirators turned to Maximian as well, who had retired to a palace in Lucania, Maxentius managed to be recognized as emperor in central and southern Italy, the islands of Corsica and Sardinia and Sicily, and the African provinces. Northern Italy remained under the control of the western Augustus Severus, Maxentius refrained from using the titles Augustus or Caesar at first and styled himself princeps invictus, in the hope of obtaining recognition of his reign by the senior emperor Galerius. However, the latter refused to do so, apart from his alleged antipathy towards Maxentius, Galerius probably wanted to deter others from following the examples of Constantine and Maxentius and declaring themselves emperors. Galerius reckoned that it would be not too difficult to quell the usurpation, and early in 307, the Augustus Severus marched on Rome with a large army. When Maximian himself finally left his retreat and returned to Rome to assume the office once again and support his son. Shortly after he surrendered to Maximian, who promised that his life be spared, the joint rule of Maxentius and Maximian in Rome was tested further when Galerius himself marched to Italy in the summer of 307 with an even larger army. While negotiating with the invader, Maxentius could repeat what he did to Severus, by the promise of large sums of money, Galerius was forced to withdraw, plundering Italy on his way. Some time during the invasion, Severus was put to death by Maxentius, after the failed campaign of Galerius, Maxentius reign over Italy and Africa was firmly established. However, Constantine tried to avoid breaking with Galerius, and did not openly support Maxentius during the invasion
Maxentius
–
Bust of Maxentius
Maxentius
–
The
Basilica of Maxentius in the
Roman Forum. Completed by his enemy Constantine, it was one of the most impressive edifices of ancient times.
Maxentius
–
Maxentius as
Augustus on a
follis.
Maxentius
–
The Battle of the Milvian Bridge by
Giulio Romano
21.
Battle of the Milvian Bridge
–
The Battle of the Milvian Bridge took place between the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius on October 28,312. It takes its name from the Milvian Bridge, an important route over the Tiber, Constantine won the battle and started on the path that led him to end the Tetrarchy and become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. Maxentius drowned in the Tiber during the battle and his body was taken from the river. According to chroniclers such as Eusebius of Caesarea and Lactantius, the battle marked the beginning of Constantines conversion to Christianity, Eusebius of Caesarea recounts that Constantine and his soldiers had a vision sent by the Christian God. This was interpreted as a promise of victory if the sign of the Chi-Rho, the underlying causes of the battle were the rivalries inherent in Diocletians Tetrarchy. After Diocletian stepped down on 1 May 305, his successors began to struggle for control of the Roman Empire almost immediately, although Constantine was the son of the Western Emperor Constantius, the Tetrarchic ideology did not necessarily provide for hereditary succession. When Constantius died on 25 July 306, his fathers troops proclaimed Constantine as Augustus in Eboracum, in Rome, the favorite was Maxentius, the son of Constantius imperial colleague Maximian, who seized the title of emperor on 28 October 306. But whereas Constantines claim was recognized by Galerius, ruler of the Eastern provinces, Galerius, however, recognized Constantine as holding only the lesser imperial rank of Caesar. Galerius ordered his co-Augustus, Severus, to put Maxentius down in early 307, once Severus arrived in Italy, however, his army defected to Maxentius. Severus was captured, imprisoned, and executed, Galerius himself marched on Rome in the autumn, but failed to take the city. Constantine avoided conflict with both Maxentius and the Eastern emperors for most of this period, by 312, however, Constantine and Maxentius were engaged in open hostility with one another, although they were brothers-in‑law through Constantines marriage to Fausta, sister of Maxentius. In the spring of 312, Constantine gathered his forces and decided to oust Maxentius himself. He easily overran northern Italy, winning two battles, the first near Turin, the second at Verona, where the praetorian prefect Ruricius Pompeianus, Maxentius most senior general, was killed. It is commonly understood that on the evening of 27 October with the armies preparing for battle, some details of that vision, however, differ between the sources reporting it. Lactantius states that, in the night before the battle, Constantine was commanded in a dream to delineate the heavenly sign on the shields of his soldiers and he followed the commands of his dream and marked the shields with a sign denoting Christ. Lactantius describes that sign as a staurogram, or a Latin cross with its upper end rounded in a P-like fashion, there is no certain evidence that Constantine ever used that sign, opposed to the better known Chi-Rho sign described by Eusebius. From Eusebius, two accounts of the battle survive, the first, shorter one in the Ecclesiastical History promotes the belief that God helped Constantine but does not mention any vision. In his later Life of Constantine, Eusebius gives an account of a vision
Battle of the Milvian Bridge
–
Battle at the Milvian Bridge,
Audran after
Le Brun. (Zoom)
Battle of the Milvian Bridge
–
Missorium depicting Constantine's son Constantius II, accompanied by a guardsman with the
Chi Rho monogram depicted on his shield
Battle of the Milvian Bridge
–
A coin struck in 313, depicting Constantine as the companion of a solar deity
Battle of the Milvian Bridge
–
The description from 28th October 312, 'A cross centered on the Sun" fits with modern day photographs of Sun dogs.
22.
Rome
–
Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
23.
Eusebius of Caesarea
–
Eusebius of Caesarea, also known as Eusebius Pamphili, was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, 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, Acacius, 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, Sozomen, and Theodoret. There are assorted notices of his activities in the writings of his contemporaries Athanasius, Arius, 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 also 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
Eusebius of Caesarea
–
Eusebius in a modern imagining
Eusebius of Caesarea
–
Eusebius's
canon tables were often included in Early Medieval
Gospel books
Eusebius of Caesarea
–
Ministry of Jesus &
Apostolic Age
24.
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 also 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-, water, 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, also named Tiberinus, with streams of water flowing from his hair and beard. The Tiber was also 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 later 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 later used to ship stone, timber and foodstuffs to Rome. During the Punic Wars of the 3rd century BC, the harbour at Ostia became a key naval base and it later became Romes most important port, where wheat, olive oil, and wine were imported from Romes colonies around the Mediterranean. Wharves were also 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
Tiber
–
The Tiber in
Rome
Tiber
–
Mussolini's headstone near the source of Tiber
Tiber
–
Roman representation of Tiber as a god (
Tiberinus) with
cornucopia at the
Campidoglio, Rome.
Tiber
–
View of the Tiber looking towards the
Vatican City.
25.
Pharaoh
–
The word pharaoh ultimately derive from the Egyptian compound pr-ˤ3 great house, written with the two biliteral hieroglyphs pr house and ˤ3 column, here meaning great or high. It was used only in larger phrases such as smr pr-ˤ3 Courtier of the High House, with specific reference to the buildings of the court or palace. From the twelfth dynasty onward, the word appears in a wish formula Great House, may it live, prosper, and be in health, but again only with reference to the royal palace and not the person. During the reign of Thutmose III in the New Kingdom, after the rule of the Hyksos during the Second Intermediate Period. During the eighteenth dynasty the title pharaoh was employed as a designation of the ruler. From the nineteenth dynasty onward pr-ˤ3 on its own was used as regularly as hm. f, the term, therefore, evolved from a word specifically referring to a building to a respectful designation for the ruler, particularly by the twenty-second dynasty and twenty-third dynasty. For instance, the first dated appearance of the pharaoh being attached to a rulers name occurs in Year 17 of Siamun on a fragment from the Karnak Priestly Annals. Here, an induction of an individual to the Amun priesthood is dated specifically to the reign of Pharaoh Siamun and this new practice was continued under his successor Psusennes II and the twenty-second dynasty kings. Shoshenq I was the successor of Siamun. Meanwhile, the old custom of referring to the sovereign simply as pr-ˤ3 continued in traditional Egyptian narratives, by this time, the Late Egyptian word is reconstructed to have been pronounced *par-ʕoʔ whence Herodotus derived the name of one of the Egyptian kings, Φερων. In the Bible, the title also occurs as פרעה, from that, Septuagint φαραώ pharaō and then Late Latin pharaō, both -n stem nouns. The Quran likewise spells it فرعون firawn with n, interestingly, the Arabic combines the original pharyngeal ayin sound from Egyptian, along with the -n ending from Greek. English at first spelt it Pharao, but the King James Bible revived Pharaoh with h from the Hebrew, meanwhile in Egypt itself, *par-ʕoʔ evolved into Sahidic Coptic ⲡⲣ̅ⲣⲟ prro and then rro. Scepters and staves were a sign of authority in ancient Egypt. One of the earliest royal scepters was discovered in the tomb of Khasekhemwy in Abydos, kings were also known to carry a staff, and Pharaoh Anedjib is shown on stone vessels carrying a so-called mks-staff. The scepter with the longest history seems to be the heqa-scepter, the earliest examples of this piece of regalia dates to pre-dynastic times. A scepter was found in a tomb at Abydos that dates to the late Naqada period, another scepter associated with the king is the was-scepter. This is a long staff mounted with an animal head, the earliest known depictions of the was-scepter date to the first dynasty
Pharaoh
–
Den
Pharaoh
–
Narmer Palette
Pharaoh
–
Nomen and prenomen of
Ramesses III
Pharaoh
–
Royal titulary
26.
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, Belgica 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, capacity, 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, Gaulish 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, also 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 later widened to foreigner, to describe the Vikings, and later 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, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, southwest Germany, Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, 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
Gaul
–
Map of Roman Gaul (Droysens Allgemeiner historischer Handatlas, 1886)
Gaul
–
Gaul on the eve of the Gallic Wars.
Roman ethnography divides Gaul into five parts:
Gallia Belgica,
Gallia Celtica (largely corresponding to the later province
Gallia Lugdunensis),
Gallia Cisalpina,
Gallia Narbonensis and
Gallia Aquitania.
Gaul
–
Gauls in Rome
Gaul
–
Soldiers of Gaul, as imagined by a late 19th-century illustrator for the
Larousse dictionary, 1898
27.
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, carbon, 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, Venus, 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
Sun
–
The Sun in visible wavelength with filtered white light on 8 July 2014. Characteristic
limb darkening and numerous
sunspots are visible.
Sun
–
During a total
solar eclipse, the solar
corona can be seen with the naked eye, during the brief period of totality.
Sun
–
Taken by
Hinode 's Solar Optical Telescope on 12 January 2007, this image of the Sun reveals the filamentary nature of the plasma connecting regions of different magnetic polarity.
Sun
–
Visible light photograph of sunspot, 13 December 2006
28.
Christ
–
Jesus, also referred to as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus Christ, was a Jewish preacher and religious leader who became the central figure of Christianity. Christians believe him to be the Son of God and the awaited Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament, Jesus was a Galilean Jew who was baptized by John the Baptist and subsequently began his own ministry, preaching his message orally and often being referred to as rabbi. He was arrested and tried by the Jewish authorities, and was crucified by the order of Pontius Pilate, Jesus debated fellow Jews on how to best follow God, performed healings, taught in parables and gathered followers. After his death, his followers believed he rose from the dead, and his birth is celebrated annually on December 25 as a holiday known as Christmas, his crucifixion is honored on Good Friday, and his resurrection is celebrated on Easter. The widely used calendar era AD, from the Latin anno Domini, most Christians believe Jesus enables humans to be reconciled to God. The Nicene Creed asserts that Jesus will judge the living and the dead either before or after their bodily resurrection, the great majority of Christians worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, the second of three persons of a Divine Trinity. A minority of Christian denominations reject Trinitarianism, wholly or partly, in Islam, Jesus is considered one of Gods important prophets and the Messiah. Muslims believe Jesus was a bringer of scripture and was born of a virgin but was not the Son of God, the Quran states that Jesus himself never claimed divinity. To most Muslims, Jesus was not crucified but was raised into Heaven by God. Judaism rejects the belief that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, arguing that he did not fulfill Messianic prophecies, a typical Jew in Jesus time had only one name, sometimes supplemented with the fathers name or the individuals hometown. Thus, in the New Testament, Jesus is commonly referred to as Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus neighbors in Nazareth refer to him as the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, the carpenters son, or Josephs son. In John, the disciple Philip refers to him as Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth, the name Jesus is derived from the Latin Iesus, a transliteration of the Greek Ἰησοῦς. The Greek form is a rendering of the Hebrew ישוע, a variant of the earlier name יהושע, the name Yeshua appears to have been in use in Judea at the time of the birth of Jesus. The 1st century works of historian Flavius Josephus, who wrote in Koine Greek, the etymology of Jesus name in the context of the New Testament is generally given as Yahweh is salvation. Since early Christianity, Christians have commonly referred to Jesus as Jesus Christ, the word Christ is derived from the Greek Χριστός, which is a translation of the Hebrew משיח, meaning the anointed and usually transliterated into English as Messiah. Christians designate Jesus as Christ because they believe he is the Messiah, whose arrival is prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, in postbiblical usage, Christ became viewed as a name—one part of Jesus Christ—but originally it was a title. The term Christian has been in use since the 1st century, the four canonical gospels are the only substantial sources for the life and message of Jesus. Acts of the Apostles refers to the ministry of Jesus
Christ
–
The oldest known icon of
Christ Pantocrator –
Saint Catherine's Monastery. The
halo is a representation of the divine
Logos of Christ, and the two different facial expressions on either side emphasize Christ's
dual nature as both divine and human.
Christ
–
The Mocking of Christ by
Cavalier d'Arpino
Christ
–
First page of
Mark, by
Sargis Pitsak (14th century): " The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God ".
Christ
–
The
Anointing of Jesus, c. 1450.
29.
Resurrection of Jesus in Christian art
–
The Resurrection of Jesus has long been central to Christian faith and Christian art, whether as a single scene or as part of a cycle of the Life of Christ. In the teachings of the traditional Christian churches, the sacraments derive their power from the passion and resurrection of Christ. The redemptive value of the resurrection has been expressed through Christian art, however, the moment of the Resurrection is not described as such in the Gospels, and for over a thousand years it was therefore not represented directly in art. Instead at first it was represented by symbolic depictions such as the Chi Rho, later various scenes that are described in the Gospels were used, and also the Harrowing of Hell, which is not. In Byzantine and later Eastern Orthodox art this has remained the case, in the Catacombs of Rome, artists just hinted at the Resurrection by using images from the Old Testament such as the fiery furnace and Daniel in the Lions Den. The period between the year 250 AD and the liberating Edict of Milan in 313 AD saw violent persecutions of Christians under Decius, the most numerous surviving examples of Christian art from this period are paintings in the Catacombs of Rome. The Christians shunned cremation and preferred the practice of interment, to preserve their bodies for the Resurrection of the Dead, the depictions of the stories of Daniel and Jonah and the Whale in the Catacombs served as historical and Judaic precedents of salvation. Constantine used the Chi Rho on his standard and his coins showed a labarum with the Chi Rho killing a serpent. Here, in the wreathed Chi Rho the death and resurrection of Christ are shown as inseparable, the development of iconography of the Resurrection occurred at the same time as the ecumenical councils of the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries, that were specifically devoted to Christology. Rays of light strike down Roman soldiers, and Jesus greets the two women, who kneel to adore him. From the second half of the 7th century, depictions of a risen Christ walking in the start to appear in conjunction with the two women and the angel in Western art. The famous Romanesque reliefs of c and these two scenes, preceded by a Crucifixion and Deposition and followed by a Pentecost and Ascension, are the only large panels in the Romanesque phase of work. Occasionally other scenes are shown, in the Gospel of John he is the first to check that the tomb is empty, a capital in Toulouse shows the empty tomb with John peering in from behind a column, and raising his hand in astonishment. The Resurrection was also referred to by showing typological parallels, such as Jonah and the Whale, the Resurrection of Lazarus, in traditional Orthodox iconography the actual moment of the Resurrection of Christ is never depicted, unlike the treatment of the raising of Lazarus. The icons do not depict the moment of the Resurrection, but show the Myrrhbearers, usually the resurrected Christ is rescuing Adam and Eve, and often other figures, symbolizing the salvation of humanity. His posture is very active, paralleling the Western depictions that show him climbing out of the tomb. The cosmic significance of the Resurrection in Western theology goes back to Saint Ambrose who in the 4th century said that In Christ the world has risen, heaven has risen, however, this theme was only developed later in Western theology and art. It was, a different matter in the East where the Resurrection was linked to redemption, in art this was symbolized by combining the depictions of the Resurrection with the Harrowing of Hell in icons and paintings
Resurrection of Jesus in Christian art
–
The distinctive English image, with Christ stepping on a soldier, in a 14th-century
Nottingham alabaster relief
Resurrection of Jesus in Christian art
–
The
Chi Rho with a wreath symbolizing the victory of the Resurrection, above Roman soldiers, c. 350
Resurrection of Jesus in Christian art
–
The earliest crucifixion in an
illuminated manuscript, from the
Rabbula Gospels also shows the resurrection
Resurrection of Jesus in Christian art
–
Raising
Adam and Eve, with Satan is bound in Hell,
Chora Church,
Istanbul, c. 1315
_I_193_2.jpg){kind=small}
) and the IX monogram (_I_193_4.jpg){kind=small}
).
Media related to Chi Rho at Wikimedia Commons
