1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
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Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
2.
Giacomo Lauro
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Giacomo Lauro, also called Giacomo da Treviso, was an Italian painter, of the late Renaissance, active mainly in his native Venice and Treviso. He was a follower of Paolo Veronese and he painted a St. Roch interceding for victims of the plague. Walter Armstrong & Robert Edmund Graves, ed, dictionary of Painters and Engravers, Biographical and Critical. York St. #4, Covent Garden, London, Original from Fogg Library, Digitized May 18,2007, George Bell and Sons
Giacomo Lauro
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Giacomo Lauro, Polish Sejm under the reign of Sigismund III Vasa, 1622. From the National Library in Warsaw
3.
Ancient Rome
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In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate the Mediterranean region and then Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and it is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond, its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia, the Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia and it would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of history from the pre-medieval Dark Ages of Europe. King Numitor was deposed from his throne by his brother, Amulius, while Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, because Rhea Silvia was raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine. The new king, Amulius, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, a she-wolf saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor. Romulus became the source of the citys name, in order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent, exiled, and unwanted. This caused a problem for Rome, which had a large workforce but was bereft of women, Romulus traveled to the neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables they all refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins, after a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, one woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they realized that they were in the ideal place to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships, the Roman poet Virgil recounted this legend in his classical epic poem the Aeneid
Ancient Rome
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Senātus Populus que Rōmānus
Ancient Rome
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Roman Republic
Ancient Rome
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According to legend,
Rome was founded in 753 BC by
Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a she-wolf.
Ancient Rome
–
This bust from the
Capitoline Museums is traditionally identified as a portrait of
Lucius Junius Brutus.
4.
Campus Martius
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The Campus Martius, was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about 2 square kilometres in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome, the IV rione of Rome, Campo Marzio, which covers a smaller section of the original area, bears the same name. Washing ashore further downriver, the brothers would return later to found a new city. Romulus, who became Rome’s sole king, ruled for years until sometime in the seventh century B. C. As he came to the end of his life, a cloud descended upon the center of the open field outside the city’s pomerium in order to lift the elderly king to heaven. This land, “between the city and the Tiber, ” became the property of Rome’s last Etruscan king Tarquinius Superbus, after his defeat and exile, the plain was dedicated to the god Mars. Roman men assembled every spring before heading off to fight hostile tribes, surrounding Rome, with the exception of a small altar to Mars near the center of the field, it wasn’t until the fifth century B. C. that any visible changes were made to the field. In 435 B. C. the Villa Publica was established in a prepared 300m clearing, the area was meant to be a gathering space for citizens to congregate every five years, to be counted in a census. Free from any permanent structures, no additions would be made for two centuries. With the advent of the Punic Wars in the mid-third century B. C. Roman military expansion moved out of the Italian peninsula, the number of foreign wars, however, greatly increased the amount of wealth flowing into Rome. Generals who had sworn to various deities to build temples in their honor if victorious, besides temples and wooden markets, entertainment venues were built also, though they were to be temporary. Starting in the time of Sulla, building lots were sold or granted to influential Romans and it later became the place for comitia centuriata, civic meetings with weapons, and for the citys militia. In 55 BC, Pompey constructed a permanent theater made of stone, when the Curia Hostilia burnt down in 52 BC, the theater was sometimes used as a meeting place for the Senate. The area was used as the assembling ground for elections. Julius Caesar planned for the Saepta to be placed there, they were completed by his heir Augustus. In 33 BC, Octavian dedicated the Porticus Octaviae, built from spoils of the Dalmatian War, the Campus Martius also held the Ara Pacis, built by the Senate to mark the establishment of peace by Augustus. It was intended to symbolize the successful completion of Augustus efforts to stabilize the Empire, Marcus Agrippa had the original swampy ground made into a pool and baths in a setting of parkland and temples, the Laconicum Sudatorium or Baths of Agrippa. Also, he built the Porticus Argonautarum and the Pantheon, which was rebuilt by Hadrian as it still stands today
Campus Martius
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Model of the ancient Campus Martius around AD 300.
Campus Martius
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The
Pantheon, a landmark of the Campus Martius since ancient Rome.
5.
Tiber River
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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 River
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The Tiber in
Rome
Tiber River
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Mussolini's headstone near the source of Tiber
Tiber River
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Roman representation of Tiber as a god (
Tiberinus) with
cornucopia at the
Campidoglio, Rome.
Tiber River
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View of the Tiber looking towards the
Vatican City.
6.
Gaius Flaminius Nepos
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Gaius Flaminius Nepos was a politician and consul of the Roman Republic in the 3rd century BC. He was the greatest popular leader to challenge the authority of the Senate prior to the Gracchi a century later, in the aftermath of the First Punic War, Flaminius, a novus homo, was the leader of a reform movement that sought to reorganize state land in Italy. As tribune of the plebs in 232 BC, he passed a plebiscite that divided the Ager Gallicus, contrary to the constitution and tradition, he did not seek consultation from the Senate, who would have been opposed to this decision. Flaminius was the governor of Sicily in 227, meanwhile, the reorganization of the land contributed to a renewed attack on Roman territory by the Gauls, whom the Romans finally defeated at the Battle of Telamon in 224. In 223, Flaminius was elected consul for the first time, in 221, Flaminius was magister equitum to Marcus Minucius Rufus, then in 220 he was chosen as a censor along with Lucius Aemilius Papus. In 218, while serving in the Senate, he was the senator to support the Lex Claudia. Flaminius failed to take the appropriate rituals to become a consul and was under threat of recall by the Senate, Flaminius raised four new legions and marched north to meet Hannibal, but was ambushed at Lake Trasimene. The army was destroyed and Flaminius was killed on 27 April and his supporters in the Senate began to lose power to the more aristocratic factions. The Romans feared that Hannibal would besiege their city, the Senate appointed Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus as dictator. Karel Jacobs, Gaius Flaminius, Edecea, Hoorn 1937, dissertation
Gaius Flaminius Nepos
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Ducarius decapitates Flaminius at the Battle of Lake Trasimene, by
Joseph-Noël Sylvestre. Béziers (Languedoc-Roussillon), Musée des beaux-Arts.
7.
Ludi
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Ludi were public games held for the benefit and entertainment of the Roman people. Ludi were held in conjunction with, or sometimes as the feature of, Roman religious festivals. The earliest ludi were horse races in the circus, animal exhibitions with mock hunts and theatrical performances also became part of the festivals. The singular form ludus, game, sport or play has several meanings in Latin, the plural is used for games in a sense analogous to the Greek festivals of games, such as the Panhellenic Games. The late-antique scholar Isidore of Seville, however, classifies the forms of ludus as gymnicus, circensis, the relation of gladiatorial games to the ludi is complex, see Gladiator. Originally, all seem to have been votive offerings, staged as the fulfillment of a vow to a deity whose favor had been sought. In 366 BC, the Ludi Romani became the first games to be placed on the calendar as an annual event sponsored by the state as a whole. Games in the circus were preceded by a parade featuring the competitors, mounted youths of the Roman nobility, armed dancers, musicians, a satyr chorus, as the product of military victory, ludi were often connected to triumphs. The first recorded venatio was presented in 186 BC by M. Fulvius Nobilior as part of his ludi votivi, for which he paid with booty displayed at his triumph. Although public money was allocated for the staging of ludi, the presiding official increasingly came to augment the splendor of his games from personal funds as a form of public relations. The sponsor was able to advertise his wealth, while declaring that he intended to share it for public benefit, the religious festivals to which the ludi were attached also occasioned public banquets, and often public works such as the refurbishing or building of temples. It was during these ludi, which served as funeral games. In the late Republic, performances were held at the intersections of neighborhoods throughout the city on the same day. During the civil wars of the 80s, these gave rise to often unruly plebeian political expression by the neighborhood organizations. Freedmen played a role, and even slaves participated in the festivities. In 67 BC, the Compitalia had been disrupted by a riot at the ludi, along with some forms of occupational guilds and neighborhood associations, the ludi compitalicii were consequently banned by the senate in 64 BC. An unnamed tribune of the plebs supported efforts to stage the ludi for 61 BC, the consul Calpurnius Piso, father-in-law of Caesar, permitted the games, even though the organizations that ran them were still outlawed. Caesar banned the collegia and ludi again in 46 BC, in 7 BC, Augustus reorganized Rome for administrative purposes into 265 districts which replaced but which were still called vici
Ludi
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Chariot races, as depicted on this 2nd-century
relief, were among the ludi presented at Roman religious festivals
Ludi
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Terracotta plaque (1st century) depicting a
venatio, or human-animal
blood sport
Ludi
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Octavian crowned as Augustus
8.
Temple of Pietas
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The Forum Holitorium was the site of a commercial marketplace for vegetables, herbs and oil in ancient Rome. It was oddly located outside the Porta Carmentalis in the Campus Martius, four Republican temples were part of the market complex. The two earliest were built during the First Punic War, the first a Temple of Janus vowed by Gaius Duilius following his victory in a battle at Mylae with the Carthaginians in 260 BC. A Temple of Spes was built soon after by Aulus Atilius Calatinus, a Temple of Juno Sospita was vowed in 197 BC and dedicated two years later. The Temple of Pietas that was dedicated in 181 was later removed, under the present church of San Nicola in Carcere are the ruins of three temples, standing side by side with the same orientation and facing the forum Holitorium. Besides some of marble of the restorations, the architectural fragments are republican period work in travertine, tuff. The central and largest of these temples is Ionic, and is probably that of Spes. The northernmost temple is next in size and also Ionic, and is assumed to be the temple of Janus which is mentioned in the written sources. It is hexastyle, peripteral except at the back, and six of its columns,0.70 meters in diameter, are still standing, the southernmost temple is the smallest and Doric, and probably that of Juno Sospita. These ruins are incorporated into and lie beneath the church, remains of other temples lie under and around the Church of SantOmobono
Temple of Pietas
–
The Forum Holitorium (lower center)
Temple of Pietas
–
Church of San Nicola in Carcere and Temple of Spes
9.
Forum Holitorium
–
The Forum Holitorium was the site of a commercial marketplace for vegetables, herbs and oil in ancient Rome. It was oddly located outside the Porta Carmentalis in the Campus Martius, four Republican temples were part of the market complex. The two earliest were built during the First Punic War, the first a Temple of Janus vowed by Gaius Duilius following his victory in a battle at Mylae with the Carthaginians in 260 BC. A Temple of Spes was built soon after by Aulus Atilius Calatinus, a Temple of Juno Sospita was vowed in 197 BC and dedicated two years later. The Temple of Pietas that was dedicated in 181 was later removed, under the present church of San Nicola in Carcere are the ruins of three temples, standing side by side with the same orientation and facing the forum Holitorium. Besides some of marble of the restorations, the architectural fragments are republican period work in travertine, tuff. The central and largest of these temples is Ionic, and is probably that of Spes. The northernmost temple is next in size and also Ionic, and is assumed to be the temple of Janus which is mentioned in the written sources. It is hexastyle, peripteral except at the back, and six of its columns,0.70 meters in diameter, are still standing, the southernmost temple is the smallest and Doric, and probably that of Juno Sospita. These ruins are incorporated into and lie beneath the church, remains of other temples lie under and around the Church of SantOmobono
Forum Holitorium
–
The Forum Holitorium (lower center)
Forum Holitorium
–
Church of San Nicola in Carcere and Temple of Spes
10.
Apollo
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Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in classical Greek and Roman religion and Greek and Roman mythology. The ideal of the kouros, Apollo has been recognized as a god of music, truth and prophecy, healing, the sun and light, plague, poetry. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto, and has a twin sister, Apollo is known in Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as Apulu. As the patron of Delphi, Apollo was an oracular god—the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle. Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius, yet Apollo was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and deadly plague. Amongst the gods custodial charges, Apollo became associated with dominion over colonists, as the leader of the Muses and director of their choir, Apollo functioned as the patron god of music and poetry. Hermes created the lyre for him, and the instrument became an attribute of Apollo. Hymns sung to Apollo were called paeans, Apollo and Helios/Sol remained separate beings in literary and mythological texts until the 3rd century CE. The name Apollo—unlike the related older name Paean—is generally not found in the Linear B texts, the etymology of the name is uncertain. The spelling Ἀπόλλων had almost superseded all other forms by the beginning of the common era and it probably is a cognate to the Doric month Apellaios, and the offerings apellaia at the initiation of the young men during the family-festival apellai. According to some scholars the words are derived from the Doric word apella, apella is the name of the popular assembly in Sparta, corresponding to the ecclesia. R. S. P. Beekes rejected the connection of the theonym with the noun apellai, several instances of popular etymology are attested from ancient authors. Thus, the Greeks most often associated Apollos name with the Greek verb ἀπόλλυμι, in the ancient Macedonian language πέλλα means stone, and some toponyms may be derived from this word, Πέλλα and Πελλήνη. The role of Apollo as god of plague is evident in the invocation of Apollo Smintheus by Chryses, the Hittite testimony reflects an early form *Apeljōn, which may also be surmised from comparison of Cypriot Ἀπείλων with Doric Ἀπέλλων. A Luwian etymology suggested for Apaliunas makes Apollo The One of Entrapment, Apollos chief epithet was Phoebus, literally bright. It was very commonly used by both the Greeks and Romans for Apollos role as the god of light, like other Greek deities, he had a number of others applied to him, reflecting the variety of roles, duties, and aspects ascribed to the god. However, while Apollo has a number of appellations in Greek myth. Aegletes, from αἴγλη, light of the sun Helius, literally sun Lyceus light, the meaning of the epithet Lyceus later became associated with Apollos mother Leto, who was the patron goddess of Lycia and who was identified with the wolf
Apollo
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Apollo Belvedere, ca. 120–140 CE
Apollo
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Partial view of the temple of Apollo Epikurios (healer) at
Bassae in southern Greece
Apollo
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Temple of the Delians at
Delos, dedicated to Apollo (478 BC). 19th-century pen-and-wash restoration.
Apollo
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Temple of Apollo Smintheus at
Çanakkale, Turkey
11.
Porticus Octaviae
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The Porticus Octaviae is an ancient structure in Rome. The structure was built by Augustus in the name of his sister, Octavia Minor, sometime after 27 BC, the colonnaded walks of the portico enclosed the temples of Jupiter Stator and Juno Regina, next to the Theater of Marcellus. It burned in 80 AD and was restored, probably by Domitian and it was adorned with foreign marble and contained many famous works of art, enumerated in Plinys Natural History. The structure was damaged by an earthquake in 442 AD, when two of the columns were replaced with an archway which still stands. The church of SantAngelo in Pescheria was built in the ruins circa 770 AD, besides the pre-existing temples, the enclosure included a library erected by Octavia in memory of her son Marcus Claudius Marcellus, the curia Octaviae, and a schola. Whether these were different parts of one building, or entirely different structures, is uncertain and it was probably in the curia that the senate is recorded as meeting. The whole is referred to by Pliny the Elder as Octaviae opera, the portico was used as a fish market from the medieval period, and up to the end of 19th century. This role is remembered in the name of the church of SantAngelo in Pescheria. The building, which lies in rione SantAngelo, represents the center of the Roman Ghetto, lacusCurtius. com, Samuel Ball Platner, revised by Thomas Ashby, A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, Porticus Octaviae The Portico of Octavia at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Porticus Octaviae
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The Porticus Octaviae today
Porticus Octaviae
–
Porticus Octaviae
Porticus Octaviae
–
Original configuration
12.
Germanicus
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Germanicus, formally Germanicus Julius Caesar, was heir-designate of the Roman Empire under Tiberius and a prominent general known for his campaigns in Germany. He was born at Rome into a prominent branch of the patrician gens Claudia, to Nero Claudius Drusus and his name at birth is uncertain, but was probably Nero Claudius Drusus after his father. The agnomen Germanicus was added to his name in 9 BC when it was posthumously awarded to his father in honour of his victories in Germania. In AD4, he was adopted out of the Claudii and into the Julii and he enjoyed an accelerated political career as a Caesar, entering the office of quaestor five years before the legal age in AD7. He held that office until AD11, and was elected consul for the first time in AD12, the year after, he was made proconsul of Germania Inferior, Germania Superior, and all of Gaul. From there he commanded eight legions, about one-third of the entire Roman army and his successes made him famous after avenging the defeat of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest, and retrieving two of the three legionary eagles that had been lost during the battle. In AD17 he returned to Rome to receive a triumph before leaving to reorganize the provinces of Asia, whereby he incorporated the provinces of Cappadocia, while in the eastern provinces, he came into conflict with the governor of Syria, Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso. During their feud, Germanicus became ill in Antioch, where he died on 10 October AD19 and his death has been attributed to poison by ancient sources, but that was never proven. Beloved by the people, he was considered to be the ideal Roman long after his death. The Roman people have said to consider him as Romes Alexander the Great due to the nature of his death at a young age, his virtuous character, his dashing physique. His praenomen is unknown, but he was probably named Nero Claudius Drusus after his father, in 9 BC, the agnomen Germanicus was added to his full name when it was posthumously awarded to his father in honor of his victories in Germania. Though the name was inherited by his siblings too, the title seems at first to have been used exclusively by him, by AD4 he was adopted as Tiberius son and heir. As a result, Germanicus was adopted out of the Claudii, in accordance with Roman naming conventions, he adopted the name Julius Caesar while retaining his agnomen, becoming Germanicus Julius Caesar. Upon Germanicus adoption into the Julii, his brother Claudius became the legal representative of his father. Germanicus was born at Rome in 15 BC and his parents were the general Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor. Livilla was his sister and the future emperor Claudius was his younger brother. As a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was a relative to all five Julio-Claudian emperors. On his mothers side Germanicus was a great-nephew of Augustus, the first emperor of Rome and he was born the nephew of the second emperor, Tiberius
Germanicus
–
Bust of Germanicus
Germanicus
–
Agrippina and Germanicus, as painted by
Peter Paul Rubens
Germanicus
–
The Death of Germanicus (1627), oil painting by
Nicholas Poussin. Collection
Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
Germanicus
–
Germanicus
13.
Theatre of Marcellus
–
The Theatre of Marcellus is an ancient open-air theatre in Rome, Italy, built in the closing years of the Roman Republic. At the theatre, locals and visitors alike were able to watch performances of drama, today its ancient edifice in the rione of SantAngelo, Rome, once again provides one of the citys many popular spectacles or tourist sites. The theatre was 111 m in diameter and was the largest and most important theatre in Ancient Rome and it was an impressive example of what was to become one of the most pervasive urban architectural forms of the Roman world. The theatre was mainly of tuff, and concrete faced with stones in the pattern known as opus reticulatum. However, it is also the earliest dateable building in Rome to make use of fired Roman brick, then a new introduction from the Greek world. It is believed that Corinthian columns were used for the level but this is uncertain as the theatre was reconstructed in the Middle Ages, removing the top tier of seating. Like other Roman theatres in locations, it had openings through which the natural setting could be seen. The permanent setting, the scaena, also rose to the top of the cavea as in other Roman theatres, the theatre fell out of use in the early 4th century and the structure served as a quarry for e. g. the Pons Cestius in 370 AD. However, the statues located inside the building were restored by Petronius Maximus in 421, in the Early Middle Ages the theatre was used as a fortress of the Fabii and then at the end of the 11th century, by Pier Leoni and later his heirs. This saved the complex from further destruction, the Savelli held it in the 13th century. Later, in the 16th century, the residence of the Orsini, by the 19th century, rises in the street level meant that almost half the ground floor was below it
Theatre of Marcellus
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Theater of Marcellus (above)
Theatre of Marcellus
–
Theater of Marcellus
Theatre of Marcellus
–
Theater of Marcellus by night.
14.
Severan marble plan
–
The Forma Urbis Romae or Severan Marble Plan is a massive marble map of ancient Rome, created under the emperor Septimius Severus between 203 and 211. Scholar Matteo Cadario gives specific years of 205-208, noting that the map was based on property records and it originally measured 18 m wide by 13 m high and was carved into 150 marble slabs mounted on an interior wall of the Temple of Peace. Created at a scale of approximately 1 to 240, the map was detailed enough to show the plans of nearly every temple, bath. The boundaries of the plan were decided based on the space on the marble. The map was oriented with south at the top, on the map are names and plans of public buildings, streets, and private homes. The creators used signs and details like columns and staircases, the Plan was gradually destroyed during the Middle Ages, with the marble stones being used as building materials or for making lime. In 1562, the young antiquarian sculptor Giovanni Antonio Dosio excavated fragments of the Forma Urbis from a site near the Church of SS, cosma e Damiano, under the direction of the humanist condottiere Torquato Conti, who had purchased excavation rights from the canons of the church. Conti made a gift of the fragments to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. Little interest seems to have been elicited by the marble shards, part of the excavated plan showed a portion of the Forum of Augustus, interpreted as a working drawing or as a proof of the existence of a more ancient Forma Urbis. Piecing together the fragments of the plan is an activity that has engrossed scholars for centuries. Renaissance scholars managed to match and identify around 250 of the pieces, usually by recognizing famous landmarks such as the Colosseum, other scholars have re-interpreted the topography depicted on many fragments. A research project at Stanford University in 2002 had some success in positioning four fragments, a new piece of Forma Urbis Romae that completes the words Circus Flaminius has been uncovered in 2014 at the Palazzo Maffei Marescotti, a building owned by the Vatican. Topography of ancient Rome Henri Jordan Forma Urbis Romae, regionum XIIII Carettoni, Gianfilippo, Colini, Antonio, Cozza, Lucos, and Gatti, Guglielmo, eds. La pianta marmorea di Roma antica, Forma urbis Romae Rodríguez Almeida, Emilio. Aggiornamento topografico dei colli Oppio, Cispio e Viminale secondo la Forma Urbis marmorea, Rendiconti della Pontificia Accademia romana di Archeologia Vol XLVIII. Nuovi elementi di analisi e nuove ipotesi di lavoro, in Mélanges de lÉcole française de Rome 89/1, pp. 219-256. Miscellanea sulla «Forma Urbis» marmorea, + Rodríguez Almeida, E. Il Campo Marzio settentrionale, «Solarium» e «Pomerium», un nuovo frammento della Forma Urbis Marmorea. Un frammento di una nuova pianta marmorea di Roma, journal of Roman Archaeology, pp. 120-131
Severan marble plan
–
Reconstruction of part of the Forma Urbis with cavea of
theatrum Pompei shown.
Severan marble plan
–
The wall where the map was originally mounted
15.
Circus Maximus
–
The Circus Maximus is an ancient Roman chariot racing stadium and mass entertainment venue located in Rome, Italy. Situated in the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome and it measured 621 m in length and 118 m in width and could accommodate over 150,000 spectators. In its fully developed form, it became the model for circuses throughout the Roman Empire, the site is now a public park. The Circus was Romes largest venue for ludi, public games connected to Roman religious festivals, ludi were sponsored by leading Romans or the Roman state for the benefit of the Roman people and gods. Most were held annually or at intervals on the Roman calendar. Others might be given to fulfill a vow, such as the games in celebration of a triumph. The earliest known triumph ludi at the Circus were vowed by Tarquin the Proud to Jupiter in the late Regal era for his victory over Pometia. The greater ludi at the Circus began with a flamboyant parade, much like the triumphal procession, during the Republic, the aediles organized the games. Although their original purpose was religious, the complexity of staging ludi became a way to display the competence, generosity, some Circus events, however, seem to have been relatively small and intimate affairs. In 167 BC, flute players, scenic artists and dancers performed on a temporary stage, others were enlarged at enormous expense to fit the entire space. A venatio held there in 169 BC, one of several in the 2nd century, employed 63 leopards and 40 bears and elephants, as Romes provinces expanded, existing ludi were embellished and new ludi invented by politicians who competed for divine and popular support. By the late Republic, ludi were held on 57 days of the year, on many other days, charioteers and jockeys would need to practice on its track. Otherwise, it would have made a convenient corral for the animals traded in the cattle market. Beneath the outer stands, next to the Circus multiple entrances, were workshops and shops, when no games were being held, the Circus at the time of Catullus was likely a dusty open space with shops and booths. A colourful crowded disreputable area frequented by prostitutes, jugglers, fortune tellers, Romes emperors met the ever-burgeoning popular demand for regular ludi and the need for more specialised venues, as essential obligations of their office and cult. Over the several centuries of its development, the Circus Maximus became Romes paramount specialist venue for chariot races, eventually,135 days of the year were devoted to ludi. With the advent of Christianity as the religion of the Empire. The last known beast-hunt at the Circus Maximus took place in 523, the Circus Maximus was sited on the level ground of the Valley of Murcia, between Romes Aventine and Palatine Hills
Circus Maximus
–
Modern (1978) view of the Circus site from the south-east
Circus Maximus
–
Circus Maximus
Circus Maximus
–
Model of Rome in the 4th century AD, by
Paul Bigot. The Circus lies between the
Aventine (left) and
Palatine (right); the oval structure to the far right is the
Colosseum
Circus Maximus
–
View of the Circus site from the south-east. The tower in the foreground is part of a medieval fortification.
16.
Chariot racing
–
Chariot racing was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine sports. Chariot racing was dangerous to drivers and horses as they often suffered serious injury and even death, but these dangers added to the excitement. Chariot races could be watched by women, who were barred from watching other sports. In the Roman form of racing, teams represented different groups of financial backers. As in modern sports like soccer, spectators generally chose to support a team, identifying themselves strongly with its fortunes. The rivalries were sometimes politicized, when teams became associated with competing social or religious ideas and this helps explain why Roman and later Byzantine emperors took control of the teams and appointed many officials to oversee them. The sport faded in importance in the West after the fall of Rome and it survived for a time in the Byzantine Empire, where the traditional Roman factions continued to play a prominent role for several centuries, gaining influence in political matters. Their rivalry culminated in the Nika riots, which marked the decline of the sport. It is unknown exactly when chariot racing began, but it may have been as old as chariots themselves, the participants in this race were Diomedes, Eumelus, Antilochus, Menelaus, and Meriones. The race, which was one lap around the stump of a tree, was won by Diomedes, who received a slave woman and a cauldron as his prize. In the ancient Olympic Games, as well as the other Panhellenic Games, the chariot racing event was first added to the Olympics in 680 BC with the games expanding from a one-day to a two-day event to accommodate the new event. The races themselves were held in the hippodrome, which held both chariot races and riding races, the single horse race was known as the keles. The hippodrome was situated at the south-east corner of the sanctuary of Olympia, on the flat area south of the stadium. Until recently, its location was unknown, since it is buried by several meters of sedimentary material from the Alfeios River. In 2008, however, Annie Muller and staff of the German Archeological Institute used radar to locate a large, rectangular structure similar to Pausaniass description. Pausanias, who visited Olympia in the second century AD, describes the monument as a large, elongated, flat space, the elongated racecourse was divided longitudinally into two tracks by a stone or wooden barrier, the embolon. All the horses or chariots ran on one track toward the east, then turned around the embolon, distances varied according to the event. The racecourse was surrounded by natural and artificial banks for the spectators, the race was begun by a procession into the hippodrome, while a herald announced the names of the drivers and owners
Chariot racing
–
A modern recreation of chariot racing in
Puy du Fou
Chariot racing
–
Chariot racing on a
black-figure hydria from
Attica, ca. 510 BC
Chariot racing
–
The
Charioteer of Delphi, one of the most famous statues surviving from
Ancient Greece
Chariot racing
–
The plan of the
Circus Maximus
17.
Taurian Games
–
The Taurian Games were games held in ancient Rome in honor of the di inferi, the gods of the underworld. They were not part of a regularly scheduled religious festival on the calendar, Ludi Taurii are recorded in 186 BC as a two-day event. Varro mentions them as occurring in the late Republic, during the reign of Antoninus Pius, they were held every five years from 140 to 160 AD, within a period beginning on the day after the Ides of May and continuing through the Kalends of June. Some scholars extrapolate that like the lustrum, the Ludi Taurii were regularly quinquennial, others caution that the five-year schedule under Antoninus Pius, attested by the Fasti Ostienses, is never mentioned in other sources. The limited evidence suggests the Ludi Taurii were important mainly in the context of religious revivalism during the Augustan, the Taurian Games were horse races, or less likely chariot races, on a course around turning posts. In the 19th century, they were confused with the archaic Tarentine Games. The Ludi Taurii were the games held in the Circus Flaminius. If the games are Etruscan in origin, as Festus and Servius claim, taurii probably comes from the Etruscan word tauru, the design of the turning posts on a Roman race course was derived from Etruscan funerary monuments. Festus, however, offers an etiology based on Latin taurus, in the tradition recorded by Festus, the games were instituted in the Regal period when Tarquinius Superbus was king. Servius also places their origin during his reign, Festus explains that the games were performed in honor of the gods below. They were established in response to an epidemic afflicting pregnant women, Servius implies that the pestilentia was infant mortality, each delivery of the women came out badly. The remedy of the games was obtained ex libris fatalibus, from the books of the fates, according to Servius, the ludi took their name from the word taurea, meaning a sterile sacrificial victim. Festus also provided an explanation of the name as taurus from Varro. A reconstruction dating back to J. J, scaliger has been taken to mean that youths, under the direction of a coach, engaged in ritual gymnastics on a raw bulls hide, perhaps to be compared to exercises on a trampoline. This view has not attracted wide acceptance, but would suggest that the ritual action countervails infant mortality by affirming the fitness of the youth, ritually, landing on the bulls skin may mimic the catching of a safely delivered newborn. The Augustan historian Livy has a reference to the games as occurring in 186 BC per biduum. On this occasion, the two-day Ludi Taurii preceded ten days of ludi presented by Marcus Fulvius Nobilior as the result of a vow in the Aetolian War, nobiliors games are notable as the first time a beast hunt was staged at Rome. Earlier scholars have taken the adjective taurii to mean that bulls were part of the games, either in a Mediterranean tradition of bull-leaping
Taurian Games
–
Marcus Aurelius (
head covered) sacrificing at the Temple of Jupiter
Taurian Games
–
Etruscan bronze figurine of horse and rider (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
18.
Di Inferi
–
For the fictional Inferi of J. K. The di inferi or dii inferi were a collective of ancient Roman deities associated with death. The epithet inferi is also given to the mysterious Manes, a collective of ancestral spirits. The most likely origin of the word Manes is from manus or manis, meaning good or kindly, in general, animal sacrifice to gods of the upper world usually resulted in communal meals, with the cooked victim apportioned to divine and human recipients. Infernal gods, by contrast, received burnt offerings, in which the victims were burnt to ash. Thereafter, he was considered part of the collective Manes, sharing in the made to them. Secret ritual practices characterized as magic were often directed at underworld gods. Di inferi were often invoked in binding spells, which offer personal enemies to them, the infernal gods were also the recipients on the rare occasions when human sacrifice was carried out in Rome. The ritual of devotio, when a general pledged his own life as an offering along with the enemy, was directed at the gods of the underworld under the name Di Manes. Religious sites and rituals for the di inferi were properly outside the pomerium, Romes sacred boundary, the Taurian Games were celebrated specifically to propitiate the di inferi. The rarely raced three-horse chariot was sacred to the di inferi, according to Isidore of Seville, the three horses represented the three stages of a human life, childhood, youth, and old age. The wood of trees, called arbores infelices, had apotropaic powers and was used for burning objects regarded as ill omens. The following list includes deities who were thought to dwell in the underworld and they typically receive nocturnal sacrifices, or dark-colored animals as offerings. Other deities may have had a secondary or disputed chthonic aspect, rituals pertaining to Mars, particularly in a form influenced by Etruscan tradition, suggest a role in the cycle of birth and death. Mercury moves between the realms of upper- and underworld as a psychopomp, the agricultural god Consus had an altar that was underground, like that of Dis and Proserpina. Deities concerned with birth are often cultivated like death deities, with nocturnal offerings that suggest a theological view of birth and death as a cycle, the deities listed below are not to be regarded as collectively forming the di inferi, whose individual identities are obscure
Di Inferi
–
Marcus Aurelius (
head covered) sacrificing at the Temple of Jupiter
Di Inferi
–
Roman sculpture of
Hecate, based on a Hellenistic original
19.
Strabo
–
Strabo was a Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian who lived in Asia Minor during the transitional period of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus, Strabos life was characterized by extensive travels. He journeyed to Egypt and Kush, as far west as coastal Tuscany and as far south as Ethiopia in addition to his travels in Asia Minor and the time he spent in Rome. Travel throughout the Mediterranean and Near East, especially for scholarly purposes, was popular during this era and was facilitated by the relative peace enjoyed throughout the reign of Augustus. He moved to Rome in 44 BC, and stayed there, studying and writing, in 29 BC, on his way to Corinth, he visited the island of Gyaros in the Aegean Sea. Around 25 BC, he sailed up the Nile until reaching Philae and it is not known precisely when Strabos Geography was written, though comments within the work itself place the finished version within the reign of Emperor Tiberius. Some place its first drafts around 7 BC, others around 17 or 18 AD, the latest passage to which a date can be assigned is his reference to the death in AD23 of Juba II, king of Maurousia, who is said to have died just recently. He probably worked on the Geography for many years and revised it steadily, on the presumption that recently means within a year, Strabo stopped writing that year or the next, when he died. The first of Strabos major works, Historical Sketches, written while he was in Rome, is completely lost. Strabo studied under several prominent teachers of various specialties throughout his life at different stops along his Mediterranean travels. His first chapter of education took place in Nysa under the master of rhetoric Aristodemus, Strabo was an admirer of Homers poetry, perhaps a consequence of his time spent in Nysa with Aristodemus. At around the age of 21, Strabo moved to Rome, where he studied philosophy with the Peripatetic Xenarchus, despite Xenarchuss Aristotelian leanings, Strabo later gives evidence to have formed his own Stoic inclinations. In Rome, he learned grammar under the rich and famous scholar Tyrannion of Amisus. Although Tyrannion was also a Peripatetic, he was more relevantly a respected authority on geography, the final noteworthy mentor to Strabo was Athenodorus Cananites, a philosopher who had spent his life since 44 BC in Rome forging relationships with the Roman elite. Athenodorus endowed to Strabo three important items, his philosophy, his knowledge, and his contacts, moreover, from his own first-hand experience, Athenodorus provided Strabo with information about regions of the empire which he would not otherwise have known. Strabo is most notable for his work Geographica, which presented a history of people. Although the Geographica was rarely utilized in its antiquity, a multitude of copies survived throughout the Byzantine Empire. It first appeared in Western Europe in Rome as a Latin translation issued around 1469, the first Greek edition was published in 1516 in Venice
Strabo
–
Strabo as depicted in a 16th-century engraving
Strabo
–
Title page from
Isaac Casaubon 's 1620 edition of
Geographica.
Strabo
–
Statue of Strabo in his hometown (modern-day
Amasya, Turkey), beside the
Iris (Yeşilırmak) River.
Strabo
–
Map of Europe according to Strabo.
20.
Valerius Maximus
–
Valerius Maximus was a Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes. He worked during the reign of Tiberius, nothing is known of his life except that his family was poor and undistinguished, and that he owed everything to Sextus Pompeius, proconsul of Asia, whom he accompanied to the East in 27. Pompeius was the center of a circle to which Ovid belonged, he was also an intimate friend of the most literary prince of the imperial family. His attitude towards the imperial household has often been misunderstood, but, if the references to the imperial administration are carefully scanned, they will be seen to be extravagant neither in kind nor in number. Few will now grudge Tiberius, when his whole action as a ruler is taken into account, such a title as salutaris princeps, the few allusions to Caesars murderers and to Augustus hardly pass beyond the conventional style of the writers day. The only passage which can fairly be called fulsome is the violently rhetorical tirade against Sejanus, the style of Valeriuss writings seems to indicate that he was a professional rhetorician. According to the manuscripts, its title is Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX, Nine Books of Memorable Deeds, most of the tales are from Roman history, but each section has an appendix consisting of extracts from the annals of other peoples, principally the Greeks. The authors chief sources are Cicero, Livy, Sallust and Pompeius Trogus, and even on the historical side we owe something to Valerius. He often used sources now lost, and where he touches on his own time he affords us some glimpses of the much debated and he is also a typical example of Silver Latin, a literary period often criticised for poor writers. In Valerius are all the tendencies of the age. Direct and simple statement is avoided and novelty pursued at any price, in the manuscripts of Valerius a tenth book is given, which consists of the so-called Liber de Praenominibus, the work of some grammarian of a much later date. The collection of Valerius was much used for school purposes, like other schoolbooks it was epitomated. One complete epitome, probably of the 4th or 5th century, bearing the name of Julius Paris, has come down to us, kempf, contain the epitomes of Paris and Nepotianus. New editions have been produced by R. Combès with a French translation, J. Briscoe, shackleton Baily with an English translation. Recent discussions of Valerius work include W, a translation into Dutch was published in 1614, and was read by Rembrandt and other artists, stimulating interest in some new subjects such as Artemisia drinking her husbands ashes. Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. VALERI MAXIMI FACTORVM ET DICTORVM MEMORABILIVM LIBRI NOVEM at The Latin Library, his most famous work, Valerius Maximus and the Rhetoric of the New Nobility. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill,1992, practical Ethics for Roman Gentlemen, the Work of Valerius Maximus
Valerius Maximus
–
Page from an
incunable of Valerius Maximus, Facta et dicta memorabilia, printed in red and black by
Peter Schöffer (
Mainz, 1471)
Valerius Maximus
–
Simon de Hesdin presents his translation of Valerius Maximus' 'Facta et dicta memorabilia' to Charles V, king of France
21.
Forum of Augustus
–
The Forum of Augustus is one of the Imperial forums of Rome, Italy, built by Augustus. It includes the Temple of Mars Ultor and this landmark was built in 42 BCE. The triumvir Octavian vowed to build a temple honoring Mars, the Roman God of War, after winning the battle, with the help of Mark Antony and Lepidus, Octavian had avenged the assassination of his adoptive father Julius Caesar. He became the Princeps of Rome in 27 BC under the name Augustus, the land the Forum was to be built on was already owned by Augustus himself. However, the plans called for more space than he had. This self-proclaimed good deed was more likely just a ploy to save Augustus money. These land issues, as well as numerous architectural mishaps, prolonged construction, the incomplete forum and its temple were inaugurated,40 years after they were first vowed, in 2 BC. In 19 AD Tiberius added two triumphal arches either side of the temple in honour of Drusus the Elder and Germanicus, the educational and cultural use of the exedrae were recorded in the late antiquity. The last notice of the forum was given in 395, archeological data testifies to the systematic dismantling of the structures in the first half of the 6th century, probably because it was seriously damaged in an earthquake or during the wars. The Forum of Augustus was among the first of the public buildings of Rome which disappeared that also explains the rapid loss of the memory of its original name. In the 9th century a Basilian monastery was erected on the podium of the ruined temple, the Forum of Augustus was built to both house a temple honouring Mars, and to provide another space for legal proceedings, as the Roman Forum was very crowded. Before battle, generals set off from the Temple of Mars, other ceremonies took place in the temple including the assumption of the toga virilis by young men. The Senate met at the Temple when discussing war and the victorious generals dedicated their spoils from their triumphs to Mars at the altar, arms or booty recovered from battle were often stored in the Forum as well. The Forum was filled with a variety of different statues. Most notable were the statues of Augustus in full military outfit in the center of the Forum, in total, there were 108 portrait statues with inscriptions of each individual’s achievements, providing an important idea of how Augustus viewed his role within Roman history. The inscriptions are called elogia by modern scholars and they trace Augustus’ lineage back through the fourteen Alban kings to the founding ancestors Aeneas and Romulus. These figures reinforced the importance of both Roman lineage and also of the lineage that Augustus himself held. By advertising this lineage, he reinforced his power and authorities as a leader, also, by placing himself amongst great figures and heroes, he further portrayed himself and his own importance
Forum of Augustus
–
Remains of
Forum of
Augustus with the Temple of
Mars Ultor.
Forum of Augustus
–
The fireproof wall with Arco dei Pantani and the columns of the temple
Forum of Augustus
–
Artist's rendition of Forum of Augustus.
22.
Roman assemblies
–
The Roman Assemblies were institutions in ancient Rome. They functioned as the machinery of the Roman legislative branch, since the assemblies operated on the basis of direct democracy, ordinary citizens, and not elected representatives, would cast all ballots. The assemblies were subject to checks on their power by the executive branch. Laws were passed by Curia, Tribes, and Centuries, when the city of Rome was founded, a senate and an assembly, the Curiate Assembly, were both created. The Curiate Assembly was the legislative assembly during the era of the Roman Kingdom. While its primary purpose was to new kings, it also possessed rudimentary legislative powers. Shortly after the founding of the Roman Republic, the legislative authority shifted to two new assemblies, the Tribal Assembly and the Centuriate Assembly. Eventually, most legislative powers were transferred to another assembly, the Plebeian Council, ultimately, it was the Plebeian Council that disrupted the balance between the senate, the legislative branch, and the executive branch. This led to the collapse of the republic, and the founding of the Roman Empire in 27 BC, under the empire, the powers that had been held by the assemblies were transferred to the senate. While the assemblies eventually lost their last semblance of political power, eventually, however, the assemblies were ultimately abandoned. The Legislative Assemblies of the Roman Kingdom were political institutions in the ancient Roman Kingdom, while one assembly, the Curiate Assembly, had some legislative powers, these powers involved nothing more than a right to symbolically ratify decrees issued by the Roman King. The functions of the assembly, the Calate Assembly, were purely religious. During the years of the kingdom, the People of Rome were organized on the basis of units called Curia, all of the People of Rome were divided amongst a total of thirty Curiae. These Curiae were the units of division in the two popular assemblies. The members in each Curia would vote, and the majority in each Curia would determine how that Curia voted before the assembly, thus, a majority of the Curiae were needed during any vote before either the Curiate Assembly or the Calculate Assembly. The Curiate Assembly was an assembly with political significance during the period of the Roman Kingdom. The king presided over the assembly, and submitted decrees to it for ratification, after a king died, the Interrex selected a candidate to replace the king. After the nominee received the approval of the Roman Senate, the Interrex held the election before the Curiate Assembly
Roman assemblies
–
Growth of the city region during the kingdom
Roman assemblies
–
Ancient Rome
Roman assemblies
–
Gaius Gracchus, tribune of the people, presiding over the Plebeian Council
23.
Augustus
–
Augustus was the founder of the Roman Principate and considered the first Roman emperor, controlling the Roman Empire from 27 BC until his death in AD14. He was born Gaius Octavius into an old and wealthy equestrian branch of the plebeian gens Octavia and his maternal great-uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, and Octavius was named in Caesars will as his adopted son and heir, then known as Octavianus. He, Mark Antony, and Marcus Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate to defeat the assassins of Caesar, following their victory at the Battle of Philippi, the Triumvirate divided the Roman Republic among themselves and ruled as military dictators. The Triumvate was eventually torn apart by the ambitions of its members. Lepidus was driven into exile and stripped of his position, in reality, however, he retained his autocratic power over the Republic as a military dictator. By law, Augustus held a collection of powers granted to him for life by the Senate, including supreme military command, and it took several years for Augustus to develop the framework within which a formally republican state could be led under his sole rule. He rejected monarchical titles, and instead called himself Princeps Civitatis, the resulting constitutional framework became known as the Principate, the first phase of the Roman Empire. The reign of Augustus initiated an era of peace known as the Pax Romana. Augustus dramatically enlarged the Empire, annexing Egypt, Dalmatia, Pannonia, Noricum, and Raetia, expanding possessions in Africa, expanding into Germania, beyond the frontiers, he secured the Empire with a buffer region of client states and made peace with the Parthian Empire through diplomacy. Augustus died in AD14 at the age of 75 and he probably died from natural causes, although there were unconfirmed rumors that his wife Livia poisoned him. He was succeeded as Emperor by his adopted son Tiberius, Augustus was known by many names throughout his life, At birth, he was named Gaius Octavius after his biological father. Historians typically refer to him simply as Octavius between his birth in 63 until his adoption by Julius Caesar in 44 BC, upon his adoption, he took Caesars name and became Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus in accordance with Roman adoption naming standards. He quickly dropped Octavianus from his name, and his contemporaries referred to him as Caesar during this period, historians. In 27 BC, following his defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra and it is the events of 27 BC from which he obtained his traditional name of Augustus, which historians use in reference to him from 27 BC until his death in AD14. While his paternal family was from the town of Velletri, approximately 40 kilometres from Rome and he was born at Ox Head, a small property on the Palatine Hill, very close to the Roman Forum. He was given the name Gaius Octavius Thurinus, his cognomen possibly commemorating his fathers victory at Thurii over a band of slaves. Due to the nature of Rome at the time, Octavius was taken to his fathers home village at Velletri to be raised. Octavius only mentions his fathers equestrian family briefly in his memoirs and his paternal great-grandfather Gaius Octavius was a military tribune in Sicily during the Second Punic War
Augustus
–
The statue known as the
Augustus of Prima Porta, 1st century
Augustus
–
The Death of Caesar, by
Jean-Léon Gérôme (1867). On 15 March 44 BC, Octavius's adoptive father Julius Caesar was assassinated by a conspiracy led by
Marcus Junius Brutus and
Gaius Cassius Longinus.
Walters Art Museum,
Baltimore.
Augustus
–
A statue of Augustus as a younger Octavian, dated ca. 30 BC
Augustus
–
Bust of Augustus in
Musei Capitolini, Rome
24.
International Standard Book Number
–
The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
International Standard Book Number
–
A 13-digit ISBN, 978-3-16-148410-0, as represented by an
EAN-13 bar code
25.
Varro
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Marcus Terentius Varro was an ancient Roman scholar and writer. He is sometimes called Varro Reatinus to distinguish him from his younger contemporary Varro Atacinus, politically, he supported Pompey, reaching the office of praetor, after having been tribune of the people, quaestor and curule aedile. He was one of the commission of twenty that carried out the great scheme of Caesar for the resettlement of Capua. During the civil war he commanded one of Pompeys armies in the Ilerda campaign and he escaped the penalties of being on the losing side in the civil war through two pardons granted by Julius Caesar, before and after the Battle of Pharsalus. As the Republic gave way to Empire, Varro gained the favour of Augustus, under whose protection he found the security and quiet to devote himself to study, Varro studied under the Roman philologist Lucius Aelius Stilo, and later at Athens under the Academic philosopher Antiochus of Ascalon. Varro proved to be a productive writer and turned out more than 74 Latin works on a variety of topics. Among his many works, two stand out for historians, Nine Books of Disciplines and his compilation of the Varronian chronology and his Nine Books of Disciplines became a model for later encyclopedists, especially Pliny the Elder. The most noteworthy portion of the Nine Books of Disciplines is its use of the arts as organizing principles. Varro decided to focus on identifying nine of these arts, grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, musical theory, medicine, using Varros list, subsequent writers defined the seven classical liberal arts of the medieval schools. The compilation of the Varronian chronology was an attempt to determine an exact timeline of Roman history up to his time. It is based on the sequence of the consuls of the Roman Republic — supplemented. His only complete work extant, Rerum rusticarum libri tres, has described as the well digested system of an experienced and successful farmer who has seen. One noteworthy aspect of the work is his anticipation of microbiology and epidemiology, Varro warned his contemporaries to avoid swamps and marshland, since in such areas. There are bred certain minute creatures which cannot be seen by the eyes, but which float in the air and enter the body through the mouth and nose and cause serious diseases. 199–242, in the collection of Wilmanns, pp. 170–223, and in that of Funaioli, pp. 179–371. G. Kent Livius. org, Varronian chronology thelatinlibrary. com, Latin works of Varro
Varro
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Plan of the birdhouse at Casinum designed and built by Varro
Varro
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Fasti Antiates Maiores, an inscription containing the
Roman calendar. This calendar predates the Julian reform of the calendar; it contains the months
Quintilis and
Sextilis, and allows for the insertion of an
intercalary month
26.
Fasti Ostienses
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The Fasti Ostienses is a fragmentary marble calendar from Ostia dating from 49 BC to 175 AD. Ostia was a town at the mouth of the Tiber. The most likely public space for displaying the Fasti Ostienses was the Temple of Vulcanus, many of the events recorded are religious. For each year, the consuls are listed, followed by key events of importance, then the local duoviri. The marble slabs on which the fasti was inscribed were dismantled and used for other purposes, perhaps in late antiquity under Christian rule, or even earlier, christer Bruun, Civic Rituals in Imperial Ostia, in Ritual Dynamics and Religious Change in the Roman Empire. Proceedings of the Eighth Workshop of the International Network Impact of Empire, ladislav Vidman, Fasti Ostienses, edendos, illustrandos, restituendos
Fasti Ostienses
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A fragment of the Fasti Ostienses that mentions
Pharasmanes II of Iberia
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Samuel Platner
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He is not to be confused with the somewhat earlier Roman topographer Ernst Platner. Samuel Ball Platner was an American classicist and archaeologist, Platner was born at Unionville, Connecticut, and educated at Yale College. The topography and monuments of ancient Rome, samuel Ball Platner at the Database of Classical Scholars
Samuel Platner
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The Comitium as recently excavated
