1.
Constans II (usurper)
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Constans II was the eldest son of the Western Roman Emperor Constantine III and was appointed co-emperor by him from 409 to 411. He was killed during the revolts and fighting that ended his father’s reign, elder son of Claudius Constantine and brother of Julian, in his youth Constans was a monk. After some initial defeats, Constans captured two of his enemies, while the two fled to Constantinople. He left his wife and household at Zaragoza under the care of Gerontius to return to report to Arles, in Autumn 409, barbarian invaders plundered Gaul, reached the Pyrenees, swept away Roman defences and entered into Hispania. With the support of the barbarians, Gerontius took over Constantines territory, in 411, he captured the city of Vienne, whether Constans II was a usurper is open to debate, he was crowned after Constantine III had been recognised as co-emperor by Honorius. However, this recognition would not have included the right to extend the power to Constantines family. British legend, aided by Geoffrey of Monmouth, states that Constans was elected by the Britons as king after Constantines death and this contradicts the known history of Constans, as does the remainder of his British story. The legend claims Constans, older brother to Aurelius Ambrosius and Uther Pendragon, during the succession crisis following Constantines murder, Vortigern, leader of the Gewissei tribe, convinced Constans to leave the religious life and become king. The weak and unpopular former monk became a puppet, putting all, Vortigern eventually disposed of him by tricking some Picts, liaisons in his employ, into murdering him in his sleep. The treacherous Vortigern took the throne for himself, zosimus, Historia Nova, Book 6 Historia Nova Orosius, Historiae adversum Paganos,7. I. R. Canduci, Alexander, Triumph & Tragedy, The Rise and Fall of Romes Immortal Emperors, Pier 9, ISBN 978-1-74196-598-8 Bury, a History of the Later Roman Empire from Arcadius to Irene, Vol. I Gibbon, Edward, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
2.
Solidus (coin)
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The solidus, nomisma, or bezant was originally a relatively pure gold coin issued in the Late Roman Empire. Under Constantine, who introduced it on a scale, it had a weight of about 4.5 grams. The Byzantine solidus also inspired the originally slightly less pure Arabian dinar, in late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the solidus also functioned as a unit of weight equal to 1/72 of a pound. The solidus was introduced by Diocletian in AD301 as a replacement of the aureus, composed of solid gold. His minting was on a scale, however, and the coin only entered widespread circulation under Constantine I after AD312. Constantines solidus was struck at a rate of 72 to a Roman pound of gold, each coin weighed 24 Greco-Roman carats. By this time, the solidus was worth 275,000 increasingly debased denarii, with the exception of the early issues of Constantine the Great and the odd usurpers the Solidus today is a much more affordable Gold Roman Coin to collect compared to the Older Aureus. Especially those of Valens Honorius and later Byzantine issues, the solidus was maintained essentially unaltered in weight, dimensions and purity until the 10th century. During the 6th and 7th centuries lightweight solidi of 20,22 or 23 siliquae were struck along with the weight issues. Many of these coins have been found in Europe, Russia and Georgia. The lightweight solidi were distinguished by different markings on the coin, usually in the exergue for the 20 and 22 siliquae coins and by stars in the field for the 23 siliquae coins. In theory the solidus was struck from pure gold, but because of the limits of refining techniques, in the Greek-speaking world during the Roman period, and then in the Byzantine economy, the solidus was known as the νόμισμα nomisma. Initially it was difficult to distinguish the two coins, as they had the design, dimensions and purity, and there were no marks of value to distinguish the denominations. The only difference was the weight, the tetarteron nomisma was a lighter coin, about 4.05 grams, but the histamenon nomisma maintained the traditional weight of 4.5 grams. To eliminate confusion between the two, from the reign of Basil II the solidus was struck as a coin with a larger diameter. From the middle of the 11th century the larger diameter histamenon nomisma was struck on a concave flan, former money changer Michael IV the Paphlagonian assumed the throne of Byzantium in 1034 and began the slow process of debasing both the tetarteron nomisma and the histamenon nomisma. Alexius reformed the coinage in 1092 and eliminated the solidus altogether, in its place he introduced a new gold coin called the hyperpyron nomisma at about 20. 5k fine. The weight, dimensions and purity of the hyperpyron nomisma remained stable until the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders in 1204, after that time the exiled Empire of Nicea continued to strike a debased hyperpyron nomisma
3.
Globus cruciger
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The cross represents Christs dominion over the orb of the world, literally held in the hand of an earthly ruler. In the iconography of Western art, when Christ himself holds the globe, he is called Salvator Mundi, holding the world in ones hand, or more ominously, under ones foot, has been used as a symbol since antiquity. To citizens of the Roman Empire, the round globe held by Jupiter represented the world, or the universe. The orbis terrarum was central to the iconography of the Tetrarchy, constantine I claimed to have had a vision of a cross above the sun, with the words In this sign, you shall conquer, at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312. His soldiers painted crosses upon their shields, and then defeated their foe, with the growth of Christianity in the 5th century, the orb was topped with a cross, symbolising the Christian Gods dominion over the world. The emperor held the world in his hand, to show that he ruled it on Gods behalf, to non-Christians already familiar with the pagan globe, the surmounting of a cross sent a message about the triumph of Christianity. Although the globe symbolized the entire Earth, its use spread among many Christian rulers who reigned over parts of the earth. The globus cruciger was associated with rulers and celestial beings alike. It first appeared on coins in the early 5th century and remained throughout the Middle Ages in coins, iconography. It may still be seen in the arms of the surviving European monarchies. Even in the era in England, the Sovereigns Orb symbolises both the state and Church of England under the protection and domain of the royal crown. The Ball and the Cross Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch Monde Earth symbol Leslie Brubaker, Dictionary of the Middle Ages, vol 5,564, ISBN 0-684-18161-4 Picture of the 10th century Orb, Scepter and Crown insignia of the Holy Roman Empire
4.
List of Byzantine emperors
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This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Emperors listed below up to Theodosius I in 395 were sole or joint rulers of the entire Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire was the direct legal continuation of the eastern half of the Roman Empire following the division of the Roman Empire in 395. All Byzantine emperors considered themselves to be the rightful Roman emperor in direct succession from Augustus, the title of all Emperors preceding Heraclius was officially Augustus, although other titles such as Dominus were also used. Their names were preceded by Imperator Caesar and followed by Augustus, following Heraclius, the title commonly became the Greek Basileus, which had formerly meant sovereign but was then used in place of Augustus. Following the establishment of the rival Holy Roman Empire in Western Europe, in later centuries, the Emperor could be referred to by Western Christians as the Emperor of the Greeks. Towards the end of the Empire, the standard formula of the Byzantine ruler was in Christ, Emperor. For Roman emperors before Constantine I, see List of Roman emperors, family tree of the Byzantine emperors List of Roman emperors List of Roman usurpers List of Byzantine usurpers List of Roman and Byzantine empresses
5.
Byzantine Empire
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It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
6.
Heraklonas
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Heraklonas was probably born at Lazica while his father was on campaign against Khosrau II of the Sassanid Empire. He was probably the son of Martina and Herakleios, but the first one born free of physical deformity. The premature death of Constantine III, in May 641, left Heraklonas sole ruler, but a suspicion that he and Martina had murdered Constantine led soon after to a revolt under the general Valentinus, who forced Heraklonas to accept his young nephew Constans II as co-ruler. Martina intended to balance this setback with the coronation of her son the Caesar David as emperor. But this merely irritated the supporters of Constans II, and Valentinus spread rumors that Martina and Heraklonas intended to eliminate Constans, the revolt which ensued toppled Heraklonas and his mother, who were subjected to mutilation and banishment. This was the first time an emperor had been subjected to mutilation. Nothing further is known about Heraklonas after his removal and exile to Rhodes and he is presumed to have died later that year. Constans II, the son of Constantine III, became sole emperor, list of Byzantine emperors This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed. The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press,1991, media related to Heraclonas at Wikimedia Commons
7.
Mezezius
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Mizizios was an Armenian noble who served as a general of Byzantium, later usurping the Byzantine throne in Sicily from 668 to 669. According to the Byzantine chroniclers, Mizizios was an Armenian, and exceedingly handsome, according to Cyril Toumanoff, he descended from the princely Gnuni family. The 12th-century Syriac chronicle of Michael the Syrian, and the so-called Chronicle of 1234, Mizizios accompanied Emperor Constans II in his Italian and Sicilian expedition. When Constans was murdered in Syracuse, Sicily, in 668, however, according to the supposed letter of Pope Gregory II, the Sicilian bishops had pushed him to rebellion, because Constans had been a heretic for his support of Monothelitism. Mizizios had one son, John, who remained on Sicily after his fathers execution, according to Michael the Syrian, in ca. 678, he too rebelled against Constantine IV, and also lasted for seven months before the emperor arrived in Sicily, new York and Oxford, Oxford University Press. Lilie, Ralph-Johannes, Ludwig, Claudia, Zielke, Beate, Pratsch, Thomas, eds
8.
Constantine IV
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Constantine IV, sometimes incorrectly called Pogonatos, the Bearded, out of confusion with his father, was Byzantine Emperor from 668 to 685. The eldest son of Constans II, Constantine IV had been named a co-emperor with his father in 654 and he had been given the responsibility of managing the affairs at Constantinople during his father’s extended absence in Italy and became senior Emperor when Constans was assassinated in 668. His mother was Fausta, daughter of patrician Valentinus, the first task before the new Emperor was the suppression of the military revolt in Sicily under Mezezius which had led to his fathers death. Within seven months of his accession, Constantine IV had dealt with the insurgency with the support of Pope Vitalian, but this success was overshadowed by troubles in the east. As early as 668 the Caliph Muawiyah I received an invitation from Saborios and he sent an army under his son Yazid against the Eastern Roman Empire. Yazid reached Chalcedon and took the important Byzantine center Amorion, while the city was quickly recovered, the Arabs next attacked Carthage and Sicily in 669. In 670 the Arabs captured Cyzicus and set up a base from which to further attacks into the heart of the Empire. Their fleet captured Smyrna and other cities in 672. Finally, in 672, the Arabs sent a fleet to attack Constantinople by sea. While Constantine was distracted by this, the Slavs unsuccessfully attacked Thessalonika, commencing in 674, the Arabs launched the long-awaited siege of Constantinople. Additional squadrons reinforced the forces of Abd ar-Rahman before they proceeded to the Hellespont, knowing that it was only a matter of time before Constantinople was under siege, Constantine had ensured that the city was well provisioned. He also constructed a number of fireships and fast-sailing boats provided with tubes or siphons for squirting fire. This is the first known use of Greek fire in combat, in September the Arabs, having failed in their attempts to take the city, sailed to Cyzicus, which they made their winter quarters. Over the following five years, the Arabs would return spring to continue the siege of Constantinople. The city survived, and finally in 678 the Arabs were forced to raise the siege, the Arabs withdrew and were almost simultaneously defeated on land in Lycia in Anatolia. This unexpected reverse forced Muawiyah I to seek a truce with Constantine, the raising of the siege allowed Constantine to go to the relief of Thessalonika, still under siege from the Slavs. With the temporary passing of the Arab threat, Constantine turned his attention to the Church, in November 680 Constantine convened the Sixth Ecumenical Council. Constantine presided in person during the formal aspects of the proceedings, surrounded by his court officials, the Council reaffirmed the Orthodox doctrines of the Council of Chalcedon in 451
9.
Syracuse, Sicily
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Syracuse is a historic city in Sicily, the capital of the province of Syracuse. The city is notable for its rich Greek history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture and this 2, 700-year-old city played a key role in ancient times, when it was one of the major powers of the Mediterranean world. Syracuse is located in the southeast corner of the island of Sicily, the city was founded by Ancient Greek Corinthians and Teneans and became a very powerful city-state. Syracuse was allied with Sparta and Corinth and exerted influence over the entirety of Magna Graecia, described by Cicero as the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all, it equaled Athens in size during the fifth century BC. It later became part of the Roman Republic and Byzantine Empire, after this Palermo overtook it in importance, as the capital of the Kingdom of Sicily. Eventually the kingdom would be united with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Two Sicilies until the Italian unification of 1860, in the modern day, the city is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site along with the Necropolis of Pantalica. In the central area, the city itself has a population of around 125,000 people, the inhabitants are known as Siracusans. Syracuse is mentioned in the Bible in the Acts of the Apostles book at 28,12 as Paul stayed there, the patron saint of the city is Saint Lucy, she was born in Syracuse and her feast day, Saint Lucys Day, is celebrated on 13 December. Syracuse was founded in 734 or 733 BC by Greek settlers from Corinth and Tenea, there are many attested variants of the name of the city including Συράκουσαι Syrakousai, Συράκοσαι Syrakosai and Συρακώ Syrako. The nucleus of the ancient city was the island of Ortygia. The settlers found the fertile and the native tribes to be reasonably well-disposed to their presence. The city grew and prospered, and for some time stood as the most powerful Greek city anywhere in the Mediterranean, colonies were founded at Akrai, Kasmenai, Akrillai, Helorus and Kamarina. The descendants of the first colonists, called Gamoroi, held power until they were expelled by the Killichiroi, the former, however, returned to power in 485 BC, thanks to the help of Gelo, ruler of Gela. Gelo himself became the despot of the city, and moved many inhabitants of Gela, Kamarina and Megera to Syracuse, building the new quarters of Tyche, the enlarged power of Syracuse made unavoidable the clash against the Carthaginians, who ruled western Sicily. In the Battle of Himera, Gelo, who had allied with Theron of Agrigento, a temple dedicated to Athena, was erected in the city to commemorate the event. Syracuse grew considerably during this time and its walls encircled 120 hectares in the fifth century, but as early as the 470s BC the inhabitants started building outside the walls. The complete population of its territory approximately numbered 250,000 in 415 BC, Gelo was succeeded by his brother Hiero, who fought against the Etruscans at Cumae in 474 BC. His rule was eulogized by poets like Simonides of Ceos, Bacchylides and Pindar, a democratic regime was introduced by Thrasybulos
10.
Sicily
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Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous Region of Italy, along with surrounding minor islands, Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula, from which it is separated by the narrow Strait of Messina. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, the island has a typical Mediterranean climate. The earliest archaeological evidence of activity on the island dates from as early as 12,000 BC. It became part of Italy in 1860 following the Expedition of the Thousand, a revolt led by Giuseppe Garibaldi during the Italian unification, Sicily was given special status as an autonomous region after the Italian constitutional referendum of 1946. Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine. It is also home to important archaeological and ancient sites, such as the Necropolis of Pantalica, the Valley of the Temples, Sicily has a roughly triangular shape, earning it the name Trinacria. To the east, it is separated from the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina, about 3 km wide in the north, and about 16 km wide in the southern part. The northern and southern coasts are each about 280 km long measured as a line, while the eastern coast measures around 180 km. The total area of the island is 25,711 km2, the terrain of inland Sicily is mostly hilly and is intensively cultivated wherever possible. Along the northern coast, the ranges of Madonie,2,000 m, Nebrodi,1,800 m. The cone of Mount Etna dominates the eastern coast, in the southeast lie the lower Hyblaean Mountains,1,000 m. The mines of the Enna and Caltanissetta districts were part of a leading sulphur-producing area throughout the 19th century, Sicily and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and still casts black ash over the island with its ever-present eruptions and it currently stands 3,329 metres high, though this varies with summit eruptions, the mountain is 21 m lower now than it was in 1981. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps, Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 with a basal circumference of 140 km. This makes it by far the largest of the three volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. In Greek Mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under the mountain by Zeus, Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily. The Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, to the northeast of mainland Sicily form a volcanic complex, the three volcanoes of Vulcano, Vulcanello and Lipari are also currently active, although the latter is usually dormant
11.
Heraclius (son of Constans II)
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Heraclius was Byzantine co-emperor from 659 to 681. He was the focus of a revolt and was eventually dethroned by his brother. Heraclius was one of the sons of Constans II and his mother was Fausta, daughter of the Patrician Valentinus. In 663, Constans tried to have his sons join him in Sicily, but this provoked an uprising in Constantinople. With Constans II’s death in 668, Constantine IV became the senior emperor and he attempted to demote his brothers from the imperial position, but this provoked a military revolt in the Anatolic Theme. The army marched to Chrysopolis, and sent a delegation across the straits of the Hellespont to Constantinople and they based their demand on the belief that, since Heaven was ruled by the Trinity, in the same way the empire should be governed by three Emperors. He also invited the leaders of the rebellion to come over to Constantinople, happy with this apparently positive outcome, the army departed back into the interior of Anatolia, while the instigators of the movement entered the city. With the military threat now gone, Constantine moved against the leaders of the revolt, yet his being the focus of a plot to curtail Constantine’s power meant that both he and his brother were now suspect in the senior emperor’s eyes. Also, the emperor was keen to raise up his own son, after 681, Heraclius and his brother disappear from the historical record
12.
Tiberius (son of Constans II)
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Tiberius was Byzantine co-emperor from 659 to 681. He was the focus of a revolt and was eventually dethroned by his brother. Tiberius was the youngest son of Constans II and his mother was Fausta, daughter of the Patrician Valentinus. In 663, Constans tried to have his sons join him in Sicily, but this provoked an uprising in Constantinople. With Constans II’s death in 668, Constantine IV became the senior emperor and he attempted to demote his brothers from the imperial position, but this provoked a military revolt in the Anatolic Theme. The army marched to Chrysopolis, and sent a delegation across the straits of the Hellespont to Constantinople and they based their demand on the belief that, since Heaven was ruled by the Trinity, in the same way the empire should be governed by three Emperors. He also invited the leaders of the rebellion to come over to Constantinople, happy with this apparently positive outcome, the army departed back into the interior of Anatolia, while the instigators of the movement entered the city. With the military threat now gone, Constantine moved against the leaders of the revolt, after 681, Tiberius and his brother disappear from the historical record
13.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
14.
Heraclian Dynasty
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The Byzantine Empire was ruled by Hellenized Armenian emperors of the dynasty of Heraclius between 610 and 711. The Heraclians presided over a period of events that were a watershed in the history of the Empire. At the beginning of the dynasty, the Empire was still recognizable as the Eastern Roman Empire, dominating the Mediterranean and harbouring a prosperous Late Antique urban civilization. By the dynastys end, a different state had emerged, medieval Byzantium. The Heraclian dynasty was named after the general Heraclius the Younger, who, in 610, sailed from Carthage, overthrew the usurper Phocas, and was crowned Emperor. At the time, the Empire was embroiled in a war with the Sassanid Persian Empire, after a long and exhausting struggle, Heraclius managed to defeat the Persians and restore the Empire, only to lose these provinces again shortly after to the sudden eruption of the Muslim conquests. His successors struggled to contain the Arab tide, the Levant and North Africa were lost, while in 674–678, a large Arab army besieged Constantinople itself. Nevertheless, the state survived and the establishment of the Theme system allowed the imperial heartland of Asia Minor to be retained, under Justinian II and Tiberios III the imperial frontier in the East was stabilized, although incursions continued on both sides. Ever since the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire continued to see Western Europe as rightfully Imperial territory, however, only Justinian I attempted to enforce this claim with military might. Temporary success in the West was achieved at the cost of Persian dominance in the East, however, after Justinians death, much of newly recovered Italy fell to the Lombards, and the Visigoths soon reduced the imperial holdings in Spain. At the same time, wars with the Persian Empire brought no conclusive victory, in 591 however, the long war was ended with a treaty favorable to Byzantium, which gained Armenia. Thus, after the death of Justinians successor Tiberius II, Maurice sought to restore the prestige of the Empire. Even though the Empire had gained smaller successes over the Slavs and Avars in pitched battles across the Danube, unrest had reared its head in Byzantine cities as social and religious differences manifested themselves into Blue and Green factions that fought each other in the streets. The final blow to the government was a decision to cut the pay of its army in response to financial strains, the combined effect of an army revolt led by a junior officer named Phocas and major uprisings by the Greens and Blues forced Maurice to abdicate. The Senate approved Phocas as the new Emperor and Maurice, the last emperor of the Justinian Dynasty, was murdered along with his four sons. The Persian King Khosrau II responded by launching an assault on the Empire, ostensibly to avenge Maurice, Phocas was already alienating his supporters with his repressive rule, and the Persians were able to capture Syria and Mesopotamia by 607. By 608, the Persians were camped outside Chalcedon, within sight of the capital of Constantinople, while Anatolia was ravaged by Persian raids. Making matters worse was the advance of the Avars and Slavic tribes heading south across the Danube, while the Persians were making headway in their conquest of the eastern provinces, Phocas chose to divide his subjects rather than unite them against the threat of the Persians
15.
Constantine III (Byzantine emperor)
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Constantine III was Eastern Roman Emperor for four months in 641. He was the eldest son of the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius and his first wife Eudokia, Constantines birth name was Heraclius Novus Constantinus, which was also the official name under which he reigned. The name Constantine became established in later Byzantine texts as short for the Emperor and has become standard in modern historiography, in terms of official imperial nomenclature, the style Constantine III would be more appropriate for his son Constans II. Constantine was crowned co-emperor by his father on 22 January 613 and shortly after was betrothed to his cousin, Gregoria, a daughter of his fathers first cousin, Nicetas. As the couple were cousins, the marriage was technically incestuous. Furthermore, its illegality paled into insignificance beside Heraclius marriage to his niece Martina the same year, in comparison, Constantines marriage was far less scandalous than that of his fathers. Constantine and Gregoria married in 629 or perhaps early 630 and in that year their first child and their second child was another son, Theodosius. They also had a daughter named Manyanh who later married the last Sassanid King of Persia, Constantine became senior Emperor when his father died in 641. He reigned together with his younger half-brother Heraklonas, the son of Martina, indeed, he died of tuberculosis after only four months, leaving Heraklonas sole emperor. A rumor that Martina had him poisoned led first to the imposition of Constans II as co-emperor and then to the deposition, mutilation, the Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press,1991
16.
Heraclian dynasty
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The Byzantine Empire was ruled by Hellenized Armenian emperors of the dynasty of Heraclius between 610 and 711. The Heraclians presided over a period of events that were a watershed in the history of the Empire. At the beginning of the dynasty, the Empire was still recognizable as the Eastern Roman Empire, dominating the Mediterranean and harbouring a prosperous Late Antique urban civilization. By the dynastys end, a different state had emerged, medieval Byzantium. The Heraclian dynasty was named after the general Heraclius the Younger, who, in 610, sailed from Carthage, overthrew the usurper Phocas, and was crowned Emperor. At the time, the Empire was embroiled in a war with the Sassanid Persian Empire, after a long and exhausting struggle, Heraclius managed to defeat the Persians and restore the Empire, only to lose these provinces again shortly after to the sudden eruption of the Muslim conquests. His successors struggled to contain the Arab tide, the Levant and North Africa were lost, while in 674–678, a large Arab army besieged Constantinople itself. Nevertheless, the state survived and the establishment of the Theme system allowed the imperial heartland of Asia Minor to be retained, under Justinian II and Tiberios III the imperial frontier in the East was stabilized, although incursions continued on both sides. Ever since the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire continued to see Western Europe as rightfully Imperial territory, however, only Justinian I attempted to enforce this claim with military might. Temporary success in the West was achieved at the cost of Persian dominance in the East, however, after Justinians death, much of newly recovered Italy fell to the Lombards, and the Visigoths soon reduced the imperial holdings in Spain. At the same time, wars with the Persian Empire brought no conclusive victory, in 591 however, the long war was ended with a treaty favorable to Byzantium, which gained Armenia. Thus, after the death of Justinians successor Tiberius II, Maurice sought to restore the prestige of the Empire. Even though the Empire had gained smaller successes over the Slavs and Avars in pitched battles across the Danube, unrest had reared its head in Byzantine cities as social and religious differences manifested themselves into Blue and Green factions that fought each other in the streets. The final blow to the government was a decision to cut the pay of its army in response to financial strains, the combined effect of an army revolt led by a junior officer named Phocas and major uprisings by the Greens and Blues forced Maurice to abdicate. The Senate approved Phocas as the new Emperor and Maurice, the last emperor of the Justinian Dynasty, was murdered along with his four sons. The Persian King Khosrau II responded by launching an assault on the Empire, ostensibly to avenge Maurice, Phocas was already alienating his supporters with his repressive rule, and the Persians were able to capture Syria and Mesopotamia by 607. By 608, the Persians were camped outside Chalcedon, within sight of the capital of Constantinople, while Anatolia was ravaged by Persian raids. Making matters worse was the advance of the Avars and Slavic tribes heading south across the Danube, while the Persians were making headway in their conquest of the eastern provinces, Phocas chose to divide his subjects rather than unite them against the threat of the Persians
17.
Heraclius
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Heraclius was the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 610 to 641. He was responsible for introducing Greek as the Eastern Roman Empires official language and his rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas. Heracliuss reign was marked by military campaigns. The year Heraclius came to power, the empire was threatened on multiple frontiers, Heraclius immediately took charge of the Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628. Soon after, he initiated reforms to rebuild and strengthen the military, Heraclius drove the Persians out of Asia Minor and pushed deep into their territory, defeating them decisively in 627 at the Battle of Nineveh. The Persian king Khosrau II was overthrown and executed by his son Kavadh II and this way peaceful relations were restored to the two deeply strained empires. Heraclius soon experienced a new event, the Muslim conquests, emerging from the Arabian Peninsula, the Muslims quickly conquered the Sassanid empire. In 634 the Muslims marched into Roman Syria, defeating Heracliuss brother Theodore, within a short period of time, the Arabs conquered Mesopotamia, Armenia and Egypt. Heraclius entered diplomatic relations with the Croats and Serbs in the Balkans and he tried to repair the schism in the Christian church in regard to the Monophysites, by promoting a compromise doctrine called Monothelitism. The Church of the East was also involved in the process, eventually, however, this project of unity was rejected by all sides of the dispute. Heraclius was the eldest son of Heraclius the Elder and Epiphania, of an Armenian family from Cappadocia, beyond that, there is little specific information known about his ancestry. His father was a key general during Emperor Maurices war with Bahrām Chobin, usurper of the Sassanid Empire, after the war, Maurice appointed Heraclius the Elder to the position of Exarch of Africa. In 608, Heraclius the Elder renounced his loyalty to the Emperor Phocas, the rebels issued coins showing both Heraclii dressed as consuls, though neither of them explicitly claimed the imperial title at this time. Heracliuss younger cousin Nicetas launched an invasion of Egypt, by 609, he had defeated Phocass general Bonosus. Meanwhile, the younger Heraclius sailed eastward with another force via Sicily, when he reached the capital, the Excubitors, an elite Imperial Guard unit led by Phocass son-in-law Priscus, deserted to Heraclius, and he entered the city without serious resistance. When Heraclius captured Phocas, he asked him Is this how you have ruled, Phocass reply—And will you rule better. —so enraged Heraclius that he beheaded Phocas on the spot. He later had the genitalia removed from the body because Phocas had raped the wife of Photius, a powerful politician in the city. On October 5,610, Heraclius was crowned for a time, this time in the Chapel of St. Stephen within the Great Palace, at the same time he married Fabia
18.
Justinian II
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Justinian II, surnamed the Rhinotmetos or Rhinotmetus, was the last Byzantine Emperor of the Heraclian Dynasty, reigning from 685 to 695 and again from 705 to 711. His second reign was even more despotic than the first, and it too saw his eventual overthrow in 711, Justinian II was eldest son of Emperor Constantine IV and Anastasia. His father raised him to the throne as joint emperor in 681 on the fall of his uncles Heraclius and Tiberius, in 685, at the age of sixteen, Justinian II succeeded his father as sole emperor. Due to Constantine IVs victories, the situation in the Eastern provinces of the Empire was stable when Justinian ascended the throne. After a preliminary strike against the Arabs in Armenia, Justinian managed to augment the sum paid by the Umayyad Caliphs as an annual tribute, the incomes of the provinces of Armenia and Iberia were divided among the two empires. In 687, as part of his agreements with the Caliphate, Justinian removed from their native Lebanon 12,000 Christian Maronites, additional resettlement efforts, aimed at the Mardaites and inhabitants of Cyprus allowed Justinian to reinforce naval forces depleted by earlier conflicts. Justinian took advantage of the peace in the East to regain possession of the Balkans, in 687 Justinian transferred cavalry troops from Anatolia to Thrace. With a great campaign in 688–689, Justinian defeated the Bulgars of Macedonia and was finally able to enter Thessalonica. The subdued Slavs were resettled in Anatolia, where they were to provide a force of 30,000 men. Emboldened by the increase of his forces in Anatolia, Justinian now renewed the war against the Arabs, with the help of his new troops, Justinian won a battle against the enemy in Armenia in 693, but they were soon bribed to revolt by the Arabs. The result was that Justinian was comprehensively defeated at the Battle of Sebastopolis, caused by the defection of most of his Slavic troops, while he himself was forced to flee to the Propontis. There, according to Theophanes, he took out his frustration by slaughtering as many of the Slavs in and around Opsikion as he could lay his hands on. In the meantime, a Patrician by the name of Symbatius proceeded to rebel in Armenia, and opened up the province to the Arabs, meanwhile, the Emperors bloody persecution of the Manichaeans and suppression of popular traditions of non-Orthodox origin caused dissension within the Church. In 692 Justinian convened the so-called Quinisext Council at Constantinople to put his religious policies into effect, the emperor ordered Pope Sergius I arrested, but the militias of Rome and Ravenna rebelled and took the Popes side. If his land policies threatened the aristocracy, his tax policy was no more popular with the common people, through his agents Stephen and Theodotos, the emperor raised the funds to gratify his sumptuous tastes and his mania for erecting costly buildings. This, ongoing religious discontent, conflicts with the aristocracy, in 695 the population rose under Leontios, the strategos of Hellas, and proclaimed him Emperor. Justinian was deposed and his nose was cut off to prevent his again seeking the throne and he was exiled to Cherson in the Crimea. Leontius, after a reign of three years, was in turn dethroned and imprisoned by Tiberius Apsimarus, who assumed the throne
19.
Tiberius (son of Justinian II)
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Tiberius was the only son of the Byzantine emperor Justinian II, and his only child by his second wife Theodora of Khazaria, whom he married ca.704 whilst in exile among the Khazars. Tiberius was probably born in 705, during his fathers absence in a bid to regain the Byzantine throne, following Justinians success, Tiberius and his mother were recalled to Constantinople, where the infant was raised to co-emperor. The only thing known of him thereafter is his participation in the reception of Pope Constantine I in early 711. Following the overthrow of his father in December 711, he was murdered by the patrikios Mauros and John Strouthos, tiberios, Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit, I. Band, Theophylaktos – az-Zubair, Anonymi, Walter de Gruyter, p.51, ISBN 978-3-11-016675-0
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Justinian dynasty
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The Justinian Dynasty is a family who ruled over the Byzantine Empire from 518 to 602. It originated with Justin I and ended with Maurice, patriarch Germanus I of Constantinople, whose father was named Justinian, might have been a descendant of the dynasty. The names Justin, Justinian and Germanus were common among dynasty members, married Baduarius adoption of Tiberius II Constantine - From his marriage to Ino Anastasia. Constantina, a daughter who married Maurice Theodosius, eldest son and co-emperor of Maurice. Married a daughter of patrikios Germanus, history of the Later Roman Empire. Whitby, Michael, The Cambridge ancient history 14, late Antiquity, empire and successors, A. D.425 -600, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-32591-9
21.
Phocas
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Phocas was Byzantine Emperor from 602 to 610. He usurped the throne from the Emperor Maurice, and was overthrown by Heraclius after losing a civil war. Phocas was a Greek-speaking native of Thrace, almost nothing is known of Phocass early life and the name of his father is unknown. He had at least two brothers, Comentiolus and Domentziolus, by 600, he was a subaltern officer in the Byzantine army serving in Maurices Balkan campaigns, and he was apparently viewed as a leader by his fellow soldiers. He was a member of a delegation sent by the army in that year to Constantinople to submit grievances to the government, the Avars had defeated the Byzantines in 598, had taken a large number of prisoners, and demanded a ransom. Maurice refused to pay and all the prisoners were killed, causing consternation among the army, the delegations complaints were rejected, and, according to several sources, Phocas himself was slapped and humiliated by prominent court officials at this time. The army almost immediately revolted and marched on the capital, with Phocas at its head, within a month, Maurices government had collapsed, the Emperor abdicated and fled the city, and the Green faction in Constantinople acclaimed Phocas as emperor. Phocas was crowned in the Church of St. John the Baptist, Maurice, who represented little genuine threat, was dragged from his monastic sanctuary at Chalcedon, and killed along with his six sons. It is said that he had to watch as his sons were executed in front of his eyes, the bodies were thrown in the sea and the heads of all were exhibited in Constantinople before Phocas made arrangements for a Christian burial for the relics of his deeply pious predecessor. Phocass rule was welcomed at first because he lowered taxes. Fulsome letters of praise from Pope Gregory I attest to this. The pope, Saint Gregory, appreciated his acceptance of the reforms he had begun, the agrarian reforms of the Church in Italy and particularly in Sicily had been followed in Egypt by the Orthodox Patriarchs. The Church needed money to pay for hospitals, maternity wards, Phocas faced rising opposition and was regarded by many as a populist. His coup détat was the first violent regime change in Constantinople since its foundation by Constantine and he is reported to have responded to this opposition with cruelty, allegedly killing thousands in an effort to keep control of the government. No histories written under Phocas survive, and thus we are dependent for information on historians writing under his successors, the Column of Phocas was the last Imperial monument ever to be erected in the Roman forum. In Phocass reign, the Byzantines were sovereign over the city of Rome, Phocas tended to support the popes in many of the theological controversies of the time, and thus enjoyed good relations with the papacy. Phocas gave the Pantheon to Pope Boniface IV for use as a church, in gratitude Smaragdus erected in the Roman Forum a gilded statue atop the rededicated Column of Phocas, which featured a new inscription on its base in the Emperors honour. The fluted Corinthian column and the plinth on which it sits were already standing in situ
22.
Twenty Years' Anarchy
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Justinian II set in motion a chain of events by embarking on a despotic and increasingly violent course. Leontios proved equally unpopular and was in turn overthrown by Tiberios III, justinian then continued to reign for a further six years. His treatment of Tiberios and his supporters had been brutal and he continued to rule in a manner that was despotic and he lost the ground regained by Tiberios in the east, and imposed his views on the Pope. However, before long he faced a rebellion led by Philippikos Bardanes, justinian was captured and executed as was his son and co-emperor, Tiberius, thus extinguishing the Heraclian line. Justinian had taken the Byzantine empire yet further from its origins and he effectively abolished the historical role of Consul, merging it with Emperor, thus strengthening the Emperors constitutional position as absolute monarch. Militarily the Bulgars reached the walls of Constantinople, and moving troops to defend the capital allowed the Arabs to make incursions in the east and his reign ended abruptly when an army rebellion deposed him and replaced him with Anastasius II. Anastasius reversed his predecessors religious policies and responded to Arab attacks by sea and land, however the very army that had placed him on the throne rose against him, proclaimed a new emperor and besieged Constantinople for six months, eventually forcing Anastasius to flee. He in turn faced rebellion from two other themata, Anatolikon and Armeniakon in 717, and chose to resign, being succeeded by Leo III bringing an end to the cycle of violence and instability. However the strength of the organization within the empire. Byzantine–Arab Wars Byzantium under the Isaurians Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars#Tervels wars Kaegi, Walter Emil, Byzantium and the Early Islamic Conquests. Cambridge, United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press, bellinger, Alfred Raymond, Grierson, Philip, eds. Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, Phocas to Theodosius III, Byzantium The Imperial centuries AD 610-1071
23.
Greek language
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Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
24.
Roman consul
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A consul was the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic, and the consulship was considered the highest level of the cursus honorum. Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term, the consuls alternated in holding imperium each month, and a consuls imperium extended over Rome, Italy, and the provinces. Originally, consuls were called praetors, referring to their duties as the military commanders. By at least 300 BC the title of Consul was being used, in Greek, the title was originally rendered as στρατηγός ὕπατος, strategos hypatos, and later simply as ὕπατος. The consul was believed by the Romans to date back to the establishment of the Republic in 509 BC. These remained in place until the office was abolished in 367/366 BC, consuls had extensive powers in peacetime, and in wartime often held the highest military command. Additional religious duties included certain rites which, as a sign of their formal importance, consuls also read auguries, an essential step before leading armies into the field. Two consuls were elected each year, serving together, each with power over the others actions. It is thought that only patricians were eligible for the consulship. Consuls were elected by the Comitia Centuriata, which had a bias in its voting structure which only increased over the years from its foundation. If a consul died during his term or was removed from office, a consul elected to start the year - called a consul ordinarius - held more prestige than a suffect consul, partly because the year would be named for ordinary consuls. The first plebeian consul, Lucius Sextius, was elected the following year and it is possible that only the chronology has been distorted, but it seems that one of the first consuls, Lucius Junius Brutus, came from a plebeian family. Another possible explanation is that during the 5th century social struggles, during times of war, the primary qualification for consul was military skill and reputation, but at all times the selection was politically charged. With the passage of time, the became the normal endpoint of the cursus honorum. When Lucius Cornelius Sulla regulated the cursus by law, the age of election to consul became. Beginning in the late Republic, after finishing a year, a former consul would usually serve a lucrative term as a proconsul. The most commonly chosen province for the proconsulship was Cisalpine Gaul, throughout the early years of the Principate although the consuls were still formally elected by the Comitia Centuriata, they were in fact nominated by the princeps. It was a post that would be occupied by a man halfway through his career, in his early thirties for a patrician, emperors frequently appointed themselves, or their protégés or relatives, consuls, even without regard to the age requirements
25.
Aegyptus (Roman province)
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The province encompassed most of modern-day Egypt except for the Sinai Peninsula. Aegyptus was bordered by the provinces of Creta et Cyrenaica to the West, the province came to serve as a major producer of grain for the empire and had a highly developed urban economy. Aegyptus was by far the wealthiest Eastern Roman province, in Alexandria, its capital, it possessed the largest port, and the second largest city, of the Roman Empire. As a province, Egypt was ruled by a uniquely styled Augustal prefect, the prefect was a man of equestrian rank and was appointed by the Emperor. The second prefect, Aelius Gallus, made an expedition to conquer Arabia Petraea. The Red Sea coast of Aegyptus was not brought under Roman control until the reign of Claudius, the third prefect, Gaius Petronius, cleared the neglected canals for irrigation, stimulating a revival of agriculture. Petronius even led a campaign into present-day central Sudan against the Kingdom of Kush at Meroe, failing to acquire permanent gains, in 22 BC he razed the city of Napata to the ground and retreated to the north. From the reign of Nero onward, Aegyptus enjoyed an era of prosperity which lasted a century, under Trajan a Jewish revolt occurred, resulting in the suppression of the Jews of Alexandria and the loss of all their privileges, although they soon returned. Hadrian, who twice visited Aegyptus, founded Antinoöpolis in memory of his drowned lover Antinous, from his reign onward buildings in the Greco-Roman style were erected throughout the country. Under Antoninus Pius oppressive taxation led to a revolt in 139, of the native Egyptians and this Bucolic War, led by one Isidorus, caused great damage to the economy and marked the beginning of Egypts economic decline. Avidius Cassius, who led the Roman forces in the war, declared emperor in 175. On the approach of Marcus Aurelius, Cassius was deposed and killed, a similar revolt broke out in 193, when Pescennius Niger was proclaimed emperor on the death of Pertinax. The Emperor Septimius Severus gave a constitution to Alexandria and the capitals in 202. There was a series of revolts, both military and civilian, through the 3rd century, under Decius, in 250, the Christians again suffered from persecution, but their religion continued to spread. This warrior queen claimed that Egypt was a home of hers through a familial tie to Cleopatra VII. She was well educated and familiar with the culture of Egypt, its religion, two generals based in Aegyptus, Probus and Domitius Domitianus, led successful revolts and made themselves emperors. Diocletian captured Alexandria from Domitius in 298 and reorganised the whole province and his edict of 303 against the Christians began a new era of persecution. This was the last serious attempt to stem the growth of Christianity in Egypt
26.
Uthman ibn Affan
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Uthman ibn Affan, also known in English by the Turkish and Persian rendering, Osman, was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the third of the Rashidun, or Rightly Guided Caliphs. Born into a prominent Meccan clan of the Quraysh tribe, he played a role in early Islamic history. Uthman was married to Ruqayyah, and then upon her death to Umm Kulthum, under the leadership of Uthman, the empire expanded into Farsi in 650, and some areas of Khorasan in 651. The empires conquest of Armenia began by the 640s, seven years after Muhammad, Uthman was born in Taif to the wealthy Umayyad clan of the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. Uthmans father, Affan, died young while travelling abroad but left Uthman a large inheritance, Uthman became a merchant, like his father. His business flourished, making him one of the richest men among the Qurayshi tribe and his mother was Arwa, daughter of Um Hakim bint Abdul Mutalib, the twin sister of Abdullah, father of Muhammad, making Uthman Muhammads first cousin. On returning from a trip to Syria in 611, Uthman found out that Muhammad had declared his mission. After a discussion with his friend Abu Bakr, Uthman decided to convert to Islam, Uthman thus became one of the earliest converts to Islam, following Ali, Zayd, Abu Bakr and a few others. His conversion to Islam angered his clan, the Banu Ummayyah, Uthman and his wife Ruqayya migrated to Abyssinia in 614–15, along with 11 men and 11 women, all Muslims. As Uthman already had business contacts in Abyssinia, he continued to practice his profession as a trader. After two years, the news had spread among the Muslims in Abyssinia that the Quraysh of Mecca had accepted Islam, however, when they reached Mecca, they found that the news about the Qurayshs acceptance of Islam was false. Some of the Muslims who had come from Abyssinia returned, but Uthman, in Mecca, Uthman had to start his business afresh, but the contacts that he had already established in Abyssinia worked in his favour and his business prospered once again. In 622 Uthman and his wife, Ruqayya, migrated to Medina and they were amongst the third batch of Muslims who migrated to Medina. On arrival in Medina, Uthman stayed with Abu Talha ibn Thabit, after a short while, Uthman purchased a house of his own and moved there. In Medina, the Muslims were generally farmers and were not very interested in trade, thus, there was considerable space for the Muslims in promoting trade. Uthman took advantage of position, soon establishing himself as a trader in Medina. He worked hard and honestly, and his business flourished, soon becoming one of the richest men in Medina, when Ali married Fatimah, Uthman bought Alis armor for five hundred dirhams. Four hundred was set aside as mahr for Fatimahs marriage, leaving a hundred for all other expenses, later Uthman presented the armor back to Ali as a wedding present
27.
Mediterranean Sea
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The sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it is usually identified as a separate body of water. The name Mediterranean is derived from the Latin mediterraneus, meaning inland or in the middle of land and it covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km2, but its connection to the Atlantic is only 14 km wide. The Strait of Gibraltar is a strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar. In oceanography, it is called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere. The Mediterranean Sea has a depth of 1,500 m. The sea is bordered on the north by Europe, the east by Asia and it is located between latitudes 30° and 46° N and longitudes 6° W and 36° E. Its west-east length, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Iskenderun, the seas average north-south length, from Croatia’s southern shore to Libya, is approximately 800 km. The Mediterranean Sea, including the Sea of Marmara, has an area of approximately 2,510,000 square km. The sea was an important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times that allowed for trade, the history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies. In addition, the Gaza Strip and the British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri, the term Mediterranean derives from the Latin word mediterraneus, meaning amid the earth or between land, as it is between the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. The Ancient Greek name Mesogeios, is similarly from μέσο, between + γη, land, earth) and it can be compared with the Ancient Greek name Mesopotamia, meaning between rivers. The Mediterranean Sea has historically had several names, for example, the Carthaginians called it the Syrian Sea and latter Romans commonly called it Mare Nostrum, and occasionally Mare Internum. Another name was the Sea of the Philistines, from the people inhabiting a large portion of its shores near the Israelites, the sea is also called the Great Sea in the General Prologue by Geoffrey Chaucer. In Ottoman Turkish, it has also been called Bahr-i Sefid, in Modern Hebrew, it has been called HaYam HaTikhon, the Middle Sea, reflecting the Seas name in ancient Greek, Latin, and modern languages in both Europe and the Middle East. Similarly, in Modern Arabic, it is known as al-Baḥr al-Mutawassiṭ, in Turkish, it is known as Akdeniz, the White Sea since among Turks the white colour represents the west. Several ancient civilisations were located around the Mediterranean shores, and were influenced by their proximity to the sea. It provided routes for trade, colonisation, and war, as well as food for numerous communities throughout the ages, due to the shared climate, geology, and access to the sea, cultures centered on the Mediterranean tended to have some extent of intertwined culture and history. Two of the most notable Mediterranean civilisations in classical antiquity were the Greek city states, later, when Augustus founded the Roman Empire, the Romans referred to the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum
28.
Aegean Sea
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The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the Greek and Anatolian peninsulas, i. e. between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles, the Aegean Islands are within the sea and some bound it on its southern periphery, including Crete and Rhodes. The sea was known as Archipelago, but in English this words meaning has changed to refer to the Aegean Islands and, generally. In ancient times, there were various explanations for the name Aegean, a possible etymology is a derivation from the Greek word αἶγες – aiges = waves, hence wavy sea, cf. also αἰγιαλός, hence meaning sea-shore. The Venetians, who ruled many Greek islands in the High and Late Middle Ages, popularized the name Archipelago, in some South Slavic languages the Aegean is often called White Sea. The Aegean Sea covers about 214,000 square kilometres in area, the seas maximum depth is 3,543 metres, east of Crete. The Aegean Islands are found within its waters, with the following islands delimiting the sea on the south, Kythera, Antikythera, Crete, Kasos, Karpathos, many of the Aegean Islands, or chains of islands, are actually extensions of the mountains on the mainland. One chain extends across the sea to Chios, another extends across Euboea to Samos, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Aegean Sea as follows, On the South. In the Dardanelles. A line joining Kum Kale and Cape Helles, the dense Mediterranean water sinks below the Black Sea inflow to a depth of 23–30 metres, then flows through the Dardanelles Strait and into the Sea of Marmara at velocities of 5–15 cm/s. The Black Sea outflow moves westward along the northern Aegean Sea, Aegean Sea Intermediate Water – Aegean Sea Intermediate Water extends from 40–50 m to 200–300 metres with temperatures ranging from 11–18 °C. Aegean Sea Bottom Water – occurring at depths below 500–1000 m with a uniform temperature. The current coastline dates back to about 4000 BC, before that time, at the peak of the last ice age sea levels everywhere were 130 metres lower, and there were large well-watered coastal plains instead of much of the northern Aegean. When they were first occupied, the islands including Milos with its important obsidian production were probably still connected to the mainland. The present coastal arrangement appeared c.7000 BC, with post-ice age sea levels continuing to rise for another 3,000 years after that, the subsequent Bronze Age civilizations of Greece and the Aegean Sea have given rise to the general term Aegean civilization. In ancient times, the sea was the birthplace of two ancient civilizations – the Minoans of Crete and the Mycenean Civilization of the Peloponnese, later arose the city-states of Athens and Sparta among many others that constituted the Athenian Empire and Hellenic Civilization. Plato described the Greeks living round the Aegean like frogs around a pond, the Aegean Sea was later invaded by the Persians and the Romans, and inhabited by the Byzantine Empire, the Bulgarians, the Venetians, the Genoese, the Seljuq Turks, and the Ottoman Empire. The Aegean was the site of the democracies, and its seaways were the means of contact among several diverse civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean. Many of the islands in the Aegean have safe harbours and bays, in ancient times, navigation through the sea was easier than travelling across the rough terrain of the Greek mainland
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Alexandria
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Alexandria is the second largest city and a major economic centre in Egypt, extending about 32 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country. Its low elevation on the Nile delta makes it vulnerable to rising sea levels. Alexandria is Egypts largest seaport, serving approximately 80% of Egypts imports and exports and it is an important industrial center because of its natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez. Alexandria is also an important tourist destination, Alexandria was founded around a small Ancient Egyptian town c.331 BC by Alexander the Great. Alexandria was the second most powerful city of the ancient world after Rome, Alexandria is believed to have been founded by Alexander the Great in April 331 BC as Ἀλεξάνδρεια. Alexanders chief architect for the project was Dinocrates, Alexandria was intended to supersede Naucratis as a Hellenistic center in Egypt, and to be the link between Greece and the rich Nile valley. The city and its museum attracted many of the greatest scholars, including Greeks, Jews, the city was later plundered and lost its significance. Just east of Alexandria, there was in ancient times marshland, as early as the 7th century BC, there existed important port cities of Canopus and Heracleion. The latter was rediscovered under water. An Egyptian city, Rhakotis, already existed on the shore also and it continued to exist as the Egyptian quarter of the city. A few months after the foundation, Alexander left Egypt and never returned to his city, after Alexanders departure, his viceroy, Cleomenes, continued the expansion. Although Cleomenes was mainly in charge of overseeing Alexandrias continuous development, the Heptastadion, inheriting the trade of ruined Tyre and becoming the center of the new commerce between Europe and the Arabian and Indian East, the city grew in less than a generation to be larger than Carthage. In a century, Alexandria had become the largest city in the world and and it became Egypts main Greek city, with Greek people from diverse backgrounds. Alexandria was not only a center of Hellenism, but was home to the largest urban Jewish community in the world. The Septuagint, a Greek version of the Tanakh, was produced there, in AD115, large parts of Alexandria were destroyed during the Kitos War, which gave Hadrian and his architect, Decriannus, an opportunity to rebuild it. On 21 July 365, Alexandria was devastated by a tsunami, the Islamic prophet, Muhammads first interaction with the people of Egypt occurred in 628, during the Expedition of Zaid ibn Haritha. He sent Hatib bin Abi Baltaeh with a letter to the king of Egypt and Alexandria called Muqawqis In the letter Muhammad said, I invite you to accept Islam, Allah the sublime, shall reward you doubly. But if you refuse to do so, you bear the burden of the transgression of all the Copts
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Muslim
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A Muslim is someone who follows or practices Islam, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion. Muslims consider the Quran, their book, to be the verbatim word of God as revealed to the Islamic prophet. They also follow the teachings and practices of Muhammad as recorded in traditional accounts, Muslim is an Arabic word meaning one who submits. Most Muslims will accept anyone who has publicly pronounced Shahadah as a Muslim, the shahadah states, There is no god but the God and Muhammad is the last messenger of the God. The testimony authorized by God in the Quran that can found in Surah 3,18 states, There is no god except God, which in Arabic, is the exact testimony which God Himself utters, as well as the angels and those who possess knowledge utter. The word muslim is the active participle of the verb of which islām is a verbal noun, based on the triliteral S-L-M to be whole. A female adherent is a muslima, the plural form in Arabic is muslimūn or muslimīn, and its feminine equivalent is muslimāt. The Arabic form muslimun is the stem IV participle of the triliteral S-L-M, the ordinary word in English is Muslim. It is sometimes transliterated as Moslem, which is an older spelling, the word Mosalman is a common equivalent for Muslim used in Central Asia. Until at least the mid-1960s, many English-language writers used the term Mohammedans or Mahometans, although such terms were not necessarily intended to be pejorative, Muslims argue that the terms are offensive because they allegedly imply that Muslims worship Muhammad rather than God. Other obsolete terms include Muslimite and Muslimist, musulmán/Mosalmán is a synonym for Muslim and is modified from Arabic. In English it was sometimes spelled Mussulman and has become archaic in usage, the Muslim philosopher Ibn Arabi said, A Muslim is a person who has dedicated his worship exclusively to God. Islam means making ones religion and faith Gods alone. The Quran states that men were Muslims because they submitted to God, preached His message and upheld His values. Thus, in Surah 3,52 of the Quran, Jesus disciples tell him, We believe in God, and you be our witness that we are Muslims. In Muslim belief, before the Quran, God had given the Tawrat to Moses, the Zabur to David and the Injil to Jesus, who are all considered important Muslim prophets. The most populous Muslim-majority country is Indonesia, home to 12. 7% of the worlds Muslims, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt. About 20% of the worlds Muslims lives in the Middle East and North Africa, Sizable minorities are found in India, China, Russia, Ethiopia. The country with the highest proportion of self-described Muslims as a proportion of its population is Morocco
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Monothelitism
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Specifically, monothelitism is the view that Jesus Christ has two natures but only one will. This is contrary to the Christology that Jesus Christ has two corresponding to his two natures. Monothelitism is a development of the miaphysite or monophysite position in the Christological debates, formulated in 638, it enjoyed considerable popularity, even garnering patriarchal support, before being rejected and denounced as heretical in 681 at the Third Council of Constantinople. During the 5th century, some regions of the Christian Church were thrown into confusion because of the debates that erupted over the nature of Jesus Christ. Although the Church had already determined that Christ is the son of God, the Church had declared heretical the notion that Jesus is not fully divine in the 4th century, during the debates over Arianism and had declared that he is God the Son become human. However, in arguing that he is both God and man, there now emerged a dispute over exactly how the human and divine natures of Christ actually exist within the person of Christ and this position was opposed by the Monophysites who held that Christ possesses one nature only. The term Monophysitism of which Eutychianism is one type, held that the human, as described by Eutyches, his human nature was dissolved like a drop of honey in the sea, and therefore his nature is really divine. This is distinct from Miaphysitism, which holds that, after the union, the two are thus united without separation, without confusion, and without alteration, and with each having a particularity. Miaphysitism is the doctrine of the Oriental Orthodox churches. Nevertheless, the resultant debates led the Chalcedonians to accuse the non-Chalcedonians of teaching Christs humanity to be of a different kind from our own. Meanwhile, the accused the Chalcedonians of espousing a form of Nestorianism. In these provinces, the non-Chalcedonians′ were far more numerous than the Chalcedonians, in Egypt for instance, some 30,000 Greeks of Chalcedonian persuasion were ranged against some five million Coptic non-Chalcedonians. Meanwhile, Syria and Mesopotamia were divided between Nestorianism and Jacobitism, while the religion of Armenia was wholly Cyrilline Non-Chalcedonian, consequently, the Monothelite teaching emerged as a compromise position. The Byzantine emperor Heraclius tried to unite all of the factions within the empire with this new formula that was more inclusive. This approach was needed to win over the non-Chalcedonians, since they, already believing Christ possesses a single nature, Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople was the driving force behind this doctrine, with the full blessing of the Emperor Heraclius. This doctrine of Monoenergism was the precursor of Monotheletism, to help bring this about, a synod was held in 622 at Theodosiopolis, called the Synod of Garin where Monoenergism was discussed. In 626, he asked Patriarch Sergius to approach Cyrus, Bishop of Phasis, so in 629, a meeting took place between the emperor and Athanasius the Jacobite at Hierapolis. An agreement was struck whereby the Jacobites were to return to the Imperial Church on the basis of the single energy doctrine, then in 630, Bishop Cyrus was made Patriarch of Alexandria, and he soon won over another Non-Chalcedonian group
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Exarch of Carthage
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It was created by emperor Maurice in the late 580s and survived until the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb in the late 7th century. It included the provinces of Africa Proconsularis, Byzacena, Tripolitania, Numidia, Mauretania Caesariensis and Mauretania Sitifensis, in the 560s, a Roman expedition succeeded in regaining parts of southern Spain, which were administered as the new province of Spania. Under Justinian I, the process was reversed for provinces which were judged to be especially vulnerable or in internal disorder. Two exarchates were established, one in Italy, with seat at Ravenna, the first African exarch was the patricius Gennadius. The Visigothic Kingdom was also a continuous threat, the African exarch was in possession of Mauretania II, which was little more than a tiny outpost in southern Spain. The conflict continued until the final conquest of the last Spanish strongholds in c.624 by the Visigoths, the Byzantines retained only the fort of Septum, across the Strait of Gibraltar. Due to religious and political ambitions, the Exarch Gregory the Patrician declared himself independent of Constantinople in 647, the first Islamic expeditions began with an initiative from Egypt under the emir Amr ibn al-As and his nephew Uqba ibn Nafi. Sensing Roman weakness they conquered Barca, in Cyrenaica, then successively on to Tripolitania where they encountered resistance, due to the unrest caused by theological disputes concerning Monothelitism and Monoenergism the Exarchate under Gregory the Patrician distanced itself from the empire in open revolt. Carthage being flooded with refugees from Egypt, Palestine and Syria exacerbated religious tensions, afterwards the Exarchate became a semi-client state under a new Exarch called Gennadius. Attempting to maintain tributary status with Constantinople and Damascus strained the resources of the Exarchate, the peak of resistance reached by the Exarchate with assistance from the Berber allies of king Kusaila was the victory over the forces of Uqba ibn Nafi at the Battle of Vescera in 682. This victory caused the Muslim forces to retreat to Egypt, giving the Exarchate a decades respite, the repeated confrontations took their toll on the dwindling and ever-divided resources of the Exarchate. In 698, the Muslim commander Hasan ibn al-Numan and a force of 40,000 men crushed Roman Carthage, many of its defenders were Visigoths sent to defend the Exarchate by their king, who also feared Muslim expansion. Many Visigoths fought to the death, in the ensuing battle Roman Carthage was again reduced to rubble and it was also an enormous blow because it permanently ended Roman presence in Africa. Histoire de la Domination Byzantine en Afrique, Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century. Histoire de lAfrique du Nord, vol.1 - Des origines a la conquête arabe,1961 edition, Paris, Payot Pringle, Denys. The Defence of Byzantine Africa from Justinian to the Arab Conquest, An Account of the Military History, oxford, United Kingdom, British Archaeological Reports
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Gregory the Patrician
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Gregory the Patrician was a Byzantine Exarch of Africa. A relative of the ruling Heraclian dynasty, Gregory was fiercely pro-Chalcedonian, soon after declaring himself emperor, he faced an Arab invasion in 647. He confronted the invaders but was defeated and killed at Sufetula. Africa returned to imperial allegiance after his death and the Arabs withdrawal, Gregory the Patrician was related by blood to Emperor Heraclius and his grandson Constans II, and was possibly the son of Heraclius cousin Niketas. Gregory is first attested as Exarch of Africa in July 645, in Africa, the latter was mostly advocated by refugees from Egypt. Gregory helped to bring about a reconciliation between the two, and Pyrrhus re-embraced the Chalcedonian position, over the next few months, several local synods in Africa proceeded to condemn Monotheletism as heresy. In 646, Gregory launched a rebellion against Constans, the obvious reason was the latters support for Monotheletism, but it undoubtedly was also a reaction to the Muslim conquest of Egypt, and the threat it presented to Byzantine Africa. Doctrinal differences, as well as the autonomy of the African exarchate. The Arab chronicler al-Tabari on the other claims that Gregorys revolt was provoked by a levy of 300 pounds of gold demanded by Constans. Arab sources claim that after he was proclaimed emperor he minted coins with his own effigy and it seems that both Maximus the Confessor and Pope Theodore I encouraged or at least supported Gregory in this venture. The revolt seems to have broad support among the populace as well, not only among the Romanized Africans. In 642–643, the Arabs had seized Cyrenaica and the half of Tripolitania. It was only an order from Caliph Umar that halted their westward expansion, in 647, however, Umars successor Uthman ordered Abdallah ibn Saad to invade the Exarchate with 20,000 men. The Muslims invaded western Tripolitania and advanced up to the boundary of the Byzantine province of Byzacena. Gregory confronted the Arabs on their return at Sufetula, but was defeated and killed, the Arab accounts also claim that the Muslims captured Gregorys daughter, who had fought at her fathers side. She was carried back to Egypt as part of the booty. After Gregorys death, the Arabs sacked Sufetula and raided across the Exarchate, unable to storm the Byzantine fortifications, and satisfied with the huge amounts of plunder they had made, the Arabs agreed to depart in exchange for the payment of a heavy tribute in gold. The Berber tribes in particular shook off their allegiance to the Empire, thus the Battle of Sufetula marked the end, more or less near, but inevitable, of Byzantine domination in Africa
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Caliphate
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A caliphate is an area containing an Islamic steward known as a caliph —a person considered a religious successor to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, and a leader of the entire Muslim community. During the history of Islam after the Rashidun period, many Muslim states, the Sunni branch of Islam stipulates that, as a head of state, a caliph should be elected by Muslims or their representatives. Followers of Shia Islam, however, believe a caliph should be an Imam chosen by God from the Ahl al-Bayt, before the advent of Islam, Arabian monarchs traditionally used the title malik, or another from the same root. The term caliph, derives from the Arabic word khalīfah, which means successor, steward, however, studies of pre-Islamic texts suggest that the original meaning of the phrase was successor selected by God. There was no specified procedure for this shura or consultation, candidates were usually, but not necessarily, from the same lineage as the deceased leader. Capable men who would lead well were preferred over an ineffectual heir, Sunni Muslims believe that Abu Bakr was chosen by the community and that this was the proper procedure. Sunnis further argue that a caliph should ideally be chosen by election or community consensus, the Shia believe that Ali, the son-in-law and cousin of Muhammad, was chosen by Muhammad as his spiritual and temporal successor as the Mawla of all Muslims in the event of Ghadir Khumm. The caliph was often known as Amir al-Muminin, Muhammad established his capital in Medina, after he died, it remained the capital during the Rashidun Caliphate, before Kufa was reportedly made the capital by Caliph Ali. At times there have been rival claimant caliphs in different parts of the Islamic world, according to Sunni Muslims, the first caliph to be called Amir al-Muminin was Abu Bakr, followed by Umar, the second of the Rashidun. Uthman and Ali also were called by the title, while the Shia consider Ali to have been the only truly legitimate caliph. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk officially abolished the system of Caliphate in Islam as part of his secular reforms, the Kings of Morocco still label themselves with the title Amir al-Muminin for the Moroccans, but lay no claim to the Caliphate. Some Muslim countries, including Somalia, Indonesia and Malaysia, were never subject to the authority of a Caliphate, with the exception of Aceh, consequently, these countries had their own, local, sultans or rulers who did not fully accept the authority of the Caliph. Abu Bakr, the first successor of Muhammad, nominated Umar as his successor on his deathbed, Umar, the second caliph, was killed by a Persian named Piruz Nahavandi. His successor, Uthman, was elected by a council of electors, Uthman was killed by members of a disaffected group. Ali then took control but was not universally accepted as caliph by the governors of Egypt and he faced two major rebellions and was assassinated by Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljam, a Khawarij. Alis tumultuous rule lasted only five years and this period is known as the Fitna, or the first Islamic civil war. The followers of Ali later became the Shia minority sect of Islam, the followers of all four Rashidun Caliphs became the majority Sunni sect. Under the Rashidun each region of the Caliphate had its own governor, Muawiyah, a relative of Uthman and governor of Syria, succeeded Ali as Caliph
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First Fitna
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The First Fitna or First confusion was a civil war within the Rashidun Caliphate which resulted in the overthrowing of the Rashidun caliphs and the establishment of the Umayyad dynasty. It began when the caliph Uthman ibn Affan was assassinated by Egyptian rebels in 656 and it ended in 661 when Alis heir Hasan ibn Ali concluded a treaty acknowledging the rule of Muawiyah, the first Umayyad caliph. The Islamic state expanded very quickly under Muhammad and the first three caliphs, in 639 Muawiyah I was appointed the Governor of Syria by Umar after his elder brother Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan died in a plague, along with Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah and 25,000 other people. The rapid Muslim conquest of Syria and Egypt and the consequent Byzantine losses in manpower, the Sassanid Dynasty in Persia had already collapsed. The Islamic empire expanded at a rate, but there was a cost associated with it. Before Islam, the Roman-Persian Wars and the Byzantine–Sasanian wars had occurred every few years for hundreds of years between 69 BC and 629 AD, high taxes were imposed on the populations in both the Byzantine Roman and Sassanid Persian empires to finance these wars. There was also continuous bloodshed of the people during these wars, the Arab tribes in Iraq were paid by the Persian Sassanids to act as mercenaries, while the Arab tribes in Syria were paid by the Byzantines to act as their mercenaries. The Persians maintained an Arab satellite state of Lakhm and the Byzantine Empire maintained the Arab satellite state of Ghassan, the Syrians and the Iraqis had been fighting each other for centuries. Therefore, each wanted the capital of the newly established Islamic state to be in their area. As Uthman ibn Affan became very old, Marwan I, a relative of Muawiyah I, slipped into the vacuum and became his secretary, slowly assuming more control, Marwan I had previously been excluded from positions of responsibility. Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, the son of Abu Bakr and the son of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muhammad bin Abi Hudhaifa. Sects started to form, among them the Sabaites named after Abdullah Ibn Saba There is also Jewish literature from that time, much of the Jewish literature on him from that time regards him as an apostate from Judaism and asks Jews to keep away from him. There was also the movement towards more autonomous tribal groupings, which was strong in Kufa, in Iraq. Among them developed a group called the Qurra, which became known as the Kharijites. Afterwards they were granted trusteeship over some of the lands in Sawad in Iraq and were now called Ahl al Ayyam, brunnow held that the Kharijites were Bedouin Arabs or full blooded Arabs. The Qurra received the highest stipend of the Muslim army, the sharaf al ata, the Qurra received stipends varying between 2,000 and 3,000 dirhams, while the majority of the rest of the troops received only 250 to 300 dirhams. The other Ridda tribesmen in Kufa, in Iraq, resented the position given to the Qurra. The tension between the Ridda tribesmen and the Qurra threatened the Qurras newly acquired prestige, the Qurra therefore felt obliged to defend their position in the new but rapidly changing society
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Hexagram
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A hexagram or sexagram is a six-pointed geometric star figure with the Schläfli symbol,2, or. It is the compound of two equilateral triangles, the intersection is a regular hexagon. It is used in historical, religious and cultural contexts, for example in Hanafism, Jewish identity, in mathematics, the root system for the simple Lie group G2 is in the form of a hexagram, with six long roots and six short roots. A six-pointed star, like a hexagon, can be created using a compass. Without changing the radius of the compass, set its pivot on the circles circumference, with the pivot on the last point found, similarly find a third point on the circumference, and repeat until six such points have been marked. With a straight edge, join alternate points on the circumference to form two overlapping equilateral triangles. It is possible that as a geometric shape, like for example the triangle, circle, or square. The hexagram is a symbol called satkona yantra or sadkona yantra found on ancient South Indian Hindu temples. It symbolizes the nara-narayana, or perfect meditative state of balance achieved between Man and God, and if maintained, results in moksha, or nirvana, some researchers have theorized that the hexagram represents the astrological chart at the time of Davids birth or anointment as king. The hexagram is also known as the Kings Star in astrological circles, in antique papyri, pentagrams, together with stars and other signs, are frequently found on amulets bearing the Jewish names of God, and used to guard against fever and other diseases. Curiously the hexagram is not found among these signs, in the Greek Magical Papyri at Paris and London there are 22 signs side by side, and a circle with twelve signs, but neither a pentagram nor a hexagram. Six-pointed stars have also found in cosmological diagrams in Hinduism, Buddhism. The reasons behind this symbols common appearance in Indic religions and the West are unknown, one possibility is that they have a common origin. The other possibility is that artists and religious people from several cultures independently created the hexagram shape, within Indic lore, the shape is generally understood to consist of two triangles—one pointed up and the other down—locked in harmonious embrace. The two components are called Om and the Hrim in Sanskrit, and symbolize mans position between earth and sky, the downward triangle symbolizes Shakti, the sacred embodiment of femininity, and the upward triangle symbolizes Shiva, or Agni Tattva, representing the focused aspects of masculinity. The mystical union of the two triangles represents Creation, occurring through the union of male and female. The two locked triangles are known as Shanmukha—the six-faced, representing the six faces of Shiva & Shaktis progeny Kartikeya. This symbol is also a part of several yantras and has significance in Hindu ritual worship
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Jesus Christ
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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
38.
Armenia
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Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a sovereign state in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. The Republic of Armenia constitutes only one-tenth of historical Armenia, Armenia is a unitary, multi-party, democratic nation-state with an ancient cultural heritage. Urartu was established in 860 BC and by the 6th century BC it was replaced by the Satrapy of Armenia, in the 1st century BC the Kingdom of Armenia reached its height under Tigranes the Great. Armenia became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion, in between the late 3rd century to early years of the 4th century, the state became the first Christian nation. The official date of adoption of Christianity is 301 AD. The ancient Armenian kingdom was split between the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires around the early 5th century, under the Bagratuni dynasty, the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia was restored in the 9th century. Declining due to the wars against the Byzantines, the fell in 1045. An Armenian principality and later a kingdom Cilician Armenia was located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between the 11th and 14th centuries. By the 19th century, Eastern Armenia had been conquered by the Russian Empire, during World War I, Armenians living in their ancestral lands in the Ottoman Empire were systematically exterminated in the Armenian Genocide. By 1920, the state was incorporated into the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, in 1936, the Transcaucasian state was dissolved, transforming its constituent states, including the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, into full Union republics. The modern Republic of Armenia became independent in 1991 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Republic of Armenia recognises the Armenian Apostolic Church, the worlds oldest national church, as the countrys primary religious establishment. The unique Armenian alphabet was invented by Mesrop Mashtots in 405 AD, Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Council of Europe and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Armenia supports the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which was proclaimed in 1991, the native Armenian name for the country is Հայք. The name in the Middle Ages was extended to Հայաստան, by addition of the Persian suffix -stan, the further origin of the name is uncertain. It is also postulated that the name Hay comes from one of the two confederated, Hittite vassal states—the Ḫayaša-Azzi. The exonym Armenia is attested in the Old Persian Behistun Inscription as Armina, the ancient Greek terms Ἀρμενία and Ἀρμένιοι are first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus. Xenophon, a Greek general serving in some of the Persian expeditions, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and he relates that the people spoke a language that to his ear sounded like the language of the Persians. According to the histories of both Moses of Chorene and Michael Chamchian, Armenia derives from the name of Aram, a descendant of Hayk
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Cappadocia
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Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in the Nevşehir, Kayseri, Kırşehir, Aksaray, and Niğde Provinces in Turkey. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revolt, in these lists of countries, the Old Persian name is Haspaduya, which according to some researchers is derived from Iranian Huw-aspa-dahyu- the land/country of beautiful horses. Others proposed that Kat-patuka came from the Luwian language, meaning Low Country, subsequent research suggests that the adverb katta meaning down, below is exclusively Hittite, while its Luwian equivalent is zanta. Therefore the recent modification of this proposal operates with the Hittite katta peda-, Herodotus tells us that the name of the Cappadocians was applied to them by the Persians, while they were termed by the Greeks Syrians or White Syrians Leucosyri. Cappadocia appears in the account given in the book of Acts 2,9. The Cappadocians were named as one group hearing the Gospel account from Galileans in their own language on the day of Pentecost shortly after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Acts 2,5 seems to suggest that the Cappadocians in this account were God-fearing Jews. The region is mentioned in the Jewish Mishnah, in Ketubot 13,11. This division had come about before the time of Xenophon. The kingdom of Cappadocia still existed in the time of Strabo as a independent state. Cilicia was the given to the district in which Caesarea. The only two cities of Cappadocia considered by Strabo to deserve that appellation were Caesarea and Tyana, not far from the foot of the Taurus, Cappadocia lies in central Anatolia, in the heartland of what is now Turkey. The relief consists of a plateau over 1000 m in altitude that is pierced by volcanic peaks. The boundaries of historical Cappadocia are vague, particularly towards the west, to the south, the Taurus Mountains form the boundary with Cilicia and separate Cappadocia from the Mediterranean Sea. To the west, Cappadocia is bounded by the regions of Lycaonia to the southwest. This results in an area approximately 400 km east–west and 250 km north–south, due to its inland location and high altitude, Cappadocia has a markedly continental climate, with hot dry summers and cold snowy winters. Rainfall is sparse and the region is largely semi-arid, Cappadocia was known as Hatti in the late Bronze Age, and was the homeland of the Hittite power centred at Hattusa. After ending the Persian Empire, Alexander the Great tried to rule the area one of his military commanders. But Ariarathes, a Persian aristocrat, somehow became king of the Cappadocians, as Ariarathes I, he was a successful ruler, and he extended the borders of the Cappadocian Kingdom as far as to the Black Sea
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Caesarea Mazaca
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Kayseri is a large and industrialised city in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is the seat of Kayseri Province, Kayseri is located at the foot of the extinct volcano Mount Erciyes that towers 3,916 metres over the city. The city is cited in the first ranks among Turkeys cities that fit the definition of Anatolian Tigers. The city retains a number of monuments, including several from the Seljuk period. Kayseri is served by Erkilet International Airport and is home to Erciyes University, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute, as of 2011 the city of Kayseri had a population of 844,656, while Kayseri Province had a population of 1,234,651. The name was changed again by Archelaus, last King of Cappadocia, the city has been continuously inhabited since perhaps c.3000 BC with the establishment of the ancient trading colony at Kultepe which is associated with the Hittites. The city has always been a trade centre as it is located on major trade routes. Kültepe, one of the oldest cities in Asia Minor, lies nearby, as Mazaca, the city served as the residence of the kings of Cappadocia. In Roman times, a route from Ephesus to the East also crossed the city. The city stood on a low spur on the side of Mount Erciyes. Only a few traces of the ancient site survive in the old town, in the ensuing period, the city came under the sway of Hellenistic influence, and was given the Greek name of Eusebia in honor of the Cappadocian king Ariarathes V Eusebes Philopator of Cappadocia. Under the new name of Caesarea, by which it has since been known, given to it by the last Cappadocian King Archelaus or perhaps by Tiberius, Caesarea was destroyed by the Sassanid king Shapur I after his victory over the Emperor Valerian I in AD260. At the time it was recorded to have around 400,000 inhabitants, the city gradually recovered, and became home to several early Christian saints, saints Dorothea and Theophilus the martyrs, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa and Basil of Caesarea. In the 4th century, bishop Basil established a centre on the plain, about one mile to the northeast. It included a system of almshouses, an orphanage, old homes. A 10th-century list gives it 15 suffragans, Caesarea was also the seat of an Armenian diocese. No longer a residential bishopric, Caesarea in Cappadocia is today listed by the Catholic Church as a see of the Armenian Catholic Church. A portion of Basils new city was surrounded with strong walls, Caesarea in the 9th century became a Byzantine administrative centre as the capital of the Byzantine Theme of Charsianon
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Phrygia
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In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Turkey, centered on the Sakarya River. This later Midas was, however, also the last independent king of Phrygia before Cimmerians sacked the Phrygian capital, Gordium, Phrygia then became subject to Lydia, and then successively to Persia, Alexander and his Hellenistic successors, Pergamon, Rome and Byzantium. Phrygians gradually became assimilated into other cultures by the medieval era, after the Turkish conquest of Anatolia. Phrygia describes an area on the end of the high Anatolian plateau. The climate is harsh with hot summers and cold winters, olives will not easily grow here and the land is used for livestock grazing. South of Dorylaeum, there is another important Phrygian settlement, Midas City, situated in an area of hills, to the south again, central Phrygia includes the cities of Afyonkarahisar with its marble quarries at nearby Docimium, and the town of Synnada. At the western end of Phrygia stood the towns of Aizanoi, from here to the southwest lies the hilly area of Phrygia that contrasts to the bare plains of the regions heartland. Southwestern Phrygia is watered by the Maeander and its tributary the Lycus, one of the so-called Homeric Hymns describes the Phrygian language as not mutually intelligible with that of Troy. According to ancient tradition among Greek historians, the Phrygians anciently migrated to Anatolia from the Balkans, Herodotus says that the Phrygians were called Bryges when they lived in Europe. Some classical writers also connected the Phrygians with the Mygdones, the name of two groups of people, one of which lived in northern Macedonia and another in Mysia. The classical historian Strabo groups Phrygians, Mygdones, Mysians, Bebryces, Phrygian continued to be spoken until the 6th century AD, though its distinctive alphabet was lost earlier than those of most Anatolian cultures. The so-called Handmade Knobbed Ware found in Western Anatolia during this period has been identified as an import connected to this invasion. These scholars seek instead to trace the Phrygians origins among the nations of western Anatolia who were subject to the Hittites. Some scholars dismiss the claim of a Phrygian migration as a mere legend, no one has conclusively identified which of the many subjects of the Hittites might have represented early Phrygians. Josephus called Togarmah the Thrugrammeans, who, as the Greeks resolved, were named Phrygians, however, the Greek source cited by Josephus is unknown, and it is unclear if there was any basis for the identification other than name similarity. Scholars of the Hittites believe Tegarama was in eastern Anatolia - some locate it at Gurun - far to the east of Phrygia, some scholars have identified Phrygia with the Assuwa league, and noted that the Iliad mentions a Phrygian named Asios. Another possible early name of Phrygia could be Hapalla, the name of the easternmost province that emerged from the splintering of the Bronze Age western Anatolian empire Arzawa, however, scholars are unsure if Hapalla corresponds to Phrygia or to Pisidia, further south. Herodotus also claims that Phrygian colonists founded the Armenian nation, however, little is known about these eastern Mygdones, and no evidence of Phrygian language in that region has been found
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Crete
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Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, 88th-largest island in the world and the fifth-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and Corsica. Crete and a number of surrounding islands and islets constitute the region of Crete, the capital and the largest city is Heraklion. As of 2011, the region had a population of 623,065, Crete forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece, while retaining its own local cultural traits. It was once the centre of the Minoan civilization, which is regarded as the earliest recorded civilization in Europe. The island is first referred to as Kaptara in texts from the Syrian city of Mari dating from the 18th century BC, repeated later in Neo-Assyrian records and it was also known in ancient Egyptian as Keftiu, strongly suggesting a similar Minoan name for the island. The current name of Crete is thought to be first attested in Mycenaean Greek texts written in Linear B, through the words
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Cilicia
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In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor and existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia during the late Byzantine Empire. Extending inland from the southeastern coast of modern Turkey, Cilicia is due north and northeast of the island of Cyprus, Cilicia extended along the Mediterranean coast east from Pamphylia, to the Nur Mountains, which separated it from Syria. North and east of Cilicia lie the rugged Taurus Mountains that separate it from the central plateau of Anatolia. Ancient Cilicia was naturally divided into Cilicia Trachaea and Cilicia Pedias by the Limonlu River, salamis, the city on the east coast of Cyprus, was included in its administrative jurisdiction. Homer mentions the people of Mopsus, identified as Cilices, as from the Troad in the northernwesternmost part of Anatolia, the English spelling Cilicia is the same as the Latin, as it was transliterated directly from the Greek form Κιλικία. The palatalization of c occurring in the west in later Vulgar Latin accounts for its pronunciation in English. The district is watered by the Calycadnus and was covered in ancient times by forests that supplied timber to Phoenicia, many of its high places were fortified. The plain is watered by the three rivers, the Cydnus, the Sarus and the Pyramus, each of which brings down much silt from the deforested interior. The Sarus now enters the sea almost due south of Tarsus, but there are indications that at one period it joined the Pyramus. Through the rich plain of Issus ran the great highway that linked east and west, on which stood the cities of Tarsus on the Cydnus, Adana on the Sarus, Cilicia was settled from the Neolithic period onwards. Dating of the ancient settlements of the region from Neolithic to Bronze Age is as follows, Aceramic/Neolithic, 8th and 7th millennia BC, Early Chalcolithic,5800 BC, Middle Chalcolithic, c. 3400 BC, and Early Bronze Age IA, 3400–3000 BC, EBA IB, 3000–2700 BC, EBA II, 2700–2400 BC, EBA III A-B, the area had been known as Kizzuwatna in the earlier Hittite era. The region was divided into two parts, Uru Adaniya, a plain, and rough Cilicia, in the mountainous west. The Cilicians appear as Hilikku in Assyrian inscriptions, and in the part of the first millennium BC were one of the four chief powers of Western Asia. Homer mentions the plain as the Aleian plain in which Bellerophon wandered, the Cilician cities unknown to Homer already bore their pre-Greek names, Tarzu, Ingira, Danuna-Adana, which retains its ancient name, Pahri, Kundu and Karatepe. After the death of Murshili around 1595 BC, Hurrians wrested control from the Hitties, the first king of free Cilicia, Išputahšu, son of Pariyawatri, was recorded as a great king in both cuneiform and Hittite hieroglyphs. Another record of Hittite origins, a treaty between Išputahšu and Telipinu, king of the Hittites, is recorded in both Hittite and Akkadian. Niqmepa, who succeeded Idrimi as king of Alalakh, went so far as to ask for help from a Hurrian rival, Shaushtatar of Mitanni, to try and reduce Cilicias power in the region
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Isauria
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In its coastal extension it bordered on Cilicia. It derives its name from the contentious Isaurian tribe and twin settlements Isaura Palaea, Isaurian marauders were fiercely independent mountain people who created havoc in neighboring districts under Macedonian and Roman occupations. The permanent nucleus of Isauria was north of the Taurus range which lies directly to south of Iconium, lycaonia had all the Iconian plain, but Isauria began as soon as the foothills were reached. Its two original towns, Isaura Nea and Isaura Palaea, lay, one among these foothills, approx N37°29 E32°12 near Bozkir. In the 4th century BC, Isauria began as it would end, and became the district about Isaura Palaea. The whole basin of the Calycadnus was reckoned Isaurian, and the cities in the valley of its southern branch formed what was known as the Isaurian Decapolis, the Isaurians were brought partially under control by the Romans. The Isaurians were afterwards placed for a time under the rule of Amyntas, king of Galatia, in the 3rd century they sheltered the rebel emperor Trebellianus. Pisidia, part of which had hitherto been included in one province with Isauria, was also detached, the coastal Metropolis of Seleucia was designated as Isauria’s provincial capital. The empire used Isaurians as soldiers, generals and at one point they formed part of the emperors personal guard. However, the population of Constantinople considered the Isaurians as barbarians, the site contains ruins of the town and its fortifications. The ruins of Isaura Palaea are mainly remarkable for their situation, fortifications. Those of Isaura Nea have disappeared, but numerous inscriptions and many sculpture stelae, built into the houses of Dorla and it was the latter, and not the former town, that Servilius reduced by cutting off the water supply. J. R. S. Sterrett explored in the highland of Isauria in 1885, the site was identified by W. M. Ramsay in 1901. Ramsay discovered there more than fifty Greek inscriptions, the greater number Christian and these monuments date from the third, fourth, and fifth centuries. The Isaurian church was originally under the authority of the Patriarch of Antioch, ancient episcopal sees of Isauria listed in the Annuario Pontificio as Catholic titular sees, Olba — Hellenistic period city in Isauria. Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles
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Syria
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Syrias capital and largest city is Damascus. Religious groups include Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, Mandeans, Shiites, Salafis, Sunni Arabs make up the largest religious group in Syria. Its capital Damascus and largest city Aleppo are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, in the Islamic era, Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. The post-independence period was tumultuous, and a number of military coups. In 1958, Syria entered a union with Egypt called the United Arab Republic. Syria was under Emergency Law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending most constitutional protections for citizens, Bashar al-Assad has been president since 2000 and was preceded by his father Hafez al-Assad, who was in office from 1970 to 2000. Mainstream modern academic opinion strongly favours the argument that the Greek word is related to the cognate Ἀσσυρία, Assyria, in the past, others believed that it was derived from Siryon, the name that the Sidonians gave to Mount Hermon. However, the discovery of the inscription in 2000 seems to support the theory that the term Syria derives from Assyria. The area designated by the word has changed over time, since approximately 10,000 BC, Syria was one of centers of Neolithic culture where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time in the world. The following Neolithic period is represented by houses of Mureybet culture. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gyps, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations. Cities of Hamoukar and Emar played an important role during the late Neolithic, archaeologists have demonstrated that civilization in Syria was one of the most ancient on earth, perhaps preceded by only those of Mesopotamia. The earliest recorded indigenous civilisation in the region was the Kingdom of Ebla near present-day Idlib, gifts from Pharaohs, found during excavations, confirm Eblas contact with Egypt. One of the earliest written texts from Syria is an agreement between Vizier Ibrium of Ebla and an ambiguous kingdom called Abarsal c.2300 BC. The Northwest Semitic language of the Amorites is the earliest attested of the Canaanite languages, Mari reemerged during this period, and saw renewed prosperity until conquered by Hammurabi of Babylon. Ugarit also arose during this time, circa 1800 BC, close to modern Latakia, Ugaritic was a Semitic language loosely related to the Canaanite languages, and developed the Ugaritic alphabet. The Ugarites kingdom survived until its destruction at the hands of the marauding Indo-European Sea Peoples in the 12th century BC, Yamhad was described in the tablets of Mari as the mightiest state in the near east and as having more vassals than Hammurabi of Babylon. Yamhad imposed its authority over Alalakh, Qatna, the Hurrians states, the army of Yamhad campaigned as far away as Dēr on the border of Elam
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