1.
Areobindus Dagalaiphus Areobindus
–
Flavius Areobindus Dagalaiphus Areobindus, commonly simply Areobindus or Ariovindus was an East Roman general and politician. The scion of a line, he led troops in the Anastasian War. During an urban riot in 512, he was proclaimed emperor by the mob and his mother was Godisthea, daughter of Ardabur, general and consul in 447, and granddaughter of Aspar, the powerful Alan general and consul in 434. Shortly after 478, Areobindus married Anicia Juliana, daughter of Western Roman emperor Olybrius, together they had a son, Flavius Anicius Olybrius Iunior, consul in 491. In his consular diptychs, he is listed as having occupied the post of comes sacri stabuli, with the outbreak of the Anastasian War, he was sent to the East as magister militum per Orientem along with the praesental magistri Hypatius and Patricius. There he repelled an attack by a Persian army coming from Singara, eventually however he was compelled to withdraw when the Persians received reinforcements from their Hephthalite and Arab allies, and retreated to Constantia and then to Edessa. He was besieged there by Kavadh in September, but the onset of winter, in the summer of 504, Areobindus launched a major raid into Arzanene, meeting little opposition and laying waste to large swathes of land before returning to Amida. With the Roman positions stabilized and the war now being carried over into Persian territory, Kavadh agreed to a truce, in 505, he was recalled to Constantinople, where he was awarded the consulship for 506, with Flavius Ennodius Messala as his colleague. In 512, he was living in Constantinople in retirement, at the time, the open advocation of miaphysite doctrines by Emperor Anastasius had caused great anger among the citys mostly Chalcedonian population. At one point, according to the chroniclers, the city took up the cry Areobindus for emperor and marched to the house of his wife, Anicia Juliana. Areobindus however, unwilling to part in a usurpation, had fled the house. Nothing further is known of him, although on account of his age he must have died not long after, five examples of his consular diptychs have survived, two complete and three half ones. The two complete ones are located in Lucca and Zürich, two halves with the name only are located at Paris and Besançon, and a half with his titles is preserved at Dijon
Areobindus Dagalaiphus Areobindus
–
Areobindus in his consular robes, from his ivory
consular diptych.
2.
Roman consul
–
A consul was the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic, and the consulship was considered the highest level of the cursus honorum. Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term, the consuls alternated in holding imperium each month, and a consuls imperium extended over Rome, Italy, and the provinces. Originally, consuls were called praetors, referring to their duties as the military commanders. By at least 300 BC the title of Consul was being used, in Greek, the title was originally rendered as στρατηγός ὕπατος, strategos hypatos, and later simply as ὕπατος. The consul was believed by the Romans to date back to the establishment of the Republic in 509 BC. These remained in place until the office was abolished in 367/366 BC, consuls had extensive powers in peacetime, and in wartime often held the highest military command. Additional religious duties included certain rites which, as a sign of their formal importance, consuls also read auguries, an essential step before leading armies into the field. Two consuls were elected each year, serving together, each with power over the others actions. It is thought that only patricians were eligible for the consulship. Consuls were elected by the Comitia Centuriata, which had a bias in its voting structure which only increased over the years from its foundation. If a consul died during his term or was removed from office, a consul elected to start the year - called a consul ordinarius - held more prestige than a suffect consul, partly because the year would be named for ordinary consuls. The first plebeian consul, Lucius Sextius, was elected the following year and it is possible that only the chronology has been distorted, but it seems that one of the first consuls, Lucius Junius Brutus, came from a plebeian family. Another possible explanation is that during the 5th century social struggles, during times of war, the primary qualification for consul was military skill and reputation, but at all times the selection was politically charged. With the passage of time, the became the normal endpoint of the cursus honorum. When Lucius Cornelius Sulla regulated the cursus by law, the age of election to consul became. Beginning in the late Republic, after finishing a year, a former consul would usually serve a lucrative term as a proconsul. The most commonly chosen province for the proconsulship was Cisalpine Gaul, throughout the early years of the Principate although the consuls were still formally elected by the Comitia Centuriata, they were in fact nominated by the princeps. It was a post that would be occupied by a man halfway through his career, in his early thirties for a patrician, emperors frequently appointed themselves, or their protégés or relatives, consuls, even without regard to the age requirements
Roman consul
–
Flavius Anastasius Paulus Probus Sabinianus Pompeius Anastasius (consul 517 AD) in consular garb, holding a sceptre and the mappa, a piece of cloth used to signal the start of
chariot races at the
Hippodrome. Ivory panel from his
consular diptych.
Roman consul
–
Ancient Rome
3.
Louvre
–
The Louvre or the Louvre Museum is the worlds largest museum and a historic monument in Paris, France. A central landmark of the city, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the citys 1st arrondissement, approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are exhibited over an area of 72,735 square metres. The Louvre is the second most visited museum after the Palace Museum in China. The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built as a fortress in the late 12th century under Philip II, remnants of the fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. Due to the expansion of the city, the fortress eventually lost its defensive function and. The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace, in 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years, during the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum to display the nations masterpieces. The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801. The collection was increased under Napoleon and the museum renamed Musée Napoléon, the collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and bequests since the Third Republic, whether this was the first building on that spot is not known, it is possible that Philip modified an existing tower. According to the authoritative Grand Larousse encyclopédique, the name derives from an association with wolf hunting den, in the 7th century, St. Fare, an abbess in Meaux, left part of her Villa called Luvra situated in the region of Paris to a monastery. This territory probably did not correspond exactly to the modern site, the Louvre Palace was altered frequently throughout the Middle Ages. In the 14th century, Charles V converted the building into a residence and in 1546, Francis acquired what would become the nucleus of the Louvres holdings, his acquisitions including Leonardo da Vincis Mona Lisa. After Louis XIV chose Versailles as his residence in 1682, constructions slowed, however, on 14 October 1750, Louis XV agreed and sanctioned a display of 96 pieces from the royal collection, mounted in the Galerie royale de peinture of the Luxembourg Palace. Under Louis XVI, the museum idea became policy. The comte dAngiviller broadened the collection and in 1776 proposed conversion of the Grande Galerie of the Louvre – which contained maps – into the French Museum, many proposals were offered for the Louvres renovation into a museum, however, none was agreed on. Hence the museum remained incomplete until the French Revolution, during the French Revolution the Louvre was transformed into a public museum. In May 1791, the Assembly declared that the Louvre would be a place for bringing together monuments of all the sciences, on 10 August 1792, Louis XVI was imprisoned and the royal collection in the Louvre became national property
Louvre
–
the Richelieu wing (2005)
Louvre
–
The only portion of the medieval Louvre still visible
Louvre
–
Antonio Canova 's
Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss was commissioned in 1787, donated in 1824.
Louvre
–
The
Venus de Milo was added to the Louvre's collection during the reign of
Louis XVIII.
4.
Late Antiquity
–
Late antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages in mainland Europe, the Mediterranean world, and the Near East. The development of the periodization has generally been accredited to historian Peter Brown, precise boundaries for the period are a continuing matter of debate, but Brown proposes a period between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Generally, it can be thought of as from the end of the Roman Empires Crisis of the Third Century to, in the East, the early Islamic period, following the Muslim conquests in the mid–7th century. In the West the end was earlier, with the start of the Early Medieval period typically placed in the 6th century, beginning with Constantine the Great, Christianity was made legal in the Empire, and a new capital was founded at Constantinople. The resultant cultural fusion of Greco-Roman, Germanic and Christian traditions formed the foundations of the subsequent culture of Europe, the term Spätantike, literally late antiquity, has been used by German-speaking historians since its popularization by Alois Riegl in the early 20th century. Concurrently, some migrating Germanic tribes such as the Ostrogoths and Visigoths saw themselves as perpetuating the Roman tradition, Constantine confirmed the legalization of the religion through the so-called Edict of Milan in 313, jointly issued with his rival in the East, Licinius. Monasticism was not the only new Christian movement to appear in Late Antiquity, notable in this regard is the topic of the Fifty Bibles of Constantine. Within the recently legitimized Christian community of the 4th century, a division could be distinctly seen between the laity and an increasingly celibate male leadership. Celibate and detached, the clergy became an elite equal in prestige to urban notables. The Late Antique period also saw a transformation of the political and social basis of life in. The later Roman Empire was in a sense a network of cities, archaeology now supplements literary sources to document the transformation followed by collapse of cities in the Mediterranean basin. Burials within the urban precincts mark another stage in dissolution of traditional urbanistic discipline, overpowered by the attraction of saintly shrines, in Roman Britain, the typical 4th- and 5th-century layer of black earth within cities seems to be a result of increased gardening in formerly urban spaces. A similar though less marked decline in population occurred later in Constantinople. In Europe there was also a decline in urban populations. As a whole, the period of antiquity was accompanied by an overall population decline in almost all Europe. Long-distance markets disappeared, and there was a reversion to a degree of local production and consumption, rather than webs of commerce. The degree and extent of discontinuity in the cities of the Greek East is a moot subject among historians. In the western Mediterranean, the new cities known to be founded in Europe between the 5th and 8th centuries were the four or five Visigothic victory cities
Late Antiquity
–
The
Barberini ivory, a late
Leonid /
Justinian Byzantine ivory leaf from an imperial
diptych, from an imperial workshop in
Constantinople in the first half of the sixth century (
Louvre Museum)
Late Antiquity
–
Modern statue of
Constantine I at
York, where he was proclaimed
Augustus in 306.
Late Antiquity
–
The Favourites of the Emperor Honorius, 1883:
John William Waterhouse expresses the sense of moral decadence that coloured the 19th-century historical view of the 5th century.
Late Antiquity
–
View west along the Harbour Street towards the Library of Celsus in
Ephesus. The pillars on the left side of the street were part of the
colonnaded walkway apparent in cities of Late Antique
Asia Minor.
5.
Diptych
–
A diptych is any object with two flat plates attached at a hinge. For example, the notebook and school exercise book of the ancient world was a diptych consisting of a pair of such plates that contained a recessed space filled with wax. Writing was accomplished by scratching the wax surface with a stylus, when the notes were no longer needed, the wax could be slightly heated and then smoothed to allow reuse. Ordinary versions had wooden frames, but more luxurious diptychs were crafted with more expensive materials, others may have been made to celebrate a wedding, or, perhaps like the Poet and Muse diptych at Monza, simply commissioned for private use. Some of the most important surviving works of the Late Roman Empire are diptychs, of some dozens survive. The largest surviving Byzantine ivory panel, is a leaf from a diptych in the Justinian court manner of c, from the Middle Ages many panel paintings took the diptych form, as small portable works for personal use, Eastern Orthodox ones may be called travelling icons. These suited the mobile lives of medieval elites, the ivories tended to have scenes in several registers crowded with small figures. The outsides, which received considerable wear from travelling, might have simpler decorative designs. Large altarpieces tended to be made in form, with two outer panels that could be closed across the main central representation. They are one type of the forms of painting known as polyptychs. The diptych was a format in Early Netherlandish painting and depicted subjects ranging from secular portraiture to religious personages and stories. Often a portrait and a Madonna and Child had a leaf each and it was especially popular in the 15th and 16th centuries. Painters such as Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Hans Memling, Diptych is also often used in reference to films or pieces of literature that form a complementary pair. When taken together, they are viewed as illuminating each other, an example is the pair of Alan Ayckbourn plays, House and Garden. It is in form that the mention of diptychs in early Christian literature is found. The term refers to official lists of the living and departed that are commemorated by the local church, the living would be inscribed on one wing of the diptych, and the departed on the other. The inscribing of a name in the diptychs means that the local church considers itself to be in communion with him. The names in the diptychs would be read publicly by the deacon during the Divine Liturgy, diptychs were also used to inscribe the names of the saints
Diptych
–
Ivory consular diptych of Areobindus, Byzantium, 506 AD,
Louvre.
Diptych
–
Barberini Ivory,
Constantinople, 6th century,
Louvre.
Diptych
–
Deesis, 17th-century
icon. Left to right:
Archangel Michael,
Theotokos,
John the Baptist,
Archangel Gabriel (Historical Museum in
Sanok,
Poland).
6.
Relief sculpture
–
Relief is a sculptural technique where the sculpted elements remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term relief is from the Latin verb relevo, to raise, to create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane. What is actually performed when a relief is cut in from a surface of stone or wood is a lowering of the field. The technique involves considerable chiselling away of the background, which is a time-consuming exercise. In other materials such as metal, clay, plaster stucco, ceramics or papier-mâché the form can be just added to or raised up from the background, and monumental bronze reliefs are made by casting. There are different degrees of relief depending on the degree of projection of the form from the field. There is also sunk relief, which was restricted to Ancient Egypt. However the distinction between high relief and low relief is the clearest and most important, and these two are generally the only used to discuss most work. Hyphens may or may not be used in all these terms, works in the technique are described as in relief, and, especially in monumental sculpture, the work itself is a relief. Reliefs are common throughout the world on the walls of buildings and a variety of settings. Relief is more suitable for depicting complicated subjects with figures and very active poses, such as battles. Most ancient architectural reliefs were painted, which helped to define forms in low relief. Rock reliefs are carved into solid rock in the open air. This type is found in cultures, in particular those of the Ancient Near East and Buddhist countries. A stele is a standing stone, many of these carry reliefs. The distinction between high and low relief is somewhat subjective, and the two are often combined in a single work. In particular, most later high reliefs contain sections in low relief, a low relief or bas-relief is a projecting image with a shallow overall depth, for example used on coins, on which all images are in low relief. Other versions distort depth much less and it is a technique which requires less work, and is therefore cheaper to produce, as less of the background needs to be removed in a carving, or less modelling is required
Relief sculpture
–
A
Persian mid-relief (mezzo-rilievo) from the
Qajar era, located at
Tangeh Savashi in
Iran, which might also be described as two stages of low-relief.
Relief sculpture
–
A face of the high-relief
Frieze of Parnassus round the base of the
Albert Memorial in London. Most of the heads and many feet are completely undercut, but the torsos are "engaged" with the surface behind.
Relief sculpture
–
Lorenzo Ghiberti 's cast
gilt-bronze "Gates of Paradise" at the
Florence Baptistery in
Florence, Italy, combine high-relief main figures with backgrounds mostly in low relief.
Relief sculpture
–
Bas-relief,
Banteay Srei,
Cambodia;
Ravana shaking Mount
Kailasa, the Abode of
Siva
7.
Codex
–
A codex is a book constructed of a number of sheets of paper, vellum, papyrus, or similar materials, with hand-written contents. The book is bound by stacking the pages and fixing one edge. Some codices are continuously folded like a concertina, the alternative to paged codex format for a long document is the continuous scroll. Examples of folded codices include the Maya codices, sometimes people use the term for a book-style format, including modern printed books but excluding folded books. The Romans developed the form from wooden writing tablets, the codexs gradual replacement of the scroll—the dominant book form in the ancient world—has been called the most important advance in book making before the invention of printing. The codex transformed the shape of the book itself, and offered a form that lasted for centuries, the spread of the codex is often associated with the rise of Christianity, which adopted the format for use with the Bible early on. In fact, any combination of codices and scrolls with papyrus and parchment is technically feasible, the codex began to replace the scroll almost as soon as it was invented. In Egypt, by the century, the codex outnumbered the scroll by ten to one based on surviving examples. By the sixth century, the scroll had almost vanished as a medium for literature, technically, even modern paperbacks are codices, but publishers and scholars reserve the term for manuscript books produced from Late antiquity until the Middle Ages. The scholarly study of manuscripts from the point of view of the bookbinding craft is called codicology. The study of ancient documents in general is called paleography, the Romans used precursors made of reusable wax-covered tablets of wood for taking notes and other informal writings. Two ancient polyptychs, a pentatych and octotych, excavated at Herculaneum used a connecting system that presages later sewing on of thongs or cords. Julius Caesar may have been the first Roman to reduce scrolls to pages in the form of a note-book. At the turn of the 1st century AD, a kind of folded parchment notebook called pugillares membranei in Latin became commonly used for writing in the Roman Empire, theodore Cressy Skeat theorized that this form of notebook was invented in Rome and then spread rapidly to the Near East. Codices are described in works by the Classical Latin poet. He wrote a series of five couplets meant to accompany gifts of literature that Romans exchanged during the festival of Saturnalia. ”Early codices of parchment or papyrus appear to have widely used as personal notebooks. The parchment notebook pages were commonly washed or scraped for re-use and consequently, writings in a codex were often considered informal, as early as the early 2nd century, there is evidence that a codex—usually of papyrus—was the preferred format among Christians. In the library of the Villa of the Papyri, Herculaneum, however, in the Nag Hammadi library, hidden about AD390, all texts are codices
Codex
–
The
Codex Gigas, 13th century, Bohemia.
Codex
–
Codices largely replaced scrolls similar to this.
Codex
–
Reproduced Roman-style
wax tablet, from which the codex evolved
Codex
–
Early medieval bookcase containing about ten codices depicted in the
Codex Amiatinus (ca. 700)
8.
Theodosius I
–
Theodosius I, also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from AD379 to AD395. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. On accepting his elevation, he campaigned against Goths and other barbarians who had invaded the empire. He failed to kill, expel, or entirely subjugate them and he fought two destructive civil wars, in which he defeated the usurpers Magnus Maximus and Eugenius at great cost to the power of the empire. He also issued decrees that effectively made Orthodox Nicene Christianity the official church of the Roman Empire. He neither prevented nor punished the destruction of prominent Hellenistic temples of antiquity, including the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He dissolved the order of the Vestal Virgins in Rome, in 393, he banned the pagan rituals of the Olympics in Ancient Greece. Theodosius was born in Cauca, Gallaecia, Hispania or Italica, Baetica, Hispania, to a military officer. Theodosius learned his lessons by campaigning with his fathers staff in Britannia where he went to help quell the Great Conspiracy in 368. In about 373, he became governor of Upper Moesia and oversaw hostilities against the Sarmatians and he was military commander of Moesia, a Roman province on the lower Danube, in 374. However, shortly thereafter, and at about the time as the sudden disgrace and execution of his father. The reason for his retirement, and the relationship between it and his fathers death is unclear and it is possible that he was dismissed from his command by the emperor Valentinian I after the loss of two of Theodosius legions to the Sarmatians in late 374. The death of Valentinian I in 375 created political pandemonium, fearing further persecution on account of his family ties, Theodosius abruptly retired to his family estates in the province of Gallaecia where he adopted the life of a provincial aristocrat. In 378, after the disastrous Battle of Adrianople where Valens was killed, as Valens had no successor, Gratians appointment of Theodosius amounted to a de facto invitation for Theodosius to become co-Augustus of the East Roman Empire. After Gratian was killed in a rebellion in 383, Theodosius appointed his own son, Arcadius. By his first wife, the probably Spanish Aelia Flaccilla Augusta, he had two sons, Arcadius and Honorius and a daughter, Aelia Pulcheria, Arcadius was his heir in the East, both Aelia Flaccilla and Pulcheria died in 385. His second wife was Galla, daughter of the emperor Valentinian I, Theodosius and Galla had a son Gratian, born in 388 and who died young, and a daughter Aelia Galla Placidia. Placidia was the child who survived to adulthood and later became an Empress
Theodosius I
–
Theodosius
Theodosius I
–
Roman provinces along the Ister (Danube), showing
Dacia,
Moesia and
Thrace, with
Sarmatia to the north and
Germania to the northwest.
Theodosius I
–
Federico Barocci, "Saint Ambrose forces Emperor Theodosius I to make penance for the Thessaloniki massacre" (1603), left-side nave, Saint Ambrose Altar, Milan Cathedral/
Theodosius I
–
The administrative divisions of the
Roman Empire in 395, under Theodosius I.
9.
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
–
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus was a Roman statesman, orator, and man of letters. He held the offices of governor of proconsular Africa in 373, urban prefect of Rome in 384 and 385, two years later he made a famous appeal to Gratians successor, Valentinian II, in a dispatch that was rebutted by Ambrose, the bishop of Milan. Symmachuss career was derailed when he supported the short-lived usurper Magnus Maximus. Much of his writing has survived, nine books of letters, a collection of Relationes or official dispatches, Symmachus was educated in Gaul, apparently at Bordeaux or Toulouse. In early life he devoted to literature. As a representative of the cursus honorum, Symmachus sought to preserve the ancient religion of Rome at a time when the senatorial aristocracy was converting to Christianity. Symmachus was chosen by the Senate on account of his eloquence to lead a delegation of protest, subtly he pleads for tolerance for traditional cult practices and beliefs that Christianity was poised to suppress in the Theodosian edicts of 391. It was natural for Symmachus to sympathise with Magnus Maximus who had defeated Gratian, the date of his death is unknown, but one of his letters was written as late as 402. His leisure hours were devoted exclusively to literary pursuits, as is evident from the allusions in his letters to the studies in which he was engaged. His friendship with Ausonius and other distinguished authors of the era proves that he delighted in associating and corresponding with the learned, of his many writings, the following have survived, Nine or ten books of letters, published by his son. Many of the letters are notes extending to a few lines only, addressed to a circle of relations, friends. They relate for the most part to matters of little importance, a collection of Relationes or official dispatches, which is chiefly composed of the letters written by him when prefect of Rome to the emperors under whom he served. Panegyrics, written in his youth, two on Valentinian I and one on the youthful Gratian, fragments of various orations, discovered by Angelo Mai in palimpsests in the Ambrosian library and the Vatican. According one of his letters, Symmachus also engaged in the preparation of an edition of Livys Ab Urbe Condita. Seven manuscripts of the first decade of Livys extensive work bear subscriptions including Symmachus name along with Tascius Victorianus, Appius Nicomachus Dexter, zetzel has identified some of their effects to this tradition of the transmission of this portion of Livys work. In other letters, Symmachus describes preparations for his shows in the arena and he managed to procure antelopes, gazelles, leopards, lions, bears, bear-cubs, and even some crocodiles. Symmachus also purchased Saxon slaves to fight and die in the games and he was annoyed when twenty-nine of the Saxons strangled each other in their cells on the night before their final scheduled appearance. One quote of Symmachus from The Memorial of Symmachus, Prefect of the City reads, We gaze up at the stars, the sky covers us all
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
–
Probable depiction of Q. Aurelius Symmachus from an ivory diptych depicting his
apotheosis.
Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
–
Probable depiction of Symmachus arriving in heaven following his apotheosis. The genii who bear him skyward, as well as the
Sun god and zodiacal signs, attest to Symmachus' pagan convictions.
10.
Quaestor
–
A quaestor was a public official in Ancient Rome. The position served different functions depending on the period, in the Roman Kingdom, quaestores parricidii were appointed by the king to investigate and handle murders. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials that supervised the state treasury and it was the lowest ranking position in the cursus honorum. In modern usage in Italy and Romania, a quaestor is a ranking officer on the police force. In some organizations, a quaestor is the officer that oversees its finances, the earliest quaestors were quaestores parricidii, an office dating back to the Kingdom of Rome. Quaestores parricidii were chosen to investigate crimes, and may have been appointed as needed rather than holding a permanent position. Ancient authors disagree on the manner of selection for this office as well as on its earliest institution. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials who supervised the treasury and financial affairs of the state, its armies, the quaestors tasked with financial supervision were also called quaestores aerarii, because they oversaw the aerarium in the Temple of Saturn. The earliest origins of the office is obscure, but by about 420 BC there were four quaestors elected each year by the Comitia Tributa, after 267 BC, the number was expanded to ten. The office of quaestor, usually a former broad-striped tribune, was adopted as the first official post of the cursus honorum, once elected as quaestor, a Roman man earned the right to sit in the Senate and began progressing through the cursus honorum. Quaestors were also given a fasces and were entitled to one lictor, every Roman consul, the highest elected official in the cursus honorum, and every provincial governor was appointed a quaestor. Some quaestors were assigned to work in the city and others in the provinces where their responsibilities could include being recruited into the military, some provincial quaestors were assigned as staff to military generals or served as second-in-command to governors in the Roman provinces. Still others were assigned to oversee military finances, lucius Cornelius Sullas reforms in 81 BC raised the number of quaestors to 20 and the minimum age for a quaestorship was 30 for patricians and 32 for plebeians. There were at that time twenty Quæstors elected annually, some of whom remained in Rome, when a Consul took the field with an army, he always had a Quæstor with him. This had become the case so generally that the Quæstor became, as it were, constantine the Great created the office quaestor sacri palatii which functioned as the Roman Empires senior legal official. The quaestor sacri palatii survived long into the Byzantine Empire, although its duties were altered to match the quaesitor, the term is last attested in 14th century Byzantium as a purely honorific title. Quaestor derives from the Latin verb quaero, quaerere, meaning to inquire, the job title has traditionally been understood as deriving from the original investigative function of the quaestores parricidii. However, this connection has been questioned by modern scholars, in Italy a quaestor heads the police of his province, and his office is called questura
Quaestor
–
Ancient Rome
11.
Praetor
–
Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities, the commander of an army, or, an elected magistratus, assigned various duties. The prefix prae is an indication that the title-holder was prior, in some way. Livy mentions that the Latini were led and governed in warfare by two of them and the Samnites by one, a dictator was called the praetor maximus. The use of the adjectives in a number of circumstances testify to a general sense. The leadership functions of any body at Rome might be termed praetorial. The praetoria potestas in Republican Rome was at first held by the consuls and these two officials, elected on a yearly basis, inherited the power of the king. Very likely, the king himself was the first praetor, Let there be two with the authority of the king, and let them be called praetors, judges and consuls from their going before, judging and consulting. Let them have the right of command of the military. This etymology of praetor became and remains the standard, cicero considers the word to contain the same elemental parts as the verb praeire. In exactly what way he goes before did not survive, livy explains that in the year 366 BC the praetura was created to relieve the consuls of their judicial duties. The praetor was, in an English sense, the chief justice, the consuls were his peers, he was elected by the same electorate and sworn in on the same day with the same oath. Until 337 BC the praetor was chosen only from the patricians, from then on, praetors appear frequently in Roman history, first as generals and judges, then as provincial governors. Beginning in the late Republic, a former Praetor could serve as a Propraetor, the elected praetor was a magistratus curulis, exercised imperium, and consequently was one of the magistrati majores. He had the right to sit in the sella curulis and wear the toga praetexta and he was attended by six lictors. A praetor was a magistrate with imperium within his own sphere, the potestas and imperium of the consuls and the praetors under the Republic should not be exaggerated. They did not use independent judgment in resolving matters of state, unlike todays executive branches, they were assigned high-level tasks directly by senatorial decree under the authority of the SPQR. Livy describes the assignments given to consuls or praetors in some detail. As magistrates, they had standing duties to perform, especone principle that limited what could be assigned to them was that their duties must not concern them with minima and they were by definition doers of maxima
Praetor
–
Ancient Rome
12.
Justinian
–
Justinian I, traditionally known as Justinian the Great and also Saint Justinian the Great in the Eastern Orthodox Church, was a Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the empires greatness, because of his restoration activities, Justinian has sometimes been called the last Roman in modern historiography. This ambition was expressed by the recovery of the territories of the defunct western Roman Empire. His general, Belisarius, swiftly conquered the Vandal kingdom in North Africa, the prefect Liberius reclaimed the south of the Iberian peninsula, establishing the province of Spania. These campaigns re-established Roman control over the western Mediterranean, increasing the Empires annual revenue by over a million solidi, during his reign Justinian also subdued the Tzani, a people on the east coast of the Black Sea that had never been under Roman rule before. A still more resonant aspect of his legacy was the rewriting of Roman law, the Corpus Juris Civilis. His reign also marked a blossoming of Byzantine culture, and his building program yielded such masterpieces as the church of Hagia Sophia, a devastating outbreak of bubonic plague in the early 540s marked the end of an age of splendour. Justinian was born in Tauresium around 482, a native speaker of Latin, he came from a peasant family believed to have been of Illyro-Roman or Thraco-Roman origins. The cognomen Iustinianus, which he later, is indicative of adoption by his uncle Justin. During his reign, he founded Justiniana Prima not far from his birthplace and his mother was Vigilantia, the sister of Justin. Justin, who was in the guard before he became emperor, adopted Justinian, brought him to Constantinople. As a result, Justinian was well educated in jurisprudence, theology, Justinian served for some time with the Excubitors but the details of his early career are unknown. Chronicler John Malalas, who lived during the reign of Justinian, tells of his appearance that he was short, fair skinned, curly haired, round faced, another contemporary chronicler, Procopius, compares Justinians appearance to that of tyrannical Emperor Domitian, although this is probably slander. When Emperor Anastasius died in 518, Justin was proclaimed the new emperor, during Justins reign, Justinian was the emperors close confidant. As Justin became senile near the end of his reign, Justinian became the de facto ruler, Justinian was appointed consul in 521 and later commander of the army of the east. Upon Justins death on 1 August 527, Justinian became the sole sovereign, as a ruler, Justinian showed great energy. He was known as the emperor who never sleeps on account of his work habits, nevertheless, he seems to have been amiable and easy to approach. Around 525, he married his mistress, Theodora, in Constantinople and she was by profession a courtesan and some twenty years his junior
Justinian
–
Detail of a contemporary portrait mosaic in the
Basilica of San Vitale,
Ravenna.
Justinian
–
The ancient town of
Tauresium, the birthplace of Justinian I, located in today's
Republic of Macedonia.
Justinian
–
The
Barberini Ivory, which is thought to portray either Justinian or
Anastasius I
Justinian
–
An older Justinian; mosaic in
Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna (possibly a modified portrait of
Theodoric).
13.
Constantinople
–
Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine Empire, and also of the brief Latin, and the later Ottoman empires. It was reinaugurated in 324 AD from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, Constantinople was famed for its massive and complex defences. The first wall of the city was erected by Constantine I, Constantinople never truly recovered from the devastation of the Fourth Crusade and the decades of misrule by the Latins. The origins of the name of Byzantion, more known by the later Latin Byzantium, are not entirely clear. The founding myth of the city has it told that the settlement was named after the leader of the Megarian colonists, Byzas. The later Byzantines of Constantinople themselves would maintain that the city was named in honour of two men, Byzas and Antes, though this was likely just a play on the word Byzantion. During this time, the city was also called Second Rome, Eastern Rome, and Roma Constantinopolitana. As the city became the remaining capital of the Roman Empire after the fall of the West, and its wealth, population, and influence grew. In the language of other peoples, Constantinople was referred to just as reverently, the medieval Vikings, who had contacts with the empire through their expansion in eastern Europe used the Old Norse name Miklagarðr, and later Miklagard and Miklagarth. In Arabic, the city was sometimes called Rūmiyyat al-kubra and in Persian as Takht-e Rum, in East and South Slavic languages, including in medieval Russia, Constantinople was referred to as Tsargrad or Carigrad, City of the Caesar, from the Slavonic words tsar and grad. This was presumably a calque on a Greek phrase such as Βασιλέως Πόλις, the modern Turkish name for the city, İstanbul, derives from the Greek phrase eis tin polin, meaning into the city or to the city. In 1928, the Turkish alphabet was changed from Arabic script to Latin script, in time the city came to be known as Istanbul and its variations in most world languages. In Greece today, the city is still called Konstantinoúpolis/Konstantinoúpoli or simply just the City, apart from this, little is known about this initial settlement, except that it was abandoned by the time the Megarian colonists settled the site anew. A farsighted treaty with the emergent power of Rome in c.150 BC which stipulated tribute in exchange for independent status allowed it to enter Roman rule unscathed. The site lay astride the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and had in the Golden Horn an excellent and spacious harbour. He would later rebuild Byzantium towards the end of his reign, in which it would be briefly renamed Augusta Antonina, fortifying it with a new city wall in his name, Constantine had altogether more colourful plans. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and hence from the armies and the imperial courts, yet it had been the capital of the state for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that the capital be moved to a different location. Constantinople was built over 6 years, and consecrated on 11 May 330, Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis
Constantinople
–
Constantinople in the Byzantine era
Constantinople
–
Map of Byzantine Constantinople
Constantinople
–
Emperor
Constantine I presents a representation of the city of Constantinople as tribute to an enthroned Mary and Christ Child in this church mosaic.
Hagia Sophia, c. 1000
Constantinople
–
Coin struck by Constantine I to commemorate the founding of Constantinople
14.
Cathedral treasury
–
A church treasure is the collection of historical art treasures belonging to a church, usually a monastery, abbey, cathedral. Such treasure is held and displayed in the churchs treasury or in a diocesan museum. Historically the highlight of church treasures was often a collection of reliquaries, despite iconoclasm, secularism, looting, fire, the enforced sale of treasure in times of financial difficulty, theft and other losses, much of this treasure has survived or has even been repurchased. Many large churches have been displaying their riches to visitors in some form for centuries, austria, Salzburg Cathedral Museum Imperial Treasury in der Hofburg Palace, Vienna Cathedral museum in the cathedral church of St. Stephen of Vienna, also called St. Stephens Cathedral. Genese, Bedeutung und Funktion mittelalterlicher Schätze
Cathedral treasury
–
Reliquary from the abandoned altars of the East Choir in Essen Minster, dating from 1054
Cathedral treasury
–
Burgundian fibulae in the Essen treasury. The Essen treasure contains sixteen of these rare pieces of jewelry from the 14th century.
15.
Aosta
–
Aosta is the principal city of Aosta Valley, a bilingual region in the Italian Alps,110 km north-northwest of Turin. It is situated near the Italian entrance of the Mont Blanc Tunnel, at the confluence of the Buthier and the Doire baltée, Aosta is not the capital of the province, because Aosta Valley is the only Italian region not divided into provinces. Provincial administrative functions are shared by the region and the communes. Aosta was settled in times and later became a centre of the Salassi. The campaign was led by Terentius Varro, who founded the Roman colony of Augusta Praetoria Salassorum. After 11 BC Aosta became the capital of the Alpes Graies province of the Empire. Its position at the confluence of two rivers, at the end of the Great and the Little St Bernard Pass, gave it military importance. After the fall of the Western Empire, the city was conquered, in turn, by the Burgundians, the Ostrogoths, the Lombards, who had annexed it to their Italian kingdom, were expelled by the Frankish Empire under Pepin the Short. Under his son, Charlemagne, Aosta acquired importance as a post on the Via Francigena, after 888 AD it was part of the renewed Kingdom of Italy under Arduin of Ivrea and Berengar of Friuli. In the 10th century Aosta became part of the Kingdom of Burgundy, after the fall of the latter in 1032, it became part of the lands of Count Humbert I of Savoy. The ancient town walls of Augusta Prætoria Salassorum are still preserved almost in their entirety and they are 6.4 metres high, built of concrete faced with small blocks of stone. At the bottom, the walls are nearly 2.75 metres thick, towers stand at angles to the enceinte and others are positioned at intervals, with two at each of the four gates, making twenty towers in total. They are roughly 6.5 metres square, and project 4.3 metres from the wall. Of the 20 original towers, the following are well preserved, Le lépreux de la cité dAoste, a novel by Xavier de Maistre, is also named after this leper. Tower of Bramafan, built in the 11th century over a Roman bastion and it was the residence of the Savoy viscounts. The Franco-Provençal term Bramafan is translated as He who screams for hunger, the east and south gates exist intact. The latter, a gate with three arches flanked by two towers known as the Porta Praetoria was the eastern gate to the city, and has preserved its original forms apart from the marble covering. It is formed by two series of arches enclosing a small square, the rectangular arrangement of the streets is modeled on a Roman plan dividing the town into 64 blocks
Aosta
–
Aerial view of Aosta
Aosta
–
Arches of the Roman Theatre.
Aosta
–
Porta Prætoria.
Aosta
–
Tour du Lépreux.
16.
Honorius (emperor)
–
Honorius was Western Roman Emperor from 393 to 423. He was the son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of Arcadius. Even by the standards of the rapidly declining Western Empire, Honoriuss reign was precarious and his reign was supported by his principal general, Stilicho, who was successively Honoriuss guardian and his father-in-law. Stilichos generalship helped preserve some level of stability, but with his execution in 408, Honorius is widely considered as one of the worst of the emperors, it was during his reign that Rome was sacked for the first time in 800 years. When Theodosius died, in January 395, Honorius and Arcadius divided the Empire, during the first part of his reign Honorius depended on the military leadership of the general Stilicho, who had been appointed by Theodosius and was of mixed Vandal and Roman ancestry. To strengthen his bonds with the emperor, Stilicho married his daughter Maria to him. The epithalamion written for the occasion by Stilichos court poet Claudian survives, Honorius was also greatly influenced by the Popes of Rome, who sought to extend their influence through his youth and weak character. So it was that Pope Innocent I contrived to have Honorius write to his brother, while the new capital was easier to defend, it was poorly situated to allow Roman forces to protect central Italy from the increasingly regular threat of barbarian incursions. It was significant that the Emperors residence remained in Ravenna until the overthrow of the last western Roman Emperor in 476. That was probably the reason why Ravenna was chosen not only as the capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy, Honorius reign was plagued by almost constant barbarian incursions into Gaul, Italy and Hispania. At the same time, a host of usurpers rose up due to the apparent inability of the Emperor to see to the Empires defences. The first crisis faced by Honorius was a led by Gildo, the Comes Africae and Magister utriusque militiae per Africam, in Northern Africa. It was eventually subdued by Stilicho, under the command of Mascezel. The next crisis was the Visigoth invasion of Italy in 402 under the command of their king. Stilicho hurried back to protect Honorius and the legions of Gaul, Honorius, slumbering at Milan, was caught unaware and quickly fled to Asti, only to be pursued by Alaric, who marched into Liguria. Stilicho defeated Alaric at Pollentia, on the river Tanarus on Easter Day, Alaric retreated to Verona, where Stilicho attacked him again. The Visigoths, weakened, were allowed to back to Illyricum. In 405 Stilicho met an invasion of Italy led across the Danube by Radagaisus and they brought devastation to the heart of the Empire, until Stilicho defeated them in 406 and recruited most of them into his forces
Honorius (emperor)
–
Honorius on the
consular diptych of
Anicius Petronius Probus (406)
Honorius (emperor)
–
The Western Roman Emperor Honorius,
Jean-Paul Laurens (1880). Honorius became
Augustus on 23 January 393, at the age of eight.
Honorius (emperor)
–
Inscription honouring Honorius, as florentissimo invictissimoque, the most excellent and invincible, 417–418,
Forum Romanum
Honorius (emperor)
–
Christian pendant of Empress
Maria, daughter of
Stilicho, and wife of Honorius.
Musée du Louvre. The pendant reads, around a central cross (clockwise): HONORI
MARIA SERINA VIVATIS
STELICHO. The letters form a
Christogram
17.
Rome
–
Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
18.
Fall of the Western Roman Empire
–
The Fall of the Western Roman Empire was the process of decline in the Western Roman Empire in which it failed to enforce its rule, and its vast territory was divided into several successor polities. Increasing pressure from barbarians outside Roman culture also contributed greatly to the collapse, the reasons for the collapse are major subjects of the historiography of the ancient world and they inform much modern discourse on state failure. Relevant dates include 117 CE, when the Empire was at its greatest territorial extent, irreversible major territorial loss, however, began in 376 with a large-scale irruption of Goths and others. In 395, after winning two destructive civil wars, Theodosius I died, leaving a field army and the Empire, still plagued by Goths. Invading barbarians had established their own power in most of the area of the Western Empire, while its legitimacy lasted for centuries longer and its cultural influence remains today, the Western Empire never had the strength to rise again. The Fall is not the only unifying concept for these events, the Fall of the Western Roman Empire was the process of decline in the Western Roman Empire in which it failed to enforce its rule. The Fall is not the only unifying concept for these events, for Dio Cassius, the accession of the emperor Commodus in 180 CE marked the descent from a kingdom of gold to one of rust and iron. Gibbon started his story in 98 and Theodor Mommsen regarded the whole of the period as unworthy of inclusion in his Nobel Prize-winning History of Rome. Arnold J. Toynbee and James Burke argue that the entire Imperial era was one of decay of institutions founded in republican times. Gibbon gave a formulation of reasons why the Fall happened. He began a controversy about the role of Christianity, but he gave great weight to other causes of internal decline. The story of its ruin is simple and obvious, and, instead of inquiring why the Roman empire was destroyed, we should rather be surprised that it had subsisted so long. The victorious legions, who, in distant wars, acquired the vices of strangers and mercenaries, first oppressed the freedom of the republic, alexander Demandt enumerated 210 different theories on why Rome fell, and new ideas have emerged since. Historians still try to analyze the reasons for loss of control over a vast territory. Comparison has also made with the Han Empire in China. At least from the time of Henri Pirenne, scholars have described continuity of culture and of political legitimacy, Pirenne postponed the demise of classical civilization to the 8th century. The more recent formulation of a period characterized as Late Antiquity emphasizes the transformations of ancient to medieval worlds within a cultural continuity. In recent decades archaeologically-based argument even extends the continuity in material culture, observing the political reality of lost control, but also the cultural and archaeological continuities, the process has been described as a complex cultural transformation, rather than a fall
Fall of the Western Roman Empire
–
Map of the Roman Empire under the Tetrarchy, showing the dioceses and the four Tetrarchs' zones of responsibility
Fall of the Western Roman Empire
–
Republic
Fall of the Western Roman Empire
–
The emperor Honorius, a contemporary depiction on a
consular diptych issued by
Anicius Petronius Probus to celebrate Probus's consulship in 406, now in the
Aosta museum
Fall of the Western Roman Empire
–
The Favorites of the Emperor Honorius, by
John William Waterhouse, 1883
19.
Barberini Ivory
–
The Barberini ivory is a Byzantine ivory leaf from an imperial diptych dating from Late Antiquity, now in the Louvre in Paris. It represents the emperor as triumphant victor and it is a notable historical document because it is linked to queen Brunhilda of Austrasia. On the back there is a list of names of Frankish kings, all relatives of Brunhilda, Brunhilda ordered the list to be inscribed and offered it to the church as a votive image. Although it is not a consular diptych, it shares features of their decorative schemes. Although the barbarian is partly hidden by the emperors huge spear, this does not pierce him, and he seems more astonished and over-awed than combative. Above, Christ, with a fashionable curled hair-style, is flanked by two angels in the style of pagan victory figures, he reigns above, while the emperor represents him below on earth. In the bottom panel barbarians from West and East bring tribute, the figure in the left panel, representing a soldier, carries a statuette of Victory, his counterpart on the right is lost. It was originally made up of five rectangular plaques, although that on the right has been replaced by a board bearing the inscription CONSTANT, the plaques are fitted together by tongue and groove joints, around a larger central plaque. Overall, the piece is the only such object to survive in such good condition. Often grouped under the title of imperial diptychs and it measures 34.2 cm high by 26.8 cm wide overall, with the central panel 19 cm high by 12.5 cm wide by 2.5 cm deep. It is made from elephant ivory, sculpted and mounted with precious stones and it carries no traces of polychromy, contrary to what certain historians have supposed. The reverse of the object is flat and smooth, without the depression for wax which would be found on a consular diptych, which would be used as a writing tablet. Nevertheless, it is streaked with lines engraved later over older ink inscriptions – it includes a list of names, among whom can be seen the kings of Austrasia and other names, mostly Latin ones. Onomastics shows that the list comes from Auvergne and not from Provence as has been thought from the location of the object in the modern era, the inscriptions also date to the 7th century and show that the work was brought to Gaul early in its life. Peiresc mentions it specifically in a letter to his friend Palamède de Vallavez, I gave it to him as he left he had several similar pieces in the same manner in ivory, with which would go well. It was acquired by the Louvre in 1899 and has then been in the département des objets dart. It introduces a new cosmic hierarchy into the representation of the triumph of the Roman Empire and is thus a political work designed to serve as imperial propaganda. The quality of the workmanship allows it to be attributed to a workshop in Constantinople
Barberini Ivory
–
Barberini Ivory on display at the
Louvre.
Barberini Ivory
–
The triumphant emperor on the central panel
Barberini Ivory
–
Solidus of Constantine II, minted in Heraclea between 326 and 330.
Barberini Ivory
–
3/4 view, underlining the different depths of relief on the Barberini ivory.
20.
Anicius Petronius Probus
–
Flavius Anicius Petronius Probus was a politician of the Western Roman Empire. CIL VI,1754, a set up by Probus. Arnold Hugh Martin Jones, John Martindale, John Morris, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire
Anicius Petronius Probus
–
Western Roman Emperor
Honorius, depicted on the
consular diptych of Probus (406, Aosta,
CIL V, 6836)
21.
Constantius III
–
Constantius, commonly known as Constantius III, was Western Roman Emperor for seven months in 421. A prominent general and politician, he was the power behind the throne for much of the 410s, Constantius was born in Naissus and was probably a career soldier, who reached the rank of magister militum under Honorius. Constantius avenged the killing of his friend and previous magister militum Stilicho by having the principal instigator of the assassination, Olympius, in 411 he defeated Gerontius, the general of usurper Maximus, and Constantine III, another usurper, in Arles. Constantine had revolted against Honorius, but then he had broken his relationship with general Gerontius, who had proclaimed Maximus Emperor in opposition to both Honorius and Constantine. Gerontius had then besieged Constantine in the city of Arles, but the arrival of the troops of Constantius from Italy had put him in trouble, being at the same time a besieger. Gerontius was abandoned by his troops and then killed in Hispania, before the walls of Arles, Constantius confronted and defeated Edobichus, who was later betrayed and killed by a friend. Constantine was forced to surrender to Constantius when his troops on the Rhine left him for another usurper, Constantius granted a safe conduct to Constantine, who had become an ordained priest, but later he captured and killed him. In 412 he expelled from Italy the Visigoths under Ataulf, in 413 he held his first consulate. In 414 he began an offensive against the Visigoths. In response, Ataulf appointed as emperor Priscus Attalus, who had already been a usurper against Honorius in 410, the blockade imposed by Constantius on Gallic ports was so effective that the Visigoths fled from Gaul to Hispania in 415. Attalus too tried to flee but was captured by the forces of Constantius, the agreement also provided for the release of Galla Placidia, Honorius sister, captured during the sack of Rome in 410. Constantius was appointed patricius and in 417, the year of his second consulate held with Honorius as colleague, he married Galla Placidia, the couple had two children, Justa Grata Honoria and the future Emperor Valentinian III. In 420 he was appointed consul for the time, with the Eastern Emperor Theodosius II as colleague. On February 8,421, Constantius was appointed co-emperor with his ineffectual brother-in-law, Honorius, curiously, he complained of the loss of personal freedom implied by the new role. The elevation of Constantius, however, was not recognized by his colleague in the East, Theodosius II, a struggle to replace Constantius swiftly erupted, with some open fighting. Galla Placidia fled with her son Valentinian to Constantinople and her brother Honorius, still childless, died in 423. Bury, John Bagnall, History of the Later Roman Empire Macmillan & Co, burns, Thomas Samuel, Barbarians Within the Gates of Rome, Indiana University Press,1994, ISBN 0-253-31288-4, p.250. 157–160 C. E. Stevens, Marcus, Gratian, Constantine, Athenaeum,35, pp. 316–47 Media related to Constantius III at Wikimedia Commons
Constantius III
–
Constantius on a
solidus. The reverse shows Constantius as a general, holding Victory in one hand and a captive enemy in the other.
Constantius III
–
Consular diptych of Constantius III, produced for his consulate in 413 or 417.
22.
Felix (consul 428)
–
Flavius Felix was a general of the Western Roman Empire, who reached the prominent rank of patrician before being killed by order of Flavius Aetius. For his consulate, in 428, he issued some consular diptychs, Felix served during the reign of emperors Valentinian III and Theodosius II. In 426 he ordered the death of Patroclus, bishop of Arelate, the following year he opposed Bonifacius rebellion in Northern Africa sending some troops to this province. This force was defeated by the loyal to Bonifacius. In 428 he was elected consul for the West, in May 430, Felix, his wife Padusia and a deacon were accused of plotting against Aetius, arrested in Ravenna and killed by order of Aetius himself. His carved ivory consular diptych is notable for depicting his clothing in great detail, the diptych, believed to be the earliest yet known, survived intact until the French Revolution, when the right leaf was stolen, it is now believed lost. According to a recent reconstruction of his bonds, he was an ancestor of Felix, Consul in 511. Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin, John Robert Martindale, John Morris, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, constantius Felix 14, volume 2, Cambridge University Press,1992, ISBN 0-521-20159-4, pp. 461–462
Felix (consul 428)
–
Left leaf of the consular diptych of Flavius Felix
23.
Manlius Boethius
–
Manlius Boethius was a Roman aristocrat, who was appointed consul for 487. Boethius career can be derived from a consular diptych preserved in Brescia and he was praefectus urbi of Rome, then Praetorian prefect of Italy at some point between 480 and 487, when he was appointed consul, praefectus urbi for the second time and patricius. This diptych records his second name abbreviated NAR, E. Weigand explained this abbreviation to mean N AR. Although Nonius is a name under the early Empire, Alan Cameron has pointed out the combination Nonius Arrius has been attested only twice in the 300 years prior to Boethius. He further notes the abbreviation N. Ar. is unattested except for this consular diptych, man Boethius 4, Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Volume 2, Cambridge University Press,1992, ISBN 0-521-20159-4, pp. 232–233
Manlius Boethius
–
Consular diptych of Boethius
24.
Rufius Achilius Sividius
–
Rufius Achilius Sividius was a Roman politician. He is defined as quaestor in the inscription on his seat at the Colosseum, Later he was appointed praefectus urbi of Rome and then patricius. In 488 he was consul posterior with Claudius Iulius Ecclesius Dynamius and his consular diptych, which records his career, has been preserved. Rufius Achilius Sividius, Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Volume 2, Cambridge University Press,1992, ISBN 0-521-20159-4, pp. 1017-1018
Rufius Achilius Sividius
–
A detail of the
consular diptych of Sividius
25.
Anastasius (consul 517)
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Flavius Anastasius Paulus Probus Sabinianus Pompeius Anastasius was a politician of the Eastern Roman Empire. Anastasius was the son of Sabinianus, consul in 505, according to another possible reconstruction, he might be a great-nephew of Anastasius and a brother of Anastasius Paulus Probus Moschianus Probus Magnus, consul in 518. He held the consulship for the year 517, one of his consular diptychs is preserved at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. According to the inscription he held the title of comes domesticorum equitum. Anastasius Paulus Probus Sabinianus Pompeius Anastasius 17, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, II, Cambridge University Press,1992, pp. 82–83. Christian Settipani fr, Continuité des élites à Byzance durante les siècles obscurs, les princes caucasiens et lEmpire du VIe au IXe siècle,2006
Anastasius (consul 517)
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Anastasius wearing the robes and insignia of a
Roman consul. On his right hand, he holds a staff with the
aquila, and on his right, the cloth that was dropped to signal the start of the
Hippodrome races. From his consular diptych, 517.
26.
Justin (consul 540)
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Flavius Mar Petrus Theodorus Valentinus Rusticius Boraides Germanus Iustinus, simply and commonly known as Justin, was an East Roman aristocrat and general. He fought against the Slavs, the Sassanid Persians and supervised the Byzantine Empires first contacts with the Avars. At the time of Justinians death, he was seen as a successor, but was beaten to the throne by his cousin, Justin II, who exiled him to Egypt. Justin was born around 525, the eldest son of Germanus, Germanus was a cousin of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I and thus a member of the wider Justinian dynasty and cousin to Justinians successor, Emperor Justin II. In 540, he was named consul at a very young age, he is illustrated as beardless in his consular diptych. At this point, he held the title of vir illustris. In the same year, he accompanied his father to the East against the Sassanid Persians, in 549, he was instrumental in the revelation of the plot to overthrow Emperor Justinian by the Armenian general Artabanes and his associates. The conspirators intended to assassinate Emperor Justinian and his favourite general Belisarius, notified of their intentions, Justin informed his father, who then told Marcellus, the Count of the Excubitors, leading to the plotters arrest. After this, Justinian and Germanuss son-in-law, John, led the army towards Salona, in early 551, Justin was attached to a force under the eunuch Scholasticus that campaigned against a Slavic raid in the eastern Balkans. The Byzantines were initially defeated near Adrianople but went on to score a victory, in early 552, Justin and Justinian were placed at the head of another expedition against a Slavic raid against Illyricum, but their forces were too small to confront the raiders directly. Instead, the brothers had to content themselves with harassing them, in 554, now experienced in military affairs, Justin was sent east to Lazica to join the Byzantine forces under Bessas, Buzes, and Martin. His first encounter with the Persians was unsuccessful, along with Bessas, Justin and his troops were encamped at the plain of Chytropolia, near the strategically important fortress of Telephis, which was held by Martin. The Persian general Mihr-Mihroe, however, succeeded in dislodging Martin from Telephis, Bessas was dismissed from high command as magister militum per Armeniam after this debacle, and succeeded by Martin with Justin as his second in command. The Byzantines then launched an attack on the Persian fort of Onoguris, in spring 556, Justin was with the rest of the Byzantine forces at Nesos, when Nakhoragan invaded western Lazica, making for the town of Phasis. The Byzantines hastily departed for the town, managing to reach it before the Persian army, Justins only activity during this time was to dispatch one of his officers, Elminzur, to capture Rhodopolis with 2,000 cavalry. In the next year, a truce was agreed, which was finalized into a peace treaty in 562. Soon after, an investigation into Gubazess murder brought to light Martins culpability. His military successes spared his life, but cost him his command and it was in this capacity that in late 557 Justin received the first Avar embassy to the Byzantine Empire
Justin (consul 540)
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The ivory
consular diptych of Justin,
Bode Museum.
27.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially the Met, is located in New York City and is the largest art museum in the United States, and is among the most visited art museums in the world. Its permanent collection contains two million works, divided among seventeen curatorial departments. The main building, on the edge of Central Park along Manhattans Museum Mile, is by area one of the worlds largest art galleries. A much smaller second location, The Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan, contains a collection of art, architecture. On March 18,2016, the museum opened the Met Breuer museum at Madison Avenue in the Upper East Side, it extends the museums modern, the Met maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, Indian, and Islamic art. The museum is home to collections of musical instruments, costumes and accessories, as well as antique weapons. Several notable interiors, ranging from first-century Rome through modern American design, are installed in its galleries, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870. The founders included businessmen and financiers, as well as leading artists and thinkers of the day and it opened on February 20,1872, and was originally located at 681 Fifth Avenue. The Met maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, the museum is also home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, costumes and accessories, and antique weapons and armor from around the world. A number of interiors, ranging from 1st century Rome through modern American design, are permanently installed in the Mets galleries. In addition to its permanent exhibitions, the Met organizes and hosts traveling shows throughout the year. The director of the museum is Thomas P. Campbell, a long-time curator and it was announced on February 28th,2017 that Campbell will be stepping down as the Mets director and CEO, effective June. On March 1st,2017 the BBC reported that Daniel Weiss shall be the acting CEO until a replacement is found, Beginning in the late 19th century, the Met started to acquire ancient art and artifacts from the Near East. From a few tablets and seals, the Mets collection of Near Eastern art has grown to more than 7,000 pieces. The highlights of the include a set of monumental stone lamassu, or guardian figures. The Mets Department of Arms and Armor is one of the museums most popular collections. Among the collections 14,000 objects are many pieces made for and used by kings and princes, including armor belonging to Henry VIII of England, Henry II of France, Rockefeller donated his more than 3, 000-piece collection to the museum. The Mets Asian department holds a collection of Asian art, of more than 35,000 pieces, the collection dates back almost to the founding of the museum, many of the philanthropists who made the earliest gifts to the museum included Asian art in their collections
Metropolitan Museum of Art
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
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The facade of the Met dominates the city's "
Museum Mile ".
Metropolitan Museum of Art
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The Great Hall
