1.
Denarius
–
In the Roman currency system, the dēnārius, plural, dēnāriī was a small silver coin first minted about 211 BC during the Second Punic War. It is the origin of modern words such as the currency name dinar, it is also the origin for the common noun for money in Italian denaro, in Portuguese dinheiro. Its symbol is X̶, a x with stroke. A predecessor of the denarius was first struck in 267 BC, five years before the first Punic War with a weight of 6.81 grams. Contact with the Greeks prompted a need for coinage in addition to the bronze currency that the Romans were using during that time. The predecessor of the denarius was a Greek-styled silver coin, very similar to the didrachm and drachma struck in Metapontion and these coins were inscribed for Rome but closely resemble their Greek counterparts. They were most likely used for purposes and were seldom used in Rome. The first distinctively Roman silver coin appeared around 226 BC, Rome overhauled its coinage around 211 BC and introduced the denarius alongside a short-lived denomination called the victoriatus. This denarius contained an average 4.5 grams, or 1⁄72 of a Roman pound of silver and it formed the backbone of Roman currency throughout the Roman republic. The denarius began to undergo slow debasement toward the end of the republican period, under the rule of Augustus, its silver content fell to 3.9 grams. It remained at nearly this weight until the time of Nero, debasement of the coins silver content continued after Nero. Later Roman emperors reduced its content to 3 grams around the third century. The value at its introduction was 10 asses, giving the denarius its name, in about 141 BC, it was re-tariffed at 16 asses, to reflect the decrease in weight of the as. The denarius continued to be the coin of the Roman Empire until it was replaced by the antoninianus in the middle of the third century. The last issuance of this occurred in bronze form by Aurelian. For more details, see Denarius, in A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins, the denarius has a link from the Roman times to the British penny and US1 cent piece. It is difficult to give even rough comparative values for money from before the 20th century, as the range of products and services available for purchase was different. Classical historians often say that in the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire the daily wage for an unskilled laborer and common soldier was 1 denarius or about US$2. 8$ in bread
Denarius
–
Top row left to right: 157 BC
Roman Republic, A.D 73
Vespasian, A.D 161
Marcus Aurelius, A.D 194
Septimius Severus; Second row left to right: A.D 199
Caracalla, A.D 200
Julia Domna, A.D 219
Elagabalus, A.D 236
Maximinus Thrax
Denarius
–
Flavia Domitilla, wife of
Vespasian and mother of
Titus and
Domitian.
Denarius
–
Quintus Antonius Balbus (c. 82-83 BC)
2.
Lentulus Spinther
–
Publius Cornelius Lentulus, nicknamed Spinther because of his likeness to a popular actor of that name, came from an ancient Roman patrician family of the Cornelia gens. This proved an unwise move that would lead to his political destruction. Publius Cornelius Lentulus Spinther first attained office in 63 BC when he was voted curule aedile. Subsequently in 59 BC as pro-praetor he received the governorship of Hispania Citerior, in seeking this province, Spinther received support for the first time from Julius Caesar. Spinther again received the support of Julius Caesar when he sought election to Romes top job - the consulship in, with Caesars help, Spinthers campaign was successful, and he was elected one of Romes two consuls for 57 BC. On the first day of his consulship he moved for the recall of Cicero from exile, thereafter Cicero speaks of Spinther in friendly and grateful terms and indeed addressed a long letter to him when Spinther was later proconsular governor in Cilicia. This letter has survived and is published in most anthologies of Ciceros letters, immediately after his consulship ended - from 56 BC-53 BC P Cornelius Lentulus Spinther was appointed by the Senate to govern the province of Cilicia. This was his choice, and he appears to have done a job as pro-consular governor, looking after the best interests of his subjects. They are uncommon but not rare and this steadily distanced him from Caesar and when civil war broke out between the supporters of Pompey and Caesar in 49 BC, Spinther predictably sided with Pompey. Unfortunately although a good governor, Spinther was not a good soldier, the generosity with which he was subsequently treated by Caesar after the capitulation of Corfinium made Spinther hesitate, but not for long. After a brief retirement to Puteoli he soon rejoined Pompeys main army in Greece, in 48 BC, Pompeys main army confronted that of Julius Caesar and his lieutenant Marc Antony at the battle of Pharsalus. This battle resulted in a defeat for the Pompeian forces. Pompey himself fled to Egypt and Spinther escaped to Rhodes, where he was at first refused admission, according to Sextus Aurelius Victor, he later fell into Caesars hands and was put to death. Like his father before him, the younger Spinther also put his own name and nickname Spinther on the reverse of his coins,14,4, many letters of Cicero, especially Ad Fam. i. Caecilia Metella This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
Lentulus Spinther
–
Denarius (42 BC) issued by
Cassius Longinus and Lentulus Spinther the younger, depicting the crowned head of
Libertas, with a sacrificial jug and
lituus on the reverse
3.
Libertas
–
Libertas is the Roman goddess and embodiment of liberty. The Roman Republic was established simultaneously with the creation of Libertas and is associated with the overthrow of the Tarquin kings and she was worshipped by the Junii, the family of Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger. In 238 BC, before the Second Punic War, Tiberius Gracchus built a temple to Libertas on the Aventine Hill, census tables were stored inside the temples atrium. A subsequent temple was built on Palatine Hill, another of the Seven hills of Rome, by building and consecrating the temple on the former house of then-exiled Cicero, Clodius ensured that the land was legally uninhabitable. Upon his return, Cicero successfully argued that the consecration was invalid and thus managed to reclaim the land and destroy the temple. In 46 BC, the Roman Senate voted to build and dedicate a shrine to Libertas in recognition of Julius Caesar, but no temple was built, instead, a small statue of the goddess stood in the Roman Forum. Libertas, along with other Roman goddesses, has served as the inspiration for many modern-day symbols, according to the National Park Service, the Statues Roman robe is the main feature that invokes Libertas and the symbol of Liberty from which the Statue derives its name. In addition, money throughout history has born the name or image of Libertas, Libertas was pictured on Galbas Freedom of the People coins during his short reign after the death of Nero. The Greek equivalent of the goddess Libertas is Eleutheria, the personification of liberty, as Liberty, Libertas was depicted on the obverse of most coinage in the U. S. into the twentieth century. The goddess Libertas is also depicted on the Great Seal of France and this is the image which later influenced French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi in the creation of his statue of Liberty Enlightening the World. Libertas was not associated with the pileus, commonly worn by the freed slave, when a slave obtained his freedom he had his head shaved, and wore instead of his hair an undyed pileus. Hence the phrase servos ad pileum vocare is a summons to liberty, the figure of Liberty on some of the coins of Antoninus Pius, struck A. D.145, holds this cap in the right hand. The master in the held the slave, and after he had pronounced the words hunc hominem liberum volo, he turned him round and let him go
Libertas
–
Denarius (42 BC) issued by
Cassius Longinus and Lentulus Splintep, depicting the crowned head of Libertas, with a sacrificial jug and
lituus on the reverse
Libertas
–
Libertas is depicted on coins from several countries, such as the Swiss
20 rappen coin depicted here.
Libertas
–
The
Statue of Liberty in New York is a modern homage to the ancient goddess Libertas.
4.
Lituus
–
The word lituus originally meant a curved augural staff, or a curved war-trumpet in the ancient Latin language. This Latin word continued in use through the 18th century as an alternative to the names of various musical instruments. The lituus was a crooked wand used as an instrument in ancient Roman religion by augurs to mark out a ritual space in the sky. The passage of birds through this templum indicated divine favor or disfavor for a given undertaking, the lituus was also used as a symbol of office for the college of the augurs to mark them out as a priestly group. The ancient lituus was an Etruscan high-pitched brass instrument, which was straight but bent at the end, in the shape of a letter J and it was later used by the Romans, especially for processional music and as a signalling horn in the army. For the Roman military it may have been particular to the cavalry, unlike the Roman litui, the Etruscan instruments had detachable mouthpieces and in general appear to have been longer. The name lituus is Latin, thought to have derived from an Etruscan cultic word describing a soothsayers wand modelled on a shepherds crook and associated with sacrifice. Earlier Roman and Etruscan depictions show the instrument used in processions, players of the lituus were called liticines, though the name of the instrument appears to have been loosely used to describe other military brass instruments, such as the tuba or the buccina. In 17th-century Germany a variant of the bent ancient lituus was still used as a signalling horn by nightwatchmen, however, it is impossible to determine just what sort of instrument might have been meant, and it is unlikely there litui were the same as the Etrusco-Roman instrument. In the early 15th century, Jean de Gerson listed the lituus among those string instruments that were sounded by beating or striking, either with the fingernails, other instruments Gerson names in this category are the cythara, guiterna, psalterium, timpanum, and campanula. The crumhorn was especially associated with the lituus because of the similarity of its shape, the equation of the crumhorn with the lituus was especially strong among German writers. A study made of Swedish dictionaries found that during the seventeenth century lituus was variously translated as sinka, krumhorn, krum trometa, claret, or horn. In 1738, the horn player Anton Joseph Hampel served as a godfather at the baptism of a daughter of the renowned Dresden lutenist Silvius Leopold Weiss. In the baptismal register he was described as Lituista Regius—royal lituus player, in the second half of the 18th century the lituus was described in one source as a Latin name for the trumpet or horn. The only known Baroque composition specifying an instrument by the Latin name lituus is Bachs motet O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht. Scientists from Edinburgh University tried to recreate the lituus in May 2009, in the form of a wooden trumpet. Descriptio Montis Fracti iuxta Lvcernam, et primum Chorographica, praefertim quod ad paludem Pilati in eo memorabilem, lugdunensis, Pilati Montis in Gallia descriptio, Io Rhellicani Stockhornias, qua Stockhornus mons altissimus in Bernensium Heluetiorum agro, versibus heroicis describitur, 45–67. Tigvri, Apud Andream Gesnerum F. & Iacobvm Gesnerum, frates, Roman Military Instruments and the Lituus
Lituus
–
A lituus (reverse, right, over the
patera) as cult instrument, in this coin celebrating the
pietas of the
Roman Emperor Herennius Etruscus.
Lituus
–
For a mathematical function, see
Lituus (mathematics).
5.
Smyrna
–
Smyrna was an Ancient Greek city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. This place is today as İzmir, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, two sites of the ancient city are today within the boundaries of İzmir. The first site, probably founded by indigenous peoples, rose to prominence during the Archaic Period as one of the principal ancient Greek settlements in western Anatolia, the second, whose foundation is associated with Alexander the Great, reached metropolitan proportions during the period of the Roman Empire. Most of the remains of the ancient city date from the Roman era. In practical terms, a distinction is made between these. Old Smyrna was the settlement founded around the 11th century BC, first as an Aeolian settlement. Smyrna proper was the new city which residents moved to as of the 4th century BC and this Anatolian settlement commanded the gulf. Today, the site, named Bayraklı Höyüğü, is approximately 700 metres inland. New Smyrna developed simultaneously on the slopes of the Mount Pagos and alongside the coastal strait, the core of the late Hellenistic and early Roman Smyrna is preserved in the large area of İzmir Agora Open Air Museum at this site. Research is being pursued at the sites of both the old and the new cities and this has been conducted since 1997 for Old Smyrna and since 2002 for the Classical Period city, in collaboration between the İzmir Archaeology Museum and the Metropolitan Municipality of İzmir. For further information on etymology of the name, see İzmir#Names. Several explanations have been offered for its name, a Greek myth derived the name from an eponymous Amazon named Σμύρνα, which was also the name of a quarter of Ephesus. This is the basis of Myrina, a city of Aeolis, in inscriptions and coins, the name often was written as Ζμύρνα, Ζμυρναῖος, of Smyrna. The name Smyrna may also have taken from the ancient Greek word for myrrh, smyrna. The region was settled at least as of the beginning of the third millennium BC, or perhaps earlier, as the recent finds in Yeşilova Höyük suggests. It could have been a city of the autochthonous Leleges before the Greek colonists started to settle along the coast of Asia Minor as of the beginning of the first millennium BC, throughout antiquity Smyrna was a leading city-state of Ionia, with influence over the Aegean shores and islands. Smyrna was also among the cities that claimed Homer as a resident, the early Aeolian Greek settlers of Lesbos and Cyme, expanding eastwards, occupied the valley of Smyrna
Smyrna
–
The Agora of Smyrna (columns of the western stoa)
Smyrna
–
In the year 1403,
Timur had decisively defeated the
Knights Hospitaller at Smyrna, and therefore referred to himself as a
Ghazi.
Smyrna
–
The
Great Fire of Smyrna as seen from an Italian ship, 14 September 1922
Smyrna
–
Greek troops marching on İzmir's coastal street, May 1919.
6.
Roman Republic
–
It was during this period that Romes control expanded from the citys immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world. During the first two centuries of its existence, the Roman Republic expanded through a combination of conquest and alliance, by the following century, it included North Africa, most of the Iberian Peninsula, and what is now southern France. Two centuries after that, towards the end of the 1st century BC, it included the rest of modern France, Greece, and much of the eastern Mediterranean. By this time, internal tensions led to a series of wars, culminating with the assassination of Julius Caesar. The exact date of transition can be a matter of interpretation, Roman government was headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and advised by a senate composed of appointed magistrates. Over time, the laws that gave exclusive rights to Romes highest offices were repealed or weakened. The leaders of the Republic developed a tradition and morality requiring public service and patronage in peace and war, making military. Many of Romes legal and legislative structures can still be observed throughout Europe and much of the world in modern nation states, the exact causes and motivations for Romes military conflicts and expansions during the republic are subject to wide debate. While they can be seen as motivated by outright aggression and imperialism and they argue that Romes expansion was driven by short-term defensive and inter-state factors, and the new contingencies that these decisions created. In its early history, as Rome successfully defended itself against foreign threats in central and then northern Italy, with some important exceptions, successful wars in early republican Rome generally led not to annexation or military occupation, but to the restoration of the way things were. But the defeated city would be weakened and thus able to resist Romanizing influences. It was also able to defend itself against its non-Roman enemies. It was, therefore, more likely to seek an alliance of protection with Rome and this growing coalition expanded the potential enemies that Rome might face, and moved Rome closer to confrontation with major powers. The result was more alliance-seeking, on the part of both the Roman confederacy and city-states seeking membership within that confederacy. While there were exceptions to this, it was not until after the Second Punic War that these alliances started to harden into something more like an empire and this shift mainly took place in parts of the west, such as the southern Italian towns that sided with Hannibal. In contrast, Roman expansion into Spain and Gaul occurred as a mix of alliance-seeking, in the 2nd century BC, Roman involvement in the Greek east remained a matter of alliance-seeking, but this time in the face of major powers that could rival Rome. This had some important similarities to the events in Italy centuries earlier, with some major exceptions of outright military rule, the Roman Republic remained an alliance of independent city-states and kingdoms until it transitioned into the Roman Empire. It was not until the time of the Roman Empire that the entire Roman world was organized into provinces under explicit Roman control
Roman Republic
–
Route of Pyrrhus of Epirus
Roman Republic
–
Roman consul accompanied by two
lictors
Roman Republic
–
Gaius Gracchus, tribune of the people, presiding over the
Plebeian Council
Roman Republic
–
A Roman
denarius struck in 56 BC showing on one side the bust of the
Goddess Diana, and on the reverse the Roman general
Lucius Cornelius Sulla is offered an olive branch by his ally
Bocchus I as the captive
Jugurtha kneels beside Sulla with his hands bound.
7.
Roman Senate
–
The Roman Senate was a political institution in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, during the days of the kingdom, it was little more than an advisory council to the king. The last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was following a coup détat led by Lucius Junius Brutus. During the early Republic, the Senate was politically weak, while the executive magistrates were quite powerful, since the transition from monarchy to constitutional rule was most likely gradual, it took several generations before the Senate was able to assert itself over the executive magistrates. By the middle Republic, the Senate had reached the apex of its republican power, the late Republic saw a decline in the Senates power, which began following the reforms of the tribunes Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus. After the transition of the Republic into the Principate, the Senate lost much of its power as well as its prestige. Following the constitutional reforms of the Emperor Diocletian, the Senate became politically irrelevant, when the seat of government was transferred out of Rome, the Senate was reduced to a municipal body. This decline in status was reinforced when the emperor Constantine the Great created an additional senate in Constantinople, the Senate in Rome ultimately disappeared at some point after AD603, although the title senator was still used well into the Middle Ages as a largely meaningless honorific. However, the Eastern Senate survived in Constantinople, until the ancient institution finally vanished there c. 14th century, the senate was a political institution in the ancient Roman kingdom. The word senate derives from the Latin word senex, which means old man, the early Roman family was called a gens or clan, and each clan was an aggregation of families under a common living male patriarch, called a pater. When the early Roman gentes were aggregating to form a common community, over time, the patres came to recognize the need for a single leader, and so they elected a king, and vested in him their sovereign power. When the king died, that power naturally reverted to the patres. The senate is said to have created by Romes first king, Romulus. The descendants of those 100 men subsequently became the patrician class, Romes fifth king, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, chose a further 100 senators. They were chosen from the leading families, and were accordingly called the patres minorum gentium. Romes seventh and final king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, executed many of the men in the senate. During the years of the monarchy, the senates most important function was to new kings. While the king was elected by the people, it was actually the senate who chose each new king
Roman Senate
Roman Senate
–
Ancient Rome
Roman Senate
–
The
Curia Julia in the
Roman Forum, the seat of the imperial Senate.
8.
Assassination of Julius Caesar
–
The assassination of Julius Caesar was the result of a conspiracy by many Roman senators. Led by Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius Brutus, and Marcus Junius Brutus, Caesar was the dictator of the Roman Republic at the time, having recently been declared dictator perpetuo by the Senate. This declaration made several senators fear that Caesar wanted to overthrow the Senate in favor of tyranny, the conspirators were unable to restore the Roman Republic. The ramifications of the led to the Liberators civil war and, ultimately. Biographers describe tension between Caesar and the Senate, and his claims to the title of king. These events were the motive for Caesars assassination. The Senate named Caesar dictator perpetuo, Roman mints produced a denarius coin with this title and his likeness on one side, and with an image of the goddess Ceres and Caesars title of Augur Pontifex Maximus on the reverse. According to Cassius Dio, a delegation went to inform Caesar of new honors they had bestowed upon him in 44 BC. Caesar received them while sitting in the Temple of Venus Genetrix, Suetonius wrote that Caesar failed to rise in the temple, either because he was restrained by Cornelius Balbus or that he balked at the suggestion he should rise. Suetonius also gave the account of a crowd assembled to greet Caesar upon his return to Rome, a member of the crowd placed a laurel wreath on the statue of Caesar on the Rostra. The tribunes Gaius Epidius Marullus and Lucius Caesetius Flavus ordered that the wreath be removed as it was a symbol of Jupiter, Caesar had the tribunes removed from office through his official powers. According to Suetonius, Caesar was unable to dissociate himself from the title from this point forward. Suetonius also gives the story that a crowd shouted to him rex, to which Caesar replied, I am Caesar, not Rex. Also, at the festival of the Lupercalia, while he gave a speech from the Rostra, Mark Antony, Caesar put it aside to use as a sacrifice to Jupiter Optimus Maximus. Plutarch and Suetonius are similar in their depiction of these events and he then places the crowd shouting rex on the Alban Hill with the tribunes arresting a member of this crowd as well. The plebeian protested that he was unable to speak his mind freely, Caesar then brought the tribunes before the senate and put the matter to a vote, thereafter removing them from office and erasing their names from the records. Suetonius adds that Lucius Cotta proposed to the Senate that Caesar should be granted the title of king for it was prophesied that only a king would conquer Parthia, Caesar intended to invade Parthia, a task that later gave considerable trouble to Mark Antony during the second triumvirate. His many titles and honors from the Senate were ultimately merely that, Caesar continually strove for more power to govern, with as little dependence as possible on honorary titles or the Senate
Assassination of Julius Caesar
–
Woodcut manuscript illustration by Johannes Zainer, c. 1474
Assassination of Julius Caesar
–
Morte di Giulio Cesare ("Death of Julius Caesar"). By
Vincenzo Camuccini, 1798
Assassination of Julius Caesar
–
La Mort de César (ca. 1859–1867) by
Jean-Léon Gérôme, depicting the aftermath of the attack with Caesar's body abandoned in the foreground as the senators exult
Assassination of Julius Caesar
–
Deification of Julius Caesar, a 16th-century
engraving by
Virgil Solis illustrating
Ovid 's passage on the
apotheosis of Caesar (
Metamorphoses 15.745-850)
9.
Julius Caesar
–
Gaius Julius Caesar, known as Julius Caesar, was a Roman politician, general, and notable author of Latin prose. He played a role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic. In 60 BC, Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey formed an alliance that dominated Roman politics for several years. Their attempts to power as Populares were opposed by the Optimates within the Roman Senate. Caesars victories in the Gallic Wars, completed by 51 BC, extended Romes territory to the English Channel, Caesar became the first Roman general to cross both the Channel and the Rhine, when he built a bridge across the Rhine and crossed the Channel to invade Britain. These achievements granted him unmatched military power and threatened to eclipse the standing of Pompey, with the Gallic Wars concluded, the Senate ordered Caesar to step down from his military command and return to Rome. Caesar refused the order, and instead marked his defiance in 49 BC by crossing the Rubicon with the 13th Legion, leaving his province, Civil war resulted, and Caesars victory in the war put him in an unrivalled position of power and influence. After assuming control of government, Caesar began a programme of social and governmental reforms and he centralised the bureaucracy of the Republic and was eventually proclaimed dictator in perpetuity, giving him additional authority. But the underlying political conflicts had not been resolved, and on the Ides of March 44 BC, a new series of civil wars broke out, and the constitutional government of the Republic was never fully restored. Caesars adopted heir Octavian, later known as Augustus, rose to power after defeating his opponents in the civil war. Octavian set about solidifying his power, and the era of the Roman Empire began, much of Caesars life is known from his own accounts of his military campaigns, and from other contemporary sources, mainly the letters and speeches of Cicero and the historical writings of Sallust. The later biographies of Caesar by Suetonius and Plutarch are also major sources, Caesar is considered by many historians to be one of the greatest military commanders in history. Caesar was born into a family, the gens Julia. The cognomen Caesar originated, according to Pliny the Elder, with an ancestor who was born by Caesarean section. The Historia Augusta suggests three alternative explanations, that the first Caesar had a head of hair, that he had bright grey eyes. Caesar issued coins featuring images of elephants, suggesting that he favored this interpretation of his name, despite their ancient pedigree, the Julii Caesares were not especially politically influential, although they had enjoyed some revival of their political fortunes in the early 1st century BC. Caesars father, also called Gaius Julius Caesar, governed the province of Asia and his mother, Aurelia Cotta, came from an influential family. Little is recorded of Caesars childhood, in 85 BC, Caesars father died suddenly, so Caesar was the head of the family at 16
Julius Caesar
–
The
Tusculum portrait, perhaps the only surviving statue created during Caesar's lifetime.
Julius Caesar
–
Gaius Marius, Caesar's uncle
Julius Caesar
–
Dictator
Lucius Cornelius Sulla stripped Caesar of the priesthood.
Julius Caesar
–
The extent of the Roman Republic in 40 BC after Caesar's conquests.
10.
Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger
–
Marcus Junius Brutus, often referred to as Brutus, was a politician of the late Roman Republic. After being adopted by his uncle he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus and he took a leading role in the assassination of Julius Caesar. Brutus was close to General Julius Caesar, the leader of the Populares faction, however, Caesars attempts to assume greater power for himself put him at greater odds with the Roman elite and members of the Senate. Brutus eventually came to oppose Caesar and fought with the Optimate faction, led by Pompey the Great, Pompey was defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 B. C. after which Brutus surrendered to Caesar, who granted him amnesty. However, the political tensions which led to the war had not been resolved. Due to Caesars increasingly monarchical behavior, several senators, calling themselves Liberators and they recruited Brutus, who took a leading role in the assassination, which was carried out successfully on March 15,44 B. C. The Senate, at the request of the Consul Mark Antony, however, a populist uprising forced Brutus and his brother-in-law, fellow assassin Gaius Cassius Longinus, to leave the City of Rome. Caesars grandnephew, Consul Gaius Octavian Caesar, immediately after taking office, passed a resolution declaring the conspirators, including Brutus, murderers. Octavian combined his troops with those of Antony, and together they defeated the outnumbered armies of Brutus and Cassius at the Battle of Philippi in October 42 B. C. After the battle, Brutus committed suicide, Marcus Junius Brutus Minor was the son of Marcus Junius Brutus Maior and Servilia. Some sources refer to the possibility of Caesar being his real father, Brutus uncle, Quintus Servilius Caepio, adopted him in about 59 BC, and Brutus was known officially for a time as Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus before he reverted to using his birth-name. Following Caesars assassination in 44 BC, Brutus revived his adoptive name in order to illustrate his links to another famous tyrannicide, Gaius Servilius Ahala, from whom he was descended. Brutus held his uncle in high regard and his career started when he became an assistant to Cato. During this time, he enriched himself by lending money at high rates of interest and he returned to Rome a rich man, where he married Claudia Pulchra. From his first appearance in the Senate, Brutus aligned with the Optimates against the First Triumvirate of Marcus Licinius Crassus, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and Gaius Julius Caesar. When Caesars Civil War broke out in 49 BC between Pompey and Caesar, Brutus followed his old enemy and the present leader of the Optimates, Caesar ordered his officers to leave Brutus alone if he refused his arrest because he believed that Brutus could be his biological son. Although Caesar and Brutus mother, Servilia, were lovers, only a few knew about their relationship, Caesar had nothing against Brutus concerning that, and they had a very close relationship. And everything he did for Brutus was out of affection of Servilia knowing that his mother was in love him, Caesar
Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger
–
Marble bust of Brutus, at the
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme in the
National Museum of Rome
Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger
–
Marble bust of Brutus, at the
Capitoline Museums in Rome.
Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger
–
Death of Caesar by
Vincenzo Camuccini.
Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger
–
Marcus Junius Brutus.
11.
Battle of Philippi
–
The battle consisted of two engagements in the plain west of the ancient city of Philippi. The first occurred in the first week of October, Brutus faced Octavian, at first, Brutus pushed back Octavian and entered his legions camp. But to the south, Cassius was defeated by Antony, Brutus rallied Cassius remaining troops and both sides ordered their army to retreat to their camps with their spoils, and the battle was essentially a draw, but for Cassius suicide. A second encounter, on 23 October, finished off Brutuss forces, after the murder of Caesar, Brutus and Cassius had left Italy and taken control of all Eastern provinces and of the allied Eastern kingdoms. In Rome the three main Caesarian leaders, who controlled almost all the Roman army in the west, had crushed the opposition of the senate and established the second triumvirate. One of their first tasks was to destroy the Liberators’ forces, not only to get control of the Roman world. The triumvirs decided that Lepidus would remain in Italy, while the two partners of the triumvirate moved to Northern Greece with their best troops. They were able to ferry their army across the Adriatic and sent out a force of eight legions along the via Egnatia. Norbanus and Saxa passed the town of Philippi in eastern Macedonia, Antony was following, while Octavian was delayed at Dyrrachium because of his ill-health. They had spent the previous months plundering Greek cities to swell their war-chest and had gathered in Thrace with the Roman legions from the Eastern provinces and levies from allies. With their superior forces they were able to outflank Norbanus and Saxa, thus, Brutus and Cassius could position holding the high ground along both sides of the via Egnatia, about 3.5 km west of the city of Philippi. The south position was anchored to a supposedly impassable marsh, while on the north to impervious hills and they had plenty of time to fortify their position with a rampart and a ditch. Brutus put his camp on the north while Cassius on the south of the via Egnatia, Antony arrived shortly and positioned his army on the south of the via Egnatia, while Octavian put his legions north of the road. The Triumvirs army included nineteen legions, appian reports that the triumvirs’ legions were almost at full complement. Furthermore, they had a large allied cavalry force, the Liberators army had seventeen legions. Only two of the legions were at full strength, but the army was reinforced by levies from the Eastern allied kingdoms, appian reports that the army mustered a total of about 80,000 foot-soldiers. Allied cavalry included a total of 17,000 horsemen, including 5,000 bowmen mounted in the Eastern fashion and this army included the old Caesarean legions present in the East, thus most of these legionaries were former Caesarean veterans. However, at least the XXXVI legion consisted of old Pompeian veterans, the loyalty of the soldiers who were supposed to fight against Caesar’s heir was a delicate issue for the Liberators
Battle of Philippi
–
Philippi Location
12.
Mark Antony
–
Antony was a supporter of Julius Caesar, and served as one of his generals during the conquest of Gaul and the Civil War. Antony was appointed administrator of Italy while Caesar eliminated political opponents in Greece, North Africa, the Triumvirs defeated Caesars murderers, the Liberatores, at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, and divided the government of the Republic between themselves. Antony was assigned Romes eastern provinces, including the client kingdom of Egypt, then ruled by Cleopatra VII Philopator, relations among the Triumvirs were strained as the various members sought greater political power. Civil war between Antony and Octavian was averted in 40 BC, when Antony married Octavians sister, Octavia, despite this marriage, Antony carried on a love affair with Cleopatra, who bore him three children, further straining Antonys relations with Octavian. Lepidus was expelled from the association in 36 BC, and in 33 BC disagreements between Antony and Octavian caused a split between the remaining Triumvirs. Their ongoing hostility erupted into war in 31 BC, as the Roman Senate, at Octavians direction, declared war on Cleopatra. Later that year, Antony was defeated by Octavians forces at the Battle of Actium, Antony and Cleopatra fled to Egypt, where they committed suicide. With Antony dead, Octavian was the master of the Roman world. In 27 BC, Octavian was granted the title of Augustus, marking the stage in the transformation of the Roman Republic into an empire. A member of the plebeian Antonia gens, Antony was born in Rome on January 14,83 BC. His father and namesake was Marcus Antonius Creticus, son of the noted orator by the name who had been murdered during the Marian Terror of the winter of 87–86 BC. His mother was Julia Antonia, a distant cousin of Julius Caesar, Antony was an infant at the time of Lucius Cornelius Sullas march on Rome in 82 BC. According to the Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero, Antonys father was incompetent and corrupt, in 74 BC he was given military command to defeat the pirates of the Mediterranean, but he died in Crete in 71 BC without making any significant progress. Lentulus, despite exploiting his political success for financial gain, was constantly in debt due to the extravagance of his lifestyle and he was a major figure in the Second Catilinarian Conspiracy and was summarily executed on the orders of the Consul Cicero in 63 BC for his involvement. His death resulted in a feud between the Antonia and the famous orator, Antonys early life was characterized by a lack of proper parental guidance. According to the historian Plutarch, he spent his teenage years wandering through Rome with his brothers and friends gambling, drinking, Antonys contemporary and enemy, Cicero, claimed he had a homosexual relationship with Gaius Scribonius Curio. There is little information on his political activity as a young man, although it is known that he was an associate of Publius Clodius Pulcher. He may also have involved in the Lupercal cult as he was referred to as a priest of this order later in life
Mark Antony
–
Antony's brother Lucius, on a coin issued at
Ephesus during his consulship in 41 BC
Mark Antony
–
Bust of Mark Antony in
Vatican City
Mark Antony
–
Bust of Pharaoh
Ptolemy XII Auletes.
Mark Antony
–
Cato the Younger, a member of the
Optimates faction, was one of the chief architects of the decree which provoked Caesar into civil war.
13.
Augustus
–
Augustus was the founder of the Roman Principate and considered the first Roman emperor, controlling the Roman Empire from 27 BC until his death in AD14. He was born Gaius Octavius into an old and wealthy equestrian branch of the plebeian gens Octavia and his maternal great-uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, and Octavius was named in Caesars will as his adopted son and heir, then known as Octavianus. He, Mark Antony, and Marcus Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate to defeat the assassins of Caesar, following their victory at the Battle of Philippi, the Triumvirate divided the Roman Republic among themselves and ruled as military dictators. The Triumvate was eventually torn apart by the ambitions of its members. Lepidus was driven into exile and stripped of his position, in reality, however, he retained his autocratic power over the Republic as a military dictator. By law, Augustus held a collection of powers granted to him for life by the Senate, including supreme military command, and it took several years for Augustus to develop the framework within which a formally republican state could be led under his sole rule. He rejected monarchical titles, and instead called himself Princeps Civitatis, the resulting constitutional framework became known as the Principate, the first phase of the Roman Empire. The reign of Augustus initiated an era of peace known as the Pax Romana. Augustus dramatically enlarged the Empire, annexing Egypt, Dalmatia, Pannonia, Noricum, and Raetia, expanding possessions in Africa, expanding into Germania, beyond the frontiers, he secured the Empire with a buffer region of client states and made peace with the Parthian Empire through diplomacy. Augustus died in AD14 at the age of 75 and he probably died from natural causes, although there were unconfirmed rumors that his wife Livia poisoned him. He was succeeded as Emperor by his adopted son Tiberius, Augustus was known by many names throughout his life, At birth, he was named Gaius Octavius after his biological father. Historians typically refer to him simply as Octavius between his birth in 63 until his adoption by Julius Caesar in 44 BC, upon his adoption, he took Caesars name and became Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus in accordance with Roman adoption naming standards. He quickly dropped Octavianus from his name, and his contemporaries referred to him as Caesar during this period, historians. In 27 BC, following his defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra and it is the events of 27 BC from which he obtained his traditional name of Augustus, which historians use in reference to him from 27 BC until his death in AD14. While his paternal family was from the town of Velletri, approximately 40 kilometres from Rome and he was born at Ox Head, a small property on the Palatine Hill, very close to the Roman Forum. He was given the name Gaius Octavius Thurinus, his cognomen possibly commemorating his fathers victory at Thurii over a band of slaves. Due to the nature of Rome at the time, Octavius was taken to his fathers home village at Velletri to be raised. Octavius only mentions his fathers equestrian family briefly in his memoirs and his paternal great-grandfather Gaius Octavius was a military tribune in Sicily during the Second Punic War
Augustus
–
The statue known as the
Augustus of Prima Porta, 1st century
Augustus
–
The Death of Caesar, by
Jean-Léon Gérôme (1867). On 15 March 44 BC, Octavius's adoptive father Julius Caesar was assassinated by a conspiracy led by
Marcus Junius Brutus and
Gaius Cassius Longinus.
Walters Art Museum,
Baltimore.
Augustus
–
A statue of Augustus as a younger Octavian, dated ca. 30 BC
Augustus
–
Bust of Augustus in
Musei Capitolini, Rome
14.
Pompey
–
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, usually known in English as Pompey /ˈpɒmpiː/ or Pompey the Great, was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic. He came from a wealthy Italian provincial background, and his father had been the first to establish the family among the Roman nobility, Pompeys immense success as a general while still very young enabled him to advance directly to his first consulship without meeting the normal requirements for office. His success as a commander in Sullas Second Civil War resulted in Sulla bestowing the nickname Magnus. He was consul three times and celebrated three triumphs, after the deaths of Julia and Crassus, Pompey sided with the optimates, the conservative faction of the Roman Senate. Pompey and Caesar then contended for the leadership of the Roman state, when Pompey was defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC, he sought refuge in Egypt, where he was assassinated. His career and defeat are significant in Romes subsequent transformation from Republic to Empire, Pompeys family first gained the position of Consul in 141 BC. Pompeys father, Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, was an equestrian from Picenum. He fought the Social War against Romes Italian allies and he supported Sulla, who belonged to the optimates, the pro-aristocracy faction, against Marius, who belonged to the populares, in Sullas first civil war. He died during the siege of Rome by the Marians in 87 BC, either as a casualty of an epidemic and his twenty-year-old son Pompey inherited his estates, and the loyalty of his legions. Pompey had served two years under his fathers command, and had participated in the part of the Social War. When his father died, Pompey was put on due to accusations that his father stole public property. As his father’s heir Pompey could be held to account and he discovered that this was committed by one of his fathers freedmen. Following his preliminary bouts with his accuser, the took a liking to Pompey and offered his daughter. Another civil war broke out between the Marians and Sulla, Cassius Dio added that Pompey had sent a detachment to pursue him, but he outstripped them by crossing the River Phasis. He reached the Maeotis and stayed in the Cimmerian Bosporus and he had his son Machares, who ruled it and gone over to the Romans, killed and recovered that country. Meanwhile, Pompey set up a colony for his soldiers at Nicopolitans in Cappadocia, in Plutarchs account Pompey was invited to invade Armenia by Tigranes’ son, who rebelled against his father. The two men received the submission of several towns, when they got close Artaxata Tigranes, knowing Pompey’s leniency, surrendered and allowed a Roman garrison in his palace. Pompey offered the restitution of the Armenian territories in Syria, Phoenicia, Cilicia, Galatia and he demanded an indemnity and ruled that the son should be king of Sophene
Pompey
–
Pompey the Great in middle age,
marble bust in the
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek,
Copenhagen,
Denmark.
Pompey
–
Roman statue of Pompey, at the Villa Arconati a Castellazzo di Bollate (Milan, Italy). It was brought there from Rome in 1627 by Galeazzo Arconati.
Pompey
–
Bust of Pompey in the
Residenz, Munich
Pompey
–
Pompey
15.
Second Triumvirate
–
The Triumvirate existed for two five-year terms, covering the period 43 BC to 33 BC. Octavian, despite his youth, extorted from the Senate the post of consul for 43 BC. He had been warring with Antony and Lepidus in upper Italia and this triumvirate of new leaders was established in 43 BC as the Triumviri Rei Publicae Constituendae Consulari Potestate. Where the first triumvirate was essentially an agreement, the second was embedded in the constitution formally joining Augustus, Antony. Antony retained Cisalpine Gaul and hegemony over Gaul itself, and Octavian held Africa and was given authority over Sicily and Sardinia. )In order to refill the treasury. As all three had been partisans of Caesar, their targets were opponents of the Caesarian faction. The most notable victims were Marcus Tullius Cicero, who had opposed Caesar and excoriated Antony in his Philippics, and Marcus Favonius, a follower of Cato, the proscription of Caesars legate Quintus Tullius Cicero seems to have been motivated by the perceived need to destroy Ciceros family. For ancient writers, the most shocking proscriptions were those of Caesars legate Lucius Julius Caesar and they were added to the list because they had been the first to condemn Antony and Lepidus after the two allied. Octavians colleague in the consulate that year, his cousin, Quintus Pedius and this became a broad pattern of the Triumvirates two terms, during the ten years of the Triumvirate, there were 42 consuls in office, rather than the expected 20. In 42 BC, Octavian and Antony set out to war, after the victory, Antony and Octavian agreed to divide the provinces of the Republic into spheres of influence. Octavian — who had begun calling himself Divi filius after Caesars deification as Divus Julius and now styled himself simply Imperator Caesar — took control of the West, as a result, the province of Cisalpine Gaul was absorbed into Italy. Narbonese Gaul was absorbed into Gallia Comata, creating a unified Gaul, Octavian took over Spain from Lepidus. Lepidus himself was left with nothing, but was offered the prospect of control over Africa, the excuse given for this was a report that Lepidus had been traitorously negotiating with Sextus Pompey. If he were proved innocent he would have Africa, Octavian returned to Rome to administer the distribution of land to his veterans. Antony remained in the east to bring Brutus and Cassius former territories under triumvirate control. The reduced role of Lepidus is evident in the fact that far fewer coins depict him from this point on, Octavians land redistribution caused widespread tensions, as farmers were dispossessed in favour of soldiers. Antonys brother Lucius Antonius, who was serving as Consul, stood up for the dispossessed farmers, the conflict led to the Perusine War, in which Lucius gathered an army of supporters to challenge Octavian. He was encouraged by Mark Antonys wife Fulvia, Lepidus held Rome with two legions while Octavian left to gather his army, but Lucius defeated Lepidus, who was forced to flee to Octavian
Second Triumvirate
–
Top: Mark Antony (left) and Octavian (right) portrayed on 41 BC Roman
aureus issued to honor the Second Triumvirate. Bottom: Lepidus (left) and Octavian (right) portrayed on
denarii. Both coins are inscribed "III VIR R P C", abbreviating "tresviri rei publicae constituendae" (One of Three Men for the Regulation of the Republic). [
better source needed]
Second Triumvirate
Second Triumvirate
–
Lucius Antonius
Second Triumvirate
–
A Sextus Pompey
denarius, minted for his victory over
Octavian 's fleet. On the obverse is the Pharus of
Messina, on the reverse the monster
Scylla.
16.
Epicurus
–
Epicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher who founded the school of philosophy called Epicureanism. Only a few fragments and letters of Epicuruss 300 written works remain, much of what is known about Epicurean philosophy derives from later followers and commentators. As a boy, he studied philosophy for four years under the Platonist teacher Pamphilus, at the age of eighteen, he went to Athens for his two-year term of military service. The playwright Menander served in the same age-class of the ephebes as Epicurus, after the death of Alexander the Great, Perdiccas expelled the Athenian settlers on Samos to Colophon, on the coast of what is now Turkey. After the completion of his service, Epicurus joined his family there. He studied under Nausiphanes, who followed the teachings of Democritus, in 311/310 BC Epicurus taught in Mytilene but caused strife and was forced to leave. He then founded a school in Lampsacus before returning to Athens in 306 BC where he remained until his death, even though many of his teachings were heavily influenced by earlier thinkers, especially by Democritus, he differed in a significant way with Democritus on determinism. Epicurus would often deny this influence, denounce other philosophers as confused, Epicurus never married and had no known children. He was most likely a vegetarian, for I have been attacked by a painful inability to urinate, and also dysentery, so violent that nothing can be added to the violence of my sufferings. But the cheerfulness of my mind, which comes from the recollection of all my philosophical contemplation, and I beg you to take care of the children of Metrodorus, in a manner worthy of the devotion shown by the young man to me, and to philosophy. Epicurus school, which was based in the garden of his house and thus called The Garden, had a small and his school was the first of the ancient Greek philosophical schools to admit women as a rule rather than an exception. An inscription on the gate to The Garden is recorded by Seneca in epistle XXI of Epistulae morales ad Lucilium, Stranger, here you will do well to tarry, here our highest good is pleasure. Epicurus emphasised friendship as an important ingredient of happiness, and the school resembled in many ways a community of living together. However, he instituted a hierarchical system of levels among his followers. He was a key figure in the Axial Age, the period from 800 BC to 200 BC, during which, according to Karl Jaspers, similar thinking appeared in China, India, Iran, the Near East, and Ancient Greece. Epicuruss teachings represented a departure from the other major Greek thinkers of his period, and before, like Democritus, he was an atomist, believing that the fundamental constituents of the world were indivisible little bits of matter flying through empty space. Everything that occurs is the result of the atoms colliding, rebounding and his theory differs from the earlier atomism of Democritus because he admits that atoms do not always follow straight lines but their direction of motion may occasionally exhibit a swerve. This allowed him to avoid the implicit in the earlier atomism
Epicurus
–
Roman marble bust of Epicurus
Epicurus
–
Bust of Epicurus leaning against his disciple
Metrodorus in the
Louvre Museum
Epicurus
–
Small bronze bust of Epicurus from
Herculaneum. Illustration from Baumeister, 1885
Epicurus
–
Epicurus,
Nuremberg Chronicle
17.
William Shakespeare
–
William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the worlds pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called Englands national poet, and the Bard of Avon and his extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright, Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children, Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a career in London as an actor, writer. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, in his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and it was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as not of an age, but for all time. In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship. His plays remain highly popular and are studied, performed. William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden and he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual date of birth unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April. This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholars mistake, has proved appealing to biographers because Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and he was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son. At the age of 18, Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, the consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage licence on 27 November 1582. The next day, two of Hathaways neighbours posted bonds guaranteeing that no lawful claims impeded the marriage, twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptised 2 February 1585. Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried 11 August 1596, after the birth of the twins, Shakespeare left few historical traces until he is mentioned as part of the London theatre scene in 1592. The exception is the appearance of his name in the bill of a law case before the Queens Bench court at Westminster dated Michaelmas Term 1588 and 9 October 1589
William Shakespeare
–
The
Chandos portrait, artist and authenticity unconfirmed.
National Portrait Gallery, London.
William Shakespeare
–
John Shakespeare's house, believed to be
Shakespeare's birthplace, in
Stratford-upon-Avon.
William Shakespeare
–
Shakespeare's coat of arms, as it appears on the rough draft of the application to grant a coat-of-arms to John Shakespeare. It features a spear as a
pun on the family name.
William Shakespeare
–
Shakespeare's funerary monument in Stratford-upon-Avon.
18.
Julius Caesar (play)
–
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It is one of plays written by Shakespeare based on true events from Roman history. The play opens with the commoners of Rome celebrating Caesars triumphant return from defeating Pompeys sons at the battle of Munda, two tribunes, Flavius and Marrullus, discover the commoners celebrating, insult them for their change in loyalty from Pompey to Caesar, and break up the crowd. There are some made by the commoners, who insult them back. They also plan on removing all decorations from Caesars statues and ending any other festivities, in the next scene, during Caesars parade on the feast of Lupercal, a soothsayer warns Caesar to Beware the ides of March, a warning he disregards. The action then turns to the discussion between Brutus and Cassius, in this conversation, Cassius attempts to influence Brutus opinions into believing Caesar should be killed, preparing to have Brutus join his conspiracy to kill Caesar. They then hear from Casca that Mark Antony has offered Caesar the crown of Rome three times and that each time Caesar refused it, fainting after the last refusal. He compares Caesar to A serpents egg/ which hatchd, would, as his kind, grow mischievous, / and kill him in the shell. Caesars assassination is one of the most famous scenes of the play, occurring in Act 3, scene 1. After ignoring the soothsayer, as well as his wifes own premonitions, the conspirators create a superficial motive for coming close enough to assassinate Caesar by means of a petition brought by Metellus Cimber, pleading on behalf of his banished brother. As Caesar, predictably, rejects the petition, Casca grazes Caesar in the back of his neck, at this point, Shakespeare makes Caesar utter the famous line Et tu, Brute. Shakespeare has him add, Then fall, Caesar, suggesting that such treachery destroyed Caesars will to live, the conspirators make clear that they committed this act for Rome, not for their own purposes, and do not attempt to flee the scene. After Caesar is killed, Brutus delivers an oration defending his actions, and for the moment, Antony, even as he states his intentions against it, rouses the mob to drive the conspirators from Rome. Amid the violence, an innocent poet, Cinna, is confused with the conspirator Lucius Cinna and is taken by the mob and that night, Caesars ghost appears to Brutus with a warning of defeat. At the battle, Cassius and Brutus, knowing that they will both die, smile their last smiles to each other and hold hands. During the battle, Cassius has his servant Pindarus kill him after hearing of the capture of his best friend, after Titinius, who was not really captured, sees Cassiuss corpse, he commits suicide. However, Brutus wins that stage of the battle—but his victory is not conclusive, with a heavy heart, Brutus battles again the next day. He loses and commits suicide by running on his own sword, there is then a small hint at the friction between Mark Antony and Octavius which characterizes another of Shakespeares Roman plays, Antony and Cleopatra. The main source of the play is Thomas Norths translation of Plutarchs Lives, Shakespeare makes Caesars triumph take place on the day of Lupercalia instead of six months earlier
Julius Caesar (play)
–
The ghost of Caesar taunts Brutus about his imminent defeat. (
Copperplate engraving by Edward Scriven from a painting by
Richard Westall: London, 1802.)
Julius Caesar (play)
–
Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (play)
Julius Caesar (play)
–
The first page of Julius Caesar, printed in the Second Folio of 1632
19.
Hell
–
Hell, in many mythological, folklore and religious traditions, is a place of torment and punishment in an afterlife. Religions with a divine history often depict hells as eternal destinations while Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations. Typically these traditions locate hell in another dimension or under the Earths surface, other afterlife destinations include Heaven, Purgatory, Paradise, and Limbo. Hell is sometimes portrayed as populated with demons who torment those dwelling there, many are ruled by a death god such as Nergal, Hades, Hel, Enma or Satan. Subsequently, the word was used to transfer a pagan concept to Christian theology, Some have theorized that English word hell is derived from Old Norse hel. However, this is unlikely as hel appears in Old English before the Viking invasions. Furthermore, the word has cognates in all the other Germanic languages and has a Proto-Germanic origin, Hell appears in several mythologies and religions. It is commonly inhabited by demons and the souls of dead people, a fable about hell which recurs in folklore across several cultures is the allegory of the long spoons. Hell is often depicted in art and literature, perhaps most famously in Dantes Divine Comedy, punishment in Hell typically corresponds to sins committed during life. In many religious cultures, including Christianity and Islam, Hell is often depicted as fiery, painful and harsh, despite these common depictions of Hell as a place of fire, some other traditions portray Hell as cold. Buddhist - and particularly Tibetan Buddhist - descriptions of hell feature a number of hot. Among Christian descriptions Dantes Inferno portrays the innermost circle of Hell as a lake of blood. At death a person faced judgment by a tribunal of forty-two divine judges, if they had led a life in conformance with the precepts of the Goddess Maat, who represented truth and right living, the person was welcomed into the Two Fields. If found guilty the person was thrown to a devourer and would be condemned to the lake of fire, the person taken by the devourer is subject first to terrifying punishment and then annihilated. These depictions of punishment may have influenced medieval perceptions of the inferno in hell via early Christian, purification for those considered justified appears in the descriptions of Flame Island, where humans experience the triumph over evil and rebirth. For the damned complete destruction into a state of non-being awaits but there is no suggestion of eternal torture, the weighing of the heart in Egyptian mythology can lead to annihilation. The Tale of Khaemwese describes the torment of a man, who lacked charity. Divine pardon at judgement always remained a concern for the Ancient Egyptians
Hell
–
Medieval illustration of Hell in the
Hortus deliciarum manuscript of
Herrad of Landsberg (about 1180)
Hell
–
Hell - detail from a fresco in the medieval church St. Nicolas in Raduil,
Bulgaria
Hell
–
Hel (1889) by
Johannes Gehrts.
Hell
–
An illustration by
Doré of
Dante ’s 6th circle of
Hell, from the
Divine Comedy
20.
Dante
–
Durante degli Alighieri, simply called Dante, was a major Italian poet of the Late Middle Ages. In the late Middle Ages, the majority of poetry was written in Latin. In De vulgari eloquentia, however, Dante defended use of the vernacular in literature, as a result, Dante played an instrumental role in establishing the national language of Italy. In addition, the first use of the interlocking three-line rhyme scheme, Dante has been called the Father of the Italian language and one of the greatest poets of world literature. In Italy, Dante is often referred to as il Sommo Poeta and il Poeta, he, Petrarch, Dante was born in Florence, Republic of Florence, present-day Italy. The exact date of his birth is unknown, although it is believed to be around 1265. This can be deduced from autobiographic allusions in the Divine Comedy, in 1265, the sun was in Gemini between approximately May 11 and June 11. Dante claimed that his family descended from the ancient Romans, but the earliest relative he could mention by name was Cacciaguida degli Elisei, born no earlier than about 1100. Dantes father, Alaghiero or Alighiero di Bellincione, was a White Guelph who suffered no reprisals after the Ghibellines won the Battle of Montaperti in the middle of the 13th century. Dantes family had loyalties to the Guelphs, an alliance that supported the Papacy and which was involved in complex opposition to the Ghibellines. The poets mother was Bella, likely a member of the Abati family and she died when Dante was not yet ten years old, and Alighiero soon married again, to Lapa di Chiarissimo Cialuffi. When Dante was 12, he was promised in marriage to Gemma di Manetto Donati, daughter of Manetto Donati, contracting marriages at this early age was quite common and involved a formal ceremony, including contracts signed before a notary. But by this time Dante had fallen in love with another, Beatrice Portinari, years after his marriage to Gemma he claims to have met Beatrice again, he wrote several sonnets to Beatrice but never mentioned Gemma in any of his poems. The exact date of his marriage is not known, the certain information is that, before his exile in 1301. Dante fought with the Guelph cavalry at the Battle of Campaldino and this victory brought about a reformation of the Florentine constitution. To take any part in life, one had to enroll in one of the citys many commercial or artisan guilds, so Dante entered the Physicians. In the following years, his name is recorded as speaking or voting in the various councils of the republic. A substantial portion of minutes from meetings in the years 1298–1300 was lost, however
Dante
–
Profile portrait of Dante, by
Sandro Botticelli
Dante
–
Portrait of Dante, from a fresco in the Palazzo dei Giudici, Florence
Dante
–
Dante in Verona, by Antonio Cotti
Dante
–
Statue of Dante at the
Uffizi, Florence
21.
Inferno (Dante)
–
Inferno is the first part of Dante Alighieris 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy. It is followed by Purgatorio and Paradiso, the Inferno tells the journey of Dante through Hell, guided by the ancient Roman poet Virgil. As an allegory, the Divine Comedy represents the journey of the soul toward God, Canto I The poem begins on the night of Maundy Thursday on March 241300 A. D. shortly before dawn of Good Friday. The narrator, Dante himself, is years old. The poet finds himself lost in a wood, astray from the straight way of salvation. He sets out to climb directly up a mountain. The three beasts, taken from the Jeremiah 5,6, are thought to symbolize the three kinds of sin that bring the unrepentant soul into one of the three divisions of Hell. According to John Ciardi, these are incontinence, violence and bestiality, and fraud and malice, Dorothy L. Sayers assigns the leopard to incontinence and it is now dawn of Good Friday, April 8, with the sun rising in Aries. The beasts drive him back despairing into the darkness of error, however, Dante is rescued by a figure who announces that he was born sub Iulio and lived under Augustus, it is the shade of the Roman poet Virgil, author of the Aeneid, a Latin epic. Canto II On the evening of Good Friday, Dante is following Virgil but hesitates, Virgil explains how he has sent by Beatrice. Beatrice has been sent with prayers from the Virgin Mary and of Saint Lucia, rachel, symbolic of the contemplative life, also appears in the heavenly scene recounted by Virgil. The two of them begin their journey to the underworld. Dante and his guide hear the screams of the Uncommitted. These are the souls of people who in life took no sides, the opportunists who were for neither good nor evil, among these Dante recognizes a figure implied to be Pope Celestine V, whose cowardice served as the door through which so much evil entered the Church. Mixed with them are outcasts who took no side in the Rebellion of Angels and these souls are forever unclassified, they are neither in Hell nor out of it, but reside on the shores of the Acheron. Naked and futile, they race around through the mist in eternal pursuit of an elusive, wavering banner while relentlessly chased by swarms of wasps and hornets, who continually sting them. Loathsome maggots and worms at the sinners feet drink the putrid mixture of blood, pus and this symbolizes the sting of their guilty conscience and the repugnance of sin. This may also be seen as a reflection of the spiritual stagnation they lived in, after passing through the vestibule, Dante and Virgil reach the ferry that will take them across the river Acheron and to Hell proper
Inferno (Dante)
–
Gustave Doré 's engravings illustrated the Divine Comedy (1861–1868); here, Dante is lost in Canto 1 of the Inferno
Inferno (Dante)
–
The Barque of Dante by
Eugène Delacroix
Inferno (Dante)
–
The
Harrowing of Hell, in a 14th-century
illuminated manuscript, the
Petites Heures de Jean de Berry
Inferno (Dante)
–
Gianciotto Discovers Paolo and Francesca by
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
22.
Sulla
–
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, known commonly as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He had the distinction of holding the office of consul twice, Sulla was a skillful general, achieving numerous successes in wars against different opponents, both foreign and Roman. He was awarded a crown, the most prestigious Roman military honor. Sullas dictatorship came during a point in the struggle between optimates and populares, the former seeking to maintain the Senates oligarchy, and the latter espousing populism. In a dispute over the army command Sulla unconstitutionally marched his armies into Rome. Sullas ascension was also marked by purges in proscriptions. After seeking election to and holding a second consulship, he retired to private life, later leaders like Julius Caesar would follow his precedent in attaining political power through force. In Plutarchs Parallel Lives Sulla is paired with the Spartan general, in older sources, his name may be found as Sylla. This is a Hellenism, like sylva for classical Latin silva, lacking ready money, Sulla spent his youth amongst Rome’s comics, actors, lute-players, and dancers. It seems certain that Sulla received a good education, sallust declares him well-read and intelligent, and he was fluent in Greek, which was a sign of education in Rome. Rome declared war on Jugurtha in 111 BC, but for five years Roman legions under Quintus Caecilius Metellus were unsuccessful, Gaius Marius, a lieutenant of Metellus, saw an opportunity to usurp his commander and fed rumors of incompetence and delay to the publicani in the region. These machinations caused calls for Metelluss removal, despite delaying tactics by Metellus, Marius was elected consul and took over the campaign while Sulla was nominated quaestor to him. He had persuaded Jugurthas father-in-law, King Bocchus I of Mauretania and it was a dangerous operation from the first, with King Bocchus weighing up the advantages of handing Jugurtha over to Sulla or Sulla over to Jugurtha. The publicity attracted by this feat boosted Sullas political career, a gilded equestrian statue of Sulla donated by King Bocchus was erected in the Forum to commemorate his accomplishment. Although Sulla had engineered this move, as Sulla was serving under Marius at the time, in 104 BC, the migrating Germanic-Celtic alliance headed by the Cimbri and the Teutones seemed to be heading for Italy. As Marius was the best general Rome had, the Senate allowed him to lead the campaign against them, Sulla served on Marius staff as tribunus militum during the first half of this campaign. Finally, with those of his colleague, proconsul Quintus Lutatius Catulus, Marius forces faced the enemy tribes at the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BC. Sulla had by this time transferred to the army of Catulus to serve as his legatus, victorious at Vercellae, Marius and Catulus were both granted triumphs as the co-commanding generals
Sulla
–
Apparent bust of Sulla in the
Munich Glyptothek
Sulla
–
AR Denarius (3.80 g, 5h). Rome mint. Front: Diana wearing cruciform earring and double necklace of pearls and pendants, and jewels in hair pulled into a knot; crescent above, lituus behind. Reverse: Sulla seated on a raised seat with a bound Jugurtha kneeling beside him; before him kneels Bocchus, offering an olive-branch. The coin portrays Sulla's first great victory, in which he ended the Jugurthine War.
Sulla
–
Asia Minor just before the First Mithridatic War
Sulla
–
Lucius Cornelius Sulla - a denarius portrait issued by his grandson.
23.
Rhodes
–
Rhodes is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of land area and also the island groups historical capital. Administratively the island forms a municipality within the Rhodes regional unit. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Rhodes, the city of Rhodes had 50,636 inhabitants in 2011. It is located northeast of Crete, southeast of Athens and just off the Anatolian coast of Turkey, Rhodes nickname is The island of the Knights, named after the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, who once conquered the land. Historically, Rhodes was famous worldwide for the Colossus of Rhodes, the Medieval Old Town of the City of Rhodes has been declared a World Heritage Site. Today, it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, the island has been known as Ρόδος in Greek throughout its history. In addition, the island has been called Rodi in Italian, Rodos in Turkish, and Rodi or Rodes in Ladino. The island of Rhodes is shaped like a spearhead,79.7 km long and 38 km wide, with an area of approximately 1,400 square kilometres. The city of Rhodes is located at the tip of the island, as well as the site of the ancient. The main air gateway is located 14 km to the southwest of the city in Paradisi, the road network radiates from the city along the east and west coasts. There are mineral-rich spring water used to give medicinal baths and the spa resorts offer various health treatments, Rhodes is situated 363 km east-south-east from the Greek mainland, and 18 km from the southern shore of Turkey. The interior of the island is mountainous, sparsely inhabited and covered with forests of pine, while the shores are rocky, the island has arable strips of land where citrus fruit, wine grapes, vegetables, olives and other crops are grown. The Rhodian population of deer was found to be genetically distinct in 2005. In Petaloudes Valley, large numbers of tiger moths gather during the summer months, mount Attavyros, at 1,216 metres, is the islands highest point of elevation. Earthquakes include the 226 BC earthquake that destroyed the Colossus of Rhodes, one on 3 May 1481 which destroyed much of the city of Rhodes, and one on 26 June 1926. On 15 July 2008, Rhodes was struck by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake causing minor damage to a few old buildings, Rhodes has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate. The island was inhabited in the Neolithic period, although remains of this culture. In the 16th century BC, the Minoans came to Rhodes, later Greek mythology recalled a Rhodian race called the Telchines and associated the island of Rhodes with Danaus, it was sometimes nicknamed Telchinis
Rhodes
–
Palace of the Grand Master in the city of Rhodes
Rhodes
–
Akramitis mountain
Rhodes
–
Ixia beach
24.
Greek language
–
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
Greek language
–
Idealized portrayal of
Homer
Greek language
–
regions where Greek is the official language
Greek language
–
Greek language road sign, A27 Motorway, Greece
25.
Marcus Junius Brutus
–
Marcus Junius Brutus, often referred to as Brutus, was a politician of the late Roman Republic. After being adopted by his uncle he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus and he took a leading role in the assassination of Julius Caesar. Brutus was close to General Julius Caesar, the leader of the Populares faction, however, Caesars attempts to assume greater power for himself put him at greater odds with the Roman elite and members of the Senate. Brutus eventually came to oppose Caesar and fought with the Optimate faction, led by Pompey the Great, Pompey was defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 B. C. after which Brutus surrendered to Caesar, who granted him amnesty. However, the political tensions which led to the war had not been resolved. Due to Caesars increasingly monarchical behavior, several senators, calling themselves Liberators and they recruited Brutus, who took a leading role in the assassination, which was carried out successfully on March 15,44 B. C. The Senate, at the request of the Consul Mark Antony, however, a populist uprising forced Brutus and his brother-in-law, fellow assassin Gaius Cassius Longinus, to leave the City of Rome. Caesars grandnephew, Consul Gaius Octavian Caesar, immediately after taking office, passed a resolution declaring the conspirators, including Brutus, murderers. Octavian combined his troops with those of Antony, and together they defeated the outnumbered armies of Brutus and Cassius at the Battle of Philippi in October 42 B. C. After the battle, Brutus committed suicide, Marcus Junius Brutus Minor was the son of Marcus Junius Brutus Maior and Servilia. Some sources refer to the possibility of Caesar being his real father, Brutus uncle, Quintus Servilius Caepio, adopted him in about 59 BC, and Brutus was known officially for a time as Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus before he reverted to using his birth-name. Following Caesars assassination in 44 BC, Brutus revived his adoptive name in order to illustrate his links to another famous tyrannicide, Gaius Servilius Ahala, from whom he was descended. Brutus held his uncle in high regard and his career started when he became an assistant to Cato. During this time, he enriched himself by lending money at high rates of interest and he returned to Rome a rich man, where he married Claudia Pulchra. From his first appearance in the Senate, Brutus aligned with the Optimates against the First Triumvirate of Marcus Licinius Crassus, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and Gaius Julius Caesar. When Caesars Civil War broke out in 49 BC between Pompey and Caesar, Brutus followed his old enemy and the present leader of the Optimates, Caesar ordered his officers to leave Brutus alone if he refused his arrest because he believed that Brutus could be his biological son. Although Caesar and Brutus mother, Servilia, were lovers, only a few knew about their relationship, Caesar had nothing against Brutus concerning that, and they had a very close relationship. And everything he did for Brutus was out of affection of Servilia knowing that his mother was in love him, Caesar
Marcus Junius Brutus
–
Marble bust of Brutus, at the
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme in the
National Museum of Rome
Marcus Junius Brutus
–
Marble bust of Brutus, at the
Capitoline Museums in Rome.
Marcus Junius Brutus
–
Death of Caesar by
Vincenzo Camuccini.
Marcus Junius Brutus
–
Marcus Junius Brutus.
26.
Battle of Carrhae
–
The Battle of Carrhae was fought in 53 BC between the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire near the town of Carrhae. The Parthian Spahbod Surena decisively defeated a numerically superior Roman invasion force under the command of Marcus Licinius Crassus and it is commonly seen as one of the earliest and most important battles between the Roman and Parthian empires and one of the most crushing defeats in Roman history. Rejecting an offer from the Armenian King Artavasdes II to allow Crassus to invade Parthia via Armenia and his army clashed with Surenas force near Carrhae, a small town in modern-day Turkey. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Surenas cavalry completely outmaneuvered the Roman heavy infantry, Crassus himself was killed when truce negotiations turned violent. His death ended the First Triumvirate, the war in Parthia resulted from political arrangements intended to be mutually beneficial for Marcus Licinius Crassus, Pompeius Magnus, and Julius Caesar — the so-called First Triumvirate. In March and April 56 BC, meetings were held at Ravenna and Luca, in Caesars province of Cisalpine Gaul, to reaffirm the weakening alliance formed four years earlier. Pressure in various forms was brought to bear on the elections, money, influence through patronage and friendship, the faction secured the consulship and most, though not all, of the other offices sought. Legislation passed by the tribune Trebonius granted extended proconsulships of five years, matching that of Caesar in Gaul, the Spanish provinces would go to Pompeius, Crassus arranged to have Syria, with the transparent intention of going to war with Parthia. The notoriously wealthy Marcus Crassus was around sixty and hearing-impaired when he embarked on the Parthian invasion, greed is often regarded by the ancient sources, particularly his biographer Plutarch, as his major character fault and also his motive for going to war. Historian of Rome Erich Gruen believed that Crassuss purpose was to enrich the public treasury and his major military achievements had been the defeat of Spartacus in 71 and his victory at Battle of the Colline Gate for Sulla a decade earlier. Another factor in Crassuss decision to invade Parthia was the ease of the campaign. The Roman legions had easily crushed the numerically superior armies of other powers such as Pontus and Armenia. Cicero, however, suggests an additional factor, the ambitions of the talented Publius Crassus, upon his return to Rome as a highly decorated officer, Publius took steps to establish his own political career. Roman sources view the Battle of Carrhae not only as a calamity for Rome and a disgrace for Marcus Crassus, some Romans objected to the war against Parthia. Cicero calls it a war nulla causa, on the grounds that Parthia had a treaty with Rome, the tribune Ateius Capito put up strenuous opposition, and infamously conducted a public ritual of execration as Crassus prepared to depart. Despite protests and dire omens, Marcus Crassus left Rome on November 14,55 BC, Publius Crassus joined him in Syria during the winter of 54–53 BC, bringing with him the thousand Celtic cavalry troopers from Gaul who remained loyal to their young leader until death. Crassus arrived in Syria in late 55 BC and immediately set about using his wealth to raise an army. He assembled a force of seven legions, in addition he had about 4,000 light infantry, and 4,000 cavalry, including the 1,000 Gallic cavalry Publius had brought with him
Battle of Carrhae
–
Marcus Licinius Crassus
Battle of Carrhae
–
Parthian bronze statue(attributed to
Surena)
Battle of Carrhae
–
Roman coin of
Augustus (19 BCE) showing a Parthian soldier returning the standards captured at Carrhae.Augustus hailed the return of the standards as a political victory over Parthia
Battle of Carrhae
–
Parthian Horseman
27.
Marcus Licinius Crassus
–
Marcus Licinius Crassus was a Roman general and politician who played a key role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Amassing an enormous fortune during his life, Crassus is, exempting Augustus Caesar, Crassus began his public career as a military commander under Lucius Cornelius Sulla during his civil war. Following Sullas assumption of the dictatorship, Crassus amassed a fortune through real estate speculation. Crassus rose to prominence following his victory over the slave revolt led by Spartacus. A political and financial patron of Julius Caesar, Crassus joined Caesar, together the three men dominated the Roman political system. The alliance would not last indefinitely due to the ambitions, egos, while Caesar and Crassus were lifelong allies, Crassus and Pompey disliked each other and Pompey grew increasingly envious of Caesars spectacular successes in the Gallic Wars. The alliance was re-stabilized at the Lucca Conference in 56 BC, after which Crassus, following his second Consulship, Crassus was appointed as the Governor of Roman Syria. Crassus used Syria as the launchpad for a campaign against the Parthian Empire. Crassus campaign was a failure, resulting in his defeat. Crassus death permanently unraveled the alliance between Caesar and Pompey, within four years of Crassus death, Caesar would cross the Rubicon and begin a civil war against Pompey and the optimates. Marcus Licinius Crassus was the second of three born to the eminent senator and vir triumphalis P. Licinius Crassus. This line was not descended from the Crassi Divites, although often assumed to be, the eldest brother Publius died shortly before the Italic War and Marcus took the brothers wife as his own. This grandfather was son of P. Licinius Crassus, the latters brother C. Marcus Crassus was also a talented orator and one of the most energetic and active advocates of his time. Cinnas proscription forced Crassus to flee to Hispania, after Cinnas death in 84 BC, Crassus went to the Roman province of Africa and joined Metellus Pius, one of Sullas closest allies. Marcus Licinius Crassus next concern was to rebuild the fortunes of his family, according to Plutarchs Life of Crassus, Crassus made most of his fortune through rapine and fire. Sullas proscriptions ensured that his survivors would recoup their lost fortunes from the fortunes of wealthy adherents to Gaius Marius or Lucius Cornelius Cinna, Crassuss wealth is estimated by Pliny at approximately 200 million sestertii. Some of Crassus wealth was acquired conventionally, through traffic in slaves, production from silver mines, Crassus bought property which was confiscated in proscriptions. He notoriously purchased burnt and collapsed buildings, Plutarch wrote that observing how frequent such occurrences were, he bought slaves who were architects and builders
Marcus Licinius Crassus
–
Bust of Marcus Licinius Crassus from
the Louvre,
Paris.
28.
Parthia
–
Parthia is a historical region located in north-eastern Iran. It was the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, the name Parthia is a continuation from Latin Parthia, from Old Persian Parthava, which was the Parthian language self-designator signifying of the Parthians who were an Iranian people. In context to its Hellenistic period, Parthia also appears as Parthyaea, Parthia roughly corresponds to a region in northeastern Iran. It was bordered by the Karakum desert in the north, included Kopet Dag mountain range and it bordered Media on the west, Hyrcania on the north west, Margiana on the north east, and Aria on the south east. During Arsacid times, Parthia was united with Hyrcania as one unit. As the region inhabited by Parthians, Parthia first appears as an entity in Achaemenid lists of governorates under their dominion. Prior to this, the people of the region seem to have been subjects of the Medes, according to Greek sources, following the seizure of the Achaemenid throne by Darius I, the Parthians united with the Median king Phraortes to revolt against him. Hystaspes, the Achaemenid governor of the province, managed to suppress the revolt, the first indigenous Iranian mention of Parthia is in the Behistun inscription of Darius I, where Parthia is listed among the governorates in the vicinity of Drangiana. The inscription dates to c.520 BC, the center of the administration may have been at Hecatompylus. This has rightly caused disquiet to modern scholars, following the defeat of Darius III, Phrataphernes surrendered his governorate to Alexander when the Macedonian arrived there in the summer of 330 BC. Phrataphernes was reappointed governor by Alexander, following the death of Alexander, in the Partition of Babylon in 323 BC, Parthia became a Seleucid governorate under Nicanor. Phrataphernes, the governor, became governor of Hyrcania. In 320 BC, at the Partition of Triparadisus, Parthia was reassigned to Philip, a few years later, the province was invaded by Peithon, governor of Media Magna, who then attempted to make his brother Eudamus governor. Peithon and Eudamus were driven back, and Parthia remained a governorate in its own right, in 316 BC, Stasander, a vassal of Seleucus I Nicator and governor of Bactria was appointed governor of Parthia. For the next 60 years, various Seleucids would be appointed governors of the province. In 247 BC, following the death of Antiochus II, Ptolemy III seized control of the Seleucid capital at Antioch, taking advantage of the uncertain political situation, Andragoras, the Seleucid governor of Parthia, proclaimed his independence and began minting his own coins. Meanwhile, a man called Arsaces, of Scythian or Bactrian origin, elected leader of the Parni, a short while later the Parni seized the rest of Parthia from Andragoras, killing him in the process. Arsaces II sued for peace and accepted vassal status, and it was not until Arsaces IIs grandson Phraates I, from their base in Parthia, the Arsacid dynasts eventually extended their dominion to include most of Greater Iran
Parthia
–
Young man with Parthian costume.
Palmyra,
Syria, 1st half of the 3rd century AD. Decoration of a funerary stela.
The Louvre.
Parthia
–
Achaemenid Provinces during the rule of
Darius I
Parthia
–
Coin of
Andragoras, the last Seleucid satrap of Parthia. He proclaimed independence around 250 BC.
Parthia
–
Parthian horseman now on display at the
Palazzo Madama, Turin.
29.
Tribune of the Plebs
–
The tribunes of the plebs were sacrosanct, meaning that any assault on their person was prohibited by law. In imperial times, the powers of the tribunate were granted to the emperor as a matter of course, during the day the tribunes used to sit on the tribune benches on the Forum Romanum. Fifteen years after the expulsion of the kings and establishment of the Roman Republic, a series of clashes between the people and the ruling patricians in 495 and 494 BC brought the plebeians to the brink of revolt, and there was talk of assassinating the consuls. Instead, on the advice of Lucius Sicinius Vellutus, the plebeians seceded en masse to the Mons Sacer, the senate agreeing to these terms, the people returned to the city. The first tribuni plebis were Lucius Albinius Paterculus and Gaius Licinius, soon afterward, the tribunes themselves appointed Sicinius and two others as their colleagues. However, they functioned very much like magistrates of the Roman state and they could convene the concilium plebis, which was entitled to pass legislation affecting the plebeians alone, and beginning in 493 BC to elect the plebeian tribunes and aediles. From the institution of the tribunate, any one of the tribunes of the plebs was entitled preside over this assembly, the tribunes were entitled to propose legislation before the assembly. By the third century BC, the also had the right to call the senate to order. Ius intercessionis, or intercessio, the power of the tribunes to intercede on behalf of the plebeians, because they were not technically magistrates, and thus possessed no maior potestas, they relied on their sacrosanctity to obstruct actions unfavourable to the plebeians. Being sacrosanct, no person could harm the tribunes or interfere with their activities, to do so, or to disregard the veto of a tribune, was punishable by death, and the tribunes could order the death of persons who violated their sacrosanctity. This could be used as a protection when a tribune needed to arrest someone and this sacrosanctity also made the tribunes independent of all magistrates, no magistrate could veto the action of a tribune. If a magistrate, the senate, or any other assembly disregarded the orders of a tribune, only a dictator was exempted from the veto power. Tribunes also possessed the authority to enforce the right of provocatio ad populum and this entitled a citizen to appeal the actions of a magistrate by shouting, ego te provoco. Once invoked, this right required one of the tribunes to assess the situation, any action taken in defiance of this right was illegal on its face. Although a tribune could veto any action of the magistrates, senate, or other assemblies, once the tribune was no longer present, the action could be completed as if the veto had not occurred. Because the sacrosanctity of the depended on the oath of the plebeians to defend them. A tribune traveling abroad could not rely on his authority to intervene on behalf of the plebeians, for this reason, the activities of the tribunes were normally confined to the city itself, and a one-mile radius beyond. The reconciliation of the patricians and plebeians brought about by the institution of the tribunate in 493 BC was temporary, in 462, the tribune Gaius Terentillius Arsa alleged that the consular government had become even more oppressive than the monarchy that it had replaced
Tribune of the Plebs
–
The Secession of the People to the Mons Sacer, engraving by B. Barloccini, 1849.
30.
Rubicon
–
The Rubicon is both the name of a shallow river in northeastern Italy, just south of Ravenna, and the name historically given to a river that was famously crossed by Julius Caesar in 49 BC. While it has not been proven, historians agree that the two rivers are indeed one and the same, this was not always the case. The modern-day river runs around 80 kilometers, from the Apennine Mountains to the Adriatic Sea through the southern Emilia-Romagna region, the Latin word rubico comes from the adjective rubeus, meaning red. The river was so named because its waters are colored red by mud deposits, during the Roman republic, the river Rubicon marked the boundary between the Roman province of Cisalpine Gaul to the north-east and Italy proper to the south. On the north-western side, the border was marked by the river Arno, a wider and more important waterway. Governors of Roman provinces were appointed promagistrates with imperium in their province, the governor would then serve as the general of the Roman army within the territory of his province. Roman law specified that only the elected magistrates could hold imperium within Italy, any promagistrate who entered Italy at the head of his troops forfeited his imperium and was therefore no longer legally allowed to command troops. Exercising imperium when forbidden by the law was a capital offense, furthermore, obeying the commands of a general who did not legally possess imperium was also a capital offense. If a general entered Italy while exercising command of an army, generals were thus obliged to disband their armies before entering Italy. In 49 BC, perhaps on January 10, C, Julius Caesar led a single legion, Legio XIII Gemina, south over the Rubicon from Cisalpine Gaul to Italy to make his way to Rome. In doing so, he broke the law on imperium and made armed conflict inevitable, Suetonius depicts Caesar as undecided as he approached the river, and attributes the crossing to a supernatural apparition. It was reported that Caesar dined with Sallust, Hirtius, Oppius, Lucius Balbus and Sulpicus Rufus on the night after his famous crossing into Italy January 10, according to Suetonius, Caesar uttered the famous phrase ālea iacta est. Caesars decision for swift action forced Pompey, the consuls. Caesars subsequent victory in Caesars civil war ensured that punishment for the infraction would never be rendered and this took place during the time of the Roman Republic. The decision robbed the Rubicon of its importance, and the name disappeared from the local toponymy. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and during the first centuries of the Middle Ages, the Rubicon, like other small rivers of the region, often changed its course during this period. As a result of work, these rivers started to flow in straight courses. The Quattrocento humanist Flavio Biondo was deceived by it, the inscription is conserved in the Museo Archeologico
Rubicon
–
The mouth of the Rubicon in
Cesenatico
Rubicon
–
The Rubicon to the right of
Cesena, at Pisciatello
Rubicon
–
The Rubicon in winter.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cassius". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
