1.
Roman emperor
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The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period. The emperors used a variety of different titles throughout history, often when a given Roman is described as becoming emperor in English, it reflects his taking of the title Augustus or Caesar. Another title often used was imperator, originally a military honorific, early Emperors also used the title princeps. Emperors frequently amassed republican titles, notably Princeps Senatus, Consul, the first emperors reigned alone, later emperors would sometimes rule with co-Emperors and divide administration of the Empire between them. The Romans considered the office of emperor to be distinct from that of a king, the first emperor, Augustus, resolutely refused recognition as a monarch. Although Augustus could claim that his power was authentically republican, his successor, Tiberius, nonetheless, for the first three hundred years of Roman Emperors, from Augustus until Diocletian, a great effort was made to emphasize that the Emperors were the leaders of a Republic. Elements of the Republican institutional framework were preserved until the end of the Western Empire. The Eastern emperors ultimately adopted the title of Basileus, which had meant king in Greek, but became a title reserved solely for the Roman emperor, other kings were then referred to as rēgas. In addition to their office, some emperors were given divine status after death. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in the late 5th century, Romulus Augustulus is often considered to be the last emperor of the west after his forced abdication in 476, although Julius Nepos maintained a claim to the title until his death in 480. Constantine XI was the last Byzantine Roman emperor in Constantinople, dying in the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, a Byzantine group of claimant Roman Emperors existed in the Empire of Trebizond until its conquest by the Ottomans in 1461. In western Europe the title of Roman Emperor was revived by Germanic rulers, the Holy Roman Emperors, in 800, at the end of the Roman Republic no new, and certainly no single, title indicated the individual who held supreme power. Insofar as emperor could be seen as the English translation of imperator, then Julius Caesar had been an emperor, however, Julius Caesar, unlike those after him, did so without the Senates vote and approval. Julius Caesar held the Republican offices of four times and dictator five times, was appointed dictator in perpetuity in 45 BC and had been pontifex maximus for a long period. He gained these positions by senatorial consent, by the time of his assassination, he was the most powerful man in the Roman world. In his will, Caesar appointed his adopted son Octavian as his heir, a decade after Caesars death, Octavians victory over his erstwhile ally Mark Antony at Actium put an end to any effective opposition and confirmed Octavians supremacy. His restoration of powers to the Senate and the people of Rome was a demonstration of his auctoritas, some later historians such as Tacitus would say that even at Augustus death, the true restoration of the Republic might have been possible. Instead, Augustus actively prepared his adopted son Tiberius to be his successor, the Senate disputed the issue but eventually confirmed Tiberius as princeps
2.
Aemilianus
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Aemilianus, also known as Aemilian, was Roman Emperor for three months in 253. Commander of the Moesian troops, he obtained an important victory against the invading Goths and was, for this reason, Aemilian was born in the Roman province of Africa. According to the 4th century source Epitome de Caesaribus, he was born at Girba and was a Moor, a reference in the same source hints that he was born around 207. The 12th century historian Joannes Zonaras, who calls him a Libyan rather than a Moor, and another chronicle of the 13th century hold that he was forty at the time of his death in 253. Aemilian married Cornelia Supera, a woman of African origin, the year of their marriage is unknown, during the reign of Trebonianus Gallus and his son Volusianus, Aemilian was sent to the Balkans to command an army. His primary responsibility was to assure peace along the Danube frontier, Gallus secured the throne after the death of emperor Decius at the hands of Cniva in the Battle of Abrittus, and later had to manage an outbreak of plague that devastated Rome. He was not popular with the army, mainly due to humiliating treaties signed in 251 with the Goths, according to John of Antioch, upon his appointment to the Moesian command, Aemilian was already envious of Gallus and plotted treachery against him. He was also an opponent of the Roman Senate, and his seditious plans are confirmed by Jerome, in 253, the Goths, led by king Cniva, claimed they had not received the tribute due from the Romans according to the treaty of 251. They crossed the border and attacked Cappadocia, Pessinus, and Ephesus, modern historians believe that this missing payment was not a change in Roman policy, and the Goths were more likely trying to capitalize on their military prowess. Aemilian had command of the assigned to defend the area. Aemilian exhorted them, reminding them of Roman honor and promising tribute from the Goths, the Romans took the Goths by surprise, killing most of them, followed by an invasion of Goth territory resulting in booty and the liberation of prisoners. The Roman soldiers, gathered by Aemilian, acclaimed him Emperor, Jordanes claims, however, that Aemilians troops plundered Roman territory, rather than keep the tribute of the Goths. With his few men, Aemilian left his province unguarded and moved quickly towards Rome to meet the legitimate emperor Gallus before the latter could receive reinforcements. While Aemilian descended upon Rome along the Flaminian Way, Gallus and Volusianus had him proclaimed enemy of the State by the Roman senate, then exited Rome to meet the usurper. This strategy suggests that Aemilians army was smaller than theirs, as probably did not expect reinforcements to come in time. The Roman senate, after an opposition, decided to recognize him as emperor. Aemilian received the titles of Pius, Felix and Pater Patriae, the tribunicia potestas, however, Valerian, governor of the Rhine provinces, was on his way south with an army which, according to Zosimus, had been called in as a reinforcement by Gallus. But modern historians believe this army, possibly mobilized for an incumbent campaign in the East, Emperor Aemilians men, fearful of a civil war and Valerians larger force, mutinied
3.
Claudius Gothicus
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Claudius II, commonly known as Claudius Gothicus, was Roman emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alemanni and scored a victory against the Goths at the Battle of Naissus and he died after succumbing to the Plague of Cyprian that ravaged the provinces of the Empire. Born on May 10,210, he was either from Sirmium in Pannonia Inferior or from Naissus Dardania, in September 268, he found himself assigned as a military tribune with the Imperial Army besieging the usurper Aureolus in Milan. His troops then proclaimed him Emperor amid charges, never proven, however, he soon proved to be less than bloodthirsty, as he asked the Roman Senate to spare the lives of Gallienus family and supporters. He was less magnanimous toward Romes enemies, however, and it was to this that he owed his popularity and it is possible Claudius gained his position and the respect of the soldiers by being physically strong and especially cruel. A legend tells of Claudius knocking out a horses teeth with one punch, when Claudius performed as a wrestler in the 250s, he supposedly knocked out the teeth of his opponent when his genitalia had been grabbed in the match. Claudius, like Maximinus Thrax before him, was of barbarian birth, during the 260s, the breakup of the Roman Empire into three distinct governing entities placed the whole Roman imperium into a precarious position. Gallienus was seriously weakened by his failure to defeat Postumus in the West, by 268, however, the situation had changed, as Odaenathus was assassinated, most likely out of court intrigue, and Gallienus fell victim to a mutiny in his own ranks. Upon the death of Odaenathus, power fell to his younger son, after four years of delay, Postumus had established power, but in 265, when Gallienus and his men crossed the Alps, they defeated and besieged Postumus in an Gallic city. When victory appeared to be near, Gallienus made the mistake of approaching the city walls too closely and was gravely injured, in the next three years, Gallienus troubles would only get worse. The Skythai successfully invaded the Balkans in the months of 268, and Aureolus, a commander of the cavalry, declared himself an ally of Postumus. At this time, another invasion was taking place, a group called the Herulians navigated through Asia Minor and then into Greece on a naval expedition. Details of these invasions are abstract, as it is impossible to reconstruct the happenings. Scholars assume Gallienus efforts were focused on Aureolus, the officer who betrayed him, the death of Gallienus is surrounded by conspiracy and betrayal, as were many emperors deaths. Different accounts of the incident are recorded, but they agree that senior officials wanted Gallienus dead, according to two accounts, the prime conspirator was Aurelius Heraclianus, the Praetorian Prefect. It is written that while sitting down at dinner, Gallienus was told that Aureolus, Gallienus rushed to the front lines, ready to give orders, when he was struck down by a commander of his cavalry. In this plot, Aurelian is added as a possible conspirator, whichever story is true, Gallienus was killed in the summer of 268, and Claudius was chosen by the army outside of Milan to succeed him. Accounts tell of hearing the news of the new Emperor
4.
Valerian (emperor)
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Valerian, also known as Valerian the Elder, was Roman Emperor from 253 to 260 AD. He was taken captive by Sassanian Persian king Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa, becoming the first Roman Emperor to be captured as a prisoner of war, causing instability in the Empire. Unlike many of the emperors and rebels who bid for Imperial Power during the Crisis of the Third Century of the Roman Empire, Valerian was of a noble. Details of his life are elusive, but for his marriage to Egnatia Mariniana. He was Consul for the first time either before 238 AD as a Suffectus or in 238 as an Ordinarius, in 238 he was princeps senatus, and Gordian I negotiated through him for Senatorial acknowledgement for his claim as emperor. During the reign of Decius he was left in charge of affairs in Rome when that prince left for his ill-fated last campaign in Illyricum. Under Trebonianus Gallus he was appointed dux of an army drawn from the garrisons of the German provinces which seems to have been ultimately intended for use in a war against the Persians. However, when Trebonianus Gallus had to deal with the rebellion of Aemilianus in 253 AD it was to Valerian he turned for assistance in crushing the attempted usurpation. Valerian headed south but was too late, Gallus was killed by his own troops, the Raetian soldiers then proclaimed Valerian emperor and continued their march towards Rome. Upon his arrival in late September, Aemilianuss legions defected, killing Aemilianus, in Rome, the Senate quickly acknowledged Valerian, not only for fear of reprisals but also because he was one of their own. Valerians first act as emperor on 22 October 253 was to make his son Gallienus his Caesar, early in his reign, affairs in Europe went from bad to worse, and the whole West fell into disorder. In the East, Antioch had fallen into the hands of a Sassanid vassal, Valerian and Gallienus split the problems of the empire between them, with the son taking the West, and the father heading East to face the Persian threat. In 254,255, and 257, Valerian again became Consul Ordinarius, by 257, he had recovered Antioch and returned the province of Syria to Roman control. The following year, the Goths ravaged Asia Minor, in 259, Valerian moved on to Edessa, but an outbreak of plague killed a critical number of legionaries, weakening the Roman position, and the town was besieged by the Persians. At the beginning of 260, Valerian was decisively defeated in the Battle of Edessa, the truce was betrayed by Shapur, who seized Valerian and held him prisoner for the remainder of his life. Valerians capture was a defeat for the Romans. Valerian, while fighting the Persians, sent two letters to the Senate, ordering steps to be taken against Christians, the first, sent in 257, commanded Christian clergy to perform sacrifices to the Roman gods or face banishment. This shows that Christians were prevalent at this time in high positions
5.
Saloninus
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Publius Licinius Cornelius Saloninus Valerianus was Roman Emperor in 260. Saloninus was born around the year 242 and his father was the later emperor Gallienus, his mother Cornelia Salonina, a Greek from Bithynia. In 258 Saloninus was appointed Caesar by his father and sent to Gaul to make sure his fathers authority was respected there, bray suggests that Valerians motive in making these appointments was securing the succession and establishing a lasting imperial dynasty. We do not know how Valerian envisaged his grandson interacting with the existing governors, there is no reason to suppose that he ever thought the thing through as systematically as Diocletian when he established the Tetrarchy some thirty years later. However, Silvanus must have been a soldier and administrator. This was demonstrated by the circumstances in which he fell out with the usurper Postumus, in 260 Silvanus ordered Postumus to hand over some booty that Postumuss troops had seized from a German warband which had been on its way home from a successful raid into Gaul. However, Postumuss men took violent exception to this attempt to enforce the rights of the representative of a distant emperor who was failing in his duty to protect the Gallic provinces. Asserting what was probably the prevailing custom of the frontier, they turned on Saloninus and Silvanus and it was probably at this time that Postumus was acclaimed emperor by his army. Riding the tiger of military discontent which he could barely control, Gallienus, who was fully engaged elsewhere – probably campaigning on the middle Danube – could do nothing to save his son. Postumus was then unable to prevent his army from murdering them, whether or not Gallienus ever concurred with Valerians dynastic experiment is not known. Certainly the murder of Saloninus, so soon after the death of Valerian II
6.
Mediolanum
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Mediolanum, the ancient Milan, was originally an Insubrian city, but afterwards became an important Roman city in northern Italy. Mediolanum appears to have been founded around 600 BC by the Celtic Insubres, after whom this region of northern Italy was called Insubria. The Romans, led by consul Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus, fought the Insubres and captured the city in 222 BC, Mediolanum was important for its location as a hub in the road network of northern Italy. Polybius describes the country as abounding in wine, and every kind of grain, herds of swine, both for public and private supply, were bred in its forests, and the people were well known for their generosity. During the Augustan age Mediolanum was famous for its schools, it possessed a theater, a large stone wall encircled the city in Caesars time, and later was expanded in the late third century AD, by Maximian. Mediolanum was made the seat of the prefect of Liguria by Hadrian, in the third century Mediolanum possessed a mint, a horreum and imperial mausoleum. In 259, Roman legions under the command of Emperor Gallienus soundly defeated the Alemanni in the Battle of Mediolanum, in 286 Diocletian moved the capital of the Western Roman Empire from Rome to Mediolanum. He chose to reside at Nicomedia in the Eastern Empire, leaving his colleague Maximian at Milan, Maximian increased the city area surrounded by a new, larger stone wall encompassing an area of 375 acres with many 24-sided towers. The monumental area had twin towers, one that was included in the convent of San Maurizio Maggiore remains 16, Constantine was in Milan to celebrate the wedding of his sister to the Eastern Emperor, Licinius. In the mid-fourth century, the Arian controversy divided the Christians of Mediolanum, Constantius supported Arian bishops, auxentius of Milan was a respected Arian theologian. At the time of the bishop St. Ambrose, who quelled the Arians, the city also possessed a number of basilicas, added in the late fourth century AD. These are San Simpliciano, San Nazaro, San Lorenzo and the chapel of San Vittore, in general, the Late Empire encouraged the development of the applied arts in Mediolanum, with ivory and silver work being common in public building projects. In the crypt of the Duomo survive ruins of the ancient church of Saint Tecla, in 402, the city was besieged by the Goths and the Imperial residence was moved to Ravenna. The Lombards took Ticinum as their capital, and Early Medieval Milan was left to be governed by its archbishops, the Colonne di San Lorenzo, a colonnade in front of the church of S. Lorenzo. Roman lapidary material in the Archi di Porta Nuova, the scant remains of a large amphitheatre, now in an archaeological park dedicated to their preservation. A tower of the circus, now inside the Convento di San Maurizio Maggiore, a bit of moenia and a tower with 24 sides the church of San Lorenzo and the San Aquilino chapel. Some ruins from the Baths of Hercules, further remains of ceilings, the body of St. Ambrose and those possibly of SS. Gervasius and Protasius — or at any rate, of earlier men, crypt of San Giovanni in Conca a bit of the moenia and some remnants of pavements in piazza Missori and in the namesake station of Milan Metro
7.
Roman Italy
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Roman Italy was created officially by the Roman emperor Augustus with the Latin name Italia. It was the first time in history that the Italian Peninsula was united under the same name, in the year 292, the three islands of Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily were added to Roman Italy by Diocletian. Roman Italy remained united until the sixth century, when it was divided between the Byzantine Empire and territories of the Germanic peoples, since then, Italia remained divided for nearly thirteen centuries until 1861 when it was reunited in a similar way in the modern Kingdom of Italy. Italy was the name of the division of the Italian Peninsula during the Roman era. It was not a province, but became the territory of the city of Rome, following the end of the Social War, Rome had allowed its Italian allies full rights in Roman society and granted the Roman citizenship to all the Italic peoples. Although not founded as a city in 330, Constantinople gained in importance. It finally gained the rank of capital when given an urban prefect in 359. In 402, the capital was moved to Ravenna from Milan, the name Italia covered an area whose borders evolved over time. Under Augustus, the peoples of todays Aosta Valley and of the western and northern Alps were subjugated, and the Italian eastern border was brought to the Arsia in Istria. Finally, in the late 3rd century, Italy came to include the islands of Corsica and Sardinia and Sicily, as well as Raetia, the city of Emona was the easternmost town of Italy. At the beginning of the era, Italy was a collection of territories with different political statuses. Some cities, called municipia, had independence from Rome, while others. The Italian economy flourished, agriculture, handicraft and industry had a sensible growth, the Italian population may have grown as well, three census were ordered by Augustus, to record the number of Roman citizens throughout the empire. The surviving totals were 4,063,000 in 28 BC,4,233,000 in 8 BC, and 4,937,000 in AD14, but it is still debated whether these counted all citizens, all adult male citizens, or citizens sui iuris. During the Crisis of the Third Century the Roman Empire nearly collapsed under the pressures of invasions, military anarchy and civil wars. In 284, emperor Diocletian restored political stability and he carried out thorough administrative reforms to maintain order. He created the so-called Tetrarchy whereby the empire was ruled by four co-emperors and he decreased the size of the Roman provinces by doubling their number to reduce the power of the provincial governors. He grouped the provinces into several dioceses and put them under the supervision of the imperial vicarius, during the Crisis of the Third Century the importance of Rome declined because she was far from the troubled frontiers
8.
Cornelia Salonina
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Julia Cornelia Salonina was an Augusta, wife of Roman Emperor Gallienus and mother of Valerian II, Saloninus, and Marinianus. Julia Cornelia Saloninas origin is unknown, according to a modern theory, she was born of Greek origin in Bithynia, then part of the province of Bithynia et Pontus, Asia Minor. However, there exists some scepticism on that and she was married to Gallienus about ten years before his accession to the throne. When her husband became joint-emperor with his father Valerian in 253, Cornelia was the mother of three princes, Valerian II, Saloninus and Marinianus. Her fate, after the murder of Gallienus, during the siege of Mediolanum in 268, is unknown and it is likely that either her life was spared or that she was executed together with other members of her family, at the orders of the Senate of Rome. Gallienus, A Study in Reformist and Sexual Politics, Wakefield Press, Kent Town,1997, ISBN 1-86254-337-2 Salonina, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, partial Salonina coinage Dictionary of Roman Coins, by Seth William Stevenson. Minaud, Gérard, Les vies de 12 femmes d’empereur romain - Devoirs, Intrigues & Voluptés, Paris, L’Harmattan,2012,11, La vie de Cornélia Salonina, femme de Gallien, p. 263-284. Media related to Salonina at Wikimedia Commons
9.
Valerian II
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Shortly after his acclamation as Emperor Valerian made Gallienus his co-Emperor and his grandson, Valerian, Caesar, in 256. It is reported that Salonina was not happy with this arrangement, despite this precaution, Valerian died in late 257-early 258 in circumstances sufficiently suspicious for Gallienus to attempt to demote Ingenuus. It was this action that sparked the attempted usurpation of the Empire by Ingenuus, who had support among the Illyrian garrisons. It seems to show that the presence of a member of the Imperial House in a troubled region was not sufficient to assuage local fears of being neglected by the distant Emperor. The local Caesar had to wield undisputed authority in his region and command the resources, diocletian and Maximian seem to have understood this when they set up Constantius Chlorus and Galerius as Caesars in Gaul and Illyria respectively some thirty-five years later. Media related to Valerianus Caesar at Wikimedia Commons
10.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
11.
Mariniana
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Egnatia Mariniana was probably the wife of Roman Emperor Valerian and mother of Emperor Gallienus. Several coins bearing the legend DIVAE MARINIANAE date back to the beginning of the reign of Valerian, given the practice of deifying the wives who died before their husbands assumption of the Principate, it is possible that Mariniana died before AD253. Previously it had assumed that Egnatius Victor Marinianus, Legatus of Arabia Petraea. More recently however, it has been postulated that she was the daughter of Lucius Egnatius Victor, mennen, Inge, Power and Status in the Roman Empire, AD 193-284
12.
Seal (emblem)
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A seal is a device for making an impression in wax, clay, paper, or some other medium, including an embossment on paper, and is also the impression thus made. The original purpose was to authenticate a document, a wrapper for one such as a modern envelope, the seal-making device is also referred to as the seal matrix or die, the imprint it creates as the seal impression. In most traditional forms of dry seal the design on the matrix is in intaglio. The design on the impression will reverse that of the matrix and this will not be the case if paper is embossed from behind, where the matrix and impression read the same way, and both matrix and impression are in relief. However engraved gems were carved in relief, called cameo in this context. The process is essentially that of a mould and these pendent seal impressions dangled below the documents they authenticated, to which the attachment tag was sewn or otherwise attached. Some jurisdictions consider rubber stamps or specified signature-accompanying words such as seal or L. S. to be the equivalent of, i. e. an equally effective substitute for. In Europe, although coats of arms and heraldic badges may well feature in such contexts as well as on seals, the study of seals is known as sigillography or sphragistics. Seals were used in the earliest civilizations and are of importance in archaeology. In ancient Mesopotamia carved or engraved cylinder seals in stone or other materials were used and these could be rolled along to create an impression on clay, and used as labels on consignments of trade goods, or for other purposes. They are normally hollow and it is presumed that they were worn on a string or chain round the neck, many have only images, often very finely carved, with no writing, while others have both. From Ancient Egypt seals in the form of signet-rings, including some with the names of kings, have been found, recently, seals have come to light in South Arabia datable to the Himyarite age. One example shows a name written in Aramaic engraved in reverse so as to read correctly in the impression, from the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC until the Middle Ages, seals of various kinds were in production in the Aegean islands and mainland Greece. In the Early Minoan age these were formed of stone and ivory. By the Middle Minoan age a new set for seal forms, motifs, hard stone requires new rotary carving techniques. The Late Bronze Age is the par excellence of the lens-shaped seal and the seal ring. These were a luxury art form and became keenly collected. His collection fell as booty to Pompey the Great, who deposited it in a temple in Rome, engraved gems continued to be produced and collected until the 19th century
13.
Crisis of the Third Century
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The same number of men became accepted by the Roman Senate as emperor during this period and so became legitimate emperors. Later, Aurelian reunited the empire, the crisis ended with the ascension, the situation of the Roman Empire became dire in 235 AD, when emperor Alexander Severus was murdered by his own troops. Many Roman legions had been defeated during a campaign against Germanic peoples raiding across the borders, leading his troops personally, Alexander Severus resorted to diplomacy and paying tribute in an attempt to pacify the Germanic chieftains quickly. According to Herodian this cost him the respect of his troops, in the years following the emperors death, generals of the Roman army fought each other for control of the Empire and neglected their duties of defending the empire from invasion. Climate changes and a rise in sea levels ruined the agriculture of what is now the Low Countries forcing tribes to migrate, additionally, in 251, the Plague of Cyprian broke out, causing large-scale death, possibly weakened the ability of the Empire to defend itself. After the loss of Valerian in 260, the Roman Empire was beset by usurpers, the Roman provinces of Gaul, Britain and Hispania broke off to form the Gallic Empire. An invasion by a vast host of Goths was defeated at the Battle of Naissus in 268 or 269 and this victory was significant as the turning point of the crisis, when a series of tough, energetic soldier-emperors took power. Victories by the emperor Claudius II Gothicus over the two years drove back the Alamanni and recovered Hispania from the Gallic Empire. When Claudius died in 270 of the plague, Aurelian, who had commanded the cavalry at Naissus, succeeded him as the emperor and continued the restoration of the Empire. Aurelian reigned through the worst of the crisis, defeating the Vandals, the Visigoths, the Palmyrenes, the Persians, by late 274, the Roman Empire was reunited into a single entity, and the frontier troops were back in place. More than a century would pass before Rome again lost military ascendancy over its external enemies. However, dozens of formerly thriving cities, especially in the Western Empire, had ruined, their populations dispersed and, with the breakdown of the economic system. Major cities and towns, even Rome itself, had not needed fortifications for many centuries, finally, although Aurelian had played a significant role in restoring the Empires borders from external threat, more fundamental problems remained. Another issue was the size of the Empire, which made it difficult for a single autocratic ruler to effectively manage multiple threats at the same time. These continuing problems would be addressed by Diocletian, allowing the Empire to continue to survive in the West for over a century. Several emperors who rose to power through acclamation of their troops attempted to create stability by appointing their descendants as Caesar and these generally failed to maintain any form of coherence beyond one generation, although there were exceptions. Internally, the empire faced hyperinflation caused by years of coinage devaluation and this had started earlier under the Severan emperors who enlarged the army by one quarter and doubled the legionaries base pay. This resulted in runaway rises in prices, and by the time Diocletian came to power, some taxes were collected in kind and values were often notional in bullion or bronze coinage
14.
Caracalla
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Caracalla, formally Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Augustus, was Roman emperor from AD198 to 217. A member of the Severan Dynasty, he was the eldest son of Septimius Severus, Caracalla reigned jointly with his father from 198 until Severus death in 211. Caracalla then ruled jointly with his younger brother Geta, with whom he had a fraught relationship, Caracallas reign was marked by domestic instability and external invasions from the Germanic people. Caracallas reign was notable for the Antonine Constitution, also known as the Edict of Caracalla, the edict gave all the enfranchised men Caracallas adopted praenomen and nomen, Marcus Aurelius. Towards the end of his rule, Caracalla began a campaign against the Parthian Empire and he did not see this campaign through to completion due to his assassination by a disaffected soldier in 217. He was succeeded as emperor by Macrinus after three days, Caracalla is presented in ancient sources as a tyrant and cruel leader, an image that has survived into modernity. Dio Cassius and Herodian present Caracalla as a soldier first and emperor second, in the 12th century, Geoffrey of Monmouth started the legend of Caracallas role as the king of Britain. Later, in the 18th century, Caracallas memory was revived in the works of French artists due to the parallels between Caracallas apparent tyranny and that of King Louis XVI, Modern works continue to portray Caracalla as a psychopathic and evil ruler. His rule is remembered as being one of the most tyrannical of all Roman emperors, Caracalla was born Lucius Septimius Bassianus. He was renamed Marcus Aurelius Antoninus at the age of seven as part of his fathers attempt at union with the families of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. According to Aurelius Victor in his Epitome de Caesaribus, he became known by the agnomen Caracalla after a Gallic hooded tunic that he habitually wore and he may have begun wearing it during his campaigns on the Rhine and Danube. Dio generally referred to him as Tarautas, after a famously diminutive, Caracalla was born in Lugdunum, Gaul, on 4 April 188 to Septimius Severus and Julia Domna. He had a younger brother, Geta, who would briefly rule as co-emperor alongside him. Caracallas father, Septimius Severus, appointed Caracalla joint Augustus and full emperor from the year 198 onwards and his brother Geta was granted the same title in 210. In 202 Caracalla was forced to marry the daughter of Gaius Fulvius Plautianus, Fulvia Plautilla, by 205 Caracalla had succeeded in having Plautianus executed for treason, though he had probably fabricated the evidence of the plot himself. It was then that he banished his wife, whose later killing might have carried out under Caracallas orders. Caracallas father, Septimius Severus, died on 4 February 211 at Eboracum while on campaign in Caledonia, Caracalla and his brother, Publius Septimius Antoninus Geta, jointly inherited the throne upon their fathers death. Caracalla and Geta ended the campaign in Caledonia after concluding a peace with the Caledonians that returned the border of Roman Britain to the line demarcated by Hadrians Wall
15.
Falerii
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Falerii was a city in southern Etruria,50 km northeast of Rome,34 km from Veii,16 km form Rome) and about 1.5 km west of the ancient Via Flaminia. It was the city of the Faliscans, a people whose language was a Latin dialect and was part of the Latino-Faliscan language group. The Ager Faliscus, which included the towns of Capena, Nepet, according to legend, it was of Argive origin. Strabos assertion that the population, the Falisci, were of a different race from the Etruscans is supported by the evidence of the inscriptions which have found here. They were written in a Latin dialect, most of the surviving inscriptions date back to the second half of the fourth century BC and the first half of the third century BC. The Faliscan language survived the domination of the Etruscan culture, as well as, for a long time, due to Falerii being relatively close to Rome, the Faliscans felt that Rome was a threat to their security. For this reason, they supported the Etruscan cities of Veii and Fidenae in their conflicts with Rome in the fifth century. Livy noted that, “As these two States were nearest in point of distance, they believed that if Veii fell they would be the next on whom Rome would make war. ”There had been a history of conflicts between Rome and Veii, which often involved Fidenae. The Romans had placed a colony at Fidenae to garrison the city, in 437 BC Fidenae revolted, attacked the Roman settlers and sided with Veii. Romans envoys who were sent to Fidenae were killed on the order of the king of Veii, the Faliscans sent troops in support. The Veientes and Fidenates wanted to prolong the war, but the Fidenates wanted a pitched battle, the Romans routed the combined enemy forces. In 436 BC the Romans raided the territory of Veii and Falerii, in 435 BC the Fidenates crossed into Roman territory to raid it and called in the army of Veii. Falerii did not want to renew the war, in 434 the Romans seized Fidenae. They sent envoys to the Etruscan League (a council of the twelve major Etruscan cities, however, the council refused to help Veii. In 403 BC war broke out between Rome and Veii, the Romans begun a siege which lasted until 396 BC when they seized and destroyed this city. In 402 BC Falerii and Capena bound themselves by an oath and they attacked the smaller the two Roman camps from the rear. The Veientes attacked the Roman siege works form the front, the lack of unity between the Roman commanders led to a rout of the Romans, and the capture of the smaller camp. Some Romans escaped to the camp and some withdrew to Rome
16.
Etruria
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Etruria was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now Tuscany, Lazio, and Umbria. Such trade occurred either directly with Egypt, or through intermediaries such as Greek or Phoenician sailors, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany styled itself in Latin as Magnus Ducatus Etruriae. The name Etruria was also applied to the Kingdom of Etruria, a particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H. Lawrences Sketches of Etruscan Places and other Italian essays. Etruscan was the language for meetings. When Etruria was conquered by the Roman Republic, Latin became the official language, cities and Cemeteries of Etruria, by George Dennis, an overview of Etruscan civilisation
17.
Roman Senate
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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
18.
Augustus (honorific)
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Augustus, /ɔːˈɡʌstəs/, Classical Latin, Latin for majestic, the increaser, or venerable), was an ancient Roman title given as both name and title to Gaius Octavius, Romes first Emperor. On his death, it became a title of his successor. The feminine form Augusta was used for Roman empresses and other females of the Imperial family, the masculine and feminine forms originated in the time of the Roman Republic, in connection with things considered divine or sacred in traditional Roman religion. In Romes Greek-speaking provinces, Augustus was translated as sebastos, or hellenised as augoustos, after the fall of the Roman Empire, Augustus was sometimes used as a name for men of aristocratic birth, especially in the lands of the Holy Roman Empire. It remains a name for males. Some thirty years before its first association with Caesars heir, Augustus was an honorific with religious associations. One early context, associates it with provincial Lares, in poetry and prose it was the elevation or augmentation of what is already sacred or religious. Some Roman sources connected it to augury, and Rome was said to have been founded with the august augury of Romulus, the first true Roman Emperor known as augustus was Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. He was the son and heir of Julius Caesar, who had been murdered for his seeming aspiration to divine monarchy. Octavian studiously avoided any association with Caesars claims, other than acknowledging his position and duties as Divi filius, nevertheless, his position was unique, and extraordinary. He had ended Romes prolonged and bloody war with his victory at Actium. As princeps senatus he presided at senatorial meetings and he was pontifex maximus, chief priest of Roman state religion. He held consular imperium, with authority equal to the chief executive, he was supreme commander of all Roman legions. As a tribune, his person was inviolable and he had the right to any act or proposal by any magistrate within Rome. He was officially renamed Augustus by the Roman Senate on January 16,27 BC – or perhaps the Senate ratified his own choice, Romulus had been considered. His full and official title was Imperator Caesar Divi Filius Augustus and this extension of an Imperial honorific to major and minor deities of Rome and her provinces is considered a ground-level feature of Imperial cult. It continued until the replacement of Romes traditional religions by Christianity. The title or name of Augustus was adopted by his successors, most emperors also used imperator but others could and did bear the same title and functions
19.
Roman consul
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A consul was the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic, and the consulship was considered the highest level of the cursus honorum. Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term, the consuls alternated in holding imperium each month, and a consuls imperium extended over Rome, Italy, and the provinces. Originally, consuls were called praetors, referring to their duties as the military commanders. By at least 300 BC the title of Consul was being used, in Greek, the title was originally rendered as στρατηγός ὕπατος, strategos hypatos, and later simply as ὕπατος. The consul was believed by the Romans to date back to the establishment of the Republic in 509 BC. These remained in place until the office was abolished in 367/366 BC, consuls had extensive powers in peacetime, and in wartime often held the highest military command. Additional religious duties included certain rites which, as a sign of their formal importance, consuls also read auguries, an essential step before leading armies into the field. Two consuls were elected each year, serving together, each with power over the others actions. It is thought that only patricians were eligible for the consulship. Consuls were elected by the Comitia Centuriata, which had a bias in its voting structure which only increased over the years from its foundation. If a consul died during his term or was removed from office, a consul elected to start the year - called a consul ordinarius - held more prestige than a suffect consul, partly because the year would be named for ordinary consuls. The first plebeian consul, Lucius Sextius, was elected the following year and it is possible that only the chronology has been distorted, but it seems that one of the first consuls, Lucius Junius Brutus, came from a plebeian family. Another possible explanation is that during the 5th century social struggles, during times of war, the primary qualification for consul was military skill and reputation, but at all times the selection was politically charged. With the passage of time, the became the normal endpoint of the cursus honorum. When Lucius Cornelius Sulla regulated the cursus by law, the age of election to consul became. Beginning in the late Republic, after finishing a year, a former consul would usually serve a lucrative term as a proconsul. The most commonly chosen province for the proconsulship was Cisalpine Gaul, throughout the early years of the Principate although the consuls were still formally elected by the Comitia Centuriata, they were in fact nominated by the princeps. It was a post that would be occupied by a man halfway through his career, in his early thirties for a patrician, emperors frequently appointed themselves, or their protégés or relatives, consuls, even without regard to the age requirements
20.
Marcus Aurelius
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Marcus Aurelius was Emperor of Rome from 161 to 180. He ruled with Lucius Verus as co-emperor from 161 until Verus death in 169, Marcus Aurelius was the last of the so-called Five Good Emperors. He was a practitioner of Stoicism, and his untitled writing, during his reign, the Roman Empire defeated a revitalized Parthian Empire in the East, Aurelius general Avidius Cassius sacked the capital Ctesiphon in 164. A revolt in the East led by Avidius Cassius failed to gain momentum and was suppressed immediately, the major sources for the life and rule of Marcus Aurelius are patchy and frequently unreliable. For Marcus life and rule, the biographies of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus and Lucius Verus are largely reliable, a body of correspondence between Marcus tutor Fronto and various Antonine officials survives in a series of patchy manuscripts, covering the period from c.138 to 166. Marcus own Meditations offer a window on his life, but are largely undateable. The main narrative source for the period is Cassius Dio, a Greek senator from Bithynian Nicaea who wrote a history of Rome from its founding to 229 in eighty books. Dio is vital for the history of the period, but his senatorial prejudices. Inscriptions and coin finds supplement the literary sources, Marcus family originated in Ucubi, a small town southeast of Córdoba in Iberian Baetica. Verus elder son—Marcus Aurelius father—Marcus Annius Verus married Domitia Lucilla, Lucilla was the daughter of the patrician P. Calvisius Tullus Ruso and the elder Domitia Lucilla. The elder Domitia Lucilla had inherited a fortune from her maternal grandfather and her paternal grandfather by adoption. Lucilla and Verus had two children, a son, Marcus, born on 26 April 121 AD, and a daughter, Annia Cornificia Faustina, Verus probably died in 124 AD, during his praetorship, when Marcus was only three years old. Though he can hardly have known him, Marcus Aurelius wrote in his Meditations that he had learned modesty and manliness from his memories of his father, Lucilla, following prevailing aristocratic customs, probably did not spend much time with her son. Marcus was in the care of nurses, even so, Marcus credits his mother with teaching him religious piety, simplicity in diet and how to avoid the ways of the rich. In his letters, Marcus makes frequent and affectionate reference to her, he was grateful that, although she was fated to die young, yet she spent her last years with me. After his fathers death, Aurelius was raised by his paternal grandfather Marcus Annius Verus who, technically this was not an adoption, since an adoption would be the legal creation of a new and different patria potestas. Another man, Lucius Catilius Severus, also participated in his upbringing, Severus is described as Marcus maternal great-grandfather, he is probably the stepfather of the elder Lucilla. Marcus was raised in his parents home on the Caelian Hill and it was an upscale region, with few public buildings but many aristocratic villas
21.
Lucius Verus
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Lucius Verus was the Roman Emperor from 161 to 169. When he was adopted by Caesar Antoninus Pius in February 138 and his name changed again following his ascension in 161. He ruled together with his adoptive brother Marcus Aurelius as co-emperor from 161 until his own death in 169, during his reign, the Roman Empire defeated a revitalized Parthia in the east, Veruss general, Avidius Cassius, sacked their capital, Ctesiphon, in 164. He was deified by the Roman Senate as the Divine Verus, Lucius Verus was the first-born son to Avidia Plautia and Lucius Aelius Caesar, the first adopted son and heir of Roman Emperor Hadrian. He was born and raised in Rome, Verus had another brother, Gaius Avidius Ceionius Commodus, and two sisters, Ceionia Fabia and Ceionia Plautia. His maternal grandparents were the Roman senator, Gaius Avidius Nigrinus, although his adoptive paternal grandparent was the Roman Emperor Hadrian, his biological paternal grandparents were the consul Lucius Ceionius Commodus and noblewoman Aelia or Fundania Plautia. When his father died in early 138, Hadrian chose Antoninus Pius as his successor, Antoninus was adopted by Hadrian on the condition that Verus and Hadrian’s great-nephew Marcus Aurelius be adopted by Antoninus as his sons and heirs. By this scheme, Verus, who was already Hadrians adoptive grandson through his father, remained Hadrians adoptive grandson through his new father. The adoption of Marcus Aurelius was probably a suggestion of Antoninus himself, faustinas betrothal to Ceionias brother Lucius Commodus would also have to be annulled. As a prince and future emperor, Verus received careful education from the famous grammaticus Marcus Cornelius Fronto and he was reported to have been an excellent student, fond of writing poetry and delivering speeches. Verus started his career as a quaestor in 153, became consul in 154. Antoninus died on 7 March 161, and was succeeded by Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Aurelius bore deep affection for Antoninus, as evidenced by the first book of Meditations. Although the senate planned to confirm Marcus alone, he refused to take office unless Lucius received equal powers, the senate accepted, granting Lucius the imperium, the tribunician power, and the name Augustus. It was the first time that Rome was ruled by two emperors, in spite of their nominal equality, Marcus held more auctoritas, or authority, than Verus. He had been once more than Lucius, he had shared in Pius administration. It would have been clear to the public which emperor was the more senior, as the biographer wrote, Verus obeyed Marcus. as a lieutenant obeys a proconsul or a governor obeys the emperor. Immediately after their confirmation, the emperors proceeded to the Castra Praetoria. Lucius addressed the troops, which then acclaimed the pair as imperatores
22.
Rhine
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The largest city on the river Rhine is Cologne, Germany, with a population of more than 1,050,000 people. It is the second-longest river in Central and Western Europe, at about 1,230 km, with an average discharge of about 2,900 m3/s. The Rhine and the Danube formed most of the inland frontier of the Roman Empire and, since those days. The many castles and fortifications along the Rhine testify to its importance as a waterway in the Holy Roman Empire, in the modern era, it has become a symbol of German nationalism. The variant of the name of the Rhine in modern languages are all derived from the Gaulish name Rēnos, spanish is with French in adopting the Germanic vocalism Rin-, while Italian, Occitan and Portuguese retain the Latin Ren-. The Gaulish name Rēnos belongs to a class of river names built from the PIE root *rei- to move, flow, run, the grammatical gender of the Celtic name is masculine, and the name remains masculine in German, Dutch and French. The Old English river name was variously inflected as masculine or feminine, the length of the Rhine is conventionally measured in Rhine-kilometers, a scale introduced in 1939 which runs from the Old Rhine Bridge at Constance to Hoek van Holland. The river length is shortened from the rivers natural course due to a number of canalisation projects completed in the 19th and 20th century. The total length of the Rhine, to the inclusion of Lake Constance and its course is conventionally divided as follows, The Rhine carries its name without distinctive accessories only from the confluence of the Vorderrhein and Hinterrhein near Tamins-Reichenau. Above this point is the catchment of the headwaters of the Rhine. It belongs almost exclusively to the Swiss Canton of Graubünden, ranging from Gotthard Massif in the west via one valley lying in Ticino, traditionally, Lake Toma near the Oberalp Pass in the Gotthard region is seen as the source of the Vorderrhein and the Rhine as a whole. The Hinterrhein rises in the Rheinwald valley below Mount Rheinwaldhorn, the Vorderrhein, or Anterior Rhine, springs from Lai da Tuma, near the Oberalp Pass and passes the impressive Ruinaulta formed by the largest visible rock slide in the alps, the Flims Rockslide. A multiday trekking route is signposted along the young Rhine called Senda Sursilvana, the Hinterrhein/Rein Posteriur, or Posterior Rhine, starts from the Paradies Glacier, near the Rheinwaldhorn. One of its tributaries, the Reno di Lei, drains the Valle di Lei on politically Italian territory, after three main valleys separated by the two gorges, Roflaschlucht and Viamala, it reaches Reichenau. The Vorderrhein arises from numerous source streams in the upper Surselva, one source is Lai da Tuma with the Rein da Tuma, which is usually indicated as source of the Rhine, flowing through it. Into it flow tributaries from the south, some longer, some equal in length, such as the Reno di Medel, the Rein da Maighels, and the Rein da Curnera. The Cadlimo Valley in the Canton of Ticino is drained by the Reno di Medel, all streams in the source area are partially, sometimes completely, captured and sent to storage reservoirs for the local hydro-electric power plants. In its lower course the Vorderrhein flows through a gorge named Ruinaulta through the Flims Rockslide, the whole stretch of the Vorderrhein to the Rhine confluence near Reichenau-Tamins is accompanied by a long-distance hiking trail called Senda Sursilvana
23.
Danube
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The Danube is Europes second-longest river, after the Volga River, and also the longest river in the European Union region. It is located in Central and Eastern Europe, the Danube was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire, and today flows through 10 countries, more than any other river in the world. Its drainage basin extends into nine more countries, the Latin name Dānuvius is one of a number of Old European river names derived from a Proto-Indo-European *dānu. Other river names from the root include the Dunajec, Dzvina/Daugava, Don, Donets, Dnieper, Dniestr. In Rigvedic Sanskrit, dānu means fluid, drop, in Avestan, in the Rigveda, Dānu once appears as the mother of Vrtra. Known to the ancient Greeks as the Istros a borrowing from a Daco-Thracian name meaning strong, in Latin, the Danube was variously known as Danubius, Danuvius or as Ister. The Dacian/Thracian name was Donaris for the upper Danube and Istros for the lower Danube, the Thraco-Phrygian name was Matoas, the bringer of luck. The Latin name is masculine, as are all its Slavic names, the German Donau is feminine, as it has been re-interpreted as containing the suffix -ouwe wetland. Classified as a waterway, it originates in the town of Donaueschingen, in the Black Forest of Germany, at the confluence of the rivers Brigach. The Danube then flows southeast for about 2,800 km, passing through four capital cities before emptying into the Black Sea via the Danube Delta in Romania and its drainage basin extends into nine more. The highest point of the basin is the summit of Piz Bernina at the Italy–Switzerland border. The land drained by the Danube extends into other countries. Many Danubian tributaries are important rivers in their own right, navigable by barges, from its source to its outlet into the Black Sea, its main tributaries are, The Danube flows through many cities, including four national capitals, more than any other river in the world. Danube remains a mountain river until Passau, with average bottom gradient 0. 0012%. Middle Section, From Devín Gate to Iron Gate, at the border of Serbia and Romania, the riverbed widens and the average bottom gradient becomes only 0. 00006%. Lower Section, From Iron Gate to Sulina, with average gradient as little as 0. 00003%, about 60 of its tributaries are also navigable. In 1994 the Danube was declared one of ten Pan-European transport corridors, routes in Central, the amount of goods transported on the Danube increased to about 100 million tons in 1987. In 1999, transport on the river was difficult by the NATO bombing of three bridges in Serbia during the Kosovo War
24.
Tetrarchy
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313, when internecine conflict eliminated most of the claimants to power, leaving Constantine in control of the western half of the empire, and Licinius in control of the eastern half. Although the term tetrarch was current in antiquity, it was never used of the college under Diocletian. Instead, the term was used to describe independent portions of a kingdom that were ruled under separate leaders, the tetrarchy of Judaea, established after the death of Herod the Great, is the most famous example of the antique tetrarchy. The term was understood in the Latin world as well, where Pliny the Elder glossed it as follows, each is the equivalent of a kingdom, and also part of one. As used by the ancients, the term not only different governments. Only Lactantius, a contemporary of Diocletian and an ideological opponent of the Diocletianic state. Much modern scholarship was written without the term, although Edward Gibbon pioneered the description of the Diocletianic government as a New Empire, he never used the term tetrarchy, neither did Theodor Mommsen. It did not appear in the literature until used in 1887 by schoolmaster Hermann Schiller in a handbook on the Roman Empire, to wit. Even so, the term did not catch on in the literature until Otto Seeck used it in 1897. The first phase, sometimes referred to as the Diarchy, involved the designation of the general Maximian as co-emperor—firstly as Caesar in 285, Diocletian took care of matters in the eastern regions of the empire while Maximian similarly took charge of the western regions. In 305, the senior emperors jointly abdicated and retired, allowing Constantius and Galerius to be elevated in rank to Augustus. They in turn appointed two new Caesars — Severus II in the west under Constantius, and Maximinus in the east under Galerius — thereby creating the second Tetrarchy and these centres are known as the tetrarchic capitals. Sirmium was the capital of Galerius, the eastern Caesar, this was to become the Balkans-Danube prefecture Illyricum, mediolanum was the capital of Maximian, the western Augustus, his domain became Italia et Africa, with only a short exterior border. Augusta Treverorum was the capital of Constantius Chlorus, the western Caesar, near the strategic Rhine border and this quarter became the prefecture Galliae. Aquileia, a port on the Adriatic coast, and Eboracum, were significant centres for Maximian. In terms of jurisdiction there was no precise division between the four tetrarchs, and this period did not see the Roman state actually split up into four distinct sub-empires. Each emperor had his zone of influence within the Roman Empire, for a listing of the provinces, now known as eparchy, within each quarter, see Roman province. In the West, the Augustus Maximian controlled the provinces west of the Adriatic Sea and the Syrtis, in the East, the arrangements between the Augustus Diocletian and his Caesar, Galerius, were much more flexible
25.
Germania Inferior
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Germania Inferior was a Roman province located on the west bank of the Rhine. According to Ptolemy, Germania Inferior included the Rhine from its mouth up to the mouth of the Obringa, the territory included modern Luxembourg, southern Netherlands, part of Belgium, and part of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, west of the Rhine. The army of Germania Inferior, typically shown on inscriptions as EX. GER. INF, included several legions at various times, of these, Legions I Minervia and XXX Ulpia Victrix were the most permanent. The Roman Navys Classis Germanica, charged with patrolling the Rhine, the first confrontations between a Roman army and the peoples of Germania Inferior occurred during Julius Caesars Gallic Wars. Germanic influence increased during Roman times, leading to the assimilation of all Celtic peoples in the area, Germania Inferior had Roman settlements since around 50 BC and was at first part of Gallia Belgica. Although it had occupied since the reign of Augustus, it wasnt formally established as a Roman province until around AD85. It later became an Imperial province and it lay north of Germania Superior, these two together made up Lesser Germania. The adjective Inferior refers to its downstream position, as attested in the early 5th century Notitia Dignitatum, the province was renamed Germania Secunda in the 4th century. It was administered by a consularis and formed part of the Diocese of Gaul, up to the end of Roman control, it was an intensely garrisoned province that was inhabited by Romans and Ripuarian Franks in the 5th century. After the final abandonment of the province it became the core of the Frankish Kingdom, de Romeinen tussen Schelde en Maas. Livius. org, Germania inferior http, //www. library. ucla. edu/yrl/reference/maps/blaeu/germania-inferior-nt. htm#qvarta_branbantiae Blaeu Atlas Germania Inferior Hilary of Poitiers, an open letter sent to the bishop of the province of Germania Secunda, among others
26.
Germania Superior
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Germania Superior was a province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of todays western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, important cities were Besançon, Strasbourg, Wiesbaden, and Germania Superiors capital, Mainz. It comprised the Middle Rhine, bordering on the Limes Germanicus, although it had been occupied militarily since the reign of Augustus, Germania Superior was not made into an official province until c.85 AD. Lower Germania was occupied by the Belgae, the Romans did not abandon this region at any time after then. They were to be restored to the senate in 10 years under proconsuls elected by the senate, among these independent provinces were upper Germania. Apparently it had become a province in the last years of the republic, tacitus also mentions it as the province of Germania Superior in his Annales. Cassius Dio viewed the Germanic tribes as Celts, an impression given perhaps by Belgica, Dio does not mention the border, but he views upper Germany as extending to the source of the Rhine. It is not clear if he was aware of the Upper Rhine in Switzerland, today we call the section of the Rhine running through upper Germania the middle Rhine. Augustus had planned to all of central Germania in one province. This plan was frustrated by the Germanic tribesmen at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest, Augustus decided to limit the empire at the Rhine-Danube border. Thereafter continual conflict prevailed along it, forcing the Romans to conduct punitive expeditions, by 12 BC, major bases existed at Xanten and Mainz, from which Drusus operated. A system of forts gradually developed around these bases, in 69-70, all the Roman fortications along the Rhine and Danube were destroyed by Germanic insurrections and civil war between the legions. At the conclusion of this violent but brief social storm they were more extensively than before, with a road connecting Mainz. Domitian went to war against the Chatti in 83-85, who were north of Frankfurt, at this time the first line, or continuous fortified border, was constructed. It consisted of a zone of observation, a palisade where practicable, wooden watchtowers. The system reached maximum extent by 90, a Roman road went through the Odenwald and a network of secondary roads connected all the forts and towers. The plan governing the development of the limes was relatively simple, the bulge divided the densely populated Celtic settlements along the entire river system in two. Invading forces could move up under cover of the Black Forest, Roman defensive works therefore cut across the base of the bulge, denying the protected corridor and shortening the line
27.
Raetia
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Raetia was a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the west with Transalpine Gaul and on south with Venetia et Histria. It thus comprised the districts occupied in modern times by eastern and central Switzerland, southern Bavaria and the Upper Swabia, Vorarlberg, the part of Tirol. Later Vindelicia formed part of Raetia, the northern border of Raetia during the times of Augustus and Tiberius was the River Danube. Later the Limes Germanicus marked the boundary, stretching for 166 km north of the Danube. Raetia linked to Italy across the Alps over the Reschen Pass, the Romansh people living in Southeast Switzerland are believed to be direct descendants of the Raetians. However, the lineage of the Romansh people remains incomplete. Little is known of the origin or history of the Raetians, livy states distinctly that they were of Etruscan origin. The Raetians are first mentioned by Polybius, and little is heard of them till after the end of the Republic, there is little doubt, however, that they retained their independence until their subjugation in 15 BC by Tiberius and Drusus. During the reign of Marcus Aurelius, Raetia was governed by the commander of the Legio III Italica, the boundary between them is not clearly defined, but may be stated generally as a line drawn eastwards from the lacus Brigantinus to the Oenus. Much of Raetia prima remained as a political unit, Raetia Curiensis, for several centuries. Some of the valleys, however, were rich and fertile, and produced wine, Augustus Caesar preferred Raetian wine to any other. Considerable trade in pitch, honey, wax, and cheese occurred, the chief towns of Raetia were Tridentum and Curia. The Rätikon mountain range derives its name from Raetia, Alpine regiments of the Roman army This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Raetia. PC von Planta, Das alte Rätien T Mommsen in Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, iii. p.706 Joachim Marquardt, P. pp.16,161,196 Mary B Peaks, The General Civil and Military Administration of Noricum and Raetia. Bagnall, R. J. Drinkwater, A. Esmonde-Cleary, W. Harris, R. Knapp, S. Mitchell, S. Parker, C. Wells, J. Wilkes, R. Talbert, M. E. Downs, M. Joann McDaniel, B. Z. Lund, T. Elliott, cS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list
28.
Noricum
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Noricum is the Latin name for a Celtic kingdom, or federation of tribes, that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a province of the Roman Empire and its borders were the Danube to the north, Raetia and Vindelicia to the west, Pannonia to the east and southeast, and Italia to the south. The kingdom was founded around 400 BC, and had its capital at the residence at Virunum on the Magdalensberg. Its area corresponded to the part of modern Styria and Carinthia, Upper/Lower Austria west of Vienna, Salzburg, a part of Bavaria. The famous Noric steel was used in the making of Roman weapons. Gold and salt were found in considerable quantities, the plant called saliunca grew in abundance and was used as a perfume according to Pliny the Elder. Noric steel was famous for its quality and hardness, in Noricum, almost all those Celtic invaders are mentioned. The Hallstatt graves contained weapons and ornaments from the Bronze age, through the period of transition, up to the Hallstatt culture, william Ridgeway made a strong case for the theory that the cradle of the Homeric Achaeans was in Noricum and neighbouring areas. The kingdom of Noricum was a provider of weaponry for the Roman armies from the mid-Republic onwards. Especially the Roman swords were made was made of the best-quality steel then available, the strength of iron is determined by its carbon content. The wrought iron produced in the Greco-Roman world generally contained only traces of carbon and was too soft for tools. It thus needed to be carburised to at least 1. 5% carbon content. The main Roman method of achieving this was to heat the wrought iron to a temperature of over 800 C and hammer it in a charcoal fire. This technique had been developed empirically, as there is no evidence that ancient iron producers understood the chemistry involved, the rudimentary methods of carburisation used rendered the quality of the iron ore critical to the production of good steel. The ore needed to be rich in manganese, but also to very little, or preferably zero, phosphorus. The ore mined in Carinthia fulfills both criteria to an unusual degree, the Celtic peoples of Noricum empirically discovered that their ore made superior steel around 500 BC and established a major steel-making industry around it. At Magdalensberg, a production and trading centre was established. The finished products were mostly exported southwards, to Aquileia, a Roman colony founded in 180 BC, Noricum became a key ally of the Roman Republic, providing a reliable supply of high-quality weapons and tools in return for Roman military protection
29.
Illyricum (Roman province)
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Illyricum /ɪˈlɪrᵻkəm/ was a Roman province that existed from 27 BC to sometime during the reign of Vespasian. The province comprised Illyria/Dalmatia and Pannonia, Illyria included the area along the east coast of the Adriatic Sea and its inland mountains. With the creation of this province it came to be called Dalmatia, Illyria/Dalmatia stretched from the River Drin to Istria and the River Sava in the north. The area roughly corresponded to modern northern Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Pannonia was the plain which lie to its north, from the mountains of Illyria/Dalmatia to the westward bend of the River Danube. It was in the modern Vojvodina, northern Croatia and western Hungary, as the province developed Salona became as its capital. Illyricum derived its name from Illyria and these in turn are Latin names derived from the Greek Illyris. This latter area derived its name from the fact that, being close to Greece and it was part of the Roman province of Macedonia. Illyria stretched from the River Drilon in modern northern Albania to Istria, there were numerous islands off the coast, but they lacked drinking water. The mountains were cultivated towards the coast, but for the most they were barren, lack of water and poor or arid soil made much of Illyria poor agricultural area and this gave rise to piracy. The interior of the part of Illyricum was more fertile. Illyria was inhabited by a dozens of independent tribes and tribal groupings, most of them were labelled as Illyrians. In the north there were also Celtic tribes, the Pannonian plain in the north was more fertile. Its tribes were labelled as Pannonian, archaeological finds and toponyms show that the Pannonians differed culturally form the Illyrians and the eastern Celts who lived to their west, in what is now Austria. They were later Celticised following a Celtic invasion of the part of the region at the beginning of the 4th century BC. Some tribes in the area were Celtic, the Pannonians also had cultural similarities with the Illyrians. Iron mining and production was an important part of their economy in the pre-Roman days, the Romans fought three Illyrian wars between 229 BC and 168 BC. The First Illyrian War broke out due to concerns about attacks on the ships of Rome’s Italian allies in the Adriatic Sea by Illyrian pirates, numerous attacks on Italian ships prompted Rome to intervene. The Roman freed the Greek cities and attacked the Ardiaei, in 220 BC the Ardiaei carried out attacks on the Greek coast in the west, south and southeast
30.
Roman Dacia
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Roman Dacia was a province of the Roman Empire from 106 to 274–275 AD. Its territory consisted of eastern and south-eastern Transylvania, the Banat and it was from the very beginning organized as an imperial province and remained so throughout the Roman occupation. Historians estimates of the population of Roman Dacia range from 650,000 to 1,200,000, the conquest of Dacia was completed by Emperor Trajan after two major campaigns against Decebalus Dacian kingdom. The Romans did not occupy the entirety of the old Dacian kingdom, as the part of Moldavia, together with Maramureș. In 119, the Roman province was divided two departments, Dacia Superior and Dacia Inferior. In 124, Dacia Superior was divided into two provinces, Dacia Apulensis and Dacia Porolissensis, the Roman authorities undertook a massive and organized colonization of Dacia. New mines were opened and ore extraction intensified, while agriculture, stock breeding, Dacia began to supply grain not only to the military personnel stationed in the province but also to the rest of the Balkan area. It became a province, with about 10 cities known,8 of which held the highest rank of colonia. All the cities developed from old military camps, Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, the seat of the imperial procurator for all the three subdivisions was the financial, religious, and legislative center of the province. Apulum, where the governor of the three subdivisions had his headquarters, was not simply the greatest city within the province. There were military and political threats from the beginning of Roman Dacias existence, Free Dacians who bordered the province were the first adversary, who, after allying themselves with the Sarmatians, hammered the province during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Finding it increasingly difficult to retain Dacia, the emperors were forced to abandon the province by the 270s, making it the first of Romes long-term possessions to be abandoned. Dacia was devastated by the Germanic tribes together with the Carpi in 248–250, by the Carpi and Goths in 258 and 263, ancient sources implied that Dacia was virtually lost during the reign of Gallienus, but they also report that it was Aurelian who relinquished Dacia Traiana. He evacuated his troops and civilian administration from Dacia, and founded Dacia Aureliana with its capital at Serdica in Lower Moesia, the fate of the Romanized population of the former province of Dacia Traiana has become subject of spirited controversy. The opposing theory argues that the Romanians descended from the Romanized population of the Roman provinces of the Balkan Peninsula, the Dacians and the Getae frequently interacted with the Romans prior to Dacias incorporation into the Roman Empire. However, Roman attention on the area around the lower Danube was sharpened when Burebista unified the native tribes and his kingdom extended to Pannonia in the west and reached the Black Sea to the east, while to the south his authority extended into the Balkans. By 74 BC, the Roman legions under Gaius Scribonius Curio reached the lower Danube, Roman concern over the rising power and influence of Burebista was amplified when he began to play an active part in Roman politics. As part of Caesars planned Parthian campaign of 44 BC, he planned to cross into Dacia and eliminate Burebista, although the planned expedition into Dacia did not happen due to Caesars assassination, Burebista failed to bring about any true unification of the tribes he ruled
31.
Shapur I
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Shapur I, also known as Shapur I the Great, was the second shahanshah of the Sasanian Empire. The dates of his reign are commonly given as 240/42 – 270/72 and he became the first Roman Emperor to be captured as a prisoner of war, causing instability in the Empire. As such, the battle is viewed as one of the worst disasters in Roman military history. The name Shapur is a combination of the word šāh and pūr, the name is derived from Old Iranian *xšāyaθiyahyā-puθra-. The name is attested in Manichaean sources as Shabuhr, while it is attested in Latin sources as Sapores and Sapor, Shapur was the son of Ardashir I, the founder of the Sasanian dynasty and whom Shapur succeeded. His mother was Lady Myrōd, who—according to legend—was an Arsacid princess, the Talmud cites a nickname for her, Ifra Hurmiz, after her bewitching beauty. Shapur also had a brother named Ardashir, who would serve as governor of Kirman. Shapur may have also had another brother with the same name, before an assembly of magnates, Ardashir judged him the gentlest, wisest, bravest and ablest of all his children and nominated him as his successor. Shapur also appears as heir apparent in Ardashirs investiture inscriptions at Naqsh-e Rajab and his capital, Gor. ”The Cologne Mani-Codex indicates that, by 240, Ardashir and Shapur were already reigning together. In a letter from the Roman Emperor Gordian III to his senate, dated to 242, synarchy is also evident in the coins of this period that portray Ardashir facing his youthful son and bear a legend that indicates Shapur as king. The date of Shapurs coronation remains debated,240 is frequently noted, the year 240 also marks the seizure and subsequent destruction of Hatra, about 100 km southwest of Nineveh and Mosul in present-day Iraq. According to legend, al-Nadirah, the daughter of the king of Hatra, betrayed her city to the Sasanians, Ardashir I had, towards the end of his reign, renewed the war against the Roman Empire. Shapur I conquered the Mesopotamian fortresses Nisibis and Carrhae and advanced into Syria. In 242, the Roman emperor Gordian III set out against the Sasanians with “a huge army and great quantity of gold, ” and wintered in Antioch, while Shapur was busy in subduing Khwarezm and Gilan. “We have penetrated as far as Nisibis, and shall even get to Ctesiphon, Gordian III later invaded eastern Mesopotamia but faced tough resistance from the Sasanians, following this blockade Gordian died in battle and the Romans chose Philip the Arab as Emperor. Philip was not willing to repeat the mistakes of previous claimants, Philip concluded a peace with the Sasanians in 244, he had agreed that Armenia lay within Persia’s sphere of influence. He also had to pay an indemnity to the Persians of 500,000 gold denarii. Philip immediately issued coins proclaiming that he had made peace with the Persians, however, Philip later broke the treaty and seized lost territory
32.
Ingenuus
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This article is about the Roman commander named Ingenuus. For the Roman legal term for a man, see ingenui. Ingenuus was a Roman military commander, the legate in Pannonia. Appointed by Gallienus himself, Ingenuus served him well by repulsing a Sarmatian invasion and securing the Pannonian border, at least temporarily. Ingenuus had also charged with the military education of Caesar Cornelius Licinius Valerianus, the young son of Emperor Gallienus. A well-liked and admired commander, Ingenuus found an opportunity to become the Roman Emperor when Valerian was captured and killed by Shapur I of the Sassanid Empire, throwing off their allegiance to Valerians son, the legions of Moesia proclaimed Ingenuus Roman Emperor at Sirmium in 260. Gallienus was in Germania on the Rhine frontier, so he acted quickly by recalling troops from Gaul, Ingenuus died after the battle by drowning himself in a nearby river to avoid capture
33.
Battle of Edessa
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The Battle of Edessa took place between the armies of the Roman Empire under the command of Emperor Valerian and Sassanid forces under Shahanshah Shapur I in 260. The Roman army was defeated and captured in its entirety by the Persian forces, as such, the battle is generally viewed as one of the worst disasters in Roman military history. Prior to the battle, Shapur I had penetrated several times deeply into Roman territory, after defeating the usurper Aemilianus and assuming the purple for himself, Valerian arrived in the eastern provinces as soon as he could and gradually restored order. Soon he had to confront a naval Gothic invasion in northern Asia Minor, the Goths ravaged Pontus and moved south into Cappadocia. An attempt from Valerian and his army in Antiocheia to intercept them failed because of the plague, while his army was in that weakened state, Shapur invaded northern Mesopotamia in 260, probably in early Spring. In his sixties, the aged Valerian marched eastward to the Sassanid borders, according to Shapurs account, Valerian met the main Persian army, under the command of Shapur I, between Carrhae and Edessa and was thoroughly defeated and captured with his entire army. According to the Roman sources, which are not very clear, then Valerian tried to negotiate but he was captured, it is possible that his army surrendered after that. The prisoners included, according to Shapurs claims, many other high-ranking officials, including a praetorian prefect and it has also been claimed that Shapur went back on his word by having the emperor seized after agreeing to truce negotiations. There are varying accounts as to Valerians fate following his capture at the hands of Shapur, some scholars claim Shapur sent Valerian and some of his army to the city of Bishapur, where they lived in relatively good conditions. Shapur used the remaining soldiers in engineering and development plans, as the Romans were skilled tradesman, band-e Kaisar is one of the remnants of Roman engineering located near the ancient city of Susa. According to another source, Shapur humiliated Valerian, using the former emperor as a human stepping-stool while mounting his horse and he was reportedly kept in cage and was humiliated for the Persian Emperors pleasure, according to Aurelius Victor. Upon his death, Valerians body was allegedly skinned and stuffed with, depending on which account, manure or straw, following Valerians capture, Shapur raided Cilicia but he was finally repulsed by a Roman force that was rallied by Macrianus, Callistus and Odenathus of Palmyra. Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum, v. Zosimus, New History, abdolhossein Zarinkoob, Ruzgaran, tarikh-i Iran az aghz ta saqut saltnat Pahlvi, Sukhan,1999. The Roman Empire at Bay AD 180–395, Routledge,2004, ISBN 0-415-10058-5 Valerian on De Imperatoribus Romanis
34.
Regalianus
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C Regalianus was a Dacian general who turned against the Roman Empire and became himself emperor for a brief period, being murdered by the hands who raised him to power. The main source of information is the unreliable and for the most part fabricated Historia Augusta, other sources are Eutropius, who calls him Trebellianus, and Aurelius Victor and the Epitome de Caesaribus, which call him Regillianus. About his origin, the Tyranni Triginta says he was a Dacian and he probably was of senatorial rank, and had received military promotion from the Emperor Valerian. After the defeat and capture of Valerian in the east, the border populations felt insecure, the population and the army of the province of Pannonia had chosen Ingenuus, and elected him emperor, but the lawful emperor, Gallienus, had defeated the usurper. Gallienus had moved to Italia, however, to deal with an invasion of the Alamanni, Regalianus bravely fought thereafter against the Sarmatians. Short time after his victory, he was killed by a coalition of his own people, gaius Cassius Regallianus Media related to Regalianus at Wikimedia Commons
35.
Postumus
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Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus was a Roman commander of provincial origin who ruled as emperor in the west. He ruled for the part of ten years before he was murdered by his own troops. Little is known about the life of Postumus. He has been claimed as a Batavian, certainly his coinage honours deities—Hercules Magusanus, Hercules Magusanus was probably an interpretatio romana translation of the Germanic deity Donar. Deusoniensis may refer to the town of Deuso, located in or near Batavian territory and likely to be identified with Diessen, from these relatively obscure provincial origins, Postumus would have risen through the ranks of the army until he held command of the Roman forces among the Celts. What his precise title was is not definitely known, though he may plausibly have been promoted by the emperor Valerian to the position of imperial legate of Lower Germany, Postumus was evidently in favour at court, and, according to König, was granted an honorary consulship. By 259, Valerian was campaigning in the east against the Persians, while his son, consequently, Gallienus left his son, Saloninus, and military commanders, including Postumus, to protect the Rhine. Amid the chaos of an invasion by the Alamanni and Franks, and spurred on by news of the defeat and capture of Valerian, the army in Gaul revolted and proclaimed Postumus emperor. The trigger was their defeat in 260 of a Juthungian army which was returning from Italy laden with prisoners, under the command of Postumus and Marcus Simplicinius Genialis, the Roman army crushed the Juthungi, and Postumus proceeded to distribute the captured spoils to the legions he commanded. Saloninus, on the advice of his praetorian prefect Silvanus, demanded the transfer of the booty to his residence at Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium. Postumus assembled his army and made a show of reluctantly enforcing this command, the troops accordingly proclaimed Postumus emperor and proceeded to besiege and attack Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, trapping Saloninus and Silvanus. After breaching the walls of the city, Postumus had Silvanus and Saloninus killed, Later he erected a triumphal arch to celebrate his victory. Postumus was immediately recognized as emperor in Gaul, the two Germanias, and Raetia, by 261, Britannia, Gallia Narbonensis and Hispania had also acknowledged him as emperor, possibly after an expedition to Britain in the winter of 260/261. Apart from the position of emperor, he assumed the office of consul alongside a colleague. Like his imperial predecessors, he became the pontifex maximus of the state, reflecting his power base, the chief members of Postumus’ administration appeared to have been of northern Gallic origin, and indeed, the entire administration soon became rapidly Gallicized. Both Victorinus and Tetricus, important members of the government, hailed from this region, scholars continue to debate whether Postumus originally intended to dislodge Gallienus from Rome or was content to rule only the western provinces. From the beginning of his usurpation, Postumus had made it clear that he had no intentions to make a bid for Rome. Postumus’ powerbase was Gaul and his responsibility was the defense of the Rhine provinces
36.
Cologne
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Cologne is the largest city in the German federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the fourth-largest city in Germany. It is located within the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region, one of the major European metropolitan areas, and with more than ten million inhabitants, Cologne is located on both sides of the Rhine River, less than eighty kilometres from Belgium. The citys famous Cologne Cathedral is the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of Cologne, the University of Cologne is one of Europes oldest and largest universities. Cologne was founded and established in Ubii territory in the first century AD as the Roman Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, Cologne, the French version of the citys name, has become standard in English as well. The city functioned as the capital of the Roman province of Germania Inferior, during the Middle Ages it flourished on one of the most important major trade routes between east and west in Europe. Cologne was one of the members of the Hanseatic League and one of the largest cities north of the Alps in medieval. Up until World War II the city had several occupations by the French. Cologne was one of the most heavily bombed cities in Germany during World War II, the bombing reduced the population by 95%, mainly due to evacuation, and destroyed almost the entire city. With the intention of restoring as many buildings as possible. Cologne is a cultural centre for the Rhineland, it hosts more than thirty museums. Exhibitions range from local ancient Roman archeological sites to contemporary graphics, the Cologne Trade Fair hosts a number of trade shows such as Art Cologne, imm Cologne, Gamescom, and the Photokina. The first urban settlement on the grounds of modern-day Cologne was Oppidum Ubiorum, founded in 38 BC by the Ubii, in 50 AD, the Romans founded Colonia on the Rhine and the city became the provincial capital of Germania Inferior in 85 AD. The city was named Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium in 50 AD, considerable Roman remains can be found in present-day Cologne, especially near the wharf area, where a notable discovery of a 1900-year-old Roman boat was made in late 2007. From 260 to 271 Cologne was the capital of the Gallic Empire under Postumus, Marius, in 310 under Constantine a bridge was built over the Rhine at Cologne. Roman imperial governors resided in the city and it one of the most important trade. Cologne is shown on the 4th century Peutinger Map, maternus, who was elected as bishop in 313, was the first known bishop of Cologne. The city was the capital of a Roman province until occupied by the Ripuarian Franks in 462, parts of the original Roman sewers are preserved underneath the city, with the new sewerage system having opened in 1890. Early medieval Cologne was part of Austrasia within the Frankish Empire, Cologne had been the seat of a bishop since the Roman period, under Charlemagne, in 795, bishop Hildebold was promoted to archbishop
37.
Balkans
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The Balkan Peninsula, or the Balkans, is a peninsula and a cultural area in Eastern and Southeastern Europe with various and disputed borders. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch from the Serbia-Bulgaria border to the Black Sea, the highest point of the Balkans is Mount Musala 2,925 metres in the Rila mountain range. In Turkish, Balkan means a chain of wooded mountains, the name is still preserved in Central Asia with the Balkan Daglary and the Balkan Province of Turkmenistan. A less popular hypothesis regarding its etymology is that it derived from the Persian Balā-Khāna, from Antiquity through the Middle Ages, the Balkan Mountains had been called by the local Thracian name Haemus. According to Greek mythology, the Thracian king Haemus was turned into a mountain by Zeus as a punishment, a reverse name scheme has also been suggested. D. Dechev considers that Haemus is derived from a Thracian word *saimon, a third possibility is that Haemus derives from the Greek word haema meaning blood. The myth relates to a fight between Zeus and the monster/titan Typhon, Zeus injured Typhon with a thunder bolt and Typhons blood fell on the mountains, from which they got their name. The earliest mention of the name appears in an early 14th-century Arab map, the Ottomans first mention it in a document dated from 1565. There has been no other documented usage of the word to refer to the region before that, there is also a claim about an earlier Bulgar Turkic origin of the word popular in Bulgaria, however it is only an unscholarly assertion. The word was used by the Ottomans in Rumelia in its meaning of mountain, as in Kod̲j̲a-Balkan, Čatal-Balkan, and Ungurus-Balkani̊. The concept of the Balkans was created by the German geographer August Zeune in 1808, during the 1820s, Balkan became the preferred although not yet exclusive term alongside Haemus among British travelers. Among Russian travelers not so burdened by classical toponymy, Balkan was the preferred term, zeunes goal was to have a geographical parallel term to the Italic and Iberian Peninsula, and seemingly nothing more. The gradually acquired political connotations are newer and, to a large extent, after the dissolution of Yugoslavia beginning in June 1991, the term Balkans again received a negative meaning, especially in Croatia and Slovenia, even in casual usage. A European Union initiative of 1999 is called the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, and its northern boundary is often given as the Danube, Sava and Kupa Rivers. The Balkan Peninsula has an area of about 470,000 km2. It is more or less identical to the known as Southeastern Europe. As of 1920 until World War II, Italy included Istria, the current territory of Italy includes only the small area around Trieste inside the Balkan Peninsula. However, the regions of Trieste and Istria are not usually considered part of the Balkans by Italian geographers, the Western Balkans is a neologism coined to describe the countries of ex-Yugoslavia and Albania
38.
Aureolus
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For the Frankish ruler of Aragon, see Aureolus of Aragon. Aureolus was a Roman military commander and would-be usurper and he was one of the so-called Thirty Tyrants who populated the reign of the Emperor Gallienus. Of humble Daco-Roman origins, he was made by the Emperor Gallienus and proved himself to be one of the most brilliant and innovative soldiers of the age. However, he turned against his benefactor, and was destroyed in the political turmoil that surrounded the Emperors assassination in a conspiracy orchestrated by his senior officers. The ancient sources refer to Aureolus are limited and the information they do provide is often contradictory. They include the Historia Augusta, Zonaras epitome and Zosimus Historia Nova and his career was most recently summarised in John Brays biography of Gallienus. The analysis of Aureoluss career given here, especially his final rebellion, is based on Bray. There is no way of determining his date of birth, Zonaras says that he was a herdsman born in the Roman province of Dacia, north of the Danube. It may be conjectured that, like many Dacians, he enlisted in the Roman Army as a man and had the good fortune to come to the attention of the Emperor Gallienus. His first job was said to have been as a groom, if so, he must have been a good one, because we first encounter him as Master of the Imperial Horses according to Zonaras. The exact meaning of term is yet unclear. Does it mean that he was Gallienuss Head Groom or does it refer to his position as commander of Gallienuss cavalry army. He was said to have been ambidextrous which is doubtless a useful skill for a groom, Aureolus was the first commander of this force under the Emperor. Aureolus first made his mark in history in 258 when his cavalry was responsible for the defeat of the usurper Ingenuus at the Battle of Mursa. In 261 he commanded the force which defeated the army of the usurpers Macrianus Major, in any case Gallienus seems to have given Aureolus a free hand in crushing the rebels and entrusted him with a force that proved sufficient for the purpose. After the Macriani were defeated and the Danubian garrison forces who had supported them were pacified, Aureolus accompanied the Emperor in attempt to crush Postumus and his Gallic Empire. It may have been as a result of this campaign that the province of Raetia was recovered from the Gallic Empire, however, Postumus managed to evade complete defeat thanks, it was asserted, to the carelessness of Aureolus. It is often implied that even at this stage Aureolus was willing to see Gallienus displaced as Emperor, Zosimus reports that Aureolus and two other officers conspired against Gallienus, but that all of them were punished and submitted, except Aureolus, who retained his anger against the emperor
39.
Mursa
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Osijek is the fourth largest city in Croatia with a population of 108,048 in 2011. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, Osijek is located on the right bank of the river Drava,25 kilometres upstream of its confluence with the Danube, at an elevation of 94 metres. The name was given to the city due to its position on elevated ground which prevented the city being flooded by the swamp waters. Its name Osijek comes from the Croatian word oseka which means ebb tide, the origins of human habitation of Osijek dates back to Neolithic times, with the first known inhabitants belonging to the Illyrians and later invading Celtic tribes. Roman emperor Hadrian raised the old settlement of Mursa to a colony with special privileges in 131 and these battles, especially the latter one, had long-term consequences for the colony and the region which was already under ever-increasing pressure from the invading Goths and other invading tribes. The earliest recorded mention of Osijek dates back to 1196, the town was a feudal property of Kórógyi family between 1353 and 1472. After the death of the last Kórógyi, King Mathias granted it to the Rozgonyi family, the city was almost completely destroyed by the Ottoman conquerors on 8 August 1526. The Turks rebuilt it in Ottoman oriental style and it was mentioned in the Turkish census of 1579, in 1566, Suleiman the Magnificent built a famous,8 kilometer-long wooden bridge of boats in Osijek, considered at that time to be one of the wonders of the world. In Ottoman Empire Osijek was part of the Budin Eyalet, following the Battle of Mohács in 1687, Osijek was liberated by the Habsburg Monarchy on 29 September 1687. Osijek was restored to rule on 29 September 1687 when the Turks were ousted. Between 1712 and 1715, the Austrian authorities built a new fortress, outer walls and all five planned bastions known as Tvrđa, in the heart of the town. Holy Trinity Square is surrounded on the north by the building of the Military Command, on the west by the Main Guard building, in the middle of the square there is a monument to the plague which was erected in 1729 by general Maximilian Petras widow. The Gornji Grad was founded in 1692 and Donji Grad followed on 1698 settled mostly by the inhabitants from swampy area of Baranja, Tvrđa, Gornji, and Donji grad continued as separate municipalities until 1786 when they were united into a single entity. In late 18th century it took over from Virovitica as the centre of the Verőce county, the Habsburg empire also facilitated the migration and settlement of German immigrants into the town and region during this period. In 1809, Osijek was granted the title of a Free Royal City, the city developed along the lines of other central European cities, with cultural, architectural and socio-economic influences filtering down from Vienna and Buda. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Osijek was the seat of the Virovitica County of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, during the 19th century, cultural life mostly revolved around the theatre, museums, collections, and printing houses. City society, whose development was accompanied by an economy and developed trade relations, was related to religious festivals, public events, entertainment. The Novi Grad section of the city was built in the 19th century, the newest additions to the city include Sjenjak, Vijenac, Jug and Jug II, which were built in the twentieth century
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Sirmium
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Sirmium was a city in the Roman province of Pannonia. In 294 AD, Sirmium was proclaimed one of four capitals of the Roman Empire and it was also the capital of the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum and of Pannonia Secunda. Sirmium was located on the Sava river, on the site of modern Sremska Mitrovica in northern Serbia, ¨The site is protected as an Archaeological Site of Exceptional Importance. The modern region of Syrmia was named after the city, Sirmium had 100,000 inhabitants and was one of the biggest cities of its time. Colin McEvedy, however, put the population at only 7,000, Ammianus Marcellinus called it the glorious mother of cities. Remains of Sirmium stand on the site of the modern-day Sremska Mitrovica,55 km west of Belgrade and 145 km away from Kostolac, archaeologists have found traces of organized human life on the site of Sirmium dating from 5,000 BC. The city was mentioned in the 4th century BC and was originally inhabited by the Illyrians. The Triballi king Syrmus was later considered the founder of Sirmium, but the roots are different. The name Sirmium by itself means flow, flowing water, wetland, with the Celtic tribe of Scordisci as allies, the Roman proconsul Marcus Vinicius took Sirmium in around 14 BC. In the 1st century AD, Sirmium gained the status of a Roman colony, the Roman emperors Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, and Claudius II prepared war expeditions in Sirmium. In 103 Pannonia was split into two provinces, Pannonia Superior and Pannonia Inferior, and Sirmium became the city of the latter. In 296 Diocletian reorganized Pannonia into four provinces, Pannonia Prima, Pannonia Valeria, Pannonia Savia and Pannonia Secunda and he joined them with Noricum and Dalmatia to establish the Diocese of Pannonia, with Sirmium as its capital also. In 293, with the establishment of the Tetrarchy, the Roman Empire was split into four parts, Sirmium emerged as one of the four capital cities, the eastern part of Illyricum remained a separate prefecture under the East Roman Empire with its new capital in Thessalonica. From the 4th century, the city was an important Christian center, five church councils, the Councils of Sirmium, took place in Sirmium. The city also had a palace, a horse-racing arena, a mint, an arena theatre. Ancient historian Ammianus Marcellinus called it the mother of cities. The mint in Sirmium was connected with the mint in Salona, at the end of the 4th century Sirmium came under the sway of the Goths, and later, was again annexed to the East Roman Empire. In 441 the Huns conquered Sirmium, it remained for more than a century in the hands of other tribes, such as Eastern Goths
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Alemanni
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The Alemanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes on the upper Rhine river. In 496, the Alemanni were conquered by Frankish leader Clovis, mentioned as still pagan allies of the Christian Franks, the Alemanni were gradually Christianized during the 7th century. The Pactus Alamannorum is a record of their customary law during this period, until the 8th century, Frankish suzerainty over Alemannia was mostly nominal. But after an uprising by Theudebald, Duke of Alamannia, Carloman executed the Alamannic nobility, during the later and weaker years of the Carolingian Empire the Alemannic counts became almost independent, and a struggle for supremacy took place between them and the Bishopric of Constance. According to Asinius Quadratus their name means all men and it indicates that they were a conglomeration drawn from various Germanic tribes. Other sources say the name derives from alahmannen which means men of sanctuary and not all men. The Romans and the Greeks called them as such mentioned and this etymology has remained the standard derivation of the term. Walafrid Strabo, a monk of the Abbey of St, the name of Germany and the German language in several languages is derived from the name of this early Germanic tribal alliance. For details, see Names of Germany, the Alemanni were first mentioned by Cassius Dio describing the campaign of Caracalla in 213. At that time they dwelt in the basin of the Main. Cassius Dio portrays the Alemanni as victims of this treacherous emperor and they had asked for his help, says Dio, but instead he colonized their country, changed their place names and executed their warriors under a pretext of coming to their aid. When he became ill, the Alemanni claimed to have put a hex on him, Caracalla, it was claimed, tried to counter this influence by invoking his ancestral spirits. In retribution Caracalla then led the Legio II Traiana Fortis against the Alemanni, the legion was as a result honored with the name Germanica. Not on good terms with Caracalla, Geta had been invited to a reconciliation, at which time he was ambushed by centurions in Caracallas army. True or not, Caracalla, pursued by devils of his own, Caracalla left for the frontier, where for the rest of his short reign he was known for his unpredictable and arbitrary operations launched by surprise after a pretext of peace negotiations. If he had any reasons of state for such actions they remained unknown to his contemporaries, whether or not the Alemanni had been previously neutral, they were certainly further influenced by Caracalla to become thereafter notoriously implacable enemies of Rome. This mutually antagonistic relationship is perhaps the reason why the Roman writers persisted in calling the Alemanni barbari, most of the Alemanni were probably at the time in fact resident in or close to the borders of Germania Superior. At that time the frontier was being fortified for the first time
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Franks
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Some Franks raided Roman territory, while other Frankish tribes joined the Roman troops of Gaul. In later times, Franks became the rulers of the northern part of Roman Gaul. The Salian Franks lived on Roman-held soil between the Rhine, Scheldt, Meuse, and Somme rivers in what is now Northern France, Belgium, the kingdom was acknowledged by the Romans after 357 CE. Following the collapse of Rome in the West, the Frankish tribes were united under the Merovingians, who succeeded in conquering most of Gaul in the 6th century, which greatly increased their power. The Merovingian dynasty, descendants of the Salians, founded one of the Germanic monarchies that would absorb large parts of the Western Roman Empire, the Frankish state consolidated its hold over the majority of western Europe by the end of the 8th century, developing into the Carolingian Empire. This empire would gradually evolve into the state of France and the Holy Roman Empire, in the Middle Ages, the term Frank was used in the east as a synonym for western European, as the Franks were then rulers of most of Western Europe. The Franks in the east kept their Germanic language and became part of the Germans, Dutch, Flemings, the Franconian languages, which are called Frankisch in Dutch or Fränkisch in German, originated at least partly in the Old Frankish language of the Franks. Nowadays, the German and Dutch names for France are Frankreich and Frankrijk, respectively, the name Franci was originally socio-political. To the Romans, Celts, and Suebi, the Franks must have seemed alike, they looked the same and spoke the same language, so that Franci became the name by which the people were known. Within a few centuries it had eclipsed the names of the tribes, though the older names have survived in some place-names, such as Hesse. Following the precedents of Edward Gibbon and Jacob Grimm, the name of the Franks has been linked with the word frank in English and it has been suggested that the meaning of free was adopted because, after the conquest of Gaul, only Franks were free of taxation. It is traditionally assumed that Frank comes from the Germanic word for javelin, there is also another theory that suggests that Frank comes from the Latin word francisca meaning. Words in other Germanic languages meaning fierce, bold or insolent, eumenius addressed the Franks in the matter of the execution of Frankish prisoners in the circus at Trier by Constantine I in 306 and certain other measures, Ubi nunc est illa ferocia. Feroces was used often to describe the Franks, contemporary definitions of Frankish ethnicity vary both by period and point of view. According to their law and their custom, writing in 2009, Professor Christopher Wickham pointed out that the word Frankish quickly ceased to have an exclusive ethnic connotation. North of the River Loire everyone seems to have considered a Frank by the mid-7th century at the latest. Two early sources describe the origin of the Franks are a 7th-century work known as the Chronicle of Fredegar. Neither of these works are accepted by historians as trustworthy, compared with Gregory of Tourss Historia Francorum, the chronicle describes Priam as a Frankish king whose people migrated to Macedonia after the fall of Troy
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Gaul
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It covered an area of 190,800 sq mi. According to the testimony of Julius Caesar, Gaul was divided into three parts, Gallia Celtica, Belgica and Aquitania, during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, Gaul fell under Roman rule, Gallia Cisalpina was conquered in 203 BC and Gallia Narbonensis in 123 BC. Gaul was invaded after 120 BC by the Cimbri and the Teutons, Gallia remains a name of France in modern Greek and modern Latin. The Greek and Latin names Galatia, and Gallia are ultimately derived from a Celtic ethnic term or clan Gal-to-. Galli of Gallia Celtica were reported to refer to themselves as Celtae by Caesar. Hellenistic folk etymology connected the name of the Galatians to the supposedly milk-white skin of the Gauls, modern researchers say it is related to Welsh gallu, Cornish galloes, capacity, power, thus meaning powerful people. The English Gaul is from French Gaule and is unrelated to Latin Gallia, as adjectives, English has the two variants, Gaulish and Gallic. The two adjectives are used synonymously, as pertaining to Gaul or the Gauls, although the Celtic language or languages spoken in Gaul is predominantly known as Gaulish. The Germanic w- is regularly rendered as gu- / g- in French, also unrelated in spite of superficial similarity is the name Gael. The Irish word gall did originally mean a Gaul, i. e. an inhabitant of Gaul, but its meaning was later widened to foreigner, to describe the Vikings, and later still the Normans. The dichotomic words gael and gall are sometimes used together for contrast, by 500 BC, there is strong Hallstatt influence throughout most of France. By the late 5th century BC, La Tène influence spreads rapidly across the territory of Gaul. The La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late Iron Age in France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, southwest Germany, Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, farther north extended the contemporary pre-Roman Iron Age culture of northern Germany and Scandinavia. By the 2nd century BC, the Romans described Gallia Transalpina as distinct from Gallia Cisalpina, while some scholars believe the Belgae south of the Somme were a mixture of Celtic and Germanic elements, their ethnic affiliations have not been definitively resolved. One of the reasons is political interference upon the French historical interpretation during the 19th century, in addition to the Gauls, there were other peoples living in Gaul, such as the Greeks and Phoenicians who had established outposts such as Massilia along the Mediterranean coast. Also, along the southeastern Mediterranean coast, the Ligures had merged with the Celts to form a Celto-Ligurian culture, the prosperity of Mediterranean Gaul encouraged Rome to respond to pleas for assistance from the inhabitants of Massilia, who were under attack by a coalition of Ligures and Gauls. The Romans intervened in Gaul in 154 BC and again in 125 BC, whereas on the first occasion they came and went, on the second they stayed. Massilia was allowed to keep its lands, but Rome added to its territories the lands of the conquered tribes. The direct result of conquests was that by now, Rome controlled an area extending from the Pyrenees to the lower Rhône river
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Tarragona
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Tarragona is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tarragonès, geographically, it is bordered on the north by the Province of Barcelona and the Province of Lleida. The city has a population of 132,199, the real founding date of Tarragona is unknown. The city may have begun as an Iberic town called Kesse or Kosse, named for the Iberic tribe of the region, william Smith suggests that the city was probably founded by the Phoenicians, who called it Tarchon, which, according to Samuel Bochart, means a citadel. This name was derived from its situation on a high rock. It was seated on the river Sulcis or Tulcis, on a bay of the Mare Internum, the city was first named Colonia Iulia Urbs Triumphalis Tarraco and was capital of the province of Hispania Citerior. Subsequently, it became the capital of the named after it, Hispania Tarraconensis, in the Roman Empire. Tarraco lies on the road along the southeastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. According to Mela it was the richest town on that coast and its fertile plain and sunny shores are celebrated by Martial and other poets, and its neighbourhood is described as producing good wine and flax. An inscribed stone base for a now lost statue of Tiberius Claudius Candidus was found in Tarragona during the nineteenth century and this important marble block was purchased by the British Museum in 1994. After the demise of the Western Roman Empire, it was captured first by the Vandals, the Visigothic Kingdoms rule of Tarracona was ended by the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 714. It was an important border city of the Caliphate of Córdoba between 750 and 1013, after the demise of the Caliphate, it was part of the Taifa of Zaragoza between 1013 and 1110 and under the control of the Almoravid dynasty between 1110 and 1117. It was taken by the County of Barcelona in 1117, after the dynastic union of Aragon and Barcelona, it was part of the Kingdom of Aragon from 1164-1412. After dynastic union of Aragon and the Crown of Castile, it remained a part of Aragon until the foundation of the Spanish Empire in 1516. During the Catalan Revolt, Tarragon was captured by Catalan insurgents with French support in 1641 and it was captured by allied Portuguese, Dutch, and British troops in 1705 during the War of the Spanish Succession and remained in their hands until Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. During the war, the Catalans supported the claim of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen against the victorious Bourbon Duke of Anjou. He signed the Nueva Planta decrees, which abolished the Crown of Aragon and all remaining Catalan institutions, a British naval squadron commanded by Admiral Edward Codrington harassed the French besiegers with cannon fire and transported large numbers of reinforcements into the city by sea. Nevertheless, Suchets troops stormed into the defenses and killed or captured almost all the defenders and it became a subprefecture center in Bouches-de-lÈbre department of French empire
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