Theodosius II
There were a Theodosius II of Abkhazia, a Patriarch Theodosius II of Alexandria and a Theodosius II of Constantinople. Additionally, Pope Theodoros I of Alexandria is known as Theodosius II in Coptic history, Theodosius II, commonly surnamed Theodosius the Younger, or Theodosius the Calligrapher, was Eastern Roman Emperor from 408 to 450. He is mostly known for promulgating the Theodosian law code, and he presided over the outbreak of two great christological controversies and Eutychianism. Theodosius was born in 401 as the son of Emperor Arcadius. Already in January AD402 he was proclaimed co-Augustus by his father, in 408, his father died and the seven-year-old boy became Emperor of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire. Government was at first by the Praetorian Prefect Anthemius, under supervision the Theodosian land walls of Constantinople were constructed. In 414, Theodosius older sister Pulcheria was proclaimed Augusta and assumed the regency, by 416 Theodosius was declared Augustus in his own right and the regency ended, but his sister remained a strong influence on him.
In June 421, Theodosius married Aelia Eudocia, a woman of Greek origin, the two had a daughter named Licinia Eudoxia. In 423, the Western Emperor Honorius, Theodosius uncle, Honorius sister Galla Placidia and her young son Valentinian fled to Constantinople to seek Eastern assistance and after some deliberation in 424 Theodosius opened the war against Joannes. On 23 October 425, Valentinian III was installed as Emperor of the West with the assistance of the magister officiorum Helion, to strengthen the ties between the two parts of the Empire, Theodosius daughter Licinia Eudoxia was betrothed to Valentinian. In 425, Theodosius founded the University of Constantinople with 31 chairs, among subjects were law, medicine, geometry, astronomy and rhetoric. In 429, Theodosius appointed a commission to collect all of the laws since the reign of Constantine I, and create a fully formalized system of law. The law code of Theodosius II, summarizing edicts promulgated since Constantine, formed a basis for the law code of Emperor Justinian I, the war with Persia proved indecisive, and a peace was arranged in 422 without changes to the status quo.
The wars of Theodosius were generally less successful, the Eastern Empire was plagued by raids by the Huns. Early in Theodosius IIs reign Romans used internal Hun discord to overcome Uldins invasion of the Balkans, the Romans strengthened their fortifications and in 424 agreed to pay 350 pounds of gold to encourage the Huns to remain at peace with the Romans. In 433 with the rise of Attila and Bleda to unify the Huns, when Roman Africa fell to the Vandals in 439, both Eastern and Western Emperors sent forces to Sicily, intending to launch an attack on the Vandals at Carthage, but this project failed. Seeing the Imperial borders without significant forces, the Huns and Sassanid Persia both attacked and the force had to be recalled. During 443 two Roman armies were defeated and destroyed by the Huns, anatolius negotiated a peace agreement, the Huns withdrew in exchange for humiliating concessions, including an annual tribute of 2,100 Roman pounds of gold
Paganism
Paganism is a term that derives from Latin word pagan, which means nonparticipant, one excluded from a more distinguished, professional group. The term was used in the 4th century, by early Christian community, the term competed with polytheism already in use in Judaism, by Philo in the 1st century. Pagans and paganism was a pejorative for the same polytheistic group, Paganism has broadly connoted religion of the peasantry, and for much of its history a derogatory term. Alternate terms in Christian texts for the group was hellene. In and after the Middle Ages, paganism was a pejorative that was applied to any non-Abrahamic or unfamiliar religion, there has been much scholarly debate as to the origin of the term paganism, especially since no one before the 20th century self-identified as a pagan. In the 19th century, paganism was re-adopted as a self-descriptor by members of various artistic groups inspired by the ancient world. Forms of these religions, influenced by various historical pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe, exist today and are known as contemporary or modern paganism, while most pagan religions express a worldview that is pantheistic, polytheistic, or animistic, there are some monotheistic pagans.
It is crucial to stress right from the start that until the 20th century people did not call themselves pagans to describe the religion they practised, the notion of paganism, as it is generally understood today, was created by the early Christian Church. It was a label that Christians applied to others, one of the antitheses that were central to the process of Christian self-definition, as such, throughout history it was generally used in a derogatory sense. The term pagan is from Late Latin paganus, revived during the Renaissance and it is related to pangere and ultimately comes from Proto-Indo-European *pag-. The evolution occurred only in the Latin west, and in connection with the Latin church, Hellene or gentile remained the word for pagan, and paganos continued as a purely secular term, with overtones of the inferior and the commonplace. However, this idea has multiple problems, the words usage as a reference to non-Christians pre-dates that period in history. Second, paganism within the Roman Empire centered on cities, the concept of an urban Christianity as opposed to a rural paganism would not have occurred to Romans during Early Christianity.
Third, unlike words such as rusticitas, paganus had not yet acquired the meanings used to explain why it would have been applied to pagans. Paganus more likely acquired its meaning in Christian nomenclature via Roman military jargon, Early Christians adopted military motifs and saw themselves as Milites Christi. As early as the 5th century, paganos was metaphorically used to persons outside the bounds of the Christian community. In response, Augustine of Hippo wrote De Civitate Dei Contra Paganos, in it, he contrasted the fallen city of Man to the city of God of which all Christians were ultimately citizens. Hence, the invaders were not of the city or rural
Imperial Regalia
The Imperial Regalia, Imperial Insignia, are the regalia of the Emperors and Kings of the Holy Roman Empire. The most important parts are the Imperial Crown, the Holy Lance, today they are kept at the Imperial Treasury in the Hofburg palace in Vienna, Austria. The Imperial Regalia are the completely preserved regalia from the Middle Ages. During the late Middle Ages, the word Imperial Regalia had many variations in the Latin language, the regalia were named in Latin, insignia imperialia, regalia insignia, insignia imperalis capellae quae regalia dicuntur and other similar words. The regalia is composed of two different parts, the greater group are the so-called Nürnberger Kleinodien, named after the town of Nuremberg, where the regalia were kept from 1424 to 1796. St. Stephens Purse, the Imperial Bible, and the so-called Sabre of Charlemagne were kept in Aachen until 1794 and it is not known how long they have been considered among the Imperial Regalia, nor how long they had been in Aachen. The inventory of the regalia during the late Middle Ages normally consisted only of five to six items, goffredo da Viterbo counted following items, the Imperial Cross, the Holy Lance, the crown, the sceptre, the orb, and the sword.
On other lists, the sword is not mentioned, whether the medieval chronicles really do refer to the same regalia which are kept in Vienna today depends on a variety of factors. Descriptions of the emperors only spoke of them being “clothed in imperial regalia” without exactly describing which items they were, the crown can only be dated back to the 13th century, when it is described in a medieval poem. The first definite pictorial image of the crown can only be in a mural in the Karlstein Castle close to Prague. It is difficult to define for how long the Imperial and Ceremonial Swords have belonged to the regalia, until the 15th century the Imperial Regalia had no firm depository and sometimes accompanied the ruler on his trips through the empire. Above all with conflicts around the legality of the rule it was important to own the insignia and they arrived there on 22 March in the next year from Plintenburg coming and were kept in the Heilig-Geist-Spital. They left this place regularly for the Heiltumsweisungen and for coronations, since of the Age of Enlightenment at least the imperial regalia had no constitutive or confirming character for the empire any more.
They were an only adorned decoration for the coronation of the emperors who all are derived from the House of Habsburg, the whole rigmarole around the coronation and the imperial regalia was felt mostly only as travesty. In July 1796 French troops crossed the Rhine and shortly after reached Franconia, on 23 July a part of the Imperial Regalia were transported by Nuremberg colonel Johann Georg Haller von Hallerstein from Nuremberg to Regensburg, where they arrived on the next day. On 28 September the remaining parts of the jewels were delivered to Regensburg, since this elopement parts of the treasure are missing. Until 1800 the Imperial Regalia remained in the St. Emmeram Castle in Regensburg, there the committal is verified for 29 October. The pieces from Aachen were brought in 1798 to Hildesheim and reached Vienna not before 1801, after the Anschluss of Austria to the Nazi Reich in 1938 the imperial regalia were returned on instruction by Adolf Hitler to Nuremberg, where they were exhibited in the Katharinenkirche
Salus
She was the goddess of safety and well-being of both the individual and the state. She is sometimes equated with the Greek goddess Hygieia, though her functions differ considerably and this view though is disputed among scholars. The issue is discussed in the section below, the two gods had temples in Rome on the Collis Salutaris and Mucialis respectively, two adjacent hilltops of the Quirinal, located in the regio known as Alta Semita. The high antiquity and importance of her cult is testified by the ceremony of the Augurium Salutis. Her cult was spread over all Italy, literary sources record relationships with Fortuna and Spes. She started to be associated to Valetudo, the Goddess of Personal Health. Later she became more a protector of personal health, around 180 BCE sacrificial rites in honour of Apollo and Salus took place there. There was a statue to Salus in the temple of Concordia and she is first known to be associated with the snake of Aesculapius from a coin of 55 BC minted by M. Acilius.
Her festival was celebrated on March 30, the two deities were related in several ways. Their shrines were very close to other on two adjacent hilltops of the Quirinal, the Collis Mucialis and Salutaris respectively. Some scholars claim some inscriptions to Sancus have been found on the Collis Salutaris and these deities were connected to the ancient agrarian cults of the valley of the Circus Maximus that remain mysterious. German scholars Georg Wissowa, Eduard Norden and Kurt Latte write of a deity named Salus Semonia, there is consensus among scholars that this line is a addition and cannot be dated with certainty. In other inscriptions, Salus is never connected to Semonia, Salus was often shown seated with her legs crossed, leaning her elbow on the arm of her throne. Often, her right hand out a patera to feed a snake which is coiled round an altar. The snake is reared up and dips its head to the patera, sometimes her hand is open and empty, making a gesture. Sometimes the snake directs its gaze along with hers, sometimes there is no altar, the snake is coiled around the arm of her throne instead.
Occasionally, Salus has a staff in her left hand with a snake twined around it. Later, Salus is shown standing, feeding her snake and this became the commonest pose, she is standing and grasping the wriggling snake firmly under her arm, directing it to the food she holds out on a dish in her other hand
Danish Crown Regalia
Danish Crown Regalia are the symbols of the Danish monarchy. They consist of three crowns, a Sceptre, Globus cruciger, the Sword of state and an Ampulla, the Danish Royal Regalia are kept in the Schatzkammer at Rosenborg Castle. The oldest of these is Christian IIIs sword of state from 1551, during the time of the elective monarchs, the clergy and nobility placed the crown on the kings head at the coronation ceremony. For the anointing of Christian V, a new crown was made along with the Throne Chair of Denmark of narwhal teeth and three silver lions, the latter created by Ferdinand Küblich. This was inspired by the description of King Solomons throne. The lions were formerly displayed in Parliament during the annual opening session. They were displayed before the throne in the room of Christiansborg Palace when the Danish kings granted audiences on particularly formal occasions. Rosenborg houses four sets of Crown Jewels still worn by the Queen of Denmark, and it includes the crown of King Christian IV, which is a fine example of Renaissance guildwork, the better known crown of King Christian V and a smaller crown for the kings consort.
The Royal Collection has other important items and jewels, as well as precious prayer-books, and items belonging to the Order of the Elephant, the term old regalia is used to describe the crown regalia used prior to the introduction of absolute monarchy in 1660. The crown was fashioned by Dirich Fyring at Odense assisted by the Nuremberg goldsmith Corvinianus Saur during the years 1595-1596 for the coronation of Christian IV and it is made of gold, table cut gemstones and pearls and weighs 2895 g. The circlet is ornamented with six sets of table cut diamonds between two large round pearls with enameled putti on either side, between each of these sets are star-like ornaments of triangular and square table cut diamonds. On the upper rim of the circlet are six large and six small arabesque-like points, at the center of each of the larger points is an enameled allegorical figure of one of the kings ruling functions and virtues. The three points above the forehead and behind each of his ears bears a pelican in her piety.
The point on the right of the kings forehead bears a representation of Fortitude riding a lion, while that on the bears the image of Justice as a woman holding a sword. The point above the back of the kings neck bears the image of Charity as a mother suckling her child. On the inside these points are decorated with the coats of arms of various regions of the realm, the six smaller points each bears a star-like design in triangular and square table diamonds with a large pear shaped pearl at its top. Originally an open crown, in 1648 it was closed with arches and an orb and cross and it was used for the last time at the 1648 coronation of Frederick III. The sword of state of Christian III was made in 1551 by Johann Siebe and it is made of gilded silver and decorated with enamel and table cut gemstones
Sceptre
A sceptre or scepter is a symbolic ornamental staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia. Figuratively, it means royal or imperial authority or sovereignty, either right or cruel, the ancient Indian work of Tirukkural dedicates a separate chapter each on the ethics of the right sceptre and the evils of the cruel sceptre. The Was and other types of staffs were signs of authority in Ancient Egypt, for this reason, they are often described as sceptres, even if they are full-length staffs. One of the earliest royal sceptres was discovered in the 2nd Dynasty tomb of Khasekhemwy in Abydos, kings were known to carry a staff, and Pharaoh Anedjib is shown on stone vessels carrying a so-called mks-staff. The staff with the longest history seems to be the heqa-sceptre, the Bronze Age rulers of Mesopotamia are not regularly depicted with sceptres. However, in instances, they are shown armed, with bow and arrow. Use of a rod or staff as representing authority can be traced to the beginning of Classical Antiquity.
Among the early Greeks, the sceptre was a staff, such as Agamemnon wielded or was used by respected elders, and came to be used by judges, military leaders, priests. It is represented on painted vases as a staff tipped with a metal ornament. When the sceptre is borne by Zeus or Hades, it is headed by a bird, when, in the Iliad, Agamemnon sends Odysseus to the leaders of the Achaeans, he lends him his sceptre. Among the Etruscans, sceptres of great magnificence were used by kings, many representations of such sceptres occur on the walls of the painted tombs of Etruria. The British Museum, the Vatican, and the Louvre possess Etruscan sceptres of gold, the Roman sceptre probably derived from the Etruscan. Under the Republic, a sceptre was a mark of consular rank. It was used by generals who received the title of imperator. In the First Persian Empire, the Biblical Book of Esther mentions the sceptre of the King of Persia. Esther 5,2 When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight, so Esther came near, and touched the top of the scepter.
Under the Roman Empire, the sceptrum Augusti was specially used by the emperors, the codes of the right and the cruel sceptre are found in the ancient Tamil work of Tirukkural, dating back to between the first and the third centuries BCE. With the advent of Christianity, the sceptre was tipped with a cross instead of with an eagle
Pope
The pope is the Bishop of Rome and, the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church. The current pope is Francis, who was elected on 13 March 2013, the office of the pope is the papacy. The pope is considered one of the worlds most powerful people because of his diplomatic and he is head of state of Vatican City, a sovereign city-state entirely enclaved within the Italian capital city of Rome. The papacy is one of the most enduring institutions in the world and has had a prominent part in world history, the popes in ancient times helped in the spread of Christianity and the resolution of various doctrinal disputes. In the Middle Ages, they played a role of importance in Western Europe. Currently, in addition to the expansion of the Christian faith and doctrine, the popes are involved in ecumenism and interfaith dialogue, charitable work, who originally had no temporal powers, in some periods of history accrued wide powers similar to those of temporal rulers. In recent centuries, popes were gradually forced to give up temporal power, the word pope derives from Greek πάππας meaning father.
The earliest record of the use of title was in regard to the by deceased Patriarch of Alexandria. Some historians have argued that the notion that Peter was the first bishop of Rome, the writings of the Church Father Irenaeus who wrote around AD180 reflect a belief that Peter founded and organised the Church at Rome. Moreover, Irenaeus was not the first to write of Peters presence in the early Roman Church, Clement of Rome wrote in a letter to the Corinthians, c. 96, about the persecution of Christians in Rome as the struggles in our time and presented to the Corinthians its heroes, the greatest and most just columns, the good apostles Peter and Paul. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote shortly after Clement and in his letter from the city of Smyrna to the Romans he said he would not command them as Peter and Paul did. Given this and other evidence, many agree that Peter was martyred in Rome under Nero. Protestants contend that the New Testament offers no proof that Jesus established the papacy nor even that he established Peter as the first bishop of Rome, using Peters own words, argue that Christ intended himself as the foundation of the church and not Peter.
First-century Christian communities would have had a group of presbyter-bishops functioning as leaders of their local churches, episcopacies were established in metropolitan areas. Antioch may have developed such a structure before Rome, some writers claim that the emergence of a single bishop in Rome probably did not occur until the middle of the 2nd century. In their view, Linus and Clement were possibly prominent presbyter-bishops, documents of the 1st century and early 2nd century indicate that the Holy See had some kind of pre-eminence and prominence in the Church as a whole, though the detail of what this meant is unclear. It seems that at first the terms episcopos and presbyter were used interchangeably, the consensus among scholars has been that, at the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries, local congregations were led by bishops and presbyters whose offices were overlapping or indistinguishable
Infant Jesus of Prague
Pious legends state that the statue once belonged to Saint Teresa of Avila. The statues clothes are changed by the Carmelite sisters of the church. It is especially venerated during the Christmas season and on May 27 every year on a day of feast, Pope Leo XIII approved the devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague statue in 1896, and instituted a sodality in its favor. On 30 March 1913, Pope Saint Pius X further organised the Confraternity of the Infant Jesus of Prague, Pope Pius XI granted its first Canonical Coronation on 27 September 1924. Pope Benedict XVI crowned the image for the time during his Apostolic visit to the Czech Republic on 26 September 2009. Over its history, copies of the Infant of Prague statue have attracted Catholic devotional worship in numerous countries. Outside of the Czech Republic, the statue is popular in Portugal, Ireland, Poland and Latin American countries that were previously colonies of Portugal. Many other Infant Jesus sculptures were carved by famous masters throughout Europe in the Middle Ages.
Often found in medieval work, the significance of the bird symbolizes either a soul or the Holy Spirit. The sculptures of the Holy Child were dressed in imperial regalia reflecting the fashion of that period. One legend says that a monk in a monastery somewhere between Cordoba and Sevilla had a vision of a little boy, telling him to pray. The monk had spent several hours praying and he made a figure of the child, the House of Habsburg began ruling the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1526, the kingdom developed close ties with Spain. The statue first appeared in 1556, when María Manriquez de Lara y Mendoza brought the image to Bohemia upon her marriage to Czech nobleman Vratislav of Pernstyn. An old legend in the Lobkowicz family reports that Marías mother, María received the family heirloom as a wedding present. It became the property of her daughter, Polyxena, 1st Princess Lobkowicz, in 1628, Princess Polyxena von Lobkowicz donated the statue to the Discalced Carmelite friars. Upon presenting it, the pious Princess Polyxena is said to have uttered a prophetic statement to the religious, Venerable Fathers, honour this image and you shall never want.
The statue was placed in the oratory of the monastery of Our Lady of Victory, the Carmelite novices professed their vow of poverty in the presence of the Divine Infant. Upon hearing of the Carmelites devotions and needs, the Emperor Ferdinand II of the House of Habsburg sent along 2,000 florins, in 1630, the Carmelite novitiate was transferred to Munich
Archangel
An archangel /ˌɑːrkˈeɪndʒəl/ is an angel of high rank. The word archangel itself is associated with the Abrahamic religions. The word archangel is derived from the Greek ἀρχάγγελος, Michael and Gabriel are recognized as archangels in Judaism, Islam and by most Christians. Protestants recognize Gabriel as an angel but consider Michael to be the only archangel, raphael—mentioned in the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit—is recognized in the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Gabriel and Raphael are venerated in the Roman Catholic Church with a feast on September 29, the named archangels in Islam are Gabriel, Michael and Azrael. Jewish literature, such as the Book of Enoch, mentions Metatron as an archangel, called the highest of the angels, some branches of the faiths mentioned have identified a group of seven Archangels, but the actual angels vary, depending on the source. Gabriel and Raphael are always mentioned, the other archangels vary, but most commonly include Uriel, in Zoroastrianism, sacred texts allude to the six great Amesha Spenta of Ahura Mazda.
An increasing number of experts in anthropology and philosophy, the Amesha Spentas of Zoroastrianism are likened to archangels. They individually inhabit immortal bodies that operate in the world to protect and inspire humanity. The Avesta explains the origin and nature of archangels or Amesha Spentas, to maintain equilibrium, Ahura Mazda engaged in the first act of creation, distinguishing his Holy Spirit Spenta Mainyu, the Archangel of righteousness. Ahura Mazda distinguished from himself six more Amesha Spentas, along with Spenta Mainyu, he oversaw the development of sixteen lands, each imbued with a unique cultural catalyst calculated to encourage the formation of distinct human populations. The Amesha Spentas were charged with protecting these holy lands and through their emanation, the Amesha Spentas as attributes of God are, Spenta Mainyu, lit. Immortality The Hebrew Bible uses the ter. מלאכי אלוהים, The Hebrew word for angel is malach, מלאכי י י, בני אלוהים and הקדושים to refer to beings traditionally interpreted as angelic messengers.
Other terms are used in texts, such as העליונים. References to angels are uncommon in Jewish literature except in works such as the Book of Daniel, though they are mentioned briefly in the stories of Jacob. Daniel is the first biblical figure to refer to individual angels by name and it is therefore widely speculated that Jewish interest in angels developed during the Babylonian captivity. According to Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish of Tiberias, specific names for the angels were brought back by the Jews from Babylon, there are no explicit references to archangels in the canonical texts of the Hebrew Bible. In post-Biblical Judaism, certain angels came to take on a particular significance, though these archangels were believed to have rank amongst the heavenly host, no systematic hierarchy ever developed
Art of Europe
The art of Europe encompasses the history of visual art in Europe. European prehistoric art started as mobile rock, and cave painting art, written histories of European art often begin with the art of the Ancient Middle East, and the Ancient Aegean civilisations, dating from the 3rd millennium BC. Parallel with these significant cultures, art of one form or another existed all over Europe, wherever there were people, leaving signs such as carvings, decorated artifacts and huge standing stones. Before the 1800s, the Christian church was an influence upon European art. The history of the Church was very much reflected in the history of art, in the same period of time there was renewed interest in heroes and heroines, tales of mythological gods and goddesses, great wars, and bizarre creatures which were not connected to religion. Secularism has influenced European art since the Classical period, while most art of the last 200 years has produced without reference to religion. On the other hand, European art has often influenced by politics of one kind or another, of the state, of the patron.
European art is arranged into a number of periods, historically. Broadly the periods are, Byzantine, Gothic, Baroque, Neoclassical, European prehistoric art is an important part of the European cultural heritage. Prehistoric art history is divided into four main periods, Stone age, Bronze age. Most of the artifacts of this period are small sculptures. The oldest European cave art dates back 40,800, rock painting was performed on cliff faces, but fewer of those have survived because of erosion. One well-known example is the paintings of Astuvansalmi in the Saimaa area of Finland. When Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola first encountered the Magdalenian paintings of the Altamira cave, Spain in 1879, recent reappraisals and numerous additional discoveries have since demonstrated their authenticity, while at the same time stimulating interest in the artistry of Upper Palaeolithic peoples. Cave paintings, undertaken with only the most rudimentary tools, can furnish valuable insight into the culture, the figures are generally rather sketchily depicted in thin paint, with the relationships between the groups of humans and animals more carefully depicted than individual figures.
Other less numerous groups of art, many engraved rather than painted. The Iberian examples are believed to date from a period perhaps covering the Upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic. There are human heads and some fully represented animals, but full-length human figures at any size are so rare that their absence may represent a religious taboo, the Minoan culture is regarded as the oldest civilization in Europe
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Romes legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. Roman mythology may refer to the study of these representations. The Romans usually treated their traditional narratives as historical, even when these have miraculous or supernatural elements, the stories are often concerned with politics and morality, and how an individuals personal integrity relates to his or her responsibility to the community or Roman state. When the stories illuminate Roman religious practices, they are concerned with ritual, augury. Romes early myths and legends have a relationship with Etruscan religion. In particular, the versions of Greek myths in Ovids Metamorphoses, written during the reign of Augustus, because ritual played the central role in Roman religion that myth did for the Greeks, it is sometimes doubted that the Romans had much of a native mythology. This perception is a product of Romanticism and the scholarship of the 19th century.
From the Renaissance to the 18th century, Roman myths were an inspiration particularly for European painting, the Roman tradition is rich in historical myths, or legends, concerning the foundation and rise of the city. These narratives focus on human actors, with only occasional intervention from deities, in Romes earliest period and myth have a mutual and complementary relationship. As T. P. Wiseman notes, The Roman stories still matter, as they mattered to Dante in 1300 and Shakespeare in 1600, what does it take to be a free citizen. Can a superpower still be a republic, how does well-meaning authority turn into murderous tyranny. Major sources for Roman myth include the Aeneid of Vergil and the first few books of Livys history as well as Dionysius s Roman Antiquities. Other important sources are the Fasti of Ovid, a six-book poem structured by the Roman religious calendar, scenes from Roman myth appear in Roman wall painting and sculpture, particularly reliefs. The Aeneid and Livys early history are the best extant sources for Romes founding myths, material from Greek heroic legend was grafted onto this native stock at an early date.
By extension, the Trojans were adopted as the ancestors of the Roman people. Rape of the Sabine women, explaining the importance of the Sabines in the formation of Roman culture, numa Pompilius, the Sabine second king of Rome who consorted with the nymph Egeria and established many of Romes legal and religious institutions. Servius Tullius, the king of Rome, whose mysterious origins were freely mythologized. The Tarpeian Rock, and why it was used for the execution of traitors, whose self-sacrifice prompted the overthrow of the early Roman monarchy and led to the establishment of the Republic
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired in the Middle Ages.
In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period.
Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date.
English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
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Media related to Globus cruciger at Wikimedia Commons
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