Domesticus (Roman Empire)
The origins of the word domesticus can be traced to the late 3rd century of the Late Roman army. It stems from the term “Protectores Domestici”, a guard unit serving as the staff to the Roman Emperor, it is said that they originated from being “comes”, which were companions, or counts in various offices and the emperor, in this case a guard unit. They held high ranks in various fields, whether it was the servants of a noble house on the civilian side, or a high ranking military position. After serving under the emperor for a certain duration, the Domestici would be able to become leaders themselves and command their own regiment of legionnaires in the military; the most important offices were the “Comes Domesticorum” known as, “Commander of the Protectores Domestici,” and “Comes rei Militaris” or General. The domestici rose to prominence during the Crisis of the 3rd Century, the myriad of societal catastrophes nearly led to the collapse of the Roman Empire; the accession of Diocletian and his subsequent reforms ended the continual strife and unstable leadership Ancient Rome had faced during this period.
The title of “Domesticus” was developed to advocate for better control over the empire. The domesticus provided defined leadership in the military as officers; the roles of the domestici in the Roman Empire evolved during the late Empire. From 330 AD to 474 AD they were given a variety of functions depending on whatever they were assigned to. Many held positions as Generals and elevated to become emperors if they gained enough notability. Constantius Chlorus was a Domesticus that after many successful military campaigns became one of the joint Emperors of the Roman empire with Maximian. Many of the notable Domestici of the Roman Empire existed around the time period which the Roman Empire was splitting into its eastern and western halves. Many of Diocletian successors mirrored his successes because they to after many military successes gained a lot of notability and took the throne as emperor from the sitting emperor but many of them didn't have long reigns because how unstable the western Roman Empire was.
These emperors were the ones that did realize because of their military experiences that it was not possible to sustain the size of the late Roman Empire leading to them continuing Diocletian’s idea to have it separated into the eastern and western halves. This cycle of instability and military rule in the western Roman Empire continued until its fall in 476, Zeno the last emperor of the eastern Roman Empire and the First Emperor of the Byzantine Empire where he ruled from August in 476 until his death in April 491; as the Byzantine Empire was gaining strength, new patterns in governing emerged. Under the rule of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius 1, the successor to Zeno, the title of Domesticus began evolving and was used as synonyms of Vicarius and Locoservator; the translation of Domesticus and Locoservator mean belonging to a house, Vice meaning deputy or substitute for a superior, subordinate to the count or duke. Aidoingus Ammianus Marcellinus Count Aelianus Constantius I Diocletian Jovian Magnentius Maximinus Daia Tarasis, after plotting against the Gothic general Aspar, he was given this title by the emperor Leo.
Tarasis succeeded Leo I as Emperor Zeno
Augustus (title)
Augustus was an ancient Roman title given as both name and title to Gaius Octavius, Rome's first Emperor. On his death, it became an official title of his successor, was so used by Roman emperors thereafter; the feminine form Augusta was used for 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, their use as titles for major and minor Roman deities of the Empire associated the Imperial system and Imperial family with traditional Roman virtues and the divine will, may be considered a feature of the Roman Imperial cult. In Rome's 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 in the lands of the Holy Roman Empire, it remains a given name for males. Some thirty years before its first association with Caesar's heir, Augustus was an obscure honorific with religious associations.
One early context, associates it with provincial Lares. In Latin poetry and prose, it signifies the "elevation" or "augmentation" of what is sacred or religious; some Roman sources connected it to augury, 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 adopted son and heir of Julius Caesar, murdered for his seeming aspiration to divine monarchy subsequently and deified. Octavian studiously avoided any association with Caesar's claims, other than acknowledging his position and duties as Divi filius, "son of the deified one", his position was unique and extraordinary. He had ended Rome's prolonged and bloody civil war with his victory at Actium, established a lasting peace, he was self-evidently favored by the gods. As princeps senatus he presided at senatorial meetings, he was chief priest of Roman state religion. He held consular imperium, with authority equal to the official chief executive, he was supreme commander of all Roman legions, held tribunicia potestas.
As a tribune, his person was inviolable and he had the right to veto any act or proposal by any magistrate within Rome. He was renamed Augustus by the Roman Senate on January 16, 27 BC – or the Senate ratified his own careful choice. So his official renaming in a form vaguely associated with a traditionally Republican religiosity, but unprecedented as a cognomen, may have served to show that he owed his position to the approval of Rome and its gods, his own unique, elevated, "godlike" nature and talents, his full and official title was Imperator Caesar Divi Filius Augustus. Augustus' religious reforms extended or affirmed augusti as a near ubiquitous title or honour for various minor local deities, including the Lares Augusti of local communities, obscure provincial deities such as the North African Marazgu Augustus; 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, which continued until the official replacement of Rome's traditional religions by Christianity.
The title or name of Augustus was adopted by his successors, who held the name during their own lifetimes by virtue of their status and powers. This included the Christian emperors. Most emperors used imperator but others could and did bear the same title and functions. "Caesar" was used as a title, but was the name of a clan within the Julian line. Augusta was the female equivalent of Augustus, had similar origins as an obscure descriptor with vaguely religious overtones, it was bestowed on some women of the Imperial dynasties, as an indicator of worldly power and influence and a status near to divinity. There was no qualification with higher prestige; the title or honorific was shared by state goddesses associated with the Imperial regime's generosity and provision, such as Ceres, Bona Dea, Juno and Ops, by local or minor goddesses around the empire. Other personifications perceived as female and given the title Augusta include Pax and Victoria; the first woman to receive the honorific Augusta was Livia Drusilla, by the last will of her husband Augustus.
From his death she was known as Julia Augusta, until her own death in AD 29. Under Tetrarchy, the empire was divided into Western halves; each was ruled by a senior emperor, with the rank of augustus, a junior emperor, who ranked below him as a caesar. The Imperial titles of imperator and augustus were rendered in Greek as autokratōr, augoustos; the Greek titles were used in the Byzantine Empire until its extinction in 1453, although "sebastos" lost its imperial exclusivity and autokratōr became the exclusive title of the Byzantine Emperor. The last Roman Emperor to rule in the West, Romulus Augustus became known as Augustulus, due to the unimportance of his reign. Charlemagne used the title serenissimus augustus as a prefix to his titles His successors limited themselves to imperator augustus, in order to avoid conflict with the Byzantine emperors. Beginning with Otto III, the Holy Roman Emperors used Romanorum Imperator Augustus; the form
Magister militum
Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire. In Greek sources, the term is translated either as stratelates; the title of magister militum was created in the 4th century, when Emperor Constantine the Great deprived the praetorian prefects of their military functions. Two posts were created, one as head of the foot troops, as the magister peditum, one for the more prestigious horse troops, the magister equitum; the latter title had existed since Republican times, as the second-in-command to a Roman dictator. Under Constantine's successors, the title was established at a territorial level: magistri peditum and magistri equitum were appointed for every praetorian prefecture, and, in addition, for Thrace and, Africa. On occasion, the offices would be combined under a single person styled magister equitum et peditum or magister utriusque militiae.
As such they were directly in command of the local mobile field army of the comitatenses, composed of cavalry, which acted as a rapid reaction force. Other magistri remained at the immediate disposal of the Emperors, were termed in praesenti. By the late 4th century, the regional commanders were termed magister militum. In the Western Roman Empire, a "commander-in-chief" evolved with the title of magister utriusque militiae; this powerful office was the power behind the throne and was held by Stilicho, Flavius Aetius and others. In the East, there were two senior generals, who were each appointed to the office of magister militum praesentalis. During the reign of Emperor Justinian I, with increasing military threats and the expansion of the Eastern Empire, three new posts were created: the magister militum per Armeniam in the Armenian and Caucasian provinces part of the jurisdiction of the magister militum per Orientem, the magister militum per Africam in the reconquered African provinces, with a subordinate magister peditum, the magister militum Spaniae.
In the course of the 6th century and external crises in the provinces necessitated the temporary union of the supreme regional civil authority with the office of the magister militum. In the establishment of the exarchates of Ravenna and Carthage in 584, this practice found its first permanent expression. Indeed, after the loss of the eastern provinces to the Muslim conquest in the 640s, the surviving field armies and their commanders formed the first themata. Supreme military commanders sometimes took this title in early medieval Italy, for example in the Papal States and in Venice, whose Doge claimed to be the successor to the Exarch of Ravenna. 383-385/8: Flavius Bauto, magister militum under Valentinian II 385/8-394: Arbogast, magister militum under Valentinian II and Eugenius 383–388: Andragathius after 383-408: Flavius Stilicho 422-?: Asterius? – 480: Ovida 411 – 421: Flavius Constantius 422 - 425: Castinus 425 - 430: Flavius Constantius Felix 431 - 432: Bonifacius 432 - 433: Sebastianus 433 – 454: Flavius Aetius 455 - 456: Avitus & Remistus 456 – 472: Ricimer 472–473: Gundobad 475: Ecdicius Avitus 475–476: Flavius Orestes 352–355: Claudius Silvanus 362–364: Flavius Iovinus, magister equitum under Julian and Jovian?
– 419: Flavius Gaudentius 425–430: Flavius Aetius 435-439: Litorius 452–458: Agrippinus 458–461: Aegidius 461/462: Agrippinus? - 472: Bilimer 441-442: Asterius 443: Flavius Merobaudes 446: Vitus?-350: Vetranio, magister peditum under Constans 361: Flavius Iovinus, magister equitum under Julian 365–375: Equitius, magister utriusquae militiae under Valentinian I 395-? Alaric I 448/9 Agintheus. 468–474: Julius Nepos 477–479: Onoulphus 479–481: Sabinianus Magnus 528: Ascum 529–530/1: Mundus 532–536: Mundus c. 538: Justin c. 544: Vitalius c. 550: John 568–569/70: Bonus 581–582: Theognis c. 347: Flavius Eusebius, magister utriusquae militiae 349–359: Ursicinus, magister equitum under Constantius 359–360: Sabinianus, magister equitum under Constantius 363–367: Lupicinus, magister equitum under Jovian and Valens 371–378: Iulius, magister equitum et Peditum under Valens 383: Flavius Richomeres, magister equitum et peditum 383–388: Ellebichus, magister equitum et peditum 392: Eutherius, magister equitum et peditum 393–396: Addaeus, magister equitum et peditum 395/400: Fravitta 433–446: Anatolius 447–451: Zeno 460s: Flavius Ardabur Aspar -469: Flavius Iordanes 469–471: Zeno 483–498: Ioannes Scytha c.
503–505: Areobindus Dagalaiphus Areobindus 505–506: Pharesmanes?516-?518: Hypatius?518–529: Diogenianus 520-525/526: Hypatius 527: Libelarius 527–529: Hypatius 529–531: Belisarius 531: Mundus 532–533: Belisarius 540: Buzes 542: Belisarius 543–544: Martinus 549–551: Belisarius 555: Amantius 556: Valerianus 569: Zemarchus 572–573: Marcian 573: Theodorus 574: Eusebius 574/574-577: Justinian 577–582: Maurice 582–583: John Mystacon 584-587/588: Philippicus 588: Priscus 588–589: Philippicus 589–591: Comentiolus 591–603: Narses 603-604 Germanus 604-605 Leontius 605-610 Domentziolus Valerian Dagisthaeus Bessas 377–378: Flavius Saturninus, magister equitum under Valens 377–378: Traianus, magister peditum under Valens 378: Sebastianus, magister peditum under Valens 380–383: Flavius Saturninus, magister peditum under Theodosius I 392–393: F
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople. It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic and military force in Europe. Both the terms "Byzantine Empire" and "Eastern Roman Empire" are historiographical terms created after the end of the realm. Several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empire's Greek East and Latin West diverged. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, legalised Christianity. Under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empire's official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed.
Under the reign of Heraclius, the Empire's military and administration were restructured and adopted Greek for official use in place of Latin. Thus, although the Roman state continued and its traditions were maintained, modern historians distinguish Byzantium from ancient Rome insofar as it was centred on Constantinople, oriented towards Greek rather than Latin culture, characterised by Eastern Orthodox Christianity; the borders of the empire evolved over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Justinian I, the empire reached its greatest extent after reconquering much of the Roman western Mediterranean coast, including North Africa and Rome itself, which it held for two more centuries; the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 exhausted the empire's resources and contributed to major territorial losses during the Early Muslim conquests of the 7th century, when it lost its richest provinces and Syria, to the Arab caliphate. During the Macedonian dynasty, the empire expanded again and experienced the two-century long Macedonian Renaissance, which came to an end with the loss of much of Asia Minor to the Seljuk Turks after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071.
This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia. The empire recovered during the Komnenian restoration, by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. However, it was delivered a mortal blow during the Fourth Crusade, when Constantinople was sacked in 1204 and the territories that the empire governed were divided into competing Byzantine Greek and Latin realms. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small rival states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence, its remaining territories were progressively annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 ended the Byzantine Empire; the last of the imperial Byzantine successor states, the Empire of Trebizond, would be conquered by the Ottomans eight years in the 1461 Siege of Trebizond. The first use of the term "Byzantine" to label the years of the Roman Empire was in 1557, when the German historian Hieronymus Wolf published his work Corpus Historiæ Byzantinæ, a collection of historical sources.
The term comes from "Byzantium", the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantine's capital. This older name of the city would be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts; the publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, in 1680 of Du Cange's Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of "Byzantine" among French authors, such as Montesquieu. However, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world; the Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the "Roman Empire", the "Empire of the Romans", "Romania", the "Roman Republic", as "Rhōmais". The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and as late as the 19th century Greeks referred to Modern Greek as Romaiika "Romaic." After 1204 when the Byzantine Empire was confined to its purely Greek provinces the term'Hellenes' was used instead. While the Byzantine Empire had a multi-ethnic character during most of its history and preserved Romano-Hellenistic traditions, it became identified by its western and northern contemporaries with its predominant Greek element.
The occasional use of the term "Empire of the Greeks" in the West to refer to the Eastern Roman Empire and of the Byzantine Emperor as Imperator Graecorum were used to separate it from the prestige of the Roman Empire within the new kingdoms of the West. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more straightforwardly seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known as Rûm; the name millet-i Rûm, or "Roman nation," was used by the Ottomans through the 20th century to refer to the former subjects of the Byzantine Empire
Leo I the Thracian
Leo I was Eastern Roman Emperor from 457 to 474. A native of Dacia Aureliana near historic Thrace, he was known as Leo the Thracian. Ruling the Eastern Empire for nearly 20 years, Leo proved to be a capable ruler, he oversaw many ambitious political and military plans, aimed at aiding the faltering Western Roman Empire and recovering its former territories. He is notable for being the first Eastern Emperor to legislate in Greek rather than Latin, he is commemorated as a Saint in the Orthodox Church, with his feast day on January 20. He was born Leo Marcellus in Thracia or in Dacia Aureliana province in the year 401 to a Thraco-Roman family, his Dacian origin is mentioned by Candidus Isaurus, while John Malalas believes that he was of Bessian stock. He served in the Roman army. Leo was the last of a series of emperors placed on the throne by Aspar, the Alan serving as commander-in-chief of the army, who thought Leo would be an easy puppet ruler. Instead, Leo became more and more independent from Aspar, causing tension that would culminate in the assassination of the latter.
Leo's coronation as emperor on 7 February 457, was the first known to involve the Patriarch of Constantinople. Leo I was thus able to eliminate Aspar; the price of the alliance was the marriage of Leo's daughter to Tarasicodissa, leader of the Isaurians, who, as Zeno, became emperor in 474. In 469, Aspar attempted to assassinate Zeno and nearly succeeded. In 471, Aspar's son Ardabur was implicated in a plot against Leo and Ardabur was killed by palace eunuchs acting on Leo's orders. Leo overestimated his capacities and he made some errors that menaced the internal order of the Empire; the Balkans were ravaged by the Ostrogoths, after a disagreement between the Emperor and the young chief Theodoric the Great, raised at Leo's court in Constantinople, where he was steeped in Roman government and military tactics. There were some raids by the Huns. However, these attackers were unable to take Constantinople thanks to the walls, rebuilt and reinforced in the reign of Theodosius II and against which they possessed no suitable siege engines.
Leo's reign was noteworthy for his influence in the Western Roman Empire, marked by his appointment of Anthemius as Western Roman Emperor in 467. He attempted to build on this political achievement with an expedition against the Vandals in 468, defeated due to the arrogance of Leo's brother-in-law Basiliscus; this disaster drained the Empire of men and money. Procopius estimated the costs of the expedition to be 130,000 pounds of gold; the expedition consisted of 1,113 ships carrying 100,000 men. After this defeat, the Vandals raided Greek coasts until a costly peace agreement was signed between Leo and Genseric. Leo became unpopular in his last days as Emperor for abolishing any non-religious celebration or event on Sundays. Leo died of dysentery at the age of 73 on 18 January 474. Leo and Verina had three children, their eldest daughter Ariadne was born prior to the death of Marcian. Ariadne had Leontia. Leontia was first betrothed to Patricius, a son of Aspar, but their engagement was annulled when Aspar and another of his sons, were assassinated in 471.
Leontia married Marcian, a son of Emperor Anthemius and Marcia Euphemia. The couple led a failed revolt against Zeno in 478–479, they were exiled to Isauria following their defeat. An unknown son was born in 463, he died five months following his birth. The only sources about him are a hagiography of Daniel the Stylite; the Georgian Chronicle, a 13th-century compilation drawing from earlier sources, reports a marriage of Vakhtang I of Iberia to Princess Helena of Byzantium, identifying her as a daughter of the predecessor of Zeno. This predecessor was Leo I, the tale attributing a third daughter to Leo. Cyril Toumanoff identified two children of this marriage: Mithridates of Iberia; this younger Leo was father of Guaram I of Iberia. The accuracy of the descent is unknown. Church of St. Mary of the Spring Life-giving Spring List of Byzantine emperors Ostrogorsky, George. History of the Byzantine State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Bury, John Bagnell. History of the Later Roman Empire: from the death of Theodosius I to the death of Justinian.
Dover books. 1. Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0-486-20398-0. Friell, Gerard; the Rome That Did Not Fall: The Survival of the East in the Fifth Century. Ancient history. London: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-15403-1. Meyendorff, John. Imperial unity and Christian divisions: The Church 450-680 A. D; the Church in history. 2. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. ISBN 978-0-88-141056-3. Thomas F. Madden. Empire of Gold: A History of the Byzantine Empire. Prince Frederick: Recorded Books. ISBN 978-1-4281-3267-2. Profile of Leo in The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire Stephen Williams, Gerard Friell, The Rome that Did Not Fall The Survival of the East in the Fifth Century, Routledge Press, 1999, ISBN 0-415-15403-0 Media related to Flavius Valerius Leo at Wikimedia Commons Leo I Timeline
Olybrius
Olybrius was Western Roman Emperor from April or May 472 until his death. He was in reality a puppet ruler put on the throne by Ricimer, a Roman general of Germanic descent, was interested in religion, while the actual power was held by Ricimer and his nephew Gundobad. Olybrius was born in Rome, in the powerful gens Anicia, of Italian descent. According to the consensus of historians, he was related to the Consul Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius, whose wife and cousin, Anicia Juliana, had the same name that Olybrius gave to his own daughter. Other historians consider this questionable, as "Juliana" was a common name in the gens Anicia, because Hermogenianus seems to have begotten only one daughter, who took chastity vows. Other possible fathers have therefore been proposed: either Flavius Anicius Probus or, according to some clues, Petronius Maximus. Olybrius married Placidia, younger daughter of Western Emperor Valentinian III and his wife Licinia Eudoxia, thus creating a bond between a member of the senatorial aristocracy and the House of Theodosius.
The year of their wedding is not recorded, although the historian Priscus implies it took place before the Vandal sack of Rome. Oost has pointed out that in his chronicle Hydatius wrote Placidia was unmarried as of 455. Steven Muhlberger points out that many of the events in the chronicle of Hydatius are based on hearsay, that problems with his chronology "resulted from delays and distortions in the best information to which he had access," and thus the evidence from Hydatius is not as decisive as Oost believed. Regardless, the powerful Magister militum Aetius had forced Valentinian to betroth Placidia to his own son Gaudentius, so Olybrius could not have married her before Aetius' death. Aetius' death came 21 September 454, when the Emperor Valentinian provoked a quarrel with him that ended with the Emperor killing Aetius with his own sword; the following year, Valentinian was killed by some soldiers who had served under Aetius instigated by the Patricius Petronius Maximus, who succeeded to the throne.
Petronius, a high-ranking imperial officer and a member of a family belonging to the senatorial aristocracy, married Empress Licinia Eudoxia, widow of Valentinian. He elevated his own son Palladius to the rank of Caesar and had him marry Eudocia, elder daughter of Valentinian. According to those historians who believe that Olybrius was Petronius' son, it was in 455 that Olybrius married Placidia, between April 17, when Petronius was acclaimed Emperor, May 31, when he died. Another possibility is that Olybrius and Placidia were engaged in 455, only after Gaiseric freed her from his possession in the early 460s were they at last married. Oost mentions this possibility in his book Galla Placidia Augusta; the surviving evidence is not sufficient to allow us to decide between these alternatives. The Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, took advantage of the confusion and weakness of the Western Empire in the wake of Valentinian's turbulent succession, moving into Italy and sacking Rome. Before returning to Africa, the Vandals took her two daughters as hostages.
According to the 6th-century historian John Malalas, Olybrius was in Constantinople at the time. On the other hand, the chronicler Evagrius Scholasticus writes that Olybrius had fled Rome on the approach of Gaiseric's army. During his residence in the Eastern capital, Olybrius expressed his interest in religious matters, he met Daniel the Stylite, according to Christian tradition, prophesied the liberation of Licinia Eudoxia. In the meantime, the Western Empire went through a rapid succession of Emperors. After Petronius, the Gallic-Roman senator Avitus was proclaimed Emperor by the Visigoth king Theodoric II and ruled for two years. Gaiseric supported Olybrius to assume the vacant Western throne because Gaiseric's son Huneric and Olybrius had married the two daughters of Valentinian III, with Olybrius on the throne, Gaiseric could exert great influence on the Western Empire. Therefore, Gaiseric freed Licinia Eudoxia and her daughter Placidia, but he did not cease his raids on Italy's coasts.
His project failed, however, as Ricimer, who had become the Magister militum of the West, chose Libius Severus as new Emperor. Placidia was now free, joining her husband at Constantinople, where she bore him a daughter, Anicia Juliana, in 462. Olybrius was nearly chosen for the Western throne again in 465. Gaiseric was again his major supporter, but the Eastern Emperor Leo I the Thracian chose the noble Procopius Anthemius. Olybrius' association with Gaiseric did not harm his career, however, as the Eastern court chose him for the high honour of the consulate in 464. Sources agree that Olybrius rose to the Western throne thanks to the Western Magister militum Ricimer, they differ over the order of the events leading to his ascent. In the version provided by John Malalas, championed by J. B. Bury, Olybrius was sent to Italy in 472 by Leo I, ostensibly to mediate between Ricimer and Anthemius, besieged by Ricimer in Rome. Once he had accomplished this, Olybrius would continue to Carthage and offer a peace treaty to Gaiseric.
Leo suspected that Olybrius favored the Vandal king and would secretly take his side and betray the suspicious Emperor. Leo had Olybrius followed by another en
Ostia (Rome)
Ostia is a large neighbourhood in the X Municipio of the comune of Rome, near the ancient port of Rome, named Ostia, now a major archaeological site known as Ostia Antica. Ostia is the only municipio or district of Rome on the Tyrrhenian Sea and many Romans spend the summer holidays there. With about 85,000 inhabitants, Ostia is the first or second-most populated frazione of Italy, depending on whether Mestre is counted; the town is located on the Tyrrhenian coast, close to Acilia and separated from Fiumicino by the mouth of the Tiber River. Being located on the coast, Ostia enjoys cooler summers than central Rome. Ostia was the site of the death of Saint Monica in 387 on their way back to Africa after Augustine's conversion to Christianity. In 846, a Saracen fleet of 73 ships landed at Ostia, raided inland, sacking Rome. In doing so, they burnt the churches of St. Paul; the new pope Leo IV ordered Rome’s walls to be rebuilt and refurbished, had them extended to protect the Vatican hill. He formed a naval alliance with the cities of Amalfi and Gaeta, which drove off a Saracen fleet in 849.
Three years Pope Leo IV issued a call to the Franks, declaring "Whoever meets death steadfastly in this fight the Heavenly Kingdom will not be closed to him." This becomes a much quoted text among canonists of the High Middle Ages. The neighbourhood was founded in 1884 near the remains of Ostia Antica, the port city of ancient Rome; this was possible after reclamation of the nearby marshland, infested by malaria. The first inhabitants were peasants coming from Ravenna, in Romagna. Due to the opening of the urban Roma-Ostia railway in 1924, the new village soon became the favourite sea resort of the Romans, while many Art Nouveau houses were built on the waterfront; the new village was connected to central Rome through the new Via Ostiense, opened in 1907. During the Fascist period, the government massively expanded the neighbourhood, which got its ultimate architectural character thanks to many new buildings in Stile Littorio. New infrastructures, like a second road to Rome, the promenade, a water airport were all built during this period.
After World War II, many bathing establishments were built on the sea side, Ostia experienced a tourist boom. The new Cristoforo Colombo avenue connected Ostia with the EUR district in Rome. However, sea pollution, which became apparent during the 1970s, lowered the popularity of Ostia as a sea resort; the building of the Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Fiumicino in 1956 made Ostia an attractive district for airport and airline workers. Italian intellectual, film director and poet Pier Paolo Pasolini was assassinated near the water airport on 2 November 1975. In 1976 Ostia became part of the XIII Municipio of the Comune of Rome. Nowadays, due to the expansion of the city, only the Park of Castelfusano separates Ostia from the other quarters of Rome; the regional Rome-Lido railway line, which carries over 90,000 passengers a day, connects Ostia to the centre of Rome, providing up to 12 journeys per hour during rush hour. The full length of the line is 28.359 kilometres. It has 13 stops, the journey time is 37 minutes.
The Roman terminal is at Roma Porta San Paolo station close to the Piramide stop and close to Roma Ostiense railway station. Rail stops in Ostia are Ostia Antica, Ostia Lido Nord, Ostia Lido Centro, Ostia Stella Polare, Ostia Castel Fusano and Ostia Cristoforo Colombo. Lorenzatti, Sandro. Ostia. Storia Ambiente Itinerari. Rome. Ostia Online Site of the Centro Studi Storici Ambientali Ostia and of Genius Loci Publisher Le Date della storia di Ostia Met. Ro. Metropolitana di Roma
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