1.
The Ides of March (film)
–
The Ides of March is a 2011 American political drama film directed by George Clooney from a screenplay written by Clooney, along with Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon. The film is an adaptation of Willimons 2008 play Farragut North and it stars Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Evan Rachel Wood, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Paul Giamatti, and Jeffrey Wright. It received a theatrical release on October 7,2011. After a debate at Miami University, Meyers is asked by Pullmans campaign manager, Tom Duffy, Meyers calls his boss, senior campaign manager Paul Zara, who doesnt answer. Meyers decides to meet with Duffy, who offers Meyers a position in Pullmans campaign, Zara calls Meyers back and asks what was important, but Meyers says it was nothing to worry about. Meanwhile, Meyers starts a relationship with Molly Stearns, an attractive intern for Morris campaign, and daughter of Jack Stearns. Meyers admits to an angry Zara that he met with Duffy, Zara and Meyers discuss the matter with Morris, saying they must make the same offer to Thompson to secure his endorsement and his delegates votes. Morris refuses on principle, as he disagrees with Thompson and his policies. Late one night when Molly is sleeping, Meyers discovers that Morris is trying to call her after he picks up her phone by mistake. Meyers finds out that Molly and Morris had a sexual liaison at a campaign stop in Iowa several weeks previously, and Molly is now pregnant by the Governor. Molly needs $900 for an abortion, but cannot tell her father because her family is Catholic, Meyers helps her with the money but warns her not to tell anybody, and fires her from the campaign to make the problem go away. Ida Horowicz, a reporter for the New York Times, reveals to Meyers that an anonymous source leaked his encounter with Duffy to her and she also knows the Morris campaign has talked to Thompson. She says she will publish an article on the Duffy meet unless Meyers gives her all of the details about the Thompson meeting, Meyers comes to Zara for help, believing the story would damage him, Zara, and the campaign. Zara reveals that he leaked the meeting to Ida with Morris approval in order to justify firing Meyers and he states that he did this because Meyers was disloyal and traitorous for meeting with Duffy. Zara makes it clear that he holds no animosity against Meyers and values him. Duffy apologizes for using him, saying that he wanted to help Meyers, and advises him to quit politics. Meyers offers to sell out Morris completely but Duffy declines, thinking that Meyers cannot hurt him, Meyers takes Molly to an abortion clinic and then callously abandons her there with an unfulfilled promise to come back when its over. Alone in a room, and having been equipped with pills from the clinic
The Ides of March (film)
–
Theatrical release poster
2.
Vincenzo Camuccini
–
Vincenzo Camuccini was an Italian painter of Neoclassic histories and religious paintings. He was considered the academic painter of his time in Rome. Camuccini was born in Rome, and first educated by his brother Pietro, a picture-restorer, and Pietro Leone Bombelli and his brother Pietro gave up his place in the studio of Domenico Corvi to Vincenzo. Until nearly the age of 30 he mainly dedicated himself to copying old masters, as an original painter, Camuccini belongs to the Neoclassicist school fostered in Rome by Anton Raphael Mengs. Camuccinis first major independent work, completed around 1798, was a canvas of the Death of Caesar. In 1800, he was commissioned an Incredulity of St. Thomas by the Vatican, in 1806, Gaspare Landi received a commission for two large canvases for the chapel of the Madonna of the Rosary in the church of San Giovanni in Piacenza. Ultimately, the commission was split with Camuccini who painted a Presentation in the Temple, the canvases by the two artists were completed in the early spring of 1806, and were exhibited side by side at the Pantheon at Easter of that year. A few years later, he was invited to Munich and Paris, the government had requested a painting on the Battle of Ratisbon. In Paris, he met Napoleon, David, Perodet, Gros, Regnault, of pictures on classic Greco-Roman history were, Horatius Cocles. He also painted, Incredulity of St. Thomas reproduced in mosaic in St. Peters at Rome, Presentation in the Temple for San Giovanni at Piacenza. The Entombment painted for Charles IV of Spain, apparition of Christ in Limbo Conversion of St. Paul for the basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura in Rome. Romolo and Remos discovery He also painted a Betrothal of Psyche, and, jointly with Landi, he painted, in fresco, Camuccini was appointed inspector-general of the Museums of the Pope, and of the Factory of Mosaics, and director of the Neapolitan Academy of Rome. He was a member of the Institute of France, during some years president of the Academy of St. Luke, Pope Pius VII conferred upon him the title of Baron, with hereditary succession, and the Emperor Francis I the order of the Iron Crown. In 1829, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Honorary member and he expended no small portion of his wealth in the purchase of a fine collection of objects of art. In 1856, the portion of the pictures, upwards of seventy in number, were purchased being bought by the duke of Northumberland. He purchased a Raphael, known as Madonna of the Pinks, among his many pupils and followers were Nicola de Laurentiis of Chieti. Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, Biographical and Critical, york St. #4, Covent Garden, London, Original from Fogg Library, Digitized May 18,2007, George Bell and Sons. Longmans, Green & co.39 Paternoster Row, London, ulrich W. Hiesinger, The Paintings of Vincenzo Camuccini, 1771–1844, The Art Bulletin, vol
Vincenzo Camuccini
–
Self portrait of Vincenzo Camuccini.
Vincenzo Camuccini
–
Death of Caesar by Vincenzo Camuccini.
Vincenzo Camuccini
–
Portrait of Klementyna Ostrowska née Sanguszko (1822), District Museum in
Tarnów.
3.
Latin language
–
Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
Latin language
–
Latin inscription, in the
Colosseum
Latin language
–
Julius Caesar 's
Commentarii de Bello Gallico is one of the most famous classical Latin texts of the Golden Age of Latin. The unvarnished, journalistic style of this
patrician general has long been taught as a model of the urbane Latin officially spoken and written in the floruit of the
Roman republic.
Latin language
–
A multi-volume Latin dictionary in the
University Library of Graz
Latin language
–
Latin and Ancient Greek Language - Culture - Linguistics at
Duke University in 2014.
4.
Late Latin
–
Late Latin is the scholarly name for the written Latin of Late Antiquity. The English dictionary definition of Late Latin dates this period from the 3rd to the 6th centuries AD and this somewhat ambiguously defined period fits between Classical Latin and Medieval Latin. Although there is no consensus about exactly when Classical Latin should end, nor exactly when Medieval Latin should begin. Being a written language, Late Latin is not identical with Vulgar Latin, the latter during those centuries served as proto-Romance, a reconstructed ancestor of the Romance languages. Although Late Latin reflects an upsurge of the use of Vulgar Latin vocabulary and constructs, it remains to a large extent classical in overall features, some are more literary and classical, some more inclined to the vernacular. Nor is Late Latin identical to Christian or patristic Latin, the writings of the early Christian fathers. While Christian writings are considered a subset of Late Latin, pagans wrote much Late Latin, serving as some sort of lingua franca to a large empire, Latin tended to become simpler, to keep above all what it had of the ordinary. Neither Late Latin nor Late Antiquity are modern terms or concepts, instances of English vernacular use of the term may also be found from the 18th century. The term Late Antiquity meaning post-classical and pre-medieval had currency in English well before then, Imperial Latin went on into English literature, Fowlers History of Roman Literature mentions it in 1903. There are, however, insoluble problems with the beginning and end of Imperial Latin, politically the excluded Augustan Period is the paradigm of imperiality, and yet the style cannot be bundled with either the Silver Age or with Late Latin. Moreover, in 6th century Italy, the Roman Empire no longer existed, subsequently the term Imperial Latin was dropped by historians of Latin literature, although it may be seen in marginal works. The Silver Age was extended a century and the four centuries represent Late Latin. Low Latin is a vague and often pejorative term that might refer to any post-classical Latin from Late Latin through Renaissance Latin depending on the author. Its origins are obscure but the Latin expression media et infima Latinitas sprang into public notice in 1678 in the title of a Glossary by Charles du Fresne, the multi-volume set had many editions and expansions by other authors subsequently. The title varies somewhat, most commonly used was Glossarium Mediae et Infimae Latinitatis and it has been translated by expressions of widely different meanings. The uncertainty is understanding what media, middle, and infima, low, the media is securely connected to Medieval Latin by Canges own terminology expounded in the Praefatio, such as scriptores mediae aetatis, writers of the middle age. Canges Glossary takes words from authors ranging from the Christian period to the Renaissance, in the former case the infimae appears extraneous, it recognizes the corruptio of the corrupta Latinitas Cange said his Glossary covered. The two-period case postulates a second unity of style, infima Latinitas, Cange in the glossarial part of his Glossary identifies some words as being used by purioris Latinitatis scriptores, such as Cicero
Late Latin
–
Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430), Late Latin author
Late Latin
–
The Late-Latin speaking world, 271 AD
Late Latin
–
St.
Gildas, one of a number of Late Latin writers to promulgate an excidium or ruina Britanniae because of moral turpitude.
Late Latin
–
Edward Gibbon, English historian who espoused the concept of a decline of the Roman Empire resulting in its fall.
5.
Roman calendar
–
The Roman calendar is the calendar used by the Roman kingdom and republic. The original calendar consisted of 10 months beginning in spring with March and these months ran for 38 nundinal cycles, each forming a kind of eight day week ended by religious rituals and a public market. The winter period was used to create January and February. The legendary early kings Romulus and Numa were traditionally credited with establishing this early fixed calendar, in particular, the kalends, nones, and ides seem to have derived from the first sighting of the crescent moon, the first-quarter moon, and the full moon respectively. The system ran well short of the year, and it needed constant intercalation to keep religious festivals. For superstitious reasons, such intercalation occurred within the month of February even after it was no longer considered the last month. Having won his war with Pompey, Caesar used his position as Romes chief pontiff to enact a calendar reform in 46 BC, in order to bring the calendar back to its proper place, Augustus was obliged to suspend intercalation for a few decades. The original Roman calendar is believed to have been a lunar calendar whose months began from the first signs of a new crescent moon. Because a lunar cycle is about 29½ days long, such months would have varied between 29 and 30 days, Romes 8-day week, the nundinal cycle, was shared with the Etruscans, who used it as the schedule of royal audiences. It was presumably a feature of the calendar and was credited in Roman legend variously to Romulus and Servius Tullius. The Romans themselves described their first organized year as one with ten fixed months, such a decimal division fit general Roman practice. The four 31-day months were called full and the others hollow and its 304 days made up exactly 38 nundinal cycles. Later Roman writers credited this calendar to Romulus, their legendary first king and culture hero, although this was common with other practices and traditions whose origin had been lost to them. Rüpke also finds the coincidence of the length of the supposed Romulan year with the length of the first ten months of the Julian calendar to be suspicious, other traditions existed alongside this one, however. Plutarchs Parallel Lives recounts that Romuluss calendar had been solar but adhered to the principle that the year should last for 360 days. Months were employed secondarily and haphazardly, with some counted as 20 days, the attested calendar of the Roman Republic was quite different. It followed Greek calendars in assuming a lunar cycle of 29½ days and a year of 12½ synodic months. The additional two months of the year were January and February, the month was sometimes known as Mercedonius
Roman calendar
–
A fragment of the
Fasti Praenestini for the month of April (
Aprilis), showing the nundinal letters on the left edge
Roman calendar
–
Drawing of the fragmentary Fasti Antiates Maiores (ca. 60 BC), a Roman calendar from before the Julian reform, with the seventh and eighth months still named
Quintilis ("QVI") and
Sextilis ("SEX"), and the
intercalary month ("INTER") in the far righthand column (see
enlarged)
Roman calendar
–
Fragment of an imperial-age consular
fasti, Museo Epigrafico, Rome
6.
Religion in ancient Rome
–
The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, and attributed their success as a world power to their collective piety in maintaining good relations with the gods. According to legends, most of Romes religious institutions could be traced to its founders, particularly Numa Pompilius, the Sabine second king of Rome, who negotiated directly with the gods. This archaic religion was the foundation of the mos maiorum, the way of the ancestors or simply tradition, as Rome came into contact with foreign cultures, and conquered them, foreign religions increasingly attracted devotees among Romans, who increasingly had ancestry from elsewhere in the Empire. The emperors promoted the Imperial cult around the empire, and this, ultimately, Roman polytheism was brought to an end with the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the empire. The priesthoods of public religion were held by members of the elite classes, there was no principle analogous to separation of church and state in ancient Rome. During the Roman Republic, the men who were elected public officials might also serve as augurs. Priests married, raised families, and led politically active lives, Julius Caesar became pontifex maximus before he was elected consul. The augurs read the will of the gods and supervised the marking of boundaries as a reflection of universal order, Roman religion was thus practical and contractual, based on the principle of do ut des, I give that you might give. Even the most skeptical among Romes intellectual elite such as Cicero, for ordinary Romans, religion was a part of daily life. Each home had a shrine at which prayers and libations to the familys domestic deities were offered. Neighborhood shrines and sacred such as springs and groves dotted the city. The Roman calendar was structured around religious observances, women, slaves, and children all participated in a range of religious activities. The Romans are known for the number of deities they honored. The Romans looked for common ground between their major gods and those of the Greeks, adapting Greek myths and iconography for Latin literature, etruscan religion was also a major influence, particularly on the practice of augury. The mysteries, however, involved exclusive oaths and secrecy, conditions that conservative Romans viewed with suspicion as characteristic of magic, conspiratorial, or subversive activity. Sporadic and sometimes brutal attempts were made to suppress religionists who seemed to threaten traditional morality and unity, one way that Rome incorporated diverse peoples was by supporting their religious heritage, building temples to local deities that framed their theology within the hierarchy of Roman religion. Inscriptions throughout the Empire record the worship of local and Roman deities. Because Romans had never been obligated to one god or one cult only
Religion in ancient Rome
–
Marcus Aurelius (
head covered) sacrificing at the Temple of Jupiter
Religion in ancient Rome
–
Relief panel from an altar to
Venus and
Mars depicting Romulus and Remus suckling the she-wolf, and gods representing Roman topography such as the
Tiber river and
Palatine Hill
Religion in ancient Rome
–
Aeneas urged by the Penates to continue his journey to found Rome (4th century AD illustration)
Religion in ancient Rome
–
Twelve principal deities (
Di Consentes) corresponding to those honored at the
lectisternium of 217 BC, represented on a 1st-century altar from
Gabii that is rimmed by the
zodiac
7.
Assassination of Julius Caesar
–
The assassination of Julius Caesar was the result of a conspiracy by many Roman senators. Led by Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius Brutus, and Marcus Junius Brutus, Caesar was the dictator of the Roman Republic at the time, having recently been declared dictator perpetuo by the Senate. This declaration made several senators fear that Caesar wanted to overthrow the Senate in favor of tyranny, the conspirators were unable to restore the Roman Republic. The ramifications of the led to the Liberators civil war and, ultimately. Biographers describe tension between Caesar and the Senate, and his claims to the title of king. These events were the motive for Caesars assassination. The Senate named Caesar dictator perpetuo, Roman mints produced a denarius coin with this title and his likeness on one side, and with an image of the goddess Ceres and Caesars title of Augur Pontifex Maximus on the reverse. According to Cassius Dio, a delegation went to inform Caesar of new honors they had bestowed upon him in 44 BC. Caesar received them while sitting in the Temple of Venus Genetrix, Suetonius wrote that Caesar failed to rise in the temple, either because he was restrained by Cornelius Balbus or that he balked at the suggestion he should rise. Suetonius also gave the account of a crowd assembled to greet Caesar upon his return to Rome, a member of the crowd placed a laurel wreath on the statue of Caesar on the Rostra. The tribunes Gaius Epidius Marullus and Lucius Caesetius Flavus ordered that the wreath be removed as it was a symbol of Jupiter, Caesar had the tribunes removed from office through his official powers. According to Suetonius, Caesar was unable to dissociate himself from the title from this point forward. Suetonius also gives the story that a crowd shouted to him rex, to which Caesar replied, I am Caesar, not Rex. Also, at the festival of the Lupercalia, while he gave a speech from the Rostra, Mark Antony, Caesar put it aside to use as a sacrifice to Jupiter Optimus Maximus. Plutarch and Suetonius are similar in their depiction of these events and he then places the crowd shouting rex on the Alban Hill with the tribunes arresting a member of this crowd as well. The plebeian protested that he was unable to speak his mind freely, Caesar then brought the tribunes before the senate and put the matter to a vote, thereafter removing them from office and erasing their names from the records. Suetonius adds that Lucius Cotta proposed to the Senate that Caesar should be granted the title of king for it was prophesied that only a king would conquer Parthia, Caesar intended to invade Parthia, a task that later gave considerable trouble to Mark Antony during the second triumvirate. His many titles and honors from the Senate were ultimately merely that, Caesar continually strove for more power to govern, with as little dependence as possible on honorary titles or the Senate
Assassination of Julius Caesar
–
Woodcut manuscript illustration by Johannes Zainer, c. 1474
Assassination of Julius Caesar
–
Morte di Giulio Cesare ("Death of Julius Caesar"). By
Vincenzo Camuccini, 1798
Assassination of Julius Caesar
–
La Mort de César (ca. 1859–1867) by
Jean-Léon Gérôme, depicting the aftermath of the attack with Caesar's body abandoned in the foreground as the senators exult
Assassination of Julius Caesar
–
Deification of Julius Caesar, a 16th-century
engraving by
Virgil Solis illustrating
Ovid 's passage on the
apotheosis of Caesar (
Metamorphoses 15.745-850)
8.
Periodization
–
Periodization is the process or study of categorizing the past into discrete, quantified named blocks of time in order to facilitate the study and analysis of history. This results in descriptive abstractions that provide convenient terms for periods of time with relatively stable characteristics, however, determining the precise beginning and ending to any period is often arbitrary. To the extent that history is continuous and ungeneralizable, all systems of periodization are more or less arbitrary, yet without named periods, however clumsy or imprecise, past time would be nothing more than scattered events without a framework to help us understand them. The origins of periodization are very old and first became part of the Western tradition in the myths of Ancient Greece, virgil spoke of a distant Golden Age and recurrent cycles of history. The Bible outlines a narrative of history from Creation to the End of time, not only do periodizing blocks inevitably overlap, they often seemingly conflict with or contradict one another. Some have a cultural usage, others refer to prominent historical events, other periods are named from influential or talismanic individuals. Some of these usages will also be geographically specific and this is especially true of periodizing labels derived from individuals or ruling dynasties, such as the Jacksonian Era in America, the Meiji Era in Japan, or the Merovingian Period in France. Cultural terms may also have a limited reach, thus the concept of the Romantic period is largely meaningless outside the Western world of Europe and European-influenced cultures. Likewise, the 1960s, though applicable to anywhere in the world according to Common Era numbering, has a certain set of specific cultural connotations in certain countries. For this reason it may be possible to say things as The 1960s never occurred in Spain. Likewise it is often said, as the historian Arthur Marwick has. His reason for saying this is that the cultural and economic conditions that define the meaning of the period more than the accidental fact of a 10-year block beginning with the number 6. This extended usage is termed the long 1960s and this usage derives from other historians who have adopted labels such as the long 19th century to reconcile arbitrary decimal chronology with meaningful cultural and social phases. Similarly, an Eighteenth Century may run 1714–1789, eric Hobsbawm has also argued for what he calls the short twentieth century, encompassing the period from the First World War through to the end of the Cold War. Is it possible to use the term Victorian outside Britain, and even within and it sometimes is used when it is thought that its connotations usefully describe the politics, culture and economic conditions characteristic of the last two-thirds of the nineteenth century. Nevertheless, periodizing terms often have negative or positive connotations that may affect their usage and this includes Victorian, which often negatively suggests sexual repression and class conflict. Other labels such as Renaissance have strongly positive characteristics, as a result, these terms sometimes extend in meaning. Thus the English Renaissance is often used for a largely identical to the Elizabethan Period or reign of Elizabeth I
Periodization
–
Petrarch conceived of the idea of a European "
Dark Age " which later evolved into the tripartite periodization of history into Ancient, Middle Ages and Modern.
Periodization
–
Key concepts
9.
Roman Republic
–
It was during this period that Romes control expanded from the citys immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world. During the first two centuries of its existence, the Roman Republic expanded through a combination of conquest and alliance, by the following century, it included North Africa, most of the Iberian Peninsula, and what is now southern France. Two centuries after that, towards the end of the 1st century BC, it included the rest of modern France, Greece, and much of the eastern Mediterranean. By this time, internal tensions led to a series of wars, culminating with the assassination of Julius Caesar. The exact date of transition can be a matter of interpretation, Roman government was headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and advised by a senate composed of appointed magistrates. Over time, the laws that gave exclusive rights to Romes highest offices were repealed or weakened. The leaders of the Republic developed a tradition and morality requiring public service and patronage in peace and war, making military. Many of Romes legal and legislative structures can still be observed throughout Europe and much of the world in modern nation states, the exact causes and motivations for Romes military conflicts and expansions during the republic are subject to wide debate. While they can be seen as motivated by outright aggression and imperialism and they argue that Romes expansion was driven by short-term defensive and inter-state factors, and the new contingencies that these decisions created. In its early history, as Rome successfully defended itself against foreign threats in central and then northern Italy, with some important exceptions, successful wars in early republican Rome generally led not to annexation or military occupation, but to the restoration of the way things were. But the defeated city would be weakened and thus able to resist Romanizing influences. It was also able to defend itself against its non-Roman enemies. It was, therefore, more likely to seek an alliance of protection with Rome and this growing coalition expanded the potential enemies that Rome might face, and moved Rome closer to confrontation with major powers. The result was more alliance-seeking, on the part of both the Roman confederacy and city-states seeking membership within that confederacy. While there were exceptions to this, it was not until after the Second Punic War that these alliances started to harden into something more like an empire and this shift mainly took place in parts of the west, such as the southern Italian towns that sided with Hannibal. In contrast, Roman expansion into Spain and Gaul occurred as a mix of alliance-seeking, in the 2nd century BC, Roman involvement in the Greek east remained a matter of alliance-seeking, but this time in the face of major powers that could rival Rome. This had some important similarities to the events in Italy centuries earlier, with some major exceptions of outright military rule, the Roman Republic remained an alliance of independent city-states and kingdoms until it transitioned into the Roman Empire. It was not until the time of the Roman Empire that the entire Roman world was organized into provinces under explicit Roman control
Roman Republic
–
Route of Pyrrhus of Epirus
Roman Republic
–
Roman consul accompanied by two
lictors
Roman Republic
–
Gaius Gracchus, tribune of the people, presiding over the
Plebeian Council
Roman Republic
–
A Roman
denarius struck in 56 BC showing on one side the bust of the
Goddess Diana, and on the reverse the Roman general
Lucius Cornelius Sulla is offered an olive branch by his ally
Bocchus I as the captive
Jugurtha kneels beside Sulla with his hands bound.
10.
Roman Empire
–
Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesars adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. Octavians power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power, the imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The first two centuries of the empires existence were a period of unprecedented political stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana, following Octavians victory, the size of the empire was dramatically increased. After the assassination of Caligula in 41, the senate briefly considered restoring the republic, under Claudius, the empire invaded Britannia, its first major expansion since Augustus. Vespasian emerged triumphant in 69, establishing the Flavian dynasty, before being succeeded by his son Titus and his short reign was followed by the long reign of his brother Domitian, who was eventually assassinated. The senate then appointed the first of the Five Good Emperors, the empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan, the second in this line. A period of increasing trouble and decline began with the reign of Commodus, Commodus assassination in 192 triggered the Year of the Five Emperors, of which Septimius Severus emerged victorious. The assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 led to the Crisis of the Third Century in which 26 men were declared emperor by the Roman Senate over a time span. It was not until the reign of Diocletian that the empire was fully stabilized with the introduction of the Tetrarchy, which saw four emperors rule the empire at once. This arrangement was unsuccessful, leading to a civil war that was finally ended by Constantine I. Constantine subsequently shifted the capital to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople in his honour and it remained the capital of the east until its demise. Constantine also adopted Christianity which later became the state religion of the empire. However, Augustulus was never recognized by his Eastern colleague, and separate rule in the Western part of the empire ceased to exist upon the death of Julius Nepos. The Eastern Roman Empire endured for another millennium, eventually falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history, at its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the entire population. Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state. Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the republic in the 6th century BC, then, it was an empire long before it had an emperor
Roman Empire
–
The
Augustus of Prima Porta (early 1st century AD)
Roman Empire
–
Aureus of
Augustus, the first
Roman Emperor.
Roman Empire
–
A segment of the ruins of Hadrian's Wall in northern England
Roman Empire
–
A 5th-century
papyrus showing a parallel Latin-Greek text of a speech by
Cicero
11.
Martius (month)
–
Martius or mensis Martius was the first month of the ancient Roman year until possibly as late as 153 BC. After that time, it was the month, following Februarius. Martius was one of the few Roman months named for a deity, Mars, March marked a return to the active life of farming, military campaigning, and sailing. It was densely packed with religious observances dating from the earliest period of Roman history, because of its original position as the first month, a number of festivals originally associated with the new year occurred in March. In the Imperial period, March was also a time for celebration of syncretic or international deities whose cultus was spread throughout the empire, including Isis. The menologia rustica told farmers to expect 12 hours of daylight and 12 of night in March, the spring equinox was placed March 25. The tutelary deity of the month is Minerva, and the Sun was in Pisces, farmers were instructed in this month to trellis vines, to prune, and to sow spring wheat. Festivals for Mars as the namesake deity date from the time of the kings. As a god of war, Mars was a guardian of agriculture and of the state, the season of Mars was felt to close in October, when most farming and military activities ceased, and the god has a second round of festivals clustered then. Isis had official festivals on March 7 and 20, the Romans did not number days of a month sequentially from the 1st through the last day. Instead, they counted back from the three fixed points of the month, the Nones, the Ides, and the Kalends of the following month, the Nones of March was the 7th, and the Ides of March was the 15th. Thus the last day of March was the pridie Kalendas Aprilis, Roman counting was inclusive, March 9 was ante diem VII Idūs Martias, the 7th day before the Ides of March, usually abbreviated a. d. Apr. the 10th day before the Kalends of April, on the calendar of the Roman Republic and early Principate, each day was marked with a letter to denote its religiously lawful status. By the late 2nd century AD, extant calendars no longer show days marked with these letters, days were also marked with nundinal letters in cycles of A B C D E F G H, to mark the market week. A dies natalis was a such as a temple founding or rededication. The dies imperii was the anniversary of an emperors accession, after the mid-1st century AD, a number of dates are added to calendars for spectacles and games held in honor of various deities in the venue called a circus. Unless otherwise noted, the dating and observances on the table are from H. H. Scullard, Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic
Martius (month)
–
Panel thought to depict the Mamuralia from a mosaic of the months that places March first (from El Djem, Tunisia, first half of 3rd century AD)
12.
Julian calendar
–
The Julian calendar, proposed by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on 1 January 45 BC, by edict, the Julian calendar gains against the mean tropical year at the rate of one day in 128 years. For the Gregorian the figure is one day in 3,030 years, the difference in the average length of the year between Julian and Gregorian is 0. 002%. The Julian calendar has a year of 365 days divided into 12 months. A leap day is added to February every four years, the Julian year is, therefore, on average 365.25 days long. It was intended to approximate the tropical year, as a result, the calendar year gains about three days every four centuries compared to observed equinox times and the seasons. This discrepancy was corrected by the Gregorian reform of 1582, consequently, the Julian calendar is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. Egypt converted on 20 December 1874/1 January 1875, turkey switched on 16 February/1 March 1917. Russia changed on 1/14 February 1918, Greece made the change for civil purposes on 16 February/1 March 1923 - the national day, which was a religious holiday, was to remain on the old calendar. Most Christian denominations in the west and areas evangelised by western churches have replaced the Julian calendar with the Gregorian as the basis for their liturgical calendars. However, most branches of the Eastern Orthodox Church still use the Julian calendar for calculating the date of Easter, some Orthodox churches have adopted the Revised Julian calendar for the observance of fixed feasts, while other Orthodox churches retain the Julian calendar for all purposes. The Julian calendar is used by the Berbers of the Maghreb in the form of the Berber calendar. In the form of the Alexandrian calendar, it is the basis for the Ethiopian calendar, during the changeover between calendars and for some time afterwards, dual dating was used in documents and gave the date according to both systems. In contemporary as well as texts that describe events during the period of change. The ordinary year in the previous Roman calendar consisted of 12 months, in addition, a 27- or 28-day intercalary month, the Mensis Intercalaris, was sometimes inserted between February and March. The net effect was to add 22 or 23 days to the year, some say the mensis intercalaris always had 27 days and began on either the first or the second day after the Terminalia. According to the later writers Censorinus and Macrobius, the ideal intercalary cycle consisted of ordinary years of 355 days alternating with intercalary years, alternately 377 and 378 days long. In this system, the average Roman year would have had 366 1⁄4 days over four years, Macrobius describes a further refinement whereby, in one 8-year period within a 24-year cycle, there were only three intercalary years, each of 377 days
Julian calendar
–
Russian icon of the
Theophany (the baptism of
Jesus by
John the Baptist) (6 January), the highest-ranked feast which occurs on the fixed cycle of the
Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar.
Julian calendar
–
This is a visual example of the official date change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian
Julian calendar
–
Key concepts
13.
Roman festivals
–
Festivals in ancient Rome were an important part of Roman religious life during both the Republican and Imperial eras, and one of the primary features of the Roman calendar. Feriae were either public or private, state holidays were celebrated by the Roman people and received public funding. Games, such as the Ludi Apollinares, were not technically feriae, although feriae were paid for by the state, ludi were often funded by wealthy individuals. Feriae privatae were holidays celebrated in honor of individuals or by families. Conceptivae were annual holidays that were moveable feasts, the date was announced by the magistrates or priests who were responsible for them, imperativae were holidays held on demand when special celebrations or expiations were called for. One of the most important sources for Roman holidays is Ovids Fasti, varro defined feriae as days instituted for the sake of the gods. Religious rites were performed on the feriae, and public business was suspended, even slaves were supposed to be given some form of rest. Cicero says specifically that people who were free should not engage in lawsuits and quarrels, agricultural writers recognized that some jobs on a farm might still need to be performed, and specified what these were. Some agricultural tasks not otherwise permitted could be carried out if an expiation were made in advance, within the city of Rome, the flamens and the priest known as the Rex sacrorum were not allowed even to see work done. On a practical level, those who inadvertently worked could pay a fine or offer up a piaculum, work considered vital either to the gods or preserving human life was excusable, according to some experts on religious law. Although Romans were required not to work, they were not required to take any action unless they were priests or had family rites to maintain. Following is a month-by-month list of Roman festivals and games that had a place on the calendar. For some, the date on which they were first established is recorded, a deitys festival often marked the anniversary of the founding of a temple, or a rededication after a major renovation. Festivals not named for deities are thought to be among the oldest on the calendar, the first day of the month was the Kalends. Each Kalends was sacred to Juno, and the Regina sacrorum marked the day by presiding over a sacrifice to the goddess. A pontiff and the Rex sacrorum reported the sighting of the new moon, the Ides were sacred to Jupiter. On each Ides, a lamb was led along the Via Sacra to the Capitolium for sacrifice to Jupiter. The list also includes notable public religious events such as sacrifices
Roman festivals
–
Marcus Aurelius (
head covered) sacrificing at the Temple of Jupiter
Roman festivals
–
Piece of the fragmentary
Fasti Praenestini for April, showing the Vinalia (VIN) and Robigalia (ROB)
Roman festivals
–
A rare depiction of Roman men wearing the
toga praetexta and participating in what is probably the Compitalia
14.
Nones (calendar)
–
The Roman calendar is the calendar used by the Roman kingdom and republic. The original calendar consisted of 10 months beginning in spring with March and these months ran for 38 nundinal cycles, each forming a kind of eight day week ended by religious rituals and a public market. The winter period was used to create January and February. The legendary early kings Romulus and Numa were traditionally credited with establishing this early fixed calendar, in particular, the kalends, nones, and ides seem to have derived from the first sighting of the crescent moon, the first-quarter moon, and the full moon respectively. The system ran well short of the year, and it needed constant intercalation to keep religious festivals. For superstitious reasons, such intercalation occurred within the month of February even after it was no longer considered the last month. Having won his war with Pompey, Caesar used his position as Romes chief pontiff to enact a calendar reform in 46 BC, in order to bring the calendar back to its proper place, Augustus was obliged to suspend intercalation for a few decades. The original Roman calendar is believed to have been a lunar calendar whose months began from the first signs of a new crescent moon. Because a lunar cycle is about 29½ days long, such months would have varied between 29 and 30 days, Romes 8-day week, the nundinal cycle, was shared with the Etruscans, who used it as the schedule of royal audiences. It was presumably a feature of the calendar and was credited in Roman legend variously to Romulus and Servius Tullius. The Romans themselves described their first organized year as one with ten fixed months, such a decimal division fit general Roman practice. The four 31-day months were called full and the others hollow and its 304 days made up exactly 38 nundinal cycles. Later Roman writers credited this calendar to Romulus, their legendary first king and culture hero, although this was common with other practices and traditions whose origin had been lost to them. Rüpke also finds the coincidence of the length of the supposed Romulan year with the length of the first ten months of the Julian calendar to be suspicious, other traditions existed alongside this one, however. Plutarchs Parallel Lives recounts that Romuluss calendar had been solar but adhered to the principle that the year should last for 360 days. Months were employed secondarily and haphazardly, with some counted as 20 days, the attested calendar of the Roman Republic was quite different. It followed Greek calendars in assuming a lunar cycle of 29½ days and a year of 12½ synodic months. The additional two months of the year were January and February, the month was sometimes known as Mercedonius
Nones (calendar)
–
A fragment of the
Fasti Praenestini for the month of April (
Aprilis), showing the nundinal letters on the left edge
Nones (calendar)
–
Drawing of the fragmentary Fasti Antiates Maiores (ca. 60 BC), a Roman calendar from before the Julian reform, with the seventh and eighth months still named
Quintilis ("QVI") and
Sextilis ("SEX"), and the
intercalary month ("INTER") in the far righthand column (see
enlarged)
Nones (calendar)
–
Fragment of an imperial-age consular
fasti, Museo Epigrafico, Rome
15.
Ides (calendar)
–
The Roman calendar is the calendar used by the Roman kingdom and republic. The original calendar consisted of 10 months beginning in spring with March and these months ran for 38 nundinal cycles, each forming a kind of eight day week ended by religious rituals and a public market. The winter period was used to create January and February. The legendary early kings Romulus and Numa were traditionally credited with establishing this early fixed calendar, in particular, the kalends, nones, and ides seem to have derived from the first sighting of the crescent moon, the first-quarter moon, and the full moon respectively. The system ran well short of the year, and it needed constant intercalation to keep religious festivals. For superstitious reasons, such intercalation occurred within the month of February even after it was no longer considered the last month. Having won his war with Pompey, Caesar used his position as Romes chief pontiff to enact a calendar reform in 46 BC, in order to bring the calendar back to its proper place, Augustus was obliged to suspend intercalation for a few decades. The original Roman calendar is believed to have been a lunar calendar whose months began from the first signs of a new crescent moon. Because a lunar cycle is about 29½ days long, such months would have varied between 29 and 30 days, Romes 8-day week, the nundinal cycle, was shared with the Etruscans, who used it as the schedule of royal audiences. It was presumably a feature of the calendar and was credited in Roman legend variously to Romulus and Servius Tullius. The Romans themselves described their first organized year as one with ten fixed months, such a decimal division fit general Roman practice. The four 31-day months were called full and the others hollow and its 304 days made up exactly 38 nundinal cycles. Later Roman writers credited this calendar to Romulus, their legendary first king and culture hero, although this was common with other practices and traditions whose origin had been lost to them. Rüpke also finds the coincidence of the length of the supposed Romulan year with the length of the first ten months of the Julian calendar to be suspicious, other traditions existed alongside this one, however. Plutarchs Parallel Lives recounts that Romuluss calendar had been solar but adhered to the principle that the year should last for 360 days. Months were employed secondarily and haphazardly, with some counted as 20 days, the attested calendar of the Roman Republic was quite different. It followed Greek calendars in assuming a lunar cycle of 29½ days and a year of 12½ synodic months. The additional two months of the year were January and February, the month was sometimes known as Mercedonius
Ides (calendar)
–
A fragment of the
Fasti Praenestini for the month of April (
Aprilis), showing the nundinal letters on the left edge
Ides (calendar)
–
Drawing of the fragmentary Fasti Antiates Maiores (ca. 60 BC), a Roman calendar from before the Julian reform, with the seventh and eighth months still named
Quintilis ("QVI") and
Sextilis ("SEX"), and the
intercalary month ("INTER") in the far righthand column (see
enlarged)
Ides (calendar)
–
Fragment of an imperial-age consular
fasti, Museo Epigrafico, Rome
16.
Full moon
–
A full moon is the lunar phase that occurs when the Moon is completely illuminated as seen from Earth. This occurs when Earth is located directly between the Sun and the Moon and this means that the hemisphere of the Moon that is facing Earth is almost fully illuminated by the Sun and appears round. On some occasions at the time of full moon there is also a lunar eclipse so the face appears reddish due to the rayleigh scattering of blue light in Earths atmosphere. Lunar eclipses can occur only at full moon, where the Moons orbit allows it to pass through Earths shadow, Lunar eclipses do not occur every month because the Moon usually passes above or below Earths shadow. Lunar eclipses can only when the full moon occurs near the two nodes of the orbit, either the ascending or descending node. This causes eclipses to occur about every 6 months. The time interval between similar lunar phases—the synodic month—averages about 29.53 days, therefore, in those lunar calendars in which each month begins on the new moon, the full moon falls on either the 14th or 15th of the lunar month. Because calendar months have a number of days, lunar months may be either 29 or 30 days long. A full moon is thought of as an event of a full nights duration. This is somewhat misleading because the Moon seen from Earth is continuously becoming larger and/or smaller and its absolute maximum size occurs at the moment expansion has stopped. For any given location, about half of these absolute maximum full moons will be visible, as the other half occur during the day. Many almanacs list full moons not just by date, but by their time as well. Typical monthly calendars that include phases of the Moon may be offset by one day if intended for use in a different time zone, Full moons are generally a poor time to conduct astronomical observations, because the bright reflected sunlight from the Moon overwhelms the dimmer light from stars. On 12 December 2008, the moon occurred closer to the Earth than it had been at any time for the previous 15 years. On 19 March 2011, another full moon occurred, closer to the Earth than at any time for the previous ~18 years. On 14 November 2016, a full moon occurred closer to the Earth than at any time for the previous 68 years. The true time of a full moon may differ from this approximation by up to about 14.5 hours as a result of the non-circularity of the moons orbit, see New moon for an explanation of the formula and its parameters. The age and apparent size of the full moon vary in a cycle of just under 14 synodic months, Full moons are traditionally associated with temporal insomnia, insanity and various magical phenomena such as lycanthropy
Full moon
–
Photograph of the full moon as viewed through a 9.25 inch
Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. This moon was near its greatest northern ecliptic latitude, so the southern craters are especially prominent.
Full moon
–
Photograph of full moon during the partial
lunar eclipse of 26 June 2010
Full moon
–
Composite image of the Moon as taken by the
Galileo spacecraft on 7 December 1992. The color is "enhanced" in the sense that the CCD camera is sensitive to near infrared wavelengths of light beyond human vision.
Full moon
–
Full moon with
reflex camera and
telescope Orion 80ED.
17.
Lunar calendar
–
A lunar calendar is a calendar based upon cycles of the Moons phases, in contrast to solar calendars based solely upon the solar year. A purely lunar calendar is also distinguished from lunisolar calendars whose lunar months are brought into alignment with the year through some process of intercalation. The details of when months begin varies from calendar to calendar, with using new, full, or crescent moons. Because each lunation is a less than 29 days,12 hours,44 minutes. Such holidays include Ramadan, the Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Mongolian New Year, the Nepali New Year, the Mid-Autumn Festival and Chuseok, Loi Krathong, and Diwali. The earliest known lunar calendar was found at Warren Field in Scotland and has dated to c. 8000 BC. Some scholars argue for lunar calendars still further back—Rappenglück in the marks on a c. 17, 000-year-old cave painting at Lascaux and Marshack in the marks on a c. 27, most calendars referred to as lunar calendars are in fact lunisolar calendars. Their months are based on observations of the cycle, with intercalation being used to bring them into general agreement with the solar year. The solar civic calendar of ancient Egypt showed traces of its origin in the lunar calendar. Present-day lunisolar calendars include the Chinese, Hindu, and Thai calendars, synodic months are 29 or 30 days in length, making a lunar year of 12 months about 11 days shorter than a solar year. Some lunar calendars do not use intercalation, such as most Islamic calendars, for those that do, such as the Hebrew calendar, the most common form of intercalation is to add an additional month every second or third year. Some lunisolar calendars are also calibrated by annual natural events which are affected by lunar cycles as well as the solar cycle, an example of this is the lunar calendar of the Banks Islands, which includes three months in which the edible palolo worm mass on the beaches. These events occur at the last quarter of the lunar month, lunar and lunisolar calendars differ as to which day is the first day of the month. In some lunisolar calendars, such as the Chinese calendar, the first day of a month is the day when a new moon occurs in a particular time zone. In others, such as some Hindu calendars, each month begins on the day after the moon or the new moon. Others were based in the past on the first sighting of a lunar crescent, the length of each lunar cycle varies slightly from the average value. In addition, observations are subject to uncertainty and weather conditions, thus to avoid uncertainty about the calendar, there have been attempts to create fixed arithmetical rules to determine the start of each calendar month. The average length of the month is 29.530589 days
Lunar calendar
–
Physical lunar features
18.
Roman mosaic
–
A Roman mosaic is a mosaic made during the Roman period, throughout the Roman Empire. Mosaics were used in a variety of private and public buildings, the outstanding examples of the Late Imperial period are the mosaics in the villa of Casale in Sicily. The mosaic decoration of the palace complex culminates in the gallery. Roman mosaics are constructed from geometrical blocks called tesserae, placed together to create the shapes of figures, motifs, polychrome patterns were most common, but monochrome examples are known. Marble and glass were used as tesserae, as were small pebbles. Mosaic decoration was not just confined to floors but featured on walls, traces of guidelines have been found beneath some mosaics, either scored into or painted onto the mortar bedding. The design might also be pegged out in string, or mounted in a wooden frame, the collapse of buildings in antiquity can, paradoxically, both irrevocably destroy mosaics or protect and preserve them. As well as patterns and designs, Roman mosaics frequently depicted divine characters or mythological scenes. Imagery of famous individuals or entertaining scenes are common on Roman mosaics, the Alexander Mosaic from the House of the Faun, Pompeii depicts the Battle of Issus between Alexander the Great and Darius III. In addition to people from antiquity, mosaics can depict aspects of daily life. The Gladiator Mosaic from Rome depicts a scene, naming each gladiator involved. A gladiatorial scene is known from Leptis Magna. One of the earliest depictions of Roman Christianity is a mosaic from Hinton St Mary which shows Christ with a Chi-Rho behind his head, the mosaic is now in the British Museum. Progression within the technique developed the emblem, the heart of all mosaics. The Alexander Mosaic from the House of the Faun, Pompeii, the Tomb of the Julii in the Vatican Necropolis, beneath St. Peters Basilica, Rome. The Gladiator Mosaic from the Via Casilina outside Rome, the Zliten Mosaic from Zliten in Libya
Roman mosaic
–
The
Alexander Mosaic, ca. 100 BC
Roman mosaic
–
Detail of Alexander Mosaic, depicting
Alexander the Great
Roman mosaic
–
Neptune driving his chariot
Roman mosaic
–
Ulysses during his journey
19.
El Djem
–
El Djem is a town in Mahdia Governorate, Tunisia, population 48,611. It is home to some of the most impressive Roman remains in Africa, the Roman city of Thysdrus was built, like almost all Roman settlements in ancient Tunisia, on former Punic settlements. It was the seat of a Christian bishopric, which is included in the Catholic Churchs list of titular sees, by the early 3rd century AD, when the amphitheater was built, Thysdrus rivaled Hadrumetum as the second city of Roman North Africa, after Carthage. However, following the revolt that began there in 238 AD. The town is shown on the 4th century Peutinger Map, El Djem is famous for its amphitheatre, often incorrectly called a Colosseum, which is capable of seating 35,000 spectators. Only the Flavian Amphitheater in Rome and the theatre of Capua are larger. The amphitheatre at El Djem was built by the Romans under proconsul Gordian, many tourists come here to see what it was like to be inside what was once a place where lions and people met their fate. Much of it is crumbled but the essence of it still remains and it is also possible that construction of the amphitheatre was never finished. Until the 17th century it remained more or less whole, the ruins of the amphitheatre were declared a World Heritage Site in 1979. It hosts the annual Festival international de musique symphonique dEl Jem, drifting sand is preserving the market city of Thysdrus and the refined suburban villas that once surrounded it. Some floor mosaics have been found and published, but field archaeology has scarcely been attempted, recently with aerial photos, a huge racetrack stadium has been discovered. In the world of writing materials, Thysdrus lay in the Empire of Papyrus, during World War II a major military airfield was located near El Djem, used first by the German Luftwaffe. It was attacked on numerous occasions and later used by the United States Army Air Forces Twelfth Air Force as a transport field, there are few, if any, remains of the airfield today with the land being returned to agricultural uses outside of the city
El Djem
–
The amphitheatre
El Djem
–
El Djem in the morning
El Djem
–
Amphitheatre entrance
El Djem
–
Inside amphitheater
20.
Tunisia
–
Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia is the northernmost country in Africa, covering 165,000 square kilometres. Its northernmost point, Cape Angela, is the northernmost point on the African continent and it is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisias population was estimated to be just under 11 million in 2014, Tunisias name is derived from its capital city, Tunis, which is located on Tunisias northeast coast. Geographically, Tunisia contains the end of the Atlas Mountains. Much of the rest of the land is fertile soil. Tunisia is a unitary semi-presidential representative democratic republic and it is considered to be the only full democracy in the Arab World. It has a human development index. In addition, Tunisia is also a state of the United Nations. Close relations with Europe – in particular with France and with Italy – have been forged through economic cooperation, privatisation, in ancient times, Tunisia was primarily inhabited by Berbers. Phoenician immigration began in the 12th century BC, these immigrants founded Carthage, a major mercantile power and a military rival of the Roman Republic, Carthage was defeated by the Romans in 146 BC. The Romans, who would occupy Tunisia for most of the eight hundred years, introduced Christianity. After several attempts starting in 647, the Arabs conquered the whole of Tunisia by 697, the Ottomans held sway for over three hundred years. The French colonization of Tunisia occurred in 1881, Tunisia gained independence with Habib Bourguiba and declared the Tunisian Republic in 1957. In 2011, the Tunisian Revolution resulted in the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the country voted for parliament again on 26 October 2014, and for President on 23 November 2014. The word Tunisia is derived from Tunis, an urban hub. The present form of the name, with its Latinate suffix -ia, the French derivative Tunisie was adopted in some European languages with slight modifications, introducing a distinctive name to designate the country. Other languages remained untouched, such as the Russian Туни́с and Spanish Túnez, in this case, the same name is used for both country and city, as with the Arabic تونس, and only by context can one tell the difference. The name Tunis can be attributed to different origins and it is generally associated with the Berber root ⵜⵏⵙ, transcribed tns, which means to lay down or encampment
Tunisia
–
Ancient ruins of a
Roman villa at
Carthage
Tunisia
–
Flag
Tunisia
–
The Roman amphitheater in
El Djem, built during the first half of the 3rd century AD
Tunisia
–
Domes of the
Great Mosque of Kairouan. Founded in 670, it dates in its present form largely from the Aghlabid period (9th century). It is the oldest mosque in the
Maghreb.
21.
Africa (Roman province)
–
The Roman province of Africa Proconsularis was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day Tunisia, the northeast of modern-day Algeria, and it was one of the wealthiest provinces in the western part of the empire, second only to Italia. The Arabs later named roughly the same region as the original province Ifriqiya, the land acquired for the province of Africa was the site of the ancient city of Carthage. Other large cities in the region included Hadrumetum, capital of Byzacena, the province was established by the Roman Republic in 146 BC, following the Third Punic War. Rome established its first African colony, Africa Proconsularis or Africa Vetus, governed by a proconsul, utica was formed as the administrative capital. The remaining territory was left in the domain of the Numidian client king Massinissa, at this time, the Roman policy in Africa was simply to prevent another great power from rising on the far side of Sicily. In 118 BC, the Numidian prince Jugurtha attempted to reunify the smaller kingdoms, however, upon his death, much of Jugurthas territory was placed in the control of the Mauretanian client king Bocchus, and, by that time, the romanization of Africa was firmly rooted. In 27 BC, when the Republic had transformed into an Empire, several political and provincial reforms were implemented by Augustus and later by Caligula, but Claudius finalized the territorial divisions into official Roman provinces. After Diocletians administrative reforms, it was split into Africa Zeugitana in the north, the region remained a part of the Roman Empire until the Germanic migrations of the 5th century. The Vandals crossed into North Africa from Spain in 429 and overran the area by 439 and founded their own kingdom, including Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, the Vandals controlled the country as a warrior-elite. They also persecuted Catholicism, as the Vandals were adherents of Arianism, towards the end of the 5th century, the Vandal state fell into decline, abandoning most of the interior territories to the Mauri and other Berber tribes of the desert. In AD533, Emperor Justinian, using a Vandal dynastic dispute as pretext, in a short campaign, Belisarius defeated the Vandals, entered Carthage in triumph and re-established Roman rule over the province. The North African provinces, together with the Roman possessions in Spain, were grouped into the Exarchate of Africa by Emperor Maurice, the exarchate prospered, and from it resulted the overthrow of the emperor Phocas by Heraclius in 610. Heraclius briefly considered moving the capital from Constantinople to Carthage. After 640, the managed to stave off the Muslim Conquest, but in 698. Historian Theodore Mommsen estimated that under Hadrian nearly 1/3 of the eastern Numidia population was descended from Roman veterans, even so, the Roman military presence of North Africa was relatively small, consisting of about 28,000 troops and auxiliaries in Numidia and the two Mauretanian provinces. Starting in the 2nd century AD, these garrisons were manned mostly by local inhabitants, a sizable Latin speaking population developed that was multinational in background, sharing the north African region with those speaking Punic and Berber languages. Imperial security forces began to be drawn from the local population, however, the Roman territory in Africa was unevenly penetrated by Roman culture
Africa (Roman province)
–
Northern Africa under Roman rule
Africa (Roman province)
–
The province of Africa within the Roman Empire
Africa (Roman province)
–
Électrum tridrachme struck at Zeugitane in Carthage
Africa (Roman province)
–
The amphitheatre of Thysdrus (modern
El Djem)
22.
Jupiter (mythology)
–
Jupiter, also Jove, is the god of sky and thunder and king of the gods in Ancient Roman religion and mythology. Jupiter was the deity of Roman state religion throughout the Republican and Imperial eras. In Roman mythology, he negotiates with Numa Pompilius, the king of Rome, to establish principles of Roman religion such as offering. Jupiter is usually thought to have originated as a sky god, the two emblems were often combined to represent the god in the form of an eagle holding in its claws a thunderbolt, frequently seen on Greek and Roman coins. As the sky-god, he was a witness to oaths. Many of his functions were focused on the Capitoline Hill, where the citadel was located and he was the chief deity of the early Capitoline Triad with Mars and Quirinus. In the later Capitoline Triad, he was the guardian of the state with Juno. His sacred tree was the oak, the Romans regarded Jupiter as the equivalent of the Greek Zeus, and in Latin literature and Roman art, the myths and iconography of Zeus are adapted under the name Iuppiter. In the Greek-influenced tradition, Jupiter was the brother of Neptune, each presided over one of the three realms of the universe, sky, the waters, and the underworld. The Italic Diespiter was also a sky god who manifested himself in the daylight, usually, Tinia is usually regarded as his Etruscan counterpart. The Romans believed that Jupiter granted them supremacy because they had honoured him more than any other people had, Jupiter was the fount of the auspices upon which the relationship of the city with the gods rested. He personified the divine authority of Romes highest offices, internal organization and his image in the Republican and Imperial Capitol bore regalia associated with Romes ancient kings and the highest consular and Imperial honours. The consuls swore their oath of office in Jupiters name, to thank him for his help, they offered him a white ox with gilded horns. A similar offering was made by generals, who surrendered the tokens of their victory at the feet of Jupiters statue in the Capitol. Some scholars have viewed the triumphator as embodying Jupiter in the triumphal procession, Jupiters association with kingship and sovereignty was reinterpreted as Romes form of government changed. Originally, Rome was ruled by kings, after the monarchy was abolished and the Republic established, religious prerogatives were transferred to the patres, nostalgia for the kingship was considered treasonous. Those suspected of harbouring monarchical ambitions were punished, regardless of their service to the state, in the 5th century BC, the triumphator Camillus was sent into exile after he drove a chariot with a team of four white horses —an honour reserved for Jupiter himself. His house on the Capitoline Hill was razed, and it was decreed that no patrician should ever be allowed to live there, during the Conflict of the Orders, Romes plebeians demanded the right to hold political and religious office
Jupiter (mythology)
–
A marble statue of Jupiter from c. 200 AD
Jupiter (mythology)
–
Marcus Aurelius (
head covered) sacrificing at the Temple of Jupiter
Jupiter (mythology)
–
Triumphator in his four-horse chariot, from the
Arch of Titus
Jupiter (mythology)
–
Detail of
relief from the
Augustan Altar of Peace, showing flamens wearing the pointed
apex
23.
Flamen Dialis
–
In ancient Roman religion, the Flamen Dialis was the high priest of Jupiter. There were 15 flamines, of three were flamines maiores, serving the three gods of the Archaic Triad. According to tradition the flamines were forbidden to touch metal, ride a horse, the Flamen Dialis enjoyed many peculiar honours. From that time forward he was emancipated from the control of his father, and became sui juris. He alone of all priests wore the apex, he had a right to a lictor, to the toga praetexta, the Sella Curulis and this last privilege, after having been suffered to fall into disuse for a long period, was asserted by C. Valerius Flaccus, the claim allowed however, says Livy, more in deference to his personal character than from a conviction of the justice of the demand. Thus, it was impossible for him to undertake the government of a province and he might not mount or even touch a horse, touch iron, or look at an army marshalled outside the pomerium, or be elected to the consulship. Indeed, it would seem that originally he was precluded from seeking or accepting any civil magistracy. The Flamen Dialis was required to wear certain unusual garments, such as the apex, a hat, and a laena. The origins of the following superstitions are not so clear, but there is speculation in Plutarch, Festus, and Pliny the Elder. He might not touch flour, nor leaven, nor leavened bread, nor a dead body, he not enter a burial place. He was forbidden either to touch or to name a dog, none but a free man might cut his hair, the clippings of which, together with the parings of his nails, were buried beneath a felix arbor. No one might sleep in his bed, the legs of which were smeared with fine clay, and it was unlawful to place a box containing sacrificial cakes in contact with the bedstead. In the view of Dumézil, these mark the Flamen Dialis as serving a heavenly god, with his attributes of absolute purity and freedom. Within his scope of action there are the domains of power and right, but not battle. His solidarity with the king is reflected in that of his earthly counterpart, such a partnership has parallels in other Indo-European cultures, such as that of the Vedic rajan and his purohita and the ancient Irish rig and the chief druid. The Flaminica Dialis was the wife of the Flamen Dialis and she was required to be a virgin at the time of their wedding, which had to be conducted according to the ceremonies of confarreatio, the traditional form of marriage for patricians. The couple were not permitted to divorce, and if the flaminica died the Dialis was obliged to resign, the assistance of the flaminica was essential in the performance of certain rituals
Flamen Dialis
–
Flamen (250–260 AD)
24.
Arx (Roman)
–
Arx is a Latin word meaning citadel. In the ancient city of Rome, the arx was located on the spur of the Capitoline Hill. At Rome, sentries were posted on the Arx to watch for signals displayed on the Janiculum if an enemy approached. A red flag would be raised and a trumpet blown, the Arx was not regularly garrisoned, however, and should not be regarded as a fort. However, in the Gallic siege of Rome, the Arx was considered the point of last retreat and it thus held a symbolic power beyond its importance in military strategy, and was a central place in archaic Roman religion. In the early Republic, some patricians were permitted to live on the Arx, after 384 BC, the Senate banned all private dwellings from the Arx and the rest of the Capitolium. The house of Marcus Manlius Capitolinus, a champion of the plebs, was torn down at this time and became the site of the Temple of Juno Moneta. This auguraculum was the stone where the monarch, during the Roman Kingdom, was seated by the augurs with his face to the south. Major temples on the Arx include that of Juno Moneta, where the mint was located, Concordia, Honor and Virtue, jupiter, however, was the god of the Arx. The Romans also referred to the citadel of other cities as an arx, excavations in Cosa, Tuscany, conducted in 1948–54 and 1965–72, uncovered the settlements arx. Frank E. Brown and his team studied the site extensively when they began the Cosa excavations in 1948, the citadel was a fortified hill on which were built several temples, including the so-called capitolium of Cosa. In Lavinium, south of Rome, Castello Borghese is thought to be the site of the Roman-era arx constructed in the port city. The arx of Londinium was located in the northwest corner of the present-day City of London and it was constructed around 120 and dismantled around the time of Diocletian. Unless otherwise noted, general background and references to ancient sources from Samuel Ball Platner and Thomas Ashby, Arx, A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, LacusCurtius edition
Arx (Roman)
–
The location of the Arx is indicated on this speculative map of Rome circa 753 BC.
25.
Late antiquity
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Late antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages in mainland Europe, the Mediterranean world, and the Near East. The development of the periodization has generally been accredited to historian Peter Brown, precise boundaries for the period are a continuing matter of debate, but Brown proposes a period between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Generally, it can be thought of as from the end of the Roman Empires Crisis of the Third Century to, in the East, the early Islamic period, following the Muslim conquests in the mid–7th century. In the West the end was earlier, with the start of the Early Medieval period typically placed in the 6th century, beginning with Constantine the Great, Christianity was made legal in the Empire, and a new capital was founded at Constantinople. The resultant cultural fusion of Greco-Roman, Germanic and Christian traditions formed the foundations of the subsequent culture of Europe, the term Spätantike, literally late antiquity, has been used by German-speaking historians since its popularization by Alois Riegl in the early 20th century. Concurrently, some migrating Germanic tribes such as the Ostrogoths and Visigoths saw themselves as perpetuating the Roman tradition, Constantine confirmed the legalization of the religion through the so-called Edict of Milan in 313, jointly issued with his rival in the East, Licinius. Monasticism was not the only new Christian movement to appear in Late Antiquity, notable in this regard is the topic of the Fifty Bibles of Constantine. Within the recently legitimized Christian community of the 4th century, a division could be distinctly seen between the laity and an increasingly celibate male leadership. Celibate and detached, the clergy became an elite equal in prestige to urban notables. The Late Antique period also saw a transformation of the political and social basis of life in. The later Roman Empire was in a sense a network of cities, archaeology now supplements literary sources to document the transformation followed by collapse of cities in the Mediterranean basin. Burials within the urban precincts mark another stage in dissolution of traditional urbanistic discipline, overpowered by the attraction of saintly shrines, in Roman Britain, the typical 4th- and 5th-century layer of black earth within cities seems to be a result of increased gardening in formerly urban spaces. A similar though less marked decline in population occurred later in Constantinople. In Europe there was also a decline in urban populations. As a whole, the period of antiquity was accompanied by an overall population decline in almost all Europe. Long-distance markets disappeared, and there was a reversion to a degree of local production and consumption, rather than webs of commerce. The degree and extent of discontinuity in the cities of the Greek East is a moot subject among historians. In the western Mediterranean, the new cities known to be founded in Europe between the 5th and 8th centuries were the four or five Visigothic victory cities
Late antiquity
–
The
Barberini ivory, a late
Leonid /
Justinian Byzantine ivory leaf from an imperial
diptych, from an imperial workshop in
Constantinople in the first half of the sixth century (
Louvre Museum)
Late antiquity
–
Modern statue of
Constantine I at
York, where he was proclaimed
Augustus in 306.
Late antiquity
–
The Favourites of the Emperor Honorius, 1883:
John William Waterhouse expresses the sense of moral decadence that coloured the 19th-century historical view of the 5th century.
Late antiquity
–
View west along the Harbour Street towards the Library of Celsus in
Ephesus. The pillars on the left side of the street were part of the
colonnaded walkway apparent in cities of Late Antique
Asia Minor.
26.
Mamuralia
–
In ancient Roman religion, the Mamuralia or Sacrum Mamurio was a festival held March 14 or 15, named only in sources from late antiquity. According to Joannes Lydus, an old man wearing animal skins was beaten ritually with sticks, the name is connected to Mamurius Veturius, who according to tradition was the craftsman who made the ritual shields that hung in the temple of Mars. Because the Roman calendar originally began in March, the Sacrum Mamurio is usually regarded as a ritual marking the transition from the old year to the new and it shares some characteristics with scapegoat or pharmakos ritual. The ancile was one of the guarantors of the Roman state. The shields were under the care of Mars priests the Salii, fragments of this archaic hymn survive, including the invocation of Mamurius. Several sources mention the invocation of the hymn and the story of the smith, Mamurius was also supposed to have made a bronze replacement for a maple statue of Vertumnus, brought to Rome in the time of Romulus. Veturius is considered either an Etruscan or Oscan family name, Mamurius Veturius became the nickname of Marcus Aurelius Marius Augustus, a former smith or metalworker who was briefly Roman emperor in 269. The divine shield is supposed to have fallen from the sky on March 1, the Mamuralia is named as such only in calendars and sources dating from the 4th century of the Christian era and later. On the Calendar of Filocalus, it is placed on March 14, the earliest extant calendars place an Equirria, one of the sacral chariot races in honor of Mars, on March 14. The festival of Anna Perenna, a goddess of the year, macrobius understood her doubled name to mean through the year. Jane Ellen Harrison regarded Anna Perenna as the equivalent of Mamurius. The Ides were supposed to be determined by the full moon, on the earliest calendar, the Ides of March would have been the first full moon of the new year. Mamurius may be a form of Mamers, the name of Mars in Oscan, Mamurius Veturius would be old Mars as the embodiment of the year. He also places the causative verb monêre, to warn, advise, remind, in same group, explaining that the verbal action is meant to create a memory or monimenta. Therefore, Varro says, when the Salii chant Mamuri Veturi, william Warde Fowler, in his 1899 work on Roman festivals, agreed with Mommsen that the story of Mamurius might be one of those comparatively rare examples of later ritual growing itself out of myth. The name of Mamurius as chanted by the Salii in March may have attached to the March 14 Equirria. The fullest description of the known as the Mamuralia is given by Joannes Lydus in his 6th-century work De mensibus. Lydus does not state that the old man was out of the city
Mamuralia
–
March panel from a mosaic of the months, possibly the Rite of Mamurius (from El Djem, Tunisia, first half of 3rd century AD); despite the late date, March is positioned as the first month of the year
27.
Scapegoat
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A scapegoat is a person or animal which takes on the sins of others, or is unfairly blamed for problems. The concept originally comes from Leviticus, in which a goat is designated to be cast into the desert with the sins of the community, other ancient societies had similar practices. In psychology and sociology, the practice of selecting someone as a scapegoat has led to the concept of scapegoating, and Aaron shall place lots upon the two goats, one lot For the Lord, and the other lot, For Azazel. The word scapegoat is an English translation of the Hebrew azazel which occurs in Leviticus 16,8, the lexicographer Gesenius and Brown–Driver–Briggs Hebrew Lexicon give la-azazel as a reduplicative intensive of the stem azel remove, hence la-azazel, for entire removal. This reading is supported by the Greek Old Testament translation as the sender away, alternatively, broadly contemporary with the Septuagint, the pseudepigraphical Book of Enoch may preserve Azazel as the name of a fallen angel. English Christian Bible versions traditionally follow the translation of the Septuagint, william Tyndale rendered the Latin as scape goat in his 1530 Bible. Several modern versions however either follow the reading as a demon, Azazel, or footnote for Azazel. as an alternative reading. Jewish sources in the Talmud give the etymology of azazel as a compound of az, strong or rough, and el, mighty, that the goat was sent from the most rugged or strongest of mountains. From the Targums onwards the term azazel was also seen by some commentators as the name of a Hebrew demon, angelic force. The two readings are still disputed today, a concept superficially similar to the biblical scapegoat is attested in two ritual texts in archives at Ebla of the 24th century BC. They were connected with ritual purification on the occasion of the kings wedding, in them, a she-goat with a silver bracelet hung from her neck was driven forth into the wasteland of Alini, we in the report of the ritual involves the whole community. Such elimination rites, in which an animal, without confession of sins, is the vehicle of evils that are chased from the community are widely attested in the Ancient Near East. The scholia refer to the pharmakos being killed, but many scholars reject this, once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Cohen Gadol sacrificed a bull as a sin offering to atone for sins he may have committed unintentionally throughout the year. Subsequently he took two goats and presented them at the door of the tabernacle, two goats were chosen by lot, one to be for YHWH, which was offered as a blood sacrifice, and the other to be the scapegoat to be sent away into the wilderness. The blood of the goat was taken into the Holy of Holies behind the sacred veil and sprinkled on the mercy seat. In Christianity, especially in Protestantism, this process prefigures the sacrifice of Christ on the cross through which God has been propitiated and sins can be expiated. Christians believe that sinners who own their guilt and confess their sins, exercising faith and trust in the person, Seventh-day Adventist Christians understand this symbolism differently. As the Azazel Goat was understood by some Christians of the reformation to represent Satan, since the second goat was sent away to perish, the word scapegoat has developed to indicate a person who is blamed and punished for the sins of others
Scapegoat
–
The Scapegoat by
William Holman Hunt, 1854.
28.
Father Time
–
Father Time is the anthropomorphized depiction of time. Father Time is usually depicted as a bearded man with wings, dressed in a robe and carrying a scythe. This image derives from sources, including the Grim Reaper. In these depictions, Father Time is usually depicted wearing a sash with the old years date on it, Father Time is an established symbol in numerous cultures, and appears in a variety of art and media. Old Father Time appears in the novel series Nightside as an elderly character tending to peoples needs for time travel—and in some cases—guidance. Father Time appears in the fairy tale themed short story, written by L. Frank Baum, entitled The Capture of Father Time. That Father Time was captured by a son of Arizonian cowboy named Jim because of his foolishness, Time is one of the Incarnations of Immortality in Piers Anthonys series of the same name. Time appears in several of the books and is the character of Bearing an Hourglass. For most of the series he appears as a man in a blue robe and bearing an hourglass which he can use to control the flow of time. Father Time is painted in the ceiling of the dungeon, in the Edgar Allan Poes short story The Pit, Father time also appeared in Mitch Alboms novel The time keeper. Father time also appeared in C. S. Lewis novel The Last Battle which is the novel in the series The Chronicles of Narnia. Father Time was the logo for the Elgin Watch Company, notable in the logo was that Father Time had switched out his traditional hourglass for a watch. Father Time appears on the Presidential Seal of the Actuaries Institute, Father Time made numerous appearances in the classic comic Little Nemo in Slumberland, both as a general representation of time and as a symbol of the new year. A Norman Rockwell painting of Father Time appeared on 31 December 1910 cover of The Saturday Evening Post, Father Time appears in the television special Rudolphs Shiny New Year voiced by Red Skelton, who also narrated the special. Father Time appears as a character in The Smurfs voiced by Alan Oppenheimer. Father Time appears as one of the characters in Histeria. In Flint the Time Detective, the Old Timer is depicted as a Father Time-like character, Father Time appears in The Santa Clause 2 and The Santa Clause 3, The Escape Clause portrayed by Peter Boyle. He is shown as a member of the Council of Legendary Figures alongside Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Cupid, Mother Nature, the Sandman, the Tooth Fairy, Father Time appeared in Regular Show episode called Its Time voiced by Alan Sklar
Father Time
–
A 19th-century Father Time with
Baby New Year
Father Time
–
Detail of Father Time in the Rotunda Clock (1896) by John Flanagan, Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.
Father Time
–
Father Time in
Fountain of Time
Father Time
–
Allegorical portrait of
Elizabeth I with Old Father Time at her right in the background and Death at her left (dated around 1610)
29.
Cybele
–
Cybele is an Anatolian mother goddess, she may have a possible precursor in the earliest neolithic at Çatalhöyük, where statues of obese women, sometimes sitting, have been found in excavations. She is Phrygias only known goddess, and was probably its state deity and her Phrygian cult was adopted and adapted by Greek colonists of Asia Minor and spread to mainland Greece and its more distant western colonies around the 6th century BC. In Greece, Cybele met with a mixed reception and she was partially assimilated to aspects of the Earth-goddess Gaia, her Minoan equivalent Rhea, and the Harvest-Mother goddess Demeter. Uniquely in Greek religion, she had a eunuch mendicant priesthood, many of her Greek cults included rites to a divine Phrygian castrate shepherd-consort Attis, who was probably a Greek invention. In Greece, Cybele is associated with mountains, town and city walls, fertile nature, in Rome, Cybele was known as Magna Mater. The Roman State adopted and developed a form of her cult after the Sibylline oracle recommended her conscription as a key religious component in Romes second war against Carthage. Roman mythographers reinvented her as a Trojan goddess, and thus an ancestral goddess of the Roman people by way of the Trojan prince Aeneas, with Romes eventual hegemony over the Mediterranean world, Romanised forms of Cybeles cults spread throughout the Roman Empire. The meaning and morality of her cults and priesthoods were topics of debate and dispute in Greek and Roman literature, no contemporary text or myth survives to attest the original character and nature of Cybeles Phrygian cult. Cybele may have evolved from an Anatolian Mother Goddess of a type found at Çatalhöyük, in Phrygian art of the 8th century BC, the cult attributes of the Phrygian mother-goddess include attendant lions, a bird of prey, and a small vase for her libations or other offerings. She is ancient Phrygias only known goddess, and was probably the highest deity of the Phrygian State, in the 2nd century AD, the geographer Pausanias attests to a Magnesian cult to the Mother of the Gods, whose image was carved into a rock-spur of Mount Sipylus. This was believed to be the oldest image of the goddess and this was the aniconic stone that was removed to Rome in 204 BC. In this view, the desire to harness her power led to her installation as a goddess of the city by Anatolian elites. To show her role as protector of cities, or city states, she was shown wearing a Mural Crown. At the same time, her power transcended any purely political usage, over time, her Phrygian cults and iconography were transformed, and eventually subsumed, by the influences and interpretations of her foreign devotees, at first Greek and later Roman. The Greeks called her Mātēr or Mētēr, or from the early 5th century Kubelē, in Pindar, walter Burkert places her among the foreign gods of Greek religion, a complex figure combining the Minoan-Mycenaean tradition with the Phrygian cult imported directly from Asia Minor. In Greece, as in Phrygia, she was a Mistress of animals, with her mastery of the world expressed by the lions that flank her. She was readily assimilated to the Minoan-Greek earth-mother Rhea, Mother of the gods, whose raucous, as an exemplar of devoted motherhood, she was partly assimilated to the grain-goddess Demeter, whose torchlight procession recalled her search for her lost daughter, Persephone. As with other deities viewed as foreign introductions, the spread of Cybeles cult was attended by conflict and her cults most often were funded privately, rather than by the polis, and her vivid and forceful character and association with the wild set her apart from the Olympian gods
Cybele
–
Cybele enthroned, with
lion,
cornucopia and
Mural crown. Roman marble, c. 50 CE.
Getty Museum
Cybele
–
Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük c. 6,000 BCE
Cybele
–
The eroded rock-statue of Cybele at Mount Sipylus, in an early 20th-century
French postcard
Cybele
–
Seated Cybele within a naiskos (4th century BCE,
Ancient Agora Museum, Athens)
30.
Attis
–
Attis /ˈætɪs/ was the consort of Cybele in Phrygian and Greek mythology. His priests were eunuchs, the Galli, as explained by origin myths pertaining to Attis and castration. Attis was also a Phrygian god of vegetation, and in his self-mutilation, death, and resurrection he represents the fruits of the earth, the 19th-century identification with the name Atys encountered in Herodotus as the historical name of the son of Croesus is mistaken. An Attis cult began around 1250 BCE in Dindymon and he was originally a local semi-deity of Phrygia, associated with the great Phrygian trading city of Pessinos, which lay under the lee of Mount Agdistis. The mountain was personified as a daemon, whom foreigners associated with the Great Mother Cybele, in the late 4th century BC, a cult of Attis became a feature of the Greek world. But the Olympian gods, fearing Agdistis, cut off the male organ, there grew up from it an almond-tree, and when its fruit was ripe, Nana, who was a daughter of the river-god Sangarius, picked an almond and laid it in her bosom. The almond disappeared, and she became pregnant, the infant was tended by a he-goat. As Attis grew, his beauty was godlike, and Agdistis as Cybele then fell in love with him. But the foster parents of Attis sent him to Pessinos, where he was to wed the kings daughter, according to some versions the King of Pessinos was Midas. Just as the marriage-song was being sung, Agdistis/Cybele appeared in her transcendent power, Attis father-in-law-to-be, the king who was giving his daughter in marriage, followed suit, prefiguring the self-castrating corybantes who devoted themselves to Cybele. But Agdistis repented and saw to it that the body of Attis should neither rot at all nor decay, at the temple of Cybele in Pessinus, the mother of the gods was still called Agdistis, the geographer Strabo recounted. As neighboring Lydia came to control Phrygia, the cult of Attis was given a Lydian context too, Attis is said to have introduced to Lydia the cult of the Mother Goddess Cybele, incurring the jealousy of Zeus, who sent a boar to destroy the Lydian crops. Then certain Lydians, with Attis himself, were killed by the boar, pausanias adds, to corroborate this story, that the Gauls who inhabited Pessinos abstained from pork. This myth element may have been invented solely to explain the unusual dietary laws of the Lydian Gauls, in Rome, the eunuch followers of Cybele were known as Galli. Julian the Apostate gives an account of the spread of the cult of Cybele in his Oratio 5. It spread from Anatolia to Greece and eventually to Rome in Republican times, the first literary reference to Attis is the subject of one of the most famous poems by Catullus but it appears that Attis was not worshipped at Rome until the early Empire. Oscar Wilde mentions Attis self-mutilation in his poem The Sphinx, And Atys with his knife were better than the thing I am. The most important representation of Attis is the life size statue discovered at Ostia, the statue is of a reclining Attis, after the emasculation
Attis
–
Statue of Attis at the
Shrine of Attis situated in the Campus of the Magna Mater in
Ostia Antica
Attis
–
Sculpture of Attis. Museum of Ephesus,
Efes,
Turkey.
