1.
Chi Rho
–
The Chi-Rho symbol was used by the Roman emperor Constantine I as part of a military standard. Constantines standard was known as the Labarum, Early symbols similar to the Chi Rho were the Staurogram and the IX monogram. In pre-Christian times, the Chi-Rho symbol was also to mark a particularly valuable or relevant passage in the margin of a page, some coins of Ptolemy III Euergetes were marked with a Chi-Rho. The Chi Rho symbol has two Unicode codepoints, U+2627 ☧ Chi Rho in the Miscellaneous symbols block and U+2CE9 ⳩ Coptic symbol Khi Ro in the Coptic block and that very day Constantines army fought the forces of Maxentius and won the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, outside Rome. Eusebius of Caesarea gave two different accounts of the events, in a memoir of the Roman emperor that Eusebius wrote after Constantines death, a miraculous appearance is said to have come in Gaul long before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. At noon, Constantine saw a cross of light imposed over the sun, attached to it, in Greek characters, was the saying Τούτῳ Νίκα. Not only Constantine, but the army saw the miracle. That night, Christ appeared to the Roman emperor in a dream and told him to make a replica of the sign he had seen in the sky, which would be a sure defence in battle. Eusebius wrote in the Vita that Constantine himself had told him this story and confirmed it with oaths late in life when I was deemed worthy of his acquaintance, indeed, says Eusebius, had anyone else told this story, it would not have been easy to accept it. Eusebius also left a description of the labarum, the standard which incorporated the Chi-Rho sign. After Constantine, the Chi-Rho became part of the imperial insignia. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence demonstrating that the Chi-Rho was emblazoned on the helmets of some Late Roman soldiers, coins and medallions minted during Emperor Constantines reign also bore the Chi-Rho. By the year 350, the Chi-Rho began to be used on Christian sarcophagi, the usurper Magnentius appears to have been the first to use the Chi-Rho monogram flanked by Alpha and Omega, on the reverse of some coins minted in 353. In Roman Britannia, a mosaic pavement was uncovered at Hinton St. Mary, Dorset. Another Romano-British Chi-Rho, in fresco, was found at the site of a villa at Lullingstone, the symbol was also found on Late Roman Christian signet rings in Britain. Though the letters are one after the other and the X and P not combined in a monogram. Famous examples are in the Book of Kells and Book of Lindisfarne, the X was regarded as the crux decussata, a symbol of the cross, this idea is found in the works of Isidore of Seville and other patristic and Early Medieval writers. In some other works like the Carolingian Godescalc Evangelistary, XPS in sequential letters, Alpha and Omega Chi Rho Christian symbolism Christogram Ichthys Labarum Merchants mark Media related to Chi Rho at Wikimedia Commons
Chi Rho
–
Missorium depicting Emperor Constantine's son Constantius II accompanied by a guardsman with the Chi-Rho depicted on his shield.
Chi Rho
–
The Chi-Rho symbol.
Chi Rho
–
Coin of
Magnentius with large Chi-Rho at ecliptic angles and including the
Alpha and Omega.
Chi Rho
–
The Chi-Rho symbol ☧,
Catacombs of San Callisto,
Rome.
2.
Greek language
–
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
Greek language
–
Idealized portrayal of
Homer
Greek language
–
regions where Greek is the official language
Greek language
–
Greek language road sign, A27 Motorway, Greece
3.
Vexillum
–
The vexillum was a flag-like object used as a military standard by units in the Ancient Roman army. The word vexillum is a diminutive of the Latin word, velum, meaning a sail, in the vexillum, the cloth was draped from a horizontal crossbar suspended from the staff. That is unlike most modern flags in which the hoist of the cloth is attached directly to the vertical staff, the bearer of a vexillum was known as a vexillarius or vexillifer. It was the standard of some types of unit, especially cavalry, however, it was regarded as less important than a legions aquila, or eagle. However, that is not entirely clear from surviving sources, the only existent Roman military vexillum is dated to the first half of the 3rd century AD and is housed in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. It is an almost square piece of linen cloth with the image of the goddess Victoria. The lower edge has remains of a fringe, the vexillum was once attached to a piece of reed wood. It is unknown to which unit the vexillum belonged. The vexillum was found in Egypt shortly before 1911, but its provenance is also unclear. Vexillology, or the study of flags, derives its name from this word, nearly all of the present-day regions of Italy preserve the use of vexilla. For example, vexillum is used by the Legion of Mary as the term for its standards, a small version is used on the altar and a larger one leads processions. In the Middle Ages, the type of banner draped from a horizontal crossbar became known as a gonfalon, vexilla Regis, early Christian hymn whose first line uses this word, referring to the Cross as a standard. Vexillum, the upper petal of a papilionaceous flower Vexillum, a genus of snails in the family Costellariidae Inquisitor vexillum
Vexillum
–
Modern reproduction of a Roman cavalry vexillum
Vexillum
4.
Chi-Rho
–
The Chi-Rho symbol was used by the Roman emperor Constantine I as part of a military standard. Constantines standard was known as the Labarum, Early symbols similar to the Chi Rho were the Staurogram and the IX monogram. In pre-Christian times, the Chi-Rho symbol was also to mark a particularly valuable or relevant passage in the margin of a page, some coins of Ptolemy III Euergetes were marked with a Chi-Rho. The Chi Rho symbol has two Unicode codepoints, U+2627 ☧ Chi Rho in the Miscellaneous symbols block and U+2CE9 ⳩ Coptic symbol Khi Ro in the Coptic block and that very day Constantines army fought the forces of Maxentius and won the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, outside Rome. Eusebius of Caesarea gave two different accounts of the events, in a memoir of the Roman emperor that Eusebius wrote after Constantines death, a miraculous appearance is said to have come in Gaul long before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. At noon, Constantine saw a cross of light imposed over the sun, attached to it, in Greek characters, was the saying Τούτῳ Νίκα. Not only Constantine, but the army saw the miracle. That night, Christ appeared to the Roman emperor in a dream and told him to make a replica of the sign he had seen in the sky, which would be a sure defence in battle. Eusebius wrote in the Vita that Constantine himself had told him this story and confirmed it with oaths late in life when I was deemed worthy of his acquaintance, indeed, says Eusebius, had anyone else told this story, it would not have been easy to accept it. Eusebius also left a description of the labarum, the standard which incorporated the Chi-Rho sign. After Constantine, the Chi-Rho became part of the imperial insignia. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence demonstrating that the Chi-Rho was emblazoned on the helmets of some Late Roman soldiers, coins and medallions minted during Emperor Constantines reign also bore the Chi-Rho. By the year 350, the Chi-Rho began to be used on Christian sarcophagi, the usurper Magnentius appears to have been the first to use the Chi-Rho monogram flanked by Alpha and Omega, on the reverse of some coins minted in 353. In Roman Britannia, a mosaic pavement was uncovered at Hinton St. Mary, Dorset. Another Romano-British Chi-Rho, in fresco, was found at the site of a villa at Lullingstone, the symbol was also found on Late Roman Christian signet rings in Britain. Though the letters are one after the other and the X and P not combined in a monogram. Famous examples are in the Book of Kells and Book of Lindisfarne, the X was regarded as the crux decussata, a symbol of the cross, this idea is found in the works of Isidore of Seville and other patristic and Early Medieval writers. In some other works like the Carolingian Godescalc Evangelistary, XPS in sequential letters, Alpha and Omega Chi Rho Christian symbolism Christogram Ichthys Labarum Merchants mark Media related to Chi Rho at Wikimedia Commons
Chi-Rho
–
Missorium depicting Emperor Constantine's son Constantius II accompanied by a guardsman with the Chi-Rho depicted on his shield.
Chi-Rho
–
The Chi-Rho symbol.
Chi-Rho
–
Coin of
Magnentius with large Chi-Rho at ecliptic angles and including the
Alpha and Omega.
Chi-Rho
–
The Chi-Rho symbol ☧,
Catacombs of San Callisto,
Rome.
5.
Christogram
–
A Christogram is a monogram or combination of letters that forms an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ, traditionally used as a religious symbol within the Christian Church. One of the oldest Christograms is the Chi-Rho and it consists of the superimposed Greek letters chi and rho, which are the first two letters of Greek χριστός Christ. It was displayed on the military standard used by Constantine I in AD312. The IX monogram is a form, using the initials of the name Ἰησοῦς Χριστός Jesus Christ, as is the ΙΗ monogram. The name Jesus, spelt ΙΗΣΟΥΣ in Greek capitals, has the abbreviations IHS, in Eastern Christian tradition, the monogram ΙϹΧϹ is used for in both Greek and Cyrillic tradition. A Middle Latin term for abbreviations of the name of Christ is chrisimus, similarly, Middle Latin crismon, chrismon refers to the Chi Rho monogram specifically. In antiquity, the cross, i. e. the instrument of Christs crucifixion was taken to be T-shaped, while the X-shape had different connotations. In Platos Timaeus, it is explained that the two bands which form the world cross each other like the letter chi, possibly referring to the ecliptic crossing the celestial equator. The most commonly encountered Christogram in English-speaking countries in modern times is the Χ, representing the first letter of the word Christ, in such abbreviations as Xmas, the Alpha and Omega symbols may at times accompany the Chi-Rho monogram. Chrismon since the 17th century has been used as a New Latin term for the Chi Rho monogram. Because the chrismon was used as a kind of invocation at the beginning of documents of the Merovingian period, the term also came to be used of the cross-signatures in early medieval charters. Chrismon in this context may refer to the Merovingian period abbreviation I. C. N. for in Christi nomine, later also I. C. for in Christo, and still later just C. for Christus. The Greek letter iota is represented by I, and the eta by H, while the Greek letter sigma is either in its form, represented by C, or its final form. Because the Latin-alphabet letters I and J were not systematically distinguished until the 17th century, JHS and JHC are equivalent to IHS, IHS is sometimes interpreted as meaning Jesus Hominum Salvator, or connected with In Hoc Signo. Such interpretations are known as backronyms, used in Latin since the seventh century, the first use of IHS in an English document dates from the fourteenth century, in The vision of William concerning Piers Plowman. The IHS monogram with the H surmounted by a cross above three nails and surrounded by a Sun is the emblem of the Jesuits, according to tradition introduced by Ignatius of Loyola in 1541, english-language interpretations of IHS have included In His Service. On icons, this Christogram may be split, ΙϹ on the left of the image and it is sometimes rendered as ΙϹ ΧϹ ΝΙΚΑ, meaning Jesus Christ Conquers. ΙϹΧϹ may also be inscribed on the Ichthys
Christogram
–
Icon of
Christ Pantokrator with the Christogram ΙϹ ΧϹ on either side of Christ's head.
Christogram
–
IHS monogram of the
Holy Name of Jesus.
Christogram
–
Intertwined IHS monogram.
Christogram
–
IHS christogram on the keystone of a gate of
Palaio Frourio in Corfu
6.
Greek alphabet
–
It is the ancestor of the Latin and Cyrillic scripts. In its classical and modern forms, the alphabet has 24 letters, Modern and Ancient Greek use different diacritics. In standard Modern Greek spelling, orthography has been simplified to the monotonic system, examples In both Ancient and Modern Greek, the letters of the Greek alphabet have fairly stable and consistent symbol-to-sound mappings, making pronunciation of words largely predictable. Ancient Greek spelling was generally near-phonemic, among consonant letters, all letters that denoted voiced plosive consonants and aspirated plosives in Ancient Greek stand for corresponding fricative sounds in Modern Greek. This leads to groups of vowel letters denoting identical sounds today. Modern Greek orthography remains true to the spellings in most of these cases. The following vowel letters and digraphs are involved in the mergers, Modern Greek speakers typically use the same, modern, in other countries, students of Ancient Greek may use a variety of conventional approximations of the historical sound system in pronouncing Ancient Greek. Several letter combinations have special conventional sound values different from those of their single components, among them are several digraphs of vowel letters that formerly represented diphthongs but are now monophthongized. In addition to the three mentioned above, there is also ⟨ου⟩, pronounced /u/, the Ancient Greek diphthongs ⟨αυ⟩, ⟨ευ⟩ and ⟨ηυ⟩ are pronounced, and respectively in voicing environments in Modern Greek. The Modern Greek consonant combinations ⟨μπ⟩ and ⟨ντ⟩ stand for and respectively, ⟨τζ⟩ stands for, in addition, both in Ancient and Modern Greek, the letter ⟨γ⟩, before another velar consonant, stands for the velar nasal, thus ⟨γγ⟩ and ⟨γκ⟩ are pronounced like English ⟨ng⟩. There are also the combinations ⟨γχ⟩ and ⟨γξ⟩ and these signs were originally designed to mark different forms of the phonological pitch accent in Ancient Greek. The letter rho, although not a vowel, also carries a rough breathing in word-initial position, if a rho was geminated within a word, the first ρ always had the smooth breathing and the second the rough breathing leading to the transiliteration rrh. The vowel letters ⟨α, η, ω⟩ carry an additional diacritic in certain words, the iota subscript. This iota represents the former offglide of what were originally long diphthongs, ⟨ᾱι, ηι, ωι⟩, another diacritic used in Greek is the diaeresis, indicating a hiatus. In 1982, a new, simplified orthography, known as monotonic, was adopted for use in Modern Greek by the Greek state. Although it is not a diacritic, the comma has a function as a silent letter in a handful of Greek words, principally distinguishing ό. There are many different methods of rendering Greek text or Greek names in the Latin script, the form in which classical Greek names are conventionally rendered in English goes back to the way Greek loanwords were incorporated into Latin in antiquity. In this system, ⟨κ⟩ is replaced with ⟨c⟩, the diphthongs ⟨αι⟩ and ⟨οι⟩ are rendered as ⟨ae⟩ and ⟨oe⟩ respectively, and ⟨ει⟩ and ⟨ου⟩ are simplified to ⟨i⟩ and ⟨u⟩ respectively
Greek alphabet
–
Dipylon inscription, one of the oldest known samples of the use of the Greek alphabet, c. 740 BC
Greek alphabet
–
Early Greek alphabet on pottery in the
National Archaeological Museum of Athens
Greek alphabet
–
A 16th-century edition of the New Testament, printed in a renaissance typeface by
Claude Garamond
Greek alphabet
–
A page from the
Codex Argenteus, a 6th-century bible manuscript in Gothic
7.
Christ
–
Jesus, also referred to as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus Christ, was a Jewish preacher and religious leader who became the central figure of Christianity. Christians believe him to be the Son of God and the awaited Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament, Jesus was a Galilean Jew who was baptized by John the Baptist and subsequently began his own ministry, preaching his message orally and often being referred to as rabbi. He was arrested and tried by the Jewish authorities, and was crucified by the order of Pontius Pilate, Jesus debated fellow Jews on how to best follow God, performed healings, taught in parables and gathered followers. After his death, his followers believed he rose from the dead, and his birth is celebrated annually on December 25 as a holiday known as Christmas, his crucifixion is honored on Good Friday, and his resurrection is celebrated on Easter. The widely used calendar era AD, from the Latin anno Domini, most Christians believe Jesus enables humans to be reconciled to God. The Nicene Creed asserts that Jesus will judge the living and the dead either before or after their bodily resurrection, the great majority of Christians worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, the second of three persons of a Divine Trinity. A minority of Christian denominations reject Trinitarianism, wholly or partly, in Islam, Jesus is considered one of Gods important prophets and the Messiah. Muslims believe Jesus was a bringer of scripture and was born of a virgin but was not the Son of God, the Quran states that Jesus himself never claimed divinity. To most Muslims, Jesus was not crucified but was raised into Heaven by God. Judaism rejects the belief that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, arguing that he did not fulfill Messianic prophecies, a typical Jew in Jesus time had only one name, sometimes supplemented with the fathers name or the individuals hometown. Thus, in the New Testament, Jesus is commonly referred to as Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus neighbors in Nazareth refer to him as the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, the carpenters son, or Josephs son. In John, the disciple Philip refers to him as Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth, the name Jesus is derived from the Latin Iesus, a transliteration of the Greek Ἰησοῦς. The Greek form is a rendering of the Hebrew ישוע, a variant of the earlier name יהושע, the name Yeshua appears to have been in use in Judea at the time of the birth of Jesus. The 1st century works of historian Flavius Josephus, who wrote in Koine Greek, the etymology of Jesus name in the context of the New Testament is generally given as Yahweh is salvation. Since early Christianity, Christians have commonly referred to Jesus as Jesus Christ, the word Christ is derived from the Greek Χριστός, which is a translation of the Hebrew משיח, meaning the anointed and usually transliterated into English as Messiah. Christians designate Jesus as Christ because they believe he is the Messiah, whose arrival is prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, in postbiblical usage, Christ became viewed as a name—one part of Jesus Christ—but originally it was a title. The term Christian has been in use since the 1st century, the four canonical gospels are the only substantial sources for the life and message of Jesus. Acts of the Apostles refers to the ministry of Jesus
Christ
–
The oldest known icon of
Christ Pantocrator –
Saint Catherine's Monastery. The
halo is a representation of the divine
Logos of Christ, and the two different facial expressions on either side emphasize Christ's
dual nature as both divine and human.
Christ
–
The Mocking of Christ by
Cavalier d'Arpino
Christ
–
First page of
Mark, by
Sargis Pitsak (14th century): " The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God ".
Christ
–
The
Anointing of Jesus, c. 1450.
8.
Chi (letter)
–
Chi is the 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet, pronounced /ˈkaɪ/ or /ˈkiː/ in English. Its value in Ancient Greek was a velar stop /kʰ/. In Koine Greek and later dialects it became a fricative along with Θ and Φ, in front of low or back vowels and consonants, it is pronounced as a voiceless velar fricative, as in German ach. Chi is romanized as ⟨ch⟩ in most systematic transliteration conventions, in addition, in Modern Greek, it is often also romanized as ⟨h⟩ or ⟨x⟩ in informal practice. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 600, in ancient times, some local forms of the Greek alphabet used the chi instead of xi to represent the /ks/ sound. This was borrowed into the early Latin language, which led to the use of the letter X for the sound in Latin. Chi was also included in the Cyrillic script as the letter Х, in the International Phonetic Alphabet, the minuscule chi is the symbol for the voiceless uvular fricative. Chi is the basis for the name literary Chiastic structure and the name of Chiasmus, in Platos Timaeus, it is explained that the two bands that form the soul of the world cross each other like the letter Χ. Platos analogy, along several other examples of chi as a symbol occur in Thomas Brownes discourse The Garden of Cyrus. Chi or X is often used to abbreviate the name Christ, when fused within a single typespace with the Greek letter Rho, it is called the labarum and used to represent the person of Jesus Christ. These characters are used only as mathematical symbols, stylized Greek text should be encoded using the normal Greek letters, with markup and formatting to indicate text style. In statistics, the term chi-squared or χ2 has various uses, including the distribution, the chi-squared test. In algebraic topology, Chi is used to represent the Euler characteristic of a surface, in neurology, the optic chiasm is named for the letter Chi because of its Χ-shape. In chemistry, the fraction and electronegativity may be denoted by the lowercase χ. In rhetoric, both chiastic structure and the figure of speech Chiasmus derive from their names from the shape of the letter Chi. In engineering, chi is used as a symbol for the factor of relevant buckling loads in the EN1993. In graph theory, a lowercase chi is used to represent a graphs chromatic number
Chi (letter)
–
The Greek alphabet on a
black figure vessel, with a cross-shaped chi.
9.
Rho (letter)
–
Rho is the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 100 and it is derived from Phoenician letter res. Its uppercase form is not to be confused with the Latin letter P, although both use the same glyph, P. Rho is classed as a liquid consonant. In both Ancient and Modern Greek, it represents a trilled or tapped r, the name of the letter is written in Greek as ῥῶ or ρω/ρο. Letters that arose from rho include Roman R and Cyrillic Er, the characters Ρ, ρ and ϱ are also used outside its Greek alphabetical context in science and mathematics. In such occasions, it is represented as ϱ, to avoid confusion with the Latin letter p In ecology to represent the population damping ratio where ρ = λ1 / |λ2|. Former Rhodes Scholars are entitled to use the Greek letter rho as a designation of their status, when used, the symbol should precede the name. These characters are used only as mathematical symbols, stylized Greek text should be encoded using the normal Greek letters, with markup and formatting to indicate text style. Р, р - Er R, r - Latin P, p - Latin
Rho (letter)
–
The Greek alphabet on a
black figure vessel, with an R-shaped rho.
Rho (letter)
–
Greek alphabet
10.
Roman Emperors
–
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period. The emperors used a variety of different titles throughout history, often when a given Roman is described as becoming emperor in English, it reflects his taking of the title Augustus or Caesar. Another title often used was imperator, originally a military honorific, early Emperors also used the title princeps. Emperors frequently amassed republican titles, notably Princeps Senatus, Consul, the first emperors reigned alone, later emperors would sometimes rule with co-Emperors and divide administration of the Empire between them. The Romans considered the office of emperor to be distinct from that of a king, the first emperor, Augustus, resolutely refused recognition as a monarch. Although Augustus could claim that his power was authentically republican, his successor, Tiberius, nonetheless, for the first three hundred years of Roman Emperors, from Augustus until Diocletian, a great effort was made to emphasize that the Emperors were the leaders of a Republic. Elements of the Republican institutional framework were preserved until the end of the Western Empire. The Eastern emperors ultimately adopted the title of Basileus, which had meant king in Greek, but became a title reserved solely for the Roman emperor, other kings were then referred to as rēgas. In addition to their office, some emperors were given divine status after death. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in the late 5th century, Romulus Augustulus is often considered to be the last emperor of the west after his forced abdication in 476, although Julius Nepos maintained a claim to the title until his death in 480. Constantine XI was the last Byzantine Roman emperor in Constantinople, dying in the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, a Byzantine group of claimant Roman Emperors existed in the Empire of Trebizond until its conquest by the Ottomans in 1461. In western Europe the title of Roman Emperor was revived by Germanic rulers, the Holy Roman Emperors, in 800, at the end of the Roman Republic no new, and certainly no single, title indicated the individual who held supreme power. Insofar as emperor could be seen as the English translation of imperator, then Julius Caesar had been an emperor, however, Julius Caesar, unlike those after him, did so without the Senates vote and approval. Julius Caesar held the Republican offices of four times and dictator five times, was appointed dictator in perpetuity in 45 BC and had been pontifex maximus for a long period. He gained these positions by senatorial consent, by the time of his assassination, he was the most powerful man in the Roman world. In his will, Caesar appointed his adopted son Octavian as his heir, a decade after Caesars death, Octavians victory over his erstwhile ally Mark Antony at Actium put an end to any effective opposition and confirmed Octavians supremacy. His restoration of powers to the Senate and the people of Rome was a demonstration of his auctoritas, some later historians such as Tacitus would say that even at Augustus death, the true restoration of the Republic might have been possible. Instead, Augustus actively prepared his adopted son Tiberius to be his successor, the Senate disputed the issue but eventually confirmed Tiberius as princeps
Roman Emperors
–
Augustus
Roman Emperors
–
Vexillum
Roman Emperors
–
Statue of
Augustus, c. 30 BC–20 BC; this statue is located in the
Louvre
Roman Emperors
–
Imaginary portrait of
Constantine XI, the last Roman emperor
11.
Constantine I (emperor)
–
Constantine the Great, also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was a Roman Emperor from 306 to 337 AD. Constantine was the son of Flavius Valerius Constantius, a Roman Army officer and his father became Caesar, the deputy emperor in the west, in 293 AD. Constantine was sent east, where he rose through the ranks to become a military tribune under the emperors Diocletian, in 305, Constantius was raised to the rank of Augustus, senior western emperor, and Constantine was recalled west to campaign under his father in Britannia. As emperor, Constantine enacted many administrative, financial, social, the government was restructured and civil and military authority separated. A new gold coin, the solidus, was introduced to combat inflation and it would become the standard for Byzantine and European currencies for more than a thousand years. He called the First Council of Nicaea in 325, at which the Nicene Creed was adopted by Christians, in military matters, the Roman army was reorganised to consist of mobile field units and garrison soldiers capable of countering internal threats and barbarian invasions. The age of Constantine marked an epoch in the history of the Roman Empire. He built a new residence at Byzantium and renamed the city Constantinople after himself. It would later become the capital of the Empire for over one thousand years and his more immediate political legacy was that, in leaving the empire to his sons, he replaced Diocletians tetrarchy with the principle of dynastic succession. His reputation flourished during the lifetime of his children and centuries after his reign, the medieval church upheld him as a paragon of virtue while secular rulers invoked him as a prototype, a point of reference, and the symbol of imperial legitimacy and identity. Beginning with the Renaissance, there were more critical appraisals of his due to the rediscovery of anti-Constantinian sources. Critics portrayed him as a tyrant, trends in modern and recent scholarship attempted to balance the extremes of previous scholarship. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on his orders at the site of Jesus tomb in Jerusalem. The Papal claim to power in the High Middle Ages was based on the supposed Donation of Constantine. He is venerated as a saint by Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholics, though Constantine has historically often been referred to as the First Christian Emperor, scholars debate his actual beliefs or even his actual comprehension of the Christian faith itself. Constantine was a ruler of major importance, and he has always been a controversial figure, the fluctuations in Constantines reputation reflect the nature of the ancient sources for his reign. These are abundant and detailed, but have strongly influenced by the official propaganda of the period. There are no surviving histories or biographies dealing with Constantines life, the nearest replacement is Eusebius of Caesareas Vita Constantini, a work that is a mixture of eulogy and hagiography
Constantine I (emperor)
–
Colossal marble head of Emperor Constantine the Great, Roman, 4th century, located at the
Capitoline Museums, in Rome.
Constantine I (emperor)
–
Remains of the luxurious residence palace of
Mediana, erected by Constantine I near his birth town of
Naissus
Constantine I (emperor)
–
Head from a statue of
Diocletian, Augustus of the East
12.
Crucifixion of Christ
–
The crucifixion of Jesus occurred in 1st century Judea, most probably between the years 30 and 33 AD. According to the gospels, Jesus, the Christ, was arrested, tried, and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged. Jesus was stripped of his clothing and offered wine mixed with gall to drink and he was then hung between two convicted thieves and according to Marks Gospel, died some six hours later. During this time, the soldiers affixed a sign to the top of the cross stating Jesus of Nazareth and they then divided his garments among them, but cast lots for his seamless robe. After Jesus death they pierced his side with a spear to be certain that he had died, the Bible describes seven statements that Jesus made while he was on the cross, as well as several supernatural events that occurred. Collectively referred to as the Passion, Jesus suffering and redemptive death by crucifixion are the aspects of Christian theology concerning the doctrines of salvation. The baptism of Jesus and his crucifixion are considered to be two historically certain facts about Jesus, bart Ehrman states that the crucifixion of Jesus on the orders of Pontius Pilate is the most certain element about him. John Dominic Crossan states that the crucifixion of Jesus is as certain as any historical fact can be, eddy and Boyd state that it is now firmly established that there is non-Christian confirmation of the crucifixion of Jesus. Craig Blomberg states that most scholars in the third quest for the historical Jesus consider the crucifixion indisputable. Christopher M. Tuckett states that, although the reasons for the death of Jesus are hard to determine, one of the indisputable facts about him is that he was crucified. While scholars agree on the historicity of the crucifixion, they differ on the reason, geza Vermes also views the crucifixion as a historical event but provides his own explanation and background for it. John P. Meier views the crucifixion of Jesus as historical fact and states that, based on the criterion of embarrassment, Christians would not have invented the painful death of their leader. Meier states that a number of criteria, e. g. the criterion of multiple attestation. The crucified man was identified as Yehohanan ben Hagkol and probably died about 70 AD, the analyses at the Hadassah Medical School estimated that he died in his late 20s. The earliest detailed accounts of the death of Jesus are contained in the four canonical gospels, there are other, more implicit references in the New Testament epistles. In the synoptic gospels, Jesus predicts his death in three separate episodes, all four Gospels conclude with an extended narrative of Jesus arrest, trial, crucifixion, burial, and accounts of resurrection. In each Gospel these five events in the life of Jesus are treated with more detail than any other portion of that Gospels narrative. Scholars note that the reader receives an almost hour-by-hour account of what is happening, after being flogged, Jesus was mocked by Roman soldiers as the King of the Jews, clothed in a purple robe, crowned with thorns, beaten and spat on
Crucifixion of Christ
–
The Crucifixion (1622) by
Simon Vouet; Church of Jesus,
Genoa
Crucifixion of Christ
–
Crucifixion of
Jesus of Nazareth, medieval illustration from the
Hortus deliciarum of
Herrad of Landsberg (12th century)
Crucifixion of Christ
–
Descent from the Cross, depicted by
Rubens
13.
Late Antiquity
–
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.
14.
Basque language
–
Basque is the language spoken by the Basques. Linguistically, Basque is unrelated to the languages of Europe and indeed, as a language isolate. The Basques are indigenous to, and primarily inhabit, the Basque Country, the Basque language is spoken by 27% of Basques in all territories. Of these, 93% are in the Spanish area of the Basque Country, native speakers live in a contiguous area that includes parts of four Spanish territories and the three ancient provinces in France. However, in those Basque-speaking regions that supported the uprising the Basque language was more than merely tolerated, overall, in the 1960s and later, the trend reversed and education and publishing in Basque began to flourish. As a part of process, a standardized form of the Basque language. Besides its standardised version, the five historic Basque dialects are Biscayan, Gipuzkoan, and Upper Navarrese in Spain and they take their names from the historic Basque provinces, but the dialect boundaries are not congruent with province boundaries. Euskara Batua was created so that Basque language could be easily understood by all Basque speakers—in formal situations. In both Spain and France, the use of Basque for education varies from region to region, a language isolate, Basque is believed to be one of the few surviving pre-Indo-European languages in Europe, and the only one in Western Europe. Basque has adopted a good deal of its vocabulary from the Romance languages, the Basque alphabet uses the Latin script. In Basque, the name of the language is officially Euskara, three etymological theories of the name Euskara are taken seriously by linguists and Vasconists. In French, the language is normally called basque, though in recent times euskara has become common, Spanish has a greater variety of names for the language. Today, it is most commonly referred to as el vasco, la lengua vasca, both terms, vasco and basque, are inherited from Latin ethnonym Vascones, which in turn goes back to the Greek term οὐασκώνους, an ethnonym used by Strabo in his Geographica. The Spanish term Vascuence, derived from Latin vasconĭce, has acquired negative connotations over the centuries and is not well-liked amongst Basque speakers generally, Basque is geographically surrounded by Romance languages but is a language isolate unrelated to them. It is the last remaining descendant of one of the languages of Western Europe. Consequently, its prehistory may not be reconstructible by means of the comparative method except by applying it to differences between dialects within the language. Little is known of its origins, but a form of the Basque language likely was present in Western Europe before the arrival of the Indo-European languages to the area. Others find this unlikely, see the aizkora controversy, Latin inscriptions in Gallia Aquitania preserve a number of words with cognates in the reconstructed proto-Basque language, for instance, the personal names Nescato and Cison
Basque language
–
Family transmission of Basque language (Basque as initial language)
Basque language
–
Schematic dialect areas of Basque. Light-colored dialects are extinct. See dialects below for details.
Basque language
–
An example of Basque lettering in a funerary stela.
Basque language
–
An example of the number system employed by millers.
15.
Lauburu
–
The lauburu or Basque cross is a traditional Basque swastika with four comma-shaped heads. Today, it is a symbol of the Basque Country and the unity of the Basque people and it is also associated with Celtic peoples, most notably Galicians and Asturians. Historians and authorities have attempted to apply allegorical meaning to the ancient symbol, some say it signifies the four heads or regions of the Basque Country. The lauburu does not appear in any of the seven coats-of-arms that have combined in the arms of the Basque Country, Higher and Lower Navarre, Gipuzkoa, Biscay, Álava, Labourd. The Basque intellectual Imanol Mujica liked to say that the heads signify spirit, life, consciousness, and form, after the time of the Antonines, Camille Jullian finds no specimen of swastikas, round nor straight, in the Basque area until modern times. Paracelsuss Archidoxis Magicae features a similar to the lauburu that is to be drawn to heal animals. M. Colas considers that the lauburu is not related to the swastika but comes from Paracelsus and marks the tombs of healers of animals and healers of souls. Around the end of the 16th century, the lauburu appears abundantly as a Basque decorative element, in chests or tombs. Straight swastikas are not found until the 19th century, many Basque homes and shops display the symbol over the doorway as a sort of talisman. Sabino Arana interpreted it as a symbol, supporting his theory of a Basque solar cult based on wrong etymologies. The lauburu has been featured on flags and emblems of various Basque political organisations including Eusko Abertzale Ekintza, the use of the lauburu as a cultural icon fell into some disuse under the Francoist dictatorship, which repressed many elements of Basque culture. Lau buru means four heads, four ends or four summits in Basque, some argue this might be a folk etymology applied to the Latin labarum. However, Father Fidel Fita thought the relation reversed, labarum being adapted from Basque in Octavian Augustus time, lábaro Triskelion Tomoe Swastika Stone Camunian rose The Baskian Swastika Lauburu, its symbolic meaning and history La croix Basque, laubaru, demonstrating the layout for scribing the arms
Lauburu
–
A lauburu carved into a stone.
Lauburu
–
A typical lauburu. Each arm can be drawn with three sweeps of a compass
Lauburu
–
The lyre of
Joaquina Téllez-Girón, Marchioness of Santa Cruz by
Francisco de Goya (around 1805) is decorated with a lauburu.
Lauburu
–
A lauburu on the
baptismal font at the church of
Knopp-Labach
16.
Battle of the Milvian Bridge
–
The Battle of the Milvian Bridge took place between the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius on October 28,312. It takes its name from the Milvian Bridge, an important route over the Tiber, Constantine won the battle and started on the path that led him to end the Tetrarchy and become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. Maxentius drowned in the Tiber during the battle and his body was taken from the river. According to chroniclers such as Eusebius of Caesarea and Lactantius, the battle marked the beginning of Constantines conversion to Christianity, Eusebius of Caesarea recounts that Constantine and his soldiers had a vision sent by the Christian God. This was interpreted as a promise of victory if the sign of the Chi-Rho, the underlying causes of the battle were the rivalries inherent in Diocletians Tetrarchy. After Diocletian stepped down on 1 May 305, his successors began to struggle for control of the Roman Empire almost immediately, although Constantine was the son of the Western Emperor Constantius, the Tetrarchic ideology did not necessarily provide for hereditary succession. When Constantius died on 25 July 306, his fathers troops proclaimed Constantine as Augustus in Eboracum, in Rome, the favorite was Maxentius, the son of Constantius imperial colleague Maximian, who seized the title of emperor on 28 October 306. But whereas Constantines claim was recognized by Galerius, ruler of the Eastern provinces, Galerius, however, recognized Constantine as holding only the lesser imperial rank of Caesar. Galerius ordered his co-Augustus, Severus, to put Maxentius down in early 307, once Severus arrived in Italy, however, his army defected to Maxentius. Severus was captured, imprisoned, and executed, Galerius himself marched on Rome in the autumn, but failed to take the city. Constantine avoided conflict with both Maxentius and the Eastern emperors for most of this period, by 312, however, Constantine and Maxentius were engaged in open hostility with one another, although they were brothers-in‑law through Constantines marriage to Fausta, sister of Maxentius. In the spring of 312, Constantine gathered his forces and decided to oust Maxentius himself. He easily overran northern Italy, winning two battles, the first near Turin, the second at Verona, where the praetorian prefect Ruricius Pompeianus, Maxentius most senior general, was killed. It is commonly understood that on the evening of 27 October with the armies preparing for battle, some details of that vision, however, differ between the sources reporting it. Lactantius states that, in the night before the battle, Constantine was commanded in a dream to delineate the heavenly sign on the shields of his soldiers and he followed the commands of his dream and marked the shields with a sign denoting Christ. Lactantius describes that sign as a staurogram, or a Latin cross with its upper end rounded in a P-like fashion, there is no certain evidence that Constantine ever used that sign, opposed to the better known Chi-Rho sign described by Eusebius. From Eusebius, two accounts of the battle survive, the first, shorter one in the Ecclesiastical History promotes the belief that God helped Constantine but does not mention any vision. In his later Life of Constantine, Eusebius gives an account of a vision
Battle of the Milvian Bridge
–
Battle at the Milvian Bridge,
Audran after
Le Brun. (Zoom)
Battle of the Milvian Bridge
–
Missorium depicting Constantine's son Constantius II, accompanied by a guardsman with the
Chi Rho monogram depicted on his shield
Battle of the Milvian Bridge
–
A coin struck in 313, depicting Constantine as the companion of a solar deity
Battle of the Milvian Bridge
–
The description from 28th October 312, 'A cross centered on the Sun" fits with modern day photographs of Sun dogs.
17.
Constantine I
–
Constantine the Great, also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was a Roman Emperor from 306 to 337 AD. Constantine was the son of Flavius Valerius Constantius, a Roman Army officer and his father became Caesar, the deputy emperor in the west, in 293 AD. Constantine was sent east, where he rose through the ranks to become a military tribune under the emperors Diocletian, in 305, Constantius was raised to the rank of Augustus, senior western emperor, and Constantine was recalled west to campaign under his father in Britannia. As emperor, Constantine enacted many administrative, financial, social, the government was restructured and civil and military authority separated. A new gold coin, the solidus, was introduced to combat inflation and it would become the standard for Byzantine and European currencies for more than a thousand years. He called the First Council of Nicaea in 325, at which the Nicene Creed was adopted by Christians, in military matters, the Roman army was reorganised to consist of mobile field units and garrison soldiers capable of countering internal threats and barbarian invasions. The age of Constantine marked an epoch in the history of the Roman Empire. He built a new residence at Byzantium and renamed the city Constantinople after himself. It would later become the capital of the Empire for over one thousand years and his more immediate political legacy was that, in leaving the empire to his sons, he replaced Diocletians tetrarchy with the principle of dynastic succession. His reputation flourished during the lifetime of his children and centuries after his reign, the medieval church upheld him as a paragon of virtue while secular rulers invoked him as a prototype, a point of reference, and the symbol of imperial legitimacy and identity. Beginning with the Renaissance, there were more critical appraisals of his due to the rediscovery of anti-Constantinian sources. Critics portrayed him as a tyrant, trends in modern and recent scholarship attempted to balance the extremes of previous scholarship. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on his orders at the site of Jesus tomb in Jerusalem. The Papal claim to power in the High Middle Ages was based on the supposed Donation of Constantine. He is venerated as a saint by Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholics, though Constantine has historically often been referred to as the First Christian Emperor, scholars debate his actual beliefs or even his actual comprehension of the Christian faith itself. Constantine was a ruler of major importance, and he has always been a controversial figure, the fluctuations in Constantines reputation reflect the nature of the ancient sources for his reign. These are abundant and detailed, but have strongly influenced by the official propaganda of the period. There are no surviving histories or biographies dealing with Constantines life, the nearest replacement is Eusebius of Caesareas Vita Constantini, a work that is a mixture of eulogy and hagiography
Constantine I
–
Colossal marble head of Emperor Constantine the Great, Roman, 4th century, located at the
Capitoline Museums, in Rome.
Constantine I
–
Remains of the luxurious residence palace of
Mediana, erected by Constantine I near his birth town of
Naissus
Constantine I
–
Head from a statue of
Diocletian, Augustus of the East
18.
Abrahamic God
–
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are sometimes called Abrahamic religions because they all accept the tradition that God revealed himself to the prophet Abraham. The Abrahamic God in this sense is the conception of God that remains a common attribute of all three traditions, God is conceived of as eternal, omnipotent, omniscient and as the creator of the universe. God is further held to have the properties of holiness, justice, omni-benevolence and omnipresence, the Baháí writings describe a monotheistic, personal, inaccessible, omniscient, omnipresent, imperishable, and almighty God who is the creator of all things in the universe. The existence of God and the universe is thought to be eternal, though transcendent and inaccessible directly, God is nevertheless seen as conscious of creation, with a will and purpose that is expressed through messengers termed Manifestations of God. The purpose of creation is for the created to have the capacity to know and love its creator, through such methods as prayer, reflection, and being of service to humankind. The Manifestations of God reflect divine attributes, which are creations of God made for the purpose of spiritual enlightenment, in the Baháí view, all physical beings reflect at least one of these attributes, and the human soul can potentially reflect all of them. The Baháí view rejects all pantheistic, anthropomorphic, and incarnationist beliefs in God, Most Christian denominations believe Jesus to be the incarnation of God as a human being, which is the main theological divergence with respect to Judaism and Islam. For most Christians, beliefs about God are enshrined in the doctrine of Trinitarianism, the doctrines were largely formalized at the Council of Nicea and are enshrined in the Nicaene creed. The Trinitarian view emphasizes that God has a will, and that God the Son has two wills, divine and human, though these are never in conflict but joined in the hypostatic union. A small minority of Christians, largely coming under the heading of Unitarianism, in the Mormonism represented by most of Mormon communities, God means Elohim, whereas Godhead means a council of three distinct gods, Elohim, Jehovah, and the Holy Spirit. The Father and Son have perfected, material bodies, while the Holy Spirit is a spirit and this conception differs from the traditional Christian Trinity, in Mormonism, the three persons are considered to be physically separate beings, or personages, but united in will and purpose. As such, the term Godhead differs from how it is used in traditional Christianity and this description of God represents the orthodoxy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, established early in the 19th century. In Islam, God is believed to be the real supreme being, all-powerful and all-knowing creator, sustainer, ordainer. Islam puts an emphasis on the conceptualization of God as strictly singular. He is unique and inherently one, all-merciful and omnipotent, according to the Quran there are 99 Names of God each of which evoke a distinct characteristic of God. All these names refer to Allah, the supreme and all-comprehensive divine Arabic name, among the 99 names of God, the most famous and most frequent of these names are the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful. Creation and ordering of the universe is seen as an act of mercy for which all creatures sing his glories and bear witness to his unity. According to the Quran, No vision can grasp Him, and he is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things
Abrahamic God
–
Allah Jalla Jalālah in
Arabic calligraphy
19.
Lactantius
–
Lactantius, a Latin-speaking North African of Berber origin, was not born into a Christian family. He was a pupil of Arnobius who taught at Sicca Veneria, in his early life, he taught rhetoric in his native town, which may have been Cirta in Numidia, where an inscription mentions a certain L. Caecilius Firmianus. Lactantius had a public career at first. At the request of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, he became a professor of rhetoric in Nicomedia. Having converted to Christianity, he resigned his post before Diocletians purging of Christians from his immediate staff, as a Latin rhetor in a Greek city, he subsequently lived in poverty according to Saint Jerome and eked out a living by writing until Constantine I became his patron. The persecution forced him to leave Nicomedia and from the outbreak of hostilities until perhaps 311 or 313 he had to live elsewhere, the Emperor Constantine appointed the elderly Lactantius Latin tutor to his son Crispus. Lactantius followed Crispus to Trier in 317, when Crispus was made Caesar, Crispus was put to death in 326, but when Lactantius died and under what circumstances are unknown. Like so many of the early Christian authors, Lactantius depended on classical models, the early humanists called him the Christian Cicero. He wrote apologetic works explaining Christianity in terms that would be palatable to educated people who practiced the traditional religions of the Empire. He defended Christian beliefs against the criticisms of Hellenistic philosophers and his Divinae Institutiones were an early example of a systematic presentation of Christian thought. He was considered somewhat heretical after his death, but Renaissance humanists took a renewed interest in him and his works were copied in manuscript several times in the 15th century and were first printed in 1465 by the Germans Arnold Pannartz and Konrad Sweynheim at the Abbey of Subiaco. It was probably the book ever printed in Italy. A copy of this edition was sold at auction in 2000 for more than $1 million, according to Charles E. Hill, With Lactantius in the early fourth century we see a determined attempt to revive a more “genuine” form of chiliasm. Book VII of The Divine Institutes indicates a familiarity with Jewish, none of the fathers thus far had been more verbose on the subject of the millennial kingdom than Lactantius or more particular in describing the times and events preceding and following. He depicted Jesus reigning with the resurrected righteous on this earth during the seventh thousand years prior to the general judgment, next, God renews the earth, after the punishment of the wicked, and the Lord alone is thenceforth worshiped in the renovated earth. Lactantius confidently stated that the beginning of the end would be the fall, or breakup, de Opificio Dei, an apologetic work, written in 303 or 304 during Diocletians persecution and dedicated to a former pupil, a rich Christian named Demetrianius. The apologetic principles underlying all the works of Lactantius are well set forth in this treatise, Institutiones Divinae, written between 303 and 311. This is the most important of the writings of Lactantius and it was one of the first books printed in Italy and the first dated Italian imprint
Lactantius
–
Lactantius
Lactantius
–
Beginning of Lactantius’ Divinae institutiones in a Renaissance manuscript written in
Florence ca. 1420–1430 by Guglielmino Tanaglia
Lactantius
–
Page from the Opera, a manuscript from 1465, featuring various colours of pen-work
20.
Church History (Eusebius)
–
The Church History of Eusebius, the bishop of Caesarea was a 4th-century pioneer work giving a chronological account of the development of Early Christianity from the 1st century to the 4th century. It was written in Koine Greek, and survives also in Latin, Syriac, the result was the first full-length historical narrative written from a Christian point of view. For example he wrote that Matthew composed the Gospel according to the Hebrews and it is therefore of historical value, though it pretends neither to completeness nor to the observance of due proportion in the treatment of the subject-matter. Nor does it present in a connected and systematic way the history of the early Christian Church and it is to no small extent a vindication of the Christian religion, though the author did not primarily intend it as such. Eusebius has been accused of intentional falsification of the truth. He grouped his material according to the reigns of the emperors and this work required the most comprehensive preparatory studies, and it must have occupied him for years. His collection of martyrdoms of the period may have been one of these preparatory studies. Eusebius blames the calamities which befell the Jewish nation on the Jews role in the death of Jesus and this quote has been used to attack both Jews and Christians. Thus the divine vengeance overtook the Jews for the crimes which they dared to commit against Christ and this is not simply anti-Semitism, however. Eusebius levels a similar charge against Christians, blaming a spirit of divisiveness for some of the most severe persecutions and he also launches into a panegyric in the middle of Book x. He praises the Lord for his provisions and kindness to them for allowing them to rebuild their churches after they have been destroyed, the accuracy of Eusebius account has often been called into question. ”The methods of Eusebius were criticised by Edward Gibbon in the 18th century. In the 19th century Jacob Burckhardt viewed Eusebius as a liar, matters discreditable to the faith were to be consigned to silence. ”As a consequence this kind of methodology in MacMullens view has distorted modern attempts, to describe how the Church grew in the early centuries. The work was translated into other languages in ancient time, codex Syriac 1 housed at the National Library of Russia is one of the oldest Syriac manuscripts, dated to the year 462. Eusebius, Christian Frederic Crusé, and Henry de Valois, the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus. London, G. Bell and Sons,1897, the Catholic University of America Press,1969. Eusebius, Arthur Cushman McGiffert, and Earnest Cushing Richardson, new York, The Christian Literature Co,1890. Eusebius, Kirsopp Lake, J. E. L. Oulton, the Ecclesiastical History, in Two Volumes / Eusebius. Louth, A. and G. A. Williamson, Eusebius, The History of the Church from Christ to Constantine
Church History (Eusebius)
21.
In hoc signo vinces
–
In hoc signo vinces is a Latin phrase meaning In this sign you will conquer, often also rendered in early modern English as In this sign thou shalt conquer. It is a translation, or rendering, of the Greek phrase ἐν τούτῳ νίκα en toútōi níka, literally meaning in this and his work De Mortibus Persecutorum has an apologetic character, but has been treated as a work of history by Christian writers. Here Lactantius preserves the story of Constantines vision of the Chi Rho before his conversion to Christianity, the full text is found in only one manuscript, which bears the title, Lucii Caecilii liber ad Donatum Confessorem de Mortibus Persecutorum. Eusebius then continues to describe the Labarum, the standard used by Constantine in his later wars against Licinius. They would thence turn right into the atrium of St. Peters Basilica, the Kingdom of Portugal have used this motto, since the 1143, according with the legend in Lusíadas. Coat of Arms of the Russian Government,1919, see White movement Inscribed on the Colours of the Irish Brigade. The motto of the Mauritius National Coast Guard The motto of U. S, public motto of the Sigma Chi international fraternity. Is the motto on the Coat of arms of the Vlaamse Verdedigings Liga, public motto of the English Defence League. Used as the title of the manifesto of George Lincoln Rockwell. Is the motto on the coat of arms of the city of Plzeň, the phrase is in the coat of arms of the city of Birkirkara, the largest city on the island of Malta, and the city of Bayamon, Puerto Rico. Is the motto on the Coat of Arms of ODonnell Appears in one of the paintings of the Polish artist Zdzisław Beksiński and it has been used in some versions of logo for the brand of cigarettes, Pall Mall. Eusebius - Constantine and the sign of the cross, Lucii Caecilii liber ad Donatum Confessorem de Mortibus Persecutorum
In hoc signo vinces
–
Detail from
The Vision of the Cross by assistants of
Raphael, depicting the vision of the cross and the Greek writing "Ἐν τούτῳ νίκα" in the sky, before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge.
In hoc signo vinces
–
Sample of use of " In hoc signo vinces " in a 1721
Portuguese coin
22.
Licinius
–
Licinius I was a Roman emperor from 308 to 324. For most of his reign he was the colleague and rival of Constantine I and he was finally defeated at the Battle of Chrysopolis, before being executed on the orders of Constantine I. Born to a Dacian peasant family in Moesia Superior, Licinius accompanied his close childhood friend and he was trusted enough by Galerius that in 307 he was sent as an envoy to Maxentius in Italy to attempt to reach some agreement about the latters illegitimate political position. Galerius then trusted the eastern provinces to Licinius when he went to deal with Maxentius personally after the death of Flavius Valerius Severus, upon his return to the east Galerius elevated Licinius to the rank of Augustus in the West on November 11,308. He received as his command the provinces of Illyricum, Thrace. In 310 he took command of the war against the Sarmatians, inflicting a defeat on them. On the death of Galerius in May 311, Licinius entered into an agreement with Maximinus II to share the eastern provinces between them, an alliance between Maximinus and Maxentius forced the two remaining emperors to enter into a formal agreement with each other. So in March 313 Licinius married Flavia Julia Constantia, half-sister of Constantine I, at Mediolanum, they had a son, Licinius the Younger, Daia in the meantime decided to attack Licinius. Leaving Syria with 70,000 men, he reached Bithynia, in April 313, he crossed the Bosporus and went to Byzantium, which was held by Licinius troops. Undeterred, he took the town after an eleven-day siege and he moved to Heraclea, which he captured after a short siege, before moving his forces to the first posting station. With a much smaller body of men, possibly around 30,000, before the decisive engagement, Licinius allegedly had a vision in which an angel recited him a generic prayer that could be adopted by all cults and which Licinius then repeated to his soldiers. On 30 April 313, the two clashed at the Battle of Tzirallum, and in the ensuing battle Daias forces were crushed. Ridding himself of the purple and dressing like a slave. Believing he still had a chance to come out victorious, Daia attempted to stop the advance of Licinius at the Cilician Gates by establishing fortifications there. Unfortunately for Daia, Licinius army succeeded in breaking through, forcing Daia to retreat to Tarsus where Licinius continued to him on land. The war between them ended with Daia’s death in August 313. Given that Constantine had already crushed his rival Maxentius in 312, as a result of this settlement, Licinius became sole Augustus in the East, while his brother-in-law, Constantine, was supreme in the West. Licinius immediately rushed to the east to deal with another threat, in 314, a civil war erupted between Licinius and Constantine, in which Constantine used the pretext that Licinius was harbouring Senecio, whom Constantine accused of plotting to overthrow him
Licinius
–
Coin of Licinius I.
Licinius
–
Coin of Licinius
Licinius
–
Sculptural portraits of Licinius (left) and his rival
Constantine I (right).
23.
Halo (optical phenomenon)
–
Halo is the name for a family of optical phenomena produced by light interacting with ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere. Halos can have many forms, ranging from colored or white rings to arcs, many of these are near the Sun or Moon, but others occur elsewhere or even in the opposite part of the sky. Among the best known halo types are the halo, light pillars and sun dogs. The particular shape and orientation of the crystals are responsible for the type of halo observed, light is reflected and refracted by the ice crystals and may split up into colors because of dispersion. The crystals behave like prisms and mirrors, refracting and reflecting light between their faces, sending shafts of light in particular directions, atmospheric phenomena such as halos were used as part of weather lore as an empirical means of weather forecasting before meteorology was developed. They often do mean that rain is going to fall within the next 24 hours as the clouds that cause them can signify an approaching frontal system. Other common optical phenomena involving water droplets rather than ice crystals include the glory, hexagonal plate- and column-shaped ice crystals cause the phenomenon. Plate crystals generally cause pillars only when the sun is within 6 degrees of the horizon, or below it, the crystals tend to orient themselves near-horizontally as they fall or float through the air, and the width and visibility of a sun pillar depend on crystal alignment. Light pillars can also form around the moon, and around street lights or other bright lights, pillars forming from ground-based light sources may appear much taller than those associated with the sun or moon. Since the observer is closer to the source, crystal orientation matters less in the formation of these pillars. Among the best-known halos is the 22° halo, often just called halo, the ice crystals that cause the 22° halo are oriented semi-randomly in the atmosphere, in contrast to the horizontal orientation required for some other halos such as sun dogs and light pillars. Other haloes can form at 46° to the sun, or at the horizon, or around the zenith, in the Anglo-Cornish dialect of English, a halo round the sun or the moon is called a cocks eye and is a token of bad weather. The term is related to the Breton word kog-heol which has the same meaning, in Nepal, the halo round the sun is called Indrasabha with a connotation of the assembly court of Lord Indra – the Hindu god of lightning, thunder and rain. The natural phenomena may be reproduced artificially by several means, firstly, by computer simulations, or secondly by experimental means. Regarding the latter, one may take a single crystal and rotate it around the appropriate axis/axes. A still further and more experimental approach is to find analogous refraction geometries. This approach employs the fact that in cases the average geometry of refraction through an ice crystal may be imitated / mimicked via the refraction through another geometrical object. In this way, the Circumzenithal arc, the Circumhorizontal arc, a particularly simple table-top experiment reproduces artificially the colorful circumzenithal and circumhorizontal arcs using a water glass only
Halo (optical phenomenon)
–
A
22° halo around the sun in Nepal Himalayas.
Halo (optical phenomenon)
–
From top to bottom: A
circumzenithal arc,
supralateral arc,
Parry arc,
upper tangent arc, and
22° halo.
Halo (optical phenomenon)
–
Circumscribed halo around the sun, taken on
Punta Alta,
Argentina, captured on January 28, 2013 at 11:58 am.
Halo (optical phenomenon)
–
Sun pillar in San Francisco.
24.
Vetranio
–
Vetranio, sometimes incorrectly referred to as Vetriano, was a Roman soldier and statesman, a native of the province of Moesia. He was a soldier and officer when he was asked by Constantina. Her brother Constans had been killed by Magnentius earlier that year and she probably thought Vetranio could protect her family and herself against the usurper. Vetranio accepted, and coins were minted in his name, showing the title of Augustus, rather than Caesar, and the coins indicated that he expected to rule for five years, and hoped for ten. Constantius first seemed to accept the new Emperor and his regalia, Vetranio frequently asked Constantius for money and military aid to fight Magnentius, he also sent letters to the emperor professing his loyalty to him. When negotiations deadlocked, Magnentius and Vetranio made an alliance, they sent an embassy to the emperor, the ambassadors met with the emperor in Heraclea in Thrace. Magnentius offered to marry his daughter to Constantius and to marry Constantia the emperors sister, but first, they required that the emperor lay down his arms and accept the honor as senior emperor. Constantius was on a campaign against the Persians when Magnentius came to power, Constantius first met with Vetranio at Serdica, and both moved on to Naissus in Serbia. On 25 December 350 both men mounted a platform before the troops, Constantius managed, by means of a strong speech. He then took the purple away from Vetranio, the emperor led the old man down the stairs of the platform, called him father, and led him to the dinner table. He was allowed to live the remainder of his years as a citizen on a state pension in Prusa ad Olympum. See Philostorgius 3.22 for detail on his rise to power, M. DiMaio Jr. Vetranio, in DIR. Vetranio coinage Most complete internet database of known types of Vetranio
Vetranio
–
On the reverse of this coin struck under Vetranio, the emperor is holding two
labara, the ensigns introduced by
Constantine I.
25.
Honorius (emperor)
–
Honorius was Western Roman Emperor from 393 to 423. He was the son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of Arcadius. Even by the standards of the rapidly declining Western Empire, Honoriuss reign was precarious and his reign was supported by his principal general, Stilicho, who was successively Honoriuss guardian and his father-in-law. Stilichos generalship helped preserve some level of stability, but with his execution in 408, Honorius is widely considered as one of the worst of the emperors, it was during his reign that Rome was sacked for the first time in 800 years. When Theodosius died, in January 395, Honorius and Arcadius divided the Empire, during the first part of his reign Honorius depended on the military leadership of the general Stilicho, who had been appointed by Theodosius and was of mixed Vandal and Roman ancestry. To strengthen his bonds with the emperor, Stilicho married his daughter Maria to him. The epithalamion written for the occasion by Stilichos court poet Claudian survives, Honorius was also greatly influenced by the Popes of Rome, who sought to extend their influence through his youth and weak character. So it was that Pope Innocent I contrived to have Honorius write to his brother, while the new capital was easier to defend, it was poorly situated to allow Roman forces to protect central Italy from the increasingly regular threat of barbarian incursions. It was significant that the Emperors residence remained in Ravenna until the overthrow of the last western Roman Emperor in 476. That was probably the reason why Ravenna was chosen not only as the capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy, Honorius reign was plagued by almost constant barbarian incursions into Gaul, Italy and Hispania. At the same time, a host of usurpers rose up due to the apparent inability of the Emperor to see to the Empires defences. The first crisis faced by Honorius was a led by Gildo, the Comes Africae and Magister utriusque militiae per Africam, in Northern Africa. It was eventually subdued by Stilicho, under the command of Mascezel. The next crisis was the Visigoth invasion of Italy in 402 under the command of their king. Stilicho hurried back to protect Honorius and the legions of Gaul, Honorius, slumbering at Milan, was caught unaware and quickly fled to Asti, only to be pursued by Alaric, who marched into Liguria. Stilicho defeated Alaric at Pollentia, on the river Tanarus on Easter Day, Alaric retreated to Verona, where Stilicho attacked him again. The Visigoths, weakened, were allowed to back to Illyricum. In 405 Stilicho met an invasion of Italy led across the Danube by Radagaisus and they brought devastation to the heart of the Empire, until Stilicho defeated them in 406 and recruited most of them into his forces
Honorius (emperor)
–
Honorius on the
consular diptych of
Anicius Petronius Probus (406)
Honorius (emperor)
–
The Western Roman Emperor Honorius,
Jean-Paul Laurens (1880). Honorius became
Augustus on 23 January 393, at the age of eight.
Honorius (emperor)
–
Inscription honouring Honorius, as florentissimo invictissimoque, the most excellent and invincible, 417–418,
Forum Romanum
Honorius (emperor)
–
Christian pendant of Empress
Maria, daughter of
Stilicho, and wife of Honorius.
Musée du Louvre. The pendant reads, around a central cross (clockwise): HONORI
MARIA SERINA VIVATIS
STELICHO. The letters form a
Christogram
26.
Arch of Constantine
–
The Arch of Constantine is a triumphal arch in Rome, situated between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. It was erected by the Roman Senate to commemorate Constantine Is victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312, dedicated in 315, it is the largest Roman triumphal arch. The arch spans the Via triumphalis, the way taken by the emperors when they entered the city in triumph. Though dedicated to Constantine, much of the material incorporated earlier work from the time of the emperors Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius. This earned it the nickname of Cornacchia di Esopo Aesops Crow. The arch is 21 m high,25.9 m wide and 7.4 m deep. It has three archways, the one being 11.5 m high and 6.5 m wide. Above the archways is placed the attic, composed of brickwork reveted with marble, a staircase within the arch is entered from a door at some height from the ground, on the west side, facing the Palatine Hill. The general design with a main part structured by detached columns, not only did the Roman senate give the arch for Constantines victory, they also were celebrating decennia, a series of games that happens every decade for the romans. In this occasion they also said many prayers, however, Constantine had actually entered Rome on 29 October 312, amidst great rejoicing, and the Senate then commissioned the monument. Constantine then left Rome within two months and did not return till 326, the location, between the Palatine Hill and the Caelian Hill, spanned the ancient route of Roman triumphs at its origin, where it diverged from the Via sacra. This route was taken by the emperors when they entered the city in triumph. During the Middle Ages, the Arch of Constantine was incorporated into one of the strongholds of ancient Rome, as shown in the painting by Herman van Swanevelt. Works of restoration were first carried out in the 18th century, the arch served as the finish line for the marathon athletic event for the 1960 Summer Olympics. Another theory holds that it was erected, or at least started, by Maxentius, ), whatever the faults of Maxentius, his reputation in Rome was influenced by his contributions to public building. This factor contributed to his ability to seize power, by contrast Maxentius concentrated on restoring the capital, his epithet being conservator urbis suae. Thus Constantine was perceived amongst other things as the deposer of one of the citys greatest benefactors, much controversy has surrounded the patronage of the public works of this period. The German philosopher, Walter Benjamin observed that history is seen through the eyes of the victor, issuing a damnatio memoriae he set out to systematically erase the memory of Maxentius
Arch of Constantine
–
Arch of Constantine
Arch of Constantine
Arch of Constantine
–
The Arch of Constantine, Rome - painted by
Herman van Swanevelt, 17th century.
Arch of Constantine
–
South side, from Via triumphalis.
Colosseum to right
27.
Sol Invictus
–
Sol Invictus was the official sun god of the later Roman Empire and a patron of soldiers. In 274 AD the Roman emperor Aurelian made it an official cult alongside the traditional Roman cults, scholars disagree about whether the new deity was a refoundation of the ancient Latin cult of Sol, a revival of the cult of Elagabalus or completely new. The god was favored by emperors after Aurelian and appeared on their coins until Constantine I, the last inscription referring to Sol Invictus dates to AD387, and there were enough devotees in the 5th century that Augustine found it necessary to preach against them. Different explanations for the date similarity are considered to be academically thoroughly viable hypotheses by some, Invictus was an epithet for several deities of classical Roman religion, including the supreme deity Jupiter, the war god Mars, Hercules, Apollo, and Silvanus. It had been in use from the 3rd century BC, the Roman cult to Sol is continuous from the earliest history of the city until the institution of Christianity as the exclusive state religion. Scholars have sometimes regarded the traditional Sol and Sol Invictus as two separate deities, but the rejection of this view by S. E. Hijmans has found supporters. An inscription of AD102 records a restoration of a portico of Sol in what is now the Trastevere area of Rome by a certain Gaius Iulius Anicetus, another, stylistically dated to the 2nd century, is inscribed on a Roman phalera, inventori lucis soli invicto augusto. Augustus is a regular epithet linking deities to the Imperial cult, Sol Invictus played a prominent role in the Mithraic mysteries, and was equated with Mithras himself. The relation of the Mithraic Sol Invictus to the cult of the deity with the same name is unclear. According to the Historia Augusta, Elagabalus, the teenaged Severan heir, adopted the name of his deity, once installed as emperor, he neglected Romes traditional State deities and promoted his own as Romes most powerful deity. This ended with his murder in 222, the Historia Augusta refers to the deity Elagabalus as also called Jupiter and Sol. While this has seen as an attempt to import the Syrian sun god to Rome. The Roman gens Aurelia was associated with the cult of Sol, after his victories in the East, the Emperor Aurelian thoroughly reformed the Roman cult of Sol, elevating the sun-god to one of the premier divinities of the Empire. Every pontifex of Sol was a member of the senatorial elite, Aurelian also built a new temple for Sol, which was dedicated on December 25,274, and brought the total number of temples for the god in Rome to four. He also instituted games in honor of the sun god, held four years from a. d.274 onwards. The identity of Aurelians Sol Invictus has long been a subject of scholarly debate, based on the Augustan History, some scholars have argued that it was based on Sol Elagablus of Emesa. Professor Gary Forsythe discusses these arguments and adds a more recent one based on the work of Steven Hijmans. Hijmans argues that Aurelians solar deity was simply the traditional Greco-Roman Sol Invictus, statuettes of Sol Invictus, carried by the standard-bearers, appear in three places in reliefs on the Arch of Constantine
Sol Invictus
–
Coin of Emperor
Probus, circa 280, with Sol Invictus riding a
quadriga, with legend SOLI INVICTO, "to the Unconquered Sun": the Emperor (at left) wears a radiated
solar crown, worn also by the god on the
obverse
Sol Invictus
–
Dedication made by a priest of
Jupiter Dolichenus on behalf of the wellbeing (
salus) of the emperors, to Sol Invictus and the
Genius of the military unit
equites singulares
Sol Invictus
–
Roman Imperial
repoussé silver disc of Sol Invictus (3rd century), found at
Pessinus (
British Museum)
Sol Invictus
–
Coin of Emperor
Constantine I depicting Sol Invictus with the legend SOLI INVICTO COMITI, circa 315.
28.
Helios
–
Helios was the personification of the Sun in Greek mythology. He is the son of the Titan Hyperion and the Titaness Theia, also known as Euryphaessa and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn. In the Homeric hymn to Helios, Helios is said to drive a chariot drawn by steeds. Still later, the horses were given related names, Pyrois, Aeos, Aethon. As time passed, Helios was increasingly identified with the god of light, however, in spite of their syncretism, they were also often viewed as two distinct gods/titan. The equivalent of Helios in Roman mythology was Sol, specifically Sol Invictus, the Greek ἥλιος is the inherited word for the Sun, from Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥, cognate with Latin sol, Sanskrit surya, Old English swegl, Old Norse sól, Welsh haul, etc. The female offspring of Helios were called Heliades, the Greek sun god had various bynames or epithets, which over time in some cases came to be considered separate deities associated with the Sun. Most notably, Helios is closely associated with, and sometimes identified with. Diodorus Siculus of Sicily reported that the Chaldeans called Cronus by the name Helios, or the sun, among these is Hyperion, Elektor, Phaëton the radiant, Hekatos. The best known story involving Helios is that of his son Phaethon, Helios was sometimes characterized with the epithet Panoptes. In the Odyssey, Odysseus and his crew land on Thrinacia, an island sacred to the sun god. There, the red cattle of the Sun were kept, You will now come to the Thrinacian island. There will be seven herds of cattle and seven flocks of sheep and they do not breed, nor do they become fewer in number, and they are tended by the goddesses Phaethusa and Lampetia, who are children of the sun-god Hyperion by Neaera. Their mother when she had them and had done suckling them sent them to the Thrinacian island. Though Odysseus warns his men, when supplies run short they impiously kill, the guardians of the island, Helios daughters, tell their father about this. Helios appeals to Zeus telling them to dispose of Odysseus men or he will take the Sun, Zeus destroys the ship with his lightning bolt, killing all the men except for Odysseus. In one Greek vase painting, Helios appears riding across the sea in the cup of the Delphic tripod which appears to be a solar reference. While Heracles traveled to Erytheia to retrieve the cattle of Geryon, he crossed the Libyan desert and was so frustrated at the heat that he shot an arrow at Helios, Heracles used this golden cup to reach Erytheia
Helios
–
Head of Helios, middle period,
Archaeological Museum of Rhodes
Helios
–
Helios in his chariot, early 4th century BC,
Athena 's temple,
Ilion
Helios
–
Solar Apollo with the radiant
halo of Helios in a Roman floor mosaic,
El Djem, Tunisia, late 2nd century
Helios
–
Coin of Roman Emperor
Constantine I depicting
Sol Invictus /Apollo with the legend SOLI INVICTO COMITI, c. 315 AD.
29.
Apollo
–
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in classical Greek and Roman religion and Greek and Roman mythology. The ideal of the kouros, Apollo has been recognized as a god of music, truth and prophecy, healing, the sun and light, plague, poetry. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto, and has a twin sister, Apollo is known in Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as Apulu. As the patron of Delphi, Apollo was an oracular god—the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle. Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius, yet Apollo was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and deadly plague. Amongst the gods custodial charges, Apollo became associated with dominion over colonists, as the leader of the Muses and director of their choir, Apollo functioned as the patron god of music and poetry. Hermes created the lyre for him, and the instrument became an attribute of Apollo. Hymns sung to Apollo were called paeans, Apollo and Helios/Sol remained separate beings in literary and mythological texts until the 3rd century CE. The name Apollo—unlike the related older name Paean—is generally not found in the Linear B texts, the etymology of the name is uncertain. The spelling Ἀπόλλων had almost superseded all other forms by the beginning of the common era and it probably is a cognate to the Doric month Apellaios, and the offerings apellaia at the initiation of the young men during the family-festival apellai. According to some scholars the words are derived from the Doric word apella, apella is the name of the popular assembly in Sparta, corresponding to the ecclesia. R. S. P. Beekes rejected the connection of the theonym with the noun apellai, several instances of popular etymology are attested from ancient authors. Thus, the Greeks most often associated Apollos name with the Greek verb ἀπόλλυμι, in the ancient Macedonian language πέλλα means stone, and some toponyms may be derived from this word, Πέλλα and Πελλήνη. The role of Apollo as god of plague is evident in the invocation of Apollo Smintheus by Chryses, the Hittite testimony reflects an early form *Apeljōn, which may also be surmised from comparison of Cypriot Ἀπείλων with Doric Ἀπέλλων. A Luwian etymology suggested for Apaliunas makes Apollo The One of Entrapment, Apollos chief epithet was Phoebus, literally bright. It was very commonly used by both the Greeks and Romans for Apollos role as the god of light, like other Greek deities, he had a number of others applied to him, reflecting the variety of roles, duties, and aspects ascribed to the god. However, while Apollo has a number of appellations in Greek myth. Aegletes, from αἴγλη, light of the sun Helius, literally sun Lyceus light, the meaning of the epithet Lyceus later became associated with Apollos mother Leto, who was the patron goddess of Lycia and who was identified with the wolf
Apollo
–
Apollo Belvedere, ca. 120–140 CE
Apollo
–
Partial view of the temple of Apollo Epikurios (healer) at
Bassae in southern Greece
Apollo
–
Temple of the Delians at
Delos, dedicated to Apollo (478 BC). 19th-century pen-and-wash restoration.
Apollo
–
Temple of Apollo Smintheus at
Çanakkale, Turkey
