1.
Denarius
–
In the Roman currency system, the dēnārius, plural, dēnāriī was a small silver coin first minted about 211 BC during the Second Punic War. It is the origin of modern words such as the currency name dinar, it is also the origin for the common noun for money in Italian denaro, in Portuguese dinheiro. Its symbol is X̶, a x with stroke. A predecessor of the denarius was first struck in 267 BC, five years before the first Punic War with a weight of 6.81 grams. Contact with the Greeks prompted a need for coinage in addition to the bronze currency that the Romans were using during that time. The predecessor of the denarius was a Greek-styled silver coin, very similar to the didrachm and drachma struck in Metapontion and these coins were inscribed for Rome but closely resemble their Greek counterparts. They were most likely used for purposes and were seldom used in Rome. The first distinctively Roman silver coin appeared around 226 BC, Rome overhauled its coinage around 211 BC and introduced the denarius alongside a short-lived denomination called the victoriatus. This denarius contained an average 4.5 grams, or 1⁄72 of a Roman pound of silver and it formed the backbone of Roman currency throughout the Roman republic. The denarius began to undergo slow debasement toward the end of the republican period, under the rule of Augustus, its silver content fell to 3.9 grams. It remained at nearly this weight until the time of Nero, debasement of the coins silver content continued after Nero. Later Roman emperors reduced its content to 3 grams around the third century. The value at its introduction was 10 asses, giving the denarius its name, in about 141 BC, it was re-tariffed at 16 asses, to reflect the decrease in weight of the as. The denarius continued to be the coin of the Roman Empire until it was replaced by the antoninianus in the middle of the third century. The last issuance of this occurred in bronze form by Aurelian. For more details, see Denarius, in A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins, the denarius has a link from the Roman times to the British penny and US1 cent piece. It is difficult to give even rough comparative values for money from before the 20th century, as the range of products and services available for purchase was different. Classical historians often say that in the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire the daily wage for an unskilled laborer and common soldier was 1 denarius or about US$2. 8$ in bread
Denarius
–
Top row left to right: 157 BC
Roman Republic, A.D 73
Vespasian, A.D 161
Marcus Aurelius, A.D 194
Septimius Severus; Second row left to right: A.D 199
Caracalla, A.D 200
Julia Domna, A.D 219
Elagabalus, A.D 236
Maximinus Thrax
Denarius
–
Flavia Domitilla, wife of
Vespasian and mother of
Titus and
Domitian.
Denarius
–
Quintus Antonius Balbus (c. 82-83 BC)
2.
Gaius Cassius Longinus
–
Gaius Cassius Longinus was a Roman senator, a leading instigator of the plot to kill Julius Caesar, and the brother in-law of Marcus Junius Brutus. He was elected Tribune of the Plebs in 49 B. C and he opposed Caesar, and he commanded a fleet against him during Caesars Civil War, after Caesar defeated Pompey in the Battle of Pharsalus, Caesar overtook Cassius and forced him to surrender. After Caesars death, Cassius fled to the East, where he amassed an army of twelve legions and he was supported and made Governor by the Senate. Though he and Brutus marched west against the allies of the Second Triumvirate, Cassius was defeated at the Battle of Phillippi and he followed the teachings of the philosopher Epicurus, although scholars debate whether or not these beliefs affected his political life. Cassius is a character in Shakespeares play Julius Caesar that depicts the assassination of Caesar. He is also shown in the lowest circle of Hell in Dantes The Inferno as punishment for killing Caesar. Little is known of Gaius Cassius early life, apart from a story that he showed his dislike of despots while still at school and he studied philosophy at Rhodes under Archelaus and became fluent in Greek. He was married to Junia Tertia, who was the daughter of Servilia and they had one son, who was born in about 60 BC. In 53 BC he took part in the Battle of Carrhae lost by Marcus Licinius Crassus against the Parthians, Cassius returned to Rome in 50 BC, when civil war was about to break out between Julius Caesar and Pompey. Cassius was elected tribune of the Plebs for 49 BC, and threw in his lot with the Optimates, Cassius left Italy shortly after Caesar crossed the Rubicon. He met Pompey in Greece, and was appointed to command part of his fleet, in 48 BC, Cassius sailed his ships to Sicily, where he attacked and burned a large part of Caesars navy. He then proceeded to harass ships off the Italian coast, news of Pompeys defeat at the Battle of Pharsalus caused Cassius to head for the Hellespont, with hopes of allying with the king of Pontus, Pharnaces II. Cassius was overtaken by Caesar en route, and was forced to surrender unconditionally, Caesar made Cassius a legate, employing him in the Alexandrian War against the very same Pharnaces whom Cassius had hoped to join after Pompeys defeat at Pharsalus. However, Cassius refused to join in the fight against Cato and Scipio in Africa, Cassius spent the next two years in office, and apparently tightened his friendship with Cicero. In 44 BC, he became praetor peregrinus with the promise of the Syrian province for the ensuing year, the appointment of his junior and brother-in-law, Marcus Brutus, as praetor urbanus deeply offended him. Although Cassius was the spirit in the plot against Caesar, winning over the chief assassins to the cause of tyrannicide. On the Ides of March,44 BC, Cassius urged on his fellow liberators, though they succeeded in assassinating Caesar, the celebration was short-lived, as Mark Antony seized power and turned the public against them. In letters written during 44 BC, Cicero frequently complains that Rome was still subjected to tyranny, according to some accounts, Cassius had wanted to kill Antony at the same time as Caesar, but Brutus dissuaded him
Gaius Cassius Longinus
–
Denarius (42 BC) issued by Cassius Longinus and
Lentulus Spinther, depicting the crowned head of
Liberty and on the reverse a sacrificial jug and
lituus. From the military mint in
Smyrna
3.
Lituus
–
The word lituus originally meant a curved augural staff, or a curved war-trumpet in the ancient Latin language. This Latin word continued in use through the 18th century as an alternative to the names of various musical instruments. The lituus was a crooked wand used as an instrument in ancient Roman religion by augurs to mark out a ritual space in the sky. The passage of birds through this templum indicated divine favor or disfavor for a given undertaking, the lituus was also used as a symbol of office for the college of the augurs to mark them out as a priestly group. The ancient lituus was an Etruscan high-pitched brass instrument, which was straight but bent at the end, in the shape of a letter J and it was later used by the Romans, especially for processional music and as a signalling horn in the army. For the Roman military it may have been particular to the cavalry, unlike the Roman litui, the Etruscan instruments had detachable mouthpieces and in general appear to have been longer. The name lituus is Latin, thought to have derived from an Etruscan cultic word describing a soothsayers wand modelled on a shepherds crook and associated with sacrifice. Earlier Roman and Etruscan depictions show the instrument used in processions, players of the lituus were called liticines, though the name of the instrument appears to have been loosely used to describe other military brass instruments, such as the tuba or the buccina. In 17th-century Germany a variant of the bent ancient lituus was still used as a signalling horn by nightwatchmen, however, it is impossible to determine just what sort of instrument might have been meant, and it is unlikely there litui were the same as the Etrusco-Roman instrument. In the early 15th century, Jean de Gerson listed the lituus among those string instruments that were sounded by beating or striking, either with the fingernails, other instruments Gerson names in this category are the cythara, guiterna, psalterium, timpanum, and campanula. The crumhorn was especially associated with the lituus because of the similarity of its shape, the equation of the crumhorn with the lituus was especially strong among German writers. A study made of Swedish dictionaries found that during the seventeenth century lituus was variously translated as sinka, krumhorn, krum trometa, claret, or horn. In 1738, the horn player Anton Joseph Hampel served as a godfather at the baptism of a daughter of the renowned Dresden lutenist Silvius Leopold Weiss. In the baptismal register he was described as Lituista Regius—royal lituus player, in the second half of the 18th century the lituus was described in one source as a Latin name for the trumpet or horn. The only known Baroque composition specifying an instrument by the Latin name lituus is Bachs motet O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht. Scientists from Edinburgh University tried to recreate the lituus in May 2009, in the form of a wooden trumpet. Descriptio Montis Fracti iuxta Lvcernam, et primum Chorographica, praefertim quod ad paludem Pilati in eo memorabilem, lugdunensis, Pilati Montis in Gallia descriptio, Io Rhellicani Stockhornias, qua Stockhornus mons altissimus in Bernensium Heluetiorum agro, versibus heroicis describitur, 45–67. Tigvri, Apud Andream Gesnerum F. & Iacobvm Gesnerum, frates, Roman Military Instruments and the Lituus
Lituus
–
A lituus (reverse, right, over the
patera) as cult instrument, in this coin celebrating the
pietas of the
Roman Emperor Herennius Etruscus.
Lituus
–
For a mathematical function, see
Lituus (mathematics).
4.
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.
5.
Roman mythology
–
Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Romes legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. Roman mythology may also refer to the study of these representations. The Romans usually treated their traditional narratives as historical, even when these have miraculous or supernatural elements, the stories are often concerned with politics and morality, and how an individuals personal integrity relates to his or her responsibility to the community or Roman state. When the stories illuminate Roman religious practices, they are concerned with ritual, augury. Romes early myths and legends also have a relationship with Etruscan religion. In particular, the versions of Greek myths in Ovids Metamorphoses, written during the reign of Augustus, because ritual played the central role in Roman religion that myth did for the Greeks, it is sometimes doubted that the Romans had much of a native mythology. This perception is a product of Romanticism and the scholarship of the 19th century. From the Renaissance to the 18th century, however, Roman myths were an inspiration particularly for European painting, the Roman tradition is rich in historical myths, or legends, concerning the foundation and rise of the city. These narratives focus on human actors, with only occasional intervention from deities, in Romes earliest period, history and myth have a mutual and complementary relationship. As T. P. Wiseman notes, The Roman stories still matter, as they mattered to Dante in 1300 and Shakespeare in 1600, what does it take to be a free citizen. Can a superpower still be a republic, how does well-meaning authority turn into murderous tyranny. Major sources for Roman myth include the Aeneid of Vergil and the first few books of Livys history as well as Dionysius s Roman Antiquities. Other important sources are the Fasti of Ovid, a six-book poem structured by the Roman religious calendar, scenes from Roman myth also appear in Roman wall painting, coins, and sculpture, particularly reliefs. The Aeneid and Livys early history are the best extant sources for Romes founding myths, material from Greek heroic legend was grafted onto this native stock at an early date. By extension, the Trojans were adopted as the ancestors of the Roman people. Rape of the Sabine women, explaining the importance of the Sabines in the formation of Roman culture, numa Pompilius, the Sabine second king of Rome who consorted with the nymph Egeria and established many of Romes legal and religious institutions. Servius Tullius, the king of Rome, whose mysterious origins were freely mythologized. The Tarpeian Rock, and why it was used for the execution of traitors, lucretia, whose self-sacrifice prompted the overthrow of the early Roman monarchy and led to the establishment of the Republic
Roman mythology
–
Romulus and Remus, the
Lupercal,
Father Tiber, and the
Palatine on a
relief from a pedestal dating to the reign of
Trajan (AD 98–117)
Roman mythology
–
In this wall painting from
Pompeii,
Venus looks on while the physician
Iapyx tends to the wound of her son,
Aeneas; the tearful boy is her grandson
Ascanius, also known as Iulus, legendary ancestor [
citation needed] of
Julius Caesar and the
Julio-Claudian dynasty
Roman mythology
–
Mucius Scaevola in the Presence of Lars Porsenna (early 1640s) by
Matthias Stom
Roman mythology
–
Capitoline Triad
6.
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.
7.
Junia (gens)
–
The gens Junia was one of the most celebrated families in Rome. The gens may originally have been patrician, the family was already prominent in the last days of the Roman monarchy. Scholars have long been divided on the question of whether the Junii were originally patrician, the family was prominent throughout the whole of Roman history, and all of the members who are known, from the early times of the Republic and on into the Empire, were plebeians. However, it seems inconceivable that Lucius Junius Brutus, the nephew of Tarquin the Proud, was a plebeian and it was not until the passage of the lex Licinia Sextia in 367 BC that plebeians were permitted to stand for the consulship. Even if this were not the case, the consuls chosen at the birth of the Roman Republic may have been exceptions. On balance, it more likely that the Junii were at first numbered amongst the patricians, and that they afterward passed over to the plebeians. If so, then at least some, if not all, of the later Junii Silani were actually descended from the Manlii, and not the Junii. This hypothesis is supported by the surname Torquatus, the name of a family of the Manlia gens. Junius, the nomen of the gens, may be connected with the goddess Juno. The praenomina favored by the early Junii were Marcus, Lucius, except for the Bruti Bubulci, who favored the praenomen Gaius and may have been a cadet branch of the family, the Junii Bruti relied exclusively on these three names. Many of the families of the Junii also used these names, although some added Gaius. The Junii Silani also used the praenomen Appius, the Junii were by far the most prominent family to make regular use of Decimus. The names Titus and Tiberius were carefully avoided by the Junii throughout most of their history. According to tradition, these were the names of the sons of Lucius Junius Brutus, the first consul, who joined in a conspiracy by their uncles, the Vitellii, to restore the Tarquins to power. They were condemned and executed by order of their own father, the only noteworthy exception appears to be the orator Titus Junius, who lived in the final century of the Republic. The family names and surnames of the Junii which occur in the time of the Republic are, Brutus, Bubulcus, Gracchanus, Paciaecus, Pennus, Pera, Pullus, and Silanus. Norbanus is sometimes considered a surname of the Junia gens, a few Junii are mentioned without any cognomen. Brutus was the name of a family of the Junia gens
Junia (gens)
–
Bust in the
Capitoline Museums, traditionally identified as
Lucius Junius Brutus.
8.
Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger
–
Marcus Junius Brutus, often referred to as Brutus, was a politician of the late Roman Republic. After being adopted by his uncle he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus and he took a leading role in the assassination of Julius Caesar. Brutus was close to General Julius Caesar, the leader of the Populares faction, however, Caesars attempts to assume greater power for himself put him at greater odds with the Roman elite and members of the Senate. Brutus eventually came to oppose Caesar and fought with the Optimate faction, led by Pompey the Great, Pompey was defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 B. C. after which Brutus surrendered to Caesar, who granted him amnesty. However, the political tensions which led to the war had not been resolved. Due to Caesars increasingly monarchical behavior, several senators, calling themselves Liberators and they recruited Brutus, who took a leading role in the assassination, which was carried out successfully on March 15,44 B. C. The Senate, at the request of the Consul Mark Antony, however, a populist uprising forced Brutus and his brother-in-law, fellow assassin Gaius Cassius Longinus, to leave the City of Rome. Caesars grandnephew, Consul Gaius Octavian Caesar, immediately after taking office, passed a resolution declaring the conspirators, including Brutus, murderers. Octavian combined his troops with those of Antony, and together they defeated the outnumbered armies of Brutus and Cassius at the Battle of Philippi in October 42 B. C. After the battle, Brutus committed suicide, Marcus Junius Brutus Minor was the son of Marcus Junius Brutus Maior and Servilia. Some sources refer to the possibility of Caesar being his real father, Brutus uncle, Quintus Servilius Caepio, adopted him in about 59 BC, and Brutus was known officially for a time as Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus before he reverted to using his birth-name. Following Caesars assassination in 44 BC, Brutus revived his adoptive name in order to illustrate his links to another famous tyrannicide, Gaius Servilius Ahala, from whom he was descended. Brutus held his uncle in high regard and his career started when he became an assistant to Cato. During this time, he enriched himself by lending money at high rates of interest and he returned to Rome a rich man, where he married Claudia Pulchra. From his first appearance in the Senate, Brutus aligned with the Optimates against the First Triumvirate of Marcus Licinius Crassus, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and Gaius Julius Caesar. When Caesars Civil War broke out in 49 BC between Pompey and Caesar, Brutus followed his old enemy and the present leader of the Optimates, Caesar ordered his officers to leave Brutus alone if he refused his arrest because he believed that Brutus could be his biological son. Although Caesar and Brutus mother, Servilia, were lovers, only a few knew about their relationship, Caesar had nothing against Brutus concerning that, and they had a very close relationship. And everything he did for Brutus was out of affection of Servilia knowing that his mother was in love him, Caesar
Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger
–
Marble bust of Brutus, at the
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme in the
National Museum of Rome
Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger
–
Marble bust of Brutus, at the
Capitoline Museums in Rome.
Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger
–
Death of Caesar by
Vincenzo Camuccini.
Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger
–
Marcus Junius Brutus.
9.
Second Punic War
–
The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War and the War Against Hannibal, lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western and eastern Mediterranean. This was the major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic and its allied Italic socii, with the crucial participation of Numidian-Berber armies and tribes on both sides. The two states three major wars with each other over the course of their existence. They are called the Punic Wars because Romes name for Carthaginians was Poeni, derived from Poenici, in the following year, Hannibals army defeated the Romans again, this time in southern Italy at Cannae. In consequence of these defeats, many Roman allies went over to Carthage, against Hannibals skill on the battlefield, the Romans deployed the Fabian strategy. A sideshow of this war was the indecisive First Macedonian War in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Second Punic War was fought between Carthage and Rome and was ignited by the dispute over the hegemony of Saguntum, a Hellenized Iberian coastal city with diplomatic contacts with Rome. After great tension within the city government, culminating in the assassination of the supporters of Carthage, the city called for Roman aid, but the pleas fell on deaf ears. Following a prolonged siege and a struggle, in which Hannibal himself was wounded and the army practically destroyed. Many of the Saguntians chose to commit suicide rather than face subjugation by the Carthaginians, before the war, Rome and Hasdrubal the Fair had made a treaty. Livy reports that it was agreed that the Iber should be the boundary between the two empires and that the liberty of the Saguntines should be preserved, Hannibal departed with this army from New Carthage northwards along the coast in late spring of 218 BC. At the Ebro, he split the army into three columns and subdued the tribes there to the Pyrenees within weeks, but with severe losses. At the Pyrenees, he left a detachment of 11,000 Iberian troops, Hannibal reportedly entered Gaul with 50,000 infantry and 9,000 cavalry. He took his army by a route, avoiding the Roman allies along the coast. In the meantime, a Roman fleet with a force was underway to northern Iberia. A scouting party of 300 cavalry was sent to discover the whereabouts of the enemy and these eventually defeated a Carthaginian scouting troop of 500 mounted Numidians and chased them back to their main camp. Thus, with knowledge of the location of the enemy, the Romans marched upstream, Hannibal evaded this force and by an unknown route reached the Isère or the Durance at the foot of the Alps in autumn. He also received messengers from his Gallic allies in Italy that urged him to come to their aid, before setting out to cross the Alps, he was re-supplied by a native tribe, some of whose hereditary disputes he had helped solve. Their other commander, Publius Cornelius Scipio, returned to Rome, realizing the danger of an invasion of Italy where the tribes of the Boii, after 217 BC, he moved to Iberia
Second Punic War
–
Iberian warrior from bas-relief c. 200 BC. The warrior is armed with a
falcata and an oval shield.
National Archaeological Museum of Spain,
Madrid
Second Punic War
–
Western Mediterranean, 218 BC. Italian cities and Celtic tribes that joined Hannibal after the invasion of Italy are depicted in blue.
Second Punic War
–
Iberian
falcata, 4th/3rd century BC. This weapon, a scythe-shaped sword, was unique to Iberia [
citation needed]. By its inherent weight distribution, it could deliver blows as powerful as an axe. National Archaeological Museum of Spain, Madrid
Second Punic War
–
Detail of frieze showing the equipment of a soldier in the
manipular Roman legion (left). Note mail armour, oval shield and helmet with plume (probably horsehair). The soldier in the centre is an officer (bronze cuirass, mantle), prob. a tribunus militum. From an altar built by
Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, consul in 122 BC.
Musée du Louvre, Paris
10.
Tiberius Gracchus
–
Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman Popularis politician of the 2nd century BC, together with Gaius Gracchus, one of the Gracchi brothers. As a plebeian tribune, he caused turmoil in the Republic with his reforms of agrarian legislation that sought to transfer wealth from the wealthy, patricians and otherwise. These reforms threatened the holdings of rich landowners in Italy and he was murdered, along with many of his supporters, by members of the Roman Senate and supporters of the conservative Optimate faction. Tiberius was born between 168 and 163 BC, he was the son of Tiberius Gracchus the Elder and Cornelia Africana and his family, the Gracchi branch of the gens Sempronia, was one of the most politically connected in Rome. Tiberius was raised by his mother, with his sister and his brother Gaius Gracchus, later he married Claudia Pulchra, daughter of Appius Claudius Pulcher. Tiberius military career started in the Third Punic War, as military tribune appointed to the staff of his brother in law, during his tenure as military tribune under Aemilianus, Tiberius became known for his bravery and discipline, recorded as the first to scale the enemy walls. In 137 BC he was appointed quaestor to consul Gaius Hostilius Mancinus, Tiberius, as quaestor, saved the army from destruction by signing a peace treaty with the Numantines, an action generally reserved for a Legate. In the negotiations, Tiberius recalled the exploits of his father Tiberius, Tiberius, however, refused to take anything else save some incense used for sacrificial rituals. The people voted to have Mancinus sent back to the Numantines in chains, romes internal political situation was not peaceful. In the last hundred years, there had been several wars, since legionaries were required to serve in a complete campaign, no matter how long it was, soldiers often left their farms in the hands of wives and children. Small farms in this often went bankrupt and were bought up by the wealthy upper class. Furthermore, some ended up being taken by the state in war. After the war was over, much of this land would then be sold to or rented to various members of the populace. Much of this land was given to only a few farmers who then had large amounts of land that were more profitable than the smaller farms, the farmers with large farms had their land worked by slaves and did not do the work themselves, unlike landowners with smaller farms. When the soldiers returned from the legions, they had nowhere to go, as only men who owned property were allowed to enroll in the army, the number of men eligible for army duty was therefore shrinking, and hence the military power of Rome. In 133 BC Tiberius was elected tribune of the people, soon he started to legislate on the matter of the homeless legionaries. Speaking before a crowd at the Rostra, Tiberius said, The wild beasts that roam over Italy have their dens, each has a place of repose and refuge. But the men who fight and die for Italy enjoy nothing but the air and light, without house or home they wander about with their wives, seeking to improve the lot of the poor, Tiberius Gracchus proposed a law known as Lex Sempronia Agraria
Tiberius Gracchus
–
Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus
Tiberius Gracchus
–
Tiberius Gracchus
canvassing. Image by
John Leech, from: The Comic History of Rome by
Gilbert Abbott à Beckett
11.
Aventine Hill
–
The Aventine Hill is one of the Seven Hills on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa, the rione, or ward. The Aventine Hill is the southernmost of Romes seven hills and it has two distinct heights, one greater to the northwest and one lesser to the southeast, divided by a steep cleft that provides the base for an ancient roadway between the heights. During the Republican era, the two hills may have recognized as a single entity. Most Roman sources trace the name of the hill to a legendary king Aventinus, Servius identifies two kings of that name, one ancient Italic, and one Alban, both said to have been buried on the hill in remote antiquity. Servius believes that the hill was named after the ancient Italic king Aventinus, the Aventine was a significant site in Roman mythology. In Virgils Aeneid, a cave on the Aventines rocky slope next the river is home to the monstrous Cacus, killed by Hercules for stealing Geryons cattle. In Romes founding myth, the divinely fathered twins Romulus and Remus hold a contest of augury, whose outcome determines the right to found, name and lead a new city, and to determine its site. In most versions of the story, Remus sets up his tent on the Aventine. Each sees a number of birds that signify divine approval. Romulus goes on to found the city of Rome at the site of his successful augury, an earlier variant, found in Ennius and some later sources, has Romulus perform his augury on one of the Aventine Hills. Remus performs his elsewhere, perhaps on the height, the lesser of the Aventines two hills, which has been tentatively identified with Ennius Mons Murcus. The less fortunate Remus, who lost not only the contest but later, his life, remained on the Aventine, according to Roman tradition, the Aventine was not included within Romes original foundation, and lay outside the citys ancient sacred boundary. The Roman historian Livy reports that Ancus Marcius, Romes fourth king, defeated the Latins of Politorium, the Roman geographer Strabo credits Ancus with the building of a city wall to incorporate the Aventine. Others credit the same wall to Romes sixth king, Servius Tullius, the remains known as the Servian Wall used stone quarried at Veii, which was not conquered by Rome until c.393 BC, so the Aventine might have been part-walled, or an extramural suburb. The Aventine appears to have functioned as some kind of staging post for the legitimate ingress of foreign peoples, during the late regal era, Servius Tullius built a temple to Diana on the Aventine, as a Roman focus for the new-founded Latin League. The Aventines outlying position, its association with Latins and plebeians. The temple overlooked the Circus Maximus and the Temple of Vesta and it became an important repository for plebeian and senatorial records
Aventine Hill
–
Aventine Hill panorama
Aventine Hill
–
Schematic map of Rome showing the
seven hills and
Servian Wall.
Aventine Hill
–
Basilica
Santa Sabina
12.
Palatine Hill
–
The Palatine Hill is the centremost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city. It stands 40 metres above the Roman Forum, looking down upon it on one side, from the time of Augustus Imperial palaces were built here and hence it became the etymological origin of the word palace and its cognates in other languages. According to Livy the Palatine hill got its name from the Arcadian settlement of Pallantium, more likely, it is derived from the noun palātum palate, Ennius uses it once for the heaven, and it may be connected with the Etruscan word for sky, falad. The term palace itself stems from Palatium, according to Roman mythology, the Palatine Hill was the location of the cave, known as the Lupercal, where Romulus and Remus were found by the she-wolf Lupa that kept them alive. Another legend occuring on the Palatine is Hercules defeat of Cacus after the monster had stolen some cattle. Hercules struck Cacus with his characteristic club so hard that it formed a cleft on the southeast corner of the hill, Rome has its origins on the Palatine. Excavations show that people have lived in the area since the 10th century BC, according to Livy, after the immigration of the Sabines and the Albans to Rome, the original Romans lived on the Palatine. The Palatine Hill was also the site of the ancient festival of the Lupercalia, many affluent Romans of the Republican period had their residences there. Augustus also built a temple to Apollo here, the Palace of Domitian which dominates the site and looks out over the Circus Maximus was rebuilt largely during the reign of Domitian over earlier buildings of Nero. Later emperors particularly the Severans made significant additions to the buildings, the House of Livia, the wife of Augustus, is conventially attributed to her based only on the generic name on a clay pipe and circumstantial factors such as proximity to the House of Augustus. The building is located near the Temple of Magna Mater at the end of the hill. It is notable for its beautiful frescoes, the House of Tiberius is located next to the Temple of Cybele, on the platform built by Nero and in the current Farnese Gardens. During Augustus reign, an area of the Palatine Hill was roped off for a sort of archaeological expedition and he declared this site the original town of Rome. Modern archaeology has identified evidence of Bronze Age settlement in the area which predates Romes founding, there is a museum on the Palatine in which artifacts dating from before the official foundation of the City are displayed. The museum also contains Roman statuary, an altar to an unknown deity, once thought to be Aius Locutius, was discovered here in 1820. In July 2006, archaeologists announced the discovery of the Palatine House, head archaeologist Clementina Panella uncovered a section of corridor and other fragments under Romes Palatine Hill, which she described on July 20 as a very ancient aristocratic house. On the ground floor, three shops opened onto the Via Sacra, the location of the domus is important because of its potential proximity to the Curiae Veteres, the earliest shrine of the curies of Rome. In January 2007, Italian archeologist Irene Iacopi announced that she had found the legendary Lupercal cave beneath the remains of Augustus residence
Palatine Hill
–
A photo of a fresco work from the Palatine Hill.
Palatine Hill
–
A photograph of a model hut from the museum on the Palatine Hill.
13.
Seven hills of Rome
–
The Seven Hills of Rome east of the river Tiber form the geographical heart of Rome, within the walls of the city. The seven hills denizens began to participate in a series of religious games, the city of Rome, thus, came into being as these separate settlements acted as a group, draining the marshy valleys between them and turning them into markets. Later, in the early 4th century BCE, the Servian Walls were constructed to protect the seven hills, of the seven hills of current Rome, five are populated with monuments, buildings, and parks. The Capitoline Hill now hosts Romes city hall, and the Palatine Hill belongs to the archaeological area. Constantinople is claimed to have built on its own seven hills
Seven hills of Rome
–
Schematic map of Rome showing the seven hills.
14.
Cicero
–
Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator, political theorist, consul, and constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy family of the Roman equestrian order. According to Michael Grant, the influence of Cicero upon the history of European literature, Cicero introduced the Romans to the chief schools of Greek philosophy and created a Latin philosophical vocabulary distinguishing himself as a translator and philosopher. Though he was an orator and successful lawyer, Cicero believed his political career was his most important achievement. During the chaotic latter half of the 1st century BC marked by civil wars, following Julius Caesars death, Cicero became an enemy of Mark Antony in the ensuing power struggle, attacking him in a series of speeches. His severed hands and head were then, as a revenge of Mark Antony. Petrarchs rediscovery of Ciceros letters is often credited for initiating the 14th-century Renaissance in public affairs, humanism, according to Polish historian Tadeusz Zieliński, the Renaissance was above all things a revival of Cicero, and only after him and through him of the rest of Classical antiquity. Cicero was born in 106 BC in Arpinum, a hill town 100 kilometers southeast of Rome and his father was a well-to-do member of the equestrian order and possessed good connections in Rome. However, being a semi-invalid, he could not enter public life, although little is known about Ciceros mother, Helvia, it was common for the wives of important Roman citizens to be responsible for the management of the household. Ciceros brother Quintus wrote in a letter that she was a thrifty housewife, Ciceros cognomen, or personal surname, comes from the Latin for chickpea, cicer. Plutarch explains that the name was given to one of Ciceros ancestors who had a cleft in the tip of his nose resembling a chickpea. However, it is likely that Ciceros ancestors prospered through the cultivation. Romans often chose down-to-earth personal surnames, the family names of Fabius, Lentulus, and Piso come from the Latin names of beans, lentils. Plutarch writes that Cicero was urged to change this name when he entered politics. During this period in Roman history, cultured meant being able to speak both Latin and Greek, Cicero used his knowledge of Greek to translate many of the theoretical concepts of Greek philosophy into Latin, thus translating Greek philosophical works for a larger audience. It was precisely his broad education that tied him to the traditional Roman elite, according to Plutarch, Cicero was an extremely talented student, whose learning attracted attention from all over Rome, affording him the opportunity to study Roman law under Quintus Mucius Scaevola. Ciceros fellow students were Gaius Marius Minor, Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the latter two became Ciceros friends for life, and Pomponius would become, in Ciceros own words, as a second brother, with both maintaining a lifelong correspondence. Cicero wanted to pursue a career in politics along the steps of the Cursus honorum
Cicero
–
A first century AD bust of Cicero in the
Capitoline Museums, Rome
Cicero
–
The Young Cicero Reading by
Vincenzo Foppa (fresco, 1464), now at the
Wallace Collection
Cicero
–
Cicero Denounces Catiline,
fresco by
Cesare Maccari, 1882–88
Cicero
–
Cicero's death (France, 15th century)
15.
Julius Caesar
–
Gaius Julius Caesar, known as Julius Caesar, was a Roman politician, general, and notable author of Latin prose. He played a role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic. In 60 BC, Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey formed an alliance that dominated Roman politics for several years. Their attempts to power as Populares were opposed by the Optimates within the Roman Senate. Caesars victories in the Gallic Wars, completed by 51 BC, extended Romes territory to the English Channel, Caesar became the first Roman general to cross both the Channel and the Rhine, when he built a bridge across the Rhine and crossed the Channel to invade Britain. These achievements granted him unmatched military power and threatened to eclipse the standing of Pompey, with the Gallic Wars concluded, the Senate ordered Caesar to step down from his military command and return to Rome. Caesar refused the order, and instead marked his defiance in 49 BC by crossing the Rubicon with the 13th Legion, leaving his province, Civil war resulted, and Caesars victory in the war put him in an unrivalled position of power and influence. After assuming control of government, Caesar began a programme of social and governmental reforms and he centralised the bureaucracy of the Republic and was eventually proclaimed dictator in perpetuity, giving him additional authority. But the underlying political conflicts had not been resolved, and on the Ides of March 44 BC, a new series of civil wars broke out, and the constitutional government of the Republic was never fully restored. Caesars adopted heir Octavian, later known as Augustus, rose to power after defeating his opponents in the civil war. Octavian set about solidifying his power, and the era of the Roman Empire began, much of Caesars life is known from his own accounts of his military campaigns, and from other contemporary sources, mainly the letters and speeches of Cicero and the historical writings of Sallust. The later biographies of Caesar by Suetonius and Plutarch are also major sources, Caesar is considered by many historians to be one of the greatest military commanders in history. Caesar was born into a family, the gens Julia. The cognomen Caesar originated, according to Pliny the Elder, with an ancestor who was born by Caesarean section. The Historia Augusta suggests three alternative explanations, that the first Caesar had a head of hair, that he had bright grey eyes. Caesar issued coins featuring images of elephants, suggesting that he favored this interpretation of his name, despite their ancient pedigree, the Julii Caesares were not especially politically influential, although they had enjoyed some revival of their political fortunes in the early 1st century BC. Caesars father, also called Gaius Julius Caesar, governed the province of Asia and his mother, Aurelia Cotta, came from an influential family. Little is recorded of Caesars childhood, in 85 BC, Caesars father died suddenly, so Caesar was the head of the family at 16
Julius Caesar
–
The
Tusculum portrait, perhaps the only surviving statue created during Caesar's lifetime.
Julius Caesar
–
Gaius Marius, Caesar's uncle
Julius Caesar
–
Dictator
Lucius Cornelius Sulla stripped Caesar of the priesthood.
Julius Caesar
–
The extent of the Roman Republic in 40 BC after Caesar's conquests.
16.
Roman Forum
–
The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, here statues and monuments commemorated the citys great men. The teeming heart of ancient Rome, it has called the most celebrated meeting place in the world. Many of the oldest and most important structures of the ancient city were located on or near the Forum, the Roman kingdoms earliest shrines and temples were located on the southeastern edge. Other archaic shrines to the northwest, such as the Umbilicus Urbis and this is where the Senate—as well as Republican government itself—began. The Senate House, government offices, tribunals, temples, memorials, over time the archaic Comitium was replaced by the larger adjacent Forum and the focus of judicial activity moved to the new Basilica Aemilia. Some 130 years later, Julius Caesar built the Basilica Julia, along with the new Curia Julia, eventually much economic and judicial business would transfer away from the Forum Romanum to the larger and more extravagant structures to the north. The reign of Constantine the Great saw the construction of the last major expansion of the Forum complex—the Basilica of Maxentius and this returned the political center to the Forum until the fall of the Western Roman Empire almost two centuries later. This is the case despite attempts, with success, to impose some order there, by Sulla, Julius Caesar, Augustus. By the Imperial period, the public buildings that crowded around the central square had reduced the open area to a rectangle of about 130 by 50 metres. Its long dimension was oriented northwest to southeast and extended from the foot of the Capitoline Hill to that of the Velian Hill, the Forums basilicas during the Imperial period—the Basilica Aemilia on the north and the Basilica Julia on the south—defined its long sides and its final form. The Forum proper included this square, the buildings facing it and, sometimes, originally, the site of the Forum had been a marshy lake where waters from the surrounding hills drained. This was drained by the Tarquins with the Cloaca Maxima, because of its location, sediments from both the flooding of the Tiber and the erosion of the surrounding hills have been raising the level of the Forum floor for centuries. Excavated sequences of remains of paving show that sediment eroded from the hills was already raising the level in early Republican times. As the ground around buildings rose, residents simply paved over the debris that was too much to remove and its final travertine paving, still visible, dates from the reign of Augustus. Excavations in the 19th century revealed one layer on top of another, the deepest level excavated was 3.60 metres above sea level. Archaeological finds show human activity at that level with the discovery of carbonised wood, an important function of the Forum, during both Republican and Imperial times, was to serve as the culminating venue for the celebratory military processions known as Triumphs. Victorious generals entered the city by the western Triumphal Gate and circumnavigated the Palatine Hill before proceeding from the Velian Hill down the Via Sacra, from here they would mount the Capitoline Rise up to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the summit of the Capitol
Roman Forum
–
Roman Forum (Forum Romanum)
Roman Forum
–
The Forum Romanum. View facing North East from above the
Portico Dii Consentes.
Roman Forum
–
Map of the Roman Forum. Structures of Republican Rome are shown in red, those of Imperial Rome in black. From Platner's Topography and Monuments of Ancient Rome, 1904. (Adjusted)
Roman Forum
–
A detailed archeological layout of the Forum. (From Platner, 1904.)
17.
Statue of Liberty
–
The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. The copper statue, a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the statue was dedicated on October 28,1886. The Statue of Liberty is a female figure representing Libertas. She holds a torch above her head, and in her left arm carries a tabula ansata inscribed July 4,1776, a broken chain lies at her feet. The statue became an icon of freedom and of the United States, due to the post-war instability in France, work on the statue did not commence until the early 1870s. In 1875, Laboulaye proposed that the French finance the statue, Bartholdi completed the head and the torch-bearing arm before the statue was fully designed, and these pieces were exhibited for publicity at international expositions. The torch-bearing arm was displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, fundraising proved difficult, especially for the Americans, and by 1885 work on the pedestal was threatened due to lack of funds. Publisher Joseph Pulitzer of the New York World started a drive for donations to complete the project attracted more than 120,000 contributors. The statue was constructed in France, shipped overseas in crates, the statues completion was marked by New Yorks first ticker-tape parade and a dedication ceremony presided over by President Grover Cleveland. The statue was administered by the United States Lighthouse Board until 1901 and then by the Department of War, public access to the balcony surrounding the torch has been barred for safety reasons since 1916. The project is traced to a conversation between Édouard René de Laboulaye, a staunch abolitionist and Frédéric Bartholdi, a sculptor. The National Park Service, in a 2000 report, however, deemed this a legend traced to an 1885 fundraising pamphlet, in order to honor these achievements, Laboulaye proposed that a gift be built for the United States on behalf of France. Laboulaye hoped that by calling attention to the recent achievements of the United States, according to sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, who later recounted the story, Laboulayes comment was not intended as a proposal, but it inspired Bartholdi. Given the repressive nature of the regime of Napoleon III, Bartholdi took no action on the idea except to discuss it with Laboulaye. Sketches and models were made of the work, though it was never erected. There was a precedent for the Suez proposal, the Colossus of Rhodes. This statue is believed to have been over 100 feet high, any large project was further delayed by the Franco-Prussian War, in which Bartholdi served as a major of militia. In the war, Napoleon III was captured and deposed, Bartholdis home province of Alsace was lost to the Prussians, and a more liberal republic was installed in France
Statue of Liberty
–
Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty
–
Bartholdi's design patent
Statue of Liberty
–
Bartholdi's
Lion of Belfort
Statue of Liberty
–
Detail from a fresco by
Constantino Brumidi in the
U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., showing two early symbols of America:
Columbia (left) and the Indian princess
18.
Liberty Island
–
Liberty Island is a federally owned island in Upper New York Bay in the United States, best known as the location of the Statue of Liberty. The island is an exclave of the New York City borough of Manhattan, surrounded by the waters of Jersey City, long known as Bedloes Island, it was renamed by an act of the United States Congress in 1956. In 1937, by Presidential Proclamation 2250 by President Franklin D, according to the United States Census Bureau, the island has a land area of 59,558 square meters, or 14.717 acres, which is the property of New Jersey. A pact between New York and New Jersey states that New York has control of the Island, but taxes go to New Jersey, the Liberty Island is located in the Upper New York Bay surrounded by the waters of Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey. Liberty Island is one of the islands that are part of the borough of Manhattan in New York, the historical developments which led to this construction created the rare situation of an exclave of one state, New York, being situated in another, New Jersey. The island is operated by the National Park Service, and since September 11,2001, Liberty Island is 2,000 feet east of Liberty State Park in Jersey City and is 1.58 statute miles southwest of Battery Park in Lower Manhattan. Public access is permitted only by ferries from either of the two parks, which serve the monument, also stopping at Ellis Island. Hornblower Cruises and Events, operating under the name Statue Cruises, holds the concession for ferry service to. Several islands were not completely submerged at high tide, three of them were given the name Oyster Islands by the settlers of New Netherland, the first European colony in the Mid-Atlantic states. The oyster beds would remain a source of food for nearly three centuries. After the surrender of Fort Amsterdam by the Dutch to the British in 1664 and it was sold to Isaac Bedloe on December 23,1667. The island was retained by his estate until 1732 when it was sold for five shillings to New York merchants Adolphe Philipse, during their ownership, the island was temporarily commandeered by the city of New York to establish a smallpox quarantine station. In 1746, Archibald Kennedy purchased the island and a residence was established. In 1753, the island is described in an advertisement as being available for rental, on February 15,1800, the New York State Legislature ceded the island to the federal government, for the construction of a defensive fort to be built there. Construction of a fort on the island in the shape of an 11-point star began in 1806 and was completed in 1811. Following the War of 1812, the fortification was named Fort Wood after Lt. Col Eleazer Derby Wood who was killed in the Siege of Fort Erie in 1813. The granite fortification followed an 11-pointed star fort layout with mounting 24 guns, a larger fort mounting 77 guns was proposed under the third system of US fortifications but was not built. It had become a part of the base for the Statue of Liberty after the island was first seen by the statues sculptor, the National Park Service took over operations of the island in two stages,2 acres in 1933, and the remainder in 1937
Liberty Island
–
View of the island, with the
Statue of Liberty in the center
Liberty Island
–
Coin-operated binoculars on Liberty Island. The island offers panoramic views of New York Harbor.
Liberty Island
–
Liberty Island was once surrounded by vast shellfish beds like this oyster bed on
Cockspur Island,
Georgia
Liberty Island
–
Fort Wood's star-shaped walls became the base of the Statue of Liberty.
19.
Galba
–
/ˈsɜːrviəs sʌlˈpɪʃəs ˈɡælbə/, was Roman Emperor for seven months from 68 to 69. Galba was the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, and made a bid for the throne during the rebellion of Julius Vindex and he was the first emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors and the last emperor born in the First Century BC. He was born as Servius Sulpicius Galba near Terracina, on the left as you go towards Fundi in the words of Suetonius, through his paternal grandfather, he was descended from Servius Sulpicius Galba. Galbas father attained the consulship, and although he was short, hunchbacked and his mother was Mummia Achaica, the granddaughter of Lutatius Catulus and great-granddaughter of Lucius Mummius Achaicus. His father married a wife, Livia Ocellina, a distant kinswoman of the empress Livia. She later adopted Galba, so he took her names, remaining Lucius Livius Ocella Sulpicius Galba until becoming emperor. His was a family, and he was a man of great wealth. In his early years he was regarded as a youth of remarkable abilities and his wife, Aemilia Lepida, however, was connected by the marriages of some of her relatives to some of the Julii-Claudii. They had two sons, probably Gaius and Servius, who died during their fathers life, the elder son was born circa 25 AD. Hardly anything is known about his life as he died young and he was engaged to his step-sister Antonia Postuma, but they never wed, which leads modern historians to believe that he died during this time. Their engagement is dated to 48, and that is believed to be his time of death. The date of birth of the younger son occurred later than 25 and this Galba outlived his older brother. He was a quaestor in 58, but he was never seen in politics after that and his time of death is generally believed to be around 60 AD. Galba Minor was never married and had no children, additionally, Suetoniuss description of Galba was that In sexual matters he was more inclined to males, and then none but the hard bodied and those past their prime. This seems to be the case in Roman history where a named individual male is stated to prefer adult males. He became Praetor in 20, and consul in 33, he earned a reputation in the provinces of Gaul, Germania, Africa and Hispania for his capability, strictness. On the death of Caligula, he refused the invitation of his friends to make a bid for the empire, for the first half of Neros reign he lived in retirement, until 61, when the emperor bestowed on him the province of Hispania Tarraconensis. In the spring of 68, Galba was informed of Neros intention to put him to death and he was at first inclined to follow the example of Vindex, but the defeat at Vesontio and suicide of the latter renewed Galbas hesitation
Galba
–
Bust of Galba
Galba
–
Galba -
Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon
20.
Nero
–
Nero was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, during his reign, the redoubtable general Corbulo conducted a successful war and negotiated peace with the Parthian Empire. His general Suetonius Paulinus crushed a revolt in Britain, Nero annexed the Bosporan Kingdom to the empire and may have begun the First Jewish–Roman War. In 64 AD, most of Rome was destroyed in the Great Fire of Rome, Suetonius, writing a generation later, claims that many Romans believed Nero himself had started the fire, in order to clear land for his planned palatial complex, the Domus Aurea. In 68, the rebellion of Vindex in Gaul and later the acclamation of Galba in Hispania drove Nero from the throne, facing a false report of being denounced as a public enemy who was to be executed, he committed suicide on 9 June 68. His death ended the Julio-Claudian dynasty, sparking a period of civil wars known as the Year of the Four Emperors. Neros rule is often associated with tyranny and extravagance and he is known for many executions, including that of his mother, and the probable murder by poison of his stepbrother Britannicus. Nero was rumored to have had captured Christians dipped in oil and this view is based on the writings of Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio, the main surviving sources for Neros reign, but a few sources paint Nero in a more favourable light. Some sources, including some mentioned above, portray him as an emperor who was popular with the common Roman people, some modern historians question the reliability of ancient sources when reporting on Neros tyrannical acts. Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, Nero, was born on 15 December 37 in Antium and he was the only son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger, sister of Emperor Caligula. Neros father, Gnaeus, was the son of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, Gnaeus was thus the grandson of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and probably Aemilia Lepida on his fathers side, and the grandson of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor on his mothers side. Thus, Nero had as his paternal grandmother Antonia Major, through Octavia, Nero was the great-nephew of Caesar Augustus. Neros father had employed as a praetor and was a member of Caligulas staff when the latter travelled to the East. Neros father was described by Suetonius as a murderer and a cheat who was charged by Emperor Tiberius with treason, adultery, Tiberius died, allowing him to escape these charges. Neros father died of edema in 39 when Nero was two, Neros mother was Agrippina the Younger, a great-granddaughter of Caesar Augustus and his wife Scribonia through their daughter Julia the Elder and her husband Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. Agrippinas father, Germanicus, was a grandson of Augustuss wife, Livia, on one side and Mark Antony, Germanicus mother Antonia Minor was a daughter of Octavia Minor and Mark Antony. Germanicus was also the son of Tiberius. Agrippina poisoned her second husband Passienus Crispus, so many ancient historians also accuse her of murdering her third husband, the emperor Claudius
Nero
–
Bust of Nero at the
Musei Capitolini,
Rome
Nero
–
Coin issued under
Claudius celebrating young Nero as the future emperor, c. 50.
Nero
–
Nero and
Agrippina. Agrippina crowns her young son Nero with a laurel wreath. She carries a
cornucopia, symbol of fortune and plenty, and he wears the armour and cloak of a Roman commander, with a helmet on the ground at his feet. The scene refers to Nero's accession as emperor in 54 AD and is dated before 59 AD when Nero had Agrippina murdered.
Nero
–
Coin of Nero and
Poppaea Sabina
21.
Rappen
–
A Rappen originally was a variant of the medieval Pfennig common to the Alemannic German regions Alsace, Sundgau and Northern Switzerland. As with other German pennies, its half-piece was a Haller, today, one-hundredth of a Swiss franc is still officially called a Rappen in German and Swiss German. In French speaking Switzerland, the modern Swiss coins are called centime, in Italian speaking Switzerland, centesimo respectively. After the dissolution of the Rappenbund in 1584, a number of Swiss states continued to mint rappen within their territories, a new Swiss Franc based on the Berne thaler was introduced, in which 10 rappen made 1 batzen, ten of which in turn formed one franc. This unified coinage was struck for five years only, until the end of the Helvetic Republic in 1803, the 5,10 and 20 rappen coins are currently in circulation, while the füfzgi is officially not a 50 rappen coin but a ½ franc coin. Julius Cahn, Der Rappenmünzbund, eine Studie zur Münz- und Geldgeschichte des oberen Rheintales, Band 1, Mittelalterliche Münzprägung in Bergbauregionen. Zeitschrift für Archäologie des Mittelalters, Beiheft 17, ISBN 3-7749-3086-4 Band 2, Mittelalterliche Münzprägung in Südwestdeutschland. Zeitschrift für Archäologie des Mittelalters, Beiheft 19, ISBN 3-7749-3299-9 Swiss franc Vreneli Coins of the Swiss franc Withdrawal of low-denomination coins Rappen in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
Rappen
–
The
Swiss 5-rappen coin.
Rappen
–
The
Swiss 1-rappen coin has not been valid since 2007.
Rappen
–
Rappenpfennig from
Freiburg im Breisgau, ca. 1290
22.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
Switzerland
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Founded in 44 BC by
Lucius Munatius Plancus,
Augusta Raurica was the first Roman settlement on the Rhine and is now among the most important archaeological sites in Switzerland.
Switzerland
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Flag
Switzerland
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The 1291 Bundesbrief (Federal charter)
Switzerland
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The Old Swiss Confederacy from 1291 (dark green) to the sixteenth century (light green) and its associates (blue). In the other colors are shown the subject territories.
23.
Coins of the Swiss franc
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The coins of the Swiss franc are the official coins used in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The name of the subunit is Centime in French, Rappen in German, Centisimo in Italian, there are coins in denominations of 5 centimes,10 centimes,20 centimes, ½ franc,1 franc,2 francs and 5 francs. In the past, there were also coins of 1 and 2 centimes, the countrys name is on all the coins as Confoederatio Helvetica, the Latin name of the Swiss Confederation, or Helvetia specified. The oldest Swiss coins valid today are the 10 centime coins dating back to 1879 and they are therefore among the world’s oldest coins still valid today. To date, they have the design and the same alloy. Until 1967, the coins with face values of ½ franc to 5 francs were of silver alloy. These were withdrawn because the price of silver alloy exceeded the face value, the 2-centime coins were made invalid in 1978, and 1-centime coins were made invalid in 2007, long after they had fallen out of daily use. Since 2004, moreover, the existing pure nickel 20 centime coins of the years 1881–1938 have been withdrawn from circulation because machines cannot detect them, today, all the coins except the 5 centime coin are in a copper nickel alloy. Seven coins are currently in circulation, Swiss franc Rappen Vreneli Banknotes of the Swiss franc Swissmint Banknotes and coins Swiss coins
Coins of the Swiss franc
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The current series.
Coins of the Swiss franc
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A ten-cent coin from 1879.
Coins of the Swiss franc
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5 Rappen
Coins of the Swiss franc
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10 Rappen
24.
Great Seal of France
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The Great Seal of France is the official seal of the French Republic. The Great Seal features Liberty personified as a seated Goddess of Liberty wearing a crown with seven arches and she holds a fasces and is supported by a ships tiller with a cock carved or printed on it. At her feet is a vase with the letters SU, at her right, in the background, are symbols of the arts, architecture, education, agriculture and industry. The scene is surrounded by the legend RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE, DÉMOCRATIQUE, the first seals were created by the Merovingian kings to authenticate their orders. Merely rings originally, later worn on a necklace, the royal seals grew bigger and bigger under the House of Capet to reach around 12 centimetres and these are the modern dimensions of the seal. All the seals under the Ancien Régime featured the king sitting on throne and giving justice, yet every king had his own personal seal. All edicts, orders, decrees and declarations were then sealed, on August 13,1792, representatives of the National Convention arrested King Louis XVI. He was imprisoned, and later executed on January 21,1793 and this act of regicide demonstrated that “the Convention had irreversibly ruled out any compromise with the Revolution’s opponents. ”With the absence of the king, the French Republic sought a new national symbol. It was from these times that the French symbol of Marianne emerged. The French Revolution not only challenged the authority of the Old Regime led by the monarchy. Anthropologists have argued that society needs a “center” which includes social and political mapping that gives the people a sense of their place. In the traditional model of authority, “the king was the sacred center, revolutionaries began iconoclastically destroying tangible reminders of the Old Regime, such as breaking the seals of royalty, the scepter and the crown and melting them into republican coins. The abolition of royalty, however, led to questions about the importance of having a unified symbol, in the beginning, seals were only used to compensate for the imperfection of writing. Yet as Henri Grégoire argued, civilized people found that “a sign, the nation would only be recognizable by its public symbolic representation, and hence it was agreed that a new seal of state would be created to give the new republic a sense of permanence. The seal was not only a representation of authority. As Lynn Hunt puts it, “new symbols could make new men. ”The French Revolution stood for the notion that members of a society could invent culture and politics for themselves. As the National Convention worked to unify the Republic after the fall of the monarchy, in the end, “the choice of a new insignia seemed almost automatic. ”Liberty was officially represented by the female figure of Marianne, which adheres to traditional iconographic expectations. The Phrygian cap worn by this figure of liberty was representative of the inherent freedom of the French people and provided a sharp contrast to the crown of the monarchy. ”She was depicted as “a woman holding a stave surmounted by a cap and trampling a yoke underfoot, this is the emblem that the ancients gave to Liberty won through valor
Great Seal of France
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Great Seal of the French Republic
25.
Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi
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Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi was a French sculptor who is best known for designing Liberty Enlightening the World, commonly known as the Statue of Liberty. Bartholdi was born in Colmar, France on August 2,1834 and he was born to a family of German Protestant heritage, with his family name Latinized from Barthold. Bartholdis father, a property owner and counselor to the prefecture, afterwards, Bartholdi moved with his mother and his older brother Jean-Charles to Paris, where another branch of their family resided. With the family returning to spend long periods of time in Colmar, the family maintained ownership and visited their house in Alsace. While in Colmar, Bartholdi took drawing lessons from Martin Rossbach, in Paris, he studied sculpture with Antoine Etex. He also studied architecture under Henri Labrouste and Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, Bartholdi attended the Lycee Louis-le-Grand in Paris, and received a BA in 1852. He then went on to study architecture at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts as well as painting under Ary Scheffer in his studio in the Rue Chaptal, later, Bartholdi turned his attention to sculpture, which afterward exclusively occupied him. In 1853, Bartholdi submitted a Good Samaritan-themed sculptural group to the Paris Salon of 1853, the statue was later recreated in bronze. Within two years of his Salon debut, Bartholdi was commissioned by his hometown of Colmar to sculpt a memorial of Jean Rapp. In 1855 and 1856 Bartholdi traveled in Yemen and Egypt with travel companions such as Jean-Léon Gérôme, the trip sparked Bartholdis interest in colossal sculpture. In 1869, Bartholdi returned to Egypt to propose a new lighthouse to be built at the entrance of the Suez Canal, the lighthouse, which was to be shaped as a massive draped figured holding a torch, was not commissioned. As an officer, he took part in the defense of Colmar from Germany, distraught over his regions defeat, over the following years he constructed a number of monuments celebrating French heroism in the defense against Germany. Among these project was the Lion of Belfort, which he started working on in 1871, only finishing the massive sandstone statue in 1880. In 1871, he made his first trip to the United States, the idea, which had first been broached to him in 1865 by his friend Édouard René de Laboulaye, resulted in the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor. After years of work and fundraising, the statue was inaugurated in 1876, during this period, Bartholdi also sculpted a number of monuments for American cities, such as a cast-iron fountain in Washington, DC completed in 1878. In 1875, he joined the Freemasons Lodge Alsace-Lorraine in Paris, in 1876, Bartholdi was one of the French commissioners in 1876 to the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. There he exhibited statues of The Young Vine-Grower, Génie Funèbre, Peace and Genius in the Grasp of Misery. His 1878 statue Gribeauval became the property of the French nation, a prolific creator of statues, monuments, and portraits, Bartholdi exhibited at the Paris Salons until the year of his death in 1904
Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi
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Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi in 1880
Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi
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The
Statue of Liberty
Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi
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Bartholdi's
Lion of Belfort
Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi
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Replica of Statue of Liberty in Paris
26.
Liberty Enlightening the World
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The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. The copper statue, a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the statue was dedicated on October 28,1886. The Statue of Liberty is a female figure representing Libertas. She holds a torch above her head, and in her left arm carries a tabula ansata inscribed July 4,1776, a broken chain lies at her feet. The statue became an icon of freedom and of the United States, due to the post-war instability in France, work on the statue did not commence until the early 1870s. In 1875, Laboulaye proposed that the French finance the statue, Bartholdi completed the head and the torch-bearing arm before the statue was fully designed, and these pieces were exhibited for publicity at international expositions. The torch-bearing arm was displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, fundraising proved difficult, especially for the Americans, and by 1885 work on the pedestal was threatened due to lack of funds. Publisher Joseph Pulitzer of the New York World started a drive for donations to complete the project attracted more than 120,000 contributors. The statue was constructed in France, shipped overseas in crates, the statues completion was marked by New Yorks first ticker-tape parade and a dedication ceremony presided over by President Grover Cleveland. The statue was administered by the United States Lighthouse Board until 1901 and then by the Department of War, public access to the balcony surrounding the torch has been barred for safety reasons since 1916. The project is traced to a conversation between Édouard René de Laboulaye, a staunch abolitionist and Frédéric Bartholdi, a sculptor. The National Park Service, in a 2000 report, however, deemed this a legend traced to an 1885 fundraising pamphlet, in order to honor these achievements, Laboulaye proposed that a gift be built for the United States on behalf of France. Laboulaye hoped that by calling attention to the recent achievements of the United States, according to sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, who later recounted the story, Laboulayes comment was not intended as a proposal, but it inspired Bartholdi. Given the repressive nature of the regime of Napoleon III, Bartholdi took no action on the idea except to discuss it with Laboulaye. Sketches and models were made of the work, though it was never erected. There was a precedent for the Suez proposal, the Colossus of Rhodes. This statue is believed to have been over 100 feet high, any large project was further delayed by the Franco-Prussian War, in which Bartholdi served as a major of militia. In the war, Napoleon III was captured and deposed, Bartholdis home province of Alsace was lost to the Prussians, and a more liberal republic was installed in France
Liberty Enlightening the World
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Statue of Liberty
Liberty Enlightening the World
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Bartholdi's design patent
Liberty Enlightening the World
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Bartholdi's
Lion of Belfort
Liberty Enlightening the World
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Detail from a fresco by
Constantino Brumidi in the
U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., showing two early symbols of America:
Columbia (left) and the Indian princess
27.
Pileus (hat)
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The pileus was a brimless, felt cap worn in Ancient Greece and surrounding regions, later also introduced in Ancient Rome. The Greek πιλίδιον and Latin pilleolus were smaller versions, similar to a skullcap, the pileus was especially associated with the manumission of slaves, who wore it upon their liberation. It became emblematic of liberty and freedom from bondage, the pileus, is very common in Albania and Kosovo even today. The pilos was a common conical travelling hat in Illyria and Ancient Greece, the pilos is the brimless version of the petasos. It could be made of felt or leather, pilos caps often identify the mythical twins, or Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, as represented in sculptures, bas-reliefs and on ancient ceramics. Their caps were supposedly the remnants of the egg from which they hatched, the pilos appears on votive figurines of boys at the sanctuary of the Cabeiri at Thebes, the Cabeirion. In warfare, the pilos helmet was often worn by the peltast light infantry, in conjunction with the exomis. The pilos helmet was made of bronze in the shape as the pilos which was presumably sometimes worn under the helmet for comfort. The first widespread adoption of the pilos helmet occurred in Sparta towards the end of the 5th century BC, in Ancient Rome, a slave was freed in a ceremony in which a praetor touched the slave with a rod called a vindicta and pronounced him to be free. The slaves head was shaved and a pileus was placed upon it, both the vindicta and the cap were considered symbols of Libertas, the goddess representing liberty. This was a form of extra-legal manumission considered less legally sound than manumission in a court of law, one 19th century dictionary of classical antiquity states that, Among the Romans the cap of felt was the emblem of liberty. When a slave obtained his freedom he had his head shaved, hence the phrase servos ad pileum vocare is a summons to liberty, by which slaves were frequently called upon to take up arms with a promise of liberty. The figure of Liberty on some of the coins of Antoninus Pius, struck A. D.145, holds this cap in the right hand. ISBN 1-85532-867-4 Institute of France – Greek Costume Antiquitas – Casque corinthien et pilos A Brief History of Greek Helmets by Jesse Obert – AncientPlanet Online Journal Vol.2,48 –59
Pileus (hat)
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Ancient Greek red-figure plate from
Apulia, third quarter of the 4th century BC,
Louvre.
Pileus (hat)
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Odysseus wearing pileus depicted in a 3rd-century BC coin from
Ithaca
Pileus (hat)
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Ancient Greek terracotta statuette of a peasant wearing a pilos, 1st century BC.
Pileus (hat)
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Pileus between two daggers, on the
reverse of a
denarius issued by
Brutus to commemorate the
assassination of Julius Caesar on the
Ides of March
28.
Diodorus Siculus
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Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily was a Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history Bibliotheca historica, much of which survives and it is arranged in three parts. The first covers mythic history up to the destruction of Troy, arranged geographically, describing regions around the world from Egypt, India and Arabia to Greece, the second covers the Trojan War to the death of Alexander the Great. The third covers the period to about 60 BC, Bibliotheca, meaning library, acknowledges that he was drawing on the work of many other authors. According to his own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily, with one exception, antiquity affords no further information about his life and doings beyond in his work. Only Jerome, in his Chronicon under the year of Abraham 1968, writes, Diodorus of Sicily and it was divided into three sections. In the next section, he recounts the history of the world from the Trojan War down to the death of Alexander the Great, the last section concerns the historical events from the successors of Alexander down to either 60 BC or the beginning of Julius Caesars Gallic Wars. He selected the name Bibliotheca in acknowledgment that he was assembling a composite work from many sources. His account of gold mining in Nubia in eastern Egypt is one of the earliest extant texts on the topic, pappus of Alexandria wrote a Commentary on Diodoruss Analemma. The now lost Analemma applied geometrical constructions in a plane to solve some astronomy related problems of spherical geometry and it contained, for example, a discussion of sundial theory. They are also boasters and threateners and are fond of pompous language, pliny the Elder Strabo Acadine Ambaglio, Dino, Franca Landucci Gattinoni and Luigi Bravi. Diodoro Siculo, Biblioteca storica, commento storico, introduzione generale, aspects of Greek History 750-323 BC, A Source-based Approach. Library of History, Loeb Classical Library, Siculus, Diodorus, G. Booth, H. Valesius, I. The Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian in Fifteen Books to which are added the Fragments of Diodorus, siculi, Diodori, Peter Wesseling, L. Rhodoman, G. Heyn, N. Eyring. Bibliothecae Historicae Libri Qui Supersunt, Nova Editio, Diodorus Siculus, the manuscripts of the Bibliotheca Historica
Diodorus Siculus
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Diodoro siculo
29.
Plautus
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Titus Maccius Plautus, commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety and he wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus. The word Plautine /ˈplɔːtaɪn/ refers to both Plautuss own works and works similar to or influenced by his, not much is known about Titus Maccius Plautus early life. It is believed that he was born in Sarsina, a town in Emilia Romagna in northern Italy. According to Morris Marples, Plautus worked as a stage-carpenter or scene-shifter in his early years and it is from this work, perhaps, that his love of the theater originated. His acting talent was discovered, and he adopted the names Maccius and Plautus. Tradition holds that he made enough money to go into the nautical business and he is then said to have worked as a manual laborer and to have studied Greek drama—particularly the New Comedy of Menander—in his leisure. His studies allowed him to produce his plays, which were released between c.205 and 184 BC, Plautus attained such a popularity that his name alone became a hallmark of theatrical success. Plautuss comedies are mostly adapted from Greek models for a Roman audience and he reworked the Greek texts to give them a flavour that would appeal to the local Roman audiences. They are the earliest surviving works in Latin literature. Plautuss epitaph read, postquam est mortem aptus Plautus, Comoedia luget, scaena est deserta, since Plautus is dead, Comedy mourns, Deserted is the stage, then Laughter, Jest and Wit, And Melodys countless numbers all together wept. Plautus wrote around 130 plays, of which 20 have survived intact, only short fragments, mostly quotations by later writers of antiquity, survive from 31 other plays. Despite this, the tradition of Plautus is poorer than that of any other ancient dramatist. The chief manuscript of Plautus is a palimpsest, in which Plautus plays had been scrubbed out to make way for Augustines Commentary on the Psalms, the monk who performed this was more successful in some places than others. Only the titles and various fragments of plays have survived. The historical context within which Plautus wrote can be seen, to some extent, in his comments on contemporary events, Plautus was a popular comedic playwright while Roman theatre was still in its infancy and still largely undeveloped. At the same time, the Roman Republic was expanding in power, Plautus was sometimes accused of teaching the public indifference and mockery of the gods. Any character in his plays could be compared to a god, whether to honour a character or to mock him, these references were demeaning to the gods
Plautus
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Bust of Plautus
.jpg)
