1.
Roman Empire
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Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesars adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. Octavians power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power, the imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The first two centuries of the empires existence were a period of unprecedented political stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana, following Octavians victory, the size of the empire was dramatically increased. After the assassination of Caligula in 41, the senate briefly considered restoring the republic, under Claudius, the empire invaded Britannia, its first major expansion since Augustus. Vespasian emerged triumphant in 69, establishing the Flavian dynasty, before being succeeded by his son Titus and his short reign was followed by the long reign of his brother Domitian, who was eventually assassinated. The senate then appointed the first of the Five Good Emperors, the empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan, the second in this line. A period of increasing trouble and decline began with the reign of Commodus, Commodus assassination in 192 triggered the Year of the Five Emperors, of which Septimius Severus emerged victorious. The assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 led to the Crisis of the Third Century in which 26 men were declared emperor by the Roman Senate over a time span. It was not until the reign of Diocletian that the empire was fully stabilized with the introduction of the Tetrarchy, which saw four emperors rule the empire at once. This arrangement was unsuccessful, leading to a civil war that was finally ended by Constantine I. Constantine subsequently shifted the capital to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople in his honour and it remained the capital of the east until its demise. Constantine also adopted Christianity which later became the state religion of the empire. However, Augustulus was never recognized by his Eastern colleague, and separate rule in the Western part of the empire ceased to exist upon the death of Julius Nepos. The Eastern Roman Empire endured for another millennium, eventually falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history, at its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the entire population. Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state. Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the republic in the 6th century BC, then, it was an empire long before it had an emperor
2.
Rome
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Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
3.
Mausoleum of Augustus
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The Mausoleum of Augustus is a large tomb built by the Roman Emperor Augustus in 28 BC on the Campus Martius in Rome, Italy. The mausoleum is located on the Piazza Augusto Imperatore, near the corner with Via di Ripetta as it runs along the Tiber. The grounds cover an equivalent to a few city blocks. The interior of the mausoleum is not open to tourists, the mausoleum was one of the first projects initiated by Augustus in the City of Rome following his victory at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. The mausoleum was circular in plan, consisting of concentric rings of earth and brick, planted with cypresses on top of the building and capped by a conical roof. Vaults held up the roof and opened up the spaces below. Twin pink granite obelisks flanked the entryway, these have been removed, one now stands at the Piazza dellEsquilino. The completed mausoleum measured 90 m in diameter by 42 m in height, a corridor ran from the entryway into the heart of the mausoleum, where there was a chamber with three niches to hold the golden urns enshrining the ashes of the Imperial Family. LacusCurtius claims however that The story of its plundering by Alaric in 410 has no historical foundation, in the Middle Ages the tumulus was fortified as a castle— as was the mausoleum of Hadrian, which was turned into the Castel SantAngelo— and occupied by the Colonna family. After the disastrous defeat of the Commune of Rome at the hands of the Count of Tusculum in 1167, the Colonna were disgraced and banished, and their fortification in the Campo was dismantled. It was not until the 1930s that the site was opened as an archaeological landmark along with the newly moved and reconstructed Ara Pacis nearby. Mussolini viewed himself especially connected to the achievements of Augustus, seeing himself as a reborn Augustus ready to usher in a new age of Italian dominance, res Gestae Divi Augusti Catacombs of Rome Dal Maso, Leonardo B. Lanciani, Rodolfo, Pagan and Christian Rome,1892, J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd, London,1951. Mausoleum Augusti at LacusCurtius Images of the Mausoleum of Augustus
4.
Tiberius Claudius Nero (praetor 42 BC)
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Tiberius Claudius Nero, often known as Tiberius Nero and Nero was a politician who lived in the last century of the Roman Republic. He was the father of the second Roman emperor Tiberius, who became the stepson of the emperor Augustus and was adopted by Augustus as his heir. Nero was a member of the republican Claudian family of Rome and he was a descendant of the first named Tiberius Claudius Nero, a consul and great-grandson of Appius Claudius Caecus. Nero was the son of Drusus and his mother was a descendant of the Claudian family and his father Drusus served under Pompey in 67 BC, battling the pirate menace. Drusus was famous for recommending that the members of the Second Catilinarian Conspiracy be confined, Nero had a sister called Claudia, who married the prefect Quintus Volusius. Nero had served as a quaestor to Julius Caesar in 48 BC, having achieved victory over the Egyptian navy, he was rewarded with a priesthood. Julius Caesar had sent Nero to create Roman colonies in Gaul, despite his service with Julius Caesar, Nero was an Optimate at heart. After the murder of Julius Caesar in 44 BC, when it seemed that the assassins were triumphant, however, due to his previous alliance with the Roman dictator, Nero was allowed to be elected praetor in 42 BC. Around this time Nero married his relative Livia Drusilla, whose father Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus was from the same gens and his son of the same name was born November 16,42 BC, at Fondi Italy. Shortly afterwards, the Second Triumvirate began to break down, causing a dangerous situation in Rome as the triumvirs went to battle each other. Nero was forced to choose sides and in his distrust of Octavian, in 41 BC, he fled Rome with Livia and Tiberius in tow, joining Antonys brother Lucius in Perusia. Perusia was besieged by Octavians men by the time Nero arrived, and when the fell in 40 BC, he was forced to flee first to Praeneste. In 40 BC, Octavian and Mark Antony finally reconciled, in Naples, Nero tried in vain to raise a slave battalion against Octavian and then took refuge with Sextus Pompey, who was then acting as a pirate leader in Sicily. Nero with his family joined Mark Antony soon after in Achaea, after three years of fleeing from Octavian, Nero returned to Rome with Livia and the younger Tiberius, aged 3. Octavian immediately after catching sight of Livia, fell in love with her, Octavian was married to Scribonia, with whom he had a daughter called Julia, now known as Julia the Elder. Around this time Livia was also pregnant and despite this, Nero was persuaded or forced by Octavian to divorce Livia, Nero and Livia’s second son was born in early 38 BC and he was named Decimus Claudius Drusus, which was later changed to Nero Claudius Drusus. Octavian and Livia married on January 17, waiving the traditional waiting period, Nero was present at their wedding, giving Livia away just as a father would. As agreed, Nero took his sons to his home, where they were raised and educated, after his death, his sons went to live with their mother and stepfather
5.
Augustus
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Augustus was the founder of the Roman Principate and considered the first Roman emperor, controlling the Roman Empire from 27 BC until his death in AD14. He was born Gaius Octavius into an old and wealthy equestrian branch of the plebeian gens Octavia and his maternal great-uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, and Octavius was named in Caesars will as his adopted son and heir, then known as Octavianus. He, Mark Antony, and Marcus Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate to defeat the assassins of Caesar, following their victory at the Battle of Philippi, the Triumvirate divided the Roman Republic among themselves and ruled as military dictators. The Triumvate was eventually torn apart by the ambitions of its members. Lepidus was driven into exile and stripped of his position, in reality, however, he retained his autocratic power over the Republic as a military dictator. By law, Augustus held a collection of powers granted to him for life by the Senate, including supreme military command, and it took several years for Augustus to develop the framework within which a formally republican state could be led under his sole rule. He rejected monarchical titles, and instead called himself Princeps Civitatis, the resulting constitutional framework became known as the Principate, the first phase of the Roman Empire. The reign of Augustus initiated an era of peace known as the Pax Romana. Augustus dramatically enlarged the Empire, annexing Egypt, Dalmatia, Pannonia, Noricum, and Raetia, expanding possessions in Africa, expanding into Germania, beyond the frontiers, he secured the Empire with a buffer region of client states and made peace with the Parthian Empire through diplomacy. Augustus died in AD14 at the age of 75 and he probably died from natural causes, although there were unconfirmed rumors that his wife Livia poisoned him. He was succeeded as Emperor by his adopted son Tiberius, Augustus was known by many names throughout his life, At birth, he was named Gaius Octavius after his biological father. Historians typically refer to him simply as Octavius between his birth in 63 until his adoption by Julius Caesar in 44 BC, upon his adoption, he took Caesars name and became Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus in accordance with Roman adoption naming standards. He quickly dropped Octavianus from his name, and his contemporaries referred to him as Caesar during this period, historians. In 27 BC, following his defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra and it is the events of 27 BC from which he obtained his traditional name of Augustus, which historians use in reference to him from 27 BC until his death in AD14. While his paternal family was from the town of Velletri, approximately 40 kilometres from Rome and he was born at Ox Head, a small property on the Palatine Hill, very close to the Roman Forum. He was given the name Gaius Octavius Thurinus, his cognomen possibly commemorating his fathers victory at Thurii over a band of slaves. Due to the nature of Rome at the time, Octavius was taken to his fathers home village at Velletri to be raised. Octavius only mentions his fathers equestrian family briefly in his memoirs and his paternal great-grandfather Gaius Octavius was a military tribune in Sicily during the Second Punic War
6.
Tiberius
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Tiberius was a Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Born Tiberius Claudius Nero, a Claudian, Tiberius was the son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and his mother divorced Nero and married Octavian, later known as Augustus, in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian. Tiberius would later marry Augustus daughter, Julia the Elder, and even later be adopted by Augustus, by which act he officially became a Julian, bearing the name Tiberius Julius Caesar. The subsequent emperors after Tiberius would continue this blended dynasty of both families for the thirty years, historians have named it the Julio-Claudian dynasty. In relations to the emperors of this dynasty, Tiberius was the stepson of Augustus, grand-uncle of Caligula, paternal uncle of Claudius. Tiberius was one of Romes greatest generals, his conquest of Pannonia, Dalmatia, Raetia, and temporarily, parts of Germania, laid the foundations for the northern frontier. But he came to be remembered as a dark, reclusive, and sombre ruler who never really desired to be emperor, Pliny the Elder called him tristissimus hominum, after the death of Tiberius’ son Drusus Julius Caesar in 23 AD, he became more reclusive and aloof. In 26 AD Tiberius removed himself from Rome and left largely in the hands of his unscrupulous Praetorian Prefects Lucius Aelius Sejanus and Quintus Naevius Sutorius Macro. Caligula, Tiberius grand-nephew and adopted grandson, succeeded Tiberius upon his death, Tiberius was born in Rome on 16 November 42 BC to Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. In 39 BC his mother divorced his father and remarried Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus shortly thereafter. In 38 BC his brother, Nero Claudius Drusus, was born, little is recorded of Tiberiuss early life. In 32 BC Tiberius at the age of nine, delivered the eulogy for his father at the rostra. In 29 BC, both he rode in the chariot along with their adoptive father Octavian in celebration of the defeat of Antony. In 23 BC Emperor Augustus became gravely ill and his possible death threatened to plunge the Roman world into chaos again, in response, a series of potential heirs seem to have been selected, among them Tiberius and his brother Drusus. Similar provisions were made for Drusus, shortly thereafter Tiberius began appearing in court as an advocate, and it is presumably here that his interest in Greek rhetoric began. In 20 BC, Tiberius was sent East under Marcus Agrippa, the Parthians had captured the standards of the legions under the command of Marcus Licinius Crassus, Decidius Saxa, and Marc Antony. Augustus was able to reach a compromise whereby the standards were returned, Tiberius married Vipsania Agrippina, the daughter of Augustus’s close friend and greatest general, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. He was appointed to the position of praetor, and sent with his legions to assist his brother Drusus in campaigns in the west
7.
Nero Claudius Drusus
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Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, born Decimus Claudius Drusus, also called Drusus Claudius Nero, Drusus, Drusus I, Nero Drusus, or Drusus the Elder was a Roman politician and military commander. He was a patrician Claudian on his fathers side but his maternal grandmother was from a plebeian family. He was the son of Livia Drusilla and the stepson of her second husband. He launched the first major Roman campaigns across the Rhine and began the conquest of Germania, becoming the first Roman general to reach the Weser, in 12 BC, Drusus led a successful campaign into Germania, subjugating the Sicambri. Later that year he led an expedition against Germanic tribes along the North Sea coast, conquering the Batavi and the Frisii. In 11 BC, he conquered the Usipetes and the Marsi, in 10 BC, he launched a campaign against the Chatti and the resurgent Sicambri, subjugating both. The following year, while serving as consul, he conquered the Mattiaci and defeated the Marcomanni and the Cherusci, however, Drusus died later that year, depriving Rome of one of its best generals. Drusus was the youngest son of Livia Drusilla from her marriage to Tiberius Claudius Nero, Drusus was born between mid-March and mid-April 38 BC, three months after Livia married Augustus on 17 January. Gerhard Radke has proposed the date of March 28 as his most likely birthday, rumors arose that Augustus was the childs real father, although this has never been authoritatively proven. Claudius, however, encouraged the rumor during his reign as emperor to create an impression of more direct lineage from Augustus. According to Suetonius, Drusus was originally given Decimus as his praenomen, Nero was a traditional cognomen of the Claudii, whereas Drusus was given to a branch of the gens Livia. Using a cognomen such as Nero as a first name was unusual, Drusus was raised in Claudius Neros house with his brother, the future emperor Tiberius, until his legal fathers death. The two brothers developed a close relationship that would last the rest of their lives. Tiberius named his eldest son after his brother, and Drusus did likewise, Drusus married Antonia Minor, the daughter of Mark Antony and Augustus sister, Octavia Minor, and gained a reputation of being completely faithful to her. Their children were Germanicus, Claudius, a daughter named Livilla, after Drusus death, Antonia never remarried, though she outlived him by nearly five decades. Three emperors were direct descendants of Drusus, his son Claudius, his grandson Caligula, Augustus bestowed many honors on his stepsons. In 19 BC, Drusus was granted the ability to hold all public offices five years before the minimum age, when Tiberius left Italy during his term as praetor in 16 BC, Drusus legislated in his place. He became quaestor the following year, fighting against Raetian bandits in the Alps, Drusus repelled them, gaining honors, but was unable to smash their forces, and required reinforcement from Tiberius
8.
Julio-Claudian dynasty
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The term Julio-Claudian dynasty refers to the first five Roman emperors—Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero—or the family to which they belonged. They ruled the Roman Empire from its formation under Augustus in the half of the 1st century BC, until AD68 when the last of the line, Nero. Primogeniture is notably absent in the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, adoption ultimately became a tool that most Julio-Claudian emperors utilized in order to promote their chosen heir to the front of the succession. Augustus, himself a son of his great-uncle, the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, adopted his stepson and son-in-law Tiberius as his son. Tiberius was, in turn, required to adopt his nephew Germanicus, the ancient historians who dealt with this period—chiefly Suetonius and Tacitus —write in generally negative terms about their reign. The histories of Tiberius, Caius, Claudius, and Nero, while they were in power, were falsified through terror, Julius and Claudius were two Roman family names, in classical Latin, they came second. Roman family names were inherited from father to son, but a Roman aristocrat could – either during his life or in his will – adopt an heir if he lacked a natural son. In accordance with Roman naming conventions, the son would replace his original family name with the name of his adopted family. A famous example of this custom is Julius Caesars adoption of his great-nephew, Augustus, as Caesars adopted son and heir, discarded the family name of his natural father and initially renamed himself Gaius Julius Caesar after his adoptive father. It was also customary for the son to acknowledge his original family by adding an extra name at the end of his new name. As such, Augustus adopted name would have been Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, however, there is no evidence that he ever used the name Octavianus. Following Augustus ascension as the first emperor of the Roman Empire in 27 BC, his became an de facto royal house. For various reasons, the Julio-Claudians followed in the example of Julius Caesar, the next four emperors were closely related through a combination of blood relation, marriage and adoption. Tiberius, a Claudian by birth, became Augustus stepson after the marriage to Livia. Tiberius connection to the Julian side of the Imperial family grew closer when he married Augustus only daughter and he ultimately succeeded Augustus as emperor in AD14 after becoming his stepfathers adopted son and heir. Caligula was born into the Julian and Claudian branches of the Imperial family and his father, Germanicus, was the son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor, the son of Livia and the daughter of Octavia Minor respectively. Germanicus was also a great-nephew of Augustus on his mothers side and his wife, Agrippina the Elder, was a granddaughter of Augustus. Through Agrippina, Germanicus children – including Caligula – were Augustus great-grandchildren, when Augustus adopted Tiberius, the latter was required to adopt his brothers eldest son as well, thus allowing Germanicus side of the Imperial family to inherit the Julius nomen
9.
Ops
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In ancient Roman religion, Ops or Opis was a fertility deity and earth-goddess of Sabine origin. In Ops statues and coins, she is figured sitting down, as Chthonian deities normally are, the husband of Ops was Saturn. In Roman mythology, and in Greek mythology where Ops is identified as Rhea, her husband was Cronus, Cronus was Rheas husband and brother. In Latin writings of the time, the nominative is not used. According to Festus, Ops is said to be the wife of Saturn, by her they designated the earth, because the earth distributes all goods to the human genus. The Latin word ops means riches, goods, abundance, gifts, munificence, the word is also related to opus, which means work, particularly in the sense of working the earth, ploughing, sowing. This activity was deemed sacred, and was attended by religious rituals intended to obtain the good will of chthonic deities such as Ops. Ops is also related to the Sanskrit word ápnas, according to Roman tradition, the cult of Opis was instituted by Titus Tatius, one of the Sabine kings of Rome. Opis soon became the patroness of riches, abundance, and prosperity, Opis had a famous temple in the Capitolium. Originally, a festival took place in Opis honor on August 10, additionally, on December 19, the Opalia was celebrated. On August 25, the Opiconsivia was held, Opiconsivia was another name used for Opis, indicating when the earth was sown. These festivals also included activities that were called Consualia, in honor of Consus, Opis, when syncretized with Greek mythology, was not only the wife of Saturn, she was his sister and the daughter of Caelus. Her children were Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Juno, Ceres, Opis also acquired queenly status and was reputed to be an eminent goddess. By public decree temples, priests, and sacrifices were accorded her, virginia Browns translation of Giovanni Boccaccio’s Famous Women, p.12 -13, Harvard University Press 2001, ISBN 0-674-01130-9
10.
Cornucopia
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In classical antiquity, the cornucopia or horn of plenty was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers or nuts. Mythology offers multiple explanations of the origin of the cornucopia, one of the best-known involves the birth and nurturance of the infant Zeus, who had to be hidden from his devouring father Kronus. In a cave on Mount Ida on the island of Crete, baby Zeus was cared for and protected by a number of attendants, including the goat Amalthea. In another myth, the cornucopia was created when Heracles wrestled with the river god Achelous and wrenched off one of his horns and this version is represented in the Achelous and Hercules mural painting by the American Regionalist artist Thomas Hart Benton. In modern depictions, the cornucopia is typically a hollow, horn-shaped wicker basket filled with various kinds of festive fruit, in most of North America, the cornucopia has come to be associated with Thanksgiving and the harvest. Cornucopia is also the name of the annual November Food and Wine celebration in Whistler, British Columbia, two cornucopias are seen in the flag and state seal of Idaho. The Great Seal of North Carolina depicts Liberty standing and Plenty holding a cornucopia, the coat of arms of Colombia, Panama, Peru and Venezuela, and the Coat of Arms of the State of Victoria, Australia, also feature the cornucopia, symbolising prosperity. In the book and film series The Hunger Games, the Cornucopia is filled with weapons, and is the point of the Games. The horn of plenty is used for art and at Halloween, as it is a symbol of fertility, fortune
11.
Caligula
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Caligula, properly Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was Roman emperor from AD 37–41. Born Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus, Caligula was a member of the house of rulers known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligulas biological father was Germanicus, and he was the great-nephew, the young Gaius earned the nickname Caligula from his fathers soldiers while accompanying him during his campaigns in Germania. When Germanicus died at Antioch in AD19, his wife Agrippina the Elder returned with her six children to Rome, the conflict eventually led to the destruction of her family, with Caligula as the sole male survivor. Untouched by the intrigues, Caligula accepted the invitation to join the Emperor in AD31 on the island of Capri. With the death of Tiberius in AD37, Caligula succeeded his grand uncle, there are few surviving sources about the reign of Emperor Caligula, although he is described as a noble and moderate ruler during the first six months of his reign. After this, the focus upon his cruelty, sadism, extravagance. He directed much of his attention to construction projects and luxurious dwellings for himself. During his reign, the empire annexed the Kingdom of Mauretania as a province, in early AD41, Caligula was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy by officers of the Praetorian Guard, senators, and courtiers. Gaius Julius Caesar was born in Antium on 31 August 12 AD, Gaius had two older brothers, Nero and Drusus, as well as three younger sisters, Agrippina the Younger, Julia Drusilla and Julia Livilla. He was also a nephew of Claudius, Germanicus younger brother, Agrippina the Elder was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. She was a granddaughter of Augustus and Scribonia on her mothers side, through Agrippina, Augustus was the maternal great-grandfather of Gaius. As a boy of just two or three, Gaius accompanied his father, Germanicus, on campaigns in the north of Germania, the soldiers were amused that Gaius was dressed in a miniature soldiers outfit, including boots and armour. He was soon given his nickname Caligula, meaning little boot in Latin, Gaius, though, reportedly grew to dislike this nickname. Suetonius claims that Germanicus was poisoned in Syria by an agent of Tiberius, after the death of his father, Caligula lived with his mother until her relations with Tiberius deteriorated. Tiberius would not allow Agrippina to remarry for fear her husband would be a rival, Agrippina and Caligulas brother, Nero, were banished in 29 AD on charges of treason. The adolescent Caligula was then sent to live with his great-grandmother Livia, after her death, he was sent to live with his grandmother Antonia. In 30 AD, his brother, Drusus Caesar, was imprisoned on charges of treason, Suetonius writes that after the banishment of his mother and brothers, Caligula and his sisters were nothing more than prisoners of Tiberius under the close watch of soldiers
12.
Claudius
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Claudius was Roman emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and he was born at Lugdunum in Gaul, the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy. Claudius infirmity probably saved him from the fate of other nobles during the purges of Tiberius and Caligulas reigns. His survival led to his being declared Emperor by the Praetorian Guard after Caligulas assassination, despite his lack of experience, Claudius proved to be an able and efficient administrator. He was also a builder, constructing many new roads, aqueducts. During his reign the Empire began the conquest of Britain, having a personal interest in law, he presided at public trials, and issued up to twenty edicts a day. He was seen as vulnerable throughout his reign, particularly by elements of the nobility, Claudius was constantly forced to shore up his position, this resulted in the deaths of many senators. These events damaged his reputation among the ancient writers, though more recent historians have revised this opinion, many authors contend that he was murdered by his own wife. After his death in 54 AD, his grand-nephew and adopted son Nero succeeded him as Emperor, Claudius was born on 1 August 10 BC at Lugdunum. He had two siblings, Germanicus and Livilla. His mother, Antonia, may have had two children who died young. His maternal grandparents were Mark Antony and Octavia Minor, Augustus sister and his paternal grandparents were Livia, Augustus third wife, and Tiberius Claudius Nero. During his reign, Claudius revived the rumor that his father Drusus was actually the son of Augustus. In 9 BC, his father Drusus unexpectedly died on campaign in Germania, Claudius was then left to be raised by his mother, who never remarried. When Claudius disability became evident, the relationship with his family turned sour, Antonia referred to him as a monster, and used him as a standard for stupidity. She seems to have passed her son off on his grandmother Livia for a number of years, Livia was a little kinder, but nevertheless often sent him short, angry letters of reproof. He was put under the care of a former mule-driver to keep him disciplined, under the logic that his condition was due to laziness, however, by the time he reached his teenage years his symptoms apparently waned and his family took some notice of his scholarly interests. In 7 AD, Livy was hired to tutor him in history and he spent a lot of his time with the latter and the philosopher Athenodorus
13.
Nero
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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
14.
Julia (gens)
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The gens Julia or Iulia was one of the most ancient patrician families at Ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic, the first of the family to obtain the consulship was Gaius Julius Iulus in 489 BC. The nomen Julius became very common in times, as the descendants of persons enrolled as citizens under the early emperors began to make their mark in history. The Julii were without doubt of Alban origin, and it is mentioned as one of the leading Alban houses and it is not impossible that some of the Julii may have settled at Bovillae after the fall of Alba Longa. Aeneas was, in turn, the son of Venus and Anchises, in order to prove the identity of Ascanius and Iulus, recourse was had to etymology, some specimens of which the reader curious in such matters will find in Servius. Other traditions held that Iulus was the son of Aeneas by his Trojan wife, Creusa, while Ascanius was the son of Aeneas and Lavinia, daughter of Latinus. Though it would seem that the Julii first came to Rome in the reign of Tullus Hostilius, in the later Empire, the distinction between praenomen, nomen, and cognomen was gradually lost, and Julius was treated much like a personal name, which it ultimately became. The Latin form is common in languages, but other familiar forms exist, including Giulio, Julio, Jules, Júlio, Iuliu. The Julii of the Republic used the praenomina Lucius, Gaius, there are also instances of Vopiscus and Spurius in the early generations of the family. The earliest of the Julii appearing in legend bore the praenomen Proculus, in the later Republic and imperial times, Vopiscus and Proculus were generally used as personal cognomina. The name was revived as a praenomen by Marcus Antonius, the triumvir. Classical Latin did not distinguish between the letters I and J, which were written with I, and for this reason the name is sometimes written Julus, just as Julius is also written Iulius. The many Julii of imperial times, who were not descended from the gens Julia, on coins the only names which we find are Caesar and Bursio, the latter of which does not occur in ancient writers. Iulus, also written as Iullus and Julus, was the surname of the eldest branch of the Julii to appear in Roman history, the gens claimed descent from Iulus, who was in some manner connected with Aeneas, although the traditions differed with respect to the details. In some accounts, Iulus was the son of Aeneas and Creüsa, in others, Ascanius was the son of Creüsa, while Iulus was the son of Lavinia, daughter of Latinus, the king of Latium with whom Aeneas made peace after landing in Italy. In still different accounts, Iulus was the son not of Aeneas, perhaps an indigenous origin of the name is suggested by De Origo Gentis Romanae, in which Iulus and Ascanius are identical. Described as the son of Jupiter, he was known as Jobus. This calls to mind the use of Jove for Jupiter, and the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology suggests that Iulus might be a diminutive of Dius, furthermore, Livy reports that after his death Aeneas was worshiped as Jupiter Indiges, the local Jove
15.
Claudia (gens)
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The gens Claudia, sometimes written Clodia, was one of the most prominent patrician houses at Rome. The gens traced its origin to the earliest days of the Roman Republic, plebeian Claudii are found fairly early in Romes history. Some may have descended from members of the family who had passed over to the plebeians. Writing several decades after the fall of the so-called Julio-Claudian dynasty, the patrician Claudii were noted for their pride and arrogance, and intense hatred of the commonalty. In his History of Rome, Niebuhr writes, That house during the course of centuries produced several very eminent, few great men, in all ages it distinguished itself alike by a spirit of haughty defiance, by disdain for the laws, and iron hardness of heart. According to legend, the first of the Claudii was a Sabine, by the name of Attius Clausus, who came to Rome with his retainers in 504 BC, the sixth year of the Republic. At this time, the fledgling Republic was engaged in warfare with the Sabines. When his efforts failed, he defected to the Romans, bringing with him no fewer than five hundred men able to bear arms, according to Dionysius. Clausus, who exchanged his Sabine name for the Latin Appius Claudius, was enrolled among the patricians, the emperor Claudius is said to have referred to these traditions in a speech made before the Roman Senate, in which he argued in favor of admitting Gauls to that body. My ancestors, the most ancient of whom was made at once a citizen, by imperial times, the influence of the Claudii was so great that the poet Virgil flattered them by a deliberate anachronism. In his Aeneid, he makes Attius Clausus a contemporary of Aeneas, to whose side he rallies with a host of quirites, the nomen Claudius, originally Clausus, is usually said to be derived from the Latin adjective claudus, meaning lame. As a cognomen, Claudus is occasionally found in other gentes, however, since there is no tradition that any of the early Claudii were lame, the nomen might refer to some ancestor of Attius Clausus. It could also have been metaphorical, or ironic, and the possibility remains that this derivation is erroneous. The metathesis of Clausus into Claudius, and its common by-form, Clodius, involves the alternation of o and au, which seems to have been common in words of Sabine origin. The alternation of s and d occurs in words borrowed from Greek, Latin rosa from Greek rhodos, the name could have come from Greek settlers in Latium, but there is no evidence in favor of this hypothesis. The early Claudii favored the praenomina Appius, Gaius, and Publius and these names were used by the patrician Claudii throughout their history. Tiberius was used by the family of the Claudii Nerones, while Marcus, the plebeian Claudii seem to have used all of the praenomina that the patrician Claudii used, as well as Quintus, Sextus, and at least occasionally Lucius. The praenomen Appius is often said to have unique to the Claudii
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Julio-Claudian family tree
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Around the start of the Common Era, the family trees of the gens Julia and the gens Claudia became intertwined into the Julio-Claudian family tree as a result of marriages and adoptions. The Julio-Claudian dynasty was the first dynasty of Roman emperors, all emperors of that dynasty descended from Julii Caesares and/or from Claudii. Note that descendancy of the Julii Caesares before the generation of Julius Caesars grandfather is in part conjectural, in the Julio-Claudian dynasty of Roman emperors the lineage of the Julii Caesares was separated from those of the Claudii up to Augustus generation. The next generation had both Claudii with a Julia as ancestor, as Claudii adopted into the Julii Caesares family, after Tiberius, the remaining three emperors of the dynasty had, outside adoptions, ancestors both in the Julian as the Claudian families. Gaius Julius Caesar II and Lucius Julius Caesar II may have had Sextus Julius Caesar and this generation of Julii Caesares has two consuls, Sextus Julius Caesar III in 91 BC, and Lucius Julius Caesar III the next year. Following Sullas example Julius Caesars and Pompeys first marriages were with women of their own generation, after being betrothed to Cossutia, Julius Caesars first wife was Cornelia, the mother of Julia. The younger of Caesars two sisters married Marcus Atius, they were ancestors of all the Julio-Claudian emperors, apart from Tiberius and this is also the generation of Mark Antonys parents. Mark Antonys mother Julia Antonia was the daughter of Lucius Julius Caesar III, by this time marriages with a political agenda among the powerful families were in full swing, however not yet between Julii Caesares and Claudii. Pompey married Julius Caesars daughter Julia, Julius Caesars second wife Pompeia, possibly a great-granddaughter of Lucius Julius Caesar II, was a granddaughter of Sulla. His third wife Calpurnia is said to be younger than his daughter and his son Caesarion resulted from his relation with Cleopatra. Atia Balba Caesonia, the daughter of Julius Caesars sister, married Gaius Octavius, they became the parents of the first emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and their daughter Octavia the Younger became an ancestor to the last three emperors of that dynasty. In this generation Mark Antony had children by, among others, Antonia Hybrida Minor, the Claudii were a powerful gens with consuls and other high ranking politicians in several of its families across several generations. In this generation the first marriages between Claudii and descendants of the Julii Caesares took place. This however didnt mean yet that the family trees of both gentes got merged into a single one, that didnt happen until the adoption of Claudii by Julii Caesares in the generations to come. Octavia the Youngers first husband was a Claudius from the Marcelli family, clodia Pulchra, descending from Claudii, became the first wife of Octavian, who by then was adopted in the Julii Caesares family by the testament of his uncle Julius Caesar. After her first husbands death, Octavia married Mark Antony, who besides the offspring of his first three marriages had had children by Cleopatra, Octavianus, becoming Augustus the first Roman emperor, married Scribonia who gave him a daughter. His last marriage was with Livia, a Claudia who had married to a Claudius. Their son Tiberius, by birth a Claudius, was adopted by Augustus, thus, like his stepfather Augustus
17.
Roman Republic
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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
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Year of the Four Emperors
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The Year of the Four Emperors was a year in the history of the Roman Empire, AD69, in which four emperors ruled in succession, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian. The suicide of the emperor Nero in 68 was followed by a period of civil war. The social, military and political upheavals of the period had Empire-wide repercussions, in 65, the Pisonian conspiracy attempted to restore the Republic, but failed. A number of executions followed, leaving Nero with few allies left in the Senate. Vindexs revolt in Gaul was unsuccessful, the legions stationed at the border to Germania marched to meet Vindex and confront him as a traitor. Led by Lucius Verginius Rufus, the Rhine army defeated Vindex in battle, Galba was at first declared a public enemy by the Senate. In June 68, the Praetorian Guard prefect, Nymphidius Sabinus, as part of a plot to become emperor himself, Nero was suddenly powerless and the Senate declared him an enemy of the state. He fled the city and committed suicide, Galba was recognized as emperor and welcomed into the city at the head of a single legion, VII Galbiana, later known as VII Gemina. This turn of events did not give the German legions the reward for loyalty that they had expected and their commander, Rufus, was immediately replaced by the new emperor. Aulus Vitellius was appointed governor of Germania Inferior, the loss of political confidence in Germanias loyalty also resulted in the dismissal of the Imperial Batavian Bodyguards and rebellion. Galba did not remain popular for long, on his march to Rome, he either destroyed or took enormous fines from towns that did not accept him immediately. In Rome, Galba cancelled all the reforms of Nero, including benefits for many important persons, like his predecessor, Galba had a fear of conspirators and executed many senators and equites without trial. The soldiers of the Praetorian Guard were not happy either, after his safe arrival in Rome, Galba refused to pay them the rewards that the prefect Nymphidius had promised them in the new emperors name. Moreover, at the beginning of the year of 69 on January 1. On the following day, the legions acclaimed their governor Vitellius as emperor, hearing the news of the loss of the Rhine legions, Galba panicked. He adopted a young senator, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Licinianus, as his successor, by doing this, he offended many, above all Marcus Salvius Otho, an influential and ambitious nobleman who desired the honor for himself. Otho bribed the Praetorian Guard, already unhappy with the emperor. When Galba heard about the coup détat, he went to the streets in an attempt to stabilize the situation and it proved a mistake, because he could not attract any supporters
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Classical Latin
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Classical Latin is the modern term used to describe the form of the Latin language recognized as standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. In some later periods, it was regarded as good Latin, the word Latin is now taken by default as meaning Classical Latin, so that, for example, modern Latin textbooks describe classical Latin. Latinitas was spoken as well as written, moreover, it was the language taught by the schools. Prescriptive rules therefore applied to it, and where a subject was concerned, such as poetry or rhetoric. No authors are noted for the type of rigidity evidenced by stylized art, except possibly the repetitious abbreviations, good Latin in philology is classical Latin literature. The term classicus was devised by the Romans themselves to translate Greek ἐγκριθέντες, select, before then, classis, in addition to being a naval fleet, was a social class in one of the diachronic divisions of Roman society according to property ownership by the Roman constitution. The word is a transliteration of Greek κλῆσις calling, used to rank army draftees by property from first to fifth class, classicus is anything primae classis, first class, such as the authors of the polished works of Latinitas, or sermo urbanus. It had nuances of the certified and the authentic, testis classicus and it was in this sense that Marcus Cornelius Fronto in the 2nd century AD used scriptores classici, first-class or reliable authors whose works could be relied upon as model of good Latin. This is the first known reference, possibly innovated at this time, aulus Gellius includes many authors, such as Plautus, who are currently considered writers of Old Latin and not strictly in the period of classical Latin. The classical Romans distinguished Old Latin as prisca Latinitas and not sermo vulgaris, each author in the Roman lists was considered equivalent to one in the Greek, for example Ennius was the Latin Homer, the Aeneid was a new Iliad, and so on. The lists of authors were as far as the Roman grammarians went in developing a philology. The Renaissance brought a revival of interest in restoring as much of Roman culture as could be restored and with it the return of the concept of classic, the best. Thomas Sébillet in 1548 referred to les bons et classiques poètes françois, meaning Jean de Meun and Alain Chartier, according to Merriam Websters Collegiate Dictionary, the term classical, from classicus, entered modern English in 1599, some 50 years after its re-introduction on the continent. In 1715 Laurence Echards Classical Geographical Dictionary was published, in 1736 Robert Ainsworths Thesaurus Linguae Latinae Compendarius turned English words and expressions into proper and classical Latin. In 1768 David Ruhnken recast the mold of the view of the classical by applying the word canon to the pinakes of orators, Ruhnken had a kind of secular catechism in mind. The practice and Teuffels classification, with modifications, are still in use and his work was translated into English as soon as published in German by Wilhelm Wagner, who corresponded with Teuffel. Wagner published the English translation in 1873, Teuffel divides the chronology of classical Latin authors into several periods according to political events, rather than by style. Regarding the style of the literary Latin of those periods he had, Teuffel was to go on with other editions of his history, but meanwhile it had come out in English almost as soon as it did in German and found immediate favorable reception
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Imperial cult (ancient Rome)
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The Imperial cult of ancient Rome identified emperors and some members of their families with the divinely sanctioned authority of the Roman State. Augustuss reforms transformed Romes Republican system of government to a de facto monarchy, couched in traditional Roman practices, the princeps was expected to balance the interests of the Roman military, Senate and people, and to maintain peace, security and prosperity throughout an ethnically diverse empire. A deceased emperor held worthy of the honor could be voted a state divinity by the Senate, in the development of Imperial rule from Principate to Dominate, the role of the Senate was increasingly marginalised and military loyalty became the key to Imperial authority. The Imperial cult was inseparable from that of Romes official deities, whose cult was essential to Romes survival, Traditional cult was a focus of Imperial revivalist legislation under Decius and Diocletian. Christian apologists and martyrologists saw the cult of the Emperor as a particularly offensive instrument of pagan impiety and it therefore became a focus of theological and political debate during the ascendancy of Christianity under Constantine I. The emperor Julian failed to reverse the declining support for Romes official religious practices, Romes traditional gods and Imperial cult were officially abandoned. However, many of the rites, practices and status distinctions that characterized the cult to emperors were perpetuated in the theology, for five centuries, the Roman Republic did not give worship to any historic figure, or any living man, although surrounded by divine and semi-divine monarchies. Romes legendary kings had been its masters, with their removal, Republican Romans could identify Romulus, similarly, Aeneas was worshipped as Jupiter Indiges. The aristocrats who held almost all Roman magistracies, and thereby occupied almost all of the Senate, among the highest of honors was the triumph. The triumphator rode in a chariot, bearing divine emblems, in a supposed to be inherited from the ancient kings of Rome. Whatever his personal ambitions, his victory and his triumph alike served the Roman Senate, people, in private life, however, tradition required that some human beings be treated as more or less divine, cult was due from familial inferiors to their superiors. A client could call his patron Jupiter on earth, the dead, collectively and individually, were gods of the underworld or afterlife. A prominent clan might claim divine influence and quasi-divine honors for its leader, death masks were made for all notable Romans and were displayed in the atria of their houses, they were used to represent their ghostly presence at family funerals. The mask of Scipio Africanus, Cornelias father and victor over Hannibal, was stored in the temple of Jupiter, a tradition arose in the centuries after his death that Africanus had been inspired by prophetic dreams, and was himself the son of Jupiter. There are several cases of unofficial cult directed at men viewed as saviors and this celebration, in Spain, featured a lavish banquet with local and imported delicacies, and a mechanical statue of Victory to crown Metellus, who wore a triumphators toga picta for the occasion. These festivities were organized by the quaestor Gaius Urbinus, but were not acts of the state, Metellus liked all this, but his older and pious contemporaries thought it arrogant and intolerable. After Gaius Marius defeated the Teutones, private citizens would offer food and drink to him alongside their household gods, when the Romans began to dominate large parts of the Greek world, Romes senior representatives there were given the same divine honours as were Hellenistic rulers. There were similar instances of divine cult to humans in the century, although some rulers, like Agesilaus
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Augusta (honorific)
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Augusta, was a Roman imperial honorific title given to empresses and honoured women of the imperial families. It was the form of Augustus In the third century, Augustae could also receive the titles of Mater Castrorum. The title implied the greatest prestige, Augustae could issue their own coinage, wear imperial regalia, and rule their own courts. List of Roman and Byzantine empresses
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Julius Caesar
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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
23.
Battle of Philippi
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The battle consisted of two engagements in the plain west of the ancient city of Philippi. The first occurred in the first week of October, Brutus faced Octavian, at first, Brutus pushed back Octavian and entered his legions camp. But to the south, Cassius was defeated by Antony, Brutus rallied Cassius remaining troops and both sides ordered their army to retreat to their camps with their spoils, and the battle was essentially a draw, but for Cassius suicide. A second encounter, on 23 October, finished off Brutuss forces, after the murder of Caesar, Brutus and Cassius had left Italy and taken control of all Eastern provinces and of the allied Eastern kingdoms. In Rome the three main Caesarian leaders, who controlled almost all the Roman army in the west, had crushed the opposition of the senate and established the second triumvirate. One of their first tasks was to destroy the Liberators’ forces, not only to get control of the Roman world. The triumvirs decided that Lepidus would remain in Italy, while the two partners of the triumvirate moved to Northern Greece with their best troops. They were able to ferry their army across the Adriatic and sent out a force of eight legions along the via Egnatia. Norbanus and Saxa passed the town of Philippi in eastern Macedonia, Antony was following, while Octavian was delayed at Dyrrachium because of his ill-health. They had spent the previous months plundering Greek cities to swell their war-chest and had gathered in Thrace with the Roman legions from the Eastern provinces and levies from allies. With their superior forces they were able to outflank Norbanus and Saxa, thus, Brutus and Cassius could position holding the high ground along both sides of the via Egnatia, about 3.5 km west of the city of Philippi. The south position was anchored to a supposedly impassable marsh, while on the north to impervious hills and they had plenty of time to fortify their position with a rampart and a ditch. Brutus put his camp on the north while Cassius on the south of the via Egnatia, Antony arrived shortly and positioned his army on the south of the via Egnatia, while Octavian put his legions north of the road. The Triumvirs army included nineteen legions, appian reports that the triumvirs’ legions were almost at full complement. Furthermore, they had a large allied cavalry force, the Liberators army had seventeen legions. Only two of the legions were at full strength, but the army was reinforced by levies from the Eastern allied kingdoms, appian reports that the army mustered a total of about 80,000 foot-soldiers. Allied cavalry included a total of 17,000 horsemen, including 5,000 bowmen mounted in the Eastern fashion and this army included the old Caesarean legions present in the East, thus most of these legionaries were former Caesarean veterans. However, at least the XXXVI legion consisted of old Pompeian veterans, the loyalty of the soldiers who were supposed to fight against Caesar’s heir was a delicate issue for the Liberators
24.
Gaius Cassius Longinus
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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
25.
Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger
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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
26.
Mark Antony
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Antony was a supporter of Julius Caesar, and served as one of his generals during the conquest of Gaul and the Civil War. Antony was appointed administrator of Italy while Caesar eliminated political opponents in Greece, North Africa, the Triumvirs defeated Caesars murderers, the Liberatores, at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, and divided the government of the Republic between themselves. Antony was assigned Romes eastern provinces, including the client kingdom of Egypt, then ruled by Cleopatra VII Philopator, relations among the Triumvirs were strained as the various members sought greater political power. Civil war between Antony and Octavian was averted in 40 BC, when Antony married Octavians sister, Octavia, despite this marriage, Antony carried on a love affair with Cleopatra, who bore him three children, further straining Antonys relations with Octavian. Lepidus was expelled from the association in 36 BC, and in 33 BC disagreements between Antony and Octavian caused a split between the remaining Triumvirs. Their ongoing hostility erupted into war in 31 BC, as the Roman Senate, at Octavians direction, declared war on Cleopatra. Later that year, Antony was defeated by Octavians forces at the Battle of Actium, Antony and Cleopatra fled to Egypt, where they committed suicide. With Antony dead, Octavian was the master of the Roman world. In 27 BC, Octavian was granted the title of Augustus, marking the stage in the transformation of the Roman Republic into an empire. A member of the plebeian Antonia gens, Antony was born in Rome on January 14,83 BC. His father and namesake was Marcus Antonius Creticus, son of the noted orator by the name who had been murdered during the Marian Terror of the winter of 87–86 BC. His mother was Julia Antonia, a distant cousin of Julius Caesar, Antony was an infant at the time of Lucius Cornelius Sullas march on Rome in 82 BC. According to the Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero, Antonys father was incompetent and corrupt, in 74 BC he was given military command to defeat the pirates of the Mediterranean, but he died in Crete in 71 BC without making any significant progress. Lentulus, despite exploiting his political success for financial gain, was constantly in debt due to the extravagance of his lifestyle and he was a major figure in the Second Catilinarian Conspiracy and was summarily executed on the orders of the Consul Cicero in 63 BC for his involvement. His death resulted in a feud between the Antonia and the famous orator, Antonys early life was characterized by a lack of proper parental guidance. According to the historian Plutarch, he spent his teenage years wandering through Rome with his brothers and friends gambling, drinking, Antonys contemporary and enemy, Cicero, claimed he had a homosexual relationship with Gaius Scribonius Curio. There is little information on his political activity as a young man, although it is known that he was an associate of Publius Clodius Pulcher. He may also have involved in the Lupercal cult as he was referred to as a priest of this order later in life
27.
Lucius Antonius (brother of Mark Antony)
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Lucius Antonius was the younger brother and supporter of Mark Antony, a Roman politician. Lucius was son of Marcus Antonius Creticus, son of the rhetorician Marcus Antonius Orator executed by Gaius Marius supporters in 86 BC, and Julia Antonia, together with his older brothers Mark Antony and Gaius Antonius, he spent his early years roaming through Rome in bad companies. Plutarch refers the untamed life of the youths and their friends, frequenting gambling houses, lucius was always a strong supporter of Mark Antony. After the murder of Caesar, he supported his brother Marcus and he proposed an agrarian law in favor of the people and Caesars veterans, and took part in the operations at Mutina. In 41 BC, he was consul with Publius Servilius Vatia as his senior partner. In this year, he assisted Mark Antonys wife, Fulvia, Antonius marched on Rome, drove out Lepidus, and promised the people that the triumvirate should be abolished. On the approach of Octavian, he retired to Perusia in Etruria, the city was destroyed but his life was spared, and he was sent by Octavian to Spain as governor. Nothing is known of the circumstances or date of his death, cicero, in his Philippics, actuated in great measure by personal animosity, gives a highly unfavorable view of his character. Appian, Bellum Civile, v.14 ff, suetonius, De Vita Caesarum, II, 14-5. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
28.
Second Triumvirate
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The Triumvirate existed for two five-year terms, covering the period 43 BC to 33 BC. Octavian, despite his youth, extorted from the Senate the post of consul for 43 BC. He had been warring with Antony and Lepidus in upper Italia and this triumvirate of new leaders was established in 43 BC as the Triumviri Rei Publicae Constituendae Consulari Potestate. Where the first triumvirate was essentially an agreement, the second was embedded in the constitution formally joining Augustus, Antony. Antony retained Cisalpine Gaul and hegemony over Gaul itself, and Octavian held Africa and was given authority over Sicily and Sardinia. )In order to refill the treasury. As all three had been partisans of Caesar, their targets were opponents of the Caesarian faction. The most notable victims were Marcus Tullius Cicero, who had opposed Caesar and excoriated Antony in his Philippics, and Marcus Favonius, a follower of Cato, the proscription of Caesars legate Quintus Tullius Cicero seems to have been motivated by the perceived need to destroy Ciceros family. For ancient writers, the most shocking proscriptions were those of Caesars legate Lucius Julius Caesar and they were added to the list because they had been the first to condemn Antony and Lepidus after the two allied. Octavians colleague in the consulate that year, his cousin, Quintus Pedius and this became a broad pattern of the Triumvirates two terms, during the ten years of the Triumvirate, there were 42 consuls in office, rather than the expected 20. In 42 BC, Octavian and Antony set out to war, after the victory, Antony and Octavian agreed to divide the provinces of the Republic into spheres of influence. Octavian — who had begun calling himself Divi filius after Caesars deification as Divus Julius and now styled himself simply Imperator Caesar — took control of the West, as a result, the province of Cisalpine Gaul was absorbed into Italy. Narbonese Gaul was absorbed into Gallia Comata, creating a unified Gaul, Octavian took over Spain from Lepidus. Lepidus himself was left with nothing, but was offered the prospect of control over Africa, the excuse given for this was a report that Lepidus had been traitorously negotiating with Sextus Pompey. If he were proved innocent he would have Africa, Octavian returned to Rome to administer the distribution of land to his veterans. Antony remained in the east to bring Brutus and Cassius former territories under triumvirate control. The reduced role of Lepidus is evident in the fact that far fewer coins depict him from this point on, Octavians land redistribution caused widespread tensions, as farmers were dispossessed in favour of soldiers. Antonys brother Lucius Antonius, who was serving as Consul, stood up for the dispossessed farmers, the conflict led to the Perusine War, in which Lucius gathered an army of supporters to challenge Octavian. He was encouraged by Mark Antonys wife Fulvia, Lepidus held Rome with two legions while Octavian left to gather his army, but Lucius defeated Lepidus, who was forced to flee to Octavian
29.
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)
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Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, was a Roman patrician who was triumvir with Octavian and Mark Antony, and the last Pontifex Maximus of the Roman Republic. Lepidus had previously been an ally of Julius Caesar. Though he was a military commander and proved a useful partisan of Caesar. He typically appears as a figure in depictions of the events of the era. While some scholars have endorsed this view, others argue that the evidence is insufficient to discount the distorting effects of propaganda by his opponents, principally Cicero and, later, Augustus. Lepidus was the son of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, his mother may have been a daughter of Lucius Appuleius Saturninus and his brother was Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus. His father was the first leader of the populares faction after the death of Sulla. Lepidus married Junia Secunda, sister of Marcus Junius Brutus and Junia Tertia, Lepidus and Junia Secunda had at least one child, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus the Younger. Lepidus joined the College of Pontiffs as a child and he started his cursus honorum as triumvir monetalis, overseeing the minting of coins, from c. Lepidus soon became one of Julius Caesars greatest supporters and he was appointed as a praetor in 49 BC, being placed in charge of Rome while Caesar defeated Pompey in Greece. He secured Caesars appointment as dictator, a position Caesar used to get elected as Consul. Lepidus was rewarded with the position of Proconsul in the Spanish province of Hispania Citerior, while in Spain Lepidus was called upon to act to quell a rebellion against Quintus Cassius Longinus, governor of neighbouring Hispania Ulterior. Lepidus refused to support Cassius, who had created opposition to Caesars regime by his corruption and he negotiated a deal with the rebel leader, quaestor Marcellus, and helped defeat an attack by the Mauretanian king Bogud. Cassius and his supporters were allowed to leave and order was restored, Caesar and the Senate were sufficiently impressed by Lepdiuss judicial mixture of negotiation and surgical military action that they granted him a Triumph. Lepidus was rewarded with the consulship in 46 BC after the defeat of the Pompeians in the East, Caesar also made Lepidus magister equitum, effectively his deputy. Caesar appears to have had confidence in Lepidus than in Mark Antony to keep order in Rome. Lepidus appears to have been shocked when Antony provocatively offered Caesar a crown at the Lupercalia festival. When in February 44 BC Caesar was elected dictator for life by the senate, the brief alliance in power of Caesar and Lepidus came to a sudden end when Caesar was assassinated on March 1544 BC
30.
Proscription
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Proscription is, in current usage, a decree of condemnation to death or banishment and can be used in a political context to refer to state-approved murder or banishment. The term originated in Ancient Rome, where it included public identification, during the dictatorial reign of Sulla, the word took on a more sinister meaning. In 82 or 81 BC, Sulla instituted the process of proscription in order to avenge the massacres of Gaius Marius and Gaius Marius’ son. He instituted a notice for the sale of confiscated property belonging to those declared public enemies of the state, there were multiple reasons why the ancient Roman government may have desired to proscribe or attribute multiple other forms of pain. One of the most prevalent reasons for punishment are treason crimes, treason crimes consisted of a very broad and large number of regulations, and such crimes had a negative effect on the government. Overall, crimes in which the state, emperor, the tranquility, or offenses against the good of the people would be considered treason. Punishments for treason were quite harsh for today’s standards and were meant to highlight the seriousness and shamefulness of the crimes committed. There were a variety of punishments for crimes, including death, loss of a freedman’s status, loss of citizenship with a loss of family rights. Death was a common punishment and was referred to as summum supplicium. The death sentence was often the punishment for all but the mildest forms of treason, Julius Caesar was an influential framer on the law on treason. The Interdiction from Water and Fire was a civil excommunication resulting in ultimate exile and those who were condemned would be deported to an island. Emperor Augustus frequently utilized this method of exile, as he desired to keep banished men from banding together in large groups, such punishment was only given for the mildest forms of treason, in comparison to the death penalty served for most other treason crimes. Augustus also created the prefect, whose powers included the ability to banish, deport, an early instance of mass proscription took place in 82 BC, when Lucius Cornelius Sulla was appointed dictator rei publicae constituendae. Sulla proceeded to have the Senate draw up a list of those he considered enemies of the state, no person could inherit money or property from proscribed men, nor could any woman married to a proscribed man remarry after his death. Many victims of proscription were decapitated and their heads were displayed on spears in the Forum and this gave rise to a general fear of being taken from ones home at night as a consequence of any outwardly seditious behaviour. Sullas proscription was bureaucratically overseen, and the names of informers, because Roman law could criminalise acts ex post facto, many informers and profiteers were later prosecuted. The proscription of 82 BC was overseen by Sullas freedman steward Lucius Cornelius Chrysogonus, the proscription lists created by Sulla led to mass terror in Rome. During this time, the cities of Italy became theaters of execution, citizens were terrified to find their names on the lists
31.
Pompey
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Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, usually known in English as Pompey /ˈpɒmpiː/ or Pompey the Great, was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic. He came from a wealthy Italian provincial background, and his father had been the first to establish the family among the Roman nobility, Pompeys immense success as a general while still very young enabled him to advance directly to his first consulship without meeting the normal requirements for office. His success as a commander in Sullas Second Civil War resulted in Sulla bestowing the nickname Magnus. He was consul three times and celebrated three triumphs, after the deaths of Julia and Crassus, Pompey sided with the optimates, the conservative faction of the Roman Senate. Pompey and Caesar then contended for the leadership of the Roman state, when Pompey was defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC, he sought refuge in Egypt, where he was assassinated. His career and defeat are significant in Romes subsequent transformation from Republic to Empire, Pompeys family first gained the position of Consul in 141 BC. Pompeys father, Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, was an equestrian from Picenum. He fought the Social War against Romes Italian allies and he supported Sulla, who belonged to the optimates, the pro-aristocracy faction, against Marius, who belonged to the populares, in Sullas first civil war. He died during the siege of Rome by the Marians in 87 BC, either as a casualty of an epidemic and his twenty-year-old son Pompey inherited his estates, and the loyalty of his legions. Pompey had served two years under his fathers command, and had participated in the part of the Social War. When his father died, Pompey was put on due to accusations that his father stole public property. As his father’s heir Pompey could be held to account and he discovered that this was committed by one of his fathers freedmen. Following his preliminary bouts with his accuser, the took a liking to Pompey and offered his daughter. Another civil war broke out between the Marians and Sulla, Cassius Dio added that Pompey had sent a detachment to pursue him, but he outstripped them by crossing the River Phasis. He reached the Maeotis and stayed in the Cimmerian Bosporus and he had his son Machares, who ruled it and gone over to the Romans, killed and recovered that country. Meanwhile, Pompey set up a colony for his soldiers at Nicopolitans in Cappadocia, in Plutarchs account Pompey was invited to invade Armenia by Tigranes’ son, who rebelled against his father. The two men received the submission of several towns, when they got close Artaxata Tigranes, knowing Pompey’s leniency, surrendered and allowed a Roman garrison in his palace. Pompey offered the restitution of the Armenian territories in Syria, Phoenicia, Cilicia, Galatia and he demanded an indemnity and ruled that the son should be king of Sophene
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Sicily
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Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous Region of Italy, along with surrounding minor islands, Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula, from which it is separated by the narrow Strait of Messina. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, the island has a typical Mediterranean climate. The earliest archaeological evidence of activity on the island dates from as early as 12,000 BC. It became part of Italy in 1860 following the Expedition of the Thousand, a revolt led by Giuseppe Garibaldi during the Italian unification, Sicily was given special status as an autonomous region after the Italian constitutional referendum of 1946. Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine. It is also home to important archaeological and ancient sites, such as the Necropolis of Pantalica, the Valley of the Temples, Sicily has a roughly triangular shape, earning it the name Trinacria. To the east, it is separated from the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina, about 3 km wide in the north, and about 16 km wide in the southern part. The northern and southern coasts are each about 280 km long measured as a line, while the eastern coast measures around 180 km. The total area of the island is 25,711 km2, the terrain of inland Sicily is mostly hilly and is intensively cultivated wherever possible. Along the northern coast, the ranges of Madonie,2,000 m, Nebrodi,1,800 m. The cone of Mount Etna dominates the eastern coast, in the southeast lie the lower Hyblaean Mountains,1,000 m. The mines of the Enna and Caltanissetta districts were part of a leading sulphur-producing area throughout the 19th century, Sicily and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and still casts black ash over the island with its ever-present eruptions and it currently stands 3,329 metres high, though this varies with summit eruptions, the mountain is 21 m lower now than it was in 1981. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps, Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 with a basal circumference of 140 km. This makes it by far the largest of the three volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. In Greek Mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under the mountain by Zeus, Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily. The Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, to the northeast of mainland Sicily form a volcanic complex, the three volcanoes of Vulcano, Vulcanello and Lipari are also currently active, although the latter is usually dormant
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Greece
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Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures. The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
34.
Scribonia
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Scribonia was the second wife of the Roman Emperor Augustus and the mother of his only natural child, Julia the Elder. Scribonia was the daughter of a Lucius Scribonius Libo, probably the praetor of that name of 80 BC and her brother of the same name was consul in 34 BC. The name of her mother was Sentia, according to Suetonius, Scribonias first two marriages were to former consuls. He may have died young and is ignored by historians and her second husband was a Publius Cornelius Scipio, a supporter of Pompey. They had a daughter Cornelia Scipio who married the censor Lucius Aemilius Paullus, Scribonia may have also been the mother to Publius Cornelius Scipio, consul in 16 BC. In 40 BC Scribonia was forced to divorce her husband and marry Octavian, Octavian in turn divorced his wife Clodia Pulchra, marrying Scribonia to cement a political alliance with her nieces husband Sextus Pompey. Their daughter Julia the Elder was born in 39 BC, probably in October and their marriage had not been a happy one, Octavian felt she nagged him too much. Cassius Dio and Marcus Velleius Paterculus says that when her youngest child, Julia, was sent into exile for adultery and treason, when Emperor Tiberius came into power, he separated Scribonia from her daughter, and allegedly starved Julia to death. It is mainly placed two years after Julia and Augustus, Scribonias image as a shrew is probably the product of propaganda to divert the potentially scandalous circumstances of her divorce from Augustus. Seneca describes her as a gravis femina, gravis meaning “dignified”, Sextus Propertius praises her motherhood referring to her as sweet mother Scribonia in Cornelia Scipios funeral elegy in 16 BC. Scribonia is mentioned in Robert Gravess novel I, Claudius when he recalls Julias birth and he describes her as a good, moderate and generally kind Roman matron. She is forbidden to see Julia and is allowed to be with her once she is exiled. Livia convinces Augustus that Scribonia has been unfaithful to him causing him to divorce her faster than he cared to, evidently Augustus believed she was innocent, as he kept Julia. Graves places Scribonias death at least two prior to when it is traditionally placed. Scribonia appears several times in Augustus by Allan Massie, Allan Massie portrays her stereotypically, being ugly, gap-toothed and fat. The novel suggests that Julia got her personality from Scribonia rather than Augustus as historians tend to claim, Scribonia plays a major role in the novel Caesars Daughter by Edward Burton, trying to aid Julia in her daily life. She is a politically aware woman, with detailed information gathering and she plays patroness to many poets such as Horace. Despite their differences, Augustus respects her, Scribonia is mentioned in I Loved Tiberius by Elisabeth Dored
35.
Julia the Elder
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Julia the Elder, known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia, was the daughter and only biological child of Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire. Augustus subsequently adopted several male members of his family as sons. Julia resulted from Augustus second marriage with Scribonia, her birth occurring on the day as Scribonias divorce from Augustus. Octavian divorced Julias mother the day of her birth and took Julia from her soon thereafter, Octavian, in accordance with Roman custom, claimed complete parental control over her. She was sent to live with her stepmother Livia when she was old enough and her education appears to have been strict and somewhat old-fashioned. Thus, in addition to her studies, Suetonius informs us, Macrobius mentions her love of literature and considerable culture, a thing easy to come by in that household. Julias social life was controlled, and she was allowed to talk only to people whom her father had vetted. However, Octavian had an affection for his daughter and made sure she had the best teachers available. Macrobius preserves a remark of Augustus, There are two daughters that I have to put up with, the Roman commonwealth and Julia. In 37 BC, during Julias early childhood, Octavians friends Gaius Maecenas and it was sealed with an engagement, Antonys ten-year-old son Marcus Antonius Antyllus was to marry Julia, then two years old. The engagement never led to a marriage because civil war broke out, in 31 BC, at the Battle of Actium, Octavian and Agrippa defeated Antony and his wife, Cleopatra. In Alexandria, they committed suicide, and Octavian became sole ruler of the Roman Empire. As with most aristocratic Roman women of the period, expectations of Julia focused on marriage and her family first married her off, like many Roman girls, in her early teens. In 25 BC, at the age of fourteen, Julia married her cousin Marcus Claudius Marcellus, There were rumors that Marcellus had been chosen as Augustus successor, but Julias father was not present, he was fighting a war in Spain and had fallen ill. Marcellus died in September 23 BC when Julia was sixteen, in 21 BC, having now reached the age of 18, Julia married Agrippa, a man from a modest family who had risen to become Augustus most trusted general and friend. This step is said to have taken partly on the advice of Maecenas. Since Agrippa was nearly 25 years her elder, it was an arranged marriage. There is from this period the report of an infidelity with one Sempronius Gracchus and this was the first of a series of alleged adulteries
36.
Pater familias
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The pater familias, also written as paterfamilias, was the head of a Roman family. The pater familias was the oldest living male in a household and he had complete control of all family members. The term is Latin for father of the family or the owner of the family estate, the form is archaic in Latin, preserving the old genitive ending in -ās, whereas in classical Latin the normal genitive ending was -ae. The pater familias always had to be a Roman citizen, Roman law and tradition established the power of the pater familias within the community of his own extended familia. The same mos maiorum moderated his authority and determined his responsibilities to his own familia, in effect, the pater familias was expected to be a good citizen. In theory at least, he powers of life and death over every member of his extended familia through ancient right. In practice, the form of this right was seldom exercised. It was eventually limited by law, the Roman household was conceived of as an economic and juridical unit or estate, familia originally meant the group of the famuli living under the same roof. That meaning later expanded to indicate the familia as the basic Roman social unit, which include the domus but was legally distinct from it. All members and properties of a familia were subject to the authority of a pater familias, his legal, social, in Roman law, the potestas of the pater familias was official but distinct from that of magistrates. Only a Roman citizen held the status of pater familias, and he was responsible for its well-being, reputation and legal and moral propriety. He was also obliged to observe the constraints imposed by Roman custom and his decisions should be obtained through counsel, consultation and consent within the familia, which were decisions by committee. The family consilia probably involved the most senior members of his own household, especially his wie, augustuss legislation on the morality of marriage co-opted the traditional potestas of the pater familias. Augustus was not only Romes princeps but also its father, as such, he was responsible for the entire Roman familia. Romes survival required that citizens produce children and that could not be left to individual conscience. The falling birth rate was considered a marker of degeneracy and self-indulgence, particularly among the elite, Lex Julia maritandis ordinibus compelled marriage upon men and women within specified age ranges and remarriage on the divorced and bereaved within certain time limits. The Lex Julia de adulteriis coercendis severely penalised adulterous wives and any husbands who tolerated such behaviour, the Lex Papia Poppaea extended and modified the laws in relation to intermarriage between social classes and inheritance. Compliance was rewarded and exceptional public duty brought exemption, but dictatorial compulsion was deeply unpopular, the laws were later softened in theory and practise, but the imperial quaestio perpetua remained
37.
Egypt
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Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian
38.
Basalt
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Basalt is a common extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of basaltic lava exposed at or very near the surface of a planet or moon. Flood basalt describes the formation in a series of basalt flows. By definition, basalt is an igneous rock with generally 45-55% silica and less than 10% feldspathoid by volume. Basalt commonly features a very fine-grained or glassy matrix interspersed with visible mineral grains, the average density is 3.0 gm/cm3. Basalt is defined by its content and texture, and physical descriptions without mineralogical context may be unreliable in some circumstances. Basalt is usually grey to black in colour, but rapidly weathers to brown or rust-red due to oxidation of its mafic minerals into hematite, although usually characterized as dark, basaltic rocks exhibit a wide range of shading due to regional geochemical processes. Due to weathering or high concentrations of plagioclase, some basalts can be quite light-coloured and these phenocrysts usually are of olivine or a calcium-rich plagioclase, which have the highest melting temperatures of the typical minerals that can crystallize from the melt. Basalt with a texture is called vesicular basalt, when the bulk of the rock is mostly solid. Gabbro is often marketed commercially as black granite and these ultramafic volcanic rocks, with silica contents below 45% are usually classified as komatiites. Agricola applied basalt to the black rock of the Schloßberg at Stolpen. Tholeiitic basalt is relatively rich in silica and poor in sodium, included in this category are most basalts of the ocean floor, most large oceanic islands, and continental flood basalts such as the Columbia River Plateau. Basalt rocks are in some cases classified after their content in High-Ti and Low-Ti varieties. High-Ti and Low-Ti basalts have been distinguished in the Paraná and Etendeka traps and it has greater than 17% alumina and is intermediate in composition between tholeiite and alkali basalt, the relatively alumina-rich composition is based on rocks without phenocrysts of plagioclase. Alkali basalt is relatively poor in silica and rich in sodium and it is silica-undersaturated and may contain feldspathoids, alkali feldspar and phlogopite. Boninite is a form of basalt that is erupted generally in back-arc basins. Ocean island basalt Lunar basalt On Earth, most basalt magmas have formed by melting of the mantle. Basalt commonly erupts on Io, the third largest moon of Jupiter, and has formed on the Moon, Mars, Venus. The crustal portions of oceanic tectonic plates are composed predominantly of basalt, produced from upwelling mantle below, the mineralogy of basalt is characterized by a preponderance of calcic plagioclase feldspar and pyroxene
39.
Louvre
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The Louvre or the Louvre Museum is the worlds largest museum and a historic monument in Paris, France. A central landmark of the city, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the citys 1st arrondissement, approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are exhibited over an area of 72,735 square metres. The Louvre is the second most visited museum after the Palace Museum in China. The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built as a fortress in the late 12th century under Philip II, remnants of the fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. Due to the expansion of the city, the fortress eventually lost its defensive function and. The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace, in 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years, during the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum to display the nations masterpieces. The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801. The collection was increased under Napoleon and the museum renamed Musée Napoléon, the collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and bequests since the Third Republic, whether this was the first building on that spot is not known, it is possible that Philip modified an existing tower. According to the authoritative Grand Larousse encyclopédique, the name derives from an association with wolf hunting den, in the 7th century, St. Fare, an abbess in Meaux, left part of her Villa called Luvra situated in the region of Paris to a monastery. This territory probably did not correspond exactly to the modern site, the Louvre Palace was altered frequently throughout the Middle Ages. In the 14th century, Charles V converted the building into a residence and in 1546, Francis acquired what would become the nucleus of the Louvres holdings, his acquisitions including Leonardo da Vincis Mona Lisa. After Louis XIV chose Versailles as his residence in 1682, constructions slowed, however, on 14 October 1750, Louis XV agreed and sanctioned a display of 96 pieces from the royal collection, mounted in the Galerie royale de peinture of the Luxembourg Palace. Under Louis XVI, the museum idea became policy. The comte dAngiviller broadened the collection and in 1776 proposed conversion of the Grande Galerie of the Louvre – which contained maps – into the French Museum, many proposals were offered for the Louvres renovation into a museum, however, none was agreed on. Hence the museum remained incomplete until the French Revolution, during the French Revolution the Louvre was transformed into a public museum. In May 1791, the Assembly declared that the Louvre would be a place for bringing together monuments of all the sciences, on 10 August 1792, Louis XVI was imprisoned and the royal collection in the Louvre became national property
40.
Battle of Actium
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Octavians fleet was commanded by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, while Antonys fleet was supported by the power of Queen Cleopatra of Ptolemaic Egypt. Octavians victory enabled him to consolidate his power over Rome and its dominions and he adopted the title of Princeps and some years later was awarded the title of Augustus by the Roman Senate. This became the name by which he was known in later times, the battle also marked the start of about three centuries of unequalled Roman naval supremacy over the entirety of the Mediterranean and beyond. The alliance between Octavian, Antony and Lepidus, commonly known as the Second Triumvirate, was renewed for a term in 38 BC. However, the triumvirate broke down when Octavian saw Caesarion, the son of Julius Caesar and Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt. This occurred when Mark Antony, the other most influential member of the triumvirate, abandoned his wife, afterwards he moved to Egypt to start a long-term romance with Cleopatra, becoming the de facto stepfather to Caesarion. Such an affair was doomed to become a political scandal, Antony was inevitably perceived by Octavian and the majority of the Roman Senate as the leader of a separatist movement that threatened to break the unity of the Roman Republic. Both Octavian and Antony had fought against their enemies in the civil war that followed the assassination of Caesar. After years of cooperation with Octavian, Antony started to act independently, eventually raising his rivals suspicion that he was vying to become sole master of Rome. As a personal challenge to Octavians prestige, Antony tried to get Caesarion accepted as an heir of Caesar. Antony and Cleopatra formally elevated Caesarion, then 13, to power in 34 BC, giving him the vague, being a son of Caesar, such an entitlement was felt as a threat to Roman republican traditions. According to a belief, Antony had once offered a diadem to Caesar. It was also said that Antony intended to move the capital of the empire to Alexandria, as the Second Triumvirate formally expired on the last day of 33 BC, Antony wrote to the Senate that he did not wish to be reappointed. He hoped that he might be regarded by them as their champion against the ambition of Octavian, the causes of mutual dissatisfaction between the two had been continually accumulating. Antony complained that Octavian had exceeded his powers in deposing Lepidus, in taking over the countries held by Sextus Pompeius, during 32 BC, a third of the Senate and both consuls allied with Antony. The consuls had determined to conceal the extent of Antonys demands, after staying with his allies at Samos, Antony moved to Athens. His land forces, which had been in Armenia, came down to the coast of Asia, Octavian was not behind in his strategic preparations. Military operations began in 31 BC, when Octavians general Agrippa captured Methone, in addition to the deposition Octavian procured a vote for a proclamation of war against Cleopatra – well understood to mean against Antony, though he was not named
41.
Palatine Hill
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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
42.
Galba
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/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
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