1.
Capitoline Museums
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The Capitoline Museums are a single museum containing a group of art and archeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The history of the museums can be traced to 1471, when Pope Sixtus IV donated a collection of important ancient bronzes to the people of Rome, the museums are owned and operated by the municipality of Rome. The statue of a rider in the centre of the piazza is of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It is a copy, the original being housed on-site in the Capitoline museum. Open to the public in 1734 under Clement XII, the Capitoline Museums are considered the first museum in the world, understood as a place where art could be enjoyed by all and this section contains collections sorted by building, and brief information on the buildings themselves. For the history of their design and construction, see Capitoline Hill#Michelangelo, the Capitoline Museums are composed of three main buildings surrounding the Piazza del Campidoglio and interlinked by an underground gallery beneath the piazza. In addition, the 16th century Palazzo Caffarelli-Clementino, located off the adjacent to the Palazzo dei Conservatori, was added to the museum complex in the early 20th century. The collections here are ancient sculpture, mostly Roman but also Greek, the Conservators Apartment is distinguished by elaborate interior decorations, including frescoes, stuccos, tapestries, and carved ceilings and doors. The third floor of the Palazzo dei Conservatori houses the Capitoline Art Gallery, housing the museums painting, the Capitoline Coin Cabinet, containing collections of coins, medals, jewels, and jewelry, is located in the attached Palazzo Caffarelli-Clementino. Statues, inscriptions, sarcophagi, busts, mosaics, and other ancient Roman artifacts occupy two floors of the Palazzo Nuovo, in the Hall of the Galatian can also be appreciated the marble statue of the Dying Gaul also called “Capitoline Gaul” and the statue of Cupid and Psyche. The gallery was constructed in the 1930s and it contains in situ 2nd century ruins of ancient Roman dwellings, and also houses the Galleria Lapidaria, which displays the Museums collection of epigraphs. The new great glass covered hall — the Sala Marco Aurelio — created by covering the Giardino Romano is similar to the one used for the Sala Ottagonale, the design is by the architect Carlo Aymonino. Its volume recalls that of the oval space designed by Michelangelo for the piazza and its centerpiece is the bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, which was once in the centre of Piazza del Campidoglio and has been kept indoors ever since its modern restoration. Moving these statues out of the palazzo allows those sculptures temporarily moved to the Centrale Montemartini to be brought back. The Centrale Montemartini is a power station of Acea in southern Rome. Its permanent collection comprises 400 ancient statues, moved here during the reorganisation of the Capitoline Museums in 1997, along with tombs, busts, many of them were excavated in the ancient Roman horti between the 1890s and 1930s, a fruitful period for Roman archaeology. They are displayed there along the lines of Tate Modern, except that the machinery has not been moved out, Capitoline Brutus Capitoline Museums official website
2.
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
3.
Roman consul
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A consul was the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic, and the consulship was considered the highest level of the cursus honorum. Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term, the consuls alternated in holding imperium each month, and a consuls imperium extended over Rome, Italy, and the provinces. Originally, consuls were called praetors, referring to their duties as the military commanders. By at least 300 BC the title of Consul was being used, in Greek, the title was originally rendered as στρατηγός ὕπατος, strategos hypatos, and later simply as ὕπατος. The consul was believed by the Romans to date back to the establishment of the Republic in 509 BC. These remained in place until the office was abolished in 367/366 BC, consuls had extensive powers in peacetime, and in wartime often held the highest military command. Additional religious duties included certain rites which, as a sign of their formal importance, consuls also read auguries, an essential step before leading armies into the field. Two consuls were elected each year, serving together, each with power over the others actions. It is thought that only patricians were eligible for the consulship. Consuls were elected by the Comitia Centuriata, which had a bias in its voting structure which only increased over the years from its foundation. If a consul died during his term or was removed from office, a consul elected to start the year - called a consul ordinarius - held more prestige than a suffect consul, partly because the year would be named for ordinary consuls. The first plebeian consul, Lucius Sextius, was elected the following year and it is possible that only the chronology has been distorted, but it seems that one of the first consuls, Lucius Junius Brutus, came from a plebeian family. Another possible explanation is that during the 5th century social struggles, during times of war, the primary qualification for consul was military skill and reputation, but at all times the selection was politically charged. With the passage of time, the became the normal endpoint of the cursus honorum. When Lucius Cornelius Sulla regulated the cursus by law, the age of election to consul became. Beginning in the late Republic, after finishing a year, a former consul would usually serve a lucrative term as a proconsul. The most commonly chosen province for the proconsulship was Cisalpine Gaul, throughout the early years of the Principate although the consuls were still formally elected by the Comitia Centuriata, they were in fact nominated by the princeps. It was a post that would be occupied by a man halfway through his career, in his early thirties for a patrician, emperors frequently appointed themselves, or their protégés or relatives, consuls, even without regard to the age requirements
4.
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
5.
King of Rome
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The King of Rome was the chief magistrate of the Roman Kingdom. According to legend, the first king of Rome was Romulus, seven legendary kings are said to have ruled Rome until 509 BC, when the last king was overthrown. These kings ruled for an average of 35 years, the kings after Romulus were not known to be dynasts and no reference is made to the hereditary principle until after the fifth king Tarquinius Priscus. Consequently, some have assumed that the Tarquins and their attempt to institute a hereditary monarchy over this conjectured earlier elective monarchy resulted in the formation of the republic, early Rome was not self-governing, and was ruled by the king. The king possessed absolute power over the people, the senate was a weak oligarchy, capable of exercising only minor administrative powers, so that Rome was ruled by its king who was in effect an absolute monarch. The senates main function was to out and administer the wishes of the king. Candidates for the throne could be chosen from any source, for example, one such candidate, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus was originally a citizen and migrant from a neighboring Etruscan city-state. The people of Rome, sitting as the Curiate Assembly, could either accept or reject the nominated candidate-king. The insignia of the king was twelve lictors wielding the fasces, a throne of a Curule chair, the purple Toga Picta, red shoes, only the king could wear a purple toga. The people knew the king as a mediator between them and the gods and thus viewed the king with religious awe and this made the king the head of the national religion and its chief executive. Having the power to control the Roman calendar, he conducted all religious ceremonies and appointed lower religious offices and it was Romulus who instituted the augurs and who was believed to have been the best augur of all. Likewise, King Numa Pompilius instituted the pontiffs and through them developed the foundations of the dogma of Rome. Beyond his religious authority, the king was invested with the military, executive. The imperium of the king was held for life and protected him from ever being brought to trial for his actions. As being the owner of imperium in Rome at the time. His executive power and his sole imperium allowed him to issue decrees with the force of law, also, the laws that kept citizens safe from the misuse of magistrates owning imperium did not exist during the times of the king. Another power of the king was the power to appoint or nominate all officials to offices. The king would appoint a tribunus celerum to serve as both the tribune of Ramnes tribe in Rome but also as the commander of the personal bodyguard
6.
Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy)
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The last event covered by Livy is the death of Drusus in 9 BC. About 25% of the work survives, the History of Rome originally comprised 142 books, thirty-five of which — Books 1–10 with the Preface and Books 21–45 — still exist in reasonably complete form. Damage to a manuscript of the 5th century resulted in gaps in Books 41 and 43–45, that is. Livy was abridged, in antiquity, to an epitome, which survives for Book 1, but was itself abridged in the century into the so-called Periochae. The Periochae survive for the work, except for books 136 and 137. In Oxyrhynchus, a summary of books 37–40 and 48–55 was found on a roll of papyrus that is now in the British Museum classified as P. Oxy. IV0668. There is another fragment, named P. Oxy. XI1379, which represents a passage from the first book, however the Oxyrhynchus Epitome is damaged and incomplete. The entire work covers the periods, Books 1–5 – The legendary founding of Rome, the period of the kings. Books 6–10 – Wars with the Aequi, Volsci, Etruscans, Books 11–20 – The period from 292 to 218 BC, including the First Punic War. Books 21–30 – The Second Punic War, from 218 to 202 BC, Books 31–45 – The Macedonian and other eastern wars from 201 to 167 BC. Books 46 to 142 are all lost, Books 46–70 – The period from 167 to the outbreak of the Social War in 91 BC, Books 71–90 – The civil wars between Marius and Sulla, to the death of Sulla in 78 BC. Books 91–108 – From 78 BC through the end of the Gallic War, Books 109–116 – From the Civil War to the death of Caesar. Books 117-133 – The wars of the triumvirs down to the death of Antonius, Books 134-142 – The rule of Augustus down to the death of Drusus. The first book has one of the most significant sources of the various accounts of the traditional legend of Romulus and Remus. His version of the legend is told in chapters 3-7 of the first book, Livy states that the twins were born to a vestal named Rea Silvia. Proca, her grandfather had willed the throne to his son Numitor but he was deposed by her uncle. She was forced to take the Vestal oath to prevent her from producing a rival to his rule and she became pregnant after taking her vows and claimed that she had been raped by Mars, the roman god of war. Livy speculates that the claim may have made to conceal an earthly affair
7.
Pythia
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The Pythia, was the name of the High Priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi who also served as the oracle, commonly known as the Oracle of Delphi. The name Pythia is derived from Pytho, which in myth was the name of Delphi. Pythia was the House of Snakes, the Pythia was established at the latest in the 8th century BC, and was widely credited for her prophecies inspired by being filled by the spirit of the god, in this case Apollo. The Pythian priestess emerged pre-eminent by the end of 7th century BC, during this period the Delphic Oracle was the most prestigious and authoritative oracle among the Greeks, and she was without doubt the most powerful woman of the classical world. The oracle is one of the religious institutions of the classical Greeks. Nevertheless, details of how the Pythia operated are missing as authors from the classical period treat the process as common knowledge with no need to explain and those who discussed the oracle in any detail are from 1st century BC to 4th century AD and give conflicting stories. Herodotus, writing in the fifth century BC describes the Pythia speaking in dactylic hexameters, the 8th-century reformulation of the Oracle at Delphi as a shrine to Apollo seems associated with the rise in importance of the city of Corinth and the importance of sites in the Corinthian Gulf. The earliest account of the origin of the Delphic oracle is provided in the Homeric Hymn to Delphic Apollo, which recent scholarship dates within a narrow range, c. It describes in detail how Apollo chose his first priests, whom he selected in their swift ship, but Apollo, who had Delphinios as one of his cult epithets, leapt into the ship in the form of a dolphin. Dolphin-Apollo revealed himself to the terrified Cretans, and bade them follow him up to the place where you will have rich offerings. The Cretans danced in time and followed, singing Iē Paiēon, paean seems to have been the name by which Apollo was known in Mycenaean times. G. L. Huxley observes, If the hymn to Apollo conveys a historical message, an early visitor to these dells of Parnassus, at the end of the eighth century, was Hesiod, who was shown the omphalos. There are also many stories of the origins of the Delphic Oracle. On entering the chasm, he found himself filled with a presence and could see outside of the present into the past. Excited by his discovery he shared it with nearby villagers, many started visiting the site to experience the convulsions and inspirational trances, though some were said to disappear into the cleft due to their frenzied state. A shrine was erected at the site, where people began worshiping in the late Bronze Age, after the deaths of a number of men, the villagers chose a single young woman as the liaison for the divine inspirations. Eventually she spoke on behalf of gods, according to earlier myths, the office of the oracle was initially possessed by the goddesses Themis and Phoebe, and the site was initially sacred to Gaia. Subsequently, it was believed to be sacred to Poseidon, the Earth-shaker god of earthquakes, apparently Poseidon was mollified by the gift of a new site in Troizen
8.
Plutarch
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Plutarch was a Greek biographer and essayist, known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia. He is classified as a Middle Platonist, Plutarchs surviving works were written in Greek, but intended for both Greek and Roman readers. Plutarch was born to a prominent family in the town of Chaeronea, about 80 km east of Delphi. The name of Plutarchs father has not been preserved, but based on the common Greek custom of repeating a name in alternate generations, the name of Plutarchs grandfather was Lamprias, as he attested in Moralia and in his Life of Antony. His brothers, Timon and Lamprias, are mentioned in his essays and dialogues. Rualdus, in his 1624 work Life of Plutarchus, recovered the name of Plutarchs wife, Timoxena, from internal evidence afforded by his writings. A letter is still extant, addressed by Plutarch to his wife, bidding her not to grieve too much at the death of their two-year-old daughter, interestingly, he hinted at a belief in reincarnation in that letter of consolation. The exact number of his sons is not certain, although two of them, Autobulus and the second Plutarch, are often mentioned. Plutarchs treatise De animae procreatione in Timaeo is dedicated to them, another person, Soklarus, is spoken of in terms which seem to imply that he was Plutarchs son, but this is nowhere definitely stated. Plutarch studied mathematics and philosophy at the Academy of Athens under Ammonius from 66 to 67, at some point, Plutarch took Roman citizenship. He lived most of his life at Chaeronea, and was initiated into the mysteries of the Greek god Apollo. For many years Plutarch served as one of the two priests at the temple of Apollo at Delphi, the site of the famous Delphic Oracle, twenty miles from his home. By his writings and lectures Plutarch became a celebrity in the Roman Empire, yet he continued to reside where he was born, at his country estate, guests from all over the empire congregated for serious conversation, presided over by Plutarch in his marble chair. Many of these dialogues were recorded and published, and the 78 essays, Plutarch held the office of archon in his native municipality, probably only an annual one which he likely served more than once. He busied himself with all the matters of the town. The Suda, a medieval Greek encyclopedia, states that Emperor Trajan made Plutarch procurator of Illyria, however, most historians consider this unlikely, since Illyria was not a procuratorial province, and Plutarch probably did not speak Illyrian. Plutarch spent the last thirty years of his serving as a priest in Delphi. He thus connected part of his work with the sanctuary of Apollo, the processes of oracle-giving
9.
Equites
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A member of the equestrian order was known as an eques. During the Roman kingdom and the 1st century of the Republic, legionary cavalry was recruited exclusively from the ranks of the patricians, around 400 BC,12 more centuriae of cavalry were established and these included non-patricians. Around 300 BC the Samnite Wars obliged Rome to double the annual military levy from two to four legions, doubling the cavalry levy from 600 to 1,200 horses. Legionary cavalry started to recruit wealthier citizens from outside the 18 centuriae and these new recruits came from the First Class of commoners in the centuriate organisation and were not granted the same privileges. By the time of the Second Punic War, all the members of the First Class of commoners were required to serve as cavalrymen. After c.88 BC, equites were no longer drafted into the legionary cavalry and they continued to supply the senior officers of the army throughout the Principate. With the exception of the purely hereditary patricians, the equites were originally defined by a property threshold, in the later Republican period, Roman Senators and their offspring became an unofficial elite within the equestrian order. As senators ability to engage in commerce was limited by law. As well as holding large landed estates, equites came to dominate mining, shipping and manufacturing industry, in particular, tax farming companies were almost all in the hands of equites. Under Augustus, the elite was given formal status with a higher wealth threshold and superior rank. During the Principate, equites filled the senior administrative and military posts of the imperial government, there was a clear division between jobs reserved for senators and those reserved for non-senatorial equites. Senators and equites formed an elite of under 10,000 members who monopolised political, military. This effectively reduced the Italian aristocracy to an idle, but immensely wealthy group of large landowners, during the 4th century, the status of equites was debased to insignificance by excessive grants of the rank. At the same time the ranks of senators were swollen to over 4,000 by the establishment of a second senate in Constantinople, the senatorial order of the 4th century was thus the equivalent of the equestrian order of the Principate. According to Roman legend, Rome was founded by its first king, Romulus, however, archaeological evidence suggests that Rome did not acquire the character of a unified city-state until ca.625 BC. This cavalry regiment was supposedly doubled in size to 600 men by King Tarquinius Priscus and that the cavalry was increased to 600 during the regal era is plausible, as in the early Republic the cavalry fielded remained 600-strong. However, according to Livy, king Servius Tullius established a further 12 centuriae of equites, apparently, equites were originally provided with a sum of money by the state to purchase a horse for military service and for its fodder. This was known as an equus publicus, mommsen argues that the royal cavalry was drawn exclusively from the ranks of the Patricians, the aristocracy of early Rome, which was purely hereditary
10.
Tarquinia
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In 1922 it was renamed after the ancient city of Tarquinii or Tarchna. Although little is visible of the great wealth and extent of the ancient city. The Etruscan and Roman city is situated on the plateau of La Civita to the north of the current town. The ancient burial grounds, dating from the Iron Age to Roman times, were on the adjacent promontories including that of todays Tarquinia and it is said to have been already a flourishing city when Demaratus of Corinth brought in Greek workmen. Descendants of Demaratus, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus and Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, from Tarchuna many of the religious rites and ceremonies of Rome are said to have been derived, and even in imperial times a collegium of sixty haruspices continued to exist there. In 509 BC after the overthrow of the Roman monarchy the family of Tarquinius Superbus went into exile in Caere and he sought to regain the throne at first by the Tarquinian conspiracy and, when that failed, by force of arms. He convinced the cities of Tarchuna and Veii to support him, although the Roman army was victorious it is recorded by Livy that the forces of Tarchuna fought well on the right wing, initially pushing back the Roman left wing. After the battle the forces of Tarchuna returned home, the Spurinnas tomb, known as the Tomba dellOrco, is decorated with fine frescoes of a banquet uniting the famous members of the family who are identified by inscriptions. The Spurinna family was prominent in Tarquinii up to the 1st Century AD, recently two fragmented slabs were found known as the Elogia Tarquiniensis. During this period, Tarchuna overtook Caere and other Etruscan cities in terms of power and it was about this period that colossal walls were built around the city in response to threats from the Celts and from Rome. Tarchuna, not affected by Celtic invasions, finally colonised all its previously held territories in about 385 BC and this new flourishing state allowed a rapid recovery of all activities. However, during the fourth century BC when Tarchunas expansion was at its peak, a bitter struggle with Rome took place. In 358 BC, the citizens of Tarchuna captured and put to death 307 Roman soldiers, a bishop of Tarquinii is mentioned in 456AD. The last historic references to Tarquinii are from around 1250, while the name of Corneto was changed to Tarquinia in 1922, reversion to historical place names, was a frequent phenomenon under the Fascist Government of Italy as part of the nationalist campaign to evoke past glories. The painted scenes are of a quality virtually unrivalled elsewhere in the Etruscan world and they show banquets with dances and music, sporting events, occasional erotic and mythical scenes. Famous tombs include the Tomb of the Bulls, Tomb of the Augurs, during the second half of the 4th century sculpted and painted sarcophagi of nenfro, marble and alabaster came into use. They were deposited on rock-carved benches or against the walls in the by then very large underground chambers, sarcophagi continued until the second century and are found in such numbers at Tarquinia that they must have been manufactured locally. The city towered above the Marta valley and was about 6 km from the sea, La Civita is made up of two adjoining plateaux, the pian di Civita and the pian della Regina, joined by a narrow saddle
Media related to Lucius Junius Brutus at Wikimedia Commons
