1.
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
2.
Ancus Marcius
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Ancus Marcius was the legendary fourth king of Rome. He was the son of Marcius, who may be identified with Numa Marcius, according to Festus, Marcius had the surname of Ancus from his crooked arm. Upon the death of the king, Tullus Hostilius, the Roman Senate appointed an interrex. Ancus Marcius was believed by the Romans to have been the namesake of the Marcii and he waged war successfully against the Latins, and a number of them were settled on the Aventine Hill. According to Livy the war was commenced by the Latins who anticipated Ancus would follow the pious pursuit of peace adopted by his grandfather, the Latins initially made an incursion on Roman lands. When a Roman embassy sought restitution for the damage, the Latins gave a contemptuous reply, Ancus accordingly declared war on the Latins. The declaration is notable since, according to Livy, it was the first time that the Romans had declared war by means of the rites of the fetials, Ancus Marcius marched from Rome with a newly levied army and took the Latin town of Politorium by storm. Its residents were removed to settle on the Aventine Hill in Rome as new citizens, following the Roman traditions from wars with the Sabines, when the other Latins subsequently occupied the empty town of Politorium, Ancus took the town again and demolished it. The Latin villages of Tellenae and Ficana were also sacked and demolished, the war then focused on the Latin town of Medullia. The town had a garrison and was well fortified. Several engagements took place outside the town and the Romans were eventually victorious, Ancus returned to Rome with much booty. More Latins were brought to Rome as citizens and were settled at the foot of the Aventine near the Palatine Hill, by the temple of Murcia. Ancus Marcius incorporated the Janiculum into the city, fortifying it with a wall and connecting it with the city by a bridge across the Tiber. On the land side of the city he constructed the Fossa Quiritium and he also built Romes first prison, the Mamertine prison. He expanded the temple of Jupiter Feretrius to reflect these territorial successes, according to a reconstruction of the Fasti Triumphales, Ancus Marcius celebrated at least one triumph, over the Sabines and Veientes. Ancus Marcius was succeeded by Lucius Tarquinius Priscus who would later be executed by the sons of Ancus Marcius, patrician Marcius Rex -family is descended from Ancus Marcius and remained prominent during the republic and empire. Attribution Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Ancus Marcius
3.
Servius Tullius
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Servius Tullius was the legendary sixth king of Rome, and the second of its Etruscan dynasty. He reigned 575–535 BC. Roman and Greek sources describe his origins and later marriage to a daughter of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Romes first Etruscan king. Several traditions describe Servius father as divine, Livy depicts Servius mother as a captured Latin princess enslaved by the Romans, her child is chosen as Romes future king after a ring of fire is seen around his head. The Emperor Claudius discounted such origins and described him as an originally Etruscan mercenary, named Mastarna, Servius was a popular king, and one of Romes most significant benefactors. He had military successes against Veii and the Etruscans, and expanded the city to include the Quirinal, Viminal and Esquiline hills. He is traditionally credited with the institution of the Compitalia festivals, the building of temples to Fortuna and Diana and, less plausibly, despite the opposition of Romes patricians, he expanded the Roman franchise and improved the lot and fortune of Romes lowest classes of citizens and non-citizens. According to Livy, he reigned for 44 years, until murdered by his daughter Tullia, in consequence of this tragic crime and his hubristic arrogance as king, Tarquinius was eventually removed. This cleared the way for the abolition of Romes monarchy and the founding of the Roman Republic, before its establishment as a Republic, Rome was ruled by kings. In Roman tradition, Romes founder Romulus was the first, Servius Tullius was the sixth, and his successor Tarquinius Superbus was the last. The nature of Roman kingship is unclear, most Roman kings were elected by the senate, as to a lifetime magistracy, some were native Romans, others were foreign. Later Romans had a complex relationship with this distant past. In Republican mores and institutions kingship was abhorrent, and remained so, in name at least, Servius Tullius has been described as Romes second founder, the most complex and enigmatic of all its kings, and a kind of proto-Republican magistrate. The oldest surviving source for the political developments of the Roman kingdom and Republic is Ciceros De republica. Livys sources probably included at least some official state records, he excluded what seemed implausible or contradictory traditions, and arranged his material within an overarching chronology. Dionysius and Plutarch offer various alternatives not found in Livy, and Livys own pupil and she was given to Tanaquil, wife of king Tarquinius, and though slave, was treated with the respect due her former status. In one variant, she became wife to a client of Tarquinius. According to Tanaquil, this was a manifestation, either of the household Lar or Vulcan himself. Thus Servius was divinely fathered and already destined for greatness, despite his mothers status, for the time being, Tanaquil
4.
Tanaquil
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Tanaquil was the wife of Tarquinius Priscus, fifth king of Rome. She had four children, two daughters and two sons, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, seventh and last king of Rome, and Arruns Tarquinius, one of the daughters became the wife to Servius Tullius, when he became the successor of Tarquinius Priscus. Knowing this, Tanaquil encouraged him to move to Rome, which was not at the time dominated by a local aristocracy. Her strong prophetic abilities helped her to install Tarquin as king, while on the road to Rome, an eagle flew off with Tarquins hat and then returned it to his head. Tanaquil interpreted this as a sign that the gods wanted him to become a king, tanaquils prophecy was eventually realized for Tarquin - he eventually became friends with King Ancus Marcius, who made Tarquin guardian of his children. When the king died before his children were old enough to become successors to the throne and he ruled from 616 to 579 BCE. Tanaquil also played a role in the rise of Servius Tullius, raising him as her own child, Tanaquil believed Servius would be the next successor to the throne. Her dreams would be realized when, one day Servius was sleeping, the fires danced around his head without hurting him and when Servius awoke, the fire disappeared. Taking this as an omen, Tanaquil knew Servius would one day be king, when Tarquin was murdered, Tanaquil hid his death from her subjects, instead telling them that Tarquin appointed Servius as a temporary king until he got better. After gaining the respect and commanding the kingship, Servius. Tanaquil had a daughter, who married Servius Tullius, and two sons, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus and Arruns Tarquinius, who would marry Tullia, the daughter of Servius Tullius. According to Festus, she changed her name to Gaia Cirillo when she arrived at Rome, under this name she is the mythical source of various Roman wedding customs. She was remembered as an artisan in the art of working with wool. Queen Gaia was so admired by the Romans of her day that it was a public decree that any new bride entering their royal palace would announce their name as Gaia when asked. This was said to be an omen of future frugality for these women, Pliny says that a statue was dedicated to her as Gaia Caecilia in the temple of Semo Sancus. Stemma Tarquiniorum Pliny the Elder, Natural Histories VIII.74.194 Livy, Ab urbe condita I.34,39,41 Cassius Dio, Roman History, retrieved May 9,2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Raia, Ann R. and Sebesta, Judith Lynn, Roman History, vol.1 Loeb Classical Library edition,1914. Who was who in the Roman World, biographical dictionary of ancient Greek and Roman women, notable women from Sappho to Helena
5.
Livy
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Livy and Augustuss wife, Livia, were from the same clan in different locations, although not related by blood. Livy was born as Titus Livius in Patavium in northern Italy, there is a debate about the year of Titus Livius birth,64 BC or more likely 59 BC. At the time of his birth, his city of Patavium was the second wealthiest on the Italian peninsula. Patavium was a part of the province of Cisalpine Gaul at the time, in his works, Livy often expressed his deep affection and pride for Patavium, and the city was well known for its conservative values in morality and politics. Livy’s teen years were during the 40s BC, a time that coincided with the wars that were occurring throughout the Roman world. The governor of Cisalpine Gaul at the time, a man called Asinius Pollio, had tried to bring Patavium into the camp of Marcus Antonius, the wealthier citizens of Patavium refused to contribute money and arms to Asinius Pollio, and went into hiding. Therefore, Livy and the residents of Patavium did not end up supporting Marcus Antonius in his campaign for control over Rome. Later on, Asinius Pollio made a jibe at Livys patavinity and his jibe at Livy and his patavinity, however, may have been said because the city of Patavium had rejected Asinius Pollio, and he still harboured harsh feelings toward the city as a whole. Titus Livius probably went to Rome in the 30s BC, and it is likely that he spent an amount of time in the city after this. During his time in Rome, he was never a senator nor held any other governmental position and his elementary mistakes in military matters show that he was never a soldier. However, he was educated in philosophy and rhetoric and it seems that Livy had the financial resources and means to live an independent life. He devoted a part of his life to his writings. Livy was known to give recitations to small audiences, but he was not heard of to engage in declamation and he was familiar with the emperor Augustus, formerly Octavian, and the imperial family. Octavian was one of the three men fighting for the control of Rome during the Civil Wars in the 40s BC, Octavian gained power after defeating Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra, and was later given the honorary name of Augustus. Considering that Augustus came to be known as the greatest Roman emperor in the eyes of the Romans and it is said that Livy was the one who encouraged the future emperor Claudius, who was born in 10 BC, to explore the writing of history during his childhood. Livy himself was married and had at least one daughter and one son, Livy’s most famous work was his history of Rome. In it he explains the history of the city of Rome. Because he was writing under the emperor Augustus, Livy’s history emphasizes the great triumphs of Rome and he wrote his history with embellished accounts of Roman heroism in order to promote the new type of government implemented by Augustus when he became emperor
6.
Etruria
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Etruria was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now Tuscany, Lazio, and Umbria. Such trade occurred either directly with Egypt, or through intermediaries such as Greek or Phoenician sailors, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany styled itself in Latin as Magnus Ducatus Etruriae. The name Etruria was also applied to the Kingdom of Etruria, a particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H. Lawrences Sketches of Etruscan Places and other Italian essays. Etruscan was the language for meetings. When Etruria was conquered by the Roman Republic, Latin became the official language, cities and Cemeteries of Etruria, by George Dennis, an overview of Etruscan civilisation
7.
Etruscan language
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The Etruscan language was the spoken and written language of the Etruscan civilization, in Italy, in the ancient region of Etruria and in parts of Campania, Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna. Etruscan influenced Latin, but was eventually superseded by it. Grammatically, the language is agglutinating, with nouns and verbs showing suffixed inflectional endings, nouns show four cases, singular and plural numbers, and masculine and feminine genders. Phonologically, Etruscan appears uncomplicated, with a system and an apparent contrast between aspirated and unaspirated stops. The language shows phonetic change over time, with the loss, Etruscan religion influenced that of the Romans and many of the few surviving Etruscan language artifacts are of votive or religious significance. Etruscan was written in a derived from the Greek alphabet. The Etruscan language is believed to be the source of certain important cultural words of Western Europe such as military and people. Etruscan literacy was widespread over the Mediterranean shores, as evidenced by about 13,000 inscriptions, most fairly short and they date from about 700 BC. The Etruscans had a rich literature, as noted by Latin authors, however, only one book, the Liber Linteus has survived. By AD100, Etruscan had been replaced by Latin, around 180, the Latin author Aulus Gellius mentions Etruscan alongside the Gaulish language in an anecdote. Only a few educated Romans with antiquarian interests, such as Marcus Terentius Varro, plautia Urgulanilla, the emperors first wife, was Etruscan. Livy and Cicero were both aware that highly specialized Etruscan religious rites were codified in several sets of written in Etruscan under the generic Latin title Etrusca Disciplina. The Libri Haruspicini dealt with divination from the entrails of the sacrificed animal, a third set, the Libri Rituales, might have provided a key to Etruscan civilization, its wider scope embraced Etruscan standards of social and political life, as well as ritual practices. The single extant Etruscan book, Liber Linteus, which was written on linen and this range may indicate a maximum Italian homeland where the language was at one time spoken. Outside of mainland Italy inscriptions have been found in North Africa, Corsica, Elba, Gallia Narbonensis, Greece, the Balkans, by far the greatest concentration is in Italy. An inscription found on Lemnos in 1886 is in a similar to that used to write the Etruscan language. A few concepts of word formation have been formulated, modern knowledge of the language is incomplete. Etruscan was traditionally considered to be a language isolate, in the first century BC, the Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus stated that the Etruscan language was unlike any other
8.
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
9.
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
10.
Ancient Corinth
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Corinth was a city-state on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnese to the mainland of Greece, roughly halfway between Athens and Sparta. The modern town of Corinth is located approximately 5 kilometres northeast of the ancient ruins, for Christians, Corinth is well-known from the two letters of Saint Paul in the New Testament, First Corinthians and Second Corinthians. Corinth is also mentioned in the Book of Acts as part of the Apostle Pauls missionary travels, in addition, the second book of Pausanias Description of Greece is devoted to Corinth. Ancient Corinth was one of the largest and most important cities of Greece, the Romans demolished Corinth in 146 BC, built a new city in its place in 44 BC, and later made it the provincial capital of Greece. According to Hellenic myth, the city was founded by Corinthos, however, other myths suggest that it was founded by the goddess Ephyra, a daughter of the Titan Oceanus, thus the ancient name of the city. There is evidence that the city was destroyed around 2000 BC, some ancient names for the place are derived from a pre-Greek Pelasgian language, such as Korinthos. It seems likely that Corinth was also the site of a Bronze Age Mycenaean palace-city, like Mycenae, Tiryns, according to myth, Sisyphus was the founder of a race of ancient kings at Corinth. It was also in Corinth that Jason, the leader of the Argonauts, during the Trojan War, as portrayed in the Iliad, the Corinthians participated under the leadership of Agamemnon. In a Corinthian myth recounted to Pausanias in the 2nd century AD, Briareus and his verdict was that the Isthmus of Corinth belonged to Poseidon and the acropolis of Corinth belonged to Helios. Thus, Greeks of the Classical age accounted for the cult of the sun-titan in the highest part of the site. The Upper Peirene spring is located within the walls of the acropolis, the spring, which is behind the temple, they say was the gift of Asopus to Sisyphus. The latter knew, so runs the legend, that Zeus had ravished Aegina, the daughter of Asopus, Corinth had been a backwater in 8th-century Greece. The Bacchiadae were a tightly-knit Doric clan and the kinship group of archaic Corinth in the 8th and 7th centuries BC. In 747 BC, an aristocratic revolution ousted the Bacchiad kings and they dispensed with kingship and ruled as a group, governing the city by annually electing a prytanis, probably a council, and a polemarchos to head the army. During Bacchiad rule from 747 to 650 BC, Corinth became a unified state, large scale public buildings and monuments were constructed at this time. In 733 BC, Corinth established colonies at Corcyra and Syracuse, by 730 BC, Corinth emerged as a highly advanced Greek city with at least 5,000 people. Aristotle tells the story of Philolaus of Corinth, a Bacchiad who was a lawgiver at Thebes and he became the lover of Diocles, the winner of the Olympic games. They both lived for the rest of their lives in Thebes and their tombs were built near one another and Philolaus tomb points toward the Corinthian country, while Diocles faces away
11.
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
12.
Chariot
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A chariot is a type of carriage driven by a charioteer using primarily horses to provide rapid motive power. Chariots were used by armies as transport or mobile platforms, for hunting or for racing. The word chariot comes from the Latin carrus, itself a loanword from Gaulish, a chariot of war or one used in military parades was called a car. In ancient Rome and some other ancient Mediterranean civilizations, a required two horses, a triga three, and a quadriga four. The critical invention that allowed the construction of light, horse-drawn chariots was the spoked wheel, the earliest spoke-wheeled chariots date to ca.2000 BCE. The use of chariots peaked around 1300 BCE, Chariots had lost their military importance by the 1st century CE, but chariot races continued to be popular in Constantinople until the 6th century. The domestication of the horse was an important step toward civilization, an increasing amount of evidence supports the hypothesis that horses were domesticated in the Eurasian Steppes approximately 4000-3500 BCE. The invention of the used in transportation most likely took place in Europe. Evidence of wheeled vehicles appears from the mid 4th millennium BCE near-simultaneously in the Northern Caucasus, the earliest vehicles may have been ox carts. Starokorsunskaya kurgan in the Kuban region of Russia contains a grave of the Maikop Culture. The two solid wooden wheels from this kurgan have been dated to the half of the fourth millennium. Soon thereafter the number of burials in this Northern Caucasus region multiplied. As David Anthony writes in his book The Horse, the Wheel and Language, in Eastern Europe and it is a clay pot excavated in a Funnelbeaker settlement in Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship in Poland. The oldest securely dated real wheel-axle combination in Eastern Europe is the Ljubljana Marshes Wheel, horses were introduced to Transcaucasia at the time of the Kura-Araxes culture, beginning about 3300 BCE. Prior to that, horse bones were not found, during the Kura-Araxes period, horses seem to become rather widespread, with signs of domestication. It is widely believed that wheeled transport was invented in Mesopotamia, nevertheless, recent archaeological evidence seems to indicate otherwise, pointing to Neolithic Europe. At the same time, in Mesopotamia, some intriguing early pictograms of a sled that rests on wooden rollers or wheels have been found and they date from about the same time as the early wheel discoveries in Europe and may indicate knowledge of the wheel. The earliest depiction of vehicles in the context of warfare is on the Standard of Ur in southern Mesopotamia, the hybrids were used by the Eblaite, early Sumerian, Akkadian and Ur III armies
13.
Omen
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An omen is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. People in the ancient times believed that omens lie with a message from their gods. These omens include natural phenomena, for example an eclipse, abnormal births of animals and humans and they had specialists, the diviners, to interpret these omens. They would also use a method, for example, a clay model of a sheep liver. They would expect a binary answer, either yes or no answer and they did these to predict what would happen in the future and to take action to avoid disaster. Though the word omen is usually devoid of reference to the nature, hence being possibly either good or bad. The origin of the word is unknown, although it may be connected with the Latin word audire, the oldest source for this practice in the Ancient Near East came from Mesopotamia. This practice attested at the first half of the 2nd millennium B. C. and it was pursued by the Assyrian kings, Esarhaddon and his son. There were 3 methods to interpret omens, and they were hepatoscopy, lecanomancy, hepatoscopy is to observe irregularities and abnormalities on the appearance of the entrails of a sacrificial sheep and they were used most in royal services. Astrological omens were popular in Assyria, during the 7th century BC, diviners gained much influence by interpreting the omens and advising the king how to avoid the terrible fate during the reign of Esarhaddon. One of the things they would do in Assyria was to put a substitute king on the throne, and the true king would hide for a while. The substitute king was expected to take the consequences and when they believed the danger is over, they would execute the substitute king. The observations of omens were recorded into series, some of them dated back to the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, and these were arranged as conditional statement later. Such practice was found in Israel as well, compared to Israel, they used the methods listed above except, hepatoscopy. According to the Bible, God did not answer King Saul through dreams, or Urim and Thummim, or prophets, thus, showed that they have a similar belief and practice with their prophets, and dreams, and similar tool as Urim and Thummim. An oionos was defined in antiquity as the vulture, especially a prophetic bird. By careful observation of the cries and the way or direction it flew. They also saw lightning or thunder as omens, sent from Zeus, even since Homeric times, the Greeks paid special attention to these signs, when they saw vultures from the left, another symbol of Zeus, they considered it a bad omen
14.
Numa Pompilius
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Numa Pompilius was the legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus. He was of Sabine origin, and many of Romes most important religious, according to Plutarch, Numa was the youngest of Pomponiuss four sons, born on the day of Romes founding. He lived a life of discipline and banished all luxury from his home. Titus Tatius, king of the Sabines and a colleague of Romulus, gave in marriage his daughter, Tatia. After 13 years of marriage, Tatia died, precipitating Numas retirement to the countryside, according to Livy, Numa resided at Cures immediately before being elected king. Livy and Plutarch refer to the story that Numa was instructed in philosophy by Pythagoras, Plutarch reports that some authors credited him with only a single daughter, Pompilia. Pompilias mother is identified as Numas first wife Tatia or his second wife Lucretia. She is said to have married the future first pontifex maximus Numa Marcius, still other writers, writes Plutarch, believed these were fictional genealogies to enhance the status of these families. After the death of Romulus, there was an interregnum of one year in which the power was exercised by members of the Senate in rotation for five days in a row. In 715 BC, after much bickering between the factions of Romulus and Tatius, a compromise was reached, and the Sabine Numa was elected by the senate as the next king, according to Plutarch, Numa was a cunning and calculating person. At first he refused the offer and his father and Sabine kinsmen, including his teacher and the father of Numas son-in law, Marcus, along with an embassy of two senators from Rome, banded together to persuade him to accept. In the account of Plutarch and Livy, Numa, after being summoned by the Senate from Cures, was offered the tokens of power amid an enthusiastic reception by the people of Rome. He requested, however, that an augur should divine the opinion of the gods on the prospect of his kingship before he accepted, Jupiter was consulted and the omens were favourable. Thus approved by the Roman and Sabine people as well as the heavens, according to Plutarch, Numas first act was to disband the personal guard of 300 so-called Celeres with which Romulus permanently surrounded himself. The gesture is variously interpreted as self-protection in the face of their questionable loyalty, based on Roman chronology, Numa died of old age in 673 BC. He was succeeded by Tullus Hostilius, Numa was traditionally celebrated by the Romans for his wisdom and piety. According to Livy, Numa claimed that he held consultations with Egeria on the proper manner of instituting sacred rites for the city. Numa was said to have authored several sacred books in which he had written down divine teachings, mostly from Egeria, the other books dealt with philosophy
15.
Legislative Assemblies of the Roman Kingdom
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The Legislative Assemblies of the Roman Kingdom were political institutions in the ancient Roman Kingdom. While one assembly, the Curiate Assembly, had some legislative powers, the functions of the other assembly, the Calate Assembly, was purely religious. During the years of the kingdom, the People of Rome were organized on the basis of units called Curia, all of the People of Rome were divided amongst a total of thirty Curia, and membership in an individual Curia was hereditary. Each member of a particular family belonged to the same Curia, each Curia had an organization similar to that of the early Roman family, including specific religious rites and common festivals. These Curia were the units of division in the two popular assemblies. The members in each Curia would vote, and the majority in each Curia would determine how that Curia voted before the assembly, thus, a majority of the Curia were needed during any vote before either the Curiate Assembly or the Calate Assembly. The Curiate Assembly was the popular assembly with any political significance during the period of the Roman Kingdom. The king presided over the assembly, and submitted decrees to it for ratification, an interrex presided over the assembly during interim periods between kings. After a king died, the interrex selected a candidate to replace the king, after the nominee received the approval of the Roman Senate, the interrex held the formal election before the Curiate Assembly. After the Curiate Assembly elected the new king, and the Senate ratified that election, on the kalends, and the nones, this assembly met to hear announcements. Announcements often dealt with such as the exact date of a future event or any upcoming intercalary months. Appeals heard by this assembly often dealt with questions concerning Roman family law, during two fixed days in the spring, the assembly was scheduled to meet to witness wills and adoptions. All other meetings were held on an as-needed basis, the assembly usually decided these matters under the presidency of the Pontifex Maximus. Since this assembly was the legislative assembly, it was responsible for ratifying laws. However, the rejection of such laws by the assembly did not prevent their enactment, sometimes, the Curiate Assembly reaffirmed a kings legal authority, and sometimes it ratified a decision to go to war. The Calate Assembly was the oldest of the Roman assemblies, very little is known about this assembly. The Calate Assembly met on the Capitoline Hill, and was organized on the basis of the thirty Curia. The purpose of assembly was not legislative or legal
16.
Senate of the Roman Kingdom
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The Senate of the Roman Kingdom was a political institution in the ancient Roman Kingdom. The word senate derives from the Latin word senex, which means old man, therefore, senate literally means board of old men and translates as Council of Elders. The prehistoric Indo-Europeans who settled Rome in the centuries before the founding of Rome in 753 BC were structured into tribal communities. These tribal communities often included a board of tribal elders. The early tribes that had settled along the banks of the Tiber eventually aggregated into a loose confederation, the early Romans were deeply patriarchal. The early Roman family was called a gens or clan, each clan was an aggregation of families under a common living male patriarch, called a pater. The pater was the master of his clan. He had the power to resolve any disputes, and to make any decisions for the collective gens. When the early Roman gens were aggregating to form a common community, legend states that the senate grew to a membership of 300 after three blocks of 100 senators were added at fixed points in time. What likely happened, however, was an aggregation of patres over time. The early senate derived its sovereignty from the fact that it was composed of the patriarchal heads of the leading families. As the individual patres led their families, the board of patres led the confederation of those families, in time, the patres came to recognize the need for a single leader. Therefore, they elected a king, and vested in him their sovereign power, the king presided over the senate, appointed individuals to the senate, and expelled individuals from the senate. When the king died, his sovereign power naturally reverted to the patres, according to Livy the Senate, initially consisting of 100 men, was created by Romes first king, Romulus. The descendants of those 100 men subsequently became the patrician class,100 more were added to the Senate by Romes fifth king, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, from amongst the minor leading families. The senate of the Roman Kingdom could only be convened by the king, while the senate could pass laws, it would be incorrect to view the laws passed during the time of the kingdom as legislation. In effect, these laws were actually the decrees of the king, the king had the absolute power to make any law. However, he often involved both the senate and the assembly in the process
17.
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
18.
Latin League
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The Latin League was an ancient confederation of about 30 villages and tribes in the region of Latium near the ancient city of Rome, organized for mutual defense. The term Latin League is one coined by modern historians with no precise Latin equivalent and it was originally created for protection against enemies from surrounding areas under the leadership of the city of Alba Longa. An incomplete fragment of a recorded by Cato the Elder tells us that at one time the league included Tusculum, Aricia, Lanuvium, Lavinium, Cora, Tibur, Pometia. During the reign of Tarquinius Superbus, the Latins were persuaded to acknowledge the leadership of Rome. The treaty with Rome was renewed, and it was agreed that the troops of the Latins would attend on a day to form a united military force with the troops of Rome. That was done, and Tarquin formed combined units of Roman, the early Roman Republic formed an alliance with the Latin League in 493 BC. According to Roman tradition, the treaty, the foedus Cassianum and it provided that both Rome and the Latin League would share loot from military conquests and that any military campaigns between the two would be led by Roman generals. The alliance helped repel attacks from such peoples as the Aequi and the Volsci, tribes of the Apennine Mountains and it is still unclear if the Latins had accepted Rome as one into the League, or if the treaty had been signed as between Rome and the Latin League. The increasing power of Rome gradually led to its domination of the league, the renewal of the original treaty in 358 BC formally established Roman leadership and eventually triggered the outbreak of the Latin War. Following the Roman victory, the league was dissolved, after 338 BC, the end of the Latin league, Rome renamed the cities municipia and established coloniae inside them. This meant that the towns were now ruled by Rome and that the living there were considered Roman colonists. Alba Longa, Ardea, Aricia, Cora, Lanuvium, Lavinium, Pometia, Tibur, and Tusculum
19.
Fasti
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For the poem by Ovid, see Fasti, for the inscribed versions of the calendar, see Roman calendar. In ancient Rome, the fasti were chronological or calendar-based lists, or other records or plans of official. After Romes decline, the word continued to be used for similar records in Christian Europe. Public business, including the business of the Roman state, had to be transacted on dies fasti. The fasti were the records of this business, in addition to the words general sense, there were fasti that recorded specific kinds of events, such as the fasti triumphales, lists of triumphs celebrated by Roman generals. The divisions of time used in the fasti were based on the Roman calendar, the yearly records of the fasti encouraged the writing of history in the form of chronological annales, annals, which in turn influenced the development of Roman historiography. Fasti is the plural of the Latin adjective fastus, most commonly used as a substantive, the word derives from fas, meaning that which is permitted, that is, that which is legitimate in the eyes of the gods. Fasti dies were the days on which business might be transacted without impiety, in contrast to dies nefasti, days on which assemblies, the word fasti itself came to denote lists organized by time. The temporal structure distinguished fasti from regesta, which were simple lists of property, or assets, such as land or documents and they came to be denominated magni, great, by way of distinction from the bare calendar, or fasti diurni. The word fasti thus came to be used in the sense of annals or historical records. Michelangelo, who designed the complex of three palaces on the hill, also restored the tables of the fasti, the Palazzo today is one of the Capitoline Museums, which serve a double duty as museums and city government buildings. The fasti are located in the Sala della Lupa, the room as the bronze wolf. More pieces discovered after the Renaissance were placed with it, the fasti consulares were discovered as 30 marble fragments in the forum. With them were 26 fragments of Acta Triumpharum, since called the fasti triumphales, both lists were restored as distinct records. Pope Paul III had authorized the mining of stone for St. Peters in 1540, the pope was following the widespread convention that prevailed in the Renaissance of ripping up the structures of the past to reuse in building structures they considered even more magnificent. The scholars were collaborating to save what they could, a resident colony of quarrymen did not pause in the slightest but went on dismantling buildings. All trace of structures in that part of the forum vanished between August 15 and September 14,1546, the stone was sold to cutters for reuse or to lime burners for the creation of cement. None of these proceedings were in any way archaeological, cardinal Farnese assigned the scholars to watch the diggings
20.
Sabines
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The Sabines were an Italic tribe which lived in the central Apennines of ancient Italy, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The above names, English, Latin, and Greek, are all exonyms, the Sabines divided into two populations just after the founding of Rome, which is described by Roman legend. The division, however it came about, is not legendary, the population closer to Rome transplanted itself to the new city and united with the pre-existing citizenry, beginning a new heritage that descended from the Sabines but was also Latinized. The second population remained a mountain tribal state, coming finally to war against Rome for its independence along with all the other Italic tribes, after losing, it became assimilated into the Roman Republic. There is little record of the Sabine language, however, there are some glosses by ancient commentators, there are also personal names in use on Latin inscriptions from Sabine country, but these are given in Latin form. Robert Seymour Conway, in his Italic Dialects, gives approximately 100 words which vary from being well attested as Sabine to being possibly of Sabine origin, in addition to these he cites place names derived from the Sabine, sometimes giving attempts at reconstructions of the Sabine form. Based on all the evidence, the Linguist List tentatively classifies Sabine as a member of the Umbrian Group of Italic languages of Indo-European family, latin-speakers called the Sabines original territory, straddling the modern regions of Lazio, Umbria, and Abruzzo, Sabinium. To this day, it bears the ancient tribes name in the Italian form of Sabina, within the modern region of Lazio, Sabina constitutes a sub-region, situated north-east of Rome, around Rieti. According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, many Roman historians regarded the origins of indigenous Romans to be Greek, the Sabines, specifically, were first mentioned in Dionysiuss account for having captured by surprise the city of Lista, which was regarded as the mother-city of the Aborigines. Ancient historians were still debating the specific origins of the Sabines, zenodotus of Troezen claimed that the Sabines were originally Umbrians that changed their name after being driven from the Reatine territory by the Pelasgians. However, Porcius Cato argued that the Sabines were a populace named after Sabus, in another account mentioned in Dionysiuss work, a group of Lacedaemonians fled Sparta since they regarded the laws of Lycurgus as too severe. In Italy, they founded the Spartan colony of Foronia and some from that colony settled among the Sabines, according to the account, the Sabine habits of belligerence and frugality were known to have derived from the Spartans. Plutarch also states in the Life of Numa Pompilius, Sabines, legend says that the Romans abducted Sabine women to populate the newly built Rome. The resultant war ended only by the women throwing themselves and their children between the armies of their fathers and their husbands, the Rape of the Sabine Women became a common motif in art, the women ending the war is a less frequent but still reappearing motif. According to Livy, after the conflict, the Sabine and Roman states merged, three new centuries of Equites were introduced at Rome, including one named Tatienses, after the Sabine king. A variation of the story is recounted in the book of Jasher. Tradition suggests that the population of the early Roman kingdom was the result of a union of Sabines, some of the gentes of the Roman republic were proud of their Sabine heritage, such as the Claudia gens, assuming Sabinus as a cognomen or agnomen. Ancient peoples of Italy Hostus Hostilius Ovid, Fasti Ovid, Ars Amatoria Livy, Ab urbe condita Cicero, De Republica Plutarch, Parallel Lives Juvenal, Satires Donaldson, John William
21.
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
22.
Collatia
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Collatia was an ancient town of central Italy, c.15 km northeast of Rome by the Via Collatina. It appears in the history of Rome as captured by Tarquinius Priscus. Virgil speaks of it as a Latin colony of Alba Longa, in the time of Cicero it had lost all importance, Strabo names it as a mere village, in private hands, while for Pliny it was one of the lost cities of Latium. According to Livy, it was taken, along with its population and surrounding land, Livy records the wording of the form of the towns surrender. The date of Tarquinius triumph over the Sabines, according to the Fasti Triumphales, by 509 BC the town was governed by the Roman Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, who took his name from the town. No remains are to be seen, but the site is admirably adapted for an ancient settlement, the road may be traced leading to the south end of this tableland, being identical with the modern road to Lunghezza for the middle part of its course only. The current identification with Castellaccio, c.3.5 km to the southeast, is untenable
23.
Arruns Tarquinius (Egerius)
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Arruns Tarquinius, commonly called Egerius, was a member of the royal family of early Rome. His father was Arruns Tarquinius, son of Demaratus of Corinth, Demaratus had settled at Tarquinii during the seventh century BC, and married an Etruscan noblewoman. They had two sons, Lucius and Arruns, Arruns died shortly before his father, leaving his wife pregnant. Not knowing of his grandson, Demaratus left him no inheritance, for this reason, the child was called Egerius, meaning the needy one. At the urging of his wife, Tanaquil, Lucius Tarquinius migrated to Rome, ultimately, Tarquin succeeded Marcius as the fifth King of Rome. After subduing the Latin town of Collatia, Tarquin placed his nephew in command of the Roman garrison there, Arruns son was Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, one of the first Roman consuls in 509 BC. The rape of Collatinus wife, Lucretia, by his cousin, ironically, public hatred of the Tarquins led Collatinus himself to resign the consulship and go into exile. 1.57.6 *William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, Vol 2 p.4 and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed
24.
Roman triumph
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He rode in a four-horse chariot through the streets of Rome in unarmed procession with his army, captives, and the spoils of his war. At Jupiters temple on the Capitoline Hill, he offered sacrifice, inevitably, the triumph offered extraordinary opportunities for self-publicity, besides its religious and military dimensions. From the Principate onwards, the reflected the Imperial order. The triumph was consciously imitated by medieval and later states in the royal entry, in Republican Rome, truly exceptional military achievement merited the highest possible honours, which connected the vir triumphalis to Romes mythical and semi-mythical past. In effect, the general was close to being king for a day and he was drawn in procession through the city in a four-horse chariot, under the gaze of his peers and an applauding crowd, to the temple of Capitoline Jupiter. The spoils and captives of his victory led the way, his armies followed behind, once at the Capitoline temple, he sacrificed two white oxen to Jupiter and laid tokens of his victory at Jupiters feet, dedicating his victory to the Roman Senate, people, and gods. Triumphs were tied to no particular day, season, or religious festival of the Roman calendar, most seem to have been celebrated at the earliest practicable opportunity, probably on days that were deemed auspicious for the occasion. Tradition required that, for the duration of a triumph, every temple was open, the ceremony was thus, in some sense, shared by the whole community of Roman gods, but overlaps were inevitable with specific festivals and anniversaries. Some may have been coincidental, others were designed, Pompey postponed his third and most magnificent triumph for several months to make it coincide with his own dies natalis. Religious dimensions aside, the focus of the triumph was the general himself, the ceremony promoted him – however temporarily – above every mortal Roman. This was an opportunity granted to very few, from the time of Scipio Africanus, the triumphal general was linked to Alexander and the demi-god Hercules, who had laboured selflessly for the benefit of all mankind. His sumptuous triumphal chariot was bedecked with charms against the possible envy, in some accounts, a companion or public slave would remind him from time to time of his own mortality. This is probably so for the earliest legendary and later semi-legendary triumphs of Romes regal era, as Romes population, power, influence, and territory increased, so did the scale, length, variety, and extravagance of its triumphal processions. The procession mustered in the space of the Campus Martius probably well before first light. Triumphal processions were notoriously long and slow, the longest could last for two or three days, and possibly more, and some may have been of greater length than the route itself, some ancient and modern sources suggest a fairly standard processional order. First came the captive leaders, allies, and soldiers walking in chains. Next in line, all on foot, came Romes senators and magistrates, followed by the generals lictors in their red war-robes, their fasces wreathed in laurel, then the general in his four-horse chariot. A companion, or a slave, might share the chariot with him or, in some cases
25.
Cameria
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Apart from geographical usages, in contemporary times within Albania the toponym has also acquired irredentist connotations. During the interwar period, the toponym was in common use, today it is obsolete in Greek, surviving in some old folk songs. Chameria was mostly used as a term for the region of modern Thesprotia and it possibly derives from the ancient Greek name of the Thyamis river, which in the Albanian language is called Cham, through the unattested Slavic *čamь or *čama rendering the older Slavic *tjama. Vagenetia included todays Sarandë District and Delvinë District of Southern Albania, bordering with the Llogara and Muzina mountains in the north and northeast. After the permanent demarcation of the Greco-Albanian border, only two municipalities were left in southern Albania, while the remainder was part of the Epirus periphery of Greece. Greek author Perraivos, notable for his works on Souli and Epirus, during the 19th century, the novelista and poet Nikolaos Konemenos, an Arvanite from the area placed his home district of Lakka within the bounds of Tsamouria or Chameria. Chirol also noted that due to the spread of the Chams in the area, while the Ottoman administrative units or kazas of Paramythia, Filiates and Preveza formed the area of Chameria. During the interwar period of the twentieth century British historian Nicholas Hammond traversed the region and described Chameria as consisting of main settlements like Paramythia and Margariti. Pre-War Greek sources say that the coast of Chameria extended from the Acheron River to Butrint, the center of Chameria was considered to be Paramythia and other areas were Filiates, Parga and Margariti. Throughout the interwar period, Chameria in official Greek government documents related to the north of the Acheron river. Current day scholarship gives diverging descriptions of Chameria, within Greek scholarship the following definitions are given. Lambros Baltsiotis states that it includes a part of Albanian territory, consisted of the western part of Thesprotia prefecture and north of Preveza regional unit. Leonidas Kallivretakis states that the Greek part of the Chameria region is limited to Thesprotia prefecture, similarly, Eleftheria Manta and Kyriakos Kentriotis state that the southern limits of the region are found in the mouth of Acheron river. While Robert Elsie states that Chameria corresponds to Thesprotia and Preveza prefectures, late Mycenean sites have been found in the following areas of Chameria, Nekromanteion of Acheron Ephyra Dragani Paramythia Giannioti There are numerous archeological sites from Iron Age onwards. In Thesprotia, which can be considered the centre of Chameria, the Nekromanteion of Acheron is probably the most important site of the area in antiquity, mentioned already in Homer. Archaeological findinds indicate that a sancturary existed there by 7th century BC and it seems that it ceased to function as an oracle in Roman period. In Medieval Ages the region was under the jurisdiction of the Roman, in 1205, Michael Komnenos Doukas, a cousin of the Byzantine emperors Isaac II Angelos and Alexios III Angelos, founded the Despotate of Epiros, which ruled the region until the 15th century. During this time, the earliest mention of Albanians within the region of Epirus is recorded in a Venetian document of 1210 as inhabiting the area opposite the island of Corfu
26.
Nomentum
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Mentana is a town and comune, former bishopric and presant Latin Catholic titular see in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, central Italy. It is located 29 kilometres north-east of Rome and has a population of about 21,000, mentanas name in ancient times was Nomentum, to which the Via Nomentana led from Rome. According to Livy, the town was part of the Latin League, Nomentum was one of a number of towns captured by Tarquinius. It was a Latin town, but was considered by some to be Sabine, and, like Fidenae and Ficulea, was excluded from the first region by Augustus, who made the Anio river its northern boundary. The city was part of the League defeated by Rome in the Battle of Lake Regillus, subsequently, Nomentum received the civitas sine suffragio, in its municipal constitution the chief magistrate even in imperial times bore the title of dictator. Pliny and Martial often praise the fertility of its neighbourhood, in 741 it was briefly occupied by the Lombards and the inhabitants moved to a new centre on the Via Nomentana which was more easily defendable. On 23 November 799, it was the site of the meeting of Pope Leo III, the Castle of Nomentum was a possession of the Roman family of the Crescenzi in the 10th and 11th century. In 1058 it was destroyed by the Normans and the population was drastically reduced, the castle was acquired by the Capocci family and, later, the Holy See entrusted it to the Benedictine monks of San Paolo fuori le Mura. In the 15th century it was control of the Orsini family. In 1484 it was damaged by an earthquake, in 1594 it became a fief of the Perett family, first under Michele Perett of Venafro, and then in 1655 it came under the control of Marcantonio Borghese and the House of Borghese. The battle ended in a victory by the French-Papal troops, in Mentana, the monument Ara dei Caduti is built over the mass grave of the Italian patriots who died in the battle. In 408 CE Nomento is mentioned as a see. In May 944 it was suppressed, its territory being merged into the Roman Catholic Diocese of Vescovìo, the diocese was nominally restored as a Latin Catholic titular bishopric in 1966. The Castle, housing the Archaeological Museum and is a site of art exhibitions, palazzo Crescenzio Funerary Monument of the Appulei, a 2nd-century BC travertine frieze Museum of the Risorgimento Science Museum. The Nature Preserve of Nomentum includes the Trentani Park and the Macchia of Gattacieca, gCatholic, with titular incumbent biography links
27.
Circus Maximus
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The Circus Maximus is an ancient Roman chariot racing stadium and mass entertainment venue located in Rome, Italy. Situated in the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome and it measured 621 m in length and 118 m in width and could accommodate over 150,000 spectators. In its fully developed form, it became the model for circuses throughout the Roman Empire, the site is now a public park. The Circus was Romes largest venue for ludi, public games connected to Roman religious festivals, ludi were sponsored by leading Romans or the Roman state for the benefit of the Roman people and gods. Most were held annually or at intervals on the Roman calendar. Others might be given to fulfill a vow, such as the games in celebration of a triumph. The earliest known triumph ludi at the Circus were vowed by Tarquin the Proud to Jupiter in the late Regal era for his victory over Pometia. The greater ludi at the Circus began with a flamboyant parade, much like the triumphal procession, during the Republic, the aediles organized the games. Although their original purpose was religious, the complexity of staging ludi became a way to display the competence, generosity, some Circus events, however, seem to have been relatively small and intimate affairs. In 167 BC, flute players, scenic artists and dancers performed on a temporary stage, others were enlarged at enormous expense to fit the entire space. A venatio held there in 169 BC, one of several in the 2nd century, employed 63 leopards and 40 bears and elephants, as Romes provinces expanded, existing ludi were embellished and new ludi invented by politicians who competed for divine and popular support. By the late Republic, ludi were held on 57 days of the year, on many other days, charioteers and jockeys would need to practice on its track. Otherwise, it would have made a convenient corral for the animals traded in the cattle market. Beneath the outer stands, next to the Circus multiple entrances, were workshops and shops, when no games were being held, the Circus at the time of Catullus was likely a dusty open space with shops and booths. A colourful crowded disreputable area frequented by prostitutes, jugglers, fortune tellers, Romes emperors met the ever-burgeoning popular demand for regular ludi and the need for more specialised venues, as essential obligations of their office and cult. Over the several centuries of its development, the Circus Maximus became Romes paramount specialist venue for chariot races, eventually,135 days of the year were devoted to ludi. With the advent of Christianity as the religion of the Empire. The last known beast-hunt at the Circus Maximus took place in 523, the Circus Maximus was sited on the level ground of the Valley of Murcia, between Romes Aventine and Palatine Hills
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Cloaca Maxima
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The Cloaca Maxima is one of the worlds earliest sewage systems. Constructed in Ancient Rome in order to drain marshes and remove the waste of one of the worlds most populous cities, it carried effluent to the River Tiber. The name literally means Greatest Sewer, according to tradition it may have been initially constructed around 600 BC under the orders of the king of Rome, Tarquinius Priscus. The Cloaca Maxima originally was built by the Etruscans as an open-air canal, over time, the Romans covered over the canal and turned it into a sewer system for the city. This public work was achieved through the use of Etruscan engineers. Underground work is said to have carried out on the sewer by Tarquinius Superbus, Romes seventh. Although Livy describes it as being tunnelled out beneath Rome, he was writing centuries after the event and this open drain would then have been gradually built over, as building space within the city became more valuable. The continuous supply of running water helped to remove wastes and keep the sewers clear of obstructions, the aqueduct system was investigated by the general Frontinus at the end of the 1st century AD, who published his report on its state directly to the emperor Nerva. There were many branches off of the sewer, but all seem to be official drains that would have served public toilets, bath-houses. Private residences in Rome, even of the rich, would have relied on some sort of arrangement for sewage. The Cloaca Maxima was well maintained throughout the life of the Roman Empire and even today drains rainwater and debris from the center of town, below the ancient Forum, Velabro and Foro Boario. In more recent times, the passages have been connected to the modern-day sewage system. The Cloaca Maxima was thought to be presided over by the goddess Cloacina, the outfall of the Cloaca Maxima into the River Tiber is still visible today near the bridge Ponte Rotto, and near Ponte Palatino. There is a going down to it visible next to the Basilica Julia at the Forum. Some of it is visible from the surface opposite the church of San Giorgio al Velabro. The system of Roman sewers was much imitated throughout the Roman Empire, the sewer system in Eboracum—the modern-day English city of York—was especially impressive and part of it still survives. Rinne The Waters of Rome, The Cloaca Maxima and the Monumental Manipulation of Water in Archaic Rome by John N. N. Hopkins Rome, Cloaca Maxima
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Jupiter (mythology)
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Jupiter, also Jove, is the god of sky and thunder and king of the gods in Ancient Roman religion and mythology. Jupiter was the deity of Roman state religion throughout the Republican and Imperial eras. In Roman mythology, he negotiates with Numa Pompilius, the king of Rome, to establish principles of Roman religion such as offering. Jupiter is usually thought to have originated as a sky god, the two emblems were often combined to represent the god in the form of an eagle holding in its claws a thunderbolt, frequently seen on Greek and Roman coins. As the sky-god, he was a witness to oaths. Many of his functions were focused on the Capitoline Hill, where the citadel was located and he was the chief deity of the early Capitoline Triad with Mars and Quirinus. In the later Capitoline Triad, he was the guardian of the state with Juno. His sacred tree was the oak, the Romans regarded Jupiter as the equivalent of the Greek Zeus, and in Latin literature and Roman art, the myths and iconography of Zeus are adapted under the name Iuppiter. In the Greek-influenced tradition, Jupiter was the brother of Neptune, each presided over one of the three realms of the universe, sky, the waters, and the underworld. The Italic Diespiter was also a sky god who manifested himself in the daylight, usually, Tinia is usually regarded as his Etruscan counterpart. The Romans believed that Jupiter granted them supremacy because they had honoured him more than any other people had, Jupiter was the fount of the auspices upon which the relationship of the city with the gods rested. He personified the divine authority of Romes highest offices, internal organization and his image in the Republican and Imperial Capitol bore regalia associated with Romes ancient kings and the highest consular and Imperial honours. The consuls swore their oath of office in Jupiters name, to thank him for his help, they offered him a white ox with gilded horns. A similar offering was made by generals, who surrendered the tokens of their victory at the feet of Jupiters statue in the Capitol. Some scholars have viewed the triumphator as embodying Jupiter in the triumphal procession, Jupiters association with kingship and sovereignty was reinterpreted as Romes form of government changed. Originally, Rome was ruled by kings, after the monarchy was abolished and the Republic established, religious prerogatives were transferred to the patres, nostalgia for the kingship was considered treasonous. Those suspected of harbouring monarchical ambitions were punished, regardless of their service to the state, in the 5th century BC, the triumphator Camillus was sent into exile after he drove a chariot with a team of four white horses —an honour reserved for Jupiter himself. His house on the Capitoline Hill was razed, and it was decreed that no patrician should ever be allowed to live there, during the Conflict of the Orders, Romes plebeians demanded the right to hold political and religious office
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Capitoline Hill
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The Capitoline Hill, between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was known as Mons Saturnius, dedicated to the god Saturn. The word Capitolium first meant the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus later built here, Ancient sources refer the name to caput and the tale was that, when laying the foundations for the temple, the head of a man was found. Some sources even saying it was the head of some Tolus or Olus, the Capitolium was regarded by the Romans as indestructible, and was adopted as a symbol of eternity. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become Capitolino in Italian, influenced by Roman architecture and Roman republican times, the word Capitolium still lives in the English word capitol. The Capitol Hill in Washington, D. C. is widely assumed to be named after the Capitoline Hill, at this hill, the Sabines, creeping to the Citadel, were let in by the Roman maiden Tarpeia. For this treachery, Tarpeia was the first to be punished by being flung from a cliff overlooking the Roman Forum. This cliff was named the Tarpeian Rock after the Vestal Virgin. The Sabines, who immigrated to Rome following the Rape of the Sabine Women, the Vulcanal, an 8th-century BC sacred precinct, occupied much of the eastern lower slopes of the Capitoline, at the head of what would later become the Roman Forum. The summit was the site of a temple for the Capitoline Triad, started by Romes fifth king, Tarquinius Priscus and it was considered one of the largest and the most beautiful temples in the city. The city legend starts with the recovery of a human skull when foundation trenches were being dug for the Temple of Jupiter at Tarquins order, recent excavations on the Capitoline uncovered an early cemetery under the Temple of Jupiter. There are several important temples built on Capitoline hill, the temple of Juno Moneta, the temple of Virtus, the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus Capitolinus is the most important of the temples. It was built in 509 BC and was nearly as large as the Parthenon, the hill and the temple of Jupiter became the symbols of Rome, the capital of the world. The Temple of Saturn was built at the foot of Capitoline Hill in the end of the Forum Romanum. According to legend Marcus Manlius Capitolinus was alerted to the Gallic attack by the geese of Juno. Vespasians brother and nephew were also besieged in the temple during the Year of Four Emperors, the Tabularium, located underground beneath the piazza and hilltop, occupies a building of the same name built in the 1st century BC to hold Roman records of state. The Tabularium looks out from the rear onto the Roman Forum, the main attraction of the Tabularium, besides the structure itself, is the Temple of Veiovis. During the lengthy period of ancient Rome, the Capitoline Hill was the geographical and ceremonial center, however, by the Renaissance, the former center was an untidy conglomeration of dilapidated buildings and the site of executions of criminals
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Toga
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The toga, a distinctive garment of Ancient Rome, was a roughly semicircular cloth, between 12 and 20 feet in length, draped over the shoulders and around the body. It was usually woven from wool, and was worn over a tunic. In Roman historical tradition, it is said to have been the favoured dress of Romulus, Romes founder, as Roman women gradually adopted the stola, the toga was recognised as formal wear for Roman citizen men. Women engaged in prostitution might have provided the main exception to this rule, the type of toga worn reflected a citizens rank in the civil hierarchy. Various laws and customs restricted its use to citizens, who were required to wear it for public festivals, from its probable beginnings as a simple, practical work-garment, the toga became more voluminous, complex and costly, increasingly unsuited to anything but formal and ceremonial use. When circumstances allowed, those otherwise entitled or obliged to wear it opted for more comfortable and it gradually fell out of use, firstly among citizens of the lower class, then those of the middle class. Eventually, it was only by the highest classes for ceremonial occasions. The toga was an approximately semi-circular woolen cloth, usually white, worn draped over the shoulders and around the body and it was considered formal wear, and was generally reserved for citizens. Toga virilis also known as toga alba or toga pura, A plain white toga, worn on occasions by adult male commoners. It represented adult male citizenship and its attendant rights, freedoms, toga praetexta, a white toga with a broad purple stripe on its border, worn over a tunic with two broad, vertical purple stripes. It was formal costume for, Curule magistrates in their functions, and traditionally. Freeborn boys, and some girls, before they came of age. It marked their protection by law from sexual predation and immoral or immodest influence, a praetexta was thought effective against malignant magic, as were a boys bulla, and a girls lunula. Some priesthoods, including the Pontifices, Tresviri Epulones, the augurs, toga candida, Bright toga, a toga rubbed with chalk to a dazzling white, worn by candidates for public office. Thus Persius speaks of a cretata ambitio, chalked ambition, toga candida is the etymological source of the word candidate. It was worn mainly by mourners, but could also be worn in times of danger or public anxiety. It was sometimes used as a protest of sorts—when Cicero was exiled, mourners with a toga praetexta could turn it inside out, to conceal the stripe, or wear a toga pura. Toga picta, Dyed solid purple, embroidered with gold, and worn over a similarly decorated tunica palmata, during the Empire, it was worn by consuls and emperors
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Sceptre
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A sceptre or scepter is a symbolic ornamental staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia. Figuratively, it means royal or imperial authority or sovereignty, either right or cruel, the ancient Indian work of Tirukkural dedicates a separate chapter each on the ethics of the right sceptre and the evils of the cruel sceptre. The Was and other types of staffs were signs of authority in Ancient Egypt, for this reason, they are often described as sceptres, even if they are full-length staffs. One of the earliest royal sceptres was discovered in the 2nd Dynasty tomb of Khasekhemwy in Abydos, kings were also known to carry a staff, and Pharaoh Anedjib is shown on stone vessels carrying a so-called mks-staff. The staff with the longest history seems to be the heqa-sceptre, the Bronze Age rulers of Mesopotamia are not regularly depicted with sceptres. However, in instances, they are shown armed, with bow and arrow. Use of a rod or staff as representing authority can be traced to the beginning of Classical Antiquity. Among the early Greeks, the sceptre was a staff, such as Agamemnon wielded or was used by respected elders, and came to be used by judges, military leaders, priests. It is represented on painted vases as a staff tipped with a metal ornament. When the sceptre is borne by Zeus or Hades, it is headed by a bird, when, in the Iliad, Agamemnon sends Odysseus to the leaders of the Achaeans, he lends him his sceptre. Among the Etruscans, sceptres of great magnificence were used by kings, many representations of such sceptres occur on the walls of the painted tombs of Etruria. The British Museum, the Vatican, and the Louvre possess Etruscan sceptres of gold, the Roman sceptre probably derived from the Etruscan. Under the Republic, a sceptre was a mark of consular rank. It was also used by generals who received the title of imperator. In the First Persian Empire, the Biblical Book of Esther mentions the sceptre of the King of Persia. Esther 5,2 When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight, so Esther came near, and touched the top of the scepter. Under the Roman Empire, the sceptrum Augusti was specially used by the emperors, the codes of the right and the cruel sceptre are found in the ancient Tamil work of Tirukkural, dating back to between the first and the third centuries BCE. With the advent of Christianity, the sceptre was tipped with a cross instead of with an eagle
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Fasces
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Fasces (/ˈfæsiːz/, is a bound bundle of wooden rods, sometimes including an axe with its blade emerging. The fasces had its origin in the Etruscan civilization, and was passed on to ancient Rome, the image has survived in the modern world as a representation of magisterial or collective power. It should not be confused with the related term fess, which in French heraldry is called a fasce, little is known about the Etruscans, but a few artifacts have been found showing a thin bundle of rods surrounding a two-headed axe. Fasces symbolism might be derived via the Etruscans from the eastern Mediterranean, with the labrys, the Anatolian, and Minoan double-headed axe, later incorporated into the praetorial fasces. By the time of the Roman Republic, the fasces had developed into a bundle of birch rods, sometimes surrounding a single-headed axe. On certain special occasions, the fasces might be decorated with a laurel wreath, the symbolism of the fasces suggested strength through unity, a single rod is easily broken, while the bundle is very difficult to break. This symbolism occurs in Aesops fable The Old Man and his Sons, a similar story is told about the Bulgar Khan Kubrat, giving rise to the Bulgarian National motto Union gives strength. The axe represented the power over life or death through the death penalty, bundled birch twigs symbolise corporal punishment. The fasces lictoriae symbolised power and authority in ancient Rome, beginning with the early Roman Kingdom and continuing through the Republican, by Republican times, use of the fasces was surrounded with tradition and protocol. A corps of apparitores called lictors each carried fasces before a magistrate, the highest magistrate, the dictator, was entitled to twenty-four lictors and fasces, the consul to twelve, the proconsul eleven, the praetor six, the propraetor five, and the curule aediles two. Another part of the symbolism developed in Republican Rome was the inclusion of an axe in the fasces. The axe indicated that the judicial powers included capital punishment. Lictors attending the dictator kept the axes in their fasces even inside the Pomerium—a sign that the dictator had the power in his own hands. An occasional variation on the fasces was the addition of a laurel wreath and this occurred during the celebration of a Triumph - essentially a victory parade through Rome by a returning victorious general. Previously, all Republican Roman commanding generals had held office with imperium. The term is related to the modern Italian word fascio, used in the century to designate peasant cooperatives. Numerous governments and other authorities have used the image of the fasces for a symbol of power since the end of the Roman Empire. It also has used to hearken back to the Roman republic
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Lictor
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A lictor was a Roman civil servant who was a bodyguard to magistrates who held imperium. Lictors were used since the Roman Kingdom, and according to Roman historian Livy, according to Livy, lictors were introduced by Romes first king, Romulus, who appointed 12 lictors to attend him. Livy refers to two competing traditions for the reason that Romulus chose that number of lictors, the first version is that 12 was the number of birds that appeared in the augury, which had portended the kingdom to Romulus. The second version, favoured by Livy, is that the number of lictors was borrowed from the Etruscan kings, originally, lictors were chosen from the plebs, but through most of Roman history, they seemed to have been freedmen. Centurions from the legions were also eligible to become lictors on retirement from the army. They were, however, definitely Roman citizens, since they wore togas inside Rome, a lictor had to be a strongly built man, capable of physical work. Lictors were exempted from service, received a fixed salary. Usually, they were chosen by the magistrate they were supposed to serve. Lictors were associated with Comitia Curiata and, probably, one was selected from each curia. The lictors main task was to attend as bodyguards to magistrates who held imperium and they carried rods decorated with fasces and, outside the pomerium, with axes that symbolized the power to carry out capital punishment. Dictatorial lictors had axes even within the pomerium and they followed the magistrate wherever he went, including the Forum, his house, temples, and the baths. Lictors were organized in a line before him, with the primus lictor directly in front of him. If there was a crowd, the lictors opened the way and kept their master safe, pushing all aside except for Roman matrons and they also had to stand beside the magistrate whenever he addressed the crowd. Magistrates could only dispense with their lictors if they were visiting a city or addressing a higher status magistrate. Lictors also had legal and penal duties, they could, at their masters command, arrest Roman citizens, a Vestal Virgin was accorded a lictor when her presence was required at a public ceremony. The degree of magistrates imperium was symbolised by the number of lictors escorting him, sometimes, lictors were ascribed to private citizens on special occasions, such as funerals or political reunions, as a show of respect by the city. The lictor curiatus was a kind of lictor who did not carry rods or fasces. There were approximately 30 of them, serving at the command of the Pontifex Maximus and they were present at sacrifices where they carried or guided sacrificial animals to the altars
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Curule seat
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A curule seat is a design of chair noted for its uses in Ancient Rome and Europe through to the 20th century. Its status in early Rome as a symbol of political or military power carried over to other civilizations, as it was utilized in this regard by Kings in Europe, Napoleon. In the Roman Republic, and Empire, the chair was the seat upon which magistrates holding imperium were entitled to sit. This includes dictators, magistri equitum, consuls, praetors, censors, curule aediles, additionally, the Flamen of Jupiter was also allowed to sit on a curule seat, though this position did not hold imperium. Livy writes that the three flamines maiores or high priests of the Archaic Triad of major gods were granted the honor of the curule chair. According to Livy the curule seat, like the Roman toga, originated in Etruria, however, much earlier stools supported on a cross-frame are known from the New Kingdom of Egypt. As a form of throne, the sella might be given as an honor to foreign kings recognized formally as allies by the Roman people or senate. The curule chair is used on Roman medals as well as funerary monuments to express a curule magistracy. In Rome, the chair was traditionally made of or veneered with ivory, with curved legs forming a wide X, it had no back. The chair could be folded, and thus was easily transportable and it developed a hieratic significance, expressed in fictive curule seats on funerary monuments, a symbol of power which was never entirely lost in post-Roman European tradition. 6th-century consular ivory diptychs of Orestes and of Constantinus each depict the consul seated on a curule seat with crossed animal legs. It is clear the cross-framed folding seat was intended and we did so in recognition of its exalted function and because of the value of the work itself. Abbot Suger added bronze upper members with foliated scrolls and a back-piece, the Throne of Dagobert was coarsely repaired and used for the coronation of Napoleon. 19th-century dealers and collectors termed these Dante Chairs or Savonarola Chairs, examples of curule seats were redrawn from a 15th-century manuscript of the Roman de Renaude de Montauban and published in Henry Shaws Specimens of Ancient Furniture. The cross-framed armchair, no longer actually a folding chair, continued to have regal connotations, james I of England was portrayed with such a chair, its framing entirely covered with a richly patterned silk damask textile, with decorative nailing, in Paul van Somers portrait. Similar early 17th-century cross-framed seats survive at Knole, perquisites from a royal event, the photo of actor Edwin Booth as Hamlet poses him in a regal cross-framed chair, considered suitably medieval in 1870. The form found its way into stylish but non-royal decoration in the second phase of neoclassicism in the early 19th century. With their Imperial Roman connotations, the backless curule seats found their way into furnishings for Napoleon, further examples were ordered, in the newest Empire taste, Jacob-Desmalters seats with members in the form of carved and gilded sheathed sabres were delivered to Saint-Cloud about 1805
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Roman Senate
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The Roman Senate was a political institution in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, during the days of the kingdom, it was little more than an advisory council to the king. The last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was following a coup détat led by Lucius Junius Brutus. During the early Republic, the Senate was politically weak, while the executive magistrates were quite powerful, since the transition from monarchy to constitutional rule was most likely gradual, it took several generations before the Senate was able to assert itself over the executive magistrates. By the middle Republic, the Senate had reached the apex of its republican power, the late Republic saw a decline in the Senates power, which began following the reforms of the tribunes Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus. After the transition of the Republic into the Principate, the Senate lost much of its power as well as its prestige. Following the constitutional reforms of the Emperor Diocletian, the Senate became politically irrelevant, when the seat of government was transferred out of Rome, the Senate was reduced to a municipal body. This decline in status was reinforced when the emperor Constantine the Great created an additional senate in Constantinople, the Senate in Rome ultimately disappeared at some point after AD603, although the title senator was still used well into the Middle Ages as a largely meaningless honorific. However, the Eastern Senate survived in Constantinople, until the ancient institution finally vanished there c. 14th century, the senate was a political institution in the ancient Roman kingdom. The word senate derives from the Latin word senex, which means old man, the early Roman family was called a gens or clan, and each clan was an aggregation of families under a common living male patriarch, called a pater. When the early Roman gentes were aggregating to form a common community, over time, the patres came to recognize the need for a single leader, and so they elected a king, and vested in him their sovereign power. When the king died, that power naturally reverted to the patres. The senate is said to have created by Romes first king, Romulus. The descendants of those 100 men subsequently became the patrician class, Romes fifth king, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, chose a further 100 senators. They were chosen from the leading families, and were accordingly called the patres minorum gentium. Romes seventh and final king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, executed many of the men in the senate. During the years of the monarchy, the senates most important function was to new kings. While the king was elected by the people, it was actually the senate who chose each new king
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Paludamentum
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In Republican and Imperial Rome, the paludamentum was a cloak or cape fastened at one shoulder, worn by military commanders and rather less often by their troops. As supreme commander of the whole Roman army, Roman emperors were often portrayed wearing it in their statues, after the reign of Augustus, the paludamentum was restricted to the Emperor. Children would also wear it sometimes, when there was bad weather, the paludamentum was generally crimson, scarlet, or purple in colour, or sometimes white. It was fastened at the shoulder with a clasp, called a fibula, whose form, putting on the paludamentum was a ceremonial act on setting out for war. The reason why these garments are called paludamenta is that those who wear them are on account of them conspicuous and are made palam, plainly visible. ”Haec insignia atque ornamenta militaria, ideo ad bellum cum exit imperator ac lictores mutarunt vestem et signa incinuerunt, paludatus dicitur proficisci. Quae propterea, quod conspiciuntur qui ea habent ac fiunt palam, paludamenta dicta. ”
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Roman tuba
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The tuba of ancient Rome is a military signal trumpet, quite different from the modern tuba. The tuba was produced around 500 BC and its shape was straight, in contrast to the military buccina or cornu, which was more like the modern sousaphone in curving around the body. Its origin is thought to be Etruscan, and it is similar to the Greek salpinx, about four feet in length, it was made usually of bronze, and was played with a detachable mouthpiece. Tuba is one of the most important music instruments in the military and it can be used for parades and funerals, but the most important way to use it is to give orders to soldiers. The main purpose of this instrument is to amplify the voice, people who play this instrument are called tubicines. In representations of playing this instrument, they are usually pointing it up or down. They also just use one hand to hold it, as the hand is placed on the hip to help dilate the torso. 1. Daniel A.2. John Ziolkowski, The Roman Bucina,1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, mirrored at Online Encyclopedia. Image of tuba on Trajans Column
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tarquinius Priscus, Lucius". Encyclopædia Britannica. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
