1.
Roman emperor
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The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period. The emperors used a variety of different titles throughout history, often when a given Roman is described as becoming emperor in English, it reflects his taking of the title Augustus or Caesar. Another title often used was imperator, originally a military honorific, early Emperors also used the title princeps. Emperors frequently amassed republican titles, notably Princeps Senatus, Consul, the first emperors reigned alone, later emperors would sometimes rule with co-Emperors and divide administration of the Empire between them. The Romans considered the office of emperor to be distinct from that of a king, the first emperor, Augustus, resolutely refused recognition as a monarch. Although Augustus could claim that his power was authentically republican, his successor, Tiberius, nonetheless, for the first three hundred years of Roman Emperors, from Augustus until Diocletian, a great effort was made to emphasize that the Emperors were the leaders of a Republic. Elements of the Republican institutional framework were preserved until the end of the Western Empire. The Eastern emperors ultimately adopted the title of Basileus, which had meant king in Greek, but became a title reserved solely for the Roman emperor, other kings were then referred to as rēgas. In addition to their office, some emperors were given divine status after death. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in the late 5th century, Romulus Augustulus is often considered to be the last emperor of the west after his forced abdication in 476, although Julius Nepos maintained a claim to the title until his death in 480. Constantine XI was the last Byzantine Roman emperor in Constantinople, dying in the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, a Byzantine group of claimant Roman Emperors existed in the Empire of Trebizond until its conquest by the Ottomans in 1461. In western Europe the title of Roman Emperor was revived by Germanic rulers, the Holy Roman Emperors, in 800, at the end of the Roman Republic no new, and certainly no single, title indicated the individual who held supreme power. Insofar as emperor could be seen as the English translation of imperator, then Julius Caesar had been an emperor, however, Julius Caesar, unlike those after him, did so without the Senates vote and approval. Julius Caesar held the Republican offices of four times and dictator five times, was appointed dictator in perpetuity in 45 BC and had been pontifex maximus for a long period. He gained these positions by senatorial consent, by the time of his assassination, he was the most powerful man in the Roman world. In his will, Caesar appointed his adopted son Octavian as his heir, a decade after Caesars death, Octavians victory over his erstwhile ally Mark Antony at Actium put an end to any effective opposition and confirmed Octavians supremacy. His restoration of powers to the Senate and the people of Rome was a demonstration of his auctoritas, some later historians such as Tacitus would say that even at Augustus death, the true restoration of the Republic might have been possible. Instead, Augustus actively prepared his adopted son Tiberius to be his successor, the Senate disputed the issue but eventually confirmed Tiberius as princeps
2.
Florianus
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Florianus, also known as Florian, was Roman Emperor for a few months in 276. Florian was reported be a maternal half-brother to the Emperor Marcus Claudius Tacitus, however he minted coins bearing the SC legend, thus showing some bonds to the Senate. Florian was fighting the Heruli when the army in the East elected Probus, Florian had the support of Italia, Gaul, Hispania, Britain, Africa, and Mauretania. The two rival emperors met in battle in Cilicia, Florianus had the army, but Probus was a more experienced general. Florians western army was not accustomed to the hot, dry eastern climate, Florian was assassinated by his own troops near Tarsus once their confidence was lost. He died in September 276, having been emperor for only eighty-eight days, the Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. I, AD260-395, Cambridge University Press,1971 Southern, Pat. The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine, Routledge,2001 Canduci, Alexander, Triumph & Tragedy, The Rise and Fall of Romes Immortal Emperors, Pier 9, edward Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire Media related to Florianus at Wikimedia Commons britannica. com
3.
Carus
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Carus was Roman Emperor from 282 to 283, and was 60 at ascension. During his short reign, Carus fought the Germanic tribes and Sarmatians along the Danube frontier with success and he brought stability in the empire and died in 283 aged 61. During his campaign against the Sassanid Empire, he sacked their capital Ctesiphon and he was succeeded by his sons Carinus and Numerian, creating a dynasty which, though short-lived, granted further stability to a resurgent empire. Carus, whose name before the accession may have been Marcus Numerius Carus, was born at Narbo in Gaul but was educated in Rome. He was a senator and filled various civil and military posts before being appointed prefect of the Praetorian Guard by the emperor Probus in 282, after the murder of Probus at Sirmium, Carus was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers. Although Carus severely avenged the death of Probus, he was suspected as an accessory to the deed and he does not seem to have returned to Rome after his accession, contenting himself with an announcement to the Senate. The Sassanid King Bahram II, limited by internal opposition and his troops occupied with a campaign in modern-day Afghanistan, the victories of Carus avenged all the previous defeats suffered by the Romans against the Sassanids, and he received the title of Persicus Maximus. Carus hopes of further conquest were cut short by his death and his death was variously attributed to disease, the effects of lightning, or a wound received in the campaign against the Persians. The fact that he was leading a campaign, and his son Numerian succeeded him without opposition. The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. I, AD260-395, Cambridge University Press,1971 Southern, Pat. The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine, Routledge,2001 Canduci, Alexander, Triumph & Tragedy, The Rise and Fall of Romes Immortal Emperors, Pier 9, ISBN 978-1-74196-598-8 Gibbon. Edward Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
4.
Sirmium
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Sirmium was a city in the Roman province of Pannonia. In 294 AD, Sirmium was proclaimed one of four capitals of the Roman Empire and it was also the capital of the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum and of Pannonia Secunda. Sirmium was located on the Sava river, on the site of modern Sremska Mitrovica in northern Serbia, ¨The site is protected as an Archaeological Site of Exceptional Importance. The modern region of Syrmia was named after the city, Sirmium had 100,000 inhabitants and was one of the biggest cities of its time. Colin McEvedy, however, put the population at only 7,000, Ammianus Marcellinus called it the glorious mother of cities. Remains of Sirmium stand on the site of the modern-day Sremska Mitrovica,55 km west of Belgrade and 145 km away from Kostolac, archaeologists have found traces of organized human life on the site of Sirmium dating from 5,000 BC. The city was mentioned in the 4th century BC and was originally inhabited by the Illyrians. The Triballi king Syrmus was later considered the founder of Sirmium, but the roots are different. The name Sirmium by itself means flow, flowing water, wetland, with the Celtic tribe of Scordisci as allies, the Roman proconsul Marcus Vinicius took Sirmium in around 14 BC. In the 1st century AD, Sirmium gained the status of a Roman colony, the Roman emperors Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, and Claudius II prepared war expeditions in Sirmium. In 103 Pannonia was split into two provinces, Pannonia Superior and Pannonia Inferior, and Sirmium became the city of the latter. In 296 Diocletian reorganized Pannonia into four provinces, Pannonia Prima, Pannonia Valeria, Pannonia Savia and Pannonia Secunda and he joined them with Noricum and Dalmatia to establish the Diocese of Pannonia, with Sirmium as its capital also. In 293, with the establishment of the Tetrarchy, the Roman Empire was split into four parts, Sirmium emerged as one of the four capital cities, the eastern part of Illyricum remained a separate prefecture under the East Roman Empire with its new capital in Thessalonica. From the 4th century, the city was an important Christian center, five church councils, the Councils of Sirmium, took place in Sirmium. The city also had a palace, a horse-racing arena, a mint, an arena theatre. Ancient historian Ammianus Marcellinus called it the mother of cities. The mint in Sirmium was connected with the mint in Salona, at the end of the 4th century Sirmium came under the sway of the Goths, and later, was again annexed to the East Roman Empire. In 441 the Huns conquered Sirmium, it remained for more than a century in the hands of other tribes, such as Eastern Goths
5.
Pannonia Inferior
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Lower Pannonia, was an ancient Roman province. It was one on the provinces on the Danube. It was formed in the year 103 AD by the emperor Trajan, the province included parts of present-day Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. While Pannonia Superior bordered with the Quadi to the north, Pannonia Inferior had to the west the Sarmatian Iazyges, major settlements in Pannonia Inferior included, Sirmium which several times served as an imperial residence for several emperors. In the Frankish period, in the 9th century, Lower Pannonia was a duchy that spanned from the Drava to the Sava,141 Marcus Pontius Laelianus Larcius Sabinus c. 153 Marcus Iallius Bassus Fabius Valerianus c,159 Gaius Julius Geminius Capellianus c. 161-164 Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus c.167 Lucius Ulpius Marcellus before 173 Gaius Vettius Sabinanus Julius Hospes c,183 Pannoni Pannonia Pannonia Secunda Pannonia Valeria Diocese of Pannonia Roman Empire Roman Empire - Pannonia Pannonia Inferior - Map
6.
Sremska Mitrovica
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Sremska Mitrovica is a city and the administrative center of the Srem District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated on the bank of the Sava river. As of 2011, the city has a population of 37,751 inhabitants. Once a capital of the Roman Empire during the Tetrarchy, the city was referred to as the mother of cities. Sremska Mitrovica means Mitrovica of Srem, while Mitrovica itself stems from the name Saint Demetrius or Sveti Dimitrije in the Serbian language, the name of the city during the reign of the Roman Empire was Sirmium. Beginning in 1180 AD the name changed from Civitas Sancti Demetrii to Dmitrovica, Mitrovica, Sremska Mitrovica is one of the oldest cities in Europe. Archaeologists have found a trace of organized human life dating from the 5000 BC onwards, ionian jewellery dating to 500BC was excavated in the city. When the Romans conquered the city in the 1st century BC, in the 1st century, Sirmium gained a status of a colony of the citizens of Rome, and became a very important military and strategic location in Pannonia province. The war expeditions of Roman emperors Traian, Marcus Aurelius, in 103, Pannonia was split into two provinces, Pannonia Superior and Pannonia Inferior, and Sirmium became the capital city of the latter. In 296, Diocletian operated a new division of Pannonia. Instead of previous two provinces, there were four new provinces established in territory of original Pannonia, Pannonia Prima. Capital city of Pannonia Secunda was Sirmium, during the tetrarchy, Sirmium was the capital of emperor Galerius. With the establishment of praetorian prefectures in 318, the capital of the prefecture of Illyricum was Sirmium, since the 4th century, the city was an important Christian centre, and was a seat of the Episcopate of Sirmium. Four Christian councils were held in Sirmium, at the end of the 4th century, Sirmium was brought under the sway of the Goths, and later, was again annexed to the Eastern Roman Empire. In 441, Sirmium was conquered by the Huns, and after this conquest, it remained for more than a century in the hands of various Barbarian tribes, such were Eastern Goths and Gepids. For a short time, Sirmium was the center of the Gepide State, after 567, Sirmium was again included into Eastern Roman Empire. The city was conquered and destroyed by Avars in 582. This event marked the end of the period of late Antiquity in the history of Sirmium,11 luxurious golden belts of Avar handicraft dating to the 6th century was excavated in the vicinity
7.
Serbia
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Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia, is a sovereign state situated at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central Balkans. Relative to its territory, it is a diverse country distinguished by a transitional character, situated along cultural, geographic, climatic. Serbia numbers around 7 million residents, and its capital, Belgrade, following the Slavic migrations to the Balkans from the 6th century onwards, Serbs established several states in the early Middle Ages. The Serbian Kingdom obtained recognition by Rome and the Byzantine Empire in 1217, in the early 19th century, the Serbian Revolution established the nation-state as the regions first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory. During the breakup of Yugoslavia, Serbia formed a union with Montenegro which dissolved peacefully in 2006, in 2008 the parliament of the province of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence, with mixed responses from the international community. Serbia is a member of organizations such as the UN, CoE, OSCE, PfP, BSEC. An EU membership candidate since 2012, Serbia has been negotiating its EU accession since January 2014, the country is acceding to the WTO and is a militarily neutral state. Serbia is an income economy with dominant service sector, followed by the industrial sector. The country ranks high on the Social Progress Index as well as the Global Peace Index, relatively high on the Human Development Index, located at the crossroads between Central and Southern Europe, Serbia is found in the Balkan peninsula and the Pannonian Plain. Serbia lies between latitudes 41° and 47° N, and longitudes 18° and 23° E. The country covers a total of 88,361 km2, which places it at 113th place in the world, with Kosovo excluded, the area is 77,474 km2. Its total border length amounts to 2,027 km, all of Kosovos border with Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro are under control of the Kosovo border police. The Pannonian Plain covers the third of the country while the easternmost tip of Serbia extends into the Wallachian Plain. The terrain of the part of the country, with the region of Šumadija at its heart. Mountains dominate the third of Serbia. Dinaric Alps stretch in the west and the southwest, following the flow of the rivers Drina, the Carpathian Mountains and Balkan Mountains stretch in a north–south direction in eastern Serbia. Ancient mountains in the southeast corner of the country belong to the Rilo-Rhodope Mountain system, elevation ranges from the Midžor peak of the Balkan Mountains at 2,169 metres to the lowest point of just 17 metres near the Danube river at Prahovo. The largest lake is Đerdap Lake and the longest river passing through Serbia is the Danube, the climate of Serbia is under the influences of the landmass of Eurasia and the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea
8.
Rhine
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The largest city on the river Rhine is Cologne, Germany, with a population of more than 1,050,000 people. It is the second-longest river in Central and Western Europe, at about 1,230 km, with an average discharge of about 2,900 m3/s. The Rhine and the Danube formed most of the inland frontier of the Roman Empire and, since those days. The many castles and fortifications along the Rhine testify to its importance as a waterway in the Holy Roman Empire, in the modern era, it has become a symbol of German nationalism. The variant of the name of the Rhine in modern languages are all derived from the Gaulish name Rēnos, spanish is with French in adopting the Germanic vocalism Rin-, while Italian, Occitan and Portuguese retain the Latin Ren-. The Gaulish name Rēnos belongs to a class of river names built from the PIE root *rei- to move, flow, run, the grammatical gender of the Celtic name is masculine, and the name remains masculine in German, Dutch and French. The Old English river name was variously inflected as masculine or feminine, the length of the Rhine is conventionally measured in Rhine-kilometers, a scale introduced in 1939 which runs from the Old Rhine Bridge at Constance to Hoek van Holland. The river length is shortened from the rivers natural course due to a number of canalisation projects completed in the 19th and 20th century. The total length of the Rhine, to the inclusion of Lake Constance and its course is conventionally divided as follows, The Rhine carries its name without distinctive accessories only from the confluence of the Vorderrhein and Hinterrhein near Tamins-Reichenau. Above this point is the catchment of the headwaters of the Rhine. It belongs almost exclusively to the Swiss Canton of Graubünden, ranging from Gotthard Massif in the west via one valley lying in Ticino, traditionally, Lake Toma near the Oberalp Pass in the Gotthard region is seen as the source of the Vorderrhein and the Rhine as a whole. The Hinterrhein rises in the Rheinwald valley below Mount Rheinwaldhorn, the Vorderrhein, or Anterior Rhine, springs from Lai da Tuma, near the Oberalp Pass and passes the impressive Ruinaulta formed by the largest visible rock slide in the alps, the Flims Rockslide. A multiday trekking route is signposted along the young Rhine called Senda Sursilvana, the Hinterrhein/Rein Posteriur, or Posterior Rhine, starts from the Paradies Glacier, near the Rheinwaldhorn. One of its tributaries, the Reno di Lei, drains the Valle di Lei on politically Italian territory, after three main valleys separated by the two gorges, Roflaschlucht and Viamala, it reaches Reichenau. The Vorderrhein arises from numerous source streams in the upper Surselva, one source is Lai da Tuma with the Rein da Tuma, which is usually indicated as source of the Rhine, flowing through it. Into it flow tributaries from the south, some longer, some equal in length, such as the Reno di Medel, the Rein da Maighels, and the Rein da Curnera. The Cadlimo Valley in the Canton of Ticino is drained by the Reno di Medel, all streams in the source area are partially, sometimes completely, captured and sent to storage reservoirs for the local hydro-electric power plants. In its lower course the Vorderrhein flows through a gorge named Ruinaulta through the Flims Rockslide, the whole stretch of the Vorderrhein to the Rhine confluence near Reichenau-Tamins is accompanied by a long-distance hiking trail called Senda Sursilvana
9.
Danube
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The Danube is Europes second-longest river, after the Volga River, and also the longest river in the European Union region. It is located in Central and Eastern Europe, the Danube was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire, and today flows through 10 countries, more than any other river in the world. Its drainage basin extends into nine more countries, the Latin name Dānuvius is one of a number of Old European river names derived from a Proto-Indo-European *dānu. Other river names from the root include the Dunajec, Dzvina/Daugava, Don, Donets, Dnieper, Dniestr. In Rigvedic Sanskrit, dānu means fluid, drop, in Avestan, in the Rigveda, Dānu once appears as the mother of Vrtra. Known to the ancient Greeks as the Istros a borrowing from a Daco-Thracian name meaning strong, in Latin, the Danube was variously known as Danubius, Danuvius or as Ister. The Dacian/Thracian name was Donaris for the upper Danube and Istros for the lower Danube, the Thraco-Phrygian name was Matoas, the bringer of luck. The Latin name is masculine, as are all its Slavic names, the German Donau is feminine, as it has been re-interpreted as containing the suffix -ouwe wetland. Classified as a waterway, it originates in the town of Donaueschingen, in the Black Forest of Germany, at the confluence of the rivers Brigach. The Danube then flows southeast for about 2,800 km, passing through four capital cities before emptying into the Black Sea via the Danube Delta in Romania and its drainage basin extends into nine more. The highest point of the basin is the summit of Piz Bernina at the Italy–Switzerland border. The land drained by the Danube extends into other countries. Many Danubian tributaries are important rivers in their own right, navigable by barges, from its source to its outlet into the Black Sea, its main tributaries are, The Danube flows through many cities, including four national capitals, more than any other river in the world. Danube remains a mountain river until Passau, with average bottom gradient 0. 0012%. Middle Section, From Devín Gate to Iron Gate, at the border of Serbia and Romania, the riverbed widens and the average bottom gradient becomes only 0. 00006%. Lower Section, From Iron Gate to Sulina, with average gradient as little as 0. 00003%, about 60 of its tributaries are also navigable. In 1994 the Danube was declared one of ten Pan-European transport corridors, routes in Central, the amount of goods transported on the Danube increased to about 100 million tons in 1987. In 1999, transport on the river was difficult by the NATO bombing of three bridges in Serbia during the Kosovo War
10.
Germanic peoples
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The Germanic peoples are an ethno-linguistic Indo-European group of Northern European origin. They are identified by their use of Germanic languages, which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age, the term Germanic originated in classical times when groups of tribes living in Lower, Upper, and Greater Germania were referred to using this label by Roman scribes. Tribes referred to as Germanic by Roman authors generally lived to the north, in about 222 BCE, the first use of the Latin term Germani appears in the Fasti Capitolini inscription de Galleis Insvbribvs et Germ. This may simply be referring to Gaul or related people, the term Germani shows up again, allegedly written by Poseidonios, but is merely a quotation inserted by the author Athenaios who wrote much later. Somewhat later, the first surviving detailed discussions of Germani and Germania are those of Julius Caesar, from Caesars perspective, Germania was a geographical area of land on the east bank of the Rhine opposite Gaul, which Caesar left outside direct Roman control. This usage of the word is the origin of the concept of Germanic languages. In other classical authors the concept sometimes included regions of Sarmatia, also, at least in the south there were Celtic peoples still living east of the Rhine and north of the Alps. Caesar, Tacitus and others noted differences of culture which could be found on the east of the Rhine, but the theme of all these cultural references was that this was a wild and dangerous region, less civilised than Gaul, a place that required additional military vigilance. Caesar used the term Germani for a specific tribal grouping in northeastern Belgic Gaul, west of the Rhine. He made clear that he was using the name in the local sense and these are the so-called Germani Cisrhenani, whom Caesar believed to be closely related to the peoples east of the Rhine, and descended from immigrants into Gaul. Caesar described this group of both as Belgic Gauls and as Germani. Gauls are associated with Celtic languages, and the term Germani is associated with Germanic languages, but Caesar did not discuss languages in detail. It has been claimed, for example by Maurits Gysseling, that the names of this region show evidence of an early presence of Germanic languages. The etymology of the word Germani is uncertain, the likeliest theory so far proposed is that it comes from a Gaulish compound of *ger near + *mani men, comparable to Welsh ger near, Old Irish gair neighbor, Irish gar- near, garach neighborly. Another Celtic possibility is that the name meant noisy, cf. Breton/Cornish garm shout, however, here the vowel does not match, nor does the vowel length ). Others have proposed a Germanic etymology *gēr-manni, spear men, cf. Middle Dutch ghere, Old High German Ger, Old Norse geirr. However, the form gēr seems far too advanced phonetically for the 1st century, has a vowel where a short one is expected. The term Germani, therefore, probably applied to a group of tribes in northeastern Gaul who may or may not have spoken a Germanic language
11.
Goths
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The Goths were an East Germanic people, two of whose branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe. In the Gothic language they were called the Gut-þiuda, most commonly translated as Gothic people, gut-þiudai, or Gutans Inferred from gen. pl. gutani in Pietroassa inscription. In Old Norse they were known as the Gutar or Gotar, in Latin as the Gothi, the exact origin of the ancient Goths is unknown. Evidence of them before they interacted with the Romans is limited, Modern academics have generally abandoned this theory. Today, the Wielbark culture is thought to have developed from earlier cultures in the same area, archaeological finds show close contacts between southern Sweden and the Baltic coastal area on the continent, and further towards the south-east, evidenced by pottery, house types and graves. Rather than a migration, similarities in the material cultures may be products of long-term regular contacts. However, the record could indicate that while his work is thought to be unreliable. Sometime around the 1st century AD, Germanic peoples may have migrated from Scandinavia to Gothiscandza, early archaeological evidence in the traditional Swedish province of Östergötland suggests a general depopulation during this period. However, there is no evidence for a substantial emigration from Scandinavia. Upon their arrival on the Pontic Steppe, the Germanic tribes adopted the ways of the Eurasian nomads, the first Greek references to the Goths call them Scythians, since this area along the Black Sea historically had been occupied by an unrelated people of that name. The earliest known material culture associated with the Goths on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea is the Wielbark culture, centered on the modern region of Pomerania in northern Poland. This culture replaced the local Oxhöft or Oksywie culture in the 1st century, the culture of this area was influenced by southern Scandinavian culture beginning as early as the late Nordic Bronze Age and early Pre-Roman Iron Age. In Eastern Europe they formed part of the Chernyakhov culture and it has been suggested that the Goths maintained contact with southern Sweden during their migration. In the first attested incursion in Thrace, the Goths were mentioned as Boranoi by Zosimus, the first incursion of the Roman Empire that can be attributed to Goths is the sack of Histria in 238. Several such raids followed in subsequent decades, in particular the Battle of Abrittus in 251, led by Cniva, at the time, there were at least two groups of Goths, the Thervingi and the Greuthungs. Goths were subsequently recruited into the Roman Army to fight in the Roman-Persian Wars. The Moesogoths settled in Thrace and Moesia, the first seaborne raids took place in three subsequent years, probably 255-257. An unsuccessful attack on Pityus was followed in the year by another
12.
Alemanni
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The Alemanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes on the upper Rhine river. In 496, the Alemanni were conquered by Frankish leader Clovis, mentioned as still pagan allies of the Christian Franks, the Alemanni were gradually Christianized during the 7th century. The Pactus Alamannorum is a record of their customary law during this period, until the 8th century, Frankish suzerainty over Alemannia was mostly nominal. But after an uprising by Theudebald, Duke of Alamannia, Carloman executed the Alamannic nobility, during the later and weaker years of the Carolingian Empire the Alemannic counts became almost independent, and a struggle for supremacy took place between them and the Bishopric of Constance. According to Asinius Quadratus their name means all men and it indicates that they were a conglomeration drawn from various Germanic tribes. Other sources say the name derives from alahmannen which means men of sanctuary and not all men. The Romans and the Greeks called them as such mentioned and this etymology has remained the standard derivation of the term. Walafrid Strabo, a monk of the Abbey of St, the name of Germany and the German language in several languages is derived from the name of this early Germanic tribal alliance. For details, see Names of Germany, the Alemanni were first mentioned by Cassius Dio describing the campaign of Caracalla in 213. At that time they dwelt in the basin of the Main. Cassius Dio portrays the Alemanni as victims of this treacherous emperor and they had asked for his help, says Dio, but instead he colonized their country, changed their place names and executed their warriors under a pretext of coming to their aid. When he became ill, the Alemanni claimed to have put a hex on him, Caracalla, it was claimed, tried to counter this influence by invoking his ancestral spirits. In retribution Caracalla then led the Legio II Traiana Fortis against the Alemanni, the legion was as a result honored with the name Germanica. Not on good terms with Caracalla, Geta had been invited to a reconciliation, at which time he was ambushed by centurions in Caracallas army. True or not, Caracalla, pursued by devils of his own, Caracalla left for the frontier, where for the rest of his short reign he was known for his unpredictable and arbitrary operations launched by surprise after a pretext of peace negotiations. If he had any reasons of state for such actions they remained unknown to his contemporaries, whether or not the Alemanni had been previously neutral, they were certainly further influenced by Caracalla to become thereafter notoriously implacable enemies of Rome. This mutually antagonistic relationship is perhaps the reason why the Roman writers persisted in calling the Alemanni barbari, most of the Alemanni were probably at the time in fact resident in or close to the borders of Germania Superior. At that time the frontier was being fortified for the first time
13.
Lugii
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Most archaeologists identify the Lugians with the Przeworsk culture. They played an important role on the part of the Amber Road from Sambia at the Baltic Sea to the provinces of Roman Empire, Pannonia, Noricum. A tribe of the name, usually spelled as Lugi. The Lugii are first mentioned in Strabos Geographica, the next mention of Lugii are the times of the Roman emperor Claudius. The next information about the Lugians comes from Cassius Dios work Roman History, the Lugii allied themselves with the Romans and asked them for help against some of the Suebi. Domitian sent 100 horsemen to support the Lugians and it is not known if these horsemen really arrived at their destination, if they did, it would be the first recorded presence of Roman soldiers on what is now Poland. The 12th century Chronica Polonorum by Wincenty Kadłubek mentions the alliance between the Lugii and the Romans, ptolemy mentions the Lugi Omani, the Lugi Diduni and the Lugi Buri located on or near the upper Vistula in Germania Magna in what is now south Poland. Ptolemy does not mention the Vandals at all, another mention might be a great people of Lupiones-Sarmatae shown on a Latin map Tabula Peutingeriana generally dated to 2nd-4th century AD. The Lugii were probably absorbed into the Vandals by the 3rd century. While the two peoples are located by Roman authors as living in the region, they are never mentioned simultaneously. According to John Anderson, the Lugii and Vandili are designations of the tribal group, the latter an extended ethnic name. The ethnic affiliation was subject of intense debate between German and mostly Polish historians before the Second World War. The former used to claim that the tribe was exclusively Germanic as the presented the counterargument that either the tribe was proto-Slavic or at least included proto-Slavic groups. Ancient writers simply regarded them to be part of the Germani, or the inhabitants of the region of Germania, merrils, Andrew H. Vandals, Romans and Berbers, New Perspectives on Late Antique North Africa. The Roman Empire and its Germanic peoples
14.
Franks
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Some Franks raided Roman territory, while other Frankish tribes joined the Roman troops of Gaul. In later times, Franks became the rulers of the northern part of Roman Gaul. The Salian Franks lived on Roman-held soil between the Rhine, Scheldt, Meuse, and Somme rivers in what is now Northern France, Belgium, the kingdom was acknowledged by the Romans after 357 CE. Following the collapse of Rome in the West, the Frankish tribes were united under the Merovingians, who succeeded in conquering most of Gaul in the 6th century, which greatly increased their power. The Merovingian dynasty, descendants of the Salians, founded one of the Germanic monarchies that would absorb large parts of the Western Roman Empire, the Frankish state consolidated its hold over the majority of western Europe by the end of the 8th century, developing into the Carolingian Empire. This empire would gradually evolve into the state of France and the Holy Roman Empire, in the Middle Ages, the term Frank was used in the east as a synonym for western European, as the Franks were then rulers of most of Western Europe. The Franks in the east kept their Germanic language and became part of the Germans, Dutch, Flemings, the Franconian languages, which are called Frankisch in Dutch or Fränkisch in German, originated at least partly in the Old Frankish language of the Franks. Nowadays, the German and Dutch names for France are Frankreich and Frankrijk, respectively, the name Franci was originally socio-political. To the Romans, Celts, and Suebi, the Franks must have seemed alike, they looked the same and spoke the same language, so that Franci became the name by which the people were known. Within a few centuries it had eclipsed the names of the tribes, though the older names have survived in some place-names, such as Hesse. Following the precedents of Edward Gibbon and Jacob Grimm, the name of the Franks has been linked with the word frank in English and it has been suggested that the meaning of free was adopted because, after the conquest of Gaul, only Franks were free of taxation. It is traditionally assumed that Frank comes from the Germanic word for javelin, there is also another theory that suggests that Frank comes from the Latin word francisca meaning. Words in other Germanic languages meaning fierce, bold or insolent, eumenius addressed the Franks in the matter of the execution of Frankish prisoners in the circus at Trier by Constantine I in 306 and certain other measures, Ubi nunc est illa ferocia. Feroces was used often to describe the Franks, contemporary definitions of Frankish ethnicity vary both by period and point of view. According to their law and their custom, writing in 2009, Professor Christopher Wickham pointed out that the word Frankish quickly ceased to have an exclusive ethnic connotation. North of the River Loire everyone seems to have considered a Frank by the mid-7th century at the latest. Two early sources describe the origin of the Franks are a 7th-century work known as the Chronicle of Fredegar. Neither of these works are accepted by historians as trustworthy, compared with Gregory of Tourss Historia Francorum, the chronicle describes Priam as a Frankish king whose people migrated to Macedonia after the fall of Troy
15.
Burgundians
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The Burgundians were a large East Germanic or Vandal tribe, or group of tribes, who lived in the area of modern Poland in the time of the Roman Empire. This later became a component of the Frankish empire, the name of this Kingdom survives in the regional appellation, Burgundy, which is a region in modern France, representing only a part of that kingdom. Another part of the Burgundians stayed in their previous homeland in the Oder-Vistula basin, the ethnonym Burgundians is commonly used in English to refer to the Burgundi who settled in Sapaudia, in the western Alps, during the 5th Century. Between the 6th and 20th centuries, the boundaries and political connections of Burgundy have changed frequently, in modern times the only area still referred to as Burgundy is in France, which derives its name from the Duchy of Burgundy. The parts of the old Kingdom not within the French controlled Duchy tended to come under different names, the Burgundians had a tradition of Scandinavian origin which finds support in place-name evidence and archaeological evidence and many consider their tradition to be correct. The Burgundians are believed to have emigrated to the Baltic island of Bornholm. However, by about 250 CE, the population of Bornholm had largely disappeared from the island, most cemeteries ceased to be used, and those that were still used had few burials. In Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar, the Veseti settled in an island or holm, alfred the Greats translation of Orosius uses the name Burgenda land to refer to a territory next to the land of Sweons. The poet and early mythologist Viktor Rydberg, asserted from a medieval source, Vita Sigismundi. Early Roman sources, such as Tacitus and Pliny the Elder, knew little concerning the Germanic peoples east of the Elbe river, Pliny however mentions them among the Vandalic or Eastern Germanic Germani peoples, including also the Goths. Claudius Ptolemy lists them as living between the Suevus and Vistula rivers, north of the Lugii, and south of the coast dwelling tribes. Around the mid 2nd century AD, there was a significant migration by Germanic tribes of Scandinavian origin towards the south-east and these migrations culminated in the Marcomannic Wars, which resulted in widespread destruction and the first invasion of Italy in the Roman Empire period. Jordanes reports that during the 3rd century, the Burgundians living in the Vistula basin were almost annihilated by Fastida, king of the Gepids, in the late 3rd century, the Burgundians appear on the east bank of the Rhine, confronting Roman Gaul. Zosimus reports them being defeated by the emperor Probus in 278 in Gaul, at this time, they were led by a Vandal king. A few years later, Claudius Mamertinus mentions them along with the Alamanni and he also mentions that the Goths had previously defeated the Burgundians. Ammianus Marcellinus, on the hand, claimed that the Burgundians were descended from Romans. The Roman sources do not speak of any specific migration from Poland by the Burgundians, in 369/370, the Emperor Valentinian I enlisted the aid of the Burgundians in his war against the Alemanni. Approximately four decades later, the Burgundians appear again, following Stilichos withdrawal of troops to fight Alaric I the Visigoth in AD 406-408, the northern tribes crossed the Rhine and entered the Empire in the Völkerwanderung, or Germanic migrations
16.
Vandals
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The Vandals are believed to have migrated from southern Scandinavia to the area between the lower Oder and Vistula rivers during the 2nd century BC and to have settled in Silesia from around 120 BC. They are associated with the Przeworsk culture and were possibly the people as the Lugii. Around 400 the Vandals were pushed westwards again, this time by the Huns, in 409, the Vandals crossed the Pyrenees into the Iberian Peninsula, where their main groups, the Hasdingi and the Silingi, settled in Gallaecia and Baetica respectively. In 429, under king Genseric, the Vandals entered North Africa, by 439 they established a kingdom which included the Roman province of Africa as well as Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Malta and the Balearic Islands. They fended off several Roman attempts to recapture the African province and their kingdom collapsed in the Vandalic War of 533–4, in which Justinian I managed to reconquer the province for the Eastern Roman Empire. Renaissance and Early Modern writers characterized the Vandals as barbarians, sacking and looting Rome and this led to the use of the term vandalism to describe any senseless destruction, particularly the barbarian defacing of artwork. However, modern historians tend to regard the Vandals during the period from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages as perpetuators, not destroyers. The connection would be that Vendel is the homeland of the Vandals prior to the Migration Period. Further possible homelands of the Vandals in Scandinavia are Vendsyssel in Denmark, the etymology of the name may be related to a Germanic verb *wand- to wander. The Germanic mythological figure of Aurvandil shining wanderer, dawn wanderer, evening star, much has forwarded the theory that the tribal name Vandal reflects worship of Aurvandil or the Dioscuri, probably involving an origin myth that the Vandalic kings were descended from Aurvandil. Some medieval authors applied the ethnonym Vandals to Slavs, Veneti, Wends and it was once thought that the Slovenes were the descendants of the Vandals, but this is not the view of modern scholars. The Vandals are believed to have migrated from southern Scandinavia to the area between the lower Oder and Vistula somewhere in the 2nd century BC, and to have settled in Silesia from around 120 BC. The earliest mention of the Vandals is from Pliny the Elder, tribes within this category who he mentions are the Burgundiones, Varini, Carini, and the Gutones. Most archaeologists and historians identify the Vandals with the Przeworsk culture, the bearers of the Przeworsk culture mainly practiced cremation, with occasional inhumation. The Lugii have been identified by historians as the same people as the Vandals. The Lugii are mentioned by Strabo, Tacitus and Ptolemy as a group of tribes living between the Vistula and the Oder. Neither Strabo, Tacitus or Ptolemy mentions the Vandals, while Pliny the Elder mentions the Vandals, according to John Anderson, the Lugii and Vandili are designations of the same tribal group, the latter an extended ethnic name, the former probably a cult-title. By the end of the 2nd century, the Vandals were divided in two main groups, the Silingi and the Hasdingi, with the Silingi being associated with Silesia
17.
Agri Decumates
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The only ancient reference to the name comes from Tacitus book Germania. However the later geographer Claudius Ptolemy does mention the desert of the Helvetians in this area, the meaning of Decumates is lost and has been the subject of much contention. According to the English Classicist Michael Grant, the word refers to an ancient Celtic term indicating the political division of the area into ten cantons. Another theory is that the term implies that a tithe was paid by residents living in this country, according to Tacitus, the region was originally populated by the Celtic tribe of the Helvetii, but soon Germanic and Gaulish settlers arrived. Tacitus writes that, I should not reckon among the German tribes the cultivators of the tithe-lands, although they are settled on the side of the Rhine. Reckless adventurers from Gaul, emboldened by want, occupied land of questionable ownership. After a while, our frontier having been advanced, and our military positions pushed forward, it was regarded as a remote nook of our empire, under the Flavian and later emperors, Romans took control and settled the region. They built a network for military communications and movements. Frontier fortifications were constructed along a line running Rheinbrohl—Arnsburg—Inheiden—Schierenhof—Gunzenhausen—Pförring, the larger Roman settlements were Sumolecenna, Civitas Aurelia Aquensis, Lopodunum. and Arae Flaviae. The Emperor Aurelian may have had the region briefly reoccupied during the Roman resurgence of the late 3rd century under the military emperors. Even if this did occur, re-establishment of Roman rule was brief, after the Emperor Probus death, the region was finally given up and the Alemanni took control. Germanic peoples have inhabited the region since then. However, Roman settlements were not immediately abandoned, there is evidence the Roman way of life continued well into the 5th century, much as Roman patterns continued in neighboring Gaul long after the Western Roman Empires collapse. J. G. F. Lukas, de Blois, The Policy of the Emperor Gallienus, Leiden, E. J. W. Wilson, ISBN 0-7607-4134-4 Hind, whatever Happened to the Agri Decumates. Britannia,5, pp. 187–192 Strayer, Joseph R
18.
Limes Germanicus
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At its height, the limes stretched from the North Sea outlet of the Rhine to near Regensburg on the Danube. Those two major rivers afforded natural protection from mass incursions into imperial territory, with the exception of a gap stretching roughly from Mogontiacum on the Rhine to Castra Regina, the total length was 568 km. It included at least 60 forts and 900 watchtowers, Roman border defences have become much better known through systematic excavations financed by Germany and through other research connected to them. The Saalburg is a fortification and museum of the Limes near Frankfurt. The first emperor who began to build fortifications along the border was Augustus, originally there were numerous Limes walls, which were then connected to form the Upper Germanic Limes along the Rhine and the Rhaetian Limes along the Danube. Later these two walls were linked to form a common borderline, from the death of Augustus until after 70 AD, Rome accepted as her Germanic frontier the water-boundary of the Rhine and upper Danube. Beyond these rivers she held only the plain of Frankfurt, opposite the Roman border fortress of Moguntiacum, the southernmost slopes of the Black Forest. The northern section of this frontier, where the Rhine is deep and broad, the upper Rhine and upper Danube are easily crossed. The frontier which they form is inconveniently long, enclosing an acute-angled wedge of foreign territory between the modern Baden and Württemberg, the Germanic populations of these lands seem in Roman times to have been scanty, and Roman subjects from the modern Alsace-Lorraine had drifted across the river eastwards. The first advance came about 74 AD, when what is now Baden was invaded and in part annexed, the point of the angle was broken off. The second advance was made by Domitian about 83 AD, among the blockhouses was one which by various enlargements and refoundations grew into the well-known Saalburg fort on the Taunus near Bad Homburg. This advance necessitated a third movement, the construction of a frontier connecting the annexations of AD74 and we know the line of this frontier which ran from the Main across the upland Odenwald to the upper waters of the Neckar and was defended by a chain of forts. The angle between the rivers was now almost full, but there remained further advance and further fortification. This is the frontier which is now visible and visited by the curious, the southern part of the Pfahlgraben is remarkably straight, for over 50 km it points almost absolutely true for Polaris. This frontier remained for about 100 years, and no doubt in that long period much was done to it to which precise dates are difficult to fix and it cannot even be absolutely certain when the frontier laid out by Pius was equipped with the manpitts and other special fortifications. Germanic invasions in the late 3rd century led to the abandonment of the so-called Upper Raetian Limes in favour of a Roman defence line along the rivers Rhine, Iller and Danube. Support was provided to some degree by fast river boats, the navis lusoria being the standard type, watch towers were in sight contact and heavily fortified castra placed at important passes and in the hinterland of the frontier. The limes itself is a simple construction
19.
Germania Superior
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Germania Superior was a province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of todays western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, important cities were Besançon, Strasbourg, Wiesbaden, and Germania Superiors capital, Mainz. It comprised the Middle Rhine, bordering on the Limes Germanicus, although it had been occupied militarily since the reign of Augustus, Germania Superior was not made into an official province until c.85 AD. Lower Germania was occupied by the Belgae, the Romans did not abandon this region at any time after then. They were to be restored to the senate in 10 years under proconsuls elected by the senate, among these independent provinces were upper Germania. Apparently it had become a province in the last years of the republic, tacitus also mentions it as the province of Germania Superior in his Annales. Cassius Dio viewed the Germanic tribes as Celts, an impression given perhaps by Belgica, Dio does not mention the border, but he views upper Germany as extending to the source of the Rhine. It is not clear if he was aware of the Upper Rhine in Switzerland, today we call the section of the Rhine running through upper Germania the middle Rhine. Augustus had planned to all of central Germania in one province. This plan was frustrated by the Germanic tribesmen at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest, Augustus decided to limit the empire at the Rhine-Danube border. Thereafter continual conflict prevailed along it, forcing the Romans to conduct punitive expeditions, by 12 BC, major bases existed at Xanten and Mainz, from which Drusus operated. A system of forts gradually developed around these bases, in 69-70, all the Roman fortications along the Rhine and Danube were destroyed by Germanic insurrections and civil war between the legions. At the conclusion of this violent but brief social storm they were more extensively than before, with a road connecting Mainz. Domitian went to war against the Chatti in 83-85, who were north of Frankfurt, at this time the first line, or continuous fortified border, was constructed. It consisted of a zone of observation, a palisade where practicable, wooden watchtowers. The system reached maximum extent by 90, a Roman road went through the Odenwald and a network of secondary roads connected all the forts and towers. The plan governing the development of the limes was relatively simple, the bulge divided the densely populated Celtic settlements along the entire river system in two. Invading forces could move up under cover of the Black Forest, Roman defensive works therefore cut across the base of the bulge, denying the protected corridor and shortening the line
20.
Military tribune
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A military tribune was an officer of the Roman army who ranked below the legate and above the centurion. Young men of Equestrian rank often served as military tribune as a stone to the Senate. The tribunus militum should not be confused with the political office of tribune of the people nor with that of tribunus militum consulari potestate. The word tribunus derives from tribus, tribe, in Romes earliest history, each of the three tribes sent one commander when an army was mustered, since there was no standing army. The tribunes were commanders of the legion of 3,000. By the time of the Greek historian Polybius, the tribunes numbered six, however, the process by which tribunes were chosen and assigned is complex and varies at different times. In the Republican period, there were six appointed to each legion, Authority was given to two at a time, and command rotated among the six. Tribunes were men of Senatorial status appointed by the Senate, to attain the position of tribune, one only needed to be a member of the ruling class. By 311 BC the people acquired the right to elect sixteen tribunes of the soldiers, previously these places had been for the most part in the gift of consuls or dictators. Additionally, in the early Republic, another type of military tribunes were chosen in place of the annually elected consuls to be the heads of the Roman State. These are known in Latin as tribuni militum consulari potestate, Military Tribunes with Consular Authority, at the time only Patricians could be chosen as Consuls, but both Patricians and Plebeians could be elected as tribunes with consular authority. Instead of the two consuls, between four and six military tribunes were elected for the year. The office of consular tribune eventually fell out of use after 366 BC, after the Marian reforms of 107 BC created a professionalized military system, legions were commanded by a legionary legate. Six tribunes were still posted to a legion, but their duties and responsibilities had changed, the second-in-command to the legate was the tribunus laticlavius or broad-stripe tribune, usually a young man of Senatorial rank. He was given position to learn and watch the actions of the legate. In contrast to the tribune, the other five thin stripe tribunes were lower in rank. These officer cadets were men of rank who had military experience. Most thin-stripe tribunes served the legionary legate, yet a few were selected to serve on the staff of the provincial governor
21.
Valerian (emperor)
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Valerian, also known as Valerian the Elder, was Roman Emperor from 253 to 260 AD. He was taken captive by Sassanian Persian king Shapur I after the Battle of Edessa, becoming the first Roman Emperor to be captured as a prisoner of war, causing instability in the Empire. Unlike many of the emperors and rebels who bid for Imperial Power during the Crisis of the Third Century of the Roman Empire, Valerian was of a noble. Details of his life are elusive, but for his marriage to Egnatia Mariniana. He was Consul for the first time either before 238 AD as a Suffectus or in 238 as an Ordinarius, in 238 he was princeps senatus, and Gordian I negotiated through him for Senatorial acknowledgement for his claim as emperor. During the reign of Decius he was left in charge of affairs in Rome when that prince left for his ill-fated last campaign in Illyricum. Under Trebonianus Gallus he was appointed dux of an army drawn from the garrisons of the German provinces which seems to have been ultimately intended for use in a war against the Persians. However, when Trebonianus Gallus had to deal with the rebellion of Aemilianus in 253 AD it was to Valerian he turned for assistance in crushing the attempted usurpation. Valerian headed south but was too late, Gallus was killed by his own troops, the Raetian soldiers then proclaimed Valerian emperor and continued their march towards Rome. Upon his arrival in late September, Aemilianuss legions defected, killing Aemilianus, in Rome, the Senate quickly acknowledged Valerian, not only for fear of reprisals but also because he was one of their own. Valerians first act as emperor on 22 October 253 was to make his son Gallienus his Caesar, early in his reign, affairs in Europe went from bad to worse, and the whole West fell into disorder. In the East, Antioch had fallen into the hands of a Sassanid vassal, Valerian and Gallienus split the problems of the empire between them, with the son taking the West, and the father heading East to face the Persian threat. In 254,255, and 257, Valerian again became Consul Ordinarius, by 257, he had recovered Antioch and returned the province of Syria to Roman control. The following year, the Goths ravaged Asia Minor, in 259, Valerian moved on to Edessa, but an outbreak of plague killed a critical number of legionaries, weakening the Roman position, and the town was besieged by the Persians. At the beginning of 260, Valerian was decisively defeated in the Battle of Edessa, the truce was betrayed by Shapur, who seized Valerian and held him prisoner for the remainder of his life. Valerians capture was a defeat for the Romans. Valerian, while fighting the Persians, sent two letters to the Senate, ordering steps to be taken against Christians, the first, sent in 257, commanded Christian clergy to perform sacrifices to the Roman gods or face banishment. This shows that Christians were prevalent at this time in high positions
22.
Aurelian
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Aurelian was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. Born in humble circumstances, he rose through the ranks to become emperor. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war and he also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empires eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273, the following year he conquered the Gallic Empire in the west, reuniting the Empire in its entirety. He was also responsible for the construction of the Aurelian Walls in Rome, and his successes were instrumental in ending the Roman Empires Crisis of the Third Century, earning him the title Restitutor Orbis or Restorer of the World. Although Domitian was the first emperor who had demanded to be hailed as dominus et deus. Aurelian was born on 9 September, most likely in 214 AD, the ancient sources are not agreed on his place of birth, although he was generally accepted as being a native of Illyricum. Sirmium in Pannonia Inferior is the location, which was created by Aurelian as Emperor when he abandoned the old trans-Danubian territory of Dacia. The academic consensus is that he was of humble birth and that his father was a peasant-farmer who took his Roman nomen from his landlord, however, it seems that this pleasant extrapolation of dubious facts is now generally accepted as being no more than just that. It is commonly accepted that Aurelian probably joined the army in 235 AD at around age twenty and it is also generally assumed that, as a member of the lowest rank of society - albeit a citizen - he would have enlisted in the ranks of the legions. This would have opened up for him the tres militia - the three steps of the military career - one of the routes to higher equestrian office in the Imperial Service. This could be a more expeditious route to senior military and procuratorial offices than that pursued by ex-rankers and his suggestion has not been taken up by other academic authorities. Whatever his origins, Aurelian certainly must have built up a solid reputation for military competence during the tumultuous mid-decades of the century. His successes as a cavalry commander ultimately made him a member of emperor Gallienus entourage, in 268, Aurelian and his cavalry participated in general Claudius victory over the Goths at the Battle of Naissus. Later that year Gallienus traveled to Italy and fought Aureolus, his former general, driving Aureolus back into Mediolanum, Gallienus promptly besieged his adversary in the city. However, while the siege was ongoing the Emperor was assassinated, one source says Aurelian, who was present at the siege, participated and supported general Claudius for the purple – which is plausible. Aurelian was married to Ulpia Severina, about whom little is known, like Aurelian she was from Dacia. They are known to have had a daughter together, Claudius was acclaimed Emperor by the soldiers outside Mediolanum
23.
Tacitus (emperor)
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Tacitus, was Roman Emperor from 275 to 276. During his short reign he campaigned against the Goths and the Heruli, Tacitus was born in Interamna, in Italia. In the course of his life he discharged the duties of various civil offices, including that of consul in 273. After the assassination of Aurelian, Tacitus was chosen by the Senate to succeed him, and this was the last time the Senate elected a Roman Emperor. There was an interregnum between Aurelian and Tacitus, and there is evidence that Aurelians wife, Ulpia Severina. At any rate, Tacitus was situated at Campania when he heard the news of his election and he decided to re-involve the Senate in some consultative manner in the mechanisms of government and asked the Senate to deify Aurelian, before arresting and executing Aurelians murderers. Next he moved against the mercenaries that had been gathered by Aurelian to supplement Roman forces for his Eastern campaign. These mercenaries had plundered several towns in the Eastern Roman provinces after Aurelian had been murdered and his half-brother, the Praetorian Prefect Florianus, and Tacitus himself won a victory against these tribes, among which were the Heruli, gaining the emperor the title Gothicus Maximus. It was reported that he began acting strangely, declaring that he would alter the names of the months to honor himself, in a contrary account, Zosimus claims he was assassinated, after appointing one of his relatives to an important command in Syria. He appears in Harry Sidebottoms historical fiction novel series Warrior Of Rome, Historia Augusta, Vita Taciti, English version of Historia Augusta Eutropius, Breviarium ab urbe condita, ix. H. M. The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. I, AD260-395, Cambridge University Press,1971 Southern, Pat. The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine, Routledge,2001 Canduci, Alexander, Triumph & Tragedy, The Rise and Fall of Romes Immortal Emperors, Pier 9, edward Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Tacitus, Marcus Claudius. Constantine P. Cavafy, The Complete Poems, Harcourt, Brace & World, p.201 Alan Dugan, Poems 2, Yale University Press, p.33
24.
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
25.
Antoninianus
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The Antoninianus, or radiate, was a coin used during the Roman Empire thought to have been valued at 2 denarii. It was initially silver, but was slowly debased to bronze with a silver content. Antoniniani depicting females, usually the wife, featured the bust resting upon a crescent moon. Even at its introduction the silver content was only equal to 1.5 denarii and this helped to create inflation, people rapidly hoarded the denarii, while both buyers and sellers recognised the new coin had a lower intrinsic value and elevated their prices to compensate. Each new issue of the Antoninianus thus had less silver in it than the last, in 271 Aurelian increased the average weight of the Antoninianus. This was carried out for a short time and this period was also when the enigmatic XXI was first marked on the reverse of the Antoninianus. The true meaning of this series of numbers is still a topic of debate, by the late 3rd century the coins were almost entirely made of bronze from melted down old issues like the sestertius. Vast quantities were being minted, with a proportion of the stocks being contemporary forgeries, often with blundered legends. Individual coins were by then practically worthless and were lost or discarded by the millions, today most of these coins are extremely common finds, with a few more scarce examples including Aemilianus, Marcus Aurelius Marius, Quietus and Regalianus. The situation was not unlike the hyperinflation of the Weimar Republic in 1920s Germany, the coin ceased to be used by the end of the 3rd century when a series of coinage reforms attempted to arrest the decline by issuing new types. Modern numismatists use this name for the coin because it is not known what it was called in antiquity, an ancient Roman document called the Historia Augusta refers to silver coins named after an Antoninus on several occasions
26.
Sol Invictus
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Sol Invictus was the official sun god of the later Roman Empire and a patron of soldiers. In 274 AD the Roman emperor Aurelian made it an official cult alongside the traditional Roman cults, scholars disagree about whether the new deity was a refoundation of the ancient Latin cult of Sol, a revival of the cult of Elagabalus or completely new. The god was favored by emperors after Aurelian and appeared on their coins until Constantine I, the last inscription referring to Sol Invictus dates to AD387, and there were enough devotees in the 5th century that Augustine found it necessary to preach against them. Different explanations for the date similarity are considered to be academically thoroughly viable hypotheses by some, Invictus was an epithet for several deities of classical Roman religion, including the supreme deity Jupiter, the war god Mars, Hercules, Apollo, and Silvanus. It had been in use from the 3rd century BC, the Roman cult to Sol is continuous from the earliest history of the city until the institution of Christianity as the exclusive state religion. Scholars have sometimes regarded the traditional Sol and Sol Invictus as two separate deities, but the rejection of this view by S. E. Hijmans has found supporters. An inscription of AD102 records a restoration of a portico of Sol in what is now the Trastevere area of Rome by a certain Gaius Iulius Anicetus, another, stylistically dated to the 2nd century, is inscribed on a Roman phalera, inventori lucis soli invicto augusto. Augustus is a regular epithet linking deities to the Imperial cult, Sol Invictus played a prominent role in the Mithraic mysteries, and was equated with Mithras himself. The relation of the Mithraic Sol Invictus to the cult of the deity with the same name is unclear. According to the Historia Augusta, Elagabalus, the teenaged Severan heir, adopted the name of his deity, once installed as emperor, he neglected Romes traditional State deities and promoted his own as Romes most powerful deity. This ended with his murder in 222, the Historia Augusta refers to the deity Elagabalus as also called Jupiter and Sol. While this has seen as an attempt to import the Syrian sun god to Rome. The Roman gens Aurelia was associated with the cult of Sol, after his victories in the East, the Emperor Aurelian thoroughly reformed the Roman cult of Sol, elevating the sun-god to one of the premier divinities of the Empire. Every pontifex of Sol was a member of the senatorial elite, Aurelian also built a new temple for Sol, which was dedicated on December 25,274, and brought the total number of temples for the god in Rome to four. He also instituted games in honor of the sun god, held four years from a. d.274 onwards. The identity of Aurelians Sol Invictus has long been a subject of scholarly debate, based on the Augustan History, some scholars have argued that it was based on Sol Elagablus of Emesa. Professor Gary Forsythe discusses these arguments and adds a more recent one based on the work of Steven Hijmans. Hijmans argues that Aurelians solar deity was simply the traditional Greco-Roman Sol Invictus, statuettes of Sol Invictus, carried by the standard-bearers, appear in three places in reliefs on the Arch of Constantine
27.
Quadriga
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A quadriga is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast. It was raced in the Ancient Olympic Games and other contests and it is represented in profile as the chariot of gods and heroes on Greek vases and in bas-relief. The quadriga was adopted in ancient Roman chariot racing, quadrigas were emblems of triumph, Victory and Fame often are depicted as the triumphant woman driving it. In classical mythology, the quadriga is the chariot of the gods, Apollo was depicted driving his quadriga across the heavens, delivering daylight, the word quadriga may refer to the chariot alone, the four horses without it, or the combination. Originally erected in the Hippodrome of Constantinople, possibly on a triumphal arch, venetian Crusaders looted these sculptures in the Fourth Crusade and placed them on the terrace of St Marks Basilica. In 1797, Napoleon carried the quadriga off to Paris, due to the effects of atmospheric pollution, the original quadriga was retired to a museum and replaced with a replica in the 1980s. Located atop the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, it was seized by Napoleon during his occupation of Berlin in 1806 and it was returned to Berlin by Field Marshal Gebhard von Blücher in 1814. Her olive wreath was subsequently supplemented with an Iron Cross, the iron cross was restored after German reunification in 1990. C.1815 - The Carrousel quadriga is situated atop the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel in Paris, the arch itself was built to commemorate the victories of Napoleon, but the quadriga was sculpted by Baron François Joseph Bosio to commemorate the Restoration of the Bourbons. The Restoration is represented by an allegorical goddess driving a quadriga, two winged Victory figures, each leading a horse, trumpet Columbias arrival. The sculptor was Frederick William MacMonnies and it was sculpted by Daniel Chester French and Edward Clark Potter. 1911-35 - The Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II in Rome, Italy features two statues of goddess Victoria riding on quadrigas,1912 - The Wellington Arch Quadriga is situated atop the Wellington Arch in London, England. It was designed by Adrian Jones, the sculpture shows a small boy leading the quadriga, with Peace descending upon it from heaven. 1919-23 - The former Banco di Bilbao headquarters at no.16 Calle de Alcalá in Madrid, now part of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, the building was designed by Ricardo Bastida, with the sculptor of the chariot Higinio Basterras, and other sculptures by Quentin de la Torre. The charioteers are helmeted men standing on the handrails of the chariots, height to plinth, about 87 feet. 2002 - The Grand Theatre, Warsaw features a quadriga reflecting the original Antonio Corazzis 1833 plans for the building, horses of Saint Mark in Venice, remnants of a quadriga of Constantinople taken by Enrico Dandolo. Trigarium Troika Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Quadriga, university of Chicago Quadriga Berlin. de, Brandenburger Tor, Pariser Platz, Quadriga
28.
Brescia
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Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometres from the lakes Garda, with a population of 196,480, it is the second largest city in the region and the fourth of northwest Italy. The urban area of Brescia extends beyond the city limits and has a population of 672,822. The city is the capital of the Province of Brescia, one of the largest in Italy. Founded over 3,200 years ago, Brescia has been an important regional centre since pre-Roman times, Brescia is considered the industrial capital of Italy. The metallurgy and the production of tools and firearms are of particular economic significance, along with mechanical. In addition, Brescia is the setting for most of the action in Alessandro Manzonis 1822 play Adelchi, Brescia and its territory will be the European Region of Gastronomy in 2017. Various myths relate to the founding of Brescia, one assigns it to Hercules while another attributes its foundation as Altilia by a fugitive from the siege of Troy. According to another myth, the founder was the king of the Ligures, Cidnus, colle Cidneo was named after that version, and it is the site of the medieval castle. Others scholars attribute the founding of Brescia to the Etruscans, the Gallic Cenomani, allies of the Insubres, invaded in the 7th century BC, and used the town as their capital. The city became Roman in 225 BC, when the Cenomani submitted to the Romans, during the Carthaginian Wars, Brixia was allied with the Romans. During a Celtic alliance against the city remained fateful to the Romans, with their Roman allies the city remain and attacked and destroyed the Insubres by surprise. Subsequently, the city and the tribe entered the Roman world peacefully as faithful allies, in 89 BC, Brixia was recognized as civitas and in 41 BC, its inhabitants received Roman citizenship. Augustus founded a colony there in 27 BC, and he. Roman Brixia had at least three temples, an aqueduct, a theatre, a forum with another temple built under Vespasianus, when Constantine advanced against Maxentius in 312, an engagement took place at Brixia in which the enemy was forced to retreat as far as Verona. In 402, the city was ravaged by the Visigoths of Alaric I, during the 452 invasion of the Huns under Attila, the city was besieged and sacked. Forty years later, it was one of the first conquests by the Gothic general Theoderic the Great in his war against Odoacer, in 568, Brescia was taken from the Byzantines by the Lombards, who made it the capital of one of their semi-independent duchies. The first duke was Alachis, who died in 573, later dukes included the future kings of the Lombards Rothari and Rodoald, and Alachis II, a fervent anti-Catholic who was killed in battle at Cornate dAdda in 688
29.
Gaul
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It covered an area of 190,800 sq mi. According to the testimony of Julius Caesar, Gaul was divided into three parts, Gallia Celtica, Belgica and Aquitania, during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, Gaul fell under Roman rule, Gallia Cisalpina was conquered in 203 BC and Gallia Narbonensis in 123 BC. Gaul was invaded after 120 BC by the Cimbri and the Teutons, Gallia remains a name of France in modern Greek and modern Latin. The Greek and Latin names Galatia, and Gallia are ultimately derived from a Celtic ethnic term or clan Gal-to-. Galli of Gallia Celtica were reported to refer to themselves as Celtae by Caesar. Hellenistic folk etymology connected the name of the Galatians to the supposedly milk-white skin of the Gauls, modern researchers say it is related to Welsh gallu, Cornish galloes, capacity, power, thus meaning powerful people. The English Gaul is from French Gaule and is unrelated to Latin Gallia, as adjectives, English has the two variants, Gaulish and Gallic. The two adjectives are used synonymously, as pertaining to Gaul or the Gauls, although the Celtic language or languages spoken in Gaul is predominantly known as Gaulish. The Germanic w- is regularly rendered as gu- / g- in French, also unrelated in spite of superficial similarity is the name Gael. The Irish word gall did originally mean a Gaul, i. e. an inhabitant of Gaul, but its meaning was later widened to foreigner, to describe the Vikings, and later still the Normans. The dichotomic words gael and gall are sometimes used together for contrast, by 500 BC, there is strong Hallstatt influence throughout most of France. By the late 5th century BC, La Tène influence spreads rapidly across the territory of Gaul. The La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late Iron Age in France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, southwest Germany, Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, farther north extended the contemporary pre-Roman Iron Age culture of northern Germany and Scandinavia. By the 2nd century BC, the Romans described Gallia Transalpina as distinct from Gallia Cisalpina, while some scholars believe the Belgae south of the Somme were a mixture of Celtic and Germanic elements, their ethnic affiliations have not been definitively resolved. One of the reasons is political interference upon the French historical interpretation during the 19th century, in addition to the Gauls, there were other peoples living in Gaul, such as the Greeks and Phoenicians who had established outposts such as Massilia along the Mediterranean coast. Also, along the southeastern Mediterranean coast, the Ligures had merged with the Celts to form a Celto-Ligurian culture, the prosperity of Mediterranean Gaul encouraged Rome to respond to pleas for assistance from the inhabitants of Massilia, who were under attack by a coalition of Ligures and Gauls. The Romans intervened in Gaul in 154 BC and again in 125 BC, whereas on the first occasion they came and went, on the second they stayed. Massilia was allowed to keep its lands, but Rome added to its territories the lands of the conquered tribes. The direct result of conquests was that by now, Rome controlled an area extending from the Pyrenees to the lower Rhône river
30.
Neckar
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The Neckar is a 367-kilometre-long river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a right tributary of the Rhine. From Plochingen to Stuttgart the Neckar valley is populated and industrialised, with several well-known companies, e. g. Daimler AG. Between Stuttgart and Lauffen the Neckar cuts a scenic, meandering, after passing Heidelberg, the Neckar discharges on average 145 m3/s of water into the Rhine, making the Neckar its 4th largest tributary, and the 10th largest river in Germany. The name Neckar was derived from Nicarus and Neccarus from Celtic Nikros, from about 1100 Black Forest timber was rafted downstream as far as Holland, for use in shipyards. During the 19th century, traditional horse-drawn boats were replaced by steam-powered chain boats that used a 155 km long chain in the river to haul themselves upstream towing barges. After 1899 a railway made it possible to transport timber to the port of Heilbronn, due to the construction of 11 locks, ships up to 1500 t could travel to Heilbronn in 1935. Other important ports include Stuttgart and Heilbronn, the rivers course provides a popular route for cyclists, especially during the summer months. Its steep valley sides are used for vineyards, mainly for the cultivation of Trollinger, Lemberger, Kerner, old Bridge, in Heidelberg The Neckar is mentioned prominently in Gustav Mahlers Rheinlegendchen, composed in August 1893
31.
Raetia
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Raetia was a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the west with Transalpine Gaul and on south with Venetia et Histria. It thus comprised the districts occupied in modern times by eastern and central Switzerland, southern Bavaria and the Upper Swabia, Vorarlberg, the part of Tirol. Later Vindelicia formed part of Raetia, the northern border of Raetia during the times of Augustus and Tiberius was the River Danube. Later the Limes Germanicus marked the boundary, stretching for 166 km north of the Danube. Raetia linked to Italy across the Alps over the Reschen Pass, the Romansh people living in Southeast Switzerland are believed to be direct descendants of the Raetians. However, the lineage of the Romansh people remains incomplete. Little is known of the origin or history of the Raetians, livy states distinctly that they were of Etruscan origin. The Raetians are first mentioned by Polybius, and little is heard of them till after the end of the Republic, there is little doubt, however, that they retained their independence until their subjugation in 15 BC by Tiberius and Drusus. During the reign of Marcus Aurelius, Raetia was governed by the commander of the Legio III Italica, the boundary between them is not clearly defined, but may be stated generally as a line drawn eastwards from the lacus Brigantinus to the Oenus. Much of Raetia prima remained as a political unit, Raetia Curiensis, for several centuries. Some of the valleys, however, were rich and fertile, and produced wine, Augustus Caesar preferred Raetian wine to any other. Considerable trade in pitch, honey, wax, and cheese occurred, the chief towns of Raetia were Tridentum and Curia. The Rätikon mountain range derives its name from Raetia, Alpine regiments of the Roman army This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Raetia. PC von Planta, Das alte Rätien T Mommsen in Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, iii. p.706 Joachim Marquardt, P. pp.16,161,196 Mary B Peaks, The General Civil and Military Administration of Noricum and Raetia. Bagnall, R. J. Drinkwater, A. Esmonde-Cleary, W. Harris, R. Knapp, S. Mitchell, S. Parker, C. Wells, J. Wilkes, R. Talbert, M. E. Downs, M. Joann McDaniel, B. Z. Lund, T. Elliott, cS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list
32.
Illyricum (Roman province)
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Illyricum /ɪˈlɪrᵻkəm/ was a Roman province that existed from 27 BC to sometime during the reign of Vespasian. The province comprised Illyria/Dalmatia and Pannonia, Illyria included the area along the east coast of the Adriatic Sea and its inland mountains. With the creation of this province it came to be called Dalmatia, Illyria/Dalmatia stretched from the River Drin to Istria and the River Sava in the north. The area roughly corresponded to modern northern Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Pannonia was the plain which lie to its north, from the mountains of Illyria/Dalmatia to the westward bend of the River Danube. It was in the modern Vojvodina, northern Croatia and western Hungary, as the province developed Salona became as its capital. Illyricum derived its name from Illyria and these in turn are Latin names derived from the Greek Illyris. This latter area derived its name from the fact that, being close to Greece and it was part of the Roman province of Macedonia. Illyria stretched from the River Drilon in modern northern Albania to Istria, there were numerous islands off the coast, but they lacked drinking water. The mountains were cultivated towards the coast, but for the most they were barren, lack of water and poor or arid soil made much of Illyria poor agricultural area and this gave rise to piracy. The interior of the part of Illyricum was more fertile. Illyria was inhabited by a dozens of independent tribes and tribal groupings, most of them were labelled as Illyrians. In the north there were also Celtic tribes, the Pannonian plain in the north was more fertile. Its tribes were labelled as Pannonian, archaeological finds and toponyms show that the Pannonians differed culturally form the Illyrians and the eastern Celts who lived to their west, in what is now Austria. They were later Celticised following a Celtic invasion of the part of the region at the beginning of the 4th century BC. Some tribes in the area were Celtic, the Pannonians also had cultural similarities with the Illyrians. Iron mining and production was an important part of their economy in the pre-Roman days, the Romans fought three Illyrian wars between 229 BC and 168 BC. The First Illyrian War broke out due to concerns about attacks on the ships of Rome’s Italian allies in the Adriatic Sea by Illyrian pirates, numerous attacks on Italian ships prompted Rome to intervene. The Roman freed the Greek cities and attacked the Ardiaei, in 220 BC the Ardiaei carried out attacks on the Greek coast in the west, south and southeast
33.
Lycia
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Lycia was a geopolitical region in Anatolia in what are now the provinces of Antalya and Muğla on the southern coast of Turkey, and Burdur Province inland. Known to history since the records of ancient Egypt and the Hittite Empire in the Late Bronze Age, written records began to be inscribed in stone in the Lycian language after Lycias involuntary incorporation into the Achaemenid Empire in the Iron Age. At that time the Luwian speakers were decimated, and Lycia received an influx of Persian speakers, Lycia fought for the Persians in the Persian Wars, but on the defeat of the Achaemenid Empire by the Greeks, it became intermittently a free agent. Due to the influx of Greek speakers and the sparsity of the remaining Lycian speakers, the Lycian language disappeared from inscriptions and coinage. On defeating Antiochus III in 188 BC the Romans gave Lycia to Rhodes for 20 years, in these latter stages of the Roman republic Lycia came to enjoy freedom as part of the Roman protectorate. The Romans validated home rule officially under the Lycian League in 168 BC and this native government was an early federation with republican principles, these later came to the attention of the framers of the United States Constitution, influencing their thoughts. Despite home rule under republican principles Lycia was not a state and had not been since its defeat by the Carians. In 43 AD the Roman emperor Claudius dissolved the league, Lycia was incorporated into the Roman Empire with a provincial status. It became an eparchy of the Eastern, or Byzantine Empire, after the fall of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century, Lycia was under the Ottoman Empire, and was inherited by the Turkish Republic on the fall of that empire. The Greeks were withdrawn when the border between Greece and Turkey was negotiated in 1923, Lycia comprised what is now the westernmost portion of Antalya Province, the easternmost portion of Muğla Province, and the southernmost portion of Burdur Province. In ancient times the surrounding districts were, from west to east, Caria, Pisidia, and Pamphylia, all equally as ancient, and each speaking its own Anatolian language. The name of the Teke Peninsula comes from the name of Antalya Province. Four ridges extend from northeast to southwest, roughly, forming the western extremity of the Taurus Mountains, furthest west of the four are Boncuk Dağlari, or the Boncuk Mountains, extending from about Altinyayla, Burdur, southwest to about Oren north of Fethiye. This is a low range peaking at about 2,340 m. To the west of it the steep gorges of Dalaman Çayi, the stream,229 km long, enters the Mediterranean to the west of modern-day Dalaman. Upstream it is dammed in four places, after an origin in the vicinity of Sarikavak in Denizli Province. The next ridge to the east is Akdağlari, the White Mountains, about 150 km long, with a point at Uyluktepe, Uyluk Peak. This massif may have been ancient Mount Cragus, along its western side flows Eşen Çayi, the Esen River, anciently the Xanthus, Lycian Arñna, originating in the Boncuk Mountains, flowing south, and transecting the several-mile-long beach at Patara
34.
Blemmyes
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The Blemmyes were a nomadic Beja tribal kingdom that existed from at least 600 BC to the 3rd century AD in Nubia. They also became fictionalized as a race of acephalous monsters who had eyes. The Greek geographer Strabo describes the Blemmyes as a people living in the Eastern Desert near Meroe. In 250, the Roman Emperor Decius put in effort to defeat an invading army of Blemmyes. A few years later, in 253, they attacked Lower Aegyptus again but were quickly defeated. In 265, they were defeated again by the Roman Prefect Firmus, who later in 273 would rebel against the Empire, the Roman general Marcus Aurelius Probus took some time to defeat the usurpers with his allies but couldnt prevent the occupation of Thebais by the Blemmyes. That meant another war and almost an entire destruction of the Blemmyes army, during the reign of Diocletian, the province of Upper Aegyptus, Thebaid, was again occupied by the Blemmyes. In 298, Diocletian made peace with the Nobatae and Blemmyes tribes, agreeing that Rome would move its borders north to Philae, the Blemmyes occupied a considerable region in what is modern day Sudan. There were several important cities such as Faras, Kalabsha, Ballana, all were fortified with walls and towers of a mixture of Egyptian, Hellenic, Roman and Nubian elements. Blemmyes culture had also the influence of the Meroitic culture and their religion was centered in the temples of Kalabsha and Philae. The former edifice was a local architectural masterpiece, where a solar. Philae was a place of pilgrimage, with temples for Isis, Mandulis. It was where the Roman Emperors Augustus and Trajan made many contributions with new temples, plazas, shakespeare alludes to the myths surrounding Blemmyes as headless beings, And of the Cannibals that each other eat, The Anthropophagi, and men whose headsDo grow beneath their shoulders. -Shakespeare, Othello Who would believe that there were mountaineers Dew-lappd like bulls, or that there were such men Whose heads stood in their breasts. -Shakespeare, The Tempest Blemmyes appeared in the 2000 novel The Amazing Voyage of Azzam by Kelly Godel and they use clubs, spears, and blow darts as weapons. The Blemmyae also appear in Valerio Manfredis novel The Tower, where they are portrayed as the murderous desert guardians of an ancient, a Blemmye appears in Bruce Sterlings 2005 short story The Blemmyes Strategem. The Blemmyae appear in The Monstrumologist a young adult novel by Rick Yancey. The Blemmyae also appear in Umberto Ecos novel Baudolino as residents of Prester Johns Kingdom, cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences
35.
Egypt (Roman province)
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The province encompassed most of modern-day Egypt except for the Sinai Peninsula. Aegyptus was bordered by the provinces of Creta et Cyrenaica to the West, the province came to serve as a major producer of grain for the empire and had a highly developed urban economy. Aegyptus was by far the wealthiest Eastern Roman province, in Alexandria, its capital, it possessed the largest port, and the second largest city, of the Roman Empire. As a province, Egypt was ruled by a uniquely styled Augustal prefect, the prefect was a man of equestrian rank and was appointed by the Emperor. The second prefect, Aelius Gallus, made an expedition to conquer Arabia Petraea. The Red Sea coast of Aegyptus was not brought under Roman control until the reign of Claudius, the third prefect, Gaius Petronius, cleared the neglected canals for irrigation, stimulating a revival of agriculture. Petronius even led a campaign into present-day central Sudan against the Kingdom of Kush at Meroe, failing to acquire permanent gains, in 22 BC he razed the city of Napata to the ground and retreated to the north. From the reign of Nero onward, Aegyptus enjoyed an era of prosperity which lasted a century, under Trajan a Jewish revolt occurred, resulting in the suppression of the Jews of Alexandria and the loss of all their privileges, although they soon returned. Hadrian, who twice visited Aegyptus, founded Antinoöpolis in memory of his drowned lover Antinous, from his reign onward buildings in the Greco-Roman style were erected throughout the country. Under Antoninus Pius oppressive taxation led to a revolt in 139, of the native Egyptians and this Bucolic War, led by one Isidorus, caused great damage to the economy and marked the beginning of Egypts economic decline. Avidius Cassius, who led the Roman forces in the war, declared emperor in 175. On the approach of Marcus Aurelius, Cassius was deposed and killed, a similar revolt broke out in 193, when Pescennius Niger was proclaimed emperor on the death of Pertinax. The Emperor Septimius Severus gave a constitution to Alexandria and the capitals in 202. There was a series of revolts, both military and civilian, through the 3rd century, under Decius, in 250, the Christians again suffered from persecution, but their religion continued to spread. This warrior queen claimed that Egypt was a home of hers through a familial tie to Cleopatra VII. She was well educated and familiar with the culture of Egypt, its religion, two generals based in Aegyptus, Probus and Domitius Domitianus, led successful revolts and made themselves emperors. Diocletian captured Alexandria from Domitius in 298 and reorganised the whole province and his edict of 303 against the Christians began a new era of persecution. This was the last serious attempt to stem the growth of Christianity in Egypt
36.
Julius Saturninus
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Sextus Julius Saturninus was a Roman usurper against Emperor Probus. Julius Saturninus was a Gaul by birth and was a friend of Emperor Probus and he was appointed governor of Syria by Probus. After Probus had left Syria for the Rhine in 280, unruly soldiers and he fled from Alexandria to escape the pressure but changed his mind in Palestine. He proclaimed himself emperor in 280, before Probus could respond to the threat, Saturninus was dead, killed by his own troops. Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome, new York, Facts On File, Inc. Vagi, David A. Coinage and History of the Roman Empire
37.
Proculus
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Proculus was a Roman usurper, one of the minor pretenders according to Historia Augusta, he took the purple against Emperor Probus in 280, although this is now disputed. Probably Proculus had family connection with the Franks, to whom he turned in vain when his bid for power was failing. He was a native of Albingaunum, though he was accounted a noble, his ancestors had been brigands and were the source of his vast wealth. Proculus was able to arm 2000 slaves of his own latifundia after seizing imperial office in the West. He was married to a woman named Vituriga, who was given the nickname Samso for her capabilities, after failing to find support among the Franks, he was betrayed by them and handed over to Probus. There exists a letter by Proculus that was cited by Gibbon and it begins with an apparent boast about his sexual prowess, From Proculus to his kinsman Maecianus, greeting. I have taken one hundred maidens from Sarmatia, of these I mated with ten in a single night. Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol. I. chapter 12
38.
Bonosus (usurper)
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Bonosus was a late 3rd-century Roman usurper. He was born in Hispania to a British father and Gallic mother and his father—a rhetorician and teacher of letters—died when Bonosus was still young but the boys mother gave him a decent education. He had a military career with an excellent service record. He rose successively through the ranks and tribuneships but, while he was stationed in charge of the Rhenish fleet c. 281, fearful of the consequences, he proclaimed himself Roman emperor at Colonia Agrippina jointly with Proculus. After a protracted struggle, he was defeated by Marcus Aurelius Probus, Bonosus left behind a wife and two sons who were treated with honor by Probus
39.
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
40.
Praetorian Guard
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In Ancient Rome, the Imperial Praetorian Guard or Praetorian Guard were a unit of the Imperial Roman Army formed of elite soldiers initially recruited in Italy. They were first, hand-picked veterans of the Roman Army in charge of providing close protection security details to the Emperor and they also served as secret police protecting the civic administrations and rule of law imposed by the Senate and the Emperor. The title designation was used during the Roman Republic for the guards of Roman generals since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around year 275 BC. The Imperial Guard was dissolved by Emperor Constantine I in the 4th century and they were distinct from the Imperial Germanic bodyguard which provided close personal protection for the late Western Roman emperors. During the Roman Republic, there was no permanent guard charged with the protection of general officers. However, certain military officers chose to surround themselves with guards to ensure their security, in the event of battle, these cohorts would intervene as a final standing reserve. The consuls were ordinarily protected by the lictors, who would remain around their tents in the army, at the end of the year 40 BC, Octavian and his rival Mark Antony both operated a number of Praetorian units organized individually. According to Appian, amongst them were veterans forming cohorts, Mark Antony commanded three cohorts in the Orient and in 32 BC, he issued coins in honor of his Praetorians. According to Paul Orose, Octavian commanded five cohorts at Actium, following his victory at Actium, Octavian merged his forces with those of his adversary in a symbolic reunification of the Army of Julius Caesar. The Praetorians constituted a guard and a military reserve of the Emperor. Through the machinations of their ambitious prefect, Lucius Aelius Sejanus, in 23, Sejanus convinced Tiberius to have the Castra Praetoria built just outside of Rome. One of these held the daily guard at the imperial palace switching roles in between patrols. Henceforth the entire Guard was at the disposal of the emperors, the reality of this was seen in 31 when Tiberius was forced to rely upon his own cohors praetoria against partisans of Sejanus. Although the Praetorian Guard proved faithful to the aging Tiberius, their political power had been made clear. At the siege of Numance, Scipio Aemilianus formed a troop of 500 men for his personal protection and this usage was then emulated and spread, as Roman generals occupied their positions for longer periods of time. Accordingly, this guard was referred to as Cohors Prætoria and they benefited from several advantages due their close proximity with the emperor, the Praetorians were the only ones admitted while bearing arms in the center of sacred Rome - the Pomerium. Under Nero, the pay of a Praetorian was three and a half times that of a legionary, augmented by prime additions of donativum, granted by the new emperors. This additional pay was the equivalent of years of pay, renewed during important events of the empire, or events that touched the imperial family, birthdays, births
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Classical Latin
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Classical Latin is the modern term used to describe the form of the Latin language recognized as standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. In some later periods, it was regarded as good Latin, the word Latin is now taken by default as meaning Classical Latin, so that, for example, modern Latin textbooks describe classical Latin. Latinitas was spoken as well as written, moreover, it was the language taught by the schools. Prescriptive rules therefore applied to it, and where a subject was concerned, such as poetry or rhetoric. No authors are noted for the type of rigidity evidenced by stylized art, except possibly the repetitious abbreviations, good Latin in philology is classical Latin literature. The term classicus was devised by the Romans themselves to translate Greek ἐγκριθέντες, select, before then, classis, in addition to being a naval fleet, was a social class in one of the diachronic divisions of Roman society according to property ownership by the Roman constitution. The word is a transliteration of Greek κλῆσις calling, used to rank army draftees by property from first to fifth class, classicus is anything primae classis, first class, such as the authors of the polished works of Latinitas, or sermo urbanus. It had nuances of the certified and the authentic, testis classicus and it was in this sense that Marcus Cornelius Fronto in the 2nd century AD used scriptores classici, first-class or reliable authors whose works could be relied upon as model of good Latin. This is the first known reference, possibly innovated at this time, aulus Gellius includes many authors, such as Plautus, who are currently considered writers of Old Latin and not strictly in the period of classical Latin. The classical Romans distinguished Old Latin as prisca Latinitas and not sermo vulgaris, each author in the Roman lists was considered equivalent to one in the Greek, for example Ennius was the Latin Homer, the Aeneid was a new Iliad, and so on. The lists of authors were as far as the Roman grammarians went in developing a philology. The Renaissance brought a revival of interest in restoring as much of Roman culture as could be restored and with it the return of the concept of classic, the best. Thomas Sébillet in 1548 referred to les bons et classiques poètes françois, meaning Jean de Meun and Alain Chartier, according to Merriam Websters Collegiate Dictionary, the term classical, from classicus, entered modern English in 1599, some 50 years after its re-introduction on the continent. In 1715 Laurence Echards Classical Geographical Dictionary was published, in 1736 Robert Ainsworths Thesaurus Linguae Latinae Compendarius turned English words and expressions into proper and classical Latin. In 1768 David Ruhnken recast the mold of the view of the classical by applying the word canon to the pinakes of orators, Ruhnken had a kind of secular catechism in mind. The practice and Teuffels classification, with modifications, are still in use and his work was translated into English as soon as published in German by Wilhelm Wagner, who corresponded with Teuffel. Wagner published the English translation in 1873, Teuffel divides the chronology of classical Latin authors into several periods according to political events, rather than by style. Regarding the style of the literary Latin of those periods he had, Teuffel was to go on with other editions of his history, but meanwhile it had come out in English almost as soon as it did in German and found immediate favorable reception
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International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
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Public domain
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The term public domain has two senses of meaning. Anything published is out in the domain in the sense that it is available to the public. Once published, news and information in books is in the public domain, in the sense of intellectual property, works in the public domain are those whose exclusive intellectual property rights have expired, have been forfeited, or are inapplicable. Examples for works not covered by copyright which are therefore in the domain, are the formulae of Newtonian physics, cooking recipes. Examples for works actively dedicated into public domain by their authors are reference implementations of algorithms, NIHs ImageJ. The term is not normally applied to situations where the creator of a work retains residual rights, as rights are country-based and vary, a work may be subject to rights in one country and be in the public domain in another. Some rights depend on registrations on a basis, and the absence of registration in a particular country, if required. Although the term public domain did not come into use until the mid-18th century, the Romans had a large proprietary rights system where they defined many things that cannot be privately owned as res nullius, res communes, res publicae and res universitatis. The term res nullius was defined as not yet appropriated. The term res communes was defined as things that could be enjoyed by mankind, such as air, sunlight. The term res publicae referred to things that were shared by all citizens, when the first early copyright law was first established in Britain with the Statute of Anne in 1710, public domain did not appear. However, similar concepts were developed by British and French jurists in the eighteenth century, instead of public domain they used terms such as publici juris or propriété publique to describe works that were not covered by copyright law. The phrase fall in the domain can be traced to mid-nineteenth century France to describe the end of copyright term. In this historical context Paul Torremans describes copyright as a coral reef of private right jutting up from the ocean of the public domain. Because copyright law is different from country to country, Pamela Samuelson has described the public domain as being different sizes at different times in different countries. According to James Boyle this definition underlines common usage of the public domain and equates the public domain to public property. However, the usage of the public domain can be more granular. Such a definition regards work in copyright as private property subject to fair use rights, the materials that compose our cultural heritage must be free for all living to use no less than matter necessary for biological survival