Achaea (Roman province)
Achaea or Achaia, sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaïa, was a province of the Roman Empire, consisting of the Peloponnese, eastern Central Greece, and parts of Thessaly. In the north, it bordered on the provinces of Epirus vetus, the region was annexed by the Roman Republic in 146 BC following the sack of Corinth by the Roman general Lucius Mummius, who was awarded the cognomen Achaicus. It became part of the Roman province of Macedonia, which included the whole of mainland Greece. When Augustus became the first Roman emperor in 27 BC he made an agreement whereby some provinces, the provinces, came under the control of the emperor. Other provinces, the provinces, remained under the control of the senate. The province of Achaea was separated from the province of Macedonia as a senatorial province and it comprised the Peloponnese Peninsula in the south and central Greece. Achaea was a province, thus free from military men and legions. Athens was the center of education for the imperial elite, rivaled only by Alexandria.
Achaea was among the most prosperous and peaceful parts of the Roman world until Late Antiquity, the province remained prosperous and highly urbanized however, as attested in the 6th-century Synecdemus. The territories of Achaea remaining in Byzantine hands were grouped into the theme of Hellas, in 150-148 BC the Romans fought the Fourth Macedonian War, after which they annexed Macedon, formerly the largest and most powerful state in mainland Greece. In 146 BC the Achaean League rebelled against the Romans and this was a hopeless war as Rome was a far superior military power. The League was quickly defeated and its city, Corinth was destroyed. The Romans decided to annex the whole of mainland Greece and Achaea became part of the Roman Province of Macedonia, some cities, such as Athens and Sparta retained their self-governing status within their own territories. The First Mithridatic War was fought in Attica and Boeotia, two regions which were to part of the province of Achaea. In 89 BC, Mithridates VI Eupator, king of Pontus, Mithridates sent Archelaus to Greece, where he established Aristion as a tyrant in Athens.
The Roman consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla landed in Epirus and marched on Athens. He marched through Boeotia on his way to Attica, Sulla besieged Athens and Piraeus in 87-86 BC and sacked Athens and destroyed Piraeus. He defeated Archelaus at the Battle of Chaeronea and the Battle of Orchomenus, the commerce of Achaea was no longer a rival to that of Rome. After the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra, about 31 BC, in AD15, Emperor Tiberius, responding to complaints of mismanagement by the Senatorial proconsul made Achaea and Macedonia Imperial provinces
Byzantine Empire
It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city.
Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, the Roman Republic, and as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika.
The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
Gardon
The Gardon or Gard is a river in southern France. It is the namesake of the department of Gard, several of its tributaries are called Gardon. The Gardon is 133 kilometres long, including its longest tributary Gardon de Saint-Jean and it rises in the Cévennes mountain range and flows into the Rhône River at Comps, north of Beaucaire, across from Vallabrègues. The Roman aqueduct Pont du Gard and the 16th-century Pont Saint-Nicolas are two bridges that cross the Gardon. The Gorges du Gardon, which ends at Pont Saint-Nicolas, is a recreation area for kayaking, rock climbing. The village of Collias, approximately 12 kilometres downriver from the Pont Saint-Nicolas, has several kayak, departing from Collias by kayak or canoe will bring you to the Pont du Gard in about an hour and one-half. It is possible to kayak or canoe under the Pont du Gard, though, at times, the river is not high enough to allow for passage. In September 2002 and again in December 2003, the Gardon had record level floods that damaged many of its bridges including the Pont Saint-Nicolas, the river today shows few signs of the floods.
Lozère Gard, Saint-Jean-du-Gard, Saint-André-de-Valborgne, Montfrin La Grand-Combe and Alès are situated on the Gardon dAlès, http, //www. geoportail. fr The Gardon at the Sandre database Regordane Info - The independent portal for the Regordane Way or St Gilles Trail. The Regordane Way runs alongside the Gardon River from Ners south-eastwards
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lille, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established.
The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity.
In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
Provence
The largest city of the region is Marseille. The Romans made the region into the first Roman province beyond the Alps and called it Provincia Romana and it was ruled by the Counts of Provence from their capital in Aix-en-Provence until 1481, when it became a province of the Kings of France. While it has been part of France for more than five hundred years, it retains a distinct cultural and linguistic identity. The coast of Provence has some of the earliest known sites of habitation in Europe. Primitive stone tools dated to 1 to 1.05 million years BC were found in the Grotte du Vallonnet near Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, tools dating to the Middle Paleolithic and Upper Paleolithic were discovered in the Observatory Cave, in the Jardin Exotique of Monaco. The Paleolithic period in Provence saw great changes in the climate, with the arrival, at the beginning of the Paleolithic period, the sea level in western Provence was 150 meters higher than it is today. By the end of the Paleolithic, it had dropped 100 to 150 metres lower than sea level.
The cave dwellings of the inhabitants of Provence were regularly inundated by the rising sea or left far from the sea. The changes in the sea led to one of the most remarkable discoveries of signs of early man in Provence. In 1985, a diver named Henri Cosquer discovered the mouth of a submarine cave 37 metres below the surface of the Calanque de Morgiou near Marseille, the entrance led to a cave above sea level. Inside, the walls of the Cosquer Cave are decorated with drawings of bison, auks and outlines of human hands, dating to between 27,000 and 19,000 BC. The end of the Paleolithic and beginning of the Neolithic period saw the sea settle at its present level, a warming of the climate and the retreat of the forests. The disappearance of the forests and the deer and other easily hunted game meant that the inhabitants of Provence had to survive on rabbits, since they were settled in one place they were able to develop new industries. Inspired by the pottery from the eastern Mediterranean, in about 6000 BC they created the first pottery to be made in France.
Around 6000 BC, a wave of new settlers from the east and they were farmers and warriors, and gradually displaced the earlier pastoral people from their lands. They were followed in about 2500 BC by another wave of people, known as the Courronniens, traces of these early civilisations can be found in many parts of Provence. A Neolithic site dating to about 6,000 BC was discovered in Marseille near the Saint-Charles railway station, and a dolmen from the Bronze Age can be found near Draguignan. Between the 10th and 4th century BC the Ligures were found in Provence from Massilia as far as modern day Liguria and they were of uncertain origin, they may have been the descendants of the indigenous neolithic peoples
Master of Saint Giles
It is not clear whether the Master of Saint Giles was a French painter who trained in the Low Countries, or a Netherlander who emigrated to France. All four panels have, or had, single figures of saints in niches, imitating sculpture. The Washington pair, which were in condition, have been separated and are lost. Undoubtedly there were further panels, whose subjects cannot be guessed, another candidate is the church of St Leu-St-Gilles, on the Rue Saint-Denis in Paris. The unidentified bishop-saint stands on the steps of the now vanished church of Saint-Jean-le-Rond, next door to Notre-Dame, the small church was used as a baptistry. Opposite the cathedral is the Hôtel-Dieu, both buildings survived until the eighteenth century, and are known from engravings. The panel with the King hunting probably shows a view of Pontoise, to him is attributed a portrait of Philip the Handsome, who visited Paris in 1501, that appears to be the original version of one of the most common portrait types of this prince.
There are two saints in Bern which show a more massive French style, a Betrayal of Christ in Brussels is a night-scene, illuminated only by a lantern. Like the Estonian-born Michael Sittow and Jean Hey, he may demonstrate the spread of Netherlandish style, or like Juan de Flandes. Hand & M. Wolff, Early Netherlandish Painting, pp
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 local government council areas. Located in Lothian on the Firth of Forths southern shore, it is Scotlands second most populous city and the seventh most populous in the United Kingdom. The 2014 official population estimates are 464,990 for the city of Edinburgh,492,680 for the authority area. Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is home to the Scottish Parliament and it is the largest financial centre in the UK after London. Historically part of Midlothian, the city has long been a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scots law, the sciences and engineering. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582 and now one of four in the city, was placed 17th in the QS World University Rankings in 2013 and 2014. The city is famous for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe. The citys historical and cultural attractions have made it the United Kingdoms second most popular tourist destination after London, attracting over one million overseas visitors each year.
Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace, the churches of St. Giles and the Canongate, Edinburghs Old Town and New Town together are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999. It appears to derive from the place name Eidyn mentioned in the Old Welsh epic poem Y Gododdin, the poem names Din Eidyn as a hill fort in the territory of the Gododdin. The Celtic element din was dropped and replaced by the Old English burh, the first documentary evidence of the medieval burgh is a royal charter, c. 1124–1127, by King David I granting a toft in burgo meo de Edenesburg to the Priory of Dunfermline. In modern Gaelic, the city is called Dùn Èideann, the earliest known human habitation in the Edinburgh area was at Cramond, where evidence was found of a Mesolithic camp site dated to c.8500 BC. Traces of Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements have found on Castle Rock, Arthurs Seat, Craiglockhart Hill. When the Romans arrived in Lothian at the end of the 1st century AD, at some point before the 7th century AD, the Gododdin, who were presumably descendants of the Votadini, built the hill fort of Din Eidyn or Etin.
Although its location has not been identified, it likely they would have chosen a commanding position like the Castle Rock, Arthurs Seat. In 638, the Gododdin stronghold was besieged by forces loyal to King Oswald of Northumbria and it thenceforth remained under their jurisdiction. The royal burgh was founded by King David I in the early 12th century on land belonging to the Crown, in 1638, King Charles Is attempt to introduce Anglican church forms in Scotland encountered stiff Presbyterian opposition culminating in the conflicts of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. In the 17th century, Edinburghs boundaries were defined by the citys defensive town walls
Fourteen Holy Helpers
The Fourteen Holy Helpers are a group of saints venerated together in Roman Catholicism because their intercession is believed to be particularly effective, especially against various diseases. This group of Nothelfer originated in the 14th century at first in the Rhineland, devotion to the fourteen Auxiliary Saints began in Rhineland, now part of Germany, in the time of the Black Death. At the heart of the fourteen were three virgin martyrs, As the other began to be invoked along with these three virgin martyrs, they were represented together in works of art. Popular veneration of these saints often began in a monastery that held their relics, all of the saints except Giles were accounted martyrs. Saint Christopher and Saint Giles were invoked against the plague itself, Saint Denis was prayed to for relief from headache, Saint Blaise for ills of the throat, Saint Elmo, for abdominal maladies, Saint Barbara for fever, and Saint Vitus against epilepsy. Saint Giles was prayed to for a confession, and Saint Eustace as healer of family troubles.
Domestic animals were attacked by the plague, and so Saints George, Pantaleon, Saint Margaret of Antioch is the patron of safe childbirth. As the saints joint cultus spread in the century, Pope Nicholas V attached indulgences to devotion of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. The individual celebrations of all fourteen are included in the General Roman Calendar as in 1954, the General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII and the General Roman Calendar of 1960. Comparable to the cult of the Fourteen Holy Helpers was that of the Four Holy Marshals and these were Quirinus of Neuss, Saint Anthony the Great, Pope Cornelius, and Saint Hubert. The fourteen saints are, Half the saints are regarded as historical figures while the other may only be legends, in France an extra helper is added, the Virgin Mary. The Fourteen Holy Helpers are honored in Bavaria as the vierzehn Heiligen, the Rococo pilgrimage church in the town of Bad Staffelstein was designed by Balthasar Neumann and built between 1743 and 1772. As he bent down to pick up the child, it abruptly disappeared, a short time later, the child reappeared in the same spot.
This time, two candles were burning next to it, in June 1446, Leicht saw the child a third time. This time, the bore a red cross on its chest and was accompanied by thirteen other children. The child said, We are the fourteen helpers and wish to erect a chapel here, if you will be our servant, we will be yours. Shortly after, Leicht saw two burning candles descending to this spot and it is alleged that miraculous healings soon began, through the intervention of the fourteen saints. The Cistercian brothers to whom the land belonged erected a chapel, an altar was consecrated as early as 1448
Arles
Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence. A large part of the Camargue is located on the territory of the commune, the city has a long history, and was of considerable importance in the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis. The Roman and Romanesque Monuments of Arles were listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1981, the Dutch post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh lived in Arles from 1888 to 1889 and produced over 300 paintings and drawings during his time there. An international photography festival has held in the city since 1970. The river Rhône forks into two branches just upstream of Arles, forming the Camargue delta and its area is 758.93 km2, which is more than seven times the area of Paris. Arles has a Mediterranean climate with an annual temperature of 14.6 °C. The summers are warm and moderately dry, with averages between 22 °C and 24 °C, and mild winters with a mean temperature of about 7 °C.
The city is constantly, but especially in the months, subject to the influence of the mistral. Rainfall is fairly evenly distributed from September to May, with the summer drought being less marked than in other Mediterranean areas, the Ligurians were in this area from about 800 BC. Later, Celtic influences have been discovered, the city became an important Phoenician trading port, before being taken by the Romans. The Romans took the town in 123 BC and expanded it into an important city, however, it struggled to escape the shadow of Massalia further along the coast. Its chance came when it sided with Julius Caesar against Pompey, Massalia backed Pompey, when Caesar emerged victorious, Massalia was stripped of its possessions, which were transferred to Arelate as a reward. The town was established as a colony for veterans of the Roman legion Legio VI Ferrata. Its full title as a colony was Colonia Iulia Paterna Arelatensium Sextanorum, Arelate was a city of considerable importance in the province of Gallia Narbonensis.
It covered an area of some 99 acres and possessed a number of monuments, including an amphitheatre, triumphal arch, Roman circus, ancient Arles was closer to the sea than it is now and served as a major port. It had the southernmost bridge on the Rhône, very unusually, the Roman bridge was not fixed but consisted of a pontoon-style bridge of boats, with towers and drawbridges at each end. The boats were secured in place by anchors and were tethered to twin towers built just upstream of the bridge and this unusual design was a way of coping with the rivers frequent violent floods, which would have made short work of a conventional bridge. Nothing remains of the Roman bridge, which has replaced by a more modern bridge near the same spot
Visigothic Kingdom
The Visigothic Kingdom or Kingdom of the Visigoths was a kingdom that occupied what is now southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to the 8th centuries. The Kingdom maintained independence from the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire, the kingdom of the 6th and 7th centuries is sometimes called the regnum Toletanum after the new capital of Toledo. The ethnic distinction between the indigenous Hispano-Roman population and the Visigoths had largely disappeared by this time, Liber Iudiciorum abolished the old tradition of having different laws for Romans and for Visigoths. Most of the Visigothic Kingdom was conquered by Arab Umayyad troops from North Africa in 711 AD and these gave birth to the medieval Kingdom of Asturias when a local landlord called Pelayo, most likely of Gothic origin, was elected Princeps by the Astures. The Visigoths developed the influential law code known in Western Europe as the Liber Iudiciorum. From 407 to 409 AD, the Germanic Vandals, with the allied Alans and Suebi, crossed the frozen Rhine, for their part, the Visigoths under Alaric famously sacked Rome in 410, capturing Galla Placidia, the sister of Western Roman emperor Honorius.
After he married Placidia, the Emperor Honorius enlisted him to provide Visigothic assistance in regaining nominal Roman control of Hispania from the Vandals and Suevi. In 418, Honorius rewarded his Visigothic federates under King Wallia by giving land in the Garonne valley of Gallia Aquitania on which to settle. This probably took place under hospitalitas, the rules for billeting army soldiers, the Visigoths with their capital at Toulouse, remained de facto independent, and soon began expanding into Roman territory at the expense of the feeble Western empire. Under Theodoric I, the Visigoths attacked Arles and Narbonne, but were checked by Flavius Aetius using Hunnic mercenaries, by 451, the situation had reversed and the Huns had invaded Gaul, now Theodoric fought under Aetius against Attila the Hun in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains. Attila was driven back, but Theodoric was killed in the battle, the Vandals completed the conquest of North Africa when they took Carthage on October 19,439 and the Suevi had taken most of Hispania.
The Roman emperor Avitus now sent the Visigoths into Hispania, Theodoric II invaded and defeated the King of the Suevi, Rechiarius, at the battle on the river Orbigo in 456 near Asturica Augusta and sacked Bracara Augusta the Suevi capital. The Goths sacked the cities in Spain quite brutally, they massacred a portion of the population and even attacked some holy places, theoderic took control over Hispania Baetica and southern Lusitania. In 461, the Goths received the city of Narbonne from the emperor Libius Severus in exchange for their support. This led to a revolt by the army and by Gallo-Romans under Aegidius, as a result, Romans under Severus and the Visigoths fought other Roman troops, in 466, who was the youngest son of Theodoric I, came to the Visigothic throne. He is infamous for murdering his elder brother Theodoric II who had become king by murdering his elder brother Thorismund. Under Euric, the Visigoths began expanding in Gaul and consolidating their presence in the Iberian peninsula, Euric fought a series of wars with the Suebi who retained some influence in Lusitania, and brought most of this region under Visigothic power, taking Emerita Augusta in 469.
Euric attacked the Western Roman Empire, capturing Hispania Tarraconensis in 472, by 476, he had extended his rule to the Rhone and the Loire rivers which comprised most of southern Gaul
Poverty
Poverty is general scarcity or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. It is a concept, which includes social, economic. Absolute poverty or destitution refers to the lack of necessary to meet basic needs such as food, clothing. Absolute poverty is meant to be about the independent of location. After the industrial revolution, mass production in factories made producing goods increasingly less expensive, of more importance is the modernization of agriculture, such as fertilizers, to provide enough yield to feed the population. Strategies of increasing income to make basic needs more affordable typically include welfare, economic freedoms, Poverty reduction is a major goal and issue for many international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank. The World Bank forecasts that 702.1 million people, down from 1.75 billion in 1990, of these, about 347.1 million people lived in Sub-Saharan Africa and 231.3 million lived in South Asia. According to the World Bank, between 1990 and 2015, the percentage of the population living in extreme poverty fell from 37. 1% to 9. 6%.
Nevertheless, given the current economic model, built on GDP, extreme poverty is a global challenge, it is observed in all parts of the world, including developed economies. UNICEF estimates half the children live in poverty. It has been argued by some academics that the policies promoted by global financial institutions such as the IMF. Another estimate places the true scale of poverty much higher than the World Bank, with an estimated 4.3 billion people living with less than $5 a day and unable to meet basic needs adequately. In 2012 it is estimated that, given a poverty line of $1.25 a day 1.2 billion people lived in poverty, the word poverty comes from old French poverté, from Latin paupertās from pauper. The English word poverty via Anglo-Norman povert, there are several definitions of poverty depending on the context of the situation it is placed in, and the views of the person giving the definition. Income Poverty, a familys income fails to meet a federally established threshold that differs across countries, United Nations, poverty is the inability of having choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity.
It means lack of capacity to participate effectively in society. It means insecurity and exclusion of individuals, households and it means susceptibility to violence, and it often implies living in marginal or fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation. World Bank, Poverty is pronounced deprivation in well-being, and comprises many dimensions and it includes low incomes and the inability to acquire the basic goods and services necessary for survival with dignity
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