Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is considered a city in the three major Abrahamic religions of Judaism and Islam. During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, the part of Jerusalem called the City of David was settled in the 4th millennium BCE. In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent, today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage Site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger, Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the Old Citys boundaries. These foundational events, straddling the dawn of the 1st millennium BCE, the sobriquet of holy city was probably attached to Jerusalem in post-exilic times. The holiness of Jerusalem in Christianity, conserved in the Septuagint which Christians adopted as their own authority, was reinforced by the New Testament account of Jesuss crucifixion there, in Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina.
As a result, despite having an area of only 0, outside the Old City stands the Garden Tomb. Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, West Jerusalem was among the captured and annexed by Israel while East Jerusalem, including the Old City, was captured. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently annexed it into Jerusalem, one of Israels Basic Laws, the 1980 Jerusalem Law, refers to Jerusalem as the countrys undivided capital. All branches of the Israeli government are located in Jerusalem, including the Knesset, the residences of the Prime Minister and President, the international community does not recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, and the city hosts no foreign embassies. Jerusalem is home to some non-governmental Israeli institutions of importance, such as the Hebrew University. In 2011, Jerusalem had a population of 801,000, of which Jews comprised 497,000, Muslims 281,000, a city called Rušalim in the Execration texts of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt is widely, but not universally, identified as Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is called Urušalim in the Amarna letters of Abdi-Heba, the name Jerusalem is variously etymologized to mean foundation of the god Shalem, the god Shalem was thus the original tutelary deity of the Bronze Age city. The form Yerushalem or Yerushalayim first appears in the Bible, in the Book of Joshua, according to a Midrash, the name is a combination of Yhwh Yireh and the town Shalem. The earliest extra-biblical Hebrew writing of the word Jerusalem is dated to the sixth or seventh century BCE and was discovered in Khirbet Beit Lei near Beit Guvrin in 1961. The inscription states, I am Yahweh thy God, I will accept the cities of Judah and I will redeem Jerusalem, or as other scholars suggest, the mountains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman adaptation of the Greek divine hero Heracles, who was the son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures, the Romans adapted the Greek heros iconography and myths for their literature and art under the name Hercules. In Western art and literature and in culture, Hercules is more commonly used than Heracles as the name of the hero. Hercules was a figure with contradictory characteristics, which enabled artists and writers to pick. This article provides an introduction to representations of Hercules in the tradition, Hercules is known for his many adventures, which took him to the far reaches of the Greco-Roman world. One cycle of these adventures became canonical as the Twelve Labours, one traditional order of the labours is found in the Bibliotheca as follows, Slay the Nemean Lion. Capture the Golden Hind of Artemis, clean the Augean stables in a single day. Obtain the girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, obtain the cattle of the monster Geryon.
Steal the apples of the Hesperides, Hercules was a favorite subject for Etruscan art, and appears often on bronze mirrors. The Etruscan form Herceler derives from the Greek Heracles via syncope, a mild oath invoking Hercules was a common interjection in Classical Latin. Hercules had a number of myths that were distinctly Roman, one of these is Hercules defeat of Cacus, who was terrorizing the countryside of Rome. The hero was associated with the Aventine Hill through his son Aventinus, Mark Antony considered him a personal patron god, as did the emperor Commodus. Roman brides wore a belt tied with the knot of Hercules. The comic playwright Plautus presents the myth of Hercules conception as a sex comedy in his play Amphitryon, during the Roman Imperial era, Hercules was worshipped locally from Hispania through Gaul. Tacitus records a special affinity of the Germanic peoples for Hercules, in chapter 3 of his Germania, Tacitus states. They say that Hercules, once visited them, and they have those songs of theirs, by the recital of this barditus as they call it, they rouse their courage, while from the note they augur the result of the approaching conflict.
For, as their line shouts, they inspire or feel alarm, some have taken this as Tacitus equating the Germanic Þunraz with Hercules by way of interpretatio romana. In the Roman era Hercules Club amulets appear from the 2nd to 3rd century, distributed over the empire, mostly made of gold, a specimen found in Köln-Nippes bears the inscription DEO HER, confirming the association with Hercules
Melqart
Melqart was the tutelary god of the Phoenician city of Tyre. Melqart was often titled Ba‘l Ṣūr, Lord of Tyre, in Greek, by interpretatio graeca he was identified with Heracles and referred to as the Tyrian Herakles. As Tyrian trade and colonization expanded, Melqart became venerated in Phoenician, Melqart is likely to have been the particular Ba‘al found in the Tanakh whose worship was prominently introduced to Israel by King Ahab and largely eradicated by King Jehu. I visited the temple, and found it richly adorned with a number of offerings, in a conversation which I held with the priests, I inquired how long their temple had been built, and found by their answer that they, differed from the Hellenes. They said that the temple was built at the time that the city was founded. In Tyre I remarked another temple where the god was worshipped as the Thasian Heracles. So I went on to Thasos, where I found a temple of Heracles which had built by the Phoenicians who colonised that island when they sailed in search of Europa.
Even this was five generations earlier than the time when Heracles, the Macedonian month of Peritius corresponds to our February, indicating this annual awakening was in no way a solstitial celebration. It would have coincided with the ending of the winter rains. The annual observation of the revival of Melqarts awakening may identify Melqart as a life-death-rebirth deity, the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus was a native of Lepcis Magna in North Africa, an originally Phoenician city where worship of Melqart was widespread. The name of Melqart was invoked in oaths sanctioning contracts, according to Dr. Carthage even sent a tribute of 10% of the public treasury to the god in Tyre up until the Hellenistic period. In Tyre, the high priest of Melqart ranked second only to the king, Melqart protected the Punic areas of Sicily such as Ras Melqart Cape of Melqart, where his head, indistinguishable from a Heracles, appears on locally-minted coins of the 4th century BCE. Temples to Melqart are found at least three Phoenician/Punic sites in Spain, Cádiz, Ibiza in the Balearic Islands and Cartagena, near Gades/Gádeira was the westernmost temple of Tyrian Heracles, near the eastern shore of the island.
Another temple to Melqart was at Ebyssus, in one of four Phoenician sites on the south coast. In 2004 a highway crew in the Avinguda Espanya, uncovered a further Punic temple in the excavated roadbed, texts found mention Melqart among other Punic gods Eshmun, Astarte and Baʻl. Another Iberian temple to Melqart has been identified at Carthago Nova, the Tyrian gods protection extended to the sacred promontory of the Iberian peninsula, the westernmost point of the known world, ground so sacred it was forbidden even to spend the night. Hannibal strengthened himself spiritually by prayer and sacrifice at the Altar of Melqart and he returned to New Carthage with his mind focused on the god and on the eve of departure to Italy he saw a strange vision which he believed was sent by Melqart. A youth of divine beauty appeared to Hannibal in the night, the youth told Hannibal he had been sent by supreme deity, Melqart, to guide the son of Hamilcar to Italy
Bar Kokhba Revolt coinage
Bar Kochba Revolt coinage were coins issued by the Jews during the Bar Kochba revolt against the Roman Empire of 132-135 AD. The undercoin can clearly be seen on some of the silver coins because they were not filed down so as not to lose the value of the silver, on the bronze coins it is very difficult to see the underlying coin because they were filed down prior to the over-striking. In rare instances, the coin cracked when it was overstruck, the name Shimon appears on all of the coins of the Bar Kochba Revolt except for a few types issued at the beginning of the Revolt with the name Eleazar the Priest. The word Jerusalem was inscribed around the representation of the Temple, beginning in the second year of issue and continuing into the final year, a star appeared above the Temple on many coins, probably in reference to Bar Kochbas nickname Son of the Star. The first group of these coins reviewed by numismatists were 10 silver pieces, by 1881 the number of coins had grown to 43, and many more have been found since.
These coins were first attributed to Bar Kokhba by Moritz Abraham Levy in 1862, since the mid-nineteenth century, a number of scholars have provided alternative attributions for the coins. Claude Reignier Conder, writing in 1909, suggested that the coins were forgeries of the coins of Simon Thassi, list of historical currencies Shekel Zuz Gerah Adler, Yonatan. The Temple Willow-Branch Ritual Depicted on Bar Kokhba Denarii, William David et al, eds. The Cambridge History of Judaism, The late Roman-Rabbinic period, cS1 maint, Uses editors parameter Fine, Steven. Art and Judaism in the Greco-Roman world, toward a new Jewish archaeology and Identity, The Jewish Evidence. In C. J. Howgego, Volker Heuchert, Andrew M. Burnett and identity in the Roman Provinces. CS1 maint, Uses editors parameter Hendin, David, a Bronze Test Strike from the Bar Kokhba Revolt. The Bar Kokhba war reconsidered, new perspectives on the second Jewish revolt against Rome, the history of the Jews in the Greco-Roman world. Recovered Roots, Collective Memory and the Making of Israeli National Tradition
Obverse and reverse
In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse means the back face. The obverse of a coin is commonly called heads, because it depicts the head of a prominent person. In fields of scholarship outside numismatics, the front is more commonly used than obverse. For prints and drawings with material on both sides the one judged as more significant will be the recto, a convention now exists typically to display the obverse to the left and the reverse to the right in photographs and museum displays, but this is not invariably observed. Following this principle, in the most famous of ancient Greek coins, the tetradrachm of Athens, the obverse is the head of Athena, similar versions of these two images, both symbols of the state, were used on the Athenian coins for more than two centuries. The opposite side may have varied from time to time and this change happened in the coinage of Alexander the Great, which continued to be minted long after his death. The various Hellenistic rulers who were his successors followed his tradition and this script alone style was used on nearly all Islamic coinage until the modern period.
The type of Justinian II was revived after the end of Iconoclasm, without images, therefore, it is not always easy to tell which side will be regarded as the obverse without some knowledge. After 695, Islamic coins avoided all images of persons and usually, the side expressing the Six Kalimas is usually defined as the obverse. The form of currency follows its function, which is to serve as an accepted medium of exchange of value. Traditionally, most states have been monarchies where the person of the monarch, if not provided for on the obverse, the reverse side usually contains information relating to a coins role as medium of exchange. Additional space typically reflects the countrys culture or government, or evokes some aspect of the states territory. Regarding the euro, some regarding the obverse and reverse of the euro coins exists. This rule does not apply to the coins as they dont have a common side. A number of the used for obverse national sides of euro coins were taken from the reverse of the old pre-euro coins of some individual countries.
Several countries continue to use portraits of the monarch and the Republic of Ireland continues to use the State Arms. The Chrysanthemum Crest was no longer used after the war, and so, the side on which the date continues to be regarded as the reverse. Following ancient tradition, the obverse of coins of the United Kingdom almost always feature the head of the monarch
Tanit
Tanit was a Berber Punic and Phoenician goddess, the chief deity of Carthage alongside her consort Baal Hammon. She was adopted by the Punic Berber people, Tanit is called Tinnit, Tannou or Tangou. The name appears to have originated in Carthage, though it not appear in local theophorous names. She was equivalent to the moon-goddess Astarte, and worshipped in Roman Carthage in her Romanized form as Dea Caelestis, in modern-day Tunisian Arabic, it is customary to invoke Omek Tannou or Oumouk Tangou, in years of drought to bring rain. Similarly and many other forms of Arabic refer to Baali farming to refer to non-irrigated agriculture. Tanit was worshiped in Punic contexts in the Western Mediterranean, from Malta to Gades into Hellenistic times, from the fifth century BCE onwards, Tanits worship is associated with that of Baal Hammon. She is given the epithet pene baal and the title rabat and her shrine excavated at Sarepta in southern Phoenicia revealed an inscription that identified her for the first time in her homeland and related her securely to the Phoenician goddess Astarte.
One site where Tanit is uncovered is at Kerkouane, in the Cap Bon peninsula in Tunisia, the origins of Tanit are to be found in the pantheon of Ugarit, especially in the Ugaritic goddess Anat, a consumer of blood and flesh. There is significant, albeit disputed, both archaeological and within ancient written sources, pointing towards child sacrifice forming part of the worship of Tanit, some archaeologists theorised that infant sacrifices have occurred. Lawrence E. Stager, who directed the excavations of the Carthage Tophet in the 1970s, paolo Xella of the National Research Council in Rome summarized the textual and archaeological evidence for Carthaginian infant sacrifice. Tophet is a derived from the Bible, used to refer to a site near Jerusalem at which Canaanites and Israelites who strayed from Judaism by practicing Canaanite idolatry would sacrifice children. It is now used as a term for all such sites with cremated human. The Hebrew Bible does not specify that the Israelite victims were buried, only burned and we have no idea how the Phoenicians themselves referred to the places of burning or burial, or to the practice itself.
Several apparent Tophets have been identified, chiefly a large one in Carthage, dubbed the Tophet of Salammbó, soil in the Tophet of Salammbó was found to be full of olive wood charcoal, probably from the sacrificial pyres. It was the location of the temple of the goddess Tanit, animal remains, mostly sheep and goats, found inside some of the Tophet urns, strongly suggest that this was not a burial ground for children who died prematurely. The animals were sacrificed to the gods, presumably in place of children and it is conjectured that the children unlucky enough not to have substitutes were sacrificed and buried in the Tophet. The area covered by the Tophet in Carthage was probably over an acre, about 20,000 urns were deposited between 400 BCE and 200 BCE, with the practice continuing until the early years of the Christian period. The urns contained the bones of newborns and in some cases the bones of fetuses
Judea (Roman province)
It was named after Herod Archelauss Tetrarchy of Judea, but the Roman province encompassed a much larger territory. The name Judea was derived from the Kingdom of Judah of the 6th century BCE, Judea province was the scene of unrest at its founding in 6 CE during the Census of Quirinius and several wars were fought in its history, known as the Jewish–Roman wars. The first intervention of Rome in the dates from 63 BCE, following the end of the Third Mithridatic War. After the defeat of Mithridates VI of Pontus, Pompey sacked Jerusalem and established Hasmonean prince Hyrcanus II as Ethnarch and High Priest, a appointment by Julius Caesar was Antipater the Idumaean, known as Antipas, as the first Roman Procurator. Herod the Great, Antipaters son, was designated King of the Jews by the Roman Senate in 40 BCE and he did not gain military control until 37 BCE. During his reign the last representatives of the Hasmoneans were eliminated, and he died in 4 BCE, and his kingdom was divided mostly among three of his sons, who became tetrarchs.
One of these tetrarchies was Judea corresponding to the territory of the historic Judea, plus Samaria, Herods son Herod Archelaus, ruled Judea so badly that he was dismissed in 6 CE by the Roman emperor Augustus, after an appeal from his own population. Another, Herod Antipas, ruled as tetrarch of Galilee and Perea from 4 BCE to 39 CE, the third tetrarch, Herods son Philip, ruled over the northeastern part of his fathers kingdom. In 6 CE Archelaus tetrachy came under direct Roman administration, even though Iudaea is simply derived from the Latin for Judea, many historians use it to distinguish the Roman province from the previous territory and history. Iudaea province did not initially include Galilee, nor Peraea or the Decapolis, the capital was at Caesarea, not Jerusalem. Quirinius became Legate of Syria and conducted the first Roman tax census of Syria and Iudaea, pontius Pilate, whose name was recorded in the Pilate Stone, was one of these prefects, from 26 to 36 CE. Still, Jews living in the province maintained some form of independence and could judge offenders by their own laws, including capital offences, until c.28 CE.
The Province of Judea, during the late 2nd Temple period was divided into five conclaves, or administrative districts, 1) Jerusalem, 2) Gadara, 3) Amathus, 4) Jericho. Caiaphas was one of the appointed High Priests of Herods Temple, both were deposed by the Syrian Legate Lucius Vitellius in 36 CE. The Crisis under Caligula has been proposed as the first open break between Rome and the Jews and he elevated Iudaeass procurator whom he trusted to imperial governing status because the imperial legate of Syria was not sympathetic to the Judeans. Following Agrippas death in 44 CE, the returned to direct Roman control, incorporating Agrippas personal territories of Galilee and Peraea. Nevertheless, Agrippas son, Agrippa II was designated King of the Jews in 48 and he was the seventh and last of the Herodians. From 70 CE until 135 CE, Iudaeas rebelliousness required a governing Roman legate capable of commanding legions
Hasmonean dynasty
The Hasmonean dynasty was the ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during classical antiquity. Between c. 140 and c. 116 BCE the dynasty ruled semi-autonomously from the Seleucids in the region of Judea, some modern scholars refer to this period as an independent kingdom of Israel. In 63 BCE, the kingdom was conquered by the Roman Republic, broken up, the dynasty had survived for 103 years before yielding to the Herodian dynasty in 37 BCE. Even then, Herod the Great tried to bolster the legitimacy of his reign by marrying a Hasmonean princess, the dynasty was established under the leadership of Simon Maccabaeus, two decades after his brother Judah the Maccabee defeated the Seleucid army during the Maccabean Revolt. However, the power vacuum that enabled the Jewish state to be recognized by the Roman Senate c. 139 BCE was exploited by the Romans themselves. Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II, Simons great-grandsons, became pawns in a war between Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great. The deaths of Pompey and Caesar, and the related Roman civil wars temporarily relaxed Romes grip on Israel and this short independence was rapidly crushed by the Romans under Mark Antony and Octavian.
The installation of Herod the Great as king in 37 BCE made Israel a Roman client state, in AD6, Rome joined Judea proper and Idumea into the Roman province of Iudaea. In AD44, Rome installed the rule of a Roman procurator side by side with the rule of the Herodian kings, an alternative view posits that the Hebrew name Hashmonai is linked with the village of Heshbon, mentioned in Joshua 15,27. Gott and Licht attribute the name to Ha Simeon, a reference to the Simeonite Tribe. Between 319 and 302 BC. Under Antiochus III the Seleucids wrested control of Israel from the Ptolemies for the final time and it was in Antioch that the Jews first made the acquaintance of Hellenism and of the more corrupt sides of Greek culture, and it was from Antioch that Judea henceforth was ruled. The books are considered part of the Biblical canon by the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches and apocryphal by most Protestants, the books include historical and religious material from the Septuagint that was codified by Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians.
The other primary source for the Hasmonean dynasty is the first book of The Wars of the Jews by the Jewish historian Josephus, Josephus account is the only primary source covering the history of the Hasmonean dynasty during the period of its expansion and independence between 110 to 63 BCE. The books of Maccabees use the names Judea and Israel as geographical descriptors throughout for both the land and people over whom the Hasmoneans would rule, the Talmud includes one of the Hasmonean kings under the description Kings of Israel. Scholars refer to the state as the Hasmonean Kingdom to distinguish it from the kingdoms of Israel. The Hellenization of the Jews in the period was not universally resisted. Generally, the Jews accepted foreign rule when they were required to pay tribute. Nevertheless, Jews were divided between those favoring Hellenization and those opposing it, and were divided over allegiance to the Ptolemies or Seleucids, when the High Priest Simon II died in 175 BCE, conflict broke out between supporters of his son Onias III and his son Jason
Baal Hammon
Baal Hammon, properly Baʿal Hammon or Hamon, was the chief god of Carthage. He was a weather god considered responsible for the fertility of vegetation and he was depicted as a bearded older man with curling rams horns. Baʿal Hammons female cult partner was Tanit, the worship of Baʿal Hammon flourished in the Phoenician colony of Carthage. His supremacy among the Carthaginian gods is believed to date to the fifth century BC, modern scholars identify him variously with the Northwest Semitic god El or with Dagon. He was probably never identified with Baʿal Melqart, although one finds this equation in older scholarship, the interpretatio graeca identified him with the Titan Cronus. Greco-Roman sources report that the Carthaginians burned their children as offerings to Baʿal Hammon, attributes of his Romanized form as an African Saturn indicate that Hammon was a fertility god. The meaning of Hammon is unclear, in the 19th century, when Ernest Renan excavated the ruins of Hammon, the modern Umm al-‘Awamid between Tyre and Acre, he found two Phoenician inscriptions dedicated to El-Hammon.
Since El was normally identified with Cronus, and Ba‘al Hammon was identified with Cronus, more often a connection with Northwest Semitic ḥammān has been proposed, suggesting the sense Lord of the Brazier. He has been identified with a solar deity. Yigael Yadin thought him to be a moon god, edward Lipinski identifies him with the god Dagon. Frank Moore Cross argued for a connection to Hamōn, the Ugaritic name for Mount Amanus, baal Hamon, Khamon, or Ammon was a place mentioned in the Song of Solomon. It was the location of a vineyard owned by Solomon. The locale has been supposed to be identical with Baal-gad, others identify it with Belamon, in Central Israel, near Dothaim. Some have suggested that it is not to be taken as a literal place, baal Carthaginian religion Eastons Bible Dictionary 1897 On-line parallel Bible, Song of Solomon 8,11
Hyperinflation
Certain figures in this article use scientific notation for readability. The population normally switches to holding relatively stable foreign currencies, under such conditions, the general price level within an economy increases rapidly as the official currency quickly loses real value. The value of economic items remains relatively stable in terms of foreign currencies, however, the general price level rises even more rapidly than the money supply as people try ridding themselves of the devaluing currency as quickly as possible. As this scenario happens, the stock of money decreases. The mainstream narrative is that hyperinflations are usually caused by large persistent government deficits financed primarily by money creation, as such, hyperinflation is often associated with wars, their aftermath, sociopolitical upheavals, or other crises that make it difficult for the government to tax the population. A sharp decrease in tax revenue coupled with a strong need to maintain the status quo, together with an inability or unwillingness to borrow.
The mainstream assumptions of how hyperinflation is caused has been challenged by advocates of Modern Monetary Theory who sustain that government spending alone cannot cause hyperinflation. They claim that hyperinflation is usually the result of a collapse in the supply chain which is unable to meet the demand generated by government spending. In 1956, Phillip Cagan wrote The Monetary Dynamics of Hyperinflation, economists usually follow Cagan’s description that hyperinflation occurs when the monthly inflation rate exceeds 50%. The International Accounting Standards Board has issued guidance on accounting rules in a hyperinflationary environment and it does not establish an absolute rule on when hyperinflation arises. Instead, it lists factors that indicate the existence of hyperinflation, there are a number of theories on the causes of high and/or hyper inflation. But nearly all hyperinflations have been caused by government budget deficits financed by money creation, after an analysis of 29 hyperinflations Bernholz concludes that at least 25 of them have been caused in this way.
Moreover, a condition for hyperinflation has been the existence of fiat money not convertible at a fixed parity into gold or silver. The French hyperinflation took place after the introduction of a non convertible paper money, the price increases that result from the rapid money creation creates a vicious circle, requiring ever growing amounts of new money creation to fund government deficits. Hence both monetary inflation and price inflation proceed at a rapid pace, such rapidly increasing prices cause widespread unwillingness of the local population to hold the local currency as it rapidly loses its buying power. Instead they quickly spend any money they receive, which increases the velocity of money flow and this means that the increase in the price level is greater than that of the money supply. The real stock of money, M/P, here M refers to the money stock and P to the price level. This results in an imbalance between the supply and demand for the money, causing rapid inflation, very high inflation rates can result in a loss of confidence in the currency, similar to a bank run
Ancient Carthage
Carthage was the Phoenician city-state of Carthage and during the 7th to 3rd centuries BC, included its sphere of influence, the Carthaginian Empire. The empire extended over much of the coast of North Africa as well as encompassing substantial parts of coastal Iberia, Carthage was founded in 814 BC. At the height of the prominence it served as a major hub of trade. The city had to deal with potentially hostile Berbers, the inhabitants of the area where Carthage was built. In 146 BC, after the third and final Punic War, Roman forces destroyed, nearly all of the other Phoenician city-states and former Carthaginian dependencies subsequently fell into Roman hands. According to Roman sources, Phoenician colonists from modern-day Lebanon, led by Dido, Queen Elissa was an exiled princess of the ancient Phoenician city of Tyre. At its peak, the metropolis she founded, came to be called the city, ruling 300 other cities around the western Mediterranean Sea. Elissas brother, Pygmalion of Tyre, had murdered Elissas husband, Elissa escaped the tyranny of her own country, founding the new city of Carthage and subsequently its dominions.
Details of her life are sketchy and confusing, but the following can be deduced from various sources, according to Justin, Princess Elissa was the daughter of King Belus II of Tyre. When he died, the throne was jointly bequeathed to her brother and she married her uncle Acerbas, known as Sychaeus, the High Priest of Melqart, a man with both authority and wealth comparable to the king. This led to increased rivalry between the elite and the monarchy. Pygmalion was a tyrant, lover of both gold and intrigue, who desired the authority and fortune enjoyed by Acerbas, Pygmalion assassinated Acerbas in the temple and kept the misdeed concealed from his sister for a long time, deceiving her with lies about her husbands death. At the same time, the people of Tyre called for a single sovereign, in the Roman epic of Virgil, the Aeneid, Queen Dido, the Greek name for Elissa, is first introduced as a highly esteemed character. In just seven years, since their exodus from Tyre, the Carthaginians have rebuilt a successful kingdom under her rule and her subjects adore her and present her with a festival of praise.
Her character is perceived by Virgil as even more noble when she offers asylum to Aeneas and his men, who have recently escaped from Troy. A spirit in the form of the god, sent by Jupiter, reminds Aeneas that his mission is not to stay in Carthage with his new-found love, Dido. Virgil ends his legend of Dido with the story that, when Aeneas tells Dido, her heart broken, as she lay dying, she predicted eternal strife between Aeneas people and her own, rise up from my bones, avenging spirit she says, an invocation of Hannibal. The settlements at Crete and Sicily were in conflict with the Greeks
Roman Empire
Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesars adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. Octavians power was unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power, the imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The first two centuries of the empires existence were a period of unprecedented political stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana, following Octavians victory, the size of the empire was dramatically increased. After the assassination of Caligula in 41, the senate briefly considered restoring the republic, under Claudius, the empire invaded Britannia, its first major expansion since Augustus. Vespasian emerged triumphant in 69, establishing the Flavian dynasty, before being succeeded by his son Titus and his short reign was followed by the long reign of his brother Domitian, who was eventually assassinated.
The senate appointed the first of the Five Good Emperors, the empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan, the second in this line. A period of increasing trouble and decline began with the reign of Commodus, Commodus assassination in 192 triggered the Year of the Five Emperors, of which Septimius Severus emerged victorious. The assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 led to the Crisis of the Third Century in which 26 men were declared emperor by the Roman Senate over a time span. It was not until the reign of Diocletian that the empire was fully stabilized with the introduction of the Tetrarchy, which saw four emperors rule the empire at once. This arrangement was unsuccessful, leading to a civil war that was finally ended by Constantine I. Constantine subsequently shifted the capital to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople in his honour and it remained the capital of the east until its demise. Constantine adopted Christianity which became the state religion of the empire. However, Augustulus was never recognized by his Eastern colleague, and separate rule in the Western part of the empire ceased to exist upon the death of Julius Nepos.
The Eastern Roman Empire endured for another millennium, eventually falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history, at its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the entire population. Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state. Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the republic in the 6th century BC, then, it was an empire long before it had an emperor
⟩, although it was more commonly denominated as ש or IS. It was subdivided into 100 new agoras or agorot. It suffered from hyperinflation and was quickly replaced.
