1.
Missorium of Theodosius I
–
The Missorium of Theodosius I is a large ceremonial silver dish preserved in the Real Academia de la Historia, in Madrid, Spain. It was probably made in Constantinople for the anniversary in 388 of the reign of the Emperor Theodosius I. It is one of the best surviving examples of Late Antique Imperial imagery and it is the largest and most elaborate, and the most famous, of the 19 surviving vessels believed to represent largitio or a ceremonial gift given by the emperor to a civil or military official. The official receives the document with hands covered by his chlamys and this iconography is related to that known as the Traditio legis, which was transferred from Late Antique Imperial art to Christian art, eventually developing into the iconic Christ in Majesty. Theodosius is shown far larger than the figures, as is common in the hieratic Late Antique style. The three emperors have haloes which is usual at this period, although all were Christians, there are no specific Christian elements in the iconography, and the lower zone contains specifically pagan imagery, as some Late Antique Christian art continued to do. Their clothing is early Byzantine dress consistent with other Imperial portraits of the period, the two co-emperors have decorated tablions at their knees, or possibly Epigonations. These would have highly decorated with embroidery and probably jewels. The official receiving the document wears clothes decorated with stripes and patches which would have been a kind of uniform for his office, the three Imperial figures have tightly curled hairstyles, and wear diadems of pearls. Their cloaks are fastened with large circular jewelled fibulae, comparable to that worn by Justinian in the mosaic at Ravenna. The architectural surround has often compared to a peristyle at Diocletians Palace in Split, Croatia. This opens from the residence to a courtyard that has been regarded as a setting for ceremonial audiences such as the one shown on the dish. Their offerings are held in hand-cloths, just as the official uses his clothes to receive his gift, the putti fly above a reclining figure of Tellus or Terra, the Roman goddess of Mother Earth. Tellus is shown in a pose that continues Hellenistic style, rather than the frontal iconic Late Antique style of the figures in the upper zone. It is in good condition apart from the affected by this. The height of the relief varies, and is highest in the face of Theodosius and other highlights of the composition. The recipient may well be the official represented on the dish, the term now tends to be avoided by scholars, as rather imprecise, but has become traditional in the case of the dish in Madrid. This is made of silver and has traces of gilding on the inscriptions
Missorium of Theodosius I
–
Copy of the Missorium of Theodosius (detail) in the Museum of Mérida, Spain
Missorium of Theodosius I
–
Reclining Tellus
Missorium of Theodosius I
–
Peristyle in
Diocletian's Palace
Missorium of Theodosius I
–
Missorium of Kerch representing
Constantius II,
Hermitage Museum, St Petersberg
2.
Roman Emperor
–
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
Roman Emperor
–
Augustus
Roman Emperor
–
Vexillum
Roman Emperor
–
Statue of
Augustus, c. 30 BC–20 BC; this statue is located in the
Louvre
Roman Emperor
–
Imaginary portrait of
Constantine XI, the last Roman emperor
3.
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 then 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 then 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 also adopted Christianity which later 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, political 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
Roman Empire
–
The
Augustus of Prima Porta (early 1st century AD)
Roman Empire
–
Aureus of
Augustus, the first
Roman Emperor.
Roman Empire
–
A segment of the ruins of Hadrian's Wall in northern England
Roman Empire
–
A 5th-century
papyrus showing a parallel Latin-Greek text of a speech by
Cicero
4.
Eastern Roman 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, cultural, 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, Egypt 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, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also 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 also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
Eastern Roman Empire
–
Tremissis with the image of
Justinian the Great (r. 527–565) (see
Byzantine insignia)
Eastern Roman Empire
–
Byzantine
lamellar armour klivanium (Κλιβάνιον) - a predecessor of Ottoman krug
mirror armour
Eastern Roman Empire
–
The Baptism of Constantine painted by
Raphael 's pupils (1520–1524,
fresco, Vatican City,
Apostolic Palace);
Eusebius of Caesarea records that (as
was common among converts of early Christianity) Constantine delayed receiving
baptism until shortly before his death
Eastern Roman Empire
–
Restored section of the Theodosian Walls.
5.
Valens
–
Valens, fully Flavius Julius Valens Augustus, was Eastern Roman Emperor from 364 to 378. He was given the half of the empire by his brother Valentinian I after the latters accession to the throne. Valens, sometimes known as the Last True Roman, was defeated and killed in the Battle of Adrianople, Valens and his brother Valentinian were both born in Cibalae into an Illyrian family in 328 and 321 respectively. They had grown up on estates purchased by their father Gratian the Elder in Africa, while Valentinian had enjoyed a successful military career prior to his appointment as emperor, Valens apparently had not. He had spent much of his youth on the estate and only joined the army in the 360s. In February 364, reigning Emperor Jovian, while hastening to Constantinople to secure his claim to the throne, was asphyxiated during a stop at Dadastana,100 miles east of Ankara, among Jovians lieutenants was Valentinian, a tribunus scutariorum. He was proclaimed Augustus on 26 February,364, Valentinian felt that he needed help to govern the large and troublesome empire, and, on 28 March of the same year, appointed his brother Valens as co-emperor in the palace of Hebdomon. The two Augusti travelled together through Adrianople and Naissus to Sirmium, where they divided their personnel, Valens obtained the eastern half of the Empire Greece, Egypt, Syria and Anatolia as far east as Persia. Valens was back in his capital of Constantinople by December 364, in 365, an undersea earthquake between magnitudes 8 and 9 near Crete caused a tsunami that hit the coasts of the Eastern Mediterranean. Valenss first priority after the winter of 365 was to move east in hopes of shoring up the situation, by the autumn of 365 he had reached Cappadocian Caesarea when he learned that a usurper, named Procopius, had proclaimed himself in Constantinople. When he died, Julian the emperor had left one surviving relative. Procopius had been charged with overseeing a northern division of his relatives army during the Persian expedition and had not been present when Jovian was named his successor, though Jovian made accommodations to appease this potential claimant, Procopius fell increasingly under suspicion in the first year of Valens reign. This program met with success, particularly among soldiers loyal to the Constantinians. When news arrived that Procopius had revolted, Valens considered abdication, even so, Valens sent two legions to march on Procopius, who easily persuaded them to desert to him. Later that year, Valens himself was captured in a scramble near Chalcedon. Troubles were exacerbated by the refusal of Valentinian to do any more than protect his own territory from encroachment, the failure of imperial resistance in 365 allowed Procopius to gain control of the dioceses of Thrace and Asiana by years end. Only in the spring of 366 had Valens assembled enough troops to deal with Procopius effectively, marching out from Ancyra through Pessinus, Valens proceeded into Phrygia where he defeated Procopiuss general Gomoarius at the Battle of Thyatira. He then met Procopius himself at Nacoleia and convinced his troops to desert him, Procopius was executed on 27 May and his head sent to Valentinian in Trier for inspection
Valens
–
A marble bust possibly representing Valens or
Honorius
Valens
–
Bronze coin issued by
Procopius.
Valens
–
Medal of Valens, Vienna
Valens
–
Aqueduct of Valens in Istanbul (old
Constantinople), capital of the
Eastern Roman Empire.
6.
Gratian
–
For other figures with this name, including his paternal grandfather, see Gratian. Gratian was Roman emperor from 367 to 383, the eldest son of Valentinian I, during his youth Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers. Upon the death of Valentinian in 375, Gratians brother Valentinian II was declared emperor by his fathers soldiers, in 378, Gratians generals won a decisive victory over the Lentienses, a branch of the Alamanni, at the Battle of Argentovaria. Gratian subsequently led a campaign across the Rhine, the last emperor to do so and that same year, his uncle Valens was killed in the Battle of Adrianople against the Goths – making Gratian essentially ruler of the entire Roman Empire. He favoured Christianity over traditional Roman religion, refusing the divine attributes of the Emperors, Gratian was the son of Emperor Valentinian I by Marina Severa, and was born at Sirmium in Pannonia. He was named after his grandfather Gratian the Elder, Gratian was first married to Flavia Maxima Constantia, daughter of Constantius II. His stepmother was Empress Justina and his half siblings were Emperor Valentinian II, Galla. On 24 August 367 he received from his father the title of Augustus, on the death of Valentinian, the troops in Pannonia proclaimed his infant son emperor under the title of Valentinian II. The division, however, was nominal, and the real authority remained in the hands of Gratian. Gratians general Mallobaudes, a king of the Franks, and Naniemus, completely defeated the Lentienses, upon receiving news of the victory, Gratian personally led a campaign across the Upper Rhine into the territory of the Lentienses. After initial trouble facing the Lentienses on high ground, Gratian blockaded the enemy instead, the Lentienses were forced to supply young men to be levied into the Roman army, while the remainder were allowed to return home. Later that year, Valens met his death in the Battle of Adrianople on 9 August. Valens refused to wait for Gratian and his army to arrive and assist in defeating the host of Goths, Alans and Huns, as a result, Gratianus and Theodosius then cleared the Illyricum of barbarians in the Gothic War. A Roman general named Magnus Maximus took advantage of this feeling to raise the standard of revolt in Britain, Gratian, who was then in Paris, being deserted by his troops, fled to Lyon. There, through the treachery of the governor, Gratian was delivered over to one of the generals, Andragathius. The reign of Gratian forms an important epoch in ecclesiastical history, Gratian also published an edict that all their subjects should profess the faith of the bishops of Rome and Alexandria. The move was mainly thrust at the various beliefs that had arisen out of Arianism, Gratian, under the influence of his chief advisor the Bishop of Milan Ambrose, took active steps to repress pagan worship. This brought to an end a period of widespread, if unofficial, in 382, Gratian appropriated the income of the Pagan priests and Vestal Virgins, forbade legacies of real property to them and abolished other privileges belonging to the Vestals and to the pontiffs
Gratian
–
Gratian
Gratian
–
Coin of Emperor Gratian.
7.
Western Roman Empire
–
Theodosius I divided the Empire upon his death between his two sons. As the Roman Republic expanded, it reached a point where the government in Rome could not effectively rule the distant provinces. Communications and transportation were especially problematic given the vast extent of the Empire, for this reason, provincial governors had de facto rule in the name of the Roman Republic. Antony received the provinces in the East, Achaea, Macedonia and Epirus, Bithynia, Pontus and Asia, Syria, Cyprus and these lands had previously been conquered by Alexander the Great, thus, much of the aristocracy was of Greek origin. The whole region, especially the cities, had been largely assimilated into Greek culture. Octavian obtained the Roman provinces of the West, Italia, Gaul, Gallia Belgica and these lands also included Greek and Carthaginian colonies in the coastal areas, though Celtic tribes such as Gauls and Celtiberians were culturally dominant. Lepidus received the province of Africa. Octavian soon took Africa from Lepidus, while adding Sicilia to his holdings, upon the defeat of Mark Antony, a victorious Octavian controlled a united Roman Empire. While the Roman Empire featured many distinct cultures, all were often said to experience gradual Romanization, minor rebellions and uprisings were fairly common events throughout the Empire. Conquered tribes or cities would revolt, and the legions would be detached to crush the rebellion, while this process was simple in peacetime, it could be considerably more complicated in wartime, as for example in the Great Jewish Revolt. In a full-blown military campaign, the legions, under such as Vespasian, were far more numerous. To ensure a commanders loyalty, an emperor might hold some members of the generals family hostage. To this end, Nero effectively held Domitian and Quintus Petillius Cerialis, governor of Ostia, the rule of Nero ended only with the revolt of the Praetorian Guard, who had been bribed in the name of Galba. The Praetorian Guard, a sword of Damocles, were often perceived as being of dubious loyalty. Following their example, the legions at the increased participation in the civil wars. The main enemy in the West was arguably the Germanic tribes behind the rivers Rhine, Augustus had tried to conquer them but ultimately pulled back after the Teutoburg reversal. The Parthian Empire, in the East, on the hand, was too remote. Those distant territories were forsaken to prevent unrest and also to ensure a more healthy, the Parthians were followed by the Sasanian Empire, which continued hostilities with the Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire
–
Tremissis depicting
Flavius Julius Nepos (474-480), the de jure last Emperor of the Western Court
Western Roman Empire
–
The organization of the Empire under the
Tetrarchy.
Western Roman Empire
–
Europe in 477 AD. Highlighted areas are Roman lands that survived the deposition of
Romulus Augustulus.
8.
Valentinian II
–
Valentinian II, was Roman Emperor from AD375 to 392. Flavius Valentinianus was born to Emperor Valentinian I and his second wife and he was the half-brother of Valentinian’s other son, Gratian, who had shared the imperial title with his father since 367. He had three sisters Galla, Grata and Justa, the elder Valentinian died on campaign in Pannonia in 375. Neither Gratian nor his uncle Valens were consulted by the commanders on the scene. Instead of merely acknowledging Gratian as his father’s successor, Valentinian I’s generals acclaimed the four-year-old Valentinian augustus on 22 November 375. The army, and its Frankish general Merobaudes, may have been uneasy about Gratians lack of military ability, and so raised a boy who would not immediately aspire to military command. Gratian, forced to accommodate the generals who supported his half-brother, governed the provinces, while Italy, part of Illyricum. In 378, their uncle, the Emperor Valens, was killed in battle with the Goths at Adrianople, and Gratian invited the general Theodosius to be emperor in the East. As a child, Valentinian II was under the influence of his Arian mother, the Empress Justina, and the court at Milan. Justina used her influence over her son to oppose the Nicean party which was championed by Ambrose. In 385 Ambrose, backed by Milans populace, refused an imperial request to hand over the Portian basilica for the use of Arian troops. In 386 Justina and Valentinian received the Arian bishop Auxentius, Ambrose and his congregation barricaded themselves inside the church, and the imperial order was rescinded. Magnus Maximus used the emperor’s heterodoxy against him, and even his eventual protector, Theodosius, Valentinian also tried to restrain the despoiling of pagan temples in Rome. Valentinian, at the insistence of Ambrose, refused the request and, in so doing, rejected the traditions, in 383, Magnus Maximus, commander of the armies in Britain, declared himself Emperor and established himself in Gaul and Hispania. For a time the court of Valentinian, through the mediation of Ambrose, came to an accommodation with the usurper, in 386 or 387, Maximus crossed the Alps into the Po valley and threatened Milan. Valentinian II and Justina fled to Theodosius in Thessalonica, the latter came to an agreement, cemented by his marriage to Valentinian’s sister Galla, to restore the young emperor in the West. In 388, Theodosius marched west and defeated Maximus, although he was to appoint both of his sons emperor, Theodosius remained loyal to the dynasty of Valentinian I. After the defeat of Maximus, Theodosius remained in Milan until 391, Valentinian took no part in Theodosiuss triumphal celebrations over Maximus
Valentinian II
–
Bust of Valentinian II.
Valentinian II
–
A
solidus minted by Valentinian II. On the reverse, both Valentinian and
Theodosius I are celebrated as victorious.
9.
Arcadius
–
Arcadius was Eastern Roman Emperor from 383 to 408. He was the eldest son of Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, a weak ruler, his reign was dominated by a series of powerful ministers and by his wife, Aelia Eudoxia. Arcadius was born in Hispania, the son of Theodosius I and Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of Honorius. His father declared him an Augustus and co-ruler for the Eastern half of the Empire in January 383 and his younger brother was also declared Augustus in 393, for the Western half. As emperors, Honorius was under the control of the Romanized Vandal magister militum Flavius Stilicho while Arcadius was dominated by one of his ministers, Arcadius new advisor, the eunuch Eutropius, simply took Rufinus place as the power behind the Eastern imperial throne. Arcadius was also dominated by his wife Aelia Eudoxia, who convinced her husband to dismiss Eutropius and that same year, on 13 July, Arcadius issued an edict ordering that all remaining non-Christian temples should be immediately demolished. Eudoxias influence was strongly opposed by John Chrysostom, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Eudoxia used her influence to have Chrysostom deposed in 404, but she died later that year. Eudoxia gave to Arcadius four children, three daughters, Pulcheria, Arcadia and Marina, and one son, Theodosius, the future Emperor Theodosius II. Arcadius was dominated for the rest of his rule by Anthemius, the Praetorian Prefect, Arcadius himself was more concerned with appearing to be a pious Christian than he was with political or military matters, and he died, only nominally in control of his Empire, in 408. The episode has been interpreted as a paroxysm of anti-barbarian reaction that served to stabilize the East. Synesius De regno, which claims to be addressed to Arcadius himself, a new forum was built in the name of Arcadius, on the seventh hill of Constantinople, the Xērolophos, in which a column was begun to commemorate his victory over Gainas. The Pentelic marble portrait head of Arcadius was discovered in Istanbul close to the Forum Tauri, in June 1949, the neck was designed to be inserted in a torso, but no statue, base or inscription was found. The diadem is a fillet with rows of pearls along its edges, flavia List of Byzantine emperors A
Arcadius
–
Solidus of Arcadius.
Arcadius
–
Idealising bust of Arcadius in the Theodosian style combines elements of classicism with the new hieratic style (
Istanbul Archaeology Museum)
10.
Honorius (emperor)
–
Honorius was Western Roman Emperor from 393 to 423. He was the son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of Arcadius. Even by the standards of the rapidly declining Western Empire, Honoriuss reign was precarious and his reign was supported by his principal general, Stilicho, who was successively Honoriuss guardian and his father-in-law. Stilichos generalship helped preserve some level of stability, but with his execution in 408, Honorius is widely considered as one of the worst of the emperors, it was during his reign that Rome was sacked for the first time in 800 years. When Theodosius died, in January 395, Honorius and Arcadius divided the Empire, during the first part of his reign Honorius depended on the military leadership of the general Stilicho, who had been appointed by Theodosius and was of mixed Vandal and Roman ancestry. To strengthen his bonds with the emperor, Stilicho married his daughter Maria to him. The epithalamion written for the occasion by Stilichos court poet Claudian survives, Honorius was also greatly influenced by the Popes of Rome, who sought to extend their influence through his youth and weak character. So it was that Pope Innocent I contrived to have Honorius write to his brother, while the new capital was easier to defend, it was poorly situated to allow Roman forces to protect central Italy from the increasingly regular threat of barbarian incursions. It was significant that the Emperors residence remained in Ravenna until the overthrow of the last western Roman Emperor in 476. That was probably the reason why Ravenna was chosen not only as the capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy, Honorius reign was plagued by almost constant barbarian incursions into Gaul, Italy and Hispania. At the same time, a host of usurpers rose up due to the apparent inability of the Emperor to see to the Empires defences. The first crisis faced by Honorius was a led by Gildo, the Comes Africae and Magister utriusque militiae per Africam, in Northern Africa. It was eventually subdued by Stilicho, under the command of Mascezel. The next crisis was the Visigoth invasion of Italy in 402 under the command of their king. Stilicho hurried back to protect Honorius and the legions of Gaul, Honorius, slumbering at Milan, was caught unaware and quickly fled to Asti, only to be pursued by Alaric, who marched into Liguria. Stilicho defeated Alaric at Pollentia, on the river Tanarus on Easter Day, Alaric retreated to Verona, where Stilicho attacked him again. The Visigoths, weakened, were allowed to back to Illyricum. In 405 Stilicho met an invasion of Italy led across the Danube by Radagaisus and they brought devastation to the heart of the Empire, until Stilicho defeated them in 406 and recruited most of them into his forces
Honorius (emperor)
–
Honorius on the
consular diptych of
Anicius Petronius Probus (406)
Honorius (emperor)
–
The Western Roman Emperor Honorius,
Jean-Paul Laurens (1880). Honorius became
Augustus on 23 January 393, at the age of eight.
Honorius (emperor)
–
Inscription honouring Honorius, as florentissimo invictissimoque, the most excellent and invincible, 417–418,
Forum Romanum
Honorius (emperor)
–
Christian pendant of Empress
Maria, daughter of
Stilicho, and wife of Honorius.
Musée du Louvre. The pendant reads, around a central cross (clockwise): HONORI
MARIA SERINA VIVATIS
STELICHO. The letters form a
Christogram
11.
Coca, Segovia
–
Coca is a municipality in the province of Segovia, central Spain, part of the autonomous community of Castile and Leon. It is located 50 kilometres northwest of the capital city of Segovia. Coca is known for its 15th-century Mudéjar castle, and as the birthplace of Roman Emperor Theodosius I, the town had a population of 2,131 in 2009. The town is surrounded by forests which contribute to the economy of the town
Coca, Segovia
–
View of Coca Castle.
Coca, Segovia
–
Coca Castle at night, built in the 15th century.
12.
Spain
–
By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
Spain
–
Lady of Elche
Spain
–
Flag
Spain
–
Altamira Cave paintings, in
Cantabria.
Spain
–
Celtic castro in
A Guarda,
Galicia.
13.
Milano
–
Milan is a city in Italy, capital of the Lombardy region, and the most populous metropolitan area and the second most populous comune in Italy. The population of the city proper is 1,351,000, Milan has a population of about 8,500,000 people. It is the industrial and financial centre of Italy and one of global significance. In terms of GDP, it has the largest economy among European non-capital cities, Milan is considered part of the Blue Banana and lies at the heart of one of the Four Motors for Europe. Milan is an Alpha leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, services, research, and tourism. Its business district hosts Italys Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the largest national and international banks, the city is a major world fashion and design capital, well known for several international events and fairs, including Milan Fashion Week and the Milan Furniture Fair. The city hosts numerous cultural institutions, academies and universities, with 11% of the national total enrolled students, Milans museums, theatres and landmarks attract over 9 million visitors annually. Milan – after Naples – is the second Italian city with the highest number of accredited stars from the Michelin Guide, the city hosted the Universal Exposition in 1906 and 2015. Milan is home to two of Europes major football teams, A. C. Milan and F. C. Internazionale, the etymology of Milan is uncertain. One theory holds that the Latin name Mediolanum comes from the Latin words medio, however, some scholars believe lanum comes from the Celtic root lan, meaning an enclosure or demarcated territory in which Celtic communities used to build shrines. Hence, Mediolanum could signify the central town or sanctuary of a Celtic tribe, indeed, the name Mediolanum is borne by about sixty Gallo-Roman sites in France, e. g. Saintes and Évreux. Alciato credits Ambrose for his account, around 400 BC, the Celtic Insubres settled Milan and the surrounding region. In 222 BC, the Romans conquered the settlement, renaming it Mediolanum, Milan was eventually declared the capital of the Western Roman Empire by Emperor Diocletian in 286 AD. Diocletian chose to stay in the Eastern Roman Empire and his colleague Maximianus ruled the Western one, immediately Maximian built several monuments, such as a large circus 470 m ×85 m, the Thermae Herculeae, a large complex of imperial palaces and several other buildings. With the Edict of Milan of 313, Emperor Constantine I guaranteed freedom of religion for Christians, after the city was besieged by the Visigoths in 402, the imperial residence was moved to Ravenna. In 452, the Huns overran the city, in 539, the Ostrogoths conquered and destroyed Milan during the Gothic War against Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. In the summer of 569, a Teutonic tribe, the Lombards, conquered Milan, some Roman structures remained in use in Milan under Lombard rule. Milan surrendered to the Franks in 774 when Charlemagne took the title of King of the Lombards, the Iron Crown of Lombardy dates from this period
Milano
–
Milan Cathedral,
La Scala opera house and
Porta Nuova business district
Milano
Milano
Milano
–
Ruins of the Emperor's palace in Milan. Here
Constantine I and
Licinius issued the
Edict of Milan.
14.
Constantinople
–
Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine Empire, and also of the brief Latin, and the later Ottoman empires. It was reinaugurated in 324 AD from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, Constantinople was famed for its massive and complex defences. The first wall of the city was erected by Constantine I, Constantinople never truly recovered from the devastation of the Fourth Crusade and the decades of misrule by the Latins. The origins of the name of Byzantion, more known by the later Latin Byzantium, are not entirely clear. The founding myth of the city has it told that the settlement was named after the leader of the Megarian colonists, Byzas. The later Byzantines of Constantinople themselves would maintain that the city was named in honour of two men, Byzas and Antes, though this was likely just a play on the word Byzantion. During this time, the city was also called Second Rome, Eastern Rome, and Roma Constantinopolitana. As the city became the remaining capital of the Roman Empire after the fall of the West, and its wealth, population, and influence grew. In the language of other peoples, Constantinople was referred to just as reverently, the medieval Vikings, who had contacts with the empire through their expansion in eastern Europe used the Old Norse name Miklagarðr, and later Miklagard and Miklagarth. In Arabic, the city was sometimes called Rūmiyyat al-kubra and in Persian as Takht-e Rum, in East and South Slavic languages, including in medieval Russia, Constantinople was referred to as Tsargrad or Carigrad, City of the Caesar, from the Slavonic words tsar and grad. This was presumably a calque on a Greek phrase such as Βασιλέως Πόλις, the modern Turkish name for the city, İstanbul, derives from the Greek phrase eis tin polin, meaning into the city or to the city. In 1928, the Turkish alphabet was changed from Arabic script to Latin script, in time the city came to be known as Istanbul and its variations in most world languages. In Greece today, the city is still called Konstantinoúpolis/Konstantinoúpoli or simply just the City, apart from this, little is known about this initial settlement, except that it was abandoned by the time the Megarian colonists settled the site anew. A farsighted treaty with the emergent power of Rome in c.150 BC which stipulated tribute in exchange for independent status allowed it to enter Roman rule unscathed. The site lay astride the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and had in the Golden Horn an excellent and spacious harbour. He would later rebuild Byzantium towards the end of his reign, in which it would be briefly renamed Augusta Antonina, fortifying it with a new city wall in his name, Constantine had altogether more colourful plans. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and hence from the armies and the imperial courts, yet it had been the capital of the state for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that the capital be moved to a different location. Constantinople was built over 6 years, and consecrated on 11 May 330, Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis
Constantinople
–
Constantinople in the Byzantine era
Constantinople
–
Map of Byzantine Constantinople
Constantinople
–
Emperor
Constantine I presents a representation of the city of Constantinople as tribute to an enthroned Mary and Christ Child in this church mosaic.
Hagia Sophia, c. 1000
Constantinople
–
Coin struck by Constantine I to commemorate the founding of Constantinople
15.
Aelia Flaccilla
–
Aelia Flavia Flaccilla, was a Roman empress and first wife of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I. She was of Hispanian Roman descent, during her marriage to Theodosius, she gave birth to two sons — future Emperors Arcadius and Honorius — and a daughter, Aelia Pulcheria. She was titled Augusta, as her coinage shows, according to Laus Serenae, a poem by Claudian, both Serena and Flaccilla were from Hispania. A passage of Themistius has been interpreted as identifying Flavius Claudius Antonius, Praetorian prefect of Gaul from 376 to 377 and Roman consul in 382, however the relation is considered doubtful. However the passage is vague enough to allow Flavius Afranius Syagrius, co-consul of Antonius in 382, the only kin clearly identified in primary sources was her nephew Nebridius, son of an unnamed sister. He married Salvina, a daughter of Gildo and their marriage was mentioned by Jerome in his correspondence with Salvina. They had a son and a daughter, in about 375–376, Flaccilla married Theodosius I, a son of Count Theodosius. At the time Theodosius had fallen out of favor with Valentinian I and had withdrawn to civilian life in Cauca and their first son Arcadius was born prior to the elevation of his parents on the throne. Their second son Honorius was born on 9 September 384 and their daughter Pulcheria has been suggested to have been born prior to the elevation of her parents to the throne due to another passage of Laus Serenae. She predeceased her parents as mentioned in the writings of Gregory of Nyssa, Gratian was possibly a relation of some sort but not an actual member of the Theodosian dynasty. Valens, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire was killed in the Battle of Adrianople and he was survived by his wife Albia Dominica and his daughters Anastasia and Carosa. He had however survived his son, Valentinianus Galates. His nephew Gratian, Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was his heir, on 19 January, Gratian declared Theodosius, magister militum per Illyricum, to be his new colleague in the Eastern Roman Empire. Theodosius seems to have been the officer of Roman origins available for promotion at the time. Merobaudes and Frigeridus, the two magistri militum in praesenti were probably not considered due to their Germanic origins, several other equivalent positions remained vacant since the deaths of their last holders in Adrianople. At this point Flaccilla became the Empress consort and she was a fervent supporter of the Nicene Creed. Ambrose and Gregory of Nyssa praise her Christian virtue and comment on her role as a leader of justice, theodoret reports on her works of charity, personally tending to the disabled. He quotes her saying that To distribute money belongs to the imperial dignity and her death is mentioned by Claudian, Zosimus, Philostorgius and Joannes Zonaras
Aelia Flaccilla
–
Aelia Flaccilla
16.
Galla Placidia
–
Aelia Galla Placidia, daughter of the Roman emperor Theodosius I, was regent to Valentinian III from 423 until his majority in 437, and a major force in Roman politics for most of her life. She was queen consort to Ataulf, king of the Visigoths from 414 until his death in 415, Placidia was the daughter of Theodosius I and his second wife, Galla, who was herself daughter of Valentinian I and his second wife, Justina. Her older brother Gratian died young and her mother died in childbirth in 394, giving birth to John, who died with their mother. Placidia was a younger, paternal half-sister of emperors Arcadius and Honorius and her older half-sister Pulcheria predeceased her parents according to Gregory of Nyssa, placing the death of Pulcheria prior to the death of Aelia Flaccilla, the first wife of Theodosius I, in 385. Placidia was granted her own household by her father in the early 390s and was financially independent while underage. She was summoned to the court of her father in Mediolanum during 394 and she was present at Theodosius death on January 17,395. She was granted the title of Nobilissima Puella during her childhood, Placidia spent most of her early years in the household of Stilicho the Vandal and his wife, Serena. She is presumed to have learned weaving and embroidery and she might have also been given a classical education, though no details are known. Serena was a first cousin of Arcadius, Honorius and Placidia, the poem In Praise of Serena by Claudian and the Historia Nova by Zosimus clarify that Serenas father was an elder Honorius, a brother to Theodosius I. According to De Consulatu Stilichonis by Claudian, Placidia was betrothed to Eucherius, only son of Stilicho. Her scheduled marriage is mentioned in the text as the union between Stilichos family and the Theodosian dynasty, following those of Stilicho to Serena and Maria, their daughter. Stilicho was the magister militum of the Western Roman Empire and he was the only known person to hold the rank of magister militum in praesenti from 394 to 408 in both the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. He was also titled magister equitum et peditum, placing him in charge of both the cavalry and infantry forces of the Western Roman Empire, in 408, Arcadius died and was succeeded by his son Theodosius II, only seven years old. Stilicho planned to proceed to Constantinople and undertake the management of the affairs of Theodosius, shortly after, Olympius, an officer of rank in the court-guards attempted to convince Honorius that Stilicho was in fact conspiring to depose Theodosius II, to replace him with Eucherius. Olympius proceeded to lead a military coup détat which left him in control of Honorius, Stilicho was arrested and executed on August 22,408. Eucherius sought refuge in Rome but was arrested there by Arsacius and Tarentius and they executed him not long after. Honorius appointed Tarentius imperial chamberlain, and gave the next post under him to Arsacius and their deaths left Placidia effectively unattached. In the disturbances that followed the fall of Stilicho, throughout the Italian Peninsula the wives, the foederati were considered loyalists of Stilicho and treated accordingly
Galla Placidia
–
Galla Placidia on a coin ca. 430
Galla Placidia
–
Interior of the
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in
Ravenna
Galla Placidia
–
Medallions of Honorius and Galla Placidia, Ravenna, 425
17.
Dynasty
–
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
Dynasty
–
Charles I of England and his son, the future
James II
18.
Latin language
–
Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
Latin language
–
Latin inscription, in the
Colosseum
Latin language
–
Julius Caesar 's
Commentarii de Bello Gallico is one of the most famous classical Latin texts of the Golden Age of Latin. The unvarnished, journalistic style of this
patrician general has long been taught as a model of the urbane Latin officially spoken and written in the floruit of the
Roman republic.
Latin language
–
A multi-volume Latin dictionary in the
University Library of Graz
Latin language
–
Latin and Ancient Greek Language - Culture - Linguistics at
Duke University in 2014.
19.
Goths
–
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
Goths
–
The
Mausoleum of the Gothic monarch
Theodoric the Great, in
Ravenna,
Italy.
Goths
–
Gothic invasions in the 3rd century
Goths
–
The 3rd-century
Great Ludovisi sarcophagus depicts a battle between Goths and Romans.
Goths
–
Ostrogothic eagle-shaped
fibula, 500 AD, Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nuremberg
20.
Danube
–
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
Danube
–
Danube in
Vienna
Danube
–
The Danube discharges into the
Black Sea.
Danube
–
Where the Danube Meets the
Black Sea (
NASA Goddard image).
Danube
–
The confluence of the
Sava into the Danube at
Belgrade. Pictured from
Belgrade Fortress,
Serbia
21.
Illyricum (Roman province)
–
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
Illyricum (Roman province)
–
The Roman province of Illyricum comprised Dalmatia and Pannonia.
Illyricum (Roman province)
22.
Magnus Maximus
–
Magnus Maximus was Western Roman Emperor from 383 to 388. In 387, Maximus ambitions led him to invade Italy, resulting in his defeat by Theodosius I at the Battle of the Save in 388, in the view of some historians, his death marked the end of direct imperial presence in Northern Gaul and Britain. Maximus was born c.335 in Gallaecia, on the estates of Count Theodosius, to whom he was a nephew, and Flavius Iulius Eucherius son, near contemporaries described his dignity as offended when lesser men were promoted to high positions. Maximus was a general, who served under Count Theodosius in Africa in 373. It is likely he also may have been an officer in Britain in 368. Assigned to Britain in 380, he defeated an incursion of the Picts and Scots in 381, the western emperor Gratian had become unpopular because of perceived favouritism toward Alans over Roman citizens. The Alans are an Iranian speaking people who were early adopters of Christianity, in 383 Maximus was proclaimed emperor by his troops. He went to Gaul to pursue his ambitions, taking a large portion of the British garrison troops with him. Following his landing in Gaul, Maximus went out to meet his opponent, emperor Gratian. Gratian, after fleeing, was killed at Lyon on August 25,383, negotiations followed in 384 including the intervention of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, leading to an accord with Valentinian II and Theodosius I in which Maximus was recognized as Augustus in the west. Maximus made his capital at Augusta Treverorum in Gaul, and ruled Britain, Gaul, Spain and he issued coinage and a number of edicts reorganizing Gauls system of provinces. Some scholars believe Maximus may have founded the office of the Comes Britanniarum as well and he became a popular emperor, Quintus Aurelius Symmachus delivered a panegyric on Maximus virtues. He used foederati forces such as the Alamanni to great effect and he was also a stern persecutor of heretics. These executions went ahead despite the wishes of prominent men such as St. Martin of Tours. Maximus edict of 387 or 388 which censured Christians at Rome for burning down a Jewish synagogue, was condemned by bishop Ambrose, in 387 Maximus managed to force emperor Valentinian II out of Milan, after which he fled to Theodosius I. Theodosius I and Valentinian II then invaded from the east, and campaigned against Magnus Maximus in July–August 388, their troops being led by Richomeres, Maximus was defeated in the Battle of the Save, and retreated to Aquileia. Meanwhile, the Franks under Marcomer had taken the opportunity to invade northern Gaul, andragathius, magister equitum of Maximus and the killer of emperor Gratian, was defeated near Siscia while Maximus brother, Marcellinus, fell in battle at Poetovio. Maximus surrendered in Aquileia, and although he pleaded for mercy was executed, the Senate passed a decree of Damnatio memoriae against him
Magnus Maximus
–
Magnus Maximus
Magnus Maximus
–
Coin of Magnus Maximus.
23.
Eugenius
–
Flavius Eugenius was a usurper in the Western Roman Empire against Emperor Theodosius I. Though himself a Christian, he was the last Emperor to support Roman polytheism, a former teacher of grammar and rhetoric, as well as magister scrinorum, Eugenius was an acquaintance of the Frankish magister militum and of the de facto ruler of the Western Roman Empire, Arbogast. Following the death of Valentinian II, Arbogast, who had probably been the cause of Valentinian IIs murder or suicide, after being installed as Emperor, Eugenius changed the imperial administrators. When Theodosius had left the western half of the empire to Valentinian II, he had put his own men in the highest civil offices, Eugenius replaced these administrators with others loyal to himself, coming from the senatorial class. Eugenius was a Christian, and therefore was reluctant to accept a program of support to Polytheism. His men, however, convinced Eugenius to use money to fund pagan projects, such as the rededication of the Temple of Venus and Rome. This religious policy created tension with Theodosius and the powerful and influential Bishop Ambrose, Eugenius was also successful in the military field, notably in the renovation of old alliances with Alamanni and Franks. After his election as emperor, Eugenius sent ambassadors to Theodosiuss court, Theodosius received them, but started to gather troops to defeat Eugenius. Theodosius also promoted his eight-year-old son Honorius to the rank of Augustus of the West in January 393, Theodosius then moved from Constantinople with his army, and met Eugenius and Arbogast in the Battle of the Frigidus on 6 September 394. The bloody battle lasted two days, and was marked by unusual astronomical and meteorological events, but in the end Theodosius won, Arbogast immediately committed suicide after the defeat, while Eugenius was held for execution as a criminal, his head afterward being displayed in Theodosius camp. The reign of Eugenius marked the end of an era and the beginning of a new one, five months later Theodosius died, dividing his empire between his two sons. Eugenius also represented the last opportunity for the pagans, with the senatorial class, the Battle of the Frigidus was part of a trend towards using increasing percentages of barbarian troops, especially in the west, where it led to the weakening of the Empire itself. Media related to Eugenius at Wikimedia Commons Roberts, Walter, Flavius Eugenius, De Imperatoribus Romanis
Eugenius
–
Eugenius wearing imperial insignia, on a coin celebrating the
VIRTVS ROMANORVM, the "(military) value of the Romans".
24.
First Council of Nicaea
–
The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD325. Constantine I organized the Council along the lines of the Roman Senate and presided over it and this ecumenical council was the first effort to attain consensus in the Church through an assembly representing all of Christendom. Hosius of Cordoba, who was one of the Papal legates. The First Council of Nicaea was the first ecumenical council of the Church, St. Alexander of Alexandria and Athanasius took the first position, the popular presbyter Arius, from whom the term Arianism comes, took the second. The council decided against the Arians overwhelmingly, through it a precedent was set for subsequent general councils to adopt creeds and canons. This council is considered the beginning of the period of the First seven Ecumenical Councils in the History of Christianity. The First Council of Nicaea was convened by Emperor Constantine the Great upon the recommendations of a synod led by Hosius of Córdoba in the Eastertide of 325 and this synod had been charged with investigation of the trouble brought about by the Arian controversy in the Greek-speaking east. To most bishops, the teachings of Arius were heretical and dangerous to the salvation of souls and this was the first general council in the history of the Church summoned by emperor Constantine I. In the Council of Nicaea, The Church had taken her first great step to define revealed doctrine more precisely in response to a challenge from a heretical theology. Constantine had invited all 1,800 bishops of the Christian church within the Roman Empire, Eusebius of Caesarea counted more than 250, Athanasius of Alexandria counted 318, and Eustathius of Antioch estimated about 270. Later, Socrates Scholasticus recorded more than 300, and Evagrius, Hilary of Poitiers, Jerome, Dionysius Exiguus and this number 318 is preserved in the liturgies of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. Delegates came from every region of the Roman Empire, including Britain, the participating bishops were given free travel to and from their episcopal sees to the council, as well as lodging. These bishops did not travel alone, each one had permission to bring him two priests and three deacons, so the total number of attendees could have been above 1,800. Eusebius speaks of an almost innumerable host of accompanying priests, deacons, the Eastern bishops formed the great majority. Of these, the first rank was held by the three patriarchs, Alexander of Alexandria, Eustathius of Antioch, and Macarius of Jerusalem and this position is supported by patristic scholar Timothy Barnes in his book Constantine and Eusebius. Historically, the influence of these marred confessors has been seen as substantial, Athanasius of Alexandria, a young deacon and companion of Bishop Alexander of Alexandria, was among the assistants. Athanasius eventually spent most of his life battling against Arianism, Alexander of Constantinople, then a presbyter, was also present as representative of his aged bishop. The supporters of Arius included Secundus of Ptolemais, Theonus of Marmarica, Zphyrius, other supporters included Eusebius of Nicomedia, Paulinus of Tyrus, Actius of Lydda, Menophantus of Ephesus, and Theognus of Nicaea
First Council of Nicaea
–
Council of Nicea
First Council of Nicaea
–
Eastern Orthodox icon depicting the First Council of Nicaea
First Council of Nicaea
–
Constantine the Great summoned the bishops of the Christian Church to Nicaea to address divisions in the Church (mosaic in
Hagia Sophia, Constantinople (Istanbul), ca. 1000).
25.
Christianity
–
Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the worlds largest religion, with over 2.4 billion followers, or 33% of the global population, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Christian theology is summarized in creeds such as the Apostles Creed and his incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning good news. The term gospel also refers to accounts of Jesuss life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century, following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization, throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations. Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the denominations of Protestantism. There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible, concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Apostles Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists and this particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator, each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Most Christians accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the mentioned above. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept, Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin
Christianity
–
An
Eastern Christian icon depicting
Emperor Constantine and the Fathers of the
First Council of Nicaea (325) as holding the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381
Christianity
–
Various
depictions of Jesus
Christianity
–
Crucifixion, representing the death of
Jesus on the
Cross, painting by
Diego Velázquez, 17th century
26.
State church of the Roman Empire
–
Nicene Christianity became the state church of the Roman Empire with the Edict of Thessalonica in 380 CE, when Emperor Theodosius I made it the Empires sole authorized religion. A series of ecumenical councils met during the 4th and 5th centuries, but Christianity continued to suffer rifts and schisms surrounding the issues of Arianism, Nestorianism, and Miaphysitism. However, apart from the aforementioned schisms, the church as an institution persisted in communion, if not without tension, in the 6th century the Byzantine armies of the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I recovered Italy and other sections of the western Mediterranean shore. The Eastern Roman Empire soon lost most of gains, but it held Rome, as part of the Exarchate of Ravenna, until 751. Pope Gregory III became the last Bishop of Rome to ask the Byzantine ruler to ratify his election, by then, the Roman Empires state church as originally conceived had ceased to exist. The Eastern Roman Empire finally collapsed with the Fall of Constantinople to the Islamic Ottoman Turks in 1453, Western missionary activities created a communion of churches that extended beyond the empire, the beginnings of which predated the establishment of the state church. The legacy of the idea of a universal church polity carries on, directly or indirectly, in todays Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as in others, before the end of the 1st century, the Roman authorities recognized Christianity as a separate religion from Judaism. Pliny the Younger, when propraetor in Bithynia in 103, assumes in his letters to Trajan that because Christians do not pay the tax and their refusal to worship the Roman gods or to pay homage to the emperor as divine resulted at times in persecution and martyrdom. Church Father Tertullian, for instance, attempted to argue that Christianity was not inherently treasonous, Christians accounted for approximately 10% of the Roman population by 300, according to some estimates. In 301, the Kingdom of Armenia, which Rome considered de jure a client kingdom though yielded de facto to the Parthians, Constantine began to utilize Christian symbols such as the Chi-Rho early in his reign but still encouraged traditional Roman religious practices including sun worship. In 330, Constantine established the city of Constantinople as the new capital of the Roman Empire, the city would gradually come to be seen as the intellectual and cultural center of the Christian world. Over the course of the 4th century the Christian body became consumed by debates surrounding orthodoxy, a church synod, or council, was held in Rome in 313, followed by another in Arles in 314, the latter presided over by Constantine while still a junior emperor. However, during the reign of Emperor Julian the Apostate, the Donatists, Christian scholars and populace within the Empire were increasingly embroiled in debates regarding christology. Opinions ranged from belief that Jesus was entirely human to belief that he was entirely divine, emperors thereby became ever more involved with the increasingly divided Church. Constantine was of divided opinions, but he backed the Athanasian side. His successor Constantius II supported a Semi-Arian position, Emperor Julian returned to the traditional Roman/Greek religion, quickly quashed by his successor Jovian, a supporter of the Athanasian side. A Council of Rimini in 359 supported the Arian view, a Council of Constantinople in 360 supported a compromise. The Council of Constantinople in 381, called by Emperor Theodosius I reasserted the Nicene or Athanasian view and this council further refined the definition of orthodoxy, issuing, according to tradition, the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed
State church of the Roman Empire
–
Emperor
Theodosius I, who made Nicene Christianity the state church of the Roman Empire.
State church of the Roman Empire
–
Icon depicting
Constantine and the bishops of the
Council of Nicaea (325), with the Emperor holding the Creed of the
First Council of Constantinople (381). The Emperor, considered to be a saint, is given more prominence than the bishops.
State church of the Roman Empire
–
The
Hagia Sophia basilica in Constantinople, for centuries the largest church building in the world.
State church of the Roman Empire
–
Odoacer's kingdom in 480, after annexing Dalmatia and most of Sicily.
27.
Hellenistic religion
–
Hellenistic religion is any of the various systems of beliefs and practices of the people who lived under the influence of ancient Greek culture during the Hellenistic period and the Roman Empire. There was much continuity in Hellenistic religion, the Greek gods continued to be worshipped, the worship of Hellenistic rulers was also a feature of this period, most notably in Egypt, where the Ptolemies adopted earlier pharaonic practice, and established themselves as god-kings. Elsewhere rulers might receive divine status without the status of a God. Magic was practiced widely, and this too, was a continuation from earlier times, throughout the Hellenistic world, people would consult oracles, and use charms and figurines to deter misfortune or to cast spells. Also developed in this era was the system of astrology, which sought to determine a persons character and future in the movements of the sun, moon. The systems of Hellenistic philosophy, such as Stoicism and Epicureanism, offered an alternative to traditional religion, central to Greek religion in classical times were the twelve Olympian deities headed by Zeus. Each god was honored with temples and statues, and sanctuaries. The city-states would conduct various festivals and rituals throughout the year, with particular emphasis directed towards the god of the city, such as Athena at Athens. Religious practice would also involve the worship of heroes, people who were regarded as semi-divine, such heroes ranged from the mythical figures in the epics of Homer to historical people such as the founder of a city. Also long established were the Eleusinian Mysteries, associated with Demeter, people were indoctrinated into mystery religions through initiation ceremonies, which were traditionally kept secret. These religions often had a goal of personal improvement, which would extend to the afterlife. In the aftermath of the conquests of Alexander the Great, Greek culture spread widely and came into closer contact with the civilizations of the Near East. There is, however, no reason to suppose that there was a decline in the traditional religion, there is plenty of documentary evidence that the Greeks continued to worship the same gods with the same sacrifices, dedications, and festivals as in the classical period. New religions did appear in period, but not to the exclusion of the local deities. The Egyptian religion which follows Isis was the most famous of the new religions, the religion was introduced to Greece by Egyptian priests, initially for the small Egyptian communities in the port cities of the Greek world. Almost as famous was the cult of Serapis, a Greek deity despite the Egyptian name, Serapis was patronized by the Greeks who had settled in Egypt. This religion involved initiation rites like the Eleusinian Mysteries, strabo wrote of the Serapeion at Canopus near Alexandria as being patronized by the most reputable men. The religion of Atargatis, a fertility- and sea goddess from Syria, was also popular, by the 3rd century BCE her worship had spread from Syria to Egypt and Greece, and eventually reached Italy and the west
Hellenistic religion
–
Serapis, a Greco-Egyptian God worshipped in Hellenistic Egypt
Hellenistic religion
–
Remains of the temple of Apollo at
Corinth.
Hellenistic religion
–
A
curse tablet.
28.
Temple of Apollo (Delphi)
–
Delphi is famous as the ancient sanctuary that grew rich as the seat of the oracle that was consulted on important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. Moreover, it was considered as the navel of the world by the Greeks as represented by the Omphalos and it occupies an impressive site on the south-western slope of Mount Parnassus overlooking the coastal plain to the south and the valley of Phocis. It is now an archaeological site and the modern town is nearby. The site of Delphi is located in upper central Greece, on multiple plateaux/terraces along the slope of Mount Parnassus, and includes the Sanctuary of Apollo and this semicircular spur is known as Phaedriades, and overlooks the Pleistos Valley. In myths dating to the period of Ancient Greece, the site of Delphi was believed to be determined by Zeus when he sought to find the centre of his Grandmother Earth. He sent two eagles flying from the eastern and western extremities, and the path of the eagles crossed over Delphi where the omphalos, Apollo was said to have slain Python, a drako a serpent or a dragon who lived there and protected the navel of the Earth. Python is claimed by some to be the name of the site in recognition of Python which Apollo defeated. The Homeric Hymn to Delphic Apollo recalled that the ancient name of this site had been Krisa, others relate that it was named Pytho and that Pythia, the priestess serving as the oracle, was chosen from their ranks by a group of priestesses who officiated at the temple. At the settlement site in Delphi, which was a settlement of the late 9th century. Pottery and bronze work as well as tripod dedications continue in a steady stream, the victors at Delphi were presented with a laurel crown which was ceremonially cut from a tree by a boy who re-enacted the slaying of the Python. Delphi was set apart from the other sites because it hosted the mousikos agon. These Pythian Games rank second among the four stephanitic games chronologically and these games, though, were different from the games at Olympia in that they were not of such vast importance to the city of Delphi as the games at Olympia were to the area surrounding Olympia. Delphi would have been a renowned city whether or not it hosted these games, it had other attractions that led to it being labeled the omphalos of the earth, in other words, in the inner hestia of the Temple of Apollo, an eternal flame burned. The name Delphoi comes from the root as δελφύς delphys, womb. Apollo is connected with the site by his epithet Δελφίνιος Delphinios, the epithet is connected with dolphins in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, recounting the legend of how Apollo first came to Delphi in the shape of a dolphin, carrying Cretan priests on his back. The Homeric name of the oracle is Pytho, another legend held that Apollo walked to Delphi from the north and stopped at Tempe, a city in Thessaly, to pick laurel which he considered to be a sacred plant. In commemoration of this legend, the winners at the Pythian Games received a wreath of laurel picked in the Temple, Delphi became the site of a major temple to Phoebus Apollo, as well as the Pythian Games and the famous prehistoric oracle. Even in Roman times, hundreds of votive statues remained, described by Pliny the Younger, additionally, according to Plutarchs essay on the meaning of the E at Delphi—the only literary source for the inscription—there was also inscribed at the temple a large letter E
Temple of Apollo (Delphi)
–
The theatre, seen from above
Temple of Apollo (Delphi)
–
Delphi.
Temple of Apollo (Delphi)
–
Delphi valley.
Temple of Apollo (Delphi)
–
The remaining columns of the Temple of Apollo
29.
Delphi
–
Delphi is famous as the ancient sanctuary that grew rich as the seat of the oracle that was consulted on important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. Moreover, it was considered as the navel of the world by the Greeks as represented by the Omphalos and it occupies an impressive site on the south-western slope of Mount Parnassus overlooking the coastal plain to the south and the valley of Phocis. It is now an archaeological site and the modern town is nearby. The site of Delphi is located in upper central Greece, on multiple plateaux/terraces along the slope of Mount Parnassus, and includes the Sanctuary of Apollo and this semicircular spur is known as Phaedriades, and overlooks the Pleistos Valley. In myths dating to the period of Ancient Greece, the site of Delphi was believed to be determined by Zeus when he sought to find the centre of his Grandmother Earth. He sent two eagles flying from the eastern and western extremities, and the path of the eagles crossed over Delphi where the omphalos, Apollo was said to have slain Python, a drako a serpent or a dragon who lived there and protected the navel of the Earth. Python is claimed by some to be the name of the site in recognition of Python which Apollo defeated. The Homeric Hymn to Delphic Apollo recalled that the ancient name of this site had been Krisa, others relate that it was named Pytho and that Pythia, the priestess serving as the oracle, was chosen from their ranks by a group of priestesses who officiated at the temple. At the settlement site in Delphi, which was a settlement of the late 9th century. Pottery and bronze work as well as tripod dedications continue in a steady stream, the victors at Delphi were presented with a laurel crown which was ceremonially cut from a tree by a boy who re-enacted the slaying of the Python. Delphi was set apart from the other sites because it hosted the mousikos agon. These Pythian Games rank second among the four stephanitic games chronologically and these games, though, were different from the games at Olympia in that they were not of such vast importance to the city of Delphi as the games at Olympia were to the area surrounding Olympia. Delphi would have been a renowned city whether or not it hosted these games, it had other attractions that led to it being labeled the omphalos of the earth, in other words, in the inner hestia of the Temple of Apollo, an eternal flame burned. The name Delphoi comes from the root as δελφύς delphys, womb. Apollo is connected with the site by his epithet Δελφίνιος Delphinios, the epithet is connected with dolphins in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, recounting the legend of how Apollo first came to Delphi in the shape of a dolphin, carrying Cretan priests on his back. The Homeric name of the oracle is Pytho, another legend held that Apollo walked to Delphi from the north and stopped at Tempe, a city in Thessaly, to pick laurel which he considered to be a sacred plant. In commemoration of this legend, the winners at the Pythian Games received a wreath of laurel picked in the Temple, Delphi became the site of a major temple to Phoebus Apollo, as well as the Pythian Games and the famous prehistoric oracle. Even in Roman times, hundreds of votive statues remained, described by Pliny the Younger, additionally, according to Plutarchs essay on the meaning of the E at Delphi—the only literary source for the inscription—there was also inscribed at the temple a large letter E
Delphi
–
The theatre, seen from above
Delphi
–
Delphi.
Delphi
–
Delphi valley.
Delphi
–
The remaining columns of the Temple of Apollo
30.
Serapeum
–
There were several such religious centers, each of which was a serapeion or, in its Latinized form, a serapeum. 31°10′55″N 29°53′49″E The Serapeum of Alexandria in the Ptolemaic Kingdom was a ancient Greek temple built by Ptolemy III Euergetes and dedicated to Serapis, by all detailed accounts, the Serapeum was the largest and most magnificent of all temples in the Greek quarter of Alexandria. Besides the image of the god, the temple housed an offshoot collection of the great Library of Alexandria. The geographer Strabo tells that this stood in the west of the city, excavations at the site of the column of Diocletian in 1944 yielded the foundation deposits of the Serapeion. These are two sets of ten plaques, one each of gold, silver, bronze, Egyptian faience, sun-dried Nile mud, the inscription that Ptolemy III Euergetes built the Serapeion, in Greek and Egyptian, marks all plaques, evidence suggests that Parmeniskos was assigned as architect. The foundation deposits of a dedicated to Harpocrates from the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator were also found within the enclosure walls. Subterranean galleries beneath the temple were most probably the site of the mysteries of Serapis. In 1895, a diorite statue representing Serapis in his Apis bull incarnation with the sun disk between his horns was found at the site, an inscription dates it to the reign of Hadrian. The Serapeum in Alexandria was destroyed by a Christian mob or Roman soldiers in 391, several conflicting accounts for the context of the destruction of the Serapeum exist. According to early Christian sources, bishop Pope Theophilus of Alexandria was the Nicene patriarch when the decrees of emperor Theodosius I forbade public observances of any rites but Christian. In Alexandria, Bishop Theophilus obtained legal authority over one such forcibly abandoned temple of Dionysus, during the renovations, the contents of subterranean spaces were uncovered and profaned, which allegedly incited crowds of non-Christians to seek revenge. The trapped pagans plundered the Serapeum, consequently, the Serapeum was levelled by Roman soldiers and monks called in from the desert, as were the buildings dedicated to the Egyptian god Canopus. An alternate account of the incident is found in writings by Eunapius, here, an unprovoked Christian mob successfully used military-like tactics to destroy the Serapeum and steal anything that may have survived the attack. Whichever the cause, the destruction of the Serapeum, described by Christian writers Tyrannius Rufinus and Sozomen, was but the most spectacular of such conflicts, according to Peter Brown. However, Peter Brown frames it against a backdrop of frequent mob violence in the city. Also, Eusebius mentions street-fighting in Alexandria between Christians and non-Christians, occurring as early as 249, there is evidence that non-Christians had taken part in citywide struggles both for and against Athanasius of Alexandria in 341 and 356. Similar accounts are found in the writings of Socrates of Constantinople, R. McMullan further reports that, in 363, George of Cappadocia was killed for his repeated acts of pointed outrage, insult, and pillage of the most sacred treasures of the city. Whatever the prior events, the Serapeum of Alexandria was not rebuilt, another Serapeum was located at Canopus, in the Nile Delta near Alexandria
Serapeum
–
"
Pompey's Pillar " (in reality erected by
Diocletian) above the original site of the Alexandrian Serapeum
Serapeum
–
Statue of
Apis,
30th Dynasty,
Louvre.
Serapeum
–
Theophilus, Gospel in hand, stands triumphantly atop the Serapeum in 391
Serapeum
–
The obelisk facing the Pantheon, in Rome
31.
Alexandria
–
Alexandria is the second largest city and a major economic centre in Egypt, extending about 32 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country. Its low elevation on the Nile delta makes it vulnerable to rising sea levels. Alexandria is Egypts largest seaport, serving approximately 80% of Egypts imports and exports and it is an important industrial center because of its natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez. Alexandria is also an important tourist destination, Alexandria was founded around a small Ancient Egyptian town c.331 BC by Alexander the Great. Alexandria was the second most powerful city of the ancient world after Rome, Alexandria is believed to have been founded by Alexander the Great in April 331 BC as Ἀλεξάνδρεια. Alexanders chief architect for the project was Dinocrates, Alexandria was intended to supersede Naucratis as a Hellenistic center in Egypt, and to be the link between Greece and the rich Nile valley. The city and its museum attracted many of the greatest scholars, including Greeks, Jews, the city was later plundered and lost its significance. Just east of Alexandria, there was in ancient times marshland, as early as the 7th century BC, there existed important port cities of Canopus and Heracleion. The latter was rediscovered under water. An Egyptian city, Rhakotis, already existed on the shore also and it continued to exist as the Egyptian quarter of the city. A few months after the foundation, Alexander left Egypt and never returned to his city, after Alexanders departure, his viceroy, Cleomenes, continued the expansion. Although Cleomenes was mainly in charge of overseeing Alexandrias continuous development, the Heptastadion, inheriting the trade of ruined Tyre and becoming the center of the new commerce between Europe and the Arabian and Indian East, the city grew in less than a generation to be larger than Carthage. In a century, Alexandria had become the largest city in the world and and it became Egypts main Greek city, with Greek people from diverse backgrounds. Alexandria was not only a center of Hellenism, but was home to the largest urban Jewish community in the world. The Septuagint, a Greek version of the Tanakh, was produced there, in AD115, large parts of Alexandria were destroyed during the Kitos War, which gave Hadrian and his architect, Decriannus, an opportunity to rebuild it. On 21 July 365, Alexandria was devastated by a tsunami, the Islamic prophet, Muhammads first interaction with the people of Egypt occurred in 628, during the Expedition of Zaid ibn Haritha. He sent Hatib bin Abi Baltaeh with a letter to the king of Egypt and Alexandria called Muqawqis In the letter Muhammad said, I invite you to accept Islam, Allah the sublime, shall reward you doubly. But if you refuse to do so, you bear the burden of the transgression of all the Copts
Alexandria
–
Alexandria Ἀλεξάνδρεια
Alexandria
Alexandria
–
Residential neighborhood in Alexandria
Alexandria
–
Fishing in Alexandria
32.
Vestal Virgins
–
In ancient Rome, the Vestals or Vestal Virgins were priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the hearth. The College of the Vestals and its well-being were regarded as fundamental to the continuance and they cultivated the sacred fire that was not allowed to go out. Livy, Plutarch, and Aulus Gellius attribute the creation of the Vestals as a state-supported priestesshood to king Numa Pompilius, according to Livy, Numa introduced the Vestals and assigned them salaries from the public treasury. Livy also says that the priestesshood of Vesta had its origins at Alba Longa, the 2nd century antiquarian Aulus Gellius writes that the first Vestal taken from her parents was led away in hand by Numa. Plutarch attributes the founding of the Temple of Vesta to Numa, ambrose alludes to a seventh in late antiquity. Numa also appointed the pontifex maximus to watch over the Vestals, the first Vestals, according to Varro, were named Gegania, Veneneia, Canuleia, and Tarpeia. In myth, Tarpeia, daughter of Spurius Tarpeius, was portrayed as traitorous, the Vestals became a powerful and influential force in the Roman state. When Sulla included the young Julius Caesar in his proscriptions, the Vestals interceded on Caesars behalf, augustus included the Vestals in all major dedications and ceremonies. They were held in awe, and attributed certain magical powers and this gift was preserved inviolate till the time of the degenerate moneychangers, who diverted the maintenance of sacred chastity into a fund for the payment of base porters. A public famine ensued on this act, and a bad harvest disappointed the hopes of all the provinces and it was sacrilege which rendered the year barren, for it was necessary that all should lose that which they had denied to religion. The College of the Vestals was disbanded and the fire extinguished in 394. Zosimus records how the Christian noblewoman Serena, niece of Theodosius, entered the temple and took from the statue of the goddess a necklace and placed it on her own neck. An old woman appeared, the last of the Vestals, who proceeded to rebuke Serena, according to Zosimus, Serena was then subject to dreadful dreams predicting her own untimely death. The chief Vestal oversaw the efforts of the Vestals, and was present in the College of Pontiffs, the Vestalis Maxima Occia presided over the Vestals for 57 years, according to Tacitus. The last known chief vestal was Coelia Concordia, who stepped down in 394 with the disbanding of the College of the Vestals, the Vestalium Maxima was the most important of Romes high priestesses. The Flaminica Dialis and the regina sacrorum each held unique responsibility for religious rites. According to Plutarch, there were only two Vestal Virgins when Numa began the College of the Vestals and this number later increased to four, and then to six. It has been suggested by some authorities that a seventh was added later, the Vestals were committed to the priestesshood before puberty and sworn to celibacy for a period of 30 years
Vestal Virgins
–
Roman depiction of the Virgo Vestalis Maxima
Vestal Virgins
–
Flamen (250–260 AD)
Vestal Virgins
–
House of the Vestals and Temple of Vesta from the Palatine
Vestal Virgins
–
Early 18th-century depiction of the dedication of a Vestal, by
Alessandro Marchesini
33.
Rome
–
Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
34.
Ancient Olympic Games
–
The Olympic Games were a series of athletic competitions among representatives of city-states and one of the Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece. They were held in honor of Zeus, and the Greeks gave them a mythological origin, the first Olympics is traditionally dated to 776 BC. The games were held four years, or olympiad, which became a unit of time in historical chronologies. During the celebration of the games, an Olympic Truce was enacted so that athletes could travel from their cities to the games in safety, the prizes for the victors were olive leaf wreaths or crowns. The games became a tool used by city-states to assert dominance over their rivals. Politicians would announce political alliances at the games, and in times of war, the games were also used to help spread Hellenistic culture throughout the Mediterranean. The Olympics also featured religious celebrations, the statue of Zeus at Olympia was counted as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Sculptors and poets would congregate each olympiad to display their works of art to would-be patrons, the ancient Olympics had fewer events than the modern games, and only freeborn Greek men were allowed to participate, although there were victorious women chariot owners. The games were held at Olympia rather than moving between different locations as is the practice with the modern Olympic Games. Victors at the Olympics were honored, and their feats chronicled for future generations, to the Greeks, it was important to root the Olympic Games in mythology. During the time of the ancient games their origins were attributed to the gods and these origin traditions have become nearly impossible to untangle, yet a chronology and patterns have arisen that help people understand the story behind the games. The earliest myths regarding the origin of the games are recounted by the Greek historian, according to the story, the dactyl Heracles and four of his brothers, Paeonaeus, Epimedes, Iasius and Idas, raced at Olympia to entertain the newborn Zeus. He crowned the victor with an olive wreath, which also explains the four year interval. The other Olympian gods would also engage in wrestling, jumping and running contests, another myth of the origin of the games is the story of Pelops, a local Olympian hero. The story of Pelops begins with Oenomaus, the king of Pisa, Greece, according to an oracle, the king would be killed by her husband. Now, the kings chariot horses were a present from the god Poseidon and were therefore supernaturally fast, Pelops was a very handsome young man and the kings daughter fell in love with him. Before the race, she persuaded her fathers charioteer Myrtilus to replace the bronze axle pins of the chariot with wax ones. Naturally, during the race the wax melted and the fell from his chariot and was killed
Ancient Olympic Games
–
The palaestra of Olympia, A place devoted to the training of wrestlers and other athletes
Ancient Olympic Games
–
An artist's impression of ancient Olympia
Ancient Olympic Games
–
The "Exedra" reserved for the judges at Olympia on the north embankment of the stadium
Ancient Olympic Games
–
The "
Discobolus " is a copy of a Greek statue c. 5th century BC. It represents an ancient Olympic discus thrower
35.
Zeno (emperor)
–
Zeno the Isaurian, originally named Tarasis Kodisa Rousombladadiotes /ˈtærəsᵻs/, was Eastern Roman Emperor from 474 to 475 and again from 476 to 491. Domestic revolts and religious dissension plagued his reign, which succeeded to some extent in foreign issues. His reign saw the end of the Western Roman Empire under Romulus Augustus, Zenos original name was Tarasis, and more accurately Tarasikodissa in his native Isaurian language. Tarasis was born in Isauria, at Rusumblada, later renamed Zenonopolis in Zenos honour and his father was called Kodisa, his mother Lallis, his brother Longinus. Tarasis had a wife, Arcadia, whose name indicates a relationship with the Constantinopolitan aristocracy, the Isaurians were a people who lived inland from the Mediterranean coast of Anatolia, in the core of the Taurus Mountains. Like most borderland tribes, they were looked upon as barbarians by the Romans even though they had been Roman subjects for more than five centuries. However, being Orthodox Christians rather than Arians, as the Goths and other Germanic tribes were, they were not formally barred from the throne. According to some scholars, in the mid-460s, Eastern Roman Emperor Leo I wanted to balance the weight of the Germanic component of the army and he thought that Tarasis and his Isaurians could be that counterweight, and called him, with many Isaurians, to Constantinople. This interpretation, however, has been contested, by mid-460s, Arcadia and Zeno had been living at Constantinople for some time, where also Lallis and Longinus lived, the latter married to a Valeria, possibly a woman of aristocrat rank. Through these letters, which Tarasis gave to Leo, the Emperor could dismiss Ardabur, as reward for his loyalty, which Leo praised with Daniel the Stylite, Tarasis was appointed comes domesticorum, an office of great influence and prestige. This appointment could mean that Tarasis had been a protector domesticus, either at Leos court in Constantinople, or attached at Ardaburs staff in Antioch. In 465, Leo and Aspar quarreled about the appointment of consuls for the year, it was on this occasion that Tarasis position was strengthened, as he became friend. To make himself acceptable to the Roman hierarchy and the population of Constantinople, Tarasis adopted the Greek name of Zeno. In mid-late 466, Zeno married Ariadne, elder daughter of Leo I and Verina, as there is no reference to a divorce with Arcadia, she should have died in those years. Zeno, however, was not present at the birth of his son, as in 467, Zeno, as member of the protectores domestici, did not take part in the disastrous expedition against the Vandals, led in 468 by Leos brother-in-law Basiliscus. The following year, during which he held the honour of the consulate, he was appointed magister militum per Thracias, the sources do not clearly state what enemy he fought there, and historians had proposed either Goths or Huns, or the rebels of Anagastes. What happened was that Leo sent some of his soldiers with Zeno to protect him. Zeno was informed of their intention and fled to Serdica, and because of this episode, after the attack, Zeno did not return to Constantinople, where Aspar and Ardabur were and had still considerable power
Zeno (emperor)
–
Zeno depicted on a
Tremissis; the coin's design celebrates Zeno's victories, and was issued during his second reign.
Zeno (emperor)
–
A detail of the Missorium of Aspar, depicting the powerful magister militum
Aspar and his elder son
Ardabur (434 circa). Zeno caused Ardabur's fall, producing treacherous letters that linked him to the Sassanid King; Ardabur later bribed some of Zeno's soldiers into trying to kill him.
Zeno (emperor)
–
Relief of
Ariadne, elder daughter of Emperor
Leo I and wife of Zeno.
Zeno (emperor)
–
Leo I, father-in-law of Zeno, Eastern Roman Emperor from 457 to 474.
36.
Julius Nepos
–
Julius Nepos was Western Roman Emperor de facto from 474 to 475 and de jure until 480. He was also the ruler of Roman Dalmatia from 468 to 480, some historians consider Nepos to be the last Western Roman Emperor, while others consider the western line to have ended with Romulus Augustulus in 476. In contrast, the Eastern Roman Empire and its line of Emperors survived this period of history essentially intact, Nepos was elevated to Western Roman Emperor in 474 by the Eastern Roman Emperor Leo I in order to replace the usurper Glycerius. Nepos was deposed in 475 by Orestes, who control of the government at Ravenna on August 28,475. Romulus Augustulus was crowned Emperor but was deposed by Odoacer. Nepos continued to reign from Dalmatia as the Emperor of the West recognized by Constantinople, Nepos was assassinated in 480, and Eastern Emperor Zeno formally abolished the Western division of the Empire. Julius Nepos was appointed Western Roman Emperor in early 474 by the Eastern Roman Emperor Leo I, Nepos was married to Leos niece, hence his agnomen of nepos — nephew. Leo intended to replace the western emperor Glycerius, who he regarded as a usurper, Glycerius had been raised to the throne by the Burgundian magister militum Gundobad in the western capital of Ravenna. Under Roman law, Leo was the sole legitimate Emperor and had the right to select a new western counterpart. Nepos had been governor of province of Dalmatia, technically a part of the western empire, in June 474 Nepos entered Ravenna, forced Glycerius to abdicate, and secured the western throne for himself. Nepos spared Glycerius life and appointed him bishop of Salona, Nepos ruled briefly over the whole of the remaining Western Roman Empire, centered in Italy, still the Empires heartland, and including his native Dalmatia and the remaining parts of Roman Gaul. Nepos rule in Italy ended in 475, when he was deposed by his magister militum, Orestes, in the same year, Orestes enthroned his own teenage son as the new western emperor with the regnal name Romulus Augustus. The boy was probably around 15 years old when he became Emperor and is known to history as Romulus Augustulus, the reasons for Orestes decision to crown his son as a puppet-emperor, rather than become emperor himself, are somewhat unclear. However, Romulus position was not constitutional inasmuch as he had not been recognised by the Emperor at Constantinople, Romulus short reign ended on September 4,476, when Odoacer, head of the Germanic Foederati in Italy, captured Ravenna, killed Orestes, and deposed Romulus. Odoacer sent Romulus Augustulus to Campania in exile or retirement, after which he disappears from the historical record, although his successor had been deposed, Nepos never returned to Italy. He continued to reign from Dalmatia as Emperor of the West, patrician rank was granted, but at Zenos insistence Odoacer also grudgingly acknowledged Nepos Imperial status, and even issued coinage in Nepos name. In name at least, the Western Roman Empire continued to exist after 476 and this political solution lasted approximately four years. In about 479, Nepos began to plot against Odoacer, hoping to control of Italy for himself
Julius Nepos
–
Tremissis of Emperor Julius Nepos
Julius Nepos
–
Independent Dalmatia – Extent of Marcellinus' Control (454–468) and Julius Nepos' Control (468–480).
37.
Hispania
–
Hispania was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces, Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior, during the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divided into two new provinces, Baetica and Lusitania, while Hispania Citerior was renamed Tarraconensis. Subsequently, the part of Tarraconensis was split off, first as Hispania Nova. The name, Hispania, was used in the period of Visigothic rule. The modern placenames Spain and Hispaniola are both derived from Hispania, one theory holds it to be of Punic derivation, from the Phoenician language of colonizing Carthage. Specifically, it may derive from a Punic cognate of Hebrew אי-שפניא meaning Island of the Hyrax or island of the hare or island of the rabbit. Others derive the word from Phoenician span, in the sense of hidden, and make it indicate a hidden, that is, Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis. Occasionally Hispania was called Hesperia Ultima, the last western land in Greek, by Roman writers, another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for border or edge, thus meaning the farthest area or place. The use of Latin Hispania, Castilian España, Catalan Espanya and French Espaigne, a document dated 1292 mentions the names of foreigners from Medieval Spain as Gracien dEspaigne. You are, Oh Spain, holy and always happy mother of princes and peoples and you, by right, are now the queen of all provinces, from whom the lights are given not only the sunset, but also the East. Navarre followed soon after in 1512, and Portugal in 1580, during this time, the concept of Spain was still unchanged. The King of Portugal would protest energetically when during a public act King Fernando talked about the Crown of Spain and it was after the independence of Portugal in 1640 when the concept of Spain started to shift and be applied to all the Peninsula except Portugal. Even so, Portugal would still complain when the terms Crown of Spain or Monarchy of Spain were still used in the 18th century with the Treaty of Utrecht. The Iberian peninsula has long inhabited, first by early hominids such as Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis. In the Paleolithic period, the Neanderthals entered Iberia and eventually took refuge from the migrations of modern humans. In the 40th millennium BC, during the Upper Paleolithic and the last ice age and these were nomadic hunter-gatherers originating on the steppes of Central Asia. When the last Ice Age reached its maximum extent, during the 30th millennium BC, in the millennia that followed, the Neanderthals became extinct and local modern human cultures thrived, producing pre-historic art such as that found in LArbreda Cave and in the Côa Valley. In the Mesolithic period, beginning in the 10th millennium BC and this was an interstadial deglaciation that lessened the harsh conditions of the Ice Age
Hispania
–
Archaeological Roman Ensemble of Mérida (Emerita Augusta), Extremadura, Spain.
Hispania
–
Roman provinces of Hispania
Hispania
–
The
Tower of Hercules in La Coruña, Galicia, Spain, is the world's oldest Roman lighthouse still in use.
Hispania
–
The Roman
Aqueduct of Segovia, Castile, Spain.
38.
Italica
–
Italica is a well-preserved Roman city and the birthplace of Roman Emperors Trajan and Hadrian. The modern town of Santiponce overlies part of the pre-Roman Iberian settlement, the name Italica reflected the veterans Italian origins. The old town or urbs vetus dating from the Republican period lies under the present town of Santiponce, the nearby native and Roman city of Hispalis would always remain a larger city, but Italica became an important centre of Roman culture. Italica was later the birthplace of the Roman emperors Trajan and Hadrian and he also added temples, including a Trajaneum venerating Trajan, and rebuilt public buildings. Italica’s amphitheatre was the third largest in the Roman Empire at the time and it seated 25,000 spectators, about half as many as the Colosseum in Rome. In the same period a new quarter was built in the city, with several beautiful houses decorated with splendid mosaics. At the end of the 2nd century AD, the city began to decline for political and economic reasons, a shift of the Guadalquivir River bed, probably due to siltation— a widespread problem in antiquity that followed removal of the forest cover—left Italica isolated, high and dry. The city started to dwindle as early as the 3rd century, Seville continued to grow nearby, and no modern city covered most of Italicas foundations. The result is an unusually well-preserved Roman city of Hispania Baetica, in Italica, cobbled Roman streets are visible, and mosaic floors still in situ. Italica was important enough in late Antiquity to have a bishop of its own, the ruins were later the subject of visits, admiration and despair by many foreign travelers who wrote about and sometimes illustrated their impressions. Italicas prestige, history and fame were not enough, however, to save it from being the subject of continued looting, and a permanent quarry for materials from Ancient times to modern ones. In 1740 the city of Seville ordered demolition of the walls of the amphitheater to build a dam on the Guadalquivir, and in 1796 the urbs vetus was used to build the new Camino Real of Extremadura. The first law of protection for the site took effect in 1810 under the Napoleonic occupation, reinstating its old name of Italica, regular excavation, however, did not materialise until 1839-1840. By Royal Order of 1912 Italica was declared a National Monument, but it was not until 2001 that the site of Italica. The archaeological site of Italica encompasses the urbs nova, following extensive excavations and the building of visitor facilities, Italica is now a popular destination for tourists. The ruins of the city also host a cross country running competition every January. The mass race and childrens competitions attract hundreds of participants each year, the senior international competition has featured numerous world champions and it is one of the worlds foremost annual cross country competitions. Fall 2016 saw film crews filming in Italicas amphitheatre for season 7 of the HBO TV series Game of Thrones, Italica homepage from the Andalusian Council Historical overview from Livius. org
Italica
–
The Roman amphitheatre at Italica seated 25,000
Italica
–
The 2nd-century Venus of Italica, found in 1940 near the theatre (Museo Arqueológico, Seville)
Italica
–
Italica's amphitheatre pit
Italica
–
Pits were filled with water for the
naumachia
39.
Baetica
–
Hispania Baetica, often abbreviated Baetica, was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis, Baetica was part of Al-Andalus under the Moors in the 8th century and approximately corresponds to modern Andalucia. Baetica remained one of the divisions of Hispania under the Visigoths down to 711. Before Romanization, the area that was to become Baetica was occupied by several settled Iberian tribal groups. Celtic influence was not as strong as it was in the Celtiberian north, phoenician Gadira was on an island against the coast of Hispania Baetica. Other important Iberians were the Bastetani, who occupied the Almería, towards the southeast, Punic influence spread from the Carthaginian cities on the coast, New Carthage, Abdera and Malaca. Some of the Iberian cities retained their names in Baetica throughout the Roman era. Granada was called Eliberri, Illiberis and Illiber by the Romans, in Basque, iri-berri or ili-berri, the central and north-eastern Celtiberians soon followed suit. It took Cato the Elder, who became consul in 195 BC and was given the command of the peninsula to put down the rebellion in the northeast. He then marched southwards and put down a revolt by the Turdetani, Cato returned to Rome in 194, leaving two praetors in charge of the two Iberian provinces. In the late Roman Republic, Hispania remained divided like Gaul into a Nearer and a Farther province, as experienced marching overland from Gaul, Hispania Citerior, the battles in Hispania during the 1st century BC were largely confined to the north. In the reorganization of the Empire in 14 BC, when Hispania was remade into the three Imperial provinces, Baetica was governed by a proconsul who had formerly been a praetor. The Senatorial province of Baetica became so secure that no Roman legion was required to be stationed there. Legio VII Gemina was permanently stationed to the north, in Hispania Tarraconensis, so in spite of some social upsets, as when Septimius Severus put to death a number of leading Baetians— including women — the elite in Baetica remained a stable class for centuries. Columella, who wrote a twelve volume treatise on all aspects of Roman farming and knew viticulture, the vast olive plantations of Baetica shipped olive oil from the coastal ports by sea to supply Roman legions in Germania. Amphoras from Baetica have been found everywhere in the Western Roman empire and it was to keep Roman legions supplied by sea routes that the Empire needed to control the distant coasts of Lusitania and the northern Atlantic coast of Hispania. Baetia was Roman until the invasion of the Vandals and Alans passed through in the 5th century. The province formed part of the Exarchate of Africa and was joined to Mauretania Tingitana after Belisarius reconquest of Africa, the Catholic bishops of Baetica, solidly backed by their local population, were able to convert the Arian Visigoth king Reccared and his nobles
Baetica
–
The Iberian Peninsula in approx. AD 10, showing in purple the
senatorial province of Hispania Baetica (modern Andalusia, Spain).
Baetica
–
Betica
amphora found in
Essaouira, 1–2nd century AD
40.
Roman Britain
–
Roman Britain was the area of the island of Great Britain that was governed by the Roman Empire, from AD43 to 410. Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by other Celtic tribes during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesars enemies. He received tribute, installed a king over the Trinovantes. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34,27, in AD40, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel, only to have them gather seashells. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain, the Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the Province of Britain. By the year 47, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way, control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudicas uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward. Around 197, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces, Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior, during the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains. A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century, for much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410, the kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that. Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, after the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor, over the centuries Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire, such as Italy, Spain, Syria and Algeria. Britain was known to the Classical world, the Greeks, Phoenicians and Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC, the Greeks referred to the Cassiterides, or tin islands, and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 5th century BC, however, it was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed at all. The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The second invasion involved a larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute. A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul. Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind but he established clients, Augustus planned invasions in 34,27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustuss reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in annual revenue than any conquest could
Roman Britain
–
England & Wales within the Roman Empire.
Roman Britain
–
Landing of the Romans on the Coast of Kent (Cassell's History of England, Vol. I - anonymous author and artists).
Roman Britain
–
Conquests under Aulus Plautius, focused on the commercially valuable southeast of Britain.
41.
Moesia
–
Moesia was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans, along the south bank of the Danube River. It included most of the territory of modern-day Serbia and the parts of the modern Republic of Macedonia, as well Northern Bulgaria. In ancient geographical sources, Moesia was bounded to the south by the Haemus and Scardus mountains, to the west by the Drinus river, on the north by the Donaris, the region was inhabited chiefly by Thracians, Dacians, Illyrian and Thraco-Illyrian peoples. The name of the region comes from Moesi, Thraco-Dacian peoples who lived there before the Roman conquest, parts of Moesia belonged to the polity of Burebista, a Getae king who established his rule over a large part of the Northern Balkans between 82 BC and 44 BC. He led plunder and conquest raids across Central and Southeastern Europe, after his assassination in an inside plot, the empire was divided into several smaller states. The region, however, was not organized as a province until the last years of Augustus reign, in 6 AD, mention is made of its governor, as a province, Moesia was under an imperial consular legate. In 86 AD the Dacian king Duras ordered his troops to attack Roman Moesia, each was governed by an imperial consular legate and a procurator. From Moesia, Domitian began planning future campaigns into Dacia and by 87 he started an offensive against Dacia. Therefore, in the summer of 87, Fuscus led five or six legions across the Danube. The campaign against the Dacians ended without an outcome, and Decebalus. Emperor Trajan later arrived in Moesia, and he launched his first military campaign into the Dacian Kingdom c, march–May 101, crossing to the northern bank of the Danube River and defeating the Dacian army near Tapae, a mountain pass in the Carpathians. Trajans troops were mauled in the encounter, however, and he put off further campaigning for the year to heal troops, reinforce, during the following winter, King Decebalus launched a counter-attack across the Danube further downstream, but this was repulsed. Trajans army advanced further into Dacian territory and forced King Decebalus to submit to him a year later, Trajan returned to Rome in triumph and was granted the title Dacicus. The victory was celebrated by the Tropaeum Traiani, however, Decebalus in 105 undertook an invasion against Roman territory by attempting to stir up some of the tribes north of the river against the empire. Trajan took to the field again and after building with the design of Apollodorus of Damascus his massive bridge over the Danube, sometime around 272, at the Moesian city of Naissus or Nissa, future emperor Constantine I was born. During administrative reforms of Emperor Diocletian, both of the Moesian provinces were reorganized, in the same time, Moesia Inferior was divided into Moesia Secunda and Scythia Minor. Moesia Secundas main cities included Marcianopolis, Odessus, Nicopolis, Abrittus, Durostorum, Transmarisca, Sexaginta Prista and Novae, the garrison of Moesia Secunda included Legio I Italica and Legio XI Claudia, as well as independent infantry units, cavalry units, and river flotillas. The Notitia Dignitatum lists its units and their bases as of the 390s CE, units in Scythia Minor included Legio I Iovia and Legio II Herculia
Moesia
–
The Roman empire in the time of
Hadrian (ruled 117-138 AD), showing, on the lower
Danube river, the
imperial provinces of Moesia Superior (Serbia) and Moesia Inferior (N. Bulgaria/coastal Romania), and the 2
legion deployed in each in 125
42.
Valentinian I
–
Valentinian I, also known as Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. Upon becoming emperor he made his brother Valens his co-emperor, giving him rule of the provinces while Valentinian retained the west. During his reign, Valentinian fought successfully against the Alamanni, Quadi, most notable was his victory over the Alamanni in 367 at the Battle of Solicinium. His brilliant general Count Theodosius defeated a revolt in Africa and the Great Conspiracy, an assault on Roman Britain by Picts, Scots. Valentinian was also the last emperor to conduct campaigns across both the Rhine and Danube rivers, Valentinian rebuilt and improved the fortifications along the frontiers, even building fortresses in enemy territory. Due to the nature of his reign and the rapid decline of the empire after his death. He founded the Valentinian Dynasty, with his sons Gratian and Valentinian II succeeding him in the half of the empire. Valentinian was born in 321 at Cibalae in southern Pannonia, Valentinian and his younger brother Valens were the sons of Gratianus Major, a prominent commander during the reigns of emperors Constantine I and Constans I. He and his brother grew up on the estate where they were educated in a variety of subjects. Gratian the Elder was promoted to Comes Africae in the late 320s or early 330s, however, Gratian was soon accused of embezzlement and was forced to retire. Valentinian joined the army in the late 330s and later acquired the position of protector domesticus. Gratian was later recalled during the early 340s and was made comes of Britannia, after holding this post, Gratianus retired to the family estate in Cibalae. In 350, Constans I was assassinated by agents of the usurper Magnentius, Constantius II, older brother of Constans and emperor in the East, promptly set forth towards Magnentius with a large army. The following year the two met in Pannonia. The ensuing Battle of Mursa Major resulted in a victory for Constantius. Two years later he defeated Magnentius again in southern Gaul at the Battle of Mons Seleucus, Magnentius, now realizing the futility of continuing his revolt, committed suicide in August that year, making Constantius sole ruler of the empire. It was around this time that Constantius confiscated Gratianus property, for supposedly showing hospitality to Magnentius when he was in Pannonia. Despite his fathers fall from favor, Valentinian does not seem to have adversely affected at this time
Valentinian I
–
Valentinian I
Valentinian I
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Solidus of emperor Valentinian I.
Valentinian I
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The emperor depicted in the
Colossus of Barletta could very well be Valentinian I.
Valentinian I
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Silver missorium (heavily worn) believed to depict Valentinian I. The armoured and haloed emperor is flanked by infantry soldiers, he holds a
labarum in one hand and an orb surmounted by a figure of Victory in the other, ca. 364-375
43.
Sarmatians
–
The Sarmatians were a large confederation of Iranian people during classical antiquity, flourishing from about the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD. They spoke Scythian, an Indo-European language from the Eastern Iranian family and their territory, which was known as Sarmatia to Greco-Roman ethnographers, corresponded to the western part of greater Scythia. In the 1st century AD the Sarmatians began encroaching upon the Roman Empire in alliance with Germanic tribes, in the 3rd century AD their dominance of the Pontic Steppe was broken by the Germanic Goths. With the Hunnic invasions of the 4th century, many Sarmatians joined the Goths, a related people to the Sarmatians known as the Alans survived in the North Caucasus into the Early Middle Ages, ultimately giving rise to the modern Ossetic ethnic group. The Sarmatians were eventually assimilated and absorbed by the Proto-Slavic population of Eastern Europe. Sarmatae probably originated as just one of several names of the Sarmatians. Strabo in the 1st century names as the tribes of the Sarmatians the Iazyges, the Roxolani, the Aorsi. The Greek name Sarmatai sometimes appears as Sauromatai, which is almost certainly no more than a variant of the same name, nevertheless, historians often regarded these as two separate peoples, while archaeologists habitually use the term Sauromatian to identify the earliest phase of Sarmatian culture. Any idea that the name derives from the lizard, linking to the Sarmatians use of reptile-like scale armour. Both Pliny the Elder and Jordanes recognised the Sar- and Sauro- elements as interchangeable variants, Greek authors of the 4th century mention Syrmatae as the name of a people living at the Don, perhaps reflecting the ethnonym as it was pronounced in the final phase of Sarmatian culture. Oleg Trubachyov derived the name from the Indo-Aryan *sar-mat, the Indo-Aryan and Indo-Iranian word *sar-, by this derivation was noted the unusual high status of women from the Greek point of view and went to the invention of Amazons. Other scholars, like Harold Walter Bailey, derived the word from Avestan sar- from tsar- in Old Iranian. It was also derived from the name of Avestan region in the west Sairima, recently R. M. Kozlova derived it from *Sъrm- < Proto-Slavic adjective *sъrmatъ, with the meaning that is rich with sormima i. e. shallows, referring to the rivers. The Sarmatians emerged in the 7th century BC in a region of the steppe to the east of the Don River, for centuries they lived in relatively peaceful co-existence with their western neighbors the Scythians. Then, in the 3rd century BC, they fought with the Scythians on the Pontic steppe to the north of the Black Sea, the Sarmatians were to dominate these territories over the next five centuries. Pliny the Elder wrote that they ranged from the Vistula River to the Danube, in 1947, Soviet archaeologist Boris Grakov defined a culture flourishing from the 6th century BC to the 4th century AD, apparent in late kurgan graves, sometimes reusing part of much older kurgans. It was a nomadic steppe culture ranging from the Black Sea eastward to beyond the Volga, in Hungary, a great Late Sarmatian pottery centre was reportedly unearthed between 2001 and 2006 near Budapest, in the Üllő5 archaeological site. Typical grey, granular Üllő5 ceramics form a group of Sarmatian pottery found everywhere in the north central part of the Great Hungarian Plain region
Sarmatians
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Great steppe of Kazakhstan in early spring.
Sarmatians
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Approximate extent of
East Iranian languages in the 1st century BC is shown in orange.
Sarmatians
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A Sarmatian
diadem, found at the Khokhlach
kurgan near
Novocherkassk (1st century AD,
Hermitage Museum).
Sarmatians
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Sarmatian cataphracts during
Dacian Wars as depicted on
Trajan's Column.
44.
Galicia, Spain
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Galicia is an autonomous community of Spain and historic nationality under Spanish law. It had a population of 2,718,525 in 2016 and has an area of 29,574 km2. Galicia has over 1,660 km of coastline, including its islands and islets, among them Cíes Islands, Ons, Sálvora, Cortegada. Galicia was incorporated into the Roman Empire at the end of the Cantabrian Wars in 19 BC, in 410, the Germanic Suebi established a kingdom with its capital in Braga, this kingdom was incorporated into that of the Visigoths in 585. The Governor also presided the Real Audiencia do Reino de Galicia, from the 16th century, the representation and voice of the kingdom was held by an assembly of deputies and representatives of the cities of the kingdom, the Cortes or Junta of the Kingdom of Galicia. This institution was forcibly discontinued in 1833 when the kingdom was divided into four provinces with no legal mutual links. During the 19th and 20th centuries, demand grew for self-government and this resulted in the Statute of Autonomy of 1936, soon frustrated by Francos coup detat and subsequent long dictatorship. After democracy was restored the legislature passed the Statute of Autonomy of 1981, approved in referendum and currently in force, the interior of Galicia is characterized by a hilly landscape, mountain ranges rise to 2,000 m in the east and south. The coastal areas are mostly a series of rías and cliffs. The climate of Galicia is usually temperate and rainy, with drier summers. Its topographic and climatic conditions have made animal husbandry and farming the primary source of Galicias wealth for most of its history, allowing for a relative high density of population. With the exception of shipbuilding and food processing, Galicia was based on a farming and fishing economy until after the mid-20th century, in 2012, the gross domestic product at purchasing power parity was €56,000 million, with a nominal GDP per capita of €20,700. There are smaller populations around the cities of Lugo and Ourense. The political capital is Santiago de Compostela, in the province of A Coruña, Vigo, in the province of Pontevedra, is the most populous municipality, with 292,817, while A Coruña is the most populous city, with 215,227. 56% of the Galician population speak Galician as their first language and these Callaeci were the first tribe in the area to help the Lusitanians against the invading Romans. The Romans applied their name to all the tribes in the northwest who spoke the same language. In any case, Galicia, being per se a derivation of the ethnic name Kallaikói, the name evolved during the Middle Ages from Gallaecia, sometimes written Galletia, to Gallicia. This coincides with the spelling of the Castilian Spanish name, the historical denomination Galiza became popular again during the end of the 19th and the first three-quarters of the 20th century, and is still used with some frequency today
Galicia, Spain
–
A satellite view of Galicia
Galicia, Spain
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Flag
Galicia, Spain
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Bronze Age gold helmet from Leiro,
Rianxo
Galicia, Spain
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Palloza houses in eastern Galicia, an evolved form of the
Iron Age local
roundhouses
45.
Norte Region, Portugal
–
Norte is a region in the northern part of Portugal. It is a land of vegetation and profound historic and cultural wealth. Its capital is the city of Porto, the region has 3,689,173 inhabitants according to the 2011 census, and its area is 21,278 km². It is one of five regions of Mainland Portugal, the region has been inhabited since prehistoric times and is a key area for the understanding of both Atlantic European, Megalithic and Castro cultures. It was in the County of Portugal where Portugals first king, the Kingdom of Galicia at the time of the Suebic Kingdom had its capital in the now Portuguese city of Braga. The original Galician-Portuguese language was developed in the Galician/Northern Portuguese area, taken down south as the Portuguese Kingdom expanded, the region has a number of manor-houses and castles featuring coats of arms as an indication of a very intense medieval period. Northern Portugal is also rich in folklore and traditions dating back to antiquity. Galicia and Northern Portugal have been promoting the candidacy for the recognition of the common intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. The project is backed by the Galician Government, a number of Galician institutions and associations, together with local and regional governments, the official name is Candidatura de Património Imaterial Galego-Português. The countrys longest motorway goes up to Braga, in the heart of Costa Verde, following the coastline on the road from Vila do Conde to Valença, there are beaches, seaside resorts and pictoresque villages such as Caminha and Vila Nova de Cerveira. Throughout the region the rivers, waterfalls, vineyards and fertile plots combine with the monuments in urban centres. Textiles, footwear, food processing, mechanical, electrical, electronics and chemical industries, as well as finance and construction, are some of the main economic activities. However, the region Norte is the poorest of the 7 NUTS II regions of Portugal and it is also the Portuguese NUTS II region with the highest unemployment rate. Northern Portuguese authorities have intensely promoted tourism as a means to attract external investment, Northern Portugal and Galicia form a Euroregion, based on the common historical, cultural, linguistic and economic similarities. The Euroregion has its origins in the Galicia-North Portugal Work Community and this Euroregion is also backed by the Eixo Atlântico, a lobby of Galician and Northern Portuguese cities and municipalities
Norte Region, Portugal
–
Upper Douro Valley, in the northeastern historical province of
Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, where the famous
port wine is produced
46.
Battle of Adrianople (378)
–
The Battle of Adrianople, sometimes known as the Battle of Hadrianopolis, was fought between an Eastern Roman army led by the Eastern Roman Emperor Valens and Gothic rebels led by Fritigern. The battle took place about 13 km north of Adrianople in the Roman province of Thracia and it ended with an overwhelming victory for the Goths and the death of Emperor Valens. Part of the Gothic War, the battle is considered the start of the process which led to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. It was fought by the forces of the Eastern Roman Empire and we have a detailed account for the lead up to the battle from the Roman perspective from Ammianus Marcellinus, which forms the culminating point at the end of his history. The position in his histories and the lack of a history for the following century has tended to exaggerate the significance of the battle for later historians. Ammianuss account of the battle itself, as to be expected from a side, is far from clear. Heat, fire and dust seem to have particularly significant. Much of what follows about the battle itself is modern supposition, in 376 AD, displaced by the invasions of the Huns, the Goths, led by Alavivus and Fritigern, asked to be allowed to settle in the Eastern Roman Empire. Hoping that they would become farmers and soldiers, the Eastern Roman emperor Valens allowed them to themselves in the Empire as allies. However, once across the Danube, the dishonesty of the provincial commanders Lupicinus and Maximus led the newcomers to revolt after suffering many hardships, Valens then asked Gratian, the western emperor, for reinforcements to fight the Goths. Gratian sent the general Frigeridus with reinforcements, as well as the leader of his guards, for the next two years preceding the battle of Adrianople there were a series of running battles with no clear victories for either side. In 378, Valens decided to control himself. Valens would bring troops from Syria and Gratian would bring more troops from Gaul. Valens left Antioch for Constantinople, and arrived on the 30th of May and he appointed Sebastianus, newly arrived from Italy, to reorganize the Roman armies already in Thrace. Sebastianus picked 2,000 of his legionaries and marched towards Adrianople and they ambushed some small Gothic detachments. Fritigern assembled the Gothic forces at Nicopolis and Beroe to deal with this Roman threat, Gratian had sent much of his army to Pannonia when the Lentienses attacked across the Rhine. Gratian recalled his army and defeated the Lentienses near Argentaria After this campaign, Gratian, with part of his army, went east by boat. The former group arrived at Sirmium in Pannonia and at the Camp of Mars,400 kilometers from Adrianople, Gratians group withdrew to Pannonia shortly thereafter
Battle of Adrianople (378)
–
A re-enactor of a Roman soldier of the 4th century
AD. Soldiers similar to this would have been used by the Romans.
Battle of Adrianople (378)
–
Battle of Adrianople
47.
East Roman 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, cultural, 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, Egypt 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, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also 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 also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
East Roman Empire
–
Tremissis with the image of
Justinian the Great (r. 527–565) (see
Byzantine insignia)
East Roman Empire
–
Byzantine
lamellar armour klivanium (Κλιβάνιον) - a predecessor of Ottoman krug
mirror armour
East Roman Empire
–
The Baptism of Constantine painted by
Raphael 's pupils (1520–1524,
fresco, Vatican City,
Apostolic Palace);
Eusebius of Caesarea records that (as
was common among converts of early Christianity) Constantine delayed receiving
baptism until shortly before his death
East Roman Empire
–
Restored section of the Theodosian Walls.
48.
Milan
–
Milan is a city in Italy, capital of the Lombardy region, and the most populous metropolitan area and the second most populous comune in Italy. The population of the city proper is 1,351,000, Milan has a population of about 8,500,000 people. It is the industrial and financial centre of Italy and one of global significance. In terms of GDP, it has the largest economy among European non-capital cities, Milan is considered part of the Blue Banana and lies at the heart of one of the Four Motors for Europe. Milan is an Alpha leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, services, research, and tourism. Its business district hosts Italys Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the largest national and international banks, the city is a major world fashion and design capital, well known for several international events and fairs, including Milan Fashion Week and the Milan Furniture Fair. The city hosts numerous cultural institutions, academies and universities, with 11% of the national total enrolled students, Milans museums, theatres and landmarks attract over 9 million visitors annually. Milan – after Naples – is the second Italian city with the highest number of accredited stars from the Michelin Guide, the city hosted the Universal Exposition in 1906 and 2015. Milan is home to two of Europes major football teams, A. C. Milan and F. C. Internazionale, the etymology of Milan is uncertain. One theory holds that the Latin name Mediolanum comes from the Latin words medio, however, some scholars believe lanum comes from the Celtic root lan, meaning an enclosure or demarcated territory in which Celtic communities used to build shrines. Hence, Mediolanum could signify the central town or sanctuary of a Celtic tribe, indeed, the name Mediolanum is borne by about sixty Gallo-Roman sites in France, e. g. Saintes and Évreux. Alciato credits Ambrose for his account, around 400 BC, the Celtic Insubres settled Milan and the surrounding region. In 222 BC, the Romans conquered the settlement, renaming it Mediolanum, Milan was eventually declared the capital of the Western Roman Empire by Emperor Diocletian in 286 AD. Diocletian chose to stay in the Eastern Roman Empire and his colleague Maximianus ruled the Western one, immediately Maximian built several monuments, such as a large circus 470 m ×85 m, the Thermae Herculeae, a large complex of imperial palaces and several other buildings. With the Edict of Milan of 313, Emperor Constantine I guaranteed freedom of religion for Christians, after the city was besieged by the Visigoths in 402, the imperial residence was moved to Ravenna. In 452, the Huns overran the city, in 539, the Ostrogoths conquered and destroyed Milan during the Gothic War against Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. In the summer of 569, a Teutonic tribe, the Lombards, conquered Milan, some Roman structures remained in use in Milan under Lombard rule. Milan surrendered to the Franks in 774 when Charlemagne took the title of King of the Lombards, the Iron Crown of Lombardy dates from this period
Milan
–
Milan Cathedral,
La Scala opera house and
Porta Nuova business district
Milan
Milan
Milan
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Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1912). "Theophilus (2)". Catholic Encyclopedia. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1912). "
