1.
Roman emperor
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The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period. The emperors used a variety of different titles throughout history, often when a given Roman is described as becoming emperor in English, it reflects his taking of the title Augustus or Caesar. Another title often used was imperator, originally a military honorific, early Emperors also used the title princeps. Emperors frequently amassed republican titles, notably Princeps Senatus, Consul, the first emperors reigned alone, later emperors would sometimes rule with co-Emperors and divide administration of the Empire between them. The Romans considered the office of emperor to be distinct from that of a king, the first emperor, Augustus, resolutely refused recognition as a monarch. Although Augustus could claim that his power was authentically republican, his successor, Tiberius, nonetheless, for the first three hundred years of Roman Emperors, from Augustus until Diocletian, a great effort was made to emphasize that the Emperors were the leaders of a Republic. Elements of the Republican institutional framework were preserved until the end of the Western Empire. The Eastern emperors ultimately adopted the title of Basileus, which had meant king in Greek, but became a title reserved solely for the Roman emperor, other kings were then referred to as rēgas. In addition to their office, some emperors were given divine status after death. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in the late 5th century, Romulus Augustulus is often considered to be the last emperor of the west after his forced abdication in 476, although Julius Nepos maintained a claim to the title until his death in 480. Constantine XI was the last Byzantine Roman emperor in Constantinople, dying in the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, a Byzantine group of claimant Roman Emperors existed in the Empire of Trebizond until its conquest by the Ottomans in 1461. In western Europe the title of Roman Emperor was revived by Germanic rulers, the Holy Roman Emperors, in 800, at the end of the Roman Republic no new, and certainly no single, title indicated the individual who held supreme power. Insofar as emperor could be seen as the English translation of imperator, then Julius Caesar had been an emperor, however, Julius Caesar, unlike those after him, did so without the Senates vote and approval. Julius Caesar held the Republican offices of four times and dictator five times, was appointed dictator in perpetuity in 45 BC and had been pontifex maximus for a long period. He gained these positions by senatorial consent, by the time of his assassination, he was the most powerful man in the Roman world. In his will, Caesar appointed his adopted son Octavian as his heir, a decade after Caesars death, Octavians victory over his erstwhile ally Mark Antony at Actium put an end to any effective opposition and confirmed Octavians supremacy. His restoration of powers to the Senate and the people of Rome was a demonstration of his auctoritas, some later historians such as Tacitus would say that even at Augustus death, the true restoration of the Republic might have been possible. Instead, Augustus actively prepared his adopted son Tiberius to be his successor, the Senate disputed the issue but eventually confirmed Tiberius as princeps
2.
Augustus
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Augustus was the founder of the Roman Principate and considered the first Roman emperor, controlling the Roman Empire from 27 BC until his death in AD14. He was born Gaius Octavius into an old and wealthy equestrian branch of the plebeian gens Octavia and his maternal great-uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, and Octavius was named in Caesars will as his adopted son and heir, then known as Octavianus. He, Mark Antony, and Marcus Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate to defeat the assassins of Caesar, following their victory at the Battle of Philippi, the Triumvirate divided the Roman Republic among themselves and ruled as military dictators. The Triumvate was eventually torn apart by the ambitions of its members. Lepidus was driven into exile and stripped of his position, in reality, however, he retained his autocratic power over the Republic as a military dictator. By law, Augustus held a collection of powers granted to him for life by the Senate, including supreme military command, and it took several years for Augustus to develop the framework within which a formally republican state could be led under his sole rule. He rejected monarchical titles, and instead called himself Princeps Civitatis, the resulting constitutional framework became known as the Principate, the first phase of the Roman Empire. The reign of Augustus initiated an era of peace known as the Pax Romana. Augustus dramatically enlarged the Empire, annexing Egypt, Dalmatia, Pannonia, Noricum, and Raetia, expanding possessions in Africa, expanding into Germania, beyond the frontiers, he secured the Empire with a buffer region of client states and made peace with the Parthian Empire through diplomacy. Augustus died in AD14 at the age of 75 and he probably died from natural causes, although there were unconfirmed rumors that his wife Livia poisoned him. He was succeeded as Emperor by his adopted son Tiberius, Augustus was known by many names throughout his life, At birth, he was named Gaius Octavius after his biological father. Historians typically refer to him simply as Octavius between his birth in 63 until his adoption by Julius Caesar in 44 BC, upon his adoption, he took Caesars name and became Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus in accordance with Roman adoption naming standards. He quickly dropped Octavianus from his name, and his contemporaries referred to him as Caesar during this period, historians. In 27 BC, following his defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra and it is the events of 27 BC from which he obtained his traditional name of Augustus, which historians use in reference to him from 27 BC until his death in AD14. While his paternal family was from the town of Velletri, approximately 40 kilometres from Rome and he was born at Ox Head, a small property on the Palatine Hill, very close to the Roman Forum. He was given the name Gaius Octavius Thurinus, his cognomen possibly commemorating his fathers victory at Thurii over a band of slaves. Due to the nature of Rome at the time, Octavius was taken to his fathers home village at Velletri to be raised. Octavius only mentions his fathers equestrian family briefly in his memoirs and his paternal great-grandfather Gaius Octavius was a military tribune in Sicily during the Second Punic War
3.
Caligula
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Caligula, properly Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was Roman emperor from AD 37–41. Born Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus, Caligula was a member of the house of rulers known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligulas biological father was Germanicus, and he was the great-nephew, the young Gaius earned the nickname Caligula from his fathers soldiers while accompanying him during his campaigns in Germania. When Germanicus died at Antioch in AD19, his wife Agrippina the Elder returned with her six children to Rome, the conflict eventually led to the destruction of her family, with Caligula as the sole male survivor. Untouched by the intrigues, Caligula accepted the invitation to join the Emperor in AD31 on the island of Capri. With the death of Tiberius in AD37, Caligula succeeded his grand uncle, there are few surviving sources about the reign of Emperor Caligula, although he is described as a noble and moderate ruler during the first six months of his reign. After this, the focus upon his cruelty, sadism, extravagance. He directed much of his attention to construction projects and luxurious dwellings for himself. During his reign, the empire annexed the Kingdom of Mauretania as a province, in early AD41, Caligula was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy by officers of the Praetorian Guard, senators, and courtiers. Gaius Julius Caesar was born in Antium on 31 August 12 AD, Gaius had two older brothers, Nero and Drusus, as well as three younger sisters, Agrippina the Younger, Julia Drusilla and Julia Livilla. He was also a nephew of Claudius, Germanicus younger brother, Agrippina the Elder was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. She was a granddaughter of Augustus and Scribonia on her mothers side, through Agrippina, Augustus was the maternal great-grandfather of Gaius. As a boy of just two or three, Gaius accompanied his father, Germanicus, on campaigns in the north of Germania, the soldiers were amused that Gaius was dressed in a miniature soldiers outfit, including boots and armour. He was soon given his nickname Caligula, meaning little boot in Latin, Gaius, though, reportedly grew to dislike this nickname. Suetonius claims that Germanicus was poisoned in Syria by an agent of Tiberius, after the death of his father, Caligula lived with his mother until her relations with Tiberius deteriorated. Tiberius would not allow Agrippina to remarry for fear her husband would be a rival, Agrippina and Caligulas brother, Nero, were banished in 29 AD on charges of treason. The adolescent Caligula was then sent to live with his great-grandmother Livia, after her death, he was sent to live with his grandmother Antonia. In 30 AD, his brother, Drusus Caesar, was imprisoned on charges of treason, Suetonius writes that after the banishment of his mother and brothers, Caligula and his sisters were nothing more than prisoners of Tiberius under the close watch of soldiers
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Rome
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Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
5.
Miseno
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Miseno is one of the frazioni of the municipality of Bacoli in the Italian Province of Naples. Known in ancient times as Misenum, it is the site of an ancient port in Campania, nearby Cape Miseno marks the northwestern end of the Bay of Naples. According to mythology, Misenum was named after Misenus, a companion of Hector, Misenus is supposed to have drowned near here after a trumpet competition with the sea-god Triton, as recounted in Virgils Aeneid. In 38 BC, Misenum was the site where a pact was made between Octavian, and his rival Sextus Pompeius. In ancient times, Misenum was the largest base of the Roman navy, since its port was the base of the Classis Misenensis and it was first established as a naval base in 27 BC by Marcus Agrippa, the right-hand man of the emperor Augustus. With its gorgeous natural setting close to the base and the nearby important Roman cities of Puteoli and Neapolis. Pliny the Elder was the praefect in charge of the fleet at Misenum in AD79, at the time of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Seeing the beginnings of the eruption, Pliny left for a view and to effect a possible rescue. The account of his death is given by his nephew Pliny the Younger, the church of San Sossio stands here. It is said to be the birthplace of Saint Sossius, a deacon who was martyred with Proculus of Pozzuoli and it is also the place of death of Emperor Tiberius. Misenum is one of the settings in Robert Harris novel Pompeii, whose protagonist, Attilius. In the novel Ben-Hur, Misenum is the location of a villa owned by Quintus Arrius later bequeathed to his adopted son Judah Ben-Hur, the Ben-Hur family would later live in Misenum. Media related to Miseno at Wikimedia Commons The Church of St. Sossio in Miseno
6.
Roman Italy
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Roman Italy was created officially by the Roman emperor Augustus with the Latin name Italia. It was the first time in history that the Italian Peninsula was united under the same name, in the year 292, the three islands of Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily were added to Roman Italy by Diocletian. Roman Italy remained united until the sixth century, when it was divided between the Byzantine Empire and territories of the Germanic peoples, since then, Italia remained divided for nearly thirteen centuries until 1861 when it was reunited in a similar way in the modern Kingdom of Italy. Italy was the name of the division of the Italian Peninsula during the Roman era. It was not a province, but became the territory of the city of Rome, following the end of the Social War, Rome had allowed its Italian allies full rights in Roman society and granted the Roman citizenship to all the Italic peoples. Although not founded as a city in 330, Constantinople gained in importance. It finally gained the rank of capital when given an urban prefect in 359. In 402, the capital was moved to Ravenna from Milan, the name Italia covered an area whose borders evolved over time. Under Augustus, the peoples of todays Aosta Valley and of the western and northern Alps were subjugated, and the Italian eastern border was brought to the Arsia in Istria. Finally, in the late 3rd century, Italy came to include the islands of Corsica and Sardinia and Sicily, as well as Raetia, the city of Emona was the easternmost town of Italy. At the beginning of the era, Italy was a collection of territories with different political statuses. Some cities, called municipia, had independence from Rome, while others. The Italian economy flourished, agriculture, handicraft and industry had a sensible growth, the Italian population may have grown as well, three census were ordered by Augustus, to record the number of Roman citizens throughout the empire. The surviving totals were 4,063,000 in 28 BC,4,233,000 in 8 BC, and 4,937,000 in AD14, but it is still debated whether these counted all citizens, all adult male citizens, or citizens sui iuris. During the Crisis of the Third Century the Roman Empire nearly collapsed under the pressures of invasions, military anarchy and civil wars. In 284, emperor Diocletian restored political stability and he carried out thorough administrative reforms to maintain order. He created the so-called Tetrarchy whereby the empire was ruled by four co-emperors and he decreased the size of the Roman provinces by doubling their number to reduce the power of the provincial governors. He grouped the provinces into several dioceses and put them under the supervision of the imperial vicarius, during the Crisis of the Third Century the importance of Rome declined because she was far from the troubled frontiers
7.
Mausoleum of Augustus
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The Mausoleum of Augustus is a large tomb built by the Roman Emperor Augustus in 28 BC on the Campus Martius in Rome, Italy. The mausoleum is located on the Piazza Augusto Imperatore, near the corner with Via di Ripetta as it runs along the Tiber. The grounds cover an equivalent to a few city blocks. The interior of the mausoleum is not open to tourists, the mausoleum was one of the first projects initiated by Augustus in the City of Rome following his victory at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. The mausoleum was circular in plan, consisting of concentric rings of earth and brick, planted with cypresses on top of the building and capped by a conical roof. Vaults held up the roof and opened up the spaces below. Twin pink granite obelisks flanked the entryway, these have been removed, one now stands at the Piazza dellEsquilino. The completed mausoleum measured 90 m in diameter by 42 m in height, a corridor ran from the entryway into the heart of the mausoleum, where there was a chamber with three niches to hold the golden urns enshrining the ashes of the Imperial Family. LacusCurtius claims however that The story of its plundering by Alaric in 410 has no historical foundation, in the Middle Ages the tumulus was fortified as a castle— as was the mausoleum of Hadrian, which was turned into the Castel SantAngelo— and occupied by the Colonna family. After the disastrous defeat of the Commune of Rome at the hands of the Count of Tusculum in 1167, the Colonna were disgraced and banished, and their fortification in the Campo was dismantled. It was not until the 1930s that the site was opened as an archaeological landmark along with the newly moved and reconstructed Ara Pacis nearby. Mussolini viewed himself especially connected to the achievements of Augustus, seeing himself as a reborn Augustus ready to usher in a new age of Italian dominance, res Gestae Divi Augusti Catacombs of Rome Dal Maso, Leonardo B. Lanciani, Rodolfo, Pagan and Christian Rome,1892, J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd, London,1951. Mausoleum Augusti at LacusCurtius Images of the Mausoleum of Augustus
8.
Vipsania Agrippina
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Vipsania Agrippina was the first wife of the Emperor Tiberius. She was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Pomponia Caecilia Attica, by marriage, she was a great-niece to Quintus Tullius Cicero. She was betrothed by Augustus and her father to Tiberius before her first birthday and they were married around 19 BC. Their son Drusus Julius Caesar was born in 14 BC, when her father died in March 12 BC, he was married to his third wife, Julia the Elder, the daughter of Augustus. Augustus forced Tiberius to divorce Vipsania and marry Julia, despite his love for the former, at the time of their divorce, Vipsania was pregnant with a second child, who did not survive. Tiberius divorced Vipsania against his will in 11 BC and never ceased to rue his action, on one occasion Tiberius caught sight of Vipsania and followed her with an intent and tearful gaze. Precautions were taken to avoid further embarrassing meetings with her, in 11 BC she married Gaius Asinius Gallus Saloninus, a Senator and son of the famous orator Gaius Asinius Pollio. They had at least six sons, Vipsania Agrippina died in AD20, a few days after the ovation of her son Drusus, which took place on 28 May. Tiberius hated Gallus, not least because Gallus claimed that Drusus was his own son, in 30, at Tiberius instigation, the Senate was to declare Gallus a public enemy. He died in prison in 33, of starvation, Vipsania and Gallus known sons were, Gaius Asinius Pollio - Consul in 23, exiled as an accuser of a conspiracy and later was put to death on orders from Empress Valeria Messalina. Marcus Asinius Agrippa - Consul in 25 and died in the end of 26, tacitus describes him as not unworthy of his ancestors. His son Marcus Asinius Marcellus was Consul in 54 along with Marcus Acilius Aviola, Asinius Saloninus or, died in 22. Tacitus describes him as an ‘eminent’ person, Saloninus was intended to marry one of the granddaughters of Emperor Tiberius. He was consul suffectus in 38, from Emperor Caligula he purchased a fish at an enormous price. He is mentioned in the satire, by Seneca, The Pumpkinification of Claudius and his death probably occurred sometime before mid-47. Asinius Celer seems to have had a daughter by the name of Asinia Agrippina, in 46 he conspired against Claudius and was forced to go into exile. Cassius Dio describes him as being small and ugly. Later rehabilitated, he became Consul in 62 and his existence is recorded by the townsfolk of Puteoli, whose patron he was
9.
Julia the Elder
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Julia the Elder, known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia, was the daughter and only biological child of Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire. Augustus subsequently adopted several male members of his family as sons. Julia resulted from Augustus second marriage with Scribonia, her birth occurring on the day as Scribonias divorce from Augustus. Octavian divorced Julias mother the day of her birth and took Julia from her soon thereafter, Octavian, in accordance with Roman custom, claimed complete parental control over her. She was sent to live with her stepmother Livia when she was old enough and her education appears to have been strict and somewhat old-fashioned. Thus, in addition to her studies, Suetonius informs us, Macrobius mentions her love of literature and considerable culture, a thing easy to come by in that household. Julias social life was controlled, and she was allowed to talk only to people whom her father had vetted. However, Octavian had an affection for his daughter and made sure she had the best teachers available. Macrobius preserves a remark of Augustus, There are two daughters that I have to put up with, the Roman commonwealth and Julia. In 37 BC, during Julias early childhood, Octavians friends Gaius Maecenas and it was sealed with an engagement, Antonys ten-year-old son Marcus Antonius Antyllus was to marry Julia, then two years old. The engagement never led to a marriage because civil war broke out, in 31 BC, at the Battle of Actium, Octavian and Agrippa defeated Antony and his wife, Cleopatra. In Alexandria, they committed suicide, and Octavian became sole ruler of the Roman Empire. As with most aristocratic Roman women of the period, expectations of Julia focused on marriage and her family first married her off, like many Roman girls, in her early teens. In 25 BC, at the age of fourteen, Julia married her cousin Marcus Claudius Marcellus, There were rumors that Marcellus had been chosen as Augustus successor, but Julias father was not present, he was fighting a war in Spain and had fallen ill. Marcellus died in September 23 BC when Julia was sixteen, in 21 BC, having now reached the age of 18, Julia married Agrippa, a man from a modest family who had risen to become Augustus most trusted general and friend. This step is said to have taken partly on the advice of Maecenas. Since Agrippa was nearly 25 years her elder, it was an arranged marriage. There is from this period the report of an infidelity with one Sempronius Gracchus and this was the first of a series of alleged adulteries
10.
Drusus Julius Caesar
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Drusus Julius Caesar, was the son of Emperor Tiberius, and heir to the Roman Empire following the death of his adoptive brother Germanicus in AD19. He was born at Rome to a prominent branch of the gens Claudia, to Tiberius and his first wife and his name at birth was Nero Claudius Drusus after his paternal uncle, Drusus the Elder. In AD4, he assumed the name Julius Caesar following his fathers adoption into the Julii by Augustus, Drusus first entered politics in AD10, and held the office of quaestor. His political career mirrored that of Germanicus, and he assumed all his offices at the age as his adoptive brother. Following the model of Augustus, it was intended that the two would rule together and they were both popular, and many dedications have been found in their honor across Roman Italy. Cassius Dio calls him Castor in his Roman History, likening Drusus and Germanicus to the twins, Castor and Pollux, in AD23, Drusus suddenly died amid a feud with Sejanus, a powerful Praetorian prefect of Rome. Ancient historians, such as Tacitus and Suetonius, say that Sejanus poisoned him with the help of his wife and she had been seduced by Sejanus, and with the help of a doctor, poisoned her husband. He died of what appeared to be natural causes on 14 September 23, Drusus was the maternal grandson of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, a close friend of Augustus, and his first wife Caecilia Attica. As a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was a relative of all five Julio-Claudian emperors. His father was emperor, and his grandfather was the founder of the Roman Empire. On his mothers side, he was the cousin of Caligula, a cousin of Claudius. Before Tiberius, the heirs of Augustus were the sons of Marcus Agrippa, Gaius and Lucius Caesar and they advanced through their careers at the same pace and were going to rule together, however, they died young, forcing Augustus to draw another line of succession. Which is why in AD4, Augustus adopted Tiberius on condition that Tiberius adopt Germanicus and this made Tiberius the heir of Augustus, and Germanicus the heir of Tiberius. Like the sons of Agrippa, it was the intention of Augustus that Germanicus and Drusus would rule together, later that year, Drusus was married to his paternal cousin, Livilla, to bring him closer to the Julians. Tacitus says she was unattractive as a child, but grew up to be beautiful, the birth of his sons was commemorated on coins. Just as Agrippas sons were, Drusus was about the age as Germanicus. Drusus and Germanicus held all their offices at the same age, Drusus first office was that of quaestor in AD10. Being politically inclined, he was made a permanent member of the Senate committee Augustus had founded in AD13 to draw up the Senates daily business, in August of 14, his grandfather Augustus died
11.
Germanicus
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Germanicus, formally Germanicus Julius Caesar, was heir-designate of the Roman Empire under Tiberius and a prominent general known for his campaigns in Germany. He was born at Rome into a prominent branch of the patrician gens Claudia, to Nero Claudius Drusus and his name at birth is uncertain, but was probably Nero Claudius Drusus after his father. The agnomen Germanicus was added to his name in 9 BC when it was posthumously awarded to his father in honour of his victories in Germania. In AD4, he was adopted out of the Claudii and into the Julii and he enjoyed an accelerated political career as a Caesar, entering the office of quaestor five years before the legal age in AD7. He held that office until AD11, and was elected consul for the first time in AD12, the year after, he was made proconsul of Germania Inferior, Germania Superior, and all of Gaul. From there he commanded eight legions, about one-third of the entire Roman army and his successes made him famous after avenging the defeat of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest, and retrieving two of the three legionary eagles that had been lost during the battle. In AD17 he returned to Rome to receive a triumph before leaving to reorganize the provinces of Asia, whereby he incorporated the provinces of Cappadocia, while in the eastern provinces, he came into conflict with the governor of Syria, Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso. During their feud, Germanicus became ill in Antioch, where he died on 10 October AD19 and his death has been attributed to poison by ancient sources, but that was never proven. Beloved by the people, he was considered to be the ideal Roman long after his death. The Roman people have said to consider him as Romes Alexander the Great due to the nature of his death at a young age, his virtuous character, his dashing physique. His praenomen is unknown, but he was probably named Nero Claudius Drusus after his father, in 9 BC, the agnomen Germanicus was added to his full name when it was posthumously awarded to his father in honor of his victories in Germania. Though the name was inherited by his siblings too, the title seems at first to have been used exclusively by him, by AD4 he was adopted as Tiberius son and heir. As a result, Germanicus was adopted out of the Claudii, in accordance with Roman naming conventions, he adopted the name Julius Caesar while retaining his agnomen, becoming Germanicus Julius Caesar. Upon Germanicus adoption into the Julii, his brother Claudius became the legal representative of his father. Germanicus was born at Rome in 15 BC and his parents were the general Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor. Livilla was his sister and the future emperor Claudius was his younger brother. As a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was a relative to all five Julio-Claudian emperors. On his mothers side Germanicus was a great-nephew of Augustus, the first emperor of Rome and he was born the nephew of the second emperor, Tiberius
12.
Drusus Caesar
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Drusus Caesar was a member of the Julio-Claudian or Imperial family of Ancient Rome. He was a son of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder and he was brother to Emperor Caligula, nephew to Emperor Claudius. Drusus married Aemilia Lepida, daughter of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, his second cousin, tacitus reports that during their marriage she had pursued her husband with ceaseless accusations. In 36, she was charged with adultery with a slave and committed suicide, Drusus paternal grandparents were Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor. His maternal grandparents were Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder and he was adopted by his paternal great-uncle Tiberius after Tiberius own son, Drusus Julius Caesar, had died. Drusus Caesar was later accused of plotting against Tiberius and he was exiled and imprisoned in 30, a year after his mother Agrippina the Elder and his brother Nero Caesar were arrested. He starved to death in prison in 33, reduced to chewing the stuffing of his bed and his siblings included two brothers and three sisters
13.
Dynasty
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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
14.
Julio-Claudian dynasty
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The term Julio-Claudian dynasty refers to the first five Roman emperors—Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero—or the family to which they belonged. They ruled the Roman Empire from its formation under Augustus in the half of the 1st century BC, until AD68 when the last of the line, Nero. Primogeniture is notably absent in the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, adoption ultimately became a tool that most Julio-Claudian emperors utilized in order to promote their chosen heir to the front of the succession. Augustus, himself a son of his great-uncle, the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, adopted his stepson and son-in-law Tiberius as his son. Tiberius was, in turn, required to adopt his nephew Germanicus, the ancient historians who dealt with this period—chiefly Suetonius and Tacitus —write in generally negative terms about their reign. The histories of Tiberius, Caius, Claudius, and Nero, while they were in power, were falsified through terror, Julius and Claudius were two Roman family names, in classical Latin, they came second. Roman family names were inherited from father to son, but a Roman aristocrat could – either during his life or in his will – adopt an heir if he lacked a natural son. In accordance with Roman naming conventions, the son would replace his original family name with the name of his adopted family. A famous example of this custom is Julius Caesars adoption of his great-nephew, Augustus, as Caesars adopted son and heir, discarded the family name of his natural father and initially renamed himself Gaius Julius Caesar after his adoptive father. It was also customary for the son to acknowledge his original family by adding an extra name at the end of his new name. As such, Augustus adopted name would have been Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, however, there is no evidence that he ever used the name Octavianus. Following Augustus ascension as the first emperor of the Roman Empire in 27 BC, his became an de facto royal house. For various reasons, the Julio-Claudians followed in the example of Julius Caesar, the next four emperors were closely related through a combination of blood relation, marriage and adoption. Tiberius, a Claudian by birth, became Augustus stepson after the marriage to Livia. Tiberius connection to the Julian side of the Imperial family grew closer when he married Augustus only daughter and he ultimately succeeded Augustus as emperor in AD14 after becoming his stepfathers adopted son and heir. Caligula was born into the Julian and Claudian branches of the Imperial family and his father, Germanicus, was the son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor, the son of Livia and the daughter of Octavia Minor respectively. Germanicus was also a great-nephew of Augustus on his mothers side and his wife, Agrippina the Elder, was a granddaughter of Augustus. Through Agrippina, Germanicus children – including Caligula – were Augustus great-grandchildren, when Augustus adopted Tiberius, the latter was required to adopt his brothers eldest son as well, thus allowing Germanicus side of the Imperial family to inherit the Julius nomen
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Tiberius Claudius Nero (praetor 42 BC)
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Tiberius Claudius Nero, often known as Tiberius Nero and Nero was a politician who lived in the last century of the Roman Republic. He was the father of the second Roman emperor Tiberius, who became the stepson of the emperor Augustus and was adopted by Augustus as his heir. Nero was a member of the republican Claudian family of Rome and he was a descendant of the first named Tiberius Claudius Nero, a consul and great-grandson of Appius Claudius Caecus. Nero was the son of Drusus and his mother was a descendant of the Claudian family and his father Drusus served under Pompey in 67 BC, battling the pirate menace. Drusus was famous for recommending that the members of the Second Catilinarian Conspiracy be confined, Nero had a sister called Claudia, who married the prefect Quintus Volusius. Nero had served as a quaestor to Julius Caesar in 48 BC, having achieved victory over the Egyptian navy, he was rewarded with a priesthood. Julius Caesar had sent Nero to create Roman colonies in Gaul, despite his service with Julius Caesar, Nero was an Optimate at heart. After the murder of Julius Caesar in 44 BC, when it seemed that the assassins were triumphant, however, due to his previous alliance with the Roman dictator, Nero was allowed to be elected praetor in 42 BC. Around this time Nero married his relative Livia Drusilla, whose father Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus was from the same gens and his son of the same name was born November 16,42 BC, at Fondi Italy. Shortly afterwards, the Second Triumvirate began to break down, causing a dangerous situation in Rome as the triumvirs went to battle each other. Nero was forced to choose sides and in his distrust of Octavian, in 41 BC, he fled Rome with Livia and Tiberius in tow, joining Antonys brother Lucius in Perusia. Perusia was besieged by Octavians men by the time Nero arrived, and when the fell in 40 BC, he was forced to flee first to Praeneste. In 40 BC, Octavian and Mark Antony finally reconciled, in Naples, Nero tried in vain to raise a slave battalion against Octavian and then took refuge with Sextus Pompey, who was then acting as a pirate leader in Sicily. Nero with his family joined Mark Antony soon after in Achaea, after three years of fleeing from Octavian, Nero returned to Rome with Livia and the younger Tiberius, aged 3. Octavian immediately after catching sight of Livia, fell in love with her, Octavian was married to Scribonia, with whom he had a daughter called Julia, now known as Julia the Elder. Around this time Livia was also pregnant and despite this, Nero was persuaded or forced by Octavian to divorce Livia, Nero and Livia’s second son was born in early 38 BC and he was named Decimus Claudius Drusus, which was later changed to Nero Claudius Drusus. Octavian and Livia married on January 17, waiving the traditional waiting period, Nero was present at their wedding, giving Livia away just as a father would. As agreed, Nero took his sons to his home, where they were raised and educated, after his death, his sons went to live with their mother and stepfather
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Livia
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Livia Drusilla, also known as Julia Augusta after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD14, was the wife of the Roman emperor Augustus throughout his reign, as well as his adviser. She was the mother of the emperor Tiberius, paternal grandmother of the emperor Claudius, paternal great-grandmother of the emperor Caligula and she was deified by Claudius who acknowledged her title of Augusta. She was born on 30 January 59 or 58 BC as the daughter of Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus by his wife Aufidia, the diminutive Drusilla often found in her name suggests that she was a second daughter. Marcus Livius Drusus Libo was her adopted brother and she was probably married in 43 BC. Her father married her to Tiberius Claudius Nero, her cousin of patrician status who was fighting him on the side of Julius Caesars assassins against Octavian. Her first child, the future Emperor Tiberius, was born in 42 BC, later, Livia, her husband Tiberius Nero and their two-year-old son, Tiberius, moved on to Greece. At this time, Livia already had a son, the future emperor Tiberius, legend said that Octavian fell immediately in love with her, despite the fact that he was still married to Scribonia. Octavian divorced Scribonia in 39 BC, on the day that she gave birth to his daughter Julia the Elder. Seemingly around that time, when Livia was six months pregnant, on 14 January, the child was born. Augustus and Livia married on 17 January, waiving the traditional waiting period, Tiberius Claudius Nero was present at the wedding, giving her in marriage just as a father would. The importance of the patrician Claudii to Octavians cause, and the survival of the Claudii Nerones are probably more rational explanations for the tempestuous union. Nevertheless, Livia and Augustus remained married for the next 51 years, after Mark Antonys suicide following the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, Octavian had removed all obstacles to his power and henceforth ruled as Emperor, from 27 BC on, under the honorary title Augustus. He and Livia formed the model for Roman households. Despite their wealth and power, Augustuss family continued to live modestly in their house on the Palatine Hill, Livia would set the pattern for the noble Roman matrona. She wore neither excessive jewelry nor pretentious costumes, she took care of the household and her husband, always faithful, in 35 BC Octavian gave Livia the unprecedented honour of ruling her own finances and dedicated a public statue to her. She had her own circle of clients and pushed many protégés into political offices, including the grandfathers of the later emperors Galba and Otho. With Augustus being the father of one daughter, Livia revealed herself to be an ambitious mother and soon started to push her own sons Tiberius. Drusus was a general and married Augustuss favourite niece, Antonia Minor
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Religion in ancient Rome
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The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, and attributed their success as a world power to their collective piety in maintaining good relations with the gods. According to legends, most of Romes religious institutions could be traced to its founders, particularly Numa Pompilius, the Sabine second king of Rome, who negotiated directly with the gods. This archaic religion was the foundation of the mos maiorum, the way of the ancestors or simply tradition, as Rome came into contact with foreign cultures, and conquered them, foreign religions increasingly attracted devotees among Romans, who increasingly had ancestry from elsewhere in the Empire. The emperors promoted the Imperial cult around the empire, and this, ultimately, Roman polytheism was brought to an end with the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the empire. The priesthoods of public religion were held by members of the elite classes, there was no principle analogous to separation of church and state in ancient Rome. During the Roman Republic, the men who were elected public officials might also serve as augurs. Priests married, raised families, and led politically active lives, Julius Caesar became pontifex maximus before he was elected consul. The augurs read the will of the gods and supervised the marking of boundaries as a reflection of universal order, Roman religion was thus practical and contractual, based on the principle of do ut des, I give that you might give. Even the most skeptical among Romes intellectual elite such as Cicero, for ordinary Romans, religion was a part of daily life. Each home had a shrine at which prayers and libations to the familys domestic deities were offered. Neighborhood shrines and sacred such as springs and groves dotted the city. The Roman calendar was structured around religious observances, women, slaves, and children all participated in a range of religious activities. The Romans are known for the number of deities they honored. The Romans looked for common ground between their major gods and those of the Greeks, adapting Greek myths and iconography for Latin literature, etruscan religion was also a major influence, particularly on the practice of augury. The mysteries, however, involved exclusive oaths and secrecy, conditions that conservative Romans viewed with suspicion as characteristic of magic, conspiratorial, or subversive activity. Sporadic and sometimes brutal attempts were made to suppress religionists who seemed to threaten traditional morality and unity, one way that Rome incorporated diverse peoples was by supporting their religious heritage, building temples to local deities that framed their theology within the hierarchy of Roman religion. Inscriptions throughout the Empire record the worship of local and Roman deities. Because Romans had never been obligated to one god or one cult only
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Claudia (gens)
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The gens Claudia, sometimes written Clodia, was one of the most prominent patrician houses at Rome. The gens traced its origin to the earliest days of the Roman Republic, plebeian Claudii are found fairly early in Romes history. Some may have descended from members of the family who had passed over to the plebeians. Writing several decades after the fall of the so-called Julio-Claudian dynasty, the patrician Claudii were noted for their pride and arrogance, and intense hatred of the commonalty. In his History of Rome, Niebuhr writes, That house during the course of centuries produced several very eminent, few great men, in all ages it distinguished itself alike by a spirit of haughty defiance, by disdain for the laws, and iron hardness of heart. According to legend, the first of the Claudii was a Sabine, by the name of Attius Clausus, who came to Rome with his retainers in 504 BC, the sixth year of the Republic. At this time, the fledgling Republic was engaged in warfare with the Sabines. When his efforts failed, he defected to the Romans, bringing with him no fewer than five hundred men able to bear arms, according to Dionysius. Clausus, who exchanged his Sabine name for the Latin Appius Claudius, was enrolled among the patricians, the emperor Claudius is said to have referred to these traditions in a speech made before the Roman Senate, in which he argued in favor of admitting Gauls to that body. My ancestors, the most ancient of whom was made at once a citizen, by imperial times, the influence of the Claudii was so great that the poet Virgil flattered them by a deliberate anachronism. In his Aeneid, he makes Attius Clausus a contemporary of Aeneas, to whose side he rallies with a host of quirites, the nomen Claudius, originally Clausus, is usually said to be derived from the Latin adjective claudus, meaning lame. As a cognomen, Claudus is occasionally found in other gentes, however, since there is no tradition that any of the early Claudii were lame, the nomen might refer to some ancestor of Attius Clausus. It could also have been metaphorical, or ironic, and the possibility remains that this derivation is erroneous. The metathesis of Clausus into Claudius, and its common by-form, Clodius, involves the alternation of o and au, which seems to have been common in words of Sabine origin. The alternation of s and d occurs in words borrowed from Greek, Latin rosa from Greek rhodos, the name could have come from Greek settlers in Latium, but there is no evidence in favor of this hypothesis. The early Claudii favored the praenomina Appius, Gaius, and Publius and these names were used by the patrician Claudii throughout their history. Tiberius was used by the family of the Claudii Nerones, while Marcus, the plebeian Claudii seem to have used all of the praenomina that the patrician Claudii used, as well as Quintus, Sextus, and at least occasionally Lucius. The praenomen Appius is often said to have unique to the Claudii
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Stepfather
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A stepfather or stepdad is the husband of ones biological mother, and not ones biological father. Though less common in literature than evil stepmothers, there are cases of evil stepfathers, such as in the fairy tales The Gold-Bearded Man. One type of such features a defeated villain who insists on marrying the heros mother and makes her help him trick the hero. As well as The Stepfather, films, the film, Sucker Punch features a sexually abusive stepfather. In a classic episode of South Park, Stan is advised, by Bill Cosby. In his opera La Cenerentola, Gioacchino Rossini inverted the tale of Cinderella to have her oppressed by her stepfather and his motive is made explicit, in that providing a dowry to Cenerentola would cut into what he can give to his own daughters. An analogous male figure may appear as a wicked uncle, like the stepmother, the fathers brother may covet the childs inheritance for his own children. Modern films, however, seem to cast stepfathers in a kinder light
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Scribonia
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Scribonia was the second wife of the Roman Emperor Augustus and the mother of his only natural child, Julia the Elder. Scribonia was the daughter of a Lucius Scribonius Libo, probably the praetor of that name of 80 BC and her brother of the same name was consul in 34 BC. The name of her mother was Sentia, according to Suetonius, Scribonias first two marriages were to former consuls. He may have died young and is ignored by historians and her second husband was a Publius Cornelius Scipio, a supporter of Pompey. They had a daughter Cornelia Scipio who married the censor Lucius Aemilius Paullus, Scribonia may have also been the mother to Publius Cornelius Scipio, consul in 16 BC. In 40 BC Scribonia was forced to divorce her husband and marry Octavian, Octavian in turn divorced his wife Clodia Pulchra, marrying Scribonia to cement a political alliance with her nieces husband Sextus Pompey. Their daughter Julia the Elder was born in 39 BC, probably in October and their marriage had not been a happy one, Octavian felt she nagged him too much. Cassius Dio and Marcus Velleius Paterculus says that when her youngest child, Julia, was sent into exile for adultery and treason, when Emperor Tiberius came into power, he separated Scribonia from her daughter, and allegedly starved Julia to death. It is mainly placed two years after Julia and Augustus, Scribonias image as a shrew is probably the product of propaganda to divert the potentially scandalous circumstances of her divorce from Augustus. Seneca describes her as a gravis femina, gravis meaning “dignified”, Sextus Propertius praises her motherhood referring to her as sweet mother Scribonia in Cornelia Scipios funeral elegy in 16 BC. Scribonia is mentioned in Robert Gravess novel I, Claudius when he recalls Julias birth and he describes her as a good, moderate and generally kind Roman matron. She is forbidden to see Julia and is allowed to be with her once she is exiled. Livia convinces Augustus that Scribonia has been unfaithful to him causing him to divorce her faster than he cared to, evidently Augustus believed she was innocent, as he kept Julia. Graves places Scribonias death at least two prior to when it is traditionally placed. Scribonia appears several times in Augustus by Allan Massie, Allan Massie portrays her stereotypically, being ugly, gap-toothed and fat. The novel suggests that Julia got her personality from Scribonia rather than Augustus as historians tend to claim, Scribonia plays a major role in the novel Caesars Daughter by Edward Burton, trying to aid Julia in her daily life. She is a politically aware woman, with detailed information gathering and she plays patroness to many poets such as Horace. Despite their differences, Augustus respects her, Scribonia is mentioned in I Loved Tiberius by Elisabeth Dored
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Adoption in ancient Rome
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In ancient Rome, adoption of boys was a fairly common procedure, particularly in the upper senatorial class. The need for a heir and the expense of raising children and the Roman inheritance rules strictly demanding legitimes were strong incentives to have at least one son. Adoption, the solution, also served to cement ties between families, thus fostering and reinforcing alliances. Adoption of girls, however, was less common. In the Imperial period, the system acted as a mechanism for ensuring a smooth succession. As Rome was ruled by a number of powerful families, every senators duty was to produce sons to inherit the estate, family name. However, a family was an expensive luxury. Daughters had to be provided with a dowry and sons had to be pushed through the political stages of the cursus honorum. The higher the status of a family, the higher was the cost. Roman families therefore typically restricted their families to three children, the six children of Appius Claudius Pulcher were considered unusual. Sometimes, not having enough children proved to be a choice, as infants could die. For families with too many sons and the ones with no boys at all, even the wealthy Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus did not hesitate in giving his two oldest boys up for adoption, one to the Cornelii Scipiones the other to one of the Fabii Maximi. In Roman law, the power to children in adoption was one of the recognised powers of the paterfamilias. The adopted boy would usually be the oldest, the one with proven health, adoption was an expensive agreement for the childless family and quality had to be ensured. Adoption was agreed between families by the giving the boy they wanted to adopt equal status, often political allies and/or with blood connections. A plebeian adopted by a patrician would become a patrician, and vice versa, however, at least in Republican times, a sum of money was exchanged between the parties and the boy assumed the adoptive fathers name and a cognomen that indicated his original family. Adoption was neither secretive nor considered to be shameful, the boy was not even expected to cut ties to his original family. Like a marriage contract, adoption was a way to reinforce interfamily ties, the adopted child was often in a privileged situation, enjoying both original and adoptive family connections
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Julia (gens)
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The gens Julia or Iulia was one of the most ancient patrician families at Ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic, the first of the family to obtain the consulship was Gaius Julius Iulus in 489 BC. The nomen Julius became very common in times, as the descendants of persons enrolled as citizens under the early emperors began to make their mark in history. The Julii were without doubt of Alban origin, and it is mentioned as one of the leading Alban houses and it is not impossible that some of the Julii may have settled at Bovillae after the fall of Alba Longa. Aeneas was, in turn, the son of Venus and Anchises, in order to prove the identity of Ascanius and Iulus, recourse was had to etymology, some specimens of which the reader curious in such matters will find in Servius. Other traditions held that Iulus was the son of Aeneas by his Trojan wife, Creusa, while Ascanius was the son of Aeneas and Lavinia, daughter of Latinus. Though it would seem that the Julii first came to Rome in the reign of Tullus Hostilius, in the later Empire, the distinction between praenomen, nomen, and cognomen was gradually lost, and Julius was treated much like a personal name, which it ultimately became. The Latin form is common in languages, but other familiar forms exist, including Giulio, Julio, Jules, Júlio, Iuliu. The Julii of the Republic used the praenomina Lucius, Gaius, there are also instances of Vopiscus and Spurius in the early generations of the family. The earliest of the Julii appearing in legend bore the praenomen Proculus, in the later Republic and imperial times, Vopiscus and Proculus were generally used as personal cognomina. The name was revived as a praenomen by Marcus Antonius, the triumvir. Classical Latin did not distinguish between the letters I and J, which were written with I, and for this reason the name is sometimes written Julus, just as Julius is also written Iulius. The many Julii of imperial times, who were not descended from the gens Julia, on coins the only names which we find are Caesar and Bursio, the latter of which does not occur in ancient writers. Iulus, also written as Iullus and Julus, was the surname of the eldest branch of the Julii to appear in Roman history, the gens claimed descent from Iulus, who was in some manner connected with Aeneas, although the traditions differed with respect to the details. In some accounts, Iulus was the son of Aeneas and Creüsa, in others, Ascanius was the son of Creüsa, while Iulus was the son of Lavinia, daughter of Latinus, the king of Latium with whom Aeneas made peace after landing in Italy. In still different accounts, Iulus was the son not of Aeneas, perhaps an indigenous origin of the name is suggested by De Origo Gentis Romanae, in which Iulus and Ascanius are identical. Described as the son of Jupiter, he was known as Jobus. This calls to mind the use of Jove for Jupiter, and the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology suggests that Iulus might be a diminutive of Dius, furthermore, Livy reports that after his death Aeneas was worshiped as Jupiter Indiges, the local Jove
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Roman naming conventions
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The distinguishing feature of Roman nomenclature was the use of both personal names and regular surnames. Throughout Europe and the Mediterranean, other ancient civilizations distinguished individuals through the use of personal names. Consisting of two elements, or themes, these names allowed for hundreds or even thousands of possible combinations. But a markedly different system of nomenclature arose in Italy, where the name was joined by a hereditary surname. Over time, this binomial system expanded to include additional names, the most important of these names was the nomen gentilicium, or simply nomen, a hereditary surname that identified a person as a member of a distinct gens. This was preceded by the praenomen, or forename, a name that served to distinguish between the different members of a family. The origin of this system is lost in prehistory, but it appears to have been established in Latium. In written form, the nomen was usually followed by a filiation, indicating the name of an individuals father. Toward the end of the Roman Republic, this was followed by the name of a citizens voting tribe, lastly, these elements could be followed by additional surnames, or cognomina, which could be either personal or hereditary, or a combination of both. The Roman grammarians came to regard the combination of praenomen, nomen, even then, not all Roman citizens bore cognomina, and until the end of the Republic the cognomen was regarded as somewhat less than an official name. Naming conventions for women also varied from the concept of the tria nomina. By the end of the Republic, the majority of Roman women either did not have or did not use praenomina, most women were called by their nomen alone, or by a combination of nomen and cognomen. For a variety of reasons, the Roman nomenclature system broke down in the following the collapse of imperial authority in the west. The praenomen had already become scarce in written sources during the fourth century, over the course of the sixth century, as Roman institutions and social structures gradually fell away, the need to distinguish between nomina and cognomina likewise vanished. By the end of the century, the people of Italy. But many of the names that had originated as part of the tria nomina were adapted to this usage, as in other cultures, the early peoples of Italy probably used a single name, which later developed into the praenomen. Marcus Terentius Varro wrote that the earliest Italians used simple names, names of this type could be honorific or aspirational, or might refer to deities, physical peculiarities, or circumstances of birth. In this early period, the number of personal names must have quite large
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Claudius
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Claudius was Roman emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and he was born at Lugdunum in Gaul, the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy. Claudius infirmity probably saved him from the fate of other nobles during the purges of Tiberius and Caligulas reigns. His survival led to his being declared Emperor by the Praetorian Guard after Caligulas assassination, despite his lack of experience, Claudius proved to be an able and efficient administrator. He was also a builder, constructing many new roads, aqueducts. During his reign the Empire began the conquest of Britain, having a personal interest in law, he presided at public trials, and issued up to twenty edicts a day. He was seen as vulnerable throughout his reign, particularly by elements of the nobility, Claudius was constantly forced to shore up his position, this resulted in the deaths of many senators. These events damaged his reputation among the ancient writers, though more recent historians have revised this opinion, many authors contend that he was murdered by his own wife. After his death in 54 AD, his grand-nephew and adopted son Nero succeeded him as Emperor, Claudius was born on 1 August 10 BC at Lugdunum. He had two siblings, Germanicus and Livilla. His mother, Antonia, may have had two children who died young. His maternal grandparents were Mark Antony and Octavia Minor, Augustus sister and his paternal grandparents were Livia, Augustus third wife, and Tiberius Claudius Nero. During his reign, Claudius revived the rumor that his father Drusus was actually the son of Augustus. In 9 BC, his father Drusus unexpectedly died on campaign in Germania, Claudius was then left to be raised by his mother, who never remarried. When Claudius disability became evident, the relationship with his family turned sour, Antonia referred to him as a monster, and used him as a standard for stupidity. She seems to have passed her son off on his grandmother Livia for a number of years, Livia was a little kinder, but nevertheless often sent him short, angry letters of reproof. He was put under the care of a former mule-driver to keep him disciplined, under the logic that his condition was due to laziness, however, by the time he reached his teenage years his symptoms apparently waned and his family took some notice of his scholarly interests. In 7 AD, Livy was hired to tutor him in history and he spent a lot of his time with the latter and the philosopher Athenodorus
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Nero
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Nero was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, during his reign, the redoubtable general Corbulo conducted a successful war and negotiated peace with the Parthian Empire. His general Suetonius Paulinus crushed a revolt in Britain, Nero annexed the Bosporan Kingdom to the empire and may have begun the First Jewish–Roman War. In 64 AD, most of Rome was destroyed in the Great Fire of Rome, Suetonius, writing a generation later, claims that many Romans believed Nero himself had started the fire, in order to clear land for his planned palatial complex, the Domus Aurea. In 68, the rebellion of Vindex in Gaul and later the acclamation of Galba in Hispania drove Nero from the throne, facing a false report of being denounced as a public enemy who was to be executed, he committed suicide on 9 June 68. His death ended the Julio-Claudian dynasty, sparking a period of civil wars known as the Year of the Four Emperors. Neros rule is often associated with tyranny and extravagance and he is known for many executions, including that of his mother, and the probable murder by poison of his stepbrother Britannicus. Nero was rumored to have had captured Christians dipped in oil and this view is based on the writings of Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio, the main surviving sources for Neros reign, but a few sources paint Nero in a more favourable light. Some sources, including some mentioned above, portray him as an emperor who was popular with the common Roman people, some modern historians question the reliability of ancient sources when reporting on Neros tyrannical acts. Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, Nero, was born on 15 December 37 in Antium and he was the only son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger, sister of Emperor Caligula. Neros father, Gnaeus, was the son of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, Gnaeus was thus the grandson of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and probably Aemilia Lepida on his fathers side, and the grandson of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor on his mothers side. Thus, Nero had as his paternal grandmother Antonia Major, through Octavia, Nero was the great-nephew of Caesar Augustus. Neros father had employed as a praetor and was a member of Caligulas staff when the latter travelled to the East. Neros father was described by Suetonius as a murderer and a cheat who was charged by Emperor Tiberius with treason, adultery, Tiberius died, allowing him to escape these charges. Neros father died of edema in 39 when Nero was two, Neros mother was Agrippina the Younger, a great-granddaughter of Caesar Augustus and his wife Scribonia through their daughter Julia the Elder and her husband Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. Agrippinas father, Germanicus, was a grandson of Augustuss wife, Livia, on one side and Mark Antony, Germanicus mother Antonia Minor was a daughter of Octavia Minor and Mark Antony. Germanicus was also the son of Tiberius. Agrippina poisoned her second husband Passienus Crispus, so many ancient historians also accuse her of murdering her third husband, the emperor Claudius
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Antoninus Pius
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Antoninus Pius, also known as Antoninus, was Roman Emperor from 138 to 161. He was one of the Five Good Emperors in the Nerva–Antonine dynasty and he died of illness in 161 and was succeeded by his adopted sons Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus as co-emperors. He was born as the child of Titus Aurelius Fulvus. The Aurelii Fulvii were therefore a new senatorial family from Gallia Narbonensis whose rise to prominence was supported by the Flavians. The link between Antoninus family and their home province explains the importance of the post of Proconsul of Gallia Narbonensis during the late Second Century. Antoninus was born near Lanuvium and his mother was Arria Fadilla, the Arrii Antoninii were an older senatorial family from Italy, very influential during Nervas reign. Arria Fadilla, Antoninus mother, married afterwards Publius Julius Lupus, a man of rank, suffect consul in 98. Some time between 110 and 115, Antoninus married Annia Galeria Faustina the Elder and they are believed to have enjoyed a happy marriage. Faustina was the daughter of consul Marcus Annius Verus and Rupilia Faustina, Faustina was a beautiful woman, and despite rumours about her character, it is clear that Antoninus cared for her deeply. Faustina bore Antoninus four children, two sons and two daughters and they were, Marcus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus, his sepulchral inscription has been found at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome. Marcus Galerius Aurelius Antoninus, his sepulchral inscription has been found at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome and his name appears on a Greek Imperial coin. Aurelia Fadilla, she married Lucius Lamia Silvanus, consul 145 and she appeared to have no children with her husband and her sepulchral inscription has been found in Italy. Annia Galeria Faustina Minor or Faustina the Younger, a future Roman Empress, married her maternal cousin, when Faustina died in 141, Antoninus was greatly distressed. In honour of her memory, he asked the Senate to deify her as a goddess and he had various coins with her portrait struck in her honor. These coins were scripted ‘DIVA FAUSTINA’ and were elaborately decorated and he further created a charity which he founded and called it Puellae Faustinianae or Girls of Faustina, which assisted destitute girls of good family. Finally, Antoninus created a new alimenta, instead, he lived with Galena Lysistrata, one of Faustinas freed women. Concubinage was a form of female companionship sometimes chosen by powerful men in Ancient Rome, especially widowers like Vespasian and their union could not produce any legitimate offspring who could threaten any heirs, such as those of Antoninus. Also, as one could not have a wife and a concubine at the same time
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Pannonia
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Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Julius Pokorny believes the name Pannonia is derived from Illyrian, from the Proto-Indo-European root *pen-, swamp, water, the Ionian Danube fleet reached as far as Boio-Aria, populated until the late 8th century CE by Celts and Slavs under Aryan rulers. Pliny the Elder, in Natural History, places the eastern regions of the Hercynium jugum and he also gives us some dramaticised description of its composition, in which the close proximity of the forest trees causes competitive struggle among them. But even he—if the passage in question is not an interpolated marginal gloss—is subject to the legends of the gloomy forest and he mentions unusual birds, which have feathers that shine like fires at night. Medieval bestiaries named these birds the Ercinee, the first inhabitants of this area known to history were the Pannonii, a group of Indo-European tribes akin to Illyrians. From the 4th century BC, it was invaded by various Celtic tribes, little is heard of Pannonia until 35 BC, when its inhabitants, allies of the Dalmatians, were attacked by Augustus, who conquered and occupied Siscia. The country was not, however, definitively subdued by the Romans until 9 BC, when it was incorporated into Illyricum, the frontier of which was thus extended as far as the Danube. After the rebellion was crushed in AD9, the province of Illyricum was dissolved, the date of the division is unknown, most certainly after AD20 but before AD50. The proximity of dangerous barbarian tribes necessitated the presence of a number of troops. Some time between the years 102 and 107, between the first and second Dacian wars, Trajan divided the province into Pannonia Superior, and Pannonia Inferior. According to Ptolemy, these divisions were separated by a line drawn from Arrabona in the north to Servitium in the south, later, the whole country was sometimes called the Pannonias. Pannonia Superior was under the legate, who had formerly administered the single province. Pannonia Inferior was at first under a praetorian legate with a single legion as the garrison, after Marcus Aurelius, it was under a consular legate, the frontier on the Danube was protected by the establishment of the two colonies Aelia Mursia and Aelia Aquincum by Hadrian. In the 4th-5th century, one of the dioceses of the Roman Empire was known as the Diocese of Pannonia. It had its capital in Sirmium and included all four provinces that were formed from historical Pannonia, as well as the provinces of Dalmatia, following the Migrations Period in the middle of the 5th century, Pannonia was ceded to the Huns by Theodosius II. After the collapse of the Hunnic empire in 454, large numbers of Ostrogoths were settled by Emperor Marcian in the province as foederati, afterwards, it was again invaded by the Avars in the 560s, the Slavs, who first settled c. This language and the culture became extinct with the arrival of the Magyars. The native settlements consisted of pagi containing a number of vici, the cities and towns in Pannonia were, The country was fairly productive, especially after the great forests had been cleared by Probus and Galerius
28.
Dalmatia (Roman province)
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Its name is probably derived from the name of an Illyrian tribe called the Dalmatae which lived in the central area of the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. Originally this region was called Illyria or Illyricum, when it became one of the two parts of the Roman province of Illyricum it was renamed Dalmatia, its counterpart province being Pannonia. Later the province of Illyricum was dissolved and replaced by two provinces, Dalmatia and Pannonia. It is not clear when this happened, but plausibly it occurred during the reign of the emperor Vespasian, the region which run along the coast of the Adriatic Sea and extended inland on the Dinaric Alps was called Illyria by the Greeks. Originally the Romans also called it Illyria, the Romans fought three Illyrian Wars mainly against the kingdom of the Ardiaei in the south of the region. In 168 BC they abolished this kingdom, divided it into three republics, the area became a Roman protectorate. The central and northern area of the region engaged in piracy, in response to this, Octavian conducted a series of campaigns in Illyricum. The area became the Roman province of Illyricum probably in 27 BC, due to troubles in the northern part of the region in 16-10 BC, it became an imperial province. The administrative organisation of Illyricum was carried out late in the reign of Augustus, due to Octavian having subdued the more inland region of Pannonia, the Romans changed the name of the coastal area to Dalmatia. Illyricum was composed of Dalmatia and Pannonia, in 6-9 AD there was a large scale rebellion in the province of Illyricum, the Bellum Batonianum. The province of Illyricum was eventually dissolved and replaced by two provinces, Dalmatia and Pannonia. It is unclear when this happened, some other diplomas attest the same. This was during the reign of Nero, therefore, Šašel-Kos supports the notion that the province was dissolved during the reign of Vespasian. In 337, when Constantine the Great died, the Roman Empire was partitioned among his sons, the empire was divided into three praetorian prefectures, the Galliae, Italia, Africa et Illyricum and Oriens. The size of the provinces had been decreased and their number doubled by Diocletian, the provinces were also grouped in dioceses. Dalmatia became one of the seven provinces of the diocese of Pannonia, initially, it was under the praetorian preacture of Italy, Africa and Illyricum. Sirmium, the capital of the praetorian prefecture of Illyricum, was the birthplace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. After he abdicated, he built Diocletians Palace in Salona, german historian Theodore Mommsen wrote that coastal Dalmatia and its islands were fully romanized and Latin-speaking by the 4th century
29.
Raetia
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Raetia was a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the west with Transalpine Gaul and on south with Venetia et Histria. It thus comprised the districts occupied in modern times by eastern and central Switzerland, southern Bavaria and the Upper Swabia, Vorarlberg, the part of Tirol. Later Vindelicia formed part of Raetia, the northern border of Raetia during the times of Augustus and Tiberius was the River Danube. Later the Limes Germanicus marked the boundary, stretching for 166 km north of the Danube. Raetia linked to Italy across the Alps over the Reschen Pass, the Romansh people living in Southeast Switzerland are believed to be direct descendants of the Raetians. However, the lineage of the Romansh people remains incomplete. Little is known of the origin or history of the Raetians, livy states distinctly that they were of Etruscan origin. The Raetians are first mentioned by Polybius, and little is heard of them till after the end of the Republic, there is little doubt, however, that they retained their independence until their subjugation in 15 BC by Tiberius and Drusus. During the reign of Marcus Aurelius, Raetia was governed by the commander of the Legio III Italica, the boundary between them is not clearly defined, but may be stated generally as a line drawn eastwards from the lacus Brigantinus to the Oenus. Much of Raetia prima remained as a political unit, Raetia Curiensis, for several centuries. Some of the valleys, however, were rich and fertile, and produced wine, Augustus Caesar preferred Raetian wine to any other. Considerable trade in pitch, honey, wax, and cheese occurred, the chief towns of Raetia were Tridentum and Curia. The Rätikon mountain range derives its name from Raetia, Alpine regiments of the Roman army This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Raetia. PC von Planta, Das alte Rätien T Mommsen in Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, iii. p.706 Joachim Marquardt, P. pp.16,161,196 Mary B Peaks, The General Civil and Military Administration of Noricum and Raetia. Bagnall, R. J. Drinkwater, A. Esmonde-Cleary, W. Harris, R. Knapp, S. Mitchell, S. Parker, C. Wells, J. Wilkes, R. Talbert, M. E. Downs, M. Joann McDaniel, B. Z. Lund, T. Elliott, cS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list
30.
Germania
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Germania was the Roman term for the geographical region in north-central Europe inhabited mainly by Germanic peoples. It extended from the Danube in the south to the Baltic Sea, the Roman portions formed two provinces of the Empire, Germania Inferior to the north, and Germania Superior to the south. Germania was inhabited mostly by Germanic tribes, but also Celts, early Slavs, Balts, the population mix changed over time by assimilation, and especially by migration. The ancient Greeks were the first to mention the tribes in the area, later, Julius Caesar wrote about warlike Germanic tribesmen and their threat to Roman Gaul, and there were military clashes between the Romans and the indigenous tribes. Tacitus wrote the most complete account of Germania that still survives, the origin of the term Germania is uncertain, but was known by Caesars time, and may be Gallic in origin. The name came into use after Julius Caesar and whether it was used widely before him amongst Romans is unknown, the term may be Gallic in origin. Tacitus wrote in AD98, For the rest, they affirm Germania to be a recent word, for those who first passed the Rhine and expulsed the Gauls, and are now named Tungrians, were then called Germani. Names of Germany in English and some languages are derived from Germania, but German speakers call it Deutschland. Several modern languages use the name Germania, including Hebrew, Italian, Albanian, Bulgarian, Maltese, Greek, Germania extended from the Rhine eastward to the Vistula river, and from the Danube river northward to the Baltic Sea. The areas west of the Rhine were mainly Celtic and became part of the Roman Empire in the first century BC, the Roman parts of Germania, Lesser Germania, eventually formed two provinces of the empire, Germania Inferior, Lower Germania and Germania Superior. Important cities in Lesser Germania included Besançon, Strasbourg, Wiesbaden, the geography of Magna Germania was comprehensively described in Ptolemys Geography of around 150 C. E. via geographical coordinates of the main cities. Germania was inhabited by different tribes, most of them Germanic but also some Celtic, proto-Slavic, Baltic, the tribal and ethnic makeup changed over the centuries as a result of assimilation and, most importantly, migrations. The Germanic people spoke several different dialects, classical records show little about the people who inhabited the north of Europe before the 2nd century BC. In the 5th century BC, the Greeks were aware of a group they called Celts, herodotus also mentioned the Scythians but no other tribes. At around 320 BC, Pytheas of Massalia sailed around Britain and along the northern coast of Europe and he may have been the first Mediterranean to distinguish the Germanic people from the Celts. Contact between German tribes and the Roman Empire did take place and was not always hostile, Caesar described the cultural differences between the Germanic tribesmen, the Romans, and the Gauls. He said that the Gauls, although warlike, could be civilized and his accounts of barbaric northern tribes could be described as an expression of the superiority of Rome, including Roman Gaul. Caesars accounts portray the Roman fear of the Germanic tribes and the threat they posed, the perceived menace of the Germanic tribesmen proved accurate
31.
Pliny the Elder
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In the latter number will be my uncle, by virtue of his own and of your compositions. Pliny is referring to the fact that Tacitus relied on his uncles now missing work on the History of the German Wars. The wind caused by the sixth and largest pyroclastic surge of the eruption would not allow his ship to leave the shore, and Pliny probably died during this event. Plinys dates are pinned to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79 and a statement of his nephew that he died in his 56th year, Pliny was the son of an equestrian, Gaius Plinius Celer, and his wife, Marcella. Neither the younger nor the elder Pliny mention the names and their ultimate source is a fragmentary inscription found in a field in Verona and recorded by the 16th century Augustinian monk Onofrio Panvinio at Verona. The reading of the inscription depends on the reconstruction, but in all cases the names come through, whether he was an augur and whether she was named Grania Marcella are less certain. Jean Hardouin presents a statement from a source that he claims was ancient, that Pliny was from Verona. Hardouin also cites the conterraneity of Catullus, additional efforts to connect Celer and Marcella with other gentes are highly speculative. Hardouin is the scholar to use his unknown source. He kept statues of his ancestors there, a statue of Pliny on the facade of the Duomo of Como celebrates him as a native son. He had a sister, Plinia, who married into the Caecilii and was the mother of his nephew, Pliny the Younger, whose letters describe his work and study regimen in detail. In one of his letters to Tacitus, Pliny the Younger details how his uncles breakfasts would be light and simple following the customs of our forefathers. This shows that Pliny the Younger wanted it to be conveyed that Pliny the Elder was a good Roman and this statement would have pleased Tacitus. Two inscriptions identifying the hometown of Pliny the Younger as Como take precedence over the Verona theory, one commemorates the youngers career as imperial magistrate and details his considerable charitable and municipal expenses on behalf of the people of Como. Another identifies his father Lucius village as Fecchio near Como and it is likely therefore that Plinia was a local girl and Pliny the Elder, her brother, was from Como. Gaius was a member of the Plinii gens and he did not take his fathers cognomen, Celer, but assumed his own, Secundus. As his adopted son took the same cognomen, Pliny founded a branch, no earlier instances of the Plinii are known. In 59 BC, only about 82 years before Plinys birth, Julius Caesar founded Novum Comum as a colonia to secure the region against the Alpine tribes, whom he had been unable to defeat
32.
Praetorian prefect
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Praetorian prefect was the title of a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, the prefects again functioned as the chief ministers of the state, with many laws addressed to them by name. The last traces of the disappeared in the Byzantine Empire by the 840s. The term praefectus praetorio was often abbreviated in inscriptions as PR PR or PPO, under the empire the praetorians or imperial guards were commanded by one, two, or even three praefects, who were chosen by the emperor from among the equites and held office at his pleasure. From the time of Alexander Severus the post was open to senators also, in course of time the command seems to have been enlarged so as to include all the troops in Italy except the corps commanded by the city praefect. The special position of the praetorians made them a power in their own right in the Roman state, and their prefect, the emperors tried to flatter and control the praetorians, but they staged many coups détat and contributed to a rapid rate of turnover in the imperial succession. The praetorians thus came to destabilize the Roman state, contrary to their purpose, Diocletian greatly reduced the power of these prefects as part of his sweeping reform of the empires administrative and military structures. In addition to his functions, the praetorian prefect came to acquire jurisdiction over criminal affairs. It was decreed by Constantine in 331 that from the sentence of the praetorian praefect there should be no appeal, a similar jurisdiction in civil cases was acquired by him not later than the time of Septimius Severus. Each praetorian prefect oversaw one of the four created by Diocletian. Under Constantine I, the institution of the magister militum deprived the praetorian prefecture altogether of its military character but left it the highest civil office of the empire. The following is a list of all prefects of the Praetorian Guard. The list is presumed to be due to the lack of sources documenting the exact number of persons who held the post, what their names were. Overlapping terms on the list indicate dual command, the praetorian guard in the political and social life of Julio-Claudian Rome. The Pretorian Prefect from Commodus to Diocletian, Chicago, Illinois, University of Chicago Press. Miller, M. C. J. Abbreviations in Latin, Guard Prefects of Trajan and Hadrian. The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol.70
33.
Sejanus
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Lucius Aelius Sejanus, commonly known as Sejanus, was an ambitious soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. An equestrian by birth, Sejanus rose to power as prefect of the Roman imperial bodyguard, known as the Praetorian Guard, during the 20s, Sejanus gradually accumulated power by consolidating his influence over Tiberius and eliminating potential political opponents, including the emperors son, Drusus Julius Caesar. When Tiberius withdrew to Capri in 26, Sejanus was left in control of the administration of the empire, for a time the most influential and feared citizen of Rome, Sejanus suddenly fell from power in 31, the year his career culminated with the consulship. Amidst suspicions of conspiracy against Tiberius, Sejanus was arrested and executed, Sejanus was born in 20 BC at Volsinii, Etruria, into the family of Lucius Seius Strabo. The Seii were Romans of the class, the lower of the two upper social classes of the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. Strabo married into equally illustrious families and he may have married a daughter of Quintus Aelius Tubero, allying himself with the more prestigious Aelian gens. Lucius Seius Tubero, who became consul in 18, was probably his son. Strabos last wife was Cosconia Gallita, sister of Servius Cornelius Lentulus Maluginensis and Publius Cornelius Lentulus Scipio, Sejanus could have been a child of this marriage. He was later adopted into the Aelian gens by Gaius Aelius Gallus, Sejanus uncle, Junius Blaesus, distinguished himself as a military commander, he became proconsul of Africa in 21 and earned triumphal honors by crushing the rebellion of Tacfarinas. According to the ancient historian Tacitus, Sejanus was also a favourite of the wealthy Marcus Gavius Apicius. With Apicata, Sejanus had three children, two sons and one daughter, Strabo, Capito Aelianus and Junilla and it is likely that Sejanus father Strabo came to the attention of Augustus through his fathers connection with Maecenas. Sometime after 2 BC, Strabo was appointed prefect of the Praetorian Guard and this office he carried on dutifully and without incident until the death of Augustus in 14. Little is known about the life Sejanus led prior to this date and it was upon the accession of Tiberius in 14, that Sejanus was appointed prefect of the Praetorian Guard as the colleague of his father Strabo, and began his rise to prominence. The Praetorian Guard was a unit of the Roman army formed by Augustus in 27 BC, with the specific function to serve as a bodyguard to the emperor. Much more than a guard however, the Praetorians also managed the day-to-day care of the city, such as general security and civil administration. Furthermore, their presence served as a constant reminder to the people, the practice of joint leadership between two prefects was abandoned, and Sejanus himself appointed the centurions and tribunes. With these changes in effect, Sejanus now commanded the loyalty of a force of around 12,000 soldiers. The facade of Augustus was no longer maintained, and Tiberius openly displayed the strength of the guard at parades, in his capacity of Praetorian prefect, Sejanus quickly became a trusted advisor to Tiberius
34.
Paestum
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Paestum was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia. The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 600 to 450 BC, the city walls and amphitheatre are largely intact, and the bottom of the walls of many other structures remain, as well as paved roads. The site is open to the public, and there is a national museum within it. After its foundation by Greek colonists under the name of Poseidonia it was conquered by the local Lucanians. The Lucanians renamed it to Paistos and the Romans gave the city its current name, as Pesto or Paestum, the town became a bishopric, but it was abandoned in the Early Middle Ages, and left undisturbed and largely forgotten until the eighteenth century. Today the remains of the city are found in the frazione of Paestum. The modern settlement, directly to the south of the site, is a popular seaside resort. Much the most celebrated features of the site today are the three temples in the Archaic version of the Greek Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC. All are typical of the period, with massive colonnades having a pronounced entasis. Above the columns, only the second Temple of Hera retains most of its entablature, the two temples of Hera are right next to each other, while the Temple of Athena is on the other side of the town center. There were other temples, both Greek and Roman, which are far less well-preserved, Paestum is far from any sources of good marble. The three main temples had few stone reliefs, perhaps using painting instead, painted terracotta was for some detailed parts of the structure. The large pieces of terracotta that have survived are in the museum, the whole ancient city of Paestum covers an area of approximately 120 hectares. It is only the 25 hectares that contain the three temples and the other main buildings that have been excavated. The other 95 hectares remain on land and have not been excavated. The city is surrounded by walls that still stand. The walls are approximately 4750 m long,5 –7 m thick and 15 m high, positioned along the wall are 24 square and round towers. There may have been as many as 28, but some of them were destroyed during the construction of a highway during the century that effectively cut the site in two
35.
National Archaeological Museum of Spain
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The National Archaeological Museum of Spain is a museum in Madrid, Spain. It is located on Serrano Street beside the Plaza de Colón, the museum was founded in 1867 by a Royal Decree of Isabella II as a depository for numismatic, archaeological, ethnographical and decorative art collections of the Spanish monarchs. The museum was located in the Embajadores district of Madrid. In 1895, it moved to a building designed specifically to house it, in 1968, renovation and extension works considerably increased its area. The museum closed for renovation in 2008 and reopened in April 2014, the remodelled museum concentrates on its core archaeological role, rather than decorative arts. The collection includes, among others, Prehistoric, Egyptian, Celtic, Iberian, Greek and Roman antiquities and medieval objects
36.
Divorce
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Divorce should not be confused with annulment, which declares the marriage null and void, with legal separation or de jure separation or with de facto separation. Reasons for divorce vary, from sexual incompatibility or lack of independence for one or both spouses to a personality clash, the only countries that do not allow divorce are the Philippines, the Vatican City and the British Crown Dependency of Sark. The Vatican City is a state, which has no procedure for divorce. Countries that have relatively recently legalized divorce are Italy, Portugal, Brazil, Spain, Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia, Andorra, Ireland, Chile, grounds for divorce vary widely from country to country. Marriage may be seen as a contract, a status, or a combination of these, where it is seen as a contract, the refusal or inability of one spouse to perform the obligations stipulated in the contract may constitute a ground for divorce for the other spouse. In contrast, in countries, divorce is purely no fault. Many jurisdictions offer both the option of a no fault divorce as well as an at fault divorce and this is the case, for example, in many US states. Though divorce laws vary between jurisdictions, there are two approaches to divorce, fault based and no-fault based. In some jurisdictions one spouse may be forced to pay the fees of another spouse. Laws vary as to the period before a divorce is effective. However, issues of division of property are determined by the law of the jurisdiction in which the property is located. In Europe, divorce laws differ from country to country, reflecting differing legal and cultural traditions, in some countries, particularly in some former communist countries, divorce can be obtained only on one single general ground of irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. Yet, what such a breakdown of the marriage is interpreted very differently from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Separation constitutes a ground of divorce in some European countries. g. in the laws of Latvia. Divorce laws are not static, they often change reflecting evolving social norms of societies, some countries have completely overhauled their divorce laws, such as Spain in 2005, and Portugal in 2008. A new divorce law also came into force in September 2007 in Belgium, bulgaria also modified its divorce regulations in 2009. e. The negotiations with the participation of an advocate or agreement made before the registrar of Public Registry Office, Austria, instead, is a European country where the divorce law still remains conservative. The liberalization of laws is not without opposition, particularly in the United States
37.
Nero Claudius Drusus
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Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, born Decimus Claudius Drusus, also called Drusus Claudius Nero, Drusus, Drusus I, Nero Drusus, or Drusus the Elder was a Roman politician and military commander. He was a patrician Claudian on his fathers side but his maternal grandmother was from a plebeian family. He was the son of Livia Drusilla and the stepson of her second husband. He launched the first major Roman campaigns across the Rhine and began the conquest of Germania, becoming the first Roman general to reach the Weser, in 12 BC, Drusus led a successful campaign into Germania, subjugating the Sicambri. Later that year he led an expedition against Germanic tribes along the North Sea coast, conquering the Batavi and the Frisii. In 11 BC, he conquered the Usipetes and the Marsi, in 10 BC, he launched a campaign against the Chatti and the resurgent Sicambri, subjugating both. The following year, while serving as consul, he conquered the Mattiaci and defeated the Marcomanni and the Cherusci, however, Drusus died later that year, depriving Rome of one of its best generals. Drusus was the youngest son of Livia Drusilla from her marriage to Tiberius Claudius Nero, Drusus was born between mid-March and mid-April 38 BC, three months after Livia married Augustus on 17 January. Gerhard Radke has proposed the date of March 28 as his most likely birthday, rumors arose that Augustus was the childs real father, although this has never been authoritatively proven. Claudius, however, encouraged the rumor during his reign as emperor to create an impression of more direct lineage from Augustus. According to Suetonius, Drusus was originally given Decimus as his praenomen, Nero was a traditional cognomen of the Claudii, whereas Drusus was given to a branch of the gens Livia. Using a cognomen such as Nero as a first name was unusual, Drusus was raised in Claudius Neros house with his brother, the future emperor Tiberius, until his legal fathers death. The two brothers developed a close relationship that would last the rest of their lives. Tiberius named his eldest son after his brother, and Drusus did likewise, Drusus married Antonia Minor, the daughter of Mark Antony and Augustus sister, Octavia Minor, and gained a reputation of being completely faithful to her. Their children were Germanicus, Claudius, a daughter named Livilla, after Drusus death, Antonia never remarried, though she outlived him by nearly five decades. Three emperors were direct descendants of Drusus, his son Claudius, his grandson Caligula, Augustus bestowed many honors on his stepsons. In 19 BC, Drusus was granted the ability to hold all public offices five years before the minimum age, when Tiberius left Italy during his term as praetor in 16 BC, Drusus legislated in his place. He became quaestor the following year, fighting against Raetian bandits in the Alps, Drusus repelled them, gaining honors, but was unable to smash their forces, and required reinforcement from Tiberius
38.
Eulogy
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A eulogy is a speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, especially one who recently died or retired or as a term of endearment. Eulogies may be given as part of funeral services and they take place in a funeral home during or after a wake. However, some denominations either discourage or do not permit eulogies at services to maintain respect for traditions, eulogies can also praise people who are still alive. This normally takes place on occasions like birthdays, office parties, retirement celebrations. Catholic priests are prohibited by the rubrics of the Mass from presenting a eulogy for the deceased in place of a homily during a funeral Mass, the modern use of the word eulogy was first documented in the 15th century and came from the Medieval Latin term eulogium. Eulogium at that time has turned into the shorter eulogy of today. Eulogies are usually delivered by a member or a close family friend in the case of a dead person. For a living eulogy given in such cases as a retirement, on occasions, eulogies are given to those who are severely ill or elderly in order to express words of love and gratitude before they die. Eulogies are not limited to people, however, places or things can also be given eulogies. A successful eulogy may provide comfort or inspiration, as well as establishing a connection to the person whom the eulogy is in behalf of, the following section will explore some well-known eulogies that have done just that. President Reagan’s eulogy for the Challenger space shuttle crew, “I know it is hard to understand, it’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons, the future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted, it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them. ”Charles Spencer’s eulogy for Princess Diana, “Diana was the essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty. ”Jawaharlal Nehru’s eulogy for Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. A great disaster is a symbol to us to all the big things of life and forget the small things. Some of them are meant to be a biography of the person’s life. The short biography is a retelling of what the individual went through in his life. This can be done to highlight major points in the deceased’s life, another version is by telling a more personal view on what the individual did. It entails retelling memories that are shared between the storyteller and the deceased, memories, impressions, and experiences are all things that can be included in a retelling of the personal eulogy
39.
Rostra
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The Rostra was a large platform built in the city of Rome that stood during the republican and imperial periods. Speakers would stand on the rostra and face the side of the comitium towards the senate house. It is often referred to as a suggestus or tribunal, the first form of which dates back to the Roman Kingdom and it derives its name from the six rostra which were captured during the victory at Antium in 338 BC and mounted to its side. Originally, the term meant a single structure located within the Comitium space near the Forum, magistrates, politicians, advocates and other orators spoke to the assembled people of Rome from this highly honored, and elevated spot. Consecrated by the Augurs as a templum, the original Rostra was built as early as the 6th century BC and this Rostra was replaced and enlarged a number of times but remained in the same site for centuries. Julius Caesar rearranged the Comitium and Forum spaces and repositioned the Senate Curia at the end of the republican period and he moved the Rostra out of the Comitium. This took away the position the curia had held within the whole of the forum. Augustus, his grand-nephew and first Roman emperor, finished what Caesar had begun and this New Rostra became known as the Rostra Augusti. What remains in the excavated forum today, next to the Arch of Septimius Severus has endured several restorations and alterations throughout its historical use, the term Rostrum, referring to a podium for a speaker is directly derived from the use of the term Rostra. One stands in front of a Rostrum and one stands upon the Rostra, while, eventually, there were many rostra within the city of Rome and its republic and empire, then, as now, Rostra alone refers to a specific structure. Before the Forum Romanum, the Comitium was the first designated spot for all political and judicial activity, a succession of earlier shrines and altars is mentioned in early Roman writings as the first suggestum. It consisted of a shrine to the god Volcan, that had two separate altars built at different periods and this early Etruscan mundus altar originally sat in front of a temple that would later be converted into the Curia Hostilia. During the late Republic the rostra was used as a place to display the heads of defeated political enemies, gaius Marius and consul Lucius Cornelius Cinna captured Rome in 87 BC and placed the head of the defeated consul, Gnaeus Octavius, on the Rostra. The practice was continued by Sulla and Mark Antony, who ordered that Ciceros hands, brutus and Cassius spoke from the Rostra to an unenthusiastic crowd in the Forum after the assassination of Caesar in 44 BC. Millar comments that during the late Republic, when violence became a feature of public meetings, physical control. Before an assembly, the magistrate, acting as augur, had to take the auspices in the inaugurated area on the Rostra from which he was to conduct the proceedings. If the omens were favorable and no other magistrate announced unfavorable omens, heralds did so from the Rostra and from the City walls. During an assembly, magistrates, senators and private citizens spoke on pending legislation or for or against candidates for office, before bills were presented for voting, a herald read them to the crowd from the Rostra
40.
Battle of Actium
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Octavians fleet was commanded by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, while Antonys fleet was supported by the power of Queen Cleopatra of Ptolemaic Egypt. Octavians victory enabled him to consolidate his power over Rome and its dominions and he adopted the title of Princeps and some years later was awarded the title of Augustus by the Roman Senate. This became the name by which he was known in later times, the battle also marked the start of about three centuries of unequalled Roman naval supremacy over the entirety of the Mediterranean and beyond. The alliance between Octavian, Antony and Lepidus, commonly known as the Second Triumvirate, was renewed for a term in 38 BC. However, the triumvirate broke down when Octavian saw Caesarion, the son of Julius Caesar and Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt. This occurred when Mark Antony, the other most influential member of the triumvirate, abandoned his wife, afterwards he moved to Egypt to start a long-term romance with Cleopatra, becoming the de facto stepfather to Caesarion. Such an affair was doomed to become a political scandal, Antony was inevitably perceived by Octavian and the majority of the Roman Senate as the leader of a separatist movement that threatened to break the unity of the Roman Republic. Both Octavian and Antony had fought against their enemies in the civil war that followed the assassination of Caesar. After years of cooperation with Octavian, Antony started to act independently, eventually raising his rivals suspicion that he was vying to become sole master of Rome. As a personal challenge to Octavians prestige, Antony tried to get Caesarion accepted as an heir of Caesar. Antony and Cleopatra formally elevated Caesarion, then 13, to power in 34 BC, giving him the vague, being a son of Caesar, such an entitlement was felt as a threat to Roman republican traditions. According to a belief, Antony had once offered a diadem to Caesar. It was also said that Antony intended to move the capital of the empire to Alexandria, as the Second Triumvirate formally expired on the last day of 33 BC, Antony wrote to the Senate that he did not wish to be reappointed. He hoped that he might be regarded by them as their champion against the ambition of Octavian, the causes of mutual dissatisfaction between the two had been continually accumulating. Antony complained that Octavian had exceeded his powers in deposing Lepidus, in taking over the countries held by Sextus Pompeius, during 32 BC, a third of the Senate and both consuls allied with Antony. The consuls had determined to conceal the extent of Antonys demands, after staying with his allies at Samos, Antony moved to Athens. His land forces, which had been in Armenia, came down to the coast of Asia, Octavian was not behind in his strategic preparations. Military operations began in 31 BC, when Octavians general Agrippa captured Methone, in addition to the deposition Octavian procured a vote for a proclamation of war against Cleopatra – well understood to mean against Antony, though he was not named
41.
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
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Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman consul, statesman, general and architect. As a result of these victories Octavian became the first Roman Emperor, Agrippa assisted Augustus in making Rome a city of marble and renovating aqueducts to give all Romans, from every social class, access to the highest quality public services. He was responsible for the creation of many baths, porticoes and gardens, Agrippa was also father-in-law to the second Emperor Tiberius, maternal grandfather to Caligula, and maternal great-grandfather to the Emperor Nero. Agrippa was born between 64–62 BC, in an uncertain location and his father was perhaps called Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa. He had a brother whose name was also Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa. The family had not been prominent in Roman public life, however, Agrippa was about the same age as Octavian, and the two were educated together and became close friends. Despite Agrippas association with the family of Julius Caesar, his brother chose another side in the civil wars of the 40s BC. When Catos forces were defeated, Agrippas brother was taken prisoner and it is not known whether Agrippa fought against his brother in Africa, but he probably served in Caesars campaign of 46–45 BC against Gnaeus Pompeius, which culminated in the Battle of Munda. Caesar regarded him highly enough to him with Octavius in 45 BC to study in Apollonia with the Macedonian legions. In the fourth month of their stay in Apollonia the news of Julius Caesars assassination in March 44 BC reached them. Agrippa and another friend, Quintus Salvidienus Rufus, advised Octavius to march on Rome with the troops from Macedonia, after his arrival, he learned that Caesar had adopted him as his legal heir. Octavius at this time took Caesars name, but modern historians refer to him as Octavian during this period, after Octavians return to Rome, he and his supporters realised they needed the support of legions. Agrippa helped Octavian to levy troops in Campania, once Octavian had his legions, he made a pact with Mark Antony and Lepidus, legally established in 43 BC as the Second Triumvirate. Octavian and his consular colleague Quintus Pedius arranged for Caesars assassins to be prosecuted in their absence and it may have been in the same year that Agrippa began his political career, holding the position of Tribune of the Plebs, which granted him entry to the Senate. In 42 BC, Agrippa probably fought alongside Octavian and Antony in the Battle of Philippi, however, Salvidienus remained Octavians main general at this time. In July 40, while Agrippa was occupied with the Ludi Apollinares that were the praetors responsibility, Agrippa advanced on him, forcing him to withdraw. However, the Triumvirate proved unstable, and in August 40 both Sextus and Antony invaded Italy, Agrippas success in retaking Sipontum from Antony helped bring an end to the conflict. Agrippa was among the intermediaries through whom Antony and Octavian agreed once more upon peace, during the discussions Octavian learned that Salvidienus had offered to betray him to Antony, with the result that Salvidienus was prosecuted and either executed or committed suicide
42.
Marcus Claudius Marcellus (Julio-Claudian dynasty)
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Marcus Claudius Marcellus was the eldest son of Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, a former Roman consul, and of Octavia Minor, sister of Caesar Augustus, and hence was Augustus nephew. He married the emperors daughter Julia two years prior to his death, and served in that year,25 BC. He was given preference and so was elected at an young age as a curule aedile, a magistrates office. His ambitions are said to have him into conflict with Agrippa and with others, he is described as the presumptive monarchic heir of Augustus, or as his beloved nephew. He died at c.19 years of age, in Baiae, Campania, Italy, in 23 BC, and was buried in the mausoleum of Augustus, specific cause of death uncertain. His mother Octavia built a library in his honor, and Augustus fondness was expressed in his funeral oration, though dying young and unproven, Marcellus position led to his celebration by Sextus Propertius and by Virgil in the Aeneid. Marcellus, born 42 BC, was the eldest son of Augustuss sister Octavia Minor and Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, a former consul and he was descended through his father from Marcus Claudius Marcellus, a famous general in the Second Punic War. Augustus had no sons, and Marcellus was one of his closest relatives, Marcellus was therefore engaged to Pompeia, daughter of Sextus Pompey at the age of three, when his uncle needed to solidify a peace with Sextus Pompey. Marcellus was seen often in public with Augustus as he grew older, including at his triumphs over Mark Antony and Cleopatra, and in a campaign against the Cantabri. In 25 BC, just two years before his death, Marcellus was married to Augustus only daughter, Julia the Elder, on Augustuss falling ill at this period all were expecting that Marcellus would be preferred for Augustuss successor, according to Dio. He was, we are told, a man of noble qualities, cheerful in mind and disposition. According to historians, this supports the suggestion in Tacitus and other sources that other potential heirs such as Tiberius. In addition, Dio states that, well understood that Agrippa was exceedingly beloved by the people and he preferred not to seem to be committing the supreme power to him on his own responsibility. And Agrippa straightway set out from the city, but did not reach Syria, instead, acting with more than his usual moderation, he sent his lieutenants thither. In the same year as his marriage,25 BC, Marcellus served under Augustus in Spain, according to Tacitus, Marcellus was also appointed to the College of Pontiffs by Augustus. Marcellus ambitions are said to have him into conflict with Agrippa. He is variously described as being the presumptive heir of Augustus, or as beloved by Augustus as nephew and son-in‑law. His death was ascribed to Livia, as reiterated skeptically by Cassius Dio, whether he died of an infectious disease, or food or other poisoning, or another ailment is uncertain
43.
Quaestor
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A quaestor was a public official in Ancient Rome. The position served different functions depending on the period, in the Roman Kingdom, quaestores parricidii were appointed by the king to investigate and handle murders. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials that supervised the state treasury and it was the lowest ranking position in the cursus honorum. In modern usage in Italy and Romania, a quaestor is a ranking officer on the police force. In some organizations, a quaestor is the officer that oversees its finances, the earliest quaestors were quaestores parricidii, an office dating back to the Kingdom of Rome. Quaestores parricidii were chosen to investigate crimes, and may have been appointed as needed rather than holding a permanent position. Ancient authors disagree on the manner of selection for this office as well as on its earliest institution. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials who supervised the treasury and financial affairs of the state, its armies, the quaestors tasked with financial supervision were also called quaestores aerarii, because they oversaw the aerarium in the Temple of Saturn. The earliest origins of the office is obscure, but by about 420 BC there were four quaestors elected each year by the Comitia Tributa, after 267 BC, the number was expanded to ten. The office of quaestor, usually a former broad-striped tribune, was adopted as the first official post of the cursus honorum, once elected as quaestor, a Roman man earned the right to sit in the Senate and began progressing through the cursus honorum. Quaestors were also given a fasces and were entitled to one lictor, every Roman consul, the highest elected official in the cursus honorum, and every provincial governor was appointed a quaestor. Some quaestors were assigned to work in the city and others in the provinces where their responsibilities could include being recruited into the military, some provincial quaestors were assigned as staff to military generals or served as second-in-command to governors in the Roman provinces. Still others were assigned to oversee military finances, lucius Cornelius Sullas reforms in 81 BC raised the number of quaestors to 20 and the minimum age for a quaestorship was 30 for patricians and 32 for plebeians. There were at that time twenty Quæstors elected annually, some of whom remained in Rome, when a Consul took the field with an army, he always had a Quæstor with him. This had become the case so generally that the Quæstor became, as it were, constantine the Great created the office quaestor sacri palatii which functioned as the Roman Empires senior legal official. The quaestor sacri palatii survived long into the Byzantine Empire, although its duties were altered to match the quaesitor, the term is last attested in 14th century Byzantium as a purely honorific title. Quaestor derives from the Latin verb quaero, quaerere, meaning to inquire, the job title has traditionally been understood as deriving from the original investigative function of the quaestores parricidii. However, this connection has been questioned by modern scholars, in Italy a quaestor heads the police of his province, and his office is called questura
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