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A Synopsis of Byzantine History, –
Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-40474-8 - John Skylitzes: A Synopsis of Byzantine History, 811–1057 John Wortley Frontmatter More information JOHN SKYLITZES: A synopsis of Byzantine history, – John Skylitzes’ extraordinary Middle Byzantine chronicle covers the reigns of the Byzantine emperors from the death of Nicephorus I in to the deposition of Michael VI in , and provides the only surviving continuous narrative of the late tenth and early eleventh centuries. A high offi cial living in the late eleventh century, Skylitzes used a number of existing Greek histories (some of them no longer extant) to create a digest of the previous three centuries. It is with- out question the major historical source for the period, cited con- stantly in modern scholarship, and has never before been available in English. Th is edition features introductions by Jean-Claude Cheynet and Bernard Flusin, along with extensive notes by Cheynet. It will be an essential and exciting addition to the libraries of all historians of the Byzantine age. is Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Manitoba. He has published widely on the Byzantine era, and completed several translations to date, including Les Récits édifi - ants de Paul, évêque de Monembasie, et d’autres auteurs (), Th e ‘Spiritual Meadow’ of John Moschos, including the additional tales edited by Nissen and Mioni (), Th e spiritually benefi cial tales of Paul, Bishop of Monembasia and of other authors () and John Skylitzes: A Synopsis of Histories (AD –) , a provisional transla- tion published -
Roman-Barbarian Marriages in the Late Empire R.C
ROMAN-BARBARIAN MARRIAGES IN THE LATE EMPIRE R.C. Blockley In 1964 Rosario Soraci published a study of conubia between Romans and Germans from the fourth to the sixth century A.D.1 Although the title of the work might suggest that its concern was to be with such marriages through- out the period, in fact its aim was much more restricted. Beginning with a law issued by Valentinian I in 370 or 373 to the magister equitum Theodosius (C.Th. 3.14.1), which banned on pain of death all marriages between Roman pro- vincials and barbarae or gentiles, Soraci, after assessing the context and intent of the law, proceeded to discuss its influence upon the practices of the Germanic kingdoms which succeeded the Roman Empire in the West. The text of the law reads: Nulli provineialium, cuiuscumque ordinis aut loci fuerit, cum bar- bara sit uxore coniugium, nec ulli gentilium provinciales femina copuletur. Quod si quae inter provinciales atque gentiles adfinitates ex huiusmodi nuptiis extiterit, quod in his suspectum vel noxium detegitur, capitaliter expietur. This was regarded by Soraci not as a general banning law but rather as a lim- ited attempt, in the context of current hostilities with the Alamanni, to keep those barbarians serving the Empire (gentiles)isolated from the general Roman 2 populace. The German lawmakers, however, exemplified by Alaric in his 63 64 interpretatio,3 took it as a general banning law and applied it in this spir- it, so that it became the basis for the prohibition under the Germanic king- doms of intermarriage between Romans and Germans. -
Byzantine Conquests in the East in the 10 Century
th Byzantine conquests in the East in the 10 century Campaigns of Nikephoros II Phocas and John Tzimiskes as were seen in the Byzantine sources Master thesis Filip Schneider s1006649 15. 6. 2018 Eternal Rome Supervisor: Prof. dr. Maaike van Berkel Master's programme in History Radboud Univerity Front page: Emperor Nikephoros II Phocas entering Constantinople in 963, an illustration from the Madrid Skylitzes. The illuminated manuscript of the work of John Skylitzes was created in the 12th century Sicily. Today it is located in the National Library of Spain in Madrid. Table of contents Introduction 5 Chapter 1 - Byzantine-Arab relations until 963 7 Byzantine-Arab relations in the pre-Islamic era 7 The advance of Islam 8 The Abbasid Caliphate 9 Byzantine Empire under the Macedonian dynasty 10 The development of Byzantine Empire under Macedonian dynasty 11 The land aristocracy 12 The Muslim world in the 9th and 10th century 14 The Hamdamids 15 The Fatimid Caliphate 16 Chapter 2 - Historiography 17 Leo the Deacon 18 Historiography in the Macedonian period 18 Leo the Deacon - biography 19 The History 21 John Skylitzes 24 11th century Byzantium 24 Historiography after Basil II 25 John Skylitzes - biography 26 Synopsis of Histories 27 Chapter 3 - Nikephoros II Phocas 29 Domestikos Nikephoros Phocas and the conquest of Crete 29 Conquest of Aleppo 31 Emperor Nikephoros II Phocas and conquest of Cilicia 33 Conquest of Cyprus 34 Bulgarian question 36 Campaign in Syria 37 Conquest of Antioch 39 Conclusion 40 Chapter 4 - John Tzimiskes 42 Bulgarian problem 42 Campaign in the East 43 A Crusade in the Holy Land? 45 The reasons behind Tzimiskes' eastern campaign 47 Conclusion 49 Conclusion 49 Bibliography 51 Introduction In the 10th century, the Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors coming from the Macedonian dynasty. -
The Rhetoric of Corruption in Late Antiquity
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE The Rhetoric of Corruption in Late Antiquity A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Classics by Tim W. Watson June 2010 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Michele R. Salzman, Chairperson Dr. Harold A. Drake Dr. Thomas N. Sizgorich Copyright by Tim W. Watson 2010 The Dissertation of Tim W. Watson is approved: ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Committee Chairperson University of California, Riverside ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In accordance with that filial piety so central to the epistolary persona of Q. Aurelius Symmachus, I would like to thank first and foremost my parents, Lee and Virginia Watson, without whom there would be quite literally nothing, followed closely by my grandmother, Virginia Galbraith, whose support both emotionally and financially has been invaluable. Within the academy, my greatest debt is naturally to my advisor, Michele Salzman, a doctissima patrona of infinite patience and firm guidance, to whom I came with the mind of a child and departed with the intellect of an adult. Hal Drake I owe for his kind words, his critical eye, and his welcome humor. In Tom Sizgorich I found a friend and colleague whose friendship did not diminish even after he assumed his additional role as mentor. Outside the field, I owe a special debt to Dale Kent, who ushered me through my beginning quarter of graduate school with great encouragement and first stirred my fascination with patronage. Lastly, I would like to express my gratitude to the two organizations who have funded the years of my study, the Department of History at the University of California, Riverside and the Department of Classics at the University of California, Irvine. -
A Chronological Particular Timeline of Near East and Europe History
Introduction This compilation was begun merely to be a synthesized, occasional source for other writings, primarily for familiarization with European world development. Gradually, however, it was forced to come to grips with the elephantine amount of historical detail in certain classical sources. Recording the numbers of reported war deaths in previous history (many thousands, here and there!) initially was done with little contemplation but eventually, with the near‐exponential number of Humankind battles (not just major ones; inter‐tribal, dynastic, and inter‐regional), mind was caused to pause and ask itself, “Why?” Awed by the numbers killed in battles over recorded time, one falls subject to believing the very occupation in war was a naturally occurring ancient inclination, no longer possessed by ‘enlightened’ Humankind. In our synthesized histories, however, details are confined to generals, geography, battle strategies and formations, victories and defeats, with precious little revealed of the highly complicated and combined subjective forces that generate and fuel war. Two territories of human existence are involved: material and psychological. Material includes land, resources, and freedom to maintain a life to which one feels entitled. It fuels war by emotions arising from either deprivation or conditioned expectations. Psychological embraces Egalitarian and Egoistical arenas. Egalitarian is fueled by emotions arising from either a need to improve conditions or defend what it has. To that category also belongs the individual for whom revenge becomes an end in itself. Egoistical is fueled by emotions arising from material possessiveness and self‐aggrandizations. To that category also belongs the individual for whom worldly power is an end in itself. -
Emperors and Generals in the Fourth Century Doug Lee Roman
Emperors and Generals in the Fourth Century Doug Lee Roman emperors had always been conscious of the political power of the military establishment. In his well-known assessment of the secrets of Augustus’ success, Tacitus observed that he had “won over the soldiers with gifts”,1 while Septimius Severus is famously reported to have advised his sons to “be harmonious, enrich the soldiers, and despise the rest”.2 Since both men had gained power after fiercely contested periods of civil war, it is hardly surprising that they were mindful of the importance of conciliating this particular constituency. Emperors’ awareness of this can only have been intensified by the prolonged and repeated incidence of civil war during the mid third century, as well as by emperors themselves increasingly coming from military backgrounds during this period. At the same time, the sheer frequency with which armies were able to make and unmake emperors in the mid third century must have served to reinforce soldiers’ sense of their potential to influence the empire’s affairs and extract concessions from emperors. The stage was thus set for a fourth century in which the stakes were high in relations between emperors and the military, with a distinct risk that, if those relations were not handled judiciously, the empire might fragment, as it almost did in the 260s and 270s. 1 Tac. Ann. 1.2. 2 Cass. Dio 76.15.2. Just as emperors of earlier centuries had taken care to conciliate the rank and file by various means,3 so too fourth-century emperors deployed a range of measures designed to win and retain the loyalties of the soldiery. -
Sidonius' World
Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-42921-4 — Reading Sidonius' Epistles M. P. Hanaghan Excerpt More Information 1 CHAPTER 1 Sidonius’ World As a young man in the 440s and 450s Sidonius enjoyed all the traditional markers of the Roman elite: a noble birth, a classical education, a good marriage, privilege, and wealth. 1 By his death in the mid to late 480s the great secular Gallo- Roman aristocrat of his age was a bishop. 2 Barbarians likely lodged in his villa. 3 h ey certainly occupied his see, Clermont. His wife’s father had been murdered shortly after becoming emperor. 4 h e last Roman emperor in the West was dead, and the next generation inspired Sidonius with little coni dence that his belletrism would continue in the family, or even the Gallo- Roman aristocracy. Documenting accurately this fascinating period was not Sidonius’ aim – he checked himself from writing history. 5 If he was, as McLynn claims “Fifth Century Gaul’s … great historian manqué ,” this miss is of his own making. 6 Events during the 1 h e exact date of Sidonius’ marriage to Papianilla, the daughter of Fl. Eparchius Avitus is unclear. Loyen ( 1970a : x) suggested that Sidonius was twenty, Stevens ( 1933 : 19) proposes a slightly later date. For two later assessments of Sidonius’ life see Gregory of Tours 2.22 and Gennadius of Marseilles 92, neither of which may be relied upon with any certainity; Gregory manipulates Sidonius as a source when it suits him and on occasion misreads his meaning, for an example of which see Moorhead ( 2007 : 331), and for detailed analysis Furbetta ( 2015c ). -
Chapter 1 Barbarian Agency and Imperial Withdrawal: the Causes And
Chapter 1 Barbarian agency and imperial withdrawal: the causes and consequences of political change in fourth- and fifth-century Trier and Cologne Introduction Snapshots from the years 310, 410, and 510 reveal that the political landscape of the Rhineland changed almost beyond recognition over the course of three centuries. In 310 AD, Trier was one of the foremost cities of the Roman Empire, acting as a main residence of the Emperor Constantine and the seat of the Gallic praetorian prefecture. In Cologne, meanwhile, the completion of the fortress of Divitia just across the Rhine reinforced the city’s significance in the context of imperial defensive strategy. By 410 AD, however, both the imperial residence and the praetorian prefecture had been removed from Trier, and many frontier troops who had been stationed near Cologne were gone. The Rhineland had suffered an apparently devastating barbarian invasion, that of the Vandals, Alans, and Sueves in 406, and was to face many more attacks in the coming half-century. After the invasion, the legitimate emperors were never to re- establish their firm control in the region, and the reign of the usurper Constantine III (407 - 411) marked the last period of effective imperial rule. Around 510 AD, the last vestiges of imperial political power had vanished, and both Trier and Cologne were part of the Frankish kingdom of Clovis. The speed and extent of this change must have dramatically affected many aspects of life within the cities, and, as such, it is crucial that we seek to understand what brought it about. In so doing, we must consider the fundamental question of whether responsibility for the collapse of imperial power in the Rhineland ultimately lies with the imperial authorities themselves, who withdrew from the region, or with the 11 various barbarian groups, who launched attacks on the frontier provinces and undermined the Empire’s control. -
The Pantheon (Temple of All the Gods)
The Pantheon (temple of all the gods) is a former Roman temple and since the year 609 a Catholic church in Rome, Italy, on the site of an earlier temple commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD). It was rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated 126 AD. Its date of construction is uncertain, because Hadrian chose not to inscribe the new temple but rather to retain the inscription of Agrippa's older temple, which had burned down. The building is cylindrical with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns (eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind) under a pediment. A rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under a coffered concrete dome, with a central opening (oculus) to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 142 feet. It is one of the best-preserved of all Ancient Roman buildings, in large part because it has been in continuous use throughout its history and, since the 7th century, the Pantheon has been in use as a church dedicated to "St. Mary and the Martyrs" but informally known as "Santa Maria Rotonda". The square in front of the Pantheon is called Piazza della Rotonda. The Pantheon is a state property, managed by Italy's Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism. In 2013, it was visited by over 6 million people. -
[J'u(Y I I, 1872
200 NATURE [J'u(y I I, 1872 ployed. A number of tables give some interesting details rigidity of the earth, are so many concurrent evidences that our relative to the n:imber of miners, the machinery in use, planet, if not actually solid to the centre, has a crust far thicker from which may be gathered some idea of than can be accounted for by the theory of a liquid globe, covered and its value, This dis of the several gold fields in only with a crust resulting from superficial cooling." the extent and importance time seems to have had the effect of of Ballarat appears at cussion of the subject at that the colony. Of these fields, that to the front the defenders of the latter theo~y, which, of miners bringing the head of the list, showing a total number in the pJpular mind at least, has a mythological rather than a employed of 13,892, the approximate value of mining plant scientific foundation. It was, therefore, we_ll th,t Sir William being 516,825!.; 134½ square miles of_auriferous ground Thomson should repeat his argument,. are actually worked upon, and 189 aunferous reefs have Mr. Fisher has in this connectioo, in NATURE for January 25, been proved. In this district also occur the deepest referred to the distribution of fluid ignited matter within the shafts, two of which reach the depths of 866 ft. and 900 ft. earth, and to the relation pf volcanoes to great lines of elevation, respectively. The price of Ballarat gold varies from which would seem to show that the local distribution of such 3/. -
The Political and Military Aspects of Accession of Constantine the Great
Graeco-Latina Brunensia 24 / 2019 / 2 https://doi.org/10.5817/GLB2019-2-2 The Political and Military Aspects of Accession of Constantine the Great Stanislav Doležal (University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice) Abstract The article argues that Constantine the Great, until he was recognized by Galerius, the senior ČLÁNKY / ARTICLES Emperor of the Tetrarchy, was an usurper with no right to the imperial power, nothwithstand- ing his claim that his father, the Emperor Constantius I, conferred upon him the imperial title before he died. Tetrarchic principles, envisaged by Diocletian, were specifically put in place to supersede and override blood kinship. Constantine’s accession to power started as a military coup in which a military unit composed of barbarian soldiers seems to have played an impor- tant role. Keywords Constantine the Great; Roman emperor; usurpation; tetrarchy 19 Stanislav Doležal The Political and Military Aspects of Accession of Constantine the Great On 25 July 306 at York, the Roman Emperor Constantius I died peacefully in his bed. On the same day, a new Emperor was made – his eldest son Constantine who had been present at his father’s deathbed. What exactly happened on that day? Britain, a remote province (actually several provinces)1 on the edge of the Roman Empire, had a tendency to defect from the central government. It produced several usurpers in the past.2 Was Constantine one of them? What gave him the right to be an Emperor in the first place? It can be argued that the political system that was still valid in 306, today known as the Tetrarchy, made any such seizure of power illegal. -
The Nephew of Michael Cerularios , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 22:1 (1981:Spring) P.89
SNIPES, KENNETH, A Letter of Michael Psellus to Constantine the Nephew of Michael Cerularios , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 22:1 (1981:Spring) p.89 A Letter of Michael Psellos to Constantine the Nephew of Michael Cerularios Kenneth Snipes N AN ARTICLE listing the unpublished letters of Michael Psellos, I Jean Darrouzes noted that a small group of six letters attrib uted to Psellos is found in three manuscripts: Athas, Mov~ Meyiar17c; Aavpac; 1721 (M 30) fols. 86-98; Bucharest, Academia Republicii Socialiste Romania 737 (587) fols. 214-49; and Cam bridge, Trinity College 1485 (0.10.33) fols. 192-203v. 1 In addi tion to the three manuscripts known to Darrouzes, these six letters are found also in Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, Supplement grec 1334 fols. 108-23v.2 Three of the six (the first, fourth, and sixth) were correctly identified by Darrouzes as letters already published by Sathas or Kurtz-Drexl. 3 Darrouzes, followed by Paul Canart in a later, more comprehensive list of the unpublished letters of Psellos, 4 believed that the other three letters (the second, third, and fifth) had not yet been published. In the case of the third and fifth letters, however, both scholars have been misled by slight differ ences between the word order of their incipits and the incipits of letters 1 and 84 in the large collection of Psellos' letters edited by Sathas. 5 The fifth letter, for example, begins 'Eyw be qJf.11'/V, lepd Kai rpzn6(}1Jre Kerpa).lj, rather than 'Eyw tliv, w lepa Kai rpzn6()17re Kerpa).,~ as in the version in Parisinus gr.