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Caesar's Forum
The Forum of Caesar, also known by the Latin Forum Iulium or Forum Julium, Forum Caesaris,Hornblower, Simon and Antony Spawforth. ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary''. 3d Ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. was a forum built by Julius Caesar near the Forum Romanum in Rome in 46 BC. Construction Caesar decided to construct a forum bearing his name in the northeast section of the Forum Romanum, and purchased some very expensive parcels of land in that area (the final cost was said to be 100,000,000 sesterces). Forum construction began probably in 51 BC, although Cicero and Gaius Oppius were entrusted with purchasing the parcels of land on Caesar's behalf as early as 54 BC. On the eve of the Battle of Pharsalus in 48, Caesar vowed a temple to Venus Victrix, the legendary progenitor of his own clan, the ''gens Iulia''. This original dedication was done because she was Pompey's favourite goddess, and Caesar hoped to gain the goddess's favour before the battle against Pompey. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Regio VIII Forum Romanum
The Regio VIII Forum Romanum Magnum is the eighth regio of imperial Rome, under Augustus's administrative reform. Regio VIII took its name from the Roman Forum, the political centre of Ancient Rome. Geographic extent and important features Regio VIII was the central region of Rome, both geographically and politically. In extent, the region was bordered by the Servian Wall to its northeast and the Palatine Hill to the southeast, while the western outcrop of the Quirinal Hill and the Via Sacra formed its eastern boundaries. It therefore included the Capitoline Hill, the valley between the Palatine and the Capitoline hills (where the Roman Forum is nestled), and the area between Velian Hill and the Palatine just before the point where the Arch of Titus straddles the Via Sacra. A measurement taken at the end of the 4th century recorded that the perimeter of the region was 13,067 Roman feet (approximately 3.86 km). The region was dominated by the massive sanctuary of Rome that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gens Julia
The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in 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 gens is perhaps best known, however, for Gaius Julius Caesar, the dictator and grand uncle of the emperor Augustus, through whom the name was passed to the so-called Julio-Claudian dynasty of the first century AD. The Julius became very common in imperial times, as the descendants of persons enrolled as citizens under the early emperors began to make their mark in history.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. II, pp. 642, 643. Origin The Julii were of Alban origin, mentioned as one of the leading Alban houses, which Tullus Hostilius removed to Rome upon the destruction of Alba Longa. The Julii also existed at an early period at Bovillae, evidenced by a very a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vibia Sabina
Vibia Sabina (13 August 83–136/137) was a Roman Empress, wife and second cousin once removed to the Roman Emperor Hadrian. She was the daughter of Matidia (niece of Roman Emperor Trajan) and suffect consul Lucius Vibius Sabinus. Early life After her father's death in 84, Sabina, along with her half-sister Matidia Minor, went to live with their maternal grandmother, Marciana. They were raised in the household of Trajan and his wife Plotina. Sabina married Hadrian in 100, at the empress Plotina's request. Hadrian succeeded her great uncle in 117. Sabina's mother Matidia (Hadrian's second cousin) was also fond of Hadrian and allowed him to marry her daughter. Empress Sabina accumulated more public honors in Rome and the provinces than any imperial woman had enjoyed since the first empress, Augustus’ wife Livia. Indeed, Sabina is the first woman whose image features on a regular and continuous series of coins minted at Rome. She was the most traveled and visible empress t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hadrian
Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania Baetica and he came from a branch of the gens Aelia that originated in the Picenean town of Hadria, the ''Aeli Hadriani''. His father was of senatorial rank and was a first cousin of Emperor Trajan. Hadrian married Trajan's grand-niece Vibia Sabina early in his career before Trajan became emperor and possibly at the behest of Trajan's wife Pompeia Plotina. Plotina and Trajan's close friend and adviser Lucius Licinius Sura were well disposed towards Hadrian. When Trajan died, his widow claimed that he had nominated Hadrian as emperor immediately before his death. Rome's military and Senate approved Hadrian's succession, but four leading senators were unlawfully put to death soon after. They had opposed Hadrian or seemed to threaten his s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pliny The Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Natural History''), which became an editorial model for encyclopedias. He spent most of his spare time studying, writing, and investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field. His nephew, Pliny the Younger, wrote of him in a letter to the historian Tacitus: Among Pliny's greatest works was the twenty-volume work ''Bella Germaniae'' ("The History of the German Wars"), which is no longer extant. ''Bella Germaniae'', which began where Aufidius Bassus' ''Libri Belli Germanici'' ("The War with the Germans") left off, was used as a source by other prominent Roman historians, including Plutarch, Tacitus and Suetonius. Tacitus—who many scholars agree had never travelled in Germania—used ''Bella Germani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cuirass
A cuirass (; french: cuirasse, la, coriaceus) is a piece of armour that covers the torso, formed of one or more pieces of metal or other rigid material. The word probably originates from the original material, leather, from the French '' cuirace'' and Latin word '' coriacea''. The use of the term "cuirass" generally refers to both the chest plate (or breastplate) and the back piece together; whereas a breastplate only protects the front, a cuirass protects both the front and the back. Description In Hellenistic and Roman times, the musculature of the male torso was idealized in the form of the muscle cuirass or "heroic cuirass" (in French the ''cuirasse esthétique'') sometimes further embellished with symbolic representation in relief, familiar in the Augustus of Prima Porta and other heroic representations in official Roman sculpture. As parts of the actual military equipment of classical antiquity, cuirasses and corsets of bronze, iron, or some other rigid substance were us ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trajan's Column
Trajan's Column ( it, Colonna Traiana, la, Columna Traiani) is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Apollodorus of Damascus at the order of the Roman Senate. It is located in Trajan's Forum, north of the Roman Forum. Completed in AD 113, the freestanding column is most famous for its spiral bas relief, which depicts the wars between the Romans and Dacians (101–102 and 105–106). Its design has inspired numerous victory columns, both ancient and modern. The structure is about in height, including its large pedestal. The shaft is made from a series of 20 colossal Carrara marble drums, each weighing about 32 tons, with a diameter of . The frieze winds around the shaft 23 times. Inside the shaft, a spiral staircase of 185 steps provides access to a viewing deck at the top. The capital block of Trajan's Column weighs 53.3 tons, and ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basilica Argentaria
The Basilica Argentaria is a portico with pillars lining the Temple of Venus Genetrix in the Forum of Caesar in Rome (Italy). The name only appears in late sources of the age of Constantine. History The building was erected under Trajan, with the purpose of adapting the slopes of the Capitoline Hill after the removal of the gap between it and the Quirinal Hill. Design It was higher than the level of the square and the access was through two staircases on the south-west end of the portico. The portico had two rows of pillars made of tuff stones and its naves were covered with barrel vaults, partially preserved. As the basilica rose in an obligated space, it has an irregular drawing, turning round the temple and probably continuing out of the present archaeological area, close to the south-west exedra of the Trajan's Forum. Remains The plaster covering the back wall of the building, still preserved, displays several graffiti, some of which quote lines of the ''Aeneid'': this detail ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trajan
Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presided over one of the greatest military expansions in Roman history and led the empire to attain its greatest territorial extent by the time of his death. He is also known for his philanthropic rule, overseeing extensive public building programs and implementing social welfare policies, which earned him his enduring reputation as the second of the Five Good Emperors who presided over an era of peace within the Empire and prosperity in the Mediterranean world. Trajan was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in present-day Spain, a small Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in the province of Hispania Baetica. He came from a branch of the gens Ulpia, the ''Ulpi Traiani'', that originated in the Umbrian town of Tuder. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Domitian
Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Described as "a ruthless but efficient autocrat", his authoritarian style of ruling put him at sharp odds with the Senate, whose powers he drastically curtailed. Domitian had a minor and largely ceremonial role during the reigns of his father and brother. After the death of his brother, Domitian was declared emperor by the Praetorian Guard. His 15-year reign was the longest since that of Tiberius. As emperor, Domitian strengthened the economy by revaluing the Roman coinage, expanded the border defenses of the empire, and initiated a massive building program to restore the damaged city of Rome. Significant wars were fought in Britain, where his general Agricola attempted to conquer Caledonia (Scotland), and in Dacia, where Do ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quirinal Hill
The Quirinal Hill (; la, Collis Quirinalis; it, Quirinale ) is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the official residence of the Italian head of state, who resides in the Quirinal Palace; by metonymy "the Quirinal" has come to stand for the Italian president. The Quirinal Palace has an extension of 1.2 million square feet. History According to Roman legend, the Quirinal Hill was the site of a small village of the Sabines, and king Titus Tatius would have lived there after the peace between Romans and Sabines. These Sabines had erected altars in the honour of their deity, god Quirinus (naming the hill by this god). Tombs from the 8th century BC to the 7th century BC that confirm a likely presence of a Sabine settlement area have been discovered; on the hill, there was the tomb of Quirinus, which Lucius Papirius Cursor transformed into a Temple of Quirinus, temple for his Roman Triumph, triumph after the third Samnium, S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capitoline Hill
The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. The word ''Capitolium'' first meant the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus later built here, and afterwards it was used for the whole hill (and even other temples of Jupiter on other hills), thus ''Mons Capitolinus'' (the adjective noun of ''Capitolium''). In an etymological myth, ancient sources connect the name to ''caput'' ("head", "summit") and the tale was that, when laying the foundations for the temple, the head of a man was found, some sources even saying it was the head of some ''Tolus'' or ''Olus''. The ''Capitolium'' was regarded by the Romans as indestructible, and was adopted as a symbol of eternity. By the 16th century, ''Capitolinus'' had become ''Capitolino'' in Italian, and ''Capitolium'' ''Campidoglio''. The Capitoline Hill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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