Tyre Hippodrome
The Tyre Hippodrome is a UNESCO World Heritage site of the city of Tyre in south Lebanon dating back to the Second century CE The Expositio, a description of the world written in the second half of the fourth century by an unknown writer about circuses in the Roman empire, names the ''Tyre Hippodrome'' as one of the five best racecourses in the Levant. Geography Placed perpendicular to the south of the Al-Bass Tyre necropolis, the 480 meter long and 90 meter wide horseshoe shaped structure seated twenty thousand spectators who gathered to watch the death-defying sport of chariot racing. Description The place is considered to be one of the largest and best preserved Roman hippodromes of its type in the Roman world. Its well conserved seating section (cavea) is surmounting a long gallery. The start boxes and parts of the median strip (spina) with an obelisk on it are still visible. Each end of the course is marked by still existing stone turning posts (metae). Charioteer ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tyre, Lebanon
Tyre (; ar, صور, translit=Ṣūr; phn, 𐤑𐤓, translit=Ṣūr, Greek language, Greek ''Tyros'', Τύρος) is a city in Lebanon, one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, though in medieval times for some centuries by just a tiny population. It was one of the earliest Phoenician metropolises and the legendary birthplace of Europa (mythology), Europa, her brothers Cadmus and Phoenix (son of Agenor), Phoenix, as well as Carthage's founder Dido (Elissa). The city has many ancient sites, including the Tyre Hippodrome, and was added as a whole to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1984. The historian Ernest Renan noted that "One can call Tyre a city of ruins, built out of ruins". Today Tyre is the fourth largest city in Lebanon after Beirut, Tripoli, Lebanon, Tripoli, and Sidon. It is the capital of the Tyre District in the South Governorate. There were approximately 200,000 inhabitants in the Tyre urban ar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lies to its west across the Mediterranean Sea; its location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland has contributed to its rich history and shaped a cultural identity of religious diversity. It is part of the Levant region of the Middle East. Lebanon is home to roughly six million people and covers an area of , making it the second smallest country in continental Asia. The official language of the state is Arabic, while French is also formally recognized; the Lebanese dialect of Arabic is used alongside Modern Standard Arabic throughout the country. The earliest evidence of civilization in Lebanon dates back over 7000 years, predating recorded history. Modern-day Lebanon was home to the Phoenicians, a m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, scientific or other form of significance. The sites are judged to contain " cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity". To be selected, a World Heritage Site must be a somehow unique landmark which is geographically and historically identifiable and has special cultural or physical significance. For example, World Heritage Sites might be ancient ruins or historical structures, buildings, cities, deserts, forests, islands, lakes, monuments, mountains, or wilderness areas. A World Heritage Site may signify a remarkable accomplishment of humanity, and serve as evidence of our intellectual history on the planet, or it might be a place of great natural beauty. A ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2nd Century In Lebanon
This article lists historical events that occurred between 101–200 in modern-day Lebanon or regarding Lebanese people, its people. Administration Roman emperor Hadrian (reigned 117–138) is said to have considered a division of the overly large province of Syria in 123–124 AD, but it was not until shortly after c. 194 AD that Septimius Severus (r. 193–211) actually undertook this, dividing the province into Coele Syria (Roman province), Syria Coele in the north and Phoenice (Roman province), Phoenice in the south. The province was much larger than the area traditionally called Phoenicia: for example, cities like Emesa and Palmyra and the base of the Legio III Gallica in Raphanea, Raphanaea were now subject to governor in Tyre. Veterans of this military unit were settled in Tyre, which also received the rank of Colonia (Roman), colonia. War of Succession After the death of the 2nd century Roman emperor Commodus, a civil war erupted, in which Berytus, and Sidon supported Pes ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Expositio Totius Mundi Et Gentium
Expositio totius mundi et gentium ("A description of the world and its people") refers to a brief "commercial-geographical" survey written by an anonymous citizen of the Roman Empire living during the reign of Constantius II. The Greek original, composed between AD 350 and 362, is now lost, but comes to us through two Latin translations made during the sixth century. The work is composed of three parts. The first (§ 1-21) describes lands east of the Roman Empire and contains the most legendary and least accurate geographical information. The second part (§ 22–62), the longest, describes the mainland provinces of the Empire, while the third (§ 63–68) describes island provinces. The anonymous author Little is known about the anonymous author of the work, though clues from the text are often used to garner information. While "it has been suggested that he was a rhetor, sophist, merchant, enterpreneur [sic] or a ''vir rusticus''", the work's preoccupation with trade a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tyre Necropolis
The Al-Bass Tyre necropolis is a Lebanese UNESCO World Heritage site in the city of Tyre situated next to the el-Buss refugee camp. The necropolis, constituting the principal entrance of the town in antique times, is to be found on either side of a wide Roman and Byzantine avenue dominated by a triumphal arch of the 2nd century. Other important monumental vestiges of this archaeological area are an aqueduct, which carried water to the city, and a 2nd-century hippodrome. The Roman and Byzantine necropolis Discovered in 1962, the necropolis consists of hundreds of stone and marble sarcophagi from the Roman and Byzantine eras. Several of them have Greek inscriptions or the names of those buried there, or their trade such as "wealthy purple dye manufacturer." Others whose sides and covers are decorated with frescoes and bas-reliefs of works from Homer and others. The Triumphal Arch is one of the most impressive relics of the site. Fallen apart but reconstructed in modern time ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hippodrome
The hippodrome ( el, ἱππόδρομος) was an ancient Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words ''hippos'' (ἵππος; "horse") and ''dromos'' (δρόμος; "course"). The term is used in the modern French language and some others, with the meaning of "horse racecourse". Hence, some present-day horse-racing tracks also include the word "hippodrome" in their names, such as the Hippodrome de Vincennes and the Central Moscow Hippodrome. In the English-speaking world the term is occasionally used for theatres. Overview The Greek hippodrome was similar to the Roman version, the circus. (The hippodrome was not a Roman amphitheatre, which was used for spectator sports, executions, and displays, or a Greek or Roman semicircular amphitheater used for theatrical performances.) The Greek hippodrome was usually set out on the slope of a hill, and the ground taken from one side served to form the embankment on the other side. One en ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cavea
The ''cavea'' (Latin for "enclosure") are the seating sections of Greek and Roman theatres and amphitheatres An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and .... In Roman theatres, the ''cavea'' is traditionally organised in three horizontal sections, corresponding to the social class of the spectators: * the ''ima cavea'' is the lowest part of the ''cavea'' and the one directly surrounding the arena. It was usually reserved for the upper echelons of society. * the ''media cavea'' directly follows the ''ima cavea'' and was open to the general public, though mostly reserved for men. * the ''summa cavea'' is the highest section and was usually open to women and children. Similarly, the front row was called the ''prima cavea'' and the last row was called the ''cavea ultima''. The ''ca ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Metae
The Roman circus (from the Latin word that means "circle") was a large open-air venue used for public events in the ancient Roman Empire. The circuses were similar to the ancient Greek hippodromes, although circuses served varying purposes and differed in design and construction. Along with theatres, amphitheatres, and the similar but much smaller stadiums, circuses were one of the main entertainment sites of the time. Circuses were venues for chariot races, horse races, gladiatorial combat, and performances that commemorated important events of the Empire were performed there. According to Edward Gibbon, in Chapter XXXI of his work ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', the Roman people, at the start of the 5th century: Architectural design The performance space of the Roman circus was normally, despite its name, an oblong rectangle of two linear sections of race track, separated by a median strip running along the length of about two thirds the track, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chariot Racing
Chariot racing ( grc-gre, ἁρματοδρομία, harmatodromia, la, ludi circenses) was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine sports. In Greece, chariot racing played an essential role in aristocratic funeral games from a very early time. With the institution of formal races and permanent racetracks, chariot racing was adopted by many Greek states and their religious festivals. Horses and chariots were very costly. Their ownership was a preserve of the wealthiest aristocrats, whose reputations and status benefitted from offering such extravagant, exciting displays. Their successes could be further broadcast and celebrated through commissioned odes and other poetry. In standard racing practise, each chariot held a single driver and was pulled by four horses, or sometimes two. Drivers and horses risked serious injury or death through collisions and crashes; this added to the excitement and interest for spectators. Most charioteers were slaves or contracte ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Diocletianic Persecution
The Diocletianic or Great Persecution was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. In 303, the emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding Christians' legal rights and demanding that they comply with traditional religious practices. Later edicts targeted the clergy and demanded universal sacrifice, ordering all inhabitants to sacrifice to the gods. The persecution varied in intensity across the empire—weakest in Gaul and Britain, where only the first edict was applied, and strongest in the Eastern provinces. Persecutory laws were nullified by different emperors (Galerius with the Edict of Serdica in 311) at different times, but Constantine and Licinius' Edict of Milan in 313 has traditionally marked the end of the persecution. Christians had been subject to intermittent local discrimination in the empire, but emperors prior to Diocletian were reluctant to issue general laws against the religio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ancient Roman Circuses
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history covers all continents inhabited by humans in the period 3000 BCAD 500. The three-age system periodizes ancient history into the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age, with recorded history generally considered to begin with the Bronze Age. The start and end of the three ages varies between world regions. In many regions the Bronze Age is generally considered to begin a few centuries prior to 3000 BC, while the end of the Iron Age varies from the early first millennium BC in some regions to the late first millennium AD in others. During the time period of ancient history, the world population was already exponentially increasing due to the Neolithic Revolution, which was in full progress. While in 10,000 BC, the world population stood ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |