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The Skystone
''The Skystone'' is a historical fiction novel written by Jack Whyte, which was first published in 1992. The story is told by a Roman Officer called Publius Varrus, who is an expert blacksmith as well as a soldier. In the early fifth century, amid the violent struggles between the people of Britain and the invading Saxons, Picts and Scots, he and his former General, Caius Britannicus, forge the government and military system that will become known as the Round Table, and initiate a chain of events that will lead to the coronation of the High King known as Arthur. Plot summary ;Invasion: The book begins with Publius Varrus laying its framework: he is retelling his history and the history of the Roman withdrawal from Britain. He then begins by talking about an ambush by Celts where he and Caius Britannicus are injured. While thinking about his time spent with Britannicus recovering from these injuries, his thoughts lead to their meeting: Britannicus had been a captive of Berber ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Whyte
Jack Whyte (March 15, 1940February 22, 2021) was a Scottish-Canadian novelist of historical fiction. Born and raised in Scotland, he moved to Canada in 1967. He resided in Kelowna, British Columbia. Early life Whyte was born in Scotland on March 15th, 1940. He resided there until relocating to Canada in 1967. He was employed at a local school for one year, where he taught English. He subsequently worked as an author, musician, and actor. He and his wife, Beverley, initially lived in Alberta before settling in Kelowna in 1996. Writings Whyte's major work was a series of historical novels retelling the story of King Arthur against the backdrop of Roman Britain. This version of the popular legend eschews the use of magic to explain Arthur's ascent to power and instead relies on the historical condition (with some artistic licence) of post-Roman Britain to support the theory that Arthur was meant to counter the anarchy left by the Roman departure from Britain in 410 AD and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Primus Pilus
The ''primus pilus'' or ''primipilus'' was the senior centurion of the first cohort in a Roman legion, a formation of five double-strength centuries of 160 men, was called the ''primus pilus''; he was a career soldier and advisor to the legate. The ''Primus Pilus'' would remain in command for one year. They could continue to serve in the army after their term ended if there was a vacancy in command or if they wished to become an independent commander of an ''auxilia'' unit or the ''praefectus castrorum''. During the Roman Empire, emperor Claudius created the office of ''primus pilus iterum''. To become the ''primus pilus iterum'' an officer must have formerly served as a tribune in the ''vigiles'', ''cohortes urbanae'', or Praetorian Guard. The ''primus pilus iterum'' would hold the responsibility of a Praefectus castrorum but with higher pay. The ''primus pilus'' was a well paid position. They could accumulate enough wealth to become part of the equestrian class. Even if ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Military Engineering
The military engineering of Ancient Rome's armed forces was of a scale and frequency far beyond that of any of its contemporaries. Indeed, military engineering was in many ways institutionally endemic in Roman military culture, as demonstrated by each Roman legionary having as part of his equipment a shovel, alongside his ''gladius'' (sword) and ''pila'' (spears). Fabri were workers, craftsmen or artisans in Roman society and descriptions of early Roman army structure (Phalanx, the Legion came around the conquest of Greece) attributed to king Servius Tullius describe there being two centuriae of fabri under an officer, the praefectus fabrum. Roman military engineering took both routine and extraordinary forms, the former a proactive part of standard military procedure, and the latter of an extraordinary or reactionary nature. Proactive and routine military engineering The Roman legionary fortified camp Each Roman legion had a military legionary fort as its permanent base. Howev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Commerce
Roman commerce was a major sector of the Roman economy during the later generations of the Republic and throughout most of the imperial period. Fashions and trends in historiography and in popular culture have tended to neglect the economic basis of the empire in favor of the lingua franca of Latin and the exploits of the Roman legions. The language and the legions were supported by trade and were part of its backbone. The Romans were businessmen, and the longevity of their empire was caused by their commercial trade. Whereas in theory members of the Roman Senate and their sons were restricted when engaging in trade, the members of the equestrian order were involved in businesses despite their upper-class values, which laid the emphasis on military pursuits and leisure activities. Plebeians and freedmen held shop or manned stalls at markets, and vast numbers of slaves did most of the hard work. The slaves were themselves also the subject of commercial transactions. Probably becaus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Druid
A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. While they were reported to have been literate, they are believed to have been prevented by doctrine from recording their knowledge in written form. Their beliefs and practices are attested in some detail by their contemporaries from other cultures, such as the Romans and the Greeks. The earliest known references to the druids date to the 4th century BCE. The oldest detailed description comes from Julius Caesar's ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' (50s BCE). They were described by other Roman writers such as Cicero, Cicero (44) I.XVI.90. Tacitus, and Pliny the Elder. Following the Roman invasion of Gaul, the druid orders were suppressed by the Roman government under the 1st-century CE emperors Tiberius and Claudius, and had disappeare ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aquae Sulis
Aquae Sulis (Latin for ''Waters of Sulis'') was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is the English city of Bath, Somerset. The Antonine Itinerary register of Roman roads lists the town as ''Aquis Sulis.'' Ptolemy records the town as ''Aquae calidae'' (warm waters) in his 2nd-century work ''Geographia''. Development Baths and temple complex The Romans probably began building a formal temple complex at Aquae Sulis in the AD 60s. The Romans had probably arrived in the area shortly after their arrival in Britain in AD 43 and there is evidence that their military road, the Fosse Way, crossed the river Avon at Bath. An early Roman military presence has been found just to the North-East of the bath complex in the Walcot area of modern Bath. Not far from the crossing point of their road, they would have been attracted by the large natural hot spring which had been a shrine of the Celtic Brythons, dedicated to their goddess Sulis. This spring is a natural ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Verulamium
Verulamium was a town in Roman Britain. It was sited southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon. The ancient Watling Street passed through the city. Much of the site and its environs is now a scheduled monument. History Before the Romans established their settlement, there was already a tribal centre in the area which belonged to the Catuvellauni. This settlement is usually called Verlamion. The etymology is uncertain but the name has been reconstructed as *''Uerulāmion'', which would have a meaning like "he tribe or settlementof the broad hand" (''Uerulāmos'') in Brittonic.Isaac, Graham R. "Place-Names in Ptolemy's Geography: An Electronic Data Base with Etymological Analysis of the Celtic Name-elements". Aberystwyth : CMCS Publications, 2004. Computer file : CD-ROM. In this pre-Roman form, it was among the first places in Brita ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during Republican era, Cisalpina was annexed in 42 BC to Roman Italy), and Germany west of the Rhine. It covered an area of . According to Julius Caesar, Gaul was divided into three parts: Gallia Celtica, Belgica, and Aquitania. Archaeologically, the Gauls were bearers of the La Tène culture, which extended across all of Gaul, as well as east to Raetia, Noricum, Pannonia, and southwestern Germania during the 5th to 1st centuries BC. During the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, Gaul fell under Roman rule: Gallia Cisalpina was conquered in 204 BC and Gallia Narbonensis in 123 BC. Gaul was invaded after 120 BC by the Cimbri and the Teutons, who were in turn defeated by the Romans by 103 BC. Julius Caesar finally subdued the remaining parts of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bagaudae
Bagaudae (also spelled bacaudae) were groups of peasant insurgents in the later Roman Empire who arose during the Crisis of the Third Century, and persisted until the very end of the Western Empire, particularly in the less-Romanised areas of Gallia and Hispania, where they were "exposed to the depredations of the late Roman state, and the great landowners and clerics who were its servants". The invasions, military anarchy, and disorders of the third century provided a chaotic and ongoing degradation of the regional power structure within a declining Empire into which the ''bagaudae'' achieved some temporary and scattered successes, under the leadership of members of the underclass as well as former members of local ruling elites. Etymology The name probably means "fighters" in Gaulish. C.E.V. Nixon assesses the ''bagaudae'', from the official Imperial viewpoint, as "bands of brigands who roamed the countryside looting and pillaging". J.C.S. Léon interprets the most compl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colchester therefore claims to be Britain's first city. It has been an important military base since the Roman era, with Colchester Garrison currently housing the 16th Air Assault Brigade. Situated on the River Colne, Colchester is northeast of London. The city is connected to London by the A12 road and the Great Eastern Main Line railway. Colchester is less than from London Stansted Airport and from the port of Harwich. Attractions in and around the city include Colchester United Football Club, Colchester Zoo, and several art galleries. Colchester Castle was constructed in the eleventh century on earlier Roman foundations; it now contains a museum. The main campus of the University of Essex is located just outside the city. Local governme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Count Theodosius
Flavius Theodosius (died 376), also known as Count Theodosius ( la, Theodosius comes) or Theodosius the Elder ( la, Theodosius Major), was a senior military officer serving Valentinian I () and the western Roman empire during Late Antiquity. Under his command the Roman army defeated numerous threats, incursions, and usurpations. Theodosius was patriarch of the imperial Theodosian dynasty () and father of the emperor Theodosius the Great (). He was granted the title of '' comes rei militaris per Britanniarum'' (Commander of the Troops of the Diocese of the Britains) by the emperor Valentinian for his work there; putting down the Great Conspiracy (367–368) and the usurpation of Valentinus. After restoring order in Britain he returned to continental Europe and fought against the Alemanni; as Valentinian's ''magister equitum'' (Master of Horse) he successfully invaded Alemannic territory (371 or 370). In 372 Theodosius led a successful campaign against the Sarmatians.Hughes, I, ''I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Londinium
Londinium, also known as Roman London, was the capital of Roman Britain during most of the period of Roman rule. It was originally a settlement established on the current site of the City of London around AD 47–50. It sat at a key crossing point over the River Thames which turned the city into a road nexus and major port, serving as a major commercial centre in Roman Britain until its abandonment during the 5th century. Following the foundation of the town in the mid-1st century, early Londinium occupied the relatively small area of , roughly half the area of the modern City of London and equivalent to the size of present-day Hyde Park. In the year 60 or 61, the rebellion of the Iceni under Boudica compelled the Roman forces to abandon the settlement, which was then razed. Following the defeat of Boudica by the Roman governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus a military installation was established and the city was rebuilt. It had probably largely recovered within about a de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
