|
Palatini (Roman Military)
The ''palatini'' ( Latin for "palace troops") were elite units of the Late Roman army mostly attached to the ''comitatus praesentales'', or imperial escort armies. In the elaborate hierarchy of troop-grades, the ''palatini'' ranked below the ''scholares'' (members of the elite cavalry regiments called the '' scholae''), but above the ''comitatenses'' (regiments of the regional ''comitatus'') and the '' limitanei'' (border troops). The term derives from ''palatium'' ("palace") a reference to the fact that the regiments originally served in the imperial escort armies only. Later they were also found in the regional ''comitatus'' (mobile field armies). There, however, they continued to enjoy higher status and pay than the rest of the ''comitatus'' regiments. At the time the ''Notitia Dignitatum'' was written (ca. 395 for the Eastern Empire), 80% of the regiments in the eastern ''comitatus praesentales'' were graded ''palatini'' and 14% of those in the regional ''comitatus''. The ''p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the Roman Republic it became the dominant language in the Italian region and subsequently throughout the Roman Empire. Even after the fall of Western Rome, Latin remained the common language of international communication, science, scholarship and academia in Europe until well into the 18th century, when other regional vernaculars (including its own descendants, the Romance languages) supplanted it in common academic and political usage, and it eventually became a dead language in the modern linguistic definition. Latin is a highly inflected language, with three distinct genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter), six or seven noun cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative, and vocative), five declensions, four verb conjug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magister Equitum
The , in English Master of the Horse or Master of the Cavalry, was a Roman magistrate appointed as lieutenant to a dictator. His nominal function was to serve as commander of the Roman cavalry in time of war, but just as a dictator could be nominated to respond to other crises, so the ''magister equitum'' could operate independently of the cavalry; like the dictator, the appointment of a ''magister equitum'' served both military and political purposes.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'', pp. 404–408 ("Dictator"). Origin In the time of the Roman Kingdom, the king himself would lead the cavalry into battle, or else delegate this authority to his chief advisor, the Tribune of the Celeres, the cavalry unit that also served as the king's personal bodyguard. The last person to hold this position was Lucius Junius Brutus, nephew of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and final King of Rome. After the rape of Lucretia, it was Brutus who, in his capacity as Tribune o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Malalas
John Malalas ( el, , ''Iōánnēs Malálas''; – 578) was a Byzantine chronicler from Antioch (now Antakya, Turkey). Life Malalas was of Syrian descent, and he was a native speaker of Syriac who learned how to write in Greek later in his life. The name ''Malalas'' probably derived from the Aramaic word (ܡܰܠܳܠܰܐ ''malolo'') for "rhetor", "orator"; it is first applied to him by John of Damascus. The alternative form ''Malelas'' is later, first appearing in Constantine VII. Malalas was educated in Antioch, and probably was a jurist there, but moved to Constantinople at some point in Justinian I's reign (perhaps after the Persian sack of Antioch in 540); all we know of his travels from his own hand are visits to Thessalonica and Paneas. Writing He wrote a ''Chronographia'' () in 18 books, the beginning and the end of which are lost. In its present state it begins with the mythical history of Egypt and ends with the expedition to Roman Africa under the t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magister Militum
(Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, the emperor remaining the supreme commander) of the empire. In Greek sources, the term is translated either as '' strategos'' or as ''stratelates''. Establishment and development of the command The title of ''magister militum'' was created in the 4th century, when the emperor Constantine the Great deprived the praetorian prefects of their military functions. Initially two posts were created, one as head of the infantry, as the ''magister peditum'' ("master of foot"), and one for the more prestigious cavalry, the '' magister equitum'' ("master of horse"). The latter title had existed since republican times, as the second-in-command to a Roman ''dictator''. Under Constantine's successors, the title was also established at a territori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theodosius I
Theodosius I ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also called Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. During his reign, he succeeded in a crucial war against the Goths, as well as in two civil wars, and recognized the Catholic orthodoxy of Nicene Christians as the Roman Empire's state religion. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule the entire Roman Empire before its administration was permanently split between two separate courts (one western, the other eastern). Born in Hispania, Theodosius was the son of a high-ranking general, Theodosius the Elder, under whose guidance he rose through the ranks of the Roman Army. Theodosius held independent command in Moesia in 374, where he had some success against the invading Sarmatians. Not long afterwards, he was forced into retirement, and his father was executed under obscure circumstances. Theodosius soon regained his position following a series of intrigues and executio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caesar (title)
Caesar ( English Caesars; Latin ''Caesares''; in Greek: ''Kaîsar'') is a title of imperial character. It derives from the ''cognomen'' of Julius Caesar, a Roman dictator. The change from being a familial name to a title adopted by the Roman emperors can be traced to AD 68, following the fall of the Julio–Claudian dynasty. Origins The first known individual to bear the ''cognomen'' of "Caesar" was Sextus Julius Caesar, who is likewise believed to be the common ancestor of all subsequent Julii Caesares. Sextus' great-grandson was the dictator Gaius Julius Caesar. After he seized control of the Roman Republic following his war against the Senate, he adopted the title of ''dictator perpetuo'' ("dictator in perpetuity"), a title he only held for about a month before he was assassinated in 44 BC. Julius Caesar's death did not lead to the restoration of the Republic, and instead led to the rise of the Second Triumvirate, composed by three dictators including Ju ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Augustus (title)
''Augustus'' (plural ''Augusti''; , ; "majestic", "great" or "venerable") was an ancient Roman title given as both name and title to Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (often referred to simply as Augustus), Rome's first Emperor. On his death, it became an official title of his successor, and was so used by Roman emperors thereafter. The feminine form '' Augusta'' was used for Roman empresses and other female members of the Imperial family. The masculine and feminine forms originated in the time of the Roman Republic, in connection with things considered divine or sacred in traditional Roman religion. Their use as titles for major and minor Roman deities of the Empire associated the Imperial system and Imperial family with traditional Roman virtues and the divine will, and may be considered a feature of the Roman Imperial cult. In Rome's Greek-speaking provinces, "Augustus" was translated as '' Sebastos'' (Σεβαστός, "venerable"), or Hellenised as ''Augoustos'' (); these ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Praetorian Prefect
The praetorian prefect ( la, praefectus praetorio, el, ) was a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders becoming the Emperor's chief aides. Under Constantine I, the office was much reduced in power and transformed into a purely civilian administrative post, while under his successors, territorially-defined praetorian prefectures emerged as the highest-level administrative division of the Empire. The prefects again functioned as the chief ministers of the state, with many laws addressed to them by name. In this role, praetorian prefects continued to be appointed by the Eastern Roman Empire (and the Ostrogothic Kingdom) until the reign of Heraclius in the 7th century AD, when wide-ranging reforms reduced their power and converted them to mere overseers of provincial administration. The last traces of the prefecture disappeared in the Byzantine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emperors
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empress dowager), or a woman who rules in her own right and name (empress regnant). Emperors are generally recognized to be of the highest monarchic honor and rank, surpassing kings. In Europe, the title of Emperor has been used since the Middle Ages, considered in those times equal or almost equal in dignity to that of Pope due to the latter's position as visible head of the Church and spiritual leader of the Catholic part of Western Europe. The Emperor of Japan is the only currently reigning monarch whose title is translated into English as "Emperor". Both emperors and kings are monarchs or sovereigns, but both emperor and empress are considered the higher monarchical titles. In as much as there is a strict definition of emperor, it is that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tetrarchy
The Tetrarchy was the system instituted by Roman emperor Diocletian in 293 AD to govern the ancient Roman Empire by dividing it between two emperors, the ''augusti'', and their juniors colleagues and designated successors, the '' caesares''. This marked the end of the Crisis of the Third Century. Initially Diocletian chose Maximian as his ''caesar'' in 285, raising him to co-''augustus'' the following year; Maximian was to govern the western provinces and Diocletian would administer the eastern ones. The role of the ''augustus'' was likened to Jupiter, while his ''caesar'' was akin to Jupiter's son Hercules. Galerius and Constantius were appointed ''caesares'' in March 293. Diocletian and Maximian retired on 1 May 305, raising Galerius and Constantius to the rank of ''augustus''. Their places as ''caesares'' were in turn taken by Valerius Severus and Maximinus Daza. The orderly system of two senior and two junior rulers endured until Constantius died in July 306, and hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David S
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the Kings of Israel and Judah, third king of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), United Kingdom of Israel. In the Books of Samuel, he is described as a young shepherd and Lyre, harpist who gains fame by slaying Goliath, a champion of the Philistines, in southern Canaan. David becomes a favourite of Saul, the first king of Israel; he also forges David and Jonathan, a notably close friendship with Jonathan (1 Samuel), Jonathan, a son of Saul. However, under the paranoia that David is seeking to usurp the throne, Saul attempts to kill David, forcing the latter to go into hiding and effectively operate as a fugitive for several years. After Saul and Jonathan are both killed in battle against the Philistin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warren Treadgold
Warren T. Treadgold (born April 30, 1949, Oxford, England) is an American historian and specialist in Byzantine studies. He is the National Endowment for the Humanities Professor of Byzantine Studies at Saint Louis University. His interest in the political, economic, military, social, and cultural history of the Byzantine Empire extends to the Byzantine historians themselves. Treadgold has also taught at UCLA, Stanford, Hillsdale, Berkeley, and Florida International University. He is married since September 25, 1982 to Irina Andreescu-Treadgold. Education Treadgold holds an AB from Harvard University (1970) and a PhD from the same university (1977). Books * ''The University We Need: Reforming America’s Higher Education'' (New York: Encounter Books Encounter Books is a book publisher in the United States known for publishing conservative authors. It was named for ''Encounter'', the now defunct literary magazine founded by Irving Kristol and Stephen Spender. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
