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Frumentarii
The ''frumentarii'' were an ancient Roman military and secret police organization used as an intelligence agency. They began their history as a courier service and developed into an imperial spying agency. Their organization would also carry out assassinations. The ''frumentarii'' were headquartered in the Castra Peregrina and were run by the '' princeps peregrinorum''. They were disbanded under the reign of Diocletian due to their poor reputation amongst the populace. History Utilizing informers and spies had been a long-standing policy of the Roman legions and armies of occupation, but never in an organized fashion. This was especially true in the city of Rome which was rife with whispers and endless conspiracies. The ''frumentarii'' were possibly established by Domitian, although they only appear in records shortly after his reign in the early second century. When established, their base was located at the Castra Peregrina on the Caelian hill, though Trajan would later c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castra Peregrina
The Castra Peregrina ("camp of the strangers") was a castrum (a military barracks) in Rome situated on the Caelian Hill. It was occupied by various military units during the later part of the Roman Empire. Location and archaeology The barracks are situated on the Caelian Hill between the Temple of Claudius and Nero's Macellum Magnum. It is centrally located on a hill known for its housing of wealthy Romans. The fourth-century Regionaries list the ''Castra Peregrina'' in ''regio II''. The remains of the camp were discovered during digging for the foundations of a convent and hospital and partially excavated from 1904 to 1909.Richardson jr., L: ''A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'', JHU Press, 1992, p. 78 It can now be found just south-east of the well preserved church Santo Stefano al Monte Celio. Within the ''castra'' was a shrine (''templum'') of Jupiter Redux erected in honour of Severus and Mammaea by a ''centurio frumentarius''. A carving of the construction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agentes In Rebus
The ''agentes in rebus'' (, or , ''magistrianoí'', ' magister's men'.) were the late Roman imperial and Byzantine courier service and general agents of the central government from the 4th to the 7th centuries. History The exact date of their institution is unknown. They are first mentioned in 319, but may date to Diocletian's reforms in the late 3rd century, when they replaced the earlier and much-detested '' frumentarii''. The central imperial administration still needed couriers, and the ''agentes in rebus'' filled this role. Originally they acted as dispatch carriers, but eventually assumed a variety of duties—the title itself translates as "Those Active in Matters". They fell under the jurisdiction of the ''magister officiorum'' (Master of the Offices), hence their alternate Greek name of ''magistrianoi''. They were eventually abolished sometime in the early 8th century, as most of the ''magister''s functions were taken over by the '' logothetēs tou dromou''. The last re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hadrian
Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia ''gens'', the ''Aeli Hadriani'', came from the town of Atri, Abruzzo, Hadria in eastern Italy. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Early in his political career, Hadrian married Vibia Sabina, grandniece of the ruling emperor, Trajan, and his second cousin once removed. The marriage and Hadrian's later succession as emperor were probably promoted by Trajan's wife Pompeia Plotina. Soon after his own succession, Hadrian had four leading senators unlawfully put to death, probably because they seemed to threaten the security of his reign; this earned him the senate's lifelong enmity. He earned further disapproval by abandoning Trajan's expansionist policies and territorial gains in Mesopotamia (Roman province), Mesopotamia, Assyria ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Praetorian Guard
The Praetorian Guard (Latin language, Latin: ''cohortes praetoriae'') was the imperial guard of the Imperial Roman army that served various roles for the Roman emperor including being a bodyguard unit, counterintelligence, crowd control and gathering military intelligence. During the Roman Republic, the Praetorian Guards were escorts for high-ranking political officials (Roman Senate, senators and procurator (ancient Rome), procurators) and were bodyguards for the senior officers of the Roman legions. In 27 BC, after Rome's transition from republic to empire, the first emperor of Rome, Augustus, designated the Praetorians as his personal security escort. For three centuries, the guards of the Roman emperor were also known for their palace intrigues, by whose influence upon imperial politics the Praetorians could overthrow an emperor and then proclaim his successor as the new ''Caesar (title), caesar'' of Rome. In AD 312, Constantine the Great disbanded the and destroyed their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Governor
A Roman governor was an official either elected or appointed to be the chief administrator of Roman law throughout one or more of the many Roman province, provinces constituting the Roman Empire. The generic term in Roman legal language was ''rector provinciae,'' regardless of the specific titles, which also reflects the province's intrinsic and strategic status, and corresponding differences in authority. By the time of the early Roman Empire, Empire, two types of provinces existed—Senatorial province, senatorial and Imperial province, imperial—and several types of governor would emerge. Only ''proconsuls'' and ''propraetors'' fell under the classification of promagistrate. Duties of the governor The governor was the province's chief judge. He had the sole right to impose capital punishment, and capital cases were normally tried before him. To appeal a governor's decision necessitated travelling to Rome and presenting one's case before either the ''Praetor#Praetor urbanus, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Consularis
''Consularis'' is a Latin adjective indicating something pertaining to the position or rank of consul. In Ancient Rome it was also used as a noun (plural ''consulares'') to designate those senators who had held the office of consul or attained consular rank as a special honour. In Late Antiquity, the title became also a gubernatorial rank for provincial governors. History In the Roman Republic, the term ''vir consularis'' (rendered in Greek as , ''hypatikos'') or ''consularis'' designated any senator who had served as consul. The distinction was accompanied by specific privileges and honours, and was normally a necessary qualification for a number of magistracies: the posts of '' dictator'' and his deputy, the ''magister equitum'' (although some cases seem to refute that), the post of '' censor'' as well as the governance of certain provinces as proconsuls. The distinction was attached to their wives as well (''consularis femina'', in Greek ὑπατική or ὑπάτισσα). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imperial Province
The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as governor. For centuries, it was the largest administrative unit of the foreign possessions of ancient Rome. With the administrative reform initiated by Diocletian, it became a third level administrative subdivision of the Roman Empire, or rather a subdivision of the imperial dioceses (in turn subdivisions of the imperial prefectures). History A province was the basic and, until the Tetrarchy (from AD 293), the largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside Roman Italy. During the republic and early empire, provinces were generally governed by politicians of senatorial rank, usually former consuls or former praetors. A later exception was the province of Egypt, which was incorporated by Augustus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aedile
Aedile ( , , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public order and duties to ensure the city of Rome was well supplied and its civil infrastructure well maintained, akin to modern local government. There were two pairs of aediles: the first were the "plebeian aediles" (Latin: ''aediles plebis'') and possession of this office was limited to plebeians; the other two were "curule aediles" (Latin: ''aediles curules''), open to both plebeians and patricians, in alternating years. An ''aedilis curulis'' was classified as a '' magister curulis''. The office of the aedilis was generally held by young men intending to follow the ''cursus honorum'' to high political office, traditionally after their quaestorship but before their praetorship. It was not a compulsory part of the cursus, and hence a former qua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Optio
In a Roman army an (, from , 'to choose', so-called because superior officers chose the ; : ) held a rank in a (century) similar to that of an executive officer. The main function of an was as an , the second-in-command of a century, although there were many other roles an could fulfil. carried out vital roles in the Roman military. An was stationed at the rear of the ranks to keep the troops in order. His duties would include enforcing the orders of the centurion, taking over the centurion's command in battle should the need arise, supervising his subordinates, and a variety of administrative duties. pay was double the standard legionary pay and were the most likely candidates to replace the centurion if his position became vacant. Types of Titles held by included: *: chosen man on prison duty ( incarceration). *: being groomed for promotion to the rank of centurion. *: being groomed or marked out for promotion to the rank of centurion. *: soldier in charge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Praetorian Prefect
The praetorian prefect (; ) 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 Empire by the 840s. The term ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Centurion
In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion (; , . ; , or ), was a commander, nominally of a century (), a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time; from the 1st century BC through most of the imperial era it was reduced to 80 men. A centurion was promoted for being an exemplary soldier and was then expected to become a strict commander of his subordinates, to lead his troops by example, and coordinate his century's actions. They were also responsible for handling logistics and supplies, as well as any discipline that was required. In a Roman legion, centuries were grouped into cohorts and commanded by a senior centurion. The prestigious first cohort (a formation of five double-strength centuries of 160 men each) was led by the '' primus pilus,'' who commanded the ''primi ordines'' who were the centurions of the first cohort. A centurion's symbol of office was the vine staff, with which they disciplined e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
