title: David Copperfield (illusionist)

text: Copperfield's girlfriend Chloé Gosselin, a French fashion model 28 years his junior, gave birth to his daughter, Sky, in February 2010. This did not become public until "The New York Post" reported it in August 2011. Copperfield has two other children, a son, Dylan Jacob Kotkin and a daughter, Audrey Anna Kotkin.


title: David Copperfield (illusionist)

text: In July 2016, Copperfield purchased a mansion in Las Vegas's affluent Summerlin community for $17.55 million.


title: David Copperfield (illusionist)

text: "Forbes" magazine reported that Copperfield earned $55 million in 2003, making him the tenth highest paid celebrity in the world (earnings figures are pre-tax and before deductions for agents' and attorneys' fees, etc.). He earned $57 million in 2004 and 2005, and $30 million in 2009 in entertainment earnings, according to "Forbes". Copperfield performs over 500 shows per year throughout the world.


title: David Copperfield (illusionist)

text: In March 1982, Copperfield founded Project Magic, a rehabilitation program to help disabled patients regain lost or damaged dexterity skills by using sleight of hand as physical therapy. The program has been accredited by the American Occupational Therapy Association, and is in use in over 1100 hospitals in 30 countries. Copperfield made an appearance on Oprah Radio in April 2008 to talk with host Dr. Mehmet Oz about how magic can help disabled people.


title: David Copperfield (illusionist)

text: In 2007, he organized and performed at a charity show for UNICEF in Los Angeles, along with a number of celebrity guests. During the show, he used his ex-Orson Welles Buzz Saw illusion to saw British TV presenter Cat Deeley in half.


title: David Copperfield (illusionist)

text: Copperfield organized relief efforts after Hurricane Dorian hit The Bahamas in 2019, using his own plane to fly in supplies.


title: David Copperfield (illusionist)

text: Copperfield declared that among the new illusions he plans to create, he wants to put a woman's face on Mount Rushmore, straighten the Leaning Tower of Pisa and even vanish the moon. He also wants to make an island disappear.


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: Roald Dahl's The Witches, or simply The Witches, is a 2020 supernatural comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis, Kenya Barris, and Guillermo del Toro. It is based on the 1983 novel of the same name by Roald Dahl and is the second feature-length adaptation of the novel, after the 1990 film of the same name directed by Nicolas Roeg. The film stars Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, and Stanley Tucci, and is narrated by Chris Rock.


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: "The Witches" was released on HBO Max in the United States on October 22, 2020, also having a traditional theatrical release in some markets a week later. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who criticized its writing and deemed it inferior to Roeg's film.


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: In 1968, young Charlie Hansen lives with his grandmother Agatha in Demopolis, Alabama after a car accident kills his parents in Chicago. Gradually, Charlie is cheered up by Agatha who buys him a pet mouse whom he names Daisy. One day, Charlie buys a box of nails to train Daisy and to build a house for her as well. He is approached by a witch trying to lure him with a snake and a caramel, but Agatha calls him, and the witch disappears.


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: After telling Agatha about the encounter, Charlie learns that the witches are in fact real. She says a witch cursed her childhood friend Alice into spending the rest of her life as a chicken. Agatha says that witches never leave once they find a child. Frantically, they decide to stay in a nearby hotel where her cousin Eston is the executive chef. While there, Agatha teaches Charlie how to tell a witch from an ordinary woman: real witches have claws instead of fingernails, which they hide by wearing gloves; are bald, which they hide by wearing wigs that give them rashes; have square feet with no toes, have mouths that can open nearly to their ears, and have a powerful sense of smell aided by extendable nostrils, which they use to sniff out children.


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: The next day, Charlie takes Daisy and a rope to do some training at a grand hall. During his walk there, he meets a gluttonous but friendly boy named Bruno, who is pulled away by his mother. Charlie visits the grand hall, thinking he will be alone. As he is getting ready to train Daisy, a group of witches led by their all-powerful leader, The Grand High Witch, enters the grand hall. Charlie hides under the stage and overhears the Grand High Witch planning to give the world's children a potion, mixed into confectionery products, that will transform them into mice. The Grand High Witch waits for Bruno to arrive, to whom she earlier gave a Swiss chocolate bar laced with the potion. After Bruno arrives, he turns into a mouse and enters the vent where Charlie and Daisy are hiding. The Grand High Witch discovers Charlie and forcibly transforms him into a mouse with the potion, before they escape.


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: Fleeing to the hotel room where Charlie and his grandmother are staying, they tell Agatha about the witches' plan and discover that the Grand High Witch is staying in the hotel room below them and that Daisy was once an orphaned young human girl named Mary turned into a mouse by a witch. Charlie, Bruno, and Mary devise a plan to get a bottle of the potion so that Agatha can devise a cure to turn them back into children. The plan to get the potion is successful, but since she is unable to create a cure, they instead decide to put the potion into a broth of pea soup which will be given to the witches during their dinner. All the witches drink the soup except the Grand High Witch, who realizes that she met Agatha before; she was the witch who turned Alice into a chicken. While the mice steal the Grand High Witch's room key, the witches all begin turning into rats, and chaos ensues.


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: After she and the mice flee to the Grand High Witch's room, Agatha starts to collect all the potions to destroy them. The Grand High Witch finds Agatha, and tries killing her, but the mice intervene and trick the Grand High Witch into swallowing her own potion, transforming her into a rat. As Grand High Witch furiously tries to kill Charlie, Bruno, and Mary, they trap her in an ice bucket and prevent her from escaping. Before they leave the room, Agatha takes the Grand High Witch's trunk full of money and also releases her cat Hades from its cage. As they close the door, Hades attacks and kills The Grand High Witch.


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: Since his parents can no longer accept him, Bruno joins Mary, Charlie, and Agatha to go home with The Grand High Witch's trunk and become a family. Years later, Charlie and Agatha advise young children to eradicate the witches.


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: Talks of a new adaptation of Dahl's novel began in December 2008, when Guillermo del Toro expressed interest in making a stop motion film. No further developments on the potential project emerged until 10 years later in June 2018, when Robert Zemeckis was hired to direct and write the script. Del Toro would produce, alongside Zemeckis and Alfonso Cuarón, in addition to having a screenplay credit.


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: The film takes place in Alabama during the 1960s, instead of the novel's 1980s England and Norway, and the boy protagonist is African-American, instead of Norwegian-British like the boy in the original novel and previous adaptations. Nevertheless, the adaptation was described by Zemeckis as being closer to the original novel than the 1990 adaptation, directed by Nicolas Roeg. Kenya Barris co-wrote the film.


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: In January 2019, Anne Hathaway was cast in the role of Grand High Witch. Octavia Spencer was cast in February, with newcomers Jahzir Bruno and Codie-Lei Eastick also joining. In May, Stanley Tucci and Chris Rock were added. In September 2020 it was revealed that Kristin Chenoweth was cast in the film.


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: Principal photography began on May 8, 2019, with filming locations including Alabama, Georgia, and at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden in Hertfordshire, England and Virginia Water Lake in Surrey, England. It was expected to wrap on June 25. On June 19, crew member Darren Langford was stabbed in the neck with a Stanley knife on the Warner Bros. Studios set in Leavesden. On March 18, 2021, crew member Johnny Walker was convicted of wounding with intent.


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: The film collaborated with a Roblox game named "Islands" for a limited-time Halloween event. It features a boss battle with the Grand High Witch, the main antagonist of the film.


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: In July 2019, Zemeckis's regular collaborator, Alan Silvestri, was revealed to be scoring the film. A soundtrack featuring Silvestri's score released by WaterTower Music on October 23, 2020.


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: "The Witches" was scheduled to be released on October 16, 2020. On October 25, 2019, Warner Bros. moved up the release of the film by a week. However, on June 12, 2020, Warner Bros. announced that they pulled the film off the 2020 schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: The film was digitally released in the United States on October 22, 2020, via HBO Max. In November, "Variety" reported the film was the ninth-most watched straight-to-streaming title of 2020 up to that point.


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: In some countries that have no access to HBO Max, the film was released in theaters a week later since its digital release.


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: The film grossed $4.9 million in twelve countries in its first week of release. The weekend of November 20, the film made $1.2 million from 23 countries, for a running total of $15.1 million. By January 4, 2021, the film had a running total of $26 million from 32 countries.


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: The film was criticized for its writing, and was deemed inferior to Roeg's film. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that of critic reviews are positive for "The Witches", with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads: ""The Witches" misses a few spells, but Anne Hathaway's game performance might be enough to bewitch fans of this Roald Dahl tale." According to Metacritic, which sampled 31 critics and calculated a weighted average score of 47 out of 100, the film received "mixed or average reviews".


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: In his two out of four star review, Richard Roeper of the "Chicago Sun-Times" praised the special effects and the performances, but found the film to be "far too disturbing for young children and not edgy enough to captivate adults." David Ehrlich of "IndieWire" gave the film a D+ calling the film "dreadful" and stating, "Zemeckis has made some unsuccessful films over the last 20 years, but "The Witches" is the most frustrating of them all because it feels like it could've been made by somebody else. Anybody else. Roeg's version may have scarred a generation of kids for life, but at least they remembered it."


title: The Witches (2020 film)

text: Numerous disability advocates, including British Paralympic swimmer Amy Marren, accused the film of perpetuating bias against individuals with ectrodactyly and other limb differences. Lauren Appelbaum, a spokesperson for advocacy group RespectAbility, said the film portrays limb differences as "hideous or something to be afraid of." On November 4, 2020, Warner Bros. issued a statement in which they apologized for offending people with disabilities. They further added that they had worked with "designers and artists to come up with a new interpretation of the cat-like claws that are described in the book. [...] The film is about kindness. [...] It was never the intention for viewers to feel that the fantastical, non-human creatures were meant to represent them." Hathaway also issued an apology over the film's portrayal, saying "I particularly want to say I'm sorry to kids with limb differences... Now that I know better I promise I'll do better."


title: Fred Ward

text: Freddie Joe Ward (December 30, 1942 – May 8, 2022) was an American actor and producer. Starting with a role in an Italian television movie in 1973, he appeared in such diverse films as "Escape from Alcatraz", "Southern Comfort", "The Right Stuff", "", "", "Tremors" and "", "Henry & June", "The Player", "Swing Shift", "Short Cuts", and "30 Minutes or Less".


title: Fred Ward

text: Freddie Joe Ward was born in San Diego on December 30, 1942. He was part Cherokee. His father was an alcoholic criminal who was repeatedly imprisoned and his mother left him when Fred was three. He was then raised by his grandmother until his mother had rebuilt her life and remarried a carnival worker. Before acting, Ward spent three years in the United States Air Force. He was also a boxer (breaking his nose three times) and worked as a lumberjack in Alaska, a janitor, and a short-order cook. He studied acting at New York's Herbert Berghof Studio after serving in the U.S. Air Force. While living in Rome, he dubbed Italian movies into English and appeared in films by neorealist director Roberto Rossellini.


title: Fred Ward

text: Ward became an actor after studying at Herbert Berghof Studio and in Rome. While in Italy, he worked as a mime. Upon returning stateside in the early 1970s, Ward spent time working in experimental theatre and doing some television work. He made his first American film appearance playing a cowboy in "Hearts of the West" (1975). His first major role came in the Clint Eastwood vehicle "Escape from Alcatraz" (1979) as fellow escapee John Anglin.


title: Fred Ward

text: Ward played a violent National Guardsman in Walter Hill's "Southern Comfort" (1981). His first starring role in a motion picture was "" (1982). He then starred as astronaut Gus Grissom in "The Right Stuff", in the action movie "Uncommon Valor" with Gene Hackman and in the drama "Silkwood" (all 1983).


title: Fred Ward

text: After co-starring roles in "Swing Shift" (1984) and "Secret Admirer" (1985), Ward played the title hero in the action movie "", which was directed by Guy Hamilton. The film was supposed to be the first of a series based on "The Destroyer" series of novels. Though the movie was well promoted and he appeared on several movie magazine covers, it only grossed $15 million.


title: Fred Ward

text: Ward played in a few low-budget productions until he returned to major cinema in 1988 as a cop in "Off Limits", as Roone Dimmick in "Big Business", and the father of Keanu Reeves' character in "The Prince of Pennsylvania".


title: Fred Ward

text: In 1990, Ward starred as Earl Bassett in the monster movie "Tremors", as the American erotic writer Henry Miller in "Henry & June" (with Uma Thurman), and as cop Hoke Moseley in his self-produced "Miami Blues" (with Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Jason Leigh). That year he also played an FBI agent in Dennis Hopper's film "Catchfire".


title: Fred Ward

text: After playing private detective H.P. Lovecraft in the 1991 HBO film "Cast a Deadly Spell" alongside Julianne Moore, Ward co-starred in the thriller "Thunderheart", the Hollywood satire "The Player", the mystery-drama "Equinox" and the TV western-comedy "Four Eyes and Six Guns", for which he won a Cable ACE Award. He also did a cameo in "Bob Roberts", starring Tim Robbins.


title: Fred Ward

text: Ward's leading roles include Lt. Brann in the two-character-thriller "Two Small Bodies", fisherman Stuart Kane in the Robert Altman film "Short Cuts" (for which the whole ensemble won a Golden Globe; both 1993), a dangerous criminal in the comedy "" (1994), the sailor in the French-avant-garde-drama "The Blue Villa" (1995), his reprised role in "" and the special agent in "Chain Reaction" (both 1996). He also appeared as Sheriff Bud Phillips in "Best Men", as Dave Reimüller in "...First Do No Harm" with Meryl Streep (both 1997) and as Domenico Venier in "Dangerous Beauty" (1998).


title: Fred Ward

text: Ward was seen in many motion pictures, TV shows and videos in 2000. He starred in the action-thriller "The Chaos Factor" and appeared in the gangster movie "Circus", the teen movie "Road Trip" and the horror sequel "".


title: Fred Ward

text: In 2001, Ward was nominated for a Video Premiere Award as the best male actor for the direct-to-video-production "Full Disclosure". He also co-starred in "Joe Dirt", "Summer Catch", "Wild Iris", the mini-TV-series "Dice" and the comedic "Corky Romano".


title: Fred Ward

text: In 2002, Ward appeared in "Sweet Home Alabama", "Enough" and "Abandon". He had the starring role in "Birdseye" and signed in for the TV pilot for the drama "Georgetown" with Helen Mirren, but the series was never made. After roles in "The Last Ride", "10.5" and "Coast to Coast" (all 2004) he took a short break from acting and returned as a guest in the TV series "Grey's Anatomy" and "ER" (2006 and 2007). He was next in the ensemble drama "Feast of Love", the thriller "Exit Speed", "Management" with Jennifer Aniston, "The Wild Stallion" DVD and as the boss Ashcroft in "Armored".


title: Fred Ward

text: Ward guest starred as Ronald Reagan in the French political thriller "L'affaire Farewell" (2009). He appeared in "30 Minutes or Less", guest starred in the TV series "United States of Tara", "In Plain Sight" and "Leverage" in 2012. In 2013, he had a guest role in "2 Guns" starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg.


title: Fred Ward

text: Ward married Marie-France Boisselle in 1995 and she filed for divorce in August 2013, but they reconciled later that year.


title: Archipelago

text: An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.


title: Archipelago

text: Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archipelago, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Lakshadweep Islands, the Galápagos Islands, the Japanese archipelago, the Philippine Archipelago, the Maldives, the Balearic Islands, The Bahamas, the Aegean Islands, the Hawaiian Islands, the Canary Islands, Malta, the Azores, the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the British Isles, the islands of the Archipelago Sea, and Shetland. They are sometimes defined by political boundaries. For example, the Gulf archipelago off the northeastern Pacific coast forms part of a larger archipelago that geographically includes Washington state's San Juan Islands; while the Gulf archipelago and San Juan Islands are geographically related, they are not technically included in the same archipelago due to manmade geopolitical borders.


title: Archipelago

text: The word "archipelago" is derived from the Ancient Greek ἄρχι-("arkhi-", "chief") and πέλαγος ("pélagos", "sea") through the Italian "arcipelago". In antiquity, "Archipelago" (from Medieval Greek *ἀρχιπέλαγος and Latin ) was the proper name for the Aegean Sea. Later, usage shifted to refer to the Aegean Islands (since the sea has a large number of islands).


title: Archipelago

text: Archipelagos may be found isolated in large amounts of water or neighbouring a large land mass. For example, Scotland has more than 700 islands surrounding its mainland, which form an archipelago.


title: Archipelago

text: Archipelagos are often volcanic, forming along island arcs generated by subduction zones or hotspots, but may also be the result of erosion, deposition, and land elevation. Depending on their geological origin, islands forming archipelagos can be referred to as "oceanic islands", "continental fragments", and "continental islands".


title: Archipelago

text: Oceanic islands are mainly of volcanic origin, and widely separated from any adjacent continent. The Hawaiian Islands and Galapagos Islands in the Pacific, and Mascarene Islands in the south Indian Ocean are examples.


title: Archipelago

text: Continental fragments correspond to land masses that have separated from a continental mass due to tectonic displacement. The Farallon Islands off the coast of California are an example.


title: Archipelago

text: Sets of islands formed close to the coast of a continent are considered continental archipelagos when they form part of the same continental shelf, when those islands are above-water extensions of the shelf. The islands of the Inside Passage off the coast of British Columbia and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago are examples.


title: Archipelago

text: Artificial archipelagos have been created in various countries for different purposes. Palm Islands and The World Islands off Dubai were or are being created for leisure and tourism purposes. Marker Wadden in the Netherlands is being built as a conservation area for birds and other wildlife.


title: Rain Phoenix

text: Rain Joan of Arc Phoenix ( Bottom; born November 21, 1972) is an American actress, musician, and singer. She is the older sister of Joaquin, Liberty and Summer Phoenix and younger sister of River Phoenix.


title: Rain Phoenix

text: Phoenix was born Rain Joan of Arc Bottom in Crockett, Texas, the second child of John Lee Bottom and Arlyn Sharon (née Dunetz). Her mother was born in New York to Jewish parents from Russia. Her father was from California. Before Phoenix was born, her mother moved to California, meeting Phoenix's father while hitch-hiking. They married in 1969 and joined The Children of God cult working as missionaries in South America. It was there, at the age of three, that Phoenix (accompanied by elder brother River on guitar) first began to sing. They would perform on the streets of Caracas, Venezuela, while handing out Children of God flyers to passers by. The family set out for California in order for the children to enter the entertainment industry. In West Los Angeles, Phoenix and her siblings would perform on the streets for crowds of people. Arlyn took a job at NBC and eventually secured all five Phoenix children with an agent.


title: Rain Phoenix

text: Phoenix sang with brother River as an audience warm up act on the show "Real Kids" (1982). Various bit parts followed in TV shows, including an episode of "Amazing Stories" in 1986 (billed sometimes as Rainbow Phoenix) and "Family Ties" in 1987. Also in 1987, Phoenix landed a part in the feature film "Maid to Order" alongside Ally Sheedy.


title: Rain Phoenix

text: At 15, Phoenix returned to her roots in music and formed the band Aleka's Attic with her then 17-year-old brother River. River, along with bass player Josh McKay, wrote music and lyrics while Rain sang backup. The band secured gigs in and around their home town of Gainesville, Florida. By this time, River's career had taken off and so the band was often put on hold for River's demanding schedule. In 1988, Aleka's Attic were signed to a development deal with Island Records and in 1989 released the track "Across The Way" on a benefit album for the animal rights group PETA. In 1991, they made a tour of east coast clubs and colleges. At this time, Phoenix joined her brother River on the set of his tenth movie, "My Own Private Idaho". She met director Gus Van Sant to whom River suggested she would be perfect for a role in his upcoming project, a film adaptation of Tom Robbins's cult novel, "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues". She was cast as head cowgirl Bonanza Jellybean, alongside Uma Thurman.


title: Rain Phoenix

text: A few months after the completion of "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues", Phoenix flew to Los Angeles with her brother Joaquin to meet River during a break from "Dark Blood". On the evening of October 30, 1993, they set out, joined by River's girlfriend Samantha Mathis, for a night at the Los Angeles club The Viper Room. It would be the last evening Phoenix would spend with her brother; he died later that night from, according to the coroner's report, "acute multiple drug intoxication", namely an overdose of heroin and cocaine, a concoction called a "speedball".


title: Rain Phoenix

text: Phoenix dealt simultaneously with the loss of her older brother and the media circus that followed. Aleka's Attic, by that time consisting of a different line-up, had been working on an album that River had been funding himself. The album was near completion so Phoenix began the long process of mixing and producing the scraps of recordings. The album has never been released.


title: Rain Phoenix

text: In 1994, Phoenix joined R.E.M. in the studio to record backup vocals on the song "Bang and Blame", to be released on the 1994 album "Monster", an album dedicated to River. In 1995 Phoenix joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers as a backup singer on their "One Hot Minute" tour. Chili Peppers bassist Flea, who appeared in My Own Private Idaho, was close friends with River, and was there the night he died. The band wrote their song "Transcending" as a tribute to River. She also features in the video for R.E.M.'s "At My Most Beautiful".


title: Rain Phoenix

text: In 1997, Phoenix joined the punk/new wave band The Causey Way, which also included her younger sisters Summer and Liberty. They disbanded in 2001 after the release of two albums and two EPs.


title: Rain Phoenix

text: Phoenix returned to acting in 1998 with parts in "I Woke Up Early the Day I Died" (1998), "O" (2001), "Harry and Max" (2004) and "Hitch" (2005).


title: Rain Phoenix

text: Phoenix formed the band Papercranes in 2003 as lead singer and lyricist. Their self-titled EP was released in 2004 and their first album, "Vidalia", in 2006. In 2010, Papercranes signed with Manimal Vinyl and in 2011 they released their second album "Let's Make Babies in the Woods". In 2012 came their third and final release – a concept record "THREE" followed by a multi-platform artist residency entitled "I.You.We.THREE". Guest musicians include Phoenix's younger sisters Summer and Liberty, as well as actor Dermot Mulroney, Libby Lavella, Norm Block, Jenny O, Kirk Hellie and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who also was a guest musician on tracks for Aleka's Attic in the '90s.


title: Rain Phoenix

text: In 2013, Phoenix along with Frally Hynes formed the 'galactic country' band Venus and the Moon which included Chris Stills. They released a self titled 7inch double A side vinyl in 2014 and in 2015 a record entitled Brother, Son recorded on her late brother River's 4 track, mixed by Dave Way and produced by Phoenix.


title: Rain Phoenix

text: In February 2019, "Time Gone" marked Phoenix's first release as a solo artist, with the single "Time is the Killer" featuring R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe. The vinyl also contained two previously unreleased tracks by Aleka's Attic, "Where I'd Gone" and "Scales & Fishnails". It was released on Kro Records in collaboration with Phoenix's own LaunchLeft imprint.


title: Rain Phoenix

text: Her first solo record, entitled "RIVER", was slated for release on Halloween 2019 via LaunchLeft. The first single "Immolate" was released on what would have been River's 49th birthday, August 23, 2019. The record boasts eight tracks and includes a new piano version of "Time is the Killer" featuring Michael Stipe as well as a song entitled "Lost in Motion" co-written by Kirk Hellie and Phoenix's late brother River. The record was produced by Kirk Hellie, mixed by Dave Way and mastered by Dave McNair.


title: Rain Phoenix

text: Phoenix, together with her brother Joaquin Phoenix, is on the board of directors for The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization which provides a daily meal to students of township schools in Soweto, South Africa. Phoenix also serves on the board of River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding founded by her mother and stepfather. Phoenix also works closely with the artists charity The Art of Elysium.


title: Rain Phoenix

text: In 2010 Rain created the non-profit Gift Horse Project which brought together well-known and emerging artists in the service of charity. In 2011 Gift Horse Project released a compilation record to benefit the Lunchbox Fund with artists like Bright Eyes, Albert Hammond JR, Cobra Starship, Joseph Arthur, Jenny O, Jonathan Wilson and many more.


title: Rain Phoenix

text: LaunchLeft evolved out of Gift Horse Project taking the ethos of ""artists helping artists"" to the for-profit sector. LaunchLeft has produced large events for various non-profit organizations namely, The Art of Elysium (Genesis 2014) and the Bernie Sanders Campaign (""Feel the Bern"" The Red Hot Chili Peppers + ""Berniechella"" 2016).


title: Rain Phoenix

text: LaunchLeft is now a podcast hosted by Rain & Summer Phoenix where ""famed creatives launch the next wave of music rebels"".


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It is the predominant variant of the C-135 Stratolifter family of transport aircraft. The KC-135 was the United States Air Force's first jet-powered refueling tanker and replaced the KC-97 Stratofreighter. The KC-135 was initially tasked with refueling strategic bombers, but it was used extensively in the Vietnam War and later conflicts such as Operation Desert Storm to extend the range and endurance of US tactical fighters and bombers.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: The KC-135 entered service with the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1957; it is one of nine military fixed-wing aircraft with over 60 years of continuous service with its original operator. The KC-135 is supplemented by the larger McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender. Studies have concluded that many of the aircraft could be flown until 2030, although maintenance costs have greatly increased. The KC-135 is to be partially replaced by the Boeing KC-46 Pegasus.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: Starting in 1950 the Air Force operated the world's first production aerial tanker, the Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter, a gasoline fueled piston-engined Boeing Stratocruiser (USAF designation C-97 Stratofreighter) with a Boeing-developed flying boom and extra kerosene (jet fuel) tanks feeding the boom. The Stratocruiser airliner itself was developed from the B-29 bomber after World War II. In the KC-97, the mixed gasoline/kerosene fuel system was clearly not desirable and it was obvious that a jet-powered tanker aircraft would be the next development, having a single type of fuel for both its own engines and for passing to receiver aircraft. The 230 mph (370 km/h) cruise speed of the slower, piston-engined KC-97 was also a serious issue, as using it as an aerial tanker forced the newer jet-powered military aircraft to slow down to mate with the tanker's boom.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: Like its sibling, the commercial Boeing 707 jet airliner, the KC-135 was derived from the Boeing 367-80 jet transport "proof of concept" demonstrator, which was commonly called the "Dash-80". The KC-135 is similar in appearance to the 707, but has a narrower fuselage and is shorter than the 707. The KC-135 predates the 707, and is structurally quite different from the civilian airliner. Boeing gave the future KC-135 tanker the initial designation Model 717.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: In 1954 USAF's Strategic Air Command (SAC) held a competition for a jet-powered aerial refueling tanker. Lockheed's tanker version of the proposed Lockheed L-193 airliner with rear fuselage-mounted engines was declared the winner in 1955. Since Boeing's proposal was already flying, the KC-135 could be delivered two years earlier and Air Force Secretary Harold E. Talbott ordered 250 KC-135 tankers until Lockheed's design could be manufactured. In the end, orders for the Lockheed tanker were dropped rather than supporting two tanker designs. Lockheed never produced its jet airliner, while Boeing would eventually dominate the market with a family of airliners based on the 707.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: In 1954, the Air Force placed an initial order for 29 KC-135As, the first of an eventual 820 of all variants of the basic C-135 family. The first aircraft flew in August 1956 and the initial production Stratotanker was delivered to Castle Air Force Base, California, in June 1957. The last KC-135 was delivered to the Air Force in 1965.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: Developed in the early 1950s, the basic airframe is characterized by 35-degree aft swept wings and tail, four underwing-mounted engine pods, a horizontal stabilizer mounted on the fuselage near the bottom of the vertical stabilizer with positive dihedral on the two horizontal planes and a hi-frequency radio antenna which protrudes forward from the top of the vertical fin or stabilizer. These basic features make it strongly resemble the commercial Boeing 707 and 720 aircraft, although it is actually a different aircraft.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: Reconnaissance and command post variants of the aircraft, including the RC-135 Rivet Joint and EC-135 Looking Glass aircraft were operated by SAC from 1963 through 1992, when they were reassigned to the Air Combat Command (ACC). The USAF EC-135 Looking Glass was subsequently replaced in its role by the U.S. Navy E-6 Mercury aircraft, a new build airframe based on the Boeing 707-320B.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: All KC-135s were originally equipped with Pratt & Whitney J57-P-59W turbojet engines, which produced of thrust dry, and approximately of thrust wet. Wet thrust is achieved through the use of water injection on takeoff, as opposed to "wet thrust" when used to describe an afterburning engine. of water are injected into the engines over the course of three minutes. The water is injected into the inlet and the diffuser case in front of the combustion case. The water cools the air in the engine to increase its density; it also reduces the turbine gas temperature, which is a primary limitation on many jet engines. This allows the use of more fuel for proper combustion and creates more thrust for short periods of time, similar in concept to "War Emergency Power" in a piston-engined aircraft.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: In the 1980s, the first modification program retrofitted 157 Air Force Reserve (AFRES) and Air National Guard (ANG) tankers with the Pratt & Whitney TF33-PW-102 turbofan engines from 707 airliners retired in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The modified tanker, designated the KC-135E, was 14% more fuel-efficient than the KC-135A and could offload 20% more fuel on long-duration flights. Only the KC-135E aircraft were equipped with thrust reversers for aborted takeoffs and shorter landing roll-outs. The KC-135E fleet has since either been retrofitted as the R-model configuration or placed into long-term storage ("XJ"), as Congress has prevented the Air Force from formally retiring them. The final KC-135E, tail number "56-3630", was delivered by the 101st Air Refueling Wing to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in September 2009.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: The second modification program retrofitted 500 aircraft with new CFM International CFM56 (military designation: F108) high-bypass turbofan engines produced by General Electric and Safran. The CFM56 engine produces approximately of thrust, nearly a 100% increase compared to the original J57 engine. The modified tanker, designated KC-135R (modified KC-135A or E) or KC-135T (modified KC-135Q), can offload up to 50% more fuel (on a long-duration sortie), is 25% more fuel-efficient, and costs 25% less to operate than with the previous engines. It is also significantly quieter than the KC-135A, with noise levels at takeoff reduced from 126 to 99 decibels.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: The KC-135R's operational range is 60% greater than the KC-135E for comparable fuel offloads, providing a wider range of basing options.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: Upgrading the remaining KC-135Es into KC-135Rs is no longer in consideration; this would have cost approximately US$3 billion, $24 million per aircraft. According to Air Force data, the KC-135 fleet had a total operation and support cost in fiscal year 2001 of about $2.2 billion. The older E model aircraft averaged total costs of about $4.6 million per aircraft, while the R models averaged about $3.7 million per aircraft. Those costs include personnel, fuel, maintenance, modifications, and spare parts.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: In order to expand the KC-135's capabilities and improve its reliability, the aircraft has undergone a number of avionics upgrades. Among these was the Pacer-CRAG program (compass, radar and GPS) which ran from 1999 to 2002 and modified all the aircraft in the inventory to eliminate the Navigator position from the flight crew. The fuel management system was also replaced. The program development was done by Rockwell Collins in Iowa and installation was performed by BAE Systems at the Mojave Airport in California. Block 40.6 allows the KC-135 to comply with global air-traffic management. The latest block upgrade to the KC-135, the Block 45 program, is online with the first 45 upgraded aircraft delivered by January 2017. Block 45 adds a new glass cockpit digital display, radio altimeter, digital autopilot, digital flight director and computer updates. The original, no longer procurable, analog instruments, including all engine gauges, were replaced. Rockwell Collins again supplied the major avionic modules and the modification work is being done at Tinker AFB.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: The KC-135Q variant was modified to carry JP-7 fuel necessary for the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird by separating the JP-7 from the KC-135's own fuel supply (the body tanks carrying JP-7, and the wing tanks carrying JP-4 or JP-8). The tanker also had special fuel systems for moving the different fuels between different tanks. When the KC-135Q model received the CFM56 engines, it was redesignated the KC-135T model, which was capable of separating the main body tanks from the wing tanks where the KC-135 draws its engine fuel. The only external difference between a KC-135R and a KC-135T is the presence of a clear window on the underside of the empennage of the KC-135T where a remote controlled searchlight is mounted. It also has two ground refueling ports, located in each rear wheel well so ground crews can fuel both the body tanks and wing tanks separately.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: Eight KC-135R aircraft are receiver-capable tankers, commonly referred to as KC-135R(RT). All eight aircraft were with the 22d Air Refueling Wing at McConnell AFB, Kansas, in 1994. They are primarily used for force extension and Special Operations missions, and are crewed by highly qualified receiver capable crews. If not used for the receiver mission, these aircraft can be flown just like any other KC-135R.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: The Multi-point Refueling Systems (MPRS) modification adds refueling pods to the KC-135's wings. The pods allow refueling of U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and most NATO tactical jet aircraft while keeping the tail-mounted refueling boom. The pods themselves are Flight Refueling Limited MK.32B model pods, and refuel via the probe and drogue method common to Navy/Marine Corps tactical jets, rather than the primary "flying boom" method used by Air Force fixed-wing aircraft. This allows the tanker to refuel two receivers at the same time, which increases throughput compared to the boom drogue adapter.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: A number of KC-135A and KC-135B aircraft have been modified to EC-135, RC-135 and OC-135 configurations for use in several different roles (although these could also be considered variants of the C-135 Stratolifter family).


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: The KC-135R has four turbofan engines, mounted under 35-degree swept wings, which power it to takeoffs at gross weights up to . Nearly all internal fuel can be pumped through the tanker's flying boom, the KC-135's primary fuel transfer method. A boom operator stationed in the rear of the aircraft controls the boom while lying prone, viewing through a window at the bottom of the tail. Both the flying boom and operators station are similar to those of the previous KC-97. A special shuttlecock-shaped drogue, attached to and trailing behind the flying boom, may be used to refuel aircraft fitted with probes. This apparatus is significantly more unforgiving of pilot error in the receiving aircraft than conventional trailing hose arrangements; an aircraft so fitted is also incapable of refueling by the normal flying boom method until the attachment is removed. A cargo deck above the refueling system can hold a mixed load of passengers and cargo. Depending on fuel storage configuration, the KC-135 can carry up to of cargo.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: The KC-135 was initially purchased to support bombers of the Strategic Air Command, but by the late 1960s, in the Southeast Asia theater, the KC-135 Stratotanker's ability as a force multiplier came to the fore. Midair refueling of F-105 and F-4 fighter-bombers as well as B-52 bombers brought far-flung bombing targets within reach, and allowed fighter missions to spend hours at the front, rather than a few minutes, which was usual due to their limited fuel reserves and high fuel consumption. KC-135 crews refueled both Air Force and Navy / Marine Corps aircraft; though they would have to change to probe and drogue adapters depending upon the mission, the Navy and Marine Corps not having fitted their aircraft with flying boom receptacles since the USAF boom system was impractical for aircraft carrier operations. Crews also helped to bring in damaged aircraft which could sometimes fly while being fed by fuel to a landing site or to ditch over the water (specifically those with punctured fuel tanks). KC-135s continued their tactical support role in later conflicts such as Operation Desert Storm and current aerial strategy.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: SAC had the KC-135 Stratotanker in service with Regular Air Force SAC units from 1957 through 1992 and with SAC-gained ANG and AFRES units from 1975 through 1992. Following a major USAF reorganization that resulted in the inactivation of SAC in 1992, most KC-135s were reassigned to the newly created AMC. While AMC gained the preponderance of the aerial refueling mission, a small number of KC-135s were also assigned directly to United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) and the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). All AFRC KC-135s and most of the ANG KC-135 fleet became operationally-gained by AMC, while Alaska Air National Guard and Hawaii Air National Guard KC-135s became operationally-gained by PACAF.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: AMC manages 396 Stratotankers, of which the AFRC and ANG fly 243 in support of AMC's mission as of May 2018. The KC-135 is one of a few military aircraft types with over 50 years of continuous service with its original operator as of 2009.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: Israel was offered KC-135s again in 2013, after turning down the aging aircraft twice due to expense of keeping them flying. The IAF again rejected the offered KC-135Es, but said that it would consider up to a dozen of the newer KC-135Rs.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: Besides its primary role as an inflight aircraft refueler, the KC-135, designated NKC-135, has assisted in several research projects at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California. One such project occurred between 1979 and 1980 when special wingtip "winglets", developed by Richard Whitcomb of the Langley Research Center, were tested at Armstrong, using an NKC-135A tanker loaned to NASA by the Air Force. Winglets are small, nearly vertical fins installed on an aircraft's wing tips. The results of the research showed that drag was reduced and range could be increased by as much as 7 percent at cruise speeds. Winglets are now being incorporated into most new commercial and military transport/passenger jets, as well as business aviation jets.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: NASA also has operated several KC-135 aircraft (without the tanker equipment installed) as their famed Vomit Comet zero-gravity simulator aircraft. The longest-serving (1973 to 1995) version was KC-135A, AF Ser. No. "59-1481", named "Weightless Wonder IV" and registered as N930NA.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: Between 1993 and 2003, the amount of KC-135 depot maintenance work doubled, and the overhaul cost per aircraft tripled. In 1996, it cost $8,400 per flight hour for the KC-135, and in 2002 this had grown to $11,000. The Air Force's 15-year estimates project further significant cost growth through fiscal year 2017. KC-135 fleet operations and support costs were estimated to grow from about $2.2 billion in fiscal year 2003 to $5.1 billion (2003 dollars) in fiscal year 2017, an increase of over 130 percent, which represented an annual operating cost growth rate of about 6.2 percent.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: The Air Force projected that E and R models have lifetime flying hour limits of 36,000 and 39,000 hours, respectively. According to the Air Force, only a few KC-135s would reach these limits by 2040, when some aircraft would be about 80 years old. A later 2005 Air Force study estimated that KC-135Es upgraded to the R standard could remain in use until 2030.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: In 2006, the KC-135E fleet was flying an annual average of 350 hours per aircraft and the KC-135R fleet was flying an annual average of 710 hours per aircraft. The KC-135 fleet is currently flying double its planned yearly flying hour program to meet airborne refueling requirements, and has resulted in higher than forecast usage and sustainment costs. In March 2009, the Air Force indicated that KC-135s would require additional skin replacement to allow their continued use beyond 2018.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: The USAF decided to replace the KC-135 fleet. However, the fleet is large and will need to be replaced gradually. Initially the first batch of replacement planes was to be an air tanker version of the Boeing 767, leased from Boeing. In 2003, this was changed to contract where the Air Force would purchase 80 KC-767 aircraft and lease 20 more. In December 2003, the Pentagon froze the contract and in January 2006, the KC-767 contract was canceled. This move followed public revelations of corruption in how the contract was awarded, as well as controversy regarding the original leasing rather than outright purchase agreement. The then Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld stated that that move would in no way impair the Air Force's ability to deliver the mission of the KC-767, which would be accomplished by implementing continuing upgrades to the KC-135 and KC-10 Extender fleet.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: In January 2007, the U.S. Air Force formally launched the KC-X program, with a request for proposal (RFP). KC-X was the first phase of three acquisition programs meant to replace the KC-135 fleet. On 29 February 2008, the US Defense Department announced that it had selected the EADS/Northrop Grumman "KC-30" (to be designated the KC-45A) over the Boeing KC-767. Boeing protested the award on 11 March 2008, citing irregularities in the competition and bid evaluation. On 18 June 2008, the US Government Accountability Office sustained Boeing's protest of the selection of the Northrop Grumman/EADS's tanker. In February 2010, the US Air Force restarted the KC-X competition with the release of a revised request for proposal (RFP). After evaluating bids, the USAF selected Boeing's 767-based tanker design, with the military designation KC-46, as a replacement in February 2011. The first KC-46A Pegasus was delivered to the U.S. Air Force on 10 January 2019.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: Two foreign users of the KC-135, the French Air Force and the Republic of Singapore Air Force took deliveries of Airbus A330 MRTTs as replacements for their Stratotankers.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: Original production version powered by four Pratt & Whitney J57s, 732 built. Given the Boeing model numbers 717-100A, 717-146 and 717-148.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: Airborne command post version equipped with turbofan engines, 17 built. Provided with in-flight refueling capability and redesignated EC-135C. Given the model number 717-166.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: All four RC-135As ("Pacer Swan") were modified to partial KC-135A configuration in 1979. The four aircraft (serial numbers "63-8058, 63-8059, 63-8060" and "63-8061") were given a unique designation KC-135D as they differed from the KC-135A in that they were built with a flight engineer's position on the flight deck. The flight engineer's position was removed when the aircraft were modified to KC-135 standards but they retained their electrically powered wing flap secondary (emergency) drive mechanism and second air conditioning pack which had been used to cool the RC-135As on-board photo-mapping systems. Later re-engined with Pratt & Whitney TF33 engines and a cockpit update to KC-135E standards in 1990 and were retired to the 309th AMARG at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ in 2007.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve KC-135As re-engined with Pratt & Whitney TF33-PW-102 engines from retired 707 airliners (161 modified). All E model aircraft were retired to the 309th AMARG at Davis-Monthan AFB by September 2009 and replaced with R models.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: Test-configured KC-135E. 55-3132 NKC-135E "Big Crow I" & 63-8050 NKC-135B "Big Crow II" used as airborne targets for the Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser carrier.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: KC-135As modified to carry JP-7 fuel necessary for the SR-71 Blackbird, 56 modified, survivors to KC-135T.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: 4 JC/KC-135As converted to "Rivet Stand" (Later "Rivet Quick") configuration for reconnaissance and evaluation of above ground nuclear test (55-3121, 59–1465, 59–1514, 58–0126; 58-0126 replaced 59-1465 after it crashed in 1967). These aircraft were powered by Pratt & Whitney J57 engines and were based at Offutt AFB, Nebraska.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: Receiver-capable KC-135R Stratotanker; eight modified with either a Boeing or LTV receiver system and a secure voice SATCOM radio. Three of the aircraft (60-0356, -0357, and -0362) were converted to tankers from RC-135Ds, from which they retained their added equipment.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: A new-built variant for France as dual-role tanker/cargo and troop carrier aircraft. 12 were built for the French Air Force with the addition of a drogue adapter on the refueling boom. Given Boeing model numbers 717-164 and 717-165.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: 11 surviving C-135Fs upgraded with CFM International F108 turbofans between 1985 and 1988. Later modified with MPRS wing pods.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: An airborne command post modified in 1984 to support CINCCENT. Aircraft 55-3125 was the only EC-135Y. Unlike its sister EC-135N, it was a true tanker that could also receive in-flight refueling. Pratt & Whitney TF33-PW-102. Retired to 309th AMARG at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: Note Italy has been reported in some sources as operating several KC-135s, however these are actually Boeing 707-300s converted to tanker configuration.


title: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

text: As of 2020, 52 Stratotankers have been lost to accidents during the over sixty years of service, involving 385 fatalities.


title: Robert Irwin (television personality)

text: Robert Clarence Irwin (born 1 December 2003) is an Australian television personality, conservationist, zookeeper, and wildlife photographer. He is the son of Steve Irwin, and is often noted by fans to share similarities with his late father.


title: Robert Irwin (television personality)

text: Irwin hosts "Robert's Real Life Adventures", a program on his family zoo's internal television network. He co-hosted the Discovery Kids Channel television series "Wild But True" and co-created the book series "Robert Irwin: Dinosaur Hunter." He currently stars on the Animal Planet series "Crikey! It's the Irwins" with his mother, Terri, and sister, Bindi.


title: Robert Irwin (television personality)

text: Irwin works at the Australia Zoo, where he is involved in activities that Steve originally did, such as wrestling crocodiles, handling snakes and feeding the zoo's animals.


title: Robert Irwin (television personality)

text: Robert Clarence Irwin was born on 1 December 2003 in Buderim, Queensland, the younger of two children and the only son of Steve and Terri Irwin. His father died from a stingray injury to the heart while filming an underwater documentary when Robert was two years old. Robert and his sister, Bindi, were homeschooled at Australia Zoo following their father's death. He is a dual citizen of Australia (through his birth) and the United States (through his mother). His ancestry is English and abundance of Irish on his father's side.


title: Robert Irwin (television personality)

text: During a public show one month after Robert was born, his father carried him in his arm while hand-feeding a chicken carcass to a saltwater crocodile. Robert was close to the crocodile and the incident sparked comparisons in the press to Michael Jackson's dangling of his son, Prince Michael Jackson II, outside a German hotel window. The incident prompted the Queensland Government to change its crocodile-handling laws, banning children and untrained adults from entering crocodile enclosures.


title: Robert Irwin (television personality)

text: In 2009, Irwin had a cameo appearance in "". In 2012, Irwin appeared alongside his mother and sister in a television series entitled "Steve Irwin's Wildlife Warriors", which earned him a 2013 Logie Award nomination for Most Popular New Male Talent. In 2014 and 2015, Irwin co-hosted a television series named "Wild But True" on Discovery Kids Channel. The show was later nominated for an International Emmy Kids Award in the factual category in 2016.


title: Robert Irwin (television personality)

text: In 2013, Irwin released a series of books, titled "Dinosaur Hunter", which he co-authored with Lachlan Creag and Jack Wells.


title: Robert Irwin (television personality)

text: In 2015, he appeared as a guest on the British wildlife series "Ten Deadliest Snakes" in the episode focused on Australia's venomous snakes. He guided presenter Nigel Marven in the billabong of Australia Zoo to look for a red-bellied black snake.


title: Robert Irwin (television personality)

text: Irwin was runner-up in the junior category of the 2016 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition. Irwin is also a photography contributor to the Australia Zoo "Crikey" magazine. He uses his love for photography to help raise awareness about wildlife conservation. He has also raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Irwins' non-profit organization "Wildlife Warriors" by auctioning canvas prints of his work at events around the world. He has also met with world leaders such as His Royal Highness Prince Charles to discuss the protection of natural habitat.


title: Robert Irwin (television personality)

text: On 16 February 2017, Irwin made his late-night television debut when he appeared on NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon". He presented an African dwarf crocodile, a screaming armadillo, a red-tailed boa, and a sloth to the host, Jimmy Fallon. Irwin subsequently went back to appear on "The Tonight Show" on multiple occasions, showcasing a different selection of animals each time. As of April 2019, Irwin has appeared on the show eleven times.


title: Robert Irwin (television personality)

text: Irwin is also an avid photographer and is also the leading photography contributor to the Australia Zoo "Crikey" magazine. He has also embarked upon many photography expeditions around the globe, from the savannah of Africa to the mountains of New Zealand, the wilderness of Europe and everywhere in between.


title: Robert Irwin (television personality)

text: On 6 April 2017, Irwin was invested as a member and ambassador of Scouts Australia, formalizing a partnership between the organization and Australia Zoo. The aim of the partnership is to encourage Australia's young people to become involved with wilderness and conservation.


title: Robert Irwin (television personality)

text: He has also given various interviews to magazines for teenagers as a current reference, such as Vanity


title: Roman Britain

text: Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered was raised to the status of a Roman province.


title: Roman Britain

text: Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars. According to Caesar, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by other Celtic tribes during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. He received tribute, installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes, and returned to Gaul. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 BC. In 40 AD, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel on the continent, only to have them gather seashells ("musculi") according to Suetonius, perhaps as a symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula's victory over the sea. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore the exiled king Verica over the Atrebates. The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the Province of Britain (). By 47 AD, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way. Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudica's uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward.


title: Roman Britain

text: The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola (77–84), who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia. In mid-84 AD, Agricola faced the armies of the Caledonians, led by Calgacus, at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be upwards of 10,000 on the Caledonian side and about 360 on the Roman side. The bloodbath at Mons Graupius concluded the forty-year conquest of Britain, a period that possibly saw between 100,000 and 250,000 Britons killed. In the context of pre-industrial warfare and of a total population of Britain of 2 million, these are very high figures.


title: Roman Britain

text: Under the 2nd-century emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, two walls were built to defend the Roman province from the Caledonians, whose realms in the Scottish Highlands were never controlled. Around 197 AD, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces: Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. During the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the . A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century. For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410; the native kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that.


title: Roman Britain

text: Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, and architecture. The Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain. After the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor. Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire.


title: Roman Britain

text: Britain was known to the Classical world. The Greeks, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC. The Greeks referred to the ", or "tin islands", and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 6th or 5th century BC and the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th. It was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed.


title: Roman Britain

text: The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The first expedition was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion and gained a foothold on the coast of Kent but was unable to advance further because of storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry. Despite the military failure, it was a political success, with the Roman Senate declaring a 20-day public holiday in Rome to honour the unprecedented achievement of obtaining hostages from Britain and defeating Belgic tribes on returning to the continent.


title: Roman Britain

text: The second invasion involved a substantially larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute and give hostages in return for peace. A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, Cassivellaunus, was brought to terms. Hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul.


title: Roman Britain

text: Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind, but he established clients and brought Britain into Rome's sphere of influence. Augustus planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustus's reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could. Archaeology shows that there was an increase in imported luxury goods in southeastern Britain. Strabo also mentions British kings who sent embassies to Augustus, and Augustus's own " refers to two British kings he received as refugees. When some of Tiberius's ships were carried to Britain in a storm during his campaigns in Germany in 16 AD, they came back with tales of monsters.


title: Roman Britain

text: Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the Catuvellauni, ruled by the descendants of Tasciovanus, and the Atrebates, ruled by the descendants of Commius. This policy was followed until 39 or 40 AD, when Caligula received an exiled member of the Catuvellaunian dynasty and planned an invasion of Britain that collapsed in farcical circumstances before it left Gaul. When Claudius successfully invaded in 43 AD, it was in aid of another fugitive British ruler, Verica of the Atrebates.


title: Roman Britain

text: The invasion force in 43 AD was led by Aulus Plautius, but it is unclear how many legions were sent. The ', commanded by future emperor Vespasian, was the only one directly attested to have taken part. The ', the ' (later styled ') and the ' (later styled ') are known to have served during the Boudican Revolt of 60/61, and were probably there since the initial invasion. This is not certain because the Roman army was flexible, with units being moved around whenever necessary. The " may have been permanently stationed, with records showing it at Eboracum (York) in 71 and on a building inscription there dated 108, before being destroyed in the east of the Empire, possibly during the Bar Kokhba revolt.


title: Roman Britain

text: The invasion was delayed by a troop mutiny until an imperial freedman persuaded them to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world. They sailed in three divisions, and probably landed at Richborough in Kent; at least part of the force may have landed near Fishbourne, West Sussex.


title: Roman Britain

text: The Catuvellauni and their allies were defeated in two battles: the first, assuming a Richborough landing, on the river Medway, the second on the river Thames. One of their leaders, Togodumnus, was killed, but his brother Caratacus survived to continue resistance elsewhere. Plautius halted at the Thames and sent for Claudius, who arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants, for the final march to the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum (Colchester). Vespasian subdued the southwest, Cogidubnus was set up as a friendly king of several territories, and treaties were made with tribes outside direct Roman control.


title: Roman Britain

text: After capturing the south of the island, the Romans turned their attention to what is now Wales. The Silures, Ordovices and Deceangli remained implacably opposed to the invaders and for the first few decades were the focus of Roman military attention, despite occasional minor revolts among Roman allies like the Brigantes and the Iceni. The Silures were led by Caratacus, and he carried out an effective guerrilla campaign against Governor Publius Ostorius Scapula. Finally, in 51, Ostorius lured Caratacus into a set-piece battle and defeated him. The British leader sought refuge among the Brigantes, but their queen, Cartimandua, proved her loyalty by surrendering him to the Romans. He was brought as a captive to Rome, where a dignified speech he made during Claudius's triumph persuaded the emperor to spare his life. The Silures were still not pacified, and Cartimandua's ex-husband Venutius replaced Caratacus as the most prominent leader of British resistance.


title: Roman Britain

text: On Nero's accession Roman Britain extended as far north as Lindum. Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, the conqueror of Mauretania (modern day Algeria and Morocco), then became governor of Britain, and in 60 and 61 he moved against Mona (Anglesey) to settle accounts with Druidism once and for all. Paulinus led his army across the Menai Strait and massacred the Druids and burnt their sacred groves.


title: Roman Britain

text: While Paulinus was campaigning in Mona, the southeast of Britain rose in revolt under the leadership of Boudica. She was the widow of the recently deceased king of the Iceni, Prasutagus. The Roman historian Tacitus reports that Prasutagus had left a will leaving half his kingdom to Nero in the hope that the remainder would be left untouched. He was wrong. When his will was enforced, Rome responded by violently seizing the tribe's lands in full. Boudica protested. In consequence, Rome punished her and her daughters by flogging and rape. In response, the Iceni, joined by the Trinovantes, destroyed the Roman colony at Camulodunum (Colchester) and routed the part of the IXth Legion that was sent to relieve it. Paulinus rode to London (then called Londinium), the rebels' next target, but concluded it could not be defended. Abandoned, it was destroyed, as was Verulamium (St. Albans). Between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed in the three cities. But Paulinus regrouped with two of the three legions still available to him, chose a battlefield, and, despite being outnumbered by more than twenty to one, defeated the rebels in the Battle of Watling Street. Boudica died not long afterwards, by self-administered poison or by illness. During this time, the Emperor Nero considered withdrawing Roman forces from Britain altogether.


title: Roman Britain

text: There was further turmoil in 69, the "Year of the Four Emperors". As civil war raged in Rome, weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain, and Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance. The Romans had previously defended Cartimandua against him, but this time were unable to do so. Cartimandua was evacuated, and Venutius was left in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus, took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively. Frontinus extended Roman rule to all of South Wales, and initiated exploitation of the mineral resources, such as the gold mines at Dolaucothi.


title: Roman Britain

text: In the following years, the Romans conquered more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britain. Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, father-in-law to the historian Tacitus, conquered the Ordovices in 78. With the " legion, Agricola defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius, in north-east Scotland. This was the high-water mark of Roman territory in Britain: shortly after his victory, Agricola was recalled from Britain back to Rome, and the Romans initially retired to a more defensible line along the Forth–Clyde isthmus, freeing soldiers badly needed along other frontiers.


title: Roman Britain

text: For much of the history of Roman Britain, a large number of soldiers were garrisoned on the island. This required that the emperor station a trusted senior man as governor of the province. As a result, many future emperors served as governors or legates in this province, including Vespasian, Pertinax, and Gordian I.


title: Roman Britain

text: There is no historical source describing the decades that followed Agricola's recall. Even the name of his replacement is unknown. Archaeology has shown that some Roman forts south of the Forth–Clyde isthmus were rebuilt and enlarged; others appear to have been abandoned. By 87 the frontier had been consolidated on the Stanegate. Roman coins and pottery have been found circulating at native settlement sites in the Scottish Lowlands in the years before 100, indicating growing Romanisation. Some of the most important sources for this era are the writing tablets from the fort at Vindolanda in Northumberland, mostly dating to 90–110. These tablets provide evidence for the operation of a Roman fort at the edge of the Roman Empire, where officers' wives maintained polite society while merchants, hauliers and military personnel kept the fort operational and supplied.


title: Roman Britain

text: Around 105 there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of the tribes of the Picts: several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armour at "Trimontium" (at modern Newstead, in SE Scotland) indicating hostilities at least at that site. There is also circumstantial evidence that auxiliary reinforcements were sent from Germany, and an unnamed British war of the period is mentioned on the gravestone of a tribune of Cyrene. Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in the area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat. The Romans were also in the habit of destroying their own forts during an orderly withdrawal, in order to deny resources to an enemy. In either case, the frontier probably moved south to the line of the Stanegate at the Solway–Tyne isthmus around this time.


title: Roman Britain

text: A new crisis occurred at the beginning of Hadrian's reign (117): a rising in the north which was suppressed by Quintus Pompeius Falco. When Hadrian reached Britannia on his famous tour of the Roman provinces around 120, he directed an extensive defensive wall, known to posterity as Hadrian's Wall, to be built close to the line of the Stanegate frontier. Hadrian appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos as governor to undertake this work who brought the ' legion with him from '. This replaced the famous ", whose disappearance has been much discussed. Archaeology indicates considerable political instability in Scotland during the first half of the 2nd century, and the shifting frontier at this time should be seen in this context.


title: Roman Britain

text: In the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161) the Hadrianic border was briefly extended north to the Forth–Clyde isthmus, where the Antonine Wall was built around 142 following the military reoccupation of the Scottish lowlands by a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus.


title: Roman Britain

text: The first Antonine occupation of Scotland ended as a result of a further crisis in 155–157, when the Brigantes revolted. With limited options to despatch reinforcements, the Romans moved their troops south, and this rising was suppressed by Governor Gnaeus Julius Verus. Within a year the Antonine Wall was recaptured, but by 163 or 164 it was abandoned. The second occupation was probably connected with Antoninus's undertakings to protect the Votadini or his pride in enlarging the empire, since the retreat to the Hadrianic frontier occurred not long after his death when a more objective strategic assessment of the benefits of the Antonine Wall could be made. The Romans did not entirely withdraw from Scotland at this time: the large fort at Newstead was maintained along with seven smaller outposts until at least 180.


title: Roman Britain

text: During the twenty-year period following the reversion of the frontier to Hadrian's Wall in 163/4, Rome was concerned with continental issues, primarily problems in the Danubian provinces. Increasing numbers of hoards of buried coins in Britain at this time indicate that peace was not entirely achieved. Sufficient Roman silver has been found in Scotland to suggest more than ordinary trade, and it is likely that the Romans were reinforcing treaty agreements by paying tribute to their implacable enemies, the Picts.


title: Roman Britain

text: In 175, a large force of Sarmatian cavalry, consisting of 5,500 men, arrived in Britannia, probably to reinforce troops fighting unrecorded uprisings. In 180, Hadrian's Wall was breached by the Picts and the commanding officer or governor was killed there in what Cassius Dio described as the most serious war of the reign of Commodus. Ulpius Marcellus was sent as replacement governor and by 184 he had won a new peace, only to be faced with a mutiny from his own troops. Unhappy with Marcellus's strictness, they tried to elect a legate named Priscus as usurper governor; he refused, but Marcellus was lucky to leave the province alive. The Roman army in Britannia continued its insubordination: they sent a delegation of 1,500 to Rome to demand the execution of Tigidius Perennis, a Praetorian prefect who they felt had earlier wronged them by posting lowly equites to legate ranks in Britannia. Commodus met the party outside Rome and agreed to have Perennis killed, but this only made them feel more secure in their mutiny.


title: Roman Britain

text: The future emperor Pertinax was sent to Britannia to quell the mutiny and was initially successful in regaining control, but a riot broke out among the troops. Pertinax was attacked and left for dead, and asked to be recalled to Rome, where he briefly succeeded Commodus as emperor in 192.


title: Roman Britain

text: The death of Commodus put into motion a series of events which eventually led to civil war. Following the short reign of Pertinax, several rivals for the emperorship emerged, including Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus. The latter was the new governor of Britannia, and had seemingly won the natives over after their earlier rebellions; he also controlled three legions, making him a potentially significant claimant. His sometime rival Severus promised him the title of Caesar in return for Albinus's support against Pescennius Niger in the east. Once Niger was neutralised, Severus turned on his ally in Britannia; it is likely that Albinus saw he would be the next target and was already preparing for war.


title: Roman Britain

text: Albinus crossed to Gaul in 195, where the provinces were also sympathetic to him, and set up at Lugdunum. Severus arrived in February 196, and the ensuing battle was decisive. Albinus came close to victory, but Severus's reinforcements won the day, and the British governor committed suicide. Severus soon purged Albinus's sympathisers and perhaps confiscated large tracts of land in Britain as punishment. Albinus had demonstrated the major problem posed by Roman Britain. In order to maintain security, the province required the presence of three legions, but command of these forces provided an ideal power base for ambitious rivals. Deploying those legions elsewhere would strip the island of its garrison, leaving the province defenceless against uprisings by the native Celtic tribes and against invasion by the Picts and Scots.


title: Roman Britain

text: The traditional view is that northern Britain descended into anarchy during Albinus's absence. Cassius Dio records that the new Governor, Virius Lupus, was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae. The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently appointed suggests that enemies of Rome were posing a difficult challenge, and Lucius Alfenus Senecio's report to Rome in 207 describes barbarians "rebelling, over-running the land, taking loot and creating destruction". In order to rebel, of course, one must be a subject – the Maeatae clearly did not consider themselves such. Senecio requested either reinforcements or an Imperial expedition, and Severus chose the latter, despite being 62 years old. Archaeological evidence shows that Senecio had been rebuilding the defences of Hadrian's Wall and the forts beyond it, and Severus's arrival in Britain prompted the enemy tribes to sue for peace immediately. The emperor had not come all that way to leave without a victory, and it is likely that he wished to provide his teenage sons Caracalla and Geta with first-hand experience of controlling a hostile barbarian land.


title: Roman Britain

text: An invasion of Caledonia led by Severus and probably numbering around 20,000 troops moved north in 208 or 209, crossing the Wall and passing through eastern Scotland on a route similar to that used by Agricola. Harried by punishing guerrilla raids by the northern tribes and slowed by an unforgiving terrain, Severus was unable to meet the Caledonians on a battlefield. The emperor's forces pushed north as far as the River Tay, but little appears to have been achieved by the invasion, as peace treaties were signed with the Caledonians. By 210 Severus had returned to York, and the frontier had once again become Hadrian's Wall. He assumed the title " but the title meant little with regard to the unconquered north, which clearly remained outside the authority of the Empire. Almost immediately, another northern tribe, the Maeatae, went to war. Caracalla left with a punitive expedition, but by the following year his ailing father had died and he and his brother left the province to press their claim to the throne.


title: Roman Britain

text: As one of his last acts, Severus tried to solve the problem of powerful and rebellious governors in Britain by dividing the province into ' and '. This kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century. Historical sources provide little information on the following decades, a period known as the Long Peace. Even so, the number of buried hoards found from this period rises, suggesting continuing unrest. A string of forts were built along the coast of southern Britain to control piracy; and over the following hundred years they increased in number, becoming the Saxon Shore Forts.


title: Roman Britain

text: During the middle of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was convulsed by barbarian invasions, rebellions and new imperial pretenders. Britannia apparently avoided these troubles, but increasing inflation had its economic effect. In 259 a so-called Gallic Empire was established when Postumus rebelled against Gallienus. Britannia was part of this until 274 when Aurelian reunited the empire.


title: Roman Britain

text: Around the year 280, a half-British officer named Bonosus was in command of the Roman's Rhenish fleet when the Germans managed to burn it at anchor. To avoid punishment, he proclaimed himself emperor at Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) but was crushed by Marcus Aurelius Probus. Soon afterwards, an unnamed governor of one of the British provinces also attempted an uprising. Probus put it down by sending irregular troops of Vandals and Burgundians across the Channel.


title: Roman Britain

text: The Carausian Revolt led to a short-lived Britannic Empire from 286 to 296. Carausius was a Menapian naval commander of the Britannic fleet; he revolted upon learning of a death sentence ordered by the emperor Maximian on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon pirates and having embezzled recovered treasure. He consolidated control over all the provinces of Britain and some of northern Gaul while Maximian dealt with other uprisings. An invasion in 288 failed to unseat him and an uneasy peace ensued, with Carausius issuing coins and inviting official recognition. In 293, the junior emperor Constantius Chlorus launched a second offensive, besieging the rebel port of Gesoriacum (Boulogne-sur-Mer) by land and sea. After it fell, Constantius attacked Carausius's other Gallic holdings and Frankish allies and Carausius was usurped by his treasurer, Allectus. Julius Asclepiodotus landed an invasion fleet near Southampton and defeated Allectus in a land battle.


title: Roman Britain

text: As part of Diocletian's reforms, the provinces of Roman Britain were organized as a diocese governed by a "vicarius" under a praetorian prefect who, from 318 to 331, was Junius Bassus who was based at Augusta Treverorum (Trier).


title: Roman Britain

text: The "vicarius" was based at Londinium as the principal city of the diocese. Londinium and Eboracum continued as provincial capitals and the territory was divided up into smaller provinces for administrative efficiency.


title: Roman Britain

text: Civilian and military authority of a province was no longer exercised by one official and the governor was stripped of military command which was handed over to the "Dux Britanniarum" by 314. The governor of a province assumed more financial duties (the procurators of the Treasury ministry were slowly phased out in the first three decades of the 4th century). The Dux was commander of the troops of the Northern Region, primarily along Hadrian's Wall and his responsibilities included protection of the frontier. He had significant autonomy due in part to the distance from his superiors.


title: Roman Britain

text: The tasks of the "vicarius" were to control and coordinate the activities of governors; monitor but not interfere with the daily functioning of the Treasury and Crown Estates, which had their own administrative infrastructure; and act as the regional quartermaster-general of the armed forces. In short, as the sole civilian official with superior authority, he had general oversight of the administration, as well as direct control, while not absolute, over governors who were part of the prefecture; the other two fiscal departments were not.


title: Roman Britain

text: The early-4th-century Verona List, the late-4th-century work of Sextus Rufus, and the early-5th-century List of Offices and work of Polemius Silvius all list four provinces by some variation of the names Britannia I, Britannia II, Maxima Caesariensis, and Flavia Caesariensis; all of these seem to have initially been directed by a governor ("praeses") of equestrian rank. The 5th-century sources list a fifth province named Valentia and give its governor and Maxima's a consular rank. Ammianus mentions Valentia as well, describing its creation by Count Theodosius in 369 after the quelling of the Great Conspiracy. Ammianus considered it a re-creation of a formerly lost province, leading some to think there had been an earlier fifth province under another name (may be the enigmatic "Vespasiana"?), and leading others to place Valentia beyond Hadrian's Wall, in the territory abandoned south of the Antonine Wall.


title: Roman Britain

text: Reconstructions of the provinces and provincial capitals during this period partially rely on ecclesiastical records. On the assumption that the early bishoprics mimicked the imperial hierarchy, scholars use the list of bishops for the 314 Council of Arles. Unfortunately, the list is patently corrupt: the British delegation is given as including a Bishop "Eborius" of Eboracum and two bishops "from Londinium" (one ' and the other '). The error is variously emended: Bishop Ussher proposed "Colonia", Selden "Col." or "Colon. Camalodun.", and Spelman "Colonia Cameloduni" (all various names of Colchester); Gale and Bingham offered ' and Henry ' (both Lincoln); and Bishop Stillingfleet and Francis Thackeray read it as a scribal error of "Civ. Col. Londin." for an original "Civ. Col. Leg. II" (Caerleon). On the basis of the Verona List, the priest and deacon who accompanied the bishops in some manuscripts are ascribed to the fourth province.


title: Roman Britain

text: In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales described the supposedly metropolitan sees of the early British church established by the legendary SS Fagan and "Duvian". He placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western England with its capital at "Urbs Legionum" (Caerleon); Britannia Secunda in Kent and southern England with its capital at "Dorobernia" (Canterbury); Flavia in Mercia and central England with its capital at "Lundonia" (London); "Maximia" in northern England with its capital at Eboracum (York); and Valentia in "Albania which is now Scotland" with its capital at St Andrews. Modern scholars generally dispute the last: some place Valentia at or beyond Hadrian's Wall but St Andrews is beyond even the Antonine Wall and Gerald seems to have simply been supporting the antiquity of its church for political reasons.


title: Roman Britain

text: A common modern reconstruction places the consular province of Maxima at Londinium, on the basis of its status as the seat of the diocesan "vicarius"; places Prima in the west according to Gerald's traditional account but moves its capital to Corinium of the Dobunni (Cirencester) on the basis of an artifact recovered there referring to Lucius Septimius, a provincial rector; places Flavia north of Maxima, with its capital placed at Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to match one emendation of the bishops list from Arles; and places Secunda in the north with its capital at Eboracum (York). Valentia is placed variously in northern Wales around Deva (Chester); beside Hadrian's Wall around Luguvalium (Carlisle); and between the walls along Dere Street.


title: Roman Britain

text: Emperor Constantius returned to Britain in 306, despite his poor health, with an army aiming to invade northern Britain, the provincial defences having been rebuilt in the preceding years. Little is known of his campaigns with scant archaeological evidence, but fragmentary historical sources suggest he reached the far north of Britain and won a major battle in early summer before returning south. His son Constantine (later Constantine the Great) spent a year in northern Britain at his father's side, campaigning against the Picts beyond Hadrian's Wall in the summer and autumn. Constantius died in York in July 306 with his son at his side. Constantine then successfully used Britain as the starting point of his march to the imperial throne, unlike the earlier usurper, Albinus.


title: Roman Britain

text: In the middle of the century, the province was loyal for a few years to the usurper Magnentius, who succeeded Constans following the latter's death. After the defeat and death of Magnentius in the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 353, Constantius II dispatched his chief imperial notary Paulus Catena to Britain to hunt down Magnentius's supporters. The investigation deteriorated into a witch-hunt, which forced the ' Flavius Martinus to intervene. When Paulus retaliated by accusing Martinus of treason, the ' attacked Paulus with a sword, with the aim of assassinating him, but in the end he committed suicide.


title: Roman Britain

text: As the 4th century progressed, there were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Scoti (Irish) in the west. A series of forts had been built, starting around 280, to defend the coasts, but these preparations were not enough when, in 367, a general assault of Saxons, Picts, Scoti and Attacotti, combined with apparent dissension in the garrison on Hadrian's Wall, left Roman Britain prostrate. The invaders overwhelmed the entire western and northern regions of Britannia and the cities were sacked. This crisis, sometimes called the Barbarian Conspiracy or the Great Conspiracy, was settled by Count Theodosius from 368 with a string of military and civil reforms. Theodosius crossed from Bononia (Boulogne-sur-Mer) and marched on Londinium where he began to deal with the invaders and made his base. An amnesty was promised to deserters which enabled Theodosius to regarrison abandoned forts. By the end of the year Hadrian's Wall was retaken and order returned. Considerable reorganization was undertaken in Britain, including the creation of a new province named Valentia, probably to better address the state of the far north. A new Dux Britanniarum was appointed, Dulcitius, with Civilis to head a new civilian administration.


title: Roman Britain

text: Another imperial usurper, Magnus Maximus, raised the standard of revolt at Segontium (Caernarfon) in north Wales in 383, and crossed the English Channel. Maximus held much of the western empire, and fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots around 384. His continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned in this period, triggering raids and settlement in north Wales by the Irish. His rule was ended in 388, but not all the British troops may have returned: the Empire's military resources were stretched to the limit along the Rhine and Danube.


title: Roman Britain

text: It seems peace was restored by 399, and it is likely that no further garrisoning was ordered; by 401 more troops were withdrawn, to assist in the war against Alaric I.


title: Roman Britain

text: The traditional view of historians, informed by the work of Michael Rostovtzeff, was of a widespread economic decline at the beginning of the 5th century. Consistent archaeological evidence has told another story, and the accepted view is undergoing re-evaluation. Some features are agreed: more opulent but fewer urban houses, an end to new public building and some abandonment of existing ones, with the exception of defensive structures, and the widespread formation of "dark earth" deposits indicating increased horticulture within urban precincts. Turning over the basilica at Silchester to industrial uses in the late 3rd century, doubtless officially condoned, marks an early stage in the de-urbanisation of Roman Britain. The abandonment of some sites is now believed to be later than had formerly been thought. Many buildings changed use but were not destroyed. There were growing barbarian attacks, but these were focused on vulnerable rural settlements rather than towns. Some villas such as Chedworth, Great Casterton in Rutland and Hucclecote in Gloucestershire had new mosaic floors laid around this time, suggesting that economic problems may have been limited and patchy. Many suffered some decay before being abandoned in the 5th century; the story of Saint Patrick indicates that villas were still occupied until at least 430. Exceptionally, new buildings were still going up in this period in Verulamium and Cirencester. Some urban centres, for example Canterbury, Cirencester, Wroxeter, Winchester and Gloucester, remained active during the 5th and 6th centuries, surrounded by large farming estates.


title: Roman Britain

text: Urban life had generally grown less intense by the fourth quarter of the 4th century, and coins minted between 378 and 388 are very rare, indicating a likely combination of economic decline, diminishing numbers of troops, problems with the payment of soldiers and officials or with unstable conditions during the usurpation of Magnus Maximus 383–87. Coinage circulation increased during the 390s, but never attained the levels of earlier decades. Copper coins are very rare after 402, though minted silver and gold coins from hoards indicate they were still present in the province even if they were not being spent. By 407 there were very few new Roman coins going into circulation, and by 430 it is likely that coinage as a medium of exchange had been abandoned. Mass-produced wheel thrown pottery ended at approximately the same time; the rich continued to use metal and glass vessels, while the poor made do with humble "grey ware" or resorted to leather or wooden containers.


title: Roman Britain

text: Towards the end of the 4th century Roman rule in Britain came under increasing pressure from barbarian attacks. Apparently, there were not enough troops to mount an effective defence. After elevating two disappointing usurpers, the army chose a soldier, Constantine III, to become emperor in 407. He crossed to Gaul but was defeated by Honorius; it is unclear how many troops remained or ever returned, or whether a commander-in-chief in Britain was ever reappointed. A Saxon incursion in 408 was apparently repelled by the Britons, and in 409 Zosimus records that the natives expelled the Roman civilian administration. Zosimus may be referring to the Bacaudic rebellion of the Breton inhabitants of Armorica since he describes how, in the aftermath of the revolt, all of Armorica and the rest of Gaul followed the example of the Brettaniai. A letter from Emperor Honorius in 410 has traditionally been seen as rejecting a British appeal for help, but it may have been addressed to Bruttium or Bologna. With the imperial layers of the military and civil government gone, administration and justice fell to municipal authorities, and local warlords gradually emerged all over Britain, still utilizing Romano-British ideals and conventions. Historian Stuart Laycock has investigated this process and emphasised elements of continuity from the British tribes in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, through to the native post-Roman kingdoms.


title: Roman Britain

text: In British tradition, pagan Saxons were invited by Vortigern to assist in fighting the Picts and Irish. (Germanic migration into Roman Britannia may have begun much earlier. There is recorded evidence, for example, of Germanic auxiliaries supporting the legions in Britain in the 1st and 2nd centuries.) The new arrivals rebelled, plunging the country into a series of wars that eventually led to the Saxon occupation of Lowland Britain by 600. Around this time, many Britons fled to Brittany (hence its name), Galicia and probably Ireland. A significant date in sub-Roman Britain is the Groans of the Britons, an unanswered appeal to Aetius, leading general of the western Empire, for assistance against Saxon invasion in 446. Another is the Battle of Deorham in 577, after which the significant cities of Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester fell and the Saxons reached the western sea.


title: Roman Britain

text: Historians generally reject the historicity of King Arthur, who is supposed to have resisted the Anglo-Saxon conquest according to later medieval legends.


title: Roman Britain

text: During the Roman period Britain's continental trade was principally directed across the Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel, focusing on the narrow Strait of Dover, with more limited links via the Atlantic seaways. The most important British ports were London and Richborough, whilst the continental ports most heavily engaged in trade with Britain were Boulogne and the sites of Domburg and Colijnsplaat at the mouth of the river Scheldt. During the Late Roman period it is likely that the shore forts played some role in continental trade alongside their defensive functions.


title: Roman Britain

text: Exports to Britain included: coin; pottery, particularly red-gloss ' (samian ware) from southern, central and eastern Gaul, as well as various other wares from Gaul and the Rhine provinces; olive oil from southern Spain in '; wine from Gaul in ' and barrels; salted fish products from the western Mediterranean and Brittany in barrels and amphorae; preserved olives from southern Spain in '; lava quern-stones from Mayen on the middle Rhine; glass; and some agricultural products. Britain's exports are harder to detect archaeologically, but will have included metals, such as silver and gold and some lead, iron and copper. Other exports probably included agricultural products, oysters and salt, whilst large quantities of coin would have been re-exported back to the continent as well.


title: Roman Britain

text: These products moved as a result of private trade and also through payments and contracts established by the Roman state to support its military forces and officials on the island, as well as through state taxation and extraction of resources. Up until the mid-3rd century, the Roman state's payments appear to have been unbalanced, with far more products sent to Britain, to support its large military force (which had reached 53,000 by the mid-2nd century), than were extracted from the island.


title: Roman Britain

text: It has been argued that Roman Britain's continental trade peaked in the late 1st century AD and thereafter declined as a result of an increasing reliance on local products by the population of Britain, caused by economic development on the island and by the Roman state's desire to save money by shifting away from expensive long-distance imports. Evidence has been outlined that suggests that the principal decline in Roman Britain's continental trade may have occurred in the late 2nd century AD, from 165 AD onwards. This has been linked to the economic impact of contemporary Empire-wide crises: the Antonine Plague and the Marcomannic Wars.