title: Imperial Roman army

text: Forward defence was buttressed by imperial diplomacy, which was guided by two general strategies: firstly, preventing and breaking up large confederations of bordering barbarian tribes under powerful and charismatic native leaders, who could threaten imperial hegemony and border security e.g. Arminius of the Cherusci, Maroboduus of the Marcomanni and Decebalus of the Dacians i.e. the strategy of "divide et impera" ("divide and rule"). The demise of charismatic barbarian leaders was achieved by supporting rival candidates for the leadership with money and/or direct intervention; encouraging constituent or neighbouring tribes of the confederation to attack the leaders' own core tribe; and full-scale invasion by Roman forces. Secondly, coercing all bordering native tribes into treaties of mutual assistance with Rome. Although the conditions of these treaties might vary considerably, they all contained the same core bargain: the Romans would promise to help defend the ally from attack by its neighbours; in return, the ally would promise to refrain from raiding imperial territory, and to prevent other tribes from the ally's hinterland from crossing its territory to do the same. Neighbouring barbarian peoples were thus used as the empire's first line of defence. In many cases, the loyalty of the ally would need to be reinforced by gifts or regular subsidies. In some cases, the Romans would assume a loose suzerainty over the tribe, in effect dictating the choice of new chiefs. These practices were applied on all the frontiers: Germans along the Rhine, Sarmatians along the Danube, Armenian kings and Caucasian and Saracen tribes on the Eastern frontier and Mauri in North Africa. Recalcitrant tribes which resisted inclusion in this client-state system (or attempted to break away from it e.g. by overthrowing a pro-Roman leader, as happened on frequent occasions) would suffer coercion in the form of punitive incursions by the Roman army, accompanied by scorched-earth tactics: the Romans would systematically ravage the tribe's crops and destroy its livestock and burn its villages until exhaustion and starvation forced the barbarians to come to terms.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: The forward-defence strategy was highly successful in protecting the empire's borders until the late 2nd century. No barbarian invasions succeeded in penetrating far into Roman territory until the Marcomanni and Quadi in 167–8, the first to penetrate Italy since the Cimbri in 101 BC, reaching as far as "Opitergium" (Oderzo), near Venice (see Marcomannic Wars). In the 3rd century, barbarian invasions increased in frequency, culminating in the disastrous period 250–70, when large parts of the empire were repeatedly overrun by Germanic and Sarmatian tribes (see Third Century Crisis). The reasons for the breakdown of the defensive system are much debated. According to Luttwak, the forward defence system was always vulnerable to unusually large barbarian concentrations of forces, as the Roman army was too thinly spread along the enormous borders to deal with such threats. In addition, the lack of any reserves to the rear of the border entailed that a barbarian force that successfully penetrated the perimeter defenses would have unchallenged ability to rampage deep into the empire before Roman reinforcements could arrive to intercept them. Another factor was the empire's greater political instability in the 3rd century, Until AD 192, the tiny Italian-dominated senatorial oligarchy that monopolised military, political and economic power in the empire, and from whose ranks emperors were chosen, succeeded in maintaining a remarkable degree of political stability: the only major episode of civil strife was the Civil War of 68-9. But in the third century, power shifted to the so-called "military emperors", Illyrian and Thracian provincials of often humble backgrounds who rose to the throne through the ranks of the army: supreme power was no longer the preserve of the Italian aristocracy. This encouraged many successful generals to attempt to seize power: consequently the soldiers of the 3rd century spent as much time fighting against each other as against the barbarians.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: It is during the mid- Roman Republic that emerged a central feature of Roman military practice, which was adhered to until at least c. AD 400 if not beyond: the fortified marching-camp ("castra"), whose earliest detailed description is provided by the Greek historian Polybius.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: Roman troops would construct a fortified camp, with a standardised size and layout, at the end of each day's march. Most of their adversaries would rely on camping on defensible features (such as hilltops) or in places of concealment (such as in forests or swamps). Although this practice spared troops the toil of constructing fortifications, it would frequently result in camps often being situated on unsuitable ground (i.e. uneven, waterlogged or rocky) and vulnerable to surprise attack, if the enemy succeeded in scouting its location.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: The advantages of fortified marching-camps were substantial. Camps could be situated on the most suitable ground: i.e. preferably level, dry, clear of trees and rocks, and close to sources of drinkable water, forageable crops and good grazing for horses and pack-animals. Properly patrolled, fortified camps made surprise attacks impossible and successful attacks rare – in fact, no case is recorded in the ancient literature of a Roman marching-camp being successfully stormed. The security afforded by fortified camps permitted soldiers to sleep soundly, while animals, baggage and supplies were safely corralled within its precinct. If the army engaged an enemy near a marching-camp, a small garrison of a few hundred men would suffice to defend the camp and its contents. In case of defeat, fleeing soldiers could take refuge in their marching-camp. e.g. after their disaster on the battlefield of Cannae (216 BC), some 17,000 Roman troops (out of a total deployment of over 80,000) escaped death or capture by fleeing to the two marching-camps that the army had established nearby, according to Livy.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: The process of establishing a marching-camp would start when the general in command of an army determined the general area where the day's march would terminate. A detail of officers (a military tribune and several centurions), known as the "mensores" ("measurers"), would be charged with surveying the area and determining the best location for the "praetorium" (the commander's tent), planting a standard on the spot. Measured from this spot, a square perimeter would be marked out. Along the perimeter, a ditch ("fossa") would be excavated, and the spoil used to build an earthen rampart ("agger") on the inside of the ditch. On top of the rampart was erected a palisade ("vallum") of cross-hatched wooden stakes with sharpened points. Within this precinct, a standard, elaborate plan was used to allocate space, in a pre-set pattern, for the tents of each of the various components of the army: officers, legionary infantry and legionary cavalry, auxiliary infantry and cavalry, and barbarian allies. The idea was that the men of each unit would know exactly in which section of the camp to pitch its tents and corral its animals. The construction of a marching-camp would take an army just a couple of hours, since most soldiers would participate and were equipped with picks and shovels for the purpose.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: What is known about the tactics of the Imperial Era is largely conjectural. There is no surviving manual that describes in great detail any tactics that were utilized in this period, nor are the existing accounts of battles particularly helpful due to vagueness.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: When there were open field battles, the Roman usually made use of a multiple line system in order to have reserves available. Reserves were important factors in battle as the reinforcements both increased morale of those already in the front lines and also brought fresh troops to continue to push the enemy back. The leaders of the army rode behind the front line to see when and where to commit the reserves. They could reinforce wavering units to prevent a penetration in the main battle line or help a unit that was beating back the enemy make a breakthrough. This had to be done carefully as committing reserves too early would not achieve any progress, while tiring the troops engaged in prolonged fighting. Waiting too long to commit reserves could cause the first line to collapse and start spreading panic throughout the entire army.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: Battles started with both lines marching towards each other to clash in hand-to-hand combat. In contrast with their foes, who often tried to demoralize their enemies with shouts and other loud noises, the Romans kept quiet as they marched toward their onrushing foes. When the opponents came within a range of about 10 to 15 meters, or 30 to 50 feet, each legionnaire would throw his pilum at the enemy formation and charge accompanied by loud shouts and cornu trumpets. The double shock of the sudden change in demeanor of the Romans and the volley of pila would often cause great damage to the enemy morale. If the Romans succeeded in breaking the enemy, they would aggressively pursue the fleeing army to inflict as many casualties as possible. This pursuit of the enemy was led by the cavalry. The idea was to force the enemy into submission or cause them to be fearful of future battles with the Romans.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: Large, open battles in the field were somewhat infrequent during this time. The armies were often occupied with counter-guerilla actions which led to a siege of the stronghold of the enemy. During sieges, the Roman Legions came to rely on missile power. This can be seen during the Jewish Revolt. In the siege of Jotapata in AD 68, Vespaianus or Vespasian was said to have at least 350 artillery pieces along with 7,000 auxiliary archers. He used these to bombard the enemy fortifications to start each day's attack. When Titus, Vespaianus' son, laid siege to the city of Jerusalem two years later, he reportedly had 700 pieces of artillery.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: This multitude of missiles helped cover the legions advancing towards the walls of the besieged settlements. The famous testudo ("tortoise") formation was utilized to protect the advancing legions. This was done by having the front rank hold out their shields in such a way as to overlap the shields of the men next to them and protect most of the body. The ranks behind the first rank raised their scutum above their own head so that it covered the man in front of him. These shields overlapped those in front of them, creating a shield roof over the entire unit's head. The soldiers at the end of each rank held out their shield sideways to complete the shell of shields. This and other formations were used to assault walls.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: Soldiers generally spent only a fraction of their working lives on campaign. Most of their time was taken up with a wide range of other military and non-military duties.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: Non-military duties on-site included the routine chores of fort life (cleaning, washing clothes and equipment, feeding horses and pack-animals) and working in the fort's "fabrica" (workshop where armour, weapons and other equipment were made and repaired). The army demanded high standards of personal hygiene and cleanliness from its troops, and provided them with the necessary sanitary facilities. Wells were excavated inside forts and aqueducts built to nearby springs to provide a continuous and plentiful supply of fresh, drinkable water. Latrines in the fort were continually flushed by gravity-flowing water, and elaborate drains and sewers would discharge the raw sewage into nearby streams and rivers.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: An essential and burdensome activity was the procurement of the vast quantities of supplies that the regiment needed. For raw materials, the army purchased what it could locally, and imported the rest from elsewhere. The men of "I Hispanorum veterana" went as far afield (from Moesia Inferior) as Gaul to procure clothing and grain. For manufactured goods, the regiments would produce some of their needs themselves e.g. evidence of leather-tanning and beer-brewing at Vindolanda and nearby Catterick fort. The tablets attest the procurement of cereals, beer, animal fodder; manufactured goods such as clothing, nails and vehicle parts; raw materials such as stone, iron, lead, timber, animal hides.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: Routine military duties included patrolling, guard-duty, and weapons training. These were not limited to the regiment's base fort and its vicinity only: the Vindolanda tablets show that detachments of the unit could be deployed in several different locations at once: one "renuntia" shows a detachment of nearly half the effectives of "cohors I Tungrorum" deployed at another fort. A papyrus "renuntia" for "cohors I Hispanorum veterana equitata" in Moesia Inferior (AD 105) reports a cavalry "turma" on a scouting mission ("exploratum") across the Danube.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: As in today's armies, each day would begin with a roll-call parade (probably called a "numeratio"). Soldiers were kept at a high level of physical fitness by daily exercises and marches typically every 10 days, as well as regular, full-scale training-manoeuvres and mock-skirmishes. The latter would often be inspected by a high military official: the "legatus legionis", the provincial governor, or even the emperor himself. Some forts contained drill-halls, permitting all-weather training. Combat-training and exercises were a central part of a soldier's weekly routine. One tablet probably contains a scathing report by an officer (himself probably a Rhineland German) about the progress of young local trainee cavalrymen in the "cohors equitata": "on horseback, too many of the pathetic little Brits ("Brittunculi") cannot swing their swords or throw their javelins without losing their balance".


title: Imperial Roman army

text: Parades were another important part of a regiment's routine. Occasional parades included religious rites and purely military parades such as the "rosaliae signorum" (decoration of the standards) and "demissio", when veterans were discharged after completing their term of service and awarded their diplomas of Roman citizenship.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: Communications between forts, legionary fortresses and the provincial capital were critical. Despatch-riders ("dispositi"), normally "equites cohortales", were stationed at "mutationes" (road-side stations where horses could be changed) to form relays to carry messages rapidly. Relays of fresh riders and horses, careering at full gallop, could maintain an average speed of 20 miles per hour (32 km/h). Thus an urgent despatch from the legionary base at "Eboracum" (York) to the provincial governor's headquarters in London, a distance of 200 miles (300 km), a journey of about ten days for a single rider and mount, could be delivered in just ten hours. When messages were even more urgent, visual signals were used. Strings of signal-stations in prominent locations would transmit messages using parabolic mirrors during the day and fire by night.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: Off-site duties included many routine police and even administrative tasks. Provincial governors had only a minimal administrative staff at their disposal, and no regular police force. They therefore relied on their troops for many such duties e.g. escorting the governor or other senior officials, patrolling highways, assisting and escorting tax collectors and military supply wagons, carrying official despatches, arresting wanted men. Thus a "renuntia" shows a detachment of 46 men of "I Tungrorum" on escort duty ("singulares") with the provincial governor's staff.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: Highways were routinely garrisoned and patrolled along their entire length. Small detachments of troops would be on duty at the way-stations: "mutationes" and "mansiones" (large wayside inns, with accommodation, stables, taverna and baths). These stations may well be the six unidentified locations where small detachments of c. 10 men, each under a centurion, were deployed according to a "renuntia" of "cohors I Tungrorum". Troops on highway duty would check the identities and cargoes of road users as well as escort the vehicles of the "cursus publicus" (imperial transport service). This service was concerned with the transportation of official personnel and payloads: senior officials, tax revenues and wages for the troops, military supplies (usually conveyed in convoys of ox-drawn wagons) and official post. Such vehicles, especially the money-cars, were vulnerable to highway robbers e.g. one "eques" (cavalryman) of "I Hispanorum veterana" was reported killed by robbers in a "renuntia". Troops would also assist agents of the "procurator" (the senior financial official in the province) to collect the "portorium", an imperial toll on the carriage of goods on public roads, payable whenever the goods crossed a toll-line.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: The most important non-military activity of the Roman army was construction. The army was a large workforce of fit, disciplined men which also comprised hundreds of skilled craftsmen. Troops were on regular salaries anyway, so it was cheaper for the government to use them for building projects, if the security situation in the province allowed, than to hire private contractors. In fact, soldiers spent far more of their working lives on building-sites than on campaign and it would not be a huge exaggeration to describe an imperial legion as an armed construction-gang.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: Soldiers built their own forts and fortifications and other military facilities e.g. Hadrian's Wall itself was built by the army. But they also built up much of a province's Roman infrastructure: trunk Roman roads, bridges, docks, canals, aqueducts, entire new cities such as "coloniae" for veteran legionaries, public buildings (e.g. basilicas and amphitheatres). The army also carried out large-scale projects to increase the land available for agriculture, such as forest clearance and draining marshes (e.g. the large-scale drainage of the Fens in eastern England, which were probably developed as a huge imperial estate). The army also excavated many of the mines and quarries that produced the raw materials it needed for weapons and armour manufacture and for construction. Soldiers would supervise the slave-gangs that generally worked the mines, or mine themselves at times of urgent demand.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: Most of the available evidence relates to legionary construction. The several construction-scenes on Trajan's Column show only legionaries working, with auxiliaries standing guard around them. On Hadrian's Wall, legionary stamps only have been found on building-materials, with no evidence of auxiliary involvement. Birley suggests that auxiliaries may have been used to excavate the "vallum", a large ditch which runs parallel to the Wall, and thus would not have left stamps on building-materials. But it is also possible that auxiliary regiments were tasked with maintaining security on the border during construction. However, the Vindolanda tablets attest to construction activity by auxiliaries e.g. one tablet refers to 12 soldiers detailed to work on the construction of a bath-house ("balneum") at Vindolanda. Another possibly refers to the construction of a bridge elsewhere.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: All the Vindolanda documents are written by officers, supporting the view that many of the lower ranks may have been illiterate. The language used is always Latin, usually of a reasonable standard. Most of the authors were Gauls, Britons or Germans, whose native languages were Celtic or Germanic, yet they wrote even to their relatives in Latin. This does not mean that they could no longer speak their native tongues, simply that those tongues never developed a written form. The tablets show that the commanding officer was addressed as "domine" ("master" or "lord", due to his equestrian rank) and soldiers of the same rank as "frater" ("brother") or "collega" ("comrade"). The letters show that an auxiliary soldier maintained friendships not just in his own regiment, but also in other regiments and even in the legions. Hunting was a favourite leisure activity, for the officers at least. It was more strenuous, dangerous and required far greater skill than today due to the lack of firearms: prey had to be brought down with arrows or spears.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: Roman religion was polytheistic and therefore readily accepted and absorbed many deities of the empire's subjects, the vast majority of whose cultures were also polytheistic. But there were limits: the Romans forbade cults whose beliefs or practices were considered incompatible with the basic tenets of Roman religion. For example, the Romans proscribed cults that practised human sacrifice, which was partly the reason why Druidism was banned under the emperor Tiberius (political considerations were also involved, namely that Druids were suspected of orchestrating native resistance to Roman rule in Gaul). Also banned was Christianity, "de facto" initially, as membership of the Christian church was not prohibited formally until the rule of Septimius Severus (197-211). A monotheistic religion, its followers refused to participate in the imperial cult, the worship of the "imagines" (cult portraits or statues) of ruling and past emperors. The cult was used by the Romans in the same way as an oath of allegiance is used by modern societies, as an affirmation of loyalty to the state. It was compulsory for all "peregrini" to make burnt sacrifice to the image of the ruling emperor at least once (certificates were issued to prove compliance). Refusal was considered treasonous and was punishable by death. Christians were also widely suspected, through a misunderstanding of baptism and the eucharist, of practicing clandestine ritual murder of infants (by drowning) and cannibalism respectively, violating two more Roman taboos.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: In theory, soldiers were only permitted to honour such non-Roman gods as had been officially approved by the "collegium pontificum" ("Board of High Priests") in Rome, which regulated the state religion. The board would assess whether a foreign cult was acceptable. If so, by the process of "interpretatio romana", a non-Roman god was officially annexed to a Roman god on the basis of shared characteristics "e.g." Mars Toutates, the assimilation of a Gallic deity to the Roman god of war. In practice, off-duty soldiers were allowed to follow whatever cults they pleased, providing they were not specifically prohibited. Many surviving military dedications, especially those offered by the lower ranks, are to non-Roman deities alone.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: Soldiers were, however, required to participate in a number of official Roman religious rites held by their regiment at regular times in the year. These included religious parades in honour of the most important Roman gods, especially Jupiter, the supreme god of the Roman pantheon: many altars and tombstones dedicated by the military are headed with the letters IOM ("Iovi Optimo Maximo": "to Jupiter the Best and Greatest"); Mars, the god of war; and Minerva, a goddess also associated with war. These parades were probably accompanied by animal sacrifices and feasting. Another important regimental cult was emperor-worship. Parades were held on imperial birthdays, when the "imagines" of the ruling emperor and of deified previous emperors would be saluted and offered sacrifices by the prefect of the regiment.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: Outside of the regimental ceremonies, soldiers revered a vast array of deities. These can be divided into three categories: Roman gods; their own native gods, such as the Thracian Heros, which is often represented on the tombstones of Thracian veterans as a mounted warrior spearing a beast (or man) on the ground; and the local gods of the province in which they served, such as the cult of Coventina in Britain. Coventina was a British nymph associated with springs. Several dedications to her have been found e.g. those offered by the garrison of the auxiliary fort at Carrawburgh (on Hadrian's Wall).


title: Imperial Roman army

text: From the 2nd century onwards, Eastern mystery cults, centred on a single deity (though not necessarily monotheistic) and based on sacred truths revealed only to the initiated, spread widely in the empire, as polytheism underwent a gradual, and ultimately terminal, decline. One such cult, that of Sol Invictus ("The Invincible Sun"), was designated as the official army-cult by the emperor Aurelian (r. 270–5) and remained such until the time of Constantine I (r. 312–37). However, by far the most popular among the Roman military was Mithraism, centred on a deity called Mithras. The mainstream view is that this originated in the Persian cult of Mithra, but the salient features of the Roman cult are absent in the Avesta and other Iranian evidence. It is thus possible that the Roman cult was not connected to the Iranian (except perhaps that the deity's name was borrowed) and instead originated in the eastern provinces of the empire itself, most likely in Phrygia. Mithraism was probably a medley of elements from various cults – hence its apparent adoption of a Persian deity-name, of the "taurobolium" ritual from the cult of Cybele, and of the Phrygian cap. Based on secret initiation ceremonies and rites, this cult is attested, for example, by the discovery of a Mithraeum (Mithraic temple) at Carrawburgh fort near Hadrian's Wall. Membership, according to the written evidence of dedications in Nida (Heddernheim), was not restricted according to social standing.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: Christianity, as a prohibited cult, was much less common amongst the military until it was legalised, and indeed favoured, by Constantine I in the early 4th century. Nevertheless, it probably had some clandestine followers in the military during the 2nd and 3rd centuries, especially in the East, where it had spread widely. The discovery of a Christian house church with the earliest Christian paintings extant (early 3rd century) at the fortress town of Dura-Europos in Syria may indicate a Christian element in that town's garrison.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: Except for the early 1st century, the literary evidence for the Principate period is surprisingly thin, due to the loss of a large number of contemporary historical works. From the point of view of the imperial army, the most useful sources are: firstly, works by the general Caius Julius Caesar, "Commentarii de Bello Gallico" and "Commentarii de Bello Civili", covering his conquest of Gaul (58-50 BC) and his civil war against rival general Pompey (49-48 BC), respectively. Strictly speaking, these wars pre-date the army's imperial period (which started in 30 BC), but Caesar's detailed accounts are close enough in time to provide a wealth of information about organisation and tactics still relevant to the imperial legions. Secondly, works by the imperial-era historian Tacitus, writing around AD 100. These are the "Annales", a chronicle of the Julio-Claudian era from the death of the founder-emperor Augustus to that of Nero (AD 14–68). Even this suffers from large gaps, amounting to about a third of the original; the "Historiae" was the sequel to the "Annales", bringing the chronicle up to the death of Domitian (AD 96), of which only the first part, a detailed account of the Civil War of 68-9 survives; and the "Agricola", a biography of Tacitus' own father-in-law, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, who as governor of Britain (AD 78–85) attempted to subjugate Caledonia (Scotland) to Roman rule. The third important literary source is "De Re Militari", a treatise on Roman military practices by Vegetius, written c. 400. This contains much useful material relating to the Principate period, but the author's statements are undated and sometimes unreliable. Also useful are: "The Jewish War" by Josephus, an eyewitness account of the First Jewish revolt of AD 66–70 by one of the Jewish commanders who defected to the Romans after he was captured; the essay "Acies contra Alanos" ("Ektaxis kata Alanon") by the Greek author Arrian, who was imperial governor of Cappadocia in AD 135-8: this describes a campaign led by the author to repel an invasion of his province by the Alans, an Iranian people of the Caucasus region. But most Roman historians present only a very limited picture of the imperial army's affairs, as they describe only military campaigns and say little about the army's organisation, logistics and the daily lives of the troops. Fortunately, the thin and fragmentary literary evidence has been complemented by a vast mass of inscription and archaeological evidence.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: The imperial army was a highly bureaucratised institution. Meticulous financial records were kept by units' "cornicularii" (book-keepers). Detailed records were kept on all individual soldiers and there is evidence of filing systems. Even minor matters such as soldiers' requests to their "praefectus" for leave ("commeatus") had to be submitted in writing. From the evidence discovered at Vindolanda, a fort near Hadrian's Wall, it can be deduced that the Roman garrison in the province of Britain alone generated tens of millions of documents. However, only an infinitesimal fraction of this vast documentation has survived, due to organic decomposition of the writing-medium (wooden and wax-tablets and papyrus). The only region of the empire where the army's documentation has survived in significant quantities is Egypt, where exceptionally dry conditions have prevented decomposition. Egyptian papyri are thus a crucial source for the army's internal organisation and life. The Vindolanda tablets, documents inscribed on wooden tablets and preserved by unusual anoxic conditions, are a rare corpus of army documents from the north-western part of the Empire. They consist of a series of letters and memoranda between officers of three auxiliary regiments stationed in succession at Vindolanda AD 85–122. They provide a valuable glimpse of the real lives and activities of the garrison of an auxiliary fort.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: A large corpus of inscription evidence has been preserved on inorganic materials such as metal or stone.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: Of outstanding importance are the bas-reliefs on monuments erected by emperors to record their victorious wars. The most notable example is Trajan's Column in Rome. Erected in 112 to celebrate the Emperor Trajan's successful conquest of Dacia (101–7), the reliefs provide the most comprehensive and detailed portrayal of Roman military equipment and practice extant. Other examples include imperial triumphal arches (see List of Roman triumphal arches). Another major source on stone is the extensive corpus of recovered tombstones of Roman soldiers. These often carry reliefs showing the subject in full combat dress plus inscriptions containing a summary of his career (age, units served, ranks held). Also important are dedications of votive altars by military personnel, which shed light on the dedicator's religious beliefs. In the case of both tombstones and altars, officers are disproportionately represented, due to the substantial expense of such monuments.


title: Imperial Roman army

text: Notable metal documents are Roman military diplomas. A diploma was a bronze tablet issued, between c. AD 50 and 212 (when all free inhabitants of the empire were granted Roman citizenship) to an auxiliary soldier on completion of his 25-year term of service to prove the award of citizenship to the holder and his family. A particular advantage of diplomas for historians is that they are accurately datable. Diplomas also normally list the names of several auxiliary units which served in the same province at the same time, critical data on the deployment of auxiliary units in the various provinces of the Empire at different times. Also usually recorded are: beneficiary's regiment, regimental commander's name, beneficiary's military rank, name of beneficiary, name of beneficiary's father and origin (nation, tribe or city); name of beneficiary's wife and name of her father and origin; and names of children granted citizenship. Over 800 diplomas have been recovered, although most in a fragmentary state. (Even these, however, represent an infinitesimal fraction of the hundreds of thousands of diplomas which must have been issued. Apart from natural corrosion, the main reason for this low recovery rate is that, prior due to the late 19th century, when their historical value was recognised, diplomas were almost invariably melted down when found in order to recover their copper content – indeed most were probably melted down in the period following 212).


title: Imperial Roman army

text: Finally, a mass of information has been uncovered by archaeological excavation of imperial military sites: legionary fortresses, auxiliary forts, marching-camps and other facilities such as signal-stations. A prime example is Vindolanda fort itself, where excavations began in the 1930s and continue in 2012 (under the grandson of the first director, Eric Birley). Such excavations have uncovered details of the lay-out and facilities of military sites and remains of military equipment.


title: Stone pine

text: The stone pine, botanical name Pinus pinea, also known as the Italian stone pine, umbrella pine and parasol pine, is a tree from the pine family ("Pinaceae"). The tree is native to the Mediterranean region, occurring in Southern Europe and the Levant. The species was introduced into North Africa millennia ago, and is also naturalized in the Canary Islands, South Africa and New South Wales.


title: Stone pine

text: Stone pines have been used and cultivated for their edible pine nuts since prehistoric times. They are widespread in horticultural cultivation as ornamental trees, planted in gardens and parks around the world. In coastal California, for example, where it is known popularly as the Italian stone pine in tree guidebooks since 1956, this evergreen is widely grown from Hollywood to Palisades Park (Santa Monica), to Sylmar in the northern San Fernando Valley, and in Marina del Rey, after World War II. This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


title: Stone pine

text: The prehistoric range of "Pinus pinea" included North Africa in the Sahara Desert and Maghreb regions during a more humid climate period, in present-day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. Its contemporary natural range is in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome ecoregions and countries, including the following:


title: Stone pine

text: The Iberian conifer forests ecoregion of the Iberian Peninsula in Spain and Portugal; the Italian sclerophyllous and semideciduous forests ecoregion in France and Italy; the Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests ecoregion of southern Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia; the Illyrian deciduous forests of the eastern coast of the Ionian and Adriatic Seas in Croatia and Albania; the Crimean Submediterranean forest complex ecoregion on the Crimea Peninsula in Ukraine and Krasnodar Krai in Russia; and the Aegean and Western Turkey sclerophyllous and mixed forests ecoregion of the southern Balkan Peninsula in Greece. In many parts of northern Italy, large parks with pine trees were laid out by the sea. Examples are the Pineta of Jesolo and Barcola, the Urban Beach of Trieste.


title: Stone pine

text: In Greece, although the species is not widely distributed, an extensive stone pine forest exists in western Peloponnese at Strofylia on the peninsula separating the Kalogria Lagoon from the Mediterranean Sea. This coastal forest is at least long, with dense and tall stands of "Pinus pinea" mixed with "Pinus halepensis". Currently, "Pinus halepensis" is outcompeting stone pines in many locations of the forest. Another location in Greece is at Koukounaries on the northern Aegean island of Skiathos at the southwest corner of the island. This is a half-mile-long dense stand of stone and Aleppo pines that lies between a lagoon and the Aegean Sea.


title: Stone pine

text: In Western Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests ecoregion in Turkey; and the Southern Anatolian montane conifer and deciduous forests ecoregion in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and in the Palestinian Territories.


title: Stone pine

text: In the Western Cape Province, the pines were according to legend planted by the French Huguenot refugees who settled at the Cape of Good Hope during the late 17th century and who brought the seeds with them from France. The tree is known in the Afrikaans language as "kroonden".


title: Stone pine

text: The stone pine is a coniferous evergreen tree that can exceed in height, but is more typical. In youth, it is a bushy globe, in mid-age an umbrella canopy on a thick trunk, and, in maturity, a broad and flat crown over in width. The bark is thick, red-brown and deeply fissured into broad vertical plates.


title: Stone pine

text: The flexible mid-green leaves are needle-like, in bundles of two, and are long (exceptionally up to ). Young trees up to 5–10 years old bear juvenile leaves, which are very different, single (not paired), long, glaucous blue-green; the adult leaves appear mixed with juvenile leaves from the fourth or fifth year on, replacing it fully by around the tenth year. Juvenile leaves are also produced in regrowth following injury, such as a broken shoot, on older trees.


title: Stone pine

text: The cones are broad, ovoid, long, and take 36 months to mature, longer than any other pine. The seeds (pine nuts, "piñones", "pinhões", "pinoli", or "pignons") are large, long, and pale brown with a powdery black coating that rubs off easily, and have a rudimentary wing that falls off very easily. The wing is ineffective for wind dispersal, and the seeds are animal-dispersed, originally mainly by the Iberian magpie, but in recent history largely by humans.


title: Stone pine

text: "Pinus pinea" has been cultivated extensively for at least 6,000 years for its edible pine nuts, which have been trade items since early historic times. The tree has been cultivated throughout the Mediterranean region for so long that it has naturalized, and is often considered native beyond its natural range.


title: Stone pine

text: The tree is among the current symbols of Rome. It was first planted in Rome during the Roman Republic, where many historic Roman roads, such as the Via Appia, were (and still are) embellished with lines of stone pines. Stone pines were planted on the hills of the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul for ornamental purposes during the Ottoman period. In Italy, the stone pine has been an aesthetic landscape element since the Italian Renaissance garden period. In the 1700s, "P. pinea" began being introduced as an ornamental tree to other Mediterranean climate regions of the world, and is now often found in gardens and parks in South Africa, California, and Australia. It has naturalized beyond cities in South Africa to the extent that it is listed as an invasive species there. It is also planted in western Europe up to southern Scotland, and on the East Coast of the United States up to New Jersey.


title: Stone pine

text: Small specimens are used for bonsai, and also grown in large pots and planters. The year-old seedlings are seasonally available as table-top Christmas trees tall.


title: Stone pine

text: Other products of economic value include resin, bark for tannin extraction, and empty pine cone shells for fuel. "Pinus pinea" is also currently widely cultivated around the Mediterranean for environmental protection such as consolidation of coastal dunes, soil conservation and protection of coastal agricultural crops.


title: Stone pine

text: The introduced western conifer seed bug "(Leptoglossus occidentalis") was accidentally imported with timber to northern Italy in the late 1990s from western USA, and has spread across Europe as an invasive pest species since then. It feeds on the sap of developing conifer cones throughout its life, and its sap-sucking causes the developing seeds to wither and misdevelop. It has destroyed most of the pine nut seeds in Italy, threatening "P. pinea" in its native habitats there.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: The Iglesia del Dios Vivo, Columna y Apoyo de la Verdad, La Luz del Mundo (; English: "Church of the Living God, Pillar and Ground of the Truth, The Light of the World")or simply La Luz del Mundo (LLDM)is a nontrinitarian Christian denomination with international headquarters in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. La Luz del Mundo practices a form of restorationist theology centered on three leaders: Aarónborn EusebioJoaquín González (1896–1964), Samuel Joaquín Flores (1937–2014), and Naasón Joaquín García (born 1969), who are regarded as modern-day apostles of Jesus Christ.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: La Luz del Mundo was founded in 1926 during the Mexican Cristero War, a struggle between the secular, anti-clerical government and Catholic rebels. The conflict centered in the west-central states like Jalisco, where Aarón Joaquín focused his missionary efforts. Given the environment of the time, the Church remained a small missionary endeavor until 1934, when it built its first temple. Thereafter, it continued to grow and expand, interrupted by an internal schism in 1942. Aarón Joaquín was succeeded by his son Samuel upon his death, who was in turn succeeded by his own son Naasón upon his death. The Church is present in more than 50 countries and has claimed to have between 1 and 5 million adherents worldwide.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: La Luz del Mundo describes itself as the restoration of primitive Christianity. It does not use crosses or religious images in its worship services. Female members follow a dress code that includes long skirts and use head coverings during services. Although the Church does not allow women to hold leadership positions in its religious hierarchy, women hold leadership positions in church public relations and church-operated civil organizations.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: The three church leaders have faced accusations of sexual abuse. In June 2019, church leader Naasón Joaquín García was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport and charged with sex crimes by the California Department of Justice. On June 8, 2022 he pled guilty to three charges concerning the sexual abuse of children and was sentenced to a maximum 16 years and 8 months in prison.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: The full name of the Church is "Iglesia del Dios Vivo, Columna y Apoyo de la Verdad, La Luz del Mundo" ("Church of the Living God, Pillar and Ground of The Truth, The Light of the World") which is derived from two passages in the Bible, and .


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: Eusebio Joaquín González was born on August 14, 1896, in Colotlán, Jalisco, Mexico. At a young age, he joined the Constitutional Army during the Mexican Revolution. While he was on leave with his father in Guadalajara in 1920, he met Elisa Flores, also from Colotlán, whom he later married. While stationed in the state of Coahuila in 1926, he came into contact with preachers under the pseudo names "Saulo" and "Silas" (after Saul and Silas, from the New Testament), two ascetic preachers from the Iglesia Cristiana Espiritual. Their teachings forbade their followers to keep good hygiene and wear regular clothes. Their real names were Antonio Munez and Francisco Flores, and had become preachers just two years earlier.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: According to Gaxiola, these two preachers caused scandals among the early Apostolic Pentecostals . They preached of prophesies, visions and dreams, which they claimed gave them spiritual authority, rather than the Bible, as it was generally unread book in Mexico back in those days. However, the obituary of Eusebio Juaquin González in the Crónica Jalisco newspaper states that


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: "Eucebio started to attend the reunions of preachers by the name Saul and Silas. He convinced his wife to go with him. The attitude and customs of these people surprised Eusebio. They didn't drink, they treated each other with the utmost respect, they studied the Bible, and they put in practice the words of the holy scriptures." After being baptized by the two itinerant preachers, Aarón Joaquín resigned from the army, and along with his wife became domestic workers to the two preachers.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: History from multiple sources (religious ones; ie La Luz del Mundo, Iglesia Cristiana Evangélica Espiritual and El Buen Pastor) all agree that around his conversion, or soon after, Aaron Juaquin had met oneness Pentecostal pastor Francisco Borrego, the man he called his "father in the faith", for having instructed him in doctrine, notably baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. According to La Luz del Mundo's "Vida y obra del Apostol Aaron Juaquin"(1997), He had been converted in the "Iglesia Apostólica de la Fe en Cristo Jesus". On the name of Borrego's movement, witnesses from an LLDM book recalled;


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: "Francisco Borrego, who because of a deliberate question by Mr. Joaquín over the origin and social meaning behind this organization, his response was that this community was known as "Iglesia Cristiana Espiritual"" (Spiritual Christian Church).


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: This explanation was the one given by Juaquin when asked about his affiliation by church members in Guadalajara. It was retold by José María Gonzalez in his 1956 introduction of the 'Constitucion de La Iglesia del Buen Pastor' after splitting from what would become La Luz del Mundo".


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: During the 1920s, Mexico underwent a period of instability under the administration of Plutarco Elías Calles, who was seeking to limit the influence of the Catholic Church to modernize and centralize the state within the religious sphere of Mexican society. To protest Calles's policies, the Catholic Church suspended all religious services, bringing about an uprising in Mexico. This uprising, or Cristero War, lasted from 1926 to 1929 and reemerged in the 1930s. On April 6, 1926, Aarón Joaquín had a vision in which God changed his name from Eusebio to Aarón and told him to leave Monterrey, where he and his wife served Saulo and Silas. On his journey, he preached near the entrances of Catholic churchesoften facing religious persecutionuntil he arrived at Guadalajara on December 12, 1926. The Cristero Wars impacted both Catholic and non-Catholic congregations and preachers, especially evangelical movements. Small movements were attacked by the government and the Cristeros, resulting in a hostile environment for Aarón Joaquín's work.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: Working as a shoe vendor, Aarón Joaquín formed a group of ten worshipers who met at his wife's apartment. He began constructing the Church's hierarchy by instituting the first two deaconesses, Elisa Flores and Francisca Cuevas. Later he charged the first minister to oversee fourteen congregations in Ameca, Jalisco. During these early years (late 1920s), Aarón Joaquín traveled to the states of Michoacán, Nayarit, and Sinaloa to preach. In 1931, the first "Santa Cena" (Holy Supper) was held to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus. The Church met in rural areas, fearing complaints from Catholic neighbors. Urbanization contributed migrants from the countryside who added a significant number of members to the Church.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: In 1934, a temple was built in Sector Libertad of Guadalajara's urban zone and members were encouraged to buy homes in the same neighborhood, thereby establishing a community. The temple was registered as "Iglesia Cristiana Espiritual" (Spiritual Christian Church), the church Aaron had been baptized in, but Aarón Joaquín claimed to have received God's word in the dedication of the temple, saying that it was "light of the world" and that they were the "Iglesia del Dios Vivo, Columna y Apoyo de la Verdad" (Church of the Living God, Pillar and Ground of the Truth). The Church used the latter name to identify itself. In 1939, it moved to a new meeting place at 12 de Octubre street in San Antonio in southeast Guadalajara, forming its second small community which was populated mainly by its members. This community was an attempt to escape the hostile environment, not to create an egalitarian society.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: In 1937, La Luz del Mundo officially split from the Iglesia Cristiana Evangélica Espiritual (successor of the Iglesia Cristiana Espiritual, and of the Consejo Mexicano de La Fe Apostolica, a movement born out to the confusion of the Iglesia Apostolica de La Fe En Cristo Jesús) A man named Francisco Borrego, the Pastor General of the movemnt at the time, wanted to know the doctrine being preached in Guadalajara. His disagreements with Aaron led to a split due to said doctrine. This is mentioned by José Maria Gonzalez R. in his 1956 writing on the brief history of LLDM before the 1942 schism (in the introduction to the "Iglesia del Buen Pastor's" church constitution). The name of the church was changed to Iglesia Cristiana Espiritual La Luz del Mundo (Spiritual Christian Church the Light of the World) to distinguish it from its previous denomination, and it would remain as the legal name of LLDM until the 1990s.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: In 1938, Aarón Joaquín returned to Monterrey to preach to his former associates. There he learned that he had been baptized using the Trinitarian formula and not in the name of Jesus Christ as he preached. His re-baptism in the name of Christ by his collaborator Lino Figueroa marked Aarón Joaquín's separation from the rest of the Pentecostal community.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: In August 1942, during its most significant schism, at least 250 members left La Luz del Mundo. Tensions began to build after Aarón Joaquín's birthday, when the congregation in Guadalajara gave him gifts of flowers and perfume and sang hymns celebrating his birthday. Having received word, this celebration generated a heated debate that culminated with the defection of three LLDM congregations (in Mexico City, Cuautla, and San Pedro Totoltepec) and two missions (in Cuernavaca and Ciudad Madero) with most of their members, including their pastors. The issue was brought up whether the "servant of God"'s birthday should be celebrated, along with the celebration of birthdays in general, according to New Testament texts on banquets.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: LLDM's 2008 book "Hechos del Apóstol Aaron" (Acts of the Apostle Aaron) states the following in chapter 6,in the section titled "la Division":


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: "There were some pastors who for some time had wanted to separate from the church, and had begun to plant the foundation for the argument of Aaron's corruption with the following harangue, "Why does brother Aaron accept that people sing him hymns in honor of his birthday? Why does he accept flowers? Where in doctrine does it states that neckties should be worn? Should the church of God accept doctors and medics? Should birthdays be celebrated in the church of God?" At the end they [the pastors] said, "What a perfect work, what marvelous act has God done for us! He brought us from impurity, from sin, from injustices, from evil. For love of him we left properties, families, commodities... we've done good leaving everything for Jesus Christ... brothers... and if Aaron were corrupted... would we consent his sin? -NOOO! Shouted the church, having been deceived by these traitors. And they added; -"we will continue to defend the holy and pure doctrine unto death". In the following Sunday School meeting, these "pastors" announced from their ministry - "Aaron has been corrupted, Aaron has been corrupted." The questions they threw at the church were without foundation, the dissidents weaved a tangled web of false arguments, to arrive at the false accusation, the dishonor, the confrontation, and attacking the prestige of the servant of God".


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: Anthropologist Renée de la Torre described this schism as a power struggle in which Aarón Joaquín was accused of having enriched himself at the expense of the faithful. Church dissidents took to local newspaper "El Occidental" to accuse church members of committing immoralities with young women. Aaron Joaquin was accused by dissidents of adultery with a young woman, Guadalupe Avelar, back in around 1938, and supposedly fathered a boy by the name of Abel Avelar (later Abel Joaquin Avelar, who become the apostle of his own "Iglesia de Jesucristo" as an adult), although no solid evidence could confirm this.). According to "Esbozo Historico De La Iglesia del Buen Pastor", Avelar had confided in the dissidents, and had become a part of them. Some of the accusations were aimed to close down a temple that the Church used with government permission. Members of La Luz del Mundo attribute this episode to the envy and ambition of the dissidents and their leader, who formed their own group called "la Iglesia del Dios Vivo, Columna y Apollo de la Verdad, El Buen Pastor" ("The Church of the Living God, Pillar and Ground of the Truth, The Good Shepherd") under the leadership of José María González, the pastor in Colonia Vallejo, Mexico City, with doctrines and practices similar to those of La Luz del Mundo. According to Gill, their leader is considered a prophet of God. Their current leader is bishop president Pablo Aguilar Figueroa. As of 2010, El Buen Pastor has a membership of 17,700 in Mexico.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: Among those who defected to El Buen Pastor was Lino Figueroa, the pastor who had re-baptized Aarón Joaquín in 1938. Others include pastors Jose Isabel Acevedo from San Pedro Totoltepec, Vicente Martinez from Cuaotla, and Domingo Vega from Cuernavaca.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: The August 14th celebration of Aaron Juaquin's birthday became an annual church tradition, with all ministers being required to attend the mother church in Guadalajara, a custom that eventually merged with the Santa Cena (after Aaron's death), which before had been observed around December/January for New Years.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: LLDM's "Hechos del Apóstol Aaron" states that Joaquín had been foretold of a heavy trail at the beginning of that year, only to bear much fruit in the end.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: Later, Aarón Joaquín had a vision in July 1943 where the baptism by Figueroa (who had defected to El Buen Pastor) was invalidated and he was ordered to re-baptize himself invoking Jesus' name. The whole congregation was re-baptized as well, (as not doing so would lead to excommunication) as now Aarón Joaquín was the source of baptismal legitimacy and authenticity. With all those who had challenged him gone, Aarón Joaquín was able to consolidate leadership of La Luz del Mundo.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: In 1952, Aarón Joaquín purchased a lot of land outside the city and called it "Hermosa Provincia" (Beautiful Province), with the intent of forming a small community made up exclusively by church members. The land was then sold at reduced prices to church members. The community included most necessities; services provided in Hermosa Provincia included health, education, and other urban services, which were provided in full after six years partly with help that the Church received from municipal and non-municipal authorities. This dependency upon outside assistance to obtain public services ended by 1959 when residents formed the Association of Colonists of Hermosa Provincia, which was used to directly petition the government. Hermosa Provincia received official recognition from the city for being the only neighborhood that had eliminated illiteracy by the early 1970s. The neighborhood became a standard model for the Church, which has replicated it in many cities in Mexico and other countries. Aarón Joaquín started missionary efforts in Central America and by the early 1960s, La Luz del Mundo had 64 congregations and 35 missions. By 1964, after his death, the Church had between 20,000 and 30,000 members spread through five countries, including Mexico.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: Samuel Joaquín Flores was born on February 14, 1937, the youngest of eight siblings. He became the leader of La Luz del Mundo by the age of 27 after the death of his father. He continued his father's desire for international expansion by traveling outside of Mexico extensively. He first visited church members in the Mexican state of Michoacán in August 1964 and later that year went to Los Angeles on a missionary trip. By 1970, the Church had expanded to Costa Rica, Colombia, and Guatemala. Its first small temple in Hermosa Provincia was demolished and replaced by a larger one in 1967. With Samuel Joaquín's work, La Luz del Mundo became integrated into Guadalajara and the Church replicated the model of Hermosa Provincia in many cities in Mexico and abroad. By 1972, there were approximately 72,000 members of the Church, which increased to 1.5 million by 1986 and to 4 million by 1993. Anthropologist Patricia Fortuny says that the Church's growth can be attributed to several factors, including its social benefits, which "improves the living conditions of believers." Samuel Joaquín oversaw the construction of schools, hospitals and other social services. The Church also expanded to countries including the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Ethiopia and Israel between 1990 and 2010. By the end of Samuel Joaquín's ministry, La Luz del Mundo was present in fifty countries. After fifty years at the head of La Luz del Mundo, Samuel Joaquín died in his home on December 8, 2014.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: On December 14, 2014, Naasón Joaquín García, the fifth out of eight Joaquín children, became the leader of La Luz del Mundo upon the death of his father. Naasón Joaquín was born on May 7, 1969, in Guadalajara. He previously served as a church minister for 22 years, during which time he launched Berea Internacional, the church's media and publishing arm. Under his leadership the church has expanded to eight additional countries.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: During La Luz del Mundo's religious services, male and female members are separated during worship; from the preacher's perspective, women sit on the left side of the temple and men on the right. The Church does not use musical instruments during its worship services. There is no dancing or clapping, and women cover their heads with a veil during services. Hymns are sung a cappella.<ref name="Mask/BG"></ref> Despite this, members listen to instrumental music and some compose their own music. When singing, all congregants sing at the same time to maintain uniformity during their meetings. La Luz del Mundo believes that worship should be done "spiritually" and only to God, and thus temples are devoid of images, saints, crosses, and anything that might be considered idolatry. The places of worship have plain walls and wide, clear windows.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: The Church holds three daily prayer meetings during the week, with two meetings on Sundays and one regular consecration. On Sunday mornings, congregants meet at the temple for Sunday school, which begins with prayers and hymns. After that, the preacherusually a ministerpresides over a talk during which he reads from the Bible and presents the material to be covered throughout the week. During the talk, it is common for members of either sex to read a cited verse from the Bible. At the end of the talk, more hymns and prayers are recited and voluntary donations are given. Sunday evening services begin with hymns and prayers, after which members of the congregation of both sexes recite from the Bible or sing hymns. A shorter talk is held with the aim of deepening the Sunday school's talk.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: La Luz del Mundo holds three scheduled prayer meetings each day. The first daily prayer meeting is at 5:00a.m. and usually lasts one hour. The service includes a talk that is meant to (remember) the material covered in Sunday school. The 9:00a.m. prayer was originally started by Aarón Joaquín's wife, Elisa Flores. A female church member presides over the prayer meeting, which includes a talk. The evening prayer has the same structure as the 5:00a.m. meeting. In each prayer meeting members are expected to be prepared with their Bibles, hymn books and notebooks and to be consecrated.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: Members of La Luz del Mundo believe that the Bible is the only source of Christian doctrine. It is used as the main source of ministers' and lay persons' talks during prayer meetings. Through organizational arrangements, such as Sunday school, church authorities attempt to maintain uniformity of teachings and beliefs throughout all congregations. The Bible is the only historical reference used by church members during religious services. Members can find cited Bible verses quickly, regardless of their level of education. It is also seen as the only and "sufficient rules of faith for salvation."


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: La Luz del Mundo teaches that there was no salvation on Earth between the death of the last Apostle (Apostle John) around 96 AD and the calling of Aarón Joaquín in 1926. Members believe that the Church itself was founded by Jesus Christ approximately two thousand years ago and that after the deaths of the Apostles, the church became corrupt and was lost. La Luz del Mundo claims that through Aarón Joaquín, it is the restoration of the primitive Christian church that was lost during the formation of the Catholic Church. After those times passed, the beginning of Aarón Joaquín's ministry is seen as the restoration of the original Christian Church. Salvation can be attained in the Church by following the Bible-based teachings of their leader.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: La Luz del Mundo believes its apostles are directly chosen and sent by God to "preach the will of God and Salvation". It believes that Aarón Joaquín was called by God to restore the primitive Christian Church. Aarón Joaquín was succeeded by his son Samuel upon his death in 1964; the latter was succeeded by his son Naasón upon his death in 2014. Although Church leadership has remained in the Joaquín family since its founding, La Luz del Mundo maintains that succession of power is by divine calling, not by kinship. La Luz del Mundo teaches that it is the only true Christian church founded by Jesus Christ because it is led by Naasón Joaquín, whom it considers the only true servant of God and Apostle of Jesus Christ in this era. Members believe that this Apostolic authority allows them to find peace, feel close to God and attain meaning in their lives from the hopes of joining with Christ to reign with him for eternity.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: La Luz del Mundo rejects the doctrine of the Trinity as a later addition to Christian theology. It believes in a "one and universal" God, and in Jesus Christ who is the "Son of God and Savior of the world", rather than part of a trinity. God is worshiped "by essence", whereas Jesus Christ is worshiped "by commandment." Moreover, by worshiping Christ they are also worshiping God through him according to their teachings. The Church also preaches baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins, and baptism with the Holy Spirit as confirmation from God for entrance into heaven.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: Female congregants of La Luz del Mundo do not wear jewelry, makeup, and short hair. They are taught to dress modestly, which means wearing long dresses and skirts. These restrictions do not apply to recreational activities, such as swimming. Women wear a head covering during religious meetings. According to an interview of one adherent, women in La Luz del Mundo are considered equal to men in social spheres and have equal capacities for obtaining higher education, social careers, and other goals that may interest them. However, they are not allowed to become ministers or serve in major leadership roles within the Church. Women are taught to submit to their husbands. Aarón Joaquín established the 9a.m. prayer after hearing about one of his followers who was being abused by her Catholic husband. This prayer became one led by women. These prayers are seen as a religious activity equal to all other activities, and provide space for empowerment in which women can express themselves and develop a status within the congregation's membership. Anthropologist Fortuny said, concerning the 9a.m. prayer, that, "I infer from this that, if the membership considers this as [a] female [gathering], they would be giving authority to women in the religious or ecclesiastical framework of the ritual, and this then [would] put [them] on a plane of equality or [in] absence of subordination to men."


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: Church women personalize their attire, according to Fortuny. Rebozos are worn by indigenous members and specially designed veils by other female members. Fortuny says that "wearing long skirts does not negate the meaning of being a woman and, although it underlines the difference between men and women, [female members] say that it does not make them feel like inferior human beings". Fortuny says women describe their attire as part of obeying biblical commands found in 1 Timothy 2:9, and 1 Corinthians 11:15 for long hair. Female members say the Church's dress code makes them feel they are honoring God and that it is part of their "essence".


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: Fortuny also states that dress codes are a sign of a patriarchal organization because men are only forbidden from growing their hair long or wearing shorts in public, and also that women, at times, can be more autonomous than those in the general population in Mexico. Fortuny says that the growing trend of educated women having husbands in supporting roles is also seen in both the Guadalajara and Houston, Texas congregations. Many young female members said they want to undergo post-secondary education, and some told Fortuny they were degree students. Both young men and women are equally encouraged to enter post-compulsory education. Male members are more likely than their mothers to direct their daughters towards attending university.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: La Luz del Mundo does not practice ordination of women. According to Fortuny, women can become missionaries or evangelizers, the lowest tier of the Church's hierarchy. Fortunt states that "the rank of deaconess is not a position which common women could aspire to". Dormady states that the first two deaconesses were the church founder's wife Elisa Flores, and Francisca Cuevas. Wives of important members of the Church usually get the rank of deaconess, according to Dormady.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: Women are active and play key roles in organizing activities and administering them in the Church. Female office holders are always head of groups of women and not groups of men. A deaconess can help pastors and deacons, but cannot herself administer the sacrament. All members of the ministerial hierarchy are paid for their services as part of the tithe by the congregational members.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: At the turn of the century, La Luz del Mundo began promoting women to public relations positions that were previously held by men only. , two women (and three men) serve as legal representatives of the church in Northern Mexico. Public relations positions that have been held by women include spokesperson, director of social communication, and assistant director of international affairs. Within church operated civil organizations women also occupy executive positions such as director of La Luz del Mundo Family Services, a violence prevention and intervention center in Milwaukee; Director of Social Work and Psychology within the Ministry of Social Welfare; director of the Samuel Joaquín Flores Foundation; president of Recab de México A.C.; and director of the Association of Students and Professionals in the U.S.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: La Luz del Mundo teaches moral and civil principles such as community service, duty to exercise their right to vote, and that science is a gift from God. Church members do not celebrate Holy Week. The most important yearly rituals are the Holy Supper ( in Spanish), held yearly on August 14, and the anniversary of Naasón Joaquín's birth is held on May 7


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: The organization of La Luz del Mundo is hierarchical. At the top is Naasón Joaquín who serves as both the spiritual and administrative leader of the Church. Below him in rank are the pastors, who are expected to develop one or more of the qualities as doctor, prophet, and evangelist. All pastors are evangelists and are expected to undertake missionary tasks. As doctors, pastors explain the word of God and as prophets they interpret it. Below them are the deacons, who administer the sacraments to the congregational members. Below the deacons are the "encargados" (managers or overseers), who have responsibility for the moral conduct and well-being of certain groups within the congregation. Overseers grant permits to members who wish to leave their congregations for vacations or to take jobs outside of the church district. At the lowest echelon of the hierarchy are the "obreros" (laborers), who mainly assist their higher-ups with missionary work.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: A church, or group, that is unable to fully provide for the religious needs of its members is called a mission. Missions are dependent on a congregation which is administered by a minister. A group of several congregations with their missions form a district. The Church in each nation is divided into multiple districts. In Mexico, several districts form together into five jurisdictions that act as legal entities.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: La Luz del Mundo uses the architecture of its temples to express its faith through symbolism and to attract potential converts. Among the church's buildings are a replica of a Mayan pyramid in Honduras, a mock Taj Mahal in Chiapas, and a Greco-Roman-inspired temple in Texas. Its flagship temple is located in its headquarters in Hermosa Provincia. Two smaller replicas of this temple are being built in Anchorage, Alaska, and in Chile to symbolize "the northern and southernmost reach of the Church's missionary efforts".


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: The flagship temple in Guadalajara is pyramidal and has an innovative structure. The project began in 1983, when the church's former temple, built to accommodate 8,000 people, was deemed insufficient to accommodate the growing membership who attended various annual celebrations. Construction began on July 3, 1983, when Samuel Joaquín laid the cornerstone, and lasted until August 1, 1992. The temple was completed largely by members of the church. It is a notable architectural feature in Guadalajara in a working-class district on the outskirts of the city.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: Dozens of institutions, architects, and engineers were invited to submit proposals for a new temple. The pyramidal design submitted by local architect Leopoldo Fernández Font was selected from the final shortlist of four proposals. Fernández was later awarded an honorary degree for this and other structures. The temple was built to accommodate 12,000 worshipers and is used for annual ceremonies.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: The building's design represents the infinite power and existence of God. It consists of seven levels over a base menorah, each of which symbolize steps toward the human spirit's perfection. In February 1991, a laser beacon was installed to commemorate the 449-year anniversary of the founding of Guadalajara. In July 1999, the pinnacle of the temple was replaced by Aaron's rod, a twenty-ton bronze sculpture by artist Jorge de la Peña. The installation of the long structure required a special crane.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: The main temple in Houston, Texas, was inspired by Greco-Roman architecture. It is the largest temple constructed by La Luz del Mundo in the United States as of 2011. The temple's pillars resemble the Parthenon. The front of the building is decorated with carved scenes from the Bible and three panes of stained glass also depict biblical scenes. The temple can hold 4,500 people. The interior has marble floors, glass chandeliers, and wood paneling.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: The structure is worth and consists of the temple, classrooms, offices, and a parsonage. There is a sitting area with fourteen free-standing columns in a circle next to the temple. Each column represents each of the Apostles at the time of constructionincluding Aarón and Samuel Joaquín. On top of the temple under Aaron's rodthe Church's symbol which represents God's power to bring spiritual life to believersis a large, golden dome. The symbol is also a reference to the Church's founder.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: Construction of the temple began in 2000 and was finished in 2005. Most of the construction was done by church volunteers, who provided funding and a skilled workforce. The structure was designed by church members and the design was revised by architects to ensure compliance with building codes. The decorations and ornaments were also designed and installed by church members. The temple serves as a central congregation for southeastern Texas.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: There are no definitive statistics for the total membership of La Luz del Mundo. The church reported having over five million members worldwide in 2000, with 1.5 million of those in Mexico.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: The 2000 Mexican census reported about 70,000 members five years or older nationwide, the 2010 census reported 188,326 members of any age, and the 2020 census reported 190,005 members of any age. The census did not report separate membership numbers for La Luz del Mundo prior to 2000.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: The World Christian Encyclopedia reports 430,000 adherents in Mexico in 2000 and 488,000 in 2010. Based on the number of congregations and the average number of members per congregation, anthropologist Hugo G. Nutini estimated in 2000 that the Church had a total membership of around 1,125,000 adherents worldwide, with more than two-thirds of those in Mexico. In 2008, Fortuny and Williams reported a membership of 7,000,000 adherents worldwide. Anthropologist Ávila Meléndez says that official membership figures are plausible given the great interest it has generated among "religious authorities" and the following it receives in Mexico.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: In El Salvador, as of 2009, there are an estimated 70,000 members of La Luz del Mundo, which had 140 congregations with a minister and 160 other congregations with between 13 and 80 members. As of 2008, there were around 60,000 church members in the United States.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: La Luz del Mundo has been the subject of several controversies. Church leaders have been accused of creating a cult of personality, sexually abusing members, and have been criticized for amassing wealth, living a lavish lifestyle, and attempting to build entire cities. In 2022, the church director and self-proclaimed “Apostle of God” Naasón Joaquín García pled guilty to three charges related to sexually abusing children. In December 2022, HBO and RAINN released an original documentary series titled "Unveiled: Surviving La Luz Del Mundo", which tells the story of child sexual abuse within the church.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: La Luz del Mundo has been accused of having a cult of personality centered around its leaders and its members have been depicted as worshiping them. Church leaders are regarded as contemporary apostles of Jesus Christ, and their birthdays celebrated as religious festivals. Church members often describe seeing or listening to their leader as a religious experience. In 1998, "Los Angeles Times" reporter Mary Beth Sheridan gave a description of how worshipers received Samuel Joaquín: "They are expecting their Moses [...] thousands of worshipers break into chest-heaving sobs. Others furiously wave white handkerchiefs and cry "Glory to Christ!". Samuel Joaquín has arrived". Toward the end of Samuel Joaquín's life, church members were using bibles with his key speeches and epistles appended at the end.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: A day after the Heaven's Gate mass suicide on March 26, 1997, on TV Azteca's evening newscast "Hechos", Jorge Erdely Graham of the anti-cult group Instituto Cristiano de México (Christian Institute of Mexico) claimed that church members could commit mass suicide if so directed by their leader, Samuel Joaquín. The claims, that would focus media attention on church leader Samuel Joaquín who would subsequently be accused of sexually abusing child church members, were characterized by religious scholars Gordon Melton and David Bromley as "fraudulent reports by ideological enemies."


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: In May 2019, La Luz del Mundo faced scrutiny for using the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City to host a concert as tribute to its leader Naasón Joaquín for his 50th birthday.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: On May 18, 1997 a group of women claimed on the Mexican network Televisa that they had been sexually abused by Samuel Joaquín approximately twenty years earlier. In a third report on August 17, shortly after the church's most significant holiday, former member Moisés Padilla Íñiguez also accused Samuel Joaquín of sexually abusing him when he was a teenager. These accusations were amplified by Jorge Erdely's anti-cult group, which demanded that La Luz del Mundo be stripped of its legal recognition as a religious organization. Four people later filed formal complaints with the state prosecutor, but the statute of limitations had passed.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: The issue reignited in February 1998 when Padilla reported being kidnapped and stabbed by two gunmen. Padilla received 57 shallow slashes from a dagger which could have resulted in death from blood loss. Padilla blamed Samuel Joaquín for the stabbing and for an earlier attack in which he was allegedly beaten by men who warned him against denouncing the Church leader. Judicial authorities investigating the charges said the alleged victims had not been fully cooperative, whereas former church members expressed skepticism of the Mexican legal system, arguing that it favored the Church.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: On June 4, 2019, current La Luz del Mundo leader Naasón Joaquín García and co-defendant Susana Medina Oaxaca were arrested by Special Agents of the California Bureau of Investigation after their chartered flight from Mexico landed at Los Angeles International Airport. A third co-defendant, Alondra Ocampo, was arrested in Los Angeles County while a fourth co-defendant, Azalea Rangel Meléndez, remains at large. The California Department of Justice alleges that between 2015 and 2018 Naasón Joaquín and three co-defendants committed twenty-six felonies including human trafficking, production of child pornography, and forcible rape of a minor. Before being denied bail, Naasón Joaquín's bail was set at $50 million due to fears that his followers could raise enough money to free him and that he would then flee the country. According to California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, the bail is the highest ever imposed on anyone in Los Angeles County. La Luz del Mundo has denied the accusations. On April 7, the California Courts of Appeal dismissed the case against Naasón Joaquín on procedural grounds. The office of the Attorney General refiled the charges against Naasón Joaquín on July 30, 2020.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: Co-defendant Alondra Ocampo pled guilty to four felony counts involving the sexual abuse of minors on October 13, 2020. Ocampo alleges that Samuel Joaquín Flores, the previous director of the church and father of Naasón, raped her during a trip to Guadalajara when she was eight years old, and that she suffered years of sexual abuse as a minor. Naasón's former assistant, a complaining witness identified as Jane Doe 4 by prosecutors, alleges that she was raped by Naasón, and that she became a child groomer of a group of girls in Guadalajara.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: Two days before his trial, Naasón Joaquín García pled guilty to three charges related to sexually abusing children. However, even after García's guilty plea, his follower's base remained undisturbed, and church members continued worshipping him.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: The leader of La Luz Del Mundo Naasón Joaquín and his family members, including his father and previous leader Samuel Joaquín, have accumulated millions of dollars in luxury homes throughout the United States, including a private 343 acre exotic animal park in Seguin, Texas called Silver Wolf Ranch, and a luxury home in Palos Verdes Estates. As of 2019, the exotic zoo was valued at $4.1 million, which includes lions, a white tiger, exotic birds, a mansion, and an adjacent museum where a collection of restored vintage cars are stored. According to a church spokesperson, the ranch is divided into two parts, a federally registered nonprofit zoo and wildlife rescue refuge, and a private zoo-themed family retreat. The church spokesperson further states that the nonprofit part is funded by donations from church members in Texas, while the private part is funded by family earnings from businesses such as a travel agency in Guadalajara. In total, the current director and his siblings are said to own $7.3 million worth in private luxury properties throughout the United States. To date the source of their wealth remains unknown.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: More recently, the current director is alleged to have spent $100,000 in a single day at a Beverly Hills store, and regularly travels around the world in a private jet.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: In September 2018, residents of Flowery Branch, Georgia publicly objected to the church's plan to turn 272 acres into a multi-use development called the "City of the Light of the World". The proposed project would include numerous buildings such as a marketplace, a plaza, a school, a "cultural center", and four hotels. A church spokesperson, Jack Freeman, described the project as the church's "first effort to build cities where the values that distinguish human beings are cultivated, (people) live in an atmosphere of peace, equity, solidarity and above all, on the principles that human beings can achieve the harmony of living together by applying the statutes of healthy coexistence that the Lord Jesus Christ left to his apostles in teaching." Residents also started a Change.org petition and a Facebook group to raise awareness to their concerns.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: In 1995, La Luz del Mundo acquired a vacant nursery building in a commercial zone in Ontario, California. The Church planned to use it for religious activities and was assured that it could as long as building requirements were met. The city then passed a law requiring all new religious organizations to obtain a conditional use permit to operate a church in the commercial zone. In 1998, La Luz del Mundo petitioned for such a permit, but residents objected to the plans. María de Lourdes Argüelles, professor at Claremont Graduate University and board member of the Instituto Cristiano de México, led the opposition against La Luz del Mundo, which she called a "destructive sect". She said she had seen children and teenagers working overnight on the site under precarious conditions.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: Ontario officials met with objecting residents and began researching the Church, checking with cities where La Luz del Mundo had temples, but found no problems. After considering zoning questions and citing traffic, parking and disruption of economic plans for that area, the city denied the permit to the Church. La Luz del Mundo then sued the city for denying it use of its own building for services and for allegedly violating its civil rights. The case was settled out of court in 2004, and La Luz del Mundo was allowed to build the temple. The city agreed to pay about in cash and fee credits to the Church. The case was not taken to court because city officials and attorneys concluded the city would most likely lose the case and spend more money than the settlement.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: According to Fortuny, La Luz del Mundo members, along with members of other Protestant denominations, are treated as "second class citizens". She says the church is called a "sect" in an offensive manner in Mexico. Rodolfo Morán Quiroz, a sociologist, said that the discrimination started by the Catholic Church, which in the past caused La Luz del Mundo to establish its community in Hermosa Provincia, continues in Mexico. Church founder Aarón Joaquín was reportedly beaten by Cristeros and jailed by the government for preaching in a public space.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: In 1995, as thousands of members of the church traveled to the Holy Supper celebration in Guadalajara, several members of a neighboring community supported by Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez protested the use of schools to provide temporary shelters for church pilgrims. Protesters said that after the ceremony the schools were left in disarray; however church authorities presented photographic evidence to newspapers to contradict these claims.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: According to Church spokesperson Armando Maya Castro, many students who are members of La Luz del Mundo have been discriminated against and punished for refusing to partake in celebrations and customs concerning the Day of the Dead at school. In one case reported by a Mexican newspaper, "La Gaceta", a female church member riding a bus was pushed by another passenger, who then crossed herself because the member was wearing a long skirt. On July 25, 2008, a public official sealed the entrance to a temple in Puerto Vallarta, trapping the congregation inside, until other officials removed the seals. This incident occurred because of complaints from individuals who did not like the presence of the Church in the area. Reporter Rodolfo Chávez Calderón stated that La Luz del Mundo was in compliance with local laws.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: Many female church members have faced discrimination and verbal abuse on buses, in schools, and in hospitals. Church members who were patients in a Mexican hospital were denied access to their ministers in 2011. The hospital required permission from Catholic clergy so that La Luz del Mundo ministers could visit patients.


title: La Luz del Mundo

text: La Luz del Mundo ministers reported that the site of a newly constructed temple in Silao was subject to harassment, vandalism, and physical threats because of religious intolerance, which caused them to request increased police protection. In February 2012, seventy church ministers from different countries appeared before Mexican authorities in Guadalajara to denounce the lack of police protection for the church's residents in the city after a series of attacks left several members hospitalized.


title: F.T. Island

text: F.T. Island (, short for Five Treasure Island), is a South Korean rock band formed by FNC Entertainment in 2007. The band currently consists of main vocalist Lee Hong-gi, bassist Lee Jae-jin, and drummer Choi Min-hwan. Guitarist Oh Won-bin left the band in 2009 and was replaced by Song Seung-hyun. Former leader Choi Jong-hoon left the band and retired from the entertainment industry on March 14, 2019, while Seung-hyun left the group on December 31, 2019, to pursue his acting career.


title: F.T. Island

text: F.T. Island debuted on the music television program M! Countdown on June 7, 2007, with the single "Love Sick". Their debut studio album, "Cheerful Sensibility", was the sixth best-selling of the year and "Love Sick" topped the K-pop charts for eight consecutive weeks. Later that year, the band won the Best New Male Group at the Mnet Asian Music Awards and the Popularity and Rookie of the Year awards at the Golden Disk Awards.


title: F.T. Island

text: F.T. Island made their Japanese debut on June 8, 2008, with the extended play "". The band started getting recognition in the country following the release of their third Japanese studio album, "Five Treasure Island", in 2011, which topped the Oricon Albums Chart and spawned the single "Flower Rock". Additionally, F.T. Island is the first foreign male band and the first band in 42 years to top the Oricon Daily Charts.


title: F.T. Island

text: F.T. Island's most well-known songs include "After Love", "Bad Woman", "I Hope", "Hello Hello", "Severely", "I Wish", and the chart-toppers "Love Sick", "Thunder", "Until You Come Back", and "Love Love Love". Considered to be South Korea's first idol band, F.T. Island paved the way for such acts, including label mate N.Flying.


title: F.T. Island

text: F.T. Island's first album, "Cheerful Sensibility", was released on June 7, 2007. Prior to that, the members appeared on the Korean television show "Wanna be my girlfriend?" () on Mnet. The band also performed live on stage at Rolling Hall and held their first official showcase at Live House Melon-AX, Gwangjang-dong in Seoul on May 27, 2007.


title: F.T. Island

text: The album combined 13 songs that were loosely divided into two parts, ""Emotional Chapter"" and ""F.T. Island Chapter"", according to the genre of the songs. The "Emotional Chapter" consists of rock ballads, while the "F.T. Island Chapter" consists of a variety of pop rock sons produced by Japanese composers who worked with the Japanese band "SMAP". Selling over 79,000 copies in 2007, it was the sixth best-selling album of the year. The album was later re-packaged on December 3, 2007, titled "The Refreshment (Vol. 1.5)" with three extra songs, a photo book, a stack of photo cards and a mixing program called Music 2.0, which allows one to adjust the levels of the instruments and vocals. The edition sold 25,724 copies in December 2007.


title: F.T. Island

text: After debuting in Korea, FNC Entertainment (formerly "FNC Music") moved F.T. Island's activities overseas. On March 31, 2008, an autograph session in Malaysia at the Damansara Cineleisure was held, which was to be followed by the group's first concert at the Sunway Lagoon Amphitheater the next day. However, the performance was canceled and subsequently held in Thailand instead, at the Royal Paragon Hall on April 14, 2008.


title: F.T. Island

text: F.T. Island's first Japanese debut album, titled "", was then released on June 7, 2008. The album consists of eight songs, two of which were newer versions of the original songs "F.T. Island" and "Primadonna". The last track, "Always Be Mine", is an English version of "First Kiss" from their debut album (though the lyrics are original). Music videos were also released for "Soyogi" and "Friendship", displaying the band's professionalism and playful sides.


title: F.T. Island

text: After their promotional activities in Japan, the band then returned to Korea, releasing their second Korean album "Colorful Sensibility" on August 27, 2008. A follow-up epilogue, "Colorful Sensibility Part 2", was later released on October 17.


title: F.T. Island

text: Later that year, F.T. Island also released "The One", their first Japanese commercial single under indie label AI Entertainment. The single charted at ninth on the Oricon daily charts. The single was also the last official release with member Oh Won Bin before his departure.


title: F.T. Island

text: On January 28, 2009, it was announced that member Oh Won Bin would be leaving the group, with FNC trainee Song Seung-hyun replacing him as a guitarist and backup vocalist. With the new change in lineup, F.T. Island then released the music video for their mini-album with the title song "Bad Woman". They promoted it on SBS Inkigayo, and released their first Korean mini-album "Jump Up" two days later.


title: F.T. Island

text: On April 22, F.T. Island later released their second Japanese single, "I Believe Myself". For the first time, members participated in lyrics composition. For the song "Moonlight Angel", Jae-jin co-wrote the lyrics and Jong-hoon co-composed the song. "I Believe Myself" was the first Japanese single with member Seung-hyun. They held their 2009 F.T. Island Tour-I Believe Myself in Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo during the summer of 2009. F.T. Island also toured parts of Asia which included Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, and others to promote themselves in the summer of 2009. The showcase kicked off in Singapore during June 25 to 27.


title: F.T. Island

text: While preparing for overseas promotions, the members were in the midst of recording their third album. On July 9, FNC Entertainment released jacket photos for the upcoming third album called "Cross & Change". On the following day, a music video teaser for "I Hope" was released online, featuring kids watching their idols (played by the members themselves) on TV. The title song, called “I Hope/Barae”, was released on July 16. F.T. Island tried out a variety of music styles for "Cross & Change"; it included a total of 12 songs, ranging from moving ballads to addictive songs with a bright melody. F.T. Island adopted a new fashion style and concept for the album using a "retro" and the “Bokgo” approach, which was inspired during the “jeans jeans look” from the 80s in Korea.


title: F.T. Island

text: F.T. Island released their 3rd Japanese single, "Raining", on October 21. A music video of the single was released. Jong-hoon played the piano for the single for the first time instead of the guitar.


title: F.T. Island

text: After celebrating their 1000th day in the music industry, they travelled to Japan and they stayed until the end of August to prepare for their major debut under their new Japanese label, Warner Music Japan. They also began a new Japanese television show which aired on April 7, 2010. On May 19, F.T. Island released their new Japanese single "Flower Rock". It entered the oricon daily charts in third position on May 19, 2010, on the day of its release, and held the fourth position of that week. On July 14, F.T. Island released another single named "Brand-new days", which was written and composed by Seung-hyun and Jong-hoon. F.T. Island performed a five-city concert tour in Japan after releasing both singles. They also performed at the international rock festival "Summer Sonic 2010" in Maishima Arena, Osaka, Japan.


title: F.T. Island

text: Their new mini album "Beautiful Journey" and the music video for their main title song "Love Love Love" were released on August 25. They held their comeback performance in Korea on August 27. The title song topped many popular music charts in South Korea and also gained international notice, especially in Taiwan. Jong-hoon co-wrote and co-composed the song, "Don Quixote's Song", making it their first Korean song that includes the composition of a member. In November and December, F.T. Island held performances such as the "Beautiful Journey Concert" and "So Today... Concert" tour, in both Korea and Japan.


title: F.T. Island

text: Whilst promoting their second Korean mini-album, F.T. Island recorded another Japanese single titled "So Today..." that was released in November. The song, "Boom Boom Boom", was composed by Jong-hoon. The single ranked sixth on the Oricon Daily Charts. With F.T. Island's 3rd single taking the sixth position, they then had a record of all their singles ranking in the top ten of the Oricon charts. About 10,000 fans turned up at their promotional events in Osaka and Tokyo on 20 and 21 November.


title: F.T. Island

text: The band then held a concert in Taiwan on December 25, celebrating Christmas together with 9000 fans. Former vocalist and guitarist Oh Wonbin, appeared as a special guest and performed his first single as a solo artist and a brand new song, which had not been released at the concert. F.T. Island performed songs in three languages, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese.


title: F.T. Island

text: With an album sales record of over 100,000, F.T. Island won favorable comments in the Taiwanese media. The revenue for concert tickets and merchandises alone and F.T. Island's "Beautiful Journey" concert had exceeded a total of NT$20Million. They have been named the Korean artists who earned the most money in the end of 2010. Four main news agencies namely, China Times, Yonhap News, Apple Daily and Liberty Times wrote news on the concerts, showing the band's high popularity. F.T. Island also broke several records in Taiwan with 500,000 hits on mobile downloads and 10,000,000 hits on music downloads.


title: F.T. Island

text: On April 20, 2011, F.T. Island released their seventh Japanese single "Satisfaction". The single debuted at number two on the Oricon weekly singles charts, becoming the band's highest-charting single in the country. Their title song "Satisfaction" was also selected to be the ending theme song of Fuji Television's anime Toriko.


title: F.T. Island

text: On May 18, F.T. Island released their first major debut album in Japan, entitled "Five Treasure Island". The album features songs from their previous singles such as "Flower Rock", "Brand New Days", "So Today...", and "Satisfaction"; it also contains several new tracks, including the soundtracks for Japanese drama "Muscle Girl!", in which member Hong-gi played the lead male role. The album ranked first at the Oricon album daily chart.


title: F.T. Island

text: In late May, F.T. Island returned to the South Korean music scene after almost a year, with a mini-album titled "Return". The album was released on May 24. Title track was "Hello Hello", a fast-paced rock song. The album featured five songs in total. "I Confess" featured all of the members' vocals.