bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Theologia tripertita
Authors: Green C. M. C.
Published: December 2012

Xenophanes of Colophon (sixth century
BCE
) famously observed that if horses had gods, their gods would look like horses. This observation was provoked by the moral frailty of Homer's too human gods, and growing critical scrutiny of anthropomorphic religious practices in general. As philosophers came to define a world of universal laws, Homeric‐style deities indulging themselves on Olympos became increasingly suspect.
Theseus and Theseia
Authors: Anderson Ralph
Published: December 2012

Mythical king of Attica, son of Aegeus or Poseidon (versions differ), and Aethra, Theseus became prominent in Athenian mythology, art, and cult in the later sixth century
BCE
, owing to Athenian desire for a home‐grown hero to counterbalance Dorian Herakles, perhaps assisted by promotion by the Alkmaionidai or Kleisthenes as an antidote to the Peisistratids' exploitation of Herakles and an expression of Athenian unity.
Thesmophoria
Authors: Wallensten Jenny
Published: December 2012

The Thesmophoria was a women‐only festival celebrated all over the Greek world.
Theurgy
Authors: Shaw Gregory
Published: December 2012

A term coined by late second centuryCEPlatonists to describe the deifying effect of Chaldaean rituals, the remnants of which are now preserved as theChaldaean Oracles.
Vediovis
Authors: Orlin Eric
Published: December 2012

Vediovis, sometimes known as Veiovis, is a mysterious Roman god related in some fashion to Jupiter. “Iovis” is linguistically related to Jupiter, but it is not clear whether the prefixve‐ should be understood as meaning “the opposite” of Jupiter or merely as a “little” Jupiter.
Vegoia
Authors: de Grummond Nancy T.
Published: December 2012

Vegoia was the Latin name for an Etruscan prophetic goddess, Lasa Vecuvia, who inspired writings on lightning and creation (
Libri Vegoici
).
Vesta and Vestals
Authors: Dolansky Fanny
Published: December 2012

Vesta was a Roman goddess primarily associated with the hearth both domestically and publicly in her temple in the Forum Romanum tended by her priestesses, the six Vestal Virgins.
Victoria
Authors: Thornton Daniel James
Published: December 2012

In Roman religion, Victoria was the divine embodiment of victory, equivalent to the Greek goddess Nike, often appearing as a winged figure. Several temples were erected in her honor in Rome, with the most famous located on the Palatine Hill, erected in 294
BCE
. Victoria also had a conspicuous presence in the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, where she was represented by a golden statue sent by Hieron II of Syracuse after the Roman defeat by Hannibal at Lake Trasimene in 217
BCE
.
Vortumnus
Authors: Holland Lora L.
Published: December 2012

Vortumnus is an enigmatic god. Varro calls him “the principal god of Etruria” (Ling. 5.46).
Zeus
Authors: Kolotourou Katerina
Published: December 2012

Zeus was the supreme divinity of the Greek pantheon.
Shadrapa
Authors: Hvidberg‐Hansen Finn O.
Published: December 2012

In Phoenician‐Punic and Aramaic inscriptions
Shdrp'
= “healing god or daimon”:
shd
= Hebrew
shêd
(Septuaginta:
daimòn
), cf. Babylonian
shêdû
(gods of favorable or malevolent character), and
rp'
(“heal”).
Tanit
Authors: Hvidberg‐Hansen Finn O.
Published: December 2012

Tanit, in Phoenician‐Punic inscriptions, is normally
Tnt
, rarely
Tynt
,
Tnnt
, or
Tnyt
, Greek
Thenneith
,
Thinith
; the name is explained as the Egyptian Neit, female counterpart of the Canaanite Sea‐Dragon Tannin, the Canaanite‐Phoenician Anat with Libyan prefix
ta‐
, or “the weeping one,” cf.
Kabiroi
Authors: Bedigan Kirsten
Published: December 2012

The Kabiroi are a group of masculine divinities, usually two to three in number, although larger groups and female Kabiroi are also known.
Tarchon
Authors: Muse Kevin
Published: December 2012

Now obscure, Tarchon was a central figure in the foundation myths of Etruscan civilization.
Administration, Roman
Authors: Eich Peter
Published: December 2012

The rise of the modern state is closely related to the administrative development of the political systems of Europe since 1500CE.
Arabia, Roman province
Authors: Dombrowski Justin
Published: December 2012

The emperor Trajan annexed the Arab Kingdom of the Nabataeans in 106
CE
as the province of Arabia, which represented the Roman Empire's easternmost frontier. Arabia included the region east of the Jordan River, stretching from the Arabian Peninsula to the province of Syria, though its contours changed over time and eventually included portions of Palestine and Syria. In addition to its position along the Roman frontiers, Arabia owed its significance to its involvement in late second century
CE
civil wars and above all to trade.
Britannia, Roman Empire
Authors: Platts Hannah
Published: December 2012

Britannia was one of the last provinces to be added to Rome's empire.
Cities, Roman Empire (east)
Authors: Zuiderhoek Arjan
Published: December 2012

The Roman Empire was, by pre‐modern standards, a highly urbanized society. Cities were ubiquitous, not just in the empire's Italian core, but also and especially in its eastern provinces.
Dacians and other Transdanuviani
Authors: Zahariade Mihail
Published: December 2012

Getae and Dacians are widely accepted as being two different names for the same native population of Thracian origin, speaking an Indo‐European language and having the same material culture. Modern historians use the term Geto‐Dacians to encompass both groups.
Dalmatia
Authors: Kos Marjeta Šašel
Published: December 2012

The province of Dalmatia, formerly Illyricum, was named after the Delmatae, who occupied the hinterland of Salona between the rivers Titius (Krka) and Nestos/Hippius (Cetina) on the fringes of the Illyrian kingdom, with their center at Delminium on the Duvanjsko polje plain. Their northern neighbors, the Liburni, controlled the region from the Titius to the Arsia River (Raša) in Istria, including the nearby islands.
Decebalus
Authors: Zahariade Mihail
Published: December 2012

Decebalus was king of the Dacians from 86 to 106
CE
. He was probably the son of King Scorillo, or Coryllus (28/9–68/9) (Jord.
Get
. 78): a vase from the Dacian capital, Sarmizegetusa, bears the inscriptions “DECEBALVS” and “PER SCORILLO” (“Decebalus” and “the son of Scorillo”).
Emesa
Authors: Kropp Andreas J. M.
Published: December 2012

Emesa (ḥomṣ) on the Orontes (Nahr al‐‘Āsī) in central Syria occupies a key strategic position at the head of the Gap of ḥomṣ, the main lowland pass connecting the coast to the interior.
Ephesos, Classical and later
Authors: Mitchell Stephen
Published: December 2012

Ephesos was a harbor city on the west coast of Turkey, at the mouth of the Kaystros River.
Frontiers, Roman
Authors: Cordovana Orietta Dora
Published: December 2012

In contrast to the modern idea of a frontier as a clear‐cut customs line or border under the political control of a territorial state, the structure of Roman frontiers took a variety of forms that developed over centuries, from the continuously fortified linear frontiers of Britain to the intermittently fortified non‐linear frontiers of North Africa and the east.
Gaul (Tres Galliae)
Authors: Thorne James
Published: December 2012

The rivers of Gaul, and its position west of the Alpine barrier, make it the easiest section of Europe to cross between the inner and outer seas. As a result, the “Three Gauls” — Aquita‐nia, Belgica, and Lugdunensis — were the first non‐Mediterranean regions to be incorporated into the Roman world, and came to display a highly developed provincial civilization. The geographical location of Gaul, however, also caused it to be especially exposed to the problems which beset the later empire.
Globalization
Authors: Pitts Martin
Published: December 2012

“Globalization” is a term that describes processes by which hitherto separate or disparate localities become increasingly interconnected, typically on a global scale.
Imperialism in the Roman Empire (east)
Authors: Erskine Andrew , Mitchell Stephen
Published: December 2012

In 229BCE, when Roman forces first crossed the Adriatic Sea, the eastern Mediterranean was a Greco‐Macedonian domain, a legacy of Alexander's conquest of the Persian Empire.
Italica (Seville)
Authors: Panzram Sabine , Hidalgo Rafael
Published: December 2012

Italica, modern Santiponce, is situated in southern Spain on the western bank of the Baetis (Guadalquivir) River about 10 km north of Seville.
Markets, Roman
Authors: Bang Peter Fibiger
Published: December 2012

As with most pre‐industrial trade, Roman commercial life tended to follow a periodic or seasonal pattern.
Metropoleis
Authors: Tangaro Nicoletta
Published: December 2012

The Greek termmetropolis(plural:metropoleis), literally “mother city,” was first used to express the relationship between a founding city and its colony during the Greek colonization of the western Mediterranean in the eighth centuryBCE.
Mosaics, Roman Empire
Authors: Westgate Ruth
Published: December 2012

Mosaic is a form of decoration built up from small pieces of stone, glass, terracotta, or other materials, set in a matrix of mortar or plaster.
Numidia
Authors: McCarty Matthew M.
Published: December 2012

Numidia, originally named for the Numidian tribes that inhabited the region, is an area covering much of modern northeastern Algeria.
Olives and olive oil
Authors: Rossiter Jeremy
Published: December 2012

The Mediterranean environment, with its plentiful rainfall and warm summer temperatures, is ideally suited to the cultivation of olives.
Oppida
Authors: Lauwers Veerle
Published: December 2012

In
stricto sensu
,
oppida
are – as referred to by Julius Caesar in
De bello Gallico
– large nucleated settlements.
Osrhoene
Authors: Comfort Anthony
Published: December 2012

A district in northern Mesopotamia east of the Euphrates River first mentioned as such by the Elder Pliny (
HN
6.129).
Palaces, Rome
Authors: Platts Hannah
Published: December 2012

The central hill of Rome, the Palatine, played an important role in the settlement of the city from its early history, and it provides the origin of our term “palace” for a building of size and magnificence inhabited by members of a ruling elite.
Palmyra
Authors: Kaizer Ted
Published: December 2012

Palmyra, also known under its indigenous name, Tadmor, was located at an oasis in the Syrian steppe, “between the two great empires of the Romans and the Parthians” (Plin.HN5.88).
Paphlagonia
Authors: Mitchell Stephen
Published: December 2012

Paphlagonia was the name given to a large region of northern Anatolia lying east of Bithynia and stretching to the Halys River, covering the Pontic highlands of Mount Olgassys, the basin of the Amnias River, which formed an east–west corridor through the region, and the southern shore of the Black Sea between Herakleia Pontica and Sinope.
Pergamon
Authors: Michels Christoph
Published: December 2012

Pergamon (also Pergamum), a city in Mysia in western Asia Minor (today ca. 30 km from the Aegean coast), had its political and cultural heyday during the reign of the Attalids (281–133BCE) and is one of the best‐known Hellenistic capitals.
Poetovio
Authors: Wilkes John
Published: December 2012

Poetovio (now Ptuj, formerly Pettau, Slovenia), a prehistoric settlement on the borders of Pannonia and Noricum, later a Roman legionary base and then a colonial city, lay on the ancient Amber route between Italy and the Baltic at the crossing of the Drava/Drau River on the eastern fringe of the Alps.
Pottery, Roman Empire
Authors: Poblome Jeroen , Malfitana Daniele , Lund John
Published: December 2012

It is hard to conceive of a household in the Roman Empire that could make do without pottery – for the storing of foodstuffs, the cooking and serving of meals, the drinking of wine and other beverages, etc. Artifacts of glass and metal were used for similar purposes, and they were presumably more prestigious than their ceramic counterparts.
Provincial capitals
Authors: Haensch Rudolf
Published: December 2012

There is no general ancient definition of a “provincial capital.”
Rebellions, Roman Empire
Authors: Andrade Nathanael
Published: December 2012

In the Roman Empire, provincial rebellions constituted acts of violence that inhabitants of conquered territories perpetrated against the imperial administration, and they are to be distinguished from conflicts between Rome and a foreign power.
Romanization
Authors: Rothe Ursula
Published: December 2012

“Romanization,” together with its equivalent in other languages (Fr.romanisation, Ger.Romanisierung, etc.), is the term that has been used by scholars since the late nineteenth century to denote the adoption, by individuals or groups, of structural or cultural traits associated with Roman civilization, usually as a result of incorporation into the Roman Empire.
Rome, resistance to (cultural)
Authors: Rothe Ursula
Published: December 2012

The notion that the inhabitants of the Roman provinces may have expressed resistance to Rome by asserting aspects of their native culture was not unknown to early Roman historians such as Theodor Mommsen, who saw, for example, the dearth of Latin inscriptions in places like Paris as a manifestation of “silent resistance” to Roman culture.
Rome, resistance to (Gaul)
Authors: Thorne James
Published: December 2012

Gaul as a whole never resisted Roman rule: its peoples, like those of the Hellenistic world, tended to put their quarrels with each other first, so that the Romans became an ally to some and consequently an enemy to others.
Rome, resistance to (Syria)
Authors: Collar Anna
Published: December 2012

Rome began the annexation of Syria in 64BCE, but it was always a disputed region with a multiplicity of heritages.
Singidunum (Belgrade)
Authors: Wilkes John
Published: December 2012

Singidunum (Belgrade/Beograd, Serbia) lies on the right bank of the Danube opposite the confluence with the Sava, and is centered on the Kalmegdan Hill, occupied successively by a pre‐Roman settlement possibly of the Scordisci, a legionary camp, and the massive fortresses of the Byzantine and Ottoman eras.
Stoneworking, Greece and Rome
Authors: Vandeput Lutgarde
Published: December 2012

Stone was a very important natural resource throughout antiquity. Cities with good‐quality stone available were able to build more splendid edifices than those that had to buy and import it.
Thagaste
Authors: MacDonald Eve
Published: December 2012

The ancient city of Thagaste, now Souk Ahras in Algeria, is best known as the birthplace of Augustine in 354
CE
. w
Thracia
Authors: Zahariade Mihail
Published: December 2012

Thracia (Greek: Thrake) was a region in the Balkan peninsula, traditionally framed by the Danube River to the north, Macedonia to the west, the Aegean and Marmara seas to the south and southeast, and the Black Sea to the east, and inhabited by the Thracians (Thraces, Thraeces).
Transport, Roman
Authors: Kolb Anne
Published: December 2012

In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire transport, in other words, the movement or conveyance of people and goods, was of considerable importance for the state, which was dependent upon efficient and reliable means of transport for communication and the movement of supplies as well as for traveling government officials.
Troop movements, Roman Empire
Authors: M. Hirt Alfred
Published: December 2012

Troop movements over long distances became a prominent feature of military activity in the Roman Empire after Augustus, as legions and auxiliary units were deployed in provinces from Britain to Mesopotamia, which were linked with one another by the Roman road system and also by established sea and river routes, which were essential to the Roman military supply system.
Women, Roman
Authors: Keegan Peter M.
Published: December 2012

Information about Roman women is almost exclusively derived from male sources.
Sejanus (Lucius Aelius Seianus)
Authors: Evans Richard
Published: December 2012

Lucius Aelius Seianus, better known as Sejanus, has achieved modern notoriety primarily through Graves' novelI Claudius, serialized in 1976 by the BBC.
Agentes in rebus
Authors: Rankov Boris
Published: December 2012

The
agentes in rebus
appear to have been set up by Diocletian at the end of the third century
CE
to replace the corps of
frumentarii
–imperial couriers and secret policemen–whom he had abolished because of their abuses and unpopularity.
Ala
Authors: Holder Paul
Published: December 2012

Anala(literally, “a wing”) during the Roman Republic was the name for a force of troops from allied states which was attached to a Roman legion.
Augustus (Imperator Caesar Augustus)
Authors: Osgood Josiah
Published: December 2012

Augustus (63BCE–14CE) was Rome's first emperor. He was the key figure in bringing permanent monarchy to Rome, and also an unprecedented peace across the Mediterranean, named after him “Augustan Peace.” Centuries after his death, he was gratefully remembered, though his bloody and duplicitous rise to power was not forgotten either.
Beneficiarii
Authors: Rankov Boris
Published: December 2012

In the Late Roman Republic,beneficiariiwere soldiers who had received abeneficiumwhich gave them privileges and a special attachment to the commander who had granted this “benefit”; they are thus likely to have been a creation of the military dynasts of the first centuryBCE.
Caracalla (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus)
Authors: Bingham Sandra J.
Published: December 2012

Septimius Bassianus, later Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (commonly known as Caracalla because of the type of cloak he wore when emperor), was born on April 4, 188CEinlugdunum (lyons).
Clodius Albinus, Decimus
Authors: Lusnia Susann S.
Published: December 2012

D. Clodius Albinus is reported to have come from Hadrumetum in north Africa, but this is uncertain (SHASev. 11.3; Chastagnol 1994: 370–2).
Cohortes urbanae
Authors: Ng Michael
Published: December 2012

The urban cohorts (
cohortes urbanae
) were an important part of the garrison of the city of Rome during the Roman Empire. They provided the emperors at Rome with extra military force to deal with problems in the city, and also participated in civil wars and foreign wars on rare occasions.
Commodus (Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus Augustus)
Authors: Gorrie Charmaine L.
Published: December 2012

Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus Augustus (161–92CE) was the first emperor to be born when his father was emperor.
Constantine I (Flavius Valerius Constantinus Augustus)
Authors: Davis Raymond
Published: December 2012

Constantine “the Great,” son of Constantius I Chlorus and his wife or concubine Helena, was born at Naissus in Moesia, was proclaimed Augustus on July 25, 306CEat Eboracum (York), and died near Nicomedia on May 22, 337, at an age variously stated as 62 or 66 (his birthday was February 27).
Decurio
Authors: Dobson Brian
Published: December 2012

Decurio
is a classic example of a word changing its meaning.
Diplomata
, military
Authors: Holder Paul
Published: December 2012

“Military diploma” is the modern term for a Roman legal document which recorded privileges awarded to various types of troops by the emperor beginning with Claudius. Each bronze diptych was a personalized copy of the original constitution set up at Rome. As a modern study aid, individual tablets are labeled
tabella I
and
tabella II
. Across the inner faces was engraved the version of the text that guaranteed legality. The outer face of
tabella I
had another copy. On the outside of
tabella II
were the names of witnesses whose seals were attached to the wire binding the two tablets together and then protected by a metal box soldered to the document. Honorable discharge was administered separately. Military diplomas are therefore not discharge documents.
Disciplina
Authors: Moore Rosemary
Published: December 2012

Military discipline refers to the body of military training and regulations that, together with cultural ideals of soldierly behavior, is intended to create an army of soldiers whose behavior is uniform and predictable.
Donativum
Authors: Ng Michael
Published: December 2012

Monetary gifts or donatives were irregular payments made to soldiers of the Roman army by emperors. This tradition probably descended from republican antecedents, when generals dispersed booty to their men after successful campaigns.
Evocati
Authors: Rankov Boris
Published: December 2012

Under the republic, adult male Roman citizens were liable to serve in the legions for a period of up to six years continuously, and could then be “called out” again until they had served a total of sixteen years. Such
evocati
were prized as experienced troops, and by the first century
BCE
, when Roman armies were becoming more and more attached to individual commanders, they were being recognized and rewarded as a special group alongside the centurions (Caes.
B Civ
. 1.3.4, 17.4, 3.53.1, 88.5, 91.1;
see also Centurio
). According to Cassius Dio, Octavian called out
evocati
from Caesar's army to fight Antony in 44
BCE
(45.12.3–6) and continued to make use of such men thereafter (55.24.8).
Exploratores
Authors: Rankov Boris
Published: December 2012

Exploratores
were the scouts who reconnoitered ahead of the Roman armies.
Fulvius Plautianus, Gaius
Authors: Lusnia Susann S.
Published: December 2012

C. Fulvius Plautianus, African by birth, was akinsman of the emperor Septimius Severus (Herodian 3.10.6), who became Praetorian Prefect and amassed extraordinary power and wealth before his downfall in 205CE(Dio. 76(75).15–16; Herodian 3.11.2–3).
Gordian II (Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus Iunior Augustus)
Authors: Harl Kenneth W.
Published: December 2012

Gordian II (Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus Iunior Augustus), Roman emperor twenty‐two days in 238, was born in ca.
Gordian III (Marcus Antonius Gordianus Augustus)
Authors: Harl Kenneth W.
Published: December 2012

Gordian III (Marcus Antonius Gordianus Augustus), Roman emperor (238–44CE), was the son of Antonia Gordiana.
Iulius Quadratus Bassus, Gaius
Authors: Fündling Jörg
Published: December 2012

Bassus (ca. 80–117
CE
), member of a family from Pergamon that claimed royal descent.
Law, military
Authors: Phang Sara Elise
Published: December 2012

“Military law” in the systematic modern sense did not exist in the ancient world.
Magister equitum
Authors: Klein Konstantin M.
Published: December 2012

The rank of Magister equitum, or leader of the cavalry (
see
Cavalry, Roman), was a military office in the time of the Roman Republic, which was revived in Late Antiquity.
Marcus Aurelius (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus)
Authors: Hebblewhite M. K.
Published: December 2012

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus was a Roman emperor who ruled between March 7, 161 and March 17, 180CE.
Maximinus (Valerius Galerius Maximinus Augustus)
Authors: Buck David F.
Published: December 2012

Valerius Galerius Maximinus Augustus (ca. 270–313CE), now commonly known as Maximinus Daia, was the longest surviving and most vigorous and implacable of the emperors responsible for the Great Persecution.
Navies, Roman
Authors: de Souza Philip
Published: December 2012

The Romans never had a navy that was separate from their armies, but they frequently deployed fleets of warships in overseas wars and to defend their own territories.
Nero (Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus)
Authors: Barrett Anthony A.
Published: December 2012

Nero (37–68CE) was the fifth Roman emperor and the last representative of Rome's first imperial dynasty, the Julio‐Claudians. His reputation for villainy and ruthless depravity is arguably unmatched by that of any other ancient Roman.
Pilum
Authors: Sage Michael
Published: December 2012

The
pilum
was the standard missile weapon of the Roman manipular legion
Platorius Nepos, Aulus
Authors: Thornton Daniel James
Published: December 2012

Aulus Platorius Nepos was an official under Hadrian, whose most important activity was as governor of Roman Britain (seeBritannia, Roman Empire).
Praetorium
Authors: Sage Michael
Published: December 2012

The most basic meaning of
praetorium
is the commander's residence.
Probus (Marcus Aurelius Probus Augustus)
Authors: Davis Raymond
Published: December 2012

Born at Sirmium, August 19 in (probably) 232, Probus (PIR2A 1583;PLRE1.736;RE194) was Roman emperor from 276 to 282CE.
Riparienses milites
Authors: Whately Conor
Published: December 2012

These are sometimes found as simplyripariiorripensesrather thanriparienses milites, and, for all intents and purposes, are frontier troops like theburgarii,castellani, andLimitanei.
Stipendium
(military pay)
Authors: Wesch‐Klein Gabriele
Published: December 2012

The attractiveness of military service in the Roman imperial period was grounded on a high degree of social security and on receiving a regular income over a long period.
Tacitus (Marcus Claudius Tacitus Augustus)
Authors: Davis Raymond
Published: December 2012

Marcus Claudius Tacitus Augustus, born ca. 220 (Zonaras claims he was seventy‐five at his accession but he may have been considerably younger), was Roman emperor from 275 to 276CE(PLREI 873 Tacitus 3;PIR2C 1036;REClaudius 361).
Trasimene, battle of
Authors: Hoyos Dexter
Published: December 2012

The battle of Trasimene was fought, on June 21, 217
BCE
, between a Roman consular army of two legions and Italian allied units (some twenty‐five thousand men in all) and the invading army of Hannibal, consisting of North African and Spanish veteran troops, Gallic recruits, and Numidian (North African) cavalry, about fifty‐five thousand all told.
Turma
Authors: Sage Michael
Published: December 2012

The
turma
was the basic organizational and tactical unit of all regular Roman and allied cavalry forces in the republic.
Valerian (Publius Licinius Valerianus Augustus)
Authors: Davis Raymond
Published: December 2012

The reign, from 253 to 260CE, of Publius Licinius Valerianus Augustus (PIR2L 258;RE173), the last Roman emperor whose career combined civilian and military posts, ended in disaster at the worst point of the empire's military and economic crisis.
Vegetius Renatus, Flavius
Authors: Milner N. P.
Published: December 2012

Flavius Vegetius Renatus was author of the
Epitoma rei militaris
(four books; Reeve 2004) and, under the
praenomen
Publius, of the
Digesta artis mulomedicinae
(four books; Lommatzsch 1903;
see
Veterinary Medicine).
Veterans
Authors: Wesch‐Klein Gabriele
Published: December 2012

The Romans used the term “veteran” (
veteranus
) for all ably discharged soldiers.
Antonia Minor
Authors: Hopwood Bronwyn
Published: December 2012

Antonia Minor (36BCE–37CE), younger daughter of the triumvir Marcus Antonius and Octavia Minor, married Drusus the Elder in ca. 18BCE.
Valentinian III
Authors: Nakamura Byron J.
Published: December 2012

Valentinian III, as western Roman emperor (425–455
CE
), was unremarkable, but his reign was indicative of the problems that the Roman west endured during the fifth century
CE
: endemic warfare, political fragmentation, and weak government.
Aemilius Lepidus Paullus, Lucius
Authors: Bloy Dylan
Published: December 2012

Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus (ca. 93–after 42BCE) was a prominent patrician senator during the last generation of the Roman Republic and older brother of the triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepidus.
African War (Bellum Africum)
Authors: Zahariade Mihail
Published: December 2012

The
Bellum Africum
, or
Africanum
as it appears in some manuscripts, deals chronologically with the military operations in Africa in 46
BCE
from the time that Julius Caesar left Lilybaeum until his return to Rome.
Atellane farce
Authors: Panayotakis Costas
Published: December 2012

The adjective
Atellanus
“Atellane” is already linked with theater in the early first century
BCE
(Varro
Menippeae
189), and its feminine form (
Atellana
) is first attested as a technical term in Cicero's time (Ad
familiares
9.16.7, written in 46
BCE
) with reference to the noun
fabula
“play”; it seems to indicate a category of native Italian comic drama named after the town Atella, an Oscan town of Campania in west central Italy.
Caecilii Metelli
Authors: Covino Ralph
Published: December 2012

The Caecilii Metelli were a leading plebeian clan in Rome. They were among the key houses of the patricio‐plebeian elite and especially notable during the Middle and the Late Republic.
Calendar, Roman
Authors: Stevens Benjamin
Published: December 2012

“The Roman calendar” consisted of three intersecting time‐keeping systems: (1) a lunisolar calendar of twelve months; (2) a system for dating within months; and (3) a system of classifying days for public business according to ritual status.
Censor
Authors: Swithinbank Hannah J.
Published: December 2012

The Roman censor was one of two senior magistrates, responsible for maintaining the citizen lists (census) and the supervision of public morals.
Claudii, family of
Authors: Hillard Tom
Published: December 2012

Most generations of Rome's Republic saw a Claudius in executive office.
Claudius Caecus, Appius
Authors: Armstrong Jeremy
Published: December 2012

Appius Claudius Caecus (ca. 340–275BCE) is often presented as one of the first real personalities identifiable in Roman history.
Clientela, Roman Republic
Authors: Verboven Koenraad S.
Published: December 2012

Patron–client relations were among the most fundamental and oldest relations in Roman society. They bound common folk to the rich and powerful in a personal relationship based on mutual trust and solidarity.
Clodius Pulcher, Publius
Authors: Alexander Michael C.
Published: December 2012

Publius Clodius Pulcher (93 or 92–52
BCE
), a controversial figures during the last two decades of the Roman Republic, was in many ways an archetypical
popularis
, though still maintaining ties with some optimates.
Cornelii Scipiones, family and tomb of
Authors: Jacobs John
Published: December 2012

The Cornelii Scipiones, a branch of the famous patrician
gens Cornelia
, were one of the most powerful and influential families of the Roman Republic.
Duilius, Gaius
Authors: Kendall Seth L.
Published: December 2012

Gaius Duilius first appears in Roman history as one of the consuls elected in the year 260
BCE
. According to Polybius (1.22–3), he was given oversight of the army while the navy then being constructed was placed under the supervision of his colleague Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina (although Cassius Dio is quoted by Zonaras as claiming that Scipio too was a land commander; Zonar. 8.11a). When the latter was captured near Lipara due to false reports that the city would be betrayed to him, Duilius assumed command of the fleet (Polyb. 1.23) and hastened to meet the Carthaginians under Hannibal (Zonar. 8.11a).
Etruria, Etruscans
Authors: Roth‐Murray Carrie
Published: December 2012

The Etruscans played a key role, not just in central Italy, but across much of the Mediterranean. Even now the Etruscans are famed for the material culture they produced themselves, and the material culture they collected from other contemporary cultures, particularly the Greeks.
Fasces
Authors: Stone Shelley C.
Published: December 2012

Fasces
were bundles of rectangular or rounded rods that served to distinguish important Roman magistrates and priests. Each
fasces
was carried by an attendant called a lictor. The tradition that they were originally Etruscan regal implements bound with an axe (Dion. Hal.
Ant. Rom
. 3.61, Flor. 1.5.6) is confirmed by a miniature
fasces
found in a seventh‐century tomb at Vetulonia. The
fasces
symbolized the magistrate's authority, and were used in the administration of justice, since
lictores
were so named because they would bind (
legare
) the convicted before punishment with the appropriate implement.
Forum Boarium
Authors: Hopkins John North
Published: December 2012

According to Varro, the Forum Boarium was Rome's cattle market, situated in the valley between the Capitoline and Aventine hills and between the Velabrum and Tiber River (on the function: Varro
LL
5.146; on the location: Livy 25.7.5–6, 27.37.5, 41.27.9–11; Ovid
Fasti
6.477–9). However, the site was originally low‐lying and unsuitable for construction: the Tiber's right bank flooded yearly, leading to periodic catastrophic inundations until the Late Republic. Thus, the area was not well suited for the cattle trade, and so many believe the name of the forum refers instead to an Aeginetan bronze statue of an ox that stood in the forum (Tac.
Ann
. 12.24.1) or the legendary bulls of Cacus, which were said to roam the valley (Prop. 4.9.19–20).
Homo novus
Authors: van der Blom Henriette
Published: December 2012

Homo novusdenotes literally “a new man;”homo novusmeant a man who was aspiring for political office in the Roman Republic but lacking ancestors who had reached (high) political office and thereby a seat in the Senate.
Imperium
Authors: Lushkov Ayelet Haimson
Published: December 2012

The termimperiumis most commonly used to denote the authority of certain Roman civic and military office‐holders, though it often has a wider application.
Julius Caesar (C. Iulius Caesar)
Authors: Osgood Josiah
Published: December 2012

Julius Caesar (100–44 bce) was a politician, general, and writer who reached a unique position of supremacy in the last years of the Roman Republic.
Pomponius Atticus, Titus
Authors: Tempest Kathryn L.
Published: December 2012

Titus Pomponius Atticus (ca. 110–32
BCE
) was born into a prosperous family that could claim descent from Pompilius Numa.
Roads, Roman Republic
Authors: Owens E. J.
Published: December 2012

Dionysus of Halicarnassus remarked that roads were one of the three Roman achievements that “manifested the greatness of the Roman Empire” (Ant.Rom. 3.67.5).
Senate, Roman Republic and Empire
Authors: Santangelo Federico
Published: December 2012

The Latin wordsenatusderives fromsenex(“old”) and has the primary meaning of “assembly of old men;” old age is supposed to entail wisdom.
Socii
Authors: Broadhead Will
Published: December 2012

Sociiis the Latin term for the allies of Rome.
Tarquinius Priscus
Authors: Glinister Fay
Published: December 2012

Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, fifth king of Rome, traditionally reigned from 616–579
BCE
.
Tribuni plebis
Authors: Kondratieff Eric J.
Published: December 2012

Ancient tradition holds that tribunes of the plebs were created in the first plebeian secession (494BCE) to act as officers for the assembly of the plebs, to pass resolutions (plebiscites) binding on the plebs, and to defend the plebs and their property against abusive magistrates. By 287BCE, tribunes were Rome's primary legislators, their plebiscites encompassingallcitizens. Through aggressive use of their legislative and obstructive powers,popularistribunes of the second centuryBCEsparked off the so‐called “Roman Revolution,” a century of civil and military conflicts that culminated in the establishment of the Augustan principate and the reduction of the tribunate to a shadow of its former self.
Tiro, Marcus Tullius
Authors: Tempest Kathryn L.
Published: December 2012

Marcus Tullius Tiro (ca. 103–4
BCE
) was first a slave and later a freedman of M. Tullius Cicero, from whom he inherited his
nomen
and
praenomen
. Little is known about his birth and parents, but Groebe (
RE
col. 1319) dates his birth at 103 based on the evidence of Jerome (in Euseb.
Chron
. Olymp. 194). However, references to Tiro in Cicero's correspondence and elsewhere suggest that he was probably much younger than his master. Furthermore, a date of birth in 103 would mean that Tiro was fifty when he received his freedom in 53: this seems late if we can accept Cicero's remark that good slaves normally received their freedom within six years (Cic.
Phil
. 8.32). It is, therefore, perhaps better to posit a date of birth some time around 80, with the implication that he was in his twenties when he was manumitted.
Umbrians
Authors: Pretzler Maria
Published: December 2012

The Umbrians were an ethnic group based in central Italy, from the upper Tiber valley across the Apennines to the Adriatic coast; their language was Indo‐European and closely related to Oscan. They lived in small city‐states with strong individual identities, which came under Roman control in the late fourth and early third centuryBCE. In 12BCEUmbria was, for the first time, defined in exact geographical and administrative terms as Augustus' regio VI with ca. forty municipia (Harris 1971: 335–41; cf. Plin.HN3.112–14).
Villanovan culture
Authors: Becker Hilary
Published: December 2012

The label “Villanovan culture” describes the Early Iron Age (ca. 900–700BCE), cultures of central and northern Italy, specifically in the areas of Etruria and the province of Reggio‐Emilia. Giovanni Gozzadini created this label in 1853 when he recognized what he saw as a distinct cultural period among artifacts from the Podere di Caselle necropolis near Bologna; his nearby estate provided inspiration for the name Villanovan.
Jugurtha
Authors: Nice Alex
Published: December 2012

Jugurtha (ca. 160–104 bce), the grandson of Masinissa and son of Mastanabal, was a king of Numidia, who waged a war against Rome documented in Sallust's
Bellum Iugurthinum
.
Aemilius Paullus, Lucius
Authors: Erskine Andrew
Published: December 2012

Lucius Aemilius Paullus (ca. 228–160BCE) was one of the leading Roman generals of the second centuryBCE, celebrated in particular for his victory over the Macedonian king Perseus.
Accounting, Mesopotamian
Authors: Melville Duncan J.
Published: December 2012

Writing and mathematics developed in Mesopotamia in response to a need to manage the storage and movement of goods, that is, accountancy.
Adrastos of Aphrodisias
Authors: Bowen Alan C.
Published: December 2012

Peripatetic philosopher active ca. 100CE(Martin 1849: 74–9), author of commentaries on Aristotle'sNicomachean Ethics, Categories, and Physics, as well as of a studyOn the Order of Aristotle's Workscited several times by Simplicius.
Aelianus, Claudius
Authors: Rodríguez‐Noriega Guillén Lucía
Published: December 2012

Even though Claudius Aelianus (ca. 170–ca. 230
CE
) was a Roman, and probably never left Italy, he produced all his works in Greek, being a member of the so‐called Second Sophistic movement.
Aetios of Amida
Authors: Touwaide Alain
Published: December 2012

A physician of the sixth centuryCE, and author of a medical encyclopedia (Biblia iatrika ekkaideka).
Alkmaion of Kroton
Authors: Schubert Charlotte
Published: December 2012

Alkmaion lived and worked as a physician and philosopher in Kroton (southern Italy) around 500BCE.
Anatomy
Authors: Rocca Julius
Published: December 2012

Anatomical investigation has a problematic history. This is due in large measure to the taboo regarding the corpse, which, with only one exception and for less than a single generation, remained unbroken in antiquity.
Anaxilaos of Larissa
Authors: Viano Cristina
Published: December 2012

Anaxilaos, born at Larissa in Thessaly, is known as a Neopythagorean.
Anonymus Londiniensis
Authors: Prince Susan
Published: December 2012

Anonymus Londiniensis is the unknown author of a Greek medical text composed in the first centuryCEand preserved, nearly complete, on a papyrus published in 1893 (P.Lond. Inv. 137).
Anthemios of Tralles
Authors: Anderson JR James C
Published: December 2012

Anthemios, renowned architect of the second church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, was born in Tralles (in Lydia), perhaps ca. 474CE, a member of a gifted family that included three physicians, a lawyer, and a grammarian.
Antiphon of Rhamnous
Authors: Pendrick Gerard J.
Published: December 2012

Antiphon of Rhamnous (ca. 480–411) was a leading political figure in late fifth century Athens and a pioneer of Attic oratory.
Apollodoros of Alexandria
Authors: Petit Caroline
Published: December 2012

Apollodoros of Alexandria was a Greek pharmacologist of the Hellenistic period. He is known to have completed a treatise on poisonous animals (
Peri therion
), as witnessed by Athenaeus, Aelianus, and the scholia to Nikander's
Theriaca
.
Aratos of Soloi
Authors: Lewis A. M.
Published: December 2012

Aratos (ca. 310–ca. 240), a Greek poet and scholar, is the author of thePhaenomena, a didactic poem that was the most widely read work of Greek literature in antiquity after Homer'sIliadandOdyssey.
Aretaios of Cappadocia
Authors: Cronier Marie
Published: December 2012

Aretaios of Cappadocia was a Greek physician, generally thought to have lived in the first centuryCE(Oberhelman 1994), although recent research (Nutton 2002, 2004: 205–6) suggests that he lived slightly earlier than Galen (ca. second centuryCE) or that he was his contemporary.
Aristaios, mathematician
Authors: Bowen Alan C.
Published: December 2012

Aristaios was a amathematician known primarily through the writings of Pappus andHypsikles, if one assumes that they are writing about the same Aristaios.
Aristotle,Meteorology
Authors: Taub Liba
Published: December 2012

Aristotle'sMeteorologyis the earliest extant Greek work on the subject, and is part of a larger project, following on from his studies of natural motion in thePhysics, astronomy inOn the Heavens, and the four elements inGeneration and Corruption.
Aristotle,Physics
Authors: Lang Helen
Published: December 2012

The word “physics” originates from the verb, to produce or to grow. While found in Homer, it appears widely in Presocratic philosophy, particularly Empedocles and Democritus, and also in Plato.
Aristoxenos of Tarentum
Authors: Gibson Sophie
Published: December 2012

Aristoxenos of Tarentum (ca. 370BCE–post‐323) is primarily known as a musical theorist, but he wrote extensively on a wide variety of subjects (453 works according to the Suda).
Astrolabes, Babylonian
Authors: Horowitz Wayne
Published: December 2012

The term “Astrolabe,” as it is used in the context of ancient Mesopotamian astronomy, is a misnomer, having no relation to the antique astronomical instrument of the same name.
Astronomical ceilings,Egypt
Authors: von Lieven Alexandra
Published: December 2012

In ancient Egypt, the architecture of temples tried to imitate the cosmos. Therefore ceilings, as representations of the sky, were often decorated with astronomical depictions.
Astronomy, pre‐Ptolemaic
Authors: Duke Dennis W.
Published: December 2012

Many early cultures observed the variation in celestial phenomena. The entire heavens appear to rotate daily from east to west, with several thousand stars fixed in the same positions relative to each other.
Autolycus of Pitane
Authors: Bowen Alan C.
Published: December 2012

Autolycus of Pitane was a mathematician, author of two treatises in sphaerics,On the Rotating SphereandOn Risings and Settings.
Biton of Pergamon
Authors: Fiorucci Francesco
Published: December 2012

Biton of Pergamon was a Greek author of a treatise on war machines (
Construction of War Engines and Artillery
) dedicated to one “King Attalus.”
Caelius Aurelianus
Authors: Langslow David
Published: December 2012

Caelius Aurelianus was a doctor from Sicca Veneria in Numidia,fl.probably ca. 400CE; the “Latin 'shadow'” of Soranus (Tecusan 2004: 5), “Latin learned medicine at its best”(Nutton 2004: 299), and our most important source on Methodism.
Calendar of lucky and unlucky days
Authors: Kadish Gerald E.
Published: December 2012

This genre of ancient Egyptian texts in the form of calendars is attested from at least as early as the Middle Kingdom (ca. 2100–ca. 1775
BCE
) to the late New Kingdom (1560–1075).
Calendar, Greek
Authors: Hannah Robert
Published: December 2012

In the historical period, all the Greek city‐states based their calendars on the Moon, counting usually twelve months to the year starting from the evening appearance of the new Moon's crescent (AratosPhaen.733–5; Samuel 1972: 57), but adding an extra thirteenth month every two or three years, soas to bring the calendar and its associated religious festivals back into a workable alignment with the Sun and hence the agricultural seasons on which the festivalslargely depended (the names of the months in Greek calendars tend to reflect religious festivals in the respective months).
Canobic Inscription
Authors: Jones Alexander
Published: December 2012

The second century
CE
scientist Ptolemy made many astronomical observations at Alexandria from the mid‐120s through the early 140s, which were part of the basis for his monumental treatise deducing theories of the motions of the heavenly bodies, the
Almagest
.
Censorinus
Authors: Parker Holt
Published: December 2012

Author ofDe Die Natali, perhaps a descendant of L. Marcius Censorinus (cens. 149BCE,DDN17.11). Priscian (fifth–sixth century) called him “most learned in the art of grammar” (Priscian,Institutiones1.16=13.9 ed. H. Keil) and quotes from his bookOn accents(cf. Cassiodorus,Institutiones2.1.1, 2.5.1 and 10, 2.6.1); Sidonius Apollinaris (Carmina14praef. 3) called it a “famous book” (volumen illustre).
Childbirth
Authors: Touwaide Alain
Published: December 2012

As early as Babylon and Assyria, the process of giving birth (which was put under the protection of several divinities) was described with some precision (Stol 2000), contrary to what seems to have happened in Egypt. There, physicians (and women) were anxious to determine as soon as possible the time of birth and if delivery (again, under the protection of divinity) would proceed normally or not. The main concern was to ascertain that pregnant women were healthy enough for a pregnancy and would be so for its whole length. Texts in papyri include formulae for medicines in case the delivery is problematic, as well as for the elimination of the placenta after the delivery (Bardinet 1995: 221–9 and 441–4; Westendorf 1999: 425–39). Although the divinity's action was necessarily positive (complications resulted from women's constitution), parturient women had talismans to protect themselves and their babies from possible accidents (e.g., Bulté 1991).
Clocks
Authors: Hannah Robert
Published: December 2012

A clock is any device for telling or measuring time over the course of the day or night. Two principal types existed in antiquity: the sundial and the water clock.
Comets
Authors: Taub Liba
Published: December 2012

When Octavian arrived in Rome in May 44BCE, to accept Julius Caesar's inheritance and name, some were initially dismissive. The appearance of a comet in July at the games he sponsored in Caesar's honor was interpreted as a sign confirming Caesar's divinity (even his apotheosis as a star) and Octavian's right to succeed his adopted father as emperor. Cicero, our only extant contemporary source, does not mention Octavian's games or the comet, but this may be due to his own denial of comets as portents of future events (Div. 2.60). While comets were often regarded as portents, some ancient philosophers, including Aristotle, explained them as occurring naturally, and in some cases as predictive of particular weather events.
Conflagration
Authors: Salles Ricardo
Published: December 2012

According to the ancient concept of conflagration (in Greek:ekpurosis), the cosmos, or universe, will be totally consumed by fire. This concept often goes along with that of cosmic rebirth or reconstitution: once the fire of the conflagration is exhausted, a new cosmogony begins and gives rise to a new cosmos, identical to the present one. In addition, these two processes are cyclical. The new cosmos will also undergo a conflagration, and will be followed by a new reconstitution and so onad infinitum. According to the latest interpretations, these concepts go back to the presocratic Heraclitus in the late fifth centuryBCEand probably, earlier still, to Anaximander of Miletos in the early 6th century. But it is to the Stoics that we owe the full development of a systematic doctrine.
Conic sections
Authors: Fried Michael N.
Published: December 2012

Although the modern theory of conic sections largely concerns solutions of irreducible second‐order equations, ax2+ by2+ cxy + dx + ey + f = 0, the ancient theory was quite literally about the sections of a cone. Why such curves produced by cutting a cone became a subject for inquiry among the Greeks is not entirely clear. One possibility is that the study of conic sections originated in the investigation of sundials and shadow curves; another is that it arose in the context of more general problem‐solving efforts, particularly those of Menaechmus (ca. 380–320BCE) and Aristaeus (ca. 370–320) connected with doubling the cube. But whatever its exact origin, one can say confidently that the systematic study of conic sections was well underway by the end of the fourth century. Euclid (fl.ca. 300), for example, certainly worked on conics and may have written a treatise on the subject.