bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lixus
Authors: Gascó Carmen Aranegui
Published: December 2012

Founded in the eighth century
BCE
, Lixus (modern Larache, Morocco) was the main Phoenician town on the Atlantic coast of North Africa. Over time, it had Punic, Mauretanian, and Roman cultural phases. Along with nearby Cadix (Strabo 17.3.2), it controlled traffic through the Straits of Gibraltar (
Herakleous Stelai
).
Pompeii, destruction of
Authors: Scarpati Claudio , Perrotta Annamaria
Published: December 2012

The city of Pompeii was destroyed and many of its inhabitants were killed during the catastrophic eruption of Vesuvius in 79
CE
.
Visigoths
Authors: Wood Jamie
Published: December 2012

The Visigoths were one of two branches of a Germanic tribe known to our sources as the Goths, the other being the Ostrogoths.
Rubicon
Authors: Hunt Patrick
Published: December 2012

In the first century
BCE
the Rubicon River marked the frontier boundary between Roman Italia and the province of Gallia Cisalpina, now on the Adriatic coast, where this narrow and short (ca. 27 km long) watercourse flowed into the sea from the Apennine foothills north of modern Rimini, ancient Roman Ariminium (Talbert 2000: 1, 589, 591).
Rome, city of: 4. Julio‐Claudian
Authors: Conlin Diane Atnally
Published: December 2012

Augustus (27–14) marked a period of relative peace and internal stability, and a long reign permitted the firstprincepsto construct a comprehensive program of public images and buildings in the capital, to introduce and reinforce his social policies, military ambitions, and political agendas.
Achilles
Authors: Mili Maria
Published: December 2012

Achilles, son of Thetis and Peleus, was the mightiest hero of the TrojanWar. His kingdom included Phthia, Hellas, and Pelasgian Argos in Thessaly, and he ruled over the Myrmidons, Hellenes, and Achaians.
Aedituus
Authors: Holland Lora L.
Published: December 2012

Anaedituus(older formaeditumnus, alsoaeditimus) is an official caretaker for a building (aedes) that houses a deity, that is, anaedes sacraor temple.
Afterlife, Greece and Rome
Authors: King Charles W.
Published: December 2012

Greek and Roman religion presented numerous afterlife scenarios. Some focused on models of where the dead dwelled and on the processes (like posthumous judgment) that could affect them.
Ahura Mazda
Authors: De Jong Albert
Published: December 2012

Ahura Mazda was the main deity of the Zoroastrian pantheon. Ahura Mazda (“the Wise Lord”) is first attested in the Gathas of Zarathushtra, the oldest Iranian texts in existence. The Gathas are dedicated wholly to him, for they praise him above all other spiritual beings. He is eternal and uncreated, the creator of everything and the maintainer of cosmic harmony. He is wholly good, and all evil is attributed to his opponent, Angra Mainyu. Although the two parts of his name are flexible in the Old Avestan texts, his name became fixed in the Younger Avesta. It occurs as a single name in the Old Persian inscriptions, which mention him frequently, as creator of heaven and earth, maintainer of truth, and protector of the Achaemenid king.
Amazons
Authors: Mayor Adrienne
Published: December 2012

Legendary enemies of the Greeks, Amazons were fierce archer‐horsewomen who gloried in war, hunting, and sex. From their supposed homeland on the Black Sea, they were thought to occupy the fringes of the “civilized” world (Scythia and Libya). As described by Homer, Herodotus, Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, Plutarch, Pausanias, Appian, and others, the Amazon lifestyle was a reverse image of Greek maledominated society. In folk etymology,a‐mazonwas said to mean “one‐breast,” but “not breastfed” is more likely; the name may also derive from the Iranian word for “warrior.”
Angitia
Authors: Glinister Fay
Published: December 2012

A goddess widely worshipped by the Central Appenine peoples, especially the Marsi, in whose territory she had an impressive sanctuary complex, with sacred grove, at Luco dei Marsi beside the Fucine Lake (Verg.Aen. 7.759;CILIX 3074;ILLRP7, a dedication of booty).
Arval Brothers
Authors: Mueller Hans‐Friedrich
Published: December 2012

Without inscriptions, we would know little about the twelve priests called Fratres Arvales (“brothers of the farmfields”) and their ceremonies in the grove of the obscure goddess Dea Dia, whose sanctuary included a temple, a Caesareum, altars, and a circus (race track).
Astra(m)psychus
Authors: Klingshirn William E.
Published: December 2012

A legendary Persian sage. According to Diogenes Laertius (1.2), Astrampsychus (“starsoul” in Greek) followed Ostanes as a successor of Zoroaster.
Asylia
Authors: Scott Michael C.
Published: December 2012

Literally translatable as “notsylia” (the privative alpha),asyliais the term used to convey the right to freedom from the threat of seizure of people or goods in payment for previous wrongs (sylia).
Augures, augury, auspices
Authors: Vaahtera Jyri
Published: December 2012

The augurs (augures) formed one of the four major priestly colleges (quattuor amplissima collegia) in Rome.
Bellona
Authors: Holland Lora L.
Published: December 2012

Bellona, or Duellona, is the Roman goddess of war. Her name comes from the Latin word for “war,”bellum(archaicduellum).
Cereres
Authors: Bessi Benedetta
Published: December 2012

With few exceptions, generally among Italic peoples, the cult of the Cereres is mainly attested in North Africa, where it was introduced by the Punic general Hamilcon in 396BCEin expiation for his attack on the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore in Syracuse (Diod. Sic. 14.63, 70, 77). After the fall of Carthage, the Numidian kings contributed to the popularity of these divinities across North Africa, and the cult was eventuallyrevived after the foundation of the Roman colony of Carthage with the institution of a priesthood and a local era in their honor.
Ceres
Authors: Spaeth Barbette Stanley
Published: December 2012

The Roman goddess Ceres was in origin an ancient Italic fertility divinity, whose name is derived from an Indo‐European root meaning “to grow.”
Consentes, di consentes
Authors: Mueller Hans‐Friedrich
Published: December 2012

Not even Jupiter could act unilaterally. Although he was free to hurl harmless thunderbolts, before he hurled potentially destructive lightning, he consulted theconsentes dior “agreeing gods,” an advisory council of twelve (six male and six female) gods (Sen.QNat. 2.41).
Cult clothing, Roman
Authors: Stone Shelley C.
Published: December 2012

In general, Roman priests wore the sametoga praetexta(toga with a purple border) as did other public officials in Rome; like other people, they pulled a part of it up over their heads (capite velato) while sacrificing.
Cult image, Roman
Authors: Kiernan Philip
Published: December 2012

The term “cult image” has been applied to virtually all forms of religious or mythological art from the Roman world, including votive offerings and architectural decorations, but most often, as here, it refers to the main representation of a divinity and the principal object of veneration in a Roman temple.
Cult instruments, Roman
Authors: Holland Lora L.
Published: December 2012

The rituals of Roman religion required for their performance an extensive apparatus of cult instruments or implements and ritual paraphernalia, many of which are depicted in Roman art and coinage or described in Latin literature.
Dionysos
Authors: Watson Sarah Burges
Published: December 2012

Rescued from the womb of his mortal mother, the Theban Semele, after her incineration by her lover Zeus' thunderbolt, Dionysos completes his gestation in the thigh of his father.
Epona
Authors: Thornton Daniel James
Published: December 2012

Epona was a Celtic goddess characterized in the Greco‐Roman world by her protection of horses. Her worship was particularly prevalent in the Roman west, where the main centers of her cult were Gaul and the Germanic frontiers. While she initially appears to have been representative of a typical fertility goddess, over time Epona became closely associated with the Roman cavalry. In this way she became continually invoked alongside the ternary Celtic goddesses the Matres, Suleviae, and Campestres, closely connected both to the parade grounds and to the training fields of the cavalry (Irby‐Massie 1996).
Feralia
Authors: King Charles W.
Published: December 2012

Feralia
is another name for the nine‐day Roman
Parentalia
festival in honor of the
manes
(deified dead).
Feriae Latinae
Authors: Smith Christopher J.
Published: December 2012

This festival to Jupiter Latiaris, shared by all the Latins, was probably early in origin, and was celebrated throughout antiquity on the Alban Mount in Latium.
Flaminica
Authors: Salvo Davide
Published: December 2012

In republican Rome
flaminica (Dialis)
was the title given to the wife of the
flamen Dialis,
the priest of Jupiter, whereas in the imperial period it denoted a priestess of imperial cult.
Floralia
Authors: Woodard Roger D.
Published: December 2012

The Floralia are the ancient Roman celebrations observed annually in honor of Flora, an Italian goddess of flowering crops and plants.
Fornacalia
Authors: Smith Christopher J.
Published: December 2012

The key account of this Roman festival, which is concerned with grain (far,specifically spelt) is Ovid,Fasti2.527 (cf. 6.313).
Groves, sacred, Greece and Rome
Authors: Bonnechere Pierre
Published: December 2012

The “sacred grove” (Greekalsos, pluralalse;Latinlucusornemus) is a difficult concept to define. Theoretically, it differs from wild wood, flower and vegetable garden, vineyard, and orchard. Yet the overlap among these concepts is such that precise distinction proves impossible. Since the definitions by late lexicographers rely more on deductive reasoning than on any real knowledge, their statements are inconclusive and sometimes in contradiction to concrete cases. Archaeological evidence has long been disappointing: landscaping has only recently attracted the attention of researchers, but many sanctuaries were excavated long ago. However, recent excavations seem promising.
Hades
Authors: Fabiano Doralice
Published: December 2012

In ancient Greek culture, the name Hades designated both the god who reigned over the dead and his realm. Its etymology is perhaps to be related to the rootid‐“to see”; ancient Greeks understood it to mean “the unseen” (Pl.Cra. 403 a).
Helen
Authors: Vivante Bella
Published: December 2012

Helen of Troy — the most beautiful woman in the world — sparked by her elopement with Paris the ten‐year Trojan War, the defining event in ancient Greek cultural history.
Incubation
Authors: Mylonopoulos Ioannis
Published: December 2012

A visit to an Asklepieion, such as the one near Epidauros, can be best compared to an extended stay in a sanatorium.
Jupiter
Authors: Orlin Eric
Published: December 2012

Jupiter, whose name is etymologically related to “Father Zeus” (Dyeu‐pater), was, like Zeus, a sky god, the controller of lightning, and the supreme god of his pantheon.
Kekrops
Authors: Taylor Martha C.
Published: December 2012

Kekrops, a man above the waist and snake below, was according to tradition one of the early kings of Attica.
Lectisternium
Authors: McDonough Christopher M.
Published: December 2012

The lectisternium was a Roman propitiatory ritual taking the form of a banquet served to the gods, whose statues would be placed in pairs on couches (singular,
pulvinar
).
Lemuria
Authors: King Charles W.
Published: December 2012

On May 9, 11, and 13 Roman worshippers made an offering of beans to placate dead spirits (lemures) who visited their homes at night.
Lupercalia
Authors: Glinister Fay
Published: December 2012

A pastoral festival at Rome (February 15), conducted by the
flamen Dialis
(Ov.
Fast
. 2.19–36, 2.267–452; Dion. Hal.
Ant. Rom
. 1.79.78, 1.80.1; Plut.
Rom
. 21.3–8,
Quaest. Rom
. 68, 111; Serv.
Aen
. 8.343).
Magic, Greece and Rome
Authors: Pollard Elizabeth Ann
Published: December 2012

Greek and Latin language possessed a wide‐ranging vocabulary to articulate the practice of magic and those who performed it.
Malachbel
Authors: Dirven Lucinda
Published: December 2012

Malachbel was a god of Palmyra, the caravan city in the Syrian Desert, whose cult is attested throughout the Roman Empire during the first three centuriesCE.
Mercurius
Authors: Scopacasa Rafael
Published: December 2012

Mercurius was the Italian god associated with commerce, his name probably deriving from the Latin word for merchandise (merx).
Mother goddesses
Authors: Roller Lynn E.
Published: December 2012

Several deities were celebrated for their role in divine procreation. The Greeks honored Ge, the Earth, as the mother of all life on earth and sea and sky (Hom. Hymn30), and Rhea, wife of Kronos, as the mother of six Olympian gods (Hom.Il. 15.187; Hes.Theog. 453–8).
Muses
Authors: Smith Amy C.
Published: December 2012

The Muses are goddesses and teachers of divine wisdom evoked in dance, music, and poetry. Late sources suggest that they invented the alphabet (Diod. Sic. 7.74.1) and the arts and sciences (
Anth. Lat
. 1.1.88; 1.2.664).
Orgeones
Authors: Taylor Martha C.
Published: December 2012

Orgeones were individuals privately organized into a hereditary club for the performance of the rites (orgia) of a particular hero or god whose shrine they probably owned.
Palladion, Palladium
Authors: Hartmann Andreas
Published: December 2012

A small statue of Athena standing and brandishing a spear, a type that is attested from the seventh century
BCE
onwards (Marinatos 2001).
Pandrosos
Authors: Stehle Eva
Published: December 2012

One of three daughters of Kekrops, a mythical king of Athens, and his wife Aglauros/Agraulos; the others were Aglauros and Herse (who had no cult).
Pantheon, Rome
Authors: Swetnam‐Burland Maria
Published: December 2012

The Pantheon (Greek:
pantheon
; Latin:
pantheum
) is the best preserved ancient edifice in Rome.
Pontifex, pontifices
Authors: Johnson Michael
Published: December 2012

The pontiffs (
pontifices
; sg.
pontifex
; etymology disputed) were priests of the Roman state religion who held office for life and formed, with the flamens, king of rites (Rex Sacrorum), lesser pontiffs (
pontifices minores
), and Vestal Virgins, the
collegium pontificum
, one of the four major priestly colleges.
Priests and priestesses, Greek
Authors: Hitch Sarah
Published: December 2012

“Priest” and “priestess” are the commonly used designations for individuals responsible for maintaining sanctuaries and officiating at public sacrifices in the Greek world, although the Christian implications of these terms belie the very different identities and roles of these cult officials in ancient Greek communities (Henrichs 2008).
Processions, Roman
Authors: Hahn Frances Hickson
Published: December 2012

Processions were an essential component of Roman religious ritual.
Prometheus and Prometheia
Authors: Hitch Sarah
Published: December 2012

Prometheus is first attested in Hesiod'sTheogony(ca. 700BCE), the wily son of Iapetos and Klymene, the second generation of Titans.
Pythia
Authors: Kindt Julia
Published: December 2012

The title of the priestess of Apollo at the Oracle of Delphi.
River deities
Authors: Mylonopoulos Ioannis
Published: December 2012

Religion in ancient Greece was undeniably shaped by nature and the interaction between man and landscape.
Ruler cult, Roman
Authors: Husser Zehavi
Published: December 2012

The term “Roman ruler cult” has come to designate the various manifestations over multiple centuries in disparate contexts (both public and private) of the worship of the Roman emperor, as well as his predecessors and members of his family.
Salii
Authors: Woodard Roger D.
Published: December 2012

The Salii constitute a body (sodality) of ancient Roman priests with martial affiliations. They are perhaps best known for their ritual performances extending throughout March, the month of the war god Mars.
Saturnus and Saturnalia
Authors: Thornton Daniel James
Published: December 2012

In Roman religion, Saturnus was a god of agriculture associated with the Greek god Kronos; his festival, the Saturnalia, was celebrated in the Roman calendar (seeCalendar, Roman) between December 17 and 23, during the winter solstice.
Septemviri epulones
Authors: Várhelyi Zsuzsanna
Published: December 2012

This priestly college, literally, “seven men for sacrificial banquets,” was established by plebiscite (
see
Plebiscitum) at the instigation of the tribune C. Licinius Lucullus in Rome in 196
BCE
(Livy 33.42.1), and one ofits first three members was Licinius himself.
Silvanus
Authors: Deszpa Mihaly Lorand
Published: December 2012

Silvanus was a Roman deity associated with the liminal, the indigenous, and the primal, whose meaning was shaped by contrasts between nature/wilderness/culture and disorder/order.
Sun gods, Greece and Rome
Authors: Hijmans Steven E.
Published: December 2012

The sun (Helios in Greek, Sol in Latin) was a minor god in Greek and Roman religion, but nonetheless firmly rooted in both cultures.
Superstition
Authors: Rives James B.
Published: December 2012

In the context of Greco‐Roman antiquity, the notion of “superstition” (from Latinsuperstitio) covers religious practices and beliefs that the social and cultural elite regarded as inappropriate or socially subversive. Given the absence of any clearly defined and universally acknowledged standard of correct practice and belief, the range of behaviors that could be characterized as “superstition” varied considerably.
Tellus
Authors: Mueller Hans‐Friedrich
Published: December 2012

Tellus, the Roman goddess also known under Greek influence as Terra Mater (“Mother Earth”; Varro
Rust
. 1.1.5), may be approached through Roman history and cult practice.
Witch
Authors: Stratton Kimberly B.
Published: December 2012

The English term “witch,” for which there are a variety of equivalents in ancient languages, although none of them exact, refers to a practitioner of magic arts, usually female.
Africa Proconsularis
Authors: Cordovana Orietta Dora
Published: December 2012

Following the destruction of Carthage in 146
BCE
, the Romans created the first nucleus of a directly administered province in North Africa, i.e., the province of
Africa
, making Utica its capital.
Agriculture, Roman Empire
Authors: Kron Geof
Published: December 2012

At the height of its development, the Roman Empire enjoyed an agricultural regime as intensive and diversified as any preindustrial society. The existence of broad and affluent urban markets for a wide range of non‐staple foods, a superb transport infrastructure, security of trade, and ease of maritime transport stimulated impressive levels of agricultural production throughout the empire and beyond.
Architecture, civic, Roman Empire
Authors: Newsome David J.
Published: December 2012

Over the last two decades, studies of Roman architecture in the imperial period have been influenced by theories of visual communication and the extent to which architectural developments mirror the society that produced particular buildings, precincts, or urban forms.
Augusta Praetoria (Aosta)
Authors: Baroni Anselmo
Published: December 2012

Augusta Praetoria (modern Aosta) was founded in 25
BCE
in the middle of a plain “cleaned up” of the Alpine tribe of the Salassi, after a campaign led by Aulus Terentius Varro Murena.
Cogidubnus
Authors: Platts Hannah
Published: December 2012

Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus (“Cogidubnus,” “Cogidumnus,” or “Togidubnus”) was client king of the British Atrebates ca. 43–75CE, from Claudius to Vespasian.
Germania (Superior and Inferior)
Authors: Matijević Krešimir
Published: December 2012

Germania Superior and Germania Inferior (Upper and Lower Germany) were Roman provinces, founded under Domitian (81–96CE) and abandoned due to the Germanic raids in the fifth century.
Imperialism in the Roman Empire (west)
Authors: Wesch‐Klein Gabriele
Published: December 2012

Throughout its history, Rome was concerned to expand the territory it controlled, and its political and economic sphereof influence.
Lykaonia
Authors: Elton Hugh
Published: December 2012

Lykaonia was a region of central Asia Minor, at the southern end of the Konya Plain north of the Taurus Mountains.
Lydia
Authors: Foss Clive
Published: December 2012

Lydia, an inland region of western Asia Minor centered on the Hermos Valley, was populated by people who spoke an Indo‐European language and were also called Maeonians (HomerIl. 3.401, 18.291).
Opramoas
Authors: Kokkinia Christina
Published: December 2012

Opramoas was a Lycian magnate and civic benefactor (second century
CE
) known through extensive inscriptions on the walls of his mausoleum at Rhodiapolis (
TAM
II 905; Kokkinia 2000).
Pannonia
Authors: Strobel Karl
Published: December 2012

Pannonia was a Roman province between Noricum, Dalmatia, and Moesia Superior, with the Danube at its northern and eastern border.
Phrygia
Authors: Long Leah E.
Published: December 2012

Phrygia was the loosely defined geographical area located in the arid but fertile steppe of the western Anatolian Plateau.
Pisidia
Authors: Mitchell Stephen
Published: December 2012

Pisidia was a region of Asia Minor, divided by the Kestros, Eurymedon, and Melas rivers, that extended from the lake district of Burdur and Eğridir to the southern edge of the Taurus mountains above Pamphylia.
Roman Empire, regional cultures
Authors: Rothe Ursula
Published: December 2012

As soon as Rome expanded beyond its city territory, it became a regional empire.
Sicily
Authors: Zambon Efrem
Published: December 2012

According to Thucydides, Sicily was first occupied by the Sicanians, after whom the island was called Sicania. The Elymians of western Sicily are said to be Trojan fugitives that settled in Entella, Segesta, and Eryx; later, the Siculians crossed from Italy, defeated the Sicanians and pushed them to the west.
Stock rearing, Roman Empire
Authors: King Anthony
Published: December 2012

Flocks and herds are frequently mentioned in the Classical sources as an instrument of fertilization.
Syria (Roman and Byzantine)
Authors: Collar Anna
Published: December 2012

Syria is bordered by the Mediterranean to the west and the Euphrates and the Arabian desert to the east, comprising many different landscapes: mountain, desert, coast, and river valley.
Warfare, Roman
Authors: Levithan Josh
Published: December 2012

Roman warfare took many forms, ranging from low‐intensity border skirmishes to major campaigns, intended either to conquer new territory, to re‐conquer areas in revolt, or to assert Roman power over its neighbors.
Philostrati
Authors: Hodkinson Owen
Published: December 2012

The family of sophists named Philostratus (second to third centuries
CE
) contributed the most significant literary output of their time: one of their number defined the era, coining the label “Second Sophistic” (for a literary movement:
VS
481;
see
Sophists, Roman Empire).
Boudica
Authors: Nice Alex
Published: December 2012

Boudica (ca. 15–61
CE
; see Jackson 1979) was queen of the Iceni, a tribe in East Anglia.
Caecina Severus, Aulus
Authors: Evans Richard
Published: December 2012

Portrayed as a blunt military man attached to old‐fashioned virtues, Caecina Severus (Cass. Dio 55–6; Suet.
Tib
. 16.1; Tac.
Ann
. 1.37, 64, 3.33; Velleius 2.109) proposed unsuccessfully that provincial governors ought not to be accompanied by their wives when on overseas appointments.
Centuria
Authors: Sage Michael
Published: December 2012

Thecenturia, or century, signifies a quantity of one hundred and could be applied to animate and inanimate objects. At Rome, its significance was both political and military.
Claudius II (Marcus Aurelius Claudius Augustus)
Authors: Davis Raymond
Published: December 2012

Born May 10, perhaps in 214, in one of the Danubian provinces (theHistoria Augustaclaims Dalmatia or Dardania), Claudius II (PLREI 209;PIR2A 1626;RE82) was Roman emperor from (September?) 268 until his death in (August?) 270, and most noteworthy for virtually concluding the campaign against the invading Goths, thereby removing for many decades any serious threat they posed to Roman security.
Damnatio memoriae
Authors: Varner Eric
Published: December 2012

Damnatio memoriae, literally the condemnation of memory, is a term coined in the early modern period to denote a wide array of injunctions leveled against individuals accused of treason (maiestas) or as enemies of the Roman state (hostes).
Didius Severus Iulianus Augustus, Marcus
Authors: S. Lusnia Susann
Published: December 2012

Marcus Didius Severus Iulianus (PIR2D 77) became emperor following the murder of Pertinax on March 28, 193CEby the praetorian guard (Cass. Dio 74(73).8–10; Herodian 2.5;Hist. Aug. Pert. 10–11;seePraetorian Cohorts). The same praetorians declared Didius Iulianus emperor when he offered them a higher donative than Sulpicianus, the city prefect and father‐in‐law of Pertinax. Both Cassius Dio (74(73).11) and Herodian (2.6) portray the men as bartering with the soldiers in the praetorian camp for control of the empire, while theHistoria Augustabiographer gives a more neutral account (Hist. Aug.Did.Iul. 2.6–3.3). The choice of Iulianus as a successor to Pertinax may not have been haphazard. The later Latin writers – Victor (Aur. Vict.Caes. 18), Eutropius (8.16), and theHistoria Augustabiographer (Did.Iul. 3.7) – all state or, in the case of theHistoria Augusta, hint that Iulianus was involved in a plot to remove Pertinax, a possibility explored in recent scholarship (Appelbaum 2007). Iulianus called upon Cornelius Repentinus, his son‐in‐law, to replace Sulpicianus as city prefect (Hist. Aug. Did.Iul. 3.6). Iulianus may have been a distant relative of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, and he benefited from the patronage of Domitia Lucilla in his early career (Hist. Aug.Did.Iul. 1.3–4; Chausson 2000: 850). The career of Iulianus prior to becoming emperor is recounted in theHistoria Augustabiography (Did.Iul. 1.1–2.3). Epigraphic evidence (CILVI 1401, VIII 24094) generally supports and elaborates upon this account.
Elagabalus (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus)
Authors: Gorrie Charmaine L.
Published: December 2012

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus (203/4–222CE), known as Elagabalus, became emperor when he was barely fourteen years old and ruled from 218 to 222. His reign is noted for his eccentric behavior and his attempts, as a hereditary priest, to promote the worship of the god Elagabalus from Emesa in Syria.
Hannibal
Authors: Hoyos Dexter
Published: December 2012

Eldest son of Hamilcar Barca (seePunic Wars), and in Spain with his father from 237BCE, Hannibal (247–183) held military commands from youth, revealing both ability and charisma. He himself became general and leader of Carthage and Punic Spain in 221.
Lancearii
Authors: Whately Conor
Published: December 2012

Thelancearii/lanciariiwere initially legionaries equipped withlanceae, “spears/lances” (singularlancea), who later formed part of the imperialComitatenses.
Licinius (Valerius Licinianus Licinius Augustus)
Authors: Davis Raymond
Published: December 2012

The reputation of Licinius (
PLRE
1.509;
RE
31a), the emperor whom Constantine I defeated to achieve sole rule over the Roman Empire, was totally undermined by the victor's propaganda.
Licinius Sura, Lucius
Authors: Gallia Andrew B.
Published: December 2012

Sura (40?–108?
CE
) was one of the most prominent members of the imperial court during the reign of Trajan.
Cavalry, Roman
Authors: Zahariade Mihail
Published: December 2012

Roman cavalry (Latinequitatus Romanus) represented the mounted force of the Roman army from the very early stages of Rome to the end of the Eastern Roman Empire. Over the centuries, it went through different phases of organization, from an auxiliary and less important corps, whose purpose was to defend the wings of the infantry battle front, to large mobile regiments which could strike decisively to protect parts of the empire that were threatened.
Military decorations, Roman
Authors: Maxfield Valerie
Published: December 2012

One of the reasons for Rome's ongoing military success was the care taken to reward conspicuous bravery in the field; a significant element of this was the awarding of military decorations.
Onasander
Authors: Smith Christopher J.
Published: December 2012

Onasander is known for a military treatise entitled
Strategikos
(loosely, “How to be a General”), dedicated to Q. Veranius, consul of 49
CE
, and therefore to be dated before his death in 58/9.
Parthia
Authors: Klein Konstantin M. , Wirtz Philipp
Published: December 2012

Parthia was a region in ancient northeastern Iran.
Petillius Cerialis Caesius Rufus, Quintus
Authors: Curran John
Published: December 2012

Q. Petillius Cerialis Caesius Rufus was a Roman general of the first centuryCE.
Praetorian cohorts
Authors: Ng Michael
Published: December 2012

The Praetorian Guard (
cohortes praetoriae
) remains one of the most well‐known Roman military units, and their habit of creating and breaking emperors remains an enduring and infamous legacy.
Praetorian Prefect
Authors: Ng Michael
Published: December 2012

The Praetorian Prefect was one of the most coveted and highly sought‐after equestrian posts in the Roman imperial period.
Recruiting, military
Authors: Wesch‐Klein Gabriele
Published: December 2012

The reforms of the first emperor Augustus included the creation of a professional army.
Rutilius Gallicus, Gaius
Authors: Coleman Kathleen M.
Published: December 2012

Gaius Rutilius Gallicus (ca. 25–92
CE
) was a distinguished Roman senator from Turin, mentioned in nineteen surviving inscriptions (
PIR
2
R248) and celebrated in a poem by the society poet Statius (
Silvae
1.4;).
Sacramentum
Authors: Phang Sara Elise
Published: December 2012

Thesacramentum militiaewas the military oath sworn by Roman soldiers.
Sieges and siegecraft, Roman
Authors: Hebblewhite M. K.
Published: December 2012

Siege warfare, that is the attempt to occupy a fortified position through blockade or direct assault, was a central element in ancient warfare.
Signifer
Authors: Maxfield Valerie
Published: December 2012

The
signifer
(pl.
signiferi
) carried the
signum
, the standard of the century.
Sosius Senecio, Quintus
Authors: Gallia Andrew B.
Published: December 2012

Senecio (61–115?
CE
) was one of the most prominent figures in Roman political and cultural life during the reign of Trajan.
Tesserarius
Authors: Ng Michael
Published: December 2012

Among the officers in the ranks of the Rome garrison, legionary, and auxiliary units were the
tesserarii
.
Tiberius (Tiberius Caesar Augustus)
Authors: Evans Richard
Published: December 2012

Tiberius, who became the second Romanprinceps, was born on November 16, 42BCE.
Trebonianus Gallus (Gaius Vibius Trebonianus Gallus Augustus)
Authors: Stern Gaius
Published: December 2012

One of the Barracks Emperors, C. Vibius Trebonianus Gallus (r. 251–253
CE
) was chosen by the army to succeed Trajan Decius (249–251).
Tubicen
Authors: Sage Michael
Published: December 2012

The
tubicen
played the Roman trumpet (
tuba
), which essentially was a long, conical, brass pipe with a flared bowl at its end.
Voluntarii
Authors: Eaton Jonathan
Published: December 2012

The term
voluntarii
denotes recruits who had volunteered for Roman military service.
Volusian (Gaius Vibius Afinius Gallus Veldumnianus Volusianus Augustus)
Authors: Davis Raymond
Published: December 2012

Volusian (PIR1V 376), Roman emperor from 251 to 253CE, was the son of the emperor Trebonianus Gallus (Gaius Vibius Trebonianus Gallus Augustus) and of Afinia Gemina Baebiana, perhaps born at Perusia (whence the family hailed) ca. 230.
Zama, battle of
Authors: Hoyos Dexter
Published: December 2012

The last battle in the Second Punic War (
see
Punic Wars) was fought in North Africa in autumn 202
BCE
, perhaps on October 19, between Hannibal and the invading Romans under Publius Scipio (afterward nicknamed Africanus;
see
Scipio Africanus (Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus).
Hostilian (Valens Hostilianus Messius Quintus, Gaius)
Authors: Davis Raymond
Published: December 2012

Hostilian (PIR1V 8), Roman emperor 249/250–251CE, perhaps born ca. 230–5, was the younger son of the emperor Trajan Decius (Gaius Messius Quintus Traianus Decius Augustus) and Herennia Cupressenia Etruscilla.
Flavius Valerius Severus Augustus
Authors: Davis Raymond
Published: December 2012

Born in Illyricum, perhaps ca. 260–265CE, Severus (Caesar 305–306, Augustus 306–307;RE15;PLRE1.837–8) rose from a humble background to be a successful military commander, and though reputedly a heavy drinker and violent, he became the trusted friend – or perhaps tool – of the Caesar Galerius, whose Praetorian Prefect he may have been. At Galerius' insistence, and evidently with Diocletian's consent, Maximian, on abdicating at Milan on May 1, 305, proclaimed him as Caesar rather than his own son Maxentius. On the same day, at Nicomedia, Diocletian abdicated and proclaimed Galerius' nephew Maximinus Daia as Caesar.
Artillery
Authors: Hebblewhite M. K.
Published: December 2012

Ancient mechanized military equipment designed to shoot projectiles, usually bolts or stones, at a velocity and over a distance a soldier could not have manually achieved, is categorized using the modern term “artillery” (Marsden 1969: 1–2). Artillery was used in siege warfare, field operations, and naval warfare. There were two broad types of artillery in the ancient world. “Tension artillery” derived its propulsive power from a bow‐shaped composite structure. “Torsion artillery” relied on the propulsive power of torsion springs fashioned from hair or sinew.
Valentinian
I
Authors: Nakamura Byron J.
Published: December 2012

The emperor Valentinian (364–375
CE
), born in Pannonia in 321, was an able ruler well suited to the age.
Valentinian II
Authors: Nakamura Byron J.
Published: December 2012

Valentinian II's rule (375–392
CE
), though unremarkable and unfortunate, highlights certain important trends pervading the Late Roman Empire, namely the growing political weakness of the west, and the increasing influence of German generals, and Nicene bishops serving in the imperial court.
Arcadius
Authors: Nakamura Byron J.
Published: December 2012

Flavius Arcadius ruled as eastern Roman emperor from 395 to 408CE. Born in 377/8, he was the son of Theodosius I and was earmarked, along with his brother Honorius, to rule a Roman Empire formally divided between them. When Theodosius died in 395, the eighteen‐year‐old emperor assumed the throne of east Rome, ruling from Constantinople. From an early age, Arcadius had been subject to the machinations of powerful members of his court. A student of the philosopher Themistius, Arcadius found little opportunity to utilize his education as emperor.
Helena
Authors: Drake H. A.
Published: December 2012

Wife of one emperor (Constantius I) and mother of another (Constantine I), Helena (ca. 260–330) became a saint by virtue of a Pilgrimage to Palestine that she undertook in the wake of tragedy – the twin executions of Constantine's eldest son and wife in 326.
Aborigines
Authors: Russo Federico
Published: December 2012

Ancient tradition considered the Aborigines to be one of the most ancient populations of Italy, associated particularly with Latium (Livy 1.1.5; Dion. Hal.
Ant. Rom
. 1.10; Strabo 5.3.29; Plin.
HN
3.9.56).
Architecture, Roman Republic
Authors: Cifani Gabriele
Published: December 2012

The architecture of the Roman Republic encompasses almost six centuries of building practice and can be divided into three phases.
Building materials and techniques, Greek and Roman
Authors: Dodge Hazel
Published: December 2012

Greek and Roman building practice was everywhere based on locally available materials.
Marcellus, Marcus Claudius (consul 222BCE)
Authors: Beck Hans
Published: December 2012

Marcus Claudius Marcellus was one of Rome's most celebrated generals in the era of the Punic Wars and, apart from Q. Fabius Maximus, the only five‐time consul in the Middle Republic (222, 215, 214, 210, 208BCE).
Coinage, Roman Republic
Authors: Hollander David B.
Published: December 2012

The coinage of the Roman Republic provides crucial evidence for economic conditions, as well as political and cultural developments, in an empire that came to encompass the entire Mediterranean basin in the last three centuriesBCE. Though scholars have challenged or modified some of his conclusions, Michael Crawford'sRoman Republican Coinage(1974), featuring a catalogue of all known Roman issues down to 31BCE, remains the fundamental resource for the study of republican numismatics.
Contio
Authors: Tracy Catherine
Published: December 2012

Contio(pluralcontiones) was an officially convened public meeting without voting power. By association, the word also referred to the speeches delivered at such meetings. The word was originallyconventio(fromcum+venire; spelledcoventioin thesenatus consultum de Bacchanalibusfrom 186BCE) and meant “coming together” or assembly. The common Greek translation was, confusingly,ekklesia, which was also used to translatecomitia; the clearest English translation is “public meeting” (so that “assembly” can be used to translatecomitiaandconcilium).
Scipio Aemilianus (Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Numantinus)
Authors: Stevenson Tom
Published: December 2012

Scipio Aemilianus (ca. 185–129
BCE
), also called Africanus the Younger, was the second of four sons born to Lucius Aemilius Paullus (cos. 182, 168), the conqueror of Macedon in the Third Macedonian War (171–168).
Cursus honorum, Roman
Authors: Beck Hans
Published: December 2012

Cursus honorum(“career path,” earliest testimonies in Cicero) refers to the order in which Roman politicians were expected to rise through the ranks of public offices (honores). More generally, the term became synonymous with the hierarchy of magistracies at Rome. Although it was praised as a normative force of politics and society by late republican authors, thecursus honorumwas never static. Its evolution is marked by a series of laws on: (1) age requirements; (2) intervals between magistracies; (3) iterations of office; and (4) sequences of certain offices. Thecursuswas a patchwork of rules, requirements, and restrictions. The steady increase in offices, with or withoutimperiumand extraordinary commands, added to the flexible nature of the system.
Decii
Authors: Armstrong Jeremy
Published: December 2012

The Decii were a plebeian clan in Rome. Possibly originating in Campania, the family was evidently influential in Rome from at least the beginning of the republic, as members of the Decii acted as envoys between the Plebeians and the Senate in 493
BCE
(Dion. Hal.
Ant
.
Rom
. 6.88) and one served as Tribune of the Plebs in 491 (Dion. Hal.
Ant
.
Rom
. 6.33).
Demaratus of Corinth
Authors: Roth‐Murray Carrie
Published: December 2012

The accounts of Demaratus state that he was a merchant, and a member of the Bacchiad family of Corinth. When the tyrant Kypselos took control of Corinth around 657
BCE
, Demaratus fled to the important Etruscan city of Tarquinia. He took with him three craftsmen named Eucheir, Diopus, and Eugrammus. Demaratus married an Etruscan noblewoman and had two sons, Arruns and Lucomo. Both sons married Etruscan noblewomen, but Arruns predeceased his father. Not realizing that Arruns' wife was pregnant, at the time of his own death a few days later Demaratus left his fortune to Lucomo. Lucomo and his wife, Tanaquil, later moved to Rome, where he became the fifth king of Rome, ca. 616, known as Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, thereby founding the Tarquin Dynasty.
Epigraphy, Latin
Authors: Saastamoinen Ari
Published: December 2012

Inscriptions (i.e., texts that are carved or, in some special cases, painted on stone or on some other hard, durable, inorganic material) are a vast source material that complements in a very important manner the information obtained from other sources. The discipline that studies inscriptions written in Latin is called Latin epigraphy (from the Greek wordepigraphein“to write on/over”) and its principal task is to collect and edit all ancient Latin inscriptions. Inscriptional source material poses problems that are partly common with other sources (representativity), and partly unique (stereotypicality).
Fabii, family of
Authors: Farney Gary D.
Published: December 2012

A Roman patrician, senatorialGens, powerful from the Early Republic to the Early Empire, the Fabii could boast of many consuls, dictators, censors, andtriumphatores. One of the first voting tribes, thetribus Fabia, bore their name. Rome's first native historian was a Fabius, who may be responsible for our knowledge of some of the family's arcana and early history.
Faliscans
Authors: Winkle Christian
Published: December 2012

The area populated by the Faliscans (ager faliscus) is located in modern‐day Lazio and was delimited by the Tiber in the east, by lake Bracciano and the Monti Sabatini in the southwest, and by the Monti Cimini in the northwest (Potter 1976: 6). In the north, the border of the territory ran presumably from Lake Vico in the west, across Vignanello up to the Tiber in the east, nearby Otricoli. In the southeast, theager faliscusincluded Mount Soracte (Soratte, Plin.HN7.2.19) and bordered on the area of Capena. Therefore, the territory of the Faliscans bordered in the north, the west, and the south on the territories of the Etruscans and in the northeast on that of the Sabines.
Interrex
Authors: Swithinbank Hannah J.
Published: December 2012

The Romaninterrexwas an interim official who acted as the head of state for up to five days, with the particular responsibility of overseeing the reinstatement of the traditional order at Rome.
Italy, southern
Authors: Owens E. J.
Published: December 2012

Southern Italy, together with Sicily, forms a bridge between Europe and Africa, and also links the eastern Mediterranean with the western Mediterranean.
Licinius Crassus Dives Mucianus, Publius
Authors: Stern Gaius
Published: December 2012

Jurist, statesman, consul 131
BCE
and
Pontifex Maximus
131–130, the natural son of P.
Quaestor
Authors: Covino Ralph
Published: December 2012

The quaestors were junior, annually elected magistrates of the Roman state. Their primary duties were financial, though these could come in many forms depending on the specific assignment.
Sabines and Samnites
Authors: Van Dusen Rachel
Published: December 2012

The Sabines and Samnites were pre‐Roman Osco‐Sabellian peoples, who inhabited the central Apennines of Italy. According to ancient tradition, the Samnites, along with other Osco‐Sabellians, descended from the Sabines, who originated from a mythic city known asTestruna.
Gracchus, Tiberius and Gaius Sempronius
Authors: Clark Anna J.
Published: December 2012

Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (163–133BCE) and his brother Gaius (ca. 154–121) came from a prominent plebeian family.
Terentia
Authors: Grebe Sabine
Published: December 2012

Terentia (ca. 98BCE–5CE), a distinguished and wealthy woman, was the first wife of the famous orator, M. Tullius Cicero (106–43BCE).
Tribus
Authors: Stewart Roberta
Published: December 2012

Tribe (Latintribus) was a unit organizing Roman citizens according to place of origin, not wealth or bloodline. The history of the tribes documents the development of Roman political practices of inclusion and empire: the transformation of the initial urban settlement into a political community of citizens in the Archaic period, the appropriation of conquered territory for individual (viritane) settlement in newly constituted tribes throughout Italy in the fourth and third centuries, the eventual incorporation of the ethnically diverse peoples of the peninsula as members of Roman tribes in the first centuryBCE, and finally the redefinition of republican political institutions into mechanisms of imperial patronage in the empire. Individual tribes had no rituals, orsacra, that reinforced their particular group identity. The tribe was a political construct that subsumed individuals with diverse associations (familial, sacral, economic) into a group that was itself part of a larger political whole engaged in the activities that defined the state: the counting and military registration of individuals as citizens, or census; the voting in elections and legislation, or assembly; and the summoning to military service, or levy.
Triumph
Authors: Vervaet Frederik J.
Published: December 2012

The Roman triumph was the official victory parade of a Roman general in celebration of resounding military success.
Tullius, Servius
Authors: Glinister Fay
Published: December 2012

By tradition, Servius Tullius was the sixth king of Rome (r. 578–535
BCE
); he was the son‐in‐law and successor of Tarquinius Priscus, in whose household he was raised. His rule was considered benign, with many public works and social reforms attributed to him. He was murdered by Tarquinius Superbus, Rome's last king.
Vercingetorix
Authors: Thorne James
Published: December 2012

Vercingetorix (b. ca. 82–70
BCE
, d. 46
BCE
) was an aristocrat of the Arverni, a people of central Gaul, leader of first localized, then generalized anti‐Roman action in 52
BCE
, and, in Julius Caesar's account, his most formidable opponent in the Gallic War. The name (“High King over the Warriors”) is attested on coinage as Vercingetorixs and Vercingetorixis. Save what we glean from that coinage, almost everything we know about Vercingetorix relies on Caesar (specifically,
B
.
Gall
. 7), an informant whose reliability is notoriously debatable.
Volscians
Authors: Gnade Marijke
Published: December 2012

Anyone studying traditional narratives on early Roman expansion in Italy will be familiar with the reports about the volatile political situations caused by the Volscians, one of the Italic peoples of central Italy.
Walls, city, Roman
Authors: Dey Hendrik W.
Published: December 2012

A number of ancient sources demonstrate that circuit‐walls were inextricably bound up in the complex of ritual that surrounded the founding of a Roman town, much of which seems to have been borrowed from the Etruscans.
Aequi
Authors: Russo Federico
Published: December 2012

The Aequi were an Italian tribe of the Umbro‐Sabellian stock, settled in the Simbruni mountains, in the valleys of the Aniene, Salto, and Imella rivers.
Brundisium
Authors: Čašule Nikola
Published: December 2012

Brundisium (modern Brindisi) was a Messapian harbor town on the Adriatic coast of south Italy, and the terminus of the Via Appia.
Masinissa
Authors: Nice Alex
Published: December 2012

Masinissa, son of the Massylian chieftain, Gaïa, was king of Numidia from 201–148
BCE
.
Flamininus, Titus Quinctius
Authors: Fronda Michael P.
Published: December 2012

Titus Quinctius Flamininus (ca. 228–174BCE), from a patrician family, was a famous Roman general and statesman who played a critical role in shaping Roman foreign policy in the Greek east.
Sortition, Roman
Authors: Stewart Roberta
Published: December 2012

Sortition was the Roman practice of employing lots in order to assign public duties. Evidence for oracularsorteshas been identified at sacred sites associated with a range of deities throughout Italy, but a secular and civic use of sortition is documented only at Rome.
Crassus, Marcus Licinius
Authors: Stone A. M.
Published: December 2012

M. Licinius Crassus (115–53
BCE
) was the youngest son of P. Crassus, consul 97, triumphator 93, and censor 89.
Postumius Albinus, Aulus
Authors: Northwood Simon
Published: December 2012

A. Postumius A. f. A. n. Albinus was consul in 151
BCE
and writer of a history of Rome and a poem, both in Greek.
Aetna,poem
Authors: Taub Liba
Published: December 2012

The identity of the author of the Latin poem known as
Aetna
is unknown. In the earliest manuscripts, it is ascribed to Vergil but this is not now accepted.
Alchemy
Authors: Viano Cristina
Published: December 2012

Like astrology, alchemy is a result of the encounter between the Greek and Egyptian cultures that flourished in Alexandria in the beginning of our era.
Analemma
Authors: Hannah Robert
Published: December 2012

The termanalemmais best known from its use by Vitruvius in his description of a method for designing a sundial (De arch. 9.7.1–7).
Antigonos of Nicaea
Authors: Helen Stephan
Published: December 2012

Antigonos of Nicaea (ca. 150CE) wrote an astrological manual whose extant fragments include the most elaborate horoscope preserved from antiquity, that of the emperor Hadrian.
Antyllos
Authors: Petit Caroline
Published: December 2012

Antyllos was a Greek physician of the Roman period. He allegedly belonged to the “pneumatist” medical school.