Archives For history
When Edward Gibbon embarked on his great history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, he began his narrative with the accession of Commodus. Marcus Aurelius, the father of the new emperor, was a man who, in the noblest traditions of the Roman people, had combined the attributes of a warrior, a statesman, and a philosopher; Commodus was none of these.
Rome celebrates its 2,772nd birthday on 21 April which this year coincides with Easter Sunday festivities.
Known as Natale di Roma, the annual birthday celebration is based on the legendary founding of Rome by Romulus in 753 BC.
Ancient Greeks artists could have travelled to China 1,500 years before Marco Polo’s historic trip to the east and helped design the famous Terracotta Army, according to new research.
The startling claim is based on two key pieces of evidence: European DNA discovered at sites in China’s Xinjiang province from the time of the First Emperor in the Third Century BC and the sudden appearance of life-sized statues.
Before this time, depictions of humans in China are thought to have been figurines of up to about 20cm.
Few Romans would have chosen young Julius Caesar (ca 100–44 B.C.) as the man most likely to succeed on a grand scale and dominate their world. But when he led his troops across the Rubicon River in defiance of the Roman Senate, he distinguished himself for the ages and set Rome on a path of transformation from republic to empire.
Caesar made the political prime time at around age 40 by forging the First Triumvirate with Pompey the Great, noted general and statesman, and Marcus Licinius Crassus, one of Rome’s richest men. In 59 B.C., Caesar was elected consul.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/people/reference/julius-caesar/
Myths were very important in the ancient world. The Roman myth of Romulus and Remus is one such example and many believe that it is based on real-life events. Now experts claim that they may have located the over 2,500-year-old ‘tomb’ of Romulus – the legendary founder and king of Rome. They theorize that this sarcophagus is located underground in the heart of the city. The tomb was a symbol of the founder of the city on the Tiber and will not contain any remains which would prove his historical existence.
https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/romulus-tomb-0011485
A new theory suggests he was only paralyzed when he was declared dead, but it’s impossible to prove he had Guillain-Barré Syndrome with the existing facts
Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/was-alexander-great-pronounced-dead-prematurely-180971419/#MojtiqCYrEULESBu.99
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Septimius Severus was born on 11 April 145 or 146 CE in Leptis Magna (present Libya) as Lucius Septimius Severus (Lucius Septimius Severus). It ruled from the year 193 to 211 CE. He won the civil war that broke out after the death of Commodus and stabilized the situation in the state. He started a new Severan dynasty.
https://www.imperiumromanum.edu.pl/en/biographies-of-romans/septimius-severus/
Hannibal and his staff at the battle of Zama – art by Giuseppe Rava
The Carthaginian army has a mix of all kinds of troops, because of his high proportion of, Spanish and African allies.
The Carthaginians relied heavily on mercenaries. Polybius (6.52.4) believed the Roman army was superior to the Carthaginian because Rome fielded armies of citizens while Carthage employed foreign mercenaries. The most famous mercenaries employed by the Carthaginians were the Numidian horsemen. Equipped with light leather shields (Sall. Iug. 94.1), they would sometimes fight from two horses, to prolong the stamina of their mounts (Livy 23.29.5). However, in its earlier wars with the Greeks, Carthage relied also on its own citizen forces. Plutarch (Tim. 27-9) notes that at the battle of the River Crimisus in 341, the 10,000 Carthaginian hoplites were equipped with iron cuirasses, bronze helmets and large whiteshields, and were drawn up as a phalanx…
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Acerbity [əˈsɜːbɪtɪ] 