Arcadius – Roman Emperor: 383-408 A.D. –
Bronze AE4 12mm (0.99 grams) Thessalonica mint: 383 A.D.
Reference: RIC 62c.3 (IX, Thessalonica)
DNARCADIVSPFAVG – Diademed (pearls), draped and cuirassed bust right.
GLORIAREIPVBLICE Exe: Г/TES – Military Camp gate with two turrets.
A military camp or bivouac is a semi-permanent
facility for the lodging of an
army. Camps are erected
when a military force travels away from a major installation or fort during
training
or
operations
,
and often have the form of large
campsites
.
In the Roman
era the military camp had highly stylized parameters and served an entire
legion
.
Archaeological investigations have revealed many details of these
Roman camps
at sites such as
Vindolanda
(England)
and Raedykes
(Scotland).
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
The
Latin
word
castra , with its
singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings
or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive
position. The word appears in both
Oscan
and
Umbrian
(dialects of
Italic
) as well as in
Latin
. In classical Latin the word castra
always means “great legionary encampment”, both “marching”, “temporary” ones and
the “fortified permanent” ones, while the diminutive form castellum
was used for the smaller forts, which were usually, but not always, occupied by
the auxiliary units and used as logistic bases for the legions, as explained by
Vegetius
.[3]
A generic term is praesidium (“guard post or garrison”). The terms
stratopedon
(“army camp”) and
phrourion
(“fort“)
were used by
Greek language
authors, in order to designate
the Roman castra and the Roman castellum respectively. In
English
, the terms “Roman fortress”, “Roman
fort” and “Roman camp” are commonly used for the castra. However the
scholars’ convention always requires the use of the word “camp”, “marching camp”
and “fortress” as a translation of castra and the use of the word “fort”
as a translation of castellum and this type of convention is usually
followed and found in all the scholarly works.
Flavius
Arcadius (377/378–1 May 408) was
Byzantine Emperor
in the Eastern half of the
Roman
Empire
from 395 until his death.
//
Arcadius was born in
Hispania
,
the elder son of
Theodosius I
and
Aelia Flaccilla
, and brother of
Honorius
, who would become a
Western Roman Emperor
. His father declared him an
Augustus
and co-ruler for the
Eastern half of the Empire
in January, 383. His younger brother was also
declared Augustus in 393, for the Western half.
As emperors, Honorius was under the control of the Romanized
Vandal
magister militum
Flavius
Stilicho
while Arcadius was dominated by one of his ministers,
Rufinus
. Stilicho is alleged by some to have wanted control of both
emperors, and is supposed to have had Rufinus assassinated by Gothic mercenaries
in 395; though definite proof of Stilicho’s involvement in the assassination is
lacking, the intense competition and political jealousies engendered by the two
figures compose the main thread of the first part of Arcadius’ reign. Arcadius’
new advisor, the eunuch
Eutropius
, simply took Rufinus’ place as the power behind the Eastern
imperial throne.
Arcadius was also dominated by his wife
Aelia
Eudoxia
, who convinced her husband to dismiss Eutropius, who was holding the
consulate, at the height of his power, in 399. That same year, on the 13th July,
Arcadius issued an edict ordering that
all remaining non-Christian temples should be immediately demolished
.
Eudoxia’s influence was strongly opposed by
John Chrysostom
, the
Patriarch of Constantinople
, who felt that she had used her family’s wealth
to gain control over the emperor. Eudoxia used her influence to have Chrysostom
deposed in 404, but she died later that year. Eudoxia gave to Arcadius four
children: three daughters,
Pulcheria
,
Arcadia and Marina, and one son, Theodosius, the future Emperor
Theodosius II
.
Arcadius was dominated for the rest of his rule by
Anthemius
, the
Praetorian Prefect
, who made peace with Stilicho in the West. Arcadius
himself was more concerned with appearing to be a pious
Christian
than he was with political or military matters, and he died, only
nominally in control of his empire, in 408.
Character and works
In this reign of a weak emperor dominated by court politics,
a major theme was the ambivalence felt by prominent individuals and the court
parties that formed and regrouped round them towards
barbarians
,
which in Constantinople at this period meant
Goths
. In the
well-documented episode that revolved around
Gainas
, a
number of Gothic foederati stationed in the capital were massacred, the
survivors fleeing under the command of Gainas to
Thrace
, where
they were tracked down by imperial troops and slaughtered and Gainas dispatched.
The episode has been traditionally interpreted as a paroxysm of anti-barbarian
reaction that served to stabilise the East. The main source for the affair is a
mythology à clef by
Synesius
of
Cyrene, Aegyptus sive de providentia, (400)
an Egyptianising allegory that embodies a covert account of the events, the
exact interpretation of which continues to baffle scholars. Synesius’ De
regno, which claims to be addressed to Arcadius himself, contains a tirade
against Goths.
A new
forum
was built in the name of Arcadius, on the seventh hill of
Constantinople, the Xērolophos, in which a
column
was begun to commemorate his ‘victory’ over Gainas (although the
column was only completed after Arcadius’ death by
Theodosius II
).
The
Pentelic marble
portrait head of Arcadius (illustration) was
discovered in Istanbul close to the Forum Tauri, in June 1949, in excavating
foundations for new buildings of the University at
Beyazit
.
The neck was designed to be inserted in a torso, but no statue, base or
inscription was found. The
diadem
is a
fillet with rows of pearls along its edges and a rectangular stone set about
with pearls over the young emperor’s forehead.
|