LUCIUS VERUS 161AD Augusta Traiana Coiled Snake Serpent Roman Coin i40308

Item: i40308

Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Lucius Verus
–
Roman Caesar
: 161-169 A.D. –
Bronze 19mm (4.93 grams) of
Augusta Traiana

in
Thrace

AV. KAI. Λ. AVPHΛΙΟC BHP, Bare head of Lucius Verus
right
AVΓOVCTHC TPAIANHC, Coiled
serpent

right.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

Authenticity.

Serpents figured prominently in archaic Greek myths. According to some
sources,
Ophion (“serpent”, a.k.a. Ophioneus), ruled the world with Eurynome
before the two of them were cast down by Cronus and Rhea. The oracles of the
Ancient Greeks were said to have been the continuation of the tradition begun
with the worship of the Egyptian cobra goddess,
Wadjet.

The
Minoan

Snake
Goddess brandished a serpent in either hand, perhaps evoking her role
as source of wisdom, rather than her role as Mistress of the Animals (Potnia
theron), with a leopard
under each arm. She is a Minoan version
of the Canaanite
fertility goddess
Asherah. It is not by accident that later the infant
Heracles,
a liminal hero on the threshold between the old ways and the new Olympian world,
also brandished the two serpents that “threatened” him in his cradle. Classical
Greeks did not perceive that the threat was merely the threat of wisdom. But the
gesture is the same as that of the Cretan goddess.

Typhon
the enemy of the Olympian gods is described as a vast grisly monster with a
hundred heads and a hundred serpents issuing from his thighs, who was conquered
and cast into Tartarus
by
Zeus,
or confined beneath volcanic regions, where he is the cause of eruptions. Typhon
is thus the chthonic figuration of volcanic forces. Amongst his children by
Echidna are Cerberus
(a monstrous three-headed dog with a
snake for a tail and a serpentine mane), the serpent tailed
Chimaera
, the serpent-like chthonic water beast

Lernaean Hydra and the hundred-headed serpentine dragon
Ladon.
Both the Lernaean Hydra and Ladon were slain by
Heracles.

Python
was the earth-dragon of
Delphi,
she always was represented in the vase-paintings and by sculptors as a serpent.
Pytho was the chthonic enemy of Apollo
, who slew her and remade her former home
his own oracle, the most famous in Classical Greece.

Amphisbaena a Greek word, from amphis, meaning “both ways”, and
bainein, meaning “to go”, also called the “Mother of Ants”, is a mythological,
ant-eating serpent with a head at each end. According to Greek mythology, the
mythological amphisbaena was spawned from the blood that dripped from
Medusa
the Gorgon‘s
head as
Perseus flew over the Libyan Desert with her head in his hand.

Medusa and the other Gorgons were vicious female monsters with sharp fangs
and hair of living, venomous snakes whose origins predate the written myths of
Greece and who were the protectors of the most ancient ritual secrets. The
Gorgons wore a belt of two intertwined serpents in the same configuration of the
caduceus.
The Gorgon was placed at the highest point and central of the relief on the
Parthenon.

Asclepius, the son of Apollo and Koronis, learned the secrets of
keeping death at bay after observing one serpent bringing another (which
Asclepius himself had fatally wounded) healing herbs. To prevent the entire
human race from becoming immortal under Asclepius’s care, Zeus killed him with a
bolt of lightning. Asclepius’ death at the hands of Zeus illustrates man’s
inability to challenge the natural order that separates mortal men from the
gods. In honor of Asclepius, snakes were often used in healing rituals.
Non-poisonous snakes were left to crawl on the floor in dormitories where the
sick and injured slept. In
The Library
,

Apollodorus claimed that
Athena
gave Asclepius a vial of blood from the Gorgons. Gorgon blood had magical
properties: if taken from the left side of the Gorgon, it was a fatal poison;
from the right side, the blood was capable of bringing the dead back to life.
However
Euripides wrote in his tragedy
Ion
that the Athenian queen Creusa had
inherited this vial from her ancestor Erichthonios, who was a snake himself and
receiving the vial from Athena. In this version the blood of Medusa had the
healing power while the lethal poison originated from Medusa’s serpents.

Laocoön
was allegedly a priest of Poseidon
(or of Apollo, by some accounts) at
Troy;
he was famous for warning the Trojans in vain against accepting the Trojan Horse
from the Greeks, and for his subsequent divine execution. Poseidon (some say
Athena),
who was supporting the Greeks, subsequently sent sea-serpents to strangle
Laocoön and his two sons, Antiphantes and Thymbraeus. Another tradition states
that Apollo sent the serpents for an unrelated offense, and only unlucky timing
caused the Trojans to misinterpret them as punishment for striking the Horse.

Olympias, the mother of
Alexander the Great
and a princess of the
primitive land of
Epirus
, had the reputation of a snake-handler,
and it was in serpent form that Zeus was said to have fathered Alexander upon
her; tame snakes were still to be found at Macedonian
Pella
in the 2nd century AD (Lucian,
Alexander the false prophet
) and at
Ostia
a bas-relief shows paired coiled serpents
flanking a dressed altar, symbols or embodiments of the
Lares
of the household, worthy of veneration (Veyne 1987 illus p 211).

Aeetes
, the king of
Colchis
and father of the sorceress Medea
, possessed the

Golden Fleece. He guarded it with a massive serpent that never slept.
Medea, who had fallen in love with Jason
of the
Argonauts,
enchanted it to sleep so Jason could seize the Fleece.

See Lamia (mythology)
.

Stara Zagora is considered one of the oldest settlements in
Bulgaria. It was founded by the
Thracians

under the name Beroe (meaning iron) about
6th
–5th
century BCE, with the
Neolithic

dwellings and the copper mine near the city being the oldest preserved ones in
Europe
. The
area has been a mining region since antiquity.

A city was founded by
Phillip II of Macedon

at 342 BC. Under the
Roman
Empire
, the town was renamed to Ulpia Augusta Traiana in honour of
emperor Trajan
.

Lucius Aurelius Verus (15 December 130 – 169), born as Lucius

Ceionius Commodus, known simply as

Lucius Verus, was

Roman co-emperor

with

Marcus Aurelius

(161–180), from 161 until his death.

//

 Early life and career

Verus was the son of Avidia Plautia and

Lucius Aelius Caesar

, the adopted son, and intended successor, of Emperor

Hadrian

(117–138).

When Aelius Caesar died in 138, Hadrian chose

Antoninus Pius

(138–161) as his successor, on the condition that Antoninus

adopt

both Verus (then seven years old) and

Marcus Aurelius

, Hadrian’s nephew. As an imperial prince, Verus received

careful education from the most famous grammaticus

Marcus Cornelius Fronto

. Verus is reported to have been an excellent

student, fond of writing poetry and delivering speeches.

Verus had two sisters. One sister Ceionia Fabia was engaged to Marcus

Aurelius in 136. However Marcus Aurelius in 138, broke off the engagement to

Fabia. Aurelius was adopted by emperor

Antoninus Pius

’ and was engaged to Antoninus’ daughter

Faustina the Younger

whom he later married. Lucius had another sister

Ceionia Plautia, but little is known about the sisters.

Verus’ political career started as

quaestor
in

153 and then as consul

in 154. In 161, he was once again consul, with Marcus Aurelius as

senior partner.

 Emperor

 Accession

of Lucius and Marcus, 161

Antoninus died on 7 March 161, and was succeeded by Marcus Aurelius. Although

Marcus had no personal affection for Hadrian (significantly, he does not thank

him in the first book of his Meditations), he presumably believed it his

duty to enact the man’s succession plans.

Thus, although the senate planned to confirm Marcus alone, he refused to take

office unless Lucius received equal powers.

The senate accepted, granting Lucius the imperium, the tribunician power,

and the name Augustus.

Marcus became, in official titulature, Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius

Antoninus Augustus; Lucius, forgoing his name Commodus and taking Marcus’ family

name, Verus, became Imperator Caesar Lucius Aurelius Verus Augustus. It was the first time that Rome was ruled by two emperors.

In spite of their nominal equality, Marcus held more

auctoritas
,

or “authority”, than Verus. He had been consul once more than Lucius, he had

shared in Pius’ administration, and he alone was Pontifex Maximus. It

would have been clear to the public which emperor was the more senior.

As the biographer wrote, “Verus obeyed Marcus…as a lieutenant obeys a

proconsul or a governor obeys the emperor.”

Immediately after their senate confirmation, the emperors proceeded to the

Castra Praetoria

, the camp of the

praetorian guard

. Lucius addressed the assembled troops, which then

acclaimed the pair as imperatores. Then, like every new emperor since

Claudius, Lucius promised the troops a special donative.

This donative, however, was twice the size of those past: 20,000

sesterces

(5,000 denarii
)

per capita, more to officers. In return for this bounty, equivalent to several

years’ pay, the troops swore an oath to protect the emperors.

The ceremony was perhaps not entirely necessary, given that Marcus’ accession

had been peaceful and unopposed, but it was good insurance against later

military troubles.

Pius’ funeral ceremonies were, in the words of the biographer, “elaborate”.

If his funeral followed the pattern of past funerals, his body would have been

incinerated on a pyre at the

Campus Martius

, while his spirit would rise to the gods’ home in the

heavens. Marcus and Lucius nominated their father for deification. In contrast

to their behavior during Pius’ campaign to deify Hadrian, the senate did not

oppose the emperors’ wishes. A

flamen
, or

cultic priest, was appointed to minister the cult of the deified Pius, now

Divus Antoninus. Pius’ remains were laid to rest in the Hadrian’s mausoleum,

beside the remains of Marcus’ children and of Hadrian himself.

The temple he had dedicated to his wife, Diva Faustina, became the

Temple of Antoninus and Faustina

. It survives as the church of San Lorenzo

in Miranda.

 Early rule, 161–62

Soon after the emperors’ accession, Marcus’ eleven-year-old daughter, Annia

Lucilla, was betrothed to Lucius (in spite of the fact that he was, formally,

her uncle).

At the ceremonies commemorating the event, new provisions were made for the

support of poor children, along the lines of earlier imperial foundations.

Marcus and Lucius proved popular with the people of Rome, who strongly approved

of their civiliter (“lacking pomp”) behavior. The emperors permitted free

speech, evinced by the fact that the comedy writer Marullus was able to

criticize them without suffering retribution. At any other time, under any other

emperor, he would have been executed. But it was a peaceful time, a forgiving

time. And thus, as the biographer wrote, “No one missed the lenient ways of

Pius.”

Fronto returned to his Roman townhouse at dawn on 28 March, having left his

home in Cirta
as

soon as news of his pupils’ accession reached him. He sent a note to the

imperial freedman Charilas, asking if he could call on the emperors. Fronto

would later explain that he had not dared to write the emperors directly.

The tutor was immensely proud of his students. Reflecting on the speech he had

written on taking his consulship in 143, when he had praised the young Marcus,

Fronto was ebullient: “There was then an outstanding natural ability in you;

there is now perfected excellence. There was then a crop of growing corn; there

is now a ripe, gathered harvest. What I was hoping for then, I have now. The

hope has become a reality.”

Fronto called on Marcus alone; neither thought to invite Lucius.

Lucius was less esteemed by his tutor than his brother, as his interests were

on a lower level. Lucius asked Fronto to adjudicate in a dispute he and his

friend Calpurnius were having on the relative merits of two actors.

Marcus told Fronto of his reading—Coelius

and a little Cicero—and his family. His daughters were in Rome, with their

great-great-aunt Matilda; Marcus thought the evening air of the country was too

cold for them.

The emperors’ early reign proceeded smoothly. Marcus was able to give himself

wholly to philosophy and the pursuit of popular affection.

Some minor troubles cropped up in the spring; there would be more later. In the

spring of 162, the Tiber

flooded over its banks, destroying much of Rome. It drowned many

animals, leaving the city in famine. Marcus and Lucius gave the crisis their

personal attention. In other times of famine, the emperors are said to have provided

for the Italian communities out of the Roman granaries.

 War with

Parthia, 161–66

 Origins to Lucius’ dispatch, 161–62

On his deathbed, Pius spoke of nothing but the state and the foreign kings

who had wronged him.

One of those kings,

Vologases IV of Parthia

, made his move in late summer or early autumn 161.

Vologases entered the

Kingdom of Armenia

(then a Roman client state), expelled its king and

installed his own—Pacorus, an

Arsacid

like himself.

At the time of the invasion, the governor of Syria was L. Attidius Cornelianus.

Attidius had been retained as governor even though his term ended in 161,

presumably to avoid giving the Parthians the chance to wrong-foot his

replacement. The governor of Cappadocia, the front-line in all Armenian

conflicts, was Marcus Sedatius Severianus, a Gaul with much experience in

military matters. But living in the east had a deleterious effect on his

character.

The confidence man

Alexander of Abonutichus

, a prophet who carried a snake named

Glycon
around

with him, had enraptured Severianus, as he had many others.

Father-in-law to the respected senator P. Mummius Sisenna Rutilianus,

then-proconsul of Asia, Abonutichus was friends with many members of the east

Roman elite.

Alexander convinced Severianus that he could defeat the Parthians easily, and

win glory for himself.

Severianus led a legion (perhaps the

IX Hispana

)

into Armenia, but was trapped by the great Parthian general Chosrhoes at Elegia,

a town just beyond the Cappadocian frontiers, high up past the headwaters of the

Euphrates. Severianus made some attempt to fight Chosrhoes, but soon realized

the futility of his campaign, and committed suicide. His legion was massacred.

The campaign had only lasted three days.

There was threat of war on other frontiers as well—in Britain, and in

Raetia
and

Upper Germany

, where the

Chatti
of the

Taunus

mountains had recently crossed over the limes.

Marcus was unprepared. Pius seems to have given him no military experience; the

biographer writes that Marcus spent the whole of Pius’ twenty-three-year reign

at his emperor’s side—and not in the provinces, where most previous emperors had

spent their early careers. Marcus made the necessary appointments:

Marcus Statius Priscus

, the governor of Britain, was sent to replace

Severianus as governor of Cappadocia.

Sextus Calpurnius Agricola

would take Priscus’ former office.

More bad news arrived: Attidius Cornelianus’ army had been defeated in battle

against the Parthians, and retreated in disarray.

Reinforcements were dispatched for the Parthian frontier. P. Julius Geminius

Marcianus, an African senator commanding

X

Gemina
at Vindobona (Vienna), left for Cappadocia with detachments from the

Danubian legions.

Three full legions were also sent east:

I Minervia

from Bonn in Upper Germany,

II Adiutrix

from Aquincum,

and

V Macedonica

from Troesmis.

The norther frontiers were strategically weakened; frontier governors were told

to avoid conflict wherever possible.

Attidius Cornelianus himself was replaced by M. Annius Libo, Marcus’ first

cousin. He was young—his first consulship was in 161, so he was probably in his

early thirties—and,

as a mere patrician, lacked military experience. Marcus had chosen a reliable

man rather than a talented one.

Marcus took a four-day public holiday at

Alsium
, a

resort town on the

Etrurian

coast. He was too anxious to relax. Writing to Fronto, he declared that he would

not speak about his holiday.

Fronto replied ironically: “What? Do I not know that you went to Alsium with the

intention of devoting yourself to games, joking and complete leisure for four

whole days?”

He encouraged Marcus to rest, calling on the example of his predecessors (Pius

had enjoyed exercise in the

palaestra
,

fishing, and comedy),

going so far as to write up a fable about the gods’ division of the day between

morning and evening—Marcus had apparently been spending most of his evenings on

judicial matters instead of at leisure.

Marcus could not take Fronto’s advice. “I have duties hanging over me that can

hardly be begged off,” he wrote back.

Marcus put on Fronto’s voice to chastise himself: “‘Much good has my advice done

you’, you will say!” He had rested, and would rest often, but “—this devotion to

duty! Who knows better than you how demanding it is!”

Fronto sent Marcus a selection of reading material, including Cicero’s pro

lege Manilia, in which the orator had argued in favor of

Pompey
taking

supreme command in the

Mithridatic War

. It was an apt reference (Pompey’s war had taken him to

Armenia), and may have had some impact on the decision to send Lucius to the

eastern front.

“You will find in it many chapters aptly suited to your present counsels,

concerning the choice of army commanders, the interests of allies, the

protection of provinces, the discipline of the soldiers, the qualifications

required for commanders in the field and elsewhere […]”

To settle his unease over the course of the Parthian war, Fronto wrote Marcus a

long and considered letter, full of historical references. In modern editions of

Fronto’s works, it is labeled De bello Parthico (On the Parthian War).

There had been reverses in Rome’s past, Fronto writes, at

Allia

, at

Caudium

, at

Cannae

, at

Numantia

,

Cirta

, and

Carrhae

;

under Trajan, Hadrian, and Pius;

but, in the end, Romans had always prevailed over their enemies: “always and

everywhere [Mars] has changed our troubles into successes and our terrors into

triumphs”.

 Lucius’ dispatch and journey east, 162–63?

Over the winter of 161–62, as more bad news arrived—a rebellion was brewing

in Syria—it was decided that Lucius should direct the Parthian war in person. He

was stronger and healthier than Marcus, the argument went, more suited to

military activity.

Lucius’ biographer suggests ulterior motives: to restrain Lucius’ debaucheries,

to make him thrifty, to reform his morals by the terror of war, to realize that

he was an emperor. Whatever the case, the senate gave its assent, and Lucius left.

Marcus would remain in Rome; the city “demanded the presence of an emperor”.

Furius Victorinus, one of the two praetorian prefects, was sent with Lucius,

as were a pair of senators, M. Pontius Laelianus Larcius Sabinus and M. Iallius

Bassus, and part of the praetorian guard.

Victorinus had previously served as procurator of Galatia, giving him some

experience with eastern affairs. Moreover, he was far more qualified than his praetorian partner,

Cornelius Repentinus

, who was said to owe his office to the influence of

Pius’ mistress Galeria Lysistrate.

Repentius had the rank of a senator, but no real access to senatorial

circles—his was merely a decorative title.

Since a prefect had to accompany the guard, Victorinus was the clear choice.

Laelianus had been governor of both Pannonias and governor of Syria in 153;

he hence had first-hand knowledge of the eastern army and military strategy on

the frontiers. He was made

comes
Augustorum

(“companion of the emperors”) for his service.

Laelianus was, in the words of Fronto, “a serious man and an old-fashioned

disciplinarian”.

Bassus had been governor of Lower Moesia, and was also made comes.

Lucius selected his favorite freedmen, including Geminus, Agaclytus, Coedes,

Eclectus,

and Nicomedes, who gave up his duties as praefectus vehiculorum to run

the commissariat of the expeditionary force.

The

fleet of Misenum

was charged with transporting the emperor and general

communications and transport.

Lucius left in the summer of 162 to take a ship from

Brundisium

; Marcus followed him as far as

Capua
. Lucius

feasted himself in the country houses along his route, and hunted at

Apulia
. He fell

ill at

Canosa

, probably afflicted with a mild stroke, and took to bed.

Marcus made prayers to the gods for his safety in front of the senate, and

hurried south to see him.

Fronto was upset at the news, but was reassured when Lucius sent him a letter

describing his treatment and recovery. In his reply, Fronto urged his pupil to

moderate his desires, and recommended a few days of quiet bedrest. Lucius was

better after three days’ fasting and a bloodletting. It was probably only a mild

stroke.

Verus continued eastward via

Corinth
and

Athens
,

accompanied by musicians and singers as if in a

royal

progress
.

At Athens he stayed with Herodes Atticus, and joined the

Eleusinian Mysteries

.

During sacrifice, a falling star was observed in the sky, shooting west to east.

He stopped in Ephesus

, where he is attested at the estate of the local aristocrat Vedius

Antoninus,

and made an unexpected stopover at

Erythrae
.

The journey continued by ship through the Aegean and the southern coasts of Asia

Minor, lingering in the famed pleasure resorts of

Pamphylia

and Cilicia
,

before arriving in

Antioch
.

It is not known how long Verus’ journey east took; he might not have arrived in

Antioch until after 162.

Statius Priscus, meanwhile, must have already arrived in Cappadocia; he would

earn fame in 163 for successful generalship.

 Luxury, dissolution, and logistics at Antioch, 162?–65

Lucius spent most of the campaign in Antioch, though he wintered at

Laodicea

and summered at Daphne

, a resort just outside Antioch.

He took up a mistress named Panthea, from Smyrna

.

The biographer calls her a “low-born girl-friend”,

but she is probably closer to

Lucian
‘s “woman

of perfect beauty”, more beautiful than any of

Phidias
and

Praxiteles
‘

statues.

Polite, caring, humble, she sang to the lyre perfectly and spoke clear

Ionic

Greek
, spiced with Attic wit.

Panthea read Lucian’s first draft, and criticized him for flattery. He had

compared her to a goddess, which frightened her—she did not want to become the

next Cassiopeia

.

She had power, too. She made Lucius shave his beard for her. The Syrians mocked

him for this, as they did for much else.

Critics declaimed Lucius’ luxurious lifestyle.

He had taken to gambling, they said; he would “dice the whole night through”.

He enjoyed the company of actors.

He made a special request for dispatches from Rome, to keep him updated on how

his chariot teams were doing.

He brought a golden statue of the Greens’ horse Volucer around with him, as a

token of his team spirit.

Fronto defended his pupil against some of these claims: the Roman people needed

Lucius’

bread and circuses

to keep them in check.

This, at least, is how the biographer has it. The whole section of the

vita dealing with Lucius’ debaucheries (HA Verus 4.4–6.6) is an

insertion into a narrative otherwise entirely cribbed from an earlier source.

Some few passages seem genuine; others take and elaborate something from the original. The rest is by the biographer himself, relying on nothing better

than his own imagination.

Lucius faced quite a task. Fronto described the scene in terms recalling

Corbulo

‘s arrival one hundred years before.

The Syrian army had turned soft during the east’s long peace. They spent more

time at the city’s open-air cafés than in their quarters. Under Lucius, training

was stepped up. Pontius Laelianus ordered that their saddles be stripped of

their padding. Gambling and drinking were sternly policed.

Fronto wrote that Lucius was on foot at the head of his army as often as on

horseback. He personally inspected soldiers in the field and at camp, including

the sick bay.

Lucius sent Fronto few messages at the beginning of the war. He sent Fronto a

letter apologizing for his silence. He would not detail plans that could change

within a day, he wrote. Moreover, there was little thus far to show for his

work: “not even yet has anything been accomplished such as to make me wish to

invite you to share in the joy”.

Lucius did not want Fronto to suffer the anxieties that had kept him up day and

night.

One reason for Lucius’ reticence may have been the collapse of Parthian

negotiations after the Roman conquest of Armenia. Lucius’ presentation of terms

was seen as cowardice.

The Parthians were not in the mood for peace.

Lucius needed to make extensive imports into Antioch, so he opened a sailing

route up the

Orontes

. Because the river breaks across a cliff before reaching the city,

Lucius ordered that a new canal be dug. After the project was completed, the

Orontes’ old riverbed dried up, exposing massive bones—the bones of a

giant

.

Pausanias

says they were from a beast “more than eleven cubits” tall;

Philostratus

says the it was “thirty cubits” tall. The oracle at

Claros
declared

that they were the bones of the river’s spirit.

In the middle of the war, perhaps in autumn 163 or early 164, Lucius made a

trip to Ephesus to be married to Marcus’ daughter Lucilla.

Lucilla’s thirteenth birthday was in March 163; whatever the date of her

marriage, she was not yet fifteen.

Marcus had moved up the date: perhaps stories of Panthea had disturbed him.

Lucilla was accompanied by her mother Faustina and M. Vettulenus Civica

Barbarus, the half-brother of Lucius’ father.

Marcus may have planned to accompany them all the way to Smyrna (the biographer

says he told the senate he would); this did not happen.

Marcus only accompanied the group as far as Brundisium, where they boarded a

ship for the east.

Marcus returned to Rome immediately thereafter, and sent out special

instructions to his proconsuls not to give the the group any official reception.

Lucilla would bear three of Lucius’ children in the coming years. Lucilla became

Lucilla Augusta.

 Counterattack and victory, 163–66

I Minervia and V Macedonica, under the legates M. Claudius Fronto and P.

Martius Verus, served under Statius Priscus in Armenia, earning success for

Roman arms during the campaign season of 163,

including the capture of the Armenian capital

Artaxata
.

At the end of the year, Verus took the title Armeniacus, despite having

never seen combat; Marcus declined to accept the title until the following year.

When Lucius was hailed as imperator again, however, Marcus did not

hesitate to take the Imperator II with him.

The army of Syria was reinforced by II Adiutrix and Danubian legions under X

Gemina’s legate Geminius Marcianus.

Occupied Armenia was reconstructed on Roman terms. In 164, a new capital,

Kaine Polis (‘New City’), replaced Artaxata.

On Birley’s reckoning, it was thirty miles closer to the Roman border.

Detachments from Cappadocian legions are attested at

Echmiadzin

, beneath the southern face of

Mount

Ararat
, 400 km east of

Satala
. It

would have meant a march of twenty days or more, through mountainous terrain,

from the Roman border; a “remarkable example of imperialism”, in the words of

Fergus Millar

.

A new king was installed: a Roman senator of consular rank and Arsacid descent,

C. Iulius Sohaemus. He may not even have been crowned in Armenia; the ceremony

may have taken place in Antioch, or even Ephesus.

Sohaemus was hailed on the imperial coinage of 164 under the legend

Rex armeniis Datus:

Verus sat on a throne with his staff while Sohamenus stood before him, saluting

the emperor.

In 163, while Statius Priscus was occupied in Armenia, the Parthians

intervened in Osroene

, a Roman client in upper Mesopotamia, just east of Syria, with its

capital at Edessa
.

They deposed the country’s leader, Mannus, and replaced him with their own

nominee, who would remain in office until 165.

(The Edessene coinage record actually begins at this point, with issues showing

Vologases IV on the obverse and “Wael the king” (Syriac:

W’L MLK’) on the reverse.)

In response, Roman forces were moved downstream, to cross the Euphrates at a

more southerly point.

On the evidence of Lucian, the Parthians still held the southern, Roman bank of

the Euphrates (in Syria) as late as 163 (he refers to a battle at Sura, which is

on the southern side of the river).

Before the end of the year, however, Roman forces had moved north to occupy

Dausara and Nicephorium on the northern, Parthian bank. Soon after the conquest of the north bank of the Euphrates, other

Roman forces moved on Osroene from Armenia, taking Anthemusia, a town south-west

of Edessa.

There was little movement in 164; most of the year was spent on preparations for

a renewed assault on Parthian territory.

In 165, Roman forces, perhaps led by Martius Verus and the V Macedonica,

moved on Mesopotamia. Edessa was re-occupied, Mannus re-installed.

His coinage resumed, too: ‘Ma’nu the king’ (Syriac: M’NW MLK’) or Antonine

dynasts on the obverse, and ‘King Mannos, friend of Romans’ (Greek: Basileus

Mannos Philorōmaios) on the reverse.

The Parthians retreated to Nisibis, but this too was besieged and captured. The

Parthian army dispersed in the Tigris; their general Chosrhoes swam down the

river and made his hideout in a cave.

A second force, under Avidius Cassius and the III Gallica, moved down the

Euphrates, and fought a major battle at Dura.

By the end of the year, Cassius’ army had reached the twin metropolises of

Mesopotamia: Seleucia

on the right bank of the Tigris and

Ctesiphon

on the left. Ctesiphon was taken and its royal palace set to flame. The citizens

of Seleucia, still largely Greek (the city had been commissioned and settled as

a capital of the

Seleucid empire

, one of

Alexander the Great

‘s

successor

kingdoms
), opened its gates to the invaders. The city got sacked

nonetheless, leaving a black mark on Lucius’ reputation. Excuses were sought, or

invented: the official version had it that the Seleucids broke faith first.

Whatever the case, the sacking marks a particularly destructive chapter in

Seleucia’s long decline.

Cassius’ army, although suffering from a shortage of supplies and the effects

of a plague contracted in Seleucia, made it back to Roman territory safely.

Iunius Maximus, a young tribunus laticlavius serving in III Gallica under

Cassius, took the news of the victory to Rome. Maximus received a generous cash

bounty (dona) for bringing the good news, and immediate promotion to the

quaestorship.

Lucius took the title Parthicus Maximus, and he and Marcus were hailed as

imperatores again, earning the title ‘imp. III’.

Cassius’ army returned to the field in 166, crossing over the Tigris into Media.

Lucius took the title ‘Medicus’,

and the emperors were again hailed as imperatores, becoming ‘imp. IV’ in

imperial titulature. Marcus took the Parthicus Maximus now, after another
tactful delay.

Most of the credit for the war’s success must be ascribed to subordinate

generals. The forces that advanced on Osroene were led by M. Claudius Fronto, an

Asian provincial of Greek descent who had led I Minervia in Armenia under

Priscus. He was probably the first senator in his family.

Fronto was consul for 165, probably in honor of the capture of Edessa.

P. Martius Verus had led V Macedonica to the front, and also served under

Priscus. Martius Verus was a westerner, whose patria was perhaps

Tolosa
in

Gallia Narbonensis

.

The most prominent general, however, was

C. Avidius Cassius

, commander of III Gallica, one of the Syrian legions.

Cassius was young senator of low birth from the north Syrian town of

Cyrrhus

. His father, Heliodorus, had not been a senator, but was nonetheless

a man of some standing: he had been Hadrian’s ab epistulis, followed the

emperor on his travels, and was prefect of Egypt at the end of Hadrian’s reign.

Cassius also, with no small sense of self-worth, claimed descent from the

Seleucid kings

.

Cassius and Martius Verus, still probably in their mid-thirties, took the

consulships for 166.

Vologases IV of Parthia

(147–191) made peace but was forced to cede western

Mesopotamia

to the Romans. Lucius is reported to have been an excellent

commander, without fear of delegating military tasks to more competent generals.

On his return to Rome, Lucius was awarded with a

triumph

. The parade was unusual because it included Lucius, Marcus Aurelius,

their sons and unmarried daughters as a big family celebration. Marcus Aurelius’

two sons, Commodus

five years old and Annius Verus of three, were elevated to the

status of Caesar for the occasion.

 Years in Rome

The next two years (166–168) were spent in Rome. Verus continued with his

glamorous lifestyle and kept the troupe of actors and favourites with him. He

had a tavern built in his house, where he celebrated parties with his friends

until dawn. He also enjoyed roaming around the city among the population,

without acknowledging his identity. The games of the circus were another passion

in his life, especially

chariot racing

. Marcus Aurelius disapproved of his conduct but, since Verus

continued to perform his official tasks with efficiency, there was little he

could do.

 Wars on the Danube

and death

In the spring of 168 war broke out in the

Danubian
border

when the Marcomanni

invaded the Roman territory. This war would last until 180, but

Verus did not see the end of it. In 168, as Verus and Marcus Aurelius returned

to Rome from the field, Verus fell ill with symptoms attributed to

food poisoning

, dying after a few days (169). However, scholars believe that

Verus may have been a victim of

smallpox
,

as he died during a widespread epidemic known as the

Antonine Plague

. Despite the minor differences between them, Marcus Aurelius

grieved the loss of his adoptive brother. He accompanied the body to Rome, where

he offered games to honour his memory. After the funeral, the senate declared

Verus divine to be worshipped as Divus Verus.

The Roman Empire (Latin:
Imperium Romanum) was the post-Republican
period of the
ancient Roman civilization
, characterised by an
autocratic
form of government and large
territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean.

The Roman Empire at its greatest extent,
during the reign of Trajan
in 117 AD

The 500-year-old
Roman Republic
, which preceded it, had been
weakened and
subverted
through several
civil wars
. Several events are commonly
proposed to mark the transition from Republic to Empire, including
Julius Caesar
‘s appointment as perpetual
dictator
(44 BC), the
Battle of Actium
(2
September 31 BC), and the Roman Senate’s granting to
Octavian
the
honorific

Augustus
(16 January
27 BC).

Roman expansion began in the days of the Republic, but the Empire reached its
greatest extent under Emperor
Trajan
: during his reign (98 to 117 AD) the
Roman Empire controlled approximately 6.5 million km²
of land surface. Because of the Empire’s vast extent and long endurance, the
institutions and culture of Rome had a profound and lasting influence on the
development of language, religion, architecture, philosophy, law, and forms of
government in the territory it governed, particularly Europe, and by means of
European expansionism throughout the modern world.

In the late 3rd century AD,
Diocletian
established the practice of dividing
authority between four co-emperors (known as the
tetrarchy
) in order to better secure the vast
territory, putting an end to the
Crisis of the Third Century
. During the
following decades the Empire was often divided along an East/West axis. After
the death of
Theodosius I
in 395 it was divided for the last
time.

The
Western Roman Empire

collapsed
in 476 as
Romulus Augustus
was forced to abdicate to the
Germanic
warlord
Odoacer
. The Eastern Roman or
Byzantine Empire
ended in 1453 with the death
of
Constantine XI
and the
capture of Constantinople
to
Mehmed II
, leader of the
Ottoman Turks
.

Government

Emperor

The powers of an emperor (his
imperium
) existed, in theory at least, by
virtue of his “tribunician powers” (potestas tribunicia) and his
“proconsular powers” (imperium proconsulare). In theory, the tribunician
powers (which were similar to those of the
Plebeian Tribunes
under the old republic) made
the Emperor’s person and office sacrosanct, and gave the Emperor authority over
Rome’s civil government, including the power to preside over and to control the
Senate.

The proconsular powers (similar to those of military governors, or
Proconsuls
, under the old Republic) gave him
authority over the Roman army. He was also given powers that, under the
Republic, had been reserved for the
Senate
and the
assemblies
, including the right to declare war,
to ratify treaties, and to negotiate with foreign leaders.

The emperor also had the authority to carry out a range of duties that had
been performed by the
censors
, including the power to control Senate
membership. In addition, the emperor controlled the
religious institutions
, since, as emperor, he
was always
Pontifex Maximus
and a member of each of
the four major priesthoods. While these distinctions were clearly defined during
the early Empire, eventually they were lost, and the emperor’s powers became
less constitutional and more monarchical.

Realistically, the main support of an emperor’s power and authority was the
military. Being paid by the imperial treasury, the legionaries also swore an
annual military oath of loyalty towards him, called the
Sacramentum
.

The death of an emperor led to a crucial period of uncertainty and crisis. In
theory the Senate was entitled to choose the new emperor, but most emperors
chose their own successors, usually a close family member. The new emperor had
to seek a swift acknowledgement of his new status and authority in order to
stabilize the political landscape. No emperor could hope to survive, much less
to reign, without the allegiance and loyalty of the
Praetorian Guard
and of the legions. To secure
their loyalty, several emperors paid the
donativum
, a monetary reward.

Senate

While the
Roman assemblies
continued to meet after the
founding of the Empire, their powers were all transferred to the
Roman Senate
, and so senatorial decrees (senatus
consulta) acquired the full force of law.

In theory, the Emperor and the Senate were two equal branches of government,
but the actual authority of the Senate was negligible and it was largely a
vehicle through which the Emperor disguised his autocratic powers under a cloak
of republicanism. Although the Senate still commanded much prestige and respect,
it was largely a glorified
rubber stamp
institution. Stripped of most of
its powers, the Senate was largely at the Emperor’s mercy.

Many emperors showed a certain degree of respect towards this ancient
institution, while others were notorious for ridiculing it. During Senate
meetings, the Emperor sat between the two
consuls
,^[18]
and usually acted as the presiding officer. Higher ranking senators spoke before
lower ranking senators, although the Emperor could speak at any time.^[18]
By the 3rd century, the Senate had been reduced to a glorified municipal body.

Senators and
equestrians

No emperor could rule the Empire without the Senatorial order and the
Equestrian order
. Most of the more important
posts and offices of the government were reserved for the members of these two
aristocratic orders. It was from among their ranks that the provincial
governors, legion commanders, and similar officials were chosen.

These two classes were hereditary^{[citation
needed]} and mostly closed to outsiders. Very
successful and favoured individuals could enter, but this was a rare occurrence.
The career of a young aristocrat was influenced by his family connections and
the favour of patrons. As important as ability, knowledge, skill, or competence,
patronage was considered vital for a successful career and the highest posts and
offices required the Emperor’s favour and trust.

Senatorial order

The son of a senator was expected to follow the
Cursus honorum
, a
career ladder
, and the more prestigious
positions were restricted to senators only. A senator also had to be wealthy;
one of the basic requirements was the wealth of 12,000 gold
aurei
(about 100 kg of gold), a figure which
would later be raised with the passing of centuries.

 Equestrian order

Below the Senatorial order was the Equestrian order. The requirements and
posts reserved for this class, while perhaps not so prestigious, were still very
important. Some of the more vital posts, like the governorship of
Egypt
(Latin Aegyptus), were even
forbidden to the members of the Senatorial order and available only to
equestrians.

Military

Legions

During and after the civil war, Octavian reduced the huge number of the
legions
(over 60) to a much more manageable and
affordable size (28). Several legions, particularly those with doubtful
loyalties, were simply disbanded. Other legions were amalgamated, a fact
suggested by the title Gemina (Twin).

In AD 9, Germanic tribes wiped out three full legions in the
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
. This disastrous
event reduced the number of the legions to 25. The total of the legions would
later be increased again and for the next 300 years always be a little above or
below 30.

Augustus also created the
Praetorian Guard
: nine
cohorts
ostensibly to maintain the public peace
which were garrisoned in Italy. Better paid than the legionaries, the
Praetorians also served less time; instead of serving the standard 25 years of
the legionaries, they retired after 16 years of service.

Auxilia

While the
auxilia
(Latin: auxilia = supports) are
not as famous as the legionaries, they were of major importance. Unlike the
legionaries, the auxilia were recruited from among the non-citizens. Organized
in smaller units of roughly cohort strength, they were paid less than the
legionaries, and after 25 years of service were rewarded with
Roman citizenship
, also extended to their sons.
According to Tacitus
there were roughly as many auxiliaries
as there were legionaries. Since at this time there were 25 legions of around
5,000 men each, the auxilia thus amounted to around 125,000 men, implying
approximately 250 auxiliary regiments.

Navy

The Roman navy
(Latin: Classis, lit.
“fleet”) not only aided in the supply and transport of the legions, but also
helped in the protection of the frontiers in the rivers
Rhine
and
Danube
. Another of its duties was the
protection of the very important maritime trade routes against the threat of
pirates. Therefore it patrolled the whole of the Mediterranean, parts of the
North Atlantic
(coasts of Hispania, Gaul, and
Britannia), and had also a naval presence in the
Black Sea
. Nevertheless the army was considered
the senior and more prestigious branch.

 Provinces

The
Temple of Bacchus
in
Baalbec
,
Lebanon

Until the Tetrarchy
(296 AD) Roman provinces (lat.
provincae) were administrative and territorial units of the Roman Empire
outside of
Italy
. In the old days of the Republic the
governorships of the provinces were traditionally awarded to members of the
Senatorial Order
. Augustus’ reforms changed
this policy.

Imperial provinces

Augustus created the
Imperial provinces
. Most, but not all, of the
Imperial provinces were relatively recent conquests and located at the borders.
Thereby the overwhelming majority of legions, which were stationed at the
frontiers, were under direct Imperial control. Very important was the
Imperial province of Egypt
, the major
breadbasket
of the Empire, whose
grain supply
was vital to feed the masses in
Rome. It was considered the personal fiefdom of the Emperor, and Senators were
forbidden to even visit this province. The governor of Egypt and the commanders
of any legion stationed there were not from the Senatorial Order, but were
chosen by the Emperor from among the members of the lower
Equestrian Order
.

Senatorial provinces

The old traditional policy continued largely unchanged in the
Senatorial provinces
. Due to their location,
away from the borders, and to the fact that they were under longer Roman
sovereignty and control, these provinces were largely peaceful and stable. Only
a single legion was based in a Senatorial province:
Legio III Augusta
, stationed in the Senatorial
province of
Africa
(modern northern Algeria).

The status of a province was subject to change; it could change from
Senatorial towards Imperial, or vice-versa. This happened several times

^[26]
during Augustus’ reign. Another
trend was to create new provinces, mostly by dividing older ones, or by
expanding the Empire.

 Religion

The
Pantheon
, the present structure
built during
Hadrian
‘s reign, was dedicated to
the worship of all Roman deities.

As the Empire expanded, and came to include people from a variety of
cultures, the worship of an ever increasing number of
deities
was tolerated and accepted. The
Imperial government, and the Romans in general, tended to be very tolerant
towards most religions and cults, so long as they did not cause trouble. This
could easily be accepted by other faiths as Roman liturgy and ceremonies were
frequently tailored to fit local culture and identity. Since the Romans
practiced polytheism they were also able to easily assimilate the gods of the
peoples the Empire conquered.

An individual could attend to both the Roman gods representing his Roman
identity and his own personal faith, which was considered part of his personal
identity. There were periodic persecutions of various religions at various
points in time, most notably that of Christians. As the historian
Edward Gibbon
noted, however, most of the
recorded histories of Christian persecutions come to us through the Christian
church, which had an incentive to exaggerate the degree to which the
persecutions occurred. The non-Christian contemporary sources only mention the
persecutions passingly and without assigning great importance to them.

Imperial cult

The
Augustus of Prima Porta
,
showing
Augustus
in military outfit holding
a consular baton (now broken off)

In an effort to enhance loyalty, the inhabitants of the Empire were called to
participate in the
Imperial cult
to revere (usually deceased)
emperors as demigods
. Few emperors claimed to be Gods while
living, with the few exceptions being emperors who were widely regarded at the
time to be insane (such as
Caligula
). Doing so in the early Empire would
have risked revealing the shallowness of what the Emperor
Augustus
called the “restored Republic” and
would have had a decidedly eastern quality to it. Since the tool was mostly one
the Emperor used to control his subjects, its usefulness would have been
greatest in the chaotic later Empire, when the emperors were often Christians
and unwilling to participate in the practice.

Usually, an emperor was deified after his death by his successor in an
attempt by that successor to enhance his own prestige. This practice can be
misunderstood, however, since “deification” was to the ancient world what
canonization is to the Christian world. Likewise, the term “god” had a different
context in the ancient world. This could be seen during the years of the
Roman Republic
with religio-political practices
such as the disbanding of a Senate session if it was believed the gods
disapproved of the session or wished a particular vote. Deification was one of
the many honors a dead emperor was entitled to, as the Romans (more than modern
societies) placed great prestige on honors and national recognitions.

The importance of the Imperial cult slowly grew, reaching its peak during the
Crisis of the Third Century
. Especially in the
eastern half of the Empire, imperial cults grew very popular. As such it was one
of the major agents of
romanization
. The central elements of the cult
complex were next to a temple; a
theatre
or
amphitheatre
for gladiator displays and other
games and a public bath complex
. Sometimes the imperial
cult was added to the cults of an existing temple or celebrated in a special
hall in the bath complex.

The seriousness of this belief is unclear. Some Romans ridiculed the notion
that a Roman emperor was to be considered a living god, or would even make fun
of the deification of an emperor after his death.
Seneca the Younger
parodied the notion of
apotheosis in his only known satire
The Pumpkinification of Claudius
, in which
the clumsy and ill-spoken
Claudius
is transformed not into a god, but a
pumpkin or gourd
. An element of mockery was present even
at Claudius’s funeral, and
Vespasian
‘s purported last words were Væ,
puto deus fio, “Oh dear! I think I’m becoming a god!”.

Absorption of
foreign cults

Since Roman religion did not have a core belief that excluded other
religions, several foreign gods and cults became popular.

The worship of Cybele
was the earliest, introduced from around
200 BC. Isis
and
Osiris
were introduced from Egypt a century
later. Bacchus
and
Sol Invictus
were quite important and
Mithras
became very popular with the military.
Several of these were
Mystery cults
. In the 1st century BC
Julius Caesar
granted Jews the freedom to
worship in Rome as a reward for their help in Alexandria.

Controversial
religions

Druids

Druids
were considered as essentially
non-Roman: a prescript of
Augustus
forbade Roman citizens to practice
“druidical” rites.
Pliny
reports that under
Tiberius
the druids were suppressed—along with
diviners and physicians—by a decree of the Senate, and
Claudius
forbade their rites completely in
AD 54.

 Judaism

While Judaism was largely accepted, as long as Jews paid the
Jewish Tax
after 70 AD, there was
anti-Judaism in the pre-Christian Roman Empire

and there were several
Jewish-Roman wars
.

The Crisis under
Caligula
(37–41) has been proposed as the
“first open break between Rome and the Jews”, even though problems were already
evident during the
Census of Quirinius
in 6 and under
Sejanus
(before 31).

Until the rebellion in Judea in AD 66, Jews were generally protected. To get
around Roman laws banning secret societies and to allow their freedom of
worship, Julius Caesar declared Synagogues were colleges. Tiberius forbade
Judaism in Rome but they quickly returned to their former protected status.
Claudius expelled Jews from the city; however, the passage of Suetonius is
ambiguous: “Because the Jews at Rome caused continuous disturbances at the
instigation of Chrestus he [Claudius] expelled them from the city.” Chrestus
has been identified as another form of Christus; the disturbances may
have been related to the
arrival of the first Christians
, and that the
Roman authorities, failing to distinguish between the Jews and the early
Christians, simply decided to expel them all.

Historians debate whether or not the Roman government distinguished between
Christians and Jews
prior to Nerva’s
modification of the
Fiscus Judaicus
in 96. From then on, practising
Jews paid the tax; Christians did not.^[34]

 Christianity

The Christian Martyrs’ Last Prayer, by
Jean-Léon Gérôme
(1883). Roman
Colosseum
.

Christianity
emerged in
Roman Judea
as a
Jewish religious sect
in the 1st century AD.
The religion gradually spread out of
Jerusalem
, initially establishing major bases
in first Antioch
, then
Alexandria
, and over time throughout the Empire
as well as beyond.

Christianity shares numerous traits with other mystery cults that existed in
Rome at the time. Early Christianity placed a strong emphasis on baptism, a
ritual which marked the convert as having been inducted into the mysteries of
the faith. The focus on a belief in salvation and the afterlife was another
major similarity to other mystery cults. The crucial difference between
Christianity and other mystery cults was the
monotheism
of Christianity. Early Christians
thus refused to participate in civic cults because of these monotheistic
beliefs, leading to their persecution.

For the first two centuries of the
Christian era
, Imperial authorities largely
viewed Christianity simply as a Jewish sect rather than a distinct religion. No
emperor issued general laws against the faith or its Church, and persecutions,
such as they were, were carried out under the authority of local government
officials. A surviving letter from
Pliny the Younger
, governor of Bythinia, to the
Emperor Trajan
describes his persecution and executions
of Christians; Trajan notably responded that Pliny should not seek out
Christians nor heed anonymous denunciations, but only punish open Christians who
refused to recant.

Suetonius
mentions in passing that during the
reign of Nero
“punishment was inflicted on the
Christians, a class of men given to a new and mischievous
superstition
” (superstitionis novae ac
maleficae). He gives no reason for the punishment.
Tacitus
reports that after the
Great Fire of Rome
in AD 64, some among the
population held Nero responsible and that the emperor attempted to deflect blame
onto the Christians.

One of the earliest persecutions occurred in

Gaul at
Lyon in 177
. Persecution was often local and
sporadic, and some Christians welcomed
martyrdom as a testament of faith
.^[39]
The
Decian persecution
(246–251) was a serious
threat to the Church, but while it potentially undermined the religious
hierarchy in urban centers, ultimately it served to strengthen Christian
defiance.^[40]
Diocletian
undertook what was to be the
most severe and last major persecution of Christians
,
lasting from 303 to 311. Christianity had become too widespread to suppress, and
in 313, the
Edict of Milan
made tolerance the official
policy.
Constantine I
(sole ruler 324–337) became the
first Christian emperor, and in 380
Theodosius I
established Christianity as the
official religion.

By the 5th century Christian hegemony had rapidly changed the Empire’s
identity even as the Western provinces collapsed. Those who practiced the
traditional polytheistic religions were persecuted, as were Christians regarded
as heretics by the authorities in power.

Languages

The language of Rome before its expansion was
Latin
, and this became the empire’s official
language. By the time of the imperial period Latin had developed two
registers
: the “high” written
Classical Latin
and the “low” spoken
Vulgar Latin
. While Classical Latin remained
relatively stable, even through the
Middle Ages
, Vulgar Latin as with any spoken
language was fluid and evolving. Vulgar Latin became the
lingua franca
in the western provinces, later
evolving into the modern
Romance languages
:
Italian
,
French
,
Portuguese
,
Spanish
,
Romanian
, etc. Greek and Classical Latin were
the languages of literature, scholarship, and education.

Although Latin remained the most widely spoken language in the West, through
to the
fall of Rome
and for some centuries afterwards,
in the East the
Greek language
was the literary language and
the lingua franca. The Romans generally did not attempt to supplant local
languages. They generally left established customs in place and only gradually
introduced typical Roman cultural elements including the Latin language.^[43]
Along with Greek, many other languages of different tribes were used but almost
without expression in writing.

Greek was already widely spoken in many cities in the east, and as such, the
Romans were quite content to retain it as an administrative language there
rather than impede bureaucratic efficiency. Hence, two official secretaries
served in the Roman Imperial court, one charged with correspondence in Latin and
the other with correspondence in Greek for the East.^[44]
Thus in the Eastern Province, as with all provinces, original languages were
retained.

Moreover, the process of hellenisation widened its scope during the Roman
period, for the Romans perpetuated
“Hellenistic”
culture,^{[47][48][nb
4]} but with all the trappings of
Roman
improvements. This further spreading of
“Hellenistic” culture (and therefore language) was largely due to the extensive
infrastructure (in the form of entertainment, health, and education amenities,
and extensive transportation networks, etc.) put in place by the Romans and
their tolerance of, and inclusion of, other cultures, a characteristic which set
them apart from the xenophobic nature of the Greeks preceding them.

Since the Roman annexation of Greece in 146 BC, the Greek language gradually
obtained a unique place in the Roman world, owing initially to the large number
of Greek slaves in Roman households. In Rome itself Greek became the second
language of the educated elite.It became the common language in the early
Church
(as its major centers in the early
Christian period were in the East), and the language of scholarship and the
arts.

However, due to the presence of other widely spoken languages in the densely
populated east, such as
Coptic
,
Syriac
,
Armenian
,
Aramaic
and
Phoenician
(which was also extensively spoken
in North Africa), Greek never took as strong a hold beyond Asia Minor (some
urban enclaves notwithstanding) as Latin eventually did in the west. This is
partly evident in the extent to which the derivative languages are spoken today.
Like Latin, the language gained a
dual nature
with the literary language, an
Attic Greek
variant, existing alongside spoken
language, Koine Greek
, which evolved into
Medieval
or Byzantine Greek (Romaic).

By the 4th century AD, Greek no longer held such dominance over Latin in the
arts and sciences as it had previously, resulting to a great extent from the
growth of the western provinces. This was true also of Christian literature,
reflected, for example, in the publication in the early 5th century AD of the
Vulgate Bible
, the first officially accepted
Latin Bible
. As the Western Empire
declined
, the number of people who spoke both
Greek and Latin declined as well, contributing greatly to the future
East
–West
/
Orthodox
–Catholic
cultural divide in Europe.

Important as both languages were, today the
descendants of Latin
are widely spoken in many
parts of the world, while the Greek dialects are limited mostly to Greece,
Cyprus
, and small enclaves in
Turkey
and
Southern Italy
(where the
Eastern Empire
retained control for several
more centuries). To some degree this can be attributed to the fact that the
western provinces fell mainly to “Latinised”
Christian
tribes whereas the eastern provinces
fell to Muslim Arabs and Turks for whom Greek held less cultural significance.

Culture

Life in the Roman Empire revolved around the city of Rome, and its famed
seven hills
. The city also had several
theatres
,
gymnasia
, and many
taverns
,
baths
and
brothels
. Throughout the territory under Rome’s
control, residential architecture ranged from very modest houses to
country villas
, and in the
capital city
of Rome, to the residences on the
elegant
Palatine Hill
, from which the word “palace”
is derived. The vast majority of the population lived in the city centre, packed
into apartment blocks.

Most Roman towns and cities had a
forum
and temples, as did the city of Rome
itself.
Aqueducts
were built to bring water to urban
centres^[55]
and served as an avenue to import
wine
and
oil
from abroad. Landlords generally resided in
cities and their estates were left in the care of farm managers. To stimulate a
higher labour productivity, many landlords freed a large numbers of slaves. By
the time of Augustus, cultured Greek household slaves taught the Roman young
(sometimes even the girls). Greek sculptures adorned Hellenistic landscape
gardening on the Palatine or in the
villas
.

Many aspects of Roman culture were taken from the
Etruscans
and the
Greeks
. In
architecture
and
sculpture
, the difference between Greek models
and Roman paintings are apparent. The chief Roman contributions to architecture
were the arch
and the

dome.

Roman public baths
(Thermae)
in
Bath
, England (Aquae
Sulis in the Roman province of
Britannia
).

The centre of the early social structure was the family, which was not only
marked by
blood relations
but also by the legally
constructed relation of patria potestas. The
Pater familias
was the absolute head of the
family; he was the master over his wife, his children, the wives of his sons,
the nephews, the slaves and the freedmen, disposing of them and of their goods
at will, even putting them to death. Originally, only patrician aristocracy
enjoyed the privilege of forming familial clans, or gens, as legal
entities; later, in the wake of political struggles and warfare, clients were
also enlisted. Thus, such plebian gentes were the first formed, imitating
their patrician counterparts.

Slavery
and slaves were part of the social
order; there were
slave markets
where they could be bought and
sold. Many slaves were freed by the masters for services rendered; some slaves
could save money to buy their freedom. Generally
mutilation
and murder of slaves was prohibited
by legislation. It is estimated that over 25% of the Roman population was
enslaved Professor
Gerhard Rempel
from the
Western New England College
claims that in the
city of Rome alone, during the Empire, there were about 400,000 slaves.

The city of Rome had a place called the
Campus Martius
(“Field of Mars”), which was a
sort of drill ground for Roman soldiers. Later, the Campus became Rome’s track
and field playground. In the campus, the youth assembled to play and exercise,
which included jumping,
wrestling
,
boxing
and
racing
.
Riding
, throwing, and swimming were also
preferred physical activities.

In the countryside, pastimes also included fishing and hunting.
Board games
played in Rome included

Dice (Tesserae or
Tali
), Roman Chess (Latrunculi),
Roman Checkers
(Calculi),
Tic-tac-toe
(Terni Lapilli), and
Ludus duodecim scriptorum
and Tabula,
predecessors of backgammon. There were several other activities to keep people
engaged like chariot races, musical and theatrical performances,

Clothing,
dining, and the arts

Fresco of a Roman woman from
Pompeii
, c. AD 50.

Roman clothing fashions changed little from the late Republic to the end of
the Western empire 600 years later. The cloth and the dress distinguished one
class of people from the other class. The tunic worn by
plebeians
(common people) like shepherds and
slaves was made from coarse and dark material, whereas the
tunic
worn by
patricians
was of linen or white wool. A
magistrate would wear the tunica augusticlavi; senators wore a tunic with
broad stripes, called tunica laticlavi. Military tunics were shorter than
the ones worn by civilians. Boys, up until the festival of Liberalia, wore the
toga praetexta, which was a toga with a crimson or purple border. The
toga virilis, (or toga pura) was worn by men over the age of 16 to
signify their citizenship in Rome.

The toga picta was worn by triumphant generals and had embroidery of
their skill on the battlefield. The toga pulla was worn when in mourning.
Even footwear indicated a person’s social status: patricians wore red and orange
sandals, senators had brown footwear, consuls had white shoes, and soldiers wore
heavy boots. Men typically wore a

toga, and women a
stola
. The woman’s stola looked
different from a toga, and was usually brightly coloured. The Romans also
invented
socks
for those soldiers required to fight on
the northern frontiers, sometimes worn in sandals.

In the later empire after
Diocletian
‘s reforms, clothing worn by soldiers
and non-military government bureaucrats became highly decorated, with woven or
embroidered strips, clavi, and circular roundels, orbiculi, added
to tunics and cloaks. These decorative elements usually consisted of geometrical
patterns and stylised plant motifs, but could include human or animal figures.
The use of silk also increased steadily and most courtiers of the later empire
wore elaborate silk robes. Heavy military-style belts were worn by bureaucrats
as well as soldiers, revealing the general militarization of late Roman
government. Trousers—considered barbarous garments worn by Germans and
Persians—were only adopted partially near the end of the empire in a sign for
conservatives of cultural decay. Early medieval kings and aristocrats dressed
like late Roman generals, not like the older toga-clad senatorial tradition.

Roman fresco with banquet scene from the Casa dei Casti Amanti
(IX 12, 6-8) in Pompeii.

Romans had simple food habits. Staple food was simple, generally consumed at
around 11 o’clock, and consisted of bread, salad, cheese, fruits, nuts, and cold
meat left over from the dinner the night before. The Roman poet,
Horace
mentions another Roman favourite, the
olive
, in reference to his own diet, which he
describes as very simple: “As for me, olives,
endives
, and smooth
mallows
provide sustenance.” The family ate
together, sitting on stools around a table. Fingers were used to eat solid foods
and spoons were used for soups.

Wine was considered a staple drink, consumed at all meals and occasions by
all classes and was quite cheap. Many types of drinks involving grapes and honey
were consumed as well. Drinking on an empty stomach was regarded as boorish and
a sure sign for
alcoholism
, whose debilitating physical and
psychological effects were known to the Romans. An accurate accusation of being
an alcoholic was an effective way to discredit political rivals.

Woman playing a
kithara
, a wall mural from
Boscoreale
, dated 40–30 BC

Roman literature was from its very inception influenced heavily by Greek
authors. Some of the earliest works we possess are of historical epics telling
the early military history of Rome. As the empire expanded, authors began to
produce poetry, comedy, history, and tragedy.
Virgil
represents the pinnacle of Roman epic
poetry. His Aeneid
tells the story of flight of Aeneas
from Troy
and his settlement of the city that would
become Rome. The genre of satire was common in Rome, and satires were written
by, among others,
Juvenal
and
Persius
. Many Roman homes were decorated with
landscapes by Greek artists. Portrait sculpture during the period utilized
youthful and classical proportions, evolving later into a mixture of realism and
idealism. Advancements were also made in relief sculptures, often depicting
Roman victories.

Music was a major part of everyday life. The word itself derives from
Greek
μουσική (mousike), “(art)
of the
Muses
“. Many private and public events were
accompanied by music, ranging from nightly dining to military parades and
maneuvers. In a discussion of any ancient music, however, non-specialists and
even many musicians have to be reminded that much of what makes our modern music
familiar to us is the result of developments only within the last 1,000 years;
thus, our ideas of melody, scales, harmony, and even the instruments we use
would not be familiar to Romans who made and listened to music many centuries
earlier.

Over time, Roman architecture was modified as their urban requirements
changed, and the
civil engineering
and building
construction

technology
became developed and refined. The
Roman concrete
has remained a riddle, and even
after more than 2,000 years some Roman structures still stand magnificently.^[76]
The architectural style of the capital city was emulated by other urban centres
under Roman control and influence.

Education

Following various military conquests in the
Greek East
, Romans adapted a number of Greek
educational precepts to their own system. Home was often the learning centre,
where children were taught
Roman law
,
customs
, and physical training to prepare the
boys for eventual recruitment into the
Roman army
. Conforming to discipline was a
point of great emphasis. Girls generally received instruction^[78]
from their mothers in the art of
spinning
,
weaving
, and
sewing
.

Education nominally began at the age of six. During the next six to seven
years, both boys and girls were taught the basics of
reading
,
writing
and
arithmetic
. From the age of twelve, they would
be learning Latin
,
Greek
,
grammar
and
literature
, followed by training for
public speaking
.
Oratory
was an art to be practised and learnt,
and good orators commanded respect. To become an effective orator was one of the
objectives of education
and
learning
. In some cases, services of gifted
slaves were utilized for imparting education.

Economy

The invention and widespread application of
hydraulic mining
, namely
hushing
and ground-sluicing, aided by the
ability of the Romans to plan and execute mining operations on a large scale,
allowed various base and precious metals to be extracted on a proto-industrial
scale.

The annual total iron
output is estimated at 82,500 t,
assuming a productive capacity of c. 1.5 kg per capita.^[81]
Copper
was produced at an annual rate of
15,000 t, and lead
at 80,000 t,^[83]
both production levels not to be paralled until the
Industrial Revolution
;^[84]
Spain alone had a 40% share in world lead production. The high lead output was a
by-product of extensive
silver
mining which reached an amount of 200 t
per annum.^[86]
At its peak around the mid-2nd century AD, the Roman silver stock is estimated
at 10,000 t, five to ten times larger than the combined silver mass of
medieval Europe
and the
Caliphate
around 800 AD. Any one of the
Imperium’s most important mining provinces produced as much silver as the
contemporary
Han empire
as a whole, and more

gold by an entire order of magnitude.

The high amount of metal coinage in circulation meant that more coined money
was available for trading or saving in the economy (monetization).

 Currency

A Roman aureus
struck under Augustus, c.
AD 13–14; the reverse shows
Tiberius
riding on a
quadriga
, celebrating the fifteenth
renewal of his tribunal power.

The imperial government was, as all governments, interested in the issue and
control of the currency in circulation. To mint coins was an important political
act: the image of the ruling emperor appeared on most issues, and coins were a
means of showing his image throughout the empire. Also featured were
predecessors, empresses, other family members, and
heirs apparent
. By issuing coins with the image
of an heir his legitimacy and future succession was proclaimed and reinforced.
Political messages and imperial propaganda such as proclamations of victory and
acknowledgements of loyalty also appeared in certain issues.

Legally only the emperor and the Senate had the authority to mint coins
inside the empire. However the authority of the Senate was mainly in name only.
In general, the imperial government issued gold and silver coins while the
Senate issued bronze coins marked by the legend “SC”, short for
Senatus Consulto “by decree of the Senate”. However, bronze coinage could be
struck without this legend. Some Greek cities were allowed to mint^[91]
bronze and certain silver coins, which today are known as Greek Imperials
(also Roman Colonials or Roman Provincials). The imperial mints
were under the control of a chief financial minister, and the provincial mints
were under the control of the imperial provincial procurators. The Senatorial
mints were governed by officials of the Senatorial treasury.