test please delete

[Moscow Mule]

Vitellius

Aulus Vitellius
born on 24 September AD 15. Consul AD 48. Became emperor in AD 69. Married (1) Petronia (one son; Patronianus); (2) Galeria Fundana (one son; Vitellius; one daughter; Vitellia). Assassinated on 24 December AD 69.

Vitellius
Vitellius

Vitellius entered Rome and took the throne in AD 69.
But his reign, too, was not to last. For in the east Vespasian arose in revolt, being hailed emperor in Egypt and Syria.
The troops along the Danube sided with him and general Antoninus Primus led an army into Italy, defeated Vitellius' forces and the second Battle of Bedriacum (Cremona) and marched on Rome.
Vitellius was dragged through the streets, tortured and alas flung into the river Tiber.

[Moscow Mule]

Vespasian

Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus
born 17 November AD 9 at Reate. Served in Thrace, Crete, Cyrene, Germany, Britain and Africa. Military commander in Palestine AD 66-69. Became emperor in AD 69. Married Flavia Domitilla, who died AD 65 (two sons, Titus and Domitian, and one daughter Domitilla). Died on 24 June AD 79. Deified in AD 79.

Vespasian
Vespasian

Thus with the fall of Vitellius came the end of the first crisis of the Roman empire. With it was revealed the fundamental weakness from which the empire could never completely escape. So long as the troops held to their allegiance their emperor was an incredibly powerful figure. While he lived there was no-one they could transfer their allegiance except their immediate commander if he chose to accept it. Once an emperor was firmly established with general consent he needed not to fear revolt unless he made himself wantonly intolerable. But the settlement of the succession lay with the soldiery and primarily with the praetorians, in their camp at Rome.

Vespasian arrived in Rome to take power in AD 70, having been represented in Rome by his younger son Domitian until his arrival.
Vespasian's men were loyal. There was no possible rival on the scene. Rome only craved for the anarchy to end so Vespasian's formal recognition as emperor was a foregone conclusion.
Vespasian was a practical man. Like Marius he was of the people, an in no way ashamed of the fact.
He had been fighting, commanding troops organizing and administrating for thirty years, hence he knew the system by personal experience. More so, he was a shrewd judge of character and knew the empire form end to end.

In the same year, in September AD 70, Jerusalem finally fell to Titus, Vespasian's' elder son who had taken charge of the Jewish campaign, as his father had left for Rome. The great Temple of Solomon was razed, the Jews were driven out of their homeland and dispersed.
Also in AD 70 a short lived rebellion in Germany, led by Gallic legionary officer Civilis. It is noteworthy as it proved just how well Vespasian had restored order in such short a time. Unlike during the previous time of civil strife, rebellions now had little chance of prospering.

The vices and extravagances of Roman society held no attraction for the gritty soldier.
His hard-headed shrewdness was the best possible answer to the corruption of the times, making decency more fashionable than indecency. Vespasian indulged in no violence and restored law and public confidence.
He was well served in the men he appointed and his public works were directed to the dignity of state and the welfare of the people. Meanwhile his expenditure was economical and put the state treasury back on a sound footing.
Vespasian was not picturesque, but he was effective and he gave the empire, and above all the heart of the empire, Italy, that peace and order which had been to rudely shaken during the civil war.

[n5gooner]

[edit] Occupation of Sicily

In September 1190 both Richard and Philip arrived in Sicily. After the death of King William II of Sicily, his cousin Tancred of Lecce had seized power and been crowned early in 1190 as King Tancred I of Sicily, although the legal heir was William's aunt Constance, wife of the new Emperor Henry VI. Tancred had imprisoned William's widow, Queen Joan, who was Richard's sister, and did not give her the money she had inherited in William's will. When Richard arrived, he demanded that his sister be released and given her inheritance. The presence of foreign troops also caused unrest: in October, the people of Messina revolted, demanding that the foreigners leave. Richard attacked Messina, capturing it on 4 October 1190. After looting and burning the city Richard established his base there. He remained there until Tancred finally agreed to sign a treaty on 4 March 1191. The treaty was signed by Richard, Philip and Tancred. Its main terms were:

• Joan was to be released, receiving her inheritance and the dowry her father had given to her late husband.
• Richard and Philip recognized Tancred as King of Sicily and vowed to keep the peace between all three of their kingdoms.
• Richard officially proclaimed his nephew, Arthur of Brittany, son of Geoffrey, as his heir, and Tancred promised to marry one of his daughters to Arthur when he came of age.
• Richard and Tancred exchanged gifts; Richard gave Tancred a sword which he claimed was Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur.

After signing the treaty Richard and Philip left Sicily. The treaty undermined England's relationships with the Holy Roman Empire and caused the revolt of Richard's brother John, who hoped to be proclaimed heir instead of their nephew. Although his revolt failed, John continued to scheme against his brother.

[Moscow Mule]

Titus

Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus
born on 30 December AD 40 in Rome, son of Vespasian and Flavia Domitilla. Legionary commander and then commander-in-chief in Palestine. Became associate emperor in AD 71, emperor in AD 79. Married (1) Arrecina Tertulla; (2) Marcia Furnilla (one daughter, Flavia Julia). Died on 13 September AD 81. Deified in AD 81.

Titus
Titus

Titus had been for some years formally associated with his father as co-emperor and succeeded him as a matter of course in AD 79. He reigned for only two years, long enough though to win a lasting reputation, hardly expected at the time of his accession, for clemency and generosity. He was emperor at the time of an appalling calamity for which there had been no precedent, the utter obliteration of the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii by an eruption of the volcano Vesuvius in AD 79.

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Domitian

Titus Flavius Domitianius Augustus
born on 24 October AD 51 in Rome, younger son of Vespasian and Flavia Domitilla. Became emperor in 14 September AD 81. Married Domitia Longina (no childred). Murdered on 18 September AD 96.

Domitian
Domitian

Titus left no son and was hence succeeded by his brother Domitian in AD 81, who left to posterity a reputation among the worst of all Roman emperors. The combination of personal depravity with superstitious fanaticism in him led to disaster. It drew him into the encouraging of some vile people and the revival of many of the worst excesses of Nero's reign, oddly accompanied by social legislation of the puritanical kind.

At the outset Domitian sought military glory, but his participation in frontier campaigns achieved little.
The most creditable feature of Domitian's reign was the governorship of Britain by Gnaeus Julius Agricola (AD 37-93), for which though Domitian was not responsible, but which he jealously terminated in AD 85.
Agricola had been appointed to Britain by Vespasian in AD 78 and had since not only advanced the border to the line from the Solway Firth to the Tyne (the later position for Hadrian's Wall), but also partially subjugated the lowlands of Caledonia and advanced into the Highlands and there inflicted a heavy defeat on the Picts.

Domitian excited less terror but hardly less disgust in his latter years than Nero. Rome endured him with growing anxiety and displeasure, but only one serious revolt was ever attempted against him. Lucius Antoninus Saturninus who was in command of two legions along the Rhine, tried to follow the example of Galba, but was quickly overthrown by another officer.
The only effect of the rebellion was to increase the suspicion and fears of the emperor and intensify the worst traits of his character.
Bad as he was, no one wanted a renewal of the armed contests for the position of emperor.

However, a major plot against Domitian, including the praetorian prefects, several senators and even the emperor's wife, succeeded and the hated emperor was assassinated.

[Let-Me-In]

12:26 - already here!!!

[Moscow Mule]

Early Emperors'
Chronology

23 The Senate grants Augustus the titles and powers of Imperium proconsulare maius and tribunicia potestas for life, thereby turning over to him complete control of the State and ending the Roman Republic

21-19 Without bloodshed Augustus wins back from King Phraates IV the Roman standards lost to the Parthians in 53

17 Secular Games (Ludi saeculares) celebrated as symbol of the new Golden Age brought in by Augustus

15 The territory of the Raeti and Celtic Vincelici (Tyrol,Bavaria,Switzerland) subdued, the new province of Raetia instituted

13 July 4, consecration ceremony of the Altar of Peace (ara Pacis) voted by the Senate to honor Augustus

12 Augustus takes title and position of Pontifex Maximus

13-9 Campaigns in Pannoia

12-9 Campaigns in Germany

9 30 January, dedication of the completed Ara Pacis Augustae

5 Gaius Caesar, grandson of Augustus, named heir presumptive, princeps juventutis

4 most likely date for Birth of Jesus Christ

2 Augustus is awarded the honourific title of pater patriae. Lucius Caesar, brother of Gaius, likewise is name Princeps juventutis

AD

2 Lucius Caesar dies in Massilia

4 Gaius Caesar dies in Lycia from a wound sustained in battle eighteen months earlier

6-9 Pannonian revolt suppressed by Tiberius

9 Roman army under Varus suffers overwhelming defeat in the Teutoburg Forest in campaign against the Cherusci

14 August 19, Augustus dies at Nola. On September 17 the Senate elevates him to the pantheon of State gods, an honor he had himself prepared by building a temple to the Divius Julius

14-37 Tiberius emperor

14-16 Germanicus, nephew and adopted heir of Tiberius leads campaign in Germany. Germans evacuated to the right bank of the Rhine

19 Mysterious death (by poison?) of Germanicus in Antioch

21-22 The Praetorian Guard in Rome is concentrated into a single huge barracks (the Castra Praetoria), a move engineered by their prefect Sejanus to make them into a political force

26 Tiberius saved by Sejanus when his grotto-villa at Sperlonga caves in. The emperor, rarely in the capital, retires to Capri

26-31 Sejanus becomes all-powerful in Rome but is arrested and executed on October 18, AD 31

37 March March 16, death of Tiberius

37-41 Caligula emperor

39-40 To justify his military pretensions Caligula launches an abortive campaign against Germany and Britain

41 January 24, Caligula, his wife, and his only child are murdered

41-54 Claudius emperor

43-44 Britain brought under Roman rule

54-68 Claudius posisoned by his wife Agrippina, Nero emperor

62 Earthquake at Pompeii and nearby Vesuvian towns

64 Great fire in Rome. Persecution of Christians

65 Conspiracy against Nero by C. Calpurnius Piso is exposed and the plotters, among them Seneca and his nephew Lucan, executed

67 Nero in Greece

68 With revolts blazing in Gaul, Spain, and Africa as well as among the Praetorian Guard in Rome, Nero flees and commits suicide

68-69 First crisis of the Empire: year of the Four Emperors Galba, Otho, Vitallius, Vespasian. On July 1, AD 69, Vespasian is proclaimed emperor but almost six months pass before he can eliminate rivals and enter Rome

69-79 Vespasian emperor, initiating Flavian dynasty

70 Titus, elder son of Vespasian, takes Jerusalem and destroys the Temple

79-81 Titus, co-regent since 71, sole ruler after death of his father in 79

79 August 24, eruption of Vesuvius buries Pompeii, Heraculaneum, and Stabiae

80 Great fire in Rome

81-96 Domitian, younger son of Vespasian, emperor

83-85 Campaigns against the Chatti in western Germany; building of border fortifications (limesin Germany

86-90 Difficulties with the Dacians settled by making King Decebalus a client-ruler

95 Expulsion of philosophers from Italy

96 Nerva emperor upon assassination of Domitian

[Moscow Mule]

Greek philosophy focused on the role of reason and inquiry. In many ways, it had an important influence on modern philosophy, as well as modern science. Clear unbroken lines of influence lead from ancient Greek and Hellenistic philosophers to the Islamic civilization, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the secular sciences of the modern day.

Neither reason nor inquiry began with the Greeks. Defining the difference between the Greek quest for knowledge and the quests of the elder civilizations, such as the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians, has long been a topic of study by theorists of civilization. Benjamin Farrington, former Professor of Classics at Swansea University wrote:

"Men were weighing for thousands of years before Archimedes worked out the laws of equilibrium; they must have had practical and intuitional knowledge of the principles involved. What Archimedes did was to sort out the theoretical implications of this practical knowledge and present the resulting body of knowledge as a logically coherent system."

and again:

"With astonishment we find ourselves on the threshold of modern science. Nor should it be supposed that by some trick of translation the extracts have been given a delusive air of modernity. Far from it. The vocabulary of these writings and their style are the source from which our own vocabulary and style have been derived."

[Moscow Mule]

1531 - only a couple of hours to go, must book my car

[Let-Me-In]

1531 - only a couple of hours to go, must book my car

12:32 - A meeting in 28 minutes, must drink some coffee...