Questions tagged [roman-empire]
The Roman Empire was a vast empire, centred around the city of Rome, that lasted from 27 BC to 476 AD (West); 1453 AD (East).
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What is the evidence that Galerius raised Severus II to the rank of Augustus?
It is widely reported that Severus II was made Augustus by Galerius.
But Zosimus in Historia Nova reports: "Maximianus Gallerius, when he had learned this, sent Severus Caesar against Maxentius ...
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What was at the start of Early Roman codices?
What was on an early Roman codex before the actual text of the author? For example, we have the title, author, copyright notifications and other publication information. In contrast what would you ...
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Why was the Roman Empire considered an empire rather than a kingdom (again)?
First there was the Roman Kingdom, then the Roman Republic and then the Roman Empire. But what was it that made it an empire the third time, rather than just going back to being a kingdom again?
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Why do ancient Jewish sources increasingly downplay Rome's role in Jerusalem's destruction?
Josephus, the (in)famous Judeo-Roman historian, in his pivotal account of the Jewish-Roman war, seeks to persistently and systematically distance the Romans from any moral responsibility in the Temple'...
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How exactly did the government work with very large empires? [closed]
In planning my fictional worlds, I have come to wonder how exactly large empires worked, the main question being, how did they manage to keep control over such a large space in a manner that allowed ...
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Until when was Marseille Greek-speaking?
Marseille was originally a Greek city. It fell to the Romans in 49 BC, but without suffering very much. Given the widespread use of the Greek language in the Roman Empire, it is not clear to me that ...
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What were the neoplatonists' attitude towards Christianity (or religion in general)?
In the movie "Agora" an ultimatum is given to Hypatia, either she adopts Christianity or the prefect would not be able to protect her anymore. Hypatia chooses the latter and is subsequently ...
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Were there "Taxes Paid" slave tattoos in the Roman Empire?
In this video, YouTube: Did Ancient Romans Use Tattoos? @ 4:35, the presenter mentions a "Taxes Paid" tattoo. I understand it's just YouTube but I believe this creator doesn't typically ...
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Along side Roman roads, where did the drainage ditches lead? [closed]
Reading about how Roman roads were built, it seems they built drainage ditches on both sides. I've found various sites talking about this, such as this one.
This leads to a question that will sound ...
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Would a Roman emperor during Pax Romana be recognised by Roman Britons as a king of Roman Britain?
Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus
Take for example the Roman emperor during Pax Romana "Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus".
Changes of name, Wikipedia
His original name was Lucius Aelius ...
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Which person is portrayed in this statue?
I was visiting the Capitolini Museum in Rome last week and this statue caught my attention, It was sad that I couldn't find more information about it but I hope someone could identify it or give more ...
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Do any Roman writings use the phrase Casus belli?
I have long had it assumed Casus Belli was a term used by the Romans (probably because it's Latin), but apparently not so?
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Are there historical texts recording acts of ransom / heists on the rich in Roman Empire?
I know that large scale slave revolts in Roman Empire were relatively rare.
On smaller scales though, in modern times we have house invasions / kidnapping and car theft.
In Rome with gap being so wide ...
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How important was the war against Vercingetorix to the Romans?
I have recently been watching Netflix documentary on Rome and Julius Caesar and of course his most famous battle in Gaul.
My question is how big of an issue was Vercingetorix rebellion for the Romans?
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Seeking floor plan of a classical Roman building with 20 to 30 rooms
An offshoot of this question.
I am developing a software product. Very briefly, given a floor plan,
it lets the user edit it, and add information to each "room".
Think of a shopping mall, ...
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Did Julius Caesar ban low-birth people wearing pearls?
I encountered this
"in I century B.C., during the Julius Caesar consulship, it was promulgated a law that prohibited the theirs [sic] use by the lower classes" RomeAndArt
statement several ...
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Why no Holy Roman Emperor ever accepted a name, coinciding with a name of a Roman Emperor? [closed]
For instance, no Holy Roman Emperor was named Constantine, or Alexander etc. On the other hand, many Byzantine emperors had names of previous Roman emperors (Constantine, Theodosios, Tiberios, ...
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What does CONOB mean on ancient Roman coins?
I have stumbled across many depictions of Roman coins with the abbreviation CONOB on it, such as this one.
What does it stand for?
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Are there archaeological sites of Drusus‘ campaign 9 BC?
The Roman commander Nero Claudius Drusus reached the river Elbe in 9 BC.
Are there any archaeological sites or finds of this Roman campaign deep into Germania?
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Do we know how much the Aurelian Wall would have cost to build?
I've been reading about the Aurelian Wall and it's very fascinating, though I wonder how much, in denarii, sestercii, or other, it would have cost the Romans. Is there any way we could possibly ...
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What date format was used at Pompeii around the Mt Vesuvius eruption
I saw a recent television commercial with a modern person at the Mt Vesuvius eruption asking a Pompeii resident the year. The resident answers with 79 AD. But I thought the zero point for the BC/AD ...
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How much did Didius Julianus pay to become emperor of Rome?
According to Wikipedia, Didius Julianus was proclaimed Roman Emperor in AD 193 by the Praetorian Guard after offering them 25,000 sesterces per soldier (outbidding Sulpicianus's offer of 20,000 ...
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What ancient sources discuss the importance of the Sacred fire of Vesta and why it needed to stay alight?
Dionysius of Halicarnassus in Roman Antiquites touches on, in brief, that the entiguishing of the flame was an omen for the destruction of the city.
There are many indications, it seems, when a ...
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Where in the sources does it say that Syagrius claimed to be "merely governing a Roman province"?
I have read on Wikipedia:Soissons and elsewhere that Syagrius, the last ruler of the Kingdom of Soissons, always claimed to be merely the ruler of a Roman province rather than the king of an ...
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Why did Pausanias travel to Greece?
Pausanias wrote his Description of Greece in the first century AD, which remains a priceless resource for classicists and archaeologists to this day.
I've made a quick perusal of the text itself, as ...
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What social response could be expected in the Roman world after a temple collapsed?
I've been reading Ritual Landscapes of South-East Britain (2008, David Rudling). In a chapter on the Wanborough, Surrey Temple complex the author discusses how one temple was built in the late first ...
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Did the Roman government attempt to hide the collapse of the empire? [closed]
Did the late Roman government lie about the borders of their empire? Has this ever been argued by Roman historians?
This question is different from this one.
Michael Kulikowski refers to the Notitia ...
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Was "Via Regia" the original name of the "Via Nova Traiana"?
This is a quote from Wikipedia:
The Via Traiana Nova or Via Nova Traiana (Latin for 'Trajan's New
Road'), previously known as the Via Regia or King's Highway, was an
ancient Roman road built by ...
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Did Post-Marian Republic or Imperial Legion cohorts have specific skill levels?
Here and here and numerous other places I've looked online state that Roman Legions divided their infantry into cohorts based on skill, and that all legions had their cohorts identically manned. The ...
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What kind of suspension did Roman carrucae have?
The German Wikipedia on post coaches states that the Roman carrucae (there described as a Reisewagen, something like travelling vehicle) already had suspension and a passenger cabin. I tried to find ...
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Why are church reformist centers all outside the boundary of the original Roman Empire?
Is it a coincidence that the church reformist centers are virtually all outside the original Roman Empire border, the Roman Limes?
It seems reasonable these areas - at least from the beginning in ...
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What was the importance of the patrician class in the Roman Empire?
This is a question that has puzzled me in my research of the history of the Roman Empire.
During the Roman Republic the Patrician class was obviously of paramount importance, & history of the ...
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Is Josephus' account for the length of the Jewish War generally accepted as correct?
In Josephus' famous work on the subject, the First Jewish-Roman War is depicted as lasting a full number of years,1 inasmuch as it is presented as starting in the month of Artemisius (II Wars 14:4), ...
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How did the pincer movement at the Battle of Cannae work? [closed]
In an effort to understand both the Battle of Cannae and its early use of double envelopment (Pincer movement) in 216 BC, I came across the following diagram:
The diagram doesn't seem particularly ...
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What were the political and military constraints on Vercingetorix at Alesia?
I don't fully understand why Vercingetorix accepted a siege at Alesia (a fortified area), where he would be short of food instead of pursuing one or more of the alternatives below. The reason I'm ...
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Why did Rome adopt Greek culture?
Initially, I understand the Macedonians had a Greek culture (Art, Religion, etc) because they were Greek. But then the Romans dominated the Macedonian Empire and adopted their culture too, and that ...
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Can the Notitia Dignitatum help identify colors for Late Republic/Early Imperial Roman Shields?
Traditionally Hollywood has showed us red shields for the Legions, but of course Hollywood only pays historical fact-checkers to say they have one, not to do what the fact-checkers say! The actual ...
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How were cities administered in the early Byzantine Empire?
First of all, I would just like to note that I am not looking for an answer concerning Constantinople, but rather how other cities were governed (e.g. Thessaloniki, Adrianapole, Nicaea, Smyrna, ...
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How many times did the the sacred fire of Vesta die?
The sacred fire of Vesta was a sacred eternal flame in Ancient Rome, tended to by the Vestal Virgins. Except once a year for the kalendae (first day of March), extinguishing the sacred fire resulted ...
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Why did Roman women have no praenomen?
In a recent question it was noted, as is well known, that Roman girls were not given praenomen, but took the feminine form of their father's gens - eg Valeria, Cornelia. I have even read the assertion ...
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Why is Jesus' crucifixion dated to AD 30–33? [closed]
I've read pretty much everywhere that the consensus is that Jesus died between AD 30–33, but I can't seem to find where this conclusion comes from.
Are there some historical sources or pieces of ...
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How was the Pandidakterion organised?
How was the Pandidakterion organised?
Wikipedia:Pandidakterion states that the Pandidakterion lacked 'corporative structure'. I do not understant exactly what the corporative structure is and how was ...
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Did they use nicknames in ancient Rome?
Praenomens in ancient Rome seemed to have been rather limited, especially by the time of the empire. There must've been cases where close friends or cousins and the like would've had the same ...
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Why is the late Russian Empire associated with Byzantium while having little in common with it?
I have started reading the book A people's tragedy by Orlando Figes about the Russian revolution. I am no historian, however having read a few pages I have a few questions about the repeated ...
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What was the value of a thousand talents in Roman Palestine about AD 33?
My question is simple, "what was the value of a thousand talents in Roman Palestine about AD 33?"
It is my impression that a thousand talents would have been a vast amount of wealth for that ...
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What politics were implemented to accomplish the Christian tradition and try to keep what is written in the Holy Bible? [closed]
Once the Roman Emperor; Constantine the Great; made that Christianity began the transition as the dominant religion of the Roman Empire:
What politics were implemented to accomplish the Christian ...
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Why did Romans use the sesterce in written monetary records when the coin itself was so rarely used?
In the vast majority of cases, Roman writers and government officials recorded amounts of money (money donated, value of items bought/sold, amount given in wills, etc.) in sesterces. Given that the ...
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What is the ruined tower in the background of this 1649 drawing of the Igeler Säule by Joan Blaeu?
The Igeler Säule is a Roman sandstone column dating back to 200-215 CE (h/t to @justCal) and together with the Drususstein (made in honour of Nero Claudius Drusus) according to Wikipedia
the only ...
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Why didn't the Byzantines develop anti-cavalary tactics?
I noticed that Rome has always fought against equestrian nations and they weren't always successful. Gauls, Parthians, Huns and Turks had many battles with the Romans. I heard that the Romans before ...
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Which early Imperial Roman writer said this about grains?
I definitively although vaguely recall a quote by a (first century AD?) Roman that asserts more or less that civilised Romans use wheat in baking, whereas Germans/Celts (I forget which) would use rye (...
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