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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Was there a love affair between Faustina the Younger and Avidius Cassius?
I recently watched episode 1 of season 1 of the Netflix series "Rome". According to that episode, Faustina the Younger (Marcus Aurelius's wife) had a love affair with the Roman general ...
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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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Did the Roman Empire lie? [closed]
Some modern countries, including the US, Russia, and the UK in particular are blamed (by the other side, where Russia is confronted to US+UK) to be particularly lying in politics, using their powerful ...
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Are there any sources which mention agrarian limitations during the fall of the Roman empire?
Are there any sources which mention the agrarian limitations during the fall of the Roman empire (any weakness created through an agrarian society) or nomadic advantages (in warfare, etc?). I have ...
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What evidence is there for the severity of Roman scourging before crucifixion?
Something I'm curious about is the severity of scourging ancient Romans inflicted on their victims before crucifixion.
Numerous religious/Christian websites suggest that it was quite severe, and ...
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Did the Romans import worship in response to plagues?
Pan's Travail by J. Hughes mentions an introduction of various gods as a response to plagues near the fall of the Roman Empire, including Aesculapius ("introduced at Rome to avert a pestilence in ...
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Did the Romans reuse crosses for crucifixion punishment or it was one time use (1st century Jerusalem) ? I need verified sources on this
I am trying to check if the story of Saint Helena mother of Constantine 1 finding the true cross logically follows or not.
The most common story goes ( Wikipedia:Church of the Holy Sepulchre)
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When did the Roman Empire fall according to contemporaries?
The Roman Empire divided itself into two parts, the Eastern Roman Empire headquartered in Constantinople and the Western Roman Empire headquartered in Rome. The city of Rome itself fell in the year ...
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Is there a relationship between the Roman/fascist salute and the gestures of the Roman emperor in the Colloseum? [closed]
Last October I went to visit Rome and enjoyed a tour through the Coliseum. Our tour guide told a number of stories about the Coliseum, most of which sounded plausible enough. However, one thing seemed ...
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Why was ancient Christianity more successful than the Roman pantheon and Judaism in gaining followers?
Around the 1st century AD, the three biggest religions in the Roman empire were the Roman pantheon, Judaism, and Christianity.
Why was Christianity so much more successful in gaining and keeping ...
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How and when was the Temple of Trajan destroyed?
From Wikipedia article on the Temple of Trajan in Rome:
The Temple of Trajan was a Roman temple dedicated to the emperor
Trajan and his wife Plotina after his deification by the Roman Senate.
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What is this war machine shown on Trajan's column?
The most comprehensive visual evidence about Roman army of I-II centuries is the Trajan column. It shows in great detail cloths, weapons, ships, military machines and other equipment of the Roman army....
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If there was truly 3 hours of darkness in Roman empire following the crucifixion, would we expect some sort of record to survive of this happening?
In the synoptic Gospels it is claimed that 3 hours after the crucifixion there was darkness over all the land from noon-3pm along with intense earthquakes in Judea strong enough to split rocks and ...
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Did the Romans ever get the idea to pardon Jesus or expunge the conviction when they adopted it as the state religion in 380, Edict of Thessalonica?
Given the premise of Jesus as being an innocent man being wrongfully convicted, wouldn't the very legally minded Romans or other jurists have the idea that the government should delete the conviction ...
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What is the secular historical reason for Christ to be put to trial? [closed]
The most popular, religious and non-historical, reason why Jesus was crucified is to atone for humanity's sin. (If I search in google, most sites would show this theory).
What is the secular ...
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How did the Roman state verify citizenship?
How were ancient Roman citizens identified, and how did officials make sure that their identity wasn't fake? I.e., did they maintain some kind of citizens registry, or did they have some kind of ...
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Did Roman prosperity peak right on the eve of collapse (in particular c. 399)?
John Rapley and Peter Heather (Why Empires Fall, 2023, in Ch. 1 "Party Like It's 399"):
Rural population densities, and consequently overall agricultural output, reached maximum levels in ...
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Did ancient Romans anticipate the fall of Rome?
Background: The Fall of Rome
The Roman Empire collapsed as a political entity in several stages during the 5th, 6th, and 7th century CE. Specifically, these are:
the crossing of the Rhine by the ...
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Why did Constantius Chlorus decide to become a Flavius?
I have noticed that virtually all Roman emperors after Constantine were called Flavius Something. A quick lookup in wikipedia confirms this and even more:
During the later period of the Empire, the ...
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Where can I learn about Jewish Zealot ideology and history?
What are some great resources where I could learn more about the Jewish Zealots of the first century? I would like to learn more about their philosophy/ideology, their motivation, their contemporary ...
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What happened to the stuff stolen from the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans?
In the year 66 CE, the Jews in Roman Palestine rose up in revolt against the Roman occupation. Four years later , the Romans sacked Jerusalem, leveled the city, killed everyone inside, razed the ...
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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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When did the Romans finally acknowledge that they were living in an empire?
The Romans, during the time of the Republic, were a famously anti-monarchical society. There are plenty of stories of Roman politicians gaining favor by refusing crowns, or condemning kings, etc. As ...
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How would a Roman soldier address his superior officer? Reversely, how would a superior officer address a lower ranking Roman soldier?
Let's pretend for a second there is a legionnaire named Marcus and a centurion named Augustus. Would the legionnaire refer to his superior officer as "Centurion Augustus"? Or would he say &...
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What kind of law courts existed in first-century Palestine?
The Sermon on the Mount contains this advice to stay out of the legal system:
Agree with your adversary quickly while you are with him on the way;
lest perhaps the prosecutor deliver you to the judge,...
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Did the Byzantines ever attempt to move their capital to Rome?
Why was Constantinople (almost) always the capital of the Byzantines?
I understand they did not have Rome under their control until the AD500's, but is there any specific reason why the Byzantines ...
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How do we know when Nero was born?
If I go onto Wikipedia, I can see an answer of when he was born. But I can't really follow the sources. How do historians know when Nero was born?
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Did the Eastern Romans also use Roman concrete?
When I read about Roman concrete I understand its use was forgotten after the fall of the Roman empire. But what about the Eastern Roman empire, the Byzantine Empire? Did they still make buildings ...
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Why is this Roman bust identified as Arminius?
Wikipedia and Britannica show this bust in their articles about Arminius:
The caption in Wikipedia says:
This Roman sculpture of a young man is sometimes identified as
Arminius.
The description ...
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How was the Roman Empire officially referred to by contemporaries throughout the 1st to 6th centuries AD?
I understand that the notion of state in the specified period was different from the modern one and maybe was gradually changing over time. However, I still believe that contemporary sources ...
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How were Ceasar's troops supplied with food during the Siege of Alexandria?
During the Siege of Alexandria, Julius Ceasar and a few thousand troops were stuck in the royal quarter of Alexandria for several months, with a local army surrounding them.
Did the royal quarter have ...
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What do these terms in Caesar's Gallic Wars mean?
In his Comentarii de bello Gallico, Caesar writes this on first page:
The Belgae rises from the extreme frontier of Gaul, extend to the lower part of the river Rhine; and look toward the north ...
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Was there significant interbreeding between Romans and Native Britons?
During the days of Roman occupation in Britain (43AD to 450AD), did the Roman occupants of Britain interbreed and intermarry with the native British population substantially (is not only a couple of ...
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Did Hannibal make coins while campaigning using captured precious metals, Roman coins and perhaps bronze statues?
The process of minting coins at the time would be similar to the Roman method and I assume it would have been normal for any large army to carry the required tools and craftsmen while campaigning to ...
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Did Aetius or Attila fight in the Battle of Worms (436)?
I'm looking for information on the Battle of Worms (436). Specifically, did Flavius Aetius and/or Attila command or fight there?
The Wikipedia page on Aetius, under the "Battles/wars" column,...
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What prevented the Romans from naval expansion? [closed]
Now, I have a very poor understanding of history (my high school didn't even have a history class), so if I'm missing something please point it out.
The ancient Roman Empire was pretty large for its ...
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How many Jews lived in Rome in the period immediately before (and during) the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE)?
I have been researching some of the events that occurred during the Jewish-Roman wars in ancient Israel.
I have tried to find approximate population records of the Jews before and during the period of ...
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When did Herod the Great die?
I have read the article Did Herod the "Great" Really Die In 4 B.C.? which argues that Herod the Great might have died in 4 BC instead of 1 BC.
What is the evidence of this claim? Is this new date ...
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Is there any historical evidence for a co-regency of Tiberius and Augustus?
Is there any historical evidence for Caesar Tiberius (commonly referred to Tiberius Caesar) having a co-regency with his predecessor Caesar Augustus? I have read (in a book that I don't remember the ...
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How accurate and detailed were geographical maps created and updated by the Romans?
Knowledge is power, and having superior geographical knowledge vs. your imperialistic enemies and competitors was probably a big advantage in the middle ages. Some specific examples would be knowledge ...
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Is this theory on origins of modern-day Romania plausible?
I watched a documentary which basically claims that modern-day Romanians are not the descendants of Rome, but that the Romans and the Romanians share a common ancestor with the same language. One of ...
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What office or status did these individuals hold in Roman-Britain based on their attire?
I saw this Roman period wall painting in The Dorset County Museum. It was recovered from a mid-fourth century mausoleum located in a Roman cemetery from Poundbury between 1969 and 1970.
The wall ...
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Why did the Emperors leave Rome?
When I'm reading more about the late Roman Empire most of the time I read that the Roman emperors resided in Ravenna instead of Rome itself.
Was there a reason why the emperors of the late Roman ...
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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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Were there punishments in the Roman Empire for not believing in the official religion?
In popular culture Christians were being killed in the Colosseum because they did not want to accept the Emperor as a god. An example can be the novel Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz, who won the ...
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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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Did Roman Empire elite believe in their gods?
For example, did Julius Cesar or Augustus believe in the existence of Jupiter? Is there some consistent evidence in writings that they truly believed in the Roman gods? Or maybe they thought that the ...
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Why did modern "Romania" remain the most "Roman" part of the Balkans?
The so-called "Romanians" are the Vlachs who inhabited the territory just north of the Danube in Roman times, and today. Wallachia (home of the Vlachs), represented the outer limit or Roman expansion. ...