|
Constantine VIII
Constantine VIII (;Also called Porphyrogenitus (), although the epithet is almost exclusively used for Constantine VII. 960 – 11/12 November 1028) was ''de jure'' Byzantine emperor from 962 until his death. He was the younger son of Emperor Romanos II and Empress Theophano (born Anastaso), Theophano. He was nominal co-emperor from 962, successively with his father; stepfather, Nikephoros II Phokas; uncle, John I Tzimiskes; and brother, Basil II. Basil's death in 1025 left Constantine as the sole emperor. He occupied the throne for 66 years in total, making him ''de jure'' the longest-reigning amongst List of Roman emperors, all Roman emperors since Augustus. Constantine displayed a lifelong lack of interest in politics, statecraft and the military, and during his brief sole reign the government of the Byzantine Empire suffered from mismanagement and neglect. He had no sons and was instead succeeded by Romanos Argyros, husband of his daughter Zoe Porphyrogenita, Zoe. Fami ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bari
Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and university city as well as the city of Saint Nicholas. The city itself has a population of 315,473 inhabitants, and an area of over , while the urban area has 750,000 inhabitants. Its Metropolitan City of Bari, metropolitan province has 1.2 million inhabitants. Bari is made up of four different urban sections. To the north is the closely built old town on the peninsula between two modern harbours, with the Basilica di San Nicola, Basilica of Saint Nicholas, the Cathedral of San Sabino (1035–1171) and the Castello Normanno-Svevo (Bari), Norman-Swabian Castle, which is now also a major nightlife district. To the south is the Murat quarter (erected by Joachim Murat), the modern heart of the city, which is laid out on a rectangular grid-plan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Roman Emperors
The Roman emperors were the rulers of the Roman Empire from the granting of the name and title ''Augustus'' to Octavian by the Roman Senate in 27 BC onward. Augustus maintained a facade of Republican rule, rejecting monarchical titles but calling himself '' princeps senatus'' (first man of the Senate) and ''princeps civitatis'' (first citizen of the state). The title of Augustus was conferred on his successors to the imperial position, and emperors gradually grew more monarchical and authoritarian. The style of government instituted by Augustus is called the Principate and continued until the late third or early fourth century. The modern word "emperor" derives from the title '' imperator'', that was granted by an army to a successful general; during the initial phase of the empire, the title was generally used only by the ''princeps''. For example, Augustus's official name was ''Imperator Caesar Divi Filius Augustus''. The territory under command of the emperor had develop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Tzimiskes
John I Tzimiskes (; 925 – 10 January 976) was the senior Byzantine emperor from 969 to 976. An intuitive and successful general who married into the influential Skleros family, he strengthened and expanded the Byzantine Empire to include Thrace and Syria by warring with the Rus' under Sviatoslav I and the Fatimids respectively. Background John was born in present-day Çemişgezek in Tunceli Province. His father, son of Theophilos Kourkouas, was a scion of the Kourkouas family, a clan of Armenians, Armenian origin that had established itself as one of the chief families among the Anatolian military aristocracy by the early 10th century. His mother belonging to the Phokas (Byzantine family), Phokas family of unknown ethnicity, maybe Greeks, Greek-Armenians, Armenian origin. Scholars have speculated that "''Tzimiskes''" was derived either from the Armenian ''Chmushkik'' (Չմշկիկ), meaning "red boot", or from an Armenian word for "short stature", as explained by Leo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nikephoros II
Nikephoros II Phokas (; – 11 December 969), Latinized Nicephorus II Phocas, was Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969. His career, not uniformly successful in matters of statecraft or of war, nonetheless greatly contributed to the resurgence of the Byzantine Empire during the 10th century. In the east, Nikephoros completed the conquest of Cilicia and retook the islands of Crete and Cyprus, opening the path for subsequent Byzantine incursions reaching as far as Upper Mesopotamia and the Levant; these campaigns earned him the sobriquet "pale death of the Saracens". Early life and career Nikephoros Phokas was born around 912. From his paternal side, he belonged to the Phokas family which had produced several distinguished generals, including Nikephoros' father Bardas Phokas, brother Leo Phokas, and grandfather Nikephoros Phokas the Elder, who had all served as commanders of the field army ('' domestikos tōn scholōn''). From his maternal side he belonged to the Maleinoi, a po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Histamenon
''Histamenon'' (, ''histámenon [nómisma]'' ) was the name given to the gold Byzantine Empire, Byzantine ''solidus (coin), solidus'' when the slightly lighter ''tetarteron'' was introduced in the 960s. To distinguish the two, the ''histamenon'' was changed in form from the original ''solidus'', becoming wider and thinner, as well as concave (scyphate) in form. Later usually shortened to ''stamenon'' (), it was discontinued after 1092. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the name ''stamenon'' came to be applied to the concave billon (alloy), billon and copper ''trachy (currency), trachea'' coins. Establishment Ever since Emperor Constantine I () introduced it in 309, the Byzantine Empire's main coinage had been the high-quality ''solidus (coin), solidus'' or ''nomisma'', which had remained standard in weight (4.55 grams) and gold content (24 Carat (purity), carats) through the centuries. Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas (), however, introduced a new coin, the ''[nomisma] tetarte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Halo (religious Iconography)
A halo (), also called a nimbus, aureola, aureole, glory or gloriole (), is a crown of light rays, circle or disk of light that surrounds a person in works of art. The halo occurs in the iconography of many religions to indicate holy or sacred figures, and has at various periods also been used in images of rulers and heroes. In the religious art of Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism (among other religions), sacred persons may be depicted with a halo in the form of a circular glow, or flames in Asian art, around the head or around the whole body—this last form is often called a mandorla. Halos may be shown as almost any colour or combination of colours, but are most often depicted as golden, yellow or white (when representing light) or as red (when representing flames). The earliest artistic depictions of halos were probably in Ancient Egyptian art. Ancient Mesopotamia and Persia Sumerian religious literature frequently speaks of ( in Akkad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solidus (coin)
The ''solidus'' (Latin 'solid'; : ''solidi'') or ''nomisma'' () was a highly pure gold coin issued in the Later Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire. It was introduced in the early 4th century, replacing the aureus, and its weight of about 4.45 grams remained relatively constant for seven centuries. In the Byzantine Empire, the solidus or nomisma remained a highly pure gold coin until the 11th century, when several Byzantine emperors began to strike the coin with debasement, less and less gold. The nomisma was finally abolished by Alexios I Komnenos in 1092, who replaced it with the hyperpyron, which also came to be known as a "bezant". The Byzantine solidus also inspired the zolotnik in the Kievan Rus' and the originally slightly less pure gold dinar first issued by the Umayyad Caliphate beginning in 697. In Western Europe, the solidus was the main gold coin of commerce from late Roman times to the Early Middle Ages. In Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the solidus also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theodora Porphyrogenita (11th Century)
Theodora Porphyrogenita (; 31 August 1056) was Byzantine Empress from 21 April 1042 to her death on 31 August 1056, and sole ruler from 11 January 1055. She was the last sovereign of the Macedonian dynasty, that ruled the Byzantine Empire for almost 200 years. Theodora was the youngest daughter of Emperor Constantine VIII. After Theodora's father died in 1028, her older sister Zoë co-ruled with her husbands Romanos III and Michael IV, kept Theodora closely watched. After two foiled plots, Theodora was exiled to an island monastery in the Sea of Marmara in 1031. A decade later, the people of Constantinople rose against Michael IV's nephew and successor, Michael V, and insisted that Theodora return to rule alongside Zoë. After 65 days Zoë married again, to Constantine IX, who assumed the imperial responsibilities. Theodora seemingly retired to a convent after Zoë's death in 1050. When Constantine died, the 74-year-old Theodora returned to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) certified the global eradication of the disease in 1980, making smallpox the only human disease to have been eradicated to date. The initial symptoms of the disease included fever and vomiting. This was followed by formation of ulcers in the mouth and a skin rash. Over a number of days, the skin rash turned into the characteristic fluid-filled blisters with a dent in the center. The bumps then scabbed over and fell off, leaving scars. The disease was transmitted from one person to another primarily through prolonged face-to-face contact with an infected person or rarely via contaminated objects. Prevention was achieved mainly through the smallpox vaccine. Once the disease had developed, certain antiviral medications could poten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helena, Daughter Of Alypius
Helena Alypia (, ''Helénē Alypía''; 960s? – ?) was a Byzantine empress consort as the wife of Byzantine Emperor Constantine VIII. Life Very little is known about her, as she is only briefly mentioned in the ''Chronographia'' of Michael Psellos, followed by the works of John Skylitzes and Zonaras. Psellos writes of her only that: :"Constantine while still a young man, had married a lady called Helena. She was a daughter of the renowned Alypius, then the leading man in the city and member of a noble family held in high repute. This lady, who was not only beautiful but also virtuous, bore him three daughters before she died." Apart from this reference in Psellos, her father Alypius (Αλυπίος) is otherwise unknown. The marriage probably took place ca. 976, and Helena died at some unknown point, apparently long before her husband became sole emperor in 1025. The historian Gunther G. Wolf theorized that she died ca. 989, possibly during the birth of her third daughter. Their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boris II Of Bulgaria
Boris II (; ; c. 931 – 977) was the List of Bulgarian monarchs, emperor (tsar) of First Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria from 969 to 977 (in Byzantine captivity from 971). Boris II was the eldest surviving son of Emperor Peter I of Bulgaria and Irene Lekapene, Maria (renamed Eirene) Lekapena, a granddaughter of Emperor Romanus I, Romanos I Lekapenos of Byzantium. Boris had been born by 931, when he had visited Constantinople together with his mother. Nothing else is known of Boris II's life until 968, when he went to Constantinople again to negotiate a peace settlement with Emperor Nicephorus II, Nikephoros II Phokas, and apparently to serve as an honorary hostage. This arrangement was intended to put an end to the conflict between Bulgaria and Byzantium, who would now join forces against Prince Sviatoslav I of Kiev, whom the Byzantine emperor had pitted against the Bulgarians. In 969 a new Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria, Kievan invasion defeated the Bulgarians again and Peter I a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Romanos Et Eudoxie
Romanos may refer to: *Romanos, Aragon, a municipality in the province of Zaragoza, in Aragon. *Romanos the Melodist, early medieval Greek poet and saint *Romanos I Lekapenos (870–948), Byzantine Emperor from 920 to 944 *Romanos II (938–963), Byzantine Emperor from 959–963) *Romanos III Argyros (968–1034), Byzantine emperor from 1028 to 1034 *Romanos IV Diogenes ( – 1072), Byzantine emperor who reigned from 1068 to 1071 *Romanos Kourkouas, Byzantine aristocrat and senior military leader of the mid-10th century *Romanos Melikian (1883–1935), Armenian composer See also * Romano (other) *Romanus (other), hellenized as Romanos, the name of several people {{disambig, hndis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
