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Gaius Verres
Gaius Verres ( 114 – 43 BC) was a Roman magistrate, notorious for his misgovernment of Sicily. His extortion of local farmers and plundering of temples led to his prosecution by Cicero, whose accusations were so devastating that his defence advocate could only recommend that Verres should leave the country. Cicero's prosecution speeches were later published as the In Verrem, ''Verrines''. Biography Gaius Verres was born around 114 BC. Public career During Sulla's civil war, Sulla's Civil War, Verres deserted the government faction of Gaius Marius the Younger, Gaius Marius and Gaius Papirius Carbo (consul 85 BC), Carbo and went over to Sulla. Sulla made him a present of land at Benevento, Beneventum and secured him against punishment for embezzlement. In 80 BC, Verres served on the staff of Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella (praetor 81 BC), Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella, governor of Cilicia (Roman province), Cilicia. According to Cicero, the governor and his subordinate both ruthlessly p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Magistrate
The Roman magistrates () were elected officials in ancient Rome. During the period of the Roman Kingdom, the King of Rome was the principal executive magistrate.Abbott, 8 His power, in practice, was absolute. He was the chief priest, lawgiver, judge, and the sole commander of the army.Abbott, 8Abbott, 15 When the king died, his power reverted to the Roman Senate, which then chose an Interrex to facilitate the election of a new king. During the transition from the Roman Kingdom to Roman Republic, the constitutional balance of power shifted from the executive (the Roman king) to the Roman Senate. When the Roman Republic was founded in 509 BC, the powers that had been held by the king were transferred to the Roman consuls, of which two were to be elected each year. Magistrates of the republic were elected by the people of Rome, and were each vested with a degree of power called "major powers" (''maior potestas'').Abbott, 151 Dictators had more "major powers" than any other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sicilia (Roman Province)
Sicilia (; ; ) was the first province acquired by the Roman Republic, encompassing the island of Sicily. The western part of the island was brought under Roman control in 241 BC at the conclusion of the First Punic War with Carthage. A praetor was regularly assigned to the island from . The Kingdom of Syracuse under Hieron II remained an independent ally of Rome until its defeat in 212 BC during the Second Punic War. Thereafter the province included the whole of the island of Sicily, the island of Malta, and the smaller island groups (the Egadi islands, the Lipari islands, Ustica, and Pantelleria). During the Roman Republic, the island was the main source of grain for the city of Rome. Extraction was heavy, provoking armed uprisings known as the First and Second Servile Wars in the second century BC. In the first century, the Roman governor, Verres, was famously prosecuted for his corruption by Cicero. In the civil wars which brought the Roman Republic to an end, Sic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quintus Hortensius
Quintus Hortensius Hortalus (114–50 BC) was a Roman lawyer, an orator and a statesman. Politically he belonged to the Optimates. He was consul in 69 BC alongside Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus. His nickname was ''Dionysia'', after a famous actress. After his retirement Hortensius took up fish-breeding as a hobby. Cicero spoke of him as a ''Piscinarius'' – 'fish fancier'. Biography At the age of nineteen he made his first speech at the bar and shortly afterwards successfully defended Nicomedes III or IV of Bithynia, one of Rome's dependants in the East, who had been deprived of his throne by his brother. From that time his reputation as an advocate was established. Through his marriage to Lutatia, daughter of Quintus Lutatius Catulus and Servilia, he was attached to the aristocratic party, the ''optimates''. During and after Lucius Cornelius Sulla's dictatorship the courts of law were under the control of the Senate, the judges themselves being senators. Endnote: In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the establishment of the Roman Empire. His extensive writings include treatises on rhetoric, philosophy and politics. He is considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists and the innovator of what became known as "Ciceronian rhetoric". Cicero was educated in Rome and in Greece. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the Roman equestrian order, and served as consul in 63 BC. He greatly influenced both ancient and modern reception of the Latin language. A substantial part of his work has survived, and he was admired by both ancient and modern authors alike. Cicero adapted the arguments of the chief schools of Hellenistic philosophy in Latin and coined a large portion of Latin philosophical vocabulary via lex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chelidon
Chelidon (fl. 74 BC) was a Roman courtesan, famed for her influence during the praetorship of Gaius Verres. She was a freedwoman and a successful professional high class courtesan. She was introduced to Gaius Verres by the courtesan Pippa and Tertia (actress), and became his mistress. She became known for the influence she wielded over public affairs in 74 BC, when her lover Gaius Verres served as urban praetor of Rome. Her influence was used against Gaius Verres by his enemies, who accused him of allowing her an excessive influence over state affairs. Allegedly, she acted as the political advisor of Gaius Verres, who allowed her to make decisions within civil cases and prepare laws and political reforms. Aware of her de facto position, she was courted by supplicants and political officials. She died between 73 and 71 BC, when Verres apparently received an inheritance from her. She is one of few free influential Roman courtesans mentioned by her contemporaries, others b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larissa Bonfante
Larissa Bonfante (March 27, 1931, Naples, Italy – August 23, 2019, New York City, New York) was an Italian-American classicist, Professor of Classics ''emerita'' at New York University and an authority on Etruscan language and culture. Biography Bonfante was born in Naples, the daughter of professor Giuliano Bonfante. She grew up in Princeton, NJ. Bonfante would go on to study fine arts and classics at Barnard College, earning her B.A. in 1954; she completed her M.A. in classics from the University of Cincinnati in 1957 and her Ph.D. in art history and archaeology at Columbia University in 1966. She studied at Columbia with Otto Brendel. Bonfante received the Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement in 2007 from the Archaeological Institute of America. She was a founding member of the American section of the Istituto Nazionale di Studi Etruschi ed Italici. She edited the periodical publication ''Etruscan News'' that reported on the activities of the Am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tertia (actress)
{{short description, Ancient Roman actress and dancer Tertia (died ''after'' 74 BC) was an ancient Roman actress and dancer. Tertia was born on Sicily as the daughter of the dancer-actor Isidorus. She is famous in history as the mistress of Verres, after he was appointed governor of Sicily in 74 BC. The relationship attracted a scandal and was brought up in court during the corruption trial against Verres. Her alleged influence and position is known from the speech ''Verrine Orations''. Verres caused a scandal by showing himself openly with Tertia in public, allowing her to act as his hostess during public functions and introducing her to local dignitaries and aristocracy, which was regarded as scandalous because of the low social status of stage artists. He also arranged a marriage between her and one of his clients. It was reportedly Tertia and a courtesan named Pippa who introduced Verres to the courtesan Chelidon, who were alleged to have great political influence upo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthage, Carthaginians, and Roman Empire, Romans, among others. Crucifixion has been used in some countries as recently as the 21st century. The crucifixion of Jesus is central to Christianity and the Christian cross, cross (in Catholic Church, Roman Catholicism usually crucifix, depicted with Jesus nailed to it) is Christianity's preeminent religious symbol. His death is the most prominent example of crucifixion in history, which in turn has led many cultures in the modern world to associate the execution method closely with Jesus and with Christian spirituality. Other figures in Christianity are traditionally believed to have undergone crucifixion as well, including Saint Peter, who was crucified upside-down, and Andrew the Apostle, Saint Andr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spartacus
Spartacus (; ) was a Thracians, Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the Slavery in ancient Rome, escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave rebellion, slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Historical accounts of his life come primarily from Plutarch and Appian, who wrote more than a century after his death. Plutarch's ''Life of Marcus Licinius Crassus, Crassus'' and Appian's ''Civil Wars'' provide the most comprehensive details of the slave revolt. Despite being a significant figure in Roman history, no contemporary sources exist, and all accounts were by those not directly involved, significantly later, and without perspectives from slaves or eyewitnesses. Little is known about him beyond the events of the war, and surviving accounts are contradictory. All sources agree he was a former gladiator and accomplished military leader. Spartacus is described as a Thracian by birth, possibly from the Maedi tribe. Before his enslavement and role as a gl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Third Servile War
The Third Servile War, also called the Gladiator War and the War of Spartacus by Plutarch, was the last in a series of slave rebellions against the Roman Republic known as the Servile Wars. This third rebellion was the only one that directly threatened the Roman heartland of Italy. It was particularly alarming to Rome because its military seemed powerless to suppress it. The revolt began in 73 BC, with the escape of around 70 slave gladiators from a gladiator school in Capua. They easily defeated the small Roman force sent to recapture them, and within two years, they had been joined by some 120,000 men, women, and children. The able-bodied adults of this large group were a surprisingly effective armed force that repeatedly showed they could withstand or defeat the Roman military, from the local Campanian patrols to the Roman militia and even to trained Roman legions under consular command. This army of slaves roamed across Italy, raiding estates and towns with relative i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cathedral Of Syracuse
The Cathedral of Syracuse (''Duomo di Siracusa''), formally the (Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Holy Nativity of Mary), is an ancient Catholic church in Syracuse, Sicily, the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Siracusa, Catholic Archdiocese of Siracusa. Its structure is originally a Greek Doric order, doric temple, and for this reason it is included in a UNESCO World Heritage Site designated in 2005. The cathedral stands in the city's historic core on Ortygia Island. History The origins of a temple on this site date to prehistory. The great Greek Temple of Athena (Syracuse), Temple of Athena was built in the 6th century BC [590–580 BCE] . The temple was a Doric columns, Doric edifice with six columns on the short sides and 14 on the long sides. Plato and Athenaeus mention the temple, and the looting of its ornament is mentioned by Cicero, in 70 BC, as one of the crimes of the governor Verres. Archeological site excavations by Paolo Orsi in 1907–1910 show the Gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Servile Wars
The Servile Wars were a series of three slave revolts ("servile" is derived from ''servus'', Latin for "slave") in the late Roman Republic: * First Servile War (135−132 BC) — in Sicily, led by Eunus, a former slave claiming to be a prophet, and Cleon from Cilicia. * Second Servile War (104−100 BC) — in Sicily, led by Athenion and Tryphon. * Third Servile War (73−71 BC) — on mainland Italy, led by Spartacus. See also * * Gaius Octavius' suppressed remnant rebels in Thurii (60 BC) * Slavery in ancient Rome Slavery in ancient Rome played an important role in society and the economy. Unskilled or low-skill slaves labored in the fields, mines, and mills with few opportunities for advancement and little chance of freedom. Skilled and educated slaves ... * * Latrocinium 130s BC conflicts 100s BC conflicts 70s BC conflicts 2nd century BC in the Roman Republic 1st century BC in the Roman Republic Roman Republican civil wars Wars involving the Roma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
