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Medimnos
A medimnos (, ''médimnos'', plural μέδιμνοι, ''médimnoi'') was an Ancient Greek unit of volume, which was generally used to measure dry food grain.In ancient Greece, measures of capacity varied depending on whether they were being used to measure solids or liquids. (G.Rachet e M.F.Rachet, ''Dizionario Larousse della civiltà greca'', op. cit.) In Attica, it was approximately equal to 51.84 litres, although this volume was frequently subject to regional variation. For example, the Spartan medimnos was approximately equal to 71.16 litres. A medimnos could be divided into several smaller units: the tritaios (one third), the hekteus (one sixth), the hemiektos (one twelfth), the choinix (one forty-eighth) and the kotyle (0.27 L). History The medimnos originated in Corinth and was adopted as a unit of measurement by Classical Athens and Megara as well as various other Greek poleis. It was the measure used by Solon to establish a Timocratic Constitution in Athens around 595 B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Greek Units Of Measurement
Ancient Greek units of measurement varied according to location and epoch. Systems of ancient weights and measures evolved as needs changed; Solon and other lawgivers also reformed them ''en bloc''. Some units of measurement were found to be convenient for trade within the Mediterranean region and these units became increasingly common to different city states. The calibration and use of measuring devices became more sophisticated. By about 500 BC, Athens had a central depository of official weights and measures, the '' Tholos'', where merchants were required to test their measuring devices against official standards. Length Some Greek measures of length were named after parts of the body, such as the (''daktylos'', plural: ''daktyloi'') or finger (having the size of a thumb), and the ('' pous'', plural: ''podes'') or foot (having the size of a shoe). The values of the units varied according to location and epoch (e.g., in Aegina a ''pous'' was approximately , whereas in Athen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barley
Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikelets and making it much easier to harvest. Its use then spread throughout Eurasia by 2000 BC. Barley prefers relatively low temperatures and well-drained soil to grow. It is relatively tolerant of drought and soil salinity, but is less winter-hardy than wheat or rye. In 2023, barley was fourth among grains in quantity produced, 146 million tonnes, behind maize, rice, and wheat. Globally, 70% of barley production is used as animal feed, while 30% is used as a source of fermentable material for beer, or further distilled into whisky, and as a component of various foods. It is used in soups and stews and in barley bread of various cultures. Barley grains are commonly made into malt using a traditional and ancient method of preparatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herod The Great
Herod I or Herod the Great () was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman Jewish client king of the Herodian kingdom of Judea. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea. Among these works are the rebuilding of the Second Temple#Herod's Temple, Second Temple in Jerusalem and the expansion of its base—the Western Wall being part of it. Vital details of his life are recorded in the works of the 1st century CE Roman–Jewish historian Josephus. Despite Herod's successes, including forging a new aristocracy, he has been criticized by various historians. His reign polarizes opinion among historians, some viewing his legacy as evidence of success, and some viewing it as a reminder of his tyrannical rule. Herod the Great is described in the Christian Bible as the coordinator of the Massacre of the Innocents. However, most of the New Testament references are to his son Herod Antipas (such as the events leading to the executions of John the Baptist a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed Hasmonean royal ancestry. He initially fought against the Roman Empire during the First Jewish–Roman War as general of the Jewish forces in Galilee, until surrendering in AD 67 to the Roman army led by military commander Vespasian after the six-week siege of Yodfat. Josephus claimed the Jewish messianic prophecies that initiated the First Jewish–Roman War made reference to Vespasian becoming Roman emperor. In response, Vespasian decided to keep him as a slave and presumably interpreter. After Vespasian became emperor in AD 69, he granted Josephus his freedom, at which time Josephus assumed the Emperor's family name of '' Flavius''. Flavius Josephus fully defected to the Roman s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Histories (Polybius)
Polybius' ''Histories'' ( ''Historíai'') were originally written in 40 volumes, only the first five of which are extant in their entirety. The bulk of the work was passed down through collections of excerpts kept in libraries in the Byzantine Empire. Polybius, a historian from the Greek city of Megalopolis in Arcadia, was taken as a hostage to Rome after the Roman victory in the Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC), and there he began to write an account of the rise of Rome to a great power. Publication History Manuscripts Moore (1965) suggests a stemma whereby some 9 prototype manuscripts preserve the manuscript tradition, the oldest being Vaticanus Gr. 124 (dated A.D. 947). Content Polybius' ''Histories'' begin in the year 264 BC and end in 146 BC (Polybius was born around 200 BC and died around 117 BC). He is primarily concerned with the 53 years in which Ancient Rome became a dominant world power. This period, from 220–167 BC, saw Rome subjugate Carthag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Punic Wars
The Punic Wars were a series of wars fought between the Roman Republic and the Ancient Carthage, Carthaginian Empire during the period 264 to 146BC. Three such wars took place, involving a total of forty-three years of warfare on both land and sea across the western Mediterranean region, and a four-year-long Mercenary War, revolt against Carthage. The First Punic War broke out on the Mediterranean island of Sicily in 264BC as a result of Rome's expansionary attitude combined with Carthage's proprietary approach to the island. At the start of the war Carthage was the dominant power of the western Mediterranean, with an extensive maritime empire (a thalassocracy), while Rome was a rapidly expanding power in Roman Italy, Italy, with a strong Roman army of the mid-Republic, army but no navy. The fighting took place primarily on Sicily and its surrounding waters, as well as in North Africa, Corsica and Sardinia. It lasted twenty-three years, until 241BC, when the Carthaginians were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Army
The Roman army () served ancient Rome and the Roman people, enduring through the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), the Roman Republic (509–27 BC), and the Roman Empire (27 BC–AD 1453), including the Western Roman Empire (collapsed Fall of the Western Roman Empire, AD 476/480) and the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire (collapsed Fall of Constantinople, AD 1453). It is thus a term that broadly spans approximately 2,206 years, during which the force underwent numerous permutations in Size of the Roman army, size, Military of ancient Rome, composition, Structural history of the Roman military, organization, Roman military equipment, equipment and Strategy of the Roman military, tactics, while conserving a core of lasting traditions. Early Roman army (c. 550 – c. 300 BC) Until , there was no "national" Roman army, but a series of clan-based war-bands which only coalesced into a united force in periods of serious external threat. Around 550 BC, during the period conventiona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polybius
Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 BC, recording in detail events in Italy, Iberia, Greece, Macedonia, Syria, Egypt and Africa, and documented the Punic Wars and Macedonian Wars among many others. Polybius' ''Histories'' is important not only for being the only Hellenistic historical work to survive in any substantial form, but also for its analysis of constitutional change and the mixed constitution. Polybius' discussion of the separation of powers in government, of checks and balances to limit power, and his introduction of "the people", all influenced Montesquieu's '' The Spirit of the Laws'', John Locke's '' Two Treatises of Government'', and the framers of the United States Constitution. The leading expert on Polybius for nearly a century was F. W. Walbank (1909 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Histories (Herodotus)
The ''Histories'' (, ''Historíai''; also known as ''The History'') of Herodotus is considered the founding work of history in Western literature. Although not a fully impartial record, it remains one of the West's most important sources regarding these affairs. Moreover, it established the genre and study of history in the Western world (despite the existence of historical records and chronicles beforehand). ''The'' ''Histories'' also stands as one of the earliest accounts of the rise of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Empire, as well as the events and causes of the Greco-Persian Wars between the Persian Empire and the Polis, Greek city-states in the 5th century BC. Herodotus portrays the conflict as one between the forces of slavery (the Persians) on the one hand, and freedom (the Athenians and the confederacy of Greek city-states which united against the invaders) on the other. ''The Histories'' was at some point divided into the nine scroll, books that appear in modern editions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Artabazos I Of Phrygia
Artabazos (; 480 BC - 455 BC) was a Persian people, Persian general in the army of Xerxes I, and later satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia (now northwest Turkey) under the Achaemenid dynasty, founder of the Pharnacid dynasty of satraps. He was the son of Pharnaces (son of Arsames), Pharnaces, who was the younger brother of Hystaspes (father of Darius I), Hystaspes, father of Darius I. Artabazos was therefore a first cousin of the great Achaemenid ruler Darius I. General in the Second Persian invasion of Greece Artabazus was one of the generals of Xerxes I, Xerxes in the 480 BC Second Persian invasion of Greece, in command of the Parthians and the Chorasmians in the Achaemenid army. He was particularly in charge of the reserve forces guarding the route back to Asia, and responsible for suppressing a revolt in Potidaea. The invasion ended the following year with the commander-in-chief Mardonius (general), Mardonius, ignoring advice from Artabazus and others, meeting the Gree ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tritantaechmes
Tritantaechmes (, Elamite: ''Ṣi-iš-šá-an-tak-ma'', Babylonian: ''Ši-it-ra-an-taḫ-ma'') was a king of the Sagartians, who ruled in Arbela (521 BCE). He claimed to be a descendant of the king Cyaxares of Media. In the summer of 521 BCE, Tritantaechmes, was defeated and captured by Takhmaspada, a general serving under Darius I Darius I ( ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of West A ... of Persia. Following his capture, Darius imposed severe punishments on Tritantaechmes, including the mutilation of his nose and ears, blinding him, and ultimately ordering his crucifixion in Arbela. Notably, Darius's historical accounts omit any mention of the customary punishment of tongue removal, typically reserved for those deemed liars. This omission has led historians to speculate that Tritantaec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC to the 7th century BC. Spanning from the early Bronze Age to the late Iron Age, modern historians typically divide ancient Assyrian history into the Early Assyrian period, Early Assyrian ( 2600–2025 BC), Old Assyrian period, Old Assyrian ( 2025–1364 BC), Middle Assyrian Empire, Middle Assyrian ( 1363–912 BC), Neo-Assyrian Empire, Neo-Assyrian (911–609 BC), and Post-imperial Assyria, post-imperial (609 BC– AD 240) periods, based on political events and gradual changes in language. Assur, the first Assyrian capital, was founded 2600 BC, but there is no evidence that the city was independent until the collapse of the Third Dynasty of Ur, in the 21st century BC, when a line of independent kings starting with Puzur-Ashur I began rulin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
