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Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius was Roman emperor from 138 to 161 CE. When Roman emperor Hadrian (r. 117-138 CE) died on July 10, 138 CE, he left, as did his predecessors, an adopted son as his successor, Antoninus Pius. Antoninus - whose last name means...
Definition
Roman Egypt
The rich lands of Egypt became the property of Rome after the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BCE, which spelled the end of the Ptolemaic dynasty that had ruled Egypt since the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE. After the murder of Gaius...
Definition
Jugurtha
Jugurtha (r. 118-105 BCE) was King of Numidia in North Africa and grandson of the first Numidian king Masinissa (r. c. 202-148 BCE). He was the illegitimate son of Mastanabal, Masinissa's youngest son, and was the least likely of Masinissa's...
Definition
Macrinus
Macrinus was Roman emperor from April 217 to June 218 CE. It is a story that has been told countless times before - an emperor is assassinated leaving no heir or successor. On April 8, 217 CE Roman Emperor Caracalla was murdered, supposedly...
Definition
Gordian Emperors
When Maximinus Thrax was named Roman emperor upon the death of Alexander Severus, the news was not well-received by many in Rome and the Roman Senate considered him an illiterate barbarian. His financial excesses, principally used to fund...
Definition
Legio II Augusta
Legio II Augusta was a legion of the Roman army that, throughout its centuries-long history, had fought in the Cantabrian Wars of 29-19 BCE, Germanicus' German campaigns in 9 CE, the invasion of Britain in 43 CE, and Septimus Severus' Scottish...
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Juba II as Hercules
A coin portraying Juba II of Mauretania (r. 29 BCE - 23 CE) as Hercules. Obverse: Juba II as a youthful Hercules, wearing the Nemean Lion's skin. Reverse: Lion headdress and club of Hercules, with bow and arrow. Minted in Caesarea, Mauretania...
Article
The Roman Empire in West Africa
At its fullest extent, the Roman Empire stretched from around modern-day Aswan, Egypt at its southernmost point to Great Britain in the north but the influence of the Roman Empire went far beyond even the borders of its provinces as a result...
Article
Sulla's March on Rome
In 88 BCE, Lucius Cornelius Sulla (138-78 BCE) marched on Rome and entered the city's sacred inner boundary, the pomerium, bearing arms. Breaking this taboo, he sought to gain political power and control of the army of the East that had been...
Article
Rome under the Julio-Claudian Dynasty
The Julio-Claudians were the first dynasty to rule the Roman Empire. After the death of the dictator-for-life Julius Caesar in 44 BCE, his adopted son Octavian - later to become known as Augustus (r. 27 BCE - 14 CE) - fought a civil war against...