Search
Search Results
Definition
Magnus Maximus
Magnus Maximus (c. 355 - August 28, 388 CE) was a Roman usurper and Western Roman Emperor from 383-388 CE. He was a prominent general in the Roman army, particularly in the province of Britain. In 383 CE he usurped the Western throne, rebelling...
Image
Felix Mendelssohn by Magnus
An oil-on-canvas portrait of Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) painted by Eduard Magnus in 1833. (Berlin State Library)
Image
Magnus Maximus
Gold coin depicting Magnus Maximus (383-388 CE). Minted in Trier.
Definition
Oribasius
Oribasius (c. 320-400/403 CE) was the physician and political advisor of the Roman emperor Julian the Apostate (r. 361-363 CE). A native of Pergamon, a rich and powerful Greek city in Mysia, he studied medicine and oratory and belonged to...
Definition
Gildas
Gildas (c. 500-570 CE) was a Romano-British monk, known primarily for a work entitled De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, translated as On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain. Gildas' work is a polemical sermon recounting British history while...
Image
Temple at Uppsala
The Norse Temple at Uppsala dedicated to Thor, Odin, and Freyr, as described by Adam of Bremen and depicted in Book 3 of the Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus by Olaus Magnus, 1555.
Definition
Roman Republic
In the late 6th century BCE, the small city-state of Rome overthrew the shackles of monarchy and created a republican government that, in theory if not always in practice, represented the wishes of its citizens. From this basis the city would...
Definition
Roman Emperor
Roman emperors ruled the Roman Empire starting with Augustus in 27 BCE and continuing in the West until the late 5th century CE and in the Eastern Roman Empire up to the mid-15th century CE. The emperors took titles such as Caesar and Imperator...
Definition
Pirates in the Ancient Mediterranean
Piracy, defined as the act of attacking and robbing a ship or port by sea, had a long history in the ancient Mediterranean stretching from the time of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten (r. 1353-1336 BCE) and throughout the Middle Ages (c. 476-1500...
Definition
Spartacus
Throughout history - both ancient and modern - those bound in chains have fought to free themselves from their oppressors. As with most civilizations - Assyrian, Greek and even American - slaves in ancient Rome were not considered citizens...