Monthly Archives: June 2016

MAJESTIC SILVER TREASURES Walking Liberty Elephant Panda Set Silver Coin 2015

MAJESTIC SILVER TREASURES Walking Liberty Elephant Panda Set Silver Coin 2015
MAJESTIC SILVER TREASURES Walking Liberty Elephant Panda Set Silver Coin 2015
MAJESTIC SILVER TREASURES Walking Liberty Elephant Panda Set Silver Coin 2015
MAJESTIC SILVER TREASURES Walking Liberty Elephant Panda Set Silver Coin 2015
MAJESTIC SILVER TREASURES Walking Liberty Elephant Panda Set Silver Coin 2015

MAJESTIC SILVER TREASURES Walking Liberty Elephant Panda Set Silver Coin 2015
1 Dollar, 100 Shillings, 10 Yuan. 31.1 (1 oz). 40.6, 39, 40. BU – Brilliant Uncirculated. MAJESTIC SILVER TREASURES Walking Liberty Elephant Panda Set 1 oz Silver Coin USA Somalia China 2015. This beautiful three coin set is finished with black Ruthenium, Platinum, Gold and Rhodium together with Diamond Dust and Ultra Violet Colour Effects. Contains 3 coins, 1oz each, Walking Liberty, Elephant and Panda. Comes in a black luxury box with LED Illumination. These details make the Set a very unique and noble product. Limited mintage 1000 sets worldwide! Walking Liberty The design on the coin’s reverse was taken from the “Walking Liberty” design by Adolph A. Weinman, which originally had been used on the Walking Liberty Half Dollar coin of the United States from 1916 to 1947. As this iconic design had been a public favoriteand one of the most beloved designs of any United States coinage of modern times, silver or otherwiseit was revived for the Silver Eagle decades later. The obverse is inscribed with the year of minting or issuance, the word LIBERTY, and the phrase IN GOD WE TRUST. The obverse was designed by John Mercanti and portrays a heraldic eagle behind a shield; the eagle grasps an olive branch in its right talon and arrows in its left talon, echoing the Great Seal of the United States; above the eagle are thirteen five-pointed stars representing the Thirteen Colonies. The reverse is inscribed with the phrases UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 1 OZ. FINE SILVER ONE DOLLAR, and E PLURIBUS UNUM (on the banner that the eagle holds in its beak), as well as the mintmark if applicable. Elephant The coin’s reverse depicts two beautiful elephants looking for a waterhole. In the background a typical african tree and three birds flying above it. On top of the coin the inscription “African Wildlife”. On left the inscription “Elephant” and on right the weight and the Silver fineness. The coin obverse depicts the coat of arms of the Somali Republic, the issue date 2015 and the face value. Panda The reverse of the coin depicts a chinese Panda in its natural habitat eating Bamboo leaves. On the bottom of the coin we find the weight and the silver fineness. The obverse of the coin depicts the beautiful Temple of Heaven in Beijing and the year of issue. Walking Liberty A goddess named for and representing the concept Liberty has existed in many cultures, including classical examples dating from the Roman Empire to those representing national symbols such as the American Columbia and its Statue of Liberty, an artwork created under the name Liberty Enlightening the World, and the French Marianne. In the United States, “Liberty” often is depicted with five-pointed stars, as appear on the American flag, usually held in a raised hand. Another hand may hold a sword pointing downward. Elephant The African Forest Elephant is the little brother of the more known Bush Elephant. As his name indicates he dwells in the jungle region of Western and Central Africa instead in the savannahs. The Bush Elephant may be the star of all the animal documentaries, and so only few people are aware of the existence and the critical status of the Forest Elephant population. Were are approximately half a million Bush Elephants all over Africa, but less than hundred thousand Forest Elephants, and the number is decreasing at an alarming rate due to the increasing numbers of poachers and due to civil wars and poverty. The Forest Elephant needs our help, and the first step is to make known his species and his problems to the world. Panda Looked upon as the ambassador for all endangered species, the giant panda is a well-recognized symbol of international wildlife conservation. Giant pandas have black fur on their ears, around their eyes (eye patches), muzzle, legs and shoulders. Good tree climbers, pandas can also swim to escape predators. Pandas use an enlarged wrist bone that looks like a thumb to grasp objects like bamboo. Since giant pandas have the digestive system of a carnivore, they do not have the ability to digest cellulose (plant matter) efficiently and thus derive little energy and little protein from consumption of bamboo. So, the average giant panda has to eat as much as 20 to 45 lbs (9-20 kg) of bamboo shoots a day. On occasion, giant pandas are also known to eat flowers, vines, tufted grasses, green corn, honey and rodents. Today, an estimated 2,000 pandas are found in the wild. By the end of 2006, there were a reported 180 pandas in captivity on mainland China and about 20 in other countries. Range Historically pandas lived in both mountainous and lowland regions of central-western and southwestern China. They are now found only in the mountains of central China, in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. The item “MAJESTIC SILVER TREASURES Walking Liberty Elephant Panda Set Silver Coin 2015″ is in sale since Wednesday, December 16, 2015. This item is in the category “Coins & Paper Money\Coins\ US\Commemorative\Modern Silver/Clad (1982-Now)”. The seller is “powercoin_italy” and is located in Roma. This item can be shipped worldwide.
  • Year: 2015
  • Circulated/Uncirculated: Uncirculated
  • Composition: Silver
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: United States

MAJESTIC SILVER TREASURES Walking Liberty Elephant Panda Set Silver Coin 2015

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2014 Somalia African Wildlife Elephant Silver NGC PF70 UCAM High Relief Coin

2014 Somalia African Wildlife Elephant Silver NGC PF70 UCAM High Relief Coin

2014 Somalia African Wildlife Elephant Silver NGC PF70 UCAM High Relief Coin
2014 Somalia African Wildlife Elephant Silver NGC PF 70 UCAM High Relief Cameo. Extremely Rare NGC Population of just 82 coins! This Silver Somalian African Elephant coin from the African Wildlife Coin series appeals to coin collectors around the world for its depiction of one of the most fascinating animals found in Africa: the elephant. Struck in High Relief at the Bavarian State Mint in Munich, Germany, these popular Elephant Coins are struck in. 999 fine silver, and are legal tender in Somalia for 100 Shillings. This coin will be limited to a mintage of just 1,000 units! The item “2014 Somalia African Wildlife Elephant Silver NGC PF70 UCAM High Relief Coin” is in sale since Tuesday, July 21, 2015. This item is in the category “Coins & Paper Money\Coins\ World\Africa\Somalia”. The seller is “moderncoinhk” and is located in WorkShop. This item can be shipped worldwide.
  • Year: 2014
  • Certification: NGC
  • Grade: PF70 UCAM
  • Composition: Silver

2014 Somalia African Wildlife Elephant Silver NGC PF70 UCAM High Relief Coin

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2015 Somalia African Wildlife Elephant Golden Enigma Gold Ruthenium Silver Coins

2015 Somalia African Wildlife Elephant Golden Enigma Gold Ruthenium Silver Coins
2015 Somalia African Wildlife Elephant Golden Enigma Gold Ruthenium Silver Coins
2015 Somalia African Wildlife Elephant Golden Enigma Gold Ruthenium Silver Coins
2015 Somalia African Wildlife Elephant Golden Enigma Gold Ruthenium Silver Coins
2015 Somalia African Wildlife Elephant Golden Enigma Gold Ruthenium Silver Coins
2015 Somalia African Wildlife Elephant Golden Enigma Gold Ruthenium Silver Coins

2015 Somalia African Wildlife Elephant Golden Enigma Gold Ruthenium Silver Coins
Montreal Precious Metals is pleased to present the first ever and wicked cool, Golden Enigma multi-coin set. These beautiful black Ruthenium plated coins feature the 2015 Somalian African Elephant with the motive in black and the background selectively plated in. 999 pure gold, giving the impression of a golden sunset. Set includes a 1/4, 1/2, 1 and a first ever 2 oz silver coin. The obverse of each coin depicts two beautiful elephants looking for a waterhole. In the background a typical African tree and three birds flying above it. On top of the coin the inscription “African Wildlife”. On left the inscription “Elephant” and on right the weight and the Silver fineness. The reverse of each coin depicts the coat of arms of the Somali Republic, the issue date 2015 and the face value. The precious metal Ruthenium is a member of the Platinum group and worldwide very rare. All this together with the luxury piano black lacquer presentation box and certificate of authenticity makes this a perfect gifting set and a renowned collectors piece worldwide. Metal Content: 1/4, 1/2, 1 & 2 troy oz. Mint Capsule, Presentation Box, COA. About Montreal Precious Metals. We are an established precious metals dealer. Our focus is primarily in the collector coin market and we offer exceptional customer service. Feedback is very important in establishing a solid and reliable online reputation. The item “2015 Somalia African Wildlife Elephant Golden Enigma Gold Ruthenium Silver Coins” is in sale since Thursday, June 23, 2016. This item is in the category “Coins & Paper Money\Bullion\Silver\Coins”. The seller is “montrealpreciousmetals” and is located in Verdun, Quebec. This item can be shipped to Canada, to all countries in Europe, to all countries in continental Asia, to United States, to Australia, to Mexico, BR.
  • Coin: Somalian Elephant
  • Precious Metal Content: Mixed Lot
  • Year: 2015
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: Somalia

2015 Somalia African Wildlife Elephant Golden Enigma Gold Ruthenium Silver Coins

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2015 Somalian ELEPHANT DAY & NIGHT Colorized Silver 2 Coin Set AFRICAN WILDLIFE

2015 Somalian ELEPHANT DAY & NIGHT Colorized Silver 2 Coin Set AFRICAN WILDLIFE
2015 Somalian ELEPHANT DAY & NIGHT Colorized Silver 2 Coin Set AFRICAN WILDLIFE
2015 Somalian ELEPHANT DAY & NIGHT Colorized Silver 2 Coin Set AFRICAN WILDLIFE
2015 Somalian ELEPHANT DAY & NIGHT Colorized Silver 2 Coin Set AFRICAN WILDLIFE

2015 Somalian ELEPHANT DAY & NIGHT Colorized Silver 2 Coin Set AFRICAN WILDLIFE
Set 1 Troy Ounce. “DAY & NIGHT” 2 COIN SET in box with mint issued certificate of authenticity ONLY 500 SETS. AND SEE THIS: FIRST YEAR OF ISSUE >>> PLATINUM <<< AFRICAN WILDLIFE FOR 2016!! In 2014 we saw the addition of the "Day & Night" 2 Coin Set to the official product line of the world popular Somalian "African Wildlife" silver elephant coin series and it was a huge hit. That year it was the "Day" coin that had a limited mintage of only 500 pieces and this year it is the "Night" coin. WE ALSO HAVE JUST THE "DAY" COIN. 500 SETS (500 NIGHT/5000 DAY). DON'T GET TAKEN! Son Montuno Coins only sells official mint issued Somalian elephant coins! The Somalian African Wildlife series has been a favorite of coin collectors world wide for many years. The series has proven to show a strong appreciation! And see our other listings for. More great coins & treasures. The item "2015 Somalian ELEPHANT DAY & NIGHT Colorized Silver 2 Coin Set AFRICAN WILDLIFE" is in sale since Wednesday, June 22, 2016. This item is in the category "Coins & Paper Money\Coins\ World\Africa\Somalia". The seller is "son-montuno" and is located in Illinois. This item can be shipped worldwide.
  • Circulated/Uncirculated: Uncirculated
  • Year: 2015
  • Composition: .999 Silver
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: Somalia
  • Weight: (2) X 1 Troy Oz = 2 Ounces

2015 Somalian ELEPHANT DAY & NIGHT Colorized Silver 2 Coin Set AFRICAN WILDLIFE

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2015 Somalia 4-Coin Silver African Elephant Proof Set

2015 Somalia 4-Coin Silver African Elephant Proof Set
2015 Somalia 4-Coin Silver African Elephant Proof Set
2015 Somalia 4-Coin Silver African Elephant Proof Set
2015 Somalia 4-Coin Silver African Elephant Proof Set
2015 Somalia 4-Coin Silver African Elephant Proof Set

2015 Somalia 4-Coin Silver African Elephant Proof Set
Coins, wood box, coa, and cardboard box all in mint condition. The item “2015 Somalia 4-Coin Silver African Elephant Proof Set” is in sale since Tuesday, June 21, 2016. This item is in the category “Coins & Paper Money\Coins\ World\Africa\Somalia”. The seller is “bikeride1074″ and is located in Pompano Beach, Florida. This item can be shipped to United States, to Canada, to United Kingdom, DK, RO, SK, BG, CZ, FI, HU, LV, LT, MT, EE, to Australia, GR, PT, CY, SI, to Japan, SE, ID, to Belgium, to France, to Hong Kong, to Ireland, to Netherlands, PL, to Spain, to Italy, to Germany, to Austria, SG, NO, SA, AE, BH, HR, MY, CL, CO, CR, PA, TT, GT, HN, JM.
  • Circulated/Uncirculated: Proof Set
  • Year: 2015
  • Certification: Uncertified
  • Certification Number: 100
  • Composition: Silver
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: Somalia

2015 Somalia 4-Coin Silver African Elephant Proof Set

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African Wildlife 2004 Elephant Silber Set Somalia SELTZEN 2 oz 1/4 oz

African Wildlife 2004 Elephant Silber Set Somalia SELTZEN 2 oz 1/4 oz
African Wildlife 2004 Elephant Silber Set Somalia SELTZEN 2 oz 1/4 oz
African Wildlife 2004 Elephant Silber Set Somalia SELTZEN 2 oz 1/4 oz
African Wildlife 2004 Elephant Silber Set Somalia SELTZEN 2 oz 1/4 oz

African Wildlife 2004 Elephant Silber Set Somalia SELTZEN 2 oz 1/4 oz
Beautiful Coin Set from the African Wildlife series. In original box with Certificate of Authenticity. Coins/Münzen: 2 oz, 1 oz, 1/2 oz & 1/4 oz. Condition: Please see the images for condition, some toning on some of the coins, what you see is what you get. You can also watch a video of the actual coin for sale. Any questions feel free to ask. The item “African Wildlife 2004 Elephant Silber Set Somalia SELTZEN 2 oz 1/4 oz” is in sale since Wednesday, June 15, 2016. This item is in the category “Münzen\Edelmetalle\Silber\Münzen”. The seller is “vredaren” and is located in Umeå, N/A. This item can be shipped worldwide.
  • Form: Münze
  • Edelmetallgehalt: 2 oz, 1 oz, 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz
  • Metall/Material: Silber
  • Erhaltungsgrad: Polierte Platte
  • Jahr: 2004
  • Herstellungsland und -region: Sambia

African Wildlife 2004 Elephant Silber Set Somalia SELTZEN 2 oz 1/4 oz

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Roman Republic Sulla ImperatorMETELLUS PIUS Elephant Caecilia Silver Coin i46383

Roman Republic Sulla ImperatorMETELLUS PIUS Elephant Caecilia Silver Coin i46383
Roman Republic Sulla ImperatorMETELLUS PIUS Elephant Caecilia Silver Coin i46383

Roman Republic Sulla ImperatorMETELLUS PIUS Elephant Caecilia Silver Coin i46383
Authentic Ancient Coin of. Caecilius Metellus Pius as Imperator Silver Denarius 20mm (3.56 grams) Spain mint: 81 B. 374/1 Diademed head of Pietas right, stork before. Elephant walking left, Q. > Metellus received the title of Pius when he besought the Roman people to bring his father back from banishment and therefore on the obverse you have Pietas (Piety) goddess. Metellus Pius became Imperator while campaigning for Sulla. Sulla was dictator circa 82-81 B. Metellus became Pontifex Maximus in 81 B. Was originally a title roughly equivalent to commander under the Roman Republic. Later it became a part of the titulature of the Roman Emperors. As part of their cognomen. The English word emperor. Derives from imperator via Old French. The Roman emperors themselves generally based their authority on multiple titles and positions, rather than preferring any single title. Nevertheless, imperator was used relatively consistently as an element of a Roman ruler’s title throughout the principate. (derived from princeps, from which prince in English is derived) and the dominate. In Latin, the feminine form of imperator is imperatrix , denoting a ruling female. Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius c. 130 BC 63 BC was a pro- Sullan. Politician and general who was Roman consul. He was the principal Senatorial commander during the Sertorian War. Fighting alongside Pompeius Magnus. He was given the agnomen. (nickname) Pius because of his constant and unbending attempts to have his father officially recalled from exile. Metellus Pius, a member of the distinguished plebeian. Was the son of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus. Who was consul in 109 BC. His career began in that same year, when he accompanied his father to Numidia. As his contubernalis (cadet) during the Jugurthine War. Returning to Rome in 107 BC, when his father was forcibly recalled by the actions of Gaius Marius. In 100 BC, after his father was banished as a result of the political manoeuvrings of Gaius Marius and Lucius Appuleius Saturninus. Metellus Pius launched a campaign to have his father brought back from exile. He produced a petition in 99 BC to this effect, and his constant pleading on the subject resulted in Quintus Calidius, the Plebeian Tribune. Of 98 BC passing a law which allowed his father to return. As a result of his fidelity, he was given the agnomen. Pius for the constancy and inflexibility with which he fought for his father’s political rehabilitation and return to Rome. Sometime during 90s BC, Metellus Pius was elected to the College of Pontiffs. As a result of his family’s eminence and influence. The outbreak of the Social War. Saw him employed as a legate. In late 89 BC, probably of the consul. Where he won some battles against the Marsi. As a result of these victories, he was elected Praetor. In the following year (88 BC). During his praetorship, he was tasked with enrolling the Italian allies as new Roman citizens within sixty days, in accordance with the Lex Plautia Papiria. Once this was completed, Metellus Pius was again posted to the Social War, replacing Gaius Cosconius on the southern front. He harassed the territory around Apulia. Captured the town of Venusia. And defeated the leading Italian leader, Quintus Poppaedius Silo. Who died in the storming of Venusia. In 87 BC, Metellus Pius command was extended, with his appointment as Propraetor. Responsible for continuing the war against Samnium. Later that year, however, saw a dispute between the two consuls Lucius Cornelius Cinna. Flare up into war. Cinna, expelled from Rome, met up with the exiled Gaius Marius. And both laid siege to Rome. During the early phase of this conflict, the Senate. Fearing that they may need additional troops and commanders, ordered Metellus Pius to negotiate a peace with the Samnites. Marching to Rome, he made camp at the Alban Hills. Accompanied by Publius Licinius Crassus. Here he met up with Gnaeus Octavius, who had abandoned Rome, but both men soon fell out with each other, over Metellus Pius troops demanding that their commander take over overall command from Gnaeus Octavius. The Senate then asked him to negotiate with Cinna on their behalf, during which time he recognized Cinna as the legitimate consul. However, with Cinnas occupation of Rome and the executions initiated by Gaius Marius, Metellus Pius decided to abandon Rome and head to North Africa. Arriving in Africa by early 86 BC, Metellus Pius started raising an army from his private clients, with the intent of joining Lucius Cornelius Sulla. Who had been the principal opponent of Cinna and Marius. He was joined by Marcus Licinius Crassus. But both men fell out, and Crassus was forced to leave and eventually join up with Sulla in Greece. He acted as proconsular. Governor of the province, but this was unrecognized by Cinna and his regime at Rome. Nevertheless, it wasnt until 84 BC that the Marians at Rome were able to send out their own governor, Gaius Fabius Hadrianus. Upon his arrival, he drove out Metellus Pius who fled to Numidia. Pursued here, he and the Numidian king Hiempsal II. Were forced to flee onwards to Mauretania. From here, Metellus Pius made his way to Liguria. By late 84 BC or early 83 BC. Moving quickly, Metellus Pius was the first to meet him along the Via Appia. Bringing new troops with him. He, like many of the aristocracy, only joined Sulla when it was prudent to do so, and not because they approved of his measures, such as his first march on Rome. Regardless, recognizing Metellus as possessing proconsular imperium, Sulla made him his principal subordinate. By July 83 BC, the Senate, under the direction of the consul Gnaeus Papirius Carbo. Declared Metellus Pius a public enemy. In 82 BC, he was sent by Sulla to secure the northern parts of Italy, and accompanied by the young Gnaeus Pompeius. Metellus Pius attacked and defeated Gaius Carrinas. He then achieved a victory over Papirius Carbo and Gaius Norbanus. With Sullas victory in 82 BC, he began rewarding his supporters, and made Metellus Pius the Pontifex Maximus. In 81 BC, following the murder of Quintus Mucius Scaevola Pontifex. He was also a Monetalis. From 82 BC to 80 BC. During this entire period, he was shown to be one of Sullas best subordinates. Supporter of the Senates prerogatives, he had no other objective apart from fighting the populism. Of Marius and Cinna, and did not participate in the atrocious violence that marked the arrival of the dictatorship. Finally in 80 BC, he was appointed consul. Sometime during his consulship, Quintus Sertorius. An opponent of Sulla, established himself in Spain and began a rebellion against the Senate. After defeating the governor of Hispania Ulterior. The Senate decided to send Metellus Pius once his term as consul had ended. Upgrading Hispania Ulterior to a consular province. They dispatched Metellus Pius to take charge of the war against Sertorius. Facing Sertorius and Marcus Perpenna Vento. Metellus Pius established his bases at Metellinum today Medellín. Castra Caecilia today Cáceres. , Viccus Caecilius , at the Sierra de Gredos. And at Caeciliana , near Setúbal. From the start, it was clear that Metellus Pius was no match for Sertorius, suffering repeated defeats through Sertorius use of guerrilla tactics. Thorius, dispatched to come to the assistance of the governor of Hispania Citerior. Was defeated by Sertorius (79 BC). After his unsuccessful push towards the Tagus. In 79 BC, and suffering a defeat by Sertorius at Lacobriga. In 78 BC, Pius was forced to ask for help from the governor of Gallia Transalpina. But he was defeated by Sertorius legate and unable to help. The end result was that an exhausted Pius was pushed out of his province of Hispania Ulterior. When the consuls of 78 BC declined the opportunity to join Metellus Pius as proconsuls in Spain once their terms ended, the Senate in late 77 BC, hearing of Pius ongoing reverses at the hands of Sertorius, decided to send Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. Together with another army to give Pius what assistance he could, while Pius governorship was prorogued. Both men worked well together, but were hard pressed to win any encounter with Sertorius. With Pompeys arrival in 76 BC, Sertorius turned his attention to him, freeing Metellus Pius to campaign against Sertorius subordinates. Almost immediately this paid dividends; in 76 BC he defeated Hirtuleius. This was followed by another victory over Hirtuleius at Segovia. In 75 BC, where Hirtuleius died. Metellius Pius then came to the aid of Pompey after his defeat at Sucro (he had refused to wait for Pius before engaging Sertorius in battle), before both men finally won a battle against Sertorius at Saguntum. Pius was acclaimed imperator. He captured the towns of Bilbilis. Before joining Pompey at the siege of Calagurris. Continued successes during 73 BC saw him ease up and allow Pompey to take the burden of the final phases of the war, with Sertorius murder in 72 BC. Pius governorship ended in 71 BC with the end of the war. He disbanded his army after crossing the Alps. And celebrated a triumph. Together with Pompey on December 30, 71 BC. Regardless of the triumph, during those eight years of resistance he was unable to conclusively defeat Sertorius, and it was only after Sertorius’ assassination by his own men that the rebels were forced to cede to the military ability of Metellus Pius. Regardless of his working relationship with Pompey in Spain, Metellus Pius politics meant that he was opposed to Pompeys continued irregular extra-magisterial career throughout the 60s BC. Though Pompey was largely untouchable, senatorial resentment could be visited upon his clients and former subordinates. When the former Plebeian tribune. And associate of Pompey, Gaius Cornelius, was accused of maiestas. The prosecution called on as witnesses a number of key anti-Pompeian former consuls, including Metellus Pius. Metellus Pius was a friend and patron of the noted poet Aulus Licinius Archias. Pius died around 63 BC, the year that Julius Caesar. Replaced him as Pontifex Maximus. He married Licinia Crassa Secunda or Minor, daughter of Lucius Licinius Crassus Orator. And wife Mucia Secunda. From whom he had no children. For this reason he adopted. His nephew by marriage and son of his second cousin Publius Cornelius Scipio, renamed Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica. He was the son of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius’s wife’s sister Licinia Crassa Prima or Major and Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio. Who was in turn the son of Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio. And Caecilia Metella, daughter of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus. Metellus Pius is a prominent character in the novels The First Man in Rome. And Fortune’s Favorites. In the novels he is characterised as having a stutter, and is referred to by contemporaries, including Sulla, as the Piglet. He is also mentioned in John Maddox Roberts. As the fictional main character Decius Caecilius Metellus. Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio. The p>The Roman Republic Latin. Was the period of the ancient Roman civilization. When the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy. Traditionally dated around 509 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls. Elected annually by the citizens and advised by a senate. Gradually developed, centered on the principles of a separation of powers. And checks and balances. Except in times of dire national emergency, public offices were limited to one year, so that, in theory at least, no single individual could dominate his fellow citizens. Roman society was hierarchical. The evolution of the Constitution of the Roman Republic. Was heavily influenced by the struggle between the patricians. Rome’s land-holding aristocracy, who traced their ancestry back to the early history of the Roman kingdom, and the plebeians. The far more numerous citizen-commoners. Over time, the laws that gave patricians exclusive rights to Rome’s highest offices were repealed or weakened, and a new aristocracy emerged from among the plebeian class. The leaders of the Republic developed a strong tradition and morality. Requiring public service and patronage. In peace and war, making military and political success inextricably linked. During the first two centuries of its existence the Republic expanded through a combination of conquest and alliance, from central Italy to the entire Italian peninsula. By the following century it included North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula. Greece, and what is now southern France. Two centuries after that, towards the end of the 1st century BC, it included the rest of modern France, and much of the eastern Mediterranean. By this time, despite the Republic’s traditional and lawful constraints against any individual’s acquisition of permanent political powers, Roman politics was dominated by a small number of Roman leaders, their uneasy alliances punctuated by a series of civil wars. The victor in one of these civil wars, Octavian. Reformed the Republic as a Principate. With himself as Rome’s “first citizen” princeps. The Senate continued to sit and debate. Annual magistrates were elected as before, but final decisions on matters of policy, warfare, diplomacy and appointments were privileged to the princeps as “first among equals” later to be known as imperator. Due to the holding of imperium. From which the term emperor. His powers were monarchic in all but name, and he held them for his lifetime, on behalf of the Senate and people of Rome. The Roman Republic was never restored, but neither was it abolished, so the exact date of the transition to the Roman Empire. Is a matter of interpretation. Historians have variously proposed the appointment of Julius Caesar. In 44 BC, the defeat of Mark Antony. At the Battle of Actium. In 31 BC, and the Roman Senate. S grant of extraordinary powers to Octavian under the first settlement. And his adopting the title Augustus. In 27 BC, as the defining event. Many of Rome’s legal and legislative structures can still be observed throughout Europe and much of the world in modern nation states. The language of the Romans, has influenced language across parts of Europe and the world. The Constitution of the Roman Republic was an unwritten set of guidelines and principles passed down mainly through precedent. The Roman constitution was not formal or even official. It was largely unwritten, uncodified, and constantly evolving. The commercial, cultural, and political center of the city and the Republic which housed the various offices and meeting places of the government. Senate of the Roman Republic. Ultimate authority derived from the esteem and prestige of the Senate. This esteem and prestige was based on both precedent and custom, as well as the high calibre and prestige of the Senators. The Senate passed decrees, which were called senatus consulta. This was officially “advice” from the Senate to a magistrate. In practice, however, these were usually obeyed by the magistrates. The focus of the Roman Senate was directed towards foreign policy. Though it technically had no official role in the management of military conflict, the Senate ultimately was the force that oversaw such affairs. Not all those rights were available to every citizen – women could be citizens, but were denied the rights to vote or hold elected office. An adult male citizen with the full complement of legal and political rights was called optimo jure. The optimo jure elected their assemblies, whereupon the assemblies elected magistrates, enacted legislation, presided over trials in capital cases, declared war and peace, and forged or dissolved treaties. There were two types of legislative assemblies. The first was the comitia (“committees”), which were assemblies of all optimo jure. The second was the concilia (“councils”), which were assemblies of specific groups of optimo jure. Assembly of the Centuries. Citizens were organized on the basis of centuries and tribes. The centuries and the tribes would each gather into their own assemblies. (“Century Assembly”) was the assembly of the centuries. The president of the Comitia Centuriata was usually a consul. The centuries would vote, one at a time, until a measure received support from a majority of the centuries. The Comitia Centuriata would elect magistrates who had imperium powers (consuls and praetors). It also elected censors. Only the Comitia Centuriata could declare war, and ratify the results of a census. It also served as the highest court of appeal in certain judicial cases. Assembly of the Tribes. The assembly of the tribes, the Comitia Tributa, was presided over by a consul, and was composed of 35 tribes. The tribes were not ethnic or kinship groups, but rather geographical subdivisions. The order that the thirty-five tribes would vote in. Was selected randomly by lot. Once a measure received support from a majority of the tribes, the voting would end. While it did not pass many laws, the Comitia Tributa did elect quaestors, curule. The Plebeian Council was an assembly of plebeians, the non-patrician citizens of Rome, who would gather into their respective tribes. They elected their own officers, plebeian tribunes and plebeian aediles. Usually a plebeian tribune would preside over the assembly. This assembly passed most laws, and could also act as a court of appeal. Since it was organised on the basis of the tribes, its rules and procedures were nearly identical to those of the Comitia Tributa. Each magistrate was vested with a degree of maior potestas (“major power”). Each magistrate could veto any action that was taken by a magistrate of an equal or lower rank. On the other hand, were independent of the other magistrates. Magisterial powers, and checks on those powers. Each republican magistrate held certain constitutional powers. Only the People of Rome (both plebeians and patricians) had the right to confer these powers on any individual magistrate. The most powerful constitutional power was imperium. Was held by both consuls and praetors. Imperium gave a magistrate the authority to command a military force. All magistrates also had the power of coercion. This was used by magistrates to maintain public order. While in Rome, all citizens had a judgement against coercion. This protection was called provocatio (see below). Magistrates also had both the power and the duty to look for omens. This power would often be used to obstruct political opponents. One check on a magistrate’s power was his collegiality. Each magisterial office would be held concurrently by at least two people. Another such check was provocatio. Provocatio was a primordial form of due process. It was a precursor to habeas corpus. Before serving in that office again. This created problems for some consuls and praetors, and these magistrates would occasionally have their imperium extended. In effect, they would retain the powers of the office as a promagistrate. , without officially holding that office. Consuls, Praetors, Censors, Aediles, Quaestors, Tribunes, and Dictators. Of Marius, had been put on full display. Party took full advantage of this opportunity by allying itself with Marius. Several years later, in 88 BC, a Roman army was sent to put down an emerging Asian power, king Mithridates. The army, however, was defeated. One of Marius’ old quaestors, Lucius Cornelius Sulla. Had been elected consul for the year, and was ordered by the senate to assume command of the war against Mithridates. Marius, a member of the populares. Party, had a tribune revoke Sulla’s command of the war against Mithridates. Sulla, a member of the aristocratic optimates. Party, brought his army back to Italy and marched on Rome. Sulla was so angry at Marius’ tribune that he passed a law intended to permanently weaken the tribunate. With Sulla gone, the populares under Marius and Lucius Cornelius Cinna. Soon took control of the city. During the period in which the populares party controlled the city, they flouted convention by re-electing Marius consul several times without observing the customary ten-year interval between offices. They also transgressed the established oligarchy by advancing unelected individuals to magisterial office, and by substituting magisterial edicts for popular legislation. Sulla soon made peace with Mithridates. Sulla and his supporters then slaughtered most of Marius’ supporters. Sulla, having observed the violent results of radical popular reforms, was naturally conservative. As such, he sought to strengthen the aristocracy, and by extension the senate. Sulla made himself dictator, passed a series of constitutional reforms. Resigned the dictatorship, and served one last term as consul. He died in 78 BC. Pompey, Crassus and the Catilinarian Conspiracy. A Roman marble head of Pompey. Now found in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. In 77 BC, the senate sent one of Sulla’s former lieutenants, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. (“Pompey the Great”), to put down an uprising in Spain. Around the same time, another of Sulla’s former lieutenants, Marcus Licinius Crassus. Had just put down the Spartacus. Led gladiator/slave revolt in Italy. Upon their return, Pompey and Crassus found the populares party fiercely attacking Sulla’s constitution. They attempted to forge an agreement with the populares party. If both Pompey and Crassus were elected consul in 70 BC, they would dismantle the more obnoxious components of Sulla’s constitution. The two were soon elected, and quickly dismantled most of Sulla’s constitution. Around 66 BC, a movement to use constitutional, or at least peaceful, means to address the plight of various classes began. After several failures, the movement’s leaders decided to use any means that were necessary to accomplish their goals. The movement coalesced under an aristocrat named Lucius Sergius Catilina. The movement was based in the town of Faesulae, which was a natural hotbed of agrarian agitation. The rural malcontents were to advance on Rome, and be aided by an uprising within the city. After assassinating the consuls and most of the senators, Catiline would be free to enact his reforms. The conspiracy was set in motion in 63 BC. The consul for the year, Marcus Tullius Cicero. Intercepted messages that Catiline had sent in an attempt to recruit more members. As a result, the top conspirators in Rome (including at least one former consul) were executed by authorisation (of dubious constitutionality) of the senate, and the planned uprising was disrupted. Cicero then sent an army, which cut Catiline’s forces to pieces. The most important result of the Catilinarian conspiracy was that the populares party became discredited. The prior 70 years had witnessed a gradual erosion in senatorial powers. The violent nature of the conspiracy, in conjunction with the senate’s skill in disrupting it, did a great deal to repair the senate’s image. The Senate, elated by its successes against Catiline, refused to ratify the arrangements that Pompey had made. Pompey, in effect, became powerless. Thus, when Julius Caesar. Caesar and Pompey, along with Crassus, established a private agreement, now known as the First Triumvirate. Under the agreement, Pompey’s arrangements would be ratified. Caesar would be elected consul in 59 BC, and would then serve as governor of Gaul for five years. Crassus was promised a future consulship. Caesar became consul in 59 BC. His colleague, Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus. Was an extreme aristocrat. Caesar submitted the laws that he had promised Pompey to the assemblies. Bibulus attempted to obstruct the enactment of these laws, and so Caesar used violent means to ensure their passage. Caesar was then made governor of three provinces. He facilitated the election of the former patrician Publius Clodius Pulcher. To the tribunate for 58 BC. Clodius set about depriving Caesar’s senatorial enemies of two of their more obstinate leaders in Cato. Clodius was a bitter opponent of Cicero because Cicero had testified against him in a sacrilege case. Clodius attempted to try Cicero for executing citizens without a trial during the Catiline conspiracy, resulting in Cicero going into self-imposed exile and his house in Rome being burnt down. Clodius also passed a bill that forced Cato to lead the invasion of Cyprus which would keep him away from Rome for some years. Clodius also passed a bill that gave the populace a free grain dole, which had previously just been subsidised. The end of the First Triumvirate. Clodius formed armed gangs that terrorised the city and eventually began to attack Pompey’s followers, who in response funded counter-gangs formed by Titus Annius Milo. The political alliance of the triumvirate was crumbling. Ran for the consulship in 55 BC promising to take Caesar’s command from him. Eventually, the triumvirate was renewed at Lucca. Pompey and Crassus were promised the consulship in 55 BC, and Caesar’s term as governor was extended for five years. Crassus led an ill-fated expedition with legions led by his son, Caesar’s lieutenant, against the Kingdom of Parthia. This resulted in his defeat and death at the Battle of Carrhae. Finally, Pompey’s wife, Julia, who was Caesar’s daughter, died in childbirth. This event severed the last remaining bond between Pompey and Caesar. Beginning in the summer of 54 BC, a wave of political corruption and violence swept Rome. This chaos reached a climax in January of 52 BC, when Clodius was murdered in a gang war by Milo. On 1 January 49 BC, an agent of Caesar presented an ultimatum to the senate. The ultimatum was rejected, and the senate then passed a resolution which declared that if Caesar did not lay down his arms by July of that year, he would be considered an enemy of the Republic. On 7 January of 49 BC, the senate passed a senatus consultum ultimum , which vested Pompey with dictatorial powers. Pompey’s army, however, was composed largely of untested conscripts. On 10 January, Caesar crossed the Rubicon. With his veteran army (in violation of Roman laws) and marched towards Rome. Caesar’s rapid advance forced Pompey, the consuls and the Senate to abandon Rome for Greece. Caesar entered the city unopposed. The period of transition (4929 BC). By 29 BC, Rome had completed its transition from being a city-state with a network of dependencies, to being the capital of a world empire. With Pompey defeated and order restored, Caesar wanted to ensure that his control over the government was undisputed. The powers which he would give himself would ultimately be used by his imperial successors. He would assume these powers by increasing his own authority, and by decreasing the authority of Rome’s other political institutions. Caesar would hold both the dictatorship and the tribunate, but alternated between the consulship and the proconsulship. In 48 BC, Caesar was given permanent tribunician powers. This made his person sacrosanct, gave him the power to veto the senate, and allowed him to dominate the Plebeian Council. In 46 BC, Caesar was given censorial powers, which he used to fill the senate with his own partisans. Caesar then raised the membership of the Senate to 900. This robbed the senatorial aristocracy of its prestige, and made it increasingly subservient to him. While the assemblies continued to meet, he submitted all candidates to the assemblies for election, and all bills to the assemblies for enactment. Thus, the assemblies became powerless and were unable to oppose him. Near the end of his life, Caesar began to prepare for a war against the Parthian Empire. Since his absence from Rome would limit his ability to install his own consuls, he passed a law which allowed him to appoint all magistrates in 43 BC, and all consuls and tribunes in 42 BC. This, in effect, transformed the magistrates from being representatives of the people to being representatives of the dictator. Caesar’s assassination and the Second Triumvirate. Caesar was assassinated on March 15, 44 BC. The assassination was led by Gaius Cassius. Most of the conspirators were senators, who had a variety of economic, political, or personal motivations for carrying out the assassination. Many were afraid that Caesar would soon resurrect the monarchy and declare himself king. Others feared loss of property or prestige as Caesar carried out his land reforms in favor of the landless classes. Virtually all the conspirators fled the city after Caesar’s death in fear of retaliation. The civil war that followed destroyed what was left of the Republic. After the assassination, Mark Antony. Formed an alliance with Caesar’s adopted son and great-nephew, Gaius Octavian. Along with Marcus Lepidus. They formed an alliance known as the Second Triumvirate. They held powers that were nearly identical to the powers that Caesar had held under his constitution. As such, the Senate and assemblies remained powerless, even after Caesar had been assassinated. The conspirators were then defeated at the Battle of Philippi. Eventually, however, Antony and Octavian fought against each other in one last battle. Antony was defeated in the naval Battle of Actium. In 31 BC, and he committed suicide with his love, Cleopatra. From the bust in the British Museum. In Cassell’s History of England (1902). Life in the Roman Republic revolved around the city. Of Rome, and its famed seven hills. The city also had several theatres. And many taverns, baths. Throughout the territory under Rome’s control, residential architecture ranged from very modest houses to country villas. And in the capital city of Rome, to the residences. On the elegant Palatine Hill. From which the word ” palace ” is derived. The vast majority of the population lived in the city center, packed into apartment blocks. Most Roman towns and cities had a forum. And temples, as did the city of Rome itself. Brought water to urban centers and wine. And cooking oil were imported from abroad. Landlords generally resided in cities and left their estates in the care of farm managers. To stimulate a higher labour productivity, many landlords freed large numbers of slaves. Beginning in the middle of the 2nd century BC, Greek culture was increasingly ascendant, in spite of tirades against the “softening” effects of Hellenised culture. By the time of Augustus, cultured Greek household slaves taught the Roman young (sometimes even the girls). Greek sculptures adorned Hellenistic landscape gardening on the Palatine or in the villas, and much of Roman cuisine. Roman writers disdained Latin for a cultured Greek style. Social history and structure. Many aspects of Roman culture were borrowed from the Greeks. In architecture and sculpture. The difference between Greek models and Roman paintings are apparent. The chief Roman contributions to architecture were the arch. Rome has also had a tremendous impact on European cultures following it. Its significance is perhaps best reflected in its endurance and influence, as is seen in the longevity and lasting importance of works of Virgil. Latin, the Republic’s primary language, remains used for liturgical purposes by the Roman Catholic Church, and up to the 19th century was used extensively in scholarly writings in, for example, science and mathematics. Roman law laid the foundations for the laws of many European countries and their colonies. The center of the early social structure was the family, which was not only marked by blood relations but also by the legally constructed relation of patria potestas. Was the absolute head of the family; he was the master over his wife, his children, the wives of his sons, the nephews, the slaves and the freedmen, disposing of them and of their goods at will, even putting them to death. Roman law recognised only patrician families as legal entities. Slavery and slaves were part of the social order; there were slave markets. Generally, mutilation and murder of slaves was prohibited by legislation. It is estimated that over 25% of the Roman population was enslaved. Roman clad in a toga. Men typically wore a toga. And women a stola. The woman’s stola differed in looks from a toga, and was usually brightly coloured. The cloth and the dress distinguished one class of people from the other class. The tunic worn by plebeians. Or common people, like shepherds and slaves, was made from coarse and dark material, whereas the tunic. Was of linen or white wool. A knight or magistrate would wear an augusticlavus , a tunic bearing small purple studs. Senators wore tunics with broad red stripes, called tunica laticlavia. Military tunics were shorter than the ones worn by civilians. Boys, up until the festival of Liberalia. Wore the toga praetexta , which was a toga with a crimson or purple border. The toga virilis , (or toga pura) was worn by men over the age of 16 to signify their citizenship in Rome. The toga picta was worn by triumphant generals and had embroidery of their skill on the battlefield. The toga pulla was worn when in mourning. Even footwear indicated a person’s social status. Patricians wore red and orange sandals, senators had brown footwear, consuls had white shoes, and soldiers wore heavy boots. The Romans also invented socks for those soldiers required to fight on the northern frontiers, sometimes worn in sandals. Romans had simple food habits. Staple food was generally consumed at around 11 o’clock, and consisted of bread, salad, cheese, fruits, nuts, and cold meat left over from the dinner the night before. The Roman poet, Horace. Mentions another Roman favorite, the olive, in reference to his own diet, which he describes as very simple: As for me, olives, endives. The family ate together, sitting on stools around a table. Fingers were used to eat solid foods and spoons were used for soups. Wine was considered a staple drink, consumed at all meals and occasions by all classes and was quite cheap. Once advised cutting his rations in half to conserve wine for the workforce. Many types of drinks involving grapes and honey were consumed as well. Drinking on an empty stomach was regarded as boorish and a sure sign for alcoholism, the debilitating physical and psychological effects of which were known to the Romans. An accurate accusation of being an alcoholic was an effective way to discredit political rivals. Prominent Roman alcoholics included Mark Antony. And Cicero’s own son Marcus Cicero Minor. Even Cato the Younger. Was known to be a heavy drinker. Following various military conquests in the Greek East. Romans adapted a number of Greek educational precepts to their own fledgling system. Physical training to prepare the boys to grow as Roman citizens and for eventual recruitment into the army. Conforming to discipline was a point of great emphasis. Girls generally received instruction from their mothers in the art of spinning, weaving, and sewing. Schooling in a more formal sense was begun around 200 BC. Education began at the age of around six, and in the next six to seven years, boys and girls were expected to learn the basics of reading, writing and counting. By the age of twelve, they would be learning Latin, Greek, grammar and literature, followed by training for public speaking. Was an art to be practiced and learnt, and good orators commanded respect. The native language of the Romans was Latin. Although surviving Latin literature. Consists almost entirely of Classical Latin. An artificial and highly stylised and polished literary language. From the 1st century BC, the actual spoken language was Vulgar Latin. Which significantly differed from Classical Latin in grammar, vocabulary, and eventually pronunciation. Rome’s expansion spread Latin throughout Europe, and over time Vulgar Latin evolved and dialectised in different locations, gradually shifting into a number of distinct Romance languages. Many of these languages, including French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian. And Spanish, flourished, the differences between them growing greater over time. Although English is Germanic. Rather than Roman in origin, English borrows heavily from Latin and Latin-derived words. Roman literature was from its very inception influenced heavily by Greek authors. Some of the earliest works we possess are of historical epics telling the early military history of Rome. As the republic expanded, authors began to produce poetry, comedy, history, and tragedy. Represents the pinnacle of Roman epic poetry. Tells the story of flight of Aeneas from Troy. And his settlement of the city that would become Rome. In his On the Nature of Things. Attempted to explicate science in an epic poem. The genre of satire was common in Rome, and satires were written by, among others, Juvenal. Are considered to be some of the best bodies of correspondence recorded in antiquity. In the 3rd century BC, Greek art taken as booty from wars became popular, and many Roman homes were decorated with landscapes by Greek artists. Portrait sculpture during the period utilised youthful and classical proportions, evolving later into a mixture of realism and idealism. Advancements were also made in relief sculptures, often depicting Roman victories. Music was a major part of everyday life. The word itself derives from Greek (mousike), (art) of the Muses. Many private and public events were accompanied by music, ranging from nightly dining to military parades and manoeuvres. In a discussion of any ancient music, however, non-specialists and even many musicians have to be reminded that much of what makes our modern music familiar to us is the result of developments only within the last 1,000 years; thus, our ideas of melody, scales, harmony, and even the instruments we use would not be familiar to Romans who made and listened to music many centuries earlier. Over time, Roman architecture was modified as their urban requirements changed, and the civil engineering and building construction technology became developed and refined. Has remained a riddle, and even after more than 2,000 years some Roman structures still stand magnificently. The architectural style of the capital city was emulated by other urban centers under Roman control and influence. Roman cities were well planned, efficiently managed and neatly maintained. The city of Rome had a place called the Campus Martius. (“Field of Mars”), which was a sort of drill ground for Roman soldiers. Later, the Campus became Rome’s track and field playground. In the campus, the youth assembled to play and exercise, which included jumping, wrestling, boxing and racing. Equestrian sports, throwing, and swimming were also preferred physical activities. In the countryside, pastime included fishing and hunting. Board games played in Rome included dice. (Terni Lapilli), and Ludus duodecim scriptorum. And Tabula, predecessors of backgammon. There were several other activities to keep people engaged like chariot races, musical and theatrical performances. Roman religious beliefs date back to the founding of Rome, around 800 BC. However, the Roman religion commonly associated with the republic and early empire did not begin until around 500 BC, when Romans came in contact with Greek. Culture, and adopted many of the Greek religious beliefs. Private and personal worship was an important aspect of religious practices. In a sense, each household was a temple to the gods. Each household had an altar lararium. , at which the family members would offer prayers, perform rites, and interact with the household gods. Many of the gods that Romans worshiped came from the Proto-Indo-European pantheon. Others were based on Greek gods. The two most famous deities were Jupiter. (the king God) and Mars. (the god of war). With its cultural influence spreading over most of the Mediterranean, Romans began accepting foreign gods into their own culture, as well as other philosophical traditions such as Cynicism. The structural history of the Roman military describes the major chronological transformations in the organisation and constitution of the Roman armed forces. The Roman military was split into the Roman army. And the Roman navy. Although these two branches were less distinct than they tend to be in modern defence forces. Within the top-level branches of army and navy, structural changes occurred both as a result of positive military reform and through organic structural evolution. During this period, Roman soldiers seem to have been modelled after those of the Etruscans. To the north, who themselves seem to have copied their style of warfare. Traditionally, the introduction of the phalanx formation. Into the Roman army is ascribed to the city’s penultimate king, Servius Tullius. (ruled 578 to 534 BC). And Dionysius of Halicarnassus. Each subsequent rank consisted of those with less wealth and poorer equipment than the one before it. One disadvantage of the phalanx was that it was only effective when fighting in large, open spaces, which left the Romans at a disadvantage when fighting in the hilly terrain of central Italian peninsula. In the 4th century BC, the Romans abandoned the phalanx in favour of the more flexible manipular formation. This change is sometimes attributed to Marcus Furius Camillus. And placed shortly after the Gallic invasion. Of 390 BC; it is more likely, however, that they were copied from Rome’s Samnite. Enemies to the south, possibly as a result of Samnite victories during the Second Samnite War. (326 to 304 BC). During this period, an army formation of around 5,000 men (of both heavy and light infantry) was known as a legion. The manipular army was based upon social class, age and military experience. Maniples were units of 120 men each drawn from a single infantry class. The maniples were typically deployed into three discrete lines based on the three heavy infantry. Each first line maniple were leather-armoured infantry soldiers who wore a bronze breastplate and a bronze helmet adorned with 3 feathers approximately 30 cm (12 in) in height and carried an iron-clad wooden shield. They were armed with a sword and two throwing spears. The second infantry line was armed and armoured in the same manner as was the first infantry line. The third infantry line was the last remnant of the hoplite-style (the Greek-style formation used occasionally during the early Republic) troops in the Roman army. They were armed and armoured in the same manner as were the soldiers in the second line, with the exception that they carried a lighter spear. The three infantry classes may have retained some slight parallel to social divisions within Roman society, but at least officially the three lines were based upon age and experience rather than social class. Young, unproven men would serve in the first line, older men with some military experience would serve in the second line, and veteran troops of advanced age and experience would serve in the third line. The heavy infantry of the maniples were supported by a number of light infantry and cavalry troops, typically 300 horsemen per manipular legion. The cavalry was drawn primarily from the richest class of equestrians. There was an additional class of troops who followed the army without specific martial roles and were deployed to the rear of the third line. Their role in accompanying the army was primarily to supply any vacancies that might occur in the maniples. The light infantry consisted of 1,200 unarmoured skirmishing troops drawn from the youngest and lower social classes. They were armed with a sword and a small shield, as well as several light javelins. Rome’s military confederation with the other peoples of the Italian peninsula meant that half of Rome’s army was provided by the Socii. Such as the Etruscans, Umbrians, Apulians, Campanians, Samnites, Lucani, Bruttii, and the various southern Greek cities. Polybius states that Rome could draw on 770,000 men at the beginning of the Second Punic War, of which 700,000 were infantry and 70,000 met the requirements for cavalry. Rome’s Italian allies would be organized in alae , or wings , roughly equal in manpower to the Roman legions, though with 900 cavalry instead of 300. A small navy had operated at a fairly low level after about 300 BC, but it was massively upgraded about forty years later, during the First Punic War. After a period of frenetic construction, the navy mushroomed to a size of more than 400 ships on the Carthaginian. Once completed, it could accommodate up to 100,000 sailors and embarked troops for battle. The navy thereafter declined in size. The extraordinary demands of the Punic Wars. In addition to a shortage of manpower, exposed the tactical weaknesses of the manipular legion, at least in the short term. In 217 BC, near the beginning of the Second Punic War. Rome was forced to effectively ignore its long-standing principle that its soldiers must be both citizens and property owners. During the 2nd century BC, Roman territory saw an overall decline in population, partially due to the huge losses incurred during various wars. This was accompanied by severe social stresses and the greater collapse of the middle classes. As a result, the Roman state was forced to arm its soldiers at the expense of the state, which it had not had to do in the past. The distinction between the heavy infantry types began to blur, perhaps because the state was now assuming the responsibility of providing standard-issue equipment. In addition, the shortage of available manpower led to a greater burden being placed upon Rome’s allies for the provision of allied troops. Eventually, the Romans were forced to begin hiring mercenaries to fight alongside the legions. The legion after the reforms of Gaius Marius (10727 BC). Bust of Gaius Marius. Instigator of the Marian reforms. In a process known as the Marian reforms. Roman consul Gaius Marius. Carried out a programme of reform of the Roman military. In 107 BC, all citizens, regardless of their wealth or social class, were made eligible for entry into the Roman army. This move formalised and concluded a gradual process that had been growing for centuries, of removing property requirements for military service. The distinction between the three heavy infantry classes, which had already become blurred, had collapsed into a single class of heavy legionary infantry. The heavy infantry legionaries were drawn from citizen stock, while non-citizens came to dominate the ranks of the light infantry. The army’s higher-level officers and commanders were still drawn exclusively from the Roman aristocracy. Unlike earlier in the Republic, legionaries were no longer fighting on a seasonal basis to protect their land. Instead, they received standard pay, and were employed by the state on a fixed-term basis. As a consequence, military duty began to appeal most to the poorest sections of society, to whom a salaried pay was attractive. A destabilising consequence of this development was that the proletariat acquired a stronger and more elevated position within the state. The legions of the late Republic were, structurally, almost entirely heavy infantry. The legion’s main sub-unit was called a cohort. And consisted of approximately 480 infantrymen. The cohort was therefore a much larger unit than the earlier maniple sub-unit, and was divided into six centuries. Of 80 men each. Each century was separated further into 10 “tent groups” of 8 men each. Legions additionally consisted of a small body, typically 120 men, of Roman legionary cavalry. The cavalry troops were used as scouts and dispatch riders rather than battlefield cavalry. Legions also contained a dedicated group of artillery crew of perhaps 60 men. Each legion was normally partnered with an approximately equal number of allied (non-Roman) troops. However, the most obvious deficiency of the Roman army remained its shortage of cavalry, especially heavy cavalry. As Rome’s borders expanded and its adversaries changed from largely infantry-based to largely cavalry-based troops, the infantry-based Roman army began to find itself at a tactical disadvantage, particularly in the East. After having declined in size following the subjugation of the Mediterranean, the Roman navy underwent short-term upgrading and revitalisation in the late Republic to meet several new demands. An invasion fleet was assembled in the English Channel. To allow the invasion of Britannia. A large fleet was raised in the Mediterranean Sea to clear the sea of Cilician. During the civil war that followed, as many as a thousand ships were either constructed or pressed into service from Greek cities. The core of the campaign history of the Roman Republican military is the account of the Roman military. Despite the encompassing of lands around the periphery of the Mediterranean sea, naval battles were typically less significant than land battles to the military history of Rome. As with most ancient civilisations, Rome’s military served the triple purposes of securing its borders, exploiting peripheral areas through measures such as imposing tribute on conquered peoples, and maintaining internal order. From the outset, Rome’s military typified this pattern and the majority of Rome’s campaigns were characterised by one of two types. The first is the territorial expansionist campaign, normally begun as a counter-offensive. In which each victory brought subjugation of large areas of territory. The second is the civil war, of which examples plagued the Roman Republic in its final century. Roman armies were not invincible, despite their formidable reputation and host of victories. Over the centuries the Romans ” produced their share of incompetents ” who led Roman armies into catastrophic defeats. Nevertheless, it was generally the fate of even the greatest of Rome’s enemies, such as Pyrrhus. To win the battle but lose the war. The history of Rome’s campaigning is, if nothing else, a history of obstinate persistence overcoming appalling losses. Early Republic (458274 BC). Early Italian campaigns (458396 BC). The first Roman republican wars were wars of both expansion and defence, aimed at protecting Rome itself from neighbouring cities and nations and establishing its territory in the region. Initially, Rome’s immediate neighbours were either Latin. Towns and villages, or else tribal Sabines from the Apennine hills beyond. One by one Rome defeated both the persistent Sabines and the local cities that were either under Etruscan control or else Latin towns that had cast off their Etruscan rulers. Rome defeated Latin cities in the Battle of Lake Regillus. In 496 BC, the Battle of Mons Algidus. In 458 BC, the Battle of Corbione. The Battle of Aricia. And an Etruscan city in the Battle of the Cremera. By the end of this period, Rome had effectively completed the conquest. Of their immediate Etruscan and Latin neighbours, as well as secured their position against the immediate threat posed by the tribespeople of the nearby Apennine hills. Celtic invasion of Italia (390387 BC). By 390 BC, several Gallic tribes had begun invading Italy from the north as their culture expanded throughout Europe. The Romans were alerted of this when a particularly warlike tribe invaded two Etruscan towns from the north. These two towns were not far from Rome’s sphere of influence. These towns, overwhelmed by the size of the enemy in numbers and ferocity, called on Rome for help. The Romans met them in pitched battle at the Battle of Allia River. The Gauls, under their chieftain Brennus. Defeated the Roman army of around 15,000 troops and proceeded to pursue the fleeing Romans back to Rome itself and sacked the city. Before being either driven off or bought off. Now that the Romans and Gauls had bloodied one another, intermittent warfare was to continue between the two in Italy for more than two centuries. The Celtic problem would not be resolved for Rome until the final subjugation of all Gaul by Julius Caesar at the Battle of Alesia. Roman expansion into Italia (343282 BC). Map showing Roman expansion in Italy. After recovering surprisingly swiftly from the sack of Rome, the Romans immediately resumed their expansion within Italy. The First Samnite War. Of between 343 BC and 341 BC was a relatively short affair: the Romans beat the Samnites in two battles, but were forced to withdraw from the war before they could pursue the conflict further due to the revolt of several of their Latin allies in the Latin War. Rome bested the Latins in the Battle of Vesuvius. And again in the Battle of Trifanum. After which the Latin cities were obliged to submit to Roman rule. The Second Samnite War. From 327 BC to 304 BC, was a much longer and more serious affair for both the Romans and Samnites. The fortunes of the two sides fluctuated throughout its course. The Romans then proved victorious at the Battle of Bovianum. And the tide turned strongly against the Samnites from 314 BC onwards, leading them to sue for peace with progressively less generous terms. By 304 BC the Romans had effectively annexed the greater degree of the Samnite territory, founding several colonies. Seven years after their defeat, with Roman dominance of the area looking assured, the Samnites rose again and defeated a Roman army in 298 BC, to open the Third Samnite War. With this success in hand they managed to bring together a coalition of several previous enemies of Rome. In the Battle of Populonia. In 282 BC Rome finished off the last vestiges of Etruscan power in the region. Pyrrhic War (280275 BC). Route of Pyrrhus of Epirus. By the beginning of the 3rd century, Rome had established itself as a major power on the Italian Peninsula. But had not yet come into conflict with the dominant military powers in the Mediterranean Basin. At the time: Carthage. And the Greek kingdoms. When a diplomatic dispute between Rome and a Greek colony erupted into open warfare in a naval confrontation, the Greek colony appealed for military aid to Pyrrhus. Ruler of the northwestern Greek kingdom of Epirus. Motivated by a personal desire for military accomplishment, Pyrrhus landed a Greek army of some 25,000 men on Italian soil in 280 BC. Despite early victories, Pyrrhus found his position in Italy untenable. Rome steadfastly refused to negotiate with Pyrrhus as long as his army remained in Italy. Facing unacceptably heavy losses with each encounter with the Roman army, Pyrrhus withdrew from the peninsula thus deriving the term pyrrhic victory. In 275 BC, Pyrrhus again met the Roman army at the Battle of Beneventum. While Beneventum was indecisive, Pyrrhus realised his army had been exhausted and reduced, by years of foreign campaigns, and seeing little hope for further gains, he withdrew completely from Italy. The conflicts with Pyrrhus would have a great effect on Rome. Rome had shown it was capable of pitting its armies successfully against the dominant military powers of the Mediterranean, and that the Greek kingdoms were incapable of defending their colonies in Italy and abroad. Rome quickly moved into southern Italia, subjugating and dividing the Greek colonies. Now, Rome effectively dominated the Italian peninsula, and won an international military reputation. Punic Wars (264146 BC). Theatre of the Punic Wars. The First Punic War. Began in 264 BC when settlements on Sicily began to appeal to the two powers between which they lay Rome and Carthage to solve internal conflicts. The war saw land battles in Sicily early on, but the theatre shifted to naval battles around Sicily and Africa. Before the First Punic War there was no Roman navy to speak of. The new war in Sicily. A great naval power, forced Rome to quickly build a fleet and train sailors. The first few naval battles were catastrophic disasters for Rome. However, after training more sailors and inventing a grappling engine, a Roman naval force was able to defeat a Carthaginian fleet, and further naval victories followed. The Carthaginians then hired Xanthippus of Carthage. A Spartan mercenary general, to reorganize and lead their army. He managed to cut off the Roman army from its base by re-establishing Carthaginian naval supremacy. With their newfound naval abilities, the Romans then beat the Carthaginians in naval battle again at the Battle of the Aegates Islands. And leaving Carthage without a fleet or sufficient coin to raise one. For a maritime power the loss of their access to the Mediterranean stung financially and psychologically, and the Carthaginians sued for peace. Continuing distrust led to the renewal of hostilities in the Second Punic War. Attacked a Spanish town, which had diplomatic ties to Rome. Hannibal then crossed the Italian Alps to invade Italy. Hannibal’s successes in Italy began immediately, and reached an early climax at the Battle of Cannae. Where 70,000 Romans were killed. In three battles, the Romans managed to hold off Hannibal but then Hannibal smashed a succession of Roman consular armies. By this time Hannibal’s brother Hasdrubal Barca. Sought to cross the Alps into Italy and join his brother with a second army. Hasdrubal managed to break through into Italy only to be defeated decisively on the Metaurus River. Unable to defeat Hannibal himself on Italian soil, the Romans boldly sent an army to Africa under Scipio Africanus. With the intention of threatening the Carthaginian capital. Hannibal was recalled to Africa, and defeated at the Battle of Zama. Carthage never managed to recover after the Second Punic War. And the Third Punic War. That followed was in reality a simple punitive mission to raze the city of Carthage to the ground. Carthage was almost defenseless and when besieged offered immediate surrender, conceding to a string of outrageous Roman demands. The Romans refused the surrender, and the city was stormed after a short siege and completely destroyed. Ultimately, all of Carthage’s North African and Spanish territories were acquired by Rome. Kingdom of Macedonia, the Greek poleis, and Illyria (215148 BC). Rome’s preoccupation with its war with Carthage provided an opportunity for Philip V. Of the kingdom of Macedonia. Located in the north of the Greek peninsula. To attempt to extend his power westward. Philip sent ambassadors to Hannibal’s camp in Italy, to negotiate an alliance as common enemies of Rome. However, Rome discovered the agreement when Philip’s emissaries were captured by a Roman fleet. The First Macedonian War. Saw the Romans involved directly in only limited land operations, but they ultimately achieved their objective of pre-occupying Philip and preventing him from aiding Hannibal. Macedonia began to encroach on territory claimed by Greek city states in 200 BC and these states pleaded for help from their newfound ally Rome. Rome gave Philip an ultimatum that he must submit several parts of Greater Macedonia to Rome and give up his designs on Greece. Philip refused, and Rome declared war starting the Second Macedonian War. Ultimately, in 197 BC, the Romans decisevely defeated Philip at the Battle of Cynoscephalae. Subsequently Macedonia was reduced to a central rump state. Rome now turned its attentions to one of the Greek kingdoms, the Seleucid Empire. A Roman force defeated the Seleucids at the Battle of Thermopylae. And forced them to evacuate Greece. The Romans then pursued the Seleucids beyond Greece, beating them in the decisive engagement of the Battle of Magnesia. In 179 BC, Philip died and his talented and ambitious son, Perseus, took his throne and showed a renewed interest in Greece. Rome declared war on Macedonia again, starting the Third Macedonian War. Perseus initially had some success against the Romans. However, Rome responded by simply sending another stronger army. The second consular army decisively defeated the Macedonians at the Battle of Pydna. In 168 BC and the Macedonians duly capitulated, ending the Third Macedonian War. The Kingdom of Macedonia was then divided by the Romans into four client republics. The Fourth Macedonian War, fought from 150 BC to 148 BC, was fought against a Macedonian pretender to the throne who was attempting to re-establish the old Kingdom. The Romans swiftly defeated the Macedonians at the Second battle of Pydna. Chose this moment to rebel against Roman domination but was swiftly defeated. Was besieged and destroyed in 146 BC, the same year as the destruction of Carthage. Which led to the league’s surrender. Late Republic (14730 BC). Jugurthine War (111104 BC). Of 111104 BC was fought between Rome and Jugurtha. Of the North African kingdom of Numidia. It constituted the final Roman pacification of Northern Africa, after which Rome largely ceased expansion on the continent after reaching natural barriers of desert and mountain. Following Jugurtha’s usurpation of the throne of Numidia, a loyal ally of Rome since the Punic Wars, Rome felt compelled to intervene. Jugurtha impudently bribed the Romans into accepting his usurpation. Jugurtha was finally captured not in battle but by treachery. The Celtic threat (121 BC) and the new Germanic threat (113101 BC). In 121 BC, Rome came into contact with two Celtic tribes (from a region in modern France), both of which they defeated with apparent ease. (113101 BC) was a far more serious affair than the earlier clashes of 121 BC. Tribes of the Cimbri. Migrated from northern Europe into Rome’s northern territories, and clashed with Rome and her allies. At the Battle of Aquae Sextiae. And the Battle of Vercellae. Both tribes were virtually annihilated, which ended the threat. Internal unrest (13571 BC). The extensive campaigning abroad by Roman generals, and the rewarding of soldiers with plunder on these campaigns, led to a general trend of soldiers becoming increasingly loyal to their generals rather than to the state. Rome was also plagued by several slave uprisings during this period, in part because vast tracts of land had been given over to slave farming in which the slaves greatly outnumbered their Roman masters. In the last century BC at least twelve civil wars. This pattern did not break until Octavian later Caesar Augustus. Ended it by becoming a successful challenger to the Senate’s authority, and was made princeps. Between 135 BC and 71 BC there were three “Servile Wars”. Involving slave uprisings against the Roman state. And final uprising was the most serious, involving ultimately between 120,000 and 150,000. Slaves under the command of the gladiator Spartacus. Additionally, in 91 BC the Social War. Broke out between Rome and its former allies in Italy over dissent among the allies that they shared the risk of Rome’s military campaigns, but not its rewards. Although they lost militarily, the allies achieved their objectives with legal proclamations which granted citizenship to more than 500,000 Italians. The internal unrest reached its most serious state, however, in the two civil wars. That were caused by the consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla. At the beginning of 82 BC. In the Battle of the Colline Gate. At the very door of the city of Rome, a Roman army under Sulla bested an army of the Roman Senate and entered the city. Sulla’s actions marked a watershed in the willingness of Roman troops to wage war against one another that was to pave the way for the wars which ultimately overthrew the Republic, and caused the founding of the Roman Empire. Conflicts with Mithridates (8963 BC) and the Cilician pirates (67 BC). Was the ruler of Pontus. A large kingdom in Asia Minor. (modern Turkey), from 120 to 63 BC. The massacre was the official reason given for the commencement of hostilities in the First Mithridatic War. The Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla. Forced Mithridates out of Greece proper, but then had to return to Italy to answer the internal threat posed by his rival, Gaius Marius. A peace was made between Rome and Pontus, but this proved only a temporary lull. The Second Mithridatic War. Began when Rome tried to annex a province that Mithridates claimed as his own. In the Third Mithridatic War. First Lucius Licinius Lucullus. And then Pompey the Great. Were sent against Mithridates. Mithridates was finally defeated by Pompey in the night-time Battle of the Lycus. The Mediterranean had at this time fallen into the hands of pirates, largely from Cilicia. Was nominated as commander of a special naval task force to campaign against the pirates. It took Pompey just forty days to clear the western portion of the sea of pirates and restore communication between Iberia (Spain), Africa, and Italy. Caesar’s early campaigns (5950 BC). Map of the Gallic Wars. During a term as praetor in the Iberian Peninsula. (modern Portugal and Spain), Pompey’s contemporary Julius Caesar. Defeated two local tribes in battle. Following his term as consul in 59 BC, he was then appointed to a five-year term as the proconsular Governor of Cisalpine Gaul (current northern Italy), Transalpine Gaul (current southern France) and Illyria (the modern Balkans). Not content with an idle governorship, Caesar strove to find reason to invade Gaul, which would give him the dramatic military success he sought. When two local tribes began to migrate on a route that would take them near (not into) the Roman province of Transalpine Gaul, Caesar had the barely sufficient excuse he needed for his Gallic Wars. Fought between 58 BC and 49 BC. Caesar defeated large armies at major battles 58 BC and 57 BC. In 55 and 54 BC he made two expeditions into Britain. Becoming the first Roman to do so. Caesar then defeated a union of Gauls at the Battle of Alesia. Completing the Roman conquest of Transalpine Gaul. By 50 BC, the entirety of Gaul lay in Roman hands. Gaul never regained its Celtic identity, never attempted another nationalist rebellion, and, other than the crisis of the 3rd century, remained loyal to Rome until the fall of the western empire in 476. Triumvirates and Caesarian ascension (5330 BC). By 59 BC an unofficial political alliance known as the First Triumvirate. Was formed between Gaius Julius Caesar. And Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. (“Pompey the Great”) to share power and influence. In 53 BC, Crassus launched a Roman invasion of the Parthian Empire (modern Iraq and Iran). He marched his army deep into the desert; but here his army was cut off deep in enemy territory, surrounded and slaughtered at the Battle of Carrhae. In which Crassus himself perished. The death of Crassus removed some of the balance in the Triumvirate and, consequently, Caesar and Pompey began to move apart. While Caesar was fighting in Gaul, Pompey proceeded with a legislative agenda for Rome that revealed that he was at best ambivalent towards Caesar. And perhaps now covertly allied with Caesar’s political enemies. In 51 BC, some Roman senators demanded that Caesar not be permitted to stand for consul unless he turned over control of his armies to the state, which would have left Caesar defenceless before his enemies. Caesar chose civil war over laying down his command and facing trial. By the spring of 49 BC, the hardened legions of Caesar crossed the river Rubicon. And swept down the Italian peninsula towards Rome, while Pompey ordered the abandonment of Rome. Afterwards Caesar turned his attention to the Pompeian stronghold of Iberia (modern Spain) but decided to tackle Pompey himself in Greece. Pompey initially defeated Caesar, but failed to follow up on the victory, and was decisively defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus. In 48 BC, despite outnumbering Caesar’s forces two to one, albeit with inferior quality troops. Pompey fled again, this time to Egypt, where he was murdered. Pompey’s death did not result in an end to the civil war as Caesar’s enemies were manifold and continued to fight on. In 46 BC Caesar lost perhaps as much as a third of his army, but ultimately came back to defeat the Pompeian army of Metellus Scipio. In the Battle of Thapsus. After which the Pompeians retreated yet again to Iberia. Caesar then defeated the combined Pompeian forces at the Battle of Munda. Caesar was now the primary figure of the Roman state, enforcing and entrenching his powers and his enemies feared that he had ambitions to become an autocratic ruler. Arguing that the Roman Republic was in danger a group of senators hatched a conspiracy and murdered Caesar. In the Senate in March 44 BC. Caesar’s lieutenant, condemned Caesar’s assassination, and war broke out between the two factions. Antony was denounced as a public enemy, and Caesar’s adopted son and chosen heir, Gaius Octavian. Was entrusted with the command of the war against him. At the Battle of Mutina. Antony was defeated by the consuls Hirtius. Who were both killed. Octavian came to terms with Caesarians Antony and Lepidus in 43 BC when the Second Triumvirate. In 42 BC Triumvirs. Fought the Battle of Philippi. With Caesar’s assassins Brutus. Although Brutus defeated Octavian, Antony defeated Cassius, who committed suicide. Brutus joined him shortly afterwards. However, civil war flared again when the Second Triumvirate of Octavian, Lepidus and Mark Antony. The ambitious Octavian built a power base of patronage and then launched a campaign against Mark Antony. At the naval Battle of Actium. Off the coast of Greece, Octavian. Decisively defeated Antony and Cleopatra. Octavian was granted a series of special powers including sole “imperium” within the city of Rome, permanent consular powers and credit for every Roman military victory, since all future generals were assumed to be acting under his command. In 27 BC Octavian was granted the use of the names “Augustus” and “Princeps” indicating his primary status above all other Romans, and he adopted the title “Imperator Caesar” making him the first Roman Emperor. What is a certificate of authenticity and what guarantees do you give that the item is authentic? You will be quite happy with what you get with the COA; a professional presentation of the coin, with all of the relevant information and a picture of the coin you saw in the listing. Is there a number I can call you with questions about my order? When should I leave feedback? Once you receive your order, please leave a positive. Please don’t leave any negative feedbacks, as it happens many times that people rush to leave feedback before letting sufficient time for the order to arrive. The matter of fact is that any issues can be resolved, as reputation is most important to me. My goal is to provide superior products and quality of service. The item “Roman Republic Sulla ImperatorMETELLUS PIUS Elephant Caecilia Silver Coin i46383″ is in sale since Tuesday, January 27, 2015. This item is in the category “Coins & Paper Money\Coins\ Ancient\Roman\ Republic (300 BC-27 BC)”. The seller is “highrating_lowprice” and is located in Rego Park, New York. This item can be shipped worldwide.
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Roman Republic Sulla ImperatorMETELLUS PIUS Elephant Caecilia Silver Coin i46383

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JULIUS CAESAR Elephant Serpent 49BC Authentic Ancient Silver Roman Coin i52552

JULIUS CAESAR Elephant Serpent 49BC Authentic Ancient Silver Roman Coin i52552
JULIUS CAESAR Elephant Serpent 49BC Authentic Ancient Silver Roman Coin i52552

JULIUS CAESAR Elephant Serpent 49BC Authentic Ancient Silver Roman Coin i52552
Authentic Ancient Coin of. Roman Dictator Silver Denarius 17mm (2.94 grams) Struck 49-48 B. Reference: RSC 49j B. 443/1 Elephant walking right, trampling on serpent, CAESAR in exergue. Sacrificial implement:: Simpulum, sprinkler, axe and priest’s hat. The obverse type may symbolize victory over evil, whereas the reverse refers to Caesar’s office of Pontifex Maximus. Symbolism of the Elephant. The representation of this animal frequently occurs on Roman coins. The head, and sometimes the proboscis only, on an Elephant is a symbol of Africa. An Elephant trampling on a serpent with it’s fore feet, is the well-known type on the denarius of Julius Caesar. But it has given rise from it’s name in that region; the animal being called in the Punic language Caesar, this name became appropriated to the family. “But” says Echhel vi. 5 and 6, in noticing these conflicting opinions prior to this grandfather of Julius, we find in Livy the cognomen of Caesar. Now, if that be true, which is stated by Constantinus Manasses, that’elephants are called Caesares by the Phoenicians,’ and which, as we have just observed, is confirmed by Servius and Spartian, the present elephant would be an allusion to the name; as, moreover, it is represented as trampling on a serpent, with which reptile, according to Pliny, the elephant is at perpetual feud; and as it is established by Artemidorus, that the elephant in Italy denotes a lord, a king, or a man in high authority; we shall then recognize a type flattering to the ambition of Caesar, and by which he was desirous to intimate his victory over the barbarians, and all who were envious of his glory. Whatever may be the decision on this point, the type may be considered as a presage of future dominion. For the elephant, independently of its uses in war and amphitheatre, was an undoubted symbol of honor or of arrogance. According to Suetonius In Nerone, chap. Domitius, the ancestor of Nero, after his victory, during his consulate, over the Allobroges, was carried through the province on an elephant, preceded by a large body of troops, as in the solemnity of a triumph. Julius Caesar himself, when his military toils were over, ascended the Capitol, lighted by forty elephants, bearing torches, on either side of him. Lastly, there was no special use for elephants, except to draw the imperial thensae at funerals, or the chariots of the Caesars, either in a triumph, or in their consular processions. Elephants are represented on coins as an emblem of Eternity, it has been among the vulgar errors of the ancients to believe that those stupendous creatures lived two or even three hundred years. It was, however, on the known longevity of the elephant (exceeding, as Pliny, quoting Aristotle, says, that of all other animals), that they were employed in the funeral processions of emperors and empresses, on the occasion of their apotheosis. Gaius Julius Caesar (13 July 100 BC 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic. Into the Roman Empire. As a politician, Caesar made use of popularist. During the late 60s and into the 50s BC, he formed political alliances that led to the so-called First Triumvirate. Arrangement with Marcus Licinius Crassus. And Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. (Pompey the Great) that was to dominate Roman politics for several years. Attempts to amass power for themselves were opposed within the Roman Senate. Among them Marcus Porcius Cato. And Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus. With the sometime support of Marcus Tullius Cicero. Caesar’s conquest of Gaul. Extended the Roman world to the North Sea. And in 55 BC he also conducted the first Roman invasion of Britain. These achievements granted him unmatched military power and threatened to eclipse Pompey’s, while the death of Crassus. Contributed to increasing political tensions between the two triumviral survivors. Political realignments in Rome finally led to a stand-off between Caesar and Pompey, the latter having taken up the cause of the Senate. With the order that sent his legions across the Rubicon. Caesar began a civil war. In 49 BC from which he emerged as the unrivaled leader of the Roman world. After assuming control of government, he began extensive reforms of Roman society and government. He centralised the bureaucracy of the Republic and was eventually proclaimed dictator. In perpetuity dictator perpetuo. A group of senators, led by Marcus Junius Brutus. Assassinated the dictator on the Ides of March. (15 March) 44 BC, hoping to restore the normal running of the Republic. However, the result was another Roman civil war. Which ultimately led to the establishment of a permanent autocracy. By Caesar’s adopted heir, Gaius Octavianus. In 42 BC, two years after his assassination, the Senate officially sanctified Caesar as one of the Roman deities. Much of Caesar’s life is known from his own Commentaries. (Commentarii) on his military campaigns, and other contemporary sources such as the letters and speeches of his political rival Cicero. The historical writings of Sallust. And the poetry of Catullus. Many more details of his life are recorded by later historians, such as Appian. Caesar was born into a patrician. Which claimed descent from Iulus. Son of the legendary Trojan. Supposedly the son of the goddess Venus. “Caesar” originated, according to Pliny the Elder. With an ancestor who was born by caesarean section. (from the Latin verb to cut, caedere , caes-). Suggests three alternative explanations. That the first Caesar had a thick head of hair (Latin caesaries); that he had bright grey eyes (Latin oculis caesiis); or that he killed an elephant (caesai in Moorish) in battle. Caesar issued coins featuring images of elephants, suggesting that he favoured this interpretation of his name. Despite their ancient pedigree, the Julii Caesares were not especially politically influential, having produced only three consuls. Caesar’s father, also called Gaius Julius Caesar. Reached the rank of praetor. The second highest of the Republic’s elected magistracies, and governed the province of Asia. Perhaps through the influence of his prominent brother-in-law Gaius Marius. His mother, Aurelia Cotta. Came from an influential family which had produced several consuls. An orator and grammarian of Gaulish. Origin, was employed as Caesar’s tutor. Caesar had two sisters, both called Julia. Little else is recorded of Caesar’s childhood. S biographies of him both begin abruptly in Caesar’s teens; the opening paragraphs of both appear to be lost. Caesar’s formative years were a time of turmoil. Was fought from 91 to 88 BC between Rome and her Italian allies over the issue of Roman citizenship. Threatened Rome’s eastern provinces. Domestically, Roman politics was divided between politicians known as optimates. The optimates were conservative, defended the interests of the upper class and used and promoted the authority of the Senate; the populares advocated reform in the interests of the masses and used and promoted the authority of the Popular Assemblies. Caesar’s uncle Marius was a popularis , Marius’ protégé Lucius Cornelius Sulla. Was an optimas , and in Caesar’s youth their rivalry led to civil war. Both Marius and Sulla distinguished themselves in the Social War, and both wanted command of the war against Mithridates, which was initially given to Sulla; but when Sulla left the city to take command of his army, a tribune. Passed a law transferring the appointment to Marius. He and his ally Lucius Cornelius Cinna. Seized the city and declared Sulla a public enemy, and Marius’s troops took violent revenge on Sulla’s supporters. Marius died early in 86 BC, but his followers remained in power. In 85 BC Caesar’s father died suddenly while putting on his shoes one morning, without any apparent cause, and at sixteen, Caesar was the head of the family. The following year he was nominated to be the new Flamen Dialis. High priest of Jupiter. The previous incumbent, had died in Marius’s purges. Since the holder of that position not only had to be a patrician but also be married to a patrician, he broke off his engagement to Cossutia, a plebeian girl of wealthy equestrian. Family he had been betrothed to since boyhood, and married Cinna’s daughter Cornelia. After a campaign throughout Italy he seized Rome at the Battle of the Colline Gate. In November 82 BC and had himself appointed to the revived office of dictator. But whereas a dictator was traditionally appointed for six months at a time, Sulla’s appointment had no term limit. Statues of Marius were destroyed and Marius’ body was exhumed and thrown in the Tiber. Cinna was already dead, killed by his own soldiers in a mutiny. Saw hundreds of his political enemies killed or exiled. Caesar, as the nephew of Marius and son-in-law of Cinna, was targeted. He was stripped of his inheritance, his wife’s dowry and his priesthood, but he refused to divorce Cornelia and was forced to go into hiding. The threat against him was lifted by the intervention of his mother’s family, which included supporters of Sulla, and the Vestal Virgins. Sulla gave in reluctantly, and is said to have declared that he saw many a Marius in Caesar. Feeling it much safer to be far away from Sulla should the Dictator change his mind, Caesar quit Rome and joined the army, serving under Marcus Minucius Thermus. He served with distinction, winning the Civic Crown. For his part in the siege of Mytilene. On a mission to Bithynia. To secure the assistance of King Nicomedes’s. Fleet, he spent so long at his court that rumours of an affair with the king arose, which would persist for the rest of his life. Ironically, the loss of his priesthood had allowed him to pursue a military career: the Flamen Dialis was not permitted to touch a horse, sleep three nights outside his own bed or one night outside Rome, or look upon an army. At the end of 81 BC, Sulla. Resigned his dictatorship, re-established consular government and, after serving as consul in 80 BC, retired to private life. In a manner that the historian Suetonius. Thought arrogant, Julius Caesar would later mock Sulla for resigning the Dictatorship”Sulla did not know his political ABC’s”. He died two years later in 78 BC and was accorded a state funeral. Hearing of Sulla’s death, Caesar felt safe enough to return to Rome. Lacking means since his inheritance was confiscated, he acquired a modest house in the Subura. A lower-class neighbourhood of Rome. His return coincided with an attempted anti-Sullan coup by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus but Caesar, lacking confidence in Lepidus’s leadership, did not participate. Instead he turned to legal advocacy. He became known for his exceptional oratory, accompanied by impassioned gestures and a high-pitched voice, and ruthless prosecution of former governors notorious for extortion. Praised him: Come now, what orator would you rank above him… ? Perfection, Caesar travelled to Rhodes. In 75 BC to study under Apollonius Molon. Who had previously taught Cicero. On the way across the Aegean Sea. Caesar was kidnapped by Cilician. Not to be confused with Sicilian. And held prisoner in the Dodecanese. He maintained an attitude of superiority throughout his captivity. When the pirates thought to demand a ransom of twenty talents. Of silver, he insisted they ask for fifty. After the ransom was paid, Caesar raised a fleet, pursued and captured the pirates, and imprisoned them in Pergamon. Marcus Junctus, the governor of Asia. As a sign of leniency, he first had their throats cut. He then proceeded to Rhodes, but was soon called back into military action in Asia, raising a band of auxiliaries. To repel an incursion from Pontus. On his return to Rome he was elected military tribune. A first step on the cursus honorum. Took place around this time (7371 BC), but it is not recorded what role, if any, Caesar played in it. He was elected quaestor. For 69 BC, and during that year he delivered the funeral oration for his aunt Julia, widow of Marius, and included images of Marius, unseen since the days of Sulla, in the funeral procession. His own wife Cornelia also died that year. After her funeral, in the spring or early summer of 69 BC, Caesar went to serve his quaestorship in Hispania. While there he is said to have encountered a statue of Alexander the Great. And realised with dissatisfaction he was now at an age when Alexander had the world at his feet, while he had achieved comparatively little. On his return in 67 BC, he married Pompeia. A granddaughter of Sulla. He was elected aedile. And restored the trophies of Marius’s victories; a controversial move given the Sullan regime was still in place. He was also suspected of involvement in two abortive coup attempts. 63 BC was an eventful year for Caesar. He persuaded a tribune, Titus Labienus. To prosecute the optimate senator Gaius Rabirius. For the political murder, 37 years previously, of the tribune Lucius Appuleius Saturninus. And had himself appointed as one of the two judges to try the case. Rabirius was defended by both Cicero. But was convicted of perduellio. While he was exercising his right of appeal to the people, the praetor Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer. Adjourned the assembly by taking down the military flag from the Janiculum hill. Labienus could have resumed the prosecution at a later session, but did not do so: Caesar’s point had been made, and the matter was allowed to drop. Labienus would remain an important ally of Caesar over the next decade. The same year, Caesar ran for election to the post of Pontifex Maximus. Chief priest of the Roman state religion, after the death of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius. Who had been appointed to the post by Sulla. He ran against two powerful optimates , the former consuls Quintus Lutatius Catulus. And Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus. There were accusations of bribery by all sides. Caesar is said to have told his mother on the morning of the election that he would return as Pontifex Maximus or not at all, expecting to be forced into exile by the enormous debts he had run up to fund his campaign. In any event he won comfortably, despite his opponents’ greater experience and standing, possibly because the two older men split their votes. The post came with an official residence on the Via Sacra. When Cicero, who was consul that year, exposed Catiline. S conspiracy to seize control of the republic, Catulus and others accused Caesar of involvement in the plot. Caesar, who had been elected praetor for the following year, took part in the debate in the Senate on how to deal with the conspirators. During the debate, Caesar was passed a note. Who would become his most implacable political opponent, accused him of corresponding with the conspirators, and demanded that the message be read aloud. Caesar passed him the note, which, embarrassingly, turned out to be a love letter from Cato’s half-sister Servilia. Caesar argued persuasively against the death penalty for the conspirators, proposing life imprisonment instead, but a speech by Cato proved decisive, and the conspirators were executed. The following year a commission was set up to investigate the conspiracy, and Caesar was again accused of complicity. On Cicero’s evidence that he had reported what he knew of the plot voluntarily, however, he was cleared, and one of his accusers, and also one of the commissioners, were sent to prison. While praetor in 62 BC, Caesar supported Metellus Celer, now tribune, in proposing controversial legislation, and the pair were so obstinate they were suspended from office by the Senate. The Senate was persuaded to reinstate him after he quelled public demonstrations in his favour. That year the festival of the Bona Dea. (“good goddess”) was held at Caesar’s house. No men were permitted to attend, but a young patrician named Publius Clodius Pulcher. Managed to gain admittance disguised as a woman, apparently for the purpose of seducing Caesar’s wife Pompeia. He was caught and prosecuted for sacrilege. Caesar gave no evidence against Clodius at his trial, careful not to offend one of the most powerful patrician families of Rome, and Clodius was acquitted after rampant bribery and intimidation. Nevertheless, Caesar divorced Pompeia, saying that my wife ought not even to be under suspicion. After his praetorship, Caesar was appointed to govern Hispania Ulterior. , but he was still in considerable debt and needed to satisfy his creditors before he could leave. He turned to Marcus Licinius Crassus. One of Rome’s richest men. In return for political support in his opposition to the interests of Pompey. Crassus paid some of Caesar’s debts and acted as guarantor for others. Even so, to avoid becoming a private citizen and open to prosecution for his debts, Caesar left for his province before his praetorship had ended. In Hispania he conquered the Callaici. Being hailed as imperator. By his troops, reformed the law regarding debts, and completed his governorship in high esteem. Being hailed as imperator entitled Caesar to a triumph. However, he also wanted to stand for consul. The most senior magistracy in the republic. If he were to celebrate a triumph, he would have to remain a soldier and stay outside the city until the ceremony, but to stand for election he would need to lay down his command and enter Rome as a private citizen. He could not do both in the time available. He asked the senate for permission to stand in absentia , but Cato blocked the proposal. Faced with the choice between a triumph and the consulship, Caesar chose the consulship. First consulship and triumvirate. Three candidates stood for the consulship: Caesar, Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, who had been aedile with Caesar several years earlier, and Lucius Lucceius. The election was dirty. Caesar canvassed Cicero for support, and made an alliance with the wealthy Lucceius, but the establishment threw its financial weight behind the conservative Bibulus, and even Cato, with his reputation for incorruptibility, is said to have resorted to bribery in his favour. Caesar and Bibulus were elected as consuls for 59 BC. Caesar was already in Crassus’s. Political debt, but he also made overtures to Pompey. Who was unsuccessfully fighting the Senate for ratification of his eastern settlements and farmland for his veterans. Pompey and Crassus had been at odds since they were consuls together in 70 BC, and Caesar knew if he allied himself with one he would lose the support of the other, so he endeavoured to reconcile them. This informal alliance, known as the First Triumvirate. (rule of three men), was cemented by the marriage of Pompey to Caesar’s daughter Julia. Caesar also married again, this time Calpurnia. Daughter of Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus. Who was elected to the consulship for the following year. Caesar proposed a law for the redistribution of public lands to the poor, a proposal supported by Pompey, by force of arms if need be, and by Crassus, making the triumvirate public. Pompey filled the city with soldiers, and the triumvirate’s opponents were intimidated. Bibulus attempted to declare the omens unfavourable and thus void the new law, but was driven from the forum by Caesar’s armed supporters. Broken, two tribunes accompanying him were wounded, and Bibulus himself had a bucket of excrement thrown over him. In fear of his life, he retired to his house for the rest of the year, issuing occasional proclamations of bad omens. These attempts to obstruct Caesar’s legislation proved ineffective. Roman satirists ever after referred to the year as “the consulship of Julius and Caesar”. This also gave rise to this lampoon. The event occurred, as I recall, when Caesar governed Rome. Caesar, not Bibulus, who kept his seat at home. With the help of Piso and Pompey, Caesar later had this overturned, and was instead appointed to govern Cisalpine Gaul. (northern Italy) and Illyricum. (the western Balkans), with Transalpine Gaul. (southern France) later added, giving him command of four legions. The term of his proconsulship, and thus his immunity from prosecution, was set at five years, rather than the usual one. When his consulship ended, Caesar narrowly avoided prosecution for the irregularities of his year in office, and quickly left for his province. Caesar had four legions under his command, two of his provinces, Illyricum. Bordered on unconquered territory, and independent Gaul was known to be unstable. Rome’s allies the Aedui. Had been defeated by their Gallic rivals, with the help of a contingent of Germanic. Who had settled in conquered Aeduan land, and the Helvetii. Were mobilising for a mass migration, which the Romans feared had warlike intent. Caesar raised two new legions and defeated first the Helvetii, then Ariovistus, and left his army in winter quarters in the territory of the Sequani, signaling that his interest in the lands outside Gallia Narbonensis would not be temporary. He began his second year with double the military strength he had begun with, having raised another two legions in Cisalpine Gaul during the winter. The legality of this was dubious, as the Cisalpine Gauls were not Roman citizens. In response to Caesar’s activities the previous year, the Belgic. Tribes of north-eastern Gaul had begun to arm themselves. Caesar treated this as an aggressive move, and, after an inconclusive engagement against a united Belgic army, conquered the tribes piecemeal. Meanwhile, one legion, commanded by Crassus’ son Publius, began the conquest of the tribes of the Armorican peninsula. During the spring of 56 BC the Triumvirate held a conference at Luca modern Lucca. Rome was in turmoil, and Clodius. Populist campaigns had been undermining relations between Crassus and Pompey. The meeting renewed the Triumvirate and extended Caesar’s proconsulship for another five years. Crassus and Pompey would be consuls again, with similarly long-term proconsulships to follow: Syria for Crassus, the Hispanian provinces for Pompey. The conquest of Armorica was completed when Caesar defeated the Veneti. In a naval battle, while young Crassus conquered the Aquitani. By the end of campaigning in 56 BC only the Morini. Of the coastal Low Countries still held out. In 55 BC Caesar repelled an incursion into Gaul by the Germanic Usipetes. And followed it up by building a bridge across the Rhine and making a show of force in Germanic territory, before returning and dismantling the bridge. Late that summer, having subdued the Morini and Menapii, he crossed to Britain, claiming that the Britons had aided the Veneti against him the previous year. He advanced inland, establishing Mandubracius. As a friendly king and bringing his rival, Cassivellaunus. But poor harvests led to widespread revolt in Gaul, led by Ambiorix. Forcing Caesar to campaign through the winter and into the following year. With the defeat of Ambiorix, Caesar believed Gaul was now pacified. While Caesar was in Britain his daughter Julia, Pompey’s wife, had died in childbirth. Caesar tried to resecure Pompey’s support by offering him his great-niece Octavia. In marriage, alienating Octavia’s husband Gaius Marcellus. In 53 BC Crassus was killed leading a failed invasion. Rome was on the edge of violence. Pompey was appointed sole consul as an emergency measure, and married Cornelia. Daughter of Caesar’s political opponent Quintus Metellus Scipio, whom he invited to become his consular colleague once order was restored. The Triumvirate was dead. In 52 BC another, larger revolt erupted in Gaul, led by Vercingetorix. Vercingetorix managed to unite the Gallic tribes and proved an astute commander, defeating Caesar in several engagements including the Battle of Gergovia. But Caesar’s elaborate siege-works at the Battle of Alesia. Finally forced his surrender. Despite scattered outbreaks of warfare. The following year, Gaul was effectively conquered. Was Caesar’s most senior legate. During his Gallic campaigns, having the status of propraetor. Other prominent men who served under him included his relative Lucius Julius Caesar. Cicero’s brother Quintus. Plutarch claimed that the army had fought against three million men in the course of the Gallic Wars. Of whom 1 million died, and another million were enslaved. 300 tribes were subjugated and 800 cities were destroyed. Almost the entire population of the city of Avaricum. (Bourges) (40,000 in all) was slaughtered. Julius Caesar reports that 368,000 of the Helvetii. However, in view of the difficulty of finding accurate counts in the first place, Caesar’s propagandistic purposes, and the common gross exaggeration of numbers in ancient texts, the totals of enemy combatants in particular are likely to be far too high. Furger-Gunti considers an army of more than 60,000 fighting Helvetii extremely unlikely in the view of the tactics described, and assumes the actual numbers to have been around 40,000 warriors out of a total of 160,000 emigrants. Delbrück suggests an even lower number of 100,000 people, out of which only 16,000 were fighters, which would make the Celtic force about half the size of the Roman body of ca. In 50 BC, the Senate, led by Pompey. Ordered Caesar to disband his army and return to Rome because his term as Proconsul had finished. Moreover, the Senate forbade Caesar to stand for a second consulship in absentia. Caesar thought he would be prosecuted and politically marginalised if he entered Rome without the immunity enjoyed by a Consul or without the power of his army. Pompey accused Caesar of insubordination and treason. On 10 January 49 BC Caesar crossed the Rubicon. River (the frontier boundary of Italy) with only one legion. And ignited civil war. Upon crossing the Rubicon, Plutarch reports that Caesar quoted the Athenian playwright Menander. In Greek, saying (let the dice be tossed). Suetonius gives the Latin approximation alea iacta est. (the die is tossed). The Optimates, including Metellus Scipio and Cato the Younger, fled to the south, having little confidence in the newly raised troops especially since so many cities in northern Italy had voluntarily surrendered. An attempted stand by a consulate legion in Samarium resulted in the consul being handed over by the defenders and the legion surrendering without significant fighting. Despite greatly outnumbering Caesar, who only had his Thirteenth Legion. With him, Pompey had no intention of fighting. Caesar pursued Pompey to Brindisium. Hoping to capture Pompey before the trapped Senate and their legions could escape. Pompey managed to elude him, sailing out of the harbour before Caesar could break the barricades. Lacking a naval force. Since Pompey had already scoured the coasts of all ships for evacuation of his forces, Caesar decided to head for Hispania saying I set forth to fight an army without a leader, so as later to fight a leader without an army. Leaving Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. As prefect of Rome, and the rest of Italy under Mark Antony. As tribune, Caesar made an astonishing 27-day route-march to Hispania. Rejoining two of his Gallic legions, where he defeated Pompey’s lieutenants. Caesar barely avoided a catastrophic defeat when the line of fortification was broken. He decisively defeated Pompey, despite Pompey’s numerical advantage (nearly twice the number of infantry and considerably more cavalry), at Pharsalus. In an exceedingly short engagement in 48 BC. In Rome, Caesar was appointed dictator. As his Master of the Horse. Caesar presided over his own election to a second consulate with Publius Servilius Vatia. As his colleague and then, after eleven days, resigned this dictatorate. Cleopatra Before Caesar by the artist Jean-Léon Gérôme. He pursued Pompey to Alexandria. Where Pompey was murdered by a former Roman officer serving in the court of King Ptolemy XIII. Caesar then became involved with the Alexandrine civil war between Ptolemy and his sister, wife, and co-regent queen, the Pharaoh. Perhaps as a result of Ptolemy’s role in Pompey’s murder, Caesar sided with Cleopatra; he is reported to have wept at the sight of Pompey’s head, which was offered to him by Ptolemy’s chamberlain Pothinus. In any event, Caesar defeated the Ptolemaic forces in 47 BC in the Battle of the Nile. And installed Cleopatra as ruler. Caesar and Cleopatra celebrated their victory of the Alexandrine civil war with a triumphant procession on the Nile in the spring of 47 B. The royal barge was accompanied by 400 additional ships, introducing Caesar to the luxurious lifestyle of the Egyptian pharaohs. Caesar and Cleopatra never married, as Roman Law only recognised marriages between two Roman citizens. Caesar continued his relationship with Cleopatra throughout his last marriage, which lasted 14 years in Roman eyes, this did not constitute adultery and may have fathered a son called Caesarion. Cleopatra visited Rome on more than one occasion, residing in Caesar’s villa just outside Rome across the Tiber. Late in 48 BC, Caesar was again appointed Dictator, with a term of one year. After spending the first months of 47 BC in Egypt, Caesar went to the Middle East, where he annihilated King Pharnaces II of Pontus. In the Battle of Zela. His victory was so swift and complete that he mocked Pompey’s previous victories over such poor enemies. Thence, he proceeded to Africa to deal with the remnants of Pompey’s senatorial supporters. He quickly gained a significant victory at Thapsus. In 46 BC over the forces of Metellus Scipio (who died in the battle) and Cato the Younger (who committed suicide). After this victory, he was appointed Dictator for ten years. Nevertheless, Pompey’s sons Gnaeus Pompeius. Together with Titus Labienus. Caesar’s former propraetorian legate legatus. And second in command in the Gallic War, escaped to Hispania. Caesar gave chase and defeated the last remnants of opposition in the Battle of Munda. In March 45 BC. During this time, Caesar was elected to his third and fourth terms as consul in 46 BC with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. And 45 BC (without colleague). Aftermath of the civil war. While he was still campaigning in Hispania. The Senate began bestowing honours on Caesar in absentia. Caesar had not proscribed his enemies, instead pardoning almost all, and there was no serious public opposition to him. Great games and celebrations were held on 21 April to honour Caesars victory at Munda. Plutarch writes that many Romans found the triumph held following Caesar’s victory to be in poor taste, as those defeated in the civil war had not been foreigners, but instead fellow Romans. On Caesar’s return to Italy in September 45 BC, he filed his will, naming his grandnephew Gaius Octavius. (Octavian) as the heir to everything, including his name. Caesar also wrote that if Octavian died before Caesar did, Marcus Junius Brutus. Would be the next heir in succession. From 47 to 44 he made plans for the distribution of land to about 15,000 of his veterans. In 63 BC Caesar had been elected Pontifex Maximus. And one of his roles as such was settling the calendar. A complete overhaul of the old Roman calendar. Proved to be one of his most long lasting and influential reforms. In 46 BC, Caesar established a 365-day year with a leap year every fourth year. Was subsequently modified by Pope Gregory XIII. In 1582 into the modern Gregorian calendar. As a result of this reform, a certain Roman year (mostly equivalent to 46 BC in the modern calendar) was made 445 days long, to bring the calendar into line with the seasons. The month of July is named after Julius in his honour. The Forum of Caesar. With its Temple of Venus Genetrix. Was built among many other public works. On the Ides of March. 15 March; see Roman calendar. Of 44 BC, Caesar was due to appear at a session of the Senate. Having vaguely learned of the plot the night before from a terrified Liberator named Servilius Casca. And fearing the worst, went to head Caesar off. The plotters, however, had anticipated this and, fearing that Antony would come to Caesar’s aid, had arranged for Trebonius. To intercept him just as he approached the portico of Theatre of Pompey. Where the session was to be held, and detain him outside. Plutarch, however, assigns this action to delay Antony to Brutus Albinus. When he heard the commotion from the senate chamber, Antony fled. As Caesar arrived at the Senate Tillius Cimber. Presented him with a petition to recall his exiled brother. The other conspirators crowded round to offer support. Both Plutarch and Suetonius. Say that Caesar waved him away, but Cimber grabbed his shoulders and pulled down Caesar’s tunic. Caesar then cried to Cimber, Why, this is violence! ” ” Ista quidem vis est! At the same time, Casca produced his dagger and made a glancing thrust at the dictator’s neck. Caesar turned around quickly and caught Casca by the arm. He said in Latin, Casca, you villain, what are you doing? ” Casca, frightened, shouted “Help, brother! Within moments, the entire group, including Brutus, was striking out at the dictator. Caesar attempted to get away, but, blinded by blood, he tripped and fell; the men continued stabbing him as he lay defenceless on the lower steps of the portico. Around sixty or more men participated in the assassination. He was stabbed 23 times. According to Suetonius, a physician later established that only one wound, the second one to his chest, had been lethal. The dictator’s last words are not known with certainty, and are a contested subject among scholars and historians alike. Suetonius reports that others have said Caesar’s last words were the Greek phrase. “Transliterated as ” Kai su, teknon? However, Suetonius himself says Caesar said nothing. Plutarch also reports that Caesar said nothing, pulling his toga over his head when he saw Brutus among the conspirators. The version best known in the English-speaking world is the Latin. Phrase Et tu, Brute? “, commonly rendered as “You too, Brutus? ; this derives from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Where it actually forms the first half of a macaronic. Line: Et tu, Brute? It has no basis in historical fact and Shakespeare’s use of Latin here is not from any assertion that Caesar would have been using the language, rather than the Greek reported by Suetonius, but because the phrase was already popular at the time the play was written. According to Plutarch, after the assassination, Brutus stepped forward as if to say something to his fellow senators; they, however, fled the building. Brutus and his companions then marched to the Capitol while crying out to their beloved city: People of Rome, we are once again free! They were met with silence, as the citizens of Rome had locked themselves inside their houses as soon as the rumour of what had taken place had begun to spread. A wax statue of Caesar was erected in the forum displaying the 23 stab wounds. A crowd who had amassed there started a fire, which badly damaged the forum and neighbouring buildings. In the ensuing chaos Mark Antony. Octavian (later Augustus Caesar). And others fought a series of five civil wars, which would end in the formation of the Roman Empire. Aftermath of the assassination. The result unforeseen by the assassins was that Caesar’s death precipitated the end of the Roman Republic. The Roman middle and lower classes, with whom Caesar was immensely popular and had been since before Gaul, became enraged that a small group of high-browed aristocrats had killed their champion. Antony, who had been drifting apart from Caesar, capitalised on the grief of the Roman mob and threatened to unleash them on the Optimates. Perhaps with the intent of taking control of Rome himself. But, to his surprise and chagrin, Caesar had named his grandnephew Gaius Octavian. His sole heir, bequeathing him the immensely potent Caesar name as well as making him one of the wealthiest citizens in the Republic. The crowd at the funeral boiled over, throwing dry branches, furniture and even clothing on to Caesar’s funeral pyre, causing the flames to spin out of control, seriously damaging the Forum. The mob then attacked the houses of Brutus and Cassius, where they were repelled only with considerable difficulty, ultimately providing the spark for the Liberators’ civil war. Fulfilling at least in part Antony’s threat against the aristocrats. However, Antony did not foresee the ultimate outcome of the next series of civil wars, particularly with regard to Caesar’s adopted heir. Octavian, aged only 18 at the time of Caesar’s death, proved to have considerable political skills, and while Antony dealt with Decimus Brutus. In the first round of the new civil wars, Octavian consolidated his tenuous position. In order to combat Brutus and Cassius, who were massing an enormous army in Greece, Antony needed soldiers, the cash from Caesar’s war chests, and the legitimacy that Caesar’s name would provide for any action he took against them. With the passage of the lex Titia on 27 November 43 BC, the Second Triumvirate. Was officially formed, composed of Antony, Octavian, and Caesar’s loyal cavalry commander Lepidus. Caesar as Divus Iulius. In 42 BC, and Caesar Octavian henceforth became Divi filius (“Son of a god”). Seeing that Caesar’s clemency had resulted in his murder, the Second Triumvirate brought back the horror of proscription. It engaged in the legally-sanctioned murder of a large number of its opponents in order to secure funding for its forty-five legions in the second civil war against Brutus and Cassius. Antony and Octavius defeated them at Philippi. Afterward, Mark Antony married Caesar’s lover, Cleopatra, intending to use the fabulously wealthy Egypt as a base to dominate Rome. A third civil war broke out between Octavian on one hand and Antony and Cleopatra on the other. This final civil war, culminating in the latter’s defeat at Actium. Resulted in the permanent ascendancy of Octavian, who became the first Roman emperor, under the name Caesar Augustus, a name that raised him to status of a deity. Julius Caesar had been preparing to invade Parthia. And then swing back onto Germania. These plans were thwarted by his assassination. His successors did attempt the conquests of Parthia and Germania, but without lasting results. Based on remarks by Plutarch, Caesar is sometimes thought to have suffered from epilepsy. Modern scholarship is “sharply divided” on the subject, and it is more certain that he was plagued by malaria, particularly during the Sullan proscriptions of the 80s. Caesar had four documented episodes of what may have been complex partial seizures. He may additionally have had absence seizures. The earliest accounts of these seizures were made by the biographer Suetonius. Who was born after Caesar died. The claim of epilepsy is countered among some medical historians by a claim of hypoglycemia. Which can cause epileptoid seizures. Caesar was considered during his lifetime to be one of the best orators and authors of prose in Romeeven Cicero spoke highly of Caesar’s rhetoric and style. Among his most famous works were his funeral oration for his paternal aunt Julia. A document written to blacken Cato’s. Reputation and respond to Cicero’s Cato memorial. Are also mentioned in ancient sources. His works other than his war commentaries and his speeches have been lost. The Commentarii de Bello Gallico. Commentaries on the Gallic War. , campaigns in Gallia and Britannia during his term as proconsul. The Commentarii de Bello Civili. Commentaries on the Civil War. , events of the Civil War until immediately after Pompey’s death in Egypt. Other works historically attributed to Caesar, but whose authorship is doubted, are. (On the Alexandrine War), campaign in Alexandria. (On the African War), campaigns in North Africa; and. (On the Hispanic War), campaigns in the Iberian peninsula. These narratives were written and published on a yearly basis during or just after the actual campaigns, as a sort of “dispatches from the front”. Apparently simple and direct in styleto the point that Caesar’s Commentarii are commonly studied by first and second year Latin studentsthey are in fact highly sophisticated tracts, aimed most particularly at the middle-brow readership of minor aristocrats in Rome, Italy, and the provinces. Using the Latin alphabet. As it existed in the day of Caesar i. Without lower case letters, “J”, or “U”, Caesar’s name is properly rendered “GAIVS IVLIVS CAESAR”. The form “CAIVS” is also attested using the old Roman pronunciation of letter C as G; it is an antique form of the more common “GAIVS”. It is often seen abbreviated to C. The letterform “Æ” is a ligature. Which is often encountered in Latin inscriptions. Where it was used to save space, and is nothing more than the letters “ae”. In Classical Latin, it was pronounced. In the days of the late Roman Republic. Many historical writings were done in Greek, a language most educated Romans studied. Young wealthy Roman boys were often taught by Greek slaves and sometimes sent to Athens. For advanced training, as was Caesar’s principal assassin, Brutus. During Caesar’s time, his family name was written , reflecting its contemporary pronunciation. Thus his name is pronounced in a similar way to the pronunciation of the German Kaiser. This German name was phonemically but not phonetically derived from the Middle Ages. In which the familiar part “Caesar” is. From which the modern English pronunciation is derived, as well as the title of Tsar. His name is also remembered in Norse mythology. Where he is manifested as the legendary king Kjárr. The augur was a priest and official in the classical world, especially ancient Rome. His main role was to interpret the will of the gods. By studying the flight of birds. Whether they are flying in groups/alone, what noises they make as they fly, direction of flight and what kind of birds they are. This was known as taking the auspices. The ceremony and function of the augur was central to any major undertaking in Roman societypublic or privateincluding matters of war, commerce, and religion. The Roman historian Livy. Stresses the importance of the augurs: Who does not know that this city was founded only after taking the auspices, that everything in war and in peace, at home and abroad, was done only after taking the auspices? A Simpulum , or Simpuvium , was a small vessel or ladle. With a long handle from the Roman era. Used at sacrifices to make libations, and to taste the wines and other liquors which were poured on the head of the sacrificial victims. The simpulum was the sign of Roman. Priesthood, and one of the insignia of the College of Pontiffs. The simpulum appears on a coin from Patras. It is also placed before the head of Vesta. As a mark of that goddess, on a coin of the Domitian. Family, and is seen in the hand of a Vestal Virgin. On coins of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. A man in a toga. Holds a simpulum in his hand on a coin of Antonio Drusi. It is commonly shown with the lituus. And other sacrificial and augural instruments, on coins of Julius Caesar. As well as on many consular and colonial medals. An aspergillum (less commonly, aspergilium or aspergil) is a liturgical. Implement used to sprinkle holy water. It comes in two common forms: a brush that is dipped in the water and shaken, and a perforated ball at the end of a short handle. Some have sponges or internal reservoirs that dispense holy water when shaken, while others must periodically be dipped in an aspersorium holy water bucket, known to art historians as a situla. An aspergillum is used in Roman Catholic. Ceremonies, including the Rite of Baptism. And during the Easter Season. In addition, a priest will use the aspergillum to bless the candles during candlemas. Services and the palms during Palm Sunday. If a casket is present, the priest will sprinkle holy water on the casket. The aspergillum can be used in other manners where sprinkling of holy water is appropriate, as in a house blessing, in which the priest might bless the entry to the home. The name derives from the Latin. Verb aspergere’to sprinkle’. The form of the aspergillum differs in the Eastern Orthodox Church. In the Greek Orthodox Church. The aspergillum (randistirion) is in the form of a standing vessel with a tapering lid. The top of the lid has holes in it from which the agiasmos. (holy water) is sprinkled. In the Russian Orthodox Church. The aspergillium is in the form of a whisk. Made of cloth or hair. Sometimes, sprigs of basil. Are used to sprinkle holy water. In some of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. No aspergillum is used, but the priest will pour holy water into the palm of his right hand and throw it on the faithful. A jug is a type of container. The term jug can also be used describe the breast of a woman, due to the fact that it holds liquid. It has an opening, often narrow, from which to pour or drink, and nearly always has some kind of handle. One could imagine a jug being made from nearly any watertight material, but most jugs throughout history have been made from clay, glass, or plastic. And other tribes created liquid holding vessels by making woven baskets lined with an asphaltum. The lituus was a crooked wand similar in shape to the top part of a crosier. Used as a cult instrument in ancient Roman religion. To mark out a ritual space in the sky a templum. The passage of birds through this templum indicated divine favor or disfavor for a given undertaking. The lituus was also used as a symbol of office for the college of the augurs to mark them out as a priestly group. What is a certificate of authenticity and what guarantees do you give that the item is authentic? Is there a number I can call you with questions about my order? When should I leave feedback? Once you receive your order, please leave a positive. Please don’t leave any negative feedbacks, as it happens many times that people rush to leave feedback before letting sufficient time for the order to arrive. The matter of fact is that any issues can be resolved, as reputation is most important to me. My goal is to provide superior products and quality of service. The item “JULIUS CAESAR Elephant Serpent 49BC Authentic Ancient Silver Roman Coin i52552″ is in sale since Wednesday, August 26, 2015. This item is in the category “Coins & Paper Money\Coins\ Ancient\Roman\ Republic (300 BC-27 BC)”. The seller is “highrating_lowprice” and is located in Rego Park, New York. This item can be shipped worldwide.
  • Composition: Silver

JULIUS CAESAR Elephant Serpent 49BC Authentic Ancient Silver Roman Coin i52552

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1 oz Silver Somalia Elephant 2016 Ruthenium, Gold Gilded and Colorized Night Coin

1 oz Silver Somalia Elephant 2016 Ruthenium, Gold Gilded and Colorized Night Coin
1 oz Silver Somalia Elephant 2016 Ruthenium, Gold Gilded and Colorized Night Coin
1 oz Silver Somalia Elephant 2016 Ruthenium, Gold Gilded and Colorized Night Coin

1 oz Silver Somalia Elephant 2016 Ruthenium, Gold Gilded and Colorized Night Coin
New fascinated 9999 silver Somali Elephant Night design is limited edition of 300 pieces worldwide! This coin comes in the presentation box and with CoA. 1 oz pure silver enhanced by ruthenium plating, 24k gold and color. Great gift and great investment. Only 300 pieces worldwide! No VAT for UK, EUROPE, US, Canada, Australia customers! Please note – the gilding of this coin was applied by an experienced third party company. The item “1 oz Silver Somalia Elephant 2016 Ruthenium, Gold Gilded and Colorized Night Coin” is in sale since Friday, June 17, 2016. This item is in the category “Coins & Paper Money\Bullion\Silver\Coins”. The seller is “silverpanda999″ and is located in Tallinn, Estonia. This item can be shipped worldwide.
  • Coin: Somali Elephant
  • Precious Metal Content: 1 oz
  • Certification: Numbered Certificate
  • Certification Number: 1-300
  • Year: 2016
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: Germany
  • Metal: Silver
  • Purity: 9999

1 oz Silver Somalia Elephant 2016 Ruthenium, Gold Gilded and Colorized Night Coin

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Design Silver Coin 2014

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