Roman Emperor Research Articles

12-14세기 부르고뉴 공들의 공간 정치: 부르고뉴의 길과 시장

With the height of the Middle Ages, Burgundy, including Dijon and Chalon, experienced a vibrant urban economy. The Dukes of Burgundy rediscovered the political and economic significance of ‘roads’ and ‘paths’ Particularly, Burgundy’s geographical location necessitated constant spatial politics involving the Kings of France, the Holy Roman Emperors, and the Pope. The Burgundian domain, expanding through routes such as the salt road, the Mediterranean coastal road, and the Great St. Bernard Pass connecting Champagne and Italy, faced new changes. This paper also focuses on the political strategies of the Dukes of Burgundy in expanding their authority through ‘spaces’ such as roads, rivers, markets, and fairs, which enabled the expansion of Burgundian lordship from the 12th to the 14th centuries. It highlights how the Dukes extended their power within the economic space of ‘via(roads)’, where markets, fairs, merchants, and currency moved, including the communes of Dijon and Chalon. The routes connecting Dijon, Chalon, and the Saône River were spaces that solidified the political standing of the Burgundian domain. Finally, the fairs and money of Burgundy were not only attractive sources of revenue for the Dukes of Burgundy but also indicators of their authority.

Worshipping the Sun at the End of Time: Neoplatonic Solar Cults in Mughal India and Barberini Rome

ABSTRACT This article delves into two notable instances of imperial solar cults during the long sixteenth century. One concerns the Mughal emperor Akbar in India, while the other revolves around the Barberini pope Urban VIII in Rome. Both cases will be examined through the lens of the longue-durée Great Tradition of Neoplatonism, taking-off from the earliest Neoplatonic sun cult as designed by Roman emperor Julian in the fourth century. Despite being centuries and worlds apart, the emergence of the Mughal and Barberini sun cults coincided with a period of rapidly expanding horizons amidst intense millenarian anxiety. Moreover, both cults were crafted by a team of avant-garde Neoplatonic intellectuals – mostly cosmologists and antiquarians – striving to bolster the imperial claims of their patrons. By exploring the intriguing Neoplatonic parallels between these two coinciding solar cults, this article advocates a truly global approach to intellectual history that transcends conventional temporal and spatial boundaries.

Theorizing Laughter and Ethnicity in Philo’s Embassy to Gaius

Abstract Philo’s Embassy to Gaius (Legat.) narrates anti-Jewish violence in Alexandria (38–41 CE) and the experiences of a Jewish embassy sent to the Roman emperor Gaius to advocate for the rights of Jews in the city. Philo repeatedly brings up laughter during key episodes, using it to characterize his figures and situations, particularly along ethnic lines. Philo suggests that Egyptians have an inherent proclivity toward derision of Jews, whereas Romans only join in this unjust mockery when they inappropriately allow Egyptians to hold influence over them. In doing so, he establishes a narrative that places the blame of the crisis in Alexandria from 38–41 CE firmly on Egyptians and Egyptianness. In this article, I take Philo as a theorist of laughter, following Eva Mroczek’s arguments for “native theory” and Mary Beard’s work on ancient laughter. Taking up Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s interrogation of theories as constructed tools with specific effects, I ask what Philo’s theory of laughter does for him. Ultimately, I argue that Philo’s theorization of laughter supports a specific ethnic reasoning, in Denise Kimber Buell’s language, that condemns Egyptianness while exonerating Romanness, perhaps in an attempt to endear his own Jewish community to the Romans who controlled Alexandria.

ROMANS AT BESA: NEW LIGHT ON AN ATHENIAN DEME IN THE IMPERIAL PERIOD

Abstract This article presents an overview of Roman citizens registered in the small Attic deme of Besa. The epigraphic record indicates that three Roman emperors—Hadrian, Commodus and Severus Alexander—were enrolled as citizens in this deme, as was the influential eastern magnate G. Julius Antiochus Epiphanes Philopappos and several men who dominated Athenian politics during the High Imperial period. We argue that Hadrian's enrolment and repeated sojourns in Athens encouraged various individuals—including two of his successors—to join this deme, but why did the emperor himself choose Besa and not a larger, more important deme in the city's civic centre? Consequently, where did he live while serving as eponymous archon of Athens in 111/112 and later during his visits to the city as emperor? By synthesizing epigraphic, literary, archaeological and environmental sources, this paper offers the first comprehensive examination of Besa and its Roman citizens, highlighting the deme's significance within imperial Athens and the broader Roman empire. Finally, it suggests avenues for further interdisciplinary research in the study of this region of south Attica.

Религия – политика – нация: трансформация конфессиональных образов Тридцатилетней войны (1618-1648)

The article is devoted to the transformation of confessional images into national ones in German visual journalism during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). This is most clearly seen in a unique German monument from the Thirty Years' War era - illustrated single-leaf woodcuts on which images were combined with text below. The engravings of the illustrated single-leaf woodcuts reflected all the most pressing processes and events of the early modern period, including the crisis of religious consciousness and the collapse of the idea of a “universal monarchy” - a single Christian state under the auspices of the Holy Roman Emperor. During the era of the Thirty Years' War, politics could not be imagined without religion, and religious motives were not separated from political ones. The Thirty Years' War, which turned into the first pan-European catastrophe, became a new step in the secularization of consciousness, which contributed to the metamorphosis of political teachings of the 17th century. The Thirty Years' War, which turned into the first pan-European catastrophe, became a new step in the secularization of consciousness, which contributed to the metamorphosis of political teachings of the 17th century. The gap between politics and religion that began at this time was expressed, among other things, in the emergence of the idea of the nation as one of the leading leitmotifs of state development. National consciousness gradually turned into a kind of foundation for politics. During the era of the Thirty Years' War, this was reflected in the interpretation of Christian symbols and confessional images in visual media. In illustrated single-leaf woodcuts, they were increasingly associated with claims to the uniqueness of one’s own nation and the need for state sovereignty. Traditional religious meanings and motives were used to create images of both national heroes and “anti-heroes” - enemies of the state and nation.

From coin to 3D face sculpture portraits in the round of Roman emperors

Representing historical figures on visual media has always been a crucial aspect of political communication in the ancient world, as it is in modern society. A great example comes from ancient Rome, when the emperor’s portraits were serially replicated on visual media to disseminate his image across the countries ruled by the Romans and to assert the power and authority that he embodied by making him universally recognizable. In particular, one of the most common media through which ancient Romans spread the imperial image was coinage, which showed a bi-dimensional projection of his portrait on the very low relief produced by the impression of the coin-die. In this work, we propose a new method that uses a multi-modal 2D and 3D approach to reconstruct the full portrait in the round of Roman emperors from their images adopted on ancient coins. A well-defined pipeline is introduced from the digitization of coins using 3D scanning techniques to the estimation of the 3D model of the portrait represented by a polygonal mesh. A morphable model trained on real 3D faces is exploited to infer the morphological (i.e., geometric) characteristics of the Roman emperor from the contours extracted from a coin portrait using a model fitting procedure. We present examples of face reconstruction of different emperors from coins produced in Rome as well as in the imperial provinces, which sometimes showed local variations of the official portraits centrally designed.

The Pelvic Golden Ratio in the Nude Portraits of Roman Emperors

The Pelvic Golden Ratio in the Nude Portraits of Roman Emperors

Archiater Caesarius: Johannes Crato as Philip Sidney’s Forgotten Mentor?

Philip Sidney’s European sojourn (1572–1575) proved to be a formative experience, one that shaped his political and literary development. Unsurprisingly, it has received much commentary. However, one rather neglected sphere of influence on Sidney’s education that deserves fuller attention is the coterie of high-standing and learned figures based in Central Europe, many of whom Sidney either corresponded with or met in person. This paper will examine – using the example of the German humanist Johannes Crato von Krafftheim (1519–1585), personal physician to three Holy Roman Emperors, as a case study – how Sidney might have been inspired by the unique continental area of irenicism and the flourishing of new ways of understanding Man and Nature by means of medicine and botany.

Kujūla Kadphises’ “Roman” Coin: an Issue for Merchants

Abstract The paper studies a copper coin type issued during the reign of the Kuṣāṇ king Kujūla Kadphises (ca. 40/50–90 AD) called “Roman Emperor Type”. These coins, dated towards the end of the first century AD, present on the obverse the image of a ruler recalling the imperial iconography of the Julio-Claudian period, and on the reverse Kujūla himself seated. The coin is a real innovation in the history of ancient Indian numismatics and can be the starting point to understand the political choices of Kujūla in a context still embryonic for the Kuṣāṇs. This paper, through the literary, epigraphic, and archaeological sources at our disposal, aims to demonstrate that the issuing was influenced not only by the halo of authority that the Romans had in India, but mainly by the economic and religious context of the city, which the sovereign used as a place of experimentation for this particular hybrid type of coin.

The Theodosian Family, Bishop Leo I of Rome, and their competition for piety through their correspondence

This article investigates the entreaties sent to the Eastern Roman emperor Theodosius II and his elder sister Pulcheria by their Western imperial family members Valentinian III, Galla Placidia and Licinia Eudoxia on behalf of Bishop Leo I of Rome on 22 February 450, and Theodosius’ replies. Instead of focusing on the outcome of this diplomatic correspondence, it analyzes the rhetoric of each letter and compares the arguments used with Bishop Leo’s own letters on this matter to the Eastern imperial court. It is argued that Theodosius and his family could come to contrasting conclusions despite their shared cultural framework of decision-making because they all claimed to act in accordance with Bishop Leo’s wishes. Moreover, this article contends that the entreaties of Valentinian, Galla Placidia and Licinia Eudoxia, albeit prompted and inspired by Leo’s affectionate plea, should also be read as testimonies to their individual interests. Whereas Valentinian and Galla Placidia sought to enhance the status of the city of Rome, Licinia Eudoxia tried to reinforce her personal influence over her father. In an appendix, finally, this article offers the first full English translation of the seven letters under discussion. Thus, it offers new insights in the processes of political decision-making around the Church councils of the mid-fifth century, and discloses an understudied yet unique case of imperial family correspondence.

El Rey Prudente. Philip II and Tiberius in Antonio de Herrera’s Diez Libros de la Razón de Estado (1593)†

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to draw a comparison between two models of sovereignty, embodied by Philip II of Spain and the Roman emperor Tiberius, as described in Cornelius Tacitus’ Annales. My analysis is based on Diez Libros de la Razón de Estado, the Castilian translation of Della Ragion di Stato by Giovanni Botero (1544–1617), made by the Spanish Court historian Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas (1549–1625). Herrera’s translation plays an important role in the Spanish reception of the wider debates on the relationship between ethics and politics in early modern Spain. I will first address the reliability of Herrera’s translation, highlighting the instances in which his translation was moulded to be applicable to the Spanish court. What emerges from this analysis is the concern with the notion of ‘prudence’ that enabled Philip II’s political style. Secondly, I intend to show how Herrera depicts Tiberius as acounterpart to Philip II and how the latter takes on the deeds of the prudent monarch. The comparison herein outlined stems from the use of quotations from the Tacitean oeuvre, which had become an important tool for policy-making at the time.

The Seven Sleepers Tradition (Ashab-ı Kehf) in Afşin, Tarsus and Lice: Comparative Analysis of their Intangible Heritage

The present article analyses the Ashab al-Kahf tale and sites in Turkey and my analyses intersects the diciplines of the History of Religions and Religious Anthropology. The tale is a shared hagiographic tradition amongst Christians and Muslims which is widespread in many countries. The primordial Christian tale of Seven Sleepers which arose in the mid 5th century CE Asia Minor, flowed later into Islamic religion (Koran, sura al-Kahf: 9-26) but with some relevant differences. It is based on a historical episode occurred in the city of Ephesus during the reign of the Roman emperor Decius (mid 3rd century CE). Seven young Ephesians refused to sacrifice to the Roman gods according to the Decian edict, because of their Christian faith. To avoid the persecution, they escaped in a cave on the mountain Penayir Daghi. According to the Christian tale about two hundred years later God resuscitated them during the kingdom of Teodosius II. This miracle confirms the doctrine of the resurrection and the victory of monotheism upon idolatry. Beyond the Ephesian site which pertains to the Christian lore, we find three other existent caves concerning Ashab al- Kahf, the Islamic tale in Turkey. The ziyaret (visits) to Tarsus, Afşin and Lice caves highlight the Turkish Muslims’ popular religiosity since the Eshab i-Kehf sites encompass a variety of devotional rituals and traditions. Keywords: Seven Sleepers, Ashab al-Kahf, Sura XVIII, Afşin, Tarsus, Lice Caves.

Semantic Analysis of Prophet Muhammad's Letter to the Roman Emperor: A Study on the Message Content and Textual Meaning

Semantic Analysis of Prophet Muhammad's Letter to the Roman Emperor: A Study on the Message Content and Textual Meaning

Pledging Lordly Rights and “Squeezing” Local Communities in the Later Middle Ages

Abstract The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were a period of rising expenses and mounting debt for Holy Roman emperors and other German lords. Rulers frequently sought to pay off these debts by pledging rights and properties to their creditors, who would then collect the income from those rights and properties over several years as a means of recuperating the money they were owed. However, this practice could generate tensions as well as cycles of conflict and negotiation at the local level, because pledge-holders often recovered their money by extracting as much income as possible from those communities impacted by the pledge. This article provides a general overview of the phenomenon of the pledging of lordly rights before turning to a case study, the pledging of the court at Hoym to the town of Quedlinburg in the mid-fifteenth century, to investigate more closely the local impact of the pledge.

New dawn in Mughal India: longue durée Neoplatonism in the making of Akbar's sun project

AbstractIn this article, we explore the longue durée philosophical background of Mughal Emperor Akbar's sun worship. Although Akbar's sun project may have been triggered by contemporary Hindu and Zoroastrian ideas and practices, we argue that Akbar's Neoplatonic advisers reframed it as a universal cosmotheistic tradition that, at the start of the new millennium, served as the perfect all-inclusive imperial ideology of Akbar's new world order. The astonishing parallels with the much earlier Neoplatonic sun cult of Roman Emperor Julian demonstrate that, although having characteristic of its own, Akbar's sun project was not that unique and should be seen as a fascinating late example of a so-far completely forgotten ancient Neoplatonic legacy of seeing the philosopher king, via the Sun, via illumination, connected to the One.

The “Schwarze Mander” of the Court Church in Innsbruck, Austria: Manufacture and Production of Monumental Brass Statues in the Renaissance

AbstractThe 28 "Schwarze Mander" (Black Men) are undoubtedly amongst the most magnificent monumental brass statues of the Renaissance. Commissioned by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I for his funeral monument at the beginning of the 16th century, they were completed more than 30 years after the Emperor's death and are now part of his cenotaph in the Hofkirche in Innsbruck. Revising the original manuscripts and letters exchanged between Maximilian I and the various artists sheds light on the manufacturing process and the challenges the artists encountered whilst producing the statues. Moreover, the alloys used in the manufacture of the statues, now all blackened due to patination processes, were identified through non-invasive chemical analysis of all the statues.

Анна Богемская – королева Англии

The article examines the history of the dynastic marriage of King Richard II of England and the daughter of the Bohemian King and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV Anna of Bohemia, analyzes her role in the life of the English kingdom, as well as the historical consequences of the dynastic marriage for the development of England and the Bohemia.

The power of the Roman emperors in the understanding of ancient Christians

The power of the Roman emperors in the understanding of ancient Christians

«IT WILL BE USEFUL FOR YOU TO TAKE US TO YOUR ALLIANCE»: ABOUT AVAR-BYZANTINE DIPLOMATIC RELATIONSHIPS IN 557–565 A.D.

Nomad Avar horde, which migrated to the Balkan region from Asia, soonly was included in the diplomatic system under the supremacy of Constantinople. After using territorial claims nomads on Romei lands, a short form of the institution of the supreme ruler and a small number of Avars, Roman Emperor Justinian I (527-565) signed the federative agreement with nomads. During the alliance, Avars tried to develop their independent political course. Such circumstance contradicted Eastern Rome’s interests and, in perspective, created a direct threat to the Empire. Using centuries of weakening the Byzantium on the Danube border, nomads started a series of raids against Empire allies and broke the deal with Constantinople. The diplomatic corps of nomads focused on disinforming the autocrat. As a result, it caused deterioration in relations between sides in the last years of rule of Justinian I and finally to a protracted military confrontation after the death of the Emperor, which lasted with breaks to the first third of VII cent. The main thesis of the article is the Avar-Romei political relations, which topic is considered primarily in the context of the wars. At the same time, the only basileus who succeeded in managing the long-term alliance with the future enemy of the Empire was Justinian the Great. In our opinion, the consideration of Avar-Romei political relations in this period illustrates, on the one hand, the specifics of the attitude of ‘Latin’ Byzantium to folks whose military potential it wanted to use. On the other hand, the peculiarities of the formation of another ‘steppe empire’, which by the way, turned out to be more stable in ethnic and political aspects than the Huns. Based on the messages of Romei historians in the second half of VI cent., the article recreates the terms and the precedents of concluding and further observance by the parties of the Avar-Byzantium alliance during the final period of Justinian the Great rule. The author tried to chronologically recreate the picture of the initial step of Avar-Romei relations that primarily evolved in mutually beneficial coexistence. This was primarily caused both by low numbers of Avars and insufficient formation nomads’ elites, as well as the political experience of Justinian the First. The focus is on the relations between nomad folks and Empire federates, such as Alans, Antes, and Gepids. Against the background of military-political connections of Avars with their neighbors, their first initial steps are noticeable. Analyzed factors that promoted Avars’ initial transition under Rome’s supremacy and the slow creation of their own policy course by Avar Khagan Bayan.

Štukature iz zadnje četvrtine 18. stoljeća u Palači šećerane u Rijeci

This paper provides a detailed analysis, for the first time, of the stucco decorations in the representative salons on the second floor of the Sugar Refinery Palace in Rijeka. Despite being an extremely important group of secular stuccos, it has, until now, lacked a thorough iconographic and stylistic analysis and contextualization. Furthermore, no models or masters who produced them have been identified. The Sugar Refinery Palace, specifically its administration building, served as the headquarters of the Privileged Trieste-Rijeka Company, founded in Trieste in 1750 to establish sugar trade in the Habsburg lands. Administration and production were relocated to Rijeka in 1752, when the central industrial complex was organized, and the Administration building was erected. Following the devastating fire of 1785, the building underwent reconstruction, and it was raised in height while acquiring a new representative staircase. It was assumed that the architect behind the renovation was Andrea Menini from Treviso, and recently discovered archival data confirm his presence in Rijeka during 1786. The stone decoration, part of the restoration, also reveals the contribution of Sebastiano Petruzzi, the most prominent sculptor and builder in Rijeka at the time, and his workshop. Between 1786 and 1789, the period to which the frescoes in the western salon with architectural capriccios have been dated, the decoration of the central Ceremonial Hall and the two flanking salons on the western and eastern sides along the façade was executed. The central hall features Corinthian pilasters with beams and is covered by a cloister vault decorated with war trophies and four figural medallions. Although the exact iconography of these compositions has not been determined, it is assumed that they depict scenes from the lives of Roman emperors, possibly the reigns of two “bad” emperors - Domitian and Vitellius - who met violent death, and their “good” counterparts Vespasian and Titus. The overall decoration of this hall reflects late Baroque or Josephine Classicism characteristic of the enlightened Joseph II Habsburg’s reign (1780-1790), manifesting renewed enthusiasm for the art of ancient Rome, its rationality, simple austerity, and cold sublimity. Therefore, the decoration of this hall incorporates numerous models derived from ancient and Renaissance traditions, reshaped in the manner typical of the second half of the 18th century. Notably, the early neo-Classical style in Italy and in Habsburg Tuscany during the time of Joseph’s brother, Grand Duke Peter Leopold II, played a crucial role, with his Florentine residence in Poggio Imperiale, decorated by two stucco masters, brothers Giocondo and Grato Albertolli. In the lateral salons, the finely detailed decoration is still executed in the spirit of late Rococo and painted in soft pastel tones. The cornice under the vault features stucco cameos depicting famous ancient statues, such as Venus Callipyge or Cupid and Psyche, while the ceiling is adorned with war trophies collaged from various graphic templates of the time. Based on stylistic and formal analysis, the stuccos from Rijeka can be associated with the brothers Clemente (Montagnola, 1758 - Kaštel Lukšić, after 1810) and Giacomo (Montagnola, 1763-1838) Somazzi from the Swiss Canton of Ticino. They left a significant stucco oeuvre in numerous churches across Kvarner, the Croatian Littoral, and northern Dalmatia during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The stuccos from Rijeka would be their earliest and only preserved secular work. It is plausible that the brothers worked as part of a larger workshop in Rijeka before starting their career as independent masters in the last decade of the 18th century. It may have been the workshop of Sebastiano Petruzzi, where Clemente is mentioned as an associate and partner in Rab during 1790.