Cassius Dio

Edward Gibbon has argued that the happiest time in existence for a man to be alive was during the second century, under the rule of the Five Good Emperors. One emperor that outshined the rest of the emperors was Trajan. Trajan rose to excellence due to his massive skills that he acquired throughout his career. Trajan also known as Optimus Princeps, is the best out of the Five Good Emperors due to his relationship that he had with the people and the senate. Trajan can be considered the ideal…

Armenian king brought the largest army (Plutarch Antony 37.4, 50.4). The Armenian king persuaded Antony to attack Atropatene, which was under Parthian suzerainty. Antony then set out for Atropatene by a course that Artavazdes had suggested to him (Dio Cassius 49.25). Oppius Statianus and the king Artavazdes took an easier, but longer route. When the convoy entered Atropatene, it was suddenly attacked by a large force of Parthian horsemen sent by Phraates IV, killing 10,000 legionnaires and…

Cleopatra’s family ruled Egypt for more than 100 years before she was born August 69 B.C. Cleopatra was a queen of Egypt but she was not Egyptian. She was the last of the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt from the time of Alexander the Great's death in 323 BCE to about 30 BCE. She was a talented and resourceful individual of great charm but ruthless when she felt she had to be. Cleopatra was the only one of her family that learned to speak the Egyptian (Coptic) language. She knew a half…

Regarded as one of the five good rulers, Marcus Ulpius Traianus, more commonly known as the great Emperor Trajan ruled the Roman empire from 98 to 117 CE (Nationalgeographic.com, 2016). Stretching Rome 's empire to its peak, introducing philanthropic social laws and introducing a mass amount of wealth to Rome were some of Trajan 's amazing feats. So great were his skills in public and military service, Trajan was adopted by Former Emperor Nerva as heir to the Roman Empire(Armstrongeconomics.com…

Kirk Ormand is a classics professor at Oberlin University who specializes in sexuality in the ancient world. Throughout chapters eight, ten, and thirteen of his book Controlling Desires, Ormand looks at many aspects pertaining to Roman sexuality. An overarching theme of the three chapters looks at what was considered normal sexual behavior in Rome, with a focusing at times on homosexuality in Rome. Over the course of the chapters, Ormand looks at Rome’s origins and interrelation to Greece with…

This essay will show how the Romans categorized others in ways that allowed them to use those others in any way they desired. The Romans exploited a variety of different people while they ruled the Mediterranean. This essay is going to show how the Roman specifically used the: criminals for entertainment, Christians for prosecution, gladiators for entertainment as well. The first groups this essay will comment on are the criminals. Romans condemned criminals to public execution, which “shows…

The pantheon was first built by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa under the commission of emperor Augustus in 27 B.C. The word pantheon derives from the Greek words pan which means for al or very and theos for god. It was later burned down in the great fire in the year of 80 A.D and rebuilt again by emperor Domitian. Later, it was struck by lightning and burned again in the year in 110 A.D. in which was later rebuilt in 120 A.D. by Emperor Hadrian. The word pantheon come from a Greek word meaning “honor…

The history of Rome has been collected many evidences that brought and still brings numerous questions in certain aspects. In particular, there are very well established evidences about the possibility of an involvement of the Senate of Rome during the declaration and proclamation of damnatio memoriae. The evidences, or to say better, the non-evidences found in various artefacts suggest an increasing use of Damnatio Memoriae during the Principate period. The curious fact is that the majority of…