Publius Nonius Severus
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Posts posted by Publius Nonius Severus
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Pantagathus-
Indeed a possibility, thanks!
Lost Warrior-
The only pictoral evidence I have seen is the depiction of a woodcut drawing that Smith puts in his dictionary of a woman with a stripe down the middle of her clothing that is supposed to be the physical manifestation of "Roma". I am not all that convinced by this though.
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Salvete Omnes!
Here is a question I have been pondering for awhile...Did the Tunica Laticlavia consist of of one large stripe down the middle or over the shoulder. For those unfamiliar, the Tunica Laticlavia (Wide Stripe Tunic) was the tunic that a senator would wear under his toga. There is another called the Tunica Angusticlavia (Thin Stripe Tunic) that was worn by those in the equestrian order.
My confusion lies in this...there are multiple 19th century historians that describe the laticlavia as one wide stripe down the center of the tunic. Here is an excerpt from William Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities:
"The meaning of these words has given rise to much dispute; but it is now established beyond doubt that the clavus latus was a broad purple band, extending perpendicularly from the neck down the centre of the tunica, and that the clavus angustus consisted of two narrow purple slips, running parallel to each other from the top to the bottom of the tunic, one from each shoulder..."
However, there are multiple other sources that suggest that the stripe was over the shoulder. Here is an excerpt from Ovid, Tristia Book IV.X
"The years slipping by with a silent step, my brother and I assumed the toga that meant more freedom, and our shoulders were covered by the purple of the broad stripe."
Unfortunately, there is not a lot of empirical evidence available. Statues of togate men with tunics underneath, even when the center of the chest can be seen, does not show stripes because the stripe was actually woven into the tunic instead of sewn on top of it, so only a colored statue woud show stripe position. This is not to say that there is not any pictoral evidence of the placement of stripes. Below are images showing stripes (of supposed different widths) over the shoulder (Images and captions are credited to the VRoma Project and used with permission):
Wall painting from a lararium in Pompeii depicts both the tunica laticlavia and toga praetexta
Mosaic of a man named Frucius (whose narrow stripes indicate equestrian rank) being attended by two slaves.
So, there seems to be more evidence in favor of stripes over the shoulder but Smith himself made a very strong statement (albeit over a 100 years ago) when he said "but it is now established beyond doubt " and his is a source I trust greatly. Is anyone aware of any evidence he may have to support the stripe down the middle theory? Have subsequent finds invalidated his theory (Pompeii?)? Does anyone else know more about the topic?
I realize that this may seem like an item of trivial importance but in all my efforts I strive for utmost accuracy, hence my interest in the topic and thus I am very interested in your opinions as well.
Valete!
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Ok, I have found a little more, but not much. A discharge from service on medical grounds was called a missio causaria. This doesn't imply incapacitated because of wounds or debilitating injury though, it could be because of sickness or disease as well I think.
There are a lot of sources that deal with the other primary form of honorable discharge (at the completion of service), missio honesta and dishonorable missio ignominiosa , whereas in the former you received your grant of land and money upon retirement and in the latter you were lucky to escape with your life but I cannot find anything specific if you received compensation for missio causaria.
I think Caldrail may have been on to something when he mentioned burial clubs. There is reference to an inscription that lends suport to the idea that the roman military clubs did support discharged veterans. If anyone has access to the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum this incsription may yield some futher insight: C.I.L. viii. 2552 foll
Also, there is a publication in JSTOR (which I don't have access to) that may also discuss further the connection between military clubs and discharged veterans Roman Military Clubs and Their Social Functions.
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Salve Dogmatix-
To get ideas on your topic and a good starting place for reseraching material, I recommend A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities by William Smith. This page at the Lacus Curtius site lists hundred of Roman themed articles on everything from everyday life, to the Military, to politics. Although the dictionary is old, it is an invaluable resource and still extremely pertinent today. Good luck!
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Interesting topic...I am researching further. There are statistics to support that amongst career soldiers there was an approximate 15% discharge rate dute to invalidity (incapacitation) which is a significant enough a number to think that this issue was addressed somewhere.
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Mi Galari-
I too wondered this. The only I thing I can think of is that he was elected as one of the Vigintisexviri, who were 26 (hence the name) minor magistrates in Rome who served in such roles in minor lawsuits, policing and prisons, minting coins, maintenance of Roads, and law and order in Italy. This was an essential step in the Cursus Honorum. Realizing of course many liberties were taken in the show (and probably in reality during those hectic times), but I think it was unlikely that he would skip Quaestor and be elected as Plebian Aedile. Also, if he were an Aedile, he would have to most likely been admitted to to the Senate when he was elected.
Mi Gai-
I will watch the episode again tonight and take a look. I didn't think the draco was adoped into the 1st century AD (not it means anything in this show!)
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Here is a good quick overview of the role of the consuls during the Empire from William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities with references to primary sources for further research:
"The official functions of the consuls under the empire were as follows:
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Working on that. Any volunteers? Pay is good.
G.O., Cos.
I'm in...as long as I can put the axes in the fasces!
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Sorry...I forgot to address tombstones. There are plenty of tombstones commemorating the burial of Romans deep into antiquity. Here is a nice one:
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On the birthday portion. William Smith and others describe birthday celebrations as attached to either a man's Genius (his guardian spirit...one of the lares ) or of a woman's to Juno. Wine, incense, garlands, cakes and general celebration were offered to the Genius. Here is a neat little passage from Ovid discussing one of his birthdays while in exile (hence the negative tone):
Ovid, Tristia, Book III.XIII
"Behold, the god of my birth, comes, on his day, uselessly
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Wow, I hadn't seen the ancient sources thread before. That is a tremendous resource! Many of the links i my post were already listed there but thank you for including it.
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fascinating post caldrail...laudes to you!
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After doing a little more looking into the backgrounds of Gabinius and Piso, their tenures as governors of Syria and Macedonia respectively, and their roles in exiling Cicero...perhaps Cicero was of the viewpoint that in choosing between the lesser of two evils...
1) Relieving Caesar from one of the Gauls to make a consular province available.
OR
2) Recalling Gabinius and Piso, who apparently were not the most respectable of Romans (and not just because they railroaded Cicero (but I am sure that is part of it)) who had been screwing up their provinces much to the dissatisfacton of the Senate, provincials, and allies alike and give those provinces to the new Consuls when their term of office expired.
...that recalling Gabinius and Piso was the better option. This was also probably coupled with the opinion of regardless of how Caesar got his command of Gaul and the legaility of his term that he was there, showing results, and soon promised to forever bring Gaul into line (or at least until 476 AD). To put some one else in there would could erase all the gains the Romans made.
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While it's true that Cicero was supportive of Caesar's war in Gaul, and was instrumental in voting public giving of thanks (Supplicatio) to Caesar for his victory over the Belgae, Caesar's base of power in Rome at that time still rested in Pompey and Crassus. Cicero probably could have damaged Caesar's position to some degree, but he was by no means singularly responsible for Caesar's continuing war.
I concur with Primus Pilus here. In the end, it was the Lex Pompeia Licinia that extended Caesar's governorship in Gaul, just as it was the Lex Vatinia that gave it to him in the first place. Even if the Senate had take one of the Gauls away from him, a legally passed lex could have given it back just as the Lex Vatinia had added to his initial term.
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so if a governor was brought up on corruption charges would it be the praetors job to prosecute that governor or would it fall to someone else? Was he in sense a government prosecutor? What crimes would fall under a praetors jurisdiction? Was there any crime too small, or not in his jurisdiction to prosecute?
Here are some additional cites from Smith's Dictionary Article on Provinces tha may answer your questions. I recommend you read the whole article but here is the big stuff.
...For the administration of justice the island was divided into Fora or Conventus, which were territorial divisions. Sicilians who belonged to the same town had their disputes settled according to its laws; citizens of different towns had their disputes decided by judices appointed by the governor; in case of disputes between an individual and a community, the Senate of any Sicilian town might act as judices, if the parties did not choose to have as judices the Senate of their own towns; if a Roman citizen sued a Sicilian, a Sicilian was judex; if a Sicilian sued a Roman citizen, a Roman was judex; but no person belonging to the Cohors of a Praetor could be judex......If the governor misconducted himself in the administration of the province, the provincials applied to the Roman Senate, and to the powerful Romans who were their Patroni. The offences of Repetundae and Peculatus were the usual grounds of complaint by the provincials; and if a governor had betrayed the interests of the State, he was also liable to the penalties attached to Majestas. Quaestiones were established for inquiries into these offences; yet it was not always an easy matter to bring a guilty governor to the punishment that he deserved.... -
There may be some questions still left unanswered, so, here is some more stuff from William Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities:
At first Praetors were appointed as governors of provinces, but afterwards they were appointed to the government of provinces, upon the expiration of their year of office at Rome, and with the title of Propraetores. In the later times of the republic, the consuls also, after the expiration of their year of office, received the government of a province with the title of Proconsules: such provinces were called Consulares. Cicero was Proconsul of Cilicia B.C. 55, and his colleague in the consulship, C. Antonius, obtained the proconsulship of Macedonia immediately on the expiration of his consular office. The provinces were generally distributed by lot, but the distribution was sometimes arranged by agreement among the persons entitled to them. By a Sempronia Lex the proconsular provinces were annually determined before the election of the consuls, the object of which was to prevent all disputes. A Senatusconsultum of the year 55 B.C., provided that no consul or praetor should have a province till after the expiration of five years from the time of his consulship or praetorship. A province was generally held for a year, but the time was often prolonged. When a new governor arrived in his province, his predecessor was required to leave it within thirty days. A Lex Julia passed in the time of C. Julius Caesar limited the holding of a Praetoria Provincia to one year, and a Consularis Provincia to two years (Dion Cassius, xliii.25; Cic. Phil. i.8, V.3). The governors of provinces had no pay as such, but certain expenses were provided for out of the Aerarium. Augustus first attached pay to the office of provincial governor ( Dion Cassius, liii.15; Sueton. August. 36).The governor of a province had originally to account at Rome (ad urbem) for his administration from his own books and those of his Quaestors; but after the passing of a Lex Julia B.C. 61, he was bound to deposit two copies of his accounts (rationes) in the two chief cities of his province and to forward one (totidem verbis) to the Aerarium (Cic. ad Fam. ii.17, V.20, ad Attic. vi.7). If the governor misconducted himself in the administration of the province, the provincials applied to the Roman Senate, and to the powerful Romans who were their Patroni. The offences of Repetundae and Peculatus were the usual grounds of complaint by the provincials; and if a governor had betrayed the interests of the State, he was also liable to the penalties attached to Majestas. Quaestiones were established for inquiries into these offences; yet it was not always an easy matter to bring a guilty governor to the punishment that he deserved.
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Here is the best, most concise summary of a praetor you are likely to find and it should answer most of your questions:
Praetor from livius.org
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There doesn't seem to be too much primary source material available or well-organized secondary material or research specifically for the bucellarii. What I have found suggests although they would have been well-equipped (since the were private armies of the wealthy elite) the equipment would probably be quite varied. Here are a couple of web sites of some late Roman reenactment groups (4-5th century) where you might find some more info:
http://www.fectio.org.uk/fectio.htm
http://monsite.wanadoo.fr/foederati/index.jhtml (only in French)
You might also want to find a copy of the Strategikon of Maurice which was a military treatise that is the closest thing to the late Roman army that Vegetius' Rei Militar is for the earlier army.
Sorry I couldn't find more. Good luck!
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Apparently greaves were assumed to be lined with leather, but there is no literary record or finds surviving with leather intact. The article also goes through all aspects of who wore greaves and how.
I'll keep looking to see if I find anything else.
Ok, I found some references to actual finds of greaves with linings. The first (I think) is:
Excavations at Dura Europos: Final Report VII: Arms and Armour and other Military Equipment
by Simon James. Apparently a greave was found with a stout linen liner
the Second is:
Roman Military Equipment Edition 2 by M.C. Bishop & J.C.N. Coulston, page 87, there is a reference to the leather greave lining found in Vindonessa.
I don't have either of these books to look directly, but, I trust the sources enough to believe the references are there.
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Here is an excellent article on the subject of greaves from the Legio XX Online Handbook. The gentleman that runs Legio XX, Matthew Amt, is extremely well respected in the Roman military research and reenactment community and nothing makes it into Matt's handbook without it being as legitimate as possible.
Apparently greaves were assumed to be lined with leather, but there is no literary record or finds surviving with leather intact. The article also goes through all aspects of who wore greaves and how.
I'll keep looking to see if I find anything else.
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Those are exactly the passages I was about to reference WotWotius, laudes to you!
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Caesar? As in Julius? And a king??
Some believe it so.
Suetonius, The life of Julius Caesar, Chap. 2:
"He (Caesar) served his first campaign in Asia on the personal staff of Marcus Thermus, governor of the province. Being sent by Thermus to Bithynia, to fetch a fleet, he dawdled so long at the court of Nicomedes that he was suspected of improper relations with the king; and he lent colour to this scandal by going back to Bithynia a few days after his return, with the alleged purpose of collecting a debt for a freedman..."
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Using that model you reference as a guide, I would say in this case, the upper floor windows are almost certain and the ground floor windows as most likely.
I think in almost all cases with rustic or country villas, windows were definitely a prominent feature. Windows in urban villas (domus/domi) were much more rare in that plenty of light and air were received through the hole in the roof of the atrium and peristylium. Upper floors would have had them since those rooms weren't exposed to the holes in the roof, but otherwise ground floor windows would have been avoided to keep the public (and their prying eyes!) out. This can be easily seen in Pompeii (except for a few notable exceptions (House of the Tragic Poet and a couple others).
In the country (or within a hardened fort like Segedunum) windows would have been much less of a liability and would have been commonplace.
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Assume:
A 'lex' or 'plebiscitum' were properly passed with respect to financial contracts wherein the minimum age of the contractors was mandated.
Could an edictum or consultum effectively amend it?
I do not believe so. From a quick review of what various Roman jurists have to say about edicta, it would appear that edicta were used to fill in the gaps or voids of Roman law instead of amending it. Moreover, they appear to usually formalize what was already customary.
So, in the example you give, I would say an edictum could not be used to ammend a lex. As far as I know, the only way to repeal or ammend a lex is with another lex.
Again, following your example, the only case I could see where an edictum and a lex might interact is say that a lex said that "minors may not engage in financial contracts" or "there shall be a minimum age to which one may form a financial contract". Assuming, minor or the minimum age wasn't defined eleswhere in another lex, then a praetorial edictum could affix the age of a minor or the minimum age based on already established custom. Then, the next year if the next praetor didn't like that number, he could issue a new one, etc.
Ancient Beer
in Romana Humanitas
Posted
Isidore of Seville, Etymologies, Book 20, Chapter 3:
"Hydromelum, quod fiat ex aqua et malis Matianis. Saccatum liquor est aquae faece vini admixtus et sacco expressus.".
Here is a rough translation (no english version that I can find):
Hydromelum, which is made from water and (Matian?) apples. It becomes liquid by straining the (apple)grounds(dregs) with water. It is mixed with wine, and squeezed from a bag.
Please excuse the translation, I'm not with it today, I have no idea what "Matianis" means. It may be a derivative of the name of a mountain in Apulia.
I think it is pretty clear they are taking about pressing the apples to get the juice and then mixing it with fine, so, interestingly, it sounds like the cider was fermented, rather it was mixed with wine to get alcohol content.