“Waste no time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.” Marcus Aurelius (121 to 180 CE) Marcus Aurelius, in full Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, original name (until 161 CE) Marcus Annius Verus, was Roman Emperor (161-180 CE), best known for his Meditations on Stoic philosophy. Marcus Aurelius has symbolised for many generations… Read More
Introduction The Civil wars of the Tetrarchy were a series of conflicts between the co-emperors of the Roman Empire, starting in 306 AD with the usurpation of Maxentius and the defeat of Severus and ending with the defeat of Licinius at the hands of Constantine I in 324 AD. Background The Tetrarchy refers to the… Read More
Introduction The Battle of the Milvian Bridge took place between the Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius on 28 October 312 (part of the Civil Wars of the Tetrarchy, 306-324 AD). It takes its name from the Milvian Bridge, an important route over the Tiber. Constantine won the battle and started on the path that… Read More
Introduction The Revolt of the Batavi took place in the Roman province of Germania Inferior between 69 and 70 AD. It was an uprising against the Roman Empire started by the Batavi, a small but militarily powerful Germanic tribe that inhabited Batavia, on the delta of the river Rhine. They were soon joined by the… Read More
“Waste no time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.” Marcus Aurelius (121 CE to 180 CE) Marcus Aurelius, in full Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, original name (until 161 CE) Marcus Annius Verus, Roman emperor (161–180 CE), best known for his Meditations on Stoic philosophy. Marcus Aurelius has symbolised for many generations… Read More
“Live as brave men; and if fortune is adverse, front its blow with brave hearts.” Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BC to 43 BC) Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, and writer who vainly tried to uphold republican principles in the final civil wars that destroyed the Roman Republic. His writings include books of rhetoric, orations, philosophical and… Read More
“One type of expense incurred in modern wars was not always present in the ancient world: paying the troops. As we have seen, in the classical city state citizenship was bound up with military service. For a long time city states thus had no need to pay their citizen-soldiers. In the Greek world the only… Read More
