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Roman state existed for nearly thirteen centuries, repeatedly exerting a profound influence on the course of history. I present the history of ancient Rome in the individual articles below, which not always refer solely to the Eternal City itself but encompass the wider world of the Roman Empire.
I encourage you to submit your own articles and to report any corrections or factual inaccuracies.
In the 3rd century CE, a new syncretic religion – Manichaeism – penetrated the areas of the Roman Empire from the Persian State. Its founder was the prophet Mani, and the doctrine itself combined elements of other religions: Gnosticism, Christianity, Mithraism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and Jainism.
Hungary is not a country that in the minds of the average European is associated with the Roman Empire and the monuments of antiquity. However, the entire western part of Hungary, on the right bank of the Danube, was from the reign of Augustus until the 4th – 5th century under Roman rule, in the province of Pannonia.
Emeralds were the most popular gemstones of ancient Rome. All kinds of jewelry were decorated with them, as well as everyday objects, such as safety pins or hairpins.
There are many myths and lies about the ancient Romans – their lifestyle, culture and military. In this article, I will try to present selected 10 distortions that should be corrected and explained.
Conquest of Gaul by Caesar in 58-51 BCE was the basis of his military prestige and wealth and facilitated his struggle with Pompey. The newly conquered territories played a key role in the civil war between the two chieftains. The new province (Gallia Commata), exposed to Germanic attacks from across the Rhine, usually had its own garrison, the command of which provided political importance to the Roman generals.
The word “libraries” (Gr. βιβλιοθήκη, derived from the Greek words βιβλίον and θήκη, successively translated as book and reservoir) functions in Polish as a name for a large collection of books, both private, being the work of an independent collector, and public, in the form of a state institution with free access to the collection, which is regulated by the rules set for a given institution. This 20th-century definition significantly differs from how libraries functioned and were understood during the existence of ancient Rome.
When visiting historic Latin churches from different eras, one can get the impression that they are all similar in some way. Such similarities include the plan of the Latin cross and the division into naves. When we follow the trail of sacral architecture, from today to antiquity, we will notice that the above-mentioned similarities come from early Christian art, and these, in turn, were taken over from pagan times, from civil and not sacral construction. Why, then, do our churches refer to the heritage of the basilica building, and not to Greek, Etruscan and Roman temples modelled on them?
On the European continent, the Roman Empire based its border on two great rivers: the Rhine and the Danube. There was, however, a fundamental problem with this concept – both rivers in their initial course diverge, creating an obtuse angle on the map. This meant that the area between them cut quite deep into the Roman territory to the southwest. So it was a sensitive place where barbarians could easily enter the Empire. To prevent this, the Romans took over the lands between the upper reaches of the Rhine and Danube rivers. These areas in ancient times were called Agri Decumates, which means “tithe lands” in Polish. Today, the area is mostly located in the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany.
