The Julio-Claudian dynasty
Comprised the first five Roman emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. This line of emperors ruled the Roman Empire, from its formation (under Augustus, in 27 BC) until the last of the line, emperor Nero, committed suicide (in 68 AD). The name Julio-Claudian is a historiographical term, deriving from the two families composing the imperial dynasty: the Julii Caesares and Claudii Nerones.
9
Aretas IV Philopatris
King of the Nabataeans from roughly 9 BC to AD 40.His daughter Phasaelis was married to, and divorced from, Herod Antipas. Herod then married his stepbrother's wife, Herodias. It was opposition to this marriage that led to the beheading of John the Baptist. After he received news of the divorce, Aretas invaded the territory of Herod Antipas and defeated his army.
Map of the province of Judaea during Pilate's governorship in the first century.
26
Pontius Pilate
The fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD
The Julian calendar
Proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on 1 January 45 BC, by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandria.
Fire in Rome by Hubert Robert (1785)
64
The Great Fire of Rome
Occurred in July AD 64. The fire began in the merchant shops around Rome's chariot stadium, Circus Maximus, on the night of 19 July. After six days, the fire was brought under control, but before the damage could be assessed, the fire reignited and burned for another three days. In the aftermath of the fire, two thirds of Rome had been destroyed. According to Tacitus and later Christian tradition, Emperor Nero blamed the devastation on the Christian community in the city, initiating the empire's first persecution against the Christians.
69
The Year of the Four Emperors
AD 69, was the first civil war of the Roman Empire, during which four emperors ruled in succession: Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian. It is considered an important interval, marking the transition from the Julio-Claudians, the first imperial dynasty, to the Flavian dynasty.
Galba
Otho
Vitellius
Vespasian
69
The Colosseum
It's an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world today, despite its age. Construction began under the emperor Vespasian (r. 69–79 AD) in 72 and was completed in 80 AD under his successor and heir, Titus (r. 79–81).
The restored version of John Martin's painting The Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum, painted in 1822, damaged in 1928, restored in 2011
100
Zoskales
Was an ancient King in the Horn of Africa. His realm included the ancient city of Adulis in modern day Eritrea.
Adulis is described in the 1st century Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.
Tombs in the southern part of the city
Petra Monastery Trail
The Urn Tomb
General view
The Theatre
The Theatre
The Great Temple of Petra
106
Arabia Petraea or Petrea
Also known as Rome's Arabian Province or simply Arabia, was a frontier province of the Roman Empire beginning in the 2nd century. It consisted of the former Nabataean Kingdom in Jordan, southern Levant, the Sinai Peninsula and northwestern Arabian Peninsula. Its capital was Petra. It was bordered on the north by Syria, on the west by Judaea (merged with Syria from AD 135) and Egypt, and on the south and east by the rest of Arabia, known as Arabia Deserta and Arabia Felix.
The territory was annexed by Emperor Trajan, like many other eastern frontier provinces of the Roman Empire, but held onto, unlike Armenia, Mesopotamia and Assyria, well after Trajan's rule, its desert frontier being called the Limes Arabicus. It produced the Emperor Philippus, who was born around 204. As a frontier province, it included a desert populated by Arabic tribes, and bordering the Parthian hinterland.
115
Trajan's Parthian campaign
Was engaged by Roman Emperor Trajan in 115 against the Parthian Empire in Mesopotamia. The war was initially successful for the Romans, but a series of setbacks, including wide-scale rebellions in the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa and Trajan's death in 117, ended in a Roman withdrawal.
Bronze bust of Trajan in his later years, Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Ankara, Turkey
Emperor Trajan in Pharonic aspect, making offerings to Egyptian Gods, on the Roman Mammisi at the Dendera Temple complex, Egypt.
Aureus of Trajan
This bronze head is of the emperor Hadrian, who commissioned the wall's construction. This head was found in 1834 in the River Thames in London, around 280 miles (450 km) south of Hadrian's Wall.
These are miniature figures of Roman auxiliary cavalry. Auxiliary soldiers, including the cavalry, were the ones stationed on Hadrian's Wall and its associated forts.
Leahill Turret in Cumbria, England, is a typical example of the intermediate turrets built into the Wall between the milecastles.
Hadrian's Wall near Birdoswald Fort, known to the Romans as Banna, with a man spraying weedkiller to reduce biological weathering to the stones
122
Hadrian's Wall
Also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or Vallum Hadriani in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian.
127
Kanishka I
(Sanskrit: कनिष्क, Kaniṣka; Greco-Bactrian: Κανηϸκε Kanēške; Kharosthi: 𐨐𐨞𐨁𐨮𐨿𐨐 Ka-ṇi-ṣka; Brahmi: Kā-ṇi-ṣka), or Kanishka, was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign (c. 127–150 CE) the empire reached its zenith. He is famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements. A descendant of Kujula Kadphises, founder of the Kushan empire, Kanishka came to rule an empire extending from Central Asia and Gandhara to Pataliputra on the Gangetic plain. The main capital of his empire was located at Puruṣapura (Peshawar) in Gandhara, with another major capital at Mathura. Coins of Kanishka were found in Tripuri (present-day Jabalpur).
Kanishka casket
Gold coin of Kanishka. Greco-Bactrian legend: ϷΑΟΝΑΝΟϷΑΟ ΚΑΝΗϷΚΙ ΚΟϷΑΝΟ Shaonanoshao Kanishki Koshano "King of Kings, Kanishka the Kushan".
Lucius Verus' apotheosis from Ephesus (today in Ephesos Museum in Wien).
161
The Roman–Parthian War
Also called the Parthian War of Lucius Verus , was fought between the Roman and Parthian Empires over Armenia and Upper Mesopotamia. It concluded in 166 after the Romans made successful campaigns into Lower Mesopotamia and Media and sacked Ctesiphon, the Parthian capital.
165
The Antonine Plague
Also known as the Plague of Galen (after Galen, the physician who described it), was the first known pandemic impacting the Roman Empire
A group of physicians in an image from the Vienna Dioscurides, named after the physician Galen shown at the top centre.
Dynastic aureus of Septimius Severus, minted in 202. The reverse feature the portraits of Geta (right), Julia Domna (centre), and Caracalla (left).
The Severan Tondo shows Septimius Severus, his wife Julia Domna, their younger son Caracalla (lower right of picture) and the obliterated image of his murdered co-heir, Geta. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.
Genealogy tree of Severan dynasty
193
The Severan dynasty
Was a Roman imperial dynasty that ruled the Roman Empire between 193 and 235, during the Roman imperial period. The dynasty was founded by the emperor Septimius Severus (r. 193–211), who rose to power after the Year of the Five Emperors as the victor of the civil war of 193–197, and his wife, Julia Domna. After the short reigns and assassinations of their two sons, Caracalla (r. 198–217) and Geta (r. 209–211), who succeeded their father in the government of the empire, Julia Domna's relatives themselves assumed power by raising Elagabalus (r. 218–222) and then Severus Alexander (r. 222–235) to the imperial office.
208
The Battle of Red Cliffs
Also known as the Battle of Chibi, was a decisive naval battle in the winter of AD 208–209 at the end of the Han dynasty, about twelve years prior to the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history. The battle was fought between the allied forces of the southern warlords Sun Quan, Liu Bei, and Liu Qi against the numerically-superior forces of the northern warlord Cao Cao.
Statue of Cao Cao in Wuhan
Royal Parthian objects at the Persia exhibition, Getty Museum
217
The Battle of Nisibis
Was fought in the summer of 217 between the armies of the Roman Empire under the newly ascended emperor Macrinus and the Parthian army of King Artabanus IV. It lasted for three days, and ended with a bloody Parthian victory, with both sides suffering large casualties. As a result of the battle, Macrinus was forced to seek peace, paying the Parthians a huge sum and abandoning the invasion of Mesopotamia that Caracalla had begun a year before.
224
Ardashir I
Also known as Ardashir the Unifier (180–242 AD), was the founder of the Sasanian Empire. He was also Ardashir V of the Kings of Persis, until he founded the new empire. After defeating the last Parthian shahanshah Artabanus IV on the Hormozdgan plain in 224.
The first carving of "coronation" and the second carving of Ahura Mazda by Ardashir, Ardashir standing against his henchmen, city of Gur (current Firuzabad)
Ardashir I and his Dastur (Councillor). Page from the Great Mongol Shahnameh. Keir Collection
The second carving of "coronation" and the third carving of Ahura Mazda by Ardashir, carved in Naqsh-e Rajab
A view of the Palace of Ardashir, the city of Gur (current Firuzabad), the entrance hall and supporting halls of the palace were covered with wheel domes. The outside walls did not have windows, but did contain prominent and dome-like columns.
The third carving of "coronation" and the fourth carving of Ahura Mazda by Ardashir, carved in Naqsh-e Rustam. Ardashir and Ahura Mazda on horsebacks in front of each other, with the corpses of Artabanus and Ahriman under the nails of their horses, and Ardashir taking the ring of reign from Ahura Mazda
Silver drachma of Ardashir I, struck at the Hamadan mint, dated c. 238–239. The obverse of the coin depicts Ardashir I with legend "The divine Mazdayasnian King Ardashir, King of King of the Iranians", while the reverse shows a fire altar with the legend "Ardashir's fire".
Initial coinage of Ardashir I, as King of Persis Artaxerxes (Ardaxsir) V. c. 205/6–223/4. Obv: Bearded facing head, wearing diadem and Parthian-style tiara, legend "The divine Ardaxir, king" in Pahlavi. Rev: Bearded head of Papak, wearing diadem and Parthian-style tiara, legend "son of the divinity Papak, king" in Pahlavi.
235
The Crisis of the Third Century
Also known as the Military Anarchy or the Imperial Crisis (AD 235–284), was a period in which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed. The crisis ended due to the military victories of Aurelian and with the ascension of Diocletian and his implementation of reforms in 284, including the Tetrarchy. The crisis began in 235 with the assassination of Emperor Severus Alexander by his own troops.
The divided Empire in 271
Map of the Roman Empire under the Tetrarchy, showing the dioceses and the four tetrarchs' zones of influence.
Statue head of the Roman emperor Diocletian (284-305 AD) , Istanbul - Archaeological Museum
