TrajanTrajan (ˈtreɪdʒən ; Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 53 11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Trajan was born and raised in Italica, close to modern Seville in present-day Spain, a small Roman municipium of Hispania Baetica founded by Scipio as an Italic settlement; his branch of the Ulpia gens, the Ulpii Traiani, came from the town of Tuder in the Umbria region of Italia. Trajan's father, Marcus Ulpius Traianus, also from Italica, was a senator. Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of Domitian.
GladiatorA gladiator (gladiator, "swordsman", from gladius, "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their lives and their legal and social standing by appearing in the arena. Most were despised as slaves, schooled under harsh conditions, socially marginalized, and segregated even in death.
Pliny the ElderGaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 - AD 79), called Pliny the Elder (ˈplɪni), was a Roman author, naturalist, natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic Naturalis Historia (Natural History), which became an editorial model for encyclopedias. He spent most of his spare time studying, writing, and investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field.
Latin literatureLatin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings written in the Latin language. The beginning of formal Latin literature dates to 240 BC, when the first stage play in Latin was performed in Rome. Latin literature would flourish for the next six centuries. The classical era of Latin literature can be roughly divided into the following periods: Early Latin literature, The Golden Age, The Imperial Period and Late Antiquity.
Roman provinceThe Roman provinces (Latin: provincia, pl. provinciae) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as governor. For centuries it was the largest administrative unit of the foreign possessions of ancient Rome. With the administrative reform initiated by Diocletian, it became a third level administrative subdivision of the Roman Empire, or rather a subdivision of the imperial dioceses (in turn subdivisions of the imperial prefectures).
CorinthCorinth (ˈkɒrɪnθ ; Kórinthos, ˈkorinθos) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part of the municipality of Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. It is the capital of Corinthia. It was founded as Nea Korinthos (Νέα Κόρινθος), or New Corinth, in 1858 after an earthquake destroyed the existing settlement of Corinth, which had developed in and around the site of ancient Corinth.
AugustusCaesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the founder of the Roman Empire; he reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. The reign of Augustus initiated an imperial cult as well as an era associated with imperial peace, the Pax Romana or Pax Augusta, in which the Roman world was largely free of armed conflict aside from expansionary wars and the Year of the Four Emperors.
HadrianHadrian (ˈheɪdriən, ; Caesar Traianus Hadrianus ˈkae̯sar trajˈjaːnʊs (h)adriˈjaːnʊs; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, a small Roman municipium of Hispania Baetica founded by Scipio as an Italic settlement; his branch of the Aelia gens, the Aeli Hadriani, came from the town of Hadria. Hadrian was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Early in his career, Hadrian married Vibia Sabina, grandniece of the ruling emperor, Trajan.
Great Fire of RomeThe Great Fire of Rome (incendium magnum Romae) began on the 18th of July 64 AD. The fire began in the merchant shops around Rome's chariot stadium, Circus Maximus. 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, 71% of Rome had been destroyed (10 out of 14 districts). 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.
AntiumAntium was an ancient coastal town in Latium, south of Rome. An oppidum was founded by people of Latial culture (11th century BC or the beginning of the 1st millennium BC), then it was the main stronghold of the Volsci people until it was conquered by the Romans. In some versions of Rome's foundation myth, Antium was founded by Anteias, son of Odysseus. The territory of Roman Antium almost entirely corresponded to modern Anzio and Nettuno.
