Augustus Pontifex Maximus #3 (Photo credit: Roger B. Ulrich)
Emperor Nero. Plaster cast in Pushkin museum after original in British museum, London (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Bust of Tiberius, a successful military commander under Augustus before he was designated as his heir and successor (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Deutsch: Marmorbüste des Caligula mit Farbresten; daneben Rekonstruktion der Polychromie an einer Gipsreplik, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Kopenhagen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Bust of Nero at the Capitoline Museum, Rome (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
When you’re in Rome having a Vino con Vista at one of my favorite rooftop bars, you can flaunt your knowledge of Roman history.
Emperor Caligula, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Here’s a tip for remembering the names of the first five Roman Emperors after Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C. Remember the phrase “Another Tom cat caught napping”. The emperors are Augustus (27 B.C.–AD 14), Tiberius (14-37), Caligula (37-41), Claudius (41-54) and Nero (54-68).
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek – Emperor Caligula (Photo credit: Michiel2005)
Image via Wikipedia
Image via Wikipedia
Emperor Nero blamed the burning of Rome on Christian terrorists. In 64, most of Rome was destroyed in the Great Fire of Rome, which many Romans believed Nero himself had started in order to clear land for his planned palatial complex, the Domus Aurea. Nero ordered the execution of the apostles Peter and Paul during his reign.
Mosaics in the Hagia Sophia, section: Maria as patron saint of Istanbul, detail: Emperor Constantine I with a model of the city
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Eventually, with a succession of 25 emperors in 75 years, the Emperor Constantine (306-337 AD) joined the Christians and before he moved to Constantinople he built several churches in Rome.
Roman Emperors Family Tree (Augustus Caesar to Justinian the Great)
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Image via Wikipedia
San Giovanni in Laterano, St. Peter’s Basilica and San Lorenzo fuori le Mura were all built during Constantine’s reign. Talent and leadership abandoned the newly divided empire and successive waves of Barbarians invaded Rome including the Visigoths, Vandals and the Ostrogoths.
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By 800 AD, Emperor Charlemagne asserted papal authority and launched another power struggle between the Church and imperial authority. By 1309, the pope moved to the safety of Avignon. The papacy’s supremacy returned to Rome in 1377. In the 1500’s, a glorious rebirth of Rome flourished when the popes invited the most talented architects, painters and sculptors to rebuild Rome’s grandeur during the Renaissance.
Rome, Ara Pacis museum: cast of a portrait of emperor Tiberius. From the collection of casts of busts showing the members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. The original artwork is exhibited in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (Copenhagen). Picture by Giovanni Dall’Orto, March 30 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Dr. EveAnn Lovero writes Travel Guides and
Vino Con Vista Travel Guides can be purchased at these sites
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