More than 20 centuries old, these Han warriors were at one time protectors of the tombs of the Han emperors. They are baked ceramic and are from a Chinese touring exhibition at the Bowers Museum.
Showing posts with label 2nd Century. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2nd Century. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Guardians of the Han Dynasty
Unlike their full-size cousins of the Qin Dynasty, the warrior guardians of the tombs of the rulers of the Han Dynasty are less than 1/8 life size.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Nerva–Antonine Dynasty, Rome at the Height of its Power: Five Good Emperors then Commodus
The Five Good Emperors were not the last great Roman Emperors, but they did represent the longest period of solid good leadership and took Rome to its Greatest Power. The Pax Romana allowed the people of the Empire the peace and security of a Roman Golden Age. But nothing lasts forever-even Golden Ages- by the time of Marcus Aurellus the first cracks began to appear. These weaknesses were accelerated by the disastrous leadership of Commodus!
Nerva, the old Senator turned Emperor, put Roman Government and the Imperium back on track with the renewed concept of choosing the best man as his successor (Adoptive Succession), adopting and training them for the task of leadership. Chose Trajan as his successor and son. Nerva was Emperor from 96-98 CE, died of old age when he was sixty-eight.
Trajan was a warrior first and emperor second. He is often thought to be the the greatest emperor after Augustus. Trajan increased the Empire to its greatest extent, produced a governmental surplus and was the model of the Roman ideals of virtue, dignity and military prowess. Emperor from 98-117 CE, he died of natural causes at the age of sixty-four.
Hadrian (Imperator Caesar Traianus Hadrianus Augustus) believed in consolidation not expansion. He redrew the Empires boundaries to more defensible borders such as the Rhine River. One of the great builders of Rome, three of his structures are still visible today-Hadrian's Wall, Hadrian's Tomb (current Castle St. Angelo) and the Pantheon. Emperor from 117-138 CE, he died of disease when he was sixty-two.
Antoninus Pius was a career politician not a warrior. A fiscal conservative, he spent his reign strengthening the Empire through negotiation rather than warfare. Taxation was fair, business booming, and the Empire was at peace. He was a popular Emperor among the people, the patricians and most importantly the legions (a most unusual occurrence). His reign is considered the high-water point of Imperial Rome. Events beyond anyone's imagination or control were about to challenge and change the Empire forever. Emperor from 138-161 CE, he died of natural causes at the age of seventy-five.
Marcus Aurelus, last of the Five Good Emperors, was a scholar by desire and a warrior emperor by necessity as the barbarian threat was greater in his reign than it had been since the age of Julius Caesar. The constant military campaigning and waves of barbarians brought and even greater danger to Rome, one for which there was no defense-the plague. Roman medical science was powerless in the face of this invisible killer, hundreds of thousands died (a fraction of the tens of millions killed when the plague revisited Europe during the reign of the Barbarian Kingdoms descended from the destroyers of the Roman Empire). Aurelus was on the final campaign to conquer Germania Magna when he died of the disease at the age of fifty-nine, he had been Emperor from 161-180.
“For our history now descends from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust.” Was how the Roman historian Cassius Dio saw the death of Marcus Aurelius-the collapse of Rome had begun.
Commodus was the actual son of Marcus Aurelus and was definitely not the right man for the job. Instead of finishing the conquest of Germania he made a quick peace and returned with the army to Rome where he devoted his life to personal pleasures. His brutal reign saw the disintegration of the Imperial Adoptive Succession. The "Gladiator Emperor" thought himself a reborn Hercules and dressed accordingly. His strange behavior became to much for the Senate. Emperor from 180-192, he was murdered at the age of thirty-one by a gladiator in the pay of the Senate. The bad old days of choosing and "removing" emperors through murder and war had returned.
Nerva, the old Senator turned Emperor, put Roman Government and the Imperium back on track with the renewed concept of choosing the best man as his successor (Adoptive Succession), adopting and training them for the task of leadership. Chose Trajan as his successor and son. Nerva was Emperor from 96-98 CE, died of old age when he was sixty-eight.
Trajan was a warrior first and emperor second. He is often thought to be the the greatest emperor after Augustus. Trajan increased the Empire to its greatest extent, produced a governmental surplus and was the model of the Roman ideals of virtue, dignity and military prowess. Emperor from 98-117 CE, he died of natural causes at the age of sixty-four.
Hadrian (Imperator Caesar Traianus Hadrianus Augustus) believed in consolidation not expansion. He redrew the Empires boundaries to more defensible borders such as the Rhine River. One of the great builders of Rome, three of his structures are still visible today-Hadrian's Wall, Hadrian's Tomb (current Castle St. Angelo) and the Pantheon. Emperor from 117-138 CE, he died of disease when he was sixty-two.
Antoninus Pius was a career politician not a warrior. A fiscal conservative, he spent his reign strengthening the Empire through negotiation rather than warfare. Taxation was fair, business booming, and the Empire was at peace. He was a popular Emperor among the people, the patricians and most importantly the legions (a most unusual occurrence). His reign is considered the high-water point of Imperial Rome. Events beyond anyone's imagination or control were about to challenge and change the Empire forever. Emperor from 138-161 CE, he died of natural causes at the age of seventy-five.
Marcus Aurelus, last of the Five Good Emperors, was a scholar by desire and a warrior emperor by necessity as the barbarian threat was greater in his reign than it had been since the age of Julius Caesar. The constant military campaigning and waves of barbarians brought and even greater danger to Rome, one for which there was no defense-the plague. Roman medical science was powerless in the face of this invisible killer, hundreds of thousands died (a fraction of the tens of millions killed when the plague revisited Europe during the reign of the Barbarian Kingdoms descended from the destroyers of the Roman Empire). Aurelus was on the final campaign to conquer Germania Magna when he died of the disease at the age of fifty-nine, he had been Emperor from 161-180.
“For our history now descends from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust.” Was how the Roman historian Cassius Dio saw the death of Marcus Aurelius-the collapse of Rome had begun.
Commodus was the actual son of Marcus Aurelus and was definitely not the right man for the job. Instead of finishing the conquest of Germania he made a quick peace and returned with the army to Rome where he devoted his life to personal pleasures. His brutal reign saw the disintegration of the Imperial Adoptive Succession. The "Gladiator Emperor" thought himself a reborn Hercules and dressed accordingly. His strange behavior became to much for the Senate. Emperor from 180-192, he was murdered at the age of thirty-one by a gladiator in the pay of the Senate. The bad old days of choosing and "removing" emperors through murder and war had returned.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Pax Romana-the Peace of Rome
The Pax Romana (Peace of Rome) was more than 180 years of peace in the Roman World. Occurring circa 1st and 2nd centuries CE, the Pax Romana was a hallmark of the early Imperium. This great era of peace (no major wars within the confines of the Empire) in Western Europe, North Africa and the Mediterranean coast of the Middle East began under the reign of the Emperor Augustus. Peace reigned within the Empire from this time period up to the end of the rule of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (last of the "Five Good Emperors"). In some areas of the Empire such as Britannia the Pax Romana lasted close to four centuries. The Pax Romana is an accomplishment yet to be duplicated in European history.
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