Calliope articles from January 2001

Calliope archives from January 2001

First among cities, home of the gods, golden Rome.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... R First among cities, home of the gods, golden Rome Decimus Magnus Ausonius (c. A.D.310-395), teacher, writer, and governor of the Roman province of Gaul Among the many civilizations that have blossomed on the world's stage, few have...

ALARIC AT THE GATES.(barbarian who sacked the cityof Rme in 410 A. D.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... FROM HIS CAMP OUTSIDE THE GATES, ALARIC COULD SEE THE GLORY THAT WAS ROME. TOWERING ABOVE THE CITY'S STONE WALLS, WHICH STRETCHED FOR MILES, STOOD GREAT PILLARED FACADES AND MAGNIFICENT STATUES ADORNING ROOFTOPS. BUT, SOON, ALL HE SAW...

Marcus Aurelius and His Legacy.(emperor in ancient Rome)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... DO NOT DEWY DOING GOOD WORKS, FOR YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW LONG YOU WILL LIVE. CULTIVATE MEANINGFUL INTERESTS. FULFILL YOUR OBLIGATIONS WILLINGLY. APPRECIATE YOUR LIFE. Such raise sentiments fill the meditations, a celebrated book...

The Years Before the Fall: From Commodus to Diocletian.(ancient Roman emperors)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... At the beginning of his reign, the emperor Marcus Aurelius (ruled A.D. 161-180) issued a coin portraying his twin baby sons on a throne. Since Roman coins criss-crossed the empire, this was his way of assuring everyone of good successors. Only...

Make Your Own ROMAN COIN.(use ancient Rome examples)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... EVEN IF YOU lived far from Rome, you would still have known what the emperor looked like from your loose change. Roman coins had a portrait or "obverse" side with an excellent, realistic likeness of the emperor and a "reverse" side depicting...

DIOCLETIAN, FOUNDER OF A NEW EMPIRE.(Roman emperor who ruled in the third century A. D.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... WHEN THE ROMAN emperor Numerian died in A.D. 284 (murdered, perhaps, by an army officer), political chaos engulfed the empire. Without consulting the senate in Rome, the army named a new emperor from its own ranks. He was Diocletian, a man of...

Treats in Ancient Rome.(menu to make candy)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Why don't we turn back the clock some 1,600 years and see what was cooking in ancient Rome around the time the empire fell? Although some foods, such as olive oil and bread, were enjoyed then just as they are now, others, such as beef and fish,...

THE BIRTH OF CHRISTIANITY.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... AT ITS HEIGHT, THE ROMAN EMPIRE COUNTED AMONG ITS CITIZENS PEOPLE OF MANY RACES, WHO SPOKE NUMEROUS LANGUAGES AND FOLLOWED MANY RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. ROMANS CAME TO KNOW DIFFERENT GODS AS NEW LANDS WERE added to the empire, and often included some...

The BARBARIAN Threat.(ancient Roman empire)
January 1, 2001... The period between A.D. 250 and 410, when Alaric invaded Rome, proved to be one of major changes in Europe. Until then, the Roman Empire had been the dominant power in the area, but by the mid-200s its leaders and generals were finding it...

GO TO ROME.(ancient capital of the Roman empire)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... LISTENING IN FASCINATION, Alaric pondered his good fortune. A mere teenager--and a Goth at that--he was actually sitting in the Imperial School in the presence of the head of the eastern empire. The emperor Theodosius, his sturdy frame richly...

THE FALL OF THE WEST.(fall of Rome in 476 AD)
January 1, 2001... IN A.D. 476, A BARBARIAN LEADER NAMED ODOACER OVERTHREW THE BOY EMPEROR ROMULUS AUGUSTULUS. HISTORIANS EARLY ON RECOGNIZED THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EVENT. "WITH THIS Augustulus," wrote Marcellinus Comes in the mid-500s, "perished the western...

`THE FALL' OF ROME.(Edward Gibbon's 'The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire')
January 1, 2001... WHAT HAPPENED TO mighty Rome? People have asked just this question since that sad day in A.D. 410 when Alaric brought an end to the Roman Empire in western Europe. Unfortunately, the answer is not much more obvious today than it was hundreds of...

Why the Eastern Empire Survived.(Roman Empire)
January 1, 2001... Rome fell--but not the entire empire. When barbarians took the city in 476, it was the western part that gave way. Attacks by foreigners from beyond its borders and much internal disagreement both contributed to its fall. Yet, there was still...

Fun With Words.(word origins and stories)
January 1, 2001... WORD ORIGINS Culture A short word, but one that represents much. "Culture" may be defined as the ideas, customs, skills, arts, etc., of a people or group that are passed along to succeeding generations. Culture traces its roots to the...

THE SPLENDOR THAT WAS ROME.(legacy of Roman Empire)
January 1, 2001... Roma quanta fuit, ipsa ruina docet. "how great Rome was, her ruins teach us." Since the Middle Ages, artists, authors, and architects have written this Latin phrase on canvas, parchment, and even in stone. History had washed away the...

The Wonders of Ancient Rome.
January 1, 2001... MAGNIFICENT RUINS OF MAJESTIC BUILDINGS, SYMBOLS OF THE GREAT EMPIRE THAT WAS ROME, CAN BE FOUND TODAY IN COUNTRIES THROUGHOUT EUROPE, NORTH AFRICA, AND THE PERSIAN Gulf. Yet, the Romans were more than builders. They were poets, artists,...

BOOKS.(books on ancient Rome)(Bibliography)
January 1, 2001... The Fall of the Roman Empire by Don Nardo (Greenhaven Press, 1998), one in the series called "Opposing Viewpoints' DIGESTS," discusses some of the causes that may have led to the end of the Roman Empire, including changes in population,...

THE FALL OF ROME.(Poem)
January 1, 2001... The shouts and Blood filled the dirty air. Poor and rich were under attack, And the emperor was in despair. It was simple, yes, but that emperor did not admit that his loving, rich town was about to fall down, ...

ON THE NET.(Web sites on Roman Empire)
January 1, 2001... For details about the Goths, Alaric, and Stilicho, and for maps and links to other sites about the Roman Empire and the Fall, check out: myron.sjsu.edu/romeweb/ROMARMY/art11.htm ...

The Tragedy in Pompeii.(Poem)
January 1, 2001... The volcano is blowing, The people are scared. They have no way of knowing If they will be spared. People are crying sadly with tears. Their houses are burning that have stood for years. The animals are...

A Poem about Ancient Rome.(Poem)
January 1, 2001... How fun it would be to live in an ancient world! I could see the place called Rome, Or I could see the place Caesar once called home. If I set a quick pace, I might make it in time for the chariot race. I could...