The ancestors of the Persians settled in Persis in the end of the third millennium BC. They were peaceful shepherds, who moved up to the mountains and then down to the valleys depending on the season. For many generations the life in Persis continued in this way; it was shacked with the whole of the Middle East by the Assyrian casualties. The Assyrian military wiped out the kingdom of Elam, to whom the Persians were vassals, leaving the capital Susa to the lizards. Their rule was not long, though. In 612 BC the Assyrian Empire was destroyed by the Medes and Babylonians, who shared its vast territories. Subsequently, the Persians became subject to the Median Empire. The ties with the latter were very strong, however, not only because the two peoples were of the same origin, but also in the way of a political marriage. The daughter of the Median king Astyages (585/584 - 550), Mandane, was married to the ruler of Persis, a certain Cambyzes, "a decent peaceful man" of the Achaemenid dynasty. They soon had a song, who was called Kurush (we know him by the Greek version of his name, which is Cyrus). Many legends surround the birth of Cyrus. According to one of them, Astyages once dreamt that from his daughter's womb came out a great vine, which spread itself throughout the whole of Asia. The Magi interpreted this dream by saying that Mandane would give birth to a child, whom will conquer the continent. The worried Astyages took the baby and gave it to one of his subjects, Harpagus, with orders to murder it. Harpagus, however, did not want to kill an infant so lively and handsome, so he gave it to some shepherd, who brought it up as his own son. When Astyages learnt about that in a few years, he punished Harpagus in a demonic way. He boiled his son and fed him with it without telling him what he was eating. The poor father understood he had eaten his own son only when the servants brought to him a dish with the head of the boy. After that Astyages sent the young Cyrus to his parents in Persis.

Meanwhile Astyages' own reign became more and more horrific, and the people grew restless. This opposition was led, for obvious reasons, by Harpagus. He persuaded the Magi to join his cause and then sent a letter to Cyrus, saying that if he were to attack his grandfather, the Median army would not fight him. When Astyages learnt of his grandson's intentions, he send an army against it and so blinded was he, that he appointed Harpagus as its leader! The two opposing forces met on a murky afternoon near the old Persian capital of Pasargadae, but before a single arrow was shot, most of the Medes deserted to the Persians. Cyrus then proceeded to capture Astyages in Ecbatana (the Median capital), but contrary to the custom of the times, spared his life. After that he assumed the rulership of the Median Empire. With it came the administration system which he left as it was, not changing a thing (550 BC). Cyrus was a very tolerant ruler, who recognized the local customs and appreciated them wherever he went.

In Asia Minor the border between the Median and the Lydian empires had been set at the River Halys. Seeing that the Empire of the Medes had been overthrown by some unknown Persian prince, the Lydian king Croesus sought to expand his empire at the expense of his young neighbour and in 547 marched into Median territory and was met by the Medo-Persian forces of Cyrus. In the battle that followed, both sides suffered heavy casualties, but Croesus thought he was losing and withdrew to Sardis for the winter. Cyrus, however, was not planning to wait for spring to come. He followed Croesus and arrived so quickly at Sardis, that according to Herodotus "was his own herald". Croesus gathered his army and sent it against the Persians. The mighty Lydian cavalrymen with their lethal spears rode in the front and attacked. They withdrew at once, though, because Cyrus had used a very shrewd tactic. He had mounted his men on camels, the smell of which scared the horses. The rest of the Lydian army was then defeated. Croesus prepared himself for a long siege, summoning his allies in the meantime. The heavily-fortified Lydian capital fell within two weeks. Croesus became one of Cyrus' advisors. The Persian then returned to Ecbatana, sending Harpagus to conquer the Ionian Greeks of Asia. After having conquered Media and Lydia, Cyrus turned his attention further to the north, defeating the various barbaric tribes on his way. He crossed the Oxus river; at the next river, though, the Jaxartes, he stopped, making it his north frontier.

In the south, the biggest metropolis of the Ancient World, Babylon, was still independent, though almost surrounded by Persian territory. In 541 Cyrus decided to attack it. The Opis River slowed down his march, however, and it was only in the spring of 539 that he crossed it and defeated the Babylonian army there. Herodotus then gives a lengthy account on a prolonged siege of Babylon. Other sources state that on his way to the city, Cyrus was met by a Babylonian commander, Gobrius, who offered him the surrender of the city. The Persian accepted it, and Gobrius went back and opened the gates for the victor, who was met by the population amidst wild rejoicing. Cyrus was crowned King of Babylon and prayed to the Babylonian gods.

The next objective of Cyrus was Egypt. He was preparing his army to attack it, when news came that the Scythian tribe Massagaeti was raiding Persian territory between the Caspian and Aral Sea. He hurried north to meet the warrior-queen Tomyris. Herodotus states that this was one of the most hard-fought battles in history. The Scythians eventually gained the upper hand, but the Persians refused to flee. In that battle, Cyrus was slain, along with the better half of his army (530). His body was carried back to Pasargadae, the place of his first triumph, and was buried thence. Alexander the Great came to visit Cyrus' tomb 200 years later.

Cyrus was succeeded by his son Cambyzes. As a satrap of Babylonia, Cambyzes had become a good administrator. Now he took on his father's ideas for conquest. In 525 he attacked Egypt, won the Battle of Pelusium and marched into the Nile Delta. In the beginning he was as tolerant as Cyrus, and had himself proclaimed pharaoh. But when he sought to expand his African possessions, various misfortunes faced him. First he intended to attack Carthage, but the Phoenicians in his navy refused to fight their relatives. Then Cambyzes sent troops to some oasis in Amon (actually the infamous Siwah, later visited by Alexander), but they got lost in a sand storm and died. Lastly, he intended to subdue Nubia, but his weary hungry troops never reached the capital of Meroe. When news of cannibalism among the soldiers reached Cambyzes, the startled king ordered retreat. After such casualties, the Great King started showing serious signs of insanity. Once he beat his pregnant wife to death. When rumours of a rebellion came to him, Cambyzes hurried home. He died on the way from a wound he had given himself, according to some historians (522). It is said that "Cyrus was the father of the Empire, Cambyzes was its Tyrant, and Darius was its economist". Cambyzes, however, was probably not as bad as they tried to make him.

In the civil war that followed Cambyzes' death, Darius, the son of Histaspes the satrap of Parthia and Hyrcania and also of the Achaemenid synary, won the throne. According to Herodotus, before his final battle with the Massagaeti, Cyrus saw in a dream the son of Histaspes with wings, one of which shaded Europe and the other Asia. After Darius became king, he had to put down various rebellions, which took him more than a year. Finally in 521 he assumed utter control. Similarly to Cyrus, Darius was an excellent warrior. But more so he was a brilliant administrator. He built the 1200-km Royal Highway which linked Sardis with the Imperial capital Susa. He greatly improved the three Persian capitals at the time - Pasargadae, Susa and Ecbatana. But Darius wanted a city that would suit his own taste. Consequently he started building Persepolis - the magnificent ceremonial capital of the Empire, where each year the vassal peoples would come to offer their tributes to the Great King, the King of Kings and ruler of the world. The city was finished and improved by Darius' son, Xerxes.

Darius was also permanently on a march with the army. In 517 he conquered North-western India with Punjab, which became the 21st satrapy of the Persian Empire. Of all the provinces, India supplied by far the biggest annual tribute (10 tons of gold powder. In comparison Babylon sent 30 tons of silver). In 513 Darius led the first Asiatic expansion into Europe. His plans were to conquer Scythia and control the trade roots west. Macedonia obeyed, and Darius marched his army through Thrace. The Scythians, however, were something else. Each time the Persians attacked them, they would fire a cloud of arrows from their horses and retreat. This way of fighting was devastating to the slow Persian army. Restless, Darius had to retreat south of the Danube. But he left the imperial presence in Thrace and Macedonia, right next to Greece. As for the Scythians, the Persians would never again try to subdue them. Instead they hired Scythian archers to train the Persian ones. The barbarians had ruthlessly hindered imperial expansion north of the rivers Jaxartes and Danube by slaying the best Persian king ever and successfully confronting his great descendant. This way of fighting, which later became known as "Parthian tactics", won out against Persians, Romans, and Greeks. The latter meanwhile had become a factor, which even the Great King of Persia must not neglect; pretty soon Darius the Great and his heirs would learn that.

The Persian Immortals formed the elite core of the Persian army in times of war and the royal guard in times of peace in Achaemenid Persia. The Immortals always numbered 10,000 men and where called the Immortals because when one was wounded, killed, or sick another man with the same training would take the downed or sick man’s place.

The Immortals where trained form childhood how to handle their weapons, how to march, how to dress, and more. The training was very rigorous and hard, not everyone could become one of the 10,000. The requirements to become a Immortal where: you must be of Persian bloodlines, you must be a good shot with a bow, you must ride well. Later in time, a strict adherence to the religion of the prophet Zarathustra and his teachings or truth as the Persians called it was a requirement.

The weapons of the Persian Immortals changed over time and varied with rank. Early on the Persian Immortals carried a short cavalry lance, composite (also called short) bow, belt scimitar, and dagger. Later on the belt scimitar and short lance was replaced with a pike and long sword. The shield also changed over time. Early on the shield was oval-shaped, and made from a thin layer of leather, bronze, and wicket (wicket is dried grass that has been woven). Later on the shield was sort of crescent-shaped, the materials that the shield was made from did not change however. Officers in the ranks did not carry different weapons then the common solider, but they did carry more ornate ones. The officers’ lance and later pike had a golden counterbalance on it, while the file and rank solider had a silver one. Officers’ swords and shields often had intricate designs on them.

The dress of the Persian Immortals changed over time as well and varied with rank. Early on the Persian Immortals wore a long colorful white robe with iron and gold scales sewn on, baggy trousers, and bright purple and violet head-cloth that covered their head and neck. Later on the clothes really didn’t change from one type to another but changed colors. The robe became bright yellow with a purple collar and long purple line running down the front of the robe and purple running all the way around the end of the robe. The headgear became bright yellow, and the trousers became purple, a long and big purple cape was also part of the dress. For officers not much was different it was, however more ornate. The early robe was, for officers completely covered with iron and gold scales and there was a high golden tiara perched on top of their head. Later on only the tiara distinguished the officers from the common solider.

The Persian Immortals where involved many of Achaemenid Persia’s wars and battles. The most famous of all were the Greco-Persian wars and the battles that took place in that war, such as Marathon, Thermopylae, and Plataea. The battle of Marathon was a pivotal one because if the Greek army were defeated the road the Athens would be wide open, amazing the Greeks won the battle without the help of Sparta, which was celebrating a festival. The battle of Thermopyle was hollow victory for Persia, seven hundred Spartan warriors sacrificed themselves so that the rest of the Greek army could assemble itself. Thermopyle was the most famous battle that the Persian Immortals were in. The main reason for their success at Thermopyle was because a Greek traitor led them around the back of the Spartan force. The battle of Plataea was a battle of revenge for Sparta, a way of avenging the deaths of the seven hundred killed at Thermopyle, the Spartan commander personally killed Hydarnes, the commander of the Persian Immortals at Thermopyle.

Carthage the most powerful nation in the western Mediterranean during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, thanks to its powerful navy and vast trading network. Originally settled by Phoenicians in the 9th century on the north coast of Africa in modern Tunisia, Carthage had grown by the 3rd century BC to control Northwestern Africa, Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, and large parts of Spain. Militarily it was unique in its heavy reliance on mercenaries to fight its wars abroad. Monetarily this was not a problem due to the Carthaginians vast wealth gained from trading all over the Mediterranean. Carthaginian citizens did train for battle, but only fought if there was an immediate threat to their homeland. As with many nations during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, Hellenistic phalanx tactics had reached Carthage and had been embraced. Most of its richer citizens fought armed in Greek equipment, although often embellished with uniquely Carthaginian features, using the sarissa as their main weapon. Carthaginian citizens unable to procure the expensive armor of a phalangite were employed as light infantry, using javelins as their main weapons. One special unit was the Sacred Band, an elite corps of soldiers whose patron deity was the goddess Tanit.

Abroad the Carthaginians used mercenaries, notably Spanish (Iberian) soldiers recruited from their territory in Spain. They brought heavy infantry, as well as cavalry and light troops such as javelin throwers and slingers. From Africa, Numidians provided light cavalry, among the best ever produced by any nation. They rode without saddles and bridles, controlling their horses by using their riding sticks and voice commands. They also served as light infantry using javelins and slings. Another large population that the Carthaginians drew mercenaries from was Celtic peoples of modern day France and Northern Italy. In combat they used swords and spears in massive charges, screaming as they did so. Another unique tool available to the Carthaginians was the war elephant, used to crush opposing infantry. Although powerful and psychologically imposing, disciplined infantry could drive off an elephant so that it would run back on its own lines. Hannibal, the most famous of Carthaginians, used all of these mercenaries and elephants as well as Carthaginian citizen soldiers in his famous campaign against the Romans during the Second Punic War. In the end Roman won all three of the wars it fought with Carthage, the last one completely destroying Carthage in 146 BC.


Armor – Carthaginian armor was based on Greek styles, the linothorax being especially popular. The Carthaginian heavy infantry did not differ greatly from any of the Hellenized armies that existed around the Mediterranean in the period after Alexander the Great.

Linothorax

Many pieces of Greek equipment were used by Carthaginians troops, one popular piece being the linothorax, a cuirass made of layers of linen glued together to make a tough shell. Elite troops of the Sacred Band used the linothorax and it was distinctively painted with symbols of Tanit, the patron goddess of the unit. The early Carthaginian citizen army rank and file used the linothorax but after extensive contact with the Romans, superior chain mail replaced it.

Chain Mail

Initially Celtic, the Romans were the first major proponents of chain mail and during the First Punic War the Carthaginians were treated to a front row demonstration of its protective abilities. Needless to say they were highly impressed. Hannibal’s African troops often stripped dead Romans for their elaborate hauberks, wearing them instead of their own linothorax cuirasses. Among the Carthaginian troops the chain mail hauberk, or lorica hamata as the Romans called it, proved to be extremely popular. And since the Carthaginian troops were allowed first pick of captured equipment, many of them ended up with chain mail.

Greaves

Greaves were standard Hellenistic infantry equipment and the Carthaginians used them to a large degree. Heavy citizen infantry used them, as well as cavalry. Usually made of bronze, they could be tied or be held in place by squeezing against the wearer’s legs.


Helmets – Again, Greek styles were popular, especially the Thracian among the Carthaginians. In addition, many of the helmet styles made by their mercenaries were also used by Carthaginian troops.

Thracian

Among Carthaginian citizen troops, the Thracian helmet was the preeminent style. The elegant bronze helmet was often painted, usually with a black band across the front of the helmet, above the eyes. Crests made of horsehair were commonplace, adding to the contrasting colors of the Carthaginian panoply. Heavy infantry were especially attracted to the Thracian, being a large, heavy helmet with good protection for the head, neck, and face but affording a considerable field of vision to the wearer.

Montefortino

Used by both Celtic mercenaries and Carthaginian citizen soldiers, the Montefortino helmet was also used their Roman enemies. As with chain mail hauberks, helmets were stripped from Roman corpses, one of the most common being the Montefortino. The bronze helmet was protective, gave good visibility, and was comfortable to wear. While the Carthaginians obtained their Montefortinos from dead Romans, the Celts manufactured their own, and it is not improbable that during Hannibal’s campaign in Italy helmets were produced by Celtic blacksmiths for use in his army. In many cases Montefortino helmets were decorated with horsehair plumes and feathers.

Iberian

Originating in Spain, the Iberian style helmet was widely used by Spanish mercenaries, as well as by Carthaginian citizen troops, especially light infantry. A simple conical bronze helmet fitted with cheek guards, the Iberian helmet provided good protection and could be fitted with a crest.


Weapons - Thanks to the broad range of soldiers employed by the Carthaginians, it was one of the most cosmopolitan armies in existence. Weapons from many unique backgrounds were used, allowing for a broad range of tactics.

Sarissa

The 15 to 19 foot long sarissa was popular all over the Greece, Middle East, and North Africa during the 3rd century BC, thanks to Alexander the Great’s army. Carthaginian citizen soldiers used the sarissa in phalanxes two handed, with their shield hanging from a strap across their neck and left shoulder. As with other pikemen, the Carthaginian soldiers were at a severe disadvantage when facing swordsmen like the Romans, who attacked the inevitable weak spots of the phalanx that formed as it moved over uneven ground.

Xiphos

The native Carthaginians used the extremely popular Greek xiphos, the roughly 30-inch straight double-edged slashing sword. In combat they would wear it on their left hip on a baldric that went over their right shoulder. Cavalry also used the xiphos to great effect.

Celtic Long Sword

The Celtic mercenaries in Carthaginian armies fought using there own equipment and the famous Celtic long sword was their most prized weapon. Roughly 36 inches long and made of an early form of steel, it was one of the finest sword types every produced. Used by wealthy chieftains and nobles, it was uncommon in the ranks where spears were the main weapons. In combat the double-edged Celtic sword would be used as a slashing weapon, a task to which it was ideally suited.

Espasa

As with most of the mercenaries in Carthaginian armies, Spanish troops used their own cultural weapons. One of these was the espasa, a short double-edged stabbing sword. Roughly 25 inches long, the Spaniards were famous for their use of it. When Spanish mercenaries in the service of Carthage fought Roman soldiers in Sicily during the First Punic War the Romans were so impressed by the espasa that they adopted it and called it the gladius hispanicus. The gladius went onto conquer the known world with the legions of Rome.

Falcata

Another Spanish weapon, the falcata was a descendent of the famous Greek kopis, the heavy curved saber. Made of high quality steel, the falcata was feared for its ability to chop through shields and crush helmets like tin cans. Used by infantry and cavalry, the falcata was a favorite among Spanish troops, who were highly sought after by the Carthaginians as heavy infantry and light troops.

Javelin

Javelins were popular weapons in the Carthaginian army, used by both citizen soldiers and mercenaries. Light Carthaginian troops used javelins to engage their opponents at range before close combat began, while Numidian light cavalry hurled javelins while riding bareback. Spanish mercenaries used a special javelin made completely out of iron called a saunion, measuring roughly 4 to 5 feet long. As well young Celtic warriors fighting under Carthaginian banners used light javelins randomly in combat.

Sling

Balearic slingers were valuable components of the Carthaginian mercenary army. Using a simple leather strap and a stone, slingers were able to kill opponents at ranges that archers could not dream of reaching. At the Battle of Cannae, Carthage’s greatest victory, Balearic slingers wounded one of the consuls in command of the Roman forces near the beginning of the battle. Numidians also used the sling on foot.


Shields – As with weapons, shields were taken from a broad range of cultures and martial traditions. Carthaginians used Greek style shields, while the mercenaries used their own national shields. Although not listed here, the Numidians used a round shield on horseback and on foot.

Hoplon- Style

As you have noticed, Greek equipment was an extremely common sight within the Carthaginian citizen army. Chief among them was the hoplon, the heavy Greek infantry shield. Made out of wood covered with bronze, the hoplon was vital to the phalanx-style of combat that the Carthaginians adhered to, allowing for large numbers of men to form a shield wall and defend each other as they advanced toward the enemy. Often Carthaginians painted their shields white or as in the case of the Sacred Band, with the symbols of their units.

Scutum

Originally of Italian design, Celtic and Spanish mercenaries used a large body shield known as a scutum. A large oval shield with a large spindle-shaped boss, the scuta used by mercenaries under Carthaginian control were flat, unlike their Roman counterparts. Made of an early form of plywood (layers of wood glued together) covered with leather, the scutum was able to protect a man from his shoulder’s to his shins. In addition to being used to block blows, the scutum’s large boss was often used to punch at opponents.

Caetra

Spanish soldiers were fond of this buckler, which they used in combination with a falcata or espasa in combat. Roughly 2 feet across, both light infantry and the cavalry used the caetra in combat.

Thureos

Originally an oval shield used by peltasts, the thureos was soon adopted for use by Carthaginian citizen light infantry as they ran forward to hurl their javelins at opposing infantry. In many ways it was similar to the scutum, although of completely different origin. It had an iron or bronze boss and could be painted.

Hannibal was one of the greatest of all military commanders in the ancient world. He got most of his experience from his campaigns in Iberia shortly before he started the 2nd Punic war with the siege of Saguntum.

Hannibal's first campaigns where under his step-brother Hasdurbal, who was commander-in-chief in Iberia. For three years Hannibal served under his step-brother, however Hannibal was the men's favorite.This was because Hannibal never made himself seem superior, he ate with his men, slept with his men, and was always there with the men when they needed a good morale boost. Hannibal also was first and last off the battlefield.

Hannibal's first solo campaign was against the Iberian tribes, the first he attacked being the Olcades. The Olcade campaign was a short one because of the quickness of the fall of Cartala, the Olcade capital. The next tribe he attacked was the Vaccaei, and two of their cities, Arbolcala and Hermandica. Hermandica fell first, but it fell after a longer time then Cartala. Arbolcala took longer then Hermandica to fall. Following the fall of Arbolcala, Vaccaei and Olcade refugees fled north and incited the Carpetani to war. The three allies marched south to confront Hannibal along the river Tagus, Hannibal however refused to give battle and instead pitched camp near the river. When the enemy was asleep Hannibal ordered his cavalry to hide and wait for the enemy to ford the river, he had his forty elephants prepare to charge on order, the infantry(under Hannibal's personal command) was to advance on order. When the allied force went into the river the cavalry charged in to them, the immediate affect of the charge was tremendous, any man who was washed down river(and away from the battle) was trampled to death the elephants, Hannibal and the infantry marched in some time later. In the battle's aftermath the rements of the Carpetani, Vaccaei, and Olcade joint army was annihilated, a few days later the Carpetani surrendered. Nothing now stood in the way of Hannibal's goal of starting a war with Rome, and so he started the 2nd Punic War with the siege of Saguntum.

An array of gladius swords of various styles and makers. Left to Right are: Scabbard and Mainz pattern gladius and to their right, another Mainz gladius and scabbard, all custom made by Lonely Mountain Forge Armory * Museum Replicas Pompeii pattern gladius and Mainz scabbard, both by Windless Steelcrafts of India * Pompeii gladius by Angus Trim from Albion Armorers * Scabbard and Pompeii gladius by Deepeeka of India * Wood practice "waster" gladius similar to the "Rudus" or wooden sword presented by the Emperor to retiring gladiators. Click picture for enlarged views.

The classic Roman short sword "Gladius Hispaniensis" (Spanish Sword), is one of the most famous of all weapons. It is a short stabbing weapon, meant to be used in the close fighting quarters in which the Roman Army excelled. It is thought to have been adopted from Spanish Auxiliaries serving with Hannibal’s forces in the Second Century BC.

Earlier types, such as the "Mainz" version, had a wider, wasp-waisted blade with a longer point. The later "Pompeii" version, had a somewhat narrower, and easier to manufacture, straight sided blade, which came into use during the 1st Century AD.

The Gladius was most always carried at the right side of the body, suspended from a narrow baldric belt, as the "Scutum" or shield carried on the left, made it impractical to be drawn across the body from the left side. The term "Gladiator" comes from the use of the Gladius by these fighters in the arena. The Gladius remained the principle side-arm weapon of the Roman soldier well into the Third Century AD, when longer "Spatha" type swords, worn at the left side of the body, along with smaller shields were adopted.

Colosseo
The Colosseum is probably the most impressive building of the Roman empire. Originally known as the Flavian Amphitheater, it was the largest building of the era.
The monumental structure has fallen into ruins, but even today it is an imposing and beautiful sight.

The Colosseum in RomeThe Flavian Amphitheater
Emperor Vespasian, founder of the Flavian Dynasty, started construction of the Colosseum in AD 72. It was completed in AD 80, the year after Vespasian's death.
The huge amphitheater was built on the site of an artificial lake, part of Nero's huge park in the center of Rome which also included the Golden House (Domus Aurea) and the nearby Colossus statue. This giant statue of Nero also gave the building its current name.

The Building
A Scale Model of the Colosseum in Imperial RomeThe elliptical building is immense, measuring 188m by 156m and reaching a height of more than 48 meter (159 ft). The Colosseum could accommodate some 55,000 spectators who could enter the building through no less than 80 entrances.
Above the ground are four storeys, the upper storey contained seating for lower classes and women. Colosseum, RomeThe lowest storey was preserved for prominent citizens. Below the ground were rooms and cages containing wild animals and mechanical devices. The cages could be hoisted, enabling the animals to appear in the middle of the arena.

Velarium
The Colosseum was covered with an ernormous awning known as the velarium. This protected the spectators from the sun. It was attached to The Colosseum at nightlarge poles on top of the Colosseum and anchored to the ground by large ropes. A team of some 1,000 men was used to install the awning.

Food and Games
Emperors used the Colosseum to entertain the public with free games. Those games were a symbol of prestige and power and they were a way for an emperor to increase his popularity.
Games were held for a whole day or even several days in a row. They usually Inside the Colosseum in Romestarted with comical acts and displays of exotic animals and ended with fights to the death between animals and gladiators or between gladiators. These fighters were usually slaves, prisoners of war or condemned criminals. Sometimes free Romans and even Emperors took part in the action.

The colosseum at nightInauguration
Hundred-day games were held by Titus, Vespasian's successor, to mark the inauguration of the building in AD 80. In the process, some 9,000 wild animals were slaughtered.

The Ruins
The southern side of the Colosseum was felled by an earthquake in 847. Parts of the building - including the marble facade - were used for the construction of later monuments, including the St. Peter's Basilica.

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From its humble beginnings in c. 753 B.C., Rome emerged to conquer most known portions of Europe, Southwest Asia, and North Africa in the nine centuries that followed. Ruthlessly subduing subject peoples and bringing them into alignment with their imperial vision, the Romans forged an empire breathtaking in its scope, a realm that made possible trade, communication, and travel as never before. At the empire's height in A.D. 116, it became possible to travel from Scotland to the Red Sea without leaving a Roman road except to cross bodies of water. It was no wonder, then, that geographers of Roman lands, perhaps for the first time in history, began to conceive the idea of mapping the known world. Likewise it was fitting that, centuries after Rome crumbled, the vision of a great European-based multinational empire remained alive.

Background

Numerous myths glorified the Romans' origins, none more so than the great Aeneid of Virgil (70-19 B.C.), which depicted them as descending from a great prince who led a group of escapees from defeated Troy. A particularly telling aspect of the myth is the unfavorable light in which it casts Dido, the queen regarded by the people of Carthage—Rome's historic rival—as the founder of their own civilization: in Virgil's tale, Dido falls deeply in love with Aeneas, and commits suicide when he leaves her.

Their Political Development
On the other hand the Samnite people decidedly exhibited the highest political development among the eastern Italian stock, as the Latin nation did among the western. From an early period, perhaps from its first immigration, a comparatively strong political bond held together the Samnite nation, and gave to it the strength which subsequently enabled it to contend with Rome on equal terms for the first place in Italy. We are as ignorant of the time and manner of the formation of the bond, as we are of its federal constitution; but it is clear that in Samnium no single community was preponderant, and still less was there any town to serve as a central rallying point and bond of union for the Samnite stock, such as Rome was for the Latins. The strength of the land lay in its -communes- of husbandmen, and authority was vested in the assembly formed of their representatives; it was this assembly which in case of need nominated a federal commander-in-chief. In consequence of its constitution the policy of this confederacy was not aggressive like the Roman, but was limited to the defence of its own bounds; only where the state forms a unity is power so concentrated and passion so strong, that the extension of territory can be systematically pursued. Accordingly the whole history of the two nations is prefigured in their diametrically opposite systems of colonization. Whatever the Romans gained, was a gain to the state: the conquests of the Samnites were achieved by bands of volunteers who went forth in search of plunder and, whether they prospered or were unfortunate, were left to their own resources by their native home. The conquests, however, which the Samnites made on the coasts of the Tyrrhenian and Ionic seas, belong to a later age; during the regal period in Rome they seem to have been only gaining possession of the settlements in which we afterwards find them. As a single incident in the series of movements among the neighbouring peoples caused by this Samnite settlement may be mentioned the surprise of Cumae by Tyrrhenians from the Upper Sea, Umbrians, and Daunians in the year 230. If we may give credit to the accounts of the matter which present certainly a considerable colouring of romance, it would appear that in this instance, as was often the case in such expeditions, the intruders and those whom they supplanted combined to form one army, the Etruscans joining with their Umbrian enemies, and these again joined by the Iapygians whom the Umbrian settlers had driven towards the south. Nevertheless the undertaking proved a failure: on this occasion at least the Hellenic superiority in the art of war, and the bravery of the tyrant Aristodemus, succeeded in repelling the barbarian assault on the beautiful seaport.

The History of Rome chapter Rome And The Romans Of This Epoch
When the two great nations, both arrived at the height of their development, began to mingle in hostile or in friendly contact, their antagonism of character was at the same time prominently and fully brought out--the total want of individuality in the Italian and especially in the Roman character, as contrasted with the boundless variety, lineal, local, and personal, of Hellenism. There was no epoch of mightier vigour in the history of Rome than the epoch from the institution of the republic to the subjugation of Italy. That epoch laid the foundations of the commonwealth both within and without; it created a united Italy; it gave birth to the traditional groundwork of the national law and of the national history; it originated the -pilum- and the maniple, the construction of roads and of aqueducts, the farming of estates and the monetary system; it moulded the she-wolf of the Capitol and designed the Ficoroni casket. But the individuals, who contributed the several stones to this gigantic structure and cemented them together, have disappeared without leaving a trace, and the nations of Italy did not merge into that of Rome more completely than the single Roman burgess merged in the Roman community. As the grave closes alike over all whether important or insignificant, so in the roll of the Roman burgomasters the empty scion of nobility stands undistinguishable by the side of the great statesman. Of the few records that have reached us from this period none is more venerable, and none at the same time more characteristic, than the epitaph of Lucius Cornelius Scipio, who was consul in 456, and three years afterwards took part in the decisive battle of Sentinum.(49) On the beautiful sarcophagus, in noble Doric style, which eighty years ago still enclosed the dust of the conqueror of the Samnites, the following sentence is inscribed:--
-Cornelius Lucius--Scipio Barbatus, Gnaivod patre prognatus, --fortis vir sapiensque, Quoius forma virtu--tei parisuma fuit, Consol censor aidilis--quei fuit apud vos, Taurasia Cisauna--Samnio cepit, Subigit omne Loucanum--opsidesque abdoucit.-
_-'_-'_-'_||-'_-'_-'_
Innumerable others who had been at the head of the Roman commonwealth, as well as this Roman statesman and warrior, might be commemorated as having been of noble birth and of manly beauty, valiant and wise; but there was no more to record regarding them. It is doubtless not the mere fault of tradition that no one of these Cornelii, Fabii, Papirii, or whatever they were called, confronts us in a distinct individual figure. The senator was supposed to be no worse and no better than other senators, nor at all to differ from them. It was not necessary and not desirable that any burgess should surpass the rest, whether by showy silver plate and Hellenic culture, or by uncommon wisdom and excellence. Excesses of the former kind were punished by the censor, and for the latter the constitution gave no scope. The Rome of this period belonged to no individual; it was necessary for all the burgesses to be alike, that each of them might be like a king.

Progress Of Hellenism In Italy-- Adoption Of Greek Habits At The Table
These nationalities were at the same time assailed from another quarter and by an ascendency resting on another basis--by Hellenism. This was the period when Hellenism began to become conscious of its intellectual superiority to the other nations, and to diffuse itself on every side. Italy did not remain unaffected by it. The most remarkable phenomenon of this sort is presented by Apulia, which after the fifth century of Rome gradually laid aside its barbarian dialect and silently became Hellenized. This change was brought about, as in Macedonia and Epirus, not by colonization, but by civilization, which seems to have gone hand in hand with the land commerce of Tarentum; at least that hypothesis is favoured by the facts, that the districts of the Poediculi and Daunii who were on friendly terms with the Tarentines carried out their Hellenization more completely than the Sallentines who lived nearer to Tarentum but were constantly at feud with it, and that the towns that were soonest Graecized, such as Arpi, were not situated on the coast. The stronger influence exerted by Hellenism over Apulia than over any other Italian region is explained partly by its position, partly by the slight development of any national culture of its own, and partly also perhaps by its nationality presenting a character less alien to the Greek stock than that of the rest of Italy.(45) We have already called attention(46) to the fact that the southern Sabellian stocks, although at the outset in concert with the tyrants of Syracuse they crushed and destroyed the Hellenism of Magna Graecia, were at the same time affected by contact and mingling with the Greeks, so that some of them, such as the Bruttians and Nolans, adopted the Greek language by the side of their native tongue, and others, such as the Lucanians and a part of the Campanians, adopted at least Greek writing and Greek manners. Etruria likewise showed tendencies towards a kindred development in the remarkable vases which have been discovered(47) belonging to this period, rivalling those of Campania and Lucania; and though Latium and Samnium remained more strangers to Hellenism, there were not wanting there also traces of an incipient and ever-growing influence of Greek culture. In all branches of the development of Rome during this epoch, in legislation and coinage, in religion, in the formation of national legend, we encounter traces of the Greeks; and from the commencement of the fifth century in particular, in other words, after the conquest of Campania, the Greek influence on Roman life appears rapidly and constantly on the increase. In the fourth century occurred the erection of the "-Graecostasis-"--remarkable in the very form of the word--a platform in the Roman Forum for eminent Greek strangers and primarily for the Massiliots.(48) In the following century the annals began to exhibit Romans of quality with Greek surnames, such as Philipus or in Roman form Pilipus, Philo, Sophus, Hypsaeus. Greek customs gained ground: such as the non-Italian practice of placing inscriptions in honour of the dead on the tomb--of which the epitaph of Lucius Scipio (consul in 456) is the oldest example known to us; the fashion, also foreign to the Italians, of erecting without any decree of the state honorary monuments to ancestors in public places --a system begun by the great innovator Appius Claudius, when he caused bronze shields with images and eulogies of his ancestors to be suspended in the new temple of Bellona (442); the distribution of branches of palms to the competitors, introduced at the Roman national festival in 461; above all, the Greek manners and habits at table. The custom not of sitting as formerly on benches, but of reclining on sofas, at table; the postponement of the chief meal from noon to between two and three o'clock in the afternoon according to our mode of reckoning; the institution of masters of the revels at banquets, who were appointed from among the guests present, generally by throwing the dice, and who then prescribed to the company what, how, and when they should drink; the table-chants sung in succession by the guests, which, however, in Rome were not -scolia-, but lays in praise of ancestors--all these were not primitive customs in Rome, but were borrowed from the Greeks at a very early period, for in Cato's time these usages were already common and had in fact partly fallen into disuse again. We must therefore place their introduction in this period at the latest. A characteristic feature also was the erection of statues to "the wisest and the bravest Greek" in the Roman Forum, which took place by command of the Pythian Apollo during the Samnite wars. The selection fell--evidently under Sicilian or Campanian influence--on Pythagoras and Alcibiades, the saviour and the Hannibal of the western Hellenes. The extent to which an acquaintance with Greek was already diffused in the fifth century among Romans of quality is shown by the embassies of the Romans to Tarentum--when their mouthpiece spoke, if not in the purest Greek, at any rate without an interpreter--and of Cineas to Rome. It scarcely admits of a doubt that from the fifth century the young Romans who devoted themselves to state affairs universally acquired a knowledge of what was then the general language of the world and of diplomacy.
Thus in the intellectual sphere Hellenism made advances quite as incessant as the efforts of the Romans to subject the earth to their sway; and the secondary nationalities, such as the Samnite, Celt, and Etruscan, hard pressed on both sides, were ever losing their inward vigour as well as narrowing their outward bounds.

A Semitic people, the Assyrians lived in the northern area of Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers at the city-state of Ashur. Under the leadership of Shamshi-Adad the Assyrians tried to create their own empire, but they were squashed by the Babylonian king, Hammurabi. Then the Asiatic Hurrians (Mitanni) invaded, but they were, in turn, overcome by the growing Hittite Empire. The Hittites gave up control of Ashur because it was too far away; thereby granting the Assyrians their long sought independence (c. 1400 B.C.).

The Assyrians didn't just want independence, though. They wanted control and so, under their leader Tukulti-Ninurta (c. 1233-c. 1197 B.C.), known in legend as Ninus, the Assyrians set out to conquer Babylonia. Under their ruler Tiglat-Pileser (1116-1090), the Assyrians extended their empire into Syria and Armenia. Between 883 and 824, under Ashurnazirpal II (883-859 B.C.) and Shalmeneser III (858-824 B.C.) the Assyrians conquered all of Syria and Armenia, Palestine, Babylon and southern Mesopotamia. For the sake of control, the Assyrians forced their conquered subjects into exile, including the Hebrews who were exiled to Babylon.

The Assyrians were right to be fearful of the Babylonians because, in the end, the Babylonians with help from the Medes, destroyed the Assyrian Empire and burned Ninevah.

Babylon was a problem having nothing to do with the Jewish diaspora, since it resisted Assyrian rule. Tukulti-Ninurta destroyed the city and set up an Assyrian capital at Ninevah where the last great Assyrian monarch, Ashurbanipal, later established his great library. But then, out of religious fear (because Babylon was Marduk's territory), the Assyrians rebuilt Babylon.

What happened to Ashurbanipal's great library? Because the books were clay, 30,000 fire-hardened tablets remain today providing a wealth of information on Mesopotamian culture, myth, and literature.

For information on Mesopotamia, see the first of the series of Near East Introductory articles -- Sumer
For information on Hammurabi, Marduk, and Babylonia, see the second of the series of Near East Introductory articles -- Babylonia
Suggested Reading

Maps of Syria, Assyria, and Mesopotamia
Assyrian Kings

Assyria - KingsAshurbanipalSargon II
ANE Introductions

SumerBabyloniaPersia
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* Assyria - Ancient Empire of Assyria - The Assyrians
* Library of Congress Article on Ancient Iraq
* Iraq - Historical Setting - Ancient Mesopotamia
* Assyrian Empire
* Babylonian Timelines - Chronology of Events in Ancient Babylonia

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The Hittites gave up control of Ashur because it was too far away; thereby granting the Assyrians their long sought independence (c. 1400 B.C.).

The Assyrians didn't just want independence, though. They wanted control and so, under their leader Tukulti-Ninurta (c. 1233-c. 1197 B.C.), known in legend as Ninus, the Assyrians set out to conquer Babylonia. Under their ruler Tiglat-Pileser (1116-1090), the Assyrians extended their empire into Syria and Armenia. Between 883 and 824, under Ashurnazirpal II (883-859 B.C.) and Shalmeneser III (858-824 B.C.) the Assyrians conquered all of Syria and Armenia, Palestine, Babylon and southern Mesopotamia. For the sake of control, the Assyrians forced their conquered subjects into exile, including the Hebrews who were exiled to Babylon.

The Assyrians were right to be fearful of the Babylonians because, in the end, the Babylonians with help from the Medes, destroyed the Assyrian Empire and burned Ninevah.

Babylon was a problem having nothing to do with the Jewish diaspora, since it resisted Assyrian rule. Tukulti-Ninurta destroyed the city and set up an Assyrian capital at Ninevah where the last great Assyrian monarch, Ashurbanipal, later established his great library. But then, out of religious fear (because Babylon was Marduk's territory), the Assyrians rebuilt Babylon.

What happened to Ashurbanipal's great library? Because the books were clay, 30,000 fire-hardened tablets remain today providing a wealth of information on Mesopotamian culture, myth, and literature.

As the Western Roman Empire declined during the 5th century, the richer Eastern Roman Empire would be relieved of much destruction, and in the mid 6th century the Eastern Roman Empire (known also as the Byzantine Empire) under the emperor Justinian I reconquered Italy and parts of Illyria from the Ostrogoths, North Africa from the Vandals, and southern Hispania from the Visigoths. The reconquest of southern Hispania was somewhat ephemeral, but North Africa served the Byzantines for another century, Italy for another 5 centuries, and Illyria almost a millennium.Of the many accepted dates for the end of the classical Roman state, the latest is 610. This is when the Emperor Heraclius made sweeping reforms, forever changing the face of the empire. Greek was readopted as the language of government and Latin influence waned. By 610, the Eastern Roman Empire had come under Greek influence and became what many modern historians now call the Byzantine Empire, although the Empire was never called thus by its inhabitants (rather it was called Romania, Basileia Romaion or Pragmata Romaion, meaning "Land of the Romans", "Kingdom of the Romans"), who still saw themselves as Romans, and their state as the rightful successor to the ancient empire of Rome. The sack of Constantinople at the hands of the Fourth Crusade in 1204 is sometimes used to date the end of Eastern Roman Empire: the destruction of Constantinople and most of its ancient treasures, total discontinuity of leadership, and the division of its lands into rival states with a Catholic-controlled "Emperor" in Constantinople itself (see Latin Empire) was a blow from which the Empire never fully recovered. Nevertheless, the Byzantines continued to call themselves Romans until their fall to Ottoman Turks in 1453. That year the eastern part of the Roman Empire was ultimately ended by the Fall of Constantinople. Even though Mehmed II, the conqueror of Constantinople, declared himself the Emperor of the Roman Empire (Caesar of Rome / Kayser-i Rum) in 1453, Constantine XI is usually considered the last Roman Emperor. The Greek ethnic self-descriptive name Roman survives to this day.

After 395, the emperors in the Western Roman Empire were usually figureheads. For most of the time, the actual rulers were military strongmen who took the title of magister militum, patrician or both—Stilicho from 395 to 408, Constantius from about 411 to 421, Aëtius from 433 to 454 and Ricimer from about 457 to 472. The year 476 is generally accepted as the formal end of the Western Roman Empire. That year, Orestes refused the request of Germanic mercenaries in his service for lands in Italy. The dissatisfied mercenaries, including the Heruli, revolted. The revolt was led by the Germanic chieftain Odoacer. Odoacer and his men captured and executed Orestes. Within weeks, Ravenna was captured and Romulus Augustus was deposed, the event that has been traditionally considered the fall of the Roman Empire, at least in the West. Odoacer quickly conquered the remaining provinces of Italy.

Odoacer then sent the Imperial Regalia back to the emperor Zeno. Zeno soon received two deputations. One was from Odoacer requesting that his control of Italy be formally recognised by the Empire, in which case he would acknowledge Zeno's supremacy. The other deputation was from Nepos, asking for support to regain the throne. Zeno granted Odoacer the title Patrician. Zeno told Odoacer and the Roman Senate to take Nepos back; however, Nepos never returned from Dalmatia, even though Odoacer issued coins in his name. Upon Nepos's death in 480, Zeno claimed Dalmatia for the East; J. B. Bury considers this the real end of the Western Roman Empire. Odoacer attacked Dalmatia, and the ensuing war ended with Theodoric the Great, King of the Ostrogoths, conquering Italy under Zeno's authority.

Disturbed peace in the West

Gratian governed the Western Roman Empire with energy and success for some years, but he gradually sank into indolence. He is considered to have become a figurehead while Frankish general Merobaudes and bishop Ambrose of Milan jointly acted as the power behind the throne. Gratian lost favor with factions of the Roman Senate by prohibiting traditional paganism at Rome and relinquishing his title of Pontifex Maximus. The senior Augustus also became unpopular with his own Roman troops because of his close association with so-called barbarians. He reportedly recruited Alans to his personal service and adopted the guise of a Scythian warrior for public appearances.

Meanwhile Gratian, Valentinian II and Theodosius were joined by a fourth Augustus. Theodosius proclaimed his oldest son Arcadius an Augustus in January 383 in an obvious attempt to secure succession. The boy was still only five or six years old and held no actual authority. Nevertheless he was recognised as a co-ruler by all three Augusti.

The increasing unpopularity of Gratian would cause the four Augusti problems later that same year. Hispanic Celt general Magnus Maximus, stationed in Roman Britain, was proclaimed Augustus by his troops in 383 and rebelling against Gratian he invaded Gaul. Gratian fled from Lutetia (Paris) to Lugdunum (Lyon), where he was assassinated on 25 August 383 at the age of 25.

Maximus was a firm believer of the Nicene Creed and introduced state persecution on charges of heresy, which brought him into conflict with Pope Siricius who argued that the Augustus had no authority over church matters. But he was an Emperor with popular support, as is attested in Romano-British tradition, where he gained a place in the Mabinogion, compiled about a thousand years after his death.

Following Gratian's death, Maximus had to deal with Valentinian II, at the time only twelve years old, as the senior Augustus. The first few years the Alps would serve as the borders between the respective territories of the two rival Western Roman Emperors. Maximus controlled Britain, Gaul, Hispania and Africa. He chose Augusta Treverorum (Trier) as his capital.

Maximus soon entered negotiations with Valentinian II and Theodosius, attempting to gain their official recognition. By 384, negotiations were unfruitful and Maximus tried to press the matter by settling succession as only a legitimate Emperor could do: proclaiming his own infant son Flavius Victor an Augustus. The end of the year found the Empire having five Augusti (Valentinian II, Theodosius I, Arcadius, Magnus Maximus and Flavius Victor) with relations between them yet to be determined.

Theodosius was left a widower in 385, following the sudden death of Aelia Flaccilla, his Augusta. He was remarried, to the sister of Valentinean II, Galla, and the marriage secured closer relations between the two legitimate Augusti.

In 386 Maximus and Victor finally received official recognition by Theodosius but not by Valentinian. In 387, Maximus apparently decided to rid himself of his Italian rival. He crossed the Alps into the valley of the Po and threatened Milan. Valentinian and his mother fled to Thessaloniki from where they sought the support of Theodosius. Theodosius indeed campaigned west in 388 and was victorious against Maximus. Maximus himself was captured and executed in Aquileia on 28 July 388. Magister militum Arbogast was sent to Trier with orders to also kill Flavius Victor. Theodosius restored Valentinian to power and through his influence had him converted to Orthodox Catholicism. Theodosius continued supporting Valentinian and protecting him from a variety of usurpations.
Final partition of the Empire

In 392 Valentinian II was murdered in Vienne. Arbogast arranged for the appointment of Eugenius as emperor. However, the eastern emperor Theodosius I refused to recognise Eugenius as emperor and invaded the West, defeating and killing Arbogast and Eugenius at the Battle of the Frigidus. He thus reunited the entire Roman Empire under his rule.

Theodosius had two sons and a daughter, Pulcheria, from his first wife, Aelia Flacilla. His daughter and wife died in 385. By his second wife, Galla, he had a daughter, Galla Placidia, the mother of Valentinian III, who would be Emperor of the West.

Theodosius was the last Emperor who ruled over the whole Empire. After his death in 395, he gave the two halves of the Empire to his two sons Arcadius and Honorius; Arcadius became ruler in the East, with his capital in Constantinople, and Honorius became ruler in the West, with his capital in Milan and later Ravenna. The Roman state would continue to have two different emperors with different seats of power throughout the 5th century, though the Eastern Romans considered themselves Roman in full. Latin was used in official writings as much as, if not more than, Greek. The two halves were nominally, culturally and historically, if not politically, the same state.

The role of choosing a new Augustus fell again to army officers. On 28 February 364, Pannonian officer Valentinian I was elected Augustus in Nicaea, Bithynia. However, the army had been left leaderless twice in less than a year, and the officers demanded Valentinian choose a co-ruler. On 28 March Valentinian chose his own younger brother Valens and the two new Augusti parted the Empire in the pattern established by Diocletian: Valentinian would administer the Western Roman Empire, while Valens took control over the Eastern Roman Empire.

Valens's election would soon be disputed. Procopius, a Cilician maternal cousin of Julian, had been considered a likely heir to his cousin but was never designated as such. He had been in hiding since the election of Jovian. In 365, while Valentinian was at Paris and then at Rheims to direct the operations of his generals against the Alamanni, Procopius managed to bribe two legions assigned to Constantinople and take control of the Eastern Roman capital. He was proclaimed Augustus on 28 September and soon extended his control to both Thrace and Bithynia. War between the two rival Eastern Roman Emperors continued until Procopius was defeated. Valens had him executed on 27 May 366.

On 4 August 367, a third Augustus was proclaimed by the other two. His father Valentinian and uncle Valens chose the eight-year-old Gratian as a nominal co-ruler, obviously as a means to secure succession.

In April 375 Valentinian I led his army in a campaign against the Quadi, a Germanic tribe which had invaded his native province of Pannonia. During an audience with an embassy from the Quadi at Brigetio on the Danube, a town now part of modern-day Komárno, Slovak republic, Valentinian suffered a burst blood vessel in the skull while angrily yelling at the people gathered. This injury resulted in his death on 17 November 375.

Succession did not go as planned. Gratian was then a 16-year-old and arguably ready to act as Emperor, but the troops in Pannonia proclaimed his infant half-brother emperor under the title Valentinian II.

Gratian acquiesced in their choice and administered the Gallic part of the Western Roman Empire. Italy, Illyria and Africa were officially administrated by his brother and his stepmother Justina. However the division was merely nominal as the actual authority still rested with Gratian.
Battle of Adrianople

Meanwhile, the Eastern Roman Empire faced its own problems with Germanic tribes. The Thervingi, an East Germanic tribe, fled their former lands following an invasion by the Huns. Their leaders Alavivus and Fritigern led them to seek refuge in the Eastern Roman Empire. Valens indeed let them settle as foederati on the southern bank of the Danube in 376. However, the newcomers faced problems from allegedly corrupted provincial commanders and a series of hardships. Their dissatisfaction led them to revolt against their Roman hosts.

For the following two years conflicts continued. Valens personally led a campaign against them in 378. Gratian provided his uncle with reinforcements from the Western Roman army. However this campaign proved disastrous for the Romans. The two armies approached each other near Adrianople. Valens was apparently overconfident of the numerical superiority of his own forces over the Goths. Some of his officers advised caution and to await the arrival of Gratian, others urged an immediate attack and eventually prevailed over Valens, who, eager to have all of the glory for himself, rushed into battle. On 9 August 378, the Battle of Adrianople resulted in the crushing defeat of the Romans and the death of Valens. Contemporary historian Ammianus Marcellinus estimated that two thirds of the Roman army were lost in the battle. The last t
hird managed to retreat.

The battle had far-reaching consequences. Veteran soldiers and valuable administrators were among the heavy casualties. There were few available replacements at the time, leaving the Empire with the problems of finding suitable leadership. The Roman army would also start facing recruiting problems. In the following century much of the Roman army would consist of Germanic mercenaries.

For the moment however there was another concern. The death of Valens left Gratian and Valentinian II as the sole two Augusti. Gratian was now effectively responsible for the whole of the Empire. He sought however a replacement Augustus for the Eastern Roman Empire. His choice was Theodosius I, son of formerly distinguished general Count Theodosius. The elder Theodosius had been executed in early 375 for unclear reasons. The younger one was named Augustus of the Eastern Roman Empire on 19 January 379. His appointment would prove a deciding moment in the division of the Empire.