Old Rome, New Rome, and Future Rome

Eastern Roman control of central Italy became increasingly tenuous as the eighth century progressed. The result was a series of popes gradually exercising greater independence from Constantinople. By the middle of the century, popes had begun using the rhetoric of Roman restoration to provide grounds for papal assumption of territorial control over stretches of central Italy taken from the Lombards by the Franks. Papal temporal authority then rested on a forged document called the Donation of Constantine, a document whose claims underpinned Leo IIl’s crowning of Charlemagne as Roman emperor in 800. Although Charlemagne’s Roman imperial title was manufactured, his new Western Roman Empire was framed as a restoration of traditional Western Roman prerogatives that had fallen away—and his new capital at Aachen embodied this transition with buildings constructed from old Roman materials taken from Italy.

Precedents of the Battle

This chapter examines the creation of the Emirate of Cordoba under Abd al-Rahman I and King Charles’ call for the Paderborn Diet in 777. The purpose of the 778 campaign launched by the Frankish king was not to fire up a crusade against Islam but to create a march in the Pyrenees, a vassal domain of the Frankish Kingdom bounded by the 600-kilometer (373-mile) old Roman road connecting Pamplona and Girona. Indeed, sources indicate that King Charles negotiated terms with the Muslim rulers of the Ebro valley and there was no offer on the part of the Muslim emissaries to embrace the Christian faith. However, the religious aspect provided a suitable and effective casus belli and the literary tradition presented this military adventure as the first European crusade.

Historia y arqueología de dos ciudades en los siglos VI-VIII d.C. Valentia y Valencia la Vella

En Valentia y su entorno se registró una intensa actividad constructiva en determinados lugares y momentos entre los siglos VI y VIII. La construcción del monumental centro episcopal en la primera mitad del s. VI, iniciativa del obispo Justiniano, cambió el paisaje urbano. En sus edificios (catedral, baptisterio, mausoleo y otros) se aprecia el uso continuado, pero selectivo y diferenciado, según cada uno de los conjuntos, de gran cantidad de elementos romanos. A partir de mediados del s. VI la actividad edilicia en Valentia decayó. Lo único a destacar es que se urbanizó la arena del Circo, un amplio espacio de 70 por 350 metros. Estos hallazgos se conocen peor, por ser excavaciones de poca extensión que no permiten identificar ningún edificio entre los muros aparecidos, pero sí que atestiguan un proyecto constructivo unitario, aunque de menor entidad que en la zona episcopal. Los materiales arqueológicos presentan una importante proporción de importaciones orientales y africanas.A finales del s. VI, a 16 km. de Valentia surgió un nuevo asentamiento fortificado de cierta extensión, 5 hectáreas, València la Vella. Su construcción, ex novo, supuso un gran esfuerzo edilicio. Además del gran recinto amurallado se han localizado dos edificios públicos en la parte baja y otro en la ciudadela. Debió ser el centro del poder de la provincia Carthaginensis.El yacimiento se abandonó a finales del s. VII o inicios del VIII. Al mismo tiempo, se creó otro centro monumental, el importante centro de poder de Pla de Nadal, a unos 2 km. de València la Vella. Su elemento más notorio fue el gran palacio de patio central, pero los diversos edificios que van apareciendo a su alrededor, indican que sería un complejo aún por delimitar. An intense constructive activity was developed in certain places and times in Valentia and around between the 6th and 8th centuries. The construction of the monumental episcopal center in the first half of the 6th century changed the urban landscape. The new buildings (cathedral, baptistery, mausoleum and others) continuously and selectively used a large number of Roman elements. The Circus arena was urbanized from the second half of the 6th century until the middle of the 7th. These findings are small excavations. There are a lot of walls but they do not allow to identify any building. Anyway, they attest the continuity in the reuse of Roman materials. This area had less entity than the Episcopal area. In both cases, the supply of the reused material would be from the remains of the old Roman town. Archaeological materials have a significant proportion of Eastern and African imports.Valencia la Vella, a new and very important fortified settlement of 5 hectares, emerged at the end of the 6th century. The site is 16 km away from Valentia on the Turia river. This new city was made ex novo, so it was necessary a great building effort. In addition to the large walled enclosure two public buildings have been located in the lower part and another in the citadel. This site must have been the center of power in Carthaginensis province.Valencia la Vella was abandoned in the late 7th or early 8th centuries. Contemporarily another important power center was created in Pla de Nadal, about 2 km. from Valencia la Vella. Probably the recently disappeared site would be used as a quarry.

Old Roman Cursive

This chapter defines cursive script and surveys the development of Latin cursive script in antiquity and Late Antiquity. It discusses the two principal Latin cursive scripts, “Old Roman Cursive” and “New Roman Cursive,” and illuminates how the latter arose from the former. The ductus of cursive and constructed scripts is analyzed using examples from ancient papyri, parchments, wooden tablets, and wax tablets.

More from the Romano-British Poets? A Possible Metrical Inscription from East Farleigh, Kent

ABSTRACTA four-line inscription in Old Roman Cursive on a pot base found in excavations in East Farleigh, Kent, in 2010 appears to be written (at least in part) in metre and has close textual similarities with examples from Binchester, Co. Durham. We describe the new text and then offer some thoughts about the possible relationship of these British texts to extant Latin verse and consider how to interpret the Kentish piece in context. Although much remains uncertain in our understanding of the text, it is a significant addition to the Romano-British corpus.

Interactive Mithras: Giving Primary School Children an Introduction to Mithras

The year before I had become obsessed with the grave of a 14-year-old Roman girl found in Lant Street, South London. Her bones and grave goods tell us that although she was blue-eyed with North European ancestry, she grew up in the Southern Mediterranean, (maybe even North Africa). When she was about nine or ten she made the long trip to London. She died five years later, aged about 14, and was buried with several interesting objects, including an exotic folding knife with an ivory handle in the shape of a leopard.