#Western Roman Empire

[theancientwayoflife]

~ Pair of Architectural Reliefs with Elephants.

Date: A.D. 80–100

Culture: Roman

Place of origin: Western Roman Empire

Medium: Italian marble

#ancient #ancient art #history #museum #archeology #ancient sculpture #ancient history #archaeology #getty #western roman empire #roman #architectural relief #elephants #a.d. 80 #a.d. 100 #Italian marble

[memories-of-ancients]

Petronius Maximus --- The dipshit Roman emperor who caused the sack of Rome because he was an arrogant dipshit.

Petronius Maximus was a wealthy Roman politician born in 397 AD to old Roman money. Like many wealthy Romans he went into politics and throughout the early 5th century climbed the ranks of Roman government until he became one of the most powerful men in the Western Roman Empire. He was crafty and he was ambitious. He was also a dipshit and an asshole.

By the 450's P. Maximus had a clear plan, to create a power vacuum in Rome that he could cunningly fill. He began by turning the emperor at the time, Valentinian III, against his magister militum Flavius Aetius. As magister militum Aetius was commander of the Roman Army, and had proven himself a master tactician and brilliant diplomat. Through military victories and diplomacy Aetius was barely holding a crumbling empire together. Maximus convinced Valentinian III that Aetius was looking to usurp his throne. Thus in 454 Valentinian summoned Aetius to his palace and personally murdered him with his sword. Maximus had organized the death of the most talented Roman official in the empire, which in the grand scheme of things was probably a big mistake. With Aetius dead, Maximus expected he would take Aetius' place as magister militum. However Valentinian refused to appoint him as magister militum. Thus in 455 AD, Maximus had him assassinated, hiring two of Aetius' bodyguards to do the deed as revenge.

Several powerful Romans claimed the Imperial throne but Maximus managed to beat them all to the punch by taking over the Imperial Palace and immediately marrying Valentinian's widow, Licinia Eudoxia. Licinia didn't know Maximus had murdered her husband at the time but had suspicions. He also forced her daughters, Placidia and Eudocia to marry his sons. Through deceit and murder Maximus had managed to weasel his way into the Roman Imperial family and was now creating his own Imperial dynasty. Thus Petronius Maximus had become Emperor Dipshit, ruler of the shiny turd of what was left of the Western Roman Empire.

Problem was, when Emperor Dipshit married off Placidia and Eudocia to his sons, he canceled Eudocia's arranged marriage to Hunneric, who was the son of Geiseric, king of the Vandals. The Vandals were a Germanic tribe that had set up a prosperous kingdom in the former Roman province of North Africa, and were constantly raiding the Italian coast. Valentinian had arranged the marriage of Eudocia as a peace offering to Geiseric. Geiseric had received a letter from Eudoxia informing him that Maximus had killed her husband and was canceling the marriage of Eudocia. Geiseric was enraged at Empror Dipshit for canceling the marriage, and sent a Vandal fleet and army to Rome in response. "No problem" said Emperor Dipshit, "we got the Roman Army".

Except there was no Roman Army. Not really. After the death of Aetius the remains of the standing full time professional army had collapsed almost completely. Even Aetius was very dependent on mercenaries and allies. Nobody wanted to enlist in the Roman Army in the 5th century, with Romans going so far as to cut off their own fingers to avoid conscription. The Roman economy was a mess, the Imperial bureaucracy was riddled with corruption, the life of the average Roman was miserable, and by the 5th century most Roman emperors were snobbish, over-privileged, incompetent out of touch dipshits. The empire was dying and everybody knew it. Few believed it was worth saving, and nobody wanted to die for a dipshit emperor such as Emperor Dipshit. By 455 AD what was left of the Roman Army consisted of militia units called "limitanei" who acted as border patrolmen far away from Rome. For more complex military operations the Romans were fully dependent on mercenaries and allies. Emperor Dipshit attempted to enlist the help of the Visigoths, but they were like, "LMFAO nooo, you made your bed now lie in it!" I speculate they knew Maximus was a dipshit who was probably gonna get them all killed.

Emperor Dipshit knew it was a hopeless situation, so he made an announcement to the Roman people to flee and save themselves, then he too turned tail and fled. He was spotted by a large group of Roman refugees, who formed a mob and beat him to death. Good riddance. Emperor Dipshit's glorious reign lasted 77 days.

As far as sackings go the sack of Rome in 455 AD wasn't too bad. The Vandals were Christians, so the Pope was able to convince them not to do the more horrible things like rape and murder civilians, or burn down the city. So for the most part the Vandals refrained from bloodshed and arson. However they did take as many Romans into slavery as they could fit on their ships, and they also looted the city of almost everything of value. Even the bronze tiles on the roof of the Temple of Jupiter were pried off and carted away. Also Geiseric carted off Eudocia and married her off to his son Huneric.

The Vandal's sack of Rome in 455 is where we get the term "vandalism" today. Also did I mention that Petronius Maximus was a dipshit?

#history #ancient history #ancient rome #dipshit #fall of rome #vandals #roman empire #western roman empire #late roman empire

[mapsontheweb]

Western Roman Empire, 400 AD.

#maps #western roman empire #roman empire #400

[merovingian-marvels]

Lunulae

Lunulae are crescent moon shaped pendants from the Roman Empire. They are -according to statues- pendants which are worn by women. Their use is not based on a set religious rule or idea. They are more thought of as a personal lucky charm.

Since both Romans and Merovingians had a “religion” based on animistic foundations, Gallic and early medieval people saw no reason to discontinue the wear of lunula pendants.

Their execution changed from recognizable crescent moon shapes to a Germanic variant. Most visually, they become wider to allow the use of cloisonné, filigree or kerbschnitt.

Image: buste of a child (Roman-Gallo Roman)

Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden, Zuid-Holland - The Netherlands.

Museum nr. VF 122

Found in: Bunnik / Vechten, Utrecht - The Netherlands

#frankish #merovingian #viking archaeology #archaeology #carolingian #charlemagne #field archaeology #viking mythology #merovingian archaeology #germanic mythology #norse mythology #anglo saxon #viking #field archaeologist #frisian #odin #vikings #germanic #germanic folklore #germanic archaeology #Ancient Rome #western roman empire #roman empire #wodan #anglo saxon archaeology #history #jewelry #norse

[illustratus]

The Sack of Rome in 410 by the Barbarians by Joseph-Noël Sylvestre

The sacking of 410 is seen as a major landmark in the fall of the Western Roman Empire. St. Jerome, living in Bethlehem at the time, wrote: "the city which had taken the whole world was itself taken".

#sack of rome #barbarians #art #history #rome #ancient rome #europe #european #antiquity #joseph noël sylvestre #romans #visigoths #western roman empire #empire #architecture #alaric #germanic #goths #visigothic #roman empire #roman

[peashooter85]

Why the late Romans wanted their empire to fall

from Maiorianus

#history #ancient rome #ancient history #western roman empire #late roman empire #Youtube

[warsofasoiaf]

Is there a possible world where the western Roman Empire somehow survived but just in Italy?

Anything's possible with enough caveats.

However, we should also note that while Emperor Zeno did abolish the Western Roman Empire, the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy considered itself the new rulers of Rome and themselves as Romans. Theodoric the Great considered himself to be "Gothorum Romanorumque rex" the King of Goths and Romans. The real question is, can this Italian Rome sustain itself from Gothic invasion just from the productivity of its Italian provinces, or would it need to retain productive provinces such as Carthago? I'd say that it would need to retain provinces and Mare Nostrum in order to effectively bring in money, but it also needs to revitalize their tax structure to effectively fund the legions and build a society that stressed civil service to have the manpower to resist invasions from the north.

Thanks for the question, Cle-Guy.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

#history #western roman empire #roman empire

[anonhistory]

I draw history stuffs.

Mostly about late antiquity western Rome.

And add gender bender on it.

#cartoon #history #western roman empire #roman britain

[castilestateofmind]

“Rome would die of its conquests and the corrupting influence of the Semitic East. The warrior republic had turned into a brothel for exotic parvenus”.

- Dominique Venner.

#dominique venner #Rome #fall of rome #Semitic #the decline of the west #Europe #European culture #Roman empire #Western Roman Empire #European values #Traditionalism #New Right #Nouvelle Droite #East vs West #Christianity #Paganism #European religions

[richo1915]

I leave the Ancient World behind and travel forward to the Cold War in my books.

The Western Roman Empire has fallen in my podcast. So now I move to Byzantines and Crusading Medieval Europe podcast.

#books #podcasts #republican rome #roman empire #western roman empire #eastern roman empire #byzantium #religious schism #latin church #greek church #frankish europe #crusaders #cold war #modern history #modern politcal history #spqr

[gwydpolls]

Time Travel Question 35: Ancient History XVI and Earlier

These Questions are the result of suggestions from the previous iteration.

This category may include suggestions made too late to fall into the correct earlier time grouping. Basically, I'd already moved on to human history, but I'd periodically get a pre-homin suggestion, hence the occasional random item waaay out of it's time period, rather than reopen the category.

In some cases a culture lasted a really long time and I grouped them by whether it was likely the later or earlier grouping made the most sense with the information I had. (Invention ofs tend to fall in an earlier grouping if it's still open. Ones that imply height of or just before something tend to get grouped later, but not always. Sometimes I'll split two different things from the same culture into different polls because they involve separate research goals or the like).

Please add new suggestions below if you have them for future consideration. All cultures and time periods welcome.

#Time Travel #Cybele #Ancient World #Trans History #Vesuvius #Pompeii #Roman Empire #Bog Mummies #Fashion History #Tyrian Purple #Bronze Age #Iron Age #Indigenous History #Egyptian Blue #Mediterranean #Mediterranean Sea #African History #Western Asian History #European History #Queer History #Epidaurus

[memories-of-ancients]

Ivory diptych depicting emperor Honorius, Roman, dated 406 AD

#history #antiquities #art #ancient history #ancient art #ancient rome #western roman empire

[leroibobo]

etz hayyim (“tree of life”) synagogue in chania, crete, greece. the building dates to the 14th-15th centuries, and was originally a venetian catholic church. it was acquired by chania's jewish community and converted into a synagogue in the late 17th century. chania's jews were deported due to the holocaust in 1944, after which the building remained abandoned until restoration in the 1990s.

romaniote jews are the oldest jewish community in europe and one of the oldest in the world, thought to have lived in and around present day greece since before 70 ce. they have their own liturgy that is unrelated to the more commonly used european ones (ashkenazic and sephardic).

#greece #architecture #interior #worship #jewish #romaniote #old & new #my posts #for all u Westerners 'rom' = constantinople referring to itself as the roman empire #so rome/italy is like 'west roman' constantinople/greece/anatolia is like 'east roman' #in the west its called 'byzantine' from 'byzantium' (proto-constantinople) #also it insinuates w roman empire was the 'real' roman empire (despite east lasting 1000 years longer) #in most mediterranean & w asian languages greece/greek is 'yunan/yawan/yavan' (from ionians) or 'rum/rom' (from roman) #in actual greek it's 'hellas'/'ellas' (from hellenic) #in georgian it's 'saberdzneti' for some reason but they also have their own names for a bunch of places #'greece' comes from the latin name 'graecia' #in a lot of slavic languages it's some variation of 'greece'. weird considering most were never/hardly under latin influence #if you think this is a lot just wait until u hear about the all the names for armenia #but yeah these guys were also in a lot of the balkans. if you're from the balkans and jewish you MAY have romaniote ancestry #(at least more recent romaniote ancestry than all other european jews) #not a guarantee though especially if you're ashkenazi #theres like. other jewish groups in europe that predated ashkenazi migration #most of them just got absorbed into the ashkenazi population

[merovingian-marvels]

I had two days of from work and managed to visit my local Gallo-Roman museum (the name is actually deceiving as they focus on the area between Neanderthals and Merovingians). Here are some of the things I saw!

1) Gallic Torcs in gold

2) a complete Dodecahedron in bronze

3) Late Roman dress pins in bronze

4) Lunulae, moon shaped pendants, generally believed to be a lucky charm

5) a Merovingian bucket, a funerary gift

6) late Roman keys in iron

#frankish #merovingian #viking archaeology #archaeology #carolingian #charlemagne #field archaeology #viking mythology #merovingian archaeology #germanic mythology #roman archaeology #rome #ancient rome #western Roman Empire #ravenna #Gaul #gaulois #Celtic #Hallstatt #norse mythology #anglo saxon #viking #field archaeologist #frisian #odin #vikings #germanic #germanic folklore #germanic archaeology

[illustratus]

"Majorian presents the welcome discovery of a great and heroic character, such as sometimes arise, in a degenerate age, to vindicate the honour of the human species."

— Edward Gibbon

#edward gibbon #majorian #julius valerius majorianus #emperor #ancient rome #roman empire #quote #quotes #roman #romans #history #europe #european #western roman empire #roman emperor #majorianus #noble #heroes #hero #heroic

[entropyvoid]

Golden Hour (+ lineart below cut)

I took a picture of the lines for once and did some basic crappy photo editing on my phone, so you could probably print this out and use it as a coloring page or something if you so wish lol. Do with it what you will.

#honkai star rail #dr ratio #veritas ratio #aventurine #aventurine hsr #cherallart #as you can see i forgor i wanted to draw his glasses til like. last second #i can’t believe it’s been like 2 whole months since I last did a whole like. watercolor illustration #part of that’s been bc I’ve been having a bit of a rough semester bc adhd med issues (which are resolved now) #but I really wanted to draw aventurine and ratio. my boys #i’ve been LOVING penacony so far so I needed to get something nice out #anyway I did this while my s/o and I alternated between reading a 500 pg long history book out lout to each other #it’s called ‘the inheritance of rome’ and kinda covers what happened after the collapse of the western roman empire #and tries to identify and explain all the cultural echoes and reverberations and transformations that rose from its ashes #throughout europe north africa and the middle east. anyway it’s super interesting and I highly recommend it #the late antique period is not something often covered/talked abt in public ed hist classes. at least not when I was goin through em #or the transitory period between it and the early medieval period at least #i still got 150 pages left and a final paper due on it in like 4 days but it’s only a 5 pg minimum and I’m a wordy bitch so #i think i can make it #anyway back to that I go