The Julio-Claudians: Tiberius, Gaius, Nero

The Julio-Claudians Emperors: Civil Government and Military Concerns Relations between emperor and subjects encompassed dealings with the senators and equites Augustus portrayed himself first among equals rather than as dictator like Julius Caesar, thus emphasizing civil rather than military power Augustus’ immediate successors came from his extended family so a single dynasty ran the Roman…

The Napoleonic Settlement and the Napoleonic Empire

The ‘Brumaire Coup’ I)The Consulate I. 25 December 1799 Constitution: Napoleon Bonaparte as First Consul A. The constitution was approved in the Dec 1799 plebiscite B.1802- Napoleon becomes “consul for life” C. 2 Dec 1804- Crowned ‘Emperor of France” II) The Napoleonic Years A Firm Rule Centralism and Growth of Powers by the State Reconciliation…

Tools and Science of Archaeology

Archaeologists are basically detectives who attempt to reconstruct past human activities from evidence most of which is buried in the earth.  Archaeology involves experts from many other fields. Even the science of archaeology, commonly divided into prehistoric and historical can be further divided into various fields: paleolithic, Egyptology, classical, industrial, environmental, underwater, salvage, and experimental…

Earliest Civilization: the Fertile Crescent & Mesopotamia

Categorized as the earliest of all civilizations as people formed permanent settlements Mesopotamia is a Greek word that means “between the rivers” Specifically, the area between the Tigris River and Euphrates River (present day Iraq) Mesopotamia is not within the “Fertile crescent“, it is in the more desert area that the “Fertile crescent” arcs around…