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Volunteer organization devoted to helping other residents, particularly newcomers. Come visit, explore a beautiful sim, and make new friends.
help, greece, greek, new, newbies,
Hey, it's my video tutorials =) Glad they keep coming in handy...
Posted by Second Life Resident Torley Linden. Visit Paradise Love.
Jesus Restrepo, 62, of Jackson Heights, Queens, NY, describes friend Detective Joseph Vigiano, as someone who was "very kind, very friendly and always there to help any human being." Photo taken by Viviana Gonzalez
Cinema Odeon Firenze 19 set 2018
"Extensive exhibition reflects on Marina Abramović’s close relationship with Italy. First major exhibition at
Palazzo Strozzi devoted to a female artist"
"From 21 September 2018 to 20 January 2019, Palazzo Strozzi will host Italy's first retrospective devoted to the work of Marina Abramović, one of contemporary arts most celebrated and controversial figures.
Abramović revolutionised the idea of performance art, testing the limits of her body and its potential for creative expression. Italy was chosen by the artist as an important stop for this major retrospective exhibition, as the country has played a significant role in Abramović’s life and in the development of her art. Abramović’s work flourished in the time she spent in Italy in the 1970s – when she enjoyed international
success with performances in Rome, Milan, Naples, Venice and Bologna."
Photos Courtesy of PSP/FSU
© All rights reserved. May not be reproduced or distributed without express written permission. For more information, please contact atullo@troopersfund.org
Loved ones recall slain trooper
Buzz up! By Michael Hasch, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Cpl. Joseph Pokorny was many things -- a fearless policeman, an avid hunter, a private person who would give a friend the shirt off his back -- but most of all, he was a devoted father.
"He cared for his kids more than anything in the world," said his brother, Frank Pokorny, wiping tears from his eyes Monday outside his family's home in Beaver County.
Pokorny, 45, of Moon, a 22-year state police veteran, was shot and killed while making a traffic stop early yesterday near the Rosslyn Farms on-ramp to the Parkway West in Carnegie.
"He was a dedicated trooper and devoted father to his two children," said Robinson District Judge Carla Swearingen, one of the small but trusted circle of people Pokorny called friends.
Pokorny opted to work a steady midnight shift so he could be home during the day with his son, Joseph, 17, known as Jake, and daughter, Alexandre, 15, known as Ali.
"If he gave you his word, he stood by it. His biggest priority was his children. Everybody that knew him liked him," said Swearingen.
Pokorny was nearly 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, but he was small in childhood and learned at an early age how to defend himself from larger bullies, Frank Pokorny said.
"He was extremely fearless. He didn't take anything from anybody. He was a very hard-nosed person," his brother said.
Joseph Pokorny received a letter of commendation for bravery after an incident on July 8 when state police began chasing a man suspected of drunken driving and pulling a gun on a trooper.
When troopers tried to end the high-speed chase by putting spike strips on the Beaver Valley Expressway, the motorist turned around and began driving the wrong way.
When Pokorny saw the motorist trying to ram the side of a police car, he steered his cruiser into the path of the speeding car, hitting it head-on in a fiery collision.
"He saved one of our guys by taking on the other guy head-on," said state police Cpl. Kenneth Yuhas, one of several troopers offering condolences and support yesterday to Pokorny's parents, Florence and Joseph R. Pokorny, in Center Township.
"He actually put his life on the line by ramming the vehicle and stopping (it)," said Col. Jeffrey Miller, the head of the state police. "He was a very aggressive and conscientious corporal, always out there backing up the troops."
Pokorny, who joined the state police in 1983 after graduation from Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind., spent much of his career working dangerous undercover narcotics and vice details, his brother said.
In 1990, he joined the state police Tactical Narcotics Team based in Greensburg, Westmoreland County.
"He would never tell me stories about it except that it was scary and it was ugly," Frank Pokorny said. "(Other troopers) tell me he was always the first one through the front door with the battering ram."
Tom Alexander, who was Pokorny's football coach at Center Area High School, remembers "Joey" as a student who gave his all on the football field and in the classroom.
"Joey was one of those kids who played hard. He chose a rough career. He was a good student," Alexander said.
Pokorny's smile is what impressed state police Cpl. David Bova. "The thing I'll miss the most is his laugh and his big smile," Bova said.
"He was a great kid, a great adult who was fun-loving in high school but took his job seriously," said Anthony Mendicino, principal of Center Area High School, where Pokorny graduated in 1978.
Frank Pokorny said his brother did not decide to pursue a career in law enforcement until his last semester in school.
Following his promotion to corporal in September 2000, Joseph Pokorny served at various stations --including Belle Vernon, Fayette County -- until January 2003 when he became the vice supervisor for Troop B headquarters in Washington County.
Pokorny, who also is survived by a sister, Laura Hill, of Center, became a patrol supervisor in Moon in July 2004, but refused to be tied to a desk reading reports.
"He was, like, caffeinated. He was high-speed. He would go out and get the job done. He was not a slug," said Trooper Robin Mungo, a state police spokeswoman.
"He always wanted to be out on the road with the guys," Yuhas said.
But Frank Pokorny said his brother was "a very private" man.
"He certainly was not a mixer. He had a very small circle of friends. He was very guarded until you earned his trust and respect. Then he'd give you the shirt off his back," Frank Pokorny said.
"He was like a brother to me," said Ronald Evans, who often went hunting with the Pokorny brothers. "He was a great guy, the best. You knew you could count on him."
Crystal Hoffman, who lives near Joseph Pokorny's home in the Sharon Hill Manor neighborhood of Moon, said she regularly returned Pokorny's golden retriever when it broke free of its tether and ended up at her home.
"I didn't know Joe well, but he seemed to have a very a good sense of humor. He seemed like the kind of guy who really enjoyed life," Hoffman said.
The Pokorny brothers were avid hunters who made a number of trips together to hunt elk out West.
They last saw each other last week when Joseph Pokorny visited his brother's home in Hanover, Beaver County.
"He went out in the back woods to go hunting. He was an incredible woodsman. When he came back, he said he saw a buck but didn't shoot it. He smiled and said, 'I didn't want to.'"
Frank Pokorny, known as "Fearless Frank" for his special teams play for the Steelers in 1985 and '86, made no effort to hide his pain and tears.
"He was my older brother. I loved and miss everything about him."
Margaret Hassan, who has been murdered aged 59, devoted more than 30 years of her life to helping the disadvantaged people of Iraq.
For the past 12 years she had been Care International`s country director for Iraq, refusing to leave when many other aid agencies fled as a result of the war. Care`s offices were surrounded by sandbags and she gave her 60-strong staff bicycles so they could get about more easily in the event of an attack. Last November the premises were struck by a grenade, and threatening letters arrived. Expatriate staff left the country, but Margaret Hassan, who saw herself as an Iraqi, remained.
Care International is the largest humanitarian charity in the world; that it is also American cannot have counted in Margaret Hassan`s favour. In Iraq it concentrated on supplying medical facilities, clean water, food, blankets and generators to communities devastated by years of sanctions and violence.
During the airstrikes, Care technicians would go around Baghdad restoring power supplies to hospitals, converting lorries into emergency water tankers and repairing buildings.
Margaret Hassan was a familiar and immensely popular figure on the streets of Baghdad. Felicity Arbuthnot, who filmed a documentary about her work, has described Margaret Hassan being mobbed during a visit to a water sanitation plant. "A crowd gathered and tiny children rushed up and threw their arms round her knees, saying, `Madam Margaret, Madam Margaret`, and everywhere she went, people just beamed."
Although no Western woman had previously been kidnapped in Iraq, Margaret Hassan was aware of the risks she ran, conscious that many Iraqi women had been abducted, ransomed, raped and murdered by the Baghdad mafia.
On October 19, as she was leaving home for work in the Khadra district of western Baghdad, she was seized by unknown gunmen. Hours after her capture, the first in a series of harrowing videos was released on the Arab television station al-Jazeera. It showed her pleading: "I beg of you, the British people, to help me. I don`t wan`t to die like [Kenneth] Bigley." A second video showed her calling on Tony Blair to withdraw troops from Iraq and "not bring them to Baghdad".
Devoted to her adopted country and its people, she converted to Islam, learnt fluent Arabic and took Iraqi citizenship. Under Care`s rules she was forbidden from talking about politics, but she nonetheless became a vehement campaigner against the United Nations sanctions, which she held responsible for the fact that ordinary Iraqis had to make do with shortages of food, medical provisions and adequate sanitation. "This is a man-made disaster," she said in 1998.
In the build-up to the American-led invasion last year, she travelled to the UN security council in New York and the House of Commons in London to campaign against the war. "The Iraqi people are already living through a terrible emergency," she said. "They do not have the resources to withstand an additional crisis brought about by military action."
As Care began stockpiling fuel, food and medical supplies in readiness for war, she said: "We will do what we can, but we do not expect to work miracles here."
Source: The Daily Telegraph, 18 November 2004
Picture kindly provided by CARE
Marina Abramović
Cinema Odeon Firenze 19 set 2018
"Extensive exhibition reflects on Marina Abramović’s close relationship with Italy. First major exhibition at
Palazzo Strozzi devoted to a female artist"
"From 21 September 2018 to 20 January 2019, Palazzo Strozzi will host Italy's first retrospective devoted to the work of Marina Abramović, one of contemporary arts most celebrated and controversial figures.
Abramović revolutionised the idea of performance art, testing the limits of her body and its potential for creative expression. Italy was chosen by the artist as an important stop for this major retrospective exhibition, as the country has played a significant role in Abramović’s life and in the development of her art. Abramović’s work flourished in the time she spent in Italy in the 1970s – when she enjoyed international
success with performances in Rome, Milan, Naples, Venice and Bologna."
The room devoted to telling the story of the Lake Sturgeon is filled with details, video, and artifacts. But the stars of the Grand Rapids Public Museum permanent display are the two juveniles that live a couple years of their development on display before joining the river outside the museum window, the Grand River. That is when younger ones will take the place of these two. A few of the exhibit panels are quoted here.
Streamside Rearing Facilities
Sturgeon pose unique challenges to manage and novel approaches have been developed that are culturally and scientifically appropriate. One example is streamside rearing, a restoration technique where eggs and larvae are collected from the river and kept in a portable streamside hatchery using river water. Currently, this technique is used in 7 rivers of the Great Lakes basin. The first portable streamside rearing facility was developed for the Big Manistee River by the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians. The concept was based on integrating indigenous knowledge and scientific expertise. The Michigan DNR currently operates facilities on the Cedar, Whitefish and Kalamazoo rivers. The Kalamazoo River streamside is in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Gun Lake Tribe.
Shared Knowledge and Approaches
For decades Lake Sturgeon were slowly forgotten while other fish species became the cornerstone of Great Lakes management. However, the sturgeon has re-emerged as an important species to protect and is listed as threatened or endangered in all Great Lakes states. Just as people were involved in the collapse of sturgeon populations, people are now committed to the sturgeon's recovery story. Lake Sturgeon attract public interest due to their large size, accessibility and prehistoric appeal. In many areas they spawn in shallow water, attracting attention and offering a unique and unforgettable viewing experience.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recognizes the value and uniqueness of this species and continues to take protective measures. Efforts to protect and enhance sturgeon populations for current and future generations are based on shared scientific and indigenous knowledge through state, tribal, federal and local government and community partnerships.
Opportunities for restoration include streamside rearing, habitat improvements, sustaining natural river flows and improved connectivity of river systems. The hope for Lake Sturgeon restoration is to maintain self-sustaining populations, which thrive in the Great Lakes region.
Cultural Connections
Throughout the Great Lakes region, people and Lake Sturgeon lived harmoniously for centuries. Lake Sturgeon play a role in regional Native American creation stories, migration stories, ceremonial cycles and the social structure of some communities. People have relied on the river and the fish for subsistence and they are currently part of art, storytelling, songs and ceremonies. For Native American tribes in the region, the important cultural connection to this sacred place and fish continues today.
Press L for 'lightbox' to view the clip on a black background.
Dance performance in Nowohuckie Centrum Kultury, devoted to the remembrance of the choreographer and pedagogue Professor Janina Strzembosz. Kraków, Poland
Fleet Air Arm Museum
The museum is devoted to the history of British naval aviation.
It has an extensive collection of military and civilian aircraft, aero engines, models of aircraft and Royal Navy ships (especially aircraft carriers), and paintings and drawings related to naval aviation.
It is located on RNAS Yeovilton airfield, and the museum has viewing areas where visitors can watch military aircraft (especially helicopters) taking off and landing.
Hall 3
Carrier
Instead of a traditional museum hall, the whole hall has been converted into a mock-up of the fleet carrier HMS Ark Royal as it would have appeared in the 1970s.
The entrance to this hall is by a simulated helicopter ride.
The hall itself is a simulation of a section of the flight deck of the fleet carrier HMS Ark Royal and aircraft are displayed as if they are on the deck.
Two large screens show the takeoff and landing of aircraft such as Blackburn Buccaneers and F4 Phantoms.
There is also a series of rooms simulating the carrier's island.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleet_Air_Arm_Museum
Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer S2B
XV333/234/H
Low level strike aircraft
Dance performance in Nowohuckie Centrum Kultury, devoted to the remembrance of the choreographer and pedagogue Professor Janina Strzembosz. Kraków, Poland
Devoted to Sir Nicholas Winton and all sympathizers who provided 8 trains to Great Britain in 1939, thus helping to rescue 669 mostly Jewish children from German-occupied Czechoslovakia on the eve of the Second World War in an operation later known as the Czech Kindertransport. It is also to commemorate 15,131 Czechoslovak children who were murdered in Nazi concentration camps. Sir Nicholas Winton celebrated his 105th birthday on May 19, 2014, at Czech embassy in London...
Monument in devoted memory of an impressive teacher at Winchester College and a prebendary of the Cathedral (you can read the Latin telling us all this beneath the relief). He died aged 78 in 1800, hence the Sam Johnson wig and style. His pupils are got up in modern Georgian style (mid-Revolution) a bit after 1800. His idols are the busts behind him, one in profile, one facing forward. Aristotle and Homer, names in Greek.
About as neo-Classical as you can get - even down to the Athenian style of the monument itself (go to the ancient Kerameikos cemetery in Athens and you'll see what I mean).
Presumably a depiction of the ideal relationship between a teacher and his pupils at the time.
The old boy would probably have been proud of it if he could have seen it.
Marcus Annius Verus, born Rome AD 121, took the name Marcus Aelius Aurelius Verus after his adoption as a successor by Antoninus Pius. Although there were miitary setbacks and a widespread plague during his rule, Aurelius devoted himself to the Stoic philosophy and found time to write his 'Meditations'. He was deified after his death in AD 180.
Marble bust c.160 from Cyrene, N.Africa, acquired 1861.
The British Museum, London
Praying for a bless Lunar New Year 2018 at Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple.
Contax T3, APX 400 developed in Acurol-N 1+50.
After a week devoted to alien genocide on the planet Reach and after hours of cut scenes and dramatic lens flare it finally dawned on me, this has to be the most retarded thing I've ever seen. I mean I am a space marine fighting intergalactic apes. Seriously this feels like it was copied from a 50's weird sci fi novel, years down the road people will look back and wonder how anyone could be entertained or frightened by this. Needless to say I was completely entertained and absolutely frightened of an ape carrying a grav hammer.
So I decided to do my interpretation of Halo if it was made in the 50's.
Elizabeth Margaret,
Devoted wife of Michael Claude Hamilton Bowes-Lyon,
Warm-hearted, courageous and humble of spirit.
She left behind for those who knew and loved her a memory
Infinitely precious and of abiding worth.
1900-1959
(Elizabeth was another member of the Cator family.)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Bowes-Lyon,_17th_Earl_of_St...
There are two pictures of Elizabeth here, but the web-site states she was born the 30th September 1899.
Michael had apparently been a prisoner of war during WW1
news.scotsman.com/princeofwales/Prince-views-Red-Cross-re...
He was wounded, but returned home in 1919 suffering from asthma from being gassed in the trenches, became a farmer, and died in 1953.
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1052203.ece
Michael, was reported missing in action in May 1917. He had actually been captured after being wounded and remained in a prisoner of war camp for the rest of the war.
visualwikipedia.com/en/Elizabeth_Bowes-Lyon
(The) three eldest surviving brothers Patrick, Jock and Fergus all immediately rejoined the Black Watch and a fourth, Michael, left his studies at Magdalen College, Oxford to join the Royal Scots.
In 1917 the Bowes Lyons suffered for three months when it was reported that Michael was also killed in action. However, the anguish was turned to joy when he was later found to be alive and being treated in a German prison hospital.
www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A738768
Little footnote in history
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ot from our developers Kitchen it’s CHEF GEORGE! Now you don’t have to cook as George will do it for you! You can pre-set a menu for each day, rotation, or year!
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Going Hiking? Take the RABID-SQUIRELL Survival Pack. Complete with Trans-Galactic SONAR, IR Flashlight, Condensed Rations, Dehydrated Water and Various Survival tools. INCLUDES Fold-Me-One-Atom tent with this model.
The Handyman's wingman, MECHANIC GEORGE! Includes accessory kit, Charge socket and Seven unique power tools used by our to FlipTech® scientists at the Prototype development Bio-Spheres on Mars!
Hehe, George is going to be my new liddle buddy.
The Latvian Museum of Photography is the only museum in Riga devoted to photography. The museum is a division of the Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation and is open for visitors since 1993. It is situated in an old merchant building from the 16th century, and in the exhibition halls the renovated colorful wall paintings and the historic parquet flooring ornament can be seen. The building is located near the Riga Film Museum and the Latvian Sport Museum on Alksnaju street in one of the oldest building areas of Riga dated from year 1500.
The author of the permanent exposition “Development of Photography in Latvia. 1839 – 1940” is the historian Peteris Korsaks who has worked for many years in the Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation and the Latvian Museum of Photography. The exhibition is installed in the halls on the second floor, but the temporary expositions are exhibited on the third floor. In the museum exhibitions of Latvian and foreign photographers and scientific conferences are organized, as well as the museum's stored collections are exhibited on a regular basis. An authentic painted background used in the photo studio of photographer Martins Luste in Mazsalaca in the beginning of the 20th century can also be viewed in the museum. In addition to the exposition and other exhibitions, the museum experts offer tours, lectures and consultations.
The mission of the Latvian Museum of Photography is to study the development of photography in the territory of Latvia from its very beginning till nowadays. The main goal of the museum is to search for and to preserve photographic assets (photo negatives, copies, photo equipment, albums etc.), to supplement the collection with original works and other significant exhibits, to document the development of photography in Latvia, to make the information available to public and to promote incorporation of photography in current cultural events.
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Minox is a manufacturer of cameras, known especially for its subminiature camera.
The first product to carry the Minox name was a subminiature camera, conceived in 1922, and finally invented and produced in 1936, by Baltic German Walter Zapp. The Latvian factory VEF (Valsts elektrotehniskā fabrika) manufactured the camera from 1937 to 1943. After World War II, the camera was redesigned and production resumed in Germany in 1948.Walter Zapp originally envisioned the Minox to be a camera for everyone requiring only little photographic knowledge. Yet in part due to its high manufacturing costs the Minox became more well known as a must-have luxury item. From the start the Minox also gained wide notoriety as a spy camera.
Minox branched out into 35 mm film format and 110 film format cameras in 1974 and 1976, respectively. Minox continues to operate today, producing or branding optical and photographic equipment.
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The Latvian Museum of Photography is the only museum in Riga devoted to photography. The museum is a division of the Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation and is open for visitors since 1993. It is situated in an old merchant building from the 16th century, and in the exhibition halls the renovated colorful wall paintings and the historic parquet flooring ornament can be seen. The building is located near the Riga Film Museum and the Latvian Sport Museum on Alksnaju street in one of the oldest building areas of Riga dated from year 1500.
The author of the permanent exposition “Development of Photography in Latvia. 1839 – 1940” is the historian Peteris Korsaks who has worked for many years in the Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation and the Latvian Museum of Photography. The exhibition is installed in the halls on the second floor, but the temporary expositions are exhibited on the third floor. In the museum exhibitions of Latvian and foreign photographers and scientific conferences are organized, as well as the museum's stored collections are exhibited on a regular basis. An authentic painted background used in the photo studio of photographer Martins Luste in Mazsalaca in the beginning of the 20th century can also be viewed in the museum. In addition to the exposition and other exhibitions, the museum experts offer tours, lectures and consultations.
The mission of the Latvian Museum of Photography is to study the development of photography in the territory of Latvia from its very beginning till nowadays. The main goal of the museum is to search for and to preserve photographic assets (photo negatives, copies, photo equipment, albums etc.), to supplement the collection with original works and other significant exhibits, to document the development of photography in Latvia, to make the information available to public and to promote incorporation of photography in current cultural events.
www.fotomuzejs.lv/museum/history
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Zuiderzeemuseum, Amsterdam The Zuiderzee Museum, located on Wierdijk in the historic center of Enkhuizen, is a Dutch museum devoted to preserving the cultural heritage and maritime history from the old Zuiderzee region. With the closing of the Afsluitdijk (Barrier Dam) on May 28, 1932, the Zuiderzee was split in two parts: the waters below the Afsluitdijk are now called the IJsselmeer, while the waters north of it are now considered to be part of the Waddenzee. Wikipedia
This is in Explore, May 24, nice ;o)
this are the 3 names for her ;o)
she always devoted to her toys! where you see Musty you see a toy!! always like that ;o)
Monserrate (after Catalan homonym mountain Montserrat) is a mountain that dominates the city center of Bogotá, the capital city of Colombia. It rises to 3,152 metres (10,341 ft) above the sea level, where there is a church (built in the 17th century) with a shrine, devoted to "El Señor Caído" (Fallen Lord).
The hill is a pilgrim destination, as well as a tourist attraction. In addition to the church, the summit contains restaurants, cafeteria, souvenir shops and many smaller tourist facilities. Monserrate can be accessed by aerial tramway, a funicular or by climbing, the preferred way of pilgrims.
All downtown Bogotá, south Bogotá and some sections of the north of the city are visible facing west, making it a popular destination for watching the sun set over the city.
The history of Monserrate can be considered to begin in the 1620 to 1630, where the Cofradia de la Vera Cruz (Brotherhood of Vera Cruz) began using the Monserrate's hill top, then known as the Snow hill top for religious celebration. As time passed, many devoted residents of Bogota began participating in the climb to the hill top, it wasn't until 1650 that four gentlemen met with the Archbishop as well as Juan de Borga the head of the Tribunal of Santafe in order to secure permission to build a small religious retreat on the mountain top. The founders of the retreat. The founders decided to establish the hermitage retreat in the name of Monserrat's Morena Virgin whose sanctuary was located in Cataluña, near Barcelona, Spain giving the entire mountain the name Monserrate. Some people believe Monserrat was chosen to be the patron saint, due to one of the founders, Pedro Solis having an uncle whom had previously served as abbot in the Monserrat sanctuary.
By 1656 Father Rojas had been assigned management of the sanctuary ordered a carving of a crucifix and a statue of Jesus Christ after being take off the cross, earning it the name" El Señor caido." Originally, these sculptures were placed inside a small chapel dedicated to the adoration of Christ instead of being placed inside the religious retreat itself. As time passed, more and more people began visiting the sanctuary in order to see the statue of Jesus, rather than the matron saint of Monserrat. By the 19th century, the "El Señor Caido" Statue had gained so much traction, that the Sculpture to the Virgin of Monserrat was removed from as the center piece of the sanctuary and replaced with "El Señor Caido" however, the mountain has retained the name Monserrate to this day. Ever since then, for more than four centuries, pilgrims and citizen have hiked the mountain to offer their prayers to the shrine of "El Señor Caido".
Cable car view.
Both Monserrate and its neighbor Guadalupe Hill are icons of Bogota's cityscape.
Top of Monserrate.
Monserrate is also a place near Viana do Castelo, a town in the northern west of Portugal.
i'd rather have chocolate one at Zerelda Lee's candy store.
La foto è quel che è... come del resto il resto!
La posto per dovere di cronaca.
Gabe concentrates to balance the bunny atop his head.
He was beginning to become a bit weary of this stunt as just prior to this we'd tried to balance another of his favorite toys on his head, which proved to be too rounded for balancing.
©2005 hasfurrychildren K.Cottingam All Rights Reserved
“[M]y whole soul is devoted to building this church here” wrote Pugin to the Earl of Shrewsbury.
St Augustine’s Church is the ‘ideal Church’ of Augustus Welby Pugin (1812-1852) who constructed it between 1845-1852 next to his home ‘the Grange’ according to his ‘true principles of Christian architecture’. He described it as ‘my own child’ and it was to be ‘a revival of the old Kentish churches stone & flint’, with a chantry chapel ‘that may be the burial place of my family’.
It stands as symbol of the Catholic revival of the 19th century which Pugin’s own life and conversion in 1835 epitomises. The church is also an integral part of Pugin’s own Gothic revival which inspired the nation at large. It was being constructed at the same time that Pugin was designing the new Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.
Pugin moved to St Augustine’s in 1843 specifically ‘close to the spot where blessed Austin landed’. His building of the church therefore stands as a monument to the arrival of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England recalling the landing of St Augustine in 597AD. Pugin was keen to show that Catholicism and Gothic were part of the DNA of English identity and the church emphasises and celebrates the English saints in a particular way.
Pugin spared nothing in building this church and he would only use the finest material and workmen. He wrote to his son Edward, ‘I am giving you the best architectural lessons I can; watch the church’. The church provided Mass for local Catholics and visitors before a parish was formed. Ramsgate’s first post-reformation Catholic school was run from the site. At his death he gifted the Church to the Catholic community, for he always intended it to be “a Parochial church” (Pugin’s Letters).
The church’s exterior is stone covered with traditional hardy flint to withstand the weather. Its interior is also lined with Whitby stone forging a link with the great seaside church of St Hilda. There is exquisite decoration with stone and wood carvings throughout, unique statues, stained glass and ornate tiles. Pugin’s team for the church included other well knownassociates George Myers for construction, John Hardman Powell for the metalwork and especially stained glass and Herbert Minton for the tiles. Pugin died in 1852 before completing the project but the work was continued until 1893 and involved Edward Pugin (1834-75) and Peter Paul Pugin (1851-1904) and many of the original associates and their families.
St Augustine’s was consecrated in 1884 and Grade-1 listed only in 1988. From 1856 until 2010 the church was run by the Benedictine monks of St Augustine’s Abbey (which was constructed opposite by Edward Pugin). In 2010 the Benedictine Monks withdrew from the Church and it came under the jurisdiction of the Parish of SS Ethelbert and Gertrude, Ramsgate and Minster. In February 2011 after a sizeable grant from English Heritage, the church’s future was assured. It serves as a functioning local church of the Ramsgate and Minster Catholic parish and since March 1st 2012 as an official shrine of St Augustine for pilgrimage. It remains for all a monument of serious historical importance and site of great architectural, artistic and culture significance for the wider public.
Tashiding Monastery is a Buddhist monastery of the Nyingma sect of Tibetan Buddhism in Western Sikkim, northeastern India. It is located on top of the hill rising between the Rathong chu and the Rangeet River, 40 kilometres from Gyalshing and 19 kilometres to the south east of Yuksam meaning Yuk-Lamas, Sam- Three in Lepcha Language which signifies the meeting place of three holy lamas from Tibet in 1641 A.D. Tashiding is the nearest town to the Tashiding Monastery (Gompa), which is the most sacred and holiest monasteries in Sikkim.
Tashiding means “The Devoted Central Glory” and the monastery by this name was founded in 1641 by Ngadak Sempa Chempo Phunshok Rigzing who belonged to the Nyingma sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Ngadak was one of the three wise men who held the consecration ceremony crowning the first King of Sikkim at Yuksom. It was extended and renovated in 1717 during the reign of the third Chogyal Chakdor Namgyal. 'Bhumchu Ceremony' or festival is a popular religious festival that is held on the 14th and 15th day of the first month of Tibetan Calendar.
The Tashiding Monastery is part of Buddhist religious pilgrimage circuit starting with the first monastery at Yuksam in Sikkim known as the Dubdi Monastery, Norbugang Chorten, Pemayangtse Monastery, the Rabdentse ruins, the Sanga Choeling Monastery, and the Khecheopalri Lake.
LEGEND
There are several legends linked to the most revered monastery and the Bhuchu festival that is held here.
According to one local legend Guru Padmasambhava shot an arrow into the air to select the place. Where the arrow he shot landed, he sat in meditation and that site eventually became the site of the Tashiding Monastery.
Another legend relates to the three monks who consecrated the first Chogyal of Sikkim at Yuksam. It is said that the three monks saw an unusual divine phenomenon of bright light shining on top of the Kanchendzonga mountain, which reflected to a site near the place where the present Tashiding Monastery has been built. Concurrently, a scented smell of incense followed by all pervading divine music was also noted. The first Chogyal who visited the site subsequent to hearing this unusual event, erected a small chorten at the site and named it as Thongwa-Rang-Grol. Legend further glorifies the site stating that a mere sight of it “confers self-emancipation”.
Another absorbing legend is related to the celebration of the Bhumchu festival at Tashiding Monastery. The legend is traced to the tantric art. Guru Padmasambhava, while teaching the tantric system of “Mahakarunika Avalokiteshvara Sadhana and initiation on emancipation from the cycle of mundane existence” to the King Trisong Duetsen, prince Murub Tsenpo, Yeshe Tsogyal and Verotsana in Tibet, sanctified the same holy vase with holy water, which is now kept in Tashiding Monastery and revered during the Bhumchu festival. This vase is made of five types prized jewels, divine soil and holy water said to have been gathered by Padmasambhava from religious centres in India, Odiuana and Zahor. The vase was made by the wrathful deity Damchen Gar-bgag and sanctified by Guru Padmasambhava himself by performing the “Sadhana of Yidam Chuchig Zhal (meaning tutelary deity of eleven heads)”. On this occasion, heavenly deities appeared in the sky and thereafter merged into the holy water contained in the vase. The vase then overflowed and the water dispersed in “all directions in the form of rays.” This ritual was immediately followed by an earthquake, which was considered an auspicious sign. The divine moment also witnessed the presence of the four guardian divinities namely, “the Gyalchen Dezhi/Cutur – Maharajika of Dharma and the gods of the thirty-three heavens (Samchu Tsasumgyi Lhanam) who showered flowers from the sky.” The event was witnessed by devotees and Padmasmabhava distributed the holy water from the vase to all assembled people, which spiritually benefited one and all. The vase was then hidden as a treasure under the care of the divine deities. However, the vase was rediscovered and passed through the hands of several holy men and finally placed at Tashiding by Terton Ngdag Sampachenpo. During the reign of the first ruler of Sikkim, Phuntshog Namgyal, the Terton recited the holy hymn “Om Mani Padme Hum” five billions when several unique events were also witnessed in Sikkim. After the religious ceremony the vase with the water has been kept on display in a small chamber in the Monastery under the custody of the Chogyal himself, which is opened once a year during the Bhumchu festival.
GEOGRAPHY
This monastery located at an altitude of 1465 m is built on top of a heart shaped hill or helmet shaped hill above the confluence of the Rathong Chu and Rangeet rivers, with the Mt. Kanchendzonga providing the scenic back drop. It is about 16 km from Yuksam, 40 km from Gezing via Legship.
The monastery is considered as the spiritual centre of Sikkim since it is encircled by many important monasteries in Sikkim in all directions such as: the Dubdi Monastery 23 km away on its northern direction, the Khecheopalri Lake (wish fulfilling lake) on the northwest, the Pemayangtse monastery on the west, the Shiva temple at Legship on the south, the Mongbrue gompa and Ravangla Bön monastery on the southeast, the Ravangla Gelug monastery on the east, the Karma Kagyud Ralang Monastery on the northeast.[citation needed] Gulia summarising the importance of this monastery has said:
For tashiding one can say: seeing is believing. The monastery is historically illustrious, geographically well located, aesthetically beautiful, spiritually divine – a place where nature and spirituality dwell together, urging the human race to be ecologically upright.
Geographically the Monastery and the Tashiding town are surrounded by four divine caves located in four cardinal directions. The four caves where Buddhist saints meditated are: On the East is the Sharchog Bephug, on the South is the Khandozangphu, in the West is Dechenpug cave and on the North is the Lhari Nyingphug. The main deity deified in the monastery is Tashiding and hence the monastery is also known as 'Dakkar Tashiding'.
HISTORY
In the 17th century, Ngadak Sempa Chemp built a small Lhakhang at this location. This was enlarged into the present monastery during the reign of Chogyal Chakdor Namgyal. Pedi Wangmo built the main monastery and installed many statues which are still seen in the monastery. Lhatsun Chenpo built the Chortens; which are considered holy. Yanchong Lodil, the Master craftsman crafted the flagstones that surround the monastery. These are carved with the holy Buddhist mantra 'Om Mane Padme Hum'.
ARCHITECTURE
An overall picture of the precincts of the monastery within the Tashiding town is provided in five distinct blocks namely, the Sinem market place, the outskirts, the main market place, the main Tashiding Monastery and the Chorten area.
The Sinek market place is located on an incline on the ridge between Rathong Chu and Rangeet River. There is a gompa here called the Sinolochu Gompa from where an approach leads to the Tashiding Monastery on the southern direction. The settlement is spread lengthwise and is 23 kilometres from Yuksom. A large 'Mani' stone is seen at the entrance to this settlement and the Tashiding market.
From the main market centre the approach to the Monastery is through a road, and also a foot path. The foot path in the southern direction has a gentle slope and passes through a Mani and then prayer wind wheels terminating at the entrance gate of the Monastery.
The Monastery itself consists of a 'Mani Lhakang' at the entrance surrounded by flags, and lead to the guest house. From this point ahead is the main 'Tashiding Gompa' which is called as Chogyal Lhakhang or the monastery, followed by the 'butter lamp house', four chortens, 'Tsenkhang', a new butter lamp house and finally terminating at the 'Guru Lhakhang', which is the temple of Guru Rinpoche. Other basic essential structures such as kitchen, school and residential housing are located on the left side of the approach path to the monastery.
In the 'Chorten area', there are 41 chortens categorised as 'Chortens of Enlightenment', 'Chortens of Reconciliation' and 'Chortens of Great Miracle', which are all of Rinpoches and Tathāgatas.
However, the main temple has undergone renovation work in modern times and rebuilt, but is still encircled by traditional buildings and chortens at the far end of the site, which holds the relics of Sikkim Chogyals and Lamas, including the 'Thong-Wa-rang-Dol' chorten which is believed to cleanse the soul of any person who looks at it.
Also of major note are the stone plates called the 'Mani', the work of Yanchong Lodil who inscribed them with the sacred Buddhist inscriptions, such as "Om Mane Padme Hum".
FESTIVALS
Bhumchu festival, which is linked by an ancient legend to Guru Padmasambhava, is about a divine vase filled with holy water kept in the monastery, which is opened for public display and worship every year on the night before the Full Moon day in the first month of Tibetan calendar. Bhumchu (Bhum=pot; Chu=water) is a Buddhist festival celebrated to predict the future. In this vase, water of Rathong chhu is stored for a year and kept in the Tashiding Monastery. It is opened during the festival by the lamas who inspect the water level and hence it is called the festival of holy water. The belief is that alteration in the quantity and quality of the water stored in the vase over a year would indicate the fortune of Sikkim and its people in the following year. If it is filled to the brim (which is interpreted as a measure of increase by 21 cups), the following year will be prosperous. If it is empty, famine will follow, and if it is half-filled also a prosperous year is predicted. If the water is polluted with dust it is interpreted as a sign of strife and clash. Once inspected and the Bhumchu festival is concluded, the lamas fill the vase with fresh water from the river and seal it for the opening in the following year.
The procedure followed for taking out the sacred water from the vase is that the first cup of sacred water is taken out for blessing the members of the Royal family of the Chogyals, then the second cup is meant for the Lamas and the third cup of water is meant for the devotees to whom it is distributed. Pilgrims come to the monastery from all regions of Sikkim to be blessed with the holy water. The festival is of particular importance to the Bhutias (ethnic Tibeteans) of Sikkim who hold the “life-sustaining water of the rivers” with great reverence. The festival falls on the 15th day Full Moon day of the first Tibetan month or Hindu month of Magh corresponding to February/March according to Gregorian calendar.
The basic purpose of the festival is to highlight the importance of water as a precious resource to be conserved and its purity preserved. The prophecy also sends a message to the people that waters should not be polluted and its environmental importance is propagated.
WIKIPEDIA
Once
I started
To speak
About love
Drawing out words
And images
Which, slow at first
Kept welling up
Flowing faster
Then I could draw…
And then they burst out
Gushing
Like a fountain
So
I fell silent
Just watching
This endless spring
Unconcerned.
When thirsty,
I drink.
Tired, I doze off.
All is
As it should
Be.
(~yosy flug~)
A fence round a building site has been covered in graffiti, most of it scribbles, but a fair number devoted whole panels to the new Georgian flag.
Baltique was President Mitterand's friend and fiercely devoted companion--even after President Mitterand's life ended. At President Mitterand's memorial Mass, the presiding priest refused to allow Baltique to enter the church and stand by the casket of his beloved guardian. Instead, Baltique waited anxiously outside the door of the church during the Mass (there is a famous photograph of him waiting) and would not move until the doors were opened and the casket revealed. This incident sparked the writing of a beautiful song (by Renaud) about Baltique & whether Baltique & other companions like him, in the eyes of the RC Church, will ever ascend to "(h)eaven."
Here's the URL to a performance of "Baltique" by Renaud:
www.dailymotion.com/video/x51d0x_renaud-baltique_music
And here are the lyrics (with my own poor translation into English):
ls ont peut-être eu peur que je pisse
Sur le marbre du bénitier
Ou pire que je m'accroupisse
Devant l'autel immaculé
Peur que je ne lève la patte
Quelque part dans les allées
Où siège cette foule ingrate
Qui nous parle d'humanité
Ils ont considéré peut-être
Que c'est un amour pas très catholique
Que celui d'un chien pour son maître
Alors, ils m'ont privé de cantiques
Un jour pourtant je le sais bien
Dieu reconnaîtra les chiens
Me voilà devant la chapelle
Sous cette pluie qui m'indiffère
Tenu en laisse par un fidèle
Allergique aux lieus de prières
Les gens parlent à côté de moi
Tu as de la chance toi au moins
La souffrance ne t'atteint pas
L'émotion c'est pour les humains
Et dire que ça se veut chrétien
Et ça ne comprend même pas
Que l'amour dans le cur d'un chien
C'est le plus grand amour qu'il soit
Un jour pourtant je le sais bien
Dieu reconnaîtra les chiens
Je pourrais vivre dans la rue
Etre bourré de coups de pieds
Manger beaucoup moins que mon dû
Dormir sur le pavé mouillé
En échange d'une caresse
De temps en temps d'un bout de pain
Je donne toute ma tendresse
Pour l'éternité ou plus loin
Prévenez-moi lorsque quelqu'un
Aimera un homme comme moi
Comme j'ai aimé cet humain
Que je pleure tout autant que toi
Un jour pourtant je le sais bien
Dieu reconnaîtra les chiens
Un jour pourtant je le sais bien
Dieu reconnaîtra les chiens
They may be afraid that I might piss
On the marble font
Or worse that I might squat
Before the altar immaculate
Lest I lift the leg
Somewhere in the aisles
Seat where the ungrateful crowd
That speaks of humanity
They may be considered
This is not a love very Catholic
That of a dog for his master
So they deprived me of songs
One day, however I know
God will recognize dogs
Here I am in front of the chapel
Under this rain indifferent to me
Leashed by a faithful
Allergic to places of prayer
People speaking near me
You're lucky you at least
Suffering does not reach you
The emotion is for humans
And that it wants to be Christian
And that does not even include
That love in the heart the heart of a dog
It is the greatest love
One day, however I know
God will recognize dogs
I could live on the street
Being full of kicks
Eat much less than my due
Sleep on the wet pavement
In exchange for a hug
Occasionally a piece of bread
I give all my love
For eternity or later
Notify me when someone
Loves a man like me
How I loved this human
I cry as much as you
One day, however I know
God will recognize dogs
One day, however I know
God will recognize dogs
With beauteous Vidya on the sets of Hamari Adhuri Kahani. The film is set to release world wide on 12th June 2015.
#EmraanHashmi #VidyaBalan #JaeyGajera #HamariAdhuriKahani #MohitSuri #MaheshBhatt #MukeshBhatt #ShaguftaRafiq #RajkummarRao #JeetGanguly #FoxStarStudios #VisheshFilms
35th annual Rosary Sunday draws thousands devoted to Mary, holy rosary
Story by Gina Keating
Photos by Ambria Hammel
The Catholic Sun
In a kaleidoscope of colors, sound and movement, more than 6,000 faithful in the Phoenix Diocese gathered to honor Mary in the most anticipated Catholic event of the year, Rosary Sunday.
Under her title Mary, Help of Christians, the 35th annual celebration continued its traditional offerings of confession, adoration, benediction and recitation of the rosary.
The downtown Phoenix Convention Center opened its doors Oct. 10 to ethnically diverse members of the Body of Christ whose public prayers in different tongues paid homage to Mary, especially for her protection of the unborn.
Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted was greeted with a standing ovation from an enthusiastic crowd that filled the seats, as others searched for open spots.
“Today, we see how Mary is the mother of all of us,” Bishop Olmsted said in his bilingual address.
Auxilary Bishop Eduardo Nevares, recently back from a trip to Rome, delivered an apostolic blessing from Pope Benedict, which was received with a round of applause.
Christy O’Gara said she attended the event for the second year with her six children so they could “see all those that love Jesus.”
“Now, more than ever, we desire to be together as witnesses to the world,” O’Gara said.
More: www.catholicsun.org
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Greetings mate! As many of you know, I love marrying art, science, and math in my fine art portrait and landscape photography!
The 45surf and gold 45 revolver swimsuits, shirts, logos, designs, and lingerie are designed in accordance with the golden ratio! More about the design and my philosophy of "no retouching" on the beautiful goddesses in my new book:
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"Photographing Women Models: Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype"
If you would like a free review copy, message me!
Epic Landscape Photography! New Book!
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And here's more on the golden ratio which appears in many of my landscape and portrait photographs (while shaping the proportions of the golden gun)!
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'
The dx4/dt=ic above the gun on the lingerie derives from my new physics books devoted to Light, Time, Dimension Theory!
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Thanks for being a fan! Would love to hears your thoughts on my philosophies and books! :)
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Beautiful swimsuit bikini model goddess!
Golden Ratio Lingerie Model Goddess LTD Theory Lingerie dx4/dt=ic! The Birth of Venus, Athena, and Artemis! Girls and Guns!
Would you like to see the whole set? Comment below and let me know!
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I am working on several books on "epic photography," and I recently finished a related one titled: The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty and How to Create PHI Compositions in Art, Design, & Photography: An Artistic and Scientific Introduction to the Golden Mean . Message me on facebook for a free review copy!
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The Golden Ratio informs a lot of my art and photographic composition. The Golden Ratio also informs the design of the golden revolver on all the swimsuits and lingerie, as well as the 45surf logo! Not so long ago, I came up with the Golden Ratio Principle which describes why The Golden Ratio is so beautiful.
The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Dr. E’s Golden Ratio Principle: The golden ratio exalts beauty because the number is a characteristic of the mathematically and physically most efficient manners of growth and distribution, on both evolutionary and purely physical levels. The golden ratio ensures that the proportions and structure of that which came before provide the proportions and structure of that which comes after. Robust, ordered growth is naturally associated with health and beauty, and thus we evolved to perceive the golden ratio harmonies as inherently beautiful, as we saw and felt their presence in all vital growth and life—in the salient features and proportions of humans and nature alike, from the distribution of our facial features and bones to the arrangements of petals, leaves, and sunflowers seeds. As ratios between Fibonacci Numbers offer the closest whole-number approximations to the golden ratio, and as seeds, cells, leaves, bones, and other physical entities appear in whole numbers, the Fibonacci Numbers oft appear in nature’s elements as “growth’s numbers.” From the dawn of time, humanity sought to salute their gods in art and temples exalting the same proportion by which all their vital sustenance and they themselves had been created—the golden ratio.
The Birth of Venus! Beautiful Golden Ratio Swimsuit Bikini Model Goddess! Helen of Troy! She was tall, thin, fit, and quite pretty!
Read all about how classical art such as The Birth of Venus inspires all my photography!
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"Photographing Women Models: Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype"
Magnis is the location of the Magnis is the location of the Roman Army Museum run by the Vindolanda Trust. Like the museum at Vindolanda, the Roman Army Museum was modernised and reopened in 2011. The museum illustrates frontier life on the northern edge of the Roman Empire. The museum displays genuine Roman artifacts including weapons and tools; life-size replicas; a 3D film showing Hadrian's Wall past and present, and a large timeline of Hadrian's Wall. There is a gallery devoted to the emperor Hadrian himself. A large gallery describes daily life in the Roman army as seen through the eyes of a team of eight auxiliary soldiers, complete with a film showing their activities. Notable exhibits include a rare surviving helmet crest. run by the Vindolanda Trust. Like the museum at Vindolanda, the Roman Army Museum was modernised and reopened in 2011. The museum illustrates frontier life on the northern edge of the Roman Empire. The museum displays genuine Roman artifacts including weapons and tools; life-size replicas; a 3D film showing Hadrian's Wall past and present, and a large timeline of Hadrian's Wall. There is a gallery devoted to the emperor Hadrian himself. A large gallery describes daily life in the Roman army as seen through the eyes of a team of eight auxiliary soldiers, complete with a film showing their activities. Notable exhibits include a rare surviving helmet crest.
Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of Britannia after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410.
Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars. According to Caesar, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by the Belgae during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. The Belgae were the only Celtic tribe to cross the sea into Britain, for to all other Celtic tribes this land was unknown. He received tribute, installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes, and returned to Gaul. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 BC. In 40 AD, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel on the continent, only to have them gather seashells (musculi) according to Suetonius, perhaps as a symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula's victory over the sea. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore the exiled king Verica over the Atrebates. The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the province of Britain. By 47 AD, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way. Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudica's uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward.
The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola (77–84), who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia. In mid-84 AD, Agricola faced the armies of the Caledonians, led by Calgacus, at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be upwards of 10,000 on the Caledonian side and about 360 on the Roman side. The bloodbath at Mons Graupius concluded the forty-year conquest of Britain, a period that possibly saw between 100,000 and 250,000 Britons killed. In the context of pre-industrial warfare and of a total population of Britain of c. 2 million, these are very high figures.
Under the 2nd-century emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, two walls were built to defend the Roman province from the Caledonians, whose realms in the Scottish Highlands were never controlled. Around 197 AD, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces: Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. During the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains. A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century. For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410; the native kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that.
Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, and architecture. The Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain. After the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor. Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire.
History
Britain was known to the Classical world. The Greeks, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC. The Greeks referred to the Cassiterides, or "tin islands", and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 6th or 5th century BC and the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th. It was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed.
The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The first expedition was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion and gained a foothold on the coast of Kent but was unable to advance further because of storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry. Despite the military failure, it was a political success, with the Roman Senate declaring a 20-day public holiday in Rome to honour the unprecedented achievement of obtaining hostages from Britain and defeating Belgic tribes on returning to the continent.
The second invasion involved a substantially larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute and give hostages in return for peace. A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, Cassivellaunus, was brought to terms. Hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul.
Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind, but he established clients and brought Britain into Rome's sphere of influence. Augustus planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustus's reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could. Archaeology shows that there was an increase in imported luxury goods in southeastern Britain. Strabo also mentions British kings who sent embassies to Augustus, and Augustus's own Res Gestae refers to two British kings he received as refugees. When some of Tiberius's ships were carried to Britain in a storm during his campaigns in Germany in 16 AD, they came back with tales of monsters.
Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the Catuvellauni, ruled by the descendants of Tasciovanus, and the Atrebates, ruled by the descendants of Commius. This policy was followed until 39 or 40 AD, when Caligula received an exiled member of the Catuvellaunian dynasty and planned an invasion of Britain that collapsed in farcical circumstances before it left Gaul. When Claudius successfully invaded in 43 AD, it was in aid of another fugitive British ruler, Verica of the Atrebates.
Roman invasion
The invasion force in 43 AD was led by Aulus Plautius,[26] but it is unclear how many legions were sent. The Legio II Augusta, commanded by future emperor Vespasian, was the only one directly attested to have taken part. The Legio IX Hispana, the XIV Gemina (later styled Martia Victrix) and the XX (later styled Valeria Victrix) are known to have served during the Boudican Revolt of 60/61, and were probably there since the initial invasion. This is not certain because the Roman army was flexible, with units being moved around whenever necessary. The IX Hispana may have been permanently stationed, with records showing it at Eboracum (York) in 71 and on a building inscription there dated 108, before being destroyed in the east of the Empire, possibly during the Bar Kokhba revolt.
The invasion was delayed by a troop mutiny until an imperial freedman persuaded them to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world. They sailed in three divisions, and probably landed at Richborough in Kent; at least part of the force may have landed near Fishbourne, West Sussex.
The Catuvellauni and their allies were defeated in two battles: the first, assuming a Richborough landing, on the river Medway, the second on the river Thames. One of their leaders, Togodumnus, was killed, but his brother Caratacus survived to continue resistance elsewhere. Plautius halted at the Thames and sent for Claudius, who arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants, for the final march to the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum (Colchester). Vespasian subdued the southwest, Cogidubnus was set up as a friendly king of several territories, and treaties were made with tribes outside direct Roman control.
Establishment of Roman rule
After capturing the south of the island, the Romans turned their attention to what is now Wales. The Silures, Ordovices and Deceangli remained implacably opposed to the invaders and for the first few decades were the focus of Roman military attention, despite occasional minor revolts among Roman allies like the Brigantes and the Iceni. The Silures were led by Caratacus, and he carried out an effective guerrilla campaign against Governor Publius Ostorius Scapula. Finally, in 51, Ostorius lured Caratacus into a set-piece battle and defeated him. The British leader sought refuge among the Brigantes, but their queen, Cartimandua, proved her loyalty by surrendering him to the Romans. He was brought as a captive to Rome, where a dignified speech he made during Claudius's triumph persuaded the emperor to spare his life. The Silures were still not pacified, and Cartimandua's ex-husband Venutius replaced Caratacus as the most prominent leader of British resistance.
On Nero's accession, Roman Britain extended as far north as Lindum. Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, the conqueror of Mauretania (modern day Algeria and Morocco), then became governor of Britain, and in 60 and 61 he moved against Mona (Anglesey) to settle accounts with Druidism once and for all. Paulinus led his army across the Menai Strait and massacred the Druids and burnt their sacred groves.
While Paulinus was campaigning in Mona, the southeast of Britain rose in revolt under the leadership of Boudica. She was the widow of the recently deceased king of the Iceni, Prasutagus. The Roman historian Tacitus reports that Prasutagus had left a will leaving half his kingdom to Nero in the hope that the remainder would be left untouched. He was wrong. When his will was enforced, Rome[clarification needed] responded by violently seizing the tribe's lands in full. Boudica protested. In consequence, Rome[clarification needed] punished her and her daughters by flogging and rape. In response, the Iceni, joined by the Trinovantes, destroyed the Roman colony at Camulodunum (Colchester) and routed the part of the IXth Legion that was sent to relieve it. Paulinus rode to London (then called Londinium), the rebels' next target, but concluded it could not be defended. Abandoned, it was destroyed, as was Verulamium (St. Albans). Between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed in the three cities. But Paulinus regrouped with two of the three legions still available to him, chose a battlefield, and, despite being outnumbered by more than twenty to one, defeated the rebels in the Battle of Watling Street. Boudica died not long afterwards, by self-administered poison or by illness. During this time, the Emperor Nero considered withdrawing Roman forces from Britain altogether.
There was further turmoil in 69, the "Year of the Four Emperors". As civil war raged in Rome, weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain, and Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance. The Romans had previously defended Cartimandua against him, but this time were unable to do so. Cartimandua was evacuated, and Venutius was left in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus, took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively.[38] Frontinus extended Roman rule to all of South Wales, and initiated exploitation of the mineral resources, such as the gold mines at Dolaucothi.
In the following years, the Romans conquered more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britain. Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, father-in-law to the historian Tacitus, conquered the Ordovices in 78. With the XX Valeria Victrix legion, Agricola defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius, in north-east Scotland. This was the high-water mark of Roman territory in Britain: shortly after his victory, Agricola was recalled from Britain back to Rome, and the Romans initially retired to a more defensible line along the Forth–Clyde isthmus, freeing soldiers badly needed along other frontiers.
For much of the history of Roman Britain, a large number of soldiers were garrisoned on the island. This required that the emperor station a trusted senior man as governor of the province. As a result, many future emperors served as governors or legates in this province, including Vespasian, Pertinax, and Gordian I.
Roman military organisation in the north
In 84 AD
In 84 AD
In 155 AD
In 155 AD
Hadrian's Wall, and Antonine Wall
There is no historical source describing the decades that followed Agricola's recall. Even the name of his replacement is unknown. Archaeology has shown that some Roman forts south of the Forth–Clyde isthmus were rebuilt and enlarged; others appear to have been abandoned. By 87 the frontier had been consolidated on the Stanegate. Roman coins and pottery have been found circulating at native settlement sites in the Scottish Lowlands in the years before 100, indicating growing Romanisation. Some of the most important sources for this era are the writing tablets from the fort at Vindolanda in Northumberland, mostly dating to 90–110. These tablets provide evidence for the operation of a Roman fort at the edge of the Roman Empire, where officers' wives maintained polite society while merchants, hauliers and military personnel kept the fort operational and supplied.
Around 105 there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of the tribes of the Picts: several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armour at Trimontium (at modern Newstead, in SE Scotland) indicating hostilities at least at that site.[citation needed] There is also circumstantial evidence that auxiliary reinforcements were sent from Germany, and an unnamed British war of the period is mentioned on the gravestone of a tribune of Cyrene. Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in the area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat. The Romans were also in the habit of destroying their own forts during an orderly withdrawal, in order to deny resources to an enemy. In either case, the frontier probably moved south to the line of the Stanegate at the Solway–Tyne isthmus around this time.
A new crisis occurred at the beginning of Hadrian's reign): a rising in the north which was suppressed by Quintus Pompeius Falco. When Hadrian reached Britannia on his famous tour of the Roman provinces around 120, he directed an extensive defensive wall, known to posterity as Hadrian's Wall, to be built close to the line of the Stanegate frontier. Hadrian appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos as governor to undertake this work who brought the Legio VI Victrix legion with him from Germania Inferior. This replaced the famous Legio IX Hispana, whose disappearance has been much discussed. Archaeology indicates considerable political instability in Scotland during the first half of the 2nd century, and the shifting frontier at this time should be seen in this context.
In the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161) the Hadrianic border was briefly extended north to the Forth–Clyde isthmus, where the Antonine Wall was built around 142 following the military reoccupation of the Scottish lowlands by a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus.
The first Antonine occupation of Scotland ended as a result of a further crisis in 155–157, when the Brigantes revolted. With limited options to despatch reinforcements, the Romans moved their troops south, and this rising was suppressed by Governor Gnaeus Julius Verus. Within a year the Antonine Wall was recaptured, but by 163 or 164 it was abandoned. The second occupation was probably connected with Antoninus's undertakings to protect the Votadini or his pride in enlarging the empire, since the retreat to the Hadrianic frontier occurred not long after his death when a more objective strategic assessment of the benefits of the Antonine Wall could be made. The Romans did not entirely withdraw from Scotland at this time: the large fort at Newstead was maintained along with seven smaller outposts until at least 180.
During the twenty-year period following the reversion of the frontier to Hadrian's Wall in 163/4, Rome was concerned with continental issues, primarily problems in the Danubian provinces. Increasing numbers of hoards of buried coins in Britain at this time indicate that peace was not entirely achieved. Sufficient Roman silver has been found in Scotland to suggest more than ordinary trade, and it is likely that the Romans were reinforcing treaty agreements by paying tribute to their implacable enemies, the Picts.
In 175, a large force of Sarmatian cavalry, consisting of 5,500 men, arrived in Britannia, probably to reinforce troops fighting unrecorded uprisings. In 180, Hadrian's Wall was breached by the Picts and the commanding officer or governor was killed there in what Cassius Dio described as the most serious war of the reign of Commodus. Ulpius Marcellus was sent as replacement governor and by 184 he had won a new peace, only to be faced with a mutiny from his own troops. Unhappy with Marcellus's strictness, they tried to elect a legate named Priscus as usurper governor; he refused, but Marcellus was lucky to leave the province alive. The Roman army in Britannia continued its insubordination: they sent a delegation of 1,500 to Rome to demand the execution of Tigidius Perennis, a Praetorian prefect who they felt had earlier wronged them by posting lowly equites to legate ranks in Britannia. Commodus met the party outside Rome and agreed to have Perennis killed, but this only made them feel more secure in their mutiny.
The future emperor Pertinax (lived 126–193) was sent to Britannia to quell the mutiny and was initially successful in regaining control, but a riot broke out among the troops. Pertinax was attacked and left for dead, and asked to be recalled to Rome, where he briefly succeeded Commodus as emperor in 192.
3rd century
The death of Commodus put into motion a series of events which eventually led to civil war. Following the short reign of Pertinax, several rivals for the emperorship emerged, including Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus. The latter was the new governor of Britannia, and had seemingly won the natives over after their earlier rebellions; he also controlled three legions, making him a potentially significant claimant. His sometime rival Severus promised him the title of Caesar in return for Albinus's support against Pescennius Niger in the east. Once Niger was neutralised, Severus turned on his ally in Britannia; it is likely that Albinus saw he would be the next target and was already preparing for war.
Albinus crossed to Gaul in 195, where the provinces were also sympathetic to him, and set up at Lugdunum. Severus arrived in February 196, and the ensuing battle was decisive. Albinus came close to victory, but Severus's reinforcements won the day, and the British governor committed suicide. Severus soon purged Albinus's sympathisers and perhaps confiscated large tracts of land in Britain as punishment. Albinus had demonstrated the major problem posed by Roman Britain. In order to maintain security, the province required the presence of three legions, but command of these forces provided an ideal power base for ambitious rivals. Deploying those legions elsewhere would strip the island of its garrison, leaving the province defenceless against uprisings by the native Celtic tribes and against invasion by the Picts and Scots.
The traditional view is that northern Britain descended into anarchy during Albinus's absence. Cassius Dio records that the new Governor, Virius Lupus, was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae. The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently appointed suggests that enemies of Rome were posing a difficult challenge, and Lucius Alfenus Senecio's report to Rome in 207 describes barbarians "rebelling, over-running the land, taking loot and creating destruction". In order to rebel, of course, one must be a subject – the Maeatae clearly did not consider themselves such. Senecio requested either reinforcements or an Imperial expedition, and Severus chose the latter, despite being 62 years old. Archaeological evidence shows that Senecio had been rebuilding the defences of Hadrian's Wall and the forts beyond it, and Severus's arrival in Britain prompted the enemy tribes to sue for peace immediately. The emperor had not come all that way to leave without a victory, and it is likely that he wished to provide his teenage sons Caracalla and Geta with first-hand experience of controlling a hostile barbarian land.
Northern campaigns, 208–211
An invasion of Caledonia led by Severus and probably numbering around 20,000 troops moved north in 208 or 209, crossing the Wall and passing through eastern Scotland on a route similar to that used by Agricola. Harried by punishing guerrilla raids by the northern tribes and slowed by an unforgiving terrain, Severus was unable to meet the Caledonians on a battlefield. The emperor's forces pushed north as far as the River Tay, but little appears to have been achieved by the invasion, as peace treaties were signed with the Caledonians. By 210 Severus had returned to York, and the frontier had once again become Hadrian's Wall. He assumed the title Britannicus but the title meant little with regard to the unconquered north, which clearly remained outside the authority of the Empire. Almost immediately, another northern tribe, the Maeatae, went to war. Caracalla left with a punitive expedition, but by the following year his ailing father had died and he and his brother left the province to press their claim to the throne.
As one of his last acts, Severus tried to solve the problem of powerful and rebellious governors in Britain by dividing the province into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. This kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century. Historical sources provide little information on the following decades, a period known as the Long Peace. Even so, the number of buried hoards found from this period rises, suggesting continuing unrest. A string of forts were built along the coast of southern Britain to control piracy; and over the following hundred years they increased in number, becoming the Saxon Shore Forts.
During the middle of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was convulsed by barbarian invasions, rebellions and new imperial pretenders. Britannia apparently avoided these troubles, but increasing inflation had its economic effect. In 259 a so-called Gallic Empire was established when Postumus rebelled against Gallienus. Britannia was part of this until 274 when Aurelian reunited the empire.
Around the year 280, a half-British officer named Bonosus was in command of the Roman's Rhenish fleet when the Germans managed to burn it at anchor. To avoid punishment, he proclaimed himself emperor at Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) but was crushed by Marcus Aurelius Probus. Soon afterwards, an unnamed governor of one of the British provinces also attempted an uprising. Probus put it down by sending irregular troops of Vandals and Burgundians across the Channel.
The Carausian Revolt led to a short-lived Britannic Empire from 286 to 296. Carausius was a Menapian naval commander of the Britannic fleet; he revolted upon learning of a death sentence ordered by the emperor Maximian on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon pirates and having embezzled recovered treasure. He consolidated control over all the provinces of Britain and some of northern Gaul while Maximian dealt with other uprisings. An invasion in 288 failed to unseat him and an uneasy peace ensued, with Carausius issuing coins and inviting official recognition. In 293, the junior emperor Constantius Chlorus launched a second offensive, besieging the rebel port of Gesoriacum (Boulogne-sur-Mer) by land and sea. After it fell, Constantius attacked Carausius's other Gallic holdings and Frankish allies and Carausius was usurped by his treasurer, Allectus. Julius Asclepiodotus landed an invasion fleet near Southampton and defeated Allectus in a land battle.
Diocletian's reforms
As part of Diocletian's reforms, the provinces of Roman Britain were organized as a diocese governed by a vicarius under a praetorian prefect who, from 318 to 331, was Junius Bassus who was based at Augusta Treverorum (Trier).
The vicarius was based at Londinium as the principal city of the diocese. Londinium and Eboracum continued as provincial capitals and the territory was divided up into smaller provinces for administrative efficiency.
Civilian and military authority of a province was no longer exercised by one official and the governor was stripped of military command which was handed over to the Dux Britanniarum by 314. The governor of a province assumed more financial duties (the procurators of the Treasury ministry were slowly phased out in the first three decades of the 4th century). The Dux was commander of the troops of the Northern Region, primarily along Hadrian's Wall and his responsibilities included protection of the frontier. He had significant autonomy due in part to the distance from his superiors.
The tasks of the vicarius were to control and coordinate the activities of governors; monitor but not interfere with the daily functioning of the Treasury and Crown Estates, which had their own administrative infrastructure; and act as the regional quartermaster-general of the armed forces. In short, as the sole civilian official with superior authority, he had general oversight of the administration, as well as direct control, while not absolute, over governors who were part of the prefecture; the other two fiscal departments were not.
The early-4th-century Verona List, the late-4th-century work of Sextus Rufus, and the early-5th-century List of Offices and work of Polemius Silvius all list four provinces by some variation of the names Britannia I, Britannia II, Maxima Caesariensis, and Flavia Caesariensis; all of these seem to have initially been directed by a governor (praeses) of equestrian rank. The 5th-century sources list a fifth province named Valentia and give its governor and Maxima's a consular rank. Ammianus mentions Valentia as well, describing its creation by Count Theodosius in 369 after the quelling of the Great Conspiracy. Ammianus considered it a re-creation of a formerly lost province, leading some to think there had been an earlier fifth province under another name (may be the enigmatic "Vespasiana"), and leading others to place Valentia beyond Hadrian's Wall, in the territory abandoned south of the Antonine Wall.
Reconstructions of the provinces and provincial capitals during this period partially rely on ecclesiastical records. On the assumption that the early bishoprics mimicked the imperial hierarchy, scholars use the list of bishops for the 314 Council of Arles. The list is patently corrupt: the British delegation is given as including a Bishop "Eborius" of Eboracum and two bishops "from Londinium" (one de civitate Londinensi and the other de civitate colonia Londinensium). The error is variously emended: Bishop Ussher proposed Colonia, Selden Col. or Colon. Camalodun., and Spelman Colonia Cameloduni (all various names of Colchester); Gale and Bingham offered colonia Lindi and Henry Colonia Lindum (both Lincoln); and Bishop Stillingfleet and Francis Thackeray read it as a scribal error of Civ. Col. Londin. for an original Civ. Col. Leg. II (Caerleon). On the basis of the Verona List, the priest and deacon who accompanied the bishops in some manuscripts are ascribed to the fourth province.
In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales described the supposedly metropolitan sees of the early British church established by the legendary SS Fagan and "Duvian". He placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western England with its capital at "Urbs Legionum" (Caerleon); Britannia Secunda in Kent and southern England with its capital at "Dorobernia" (Canterbury); Flavia in Mercia and central England with its capital at "Lundonia" (London); "Maximia" in northern England with its capital at Eboracum (York); and Valentia in "Albania which is now Scotland" with its capital at St Andrews. Modern scholars generally dispute the last: some place Valentia at or beyond Hadrian's Wall but St Andrews is beyond even the Antonine Wall and Gerald seems to have simply been supporting the antiquity of its church for political reasons.
A common modern reconstruction places the consular province of Maxima at Londinium, on the basis of its status as the seat of the diocesan vicarius; places Prima in the west according to Gerald's traditional account but moves its capital to Corinium of the Dobunni (Cirencester) on the basis of an artifact recovered there referring to Lucius Septimius, a provincial rector; places Flavia north of Maxima, with its capital placed at Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to match one emendation of the bishops list from Arles;[d] and places Secunda in the north with its capital at Eboracum (York). Valentia is placed variously in northern Wales around Deva (Chester); beside Hadrian's Wall around Luguvalium (Carlisle); and between the walls along Dere Street.
4th century
Emperor Constantius returned to Britain in 306, despite his poor health, with an army aiming to invade northern Britain, the provincial defences having been rebuilt in the preceding years. Little is known of his campaigns with scant archaeological evidence, but fragmentary historical sources suggest he reached the far north of Britain and won a major battle in early summer before returning south. His son Constantine (later Constantine the Great) spent a year in northern Britain at his father's side, campaigning against the Picts beyond Hadrian's Wall in the summer and autumn. Constantius died in York in July 306 with his son at his side. Constantine then successfully used Britain as the starting point of his march to the imperial throne, unlike the earlier usurper, Albinus.
In the middle of the century, the province was loyal for a few years to the usurper Magnentius, who succeeded Constans following the latter's death. After the defeat and death of Magnentius in the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 353, Constantius II dispatched his chief imperial notary Paulus Catena to Britain to hunt down Magnentius's supporters. The investigation deteriorated into a witch-hunt, which forced the vicarius Flavius Martinus to intervene. When Paulus retaliated by accusing Martinus of treason, the vicarius attacked Paulus with a sword, with the aim of assassinating him, but in the end he committed suicide.
As the 4th century progressed, there were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Scoti (Irish) in the west. A series of forts had been built, starting around 280, to defend the coasts, but these preparations were not enough when, in 367, a general assault of Saxons, Picts, Scoti and Attacotti, combined with apparent dissension in the garrison on Hadrian's Wall, left Roman Britain prostrate. The invaders overwhelmed the entire western and northern regions of Britannia and the cities were sacked. This crisis, sometimes called the Barbarian Conspiracy or the Great Conspiracy, was settled by Count Theodosius from 368 with a string of military and civil reforms. Theodosius crossed from Bononia (Boulogne-sur-Mer) and marched on Londinium where he began to deal with the invaders and made his base.[ An amnesty was promised to deserters which enabled Theodosius to regarrison abandoned forts. By the end of the year Hadrian's Wall was retaken and order returned. Considerable reorganization was undertaken in Britain, including the creation of a new province named Valentia, probably to better address the state of the far north. A new Dux Britanniarum was appointed, Dulcitius, with Civilis to head a new civilian administration.
Another imperial usurper, Magnus Maximus, raised the standard of revolt at Segontium (Caernarfon) in north Wales in 383, and crossed the English Channel. Maximus held much of the western empire, and fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots around 384. His continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned in this period, triggering raids and settlement in north Wales by the Irish. His rule was ended in 388, but not all the British troops may have returned: the Empire's military resources were stretched to the limit along the Rhine and Danube. Around 396 there were more barbarian incursions into Britain. Stilicho led a punitive expedition. It seems peace was restored by 399, and it is likely that no further garrisoning was ordered; by 401 more troops were withdrawn, to assist in the war against Alaric I.
End of Roman rule
The traditional view of historians, informed by the work of Michael Rostovtzeff, was of a widespread economic decline at the beginning of the 5th century. Consistent archaeological evidence has told another story, and the accepted view is undergoing re-evaluation. Some features are agreed: more opulent but fewer urban houses, an end to new public building and some abandonment of existing ones, with the exception of defensive structures, and the widespread formation of "dark earth" deposits indicating increased horticulture within urban precincts. Turning over the basilica at Silchester to industrial uses in the late 3rd century, doubtless officially condoned, marks an early stage in the de-urbanisation of Roman Britain.
The abandonment of some sites is now believed to be later than had been thought. Many buildings changed use but were not destroyed. There was a growing number of barbarian attacks, but these targeted vulnerable rural settlements rather than towns. Some villas such as Chedworth, Great Casterton in Rutland and Hucclecote in Gloucestershire had new mosaic floors laid around this time, suggesting that economic problems may have been limited and patchy. Many suffered some decay before being abandoned in the 5th century; the story of Saint Patrick indicates that villas were still occupied until at least 430. Exceptionally, new buildings were still going up in this period in Verulamium and Cirencester. Some urban centres, for example Canterbury, Cirencester, Wroxeter, Winchester and Gloucester, remained active during the 5th and 6th centuries, surrounded by large farming estates.
Urban life had generally grown less intense by the fourth quarter of the 4th century, and coins minted between 378 and 388 are very rare, indicating a likely combination of economic decline, diminishing numbers of troops, problems with the payment of soldiers and officials or with unstable conditions during the usurpation of Magnus Maximus 383–87. Coinage circulation increased during the 390s, but never attained the levels of earlier decades. Copper coins are very rare after 402, though minted silver and gold coins from hoards indicate they were still present in the province even if they were not being spent. By 407 there were very few new Roman coins going into circulation, and by 430 it is likely that coinage as a medium of exchange had been abandoned. Mass-produced wheel thrown pottery ended at approximately the same time; the rich continued to use metal and glass vessels, while the poor made do with humble "grey ware" or resorted to leather or wooden containers.
Sub-Roman Britain
Towards the end of the 4th century Roman rule in Britain came under increasing pressure from barbarian attacks. Apparently, there were not enough troops to mount an effective defence. After elevating two disappointing usurpers, the army chose a soldier, Constantine III, to become emperor in 407. He crossed to Gaul but was defeated by Honorius; it is unclear how many troops remained or ever returned, or whether a commander-in-chief in Britain was ever reappointed. A Saxon incursion in 408 was apparently repelled by the Britons, and in 409 Zosimus records that the natives expelled the Roman civilian administration. Zosimus may be referring to the Bacaudic rebellion of the Breton inhabitants of Armorica since he describes how, in the aftermath of the revolt, all of Armorica and the rest of Gaul followed the example of the Brettaniai. A letter from Emperor Honorius in 410 has traditionally been seen as rejecting a British appeal for help, but it may have been addressed to Bruttium or Bologna. With the imperial layers of the military and civil government gone, administration and justice fell to municipal authorities, and local warlords gradually emerged all over Britain, still utilizing Romano-British ideals and conventions. Historian Stuart Laycock has investigated this process and emphasised elements of continuity from the British tribes in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, through to the native post-Roman kingdoms.
In British tradition, pagan Saxons were invited by Vortigern to assist in fighting the Picts, Scoti, and Déisi. (Germanic migration into Roman Britannia may have begun much earlier. There is recorded evidence, for example, of Germanic auxiliaries supporting the legions in Britain in the 1st and 2nd centuries.) The new arrivals rebelled, plunging the country into a series of wars that eventually led to the Saxon occupation of Lowland Britain by 600. Around this time, many Britons fled to Brittany (hence its name), Galicia and probably Ireland. A significant date in sub-Roman Britain is the Groans of the Britons, an unanswered appeal to Aetius, leading general of the western Empire, for assistance against Saxon invasion in 446. Another is the Battle of Deorham in 577, after which the significant cities of Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester fell and the Saxons reached the western sea.
Historians generally reject the historicity of King Arthur, who is supposed to have resisted the Anglo-Saxon conquest according to later medieval legends.
Trade
During the Roman period Britain's continental trade was principally directed across the Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel, focusing on the narrow Strait of Dover, with more limited links via the Atlantic seaways. The most important British ports were London and Richborough, whilst the continental ports most heavily engaged in trade with Britain were Boulogne and the sites of Domburg and Colijnsplaat at the mouth of the river Scheldt. During the Late Roman period it is likely that the shore forts played some role in continental trade alongside their defensive functions.
Exports to Britain included: coin; pottery, particularly red-gloss terra sigillata (samian ware) from southern, central and eastern Gaul, as well as various other wares from Gaul and the Rhine provinces; olive oil from southern Spain in amphorae; wine from Gaul in amphorae and barrels; salted fish products from the western Mediterranean and Brittany in barrels and amphorae; preserved olives from southern Spain in amphorae; lava quern-stones from Mayen on the middle Rhine; glass; and some agricultural products. Britain's exports are harder to detect archaeologically, but will have included metals, such as silver and gold and some lead, iron and copper. Other exports probably included agricultural products, oysters and salt, whilst large quantities of coin would have been re-exported back to the continent as well.
These products moved as a result of private trade and also through payments and contracts established by the Roman state to support its military forces and officials on the island, as well as through state taxation and extraction of resources. Up until the mid-3rd century, the Roman state's payments appear to have been unbalanced, with far more products sent to Britain, to support its large military force (which had reached c. 53,000 by the mid-2nd century), than were extracted from the island.
It has been argued that Roman Britain's continental trade peaked in the late 1st century AD and thereafter declined as a result of an increasing reliance on local products by the population of Britain, caused by economic development on the island and by the Roman state's desire to save money by shifting away from expensive long-distance imports. Evidence has been outlined that suggests that the principal decline in Roman Britain's continental trade may have occurred in the late 2nd century AD, from c. 165 AD onwards. This has been linked to the economic impact of contemporary Empire-wide crises: the Antonine Plague and the Marcomannic Wars.
From the mid-3rd century onwards, Britain no longer received such a wide range and extensive quantity of foreign imports as it did during the earlier part of the Roman period; vast quantities of coin from continental mints reached the island, whilst there is historical evidence for the export of large amounts of British grain to the continent during the mid-4th century. During the latter part of the Roman period British agricultural products, paid for by both the Roman state and by private consumers, clearly played an important role in supporting the military garrisons and urban centres of the northwestern continental Empire. This came about as a result of the rapid decline in the size of the British garrison from the mid-3rd century onwards (thus freeing up more goods for export), and because of 'Germanic' incursions across the Rhine, which appear to have reduced rural settlement and agricultural output in northern Gaul.
Economy
Mineral extraction sites such as the Dolaucothi gold mine were probably first worked by the Roman army from c. 75, and at some later stage passed to civilian operators. The mine developed as a series of opencast workings, mainly by the use of hydraulic mining methods. They are described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History in great detail. Essentially, water supplied by aqueducts was used to prospect for ore veins by stripping away soil to reveal the bedrock. If veins were present, they were attacked using fire-setting and the ore removed for comminution. The dust was washed in a small stream of water and the heavy gold dust and gold nuggets collected in riffles. The diagram at right shows how Dolaucothi developed from c. 75 through to the 1st century. When opencast work was no longer feasible, tunnels were driven to follow the veins. The evidence from the site shows advanced technology probably under the control of army engineers.
The Wealden ironworking zone, the lead and silver mines of the Mendip Hills and the tin mines of Cornwall seem to have been private enterprises leased from the government for a fee. Mining had long been practised in Britain (see Grimes Graves), but the Romans introduced new technical knowledge and large-scale industrial production to revolutionise the industry. It included hydraulic mining to prospect for ore by removing overburden as well as work alluvial deposits. The water needed for such large-scale operations was supplied by one or more aqueducts, those surviving at Dolaucothi being especially impressive. Many prospecting areas were in dangerous, upland country, and, although mineral exploitation was presumably one of the main reasons for the Roman invasion, it had to wait until these areas were subdued.
By the 3rd and 4th centuries, small towns could often be found near villas. In these towns, villa owners and small-scale farmers could obtain specialist tools. Lowland Britain in the 4th century was agriculturally prosperous enough to export grain to the continent. This prosperity lay behind the blossoming of villa building and decoration that occurred between AD 300 and 350.
Britain's cities also consumed Roman-style pottery and other goods, and were centres through which goods could be distributed elsewhere. At Wroxeter in Shropshire, stock smashed into a gutter during a 2nd-century fire reveals that Gaulish samian ware was being sold alongside mixing bowls from the Mancetter-Hartshill industry of the West Midlands. Roman designs were most popular, but rural craftsmen still produced items derived from the Iron Age La Tène artistic traditions. Britain was home to much gold, which attracted Roman invaders. By the 3rd century, Britain's economy was diverse and well established, with commerce extending into the non-Romanised north.
Government
Further information: Governors of Roman Britain, Roman client kingdoms in Britain, and Roman auxiliaries in Britain
Under the Roman Empire, administration of peaceful provinces was ultimately the remit of the Senate, but those, like Britain, that required permanent garrisons, were placed under the Emperor's control. In practice imperial provinces were run by resident governors who were members of the Senate and had held the consulship. These men were carefully selected, often having strong records of military success and administrative ability. In Britain, a governor's role was primarily military, but numerous other tasks were also his responsibility, such as maintaining diplomatic relations with local client kings, building roads, ensuring the public courier system functioned, supervising the civitates and acting as a judge in important legal cases. When not campaigning, he would travel the province hearing complaints and recruiting new troops.
To assist him in legal matters he had an adviser, the legatus juridicus, and those in Britain appear to have been distinguished lawyers perhaps because of the challenge of incorporating tribes into the imperial system and devising a workable method of taxing them. Financial administration was dealt with by a procurator with junior posts for each tax-raising power. Each legion in Britain had a commander who answered to the governor and, in time of war, probably directly ruled troublesome districts. Each of these commands carried a tour of duty of two to three years in different provinces. Below these posts was a network of administrative managers covering intelligence gathering, sending reports to Rome, organising military supplies and dealing with prisoners. A staff of seconded soldiers provided clerical services.
Colchester was probably the earliest capital of Roman Britain, but it was soon eclipsed by London with its strong mercantile connections. The different forms of municipal organisation in Britannia were known as civitas (which were subdivided, amongst other forms, into colonies such as York, Colchester, Gloucester and Lincoln and municipalities such as Verulamium), and were each governed by a senate of local landowners, whether Brythonic or Roman, who elected magistrates concerning judicial and civic affairs. The various civitates sent representatives to a yearly provincial council in order to profess loyalty to the Roman state, to send direct petitions to the Emperor in times of extraordinary need, and to worship the imperial cult.
Demographics
Roman Britain had an estimated population between 2.8 million and 3 million people at the end of the second century. At the end of the fourth century, it had an estimated population of 3.6 million people, of whom 125,000 consisted of the Roman army and their families and dependents.[80] The urban population of Roman Britain was about 240,000 people at the end of the fourth century. The capital city of Londinium is estimated to have had a population of about 60,000 people. Londinium was an ethnically diverse city with inhabitants from the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. There was also cultural diversity in other Roman-British towns, which were sustained by considerable migration, from Britannia and other Roman territories, including continental Europe, Roman Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. In a study conducted in 2012, around 45 percent of sites investigated dating from the Roman period had at least one individual of North African origin.
Town and country
During their occupation of Britain the Romans founded a number of important settlements, many of which survive. The towns suffered attrition in the later 4th century, when public building ceased and some were abandoned to private uses. Place names survived the deurbanised Sub-Roman and early Anglo-Saxon periods, and historiography has been at pains to signal the expected survivals, but archaeology shows that a bare handful of Roman towns were continuously occupied. According to S.T. Loseby, the very idea of a town as a centre of power and administration was reintroduced to England by the Roman Christianising mission to Canterbury, and its urban revival was delayed to the 10th century.
Roman towns can be broadly grouped in two categories. Civitates, "public towns" were formally laid out on a grid plan, and their role in imperial administration occasioned the construction of public buildings. The much more numerous category of vici, "small towns" grew on informal plans, often round a camp or at a ford or crossroads; some were not small, others were scarcely urban, some not even defended by a wall, the characteristic feature of a place of any importance.
Cities and towns which have Roman origins, or were extensively developed by them are listed with their Latin names in brackets; civitates are marked C
Alcester (Alauna)
Alchester
Aldborough, North Yorkshire (Isurium Brigantum) C
Bath (Aquae Sulis) C
Brough (Petuaria) C
Buxton (Aquae Arnemetiae)
Caerleon (Isca Augusta) C
Caernarfon (Segontium) C
Caerwent (Venta Silurum) C
Caister-on-Sea C
Canterbury (Durovernum Cantiacorum) C
Carlisle (Luguvalium) C
Carmarthen (Moridunum) C
Chelmsford (Caesaromagus)
Chester (Deva Victrix) C
Chester-le-Street (Concangis)
Chichester (Noviomagus Reginorum) C
Cirencester (Corinium) C
Colchester (Camulodunum) C
Corbridge (Coria) C
Dorchester (Durnovaria) C
Dover (Portus Dubris)
Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) C
Gloucester (Glevum) C
Great Chesterford (the name of this vicus is unknown)
Ilchester (Lindinis) C
Leicester (Ratae Corieltauvorum) C
Lincoln (Lindum Colonia) C
London (Londinium) C
Manchester (Mamucium) C
Newcastle upon Tyne (Pons Aelius)
Northwich (Condate)
St Albans (Verulamium) C
Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) C
Towcester (Lactodurum)
Whitchurch (Mediolanum) C
Winchester (Venta Belgarum) C
Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum) C
York (Eboracum) C
Religion
The druids, the Celtic priestly caste who were believed to originate in Britain, were outlawed by Claudius, and in 61 they vainly defended their sacred groves from destruction by the Romans on the island of Mona (Anglesey). Under Roman rule the Britons continued to worship native Celtic deities, such as Ancasta, but often conflated with their Roman equivalents, like Mars Rigonemetos at Nettleham.
The degree to which earlier native beliefs survived is difficult to gauge precisely. Certain European ritual traits such as the significance of the number 3, the importance of the head and of water sources such as springs remain in the archaeological record, but the differences in the votive offerings made at the baths at Bath, Somerset, before and after the Roman conquest suggest that continuity was only partial. Worship of the Roman emperor is widely recorded, especially at military sites. The founding of a Roman temple to Claudius at Camulodunum was one of the impositions that led to the revolt of Boudica. By the 3rd century, Pagans Hill Roman Temple in Somerset was able to exist peaceably and it did so into the 5th century.
Pagan religious practices were supported by priests, represented in Britain by votive deposits of priestly regalia such as chain crowns from West Stow and Willingham Fen.
Eastern cults such as Mithraism also grew in popularity towards the end of the occupation. The London Mithraeum is one example of the popularity of mystery religions among the soldiery. Temples to Mithras also exist in military contexts at Vindobala on Hadrian's Wall (the Rudchester Mithraeum) and at Segontium in Roman Wales (the Caernarfon Mithraeum).
Christianity
It is not clear when or how Christianity came to Britain. A 2nd-century "word square" has been discovered in Mamucium, the Roman settlement of Manchester. It consists of an anagram of PATER NOSTER carved on a piece of amphora. There has been discussion by academics whether the "word square" is a Christian artefact, but if it is, it is one of the earliest examples of early Christianity in Britain. The earliest confirmed written evidence for Christianity in Britain is a statement by Tertullian, c. 200 AD, in which he described "all the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons, inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ". Archaeological evidence for Christian communities begins to appear in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Small timber churches are suggested at Lincoln and Silchester and baptismal fonts have been found at Icklingham and the Saxon Shore Fort at Richborough. The Icklingham font is made of lead, and visible in the British Museum. A Roman Christian graveyard exists at the same site in Icklingham. A possible Roman 4th-century church and associated burial ground was also discovered at Butt Road on the south-west outskirts of Colchester during the construction of the new police station there, overlying an earlier pagan cemetery. The Water Newton Treasure is a hoard of Christian silver church plate from the early 4th century and the Roman villas at Lullingstone and Hinton St Mary contained Christian wall paintings and mosaics respectively. A large 4th-century cemetery at Poundbury with its east–west oriented burials and lack of grave goods has been interpreted as an early Christian burial ground, although such burial rites were also becoming increasingly common in pagan contexts during the period.
The Church in Britain seems to have developed the customary diocesan system, as evidenced from the records of the Council of Arles in Gaul in 314: represented at the council were bishops from thirty-five sees from Europe and North Africa, including three bishops from Britain, Eborius of York, Restitutus of London, and Adelphius, possibly a bishop of Lincoln. No other early sees are documented, and the material remains of early church structures are far to seek. The existence of a church in the forum courtyard of Lincoln and the martyrium of Saint Alban on the outskirts of Roman Verulamium are exceptional. Alban, the first British Christian martyr and by far the most prominent, is believed to have died in the early 4th century (some date him in the middle 3rd century), followed by Saints Julius and Aaron of Isca Augusta. Christianity was legalised in the Roman Empire by Constantine I in 313. Theodosius I made Christianity the state religion of the empire in 391, and by the 5th century it was well established. One belief labelled a heresy by the church authorities — Pelagianism — was originated by a British monk teaching in Rome: Pelagius lived c. 354 to c. 420/440.
A letter found on a lead tablet in Bath, Somerset, datable to c. 363, had been widely publicised as documentary evidence regarding the state of Christianity in Britain during Roman times. According to its first translator, it was written in Wroxeter by a Christian man called Vinisius to a Christian woman called Nigra, and was claimed as the first epigraphic record of Christianity in Britain. This translation of the letter was apparently based on grave paleographical errors, and the text has nothing to do with Christianity, and in fact relates to pagan rituals.
Environmental changes
The Romans introduced a number of species to Britain, including possibly the now-rare Roman nettle (Urtica pilulifera), said to have been used by soldiers to warm their arms and legs, and the edible snail Helix pomatia. There is also some evidence they may have introduced rabbits, but of the smaller southern mediterranean type. The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) prevalent in modern Britain is assumed to have been introduced from the continent after the Norman invasion of 1066. Box (Buxus sempervirens) is rarely recorded before the Roman period, but becomes a common find in towns and villas
Legacy
During their occupation of Britain the Romans built an extensive network of roads which continued to be used in later centuries and many are still followed today. The Romans also built water supply, sanitation and wastewater systems. Many of Britain's major cities, such as London (Londinium), Manchester (Mamucium) and York (Eboracum), were founded by the Romans, but the original Roman settlements were abandoned not long after the Romans left.
Unlike many other areas of the Western Roman Empire, the current majority language is not a Romance language, or a language descended from the pre-Roman inhabitants. The British language at the time of the invasion was Common Brittonic, and remained so after the Romans withdrew. It later split into regional languages, notably Cumbric, Cornish, Breton and Welsh. Examination of these languages suggests some 800 Latin words were incorporated into Common Brittonic (see Brittonic languages). The current majority language, English, is based on the languages of the Germanic tribes who migrated to the island from continental Europe
Anna and Felice did their best in Karaoke with a song from Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You. Lava Bar Au(SG), Switzerland, Feb 13, 2007.
P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, an affiliate of The Museum of Modern Art, is the oldest and second largest non-profit arts center in the United States solely devoted to contemporary art. From its inception, P.S.1 has championed the alternative space movement through its cutting-edge approach to exhibitions and direct involvement of artists within a scholarly framework
Founded in 1971 by Alanna Heiss as The Institute of Art and Urban Resources Inc., P.S.1 was primarily dedicated to the transformation of abandoned and underutilized buildings in New York City into exhibition, performance, and studio spaces for artists. Today, P.S.1 operates two internationally acclaimed spaces for contemporary art: P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in Long Island City and the Clocktower Gallery in Lower Manhattan, both of which contain museum- quality galleries and extensive studio facilities. In addition to its renowned exhibitions, the institution also organizes the prestigious International and National Projects series, the Warm Up summer music series, and the MoMA/P.S.1 Young Architects Program with The Museum of Modern Art. It also runs WPS1, an Internet art radio station founded in 2004. P.S.1 has been affiliated with The Museum of Modern Art since January of 2000.
In 1976, Heiss opened P.S.1 Museum, now P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in a deserted Romanesque Revival building that served as the first school in Long Island City until 1960, when it was shuttered due to low attendance. In October 1997, P.S.1 reopened to the public after a three-year renovation project by Los Angeles-based architect Frederick Fisher, including a new large outdoor gallery, a dramatic entryway, and a two-story project space.
P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) formalized their affiliation in January 2000, bringing together a leader in cutting-edge art and the world's foremost museum of modern art.
Bites of the Apple
(A series devoted to that antiquated means of knowledge acquirement, books.)
1st Bite:
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater
By: Thomas De Quincey
(Gravure by Zhenya Gay)
65/365
[I uploaded a very large version so erveryone could get a good look at that gravure if they want. It's really incredible!]