In the summer of 2017 we visited Aquileia, once a prosperous Roman city with perhaps over 100,000 inhabitants. In the fourth century, the Roman poet Ausonius (ca. 310-395) placed the city ninth on his list of the most important cities of the Roman Empire. That fourth century was a turbulent…
In de zomer van 2017 bezochten we Aquileia, ooit een bruisende Romeinse stad met misschien wel meer dan 100.000 inwoners. De Romeinse dichter Ausonius (ca. 310-395) zette de stad in de vierde eeuw nog op de negende plaats van belangrijkste steden van het Romeinse Rijk. Die vierde eeuw was een…
Maximinus Thrax was een hardvochtige en impopulaire keizer. Bronnen die hem vijandig gezind zijn, beweren dat hij staatsgelden verduisterde en zelfs tempels plunderde om zijn leger maar te kunnen betalen. Het leger was immers zijn ware machtsbasis. De haat jegens de keizer werd nu met de dag groter, en niet…
Modern Aquileia is just a small and pleasant town of some 3.500 inhabitants in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Northeast Italy. Ancient Aquileia, however, was a large and prosperous city with a population that is estimated to have exceeded 100.000 souls. Founded in the year 181 BCE, Aquileia occupied…
Maximinus Thrax was a harsh and unpopular ruler. Sources hostile to him claim he embezzled state funds and even plundered temples just to be able to pay his army, the base of all his power. Hatred against him grew ever greater, not just in Rome, but also in the provinces.…