The Romans
Chapter 10 Case study

Imperial titles on Trajan’s Arch at Benevento
(AD 114-117 )
Source: ‘Benevento-Arch of Trajan from South’ by Decan. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 via Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Benevento-Arch_of_Trajan_from_South.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Benevento-Arch_of_Trajan_from_South.jpg

The legacy of onomastics
(words in brackets are the titles from Trajan’s dedication)
• (IMP) Imperator: Emperor
• (CAESAR) Caesar : Czar, Kaiser, Caesar’s Palace in
Las Vegas, etc.
• (Pontif Max) Pontifex Maximus : still ascribed to the Pope today
• (Principi) Princeps : inspiration for Machiavelli’s
‘Prince’ and many others
• (P P) Pater Patriae : not Augustus’ invention, it should be noted
• (SPQR) Senatus Populusque Romani : the Senate and people of Rome

Sesterce of Antoninus Pius, AD 138-160, depicting Britannia with a shield and trident
A 1997 fifty-pence piece with seated Britannia with shield and trident
A 1672 bronze farthing from the reign of Charles II depicting a seated Britannia with a shield and trident

America’s founding fathers (below), Gandhi (right), known as
‘father of the nation’, and Mustafa Atatürk, ‘father of the Turks’
Sources: ‘Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States’ by Howard Chandler Christy, licensed under public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Portrait of Gandhi: http://flickr.com/photos/55638925@N00/255569844/ . ‘Ataturk and the Flag of Turkey’: http://www.istanbul.edu.tr/genel/idari/basinhalk/albumler/kitapcik_HTML/

‘Manhole SPQR’. Licensed under Creative Commons
Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
A modern manhole cover in Rome
Mosaic floor depicting the Capitoline Wolf, Gallerie Vittorio Emmanuele II, Milan
Source: By G. Dallorto via Wikimedia Commons.

• Imperator Romanorum, Imperator Augustus
• Reintroduced silver coinage (livre)
• Unified a wide empire: Pater Europae
Source: ‘Frankish Empire 481 to 814-en’ by Sémhur from Image:Frankish empire.jpg, File:Growth of Frankish Power, 481-814.jpg, from the Historical Atlas by William R. Shepherd (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1911).

‘I found a city of mud and left it a city of brick’
• Nepotism
• Restored the Aqua Vergina
• Built streets and bridges: Via Florea and Ponte Sisto
• Restored and built churches
• Refounded the Vatican library and donated ancient sculptures to the Capitoline Collection
• First reorganization of the
Julian calendar
Source: Photo by Jensens, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

• Empereur des Français
• Napoleonic Code
• Wide foreign policy
• Titles
• Imagery and architecture
• The metric system

Napoleon wearing the corona
civica on his deathbed (left).
His Roman-style tomb altar (right).
Relief of Napoleon from the US
House of Representatives (below).
Napoleon’s triumphal arches at Etoile and in front of the
Louvre, Paris
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon.