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January 2

January 2

January 2 is the second day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. 363 days (364 in leap years) remain in the year after this day.

Events

- 366 - Alamanni cross the frozen Rhine in large numbers, invading Roman Empire.
- 533 - Mercurius became Pope John II, the first pope to adopt a new name upon elevation to the papacy.
- 1492 - Reconquista: Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, surrenders.
- 1757 - The United Kingdom captures Calcutta, India.
- 1788 - Georgia becomes the 4th state to ratify the United States Constitution.
- 1793 - Russia and Prussia partition Poland.
- 1815 - Lord Byron marries Anna Isabella Milbanke, Seaham, County Durham.
- 1818 - British Institution of Civil Engineers formed.
- 1859 - Erastus Beadle publishes The Dime Book of Practical Etiquette.
- 1860 - The discovery of the planet Vulcan was announced at a meeting of the Académie des Sciences in Paris.
- 1870 - Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins.
- 1871 - Amadeus I becomes King of Spain.
- 1872 - Brigham Young is arrested for bigamy (25 wives).
- 1879 - Fred Spofforth claims the first Hat-trick in test cricket on the Sydney Cricket Ground against England.
- 1882 - John D. Rockefeller unites his oil holdings into the Standard Oil trust.
- 1890 - Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer for the White House.
- 1893 - Introduction by Webb C. Ball of the General Railroad Timepiece Standards in North America: Railroad chronometers.
- 1900 - John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China.
- 1900 - Chicago Canal opens.
- 1905 - Russo-Japanese War: The Russian fleet surrenders at Port Arthur, China.
- 1917 - The Royal Bank of Canada takes over Quebec Bank.
- 1921 - The first religious radio broadcast (KDKA AM in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) .
- 1921 - DeYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park San Francisco opens.
- 1923 - U.S. Interior Secretary Albert Fall resigns due to the Teapot Dome scandal.
- 1929 - Canada and the United States agree on a plan to preserve Niagara Falls.
- 1935 - Bruno Hauptmann goes on trial for the murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr., infant son of aviator Charles Lindbergh.
- 1941 - WWII: German bombing severely damaged the Llandaff Cathedral, built in 1290 on the bank of the River Taff in Cardiff, Wales.
- 1941 - The U.S. government announces its Liberty ship program with a stated goal of building 200 freighters. Over 2,700 ships will eventually be constructed by the end of the war.
- 1942 - World War II: Manila is captured by Japanese forces.
- 1942 - The United States Navy opens a blimp base at Lakehurst, New Jersey.
- 1946 - Unable to resume his rule over Albania after World War II, King Zog abdicated but retained his claim to the throne.
- 1949 - Luis Muñoz Marín became the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico.
- 1955 - Panamanian president Jose Antonio Remon is assassinated.
- 1957 - San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange and Los Angeles Oil Exchange merge.
- 1959 - The first artificial satellite to orbit the sun, Luna 1, was launched by the U.S.S.R.
- 1959 - CBS Radio cuts four soap operas: Backstage Wife, Our Gal Sunday, Road of Life, and This is Nora Drake.
- 1967 - Dr. Christiaan Barnard performs the second successful heart transplant.
- 1971 - The second Ibrox disaster occurred.
- 1974 - Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum US speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo.
- 1979 - Sid Vicious goes on trial for the murder of Nancy Spungen.
- 1981 - Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, is arrested.
- 1983 - The musical Annie is performed for the last time after 2,377 shows at the Uris Theatre on Broadway.
- 1991 - Sharon Pratt Dixon is sworn in as mayor of Washington, DC becoming the first African American woman to lead a city of that size and importance.
- 1992 - Paraguay becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
- 1993 - Leaders of the three warring factions in Bosnia meet to discuss peace plans.
- 1998 - Russia begins to circulate new rubles to stem inflation and promote confidence.
- 1999 - A brutal snowstorm smashes into the Midwestern USA, causing 14 inches (359mm) of snow at Milwaukee, Wisconsin and 19 inches (487mm) at Chicago, Illinois. In Chicago, temperatures plunge to -13°F (-25°C), and 68 deaths are reported.
- 2002 - Levy Mwanawasa takes office as the third President of Zambia.
- 2004 - Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that it will return to Earth two years later.

Births

- 1642 - Mehmed IV, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1693)
- 1713 - Marie Dumesnil, French actress (d. 1803)
- 1719 - Jacques-Alexandre Laffon de Ladebat, French shipbuilder and merchant (d. 1797)
- 1727 - James Wolfe, British general (d. 1759)
- 1777 - Christian Daniel Rauch, German sculptor (d. 1857)
- 1822 - Rudolf Clausius, German physicist (d. 1888)
- 1836 - Mendele Moykher Sforim, Russian writer (d. 1917)
- 1837 - Mily Balakirev, Russian composer (d. 1910)
- 1870 - Ernst Barlach, German sculptor, graphic artist, and poet (d. 1938)
- 1877 - Slava Raskaj, Croatian painter (d.1906)
- 1886 - Florence Lawrence, Canadian actress (d. 1938)
- 1896 - Dziga Vertov, Russian filmmaker (d. 1954)
- 1904 - Sally Rand, American fan dancer (d. 1979)
- 1905 - Michael Tippett, English composer (d. 1998)
- 1913 - Anna Lee, English actress (d. 2004)
- 1917 - Vera Zorina, German dancer and actress (d. 2003)
- 1920 - Isaac Asimov, Russian-born author (d. 1992)
- 1930 - Julius LaRosa, American singer
- 1936 - Roger Miller, American singer (d. 1992)
- 1938 - Ian Brady, British serial killer
- 1938 - Hans Herbjørnsrud, Norwegian author
- 1939 - Jim Bakker, American televangelist
- 1942 - Hugh Shelton, American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- 1944 - Prince Norodom Ranariddh, Cambodian politician
- 1947 - Jack Hanna, American zoologist
- 1949 - Christopher Durang, American playwright
- 1954 - Henry Bonilla, American politician
- 1954 - Dawn Silva, American singer (The Brides of Funkenstein and P-Funk)
- 1955 - Tex Brashear, American voice actor
- 1961 - Gabrielle Carteris, American actress
- 1961 - Todd Haynes, American film director
- 1963 - David Cone, baseball player
- 1964 - Pernell Whitaker, American boxer
- 1967 - Tia Carrere, American actress
- 1968 - Cuba Gooding Jr., American actor
- 1968 - Anky van Grunsven, Dutch dressage champion
- 1969 - Tommy Morrison, American boxer
- 1969 - Christy Turlington, American model
- 1971 - Lisa Harrison, American basketball player
- 1972 - Taye Diggs, American actor
- 1974 - Tricia Helfer, Canadian actress and model
- 1975 - Doug Robb, American singer (Hoobastank)
- 1976 - Paz Vega, Spanish actress
- 1983 - Kate Bosworth, American actress

Deaths

- 1512 - Svante, Regent of Sweden (b. 1460)
- 1514 - William Smyth, English bishop and statesman
- 1557 - Pontormo, Italian painter (b. 1494)
- 1685 - Harbottle Grimston, English politician (b. 1603)
- 1694 - Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington, English polician (b. 1651)
- 1726 - Domenico Zipoli, Italian composer (b. 1688)
- 1893 - John Obadiah Westwood, British entomologist (b. 1805)
- 1904 - James Longstreet, American Confederate general (b. 1821)
- 1913 - Léon Teisserenc de Bort, French meteorologist (b. 1855)
- 1917 - Edward Burnett Tylor, English anthropologist (b. 1832)
- 1924 - Sabine Baring-Gould, English composer and novelist (b. 1834)
- 1939 - Roman Dmowski, Polish politician (b. 1864)
- 1960 - Fausto Coppi, Italian cyclist(b. 1919)
- 1963 - Dick Powell, American actor (b. 1904)
- 1974 - Tex Ritter, American actor and singer (b. 1905)
- 1977 - Errol Garner, American musician (b. 1921)
- 1986 - Una Merkel, American actress (b. 1903)
- 1986 - Bill Veeck, baseball executive (b. 1914)
- 1990 - Alan Hale Jr., American actor (b. 1918)
- 1992 - Jason Oledan, Awesome kid from F.C.
- 1995 - Siad Barre, President of Somalia
- 1996 - Karl Targownik, Hungarian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor (b. 1915)
- 2000 - Nat Adderley, American musician and composer (b. 1931)
- 2000 - Patrick O'Brian, British novelist (b. 1914)
- 2000 - Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., American admiral (b. 1920)
- 2001 - Teri Diver, American actress (b. 1971)
- 2004 - Lynn Cartwright, American actress (b. 1927)
- 2005 - Cyril Fletcher, British comedian (b. 1913)
- 2005 - Frank Kelly Freas, American artist (b. 1922)
- 2005 - Ronald 'Bo' Ginn, U.S. Congressman from Georgia (b. 1934)
- 2005 - Maclyn McCarty, American geneticist (b. 1911)
- 2005 - Edo Murtić, Croatian painter (b. 1921)

Holidays and observances

- The eighth day and ninth night of Christmas in Western Christianity.
- Catholicism and Anglicanism — Feast day of St. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen.
- Scotland — Second day of the Hogmanay Bank Holiday.
- New Zealand — Statutory holiday, Second day of New Year.
- Slovenia — Second day of New Year.

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/2 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.tnl.net/when/1/2 Today in History: January 2] ---- January 1 - January 3 - December 2 - February 2 — listing of all days ko:1월 2일 ja:1月2日 simple:January 2 th:2 มกราคม

January 2

January 2 is the second day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. 363 days (364 in leap years) remain in the year after this day.

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

Leap year

A leap year (or intercalary year) is a year containing an extra day or month in order to keep the calendar year in sync with an astronomical or seasonal year. Seasons and astronomical events do not repeat at an exact number of days, so a calendar which had the same number of days in each year would over time drift with respect to the event it was supposed to track. By occasionally inserting (or intercalating) an additional day or month into the year, the drift can be corrected. Leap years (which keep the calendar in sync with the year) should not be confused with leap seconds (which keep clock time in sync with the day).

Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar, the current standard calendar in most of the world, adds a 29th day to February in all years evenly divisible by 4, except for century years (those ending in -00), which receive the extra day only if they are evenly divisible by 400. Thus 1996 was a leap year whereas 1999 was not, and 1600, 2000 and 2400 are leap years but 1700, 1800, 1900 and 2100 are not. The reasoning behind this rule is as follows:
- The Gregorian calendar is designed to keep the vernal equinox on or close to March 21, so that the date of Easter (celebrated on the Sunday after the 14th day of the Moon that falls on or after 21 March) remains correct with respect to the vernal equinox.
- The vernal equinox year is currently about 365.242375 days long.
- The Gregorian leap year rule gives an average year length of 365.2425 days. This difference of a little over 0.0001 days means that in around 8,000 years, the calendar will be about one day behind where it should be. But in 8,000 years' time the length of the vernal equinox year will have changed by an amount we can't accurately predict (see below). So the Gregorian leap year rule does a good enough job. Image:Gregoriancalendarleap.png

Which day is the leap day?

The Gregorian calendar is a modification of the Julian calendar first used by the Romans. The Roman calendar originated as a lunar calendar (though from the 5th century BC it no longer followed the real moon) and named its days after three of the phases of the moon: the new moon (calends, hence "calendar"), the first quarter (nones) and the full moon (ides). Days were counted down (inclusively) to the next named day, so 24 February was ante diem sextum calendas martii ("the sixth day before the calends of March"). Since 45 BC, February in a leap year had two days called "the sixth day before the calends of March". The extra day was originally the second of these, but since the third century it was the first. Hence the term bissextile day for 24 February in a bissextile year. Where this custom is followed, anniversaries after the inserted day are moved in leap years. For example, the former feast day of Saint Matthias, 24 February in ordinary years, would be 25 February in leap years. This historical nicety is, however, in the process of being discarded: The European Union declared that, starting in 2000, 29 February rather than 24 February would be leap day, and the Roman Catholic Church also now uses 29 February as leap day. The only tangible difference is felt in countries that celebrate feast days.

Julian calendar

The Julian calendar adds an extra day to February in years divisible by 4. This rule gives an average year length of 365.25 days. The excess of about 0.0076 days with respect to the vernal equinox year means that the vernal equinox moves a day earlier in the calendar every 130 years or so.

Revised Julian Calendar

The Revised Julian calendar adds an extra day to February in years divisible by 4, except for years divisible by 100 that do not leave a remainder of 200 or 600 when divided by 900. This rule agrees with the rule for the Gregorian calendar until 2799. The first year that dates in the Revised Julian calendar will not agree with the those in the Gregorian calendar will be 2800, because it will be a leap year in the Gregorian calendar but not in the Revised Julian calendar. This rule gives an average year length of 365.242222… days. This is a very good approximation to the mean tropical year, but because the vernal equinox tropical year is slightly longer, the Revised Julian calendar does not do as good a job as the Gregorian calendar of keeping the vernal equinox on or close to 21 March.

Chinese calendar

The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, so a leap year has an extra month, often called an embolismic month after the Greek word for it. In the Chinese calendar the leap month is added according to a complicated rule, which ensures that month 11 is always the month that contains the northern winter solstice. The intercalary month takes the same number as the preceding month; for example, if it follows the second month then it is simply called "leap second month".

Hebrew calendar

The Hebrew calendar is also lunisolar with an embolistic month. In the Hebrew calendar the extra month is called Adar Alef (first Adar) and is added before Adar, which then becomes Adar Sheni (second Adar). According to the Metonic cycle, this is done seven times every nineteen years, specifically, in years, 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19. In addition, the Hebrew calendar has postponement rules that postpone the start of the year by one or two days. The year before the postponement gets one or two extra days, and the year whose start is postponed loses one or two days. These postponement rules reduce the number of different combinations of year length and starting day of the week from 28 to 14, and regulate the location of certain religious holidays in relation to the Sabbath.

Hindu Calendar

In the Hindu calendar, which is a lunisolar calendar, the embolismic month is called adhika maas (extra month). It is the month in which the sun is in the same sign of the stellar zodiac on two consecutive dark moons.

Iranian calendar

The Iranian calendar also has a single intercalated day once in every four years, but every 33 years or so the leap years will be five years apart instead of four years apart. The system used is more accurate and more complicated, and is based on the time of the March equinox as observed from Teheran. The 33-year period is not completely regular; every so often the 33-year cycle will be broken by a cycle of 29 or 37 years.

Long term leap year rules

The accumulated difference between the Gregorian calendar and the vernal equinoctial year amounts to 1 day in about 8,000 years. This suggests that the calendar needs to be improved by another refinement to the leap year rule: perhaps by avoiding leap years in years divisible by 8,000. (The most common such proposal is to avoid leap years in years divisible by 4,000 [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22gregorian+calendar%22+error+%22leap+year%22+4000]. This is based on the difference between the Gregorian calendar and the mean tropical year. Others claim, erroneously, that the Gregorian calendar itself already contains a refinement of this kind [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mleapyr.html].) However, there is little point in planning a calendar so far ahead because over a timescale of tens of thousands of years the number of days in a year will change for a number of reasons, most notably: #Precession of the equinoxes moves the position of the vernal equinox with respect to perihelion and so changes the length of the vernal equinoctial year. #Tidal acceleration from the sun and moon slows the rotation of the earth, making the day longer. In particular, the second component of change depends on such things as post-glacial rebound and sea level rise due to climate change. We can't predict these changes accurately enough to be able to make a calendar that will be accurate to a day in tens of thousands of years.

Marriage proposal

There is a tradition, said to go back to Saint Patrick and Saint Bridget in 5th century Ireland, whereby women may only make marriage proposals in leap years.

Saint Patrick and the leap year

:Saint Patrick, having driven the frogs out of the bogs was walking along the shores of Lough Neagh, when he was accosted by Saint Bridget in tears, and was told that a mutiny had broken out in the nunnery over which she presided, the ladies claiming the right of popping the question. :Saint Patrick said he would concede them the right every seventh year, when Saint Bridget threw her arms round his neck, and exclaimed, "Arrah, Pathrick, jewel, I daurn't go back to the girls wid such a proposal. Make it one year in four." Saint Patrick replied, "Bridget, acushla, squeeze me that way again, an' I'll give ye leap-year, the longest of the lot." Saint Bridget, upon this, popped the question to St Patrick himself, who, of course, could not marry: so he patched up the difficulty as best he could with a kiss and a silk gown. (Source: Evans, Ivor H, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Cassell, London, 1988) According to a 1288 law in Scotland, fines were levied if the proposal was refused by the man; compensation ranged from a kiss to a silk gown to soften the blow. Because men felt that put them at too great a risk, the tradition was in some places tightened to restricting female proposals to 29 February.

Birthdays

A person who was born on 29 February may be called a "leapling". In non-leap years they usually celebrate their birthday on 28 February or 1 March. There are many instances in children's literature where a person's claim to be only a quarter of their actual age turns out be based on counting their leap-year birthdays. A similar device is used in the plot of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance. Category:Calendars Category:Units of time als:Schaltjahr ko:윤년 ja:閏年 simple:Leap year th:ปีอธิกสุรทิน

366

Events

- January 2, Alamanni cross frozen Rhine in large numbers, invading Roman Empire
- October 1 - Pope Damasus I becomes Bishop of Rome. Romans unhappy with this choice elect the antipope Ursicinus.
- Valens defeats the troops of Procopius in the Battle of Thyatria, bringing an end to his revolt.
- Athanasius returns from exile.

Births

Deaths

- Acacius of Caesarea, a former leader of the Arian party, dies in disgrace
- May 27 - Procopius (executed)
- September 24 - Pope Liberius Category:366 ko:366년

Alamanni

The Alamanni, Allemanni or Alemanni, were an alliance of warbands formed from Germanic tribes, first mentioned by Dio Cassius when they fought Caracalla in 213. They apparently dwelt in the basin of the Main River, to the south of the Chatti.

Tribal connections

The Alamanni emerged from the Irminones. According to Asinius Quadratus their name —"all men"—indicates that they were a conglomeration of various tribes formed into warbands, similar to the contemporary Huns. There can be little doubt, however, that the ancient Hermunduri formed the bulk of the nation. Other groups included the Brisgavi, Juthungi, Bucinobantes, Lentienses, and perhaps the Armalausi. Close allies of the Alamanni were the east Germanic Suebi, or Suabi (hence Swabia). The Hermunduri had apparently belonged to the Suebi, but it is likely enough that reinforcements from new Suebic tribes had now moved westward. In later times the names Alamanni and Suebi seem to be synonymous, although some of the Suebi later migrated to Hispania and established an independent kingdom there that endured well into the 6th century.

Conflicts with the Roman Empire

The tribe was continually engaged in conflicts with the Roman Empire. They launched a major invasion of Gaul and northern Italy in 268, when the Romans were forced to denude much of their German frontier of troops in response to a massive invasion of the Goths. Their depredations in the three parts of Gaul remained traumatic: Gregory of Tours (d. 695) mentions their destructive force at the time of Valerian and Gallienus, when the Alemanni assembled under their "king" whom he calls Chrocus "by the advice, it is said, of his wicked mother, and overran the whole of the Gauls, and destroyed from their foundations all the temples which had been built in ancient times. And coming to Clermont he set on fire, overthrew and destroyed that shrine which they call Vasso Galatae in the Gallic tongue," martyring many Christians ([http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/gregory-hist.html#book3 Historia Francorum Book I.32-34]). Thus 6th century Gallo-Romans of Gregory's class, surrounded by the ruins of Roman temples and public buildings, attributed the destruction they saw to the plundering raids of the Alemanni. In the early summer, the Emperor Gallienus halted their advance in Italy, but then had to deal with the Goths. When the Gothic campaign ended in Roman victory at the Battle of Naissus in September, Gallienus' successor Claudius II Gothicus turned north to deal with the Alamanni, who were swarming over all Italy north of the Po River. After efforts to secure a peaceful withdrawal failed, Claudius forced the Alamanni to battle at the Battle of Lake Benacus in November. The Alamanni were routed, forced back into Germany, and did not threaten Roman territory for many years afterwards. Their most famous battle against Rome took place in Argentoratum (Strasbourg), in 357, where they were defeated by Julian, later Emperor of Rome, and their king Chnodomar ("Chonodomarius") was taken prisoner. On January 2, 366 the Alamanni crossed the frozen Rhine in large numbers, to invade the Roman Empire. In the great mixed invasion of 406, the Alamanni appear to have crossed the Rhine river, conquered and then settled what is today Alsace and a large part of Switzerland. Fredegar's Chronicle gives an account. At Alba Augusta (Aps) the devastation was so complete, the Christian bishopric was removed to Viviers, but Gregory's account that at Mende in Lozere, also deep in the heart of Gaul, bishop Privatus was forced to sacrifice to idols in the cave where he was later venerated may be a generic figure epitomizing the horrors of barbarian violence.

List of battles between Romans and Alamanni

- 268 - Battle of Lake Benacus - Romans under Emperor Claudius II defeat the Alamanni.
- 271 -
- Battle of Placentia - Emperor Aurelian is defeated by the Alamanni forces invading Italy
- Battle of Fano - Aurelian defeats the Alamanni, who begin to retreat from Italy
- Battle of Pavia (271) - Aurelian destroys the retreating Alamanni army.
- 298 -
- Battle of Lingones - Caesar Constantius Chlorus defeats the Alamanni
- Battle of Vindonissa - Constantius again defeats the Alamanni
- 356 - Battle of Reims - Caesar Julian is defeated by the Alamanni
- 357 - Battle of Strasbourg - Julian expels the Alamanni from the Rhineland
- 367 - Battle of Solicinium - Romans under Emperor Valentinian I defeat yet another Alamanni incursion.
- 378 - Battle of Argentovaria - Western Emperor Gratianus is victorious over the Alamanni, yet again.

Alamanni and Franks

The kingdom (or duchy) of Alamannia between Strasbourg and Augsburg lasted until 496, when the Alamanni were conquered by Clovis I at the Battle of Tolbiac. The war of Clovis with the Alamanni forms the setting for the conversion of Clovis, briefly treated by Gregory of Tours ([http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/gregory-clovisconv.html#n30 Book II.31]) Subsequently the Alamanni formed part of the Frankish dominions and were governed by a Frankish duke. In 746, Carloman ended an uprising by summarily executing all Alemannic nobility at the blood court at Cannstatt, and for the following century, Alamannia was ruled by Frankish dukes. Following the treaty of Verdun of 843, Alamannia became a province of the eastern kingdom of Louis the German, the precursor of the Holy Roman Empire. The duchy persisted until 1268.

List of Alamannic rulers

Kings
- Chrocus 306
- Mederich (father of Agenarich, brother to Chnodomar)
- Chnodomar 350, 357
- Vestralp 357, 359
- Ur 357, 359
- Agenarich (Serapio) 357
- Suomar 357, 358
- Hortar 357, 359
- Gundomad 354 (co-regent of Vadomar)
- Ursicin 357, 359
- Makrian 368 - 371
- Rando 368
- Hariobaud 4th c.
- Vadomar vor 354 - 360
- Vithicab 360 - 368
- Priarius ? - 378
- Gibuld (Gebavult) c. 470 Dukes under Frankish rule
- Butilin 539 - 554
- Leuthari I before 552 - 554
- Haming 539 - 554
- Lantachar until 548 (Avenches diocese)
- Magnachar 565 (Avenches diocese)
- Vaefar 573 (Avenches diocese)
- Theodefrid
- Leutfred I until 588
- Uncilin 588 - 607
- Gunzo 613
- Chrodobert 630
- Leuthari II 642
- Gotfrid until 709
- Willehari 709 - 712 (in Ortenau)
- Lantfrid 709 - 730
- Theudebald 709 - 744

Christianization

Christianization of the Alamanni took place during Merovingian times (6th to 8th centuries). Sources are sparse, but in the mid-6th century, the byzantine chronicler Agathias of Myrina records, in the context of the wars of the Goths and Franks against Byzantium, That the Alamanni fighting among the troops of Frankish king Theudebald were like the Franks in all respects except religion, since they :"worship trees, rivers, hills and gorges as gods, and decapitate horses and cows, and innumerable other animals, as if it were a holy rite" Adding the particular ruthlessness of the Alamani in destroying Christian sanctuaries and plundering churches, while the genuine Franks were respectful towards Christian sanctuaries. Agathias expresses his hope that the Alamanni would assume better manners through prolongued contact with the Franks, which is by all appearances what eventually happened. Apostles of the Alamanni were Saint Columbanus and his disciple Saint Gall. Jonas of Bobbio records that Columbanus was active in Bregenz, where he disrupted a beer sacrifice to Wodan. For some time, the Alamanni seem to have continued their pagan cult activities, with only superficial or syncretistic Christian elements. In particular, there is no change in burial practice, and warrior graves continued throughout Merovingian times. Syncretism of traditional Germanic theriomorph style with Christian symbolism is also present in artwork, but Chrisian symbolism becomes more and more prevalent during the 7th century. Unlike the later Christianization of the Saxon and of the Slavs, the Alamanni seem to have adopted Christianity gradually, and voluntarily, spread by emulation of the Merovingian elite. From ca. the 520s to the 620s, there was a surge of Alamannic Elder Futhark inscriptions. About 80 specimens have survived, roughly half of them on fibulae, others on belt buckles (see Pforzen buckle) and other jewellry and weapon parts. Use of runes subsides with the advance of Christianity. The establishment of the bishopric of Constance cannot be dated exactly and was possibly undertaken by Columbanus himself (before 612). In any case, it predates 635, when Gunzo appointed John of Grab as bishop of the already existing bishopric. Constance was a missionary bishopric in newly converted lands, and did not look back on late Roman church history (unlike Basel, episcopal seat from 740, which continued the line of Bishops of Augusta Raurica, see Bishop of Basel, and the Raetian bishopric of Chur, established 451). The establishment of the church as an institution recognized by worldly rulers is also visible in legal history. The early 7th century Pactus Alamannorum marginally mentions special privileges of the church, while Lantfrid's Lex Alamannorum of 720 has an entire chapter reserved for ecclesial matters. See also: Germanic Christianity.

Modern Alemanni

Allemania lost its distinct jurisdictional identity when Charles Martel absorbed it into the Frankish empire, early in the 8th century. Today, Alemannic is a linguistic term, encompassing the dialects of the southern two thirds of Baden-Württemberg (German State), in western Bavaria (German State), in Vorarlberg (Austrian State), in Switzerland and Alsace (France) (see Alemannic German). The word "Frankish" eventually gave its name to France and Franconia, while the Alamanni gave their name for "German" in French (Allemand), Spanish (Alemán) and Portuguese (Alemão).

References

- Franks and Alamanni in the Merovingian Period: An Ethnographic Perspective (Studies in Historical Archaeoethnology); Ian Wood (Foreword) ISBN 1843830353

Roman Empire

:For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation) The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus), until its radical reformation in what was later to be known as the Byzantine Empire. Roman Empire is also used as translation of the expression Imperium Romanum, probably the best known Latin expression where the word "imperium" is used in the meaning of a territory, the "Roman Empire", as that part of the world where Rome ruled. The expansion of this Roman territory beyond the borders of the initial city-state of Rome had started long before the state organisation turned into an Empire. One of the first historians to describe this expansion of the Roman territory was the Greek Polybius, writing in the Epoch of the Roman Republic. In the centuries before the autocracy of Augustus, Rome had already accumulated a collection of tribute-states beyond the Italian Peninsula, including former Mediterranean competitors Syracuse and Carthage. In the late Republic Augustus (then still "Octavian") added Egypt definitively to the Imperium Romanum. The remainder of this article treats the Roman Empire as Imperial state (see Roman Kingdom and Roman Republic for development of the territory in earlier times). Augustus' reforms turning the Roman state into an Empire survived mostly unchanged until the Diocletian reform at end of the 3rd century, which turned the empire into a tetrarchy. While the political form given by Diocletian was short-lived, it led to the division of the Empire into two halves. This allowed Roman rule to continue for two more centuries over the whole empire, although divided into the Eastern and the Western Roman Empire. The end of the Western Empire is traditionally set in 476, when Odovacar deposed the last Emperor and sent the Imperial insignia to Constantinople; henceforth he nominally ruled as dux on behalf of Constantinople. After another millennium, in 1453, the Eastern Empire, better known as the Byzantine Empire, fell to the Ottoman Turks. From Augustus to the Fall of the Western Empire Rome dominated the region of Western Eurasia, comprising over half its population. The Roman Empire's influence on government, law, military, and monumental architecture, as well as many other aspects of Western life remains inescapable. The Greeks adopted the Roman name in the Middle Ages and were known as Romans, a trend that survives until today in Greece, a result of their cultural position (see Names of the Greeks). Roman titles of power were adopted by successor states and other entities with imperial pretensions, including the Frankish kingdom, the Holy Roman Empire, the first and second Bulgarian empires, the Russian/Kiev dynasties, and the German Empire. See also Roman culture.
Historians' viewpoints on the evolution of Imperial Rome
Because the empire of Rome lasted for such a long period of time (31 BC–1453), there are certain alternative names used by historians to distinguish various semantic periods or eras. Such names include Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire and Western Roman Empire, which are used interchangeably throughout this article to mean the same as Roman Empire (or the Western or Eastern part thereof). For many years historians made a distinction between the Principate, the period from Augustus until the Crisis of the Third Century, and the Dominate, the period from Diocletian until the end of the Empire in the West. According to this theory, during the Principate (from the Latin word princeps, meaning "first citizen", the only title Augustus would permit himself) the realities of dictatorship were concealed behind Republican forms; while during the Dominate (from the word dominus, meaning "Master") imperial power showed its naked face, with golden crowns and ornate imperial ritual. More recently historians established that the situation was far more nuanced: certain historical forms continued until the Byzantine period, more than one thousand years after they were created, and displays of imperial majesty were common from the earliest days of the Empire.
Age of Augustus (31 BC–AD 14)

Political developments
Latin As a matter of convenience, the Roman Empire is held to have begun with the constitutional settlement following the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. In fact the Republican institutions at Rome had been destroyed over the preceding century and Rome had been in continuous crisis with periods of dictatorial rule since Sulla. The long, peaceful and consensual reign of Augustus greatly changed the view toward hereditary monarchy. Rome–the city that had not too long before assassinated its leader, Julius Caesar, when his ambitions seemed to threaten the republic–now placidly accepted one man rule. Augustus' reign was notable for several long-lasting achievements that would define the Empire:
- Creation of an hereditary office, which we refer to as Emperor of Rome.
- Fixation of the payscale. Duration of Roman military service marked the final step in the evolution of the Roman Army from a citizen army to a professional one.
- Creation of the Praetorian Guard, which would make and unmake emperors for centuries.
- Expansion to the natural borders of the Empire. The borders reached upon Augustus' death remained the limits of Empire, with minimal exceptions, for the next four hundred years.
- Development of trade links with regions as far as India and China.
- Creation of a civil service outside of the Senatorial structure, leading to a continuous weakening of Senatorial authority.
- Enactment of the lex Julia of 18 BC and the lex Papia Poppaea of AD 9, which rewarded childbearing and penalized celibacy.
- Promulgation of the cult of the Deified Julius Caesar throughout the Empire. This tradition of deifying the Emperor upon his death lasted until the time of Constantine, who was made both a Roman god and "the Thirteenth Apostle" upon his death.
Cultural developments
:Main article: Roman culture The Augustan period saw a tremendous outpouring of cultural achievement in the areas of poetry, history, sculpture and architecture. At the same time, a tremendous outpouring of energy in founding colonies and municipia, unrivalled in Rome before or after, succeeded in Romanizing extensive territories in the East, in Africa, in Hispania and Gaul, beyond those areas that were traditionally within the Roman sphere of influence.
Sources
The Age of Augustus is paradoxically far more poorly documented than the Late Republican period that preceded it. While Livy wrote his magisterial history during Augustus' reign and his work covered all of Roman history through 9 BC, only epitomes survive of his coverage of the Late Republican and Augustan periods. Our important primary sources for this period include the:
- Res Gestae Divi Augusti, Augustus' highly partisan autobiography,
- Historiae Romanae by Velleius Paterculus, a disorganized work which remains the best annals of the Augustan period, and
- Controversiae and Suasoriae of Seneca the Elder. Though primary accounts of this period are few, works of poetry, legislation and engineering from this period provide important insights into Roman life. Archeology, including maritime archeology, aerial surveys, epigraphic inscriptions on buildings, and Augustan coinage, has also provided valuable evidence about economic, social and military conditions. Secondary sources on the Augustan Age include Tacitus, Dio Cassius, Plutarch and Suetonius. Josephus' Jewish Antiquities is the important source for Judea in this period, which became a province during Augustus' reign.
Julio-Claudian dynasty: Augustus' heirs
Augustus, leaving no sons, was succeeded by his stepson Tiberius, the son of his wife Livia from her first marriage. Augustus was a scion of the gens Julia (the Julian family), one of the most ancient patrician clans of Rome, while Tiberius was a scion of the gens Claudia, only slightly less ancient than the Julians. Their three immediate successors were all descended both from the gens Claudia, through Tiberius' brother Nero Claudius Drusus, and from gens Julia, either through Julia Caesaris, Augustus' daughter from his first marriage (Caligula and Nero), or through Augustus' sister Octavia (Claudius). Historians thus refer to their dynasty as "Julio-Claudian".
Tiberius (14–37)
The early years of Tiberius' reign were peaceful and relatively benign. Tiberius secured the power of Rome and enriched her treasury. However, Tiberius' reign soon became characterized by paranoia and slander. In 19, he was popularly blamed for the death of his nephew, the popular Germanicus. In 23 his own son Drusus died. More and more, Tiberius retreated into himself. He began a series of treason trials and executions. He left power in the hands of the commander of the guard, Aelius Sejanus. Tiberius himself retired to live at his villa on the island of Capri in 26, leaving administration in the hands of Sejanus, who carried on the persecutions with relish. Sejanus also began to consolidate his own power; in 31 he was named co-consul with Tiberius and married Livilla, the emperor's niece. At this point he was hoist by his own petard: the Emperor's paranoia, which he had so ably exploited for his own gain, was turned against him. Sejanus was put to death, along with many of his cronies, the same year. The persecutions continued until Tiberius' death in 37.
Caligula (37–41)
At the time of Tiberius' death most of the people who might have succeeded him had been brutally murdered. The logical successor (and Tiberius' own choice) was his grandnephew, Germanicus' son Gaius (better known as Caligula). Caligula started out well, by putting an end to the persecutions and burning his uncle's records. Unfortunately, he quickly lapsed into illness. The Caligula that emerged in late 37 may have suffered from epilepsy, and was probably insane. He ordered his soldiers to invade Britain, but changed his mind at the last minute and had them pick sea shells on the northern end of France instead. It is believed he carried on incestuous relations with his sisters. He had ordered a statue of himself to be erected in the Temple at Jerusalem, which would have undoubtedly led to revolt had he not been dissuaded. In 41, Caligula was assassinated by the commander of the guard Cassius Chaerea. The only member left of the imperial family to take charge was another nephew of Tiberius', Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, better known as the emperor Claudius.
Claudius (41–54)
Claudius had long been considered a weakling and a fool by the rest of his family. He was, however, neither paranoid like his uncle Tiberius, nor insane like his nephew Caligula, and was therefore able to administer the empire with reasonable ability. He improved the bureaucracy and streamlined the citizenship and senatorial rolls. He also proceeded with the conquest and colonization of Britain (in 43), and incorporated more Eastern provinces into the empire. In Italy, he constructed a winter port at Ostia, thereby providing a place for grain from other parts of the Empire to be brought in inclement weather. On the home front, Claudius was less successful. His wife Messalina cuckolded him; when he found out, he had her executed and married his niece, Agrippina the younger. She, along with several of his freedmen, held an inordinate amount of power over him, and very probably killed him in 54. Claudius was deified later that year. The death of Claudius paved the way for Agrippina's own son, the 16-year-old Lucius Domitius, or, as he was known by this time, Nero.
Nero (54–69)
Initially, Nero left the rule of Rome to his mother and his tutors, particularly Lucius Annaeus Seneca. However, as he grew older, his desire for power increased; he had his mother and tutors executed. During Nero's reign, there were a series of riots and rebellions throughout the Empire: in Britain, Armenia, Parthia, and Judaea. Nero's inability to manage the rebellions and his basic incompetence became evident quickly and in 68, even the Imperial guard renounced him. Nero is best remembered by the rumour that he played the lyre and sang during the Great Fire of Rome, and hence "fiddled while Rome burned" (though the fiddle had yet to be invented). Nero is also remembered for his immense rebuilding of Rome following the fires. Nero committed suicide, and the year 69 (known as the Year of the Four Emperors) was a year of civil war, with the emperors Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian ruling in quick succession. By the end of the year, Vespasian was able to solidify his power as emperor of Rome.
Flavian Dynasty
The Flavians, although a relatively short lived dynasty, helped restore stability in an empire on its knees. Although there are criticism of all three, especially based on their more centralized style of rule, it was through the reforms and good rule of the three that helped create a stable empire that would last well into the 3rd Century. However, their backgrounds as a military dynasty led to further irrelevancy of the senate, and the move from princeps, or first citizen, to imperator, or emperor, was finalized during their reign.
Vespasian (69–79)
Vespasian was a remarkably successful Roman general who had been given rule over much of the eastern part of the Roman Empire. He had supported the imperial claims of Galba; however, on his death, Vespasian became a major contender for the throne. After the suicide of Otho, Vespasian was able to hijack Rome's winter grain supply in Egypt, placing him in a good position to defeat his remaining rival, Vitellius. On December 20, 69, some of Vespasian's partisans were able to occupy Rome. Vitellius was murdered by his own troops, and the next day, Vespasian was confirmed as Emperor by the Senate. At the age of 60 and battle hardened he was hardly a charismatic emperor, but he turned out to be an excellent ruler none the less. Although Vespasian was considered quite the autocrat by the senate, he mostly continued the weakening of that body that had been going since the reign of Tiberius. This was typified by his dating his accession to power from July 1, when his troops proclaimed him emperor, instead of December 21, when the Senate confirmed his appointment. Another example was his assumption of the censorship in 73, giving him power over who exactly made up the senate. He used that power to expel dissident senators. At the same time, he increased the number of senators from 200, at that low level due to the actions of Nero and the year of crisis that followed, to 1000, most of the new senators coming not from Rome but from Italy and the urban centers within the western provinces. Vespasian was able to liberate Rome from the financial burdens placed upon it by Nero's excesses and the civil wars. To do this, he not only increased taxes, but created new forms of taxation. Also, through his power as censor he was able to carefully examine the fiscal status of every city and province, many paying taxes based upon information and structures more than a century old. Through this sound fiscal policy, he was able to build up a surplus in the treasury and embark on public works projects. It was he who first commissioned the Roman Colosseum; he also built a forum whose centerpiece was a temple to Peace. In addition, he alloted sizable subsidies to the arts, creating a chair of rhetoric at Rome. Vespasian was also an effective emperor for the provinces in his decades of office, having posts all across the empire, both east and west. In the west he gave considerable favoritism to Spain in which he granted Latin rights to over three hundred towns and cities, promoting a new era of urbanization throughout the western (i.e. formerly barbarian) provinces. Through the additions he made to the Senate he allowed greater influence of the provinces in the Senate, helping to promote unity in the empire. He also extended the borders of the empire on every front, most of which was done to help strengthen the frontier defenses, one of Vespasian's main goals. The crisis of 69 had wrought havoc on the army. One of the most marked problems had been the support lent by provincial legions to men who supposedly represented the best will of their province. This was mostly caused by the placement of native auxiliary units in the areas they were recruited in, a practice Vespasian stopped. He mixed auxiliary units with men from other areas of the empire or moved the units away from where they were recruited to help stop this. Also, to further reduce the chances of another military coup he broke up the legions, and instead of placing them in singular concentrations broke them up along the border. Perhaps the most important military reform he undertook was the extension of legion recruitment from exclusively Italy to Gaul and Spain, in line with the Romanization of those areas.
Titus (79–81)
Titus, the eldest son of Vespasian, had been groomed to rule. He had served as an effective general under his father, helping to secure the east and eventually taking over the command of Roman armies in Syria and Palestine, quelling the significant Jewish revolt going on at the time. Throughout his father's reign he had been tailored for rule, sharing the consul for several years with his father and receiving the best tutelage. Although there was some trepidation when he took office due to his known dealings with some of the less respectable elements of Roman society, he quickly proved his merit, even recalling many exiled by his father as a show of good faith. However, his short reign was marked by disaster: in 79, Vesuvius erupted in Pompeii, and in 80, a fire decimated much of Rome. His generosity in rebuilding after these tragedies made him very popular. Titus was very proud of his work on the vast amphitheater begun by his father. He held the opening ceremonies in the still unfinished edifice during the year 80, celebrating with a lavish show that featured 100 gladiators and lasted 100 days. Titus died in 81, at the age of 41 of what is presumed to be illness; it was rumored that his brother Domitian murdered him in order to become his successor, although these claims have little merit. Whatever the case, he was greatly mourned and missed.
Domitian (81–96)
The Flavians all had rather poor relations with the senate due to their more autocratic style, however Domitian was the only one who truly created significant problems. His continuous control as consul and censor throughout his rule, the former his father sharing in much the same way of his Julio-Claudian forerunners, the latter having difficulty even obtaining, were unheard of. In addition, he often appeared in full military regalia as an imperator, an affront to the idea of what the Principate-era emperor's power was based upon, the emperor as the princeps. His reputation in the Senate aside, he kept the people of Rome happy through various measures, including donations to every resident of Rome, wild spectacles in the newly finished Colosseum, and continuing the public works projects of his father and brother. He also apparently had the good fiscal sense of his father, because although he spent lavishly his successors came to power with a well endowed treasury. However, during the end of his reign Domitian became extremely paranoid which probably had its initial roots in the treatment he received by his father: although given significant responsibility, he was never trusted with anything important without supervision. This flowered into the severe and perhaps pathological repercussions following the short lived rebellion in 89 of Antonius Saturninus, a governor and commander in Germany. Domitian's paranoia led to a large number of arrests, executions, and seizure of property (which might help explain his ability to spend so lavishly). Eventually it got to the point where even his closest advisers and family members lived in fear, leading them to his murder in 96 orchestrated by his enemies in the Senate, Stephanus (the steward of the deceased Julia Flavia), members of the Pretorian Guard and empress Domitia Longina.
The Adoptive Emperors

"Five Good Emperors" (96–180)
180 The next century came to be known as the period of the "Five Good Emperors", in which the succession was peaceful though not dynastic and the Empire was prosperous. The emperors of the period were Nerva (96–98), Trajan (98–117), Hadrian (117–138), Antoninus Pius (138–161) and Marcus Aurelius (161–180), each being adopted by his predecessor as his successor during the latter's lifetime. While their respective choices of successor were based upon the merits of the individual men they selected, many argue the real reason for the lasting success of the adoptive scheme of succession lay more with the fact that none of them had a natural heir. Under Trajan, the Empire's borders briefly achieved their maximum extension with provinces created in Mesopotamia in 117. From 166, Roman embassies to China, first sent under the reign of Antonius Pius and probably traveling on the southern sea route, are recorded in Chinese historical sources such as the Later Han History.
Commodus (180–192)
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