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133-469: Maurice ( Latin : Mauricius ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Μαυρίκιος , translit.   Maurikios ; 539 – 27 November 602) was Byzantine emperor from 582 to 602 and the last member of the Justinian dynasty . A successful general, Maurice was chosen as heir and son-in-law by his predecessor Tiberius II . Maurice's reign was troubled by almost constant warfare. After he became emperor, he brought

266-485: A "perfect reward" in the kingdom of heaven. The choice was offered by an angel. Anthony Alcock has published an English translation. According to another legend in the same text, Maurice prevented a nurse from substituting one of his sons so as to save at least one of the heirs of the empire. It has been proposed that the name of the Albanian folk hero Muji derives from that of Emperor Maurice (Murik, Muji). Similarly,

399-408: A clear distinction between civil and military offices, primarily to lessen the possibility of rebellion by over-powerful provincial governors. In 584, Maurice created the office of exarch, which combined the supreme civil authority of a praetorian prefect and the military authority of a magister militum and enjoyed considerable autonomy from Constantinople. The Exarchate was successful in slowing

532-469: A disaster for the empire, sparking a twenty-six-year war with a resurgent Sassanid Persia which would leave both empires devastated prior to the Muslim conquests . Maurice's reign is a relatively well-documented era of late antiquity , in particular by the historian Theophylact Simocatta . The Strategikon , a manual of war which influenced European and Middle Eastern military traditions for well over

665-526: A faster pace. It is characterised by greater use of prepositions, and word order that is closer to modern Romance languages, for example, while grammatically retaining more or less the same formal rules as Classical Latin. Ultimately, Latin diverged into a distinct written form, where the commonly spoken form was perceived as a separate language, for instance early French or Italian dialects, that could be transcribed differently. It took some time for these to be viewed as wholly different from Latin however. After

798-743: A few in German , Dutch , Norwegian , Danish and Swedish . Latin is still spoken in Vatican City, a city-state situated in Rome that is the seat of the Catholic Church . The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part, in substantial works or in fragments to be analyzed in philology . They are in part the subject matter of the field of classics . Their works were published in manuscript form before

931-404: A few. Famous and well regarded writers included Petrarch, Erasmus, Salutati , Celtis , George Buchanan and Thomas More . Non fiction works were long produced in many subjects, including the sciences, law, philosophy, historiography and theology. Famous examples include Isaac Newton 's Principia . Latin was also used as a convenient medium for translations of important works first written in

1064-410: A large divide between the two classes. During the middle and late Republic, as this influence gradually eroded, plebeians were granted equal rights in most areas, and even greater in some. For example, only plebeians could serve as the tribune of the plebs . There were quotas for official offices. One of the two consulships was reserved for plebeians. Although being a patrician remained prestigious, it

1197-513: A millennium, is traditionally attributed to Maurice. Maurice was born in Arabissus in Cappadocia in 539. His father was Paul . He had one brother, Peter , and two sisters, Theoctista and Gordia, the latter of whom was later the wife of the general Philippicus . He is recorded to have been a native Greek speaker, unlike the previous emperors since Anastasius I Dicorus . Sources call him

1330-546: A native Cappadocian Greek and the first emperor "from the race of the Greeks". Maurice first came to Constantinople as a notarius to serve as secretary to Tiberius , the comes excubitorum (commander of the Excubitors , the imperial bodyguard). When Tiberius was named Caesar in 574, Maurice was appointed to succeed him as comes excubitorum . In late 577, despite a complete lack of military experience, Maurice

1463-560: A native language, Medieval Latin was used across Western and Catholic Europe during the Middle Ages as a working and literary language from the 9th century to the Renaissance , which then developed a classicizing form, called Renaissance Latin . This was the basis for Neo-Latin which evolved during the early modern period . In these periods Latin was used productively and generally taught to be written and spoken, at least until

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1596-524: A plebeian (although this law was frequently violated for several decades). Many of the ancient patrician gentes whose members appear in the founding legends of Rome disappeared as Rome acquired its empire, and new plebeian families rose to prominence. A number of patrician families such as the Horatii, Lucretii, Verginii and Menenii rarely appear in positions of importance during the later republic. Many old families had patrician and plebeian branches, of which

1729-541: A protesting military delegation, headed by an officer named Phocas , was humiliated and rejected in Constantinople. Maurice's marriage produced nine known children: A daughter, Miriam/Maria , is recorded by the 12th-century chronicler Michael the Syrian and other eastern sources as married to Khosrow II but not in any Byzantine Greek ones; she is probably legendary. His brother Petrus (c. 550 – 602) became

1862-567: A result, the list has variants, as well as alternative names. In addition to the historical phases, Ecclesiastical Latin refers to the styles used by the writers of the Roman Catholic Church from late antiquity onward, as well as by Protestant scholars. The earliest known form of Latin is Old Latin, also called Archaic or Early Latin, which was spoken from the Roman Kingdom , traditionally founded in 753 BC, through

1995-407: A separate language, existing more or less in parallel with the literary or educated Latin, but this is now widely dismissed. The term 'Vulgar Latin' remains difficult to define, referring both to informal speech at any time within the history of Latin, and the kind of informal Latin that had begun to move away from the written language significantly in the post-Imperial period, that led ultimately to

2128-709: A small number of Latin services held in the Anglican church. These include an annual service in Oxford, delivered with a Latin sermon; a relic from the period when Latin was the normal spoken language of the university. In the Western world, many organizations, governments and schools use Latin for their mottos due to its association with formality, tradition, and the roots of Western culture . Canada's motto A mari usque ad mare ("from sea to sea") and most provincial mottos are also in Latin. The Canadian Victoria Cross

2261-429: A sort of informal language academy dedicated to maintaining and perpetuating educated speech. Philological analysis of Archaic Latin works, such as those of Plautus , which contain fragments of everyday speech, gives evidence of an informal register of the language, Vulgar Latin (termed sermo vulgi , "the speech of the masses", by Cicero ). Some linguists, particularly in the nineteenth century, believed this to be

2394-572: A spoken and written language by the scholarship by the Renaissance humanists . Petrarch and others began to change their usage of Latin as they explored the texts of the Classical Latin world. Skills of textual criticism evolved to create much more accurate versions of extant texts through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and some important texts were rediscovered. Comprehensive versions of authors' works were published by Isaac Casaubon , Joseph Scaliger and others. Nevertheless, despite

2527-432: A strictly left-to-right script. During the late republic and into the first years of the empire, from about 75 BC to AD 200, a new Classical Latin arose, a conscious creation of the orators, poets, historians and other literate men, who wrote the great works of classical literature , which were taught in grammar and rhetoric schools. Today's instructional grammars trace their roots to such schools , which served as

2660-693: A vernacular, such as those of Descartes . Latin education underwent a process of reform to classicise written and spoken Latin. Schooling remained largely Latin medium until approximately 1700. Until the end of the 17th century, the majority of books and almost all diplomatic documents were written in Latin. Afterwards, most diplomatic documents were written in French (a Romance language ) and later native or other languages. Education methods gradually shifted towards written Latin, and eventually concentrating solely on reading skills. The decline of Latin education took several centuries and proceeded much more slowly than

2793-548: A very small number of holders. The historian Zosimus states that in Constantine's time, the holders of the title ranked even above the praetorian prefects . In the late Western Roman Empire , the title was sparingly used and retained its high prestige, being awarded, especially in the fifth century, to the powerful magistri militum who dominated the state, such as Stilicho , Constantius III , Flavius Aetius , Comes Bonifacius , and Ricimer . The patrician title

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2926-759: A victory over the Lakhmids, Arab allies of the Sassanids, while Byzantine raids again penetrated east of the Tigris. Around this time the future Khosrow II was put in charge of the situation in Armenia, where he succeeded in convincing most of the rebel leaders to return to Sassanid allegiance, although Iberia remained loyal to the Byzantines. The following year an ambitious campaign by Maurice, supported by Ghassanid forces under al-Mundhir III , targeted Ctesiphon ,

3059-411: Is Veritas ("truth"). Veritas was the goddess of truth, a daughter of Saturn, and the mother of Virtue. Switzerland has adopted the country's Latin short name Helvetia on coins and stamps, since there is no room to use all of the nation's four official languages . For a similar reason, it adopted the international vehicle and internet code CH , which stands for Confoederatio Helvetica ,

3192-897: Is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages . Latin was originally spoken by the Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio ), the lower Tiber area around Rome , Italy. Through the expansion of the Roman Republic it became the dominant language in the Italian Peninsula and subsequently throughout the Roman Empire . By the late Roman Republic , Old Latin had evolved into standardized Classical Latin . Vulgar Latin refers to

3325-640: Is a reversal of the original phrase Non terrae plus ultra ("No land further beyond", "No further!"). According to legend , this phrase was inscribed as a warning on the Pillars of Hercules , the rocks on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar and the western end of the known, Mediterranean world. Charles adopted the motto following the discovery of the New World by Columbus, and it also has metaphorical suggestions of taking risks and striving for excellence. In

3458-452: Is also evidenced in the East from 367 to 711, possibly referring to the senior-most holder of the office and leader of the patrician order ( taxis ). The feminine variant patrikia ( πατρικία ) denoted the spouses of patrikioi ; it is not to be confused with the title of zostē patrikia ("girded patrikia "), which was a unique dignity conferred on the ladies-in-waiting of

3591-500: Is found in any widespread language, the languages of Spain, France, Portugal, and Italy have retained a remarkable unity in phonological forms and developments, bolstered by the stabilising influence of their common Christian (Roman Catholic) culture. It was not until the Muslim conquest of Spain in 711, cutting off communications between the major Romance regions, that the languages began to diverge seriously. The spoken Latin that would later become Romanian diverged somewhat more from

3724-689: Is modelled after the British Victoria Cross which has the inscription "For Valour". Because Canada is officially bilingual, the Canadian medal has replaced the English inscription with the Latin Pro Valore . Spain's motto Plus ultra , meaning "even further", or figuratively "Further!", is also Latin in origin. It is taken from the personal motto of Charles V , Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain (as Charles I), and

3857-1011: Is taught at many high schools, especially in Europe and the Americas. It is most common in British public schools and grammar schools, the Italian liceo classico and liceo scientifico , the German Humanistisches Gymnasium and the Dutch gymnasium . Occasionally, some media outlets, targeting enthusiasts, broadcast in Latin. Notable examples include Radio Bremen in Germany, YLE radio in Finland (the Nuntii Latini broadcast from 1989 until it

3990-543: The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL). Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same: volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance and relevant information. The reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy . About 270,000 inscriptions are known. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. In

4123-469: The curopalates and was killed at the same time as Maurice. Petrus married Anastasia Aerobinda (born c. 570), daughter of Areobindus (born c. 550), and had female issue. Maurice's nephew Domitian of Melitene was probably a son of Petrus. In 602, Maurice, with the lack of money as always dictating policy, decreed that the army should stay for winter beyond the Danube . The exhausted troops mutinied against

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4256-599: The Aemilii , Claudii , Cornelii , Fabii , Sulpicii , and Valerii all continued to thrive under the Principate . The distinction between patricians and plebeians in ancient Rome was based purely on birth. Although modern writers often portray patricians as rich and powerful families who managed to secure power over the less-fortunate plebeian families, plebeians and patricians among the senatorial class were equally wealthy. As civil rights for plebeians increased during

4389-660: The Battle of the Blarathon . The victory was decisive; Maurice finally brought the war to a successful conclusion with the re-accession of Khosrow. Subsequently, Khosrow was adopted by the emperor in order to seal their alliance. The adoption was made through a rite of adoptio per arma , which ordinarily assumed the Christian character of its partakers. However, the chief Byzantine bishops, "despite their best attempts", failed to convert Khosrow. Khosrow rewarded Maurice by ceding to

4522-526: The Carpathian Basin in 568. Almost immediately they launched an attack on Sirmium , the keystone to the Byzantine defences on the Danube , but were repulsed. They then sent 10,000 Kotrigur Huns to invade the Byzantine province of Dalmatia . There followed a period of consolidation, during which the Byzantines paid them 80,000 gold solidi a year. In 579, his treasury empty, Tiberius II stopped

4655-583: The Holy See , the primary language of its public journal , the Acta Apostolicae Sedis , and the working language of the Roman Rota . Vatican City is also home to the world's only automatic teller machine that gives instructions in Latin. In the pontifical universities postgraduate courses of Canon law are taught in Latin, and papers are written in the same language. There are

4788-574: The Middle Ages , borrowing from Latin occurred from ecclesiastical usage established by Saint Augustine of Canterbury in the 6th century or indirectly after the Norman Conquest , through the Anglo-Norman language . From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed " inkhorn terms ", as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by

4921-576: The Roman Rite of the Catholic Church at the Vatican City . The church continues to adapt concepts from modern languages to Ecclesiastical Latin of the Latin language. Contemporary Latin is more often studied to be read rather than spoken or actively used. Latin has greatly influenced the English language , along with a large number of others, and historically contributed many words to

5054-569: The Romance languages . During the Classical period, informal language was rarely written, so philologists have been left with only individual words and phrases cited by classical authors, inscriptions such as Curse tablets and those found as graffiti . In the Late Latin period, language changes reflecting spoken (non-classical) norms tend to be found in greater quantities in texts. As it

5187-590: The Salii , the Flamines , and the Rex Sacrorum , were filled exclusively by patricians. While it was not illegal for a plebeian to run for political office, a plebeian would not have had the backing needed to win a seat. Since society was organized in this way, the patrician class was essentially in control of ancient Rome's government. In Cassius' accounts of ancient Rome, he details how important and advantaged

5320-571: The Slavs . Maurice had to continue the war against the Persians. In 586 his troops defeated them at the Battle of Solachon south of Dara . In 588, a mutiny by unpaid Byzantine troops against their new commander, Priscus , seemed to offer the Sassanids a chance for a breakthrough, but the mutineers themselves repulsed the ensuing Persian offensive. Later in the year they secured a major victory before Martyropolis . The Sassanid commander, Maruzas ,

5453-741: The Western Empire fell, the term "patrician" continued as a high honorary title in the Eastern Empire . In many medieval Italian republics , especially in Venice and Genoa , medieval patrician classes were once again formally defined groups of leading families. In the Holy Roman Empire , the Grand Burgher families had a similar meaning. Subsequently, "patrician" became a vague term used to refer to aristocrats and

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5586-636: The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 and Germanic kingdoms took its place, the Germanic people adopted Latin as a language more suitable for legal and other, more formal uses. While the written form of Latin was increasingly standardized into a fixed form, the spoken forms began to diverge more greatly. Currently, the five most widely spoken Romance languages by number of native speakers are Spanish , Portuguese , French , Italian , and Romanian . Despite dialectal variation, which

5719-669: The war with Sasanian Persia to a victorious conclusion . The empire's eastern border in the South Caucasus was vastly expanded and, for the first time in nearly two centuries, the Romans were no longer obliged to pay the Persians thousands of pounds of gold annually for peace. Afterward, Maurice campaigned extensively in the Balkans against the Avars —pushing them back across the Danube by 599. He also conducted campaigns across

5852-637: The British Crown. The motto is featured on all presently minted coinage and has been featured in most coinage throughout the nation's history. Several states of the United States have Latin mottos , such as: Many military organizations today have Latin mottos, such as: Some law governing bodies in the Philippines have Latin mottos, such as: Some colleges and universities have adopted Latin mottos, for example Harvard University 's motto

5985-483: The Byzantine world. According to the late ninth-century Kletorologion , the insignia of the dignity were ivory inscribed tablets. During the eleventh century, the dignity of patrikios followed the fate of other titles: extensively awarded, it lost in status, and disappeared during the Komnenian period in the early twelfth century. The title of prōtopatrikios ( πρωτοπατρίκιος , "first patrician")

6118-657: The Danube in 593. The same year he crossed the Danube into modern-day Wallachia to continue his series of victories. In 594, Maurice replaced Priscus with his rather inexperienced brother Peter, who, despite initial failures, scored another victory in Wallachia. Priscus, now in command of another army further upstream, defeated the Avars again in 595. The latter now only dared to attack peripherally, in Dalmatia two years later. In

6251-656: The Danube line again. Meanwhile, Maurice was making plans for repopulating devastated areas in the Balkans by using Armenian settlers. Maurice also planned to lead further campaigns against the Avar Khaganate, so as to either destroy them or force them into submission. In the west, Maurice organised the threatened Byzantine dominions in Italy into the Exarchate of Italy . The Late Roman administrative system provided for

6384-413: The Danube, the first Roman emperor to do so in over two centuries. In the west, he established two large semi-autonomous provinces called exarchates , ruled by exarchs , or viceroys of the emperor. In Italy Maurice established the Exarchate of Italy in 584, the first real effort by the empire to halt the advance of the Lombards . With the creation of the Exarchate of Africa in 591 he further solidified

6517-404: The Empire. In the court hierarchy, the eunuch patrikioi enjoyed higher precedence, coming before even the anthypatoi-Latn . The title was also granted to important allied foreign rulers, as the early Bulgarian ruler Kubrat , whose ring A was inscribed in Greek XOBPATOY and ring C was inscribed XOBPATOY ПATPIKIOY, indicating the dignity of Patrikios (Patrician) that he had achieved in

6650-486: The English lexicon , particularly after the Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons and the Norman Conquest . Latin and Ancient Greek roots are heavily used in English vocabulary in theology , the sciences , medicine , and law . A number of phases of the language have been recognized, each distinguished by subtle differences in vocabulary, usage, spelling, and syntax. There are no hard and fast rules of classification; different scholars emphasize different features. As

6783-416: The Grinch Stole Christmas! , The Cat in the Hat , and a book of fairy tales, " fabulae mirabiles ", are intended to garner popular interest in the language. Additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissner's Latin Phrasebook . Some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series,

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6916-480: The Imperial period, and the latest known members of the "original" patrician houses are Servius Cornelius Dolabella Metilianus Pompeius Marcellus or possibly the Cornelii Scipiones Salvidieni Orfiti . "Patrician" and "plebeian" are still used today to refer to groups of people of high and lower classes. The following gentes were regarded as patrician, although they may have had plebeian members or branches. A number of other gentes originally belonged to

7049-500: The Lombard advance in Italy. In 591, he created a second Exarchate in Byzantine North Africa , along similar lines. In 597, an ailing Maurice wrote his last will, in which he described his ideas of governing the empire. His eldest son, Theodosius , would rule the eastern provinces from Constantinople ; his second son, Tiberius, would rule the western exarchates from Rome . Some historians believe he intended for his younger sons to rule from Alexandria, Carthage, and Antioch. His intent

7182-571: The Roman army's supply line. Adarmahan pillaged Osrhoene , and was successful in capturing its capital, Edessa . He then marched his army toward Callinicum on the Euphrates. With the possibility of a march to Ctesiphon gone Maurice was forced to retreat. The retreat was arduous for the tired army, and Maurice and al-Mundhir exchanged recriminations for the expedition's failure. However, they cooperated in forcing Adarmahan to withdraw, and defeated him at Callinicum . The mutual recriminations were not laid to rest by this. Despite his successes, al-Mundhir

7315-454: The Sassanid capital. The combined force moved south along the river Euphrates accompanied by a fleet of ships. The army stormed the fortress of Anatha and moved on until it reached the region of Beth Aramaye in central Mesopotamia , near Ctesiphon. There they found the bridge over the Euphrates destroyed by the Persians. In response to Maurice's advance, Sassanid general Adarmahan was ordered to operate in northern Mesopotamia, threatening

7448-413: The Senate, giving them wider political influence than the plebeians, at least in the times of the early Republic. The patricians in ancient Rome were of the same status as aristocrats in Greek society . Being of the noble class meant that patricians were able to participate in government and politics, while the plebeians could not. This privilege was important in ancient Roman history and eventually caused

7581-434: The Slavs threatened the capital and in 586 the Avars besieged Thessalonica , while the Slavs went as far as the Peloponnese . After his victory on the eastern frontier in 591, Maurice was free to focus on the Balkans . He launched several campaigns against the Slavs and Avars. In 592 his troops retook Singidunum (modern Belgrade) from the Avars. His commander-in-chief Priscus defeated the Slavs, Avars and Gepids south of

7714-409: The United States the unofficial national motto until 1956 was E pluribus unum meaning "Out of many, one". The motto continues to be featured on the Great Seal . It also appears on the flags and seals of both houses of congress and the flags of the states of Michigan, North Dakota, New York, and Wisconsin. The motto's 13 letters symbolically represent the original Thirteen Colonies which revolted from

7847-447: The University of Kentucky, the University of Oxford and also Princeton University. There are many websites and forums maintained in Latin by enthusiasts. The Latin Misplaced Pages has more than 130,000 articles. Italian , French , Portuguese , Spanish , Romanian , Catalan , Romansh , Sardinian and other Romance languages are direct descendants of Latin. There are also many Latin borrowings in English and Albanian , as well as

7980-420: The advantage he had gained at the Battle of Constantina was lost when his successor as magister militum of the east, John Mystacon , was defeated at the River Nymphios by Kardarigan . The situation was difficult: Maurice ruled a bankrupt Empire; it was at war with Persia; he was paying extremely high tribute to the Avars , 80,000 gold solidi a year; and the Balkan provinces were being thoroughly devastated by

8113-423: The author and then forgotten, but some useful ones survived, such as 'imbibe' and 'extrapolate'. Many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French . Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and Dutch vocabularies. Those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Patrikios After

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8246-440: The basis for the later introduction of themes as military districts. Maurice promoted science and the arts and he is traditionally named as author of the military treatise Strategikon , which is praised in military circles as the only sophisticated combined arms theory until World War II . Some historians now believe the Strategikon is the work of his brother or another general in his court, however. His greatest weakness

8379-459: The beginning of the year or before a military campaign, Roman magistrates used to consult the gods. Livy reports that the first admission of plebeians into a priestly college happened in 300 BC with the passage of the Lex Ogulnia when the College of Augurs raised their number from four to nine. After that, plebeians were accepted into the other religious colleges. By the end of the Republic, only priesthoods with limited political importance, such as

8512-425: The benefit of those who do not understand Latin. There are also songs written with Latin lyrics . The libretto for the opera-oratorio Oedipus rex by Igor Stravinsky is in Latin. Parts of Carl Orff 's Carmina Burana are written in Latin. Enya has recorded several tracks with Latin lyrics. The continued instruction of Latin is seen by some as a highly valuable component of a liberal arts education. Latin

8645-409: The careful work of Petrarch, Politian and others, first the demand for manuscripts, and then the rush to bring works into print, led to the circulation of inaccurate copies for several centuries following. Neo-Latin literature was extensive and prolific, but less well known or understood today. Works covered poetry, prose stories and early novels, occasional pieces and collections of letters, to name

8778-415: The classicised Latin that followed through to the present are often grouped together as Neo-Latin , or New Latin, which have in recent decades become a focus of renewed study , given their importance for the development of European culture, religion and science. The vast majority of written Latin belongs to this period, but its full extent is unknown. The Renaissance reinforced the position of Latin as

8911-412: The country's full Latin name. Some film and television in ancient settings, such as Sebastiane , The Passion of the Christ and Barbarians (2020 TV series) , have been made with dialogue in Latin. Occasionally, Latin dialogue is used because of its association with religion or philosophy, in such film/television series as The Exorcist and Lost (" Jughead "). Subtitles are usually shown for

9044-429: The decline in written Latin output. Despite having no native speakers, Latin is still used for a variety of purposes in the contemporary world. The largest organisation that retains Latin in official and quasi-official contexts is the Catholic Church . The Catholic Church required that Mass be carried out in Latin until the Second Vatican Council of 1962–1965 , which permitted the use of the vernacular . Latin remains

9177-410: The description of him by Theophylact may exaggerate these traits. He possessed insight, public spirit, and courage. He proved his expertise on military and foreign affairs during his campaigns against the Persians, Avars and Slavs, and during peace negotiations with Khosrow II. His administrative reforms reveal him as a farsighted statesman, all the more since they outlasted his death by centuries and were

9310-423: The destruction of Alba Longa . The noble Alban families that settled in Rome in the time of Tullus Hostilius then formed the nucleus of the gentes minores. These included the Julii, Tulii, Servilii, Quinctii, Geganii, Curtii, and Cloelii. However, Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities suggests that the Alban families were also included among the gentes maiores, and that the gentes minores consisted of

9443-413: The differentiation between classes. Few plebeian names appear in lists of Roman magistrates during the early Republic. Two laws passed during the fourth century BC began the gradual opening of magistrates to the plebeians: the Lex Licinia Sextia of 367 BC, which established the right of plebeians to hold the consulship; and the Genucian Law of 342 BC, which required that at least one of the consuls be

9576-522: The disintegration of the empire of Justinian I . The death of Maurice was a turning point. The war against Persia which it caused weakened both empires, enabling the Slavs to permanently settle the Balkans and paving the way for the Arab-Muslim expansion . His court still used Latin alongside Greek , as did the army and administration. Historian A. H. M. Jones characterises the death of Maurice as

9709-522: The educated and official world, Latin continued without its natural spoken base. Moreover, this Latin spread into lands that had never spoken Latin, such as the Germanic and Slavic nations. It became useful for international communication between the member states of the Holy Roman Empire and its allies. Without the institutions of the Roman Empire that had supported its uniformity, Medieval Latin

9842-544: The emperor to choose between a long reign or death and acceptance in the kingdom of heaven. Maurice preferred the second choice. The same story has been recorded in a short Syriac hagiography on the life of the emperor. It is of East Syrian origin. This was later sanctified by the Eastern Orthodox Church. According to the Syriac author, the emperor asked in prayer to receive a punishment in this world and

9975-512: The emperor, taking his family with him, left the city on a warship heading to Nicomedia . Theodosius was put ashore with direction to seek support from the Persians, but apparently never reached his destination. Phocas entered Constantinople in November and was crowned emperor. His troops captured Maurice and his remaining family, and brought them to the Harbor of Eutropius at Chalcedon. Maurice

10108-460: The emperor. Probably misjudging the situation, Maurice repeatedly ordered his troops to start a new offensive rather than return to winter quarters. His troops gained the impression that Maurice no longer understood the military situation and proclaimed Phocas their leader. They demanded that Maurice abdicate and proclaim as successor either his son Theodosius or General Germanus . Both men were accused of treason. As riots broke out in Constantinople,

10241-495: The empire slowly but steadily succeeded, especially after the peace with Persia. His initial popularity apparently declined during his reign, mostly because of his fiscal policies. In 588 he announced a cut in military wages by a quarter, leading to a serious mutiny by troops on the Persian front. He refused to pay a small ransom in 599 or 600 to free 12,000 Byzantine soldiers taken prisoner by the Avars. The prisoners were killed, and

10374-434: The empire western Armenia up to the lakes Van and Sevan , including the large cities of Martyropolis , Tigranokert , Manzikert , Ani , and Yerevan . Maurice's treaty brought a new status-quo to the east territorially. Byzantium was enlarged to an extent never before achieved by the empire. During the new "perpetual peace" millions of solidi were saved by the remission of tribute to the Persians. The Avars arrived in

10507-411: The empire) read it for him. The speech proclaimed Maurice as Augustus and sole successor to the throne. On 14 August 582 Tiberius died and his last words were spoken to his successor: "Let my sovereignty be delivered to thee with this girl. Be happy in the use of it, mindful always to love equity and justice." Maurice became sole emperor, marrying Constantina in the autumn. Shortly after his ascension

10640-498: The end of the era of Classical Antiquity , as the turmoil that shattered the empire over the next four decades permanently and thoroughly changed society and politics. The first legendary accounts of Maurice's life are recorded in the ninth century, in the work of the Byzantine historian Theophanes the Confessor . According to his chronicle Chronographia , the death of the imperial family is due to divine intervention: Christ asked

10773-581: The families admitted to the patriciate under the Tarquins and in the early years of the Republic . In any case, the distinction cannot have been based entirely on priority, because the Claudii did not arrive at Rome until after the expulsion of the kings. Patrician status still carried a degree of prestige at the time of the early Roman Empire , and Roman emperors routinely elevated their supporters to

10906-432: The harbor of Eutropius when Constantina was found guilty of a conspiracy against Phocas. The entire family of Maurice and Constantina was buried at the monastery of St. Mamas or Nea Metanoia that had been founded by Maurice's sister Gordia. The Persian king Khosrow II used this coup and the murder of his patron as an excuse for a renewed war against the empire. Maurice is seen as an able emperor and commander-in-chief, though

11039-462: The higher bourgeoisie in many countries. According to Livy , the first hundred men appointed senators by Romulus were referred to as "fathers" (Latin patres ), and the descendants of those men became the patrician class. This account is also described by Cicero . The appointment of these one hundred men into the Senate gave them a noble status. That status is what separated the patricians from

11172-461: The importance of the patrician/plebeian distinction is accounted by all as paramount to ancient Roman society. The distinction between the noble class, the patricians, and the Roman populace, the plebeians, existed from the beginning of ancient Rome. This distinction became increasingly important in the society until the period of the late republic. The patricians were given noble status when named to

11305-722: The introduction of the Council of the Plebs and the tribunes of the plebs. These two political bodies were created to give the plebeians a voice. After the Conflict of the Orders, according to Mathisen, Plebeians were able to rise in politics and become members of the Senate, which previously had been exclusively for patricians. A series of laws diminished the distinction between the two classes, including Lex Canuleia (445 BC; which allowed

11438-703: The invention of printing and are now published in carefully annotated printed editions, such as the Loeb Classical Library , published by Harvard University Press , or the Oxford Classical Texts , published by Oxford University Press . Latin translations of modern literature such as: The Hobbit , Treasure Island , Robinson Crusoe , Paddington Bear , Winnie the Pooh , The Adventures of Tintin , Asterix , Harry Potter , Le Petit Prince , Max and Moritz , How

11571-704: The language of the Roman Rite . The Tridentine Mass (also known as the Extraordinary Form or Traditional Latin Mass) is celebrated in Latin. Although the Mass of Paul VI (also known as the Ordinary Form or the Novus Ordo) is usually celebrated in the local vernacular language, it can be and often is said in Latin, in part or in whole, especially at multilingual gatherings. It is the official language of

11704-440: The large areas where it had come to be natively spoken. However, even after the fall of Western Rome , Latin remained the common language of international communication , science, scholarship and academia in Europe until well into the early 19th century, by which time modern languages had supplanted it in common academic and political usage. Late Latin is the literary language from the 3rd century AD onward. No longer spoken as

11837-575: The late Republic, most distinctions between patricians and plebeians had faded away. By Julius Caesar 's time so few of the patriciate were left that a special law was made, the Lex Cassia , for the enrollment of new patricians. This was followed by Augustus under the Lex Saenia , and continued by later emperors such as Claudius . The last patrician families of the Republic went extinct in

11970-467: The late seventeenth century, when spoken skills began to erode. It then became increasingly taught only to be read. Latin grammar is highly fusional , with classes of inflections for case , number , person , gender , tense , mood , voice , and aspect . The Latin alphabet is directly derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets . Latin remains the official language of the Holy See and

12103-431: The later part of the Roman Republic , up to 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin . It is attested both in inscriptions and in some of the earliest extant Latin literary works, such as the comedies of Plautus and Terence . The Latin alphabet was devised from the Etruscan alphabet . The writing later changed from what was initially either a right-to-left or a boustrophedon script to what ultimately became

12236-576: The latter's rule in Italy after his overthrow of the rebellious magister militum Orestes and his son Romulus Augustulus in 476. In the Eastern Empire, Theodosius II (r. 408–450) barred eunuchs from holding it, although this restriction had been overturned by the sixth century. Under Justinian I (r. 527–565), the title proliferated and was consequently somewhat devalued, as the emperor opened it to all those above illustris rank, i.e.

12369-421: The less prestigious colloquial registers , attested in inscriptions and some literary works such as those of the comic playwrights Plautus and Terence and the author Petronius . While often called a "dead language", Latin did not undergo language death . By the 6th to 9th centuries, natural language change eventually resulted in Latin as a vernacular language evolving into distinct Romance languages in

12502-529: The main focus of the war shifted to that front. After Persian raids in Mesopotamia, Maurice mounted attacks on both sides of the Tigris, captured the fortress of Aphumon and sacked Singara . Sassanid emperor Khosrow sought peace in 579, but died before an agreement could be reached and his successor Hormizd IV (r. 579–590) broke off the negotiations. In 580, Byzantium's Arab allies the Ghassanids scored

12635-475: The majority of the Senate . In the eighth century, in the Eastern Roman Empire , the title was further lowered in the court order of precedence, coming after the magistros and the anthypatos . However it remained one of the highest in the imperial hierarchy until the eleventh century, being awarded to the most important strategoi (provincial governors and generals, allies) of

12768-409: The marriage— ius connubii —between patricians and plebeians ), Leges Liciniae Sextiae (367 BC; which made restrictions on possession of public lands— ager publicus —and also made sure that one of the consuls was plebeian), Lex Ogulnia (300 BC; plebeians received access to priest posts), and Lex Hortensia (287 BC; verdicts of plebeian assemblies— plebiscita —now bind all people). Gradually, by

12901-468: The middle and late Roman Republic , many plebeian families had attained wealth and power while some traditionally patrician families had fallen into poverty and obscurity. However, no amount of wealth could change one's class. A marriage between a patrician and a plebeian was the only way to legally integrate the two classes. However, when the Twelve Tables were written down, the marriage between

13034-502: The name of the folk hero's wife, Ajkuna (or Kuna), corresponds to that of the Empress Aelia Constantina, the wife of Maurice, if we take into account the laws of phonetic evolution of the Albanian language since Late Antiquity. Though this proposition remains a matter of debate. Latin language Latin ( lingua Latina , pronounced [ˈlɪŋɡʷa ɫaˈtiːna] , or Latinum [ɫaˈtiːnʊ̃] )

13167-482: The new Centuriate Assembly was created, the patrician class remained in power. The assembly separated citizens into classes, however, the top two classes, Equites and Patricians, controlled the majority of the vote. This meant, that while the plebeians were able to vote, if the patrician classes voted together, they could control the vote. Ancient Rome, according to Ralph Mathisen, author of Ancient Roman Civilization: History and Sources, made political reforms, such as

13300-477: The new king. The former Persian commander-in-chief, Bahram Chobin , who had rebelled against Hormizd IV , claimed the throne for himself and defeated Khosrow. Khosrow and the two Parthians fled to the Byzantine court. Although the Senate unanimously advised against it, Maurice helped Khosrow regain his throne with an army of 35,000 men. In 591 the combined Byzantine-Persian army under generals John Mystacon and Narses defeated Bahram Chobin's forces near Ganzak at

13433-496: The other class, was important. Having a legally recognized marriage ensured that the children born from the marriage were given Roman citizenship and any property they might inherit. Eventually, the plebeians became unsatisfied with being the lower class and not having the same rights and privileges as the patricians. This time in Roman history is called the Conflict of the Orders , which took place between 500 and 287 BC. Due to

13566-466: The other varieties, as it was largely separated from the unifying influences in the western part of the Empire. Spoken Latin began to diverge into distinct languages by the 9th century at the latest, when the earliest extant Romance writings begin to appear. They were, throughout the period, confined to everyday speech, as Medieval Latin was used for writing. For many Italians using Latin, though, there

13699-582: The patrician caste en masse . This prestige gradually declined further, and by the end of the Crisis of the Third Century patrician status, as it had been known in the Republic, ceased to have meaning in everyday life. The emperor Constantine the Great (r. 306–337) reintroduced the term as the empire's senior honorific title, not tied to any specific administrative position, and from the first limited to

13832-473: The patrician class was over the plebeian class. He indicates the status difference between patricians and plebeians by detailing the specific shoes the patricians wore. Cassius states, "For the shoes worn by the patricians in the city were ornamented with laced straps and the design of the letter, to signify that they were descended from the original hundred men that had been senators." It is clear through Cassius' account that these details mattered and represented

13965-648: The patrician lines frequently faded into obscurity, and were eclipsed by their plebeian namesakes. The decline accelerated toward the end of the Republic, principally because of the civil wars, from the Social War to the proscriptions of the Triumvirs , which took a heavy toll on them. As a result, several illustrious patrician houses were on the verge of extinction during the first century BC, sometimes only surviving through adoptions, such as: However, large gentes with multiple stirpes seem to have coped better;

14098-409: The patricians but were known chiefly for their plebeian branches. Among the patricians, certain families were known as the gentes maiores , the greatest or perhaps the most noble houses. The other patrician families were called the gentes minores . Whether this distinction had any legal significance is not known, but it has been suggested that the princeps senatus , or Speaker of the Senate,

14231-411: The patricians having the political status, the plebeian class had no representation in the government to advocate for their interests. By not having anyone advocating for their interests, this also meant that the plebeians did not always know the laws by which they had to abide. Since the patricians were of high social status, they did not want to lose this status; they were not in agreement with changing

14364-419: The payments. The Avars retaliated with another siege of Sirmium . The city fell in c. 581. After the capture of Sirmium, the Avars demanded 100,000 solidi a year. Refused, they used the strategically important city as a base of operations against several poorly defended forts along the Danube and began pillaging the northern and eastern Balkans. The Slavs began settling the land from the 580s on. In 584,

14497-451: The plebeians. Some accounts detail that the one hundred men were chosen because of their wisdom. This would coincide with the idea that ancient Rome was founded on a merit-based ideal. According to other opinions, the patricians ( patricii ) were those who could point to fathers, i.e., those who were members of the clans ( gentes ) whose members originally comprised the whole citizen body. Other noble families which came to Rome during

14630-427: The power of Constantinople in the western Mediterranean . Maurice's successes on battlefields and in foreign policy were counterbalanced by mounting financial difficulties of the empire. Maurice responded with several unpopular measures which alienated both the army and the general populace. In 602, a dissatisfied officer named Phocas usurped the throne, having Maurice and his six sons executed. This event would prove

14763-480: The same year the Byzantines concluded a peace treaty with the Avar leader Bayan I , which allowed the Byzantines to send expeditions into Wallachia . In 598, Maurice broke the treaty to permit a retaliation campaign inside the Avar homeland. In 599 and 601 the Byzantine forces wreaked havoc amongst the Avars and Gepids. In 602, the Slavs suffered a crushing defeat in Wallachia. The Byzantine troops were now able to hold

14896-569: The structure of society by giving plebeians more status. Eventually, the plebeian class created their own governing body, the Council of the Plebs . Another advancement that came from the Conflict of the Orders was the Twelve Tables. At this time in ancient Rome, the monarchy had been overthrown. The plebeians wanted to know the laws, which resulted in the written form of laws: the Twelve Tables. Even once these laws were written down, and

15029-583: The time of the kings were also admitted to the patriciate, including several who emigrated from Alba Longa , after that city was destroyed by Tullus Hostilius . The last-known instance of a gens being admitted to the patriciate prior to the first century BC was when the Claudii were added to the ranks of the patricians after coming to Rome in 504 BC, five years after the establishment of the Republic. The criteria for why Romulus chose certain men for this class remains contested by academics and historians, but

15162-466: The tribune of the plebs. Patricians historically had more privileges and rights than plebeians. This status difference was marked at the beginning of the Republic : patricians were better represented in the Roman assemblies , and only patricians could hold high political offices, such as dictator , consul , and censor , and all priesthoods (such as pontifex maximus ) were closed to non-patricians. There

15295-487: The two classes was prohibited. This was repealed in 445 BC with the Lex Canuleia . If a marriage was to occur between a patrician and a plebeian, the children of that marriage would then be given patrician status. This law was created to prevent the classes from mixing. In ancient Rome women did not have power in the household. However, according to Mathisen, having a recognized marriage, so not illegally marrying into

15428-448: Was a belief that patricians communicated better with the Roman gods , so they alone could perform the sacred rites and take the auspices . Additionally, not only were the patricians of higher status in political offices but they also had the best land in ancient Rome. Having the best land allowed the patrician class to have more opportunities, such as being able to produce better agriculture. This view had political consequences, since in

15561-443: Was able to persuade Tiberius of al-Mundhir's guilt. The charge of treason is almost universally dismissed by modern historians; Irfan Shahîd says that it probably had more to do with Maurice's dislike of the veteran and militarily successful Arab ruler. This was compounded by the Byzantines' habitual distrust of the " barbarian " and supposedly innately traitorous Arabs, as well as by al-Mundhir's staunchly Monophysite faith. Al-Mundhir

15694-553: Was accused by Maurice of treason during the preceding campaign. Maurice claimed that al-Mundhir had revealed the Byzantine plan to the Persians, who then proceeded to destroy the bridge over the Euphrates. The chronicler John of Ephesus explicitly calls this assertion a lie, as the Byzantine intentions must have been plain to the Persian commanders. Both Maurice and al-Mundhir wrote letters to Emperor Tiberius, who tried to reconcile them. Maurice visited Constantinople himself, where he

15827-565: Was arrested the following year on suspicion of treachery, triggering war between Byzantines and Ghassanids and marking the beginning of the end of the Ghassanid kingdom. In June of 582 Maurice scored a decisive victory against Adarmahan near Constantina . Adarmahan barely escaped the field, while his co-commander Tamkhosrau was killed. In the same month Emperor Tiberius was struck down by an illness which shortly thereafter killed him. In this state Tiberius initially named two heirs, each of whom

15960-413: Was free to develop on its own, there is no reason to suppose that the speech was uniform either diachronically or geographically. On the contrary, Romanised European populations developed their own dialects of the language, which eventually led to the differentiation of Romance languages . Late Latin is a kind of written Latin used in the 3rd to 6th centuries. This began to diverge from Classical forms at

16093-473: Was his inability to judge how unpopular his decisions were. The historian C. W. Previté-Orton listed a number of character flaws in the emperor's personality: His fault was too much faith in his own excellent judgment without regard to the disagreement and unpopularity which he provoked by decisions in themselves right and wise. He was a better judge of policy than of men. It was this flaw that cost him throne and life, and thwarted most of his efforts to prevent

16226-435: Was killed, several of the Persian leaders were captured along with 3,000 other prisoners, and only a thousand men survived to reach refuge at Nisibis. The Byzantines secured much booty, including the Persian battle standards, and sent them, along with Maruzas' head, to Maurice in Constantinople. In 590, two Parthian brothers, Vistahm and Vinduyih , overthrew King Hormizd IV and made the latter's son, Prince Khosrow II ,

16359-496: Was much more liberal in its linguistic cohesion: for example, in classical Latin sum and eram are used as auxiliary verbs in the perfect and pluperfect passive, which are compound tenses. Medieval Latin might use fui and fueram instead. Furthermore, the meanings of many words were changed and new words were introduced, often under influence from the vernacular. Identifiable individual styles of classically incorrect Latin prevail. Renaissance Latin, 1300 to 1500, and

16492-450: Was murdered at the harbor of Eutropius on 27 November 602. The deposed emperor was forced to watch his five younger sons executed before he was beheaded himself. Empress Constantina and her three daughters were temporarily spared and sent to a monastery. The palace eunuch Scholasticus aided their escape to St. Sophia, but the church turned them over to Phocas, who sent them back to the monastery. A few years later, they were all executed at

16625-401: Was named as magister militum per Orientem , effectively commander-in-chief of the Byzantine army in the east. He succeeded General Justinian in the ongoing war against Sassanid Persia . At about the same time he was raised to the rank of patrikios , the empire's senior honorific title, which was limited to a small number of holders. In 578, a truce in Mesopotamia came to an end and

16758-441: Was no complete separation between Italian and Latin, even into the beginning of the Renaissance . Petrarch for example saw Latin as a literary version of the spoken language. Medieval Latin is the written Latin in use during that portion of the post-classical period when no corresponding Latin vernacular existed, that is from around 700 to 1500 AD. The spoken language had developed into the various Romance languages; however, in

16891-622: Was occasionally used in Western Europe after the end of the Roman Empire; for instance, Pope Stephen II granted the title "Patricius of the Romans" to the Frankish ruler Pepin the Short . The revival of patrician classes in medieval Italian city-states , and also north of the Alps, is covered in patricianship . The eastern emperor Zeno (r. 474–491) granted it to Odoacer to legitimize

17024-446: Was of minimal practical importance. With the exception of some religious offices which were devoid of political power, plebeians were able to stand for all of the offices that were open to patricians. Plebeians of the senatorial class were no less wealthy than patricians at the height of the republic. Originally patrician, Publius Clodius Pulcher willingly arranged to be adopted by a plebeian family in order to qualify to be appointed as

17157-424: Was on his deathbed and civilian, military and ecclesiastical dignitaries awaited the appointment of his successor. He then chose Maurice and named him Caesar , after which he adopted the name "Tiberius". Maurice was crowned emperor soon after, on 13 August. Tiberius had reportedly prepared a speech on the matter but at this point was too weak to speak. The quaestor sacri palatii (the senior judicial official of

17290-482: Was shut down in June 2019), and Vatican Radio & Television, all of which broadcast news segments and other material in Latin. A variety of organisations, as well as informal Latin 'circuli' ('circles'), have been founded in more recent times to support the use of spoken Latin. Moreover, a number of university classics departments have begun incorporating communicative pedagogies in their Latin courses. These include

17423-557: Was to maintain the unity of the empire; this idea bears a strong resemblance to the Tetrarchy of Diocletian. However, Maurice's violent death prevented these plans from coming to fruition. In religious matters, Maurice was tolerant towards Monophysitism , although he was a supporter of the Council of Chalcedon . He clashed with Pope Gregory I over the latter's defence of Rome against the Lombards . Maurice's efforts to consolidate

17556-442: Was to marry one of his daughters. Maurice was betrothed to Constantina , and Germanus , related through blood to the great emperor Justinian I , was married to Charito. It appears that the plan was to divide the empire in two, with Maurice receiving the eastern provinces and Germanus the western. According to John of Nikiû , Germanus was Tiberius' favored candidate for the throne but declined out of humility. On 5 August, Tiberius

17689-484: Was traditionally chosen from the gentes maiores . No list of the gentes maiores has been discovered, and even their number is unknown. It has been suggested that the Aemilii, Claudii, Cornelii, Fabii, Manlii, and Valerii were amongst them. The Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology suggests that the gentes maiores consisted of families that settled at Rome in the time of Romulus , or at least before

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