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109-804: The most famous Lateran buildings are the Lateran Palace , once called the Palace of the Popes, and the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran , the cathedral of Rome, which while in Rome, and not in the Vatican, are properties of the Holy See , and have extraterritorial privileges as a result of the 1929 Lateran Treaty with Italy. As the official ecclesiastical seat of the pope , Saint John Lateran contains

218-405: A priestly role . He could not marry a woman from a senatorial family, nor achieve legitimate senatorial rank himself, but during the early Empire, freedmen held key positions in the government bureaucracy, so much so that Hadrian limited their participation by law. The rise of successful freedmen—through political influence or wealth—is a characteristic of early Imperial society. The prosperity of

327-563: A faction that opposed his concentration of power. This faction was driven from Rome and defeated at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC by Mark Antony and Caesar's adopted son Octavian . Antony and Octavian divided the Roman world between them, but this did not last long. Octavian's forces defeated those of Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. In 27 BC the Senate gave him

436-425: A fifth of the population and played a major role in the economy. Slavery was a complex institution that supported traditional Roman social structures as well as contributing economic utility. In urban settings, slaves might be professionals such as teachers, physicians, chefs, and accountants; the majority of slaves provided trained or unskilled labour. Agriculture and industry, such as milling and mining, relied on

545-640: A fine for a crime for which an humilior might receive a scourging . Execution, which was an infrequent legal penalty for free men under the Republic, could be quick and relatively painless for honestiores , while humiliores might suffer the kinds of torturous death previously reserved for slaves, such as crucifixion and condemnation to the beasts . In the early Empire, those who converted to Christianity could lose their standing as honestiores , especially if they declined to fulfil religious responsibilities, and thus became subject to punishments that created

654-425: A freedman were born free, with full rights of citizenship. After manumission, a slave who had belonged to a Roman citizen enjoyed active political freedom ( libertas ), including the right to vote. His former master became his patron ( patronus ): the two continued to have customary and legal obligations to each other. A freedman was not entitled to hold public office or the highest state priesthoods, but could play

763-578: A high-achieving group of freedmen is attested by inscriptions throughout the Empire . The Latin word ordo (plural ordines ) is translated variously and inexactly into English as "class, order, rank". One purpose of the Roman census was to determine the ordo to which an individual belonged. Two of the highest ordines in Rome were the senatorial and equestrian. Outside Rome, cities or colonies were led by decurions , also known as curiales . "Senator"

872-571: A higher social class. Most of the emperors were bilingual but had a preference for Latin in the public sphere for political reasons, a "rule" that first started during the Punic Wars . Different emperors up until Justinian would attempt to require the use of Latin in various sections of the administration but there is no evidence that a linguistic imperialism existed during the early Empire. After all freeborn inhabitants were universally enfranchised in 212 , many Roman citizens would have lacked

981-401: A household or workplace, a hierarchy of slaves might exist, with one slave acting as the master of others. Talented slaves might accumulate a large enough peculium to justify their freedom, or be manumitted for services rendered. Manumission had become frequent enough that in 2 BC a law ( Lex Fufia Caninia ) limited the number of slaves an owner was allowed to free in his will. Following

1090-472: A knowledge of Latin. The wide use of Koine Greek was what enabled the spread of Christianity and reflects its role as the lingua franca of the Mediterranean during the time of the Empire. Following Diocletian's reforms in the 3rd century CE, there was a decline in the knowledge of Greek in the west. Spoken Latin later fragmented into the incipient romance languages in the 7th century CE following

1199-459: A man as an equestrian. The census of 28 BC uncovered large numbers of men who qualified, and in 14 AD, a thousand equestrians were registered at Cádiz and Padua alone. Equestrians rose through a military career track ( tres militiae ) to become highly placed prefects and procurators within the Imperial administration. The rise of provincial men to the senatorial and equestrian orders

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1308-560: A married woman could have sex only with her husband, but a married man did not commit adultery if he had sex with a prostitute or person of marginalized status. Childbearing was encouraged: a woman who had given birth to three children was granted symbolic honours and greater legal freedom (the ius trium liberorum ). At the time of Augustus, as many as 35% of the people in Roman Italy were slaves, making Rome one of five historical "slave societies" in which slaves constituted at least

1417-533: A pilgrimage church. Sixtus V , more concerned with rationalized urban planning than the preservation of antiquities, then destroyed what still remained of the ancient palace of the Lateran in 1586 preserving only the Sancta Sanctorum , and erected the present much smaller edifice in its place, designed by his favorite architect Domenico Fontana. The architect he employed, immediately upon his election,

1526-427: A sense of "Romanness". Roman society had multiple, overlapping social hierarchies . The civil war preceding Augustus caused upheaval, but did not effect an immediate redistribution of wealth and social power. From the perspective of the lower classes, a peak was merely added to the social pyramid. Personal relationships— patronage , friendship ( amicitia ), family , marriage —continued to influence politics. By

1635-513: A slave's rapist had to be prosecuted by the owner for property damage under the Aquilian Law . Slaves had no right to the form of legal marriage called conubium , but their unions were sometimes recognized. Technically, a slave could not own property, but a slave who conducted business might be given access to an individual fund ( peculium ) that he could use, depending on the degree of trust and co-operation between owner and slave. Within

1744-537: A specially built structure opposite the palace. The existing structure is not ancient, but a representation of the original mosaics is preserved in a three-part mosaic: In the centre Christ gives their mission to the Apostles ; on the left he gives the keys to St. Peter and the Labarum to Constantine; while on the right St. Peter gives the stole to Leo III and the standard to Charlemagne , an image meant to represent

1853-545: Is an aspect of social mobility in the early Empire. Roman aristocracy was based on competition, and unlike later European nobility , a Roman family could not maintain its position merely through hereditary succession or having title to lands. Admission to the higher ordines brought distinction and privileges, but also responsibilities. In antiquity, a city depended on its leading citizens to fund public works, events, and services ( munera ). Maintaining one's rank required massive personal expenditures. Decurions were so vital for

1962-767: Is one of the pontifical universities of Rome. An ecclesiastical college in the Philippines was named after the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, the Colegio de San Juan de Letran , founded in 1620. The Lateran buildings played an important role in Catholic Church history. It (specifically the Lateran Palace) being the place where the First Council of the Lateran 1123 , Second Council of

2071-579: The Lex de imperio Vespasiani tables. Pope Leo III built two triclinia (the first known simply as the Triclinium or triclinium maius while the second one became known as Aula Concilii ) around 800 to serve as the heart of papal ceremonial. Architecturally they were reminiscent of Byzantine imperial buildings in Constantinople. Both triclinia were ornate with mosaics and fountains, and were

2180-608: The Annibaldi family. After the Great Schism of 1054 , the Lateran palace was the venue of the first ecumenical council to be held in Western Europe in 1123 . Four other ecumenical councils ( in 1139 , in 1179 , in 1213 & in 1512 ) were also held in this site. Between this palace and the Lateran basilica was the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius , which at the time was erroneously believed to represent

2289-704: The Apostolic Palace of the Lateran (Latin: Palatium Apostolicum Lateranense ), is an ancient palace of the Roman Empire and later the main papal residence in Rome . Located on St. John's Square in Lateran on the Caelian Hill , the palace is adjacent to the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran , the cathedral church of Rome. The wealthy Lateran ( Laterani ) family held the palace estate during

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2398-475: The Dominate . The emperor was the ultimate authority in policy- and decision-making, but in the early Principate, he was expected to be accessible and deal personally with official business and petitions. A bureaucracy formed around him only gradually. The Julio-Claudian emperors relied on an informal body of advisors that included not only senators and equestrians, but trusted slaves and freedmen. After Nero,

2507-764: The Greek East and Latin West . Constantine the Great ( r.  306–337 ), the first Christian emperor , moved the imperial seat from Rome to Byzantium in 330, and renamed it Constantinople . The Migration Period , involving large invasions by Germanic peoples and by the Huns of Attila , led to the decline of the Western Roman Empire . With the fall of Ravenna to the Germanic Herulians and

2616-988: The Lateran Treaty was signed here, at last regulating the relations between the Holy See and the Italian State. It established that both the basilica and the Lateran Palace were extraterritorial properties of the Holy See , enjoying privileges similar to foreign embassies on Italian soil. During the Second World War, the Lateran and its related buildings provided a safe haven from the Nazis and Italian Fascists for numbers of Jews and other refugees. Among those who found shelter there were Alcide De Gasperi , Pietro Nenni , Ivanoe Bonomi and others. The Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul and

2725-586: The Nile Valley in Egypt. The empire completely circled the Mediterranean  ... referred to by its conquerors as mare nostrum —'our sea'. Trajan's successor Hadrian adopted a policy of maintaining rather than expanding the empire. Borders ( fines ) were marked, and the frontiers ( limites ) patrolled. The most heavily fortified borders were the most unstable. Hadrian's Wall , which separated

2834-482: The Republic , and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian 's assumption of effective sole rule in 27 BC. The western empire collapsed in 476 AD, but the eastern empire lasted until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. By 100 BC, Rome had expanded its rule to most of the Mediterranean and beyond. However, it was severely destabilised by civil wars and political conflicts , which culminated in

2943-645: The Romance languages while Medieval Greek became the language of the East. The Empire's adoption of Christianity resulted in the formation of medieval Christendom . Roman and Greek art had a profound impact on the Italian Renaissance . Rome's architectural tradition served as the basis for Romanesque , Renaissance and Neoclassical architecture , influencing Islamic architecture . The rediscovery of classical science and technology (which formed

3052-656: The Sancta Sanctorum (“Holy of Holies”, the private papal chapel) with new jeweled reliquaries and a reliquary chest modeled on the Ark of the Covenant , which stored some of Rome’s most precious relics. Around the 820s the Liber Pontificalis starts calling the complex a palace, palatium . The private apartments of the popes in this palace were situated between the triclinium and the city walls. It later

3161-596: The Servile Wars of the Republic, legislation under Augustus and his successors shows a driving concern for controlling the threat of rebellions through limiting the size of work groups, and for hunting down fugitive slaves. Over time slaves gained increased legal protection, including the right to file complaints against their masters. A bill of sale might contain a clause stipulating that the slave could not be employed for prostitution, as prostitutes in ancient Rome were often slaves. The burgeoning trade in eunuchs in

3270-569: The deposition of Romulus Augustus in 476 by Odoacer , the Western Empire finally collapsed. The Eastern Roman Empire survived for another millennium with Constantinople as its sole capital, until the city's fall in 1453. Due to the Empire's extent and endurance, its institutions and culture had a lasting influence on the development of language , religion , art , architecture , literature , philosophy , law , and forms of government across its territories. Latin evolved into

3379-652: The victory of Octavian over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, and the subsequent conquest of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt. In 27 BC, the Roman Senate granted Octavian overarching military power ( imperium ) and the new title of Augustus , marking his accession as the first Roman emperor . The vast Roman territories were organized into senatorial provinces, governed by proconsuls who were appointed by lot annually, and imperial provinces, which belonged to

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3488-450: The 3rd century, the Empire underwent a 49-year crisis that threatened its existence due to civil war, plagues and barbarian invasions . The Gallic and Palmyrene empires broke away from the state and a series of short-lived emperors led the Empire, which was later reunified under Aurelian ( r.  270–275 ). The civil wars ended with the victory of Diocletian ( r.  284–305 ), who set up two different imperial courts in

3597-621: The 600-member body by appointment. A senator's son belonged to the ordo senatorius , but he had to qualify on his own merits for admission to the Senate. A senator could be removed for violating moral standards. In the time of Nero, senators were still primarily from Italy , with some from the Iberian peninsula and southern France; men from the Greek-speaking provinces of the East began to be added under Vespasian. The first senator from

3706-400: The 6th and 7th centuries with the disintegration of the complex Imperial economy. Laws pertaining to slavery were "extremely intricate". Slaves were considered property and had no legal personhood . They could be subjected to forms of corporal punishment not normally exercised on citizens, sexual exploitation , torture, and summary execution . A slave could not as a matter of law be raped;

3815-618: The Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran. The attack is widely assumed to have been the work of the Italian Mafia , a warning against Pope John Paul II's frequent anti-Mafia statements. Repairs were completed in January 1996. The palace houses the offices of the Vicariate of Rome and the living quarters of the cardinal vicar. Tourists can visit the papal apartments, usually in the morning. In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (2010) ,

3924-457: The Augustan programme to restore traditional morality and social order, moral legislation attempted to regulate conduct as a means of promoting " family values ". Adultery was criminalized, and defined broadly as an illicit sex act ( stuprum ) between a male citizen and a married woman, or between a married woman and any man other than her husband. That is, a double standard was in place:

4033-736: The Christian Emperor Constantine (which association probably accounted for its preservation). A copy of the equestrian statue is now placed in the centre of the Capitoline Square while the original has been safely preserved for display in the Capitoline Museums . Boniface VIII added the Loggia delle Benedizioni to the northern side of the Aula Concilii. In its place, the Lateran obelisk

4142-524: The Empire was engulfed by the Crisis of the Third Century , a period of invasions , civil strife , economic disorder , and plague . In defining historical epochs , this crisis sometimes marks the transition from Classical to Late Antiquity . Aurelian ( r.  270–275 ) stabilised the empire militarily and Diocletian reorganised and restored much of it in 285. Diocletian's reign brought

4251-735: The Frankish king's duty to protect the Church. The second triclinium built by Leo III, also known as the Aula Concilii ("Hall of the Council" or Sala del Concilio in Italian), was situated next to the basilica and in perpendicularly to it. It was a magnificent oblong hall (53 m long by 13 wide) with eleven apses, the major apse on one end and five on each side. The side apses had a diameter of 6.7 meters and were 2.34 meters apart, while

4360-725: The Holy See . The site on which the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano sits was occupied during the early Roman Empire by the domus of the Plautii Laterani family. The Laterani served as administrators for several emperors; their ancestor Lucius Sextius Lateranus is said to have been the first plebeian to attain the rank of consul , in 366 BC. One of the Laterani, Consul-designate Plautius Lateranus , became famous for being accused by Nero of conspiracy against

4469-510: The Lateran 1193 , Third Council of the Lateran 1179 , Fourth Council of the Lateran 1213 , Fifth Council of the Lateran 1512-17 . It also held non-ecumenical synods which are: The Lateran is also where the Lateran Treaty was signed in 1929 establishing Vatican City as an independent state. It was signed by Benito Mussolini , and Papal diplomat Pietro Gasparri . Lateran Palace The Lateran Palace ( Latin : Palatium Lateranense ; Italian : Palazzo del Laterano ), formally

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4578-469: The Lateran in Rome was extensively added to in the late eighth century by Pope Hadrian I (772–95) and Pope Leo III (795–816). Pope Hadrian I restructured the portico by the entrance staircase (Zaccaria's portico) and erected another tower next to it, which functioned as residential space. This portico was used to distribute alms and was also the location of the statue of the Capitoline Wolf and

4687-494: The Mediterranean, Italy maintained a special status which made it domina provinciarum ("ruler of the provinces"), and – especially in relation to the first centuries of imperial stability – rectrix mundi ("governor of the world") and omnium terrarum parens ("parent of all lands"). The 200 years that began with Augustus's rule is traditionally regarded as the Pax Romana ("Roman Peace"). The cohesion of

4796-612: The Middle East. The Latin phrase imperium sine fine ("empire without end" ) expressed the ideology that neither time nor space limited the Empire. In Virgil 's Aeneid , limitless empire is said to be granted to the Romans by Jupiter . This claim of universal dominion was renewed when the Empire came under Christian rule in the 4th century. In addition to annexing large regions, the Romans directly altered their geography, for example cutting down entire forests . Roman expansion

4905-454: The Rhine and Danube. Roman jurists also show a concern for local languages such as Punic , Gaulish , and Aramaic in assuring the correct understanding of laws and oaths. In Africa , Libyco-Berber and Punic were used in inscriptions into the 2nd century. In Syria , Palmyrene soldiers used their dialect of Aramaic for inscriptions, an exception to the rule that Latin was the language of

5014-761: The Roman Empire, and the estate eventually came into the hands of the Emperor Constantine . From the fourth century, the palace was the principal residence of the popes, and continued so for about a thousand years until the Apostolic Residence ultimately moved to the nearby Vatican. The palace is now used by the Vatican Historical Museum , which illustrates the history of the Papal States . The palace also houses

5123-448: The Roman world from what was perceived as an ever-present barbarian threat, is the primary surviving monument of this effort. Latin and Greek were the main languages of the Empire, but the Empire was deliberately multilingual. Andrew Wallace-Hadrill says "The main desire of the Roman government was to make itself understood". At the start of the Empire, knowledge of Greek was useful to pass as educated nobility and knowledge of Latin

5232-449: The account of his achievements ( Res Gestae ) prominently featured the geographical cataloguing of the Empire. Geography alongside meticulous written records were central concerns of Roman Imperial administration . The Empire reached its largest expanse under Trajan ( r.  98–117 ), encompassing 5 million km . The traditional population estimate of 55–60 million inhabitants accounted for between one-sixth and one-fourth of

5341-408: The basilica of the palace is presented as a dilapidated structure which holds a scroll of Romulus. [REDACTED] Media related to Lateran Palace at Wikimedia Commons Roman Empire The Roman Empire was the era of Roman civilisation lasting from 27 BC to 476 AD. Rome ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Romans conquered most of this during

5450-415: The basis for Islamic science ) in medieval Europe contributed to the Scientific Renaissance and Scientific Revolution . Many modern legal systems, such as the Napoleonic Code , descend from Roman law. Rome's republican institutions have influenced the Italian city-state republics of the medieval period, the early United States , and modern democratic republics . Rome had begun expanding shortly after

5559-418: The collapse of the Empire's west. The dominance of Latin and Greek among the literate elite obscure the continuity of other spoken languages within the Empire. Latin, referred to in its spoken form as Vulgar Latin , gradually replaced Celtic and Italic languages . References to interpreters indicate the continuing use of local languages, particularly in Egypt with Coptic , and in military settings along

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5668-482: The conditions of martyrdom . The three major elements of the Imperial state were the central government, the military, and the provincial government. The military established control of a territory through war, but after a city or people was brought under treaty, the mission turned to policing: protecting Roman citizens, agricultural fields, and religious sites. The Romans lacked sufficient manpower or resources to rule through force alone. Cooperation with local elites

5777-402: The construction of the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano on the site. The Domus Laterani was eventually given to the Bishop of Rome by Constantine I. It is believed that this happened during the pontificate of Pope Miltiades , in time to host a synod of bishops in 313 that was convened to challenge the Donatists . As Byzantium grew less able to help prevent Lombard incursions,

5886-481: The deceased emperor's deification. The dominance of the emperor was based on the consolidation of powers from several republican offices. The emperor made himself the central religious authority as pontifex maximus , and centralized the right to declare war, ratify treaties, and negotiate with foreign leaders. While these functions were clearly defined during the Principate , the emperor's powers over time became less constitutional and more monarchical, culminating in

5995-449: The descent "from a kingdom of gold to one of rust and iron", a comment which has led some historians, notably Edward Gibbon , to take Commodus' reign as the beginning of the Empire's decline . In 212, during the reign of Caracalla , Roman citizenship was granted to all freeborn inhabitants of the empire. The Severan dynasty was tumultuous; an emperor's reign was ended routinely by his murder or execution and, following its collapse,

6104-418: The easternmost province, Cappadocia , was admitted under Marcus Aurelius. By the Severan dynasty (193–235), Italians made up less than half the Senate. During the 3rd century, domicile at Rome became impractical, and inscriptions attest to senators who were active in politics and munificence in their homeland ( patria ). Senators were the traditional governing class who rose through the cursus honorum ,

6213-496: The emperor . The accusation resulted in the confiscation and redistribution of his properties. The Domus Laterani came into the possession of the emperor when Constantine I married his second wife Fausta , sister of Maxentius . Around 312, Constantine had razed the imperial horse-guards barracks adjoining the palace, which was known as Domus Faustae or "House of Fausta" by this time; the equites singulares Augusti had supported Maxentius against Constantine. He commissioned

6322-399: The emperor but were governed by legates . The first two centuries of the Empire saw a period of unprecedented stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana ( lit.   ' Roman Peace ' ). Rome reached its greatest territorial extent under Trajan ( r.  98–117 AD ), but a period of increasing trouble and decline began under Commodus ( r.  180–192 ). In

6431-481: The empire was furthered by a degree of social stability and economic prosperity that Rome had never before experienced. Uprisings in the provinces were infrequent and put down "mercilessly and swiftly". The success of Augustus in establishing principles of dynastic succession was limited by his outliving a number of talented potential heirs. The Julio-Claudian dynasty lasted for four more emperors— Tiberius , Caligula , Claudius , and Nero —before it yielded in 69 AD to

6540-405: The empire's most concerted effort against the perceived threat of Christianity , the " Great Persecution ". Diocletian divided the empire into four regions, each ruled by a separate tetrarch . Confident that he fixed the disorder plaguing Rome, he abdicated along with his co-emperor, but the Tetrarchy collapsed shortly after . Order was eventually restored by Constantine the Great , who became

6649-506: The empire. This legal egalitarianism required a far-reaching revision of existing laws that distinguished between citizens and non-citizens. Freeborn Roman women were considered citizens, but did not vote, hold political office, or serve in the military. A mother's citizen status determined that of her children, as indicated by the phrase ex duobus civibus Romanis natos ("children born of two Roman citizens"). A Roman woman kept her own family name ( nomen ) for life. Children most often took

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6758-438: The end of the Western Roman Empire in 476, when Romulus Augustulus was forced to abdicate to the Germanic warlord Odoacer . Odoacer ended the Western Empire by declaring Zeno sole emperor and placing himself as Zeno's nominal subordinate. In reality, Italy was ruled by Odoacer alone. The Eastern Roman Empire, called the Byzantine Empire by later historians, continued until the reign of Constantine XI Palaiologos ,

6867-424: The end ones were 4.47 meters away from the front and end walls. A large Porphyry fountain was placed in front of the main apse, spouting jets of water from pressurized pipes of the restored Aqua Claudia , a technical marvel meant to impress visitors. Each of the 10 lateral apses held accubita for banquets, on the model of the reception hall of the 19 accubita in the Great Palace of Constantinople . The main apse

6976-445: The exploitation of slaves. Outside Italy, slaves were on average an estimated 10 to 20% of the population, sparse in Roman Egypt but more concentrated in some Greek areas. Expanding Roman ownership of arable land and industries affected preexisting practices of slavery in the provinces. Although slavery has often been regarded as waning in the 3rd and 4th centuries, it remained an integral part of Roman society until gradually ceasing in

7085-457: The father's name, with some exceptions. Women could own property, enter contracts, and engage in business. Inscriptions throughout the Empire honour women as benefactors in funding public works, an indication they could hold considerable fortunes. The archaic manus marriage in which the woman was subject to her husband's authority was largely abandoned by the Imperial era, and a married woman retained ownership of any property she brought into

7194-450: The first emperor to convert to Christianity , and who established Constantinople as the new capital of the Eastern Empire. During the decades of the Constantinian and Valentinian dynasties, the empire was divided along an east–west axis, with dual power centres in Constantinople and Rome. Julian , who under the influence of his adviser Mardonius attempted to restore Classical Roman and Hellenistic religion , only briefly interrupted

7303-403: The founding of the Roman Republic in the 6th century BC, though not outside the Italian Peninsula until the 3rd century BC. Thus, it was an "empire" (a great power) long before it had an emperor. The Republic was not a nation-state in the modern sense, but a network of self-ruled towns (with varying degrees of independence from the Senate ) and provinces administered by military commanders. It

7412-456: The functioning of cities that in the later Empire, as the ranks of the town councils became depleted, those who had risen to the Senate were encouraged to return to their hometowns, in an effort to sustain civic life. In the later Empire, the dignitas ("worth, esteem") that attended on senatorial or equestrian rank was refined further with titles such as vir illustris ("illustrious man"). The appellation clarissimus (Greek lamprotatos )

7521-403: The historian Christopher Kelly described it: Then the empire stretched from Hadrian's Wall in drizzle-soaked northern England to the sun-baked banks of the Euphrates in Syria; from the great Rhine – Danube river system, which snaked across the fertile, flat lands of Europe from the Low Countries to the Black Sea , to the rich plains of the North African coast and the luxuriant gash of

7630-439: The honorary title imperator (commander); this is the origin of the word emperor , since this title was always bestowed to the early emperors. Rome suffered a long series of internal conflicts, conspiracies, and civil wars from the late second century BC (see Crisis of the Roman Republic ) while greatly extending its power beyond Italy. In 44 BC Julius Caesar was briefly perpetual dictator before being assassinated by

7739-461: The last Roman emperor. He died in battle in 1453 against Mehmed II and his Ottoman forces during the siege of Constantinople . Mehmed II adopted the title of caesar in an attempt to claim a connection to the former Empire. His claim was soon recognized by the Patriarchate of Constantinople , but not by most European monarchs. The Roman Empire was one of the largest in history, with contiguous territories throughout Europe, North Africa, and

7848-592: The late 1st century prompted legislation that prohibited the castration of a slave against his will "for lust or gain". Roman slavery was not based on race . Generally, slaves in Italy were indigenous Italians, with a minority of foreigners (including both slaves and freedmen) estimated at 5% of the total in the capital at its peak, where their number was largest. Foreign slaves had higher mortality and lower birth rates than natives, and were sometimes even subjected to mass expulsions. The average recorded age at death for

7957-405: The location of papal ceremonies, banquets and meetings. The decorations had an explicitly political theme, and they were meant to be a symbol of papal power and authority. The Leonian Triclinium or triclinium maius was one of the most famous halls of the ancient palace and was the state banqueting hall, lined with mosaics. It was a two story structure, 50m long from end to end. The upper floor

8066-486: The marriage. Technically she remained under her father's legal authority, even though she moved into her husband's home, but when her father died she became legally emancipated. This arrangement was a factor in the degree of independence Roman women enjoyed compared to many other cultures up to the modern period: although she had to answer to her father in legal matters, she was free of his direct scrutiny in daily life, and her husband had no legal power over her. Although it

8175-416: The members of the three higher "orders", along with certain military officers. The granting of universal citizenship in 212 seems to have increased the competitive urge among the upper classes to have their superiority affirmed, particularly within the justice system. Sentencing depended on the judgment of the presiding official as to the relative "worth" ( dignitas ) of the defendant: an honestior could pay

8284-730: The military. The last reference to Gaulish was between 560 and 575. The emergent Gallo-Romance languages would then be shaped by Gaulish. Proto-Basque or Aquitanian evolved with Latin loan words to modern Basque . The Thracian language , as were several now-extinct languages in Anatolia, are attested in Imperial-era inscriptions. The Empire was remarkably multicultural, with "astonishing cohesive capacity" to create shared identity while encompassing diverse peoples. Public monuments and communal spaces open to all—such as forums , amphitheatres , racetracks and baths —helped foster

8393-625: The offices of the Vicariate of Rome , as well as the residential apartments of the Cardinal Vicar , the pope's delegate for the daily administration of the diocese. Until 1970, the palace was also home to the important collections of the Lateran Museum , now dispersed among it and other parts of the Vatican Museums . Following the Lateran Treaty of 1929, the palace and adjoining basilica are extraterritorial properties of

8502-582: The old Lateran constructions three monuments survive, two of which are located in one building built by Domenico Fontana in 1589 opposite the Lateran Basilica. These monuments are the Scala Santa and the Chapel of the Sancta Sanctorum . The Lateran remained in a suburban environment, surrounded by gardens and vineyards, until the growth of modern Rome in the later nineteenth century. Its site

8611-660: The palace some pastoral functions by fixing here the seat of the vicariate and offices of the Diocese of Rome . He removed the collections of the Lateran Museum to the Vatican. Since 1987 the Lateran Palace has housed the Museo Storico Vaticano , which opened in 1991 and illustrates the history of the Papal States . On 27 July 1993, a bomb explosion devastated the facade of the Rome Vicariate at

8720-415: The papacy became more independent of the Empire. Prior to the early eighth century, the residence of the bishops of Rome was not called a palace, but rather the "Lateran patriarchate" ( patriarchium) . The incentive to refurbish the Lateran patriarchate as a true palace was to create an imperial residence from which the pope could exercise not only spiritual but also temporal authority. The pope's palace at

8829-703: The papal cathedra . The Lateran is Christendom 's earliest basilica . Attached to the basilica is the Lateran Baptistery , one of the oldest in Christendom . Other constituent parts of the Lateran complex are the building of the Scala Sancta with the Sancta Sanctorum and the Triclinium of Pope Leo III . Another basilica in the neighborhood is San Clemente al Laterano . The Pontifical Lateran University , or simply Lateranum,

8938-412: The political career track, but equestrians often possessed greater wealth and political power. Membership in the equestrian order was based on property; in Rome's early days, equites or knights had been distinguished by their ability to serve as mounted warriors, but cavalry service was a separate function in the Empire. A census valuation of 400,000 sesterces and three generations of free birth qualified

9047-507: The poor were other sources. Vernae , by contrast, were "homegrown" slaves born to female slaves within the household, estate or farm. Although they had no special legal status, an owner who mistreated or failed to care for his vernae faced social disapproval, as they were considered part of the family household and in some cases might actually be the children of free males in the family. Rome differed from Greek city-states in allowing freed slaves to become citizens; any future children of

9156-518: The rebuilding, the palace never again attained its former splendour. The palace had Gothic architectural elements at this point. When the popes returned to Rome they resided first at Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere , then at Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore , and lastly fixed their residence at the Vatican . St. Peter's Basilica , also built by Constantine, had until then served primarily as

9265-626: The sixty orphan refugees they cared for were ordered to leave their convent on the Via Carlo Emanuele. The Sisters of Maria Bambina , who staffed the kitchen at the Pontifical Major Roman Seminary at the Lateran offered a wing of their convent. The grounds also housed Italian soldiers. Fathers Vincenzo Fagiolo and Pietro Palazzini , vice-rector of the seminary, were recognized by Yad Vashem for their efforts to assist Jews. Pope John XXIII returned to

9374-528: The slaves of the city of Rome was seventeen and a half years (17.2 for males; 17.9 for females). During the period of republican expansionism when slavery had become pervasive, war captives were a main source of slaves. The range of ethnicities among slaves to some extent reflected that of the armies Rome defeated in war, and the conquest of Greece brought a number of highly skilled and educated slaves. Slaves were also traded in markets and sometimes sold by pirates . Infant abandonment and self-enslavement among

9483-529: The strife-torn Year of the Four Emperors , from which Vespasian emerged as the victor. Vespasian became the founder of the brief Flavian dynasty , followed by the Nerva–Antonine dynasty which produced the " Five Good Emperors ": Nerva , Trajan , Hadrian , Antoninus Pius , and Marcus Aurelius . In the view of contemporary Greek historian Cassius Dio , the accession of Commodus in 180 marked

9592-461: The succession of Christian emperors. Theodosius I , the last emperor to rule over both East and West, died in 395 after making Christianity the state religion . The Western Roman Empire began to disintegrate in the early 5th century. The Romans fought off all invaders, most famously Attila , but the empire had assimilated so many Germanic peoples of dubious loyalty to Rome that the empire started to dismember itself. Most chronologies place

9701-562: The time of Nero , however, it was not unusual to find a former slave who was richer than a freeborn citizen, or an equestrian who exercised greater power than a senator. The blurring of the Republic's more rigid hierarchies led to increased social mobility , both upward and downward, to a greater extent than all other well-documented ancient societies. Women, freedmen, and slaves had opportunities to profit and exercise influence in ways previously less available to them. Social life, particularly for those whose personal resources were limited,

9810-524: The title Augustus ("venerated") and made him princeps ("foremost") with proconsular imperium , thus beginning the Principate , the first epoch of Roman imperial history. Although the republic stood in name, Augustus had all meaningful authority. During his 40-year rule, a new constitutional order emerged so that, upon his death, Tiberius would succeed him as the new de facto monarch. As Roman provinces were being established throughout

9919-608: The work had been completed: "A great palace in Piazza Lateranese has been brought to completion by Sixtus V." Fontana reapplied motifs of the Lateran Palace in the part of the Vatican Palace containing the present papal apartments, which he undertook later, and in his additions to the Quirinal Palace . The east front was finished under Clement XII , who surmounted it with his coat-of-arms in 1735. From

10028-411: The world's total population and made it the most populous unified political entity in the West until the mid-19th century. Recent demographic studies have argued for a population peak from 70 million to more than 100 million . Each of the three largest cities in the Empire – Rome, Alexandria , and Antioch – was almost twice the size of any European city at the beginning of the 17th century. As

10137-503: Was Domenico Fontana , who was engaged in alterations to the basilica at the same time. Fontana's strong, restrained style was influenced by Giacomo Vignola and modeled upon Palazzo Farnese for its regular and harmonious if somewhat bland major façade. Fontana's sound engineering basis and power of coordinating a complicated architectural program on a tightly constrained site, which Sixtus urged forward at top speed, have been considered remarkable. A notice on 29 August 1589 announced that

10246-442: Was a point of pride to be a "one-man woman" ( univira ) who had married only once, there was little stigma attached to divorce , nor to speedy remarriage after being widowed or divorced. Girls had equal inheritance rights with boys if their father died without leaving a will. A mother's right to own and dispose of property, including setting the terms of her will, gave her enormous influence over her sons into adulthood. As part of

10355-578: Was brought on its own to Rome in 357 to decorate the spina of the Circus Maximus . The dedication on the base, however, gives the glory to Constantine I, not to his son who brought it to Rome. The fall of the palace from this position of glory was the result of the departure of the popes from Rome during the Avignon Papacy . Two destructive fires, in 1307 and 1361, did irreparable harm, and although vast sums were sent from Avignon for

10464-417: Was called Aula Concilii ("Hall of the Council") due to its role as a place of meetings. In the tenth century Sergius III restored the palace after a disastrous fire, and later it was greatly embellished by Innocent III . This was the period of its greatest magnificence, when Dante speaks of it as beyond all human achievements. At this time the centre of the piazza was occupied by the palace and tower of

10573-498: Was considered unhealthy in Rome's malarial summers, however. In the late seventeenth century, Innocent XII located, in a part of it, a hospice for orphans who were set to work in a little silk manufactory. In the nineteenth century, Gregory XVI and Pius IX founded at the Lateran a museum of religious art and pagan culture for overflow from the Vatican galleries. In 1925 Pius XI established an ethnographic museum devoted to artifacts sent back by missionaries. On 11 February 1929,

10682-440: Was constituted of a large 26 meter long main chamber with a main apse at the end and one apse on each side, and a rectangular entrance antechamber, maybe with a portico. Frescoes covered the two apses projecting the main chamber and the two apses in the antechamber, while the main apse was covered in a mosaic and hosted the papal throne. Nothing remains of this, but in 1743 copies of the mosaics were made from drawings and placed in

10791-559: Was decorated with a mosaic showing Christ and Mary with Saints Peter and Paul and three other figures, while each of the ten lateral apses was decorated with frescoes depicting an apostle preaching to the gentiles . On the left of the main apse was a staircase that led to the basilica. The hall was adorned with columns, pilasters, a floor in opus sectile . A drawing by Pompeo Ugonio (BAV, Cod. Barb. lat. 2160, fol.157v) survives as evidence of its structure and ornamentation. Leo III and his successor Paschal I (817–24) decorated

10900-555: Was erected. Originally commissioned by the 18th dynasty Pharaoh Thuthmosis III , it was completed by his grandson, Thuthmosis IV . At 32.18 m (45.70 m including the base) it is the tallest obelisk in Rome and the largest standing ancient Egyptian obelisk in the world, weighing over 230  tons . Following the annexation of Egypt to the Empire, it was taken from the temple of Amun in Karnak and brought to Alexandria with another obelisk by Constantius II . From there it

11009-475: Was further defined by their citizenship. Most citizens held limited rights (such as the ius Latinum , "Latin right"), but were entitled to legal protections and privileges not enjoyed by non-citizens. Free people not considered citizens, but living within the Roman world, were peregrini , non-Romans. In 212, the Constitutio Antoniniana extended citizenship to all freeborn inhabitants of

11118-466: Was further fostered by a proliferation of voluntary associations and confraternities ( collegia and sodalitates ): professional and trade guilds, veterans' groups, religious sodalities, drinking and dining clubs, performing troupes, and burial societies . According to the jurist Gaius , the essential distinction in the Roman " law of persons " was that all humans were either free ( liberi ) or slaves ( servi ). The legal status of free persons

11227-405: Was governed by annually elected magistrates ( Roman consuls above all) in conjunction with the Senate. The 1st century BC was a time of political and military upheaval, which ultimately led to rule by emperors. The consuls' military power rested in the Roman legal concept of imperium , meaning "command" (typically in a military sense). Occasionally, successful consuls or generals were given

11336-548: Was mostly accomplished under the Republic , though parts of northern Europe were conquered in the 1st century, when Roman control in Europe, Africa, and Asia was strengthened. Under Augustus , a "global map of the known world" was displayed for the first time in public at Rome, coinciding with the creation of the most comprehensive political geography that survives from antiquity, the Geography of Strabo . When Augustus died,

11445-671: Was necessary to maintain order, collect information, and extract revenue. The Romans often exploited internal political divisions. Communities with demonstrated loyalty to Rome retained their own laws, could collect their own taxes locally, and in exceptional cases were exempt from Roman taxation. Legal privileges and relative independence incentivized compliance. Roman government was thus limited , but efficient in its use of available resources. The Imperial cult of ancient Rome identified emperors and some members of their families with divinely sanctioned authority ( auctoritas ). The rite of apotheosis (also called consecratio ) signified

11554-416: Was never a legal requirement for Latin in the Empire, but it represented a certain status. High standards of Latin, Latinitas , started with the advent of Latin literature. Due to the flexible language policy of the Empire, a natural competition of language emerged that spurred Latinitas , to defend Latin against the stronger cultural influence of Greek. Over time Latin usage was used to project power and

11663-426: Was not itself an elected office in ancient Rome; an individual gained admission to the Senate after he had been elected to and served at least one term as an executive magistrate . A senator also had to meet a minimum property requirement of 1 million sestertii . Not all men who qualified for the ordo senatorius chose to take a Senate seat, which required legal domicile at Rome. Emperors often filled vacancies in

11772-447: Was used to designate the dignitas of certain senators and their immediate family, including women. "Grades" of equestrian status proliferated. As the republican principle of citizens' equality under the law faded, the symbolic and social privileges of the upper classes led to an informal division of Roman society into those who had acquired greater honours ( honestiores ) and humbler folk ( humiliores ). In general, honestiores were

11881-476: Was useful for a career in the military, government, or law. Bilingual inscriptions indicate the everyday interpenetration of the two languages. Latin and Greek's mutual linguistic and cultural influence is a complex topic. Latin words incorporated into Greek were very common by the early imperial era, especially for military, administration, and trade and commerce matters. Greek grammar, literature, poetry and philosophy shaped Latin language and culture. There

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