#Pompey strabo

[duxfemina]

Okay I know what books I want to write I'm just struggling on where I should start. So poll time...

*Pompeia

In that first option bloody autocorrect hates me

Because like I know I want to start with either Pompeius Magnus for a chronological take or with Pompeia for a backwards order of some sort. Possibly having her compile her family history in her novel and then writing the novels about her predecessors like they're her work. I dunno. Starting a book is always the hardest but my head is so full of ideas.

[duxfemina]

Pompey Strabo? Is that you?

of course they killed my ass with lightning magic

[catilinas]

wikipedia list of roman consuls who exploded

[pomp-quio]

Genuinely have had enough of this man (affectionate)

Life of Pompey, Plutarch

[garland-on-thy-brow]

[Flora the opera by Novello Bonis]

Awkward! Sulla and Pompeius Strabo want their (step)children Aemilia Scaura and Pompey to get married, the children fucking hate it.

[lightdancer1]

The last of these three is about one Gnaius Pompeius Adulescentulus Carnifex:

Last of the trio for today (and I've started on the fourth about Gaius Julius Caesar) is this one on Gnaius Pompeius Adulescentulus Carnifex. Pompey was both the son of another of the overmighty generals who fought a very brief war and then died of plague before whatever he intended to happen would happen, one Gnaius Pompeius Strabo, and the protege of Lucius Cornelius Sulla. In his lifetime until the very end he, not Caesar, was the man of the hour and the man who was amassing ever greater power to a point that it seemed to be his destiny, not that of the impoverished aristocrat Caesar, to determine affairs.

As it was Pompey became in spite of himself the champion of the Republic, held to be just as much a potential Emperor in the making as the man who beat him, and then lost the war. The relative merits of Caesar and Pompey and their visions in the end hinged on their abilities to lead armies and win wars and in that Caesar was infinitely the superior of Pompey and thus the Republic died at Pharsalus.

Pompey, like a few other historical figures, including his immediate successor in relative role Mark Antony, is held as a great example of the 'what might have been' more than what he did. And among his real roles in history that endured long after his death was ensuring Roman control of the Mediterranean, the Nile, and into the interior of the Middle East, replacing the old Greek dynasts with the Roman system that would last until the Battle of the Yarmuk marked its own overthrow.

8/10.

[catherinesvalois]

Gnaeus Pompey Magnus

General and statesman during the late Roman Republic.

A member of Rome’s senatorial nobility.

Father: Pompey (Latin: Pompeius) Strabo.

By 61 BCE, he had three triumphs in his honor for his military achievements for Rome.

Involved in the famous consular power struggle with Gaius Julius Caesar that led to civil war and the eventual fall of the Republic. 

[huseyinurai]

There's a black hole upon the Black Sea, Missing 3,000 years of our history, And cos of where I'm from they would attack me, But where I'm from now is a mystery. They called it the inhospitable sea, Until we settled upon its shores, So they renamed it the hospitable sea, As its waters were alone no more. And the sea fell in love with us, Together we created a history so old, From when Jason crossed her waters, In order to find a fleece of gold. From when Xenophon crossed our path, After fighting in a war of the Persian throne, And his defeated mercenaries passed through, Our land on their long journey home. From when our great King Mithridates, Created an Empire that stretched across Anatolia, And surrounded the entire Black Sea coast, From the Balkans to Thrace and to Crimea. And no one fought against Rome as long, A greater foe than Hannibal was the poison king, Became the hero of all Greeks and Persians, Until eventually Pompey defeated him. From when Strabo travelled as far as Ethiopia, And recounted tales of Kush and Khemet, From when Evagrius had eight evil thoughts, From when Diogenes became a cynic. What a glorious history now almost forgotten, Who remembers us now except the survivors? Kourtidis is forgot whilst Kemal's name lives on, Who celebrates our polikare freedom fighters? Now there's a black hole upon the Black Sea, Missing a whole nation's identity, The land is now full of ghosts and the people there Are not who they were meant to be. The Empire of Trebizon once stood proud, But where is it now? It has gone, How evil is genocide? It even steals the history, So now Amisos is Samsun and Trebizond Trabzon. Who now remember Alexios Komnenos? Whom after Byzantium had fallen all around it, Established and ruled the Trebizond Empire, And one of the greatest dynasties was founded. Where are those people now you ask? For they no longer exist in the land of their name, For a genocide not only erased life but history, And we are one of history's greatest shames. They destroyed every record of our existence, Our entire identity was stolen away from us, Even the latin names of nature had our name erased, So now I'm from Sudan or Greece, but not from Pontus. For being Greek we were attacked by the Turks, And more than half our population was murdered, Until most of our survivors fled to Russia, Or to Greece where we were oppressed for being Turkish. As a once mighty empire died it tried take us with it, Then we suffered its partition in the population exchange, Our wounds would stay open without any justice, As we endured pain for longer than the Pontic Mountain Range. So as the Kementche plays our sorrowful song, We are still not ready yet to accept defeat, Because the genocide wanted to erase our entire existence, So as long as our culture lives it isn't complete.

[rhianna]

It has a very ancient history, this noble city of Marseilles.  It owes its origin to a tribe of Ionian Greeks, who, about 600 b.c., there founded a town that ultimately became the head of a Roman province.  In the contest between Pompey and Cæsar, the town p. 177wished to remain neutral, but Cæsar had need of gold, vessels, and harbours, and scrupled not for a moment to lay siege to it, which was maintained against him during the whole of his long and severe warfare with Afranius and Petreius in Spain, and was not taken till after the capture or dispersion of their legions.  The treatment of the town was so merciless, that from thenceforward, by Strabo’s account, it only preserved vestiges of its former prosperity and wealth.  However, Marseilles in time recovered from the blow, and chiefly by means of the book trade.  It seems to have become a miniature Athens.  France was especially distinguished by its aptitude and zeal for Roman learning.  At Marseilles there was an institution for Greek education and literature, which was visited, even in preference to Athens, by men of the highest rank.  A large institution of the same kind existed at Autun, and Tacitus calls that city the principal seat of Latin culture.  With respect to the book trade of Lyons, we have the testimony of the younger Pliny, when he states that he learned, with some surprise, from a friend that his own discourses and writings were publicly sold there.

[duxfemina]

Timeline of Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo

103 - Strabo serves as Quaestor in Sardinia

102 - Strabo seeks to prosecute Titus Albucius the pro Praetor he served under in Sardinia 

94 - Strabo serves as Praetor 

93 - Strabo made Governor of Sicily 

90 - probably spring - Strabo defeated at Mount Falernus by Ventidus & Scato 

90 - Strabo besieged in Firmum 

90 - Strabo breaks out and attacks Lafrenius’ army and L. Is slain and his troops flee to Asculum 

90 - Siege of Asculum begins

90 - winter - Strabo returns to Rome to stand for consul 

89 - Strabo elected consul 

89 - Strabo intercepts an Italian army heading across the Apennines from the Adriatic to Etruria trying to spread the revolt

89 - Fall - Siege of Asculum breaks Strabo orders the prominent men of the city beaten and beheaded, slaves sold and all others to leave the city

89 - Strabo proposes Latin Rights to Cisalpine Gaul 

89 - December - Strabo given triumph 

88 - Strabo fails reelection to consulship 

88 - Outbreak of Sullan Civil War and Rome is seized 

88 - Quintus Pompeius Rufus sent to take command of Strabo’s army and murdered by some of his men 

87 - Strabo and his army come to Rome but their allegiances are not known 

87 - Cinna recruits Lucius Terentius the tent mate of Pompeius Magnus to lead an assassination and coup in Strabo’s camp

87 - assassination of Strabo foiled by Pompeius Magnus 

87 - 800 of Strabo's men do leave but most are convinced to remain by Pompeius Magnus 

87 - Cinna’s actions force Strabo to choose the side of Octavius and the Senate

87 - Strabo and Octavius expel Marius and Cinna's forces from the city of Rome

87 - Strabo is killed by lightning strike and his body is drug from its bier and disrespected 

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This is going to be edited with links to posts about other figures referenced as I make them. I'm using this for my research but figured I would share for those interested in the Pompeius gens. I will be making timelines for other family members as I research and adding any new information I find on Strabo to this one

[thegreatlibraryfangirl]

I am very idly browsing Wikipedia for stuff about Alexandria.

I could really do with augmenting this with what canon tells us about Library-verse Alexandria - but, hey. 

see below for locations of places like the Necropolis, the Serapeum, and Alexander’s mausoleum. Also weather and other shit. 

Ancient locations of things:

Greek Alexandria was divided into three regions:

Brucheum is the Royal or Greek quarter and forms the most magnificent portion of the city. In Roman times Brucheum was enlarged by the addition of an official quarter, making four regions in all. The city was laid out as a grid of parallel streets, each of which had an attendant subterranean canal;

The Jewish quarter This quarter is the northeast portion of the city;

Rhakotis is the old city that was absorbed into Alexandria. It was occupied chiefly by Egyptians. (from Coptic Rakotə "Alexandria").

Two main streets, lined with colonnades and said to have been each about 60 meters (200 ft) wide, intersected in the center of the city, close to the point where the Sema (or Soma) of Alexander (his Mausoleum) rose. This point is very near the present mosque of Nebi Daniel; and the line of the great East–West "Canopic" street, only slightly diverged from that of the modern Boulevard de Rosette (now Sharia Fouad).

“In Strabo's time, (latter half of the 1st century BC) the principal buildings were as follows, enumerated as they were to be seen from a ship entering the Great Harbor.

The Royal Palaces, filling the northeast angle of the town and occupying the promontory of Lochias, which shut in the Great Harbor on the east. Lochias (the modern Pharillon) has almost entirely disappeared into the sea, together with the palaces, the "Private Port," and the island of Antirrhodus. There has been a land subsidence here, as throughout the northeast coast of Africa. The Great Theater, on the modern Hospital Hill near the Ramleh station. This was used by Julius Caesar as a fortress, where he withstood a siege from the city mob after he took Egypt after the battle of Pharsalus[citation needed][clarification needed] The Poseidon, or Temple of the Sea God, close to the theater The Timonium built by Marc Antony The Emporium (Exchange) The Apostases (Magazines) The Navalia (Docks), lying west of the Timonium, along the seafront as far as the mole Behind the Emporium rose the Great Caesareum, by which stood the two great obelisks, which become known as "Cleopatra's Needles," and were transported to New York City and London. This temple became, in time, the Patriarchal Church, though some ancient remains of the temple have been discovered. The actual Caesareum, the parts not eroded by the waves, lies under the houses lining the new seawall. The Gymnasium and the Palaestra are both inland, near the Boulevard de Rosette in the eastern half of the town; sites unknown. The Temple of Saturn; alexandria west. The Mausolea of Alexander (Soma) and the Ptolemies in one ring-fence, near the point of intersection of the two main streets. The Musaeum with its famous Library and theater in the same region; site unknown. The Serapeum of Alexandria, the most famous of all Alexandrian temples. Strabo tells us that this stood in the west of the city; and recent discoveries go far as to place it near "Pompey's Pillar," which was an independent monument erected to commemorate Diocletian's siege of the city.”

Note, the above list mentions Pompey’s Pillar for the location of the Serapeum , for more details on where THAT is, here:

"Pompey's Pillar", a Roman triumphal column, is one of the best-known ancient monuments still standing in Alexandria today. It is located on Alexandria's ancient acropolis—a modest hill located adjacent to the city's Arab cemetery—and was originally part of a temple colonnade. Including its pedestal, it is 30 m (99 ft) high; the shaft is of polished red granite, 2.7 m (8.9 ft) in diameter at the base, tapering to 2.4 m (7.9 ft) at the top. The shaft is 88 feet (27 m) high, and made out of a single piece of granite. Its volume is 132 cubic meters (4,662 cubic feet) and weight approximately 396 tons.[39] Pompey's Pillar may have been erected using the same methods that were used to erect the ancient obelisks.

The Pillar is also near to the Necropolis. I’m reasonably certain that’s the one the Library one is based on - this is the other option. 

Mis Railway Station is “in the older Manshia district in the western part of the city” but you can just google that, it’s modern. 

Fascinatingly, Alexandria has a very old tram system, first built in 1860!! I’m kind of sad Caine didn’t put this in lol, maybe fics set a number of years in the future can have a cool electric tram system or something. 

I cannot express how much I love the seeming absurdity of Caine actually putting a football stadium into her Alexandria lol. But that’s a thing too, Alexandria Stadium, feel free to google.

Alexandria has its own amphitheatre, do we ever see this? Or is it only the stolen Colosseum we see in the books??

In the 1st century, the population of Alexandria contained over 180,000 adult male citizens,[25] according to a census dated from 32 CE, in addition to a large number of freedmen, women, children and slaves. Estimates of the total population range from 216,000[26] to 500,000

(in comparison modern-day Alexandria has 5,200,000.)

Alexandria has a borderline hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification: BWh),[28] approaching a hot semi-arid climate (BSh). 

The city's climate is influenced by the Mediterranean Sea, moderating its temperatures, causing variable rainy winters and moderately hot summers that, at times, can be very humid; January and February are the coolest months, with daily maximum temperatures typically ranging from 12 to 18 °C (54 to 64 °F) and minimum temperatures that could reach 5 °C (41 °F). temperature sometimes gets lower than 5 and it sometimes rains snow.

Alexandria experiences violent storms, rain and sometimes sleet and hail during the cooler months; these events, combined with a poor drainage system, have been responsible for occasional flooding in the city in the past but don't happen anymore.[31] July and August are the hottest and driest months of the year, with an average daily maximum temperature of 30 °C (86 °F). The average annual rainfall is around 200 mm (7.9 in) but has been as high as 417 mm (16.4 in)[32]

The highest recorded temperature was 45 °C (113 °F) on 30 May 1961, and the coldest recorded temperature was 0 °C (32 °F) on 31 January 1994.[33]

Unsurprisingly, Alexandria did have baths in its Roman era. Why has no-one written our characters going to the baths yet??

[catilinas]

the december urge to reread specifically one of the long and tedious bits about an army going probably somewhere

the december urge to reread masters of rome :/

[historybehindassassinscreed]

In Game:

During the Roman Civil War, Pompey was defeated by Caesar, causing him to flee. In 48 BCE in the Aegean Sea, Pompey was assisted by Aya and Phoxidas, who had been sent by Cleopatra to initiate an alliance. Pompey accepted the offer and declared that his fleet will make way for Egypt immediately.

Shorty after his arrival in Egypt, Pompey was ambushed by Lucius Septimius and the Gabiniani sent by Ptolemy XIII, Cleopatra's younger brother. Pompey was slain and beheaded by Septimius, despite him having served the Roman general in 67 BCE in the Mediterranean Sea. The decapacitated corpse of Pompey was later found by Bayek and Aya, followed by Cleopatra and Apollodorus, who arrived too late to assist the general.

In Real Life:

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus was born on September 29th, 106 BC.  Pompey belonged to the senatorial nobility, although his family first achieved the office of consul only in 141. Fluent in Greek and a lifelong and intimate friend of Greek literati, he must have had the normal education of a young Roman nobleman, and his early experience on the staff of his father, Pompeius Strabo, did much to form his character, develop his military capabilities, and arouse his political ambition. The family possessed lands in Picenum, what is now the Marches region of eastern Italy, and a numerous body of clients, which Strabo greatly enlarged in the year of his consulship. In a civil war (88–87) between the rival generals Lucius Sulla and Gaius Marius, Strabo defied Sulla and favored the Marians and a fellow general.

Pompey's immense success as a general while still very young enabled him to advance directly to his first consulship without meeting the normal requirements for office. His success as a military commander in Sulla's second civil war resulted in Sulla bestowing the nickname Magnus, "the Great", upon him. He was consul three times and celebrated three triumphs.

(Image source)

In mid-60 BC, Pompey joined Marcus Licinius Crassus and Gaius Julius Caesar in the unofficial military-political alliance known as the First Triumvirate, which Pompey's marriage to Caesar's daughter Julia helped secure. After the deaths of Julia and Crassus, Pompey sided with the optimates, the conservative faction of the Roman Senate. Pompey and Caesar then contended for the leadership of the Roman state, leading to a civil war.

On the 9th of August (the reason why he was persuaded to do so is unclear) Pompey met Caesar in pitched battle at Pharsalus in Thessaly and suffered terrible losses and a cruel defeat. Caesar had become a formidable general, having gained much valuable experience from his campaigns in Gaul.  Pompey then fled to Egypt, but was stabbed to death as he disembarked at Alexandria on the September 28th, 48 BCE. With the defeat of Pompey and the victory of Julius Caesar, the foundations of Imperial Rome were dug and any sentiment of a ‘democratic’ Rome was buried with it.

Sources:

https://www.ancient.eu/pompey/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompey

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pompey-the-Great

[imperium-romanum]

Military Monday | Pompey the Great

This week’s Military Monday is devoted Pompey the Great, one of the most successful generals of the late republic. Check out his thrilling biography from the Ancient History Encyclopedia below.

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great). Spring 48 BCE.

“Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a military leader and politician during the fall of the Roman Republic. He was born in 106 BCE and died on 28th September 48 BCE. His father was Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo.”

“Pompey’s life can be easily split into four phases: his early career (106- 71 BCE), his consulship until the triumvirate (70- 60 BCE), his later career in Rome (59- 50 BCE) and the Civil War (49-48 BCE).”

Continue reading

[nemoalter]

| non licet omnibus adire Corinthum |

The site of ancient Corinth was first inhabited in the Neolithic period (6500-3250 B.C.). It is located at the northern base of the hill of Acrocorinth at the site of today’s agglomeration, Ancient Corinth. Its fertile soil but mainly its strategic location at the intersection of land routes from the Balkan peninsula of Aimos and mainland Greece on towards the Peloponnese and waterways that connect the western Mediterranean to its Eastern counterpart, to Asia Minor and to Syro-Palestine, offered the region from very early on enormous potential for communication, growth and prosperity.

The city, known since the Mycenaean period, Homer refers to as “αφνειός” [prosperous] (Iliad, Book 2, line 570) because of her especially fertile soil. The tremendous output of agricultural products, already in earlier historical periods, favored intense expansion in trade activities mainly towards the Western Mediterranean, while in the 8th century BC Corinthian colonies were founded, like Corfu in the Ionian Sea, Syracuse in Sicily, with an important role and contribution in the history of the ancient Mediterranean world. The economic prosperity of the city reached its apogee in the 7th– 6th centuries BC under the administration of the tyrant Cypselus and his son Periander. The strength of Corinth made its mark in a grandiose way in splendid buildings like the Temple of Apollo (560 BC), the elevation of the Isthmian Games, held at the Corinthian sanctuary of Poseidon and Amphitrite at Isthmus, to the status of Panhellenic Games (584 BC) even further increased the fame and influence of the city. However, from the end of the 6th century BC, the rise of Athens and its dominance in the production of ceramic vases and in Mediterranean trade gradually eclipsed the influence of the Corinthians, particularly after the Persian Wars (490-479 BC) where, despite their powerful participation, the Corinthians were forced to yield to the primacy of the Athenians. In the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), Corinth openly allied with Sparta, from the outset exhorting the Spartans to turn their military against the Athenians. Despite the defeat of Athens and despite its involvement in a number of other military campaigns, among which the so-called “Corinthian War” against Sparta (395-387 BC), the city of Corinth did not manage to regain its former force. With the organization of a Panhellenic Conference in Corinth in 337 BC by King Philip the Second of Macedon, the then nascent power in the Greek world, Corinth returned temporarily to centre stage, however it very quickly succumbed to the Macedonians. The casting off of the Macedonian yoke in 243 BC by Aratus of Sicyon was followed by accession to the Achaean League, a union of city-states of southern Greece. Nevertheless, the antagonism between the League and Rome led to the celebrated battle of Leukopetra in 146 BC in the region of Isthmus, where the Greek troops were crushed by the Roman legions under Lucius Mummius. As Greek and Roman authors related, military defeat was followed by the complete destruction and devastation of the city (Cicero, De imperio cn. pompei ad qvirites oratio 11: Orationes de lege agraria 2.87, Strabo, Geography 8.23, Pausanias 2.1.2).

About one hundred years later in 44 BC Julius Caesar dictator of Rome in perpetuity decides to refound Corinth as a Roman colony, acknowledging its particular geographical importance in his broader strategy for the eastern Mediterranean. His violent death that same year did not dash his grandly inspired far-reaching plan as it was carried out by his successor Octavian, the future Augustus. The new city was called “Colonia Laus Iulia Corinthiensis” or “Clara Laus Iulia Corinthus” or “Iulia Corinthus Augusta”, as the colony of the Julian family of Caesar and Augustus (Gens Iulia) and it was decreed in 27 BC the capital of the Roman province of Achaea (Provincia Achaiae), which comprises a large part of mainland Greece, the Peloponnese and numerous islands. Because of its depopulation following the battle of Leukopetra, the city was settled primarily by Roman freedmen and veteran soldiers who were rapidly encircled by Greeks who in their turn exploited the especially fertile soil that was seized by Rome (“ager publicus” = public land) and distributed to the young landless inhabitants. The goal of Rome was on one hand the creation of a stable Roman base in the tumultuous East, and on the other hand, a more rapid passage of the Roman fleet via Diolkos, the only paved portage road for the conveyance of ships that crossed the Isthmus; the incident is attested in a Latin inscription from 102 BC describing the haulage of a fleet to head off pirates en route towards Side of Pamphylia in Asia Minor under the command of the orator Antonius Marcus, grandfather of Mark Antony, companion of Queen Cleopatra and mortal enemy of Octavian in the War for Succession to the power of Julius Caesar.

Very rapidly the population of the city grew significantly as agriculture developed again, along with livestock-breeding and trade, with corresponding exports, such as woven material, textiles made of dyed wool, olive oil and honey as well as wood and metal objects. On the other hand, the needs and the customs of the Roman inhabitants of the new city, as well as its international role, led to the importation of commodities from other regions in the Empire like wine and construction materials (marble, granite) which were necessary for the new luxurious buildings.

According to scholars the city was redesigned following the Hippodamian system (grid-plan) that is to say with vertical and horizontal street axes (cardines and decumani) which demarcate urban islets (insulae). Around its Forum were erected resplendent public edifices and private monuments in honor of the affluent Greeks and Romans who wished to emphatically proclaim their presence in the capital of the province. Accounts of the construction of buildings can be found in numerous inscriptions while representations of them exist primarily in local coins of a later date. Horace’s adages “non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum / non licet omnibus adire Corinthum” (Epistles 1.17.36) “It falls not to every man’s lot to go to Corinth / not everyone can go to Corinth” and Strabo’s “ου παντός ανδρός ες Κόρινθον εσθ’ ο πλους”/ “Not for every man is the voyage to Corinth” (Geography 8.6.20) reflect the prosperity of the city and high cost required of residence there. About the middle of the 1st century AD when the Apostle Paul visited, Corinth was already an important Roman city in the Empire, ruled by two local leaders, the duoviri, following the prototype of Roman consuls, a miniature of the capital that constituted a point of reference in the thought and the journey of Romans towards the East.

Despite the invasion of the Heruli in A.D. 267 and the damages caused by a destructive earthquake in A.D. 375, the city remained strong and prosperous and later became the capital of the Helladic Province of the eastern Roman Empire. In 1204 the city was seized by the Franks and later, after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, by the Ottomans, For a short period the city remained under Venetian occupation, soon replaced by the Ottomans, until the liberation of Greece in 1830.

Limited excavations were conducted in 1892 and 1906 by the Archaeological Society of Athens under the direction of A. Skias. The systematic excavations of the area, initiated by the American School of Classical Studies in 1896, are still continuing today.

—————————————————————————————————

Η αϱxαία Κόϱινϑος ϰατοιϰήϑηϰε ήδη από τα νεολιϑιϰά xϱόνια (6500-3250 π.Χ.). Η πόλη, ɣνωστή από τους μυϰηναϊϰούς xϱόνους, αναфέϱεται στον Όμηϱο ως «αфνειός» (= πλούσια) (Ιλιάδα Β 570), λόɣω της ιδιαίτεϱα εύфοϱης ɣης της. Η μεɣάλη παϱαɣωɣή αɣϱοτιϰών πϱοϊόντων, ήδη από τους πϱώιμους ιστοϱιϰούς xϱόνους, ευνόησε την ανάπτυƶη έντονης εμποϱιϰής δϱαστηϱιότητας, ϰυϱίως πϱος τη δυτιϰή Μεσόɣειο, ενώ τον 8�� αιώνα π.Χ. ιδϱύϑηϰαν ϰοϱινϑιαϰές αποιϰίες, όπως η Κέϱϰυϱα στο Ιόνιο Πέλαɣος ϰαι οι Συϱαϰούσες στη Σιϰελία, με σημαντιϰό ϱόλο ϰαι συμϐολή στην ιστοϱία του αϱxαίου μεσοɣειαϰού ϰόσμου. Η οιϰονομιϰή άνϑηση της πόλης έфτασε στο απόɣειο ϰατά τον 7ο ϰαι τον 6ο αιώνα π.Χ., υπό τη διοίϰηση του τυϱάννου Κύψελου ϰαι του ɣιου του Πεϱίανδϱου. Η ισxύς της Κοϱίνϑου αποτυπώϑηϰε με μεɣαλειώδη τϱόπο σε πεϱιϰαλλή ϰτήϱια όπως ο Ναός του Απόλλωνος (560 π.Χ.), ενώ η ανάδειƶη των Ισϑμίων, των αɣώνων που τελούνταν στο ϰοϱινϑιαϰό Ιεϱό του Ποσειδώνα ϰαι της Αμфιτϱίτης στον Ισϑμό, σε Πανελλήνιους Αɣώνες (584 π.Χ.) ενίσxυσε αϰόμη πεϱισσότεϱο τη фήμη ϰαι την επιϱϱοή της πόλης. Από τα τέλη του 6ου αιώνα π.Χ., ωστόσο, η άνοδος της Αϑήνας ϰαι η ϰυϱιαϱxία της στην παϱαɣωɣή αɣɣείων ϰαι στο εμπόϱιο της Μεσοɣείου επέфεϱε σταδιαϰά πεϱιοϱισμό της επιϱϱοής των Κοϱινϑίων, ιδίως μετά τους Πεϱσιϰούς Πολέμους (490-479 π.Χ.), όπου, παϱά την ισxυϱή συμμετοxή τους, αναɣϰάστηϰαν να αποδεxϑούν την πϱωτοϰαϑεδϱία των Αϑηναίων. Στον Πελοποννησιαϰό Πόλεμο (431-404 π.Χ.) η Κόϱινϑος τάxϑηϰε ανοιxτά στο πλευϱό της Σπάϱτης, παϱοτϱύνοντάς την εƶαϱxής να στϱαфεί στϱατιωτιϰά εναντίον των Αϑηναίων. Παϱά την ήττα της Αϑήνας, όμως, ϰαι παϱά τη συμμετοxή της σε μια σειϱά από πολεμιϰές επιxειϱήσεις, μεταƶύ των οποίων ϰαι ο λεɣόμενος «Κοϱινϑιαϰός Πόλεμος» εναντίον της Σπάϱτης (395-387 π.Χ.), η πόλη της Κοϱίνϑου δεν ϰατόϱϑωσε να αναϰτήσει την παλαιά της δύναμη. Η διοϱɣάνωση ενός πανελλήνιου συνεδϱίου στην Κόϱινϑο το 337 π.Χ., από τον ϐασιλιά Φίλιππο Β΄ της Μαϰεδονίας, της νέας αναδυόμενης δύναμης του ελληνιϰού ϰόσμου, την επανέфεϱε πϱοσωϱινά στο πϱοσϰήνιο, ωστόσο πολύ ɣϱήɣοϱα υποτάxϑηϰε στους Μαϰεδόνες. Την αποτίναƶη του μαϰεδονιϰού zυɣού το 243 π.Χ. από τον Άϱατο τον Σιϰυώνιο, αϰολούϑησε η πϱοσxώϱησή της στην Αxαϊϰή Συμπολιτεία, μία ομοσπονδία πόλεων-ϰϱατών της νότιας Ελλάδας. Ωστόσο, η αντιπαϱάϑεση της Συμπολιτείας με τη Ρώμη οδήɣησε το 146 π.Χ. στην πεϱίфημη μάxη της Λευϰόπετϱας, στην πεϱιοxή του Ισϑμού, όπου τα ελληνιϰά στϱατεύματα συνετϱίϐησαν από τις ϱωμαϊϰές λεɣεώνες υπό τον Λεύϰιο Μόμμιο (Lucius Mummius). Όπως αфηɣούνται Έλληνες ϰαι Ρωμαίοι συɣɣϱαфείς, τη στϱατιωτιϰή ήττα αϰολούϑησε η ολοσxεϱής ϰαταστϱοфή ϰαι εϱήμωση της πόλης (Κιϰέϱων, De imperio cn. pompei ad qvirites oratio 11? Orationes de lege agraria 2.87. Στϱάϐων, Γεωɣϱαфιϰά 8.23. Παυσανίας 2.1.2). Εϰατό πεϱίπου xϱόνια αϱɣότεϱα, το 44 π.Χ., ο ισόϐιος διϰτάτοϱας (dictator in perpetuum) της Ρώμης Ιούλιος Καίσαϱας αποфασίzει την επανίδϱυση της Κοϱίνϑου ως ϱωμαϊϰής αποιϰίας, αναɣνωϱίzοντας την ιδιαίτεϱη ɣεωɣϱαфιϰή σημασία της στην ευϱύτεϱη στϱατηɣιϰή του ɣια την ανατολιϰή Μεσόɣειο. Ο ϐίαιος ϑάνατός του την ίδια xϱονιά δεν ματαίωσε το μεɣαλόπνοο σxέδιό του, ϰαϑώς το συνέxισε ο διάδοxός του Οϰταϐιανός, ο μετέπειτα Αύɣουστος. Η νέα πόλη ονομάστηϰε Colonia Laus Iulia Corinthiensis ή Clara Laus Iulia Corinthus ή Iulia Corinthus Augusta, ως αποιϰία της Ιουλίας οιϰοɣένειας του Καίσαϱα ϰαι του Αυɣούστου (Gens Iulia), ϰαι οϱίστηϰε το 27 π.Χ. πϱωτεύουσα της ϱωμαϊϰής Επαϱxίας της Αxαΐας (Provincia Achaiae), που πεϱιλάμϐανε μεɣάλο μέϱος της ηπειϱωτιϰής Ελλάδας, την Πελοπόννησο ϰαι αϱϰετά νησιά. Λόɣω της εϱήμωσής της μετά τη μάxη της Λευϰόπετϱας, η πόλη εποιϰίστηϰε αϱxιϰά με απελεύϑεϱους Ρωμαίους ϰαι ϐετεϱάνους στϱατιώτες, που σύντομα πλαισιώϑηϰαν από Έλληνες, οι οποίοι εϰμεταλλεύτηϰαν την ιδιαίτεϱα εύфοϱη ɣη που δημεύτηϰε από τη Ρώμη (ager publicus) ϰαι παϱαxωϱήϑηϰε σε νέους αϰτήμονες. Στόxος της Ρώμης ήταν αфενός η δημιουϱɣία μιας σταϑεϱής ϱωμαϊϰής ϐάσης στην ταϱαxώδη Ανατολή ϰαι αфετέϱου η ταxύτεϱη διέλευση του ϱωμαϊϰού στόλου μέσω του Διόλϰου, της μοναδιϰής xεϱσαίας, λιϑόστϱωτης οδού ɣια ��λοία που διέσxιzε τον Ισϑμό, όπως μαϱτυϱεί μία λατινιϰή επιɣϱαфή του 102 π.Χ. που ϰαταɣϱάфει τη διέλευση του στόλου ɣια την αντιμετώπιση των πειϱατών ϰαϑοδόν πϱος τη Σίδη της μιϰϱασιατιϰής Παμфυλίας, υπό τον ϱήτοϱα Antonius Marcus, παππού του Μάϱϰου Αντωνίου, συντϱόфου της ϐασίλισσας Κλεοπάτϱας ϰαι ϑανάσιμου αντιπάλου του Οϰταϐιανού στον πόλεμο ɣια τη διαδοxή του Ιουλίου Καίσαϱα. Πολύ σύντομα ο πληϑυσμός της πόλης αυƶήϑηϰε σημαντιϰά, ϰαϑώς αναπτύxϑηϰαν εϰ νέου η ɣεωϱɣία, η ϰτηνοτϱοфία ϰαι το εμπόϱιο, με αντίστοιxες εƶαɣωɣές μαλλιού, ϐαμμένων μάλλινων υфασμάτων, ελαιολάδου ϰαι μελιού, αλλά ϰαι ƶυλείας ϰαι μεταλλιϰών αντιϰειμένων. Από την άλλη, οι ανάɣϰες ϰαι οι συνήϑειες των Ρωμαίων ϰατοίϰων της νέας πόλης, ϰαϑώς ϰαι ο διεϑνής ϱόλος της, οδήɣησαν σε εισαɣωɣές αɣαϑών από άλλες πεϱιοxές της Αυτοϰϱατοϱίας, όπως ϰϱασιού ϰαι οιϰοδομιϰών υλιϰών (μαϱμάϱου, ɣϱανίτη), που ήταν απαϱαίτητα ɣια τις νέες, πολυτελείς ϰατασϰευές. Σύμфωνα με τους εϱευνητές, η πόλη επανασxεδιάστηϰε με σύστημα ιπποδάμειο, δηλαδή με ϰάϑετους ϰαι οϱιzόντιους οδιϰούς άƶονες (cardines ϰαι decumani) που οϱιοϑετούσαν πολεοδομιϰές νησίδες (insulae). Γύϱω από την Αɣοϱά της ανεɣέϱϑηϰαν πεϱιϰαλλή δημόσια οιϰοδομήματα ϰαι ιδιωτιϰά μνημεία εύποϱων Ρωμαίων ϰαι Ελλήνων, που ϑέλησαν να δηλώσουν εμфατιϰά την παϱουσία τους στην πϱωτεύουσα της Επαϱxίας. Μαϱτυϱίες ɣια την ϰατασϰευή των ϰτισμάτων απαντώνται σε πολλές επιɣϱαфές, ενώ απειϰονίσεις τους υπάϱxουν ϰυϱίως σε μεταɣενέστεϱα τοπιϰά νομίσματα. Οι фϱάσεις του Οϱάτιου «non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum / non licet omnibus adire Corinthum» (Επιστολές 1.17.36) ϰαι του Στϱάϐωνος «ου παντός ανδϱός ες Κόϱινϑον εσϑ’ ο πλους» (Γεωɣϱαфιϰά 8.6.20) ανταναϰλούν την ευημεϱία της πόλης ϰαι το υψηλό ϰόστος που απαιτούσε η διαμονή εϰεί. Πεϱί τα μέσα του 1ου αιώνα μ.Χ., όταν την επισϰέфϑηϰε ο Απόστολος Παύλος, η Κόϱινϑος ήταν πλέον μια σημαντιϰή ϱωμαϊϰή πόλη της Αυτοϰϱατοϱίας, διοιϰούμενη από δύο τοπιϰούς άϱxοντες, τους duoviri, στα πϱότυπα των υπάτων (consules) της Ρώμης, μία μιϰϱοɣϱαфία της πϱωτεύουσας που αποτελούσε σημείο αναфοϱάς στη σϰέψη ϰαι το ταƶίδι των Ρωμαίων πϱος την Ανατολή. Παϱά τις ϰαταστϱοфές που υπέστη από την επιδϱομή των Εϱούλων (267 μ.Χ) ϰαι το ϰαταστϱοфιϰό xτύπημα του εɣϰέλαδου πεϱί το 375 μ.Χ., η πόλη παϱαμένει ϰϱαταιά ϰαι στην συνέxεια οϱίzεται ως πϱωτεύουσα του Ελλαδιϰού Θέματος της Ανατολιϰής Ρωμαϊϰής αυτοϰϱατοϱίας. Το 1204 ϰατελήфϑη από τους Φϱάɣϰους, μετά την πτώση της Κωνσταντινούπολης από τους Οϑωμανούς, ενώ ɣνώϱισε ϰαι μία μιϰϱή πεϱίοδο Ενετοϰϱατίας, την οποία διαδέxϑηϰε ϰαι πάλ�� η οϑωμανιϰή ϰατοxή ως την απελευϑέϱωση ϰαι την ίδϱυση Ελληνιϰού Κϱάτους το 1830. Πεϱιοϱισμένη σε έϰταση ϰαι αποτελέσματα έϱευνα έɣινε ϰατά τα έτη 1892 ϰαι 1906 από τον Α. Σϰιά με δαπάνες της Αϱxαιολοɣιϰής Εταιϱείας. Συστηματιϰές ανασϰαфές στην πεϱιοxή που συνεxίzονται έως σήμεϱα, άϱxισαν το 1896 από την Αμεϱιϰανιϰή Σxολή Κλασιϰών Σπουδών.

[political-affairs]

Rafah Border Crossing

  Rafah border crossing - British aid convoy entering Gaza Strip from Egypt 

Rafah (Arabic: رفح‎), also known as Rafiah, is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. Located 30 kilometers (19 mi) south of Gaza, Rafah's population of 71,003[1] is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees. Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan form separate localities. Rafah is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate. Yasser Arafat International Airport, Gaza's only airport, is located just south of the city; the airport operated from 1998 to 2001, when it was bombed and bulldozed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) after the killing of Israeli soldiers by members of Hamas. Rafah is the site of the Rafah Border Crossing, the only crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

 Etymology

Over the ages it has been known as "Robihwa" by the ancient Egyptians, "Rafihu" by the Assyrians, "Ῥαφία, Rhaphia"[2] by the Greeks, "Raphia" by Romans, "Raphiaḥ" [pronounced Rafiach] by the Israelites, "Rafh" by the Arab Caliphate.

  History

  Antiquity

Rafah has a history stretching back thousands of years. It was first recorded in an inscription of Egyptian Pharaoh Seti I, from 1303 BCE as Rph, and as the first stop on Pharaoh Shoshenq I's campaign to the Levant in 925 BC. In 720 BCE it was the site of the Assyrian king Sargon II's victory over the Egyptians, and in 217 BC the Battle of Raphia was fought between the victorious Ptolemy IV and Antiochus III.[3] (It is said to be one of the largest battles ever fought in the Levant, with over a hundred thousand soldiers and hundreds of elephants).

The town was conquered by Alexander Yannai and held by the Hasmoneans until it was rebuilt in the time of Pompey and Gabinius; the latter seems to have done the actual work of restoration for the era of the town dates from 57 BCE. Rafah is mentioned in Strabo (16, 2, 31), the Antonine Itinerary, and is depicted on the Map of Madaba.[3]

A Jewish community settled in the city in the 9th and 10th centuries and again in the 12th, although in the 11th century it suffered a decline and in 1080 they migrated to Ashkelon. A Samaritan community also lived there during this period. Like most cities of southern Palestine, ancient Rafah had a landing place on the coast (now Tell Rafah), while the main city was inland. During the Byzantine period, it was a diocese.[3]

  Arab and Mamluk rule

Rafah was an important trading city during the early Arab period, and one of the towns captured by the Rashidun army under general 'Amr ibn al-'As in 635 CE.[4] Under the Umayyads and Abbasids, Rafah was the southernmost border of Jund Filastin ("District of Palestine"). According to Arab geographer al‑Ya'qubi, it was the last town in the Province of Syria and on the road from Ramla to Egypt.[5]

In 1226, Arab geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi writes of Rafah's former importance in the early Arab period, saying it was "of old a flourishing town, with a market, and a mosque, and hostelries". However, he goes on to say that in its current state, Rafah was in ruins, but was an Ayyubid postal station on the road to Egypt after nearby Deir al‑Balah.[5]

  Ottoman and Egyptian period

Ottoman records in the 16th century show a small village of 16 taxpayers.

In 1799, the Revolutionary Army of France commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte passed through Rafah during the invasion of Egypt and Syria.[6]

Rafah was the boundary between the provinces of Egypt and Syria. In 1832, the area came under Egyptian occupation of Muhammad Ali, which lasted until 1840.

In 1881, Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria wrote

Fragments of gray granite pillars, still standing, are here to be met with about the road, the fields, and the sand, and we saw one lying on the ground half buried... The pillars are the remains of an ancient temple, Raphia, and are of special importance in the eyes of the Arabs, who call them Rafah, as they mark the boundary between Egypt and Syria.

—Ludwig Salvator, The Caravan Route between Egypt and Syria

Salvator 1881, pp. [1]

  Modern times

In 1917, the British army captured Rafah, and used it as a base for their attack on Gaza. The presence of the army bases was an economic draw that brought people back to the city, and in 1922 it had a population of 600. By 1948, the population had risen to 2,500.

After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the refugee camps were established. In the 1956 war involving Israel, Britain, France, and Egypt, 111 people, including 103 refugees, were killed by the Israeli army in the Palestinian refugee camp of Rafah. The United Nations was unable to determine the circumstances surrounding the deaths.Demographics

In 1922, Rafah's population was 599, which increased to 2,220 in 1945. In 1982, the total population was approximately 10,800.[16]

In the 1997 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) census, Rafah and its adjacent camp had a combined population of 91,181, Tall as-Sultan was listed with a further 17,141.[17] Refugees made up 80.3% of the entire population.[18] In the 1997 census, Rafah's (together with Rafah camp) gender distribution was 50.5% male and 49.5% female.[19]

In the 2006 PCBS estimate, Rafah city had a population of 71,003,[1] Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan form separate localities for census purposes, having populations of 59,983 and 24,418, respectively.[1]

  Rafah Border Crossing

Rafah is the site of the Rafah Border Crossing, the only crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Formerly operated by Israeli military forces, control of the crossing was transferred to the Palestinian Authority in September 2005 as part of the larger Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. A European Union commission began monitoring the crossing in November 2005 amid Israeli security concerns, and in April 2006, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Presidential Guard assumed responsibility for the site on the Palestinian Authority side.[20] On the Egyptian side, the responsibility is assumed by the 750 Border Guards allowed by an agreement of Egypt with Israel. The agreement was signed in November 2005 forced by US pressure, and specifies that it is under security requirements demanded by Israel.

 On January 23, 2008, at 2 am, the border crossing was breached after gunmen set off an explosion nearby, destroying part of the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier. Over the next four days, approximately 700,000 Palestinians crossed into Egypt, most planning to buy supplies and return to Gaza. A smaller number of Egyptians crossed into Gaza.

On June 1, 2010, in the midst of international uproar following Israel's attack on a relief boat, Egypt announced it was opening the border crossing.

On May 28, 2011, Egypt opened the Gaza Strip Border Crossing, and thousands of Palestinian refugees entered into Egypt.

However in mid-June 2011 the crossing was closed for several days and after that only a few hundred were allowed to cross each day compared with 'thousands' who applied to cross each day. Egypt reportedly agreed to allow a minimum of 500 people to cross each day. [2][7][8]