News on the Ancient World – May 14th
Here is a rundown of ancient historical anniversaries of the coming two weeks(I normally do one, but a)there isn’t much going on in the next couple weeks and b)I’ll be out of town and thus unable to write one of these next weekend) and news on ancient history from the past week. As always, the news articles come from http://www.ablogabouthistory.com/, which is well worth looking at.
- May 20th marks the anniversary of the beginning of the First Council of Nicaea in 325CE, the first ecumenical council of the Christian church. It was called by the Roman Emperor Constantine who, having recognized the Christian religion, called the council to decide matters of doctrine and orthodoxy and hopefully end some of the schisms and infighting with the young religion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicea
- May 22nd is the date often given for the Battle of Granicus, in which the Macedonian armies of Alexander the Great defeated the army of the Satraps of Asia Minor. This was the first of Alexander’s three battles against the Persian Empire and gave him virtually free reign to seize control of Asia Minor, the first part of his conquest of the Persian Empire. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Granicus
From Carthage to the Colonel
Archaeological evidence indicates that the coastal plain of Ancient Libya was inhabited by the Neolithic Berbers from as early as 8000 BC.
The Phoenicians were the first to establish trading posts in Libya
By the 5th century BC, the greatest of the Phoenician colonies, Carthage (whose most famous general was Hannibal Barca), had extended its hegemony across much of North Africa, where a distinctive civilization, known as Punic, came into being. Punic settlements on the Libyan coast included Oea (later Tripoli), Libdah (later Leptis Magna) and Sabratha. These cities were in an area that was later called Tripolis, or “Three Cities”, from which Libya’s modern capital Tripoli takes its name.
After the Punic wars between Carthage and Rome resulted in the fall of Carthage, the Romans did not occupy immediately Tripolitania (the region around Tripoli), but left it under control of the kings of Numidia.
During the Roman civil wars Tripolitania and Cyrenaica sustained Marc Antony against Caesar and Octavian. The Romans completed the conquest of the region under Augustus. Roman ruins like those of Leptis Magna and Sabratha, extant in present-day Libya, attest to the vitality of the region.
Read More at From Carthage to the Colonel | Deccan Chronicle.
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