The name “Adonis” has long been associated with the idea of beauty and with Classical myth. His legend, however, starts long before our present conceptions of the ancient world. Phoenicia, a land roughly equivalent to modern-day Lebanon, was a farming community. Its people lived by the seasonal calendar, feeding themselves with the result of difficult …
Flavius Julius Constantius(AD ca. 250 – AD 306) Flavius Julius Constantius, like the other emperors of the day, was from a poor Danubian family and had worked his way up through the ranks of the army. The famous addition of ‘Chlorus’ to his name, came from his pale complexion, for it’s meaning is ‘the pale’. …
Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus(AD ca 250 – AD 310) Maximian was born near Sirmium at around AD 250 to a poor shopkeeper’s family. He received little or no formal education at all. He rose through the ranks of the army and served with distinction under emperor Aurelian on the frontiers of the Danube, Euphrates, Rhine …
Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus(AD 240 – AD 311) Born probably near Spalatum (Split) with the name Diocles on 22 December AD 240 or 245, Diocletian was the son of a poor family in Dalmatia. It is said, that his father, apparently a scribe of a wealthy senator, might have been a former slave. Diocles rose …
Marcus Aurelius Numerius Numerianus(AD ca. 253 – AD 284) Marcus Aurelius Numerius Numerianus was the younger son of the late emperor Carus, born in about AD 253. Numerian and his elder brother Carinus were raised to the rank of Caesar in AD 282, soon after their father became emperor. In AD 282 Numerian accompanied his …
Marcus Aurelius Carinus(AD ca. 250 – AD 285) Marcus Aurelius Carinus, the elder son of Carus, was born around AD 250. He and his brother Numerian were elevated to the rank of Caesar (junior emperor) in AD 282. When in December AD 282 or January AD 283 Carus left together with Numerian to campaign first …