Misplaced Pages

#590409

118-575: It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river . Located more than 1,130 m above sea level, the city is the highest provincial capital in Spain. Distinctively known by its medieval walls , Ávila is sometimes called the Town of Stones and Saints , and it claims that it is one of the towns with the highest number of Romanesque and Gothic churches per capita in Spain. It has complete and prominent medieval town walls, built in

236-509: A caste system , and land fell out of use in the East just as it had in the West. Yet the East stood its ground in the fifth century, fought back in the sixth, and even recovered some territory in the seventh. The East had only one apparent advantage: geography. It was less vulnerable, strategically, than the West. The narrowest sea crossing to its core territories was protected from the northern barbarians by

354-468: A Fall of empire. Like other Enlightenment thinkers and British citizens of the age steeped in institutional anti-Catholicism , Gibbon held in contempt the Middle Ages as a priest-ridden, superstitious Dark Age. It was not until his own era, the "Age of Reason", with its emphasis on rational thought, it was believed, that human history could resume its progress. He began an ongoing controversy about

472-484: A breakdown in society. For centuries, Theodosius was regarded as a champion of Christian orthodoxy who decisively stamped out paganism. His predecessors Constantine , Constantius II , and Valens had all been semi-Arians , whereas Theodosius supported Nicene Christianity which eventually became the orthodox version of Christology for most later Christian churches—his Edict of Thessalonica described Arian Christians as "foolish madmen". Therefore, as far as Ambrose and

590-499: A central Roman rump state ; in 271, Rome abandoned the province of Dacia on the north of the Danube . The Rhine /Danube frontier also came under more effective threats from larger barbarian groupings, which had developed improved agriculture and increased their populations. The average stature of the population in the West suffered a serious decline in the late second century; the population of Northwestern Europe did not recover, though

708-531: A demoralized army, began his brief reign (363–364) while trapped in Mesopotamia without supplies. To purchase safe passage home, he had to concede areas of northern Mesopotamia , including the strategically important fortress of Nisibis . This fortress had been Roman since before the Peace of Nisibis in 299. The brothers Valens ( r.  364–378 ) and Valentinian I ( r.  364–375 ) energetically tackled

826-474: A great increase in the purchasing power of gold, two and a half fold from 274 to the later fourth century. This may be an index of growing economic inequality between a gold-rich elite and a cash-poor peasantry . "Formerly, says Ammianus, Rome was saved by her austerity, by solidarity between rich and poor, by contempt for death; now she is undone by her luxury and greed (Amm. xxxi. 5. 14 and xxii. 4.). Salvianus backs up Ammianus by affirming that greed (avaritia)

944-618: A large regular army with logistics and training. The cursus honorum , a standardized series of military and civil posts organised for ambitious aristocratic men, ensured that powerful noblemen had the opportunity to become familiar with military and civil command and administration. At a lower level within the army, connecting the aristocrats at the top with the private soldiers, a large number of centurions were well-rewarded, literate, and responsible for training, discipline, administration, and leadership in battle. City governments with their own properties and revenues functioned effectively at

1062-484: A large and powerful group as Christians had now become. Julian prepared for civil war against Constantius, who again encouraged the Germans to attack Gaul. However Julian's campaigns had been effective and only one small Alemannic raid, speedily dealt with by Julian, resulted. Constantius died before any serious fighting and Julian was acknowledged as master of the entire Empire. He launched an expensive campaign against

1180-451: A local level; membership of city councils involved lucrative opportunities for independent decision-making, and, despite its obligations, became seen as a privilege. Under a series of emperors who each adopted a mature and capable successor, the Empire did not require civil wars to regulate the imperial succession. Requests could be submitted directly to the better emperors, and the answers had

1298-482: A major centre for Jewish unrest. Nevertheless, it remained a culture based on an early subsistence economy , with only ineffective inklings of a germ theory of disease . Despite its aqueducts , the water supply did not allow good hygiene. Sewage was disposed of on the streets, in open drains, or by scavenging animals. Even in the Roman Climatic Optimum , local harvest failures causing famines were always

SECTION 10

#1732847882591

1416-538: A major part in the fall of the West". The Roman Empire reached its greatest geographical extent under Trajan (r. 98–117), who ruled a prosperous state that stretched from Armenia to the Atlantic Ocean . The Empire had large numbers of trained, supplied, and disciplined soldiers, drawn from a growing population. It had a comprehensive civil administration based in thriving cities with effective control over public finances. The literate elite considered theirs to be

1534-399: A master-slave relationship. An elaborate court ceremonial developed, and obsequious flattery became the order of the day. Under Diocletian, the flow of direct requests to the emperor rapidly reduced, and soon ceased altogether. No other form of direct access replaced them, and the emperor received only information filtered through his courtiers . However, as Sabine MacCormack described,

1652-476: A national monument since 1968. A hermitage located to the west of Ávila, outside the town walls, on the right bank of the Adaja river. It highlights the sculpted capitals in which the sculptor is the footprint of the apse of San Andrés. Alabaster statues were made by Juan de Juni . Popular belief has it that, on introducing a handkerchief into the tomb and asking for three wishes, the saint will grant one. His pilgrimage

1770-409: A possibility. And even in good times, Roman women needed to have, on average, six children each in order to maintain the population . Good nourishment and bodily cleanliness were privileges of the rich, advertised by their firm tread, healthy skin color, and lack of the "dull smell of the underbathed". Infant mortality was very high, and diarrhoeal diseases were a major cause of death. Malaria

1888-663: A rain shadow. The Adaja is dry for several months of the year and the town has historically had water supply problems. Ávila has the coldest winter low temperatures of the Spanish provincial capital cities, thanks to its high altitude (1,132 metres (3,714 ft) above sea level ). In pre-Roman times (the 5th century BC), Ávila was inhabited by the Vettones , who called it Obila (Ὀβίλα) ("High Mountain") and built one of their strongest fortresses here. There are Bronze Age stone statues of boars (known as verracio ) nearby. Ávila may have been

2006-471: A reduced tax base. The business of subduing barbarian warbands also demanded substantial gifts of precious metal. At least one extra levy provoked desperation and rioting , in which the emperor's statues were destroyed. Nevertheless, he is represented as financially generous as emperor, though frugal in his personal life. By the end of the 380s, Theodosius and the court were in Mediolanum , and northern Italy

2124-481: A rocky outcrop on the right bank of the Adaja river, a tributary of the Duero , Ávila is the highest provincial capital in Spain. It is built on the flat summit of a rocky hill, which rises abruptly in the midst of a veritable wilderness; a brown, arid, treeless table-land, strewn with immense grey boulders, and shut in by lofty mountains. Ávila's position results in a warm summer mediterranean climate ( Csb , according to

2242-577: A stone frontier town and creating the walls that still stand. Ávila hosted a Jewish community in the middle ages. The first written evidence documenting the presence of Jews dates to 1144. By the end of the 13th century, the Jewish population in Ávila was one of the largest in Castile. In 1375, the Jews of Ávila were forced to watch a religious disputation between Juan de Valladolid and Moses ha-Kohen of Tordesillas . After

2360-632: A striking red-and-white "blood" limestone, while the Gothic parts were built with pure white stone. Highlight the tomb of Saint Peter of the Boat and, above all, the Cenotaph of the Holy Brothers Martyrs, the head of the temple, Saint Vincent of Ávila, and her sisters, along with the torture he suffered in the 4th century, Saint Sabina and Saint Cristeta, (Cenotafio de los santos Vicente, Sabina y Cristeta), one of

2478-840: A wish to the Virgin, and get to the door barefoot until entering the church. Notable examples of secular architecture are the Valderrábanos Palace (15th century), the Casa de los Deanes (16th century), the Torreón de los Guzmanes and the Verdugos Palace (15th–16th centuries). Ávila has two universities: the Catholic University of Ávila (UCAV) and the University of Mysticism, which became operational on September 2, 2008. There are three colleges of

SECTION 20

#1732847882591

2596-507: Is a vice common to nearly all Romans". However, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi (consul 133 BC) had already dated the start of Rome's moral decline to 154 BCE. Within the late Roman military , many recruits and even officers had barbarian origins. Soldiers are recorded as using possibly-barbarian rituals, such as elevating a claimant on shields. Some scholars have seen this as an indication of weakness. Others disagree, seeing neither barbarian recruits nor new rituals as causing any problem with

2714-399: Is celebrated on 2 May, Segundo being the patron saint of Ávila. This 16th-century palace is located inside the walls and attached to it as junt walk through the door of San Vicente, defended the access of Muslim troops. Located on a busy street by different arms of the Águila family. Real Monasterio de Santo Tomás is a Dominican convent of the late 15th century. Despite being away from

2832-774: The Gospel to Ávila, and was created its first bishop. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire , Ávila became a stronghold of the Visigoths . Conquered by the Moors (Arabs) (who called it Ābila, آبلة), it was repeatedly attacked by the northern Iberian Christian kingdoms, becoming a virtually uninhabited no man's land. It was repopulated about 1088 following the definitive reconquest of the area by Raymond of Burgundy , son in law of Alfonso VI of León and Castile. He employed two foreigners, Casandro Romano and Florin de Pituenga , to construct

2950-564: The Huns . They were exploited by corrupt officials rather than effectively relieved and resettled, and they took up arms and were joined by more Goths and some Alans and Huns. Valens was in Asia with his main field army preparing for an assault on the Sasanian Empire. Redirection of the army and its logistic support would have required time, and Gratian's armies were distracted by Germanic invasions across

3068-487: The Köppen climate classification ) bordering on a cold semi-arid climate ( BSk ) with warm summers and chilly winters with snowfalls. The hottest month, July, has an average temperature of 20.6 °C (69 °F), and the coldest month, January, has an average of 3.0 °C (37 °F). The average annual precipitation is 416 mm (16.38 in). Annual rainfall is low compared to surrounding areas, implying that it lies in

3186-473: The Muslim conquests represented a decisive break with antiquity. The more recent formulation of a historical period characterized as " Late Antiquity " emphasizes the transformations of ancient to medieval worlds within a cultural continuity. In recent decades archaeologically based argument even extends the continuity in material culture and in patterns of settlement as late as the eleventh century. Observing

3304-595: The Roman Republic , controlling a smaller area than the western Empire, had been able to reconstitute large regular armies of citizens after greater defeats than Adrianople. That war had ended with the near-extermination of the invading barbarian supergroups, each supposed to have more than 100,000 warriors. ) The final Gothic settlement was acclaimed with relief, even the official panegyrist admitting that these Goths could not be expelled or exterminated, nor reduced to unfree status. Instead they were either recruited into

3422-493: The Romanesque style; writer José Martínez Ruiz , in his book El alma castellana ("The Castilian Soul"), described it as "perhaps the most 16th-century town in Spain". The town is also known as Ávila de los Caballeros , Ávila del Rey and Ávila de los Leales ("Ávila of the knights", "Ávila of the king", "Ávila of the loyal ones"), each of these epithets being present in the town standard . Orson Welles once named Ávila as

3540-648: The Senate sent the imperial insignia to the Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno . While its legitimacy lasted for centuries longer and its cultural influence remains today, the Western Empire never had the strength to rise again. The Eastern Roman, or Byzantine , Empire, survived and remained for centuries an effective power of the Eastern Mediterranean , although it lessened in strength. Additionally, while

3658-780: The University of Salamanca (USAL): the Polytechnic School of Ávila, the College of Education and Tourism in Ávila, and the School of Nursing. The town is home to Óbila CB , a professional basketball team of Spain's LEB Plata . The team plays its home games at the Multiusos Carlos Sastre . The local football team, Real Ávila CF , plays at the Adolfo Suárez Stadium , owned by the municipality. The first public festival after

Ávila - Misplaced Pages Continue

3776-587: The crisis of the third century . Heavy mortality in 165–180 from the Antonine Plague seriously impaired attempts to repel Germanic invaders, but the legions generally held or at least speedily re-instated the borders of the Empire. From 376, massive populations moved into the Empire, driven by the Huns who themselves may have been driven by climate change in the Eurasian steppe . These barbarian invasions led ultimately to barbarian kingdoms over much of

3894-443: The diocese of Macedonia to their control. In 387 Maximus invaded Italy, forcing Valentinian II to flee to the East, where he accepted Nicene Christianity. Maximus boasted to Ambrose of the numbers of barbarians in his forces, and hordes of Goths, Huns, and Alans followed Theodosius. Maximus negotiated with Theodosius for acceptance as Augustus of the West, but Theodosius refused, gathered his armies, and counterattacked, winning

4012-418: The emperors , the internal struggles for power, the religious changes of the period, and the efficiency of the civil administration. Increasing pressure from invading peoples outside Roman culture also contributed greatly to the collapse. Climatic changes and both endemic and epidemic disease drove many of these immediate factors. The reasons for the collapse are major subjects of the historiography of

4130-591: The province of Valladolid near the town of Aniago . This article related to a river in Spain is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Fall of the Western Roman Empire The fall of the Western Roman Empire , also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome , was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire , a process in which

4248-431: The sack of Rome in 410 , and the death of Julius Nepos in 480. When Gibbon published his landmark work, it quickly became the standard. Peter Brown has written that "Gibbon's work formed the peak of a century of scholarship which had been conducted in the belief that the study of the declining Roman Empire was also the study of the origins of modern Europe". Gibbon was the first to attempt an explanation of causes of

4366-747: The 1492 expulsion of the Jews , the Jewish community was nonexistent. The city achieved a period of prosperity under the Catholic Monarchs in the early 16th century. During the Revolt of the Comuneros , the city became the first meeting place of the Santa junta (the Holy governing board) on 1 August 1520. The Junta of Ávila drafted the Proyecto de Ley Perpetua (a sort of proto-constitutional draft that never came into force) in

4484-601: The 4-lane principal avenues Hornos Caleros and Carretera de Valladolid were built in the 70s and 80s. This doubled the population and provided the city with modern services. Nowadays, there is a mall near the hospital in the northern zone. Adaja The Adaja is a river of Spain located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula , a major left-bank tributary of the Douro . Featuring a total length of 163 km, its river basin drains an area of 5,328 km2. It has its source in

4602-457: The 70s and 80s most traffic lights were replaced with roundabouts, but many lights still exist in the central zone where it is not possible to put roundabouts. Also in that time, the city had relatively large growth, which led to the creation of many social neighborhoods around the old town area. The Hospital Nuestra Señora de Sonsoles (Our lady of Sonsoles Hospital), the Adolfo Suárez stadium,

4720-506: The Cathedral of Ávila in the Summer of 1520, envisaging that cities assembled every three years without the requirement for royal sanction or presence, determining taxation and acting as a check and balance on government activity. The city experienced a long decline since the 17th century, its population reducing to just 4,000 inhabitants. In the 19th century, there was some population growth with

4838-481: The Christian literary tradition that followed him were concerned, Theodosius deserved most of the credit for the final triumph of Christianity. Modern scholars see this as a Christian interpretation of history. Theodosius did not stamp out paganism, which continued into the seventh century. Theodosius had to face a powerful usurper in the West; Magnus Maximus declared himself Emperor in 383, stripped troops from

Ávila - Misplaced Pages Continue

4956-517: The East, but these failed. In the ensuing bloody civil war Magnentius marched against Constantius with as many troops as he could mobilize, stripping the Rhine frontier of its most effective troops. Magnentius died and so did many of his men. Meanwhile, Constantius sent messages to the German tribes east of the Rhine, inviting them to attack Gaul, which they did. In the next few years a strip some 40 miles wide to

5074-459: The Empire divided between the warring ministers of his two incapable sons. Goths and other non-Romans became a force that could challenge either part of the Empire. Further barbarian groups crossed the Rhine and other frontiers. The armed forces of the Western Empire became few and ineffective, and despite brief recoveries under able leaders, central rule was never again effectively consolidated. By 476,

5192-459: The Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vast territory was divided among several successor polities . The Roman Empire lost the strengths that had allowed it to exercise effective control over its Western provinces ; modern historians posit factors including the effectiveness and numbers of the army , the health and numbers of the Roman population, the strength of the economy , the competence of

5310-472: The Mediterranean region". A synthesis by Harper (2017) gave four decisive turns of events in the transformation from the height of the empire to the early Middle Ages: The loss of centralized political control over the West, and the lessened power of the East, are universally agreed, but the theme of decline has been taken to cover a much wider time span than the hundred years from 376. For Cassius Dio ,

5428-461: The Mediterranean regions did. The Empire survived the "Crisis of the Third Century", directing its economy successfully towards defense, but survival came at the price of a more centralized and bureaucratic state . Excessive military expenditure, coupled with civil wars due to unstable succession, caused increased taxes to the detriment of the industry. Under Gallienus (Emperor from 253 to 268)

5546-669: The Rhine. In 378, Valens attacked the invaders with the Eastern field army, now perhaps 20,000 men, probably much fewer than the forces that Julian had led into Mesopotamia a little over a decade before, and possibly only 10% of the soldiers nominally available in the Danube provinces. In the Battle of Adrianople (9 August 378), Valens lost much of that army and his own life. All of the Balkan provinces were thus exposed to raiding, without effective response from

5664-462: The Roman position in the East. These campaigns depended on effective imperial coordination and mutual trust—between 379 and 380, Theodosius controlled not only the Eastern empire, but also, by agreement, the diocese of Illyricum . Theodosius was unable to recruit enough Roman troops, relying on barbarian warbands without Roman military discipline or loyalty. (In contrast, during the Cimbrian War ,

5782-654: The Roman world was overwhelmed by a deluge of Barbarians. After a diligent inquiry, I can discern four principal causes of the ruin of Rome, which continued to operate in a period of more than a thousand years. I. The injuries of time and nature. II. The hostile attacks of the Barbarians and Christians. III. The use and abuse of the materials. And, IV. The domestic quarrels of the Romans. Modern historiography diverges from Gibbon. While most of his ideas are no longer accepted in totality, they have been foundational to later discourse and

5900-578: The Sasanian Persians . He succeeded in marching to the Sassanid capital of Ctesiphon , but, at the suggestion of a Persian agent, burned his boats and supplies to show resolve in continuing operations. The Sassanids then burned crops so the Roman army had no food. Finding himself cut off without supplies in enemy territory, Julian began a land retreat, and during the Battle of Samarra , he was mortally wounded. Julian's successor Jovian , acclaimed by

6018-532: The West refused to intervene in Christian controversy. In the East, Valens had to deal with Christians who did not conform to his ideas of orthodoxy, and persecution formed part of his response. He tolerated paganism, even keeping some of Julian's associates in their trusted positions. He confirmed the rights and privileges of the pagan priests, and confirmed the right of pagans to be the exclusive caretakers of their temples. Valentinian died of an apoplexy while shouting at envoys of Germanic leaders. His successors in

SECTION 50

#1732847882591

6136-518: The West were children, his sons Gratian ( r.  375–383 ) and Valentinian II ( r.  375–392 ). Gratian, "alien from the art of government both by temperament and by training", removed the Altar of Victory from the Senate House . He also rejected the pagan title of Pontifex Maximus . In 376, the East faced an enormous barbarian influx across the Danube, mostly Goths , who were fleeing from

6254-525: The accession of the emperor Commodus in 180 CE marked the descent "from a kingdom of gold to one of rust and iron". Since the age of humanism , the process of the Fall has been thought to have begun with Constantine the Great , or with the soldier emperors who seized power through command of the army from 235 through 284, or with Commodus , or even with Augustus . Gibbon was uncertain about when decline began. "In

6372-548: The agricultural economy was generally doing well. On January 18 350, the imperial magister officiorum gave a banquet in Augustodunum while his master, Western Emperor Constans , was away hunting. During the feast Magnus Magnentius , commander of the imperial household troops , appeared in an imperial purple toga and announced himself to be the new Emperor. Constans was soon murdered and Magnentius took over most of his western domains. He made peace overtures to Constantius in

6490-539: The ancient town known as Abula , mentioned by Ptolemy in his Geographia (II 6, 60) as being located in the Iberian region of Bastetania . Abula is mentioned as one of the first towns in Hispania that was converted to Christianity by Secundus of Abula ( San Segundo ), however, Abula may alternatively have been the town of Abla . After the conquest by ancient Rome , the town was called Abila or Abela . The plan of

6608-399: The ancient world and they inform much modern discourse on state failure . In 376, a large migration of Goths and other non- Roman people, fleeing from the Huns , entered the Empire . Roman forces were unable to exterminate, expel or subjugate them (as was their normal practice). In 395, after winning two destructive civil wars, Theodosius I died. He left a collapsing field army, and

6726-510: The borders of the province and the country. Ávila is twinned with: The Ávila Railway Station serves the town. The closest airport is Adolfo Suárez in Madrid-Barajas. The city can be reached via the A-6 from Madrid. The city itself can be explored on foot, although there is a public service of buses running throughout the city. Also, there is a bus station that has intercity bus connections; it

6844-441: The cathedral to be the work of the master mason Fruchel in the 12th century, coinciding with the repopulation of the town led by Raymond of Burgundy . The eastern apse, which forms part of the town walls, is half church, half fortress, and it was here that the loyal citizens elevated Alonso VII as their king, hence Ávila del Rey . The transept was finished in 1350 by Bishop Sancho de Ávila. The earlier Romanesque parts are made of

6962-571: The climate worsened further in the Late Antique Little Ice Age that may have directly contributed to the variety of factors that brought Rome down. The Roman Empire was built on the fringes of the tropics . Its roads and its pirate-free seas, which produced an abundance of trade, also unknowingly created an interconnected disease ecology that unleashed the evolution and spread of pathogens. Pandemics contributed to massive demographic changes, economic crises , and food shortages in

7080-539: The construction of the railway line from Madrid to the French border at Irun and an important junction near the town. In 1936, at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War , the town quickly became part of the area occupied by rebel troops. Growth continued slowly again under Franco , but Ávila has not had a major influence in Spanish society in recent history, apart from the nurturing of politicians such as Adolfo Suárez ,

7198-528: The court culture that developed with Diocletian was still subject to pressure from below. Imperial proclamations were used to stress the traditional limitations of the imperial office, while imperial ceremonies "left room for consensus and popular participation". Official cruelty , supporting extortion and corruption , may also have become more commonplace; one example being Constantine 's law that slaves who betrayed their mistress's confidential remarks should have molten lead poured down their throats. While

SECTION 60

#1732847882591

7316-545: The day before the "Procession Girl" from the Iglesian de Santa Teresa to the cathedral. Typical dishes of the town and region are "Judías del Barco", "Chuletón de Ávila", "Patatas revolconas" and "Yemas de Santa Teresa". Also worth mentioning is " Hornazo ", "Bun stuffed with sausage, bacon, steak and eggs", "Mollejas de ternera" or the " Cochinillo ", which can be found in the capital and in Arévalo. This sweet can always be found in

7434-523: The demise of classical civilization to the 8th century. He challenged the notion that Germanic barbarians had caused the Western Roman Empire to end, and he refused to equate the end of the Western Roman Empire with the end of the office of emperor in Italy. He pointed out the essential continuity of the economy of the Roman Mediterranean even after the barbarian invasions, and suggested that only

7552-481: The effectiveness or loyalty of the army, at least while that army was effectively led, disciplined, trained, paid, and supplied by officers who identified as Roman. A. H. M. Jones has pointed out that the earlier scholarly views are Western. Most of the weaknesses discussed by scholars were "common to both halves of the empire", with Christianity even more prevalent in the East than the West. Religious disputes were bitter, bureaucracy corrupt and extortionate, it had

7670-467: The end of the fourth century, Christianity had become the religion of any ambitious civil official. The wealth of the Christian Church increased dramatically in the fifth century. Immense resources, both public and private, were used for building churches, storage barns for the grain used for charity, new hospitals for the poor, and in support of those in religious life without other income. Bishops in wealthy cities were thus able to offer patronage in

7788-459: The end of the fourth century. Constantine settled Franks on the lower left bank of the Rhine . Their communities required a line of fortifications to keep them in check, indicating that Rome had lost almost all local control. Under Constantius, bandits came to dominate areas such as Isauria , which were well within the empire. The tribes of Germania also became more populous and more threatening. In Gaul , which did not really recover from

7906-424: The entire Imperial era was one of steady decay of institutions founded in republican times. Theodor Mommsen excluded the imperial period from his Nobel Prize-winning History of Rome (1854–1856). As one convenient marker for the end, 476 has been used since Gibbon, but other key dates for the fall of the Roman Empire in the West include the Crisis of the Third Century, the Crossing of the Rhine in 406 (or 405),

8024-507: The estates of persons condemned for treason and other capital crimes . This practice reduced future, though not immediate, income; those close to the emperor also gained a strong incentive to encourage his suspicion of conspiracies . The new supreme rulers disposed of the legal fiction of the early Empire (seeing the emperor as but the first among equals ); emperors from Aurelian (r. 270–275) onwards openly styled themselves as dominus et deus , "lord and god", titles appropriate for

8142-453: The fan groups, chocolate with churros and liturgical acts naturally focus on the day of the patroness, on 15 October with multitudinous mass presided by Bishop, then celebrated a great procession, headed the image of Santa Teresa with the Virgin of La Caridad, and is accompanied by all the authorities of Ávila, civil and military, and several bands music. The procession takes place between the Cathedral of Ávila and Santa Teresa Church. Takes place

8260-578: The first democratically elected prime minister of Spain post-Franco, and José María Aznar, prime minister from 1996 to 2004, who represented Ávila in the Cortes but was not from the town. The main landmark in the city is the imposing Walls of Ávila (11th–14th centuries), begun in 1090. The enclosed area is 31 hectares (77 acres) with a perimeter of 2,516 metres (2,752 yd), 88 blocks of semicircular towers, 2,500 merlons , curtain walls 3 m (9 ft 10 in) thick, with an average height of 12 m (39 ft), and 9 gates. The walls represent

8378-425: The first emperor to increase the arrogance of the military, raising their rank and power to excess, severely punishing the minor crimes of the common soldiers, while sparing those of higher rank who felt able to commit shameful and monstrous crimes. Despite a possible decrease in the Empire's ability to assemble and supply large armies, Rome maintained an aggressive and potent stance against perceived threats almost to

8496-550: The first paragraph of his text, Gibbon wrote that he intended to trace the decline from the golden age of the Antonines"; later text has it beginning about A.D. 180 with the death of Marcus Aurelius; while in chapter 7, he pushes the start of the decline to about 52 B.C., the time of Julius Caesar and Pompey and Cicero. Gibbon placed the western empire's end with the removal of the man Gibbon referred to as "the helpless Augustulus" in 476. Arnold J. Toynbee and James Burke argue that

8614-484: The fleets, and numbers may have increased later. With the limited communications of the time, both the European and the Eastern frontiers needed the attention of their own supreme commanders . Diocletian tried to solve this problem by re-establishing an adoptive succession with a senior ( Augustus ) and junior ( Caesar ) emperor in each half of the Empire, but this system of tetrarchy broke down within one generation and

8732-470: The force of law, putting the imperial power directly in touch with even humble subjects. The cults of polytheist religion were hugely varied, but none claimed that theirs was the only truth. Their followers displayed mutual tolerance , producing a polyphonous religious harmony. Religious strife was rare after the suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt in 136, after which the devastated Judaea ceased to be

8850-522: The former territory of the Western Empire. But the final blow came only with the Late Antique Little Ice Age and its aftermath, when Rome was already politically fragmented and materially depleted. Aurelian reunited the empire in 274, and from 284 Diocletian and his successors reorganized it with more emphasis on the military. John the Lydian , writing over two centuries later, reported that Diocletian's army at one point totaled 389,704 men, plus 45,562 in

8968-506: The fortifications and the sea and land forces of Constantinople , while the European frontier from the mouth of the Rhine to that of the Danube is some 2000 kilometres great-circle distance and could be crossed with much less difficulty. "The devastations of the barbarians impoverished and depopulated the [Western] frontier provinces, and their unceasing pressure imposed on the empire a burden of defense which overstrained its administrative machinery and its economic resources. ... [playing]

9086-409: The freedom of the republic, and afterwards violated the majesty of the purple. The emperors, anxious for their personal safety and the public peace, were reduced to the base expedient of corrupting the discipline which rendered them alike formidable to their sovereign and to the enemy; the vigour of the military government was relaxed, and finally dissolved, by the partial institutions of Constantine; and

9204-403: The hereditary principle re-established itself with generally unfortunate results. Thereafter civil war became again the main method of establishing new imperial regimes . Although Constantine the Great (in office 306 to 337) again re-united the Empire, towards the end of the fourth century the need for division was generally accepted. From then on, the Empire existed in constant tension between

9322-407: The historic centre, it is one of the most important monuments of the town. This sanctuary is located 6 km from the capital in a picturesque area, and has a restaurant, hostel, picnic areas, and playgrounds. It houses the statue of the Virgin of Sonsoles, co-patroness of Ávila, and patroness of the fields in the province. It is a tradition in this town to make pilgrimage to the sanctuary, make

9440-444: The imperial forces, or settled in the devastated provinces along the south bank of the Danube, where the regular garrisons were never fully re-established. In some later accounts, and widely in recent work, this is regarded as a treaty settlement, the first time that barbarians were given a home within the Empire, in which they retained their political and military cohesion. No formal treaty is recorded, nor details of whatever agreement

9558-470: The imperial system. In this way many groups provided unfree workers ( coloni ) for Roman landowners, and recruits ( laeti ) for the Roman army . Sometimes their leaders became officers. Normally the Romans managed the process carefully, with sufficient military force on hand to ensure compliance. Cultural assimilation followed over the next generation or two. The Empire suffered multiple serious crises during

9676-575: The invasions of the third century, there was widespread insecurity and economic decline in the 300s, perhaps worst in Armorica . By 350, after decades of pirate attacks, virtually all villas in Armorica were deserted. Local use of money ceased around 360. Repeated attempts to economize on military expenditure included billeting troops in cities, where they could less easily be kept under military discipline and could more easily extort from civilians. Except in

9794-449: The largest fully illuminated monument in the world. It is possible to walk upon the walls for roughly half their circumference. While some of the walls will never be walkable because of their integration into other structures, a large stretch has yet to be made safe for pedestrians. The construction of the iron-grey granite Gothic Cathedral of Ávila is said to have commenced in 1107 under Alvar Garcia de Estrella . Other historians believe

9912-486: The long-established manner of Roman aristocrats. Ammianus described some who "enriched from the offerings of matrons, ride seated in carriages, wearing clothing chosen with care, and serve banquets so lavish that their entertainments outdo the tables of kings". But the move to Christianity probably had no significant effects on public finances. The large temple complexes, with professional full-time priests, festivals, and large numbers of sacrifices (which became free food for

10030-475: The loss of political unity and military control is universally acknowledged, the fall of Rome is not the only unifying concept for these events; the period described as late antiquity emphasizes the cultural continuities throughout and beyond the political collapse. Since 1776, when Edward Gibbon published the first volume of his The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire , Decline and Fall has been

10148-622: The masses), had also been expensive to maintain. They had already been negatively impacted by the empire's financial struggles in the third century. The numbers of clergy , monks , and nuns increased to perhaps half the size of the actual army, and they have been considered as a drain on limited manpower. The numbers and effectiveness of the regular soldiers may have declined during the fourth century. Payrolls were inflated, so that pay could be diverted and exemptions from duty sold. The soldiers' opportunities for personal extortion were multiplied by residence in cities, while their effectiveness

10266-453: The modern synthesis with archaeology, epidemiology, climatic history, genetic science, and many more new sources of history beyond the documentary sources that were all that was available to Gibbon. While Alexander Demandt enumerated 210 different theories on why Rome fell, twenty-first century scholarship classifies the primary possibilities more concisely: A recent summary interprets disease and climate change as important drivers of

10384-401: The most important works of Romanesque sculpture in Spain. The Convent of Saint Joseph is the first monastery of Discalced Carmelite nuns founded by Saint Teresa of Jesus . The convent was built in the year of 1562, although the most important architectural element, the church, was built in 1607. The church was designed by the architect Francisco de Mora (1553–1610). It has been designated

10502-526: The need for two emperors and their mutual mistrust . Until late in the fourth century, the united Empire retained sufficient power to launch powerful attacks against its enemies in Germania and in the Sasanian Empire . Receptio of barbarians became widely practised: imperial authorities admitted potentially hostile groups into the Empire, split them up, and allotted to them lands, status, and duties within

10620-541: The only worthwhile form of civilization, giving the Empire ideological legitimacy and a cultural unity based on comprehensive familiarity with Greek and Roman literature and rhetoric . The Empire's power allowed it to maintain extreme differences of wealth and status. Its wide-ranging trade networks permitted even modest households to use goods made by professionals far away. The empire had both strength and resilience. Its financial system allowed it to raise significant taxes which, despite endemic corruption, supported

10738-520: The outlying regions of Roman Britain (probably replacing some with federate chieftains and their war-bands) and invaded Gaul. His troops killed Gratian and he was accepted as Augustus in the Gallic provinces, where he was responsible for the first official executions of Christian heretics . To compensate the Western court for the loss of Gaul, Hispania, and Britannia, Theodosius ceded the diocese of Dacia and

10856-437: The place in which he would most desire to live, calling it a "strange, tragic place". Various scenes of his 1965 film Chimes at Midnight were filmed in the town. Ávila was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. The site originally consisted of the walled city and four extra muros churches. The number of churches included in the site has since been increased. Situated 1132 metres (3714 feet) above sea level on

10974-418: The political collapse of the empire. There was a Roman climatic optimum from about 200 BCE to 150 CE, when lands around the Mediterranean were generally warm and well-watered. This made agriculture prosperous, army recruitment easy, and the collection of taxes straightforward. From about 150, the climate became on average somewhat worse for most of the inhabited lands around the Mediterranean. After about 450,

11092-411: The political reality of lost control (and the attendant fragmentation of commerce, culture, and language), but also the cultural and archaeological continuities, the process has been described as a complex cultural transformation, rather than a fall. The "perception of Late Antiquity has significantly changed: the period is no longer seen as an era of decline and crisis but as an epoch of metamorphosis in

11210-484: The position of Western Roman Emperor wielded negligible military, political, or financial power, and had no effective control over the scattered Western domains that could still be described as Roman. Barbarian kingdoms had established their own power in much of the area of the Western Empire. In 476, the Germanic barbarian king Odoacer deposed the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire in Italy, Romulus Augustulus , and

11328-399: The rare case of a determined and incorruptible general, these troops proved ineffective in action and dangerous to civilians. Frontier troops were often given land rather than pay. As they farmed for themselves, their direct costs diminished, but so did their effectiveness, and their pay gave much less stimulus to the frontier economy. However, except for the provinces along the lower Rhine,

11446-407: The remaining garrisons who were "more easily slaughtered than sheep". Cities were able to hold their own defensive walls against barbarians who had no siege equipment , therefore the cities generally remained intact, although the countryside suffered. Gratian appointed a new Augustus , a proven general from Hispania called Theodosius . During the next four years, he partially re-established

11564-523: The residential zones as Urbanización Las Hervencias, la ciudad deportiva (sporting city) with pools, a running track, soccer and football camp; the office building (La calera), the tower-residential flats zone (Madrigal de Altas Torres), the workers' quarter like San José Obrero (St. Joseph of the Worker), the retirement building (Residencia de tercera edad), the students' residence (Valle Ambles), hotels like Don Carmelo and Sercotel, new schools and high schools, and

11682-410: The role of Christianity, but he gave great weight to other causes of internal decline and to attacks from outside the Empire . The story of its ruin is simple and obvious; and, instead of inquiring why the Roman empire was destroyed, we should rather be surprised that it had subsisted so long. The victorious legions, who, in distant wars, acquired the vices of strangers and mercenaries, first oppressed

11800-428: The scale, complexity, and violence of government were unmatched, the emperors lost control over their whole realm insofar as that control came increasingly to be wielded by anyone who paid for it . Meanwhile, the richest senatorial families, immune from most taxation, engrossed more and more of the available wealth and income while also becoming divorced from any tradition of military excellence. One scholar identifies

11918-408: The senatorial aristocracy ceased joining the ranks of the senior military commanders. Its typical members lacked interest in military service, and showed incompetence at command. Under Constantine, the cities lost their revenue from local taxes, and under Constantius II (r. 337–361) their endowments of property. This worsened the existing difficulty in keeping the city councils up to strength, and

12036-420: The services provided by the cities were scamped or abandoned. Public building projects had declined since the second century. There is no evidence of state participation in, or support for, restoration and maintenance of temples and shrines . Restorations were funded and accomplished privately, which limited what was done. A further financial abuse was Constantius's habit of granting to his immediate entourage

12154-653: The so-called Fuente Berroqueña ( Villatoro , province of Ávila ), near the saddle point between La Serrota  [ es ] and the Sierra de Ávila . Initially following a Southwest-Northeast course through the Amblés Valley, the Adaja bends towards the North in Ávila . It receives the contribution of its most important tributary, the Eresma , near Matapozuelos , emptying in the Douro in

12272-477: The theme around which much of the history of the Roman Empire has been structured. "From the eighteenth century onward," historian Glen Bowersock wrote, "we have been obsessed with the fall: it has been valued as an archetype for every perceived decline, and, hence, as a symbol for our own fears." From at least the time of Henri Pirenne (1862–1935), scholars have described a continuity of Roman culture and political legitimacy long after 476. Pirenne postponed

12390-468: The third century. The rising Sassanid Empire inflicted three crushing defeats on Roman field armies and remained a potent threat for centuries. Other disasters included repeated civil wars , barbarian invasions, and more mass-mortality in the Plague of Cyprian (from 250 onwards). For a short period, the Empire split into a Gallic Empire in the West (260–274), a Palmyrene Empire in the East (260–273), and

12508-409: The threats of barbarian attacks on all the Western frontiers. They also tried to alleviate the burdens of taxation, which had risen continuously over the previous forty years; Valens in the East reduced the tax demand by half in his fourth year. Both of them were Christians, and re-confiscated the temple lands which Julian had restored. But they were generally tolerant of other beliefs. Valentinian in

12626-478: The town remains typically Roman; rectangular in shape, with its two main streets ( cardo and decumanus ) intersecting at a forum in the centre. Roman remains that are embedded in town walls at the eastern and southern entrances (now the Alcazar and Rastro Gates) appear to have been ashlar altar stones. By tradition, in the 1st century, Secundus, having travelled via the Roman province of Hispania Baetica , brought

12744-503: The town walls. Processions have either fifteen or twelve fraternities. The festivities of Santa Teresa last almost the entire month of October. The proclamation is done by the mayor in the Plaza Mayor, accompanied by some celebrity. After the proclamation was organized in the same place a musical performance with renowned singers. The festival program includes several musical concerts, a fairground, bullfights, passacaglia , processions of

12862-416: The traditional pastry shop "La Flor de Castilla". In the other bakeries in the town it is produced under the name "Yemas de Ávila", or simply "Yemas", produced as its name indicates from egg yolk. This is a grilled ribeye steak, best cooked rare, which can be enjoyed in any hotel in the town. It is made from Avileña-Negra ibérica , an indigenous black cow known for its excellent meat, whose fame transcends

12980-490: The west of the Rhine was occupied by the Germans, and a further 120 miles into Gaul the surviving population and garrisons had fled. Julian ( r.  360–363 ) won victories against Germans who had invaded Gaul. He launched a drive against official corruption, which allowed the tax demands in Gaul to be reduced to one-third of their previous amount, while all government requirements were still met. In civil legislation, Julian

13098-572: The winter cold is the Holy week . The temperature is low, especially at night, so one should not forget warm clothes. Ávila holidays are October 15, Santa Teresa de Jesús, and May 2, San Segundo. The festivities take place around October 15 and the Summer Festival in mid-July. Holy Week as celebrated in Ávila is considered of international tourist interest. It is one of the highest expressions of art and wealth as seen in numerous steps of Holy Week along

13216-499: Was actually made. When the Goths are next mentioned in Roman records, they have different leaders and are soldiers of a sort. In 391, Alaric , a Gothic leader, rebelled against Roman control. Goths attacked the emperor himself, but within a year Alaric was accepted as a leader of Theodosius's Gothic troops and this rebellion was over. Theodosius's financial position must have been difficult, since he had to pay for expensive campaigning from

13334-456: Was built to replace the 1974-era old station located on Avenida de Madrid. There is an underground parking lot under the main square ("El grande"). The Old Town city zone is nowadays closed to private cars, and outside the walls are many roundabouts that help traffic flow, and the ring road that goes from the bus station to the southern zone bordering the walls makes it possible to cross the entire city by car or walking in less than 30 minutes. In

13452-608: Was endemic in many areas, notably in the city of Rome itself, possibly encouraged by the enthusiasm of rich Romans for water features in their gardens. In 313, Constantine the Great declared official toleration of Christianity . This was followed over the ensuing decades by the search for a definition of Christian orthodoxy all could agree upon. Creeds were developed, but Christianity has never agreed upon an official version of its Bible or its doctrine; instead it has had many different manuscript traditions. Christianity's disputes may have effected decline. Official and private action

13570-530: Was experiencing a period of prosperity for the great landowners who took advantage of the court's need for food, "turning agrarian produce into gold", while repressing and misusing the poor who grew it and brought it in. Paulinus the Deacon , notary of Ambrose the bishop of Milan , described these men as creating a court where "everything was up for sale". Ambrose himself preached a series of sermons aimed at his wealthy constituents, asserting that avarice leads to

13688-519: Was notable for his pro-pagan policies. Julian lifted the ban on sacrifices , restored and reopened temples, and dismantled the privileged tax status and revenue concessions of the Christians. He gave generous tax remissions to the cities which he favored, and disfavor to those who remained Christian. Julian ordered toleration of varieties of Christianity banned as heretical by Constantius; possibly, he would not have been able to persecute effectively such

13806-522: Was reduced by concentration on extortion instead of military exercises . However, extortion , gross corruption , and occasional ineffectiveness were not new to the Roman army. There is no consensus whether its effectiveness significantly declined before 376. Ammianus Marcellinus , himself a professional soldier, repeats longstanding observations about the superiority of contemporary Roman armies being due to training and discipline, not to individual size or strength. He also accuses Valentinian I of being

13924-419: Was taken against heterodox Christians (heretics) from the fourth century up to the modern era. Limited action against pagans , who were mostly ignored, was based on the contempt that accompanied Christianity's sense of triumph after Constantine. Christianity opposed sacrifice and magic, and Christian emperors made laws that favored Christianity. Constantine's successors generally continued this approach, and by

#590409