Adultery is the voluntary sexual intercourse of a married person with any other than the offender's husband or wife; when committed between two married persons, the offence is called double, and when between a married and single person, single adultery. The Mosaic, Greek, and early Roman law only recognized the offence when a married woman was the offender. By the Jewish law it was punished with death. In Greece the laws against it were severe. By the laws of Draco and Solon adulterers, when caught in the act, were at the mercy of the injured party. In early Rome the punishment was left to the discretion of the husband and parents of the adulteress. The punishment assigned by the LexJulia, under Augustus, was banishment or a heavy tine. Under Constantius and Constans, adulterers were burned or sewed in sacks and thrown into the sea; under Justinian the wife was to be scourged, lose her dower, and be shut up in a monastery; at the expiration of two years the husband might take her again; if he refused she was shaven and made a nun for life. By the ancient laws of France this crime was punishable with death. In Spain personal mutilation was frequently the punishment adopted. In several European countries adultery was regarded as a criminal offence, but in none did the punishment exceed imprisonment for a short period, accompanied by a fine. In England formerly it was punishable with fine and imprisonment, and in Scotland it was frequently made a capital offence. In the United States the punishment of adultery has varied materially at different times. It has, however, very seldom been punished criminally in the States. Research Adultery
Diocletian (C Valerius Diocletianus, surnamed Jovius) was a Dalmatian Emperor of Rome. A man of mean birth, he was proclaimed Emperor of Rome by the army in 284 AD. He defeated Carinus in Mossia in 286, conquered the Allemanni, and was generally beloved for the goodness of his disposition, but was compelled by the dangers threatening Rome to share the government with M. Aurelius Valerius Maximian. In 292 Galerius and Constantius Chlorus were also raised to a share in the empire, which was thus divided into four parts, of which Diocletian administered Thrace, Egypt, Syria, and Asia. As the result of his reconstitution of the empire there followed a period of brilliant successes in which the barbarians were driven back from all the frontiers, and Roman power restored from Britain to Egypt. In 305, in conjunction with Maximian, he resigned the imperial dignity at Nicomedia, and retired to Salona in Dalmatia, where he cultivated his garden in tranquillity until his death in 313. In the latter part of his reign he was induced to sanction a persecution of the Christians. Research Diocletian
Caius Flavius Valerius Aubelius Claudius Constantine (Constantine the Great) was a Roman emperor. He was born in 274 and died in 337. The son of the Emperor Constantius Chlorus, when his father was associated in the government by Diocletian, the son was retained at court as a hostage, but after Diocletian and Maximian had laid down the reins of government, Constantine fled to Britain, to his father, to escape from Galerius.
After the death of his father he was chosen emperor by the soldiery, in the year 306, and took possession of the countries which had been subject to his father, namely, Gaul, Spain, and Britain. He more than once defeated the Franks who had obtained a footing in Gaul and drove them across the Rhine: and then directed his arms against Maxentius, who had joined Maximian against him. In the campaign in Italy he saw, it is said, the vision of a flaming cross in the heavens, beneath the sun, bearing the inscription, 'In hoc signo vinces.' Under the standard of the cross, therefore, he vanquished the army of Maxentius under the walls of Rome, and entered the city in triumph.
In 313, together with his son-in-law, the eastern emperor, Licinius, he published the memorable edict of toleration in favour of the Christians, and subsequently declared Christianity the religion of the state. Licinius, becoming jealous of his fame, twice took up arms against him, but was on each occasion defeated, and finally put to death.
Thus in 325 Constantine became the sole head of the Roman Empire. His internal administration was marked by a wise spirit of reform, and by many humane concessions with regard to slaves, accused persons, widows, etc. In 329 he laid the foundation of a new capital of the empire, at Byzantium, which was called after him Constantinople, and soon rivalled Rome herself. In 332 he fought successfully against the Goths, relieved the empire of a disgraceful tribute which his predecessors had paid to these barbarians, and secured his frontier upon the Danube.
In 337 he was taken ill near Nicomedia, was baptized, and died after a reign of thirty-one years, dividing his empire between his three sons, Constantine, Constantius, and Constans. He summoned the celebrated Council of Nicsea in 325 to settle the Arian controversy. He is sometimes regarded as a saint, with the 20th or 21st of May as his festival. Research Constantine
Constantius was a Roman Emperor. He was born in 250 and died in 306. He was successful as a military ruler of Dalmatia, and was appointed Caesar by the Emperor Maximian in 293. He died at York during a campaign against the Picts. Research Constantius
Helena is the name of several saints, of whom the chief was the mother of the Emperor Constantine the Great, a woman of humble origin, and a native either of Bithynia or of Britain. She became the wife of Constantius Chlorus, who, however, was compelled to repudiate her when made Cassar by Diocletian in 292 AD. At the same time he made her son his sole heir, and Constantine, on his accession, took her to reside with him at the palace, and gave her the title of Augusta. She did much for the advancement of religion, and is said to have discovered the true cross, in honour of which she founded the church of the holy sepulchre at Jerusalem. She died shortly after at the age of eighty, in 328 or 326 AD. Research Helena
St Athanasius was Archbishop of Alexandria. He was born in 296 and died in 373. He was a renowned father of the church, and while yet a young man he attended the council at Nice in 325, where he gained the highest esteem of the fathers by the talents which he displayed in the Arian controversy. He had a great share in the decrees passed here, and thereby drew on himself the hatred of the Arians. Shortly afterwards he was appointed archbishop of Alexandria. The complaints and accusations of his enemies at length induced the Emperor Constantine to summon him in 334 before the councils of Tyre and Jerusalem, when he was suspended, and afterwards banished to Treves.
The death of Constantine put an end to this banishment, and Constantius recalled the holy patriarch. His return to Alexandria resembled a triumph. Deposed again in 340, he was reinstated in 342. Again in 355 he was sentenced to be banished, when he retired into those parts of the desert which were entirely uninhabited. He was followed by a faithful servant, who, at the risk of his life, supplied him with the means of subsistence. Here Athanasius composed many writings, full of eloquence, to strengthen the faith of the believers, or expose the falsehood of his enemies. When Julian the Apostate ascended the throne toleration was proclaimed to all religions, and Athanasius returned to his former position at Alexandria. His next controversy was with the heathen subjects of Julian, who excited the emperor against him, and he was obliged to flee in order to save his life.
The death of the emperor and the accession of Jovian in 363 again brought him back; buf Valens becoming emperor, and the Arians recovering the superiority, he was once more compelled to flee. He concealed himself in the tomb of his father, where he remained four months, until Valens allowed him to return. From this period he remained undisturbed in his office until he died. Of the forty-six years of his official life he spent twenty in banishment, and the greater part of the remainder in defending the Nicene Creed. His writings, which are in Greek, are on polemical, historical, and moral subjects. The polemical treat chiefly of the doctrines of the Trinity, the incarnation of Christ, and the divinity of the Holy Spirit. The historical ones are of the greatest importance for the history of the church, for example the Athanasian Creed. Research St Athansius
Valentinian III was Roman emperor of the West, from 425 to 455. He was born in 419 and died in 455. Son of Constantius and Placidia, daughter of Theodosius, he succeeded Honorius, his mother acting as regent. The Vandals, who had conquered Roman Africa and set up a kingdom there, concluded an alliance with Attila, who, after defeat by Aetius near Chalons, invaded northern Italy, while the Vandal fleet ravaged the coasts of Sicily. Aetius was treacherously put to death by Valentinian III who a year later shared the same fate. Research Valentinian III
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
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Abbreviations
Research Adultery
