inimitable:

incapable of being imitated or copied; surpassing imitation; matchless

 

Persian Wars: * see Endnote <A>

(499-449 BC) series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire of Persia and the Greek city-states. The collision between the Greeks & the Persian empire began when Cyrus the Great conquered the Greek-inhabited region of Ionia in 547 BC.  Struggling to rule the independent-minded cities of Ionia, the Persians appointed tyrants to rule each of them.  The Greeks eventually freed their compatriots & inflicted serious defeats on the Persians; the conflict ended with the Peace of Callias (449 BC) a stalemate, between the Delian League & Persia.

 

Polybius:

(200-118 BC) Greek historian of the Hellenistic period, his "The Histories", details the period between 264 BC & the Sack of Cathage in 146 BC, a century in which the Republic came to dominate the Mediterranean world.  He describes Roman political, military & moral institutions he considered key to Rome's success; he presents Rome as having a mixed constitution where monarchical, aristocratic, & popular elements existed in stable equilibrium, enabling Rome to escape the cycle of eternal revolution.

 

Tacitus:

(56-120 AD) senator & historian of the Roman Empire; he documented the reigns of emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero & those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors (69 AD).  His works span the history of the Empire from the death of Augustus (14 AD) to the years of the First Jewish–Roman War (70 AD).  Considered one of the greatest Roman historians he lived during the Silver Age of Latin literature.  He is known for the brevity & compactness of his Latin prose, as well as penetrating insights into the psychology of power politics.

 

First Punic war:

(264 to 241 BC) first of 3 wars between Carthage & the Roman Republic; a conflict which encompassed Sicily & its waters, and N. Africa. The war started a strategic transformation in the W. Mediterranean. Carthage began the war as a great sea-power, while Rome had only a small fleet.  Over the course of the war, Rome built up a powerful navy & developed new naval tactics; she strategically used her navy, army & local political alliances in Sicily to achieve a victory that expelled the Carthaginians.  Ended with a treaty between Rome and Carthage.

 

reign of Augustus: * see Endnote <B>

(27 BC-14 AD) following victory over the Second Triumvirate, Augustus restored the outward façade of the free Republic, with power vested in the Roman Senate, the executive magistrates, and the legislative assemblies.  In reality he retained his autocratic power over the Republic as a military dictator but rejected the title king. His rule initiated the Pax Romana.  At the same time he vastly extended imperial possessions, reformed the Roman system of taxation, and army, developed networks of roads with an official courier system and rebuilt much of Rome.

 

constitutional history of Sparta: * see Endnote <C>

this constitution, based on the Lycurgan reforms & known as the Great Rhetra, supported a rigidly layered social system & strong military.  Excluding the Great Rhetra, Sparta forbade written records, laws or literature; consequently we know of this constitution only thru foreign observers.