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Five Barbarians

The Five Barbarians, or Wu Hu, is a Chinese historical exonym for five ancient non-Han "Hu" peoples who immigrated to northern China in the Eastern Han dynasty, and then overthrew the Western Jin dynasty and established their own kingdoms in the 4th–5th centuries. The peoples categorized as the Five Barbarians were: Of these five tribal ethnic groups, the Xiongnu and Xianbei were nomadic peoples from the northern steppes. The ethnic identity of the Xiongnu is uncertain, but the Xianbei appear to have been Mongolic. The Jie, another pastoral people, may have been a branch of the Xiongnu, who may have been Yeniseian or Iranian. The Di and Qiang were from the highlands of western China. The Qiang were predominantly herdsmen and spoke Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman) languages, while the Di were farmers who may have spoken a Sino-Tibetan or Turkic language.
 * Xiongnu
 * Jie
 * Xianbei
 * Qiang
 * Di

The term "Five Barbarians" is generally used to refer to the non-Han ethnic groups during the Sixteen Kingdoms of the 4th and early 5th centuries, despite the fact that other groups like the Dingling and Wuhuan also existed alongside the five during the period. Even among the ruling families of the Sixteen Kingdoms, the Li clan of Cheng-Han were Ba-Di, with Ba referring to their Bandun Man or Cong (賨) background, while the Juqu clan of Northern Liang, though often classed as Xiongnu, were of Lushuihu ethnicity. Gao Yun, who was either the last ruler of Later Yan or first ruler of Northern Yan, was also an ethnic Goguryeo.

Definition
The origin of the term "Five Barbarians" is a matter of debate among scholars. The earliest use of it comes from the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms (501–522) from a quote by the Former Qin ruler, Fu Jian, although it was not specified who the five exactly were. Modern historians like Chen Yinke and Zhou Yiliang believe that the "Five Barbarians" in this case was simply in reference to the "Five Virtues of Beginning and End", a theoretical concept often invoked by Chinese dynasties to legitimize their reigns.

The Five Barbarians as a concept only emerged during the Southern Song dynasty, when the official, Hong Mai wrote an essay titled "Wuhu Luanhua" (五胡亂華; "Upheaval of the Five Barbarians") in his book, Rongzhai Suibi (容齋隨筆). Even so, he did not properly define the term, as the seven rulers he mentioned only accounted for four non-Han groups, namely the Xiongnu, Jie, Xianbei and Di. A later Southern Song official, Wang Yinglin defined the Five Barbarians as "Liu Yuan's Xiongnu, Shi Le's Jie, Murong-Xianbei, Fu Hong's Di and Yao Chang's Qiang." Hu Sanxing's annotation of the Zizhi Tongjian affirms Wang Yinglin's view by listing the five as the Xiongnu, Jie, Xianbei, Di and Qiang, after which it became widely accepted.

They were a mix of tribes from various stocks, such as proto-Mongolic, Turkic, Tibetan and Yeniseian. Others divide them into two Turkic tribes, one Tungusic tribe, and two Tibetan tribes, and yet others into Tibetan and Altaic (proto-Mongolian and early Turkic). While later historians determined that there were more than five, the Five Barbarians has become a collective term for all northern and western non-Han groups that lived during the Jin dynasty (266–420) and Sixteen Kingdoms period.

The Five Barbarians
Since the later Han dynasty, northern China was home to various ethnic groups from the north and west. These peoples were subjects of the Han, taking up agriculture and serving in the military force. While many of them retained their respective tribal identity, they also underwent various degrees of Sinicization. By the Western Jin period, their population had grown substantially, becoming a cause for concern among a few officials within the imperial court as they began to revolt. There were calls to have the tribes relocated outside the borders, most notably by the minister Jiang Tong in his essay, Xi Rong Lun (徙戎論; Discussion on Relocating the Rong Tribe), but these proposals were disregarded. As central authority collapsed due to the War of the Eight Princes, many of these "barbarians" rebelled alongside their Han Chinese compatriots in the Upheaval of the Five Barbarians, although there were also those who initially fought on the side of Jin. Throughout the 4th century and early-5th century, several states were founded by the "Five Barbarians" in northern China and Sichuan, collectively known as the Sixteen Kingdoms.

Xiongnu
Ruling over the steppes of East Asia, the Xiongnu empire was once a powerful adversary to the Han dynasty, but by the 1st century AD, their power had greatly declined due to defeats to the Han, internal power struggles and natural disasters. In 50 AD, a few years after the empire was split into two, the Southern Xiongnu branch became a vassal to the Han. The court of the chanyu was moved to Xihe Commandery in Bing province while their people were resettled across the frontier commanderies within the Great Wall. The Southern Xiongnu served the Han by helping them to guard the northern borders, even assisting in destroying the rival Northern Xiongnu. However, tension was evident between the two sides. Being economically dependant on the Han and with the Han court interfering in their politics, the Southern Xiongnu would frequently rebel on the frontiers.

In 216, the warlord Cao Cao abolished the chanyu office and divided the Southern Xiongnu into five divisions around Taiyuan Commandery. By the Western Jin dynasty, most of the Southern Xiongnu had assimilated into Chinese culture, with their nobility even being allowed to hold government offices. The descendants of the Southern Xiongnu chanyu adopted the surname "Liu" as their ancestors were married to Han princesses through heqin. Nonetheless, they continued to resent the ruling Chinese dynasties due to their lower status and privileges.

In 304, at the height of the War of the Eight Princes, a descendant of the chanyus, Liu Yuan rallied the five divisions and founded the Han-Zhao dynasty, which claimed to be a restoration of the Han dynasty. His declaration was a turning point in the Upheaval of the Five Barbarians, and many of the disaffected Jin subjects in northern China turned to his state which led to the Disaster of Yongjia and ejection of the Jin dynasty from the north. The Tiefu tribe of the Hetao region were distant relatives of Liu Yuan. A member of the Tiefu, Liu Bobo, founded the Hu Xia dynasty in 407, and later changed his name to Helian Bobo.

Jie
The Jie were a people whose exact origins are still debated by modern scholars. Various theories have been proposed, including that they were a Southern Xiongnu tribe, Tocharian/Eastern Iranian people from Sogdia or Yeniseian people, but with no general consensus as of yet. The first recorded Jie was the minor chieftain, Shi Le who lived in Wuxiang County in Bing province. When a famine broke out in the province in 303, he and many other tribal people were displaced before being captured and sold into slavery by the provincial inspector. Shi Le soon attained his freedom, becoming a bandit, then a rebel, then a powerful warlord under the Han-Zhao and finally the founder of the Later Zhao dynasty in 319.

Despite their seemingly small population, the Jie were thrusted into prominence by Shi Le and the Later Zhao, which dominated northern China for a majority of its existence before its demise in 351. Following Ran Min's culling order and the wars that followed the Later Zhao collapse, the Jie ceased to appear in records, though some key figures in later history may have descended from them.

Xianbei
When the Xiongnu empire defeated them in the 3rd century BC, the Donghu people splintered into the Xianbei and Wuhuan. The Xianbei occupied the Mongolian plateau aroud 93 AD after the Northern Xiongnu were forced to the northwest by the Han dynasty. In the mid-2nd century, the chieftain, Tanshihuai unified the Xianbei and launched incessant raids on the Han's northern borders. Following his death, however, his descendants failed to maintain the support of the chieftains and his confederation fell apart. In the northeast, several Xianbei tribes near the border became Chinese vassals and were allowed to live within the Great Wall such as the Murong and Tuoba tribes after the defeat of the Wuhuan at the Battle of White Wolf Mountain in 207. Others migrated west to live around the Hexi Corridor, with a branch of the Murong even subjugating the Qiang people of Qinghai and founding the Tuyuhun.

At the height of the Jin princely civil wars, the Inspector of You province, Wang Jun allied himself with the local Xianbei and Wuhuan tribes, most notably the Duan-Xianbei who was granted a dukedom in Liaoxi Commandery for their services. The Xianbei were a deciding factor in the civil wars, and when the Han-Zhao broke away from Jin, the Tuoba joined forces with Jin and were also given a dukedom in Dai Commandery. Meanwhile, the Murong in Liaodong, isolated from the conflicts of the Central Plains, expanded their influence in the region by providing refuge to fleeing Chinese officials and peasants. As the Jin were pushed out of northern China, however, the Xianbei distanced themselves from Jin and established full autonomy over their fiefdoms.

The Xianbei founded several states during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. The Murong were a prominent player during this period, as they founded the Former Yan, Later Yan, Western Yan and Southern Yan that ruled over the Central Plains. After the Battle of Fei River, the Qifu and Tufa tribes in the Hexi founded the Western Qin and Southern Liang, respectively, competing for control over the region among themselves and other rival claimants. Most importantly, the Tuoba of Dai later founded the Northern Wei dynasty, which reunified the north in 439 and ushered China into the Northern and Southern dynasties period.

Di
The Di were a semi-nomadic people that resided in the western provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi and Sichuan. In 111 BC, the Han dynasty expanded westwards and established Wudu Commandery where the Di mainly resided, causing them to spread out in northern and western China. The Di people became Han subjects, and relations between the two were mostly stable until the fall of Han, when the Di tribes began to rebel. In 219, the warlord Cao Cao had 50,000 Di people relocated from Wudu commandery to Tianshui and Fufeng commanderies to deter them from allying with his rival to the south, Liu Bei.

The Di in the northwest continued to rebel during the Western Jin dynasty. Between 296 and 299, Qi Wannian, a Di chieftain, led the various non-Han groups in rebellion, devastating the Guanzhong region and displacing many of the population. The Di that fled south into the Hanzhong and Sichuan basins founded the Chouchi and Cheng-Han regimes, although the Li clan that ruled the latter were more specifically referred to as Ba-Di. The Fu clan that remained behind later founded the Former Qin dynasty, most notable for briefly unifying northern China under Fu Jiān. During the Qin collapse that followed the Battle of Fei River, the Di general, Lü Guang founded the Later Liang in Gansu.

Qiang
The Qiang were another western semi-nomadic people that resided in Qinghai and Gansu. Initially vassals of the Xiongnu, the Qiang gradually turned to the Han dynasty as the Xiongnu empire collapsed. They were allowed to settle in the Guanzhong region along with the watersheds of the Wei and Jing rivers, where they practiced agriculture and lived with Han Chinese settlers. However, the Qiang also faced oppression by the local administrators, leading to constant large-scale rebellions in the northwest that proved very costly for the Han. The Qiang also fought as soldiers for the Han and later for the Cao Wei and Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period.

The Qiang continued to participate in rebellions in the northwest against the Western Jin dynasty, but it would not be until after the Battle of Fei River that they establish their first and only state of the Sixteen Kingdoms under the Later Qin dynasty. The second ruler of Later Qin, Yao Xing, was a key proponent in the spread of Buddhism by making it his state religion and sponsoring the influential Buddhist translator, Kumārajīva. The Qiang also founded the minor polities of Dangchang and Dengzhi.

Lushuihu
The Lushuihu (盧水胡; Lu River Barbarians) were a people composed of the Lesser Yuezhi, Xiongnu, Qiang and other ethnic groups that resided along the Lu River in present-day Zhangye, Gansu since the Western Han dynasty. They were initially subordinates to the Xiongnu before switching over to the Han, serving as soldiers for the Chinese dynasties but also occasionally rebelling. The Juqu clan were of Lushuihu ethnicity, and in 397, they founded the Northern Liang dynasty, initially installing a puppet Han Chinese ruler, Duan Ye before taking power for themselves. After Northern Liang fell, the Juqu revived and ruled their state in the oasis city of Gaochang until 460, when they were destroyed by the Rouran Khaganate. The Juqu got their name from an office that their ancestors once held under the Xiongnu, and are thus categorized in historiography as Xiongnu despite their exact lineage being unknown.

Ba Cong
The region of Ba in eastern Sichuan was home to the Bandun Man, who were also known as the Cong people (賨人) as their taxes were collected by the Han dynasty in the form of a money called cong (賨). Many of the Cong moved north to Hanzhong to become followers of the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice, but after Cao Cao conquered the region in 215, they were resettled further north to Lüeyang Commandery, where they mingled with the local Di people. These people became known as the Ba-Di, with Ba referring to their ancestral homeland. The Li clan of Ba-Di ethnicity later moved back to Sichuan during Qi Wannian's rebellion, where they founded the Cheng-Han dynasty in 304. Later, the Ba chieftain, Gou Quzhi led the Ba and other tribes in Guanzhong against the Han-Zhao dynasty in 320.

Dingling
The Dingling were a nomadic people that originally lived south of Lake Baikal and were vassals of the Xiongnu empire. A branch of the Dingling migrated west and resided in Kangju, becoming known as the Western Dingling, before moving into China. During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, the Zhai clan of the Western Dingling were one of the earliest groups to rebel against the Former Qin after their defeat at the Battle of Fei River, and in 388, they founded the short-lived Zhai Wei dynasty, which is not considered as one of the Sixteen Kingdoms. The Dingling that remained behind on the northern steppes were later known at the Chile, Gaoche or Tiele people.

Goguryeo
Goguryeo was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea and a rival to the Murong-Xianbei during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. During its invasion of Goguryeo in 342, the Former Yan captured several members of the Goguryeo imperial family and resettled them in Qingshan (青山, in modern Jinzhou, Liaoning). One of them, Gao Yun, served the Later Yan dynasty and eventually overthrew the Murong. Historians either consider him to be the last ruler of Later Yan or the first ruler of Northern Yan, though his successors were from the Feng clan of Han Chinese ethnicity. According to the Xi Rong Lun, there had also been several Goguryeo families living in Xingyang since the Cao Wei period following the Wei campaigns against Goguryeo.

Wuhuan
Much like the Xianbei, the Wuhuan was another group that splintered from the Donghu people. Since the 2nd century BC, the Han dynasty allowed them to settle in the northeastern commanderies of Shanggu, Yuyang, Youbeiping, Liaodong and Liaoxi in exchange for their military services. During the fall of Han, the Wuhuan looked to establish their own dominion, but their power was broken after Cao Cao defeated them at the Battle of White Wolf Mountain in 207. Many of the Wuhuan were relocated further south in China, and they gradually lost their cultural identity as they assimilated with the Han Chinese and Xianbei that filled the power vacuum. However, they continued to exist as a group during the Jin dynasty and Sixteen Kingdoms period despite not establishing a state of their own. They fought as auxiliaries for the Jin during the War of the Eight Princes and Upheaval of the Five Barbarians, and there were several Wuhuan families who served under the Xianbei dynasties. However, under the Dai and Northern Wei dynasties, the term "Wuhuan" was also used for migrants of any ethnicity living under the ruling Tuoba clan.

title: Five Barbarians


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Magnus Ladulås

Magnus Ladulås (, lit. 'Barnlock') or Magnus Birgersson, (c. 1240 – 18 December 1290), was King of Sweden from 1275 until his death in 1290.

He was a son of Birger Jarl, and became a king after a rebellion against his brother Valdemar. He was succeeded by his ten-year-old son Birger Magnusson with Torkel Knutsson acting as his guardian.

Medieval Swedish kings did not use regnal numbers as part of their title. In modern literature he may be referred to as either Magnus I or Magnus III.

Epithet
The origin of the epithet Ladulås (lit. 'Barnlock') is not known for certain, due to the lack of source material from the latter half of the 14th century. It appears widely in written documents from the beginning of the 15th century, with the Visby Chronicle from 1412 being the oldest datable document. Lilla rimkrönikan from c. 1450 gives the traditional explanation, ascribing the epithet to the Ordinance of Alsnö. This act by Magnus freed the yeomanry from the duty to provide sustenance for travelling nobles and bishops, and "locked the barns".

Another theory is that Ladulås is a corruption of a second name Ladislaus, the Latin equivalent of the Slavic name Vladislav. (Magnus's maternal great-grandmother was Sophia of Minsk, a Rurikid princess.)

Early life
Magnus was born c. 1240 as the second son of Birger Jarl (1200–66) and Princess Ingeborg, herself the sister of the childless King Eric XI and daughter of King Eric X. The early life of Magnus is poorly documented, but he seems to have received an extensive education.

King Eric XI ruled until 1250. After his death, Magnus' elder brother Valdemar (1239–1302) became king, but the true power was held by his father Birger Jarl who acted as a regent. In 1255, Magnus was granted the title of a iunior dux, 'junior jarl'.

When Birger died in 1266, Magnus assumed his title as the Duke of Sweden. The title was not accompanied by any unified territory, but by a number of scattered estates and rights to collect taxes and fines. He also received Nyköping Castle in Södermanland.

There is no indication that he would have received the powers of his father. According to the Eric Chronicle, Magnus wanted to share the Royal power with his brother, which led to a conflict.

Accession and marriage
In 1275, Duke Magnus started a rebellion against Valdemar, supported by his younger brother Eric and King Eric Klipping of Denmark. Valdemar was deposed by Magnus after the Battle of Hova in the forest of Tiveden on 14 June 1275 with the help of Danish and German horsemen. In July, Magnus was elected king at the Stones of Mora.

In 1276, Magnus allegedly married a second wife Helwig, daughter of Gerard I of Holstein. Through her mother, Elizabeth of Mecklenburg, Helwig was a descendant of Christina, the putative daughter of King Sverker II. A papal annulment of Magnus' alleged first marriage and a dispensation for the second (necessary because of consanguinity) were issued ten years later, in 1286. Helwig later acted as regent, probably 1290–1302 and 1320–1327.

Reign
The deposed King Valdemar managed, with Danish help in turn, to regain provinces in Gothenland in the southern part of the kingdom, and Magnus had to recognize that in 1277. However, Magnus regained them about 1278 and assumed the additional title rex Gothorum, King of the Goths, starting the tradition of "King of the Swedes and the Goths".

King Magnus's youngest brother, Bengt (1254–1291), then archdeacon, acted as his Lord High Chancellor of Sweden, and in 1284 Magnus rewarded him with the Duchy of Finland.

Magnus died when his sons were yet underage. Magnus ordered his kinsman Torkel Knutsson, the Lord High Constable of Sweden as the guardian of his heir, the future King Birger, who was about ten years old at father's death.

Modern research
In spring 2011, archaeologists and osteologists from the University of Stockholm were granted permission to open one of the royal tombs in the Riddarholmen Church, traditionally believed to contain the remains of Magnus Ladulås and some of his relatives. A thorough osteological and odontological examination revealed the presence of five male and two female skeletons. Preliminary studies indicated a notable sickly disposition in one skeleton, previously presumed to belong to Magnus Ladulås based on descriptions of his ailments. Contrary to expectations, radiocarbon dating indicated that the skeletons were from the 15th and early 16th centuries, and could not belong to the king and his family.

In 2012, the research team was permitted to open the adjacent tomb, traditionally believed to contain King Karl Knutsson (c. 1408–1470). The analysis showed that these remains were from the 15th and early 16th century, and one skeleton matched the expected profile for King Karl. The location of Magnus Ladulås's grave remains unresolved. In 2014, the team discovered a previously unknown brick chamber between the two tombs, but further excavation was halted due to legal and administrative challenges.

Issue
From his alleged first (annulled) marriage to an unknown woman:
 * Eric Magnusson (born c. 1275 – c. 1277)

From his second marriage to Helwig of Holstein:
 * Ingeborg Magnusdotter of Sweden (born c. 1279); married King Eric VI of Denmark.
 * Birger, King of Sweden (born c. 1280)
 * Eric Magnuson, Duke of Sudermannia in 1302 and Halland etc. c 1305, born c. 1282. Died of starvation in 1318 at Nyköpingshus Castle while imprisoned by his brother King Birger.
 * Waldemar Magnuson, Duke of Finland in 1302 and Öland 1310. Died of starvation 1318 at Nyköpingshus Castle while imprisoned by his brother, King Birger.
 * Richeza Magnusdotter of Sweden (d. after 1347), Abbess of the convent of St. Clare's Priory, Stockholm.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Magnus Ladulås


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Basil Zaharoff

Sir Basil Zaharoff [formerly Zacharias Basileios Zacharoff], GCB, GBE (October 6, 1849 – November 27, 1936 ) was a Greek arms dealer and industrialist. One of the richest men in the world during his lifetime, Zaharoff was described as both a "merchant of death" and a "mystery man of Europe". His success was forged through his cunning, often aggressive and sharp, business tactics. These included the sale of arms to opposing sides in conflicts, sometimes delivering fake or faulty machinery and skilfully using the press to attack business rivals.

Zaharoff maintained close contacts with many powerful political leaders, including British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, Greek Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos and Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II.

Early life
Zacharias was the only son and eldest of four children of Basilius Zacharoff (d. 1878) of Constantinople, a Greek notary, commodity dealer and importer of attar of roses and his (reportedly blind) wife, Helena Antonides (d. 1879). Zacharias was born in the Ottoman Empire town of Menteşe in southwest Turkey. His family lived in Russia for over two decades as exiles following the anti-Greek "Easter pogroms" of 1821. While there they adopted the surname Zaharoff. They returned to the Ottoman Empire in the 1840s and, by 1855, had returned to Constantinople's Greek neighbourhood of Tatavla. Zacharias' first job was as a tour guide in the Galata. It is thought he became an arsonist with Constantinople's fire brigades, who were paid to recover or salvage treasures for their wealthy owners.

He was summoned to court in London due to irregular exports of goods from Constantinople to London. The London Greeks from Constantinople preferred disputes involving members of their community to be settled outside English courts, and he was discharged on the conditions that he paid £100 restitution to the claimant and remained within the court's jurisdiction. Instead, he immediately left for Athens, where the 24-year-old Zaharoff was befriended by a political journalist, Etienne Skouloudis. The eloquent Zaharoff succeeded in convincing Skouloudis of the rightness of his London court case. Skouloudis was a friend of a Swedish captain who was about to leave his job as an agent of arms manufacturer Thorsten Nordenfelt. Skouloudis used his influence to recommend Zaharoff for the role. Zaharoff was hired on 14 October 1877, beginning a spectacular career. The political and military instability in the Balkan states, Turkey and Russia provided an excellent opportunity for the arms sales, as each state spent to match the perceived aggressive intentions of its neighbours, even after the 1878 Treaty of Berlin.

Arms dealing
Zaharoff did not make arms dealing his sole business at first. After Cyprus passed under British control in 1878 he returned to the United Kingdom; by 1883 he was working as a shipping agent in Galway, Ireland, where he recruited local girls for work in American factories. He also had a spell in the United States where he worked as a confidence man, and later as a salesman for a St. Louis railcar business. In 1885, posing as "Prince Zacharias Basileus Zacharoff", he married a Philadelphia heiress, Jennie Billings, and was pursued to Rotterdam by detectives after his exposure as a bigamist by a Briton who recognised him as the same man who had married a British girl in Bristol in 1872.

Zaharoff sold munitions to many nations, including Great Britain, Germany, the Russian and Ottoman Empires, Greece, Spain, Japan and the United States. Despite his reputation for corruption, he was instrumental in marketing military equipment, including various famous weapons such as the Maxim gun (one of the first fully automatic machine guns) and the first working submarine. The British-Swedish Nordenfelt produced a range of anti-torpedo boat guns in Erith, Kent, Stockholm and Spain.

Zaharoff worked for Vickers, the munitions firm, from 1897 to 1927.

Maxim machine gun
Hiram Maxim's automatic machine gun was a significant improvement over the then-current hand-cranked rotary barrel models. Maxim's gun was better than anything that Nordenfelt sold at the time. Zaharoff is believed to have had a hand in the events surrounding Maxim's attempts to demonstrate his invention between 1886 and 1888. In the first, Maxim's and Nordenfelt's machine guns were to be demonstrated at La Spezia, Italy, before a distinguished audience which included the Duke of Genoa. Maxim's representatives did not show up; a person unknown had waylaid them with a tour of La Spezia's nocturnal establishments leaving them unfit for purpose the next morning.

Round 2 took place at Vienna, where the exhibitors were instructed to modify their weapons to comply with Austrian Infantry-standard sized cartridges. After shooting a few hundred rounds, the Maxim gun became erratic before stopping altogether. When Maxim took one weapon apart to see what had happened, he discovered that they had been sabotaged, but it was too late to repair. A third demonstration also took place in Vienna, and here the gun worked perfectly. But again an unknown person went through the gathering of senior officers, convincing them that the workmanship required to produce such a marvelous weapon could be achieved only by hand, one at a time, and that without the means for mass production, Maxim could never produce machine guns in sufficient quantities to satisfy the needs of a modern army. Nordenfelt and Zaharoff had won. Maxim, who knew he had a good product, successfully sought a merger with Nordenfelt, engaging Zaharoff as their principal salesman on a huge commission.

Under pressure from Rothschild and Vickers, Thorsten Nordenfelt merged with Maxim's in 1888 to form the Maxim Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company. Two years later, a bankrupt Nordenfelt was forced out of the company.

Submarines

From 1886 to 1889, at the same time that Zaharoff got the Maxim machine gun, he managed to appropriate Isaac Peral's submarine; although these facts are less well known. Zaharoff and Nordenfelt tried at this time to develop a submarine for their own business purposes.

One of the most notorious sales by Zaharoff was that of the Nordenfelt I, a faulty steam-driven submarine model based on a design by the English inventor and clergyman George Garrett, which US Navy intelligence characterized as capable of "dangerous and eccentric movements." Thorsten Nordenfelt had already demonstrated his vessel at an international gathering of the military elite, and while the major powers would have none of it, smaller nations, attracted by the prestige, were a different matter.

It was thus that, with a promise of generous payment terms, Zaharoff sold the first model to the Greeks. He then persuaded the Turks that the Greek submarine posed a threat, selling them two. After that, he persuaded the Russians that there was now a new and significant threat on the Black Sea, and they bought another two.

None of these submarines ever saw action. The mechanics, driven by steam propulsion, were completely inadequate for underwater navigation, and failed demonstrably when undergoing sea trials by the respective navies. Besides the underlying problems of the faulty propulsion system, they were also chronically unstable. One of the Turkish Navy's submarines sank, capsizing during a torpedo firing test. The vessel reared in a vertical position, from which it sank by the stern.

At this time Spanish inventor Isaac Peral designed and built the first submarine capable of navigating underwater with a decent level of control and with the ability to launch torpedoes both submerged and on the surface. This was the first proper submarine, solving the problems of propulsion, stability and armament all at once. Peral's submarine was driven by electric propulsion, and had a periscope, target practice apparatus, compensating compass needle, gyroscope, sliding electric torpedo tube launcher and servomotor (to maintain the stability and the trim of the ship in all circumstances).

Zaharoff found out within no time about this young Spanish Naval officer's invention. Previously in shipbuilding, he had already seen the plans and memorandum reports sent by Peral to the Spanish Navy's HQ at the Defence Ministry.

Later on, during Peral's visit to London, Zaharoff tried meeting with him unsuccessfully, with the help of one of Peral's Spanish Navy fellow officers. Peral refused twice, but after several attempts, he had a meeting with Thorsten Nordenfelt, the company owner, who offered him a deal to purchase the patent of the stability servomotor. Isaac Peral rejected both offers but signed his sentence in that same instant, without knowing it.

Zaharoff then got to work with his own Machiavellian plan. The Spanish inventor, as with Maxim, suffered four sabotages during the tests: the first of them, in the previous test, in the presence of the Head of the Spanish State, but, Peral, more cautious than the North American inventor, proved successful in all of them.

Despite this, Zaharoff used underhand methods, which came to light later, and was able to cause a controversy between the inventor and his own government leading to the Spanish Government's disapproval of this submarine invention, although it would have been a formidable weapon in the conflict with the United States, several years after.

Zaharoff traveled to Spain several times between 1886 and 1890 with three objectives: boycott Peral's submarine, sell weapons to the Spanish Army, and acquire a Spanish munitions factory. He was successful in all three objectives, mainly because his initiation of an amorous relationship with Pilar de Muguiro y Beruete opened many doors for him.

Pilar's father, influential banker Fermín Muguiro, Count of Muguiro, was a close friend of the King, and leader of Spanish Conservative Party. She was a personal friend and niece of Segismundo Moret, a leading Spanish progressive thinker and the Liberal Party Leader's right-hand man. Unhappily married to King Alfonso XII's cousin, the Spanish Grandee, Francisco de Borbón, Duke of Marchena, she had unrestricted access to the Royal Palaces. During one trip, Zaharoff was spotted at the shipyard where the Spanish submarine was being built, but the Spanish authorities "covered up" the matter.

The acquisition of one of the best Spanish armament companies, Euskalduna, located in north Spain and renamed "Placencia de las Armas Co. Ltd" was in large part thanks to his love affair (later attributing his professional success to his sexual prowess), and through establishing a powerful network among Spanish politicians, journalists and military commanders, who served his business interests well. This influential group of people took his side against the development of Isaac Peral's submarine, and the Spanish Government, despite the astounding success in sea trials, finally pulled the rug from the project.

After "Placencia de Armas Co. Ltd" swindled the Spanish Government by selling useless arms during the 1898 War (also handing Maxim important and "sensitive" information, which reached his government during the conflict), the Sociedad Española de Construcciones Navales in Spain, a branch of Vickers were awarded, by the Spanish Government, exclusive naval construction rights for the Spanish Navy.

In the aftermath of this scandal, accusations of bribery and manipulation flew in the direction of this dangerous trafficker of weapons. A Spanish Navy lawyer denounced the Spanish Government for two alleged crimes of "prevarication." The Spanish Government acted expeditiously and especially cruelly against any naval officers who went public with their discontent. The Central Chief of Staff and the Boss of the Armada Juridic Service were fired, and hundreds of officers were imprisoned and lost their jobs.

Other corrupt business tactics
Zaharoff's power and influence in Spain lasted until his death in 1936, the year in which the Spanish Civil War began.

Also, the 1934 United States Senate Nye Committee Memorandum shows that Zaharoff was paid considerable sums for transactions made between foreign companies and the Spanish Government (for example, he got paid between a 5 and 7% commission for the price of American submarines sold to Spain, throughout all these years).

Although very little could be proved, Zaharoff was viewed as a master of bribery and corruption, but the few incidents that did become public, such as the large bribes received by Japanese Admiral Fuji in the 1914 Siemens scandal, indicated that a lot more was going on behind the scenes. In 1890, the Maxim-Nordenfelt association broke up, and Zaharoff chose to go with Maxim. Using his commissions, Zaharoff bought shares in Maxim's company until he was in a position to tell Maxim that he was no longer an employee, but an equal shareholder.

By 1897, the Maxim company had become important enough that it received a buyout offer from Vickers, one of the then giants of the armaments industry. This involved substantial settlements in both cash and shares for Maxim and Zaharoff. From then until 1911, while Maxim's business enthusiasm waned, Zaharoff's enthusiasm grew, and he expanded his portfolio of Vickers shares. After Maxim's retirement, Zaharoff was appointed to Vickers' board of directors.

The 1900s (decade) was a time for many European armies to rebuild and modernize. Germany and the United Kingdom both sought improved naval capability, and Vickers, with Zaharoff, were willing and able to service both sides. After its disastrous defeat by Japan in 1905, the Russian Navy also needed new equipment, but Russia was handcuffed by a wave of protectionism that required domestic industry for the rebuilding. Zaharoff's response was to build a huge Russian arms production complex at Tsaritsyn as a subsidiary of Vickers.

The opening of Russian Tsarist archives after World War I led to some insights into the tactics of the arms industry. One 1907 letter, in particular, was written from the Paul von Gontard Factory (a secretly-controlled Vickers company in Germany) to a Vickers-associate in Paris recommending that press releases be sent out to the French press suggesting that the French improve their military to meet the threat posed by German re-armament. These French newspaper articles were recorded by the Reichstag, and instigated a vote to increase military spending, all of which worked to the advantage of Zaharoff.

World War I
In the years immediately preceding World War I, Zaharoff's fortunes grew in other areas to support his arms business. By purchasing the L'Union Parisienne des Banques (Union Parisienne Bank), which was historically associated with heavy industry, he was better able to control his financing arrangements. By gaining control of Excelsior, the popular French daily newspaper, he could guarantee favourable editorials for the arms industry. To gain public recognition and acclaim, he founded a retirement home for ex-French sailors, while a chair in Aerodynamics at the University of Paris led to further honours.

In April 1914, Australian newspapers published reports from London dated 25 April that M. Zaharoff had donated £20,000 "in order to enable France to be worthily represented at the forthcoming Olympic Games in Berlin" in 1916. The 1916 Olympic Games were subsequently cancelled because of the war. Zaharoff's donation represented a substantial contribution. On May 10, the French Government announced it would donate £6,000 to its Olympic team, and would distribute £12,000 of Zaharoff's donation among its Olympic teams, with the remaining £8,000 to "the furtherance of the Olympic cause."

On July 31, 1914, coincidentally the same day that the noted antimilitarist Jean Jaurès was assassinated, Raymond Poincaré signed a decree appointing Zaharoff a Commander of the Legion of Honour.

In March 1914, Vickers announced a new dawn of prosperity. During the course of the war, Vickers would produce 4 ships of the line, 3 cruisers, 53 submarines, 3 auxiliary vessels, 62 light vessels, 2,328 cannon, 8,000,000 tonnes of steel ordnance, 90,000 mines, 22,000 torpedoes, 5,500 airplanes and 100,000 machine guns. By 1915, Zaharoff had close ties with both David Lloyd George and Aristide Briand. It is reported that, on the occasion of one visit with Briand, Zaharoff surreptitiously left an envelope on Aristide Briand's desk; the envelope contained a million francs for war widows.

One of Zaharoff's tasks during the Great War was to ensure that Greece joined the war on the Allied side, helping to reinforce the eastern front. On the surface, this seemed impossible since King Constantine was a brother-in-law of the Kaiser. Setting up a press agency in Greece to publicise British propaganda contacted by Wellington House, Zaharoff led, within a few months, to King Constantine's overthrow by Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos and Greek entry into the war as an ally of the British Empire.

In 1917 and 1918, on the behest of David Lloyd George, Zaharoff initiated a series of secret peace negotiations with the Ottoman Empire, beginning on 18 July 1917. The British hoped Zaharoff could convince the Three Pashas to abandon the Central Powers and make a separate peace with the Allies.

By the end of World War I, The Times estimated that Zaharoff had laid out £50 million in the Allied cause.

Post-war dealings
In the years that followed, Zaharoff involved himself in the affairs of the lesser powers, which the Big Four, involved in remaking Europe, could happily ignore. In particular, he set out to ensure that Greece and Venizelos received a proper share from the spoils from the badly weakened Turkey. In 1920, he donated half a billion gold francs to the Greek State for the Greek cause (Megali Idea). Zaharoff convinced Venizelos to attack but, after some impressive initial success, the Greek Army was eventually driven back. In the elections that followed, Constantine's loyalists managed to force Venizelos to flee, but Zaharoff stayed around to persuade the same King that he had to attack Turkey again. But with Mustafa Kemal now in charge of Turkey, this venture was bound to fail. Zaharoff's war adventures were not well received by the press in Paris and London.

Zaharoff was also involved in two more significant financial ventures in October 1920, becoming involved in the incorporation of a company that was a predecessor to oil giant BP. He foresaw that there was a great future in the oil business.

His association with Prince Louis II of Monaco led to his purchase of the debt-ridden Société des Bains de Mer, which ran the world-famous Monte Carlo Casino and was the principal source of revenue for the principality. He succeeded in returning the casino to profit again. At the same time, Zaharoff had prevailed upon Clemenceau to ensure that the Treaty of Versailles included protection of Monaco’s rights as established in 1641. Louis had noted their gradual erosion over the subsequent three centuries.

Personal life
Zaharoff was fascinated by aviation, and gave money and other support to pioneers in Great Britain, France and Russia. He encouraged Hiram Maxim's attempt to build a flying machine, and claimed he and Maxim were the first men to be lifted off the earth, when Maxim tested his first "flying machine" at Bexley in 1894.

In September 1924, Zaharoff, 74, married his mistress María del Pilar Antonia Angela Patrocinio Fermina Simona de Muguiro y Beruete, in her own right 1st Duchess de Villafranca de los Caballeros. Previously married to a cousin of the King of Spain Alfonso XII, the Duchess was reputed to be one of the richest women in Spain.

About eighteen months after their marriage, the Duchess died of an infection. He then began selling his business assets and drafted his memoirs. He apparently burnt the manuscript after it was stolen by a valet and recovered by police.

Zaharoff's country house, the Château de Balincourt, at Arronville near Paris, was formerly the property of King Leopold II of Belgium and was filled with works of art and one of the most beautiful in France.

Princess Marthe Bibesco claims Basil Zaharoff was an illegitimate son of her maternal grandfather.

Philanthropy
Zaharoff was a major financial benefactor to various institutions:

 * Chair of Aviation at the University of Paris (cost: FF 700,000)
 * Chair of Aviation at Saint Petersburg State University
 * Chair of Aviation at Imperial College, London
 * Chair of French Literature at Oxford University
 * Chair of English Literature at the University of Paris
 * Donation of £20,000 to refurbish Paris Zoo's monkey house (initially treated as a hoax by Zoo staff who left the cheque in a drawer for two months)
 * Financial contribution to studying aviation problems in England (cost: £125,000)
 * The construction of a War Hospital at Biarritz (FF 200,000)
 * Donation towards building the Greek Embassy in Paris
 * Help for the earthquake victims at Corinth, Greece
 * Establishing the Institut Pasteur à Athènes in 1919

Honours

 * Legion Honneur GC ribbon.svg Grand Cross, Legion of Honour
 * Order of the Bath (ribbon).svg Honorary Knight Grand Cross, Order of the Bath ("George V, who detested him, resented his use of titles, which, as a French citizen, were only honorary." )
 * Order of the British Empire (Civil) Ribbon.png Honorary Knight Grand Cross, Order of the British Empire
 * GRE Order Redeemer 1Class.png Grand Cross, Order of the Redeemer

In popular culture

 * Zaharoff was portrayed by Leo McKern in the 1983 ITV series Reilly, Ace of Spies.
 * Zaharoff was depicted in the "Lanny Budd" series by reformer Upton Sinclair.
 * Zaharoff appears in the Thomas Pynchon novel Against the Day.
 * 'Zaroff' is an unscrupulous arms dealer in the Tom Mix serial The Miracle Rider (1935).
 * Zaharoff is played by Serhat Tutumluer in the Turkish crime and detective movie series 'Filinta ', portraying crime, secrets and action in late 19th century Ottoman era Constantinople.
 * Zaharoff is portrayed as a main antagonist in Jacopo Della Quercia's 2015 novel The Great Abraham Lincoln Pocket Watch Conspiracy.
 * Zaharoff is played by Adnan Biricik as a weapons dealer and an antagonist on Season 1 of the Turkish Drama series 'Payitaht: Abdülhamid '
 * In the 2019 Greek series To Kokkino Potami, Zaharoff, portrayed by Sotiris Hatzakis, is depicted as a pivotal figure in the protagonist 's life, urging him to follow him to Paris and become his right-hand man.
 * Zaharoff was used by Ian Fleming as the model for Ernst Stavro Blofeld leader of the international criminal organization SPECTRE and a main antagonist in the James Bond series of novels and films.

title: Basil Zaharoff


text:
Svend Robinson

Svend Robinson (born March 4, 1952) is a Canadian politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2004, who represented suburban Vancouver-area constituencies of Burnaby for the New Democratic Party (NDP). He is noted as the first member of Parliament in Canadian history to come out as gay while in office. In 2004, he pled guilty to stealing an expensive ring and decided not to run in the June 2004 election. At the time, he was one of the longest-serving members in the House of Commons, having been elected and re-elected for seven consecutive terms. In the 2019 Canadian federal election, Robinson was the NDP candidate for the riding of Burnaby North-Seymour, but lost to the Liberal incumbent Terry Beech by 1,560 votes.

Early life
Robinson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, of Danish descent, to Edith Jensen and Wayne Robinson. His father opposed the Vietnam War and brought his family to live in Canada. Robinson attended high school at Burnaby North Secondary. He later obtained a law degree from the University of British Columbia, and completed post-graduate work in international law at the London School of Economics.

He was called to the British Columbia Bar as a barrister and solicitor in 1978, and practised law with Robert Gardner and Associates until his election to the House of Commons in May 1979.

Prior to coming out as gay, Robinson was married to Patricia Fraser, his high-school girlfriend, from 1972 to 1975.

Politics
Robinson was the NDP MP for ridings in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby, British Columbia, the third-largest city in British Columbia.

As the longest-serving British Columbia MP of his time, in office from 1979 to 2004, Robinson is notable for having been the first Canadian MP to come out as gay, in the spring of 1988. He was the only openly LGBT member of the Canadian House of Commons until Bloc Québécois MP Réal Ménard came out in 1994.

Robinson is known for his negative views on American foreign policy, especially towards Cuba, his challenge of corporate power, his criticism of Israel, and his strong support for Palestinian leaders. Party leader McDonough briefly removed Robinson's portfolio over Middle East issues in 2002 for comments he made criticizing the Israeli government for alleged war crimes in Jenin.

One of his earliest political activities was leading a group of NDP MPs who heckled former US President Ronald Reagan while he was speaking at the House of Commons in support of the Strategic Defense Initiative and aid to the Contras. He was a long-time activist in the anti-apartheid movement and was a member of the official Canadian delegation to the 1994 South African election. Robinson has also been critical of the Chinese government for its treatment of political dissidents and for its policies in Tibet. He was a founder of the Canadian wing of Parliamentarians for East Timor. He was active in international parliamentary groups, including serving as rapporteur and chair of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Parliamentary Assembly Human Rights and Development Committee.

Robinson was a leader in the movement for the right to physician-assisted death, fighting for the right of well-known ALS patient Sue Rodriguez to choose when to end her life with the assistance of a physician. He was ultimately present at her bedside at the time of her physician-assisted death.

A strong environmentalist, he engaged in peaceful civil disobedience to block logging of old-growth forests at Lyell Island in Haida Gwaii in 1985 and at Clayoquot Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island in 1993. For the latter action, he was sentenced to 14 days of imprisonment. Robinson was also an outspoken advocate of the rights of aboriginal peoples both in Canada and internationally. He stood at barricades with the Penan people in Sarawak, Malaysia and was condemned by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. He was adopted into the Haida Nation, and given the Haida name "White Swan" by Haida elder Ada Yovanovich.

Robinson ran to succeed Audrey McLaughlin as leader of the NDP at the 1995 NDP leadership convention. He won the first ballot, and had won regional primaries in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. Ahead of the second ballot between himself and Alexa McDonough, Robinson noticed last-place candidate Lorne Nystrom's delegates were moving disproportionately to McDonough. Realizing that McDonough would likely pick up enough support from Nystrom's delegates to eliminate any realistic chance of him winning, Robinson conceded to McDonough before the second ballot. On a motion by Robinson, McDonough was acclaimed as leader.

On December 31, 1997, Robinson was injured in a hiking accident on Galiano Island, breaking his jaw and ankle.

Robinson was involved in the New Politics Initiative, an effort to build a new progressive political party in Canada closely linked with social movements and labour, and the NDP's renewal process, although he remained committed to the party after the NPI's defeat at the 2001 general convention in Winnipeg. He was an early and strong supporter of former national NDP Leader Jack Layton.

In 2003, Liberal Senator Jerry Grafstein suggested that September 11 be designated as "America Day" to commemorate the American victims of September 11, 2001. Robinson proposed that the day also be designated as "Chile Day", to mark the overthrow of Chilean president Salvador Allende's democratically elected government on September 11, 1973. Neither proposal was accepted.

Robinson successfully sponsored legislation in parliament in 2004 to include sexual orientation in federal hate crimes legislation. He was also active on HIV/AIDS issues from the start of the epidemic in the early 1980s.

Admission to theft and end of political career
In April 2004, shortly before the 2004 election, Robinson admitted to the theft of an expensive ring from a public auction site. He turned himself in to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and returned the ring shortly after police visited his home and office, wishing to speak with him. While the auction company publicly stated that they did not wish to pursue charges, Robinson was charged and pleaded guilty. The Crown and defence agreed that he was undergoing major personal stress and mental health issues at the time; Robinson was given a discharge, meaning that he would have no criminal record, but he volunteered for some time at the Burnaby Wildlife Centre as part of a public service commitment. He terminated his candidacy and was replaced by his longtime constituency assistant Bill Siksay, who won the election.

Robinson was subsequently diagnosed with cyclothymia, a form of bipolar disorder, and began to speak as an activist on mental health issues.

Robinson attempted a comeback and ran as an NDP candidate in the 2006 federal election, challenging Liberal MP Hedy Fry in the riding of Vancouver Centre. Despite an improved result for the NDP provincewide, Fry easily won reelection in her riding, where the NDP vote fell by 3.6 per cent.

In the 2019 Canadian General Election Robinson was nominated as the NDP candidate in Burnaby North—Seymour, where he faced Liberal incumbent Terry Beech and lost by 1,560 votes.

Post-political career
Since leaving politics, Robinson was employed by the British Columbia Government and Service Employees' Union as an arbitrator and advocate. He also served on the NDP's federal executive as co-chair of the party's LGBT Committee.

Robinson took a position in 2007 with the global trade union federation Public Services International in Switzerland, where he moved with his partner Max Riveron. He led PSI's work on a range of issues including climate change, pensions, and trade. In 2009, he was co-chair of the International LGBT Human Rights Conference in Copenhagen, and received an award from the Conseil québécois des gais et lesbiennes for his human rights activism.

He served as a consultant with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, coordinating their parliamentary relations. He retired from the organization when he reached its mandatory retirement age of 65.

In 2020–2021, Robinson was the J.S. Woodsworth resident scholar at Simon Fraser University. The position was named after the former CCF leader and MP J. S. Woodsworth.

Biography
Svend Robinson: A Life in Politics, written by Graeme Truelove, was released on October 17, 2013, by New Star Books. In the book, Truelove argues that Robinson was the single most influential Member of Parliament in Canadian history never to have served in the Cabinet of Canada.

Awards and honours

 * L'Ordre de la Pleiade, Chevalier, 1990 For exceptional service to La Francophonie
 * Award for Human Rights, May 1993 Lambda Foundation.
 * The Edith Adamson Award for Leadership in Issues of Conscience in 1995.
 * Elena Gil Iberoamerican Award on Ethics, June 1995 Felix Varela Centre, Cuba.
 * Tom Stoddard National Role Model Award, May 1997 presented by PrideFest America.
 * Hero Award, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in August 1999 by The Canadian Bar Association.
 * Presidents Award, 2003 Canadian Arab Federation.
 * Kurdish Human Rights Prize, Adar 2614.
 * Grand prix du CQGL 2009, decerned by Conseil québécois des gais et lesbiennes at Gala Arc-en-Ciel
 * Panelist at the conference to mark the 20th Anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, discussing "The Making of s.15: Collaboration by Government, Community Activists and Legal Experts."
 * Member of Canadian Committee for 50th Anniversary of United Nations, 1995

title: Svend Robinson


text:
Telomere

A telomere is a region of repetitive nucleotide sequences associated with specialized proteins at the ends of linear chromosomes (see Sequences). Telomeres are a widespread genetic feature most commonly found in eukaryotes. In most, if not all species possessing them, they protect the terminal regions of chromosomal DNA from progressive degradation and ensure the integrity of linear chromosomes by preventing DNA repair systems from mistaking the very ends of the DNA strand for a double-strand break.

Discovery
The existence of a special structure at the ends of chromosomes was independently proposed in 1938 by Hermann Joseph Muller, studying the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, and in 1939 by Barbara McClintock, working with maize. Muller observed that the ends of irradiated fruit fly chromosomes did not present alterations such as deletions or inversions. He hypothesized the presence of a protective cap, which he coined "telomeres", from the Greek telos (end) and meros (part).

In the early 1970s, Soviet theorist Alexey Olovnikov first recognized that chromosomes could not completely replicate their ends; this is known as the "end replication problem". Building on this, and accommodating Leonard Hayflick's idea of limited somatic cell division, Olovnikov suggested that DNA sequences are lost every time a cell replicates until the loss reaches a critical level, at which point cell division ends. According to his theory of marginotomy, DNA sequences at the ends of telomeres are represented by tandem repeats, which create a buffer that determines the number of divisions that a certain cell clone can undergo. Furthermore, it was predicted that a specialized DNA polymerase (originally called a tandem-DNA-polymerase) could extend telomeres in immortal tissues such as germ line, cancer cells and stem cells. It also followed from this hypothesis that organisms with circular genome, such as bacteria, do not have the end replication problem and therefore do not age.

In 1975–1977, Elizabeth Blackburn, working as a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University with Joseph G. Gall, discovered the unusual nature of telomeres, with their simple repeated DNA sequences composing chromosome ends. Blackburn, Carol Greider, and Jack Szostak were awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.

End replication problem

During DNA replication, DNA polymerase cannot replicate the sequences present at the 3' ends of the parent strands. This is a consequence of its unidirectional mode of DNA synthesis: it can only attach new nucleotides to an existing 3'-end (that is, synthesis progresses 5'-3') and thus it requires a primer to initiate replication. On the leading strand (oriented 5'-3' within the replication fork), DNA-polymerase continuously replicates from the point of initiation all the way to the strand's end with the primer (made of RNA) then being excised and substituted by DNA. The lagging strand, however, is oriented 3'-5' with respect to the replication fork so continuous replication by DNA-polymerase is impossible, which necessitates discontinuous replication involving the repeated synthesis of primers further 5' of the site of initiation (see lagging strand replication). The last primer to be involved in lagging-strand replication sits near the 3'-end of the template (corresponding to the potential 5'-end of the lagging-strand). Originally it was believed that the last primer would sit at the very end of the template, thus, once removed, the DNA-polymerase that substitutes primers with DNA (DNA-Pol δ in eukaryotes) would be unable to synthesize the "replacement DNA" from the 5'-end of the lagging strand so that the template nucleotides previously paired to the last primer would not be replicated. It has since been questioned whether the last lagging strand primer is placed exactly at the 3'-end of the template and it was demonstrated that it is rather synthesized at a distance of about 70–100 nucleotides which is consistent with the finding that DNA in cultured human cell is shortened by 50–100 base pairs per cell division.

If coding sequences are degraded in this process, potentially vital genetic code would be lost. Telomeres are non-coding, repetitive sequences located at the termini of linear chromosomes to act as buffers for those coding sequences further behind. They "cap" the end-sequences and are progressively degraded in the process of DNA replication.

The "end replication problem" is exclusive to linear chromosomes as circular chromosomes do not have ends lying without reach of DNA-polymerases. Most prokaryotes, relying on circular chromosomes, accordingly do not possess telomeres. A small fraction of bacterial chromosomes (such as those in Streptomyces, Agrobacterium, and Borrelia), however, are linear and possess telomeres, which are very different from those of the eukaryotic chromosomes in structure and function. The known structures of bacterial telomeres take the form of proteins bound to the ends of linear chromosomes, or hairpin loops of single-stranded DNA at the ends of the linear chromosomes.

Telomere ends and shelterin

At the very 3'-end of the telomere there is a 300 base pair overhang which can invade the double-stranded portion of the telomere forming a structure known as a T-loop. This loop is analogous to a knot, which stabilizes the telomere, and prevents the telomere ends from being recognized as breakpoints by the DNA repair machinery. Should non-homologous end joining occur at the telomeric ends, chromosomal fusion would result. The T-loop is maintained by several proteins, collectively referred to as the shelterin complex. In humans, the shelterin complex consists of six proteins identified as TRF1, TRF2, TIN2, POT1, TPP1, and RAP1. In many species, the sequence repeats are enriched in guanine, e.g. TTAGGG in vertebrates, which allows the formation of G-quadruplexes, a special conformation of DNA involving non-Watson-Crick base pairing. There are different subtypes depending on the involvement of single- or double-stranded DNA, among other things. There is evidence for the 3'-overhang in ciliates (that possess telomere repeats similar to those found in vertebrates) to form such G-quadruplexes that accommodate it, rather than a T-loop. G-quadruplexes present an obstacle for enzymes such as DNA-polymerases and are thus thought to be involved in the regulation of replication and transcription.

Telomerase

Many organisms have a ribonucleoprotein enzyme called telomerase, which carries out the task of adding repetitive nucleotide sequences to the ends of the DNA. Telomerase "replenishes" the telomere "cap" and requires no ATP. In most multicellular eukaryotic organisms, telomerase is active only in germ cells, some types of stem cells such as embryonic stem cells, and certain white blood cells. Telomerase can be reactivated and telomeres reset back to an embryonic state by somatic cell nuclear transfer. The steady shortening of telomeres with each replication in somatic (body) cells may have a role in senescence and in the prevention of cancer. This is because the telomeres act as a sort of time-delay "fuse", eventually running out after a certain number of cell divisions and resulting in the eventual loss of vital genetic information from the cell's chromosome with future divisions.

Length
Telomere length varies greatly between species, from approximately 300 base pairs in yeast to many kilobases in humans, and usually is composed of arrays of guanine-rich, six- to eight-base-pair-long repeats. Eukaryotic telomeres normally terminate with 3′ single-stranded-DNA overhang ranging from 75 to 300 bases, which is essential for telomere maintenance and capping. Multiple proteins binding single- and double-stranded telomere DNA have been identified. These function in both telomere maintenance and capping. Telomeres form large loop structures called telomere loops, or T-loops. Here, the single-stranded DNA curls around in a long circle, stabilized by telomere-binding proteins. At the very end of the T-loop, the single-stranded telomere DNA is held onto a region of double-stranded DNA by the telomere strand disrupting the double-helical DNA, and base pairing to one of the two strands. This triple-stranded structure is called a displacement loop or D-loop.

Oxidative damage
Apart from the end replication problem, in vitro studies have shown that telomeres accumulate damage due to oxidative stress and that oxidative stress-mediated DNA damage has a major influence on telomere shortening in vivo. There is a multitude of ways in which oxidative stress, mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS), can lead to DNA damage; however, it is yet unclear whether the elevated rate in telomeres is brought about by their inherent susceptibility or a diminished activity of DNA repair systems in these regions. Despite widespread agreement of the findings, widespread flaws regarding measurement and sampling have been pointed out; for example, a suspected species and tissue dependency of oxidative damage to telomeres is said to be insufficiently accounted for. Population-based studies have indicated an interaction between anti-oxidant intake and telomere length. In the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project (LIBCSP), authors found a moderate increase in breast cancer risk among women with the shortest telomeres and lower dietary intake of beta carotene, vitamin C or E. These results suggest that cancer risk due to telomere shortening may interact with other mechanisms of DNA damage, specifically oxidative stress.

Association with aging
Although telomeres shorten during the lifetime of an individual, it is telomere shortening-rate rather than telomere length that is associated with the lifespan of a species. Critically short telomeres trigger a DNA damage response and cellular senescence. Mice have much longer telomeres, but a greatly accelerated telomere shortening-rate and greatly reduced lifespan compared to humans and elephants.

Telomere shortening is associated with aging, mortality, and aging-related diseases in experimental animals. Although many factors can affect human lifespan, such as smoking, diet, and exercise, as persons approach the upper limit of human life expectancy, longer telomeres may be associated with lifespan.

Potential effect of psychological stress
Meta-analyses found that increased perceived psychological stress was associated with a small decrease in telomere length—but that these associations attenuate to no significant association when accounting for publication bias. The literature concerning telomeres as integrative biomarkers of exposure to stress and adversity is dominated by cross-sectional and correlational studies, which makes causal interpretation problematic. A 2020 review argued that the relationship between psychosocial stress and telomere length appears strongest for stress experienced in utero or early life.

Lengthening
The phenomenon of limited cellular division was first observed by Leonard Hayflick, and is now referred to as the Hayflick limit. Significant discoveries were subsequently made by a group of scientists organized at Geron Corporation by Geron's founder Michael D. West, that tied telomere shortening with the Hayflick limit. The cloning of the catalytic component of telomerase enabled experiments to test whether the expression of telomerase at levels sufficient to prevent telomere shortening was capable of immortalizing human cells. Telomerase was demonstrated in a 1998 publication in Science to be capable of extending cell lifespan, and now is well-recognized as capable of immortalizing human somatic cells.

Two studies on long-lived seabirds demonstrate that the role of telomeres is far from being understood. In 2003, scientists observed that the telomeres of Leach's storm-petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa) seem to lengthen with chronological age, the first observed instance of such behaviour of telomeres.

A study reported that telomere length of different mammalian species correlates inversely rather than directly with lifespan, and concluded that the contribution of telomere length to lifespan remains controversial. There is little evidence that, in humans, telomere length is a significant biomarker of normal aging with respect to important cognitive and physical abilities.

Sequences
Experimentally verified and predicted telomere sequence motifs from more than 9000 species are collected in research community curated database TeloBase. Some of the experimentally verified telomere nucleotide sequences are also listed in Telomerase Database website (see nucleic acid notation for letter representations).

Research on disease risk
Preliminary research indicates that disease risk in aging may be associated with telomere shortening, senescent cells, or SASP (senescence-associated secretory phenotype).

Measurement
Several techniques are currently employed to assess average telomere length in eukaryotic cells. One method is the Terminal Restriction Fragment (TRF) southern blot. There is a Web-based Analyser of the Length of Telomeres (WALTER), software processing the TRF pictures. A Real-Time PCR assay for telomere length involves determining the Telomere-to-Single Copy Gene (T/S) ratio, which is demonstrated to be proportional to the average telomere length in a cell.

Tools have also been developed to estimate the length of telomere from whole genome sequencing (WGS) experiments. Amongst these are TelSeq, Telomerecat and telomereHunter. Length estimation from WGS typically works by differentiating telomere sequencing reads and then inferring the length of telomere that produced that number of reads. These methods have been shown to correlate with preexisting methods of estimation such as PCR and TRF. Flow-FISH is used to quantify the length of telomeres in human white blood cells. A semi-automated method for measuring the average length of telomeres with Flow FISH was published in Nature Protocols in 2006.

While multiple companies offer telomere length measurement services, the utility of these measurements for widespread clinical or personal use has been questioned. Nobel Prize winner Elizabeth Blackburn, who was co-founder of one company, promoted the clinical utility of telomere length measures.

In wildlife
During the last two decades, eco-evolutionary studies have investigated the relevance of life-history traits and environmental conditions on telomeres of wildlife. Most of these studies have been conducted in endotherms, i.e. birds and mammals. They have provided evidence for the inheritance of telomere length; however, heritability estimates vary greatly within and among species. Age and telomere length often negatively correlate in vertebrates, but this decline is variable among taxa and linked to the method used for estimating telomere length. In contrast, the available information shows no sex differences in telomere length across vertebrates. Phylogeny and life history traits such as body size or the pace of life can also affect telomere dynamics. For example, it has been described across species of birds and mammals. In 2019, a meta-analysis confirmed that the exposure to stressors (e.g. pathogen infection, competition, reproductive effort and high activity level) was associated with shorter telomeres across different animal taxa.

Studies on ectotherms, and other non-mammalian organisms, show that there is no single universal model of telomere erosion; rather, there is wide variation in relevant dynamics across Metazoa, and even within smaller taxonomic groups these patterns appear diverse.

title: Telomere


text:
Tonkatsu

is a Japanese dish that consists of a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet. It involves coating slices of pork with panko (bread crumbs), and then frying them in oil. The two main types are fillet and loin. Tonkatsu is also the basis of other dishes such as katsukarē and katsudon.

Etymology
The word tonkatsu is a combination of the Sino-Japanese word ton (豚) meaning "pig", and katsu (カツ), which is a shortened form of katsuretsu (カツレツ), an old transliteration of the English word "cutlet", which was in turn adopted from the French word côtelette.

History
Tonkatsu originated in Japan during the Meiji Era in the late 19th century, a dish derived from a French dish known as côtelette de veau, a veal cutlet coated in breadcrumbs and fried in a pan with butter.

European katsuretsu (loanword/gairaigo for cutlet) was usually made with beef; the pork version was created in 1899 at a restaurant serving European-style foods named Rengatei in Tokyo, Japan. It's a type of yōshoku—Japanese versions of European cuisine invented in the late 19th and early 20th centuries—and was called katsuretsu or simply katsu.

Preparation and serving
Either a pork fillet (ヒレ) or pork loin (ロース) cut may be used; the meat is usually salted, peppered, dredged lightly in flour, dipped into beaten egg and then coated with panko (bread crumbs) before being deep fried.

Tonkatsu is then sliced into bits and served, commonly with shredded cabbage. It is most commonly eaten with a thick Worcestershire-style sauce called tonkatsu sauce or simply sōsu (sauce), karashi (mustard), and perhaps a slice of lemon. It is usually served with rice, miso soup and tsukemono and eaten with chopsticks. It may also be served with ponzu and grated daikon instead of tonkatsu sauce.

Variations
Tonkatsu is also popular as katsukarē served on Japanese curry, or as katsudon, simmered with egg and broth, then served on a big bowl of rice; there is also katsu rice, which is pork cutlet served on rice topped with demi-glace sauce. Another popular variation, katsu sando or pork cutlet sandwich, is said to be originated from the Isen, a tonkatsu restaurant. In the 1930s, the manager of the Isen came up with the concept, then improved it by making the sandwich smaller so that its clientele of local geishas could enjoy it without wearing off their lipstick.

In Nagoya and surrounding areas, miso katsu, tonkatsu eaten with a hatchō miso-based sauce, is a speciality.

Variations on tonkatsu may be made by sandwiching an ingredient such as cheese or shiso leaf between the meat, and then breading and frying.

Variations of katsu other than pork:

 * Chicken katsu (チキンカツ) or Tori katsu (鶏カツ), which uses chicken instead, often appears in Hawaiian plate lunches.
 * Menchi-katsu (メンチカツ) or minchi katsu (ミンチカツ mince katsu), is a minced meat patty, breaded and deep fried.
 * Hamu katsu (ハムカツ ham katsu), a similar dish made from ham, is usually considered a budget alternative to tonkatsu.
 * Gyū katsu (牛カツ beef katsu), also known as bīfu katsu, is popular in the Kansai region around Osaka and Kobe.

In general, breaded and deep-fried foods are called furai ("fry"), such as ebi-furai (fried prawn) and aji-furai (fried horse mackerel), but fried meat such as pork, beef and chicken is referred to as katsu (cutlet). Katsu and furai differ from tempura, which is not breaded and typically fried in sesame oil.

In recent years, chicken katsu curry has become extremely popular in the United Kingdom, to the point that other varieties of Japanese curry and curry sauce are sometimes referred to as katsu erroneously.

title: Tonkatsu


text:
Edward Witten

Edward Witten (born August 26, 1951) is an American theoretical physicist known for his contributions to string theory, topological quantum field theory, and various areas of mathematics. He is a professor emeritus in the school of natural sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Witten is a researcher in string theory, quantum gravity, supersymmetric quantum field theories, and other areas of mathematical physics. Witten's work has also significantly impacted pure mathematics. In 1990, he became the first physicist to be awarded a Fields Medal by the International Mathematical Union, for his mathematical insights in physics, such as his 1981 proof of the positive energy theorem in general relativity, and his interpretation of the Jones invariants of knots as Feynman integrals. He is considered the practical founder of M-theory.

Early life and education
Witten was born on August 26, 1951, in Baltimore, Maryland, to a Jewish family, as the eldest of four children. His brother Matt Witten became a highly successful writer, and his brother Jesse Amnon Witten became a law partner in the firm Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath. The three brothers' sister Celia M. Witten earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from Stanford University and then an M.D. from the University of Miami. Edward Witten is the son of Lorraine (born Wollach) Witten and Louis Witten, a theoretical physicist specializing in gravitation and general relativity.

Witten attended the Park School of Baltimore (class of 1968), and received his Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in history and minor in linguistics from Brandeis University in 1971.

He had aspirations in journalism and politics and published articles in both The New Republic and The Nation in the late 1960s. In 1972, he worked for six months on George McGovern's presidential campaign.

Witten attended the University of Michigan for one semester as an economics graduate student before dropping out. He returned to academia, enrolling in applied mathematics at Princeton University in 1973, then shifting departments and receiving a PhD in physics in 1976 and completing a dissertation, "Some problems in the short distance analysis of gauge theories", under the supervision of David Gross. He held a fellowship at Harvard University (1976–77), visited Oxford University (1977–78), was a junior fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows (1977–1980), and held a MacArthur Foundation fellowship (1982).

Fields medal work
Witten was awarded the Fields Medal by the International Mathematical Union in 1990.

In a written address to the ICM, Michael Atiyah said of Witten:

"Although he is definitely a physicist (as his list of publications clearly shows) his command of mathematics is rivaled by few mathematicians, and his ability to interpret physical ideas in mathematical form is quite unique. Time and again he has surprised the mathematical community by a brilliant application of physical insight leading to new and deep mathematical theorems ... He has made a profound impact on contemporary mathematics. In his hands physics is once again providing a rich source of inspiration and insight in mathematics."

As an example of Witten's work in pure mathematics, Atiyah cites his application of techniques from quantum field theory to the mathematical subject of low-dimensional topology. In the late 1980s, Witten coined the term topological quantum field theory for a certain type of physical theory in which the expectation values of observable quantities encode information about the topology of spacetime. In particular, Witten realized that a physical theory now called Chern–Simons theory could provide a framework for understanding the mathematical theory of knots and 3-manifolds. Although Witten's work was based on the mathematically ill-defined notion of a Feynman path integral and therefore not mathematically rigorous, mathematicians were able to systematically develop Witten's ideas, leading to the theory of Reshetikhin–Turaev invariants.

Another result for which Witten was awarded the Fields Medal was his proof in 1981 of the positive energy theorem in general relativity. This theorem asserts that (under appropriate assumptions) the total energy of a gravitating system is always positive and can be zero only if the geometry of spacetime is that of flat Minkowski space. It establishes Minkowski space as a stable ground state of the gravitational field. While the original proof of this result due to Richard Schoen and Shing-Tung Yau used variational methods, Witten's proof used ideas from supergravity theory to simplify the argument.

A third area mentioned in Atiyah's address is Witten's work relating supersymmetry and Morse theory, a branch of mathematics that studies the topology of manifolds using the concept of a differentiable function. Witten's work gave a physical proof of a classical result, the Morse inequalities, by interpreting the theory in terms of supersymmetric quantum mechanics.

M-theory
By the mid 1990s, physicists working on string theory had developed five different consistent versions of the theory. These versions are known as type I, type IIA, type IIB, and the two flavors of heterotic string theory (SO(32) and E8×E8). The thinking was that of these five candidate theories, only one was the actual correct theory of everything, and that theory was the one whose low-energy limit matched the physics observed in our world today.

Speaking at the string theory conference at University of Southern California in 1995, Witten made the surprising suggestion that these five string theories were in fact not distinct theories, but different limits of a single theory, which he called M-theory. Witten's proposal was based on the observation that the five string theories can be mapped to one another by certain rules called dualities and are identified by these dualities. It led to a flurry of work now known as the second superstring revolution.

Other work
Another of Witten's contributions to physics was to the result of gauge/gravity duality. In 1997, Juan Maldacena formulated a result known as the AdS/CFT correspondence, which establishes a relationship between certain quantum field theories and theories of quantum gravity. Maldacena's discovery has dominated high-energy theoretical physics for the past 15 years because of its applications to theoretical problems in quantum gravity and quantum field theory. Witten's foundational work following Maldacena's result has shed light on this relationship.

In collaboration with Nathan Seiberg, Witten established several powerful results in quantum field theories. In their paper on string theory and noncommutative geometry, Seiberg and Witten studied certain noncommutative quantum field theories that arise as limits of string theory. In another well-known paper, they studied aspects of supersymmetric gauge theory. The latter paper, combined with Witten's earlier work on topological quantum field theory, led to developments in the topology of smooth 4-manifolds, in particular the notion of Seiberg–Witten invariants.

With Anton Kapustin, Witten has made deep mathematical connections between S-duality of gauge theories and the geometric Langlands correspondence. Partly in collaboration with Seiberg, one of his recent interests includes aspects of field theoretical description of topological phases in condensed matter and non-supersymmetric dualities in field theories that, among other things, are of high relevance in condensed matter theory. In 2016, he has also brought tensor models to the relevance of holographic and quantum gravity theories, by using them as a generalization of the Sachdev–Ye–Kitaev model.

Witten has published influential and insightful work in many aspects of quantum field theories and mathematical physics, including the physics and mathematics of anomalies, integrability, dualities, localization, and homologies. Many of his results have deeply influenced areas in theoretical physics (often well beyond the original context of his results), including string theory, quantum gravity and topological condensed matter. In particular, Witten is known for collaborating with Ruth Britto on a method calculating scattering amplitudes known as the BCFW recursion relations.

Awards and honors
Witten has been honored with numerous awards including a MacArthur Grant (1982), the Fields Medal (1990), the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement (1997), the Nemmers Prize in Mathematics (2000), the National Medal of Science (2002), Pythagoras Award (2005), the Henri Poincaré Prize (2006), the Crafoord Prize (2008), the Lorentz Medal (2010) the Isaac Newton Medal (2010) and the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2012). Since 1999, he has been a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (London), and in March 2016 was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Pope Benedict XVI appointed Witten as a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (2006). He also appeared in the list of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2004. In 2012, he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society. Witten was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1984, a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1988, and a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1993. In May 2022 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Sciences from the University of Pennsylvania.

In an informal poll at a 1990 cosmology conference, Witten received the largest number of mentions as "the smartest living physicist".

Personal life
Witten has been married to Chiara Nappi, a professor of physics at Princeton University, since 1979. They have two daughters and a son. Their daughter Ilana B. Witten is a neuroscientist at Princeton University, and daughter Daniela Witten is a biostatistician at the University of Washington.

Witten sits on the board of directors of Americans for Peace Now and on the advisory council of J Street. He supports the two-state solution and advocates a boycott of Israeli institutions and economic activity beyond its 1967 borders, though not of Israel itself. Witten lived in Israel for a year in the 1960s.

Selected publications

 * Some Problems in the Short Distance Analysis of Gauge Theories. Princeton University, 1976. (Dissertation.)
 * Roman Jackiw, David Gross, Sam B. Treiman, Edward Witten, Bruno Zumino. Current Algebra and Anomalies: A Set of Lecture Notes and Papers. World Scientific, 1985.
 * Green, M., John H. Schwarz, and E. Witten. Superstring Theory. Vol. 1, Introduction. Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1988. ISBN 978-0-521-35752-4.
 * Green, M., John H. Schwarz, and E. Witten. Superstring Theory. Vol. 2, Loop Amplitudes, Anomalies and Phenomenology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1988. ISBN 978-0-521-35753-1.
 * Quantum fields and strings: a course for mathematicians. Vols. 1, 2. Material from the Special Year on Quantum Field Theory held at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, 1996–1997. Edited by Pierre Deligne, Pavel Etingof, Daniel S. Freed, Lisa C. Jeffrey, David Kazhdan, John W. Morgan, David R. Morrison and Edward Witten. American Mathematical Society, Providence, RI; Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), Princeton, NJ, 1999. Vol. 1: xxii+723 pp.; Vol. 2: pp. i–xxiv and 727–1501. ISBN 0-8218-1198-3, 81–06 (81T30 81Txx).

title: Edward Witten


text:
86 BC

Year 86 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cinna and Marius/Flaccus (or, less frequently, year 668 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 86 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Roman Republic

 * First Mithridatic War
 * March 1 – Sulla captures Athens from the Pontic army, removing the tyrant Aristion.
 * Lucius Licinius Lucullus decisively defeats the Mithridatic fleet in the Battle of Tenedos.
 * The Roman forces of Lucius Cornelius Sulla defeat the Pontic forces of Archelaus in the Battle of Chaeronea.
 * The Dardani ally with Pontus and are defeated by Sulla soon after.

Births

 * October 1 – Sallust, Roman historian (d. 34 BC)
 * Fausta Cornelia, twin sister of Faustus Cornelius Sulla, wife of Gaius Memmius and later of Titus Annius Milo
 * Faustus Cornelius Sulla, Roman senator, son of the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla (d. 46 BC)

Deaths

 * January 13 – Gaius Marius, Roman general and politician (b. c. 157 BC)
 * March 1 – Aristion, Greek philosopher and tyrant
 * Jin Midi, Chinese politician and co-regent (b. 134 BC)
 * Sima Qian, Chinese historian (b. 145 BC)

title: 86 BC


text:
85 BC

Year 85 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cinna and Carbo (or, less frequently, year 669 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 85 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Roman Republic

 * First Mithridatic War: Lucius Cornelius Sulla again defeats Archelaus in the decisive Battle of Orchomenus.

Births

 * Atia, niece of Julius Caesar and mother of Augustus (d. 43 BC)
 * Marcus Junius Brutus, conspirator and assassin in the murder of Julius Caesar (approximate date)
 * Tiberius Claudius Nero, Roman politician and father of Tiberius (d. 33 BC)

Deaths

 * Gaius Julius Caesar, Roman politician (b. c. 140 BC)
 * Mnesarchus of Athens, Stoic philosopher (b. c. 160 BC)
 * Lucius Valerius Flaccus

title: 85 BC


text:
84 BC

Year 84 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Carbo and Cinna (or, less frequently, year 670 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 84 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Asia

 * Battle of Cana: The Arab Nabataean Kingdom decisively defeats the Greek Seleucid Empire, slaying King Antiochus XII Dionysus, at modern-day Umm Qais in Jordan.

Roman Republic

 * The First Mithridatic War comes to an end.
 * Julius Caesar marries Cornelia

Births

 * Catullus, Roman poet (approximate date) (d. c. 54 BC)
 * Servilius Casca, Roman politician (d. c. 42 BC)
 * Surena, Parthian general (d. 53 BC)

Deaths

 * Apellicon of Teos, Greek book collector (approximate date)
 * Gaius Flavius Fimbria, Roman politician and general (suicide)
 * Lucius Cornelius Cinna, Roman consul (killed by mutinying troops)
 * Antiochus XII Dionysus, king of the Seleucid Empire (killed in battle)

title: 84 BC


text:
83 BC

Year 83 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Asiaticus and Norbanus (or, less frequently, year 671 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 83 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Roman Republic

 * Spring – Lucius Cornelius Sulla returns to Italy from his campaigns in Greece and lands with his legions unopposed at Brundisium. He defeats the popular forces of Gaius Norbanus in the Battle of Mount Tifata.
 * Gnaeus Pompeius, age 22, raises, on his own initiative, a private army of three legions from his father's veterans and clientelae in Picenum.
 * Lucius Licinius Murena, the Roman governor of Asia, clashes with the Pontic forces of Mithridates VI, starting the Second Mithridatic War.
 * A fire breaks out which burns down the Temple of Jupiter (Jupiter Capitolinus) and destroys the collection of Sibylline Books.
 * Two new buildings were completed on the Capitoline Hill in Rome: the Temple of Jupitor Optimus Maximus and the Tabularium.

Births

 * Fulvia, Roman matron and wife of Mark Antony (approximate date)
 * Julia, daughter of Julius Caesar and Cornelia
 * Mark Antony, Roman politician and General (who later married Cleopatra) (approximate date) (d. 30 BC)

Deaths

 * Philip I Philadelphus, Seleucid king (approximate date)

title: 83 BC


text:
82 BC

Year 82 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marius and Carbo (or, less frequently, year 672 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 82 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Roman Republic

 * April: Sulla defeats the consul Gaius Marius the Younger at the Battle of Sacriportus, and takes control of Rome.
 * November 1: Sulla defeats an army of Samnites and Lucanians alliance in the Battle of the Colline Gate.
 * November 2: Sulla slaughters the Samnite prisoners in the Villa publica; the senate rejects his proscription plan.
 * November 3: Sulla passes his proscription through a popular assembly; he publishes a list of 520 senators and equites to be murdered on sight.
 * Gaius Marius the Younger is besieged at the fortress city of Praeneste in Latium. After a fierce resistance, Marius commits suicide.
 * Pompey is ordered by Sulla to stamp out Marian rebels in Sicily and Africa, after his campaigns in he gets the insulting nickname of adulescentulus carnifex, the "teenage butcher".
 * Lucius Licinius Murena launches a raid against Pontus in the Battle of Halys, starting the Second Mithridatic War.

Dacia

 * Burebista unifies the Dacian population forming the first (and biggest) unified Dacian Kingdom, on the territory of modern Romania and surroundings. 82 BC is also the starting year of his reign.

Astronomy

 * The Aurigid shower parent comet C/1911 N1 (Kiess) returns to the inner solar system and sheds the dust particles that one revolution later cause the 1935, 1986, 1994, and 2007 Aurigid meteor outbursts on Earth.

Births

 * May 28 – Licinius Macer Calvus, Roman orator and poet (d. c. 47 BC)
 * Marcus Caelius Rufus, Roman orator and politician (d. c. 48 BC)
 * Varro Atacinus, Roman poet and writer (d. c. 35 BC)
 * Vercingetorix, Gaul warrior and leader (d. 46 BC)

Deaths

 * Gaius Carrinas, Roman politician and general (executed by order of Sulla)
 * Gaius Fabius Hadrianus, Roman politician and governor
 * Gaius Marcius Censorinus, Roman politician and general (executed by order of Sulla)
 * Gaius Marius the Younger, Roman politician (commits suicide)
 * Gaius Norbanus, Roman consul and governor (commits suicide)
 * Gnaeus Papirius Carbo, Roman consul (executed by order of Sulla)
 * Marcus Marius Gratidianus, Roman praetor and politician (executed by order of Sulla)
 * Quintus Mucius Scaevola Pontifex, Roman consul (murdered by order of Marius the Younger)
 * Quintus Valerius Soranus, Roman politician and Latin poet (executed by order of Sulla)

title: 82 BC


text:
81 BC

Year 81 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Decula and Dolabella (or, less frequently, year 673 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 81 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Roman Republic

 * Sulla is appointed dictator, executes his political enemies in a series of proscriptions, and implements aristocratic reforms to the Roman government.
 * The Second Mithridatic War ends with the status quo.
 * Cicero wins his first case.

China

 * Sang Hongyang and 60 Confucian scholars debate over the state monopoly of Iron and Salt.

Deaths

 * Artaxias I (or Arshak), king of Iberia (Georgia)
 * Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, Roman politician
 * Ptolemy IX Lathyros, king of Ptolemaic Egypt

title: 81 BC


text:
80 BC

Year 80 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sulla and Metellus Pius (or, less frequently, year 674 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 80 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Roman Republic

 * Quintus Sertorius re-enters Iberia with a tiny army (2,600 men) and opens a successful campaign against the Sullan forces.
 * Battle of the Baetis River: A force of Populares exiles under Sertorius defeat the legal Roman army of Lucius Fulfidias in Hispania, starting the Sertorian War; Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius takes command on behalf of Sulla.
 * Pompeii becomes the Roman colony Colonia Cornelia Veneria Pompei when Sulla occupies the city with at least 4,000 soldier-colonizers.

Egypt

 * Ptolemy XII Auletes succeeds Ptolemy XI Alexander II to the throne of Egypt.
 * Ptolemy XI marries Berenice III, but murders his bride for unknown reasons.
 * Alexandria comes under Roman jurisdiction.

Art

 * Roman artists begin to extend the space of a room visually with painted scenes of figures on a shallow stage or with a landscape or cityscape.

Literature

 * Meleager publishes his Garland, the earliest known anthology of Greek poetry.

Births

 * Scribonia, wife to the Roman Emperor Augustus (approximate date) (d. AD 16)

Deaths

 * Berenice III, queen regnant of Egypt (b. 120 BC)
 * Caecilia Metella Dalmatica, daughter of Lucius Caecilius Metellus Dalmaticus (approximate date)
 * Lucius Cornelius Chrysogonus, Greek freedman
 * Ptolemy XI Alexander II, king (pharaoh) of Egypt
 * Sang Hongyang, Chinese politician of the Han dynasty
 * Shangguan Jie, Chinese politician of the Han dynasty
 * Princess Eyi, Han Chinese princess

title: 80 BC