Friday, March 20, 2020

First and Second Triumvirates of Rome

First and Second Triumvirates of Rome A triumvirate is a system of government wherein three people share the highest political power. The term originated in Rome during the final collapse of the republic; it literally means the rule of three men (tres  viri). The members of a triumvirate may or may not be elected and may or may not rule in accordance with existing legal norms. The First Triumvirate An alliance of  Julius Caesar,  Pompey  (Pompeius Magnus) and  Marcus Licinius Crassus  ruled Rome from 60 BCE to 54 BCE. These three men consolidated power in the waning days of Republican Rome. Although Rome had expanded far beyond central Italy, its political institutions established when Rome was just one more small city-state among others failed to keep pace. Technically, Rome was still just a city on the Tiber River, governed by a Senate; provincial governors largely ruled outside of Italy and with few exceptions, the people of the provinces lacked the same dignity and rights that Romans (i.e., people who lived in Rome) enjoyed. For a century before the First Triumvirate, the republic was rocked by slave revolts, pressure from Gallic tribes to the north, corruption in the provinces and civil wars. Powerful men more powerful than the Senate, at times occasionally exercised informal authority with the walls of Rome. Against that backdrop, Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus aligned to bring order out of chaos but the order lasted a scant six years. The three men ruled until 54 BCE. In 53, Crassus was killed and by 48, Caesar defeated Pompey at Pharsalus and ruled alone until his assassination in the Senate in 44. The Second Triumvirate The Second Triumvirate consisted of Octavian (Augustus), Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and Mark Antony. The Second Triumvirate was an official body created in 43 B.C., known as Triumviri Rei Publicae Constituendae Consulari Potestate. Consular power was assigned to the three men. Usually, there were only two elected consuls. The triumvirate, despite a five-year term limit, was renewed for a second term. The Second Triumvirate differed from the first insofar as it was a legal entity explicitly endorsed by the Senate, not a private agreement among strongmen. However, the Second suffered the same fate as the First: Internal bickering and jealousy led to its weakening and collapse. First to fall was Lepidus. After a power play against Octavian, he was stripped of all of his offices except for  Pontifex Maximus  in 36 and later banished to a remote island. Antony having lived since 40 with Cleopatra of Egypt and growing increasingly isolated from the power politics of Rome was decisively defeated in 31 at the Battle of Actium and thereafter committed suicide with Cleopatra in 30. By 27, Octavian had retitled himself  Augustus, effectively becoming the first emperor of Rome. Although Augustus paid particular care to use the language of the republic, thus maintaining a fiction of republicanism well into the first and second centuries CE, the power of the Senate and its consuls had been broken and the Roman Empire began its nearly half-millennium of influence across the Meditteranean world.

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

The Most Important Factor in SEO

The Most Important Factor in SEO The Most Important Factor in SEO The Most Important Factor in SEO By Mark Nichol If you, or the business or organization you work for, want people to visit your (or its) website, you should know the most important factor in search engine optimization. As you probably know, SEO is any set of strategies designed to improve your website’s ranking in an online search. Various sources ascribe varying values to such strategies, but most SEO experts agree that the following approaches are important: Content should be well written, relevant, engaging, and frequently updated. Title, meta description, and header tags should contain terms that accurately reflect site content. URLs, or website addresses, should be short and should contain relevant keywords. A website’s longevity, and its reputation among popular websites with related content (indicated by shared content, links to your site, and references to your site), are also beneficial factors. There are additional techniques, but these are the basics that content producers should be aware of. You should also be alert to one of the factors that causes a website to be penalized in search engine rankings: Content that lacks depth and substance and that uses keywords excessively. Most website administrators, webmasters, and content producers are aware that search engines companies are constantly refining their products to reward websites with high-quality content and penalize those that ignore these simple, self-evident principles. However, it’s surprising how often one still comes across densely keyword-laden, awkward content that is designed for search engines, not human beings, to read. This approach to SEO is akin to that of a retail establishment that temporarily offers free products or services or that stations attractive, scantily clad models at the store entrance for a particular promotion. These techniques certainly encourage customers (I know both of them get my attention), but they have nothing to do with the quality of the products or services; once the freebies and the hotties go away, will customers come back? By the same token, if you want people to return to your website, give them what they want and what they want should be what you have to offer, not distracting diversions. The quantity of content varies widely depending on what that is, but quality is constant: Website content should be clear, concise, and informative. Compare the following paragraph from the About page for Daily Writing Tips with the one after that, which reflects what I would probably write if I were unfortunate enough to be an SEO content creator rather than a writer: â€Å"Whether you are an attorney, manager, or student, writing skills are essential to your success. The rise of the information age with the proliferation of e-mails, blogs, and social networks makes the ability to write clear, correct English more important than ever.† â€Å"Daily Writing Tips knows that English-writing skills are essential to your success. Whether you are an attorney, manager, or student, you need to write English well. Read tips about how to write English better at Daily Writing Tips. At Daily Writing Tips, we will show you how to write English well, use correct English spelling and proper English punctuation, and use the right English words. Bookmark Daily Writing Tips now for the best English-writing tips.† One paragraph tells you what you need to know. The other makes you want to scream. It isn’t content. It’s data. It is designed to be read by a machine. Design your content to be read by people. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Freelance Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Whimsical WordsBest Websites to Learn EnglishA Yes-and-No Answer About Hyphenating Phrases