The term Last of the Romans (Latin: Ultimus Romanorum) has historically been used to describe a person thought to embody the values of ancient Roman civilization – values which, by implication, became extinct on his death. It has been used to describe a number of individuals. The first recorded instance was Julius Caesar's description of Marcus Junius Brutus as the one with whom the old Roman spirit would become extinct.

Valens, 66th Roman emperor
Justinian the Great, Byzantine Emperor
Pope Gregory I, saint and pope

List of people described as the "Last of the Romans"

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In ancient and early medieval Mediterranean

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In medieval Spain

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  • Saint Eulogius of Córdoba (800–859), is known as the Last Hispano-Roman. His family was of the senatorial class and held land in Córdoba (Corduba) from Roman times.

In England

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In the United States

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In the United States, "last of the Romans" was used on numerous occasions during the early 19th century as an epithet for the political leaders and statesmen who participated in the American Revolution by signing the United States Declaration of Independence, taking part in the American Revolutionary War, or established the United States Constitution.[20]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Valentinian I: The last of the triumphant Roman emperors in the west". 31 October 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  2. ^ Grant, Madison (2013). Conquest of a Continent. Paris: Wermod and Wermod Publishing Group. p. 46. ISBN 9781909606012.
  3. ^ a b c Brewer, E. Cobham (1898). Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.
  4. ^ Ang, Daniel (22 June 2016). "Gibbon, Part 4: Theodosius and the Last Roman General". Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  5. ^ Sivan, Hagith (2011). Galla Placidia: The Last Roman Empress. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195379136.
  6. ^ de Vries, Janus. The Last Romans: Emperor Majorian and the Fall of Rome (BA thesis). University College Tilburg.
  7. ^ "Britannia EBK Articles: Generations of Ambrosius Part 1". Britannia.com. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  8. ^ Murdoch, Adrian (2006). The Last Roman: Romulus Augustulus and the Decline of the West.
  9. ^ "Boethius and the Middle Ages". Hottopos.com. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  10. ^ Kerlouégan, François (1987). Le De Excidio Britanniae de Gildas. Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne. p. 579.
  11. ^ Wickham, Chris (2009). The Inheritance of Rome. Penguin Books. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-670-02098-0.
  12. ^ Otto, Nadine (2 January 2018). ""Book of the Month" January 2018". Tredition.com. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  13. ^ Hughes, Ian (2009). Belisarius: The Last Roman General. South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 9781844158331.
  14. ^ "The Last of the Romans: Cassiodorus between Rome, Ravenna and Constantinople - Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies". Cems.ceu.edu. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  15. ^ "Message for the 14th centenary of the death of Pope St Gregory the Great". The Vatican. 22 October 2003.
  16. ^ Mathisen, Ralph W. (2013). Desiderius of Cahors: Last of the Romans (part of "Gallien in Spätantike und Frühmittelalter" conference proceedings). De Gruyter. p. 455. ISBN 978-3110260779.
  17. ^ Spence, Joseph (1820). Anecdotes, Observations, and Characters, of Books and Men: Collected from the Conversation of Mr. Pope and Other Eminent Persons of His Time. W.H. Carpenter. ISBN 978-0-598-90357-0.
  18. ^ Carlyle, Thomas (1840). On Heroes, Hero-worship, and the Heroic in History.
  19. ^ Blake, Robert (2013). The Decline of Power, 1915-1964. Faber Finds. p. 132. ISBN 9780571296262.
  20. ^ Elizabeth Fox-Genovese; Eugene D. Genovese (2005). The Mind of the Master Class: History and Faith in the Southern Slaveholders' Worldview. Cambridge University Press. p. 278. ISBN 9780521850650.