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¤ ARETAS IV (late 1st century B.C.) King of Nabataean Arabia and ruler of Arabia Petra, who as
viceroy of Arabia faced serious Roman invasions during the reign of Augustus and was very nearly
executed by the emperor in 9 B.C. Aretas assumed the position of viceroy for the Nabataean king,
Obodas, sometime before 24 B.C. During this period the country was unsuccessfully invaded by Aelius
Callus, but forever after the Romans possessed considerable influence at Petra, the capital. In 9 B.C.,
Obodas died and Aretas took his place on the throne without first seeking permission from Augustus. He
was finally allowed to rule, but only on the condition that Rome henceforth be consulted in all such
matters of state in the land.
¤ ARGENTORATUM (Strasbourg) Site of a major battle fought in 357 A.D. between Emperor Julian the
Apostate and the Alamanni, near the confluence of the Rhine and 111 rivers and the modern city of
Strasbourg. While Julian was campaigning along the Rhine frontier, the large tribe of the Alamanni
launched an attack across the Rhine to Gaul. Julian, though pressed to find enough troops to counter the
invasion, marched immediately. He and his 13,000 men collided with the Alamanni and a bitter struggle
ensued. Using their vast superior numbers, the barbarians tried to overwhelm the Romans, but with their
usual discipline the legionaries slowly gained the upper hand and then victory. With thousands of dead
littering the field, the Alamanni retreated back to Germany's wild lands. For Julian the triumph was
important, both as a military and as a political achievement.
¤ ARGENTUS
A Roman silver coin. As part of the reform of the COINAGE, Diocletian in 296 A.D.
issued a new silver coin, designed to restore the status of the denarius. This new currency resembled the
denarius but came to be known as the argentus. Its popularity was such that it replaced the antonianus and
was minted well into the reign of Julian II.
¤ ARIANISM The most important heretical doctrine faced by the early Christian Church. Arianism
lasted well into the 6th century, despite the most ruthless and ardent attempts to bring it to an end. The
entire movement found substance and reality through the work of an Alexandrian priest named Arius and
was subsequently heralded and defended by much of the Christian episcopacy in the Eastern Church for
most of the 4th century A.D.
The theologian ORIGEN, with his philosophical examination of the nature of Christ, greatly influenced
Arius, whose own theories differed ultimately from Origen with respect to the transcendant nature of the
godhead. In essence, Arius
believed that the only true, unique godhead was the Father, from Whom all
creatures were created.
The emphasis rested on "all creatures," which included Jesus Christ. The Son was a creation, like the
Father but secondary to Him. Superior to all other creatures and transcended though He was, Christ was
not eternal with respect to the Father's eternal nature. Christ was the fulcrum of the divine plan God had for
all things.
Such thinking was scrutinized, accepted by some in principle and denounced by others. But the
controversy that ensued included the religio-political nature of the church and the Roman state itself and
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