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Category Archives: Roman history
Hair Apparent
I was turning for comfort and relief to Seneca, as I often do, when he turned around and stabbed me in the eyeball with this triple-forked slam. He’s writing about his contemporaries who have screwed-up priorities. His contemporaries, but maybe … Continue reading
Posted in politics, Roman history, Rome
Tagged EverythingIsBetterWithLatin!™, Seneca
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Actaeons Have Consequences
“διὰ τί, πολλῶν ὄντων ἐν Ῥώμῃ ναῶν Ἀρτέμιδος, εἰς μόνον τὸν ἐν τῷ καλουμένῳ Πατρικίῳ στενωπῷ ἄνδρες οὐκ εἰσίασιν;” ἢ διὰ τὸν λεγόμενον μῦθον; γυναῖκα γὰρ αὐτόθι τὴν θεὸν σεβομένην βιαζόμενός τις ὑπὸ τῶν κυνῶν διεσπάσθη, καὶ ἀπὸ τούτου δεισιδαιμονίας … Continue reading
Posted in Adventures in the Public Domain, ancient art, art, fantasy, fantasy art, history, Myth & Legend, Roman history, Rome
Tagged FAFO, Ovid
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Eldritch Lore of Lightning, Stars, and Magic
On Facebook, Michael Swanwick mentioned a historical (or maybe apocryphal) episode when the Pope invited Etruscan seers to use lightning magic to defend Rome against Alaric and his Ostrogoths. It’s a pretty good story, whether or not it’s actually history. … Continue reading
Posted in academia, Adventures in the Public Domain, astronomy, books, fantasy, history, language, magic, Myth & Legend, Roman history, Rome, science, sff, social media, sword-and-sorcery
Tagged folklore, Greek, Latin
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Vintage Archaeology
Emlyn Dodd has a nice piece up today at The Conversation about a newly excavated winery from the later Roman Empire. The property originally belonged to the Quintilii brothers, and then became part of the emperor’s holdings after Commodus had … Continue reading
Posted in ancient art, history, Roman history, Rome
Tagged Edward Gibbon, wine
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Truth or DARVO?
I was reading a harrowing story (at Vox.com) about the Vallow-Daybell murders which mentioned the concept of DARVO. It wasn’t brand-new to me, but I had sort of forgotten about it, even though the thing itself is as common as … Continue reading
Posted in language, politics, Roman history
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Delusions of Grandeur
divinam ex eo maiestatem asserere sibi coepit; datoque negotio, ut simulacra numinum religione et arte praeclara, inter quae Olympii Iovis, apportarentur e Graecia, quibus capite dempto suum imponeret. —Suetonius, CALIGULA 22 “From that time he began to claim godhood for … Continue reading
Hey, Kids! Let’s talk about BLOOD LIBEL!
Blood libel has been in the news lately because of its unfortunate use by Sarah Palin, apostle to the Mama Grizzlies. The unexpected benefit from this has been an outburst of history in news outlets that don’t normally contemplate the … Continue reading