EverythingLatin
Read at every wait; read at all hours; read within leisure; read in times of labour; read as one goes in; read as one goest out. The task of the educated mind is simply put: read to lead - Cicero 106 BC - 43 BC
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AI reads ancient scroll burned by Vesuvius
US Military photograph of the 1944 eruption This article was written by Ian Sample the Science Editor, published in the Guardian newspaper on Thursday 12 Oct 2023 The University of Kentucky challenged computer scientists to reveal contents of carbonised papyrus, a ‘potential treasure trove for historians’. When the blast from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius…
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Castor and Pollux: The Legendary Twin Horsemen of Rome
Black-figure amphora depicting the Dioscuri on horseback. Dating to circa 500 BC, held in the British Museum In the southern sky during wintertime, near the constellations of Orion and Taurus there are two bright stars. Known in Greek mythology as the Dioscuri, (Dioscuri from the Greek Dioskouroi, meaning “Sons of Zeus”), they were twin supernatural beings who helped save shipwrecked sailors, usually by appearing…
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Hannibal Barca: Enemy of Rome
Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps exhibited 1812 Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775-1851. Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856 The Roman Republic, and subsequently Empire, dominated almost all of the known world from 753 BC to 1453 AD. Throughout that period Rome’s power was always present and…
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Ancient Tablet with Homer’s Odyssey: 3rd Century AD Discovery
The clay slab believed to date from 3rd century AD, that was recently discovered near the ancient Greek city of Olympia, is believed to be the earliest record of Homer’s incredible tale of the aftermath of the Trojan War, reported the AFP in Athens, in July 2018. Archaeologists have unearthed an ancient clay tablet engraved…
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The Odyssey by Homer – the first step
The following is an article written by Charlotte Higgins, the Chief Arts Writer of the Guardian newspaper, and was originally published in July 2015. She is the author of several books including Under Another Sky; Journey’s in Roman Britain ‘The sea that separates Odysseus from home was the lifeblood of ancient Greece. Homer’s story of…
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Tyrian Purple: History, Myth, and Royal Power
Perhaps no other colour in history has been so celebrated as purple, and Tyrian purple was one of the costliest, and therefore most sought after, of colours to produce in ancient times. From emporers to cardinals, senators to magistrates, royalty to priests, many coveted this mysterious colour as a way of marking them out as…
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Teach Me how to Live
The reason why we have two ears and only one mouth is that we may listen the more and talk the less – Zeno of Citium, founder of the Stoic school of philosophy, in which he taught in Athens from circa 300 BC. It was the year 155 BC that philosophy arrived in Rome, when…
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Romulus and Remus: Myth and Reality of the Lupercalia Festival
In the Capitoline Museum in Rome, there is a room known as the Chamber of the She – Wolf, a small but elaborately designed room of marble walls and mosaic floors. In the centre is a bronze statue of a wolf suckling two human infants, an image that the Romans, ancient and modern revere as…
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Ultimate Power: History and Influence of the Roman Senate
If you must break the law, do it to seize power: in all other cases observe it. Gaius Iulius Caesar 100BC – 44BC The Roman Senate was one of the most incredible and enduring institutions of antiquity. According to the Roman historian Livy (59 BC – 17 AD), it was created not long after the founding…
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Cicero – A New Man
‘If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need‘ – Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106 – 43 BC After building a career as a skillful barrister in the law courts, and putting down the Cataline insurrection, Cicero had not only become a shrewd politican, but one of the best orators and…
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