Tag: Ancient Rome
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Ovid: The Art of Love (Ars Amatoria) Book II Part III: Be Gentle and Good Tempered
Publius Ovidius Naso 43 BC – c. 17 AD Gentleness especially impresses minds favourably: harshness creates hatred and fierce wars. We hate the hawk that lives its life in battle, and the wolf whose custom is to raid the timid flocks. But the swallow, for its gentleness, is free from human snares, and Chaonian doves…
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Salmacis and Hermaphroditus
Paolo de Matteis, 9 February 1662 – 26 January 1728, Italian painter. Praise for Tales from Ovid: ‘A breathtaking book…To compare his versions with the Latin is to be awestruck again and again by the range and ingenuity of his poetic intelligence…He rescues the old gods and goddesses from the classical dictionaries and gives them…
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Ovid: The Art of Love (Ars Amatoria) Book II Part II: You Need Gifts of Mind
Publius Ovidius Naso 43 BC – c. 17 AD Minos could not hold back those mortal wings: I’m setting out to check the winged god himself. He who has recourse to Thracian magic, fails, to what the foal yields, torn from its new-born brow, Medea’s herbs can’t keep love alive, nor Marsian dirges mingled with magic chants.…
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Roman Roads: The network was twice as large as previously thought
The new digital map increases the Roman road network by nearly 100%. This article was published in Live Science on November 6th, 2025 and was written by Kristina Killgrove An international research team has created a new map of the Roman Empire — and it expands the ancient road network by more than 60,000 miles (100,000 kilometers).…
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Ovid: The Art of Love (Ars Amatoria) Book II Part I: His Task
Publius Ovidius Naso 43 BC – c. 17 AD Sing out the Paean: sing out the Paean twice! The prize I searched for falls into my net. Delighted lovers grant my songs the palm, I’m preferred to Hesiod and old Homer. So Paris the stranger sailed, from hostile Amyclae’s shore, under white sheets, with his…
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The Laurel Wreath
To the Romans, like the ancient Greeks before them, the laurel was sacred. The Greeks believed the laurel groves were the sacred dwelling places of the gods and nymphs. The Romans adopted the laurel wreath, and it became a symbol of military victory, worn by generals leading their troops in a triumph, on their arrival back…
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‘Extraordinary’ Roman helmet from ancient sea battle found in Mediterranean
Helmet was likely lost during battle of Aegades of 241 BC, researchers say Published on Tuesday 09 September 2025 in The Independent Written by Vishwam Sankaran Marine archaeologists have uncovered a rare Roman-era helmet from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea that was lost during an ancient naval battle in 241 BC. The military helmet, in an “extraordinary state of…
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Ovid: The Art of Love (Ars Amatoria) Book I Part XVII: Tears, Kisses, and Take the Lead
lustration by Frederico Righi Publius Ovidius Naso 43 BC – c. 17 AD And tears help: tears will move a stone: let her see your damp cheeks if you can. If tears (they don’t always come at the right time) fail you, touch your eyes with a wet hand. What wise man doesn’t mingle tears…
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Ovid: The Art of Love (Ars Amatoria) Book I Part XVI: Promise and Deceive
lustration by Frederico Righi Publius Ovidius Naso 43 BC – c. 17 AD Don’t be shy of promising: promises entice girls: add any gods you like as witness to what you swear. Jupiter on high laughs at lovers’ perjuries, and orders Aeolus’s winds to carry them into the void. Jupiter used to swear by the…
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Sarn Helen: The Remarkable Roman Road in Wales
It is one of the most well-preserved Roman roads in the UK, where it runs the entire length of a country from coast to coast, much of it still visible and even walkable. By Steffan Rhys : June 8th 2025 One of Britain’s best-kept secrets lies beneath our feet, a living piece of history that even…
