#Arch of Hadrian

[thisisstillme]

Hills, History and Hidden Beauty - 2 Nights in Athens

I am back from 2 glorious weeks in Greece with the husband. Despite not being my first holiday, this is the first time I truly feel like I have had some proper downtime. We saw the sights, ate delicious food and spent some much-needed time together just relaxing. I still spent time writing and I found that having a clear headspace allowed for lots of inspiration, so over the next few weeks,…

[castrahiberna]

[secular-jew]

Jews are indigenous to Israel. Period.

Today is a good day to remind the Islamists and their supporters that Jews are from Judea (Israel) and the Islamists are the invaders and occupiers, not the other way around.

In 70 CE, Romans destroyed the Jewish temple and attempted to banish the Jews from Jerusalem. Simply because the Jews would not go silently into the night, dared fight back, and attempted to thwart the most technologically advanced army the world knew at that time.

We Jews commemorate this Roman invasion and colonization, by observing the Tisha B'Av annual fast.

This proof of Jewish indigeneity is literally carved in archaeological artifacts and in this case, carved in stone, depicted the Frieze on the Arch of Titus in Rome. This arch depicts Roman soldiers carrying the relics and loot, stolen from the Jewish temple. Look at the Menorah. Jews still use the same candlesticks and symbols.

So what is "Palestine"? Roman Emperor Hadrian renamed the land (Judea) to "Palestine", to attempt erasure of any connection with the Jews.

Muslim identity and religion was created more than 500 years later (in 600 CE). And Muslims started calling themselves "Palestinians" only much much later.

There is absolutely no way to twist history so that Palestinians appear before Jews. But it doesn't stop some people from trying...

Does indigeneity matter? Do Native Americans deserve their own land, or that might makes right, and European colonizers should be allowed to displace them? Native Americans have 56.2 million acres of land, governed by Native American Tribal nations that own them. This colored to about 4.8 million acres of land administered by Israel.

If you do not believe that indigeneity matters, if you believe who co where'd last is what counts, then guess what? We still arrive at the same place.

[blueiscoool]

Rome’s Ancient Arch of Constantine Struck by Lightening

During a storm on September 3, lightning struck Rome’s Arch of Constantine, chipping the structure’s marble surface. The 1,700-year-old arch and its neighbor, the Colosseum, were two of several sites affected by the thunderstorm, which produced 2.36 inches of rain in less than an hour. Usually, the city sees a similar amount over the entire month of September.

“A lightning strike hit the arch right here and then hit the corner,” a tourist at the site told Reuters’ Alberto Lingria. “We saw this fly off,” the tourist added while pointing to a fallen block of stone.

Finished in 315 C.E., the Arch of Constantine is one of Rome’s three surviving ancient triumphal arches, each erected to honor a person or event. This arch commemorates Constantine I’s 312 victory over the emperor Maxentius. That same year, Constantine devoted himself to Christianity—the first Roman ruler to do so.

The fierce storm also felled two large trees near the Circus Maximus, flooded the Trevi Fountain and flooded the Colosseum’s subterranean tunnels, reports CNN. After lightning struck the arch, staff of the Colosseum Archaeological Park quickly gathered its dislodged pieces and placed them in a secure location, according to a statement from Italy’s Ministry of Culture.

In the days that followed, some tourists stumbled upon additional pieces on the ground.

​​“My American group found these fragments, and we’re handing them over to the workmen,” tour guide Serena Giuliani told the London Times’ Tom Kington on the morning of September 4.

Specialists are now examining the condition of the fragments. Officials say the damage was limited to the monument’s southern side, where unrelated restoration work had started just days earlier, allowing for quick repairs.

At roughly 70 feet tall and 85 feet wide, the Arch of Constantine contains three separate arches, each framed by columns. The intricately decorated structure is adorned with recycled fragments, or spolia, taken from other ancient buildings, including monuments honoring Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius.

The arch is also decorated with carvings of Constantine, including a series of reliefs depicting his victorious fight against Maxentius in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge.

In 306, Constantine was leading Roman troops in Britain—then part of the Roman Empire—when his military declared him their emperor. His brother-in-law, Maxentius, also declared himself the emperor around the same time. After years of complex power struggles, the two rulers ultimately faced off in 312 at Rome’s Milvian Bridge, which overlooks the river Tiber. Panels on the Arch of Constantine depict the battle’s conclusion, showing Maxentius’ troops drowning in the river.

The arch’s recent encounter with lightning may have carried spiritual significance for its ancient builders, as “the bolts were believed to be the work of the gods,” per the Times. These spots were sacred for the Romans, who sometimes erected temples at such sites.

By Sonja Anderson.

[catilinas]

athens, october 2022 • kerameikos / arch of hadrian / there’s ghosts

[m1male2]

Hadrian's Gate, Altaya, also called "The Three Gates" is a triumphal arch built in the name of Hadrian, the traveling emperor, who visited Antalya in 130 AD.

[anathemafiction]

Fiz bandeira de um velho ditado

Alessa stares out into a deep, red sunset. Clouds shred the skies in strokes of gold, and a band of pigeons flies overhead, the sound of their wings flapping like the whispers of forbidden gods. 

She can hear the murmur of a dozen voices behind her, muffled by the walls of the brightly-lit inn but no less boisterous. 

Ahead, there's a view fit for a painting. Alessa inhales the fresh air, blue eyes watching the last light of a dying day. She is used to being cold, but Alessa finds herself shivering at the approaching night. 'Tis a beautiful view. 

And she has none to share it with.

Melhor só que mal acompanhado

One hand grips a patched satchel.

The other holds the only possession Harian could take with him. His black sword. He's panting, sweat drips from his forehead, and the blood pounding against his eardrums yells at him to keep going. But when Hadrian reaches the apex of the hill, he comes to a stunned stop. 

The land opens before him. 

Behind, too close, so far away, are the high walls of his Order. Hadrian almost looks back; he almost goes back. Instead, he makes his legs take another step. And then another. And one other after that. For the first time in his life, Hadrian walks alone.

 Nem pensava em apoiar, Os pés no chão

She crawls out from the ashes, lungs burning, eyes watering, throat like the hottest pit of hell. Her skin is red agony, her muscles shredded, her tendons torn, her heart beating out of pure spite. 

Neia, the former Dawnseeker, takes a deep, ragged, pain-filled breath. And then, she screams. 

A dark cloud of crows scatters away from her.

A specter rises to her feet, scorched, blood too dry to bleed, yelling still. When Neia has no more air left in the pitiful excuse for her lungs, she looks at her grave — the charred remains of a holy pyre. There is no one else. 

She's reborn alone.

Olho em volta, Agora estou sozinho

The ocean is a flat, moving plain, stretching to impossible horizons. 

A dozen, two scores, half a hundred vessels surround him like a curved wall. The Pirate stands at the bow of his ship, the figurehead braving the waters, nine fingers holding the damp-wooden railing. Lights shine from a hundred different windows, replicating the cold glow of the millions of stars above.

The ocean breeze is calm. He inhales the salt-filled air. 

His armada. 

The Pirate smiles, but his dark eyes do not glint. His armada, and his alone.

Não liguei às placas do caminho

On the top floor of a high, impossible tower, two windows sit on opposite ends. One faces south, the other north. There is no corridor connecting the two, no hidden passage, no hall or arched hallway. The rooms are sealed in the impregnable way only dreamed rooms can ever be. 

In the room facing north sits a young, brown-eyed girl with curls for hair and a beautiful golden gown for clothes. Ysbaella sits with her skirts spread around her and stares out her window, watching the world below move and go on and on and on. 

In the south-facing room, a young boy twirls a broken quill between too-short fingers. He sits by the window, but he doesn't look outside. He stares instead at an empty journal. Alain can't find any ink to write. 

The twins wait for dawn, for the dream to be over. Each of them alone.

Nem parei p'ra perguntar a direção

The door closes with a thud that spells finality.

Rafael slumps on his chair. His body is a distant thing now, beyond the grip of pain. Exhaustion closes in, and Rafael wants to heed its siren call, for it would be so easy. Close your eyes. Close his eyes and let go. Let go...

Distantly, he feels an ache on his side. It's not pain; he can't feel pain right now. Rafael looks down and sees the red expanding on his wraps. Blood. He was stabbed. His eyelids half-close. It would be so easy...

But Rafael twists his lips in a hateful sneer and clings to consciousness. Clings to life. To hell with them all. He's lived so far; he can cling on a little more. 

The would-be thief looks around the room — his cell. Dark and cold.

And completely deserted. 

Olá, Solidão

You raise your chin and face the mirror. 

Candlelight glows from behind, casting your silhouette in warm golden lines. Shadows play with your chin and jaw, your forehead, and the ridge of your nose. Your hair is wet, clinging to your neck, and your mouth is but a faint streak in the gloom. 

The whites of your eyes glint with the scarce glow as if they hold a light of their own. 

You stare at the mirror, but it's not your face you see. 

It is hers. 

Olá, Solidão

The bard puts the lyre aside, the last remnants of the song echoing like ghosts in the air. 

Lance unfolds his legs and rolls his shoulders, getting rid of the soreness of his muscles. His left hand is cramping, but he pays it little mind. The pain pales in comparison to the one pulsing from his back. 

He is proud of this song, but there is no applause. 

Lance looks around the small, narrow room with a sad smile. It is empty, of course. He plays for an audience of one: himself. 

- - - 

Song: Olã, Solidão by Os Quatro e Meia

[thesilicontribesman]

Hadrian, son of Trajan

Gilded bronze letters from the gate of the emperor Hadrian at Antalya, south-west Turkey. Roman, 130 CE.

The gate, designed to look like a triumphal arch and still standing in the modern city, was built to mark the visit of the much-travelled emperor Hadrian (ruled 117-138 CE). The letters spell 'Traiano' in Greek, the language of the eastern Roman empire. This was part of Hadrian's name, marking him out as the adopted son and heir of the preceding emperor Trajan.

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

[tootditoot]

You know for someone who's interested in classical architecture, I never really bothered to learn how to draw it huh

I do know how to build it in Minecraft at least so that's a plus. Based off Hadrian's arch btw

[yourlocalegotisticalqueerishere]

pls elaborate on athens!

Omg it was so cool!!!!

We went for a sightseeing holiday, because I'm an ancient Greece nerd, so I'm going to just dump about the sights and then move on to other things

I'm going to try and use a cut here for the rest of the post, idk if it's going to work though

So, we went up the acropolis, saw the Parthenon (HUGE, very cool) (I did get confused at the acropolis entrance because it looks like a big temple), the temple of Athena Nike (cool), the Erechtheion (awesome), the place where the first olive tree was (I infodumped a lot this holiday), and we saw the Odeon of Herodes Atticus (thought it was the theatre of Dionysos). We also saw the Theatre of Dionysos from a distance which was cool. On the same day we saw the Temple of Olympian Zeus (bugger than I thought) and Hadrian's Arch, and the Acropolis museum which was really cool (we saw the Caryatids and talked a lot of shit about Lord Elgin). We saw the Roman Agora and Hadrian's Library on the next day, and the day after was the National Archeological Museum and the Benaki Museum. And the next day was the Panathenaic Stadium (stairs to get up to the top were. Scary) and the museum that was there (lots of Olympic torches and posters, plus the mascots from the 2012 games. I was like "hey I know those guys"). And on the last day we saw the Ancient Agora (insanely huge, birthplace of democracy)

Other things that happened: I fell asleep sitting up on the plane there (slept through the worst plane landing of my mum's life somehow). And then standing up on the Metro as well? There are also a lot of stray cats in Greece, but it's less like they're strays and more like they live outside? People feed them and they just wander around, it's really cool.

Also, everything was way closer together than we thought based on the map we had lmao, so on the first day we were like "why is the Parthenon right there, I thought it was ages away"

Iced coffee in Greece? Brilliant, would recommend.

Also I think in Greece they're cool giving teens alcohol if they're with an adult, because a waiter literally told me that on our last day when I asked for a glass of wine, and his eyes bugged out when my mum said I was 20, because he thought I was 16. As I told him, "this happens all the time"

Anyway, Greek food is really good, but I swear I eat less when it's hot, which is very annoying because why can I not eat half a salad and then a whole plate of souvlaki and rice? Why must I be punished in this way?

Also I had an ice cream accident, by which I mean I got two humongous scoops of ice cream and they were okay flavours and then they melted loads and my hands were sticky all the way back to where we were staying.

Also! Hot as FUCK. SO HOT. Flames on the side of my face hot

My recommendation for Athens: do it, but bring SPF 50, white flowy clothes, a hat and sunglasses. Also a hand fan. And don't go places when it's hot in the day, you will regret it. Also plan where your going beforehand and buy your tickets to go places so you have a plan. Also if you are afraid of heights do not go up the Panathenaic Stadium. It is scary.

Also I spent most of the plane back reading Glee fanfiction (specifically "mr schuester belongs in federal prison" because I had the whole work loaded) and then on the drive home from the airport I slept a lot and then woke up to Me Against the Music (GCV) , because I'd put it on the playlist. And then when the next song played I started saying delusional shit because it was like 5am Athens time and I'd had half an hour of sleep

[castrahiberna]

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Mais: We have to make war to prove that we are stronger than the Jews.

Student: People love Palestine and they are ready to die for Palestine. I want to fight against them [the Jews] and defeat them in war.

Atif: At school, they teach us that Al-Aqsa, and all of Palestine is ours.

Abed: The Jews lie and say that their temple is under the Al-Aqsa Mosque. It was never there.

Yousef: I hate the Jews.

Nur: They teach us that the Zionists are our enemy, and must fight them.

Samir: They teach us that Jews are terrorists.

Mohammed: At school they teach us about Jews. They teach us that they are bad people. They killed our young.

Arafat: They teach us in school that Jews are fickle, bad people. I am ready to stab a Jew, and drive [a car] over them.

Amin: I will fight. I will ram a car into them [the Jews].

Mohammed: We have to constantly stab them, drive over them and shoot them [the Jews].

Student: Stabbing and running over Jews brings dignity to the Palestinians. I'm going to run them over and stab them with knives.

Mohammed: Right now, I'm prepared to be a suicide bomber.

Nur: With Allah's help, I will fight for ISIS, the Islamic State.

--

Not being an Arabic speaker, I've run the audio through Google Translate to verify the translation. Although the sound makes it difficult to get a full translation, the translation engine reproduced many of the key fragments and words indicated in the subtitles.

--

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Aqsa_Mosque

The mosque is located on the southern part of the Temple Mount or Haram al-Sharif, an enclosure expanded by King Herod the Great beginning in 20 BCE during his reconstruction of the Second Jewish Temple. The mosque resides on an artificial platform that is supported by arches constructed by Herod's engineers to overcome the difficult topographic conditions resulting from the southward expansion of the enclosure into the Tyropoeon and Kidron valleys. During the late Second Temple period, the present site of the mosque was occupied by the Royal Stoa, a basilica running the southern wall of the enclosure. The Royal Stoa was destroyed along with the Temple during the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Temple

The Temple was on the site of what today is the Dome of the Rock. The gates led out close to Al-Aqsa Mosque (which came much later). Although Jews continued to inhabit the destroyed city, Emperor Hadrian established a new city called Aelia Capitolina. At the end of the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE, many of the Jewish communities were massacred and Jews were banned from living inside Jerusalem. A pagan Roman temple was set up on the former site of Herod's Temple.

--

They're living in a terrorist training camp. If this is shocking to you, I really don't know why it should be.

https://quranx.com/5.82

You will surely find the most intense of the people in animosity toward the believers [to be] the Jews and those who associate others with Allah; and you will find the nearest of them in affection to the believers those who say, "We are Christians." That is because among them are priests and monks and because they are not arrogant.

https://quranx.com/5.64

And the Jews say, "The hand of Allah is chained." Chained are their hands, and cursed are they for what they say. Rather, both His hands are extended; He spends however He wills. And that which has been revealed to you from your Lord will surely increase many of them in transgression and disbelief. And We have cast among them animosity and hatred until the Day of Resurrection. Every time they kindled the fire of war [against you], Allah extinguished it. And they strive throughout the land [causing] corruption, and Allah does not like corrupters.

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/USC-MSA/Volume-1/Book-8/Hadith-427/

Narrated `Aisha and `Abdullah bin `Abbas: When the last moment of the life of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) came he started putting his 'Khamisa' on his face and when he felt hot and short of breath he took it off his face and said, "May Allah curse the Jews and Christians for they built the places of worship at the graves of their Prophets." The Prophet (ﷺ) was warning (Muslims) of what those had done.

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/USC-MSA/Volume-4/Book-52/Hadith-177

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. "O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him."

--

"Israel is only the first target. The entire planet will be under our law." "The entire planet will be under our law; there will be no more Jews or Christian traitors." -- Mahmoud al-Zahar, Hamas Commander

[blueiscoool]

Roman Necropolis and Aqueduct Found in Belgrade, Serbia

Archaeologists have unearthed several Roman tombs and the remains of an aqueduct in the center of Belgrade, the Serbian capital.

The finds date to the period when the city was a settlement, known as Singidunum, within the Roman Empire.

"So far, we have discovered 14 Roman tombs from the third and fourth centuries," Milorad Ignjatović, an archaeologist at the Belgrade City Museum, told the Serbian website Sve o arheologiji ("All about archaeology").

The site has different styles of Roman tombs. "Two of the tombs have rectangular bases with arched vaults walled with bricks, while two others are made from bricks stacked in the form of a coffin," he said in comments translated from Serbian. "We have also discovered four stone sarcophagi, which were considered the most luxurious way to be buried in Roman times."

The excavations in the center of Belgrade have been going on since March, ahead of the construction of an underground parking garage.

The finds weren't a complete surprise; Roman tombs were unearthed nearby 40 years ago.

The latest excavations first turned up ruins of the bombings by Allied forces at the end of World War II, when the Nazi Germans had invaded and occupied what was then Yugoslavia, as well as the remains of an Ottoman Turkish settlement at the site from the 17th and 18th centuries.

But the Roman-era tombs started appearing in the excavations just a few weeks ago. "All our expectations came true," Ignjatović said.

Roman Singidunum

According to the city government of Belgrade, Singidunum was established at the site of an earlier Celtic town in the first century after the Roman defeat of hostile tribes in the area.

It then became one of the main settlements of the Roman province of Moesia, a frontier region south of the Danube River. Soldiers from at least two Roman legions were garrisoned there to protect it and the nearby lands from "barbarian" invasions by Dacians, Dardanians, Scordisci and other hostile tribes.

The emperor Hadrian, who ruled from A.D. 117 to 138, granted Singidunum city status and made its inhabitants Roman citizens, and the emperor Jovian, who ruled from 363 to 364, was born there in 331.

Singidunum then became a center for Roman Christianity in the region, and for a time it was part of the Eastern Roman Empire (also known as the Byzantine Empire). But it fell in 441 to an invasion of the Huns, who burned it to the ground and enslaved its inhabitants.

While archaeologists at the site suspected they would find tombs, they were not expecting the remains of a Roman aqueduct.

By Tom Metcalfe.

[oceancentury]

Scene from the Arch of Titus, Rome built 81 AD, depicting Roman soldiers removing Jewish artefacts after plundering the temple of Jerusalem following one of three Jewish rebellions against the Romans. The third and final rebellion took place in 132–136 AD and resulted in the Roman administrative region of Judaea being renamed Syria Palaestina. Most scholars believe the Roman Emperor Hadrian changed the name of Judaea to Palestine to erase the Jewish presence in the land.

[salantami]

Ponte Sant'Angelo

Rome

The eighth angel, officially entrusted to Giulio Cartari

In 1669, Pope Clement IX commissioned Bernini to replace the aging stucco angels on the bridge.

Ponte Sant'Angelo, originally the Aelian Bridge or Pons Aelius, is a Roman bridge in Rome, Italy, completed in 134 AD by Roman Emperor Hadrian (Publius Aelius Hadrianus), to span the Tiber from the city centre to his newly constructed mausoleum, now the towering Castel Sant'Angelo. The bridge is faced with travertine marble and spans the Tiber with five arches, three of which are Roman; it was approached by means of a ramp from the river. The bridge is now solely pedestrian and provides a scenic view of Castel Sant'Angelo

Rome

Photo credit :

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ROMEGREATBEAUTY (@romegreatbeauty)

[goexploregreece]

Athens Walking Tour: We begin at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens and end at the Arch of Hadrian. In between, we meander through the Plaka neighbourhood and Monastiraki Square and see Ancient Sites, including the Tower of the Winds. So, go look for your best toga, tie up your sandals, and let's GoExploreGreece.