#Fidenas

[jamieroxxartist]

Today, July 8 our Fun Friends in #AncientRome would have been getting down as they celebrated (one of) their annual #thanksgivings called the #Vitulatio!

*Macrobius says that it marked a Roman retreat from the Etruscans at Fidenae during the Gallic invasion and that the Vitulatio commemorated their comeback victory

( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitulatio )

[raisin-gran]

Bouh! I've just swallowed a bad oyster. Now hypochondria is taking possession of me again. The oysters are spoiled, the servants are ugly. I hate the human race. I just passed through the Rue Richelieu, in front of the big public library. That pile of oyster-shells which is called a library is disgusting even to think of. What paper! What ink! What scrawling! And all that has been written! What rascal was it who said that man was a featherless biped?[51] And then, I met a pretty girl of my acquaintance, who is as beautiful as the spring, worthy to be called Floreal, and who is delighted, enraptured, as happy as the angels, because a wretch yesterday, a frightful banker all spotted with small-pox, deigned to take a fancy to her! Alas! woman keeps on the watch for a protector as much as for a lover; cats chase mice as well as birds. Two months ago that young woman was virtuous in an attic, she adjusted little brass rings in the eyelet-holes of corsets, what do you call it? She sewed, she had a camp bed, she dwelt beside a pot of flowers, she was contented. Now here she is a bankeress. This transformation took place last night. I met the victim this morning in high spirits. The hideous point about it is, that the jade is as pretty to-day as she was yesterday. Her financier did not show in her face. Roses have this advantage or disadvantage over women, that the traces left upon them by caterpillars are visible. Ah! there is no morality on earth. I call to witness the myrtle, the symbol of love, the laurel, the symbol of air, the olive, that ninny, the symbol of peace, the apple-tree which came nearest rangling Adam with its pips, and the fig-tree, the grandfather of petticoats. As for right, do you know what right is? The Gauls covet Clusium, Rome protects Clusium, and demands what wrong Clusium has done to them. Brennus answers: `The wrong that Alba did to you, the wrong that Fidenae did to you, the wrong that the Eques, the Volsci, and the Sabines have done to you. They were your neighbors. The Clusians are ours. We understand neighborliness just as you do. You have stolen Alba, we shall take Clusium.' Rome said: `You shall not take Clusium.' Brennus took Rome. Then he cried: `Vae victis!' That is what right is. Ah! what beasts of prey there are in this world! What eagles! It makes my flesh creep.

Brennus, who takes Rome, is an eagle; the banker who takes the grisette is an eagle. There is no more modesty in the one case than in the other. So we believe in nothing. There is but one reality: drink. Whatever your opinion may be in favor of the lean cock, like the Canton of Uri, or in favor of the fat cock, like the Canton of Glaris, it matters little, drink. You talk to me of the boulevard, of that procession, et caetera, et caetera. Come now, is there going to be another revolution? This poverty of means on the part of the good God astounds me. He has to keep greasing the groove of events every moment. There is a hitch, it won't work. Quick, a revolution! The good God has his hands perpetually black with that cart-grease. If I were in his place, I'd be perfectly simple about it, I would not wind up my mechanism every minute, I'd lead the human race in a straightforward way, I'd weave matters mesh by mesh, without breaking the thread, I would have no provisional arrangements, I would have no extraordinary repertory. What the rest of you call progress advances by means of two motors, men and events. But, sad to say, from time to time, the exceptional becomes necessary. The ordinary troupe suffices neither for event nor for men: among men geniuses are required, among events revolutions. Great accidents are the law; the order of things cannot do without them; and, judging from the apparition of comets, one would be tempted to think that Heaven itself finds actors needed for its performance. At the moment when one expects it the least, God placards a meteor on the wall of the firmament. Some queer star turns up, underlined by an enormous tail. And that causes the death of Caesar. Brutus deals him a blow with a knife, and God a blow with a comet. Crac, and behold an aurora borealis, behold a revolution, behold a great man; '93 in big letters, Napoleon on guard, the comet of 1811 at the head of the poster. Ah! what a beautiful blue theatre all studded with unexpected flashes! Boum! Boum! extraordinary show! Raise your eyes, boobies. Everything is in disorder, the star as well as the drama. Good God, it is too much and not enough. These resources, gathered from exception, seem magnificence and poverty. My friends, Providence has come down to expedients. What does a revolution prove? That God is in a quandry. He effects a coup d'etat because he, God, has not been able to make both ends meet. In fact, this confirms me in my conjectures as to Jehovah's fortune; and when I see so much distress in heaven and on earth, from the bird who has not a grain of millet to myself without a hundred thousand livres of income, when I see human destiny, which is very badly worn, and even royal destiny, which is threadbare, witness the Prince de Conde hung, when I see winter, which is nothing but a rent in the zenith through which the wind blows, when I see so many rags even in the perfectly new purple of the morning on the crests of hills, when I see the drops of dew, those mock pearls, when I see the frost, that paste, when I see humanity ripped apart and events patched up, and so many spots on the sun and so many holes in the moon, when I see so much misery everywhere, I suspect that God is not rich. The appearance exists, it is true, but I feel that he is hard up. He gives a revolution as a tradesman whose money-box is empty gives a ball. God must not be judged from appearances. Beneath the gilding of heaven I perceive a poverty-stricken universe. Creation is bankrupt. That is why I am discontented. Here it is the 4th of June, it is almost night; ever since this morning I have been waiting for daylight to come; it has not come, and I bet that it won't come all day. This is the inexactness of an ill-paid clerk. Yes, everything is badly arranged, nothing fits anything else, this old world is all warped, I take my stand on the opposition, everything goes awry; the universe is a tease. It's like children, those who want them have none, and those who don't want them have them. Total: I'm vexed. Besides, Laigle de Meaux, that bald-head, offend

gonna try my grantaire themed tea!! i’ll give you all my thoughts

[mercerspoems]

Roman History in a Nutshell - Wars with Sabines, Veii and Fidenae ~753 BCE - ~287 BCE

#Roman #History in a Nutshell - #Wars with #Sabines, Veii and Fidenae ~753 BCE - ~287 BCE #Rome was just a small #city in a sea of Italic #peoples. the #RomanEmpire only expanded through #conquest and #exploitation, the Sabines being an early example.

It doesn’t give a precise date but this is a 5th century map of the central Italian people. Even though Veii and Fidenae were Etruscan cities you can see why they often allied with the Sabines when there was an attack on Rome, they were basically on-the-way! So there is some overlap between some of the conflicts here and some of those discussed in our ‘Wars with Etruscans’ article. (Credit:…

[anti-imperialist-squad]

Fidel/Elena new ship unblocked

Fidena :P 

Fidel was quite the charmer 

[photoshamanism]

Stay curious!

Have a wonderful weekend and expect the unexpected ;-)

[paganimagevault]

Etruscan Mercury from Falerii wearing Tyrolian hat 300 BCE. Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia.

"Falerii (now Fabrica di Roma) was a city in southern Etruria, 50 km (31 mi) northeast of Rome, 34 km (21 mi) from Veii (a major Etruscan city-state near the River Tiber) and about 1.5 km (0.9 mi) west of the ancient Via Flaminia. It was the main city of the Falisci, a people whose language was Faliscan and was part of the Latino-Faliscan language group. The Ager Faliscus (Faliscan Country), which included the towns of Capena, Nepet, and Sutrium, was close to the Monti Cimini.

According to legend, it was of Argive origin. Strabo's assertion that the population, the Falisci, were of a different race from the Etruscans is supported by the evidence of the inscriptions which have been found here. They were written in a Latin dialect. Most of the surviving inscriptions date back to the second half of the fourth century BC and the first half of the third century BC. The Faliscan language survived "the domination of the [surrounding] Etruscan culture, as well as, for a long time, the expansion of the Romans".

Due to Falerii being relatively close to Rome, the Faliscans thought that Rome was a threat to their security. For this reason, they supported the Etruscan cities of Veii and Fidenae (which was near Veii, on the other bank of the river) in their conflicts with Rome in the fifth century. Livy noted that: "As these two States [Falerii and the nearby Capena] were nearest in point of distance, they believed that if Veii fell they would be the next on whom Rome would make war". There had been a history of on-and-off conflicts between Rome and Veii, which often involved Fidenae. The Romans had placed a colony at Fidenae to garrison the city. In 437 BC Fidenae revolted, attacked the Roman settlers and sided with Veii. Romans envoys who were sent to Fidenae were killed on the order of the king of Veii. The Romans advanced on Fidenae. The Faliscans sent troops in support. The Veientes and Fidenates (the inhabitants of Veii and Fidenae) wanted to prolong the war, but the Faliscans wanted a pitched battle. The Romans routed the combined enemy forces. In 436 BC the Romans raided the territory of Veii and Falerii, but did not attack the two cities. In 435 BC the Fidenates crossed into Roman territory to raid it and called in the army of Veii. Falerii did not want to renew the war. In 434 the Romans seized Fidenae. This alarmed Veii and Falerii. They sent envoys to the Etruscan League (a council of the twelve major Etruscan cities) for assistance, however, the league refused to help Veii."

-taken from wikipedia

https://paganimagevault.blogspot.com/2020/04/etruscan-mercury-from-falerii-wearing.html

[harvard-art-museums-prints]

Romulus Leads the Triumph Over Fidenae, plate 25, Giovanni Battista Fontana, c. 1575, Harvard Art Museums: Prints

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Acquisition Fund for Prints Size: 13.8 × 17.2 cm (5 7/16 × 6 3/4 in.)

https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/356916

[italianartsociety]

Santa Maria Capua Vetere’s Colosseum of Spartacus: A Prototype for the Flavian Amphitheatre

The Amphitheatre of Capua was likely built after 31 B.C.E., when Princeps Augustus had established a nearby colony following the Battle of Actium. An inscription that was added to the entrance of the structure reveals also that it had been restored during the reign of Emperor Hadrian and officially dedicated some year later by Emperor Antonius Pius. 

The inscription reads as follows:

COLONIA IULIA FELIX AUGUSTA CAPUA FECIT DIVUS HADRIANUS AUG RESTITUIT IMAGINES ET COLUMNAS ADDI CURAVIT IMP CAES T AELIUS HADRIANUS ANTONINUS AUG PIUS DEDICAVIT

In addition to the ancient primary source mentioned above, other sources of the late-second century B.C.E. attest to the presence of nearby gladiatorial schools, which remain famous because they produced the Thracian gladiator, Spartacus: a key player in the Third Servile War (a two-year slave rebellion against the Republic of Rome). 

In the past, it has been boasted that both the Amphitheatre of Capua and the Roman Colosseum possessed capacities of 87,000 spectators, although more recently, this estimation has been reduced to a more believable 45,000 - 55,000 for the Colosseum and 34, 000 for the Capuan structure. 

The Capuan amphitheatre, like the Roman Colosseum was a four-floored structure: each floor being illustrated by an arcade (a set of arches and columns). The two differed however, in the sense that the Capuan structure relied on solely the Tuscan order of pillars whereas the Colosseum employed different classical orders of architecture for each arcade layer: the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. Nevertheless, the architectural designs of both structures would have gone a long way to convincing patrons that (unlike the amphitheatre at Fidenae, which collapsed in 27 A. D., killing a great number of people) the Capuan amphitheatre and Roman Colosseum were strong, sturdy and capable of holding 35,000 and 55, 000 people respectively. 

Perhaps, like the Colosseum, the majority of the ground-floor arches of Capuan amphitheatre would have been numbered and acted as entrances that corresponded to tickets sold to the general public. Other entrances, likely those suggesting that they had been more lavishly decorated, would have been reserved for more important visitors.

It would appear also that like its descendent in Rome, the Amphitheatre of Capua was also capable of hosting naumachia (naval battles for entertainment) as, according to John Henry Parker,  “considerable remains of the canals for them” existed. 

Presently, the site is open to visitors six days per week (not Mondays). Tickets are available at a small charge. 

References: Richard Burgess, The Topography and Antiquities of Rome, Volume I, London:  Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green, 1831, p. 242. 

John Henry Parker, The Flavia Amphitheatre: Commonly Called the Colosseum, London: John Murrary, 1876, p. 10. 

Katherine E. Welch, The Roman Amphitheatre: From Its Origins to the Colosseum, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007, p.91. 

Images: Image 1, Wikimedia Commons.

Image 2, Aerial photograph © Emma Taricco.

Images 3 - 6, Wikimedia Commons.

Posted by Samantha Hughes-Johnson. 

[jamieroxxartist]

Today, July 8 our Fun Friends in #AncientRome would have been getting down as they celebrated (one of) their annual #thanksgivings called the #Vitulatio!  

*Macrobius says that it marked a Roman retreat from the Etruscans at Fidenae during the Gallic invasion, and that the Vitulatio commemorated their comeback victory

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitulatio)

[spartan-officer-brasidas]

So, what are some good time periods for AC in Rome? Because Commodus-era is the rumored setting and had its own section, I won’t discuss it here, but it technically could fit here. Also keep in mind that each of these would make great reference points or flashbacks in a later Roman setting! I’ll go in historical order (though a combination of number 2 and 3 is the strongest and most interesting in my opinion).

1. Early Roman-Etruscan Wars prior to the overthrow of the Roman kingship. Rome was, up through the 200s BC, almost consistently fighting with the Etruscans, frequently Veii, and I think these conflicts could easily be expanded on in a game, though in truth, they’d probably be better suited as flashbacks. They could explore Aeneas and his conquests (though his conflict wasn’t fully with the Etruscans), Romulus vs Veii and Fidenae, and Servius Tullus vs the Etruscans. Again, probably better as flashbacks.

2. The overthrow of the Roman kingship. This would make for a phenomenal setting—easily my personal preference. The basic set up is Lucius Tarquinius Superbus vs Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus/Lucius Junius Brutus/others. This is a good conflict set up because there is a clear cut bad guy and a clear cut good guy. One could very easily make Superbus and his supporters (including Etruscans cities Veii and Tarquinii) into the Templar-like group, and Brutus in the Assassin-like group. With this, you have that initial uprising and the initial call for help from Superbus.

3. The Roman-Etruscan war after the overthrow of the Roman kingship. This one kind of goes with the previous, but hear me out—these two would be amazing. Essentially, Superbus was not happy with this revolting, so he went and asked the Etruscan king of Clusium, Lars Porsena, to help him take back Rome. This particular struggle brought several traditional Roman heroes (Horatius, Scaevola, Cloelia, etc) and it would provide a good conflict for the story! That said, Superbus’ failure with Porsena prompted him to make one last effort, which failed as well, but it could also be used here.

4. The Punic Wars. The Punic wars saw Rome fighting (and eventually sacking) Carthage, and I do believe this conflict would make a good AC setting. We have land battles (Hannibal), sea battles (like Lipari Islands) and the final sack of Carthage. The mythology here is phenomenal because of my favorite classical text, The Aeneid. And they could incorporate what we know about the religion in Carthage! It could be a bit difficult to fit in the Assassin vs Templar stuff, but it’s not impossible! They could nest the Templars into the Roman government and have them be rooting for Carthage’s destruction for one reason or another. They could play around with it honestly.

Let me know what you think! I may expand on 2&3 if I have time after all of this, but we’ll see! Also, feel free to share your own ideas—about these ones that I’ve given, other time periods in Roman history, or even completely separate settings! It may be Rome’s birthday, but this is still an Assassin’s Creed blog!

[historical-nonfiction]

Ancient Politicians Had To Respond To Public Disasters, Too

In 29 CE, the worst sports disaster in the history of the world took place. In Fidenae, a town 8 miles north of Rome, a cheap, wooden gladiator amphitheater collapsed killing about 20,000 people.

In response the Roman Senate banished the builder of the stadium, and passed building regulations for arenas to prevent future disasters, requiring that new stadiums had to be inspected and certified by the state as safe.

Just to make really sure no one would be building cheap, collapsible stadiums, they also banned anyone with a fortune of less than 400,000 sesterces from building amphitheaters. That translates to between 630,000 and 2,400,000 USD today. Yes, it is a really wide margin, I know. Converting ancient commodity currency to modern fiat currency is hard, guys.

[pokemonshieldmonty]

Caught an accidental snap of Piers jamming to his theme song during a rematch

[illustratus]

Aulus Cornelius Cossus carries the head of the Etruscan king Lars Tolumnius during the Battle of Fidenae

by Bartolomeo Pinelli

[canaldelmisterio]

La Batalla de Fidene

La Batalla de Fidene

La Batalla de Fidene

La Batalla de Fidene tuvo lugar en los años del reinado del primer rey de Roma, Rómulo, entre el ejército romano dirigido por el mismo monarca y los fidenenses.

Después de la fundación de su ciudad, en el Monte Palatino, los romanos comenzaron a expandirse, y aparecen según Tito Livio “tan poderosos que podían competir militarmente con cualquiera de los pueblos de su…

[west4east]

Episode 22 – Decades of Death and Plagues

The decades that followed. Thousands died, and thousands more wished they could die.