#ancient rome

[memories-of-ancients]

Silver roundel with the head of Medusa, Roman, 150-235 AD

from The J. Paul Getty Museum

[uncleclaudius]

Head of a statue of Emperor Nero from Corinth. Nero was born on the 15th of December, 37 AD in Antium. His birth name was Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus and he only acquired the prenomen Nero after his adoption by Claudius in 50 AD.

[perciver4ever]

I got caught drawing perciver angst by my geography teacher. She told me to show it to the class. She asked who it as and if it was my boyfriend or someone from history. I lied and said it was Julius Caesar and Pompey. KILL ME.

[getatushh]

literally them

marcus acacius, emperor geta, lucius verus in that exact same order.

didnt include caracalla since that mf looks like he sleeps butt naked LMAO.

[zagreusian]

Temple of Bacchus at Baalbek, Lebanon

The Temple of Bacchus is part of the Baalbek archaeological site, in the Beqaa Valley region of Lebanon. The temple complex is considered an outstanding archaeological and artistic site of Roman Architecture and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. This monument to Bacchus is one of the best preserved and grandest Roman temple ruins; its age is unknown, but its fine ornamentation can be dated to the second century CE.

[toyastales]

Campanian fish plate. Culture/Period: Greek, South Italian, Late Classical Period Date: ca. 350–325 B.C. Place of origin: Campania, Italy Medium: Ceramic, Red Figure

[ancientcharm]

The last Princeps of Rome

Marcus Aurelius Alexander Severus was born in Arca Caesarea, Syria (present-day Akkar district, Lebanon) on 1 October 208. Unlike all assassinated emperors before him, the Senate mourned the assassination of this young Princeps for decades.

He was proclaimed emperor at the age of thirteen on 13 March 222, two days after the death of his predecessor Elagabalus. The historian Dio Cassius, who served as consul, describes Alexander Severus' character as calm and peaceful. He was characterized above all by his religious tolerance; He believed that "everyone is free to freely profess his beliefs." He had an extraordinarily kind attitude towards Christians and Jews.

During his early years, the government was really left in the hands of his grandmother Julia Maesa and his mother Julia Avita Mamaea who dedicated themselves to cleaning up the financial mess left by Elagabalus. His grandmother died in August 224. In 226 He married Sallustia Barbia Orbiana, with whom he had no children and two years later she was banished by order of Julia Mamaea.

As he grew older, Alexander began to make his own decisions. He faced the Sassanians who began to establish their new empire replacing the Parthians. In 230 they attacked the province of Mesopotamia. Alexander gathered an army to begin his military campaign in 231. In 233 Ardacher, king of the Sassanians, withdrew from the newly conquered provinces. Severus Alexander considered this a victory and had a triumph.

A year later, the Germans began to attack the northern borders of the empire. Alexander headed there with his troops and to gain time he sent gifts to the leaders of the enemy peoples. The soldiers took advantage of this to accuse him of a "cowardly" act. In fact the whole army hated him for not continuing with the policy initiated by the first of the Severan Dynasty (Septimius): paying exorbitant salaries to the army. Septimius Severus since the year 193 did this in his day to ensure the loyalty of the troops, as did his son 'Caracalla'. This made the army fill with an excessive ambition and began to see the position of emperor as something that could be taken by force. The young Alexander understood the danger and drastically lowered the salaries of the army: but it was too late.

On 18 March 235 the 26-year-old Emperor Alexander Severus was assassinated by his own soldiers in a camp near Moguntiacum (modern Mainz, Germany). They then killed his mother J. Mamea and proclaimed Maximinius the Thracian as the new emperor. Three years later, after the death of Maximinus the Thracian, the Senate deified Alexander Severus.

The death of Severus Alexander meant the end of the Principate created by Augustus in 27 BC. The government of Maximinus the Thracian was the beginning of 50 years of anarchy with 26 emperors along with countless aspirants to the throne. Except for one, all of them died violently. It is the era of the "soldier-emperors", or "The crisis of the third century" characterized by constant internal struggles that lasted until the arrival of Diocletian to power, who saved Rome from its total collapse- 200 years before the fall of the western empire- by creating the Dominate.

Head from a bronze statue of the Roman emperor Alexander Severus (222-235 AD), from Ryakia, Archaeological Museum, Dion

Photography by Carole Raddato (CC BY-SA 2.0)

[astirastyr]

How can one be so obsessed with a man huh

[princezzleia]

This is extraordinary! I love that most colors are red and gold (blood and wealth) I love the detail on Geta where his throat was cutted and blood trail down (almost think that is the clothes' color!) and also the hand he used to hold on Caracalla's very small detail but impact! I also love that you use Lucilla and Commodus as a foreshadow of Caracalla and Geta. They are kinda similar but with different forces! Beautiful work of art!😍❤️

• Emperors and Lucilla | gladiator II

[idleronanisle]

Digital drawing - Pedro Pascal as Marcus Acacius in Gladiator II

[cottoncandiescupcakes]

I have a weird HC where I think Geta and Caracalla represent how the Ancient Romans saw the masculine and feminine, like they are the masculine and feminine halves of the same being because they are twins.

Basically, they thought men were more sane, mature, rational, intelligent and in control and women were by nature more insane, childish irrational, animalistic and lusty. Caracalla literally has a monkey, which represented animal nature and lustful sex in Rome. (Sorry Dondus! We know you are a lady)

Their appearance, tall and slender and short and softer, also reflects that.

By contrast, Lucilla would be the 'ideal' Roman woman, reserved, ladylike, but strong and in control. Silk over steel.

[lostmermaidshell]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NERO!

today our beloved emperor is 1987 years old! 🥳🎉🎊🍾🎂

blow on the candles before its too late..

[pharsalianostra]

Finals took me out for a bit, but I’m back, and I finally finished!!! Here’s Cleopatra and Livia in all their glory :)

Should I make one of Mark Antony and Octavian next??

Parallel Lives

To me, Cleopatra VII and Livia Drusilla are two sides of the same coin. They were born exactly ten years apart (Cleopatra in 69 BCE and Livia in 59 BCE), and were the female rulers of two of the most prominent Mediterranean powers of their time. Their families were deeply entwined: Julius Caesar was the father of Cleopatra’s son and Livia’s (adopted) father-in-law; Mark Antony was Livia’s brother-in-law through his marriage to Octavia; when Augustus conquered Egypt, he had Cesarion killed because he was a threat to Augustus’s apparent right to rule.

Both women grew up in a time of civil war and ended up on opposite sides of their families. Cleopatra openly fought her brother Ptolemy XIII and her sister Arinoe VI. Livia’s father and brother died fighting for Brutus and Cassius at Philippi. Her first husband sided with Fulvia and Lucius Antonius when they fought Augustus.

Both of them have been misrepresented by ancient sources and modern media.

Augustus’s propaganda hinged on the presentation of himself as a proper and modest Roman returning to tradition after so much civil war (other than the autocratic ruling ofc). He presented Livia as the ideal and perfect Roman matron, chaste, modest, and pious. He presented Cleopatra as the opposite. She represented the extravagance and backwardness of foreign monarchs. Augustus presented her as domineering over Antony, a reversal of the proper order (his slander of her was largely slander of Antony after all). And although Augustus publicly looked down on Egypt, he adopted many elements of Egyptian monarchy into his dynasty, such as the association of monarchs with gods—as Livia was associated with Ceres, Magna Mater, and Venus, Cleopatra mostly associated herself with Isis (who shares an origin with Venus).

Both were accused by historians of poisoning family members—Cleopatra her brother Ptolemy XIV among others, and Livia Augustus as well as a number of his heirs.

In modern media, Cleopatra is often seen as an over-sexualized seductress, Livia as a conniving and manipulative wife and mother.

Whether or not they did any poisoning, they were both incredibly intelligent and fascinating women and I love both of them a lot.

There are some of motifs in the drawing I want to point out:

- Cleopatra is wearing an Isis knot (the top layer of her dress), a common feature found in depictions of Ptolemaic queens that associates them with the goddess Isis

- She is also wearing a simple cloth diadem as often seen in depictions of Alexander the Great and all the dynasties that emulated him. It’s often seen in Cleopatra VII’s coinage

- She has the melon hairstyle, which she is seen with on coinage and in Roman sculpture. Apparently she popularized it among Roman women when she visited the city!

- Her snake bracelet and bull earrings are also common Ptolemaic motifs

- Livia is dressed like a proper Roman matron in her palla, stola, and tunica. The lack of jewelry is meant to show her modesty as well. Augustus and Livia went out of their way to present as a normal senatorial class couple rather than opulent foreign monarchs

- Her hair is in the iconic nodus style, as seen on basically all her statuary as well as that of other women in Augustus’s household such as Octavia

- Both Livia and Cleopatra are depicted holding cornucopias in their statuary. It associates them with fertility, wealth, and number of mother-goddesses. Pomegranates are a symbol of Juno and Proserpina, wheat and poppy sheafs are associated with Ceres. Wheat is also important because it was a resource Egyptian had in abundance and that Rome was desperate for. A lot of the politics between the two nations were based around that trade.

- And figs. Well, there are a lot of stories that get told about Cleopatra and Livia, many of which paint them with misogynistic stereotypes. Cleopatra’s death has long been the subject of speculation and fantasy. Shakespeare writes that she snuck the snakes she used to commit suicide past the Augustus’s men in a basket of figs. Livia has often been implicated in Augustus’s death. A popular version of that being that she poisoned him with figs. These two women are connected by the imagery and symbolism of the fruit: femininity and fertility, poison and death.

[salmonella-destroyer-of-worlds]

Actual roman epitaph for a dog

[anemoxlys]

Hi! Someone who studies classics here!

This is correct girls would take on the female version of their fathers name in Ancient Rome.

Julius Caesar’s daughter was called Julia and Cicero’s daughter was called Tulia (Marcus Tullius Cicero).

Moreover, ancient Roman names have a very specific order of

1. Given name

2. Family name

3. Nickname

Publius (given name- think modern day first name)

Clodius (family Clodii)

Pulcher (meaning handsome)

Full name: Publius Clodius Pulcher - Roman politician c.93-53bc

Marcus (given name)

Aurelius (family Aurelii)

Antonius (meaning highly praiseworthy)

Augustus (title given to every emperor after Augustus’ rule which ended c.14ce with his death and deification)

Full name: Marcus Aurelius Antonius Augustus (emperor of Rome c.121-180ce and writer of philosophy such as his ‘Meditations’)

It’s been a while since I’ve study Ancient Rome,but to all my fanfic girlies who are writing OC’s for Gladiator II, if I remember correctly girls would have a feminine form of their fathers name.