#founding of Rome

[greekmythcomix]

Hello Aeneas didn’t found Rome, he founded the city (Lavinium) that founded the city (Alba Longa) that founded Rome (by Remus & Romulus).

If like wannabe world overlords you like to learn your mythological founding stories without having to read the actual epic poem, or you just want a fun refresher, here’s one to the tune of The Fresh Prince (because everyone knows The Fresh Prince):

Karaoke time! https://youtu.be/z0VQIRZ9xSk

(I made this nine years ago for my Year 9s [13-14yo] and yes I did perform it in class. Posted now because I hate the world sometimes:)

[cogitoergodoleo]

Happy founding of Rome!!!

[beardedmrbean]

[grumpepper]

[thoodleoo]

have been losing my shit over the fact that 1. there's a passage in polybius's history where he tells us that the tyrant demetrius of phalerum once made a giant mechanical snail to parade through athens and trail slime everywhere 2. people have been trying to figure out how this massive snail worked since at least 1937

[obscureenthusiast]

-Brutus and as many as 60 co-conspirators, circa March 14th, 44 BC

[blueiscoool]

‘Incredible’ Mosaics Were Found in an Ancient Luxury Home in Rome

Italy’s Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano has called the works “an authentic treasure.”

Researchers working in the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum in Rome have shared their discovery of luxurious mosaic-tiled rooms found in an ancient home on the site, which they believe may have belonged to a Roman senator. Created from shells, glass, white marble, and Egyptian blue tiles, the mosaics have been described by Italy’s Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano as “an authentic treasure”.

The “rustic” mosaics, found on the grounds surrounding the Colosseum in the heart of the city, date to the late Republican Age, in the last decades of the second century B.C.E., and show a series of figurative scenes. They once decorated a townhouse, or domus, owned by an upper class citizen. Italy’s Ministry of Culture have said that “due to the complexity of the scenes depicted” and their age, the mosaics are “without comparison.”

One mosaic depicts a coastal city with towers and porticos, with three large ships floating by on the ocean waves. The culture ministry believes this could be a reference to naval victories achieved by the owner of the home, which is believed to have been a Roman senator. This is supported by historical sources describing the area as having been occupied by such high-ranking members of society.

The decorated walls were likely located in the home’s dining rooms, where luxurious banquets would be hosted, and guests at these events were likely wowed with “spectacular water games,” according to the culture ministry, based on the presence of lead pipes set into the walls.

In the reception room, an extremely well preserved decorated stucco featuring landscapes and figures was also discovered. Other designs include vines and lotus leaves flowing from vases, musical instruments, and tridents.

The mosaic walls were first discovered near the Colosseum in 2018, but excavation at the site will continue into 2024, and more rooms could be discovered. Alfonsina Russo, the Director of the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum, has said that once the domus is full uncovered, “we will work intensely to make this place, among the most evocative of ancient Rome, accessible to the public as soon as possible.”

By Verity Babbs.

[lucky-fy]

For the Laicion nation (aka, me and three other people)

I had this illustration commissioned (a big thank you to @lunehowls) for my werewolf AU Laicion fic (still a WIP).

The general pitch is as follows :

AU in which Laios never got to meet his sister again, putting his life on a whole other path, a more desperate one. A military deserter with barely a coin to his name, Laios hitches a ride on a boat to one of the elven continents, where he learns about magical tattoos that binds one’s soul to a wolf’s, effectively making them artificial werewolves. Illegal magic be damned, this feels like the answer to… everything.

In the process, he learns about the existence of an illegal fighting ring in one of the elven cities, where beastmen gladiators gather. Freshly tattooed and without anywhere else to go to, Laios decides to head there, where he meets Lycion, an elf and artificial werewolf gladiator. If they first bond over a simple shared meal, by spending time together (sharing the same room in the barracks, maybe the same bed? gasp) they find that they have a lot in common, notably a shared distaste for the body they were born in, a dysphoria partially remedied by becoming a werewolf.

They bond :)

NB: I commissioned another piece, go take a look :D

[canisalbus]

I like to imagine, in the 'canon', before Machete's assassination, as they drift apart, Machete starts having terrible nightmares. A distorted version of himself, resembling only the worst parts of him hurting everyone he loves (aka Vasco) and potentially even killing him. As he realizes how dangerous he is he starts distancing himself, hurting Vasco even more in the process. I even imagine them exchanging some pretty heated and mean spirited words (especially Machete) a few hours before he inevitably dies.

All that can tie back to that other anon had said about Vasco having nightmares. He feels guilty and that he's responsible for what happened.

Oh boy, that's terribly sad ;^;

Machete had been spiralling for a while before he was ultimately assassinated. I'd like to think they were still very close and not actively drifting apart, but there was definitely some tension in the air. Machete had been retreating into his shell, consumed by mounting paranoia and self-loathing and felt that it was actively harmful and dangerous for Vasco, the light of his life, to be near him. Vasco was worried of course, but they had had rough patches before and Machete had always managed to outrun his demons that far, he believed things would work out eventually like they always do. He had no reason to think it would end this time.

[illustratus]

Romulus and Remus by Joseph Binder

[brother-emperors]

Crassus, Caelius, Cicero, Catiline, Conspiracy

boy howdy these four sure are something. not featured in this soup of C names, Caesar! what on earth happened here.

Plutarch, Crassus

Sallust on Crassus, Ronald Syme

Patron and Client, Father and Son in Cicero's "Pro Caelio"

Crassus' New Friends and Pompey's Return, Eve J. Parrish

Catullus and His World, T.P. Wiseman

Cicero's Catilinarians, D.H. Berry

[p-clodius-pulcher]

This has been said to death I’m sure but the absolute horror of where the Aeneid ends. Of the hero, the forefather of Rome which is supposed to be all things just and good and rational, killing a young man (the hope of a people who will become like kin to the Trojans) begging on his knees.

Genuinely how are you supposed to continue the story, where can you go? Your hero has failed, and he is surrounded now by the people impacted by that failure. How is the epic supposed to go on? How do you write forgiveness for such an act? How does your hero go on knowing what he’s done?

[beardedmrbean]

[esthelle-wanders]

Interstitial Infinity listeners,

Imagine, for a moment, that you are Briar the Calico Critter.

You live a lovely, autumnal-festival-themed life with your mother and father and two sisters, and then one day Shadow T. Hedgehog shows up and says

“Do you have a family? Do you love them? THEY CAN DISAPPEAR AT ANY MOMENT!”

And then like the next day the Apex raids the car and slaughters your entire family (and possibly eradicates your species).

Was it a prophecy? A threat? A warning? You’re a tiny rabbit child, you don’t know! You’ve never even heard of the Fall of Troy!

TLDR: Is Shadow the Hedgehog also Shadow the Calico Cassandra?

[blueiscoool]

Remains of Ancient Papal Palace Believed to have been Found in Rome

The remains of what appears to be a medieval palace where popes lived before they made the Vatican their home have been excavated in Rome prior to renovations for the 2025 Catholic Holy Year, or Jubilee, the Italian Culture Ministry said on Wednesday.

Archaeologists in the square outside the Archbasilica of St John Lateran in the city center unearthed a complex architectural structure including walls believed to have protected the Patriarchio, a monumental basilica envisaged by Emperor Constantine in the 4th century, the ministry said in a statement.

“This is an extraordinarily important find for the city of Rome and its medieval history, as no extensive archaeological excavations have ever been carried out in the square in modern times,” the ministry said.

The initial structure of the building, which follows Constantine’s declaration of tolerance for Christianity in the Roman Empire in 313, was expanded in stages between the 9th and 13th centuries and housed the papacy until 1305 when it temporarily moved to Avignon in France, the ministry added.

The area around St John Lateran is being spruced up ahead of the Jubilee, a year-long event starting in December that is expected to attract more than 30 million pilgrims and tourists to the Italian capital.

During a Jubilee, Catholics can obtain special indulgences, or remission of their sins, if they fulfill certain conditions and do good works or make pilgrimages.

Rome’s long history, stretching back almost 2,800 years, means that roadworks often lead to archaeological discoveries.

Other excavations near the Vatican to extend a road tunnel ahead of the Jubilee have in recent weeks revealed traces of an ancient Roman “fullonica,” or laundry, and a porticoed garden believed to have been used by Emperor Caligula.

[voxina]

This Italian guy met Harry yesterday (Saturday) while walking his dog at Villa Ada in Rome, and the dog's name is Mina. Apparently, the dog ran to Harry and he -wearing sunglasses and a cap- petted her before continuing on his way.

The guy said he didn't film him because "despite being one of the most famous singers in the world, he's still a person."

Glad to see there are still people who respect Harry's privacy.