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Along the north-western coast of the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Italy lies the ancient city of Massilia (modern Marseilles). Originally founded in 600 BCE by Ionian Greeks from Phocaea…
Read more http://dlvr.it/3327mN #archaeology #rome
VENTE VILLA CONTEMPORAINE DANS LE PAYS AIXOIS (CALAS)
Villa de 283m2 dans résidence calme offrant des volumes exceptionnels:
Au rez de chaussée: une entrée de 9m2, pièce à vivre de 55 m2 avec cheminée, une cuisine équipée de 17 m2 avec buanderie de 12m2, un toilette, un dressing, un cellier, 2 chambres de 20 et 18 m2 dont une avec douche.
A l’étage: suite parentale de 55 m2 avec cheminée, baignoire, grande douche à l’italienne, dressing sur mesure et grand balcon. 3 chambres de 12 à 14m2 avec placards intégrés dont deux donnant sur une immense terrasse surplombant la piscine, une salle de bain, un toilette.
Divers: Prestations de qualité (béton ciré, chauffage au sol, carrelage 800*800, cave à vins), portes à galandage sur mesure, volets roulants centralisés pour toute la maison, pool house de 25 m2, nombreuses annexes, jardin paysagé de 1 765 m2 avec palmiers, un garage 2 places avec porte automatisée, caméras de surveillance, alarme, 1 toilette extérieur, Piscine de 13*5 totalement sécurisée + un volet roulant, aire de jeux avec barrière sur mesure en bois et fermeture par portillons sécurises, un terrain de boule, arrosage automatique, panneau solaire en toiture.
Avantages: villa située à proximité de la gare TGV, aéroport à 20 mn, 20 mn de Marseille, 10 mn d’Aix en Provence, 15 mn de Plan de Campagne (grande zone commerciale), nombreuses promenades dans la forêt sur sentiers avec accès par la résidence, golf, centre équestre.
Contact : Florence Tribolo //06.34.27.10.85 // ftribolo13@yahoo.fr 
http://dlvr.it/2wkVHQ #archaeology #rome
By History Today
A new online resource opens up possibilities for interpreting the infrastructure of the Roman world, says Jasmine Pui.
Sea routes in July AD 200, with coastal routes in blue and overseas routes in greenA recently launched online interactive research source, ORBIS, the Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World, has made it possible to analyse data about the Roman Empire in new ways that reveal the fragility of Roman communication and freight systems. Conventional maps are often unable to capture the environmental constraints that govern the flows of people, goods and information. Museum and ancient sites usually include titbits of information about the wide-ranging origins of artefacts, hinting at the relative cost of goods and labour in the Roman era, but factors such as sailing times and inland routes for freight cannot be precisely revealed through archaeological finds, Roman coins, taxation records or riot reports.
The first resource of its kind, ORBIS offers comprehensive graphic tools to portray the transport and communication infrastructure that underpinned the Roman Empire’s existence. By typing in a starting point, destination, an imagined weight of goods to transport and the time of year, the site shows whether such a movement would have been feasible and at what cost. Studying movement during the course of the empire’s existence suggests it was far more difficult to hold an empire together than to expand one. There are few scenarios where marching and conquering is not easier and less costly than moving goods and slaves between regions. Cost, rather than distance, was the principal determinant of connectivity in the Roman world.
ORBIS is based on a simplified version of the giant network of cities, roads, rivers and sea lanes that framed movement across the Roman Empire. The Stanford team has relied on data such as historical tide and weather information, size and grade of road surfaces and an average walking distance of 30 kilometres per day. Hundreds of cities, ports and routes, vehicle speeds for ships, ox carts and horses, as well as the variable cost of transport have been logged. The data mainly focuses on the period around AD 200, when Septimius Severus expanded control of Africa and Roman power was at one of its peaks.
By simulating movement along the principal Roman road routes, the main navigable rivers and sea routes in the Mediterranean, Black Sea and coastal Atlantic, ORBIS reconstructs the possible duration and financial cost for a wide range of modes of travel and trade in antiquity. Drawing on print resources, such as the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World and the Pleiades project, which maps the latitude and longitude of ancient sites, ORBIS models how people and goods were constrained in their movement depending on times of year and choice of fastest or cheapest routes. An ORBIS visitor can traverse over 84,631 kilometres of road, including desert tracks, and 28,272 kilometres of rivers and canals, using 14 modes of road travel from camel caravan to military march and accurate, normative sailing times.
Continued and more to read at: http://www.historytoday.com/jasmine-pui/getting-measure-ancient-rome
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* ORBIS: The Coolest Map of the Roman Empire Ever, thanks to Stanford University
http://dlvr.it/2v7JWR #archaeology #rome
Tulius-Hostilius
By The Pines of Rome
If I never become known for anything else, at least I can claim the honor of having written the most blog posts about Rome’s second king, Numa Pompilius, than any other blogger in the world. (Not that I’ve ever checked that. I just can’t imagine anyone else––save an actual scholar––coming up with so much to say about him). Now, whether anyone reads these posts is another story. Here’s hoping.
I started my [ahem] weekly history posts a good two years ago, with the legendary founding of Rome byRomulus. Two years later and I’m only up to Rome’s third king. Not very impressive. But it’s quality, not quantity, that matters, am I right?
Tullus Hostilius. Let’s see if we can dissect this guy’s reign with just one post (don’t count on it).
If our old––and by now very close––friend Numa Pompilius was the most religious of all Rome’s kings, and the most peaceful, then Tullus Hostilius was the most aggressive. The most bloodthirsty. The most hostile. Hostile Hostilius! Could that be where the word comes from? Oh, goodness, etymology gets me so excited! With but a moment’s worth of Google-powered research, I see that hostile comes from the Latin hostilis (of an enemy), which in turn comes from hostis (enemy). What do you think, was the word hostile derived from this king’s antagonistic behavior, or did he earn the name because of his behavior?
Actually, as it turns out, the name is at least a few generations older than Tullus. According to Titus Livy, during Rome’s war with the Sabines, Tullus’ grandfather Hostus Hostilius, a friend and comrade of Romulus, valiantly strode into battle ahead of the rest of the army to defend the Roman citadel against the Sabine invaders. (He died of course.) Was this hostile behavior the root of the word, then? We’ll probably never know, but whatever the case, it does seem that this affinity for battle rubbed off on his grandson.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, during Rome’s regal period, succession did not necessarily pass from father to son. When pious King Numa finally succumbed, Tullus was elected by the senate and became king in 673 BC and ruled (supposedly) until 642. Although he may not have been the wise, pacific ruler his predecessor was, his skill on the battlefield led to conquests of Fidenae, Veii, and, most famously, Alba Longa (more on that in a later post).
His successful military campaigns brought glory to the burgeoning backwater that was Rome, increasing its power dramatically. Its territory expanded and its population swelled (as the conquered peoples were absorbed into the Roman populace). Tullus was also credited with building the city’s first senate house, the Curia Hostilia in the Roman Forum, (although according to archeological evidence, it was built closer to the year 600 BC, and Tullus died in 642, but let’s not squabble over a silly thing like dates). As in the case of Romulus, bad weather can be blamed for Tullus’ unlikely demise. Near the end of his reign, a meteor shower pummeled the city, followed closely by an outbreak of the plague. Livy recounts that these omens were brought about by Tullus’ neglect of the religious rites and observances that were so fundamental to the survival of the city. When the King himself caught the plague, he finally saw the light and tried desperately to mend his ways. But it was too late. After botching a sacred ritual to honor Jupiter, he was smitten by a lightening bolt and that was the end of Tullus Hostilius.
But we’re not quite done with Rome’s bellicose 3rd king yet (what did I tell you?). Tune in next week and I’ll regale you with one of the most dramatic and improbable battles in Roman history. If you thought the Roman twinswere exciting, wait to you read about the Roman triplets!
More to read at: http://thepinesofrome.blogspot.fr/2013/01/tullus-hostilius-hostile-third-king-of.html
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* Restoration of Roman tunnels gives a slave’s eye view of Caracalla baths
* Ethnic Engineering
http://dlvr.it/2v6vz5 #archaeology #rome
A statue of the first Roman
Emperor Augustus
By Ancient Peoples
Today we look at a common misconception of Roman history, namely who was the first Emperor of Rome. Now, the error most make is to assume that Gaius Julius Caesar was the first Emperor. This is simply flat out untrue. Even at the peak of his power, after the ending of the war in Africa, Caesar only held the position of Dictator. Before we move further into this you will have to forget the social ideas that we hold around the terms Dictator and Emperor and begin to consider the Roman perspective. Just as the label Tyrant did not necessarily have negative connotations in the Ancient Greek world, the position of Dictator was one of duty and trust. A Dictator could be appointed by the senate to rescue the Republic from imminent danger, and importantly for this discussion was to be given up/ renewed after a single year.
The concept of Dictator was useful to the Republic especially during its early forays into Italy. A Dictator could focus the power of the senate into decisive actions, with the ultimate goal of preserving the Republic of Rome. While the rule of a single man could get things done efficiently without the infighting and discussion of the senate; Romans were still conscious to prevent complete power coming down to one man and therefore imposed a limited time for the individual to complete the task. There are a plethora of examples, especially from the early history of Rome (consult Livy if you’re interested).
Anyway, the reason that I understand how people confuse Caesar as an Emperor is that his Dictatorship was voted to him for life. I will point out that (if there are any lingering supporters of Pompey out there) the senate by this point was not only made up Caesar’s supporters (owing to many of his detractors fleeing for their lives), but for any remaining doubters they were coerced by Caesars veteran legions who occupied Italy. Say what you want about having a bigger stick, if your opponent has several armies on your doorstep you still do what he says. The other event this misunderstanding looks at is the offering of the crown to Caesar by Mark Antony during the Saturnalia (yeah the one with naked men with wolf skin, whatever floats your boat).
In any case rather than this being a serious attempt to place himself above all others as king, this action aimed to do the complete opposite. It was a political stunt to persuade the citizens of Rome that Caesar would never accept such a position, a point made very clear in during this event with his continual refusal of a mock crown. So Caesar had amassed a great deal of power and would hold it if not for life then for the foreseeable future. But still his political power was still understood through the prism of the Republic and its institutions and technically he had not broken any tenants of Roman law, as the position was voted to him by the senate.
More to read and original Article: http://ancientpeoples.tumblr.com/post/41279574819
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* Caesars and Cleopatra
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http://dlvr.it/2v6vsq #archaeology #rome
Commentarii de Bello Gallico
By Roman History Made Easy
You’ve probably heard of Archimedes ‘super weapons’ - there’s the ever present ‘Solar Heat Ray’ that ‘Mythbusters’ keep trying to perfect, the troublesome ‘Claw’ or ‘ship-shaker’, which did exist but no one has a clue how it worked, and then there’s the ‘steam cannon’. All of these were supposedly used by the Sicilians against Roman invaders in 212BC, but with the death of the inventor during this campaign - and no doubt many of those who’d built and operated these machines - their use or effectiveness was largely forgotten. Even the Romans who had been confronted by these ‘super weapons’ appear to have been quick to eschew them - perhaps more concerned with the designs falling into Carthaginian hands than any advantages they might bring to Classical-era warfare. But the question is, what if some of these weapon designs were perpetuated? Is it possible?
Well, it’s by no means conclusive proof, but during the siege of Massilia (April 19th-September 6th 49BC) Julius Caesar makes mention of a weapon that may have come from Archimedes arsenal. First of all, who were the Massilians? In 49BC, Massilia - now modern day Marseilles - was the largest independent Greek city state left in the world. Around 400,000 Ionian Greeks and Gauls lived within the walls of the largest city west of Rome and despite nearly one hundred years of conquests in both Gaul and Greece, various Roman generals - including Julius Caesar - had left this place well alone. Massilia wasn’t necessarily a military city, it was an economic hub - a Gallic Hong Kong - through which much of Gaul’s export and imports had been funnelled for some 400-years. But this had made the city rich, which meant it could afford the best in defensive weapons from its fellow Greeks - weapons that remained untested on Roman armies until Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon. As the civil war expanded, Massilia sided with the Pompeians, which made it a serious thorn in Caesar’s supply lines between Northern Italy and Spain.
Pictures and more to read at: Check out my latest book - Vagabond - life after the Gallic wars
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* The Gauls - the forgotten city builders
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http://dlvr.it/2v6vyL #archaeology #rome
Pompeii - Bird’s eye view of the large and small theatres, Pompeii. (Photo credit: Brooklyn Museum)
In September 2012 the Pompeii Aerial Survey Project conducted a successful aerial photogrammetric survey of the insula, utilising remote-controlled drones, in support of the EPUH project and the Pistrina: les boulangeries de l’Italie romaine project of the École française de Rome (that has been conducting a study of the bakery in the southwest corner of the insula). The aim of the project was to test the application of aerial drone technology in the documentation and survey of built structures in an archaeological context (Pompeii) against traditional methods of architectural investigation. This was the first time that aerial drones had been successfully employed at Pompeii for aerial photography; indeed, previous aerial photography had traditionally used balloons!
Our approach was twofold: first, to use the aerial drones to take geo-referenced HD geo-referenced digital photographs in order to develop a 3D photogrammetric point cloud model of the insula. Second, we also employed a laser scanner in order to provide a framework for the digital model but also to allow us to compare the merits of the two methodologies.
The drones and their pilots, who have great expertise and experience in flying them, were generously loaned to us by Landinspektørfirmaet LE34 (see acknowledgements below). The drones offer a previously unparalleled opportunity to remotely and quickly survey standing structures. The drone typically flies for 12-30 minutes at a time and can follow a pre-programmed set route or altitude; it will come back to you at the press of a button, while its flight can be followed by a small inbuilt camera. The attached camera can take HD photographs or films including 360 degree recordings. The drone has several on-board gyroscopes and GPS devices that allow it to maintain a safe and consistent position even in windy conditions! These features enable the drone to take geo-referenced HD photographs, which are accurate down to 0.01m. This is simply impossible from traditional balloon-based cameras or even other highly sophisticated aerial survey methods. Furthermore, the drone can take many hundreds of photographs in a single flight so our method also allows us to complete the photogrammetric survey far more rapidly than by a traditional hand-held method on the ground, which can be highly time-consuming and is often problematic given the importance of camera position in photographing high walls or features. However, it was necessary to supplement the drone photographs with a number taken with a hand held camera. This was necessary given the high number of very small spaces in the insula that were simply too small or narrow for the drone to adequately photograph.
For detailed specifications on the drones click here: LE34
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http://dlvr.it/2sT5SD #archaeology #rome
By Roman History Made Easy
Well, yesterday we had a look at why Gallic cities like Bibracte existed, but today we’re going to take a closer look at the city itself. Traditionally, historians have looked upon Gallic cites like Bibracte as fortified hilltop Oppida - small, well-defended redoubts to which the surrounding communities could evacuate during a time of crisis. They may have covered a few acres, the harvest may have been stored there and the local king or aristocrat may have maintained a residence there. However, by the time Bibracte was founded in the 3rd-century BC, international trade was overtaking farming in importance in Celtic Gaul, and large scale trading needed cities rather than scattered villages.
What did this mean for Bibracte? Well, it means Bibracte was built on a large scale right from the outset. The earliest walls enclosed an area of 500 acres, they stood 17-ft high, were punctuated by fifteen gates and were surrounded by a 13-ft deep ditch that was 33-ft wide. At this stage the city was part of the Arvernian Kingdom which stretched across most of central Gaul. However during the 2nd-century BC the Arvernians were weakened by losing much of their southern territories to Rome (to form parts of Transalpine Gaul) and then the catastrophic invasions of the Cimbri. The great German invasions during the last decade of the 2nd-century coincides with Aedui independence (by default) and the building of a second inner wall at Bibracte. This wall was some 3.1-miles long, and consumed 30,000-cubic ft of timber, 60,000-cubic ft of earth and 30-tons of iron. The wall was built hurriedly and carved through much of the outer suburbs - so it was most likely erected during the Cimbri invasions between 109 BC and 102 BC.
Bibracte was not just the home of the local chief and a few grain silos, rather it was a city of at least 20,000 people and was larger than most of the Roman provincial cities built afterwards. Many of the houses in the Aeduan capital were built of timber - rectangular cottages inhabited by the thousands of artisans, metal workers and merchants who drove the Aeduan urban economy. However at the centre of Bibracte was a town square known as the ‘Horse Park’ surrounded by much larger Roman influenced stone villas that included hypocausts and sewers. One of these villas covered some 12,000sq-ft. The city also featured large urban fountains that may have had civic or religious purposes - or both.
Continued at http://calvusguy.blogspot.com/2013/01/gauls-forgotten-cities-bibracte.html
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* “The Conquest of Gaul” by Julius Caesar
* Nuntius 2013-01-09
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* Marching with Caesar; Conquest of Gaul, by R.W.Peake.
http://dlvr.it/2sT5QC #archaeology #rome
By The Ancient Standard
Although it has taken quite some time to get to this point, the Colosseum in Rome is finally undergoing restoration… and yielding some interesting tidbits about ancient history in Rome along the way. Recently, excavators and restoration experts discovered trades of ancient frescoes in red, black, green, and blue—but that’s not the most interesting part. Even better?
Apparently visitors to the Colosseum engaged in some tagging, Ancient Rome style—everyone’s favorite gladiatorial arena holds graffiti art of phallic symbols. Would you expect anything else?
The officials who unveiled the discoveries between the second and third levels of the Colosseum say that particular passageway won’t be open to the public until sometime during Summer 2013, as there is plenty of work to do to ensure the graffiti doesn’t fade or become damaged now that it’s exposed.
The images were hidden beneath decades and decades of calcified grime and rock, and the colorful traces of the discovered frescoes confirm the historical understanding of the Colosseum as a richly decorated, vibrantly colored stadium during its heyday. Currently, the belief is that less than 1 perfect of the Colosseum’s original painted surfaces remain—and despite the fact that the arena’s exposed seating was white marble, it was the inside that came alive with color.
Colosseum director Rosella Rea says that “the insides, the galleries, all the corridors and transverse hallways were completely colored. We need to imagine a building with extreme contrasts of color.” And many of the colored areas now discovered are covered with more recent graffiti art—including some drawings from dates as wide-ranging as 1620 and 1943.
But older still, officials have found graffiti that they believe dates from the 3rd century—a red palm frond and crown are believed to be the work of a gladiator fan as the individual traveled the hallway, and another area under restoration contains graffiti art of phalluses, which were often drawn as good luck charms.
Continued at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheAncientStandard/~3/H-gA_D7ntJ0/
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http://dlvr.it/2sT5P5 #archaeology #rome
By Roman History Made Easy
A map of Gaul in the 1st century BC, showing the relative position of the Helvetii and the Sequani (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It’s one of those strange paradoxes of archaeology - an ancient authority on Gaul describes Gallic cities 2000-years ago but his descriptions are often ignored by modern historians. The 19th and 20th century produced the idea of Gauls as the ‘Noble Savage’ and clearly, noble savages couldn’t go around living in cities. As a result many of us - if we’ve ever heard of Gauls at all - will conjure up images of Asterix and Obelix living in thatched roundhouses rather than a sophisticated western civilisation that was rapidly catching up with Rome and Greece. Julius Caesar embraced this latter concept when he foresaw Gaul in its ascendancy - his reaction was to control the economic powerhouse Gaul could become through diplomatic and military force. If he hadn’t, then it’s likely just a few unified states from modern day central France would have had the economic means and resources to make Rome a client rather than the master.
Celtic Gaul was dotted with several large commercial hubs by the 1st-century BC - many, such as Cenabum (modern day Orleans) and Lutetia (modern day Paris) had built their power on river trade. Cenabum’s position on the Loire allowed it to control almost all commodity trading between the Atlantic Coast and the Mediterranean Basin, likewise Lutetia controlled the Seine, the gateway to the North Sea and the Baltic lands. But for both of these shipping corridors to prosper, short land routes between the southwards flowing Saone and, the northwards flowing Loire and Seine was an unavoidable necessity - making the area between Chalon-S-Saone (Cavillonum) and Nevers (Noviodunum) the place where the real money was to be made. This 100-mile land corridor was the bridge for all north-south trade across Celtic and Belgic Gaul. For all intents and purposes, every wine amphora moving north and every talent of iron heading south had to be taken off ships and road hauled. So whoever controlled this land bridge stood to make a lot of money - and it they did so by collecting tolls. Think about it - imagine a single freeway linking northern and southern Europe over which every pedestrian, pack animal and wagon had to pay for the pleasure. It was a cash cow and it was critically important - and it drove Gallic politics before and after Julius Caesar arrived in 58BC. The money this region was producing was almost certainly the reason for the continual warring between the Arverni and Aeduans in the early 1st-century BC and why Julius Caesar moved to eject Ariovistus and his German mercenaries from the same region as soon as the Romans arrived. That Caesar elected to maintain close relations with the Aeduans rather than the more powerful Arverni also suggests he was much more interested in where the Aedui were - rather than who they were.
Continued at http://calvusguy.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-gauls-forgotten-city-builders.html
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http://dlvr.it/2sSdBh #archaeology #rome
House of the Faun in Pompeii, Italy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Near the Napoli Bay, the Vesuvius volcano is standing about to erupt, with its crater widely opened towards the sky. Many visitors coming here climb the 1277 meters high all the way up, until the irregular border of the crater and then look down from there. There is no knowledge regarding when will the volcano will erupt; but until then, millions of people that live in Napoli and millions of visitors eager to see the unknown, carry on with their normal lives, with their holidays, as if it is impossible that someone will ruin their happy lives and the natural beauty of this area.
However, between Napoli and Amalfi Coast, the most picturesque and known coast area of Italy are the town of Erculano and Pompeii. Pompeii is the proof that nature does not listen to our thoughts and desires but goes on with its course. This is how in Pompeii one can see how nature surpassed the human being and the malign forces of it have made out of this city an archaeological site. Once being a very wealthy commercial center, nowadays, Pompeii stands as one of the most important archaeological site from Europe and Italy’s most visited tourist attraction.
It was in 1748 when the first diggings here started to get out in the open, the street that once sued to be here, the gardens, the bathrooms, the frescoes, the money, the bodies, the beds. Nowadays, the archaeologists have discovered 44 hectares, from the total of 60 hectares that once used to signify Pompeii. They have tried to put the pieces they found altogether and understand everyday life that went on in those days. These artifacts can be seen at the Archaeology National Museum from Napoli. Continued at http://www.enjoyourholiday.com/2013/01/20/under-the-ruins-pompeii/
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http://dlvr.it/2sSdB6 #archaeology #rome
By Archaeology Briefs
The Piazza Venezia, as seen from the Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II with the Palazzo Venezia to the left. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Archaeologists have presented the completed excavation of a 900-seat auditorium under Rome’s Piazza Venezia, which they are hailing as the city’s most significant discovery since the Roman Forum was unearthed 80 years ago.
The ancient arts complex or “Athenaeum”, which lies 5.5m underground, dates to 123 AD. It comprises three halls whose 13m-high arched ceilings and terraced marble seating once provided space for Rome’s noblemen to listen to poetry and philosophy. Its construction is believed to have been funded by Emperor Hadrian, who was a keen patron of the arts.
After the fall of the Roman empire, archaeologists believe that the complex was used to smelt ingots and mint coins during the Byzantine era, while from the 16th- to the 19th centuries one of the halls served as a hospital cellar. An earthquake in 848 AD led to a large part of the structure’s roof collapsing onto the floor of one of the halls, where it still remains.
The archaeologists’ discovery follows five years of excavations and came about as a result of digging for the capital’s third underground line, the troubled Metro C, part of whose route was designed to run from the Colosseum to St Peter’s.
More to read and original article: http://archaeologybriefs.blogspot.com/2013/01/major-archaeological-discovery-in-rome.html
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* Rome Unveils ‘Biggest Find Since the Forum’
http://dlvr.it/2r0GLP #archaeology #rome
By Mac Congail
Philip V silver tetradrachm
The strategy of Ethnic Engineering – the mass deportation of certain ethnic groups as part of a wider political or military plan – was common in the Ancient World, reaching its peak in the Roman Imperial period.
The first major example in southeastern Europe is recorded at the end of the 4th c. BC, when it was implemented by the Macedonian leader Kassander in an attempt to halt the southwards advance of the Celtic tribes in the Balkans. As part of this strategy, 20,000 of the Illyrian Autariatae tribe, who had fled into Macedonia in the face of the Celtic advance, were resettled in the Orbelos area (on the modern Greek/Bulgarian border) as military settlers in order to establish a buffer zone protecting Macedonia’s northern border from Celtic expansion (Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca historica XX. 19.1; see also ‘Flight of the Ravens’ and ‘The Thunderbolt’ articles).
A variation of the same policy was implemented by the Macedonian King Philip V in 179 BC. In order to neutralize the Dardanii tribes, traditional Macedonian enemies, Philip struck a deal with the Celtic Scordisci and the Bastarnae, whereby the latter would be resettled in Dardania, thus eliminating the Dardanii threat, and ensuring Bastarnae help for Macedonia’s planned war with Rome (Livy 40:57, 41:19).
Most examples of this strategy, however, date from the Roman Imperial period. For example, in 26 AD a plan was formulated by Rome for the mass deportation of the troublesome Celtic Artacoi tribe in the Haemus (Balkan) mountains (see ‘Artacoi’ article), and in the 2nd / 3rd c. AD mass transfers of the aforementioned Bastarnae to the south of the Danube were carried out by the Roman emperors Probus and Diocletian (Historia Augusta Probus 18; Eutropius IX.25; see below).
More to read and original article: http://balkancelts.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/ethnic-engineering/
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http://dlvr.it/2r0GJz #archaeology #rome
By Lucus Antiquus
Temple of Faunus on a map of
ancient Rome around 300 AD
Bona Dea is one of those deities of whom we know very little; this is because she was the major deity for a women-only mystery cult, and while people wrote down many speculations, we have no insider stories, as it were.
One of the things that we do not know is her true name. That’s right – Bona Dea is not a name: it’s actually a title, meaning “The Good Goddess”. Plenty of other Roman deities are known by titles instead of names, including Bonus Eventus (Good Fortune/Outcome), and Bonus/Bona is often used as an epithet for, well, pretty much all deities.
Anyway. One of the more popular theories as to her identity is that she is Fauna, the wife (and daughter!) of the seer-deity Faunus. Another couple of theories put out by ancient authors is that she is the wife and sister of Faunus, or that her name is not Fauna but instead Fenta Fatua, with Fatua for foretelling women their fates, as Faunus did for men.
In any case, it is speculated that her true name was forbidden for men to speak, and since the women of her cult didn’t write it down, we don’t know what it is.
We do, however, know some things about the cult and mysteries of Bona Dea.
It was apparently similar in nature to the Orphic Mysteries, thought what that means, exactly, I don’t know.
No myrtle was allowed in her cult areas, and there’s a little myth that goes along with the reason: taking the perspective that Bona Dea is Fauna, wife of Faunus. Faunus found out that she had been drinking wine in secret – a huge taboo in ancient Roman society – and, in a rage, he beat her to death with sticks of myrtle. This is also why wine, although used in rituals in her honor, was called “milk”.
It seems that wine or mead and cakes were the most popular offering to Bona Dea, and purple – unsurprisingly – was her sacred color. We know that her sacred groves were decorated with purple ribbons and garlands, and apparently her priestesses wore purple ribbons in their hair.
Sacrifices in honor of Bona Dea were called damium, which comes from a Greek word meaning “public”. Obviously, however, those sacrifices were private, so there’s an interesting use of word there. Along with that, a priestess of Bona Dea was called a damiatrix.
Another myth of this goddess says that she is merely the daughter (not wife) of Faunus, and that she refused to be in the company of men due to her “great chastity”. That, the myth says, is why men aren’t allowed to participate in her mysteries.
However.
Just because men didn’t participate in her mysteries, didn’t mean that they didn’t worship the goddess.
We actually have a ton of evidence, mostly in the form of dedicated altars, that men were devotees of Bona Dea. And they were men of different statuses, too, from freedmen to high-ranking Romans.
And speaking of men involved in some way with Bona Dea…
brings me to the great “Bona Dea Scandal” of 62 BCE. There were a couple of festivals each year in honor of Bona Dea, but the one that concerns us here is the Winter rite. The festival of this particular year was held by Pompeia, the wife of Julius Caesar.
As I’ve said before, but will re-emphasize here: MEN WERE NOT ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE MYSTERIES OF BONA DEA. They weren’t even able to be in the same residence that a mystery festival was taking place in. It was said that she would blind the man who looked upon her sacred rites.
But on this particular day, a young cad by the name of Publius Clodius Pulcher (Clodius the Beautiful, lol) dressed up as a woman and intruded upon the rites, fully intending to seduce Pompeia.
Needless to say, things didn’t end well.
Clodius was caught red-handed and charged with desecration of religious rites. His sentence was execution. Julius Caesar divorced Pompeia, famously remarking that “Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion”.
Now, moving on.
In iconography, Bona Dea is depicted as holding a cornucopia in her left hand and an offering dish in her right. Oftentimes a snake accompanies her, and it is shown drinking out of the dish.
She is also associated with a good amount of other deities: Silvanus, Hercules, Sabazius, Caelestis, Vesta, Mercurius, Panthaeus, Diana, Juno, and Fortuna Conservatrix.
More to read and original Article: http://romanpolytheist.wordpress.com/2013/01/18/pbp-b-is-for-bona-dea
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