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The Roman state existed in practice for XIII centuries, being the power which was impacting the history. Therefore, I decided that I would tell the history of ancient Rome in the articles below, which will not necessarily cover only the Eternal City.
I encourage you to send articles and point out any corrections or inaccuracies.
In the 18th book of the Iliad, there is a description of Achilles’ shield, made for him by Hephaestus at the request of the hero’s mother – Tethys. Virgil, the entire “Aeneid” modelled on both epics of Homer (“Iliad” and “Odyssey”), did not fail to include in his work (in book VII) an analogous description of the shield Aeneas. The differences between them illustrate well the different goals and characters of the works of the two poets.
For centuries, people have tried to find out what the future holds. Hence, it was common to refer to all kinds of fortune-tellers or priests – augur or haruspices who they foretold from the entrails of animals. Special attention was also paid to all kinds of fortune-telling, which, as it was believed, were not a coincidence, but were interfering with the gods.
Bulla Felix was the Roman version of Robin Hood. He robbed the rich and helped the poor. His activity was reportedly in the years 205-207 CE, the reign of the emperor Septimius Severus. His group consisted mainly of runaway slaves, imperial freedmen, and even former praetorians. At its peak, he had 600 robbers under his command.
Unlike most civilizations of the ancient East, developing in the valleys of great rivers, the subjugation and use of which was associated with the emergence of great states, the fate of Greece, devoid of this factor, turned out differently.
This question causes us some trouble at the outset. The ancients of course did not know the term “middle class”, which does not mean that there was no social group situated between the social elite and the urban poor. However, its definition is not easy.
Golden glass – this is the name used to describe the parts of the dishes (bowls, plates, cups, etc.), most often they were bottoms or their walls, and they were small works of art in themselves, assuming an oval or round shape. The technique of making them was based on placing gold leaves decorated with a pattern, often with an inscription, between two panes of glass, which later became part of the dishes when the edges were heated.
Games that use a variety of small items, such as astragals or cubes were very popular among the ancient Romans, which is confirmed to some extent by archaeological finds. As it turns out, the dice is uneven – Roman game equipment took various, sometimes even surprising forms, not always similar to those we know today.
In the world of ancient Romans, we can meet the concept of “blood stigma” or its contamination. The de facto love morality of those times was based on it. It was also important when getting married. No one would marry a “contaminated” person.
Lawrence Alma-Tadema was a 19th-century Dutch painter, most of his works concerned the ancient world. Thanks to his outstanding paintings, we can better imagine the amazing world of the ancients.
The Georgics (lat. Georgica) of Virgil are not only the perfect work of poetry, but also an invaluable source of information about the ancient people’ state of knowledge in the field of agriculture, astronomy, zooculture, horticulture, and … beekeeping. The entire fourth book (of four) is devoted to air-born honey.
