🔶 SISTER’S YOKE 7th century BC. “When war arose between the Romans and the Albans, their leaders Hostilius and Fufetius decided to end it by the combat of a small number of men. On the side of the Romans, three brothers, named Horatii and on the side of the Albans, three other brothers, named Curiatii, were chosen by agreement. In the first encounter two Romans were killed, and the three Albans were injured. The last Horatius, seeing himself unable to defend himself against three, although he had not received any wounds, pretended to flee. The Curiatii pursued him at unequal intervals, as much as the pain of their wounds allowed; and one after the other, they were killed by him. As he returned laden with their spoils, he met his sister on the way, and she recognised the military cloak of one of the Curiatii, to whom she was engaged. When she began to cry, her brother killed her. For this he was condemned by the duumvirs, but he appealed to the people. His father's tears obtained his pardon, but on condition that he would pass under a yoke. This yoke is still in place on the street, and it is called the Sororium {"sister's yoke"}.”

🔺 GALLIC AUXILIARIES VS PERSIAN HEAVY CAVALRY “Publius himself, accordingly, cheered on his cavalry, made a vigorous charge with them, and closed with the enemy. But his struggle was an unequal one both offensively and defensively, for his thrusting was done with small and feeble spears against breastplates of raw hide and steel, whereas the thrusts of the enemy were made with pikes against the lightly equipped and unprotected bodies of the Gauls, since it was upon these that Publius chiefly relied, and with these he did indeed work wonders. For they laid hold of the long spears of the Parthians, and grappling with the men, pushed them from their horses, hard as it was to move them owing to the weight of their armour; and many of the Gauls forsook their own horses, and crawling under those of the enemy, stabbed them in the belly. These would rear up in their anguish, and die trampling on riders and foemen indiscriminately mingled. But the Gauls were distressed above all things by the heat and their thirst, to both of which they were unused; and most of their horseshad perished by being driven against the long spears.” (The battle of Carrhae, 53 BC). Plutarch

🔘 WHY HAVE THEY IN THE MONTH THREE BEGINNINGS OR FIXED POINTS, AND DO NOT ADOPT THE SAME INTERVAL OF DAYS BETWEEN THEM? “Is it, as Juba and his followers relate, that on the Kalends the officials used to call the people and announce the Nones for the fifth day thereafter, regarding the Ides as a holy day? Or is it rather because, since they measured time by the phases of the moon, they observed that in each month the moon undergoes three very important changes: first, when she is hidden by her conjunction with the sun; second, when she has escaped the sun's rays and becomes visible for the first time at sunset; and third, at the full moon, when her orb is completely round? The disappearance and concealment of the moon they call Kalendae, for everything concealed or secret is clam, and "to be concealed" is celari. The first appearance of the moon they call Nones, the most accurate since it is the new moon: for their word for "new" and "novel" is the same as ours. They name the Ides as they do either because of the beauty and form (eidos) of the full-orbed moon, or by derivation from a title of Jupiter. But we must not follow out the most exact calculation of the number of days nor cast aspersions on approximate reckoning; since even now, when astronomy has made so much progress, the irregularity of the moon's movements is still beyond the skill of mathematicians, and continues to elude their calculations.” Plutarch, Roman Questions

🔵 VALERIAN WRITES GALLIENUS ON FUTURE EMPEROR PROBUS "From Valerian the father to Gallienus the son, an Augustus to an Augustus. Following out the opinion which I have always held concerning Probus from his early youth, as well as that held by all good men, who say that he is a man worthy of his name, I have appointed him to a tribune­ship, assigning six cohorts of Saracens and entrusting to him, besides, the Gallic irregulars along with that company of Persians which Artabassis the Syrian delivered over to us. Now I beg of you, my dearest son, to hold this young man, whom I wish all the lads to imitate, in the high honour that his virtues and his services call for in view of what is owed him by reason of the brilliance of his mind." Historia Augusta, the life of Probus

Hello fren!

Hagia Sophia

Constantinople

Victory stele of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, a part: “Memphis, his (Taharqa) royal city, in half a day, with mines, tunnels, assaults, I besieged, I captured, I destroyed, I devastated, I burned with fire. His queen, his harem, [Prince] Ushankhuru his heir, and the rest of his sons and daughters, his property and his goods, his horses, his cattle, his sheep in countless numbers, I carried off to Assyria. The root of Kush I tore up out of Egypt.”

🟣 VARIETY AND HEALTH “A man in health, who is both vigorous and his own master, should be under no obligatory rules, and have no need, either for a medical attendant, or for a rubber and anointer. His kind of life should afford him variety; he should be now in the country, now in town, and more often about the farm; he should sail, hunt, rest sometimes, but more often take exercise; for whilst inaction weakens the body, work strengthens it; the former brings on premature old age, the latter prolongs youth. It is well also at times to go to the bath, at times to make use of cold waters; to undergo sometimes inunction, sometimes to neglect that same; to avoid no kind of food in common use; to attend at times a banquet, at times to hold aloof; to eat more than sufficient at one time, at another no more; to take food twice rather than once a day, and always as much as one wants provided one digests it. But whilst exercise and food of this sort are necessities, those of the athletes are redundant; for in the one class any break in the routine of exercise, owing to necessities of civil life, affects the body injuriously, and in the other, bodies thus fed up in their fashion age very quickly and become infirm.” Cornelius Celsus, De Medicina

⚪️ THE CRUELTY OF THE SICELS “Learn the fate that befell Marcus Regulus, the Roman general, after his capture by the Sicels (a Sicilian people). They cut off his eyelids with a knife and left his eyes open. Then, having penned him in a very small and narrow hut, they goaded to madness a wild elephant, and incited it to draw him down under itself and mangle him. Thus the great general, as though driven by an avenging fury, breathed his last and died a most wretched death. Xanthippus the Spartan also died at the hands of the Sicels. For round about Lilybaeum, a city of the Sicels, there was the clash of war between Romans and Sicels, war that had continued for twenty-four years. The Sicels, having suffered defeat in battle many times, offered to put their city in subjection to the Romans. The Romans, however, would not listen even to this offer but ordered the Sicels to go forth empty-handed. Xanthippus the Spartan, who had come from Sparta with a hundred soldiers (or alone, or with fifty soldiers, according to various authorities), approached the Sicels while they were yet hemmed in, and after conversing with them at length through an interpreter finally gave them courage to oppose their enemies. He clashed in battle with the Romans and with the aid of the Sicels cut to pieces their whole army. Yet for his good service he received a recompense worthy of and appropriate to that perverse people, since the foul wretches set him in a leaking ship and sank him beneath the swirling waters of the Adriatic, in their envy of the hero and of his nobility.” Diodorus Siculus

🟢 ROMAN HOUSES Stepping into a Roman house, you'd likely find yourself in the vestibulum, a small entryway. From there, you'd enter the atrium, the heart of the home. Atrium: This large open room often featured an open roof with a central pool (impluvium) to collect rainwater. Sunlight streamed in, illuminating the room and highlighting decorative features. Tablinum: Beyond the atrium, you might find the tablinum, a formal reception room where the head of the household conducted business or received guests. Cubicula: These were the bedrooms, often small and simply furnished. Wealthier Romans might have multiple cubicula for family members. Triclinium: This was the dining room, designed for reclining on couches while enjoying meals. Culina: The kitchen was typically located towards the back of the house and was often small and basic. Peristyle: Some larger houses had a peristyle, a colonnaded courtyard garden offering a more private and relaxing space. Balneum: Wealthier Romans might have included a private bathhouse (balneum) within their homes, with hot and cold rooms.

⚫️ A HEROIC SACRAFICE IN VAIN “He sent horsemen to kill Piso. They rode so rapidly that they broke into the proconsul's residence in the half-light of the early dawn with drawn swords. The majority of them were unacquainted with Piso, for Festus had selected Carthaginian auxiliaries and Moors to accomplish the murder. Not far from Piso's bedroom a slave happened to meet them. The soldiers asked him who and where Piso was. The slave answered with an heroic falsehood that he was Piso, and was at once cut down. Yet soon after Piso was murdered; for there was present a man who recognized him.” Tacitus, Histories

🟡 CAESAREA MARITIMA Caesarea Maritima was an ancient port city on the Mediterranean coast of Israel, originally a Phoenician trading post named Straton's Tower. Herod the Great significantly expanded it in the 1st century BCE, transforming it into the capital of the Roman province of Judea and a major center of trade and administration. The city boasted impressive architecture, including a large artificial harbor, a hippodrome, a theater, and a temple dedicated to Augustus. It played a role in early Christianity and continued to be an important city throughout the Byzantine and early Islamic periods before eventually declining. Today, Caesarea Maritima is a major archaeological park, showcasing the remains of the ancient city and offering insights into Roman-era life. The harbor, a marvel of ancient engineering, features a large breakwater and a complex system of docks. The hippodrome, a large stadium for chariot racing and other games, and the well-preserved Roman theater that once hosted theatrical performances and public events, provide a glimpse into the grandeur of a major Roman provincial city.

🟤 ROME AND THE TROJANS “ÆNEAS, the son of Anchises, the son of Capys, flourished in the Trojan war. After the capture of Troy he fled, and after long wandering arrived at that part of the Italian coast called Laurentum, where his camping-place is shown to this day, and that shore is called, after him, the Trojan beach. The Aborigines of this part of Italy were then ruled by Faunus, the son of Mars, who gave to Æneas his daughter Lavinia in marriage, and also a tract of land four hundred stades in circuit. Here Æneas built a town, which he named after his wife, Lavinium. Three years later, at the death of Faunus, Æneas succeeded to the kingdom by virtue of his marriage relationship, and he called the Aborigines Latins, from his father-in-law, Latinus Faunus. Three years later still, Æneas was killed by the Rutuli, a Tuscan tribe, in a war begun on account of his wife Lavinia, who had been previously betrothed to their king. He was succeeded in the government by Euryleon, otherwise called Ascanius, the son of Æneas and Creusa, a daughter of Priam, to whom he had been married in Troy. But some say that the Ascanius who succeeded to the government was the son of Æneas and Lavinia. Ascanius died four years after the founding of Alba (for he also built a city and gave it the name of Alba, and settled it with a colony from Lavinium), and Silvius succeeded to the throne. They say that this Silvius had a son named Æneas Silvius, and he a son named Latinus Silvius, and he a son named Capys, and he a son named Capetus, and he a son named Tiberinus, and he a son named Agrippa, who was the father of the Romulus who was struck by lightning, and who left a son Aventinus, who was the father of Procas. All of these bore the surname of Silvius. Procas had two sons, the elder named Numitor, and the younger Amulius. When the elder succeeded to the throne on the death of the father, the younger took it away from him by force and violence. He also killed Egestus, his brother's son, and he made Rhea Silvia, his brother's daughter, a vestal, so that she might remain childless. Notwithstanding a conspiracy against his life, Numitor himself was saved because of the gentleness and clemency of his manners. Silvia having become pregnant contrary to law, Amulius cast her into prison by way of punishment, and when she had given birth to two sons he gave them to some shepherds with orders to throw the babes into the neighboring stream called the river Tiber. These boys were Romulus and Remus. Being of the lineage of Æneas, on their mother's side, for their father's lineage was unknown, they always boasted their descent from the former.”

🔶 MAKING FUN OF PRISONERS OF WAR “Aemilius on conquering the Insubres (Cis Alpine Gauls) celebrated a triumph, and in it conveyed the foremost captives clad in armour up to the Capitol, making jests at their expense because he had heard that they had sworn not to remove their breastplates until they had mounted to the Capitol.”