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Any good tourist will have learned that the foundation of Rome goes back to Romulus and Remus (precisely in 753 (!) according to Marcus Varron called "the most learned of the Romans") and that they were children of the princess Rhea Sylvia and the god Mars himself. The princess Rhea was the daughter of the king Numitor of Alba.
Just like Moses the two babies were put in a basket and entrusted to the floods to escape death. The guides will of course have told you their rescue by a she-wolf, the famous Lupa which became the symbol of Rome.
But did they tell you that in Latin the word Lupa has two significances: she-wolf and prostitute!
Now who saved our two cherubim's, a she-wolf or a prostitute?
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Tout bon touriste aura appris que la fondation de Rome remonte à Romulus et Remus en 753 (date précise selon l'historien Marcus Varron !!!) et qu'ils étaient fils de la princesse Rhea Sylvia et du dieu Mars lui-même. La princesse était quant à elle fille du roi albain Numitor.
Tout comme Moïse ils furent mis dans un panier et confiés aux flots pour échapper à la mort. Les guides vous auront bien sur racontés leur sauvetage par une louve, la fameuse Lupa. Mais il ne vous auront peut être pas racontés qu'en latin le mot Lupa a deux significations: louve et prostituée! (d' où le terme français lupanar = bordel)
Alors qui a sauvés nos deux chérubins une louve ou une prostituée?
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To Romulus, murderer of his brother Remus (I don't know if one should make a link with Cain assassinating Abel?), succeeded as kings Numa Pompilius, Tullius Hostilius (the one of the duel between the Horace's and Curacies) and Ancus Martius who is said to have founded the port of Ostia and have build the first aqueduct of Rome.
It is here that the myth, the legend, collides with reality.
At the 7th century before J.C the seven hills of Rome were inhabited by shepherds living in modest huts as one can see at the museum of the Baths of Diocletian's at the section of proto-history (ref. my comment on the museum of the Baths).
From the myth remains that all the history of ancient Rome was impregnated by a sacred context which directed the life of the Roman society as well as the individuals.
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DU MYTHE A LA REALITE. II.
Romulus assassin de son frère Remus (je ne sais pas s'il faut faire un rapprochement avec Caïn assassinant Abel ?) fut suivi des rois Numa Pompilius, Tullius Hostilius (celui du duel des Horaces et des Curiaces) et Ancus Martius dont on dit qu'il fonda le port d'Ostie et fit construire le premier aqueduc.
C'est ici que le mythe, la légende s'entrechoque avec la réalité.
Au 7e siècle avant J.C. les sept collines de Rome étaient habitées par des bergers logeant dans des modestes cabanes comme on peut voir au musée des Thermes de Dioclétien à la section de protohistoire (ref. mon commentaire sur le musée des Thermes).
Du mythe il reste que toute l'histoire de la Rome antique est imprégnée d'un contexte sacré qui a dirigé la vie de la société romaine et des individus.
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Six years of secondary school studying Latin (at 8 hours a week) do not keep me free from some mental confusion when I visit the sites of the antique Rome. The essential question for me is not "to be or not to be" but to whom belongs this or that?
Indeed the Antique Rome counts twelve centuries of history, 1200 years of archaeological stratifications of a high complexity.
So please forgive the simple amateur I am not to distinguish at first sight what belongs to the Antoninus dynasty of emperors from what belongs to the Severus emperors.
I am already very satisfied to be able to distinguish (most often) what was before Julius Caesar from what came afterwards.
A now retired Professor of a French university, Lucien Jerphagnon, used to ask new students of the first year in history to situate the philosopher Seneca in the history; before or after J.C.?
All students hesitated… like me. Why?
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DOUZE SIECLES D'HISTOIRE !
Six années d'humanités gréco-latines ne peuvent empêcher que je ressente quelque confusion mentale lorsque je visite les sites de la Rome antique. La question que je me pose souvent est: à qui appartient quoi?
En effet la Rome antique c'est douze siècles d'histoire, 1200 ans de stratifications archéologiques!
Dans ces conditions il faut pardonner au simple amateur que je suis de ne pas faire la distinction au premier coup d'œil de ce qui appartient aux Antonins ou de ce qui appartient aux Sévères. Quant à moi je suis déjà très satisfait de distinguer ce qui est avant Jules César de ce qui vient après. Et comme J. César précède d'une cinquantaine d'années Jésus Christ, la chronologie en ce qui me concerne en est simplifiée.
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Tossed about like children's toys, the remnants of ancient temples lie strewn around the ground. . . waiting for further study or identification or just because they are treasured as historic elements. Hard to imagine most cities assigning this valuable city space to architectural remnants of the past. I'm so glad the Italians have been gentle with their history. Leave a Comment
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When glancing through the twelve centuries of history of ancient Rome one cannot avoid meeting Julius Caesar, one of the most important political personalities of the Roman history.
Among the reforms initiated by Caesar when he was named “dictator” figures the reform of the calendar which he did in his quality of "Pontifex Maximus".
In order to catch up with the shift between the calendar year and the solar year, Julius Caesar decided to extend the year 45 (before J.C.) until it reached 445 days. After that he fixed the calendar year at 365 and 1/4 days.
The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months and a leap day added every 4 years to February.
The Julian calendar was of general use in Europe at the Roman Empire until 1582, when the pope Gregory XIII promulgated the Gregorian calendar, which was quickly adopted by the majority of the catholic countries. This calendar still in use corrected a slow forward drift of the Julian calendar which is still used by many national orthodox churches.
To pay homage to Julius Caesar his first name was given to a month of the year named July since then, or a similar name, in all the European languages as well Latin, Germanic as Anglo-Saxon.
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ANNEE DE 445 JOURS !
En parcourant les douze siècles d'histoire de la Rome antique on ne peut éviter de rencontrer Jules César l'une des personnalités politiques les plus importantes de l'histoire romaine. Parmi les réformes initiées par César lorsqu'il fut nommé "dictator" figure celle du calendrier réalisé dans sa fonction de "Pontifex maximus".
Afin de rattraper le décalage entre l'année civile et l'année solaire il prolongea l'année 45 (avant J.C.) jusqu'à 445 jours. Ensuite il fixa l'année civile à 365 jours et 1/4. Une année normale compte 365 jours avec tous les 4 ans une année bissextile par addition d'un jour supplémentaire au mois de février.
Le calendrier julien était d'utilisation générale en Europe du temps de l'Empire romain jusqu'en 1582, quand le pape Grégoire XIII a promulgué le calendrier grégorien, qui fut rapidement adopté par la plupart des pays catholiques. Ce calendrier toujours en usage corrigea une dérive du calendrier julien.
Pour rendre hommage à Jules César son prénom fut donné à un mois de l'année nommé depuis lors juillet, ou un nom similaire, dans toutes les langues aussi bien latines, germaniques qu'anglo-saxonnes.
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With the progression of their expansion the ancient Romans showed less and less modesty.
As the grandfather of Romulus and Remus was the Alban king Numitor and as according to the legend the town of Alba Longa (in the Alban mounts near Rome) had been founded by Iule the son of Aeneas, illustrious prince of Troy, son of Anchises and of the goddess Aphrodite/Venus, the Romans regarded themselves as descendants of the famous Trojans but also of two most important divinities of the Olympus Mars and Venus.
Actually when the Romans conquered Greece, it were the descendants of the unhappy Hector of Troy who took their revenge.
This always satisfied me because I never liked Achilles a cruel and sulky character.
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DU MYTHE A LA REALITE. I.
Au fur et à mesure de leur expansion les anciens Romains firent de moins en moins preuve de modestie. Comme le grand-père de Romulus et Remus était le roi albain Numitor et que selon la légende la ville d'Alba avait été fondée par Iule le fils d'Enée, illustre prince Troyen, fils d'Anchise et de la déesse Vénus, les Romains se sont considérés comme descendants des illustres Troyens mais aussi de deux divinités des plus importantes de l'Olympe soit Mars et Venus.
En fait lorsque les Romains ont conquis la Grèce, c'étaient les descendants du malheureux Hector le Troyen qui prenaient leur revanche.
J'avoue que cette revanche me plait bien car j'ai toujours trouvé qu'Achille était un type peu sympathique, boudeur et cruel.
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Romans were the first who understood the importance of ground connections between the places and the people. Thanks to their very skillfull road constructors, the city of Rome was connected to all parts of a huge imperia, what helped them alot in controlling the territory and developing the commerce. Most of this roads still exist but today we know them as A1, A4 etc., being part of the highway network throughout Italy. In ancient Roman times this roads were known as Via Appia, Via Julia, etc. Leave a Comment
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When visiting and writing reviews about Roman monuments I read so much about earthquakes shaking the Colosseum half a dozen times, destroying Basilica's, that I felt it my duty to add this type of event to "Rome warnings and dangers".
Don't think this danger is just far away in the past; on 22/08/2005 the centre of Rome felt an earthquake of 4.5 on the Righter scale. There was a lot of talking between neighbours on the streets but no serious damages.
And closer to us on 12/04/2008 a small earthquake has shaken the Alban Hills southeast of Rome during the night and woke many people. Fortunately I had left Rome because I hate being shaken in my bed.
Don't think that nothing serious can happen and that pickpockets are much more a danger than earthquakes! On 26 September 1997 strong earthquakes struck central Italy and shook Assisi so strongly that frescoed vaults of the upper Basilica collapsed.
Since then when I visit Umbria I always wear a safety helmet.
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Probably one of the wilder walks I took while in Rome was from the Baths of Caracalla to the Catacombs of St. Sebastian on what is more commonly known as the Appian Way or Via Appia Antica. The famed road was built in 312 B.C. and led from Rome to the seaport of Brindisi. Much of the road where I walked, especially around the catacombs, was flanked by impressive ancient monuments. Amongst them was a hippodrome, some ancient fortifications and the Tomb of Cecilia Metela. This latter monument was built during the time of Caesar. Cecilia was a wife of one of his more important generals. The tomb is the best preserved of the many tombs along the road.
Walking along the Appian Way was a crazy event for me. There are no sidewalks!. Cars wiz by a great speeds. Therefore take the bus. Bus 218 will get you to all the catacombs from the San Giovanni Metro stop. I took this bus back. The Tomb of Cecilia of Metela is virtually across the road from the Catacombs of St. Sebastian. Leave a Comment
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This maps can be seen on a wall which is situated in between Colosseum and Foro Romano, showing the development of Rome during the centuries.
The first map shows Rome in the 8th century BC, when the town was founded, being at that time small and insignificant settlement. In that time most of the central part of penninsula was under the rule of mighty Etruscans.
TO BE CONTUNUED Leave a Comment
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on May 21, 2008
on February 26, 2007
on July 2, 2007
on October 20, 2004
