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.”

🔺 PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE “But when they were near the Romans and the signal was raised by their commander, first of all they filled the plain with the sound of a deep and terrifying roar. For the Parthians do not incite themselves to battle with horns or trumpets, but they have hollow drums of distended hide, covered with bronze bells, and on these they beat all at once in many quarters, and the instruments give forth a low and dismal tone, a blend of wild beast's roar and harsh thunder peal. They had rightly judged that, of all the senses, hearing is the one most apt to confound the soul, soonest rouses its emotions, and most effectively unseats the judgment.” (The battle of Carrhae, 53 BC). Plutarch

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🔘 WHY DO THEY SUPPOSE JANUS TO HAVE BEEN TWO-FACED AND SO REPRESENT HIM IN PAINTING AND SCULPTURE? “Is it because, as they relate, he was by birth a Greek from Perrhaebia, and, when he had crossed to Italy and had settled among the savages there, he changed both his speech and his habits? Or is it rather because he changed the people of Italy to another manner and form of life by persuading a people which had formerly made use of wild plants and lawless customs to till the soil and to live under organized government?” Plutarch, Roman Questions

🔵 THE HARBOR OF CARTHAGE Carthage possessed two distinct harbors: a large, rectangular commercial harbor for merchant ships and a remarkable circular military harbor known as the Cothon. The Cothon was a masterpiece of engineering, designed specifically for the Carthaginian navy. It was a perfectly circular basin, surrounded by a ring of structures that provided individual docking bays for warships, facilitating efficient maintenance and repair. An artificial island stood at the center of the Cothon. The Cothon enabled the Carthaginians to build and maintain a formidable navy, The commercial harbor facilitated trade with other civilizations, bringing wealth and resources to the city.

🟣 DEFENDING WISELY “And if the country be not easy to invade but have few and narrow approaches, you should prepare these in advance by such a distribution of forces as has just been described, pla­cing soldiers at the approaches to oppose those who are attacking and wish to march upon the city, having stationed in advance other troops who are made aware by signal-fires of the fortunes of the several divisions, in order that these may bring support, if in any way they need one another's help. 17 If, on the other hand, the land is not difficult to invade, but it is possible for large forces to attack at many points, the strategic positions of the country should be seized, so that the approach to the city may be difficult for the enemy.”

⚪️ HIERO PAYS, SYRACUSE SAFE “The Romans, after adding the forces of these cities to their own, advanced upon Syracuse, intending to besiege Hiero. But Hiero, perceiving the discontent of the Syracusans, sent envoys to the consuls to discuss a settlement, and inasmuch as the Romans were eager to have as their foe the Carthaginians alone, they readily consented and concluded a fifteen-year peace; the Romans received one hundred and fifty thousand drachmas; Hiero, on condition of returning the captives of war, was to continue as ruler of the Syracusans and of the cities subject to him, Acrae, Leontini, Megara, Helorum, Neetum, and Tauromenium.” Diodorus Siculus

🟢 THE ANCESTRAL DAYS The Parentalia was a nine-day festival held in ancient Rome during the month of February to honor deceased family members. This period, known as the "dies parentales" or "ancestral days," began on February 13th and concluded on February 21st. The Parentalia was primarily a private affair, with families visiting the tombs of their ancestors to pay their respects. These visits involved a variety of rituals. Food and drink offerings, such as milk, honey, wine, and bread, were left at the gravesites to nourish the spirits of the departed. Prayers and libations were also performed, seeking the continued goodwill and protection of the ancestors. Beyond these private observances, the Parentalia also held a significant social and religious importance. It served to reinforce the strong emphasis on family ties and ancestral veneration within Roman society. Romans believed that maintaining harmonious relationships with their deceased ancestors was crucial for the well-being and prosperity of their families and the community as a whole. By honoring their ancestors, they believed they ensured continued support and protection from these revered spirits. The final day of the Parentalia, February 21st, was marked by the Feralia, a public ceremony honoring all the dead. This public observance further emphasized the collective importance of respecting and remembering one's ancestors within Roman culture.

⚫️ LACK OF PROVISIONS “Nothing distressed our troops so much as the lack of provisions. The legions' baggage train was sent on to Novaesium with the men who were unfit for service to bring provisions from there overland; for the enemy controlled the river.” “On the march they began to murmur openly that they would no longer endure hunger or the plots of their commanders; but those who were being left behind complained that they were being abandoned by the withdrawal of part of the legions. So a double mutiny began, some urging Vocula to return, others refusing to go back to camp.” Tacitus, Histories