For Romans being civilized very much meant living in a home. If the saying states that ‘an Englishman’s home is his castle’, then this very much also was true for the Roman. And the very spiritual center of his home was the hearth. This will no doubt have gone back to ancient times, when the …
A superstitious Society Compare to modern society, the Romans seem extremely superstitious. But then today’s major religions have all throughout their past discouraged, even combatted, superstitions. Also our sciences and our technological world allows little room for superstition. The Romans lived in an era previous to this. Their world was full of unexplained phenomena, darkness …
Prayer and Sacrifice in Ancient Rome In the Roman mind, there was a sort of contract between the gods and the mortals. As part of this agreement each side would provide as well as receive services. Thee role of the mortal in this partnership with the gods was to worship the mighty gods. For this …
For way too long (think thousands of years), women and children had to slap laundry against rocks next to a river and later, work their hands into early arthritis with a scrub board. Thanks to one guy’s lightbulb moment, those days are long gone. Well, not as long as one might think. The act of …
(Died AD 465) After the death of Majorian there followed a period of over three months where no successor was named for the throne of the western empire.Then on 19 November AD 461 Libius Severus was proclaimed emperor. Little is known about Libius Severus’ origins and career, other that he came from Lucania in the …
Lucius Cornelius Sulla(138-78 BC) Lucius Cornelius Sulla stemmed from a good, though not very wealthy Roman family. He came to prominence most of all in the Social War (91-89 BC). When in 88 BC Mithridates, King of Pontus, attacked the Roman province of Asia, where a alleged 80’000 Romans and Italians were massacred, the senate …