On February 15th, the ancient Romans celebrated their pagan “Valentine’s Day” with an annual festival called Lupercalia. Unlike Valentine’s Day, this event was a bloody, violent celebration inundated with animal sacrifices. Throughout the practice of Lupercalia, matchmaking, and hopes of repelling ill wishes were a constant part of the ancient Valentine’s Day, Lupercalia. The precise …
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As I’m sure all of you know and deeply care about, Rome was a monarchy before it was a republic and an empire. Rome had seven different kings, ranging from the father of Rome to the father of one of the most infamous rapists in history. In this article, I will rank all the kings …
Read the full post →“The Most Important List You Will Ever Read”
From movies like Disney’s Hercules to the Percy Jackson series, countless traces of Greek mythology have found their way into the modern world. Within myths, readers follow heroes as they face the extremes of human experience along with a slew of monsters and angry gods. These stories carry moral values and present admirable qualities through …
Read the full post →“The Portrayal of Women in Greek Mythology”
Are you a Nobles student who is sick of school? Well, then, you may be envious of Ancient Roman women. Most women did not receive an education and spent their days developing skills to be a good housewife after marriage . Even girls from wealthier families only received a rudimentary education before they, too, were …
We should worship our home appliances. I mean, they make our lives so much easier and more convenient. We have appliances that store and preserve food, metal boxes that cook and heat our food for us, and machines that take care of cleaning our clothes, plates, and floors, with just a push of a button. …
Read the full post →“How to Do Laundry Like an Ancient Roman”
Just recently, I devised a back-of-the-napkin metric for historical influence: [Years of Continued Influence Following Death]/[Years Active]. Here’s how it’d work for Jesus. Jesus died in 33 CE, and no doubt this kick-started his greatest claim to fame. Last time I checked, Christianity was still relevant, so let’s make his years of continued influence 2022 …
The sorcerer, Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis, purportedly bewitched a friend’s wealthy mother in 157 AD, and then nearly went to trial for that and murder. Romans and sorcerers are not usually associated, and though there may have been other sorcerers, their stories were likely lost to time. However, the most is known about Apuleius since he …
Read the full post →“Apuleius: Sorcerer, Fortune-hunter, and Cultist?”
Similar to English, Latin has many idioms. One example of an English idiom is “going the extra mile.” Latin idioms can be found in most classical texts. While some may have gotten lost in translation, many remain and help the reader to understand the Latin text better. An example is the phrase “Hercle quī.” This …
Read the full post →“Idioms: the Key to Understanding Latin Better”
The sorcerer, Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis, purportedly bewitched a friend’s wealthy mother in 157 AD, and then nearly went to trial for that and murder. Romans and sorcerers are not usually associated, and though there may have been other sorcerers, their stories were likely lost to time. However, the most is known about Apuleius since he …
Read the full post →“Apuleius: Sorcerer, Fortune-hunter, and Cultist?”
It’s safe to assume that most people who study the ancient world have heard of the charismatic and clever Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, but few other African queens, who are just as notable, get the same amount of recognition. One such woman was Kandake Amanirenas, the second queen of the Kush Kingdom. The land of …
Read the full post →“Kandake Amanirenas: the Victor of her own Story”
