Rome

Hadrian (76-138 AD) owes his career to Plotina, Matidia and Marciana (Trajan's wife, niece and sister respectively). His relationship with his wife Vibia Sabina was very difficult, but it is not surprising given the obvious homosexuality of the emperor, who on the occasion of the death of his Antinous gave way to feminine laments. He had difficult relations with the senators. Some he had killed, others he tried to buy with money. After his death the Senate wanted to annul all his acts and for a long time refused to honors the remains of the deceased. Hadrian had excellent relations with the army. He paid well and gave rewards, but rar...

In 217 BC Hannibal appeared on the Peninsula and the Romans showed great apprehension. It is said that more than one person saw burning lamps fall from Heaven; the same people had no fear then of reporting them to the Senate. This was a clear symptom of how Hannibal's arrival made the population unreasonable, mixing the event with the supernatural. Rome, to counter the Carthaginians, appointed Q. Fabius Maximus as Dictator, who ordered the cities associated with Rome to send soldiers; Praeneste sent 500 soldiers in Praeneste, meanwhile, the cohort was being prepared and "under the usual escort of a praetor it was sent towards Bari whe...

THE ARA PACIS MONUMENT AND THE FRIEZE The Ara Pacis represents one of the highest expressions of Augustan art and at the same time a work with profound symbolic references, which acquire meaning in the context of the historical transition from the Republic to the new imperial structure. Its construction was voted by the Roman Senate in 13 BC to celebrate the victorious return of Augustus from the western provinces, as the princeps himself recalls in the story of his Res gestae. Since the dedication of the monument was celebrated on 30 January 9 BC, we know that the completion of the work required a total of three and a half years, necess...

By means of a modern staircase one ascends to the third floor of Museo Archeologico Prenestino where one can admire the famous Nilotic mosaic . Celebrated in archaeological literature as an inimitable exemplar of the Hellenistic mosaic tradition, the great mosaic (5.85x4.31 m.) made around 80 B.C. constitutes a programmatic manifesto of Alexandrian culture and the idea of Egypt that the Romans had created for themselves. It is, along with the mosaic of the Battle of Alexander at Pompeii, the largest Hellenistic mosaics to have come down to us. The mosaic was originally the floor of the apse that opened onto the backs of the hall facing th...

509 a.C. L. Tarquinius Collatinus replaced by P. Valerius Publicola and M. Horatius Pulvillus - L. Iunius Brutus replaced by Sp. Lucretius Tricipitinus 508 a.C. P. Valerius Publicola - T. Lucretius Tricipitinus 507 a.C. P. Valerius Publicola - M. Horatius Pulvillus 506 a.C. Sp. Lartius Rufus - T. Herminius Aquilinus 505 a.C. Marcus Valerius Volusus - P. Postumius Tubertus 504 a.C. P. Valerius Publicola - T. Lucretius Tricipitinus 503 a.C. Agrippa Menenius Lanatus - P. Postumius Tubertus 502 a.C. Opiter Verginius Tricostus - Sp. Cassius Vecellinus 501 a.C. Postumius Cominius Auruncus - T. Larcius Flavius 500 a.C. Ser. Sulplicius Camarinus...

The Domus Aurea was the urban villa built by the Roman emperor Nero after the great fire that devastated Rome in 64 AD. The destruction of a good amount of the urban center allowed Nero to expropriate a total area of approximately 80 hectares and build a palace that extended between the Palatine, the Esquiline and the Caelian. Contents The history and fame of the complex From Nero to Trajan The rediscovery at the end of the fifteenth century The architecture The decoration Excavations and discoveries The restoration - The reasons for the intervention The history and fame of the complex The Domus Aurea was built on the ashes of the terribl...

Tarquinius Priscu's successor was Servius Tullius , who reigned between 578 and 534 BC. His name is associated with two facts: the Servian constitution and the temple of Diana on the Aventine. However, it does not seem that the so-called Servian walls can be attributed to him, at least in the state in which they are preserved. The distinctive character of his reign was the attempt to merge natives and Etruscans. Servius was the son of Ocrisia , a native of the Latin city of Cornicolo, probably Monte dell'Incastro, just east of Rome. It is said that Ocrisia became pregnant by a god, a fact not unknown to mythology and used when peo...

Marcus Tullius Cicero was born in Arpino (Italy) in 106 B.C. He leaves its mark on the entire 1 st century. B.C. Belonging to an aristocratic city family, he grow up in a city far from the center of power. At that time small villages far away from Rome preserved old traditions, the ancient spirit and the MORES now lost in the capital. He later moves to Rome and studied with Greek masters (his brother Quinto was destined for a political career), initially aimed at the study and practice of the art of oratory. Cicero entered the circle of the Scipios, under the protection of the family of UCI. He was the only one of his family to achieve a ...

Kings of Rome (753 a.C. - 509 a.C.) No Name Origin Start of Reign End of Reign Notes 1 Romulus Latin 753 717 Legendary 2 Numa Pompilius - 715 673 Legendary 3 Tullus Hostilius - 672 641 Uncertain 4 Ancus Marcius - 640 617 Uncertain 5 Lucius Tarquinius Priscus Etruscan 616 579 Uncertain 6 Servius Tullius Etruscan 578 535 - 7 Tarquin the Proud Etruscan 534 510 - Consuls and Dictators (509 aC - 29 aC) Years Event 509 BC Brutus/Collatinus 260 BC Caio Duilio 260 BC (approx) Attilio Regolo 250 BC (approx) Gaio Lutazio Catulo - Quinto Fabio Massimo (dictator) 216 BC L. Emilio Paolo and P. Terenzio Varrone 107 BC Gaio Mario - Lucio Cornelio S...

If the origins of Rome are uncertain, because its early history is shrouded in mystery, the origins of its artistic and literary activity are no less uncertain. What is certain, however, is that the Romans, shepherds and farmers first and warriors later, forced to struggle continually for existence, could not initially devote themselves to art. Later, when they began to use the extra time between internal and external travail, had to confronted with already developed art forms in foreign contries, which provided copious and secure models. Until the FOURTH CENTURY Roman art-painting, sculpture and architecture is greatly affected by the in...