On This Day in Ancient History - May 13:
Vestal Virgins worked on the mola salsa, the Romans' sacred salted cake. In her online article on mola salsa, author Caroline Tully cites Robin Lorsch Wildfang's book on Vestal Virgins to say that this was one of the days on which the Vestal Virgins gathered unripe spelt to use in the mola salsa. The grain would then Read More...

On This Day in Ancient History - May 11:

In A.D. 330, Constantine the Great inaugurated his new capital city, the former Byzantium, which had started as a Greek colony in the 7th century B.C. Later to be known as Constantinople and later still, Istanbul, at the time when Byzantium became the New Rome, Christianity had only recently been legalized, but Constantine built Christian structures in his new capital city.

Constantinople remained the capital of the Byzantine Empire until 1453 when it became part of the Ottoman Empire. It was strategically located on the European side of the Bosporus, which connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara.

• Byzantine Era
• Definition of Byzantine
• The Name Constantine
• Archaic Age Greece

On This Day in Ancient History - May 9:
In ancient Rome, Romans appeased the spirits of the dead with beans. This was part of the Lemuria or Lemuralia, which was held on May 9, 11, and 13. Ovid describes the event in Book V of the Fasti. Also, from May 7-14, the Vestal Virgins prepared sacred cakes (mola salsa) for the Vestalia, held in June.

In modern history, Sir James Frazer died on this day in 1941.

Motherhood was an essential part of the life of a woman in ancient times. It was in large part what little girls were brought up to become. Therefore, most women we know about from antiquity, mythological or real, are listed not only in terms of their husbands and fathers, but their children. In Greek myth, it was often in connection with their children that women got into trouble with the gods. Here's my list of the top 10 mythological mothers: Top 10 Mythological Greek Mothers. Should you have suggestions to add, please post them in the comments.

Related:

• What Did the Greek Theater Look Like?
• Euripides and Greek Tragedy
• Clothing in Ancient Greece
• Pre-Socratic Philosophers
• Ancient Greece in Pictures
• Which Greek Goddess Are You?
• The Most Important Heroes in Greek Myth and Legend
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