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Did Minoan Women Jump Over the Bulls?

Fresco of an acrobat on a bull with two female acrobats on either side. From Knossos.

Minoans often painted the chests of men and women similarly, as bare wedges, so it is hard to tell whether these figures are men or women, using traditional clues, yet archaeologists think there are women here, performing the bull-leaping.

More on the Bronze Age and Minoans

N.S.Gill's Ancient History Blog

A Guess Who for Women's History Month

Wednesday March 17, 2010

CC Flickr User thisisbossi

Need a clue?
There are two women's first names by which you may know her.

Give up?
You know the drill: click on the image or the photo credit for the answer.

Wordless Wednesday and About.com's Wordless Wednesday

On This Day in Ancient History - St. Patrick and More

Wednesday March 17, 2010
This is the traditional date for the death of St. Patrick in A.D. 461. It was also the occasion of two Roman festivals, Liberalia and Agonalia, the victory at Munda (near Cordoba, Spain) of Julius Caesar in 45 B.C. (against Pompey's sons) [see Roman Battles], and the death of

Marcus Aurelius
Public Domain
Marcus Aurelius in A.D. 180.

The Liberalia was celebrated with games on the Campus Martius in honor of an ancient fertility god named Liber. Agonalia was a coming-of-age celebration.

On This Day in Ancient History - Tiberius

Tuesday March 16, 2010

Tiberius
Public Domain. Courtesy of Wikipedia
On this day in A.D. 37, the second emperor of Rome, Tiberius, died. When Tiberius took power following the death of Augustus, he refused to assume many of the proffered honors and rejected flattery. He tried to moderate greedy tax collectors and allow the rule of law. However, his reputation in history is largely negative. Read more about this emperor in my brief summary and in the accompanying account from Suetonius: Tiberius.

Myth Monday - Liber's Festival

Monday March 15, 2010
Bacchus at Waddesdon
Bacchus at Waddesdon
CC Flickr User wit
Ovid tells us in his Fasti that on the third day after the Ides of March, Romans celebrated the Liberalia.
To review:
  • fasti refers to the festival days or, basically, the Roman calendar [see Roman calendar terminology]
  • the "third day after" in Roman counting is the second day after using contemporary calculations
  • the "Ides" = the 15th of months with 31 days in them -- like March, and
  • the Ides of March was the day on which Julius Caesar was assassinated.
Read more...

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