Ancient History

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
• Read My Updates: Twitter | Facebook | Newsletter

Hint: This year, it's a timely Guess Who/What.

Answer

PD Courtesy of Wikipedia

Answer.

Relateds:

• Fast Facts About Italy
• Landmarks of Ancient Rome, the City
• 7 Hills of Rome
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Our month of May may have been named for the spring goddess or nymph Maia. She was the loveliest of the Pleiades, who were daughters of the familiar Titan Atlas. although H. J. Rose says Maia is connected with an obscure goddess named Maia who is distinct from this, the Greek mother of Hermes. A Renaissance song celebrates the month and shows some of the things we associate with her today. You may be interested to note that the Homeric Hymn to Hermes shows the nymph as a shy, retiring troglodyte. Read More...

From April 28 - May 3, the ancient Romans celebrated the Roman festival known as the Floralia, in honor of the Roman goddess Flora.
The ancient holiday was celebrated by the set of games and theatrical presentations known as the Ludi Florales.

The Floralia was one of the Roman celebrations that had multiple days of dramatic events followed by one of circus entertainment. When the ludi Florales were written into the Roman calendar, in 173 B.C., there were 2 days of drama and one of circus performances. Between 173 and the imperial period, two more days of dramatic entertainment were added, according to Lily Ross Taylor. The year when the ludi Florales officially became annual was about 70 years after the dedication of Flora's temple, which was accompanied by dramatic events (also known as scenic games). This dedication was said to have been at the order of the Sibylline Books. It took place in 240 or 238 B.C., according to Inez Gertrude Scott, who says that the Floralia must have been superimposed on an old Italic cult because Floralia had its own flamen and primitive ritual -- the scattering of beans and lupines. Scott adds another odd detail: that hares and goats were released into the circus.

The scenic events at the Floralia are described as mimes. As distinct from literary mimes, these weren't written down -- a fact that limits what can be written about them. They were lewd and included naked women. Masks were not part of the costumes, so, because of the shame attached to the immodest conduct of the actors, respectable Romans could not take part.

References and Suggested Reading:

• "Associations of Actors in Rome"
  E. J. Jory
  Hermes, Vol. 98, No. 2 (1970), pp. 224-253
• "Evidence from Early Roman Religion concerning the Growth of the City"
  Inez Gertrude Scott
  Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 60 (1929), pp. 221-228
• "Hellenizing the Romans (2nd Century B.C.)"
  Ramsay MacMullen
  Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, Vol. 40, No. 4 (1991), pp. 419-438
• "The Opportunities for Dramatic Performances in the Time of Plautus and Terence"
  Lily Ross Taylor
  Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 68 (1937), pp. 284-304
• "Satyrs in Rome? The Background to Horace's Ars Poetica"
  T. P. Wiseman
  The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 78 (1988), pp. 1-13

Which Myth Do You Like Best?

Full Article: Floralia - Ludi Florales

Also See:

• Apollo, A Profile - Latter day sun god
• Achilles - Great Hero and Fastest of the Greeks
• Why Did Rome Fall? Was it decay, Christianity, or....
• Damocles Sword - Hanging on by a slender thread
• Battle at Thermopylae - 300 Spartans Against the Persians

On this day in A.D. 121, the future Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius was born. Marcus Aurelius was the last of the "five good emperors" and was the father of the infamous emperor Commodus.

Marcus Aurelius was a Stoic Philosopher who wrote his Meditations. The following is from the third book of a public domain translation of the Meditations. It tells how to live, even if one is an emperor, modestly and virtuously:

Do nothing against thy will, nor contrary to the community, nor without due examination, nor with reluctancy. Affect not to set out thy thoughts with curious neat language. Be neither a great talker, nor a great undertaker. Moreover, let thy God that is in thee to rule over thee, find by thee, that he hath to do with a man; an aged man; a sociable man; a Roman; a prince; one that hath ordered his life, as one that expecteth, as it were, nothing but the sound of the trumpet, sounding a retreat to depart out of this life with all expedition. One who for his word or actions neither needs an oath, nor any man to be a witness.
Book 3

Full Article: Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Introduction
This Day in Ancient History

Also See:

• Julius Caesar - 12 Points to Know
• War Gods - Someone to Blame?
• Greek Hero Quiz - Which One Are You?
• Greek Heroes - The Top 10
• 10 Plagues - Moses vs the Pharaoh

On This Day in History April 25

In 1940, Wilhelm Dörpfeld died.

This was also the day of the Robigalia, in ancient Rome, the annual festival to stave off the adverse effects of the red rust god.

Wilhelm Dörpfeld was an important archaeologist in the area of Troy and Mycenaean Greece. He helped Schliemann in his excavations.

Also See:

• Apollo, A Profile - Latter day sun god
• Achilles - Great Hero and Fastest of the Greeks
• Why Did Rome Fall? Was it decay, Christianity, or....
• Damocles Sword - Hanging on by a slender thread
• Battle at Thermopylae - 300 Spartans Against the Persians