N.S.Gill's Ancient History Blog March 2005 Archive

The first of April was the Veneralia in ancient Rome, a festival for Venus Verticordia. April was considered the month of Venus.AprilThe Roman Goddess Venus

Writer's Weekly reminds parents and teachers that children actually enjoy history. If the adults think otherwise, it's probably because they remember their own experiences. There are two extremes to avoid: ... Read More

Find articles on the letter A, cities beginning with the letter A, A deities, information on the playwright Aeschylus and his tragedies, and more about Ancient History and Classics in ... Read More

On this day in ancient history, the Roman emperor Pertinax was murdered in A.D. 193. Pertinax may have been involved in the murder of Emperor Commodus of Gladiator fame. Gladiator

The Decapolis was an ancient confederation of ten cities near Palestine, which included the Jewish council known as the Sanhedrin. It was an important cultural center and produced Menippus of ... Read More

On about April 19, the Romans celebrated the Cerealia, which was noteworthy for the odd custom of letting foxes wearing firebrands in their tails into the Circus Maximus.CerealiaCeres

On this day in A.D. 493 Theodoric overthrew Odoacer.Invasion and Distribution of the BarbariansTimeline of the VisigothsOdoacer

The final day of the five-day festival in honor of Mars was called the Tubilustrium and was held on the 23d of March. The war trumpets (tubae) were purified on ... Read More

The story of Pygmalion was the basis for the musical "My Fair Lady," where a linguist transforms a Cockney-speaking flower girl into a lady. In Pygmalion, with the help of ... Read More

March 19 was known in ancient Rome as Quinquatrus because it was the fifth day after the Ides (March 15 -- inclusive counting). It was part of a five-day festival ... Read More

In the Northern Hemisphere, Spring begins this weekend. In Greek mythology, the story of the abduction of Persephone (aka Proserpina) led to the first winter and her return to her ... Read More

Julius Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March (March 15). Learn more about Caesar, the almost-king of Rome, and the calendar he reformed.Roman Calendar TerminologyJulius CaesarJulius Caesar TimelineRoman Calendars

Zahi Hawass has announced the results of a CT scan of the 3300-year old mummy of Tutankhamen. The young pharaoh suffered a broken leg bone that Hawass thinks may have ... Read More

I'm very pleased to announce that one of the long-standing Ancient/Classical History forum posters, Faye Turner, who has been using the forum (especially the For Writers and Ancient Science and ... Read More

Have you ever wondered how people in the ancient Mediterranean brought light into their homes? Wax from honey bees was not widely available for candles, but there was another, mundane, ... Read More

Rogueclassicist David Meadows has blogged an article about Sulpicia, a female Roman elegiac poet of renown whose poetry we know because of another Roman poet, Tibullus:"Sulpicia's poems were collected by ... Read More

Irene Hahn positively reviews this novel about Hannibal, Carthage, and the Second Punic War: "The author has done extensive research in both ancient and modern writings about Hannibal and the Punic ... Read More

March is the month on the Ides of which Caesar was assassinated. In ancient Rome it was also the beginning of the year. Today March is the month we celebrate ... Read More