Ara Maxima
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Ara Maxima
The Great Altar of Unconquered Hercules ( la, Herculis Invicti Ara Maxima) stood in the Forum Boarium of ancient Rome. It was the earliest cult-centre of Hercules in Rome, predating the circular Temple of Hercules Victor. Roman tradition made the spot the site where Hercules slew Cacus and ascribed to Evander of Pallene its erection. Virgil's ''Aeneid'' tells of Evander attributing the original creation of the Ara Maxima to Potitius and the Pinarii. The original altar burned in the Great Fire of Rome, 64 CE, but was rebuilt and still stood in the fourth century. A tentative identification of a tufa platform in the crypt of Santa Maria in Cosmedin with the foundation of the altar has been made by Filippo Coarelli and other archaeologists. Various references, with Varro as their source, justified the exclusion of women from ceremonies here, or of partaking in the sacrificial meats. The rites at the Ara Maxima were unique within the cult of Hercules in that they were performed ''ri ...
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Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals (Tacitus), ''Annals'' (Latin: ''Annales'') and the Histories (Tacitus), ''Histories'' (Latin: ''Historiae'')—examine the reigns of the Roman emperor, emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero, and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors (69 AD). These two works span the history of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus (14 AD) to the death of Domitian (96 AD), although there are substantial Lacuna (manuscripts), lacunae in the surviving texts. Tacitus's other writings discuss Public speaking, oratory (in dialogue format, see ''Dialogus de oratoribus''), Germania (in Germania (book), ''De origine et situ Germanorum''), and the life of his father-in-law, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Agricola (t ...
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Potitius
The gens Potitia was an ancient patrician family at ancient Rome. None of its members ever attained any of the higher offices of the Roman state, and the gens is known primarily as a result of its long association with the rites of Hercules, and for a catastrophic plague that was said to have killed all of its members within a single month, at the end of the fourth century BC. However, a few Potitii of later times are known from literary sources and inscriptions.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. III, p. 514 ("Potitia Gens"). Origin The story of the Potitii is inextricably intertwined with that of the Pinarii. According to legend, Hercules came to Italy a generation before the Trojan War, and was received by the families of the Potitii and the Pinarii. He instructed them in a form of worship by which they honoured him for generations. The priesthood of this cult was carried out exclusively by members of these two families, as a ''sacrum gentilicium''— ...
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Temples Of The Forum Boarium
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called church (building), churches), Hinduism (whose temples are called Mandir), Buddhism, Sikhism (whose temples are called Gurdwara, gurudwara), Jainism (whose temples are sometimes called derasar), Islam (whose temples are called mosques), Judaism (whose temples are called synagogues), Zoroastrianism (whose temples are sometimes called Agiary), the Baha'i Faith (which are often simply referred to as Baha'i House of Worship), Taoism (which are sometimes called Daoguan), Shinto (which are sometimes called Shinto shrine, Jinja), Confucianism (which are sometimes called the Temple of Confucius), and ancient religions such as the Ancient Egyptian religion and the Ancient Greek religion. The form and function of temples are thus very variable, though they are often considered by belie ...
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List Of Ancient Monuments In Rome
This is a list of ancient monuments from Republican and Imperial periods in the city of Rome, Italy. Amphitheaters * Amphitheater of Caligula * Amphitheatrum Castrense * Amphitheater of Nero * Amphitheater of Statilius Taurus * Colosseum Baths * Baths of Agrippa * Baths of Caracalla * Baths of Commodus * Baths of Constantine * Baths of Decius * Baths of Diocletian * Baths of Licinius Sura * Baths of Nero and Alexander * Baths of Septimius Severus * Baths of Titus * Baths of Trajan (later misnamed the Baths of Domitian) Circuses * Circus Flaminius * Circus Maximus * Circus of Maxentius * Circus of Nero * Circus Varianus Gardens * Gardens of Lucullus * Gardens of Maecenas * Gardens of Sallust * Horti Aciliorum * Horti Agrippinae * Horti Caesaris * Horti Domitiae * Horti Lamiani * Horti Liciniani * Horti Lolliani * Horti Pompeiani * Horti Tauriani Porticoes * Porticus Aemilia * Porticus Deorum Consentium * Porticus of Livia * Porticus Octavia * Porticus Octaviae ...
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List Of Ancient Roman Temples
This is a list of ancient Roman temples, built during antiquity by the people of ancient Rome or peoples belonging to the Roman Empire. Roman temples were dedicated to divinities from the Roman pantheon. Substantial remains Most of the best survivals had been converted into churches and mosques. Rural areas in the Islamic world have some good remains, which had been left largely undisturbed. In Spain, some remarkable discoveries (Vic, Cordoba, Barcelona) were made in the 19th century, when old buildings being reconstructed or demolished were found to contain major remains encased in later buildings. In Rome, Pula, and elsewhere some walls incorporated in later buildings have always been evident. In most cases loose pieces of stone have been removed from the site, and some such as capitals may be found in local museums, along with non-architectural items excavated, such as terracotta votive offerings, which are often found in large numbers. Rome * Pantheon or Temple to Al ...
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Varro
Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes called Varro Reatinus to distinguish him from his younger contemporary Varro Atacinus. Biography Varro was born in or near Reate (now Rieti) to a family thought to be of equestrian rank, and always remained close to his roots in the area, owning a large farm in the Reatine plain, reported as near Lago di Ripasottile, until his old age. He supported Pompey, reaching the office of praetor, after having been tribune of the people, ''quaestor'' and ''curule aedile''. It is probable that Varro was discontented with the course on which Pompey entered when the First Triumvirate was formed, and he may thus have lost his chance of rising to the consulate. He actually ridiculed the coalition in a work entitled the ''Three-Headed Monster'' ( in th ...
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Filippo Coarelli
Filippo Coarelli is an Italian archaeologist, Professor of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the University of Perugia. Born in Rome, Coarelli was a student of Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli. Coarelli is one of the foremost experts on Roman antiquities and the history of early Rome. A leading expert on the topography of ancient Rome, Coarelli produced a series of books from the 1980s and 1990s that have altered modern thinking about how Roman topography developed. His work on Italian monumental sanctuaries of the late Roman Republic is considered standard. He led the team that discovered what is believed to be the villa in which Vespasian was born at Falacrinae. Together with British colleagues, he has long been involved in the archaeological exploration and documentation of Fregellae. His important and influential handbook furnishing an archaeological guide to Rome and its environs was translated into English by Daniel P. Harmon and James J. Clauss. Works *''Il foro romano'' 3 v. Ed ...
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Santa Maria In Cosmedin
The Basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin or ''de Schola Graeca'') is a minor basilica church in Rome, Italy. It is located in the rione of Ripa. History According to Byzantine historian Andrew Ekonomou, the church was founded in the 6th century during the Byzantine rule of the city and was placed in the centre of the Greek community in Rome. The Greek part of the city was referred to as the 'Schola Graeca'. The church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, who was greatly venerated as Theotokos (Mother of God) in contemporary Constantinople. The name 'Cosmedin' came from the Latinization of the Greek word κοσμίδιον (kosmidion) that derives from the Greek word κόσμος, meaning "ornament, decoration". The church was built in the 8th century, during the Byzantine Papacy, over the remains of the '' Templum Herculis Pompeiani'' in the Forum Boarium and of the ''Statio annonae'', one of the food distribution centres of ancient R ...
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Great Fire Of Rome
The Great Fire of Rome ( la, incendium magnum Romae) occurred in July AD 64. The fire began in the merchant shops around Rome's chariot stadium, Circus Maximus, on the night of 19 July. After six days, the fire was brought under control, but before the damage could be assessed, the fire reignited and burned for another three days. In the aftermath of the fire, two thirds of Rome had been destroyed. According to Tacitus and later Christian tradition, Emperor Nero blamed the devastation on the Christian community in the city, initiating the empire's first persecution against the Christians. Background Previous recorded fires in Rome Fires in Rome were common, especially in houses, and fires that had occurred previously in Rome and destroyed parts of major buildings include: * AD 6, which led to the introduction of the Cohortes Vigiles * AD 12 which destroyed the Basilica Julia * AD 14 at the Basilica Aemilia * AD 22 at the Campus Martius * AD 26 at Caelian Hill * AD 36 at the C ...
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Aeneid
The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan_War#Sack_of_Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome, Romans. It comprises 9,896 lines in dactylic hexameter. The first six of the poem's twelve books tell the story of Aeneas' wanderings from Troy to Italy, and the poem's second half tells of the Trojans' ultimately victorious war upon the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins, under whose name Aeneas and his Trojan followers are destined to be subsumed. The hero Aeneas was already known to Greco-Roman legend and myth, having been a character in the ''Iliad''. Virgil took the disconnected tales of Aeneas' wanderings, his vague association with the foundation of Ancient Rome, Rome and his description as a personage of no fixed characteristics other than a scrupulous ''pietas'', and fashioned th ...
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Satires Of Juvenal
The ''Satires'' () are a collection of satirical poems by the Latin author Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ), was a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. He is the author of the collection of satirical poems known as the ''Satires''. The details of Juvenal's life ... written between the end of the first and the early second centuries A.D. Juvenal is credited with sixteen known poems divided among five scroll, books; all are in the Roman genre of satire, which, at its most basic in the time of the author, comprised a wide-ranging discussion of society and social in dactylic hexameter. The sixth and tenth satires are some of the most renowned works in the collection. The poems are not individually titled, but translators have often added titles for the convenience of readers. *Book I: Satires 1–5 *Book II: Satire 6 *Book III: Satires 7–9 *Book IV: Satires 10–12 *Book V: Satires 13–16 (Satire 16 is inc ...
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Foundation Myth
An origin myth is a myth that describes the origin of some feature of the natural or social world. One type of origin myth is the creation or cosmogonic myth, a story that describes the creation of the world. However, many cultures have stories set in a time after a first origin - such stories aim to account for the beginnings of natural phenomena or of human institutions within a preexisting universe. In Graeco-Roman scholarship, the terms etiological myth and ''aition'' (from the Ancient Greek αἴτιον, "cause") are sometimes used for a myth that explains an origin, particularly how an object or custom came into existence. Nature of origin myths Every origin myth is a tale of creation: origin myths describe how some reality came into existence.Eliade, p. 21 In many cases, origin myths also justify the established order by explaining that it was established by sacred forces (see section on "Social function" below). The distinction between cosmogonic myths and origin ...
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