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Velificans
''Velificatio'' is a stylistic device used in ancient Roman art to frame a deity by means of a billowing garment. It represents "vigorous movement," an epiphany, or "the vault of heaven," often appearing with celestial, weather, or sea deities. It is characteristic of the iconography of the Aurae, the Breezes personified, and one of the elements which distinguish representations of Luna, the Roman goddess of the Moon, alluding to her astral course. A figure so framed is a ''velificans'' (plural ''velificantes''). Not all deities are portrayed as ''velificantes'', but the device might be used to mark a member of the Imperial family who had been divinized (a ''divus'' or ''diva''). ''Velificatio'' is a frequent device in Roman art, including painting, mosaic, relief, and sculpture, though it poses technical difficulties for freestanding sculpture. The Athenian sculptor Praxiteles was able to achieve it. The term is also used to describe Hellenistic art. The device continued to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Roman Deities
The Roman deities most widely known today are those the Romans identified with Greek counterparts (see ''interpretatio graeca''), integrating Greek myths, iconography, and sometimes religious practices into Roman culture, including Latin literature, Roman art, and religious life as it was experienced throughout the Empire. Many of the Romans' own gods remain obscure, known only by name and sometimes function, through inscriptions and texts that are often fragmentary. This is particularly true of those gods belonging to the archaic religion of the Romans dating back to the era of kings, the so-called "religion of Numa", which was perpetuated or revived over the centuries. Some archaic deities have Italic or Etruscan counterparts, as identified both by ancient sources and by modern scholars. Throughout the Empire, the deities of peoples in the provinces were given new theological interpretations in light of functions or attributes they shared with Roman deities. An extensive al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nereids
In Greek mythology, the Nereids or Nereides ( ; grc, Νηρηΐδες, Nērēḯdes; , also Νημερτές) are sea nymphs (female spirits of sea waters), the 50 daughters of the 'Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanid Doris, sisters to their brother Nerites. They often accompany Poseidon, the god of the sea, and can be friendly and helpful to sailors (such as the Argonauts in their search for the Golden Fleece). Etymology The synonyms Νηρηΐδες and Νημερτές are etymologically unrelated. Νηρηΐδες is a patronymic, describing them as the daughters of Nereus. Νημερτές means literally 'not-mistaking', and there is an adjective of the same form meaning 'clear', 'unmistakable', or 'true'. Mythology The Nereids symbolized everything that is beautiful and kind about the sea. Their melodious voices sang as they danced around their father. They are represented as beautiful women, crowned with branches of red coral and dressed in white silk robes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aura (mythology)
In Greek and Roman mythology, Aura ( grc-gre, Αὔρα, Aúra, breeze , or Αὔρη ) is a minor deity, whose name means "breeze". The plural form, Aurae ( grc-gre, Αὔραι) is sometimes found. According to Nonnus, Aura was the daughter of the Titan Lelantos and the mother, by Dionysus, of Iacchus, a minor deity connected with the Eleusinian mysteries, while Quintus Smyrnaeus makes the Aurae daughters of Boreas, the North-wind. ''Aurae'' was the title of a play by the Athenian comic poet Metagenes, who was contemporary with Aristophanes, Phrynichus, and Plato. Mythology Nonnus Nonnus' tells the story of the rape of Aura, by Dionysus, in the final book of his epic poem the '' Dionysiaca'' (early 5th century). In this account, Aura is the nymph daughter of the Titan Lelantos. Nonnus seems to imply that Aura's mother was the wife of Lenatos, the Oceanid nymph Periboia, although elsewhere, he calls Aura the "daughter of Cybele". Aura was a resident of Phrygia and com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tellus - Ara Pacis
Tellus is a Latin word meaning "Earth" and may refer to: * An alternative name for the planet Earth * Tellus of Athens, a citizen of ancient Athens who was thought to be the happiest of men * Tellus Mater or Terra Mater, the ancient Roman earth mother goddess * Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, Georgia * ''Tellus A'', a scientific journal of Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography * ''Tellus B'', a scientific journal of Chemical and Physical Meteorology * Tellus Institute, an American environmental think tank * Tellus (comics), a comic book character and member of the Legion of Super-Heroes * A fictional human colony in the TV series '' Space: Above and Beyond'' * ''Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine'', an extinct nonprofit audio art project * IK Tellus, a sports club based in Tellusborg in Stockholm, Sweden See also *''Bematistes tellus'', a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae * Telluric (other) *Tellurium *Terra (other) Terra may often refer to: * Terra (mytholog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Classical Latin
Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a literary standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It was used from 75 BC to the 3rd century AD, when it developed into Late Latin. In some later periods, it was regarded as good or proper Latin, with following versions viewed as debased, degenerate, or corrupted. The word ''Latin'' is now understood by default to mean "Classical Latin"; for example, modern Latin textbooks almost exclusively teach Classical Latin. Cicero and his contemporaries of the late republic referred to the Latin language, in contrast to other languages such as Greek, as or . They distinguished the common vernacular, however, as Vulgar Latin (''sermo vulgaris'' and ''sermo vulgi''), in contrast to the higher register that they called , sometimes translated as "Latinity". ''Latinitas'' was also called ("speech of the good families"), ''sermo urbanus'' ("speech of the city"), and in rare cases ''sermo nobilis'' ("nob ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saecular Games
The Saecular Games ( la, Ludi saeculares, originally ) was a Roman religious celebration involving sacrifices and theatrical performances, held in ancient Rome for three days and nights to mark the end of a and the beginning of the next. A , supposedly the longest possible length of human life, was considered as either 100 or 110 years in length. According to Roman mythology, the Secular Games began when a Sabine man called Valesius prayed for a cure for his children's illness and was supernaturally instructed to sacrifice on the Campus Martius to Dis Pater and Proserpina, deities of the underworld. Some ancient authors traced official celebrations of the Games as far back as 509 BC, but the only clearly attested celebrations under the Roman Republic took place in 249 and in the 140s BC. They involved sacrifices to the underworld gods over three consecutive nights. The Games were revived in 17 BC by Rome's first emperor Augustus, with the nocturnal sacrifices on the Campus Marti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Principate, which is the first phase of the Roman Empire, and Augustus is considered one of the greatest leaders in human history. The reign of Augustus initiated an imperial cult as well as an era associated with imperial peace, the ''Pax Romana'' or ''Pax Augusta''. The Roman world was largely free from large-scale conflict for more than two centuries despite continuous wars of imperial expansion on the empire's frontiers and the year-long civil war known as the "Year of the Four Emperors" over the imperial succession. Originally named Gaius Octavius, he was born into an old and wealthy equestrian branch of the plebeian ''gens'' Octavia. His maternal great-uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, and Octavius was named in Caesar' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ''Odes'' as just about the only Latin lyrics worth reading: "He can be lofty sometimes, yet he is also full of charm and grace, versatile in his figures, and felicitously daring in his choice of words."Quintilian 10.1.96. The only other lyrical poet Quintilian thought comparable with Horace was the now obscure poet/metrical theorist, Caesius Bassus (R. Tarrant, ''Ancient Receptions of Horace'', 280) Horace also crafted elegant hexameter verses (''Satires'' and '' Epistles'') and caustic iambic poetry ('' Epodes''). The hexameters are amusing yet serious works, friendly in tone, leading the ancient satirist Persius to comment: "as his friend laughs, Horace slyly puts his finger on his every fault; once let in, he plays about the heartstrin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carmen Saeculare
The ''Carmen Saeculare'' (Latin for "Secular Hymn" or "Song of the Ages") is a hymn in Sapphic meter written by the Roman poet Horace. It was commissioned by the Roman emperor Augustus in 17 BC. The hymn was sung by a chorus of twenty-seven maidens and the same number of youths on the occasion of the '' Ludi Saeculares'' (Secular Games), which celebrated the end of one '' saeculum'' (typically 110 years in length) and the beginning of another. The mythological and religious song is in the form of a prayer addressed to Apollo and Diana; it especially brings to prominence Apollo, functioning as a surrogate for and patron of the princeps (Augustus), for whom a new temple on the Palatine had recently been consecrated. A marble inscription recording the ceremony and the part played by Horace still survives. The ''Carmen Saeculare'' is the earliest fully preserved lyric poem for which there is definite information about the circumstances of its public performance.Michael C J Putnam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ara Pacis
The Ara Pacis Augustae (Latin, "Altar of Augustan Peace"; commonly shortened to Ara Pacis) is an altar in Rome dedicated to Pax, the Roman goddess of Peace. The monument was commissioned by the Roman Senate on July 4, 13 BC to honour the return of Augustus to Rome after three years in Hispania and Gaul and consecrated on January 30, 9 BC. Originally located on the northern outskirts of Rome, a Roman mile from the boundary of the ''pomerium'' on the west side of the Via Flaminia, the Ara Pacis stood in the northeastern corner of the Campus Martius, the former flood plain of the Tiber River and gradually became buried under of silt deposits. It was reassembled in its current location, now the Museum of the Ara Pacis, in 1938, turned 90° counterclockwise from its original orientation so that the original western side now faces south. Significance The altar reflects the Augustan vision of Roman civil religion. The lower register of its frieze depicts agricultural work meant to com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Octavia The Younger
Octavia the Younger ( la, Octavia Minor; c. 66 BC – 11 BC) was the elder sister of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus (known also as Octavian), the half-sister of Octavia the Elder, and the fourth wife of Mark Antony. She was also the great-grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, maternal grandmother of the Emperor Claudius, and paternal great-grandmother and maternal great-great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero. One of the most prominent women in Roman history, Octavia was respected and admired by contemporaries for her loyalty, nobility and humanity, as well as for maintaining traditional Roman feminine virtues. Life Childhood Octavia was born around 66 BC. Full sister to Augustus, Octavia was the only daughter born of Gaius Octavius (proconsul), Gaius Octavius' second marriage to Atia (mother of Augustus), Atia, niece of Julius Caesar. Octavia was born in Nola, present-day Italy; her father, a Roman governor and senator, died in 59 BC from natura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cultures, including most Western cultures. Some noteworthy examples of porticos are the East Portico of the United States Capitol, the portico adorning the Pantheon in Rome and the portico of University College London. Porticos are sometimes topped with pediments. Palladio was a pioneer of using temple-fronts for secular buildings. In the UK, the temple-front applied to The Vyne, Hampshire, was the first portico applied to an English country house. A pronaos ( or ) is the inner area of the portico of a Greek or Roman temple, situated between the portico's colonnade or walls and the entrance to the ''cella'', or shrine. Roman temples commonly had an open pronaos, usually with only columns and no walls, and the pronaos could be as long as th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
