Varro's Aviary
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Varro's Aviary
Varro's Aviary (also known as Ornithon) was a part of the Roman villa built in the 1st century BC () by Marcus Terentius Varro, an important figure in Ancient Rome at the times of Cicero. While the building itself is long gone, Varro's very detailed description of the aviary is preserved in his book ''De Re Rustica (Varro), de Re Rustica''. This description inspired multiple reconstructions since at least the Renaissance era. Varro's villa was located on Via Latina halfway from Rome to Naples, the exact location is still unknown. The aviary was shaped "in a form of a writing tablet with a top-piece". The footprint of the rectangular part of aviary was 72 x 48 Roman feet, a stream run from this ''ornithon'' to the (little-described) ''musaeum'' (place dedicated to Muses, evoking the atmosphere of akademia) connected by 10 feet wide ''Ambulatio (Roman architecture), ambulatio'' (walkway) forming a 950 feet long loop along the banks of the stream. The focal point of the design was a ...
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Muses
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric poetry, lyric songs, and myths that were related orally for centuries in ancient Greek culture. The number and names of the Muses differed by region, but from the Classical Greece, Classical period the number of Muses was standardized to nine, and their names were generally given as Calliope, Clio, Polyhymnia, Euterpe, Terpsichore, Erato, Melpomene, Thalia (Muse), Thalia, and Urania. In modern figurative usage, a muse is a Muse (source of inspiration), person who serves as someone's source of artistic inspiration. Etymology The word ''Muses'' () perhaps came from the Indo-European ablaut#Proto-Indo-European, o-grade of the Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European root (the basic meaning of which is 'put in mind' in verb formati ...
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Alessandro Ghigi
Alessandro Ghigi (9 February 1875 – 20 November 1970) was an Italian zoologist, naturalist and environmentalist. Life Alessandro Ghigi was born in Bologna on 9 February 1875. He attended the University of Bologna, graduating with a degree in Natural Sciences. In 1900 he participated in founding the Emilian society ''Pro Montibus et Sylvis''. He was made a Doctor of Zoology in 1902, teaching at the Agricultural secondary school in Bologna and at the University of Ferrara. In 1922 he became professor of zoology at Bologna, where he directed the Institute of Zoology. He was rector of the University of Bologna from 1930 to 1943 . In 1911 he was one of the founders of the ''Italian Journal of Ornithology''. In the first two decades of the twentieth century Ghigi, Erminio Sipari Erminio Sipari (1 December 1879 – 28 January 1968) was an Italian politician and naturalist, author of studies on the preservation of nature and founder of Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, which he ch ...
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Common Blackbird
The common blackbird (''Turdus merula'') is a species of true thrush. It is also called the Eurasian blackbird (especially in North America, to distinguish it from the unrelated New World blackbirds), or simply the blackbird. It breeds in Europe, western Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced species, introduced to Australia and New Zealand. It has a number of subspecies across its large range; a few former Asian subspecies are now widely treated as separate species. Depending on latitude, the common blackbird may be Resident bird, resident, partially Bird migration, migratory, or fully migratory. The adult male of the common blackbird (''Turdus merula merula'', the nominate subspecies), which is found throughout most of Europe, is all black except for a yellow eye-ring and Beak, bill and has a rich, melodious Bird vocalization, song; the adult female and juvenile have mainly dark brown plumage. This species breeds in woods and gardens, building a neat, cup-shaped nest, ...
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Nightingale
The common nightingale, rufous nightingale or simply nightingale (''Luscinia megarhynchos''), is a small passerine bird which is best known for its powerful and beautiful song. It was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It belongs to a group of more terrestrial species, often called chats. Etymology "Nightingale" is derived from "night" and the Old English ''galan'', "to sing". The genus name ''Luscinia'' is Latin for "nightingale" and ''megarhynchos'' is from Ancient Greek ''megas'', "great" and ''rhunkhos'' "bill". Subspecies *Western nightingale (''L. m. megarhynchos'') – western Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor, wintering in tropical Africa *Caucasian nightingale (''L. m. africana'') – the Caucasus and eastern Turkey to southwestern Iran and Iraq, wintering in East Africa *Eastern nightingale (''L. m. golzii'') – the Aral Sea to Mongolia, wintering in co ...
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Songbirds
A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passerine, Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5,000 or so speciesEdwards, Scott V. and John Harshman. 2013. Passeriformes. Perching Birds, Passerine Birds. Version 06 February 2013 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Passeriformes/15868/2013.02.06 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/[Accessed 2017/12/11]. found all over the world, in which the Syrinx (bird anatomy), vocal organ typically is developed in such a way as to produce a diverse and elaborate bird song. Songbirds form one of the two major lineages of extant perching birds (~4,000 species), the other being the Tyranni (~1,000 species), which are most diverse in the Neotropics and absent from many parts of the world. The Tyranni have a simpler Syrinx (bird anatomy), syrinx musculature, and while their ...
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Revolving Table
Rotation or rotational/rotary motion is the circular movement of an object around a central line, known as an ''axis of rotation''. A plane figure can rotate in either a clockwise or counterclockwise sense around a perpendicular axis intersecting anywhere inside or outside the figure at a ''center of rotation''. A solid figure has an infinite number of possible axes and angles of rotation, including chaotic rotation (between arbitrary orientations), in contrast to rotation around a axis. The special case of a rotation with an internal axis passing through the body's own center of mass is known as a spin (or ''autorotation''). In that case, the surface intersection of the internal ''spin axis'' can be called a ''pole''; for example, Earth's rotation defines the geographical poles. A rotation around an axis completely external to the moving body is called a revolution (or ''orbit''), e.g. Earth's orbit around the Sun. The ends of the external ''axis of revolution'' can be ca ...
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Dome
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a matter of controversy and there are a wide variety of forms and specialized terms to describe them. A dome can rest directly upon a Rotunda (architecture), rotunda wall, a Tholobate, drum, or a system of squinches or pendentives used to accommodate the transition in shape from a rectangular or square space to the round or polygonal base of the dome. The dome's apex may be closed or may be open in the form of an Oculus (architecture), oculus, which may itself be covered with a roof lantern and cupola. Domes have a long architectural lineage that extends back into prehistory. Domes were built in ancient Mesopotamia, and they have been found in Persian architecture, Persian, Ancient Greek architecture, Hellenistic, Ancient Roman architecture, ...
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Triclinium
A ''triclinium'' (: ''triclinia'') is a formal dining room in a Ancient Rome, Roman building. The word is adopted from the Greek language, Greek ()—from (), "three", and (), a sort of couch, or rather chaise longue. Each couch was sized to accommodate a diner who reclined on their left side on cushions while some Slavery in ancient Rome, household slaves served multiple courses brought from the ''culina'', or kitchen, and others entertained guests with music, song, or dance. The ''triclinium'' was characterized by three ''klinai, lecti'' (singular ''lectus'': bed or couch), called ''triclinares'' ("of the ''triclinium''"), on three sides of a low square table, whose surfaces sloped away from the table at about 10 degrees. Diners would recline on these surfaces in a semi-recumbent position. The fourth side of the table was left free, presumably to allow service to the table. Usually, the open side faced the entrance of the room. In Roman-era dwellings, particularly wealthy on ...
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Hadrian's Villa
Hadrian's Villa (; ) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site comprising the ruins and archaeological remains of a large Roman villa, villa complex built around AD 120 by Roman emperor Hadrian near Tivoli, Italy, Tivoli outside Rome. It is the most imposing and complex Roman villa known. The complex contains over 30 monumental and scenic buildings arranged on a series of artificial esplanades at different heights and surrounded by gardens decorated with water basins and nymphaea (fountains). The whole complex covers an area of at least a square kilometre, an area larger than the city of Pompeii. In addition to the villa's impressive layout, many of the buildings are considered masterpieces of Roman architecture, making use of striking curved shapes enabled by extensive use of concrete. They were ingenious for the complex symmetry of their ground plans and are considered unrivalled until the arrival of Baroque architecture in the 17th century, initiated by Borromini, who used Hadrian's Vill ...
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Ambulatio (Roman Architecture)
Ambulacrum is an architectural word that denotes an Atrium (architecture), atrium, courtyard, or parvise in front of a basilica or Church (building), church that is surrounded by Arcade (architecture), arcades or colonnades, or trees, and which often contains a fountain. It also can denote a walking path that trees delineate. Roman In the Roman architecture, the term ''ambulatio'' or ''ambulacrum'' was used to designate walkways or corridors delineated on both sides by plants or colonnades. Etymology From the Latin 'ambulācrum', meaning 'walk planted with trees', 'avenue', 'alley' and 'walking place' Derives from' 'ambulāre', meaning 'to walk' or 'Amble' meaning 'To walk slowly or leisurely'. Has Indo-European roots - deriving from 'Ambhi'The Free Dictionary (n.d.) ambulacra, [online] Available at: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ambulacra [Accessed 14th Nov 2014]. References Sources

*James Stevens Curl, ''A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture'' ( ...
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