It is with deep solemnity that I must relate my audience with the Pope was unsuccessful…but I did see this awesome statue!

Have you ever heard of “Greeks bearing gifts?” Like: they can’t be trusted?

This is that guy!!! The Trojan war seems over: the Greeks have retreated, leaving their wooden horse as tribute on the beach. But Laocoön, a Trojan priest of Poseidon, says “something’s fishy here: smells like bullshit to me: it’s probably filled with Greek warriors.” And he whacks it with a spear.

Then suddenly two giant fucking sea serpents rush out of the ocean onto the shore and eat him and his two sons!

“Hey guys that’s a bad omen” says the Trojans viewing this horrific scene “let’s bring it inside to cement our victory”

The rest as they say, is history.

But this marble statue was given props by Pliny as being a particularly notable figure…rumored to be in Emperor Titus’s garden…probably a copy of an even earlier work made around the 200 BC era…

But in 1506 it was discovered while digging up a vineyard and they told the Pope, who sent his classicist experts…including Michelangelo who watched its excavation and were like: “yeah…Pliny mentioned this: how cool we found it!” and then they went to lunch.

In conclusion: even though Laocoön was a priest of Poseidon, it’s very likely that Poseidon himself sent the serpents to eat him up.

I now view the ancient Gods as petty and…mercurial (heh). Can’t trust ‘em.

This is a big stretch, but I am going on a trip this summer and am visiting Aquileia, as well as covering much of Slovenia and Austria, and perhaps some of the Dalmatian coast. I was wondering if anyone had book suggestions that might help me appreciate the roman influence/history on these areas.

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Thank you!

English translation: "irrational hunger for gold"

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Please don't mention the damn Samnites, dirty savages.

found in Tunisia in borj lella, it's something to do with the god Saturn I believe

https://www.instagram.com/garciapintoangel?igsh=dDZ2ZW5vZ2o1bnVh

Give her a follow, she deserves it 🙌👏

As I revisit The History of Rome podcast and catch up on some more recent books, I still just don't get how these guys lasted so long. Every few generations or so the Praetorians get knife-happy on a regicidal level, often for blatantly corrupt reasons. During the Crisis of the Third Century it felt like every other year these dudes were up to trouble.

And don't get me started on this idiot Didius Julianus. This nutjob outright just purchases the Emperorship from the ceaselessly scheming, greedy Praetorians, who then unironically try to play everything straight and ho hum business as usual. Like they thought others would buy that this is a totally legit regime, and such breathtakingly shameful corruption would be accepted and normalized. Wow, has such a brilliant plan ever been conceived of in history?

Oh yeah so over in reality, of course, our boy Julianus got horribly murdered immediately lmao. That happened in 193, so by this point we have like over a hundred years of this nonsense. This is an organization charged solely with the protection of the Emperor, and mathematically any given Emperor has a 50/50 shot at being murdered by the men sworn to protect him. I know the Praetorians are generally considered very good soldiers, but their numbers were few compared to, say, any random general with an actual legion who could just clamp these killers for good? How the hell lol did it take until Constantine the Great, 144 years after Julianus, to finally say enough and press the permanently delete button for the Praetorian Guard?

So far it is the best one after many attempts to capture the likeness of this Dictator.

Romans placed gods on their coins to symbolize power, authority, and divine protection. It reinforced the idea that their empire was blessed by the gods and legitimized the authority of their rulers.

Howdy all,

The topic of the end of Roman rule in Britain is a fascinating one but is unfortunately something I know very little about.

What books, educational series, lectures, and other sources would you recommend to learn more about the politics of and daily life in this period?

Thanks!

As the title says I'm thinking of getting a roman inspired tattoo. It's a half-sleeve tattoo and I want to fill it with roman symbolism that isn't offensive, so obviously the aquilla and the fasces is off the book.

I want a Chi Rho symbol since Constantine is my family name, but I've found that an american white supremacist group uses the Chi Rho has their symbol so now I'm with second thoughts.

What can I get that isn't considered extremist or associated with extremist groups?

English translation: "Remember you will die". *

The phrase is heavily used in stoicism. It also became an important theme in christianity (it is call to be humble).

Some versions said that the phrase was used by companions to generals when during procession in Triumphs.

*Starting today I have decided to put the latin original in the title. Serious Romaboos wanna to learn latin!

Recently i started reading books made by roman historians. I have already read some of it but i need advice, what should i read next?

Thanks to everyone, that will give me some advice.

I'm reposting this from my question on r/askhistory. I didn't get too many responses, and I figured it was more of a discussion/speculation post rather than a "ELI5" kinda of thing. Feel free to call me out if I'm bullshitting. Incoming wall of text ,be warned.

So as lot of you know now, the Marian reforms didn't actually happen. It's an old historical theory that's been discredited by modern research. However, a lot changed between the legions as described by Polybius who fought in the mid-Republic period and the later legions who fought under Caesar. Accrediting these reforms to Marius was just a way to explain the shift, when in reality all the various reforms were probably gradual and occurred at different times.

However, I want to focus on one single aspect of these reforms; the change from a citizen levy (dialectus) raised during conflicts and disbanded during peace to a professional, standing army that served 20-25 years.

The Social War brought an end to the socii system that provided the Republic with 50% (or more, such at Cannae where it was more like 70%) of it's soldiery. The organizational strain on the SPQR to raise armies had doubled, but the manpower pool to pull Roman legionaires from had also doubled. However, at the same time of the Social War, there was an increasing trend of overseas continuous conflicts that required long-term deployment of the Roman army.

Rome had fought overseas before, but these conflicts were usually short, only lasting a few campaign seasons. The only prolonged overseas campaign was the Punic Wars, which actually showed the weakness of the levy system because IIRC, it was common for Punic war veterans to return home after 10+ years of campaigning and discovering their property in ruins and their families destitute. This actually caused a mutiny at the start of the 2nd Macedonian War when the veterans revolted because they already spent far too much time away from their families.

As such, the citizen levies simply weren't designed for overseas conflict, but professional standing soldiers (many of whom came from the lowest rungs of society and had no property or prospects in life) were perfect for spending extended years on a campaign.

To give examples; the 1st century BC saw conflicts such as the Mithridatic Wars and the Sertorian revolt, both of which lasted for several years if not decades across bodies of water. These types of conflicts would only become more common as the Roman Republic (later empire) expanded in all directions.

Finally, if I'm not mistaken, the property requirements in order to become a levy soldier meant that the soldiers of the Roman Republic were primarily middle-class. However, the middle class had shrunk since the end of the Punic Wars, as wealth became more stratified and the lower classes exploded in population (primarily because of slaves who would become freedmen), putting more strain on the levy system

So to summarize; I feel like the shift to professional soldiers who served long periods of time without any restriction based on property occurred during, shortly after, or as a result of the Social War because of 1.The end of the Socii System 2.The increasing demand for long-term overseas military deployment of the Roman Empire 3. The diminished supply of middle class manpower, but an explosion of lower class proletariat

And just to be clear, I could be completely wrong about this, but the professional soldier system had to have been in place by the time of 83 BC, since Sulla marched on Rome with soldiers loyal to him and not the Republic, which is characteristic of the professional prole legionaries and not the middle-class citizen levies under the dialectus system.

They kept the institutions of the Empire in place, including the Senate and government apparatus

They kept their people separate from the Romans, staying in the Northern most parts of Italy

They kept a co-equal, nominally subservient, relationship with the Eastern Empire at least at first; if not always in practice, than in outward appearance.

Would it be accurate to describe the Ostrogothic Kingdom as being a continuation of Rome, just another new management?

I'm interested in getting more into the "living Latin" approach. I would love to become more accustomed to hearing Classical Latin spoken (already got liturgical Latin covered lol) - any recommendations for podcasts? I could Lasorda do YouTube, but I prefer audio

So I am writing a novel, and I have a character who was born in Italy in around 500 AD, i’m doing a lot research on The Ostrogothic Kingdom, but one question I can’t seem to get answered is if it would be common for someone born there at that time to have blonde hair, or if I need to change my characters hair color. I know it’s not a huge deal but I am curious if anyone on here knows the answer. I’m sorry if I sound stupid, previously I never learned much about Italy in the time era, I know a ton about ancient Rome but not so much after, i’m just trying to learn.

ALSO I hope this was the right place to post, if not just please lmk and i’ll take it down

EDIT: Thank you guys so much, you were all really helpful!

Me in front of the Colossus of Constantine when I went to Rome on my honeymoon.