Cryptography is nearly as old as human language. Many civilizations felt the need to conceal their messages using more or less sophisticated encryption methods, as demonstrated by some documentary examples that have survived in Egypt, China, Mesopotamia, India, Greece… It is precisely in Egypt where the first example of cryptography has been found. The hieroglyphics […]
Ancient Rome
Posted inAncient Rome
Locusta, the Slave who Prepared the Poison that Killed Claudius and his Son Britannicus
Claudio didn’t want to tolerate Agrippinila’s behavior, so he prepared to end her power by having his son put on the toga virilis and declaring him heir to the throne. Upon learning this, Agrippinila was alarmed and hurried to remedy the situation by poisoning Claudio. However, due to the large amount of wine he drank […]
Posted inAncient Rome, Art
The Mausoleum of Centcelles in Tarragona (Spain) Houses the Oldest Dome with Mosaics from Roman Times
Located just 7 kilometers from the city of Tarragona in Catalonia, stands the majestic Villa-mausoleum of Centcelles, an exceptional Roman monument that houses the oldest mosaics of early Christian art in the Iberian Peninsula, dating back to the 4th century AD, as well as the oldest Roman dome with preserved mosaics. For centuries during the […]
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The Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia was so Large it was Visible from Rome 22 Miles Away
The Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia is a significant sacred complex dedicated to the goddess Fortuna, located in the ancient city of Praeneste (now Palestrina, 35 kilometers, about 22 miles, east of Rome). It is the “largest complex of late Republican architecture in ancient Italy”, as scholars have defined it. It was built in the late […]
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Ilerda, the Battle by which Julius Caesar Seized Hispania from Pompey
The 1st century BC wasn’t exactly peaceful for Rome. Apart from the wars it had to wage against external enemies, it found itself embroiled not in one but in two civil conflicts. The first was a power struggle between Lucius Cornelius Sulla and Gaius Marius, from 88 to 81 BC. The second came just thirty-two […]
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Secessio Plebis, the Roman Antecedent of the General Strike in Which the People Abandoned the City
Although the right to strike wasn’t regulated until the 20th century, labor strikes occurred for various reasons since ancient times, with the first documented case being that of the workers of Set Maat (now Deir el-Medina, Egypt) during the reign of Ramesses III. We know this thanks to the so-called Strike Papyrus, preserved in Turin […]
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Piscina Mirabilis, the Impressive Roman Water Reservoir as Large as a Basilica
In the year 27 B.C., Marco Agrippa, the general and close friend of Emperor Augustus, established the base of the Roman fleet, known as the Classis Misenensis, at the Portus Iulius (Port Julius) in Misenum. It was situated at the western end of the Gulf of Pozzuoli near Naples, and from there, when he was […]
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Julius Civilis, the Batavian Prefect who Rebelled Against Rome to Create an Independent Kingdom Uniting Gaul and Germania
During the Roman Empire era, what is now known as the Netherlands was referred to as Batavia. The name referred to its inhabitants, the Batavians, who lived on an island at the mouth of the Rhine, hence its etymology (batawjō = good island). They were a Germanic people separated from the Chatti who were allies […]
Posted inAncient Rome, Culture
Researchers Read for the First Time the Contents of One of the Charred Herculaneum Scrolls, an Epicurean Treatise
A team of researchers from around the world has achieved the feat of reading fragments of text from one of the charred scrolls of the ancient library of Herculaneum, buried 2000 years ago by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. These scrolls were discovered by chance in the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum in the […]
Posted inAncient Rome, Geography
Marmore, the Highest Artificial Waterfall in the World, Created by the Romans in 271 BC
At the end of the long Valnerina Valley, near the town of Marmore in the Italian region of Umbria, there’s a 165-meter-high waterfall divided into three drops, one of the tallest in Europe. A portion of the Velino River’s flow, originating from Lake Piediluco, plunges down the falls before joining the Nera River. Over centuries, […]
