Tag Archives: Pliny the Younger

health kicks: then and wow

Is civilization dangerous to our health? Probably. …Playing ball, as a matter of fact, was the Roman’s favorite form of pre-bath workout. The younger crowd preferred a team game that involved passing the ball, pushing,heaving, and occasional falls in the … Continue reading

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Cave of Tiberius: getaway grotto

In the cave of Tiberius .Twelve thousand fragments in an Emperor’s sculpture gallery made a jigsaw puzzle for archaeologists… In the late summer of 1957 a gang of men labored beneath the grilling sun, building a road along the Tyrrhenian … Continue reading

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somewhere between 2 B.C. and 6 A.D.

There was the Year One. In the sixth century, Dionysius Exiguus presented a  calculation of the “first year of our Lord”; it was slightly inaccurate, given the scant and conflicting evidence in the Gospels, and on neither of those accounts … Continue reading

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Diana: weeping at the grove in alba

Great Diana. It is the cult of Diana, the mother goddess. Great Diana of the Ephesians. The ruins of her ancient capital yielded the finest statue of what is called “the mother goddess of Asia.” She looks into space with … Continue reading

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MAD for POMPEII: Parcels of Dionysian Whimsies

When the ruins of Pompeii came to light, they caused a revolution in taste- stripping away rococo gilt, reshaping the female figure, and leaving a deposit of pseudo-Greek temples from Moscow to Mississippi; although what sometimes passed for “classical” would … Continue reading

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FROM POMPEII to Madame de Pompadour:Games People Play

When the volcano Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, it destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, as well as a host of luxury villas overlooking the Bay of Naples. That ancient tragedy was a gift to the modern world: the … Continue reading

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DON’T BE SHY:STUFF YOUR GOBS

There is no shortage of  sexual objects from antiquity  A few obvious examples spring to mind straight away: the erotic collection of frescoes, mosaics and statues from Pompeii is world-famous, while the Greeks too were masters at outlining explicit sex … Continue reading

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POMPEII NIGHT TRIPPER : Don’t Disturb Sign Between the Ruins

I took a midnight walk in the ruins /Guess I was looking for your face /I felt a chill in the air/ I knew then I was in the right place/ Turned over a blue stone just to see what … Continue reading

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POMPEII: Gods Indifferent To The Power of Prayer

When the ruins came to light, they caused a revolution in taste-stripping away rococo gilt, reshaping the female figure, and leaving deposit of pseudo-Greek temples from Moscow to Mississippi- although what sometimes passed for “classical” would have bewildered the ancients. … Continue reading

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