#imperial rome

[burningvelvet]

“A woman’s face with nature’s own hand painted / Hast thou, the master-mistress of my passion”

Lines from the poem Sonnet 20 by William Shakespeare (1609) one of his texts most noted for the theme of sexual ambiguity, and the sculpture Sleeping Hermaphroditus, an Imperial Roman copy of a Hellenistic original by Polycles (circa. 155 BC) rediscovered during the early 1600s and subsequently accented with a marble pillow sculpted by Bernini in 1620; now housed in The Louvre, Paris.

[thefollowersofthedivinesnake]

(Full view plz)

Some historical characters that will be making an appearance in the webcomic I'm developing!

[clepysdra]

Plotina Hair and Veil

This hair set was inspired by the busts of Pompeia Plotina Augusta, Roman empress from 98 to 117 AD, the wife of Emperor Trajan and the adoptive mother of Hadrian. Plotina was notable for her interests in philosophy, balancing her glowing reputation as a modest, virtuous wife with her active political engagement. It is the perfect hair for a Roman matron.

Plotina Hair:

Base game compatible

24 EA hair swatches

Disallowed for random

No hat chops

Imperial Veil:

Hat category

Base game compatible

24 swatches (10 patterned, 14 solid)

Disallowed for random

Hair Tie Recolors:

Nose ring (left) category

Base game compatible

20 swatches

Disallowed for random

Meshes and textures are from Maxis.

HAIR DOWNLOAD - Dropbox (no ads)

VEIL DOWNLOAD - Dropbox (no ads)

HAIR TIE RECOLORS - Dropbox (no ads)

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MERGED DOWNLOAD - Dropbox (no ads)

[dailyhistoryposts]

On This Day In History

January 16th, 27 BCE: The Roman Empire begins.

[merovingian-marvels]

Dorestad Key

Keys are a surprising artefact from the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties. Roman keys are short and rounded and are of high quality. Merovingian keys are longer, thinner and sometimes very weirdly and irregularly shaped.

Carolingian keys become shorter again and are distinguishable by their rounded handles which usually have an openwork cross decoration in them.

Merovingian era keys were in the possession of women, who would wear them from chatelaines down their belts. Wearing keys along with jewelry signified that the woman in question was in charge of the household. She was a free woman and was head of the family house. It would also mean that when the husband left for trade/pillaging, she would be left in complete charge rather than the oldest son or the man’s father.

Keys are closely associated with locks and protecting valuable things from others. Everything a family had: a house, kettle, lands, trade goods, … were under the guard of a woman.

RMO Leiden, the Netherlands

Museum nr: WD 984

Found in Dorestad (Merovingian Era) - Utrecht, The Netherlands

[just-late-roman-republic-things]

hi there !! i’m currently studying ancient history at a level and i Need books on the julio-claudian dynasty because it’s slowly consuming my life in a way that none of my other history interests have. do you have any recommendations? thank you so much !!

Hello! I hope you like biographies!

Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar and the Roman People by Robert Morstein-Marx, 2021 - might as well be named "Everything you thought you knew about Caesar was wrong." It's a bit dense, but its discussion of analyzing sources is very useful for other Julio-Claudians as well.

A Companion to Julius Caesar, anthology, edited by Miriam Griffin, 2009.

I haven't read Caesar by Adrian Goldsworthy (2006), but a lot of people have suggested it to me.

Augustus

Augustus by Anthony Everitt, 2006

Augustus by Adrian Goldsworthy, 2014

Tiberius

Tiberius by Robin Seager, 2005

Tiberius by David Shotter, 2004

Haven't read any books about Caligula, Claudius or Nero, but the most recent biographies are:

Caligula by Aloys Winterling, 2011

Claudius by Barbara Levick, 1990

Nero: Matricide, Music and Murder in Imperial Rome by Anthony Everitt, 2022

In general, look for books that have been published more recently, and which cite their sources often. The scholarship on these dudes has changed a lot in the past 50 years, and "pop history" books are often out of date.

Not always accurate, but fun:

Suetonius' Twelve Caesars - our main classical source, full of insane anecdotes, but also like 30% bullshit.

I, Claudius by Robert Graves - historical novel for people who think Suetonius wasn't wild enough.

Augustus by John Williams - an epistolary novel about the life of Augustus. Gave me a lot of feelings.

Paging @the-little-fox-in-the-box and @theromaboo in case they have additional recommendations!

[nekomantia]

An ancient jasper intaglio magical amulet known as an Abraxas Stone featuring a cock-headed anguiped (”snake-legged god”) identified as Abrasax or Abraxas. Dated to 2nd-3rd century AD Rome, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

[midwesternartlovertraveler]

I, Claudius is one of the greatest shows I have ever seen on television. True it was filmed on a sound stage and it looks it today, but the writing and the acting are superb!

[oldschoolfrp]

Roman centurion, cornicen, and signifier direct legionaries in lorica hamata assaulting a palisade (Roger Raupp, AD&D 2e Historical Reference HR5: The Glory of Rome Campaign Sourcebook, TSR, 1993)

[charlesreeza]

Mosaic emblema from the “House of the Mosaic Columns” in Pompeii depicting a boxer and a rooster, 1st century, Roman

National Archaeological Museum of Naples

[babymgs26]

The Mystery of Laocoon and His Sons

I just find it interesting how in the 500+ years since its excavation, scholars STILL can't decide on when this thing was made. I mean that genuinely. We don't know. There's theories, but it's a whole spiderweb with contradictions, and so much has been lost to history that we just can't be sure of anything.

The first and one of the most widely accepted theories is that it can be dated to around the 1st cent. B.C.E. due to textual evidence as well as some decisively dateable statue groups found in Sperlonga in the late 1950s in Tiberius's Grotto (~125ish B.C.E.), but this is debatable for a variety of reasons as well.

Pliny the Elder, in his text from Natural History, XXXVI, 37 describes a statue group VERY similar to this one that was immediately thought of upon excavation (so quickly, in fact, that it's been brought under suspicion, more on that later). The text reads:

“This is the case with the Laocoön in the palace of the emperor Titus, a work superior to any painting and any bronze. Laocoön, his children and the wonderful clasping coils of the snakes were carved from a single block in accordance with an agreed plan by those eminent craftsmen Hagesander, Polydorus and Athenodorus, all of Rhodes.”

It is important to note that the Sperlonga Groups (fig.2) are associated with the Laocoon Group because they are inscribed with the names of the sculptors that are listed here in Pliny (i.e. Hagesander, Polydorus and Athenodorus).

However, this text is drawn into question for several reasons:

The statue group was not found in the palace of Titus, it was found in a room (not buried like the vast majority of statues thought to be this old), in a vineyard. Yeah, statues can be moved, but you'd think that if one were to move such a big piece into this literal room, it wouldn't have been kept so quiet? smuggling? sure? maybe? but then buyers aren't just gonna keep this thing hidden, would they? idk

The Laocoon Group found in 1503 that is on display in the Vatican Museum today is crafted of 7 pieces (at least) and the one Pliny describes is carved in the round. It can be said that Pliny may not have gotten a close enough look and only thought that it was in the round, but the construction of 7 pieces and the detail that can be involved comparatively, eh, again, idk...

The marbles and carving/detailing styles of the Laocoon statue group and the ones found in Sperlonga are also different. The Laocoon Group is Parian marble (paria lithos) and the one's found in Sperlonga were a Rhodian variety that was also used in the Pergamon reliefs (2nd/3rd cent. B.C.E. [another theorized dating for the Laocoon group]) known as lithos larticos.

(fig.1) Laocoon and His Sons as seen in modern day at the Vatican Museum in Vatican City, Rome, Italy. Photo is property of the author, taken 12 Jan 2024.

(fig. 2) Reconstruction of the Tiberian Cave in Sperlonga: A) Group of Ulysses dragging the body of Achilles, B) Sculptural group of Scylla, C) Sculptural group of the blinding of Polyphemus, D) Sculptural group of the kidnapping of Palladium, E) Ganymede kidnapped by Zeus' eagle.

This is just a bite-size version of my larger research that I found interesting, I will definitely continue adding to it in a type of series because there are so many theories (including that it may be a Michelangelo forgery), and I want to go into mythological significance as well as reconstruction efforts.

[vsthepomegranate]

Fellini Satyricon (1969)

by Federico Fellini

[thefollowersofthedivinesnake]

My webcomic characters ft. the historical characters they were close to!

[kitkatabasis]

god what I wouldn't do for agrippina the younger's memoirs.

[dailyhistoryposts]

On This Day In History

June 9th 53: Roman emperor Nero gets married to Claudia Octavia 68: Roman emperor Nero quotes Vergil's Aeneid and kills himself.

[rubicon-crossings]