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400 ♥
aimez-vous-sagan: androphilia: Judith Beheading Holofernes (Detail) By Caravaggio, Circa 1598-1599
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St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome (Easter 2011)
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awesomethingsfromhistory: This bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius on a horse is almost the last remaining equestrian statue from antiquity and the only intact surviving bronze statue of a pre-Christian Roman emperor.  It survived purely because the statue was believed during the Middle Ages to depict Constantine, the first Christian emperor.   The statue of Marcus Aurelius has had many homes during its existence.  Erected between 175-180 AD, the original location of the statue is debated.  It was kept on public display during the Middle Ages in Lateran Palace.  Pope Paul III placed the statue in the Piazzo del Campidoglio in 1538, where it stood upon a pedestal designed by Michelangelo, who redesigned the Campidoglio.  It remained in the there until it was replaced by a replica and moved to the Capitoline Museums.  
25 ♥
historical-nonfiction: I have heard people claim that Romans would feast until they were full, then go to a  a “vomitorium” to throw up the food so they could keep eating. This is a myth. The truth is much more mundane: the vomitoria were actually passages that enabled the masses to move quickly to and from their seats in an amphitheater. These made it possible for thousands of Roman citizens to be seated within minutes.
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mediumaevum: Viking swords at Bergen museum
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fvckyeahromanhistory: Ides of March Special: Silver Denarius of Marcus Brutus, Macedonia, 43-42 BCE This coin was struck in honour of Marcus Junius Brutus, one of the assassins of Julius Caesar. The reverse shows the cap of liberty given to freed slaves flanked by two daggers. This indicates Brutus’ intention of freeing Rome from Caesar’s imperial ambitions and the murder weapons employed to do so. Below is the day of the deed; EID.MAR, the ides of March. Few coins capture a moment in history with such stark and brutal imagery. Brutus had carried out the attack with some fellow Roman Senators in 44 BC when Caesar had come unarmed to address the Senate on 15 March. This day was known to the Romans as the ides, or the middle day of the month and was recognised on a new calendar system that Caesar himself had established just two years before. The assassins, or ‘freedom party’ as they regarded themselves, fled Rome to Macedonia to raise an army. However, they were defeated by Caesar’s allies led by Mark Antony and Octavian at the Battle of Philippi (42 BC). Brutus subsequently committed suicide. The decision to flee east was probably influenced by the richness of the provinces of the eastern Roman Empire - raising an army was a very costly business. Supplies needed to be bought and soldiers needed wages. Amongst the coins the conspirators briefly struck to this end was this, the ‘Ides of March’ denarius. P. Matyszak, Chronicle of the Roman Republi (London, Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2005) M.H. Crawford, Roman republican coinage (Cambridge University Press, 1974)
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