Everything related to the history of the Roman calendar and its transmission until today is very complex, especially for us who are used to a system of nomination of days of the month truly simple, each day is called the number it occupies in the whole month: January 1st, February 2nd or February 15th or March 3rd …
Habemus Papam
Jesus Christ was born in the time of Emperor Augustus and, with him, the Catholic Church. Christianity owes many things to the Greco-Roman world.
Troy was placed where the poem said
Troy is a topic that has produced a lot of literature, but for thousands of years its location was forgotten. However the poet told us very clearly where it was buried; we only had to trust on his words.
Demeter and Persephone are personifications of nature
Greek mythology is very rich and diverse, the result of the own Greek genius and also of the confluence of ancient Asian, Mediterranean, African beliefs (Mesopotamia, Egypt …)
The Roman state helps the starving citizens with the “annona”
The reality of Rome is much sadder than the topic of the gargantuan feast, which is the result of a literary creativity that always pays attention to the exceptional and anecdotal instead of the ordinary and prosaic: thousands of hungry citizens.
“Know thyself ( Know yourself)”, γνῶθι σεαυτόν (gnóthi seautón), Nosce te ipsum, Conócete a ti mismo, Connais-toi toi-même, Conosci te stesso, Erkenne dich selbst.
This ancient Greek phrase, “know yourself” is the simplest invitation to reflect on oneself
I hate and I love (odi et amo)
It seems a contradiction and, however, it is possible to feel these two strong passions simultaneously. At least this is what Catullus and thousands of later lovers admit.
Mosquitoes preserved the temples of Paestum, Italy, a World Heritage Site
Without any doubt, the biggest agent of destruction is man himself. A kind of Mosquito expelled the man from Paestum, and several Greek temples in the area have lasted until today in a remarkable state of preservation.
The water preserves wrecks, which are underwater archaeological sites
The sea has invaded the coasts throughout the centuries and, on the sea bed, thousands of shipwrecks lie and can rescued now.
Tempus fugit – Time Flees
The people had to try to measure the time very soon, perhaps with the false illusion of catching it.