Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It comprises 9,896 lines in dactylic hexameter, the hero Aeneas was already known to Greco-Roman legend and myth, having been a character in the Iliad. The Aeneid is widely regarded as Virgils masterpiece and one of the greatest works of Latin literature, the Aeneid can be divided into two halves based on the disparate subject matter of Books 1–6 and Books 7–12. These two halves are commonly regarded as reflecting Virgils ambition to rival Homer by treating both the Odysseys wandering theme and the Iliads warfare themes and this is, however, a rough correspondence, the limitations of which should be borne in mind. Virgil begins his poem with a statement of his theme and an invocation to the Muse and he explains the reason for the principal conflict in the story, the resentment held by the goddess Juno against the Trojan people.
This is consistent with her throughout the Homeric epics. Also in the manner of Homer, the story begins in medias res, with the Trojan fleet in the eastern Mediterranean. The fleet, led by Aeneas, is on a voyage to find a second home and it has been foretold that in Italy, he will give rise to a race both noble and courageous, a race which will become known to all nations. Juno is wrathful, because she had not been chosen in the judgment of Paris, Ganymede, a Trojan prince, was chosen to be the cup bearer to her husband, Jupiter—replacing Junos daughter, Hebe. Juno proceeds to Aeolus, King of the Winds, and asks that he release the winds to stir up a storm in exchange for a bribe, Aeolus does not accept the bribe, but agrees to carry out Junos orders, the storm devastates the fleet. The fleet takes shelter on the coast of Africa, where Aeneas rouses the spirits of his men, Aeneass mother, Venus, in the form of a hunting woman very similar to the goddess Diana, encourages him and recounts to him the history of Carthage.
At a banquet given in honour of the Trojans, Aeneas sadly recounts the events that occasioned the Trojans arrival. He begins the tale shortly after the war described in the Iliad, Cunning Ulysses devised a way for Greek warriors to gain entry into the walled city of Troy by hiding in a large wooden horse. The Greeks pretended to sail away, leaving a warrior, Sinon, to inform the Trojans that the horse was an offering and that if it were taken into the city, the Trojans would be able to conquer Greece. The Trojan priest Laocoön saw through the Greek plot and urged the horses destruction, then, in what would be seen by the Trojans as punishment from the gods, two serpents emerged from the sea and devoured Laocoön, along with his two sons. The Trojans took the horse inside the walls, and after nightfall the armed Greeks emerged from it. In a dream, the fallen Trojan prince, advised Aeneas to flee with his family, Aeneas awoke and saw with horror what was happening to his beloved city. At first he tried to fight the enemy, but soon he lost his comrades and was alone to fend off the Greeks
Roman villa
A Roman villa was a country house built for the upper class in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. The villa rustica centered on the villa itself, perhaps only seasonally occupied, under the Empire a concentration of Imperial villas grew up near the Bay of Naples, especially on the Isle of Capri, at Monte Circeo on the coast and at Antium. Wealthy Romans escaped the heat in the hills round Rome. Cicero allegedly possessed no fewer than seven villas, the oldest of them, Pliny the Younger had three or four, of which the example near Laurentium is the best known from his descriptions. The Empire contained many kinds of villas, not all of them lavishly appointed with mosaic floors, in the provinces, any country house with some decorative features in the Roman style may be called a villa by modern scholars. Some villas were more like the houses of England or Poland. These early suburban villas, such as the one at Romes Auditorium site or at Grottarossa in Rome, demonstrate the antiquity and it is possible that these early, suburban villas were in fact the seats of power of regional strongmen or heads of important families. A third type of villa provided the organizational center of the large holdings called latifundia, by the first century BC, the classic villa took many architectural forms, with many examples employing atrium or peristyle, for enclosed spaces open to light and air.
Upper class, wealthy Roman citizens in the countryside around Rome and throughout the Empire lived in villa complexes, the villa-complex consisted of three parts. The pars urbana where the owner and his family lived and this would be similar to the wealthy-persons in the city and would have painted walls. The pars rustica where the chef and slaves of the villa worked and lived and this was the living quarters for the farms animals. There would usually be other rooms here that might be used as store rooms, the villa fructuaria would be the storage rooms. These would be where the products of the farm were stored ready for transport to buyers, storage rooms here would have been used for oil, grain and any other produce of the villa. Other rooms in the villa might include an office, a temple for worship, several bedrooms, a dining room, Villas were often furnished with plumbed bathing facilities and many would have had an under-floor central heating known as the hypocaust. Smaller in the countryside, even non-commercial villas operated as largely self-supporting units, with associated farms, olive groves, Roman writers refer with satisfaction to the self-sufficiency of their villas, where they drank their own wine and pressed their own oil, a commonly used literary topos.
The late Roman Republic witnessed an explosion of villa construction in Italy, especially in the following the dictatorship of Sulla. In Etruria, the villa at Settefinestre has been interpreted as being the centre of one of the latifundia that were involved in agricultural production. At Settefinestre and elsewhere, the housing of such villas was not richly appointed
Agrippina the Younger
Agrippina the Younger has been described by ancient sources and modern scholars as ruthless, ambitious and domineering. She was a beautiful and reputable woman and according to Pliny the Elder, she had a canine in her upper right jaw. Many ancient historians accuse Agrippina of poisoning Emperor Claudius, though accounts vary, Agrippina was the first daughter and fourth living child of Agrippina the Elder and Germanicus. She had three brothers, Nero Caesar, Drusus Caesar and the future Emperor Caligula, and two younger sisters, Julia Drusilla and Julia Livilla. Agrippinas two elder brothers and her mother were victims of the intrigues of the Praetorian Prefect Lucius Aelius Sejanus and she was the namesake of her mother. Agrippina the Elder was remembered as a modest and heroic matron, who was the daughter and fourth child of Julia the Elder. Maternally, Agrippina descended directly from Augustus, Agrippinas father, was a very popular general and politician. His mother was Antonia Minor and his father was the general Nero Claudius Drusus and he was Antonia Minors first child.
Germanicus had two siblings, a sister, named Livilla, and a brother, the future Emperor Claudius. Claudius was Agrippinas paternal uncle and third husband, Antonia Minor was a daughter to Octavia the Younger by her second marriage to triumvir Mark Antony, and Octavia was the second eldest sister and full-blooded sister of Augustus. In the year 9, Augustus ordered and forced Tiberius to adopt Germanicus, Germanicus was a favorite of his great-uncle Augustus, who hoped that Germanicus would succeed his uncle Tiberius, who was Augustuss own adopted son and heir. This in turn meant that Tiberius was Agrippinas adoptive grandfather in addition to her paternal great-uncle, Agrippina was born on 6 November AD15 or possibly 14, at Oppidum Ubiorum, a Roman outpost on the Rhine River located in present-day Cologne, Germany. A second sister Julia Drusilla was born on 16 September AD16, as a small child, Agrippina travelled with her parents throughout Germany until she and her siblings returned to Rome to live with and be raised by their maternal grandmother Antonia.
In October AD19, Germanicus died suddenly in Antioch and she lived on the Palatine Hill in Rome. Her great-uncle Tiberius had already become emperor and the head of the family after the death of Augustus in 14. After her thirteenth birthday in 28, Tiberius arranged for Agrippina to marry her paternal first cousin once removed Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, Domitius came from a distinguished family of consular rank. Through his mother Antonia Major, Domitius was a nephew of Augustus, first cousin to Claudius. He had two sisters, Domitia Lepida the Elder and Domitia Lepida the Younger, Domitia Lepida the Younger was the mother of the Empress Valeria Messalina
Robert Harris (novelist)
Robert Dennis Harris is an English novelist. He is a former journalist and BBC television reporter, although he began his career in non-fiction, his fame rests upon his works of historical fiction. Beginning with the best-seller Fatherland, Harris focused on events surrounding the Second World War and his most recent works centre on contemporary history. Born in Nottingham, Harris spent his childhood in a rented house on a Nottingham council estate. His ambition to become a writer arose at an early age, Harris went to Belvoir High School in Bottesford, and King Edward VII School, Melton Mowbray, where a hall was named after him. There he wrote plays and edited the school magazine, Harris read English literature at Selwyn College, where he was president of the Union and editor of the student newspaper Varsity. After leaving Cambridge, Harris joined the BBC and worked on news and current affairs programmes such as Panorama, in 1987, at the age of thirty, he became political editor of The Observer.
He wrote columns for the Sunday Times and the Daily Telegraph. Harriss first book appeared in 1982, a Higher Form of Killing, a study of chemical and biological warfare, was written with fellow BBC journalist Jeremy Paxman. Fatherland 1992 Harriss million-selling alternative-history first novel Fatherland has as its setting a world where Germany has won the Second World War, publication enabled Harris to become a full-time novelist. HBO made a based on the novel in 1994. Harris stated that the proceeds from the book enabled him to buy a house in the country, Enigma 1995 His second novel Enigma portrayed the breaking of the German Enigma code during the Second World War at Bletchley Park. It too became a film, with Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet starring, Archangel 1998 Archangel was another international best seller. It follows a British historian in contemporary Russia as he hunts for a secret notebook, in 2005 the BBC made it into a mini-series starring Daniel Craig. Pompeii 2003 In 2003 Harris turned his attention to ancient Rome with his acclaimed Pompeii, the novel is about a Roman aqueduct engineer, working near the city of Pompeii just before the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD.
As the aqueducts begin to malfunction, he investigates and realises the volcano is shifting the ground, Imperium 2006 He followed this in 2006 with Imperium, the first novel in a trilogy centered on the life of the great Roman orator Cicero. The Ghost 2007 Harris was an early and enthusiastic backer of British Prime Minister Tony Blair and a donor to New Labour, but the war in Iraq blunted his enthusiasm. We had our ups and downs, but we didnt really fall out until the invasion of Iraq, in 2007, after Blair resigned, Harris dropped his other work to write The Ghost
Trumpet
A trumpet is a musical instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group contains the instruments with the highest register in the brass family, trumpets are used in art music styles, for instance in orchestras, concert bands, and jazz ensembles, as well as in popular music. They are played by blowing air through almost-closed lips, producing a sound that starts a standing wave vibration in the air column inside the instrument. Since the late 15th century they have primarily been constructed of brass tubing, there are many distinct types of trumpet, with the most common being pitched in B♭, having a tubing length of about 1.48 m. Early trumpets did not provide means to change the length of tubing, most trumpets have valves of the piston type, while some have the rotary type. The use of rotary-valved trumpets is more common in orchestral settings, each valve, when engaged, increases the length of tubing, lowering the pitch of the instrument. A musician who plays the trumpet is called a trumpet player or trumpeter, the earliest trumpets date back to 1500 BC and earlier.
The bronze and silver trumpets from Tutankhamuns grave in Egypt, bronze lurs from Scandinavia, trumpets from the Oxus civilization of Central Asia have decorated swellings in the middle, yet are made out of one sheet of metal, which is considered a technical wonder. The Shofar, made from a ram horn and the Hatzotzeroth and they were played in Solomons Temple around 3000 years ago. They were said to be used to blow down the walls of Jericho and they are still used on certain religious days. The Salpinx was a straight trumpet 62 inches long, made of bone or bronze, Salpinx contests were a part of the original Olympic Games. The Moche people of ancient Peru depicted trumpets in their art going back to AD300, the earliest trumpets were signaling instruments used for military or religious purposes, rather than music in the modern sense, and the modern bugle continues this signaling tradition. Improvements to instrument design and metal making in the late Middle Ages, the natural trumpets of this era consisted of a single coiled tube without valves and therefore could only produce the notes of a single overtone series.
Changing keys required the player to change crooks of the instrument, the development of the upper, clarino register by specialist trumpeters—notably Cesare Bendinelli—would lend itself well to the Baroque era, known as the Golden Age of the natural trumpet. During this period, a vast body of music was written for virtuoso trumpeters, the art was revived in the mid-20th century and natural trumpet playing is again a thriving art around the world. The melody-dominated homophony of the classical and romantic periods relegated the trumpet to a role by most major composers owing to the limitations of the natural trumpet. Berlioz wrote in 1844, Notwithstanding the real loftiness and distinguished nature of its quality of tone, there are few instruments that have been more degraded. The attempt to give the trumpet more chromatic freedom in its range saw the development of the keyed trumpet, the symphonies of Mozart, and as late as Brahms, were still played on natural trumpets
Municipality
It is to be distinguished from the county, which may encompass rural territory and/or numerous small communities such as towns and hamlets. The term municipality may mean the governing or ruling body of a given municipality, a municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district. The term is derived from French municipalité and Latin municipalis, a municipality can be any political jurisdiction from a sovereign state, such as the Principality of Monaco, or a small village, such as West Hampton Dunes, New York. The power of municipalities range from virtual autonomy to complete subordination to the state, municipalities may have the right to tax individuals and corporations with income tax, property tax, and corporate income tax, but may receive substantial funding from the state. Similar terms include Spanish ayuntamiento, called municipalidad, Polish gmina, Dutch/Flemish Gemeente, in Australia, the term local government area is used in place of the generic municipality.
Here, the LGA Structure covers only incorporated areas of Australia, incorporated areas are legally designated parts of states and territories over which incorporated local governing bodies have responsibility. In Canada, municipalities are local governments established through provincial and territorial legislation, the Province of Ontario has different tiers of municipalities, including lower and single tiers. Types of upper tier municipalities in Ontario include counties and regional municipalities, nova Scotia has regional municipalities, which include cities, districts, or towns as municipal units. In India, a Nagar Palika or Municipality is a local body that administers a city of population 100,000 or more. Under the Panchayati Raj system, it directly with the state government. Generally, smaller cities and bigger towns have a Nagar Palika. Nagar Palikas are a form of local self-government entrusted with duties and responsibilities. Such a corporation in Great Britain consists of a head as a mayor or provost, since local government reorganisation, the unit in England, Northern Ireland and Wales is known as a district, and in Scotland as a council area.
A district may be awarded borough or city status, or can retain its district title, in Jersey, a municipality refers to the honorary officials elected to run each of the 12 parishes into which it is subdivided. This is the highest level of government in this jurisdiction. In the United States, municipality is usually understood as a city, village, or other local government unit, in the Peoples Republic of China, a direct-controlled municipality is a city with equal status to a province, Tianjin and Chongqing. In Taiwan, a municipality is a city with equal status to a province, New Taipei, Tainan, Taipei. In Portuguese language usage, there are two words to distinguish the territory and the administrative organ, when referring to the territory, the word concelho is used, when referring to the organ of State, the word município is used
Portus Julius
Portus Julius was the first harbor specifically constructed to be a base for the Roman western naval fleet, the classis Misenensis. Portus Julius was so-named in honour of Octavians great-uncle and adoptive father, Julius Caesar, to run the operation, Octavian turned to his closest and most able associate, Marcus Agrippa. Agrippa knew that Lake Averno was invisible from the sea and bay waters. Agrippas plan, executed from 37-36BC, was to dig a canal to connect Lake Averno to Lake Lucrino, to disguise the activities even more, an access tunnel was dug from Lake Averno north to the town of Cumae. Agrippas innovative strategy was validated as construction of the new fleet remained unknown to Sextus roving fleet, when it was complete, fully outfitted and trained, Agrippas fleet left its secret base and defeated Sextus at the Battle of Naulochus, the decisive naval battle of the campaign. Shortly after the conclusion of the war with Sextus, the first Portus Julius was abandoned. With secrecy no longer a requirement, nearby Misenum became home to a second, the Romans built new breakwaters and a freshwater reservoir, the Piscina Mirabilis, of unparalleled size.
It was fed by the Aqua Augusta, an aqueduct which supplied Cumae, Pompeii, because of its location, the area controlled the entire Italian west coast, the islands and the Straits of Messina. Shifting coastlines over the centuries have put a number of the harbour facilities under water. List of Roman cisterns Roman navy Nemi ships Caligulas Giant Ship Classis Britannica Classis Flavia Moesica Classis Misenensis Classis Ravennas
Province of Avellino
The Province of Avellino is a province in the Campania region of Southern Italy. The area is characterized by small towns and villages scattered across the province. It has an area of 2,792 square kilometres and a population of 427,310 in 2012. There are 119 comuni in the province, see Comuni of the Province of Avellino. It is a province, with no connection to the sea. The ancient name of the area was Hirpinia, derived from the Oscan term hirpus, in the medieval Kingdom of Naples the provincial area roughly corresponded to the Principato Ultra, though some places were included in Capitanata or Principato Citra. The modern province was established in 1860, after the unification of Italy, the Selachoidei National Gallery at Avellino houses one of the largest collections of cartilaginous fishes in the country. Natural attractions include the Monti Piacentini and Partenio Regional Parks, together with two WWF sites, Valle della Caccia in Senerchia and the area around the Ofanto dam in Conza della Campania.
Typical products are hazelnuts, the chestnut of Montella, the renowned wines Aglianico, Taurasi and Fiano, cheeses, Avellino corneal dystrophy Provincia di Avellino homepage Lupi Emigranti founded by Frigentos students and workers in order to get in touch with Province of Avellinos emigrants
Hector
In Greek mythology and Roman Mythology, Hector was a Trojan prince and the greatest fighter for Troy in the Trojan War. As the first-born son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba, who was a descendant of Dardanus and Tros, the founder of Troy, he was a prince of the royal house and he was married to Andromache, with whom he had an infant son, Scamandrius. He acted as leader of the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, during the European Middle Ages, Hector figures as one of the Nine Worthies noted by Jacques de Longuyon, known not only for his courage but for his noble and courtly nature. Indeed, Homer places Hector as peace-loving, thoughtful as well as bold, a son and father. James Redfield writes of Hector as a martyr to loyalties, a witness to the things of this world, in Greek, Héktōr is a derivative of the verb ἔχειν ékhein, archaic form *ἕχειν hékhein, to have or to hold from Proto-Indo-European *seǵh- to hold. Héktōr, or Éktōr as found in Aeolic poetry, is an epithet of Zeus in his capacity as he who holds, Hectors name could thus be taken to mean holding fast.
According to the Iliad, Hector does not approve of war between the Greeks and the Trojans, for ten years, the Achaeans besieged Troy and their allies in the east. Hector commanded the Trojan army, with a number of subordinates including Polydamas, and his brothers Deiphobus and Paris. By all accounts, Hector was the best warrior the Trojans and all their allies could field and Odysseus, when faced with his attack, described him as what Robert Fagles translated as an incredible dynamite, and a maniac. In the Iliad, Hectors exploits in the war prior to the events of the book are recapitulated and he had fought the Greek champion Protesilaus in single combat at the start of the war and killed him. A prophecy had stated that the first Greek to land on Trojan soil would die, Protesilaus and Odysseus would not land. Finally, Odysseus threw his shield out and landed on that, in the ensuing fight, Hector killed him, fulfilling the prophecy. The Argives were initially reluctant to accept the challenge, after Nestors chiding, nine Greek heroes stepped up to the challenge and drew by lot to see who was to face Hector.
Ajax wins and fights Hector to a stalemate for the entire day, with neither able to achieve victory, they express admiration for each others courage and strength. Hector gave Ajax his sword, which Ajax uses to kill himself, Ajax gives Hector his girdle, which was used to attach Hectors corpse to Achilles chariot by which he is dragged around the walls of Troy. The Greek and the Trojans make a truce to bury the dead, in the early dawn the next day the Greeks take advantage of it to build a wall and ditch around the ships. Zeus is watching in a distance, another mention of Hectors exploits in the early years of war was given in the Iliad book 9. During the embassy to Achilles, Odysseus and Ajax all try to persuade Achilles to rejoin the fight and he claims, There he stood up to me alone one day, and he barely escaped my onslaught
Province of Naples
The Province of Naples was a province in the Campania region of southern Italy, since January 2015 has been replaced by the Metropolitan City of Naples. The province of Naples is the most densely populated in Italy, at the 2013 census were all located in the province, as were 10 of the top 15. It has an area of 1,171.13 km², largest communities in the Napoli metropolitan area), The area is particularly fruitful for tourism, both national and international. Together they are known as the Campanian Archipelago. On Capri, there is the famous Blue Grotto, inside the grotto the sea seems to be lit from underwater, it is a magnificent blue colour, hence its name. The Sorrentine Peninsula has long being a destination for tourism, it is well known for the drink Limoncello. It is rich with villas, guard towers, the most popular sport in the province is football. This area was one of the first in Southern Italy to start playing sports, the most successful club from the province are by far SSC Napoli, who have won Serie A twice and the UEFA Cup while Diego Maradona was with the club
Roman navy
The Roman navy comprised the naval forces of the Ancient Roman state. The navy was instrumental in the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean basin, partly because of that, the navy was never wholly embraced by the Roman state, and deemed somewhat un-Roman. In Antiquity and trading fleets did not have the autonomy that modern ships. Unlike modern naval forces, the Roman navy even at its height never existed as an autonomous service but operated as an adjunct to the Roman army. The Roman fleets were again prominent in the 1st century BC in the wars against the pirates, in 31 BC, the great naval Battle of Actium ended the civil wars culminating in the final victory of Augustus and the establishment of the Roman Empire. During the Imperial period, the Mediterranean became largely a peaceful Roman lake, in the absence of a maritime enemy, the navy was reduced mostly to patrol, anti-piracy and transport duties. The navy manned and maintained craft on major rivers such as the Rhine. On the fringes of the Empire, in new conquests or, increasingly, in defense against barbarian invasions, the Roman fleets were still engaged in open warfare.
The decline of the Empire in the 3rd century took a toll on the navy. As successive waves of the Völkerwanderung crashed on the frontiers of the battered Empire. In the early 5th century, the Roman frontiers were breached, one of them, the Vandal Kingdom, raised a navy of its own and raided the shores of the Mediterranean, even sacking Rome, while the diminished Roman fleets were incapable of offering any resistance. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in the late 5th century, the navy of the surviving eastern Roman Empire is known as the Byzantine navy. The exact origins of the Roman fleet are obscure, a traditionally agricultural and land-based society, the Romans rarely ventured out to sea, unlike their Etruscan neighbours. As a result, the Republic acquired its first fleet, consisting of 20 ships, most likely triremes and this situation continued until the First Punic War, the main task of the Roman fleet was patrolling along the Italian coast and rivers, protecting seaborne trade from piracy.
It is possible that the supervision of these allies was one of the duties of the four new praetores classici. The first Roman expedition outside mainland Italy was against the island of Sicily in 265 BC and this led to the outbreak of hostilities with Carthage, which would last until 241 BC. At the time, the Punic city was the master of the western Mediterranean, possessing a long maritime and naval experience. Although Rome had relied on her legions for the conquest of Italy, operations in Sicily had to be supported by a fleet, thus in 261 BC, the Roman Senate set out to construct a fleet of 100 quinqueremes and 20 triremes
Piscina Mirabilis
The Piscina Mirabilis was a freshwater cistern on the Bacoli cliff at the western end of the Gulf of Naples, southern Italy. One of the largest freshwater cisterns built by the ancient Romans, the cistern was dug entirely out of the tuff cliff face and was 15 metres high/deep,72 metres long, and 25 metres wide. The capacity/volume was 12,600 cubic metres and it was supported by vaulted ceilings and 48 pillars. It was supplied with water from the main Roman aqueduct, the Aqua Augusta, the ancient cistern is in private hands but parts of it may still be visited List of Roman cisterns Basilica Cistern Cistern of Philoxenos Theodosius Cistern Classis Misenensis Napoli Underground. Napoli Underground Official Campania Tourism Site
Media related to Miseno at Wikimedia Commons
