Roman Empire News
The Afterlife
| ... the nature or substance of the soul seems neither to have been a natal day, nor to be exempt from death. Again, whether do any atoms of the soul remain in a dead body, or not? For if any remain and exist in the body, it will not be possible for the soul to be justly accounted immortal; since when she took her departure she was diminished by some lost particles. but if, when removed, she fled with all her parts so entirem that she left no atoms if her substance in the bodym whence do dead caracasses, when the viscera become putrid, send forth worms? |
The Erotic Poems by Ovid
Love be not proud. Let love be cynical, irreverent and bawdy! Ovid is the perfect cure for maudlin saps pining for unrequited romances. The good man from Sulmo is perhaps the most infamous Roman poet, and deservedly so. Not content with being a creature of the Augustan propaganda machine and ...
12 Byzantine Rulers: Part 10 - Heraclius
In the years following Justinian's death, the empire was rocked from within and without. Barbarians pushed in on every border and the empire's ancient enemy Persia ravaged the East unchecked. The empire met this challenge with a series of weak and foolish rulers who squandered what resources they had, and crumbled before the Persian onslaught. By the start of the 7th Century, the emperor was a virtual prisoner in his own palace, the Persians were beneath the walls of Constantinople, and the rest of the empire was in the hands of rebels. It looked as if the end had come at last, and yet, against all odds, an Armenian general was to defeat the Persians, sweep away the old Latin traditions and reform the empire on a Greek model. Join Lars Brownworth as he looks at Heraclius, whose reign saw this glittering triumph yet ended in such tragedy.
Catullus and the Neoteroi
Gaius Valerius Catullus lived in interesting times. Born around 84 BCE and deceased sometime after 55 BCE (both dates as best as scholars can determine), those three decades witnessed the upheaval of the Republic in a political sense. For Catullus' childhood saw the dictatorship of Sulla and its proscriptions, and ...
12 Byzantine Rulers: Part 9 - Justinian - Part 3
With the reconquest of Italy seemingly complete and the Persian threat momentarily neutralized by the plague, Justinian could at last afford to rest. But the empire's enemies were everywhere- the plague abated and a charismatic new Gothic king arose in Italy. The empire could ill afford to keep its greatest general in disgrace, and Justinian would once again turn to the man he could never quite bring himself to trust. The final decade of his life would see the fruition of his epic dreams of reconquest, as well as the restoration of the building that still stands as the greatest testament to his reign. It would be the final act of a cast of characters the likes of whom the empire would never see again. Join Lars Brownworth for the conclusion of the reign of Justinian, the last of the Roman Emperors.
