Archive for the ‘Ancient Rome’ Category
By: The Scribe on July, 2011
I
f you know your Roman history, you know that Caligula wasn’t exactly the most well loved emperor. Oh sure, in the beginning he was moderate and won the love of the Roman people by building aqueducts and other structures in the city. The crowds called him their baby and their star due to the fact that he was the son of Germanicus.
In the beginning, he won the support of the powerful Praetorian Guard. He gave them bonuses and if there is one thing that professional soldiers like, its extra money. If you were the Emperor, the Praetorian Guard was definitely one group of people you wanted to have on your side. In their earliest days they simply acted as bodyguards for the Emperor. Later, however, the Praetorians decided to get political. They worked with the senate in order to remove Caligula and other emperors from power and were key political players during the Year of the Four Emperors.
Caligula then started to get a swelled head. After all, he was the Emperor, wasn’t he? The people loved him and he was able to make any of his detractors vanish. Many of them were accused of various crimes and were fined in order to get his hands on their estates. He also decided to raise money by auctioning off the lives of the gladiators who fought in the Coliseum. Suddenly, Centurions were told that they had to hand over the spoils that they had acquired during plundering and while on military campaigns. This did not sit well with the Praetorian Guard or the rest of the Roman population.
In the middle of all of this was Cassius Chaerea. He was known for his bravery and skill in battle. He had seen some hard action and was part of the military that managed to subdue a mutiny that popped up on the German frontier following the death of Augustus. Did Caligula honor this soldier for his deeds? No. Instead, he decided to mock Cassius Chaerea’s voice and to call him offensive names. That mockery, combined with Caligula’s increasingly unstable behavior helped Chaerea decide to kill Caligula.
Now, he wasn’t the only one to have planned this. There were quite a few plots that centered on ending Caligula’s life. Over time, the plots slowly melded into one larger plot that involved not only Chaerea but members of the senate, the Equestrians and other members of the Praetorian Guard.
On the 24th of January, 41 CE, Caligula was in a cryptoporticus or underground corridor beneath the palaces on the Palatine Hill. Caligula was speaking with a troupe of young male actors when a group of individuals approached him. That group included Cassius Chaerea. The men surrounded Caligula and began to stab him. It is generally believed that Chaerea struck first. The position in the cryptoporticus made it impossible for Caligula’s loyal bodyguards to reach him in time. Caligula was dead.
After killing the Emperor, the men moved on. They searched out Caligula’s wife, Caesonia and a daughter named Julia Drusilla. Both were killed. They would have killed Caligula’s uncle, Claudius but he had already been spirited away to a Praetorian camp. Claudius later became Emperor of Rome.
By: The Scribe on June, 2011
Archaeologists have been given a lot of information about what the daily life of Romans was like by unearthing the Roman towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii. The two sites continue to be excavated today in order to find out what life was like approximately 2,000 years ago. Now Herculaneum is the site of a new find that has helped answer a lot of the questions which previous digs brought up.
Scientists have been able to excavate a cesspit that was located beneath the town. It has unearthed ten tones of human feces and ancient Roman garbage. The garbage came from both residential apartment blocks and from shops. It is believed that much of the garbage dates from around 79 CE. That was the year that Mount Vesuvius erupted burying both Herculaneum and Pompeii in a thick layer of volcanic ash.
The cesspit was located beneath a district inhabited mainly by artisans and shop keepers. In addition to the remains of food and human waste, scientists were also able to find coins, semi-precious stones, broken lamps, pottery and lost jewelry. The cesspit measured approximately 230 feet (70 m) long, three feet (one meter) wide and seven to ten feet (two to three meters) tall.
When scientists first discovered the cesspit they thought it was simply another part of the town’s drainage system. They did find, however, that the area did not have an outlet. It was then that archaeologists began studying the area in greater detail. They found that by putting the mixture through a series of graded sieves that they were able to separate out objects ranging from pottery and bone fragments to the nuts and seeds that made up part of the Roman diet.
From this mixture they were able to determine that the Romans who lived in Herculaneum
had quite a varied diet. They found evidence that the Romans of Herculaneum consumed meat such as chicken and mutton, seafood such as fish, mollusks and sea urchins and other foods such s fennel, figs and olives. Scientists are also hoping that they will be able to find microscopic evidence of disease or to be able to find microscopic evidence of parasites that may have affected the people of Herculaneum.
Herculaneum has been a rich source of archaeological information simply because the town and its residents were well preserved by the fast moving mixture of ashes and hot gas. Remains were well preserved because the layer of ashes was so thick. It created an air tight seal which was not broken until 1738 CE. It is a valuable archaeological site as it is one of the only areas where Roman bodies were found. It was difficult for archaeologists to find evidence of Roman bodies anywhere else as cremation was a popular way of disposing of dead bodies. While Herculaneum did give archaeologists a lot of information about ancient Roman life it has been largely unexcavated. This was because archaeologists preferred the Pompeii site as it was much easier to find bodies and excavate the city.
By: The Scribe on June, 2011
Poisoning was often used in ancient times. Whether it was knocking off one’s siblings to put someone more in line for the throne or getting rid of an unfortunate spouse, poison was, in some areas, almost an art form. Many plants such as hemlock and belladonna were used frequently in order to kill of pesky rivals or those of higher social classes.
While poison was used, and many ancient rulers utilized tasters in order to make sure they were not the victims, only Rome would have a professional poisoner. Her name was Locusta and it is believed that she caused the deaths of many important Romans including the Emperor Claudius and Britannicus, Claudius’ son. Locusta’s services were first employed by Agrippina the Younger, the final wife of Claudius, to permanently take care of her husband. The weapon of choice was a large dish of poisoned mushrooms.
Locusta was, of course, arrested and was sentenced to death. Agrippina was exiled. All seemed bleak for Locusta and it likely would have been if Nero had not taken over. Nero was a bit paranoid about his position and felt threatened by Brittanicus. After all, Britannicus was Claudius’ actual son, and Nero was only a nephew. Because he wanted to get rid of Britannicus, he was willing to cancel the death penalty if Locusta was willing and able to deal with the issue. The poisoning took place in the middle of a dinner party. Britannicus’ convulsions were passed off as an epileptic seizure and he was removed from the room. He was dead several hours later.
She was more than willing to do so. She managed to figure out a way to foil the food tasters by adding the poison to water rather than to the wine. The food taster didn’t bother tasting the water. Who adds poison to water after all? Locusta would, and she did. Britannicus ended up dead and Locusta ended up with a rather highly placed patron.
Locusta became quite rich as a result. She was given land, gifts and money. More importantly, even though she was known to have committed a series of poisonings she was fully pardoned. Many of her referrals came from the Emperor himself. Locusta was so good at her work that she even began to educate others in how to use the same toxins and poisonous herbs.
When you are known to be a poisoner and your prime patron was a much-hated emperor, your life expectancy is considerably shortened after your patron is deposed. Such was the case with Locusta. After Nero committed suicide, her life went sharply downhill. Suddenly she was called to account for the many murders she had committed. She was executed the same year in which Nero died.
By: The Scribe on May, 2011
If you study the history of ancient Rome, you will likely have heard of the Praetorian Guard. This was an elite group of Roman citizens and others that had been handpicked to act as body guards for the Emperor and other important figures. Members of the Guard also acted as prison guards and carried out various tasks that were considered to be too sensitive to entrust to common soldiers.
But who were they really? In their earliest days, it is true that they carried out the roles for which they had been chosen. In later days, however, members of the Praetorian Guard became more powerful in their own right and began to act in ways that influenced the political structure of Rome.
Many of the Caesars had a group of personal bodyguards who were chosen for their skill and their loyalty. The Caesars who had such a bodyguard included Julius Caesar, Octavian Augustus and Sertorius. Not all of the personal bodyguards were Romans. Some Caesars chose units of Basque soldiers and others chose to have legions of German troops protecting them. However, it was not until Octavian Augustus took command in 27 BCE that the Guard was formally recruited as a tool that could be used to influence politics as well as the outcome of a battle.
The Guard started out as a relatively small unit. In its earliest days there were only nine cohorts of men. Each cohort held 500 men. Over time, the size of each cohort doubled although only three of the cohorts were on active duty in the capital. There were also cavalry units that were later added to the Guard. These patrolled the palace and other major Roman buildings. At this time, because there did not seem to be much political threat from the Guard most Romans hardly even took notice of their presence.
Things began to change in 23 CE. The prefect at the time, Lucius Aelius Sejanus, was a man with ambition. Due to his urging the Emperor Tiberius decided to build a fort specifically to house the Guard. This structure became known as the Castra Praetoria, which means the fort of the Praetorians. They now were stationed closer to Rome and could now begin to control the political climate in the city much more easily.
The Praetorians were known for their assassination of several Emperors including Caligula (who was killed in 41 CE) and Galba (killed in 69 CE). They also were the force behind Claudius taking the throne after Caligula’s assassination. Emperors knew that without the support of the Praetorian Guard their reign was likely to be a short one.
Later Emperors were careful to limit the size and influence of the Guard. The number of 
cohorts was reduced back to nine and one clever emperor, Vespasian, made sure to appoint his son as the Prefect or leader of the Guard. In 284 CE, the Guard was no longer involved in palace life. The emperor at the time, Diocletian, no longer lived in Rome. He replaced the Praetorians with two other units that would act as his personal bodyguards.
The Guard was ultimately disbanded in 312 CE by Constantine the Great. He sent the soldiers to various corners of the empire and even demolished their fortress. Their influence on Rome was finally at an end.
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f you know your Roman history, you know that Caligula wasn’t exactly the most well loved emperor. Oh sure, in the beginning he was moderate and won the love of the Roman people by building aqueducts and other structures in the city. The crowds called him their baby and their star due to the fact that he was the son of Germanicus. 
On the 24th of January, 41 CE, Caligula was in a cryptoporticus or underground corridor beneath the palaces on the Palatine Hill. Caligula was speaking with a troupe of young male actors when a group of individuals approached him. That group included Cassius Chaerea. The men surrounded Caligula and began to stab him. It is generally believed that Chaerea struck first. The position in the cryptoporticus made it impossible for Caligula’s loyal bodyguards to reach him in time. Caligula was dead.
