Although much of the world celebrates Christmas on Dec. 25 as the supposed birthday of Jesus of Nazareth, and our calendar is based on the assumption that year-counting began the year of his birth, the chances that he was born on Dec. 25, 1 BC (there was no year 0), are extremely remote. Christmas is [more...]
Nobody knows for certain, but chances are that our seven-day week is historically connected with the fact that the Babylonians and other early astronomers recognized seven celestial bodies that weren’t in fixed positions like the stars — the sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. In fact, in English the names of three [more...]
It’s an enticing tale: A precocious girl, Joan, growing up in the 9th century in Mainz, Germany, disguises herself as a boy so she can learn Greek and Latin at a monastery. She, still dressing as a male, eventually makes her way to Rome, where under the name of John she becomes the secretary to [more...]
The ancient Roman Port of Ostia was situated at the mouth of the Tiber River. According to legend, Ostia was founded by the fourth king of Rome, Ancus Marcius, who was thought to have ruled in the late seventh century BC. So far no archaeological remains have been found in Ostia dating from this period. [more...]
Although there have been significant changes, the calendar as we know it dates to the Roman times. So it shouldn’t be surprising that many of the names of the months have names similar to what the Romans used. January is named after Janus. Appropriately for the first month of the year, Janus was Roman god [more...]
The Vestal Virgins were the only female priests within the Roman religious system. The head of the college of Vesta was called the Virgo Vestalis Maxima, and she was under the direct authority of the Pontifex Maximus. Their main function was to keep the sacred fire of Vesta and never allow it to go out. [more...]