Did the Romans Celebrate Halloween?

Halloween is many a child's favorite holiday. But, did you ever guess that Halloween came from the Celtic holiday of Samhain? Well, it's true. The Celts, barbarians they may have been, invented one of the most popular holidays in the world with some help from the Druids.
The Druids lived in the British Isles and were made a priestly order by the occupying Celts. We, unfortunately, only know so much about the Druids because they did not write anything down. The students of the Druids were expected to memorize what they were taught without writing it down. We know this much because Irish and Scottish folklore is based on some of the Druidic oral tradition. The Celts sent students to the Druids to be educated.
With the Celts and later the Christians, the holiday of Samhain, translated "summer's end", evolved into Halloween. The Christianized samhain became Hallowmas, or All Saints Day and the night before or the eve was called "All Hallows Eve," or All Soul's Day. This was the day to pray for the dead.
Here's the good part, Julius Caesar spent two summers trying to conquer Britain. The Romans were interested in breaking up the legal and political power of the Druids. The Romans believed that writings about the Druids and Celts were heresy and found some of Druidic ritual intolerable. The Roman custom of religious tolerance when they conquered a region did not include the Druids.
Finally, to answer the original question, "Did the Romans Celebrate Halloween?" The short answer is, no. However, the ancestors of these early Christians, Romans, Celts, and Druids in the British Isles were responsible for bringing this pagan/Christian holiday to the modern world.

THE DOGS OF WAR?

The Romans, kept dogs, just like modern day people. But, the Romans rarely used these dogs just as a house pet, they mostly used them for guarding their homes, for gladiatorial battles, and for unleashing against their foes in warfare. The popular Roman breed of dog is the now extinct "Mollosian," which looked like an oversized Rottweiler. Mollosians were originally from Greece, probably brought to Rome by soldiers or merchants.
In Pompeii, archaeologists found mosaics with images of Mollosians and words the "cave canem," or, "beware of the dog." It is obvious that Mollasians became extinct because of the Romans and Greeks sending them into battles and pittting them against gladiators in an arena. Also, legend has it that Alexander the Great had a Mollosian that killed a lion and an elephant in the arena. So, Romans may have treated their dogs a bit too harshly, but they didn't know any better. The Romans were like children, still learning.

Roman Gladiators: Barley Crunchers?

Have you ever seen one of those old time gladiator movies? You know, like Spartacus. Well, all those cheesy movies falsely describe gladiators! It's all blather, balderdash, poppycock, INSANITY! To honor gladiators, I will reveal the true story, of their lifestyle.
To begin with, gladiators fought barefoot because so-called "gladiator sandals" would make it harder to keep their balance. Gladiators could not do whatever they wanted outside the arena. In fact, they would be flogged if caught womanizing or drinking. Finally, these men had a bland diet of beans and barley, which would build a layer of fat or insulation that could protect him against slash attacks during battle.

Dr. Karl Grosschmidt, a forensic pathologist, at the University of Vienna analyzed gladiator bones found in a Roman gladiator graveyard in Ephesus. Of particular interest, was a tombstone that depicted a man holding the palm leaf, the symbol of the champion. The dead gladiator's name was Polombus and he was not a slave. Gladiatorial fights started as funeral rites performed by a few slaves and spilling blood honored the dead. By Caesar's time, many gladiator schools had been built and opened. Polombus went to one of these schools and survived the training. The special thing about Polombus is that he started a new generation of gladiators. Gladiators that fought for money.
It was discovered that Polombus was a Murmillo gladiator. A Murmillo was taken from the Greek word, mormylos or fish because of the fish-like shape of their helmets. . The Murmillo's nemesis was the Thracian, who carried a deadly curved sword and a square shield. Polumbus may have also fought a Retiarius who wore little armor. They brandished a trident and net. The Retiarii were the only gladiators with no helmet.
After analyzing more and more bones, Dr. Grosschmidt found four tiny pinpricks on some of the bones. There was no known weapon wielded by a gladiator that made markings like that. A quadrant weapon must have been used in the arena to cause this pattern of injury to the bones of gladiators. After x-raying these bones from the graveyard in Ephesus, it appears from the healed bones that gladiators received good medical care. It was expensive to train and feed these fighters and it would not be smart to have them disabled after a fight.
If a gladiator was very successful in the arena, he was treated like a "movie star." He could have his name on products for sale. Children might play with a "gladiator action figure." As long as you could stay alive in the arena, you could retire with a comfortable savings.

I close with the gladiator salute, "Nos morituri te salutamus."

The life and times of the Colosseum

Have you ever thought about the world famous Roman Colosseum's origins or history? Well, the Colosseum's construction started between 70 and 72 AD under the Roman emperor Vespasian. He wanted to give back land that was stolen from Roman citizens by Nero. The roman emperor's son, Titus, completed the construction in 80 AD. The original name was the "Flavian Amphitheater." The amphitheater was renamed as the "Colosseum" for the colossus statue of Nero that was brought to the early structure.

The Colosseum could originally seat about 50,000 people. The main purpose for the theater was to hold gladiatorial games. Public announcements and speeches were also delivered from its' vast stage. It would also be flooded for mock sea battles and animal fights. To my surprise, I read that the Colosseum's arena was not sand or dirt, but it was actually made of wood. Below was a basement like area where animals and gladiators waited to perform.

The Colosseum was used for four centuries as the main fighting arena in Rome. After the Colosseum had officially opened, 100 days of games and fights were held.

A Roman ship found off the coast of Spain

A Roman ship was found by accident in 2000. It is 100 meters long and weighs 400 tons. It is the largest Roman ship ever found in the Mediterranean. The ship is around two-thousand years old and sailed to Spain in the 1st century AD. Among the ship's cargo were jars of garum, a fish sauce that rich Romans fancied.

Carles De Juan, the co-director of the wreck's research team said, "I am not going to say it was on the beach but almost." The believed explanation is that the ship went down in storm while heading back from Cadiz in southern Spain to Rome. "Proper exploration" began in July, 2006.

Roman Sarcophagus found near Trafalgar Square, London England

Did you know that in 2006, a Roman sarcophagus containing a headless skeleton was found near Trafalgar Square, London. It was found during excavations at St. Martin-in-the-Field Church in central London. The find dates back to 410AD and it was outside the old Roman walls of London.

Taryn Nixon, the director of th Museum of London Archaeology Service said,"It means that perhaps St. Martin-in-the-Fields has been a sacred site for far, far, far longer than we previously thought. This gives us an extraordinary glimpse of parts of London we haven't seen before, particularly Roman and Saxon London."This was a monumental archaeological discovery in 2006 that gave us a different point of view about what Roman London was like two-thousand years ago.

Romanology: Roman "Warehouse" Excavation

Romanology: Roman "Warehouse" Excavation

Roman "Warehouse" Excavation

I recently read about a team of fifty archaeologists who are excavating what appears to be a military "storehouse" in a corner of an ancient Roman fortress in Caerleon, South East Wales. The archaeologists, led by Dr. Peter Guest of Cardiff University, believe that this might have supplied a Roman legion. "Our work is the first research excavation conducted on a military store in Britain,"states Dr. Guest. Caerleon is also an important Roman site. It was one of three permanent garrisons in Britain and was occupied by the second Augustan legion.

In 74 AD, Caerleon had already become the main administrative center for Roman armies in Wales. The Roman site included a bathhouse and and amphitheatre which could seat 6,000 people. It is hoped that the dig will provide valuable information about the provisioning of the Roman legion.

Congratulations!

You all probably know that I am fond of Romanology, but I also have an interest in Cryptozoology. Today I went to one of the best Cryptozoology sites, Cryptomundo, and to my surprise I saw B.T. Makishima's name on the site, who has written the most comments for my postings and is a very dedicated Cryptozoologist. One of his postings was on the site and I was happy for him.

Caesar35's game review for "Rome Total War"

One of my favorite video games is "Rome Total War" and I think it deserves a review. "Rome Total War" is a strategy game that lets you lead the Roman empire in conquest. You can make alliances and armies and set tax rates, you can control almost everything. You can also unlock other empires to play as as you progress in campaign mode. There are different game modes to play, one is campaign mode, where you play as an empire and you conquer and control your empire. There is quick battle, the computer puts you on a random battlefield and you have an army and you have to defeat the enemy. Finally, there is custom battle mode where you can create your own battle. It is a very good game if I do say so myself. If you would like to buy this game, here are some hints.


1. You can use quick and custom battle to practice battling and to make strategies.

2. You can unlock other empires by beating campaign mode or surviving for a long time.

3. In custom battle, you can battle with an army from any empire without having to unlock them.

My movie review for Ben Hur

Today I saw an interesting movie about Jews, Romans, and Jesus called Ben Hur. It was made in 1959 by William Wyler. A Jewish prince named Judah Ben Hur (Charton Heston) and his people are ruled by the Romans in the time the movie takes place. Messala (Stephen Boyd) , a Roman soldier, has been Judah's friend since they were young boys. But their friendship lays in tatters when Judah is angered by how the Jews are treated and ruled by the Romans. Messala imprisons him and he is condemned for life as a slave. He vows vengeance and escapes after three years and comes across a prophet named Jesus.

This movie boasts an amazing chariot racing scene and won eleven Oscars including Best Picture, Best Actor (Heston) and Best Director (Wyler). I would recommend anyone who is interested in Roman and/or Jewish history to see this Oscar winning movie. But one of the best facts about this movie is that it showed the cruelness the Romans inflicted on the Jews and that Jews were a powerful force with God in their hearts.

The Ninth Legion: What Happened?

Here I am again and I am on the topic of the Roman Ninth legion. Which supposedly disappeared in Scotland. Some people say that the legion did not dissappear in Scotland, but was transferred to another area in the empire and was subsequently lost there. Some academics claim that this is the case as there is n evidence of the Ninth Legion being lost in Scotland. Is this true? It is actually not true at all. Many people are swayed by what they hear and this has been magnified by some key "authorities" who are trying to relocate the location of the Ninth Legion's loss to anywhere besides Scotland. However, there is still no evidence of what exactly happened to the Ninth Legion and it's sacred eagle, but the most probable senario is that they were lost in action in Southern Scotland. I credit this posting to the Roman Scotland website which I took notes on to make this.

Meet the Romans

I have been interested in Ancient Roman history for a long time. I am fascinated by the battle strategies, art, and culture they had during their reign of power. I think that Julius Caesar led the Romans to victory more than any other leaders that came before him. Their art and architecture is remarkable and I would like to go to Rome some day to take pictures and eat all the gelato I can eat! This is my first blog and I may write more blogs in the future about the Romans and other topics. Thank you for reading my first blog.