Taureau hispanique

Parfois, voyager quelque part nous permet aussi de s'imaginer ailleurs. Ainsi donc, j'ai pris cette photo aux Roman Baths de York. Apparemment, la neuvième légion (est-ce que ça ne devrait pas s'écrire IX, d'ailleurs?) a déjà été en Espagne, ou plutôt en Hispanie. Moi je n'y ai jamais mis les pieds. Je sais que ce n'est pas une affiche authentique, mais j'aime bien l'image quand même, ça fait un peu exotique, même si les chiffres romains ne sont pas exacts. De l'Hispanie jusqu'à York, c'est un long voyage, en tout cas ce l'était à l'époque de l'Empire romain. 

Goddess Fortuna

I took this picture at the Roman Baths in York. If you want to celebrate Easter in an English city, York might actually be the best one, because of its history with the Roman Empire. And let's face it, who does not associate Easter with Ancient Rome somehow? I know I do. The Romans are both the villains of the Biblical story (or at least often depicted as such) and the originators of many of the Pagan elements of Easter. Anyway, you can find in York's Roman Baths a shrine to Fortuna, the goddess of luck and fortune. You could make an offering of 30p, which we did. Hey, you never know! No but more seriously, seeing this shrine made me feel like in another time altogether, both familiar and exotic.

"Beware the Ides of March"

 Today is the 15th of March, therefore, this is the Ides of March. Which means that it is the anniversary of the assassination of Julius Caesar.A rather gruesome anniversary, but it shapes the world like not many others did, for centuries to come. I blog about it every year, it's a sort of tradition, because I love history and I get in an Ancient Rome mood round this time of year. That and an Irish mood, too, but I digress. So yeah, as you probably, we owe to Shakespeare the line "Beware the Ides of March," you can hear it in Julius Caesar. I have yet to see the whole play, shame on me. For me, it reminds me of this scene from the HBO series Rome. I am going to watch it. If you do, fair warning: it is very bloody.

Memento Mori from Pompeii

As you may know, today is is Ash Wednesday today, the beginning of Lent. To mark the day, I have decided to share one very famous Memento Mori, from Pompeii. I took the picture in one of my childhood books about Greek and Roman mythology. This image has always fascinated me. It is an allegory of the transient nature of life. The skull represents death, there is the wheel of fortune, the soul is represented by the butterfly, etc. You can find more details about the moseic here. In the end, I think it's a cool image to encourage people to make the most of their life.

Janus for January

 Iknow I blogged about the same topic, sharing the same image early this month. But I thought that, since we are now pass mid January, it was a nice opportunity to remind us that January is named after the Roman god Janus. He has two faces, one watching the past, the other the future. Since we are in the middle of the month, I can imagine him contemplating both times and well, wondering what the hell's going to happen next. If I was a believer, Janus would be the god I would pray to and make offering to these days.

The month of Janus

I found this picture in a book on Greek and Roman mythology which I liked a lot as a child. I learned from it that January is the month of the Roman god Janus, a two face god, with one face looking into the past and one face looking into the future. It is a mysterious god, as fairly little is known about him. He is a god of time, passage and transition and of course he gave his name to January. I blogged about him before, I thought today was a good time to blog about him again.

La légion romaine

 Je sais que Pâques est terminé (terminée?), mais je n'ai pas eu l'occasion de bloguer beaucoup sur le sujet, alors je continue. Cette année, si le dimanche de Pâques a été tranquille, c'est toute la Semaine sainte qui a été active, puisque noussommes allés à York. Notre voyage a eu une certaine connotation pascale. J'associe Pâques à la Rome antique, notamment, et York avait parfois des airs de peplum. Nous sommes allés aux Roman Baths, lesquels sont situés dans un pub. Expérience assez unique, on se croyait parfois dans un camp retranché romain. Dans tous les cas, ce fût une très belle expérience.

Roman Empire

 As I mentioned not long ago, I associate Easter with Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, both their myths and their history. So when Easter comes, I watch and read a lot of sword and sandal stuff. I recently finished the Roman Empire docu-drama series on Netflix, narrated by Sean Bean. It's often rigged with inaccuracies (Claudius is depicted as rather handsome and with no stutter or physical ailment whatsoever for instance) and it gets ridiculously melodramatic at a time, but no more than your usual peplum. And there are historians commenting and giving some proper perspective. But I'd enjoy it just for Sean Bean's voice. In any case, watching it has been great fun and it's perfect for Easter.

Gladiators

As it is getting closer to Easter, I tend to get into a Mediterranean mood and read and watch stuff about Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, for some reason. Maybe because I associate Easter to old swords and sandals films that were often featured on television next to the Biblical ones when i was a child, I don't know. Anyway, I once received, either at my birthday or at Christmas, a book about Ancient Greek and Roman history(ies). I often read it during the Easter holidays. It had a few very impressive images, including this one, of gladiators fighting animals in the Coliseum. It's just intensely dramatic and, well, absolutely gorgeous, so I remember it to this day. My father took this picture, at my request.

Lire gréco-romain

Pâques est maintenant dans un peu moins d'un mois. Je ne sais pas trop pourquoi, mais quand Pâques s'en vient, je me mets en mode gréco-romain. Je m'explique: je me mets à lire sur la mythlogie et l'histoire grecque, sur la mythologie et l'histoire romaine, je regarde des documentaires sur le sujet, je regarde des peplums, etc. J'imagine que j'associe Pâques avec la Méditerranée. Enfin bref, il y avait un livre que je lisais enfant, La Grèce et Rome, qui justement décrivait la vie à l'époque de la Grèce et la Rome antiques. C'était l'un de mes livres de chevets alors que Pâques arrivait. J'ai demandé à mon père de m'envoyer des photos du bouquin afin de les partager ici, il a gentiment accepté de le faire. Ce sera le sujet de bien des billets dans les jours à venir. Ah, et cette image représente des guerriers troyens, je crois.

"Beware the Ides of March"

 Today is the 15th of March, the Ides of March. People who are into history will of course know that this is the anniversary of the assassination of Julius Caesar. That's how the Ides of March are most (in)famous for. The expression "Beware the Ides of March" is taken from Julius Caesar. Which I haven't seen, to my great shame. But anyway, every year, I go full on Roman and I blog about it. And I try to remember the lesson of that fateful date. I mentioned them in 2022 and again in 2024. I am sharing them again: "1)even the most powerful man in the world is vulnerable, especially when he made himself enemies, however subservient they may appear to be. 2)we must be wary of the power vacuum created after a coup d'état." So yeah, enjoy your 15th of March.

Juillet et septembre

Petit billet à la fois historique et scientifique. J'ai lu cet article dans La Presse, qui explique pourquoi septembre n'est pas le septième mois de l'année, malgré son nom. Je savais déjà,enfin dans les grandes lignes, mais j'ai quand même trouvé ça intéressant. Comme bien des choses que l'on tient pour acquis, nous devons les noms de mois à l'Antiquité et plus précisément aux Romains. Petite note personnelle et ironique: même si juillet et septembre ont en commun d'être/d'avoir été le septième mois de l'année, juillet est un mois que je n'aime en général guère et septembre est l'un de mes préférés.

Beware the Ides of March (always)

Today is the 15th of March, day of the Ides of March. It is also and therefore the anniversary of the assassination of Julius Caesar.When you love history like me, you ought to remember it. So I try to commemorate it every year on this blog. The line "Beware the Ides of March" comes from Julius Caesar by Shakespeare. Anyway, we beware the Ides of March and not only on the 15th of March. I mentioned why back in 2022. I will sum up again the lessons we must learn from Caesar's murder: 1)even the most powerful man in the world is vulnerable, especially when he made himself enemies, however subservient they may appear to be. 2)we must be wary of the power vacuum created after a coup d'état. Or whenever a tyrant, or a dictator dies or fall from power. I am well aware that these are not cheerful thoughts, but the lessons of history seldom are.

The Assassination of Caligula

For history buffs here, today is an important date: it is the anniversary of the assassination of Caligula. It also thus the day when Claudius became emperor. A page in history that has been fictionalised and immortalised in I, Claudius by Robert Graves,and its TV series adaptation. I know it is not how it happened, yet for me, this is how I always imagined it happening. Since I first saw it some more than 25 years ago. I was completely blown away. Anyway, here is events unfolding, with Derek Jacobi as Claudius and John Hurt as the mad Caligula. British acting at its finest.

June and Juno

The things you learn thanks to the Facebook page of the British Museum. They shared this picture recently, a 15th century enamelled mirror. It represents the Goddess Juno and Queen Dido, in a scene from the Aeneid. June is named after Juno, as you probably know. I knew it, but it is nice to be reminded of it and of an epic poem which I have read, but don't remember much. In any case, if you did not know the connection, now you do.

Les Ides de mars hier à Montréal

Je pensais hier aux Ides de mars, me demandant si je ne devrais pas bloguer sur le sujet. Puis je me suis dit que non, que j'avais fait le tour de l'assassinat de Jules César, en tout cas pour le moment. Je pensais que je trouverais une nouvelle approche pour en parler une autre année, quand j'ai vu que Leonardo Rizzuto a été victime d'une tentative de meurtre. Un 15 mars. Il semble être hors de danger, mais quand même, ça fait drôle (je n'oserai pas dire "approprié"). Des fois, il y a des coïncidences qui ne s'inventent pas.

Janus

I share this picture which I found on the Facebook page of the British Museum. It is a coin whith the depiction of the Roman god Janus. With one face looking at the past and another looking at the future. January is of course named after the god, so it is fitting that I share it here today. You can find more about the coin here. I have nothing else to add, except that a visit to the British Museum is long overdue. I might add it to my new year's resolutions.

Hadrian's Wall in Lego

 A few days ago, Wolfie decided to play in the garden with his Legos. He made a wall of Lego along our picnic blanket. He said it was to prevent the insects to reach the blanket. I thought this was uber cute and I compared it to Hadrian's Wall. It looks like it anyway. Now I am not sure if it can be very efficient against bugs, but it sure took a lot of work and commitment to do. One day, I hope to visit the Wall with Wolfie. I cannot believe I have not done it yet, after all these years living in this country.

Remembering the Ides of March (and why)

 Today is the 15th of March, day of the Ides of March, the anniversary of the assassination of Julius Caesar. I commemorate it every year on this blog, sometimes humorously, sometimes not. This year, I want to place this commemoration in a special light. I think the Ides of March taught us two very important lessons: 1)even the most powerful man in the world is vulnerable, if he made himself enough enemies and 2)we must be wary about the power vacuum created in the aftermaths of a coup d'état. Caesar's enemies succeeded murdering him, but it was Caesar's heirs that took power eventually. Nowadays, with the rather volatile situation we are living, I think we need to keep this in mind. So yes. Beware the Ides of March all right.

Athéna, Minerve et un calembours atroces

Je suis depuis longtemps un grand amateur de mythologie grecque, ça date de mon enfance. Quand je dis mythologie grecque, je suis puriste: j'utilise par exemple le nom des divinités grecques et non pas romaines. J'ai d'ailleurs souvent exprimé mon irritation sur ce blogue à propos de cette agaçante confusion: les dieux grecs et romains se ressemblent parfois, mais ils ne sont pas interchangeables. Enfin bref, j'ai récemment vu sur les réseaux sociaux quelqu'un utiliser Minerve pour parler d'Athéna, ce qui m'a fait réagir. J'ai écrit donc sur une certaine plateforme un truc du genre: "Donner à des dieux grecs leurs noms romains, franchement, ça m'innerve." Calembour atroce que j'ai commis assez souvent, y compris ici en 2015. Quelqu'un m'a répondu: "Il ne faudrait pas se fâcher pour ça, ça n'en vaut pas l'Athènes." ce qui est tout aussi épouvantable, et mérite donc d'être homologué ici pour la postérité. Si vous en trouvez un meilleur, ou enfin un pire, veuillez le commettre dans les commentaires.