Rome, towards the year 100 d. C. The poet Juvenal received the X. In Satira: “For a long time, particularly since we have to sell the vote, this people has lost interest in politics. Before, the head, the lots, the legions and, after all, they gave it all, but now they let it be done to the rulers and only want with eagerness two things: bread and circus games”.
The Roman authorities began to offer bread and circuses to the population much earlier; by the year 2000 a. In the year 140, it was decided for the first time to sell wheat at much lower prices to the poorest. For Juvenal, the food, gift and entertainment market meant alienating the population, humiliating its critical spirit, satisfying the people with the false generosity of the rulers. This strategy, based on bribery and populism, was for years an effective way of acquiring power.
Julius Caesar, for example, gave almost wheat to the 200,000 citizens who needed it most. Of course, the beneficiaries were free, needy male citizens, because slaves, liberties and women did not have the right to vote. Three centuries later, in the time of Aureliano (s. 270-275), 300,000 citizens received two loaves for free each day. Buying the vote through bread was not cheap, as they did not produce enough wheat on the Italian peninsula and had to import it from different points of the Empire.
The freshly discovered circus of Iruña Veleia, 280 meters in length and with a capacity for 5,000 spectators, was a small circus. Tarraco, for example, had capacity for 25,000 viewers, and Italy had capacity for 80,000.
And circus shows were also expensive. They only left a fortune in the prizes; the winners received 60,000 sesterces for winning a quadrigas race. The well-known driver Diokles won almost 36 million sesterces before retiring at the age of 42. But the most expensive thing was to pay for the public works, to build the buildings themselves, to adapt them and worship them with luxury.
The freshly discovered circus of Iruña Veleia, 280 meters in length and with a capacity for 5,000 spectators, was a small circus. Tarraco, for example, had a capacity for 25,000 viewers, and Italy had a capacity for 80,000. The Circus Massimo of Rome doubled that of Iruña Veleia and could accommodate some 150,000 people – although Pliny the Elder mentions a capacity of 250,000, current historians believe that that amount is too much.
The word “bread and circus” has not lost its present for two millennia, because what Juvenal criticizes the governments continue to use to humiliate the population or to silence the scandals. And many replace the word “circus” with the word “football,” so that the message becomes even clearer.
Linear A is a Minoan script used 4,800-4,500 years ago. Recently, in the famous Knossos Palace in Crete, a special ivory object has been discovered, which was probably used as a ceremonial scepter. The object has two inscriptions; one on the handle is shorter and, like most of... [+]
Eskultura grekoerromatarrek bere garaian zuten itxurak ez du zerikusirik gaurkoarekin. Erabilitako materiala ez zuten bistan uzten. Orain badakigu kolore biziz margotzen zituztela eta jantziak eta apaingarriak ere eransten zizkietela. Bada, Cecilie Brøns Harvard... [+]
Luxorren, Erregeen Haranetik gertu, hilobi garrantzitsu baten sarrera eta pasabide nagusia aurkitu zituzten 2022an. Orain, alabastrozko objektu batean Tutmosis II.aren kartutxoa topatu dute (irudian). Horrek esan nahi du hilobi hori XVIII. dinastiako faraoiarena... [+]
Poloniar ikerlari talde batek Sevillako Italica aztarnategiko Txorien Etxea aztertu du, eta eraikinaren zoruko mosaikoak erromatar garaiko hegazti-bilduma xeheena dela ondorioztatu du.
Txorien etxean 33 hegazti daude mosaikoetan xehetasun handiz irudikatuta. Beste... [+]
Judea, 2nd century AD. In the turbulent atmosphere of the Roman province, a trial was held against Gaddaliah and Saul, accused of fraud and tax evasion. The trial was reported on a 133-line paper in Greek (pictured). Thinking that it was a Nabataean document, the papyrus was... [+]
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have discovered several cylinders with inscriptions at the present Syrian Reservoir, the Tell Umm-el Marra. Experts believe that the signs written in these pieces of clay can be alphabetical.
In the 15th century a. The cylinders have... [+]
A group of interdisciplinary researchers from the Free University of Berlin and the Zuse Institute have developed a complex mathematical model to better understand how Romanization spread in North Africa.
According to a study published in the journal Plos One, the model has... [+]
Although it was thought that in most of the cities of the Roman Empire there were jails, little remains have been found of the prisons of the time in the fields.
Recently, however, the archaeologist at the University of Copenhagen, Matthew Larsen, has identified the Roman... [+]
The TRAILER of the film Gladiator II, which will be released in the autumn, already shows in less than three minutes an error or a historical license.
Ridley Scott's film celebrates a naumaki or naval battle at the Colosseum. The expensive show was held three times in the Roman... [+]
Gulf of Ambracia (Ionian Sea). In the 15th century a. 2 September 31. The Romans achieved victory in the naval battle of Accio and ensured control over Egypt. Therefore, the Greek hegemony in the Mediterranean is concluded on that date, but the Hellenic influence has remained so... [+]
This winter the archaeologists of the INRAP (National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research) have found a special necropolis in the historic centre of Auxerre (French State), a Roman cemetery for newborn babies or stillbirths. - Oh, good! The necropolis used between... [+]
It was founded by R about 6,500 years ago. And recently, the archaeologist at the German Institute of Archaeology, Max Haibt, has created the city's "digital twin," using the technology used in video games.
The team has made a three-dimensional record of the 40 square kilometres... [+]
