About.com Ancient / Classical History

Ancient Finger Counting

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:35:41 +0000

Has a joker ever tried to show you that instead of having the obvious 10 fingers, he actually has 11? This is done by bending down and counting fingers on one hand backwards from 10: "10, 9, 8, 7, 6...." The joker then says "... and 5 makes 11".

CC Flickr User izZM<--Friends call me izZZ<--.

Counting on one's fingers seems a natural way to compute numbers, but the ancient Greeks and Romans didn't just count "on" their fingers. They counted with their fingers, and not to be quick and accurate with the finger symbols could be embarrassing.

Read more about ancient finger counting (technical term: dactylonomy):
Finger Numbers.

Also see Laura Gibbs's Blog on Roman Multiplication by Fingers.

Ancient Finger Counting originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 15:35:41.

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On This Day in History Crassus

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:53:32 +0000

On this day in 53 B.C. Marcus Licinius Crassus died. Crassus was a member of the first triumvirate, along with Pompey and Caesar. He was a very greedy, wealthy man, but not as capable a military leader as Pompey or Caesar. However, it was largely through Crassus' efforts that the rebellion of Spartacus was put down in 71 B.C., even though Pompey took the credit.

In 53 B.C., Crassus was governor of Syria. He was attempting to earn glory for himself by invading Parthia, even though there was no justification for it. It was after the battle at Carrhae that Crassus was killed.

Read more about Crassus in Bingley's Biography of Crassus.

On This Day in History Crassus originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 07:53:32.

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Forum Topic of the Week - SPQR

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:59:26 +0000

This week there has been a flurry of activity in the forum, including posts in two threads on the topic of the famous Roman letters SPQR. Here is what veteran forum user Aulus has to say on the matter:

SPQR at Vindolanda CC Flickr User Alun Salt.

Truth be told, we really do not absolutely know what the acronym SPQR stood for. The most common interpretation is Senatus Populusque Romanus, but it could equally be Senatus Populusque Romae or a few other combinations which I cannot recall right now, but are rather tenuous.
In fact, the acronym SPQR, as far as I have been able to find it, does not seem to pre-date the reign of Augustus, either in inscriptions or in coinage. My opinion, and that of others, is that it was a bit of Augustan propaganda and a smoke screen for the reality of the establishment of the Principate, much like Augustus' line about "restoring" the republic.

Do you have more information/questions on SPQR? Please post in the forum thread.

It would be lovely if this could become a weekly feature, but that will only happen if people actively use the Ancient/Classical History Forum to post their questions about ancient history, literature, and mythology. Please do so. If you forget the forum URL, it's on the pages of this site with my photo where it is simply called "my forum".

Forum Topic of the Week - SPQR originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 07:59:26.

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Thursday's Term to Learn - Black Figure

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:04:05 +0000

Peleus and Thetis, Boeotian black-figure dish, c. 500 B.C. - 475 B.C.
PD Courtesy of Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons.

The term "black figure" comes up when you look at the captions under some of the images on this site, so in case you've been wondering, it refers to the color of the painting in Greek pottery. Now, the later "red figure" pottery also uses black (all over the background), so, clearly, I need to explain it a bit better. In black figure painting, the pottery remains clay colored, so it is usually red, but the figures are painted. Figures painted black are sometimes enhanced by inscribing out some of the black to reveal the red beneath.

Thursday's Term to Learn - Black Figure originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 15:04:05.

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It's Not Too Early For (Stoic) Resolutions

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:55:00 +0000

Gym classes may be a great way to lose weight and gain muscle, but they're also good for chatting and learning about health and lifestyle. In one of my classes, a fellow participant said a major reason for our collective weight problem is that people set up New Year's Day as the time to start dieting. Then from U.S.-Thanksgiving through New Year's Eve they binge because it doesn't yet count and they want to get it all in before they have to deprive themselves. This has the predictable, dire consequences.

While behavioral resolutions won't necessarily be compromised by a few extra pounds of flab, the more practice we get in, the better off we'll be. So, in the interest of having mens sana in corpore sano 'a healthy mind in a healthy body' (an expression from the Roman satirist Juvenal), take a look at these 5 Stoic Resolutions, which are as suitable for the day after Thanksgiving as the start of the New Year.

You may also want to take the Nutrition Guide's Healthy Diet Quiz.

It's Not Too Early For (Stoic) Resolutions originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 06:55:00.

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Wordless Wednesday - Guess Who

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:55:49 +0000

CC Flickr User unforth.

Need a clue?

He was an emperor of Rome.
He became emperor at age 17.
He might have made a better performer than emperor.

Give up? Click the image or the photo credit for the answer.

Wordless Wednesday and About.com's Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday - Guess Who originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 06:55:49.

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On This Day in Ancient History - November 17

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:53:21 +0000

© Trustees of the British Museum, produced by Natalia Bauer for the Portable Antiquities Scheme
Abbreviations on a Coin of Vespasian

On this day in A.D. 9, the future Roman emperor Vespasian was born. Vespasian was officially Imperator Titus Flavius Vespasianus Caesar. He was born at Falacrinae, and died June 23, 79, of "diarrhea" at Aquae Cutiliae. He was the first of the Flavian Dynasty. For fans of Lindsey Davis, the Falco mysteries are set under the reign of Vespasian. Davis also wrote about Vespasian's mistress, Caenis.

On this day in 3 B.C., Jesus was born, according to Clement of Alexandria.

On This Day in Ancient History - November 17 originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 07:53:21.

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On This Day in Ancient History - Tiberius Was Born

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:53:17 +0000

On this day in 42 B.C., the future Roman emperor Tiberius (Tiberius Claudius Nero) was born. He died on March 16 A.D. 37. Tiberius was the adopted heir of the first emperor of Rome, Augustus, and became emperor upon his death in A.D. 14. In 26, Tiberius retired to the island of Capri. This left an unscrupulous, greedy and power hungry Praetorian Sejanus in charge at Rome. When Tiberius died, the crowds rejoiced... for a while. Then Caligula, who is known as a crazy and sadistic emperor, became the third emperor of Rome.

Suetonius on Tiberius

On This Day in Ancient History - Tiberius Was Born originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 07:53:17.

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Myth Monday - Medea Murders the Children

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:55:21 +0000

The most familiar story of Medea comes from the third-prize winning tragedy of that name by Euripides, first produced in 431 B.C., the year the Peloponnesian War began.

Medea Murders Her Children
PD Courtesy Bibi Saint-Pol.

In Euripides' version of the story of Jason and Medea, Jason tells Medea he is marrying the daughter of Creon, king of Corinth. This will enhance his social position, something he has been harming since he took up with the barbarian Medea.

Jason: Since I have here withdrawn from Iolcos with many a hopeless trouble at my back, what happier device could I, an exile, frame than marriage with the daughter of the king? .... Nay, 'tis that we-and this is most important-may dwell in comfort, instead of suffering want for well I know that every whilom friend avoids the poor, and that I might rear my sons as doth befit my house; further, that I might be the father of brothers for the children thou hast borne, and raise these to the same high rank, uniting the family in one,-to my lasting bliss.
Medea

On This Day in Ancient History - St. Augustine's Birth

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:53:50 +0000

On this day in A.D. 354, Augustine was born in North Africa. Augustine was an important figure in the history of Christianity. He wrote about topics like predestination and original sin. Some of his doctrines separate Western and Eastern Christianity, with St. Augustine defining certain doctrines of Western Christianity. He lived and died in Africa during the time of the attack of the Vandals, A.D. 430.