10 European Cities that claim to be built on Seven Hills

Andrew Colin, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

1. Rome, Italy
2. Athens, Greece
3. Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
4. Bath, England, United Kingdom
5. Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
6. Lisbon, Portugal
7. Madrid, Spain
8. Moscow, Russia
9. Sheffield, England, United Kingdom
10. Torquay, England, United Kingdom

10 Romes

1. The Rome of the west - St Louis, Missouri
2. The Rome of the east – Goa or Mangalore, India
3. The Rome of the north - Trier, Germany or Salzburg, Austria
4. The Rome of the south - Lecce, Italy or Buenos Aires, Argentina
5. The Rome of South America – Lima or Cusco, Peru
6. The Rome of Africa – Carthage
7. The Rome of England – Bath (or Canterbury)
8. The Rome of Ireland – Armagh
9. The Rome of Wales – Bardsey (Ynys Enlli)
10. The Rome of Scotland – Iona (or St Andrews)

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar at the Globe

Got down to the Globe for the second time this season and stood watching Julius Caesar with the other groundlings (always less of them by the second half I notice). This was the first of Shakespeare's plays put on at the old Globe (I think that is why we had a bit of jiggery pokery with the scenery at the beginning and during the play). As it says in the programme somewhere the piece does lack a comic character (or were the actors just not good enough with the comic material available) to lighten the mood but brimful of famous lines and phrases (The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,  But in ourselves, that we are underlings; Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; Et tu, Brute?; The live-long day, Beware the ides of March, let slip the dogs of war, etc). George Irving of TV fame took the part of Caesar well, though it isn't that much of a part - Brutus, Cassius and Mark Anthony getting the best bits. Perhaps one problem with the play is that it is hard to identify with any of these three, though they are well drawn and relatively complex. Anyway, good stuff from the Bard as ever.

Julian the Apostate

Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com, CC BY-SA 2.5 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5>,
via Wikimedia Commons

I was reading the other day about Julian the Apostate, Roman Emperor 361 to 363. He was called the Apostate because he attempted to take the Roman empire back from Constantinian Christianity to paganism. His reign was cut short by his death during the Battle of Ctesiphon in Persia in June of 363. I had heard that rumour, probably started by Christians, that he died with the words "You have won, Galilaean" on his lips. More interesting I think is the fact that he died (from a spear wound) because he had not worn any armour, either through confidence of a victory or through haste or forgetfulness. That's an illustration I'll be using.

AHOCIA 100 Objects 06

Merulana, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>,
via Wikimedia Commons

This is the head of the Colossus of Constantine, a huge statue of Constantine the Great (c 280–337) that once occupied the west apse of the Basilica of Maxentius in the Forum in Rome. It is here to represent the important role of Rome and its emperors in the early years of Christianity. Initially, Rome was opposed to the gospel and some Emperors directly persecuted. With Constantine everything changed and Christianity became the official religion, which was the start of a whole new set of problems for the gospel.

AHOCIA 100 Objects 05

A catacomb is an underground burial chamber. In the first half of the second century, as a result of various grants and donations, the Christians started burying their dead in such catacombs, especially in Rome. Many began and developed around family tombs, whose owners, newly converted Christians, did not reserve them to the members of the family, but opened them to their brothers and sisters in the faith. The demand was driven both by lack of space and, until Constantine's change of heart and the end of persecution, the need for secrecy. This stone shows typical Christian symbols of the time.

AHOCIA 100 Objects 03

The Tenth legion of the sea strait was a legion in the Roman army begun around 41/40 BC to fight during the period of the cvil war that led to the dissolution of the Roman Republic. It continued to exist at least until the fifth centuryy AD.

The legion was centrally involved in the First Jewish-Roman war (66-73) under Vespasian then Titus and would have been present at the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD predicted by Jesus.

Cruise 04

On the Tuesday we reached Citavecchia, an hour and a half from Rome. We took a guided tour of Rome and the Vatican. Rome wasn't built in a day and you can't see it in a day either but we made a stab at it beginning on the coach with some of the most ancient ruins (Colosseum, etc) and then moving onto the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, etc. We had an excellent ravioli lunch with red wine followed by tira misu before making an assault on the Vatican and St Peter's basilica, site of the pieta and supposed resting place of the apostle himself. Fascinating stuff. one had mixed feelings being at the lair of the Antichrist himself. My sons enjoyed getting pictures with various nuns and priests. What St Peter's has remotely to do with the gospel is hard to see.

Coincidence at the Pantheon

Last Tuesday found us at the Pantheon. A truly amazing building it really is worth seeing. This website gives you a good idea why. To add to the amazingness we bumped into an African American family who have recently begun attending the church and who also just happened to be near the Pantheon that day too. If I'd not read the fascinating book Beyond Coincidence by Plimmer and King (see here) I would have been utterly bowled over. Consequently I was only pretty amazed.