Rome and Romans

Continuing with mythology.......

(Note: Greek characters are in red, while Roman equivalents are in blue. For the origin of various characters refer to "Florence and Greek Mythology", others are briefly introduced in parenthesis).

Zeus, the king of Gods, held a banquet in honour of the marriage of the Sea Nymph Thetis, who could change her form and the mortal Peleus. Many Olympian Gods were present but the Goddess of strife, Eris, was not invited as she would have spoiled the party. She was annoyed and came uninvited and threw a Golden Apple from the Garden of Hesperides marked as "to the fairest of all" as a prize of beauty. Three goddesses, Hera, Athena (Minerva, born fully formed and armoured from the head of Zeus) and Aphrodite (Venus) claimed the apple for being the most beautiful. Zeus, did not wish to make the judgement and rather asked, Paris (the shepherd prince of Troy, a mortal) to do the same. They met him at the Mount of Ida. After he failed to decide the three stripped naked and met him and also offered him a bribe. Hera, offered him the kingship of Europe & Asia, Athena offered wisdom and skill in war and Aphrodite offered the most beautiful woman in the world by making her fall for him. This was as per the powers possessed by each of them.

Menelaus holding dying Patroclus: Florence

Paris, accepted Aphrodite's offer and accorded the prize to Aphrodite. He received Helen of Sparta in return, who was wife of the Greek King Menelaus. This led to the attack on Troy by Greeks leading to the epic Trojan War. In this war there were heroes from both the sides, that ended with the famous Horse ploy with the spartan victory. Achilles was son of Thetis and Peleus. Thetis had tried to make him immortal by dipping him in immortal river by holding his heel, when he was a child, and thus while whole body became impenetrable, the heel remained the vulnerable area. He had been established as an invincible hero among the Greeks but he refused to fight in the war. Then Patroclus asked Achilles for his armour and went to the battlefield wearing that and motivated soldiers who took him as Achilles. He fought bravely but was killed by Hector. There is a group of statues in Florence, Loggia dei Lanzi, where Menelaus is seen holding Patroclus just before his death. After his death, Achilles joined the war and was on the verge of victory, when he was killed by Hector by hitting an arrow in his heel. Achilles and Ajax died from the Greek side while Hector and Paris died from the Trojan side. It is believed that the city of Troy was somewhere in modern Turkey in Anatolia region, probably Hisarlik. 

Aeneas, son of Aphrodite (Venus) and Anchises, was one of the few Trojans, who were neither killed nor enslaved by Greek Spartans after their victory in the Trojan War and thus could escape to Italy and became the progenitor of Romans and is thus considered the first true Roman hero. Aeneas is sometimes considered the Norse of the Viking mythology as Zeus is considered Thor.
Numitor, a descendant of Aeneas, was the king of a Latin city called Alba Longa. He was displaced by his brother Amulius and his daughter Rhea Silvia was made a Vestal Virgin so that she would not bear any children and thus securing the future of Amulius. However, when Rhea visited a grove dedicated to God Mars, she conceived and gave birth to two twins, Romulus and Remus, who were ordered to be killed by Amulius, but survived and were brought up by a she-wolf. When they reached adulthood, they removed Amulius and made their grandfather Numitor king again. Then they set out to build a new city for themselves. They reached a place where there were seven hills. There was a difference of opinion between the two as to which hill should be occupied. Romulus ploughed one area and started building 'Rome' one fine day. Rome is a capital on seven hills. (see Shimla, the erstwhile capital on seven hills).Thus came Rome and thus came the Romans!
Romulus not only founded the city but founded its government, its military, religion and traditions. He ruled from 753 to 717 BC. However, only those people who didn't have any family or work in their native place came to Rome and thus Rome had mostly men. Nobody was ready to marry their daughters to them. Then they organized a festival and invited people from nearby city Sabine. When Sabines came they stole their unmarried maidens and raped them. Gradually, with their offsprings, Sabines got integrated into Latins and was establish the Roman monarchy.

In background:
"Rape of Sabine Women" a combination statue at Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence.
The first group statue made from a Monolith in Italy.

Though it was a monarchy, it was not hereditary and the king was elected till the fifth king. The seventh king was Lucius Tarquinius Superbus . His son Sextus Tarquinius, raped a noble lady called Lucretia. She narrated the incidence to her husband Collatinus and her father and committed suicide. Collatinus with his colleague Lucius Junius Brutus then swore to expel the king and his family from Rome and to never let Rome be a monarchy again. Then Brutus established Rome as a republic in 509 BC. This Brutus was the ancestor of the Brutus that betrayed Julius caesar. The rape of Lucretia is thus considered a landmark in the history of Rome as it lead to establishment of a republic. It has been written about as a poem by William Shakespeare, painted and sculpted by many masters of art.

Julius Caesar was born in 100 BC and was a powerful roman general. He crossed river Rhine and English Channel, which established his supremacy. He became the chief priest of Rome that was a powerful position and was initially vested in the king himself upto initial monarchy. Julius Caesar became a dictator after a civil war, made many reforms in the republican governement, started Juliun Calendar. He then established monarchy again and named Octavius or Augustus as his heir. He was brutally assassinated by a group of his own senators within the senate including 60 people by stabbing him 23 times. Brutus was made immortal by the lines of Shakespeare, when Caesar sees Brutus attacking him and says, "Et tu Brutus!" (You too! Brutus) in the play Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar is also known for his love with the enigmatic Egyptian queen Cleopatra. He changed the history of Rome by again making it a monarchy and lot of administrative and military measures. Julius Caesar ruled till 44 BC, his rule was followed by another great ruler of Rome, Augustus Octavius. This was the time when Europe was changing.
Glory of Rome was rising and so was the population. People needed clean drinking water. In 19 BC, A Virgin helped the roman technicians locate a source of pure water 13 kilometers away from the city, this was called 'Aqua Virgo' and was brought to the City. This served Rome for 400 years. At the same place a magnificent fountain stands today, known as Trevi fountain as it situated at the junction of three lanes. In fact, one is amazed to see narrow lanes leading to such a huge fountain.

Trevi fountain: Aqua Virgo

The architecture of the fountain is spell-binding and one can easily spend hours here. In spite of the crowd it has a serene feeling. In fact, it can be seen in lot of movies with people throwing wishing coins in it. Trevi fountain is said to be the origin of the culture of putting coins in water for a wish, I think which in term derives from the mythical wishing-well. It is said that one has two put two coins and one must visit the fountain again if the wish is fulfilled. Did I ask for a wish??
Roman empire was at its glory, Europe, Africa around Mediterranean and West asia was all under Roman control. There were Vassal Kings who ruled various territories for the Roman emperor. Israel had divided into two kingdoms, Jerusalem and Judah. Judaism was considered orthodox and difficult to follow by many in the west asian region. Jesus Christ, soon  became popular and had a number of followers. On the night before his Crucifixion, he called his 12 disciples and besides other things told them that one of them was going to betray him. Famously painted as 'The Last Supper' by Leonardi da Vinci, probably the most famous painting of the world, done as a mural in a church of Milan. Peter was one of the disciples, called as Apostles. Paul, was not an apostle originally but after a miracle became follower of Christ, who were now called Christians. Peter along with Paul and others spread the message of Jesus Christ for 34 years and reached Rome. Christians were not liked by Jews or Romans. Nero, was the emperor of Rome 37 AD. He was a powerful and dynamic ruler. A colossal statue of Nero was built in Rome and there was a circus of Nero. There was lot of pressure on Nero to eliminate Christians, who were seen as sacrilegious both by Romans & Jews.  In AD 64, there was the great fire in Rome. Christians were blamed for the fire. Peter was crucified in the circus of Nero, Paul also achieved martyrdom with him. With time, the place where Peter was buried became a pilgrim site for Christians.
Julius Caesar had crossed English Channel in past. In 43 AD, Romans invaded England and started a settlement  along the banks of the river Thames, called as Londinium that gradually became London with time.
The Flavian rulers who succeeded Nero as emperor of Rome started building a huge amphitheater in AD70  near the Colossal statue of Nero. It came to be known as Colosseum and stands today, though partially damaged, as a symbol of Rome that loudly speaks of the past of Rome where Gladiators romed.

The Colosseum of Rome

Colosseum - Rome

The Colosseum is a huge structure, almost of the size of Modern Stadia. It has been partially damaged by Earthquake. There is a huge gate also built for entering the area.
A shrine came up at the site of burial of Peter and its prestige began to increase. Constantine the Great became the ruler of Roman empire, bothe west and east in the late third century. He proclaimed the 'Edict of Milan' that gave Christianity an official status in 313 AD and converted to Christianity himself and thus became the first Christian Emperor. He renamed the capital of Byzantium empire as 'Constantinople' and built a church at the site of Jesus Christ's Tomb. Thus Constantine gave the legitimacy to Christianity.
Gradually, in fourth century, a church, called St Peter's basilica was built at the shrine of Peter.  St Peter thus became the first pope. Modern St Peter's Basilica was built at the same site as the old one starting in 1506. It is the largest church in the world and the office and residence of the topmost christian religious leader, 'Pope'.

Selfie-conscious

A new technology can lead to change of culture! We are fortunate to have witnessed this nature's experiment in a clear demonstration.

Smart phones are the biggest revolution that this generation has witnessed. We know that lot of things like transferring information including videos or transferring money can be done in few seconds by a hand-held device today. My children are often surprised that we didn't have internet or mobile phones in our childhood, yet it was equally convenient.

With the arrival of internet came the urge to share our smallest experiences with the world. The most imploring desire being, the wish to share the experience one has on visiting a new place and what better than sharing its picture. This became possible with the new camera phones, just click & send! However, better still would be if one could be seen in the frame alongside the novelty. It was difficult if one was alone. People started using their skill of taking a blind picture by facing the camera and clicking it in innovative ways. The phone manufacturers soon realized this need and started providing a 'selfie' camera, whose megapixels increased with each generation of phone. Then 'selfie' from a buzzword became a rage. But the problem was that selfie was usually quiet a close-up with one's face being prominent in the foreground. That is when the need to look good became compelling. These Selfies were to be shared with thousands or lacs of people on social media and so looking good was mandatory. Thus came the obsession to look good. Nowadays, it is common to see young men sitting in parlours and getting themselves groomed, with attention to each detail. Men were never so conscious of their looks in my life-time as they are now and I think it is because of the 'Selfie'. These days most trendy young men sport a beard, as it is 'in fashion'! I feel men are more obsessed with 'Selfie' but may be there is no statistically significant difference between the sexes. So we see how with arrival of new technology, the culture has changed and we have more number of well-groomed people on the streets. I hope technology someday makes a change where people on the streets are well-mannered and better behaved also!!

Florence and Greek Mythology

Our journey spanned over 2500 years! I felt that man has remembered history of 2500 years and has faint memory of what happened before that and we call it myth. It appears today's heroes become legends as time passes and then myths.Though I used to think that this watershed of 2500 years is because of availability of records and artifacts but this trip changed my notion. I perceive that hundred quarter centuries in future Gandhi and Einstein would be mythical figures.

What binds Europe into one is Greek mythology and then Bible as most of the stories seem to stem from there. If we have to unify whole world, we would need the go to proto-Greek era where we may find commonalities with other civilizations including our own Hindu mythology.

A Glimpse into Greek Mythology

Like all mythologies Greek mythology explains the creation of Universe. First their was the Void, nothing. So the Void is actually not nothing but the first Something that is called as the Chaos. From the Chaos came the 'Bottomless pit' or the immeasurable space called as the Abyss (may be referring to the profound gulf of Hell), referred to as Tartarus. From Chaos also came the Darkness (Erebus) and Night (Nyx) and the tangible Earth (Gaia or Gaea). The Earth is then the mother of all. Her Roman equivalent is Terra or Terra Mater (Mother Earth). She gave birth to the Sky (Uranus). With the Sky, the Earth gave birth to the Titans, the Giants and the Sea (Pontus). What comes as a surprise to our way of thinking is that Night and Darkness gave birth to Heaven (Aether) and Day (Hemera).

Moros (Doom, Destiny), Ker (Destruction, Death), Thanatos (peaceful Death), Hypnos (Sleep), the Oneiroi(Dreams), Momus (Blame), Oizys (Pain, Distress), the Hesperides (Golden light of sunset and nymphs of evening), the Moirai (Fates), the Keres (Spirits of death), Nemesis (Indignation, Retribution),  Apate (Deceit), Philotes (Friendship), Geras (Old Age), and Eris (Strife) are all children of Night.

These are all considered primordial Deities in Greek mythology. Descendants of primordial deities are the second generation of divine beings called the Titans. They were giant deities of incredible strength, who ruled during the legendary Golden Age, and also comprised the first pantheon of Greek deities. They are based on Mount Othrys, a mountain in central Greece. The Titans included first twelve children of Earth and Sky (Gaia & Uranus) and their children. Uranus or Ouranos is the only Greek deity after which a planet has been named that is the 7th planet from the Sun.

Most notable of the Titans are Cronus and Rhea. Saturn is the roman equivalent of Cronus and is the given name to the 6th planet from Sun. Cronus and Rhea are son and daughter of Earth and Uranus, who is the ruler of the universe. Cronus is the youngest of the first generation of Titans. He overthrows his father Uranus with the help of his mother Earth and castrates him. He throws his testicles into the sea that produce white foam from which takes birth the goddess Aphrodite. 

Titans & Olympians

Cronus or Saturn takes his sister Rhea as his queen and rules during the Golden Age and is considered the Patron of Harvest. However, there is a prophecy that as Cronus overthrew his father Uranus, he would be overthrown by his own sons. So Cronus devours his first five children as they are given birth by his wife Rhea. When Rhea gives birth to his sixth child Zeus, she hides him and gives Cronus a stone wrapped in towel called Omphalos, which Cronus devours. When Zeus grows up he frees all his siblings from within Cronus and overthrows him. Zeus is the equivalent of Jupiter (5th planet), Indra or Thor. Zeus is the King of Gods of Mount Olympus. An equivalent of Indra ruling Swarg. Thursday is named after Thor and that has a parallel in Brihaspati. Zeus along with other brother and sisters overthrew the Titans in a battle called Titanomachy and starts the third generation of the greek deities the Olympians. Mount Olympus is the highest mountain of Greece considered the abode of the twelve olympians. Hera was the sister and queen of Zeus.

Zeus is the father figure in greek mythology and is the father of many heroes and Gods. After defeating Titans,  Zeus shares the booty with his brothers. While Zeus gets the Sky and Air, Poseidon gets Water and Hades gets the underworld or the world of Dead. Zeus punishes the Titans and traps them in Tartarus. One of the Titans, Atlas, is given the punishment of holding up the sky. The ancient Earth can not be shared, but she doesn't like the way Zeus treats the Titans, so as to take revenge she gives birth to  the monsters Typhon and Echidna (fathered by Tartarus), however they are controlled by Zeus. After the Olympians there are other generations of greek deities.

The Trip

I have mentioned about Greek mythology so that it can be referred to if required.

We had seen U.K., France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Eleven days of touring had satiated our appetite for seeing new places and we were contented and tired. We were entering Italy, we were told that it would be hot unlike all previous places that were pleasant. We were repeatedly cautioned to take care of our money and passports as Italy is said to be a country with high chances of these being snatched or pick-pocketed. Due to these factors, most of the passengers in our bus, of the total 49, were stressed out. Some started to voice, "I want to go home!" However, with its wonderful treat of history and marvelous art that we had hitherto only heard of, we were back on our feet in no time and started to enjoy again.

Florence, is a medieval town, that seems to have stopped its clocks 300 years ago. Like many other European cities it has a wonderful and unique church, that is the emblem of the city and the constant companions the bell tower and the baptistery. Arno river meanders and hosts the city in its lap. The classical view is seen from the Michelangelo square, even the old bridge that has interesting history can be savored from here.

Florence, as seen from Michelangelo Square

Orange coloured dome of the 'Duomo' stands out! However, what I found most remarkable was that the city hosted two of the greatest artists Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci at the same time. Many shops in the town are called 'David' after the world famous statue sculpted by Michelangelo, that stood in the Piazza della Signoria for long but has been moved to the museum now.This is the square in front of the town hall of the city that has been the hub of political activity for centuries. I used to wonder that what is so unique about the statue of David except that David didn't bother about clothes. 

The united kingdom of Israel was ruled by Saul from 1050 to 1012 BC. When the kingdom was attacked by the giant Goliath, a philistine, Saul sent David to fight. David, who was young and of ordinary built, used to play harp in his court but agreed to put up the fight. This statue depicts his composure and stance at this moment, when he has accepted the challenge and is about to go for the fight. He struck the forehead of Goliath with a stone and killed him and became the eternal example of victory of an underdog.

DaviD

Subsequently David became the King of Israel. David is believed to be ancestor of Jesus Christ. David was succeeded by King Solomon, who was the last king of United Israel from 970 to 931 BC. During his reign kingdom of Judah was created. While Saul and David are Biblical characters, Solomon is considered a definite historical entity, finding place of importance in all three Abrahamical religions, thus creating a watershed between myth and history.

On the right of the David's statue is an open air sculpture gallery called Loggia dei Lanzi, what a visual treat it is! To the uninitiated, it just appears as a collection of statues but in reality each one is a masterpiece created by a genius reflecting a story that changed the history or is of paramount importance in the mythology. At the entrance are placed Lions called Medici Lions with a sphere under the paw, named after the house of Medici. The Medici family were initially bankers but gradually became the largest bank of Europe in 15th century and then the hereditary Dukes of Florence and expanding to become the grand dukes of whole Tuscany region with Florence as Capital. Three popes came from their family. They were very strong but not very popular rulers, therefore they used great artists of their time to depict their power, by portraying various heroes of past. There was another banker named Piti, who built a Piti Palace, later acquired by the Medici family. There seemed to be a race to collect great artworks and these palaces became storehouses for these and now museums.

Loggia dei Lanzi

Another wonderful figure is that of Hercules killing the centaur Nessus. Hercules or Heracles is the son of  Zeus  and a mortal Alcmene, but named after Hera, the wife of Zeus in greek mythology, iconic for his strength.  It is said that he was driven mad by the queen of Gods, Hera and he killed his son, daughter and wife and then for penance he had to carry out twelve tasks known as twelve labours in the Bible. While legends of Hercules are found all over Europe, this sculpture is a great narrative.

Hercules killing the Centaur 'Nessus'

The centaur (half human, half horse) Nessus carried the wife of Hercules across the river, he tries to force himself on her and in the revenge Hercules kills him. Though Hercules, the hero, kills lot of characters in mythology, but it is the venomous blood of Nessus that finally kills Hercules and then he is welcomed as a God by Zeus and assigned as Gatekeeper of Olympus.

The most remarkable statue in this open theater of myth and history is the Cellini's bronze statue of Perseus holding the head of Medusa. Perseus was son of Zeus and another mortal Danae, and was the great grandfather of Hercules (maternal). Medusa, who had snakes as her hair, after she was cursed by Goddess Athena for being raped by Poseidon in her temple, could turn anyone into stone with her gaze. Perseus kills her by looking at her reflection in his shield.

Perseus holding the head of Medusa

It is said that Medici's intent of installing Perseus' statue  was to tell people that those who didn't fall in line would be treated like Medusa as he was like Perseus.

As one walks away from the Piazza, one passes through the narrow streets reminding one of Walled City of Delhi. We reached the old bridge over the river Arno. There is a unique feature of the shops on the bridge, there are only Jewelry shops and there is a story behind that. There used to be mostly meat shops on the bridge many centuries ago, as the butchers could discard the remains of the dead animals in the river easily. Then one of the Medici rulers got married to a princess, who had been brought up in very rich environs. She refused to live in the Velachhio palace as there was no garden or lake in the centre of the town, so a palace was bought for her across the river. For the ease of commuting for the Duke from the central town hall to the palace a corridor was built above the buildings leading to the bridge and then above the shops on the bridge upto the new palace. However, when the princess did not like the foul odour of meat and carcasses and so an order was passed that there could only be Jewelry shops on the bridge and it has stayed so.

Bridge on river Arno

After visiting  the bridge we went to the church of Holy Cross, where is buried another genius of Florence, Galileo Galilei, who had to face life-long house arrest for defending his theory that Sun was the center of the planet system (heliocentrism) and not the earth (geocentrism) as it was against what was taught in the religion.

Holy Cross Basilica of Florence

We noticed a huge scaffolding in front of this church. It was in preparation for the annual football match for supremacy in Tuscany region. It is said to be one bloody match.

I realized that while in Hindu mythology, there are stories of attempts to defile the chastity of women, but they are mostly by disguising as husband or a lover, like Indra's various ventures but in Greek and Roman mythology and so in early history, rape, is a recurring theme. There are many statues and paintings on them as many times that has changed the course of the history.

Medici's were fond of art and were privileged to have artists like Michelangelo during their time. Three popes came from the Medici family, Pope Clement VII got Michelangelo to paint The last Judgement in Sistine chapel.

Church of St Mary of Flowers or 'The Duomo' - The Florence cathedral

The Baptistery in front of the Cathedral