A POEM FOR SOLSTICE

Winter Solstice
Like a vagabond
the sun straggles to the south.
The geese follow. Winds
fill the empty spaces and fear rises
like a ghost from summer's ashes.

In woods I find again the ancient tokens:
the Ivy, the Holly, the Mistletoe.
The hollyberries are our blood,
the green is Her enduring flesh,
the white is what we cannot see.
Savoring the wine of summers past,
I wonder what will sustain us between lives...

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IO SATURNALIA!

By Spaciva Ivanova

The Greek Libanius wrote, "The impulse to spend seizes everyone. He who the whole year through has taken pleasure in saving and piling up his pence, becomes suddenly extravagant. People are not only generous toward themselves, but also toward their fellow-men. A stream of presents pours itself out on all sides. The festival banishes all that is connected with toil. From the minds of young people it removes... the dread of the schoolmaster... Another great quality of the festival is that it teaches men not to hold too fast to their money, but to part with it and let it pass into other hands."

(My, how things have changed...... NOT!)

Why do we perpetuate these traditions of the universal feast and its practices that have been handed down from
primitive man? Because they answer needs that are basic to mankind. The need to be thankful, the need to celebrate life and the need to be assured we will have continuing good fortune in the year to come.
And so as we pile our tables high with food and drink to honor Saturn, god of sowing, we will pray that it persuades him to make the seeds sprout and the long, warm sunny days return.

We wish you one and all Io Saturnalia!

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FROM THE SENATE

REPORT OF CURIATE ASSEMBLY: NOVEMBER 28, 2010
by Senator Zelda Walpole

November Curiate Assembly saved a lot of good news for our Citizens.

The big and good surprise is that Roma has four brave and great new Estate Managers to help Torin Golding in the management of our Sim:

Maali Beck (Princeps Senatus)
Achille Back (Legio XIII Gemina Officer)
Peter Woody (Praetor Scaenae and Ludorum Editor)
Alekso Minotaur (Ludorum Editor)

They will help to take care of Roma, keep strong the connection between Roma Groups and take out specific responsabilities, as great Officiers of our more active groups. (Angelia Rees and Tonina Rodenberger also continue in their positions as Estate Managers.)

I leave out details about the state of the Sim (that is really better than before: 90% of plots rented in Subura) to say that we will soon (in the middle of December) have a totally restyled Macellum building, similar to the new Trajan's Market, to which it will be connected with a bridge. The new Macellum could bring more traffic to Merchants and will certainly look wonderful as all of our Praefectus' buildings.

Even if estate of the Sim is getting better, some Citizens remembered how to help Roma finances: pay Latrina taxes (suggestion of Liza Brandenburg), support Lucretia in the Tavern (sugg. of Melanippe Karas), donate through Maritima Boxes and Plaza Fountain (sugg. of Torin Golding).

About Saturnalia planning, our December festival (ancestor in some ways of Christmas), Melanippe Karas, Representative of Collegia, suggested snow themed events and gifts exchange.

Then a Citizen (Gare Claven) wanted to share with us how much he admires the impressive iron discipline of our great Legio XIII Gemina.

Thinking about the good participation in the First Latin Lesson, Senator Zelda Walpole asked if it was possible to focus again on cultural events: she could do on her own Latin Literature lessons and all can encourage to play again original tragedies or comedies in our wonderful Dionysus' Theater.

At the end, Spaciva Ivanova, our Acta Roma Officer, suggested to pick up the Acta, in a word our newsletter...that is what you are reading now! The proposal was very well received and Princeps Senatus encouraged to help Spaciva with Acta.

Last words of the Assembly was of our Princeps Senatus, Maali Beck: "This meeting is adjourned!"

So ended the second meeting we had in the new Curia.

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SATURNALIA SUBURA DOMUS TOUR

December at 1.30 PM SLT
Tuesday, 14 Dec 2010 19:58:58 GMT

On 18 December at 1.30 pm SLT come and enjoy our Saturnalia decorations in Subura houses! Senators Zelda Walpole and Ragark Fiertze will lead you through our wonderful Subura and show some of the most beautifully decorated domus of Roma. This is the chance not only to chat and drink some wine together, but also to see houses usually not open to all citizens.

If you would like to show your decorated domus send a notecard to Zelda Walpole before 17th December.
See you around Subura streets! Io Saturnalia!

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DECEMBER FESTIVAL NEWS - SATURNALIA

by the Vestalis Maxima (Angelia Rees)

Our December festival is the Saturnalia - the original Saturnalia was the winter solstice festival in Rome. It involved the conventional sacrifices, a couch set out in front of the temple of Saturn and the untying of the ropes that bound the statue of Saturn during the rest of the year. Besides the public rites there were a series of holidays and customs celebrated privately. A Saturnalicius princeps was elected master of ceremonies for the proceedings.

The celebrations included the making and giving of small presents and a special market. Many of the decorations involved greenery - swathes, garlands, wreaths, etc - being hung over doorways and windows, and ornamenting stairs. Ornaments in the trees included sun symbols, stars, and faces of the God Janus (who looked toward both the past and the future, having two faces). Trees were not brought indoors (the Germans started that tradition), but decorated where they grew.

People were just as likely to be ornamented as the trees. Wearing greenery and jewelry of a sacred nature was common. Gambling was allowed for all, even slaves (however, although it was officially condoned only during this period, one should not assume that it was rare or much remarked on during the rest of the year). It was a time to eat, drink, and be merry. The toga was not worn, but rather colorful, informal "dinner clothes", and the pileus (freedman's hat) was worn by everyone. Slaves were exempt from punishment, and treated their masters with disrespect. The slaves celebrated a banquet: before, with, or served by the masters.

Saturnalia became one of the most popular Roman festivals which led to more role-reversal, marked chiefly by having masters and slaves ostensibly switch places (only symbolically - slaves weren't really free to make a freedman's decisions and anything they did or decreed would reverse at the end of Saturnalia). It was license within careful boundaries - it reversed the social order without subverting it. The customary greeting for the occasion is "Io, Saturnalia!" "Io" being a Latin interjection related to "ho" (as in "Ho, praise to Saturn").

*Festival Schedule*

17th Dec. :

Ave Weekend Party - 12pm (Noon)
Saturnalia Latin Lessons - 1pm

18th Dec. :

Saturnalia Ritual & Tavern Celebration - 10am
Saturnalia Snowman Building Contest - 12pm (Noon)
Subura Domus Deco Walking Tour & Feast- 1:30pm

19th Dec. :

Saturnalia Ice Skating Party - 11am
Saturnalia Sleigh Races - 12pm (Noon)
Legion XIII's Saturnalia Gladius Deathmatch - 1pm
Saturnalia Grand Feast - 4pm
(Grand Feast includes Trivia Contest and Saturnalia Gift Exchange)

For more detailed info on events - see the schedule posted on the blog.

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LATIN CLASSES IN ROMA

By Nina Tiberia (Tonina Rodenberger)

Recently Magistrae Zelda Walpole and Tonina Rodenberger started a basic Latin lesson in Roma SPQR.

Here you can read a short summary about what was taught in the first lesson:

Latin is an inflected language. In other words, the meaning and function of each word, especially nouns, adjectives and verbs, varies based on its endings.

Whereas english derives meaning from word order ("Man bites dog" and "Dog bites man" mean entirely different things) Latin may place the words in any order but the endings of the words make sentence meaning clear.

Nouns

Latin nouns are sorted into 5 declensions.

Flecting a noun (and that also includes names) or an adjective is called "to decline".
It is also important to know, that every latin noun has its gender, either masculine or feminine or neuter.

Latin nouns are sorted into 5 declensions and we learned about the:

1st (a-) -declension, that its nouns end on -a in nominative singular and that most of them are feminine.
Example: rosa = The rose, a rose

2nd (o-) -declension, that the masculine nouns of this declension end on -us in nominative singular.
Example: servus = the slave, a slave

Verbs

Flecting a verb we call "to conjugate".
Latin verbs are sorted into 5 conjugations.

Each Latin verb, depending on its spelling, falls under one of these categories. From there a verb can be conjugated into tenses such as present, imperfect, future I, perfect, plusquamperfect and future II
and the ending also tells us who is doing something or to whom something is done.

Our first latin lesson taught us, that the 1st person singular present (he,she,it) is expressed by the ending -t.
Example: sedet = he/she/it sits
rogat = he/she/it asks

Look forward to the next lesson. Keep in mind what you learned so far and, well, dont forget to learn your vocabulary! ;-)

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LATIN WORD OF THE DAY

By Nina Tiberia (Tonina Rodenberger)

Qod licet Iovi, non licet bovi.

quod here: what (relative pronoun 1st pers. singular neuter)
licet it is allowed
Iovis Jupiter (Iovi = dative)
bos, bovis, masc. bull, ox (bovi = dative singular)

"Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi" is a Latin phrase, litterally meaning "What is legitimate for Jove (Jupiter) is not legitimate for oxen".

The phrase was created by Terence, a playwright of the Roman Republic in reference to the myth wherein Jupiter took the form of a bull to seduce Europa. The phrase is often translated as "Gods may do what cattle may not".

It indicates the existence of a double standard (justifiable or otherwise), and essentially means "What is permitted to one person or a group, is not permitted to everyone".

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OOC REPORT ABOUT THE ROLEPLAY NEWS

By Petrus Cornelius Silvanus (Peter Woody)

Many things have happened in ROMA'S roleplay this year. Here are a few of the notices from throughout the year discussing the changes:

1) Closing the Theatrum Romanum site
This was an unhappy necessity but gave us the opportunity to reorganize and consolidate the contents in a new space. This is the message board of "romacitizen", the "Theatrum" section: http://romacitizens.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=theatrum

2) Reorganizing the romacitizens messageboard
In the message board, the news about the roleplay was spread over several sub and sub-sub boards, surely too many. Some of them will be deleted in the next days, to allow the roleplayer to find the news more easily. For instance, to know the character history of an avatar, you will consult a unique sub-board where a dozen stories are already posted:
http://romacitizens.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=stories
And in the future you will be able to consult them even while roleplaying. They will be listed alphabetically.

3) Updating the personal character stories
We want you to utilize the above mentioned sub-board as a practical instrument to better your roleplay. So please send your updated ones to Peter Woody, the moderator, if you want be an active member of the group. You can do it also in form of note, inworld. If you need to discuss its contents, please do that with him or with another praetor scaenae. To allow you to retrieve your old story, the closure of the old sub-boards will be delayed until 31st of December. Those sub boards are:
http://romacitizens.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=cspatricians
http://romacitizens.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=csforeigners
http://romacitizens.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=csplebs
http://romacitizens.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=roleplay
Only the avatars included in the updated board will have the full tag of ROMA ROLEPLAYER

ROLEPLAYERS
All the roleplayers are invited to keep in mind their personal stories and behave consequently when roleplaying. Submitting the stories is not a bureaucratic procedure, it is the food of the play.

4) Reorganizing the Theatrum Romanum group
We need new blood for roleplaying (no, we are not vampires) so we decided to simplify the access to the group. It is no more invitation only, all avatars can join for free, but with a "guest" tag. So even a shy player, unsure of his/her ability to roleplay, can match him/herself with us in a sort of trial period. Then, after that decide to join fully, choosing a roman name and discussing with the praetores his or her character history, so that he/she can achieve the ROMA ROLEPLAYER tag. The distinction between patrician, plebs and foreigner will be eliminated in the future.

5) Changing the day
After a discussion with the estate managers, it has been decided to move the official roleplay time to Saturdays at 1 PM SLT, to allow more people to join. The slot of Wednesday is still available for special events. The meeting point, when not specified in group notices, is the Tavern. On the 1st floor you can find a board where any interesting news will be posted.

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ASTROLOGY

 by Spaciva Ivanova

CAPRICORN ~ 22 December - 20 January

Capricorn (♑) is the tenth sign in the zodiac, originating from the constellation of Capricornus. In western astrology, this sign is no longer aligned with the constellation as a result of the precession of the equinoxes.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_precession_%28astronomy%29)

Element - Earth
Ruling Planet - Saturn
Symbol - Sea Goat
Birthstone - Garnet
Introvert

The constellation Capricorn represents the tenth Zodiac sign. According to Greek mythology, Capricorn is portrayed as a fish-tailed goat, Amalthea, who nursed the baby Zeus who was in hiding from his evil father Cronos. Zeus became lord of the Gods and took one of Capricorn’s horns which came to be known as cornucopia, the horn of plenty. The horn was said to abound with whatever fortune its owner desired. Amaltheia was rewarded with a place in the heavens by Zeus.

Capricornus (or Capricorn) is usually translated as "The Sea Goat". It literally means horned goat. The constellation is ancient, and was one of the earliest members of the zodiac.

The practical and prudent Capricorn sun sign will be the first to tell you if your new idea just does not make common sense. They are great refiners, taking people creative ideas and fine tuning them, adding direction and practical application.

http://www.astrology-insight.com/capricorn.htm

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DID YOU KNOW?

by Spaciva Ivanova

How the DAYS OF THE WEEK got their names ?


DAYS OF THE WEEK :

SATURDAY - dies Saturni / the day of Saturn / Directly from Latin.

SUNDAY - dies Solis / Sun day / Likewise

MONDAY - dies Lunae / Moon day / Ditto

TUESDAY - dies Martis / The day of Mars / Tiwesdaeg / The day of Tiw, from Norse Tys dagr ('dagr ' is old Norse for 'day ')

WEDNESDAY - dies Mercuris / The day of Mercury / Wodnesdaeg / The day of Woden, from Norse Odin's dagr

THURSDAY - dies Iovis / The day of Jupiter / Thursdaeg / The day of Thor, from Norse Thor's dagr

FRIDAY - dies Veneris / The day of Venus / Frigesdaeg / The day of Freya, from Norse Freyja's dagr

cr: www.Roman-Britain.ORG

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JANUARY FESTIVAL NEWS

by Vestalis Maxima

The Paganalia, also known as Feriae Sementivae, was a Roman festival of sowing. These festival days were held every year, but not on certain or fixed days, the time being appointed each year by the magistrates or priests. It was held in honor of Ceres (the goddess of agriculture) and Tellus (Mother Earth). The initial half of the event was a festival in honor of Tellus which traditionally ran from January 24 through January 26. The festival honoring Ceres occurred one week later, traditionally starting February 2.

ROMA's Paganalia is a celebration of all cultural pagan rites and ceremonies, and each year we try to perform various rituals from multiple cultures - to expose ROMA's citizens to other forms of pagan religious practice. In addition to this, we also have some purely fun events and our traditional Grand Feast.

***Festival Schedule***

January 23th:

10am - Roman Paganalia Ritual
12pm - Paganalia Fishing Contest
2pm - Greek Paganalia Ritual


January 24th:

10am - Egyptian Horus Ritual
12pm - Cloaca Croc Race
2pm - Native American Powwow Presentation
4pm - Paganalia Grand Feast

For more detailed schedule info, please check the Tabularium in ROMA or the ROMA Citizens Blog @ http://romacitizens.blogspot.com/

Please note: this official schedule may be changed or modified slightly - check the blog for any updates.
** all times are SLT

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FROM THE SENATE

New Roma Curiate Assembly

by Torin Golding

ROMA will now have an assembly that will meet once a month. We are going to be replacing the ROMA Senate meeting with a larger gathering involving citizens and group officers. All active groups will provide one or two representatives to attend the meetings and help with initiatives in ROMA.

The ROMA CURIATE ASSEMBLY is the monthly meeting of ROMA Senators, officers, and Citizens. It meets in the ROMA Curia and replaces the former ROMA Senate meetings. The Assembly is a large body that consists of three parts, or “chambers”, each with their role to play in managing and maintaining ROMA. It is also a “think-tank” for proposing new ideas and discussing all aspects of the estate. The Assembly meets the last Sunday of every month.

Each part ("chamber") will have its own designated area inside the Curia

CHAMBER 1: The Senators (the Optimates)

The Senators have two main roles in ROMA: A) to serve as a direct advisory body to the Emperor, Estate Managers and owner of ROMA, and B) to serve as “point people” and organizers of many ROMA events and tasks. This latter role allows them to act as “patrons”, helping other Citizens in ROMA accomplish their goals and ideas for the estate. Senators are often also called upon to be the “public face of ROMA”, wearing their Senator title with pride amongst both their fellow Citizens and new visitors. All Citizens may approach ROMA Senators with issues and they will endeavor to find solutions.

CHAMBER 2: The Group Officers (the Populares)

The second chamber of the Assembly is comprised of group officers from the various active groups in ROMA. The Senate officers and Prefect will keep a current list of active groups. Each group will have up to two representatives to sit in this chamber during meetings. They are called "Novi Homines / Novae Feminae" and speak with the authority of the group. They are present in the Assembly to A) facilitate communication between the various groups in ROMA, B) to brainstorm event ideas and solicit assistance from the Senators in organizing events and ideas, and C) to bring any public issues to discussion within the Assembly.

CHAMBER 3: The Public Council

The Citizenry of ROMA is invited to participate in the Assembly. A special seating area in the Curia will allow spectators to join in the moderated discussions.

More detailed information about the changes can be found on our blog: http://romacitizens.blogspot.com/2010/01/announcing-new-roma-curiate-assembly.html

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FROM THE LEGIO XIII GEMINA and AMAZON AUX

END OF THE YEAR REPORT

by Centurio Princeps Achilles Claudius ( Achille Back )

The end of the tenth month of the year has been filled with festivities. Our legionaries have been sent back home to their families to enjoy the peaceful time and pray for the gods.

The year was ROMA EXERCITUS MMDCCLXII a.U.c 2762 ad Urbe condita ( from the founding of the City = 2009 A.D.)

The past year has been very important for the ROMA SPQR Armed Forces (XIII Legio Gemina, Cohors Equitata, Classis Nautica, Cohors Praetoria):


TIRONES - Recruits

End of the year bureaucracy showed that recruitment slowed a bit (compared to 2008), though some veterans from the provinces have returned to the Legio and have become active again.

Thanks go out to Centurio Amazona Nina Tiberia (Tonina Rodenberger) who takes excellent care of all the recruits.


COHORS EQUITATA

First of all, the cavalry Legio Romana Cohors Equitata was brought into the XIII legion structure as auxiliary unit. This fusion now affords better control of the recruits and the trainings, and also allows our exercitus to have trainings with horses. Congratulations and thanks to Petrus Cornelius Silvanus (peter Woody), Optio of the XIII Legio promoted to Decurio of the Cohors Equitata, who gives so much to our army.


CLASSIS NAUTICA

The Classis Nautica (Navy) is still under reform. The past year has been very challenging for the navy which has been busy extending the ROMAn possesion of the Mare Nostrum in the new ROMA Maritima sim with the building of the new Portus Ostiae. The capture the flag game on the little islands in the sea is still to be perfected and the new triremae will soon be ready to set sail and conquer foreign lands. Let's pray Neptunus for the next year to be the good one for our Classis and that they'll again soon be ruling the seas of the world !


COHORS PRAETORIA

The praetorian imperial guard was happy to welcome home the Praefectus Praetorio Quinuts Ostorius Scapula (Franck Gazov) from his travels in the province of Gallia Belgica. Achilles Claudius Baculum (Achille Back) stepped down from his temporary position of co-praefectus, returned to his Tribunus rank and was happy to give back to the praefectus his powers.

Meanwhile, the Cohors Praetoria, always busy patrolling the ROMA sims, is proud to announce that during the past year the streets of ROMA ( SPQR sim ) and the subura have been quiet and peaceful. Troublemakers ( griefers ) were quickly reported by the praetorians and ejected by the Praefectus Urbis Torin Golding .


EXERCITUS

New weapons and combat system: the biggest change last year was the creation of the first fully Legion owned combat system LCS (Legion Combat System). Low lag and fully modifiable, it gave us the possibilty to create more realistic weapons and animations. The LCS is still in beta form and some changes will be applied soon.

The heavy Lorica Segmentata (high prim count) has been replaced in the common equipment by the more versatile Lorica Hamata. In the coming year the soldiers will have the chance to personalize their look and equipment, thanks to several realistic weapons and accessories which they will be able to buy at low cost from the legion armory.

Special thanks to Praefectus Legionis Vectus Margulis and Primus Pilus Publius Tiberius (Brodbiz Bagration) for their support in the new equipment.


DONA MILITARIA - Military awards

The military awards have been reformed according to the RAS system:


CORONAE (crowns)~~~

Corona Civica: ~ Achille Back (for the cavalry reform)
Corona Navalis: ~ Peter Woody (for winning the Battle of Zama event coming by sea)
Corona Muralis: ~ Brodbiz Bagration (for the conference in Roma centro sim)
Tonina Rodenberger (for the efforts in organizing the Battle of Zama event)
Alekso Minotaur (retired)


PHALERAE (medals)~~~

Legionary of the Month (LOTR) medals went to:

Peter Woody
Toe Fermi
Megara Shieldmaiden
Gianni Lupindo
Montgomery Shelman
Revo Morales


ROMA MILES EXTRAORDINARIUS medals went to:

Brodbiz Bagration
Melanippe Karas
Peter Woody
Megara Shieldmaiden
Jo Soler
Alekso Minotaur (retired)

Congratulations to all of these fine soldiers for jobs well done !

Do you want to know more? Go to: http://legioxiiisl.blogspot.com/

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LEGIO CLASSIFIED ADS

Great opportunity for legionaries!

Rent a cubiculum in the heart of Fort Transtiberim ! Comfy, warm and you'll have your own sheets. Not seen anywhere else: 22 prims for only 200 linden a week. IM me, JO SOLER, and choose your room today ! This is a great way for someone to help support our Legion XIII. All the money is for our group. Contact JO SOLER for details.

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LATIN WORD of the DAY

by Tonina Rodenberger

Concordia, ae, fem. (noun) = harmony, unity

"Ibi semper victoria, ubi concordia est."

"Where there is harmony, there always is victory."

This sentence comes from Publilius Syrus, a roman writer of maxims, who lived in the 1st century BC.

Publilius was a Syrian, who was brought as a slave to Italy and he won the favor of his master by his wit and talent. His mimes, in which he acted himself, were of great success in the provincial towns of Italy and when in 46 BC Caesar gave games, Publilius was invited to a contest of mimes, in which he vanquished all his competitors.

Unfortunately all of his mimes got lost and all that remains of his works is a collection of Sentences (Sententiae), a series of moral maxims in iambic and trochaic verse. Each maxim consists of a single verse and the verses are arranged in alphabetical order. In the course of time the collection was interpolated with sentences from other writers, so its not sure how many of them are originally drawn by Publilius himself.

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REAL HISTORY IN ANCIENT ROME

JANUS

by Spaciva Ivanova

Numa in his regulation of the Roman calendar called the first month Januarius after Janus, arguably the oldest and most important divinity in the Roman pantheon Janus is one of the few Roman gods who has no ready-made counterpart, or analogous mythology. As the first month of the year marks both an end and a new beginning, Janus ( or Ianus ) looks both to the past and the future. This ability was a gift bestowed upon him by Saturn, in return for hospitality received.

Janus is the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings and endings. He is most often depicted as having two faces or heads, facing in opposite directions.

Janus is also the god of concrete.

Similar to the way Hades controls the underworld and Neptune watches over the seas, Janus, the sun god rules the skies together with Jana (Diana), the goddess of the moon and the two receive their sacrifices before all others.

The main Temple of Janus stood in the Roman Forum. The temple had doors on both ends, and inside the temple was a statue of Janus, the two-faced god of boundaries. The temple doors were closed in times of peace and opened in times of war. The closing of the temple was a very rare event. It is said to have happened for the first time under Numa Pompilius, for the second time under Titus Manlius in 235 BC, a third time by Augustus in 29 BC, a fourth time by Nero in 66 AD and only a fifth time under Vespasian in AD 70.

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CITIZENS IN THE NEWS

by Petrus

THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING BRIDE

Scandal in the gens Cornelia! The wedding on the 6th of January has had a mysterious end; the bride didn't show up to the ceremony! While the bridegroom and the pater familias were in despair, a slave came to the door with a message. The message stated that the chariot in which she was riding had been in an accident. Thankfully, the bride was not injured but she was still unable to make it to her own wedding.

Petrus Cornelius and Furius Spartacus made the decision to perform a marriage "per procurationem" ( by proxy ) and formalize it with a religious ceremony in the following days. Thinking the bride was safe and sound, the guests proceeded to enjoy a good party with music, foods and drinks. The dominae of the Tiberia and Sejana gentes were a great help to Petrus planning the party. Unfortunately, it was discovered that the message received earlier was false! The chariot in which the bride was traveling has never been found and there have been no traces of it, nor any news about her.

When questioned by our reporter yesterday about the rumors of a demand for ransom by a celtic tribe, Petrus responded "Impossible ! Considering that Revus, her step-brother is a celt. He was adopted into the Cornelii due to his heroism. They have always had good relations with those tribes. If Martina has been kidnapped, the villains must be common street bandits. " " And what if she has decided on her own not to marry ? " asked our reporter.

At this point Petrus glares at him without a single word, his terrifying icey eyes reminiscent of his famous ancestor, Sulla, the dictator. Our reporter decided he didn't have the courage to ask Petrus any more questions, thanked him for the interview and fled.

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CRITICS CORNER

book review by Serafina Itano

Gaius Sallustius Crispus, "De coniuratione Catilinae "

‘The Conspiracy of Catiline’ is a monograph of the Roman historian Sallust. He describes the conspiracy of Lucius Sergius Catilina who tried in 63 B.C. to seize the power in the Roman republic by a coup d'état what was thwarted by the consul Marcus Tullius Cicero. In the first chapters of his work he depicts the fame as the meaning of life. Then follows a characterization of his protagonist and the demonization of his moral corruptness. It comes the first digression in which Sallust describes a general demoralisation as a cause of the crisis of the Roman republic. Sallust asserts that the virtuousness and braveness which made Rome great during the past centuries would be more and more replaced by greed and squandering. Catiline is described as a typical representative of both of these vices.

The next chapters report about the preliminary events leading up to the complot, the conspiracy itself, the revelation and defeat of the conspirators in the Battle of Pistoria.

It's really a very interesting historical book, especially for those who only know about the conspiracy by Cicero's famous 'Orations against Catiline'. So read it today !! This book receives a rating of five stars *****

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ASTROLOGY

by Spaciva Ivanova

December 22 to January 20

Capricornus is one of the constellations of the zodiac, often called Capricorn. Its name is Latin for "horned male goat" or "goat horn" It was one of the 48 constellations listed by 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy and is commonly represented in the form of a sea-goat: a mythical creature that is half goat, half fish

First attested in depictions on boundary stones and explicitly recorded in the Babylonian star catalogues as "The Goat-Fish" before 1000 BC, the constellation was a symbol of Ea and in the Early Bronze Age marked the winter solstice.

Capricornus has one of the oldest mythological associations, having been consistently represented in the form of a sea-goat; a mythical creature that is half goat and half fish.

This constellation is sometimes identified as Amalthea, the goat that suckled the infant Jupitor after his mother Rhea saved him from being devoured by his father Saturn. The goat's broken horn was transformed into the cornucopia or horn of plenty. Some claim that this derives from the sun 'taking nourishment' while in the constellation, in preparation for its climb back northward. However, the constellation is more often depicted as a goat with a fish's tail. One myth says that when the goat-god Pan was attacked by the monster Typhon, he dove into the Nile; the parts above the water remained a goat, but those under the water transformed into a fish.

~~~ ASTRONOMY of CAPRICORNUS ~~~

It was January, 1801, a new year and a new century and Giuseppe Piazzi, a monk in Sicily and the founding director of the Palermo Astronomical Observatory, was on the verge of discovering a new celestial object.

Although he was certain he had discovered a new planet, Piazzi announced it as a newly discovered comet.

Piazzi named it "Ceres Ferdinandea," after the Roman goddess of grain and King Ferdinand IV of Naples and Sicily

Over the next few years, other objects were discovered in a roughly similar orbit. In fact, by the end of the century, several hundred had been found. By that time, Ceres's designation had been changed from planet to a new term, asteroid.

A few facts about Ceres; It has a diameter of 960 x 932 with a mass of 8.7e20 kg. Its rotation period is 9.075 hours with an orbital period of 4.60 years at a distance of 2.767AU.

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