Past Factoids
3 Nov
in apuleius' asinus aureus, lucius gets initiated into the cult of isis, which was heavily guarded back then, and is in fact one of the few reasons we know something about the purification rites and stuff about it
2 Nov
Caecilius Statius was a friend (“contubernalis”) of Ennius, and wrote only fabulae palliatae to avoid coming into competition with him
30 Oct
Martial's epigrams VI.12 and VII.13 attack women who lack naturally colored hair
29 Oct
The women of Lemnos killed all their husbands, quite the heinous crime. Their punishment? Being really smelly :(
28 Oct
Lucan slit his wrists on April 30, 65, at the age of 25 while reciting lines his own poetry of a soldier who died in a similar manner.
27 Oct
augustus said in his ajax, that his ajax did not die by the sword, but rather died by the sponge
26 Oct
Maecenas had a wife named Terentia
23 Oct
The Egyptian king Busiris would sacrifice his guests before he was killed himself on a sacrificial altar by Heracles.
22 Oct
a lot of people that tibullus liked left him for richer people
21 Oct
Tacitus' Works are adapted by Robert Graves in his I, Claudius! It is a very good read
20 Oct
a guy named tigellinus got jealous of petronius, and so he bribed a slave to spread a rumor about petronius collaborating with the pisonian conspirator, scaevinus
19 Oct
“At Lupercalia Mark Antony pretends to offer Caesar a crown, which Caesar ‘declines’ (Will Siegmund Study Guide)”… since we all know that Caesar only wanted to be dictator perpetuus, NOT emperor.
16 Oct
there was a guy named cicero i think and he probably wrote either praetextae, atellan farce, or maybe tragedies 🤗
15 Oct
Epode 5 is by Horace is an Invective against the ugly witch Canidia. Depicts ugly superstitions of urban areas. Describes Canidia and three hags torturing a young boy to death to obtain ingredients for a love potion. Opens with the boy’s pleas and ends with him cursing his torturers.
14 Oct
Rutilius Rufus was exiled to Asia because he was wrongly convicted in the extortion court, despite trying to stop extortion. At his place of exile, in Smyrna, he lived as “an honoured citizen among the provincials he was alleged to have oppressed”, was heavily praised by Vellius Paterculus, and visited by Cicero. Sulla asked him to come back, but Rutilius Rufus said he didn’t want to leave his ‘exile’.
13 Oct
In 4.10, Sulpicia assaults Cerinthus with fury and offense after hearing he has been giving attention to another girl.
12 Oct
Hosidius Geta wrote a work called Medea, in the style of Vergilian Centos, where you take quotations and piece them together
9 Oct
Tacitus Says about himself at the beginning of the Historiae: “I would not deny that my elevation was begun by Vespasian, augmented by Titus, and still further advanced by Domitian”
8 Oct
Commodus changed his name to Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus Augustus Hercules Romanus Exsuperatorius Amazonius Invictus Felix Pius and changed the name of each month to one of his names.
7 Oct
Frontinus was seen as a “vir vere Romanus” for his dedicated service to Roman public services.
6 Oct
The Satyricon includes a description of the tomb which Trimalchio has purchased for himself, which somehow ends with a brawl, which ultimately results in the fire department being called
5 Oct
fact
2 Oct
augustus really liked caecuban wine
1 Oct
There were seven people against Thebes
30 Sept
the word oxymoron is an oxymoron because it comes from the word oxys- meaning sharp, and moros, meaning stupid
29 Sept
According to Aeschylus, Tydeus' shield portrays the moon and stars, he attacks the Proetid Gate defended by Melanippus, and Amphiaraus tries to hold him back, at which point Tydeus insults the hell out of him.
28 Sept
sallust was horse whipped because he committed adultery
25 Sept
Martial is called “his Vergil” by Aelius Verus (adoptive son of Hadrian)
24 Sept
In McCarter’s translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, there is a line after Apollo kills Coronis, saying: “Since gods can’t weep, he groans from deep inside his heart,” which seems like an interesting trait of the gods to throw in
23 Sept
"Caesar wrote various miscellaneous poems, including a verse epigram to Terence. This is in fragment 9 of Morel's Fragmenta Poetarum Latinorum, and in it Caesar states that Terence lacks 'vis comica', 'is emendator sermonis usitati' and makes a pun about Terence's entire contaminatio thing, calling him a 'dimidate menander'.",
22 Sept
Tibullus became a client of M. Valerius Messalla Corvinus, whose staff he joined for several military expeditions, including one to Aquitania that resulted in a triumph for Messalla
21 Sept
juvenal says in his first satire that he will only attack people who are dead... hah.... haha...we see how that plays out
18 Sept
Cicero's Laelius/De Amicitia was one of the two works used by Dante (not Minutillo- Alighieri) to recover from the death of Beatrice.
17 Sept
Cicero claimed to know of 150 Catonian speeches
16 Sept
In 317, the extremely old Lactantius moved to Gaul to tutor Constantine’s son Crispus
15 Sept
faltonia betitia proba wrote a cento vergilianus de laudibus christi which (surprisingly) was in vergilian centos
14 Sept
acording to plutarch, herennius first killed cicero, then cut off his head. then antony cut off his hands cause he wrote the philippics; then those were nailed along with his head on the Rostra in the Forum Romanum in the tradition of marius and sulla. then, according to cassius do, antony's wife fulvia took Cicero's head, pulled out his tongue, and jabbed it repeatedly with her hairpin
11 Sept
The Argonaut Mopsus is said to have died when Perseus was flying over Libya with the head of Medusa. A drop of blood from her head fell downwards and hit him, and since it was extremely poisonous, it killed him.
10 Sept
In his Amores, Ovid occasionally evokes Corinna, but says, not only that he prefers two women, but also that any beautiful woman can charm him.
9 Sept
According to Horace, Tibullus spent his last years “withdrawn and melancholy” in Latium before dying shortly after Vergil in 19 BC.
8 Sept
eumolpus, in petronius' satyricon, writes in his will that whoever eats his corpse will get his money
7 Sept
According to Aeschylus, Amphiaraus doesn't have an image on his shield. He "prefers reality over appearance." What an asshole. He attacks the Homoloïd gate, defended by Lasthenes. He also brutally insults Tydeus (my favorite is "high priest of carnage," go read the play for more) and Polyneices, and knows he will die in the process. He's pretty pissed about this.
4 Sept
Suzie Han got first place in Advanced Plus Derivatives without preparation
3 Sept
To make Paris seem even worse, he actually was already married to the woman Oenone when he went to steal Helen, and ditched Oenone for her. At Paris’ funeral, Oenone also throws herself on Paris’ funeral pyre
2 Sept
Selemnus was a shepherd who loved the nymph Argyra, who eventually abandoned him and Selemnus died of grief. That time, the goddess Aphrodite made him a river, the waters of which were believed to cure of unrequited love.
1 Sept
lucretius wrote de rerum natura and bede (?) wrote de natura rerum
31 Aug
horace's italian name is quinto orazio flacco
28 Aug
Zeus has more than two children
27 Aug
Did you know? Before he killed the Nemean Lion, Heracles stopped in Cleonae at the house of a man named Molorchus, whose name is fun to say.
26 Aug
Pliny wrote an obituary of Silius Italicus in Epistulae 3.7, and said “scribebat carmina maiore cura quam ingenio.”
25 Aug
𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋 is “Hannibal” in the Punic language. and I don’t know what is happening to the formatting).(
24 Aug
Lucilius said “ex praecordiis ecfero versum”, that he wrote his poetry from his heart. He also called his Satires “Ludus ac Sermones”
21 Aug
Ovid's section in the Heroides about Ariadne is Possibly based on the lament of Ariadne in Catullus 64
20 Aug
tiberianus, possibly the author of the pervigilium veneris, wrote spring day, an attack on the power of gold, a hymn, and a description of a dying bird
19 Aug
According to Hesiod, the Molionidae Eurytus and Cteatus were conjoined twins who fought Heracles
18 Aug
In the Bacchae, King Pentheus’ name is derived from the word for sorrow, which makes one wonder what his parents expected to happen to him
17 Aug
Ammianus Marcellinus indicates his snobbishness with the line “non omnia narratu sunt digna quae per squalidas transiere personas”
14 Aug
Noemon was a prominent Ithacan and the son of Phronius who gives Telemachus a boat to sail to Pylos. That’s all he does. You have been informed
13 Aug
Lucan died at 25
12 Aug
Laura is a menace
11 Aug
The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is recounted in the musical Hadestown, which is very good, please watch it, or at least listen to the soundtrack. WAY DOWN, HADESTOWN, WAY DOWN UNDER THE GROUND!!!!!
10 Aug
proteus is theoclymenus' great great grandfather on the great grandmother's side, and proetus is the other theoclymenus' dad
7 Aug
heracles sleeping with the 50 daughters of thespius in one night is sometimes known as his thirteenth labor!
6 Aug
say yes i am getting angry
5 Aug
The opening of Moby Dick by Herman Melville includes a list of quotes from authors over history about whales, including quotes from Plutarch, Pliny, and and Lucian
4 Aug
this is a lit fact that i also want to be kept in the general facts list
3 Aug
quintus valerius soranus was the first, according to pliny the elder, to create a table of contents
31 Jul
Cornelius Gallus was a • Classmate of Vergil
30 Jul
Marcus Manilius is the astronomer, Manius Manilius is the Lawyer.
29 Jul
tiberius catius asconius silius italicus is a very fitting name for someone who wrote a very long work
28 Jul
Frontinus was seen as a “vir vere Romanus” for his dedicated service to Roman public services
27 Jul
tarsus atque elegans, said of Tibullus by Quintillian
24 Jul
cornificia was a roman poetess and writer of epigrams that wrote some really great works- so much so that she was said to have been nurtured on the milk of the castalian muses. unfortunately, they are lost today 😢
23 Jul
Decimus Laberius, a knight and an exact contemporary of Cicero, offended Caesar, and was forced to participate in a mime competition against Publilius Syrus, which he lost
22 Jul
suetonius's italian name is gaio svetonio tranquillo
21 Jul
Last mention of Suetonius by a contemporary author is in a letter from Fronto to MarcusAurelius
20 Jul
Aelius Donatus (who wrote a Vita Vergili) is separate from Tiberius Claudius Donatus, who wrote 12 books of commentary on Vergil (Interpretationes Vergilianae)
17 Jul
cicero wrote an invenctiva in sallustium, and sallust wrote an invectiva in ciceronem, both of which are possibly spurious, but contain funny lines like: "As for the unheard of virulence of your attacks upon my wife and daughter (who, women though they are, have more successfully avoided the attentions of men than you have those of your own sex) in assailing them you showed both cleverness and cunning" from cicero to sallust, and then from sallust to cicero: " although such is his character, he yet has the assurance to say, "Fortunate Rome, born in my consulate."8 "Fortunate in having you for her consul," Cicero? Nay, ill-starred and wretched in having endured that most ruthless proscription"
16 Jul
abracadabra is first attested in quintus serenus sammoncius's liber medicinalis 🤗
15 Jul
Persius called his poetry “semipaganus” and claimed it had “rusticitas”.
14 Jul
lucan read a poem about a soldier dying in the way he was as he cut open his veins
13 Jul
paulus was banished by elgalgalabuslus but was later restored by severus alexander
10 Jul
In book 15 of Juvenal's satires, he Describes a scene of Cannibalism in Egypt, which he claims to personally know of, brought on by religious fanaticism.
9 Jul
Toxeus and Plexippus have the coolest villain duo name in Greek mythology, despite being some of the lamest villains
8 Jul
Ennius’ legacy survives through a decapitated statue marked “Q. Ennius”. Cicero writes that Ennius wrote an epigram commemorating the statue: “aspicite, o cives, senis Enni imaginis formam. / Hic vestrum pinxit maxima facta patrum.” Ennius also wrote an epitaph for his tomb: “nemo me lacrimis decoert nec funera fletu / faxit, cur? volito vivus per ora vivum”.
7 Jul
in his corpus tibullanum, lygdamus wrote frigid elegies to the woman neaera , whose social position was probably higher than delia or nemesis, considering that lygdamus hoped for marriage-- unlike tibullus his verses lacked the gentleness of tibullus’ poetry.
6 Jul
After declaring that Pan played better than Apollo in a music contest, Apollo gave Midas donkey ears
3 Jul
Suetonius gained the titles “a studiis” and “a bibliotechis” and “ab epustulis” for his work under Hadrian
2 Jul
Did you know? According to the Aeneid, the Trojan soldier Ripheus was the most righteous of the Trojans, and Dante puts him in Heaven in his Divine Comedy, even though he puts Virgil himself in Limbo
1 Jul
In just the first book of Ovid’s Ars Amatoria, Ovid recommends courting people by bribing their friends to say nice things about you, flicking imaginary dust off their lap, and staring at their ankles
30 Jun
Apuleius had some fight with Herennius Rufinus over inheritance, which he also defends himself about in the Apologia
29 Jun
Celebratory poem for the birthday of Cornutus (not persius' teacher, i think), a different client of Messalla and possibly the true identity of Sulpicia’s Cerinthus. Tibullus wishes for Cornutus to someday enjoy the love of a wife.
26 Jun
Cicero calls Statius “malus auctor Latinitatis”
25 Jun
in euripides helen he writes her a happy ending, with helen, menelaus and thenoe (eidothea; theoclymenus' sister) tricking theoclymenus and escaping. however in euripides' orestes, he denies helen a happy ending and instead orestes and pylades try to kill helen the day she's about to return to Sparta with menelaus, to which apollo snatches her into the heavens and turns her into an immortal guardian for sailors
24 Jun
pliny the elder is considered one of the worst prose writers
23 Jun
Plautus' Miles Gloriosus References the imprisonment of Naevius.
22 Jun
Fun fact: According to Wikipedia, in Paradise Lost Milton calls the Egyptian pharaoh of Exodus “Busiris” after the Egyptian king in Greek mythology
19 Jun
Martial's epigrams I.117 attacks a man who wished to borrow but not buy a copy of Martial’s book
18 Jun
Suetonius used Pliny’s influence to postpone a trial in which he was to serve as counsel
17 Jun
this is a general fact
16 Jun
Hostia (the lover of Propertius) was the daughter of Hostius, the author of Bellum Histricum (an epic poem on the istrian war)
15 Jun
“liberī” is “children” because it literally means “free”— in other words, not kids of slaves
12 Jun
Ennius' Hectoris Lutra is inspired by Aeschyalus
11 Jun
Euripides got eu-ripped-apart by the Molossian hounds of King Archelaus 🔥
10 Jun
When Zeus fought Typhon, Typhon ripped out the sinews from Zeus’ hands and feet and hid them in a cave guarded by a dragon
9 Jun
Ammianus Marcellinus was a 'restrained pagan who tolerated Christianity.'
8 Jun
According to Aeschylus, Capaneus' shield has a man holding a torch and the text "I will burn the city". He attacks the Electran Gate, defended by Polyphontes, and boasts that not even Zeus could hold him back. Oops...
5 Jun
According to The Prose Edda, to save the universe, Loki shape-shifted into a female horse, slept with a male horse, and then gave birth to the eight legged horse Sleipnir, which Odin rides into battle
4 Jun
According to Jerome, Quintillian was appointed by Vespasian as the first state professor of rhetoric to receive a salary
3 Jun
Justinian’s compilers for codification excerpted five paragraphs from Tertullian’s works, displaying his precise legal knowledge.
2 Jun
Antonius Musa was doctor to Augustus and Horace (author of De Herba Botanica and De Tuenda Valetudine ad Maecenatem, and also doctor of Augustus)
1 Jun
Vergil wrote on Lucretius in the Georgics, “felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas”
29 May
Ovid was relegated (not fully exiled, as he retained his citizenship and possessions) to Tomi on the Black Sea in 8 AD, in the middle of his literary prime
28 May
the genitive plural of the georgics is georgicon, and in the same way, it is possible that petronius' satyricon is based off of a greek genitive
27 May
ennius called naevius archaic despite them literally being from the same time period AND friends 💀
26 May
after five or six years of cynthia being unfaithful, Propertius dumped her, although the two poems in Book 4 suggest that there was a brief reconicnlation before her death.
25 May
During the Renaissance, Lactantius earned the title of ‘the Christian Cicero’ because he was the most classical of early Christian authors.
22 May
Laura is obsessed with bread-cutter-machines and blood in general
21 May
sulpicius apollinaris-- the teacher of pertinax and aulus gellius-- is credited with writing periochae of the plays of terence and of the books of the aeneid
20 May
Perseus had a daughter named Gorgophone (meaning slayer of the Gorgon) in honor of himself for his deeds
19 May
Quintus Sertorius was called the “New Hannibal” because he had one eye.
18 May
Silius Italicus was Last person to be awarded a consulship by Nero
15 May
Ovid wrote with “heroic flippancy and graceful agility” abnormal for Latin poetry (Hadas 200).
14 May
Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes includes detailed descriptions of the shields of each attacker as well as the gates and their defenders. He does not include Adrastus as a champion, though he is present, and each other champion (including Eteoclus, but not Mecisteus) gives Adrastus mementos to take back to their families.
13 May
Ammianus Marcellinus was considered to be the last great Roman historian.
12 May
Propertius' monobiblos, 1.16 is a Soliloquy of the door of a once-respectable house, similar to Catullus 67
11 May
In the movie The Norseman, when a character gets a spear thrown at them, catches it in midair, and kills a guy by throwing it back at them, it wasn’t just a Hollywood invention. Rather, in Njal’s Saga, the exact thing happens several times!
8 May
Naevius wrote the palliata, Tarentilla (the flirt). It is about a girl from Tarentum and it contains the quote “Alii adnutat, alii adnictat, alium amat, alium tenet”.
7 May
Symmachus indicates an understanding of his duties with the line “ubique vitam agimus consularem”
6 May
Statius' Silvae II.4 is a mock consolation to Melior on the death of his pet parrot
5 May
arator the author was also an orator for a while
4 May
T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land mentions many cool things from mythology (and history!) in metaphor, such as the Battle of Mylae, Tiresias, and, impactfully, Philomela and Tereus. There's also lots of cool references to Hamlet, especially the character of Ophelia. Sincerely, your local T. S. Eliot lover
1 May
According to The Metamorphoses, in Arachne’s tapestry, Arachne depicted Zeus seducing his own daughter Persephone in the form of a snake
30 Apr
Gaius Marius once hid in a swamp and got muddy
29 Apr
When Rome won the 1st Samnite War, Carthage sent a 25 pound crown for the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus to say congrats 😈
28 Apr
Nestor is old
27 Apr
12.66 of Martial's epigrams is an anecdote of a house that is sold for more than its worth by being deceptively filled with expensive furniture not actually included with the house.
24 Apr
Lucretius argues against the Roman notion of “mos maiorum” (maintaining the customs of the ancestors, both in actions and in speech)
23 Apr
Tacitus Says about history: “this I regard as history’s highest function, to let no worthy action be uncommemorated, and to hold out the reprobation of posterity as a terror to evil words and deeds”
22 Apr
volcacius sedigitus's ranking of latin comic authors: caecilius statius plautus gnaeus naevius licinius (imbrex) atilius terence (sextus) turpilius trabea luscius (lanuvius) ennius
21 Apr
Volcacius Sedigitus ranks Statius first in his canon of Latin comics.
20 Apr
1.4 by Tibullus is a separate series of love poetry addressed to the puer delicatus Marathus. This poem is a discourse by Priapus on how to win over a boy in the style of Ovid’s Ars Amatoria.
17 Apr
silius italicus was the last consul appointed by nero
16 Apr
In 4.8 of Corpus' tibullanum, Sulpicia describes her “hateful old birthday” where Messalla takes her on a vacation to the country, which only prevents her from seeing Cerinthus
15 Apr
Horace admired Pacuvius for his learning and Quintilian admired him for his force.
14 Apr
“shahanshah” means “king of kings,” a title for Persian rulers created by Ardashir I, founder of the Sasanian Empire. Their full title was “King of Kings of Iranians and non-Iranians.”
13 Apr
some suspect that sulpicia's lover's real name was cornutus
10 Apr
Maecenas also wrote a work entitled De Cultu Suo
9 Apr
Octavius Lampadio divided the bellum poenicum into 7 books in 165 BC
8 Apr
In the Odyssey, Nausicaa, the daughter of King Alcinous and Queen Arete, has a name meaning “burner of ship.”
7 Apr
sulpicia the satirist may have chosen that name as a pseudonym because of sulpicia the elegiac poet
6 Apr
Said of Lucretius by Vergil: “felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas, atque metus omnis et inexorabile fatum subiecit pedibus strepitumque Acherontis avari”
3 Apr
juvenal keeps on talking about how he wishes that he were an augustan age author-- like he would get a patron 🤣
2 Apr
Ennius is frequently referred to by Cicero as “noster Ennius”
1 Apr
Lucretius Applies the term “noster” to Ennius (whom he lauds for introducing poetry to the Romans)
31 Mar
In McCarter’s translation of The Metamorphoses, Phaethon’s epitaph reads as follows: “Phaethon, who drove his father’s chariot, lies here. He failed, yet died from great endeavors.”
30 Mar
hiatus is when you don't elide two vowels that are supposed to be elided
27 Mar
De Rerum Natura ends with the plague of Athens in 430 BC (drawing from an account of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides)
26 Mar
juvenal was either sent to egypt by domitian, or to scotland by trajan for his attack on the actor paris in satire 7
25 Mar
zeus likes sex 😯
24 Mar
The commentator Servius wrote on Vergil’s description of Romulus and Remus, saying “sane totus hic locus Ennianus est”.
23 Mar
cato the elder struck a senator from the roll for kissing in broad daylight
20 Mar
Maximinus Thrax was Thracian
19 Mar
once upon a time according to boios, a greek grammarian and mythographer who wrote an ornithogonia (transformations into birds) that was translated into latin by aemilius macer (friend of ovid [not the same as the macer called iliacus] who wrote a theriaca and was a grandson of theophanes of mytilene)... aedon and polytechnus (carpenter from colophon) were married, and they boasted that they loved eachother more than hera and zeus (factually correct, applies to any couple but not wise to say); so hera sicced eris (sophia) on them. polytechnus was making a diphros for his chariot, and aedon was embroidering, and they decided whoever was to finish first should get a female slave from the other as a prize, and aedon won (with hera's help) so polytechnus got mad and went to aedon's dad and stole and raped chelidon, aedon's sister. then, he dressed her in a slave's attire, and "gifted" his wife's own sister to her as a prize. but aedon didn't recognize her sister, and overworked her. later, aedon overheard chelidon crying about the terrible things that had happened to her, and realized that was her sister; so they decided to cook up her and polytechnus' son Itys and presented him as dinner to polytechnus and some neighbor (for some reason). then aedon went with chelidon to their pater, who bounded polytechnus, smeared him with honey and exposed him to the insects and flies. but aedon had a change of heart for some reason and shooed away the flies, which made her dad, mom, and brother super angry at her cause yk wtf. they were about to kill her but then zeus decided to turn them all into birds; so polytechnus a woodpecker cause he a carpenter, aedon's brother a hoopoe, pandareus (pater) into a sea eagle, her mater into kingfisher, chelidon into a swallow, and aedon into a nightingale that goes itu itu
18 Mar
quintilian wrote that cornelius severus was more of a versificator than a poeta-- which i still can't understand the meaning of to this day
17 Mar
Nausithous migrated his people to Phaecia in the Odyssey to escape the Cyclopes. He was also the son of Euymedon, who was said to be king of the Giants.
16 Mar
Martial is awarded both a military tribuneship and the ius trium liberorum
13 Mar
Ovid called himself the “doctor adulterii”.
12 Mar
there was another lactantius, lactantius placidus, who wrote a commentary on the thebaid (woo what a goated epic) and lived around 350-400 ad
11 Mar
lucan said his works were trifles compared to persius' works
10 Mar
rules for drinking were called leges insanae 🍷 🍷 🍷
9 Mar
in petronius' satyricon, petronius makes fun of nero's poem about troy by making eumolpus (one of giton's love interests) say a poem about laocoon and promptly get rocks thrown at him
6 Mar
Lucretius' Cognomen “Carus” indicates Celtic origins
5 Mar
Martial somehow stayed on friendly terms with Polla Argentaria, the widow of Seneca’s nephew Lucan, and with Quintus Ovidius, a neighbor who also recieved an estate from Seneca
4 Mar
chaucer's the legends of good women is based on ovid's heroides and metamorphoses
3 Mar
there was a guy named vipstanus mesala who wrote about the military under vespasian or something like that
2 Mar
ausus sim = ausim = aussie
27 Feb
ammianus marcellinus wrote a continuation, called rerum gestarum libri XXXI, of tacitus' works
26 Feb
Cornelius Gallus was first of the Roman elegists, according to Ovid’s Tristia (“Vergilium vidi tantum: nec avaro Tibullo tempus amicitiae fata dedere meae. Successor fuit hic tibi, Galle, Propertius illi; quartus ab his serie temporis ipse fui.”)
25 Feb
Did you know? Lucretius’ “De Rerum Natura” was a loved work of both Michel de Montaigne and Machiavelli
24 Feb
didaskaliai are official records of dramatic performances
23 Feb
Catullus sarcastically called Cicero the best of lawyers as much as he (Catullus) is the worst of poets.
20 Feb
persius wrote other poetic works that cornutus didn't allow him to publish, like an elogium on thrasea paetus' heroic daughter in law, arria minor
19 Feb
Petronius said “curiosa felicitas” when referring to Horace’s irony and word choice.
18 Feb
Ars Poetica, by Horace opens by saying the painter who attached the horse’s neck to a human’s head was insane and closed with a sketch of “a crazy poet who buttonholes his audience” (Hadas 82)
17 Feb
Silvae 3.2 is a propemticon addressed to Maecius Celar
16 Feb
a sigma is a semicircular dining couch (also called stibadium) or a bathtub. therefore “what the sigma” simply means “what the semicircular dining couch”
13 Feb
priscian wrote some other book that was meant to teach greek people to speak latin
12 Feb
Varro describes Pacuvius’ style as abundant
11 Feb
The 3rd and 4th books are sometimes called the Messalla collection, as they contain many poems not by Tibullus, including six elegies from Lygdamus to Neaera, five poems written by Tibullus in the setting of Sulpicia to Cerinthus, then six short poems to Cerinthus actually by Sulpicia totalling only forty lines, capped off by two more poems of doubtful authenticity.
10 Feb
In 4.3 of his monobiblos, propertius channel's his inner wifey and writes a letter from the perspective of a Roman lady to her husband, who has been gone so long she has had time to weave him four cloaks
9 Feb
Naevius left the epitaph “immortales mortales si forest fas flere / flerent divae Camenae Naevium poetam. / Itaque postquamst Orchi traditus thesauro / obliti sunt Romae loquier lingua Latina” claiming Romans would forget how to speak Latin after his death
6 Feb
the praenomen vopiscus was used only by the gens iulia, and is sometimes abbreviated as 'vop'
5 Feb
Tacitus wrote a long description of Petronius’ life, character, and death in Book 16 of the Annales.
4 Feb
Attis was born after his mother was impregnated by an almond falling from a tree
3 Feb
tacitus is horrible to read
2 Feb
the praenomen 'mamercus' was used only in the gens aemilia and is abbreviated as 'mam.'
30 Jan
pleonasm is when one uses a quite incredibly stupendously greatly myriad-like amount, or quantity of words, phrases, and the like, to convey the meaning and inherent understanding of a rather simple matter for emphasis and happiness
29 Jan
Epode 10 by Horace is A reverse propempticon for the “smelly” poet Maevius, wishing a shipwreck. Vergil also insults Maevius in Eclogue 3. Vergil dislikes Bavius and Mavius, and then Horace begins to hate them.
28 Jan
Columella says Cato taught agriculture to speak Latin.
27 Jan
Augustus also had the motivation of punishing Ovid for participating in the adultery of Augustus’ granddaughter Julia Minor with Decimus Junius Silanus.
26 Jan
fenestella wrote an annales of 22+ books that was commented on by asconius pedianus
23 Jan
Persius' works were heavily praised by his classmate Lucan, who said that his works were “utter tripe” by comparison
22 Jan
priscian wrote a priagrieraeexercitamina which was a collection of grammatical exercises relating to the first line of each of the aeneid’s 12 books
21 Jan
symmachus tried really hard to restore the altar of victory
20 Jan
there is pullo/vorenus fanfiction available on ao3 💀
19 Jan
Persius' first name (Aules) is a combination of the Etruscan Aule and Latin Aulus
16 Jan
ammianus marcellinus was called paganus pervicacissimus by orosius
15 Jan
Atticus wrote a work about Cicero’s consulship in Greek
14 Jan
There was crisis in the 3rd century
13 Jan
there was a playwright named lucretius who wrote a nummolaria
12 Jan
Orpheus’ ability to make inanimate objects follow his lead, drown out the sounds of the sirens, and go to the underworld, charming the gods, is actually kinda overpowered once you think about it.
9 Jan
There is a story that the young Terence read his first work, the Andria, to an aged Caecilius. Probably invented to connect Plautus’ two most admired successors (Statius and Terence) to each other
8 Jan
The Keres, are fanged women who are said to have carried the dead to the Underworld-- The sorceress Medea is said to have invoked them when attacking the bronze giant Talos with magic, scaring the Argonauts
7 Jan
In 1.6 of his Monobiblos, Propertius regretfully refuses an invitation to travel abroad with Tullus because Cynthia will not allow it. The tone is similar to Tibullus 1.1, except instead of being sad about leaving Delia, Propertius is annoyed by Cynthia’s clinginess
6 Jan
In the painting “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” by Bruegel the Elder, one can find a partridge sitting in a tree with its beak open as Icarus falls. Perhaps this is a reference to Perdix, a boy related to Daedalus before Daedalus tried to murder him, and Perdix was transformed into a partridge. In this painting he is therefore laughing at Daedalus’ misery as Icarus drowns.
5 Jan
The follow through rate on Domitian’s damnation compared to Geta’s is surprisingly low. Only 24% of Roman monuments with Domitian’s name were defaced compared to 68% for Geta.
2 Jan
The servitum amoris, (dedicated to a lover) is also absent from Amores, as Ovid prioritizes love itself over a specific lover.
1 Jan
Cicero, Brutus 75: Compares Naevius to statue by Myron (where Andronicus was carving by Daedalus).
31 Dec
The Romans once chose three ambassadors to Bithynia, of whom one was gouty, another had had his head trepanned, and the third was deemed a fool. Cato made merry over this, and said that the Romans were sending out an embassy which had neither feet, nor head, nor heart. His aid was once solicited by Scipio, at the instance of Polybius, in behalf of the exiles from Achaia, and after a long debate upon the question in the Senate, where some favoured and some opposed their return home, Cato rose and said: "Here we sit all day, as if we had naught else to do, debating whether some poor old Greeks shall be buried here or in Achaia." The Senate voted that the men be allowed to return, and a few days afterwards Polybius tried to get admission to that body again, with a proposal that the exiles be restored to their former honours in Achaia, and asked Cato's opinion on the matter. Cato smiled and said that Polybius, as if he were another Odysseus, wanted to go back into the cave of the Cyclops for a cap and belt which he had left there.
30 Dec
Sallust based his style on Thucydides and Cato the Elder and structured his work on inconncinnitas.
29 Dec
Tacitus called Sallust the “rerum Romanarum florentissimus auctor” and 'imitated Sallust’s style'...except he OMMITED HALF OF IT WHILE ACTUALLY WRITING. sallust is much much easier than whatever tacitus is on.
26 Dec
After Sarpedon died in the Trojan War, Zeus made it rain blood out of sadness for losing his son
25 Dec
cicero made fun of catius and amafinius for writing 'poor epicurist poems' for the plebians, and went on to refute epicureanism, but very coincidentally forgot to mention all the points that lucretius made despite literally editing his work
24 Dec
Suetonius was fired from his secretarial post for some form of misconduct with Hadrian’s wife
23 Dec
Caesar's great uncle, Caesar Strabo, wrote tragedies
22 Dec
In Apollonius' Argonautica, Jason, waiting in ambush, killed Absyrtus, then ritually cut off his victim’s hands, feet, nose and ears, putting them beneath his armpits to prevent his ghost from taking vengeance for the murder (the rite of maschalismos), and three times licked and spat out his blood in an attempt to remove blood-guilt
19 Dec
beer was classified as a soft drink in russia until 2011
18 Dec
In the back of literary critic Harold Bloom’s literary analysis book “The Western Canon” he has a list of all the authors and books he thinks are vital to the Western Canon, including, somehow, the Ars Amatoria
17 Dec
Under Caligula, all Livy’s works and portraits, along with Vergil’s, were banned from public libraries.
16 Dec
Ennius called himself “dicti studiosus”, meaning he was the first Latin poet on par with the Greek and Alexandrine poets.
15 Dec
According to Terence, the actor Ambivius Turpio said that Caecilius’ plays were horrible at first
12 Dec
persius died of a stomach ailment, and said that his stomach was his muse
11 Dec
The name Gaius is derived from “gaudeo;” the names Marcus and Mamercus are derived from “Mars.”
10 Dec
"Ennius' Hedyphagetica is a didactic hexameter poem on gastronomy that is inspired by the poem Gastronomia by Archestratus of Geta. 11 lines on choosing the best seafood are preserved in Apuleius' Apologia..",
9 Dec
Amores Opens with the claim that Cupid stole a foot from his hexameter.
8 Dec
While in most versions of the story, a god transforms into an animal to mate with a human, in the story of the nereid Psamathe, she was transformed into a seal when she had a child with a human.
5 Dec
In the 3rd century AD, Periochae (“ADVENTUS AENEAE IN ITALIAM ET RES GESTAE”), summaries of each book of A.U.C. by Livy were written.
4 Dec
According to Tacitus, Petronius opened his veins and conversed with friends at a dinner party while he bled to death
3 Dec
Petronius served as arbiter elegentiae in the court of Nero
2 Dec
Under Domitian, Mettius Pompusianus collected all Livy’s speeches of kings and generals.
1 Dec
the name hegesippus comes a distortion of the name josephus
28 Nov
Autonous and Hippodamia had a large area of land, but it was not fruitful because they did not work hard, and their fields were full of Thistles and Rushes. Then, One day, Anthus went to get the mares, and the horses didn't want to leave their grazing, so they killed Anthus and the whole family was sad about Anthus' death, so Zeus and Apollo turned them all into birds
27 Nov
there was a guy named gnaeus sallustius crispus who wrote empedoclea and is often confused with GAIUS sallustius crispus aka the sallust
26 Nov
nero founded a contest of poetry and other creative arts held every 5 years
25 Nov
actually maybe this was not a good idea
24 Nov
According to Aeschylus, Polyneices aptly has Dike, the divine personification of justice, leading him to Thebes on his shield. He attacks the "Seventh Gate" - guess they were too lazy to come up with a name for it - which is defended by his brother and rival, Eteocles.
21 Nov
Declamationes Pseudo-Quintilianeae is 2 collections of declamations spuriously attributed to Quintilian, the first is most likely not authentic and the second is a set of notes taken by his students during his lectures, which was published despite Quintilian’s objections
20 Nov
<@931303941998776391> didn’t get Albinovanus Pedo in a Certamen question even though she wrote a little fact about it
19 Nov
Maecenas wrote 2 poems to Horace, and in Symposium, he had horace as an interlocutor
18 Nov
cato opposed the release of 1000 Greek hostages (the group which Polybius was a part of)
17 Nov
Tacitus says Augustus jokingly called Livy a Pompeian for his praise of Republicans such as Pompey.
14 Nov
Lactantius said sorry a lot
13 Nov
there is a guy named lucius ateius praetextatus philologus and i know nothing about him except for the fact that his name sounds kind of cool
12 Nov
According to Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy, Greek tragedy was a good art form because of how it experimented with Apollonian and Dionysian themes of rationality and and disorder to convey the widest breadth of human condition
11 Nov
some people like cicero is a gaslighter
10 Nov
persius was orphaned at 6 yrs old
7 Nov
ammianus marcellinus was called paganus pervicacissimus by orestes i think
6 Nov
Laura Su did not realize that Antony x Brutus meant Antony and Brutus in a relationship, and not a friendship until 10 minutes into the conversation
5 Nov
Sallust was expelled from the Senate by the censor Appius for 'moral aptitude', but then this was explained as him sleeping with Fausta, the wife of Annius Milo. However, after the end of the civil war, Caesar restored Sallust so quickly that the initial expulsion was probably politically motivated.
4 Nov
Horace admired Pacuvius for his learning and Quintilian admired him for his force
3 Nov
according to hunter's certamen round 1, the first thracian man to like boys was orpheus
31 Oct
In Statius’ Thebaid, Parthenopaeus is described as being so young on the battlefield, that he dodges spears and arrows simply because the enemies aiming at him subconsciously don’t want to kill him, because he looks like their own, little sons
30 Oct
Asinius Pollio said Caesar 'lacked diligentia and regard for historical truth' (Conte 378)
29 Oct
Caecilius Statius' Plocium contains the quotes “Serit arbores quae saeclo prosit alteri” (“he plants trees to profit another age”) and “saepe est etiam sub palliolo sordido sapientia” (“there’s often wisdom even underneath a shabby little cloak”)
28 Oct
Ovid was a Roman man divorced twice before he was thirty, and yet he still thought writing The Art of Love was a good idea
27 Oct
Ovid married three times, and his third marriage produced his only child, Perilla
24 Oct
fun fact: the reeds the barber told midas' secret to were not actually the direct reason for its spreading! the prophet melampus was walking by, heard the reeds with his snake-cleaned ears, and decided to spread the hot goss, ending with midas killing himself
23 Oct
Ammianus Marcellinus wrote a continuation of Tacitus’ Historiae.
22 Oct
Cicero wrote speeches
21 Oct
The adverb "quoquo" means "whithersoever."
20 Oct
scylla, comaetho, a third example, oh my! they sure do love having a princess (of megara/the taphians) cut a magic lock of hair off of their father (nisus/?) for the love of an invader (minos/amphitryon) and then get killed or severely misfortunes for their treachery!
17 Oct
juvenal's fourth satire talks about a guy named crispinus buying a singular mullet at the outrageous price of 6,000 sesterces
16 Oct
Ovid grouped Tibullus with the famous elegists Catullus and Cornelius Gallus.
15 Oct
the three languages that ennius spoke were nahuatl, ordos, and balinese
14 Oct
Aulus Gellius (the main source of information on Statius) dedicated a chapter (2.23) of Noctes Atticae to comparing Plocium to Plokion.
13 Oct
the word Venus has its roots in Sanksrit with the word vanas (desire) which stems from the Proto Indo European word wen (to strive for, to love)
10 Oct
if you ever get a certamen question like 'who did achilles kill by...' you already know who it is because theres only one bro he didn't stab
9 Oct
8.79 of Martial's epigrams Calls out a lady who purposely chooses ugly friends to make herself look better.
8 Oct
The original LOEB edition translates Catullus 16 as: XVI (a fragment) . . . who have supposed me to be immodest, on account of my verses, because these are rather voluptuous. For the sacred poet ought to be chaste himself, his verses need not be so. Later corrected, as stated: The previous bowdlerized edition of Catullus is completely revised and corrected here. This Second Edition restores lines that had been omitted from the Latin text for their "indecency," and provides a complete and accurate re-translation.
7 Oct
Tertullian was a favorite of both Cyprian and Augustine
6 Oct
Google lists Marcus Claudius Marcellus’ cause of death as “impairment of well being”
3 Oct
Pacuvius says “repandirostrum incuruiceruicum” to refer to dolphins at some point
2 Oct
Church fathers such as Lactantius, Tertullian, Jerome, and Augustine appreciated Persius’ commitment to morality.
1 Oct
When Augustus visited the tomb of Alexander The Great, he was asked if he wanted to see the tombs of the (way too many) Ptolemies as well. Augustus supposedly said, “my wish was to see a king, not corpses.”When Caligula visited Alexander’s tomb, he stole Alexander’s breastplate (according to Suetonius) hehe 👹
30 Sept
According to the Prose Edda, Thor’s hammer Mjolnir couldn’t not only come back to his hand when he recalled it, but also shrink and grow, and also never missed its target
29 Sept
Before Heracles killed the Nemean Lion, he stayed at the hut of a man named Molorus. Heracles told him to sacrifice to Zeus if he didn't return in 30 days, but if he returned, to sacrifice to Heracles as a god. Heracles returned on the 30th day right as Molorus was about to sacrifice to Zeus.
26 Sept
Quintilian called Livy’s writing Lactea Ubertas in contrast with Sallust’s Brevitas.
25 Sept
According to Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus, Prometheus actually had a wife named Hesione
24 Sept
fortasse...
23 Sept
After Cadmus became too old to rule, he bequeathed the throne to his grandson, Pentheus, even though he had an actual son named Polydorus who would have been more fitting and should have been next in line for the throne
22 Sept
According to Aeschylus, Hippomedon's shield portrays Typhon. He attacks the Gate of Athena Onca, which is defended by Hyperbius.
19 Sept
Propertius was orphaned as a boy and involvement in the Perusine War (a revolt of Italian landowners put down by Augustus in 41-40 BC) caused the confiscation of his family’s land
18 Sept
1.4 of Martial's epigrams mimics Catullus 16, writing “lasciva est nobis pagina, vita proba”
17 Sept
Quintilian also spoke of Lucilius like he was a living author, writing “eruditio in eo mira, et libertas atque inde acerbitas et abundantia salis” (there is remarkable learning in him, and he is outspoken and hence astringent, and he has an overflowing wit).
16 Sept
1.9 is the last poem on Marathus. after finding out Marathus is pursuing an unlikeable old lover for money, Tibullus charges him with “perfidy, venality, and ingratitude” before casting him off -- completely different to how he treated delia when she did the same thing
15 Sept
quintus valerius of sosa was put to death for speaking the secret name of rome
12 Sept
Said of Lactantius by Jerome: “would that he could affirm our doctrine as readily as he destroys others”
11 Sept
Horace Says Lucilius is the inventor of satire– says Ennius is the auctor of satire
10 Sept
P. Licinius Tegula wrote another parthenion in Livius Andronicus' times about the rise of androgynous children being born
9 Sept
According to Aeschylus, Parthenopaeus has a sphinx on his shield and attacks the North Gate. This is defended by Actor, Hyperbius' brother - Hyperbius defends against Hippomedon.
8 Sept
Heauton Timoroumenos is pronounced hey-oh-ton timor oo mee nus
5 Sept
Cicero thought Pacuvius was the best tragedian
4 Sept
Suzie Han thought the word 'peperit' was from parco, parcere, peperci
3 Sept
rhodopis/doricha (previously the lover of aesop), and then of sappho's brother, was criticized by sappho in a poem for 'stealing her brother's money', since he paid for her to be free and make her own money. she is also the center of the earliest known variant of the 'cindarella' story involving an egyptian king, though its most likely a fable about her.
2 Sept
You need to reply to a message to add it to the Facts list.
1 Sept
Helenius Acron and Pomponius Porphyrio commented on Horace's works
29 Aug
Diocletian was told that he would become emperor after killing a boar. He became emperor after killing Carus’ praetorian prefect, Aper.
28 Aug
De Rerum Natura was the first entirely didactic poem.
27 Aug
in book 15 of the metamorphoses Numa Pompilius introduces Pythagoras, who gives a lengthy speech on metamorphosis being the law of the universe (‘omnia mutantur, nil interit’), which is the philosophical basis of the work
26 Aug
trimalchio, the character from petronius' satyricon, is based off of horace's saires 2.8
25 Aug
persius is said to have written 'et raro et tarde'
22 Aug
Caesar and Sallust were besties
21 Aug
Did you know? 20th century Modernist pioneer James Joyce wrote a novel called Ulysses, a strange, labyrinthine text based on the Odyssey which only Joyce understands. However, Joyce did not write a cool, modernist novel based on the Metamorphoses, even though that was an even more avant-garde, fittingly modernistic text for its time. This is because James Joyce is a coward.
20 Aug
The Dying Gaul is a statue of a dying Gaul
19 Aug
Satura, by naevius, is not a play; possibly the first attempt at satire in Latin literature
18 Aug
Lactantius was taught by Arnobius
15 Aug
According to Aeschylus, Eteoclus' shield has a man climbing a siege-ladder. He attacks the Neïstan Gate, defended by Creon's son, Megareus.
14 Aug
Choreia is a maenad of Dionysus that was buried seperately because of her high rank, according to Pausanias
13 Aug
Horace states (in Satire 2.10) that Lucilius “sale multo urbem defricuit” (rubbed down the town in salt).
12 Aug
Lucretius was patronized by Gaius Memmius
11 Aug
In Paul Roche’s translation of Aristophanes’ The Frogs, there are exactly 69 pages that make up The Frogs, which is exactly what Aristophanes would have intended.
8 Aug
A torc was a tight metal neck ring worn as an accessory by Scythian, Illyrians, Thracians, Celts, and more. The Dying Gaul statue has a torc on his neck. Titus Manlius Torquatus Imperiosus earned the name “Torquatus” because he defeated a Giant Gaul™️ at the Battle of Anio River and took his torc.
7 Aug
mimes featured acrobatic ballet, called “planipes saltans”
6 Aug
Frontinus was respected by Martial, Pliny, and Tacitus
5 Aug
Said of Lucretius by Cicero in a letter to Quintus Cicero: “Lucretii poemata ut scribis ita sunt multis luminibus ingentii multae tamen artis; sed cum veneris virum te putabo si Sallustii Empedoclea legeris hominem non putabo”
4 Aug
The Sirens are said to have been the children of the river god Achelous (the same one Heracles fights) and the muse Melpomene (Muse of tragedy- The one Horace dedicates Ode 3.30 to!! ). They are also sometimes said to have been given wings by Demeter to help search for Persephone, although the more usual account is that they challenged the Muses in singing and lost, causing them to be transformed into monsters
1 Aug
Perseus is actually really lame when you think about it. Him killing Medusa is famous and all, but he did it with the gifts and armor and whatnot from the gods, and while Medusa was asleep. That’s not impressive. Furthermore, Medusa’s head is way too strong, and it allowed him to kill Cetus easily with no skill. Then he ruined his wedding festivities by murdering a bunch of people. Perseus never really did anything impressive tbh
31 Jul
Megalesian means relating to Cybel
30 Jul
Sulpicia is the daughter of the jurist Servius Sulpicius and the the niece of Messalla
29 Jul
It is claimed by Juvenal that Statius was forced to write works such as the Agave in order to keep himself from starving
28 Jul
After the collapse of the Pisonian conspiracy caused the ruins of the Senecas and Pisos in 65, Martial lost most of his income, but maintained his property at Nomentum, 13 miles from Rome, given to him by Seneca the Younger
25 Jul
Valens was not very great at reading long sourcebooks. Thus, he asked Eutropius, his secretary and magister memoriae to write him a Brevarium ab Urbe Condita, a shortened version of Livy's book among other sources like Suetonius. However, even this was not enough for Valens, and Rufius Festius had to write, a supposedly low quality, one book summary of roman history, focusing on Roman conquests that led to the creation of the Empire
24 Jul
sammonicus' liber medicinalis has a bunch of (questionable) prescriptions written in dactylic hexameter, and also features the word abracadabra
23 Jul
Prometheus, by Maecenas, is a Menippean satire
22 Jul
In Municius Felix's work, Ocatavius, which was based off of the De Natura Deorum of Cicero, Octavius reproaches Caecilius for blowing a kiss to a statue of Serapis, and Caecilius says they should have a debate with Minucius as the judge over it.
21 Jul
According to Tacitus, Petronius destroyed his signet ring as he was dying, so the misfortunes that befell him may not befall anyone else
18 Jul
Tacitus delivered the funeral elogium for Virginius Rufus, the Consul Ordinarius whom he replaced
17 Jul
During his youth, Propertius was in love with Lycinna, but he was more famous for falling in love with the woman Hostia, an “elegant, unscrupulous woman” and descendant of Hostius, author of the historical epic Bellum Histricum.
16 Jul
Lucretius, like Suetonius, Made up Latin words to express concepts not able to be explained with existing words
15 Jul
the word mavors in latin, like for mars, is a cognate with the oscan mamers
14 Jul
Statius' Silvae II.4 is a mock consolation to Melior on the death of his pet
11 Jul
If you pester <@931303941998776391> enough maybe one day she will make the facts work correctly for each channel
10 Jul
20th century novelist Iris Murdoch’s famous book “The Sea, The Sea” takes its name from the line “Thalatta! Thalatta!” in Xenophon’s Anabasis.
9 Jul
ariobarzanes was the cappadocian aristocrat whom sulla was sent to instate
8 Jul
ennius was said to never sally to write unless he was drunk
7 Jul
Within Martial's poetry,in the Epigrammata, he claims his auctores were Catullus, Domitius Marsus, Albinovanus Pedo, and Lentulus Gaetulicus.
4 Jul
Augustus once invited Horace to be his personal secretary, but Horace declined
3 Jul
when petronius was told to kill himself by nero, he first opened his veins at a banquet, and then stitched them close. after that, he talked about light poetry, dined, wrote a list of every straight and gay lover nero had ever had and mailed it to nero, also denounced the emoerpro’s crimes in his letter, destroyed a valuable wine-ladle so Nero couldn’t have it and broke his signet ring so Nero couldn’t use it to incriminate others, and then killed himself the next morning
2 Jul
By Caligula’s accession, Seneca was so famous for his rhetoric that Caligula grew jealous and only restrained from executing Seneca because he assumed the sickly Seneca would die soon anyway.
1 Jul
According to a certain scholarly article; when Capaneus beats up a youngster in the Nemean Games (according to Thebaid), Statius was actually making an allusion to Horace’s Ars Poetica
30 Jun
columella used the carthaginian mago as a reference in his de re rustica
27 Jun
1.5 is written after Delia leaves Tibullus for a richer lover. Rather than use harsh language like Catullus does for Lesbia, Tibullus only assaults the man who stole Delia away. Tibullus protests his wasted devotion and how useless gifts such as wine are for mending the relationship. Tibullus ends by urging the new man to enjoy his luck.
26 Jun
there is a work called de nuptiis philologiae et mercurii OR de septem disciplinis OR SATYRICON by martianus capella aka martianus minneus felix capella
25 Jun
According to some versions on the Penelope myth, Penelope was so saddened by the rumor that Odysseus had been killed and so devoted to her husband that it is believed she attempted suicide but was miraculously saved from an untimely death by ducks
24 Jun
juvenal says, in his 15th satire that animals can't cry , which is why we are different from them 💀
23 Jun
in the house of fabius ululitremulus at pompeii, a local laundry worker parodied the opening of virgil’s aeneid -- instead of "i sing of arms and a man" the graffito reads "i sing of fullers and a screech-owl, not arms and a man," because minerva's owl was believed to be the protector of fullers
20 Jun
In horace's epode 10, he writes a reverse propempticon for the “smelly” poet maevius, wishing a shipwreck-- this same dude is insulted by vergil in his 3rd eclogue
19 Jun
at some point of silius italicus' punica, hannibal goes up up and away on a cloud
18 Jun
The Italian word for “double” is “sosia,” which is named after Amphitryon’s servant Sosia who sees a double of himself in Plautus’ “Amphitryon.”
17 Jun
Heracles was said to have beaten the giants Albion and Dercynus with help from Zeus, and afterwords he thanked Zeus for helping him by kneeling, which is why Heracles’ constellation is supposed to be him kneeling.
16 Jun
Pacuvius was the first nobleman to practice painting, even coming to Rome to paint before staying to write tragedies- his art remained in the forum boarium until pliny the elder's day
13 Jun
In the Near East (where Aphrodite was worshipped under the name Ishtar), she was a god of war as well as love. This made it so that she was worshipped alongside Ares, as well as their children Phobos and Deimos.
12 Jun
tertullian first uses the vocative form of deus "dee" in book 1 of his adversus marcionem -- the form "dee" was never attested before then in classical latin
11 Jun
Sidonius Apollinaris wrote a Panegyric of his father-in-law Avitus (the emperor), and was rewarded with a statue in the Forum of Trajan
10 Jun
furius bibaculus (the guy catullus criticizes), wrote many harsh epigrams against orbilius (aka plagosus, horace's mean teacher)
9 Jun
Juvenal's biting Satire 6 is 661 lines - longest and most famous of Juvenal’s satires - attacks women; refers to a good woman as a “rara avis” - addresses a man who is delusional enough to think about getting married - proposes suicide as a much less painful alternative to marriage - claims that Chastity abandoned the Earth at the conclusion of the Golden Age - claims that most all women are unfaithful, relentlessly seek abortions, murder their stepchildren, and use potions that drive their husbands insane - contains the line “quis custodiet ipsos custodes” - overall wtf moment
6 Jun
1.2 of corpus tibullanum is a poem on Delia, set as a paraklausithyron, a poem where a lover serenades his mistress outside her door. In this scene, Tibullus speaks of a love potion a witch made to ensure Delia would love him back
5 Jun
in the first century bc, caesius bassus systematised metrical theory, on which terentius maurus wrote a verse treatise that preserves much knowledge about it
4 Jun
Propertius tries to dissuade Cynthia from following a rival to Illyria, praying for storms to postpone the voyage, but hoping she is safe if she goes. She ends up deciding not to go, which he celebrates in 1.8b. Which is ironic, because in 1.6, Propertius is upset with Cynthia for doing the same thing.
3 Jun
Per a footnote in the Loeb edition of Apollodorus’ The Library, when Io was pursued by a gadfly, she had to cross a strait now named the Bosporus after her, since it literally means “cow-strait,” or, as the footnote says, “ox-ford.”
2 Jun
At the Battle of Uxellodunum, Caesar cut off the hands of all the Gallic captives
30 May
the cadmeia is shaped like if new hampshire got round
29 May
cato repelled an embassy in 155 BC made up of the Greek philosophers Carneades the Academic, Diogenes the Stoic, and Critolaus the Peripatetic
28 May
I'm pretty sure both Apophoreta and the Xenia were for saturnalia, but Apophoreta was for the dinner parties there
27 May
Asteropaios was the only Trojan warrior in the Iliad to draw blood from Achilles by throwing two spears at once ambidextrously
26 May
After Nauplius’ son was killed by Odysseus in revenge, Nauplius got revenge on the Greek heroes by getting a few of their wives to cheat on them while they were at Troy
23 May
tacitus thinks that the loss of caesar's poems may have actually helped caesar's literary reputation 😭
22 May
Varro describes Pacuvius’ style as abundant.
21 May
Vergil never married
20 May
Emperors tend to get stabbed
19 May
Cornelius Gallus' amores is 4 books; containing elegies to Lycoris (real name Volumnia, stage name Cytheris) with a total of 10 lines extant
16 May
Sarah thought caesuras were impossible to find, since they depend on your emphasis or something. Turns out it's just a word ending inside of a foot - if it ends on a long syllable, it's masculine, if it ends on a short syllable, it's feminine.
15 May
Justinian’s compilers for codification excerpted five paragraphs from Tertullian’s works, displaying his precise legal knowledge
14 May
laura su buzzed on 'what use of the dative is shown in utinam...' and said 'optative subjunctive'
13 May
si audes is shortened as sodes
12 May
In Ars Amatoria 3.345, Ovid brags that he has invented a new literary genre in Heroides.
9 May
Lucan manipulates historical truth, such as having Caesar visit Pompey’s camp the night before the battle of Pharsalus... Or perhaps he knew a truth that we don't 😳
8 May
Catullus praised Nepos’ Chronica, saying he was “the only Italian courageous enough to set forth the whole history in three learned and laboriously wrought volumes”.
7 May
laura su is a terrible terrible stalker
6 May
Heracles is sometimes said to have slept with a snake-woman similar to Echidna, having three sons named Agathyrsus, Gelonus, and Scythes
5 May
nightingale go itu itu
2 May
Horace was nearly killed by a falling tree branch at a young age
1 May
Nepos was friends with both Cicero and Atticus, the latter of which was his patron
30 Apr
jovian died by inhaling smoke from a stove in his tent
29 Apr
amymone, a daughter of danaus, is said to be the mother of nauplius, who was clearly alive and had a child who went to the trojan war unfortunately... there are at least 6 full generations of kings of argos between the generation of nauplius and the trojan war which means nauplius was like 120 and had a child at age 105 while achilles was having a kid at age 5
28 Apr
The epigraph to T.S. Eliot's incredible poem The Waste Land (go read it) is a quote from Petronius' Satyricon, "Nam Sibyllam quidem Cumis ego ipse oculis meis vidi in ampulla pendere, et cum illi pueri dicerent: Σίβυλλα τί θέλεις; respondebat illa: άποθανεîν θέλω." This roughly translates to "For I myself indeed saw that the Sibyl of Cumae was hanging in a bottle, and when those boys (attendants) said: 'Sibyl, what do you wish'; that woman responded: 'I wish to die.'"
25 Apr
Sallust supposedly wrote 2 pamphlets (Suasoriae) to Caesar, calling for economic reform and condemning the aristocracy
24 Apr
some of the names for pork are sus, porcus, porca, verres, aper, scrofa, maialis, and nefrens
23 Apr
gaius helvius cinna died because he was mistaken for one of caesar's assassins
22 Apr
Furius Bibaculus wrote several epigrams against Oribilius, Horace's teacher
21 Apr
Tertullian was called the “Christian Juvenal” and a “Barbarizing Tacitus”. (neither of those are nice)
18 Apr
a guy named atta wrote the aquae caldae which features a conflict between women associated with a reservoir of water and their sisters
17 Apr
In carmen 36, Lesbia sacrifices to Venus the works of the worst poet she knows (electissime pessimi poetae / scripta tardipedi deo daturam) - an intended jab at the poet Volusius by Catullus. Catullus writes “Annales Volusi, cacata charta” (The Annales of Volusius, shitted papyrus).
16 Apr
Persius wrote other poetic works which Cornutus did not allow to be published, including a praetexta of a lost title, a book of travels, and an elogium on Thrasea Paetus’ heroic daughter-in-law, Arria Minor
15 Apr
quintus valerius of sora (or smth) was put to death for 'speaking the secret name of rome'
14 Apr
An anonymous epigram accused Sallust of plagiarism because his style imitated Cato the Elder so much.
11 Apr
Fact saved: "Sallust was expelled from the Senate by the censor Appius for 'moral aptitude', but then this was explained as him sleeping with Fausta, the wife of Annius Milo. However, after the end of the civil war, Caesar restored Sallust so quickly that the initial expulsion was probably politically motivated."
10 Apr
Propertius assumed the toga virilis at his mother’s house.
9 Apr
Fact saved: "<@931303941998776391> didn’t get Albinovanus Pedo in a Certamen question even though she wrote a little fact about it"
8 Apr
Valens was not very great at reading long sourcebooks. Thus, he asked Eutropius, his secretary and magister memoriae to write him a Brevarium ab Urbe Condita, a shortened version of Livy's book among other sources like Suetonius. However, even this was not enough for Valens, and Rufius Festius had to write, supposedly low quality, one book summary of roman history, focusing on Roman conquests that led to the creation of the Empire.
7 Apr
theoclymenus (the seer)'s speech/omen the night before Odysseus returns is recounted in plato's ion
4 Apr
juvenal is always angry
3 Apr
gennadius expanded jerome's de viris ililutrioibus by adding 90 more christian authors
2 Apr
oxymoron is first attested in latin by servius (7.201 "CAPTI POTVERE CAPI" cum felle dictum est: nam si hoc removeas, erit oxymorum.)
1 Apr
marcellinus foreshadowed the fall of Rome as “antiquitatum ignari” in his res gestae
31 Mar
symmachus was friends with ausonius
28 Mar
Besides Deucalion and Pyrrha, a third human named Cerambus also survived the flood with the help of wings, according to The Metamorphoses
27 Mar
demeter drink barley water kykeon
26 Mar
proetus is theoclymenus' great great grandfather on the great grandmother's side, and proteus is the other theoclymenus' dad
25 Mar
Maecenas is Said by Tacitus to have had the nomen “Cilnius”
24 Mar
Persius' • Praenomen “Aules” is a combination of the Roman “Aulus” and the Etruscan “Aule”
21 Mar
4.1 is the Worst poem in the Corpus Tibullanum. It is a tasteless, excessive, 211-line hexameter Panegyricus Messalae written not long after Messalla’s consulship in 31 BC.
20 Mar
The satires was left for Cornutus, Persius' teacher, on Persius' deathbed
19 Mar
In his literary career, Sallust imitated Thucydides-- He introduced the monograph, a historical work on one subject like Thucydides’ work on the Peloponnesian War
18 Mar
Persius was Orphaned when he was 6 years old
17 Mar
A later author said, while other historians wrote diserte (eloquently), Suetonius wrote vere.
14 Mar
sameelaughs is the coolest person ever (real fact)
13 Mar
polypheides the seer was a son of mantius and grandson of melampus that was second to amphiaraus and left argolis for hyperesia cause he got into a quarrel with his dad
12 Mar
it was really weird that tibullus didn't blame the golddiggers that cheated on him for being asses
11 Mar
Sameelaughs is incredibly cool and awesome.
10 Mar
I outbuzzed Sameeha at “what silver age poet” and got it correct
7 Mar
test
6 Mar
Aelius Donatus says Lucretius died on the same day as Vergil received his Toga Virilis
5 Mar
The first governor of Egypt was the same Cornelius Gallus as the poet guy who liked Lycoris
4 Mar
martial and pliny praised silius italicus for his punica
3 Mar
After five or six years of Cynthia being unfaithful, Propertius dumped her, although the two poems in Book 4 suggest a brief reconciliation before her death.
28 Feb
Livy called Cato “a ferocious mastiff set upon the nobility.”
27 Feb
According to the Odyssey, Odysseus beat up the wicked beggar Arnaeus for bullying other beggars when he arrived in disguise in Ithaca
26 Feb
seneca the younger, petronius, and lucan, all died in 65 (or some say 66) AD
25 Feb
Cicero, Sallust, and Messala Corvinus were all husbands of Terentia at some point, who lived until she was 103
24 Feb
Tibullus never flatters or even mentions Augustus and scoffs at riches, glory, and war and only celebrates triumphing as a lover
21 Feb
Quintilian wrote “Satura quidem tota nostra est” on Lucilius’ pioneering.
20 Feb
Phaedrus was so obscure in his time that Seneca the Younger and Quintilian both wrote no Roman had written in the style of Aesop, implying they did not know about him
19 Feb
pandareus and tantalus tried to steal a sacred dog from zeus in crete
18 Feb
at the alamont free concert, the total population count remained the same as while four people died, four people were birthed
17 Feb
The myth of Tereus, Procne, and Philomela is so messed up, that even their parentage is messed up. Procne and Philomela were the children of Pandion and his wife/aunt Zeuxippe.
14 Feb
Cornelius Gallus was a dedicatee of a work authored by Parthenius of Nicaea
13 Feb
Ennius frequently uses literary devices in his Annales, such as tmesis (saxo cere corrupuit brum, "he split his br apart ain with a rock"), alliteration (o Tite Tute tibi tanta tyranne tulisti, "O Titus Tatius, you brought such great things to yourself, tyrant"), and onomatopoeia (at tuba terribili sonituo taratantara dixit, "But the trumpet with its terrible sound said 'taratantara'" ).
12 Feb
In 3.12 of his monobiblos, Asks Postumus how he could leave his wife, Gallus’ sister, to go east for military service, even knowing his wife is as faithful as Penelope
11 Feb
In 98, Martial left Rome for good on a voyage to Bilbilis paid for by Pliny the Younger. Martial, living on an estate given to him by a lady named Marcella, he continued to be unhappy until he died at Bilbilis ~104.
10 Feb
Lucan's Pharsalia is hard to read
7 Feb
According to pseudo-Eratosthenes (according to Wikipedia) the goat who raised Zeus was so terrifying to the Titans, that the Titans forced Gaia to hide it on a cave in Crete
6 Feb
Perhaps as coincidence, the myth of Arachne’s punishment in Ovid’s Metamorphoses shares many similarities to the story of Ovid’s actual punishment of exile by Augustus
5 Feb
there is florus florus, julius florus, and publius annius florus
4 Feb
apicius claimed to have made the first scientia popinae
3 Feb
silius italicus died by starvation-- either from a tumor or from an 'incurable disease'
31 Jan
In 4.5 of his monobiblos, propertius curses the bawd Acanthis for corrupting the mind of Propertius’ new mistress, listing the many precepts of her malpractices in the style of Ovid’s Ars Amatoria
30 Jan
cleitus was a son of mantius (son of lysippe and melampus) that was carried off by eos
29 Jan
You might have heard of Prometheus and Epimetheus, sons of Iapetus and Clymene, and even know that Atlas was their brother, but they had a fourth sibling: the long-suffering long-forgotten Menoetius.
28 Jan
Lactantius argued that Aurelian would have outlawed all the other gods if he had had enough time
27 Jan
Synizesis is uniting two successive vowels that typically don't form a dipththong, as in "Laviniaque" (Aeneid 1.2)