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Gareth Harney Profile picture
@OptimoPrincipi
Jul 22 • 4 tweets • 2 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
While serving as quaestor in Sicily in 75 BC, a 30-year-old Cicero set out to discover the lost tomb of the great mathematician Archimedes:

'During my magistracy I discovered the Syracusans knew nothing of the tomb, and even denied that there was any such thing remaining. I,… https://t.co/YOchCAxbvutwitter.com/i/web/status/1…
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'When I had carefully examined all the monuments - for there are a great many tombs near the Achradina Gate - I observed a column standing out a little above the overgrown shrubs and briars, with the figure of a sphere and a cylinder upon it. Immediately, I called out to the… https://t.co/arljeCShddtwitter.com/i/web/status/1…
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'Several men with scythes cleared the way and made an opening for us. When we could get at it, and were come near to the front of the pedestal, I found the inscription, though the latter parts of all the verses were worn almost half away.. Image
'So it was that one of the noblest Greek cities, and one that had once been most celebrated for its learning, had known nothing of the monument of its greatest genius - if it had not been discovered for them by me, a native of Arpinum.'

- Cicero (Tusculan Disputations, 5.64) Image

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More from @OptimoPrincipi

Gareth Harney Profile picture
Jul 20
Nicomedia, 111 AD:
He bounded through the winding alleys and crowded streets of the city, his pursuers close behind. As a runaway slave, Callidromus knew that capture would mean chains, torture - and likely worse. If he could only make it to the statue of the emperor Trajan... Image
2) Reaching the refuge of the imperial statue narrowly ahead of his hunters, Callidromus gripped the emperor's bronze foot and called out breathlessly to the crowds all around; to witness that here he had the right of asylum - the right to demand his remarkable story be heard... Image
3) A Roman soldier named Appuleius, garrisoned in Nicomedia, was soon drawn to the disturbance at the imperial statue. Appuleius heard the pleas of the runaway, and agreed to escort Callidromus to the city magistrates to have his case fully considered... Image
Read 21 tweets
Gareth Harney Profile picture
Mar 4
1) The skeleton of a man found in 2005 near the town of Otterup, central Denmark. He had stood 6ft tall and died in his 50's, likely from an infected stab wound in his pelvis. Researchers suspected the man was an elder Viking who succumbed to his injury on returning from a raid..
2) Later, during construction of Oxford University's Kendrew Quadrangle in 2008, a mass grave of 35 male skeletons was unearthed. Forensic analysis showed they were men aged between 16-25 who died extremely violently, many stabbed several times before being decapitated...
3) One of the men, 'SK1756', was struck with a sword ten times in the head and stabbed several times in the spine. Experts concluded the men were likely killed during the St Brice’s Day Massacre of 1002 when King Aethelred II ordered the execution of all Danes living in England..
Read 8 tweets
Gareth Harney Profile picture
Feb 9
1/12) On 13 December 115 AD the city of Antioch (near modern Antakya, Turkey) was struck by a huge earthquake while the emperor Trajan was wintering there with his troops. Dio provides a powerful and *harrowing* account of the devastation:
2/12) "While the emperor was stationed in Antioch, a terrible earthquake struck. Many cities suffered injury, but Antioch was the most unfortunate of all. As Trajan was passing the winter there, many soldiers and many civilians had flocked to the city from all lands...
3/12) ..to present their lawsuits, embassies, business or just for sightseeing, so there was no nation of people that went unscathed by the earthquake. In Antioch, the whole Roman world suffered disaster. First there came a sudden, great bellowing roar, and this was followed by..
Read 13 tweets
Gareth Harney Profile picture
Feb 4
1) In 2018 an antiques collector purchased this marble bust at a thrift store in Texas for $34.99. Curious to know more about the bust, she took it to be examined by specialists from museums and auction houses. The experts revealed that the bust was actually...
2) an authentic Roman bust dating to the Julio-Claudian period (late 1st century BC - early 1st century AD), possibly depicting Sextus Pompey, son of Pompey the Great, or an unknown aristocrat of the time. Further research discovered that the bust was once in the collection of...
3) ..the Pompejanum, a replica Roman villa in Aschaffenburg, Germany, built by Ludwig I of Bavaria in the 1840s. The Pompejanum was heavily bombed in 1944 and it is thought the bust was taken from the unguarded ruins by a U.S. soldier and brought back to the United States.
Read 4 tweets
Gareth Harney Profile picture
Jan 4
1/5) 'Caligula had the son of a distinguished Roman thrown in jail simply because he was jealous of his handsome appearance. When the father begged that his son suffer no harm, Caligula, as if reminded to put him to death, ordered the young man executed. That very evening... Image
2/5) '..he invited the father to dinner. The old man arrived with a countenance that showed no ill will. Caligula sent him a glass of wine and watched him closely. The grief-stricken father played his part, even if inside he felt he was drinking his son's blood. Next Caligula... Image
3/5) '..sent him perfume and a garland to wear, and watched to see if he used them. The father did so. He had not yet even buried his son but he sat down to drink with a hundred other guests as if it was his child's birthday... Image
Read 5 tweets
Gareth Harney Profile picture
Dec 29, 2022
1/5) The hydraulis of Dion, an incredibly rare and complete pipe organ from the ancient world. The organ, powered by a system of pumps and compressed air regulated by a water tank, would have been played to accompany theatrical shows and arena spectacles...
2/5) The hydraulis was discovered on 19 August 1992 under a destruction layer inside a building in the centre of ancient Dion, Greece. The organ has 24 wide and 16 narrow bronze pipes, and was originally decorated with silver and polychrome glass.
3/5) To provide some comparison, this 2nd century AD mosaic from Nennig, Germany shows the opening of the Roman games being announced by musicians; one playing a compact version of the hydraulis water organ.
Read 6 tweets

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