Tag: Roman Empire

Best of “Foreign Lands”

Dear Readers,

After renewing its website, “Words in Ideas” is preparing its 3rd year of fresh new articles, starting in October. While you wait, you can read (or re-read) the best articles under the category “Foreign Lands”. These articles aim to compare languages and cultures.

 

 
During the first year, articles described some traditional food around the world. Here are the 5 best:

 

 
In the 2nd year, we followed the discoveries of a group of language learners. Here are the 5 best:

 

 
This 3rd year, “Words in Ideas” will discuss some cultural crossroads.

 
If you wish to comment or send suggestions, please fill in the form at the end of each website page.

Thank you!
Words in Ideas
https://wordsinideas.com/
 

Best of “The Intrepid Book Society”

Dear Readers,

After renewing its website, “Words in Ideas” is preparing its 3rd year of fresh new articles, starting in October. While you wait, you can read (or re-read) the best articles under the category “The Intrepid Book Society”. This “Society” is a fictional book club, analysing a book per month according to a keyword or a key place.

 

 
During the first year, articles were written as reviews. Here are the 5 best:

 

 
In the 2nd year, fictional members discussed the plots between themselves. Here are the 5 best:

 

 
This 3rd year, “Words in Ideas” will test your knowledge (or, hopefully, making you curious in reading) the book of the month.

 
If you wish to comment or send suggestions, please fill in the form at the end of each website page.

Thank you!
Words in Ideas
https://wordsinideas.com/
 

World domination

Thucydides is considered the “father” of history because of his book “The History of the Peloponnesian War”, which he wrote in the 5th century. Besides describing the war itself, in which he was an active participant, he also describes the context and behind-the-scenes political manoeuvres, portraits both sides of the conflict, and makes other considerations. The book is not finished, but the story of this war is known. In a nutshell, the Peloponnesian War was a conflict between a declining power (Sparta, home of the famous 300) and an emerging power (Athens). They were both fighting for world domination, which, in this case, was Greece.

Graham Allison studied Thucydides’ book and compared what was written there with other similar conflicts. Then, he coined the term “Thucydides’ Trap” to explain the phenomenon theoretically (which is to say, academically). His goal was to understand how the rising of China could impact the world and lead to a war with the USA. The conclusions…

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The beauty, la beauté, die Schönheit, la belleza

“Did anyone research beauty?”, asked Jack as soon as everyone sat down. “I’ll start. The English word ‘beauty’ comes from the French word ‘beau’. Therefore, I give you the floor, Elizabeth”.

“Thank you, Jack. I thought you were going to start… Well, the French word ‘beauté’ also comes from the word ‘beau’, which in turn comes from the Latin word bellus. The meaning is the same, there was no great change over the centuries”, said Elizabeth.

“In Spanish it is ‘belleza’, in Italian it is ‘bellezza’, and in Portuguese it is ‘beleza’. All these words also come from Latin. No surprises there”, said Leo.

“The German word is ‘Schönheit‘, which comes from ‘Schön’, an old German word”, said Michael.

“The Nordic languages follow the same logic and are not that different from the German word. However, the sound seems much different than the writing: ‘skönhet’, in Swedish, ‘skønhed’, in Danish, and ‘skjønnhet‘, in Norwegian. Nothing very exciting”, said Sophia.

“Yeah, very boring. I don’t know if you looked up the opposite word. In English it is ‘ugliness’, which comes from ‘ugly’. Now, ‘beauty’ comes from Latin, but ‘ugly’ comes from Old Norse, which, back in the day, meant ‘dreadful, fearful’”, said Jack. “So, I guess someone ugly was someone who was feared. In today’s Nordic languages, the word should be similar to this one, no?”

“Well, actually I did that exercise too. Interestingly, the words are different in Norwegian (‘stygg’), Danish (‘grim’), and Swedish (‘ful’). None of them is closer to ‘ugly’. Maybe it is closer to the German word?…”, asked Sophia, looking at Michael.

“No”, replied Michael, looking at his computer. “I didn’t look for ‘ugly’ before, but I did it now. In German it is ‘hässlich’. What about Latin languages?”, said Michael.

“The Spanish word (‘feo’) and the Portuguese word (‘feio’) are similar, but in Italian it is ‘brutto’. This is curious because, in Roman times, ‘Brutus’ was a name. Remember Cesar’s son who stabbed him? It also meant ‘stupid’ in Latin. In Portuguese and in Spanish there is also ‘bruto’, which means someone who is not very bright, but very aggressive”, clarified Leo.

“In French it is also different from everything you said: ‘laid’. It can also be ‘moche’, in a more informal way”, said Elizabeth.

“I guess ‘beauty’ is pretty much the same in every language whereas ‘ugly’ depends on the culture”, comment Jack.

“Ok, this is great”, said Elizabeth, “but I have a presentation to give you all. Ah, yes, I got carried away when doing this research. At first, I thought of a presentation about art and beauty, but that could become a bit technical and you could all get bored. Then, I thought that beauty is usually related to well-being. Therefore, I gathered information about famous beauty rituals around the world”.

Everyone was delighted and sat comfortably in front of her in expectation. Elizabeth stood up, prepared her notes, and started her presentation.

“So, Leo mentioned the Roman Empire. At that time, there was no plumbing providing water to private houses. As Romans liked to imitate the Greeks, and the Greeks liked to bathe, they developed the habit to bathe in public spaces, which were built for that purpose. The Greek public baths were small and Romans, as was their nature, wanted to make them big. They built these luxurious public baths where people would socialize and participate in numerous activities. They called it ‘thermae’ and, besides having a bath, Romans could do physical exercise, enjoy hot rooms, use the swimming pool, and stroll through the gardens for relaxation. A true health centre of Ancient Times.”

“I guess that’s where the concept of gyms with saunas and SPAs came from. By the way, SPA is the abbreviation of Sanus Per Aquam in Latin (healthy through water). That’s how the thermal springs were known in the Roman Empire, right?”, commented Leo, very proud of himself.

“Wrong”, said Elizabeth. “Spa is the name of a town in Belgium where a very famous thermal spring was built. Throughout their Empire, the Romans had discovered the places where the water had special mineral characteristics, hence the term ‘thermae’. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Roman concept of luxurious healthy centres was revived. New buildings were constructed, with new social activities, like balls. They also built houses and hotels to lodge (rich) people from all over Europe. True towns emerged around those thermal springs. Spa was one of the most famous, but there were many others, like Bath, in England, where the Roman Baths are still a tourist attraction and are still operating. UNESCO now has a heritage category called ‘Great Spa Towns of Europe’ to help preserve these historical landmarks.”

“Spa has also a famous car racing circuit”, said Michael suddenly.

Elizabeth nodded and continued.

“The Roman thermae were built everywhere in the Empire, including in North Africa and in what is now Turkey. There, ‘hot baths’ evolved into what are known nowadays as ‘hammam’, or ‘Turkish baths’. Some people may confuse these with Sauna. Basically, while in Turkish baths we are in a room full of very hot steam, in the Sauna we are in a heated room where you sweat. Both aimed to expel the toxins from our skin. Like I said, Turkish bath is an evolution from the Roman thermae. Sauna is a Scandinavian tradition. While you are sweating from the heat, you can also hit yourself (gently) with birch twigs to help the process. Afterwards, you get out of the wood panelled room and jump to the very cold waters of the nearest lake or sea. The extreme difference in temperature does wonders for the skin, if you can handle it.”

Elizabeth stopped talking while everyone was shivering.

“Public baths were not an exclusive idea of Europeans. Japanese people made good use of the natural hot water that emerged to the surface everywhere throughout the country. They built Onsen (meaning ‘hot spring’) of different types. In other parts of the world, beauty rituals were not about going to public baths, but using special ingredients from Nature. In Africa, it’s tradition to use Shea butter to take care of skin and hair, in Polynesia it’s coconut oil. Traditions are linked to what nature provides in each land. In other countries, it’s not about the ingredients, but the process. For example, in Korea, a 10-step skincare routine was developed to maintain the skin healthy, which is now considered a world reference. And that’s all I had for you today.”

“Brilliant! Thank you so much, Elizabeth. Anyone has anything to add, have any questions?…”

Jack waited for someone to say something, but as everyone kept silent, he ended the meeting.

 

Bank and Banking

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary the word “bank” comes from the Italian word “banca” meaning a table where money was exchanged. In early days of trading (meaning the early days of human settlements), people would exchange goods for goods directly. However, at some point, this became impracticable, especially when dealing with distant settlements. Thus, coins were introduced, which were usually made of gold and/or silver, therefore, their value was calculated based on its material. However, coins were different from place to place and people needed to go to the “banca” to exchange it. This process was very informal and usually performed by merchants, who used to travel a lot.

Then, people found that they needed a place to store their money, a safe place that is. And what safer place was there than the religious temples, guarded by the gods themselves?… Priests were soon lending money to people and robbery started to happen. Things became more serious during the Roman Empire, when buildings were designated especially for storing money and lending money became a common practice. Everyone could lend money and get it back, usually at very high rates. Those who engaged in such activities in small scales were called “usurers”.

During the Medieval Times and Renaissance, Italians consolidated their vocation for trading between themselves and the outside world. At the same time, Kings and Popes (and nobles, too) were increasingly resorting to debt to pay their grand projects. Back then, Italy was not a united country as it is today. The cities were independent and some of them, like Florence, were very rich. Using all their knowledge about trading, exchange of money, and lending, Florentine families, like Bardi and Peruzzi, founded the first official banks. Later, they were completely surpassed by the Medici, who founded what was soon the biggest bank in Europe. At this point, “usurers” were already looked down upon and the word became a bad name.

So, this is how banks of deposit (people needed to store money in a safe place) and exchange banks (people needed to change coins to pay for goods in other places) came to be. Banking activity came about with the necessity of people to get loans to pay for their projects in advance.

 
For more information about the history of banking:

 

Empire

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, an empire is “a major political unit having a territory of great extent or a number of territories or peoples under a single sovereign authority”. It comes from the Latin word imperium, meaning «“authority over family members and slaves exercised by the head of a household, supreme administrative authority, dominion, power exercised by a Roman emperor”, from imperāre “to give orders, exercise authority, hold political power” + -ium, deverbal suffix of function or state».

The Roman Empire was the second empire to exist in the world (the first was the Akkadian Empire), but it was one of the most effective. Starting as a Republic (from the Latin res publica, literally meaning “the thing of the people”), Rome was an independent city-state founded on top of a hill.

Battles with the neighbours were frequent. Julius Caesar, with his immeasurable ambition, became a member of the senate and an army commander, conquering many lands for the Republic. One day, he returned to Rome, but decided to take a legion with him, which was forbidden. The Rubicon River bounded the Italian domains within the Empire. Those who crossed it commanding an army were considered traitors and were sentenced to death. Julius Caesar knew this and he knew he could not go back on his decision after crossing the river. And so, the expression “crossing the Rubicon” (meaning “passing the point of no return”) was born. Julius Caesar crossed the river and civil war began. He took power and became a dictator. He was a dictator only for a few days… until he was murdered.

After some turbulent times, Gaius Octavius, the adoptive son of Julius Caesar, took the power and became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. He named himself as Augustus, the Latin word for “majestic” or “great”. He also adopted his father’s name, Caesar. From then on, although it was not written as law, it became tradition for sons to succeed their fathers and be named as Caesar, like the “founder”. This denomination stuck and evolved to “czar” in Russia.

However, this was not the only legacy they left us. Buildings, roads, bridges are still there to be admired or used throughout Europe, Middle East, and North Africa. Many languages evolved from Latin, like French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, and there are still Latin expressions in use (like status quo, alter ego, de jure, per capita, and vice versa, among many others). And speaking about Latin expressions, the law is full of them, partly because the current juridical system was based on the Roman one. Of course, we must not forget that the official names of plants and animals are also in Latin.

The Roman Empire, as such, ended in the 4th century. Since then, many other empires were born and died. Together with tales of grandeur, there are tales of atrocities and attempts to annihilate other cultures. For better or worse, empires change the territories they govern, but their end is certain.
 

Keywords: ROMAN EMPIRE | “I, Claudius”, by Robert Graves

Robert Graves was a poet and a writer. He also translated classic works and was a professor at the University of Oxford. His book “I, Claudius” was his most successful novel. It was written as it was Claudius himself writing it and it tells the story of the Roman Empire through his eyes, from his childhood to when he took office as Caesar. The events described were real, but the way they happened is fictional and myths and rumours were taken as real events. Assassinations, murders disguised as accidents, betrayals, conspiracies, and dubious and complicated family connections were hallmarks of the Roman Empire. You can find them all in this book, abundantly. When reading it, you feel like you are actually living in those times.

Claudius was a Roman Emperor, who was not supposed to have been one. He had a limp (thus the verb “claudicar” in some Latin languages) and a fragile health. He also stammered. Members of his own family, the Caesar family, despised him and kept him away from public gatherings. He watched 3 rulers come and go before he was called for duty when he was about 50 years old. The previous Emperor, Caligula, had murdered all male descendants of the first emperor, Augustus, but he spared Claudius for an unknown reason. Although there was not a written rule that a descendant would take the “throne” after the death of the Emperor, that was usually the case and, when Caligula was murdered, Claudius was the obvious choice.

The story begins with Augustus ruling. Born as Gaius Octavius, he was the successor of Julius Caesar and the first official Roman Emperor. He had a long reign, supported by his powerful wife Livia, who would literally do anything to keep her power. Claudius extensively talks about this couple because they kind of set the tone for subsequent rulers. In fact, all rulers up to Claudius, including him, were raised by them. As he tells his life story, how and why he became a historian and a writer, he also tells the story of Tiberius and Caligula, the two emperors before Claudius, from when they were kids to when they were murdered (and why and how they were murdered).

“Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina” is the second book of this short series and it tells the story of Claudius’ life as emperor.