Day: March 13, 2021

#Thelxinoe ~ Classics News for March 13, 2021

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est a.d. III Id. Mart. 2774 AUC ~ 29 Anthesterion in the fourth year of the 699th Olympiad

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The battle of Salamis has been won but the war would continue into the next year

This week Abi and Sarah bring you a very exciting episode on one of our favourite ancient women! You could call her a one-woman band, but I think that’s grossly underestimating her wide variety of talents. This week, we take you through the extraordinary life and times of Agrippina the Younger! In Part One, we take you through Agrippina’s early life and experiences under the rules of Emperors Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius. We’ll show you the ancient fires in which this maneuverer extraordinaire was forged, casting a political figure of iron resolve. Whilst her methods are more than questionable, and we do not approve her message here at Myth Dynamite, we can’t help but admire a Roman counterpart’s rise to the highest seat in one of the most influential empire’s in history (especially in a time when her counterparts were limited to seats in general).

In this Part Two, we’ll take you through Agrippina’s most famous years: her time as matriarch of the Empire during the reign of her son – Nero. The culmination of her political intrigue turned out to be a great success….or did it? How successful is Nero at building a collapsing bed? Are all the rumours true about their “special relationship”? You know, the really important questions. Here’s where the myth comes in! Agrippina’s success as a powerful woman has become so mythologised and intertwined with the characterisation of the powerful woman in myth – poisoner, manipulative, other, incestuous, and many many more – that it’s impossible not to read her life as a myth of sorts now. One thing is undeniable, though, she did make it to the top against all odds and through some of the most uncertain times in the Roman Empire. Thank goodness it’s so easy for a woman to hold a position of power today, am I right? We end this episode with a little look at the women we have in power today, and (quite rightfully) gushing over Jacinda Ardern.

This is where the story becomes really weird. Nero, up until now the golden child, suddenly becomes a cold murderer with the murder of Britannicus.

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Alia

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends abundance but wild animals will be destroyed.  Fish will increase and reptiles will infest settlements, but will not be harmful.

… adapted from the text and translation of:

Jean MacIntosh Turfa, The Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar, in Nancy Thomson de Grummond and Erika Simon (eds.), The Religion of the Etruscans. University of Texas Press, 2006. (Kindle edition)