Africa

When Sparta fought Rome in Africa.

Africa, roman military, Rome / By ancientblogger

In the 1st Punic War Rome took the fight to Carthage literally and landed a force under the general Regulus in North Africa. Regulus defeated a Carthaginian force at Aspis (255 BCE) and then besieged the city of Adys. This caused panic at Carthage. What were they to do? Well, the policy of recruiting mercenaries …

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The Garamantes.

Africa, Rome / By ancientblogger

The Fezzan is an area of approximately 212,000 square miles of unforgiving desert and valleys. Situated in the south west of modern day Libya it’s not an area you’d easily traverse, let alone live in. Yet in the 1st millennium BCE a people did exactly that. They created art, irrigated the baked earth and sustained …

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Ancient History Hound

Love ancient history? In my podcast I cover a range of topics from Greece and Rome. Whether you are someone new to the subject or a veteran there’s something for you. There’s even the odd pun.

You can also find me on twitter @HoundAncient or my website www.ancientblogger.com

The Lupercalia was literally run on on the 15th February in ancient Rome. Apart from the nudity, running and goathide thongs there’s a lot going on here. Indeed the Roman writers seem unsure of how it all started and in this episode I play detective in trying to work out how it started and what this tells us about Rome.

I also talk about the festival itself and how it manifested as well as one famous instance involving the Lupercalia.

Episode notes at www.ancientblogger.com

Music by Brakhage (Le Vrai Instrumental).