Photo

Photo:

They see me rollin'

Ugliest Tattoos: Next Time Try “Festina Lente”

Ugliest Tattoos: Next Time Try “Festina Lente”:

Behold mighty Caesar, in all his glory!

Behold mighty Caesar, in all his glory!:

Behold mighty Caesar, in all his glory!

“Rome, Sweet Rome”

The Interpipes Are Leaking of the Day

from Epic Win FTW by Cheezburger Network

2 people liked this

The Interpipes Are Leaking of the Day: Author, military historian, and two-time Jeopardy! champion James Erwin has just sold his first screenplay to Warner Bros. — a war epic developed from comments he left in response to a question on the social news site Reddit.

The Des Moines native’s reply to a hypothetical scenario involving time-traveling marines battling Augustus in ancient Rome proved so popular that it shot up to the top of the comment thread (spoilers), where it was eventually noticed by Adam Kolbrenner of Madhouse Entertainment.

Kolbrenner, who worked with Erwin to polish the idea, pitched it to Warner Bros. exec Chris Gary, who convinced the studio to buy it.

The project will be overseen by John Ridley and produced by Kolbrenner and Gianni Nunnari (Immortals). No word yet on a director, or if the working title “Rome, Sweet Rome” will become the film’s official name.

[variety / reddit / image: hustlersquad.]

Spartacurtus and the Nymphs of the Island of Lesbos

Salve! 

Consul Spartacurtus sum!  

In our Classics Club meetings, we've discussed performing a play. It just so happens that I wrote a play for my Latin class as part of an extra-credit project, so I'd like to contribute my Latin writing to the cause. I have included the original play about me, Spartacurtus, and how I ended up with the Nymphs of the Island of Lesbos. I understand that this play is terribly self-aggrandizing, but I never really wrote this play with the intention that anyone except me and my Latin teacher, Magistra Lemmon would ever read this, and I certainly never expected it to be performed. I haven't gotten to make the corrections as notated by my former magistra, (alas, even Spartacurtus' Latin isn't quite perfect.) but I have included the original transcript with all its errors and corrections. 

I hope you enjoy. Unfortunately, the English translation has been lost. If any of you Latin scholars wish to translate this, please feel free to do so, and PLEASE post the translation in the comments section! 

~Spartacurtus Rex Ancillarum~ 

"Tu es lonesome nocte, Brutus?"

Are you Roman tonight? Statue of 'Elvis' chiselled 1800 years before his birth goes under the hammer

By NIALL FIRTH

Last updated at 1:18 PM on 22nd July 2008

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With his dashing chiselled features, swept back hair and perky bouffant the resemblance is unmistakable.

But incredibly this carving of Elvis Presley was created around 1800 years before the King of Rock and Roll first warbled his first note.

The amazing likeness has come to light as part of a sale of ancient antiques by the auction house Bonhams.

Classic Elvis: The statue bears an unmistakeable resemblance to the real King

The Roman Elvis is in fact a genuine marble acroterion - a kind of architectural ornament often found for decoration on the corners of a sarcophagus, a stone tomb or burial chamber.

The real thing: Elvis in concert in 1968

It forms part of a collection owned by Melbourne-based Graham Geddes - one of the world's most foremost collectors - which is estimated to sell for more than £1m when it goes on sale in October.

Even the Geddes himself has nicknamed the astounding lookalike ‘Elvis’.

Antiquities specialist Georgiana Aitken added: 'It bears an uncanny likeness to Elvis Presley. It's the quiff that does it.

You do some weird and wacky things at the corners of sarcophagi.

'I don't know what purpose they served and the quiff was not a hairstyle of the day as far as I know.'

The 'Elvis’ sculpture is 2nd Century AD and is estimated to make £25,000 to £30,000.

A spokesman for Bonhams said: "It is perhaps the strangest item in the sale, certainly to modern eyes.

"Fans of the King of Rock 'n Roll, seeing this face from the distant past will be forgiven for thinking that their idol may well have lived a previous life in Rome!

"Looking at this face with its Elvis-like quiff, strong jaw and nose, one is inevitably led to the thought that the human face for all is diversity and subtlety has after all an ability to repeat itself."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1037205/Are-Roman-tonight-Statue-Elvis-chiselled-1800-years-birth-goes-hammer.html#ixzz1XTCwCi2L

Archaeologists uncover amphitheatre used to train gladiators near Vienna

The ruins are a 'sensational discovery' with a structure to rival the Colosseum in Rome, archaeologists say

• • reddit this

• Associated Press
• guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 30 August 2011 19.54 BST
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The Colosseum in Rome – the largest amphitheatre built in the Roman empire. Photograph: Francesco Survara/Alamy

Archaeologists say they have located and excavated the ruins of a huge amphitheatre used to train gladiators east of Vienna, describing it as a "sensational discovery".

They claim that the ruins found through ground radar measurements rival the Colosseum and the Ludus Magnus in Rome in their structure. The Ludus Magnus is the largest of the gladiatorial arenas in the Italian capital, while the Colosseum is the largest amphitheatre ever built in the Roman empire.

A statement on Tuesday from the Carnuntum archaeological park gave no details about when the find was located and excavated.

Confusion in a clothing store

24. August, 2011:


24. August, 2011

Perseus with the Head of Ronald McDonald

Italian artist Giuseppe Veneziano updated the Greek myth of Perseus and Medusa with this sculpture. It’s a bit harsh. I mean, Ronald McDonald never turned anyone into stone.

Artist’s Website (some NSFW images) -via Kurositas | Photo by Flickr user mamasaurus rex used under Creative Commons license

UPDATE: In the comments, Sylvian proposes that this sculpture is actually a take on Caravaggio’s David with the Head of Goliath. I think he’s right.

Rome police arrest Colosseum 'gladiator' gang

AFP 

Italian police have arrested 20 gladiator impersonators in an undercover sting aimed at ending a violent racket operating around Rome's most famous tourist sites, Italian press reported on Thursday.

Police disguised as gladiators, dustbin men and members of the public raided the gang made up of seven families working with five tourist agencies.

The modern gladiators are accused of attacking and intimidating competitors for a lucrative business in which gladiators collect up to 10 euros ($14) for having their picture taken alongside tourists in front of attractions.

The police officers disguised as gladiators were beaten up by the alleged criminal gladiators before other undercover officers swooped in.

"Gladiators" are a feature of the Roman landscape for tourists, with men decked out in bright red capes, helmets with plumes of red feathers and sandals while carrying swords and round shields.

They can be found outside the Colosseum, Castel Sant'Angelo, Piazza Venezia and even in front of St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, preying on the millions of tourists who pass through Rome every year.

Criminal gangs had divided up these tourist sights and were defending their territory with violence, the police said.

Five competitors who had been chased away alerted police to the gang's activities, leading to the sting operation.

Putin 'discovers Greek urns' on scuba dive

By Dmitry Zaks

Russia's hard man Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pulled on awetsuit Wednesday and went scuba diving at an ancient Greek Black Sea site in the latest populist stunt preceding next year's elections.

State news reports said he descended just two metres (6.6 feet) and "luckily" discovered two sixth century urns in full presence of the media, because the water was so clear.

Television footage showed two moss-covered vases with ear-like handles sitting neatly next to each other on top of the sandy bottom as Putin swam into view.

"Treasure!" a dripping wet Putin told reporters with a big grin. "They drank it all already," he added when asked if there was anything left in the jars.

Putin -- a novice only attempting his third scuba dive -- "came across" the objects during an expedition on the southern Russian coast near Ukraine.

"The head of the expedition said they are from the sixth century AD," Putin said with a diving mask imprint still clear on his face. This would date them to the time of the early Byzantine era.

"When the ships were being loaded at the port, the jars would often break and then they would get tossed overboard," Russia's de facto leader explained.

Footage showed Putin accompanied on the diving raft by Russia's emergencies minister Sergei Shoiguand the powerful metals tycoon Oleg Deripaska.

The Basic Element company chief reportedly told Putin that he forgot his diving suit and refused to go into the water.

"What, you ran out of money?" the LifeNews.ru website quoted Putin as asking the Russian oligarch.

The high-publicity event took Putin to the Krasnodar region's Taman Peninsula -- home to the Phanagoria colony founded by the Greeks some 2,500 years ago and invaded by the ancient Rus in the 10th century.

Former Soviet intelligence officer Putin rose to the presidency in 2000 on the back of a carefully-cultivated image that mixed nationalist rhetoric with an action man image that set him apart from other Russian leaders.

He has flown a fighter jet into Chechnya and descended to the bottom of Lake Baikal in a special deep-sea vessel. Russian media have published photos of Putin wearing his judo black belt and stripped to his waist on a hunting trip.

One of his more daring escapades one year ago saw him chase whales off Russia's Pacific coast with a crossbow in hand.

"Living in general is dangerous," his office later quoted Putin as telling a reporter at the scene. He later piloted a Formula One car on a circuit near his native city of Saint Petersburg.

Putin's adventures at times contrast with the apparently more sedate lifestyle of President Dmitry Medvedev -- a lawyer by training who has yet to commit himself to a second term amid speculation Putin himself may run.

The Russian president has also encountered the occasional media mishap.

Medvedev this summer nearly ran his SUV vehicle into a cheering crowd of supporters after forgetting to put the gear lever into park and has also become the hit of a viral video in which he was shown dancing at a friend's party.

Putin and Medvedev have vowed not to run against each other and decide which of them will stand for the presidency soon.

Sisyphus by Interesni Kazki in Ekaterinburg, Russia [via Unurth]

Sisyphus by Interesni Kazki in Ekaterinburg, Russia
[via Unurth]: "

Sisyphus by Interesni Kazki in Ekaterinburg, Russia

[via Unurth]

"

Spartacus Season 2

Webcomic of the Day

Webcomic of the Day: "

Webcomic of the Day: Hot off the e-press: Nick Gurewitch’s first Perry Bible Fellowship strip in over a year.

[splitsider.]

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fine-art Spirograph

CNC + Sharpie = fine-art Spirograph: "

from Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow


Matt W. More and aarn teamed up to create these 'numerically controlled' posters made by fitting a Sharpie to a 3D CNC machine that then executed spirograpesque patterns. They come signed and numbered, with the Sharpie used to generate them.

Numerically Controlled : Poster Series.

(via This is Colossal)

"

Time Lapse Lunar Eclipse over the Acropolis

from MAKE Magazine by Sean Michael Ragan

Time Lapse Lunar Eclipse over the Acropolis: "

Time lapse video by Elias Politis, uppermost, and single image composite of same, immediately above. It’s NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day for June 25. Not sure I can get 100% behind “Acropoclipse,” but otherwise: Magnificent. [via adafruit]

More:
24-hour Sky Panorama

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