April 21, 2014

Rome, the Eternal City, is celebrating its birthday today. Officially, the city is now 2,767 years old. However, a recent archaeological discovery suggests that Rome may actually be 200 years older that.

According to popular tradition, the city was founded on April 21, 753 B.C., by legendary twins Romulus and Remus. They were the sons of Mars, the Roman god of war. An evil king ordered the infant twins placed in a basket and thrown into the Tiber River. After floating downstream, the twins were washed ashore. A female wolf found the infants and nursed them. As adults, they founded the first settlement at Rome. Later, a dispute between the brothers led to the death of Remus, and Romulus named the city for himself. Romulus, Remus, and the wolf became an important symbol of Rome. Several ancient statues show the babies with their animal protector.

The legendary founders of Rome were twin brothers named Romulus and Remus. According to Roman mythology, a wolf nursed them as babies. (Bronze sculpture; Museum del Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome (SCALA/Art Resource))

Since 2009, archaeologist Patrizia Fortuni, of the Cultural Superintendency of Rome, has led excavations at Lapis Niger, an ancient Roman shrine built of black rock in the center of the Roman Forum. In a previous excavation, the site produced an artifact known as the lex sacra, which is inscribed with the oldest known example of Latin writing, dated to 565 B.C. In even deeper levels, the archaeologists uncovered pieces of an ancient wall beneath the Forum that was constructed from tufa, a kind of limestone, beneath the site. Fragments of pottery and preserved grain were also recovered from this lowest level. The pottery fragments allowed the archaeologists to use a technique called seriation to establish a chronological date for the limestone wall of between about 900 and 800 B.C., about 200 years older than the date of the traditional origin of the city.

The Roman poet Virgil wrote of the legend of Romulus and Remus around 30 B.C. in the Aeneid, one of the world’s greatest poems of heroic adventure. Virgil drew from earlier legends and folklore for his famous work, which became the national epic of ancient Rome. But archaeologists and historians have long known that the legend of Rome’s founding had little basis in fact. Archaeological evidence shows the city formed through a gradual process of settlement by people called the Latins over many years around the area of the Palatine Hill. Over many years, the small farming community known as Latium on the bank of the Tiber River in central Italy grew to become the capital of one of the greatest empires in history.

Additional World Book articles:

• Clothing (Rome)
• Etruscans
• Sabines
• World, History of the (the Romans)

April 11, 2013

Fabulous artifacts from around 2,000 years ago—dating to the time when London was called Londinium and was ruled by the Romans—have been discovered in the city’s financial district. The find was made by archaeologists working in advance of construction on a new headquarters for Bloomberg L.P., the media company owned by Michael Bloomberg, current mayor of New York City. More than 50 archaeologists from the Museum of London Archaeology are working on the Roman site.

Hadrian's Wall, built by the Romans in the A.D. 120's, protected England from northern raiders. Roman ruins remain in many parts of England, including London and Bath. (c ZEFA)

The artifacts found at the building site were much more numerous and much better preserved than archaeologists had imagined. The site is so well preserved because of its location. Being encased in the heavy mud created by the Walbrook, one of London’s many underground rivers, helped to save the Roman antiquities, which would have simply rotted away in ordinary soil. Some of the Roman objects found include pottery, jewelry, shoes (hundreds of them), and coins. Archaeologists were especially excited to find tablets with writing, since few written documents from this period and area have survived. They also found a carved amber amulet, or luck charm, in the shape of a gladiator’s helmet. In addition to objects, an entire streetscape of wooden structures was discovered 40 feet (12 meters) beneath the ground. This preserved Roman street led the media to dub the site the “Pompeii of the North.”

The building site is also home to the Temple of Mithras, Walbrook, which was discovered in the 1950′s. Mithra, or Mithras, was a Persian god of light. His mystery cult became popular among Roman soldiers and slaves from around A.D. 100 to 300.

When completed, the Bloomberg headquarters will include an entrance to the Roman temple and a museum to house the artifacts found on the site.

Additional World Book articles:

• Ancient Rome
• Archaeology
• Archaeology (1954 Back in time)

December 31, 2012

A cycle in the calendar used by most of the world ends today at midnight–but, happily, a new cycle will begin again immediately afterward as the date moves forward to 2013. In the United States, the slow descent of the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball in New York City will mark the final seconds of the year, as the ball has every year since 1907. Crowds will gather on State Street in Chicago and in other public places as well. Many people will go to New Year’s Eve parties. At midnight, bells will ring, sirens will sound, firecrackers will explode, and everyone will shout, “Happy New Year!” Many people will also drink a toast to the new year and sing “Auld Lang Syne,” a Scottish song whose title is widely mispronounced and whose meaning is generally unknown. (It is pronounced AWLD lang SYN, not OLD ang ZINE, and means old long since, or days gone by, in Scottish dialect.)

On New Year’s Day, many people in the United States will visit relatives, attend religious services, or watch football games on television. Some people will attend parades, such as the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, and the Mummers Parade in Philadelphia.

The Mummers Parade features marching bands in elaborate and colorful costumes. This festive event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is held annually on New Year's Day. © Joseph Nettis, Photo Researchers

The ancient Romans were the first to use January 1 as the start of the new year. In 46 B.C., Julius Caesar ordered the adoption of a new calendar because the Roman year had gotten totally out of whack. Winter occurred in September, and autumn came in the month now called July. The Romans had usually celebrated March 1 as the first day of the new year. But Caesar, who had recently picked up a 10-year appointment as dictator of Rome, officially ordered the date moved to January 1 in 45 B.C., as part of the changes mandated by the new Julian calendar.

During the Middle Ages, from about the A.D. 400′s through the 1400′s, most European countries started the new year on March 25, a Christian holiday called Annunciation Day. By 1600, many Western nations had adopted a revised calendar called the Gregorian calendar. This calendar, the one used today, restored January 1 as New Year’s Day. Great Britain (now also called the United Kingdom) and its colonies in America adopted it in 1752.

Additional World Book articles:

• Chinese New Year
• Islam (Holidays and celebrations)
• January
• Rosh Ha-Shanah