Phrygian Caps, Ancient Roman Empire and Mithraism

Ancient clothing, ancient beliefs. They are with us today. Here is a fair use and rescaled portion of a mosaic in Ostia Antica, the whole can be seen at www.ostia-antica.org/regio5/9/9-1_11.

For background where this was uncovered, see our views of Ostia Antica at Italy Road Ways, Ostia Antica; and at Italy Road Ways, Ostia, Death by Silt. See the cap, the forward-pulled peak.

Our focus here is on this headwear - known by its shape as the Phrygian Cap.










Now, see this same cap shape on a slave shown on the Arch of Septimius Severus in Rome, at Italy Road Ways, Rome, Colosseum, Arch of Septimius Severus.

It also was worn by worshippers of Mithra, Mithraism as a pagan Roman religion that competed in the early times with emerging Christianity, and was the dominant religion where Paul grew up. See its influence at ://sparklemjk.com/Yule.html. See also Bogomilia, Mithraism.

This cap has significance in any era where freedom was valued, and fought for - see Joy of Equivocating, Phrygian Cap; and sites listed there.

Origins are anchors. Ties to the past that light up the present. Wear your Phrygian Cap with pride. See its current significance in modern symbolism at Joy of Equivocating, Phrygian Caps.

The United States Army sports it with pride. This is a fair use portion of the official seal. See Joy of Equivocating site for more. Then look up the American Revolution, and the French Revolution. A search for Phrygian caps there as well. And connections to Rome - see ://www.crwflags.com/FOTW/flags/xf-cap.html

Ostia Antica - Death by Silt. A Quiet Death

Compare Ostia Antica to Pompeii - the one expiring over time as water levels altered and port capabilities diminished; the other with the drama of violence, painful death, sudden cataclysm.

Nonetheless, go to Ostia, near Rome, before your flight takes off. We stopped there on the way to the airport, in our rental car, but this article in New York Times 9/17/06 says at page 12 that you can take a boat there from Rome. Perfect. We squirrel away things like this for a return trip, and that is the great advantage of going first, researching later. Find what you want on a second run.

Less touristy, a sense of the place, the streets, the people. "Ostia" means mouth - and the city does seem to be swallowed - it ultimately melts away into the river. See the baths, amphitheater, storehouses, a synagogue, and a temple. Metropolis. Finally - as late as the 9th century, says the article, Ostia became a mere quarry area. Its marble went to Pisa, and Florence, anywhere needed. Organ transplants.

The communal nature of living in those days - we saw it also at the Roman villa in Sicily - see Sicily Road Ways , look for the Villa del Casale post. Hoppers were all in a square at the house, the holes looking at each other, with kindly running water beneath, all genders do your business and move on, group togetherness. Sometime look up the equivalent of TP, a stick with handy bulbous thing. Note also, as in Rome, the two-story apartment buildings. The ancients did ok.

Venice and the Plague

An approach to this recurrent deadly epidemic was to quarantine the sick on an island, a few miles from the Piazza San Marco. See news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/08/070829-venice-plague. The eras of greatest impact here seems to be the 15th and 16th centuries. The mass graves: so far, som 1500 bodies have been found, with many other burial grounds still undisturbed.

Mass graves: and what to do with the bones. Some places made room for more by removing and stacking the prior dead. See Czech Republic Road Ways, Kutna Hora post, with references also to the monastery at Sedlec where the bones were made into chandeliers and sconces and decorations at the monastery in the 19th Century; or Poland Road Ways, Kudowa Droj post. Ossuaries, Charnel Houses, what to do when the dead become too many. In World Wars I and II, there were so many unidentifiable remains that the ossuaries are huge. See Douaumont, for example, at Verdun, France where 130,000 French and Germans rest, go to France Road Ways;

Venice - The Rialto Bridge; Marco Polo

Gondolas. Very expensive, and water buses are a good alternative. The Rialto Bridge. First stop was for pizza so we could walk around with it like everybody else.

Best spot for supper: little St. Margaret's Square. We located a landmark near our hotel so we could get directions back more easily when we got lost, and just wandered into lovely St. Margarets. A local resident community, not as touristy.

Marco Polo: We had found Marco Polo's birthplace (so the sign said) on Korcula island, off the Dalmatian Coast, Croatia, see Croatia Road Ways . For stories of his life as a Venetian, see www.silk-road.com/artl/marcopolo.

A read-aloud. I used to teach 4th grade. At one school, it was customary to read aloud for 15 minutes a day, before lunch, and from this venerable book: Louise Andrews Kent's story, "He Went With Marco Polo: A Story Of Venice And Cathay". (London: George G. Harrap & Co., 1936). A good read for kids and grownups.

For a big enterprising list of Venice novels, see www.efn.org/%7Eacd/venicenovel. For any web references, go to the home page and navigate, using the rest of the address only as needed.

Florence - train Venice to Naples

Florence. So much of Italy seems like a required checklist - too many pictures out there already. Culture, hist. Renaissance, and history before and after. Read an original account of life in the 13th century here: www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/villani.

Here is the famous bridge, the Ponte Vecchio, with its shops. See www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Ponte_Vecchio; and, for photos and history see www.bluffton.edu/%7Esullivanm/pontevecchio/ponte. Update - New York Times 6/3/07, that fine series of 36 hours somewhere. This time, Florence. Going again, I would take that.












We arrived by train from Venice via Bologna. Our hotel was near the Duomo, 1436. Watch the heat. It was so hot when we were there that we constantly ducked in and out of places to get cool. Crowds and more hot. We did see the rest of Florence, but finally gave up trying to get into the Duomo itself - the wait was 1 1/2 hours each time we went by. Limited people were allowed in at a time. You can climb up to the top of the Duomo for the view, but it was too hot even to do that.

Here is the Duomo. There is a huge dome. For its history, see gallery.euroweb.hu/database/churches/duomo; and www.mega.it/eng/egui/monu/buq.

Rome - Here, We Could Have Used a Car. Colosseum, Septimius Severus, Jesus Pantera, Phrygian Caps

Rome and glory,
Rome and glory.
Go together,
But some is gory.

Here is a pay-per-photo gladiator at the Colosseum, see www.romebuddy.com/colosseum/colosseumpictures.. And conquered Gauls and other slaves at the Arch of Septimius Severus, see sights.seindal.dk/sight/161_Arch_of_Septimius_Severus. Note the caps on the slaves - the Phrygian caps. They were forbidden to use their own headwear while enslaved. They could redon their caps upon freedom. See Hello, Fodder, Phrygian Caps. See also Joy of Equivocating, Phrygian Cap to Supplant Lapel Pin.

We were distance-walkers here, without a car. It is not hard to find your way somewhere on the bus, or subway. People are helpful. The historic sites are so well known, and well marked. We went to the Catacombs by bus, the Vatican by subway, and did Rome central by foot.

Became interested in a particular Roman archer after we got back. If theories interest you, do a web search for "Jesus Pantera," or read "The Jesus Dynasty," by James Tabor, Simon & Schuster 2006, if you have any interest in expanding your horizons in religious roots. Paternity is always a topic, rich or poor, and this does delve. Let information or possibilities in, then weigh and decide. No point in blocking an idea out before you think about it. That's what brains are for.

Back to gladiators: There is information on gladiators at Gladiators, and many other places on the internet. Try this site: ablemedia.com/ctcweb/consortium/gladiators. Also movies. If we were to wire the world, and provide a basic computer to each household, and have the schools teach basic repair, kids and adults could go a long way in teaching themselves. Mr. and Mrs. Gates?

There is the Arch of Septimius Severus, 200AD or so. On the arch are captured tribesmen - Gauls - in chains - from somewhere in France? Could be elsewhere, because the Gauls were over a large area.

Gauls appear to be either the same as or connected to the Celts? See more about Gauls and Celts at www.leyline.org/cra/1999beltaine/romans_and_gauls.

Some of the captured were brought back to Rome as slaves, others became gladiators, as in the film, The Gladiator. For accounts of the slavery, see www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/slavery-romrep1. Slavery: even Scots on the Isle of Skye were enslaved and sent to the Virgin Islands - said our guide at Dunvegan Castle, Scotland Road Ways.
He said that is why there are so many Scottish surnames there. Check it out? Slavery in America: different in denying personhood? Another topic.

Amalfi Coast and the Rule of Ears

The Amalfi Peninsula - best by car.
Rule of ears.
Two lanes, but many kinds of vehicles,
All at different speeds,
All changing lanes and passing each other.
Survival tactic:
Focus on whoever
Is in front of your ears.
Let anyone behind take car of themselves.
Once they arrive at your ear-level,
Peripheral vision,
Then pay close attention, not necessarily before
Because then you get too close to the one in front.
Works for Naples, motorcycles, all.
Drivers are nimble.
Just be quick.

Pompeii - buried in ash

Pompeii. A city caught in mid life. See www.pompeiana.org/.

Even the face in this fresco, a painting done on plaster, and the technique is long-lasting, looks like it is screaming. For more on frescoes, see www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/6981/fresco.

I do not know the story of that fresco, but many are still visible in the houses that have been excavated. People's lives were interrupted in whatever they were doing at the time.



Ordinary lives, rooms, doorways, gardens.

Shops, refreshment offered to the shoppers,
places to go.










We enjoy ruins, learning what the structures were. The common sense of old cultures - here are stepping stones to get across the street without mussing sandals in the muck, with space for wagon or chariot wheels in between. We are more alike than un-alike. Markets, art, recreation.


This shows where.

Herculaneum - buried in mud

Herculaneum. Not as publicized as Pompeii, but just as devastated. Here, mud flowed instead of ash covered.

See www.roman-empire.net/articles/article-011.

The town was buried in the same cataclysm as buried Pompeii. Mount Vesuvius did the damage. See volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_vesuvius. The eruption was at the same time as affected Pompeii.

The town of Herculaneum is near Naples, and is so far below street level that there are walkways, rather than walk-on streets for visitors. There is an elevated series of pathways, looking down. This gives a broad sense of the large size of the city, and an overview.

In Pompeii, you are walking right in it.

Herculaneum is still being excavated, as is Pompeii.

Train trips

1. Our use of trains. One long run, Venice to Naples, getting off at Bologna, Florence, Rome, and to Naples. At Naples we rented a car.

2. Opting out of the package deal. The travel packages of so many days by train, and so many by car, did not fit us. We bought our train tickets as we needed them, and rented the car separately.

3. Weigh carefully whether to take the high speed train, or a local. Calculate the time vs. the enjoyment of slower scenes, more casual connections with people. We got some of our best tips from people on the local. And saw far more. Calculate what time you have. If you miss your high speed, ask the difference in travel time before hopping impulsively on that local over there.

4. Hotels nearby. If you travel by train and want at least your first night reservation in hand (we sometimes do the first night and the last night in advance), remember that you will be walking and carrying your bags. Look up the maps for hotels on the internet and get a room close to the station.

5. If you are stuck (as in London) for a place to stay that doesn't cost the roof, go immediately to the main train station. Victoria Station in London, for example. There are always rooming houses and small hotels at train and bus stations. We found them to be clean and safe.

6. Downside of all trains. They leave you off and then you have to walk or take a cab to see anything. Most stations are in the center or near the center of town, but that area might be rundown by now, and there are always things farther afield that you will miss. Long hoof in Bologna, for example, with our backpacks (chose not to locker them), and the heat was extreme. Took much of the fun out just getting there and then back in time.

Links, posts, archives

Third-party website references are in longhand, not a quick link format. We are concerned that immediate links are not predictably safe - see, for example, www.bitlaw.com. Too hard to tell who qualifies to use the fast lane. Regrets. Our mixed format here is geared for speed, immediate education if someone wants it, and without losing the place on the trip blog. There must be a better way to protect significant rights without closing the book.

Posts: reflect arrival to departure, not the date when the post may have first been published. This makes sense to us for a travel site. So do read the archives - they complete the trip.

Technorati Profile

The Naples-Palermo Ferry; ferry topics

Overnight (cabin and beds) trip.
Verify your advance reservation.

We had made internet reservations,
And had the confirmation sheet.
Not enough.

The ticket place at the dock
Had no record of us when we arrived.
Ticket agent was mildly optimistic,
So we waited about and then got on line.

Return: We had no idea of when.
So, no return trip ticket in advance.
When we were ready, tried for the Messina return ferry,
No room, so enjoy the Sicily resort coast drive
Back to Palermo and on board there.
Always works out.

Sicily - side trip

Rent car in Naples, drive around Amalfi Coast, see Pompeii and Herculaneum, then on overnight ferry to Palermo Sicily - see Sicily Road Ways. Then back to ferry dock at Naples, and drive north.

Just fit.

Anzio - World War II

Anzio, the beachhead. See www.army.mil/cmh-pg/brochures/anzio/72-19; and anzio.netfirms.com/. The netfirms site offers a fine World War II overview. Click on the link for pictures. Debates continue about the strategies used by both sides, mistakes made, hindsight, heroism anyway.

The town is between Naples, where the ferry docked coming back from Sicily, and Ostia Antica, where we stayed before flying out of Rome. We took the long, meandering coastal route north - no motorways. There are fine memorials there. The battle was in 1944. We do try to remember.

One site says in the header that Anzio was a great military blunder. That issue is not new. See www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/articles/anzio.aspx.

Ostia Antica - Lydia and the Mint. "The Better Pompeii"

Ostia Antica. The old port to Rome, now found inland. This lovely place is often overlooked because Rome's airport is so close. See www.ostia-antica.org/intro.htm. Make the time for it. Spend the night near here. Quiet. Contemplative.



This town 2000 years ago was on the coast, and was Rome's main port for some 600 years.

This site calls it, "The Better Pompeii." See www.initaly.com/regions/latium/ostia.

Ostia was hit by disease (malaria) and other towns became more prominent as Ostia became silted in. Waterways changed. The port finally silted over, and also silted over much of the town, preserving a great deal.

Lydia! We wandered in and out and saw "Lydia's House" on the little sign, climbed in and over the rocks, into a courtyard, to a room on the left - and suddenly there was the aroma of mint and more mint - and no mint to be found anywhere. Thank you, Lydia, for your home and your hospitality. I can smell it yet. A delight mid-afternoon. And where from?

Romans in cities - there were apartments, several stories high, around a central courtyard - brick-like, with shops on the bottom. The guidebook picture recreating the building of flats looks quite modern.

Ostia is also known for Mithraism - a center for one of the major Roman Empire religions that flourished and became (as to cultural practices and many concepts) incorporated into the later Christian faiths. Read about Mithra - and the similarities and liturgical adoptions - at Bogomilia, A Site for the Unsung: Mithraism.

Trieste - Italy, but easier done from Croatia

We went here, but part of our trip to the Western Balkans, Croatia and Slovenia. It is only a few hours from Venice, but not a natural side trip. Trieste is to the east, and the rest of tourist-Italy is to the south and west.

See Trieste Road Ways. Trieste represents Venetian domination of the Adriatic, however, and giving the territory to Italy after WWII (instead of keeping it with Tito and Yugoslavia) still rankles some. The area went between Italy, Slovenia and Croatia in disputes for centuries. After WWII, the Potsdam treaties said Trieste was to be self-governing, but it later went to Italy, see www.ts.camcom.it/english/porto. Scroll down about 9 paragraphs for the reaction to the allocation. For Potsdam, see Germany Road Ways.

Trieste was an area of alleged war crimes, and for overview on that topic see www.grolier.com/wwii/wwii_warcrimes. Get there if you can. It is beautiful, but its history is turmoil. For the history of the Trieste events of WWII, see cgi.stanford.edu/group/wais/cgi-bin/index.php?p=587. Go to the home page, then navigate as needed.

Trieste is a kind of Venice with the canals from the bay area, but it is cross-hatched with them. They do not substitute for roadways. See the aerial view at www.ts.camcom.it/english/porto..

Excellent photo gallery here - someone else's

We have our own photos on the posts, but often find good ones elsewhere.

See, for example, www.pbase.com/bauer/italy. These sites (and these blogs) are intended as a resource and education and entertainment for people who are unable to travel, as well as a stimulus for those who can, to do it.

More blogs about Italy Road Ways.

Itinerary After The Fact

Five days stay and by train, Venice to Naples;

Two days car Naples, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Amalfi Coast;

Four days Naples ferry to Sicily: Palermo; Monreale, Erice, Trapani, Marsala, Selinunte, Agrigento, Gela, Casale (Villa Romana), Enna, Mount Etna, Randazzo, Capo D'Orlando, Cefalu, Termini, Solunte and Palermo.

Three days Ferry to Naples again, Anzio, Ostia Antica, and Rome.

See also www.europeroadways.com.