This isn’t commonly known but one of the rings of hell is actually being in a fandom wherein the popular bloggers have the worst opinions known to man that everyone else parrots

Brown Butter Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Western or Great Plains Narrowmouth Frog (Gastrophryne olivacea), female, family Microhylidae, West TX, USA

photograph by Roadtripmonster

‘Incredible’ Mosaics Were Found in an Ancient Luxury Home in Rome

Italy’s Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano has called the works “an authentic treasure.”

Researchers working in the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum in Rome have shared their discovery of luxurious mosaic-tiled rooms found in an ancient home on the site, which they believe may have belonged to a Roman senator. Created from shells, glass, white marble, and Egyptian blue tiles, the mosaics have been described by Italy’s Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano as “an authentic treasure”.

The “rustic” mosaics, found on the grounds surrounding the Colosseum in the heart of the city, date to the late Republican Age, in the last decades of the second century B.C.E., and show a series of figurative scenes. They once decorated a townhouse, or domus, owned by an upper class citizen. Italy’s Ministry of Culture have said that “due to the complexity of the scenes depicted” and their age, the mosaics are “without comparison.”

One mosaic depicts a coastal city with towers and porticos, with three large ships floating by on the ocean waves. The culture ministry believes this could be a reference to naval victories achieved by the owner of the home, which is believed to have been a Roman senator. This is supported by historical sources describing the area as having been occupied by such high-ranking members of society.

The decorated walls were likely located in the home’s dining rooms, where luxurious banquets would be hosted, and guests at these events were likely wowed with “spectacular water games,” according to the culture ministry, based on the presence of lead pipes set into the walls.

In the reception room, an extremely well preserved decorated stucco featuring landscapes and figures was also discovered. Other designs include vines and lotus leaves flowing from vases, musical instruments, and tridents.

The mosaic walls were first discovered near the Colosseum in 2018, but excavation at the site will continue into 2024, and more rooms could be discovered. Alfonsina Russo, the Director of the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum, has said that once the domus is full uncovered, “we will work intensely to make this place, among the most evocative of ancient Rome, accessible to the public as soon as possible.”

By Verity Babbs.

Stater, minted 380/379 BCE at Tarsus in Cilicia, of Pharnabazus II, former satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia under the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia and a major figure in the internecine conflicts of the Greek city-states during the late 5th/early 4th centuries. The coin shows the complex intermingling of Greek and Near Eastern cultures characteristic of Anatolia under Achaemenid rule. On the obverse, Ba'al of Tarsus is shown seated, holding a lotus-tipped scepter and wearing the Greek chlamys. On the reverse, a bearded man wears a helmet in Attic style. Both sides are inscribed in Aramaic, which served as the lingua franca of the Near East under the Achaemenids. Photo credit: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com

Gyrfalcon

Chief supervisor of setting up poles

Day 800 of posting pictures of elephants! 🐘

Source: Nuttaya Maneekhot

Frederick II was involved in nearly all the conflicts of the early and mid-13th century. He attracted hate and wonder – the phrase “stupor mundi” applied to him meant “the astonishment of the world.”  For the last part of his life (1229-1250) Frederick enjoyed a great deal of success. He was able to play the role of the great emperor convincingly. Frederick’s court at Palermo patronized poetry – in a dialect that would develop into the Sicilian Romance version of Italian. Frederick himself composed in that language. He wrote a work on falconry, The Art of Hunting with Birds, which still is considered one of the best books in the field. The emperor’s court was also a center for legal scholarship. For practical reasons he wished to build a royalist legal code. He and his collaborators followed classical Roman precedents in legislating for his most important realm, Sicily. His learning and patronage in a variety of fields, taken together with his long  military and political career is justification for the name his contemporaries gave him, “stupor mundi.”

“Stupor” is an ambiguous term. It is not necessarily a compliment. Indeed, Frederick time and again created intense opposition; especially from the popes. They and their supporters called him a “pagan” or a “heretic,” both very loaded terms.

Pagan? Frederick was notorious for what has been called his skepticism, which was his refusal to give priority to Christian teaching or papal authority. He called the famous leaders of all religions frauds, yet did not hesitate to consult or employ Jewish or Muslim scholars when he needed their expertise. Notoriously he conducted what we would consider cruel experiments, to establish what was the first human language and whether the departing soul of a dying prisoner could be detected.

Heretic? This was a more serious accusation, like “terrorist” today. The Roman church was seeing enemies everywhere. A modern scholar has identified this period as the beginning of western Christendom as a “persecuting society,” with among other things the institutionalization of the Roman Inquisition. Frederick was never subjected to this court, he was too powerful – but he was excommunicated a second time by Innocent IV in 1245.

Chinese Sparrowhawk

Toadstool

Day 799 of posting pictures of elephants.

Source: Yahoo News

After almost five years of saying that Shakira rears like a movie horse, but no photos to prove it, she kindly demonstrated her skill in the same part of the field that I was.

Reblog so everyone can hear what they need.

15 Lines of Dialogue, tagged by @ongreenergrasses! I'm trying to get to stuff people have tagged me in now that I have a bit of time off.

Calla Blackfyre (alias Kally the Bookkeeper, fic: A New Wind Blows) isn't an OC per se, but we know nothing about Calla in canon apart from the fact that she exists, was sort-of-betrothed to Aegor Rivers, and never had children with him, so as far as I'm concerned, she's mine. :D

"Leave'm alone or I'll scream and the City Watch'll be up your arses. You want to try me?"

"That's what you wanted me here for? Rumors? They say that every few years. Calla’s alive this, Princess Calla that. And last year it was Gaemon Palehair they said was still alive. He’d be eighty-some and he’s dead."

"What, am I supposed to be jealous?"

"I said I'm afraid. I didn't say I won't try."

"Oh, bleeding hells."

"Please, just listen to me, you two. What's it to me if you swallow each other's swords?"

"You want to fool an old lady who's your auntie? Why would you do that?"

"Whoever my mother was, she was just as good as yours. You watch your mouth, Daemon Blackfyre."

"If you want to be the king of Westeros, you'll have to get used to turnips."

"No, I mean it. We're talking in here, so shut up and bugger off!"

"I wish you were my brother for true."

"If you die, I'll never burn you no incense and you'll have to haunt me to get any relief."

"Be a poor bookkeeper if I didn't know all the numbers."

"We're coming, Princess. Just wait 'til you see us."

"Kill me, then. Kill me like you killed my father and brothers. You just go ahead and tell the world what kind of a person you are."

Not tagging anyone, do it if you want! :)