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There I was, minding my own business and watching The History Channel about the atrocities perpatrated on Rome by the Boy King Caligula...... It was stunning to learn of the things he did in those 1400 days of terror..... and they kept comparing his dirty deeds asking: "....imagine if an American president did this...." He never cared what anyone thought....his favorite saying: "...let them hate me, as long as they're scared of me" He made a point of buying the people's love by giving them parties and gifts.....but if you questioned him, you died....and then he took your money... Like...

(Vatican Radio) A team of archaeologists, historians, engineers and experts in Christian antiquities on Thursday inaugurated an important new archaeological site in Rome. The site is located inside the area that belongs to the Basilica of St. Paul’s outside the Walls and its adjoining Benedictine Monastery. After a brief welcome speech by Cardinal James Harvey, Archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul, members of the Vatican Museums-backed team who have been collaborating with members of the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology and of Rome’s La Sapienza University, illustrated the importance of the new archaeological site. Listen to the report by...

By A.D. 200, the Roman Republic was a distant memory. Few citizens of the global Roman Empire even knew of their illustrious ancestors like Scipio or Cicero. Millions no longer spoke Latin. Italian emperors were a rarity. There were no national elections. Yet Rome endured as a global power for three more centuries. What held it together? A stubborn common popular culture and the prosperity of Mediterranean-wide standardization kept things going. The Egyptian, the Numidian, the Iberian, and the Greek assumed that everything from Roman clay lamps and glass to good roads and plentiful grain was available to millions throughout...

A new film, Under the Roman Sky, starring James Cromwell as Pius XII, details the heroic efforts of Pius XII to save the Jews of Rome from the Nazis, after Rome came under Nazi occupation subsequent to the fall of Mussolini following the Allied invasion of southern Italy in 1943.Rabbi David G. Dalin, in his review of a Moral Reckoning, a tome by Daniel Goldhagen which sought to blame Catholicism for the Holocaust, details the efforts of the Pope to save the Jews of Rome:Goldhagen’s centerpiece is the outrageous allegation that Pius XII “did not lift a finger to forfend...

In a quest to make concrete more durable and sustainable, an international team of geologists and engineers has found inspiration in the ancient Romans, whose massive concrete structures have withstood the elements for more than 2,000 years.Sample of ancient Roman maritime concrete from Pozzuoli Bay near Naples, Italy. Its diameter is 9 centimeters, and it is composed of mortar formulated from lime, volcanic ash and chunks of volcanic tuff. (Carol Hagen photo) Using the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), a research team from the University of California, Berkeley, examined the fine-scale structure of Roman concrete....

[Janet] Stephens is a hairstyle archaeologist who specialises in recreating how women in ancient Rome and Greece wore their hair. She spoke to the BBC about a museum visit that marked the start of a long journey of discovery on which she solved a historical mystery and had her work published in an academic journal.

Leading archaeologists have denounced the poor state of conservation of the Roman remains at Antinopolis in Egypt, the city built by the emperor Hadrian, who ruled Rome from 117AD to 138AD... Antinopolis, located near the Nile over 30km south of the nearest large town, Minya, is a perfect target. Until recently, the Roman hippodrome there was still intact, although it has now been swallowed by the ever-expanding cemetery for the neighbouring small town called Sheikh ‘Ibada. Out of the four hippodromes built by the Romans in Egypt, this was the only one that survived. Large areas are being prepared for...

(Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Pope Francis on Saturday and, apparently responding to his criticism of a heartless "dictatorship of the economy", called for stronger regulation of financial markets. On Thursday, Francis appealed in a speech for world financial reform, saying the global economic crisis had made life worse for millions in rich and poor countries. Merkel visited Rome for a few hours specifically to meet the pontiff and spoke with him privately in his library for 45 minutes, unusually long for a private papal audience. She told reporters afterwards that the scandals and excesses criticized by Francis...

Today is the anniversary of the Dedication of the Roman church Santa Maria “ad Martyres“, which took place in 609. This church is also called the Pantheon.Since on upcoming Pentecost, Roman firefighters will be dropping red rose petals through the oculus of the mighty building, I figured we could review what I have posted in the past.In Rome on Pentecost, in the Pantheon, now a minor basilica called S. Maria ad martyres there is a beautiful custom.Rose petals are dropped through the circular oculus opening at the top of the dome, which is the widest is all of Rome, for...

At the Venice Biennale, which from 1 June takes place for the 55th time, for the first time the Vatican will be represented with its own pavilion. The Italian art and culture critic Francesco Colafemmina criticised in a statement the works selected for the artists shown there and the costs of the purchase of the exhibited works.

Wael Salibi moved to Rome in September 2012. Photo courtesy of Wael Salibi. Rome, Italy, Mar 26, 2013 / 04:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A Syrian Christian who fled the fighting in his country believes that the Good Friday Stations of the Cross at the Coliseum will help promote Christian unity and raise awareness of the growing turmoil in the Middle East. “This will raise more awareness because the situation in Syria is dangerous, especially for Christians,” said Wael Salibi, a Christian Syrian who moved to Italy in September to flee the violence. “Christians know they will rise again like...

Hours before his election, Cardinal Bergoglio, now Pope Francis made ​​a strong criticism of the Church and urged his colleagues to draw cardinals from reverie and work with the Gospel in the geographical peripheries of the world as well as with those in existential pain, sin and ignorance . Cardinal Jaime Ortega, archbishop of Havana, revealed the contents of a document containing the intervention delivered by his counterpart Jorge Bergoglio, before being elected Pontiff.

'It was one of the most audacious acts of the Cold War which could have come straight from the pages of a spy novel. Georgi Markov was jabbed with an umbrella which fired a poison pellet into his leg as he crossed Waterloo Bridge. He died three days later – and for almost 35 years mystery has surrounded the whereabouts of his killer. Now the prime suspect has been tracked down to a small Austrian town where he works as an antiques dealer. Francesco Gullino, 66, who was known by his Communist handlers as 'Agent Piccadilly', lives in a rundown...

Life & Leisure Credit: Heavy.com Disapproving Joe Biden: 5 Memes from Pope Francis’ Inaugural Mass by SPL Staff on Mar 19, 2013 • 3:10 pm 1 Comment Listers, on the Solemnity of St. Joseph 2013 His Holiness Pope Francis celebrated his inauguration to the Petrine Ministry. In his expected style, Pope Francis charmed the crowd by stopping the popemobile to kiss a baby and bless a handicapped man. His Holiness’ homily spoke of the poor and weakest amongst us to the delegations from over 130 countries and hundreds of thousands of people. Everyone described their experience of the papal inauguration...

Full Title: 8 Reasons Why Rome Still Calls PCA Pastor and Former Catholic on the ways Rome appeals to those who have left 1. It represents the religion of my youth I grew up Roman Catholic, attended Catholic Grammar School and high school. I was a member of a Catholic youth group the Columbian Squires, and the State Chief Squire of California. My friends, family, and social group were all Catholics. There is a strong sense of common values and community in the local Catholic Church that is often rarely duplicated in the local Protestant church. 2. It pulls on...

The first days of his papacy to Pope Francis, the archbishop of Buenos Aires elected Pope with the white smoke on Wednesday evening began with a visit to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio's election as Pope has already triggered fierce debate about his past. Was Francis a helper of the Argentine military regime? No, says a Nobel Peace Prize. And rather that he was affirm the surviving relatives of a torture victim. Speechlessness followed the cheers: With a simple "Buonasera" the new Pope Francis welcomed his flock in Rome - and made a joke about his origin "at the end of the world" . A rhetorical hit that was highly appreciated at the crowd. Even in his native Argentina enthusiasm and a party atmosphere prevailed. However, not among all. "I...

WASHINGTON — Jews worldwide welcomed newly elected Pope Francis as a friend on Wednesday (March 13), and pointed in particular to his sympathetic and strong reaction to the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in his native Argentina — the deadliest bombing in the country’s history. snip Benedict does not have a bad record with the Jews, Novak said, but he didn’t give it as much attention as Pope John Paul II, who called Jews the “elder brethren” of faith. “I would like to see a kind of renewal of Jewish-Catholic relations which I think reached a high point during...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis reached out on Thursday to Rome's Jewish community, saying he hoped he would be able to contribute to furthering good relations between Catholics and Jews. The new pope sent a message to Rome's chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni, inviting him to his inaugural Mass at the Vatican on March 19. "I sincerely hope to be able to contribute to the progress that relations between Jews and Catholics have enjoyed since the Second Vatican Council," he said, according to a statement on Vatican Radio. Francis said he hoped to be able to contribute to "a...

Video of the then Cardinal Bergoglio celebrating Hanukkah....