Latin Language Blog

Centurion is the title of a film released this month in the U.S.. The film is a U.K. production and was inspired by the story of the Ninth Legion. Historically speaking, the Ninth Legion was scheduled to march into present day Scotland, but the record of the legion disappeared. The film gives a possible explanation as to what happened to the Ninth Legion. For those of you who like action thrillers, you might be interested to take a look at this film.

A centurion (centurio) was a high ranking military officer of the Roman army. Under the Marian reforms, a centurion commanded 100 men. The centurion was responsible for training and drilling his men and leading them into battle. To be a centurion, one had to be able to read and write Latin, have some sort of political, economic or social connections and have some experience on the battlefield. Being a centurion was dangerous. They were often on the front lines, fighting with their men.

In some societies, suicide is considered an act of cowardice, but in ancient Roman society, suicide was one of the means to restore one’s honor and dignity. There are countless examples of notable ancient Roman men and women who choose to die by their own hand, rather than suffer the humiliation of defeat by the hands of their enemy.

One such person was Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger, or more commonly known as the guy who helped assassinate Julius Caesar. After Caesar’s death, Brutus led an army that was defeated by Marcus Antonius. To preserve his honor, Brutus committed suicide and uttered a curse against Antonius as his last words upon death.

The curse may have worked, because Marcus Antonius, also known as Mark Antony, committed suicide as well. According to Plutarch, Antony had asked his servant to assist in the suicide. His servant refused and Antony took it upon himself to fall upon his sword. He botched the suicide and was taken to Cleopatra’s arms, where he finally died.

Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis who was also known as Cato the Younger, was famous for his gruesome suicide. Cato was garrisoned at Utica. When word reached Cato of Julius Caesar’s victory in the Battle of Thapsus, Cato plunged a sword into his abdomen. However, he wasn’t able to die immediately, and before the doctors could sew him up, he pulled out his own bowels and died instantly.

We have a few ancient Roman mosaics that are completely intact. Since mosaics are created by assembling pieces of stone, tile, or glass, one piece of tile or stone or glass that is missing can make a piece of art incomplete. As a result, it’s nothing short of a miracle that a mosaic is perfectly preserved until modern times. The greatest number of ancient Roman mosaics in one location happens to be a villa in Sicily.

The mosaics in this villa were preserved by a landslide that covered the mosaics from the rain and heat. There’s a famous mosaic colloquially called the “Bikini Girls”. The mosaic depicts several women completing physical activities, which was somewhat of an unusual theme for ancient Roman art. When women were depicted in Roman art, they were usually a modest matron or maiden, a goddess or a prostitute.

Other mosaic themes include battle scenes like the famous Alexander mosaic found in the House of Faun (an ancient Roman residence). Parts of the mosaic are missing, but it’s still considered an exceptional piece of art. This mosaic was made in the style of opus vermiculatum or “worm like work”. It’s where the titles are arranged to look like the crawling motion of a worm.