Julius Caesar - Coin - 44 BC

Magnifico profilo. Testa piccola.

Wreathed head of Caesar right, behind crescent; before, CAESAR·IM downwards; behind P M upwards. Border of dots. As explained by http://www.humanities.mq.edu.au/acans/caesar/Career_Coins.htm

it was struck just after Caesar's refusal of the crown at Lupercalia.

On the Lupercalia, let us read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupercalia and https://www.etymonline.com/word/february

It is possible that the world Lupercalia derived from lupus, "wolf," though both the etymology and its significance are obscure [1]. Lupercalia was a very ancient, even  pre-Roman pastoral , annual festival,[2] observed in Rome on February 15, to avert the evil spirits and purify the city. Lupercalia was also called "dies Februatus", purified (literally "februated day") after the fumes of purification (https://www.etymonline.com/word/february). 

The Lupercalia had its own priesthood, the Luperci, whose institution and rites were attributed either to the Arcadian culture-hero Evander, or to Romulus and Remus. The Luperci were young men. They formed two religious collegia based on ancestry; the Quinctiliani (named after gens Quinctia) and the Fabiani (named after gens Fabia). Each college was headed by a magister. In 44 BC, a third college, the Juliani, was instituted in honor of Julius Caesar; its first magister was Mark Antony.[10] The college of Juliani disbanded during civil wars, and was not re-established in the reforms of  Augustus. 

Descriptions of the Lupercalia festival of 44 BC attest to its continuity. During this Lupercalia, Julius Caesar refused three times a golden crown offered to him by Mark Antony.[17][18] 

SCIARRINO Morte di Borromini | T.Carraro, O.T.La Scala, R.Muti | video 1...

Salvatore SCIARRINO: "Morte di Borromini", per orchestra con lettore ('a Riccardo Muti' - 1988) *world premiere* Tino Carraro, narrator, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Riccardo Muti, conductor (PAL 4:3 | live, Teatro alla Scala, Milano, 20 October 1988)

® Restored Video Legacy | 1963-2015: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... --- 

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Sikandar the Detroyer - Multan

Cari Lettori,
leggete per cortesia come Wikipedia dipinge in modo eroico la campagna di Alessandro contro i Malli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallian_Campaign e poi leggete https://cronologia.leonardo.it/storia/ac327.htm

LO STERMINIO DEI MALLI (Novembre 326- Febbraio 325)
"Se c'erano ancora dei dubbi divenne ben presto chiaro che gli invasori Macedoni non erano benvoluti in India. Le popolazioni che abitavano la parte meridionale del Punjab non erano rette da regoli locali, ma avevano un governo repubblicano ed erano perennemente in lotta fra loro. Alessandro sottomise con una certa facilità le popolazione dei Sibi edegli Agalassi, ma trovò ben presto una resistenza maggiore nelle popolazioni successive. Visto il comune pericolo incombente le tribù più importanti, quelle degli Ossidraci e dei Malli, che abitavano intorno alla confluenza dell'Acesine con l'Idraote, avevano deciso di sospendere le loro lotte e, unirsi contro il nuovo pericolo, fortificandosi nelle loro cittadelle. Alessandro a quanto pare non volle scendere a compromessi e decise di dare un esempio di terrore, sterminando ogni volta la popolazione delle città che riusciva a prendere d'assalto. I Malli si opposero con risolutezza ma senza riuscire a respingere l'assalto: due cittadelle caddero facilmente nonostante la disperata resistenza dei difensori e vennero rase al suolo. In una di esse si era scoperto che era stata la casta dei brahmani a organizzare la resistenza fino all'ultimo uomo. Questa mattanza ebbe il culmine nell'assedio della città principale dei Malli, di cui le fonti non riportano il nome, ma che è stata identificata con l'odierna Multan. Alessandro stesso guidò i suoi uomini, scalandone le mura della cittadella, come aveva fatto a Tiro. [e c'è la descrizione di come Alessandro si sia buttato dalle mura nella cittadella dei nemici da solo]
... Le fonti dicono che, credendo morto Alessandro, i soldati si vendicarono sulla popolazione sterminandola tutta quanta, comprese le donne e i bambini, ma in verità non c'era bisogno della vendetta per comportarsi a Multan come avevano fatto altrove. I Malli furono distrutti per la fama che avevano di essere un popolo potente, coraggioso e ingovernabile. Il loro massacro aveva lo scopo di terrorizzare le tribù vicine e indurle a non opporre resistenza, e difatti gli Ossiadraci si sottomisero rapidamente, così come tutte le popolazioni della regione non ancora attaccate. Alessandro fu ridotto in fin di vita dal colpo ricevuto e solo la perizia di Perdicca nell'estrargli la freccia lo salvò da morte sicura. Il Re Macedone dopo qualche giorno ebbe la forza di mostrarsi in piedi davanti al suo esercito, che attendeva visibilmente preoccupato notizie riguardo il suo stato di salute, ma dovette aspettare molti mesi prima di riprendersi e fu davvero fortunato che la ferita non si infettasse. Finalmente la sanguinosa campagna ebbe termine nel punto in cui l'Acesine si congiunge all'Indo, in cui fu fondata l'ennesima Alessandria detta di Opiene."
Vedi anche Wikipedia in Italiano https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campagna_indiana_di_Alessandro_Magno
"Informato dell'alleanza sancita ai suoi danni (novembre 326 a.C.), Alessandro mosse incontro al nemico per evitare che le forze dei due schieramenti si congiungessero. Con una massiccia operazione anfibia, passando dal fiume Idaspe al fiume Acesines (attuale Chenab) con una flotta appena costruita, raggiunse in cinque giorni il territorio nemico e si gettò sulla prima popolazione ostile alla sua portata: la tribù dei Sibea[31]. Volendo farne un esempio, Alessandro distrusse la capitale degli indigeni, massacrò la popolazione maschile e schiavizzò le donne ed i bambini[32]. Dopodiché avviò una complessa operazione a linee interne per assicurarsi che i Malli venissero annientati: ordinò a Nearco di risalire con la flotta l'Acesines per stabilire una base avanzata, affidò un contingente a Cratero con l'ordine di marciare lungo la riva destra del fiume e prese il comando della forza che avrebbe marciato lungo la riva sinistra[33]."

Etruschi e Romani

Oggi ho trovato e  letto con estrema attenzione l'articolo dal titolo "Etruschi e Romani, fu una Shoah?", scritto da Franco Cardini e pubblicato il mercoledì 2 febbraio 2011 sull'Avvenire.
https://www.avvenire.it/agora/pagine/etruschi-e-romani-fu-una-shoah_201102020935019400000
E' un articolo da leggere e rileggere, perché costringe a pensare.

L'articolo comincia così "Ho letto le dichiarazioni dei Elie Wiesel riportate da "Avvenire" il 25 gennaio 2011. Ammiro il Wiesel scrittore, ho simpatia per il Wiesel uomo e testimone delle sofferenze del suo popolo e del nostro tempo. Tuttavia, .... " Io non ho trovato le dichiarazioni di Wiesel, ma sembra, dall'articolo di Cardini, che si parlasse di un genocidio degli Etruschi da parte dei Romani. 

Ecco cosa dice Cardini. "I Romani non commisero alcun genocidio, cioè non soppressero mai in massa il popolo etrusco; avrebbero potuto distruggere la cultura etrusca, commettere cioè un etnocidio: ma non fecero nemmeno quello, limitandosi semmai a un’assimilazione che cancellò cultura e memoria, non stirpi. ....  In realtà, nonostante la lingua latina sia di ceppo decisamente indoeuropeo e quella etrusca d’origine tuttora incerta (le polemiche continuano, le ipotesi si accumulano...), la "cancellazione" dell’idioma – il quale peraltro sopravvisse fino al V secolo d.C. come "lingua sacra", nei rituali magico-divinatori dell’etrusca disciplina – non corrispose affatto alla cancellazione demografica d’un intero popolo diffuso dalla Lombardia alla Campania e le vicende del quale sono strettamente legate a quelle dei Romani. Etruschi erano i "re di Roma" dell’ultima fase del periodo monarchico; etrusche, ancora in piena età imperiale, grandi famiglie aristocratiche come i Cecina e la gens cui apparteneva Mecenate, amico e consigliere di Augusto. Gli studi sul Dna nella media Toscana, nel Volterrano, hanno rivelato una realtà biologica ancora vitale che può esser fatta risalire agli Etruschi. Consiglio il ricorso al pur discusso, ma importante, Dizionario della lingua etrusca di Massimo Pittau, docente emerito nell’Università di Sassari (Dessì 2005), che ha sistematicamente vagliato le fonti etrusche e alla luce del quale risulta evidente come l’abbandono dell’idioma etrusco si dovette principalmente a un fenomeno di assimilazione etrusco-romana che non ci sono motivi di ritenere condotto con metodi violenti e tantomeno genocidi, ma che fu piuttosto portato avanti attraverso tecniche di organizzazione istituzionale e di politica matrimoniale".

Posso aggiungere che c'è una parola Etrusca che usiamo tutti i giorni, ed è "satellite".

Si veda: The Word Satellite, Its Origin from Etruscan and Its Translation into Greek
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2899407

Sikandar the Destroyer - Massaga

Sikandar is the Persian name of Alexander the Great. Let us consider his behaviour in the case of the  fortress of Massaga, Swat Valley. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_campaign_of_Alexander_the_Great

"A fierce contest ensued with the Aspasioi, in the course of which Alexander himself was wounded in the shoulder by a dart, but eventually the Aspasioi lost the fight; 40,000 of them were enslaved. The Assakenoi faced Alexander with an army of 30,000 cavalry, 38,000 infantry, and 30 elephants.[6] They had fought bravely and offered stubborn resistance to the invader in many of their strongholds such as the cities of Ora, Bazira, and Massaga. The fort of Massaga could only be reduced after several days of bloody fighting in which Alexander himself was wounded seriously in the ankle. When the Chieftain of Massaga fell in the battle, the supreme command of the army went to his old mother, Cleophis, who also stood determined to defend her motherland to the last extremity. The example of Cleophis assuming the supreme command of the military also brought the entire population of women of the locality into the fighting.[7][8] Alexander was only able to reduce Massaga by resorting to political strategem and actions of betrayal. According to Curtius: "Not only did Alexander slaughter the entire population of Massaga, but also did he reduce its buildings to rubbles".[9] A similar slaughter then followed at Ora, another stronghold of the Assakenoi."

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleophis
"Alexander's retaliation against the defeated Assaceni was severe. He had Massaga burned. Victor Hansen writes: "After promising the surrounded Assaceni their lives upon capitulation, he executed all their soldiers who had surrendered. Their strongholds at Ora and Aornus, were also likewise stormed. Garrisons were probably all slaughtered."[9]
"Additionally, Alexander pursued the Kamboj mercenaries, surrounded them on a hill, and killed them all. Diodorus describes the event in detail: "...The women, taking up the arms of the fallen, fought side by side with their men. Accordingly, some who had supplied themselves with arms did their best to cover their husbands with their shields, while others, who were without arms, did much to impede the enemy by flinging themselves upon them and catching hold of their shields." [10][11][12]

Cleophis came to terms with the invaders and abandoned Massaga with her followers. Diodorus Siculus says: "Cleophis sent precious gifts to Alexander with a message that she expressed her appreciation of Alexander's greatness and assured him that she would comply with the terms of the treaty."[7] According to Curtius and Arrian, Cleophis was captured along with her young granddaughter.[8]

Sikandar the Destroyer - Tyre

Sikandar is the Persian name of Alexander the Great. Let us consider his behaviour in the case of the city of Tyre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Tyre_(332_BC)
"The Siege of Tyre was orchestrated by Alexander the Great in 332 BC during his campaigns against the Persians. The Macedonian army was unable to capture the city, which was a strategic coastal base on the Mediterranean Sea, through conventional means because it was on an island and had walls right up to the sea. Alexander responded to this problem by first blockading and besieging Tyre for seven months, and then by building a causeway that allowed him to breach the fortifications.
It is said that Alexander was so enraged at the Tyrians' defence of their city and the loss of his men that he destroyed half the city. According to Arrian, 8,000 Tyrian civilians were massacred after the city fell. Alexander granted pardon to all who had sought sanctuary (safety in the temple), including Azemilcus and his family, as well as many nobles. 30,000 residents and foreigners, mainly women and children, were sold into slavery. ...  According to Quintus Curtius Rufus 6,000 fighting men were killed within the city and 2,000 Tyrians were crucified on the beach.[7] The others, some 30,000 people, were sold into slavery. The severity of reprisals reflected the length of the siege and Alexander's response to the Tyrians having executed some of his soldiers on the walls, in sight of the attackers." This is the justification given by Wikipedia for Alexander's behavior.  Let me stress that Alexander was attaching Tyre not viceversa!
From  http://factsanddetails.com/world/cat56/sub366/item2036.html "The victory over Tyre added Lebanon as well as Palestine, Syria and Egypt to Alexander's empire.Alexander was reportedly so enraged by the loss of time and men used to capture Tyre that he destroyed half the city, and rounded up its residents, who were either massacred or sold into slavery. Seven thousand people were slaughtered after the capture, 2,000 young men were crucified and 30,000 people were sold into slavery." Ecco come finanziava la sua guerra Alessandro. Faceva cassa ad ogni città conquistata.
That is, it is clear that the financial support for Alexander's war that of selling people for slavery.

Sikandar the Destroyer - Thebes

Sikandar is the Persian name of Alexander the Great.
Let us consider his behaviour in the case of the city of Thebe, and read together Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thebes

"The Battle of Thebes was a battle that took place between Alexander the Great and the Greek city state of Thebes in 335 BC.  After being made hegemon of the League of Corinth, Alexander had marched to the north to deal with revolts in Illyria and Thrace, which forced him to draw heavily from the troops in Macedonia that was maintaining pressure on the Greek city-states of the south to keep them in subjection. Although Alexander did not desire to destroy Thebes, after sending several embassies requesting their submission on what he considered merciful terms, he eventually decided to destroy the city as an example to others."

How mercyfull Alexander was!
"The Thebans made everything ready to fight to the last man, and put their women and children in the city temples.[1] They were aware that there was to be no quarter. Once the siege began, the Thebans fought desperately, fearing for their homes, wives and children. The battle went on for some time, and it was in doubt. However, Alexander sent in his reserves and the situation started to improve. Despite the Theban's valiant struggle, however, Alexander noticed that a unit of their guard had abandoned one of the gates. It is here that he sent Perdiccas troops to enter and penetrate into the city itself.[1] At this point, realizing that the fight for the city walls was a lost cause, the Thebans retreated and began their final battle within the city itself. It was around this time that Philotas and his garrison broke out of the citadel and began fighting in the battle as well.[1]
Alexander punished the Thebans severely for their rebellion. Wishing to send a message to the other Greek states, he had the 30,000 Thebans not killed in the fighting sold into slavery. The city itself was burnt to the ground, with the exception only of the house of Pindar, which Alexander ordered be left intact out of gratitude for Pindar's verses praising Alexander's ancestor, Alexander I of Macedon.[6] "

This is one of the episodes of Sikandar the Destroyer.

Camerata Ducale & Guido Rimonda - Giovan Battista Viotti: Tema e variazi... ovvero la Marsigliese

Secondo Guido Rimonda, Viotti, violinista piemontese alla corte di Maria Antonietta, scrisse questo brano nel 1781. Nel 1792 Rouget de Lisle copiò il brano come "canto di guerra". Quindi fu adottato dai volontari marsigliesi e divenne l'inno nazionale francese.

Sulla Marsigliese si veda: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Marsigliese

Mitridate e i Vespri Asiatici - Mithridates and the Asiatic Vespers

Da Wikipedia.

"I Vespri asiatici furono un eccidio commesso in Asia Minore nell'88 a.C. [6]. In risposta al crescente potere romano in Anatolia, Mitridate VI Eupatore, re del Ponto (Mitridate il grande), sfruttò lo scontento locale per il governo romano e le sue tasse per orchestrare l'esecuzione di circa 80.000 [2]/150.000 [5] Italici in Asia Minore, o di chiunque parlasse con un remoto accento latino.[7]. Quest'azione portò il Senato romano, di norma prudente, a inviare una grande forza militare in Oriente, con l'obiettivo di ridurre il potere del regno del Ponto ed eventualmente di annettere quel territorio, cosa che avverrà con una serie di conflitti noti con il nome di Guerre mitridatiche.[3]. "

Si può osservare che Mitridate aveva fatto una selezione in base etnica della popolazione del suo regno. Si veda al LINK, che cosa significa genocidio.

"The Asiatic Vespers (also known as the Asian Vespers, Ephesian Vespers, or the Vespers of 88 BC) refers to an infamous episode during the First Mithridatic War. In response to increasing Roman power in Anatolia, the king of Pontus, Mithridates the Great, tapped into local discontent with the Romans and their taxes to orchestrate the execution of all Roman and Italian citizens in Asia Minor (Anatolia).[1]

The massacre was planned scrupulously to take place on the same day in several towns scattered over Asia Minor: Ephesus, Pergamon, Adramyttion, Caunus, Tralles, Nysa, and the island of Chios.[2] Estimates of the number of men, women, and children killed range from 80,000[3] to 150,000.[4] Slaves who helped to kill their Roman masters and those who spoke languages other than Latin were spared. The massacre led to the Roman Senate committing a huge invasion force aimed at breaking the power of the Kingdom of Pontus and eventually annexing their territory in a series of conflicts known as the Mithridatic Wars.[5]

The date of the massacre is disputed by modern historians who have written about the question at length. Sherwin-White places the event in late 89 or early 88 BC.[6] Badian, saying "precision seems impossible," places it in the first half of 88 BC, no later than the middle of that year.[7]

The name "Vèpres éphésiennes" was coined in 1890 by historian Théodore Reinach to describe the massacre, making a retrospective analogy with the Sicilian Vespers of 1282.[8] Subsequent historians have adopted some variation of the phrase, using Vespers as a euphemism for "massacre"."

In livius.org, Mithridates is defined as "enemy of Rome in first century BCE", by Jona Lendering, who is telling that "The conflict with Rome that was to last for the rest of Mithridates' life became inevitable in 94, when Nicomedes III of Bithynia died and was succeeded by Nicomedes IV Philopator." Lendering is not mentioning the infamous massacre.

That is, he is not mentioning the act of Mithidates of selecting, amongst the population of his kingdom, the Latin people to slaughter them in large number. Actually, in Oxford dictionary, we find that the "genocide" means "the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular nation or ethnic group". 

I Taurini ed Annibale - 218 a. C. - The Taurini and Hannibal - 218 BC

 Nel 218 a.C. Annibale valicò le  Alpi, probabilmente passando per le Traversette. Per giungere ad attaccare Roma, Annibale doveva passare per il  territorio dei Taurini, predecessori dei Torinesi. I Taurini rallentarono la sua avanzata, segno evidente della loro consistenza militare, ma la città dei Taurini fu infine presa e i suoi abitanti che avevano scelto di ribellarsi e resistere furono passati a fil di spada. Da allora sino alla romanizzazione si perde traccia dei Taurini.
Tutti i Taurini, e dico tutti, sono scomparsi dalla storia, grazie ad Annibale, "one of the greatest military leaders in history", come lo definisce Jona Lendering in livius.org.

In 218 BC Hannibal crossed the Alps, probably through the Traversette. To attach Rome, Hannibal had to cross the land of the Taurini, predecessors of the Torinesi. The Taurini slowed down his march, and this is a clear sign of their military consistence. However, the town of Taurini was captured and its people, who had chosen to rebel and resist, had been put to the sword. From that time until the Romanization, any track of the Taurini is lost.
The Taurini as a whole, I mean all of them, disappeared from history, thanks to Hannibal, "one of the greatest military leaders in history", as defined by Jona Lendering in livius.org.

Resta solo il ricordo di questo popolo valoroso nel nome della nostra grande città fondata da Giulio Cesare,  Torino!


Adattato  da: http://www.museotorino.it/view/s/c1d7e02f24f74b1b91b58b307020f856
Bibliografia: Culasso Gastaldi, Enrica, Annibale e i Taurini, in Sergi, Giuseppe (a cura di), Storia di Torino. Dalla preistoria al Comune medievale, Vol. 1, G. Einaudi, Torino 1997, pp. 116-121