The year 378 CE has traditionally been marked as the beginning of the end of Roman Empire, when on a scorching August day the legions of Rome were annihilated by a force of Goths, and with them the emperor Valens himself. What led these armies to clash in the first place? A disastrous immigration policy […]
Day 2 of 7 Days of Roman Founders. Last time we provided an overview of the myth of Romulus & Remus, and Manilla Road’s reception thereof. Today we move into more extreme territory, to the folk-infused Italian death metal of Ade, natives of the city of Rome itself. The band’s entire concept is devoted to […]
Zeus holds his place at the pinnacle of the Greek pantheon for a number of reasons. First and foremost, he earned it by right of might, overthrowing his own titanic father, “crooked Cronus” after a war between the Titans and Cronus’ Olympian progeny. This victory was not without the help of Zeus’ mother Rhea. Hearing […]
On this day in 363 CE, the last Roman emperor not to take up the banner of Christ, the nephew of the very Constantine who was the first Christian emperor, was wounded by a spear to the abdomen on the battlefield against the Sassanid Persian Empire. Julian would succumb to his wound 3 days later, […]
Though the greatest warrior to fight in the Trojan War, Achilles was fated to die before he could see the city fall. As with Achilles’ dear companion Patroclus before him, the archer god Apollo was instrumental in Achilles’ own demise, guiding Paris’ arrow through his mortal heel. But as Achilles avenged Patroclus, so another would […]
Classical reception by Italian bands most often takes the form of recreating the glory of imperial Rome before it fell to the malignant forces, as they see it, of the modern world. Yet some artists, such as the folk/black metal band Selvans, look even further back in the past, to a time before the Romans […]
Heavy Metal Classicist 