In ancient architecture, the term basement meant the lower part of a building. In Greek temples, the basement is represented by the raised platform, accessed by stairs, where the columns of the building stand. ...

Cicero, in his work the Tusculanae Disputationes (Tusculan Disputations), recalls the years of tyranny of Dionysius as a period of true slavery and tells many anecdotes about his life. It seems that the tyrant trusted no one: to avoid relying on a barber, he forced his daughters to cut his hair and...

To the ancient Greeks, Asclepius was the god of medicine. Son of Apollo, in life he devoted himself to caring for the sick to alleviate human suffering; some legends even tell that he managed to revive the dead. Because he had dared to defy the natural law that all humans are mortal, Zeus flew i...

The glass jars often placed inside small niches on the outer sides of the arcosolia were "blood ampullae", very common in the catacomb of San Giovanni. The ampullae were used by the first Christians to hold the blood of the martyrs. The jars were kept in the tomb of the martyr to bear witness to t...

In the last years of his life, Caravaggio spent a brief period in Syracuse, where he was commissioned to paint the canvas depicting "The Burial of St. Lucy" for the Church of Santa Lucia al Sepolcro in Syracuse. The masterpiece was completed in less than one month. The scene's tragedy is conferred ...

According to tradition, in ancient Syracuse theatrical performance was considered a form of institutional activity and was, therefore, granted to all citizens. Most of the population participated in the shows, including women, children and slaves. The city also paid a contribution, called the "teo...

The Hannibal mentioned is Hannibal Mago, a proud leader and Carthaginian king who died of the plague during the siege of Akragas in 406 BC. He made history for his military expeditions in Sicily. In Agrigento, the Carthaginian soldiers he commanded besieged the city to take revenge for Greek attac...

The word tributary means a waterway that runs into another, larger river....

From medieval Latin adeptus, the term now indicates the followers of a religion or secret society, but also of associations and parties. Originally, the word was used in the Middle Ages to define the alchemists who researched the philosophers' stone....

A typically semicircular architectural structure in the shape of a half cylinder, defined with a vault, also known as an apsidal basin. The apse, a typical element of Roman architecture, is most commonly found at the end of a church nave, in ancient times often facing east....