Vatican department shares Rome palazzo with gay sauna

12 March 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21753860

A historic palazzo in Rome that houses a key Vatican department is also the home of a well-known gay sauna.

The Holy See paid 20m euros (£17.5m) in 2008 for around 20 apartments in the building for the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

Its Prefect Emeritus, Cardinal Ivan Dias, is one of the priestly residents.

The proximity to Europa Multiclub, billed as Italy's top gay sauna, has drawn comment due to the Vatican's strict stance on gay partnerships.

The facility boasts a Turkish bath, Finnish sauna, whirlpools and massages.

Also on offer are "bear parties", which are advertised on its website with a video of a man stripping down before donning clerical attire.

Bruno, "a hairy, overweight pastor of souls, is free to the music of his clergyman, remaining in a thong, because he wants to expose body and soul", the website says.

The Vatican has declined to comment on the proximity of the sauna to the headquarters of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples - which is responsible for missionary activities - but Cardinal Dias has previously said that gays and lesbians can be cured of their "unnatural tendencies" through the "sacrament of penance"...

Obama & The Mayan Ruins

03-26-11
http://www.shout.net/~bigred/cn.html

(Melchizedek Communique, MC032611) During last week's tour of South and Central America, President Barack Obama was scheduled to visit some Mayan ruins in Yucatan. But Obama suddenly cancelled the visit. The cover story is, disagreements about the Libyan situation.

Carl Gustav Jung could not bring himself to visit Rome. He had some sort of phobia about going to Rome. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh interpreted the Rome phobia as fear of a decayed system. Jung had built an elaborate psychological system. Jung's "Collected Works" contain about 20 volumes! Seeing Rome would have meant to Jung, according to the Bhagwan, seeing the ultimate decay of his own system.

Barack Obama could not bring himself to visit the Mayan ruins. His knees began to shake and he was sweating profusely. And so, a cover story was used to explain away the cancellation of the planned visit.

If President Obama had gone to the Mayan ruins, it would have collapsed his worldview. For there before his eyes would have been unmistakable evidence for a civilization which had arisen many thousands of years ago. Like most professors, Obama clings to a false notion that the Mayans were more recent, from circa 1000 A.D. Otherwise the professors would have to face the cyclical rise-and-fall of civilizations. To do that would wreck their "reality." (Their "reality" is that of consistent "progress" over thousands of years and of a straight-line evolutionary ascent.)

In June of 2009, Obama was in Cairo where he gave a speech, early in his presidency. In Cairo, Obama declared that "tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were too often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations." Later, after the mid-term elections in the United States, an astonishing wave of eruptions began in many Muslim-majority countries. It was as if in 2009, in Cairo, President Obama had foreseen what was about to happen! (Further background: "Cleopatra Rushed To Hospital", http://www.shout.net/~bigred/mc021211.html)

What do the Arab eruptions mean for Israel? U.S. proxy client states surrounding the Crusader Kingdom are beginning to fall like dominoes. Richard the Lionheart has left the building. Is Israel to be evacuated? (Background: "Israel to be Evacuated", http://www.shout.net/~bigred/mc012811.html)

Rahm Emanuel, of dual Israeli-U.S. citizenship, is being shoe-horned in as the next King of Illinois, also called "Mayor of Chicago." Chicago politics is peculiar in that, once a Democrat candidate has been selected in a smoke-filled back room, the Republican mayoral candidate is just a formality. Do we even know who the Republican mayoral candidate for Chicago is? Why bother to report it!? Everyone knows a Republican mayor is not possible in Chicago.

South of the Kankakee River, Illinois is just like the "Bob's Country Bunker" from the movie "The Blues Brothers." The northern half is an entirely different state. When Jake and Elwood Blues took the band out on tour and left the Chicago realm, it was like they had entered an entirely different Illinois! Furthermore, Illinois is in the most dire financial situation of all the 50 U.S. states.

But if a 51st state (Israel) were to have an exodus, they could come to Illinois and bring their money with them. This would solve the financial crisis in Illinois. But in which half of Illinois would the arriving refugees settle? A good bet would be the northern half, where Rahm Emanuel is soon to preside.

The Dark Origins Of Valentine's Day

Arnie Seipel
February 13, 2011
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133693152/the-dark-origins-of-valentines-day

Valentine's Day is a time to celebrate romance and love and kissy-face fealty. But the origins of this festival of candy and cupids are actually dark, bloody — and a bit muddled.

Though no one has pinpointed the exact origin of the holiday, one good place to start is ancient Rome, where men hit on women by, well, hitting them.

Those Wild and Crazy Romans

From Feb. 13 to 15, the Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia. The men sacrificed a goat and a dog, then whipped women with the hides of the animals they had just slain.

The Roman romantics "were drunk. They were naked," says Noel Lenski, a historian at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Young women would actually line up for the men to hit them, Lenski says. They believed this would make them fertile.

The brutal fete included a matchmaking lottery, in which young men drew the names of women from a jar. The couple would then be, um, coupled up for the duration of the festival – or longer, if the match was right.

The ancient Romans may also be responsible for the name of our modern day of love. Emperor Claudius II executed two men — both named Valentine — on Feb. 14 of different years in the 3rd century A.D. Their martyrdom was honored by the Catholic Church with the celebration of St. Valentine's Day.

Later, Pope Gelasius I muddled things in the 5th century by combining St. Valentine's Day with Lupercalia to expel the pagan rituals. But the festival was more of a theatrical interpretation of what it had once been. Lenski adds, "It was a little more of a drunken revel, but the Christians put clothes back on it. That didn't stop it from being a day of fertility and love."

Around the same time, the Normans celebrated Galatin's Day. Galatin meant "lover of women." That was likely confused with St. Valentine's Day at some point, in part because they sound alike.

As the years went on, the holiday grew sweeter. Chaucer and Shakespeare romanticized it in their work, and it gained popularity throughout Britain and the rest of Europe. Handmade paper cards became the tokens-du-jour in the Middle Ages.

Eventually, the tradition made its way to the New World. The industrial revolution ushered in factory-made cards in the 19th century. And in 1913, Hallmark Cards of Kansas City, Mo., began mass producing valentines. February has not been the same since.

Today, the holiday is big business: According to market research firm IBIS World, Valentine's Day sales reached $17.6 billion last year; this year's sales are expected to total $18.6 billion.

But that commercialization has spoiled the day for many. Helen Fisher, a sociologist at Rutgers University, says we have only ourselves to blame.

"This isn't a command performance," she says. "If people didn't want to buy Hallmark cards, they would not be bought, and Hallmark would go out of business."

And so the celebration of Valentine's Day goes on, in varied ways. Many will break the bank buying jewelry and flowers for their beloveds. Others will celebrate in a SAD (that's Single Awareness Day) way, dining alone and binging on self-gifted chocolates. A few may even be spending this day the same way the early Romans did. But let's not go there.

Silvio Berlusconi: girls and marijuana on his private jet

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8109011/Silvio-Berlusconi-girls-and-marijuana-on-his-private-jet.html

Silvio Berlusconi: girls and marijuana on his private jet
Most Italians thought Silvio Berlusconi could not drag their country's reputation any lower. But on Wednesday the sleaze allegations against the Italian prime minister plumbed new depths when a call girl claimed that his private jet was used to supply marijuana to sex parties at his villa in Sardinia.
Nick Squires in Rome
03 Nov 2010

Nadia Macri', 28, has told investigators the billionaire premier paid her €10,000 (£8,738) for intercourse when she visited him at Villa Certosa in Sardinia last year and at Arcore, his private residence outside Milan in April.

Miss Macri', an aspiring model and television showgirl who dreamed of appearing on the Italian equivalent of Big Brother, claimed marijuana joints were provided for about 25 young women who had been invited to Villa Certosa, where Mr Berlusconi has entertained Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin.

"There was grass available in all the rooms, it had been brought in on the prime minister's private jet," she told investigators, according to transcripts published by several Italian newspapers. "I saw a number of guests smoking, but never the prime minister."

The claims surfaced in an unrelated investigation into a cocaine trafficking ring allegedly involving Perla Genovesi, a former official in Mr Berlusconi's People of Freedom Party who is now a police whistle-blower. In 300 pages of testimony recorded last month, Miss Macri' said: "I've been to Berlusconi's homes three times, but we had sex on only on two occasions: once in Sardinia and once at Arcore. He gave me €10,000 and other small presents. He personally gave me the money in an envelope."

The allegations were denied by Niccolo Ghedini, Mr Berlusconi's lawyer. "This is about declarations which have already been dismissed by other witnesses … parties at Villa Certosa are always conducted with the utmost propriety."

Miss Macri' claimed she was introduced to the 74-year-old media mogul by Lele Mora, a celebrity agent who has been mentioned by other women connected to the prime minister, and who is being investigated on charges of aiding and abetting prostitution. Aspiring actresses and models were reportedly put through a kind of selection process by a 79-year-old close media friend of Mr Berlusconi.

Many of the details of her statement echoed claims made by an 18-year-old Moroccan belly dancer who says she too attended private parties at the prime minister's home. Karima El Mahroug, who called herself on her Facebook page Ruby Rubacuori or Ruby Stealer of Hearts, has denied that she slept with the prime minister.

The most damaging element of her reported relationship with the prime minister is that he allegedly ordered police in Milan to release her from custody when she was arrested on theft charges in May, claiming that she was the granddaughter of Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president.

Miss El Mahroug also revealed that Mr Berlusconi has a marble statue of himself as Superman at his Sardinian villa.

Talking of a party at the villa she said: “I was sat next to Silvio. We talked about everything except politics and he made fun of the opposition leader Pier Luigi Bersani.

“Then he showed us a marble statue of Superman that had his (Berlusconi’s) face.”

Vatican bank chief investigated over money laundering claims

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/21/vatican-bank-chief-investigated-laundering

Vatican bank chief investigated over money laundering claims
In unprecedented move, judge freezes €23m held in account at financial institution with close church links
John Hooper in Rome
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 21 September 2010

The head of the Vatican bank has formally been placed under investigation in an inquiry into a suspected violation of Italy's money-laundering laws, judicial sources said today.

At the same time, a judge in Rome ordered a freeze on €23m (£19.5m) held in an account opened by the Vatican bank, the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), at another financial institution in the Italian capital. It was thought to be the first time such action had been authorised against the IOR in Italy.

Since last September, the Bank of Italy has classified the Vatican bank as a non-EU institution whose dealings with other banks are thus subject to especially close scrutiny.

The sources said that last Wednesday, on the eve of Pope Benedict's departure for Britain, a unit of the Italian revenue guard alerted prosecutors to an anomaly in an account owned by the IOR at the Rome branch of Credito Artigiano, which has close historic ties to the Catholic church.

Of the €28m deposited, €23m was destined for transfer to JP Morgan in Frankfurt and another €3m to another Italian bank. But in neither case, it is alleged, had the Vatican's bankers supplied details of the individual or corporation for whom they were acting, as required by a 2007 legislative decree.

The sources said the president of the IOR, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, and another senior executive were under investigation. It was not immediately clear whether there was any connection between this inquiry and another in which the Vatican bank has been named, which concerns suspect property dealings.

The Vatican has a long history of withholding co-operation from Italian investigators seeking access to its bank's books. The IOR was involved in a major scandal in 1982 arising from the fraudulent bankruptcy of Banco Ambrosiano, then Italy's largest private bank.

Highest-Paid Athlete Hailed From Ancient Rome

http://news.discovery.com/history/highest-paid-athlete-hailed-from-ancient-rome.html

Highest-Paid Athlete Hailed From Ancient Rome
Rossella Lorenzi
Wed Sep 1, 2010

Ultra millionaire sponsorship deals such as those signed by sprinter Usain Bolt, motorcycle racer Valentino Rossi and tennis player Maria Sharapova, are just peanuts compared to the personal fortune amassed by a second century A.D. Roman racer, according to an estimate published in the historical magazine Lapham's Quarterly.

According to Peter Struck, associate professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, an illiterate charioteer named Gaius Appuleius Diocles earned “the staggering sum" of 35,863,120 sesterces (ancient Roman coins) in prize money.

Recorded in a monumental inscription erected in 146 A.D., the figure eclipses the fortunes of all modern sport stars, including golfer Tiger Woods, hailed by Forbes magazine last fall “sports' first billion-dollar man.”

Diocles, “the most eminent of all charioteers,” according to the inscription, was born in Lusitania, in what is now Portugal and south-west Spain, and started his spectacular career in 122 A.D., when he was 18.

Life for a charioteer in Rome wasn’t easy. Often slaves who could eventually buy their freedom, these racers engaged in wild laps of competition at the Circus Maximum, running a total of about 4,000 meters (nearly 2.5 miles).

“After seven savage laps, those who managed not to be upended or killed and finish in the top three took home prizes,” wrote Struck.

Experienced charioteers drove hard-to-manage chariots driven by four or even more horses.

Their sporting equipment included a leather helmet, shin guards, chest protector, a jersey, a whip, and a sharp knife with which to cut the reins if the chariot overturned.

Although drivers did not have their helmets or whips blessed by generous sponsorship, they could rely on stables or factions, basically teams similar to today’s Formula One: the Reds, Greens, Blues and Whites.

“The drivers affiliated with teams supported by large businesses that invested heavily in training and upkeep of the horses and equipment,” said Struck.

Diocles won his first race two years after his debut with the Whites, four years later, he briefly moved with the great rivals the Greens. But had the most success with the Reds, with whom he remained until the end of his career at the age of “42 years, 7 months, and 23 days.”

He is said to have won 1,462 of his 4,257 races and finished second 861 times, making nine horse “centenari” (100-time winners) and one horse, Pompeianus, a 200-time winner.

The inscription details his winning tactics: he “took the lead and won 815 times,” took the competitors by surprise by “coming from behind and winning 67 times,” and “won in stretch 36 times.”

Although other racers surpassed him in the total number of victories -- a driver called Pompeius Musclosus collected 3,599 winnings -- Diocles became the richest of all, as he run and won at big money events. For example, he is recorded to have made 1,450,000 sesterces in just 29 victories.

Struck calculated that Diocles’ s total earnings of 35,863,120 sesterces were enough to provide grain for the entire population of Rome for one year, or to fund the Roman Army at its height for more than two months.

“By today’s standards that last figure, assuming the apt comparison is what it takes to pay the wages of the American armed forces for the same period, would cash out to about $15 billion,” wrote Struck.

“Even without his dalliances, it is doubtful Tiger could have matched it,” he added.

Michelangelo hid anatomical sketches in Sistine Chapel in Church attack

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/7833070/Michelangelo-hid-anatomical-sketches-in-Sistine-Chapel-in-Church-attack.html

Michelangelo hid anatomical sketches in Sistine Chapel in Church attack
Michelangelo concealed anatomical sketches in the robes and faces of the figures he painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in a coded attack on the Church's disdain for science, researchers believe.
Nick Squires in Rome
17 Jun 2010

The cleverly disguised drawing of a human brain, which has remained unnoticed for 500 years, may have been a coded reference to the clash between science and religion.

The Renaissance master, who painted the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel between 1508 and 1512, would have been familiar with what a brain looked like – he was an accomplished anatomist who is known to have dissected many corpses.

According to two American neuroscientists, the image of the brain is ingeniously hidden in the depiction of God's neck and chin in "Separation of Light From Darkness", which depicts the first act performed by God in the creation of the universe.

It is one of nine panels on the Sistine Chapel's ceiling based on scenes from the Book of Genesis.

Art historians have long speculated that the strange, lumpy appearance of the figure's neck may represent a goiter.

But Ian Suk and Rafael Tamargo, of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, believe instead that it bears a striking resemblance to the crevices and creases of a human brain.

"Stunningly, following Michelangelo's outline, one can draw into God's neck and beard an anatomically correct ventral depiction of the brain," they write in the scientific journal "Neurosurgery".

"We propose that Michelangelo, a deeply religious man and an accomplished anatomist, intended to enhance the meaning of this ... panel and possibly document his anatomic accomplishments by concealing this sophisticated neuro-anatomic rendering within the image of God."

They also believe that an odd-looking, vertical fold in the crimson robe worn by the figure of God represents the spinal cord, and that a mysterious Y-shaped fold at his waist may be an optic nerve.

Leonardo da Vinci had produced a detailed study of optic nerves 20 years previously in 1487, a study which Michelangelo may well have seen when the two worked in Florence at the same time.

The new thesis may explain something that has puzzled art critics for centuries – the peculiar lighting of God's neck.

Most of the fresco is illuminated from the lower left of the panel, but the neck is lit head-on and slightly from the right, casting different shadows.

Profs Suk and Tamargo argue that, far from being a clumsy error by Michelangelo, the peculiar angle deliberately enhanced the anatomical components of the brain.

By merging an image of God with a human brain, Michelangelo may have been seeking a covert outlet to show off his anatomical knowledge at a time when picking apart cadavers was frowned on by the Roman Catholic Church.

Alternatively, he may have been alluding to the wisdom of the Almighty or – more dangerously - hinting at his growing belief that ordinary Christians had the wit and intelligence to directly commune with God, rather than pray to Him indirectly through the Church.

That was an idea that would have been seen as heresy, particularly as the fresco is situated directly above the chapel altar.

Michelangelo's relationship with the Vatican became increasingly fraught during his career.

He fell out with Pope Julius II over payment for painting the Sistine Chapel, and came to loathe what he saw as the extravagance and vanity of the Church.

This is not the first time that medical experts have discerned hidden anatomical drawings in Michelangelo's work.

In 1990, an American doctor, Frank Meshberger, published a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association in which he suggested that a cross-section image of a brain was concealed in another of the Sistine Chapel panels, the "Creation of Adam".

Why Berlusconi is the World's Coolest Leader

The Konformist koverage kontinue's...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/5760120/Silvio-Berlusconi-picks-former-topless-model-Mara-Carfagna-as-G8-escort.html

Silvio Berlusconi picks former topless model Mara Carfagna as G8 escort
Faced with the thorny problem of having no "First Lady" to look after the G8 leaders' spouses on their three day trip to Italy, Silvio Berlusconi has come up with a solution in keeping with his reputation.
By Nick Squires in Rome
06 Jul 2009

The Italian prime minister has asked a former topless model turned government minister to stand in for his estranged wife.

The 72-year-old premier has chosen Mara Carfagna – now Italy's equal opportunities minister – to take care of the likes of Michelle Obama and Sarah Brown.

Miss Carfagna, 33, is an ex-glamour girl whose sultry looks and portfolio of lingerie calendars earned her the title of the world's sexiest government minister from men's magazine Maxim.

The one-time Miss Italy contestant will be supported in the role by another attractive young member of the cabinet, education minister Maria Stella Gelmini.

Mr Berlusconi is said to have chosen Miss Carfagna and Miss Gelmini to reward them for being "staunch champions" as he has battled allegations that he slept with a high-class call-girl at his mansion in Rome last November. Together they will guide the G8 wives around Rome and the mountain town of L'Aquila 65 miles away, where the summit is being held from Wednesday to Friday.

But the appointment of the pair has reportedly sparked a "cold war" with two of Mr Berlusconi's other favourites, youth minister Giorgia Meloni and environment minister Stefania Prestigiacomo.

Miss Meloni has been forced to deny she felt snubbed, saying she had other G8 duties to attend to: "I can't see what all the fuss is about."

There had been intense speculation over how Mr Berlusconi would solve the problem of no longer having a First Lady of his own when it came to hosting the G8.

Veronica Lario, a former actress who first caught his eye when she appeared on stage topless, announced in early May that she wanted a divorce.

She condemned as "shameless rubbish" a plan by his People of Freedom party to promote showgirls and starlets as Italy's candidates in the European elections.

She also accused him of "frequenting minors" after he dropped in on a Naples disco to attend the 18th birthday party of Noemi Letizia, a blonde lingerie model, and gave her a gold and diamond necklace worth more than £5,000.

Mr Berlusconi's private life has become even more turbulent since then. He was accused of misusing government aircraft to fly guests to private parties at his luxury villa in Sardinia.

A Spanish newspaper also published photographs of women wearing only bikini thongs taking outdoor showers and lounging in the sun by the villa's swimming pools.

Then came the allegation that women were paid to attend his parties and that one of them, Patrizia D'Addario, 42, spent the night with him at his residence in Rome, Palazzo Grazioli.

The G8 spouses will tomorrow [wed] have an audience with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, and then be taken on a tour of the devastation caused by the massive earthquake which hit L'Aquila on April 6, killing nearly 300 people and leaving thousands homeless.

They will also visit museums in Rome and have a meeting with UN food agencies based in the capital on the role of women in fighting hunger.

The choice of chaperone is likely to quicken the pulse of the only man in the group, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's husband, Joachim Sauer.

Rumours have swirled around the nature of Mr Berlusconi's relationship with Miss Carfagna since he joked to the one-time showgirl at an awards dinner two years ago: "If I was not already married, I would run off with you immediately."

His furious wife, Veronica Lario, 52, complained publicly and he was forced to issue an apology. But that did not stop him from promoting Miss Carfagna to the cabinet as soon as he got the chance.

When a female comedian joked last year that she was only made an MP because she gave sexual favours to Mr Berlusconi, she announced she would sue for one million euros (£790,000).

Silvio Berlusconi keeps smiling

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/22/silvio-berlusconi-italy-sex-scandal

Silvio Berlusconi keeps smiling as sex scandal gets deeper by the day
Prime minister attempts to carry on as normal despite further revelations
Tom Kington in Rome
The Guardian, Tuesday 23 June 2009

If Silvio Berlusconi fears four years of being a lame duck prime minister as a result of the sex scandal engulfing him, he was not showing it at the weekend as he went on a walkabout in Milan, kissing babies, discussing which AC Milan players he might sell and sketching out his political agenda to a crowd of admirers.

"He was talking about what plans he has for 2010; he clearly intends to ignore everything, waiting for it to blow over," said Raffaele De Mucci, a professor of political science at Luiss University in Rome.

Tom Kington: 'There is distinct unease among many of his allies' Link to this audio It is unlikely that it will blow over by the time the world's leaders arrive in Italy next month for the G8 conference. Magistrates in the southern city of Bari are pushing on with an investigation into a possible prostitution racket and are getting ready to question 30 women, some of whom are suspected to have been paid by a local businessman to attend five parties held by Berlusconi, La Repubblica reported yesterday.

One of the guests already questioned – model Barbara Montereale – has alleged that a paid escort, Patrizia D'Addario, slept with the prime minister on 4 November. Yesterday, Montereale released photographs she alleges she took as souvenirs in Berlusconi's bathroom and described the large number of eastern European women she says she met during a visit to his villa in Sardinia.

"They seemed at home, were on familiar terms with the prime minister and all called him Papi," she told La Repubblica, adding that she saw the girls dressed as Father Christmas in a video shown of an earlier party. "They were a bit jealous of each other and in competition to see who could get closer [to Berlusconi]."

Berlusconi's troubles with the opposite sex have advanced since May, when he fought against accusations of consorting with minors after attending the 18th birthday party of Noemi Letizia, an aspiring model who called the 72-year-old "Papi" during private conversations on the phone.

That was enough to push Berlusconi's wife to ask for a divorce. The Bari inquiry could go further and rattle the foundations of the Italian government, said De Mucci. "The fewer votes Berlusconi got in the EU elections, the noisy protests at his recent rallies, all showed a drop in his support because of the scandal," he said.

"Now his allies are disoriented, the electorate's faith in the governing class will be further weakened and he risks losing the political capital he built up with his handling of the Abruzzo earthquake and the Naples rubbish crisis."

De Mucci added that he was not surprised by Berlusconi's recent denouncements of the number of Chinese living in Prato, near Florence, and the number of Africans he saw in Milan.

"The shakier his authority, the more he will lean on the Northern League for support," he said, referring to the anti-immigrant party with which Berlusconi's Freedom People party is allied. "But I doubt he is on his way out. His own party would not continue to exist without him. They would have to reinvent itself and I don't see them doing that."

For the Italian opposition, the question is how vulnerable Berlusconi is to the girls to whom he has thrown open his doors open. Unsatisfied with being named a candidate in local elections for a party in Bari allied to Berlusconi, D'Addario revealed all to the Italian press, reportedly telling Montereale: "This is our moment; I will make him pay and we will become famous like Noemi."

Luigi Zanda, of the opposition Democratic party, said: "Berlusconi has said nothing about how blackmailable he is and the government is ignoring the question."

Judging by his baby kissing at the weekend, Berlusconi feels the scandal will wither. Sandro Bondi, his culture minister, went on the counterattack yesterday, saying that La Repubblica, the left-leaning newspaper that has kept the prime minister under pressure, was "the largest threat to our democracy".

In Rome, the result of the scandal appeared to be an equal stiffening of resolve among the Italians who love Berlusconi and those who loathe him.

"He's got skeletons in his cupboard, but scandals don't count here and he will stay put for his whole five years," said tobacconist Roberta Canini bitterly.

"What scandal?" retorted retired civil servant Eliza Baciocchi at a corner bar on the busy Corso Francia. "Berlusconi is a gentleman when it comes to the ladies and only magistrates and the left see fit to pry into his private life."

Carlo Maschi, a legal assistant, said Berlusconi should be forgiven for his behaviour because he was a businessman, not a politician. "Look at how he kept Angela Merkel waiting when he was on his cellphone. He is made like that and that is fine by me," he said.

It was left to a young women to challenge Berlusconi in Milan. "Ask him about the prostitutes," she yelled at the crowd surrounding the prime minister, before she was hustled away by police.

Why Silvio Berlusconi is the world's coolest leader

Why Silvio Berlusconi is the world's coolest leader...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/5610944/Wives-of-G8-leaders-urged-to-boycott-summit-over-sexist-Berlusconi.html

Wives of G8 leaders urged to boycott summit over 'sexist' Berlusconi
The wives of world leaders who are due to attend the G8 summit in Italy next month have been urged to boycott the event in protest over Silvio Berlusconi's "offensive" attitude to women.
By Nick Squires in Rome
23 Jun 2009

Photo: Lucia Rossini and Barbara Montereale (rt) taking photographs of each other in what they claimed was a bathroom at Silvo Berlusconi's private residence in Rome in 2008

Three Italian female academics are calling on Gordon Brown's wife, Sarah, President Obama's wife, Michele and other leaders' spouses not to attend the gathering in L'Aquila, which will be hosted by the Italian prime minister.

The academics have written an open "Appeal to the First Ladies" and said they were appalled, "as citizens of Italy and Europe", by the attitude displayed towards women by Mr Berlusconi, 72, who is engulfed in scandal over his private life.

They were "profoundly indignant" over his treatment of women "both in public and in private," they said.

In the past two months he has been accused of "consorting with minors" by his wife, Veronica Lario, of having an inappropriate relationship with an 18-year-old underwear model and of sleeping with a high-class call-girl during a private party at his residence in Rome in November.

A businessman acquaintance of the prime minister is being investigated by police and prosecutors in Bari, southern Italy, on suspicion of "abetting prostitution" by allegedly supplying escorts to parties thrown by Mr Berlusconi at his mansion in Rome and his villa in Sardinia.

Mr Berlusconi denies the claims.

The academics accused the prime minister of sexism over plans drawn up by his party, People of Freedom, to promote actresses, a former Big Brother contestant and a Miss Italy model as candidates for the European Parliament elections earlier this month. The proposal was later shelved after Mr Berlusconi's wife called it "shamelessly trashy".

The letter was drawn up by Anne Maass, associate professor of social psychology at Padua University, Chiara Volpato, lecturer in social psychology at Bicocca University, Milan and Angelica Mucchi Faina, lecturer in social psychology at Perugia University.

'Angels & Demons' tour illuminates Rome

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2009-05-14-rome-angels-and-demons-tour_N.htm

'Angels & Demons' tour illuminates the charms of Rome
By Chris Gray Faust, USA TODAY
5-14-9

VATICAN CITY — The faithful stream into St. Peter's Square on Christianity's holiest day, engulfing the Egyptian obelisk that centers the piazza so carefully planned by 17th-century sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Stern despite their colorful striped uniforms, members of the Swiss Guards direct those in the Easter crowd fortunate enough to procure free tickets to chairs, while others stand, waiting for a glimpse of papal pomp.

It's a scene that could be taken straight out of Angels & Demons, author Dan Brown's best-selling prequel to the hugely successful — and highly controversial — novel The Da Vinci Code. Just like that book, Angels & Demons has been made into a movie starring Tom Hanks as symbologist Robert Langdon, which opens today around the world.

Set in Vatican City and Rome, Angels & Demons pits Langdon (paired with an intelligent and attractive female sidekick, Vittoria Vetra) against a modern incarnation of an ancient foe of the Roman Catholic Church, the Illuminati. In the book, Catholics fill St. Peter's Square, awaiting the announcement of Il Conclave, the assembly of cardinals charged with selecting a new pope. Little do they know they are sitting atop a time bomb — and that four cardinals in line for the job are being murdered at sites around Rome.

It's not a tale you'd expect the Catholic Church to embrace. And indeed, several prominent religious leaders — including Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights president Bill Donohue— have come out against the film (although the church itself has not issued a boycott call).

No matter. Catholic indignation did nothing to stop The Da Vinci Code movie from grossing more than $758 million in 2006.

And it did nothing to stop Sony Pictures from shooting key scenes of the movie in Rome, which will only enhance the city's allure for Angels & Demons fans. Among the sites from the book that will be seen on film: the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Castel Sant'Angelo and its Pasetto di Borga, the secret passageway that connects the fortress with the Vatican.

The Vatican itself is not on film, nor are the interiors of two churches prominently featured in the book, Santa Maria del Popolo or Santa Maria della Vittoria; the Rome diocese said last summer that it had banned filming there because of the movie's themes. Reggia di Caserta, an 18th-century royal palace outside Naples and south of Rome, stood in for the Vatican in some scenes (and an elaborate replica was built on a Los Angeles studio lot).

Executive producer Todd Hallowell says the production didn't bother asking permission to film at the Vatican, as the church never grants it. He promises that viewers will feel as if they are within the Vatican, even if the church itself wasn't crazy about the filming.

Says Hallowell: "Given the fact that The Da Vinci Code was perhaps not their favorite movie, the concept of a sequel being shot in their backyard was not the best news they had all week."

Mapping out the book

On the steps outside Santa Maria del Popolo — the site of the book's first element-themed murder, Earth— about 30 people gather for Angels & Demons guided tours. While the operating company, Angelsanddemons.it, bills it as "the official Angels & Demons tour," several tour operators in Rome offer a similar version.

The group is split, and guide Graham Hannaford, 26, passes out a map of Rome, a replica of the one from Angels & Demons. Fewer than half the people on Hannaford's tour have read the book, but he carries it with him for reference (and occasionally, to debunk the poetic license that Brown sometimes took with Roman geography).

The first stop on the "Path of Illumination" that Brown has devised through Rome is the Chigi Chapel inside the church. Designed by Renaissance master Raphael and filled with sculptures by Bernini — the baroque wunderkind whom Brown cheekily portrays as a secret Illuminati mastermind — the Chapel is an artistic masterpiece, albeit one that might fall lower on a typical tourist itinerary.

Subsequent stops in the four-hour tour call at Roman sites both familiar and off-the-beaten-track: St. Peter's Square, the gloriously elaborate Santa Maria della Vittoria and the always-hopping Piazza Navona, sites of the book's Air, Fire and Water murders, respectively. It concludes at the imposing Castel Sant'Angelo, where the Hassassin in Brown's book keeps Vittoria captive in an alleged ancient Illuminati lair.

Jennifer Carroll, 32, of French Settlement, La., takes pictures at nearly every stop.

"My book club will kill me if I don't," she says.

Carroll and her husband, Basil, attended the papal Easter Mass and bought rosaries for family at the Vatican, including one for their daughter to use at her First Communion. Carroll had some friends who felt The Da Vinci Code was anti-Catholic and others who felt the murders in Angels & Demons were too violent. But the controversy has been overblown, she says.

"It's fiction, it's OK," she says. "You could get offended by just about anything if you wanted to."

Hannaford calls for a coffee break next to the Pantheon. With Roman tourism down, the Napa, Calif., native had questioned returning after Christmas, but he figured the release of Angels & Demons could trigger the same bump in visitors that Paris received from The Da Vinci Code.

The tour is not the company's best seller — visitors tend to hire guides to the immense Vatican Museum more often, Hannaford says. But he thinks that Angels & Demons provides a good road map to Rome's charms.

"The book does capture the spirit of Rome," he says. "There are a lot of chaotic things going on, but it all pulls together."

Seeing the story

Of course, visitors don't have to take a guided tour to see the parts of Rome explored in Angels & Demons. But some sites do require planning ahead.

Such is the case with the Vatican Scavi, the necropolis under St. Peter's Basilica said to contain the grave of Peter, the founder of the Christian church. In the book, Langdon chases the camerlengo (played by Ewan McGregor in the film) through the subterranean passages to find the hidden canister of dangerous antimatter.

In real life, the Vatican Excavations Office carefully controls the number of people allowed to walk through the Scavi. Only 12 people are allowed through at a time, with a limit of 250 visitors a day. Travel agents and tour guides are not allowed to buy tickets; visitors must petition through e-mail or fax months ahead of time to secure a spot.

The machinations are well worth it. Undertaken in 1939 through 1950, the excavations unearthed pagan and early Christian tombs from a cemetery that existed on the site before Constantine built the original St. Peter's Basilica around 322. The corridors between the tombs are narrow and uneven, and the air is slightly dank. But what you'll see are remarkably well-preserved frescoes and mosaics that provide a glimpse into the time when Christianity was a religious newcomer.

Back above ground, a Vatican trip is not complete without visiting the Sistine Chapel, although doing so requires negotiating the crowded Vatican Museums. With the masses of people snapping photos of Michelangelo's famed ceiling, it's hard to imagine the Sistine Chapel as a quiet place of deliberation. But this is where Il Conclave chooses papal succession, broadcasting their results through smoke from a chimney brought in for the occasion.

A better job of crowd control takes place at the Galleria Borghese, where visitors are limited to two-hour time blocks. While the museum — set amid leafy Villa Borghese, Rome's version of Central Park— is not referenced in Angels & Demons, it's a must-stop for readers who are curious about Bernini's other works. Some of his most famous pieces are here, including The Rape of Proserpina, his determined David and Truth Unveiled by Time, created for himself.

The latter sculpture was composed when Bernini — a papal darling who not only designed the colonnades of St. Peter's Square but also came up with the idea for the 10 angels guarding Ponte Sant'Angelo, the bridge between Rome and Vatican City — was out of favor. Could it be that during this time, as Brown suggests, Bernini joined disgruntled intellectuals such as Galileo in the Illuminati ranks?

Vatican tour guide Joseph Mancinelli dismisses such speculation. "It is just a story, it has nothing to do with Christianity," he says of Angels & Demons. "You must believe what is true, not what people say in a story."

Follow Chris Gray Faust at twitter.com/CAroundTheWorld.

IF YOU GO

Getting there: Rome's main airport, Leonardo da Vinci, is known by its old name, Fiumicino. The Leonardo Express runs shuttles to Rome's Termini rail station every 30 minutes ($15, trenitalia.com). Taxis or car service to and from the airport costs about $60.

Lodging: The Westin Excelsior Rome is offering a two-night Angels & Demons package that includes a private or group movie tour, as well as 20% off at the hotel's restaurants and bars. The promotion starts at $444 a night and runs through 2010 (westin.com/angelsanddemons.com). The venerable Hotel Hassler at the top of the Spanish Steps also has a three-night package that includes a tour starting at $2,323 (hotelhassler.com). Or live like the fictional Robert Langdon, who stayed at Hotel Bernini on Plaza Barberini (Bernini's Triton fountain is right in front). Rates start at $395 (berninibristol.com).

Generally, a cheaper way to stay in Rome is to rent an apartment through a service such as venere.com. The Beehive, with dorm beds starting at $34 and private rooms at $109, is the No. 1-ranked budget hotel on Trip Advisor (the-beehive.com).

Dining: Rome's better restaurants are in alleys away from main tourist streets. Near the Pantheon, try the pasta at Osteria del Sostegno (primi, $8-$11, secondi, $12-$20). Osteria dell'Angelo, about 10 minutes from the Vatican on Via G. Bettolo, has an outstanding version of the Roman classic spaghetti carbonara at similar prices. Do as the Romans do and enjoy an evening gelato; Gelataria della Palma, also near the Pantheon, has 100-plus flavors.

Tours: The "Official Angels & Demons Tour" is four hours and includes some bus transport, $76 (angelsanddemons.it). To book tickets to the Vatican Scavi, e-mail the Excavations Office several months in advance; the visit costs $14 (scavi@fsp.va). Advance tickets to Vatican Museums can be purchased online for $19 (mv.vatican.va); private companies such as Context Rome also have tours with art historians (contexttravel.com/rome). The Galleria Borghese requires advance reservations for its two-hour blocks for $12 (ticketeria.it).

Information: en.turismoroma.it

First credit crunch traced back to Roman republic

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/28/credit-crunch-roman-republic-lecture

First credit crunch traced back to Roman republic
Mark Brown, arts correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Friday November 28 2008

Politicians searching for historical precedents for the current financial turmoil should start looking a bit further back after an Oxford University historian discovered what he believes is the world's first credit crunch in 88BC.

The good news is that Philip Kay knows how the Romans got themselves into financial bother. The bad news is no one knows how they got themselves out of it.

"The essential similarity between what happened 21 centuries ago and what is happening in today's UK economy is that a massive increase in monetary liquidity culminated with problems in another country causing a credit crisis at home. In both cases distance and over-optimism obscured the risk," said Kay, a supernumerary fellow at Wolfson College.

The monetary historian is giving a lecture today in which he will reveal how Cicero, the Roman orator, gave a speech in 66BC in which he alluded to the credit crunch. Cicero was arguing that Pompey the Great should be given military command against Mithridates VI, king of Pontus on the Black sea coast of what is now Turkey. He reminded his audience of events in 88BC, when the same Mithridates invaded the Roman province of Asia, on the western coast of Turkey. Cicero claimed the invasion caused the loss of so much Roman money that credit was destroyed in Rome itself.

The orator told his audience: "Defend the republic from this danger and believe me when I tell you - what you see for yourselves - that this system of monies, which operates at Rome in the Forum, is bound up in, and is linked with, those Asian monies; the loss of one inevitably undermines the other and causes its collapse."

Kay said the words were "remarkable" for their contemporary tone. "Substitute US sub-prime for 'the Asian monies' and the UK banking system for 'the system of monies which operates in the Roman Forum' and it could have been written about the current credit crisis," said Kay.

"In second-century and early first-century BC Rome, increased inflows of bullion combined with an expansion in the availability of credit to produce a massive growth in Rome's money supply. This increase in the supply and availability of money in turn resulted both in a major increase in Roman economic activity and, eventually, in the credit crisis which Cicero describes."

So how did they get themselves out of such a pickle? "There's very little information about what happened over the next 20 years I'm afraid," said Kay. "We just don't know."

Certainly historians know that Sulla became dictator of the Roman republic after the credit crunch, but Kay said the two events were unrelated.

Kay, who has a background in investment banking and fund management, will deliver his lecture in Oxford. The lecture is organised by the Oxford Roman Economy Project.

Gladiator tomb discovered by archeologists

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/3210339/Gladiator-tomb-discovered-by-archeologists.html

Gladiator tomb discovered by archeologists
Archeologists have unearthed the tomb of a Roman general thought to have inspired the character played by Russell Crowe in the film 'Gladiator'.
By Nick Squires in Rome
16 Oct 2008

Elements of the life of Marcus Nonius Macrinus were incorporated into the character of Maximus Decimus Meridius, played by Russell Crowe.

The 1,800-year-old stone mausoleum on the banks of the River Tiber was hailed by experts as an "extraordinary discovery" and one of the most important Roman finds for decades.

It was built to contain the remains of Marcus Nonius Macrinus, a proconsul and a favourite of Marcus Aurelius, who ruled as emperor from 161 AD to his death in 180 AD.

Macrinus was born in Brescia, in northern Italy, and won victories leading Roman legions into battle.

He became a confidant of Emperor Aurelius, being appointed a proconsul in Asia Minor and describing himself as "chosen out of the closest friends".

Elements of his life were incorporated into Maximus Decimus Meridius, the fictional character for which Crowe won an Oscar in the 2000 film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott.

In the award-winning film, Maximus is a battle-hardened general and a protégé of the emperor, just as Marcus Nonius Macrinus was.

The intricately carved marble tomb, complete with a stone inscription identifying it as that of Macrinus, was found near the Via Flaminia, one of the arterial roads which led in and out of ancient Rome.

The jumble of broken columns, friezes and stone blocks was discovered during the demolition of a warehouse, along with remarkably intact parts of the original Roman road.

"It's been at least 20 or 30 years since a relic of this importance has come to light in Rome," said a senior archeologist, Daniela Rossi.

Over the centuries parts of the tomb crumbled into the Tiber but enough has been recovered during months of painstaking excavation work that experts are discussing the possibility of reconstructing it as the focus of an archeological park.

In the award-winning film, Emperor Marcus Aurelius, played by Richard Harris, is murdered by his ruthless son Commodus, who declares himself emperor and sets about destroying Maximus, ordering the murder of his wife and child.

Slave traders take the shattered Maximus to North Africa, where he is sold to a gladiator school and trained as a fighter.

Returning to Rome seeking revenge, he eventually kills Commodus in a bloody showdown in the Colosseum, which was famous for its gladiatorial contests.

The film's scriptwriters also based the character of Maximus on Spartacus, who led a slave revolt against Rome in the 1st century BC, and Narcissus, a wrestler who brought Commodus' reign as emperor to an abrupt end by strangling him.

Commodus is believed to have been the only Roman emperor to have taken part in gladiatorial contests.

Last year archeologists in Rome found a mosaic which they believe depicts a favourite sparring partner of the emperor, named Montanus.

The mosaic shows the gladiator holding a trident over a prone opponent who he has apparently defeated in hand-to-hand combat.

Michelangelo 'hid secret code in Sistine Chapel'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/2163492/Michelangelo-%27hid-secret-code-in-Sistine-Chapel%27.html

Michelangelo 'hid secret code in Sistine Chapel'
By Malcolm Moore in Rome
20/06/2008

Michelangelo hid a secret code in the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel made up of mystical Jewish symbols and insults aimed at the pope, according to a new book.

The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which the renaissance artist worked on for four years in the early 16th century, is actually a "bridge" between the Roman Catholic Church and the Jewish faith, according to The Sistine Secrets: Unlocking the Codes in Michelangelo's Defiant Masterpiece.

The book, which is already on the New York Times bestseller list, is the work of Rabbi Benjamin Blech, an associate professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University in New York, and Roy Doliner, a tour guide at the Vatican.

Scanning through the arrangement of figures on the vast 14,000 square foot ceiling, the authors have found shapes that correspond to Hebrew letters.

For example, the book states, the figures of David and Goliath form the shape of the letter gimel, which symbolises g'vurah, or strength, in the mystical Kabbalah tradition.

Kabbalah is a set of ancient esoteric teachings which are meant to decode the inner meaning of the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, and to explain the reasons for Jewish religious observances.

On the opposite wall, the scene showing Judith and her handmaiden carrying the head of the Assyrian general Holofernes is in the shape of the Hebrew letter chet, which represents chesed, or the characteristics of "loving kindness".

"There are so many layers of meaning on meaning, and most of it is from the Jewish tradition," said Mr Doliner on an American television programme.

Rabbi Blech added that all the figures in the nine scenes on the ceiling are Jews.

"He emphasises only Old Testament figures in the entire ceiling, and what he was trying to say was: Why have we ignored our true roots?" he said.

The book adds that the tree of life in the fresco is not, as usually thought, an apple tree, but instead a fig tree according to ancient Jewish tradition.

The authors believe the entire Sistine Chapel, which they say is built to the same proportions as the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, is a "lost mystical message of universal love" which was intended to be decoded.

The authors believe Michelangelo picked up his knowledge of Judaism while at the court of Lorenzo de Medici in Florence.

In addition, they say there are several attacks on Pope Julius II, who commissioned the work, embedded in the painting.

Disgusted with papal corruption, they think Michelangelo painted the prophet Zechariah in the pope's likeness.

Behind him, one angel is "making an extremely obscene hand gesture at the back of his head."

Critics of the new book point out that there is no record in Michelangelo's extensive and well-preserved writings of any secret code in the ceiling.

Dr Arnold Nesselrath, a curator at the Vatican museums said there was no way that Michelangelo could have painted any of the ceiling without the pope's express consent.

Marco Bussagli, an art history professor at Rome's La Sapienza university, said the revelation of "anti Catholic and anti-Christian" messages on the roof "suggests that the Dan Brown syndrome has struck again."

Mr Brown is the author of the controversial book, The Da Vinci Code, in which he writes that Jesus was secretly married to Mary Magdalene.

The two authors are not the first to have "seen" a secret Michelangelo code.

In 1950, a Venezuelan diplomat named Joaquin Diaz Gonzalez wrote a pamphlet arguing that an outline of the face of Dante, the poet, was hidden in the arrangement of the figures in the Last Judgement. He also "saw" a giant depiction of Jesus on the cross.

In 1990, Frank Meshberger argued in the Journal of the American Medical Association that the central panel, showing God and Adam reaching out to touch each other was in the shape of a brain and spinal cord.

In 2000, Dr Garabed Eknoyan saw the shape of a kidney in the painting, while in 2005 two Brazilian doctors found hidden body parts throughout, including a bronchial tube hidden in the tree trunk in the panel showing Eve's Creation.

Roman Emperor World's Greatest Athlete?

http://www.rense.com/general81/great.htm

The Roman Emperor Who Claimed To Be The World's Greatest Athlete
By Brad Steiger
4-23-8

To the crowd at the Circus Maximus the odds were six to five either way whether the criminal standing in the arena before them would survive the day. Whether he did or did not depended on the emperor, and the emperor was known to be a man moved mainly by whim.

Even as the single lion was set loose into the arena and goaded with spears and moveable fences to the thief who would be its lunch, the emperor lounged comfortably in his chair, seemingly unmoved by the pitiful-looking wretch before him.

The starved beast did not charge at once but moved around its prey slowly, cautiously. Then the lion sprang for the quivering man, and the crowd, which had become tensely silent, was immediately on its feet, shouting as the bounding beast approached its victim.

At that moment the emperor moved. His white robe did not interfere with his arm motion as he snatched up the javelin at his side and impaled the beast in midair as it began its final lunge.

Cheers rocked the crowded coliseum, and the emperor took his bows, while the man he had saved kissed his feet.

Who was this strange monarch who played with the lives of others so carelessly? Lucius Aurelius Commodus was the son of the great philosopher-statesman Marcus Aurelius and Faustina, a woman whose shady reputation inspired a great deal of gossip in the Roman Empire. This bizarre parental combination inclined the boy to be wild in his youth, and while his father wanted him to be schooled to ascend to the throne of the empire, Commodus followed his own interests.

On October 12, 166, Lucius Aurelius Commodus, became Caesar of Rome together with his younger brother Marcus. Commodus's twin, Antoninus, died in 165, and Marcus died in surgery in 169, leaving Commodus as Marcus Aurelius' sole surviving son. On November 27, 176, Marcus Aurelius bestowed the title of Imperator upon Commodus, and in 177, gave him equal power as himself by naming him Augustus. On January 1, 177, at the age of 15, Commodus became the youngest consul in Roman history up to that time. On March 17, 180, Commodus became the sole emperor when Marcus Aurelius died while the two moved the army to the Danubian front.

Although mentally lazy, Commodus was physically strong and excelled in horse racing, chariot racing, hunting and killing wild beasts, and in hand-to-hand combat against professional soldiers and gladiators. When all the statistics of the races won, the animals killed, and the gladiators bested are computed, many historians have acknowledged Commodus as the greatest athlete who ever lived.

By modern standards Commodus was not an extraordinarily big man, but in his time when the average height of the Roman soldier was about five feet, his six-foot-190-pound frame was Herculean. Nor did Commodus' bulk affect his coordination adversely, and he was said to have had an uncanny ability to stay on his feet in any situation. Because of his size, he enjoyed impersonating the character of Hercules when he entered the coliseum.

For ten years Commodus was acknowledged as the best boxer in the empire. This may not seem too astounding in the light of modern record holders like Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, Muhammed Ali, but it must be remembered that boxing matches in ancient Rome always ended with the loser stone cold dead.

In addition to being the fastest runner in the empire, Commodus was also the best man with a bow, javelin, and sword. Furthermore, he was an excellent horseman and a champion charioteer.

The reign of Marcus Aurelius had been marred by almost constant warfare, but even though Commodus' administration was one of the most corrupt the Roman Empire had ever known, it was comparatively one of peace. Perhaps it was boiling with political strife, but the crowd at the coliseum did not care, for they had a hero to idolize. The mob never knew what special treat the remarkable emperor would devise for them next. On one occasion Commodus ordered a hundred lions to be let into the arena and killed them all with his personal bow. For the wholesale slaughter he used only a hundred arrows, one for each lion.

A great innovator of weapons and tools for the athlete, Commodus once heard that a Goth archer had killed an elephant with only seven arrows. Not to be outdone, he summoned Galen, the official physician, and an elephant. Commodus then proceeded to shoot arrows into the hulking creature until the poor animal lay dead. Commodus then had the physician dissect the body to find out which of the arrows had done the most damage. On the following day the emperor pleased the crowds by killing an elephant with only five arrows.

On another occasion Commodus experimented with a crescent-shaped arrowhead, putting it to use by shooting off the heads of dozens of ostriches as they were chased around the arena.

In combat he was at his best. Commodus' favorite ploy was to stack the odds against himself and yet emerge the victor. He would fight as asecutor, a heavily armored swordsman, against a ratarius, an almost completely naked gladiator, who carried a three-pronged spear and a twine net to ensnare his foe.

To the modern reader, it would seem that the armored man would have the advantage, but the Roman connoisseurs of combat knew exactly the opposite was the case. The ratarius, nearly naked, was much more agile and nearly always found the more heavily armored man to be an easy prey for the cast of his net and the jab of his spear. Commodus never lost in this contest. Often he spared his would-be victims, and when he did kill, he did so quickly, the anatomy lessons from Galen telling him exactly where the human body was most vulnerable.

Commodus was the only emperor who walked the sands of the arena with the gladiators. He bested the trained warriors at their own game, and during his long career he killed 735 of these professionals without ever being seriously wounded himself.

While some historians have insisted that the gladiators were too frightened to defend themselves against the emperor and thus submitted to his prowess--expert or not--there is some debate whether or not Commodus killed the fallen warriors in view of the masses in the coliseum. Substantial evidence has mounted that the Great Hercules did kill the defeated gladiators either in public or in private. Indeed, when certain officials complained of the slaughter of the finest gladiators by Commodus, thereby depriving the crowds of skilled contests between evenly matched opponents, wounded soldiers and amputees were placed in the arena to be slain by Hercules.

While his athletic prowess grew, Commodus' administrative abilities waned, and though some of his counselors had thought him capable of maturing into a fine emperor, he began to run the empire as he did the games at the Circus Maximus--with an iron hand and a ruthless competitive spirit. Commodus murdered political rivals without reason, antagonizing Rome's most powerful citizens, until even the hero-worshipping plebeians knew that something drastic was bound to happen.

Late in 192, the Temple of Pax, the Temple of Vesta, and a section of the Imperial state palace were destroyed in a fire. Although a portion of the citizenry was devastated by such a loss, Commodus paid little attention, shooting hundreds of animals with arrows and javelins in the morning and fighting his winning bouts as a gladiator in the afternoon.

Whether paid to do so or not, Marcia, Commodus' favorite mistress, took the problem to heart and drugged her lover's wine. With the emperor unconscious, the chamberlain and a praetorian guard ordered a wrestler into the imperial quarters to strangle him. Commodus' life ended as violently as he had lived it.

Commodus has been portrayed in two movies. In 1964's The Fall of the Roman Empire, Christopher Plummer was quite convincing as the emperor who sought to be respected for his gladiatorial prowess. On the other hand, in Gladiator (2000) Joaquin Phoenix emphasized the sinister and ruthless side of the man. In neither film was Commodus assassinated, but slain in combat in the arena.

Berlusconi Reclaims Power in Italy

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gXQv8MgdVWEOKeUsWyQm0Gcv-xcAD901QF301

Berlusconi Reclaims Power in Italy
By ALESSANDRA RIZZO
4-14-8

ROME (AP) — Conservative leader Silvio Berlusconi reclaimed power in key U.S. ally Italy on Monday after clinching decisive victories in both houses of parliament.

The 71-year-old media mogul was congratulated by his main rival, former Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni, who conceded defeat even though the vote counting was still under way.

"The election result is clear even if we wait for the final data," said Veltroni. "It says that the right will govern this country."

Berlusconi, who was in his villa near Milan, made no immediate statement, just waving as he passed in his Mercedes.

In the Senate — a race that had been expected to be close — Berlusconi was projected to win 163 seats compared to 141 for Veltroni. The body has 315 seats.

In the lower house, Berlusconi's conservative bloc was leading with 46 percent of the vote to 39 percent for Veltroni's backers.

In Italy's bicameral system, premiers must have control of both houses to govern.

The victory for Berlusconi is testament to his political longevity — and sees him return to power after two years of center-left rule by Premier Romano Prodi left Italy with a stagnating economy.

This was Berlusconi's fifth consecutive attempt at the premiership — and third win — since 1994, when he stepped into politics from his media empire. He has fended off challenges to his leadership by his conservative allies, survived conflict of interests accusations and criminal trials.

"I think it was a vote against the performance of the Prodi government in the last two years," said Franco Pavoncello, a political science professor at Rome's John Cabot University. "Berlusconi won because he has a strong coalition and because people feel that on the other side, the government is going to take them nowhere."

A sense of malaise hung over the elections as Italians cast ballots Sunday and Monday.

Many Italians are pessimistic that the ruling class — dominated for years by the same key figures — can offer much chance of change. They complain about the poor state of the economy and the fact that their purchasing power has decreased.

Signs of decline abound, from piles of trash in Naples, to a buffalo mozzarella heath scare that has hurt exports and hit one of the country's culinary treasures, to the faltering sale of the state airline Alitalia.

A movement led by comedian-turned-moralizer Beppe Grillo had invited Italians to boycott the vote.

However, turnout was only 4 points behind the last national vote in 2006 — 80 percent compared with 84 percent, according to data from the Interior Ministry.

In his comeback, Berlusconi has been helped by a strong showing by the Northern League, a key ally, which has won about 6 percent of the vote, according to projections.

Berlusconi has no easy task.

A laundry list of problems await him, from cleaning the streets of Naples, which he has indicated is his top priority, to improving an economy that has underperformed the rest of the euro zone for years.

The International Monetary Fund forecasts that the Italian economy, the world's seventh largest, will grow 0.3 percent this year, compared with a 1.4 percent average growth for the 15-country euro area.

Berlusconi will also need to make economic reforms, such as streamlining the decision-making progress and cutting the costs associated with politics. Changes in the election law are also on the agenda.

St Peter not the first Pope and never went to Rome

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/23/wrome123.xml

St Peter was not the first Pope and never went to Rome, claims Channel 4
By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent
23/03/2008

St Peter's journey to Rome led to the spread of Christianity in the West and the foundation of Roman Catholicism, so the Church has always taught.

But a new documentary will challenge the link as nothing more than a "conspiracy of faith". In it, prominent academics accuse the Vatican of misleading the world over the fate of the man regarded as Jesus Christ's closest disciple. In allegations likely to spark controversy, they accuse the Church of fabricating a connection with the apostle to validate giving ultimate power to the papacy.

Catholicism holds that the Pope is the sole successor to the 'supremacy' of Peter

Catholicism has taught for centuries that Peter was martyred and buried in Rome and that all popes succeed him, but the documentary will challenge this by asserting that he never reached the Italian city. Instead, it will accuse the Church of ignoring the discovery of a tomb in Jerusalem that archaeologists believe contains the bones of Peter.

Leading theologians said that these views were an "attempt to smear Catholicism" and criticised Channel 4 for allowing such "outlandish" claims to be broadcast.

They expressed concern that they would appeal to people who are easily persuaded by conspiracy theories, such as the idea that Jesus had a child with Mary Magdalene, as proposed in Dan Brown's best-seller The Da Vinci Code.

Dr Robert Beckford, a theology lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, who presents the documentary, denied that this was an attempt to attack the Catholic Church. "This is about looking at what the pillars of power are founded on and examining the scholarship that most Catholics take for granted," he said.

"We found that there is no scientific evidence to support the idea that Peter was buried in Rome, but yet the rival theory has not got out because it challenges the Church.

"If you undermine its basis for power you undermine the Church. It's tragic that the faith gets reduced to manipulating the facts and to one Church trying to make itself superior to others."

As Christianity spread following the crucifixion of Jesus, it became important for the new churches to claim a link with the disciples and led the Catholic Church to establish a connection with St Peter.

advertisementCatholics believe the proof that Christ constituted St Peter head of His Church is found in the two Petrine texts, Matthew 16:17-19, and John 21:15-17. In Matthew, the office is solemnly promised to the apostle as Jesus addresses him: "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven."

Roman Catholicism holds that the Pope, also known as the Bishop of Rome, is the sole successor to the "supremacy" or primacy of Peter and is thus the "Vicar of Christ" for the world.

It is traditionally believed that he was crucified in Rome and buried where the Basilica of St Peter was later built, beneath the high altar.

In 1939, the Vatican announced that the bones of Peter had been found in Rome during an archaeological dig. But the documentary casts doubt on this, questioning why the dig was carried out "in total secrecy", and led by a "personal friend" of the Pope.

"The Pope's authority over the world's one billion Roman Catholics derives from the belief that Peter died and was buried here almost 2,000 years ago," said Dr Beckford.

The documentary, The Secrets of the Twelve Disciples ­(Channel 4 today at 5.45pm), suggests it that is much more likely that St Peter was buried in an ossuary found in Jerusalem with the inscription Shimon Bar Jonah - Simon son of Jonah - the Hebrew name for Peter.

However, Gerald O'Collins, professor emeritus of Systematic Theology at the Gregorian University in Rome, said that the documentary contradicted the "great weight" of tradition that accepted Peter had been martyred and buried in Rome. "This is awful stuff, total ­nonsense," he said. "This kind of outlandish garbage drives me nuts."

John Medlin, the general manager of the Latin Mass Society, said of the "intellectually-challenged" arguments: "They are on a par with Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code and are unsubstantiated. It shows undisguised disdain for the Catholic Church."

Sanctuary of Rome's 'founder' revealed

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071120/ap_on_re_eu/birth_of_rome

Sanctuary of Rome's 'founder' revealed
By ARIEL DAVID, Associated Press Writer
Tue Nov 20, 2007

Archaeologists on Tuesday unveiled an underground grotto believed to have been revered by ancient Romans as the place where a wolf nursed the city's legendary founder Romulus and his twin brother Remus.

Decorated with seashells and colored marble, the vaulted sanctuary is buried 52 feet inside the Palatine hill, the palatial center of power in imperial Rome, the archaeologists said at a news conference.

In the past two years, experts have been probing the space with endoscopes and laser scanners, fearing that the fragile grotto, already partially caved-in, would not survive a full-scale dig, said Giorgio Croci, an engineer who worked on the site.

The archaeologists are convinced that they have found the place of worship where Romans believed a she-wolf suckled Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of the god of war Mars who were abandoned in a basket and left adrift on the Tiber.

Thanks to the wolf, a symbol of Rome to this day, the twins survived, and Romulus founded the city, becoming its first king after killing Remus in a power struggle.

Ancient texts say the grotto known as the "Lupercale"_ from "lupa," Latin for she-wolf — was near the palace of Augustus, Rome's first emperor, who was said to have restored it, and was decorated with a white eagle.

That symbol of the Roman Empire was found atop the sanctuary's vault, which lies just below the ruins of the palace built by Augustus, said Irene Iacopi, the archaeologist in charge of the Palatine and the nearby Roman Forum.

Augustus, who ruled from the late 1st century B.C. to his death in the year 14, was keen on being close to the places of Rome's mythical foundation and used the city's religious traditions to bolster his hold on power, Iacopi said.

"The Lupercale must have had an important role in Augustus' policies," she said. "He saw himself as a new Romulus."

Andrea Carandini, a professor of archaeology at Rome's La Sapienza University and an expert on the Palatine, said the grotto is almost certainly the "Lupercale."

"The chances that it's not are minimal," said Carandini, who did not take part in the dig. "It's one of the greatest discoveries ever made."

Most of the sanctuary is filled with earth, but laser scans allowed experts to estimate that the circular structure has a height of 26 feet and a diameter of 24 feet, Croci said.

Archaeologists at the news conference were divided on how to gain access to the "Lupercale."

Iacopi said a new dig would start soon to find the grotto's original entrance at the bottom of the hill. Carandini suggested enlarging the hole at the top through which probes have been lowered so far, saying that burrowing at the base of the hill could disturb the foundations of other ruins.

The Palatine is honeycombed with palaces and other ancient monuments, from the 8th-century B.C. remains of Rome's first fledgling huts to a medieval fortress and Renaissance villas. But the remains are fragile and plagued by collapses, leaving more than half of the hill, including Augustus' palace, closed to the public.

Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli said the first area to benefit from an extensive, $17.5 million restoration of the hills' ruins will be Augustus' palace, scheduled to reopen in February after being closed for decades.

The Smart car is coming

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/11/12/smart_car/

The Smart car is coming
Sure, the tiny autos are perfectly suited for the narrow lanes of Paris and Rome. But here in the land of freeways and monster SUVs, are we ready to downsize so far?
By Katharine Mieszkowski

Nov. 12, 2007 Everything's bigger in Texas, including, surprisingly, the interest in the itsy-bitsy car known as the Smart. In January, the miniature two-seat cars that dot the narrow lanes of Europe will make their way across the Atlantic and go on sale at 70 dealerships across America. For the past seven months, the Smart, which is made by Mercedes, has been embarked on a 50-city road show, offering test drives, photo ops and hype worthy of a monster-truck rally.

On a bright Saturday morning, a fleet of the tiny cars is on display at Mockingbird Station, one of Dallas' prefab entertainment and lifestyle complexes, thick with restaurants, movie theaters, stores and lofts. More than 100 Texans are waiting to test-drive the Smart model called Fortwo, whose price starts at $11,600. Many wannabe drivers are armed with cameras, as if they're here hoping to catch a glimpse of an exotic animal at the zoo.

Charlie Barnhardt, a big, bald man in snakeskin cowboy boots and a hunting cameo shirt with birds on it, drove an hour and a half from Greenville in his Jeep Grand Cherokee to see the Smart. Barnhardt, who runs a welding shop and hopes soon to retire, gives this verdict. "They're cute," he chuckles with a sweet smile. "I think it would go over good" in Texas.

Here in the land of the big pickup, the cuteness factor is turning a lot of heads for the smallest-horsepower vehicle offered by a major automaker. Irene Zeilan, a 40-something redhead, commutes five miles to her job at Texas Instruments in a 1988 Ford Bronco. But she recently bought a house in the burbs and will soon be making a 25-mile slog to work. So she's planning to shrink her ride and is thrilled by the microcars. "The time is right for this kind of car here," she says.

That's Mercedes' thinking, too. For years, the Smart car has roamed the roads of France, Italy and Germany, as well as Malaysia, South Africa and Canada -- 36 countries in all. Now the German automaker believes rising gas prices have propelled American drivers into recovery from their SUV binge. It believes we're finally ready to downsize -- way, way down.

But still there's something about the Smart car that seems to contradict the American way of life. We are a frontier country of wide-open spaces and eight-lane freeways. Want to go green? Sure, as long as it's with a 6,000-square-foot mansion with solar panels and a hybrid SUV. Besides, we're not Europeans. We don't drive cars that resemble toy poodles. We know all about the geopolitical crises of oil and the environmental fallout of all those carbon-dioxide emissions and exhaust fumes, but we demand a lot of metal and horsepower to keep us feeling safe and secure.

After all, the SUV craze was fueled in large part by the feeling that big cars were safer, and despite being mightly debunked, those sentiments die hard. An early Car and Driver review of the Smart Fortwo pronounced it "scary," while suggesting that only coastal snobs trying to navigate the narrow streets and limited parking of cities like Boston and San Francisco would settle for something this small. "Just how many urban fashionistas are there?" the reviewer sniffed.

"Cars have gotten incrementally smaller, but this is a quantum leap smaller," says Philip Reed, senior consumer advice editor for Edmunds.com. The two-seater measures just 8.8 feet long -- a whopping total of 106 inches. It's 5.1 feet tall and wide. The Smart's often compared to a golf cart, except with heated leather seats, a sunroof and a nice stereo. Yet it's truly diminutive size has inspired other admirers to liken it to a roller skate or a bowling shoe. "For two people there's room," says Brandon Dye, executive editor of AutomotiveTrends.com. "It's not a torture cell by a long shot. But Americans are used to our big cars."

Fears about the Smart's being like a cue ball in an accident on a typical American freeway are its biggest drawback. Because it weighs a mere 1,800 pounds, some drivers will never overcome the horrific vision of a collision between a Smart and, say, a Toyota Land Cruiser, which clocks in at 5,700 pounds. "I like big trucks," says Pedro Caballero, checking out the Smarts in Dallas. Caballero owns a P.T. Cruiser, the smallest thing he has ever driven. "You're up so high. You feel safe."

"Many consumers equate size with safety," says Sean Comey, spokesman for the American Automobile Association. "And ultimately, the most important job that any vehicle will ever be called upon to perform is to save your life, and prevent you from being injured." However, he adds, "some smaller cars are engineered in such a way that they are in fact safer than big ones in many respects." In recent decades, auto experts have shown that it's not how much a car weighs that keeps its passengers safe. More important are a car's design and inclusion of safety features like air bags and anti-lock brakes, not to mention driver responsibility and skill.

The Smart Fortwo meets all American safety standards. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has not yet crash-tested it, but plans to do so in the first quarter of 2008. In the European Union, the crash testing body Euro NCAP gave the 2007 Smart Fortwo a four out of five stars safety rating. In fact, at 1,650 pounds, the European Smart Fortwo is somewhat lighter than the U.S. model.

Reed argues that the Smart's as safe as a small car can be. "The seats rise completely above your head, and they're made of extra-hard plastic," he says. "There are air bags everywhere." Passengers are also surrounded by what the company calls the "tridion safety cell," a kind of egg-shaped steel cage, designed to absorb the impact of bigger vehicles, which means practically every other car on the road.

Denise McCluggage, a columnist for AutoWeek magazine, who is a former race-car driver, says that size is also the car's advantage when you're behind the wheel. Not only does it slip into parking spaces that midsize sedans can only dream of, it allows you to maneuver through cars in clogged traffic. "It's almost like a motorcycle in that way," says McCluggage, who drove the Smart at the Frankfurt Auto Show this year. "You can really find places that no one else can go. It makes you feel so smug because that can mean the difference of half a block, so that means you make a light or don't. Over time, you just get through traffic faster." She hopes that crowded cities will designate places for Smart car parking, the way that they do bicycle parking, to encourage the cars' use to save space, money and fuel.

Throughout the U.S., small cars are indeed making a comeback, thanks to oil topping $96 a barrel and gas prices staying high, at least by American standards. In 2006, small cars made up about 15 percent of new cars sold, while in 2002 that figure was just 13.8 percent, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association. As of September 2007, 16 percent of cars sold were small, including the likes of the Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, Nissan Versa, Chevrolet Aveo and Mini Cooper.

For some, the appeal of the Smart is owning a vehicle that doesn't seem wasteful. In Dallas, Sondra Dickson, taking photos of the Smart Fortwo using a huge black camera with a zoom lens, says: "They say Texas isn't going to like little cars, but we have a Mini and it's too big for us!" Although the Smart's official gas mileage hasn't been published, the company says the two-seater is designed to achieve an average of 40 miles per gallon. That's not so great for such a tiny car, but it's more than 10 miles per gallon better than the average American car.

Many auto industry observers expect the Smart to sell well in the U.S., especially at first when it has newness going for it. Over time, whether it's built well, reliable and performs consistently over time will make the difference in ongoing sales. In any case, environmentalists and patriots who want to break Americans' dependence on foreign oil shouldn't get too excited about the nation's fleet of mammoth gas guzzlers being replaced in a wave of zippy, little, fuel-efficient cuteness.

The typical American household simply owns more vehicles now, with drivers holding on to old vehicles instead of trading them in when they get new ones. "The trend is toward more vehicles per household, and has been for more than a decade," says Paul Taylor, chief economist for the NADA. The average is currently more than two cars per household, even though more and more households are headed by a single person.

"We're seeing an increasing tendency for families to have more cars than drivers," says Comey of the AAA. He believes that this phenomenon may skew some of the stats about the increase in smaller vehicle ownership, because buying a smaller car doesn't necessarily equal taking a bigger car off the road. As cars and trucks have gotten more reliable, their dependable life span has increased. Even paint has gotten tougher. So whether it's out of dismay for how little that old beater is worth when you try to trade it in or emotional attachment to a faithful four wheels, Americans are keeping their older cars around longer. "It's like having your own family fleet. You might have one car that gets better gas mileage," says Comey.

While observers expect the Smart to sell to empty-nesters who don't need a back seat, and recent grads, who don't have kids and really can't afford a bigger car, they also imagine that many initial buyers will get a Smart as a little something extra. Some suggest that with its relatively low prices, the Smart Fortwo will be a convenient addition to the family fleet -- the third car, the weekend car, the fun car rather than a true substitute for another vehicle.

"It's priced low enough that it can be a novelty," says Reed from Edmunds. "You could already own two cars, and buy it as a novelty to run around town in, which is perhaps one of the best uses for it, in addition to -- I hate to say it -- a real car." After all, driving a big SUV or a minivan to the store for a gallon of milk can be frustrating, especially when you pull into a parking lot that is crowded with a lot of other big cars and trucks smooshed into conventional-size spaces. Why not just solve the problem the conventional American way by buying something new -- in this case another car for those trips around town?

At least one American automotive legend is sold on the Smart. That's Roger Penske, the famed race-car driver turned billionaire businessman, whose Penske Automotive Group will be distributing the cars in the United States. They'll be sold mainly at Mercedes dealerships, as well as at free-standing Smart USA dealerships. So far it appears America is ready to get Smart. More than 35,000 people have paid $99 for a refundable "reservation" to buy a Smart Fortwo.

With reporting by Andrea Grimes in Texas.