Free Republic

As part of the series of tapestries by Peter Paul Rubens on the life of Constantine, we find a vignette from the early life of the first Christian Roman emperor showing him slaying a lion with an audience of Roman soldiers looking on. This is an odd anecdote from the life of Constantine and one that is not commonly known. Was it based on an actual event? Or was it one of those medieval interpolations meant to enhance the reputation of an ancient hero as a courageous and powerful hero? Let's take a look at the ancient sources. We know...

The earliest Latin commentary on the Gospels, lost for more than 1,500 years, has been rediscovered and made available in English for the first time. The extraordinary find, a work written by a bishop in northern Italy, Fortunatianus of Aquileia, dates back to the middle of the fourth century. The biblical text of the manuscript is of particular significance, as it predates the standard Latin version known as the Vulgate. and provides new evidence about the earliest form of the Gospels in Latin. Despite references to this commentary in other ancient works, no copy was known to survive until Dr...

...Northern Italy's Friuli-Venezia Giulia... is located in the Eastern Alps, near Slovenia, and used to be an important regional power. Today, it is a quaint town, and many tourists are attracted to it as a medieval center. Julius Caesar founded Cividale in 50 B.C. The area had already been settled by the Veneti and Celts, but it was after the destruction of Aquileia and Iulium Carnicum that the town became known as Cividale and became the principal town of Friuli. Within Cividale del Friuli is the Celtic Hypogeum -- a subterranean structure created for an unknown purpose. The Celtic Hypogeum...