Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Happy Quirinalia!

Today is the Seventeenth of February. Happy Quirinalia! In ancient Rome, a celebration of Quirinus, the deified form of Romulus, one of the founders of Rome. The name derives from co-viri, meaning “men together.” We don't know how they celebrated it, no records survive, but hey, they were Romans; use your imagination. Go ahead, get carried away. They did.

In 1598, Boris Godunov was chosen to be Tsar, following the death of Ivan Grozny’s invalid son Fyodor. He would ascend to the position a few days hence. Is that a verb tense problem?

In 1600, Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake for having the gall to suggest, among other things, that God might have also created life on other planets.

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