a house with many rooms — history, engineering, and the polychrome rome they never taught you. the personal site of dídac.https://yodidac.com/enhttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-vandal-sack-that-emptied-rome-in-fourteen-days/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-vandal-sack-that-emptied-rome-in-fourteen-days/the vandal sack of 455 was not a fit of barbarity but an inventory carried out in cold blood. for fourteen days, genseric's troops emptied rome of its gold, its treasures and its hostages, and carried off even the menorah from the temple of jerusalem.Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTvandalsgensericsack of romefall of romemenorahhttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-end-of-the-man-who-bought-the-empire/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-end-of-the-man-who-bought-the-empire/sixty-six days after buying the empire at auction, didius julianus discovered in an empty hall of the palatine that money does not buy the loyalty of those who wield the swords. on 1 june 193 they left him alone, and an ordinary soldier came looking for him.Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTdidius julianuspraetorian guardseptimius severusyear of the five emperorshistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-great-coalition-against-rome/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-great-coalition-against-rome/in 295 bce, samnites, gauls, etruscans and umbrians joined forces to annihilate rome on the plain of sentinum. the consul publius decius mus repeated his father's devotio and offered himself to the gods of death; the victory sealed roman hegemony over italy.Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTbattle of sentinumitalic coalitiondevotiodecius mussamnite warsearly republichttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-brutal-and-final-collapse-of-the-eastern-roman-empire/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-brutal-and-final-collapse-of-the-eastern-roman-empire/on 29 may 1453, after 53 days of siege and under the fire of mehmed ii's artillery, constantinople fell. the last emperor, constantine xi, stripped off the purple and died fighting like a common soldier. rome did not surrender on parchment: it went out in combat.Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTfall of constantinoplebyzantine empireconstantine ximehmed iihistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-queen-of-roads/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-queen-of-roads/in 312 bce the censor appius claudius orders the via appia traced from rome to capua. rome discovers that a war is won with roads that do not sink into the mud, and its first logistical infrastructure is born.Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTvia appiaappius claudius the blindcensorroman infrastructuresamnite warshttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-shame-of-the-caudine-forks/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-shame-of-the-caudine-forks/in 321 bce, in a defile of the apennines, two roman consular armies are trapped with no way out. the samnite general gaius pontius does not kill them: he forces them to surrender their arms and pass under the yoke, the worst affront a roman soldier could suffer.Wed, 27 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTcaudine forkssamnitessamnite warsmilitary humiliationearly republichttps://yodidac.com/en/blog/but-everyone-has-an-iphone/https://yodidac.com/en/blog/but-everyone-has-an-iphone/four out of every five people under thirty in this country can't get access to housing. and when you say it, someone reminds you that you own a phone and that you go on holiday, as if living were the problem.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMThousingsocietyyouthbarcelonahttps://yodidac.com/en/blog/staying-out-is-no-longer-free/https://yodidac.com/en/blog/staying-out-is-no-longer-free/with social media you could stay out and nothing happened. with artificial intelligence, staying out is starting to mean staying out of a job. and nobody is talking about this.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTartificial intelligencesocial mediasocietyexclusionhttps://yodidac.com/en/blog/the-future-wont-be-cyberpunk/https://yodidac.com/en/blog/the-future-wont-be-cyberpunk/we picture the cities of the future packed with giant screens covered in advertising. i think exactly the opposite is going to happen.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTadvertisingprivacyartificial intelligenceasimovhttps://yodidac.com/en/blog/the-tiktok-of-production/https://yodidac.com/en/blog/the-tiktok-of-production/artificial intelligence has opened so many doors for me at once that it has enslaved me to keep opening one after the next, without stopping to think whether i should.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTartificial intelligenceclaude codeproductivitycrafthttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/constantines-master-calculation-on-his-deathbed/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/constantines-master-calculation-on-his-deathbed/constantine the great postponed his baptism until his final agony so as to die absolved of the purges he himself had ordered against his son and his wife. the conversion of the empire, read as a last play of power.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTconstantineroman empirechristianityconstantinian dynastyhistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/he-hid-fearing-his-end-and-emerged-emperor/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/he-hid-fearing-his-end-and-emerged-emperor/in the middle of a palace massacre, claudius hid behind a curtain convinced he was next. a soldier saw his feet poking out. instead of killing him, he knelt and saluted him as emperor. that is how the court "fool" came to the throne.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTclaudiuscaligulapraetorian guardroman empirehistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/how-the-roman-empire-militarised-faith-to-crush-dissent/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/how-the-roman-empire-militarised-faith-to-crush-dissent/in 325, constantine summoned hundreds of bishops to nicaea, summoned them to his palace under escort and demanded a single dogma. for the emperor, theology was secondary; what was at stake was the public order of an empire.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTcouncil of nicaeaconstantineearly christianityhistory of the churchhistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/how-the-worst-war-machine-in-history-woke-up/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/how-the-worst-war-machine-in-history-woke-up/march was not the month of spring, but of mars and war. on the equirria of 14 march rome celebrated the ritual lustration of its horses in brutal races, a sacred act where they also checked which had survived the winter.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTequirriaroman legionsmarscavalryhistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/how-to-outwit-the-emperors-poison-taster/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/how-to-outwit-the-emperors-poison-taster/killing a rival in rome was hard; killing him when a taster samples everything he ingests demands criminal ingenuity. nero solved the problem with an undetectable trick and erased his half-brother britannicus in front of the entire court, without losing his composure.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTnerobritannicuspoisonlocustahistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/if-you-moved-this-stone-any-citizen-could-kill-you/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/if-you-moved-this-stone-any-citizen-could-kill-you/shifting a boundary stone was, for rome, a sacrilege so grave that archaic law authorised killing the culprit without punishment. every 23 february the terminalia consecrated those markers to the god terminus.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTterminaliaroman lawterminusbordershistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/rome-worshipped-a-foreign-meteorite-to-win-the-war/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/rome-worshipped-a-foreign-meteorite-to-win-the-war/desperate to defeat hannibal, the roman patricians imported from anatolia the cult of cybele, a goddess enclosed in a black stone of meteoritic origin. they accepted oriental magic, but shielded roman sobriety by law.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTcybelepunic warshannibalroman religionhistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-3-last-orders-of-the-emperor-before-dying/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-3-last-orders-of-the-emperor-before-dying/dying in britannia, septimius severus left his two sons a testament of three lines, brutal and cynical: be united, fill the soldiers with gold and despise everyone else. caracalla learned the money part. of the unity, nothing.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTseptimius severuscaracallagetaseveran dynastyhistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-cruel-fire-ritual-in-the-arena-of-the-circus-maximus/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-cruel-fire-ritual-in-the-arena-of-the-circus-maximus/every 19 april, rome closed the cerealia by releasing foxes with burning torches tied to their backs across the arena of the circus maximus. sympathetic magic against grain blight, performed by a city terrified of hunger.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTcerealiacerescircus maximusroman religionhistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-dark-roman-ritual-to-repel-ghosts-at-midnight/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-dark-roman-ritual-to-repel-ghosts-at-midnight/at the lemuria, the roman patriarch rose barefoot at midnight, filled his mouth with black beans and spat them over his shoulder to drive away the hostile spirits of his dead. the domestic terror of the civilisation that ruled the mediterranean.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTlemurialemuresroman religionspiritshistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-day-masters-served-dinner-to-their-slaves/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-day-masters-served-dinner-to-their-slaves/1 march was the true roman new year. the vestals rekindled the sacred fire of the state and the wealthiest matrons served their own slaves at table in a ritual inversion of the hierarchies.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTmatronaliavestanew yearvestalshistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-day-rome-applauded-its-first-absolute-dictator/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-day-rome-applauded-its-first-absolute-dictator/the greatest autocratic system of antiquity was not imposed at swordpoint, but in a senate meeting drowned in applause. octavian pretended to give back the republic and they begged him to stay. he walked out with a new title: augustus.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTaugustusoctavianroman empiresenatehistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-day-the-dead-demanded-food-in-the-streets-of-rome/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-day-the-dead-demanded-food-in-the-streets-of-rome/every 21 february the romans carried bread, salt and violets to the tombs to feed their dead. the feralia closed nine days of mourning and was born of the terror that the deceased might return hungry.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTferaliaroman religiondeathmaneshistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-day-the-entire-world-sold-itself-to-the-highest-bidder/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-day-the-entire-world-sold-itself-to-the-highest-bidder/in 193 ce the praetorian guard killed the emperor pertinax and auctioned the roman empire from the walls of their camp. the magnate didius julianus bought it. it lasted 66 days.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTdidius julianuspraetorian guardyear of the five emperorscorruptionhistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-day-the-roman-empire-admitted-rome-no-longer-mattered/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-day-the-roman-empire-admitted-rome-no-longer-mattered/on 11 may 330, constantine inaugurated constantinople and shifted the empire's centre of gravity to the bosphorus. a military and economic decision that guaranteed a further thousand years of life to the state in the east and sealed rome's decline.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTconstantinopleconstantinebyzantine empiregeopoliticshistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-disturbing-straw-tribute-of-the-roman-priestesses/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-disturbing-straw-tribute-of-the-roman-priestesses/every 15 may, the vestal virgins threw thirty rush effigies bound like prisoners into the tiber. a rite that ancient historiography itself read as the civilised echo of old human sacrifices.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTargeivestal virginsroman religionhuman sacrificehistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-exact-moment-a-roman-boy-lost-his-childhood/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-exact-moment-a-roman-boy-lost-his-childhood/in rome you did not become an adult on the day of your birthday. on the liberalia of 17 march the young man put aside his childhood amulet, donned the white toga of the citizen and, with it, came of age to go and die on the frontiers.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTliberaliacoming of agetoga virilisroman lawhistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-exact-moment-the-roman-republic-collapsed/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-exact-moment-the-roman-republic-collapsed/the roman republic did not fall to an invasion or a catastrophe: it collapsed because a general decided to cross a ridiculously small stream with his army. by crossing the rubicon, julius caesar committed high treason and signed the death warrant of the state.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTjulius caesarrubiconcivil warroman republichistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-monument-to-peace-funded-with-war-booty/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-monument-to-peace-funded-with-war-booty/rome raised the most beautiful altar ever dedicated to peace. legend says it paid for it with gold torn from the peoples it had just crushed in war. the ara pacis is a marble masterpiece and, underneath, a perfectly polite military threat.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTaugustusara pacispropagandaroman arthistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-most-dangerous-roman-title-in-history-father/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-most-dangerous-roman-title-in-history-father/how do you get an entire empire to thank you while taking away its voice: by having them call you papa. when augustus accepted the title of father of the fatherland he was not receiving flattery, he was redefining what it meant to be father in terms that evoke the absolute authority of a paterfamilias.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTaugustuspater patriaeroman lawpaterfamiliashistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-murder-that-cemented-the-walls-of-the-roman-empire/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-murder-that-cemented-the-walls-of-the-roman-empire/the traditional date of rome's birth, 21 april 753 bce, does not celebrate a palace but a furrow drawn by a plough and a fratricide. according to legend, romulus killed remus for leaping over the sacred line, and turned border violence into a foundational act.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTromulus and remusfounding of romepomeriumpariliahistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-only-king-the-roman-empire-allowed-to-live/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-only-king-the-roman-empire-allowed-to-live/rome hated its kings with a visceral terror, but its religion required that certain rites be officiated by one. the solution was a gilded cage: a priest with the title of king and forbidden by law from touching power.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTrex sacrorumagonaliaroman religionmonarchyroman institutionshttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-real-reason-rome-depended-on-wine/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-real-reason-rome-depended-on-wine/every 23 april, the vinalia priora opened the amphorae of the latest harvest. wine was more than a luxury: it provided dense calories and, according to many scholars' reading, masked a water that often sickened or killed.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTvinalia prioraroman winedaily lifejupiterhistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-roman-emperor-who-traded-absolute-power-for-a-vegetable-garden/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-roman-emperor-who-traded-absolute-power-for-a-vegetable-garden/diocletian pulled the empire out of the abyss of the crisis of the third century, installed a regime of absolute power and designed the tetrarchy. and then, on 1 may 305, he did what no emperor had done: voluntarily abdicate and retire to grow cabbages.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTdiocletiantetrarchycrisis of the third centuryroman empirehistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-roman-politician-who-changed-the-religion-of-europe-forever/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-roman-politician-who-changed-the-religion-of-europe-forever/constantine the great converted to christianity between faith and strategy: he staked his power on a persecuted and well organised minority. one man's military calculation redrew the religious map of europe.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTconstantineroman empirechristianityedict of milanhistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-scandalous-festival-that-shattered-roman-morality/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-scandalous-festival-that-shattered-roman-morality/every late april, the floralia suspended the rules of rome: the sober toga fell, sex workers took the centre of the public stage and the state funded the chaos. a safety valve designed to keep social pressure from exploding.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTfloraliafloraroman societyroman festivalshistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-sound-of-bronze-that-terrified-all-of-europe/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-sound-of-bronze-that-terrified-all-of-europe/in the chaos of battle the general's voice was useless: roman infantry moved to the roar of the tuba. every 23 march the tubilustrium purified those war trumpets before the campaign.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTtubilustriumroman legionsmarstubasaliihistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-truth-behind-caesars-23-wounds/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/the-truth-behind-caesars-23-wounds/julius caesar's end was not a solemn act in the senate but a chaotic scuffle in which the conspirators wounded one another. of the 23 stab wounds, according to a single source, only one was fatal.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTides of marchjulius caesarassassinationforensic historyhistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/they-tore-out-his-tongue-for-telling-the-truth/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/they-tore-out-his-tongue-for-telling-the-truth/the birth of marcus tullius cicero, the man who climbed to the top of rome without lifting a sword, only with words. that is why, when they killed him, beheading was not enough: they pierced his tongue with needles.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTcicerooratoryroman republicmark antonyhistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/whips-and-chaos-the-real-roman-festival-of-fertility/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/whips-and-chaos-the-real-roman-festival-of-fertility/every 15 february, priests naked and ritually marked with blood ran through rome whipping women with goatskin thongs. the purification rite that gave the month its name and survived nearly a thousand years.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTlupercaliaroman religionfebruarypurificationhistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/fasti/why-your-year-begins-today-and-not-in-spring/https://yodidac.com/en/fasti/why-your-year-begins-today-and-not-in-spring/1 january is not a natural or astronomical date: it is a roman military formality. the day the consuls took office and the people honoured janus, the two-faced god who looks to the past and the future at once.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTjanusnew yearconsulsroman religionhistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/content/patricians-and-plebeians/https://yodidac.com/en/content/patricians-and-plebeians/the beginning of a five-hundred-year cold war. how the elite closed ranks by inventing the patricians and raising a barrier of blood to leave the plebs without political rights.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTclass strugglepatriciansplebeiansroman republicroman politicshttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-battle-of-lake-regillus/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-battle-of-lake-regillus/the last military attempt to restore the kings. the latin coalition clashes against rome at lake regillus around 496 bce, with the mystical legend of the dioscuri castor and pollux saving the legions.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMThistorical battleslake regillusroman republicmythologylatin coalitionhttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-biggest-lie-of-the-roman-empire/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-biggest-lie-of-the-roman-empire/rome did not tell its own story as a daughter of italy, but of troy. how the most powerful empire of antiquity anchored its legitimacy in the myth of prince aeneas, and how augustus and virgil's aeneid turned that genealogy into state propaganda.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMThistory of romemythologyaeneasancient romeroman empirehttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-blood-on-the-twelve-tables/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-blood-on-the-twelve-tables/appius claudius's crime against young verginia unleashes military chaos. a father kills his daughter to save her from slavery, bringing down the decemvirs and clearing the way for the publication of the twelve tables in 449 bce.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTthe twelve tablesroman lawverginiadecemvirsroman republichttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-consul-and-the-ultimate-penalty/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-consul-and-the-ultimate-penalty/the blind justice of rome. consul brutus must condemn his own sons to death for conspiring to return the kings to the throne. the message of absolute loyalty to the state.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTroman republicroman justicebrutuscapital punishmentconstitutionhttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-corruption-of-the-roman-calendar/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-corruption-of-the-roman-calendar/why october is the tenth month if its name means the eighth. how superstition about numbers and the corruption of the roman pontiffs came to break, literally, the measure of time in antiquity.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTcalendarhistory of romeancient rometimehistorical curiositieshttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-crime-that-destroyed-the-kings/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-crime-that-destroyed-the-kings/the roman monarchy did not fall through a war or an economic crisis, but through prince sextus tarquinius's assault on the noblewoman lucretia. the crime that unleashed the fury of the aristocracy and founded the roman republic in 509 bce.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMThistory of romeroman republiclucretiatarquinancient romehttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-darkest-day-of-rome/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-darkest-day-of-rome/the tide of gallic warriors crashes against the romans at the river allia. psychological panic dissolves the formations, leaves the legions massacred and the capital defenceless. 18 july was marked forever as a day of ill omen.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTbattle of the alliagaulssack of romeceltsroman republichttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-dictator-of-the-roman-household/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-dictator-of-the-roman-household/before governing the world the romans were governed by their own fathers. the terrifying power of the paterfamilias and the legal right to pass the capital sentence on his children.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTpaterfamiliasroman lawroman societyfamilyroman republichttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-duel-that-changed-rome/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-duel-that-changed-rome/rome and alba longa staked the future of their cities on a duel to the death of three against three. the legend of the horatii and the curiatii and the mythic origin of the provocatio, the citizen's right to appeal to the people.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMThistory of romehoratii and curiatiiroman lawancient romeroman empirehttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-farmer-who-saved-rome/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-farmer-who-saved-rome/lucius quinctius cincinnatus receives absolute command as dictator in 458 bce to rescue the trapped legions. he crushes the enemy in sixteen days and astonishes the world by laying down power to return to his farm.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTcincinnatusdictatorroman republicemergency magistracyearly republichttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-first-assassination-of-rome/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-first-assassination-of-rome/the mysterious disappearance of romulus and the rumour of a state crime orchestrated by the senate. how rome solved its first power vacuum by electing a foreigner, numa pompilius, who founded the religion of the state without drawing the sword.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMThistory of romeromulusnuma pompiliusroman senateancient romehttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-first-general-strike/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-first-general-strike/the plebs paralyse rome by walking out of the city in the secessio plebis of 494 bce. weary of debt-bondage, they force the patrician senate to capitulate and create the tribunate of the plebs.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTgeneral strikeplebeiansclass struggleroman republicsecessio plebishttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-first-monopoly-of-rome/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-first-monopoly-of-rome/before conquering the world with legions, tradition has it that rome learned to grow rich by controlling salt. king ancus marcius, the foundation of ostia and the white gold of antiquity that turned a band of shepherds into a commercial power.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMThistory of romesalteconomyostiaancient romehttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-first-war-machine/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-first-war-machine/forget the legion of the films. the first roman soldiers fought like greek hoplites forming an impenetrable phalanx. the army that forced democracy at spearpoint.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTroman armyphalanxhoplitesmilitary tacticsroman republichttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-gallic-sack-and-humiliation/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-gallic-sack-and-humiliation/the gauls sack rome and reduce it to ashes. the senators are massacred and the chieftain brennus humiliates the republic by demanding gold and pronouncing the legendary phrase vae victis.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTsack of romevae victisbrennusgaulsroman republichttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-great-lie-of-the-she-wolf-of-rome/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-great-lie-of-the-she-wolf-of-rome/the myth of romulus, remus and the capitoline she-wolf may conceal a far more earthly origin. the double meaning of the word lupa in latin, and the fratricide that, according to tradition, stained the foundation of rome in 753 bce.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTromulus and remusshe-wolffoundation of romeancient romehistory of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-hero-who-betrayed-rome/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-hero-who-betrayed-rome/gnaeus marcius coriolanus was rome's most lethal soldier, but his hatred of the plebs got him exiled. how he allied with the volscian enemy in an attempt to annihilate his own native city.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTcoriolanusroman republictreasonvolsciroman armyhttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-hill-and-the-sacred-birds/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-hill-and-the-sacred-birds/the roman resistance entrenched on the capitoline survives a night-time ambush by the gauls thanks to the geese of juno, sparing the citadel from falling in the sack of rome.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTcapitoline geesethe capitoljunogaulsroman republichttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-invention-of-the-consulship/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-invention-of-the-consulship/how to govern after outlawing the kings. the roman senate invents the divided magistracy of the two consuls and the power of the veto to prevent new tyrannies in the year 509 bce.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTconsulshiproman republicroman lawconstitutionroman politicshttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-kidnapping-of-the-republic/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-kidnapping-of-the-republic/rome suspends its government in 451 bce and hands absolute command to ten men, the decemvirs, to draft laws. how the aristocrat appius claudius turned the legal project into a brutal tyranny.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTdecemvirsappius claudiusroman republictyrannylawshttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-law-that-legalised-love/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-law-that-legalised-love/the patricians prohibited by law any marriage with plebeians to shield their purity of blood. the pressure of the plebs forces through the lex canuleia in 445 bce and opens the first crack in the wall of power.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTlex canuleiaclass struggleroman lawmarriageroman republichttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-mafia-network-of-rome/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-mafia-network-of-rome/the system of clientela. how the wealthy patricians controlled the votes and the streets of rome by buying the loyalty of the impoverished plebs through favours and loans.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTroman societyclientelaroman politicsroman republicpatronagehttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-millionaire-who-bought-rome/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-millionaire-who-bought-rome/the arrival of the etruscans on the throne. tarquinius priscus, an immensely wealthy immigrant, uses his fortune and rome's first electoral speech to seize the crown, and transforms the city with the circus maximus and the cloaca maxima.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMThistory of romeetruscanstarquinius priscuscloaca maximaromehttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-monopoly-of-the-auguries/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-monopoly-of-the-auguries/how patrician priests turned augury and the reading of birds in flight into a bureaucratic weapon to suspend elections and block the laws of the people.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTauguriespolitical religionroman republicpatricianselectoral manipulationhttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-only-untouchable-women/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-only-untouchable-women/the vestal virgins were rome's great legal exception. emancipated women, with the power to pardon a condemned man simply by crossing his path, yet subject to an atrocious punishment if they broke their vows: death without the shedding of blood.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTvestalshistory of romewomen in romeancient romehistorical curiositieshttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-punishment-of-decimation/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-punishment-of-decimation/the decimatio was rome's most brutal military punishment: a deadly lottery in which the price of mutiny or collective cowardice was being clubbed to death by your own tent-mates.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTdecimatioroman legionsmilitary punishmentdisciplineroman republichttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-sacrifice-to-the-underworld/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-sacrifice-to-the-underworld/in 340 bce, with the roman left wing giving way before the latins at the foot of vesuvius, the consul publius decius mus covered his head and charged alone at the enemy, offering himself in the devotio to the gods of the underworld in exchange for victory.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTdevotiodecius muslatin warroman religionearly republichttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-second-founder-of-rome/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-second-founder-of-rome/the dictator furius camillus returns from exile and persuades the romans, desperate to flee, to rebuild the capital on its own ashes rather than abandon it. tradition enshrines him as the second founder of rome.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTfurius camillussack of romeroman republicexilereconstructionhttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-seizure-of-the-sabines/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-seizure-of-the-sabines/to stave off rome's extinction, romulus engineered a mass deception against the neighbouring tribes. the rape of the sabines as a founding myth of the forced assimilation of peoples, and of how two enemy communities ended up fused into one.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMThistory of romethe sabinesromulusancient romeroman empirehttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-siege-beneath-the-earth/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-siege-beneath-the-earth/the siege of veii dragged on for a decade and led the dictator camillus to drive a colossal tunnel beneath the walls. the psychological-warfare tactic of the evocatio to take from the etruscans their protecting goddess.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTsiege of veiietruscansevocatiomilitary strategyroman republichttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-slave-who-became-king/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-slave-who-became-king/the life and brutal fall of servius tullius. how a man born to a slave woman reached the throne by deception, invented the census to reorder rome by wealth instead of by blood, and ended up murdered by his own daughter.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMThistory of romeservius tulliussocial classancient romekings of romehttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-untouchable-politician-of-rome/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-untouchable-politician-of-rome/the tribune of the plebs and the power of the veto. the sacrosanctitas, the magical legal shield that protected popular leaders and gave them the power to paralyse the senate and the whole republic.Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTtribune of the plebsroman politicsroman lawsacrosanctitasroman republichttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-father-who-executed-his-son/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-father-who-executed-his-son/in 340 bce, during the latin war, the consul titus manlius torquatus orders his own son put to death for having won a duel without permission. from that severity a proverb was born, the "manlian discipline".Mon, 25 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTmanlius torquatusmilitary disciplinelatin warroman severityearly republichttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-end-of-the-phalanx/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-end-of-the-phalanx/in the mid-fourth century bce, in the mountains of southern italy, rome abandons the rigid spear-wall of the hoplite phalanx and reorganises its legions into maniples, articulated blocks laid out like a chessboard. the dating of that change, however, is far more schematic than it is usually told.Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTmanipleroman legionphalanxsamnite warsmilitary tacticsearly republichttps://yodidac.com/en/content/the-revenge-of-the-excluded/https://yodidac.com/en/content/the-revenge-of-the-excluded/the conflict of the orders was no revolt of the starving but a war over the high offices, led by a wealthy plebeian elite. in 367 bce the licinio-sextian laws opened the consulship to the plebs and, without meaning to, gave birth to a new aristocracy.Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTconflict of the orderslicinio-sextian lawsnobilitasconsulshiproman republic