Standing within the ruins of Dougga, the visitor looks over the beiges and greens of the valley wadi Khalled, a fertile valley that was an important wheat growing area in antiquity and one of the reasons for the city’s siting.

It appears that the Roman and Numidian communities here did not fuze but instead developed a rivalry that manifested in the wealthier families of each group vying to erect grand public buildings for the city, the result being that it has a set of public amenities that are larger and more numerous than even a moderate sized city would normally have.

One of those is the theatre, built around AD 168. Not an amphitheatre where violent games were put on (though Dougga has one of those too) but a proper theatre in the Greek style for plays. The columns behind the stage and the semi-circular tiers of seats still exist, and one can climb the rows of seating to get a feel for what it was like to watch a performance here. It is massive – probably too massive for the city as it could hold about two thirds of the population at one time and would seldom have been filled!

Figure 3: the Dougga theatre, one of the best preserved in North Africa

Unlike many Roman cities and towns in North Africa, Dougga had access to good sources of water and so could afford to have Roman-style public baths. In fact there are three of them here.

Some aspects of Numidian-Carthaginian culture continued only in a disguised form. The main Carthaginian god of Baal Hammon and the goddess Tanit were both worshiped here in the time of the Numidian kings, then became integrated into the Roman god Saturn and goddess Juno Caelestis respectively, the same process that happened all over the Empire. Indeed the Dougga temple to Saturn was built on the same site as the prior temple to Baal.

Special reverence was given in every Roman city to the three gods which protected Rome itself – Jupiter, Juno and Minerva – with a temple dedicated to them, the Capitoline Temple, in the city centre by the forum. It was also where the Imperial Cult – venerating the emperors as gods – was practised. Dougga has a superb Capitoline Temple with carvings showing the divination of the emperor Antoninus Pius.

Figure 4: frontal view of the Dougga Capitoline Temple

As well as the grand, there is also the mundane. Here my son examines the public lavatory of one of the bath complexes!

Figure 5: Roman public lavatories

When we were there in 2007 on a midweek February afternoon, we were the only visitors (in fact the only people there at all save a guard at the entrance and two archaeologists). We walked the streets drinking in the atmosphere of the splendidly preserved site, a must for anyone visiting Tunisia with an interest in ancient history.

This is one of my series of articles about ancient sites I visited in Tunisia. If you enjoyed this, please visit the others:

The Antonine Baths of Roman Carthage

El Jem Roman Amphitheatre

The Tophet of Carthage

Thuburbo Majus Roman Town

Figure 2: the Palaestra of Petronii

Several buildings on site have in-situ fragments of mosaic floor, set around with concrete to protect them. One of these has been named the House of Neptune because of the fish in one of the mosaics. In the photograph below you can see the geometric mosaic of one room and beyond it the colonnaded walkway, with mosaic floor, around what was probably an internal courtyard garden (a common feature in the Roman town houses of the wealthy).

Figure 3: the so-called House of Neptune, a town house of a wealthy resident

A hint of the pre-Roman town can be seen in the Temple of Baalat, a Carthaginian goddess (not to be confused with their god Baal), which survives as a platform and two solitary columns at the corners. I am not sure whether it was dedicated to Baalat in Roman times or to whichever Roman god was identified as being the same (a common Roman practice where local gods and goddess were identified as aspects of the Roman pantheon, easing integration into Roman culture). Another less obvious sign of the pre-Roman town is in the irregular winding street plan, completely at odds with the regular grid Roman town planners adopted when they had a clean sheet.

Figure 4: the Temple of Baalat

Evidence of the town’s importance as a producer of olive oil is found in several oil pressing stones and storage tanks across the site. One of these is shown in the photo below.

Figure 5: building with circular olive oil press

In all, some 250 by 300 metres of the site are excavated and visible, but the extent of the town can be determined if you look for the northeast and southwest gates, which partially survive and stick up from amongst the grass a few hundred metres from the main ruins.

Personally I was impressed by the site. Although the ruins don’t stand as high as elsewhere, one can walk some of the streets and the low walls make it easier to get a feel for the layout. It also has a special atmosphere, an aura of a town asleep, as if it might once again rise to bustle and majesty.

This is one of my series of articles about ancient sites I visited in Tunisia. If you enjoyed this, please visit the others:

The Antonine Baths of Roman Carthage

Dougga Roman Town

El Jem Roman Amphitheatre

The Tophet of Carthage

Sure, some people like to have sex to music and seeing them as actors in movies and inflacareaza shudder at the sound of music, we almost came to believe that a song will bring orgasm! Sometimes it’s better to not only hear birds chirping or anything. Everything will come out as well! 

Couples come out well in crisis situations 

Women have an orgasm every time in movies, and even at the same time with your partner. Anyone who has had sex in the real world knows that they did not exist. 

Women never run empty after sex 

Girls, you ever got on a sheet to cover your bed the next morning after you had sex? Or did you ever dress shirt lover and you ended up buttons above? I thought not! 

Sex produces children, every time 

Of course sex can lead to pregnancy, but some movies ( Knocked Up, Juno, The Secret Life of the American teenager ) could really make you think that the condom was not invented ever! 

Losing virginity is something really important 

If you’re a female character from a show, chances are great to spend the whole season wondering if, when and with whom you lose your virginity. And when you make a final choice, either: 

It was the fourth wedding that day at the Cathedral and two more were scheduled in the evening.  I could understand the harassed and famished look in the faces of the officiating priest and his altar boys during the ceremony. I began to wonder why some couples in the Philippines choose to exchange “I do’s” in June when circumstances are not in their favour.  Firstly, June marks the beginning of the rainy season and typhoon visits in the archipelago. Secondly, students are back to school in June so expenses are in high gear. Thirdly, invited guests are not on vacation from school or work so a few may not show up for the wedding. Lastly, diseases like dengue fever, influenza and typhoid are rampant in the rainy month of June.  So why the choice?

Perhaps, there is some magic in being called a June bride or some good luck attributed to a June wedding.  But the popularity of June as the wedding month originated from the West where couples had their own unique reasons for exchanging wedding vows during the month.

Let’s take a look at some of them.

Juno, the Roman Goddess of Marriage

June was named after Juno, the Roman Goddess of Marriage. Couples chose to honour this goddess by marrying in June. It was also believed that Juno will bring them happiness and prosperity if they wed in her month.

Annual Bath

In medieval times, people bathed only once a year. Bathing was not considered a necessity. The annual bathing was done during the last part of May or early part of June. Immediately after, many couples chose to wed while they were still clean and presentable.

Harvest Time

If couples wed in June, a summer pregnancy was possible for the women. This meant they can still help in the harvest period before fall time since they wouldn’t be too far along in their pregnancy.

Fine Weather

June brings in warmer weather for an outdoor wedding. Everyone is also on vacation so it would be more convenient for guests to partake of the celebration.

Bridal Flowers

A wide array of flowers is available in June. Flowers give off enough scent for the occasion and are sold cheaper in June.

There you go—a mix of history and practicality as the driving force behind this modern-day trend. August and September come close behind in the popularity list. That is as far as the West is concerned.

In the Philippines, however, many couples are beginning to re-think the practicality angle, especially in these times.  They don’t want to start a family on zero balance or get wet too early for the honeymoon.   More and more couples are choosing December or January to exchange wedding vows.  Christmas is the season of love and the cold weather brings a romantic air to the occasion. Finances are also up during this time with all the bonuses and the prevalent spirit of giving. I should know. I got married in January.

To all engaged couples, all my best wishes!

Likha is an expert author at EzineArticles.com and is a proud member of The Filipino Diaspora.

 Try this: The Magic of Making Up

Lupercalia was a pagan festival celebrating fertility and marriage amongst other things. Part of the festival was Juno Februa, which is connected to Juno, goddess of marriage, and Februa which means “purification”, alluding to purification from anything which could get in the way of fertility or anything else.

The festival involved purifying away causes of infertility, including bad spirits, by whipping people lightly with goat skins! After some ceremonies of sacrificing a dog and a goat, young men would run about town with a goat skin, merrily and jokingly whipping anything in sight! It was all in very good spirits and the mood was jovial.

Another custom was a “love lottery” of sorts, where single women’s names were put in a raffle, and the single men in the community would pull out a name of the woman. Then they would spend the festival day together, and if lucky, it could be the start of a romance.

It was centuries later that the Christian church, wanting to steamroll paganism, declared that the same date as Lupercalia would now be Saint Valentine’s Day (because this was the saint that happened to be martyred on this date). They tried to make the transition from Lupercalia to St Valentine’s Day easier by trying to absorb some of the traditions into the day. For example, they suggested that instead of a love lottery there would be a lottery of saints names, and the saint that was chosen was to be their role model for the next year. This tradition didn’t really catch on, but the love-association of Lupercalia stayed with us to this day.

References

http://www.saywhydoi.com/history-of-valentines-day-why-do-we-celebrate-valentines-day/

Yet this was once a thriving middle-sized Roman town of up to ten thousand people.

Figure 1: view across the forum to the capitoline temple

Thuburbo Majus, or Colonia Julia Aurelia Commoda as it was called when it was granted colonia status, was a Roman town about 60 km southwest of Carthage on the trade route that connected Carthage to the edge of the desert and the caravans that crossed it. In fact there was a Carthaginian town here before the Romans arrived and Augustus chose it as a site to settle retired army veterans in 27 BC.

The remains visible today are mostly of structures built in the period 150 to 200 AD, then restored in the 4th century after a period of decline. The area around the town was fertile enough back then for it to be a producer of grain, olives and fruit.

The first photograph shows a view across the forum (the town square) to the capitoline temple. As well as having many other temples, almost every Roman town and city had a capitoline temple facing onto the forum, dedicated to the three main gods of the city of Rome itself: Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. This one was built around AD 168 and all that survives are the steps up to the main platform, four grand Corinthian-style columns of the frontage and the partial stumps of the side columns. Of the other buildings around the forum, only waist-high walls are left.

The town was made a self-governing municipality in AD 128, easing the heavy tax burden and allowing more money to be invested in civic buildings. This includes two different public bath house complexes, the smaller of which still had 20 rooms.

One of the later additions during the heyday is the Palaestra of Petronii. A palaestra is a Greek invention, a gymnasium for boxing and wrestling. The palaestra at Thuburbo Majus is the only building on the site that still has lintels topping the columns, and is sited next one of the bath houses for a leisurely scrub down after exercising. When we visited it in February it was rather too cold for stripping to the waist to wrestle!

Continued on page two…

5. Kevin Smith

Image via Wikipedia

Look at that pretty mug. Okay, so he isn’t conventional looking but that’s okay. Nerd girls like guys who are smart and can make them laugh. Kevin Smith is a successful indie director who has some moderately mainstream appeal. You can take him to comic con and he’ll fit right in but you can also take him out on the town. Plus, he can make people laugh. That is a huge boon. Does he count as a nerd? You decide: He named his daughter Harley Quinn, after the famous henchwoman of the joker from the many many many batman series. He wrote a romantic comedy about comic book artists and owns his own comic shop. Plus, I mean, have you ever seen Clerks? Mallrats? Yeah yeah, we know Jersey Girl was mainstream and lame-ish but yo, the little girl, she does a scene from Sweeny Todd and this was well before Tim Burton made it cool. He’s got nerd to spare, he even played a nerdy bad guy in the newest Die Hard flick. Oh, and he guest starred on the new Degrassi!

4. Seth Green

Image via Wikipedia

Seth Green, like Kevin Smith, is hillarious. He has many a nerdclassic television shows, shows which revolve around strictly nerd humour plus he was from buffy the vampire slayer! What’s better than that? Well, he was a werewolf… He’s also a secular humanist and, at least the nerds I know, this is way more impresive than anything else. Okay, so he’s got cred but is he seriously attractive? He’s funny, successful and incredibly intelligent, so I’m saying heck yes!

 3. Tory Belleci

Image via Wikipedia

If you happen to be asking, who is that? Well, then you dear sir or madam, are no nerd. Tory is one of the MythBusters and has ton a lot of work in Hollywood. A few examples? Sure, how do Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode 2 – Attack of the Clones, Starship Troopers, Galaxy Quest, T3, The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded and Van Helsing strike you? Still not convinced he’s a nerd? The picture above was taken at Dragon*Con. Booya. But is he sexy? He’s a freaking MythBuster! He gets to use science to blow stuff up, and he gets paid for it!

2. Neil Gaiman

Okay, so Neil Gaiman isn’t tall dark and handsome but he is mysterious and brooding. He is one of the most celebrated comic and prose book writers, sticking mostly in a weird world of fantasy, sci-fi and horror. He also co-wrote the screenplay to the hi-tech Beowulf film that was directed by Robert Zemekis and starred Angelina Jolie. He writes books hat appeal to all genders and age groups. When writing childrens books, he treats them like adults and doesn’t talk down to them. He challenges them. When writing for adults, he takes it a step further. Is he sexy? He has a sort of air to him that many women swoon over and on top of that, he is very kind humble. I almost never see him say a negative thing about other writers or react badly to his fans and yes I read his blog, twitter and all of his books. He takes things in stride and just enjoys the ride. Is he sexy? Well, his girlfriend Amanda Palmer, of the Dresden Dolls, thinks so, so that’s good enough for me!

1. Trent Reznor

You may be saying to yourself that Trent isn’t a nerd, but he is a huge techno geek. Not only does he love to play with electronic music equipment but any gadget that he can get his hands on, he plays with. It can be the newest smart phone, it can be a new video game system or just about anything else. If it had LED lights and makes beeping noises, he’s sure to lust after it. If you don’t think he’s sexy, well, you’re insane. His music is damn sexy and the rock star persona is damn sexy and on top of all of that many a woman have lusted after his body the way he lusts after electronic gadets! Nine Inch Nails are an incredibly popular band but that doesn’t stop Trent from showing his nerd roots. He’s an avid twitter user who geeks out on a regular basis.

Okay, so onto the women!

5. Tori Amos

Image via Wikipedia

What isn’t sexy about that? Is she a nerd? Well, she’s an outspoken individual with an incredibly odd personality. Way back in the 80s, before she and he were friends, she mentioned Neil Gaiman and his comic book character The Sandman in one of her songs, later she even wrote the introduction to his graphic novel Death: The High Cost of Living. Also, completely unrelated to our male number 2, she has a comic book anthology out, short comic stories that were inspired by her writing, Comic Book Tattoo which is a huge and beautiful comic book put out by Image Comics. She’s nerdy, alright. And sexy.

4. Ellen Page

She’s got that kinda nerd girl look that drives nerd boys wild, plus she’s funny as all hell in Juno. Her attitude and personality really carry her a long way but her good looks aren’t far behind. But is she really a nerd? I mean, anybody can play shy and geeky girl who listens to indie rock, right? Well, she also jumped at the chance to play Kitty Pride in the X-Men films, even though it as a small role and she was in a made for tv movie called I Downloaded A Ghost. ‘Nuff said, homeskillet. Is she really that sexy? Well, there are websites popping up all over the internet with fake nudes and pics of her in her underwear so I’m going to say that many a boy has fantasized about knockingboots with her.

3. Alyson Hannigan

Isn’t as nerdy as some of the others on this list but she played the most adorkable computer labrat in Buffy The Vampire Slayer. She married the very sexy Alexis Denisof, also from Buffy The Vampire Slayer and stars in the hit sitcom, How I Met Your Mother, where she stars opposite of Neil Patrick Harris, you know, Doogie Howser, and she played an exquisete band geek in American Pie. To borrow a line from that film, Alyson Hannigan is a MILF.

2. Diablo Cody

Okay, so it probably isn’t fair to do this but Diablo Cody is a super sexy nerd so she is on the list. Don’t think she is sexy? She stripped professionally at a club called Skyway Lounge and worked Peep Shows at Sex World. So she’s very sexy. Is she a nerd? How many strippers are nerds? Well, she wrote Juno and a book called Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper, which is a memoir of her life in the sex industry. Also a television show she created, United States of Tara, was picked up by Show Time. She is clearly a word nerd.

1. Rosario Dawson

Okay, we’re not even going to discuss the merrits of her sexiness. She is damn sexy and that is all there is to it. Is she a nerd? Well, she has been featured in several comic book movie adaptations, namely Josie And The Pussycats, Sin City, Men In Black 2 and Wonder Woman (voice). Not good enough? She’s a main attraction at comic con and attends regularly. Still not good enough? Her uncle is famed comic artist Gustavo Vazquez. Still not enough? She wrote her own comic, Occult Task force, which is a sci fi police drama. Still not enough? She admitedly speaks klingon and I rest my case.

 

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The Summer Solstice is when the sun hits the tropic of cancer and gives the northern hemisphere  the longest day and shortest night of the year.  A literal translation taken from the Latin ‘sol’ – sun ‘sistere’ – to cause to stand still, i.e. the sun appears to stand still. This year the summer solstice will fall on June 21st in the Northern hemisphere and in December in the Southern hemisphere.  The summer solstice is celebrated as it is the beginning of the summer season, a time of light and prosperity.

The Summer Solstice played an important role for many ancient civilisations. 

The Celts

Often referred to as Druids, celebrated Alban Eiler – the light of the earth.  At midsummer they would hold a festival celebrating the apex of light, the marriage of heaven (the sun) and the goddess (the earth).

Ancient China

The feminine earth ‘yin’ forces were celebrated, and in winter the masculine ‘yang’ and heavens were celebrated.

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Ancient Gaul

The feast of Epona, named after a goddess who personified fertility, sovereignty and agriculture.  She was portrayed as a woman riding a mare.

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European Celts

Midsummer was celebrated as fire festivals.  They involved love, magic, oracles young couples would jump through flames to bring them luck. It was generally believed that crops would grow as high as the couples jumped. The bonfires were used to enhance the sun’s energy to ensure a bountiful harvest.

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Ancient Rome

The festival of Vestalia was held in honour of the Roman Goddess Vesta.  During the festival married women could enter the temple freely, at any other time only virgins would be permitted into the temple.  The goddess Juno was also honoured at this time as she was the goddess of women, children and the patron of marriage.  The month of June was named after her.

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Ancient Sweden

Each town/village would decorate a ‘maypole’  (midsommarstång) with flowers and greenery, and villagers would dance around it. 

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Early Christians

Early European Christians would celebrate the feast of St John the Baptist.  This celebration was observed by both Greek and Latin Christians just after the summer solstice on June 24th.

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Native Americans

Both the Hopi and Natchez tribes held summer ceremonies.  There are many stone structures in American linked to the solstices.

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Neopaganism

The term refers to a modern recreation of ancient Pagan beliefs and includes Wicca.  They celebrate sabbat (Midsummer) also known as Litha. At this time many pagan traditions worship the Goddess.  She is often depicted as being heavily pregnant  and represents bountiful harvests.  Litha is a time of light, healing herbs and divining rods are traditionally cut at this time.

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Ancient European Monuments

There are many prehistoric monuments linked to the summer solstice around Europe.  Stonehenge is probably one of the most famous.  The design of Stonehenge must have been well planned as the latitude would need to be precise for the sun to rise over the heel stone.  Each year the summer solstice at Stonehenge draws people from all walks of life, including modern druids and new age travellers .

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What is going on here? How can 16 and 17 year old girls even fathom the huge responsibility, expense and time that it takes to successfully raise a child?

Where is the glamour in teenage single parenting?

Where on earth are the parents of these girls? Where have they been for the first 16 years of their lives? Haven’t they informed their daughters that having a baby is tough under the best of circumstances?

I had my first child after I graduated from college, had a career and owned a home. It still was not easy and I was not a single parent.

I was fully prepared for the trials of parenting and yet I was totally surprised at how time-consuming at all hours of the day taking care of a cranky or sick baby could be. There are nights in the life of every parent when you just don’t sleep and you can forget having a social life. After a baby you don’t have a social life at all for a while.

As a twenty-something mom I did not miss the social life that I would have missed at sixteen.

We have to teach our teenagers that they cannot believe Hollywood’s version of teen pregnancy as in the movie “Juno.” The movie “Juno” glamorizes something that never will be glamorous and that is teen pregnancy. The story that is told in this movie is one big fat lie.

Jaime Lynn Spears, as I write this article is just about to embark on the biggest realization of her young life. The realization is that having a baby at sixteen is not glamorous, no matter how rich you may be. Real life teenage pregnancy does not mimic the movies and it never will.

It is appalling to think that parents are not talking to their teens about the unlimited

negatives of being a teenage parent. Statistics show that teenage parents more than likely

will drop out of school and never achieve all that their childless teenage peers achieve.

What about birth control? “Just say no” died a long time ago. We have to educate our teenagers on the importance of using birth control, we are not cavemen.

Teens are having sex and will continue to do so. Let’s educate them about ways to prevent pregnancy, STD and the other challenges of a sexual relationship.

Most of all, we need to quit walking around like ostriches with our heads buried in the sand. Teen pregnancy is out there and we need to talk about it.

As I sit here the men who crossed those beaches were named Utah, Omaha, Sword and Juno are approaching eighty years old. Many of them were nineteen when they hit those beaches, not ones with white sand and colorful umbrellas but with concrete bunkers, machine guns, Teller mines and tank traps. Early in the morning of June 6, 1944, sometime after midnight the first paratrooper jumped out of a C-47 and fell through the air toward “Festung Europa”, Erwin Rommel’s Fortress Europe. Behind him were thousands of other men jumping from planes and landing in plywood gliders. Many of these had only minutes, some only seconds to live when they jumped or the glider dropped the tow to start down. Some had chute failures and died on impact.

Some landed in water and drowned. Some fell into fortified places like Sainte Mere Eglise. These parachutists were followed at dawn by thousands more landing on the beaches. They were to have tank support but in the heavy weather over half of the tanks with canvas floats sank, killing their crews and leaving the men on the beach without the support they needed. The real death toll of those sunken tanks was far higher then the roughly 150 crew members. Many died taking out defenses that the tanks would have handled easily. Many more died because the bombardment of the beaches was moved inland because of the weather and the beach defenders survived to oppose them. Many died because in the economics of warfare some die so that some men get to the beach alive. It is the law of attack.

The ones who got to the beach alive pushed the Nazi hoards off that beach. Hitler’s days were numbered, in less than a year he would be dead at his own hand. But on that day it was as the songwriter put it.

Lyrics by Paul Anka

Many men came here as soldiers
Many men will pass this way
Many men will count the hours
As they live the longest day

Many men are tired and weary
Many men are here to stay
Many men won’t see the sunset
When it ends the longest day

The longest day the longest day
This will be the longest day
Filled with hopes and filled with fears
Filled with blood and sweat and tears

Many men the mighty thousands
Many men to victory
Marching on right into battle
In the longest day in history

And sixty years later American fighting men are standing against another tyranny. Saddam is in chains but many of the old guard who kept him in power are still there and willing to take over and re-impose the tyranny. If they win it will be just trading one slavery for another slavery. They will replace the slavery of a dictator with the slavery of Islam. We must make sure that Islam remains a religion not the government.

This is why American fighting men are today standing, not on sandy beaches but on desert sands. Sixty years later, like their grandfathers on Omaha they stand tall.

Will we stand tall with them today as Rosie the riveter did in 1944 or will we count the cost and call it too high? “Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!” (Patrick Henry)

Or will we forbear and end up as Churchill said.

“If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a small chance of survival. There may even be a worse case: you may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.”