Rome

Rome. There's some serious evidence of "the magic of civilization" there, man. Its like the city itself is one of those cabinets people keep in their houses with all the valuable trinkets and china inside. Except this one has ancient buildings, statues and fountains, all with incredible backstories.

Now, everyone knows I'm a sucker for mythology, but any city founded by a guy raised by motherfucking WOLVES gets my vote. Basically, these two boys were left in the cold to die. A She-Wolf came along and picked up the slack, which was nice of her - and reared the boys back to health. They decided at some point to get started on a city.


They couldn't agree on which hill to build it on, so Romulus killed Remus, to avoid a drawn-out argument about it. I've got brothers, and violent hill-arguments happen all the time, no big deal. Anyways, seems like Romulus' hill was the right choice, because eventually a fore-runner of the "epic city" movement was born. Rome.

I really want to visit Rome one day, and I hope the mythology & magic in the air translates as well as I've let myself believe it will. It really would've been the "centre of the universe" for a good period of time. That's fucking amazing.

Throne

Thrones, man. Really, really fancy chairs. Chairs where kings... gods... champions sit. Thrones rule, because you have to be important to have one. I want one.

Check out this amazing throne. How much do you want to sit on this motherfucker?


Alot. That's how. This is the throne of Saint Peter. It resides in Saint Peter's Basilica, in Rome - and was once used by the popes. Unfortunately, my research suggests that you no longer sit on it. Such a waste. Anyways, the chair is often thought to have been actually "sat on" by Saint Peter himself, but was actually a gift to the Pope from "Charles the Bald" in 875. Very old chair.

Anyways, so now its a relic, or something. The incredible ornate bronze "decorations" were designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, in 1645. Not quite as old, but would still be a pretty good haul for a catburglar.

Irregardless, I'm not sure why I've been rocking the religious imagery so much lately, but still - those crazy Catholics sure know how to blow their money in spectacular fashion.

The Sistine Chapel: It Owns

See? it owns. What a freaking great ceiling!

Best chapel ever?

I think so.

Total Badasses: Hannibal Barca

Hannibal of Carthage is my favourite historical general. Dude is a total legend. He lived in the 2nd century BC, and is known for actually standing up to the greatest power in the ancient world at that time -- Rome.

The dude led a smallish army, including war elephants (yeah!) across the European Alps, at the time thought to be uncrossable. Even though he emerged on the other side with about half of the force he set out with initially, he still amassed several impressive victories behind enemy lines, in Roman territory.

To put it in better words, he "marauded" around Rome for a while, being a total badass and kicking Roman arse for a while. In Italy. Roman territory. Him and his elephants. So cool.

Eventually he was driven out by Romans, who were getting desperate, sending general after general against him in hope of defeating him. The dude who eventually did so was Scipio Africanus. Cool name.

Here is a Hannibal quote I think we can all agree is totally badass:

"We will either find a way, or make one."

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