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1339_14 | Plot
Following a series of unexplainable disasters in Rome (the female population disappearing overnight, disease spreading through the livestock, a drought, a plague of locusts, the eruption of a nearby volcano), the Roman people seek the advice of a travelling seer, who tells them he sees a future of prosperity and harmony, but not before they undertake a long and arduous journey. Interpreting this to mean they must establish a new homeland on foreign soil, the Romans prepare an expedition. However, several days into the voyage, they are caught in a storm, and although they survive, their ships are lost, leaving them stranded on an uncharted island. |
1339_15 | Several months later, they encounter a mysterious portal engraved with Coptic writing. Unwilling to return to Rome with nothing to show for their efforts, they enter the portal. Emerging in a hot and arid land, they eventually encounter Nubians. Learning there is another portal beyond the Nubian settlement, the Romans ask for access to it, but the Nubians refuse. Shortly thereafter, an armed conflict breaks out. The Romans overwhelm the Nubians, the survivors of whom flee into the portal, with the Romans giving chase. |
1339_16 | On the other side of the portal, they reach a Nubian settlement, where they learn the Nubians have met the same fate as themselves; their women have disappeared without explanation. They also learn the Nubians are in conflict with a much stronger group of Chinese, who have cut them off from their Pharaoh, Tanotamun. Empathising with their situation, the Romans offer their assistance. Fighting their way through a Chinese blockade, they lift the siege on Tanotamun's castle, and reunite him with his people. |
1339_17 | Emerging through another portal, they learn the Chinese women have also disappeared. Climbing to a portal on top of a mountain, the Romans then find themselves in a massive cavern. Having defeated a Chinese settlement, they are surprised to learn the portal in the cavern leads back to the island on which they were originally marooned. Building a ship with supplies gathered on their journey, they return to Rome, finding the women have returned, albeit without any explanation for their disappearance. Pondering the meaning of recent events, the Romans conclude, "the path was the goal of our journey". |
1339_18 | Wikinger
Wikinger takes place many centuries after the main game, when portals are used by all races for exploration and trade. During a feast in the Viking capital, their portal explodes, and a group of Vikings are sucked into the resulting vortex, emerging on a beach. Electing Eirigg as their leader, they head towards a nearby village where they see some of the people with whom they had been feasting, a group who they thought were Chinese diplomats were actually pirates. The Vikings raid the village, finding it full of flags embroidered with a wolf. They then head towards a nearby portal. Passing through a Nubian village, they learn the portal ceased functioning a few days prior, and as a result, they decide to explore the region. |
1339_19 | Meanwhile, in Nubia, upon the destruction of the portal, pirates with sails bearing the sign of the wolf advance into the region ruled over by Kvame. Although he is able to push them back, unbeknownst to him, the leader escapes. In the ruins of the pirate camp, they find fragmented portal stones covered with Vikings symbols; remnants of the destroyed portal, and Kvame realises the pirates are led by a man known as The Wolf, an infamous pirate. Heading to the nearest Viking settlement, they find it under attack, and fight alongside the Vikings. Kvame subsequently discovers The Wolf is using portal stones to transport the men of conquered peoples vast distances, and forcing them to fight for him. The Nubians then learn The Wolf aims to conquer the Chinese Empire, and from there, the entire world. With this in mind, Kvame vows to return the stones to the Vikings, and help defend the Empire. |
1339_20 | Several months have now passed since the Vikings were sucked into the portal. Arriving at a Viking colony, they see it is under attack by the pirates. Pushing them back, Eirigg learns The Wolf has already begun the assault on the Empire's capital, and sets sail to help defend it.
Meanwhile, with the destruction of the Vikings' portal, the portal in Rome also ceased to function. Several months later, a Chinese envoy arrives, explaining the Imperial Court is under attack. The Senate devise a plan to gain possession of the portal stones and use them to rule the world, and to this end, they send a force under the command of Caius Publius to aid the Chinese. Heading first to a Nubian island, Caius is able to negotiate with the Nubian general to turn over possession of his portal stone. |
1339_21 | At the same time, in an isolated region of the Empire, The Wolf orders his Nubian allies to occupy an island fortress, planning to use it for his global campaign. However, a small tribe of Chinese determine to win it back. The Wolf is able to escape, but he leaves behind documents detailing his plan to capture the capital. Upon learning this, the Chinese set sail for the city. |
1339_22 | The Vikings, Nubians, Romans, and loyalist Chinese arrive at the capital at roughly the same time, and although the city has already fallen to The Wolf, the Emperor has escaped, and is hiding in a small village. After agreeing to work together, the Vikings, Nubians, and Romans are scattered by a storm, with the Vikings landing on an uninhabited island off the coast. As Eirigg prepares his forces, Kvame and Caius send him their portal stones. Shortly thereafter, the pirates take control of the village in which the Emperor is hiding. He is able to escape, travelling to the safety of the Vikings' island. Meanwhile, Eirigg attacks, finding the last portal stone among the ruins. He is eventually able to defeat the pirates and retake the city. The Wolf escapes in a small boat, but is caught in a storm, and drowns. The Vikings reassemble the portal, help the Chinese make repairs to the city, and then return home. |
1339_23 | Development
In March 2006, Ubisoft confirmed what had been rumoured in the German gaming press for some time; later in the year, they would be releasing a modern remake of The Settlers II, with their business development director, Ralf Wirsing stating, "there are not many video games that are suitable for such a project, but the second part of The Settlers series is undoubtedly one of them". The game's developers, Blue Byte, who had developed all five titles in the series thus far, had chosen to remake The Settlers II because doing so was the most frequent request they received from fans. Additionally, surveys in German magazines and on gaming websites consistently showed The Settlers II to be the most popular game in the series. |
1339_24 | One of the most important early decisions Blue Byte made was to leave the original's gameplay relatively unaltered. Of this decision, Wirsing explained: "The self-contained style of gameplay and the indirect control, in which the settlement and not the individual settlers are controlled, have not lost their charm even ten years after the game was first published". The only significant changes the designers made were giving the different races aesthetically differentiated buildings (in the original, the only difference between races was the design of soldiers), although, as in the original, all three races play identically; redesigning the HUD to take advantage of larger monitors with higher resolutions than were available in 1996; adding an online multiplayer mode; when the player demolishes a building, they now get back half the construction costs; rebuilding and expanding the notification system, plus giving players more control over which notifications they receive; and adding a |
1339_25 | day/night cycle. |
1339_26 | According to project manager and co-designer Thomas Häuser, the most important overarching decision regarding the remake was to renovate the original rather than reinvent it:
To ensure continuity with the original, the development team included several people who had worked on the 1996 title; Häuser was lead designer and lead programmer, producer and co-designer Thomas Friedmann was a design consultant, and co-designer and art director Thorsten Kneisel was an assistant producer. Speaking of how similar the remake would be to the original, Wirsing explained:
According to Thomas Friedmann, "we have retained the strengths of the original game." He specifically referred to the reimplementation of the road network, which was dropped from The Settlers III and all subsequent games in the series, and the importance of transport hubs. |
1339_27 | Of the graphics, Wirsing explained that "the new Settlers II looks as it would have in 1996 if the technical possibilities of today had existed. At the time, characters and buildings were only a few pixels in size, offering minimal possibilities to show detail". To achieve the modernisation of the 1996 graphics, a specifically designed game engine was used. The graphics were then created using Shader 2.0, allowing older graphics cards to run the game. |
1339_28 | Originally, the combat system was taken 1:1 from the original, but after producing a beta version of the game, the designers decided to add a building upgrade system, whereby players can upgrade their military installations without having to demolish and then rebuild them, and an evacuation button, whereby players can order garrisoned soldiers to evacuate any given military complex and redeploy them to any other. The game also features a map editor which can convert the 2D isometric maps from the original into the 3D style used in the remake. This applies both to maps created by the user and predesigned maps included with the game.
Release
The game was released in Germany in a limited edition with a Roman figurine, a Windows XP-optimised version of the original Settlers II, a making-of booklet, and two Freeplay maps not included with the standard edition. In 2013, the game was released on GOG.com.
Reception |
1339_29 | 10th Anniversary received relatively little critical attention outside Germany. Overall, reviews were mixed, with an aggregate score of 74% on GameRankings, based on five reviews.
PC Games Stefan Weiß scored it 82%, praising the graphics, but feeling that at €45, it was overpriced. He concluded by calling it "primarily a game for fans of the series".
Gameswelts André Linken also scored it 82%, citing "lack of variety" as the biggest problem, particularly in relation to mission objectives. Although he acknowledged the simple mission objectives echoed those of the original, he lamented the designers' "unwillingness to restructure". However, he praised the graphics, sound effects, and multiplayer mode, calling it "a terrific remake, [which] has lost none of the original's playfulness or gentleness". |
1339_30 | 4players Marcel Kleffmann scored it 80%, also criticising the lack of variety: "Every map is the same. You settle, settle, bustle, settle, fight a bit, and then the scheme repeats itself.". He felt this was especially pronounced in the single-player campaign. He also lamented that each of the races had identical gameplay, with no differentiation between their economic models. Conversely, he praised the implantation of road networks: "The charm of the old road construction system has barely lost anything in a decade as it forces you, in a beautifully managed way, to meticulously set up an efficient settlement". |
1339_31 | VideoGamer.coms Paul Devlin scored it 7 out of 10, finding it enjoyable, but dated. Calling it a "lovingly crafted remake", he was impressed with the graphics, sound effects, and music, writing as "Blue Byte should be commended for faithfully recreating the solid gameplay of its beloved original and adding 21st century bells and whistles". On the other hand, he felt it should have been a budget title, concluding, "For all its undeniable charm and nostalgic worth, The Settlers II is never really more than a retro retread that will probably only appeal to those who remember the original fondly". |
1339_32 | Eurogamer.des Herbert Aichinger also scored it 7 out of 10. Although he praised the graphics and the game's preservation of the original's "charm", he questioned whether nostalgia was enough to carry the game: "In 1996 The Settlers II was among the pioneers of city-building games. At that time, it was still fresh and original. But is it as fascinating today?" He also opined that the game should not have been a full price-release, writing, "the innovations on the original from 1996 are more of a cosmetic nature and do not add any additional facets to the gameplay". |
1339_33 | Wikinger
The German-language expansion, Die Siedler II: Die nächste Generation - Wikinger, was released in March 2007, featuring twelve new single-player missions, new maps for both single-player and multiplayer modes, a random map generator, numerous improvements and optimisations to the online multiplayer lobby, a newly designed quest system with more diverse mission objectives and optional sidequests, a more detailed notification system and mini-map, and minor gameplay tweaks. The expansion also allows players to use all three original races plus the newly added Vikings in the single-player campaign, although, as in the main game, the difference between the races is aesthetic only. |
1339_34 | Aufbruch der Kulturen
Die Siedler: Aufbruch der Kulturen, a German-language spiritual successor to Die nächste Generation, was released in September 2008, with localised versions released in Poland in 2009 and Russia in 2010. Developed primarily by Funatics Studio, a company founded by ex-Blue Byte personnel, Aufbruch der Kulturen features eleven missions in which the player controls Egyptians, Bavarians and Scots. The game uses the same engine as nächste Generation and features very similar gameplay. Speaking prior to the game's release, Ronald Kaulbach, Ubisoft's International brand manager, stated: |
1339_35 | In an interview with Eurogamer.de, the game's writer and co-designer, Kathleen Kunze, said of the decision to split the franchise: "That was the decision of the fans. There are those who say, "We want to continue with the old Settlers concept". They have great fun playing the original Settlers II. And then we have the people who always want innovation. The fanbase has, more or less, developed this way. Because of this, however, there was a lot of disunity in the community, so we decided to label things as "Traditional" and "Evolutionary"". |
1339_36 | Although part of the Traditional strand, Aufbruch der Kulturen does feature some new game mechanics. For example, the different races are no longer merely aesthetically differentiated, but now have different economic models, different buildings and different soldiers. The Egyptians' economy is very basic, with no complex daisy-chain economic processes, and it can produce large numbers of soldiers very quickly, although these soldiers are comparatively weak. In contrast, the Scots' economy is more complex, with more multi-stage processes, and takes longer to recruit an army. Scottish soldiers, however, are very strong. The Bavarian's economy and soldier recruitment falls in the middle. The game also features magic, whereby each race can call upon their respective deity for economic and/or military assistance. Certain economic process have also been expanded. For example, in The Settlers II and 10th Anniversary, a baker needs flour and water to make bread. In Aufbruch der Kulturen, |
1339_37 | however, a baker needs flour, water, and salt, which must be mined. Also new is the sacrificial temple; if the player places a certain amount of resources on the altar, the settlement will receive a bonus for a limited time, such as buildings moving into areas unreachable by enemies, soldiers receiving an attack bonus, or goods produced faster. Another change is that the game no longer features individual tools; instead, there is simply a single master tool which all workers use in their respective occupation. Single-player games also feature an adjustable difficulty level. |
1339_38 | In the game's single-player campaign, during the preparation period for the Olympic Games, the god Olympus notices that the people of the world have become obsessed with money, waging wars on one another to acquire more and more land, and laying waste to the earth in the process. Disgusted by their behaviour, Olympus decides to cancel the games. Meanwhile, the angels Kostas and Theofanos have been observing mankind, and they report to Olympus that if everybody behaved peacefully and respectfully, things would be extremely boring. With this in mind, they suggest he give the people one last chance to show they can be decent. Much to the displeasure of the goddess Sachmet, who is pursuing her own agenda, Olympus agrees, assigning tasks to the various nations so they can prove themselves redeemable. Sachmet, however, determines to prevent the people completing Olympus's tasks any way she can. |
1339_39 | The game features a 3D online lobby, where players can enter or create multiplayer games, text with other players, create and add to a friends list, send emails, and visit a tailor to alter the appearance of their avatars. The player can also go into a tavern and compete against other players in one of three minigames; dice, chess and Texas hold 'em. The winner receives experience points and money, which can be used to purchase new avatars.
References
External links
(site dead; )
2006 video games
Blue Byte games
City-building games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Multiplayer online games
Real-time strategy video games
The Settlers
Ubisoft games
Video game remakes
Video games developed in Germany
Video games set in antiquity
Video games set in the Roman Empire
Video games set on fictional islands
Video games set on islands
Video games with expansion packs
Video games with historical settings
Video games with isometric graphics
Windows games
Windows-only games |
1340_0 | Barceloneta () is a town and municipality in Puerto Rico located in the north region, bordering the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 1,000 miles south of Florida, east of Arecibo and west of Manati. Barceloneta is spread over 3 barrios and Barceloneta Pueblo (the downtown area and the administrative center of the city). It is part of the San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Etymology and nicknames
The name of Barceloneta ("Little Barcelona") is derived from the Spanish city, where the town's founder originates from. Barceloneta is also the name of a beach and neighborhood of Barcelona.
History
Barceloneta was founded on July 1, 1881 by Don Bonocio Llenza Feliú, an immigrant from Barcelona, Spain. Barceloneta was one of the last municipalities created by the Spanish Government in Puerto Rico. |
1340_1 | About a decade after its foundation, the town had a significant economic development led by agriculture and industry. By 1894, there were three sugarcane estates, 93 sugar mills, and the production of other fruits.
In 1899, Barceloneta requested to be annexed to the town of Manatí. An election was scheduled for August 14, 1899 to decide the matter. However, on August 8, the island suffered the effects of Hurricane San Ciriaco, which prevented the elections from being held. The following year, Governor George Whitefield Davis ordered the annexation of Barceloneta into Manatí. The annexation was short-lived. Eleven years later, the government reinstated Barceloneta as a municipality.
After Central Plazuela, a large sugar cane mill, closed in 1963, Barceloneta started reinforcing its agricultural economy with pineapples and other minor fruits. Efforts to revive the economy were not too successful, until pharmaceutical industries established themselves in the town during the 1970s. |
1340_2 | Because of its location next to the Río Grande de Manatí, Barceloneta was known for many years as a site of important port activity, for shipment of sugar and salt, as well as passengers to New York City and Barcelona. Don Bonocio's son was the owner of a sail ship that made those routes.
Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War under the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898 and became a territory of the United States. In 1899, the United States conducted its first census of Puerto Rico finding that the population of Barceloneta was 9,357.
Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017 causing large-scale damage and destruction to infrastructure. In Barceloneta, some homes and establishments along the coast were flooded with up to 15 feet of water, and nearly all wooden homes were destroyed. |
1340_3 | Geography
The Municipality of Barceloneta sits on the Northern Karst region of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by the municipalities of Arecibo, Florida, and Manatí. In terms of physical features, the municipality occupies a roughly rectangular area in the northern coast of the island. It has a surface area of 36.4 square miles (94.24 km2).
Barceloneta's terrain is predominantly plain. Since it is located in the karst region, it features hills, ponors, and caves. Near the coast, the terrain is occupied by the Caño Tiburones wetlands.
Updated flood zone maps (as of 2019) show that Barceloneta is extremely vulnerable to flooding, along with Humacao, Rincón, Toa Baja, and Corozal. For its many wetlands, Barceloneta ends up being extremely vulnerable when hit by a major hurricane. |
1340_4 | Water features
The Río Grande de Manatí travels across the municipalities of Manatí and Barceloneta and drains into the Atlantic Ocean. Barceloneta also features the Caño Tiburones, a natural reserve.
Barrios
Like all municipalities of Puerto Rico, Barceloneta is subdivided into barrios. The municipal buildings, central square and large Catholic church are located in a small barrio referred to as , near the center of the municipality.
Barceloneta barrio-pueblo
Florida Afuera
Garrochales
Palmas Altas
Sectors
Barrios (which are like minor civil divisions) and subbarrios, in turn, are further subdivided into smaller local populated place areas/units called sectores (sectors in English). The types of sectores may vary, from normally sector to urbanización to reparto to barriada to residencial, among others.
Special Communities |
1340_5 | (Special Communities of Puerto Rico) are marginalized communities whose citizens are experiencing a certain amount of social exclusion. A map shows these communities occur in nearly every municipality of the commonwealth. Of the 742 places that were on the list in 2014, the following barrios, communities, sectors, or neighborhoods were in Barceloneta: Abra del Pimiento, Abra los Caballos, Cité Sector in Garrochales, Palenque, and Seboruco.
Tourism
Landmarks and places of interest
There are six beaches in Barceloneta including a black sand beach called . |
1340_6 | Barceloneta has many places of interest.
Antiguo Muelle (the old seaport)
Cambalache Forest Reserve
Caño Tiburones marshland
La Monserrate Refinery Ruins
Las Criollas Beach
Marqués de la Esperanza Hacienda Ruins
Palmas Altas Beach
Sixto Escobar Museum
Centro Cultural de Barceloneta: Located in the heart of the city, the museum is dedicated to the culture and history of Barceloneta. Also features a collection of archaeological artifacts and Taino pieces.
To stimulate local tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Tourism Company launched the Voy Turistiendo (I'm Touring) campaign in 2021. The campaign featured a passport book with a page for each municipality. The Barceloneta passport page lists , , , (for agritourism), and , as places of interest.
Culture
Sports |
1340_7 | Festivals
Barceloneta celebrates its patron saint festival in July. The is a religious and cultural celebration that generally features parades, games, artisans, amusement rides, regional food, and live entertainment.
Economy
Barceloneta has the biggest pharmaceutical complex in the world (14 industries). It is known that these companies have chosen Barceloneta to establish their facilities for its underground water reservoirs. The water in Barceloneta is so pure that it requires very little treatment for use in the manufacturing of pharmaceutical products. |
1340_8 | The employment created by these companies, along with a well-developed plan for urban growth, has allowed Barceloneta to be more than simply a town where people go to work. Puerto Rico Premium Outlets, conveniently placed near the expressway, have made the town into a favorite destination for shopping and consuming, and consequently a prime place for investment in food chains and entertainment. Increased employment opportunities have also caused an increase in population in Barceloneta and its surrounding municipalities. Barceloneta is looking at a future with tourism.
Barceloneta is also famous for its blue sand beaches, due to the high iron content found in the sand.
Demographics |
1340_9 | Government
Barceloneta is known for its political stability. Mayor Sol Luis Fontánes held the mayor's seat for the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) from 1986 until 2012. She assumed the role after the sudden death of elected mayor Héctor Ruíz Martínez, also of the PPD. After that, Fontánes was elected by only a narrow margin (49.2% vs. 48.6%), but he gained popularity with time. At the 2008 general elections, Fontánes received more than 70% of the votes and his margin of victory was one of the biggest of that election. However, on 2012, Fontánes was arrested on charges of extortion, after 24 years as mayor. He resigned on March 1, 2012 while in prison. In 2012, Wanda Soler was elected as Fontánes replacement. She was reelected in 2020 for her third term with 75% of the vote.
The city belongs to the Puerto Rico Senatorial district III, which is represented by two Senators. In 2008, José Emilio González and Angel Martínez were elected as District Senators. |
1340_10 | Names and symbols
The has an official flag and coat of arms.
Flag
The flag of Barceloneta is a variation of the flag of Barcelona in Spain, from where the town borrows its name. It features four fields, two of them bearing the cross of Saint George (in Catalan, Sant Jordi), with five red and yellow bars in vertical direction to the right of each cross. These are all symbols pertaining to the city of Barcelona, and the community of Catalonia, where it is located, since the town was founded by a Catalan immigrant. The remaining two fields in the flag are blue, representing the Atlantic Ocean, which lies to the north of Barceloneta. |
1340_11 | Coat of arms
Barceloneta's coat of arms is similar to the flag, since it features the same Catalan symbols. However, it features three sugarcane flowers (guajanas) on top of the blue fields. The sugarcane flowers symbolize the source of life of the old agricultural economy of Barceloneta. The blue symbolizes the beaches and marine ports that contributed to the industry and commerce of the town. Like many coat of arms, it features a crown with three towers.
Nicknames
Barceloneta is referred to as "La Ciudad de las Piñas" (Pineapple City) for its many pineapple plantations. It is also known as "La Ciudad Industrial" (Industrial City) for its many industries, mainly pharmaceutical.
Other names are "Ciudad de los Indios" (City of the Indians) and "Pueblo de Sixto Escobar" (Town of Sixto Escobar) for being the birthplace of the Puerto Rican boxer.
Education |
1340_12 | Transportation
Barceloneta has recently added the use of trolley cars, free of charge, for local transport within the town itself. For travel outside Barceloneta, there is a station for carros publicos (public car transportation), which is a type of taxi.
There are 9 bridges in Barceloneta.
Gallery
Places in Barceloneta:
See also
List of Puerto Ricans
History of Puerto Rico
References
External links
BarcelonetaPR.com Spanish website by Santiago A. Villanueva
electionspuertorico.org
Municipalities of Puerto Rico
Populated coastal places in Puerto Rico
Populated places established in 1881
San Juan–Caguas–Guaynabo metropolitan area
1881 establishments in the Spanish Empire |
1341_0 | Flood control is an important issue for the Netherlands, as due to its low elevation, approximately two thirds of its area is vulnerable to flooding, while the country is densely populated. Natural sand dunes and constructed dikes, dams, and floodgates provide defense against storm surges from the sea. River dikes prevent flooding from water flowing into the country by the major rivers Rhine and Meuse, while a complicated system of drainage ditches, canals, and pumping stations (historically: windmills) keep the low-lying parts dry for habitation and agriculture. Water control boards are the independent local government bodies responsible for maintaining this system. |
1341_1 | In modern times, flood disasters coupled with technological developments have led to large construction works to reduce the influence of the sea and prevent future floods. These have proved essential over the course of Dutch history, both geographically and militarily, and has greatly impacted the lives of many living in the cities affected, stimulating their economies through constant infrastructural improvement. |
1341_2 | History
The Greek geographer Pytheas noted of the Low Countries, as he passed them on his way to Heligoland around BCE, that "more people died in the struggle against water than in the struggle against men". Roman author Pliny, of the 1st century, wrote something similar in his Natural History: |
1341_3 | There, twice in every twenty-four hours, the ocean's vast tide sweeps in a flood over a large stretch of land and hides Nature's everlasting controversy about whether this region belongs to the land or to the sea. There these wretched peoples occupy high ground, or manmade platforms constructed above the level of the highest tide they experience; they live in huts built on the site so chosen and are like sailors in ships when the waters cover the surrounding land, but when the tide has receded they are like shipwrecked victims. Around their huts they catch fish as they try to escape with the ebbing tide. It does not fall to their lot to keep herds and live on milk, like neighboring tribes, nor even to fight with wild animals, since all undergrowth has been pushed far back. |
1341_4 | The flood-threatened area of the Netherlands is essentially an alluvial plain, built up from sediment left by thousands of years of flooding by rivers and the sea. About 2,000 years ago most of the Netherlands was covered by extensive peat swamps. The coast consisted of a row of coastal dunes and natural embankments which kept the swamps from draining but also from being washed away by the sea. The only areas suitable for habitation were on the higher grounds in the east and south and on the dunes and natural embankments along the coast and the rivers. In several places the sea had broken through these natural defenses and created extensive floodplains in the north. The first permanent inhabitants of this area were probably attracted by the sea-deposited clay soil which was much more fertile than the peat and sandy soil further inland. To protect themselves against floods they built their homes on artificial dwelling hills called terpen or wierden (known as Warften or Halligen in |
1341_5 | Germany). Between 500 BC and AD 700 there were probably several periods of habitation and abandonment as the sea level periodically rose and fell. |
1341_6 | The first dikes were low embankments of only a meter or so in height surrounding fields to protect the crops against occasional flooding. Around the 9th century the sea was on the advance again and many terps had to be raised to keep them safe. Many single terps had by this time grown together as villages. These were now connected by the first dikes. |
1341_7 | After about AD 1000 the population grew, which meant there was a greater demand for arable land but also that there was a greater workforce available and dike construction was taken up more seriously. The major contributors in later dike building were the monasteries. As the largest landowners they had the organization, resources and manpower to undertake the large construction. By 1250 most dikes had been connected into a continuous sea defense.
The next step was to move the dikes ever-more seawards. Every cycle of high and low tide left a small layer of sediment. Over the years these layers had built up to such a height that they were rarely flooded. It was then considered safe to build a new dike around this area. The old dike was often kept as a secondary defense, called a sleeper dike. |
1341_8 | A dike couldn't always be moved seawards. Especially in the southwest river delta it was often the case that the primary sea dike was undermined by a tidal channel. A secondary dike was then built, called an inlaagdijk. With an inland dike, when the seaward dike collapses the secondary inland dike becomes the primary. Although the redundancy provides security, the land from the first to second dike is lost; over the years the loss can become significant.
Taking land from the cycle of flooding by putting a dike around it prevents it from being raised by silt left behind after a flooding. At the same time the drained soil consolidates and peat decomposes leading to land subsidence. In this way the difference between the water level on one side and land level on the other side of the dike grew. While floods became more rare, if the dike did overflow or was breached the destruction was much larger. |
1341_9 | The construction method of dikes has changed over the centuries. Popular in the Middle Ages were wierdijken, earth dikes with a protective layer of seaweed. An earth embankment was cut vertically on the sea-facing side. Seaweed was then stacked against this edge, held into place with poles. Compression and rotting processes resulted in a solid residue that proved very effective against wave action and they needed very little maintenance. In places where seaweed was unavailable other materials such as reeds or wicker mats were used. Another system used much and for a long time was that of a vertical screen of timbers backed by an earth bank. Technically these vertical constructions were less successful as vibration from crashing waves and washing out of the dike foundations weakened the dike. |
1341_10 | Much damage was done to these wood constructions with the arrival of the shipworm (Teredo navalis), a bivalve thought to have been brought to the Netherlands by VOC trading ships, that ate its way through Dutch sea defenses around 1730. The change was made from wood to using stone for reinforcement. This was a great financial setback as there is no natural occurring rock in the Netherlands and it all had to be imported from abroad.
Current dikes are made with a core of sand, covered by a thick layer of clay to provide waterproofing and resistance against erosion. Dikes without a foreland have a layer of crushed rock below the waterline to slow wave action. Up to the high waterline the dike is often covered with carefully laid basalt stones or a layer of tarmac. The remainder is covered by grass and maintained by grazing sheep. Sheep keep the grass dense and compact the soil, in contrast to cattle.
Developing the peat swamps |
1341_11 | At about the same time as the building of dikes the first swamps were made suitable for agriculture by colonists. By digging a system of parallel drainage ditches water was drained from the land to be able to grow grain. However the peat settled much more than other soil types when drained and land subsidence resulted in developed areas becoming wet again. Cultivated lands which were at first primarily used for growing grain thus became too wet and the switch was made to dairy farming. A new area behind the existing field was then cultivated, heading deeper into the wild. This cycle repeated itself several times until the different developments met each other and no further undeveloped land was available. All land was then used for grazing cattle. |
1341_12 | Because of the continuous land subsidence it became ever more difficult to remove excess water. The mouths of streams and rivers were dammed to prevent high water levels flowing back upstream and overflowing cultivated lands. These dams had a wooden culvert equipped with a valve, allowing drainage but preventing water from flowing upstream. These dams, however, blocked shipping and the economic activity caused by the need to transship goods caused villages to grow up near the dam, some famous examples are Amsterdam (dam in the river Amstel) and Rotterdam (dam in the Rotte). Only in later centuries were locks developed to allow ships to pass. |
1341_13 | Further drainage could only be accomplished after the development of the polder windmill in the 15th century. The wind-driven water pump has become one of the trademark tourist attractions of the Netherlands. The first drainage mills using a scoop wheel could raise water at most 1.5 m. By combining mills the pumping height could be increased. Later mills were equipped with an Archimedes' screw which could raise water much higher. The polders, now often below sea level, were kept dry with mills pumping water from the polder ditches and canals to the boezem ("bosom"), a system of canals and lakes connecting the different polders and acting as a storage basin until the water could be let out to river or sea, either by a sluice gate at low tide or using further pumps. This system is still in use today, though drainage mills have been replaced by first steam and later diesel and electric pumping stations. |
1341_14 | The growth of towns and industry in the Middle Ages resulted in an increased demand for dried peat as fuel. First all the peat down to the groundwater table was dug away. In the 16th century a method was developed to dig peat below water, using a dredging net on a long pole. Large scale peat dredging was taken up by companies, supported by investors from the cities.
These undertakings often devastated the landscape as agricultural land was dug away and the leftover ridges, used for drying the peat, collapsed under the action of waves. Small lakes were created which quickly grew in area, every increase in surface water leading to more leverage of the wind on the water to attack more land. It even led to villages being lost to the waves of human-made lakes. |
1341_15 | The development of the polder mill gave the option of draining the lakes. In the 16th century this work was started on small, shallow lakes, continuing with ever-larger and deeper lakes, though it wasn't until in the 19th century that the most dangerous of lakes, the Haarlemmermeer near Amsterdam, was drained using steam power. Drained lakes and new polders can often be easily distinguished on topographic maps by their different regular division pattern as compared to their older surroundings. Millwright and hydraulic engineer Jan Leeghwater has become famous for his involvement in these works.
Control of river floods
Three major European rivers, the Rhine, Meuse, and Scheldt flow through the Netherlands, of which the Rhine and Meuse cross the country from east to west. |
1341_16 | The first large construction works on the rivers were conducted by the Romans. Nero Claudius Drusus was responsible for building a dam in the Rhine to divert water from the river branches Waal to the Nederrijn and possibly for connecting the river IJssel, previously only a small stream, to the Rhine. Whether these were intended as flood control measures or just for military defense and transport purposes is unclear. |
1341_17 | The first river dikes appeared near the river mouths in the 11th century, where incursions from the sea added to the danger from high water levels on the river. Local rulers dammed branches of rivers to prevent flooding on their lands (Graaf van Holland, c. 1160, Kromme Rijn; Floris V, 1285, Hollandse IJssel), only to cause problems to others living further upstream. Large scale deforestation upstream caused the river levels to become ever more extreme while the demand for arable land led to more land being protected by dikes, giving less space to the river stream bed and so causing even higher water levels. Local dikes to protect villages were connected to create a ban dike to contain the river at all times. These developments meant that while the regular floods for the first inhabitants of the river valleys were just a nuisance, in contrast the later incidental floods when dikes burst were much more destructive. The 17th and 18th centuries were a period of many infamous river |
1341_18 | floods resulting in much loss of life. They were often caused by ice dams blocking the river. Land reclamation works, large willow plantations and building in the winter bed of the river all worsened the problem. Next to the obvious clearing of the winter bed, overflows (overlaten) were created. These were intentionally low dikes where the excess water could be diverted downstream. The land in such a diversion channel was kept clear of buildings and obstructions. As this so-called green river could therefore essentially only be used for grazing cattle it was in later centuries seen as a wasteful use of land. Most overflows have now been removed, focusing instead on stronger dikes and more control over the distribution of water across the river branches. To achieve this canals such as the Pannerdens Kanaal and Nieuwe Merwede were dug. |
1341_19 | A committee reported in 1977 about the weakness of the river dikes, but there was too much resistance from the local population against demolishing houses and straightening and strengthening the old meandering dikes. It took the flood threats in 1993 and again in 1995, when over people had to be evacuated and the dikes only just held, to put plans into action. Now the risk of a river flooding has been reduced from once every 100 years to once every years. Further works in the Room for the River project are being carried out to give the rivers more space to flood and in this way reducing the flood height.
Water control boards |
1341_20 | The first dikes and water control structures were built and maintained by those directly benefiting from them, mostly farmers. As the structures got more extensive and complex councils were formed from people with a common interest in the control of water levels on their land and so the first water boards began to emerge. These often controlled only a small area, a single polder or dike. Later they merged or an overall organization was formed when different water boards had conflicting interests. The original water boards differed much from each other in the organisation, power, and area that they managed. The differences were often regional and were dictated by differing circumstances, whether they had to defend a sea dike against a storm surge or keep the water level in a polder within bounds. In the middle of the 20th century there were about 2,700 water control boards. After many mergers there are currently 27 water boards left. Water boards hold separate elections, levy taxes, |
1341_21 | and function independently from other government bodies. |
1341_22 | The dikes were maintained by the individuals who benefited from their existence, every farmer having been designated part of the dike to maintain, with a three-yearly viewing by the water board directors. The old rule "Whom the water hurts, he the water stops" (Wie het water deert, die het water keert) meant that those living at the dike had to pay and care for it. This led to haphazard maintenance and it is believed that many floods would not have happened or would not have been as severe if the dikes had been in better condition. Those living further inland often refused to pay or help in the upkeep of the dikes though they were just as much affected by floods, while those living at the dike itself could go bankrupt from having to repair a breached dike. |
1341_23 | Rijkswaterstaat (Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management) was set up in 1798 under French rule to put water control in the Netherlands under a central government. Local waterboards however were too attached to their autonomy and for most of the time Rijkswaterstaat worked alongside the local waterboards. Rijkswaterstaat has been responsible for many major water control structures and was later and still is also involved in building railroads and highways.
Water boards may try new experiments like the sand engine off the coast of North Holland.
Notorious floods
Over the years there have been many storm surges and floods in the Netherlands. Some deserve special mention as they particularly have changed the contours of the Netherlands. |
1341_24 | A series of devastating storm surges, more or less starting with the First All Saints' flood (Allerheiligenvloed) in 1170 washed away a large area of peat marshes, enlarging the Wadden Sea and connecting the previously existing Lake Almere in the middle of the country to the North Sea, thereby creating the Zuiderzee. It in itself would cause much trouble until the building of the Afsluitdijk in 1933.
Several storms starting in 1219 created the Dollart from the mouth of the river Ems. By 1520 the Dollart had reached its largest area. Reiderland, containing several towns and villages, was lost. Much of this land was later reclaimed.
In 1421 the St. Elizabeth's flood caused the loss of De Grote Waard in the southwest of the country. Particularly the digging of peat near the dike for salt production and neglect because of a civil war caused dikes to fail, which created the Biesbosch, now a valued nature reserve. |
1341_25 | The more recent floodings of 1916 and 1953 gave rise to building the Afsluitdijk and Deltaworks respectively.
Flooding as military defense
The deliberate inundating of certain areas can allow a military defensive line to be created. In case of an advancing enemy army, the area was to be inundated with about 30 cm (1 ft) of water, too shallow for boats but deep enough to make advance on foot difficult by hiding underwater obstacles such as canals, ditches, and purpose-built traps. Dikes crossing the flooded area and other strategic points were to be protected by fortifications. The system proved successful on the Hollandic Water Line in rampjaar 1672 during the Third Anglo-Dutch War but was overcome in 1795 because of heavy frost. It was also used with the Stelling van Amsterdam, the Grebbe line and the IJssel Line. The advent of heavier artillery and especially airplanes have made that strategy largely obsolete. |
1341_26 | Modern developments
Technological development in the 20th century meant that larger projects could be undertaken to further improve the safety against flooding and to reclaim large areas of land. The most important are the Zuiderzee Works and the Delta Works. By the end of the 20th century all sea inlets have been closed off from the sea by dams and barriers. Only the Westerschelde needs to remain open for shipping access to the port of Antwerp. Plans to reclaim parts of the Wadden Sea and the Markermeer were eventually called off because of the ecological and recreational values of these waters.
Zuiderzee Works
The Zuiderzee Works (Zuiderzeewerken) are a system of dams, land reclamation, and water drainage works. The basis of the project was the damming off of the Zuiderzee, a large shallow inlet of the North Sea. This dam, called the Afsluitdijk, was built in 1932–33, separating the Zuiderzee from the North Sea. As result, the Zuider sea became the IJsselmeer—IJssel lake. |
1341_27 | Following the damming, large areas of land were reclaimed in the newly freshwater lake body by means of polders. The works were performed in several steps from 1920 to 1975. Engineer Cornelis Lely played a major part in its design and as statesman in the authorization of its construction.
Delta Works |
1341_28 | A study done by Rijkswaterstaat in 1937 showed that the sea defenses in the southwest river delta were inadequate to withstand a major storm surge. The proposed solution was to dam all the river mouths and sea inlets thereby shortening the coast. However, because of the scale of this project and the intervention of the Second World War its construction was delayed and the first works were only completed in 1950. The North Sea flood of 1953 gave a major impulse to speed up the project. In the following years a number of dams were built to close off the estuary mouths. In 1976, under pressures from environmental groups and the fishing industry, it was decided not to close off the Oosterschelde estuary by a solid dam but instead to build the Oosterscheldekering, a storm surge barrier which is only closed during storms. It is the most well-known (and most expensive) dam of the project. A second major hurdle for the works was in the Rijnmond area. A storm surge through the Nieuwe Waterweg |
1341_29 | would threaten about 1.5 million people around Rotterdam. However, closing off this river mouth would be very detrimental for the Dutch economy, as the Port of Rotterdam—one of the biggest sea ports in the world—uses this river mouth. Eventually, the Maeslantkering was built in 1997, keeping economical factors in mind: the Maeslantkering is a set of two swinging doors that can shut off the river mouth when necessary, but which are usually open. The Maeslantkering is forecast to close about once per decade. Up until January 2012, it has closed only once, in 2007. |
1341_30 | Current situation and future
The current sea defenses are stronger than ever, but experts warn that complacency would be a mistake. New calculation methods revealed numerous weak spots. Sea level rise could increase the mean sea level by one to two meters by the end of this century, with even more following. This, land subsidence, and increased storms make further upgrades to the flood control and water management infrastructure necessary. |
1341_31 | The sea defenses are continuously being strengthened and raised to meet the safety norm of a flood chance of once every 10,000 years for the west, which is the economic heart and most densely populated part of the Netherlands, and once every 4,000 years for less densely populated areas. The primary flood defenses are tested against this norm every five years. In 2010 about 800 km of dikes out of a total of 3,500 km failed to meet the norm. This does not mean there is an immediate flooding risk; it is the result of the norm's becoming more strict from the results of scientific research on, for example, wave action and sea level rise.
The amount of coastal erosion is compared against the so-called "reference coastline" (BasisKustLijn), the average coastline in 1990. Sand replenishment is used where beaches have retreated too far. About 12 million m3 of sand are deposited yearly on the beaches and below the waterline in front of the coast. |
1341_32 | The Stormvloedwaarschuwingsdienst (SVSD; Storm Surge Warning Service) makes a water level forecast in case of a storm surge and warns the responsible parties in the affected coastal districts. These can then take appropriate measures depending on the expected water levels, such as evacuating areas outside the dikes, closing barriers and in extreme cases patrolling the dikes during the storm.
The Second Delta Committee, or Veerman Committee, officially Staatscommissie voor Duurzame Kustontwikkeling (State Committee for Durable Coast Development) gave its advice in 2008. It expects a sea level rise of 65 to 130 cm by the year 2100. Among its suggestions are:
to increase the safety norms tenfold and strengthen dikes accordingly,
to use sand replenishment to broaden the North Sea coast and allow it to grow naturally,
to use the lakes in the southwest river delta as river water retention basins,
to raise the water level in the IJsselmeer to provide freshwater. |
1341_33 | These measures would cost approximately 1 billion Euro/year.
Room for the River
Global warming in the 21st century might result in a rise in sea level which could overwhelm the measures the Netherlands has taken to control floods. The Room for the River project allows for periodic flooding of indefensible lands. In such regions residents have been removed to higher ground, some of which has been raised above anticipated flood levels.
References
Vergemissen, H (1998). "Het woelige water; Watermanagment in Nederland", Teleac/NOT,
Ten Brinke, W (2007). "Land in Zee; De watergeschiedenis van Nederland", Veen Magazines,
Stol, T (1993). "Wassend water, dalend land; Geschiedenis van Nederland en het water", Kosmos, |
1341_34 | External links
DeltaWorks.org – website about the flood of 1953 and the construction of the Delta Works
Water Management in the Netherlands – 2009 publication by Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment: Rijkswaterstaat
FloodControl2015.com – 2008–2012 research program for flood control in the Netherlands
History of science and technology in the Netherlands
Water management authorities in the Netherlands |
1342_0 | Filippo Maria Bressan (born 27 November 1957, in Este) is an Italian conductor.
Training pianist, he studied conducting with several teachers, among whom stand out Jurgen Jürgens, for the choir conducting (of which he later became assistant), and Karl Österreicher, in Vienna, for orchestra conductingspecializing himself, among others, with John Eliot Gardiner, Ferdinand Leitner and Giovanni Acciai for musicology. |
1342_1 | Permanent conductor of Orchestra Sinfonica di Savona and of Jupiter Orchestra (formerly Orchestra dell'Accademia Musicale), he chose to work mainly in Italy or nearby. He has conducted other Orchestras including the Saint Petersburgs State Academic Symphonic Orchestra, Orchestra of Opéra Royal de Wallonie, the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, the Orchestra and Choir of Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Orchestra and Choir of Teatro La Fenice of Venice and almost all the major Italian orchestras. In the field of Opera he conducted numerous works of the baroque and classical period, favoring authors such as Händel, Gluck, Mozart, Rossini. |
1342_2 | Many the collaborations, as conductor or choir master, both in the field of opera and symphonic, including with Claudio Abbado, Luciano Berio, Rudolf Buchbinder, Frans Brüggen, Giuliano Carmignola, Myung-whun Chung, Carlo Colombara, Enrico Dindo, Martin Fröst, Carlo Maria Giulini, Peter Maag, Lorin Maazel, Sara Mingardo, Michael Nyman, Arvo Pärt, Mstislav Leopol'dovič Rostropovič, Georges Prêtre, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Giovanni Sollima, Jeffrey Tate, Roman Vlad and many others. |
1342_3 | He was guest conductor for five years at the Teatr Wielki in Poznań, for two years at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, principal conductor of the Accademia de li Musici and currently Voxonus. He is a regular guest of the major concert companies and major Italian festivals of symphonic, ancient and contemporary music (Accademia Musicale Chigiana of Siena, Venice Biennale, Festival Monteverdi of Cremona, MITO SettembreMusica, Sagra Musicale Umbra and many others). He founded Athestis Chorus & Academia de li Musici, - then Athestis Chorus & Orchestra -, a vocal and instrumental professional group specialized in the Baroque and classical repertoire, which closed its activity in 2009. |
1342_4 | Always passionate on choral music, with choral ensembles directed by him, he won five first and two second prizes in national and international competitions and received the award of music critics in Gorizia in 1994, the Chiavi d’argento award in Chiavenna in 2004 and the award for Best Conductor at Tours in 2016.
From 2000 to 2002 he was invited to fill the position of Choir Masterof Accademia Nazionale di Santa Ceciliain Rome, in succession of Norbert Balatsch, position that he will not want to hold anymore in other Opera Houses.
He has conducted many other choral ensembles, including the Estonian Philarmonic Chamber Choir, the Estonian National Male Choir, the World Youth Choir in 2005 and 2016, the Coro Giovanile Italiano from 2003 to 2005, le Choeur National des Jeunes from 2014 to 2017, the Choirs of many Theaters and lyrical institutions. |
1342_5 | He has collaborated in several projects on behalf of Feniarco, ECA-Europa Cantat, IFCM and in 2006 he was appointed by Prof. Bruno Cagli member of the scientific committee of the Gioachino Rossini Foundation in Pesaro. |
1342_6 | Discography
Concerto per violino e orchestra n. 1 op. 26 by Max Bruch – Sinfonia n. 3 in la min. op. 56 Scozzese by Felix Mendelssohn B. Edoardo Zosi, violino – – Filippo Maria Bressan, conductor – Amadeus (Italy, February 2012)
Messa per San Marco by Baldassarre Galuppi: Athestis Chorus & Academia de li Musici – Filippo Maria Bressan, conductor – Chandos Records (Great Britain, 2003)
La Resurrezione di Lazzaro by Antonio Calegari: Athestis Chorus & Academia de li Musici – Filippo Maria Bressan, conductor – Chandos Records (Great Britain, 2001)
Arianna by Benedetto Marcello: Athestis Chorus & Academia de li Musici – Filippo Maria Bressan, conductor – Chandos Records (Great Britain, 2000)
Requiem by Benedetto Marcello: Athestis Chorus & Academia de li Musici – Filippo Maria Bressan, conductor – Chandos Records (Great Britain, 1999) |
1342_7 | Vespro della Beata Vergine Maria by Pier Francesco Cavalli: Athestis Chorus, Schola Gregoriana Ergo Cantemus – Filippo Maria Bressan, conductor – Tactus (Italy, 1998)
Isolamenti 1938–1945 Vol. 5 by Gian Francesco Malipiero, Viktor Ullmann, Karl Amadeus Hartmann – Athestis Chorus – Filippo Maria Bressan, conductor – Nuova Fonit Cetra (Italy, 1996)
Arias for Rubini – Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti: Juan Diego Florez, Coro e Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia – Filippo Maria Bressan, choirmaster – Roberto Abbado, conductor (Decca, 2007)
Pezzi sacri by Giuseppe Verdi: Coro e Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia – Filippo Maria Bressan, choirmaster – Myung-Whun Chung, conductor (Deutsche Grammophon, 2000)
Die Schöpfung (The Creation) by Franz Joseph Haydn: Athestis Chorus, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai – Filippo Maria Bressan, choirmaster – Jeffrey Tate, direttore – Rai (Italy, 2000) (Premio Abbiati 2000) |
1342_8 | References
External links
Living people
1957 births
People from the Province of Padua
Italian choral conductors
Italian male conductors (music)
21st-century Italian conductors (music)
21st-century Italian male musicians |
1343_0 | The Appendix Vergiliana is a collection of poems traditionally ascribed as being the juvenilia (work written as a juvenile) of Virgil.
Many of the poems in the Appendix were considered works by Virgil in antiquity. However, recent studies suggest that the Appendix contains a diverse collection of minor poems by various authors from the 1st century AD.
Scholars are almost unanimous in considering the works of the Appendix spurious, primarily on grounds of style, metrics, and vocabulary. |
1343_1 | Composition
The collection most likely formed in Late Antiquity. The individual components are older: ancient authors considered the Culex to be a youthful work of Virgil's and the Ciris is ascribed to Virgil as early as Donatus' Vita. Quintilian quotes Catalepton 2 as the work of Virgil. The Elegiae in Maecenatem cannot possibly be by Virgil, as Maecenas died eleven years after Virgil in 8 BC. The poems are all probably by different authors, except for the Lydia and Dirae which may have a common author, and have been given various, nebulous dates within the 1st century AD. The Culex and the Ciris are thought to have been composed under the emperor Tiberius. Some of the poems may be attempts to pass works off under Virgil's name as pseudepigraphia, such as the Catalepton, while others seem to be independent works that were subsumed into the collection like the Ciris which is influenced more by the late Republican neoterics than Virgil.
Contents |
1343_2 | Culex ("The Gnat") |
1343_3 | This is a pastoral epyllion in 414 hexameters which evokes the world of Theocritus and employs epic conventions for comic effect in a parody. The poem opens with an address to the young Octavian, a promise of more poems, an invocation of Apollo, and a prayer for Octavian's success. The poet has a priamel in which he rejects the Battle of the Gods and Giants and historical epic. It is noon, and a poor but happy shepherd, who lacks the refinements of classical luxury, is tending his flocks when he sees a grove of trees, a locus amoenus, and lies down to rest. The mythical metamorphoses of the trees in the grove are described. As he sleeps, a snake approaches him and is ready to bite when a gnat lands on his eyes. Reflexively killing the gnat he awakes, sees the snake and kills it. That night, the gnat appears to the shepherd in a dream, laments its undeserved fate, and gives a long description of the underworld and the souls of the dead mythological heroes there, allowing it to digress. |
1343_4 | The gnat especially focuses on the story of Eurydice and the Trojan War. The gnat goes on to describe famous Roman heroes and then his audience before Minos to decide his fate. When he awakes, the shepherd constructs a heroon to the gnat in the grove and the poet has a flower-catalogue. The shepherd inscribes it with the inscription "Little gnat, to you deservedly the guard of the flock repays his funeral duty for your gift of life." The Culex cannot be one of Virgil's juvenilia because it alludes to the full body of his work; thus, it is usually dated to sometime during the reign of Tiberius. Moreover, Suetonius in his Lives of the Poets (18) writes, "the Culex... of his (Virgil's) was written when he might have been sixteen years old", so it is therefore possible that the extant version which has come down to us may be a later copy that had been modified. The poem has been variously interpreted as a charming epyllion or as an elaborate allegory in which the shepherd symbolizes |
1343_5 | Augustus and the gnat Marcellus. |
1343_6 | Ciris ("The Sea-Bird") |
1343_7 | The Ciris is an epyllion in 541 hexameters describing the myth of Nisus, the king of Megara and his daughter Scylla. The epyllion was a popular style of composition which seems to have developed in the Hellenistic age; surviving examples can be found in Theocritus and Catullus. The poet begins his hundred line prologue by invoking the Muses and Sophia, despite the fact that he is an Epicurean, and describes his poem as a gift to Messalla like the robe given to Minerva in the Panathenaia. The poet differentiates the Scylla of his poem from the sea-monster Scylla and describes the monster's birth and metamorphosis. He starts by describing Minos' siege of Megara and the lock of purple hair on the head of Nisus which protected the city. While playing ball, Scylla is shot by Cupid and falls madly in love with Minos. As a prize for Minos, she tries to cut the lock of her father, but her nurse, Carme, asks Scylla why she is upset. After Scylla tells her she is in love with Minos, Carme says |
1343_8 | that Minos earlier had killed her daughter Britomartis and convinces Scylla to go to bed. In the morning, Scylla tries to talk Nisus into making peace with Minos, and the nurse brews a magical potion, but nothing works and Scylla cuts off the lock. The city falls and Scylla, lamenting Minos' refusal to marry her, is taken prisoner on the Cretan ships which sail around Attica. The poet describes her metamorphosis in detail; by the pitying Amphitrite she is transformed into the ciris bird, supposedly from the Greek keirein ("cut"). Jupiter transforms Nisus into a sea-eagle, which pursues the ciris like Scorpio pursues Orion. Based on composition, the poem must be placed after Ovid and before the 2nd century. A Tiberian date seems likely for its composition. |
1343_9 | Copa ("The Barmaid")
This poem in 38 elegiac couplets describes the song of the barmaid Syrisca. She describes a lush, pastoral setting and a picnic laid out in the grass and invites an unnamed man to spend time with her, stop thinking about the future, and live for the present.
Moretum ("The Pesto")
The Moretum in 124 hexameter lines describes the preparation by the poor farmer Simylus of a meal. The poem is in the tradition of Hellenistic poetry about the poor and their diet and has a precedent in Callimachus' Hecale and poems that describe theoxeny. Waking before dawn, he starts the fire, grinds grain as he sings and talks to his African slave Scybale, and starts baking. His garden and its products are described. Simylus fashions from garlic, cheese, and herbs the moretum, a type of pesto, eats, and goes out to plow. The poem is notable for its use of the phrase "e pluribus unus". |
1343_10 | Dirae ("Curses")
This poem in 103 hexameter lines is a series of curses by a dispossessed farmer on the veteran who has usurped his land. The tradition of curse poetry goes back to the works of Archilochus and Hipponax. The poem may have connections to the Hellenistic Arae of Euphorion of Chalcis, but it is also very much in the pastoral tradition of Theocritus and the Eclogues. The poem opens pastorally by addressing Battarus, a friend whose farm has also been confiscated and describing the actions of the soldier called Lycurgus. First the speaker curses the plants on the farm with bareness and then asks the forests to burn before Lycurgus destroys them with his axe. He then prays to Neptune for a flood to destroy the farm and for the land to turn into a swamp. The poem ends with a farewell to his farm and his lover, Lydia. |
1343_11 | Lydia ("Lydia")
This hexameter lament in 80 lines was connected to the Dirae because of the mention of Lydia in that poem but is probably an independent piece. It also has a pastoral setting and is in the tradition of Theocritus' amatory idylls and Latin love elegy. It begins with the poet saying he envies the countryside which Lydia inhabits and describes his pain at his separation from her. He looks to the animal world and the astronomical world with their amorous pairings and feels despair at the passing of the golden age. He describes the love of Jupiter and Juno, Venus and Adonis, and Aurora. He ends with the impossible wish to have been born in a better age. |
1343_12 | Priapea ("Priapus Poems") |
1343_13 | This is a collection of three poems, each in a different meter, with the god Priapus as the speaker. Priapea are a traditional subgenre of Greek poetry and are primarily found in Greek epigrams. A notable piece of Priapic poetry can be found in Theocritus 13 and Roman examples can be found in Horace and Tibullus as well as the 80 epigrams of the Carmina Priapea. The first poem in two elegiac couplets is a mock-inscription in which the god describes the setting of his statue at different seasons and his dislike of winter and fear of being made into firewood. The second poem is in 21 iambic trimeters. Priapus addresses a passer-by, describes how he protects and nourishes the farm through the seasons, and demands respect, as his wooden phallus can double as a club. The third poem is composed of 21 lines in Priapean metre (– x – u u – u – | – x – u u – x). In it, the Priapus statue addresses a group of boys who want to rob the farm. He describes his protection of the farm and the worship |
1343_14 | the owners give it. He ends by telling the boys to rob a neighbor's farm whose Priapus is careless. |
1343_15 | Catalepton ("Trifles") |
1343_16 | The Catalepton is a collection of fifteen or sixteen poems in various meters. The first elegiac poem is addressed to Tucca and describes the poet's separation from his lover. The second makes fun of a fellow writer for his obsession with Attic dialect. The third elegiac piece is a description of a successful eastern general who fell from power. Poem 4 in elegiacs is on the poet's friendship and admiration for Octavius Musa. Poem 5 describes a poet's giving up of rhetorical study to learn philosophy with Siro. The elegiac sixth poem criticizes Noctuinus and his father-in-law for some scandal with a girl. Poem 7 in elegiacs talks about love and plays with Greek words in Latin poetry. The eighth elegiac poem addresses the farm of Siro as being dear to the poet as his Mantuan and Cremonan estates. Poem 9 is a long elegiac piece which is an encomium to Messalla describing the poet's pastoral poetry, praising Messalla's wife, Sulpicia, and recounting his military achievements. Poem 10 is a |
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