Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2018 June 11

= June 11 =

I have 3 mythology and history questions
1. Did Ares in mythology hate his brother Hercules? 2. Was Livia Drusilla a bloodthirsty murderess? 3. Who did Julius Caesar crucify in history? 50.68.252.153 (talk) 02:10, 11 June 2018 (UTC)
 * Regarding 1. – You may want to check your terminology: Ares was/is a Greek god (whose Roman counterpart was Mars), while Hercules was/is a Roman semi-divine hero (whose Greek counterpart was Herakles). While there was considerable cross-fertilization between the Greek and Roman mythologies (particularly from the former to the latter), one should not conflate them and play 'mix-and-match' between their discrete elements.


 * Regarding 2. – we don't know, and there's nothing that in modern terms could be accepted as evidence for it.
 * Ancient Rome, riven by civil war and its aftermath, was prone to political rumours, propaganda, smear stories and 'fake news' even more vicious than, say, today's USA (where, for example, the Clintons have been accused of involvement in a completely fictitious paedophilic kidnap/rape/murder ring operating out of a pizza parlour).
 * The modern popular reputation of Livia as a multiple murderess stems largely from media adaptations of 20th-century novels by Robert Graves, which he based on writings by Plutarch, Tacitus and Suetonius, but they were compiling the aforementioned rumours, etc. and incorporating them into their works half-a-century or more after the actual events. Moreover, they were writing in a less-than-neutral milieux and presumably had their own personal agendas. (Compare Shakespeare's account of Macbeth, King of Scotland produced under a Stuart dynasty supposedly descended from MacBeth's enemies.) If there had been any reliable documentation and solid evidence of such crimes by Livia they would certainly have made use of them, but could not because there were none.


 * Regarding 3. – a partial answer can be found explicitly mentioned in our article Julius Caesar. Bear in mind that in his era crucifixion was a standard punishment in Roman law for certain crimes. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.220.215.83 (talk) 06:05, 11 June 2018 (UTC)

Is Wikia (also called Fandom) social media?
I am working on some articles that have Wikia as a reference. I don't want to violate the rules of Wikipedia, so I went here. Now here is the question: Is Wikia social media? TheSmartPersonUS1 (talk) 15:27, 11 June 2018 (UTC)
 * (Explained on OP's talk page, since I saw it moved from the Help Desk before being moved to here). Ian.thomson (talk) 15:30, 11 June 2018 (UTC)

St. Youtube
I once found a video on Youtube that was "about" a saint. Maybe a St Sebastian? There were no words or story telling or anything. It was just pretty, serene music while the camera panned over images of the saint and of cathedrals. There was a dreamlike quality to it. The video was like what you'd see if you just searched youtube for "relaxing." I guess it was some kind of devotional/prayer aid and you would watch this video while saying Catholic stuff? I don't know.

So: this is apparently a genre of video. I would like to see more. How can I find them? Thanks, Temerarius (talk) 21:47, 11 June 2018 (UTC)