Engraved Penises Reveal Birth Date of Italian City

[cali]

Two penises engraved on a 2,000 year old stone may shed light on the foundation of the city of Aosta in northern Italy, revealing its deep connection with the Roman emperor Augustus.


Named Augusta Praetoria Salassorum by the Romans -- who captured it from the local Salassi people in 25 B.C. to control strategic mountain passes -- Aosta boasts several monuments dedicated to Augustus.

"But the newly discovered stone tells even more about Aosta’s connection with the Roman emperor. It reveals the city was built under Augustus’ sign during the winter solstice," Giulio Magli, professor of archaeoastronomy at Milan's Polytechnic University, told Discovery News.

Found covered in mud at a depth of 5 feet during excavation work at one of the town’s towers, the elaborately carved stone is still walled up in its original position on the southeast corner of the monument, known as Balivi Tower.

<snip>

http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/engraved-penises-reveal-birth-date-of-italian-city-131003.htm

[Recursion]

1. The destruction of monumental penises was what got Socrates's lover Alcibiades exiled

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herma#Trial_of_Alcibiades

Apparently penis statues around town used to really be a thing...

[Blue Owl]

2. Were they rinsed? Or rancid?

n/t