Giovanni Nanni better known as Annio da Viterbo (1432 or 37 – November 13, 1502) was a Dominican friar notorious for his text depicting the topography and ancient history of Rome, from the "most ancient" authors. His Auctores vetustissimi printed at Rome, 1498, was an anthology of seventeen purportedly classical texts, all of which he had written himself. Annio's map of Rome as founded by Romulus is a loose interpretation of one of his own forgeries. It prominently features "Vicus Tuscus," the home of the Etruscans whom Annio and his fellow Viterbans claimed as their ancestors. Part of the forgeries were motivated by a desire to prove that Viterbo was the site of the Etruscan Fanum Voltumnae. November 13 is the 317th day of the year (318th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 48 days remaining. ... 1502 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Laudare, Benedicere, Praedicare Saint Dominic saw the need for a new type of organization to address the needs of his time, one that would bring the dedication and systematic education of the older monastic orders to bear on the religious problems of the burgeoning population of cities, but with more... Surface of the Earth Topography, a term in geography, has come to refer to the lay of the land, or the physiogeographic characteristics of land in terms of elevation, slope, and orientation. ... The Roman Forum was the central area around which ancient Rome developed. ... An anthology, literally a garland or collection of flowers, is a collection of literary works, originally of poems, but in recent years its usage has broadened to be applied to collections of short stories and comic strips. ... Romulus may refer to any of these articles: Romulus is a mythical founder of Rome, brother of Remus. ... Forgery is the process of making or adapting objects or documents (see false document), with the intention to deceive. ... The Etruscan civilization existed in Etruria and the Po valley in the northern part of what is now Italy, prior to the formation of the Roman Republic. ... See: Etruscan civilization Etruscan language Etruscan alphabet Etruscan mythology See also: Tyrrhenian, Lemnian, Pelasgian. ... In Etruscan mythology, Voltumna was the chthonic (earth) god, later to become the supreme god. ...

In a defense of the papal lending institution, the Monte di Pietà, published ca 1495 under the title Pro Monte Pietatis, Annio contributed the essay Questiones due disputate super mutuo iudaico & ciuili & diuino, arguing against the usury of the Jews, dated from Viterbo, 8 May 1492 (Rhodes). Pope John Paul II has reigned since 22 Oct 1978. ... Usury (pronounced //, from the Latin usuria, demanding in return for a loan a greater amount than was borrowed) was defined originally as charging a fee for the use of money. ... May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (129th in leap years). ... 1492 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Annio's forgeries began to come unravelled by the mid-16th century. In 1565-66 the humanist Girolamo Mei was engaged in a historiographical argument with Vincenzo Borghini, who presented a claim, for the occasion of the marriage of Francesco I de' Medici and Giovanna of Austria, that Florence was founded by Augustus. He based his claim on inscriptions reported by Annio da Viterbo. Mei, no friend to the Medici, challenged this opinion and questioned the authenticity of Annio's materials, in a brief Latin treatise De origine urbis Florentiae (Shaked) Humanism is a system of thought that defines a socio-political doctrine (-ism) whose bounds exceed those of locally developed cultures, to include all of humanity and all issues common to human beings. ... Girolamo Mei (May 27, 1519 - July,1594) was an Italian historian and humanist, famous in music history for providing the intellectual impetus to the Florentine Camerata, which attempted to revive ancient Greek music drama. ... Francesco I de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (25 March 1541 – 19 October 1587) was the second Grand Duke of Tuscany, ruling from 1574 to 1587. ... Founded 59 BC as Florentia Region Tuscany Mayor Leonardo Domenici (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  102 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 356,000 almost 500,000 3,453/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Latitude Longitude 43°47 N 11°15 E www. ... Augustus (Latin: IMPERATOR CAESAR DIVI FILIVS AVGVSTVS[1]; September 23, 63 BC – August 19, AD 14), known as Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (in English Octavian) for the period of his life prior to 27 BC, was the first and among the most important of the Roman Emperors. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... A treatise is a systematic analysis of a certain subject. ...

A series of essays on various aspects of Annio's career and his influence on High Renaissance myth and allegory and the first interest in the Etruscans was collected in Annio da Viterbo, Documenti e ricerche. Rome: Multigrafica Editrice, 1981. By Region: Italian Renaissance Northern Renaissance -French Renaissance -German Renaissance -English Renaissance The Renaissance was a great cultural movement which brought about a period of scientific revolution and artistic transformation, at the dawn of modern European history. ... // The word mythology (Greek: μυθολογία, from μυθος mythos, a story or legend, and λογος logos, an account or speech) literally means the (oral) retelling of myths – stories that a particular culture believes to be true and that use supernatural events or characters to explain the nature of the universe and humanity. ... An allegory (from Greek αλλος, allos, other, and αγορευειν, agoreuein, to speak in public) is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than and in addition to the literal. ...

References

• Benjamin Anderson, curator. The invention of Antiquity:"The landscape of ancient Rome" Bryn Mawr exhibition, 2004
  • Auctores vetustissimi 1498 Woodcut of Rome illustrated in Bryn Mawr's copy
• Catholic Encyclopedia: "Annius of Viterbo": "It would appear that he was too credulous, and really believed the texts to be authentic."
• Encyclopaedia Britannica 1911: "Viterbo"
• Dennis E. Rhodes, "Four Italian Judaica incunabula: Pro Monte Pietatis"
• Guy Shaked, "Girolamo Mei's biography"
• "L'appartamento Borgia in Vaticano"
• [Nicholas Temple, "Heritage and Forgery: Annio da Viterbo and the Quest for the Authentic”, Public Archaeology (Vol.II/3), 2002