Early life.

Pessoa was born in Lisbon on 13 June 1888. When Pessoa was five, his father, Joaquim de Seabra Pessôa, died of tuberculosis and the following year, on 2 January, his younger brother Jorge, aged one, also died.  After the second marriage of his mother, Maria Magdalena Pinheiro Nogueira, proxy wedding to João Miguel dos Santos Rosa, Fernando sailed with his mother for South Africa in the beginning of 1896, to join his stepfather, a military officer appointed Portuguese consul in Durban, capital of the former British Colony of Natal. Later on, in 1918, Pessoa wrote a letter in which refers:  The young Pessoa received his early education at St. Joseph Convent School, a Roman Catholic grammar school run by Irish and French nuns. He moved to the Durban High School in April 1899, becoming fluent in English and developing an appreciation for English literature. During the Matriculation Examination, held at the time by the University of the Cape of Good Hope (forerunner of the University of Cape Town), in November 1903, he was awarded the recently created Queen Victoria Memorial Prize for best paper in English. While preparing to enter university, he also attended the Durban Commercial High School during one year, taking night classes.  Meanwhile, Pessoa started writing short stories in English, some under the name of David Merrick, many of which he left unfinished. At the age of sixteen, "The Natal Mercury" (edition of 6 July 1904) published his poem "Hillier did first usurp the realms of rhyme...", under the name of C. R. Anon (anonymous), along with a brief introductory text: "I read with great amusement...". In December, "The Durban High School Magazine" published his essay "Macaulay". From February to June 1905, in the section "The Man in the Moon", "The Natal Mercury" also published at least four sonnets by Fernando Pessoa: "Joseph Chamberlain", "To England I", "To England II" and "Liberty". His poems often carried humorous versions of Anon as the author's name. Pessoa started using pen names quite young. The first one, still in his childhood, was Chevalier de Pas, supposedly a French noble. In addition to Charles Robert Anon and David Merrick, the young writer also signed up, among other pen names, as Horace James Faber, Alexander Search, and other meaningful names.  In the preface to "The Book of Disquiet", Pessoa wrote about himself:  The young Pessoa was described by a schoolfellow as follows: Ten years after his arrival, he sailed for Lisbon via the Suez Canal on board the "Herzog", leaving Durban for good at the age of seventeen. This journey inspired the poems "Opiário" (dedicated to his friend, the poet and writer Mário de Sá-Carneiro) published in March 1915, in "Orpheu" nr.1 and "Ode Marítima" (dedicated to the futurist painter Santa-Rita) published in June 1915, in "Orpheu" nr.2 by his heteronym Álvaro de Campos.

Lisbon revisited.

While his family remained in South Africa, Pessoa returned to Lisbon in 1905 to study diplomacy. After a period of illness, and two years of poor results, a student strike against the dictatorship of Prime Minister João Franco put an end to his formal studies. Pessoa became an autodidact, a devoted reader who spent a lot of time at the library. In August 1907, he started working as a practitioner at R.G. Dun & Company, an American mercantile information agency (currently D&B, Dun & Bradstreet). His grandmother died in September and left him a small inheritance, which he spent on setting up his own publishing house, the "Empreza Ibis". The venture was not successful and closed down in 1910, but the name ibis, the sacred bird of Ancient Egypt and inventor of the alphabet in Greek mythology, would remain an important symbolic reference for him.  Pessoa returned to his uncompleted formal studies, complementing his British education with self-directed study of Portuguese culture. The pre-revolutionary atmosphere surrounding the assassination of King Charles I and Crown Prince Luís Filipe in 1908, and the patriotic outburst resulting from the successful republican revolution in 1910, influenced the development of the budding writer; as did his step-uncle, Henrique dos Santos Rosa, a poet and retired soldier, who introduced the young Pessoa to Portuguese poetry, notably the romantics and symbolists of the 19th century. In 1912, Fernando Pessoa entered the literary world with a critical essay, published in the cultural journal "A Águia", which triggered one of the most important literary debates in the Portuguese intellectual world of the 20th century: the polemic regarding a super-Camões. In 1915 a group of artists and poets, including Fernando Pessoa, Mário de Sá-Carneiro and Almada Negreiros, created the literary magazine "Orpheu", which introduced modernist literature to Portugal. Only two issues were published (Jan–Feb–Mar and Apr–May–Jun 1915), the third failed to appear due to funding difficulties. Lost for many years, this issue was finally recovered and published in 1984. Among other writers and poets, "Orpheu" published Pessoa, orthonym, and the modernist heteronym, Álvaro de Campos.  Along with the artist Ruy Vaz, Pessoa also founded the art journal "Athena" (1924–25), in which he published verses under the heteronyms Alberto Caeiro and Ricardo Reis. Along with his profession, as free-lance commercial translator, Fernando Pessoa undertook intense activity as a writer, literary critic and political analyst, contributing to the journals and newspapers "A Águia" (1912–13), "A República" (1913), "Theatro" (1913), "A Renascença" (1914), "O Raio" (1914), "A Galera" (1915), "Orpheu" (1915), "O Jornal" (1915), "Eh Real!" (1915), "Exílio" (1916), "Centauro" (1916), "A Ideia Nacional" (1916), "Terra Nossa" (1916), "O Heraldo" (1917), "Portugal Futurista" (1917), "Acção" (1919–20), "Ressurreição" (1920), "Contemporânea" (1922–26), "Athena" (1924–25), "Diário de Lisboa" (1924–35), "Revista de Comércio e Contabilidade" (1926), "Sol" (1926), "O Imparcial" (1927), "Presença" (1927–34), "Revista Solução Editora" (1929–1931), "Notícias Ilustrado" (1928–30), "Girassol" (1930), "Revolução" (1932), "Descobrimento" (1932), "Fama" (1932–33), "Fradique" (1934) and "Sudoeste" (1935).

Pessoa the "flâneur".

After his return to Portugal, when he was seventeen, Pessoa barely left his beloved city of Lisbon, which inspired the poems "Lisbon Revisited" (1923 and 1926), under the heteronym Álvaro de Campos. From 1905 to 1920, when his family returned from Pretoria after the death of his stepfather, he lived in fifteen different locations in the city, moving from one rented room to another depending on his fluctuating finances and personal troubles.  Pessoa adopted the detached perspective of the flâneur "Bernardo Soares", another of his heteronyms. This character was supposedly an accountant, working for "Vasques", the boss of an office located in Douradores Street. "Soares" also supposedly lived in the same downtown street, a world that Pessoa knew quite well due to his long career as freelance correspondence translator. Indeed, from 1907 until his death in 1935, Pessoa worked in twenty-one firms located in Lisbon's downtown, sometimes in two or three of them simultaneously. In "The Book of Disquiet", "Bernardo Soares" describes some of those typical places and its "atmosphere". In his daydream soliloquy he also wrote about Lisbon in the first half of the 20th century. "Soares" describes crowds in the streets, buildings, shops, traffic, river Tagus, the weather, and even its author, Fernando Pessoa:  A statue of Pessoa sitting at a table (below) can be seen outside A Brasileira, one of the preferred places of young writers and artists of "Orpheu"'s group during the 1910s. This coffeehouse, in the aristocratic district of Chiado, is quite close to Pessoa's birthplace: 4, São Carlos Square (in front of the Opera House, where stands another statue of the writer), one of the most elegant neighborhoods of Lisbon. Later on, Pessoa was a frequent customer at Martinho da Arcada, a centennial coffeehouse in Comercio Square, surrounded by ministries, almost an "office" for his private business and literary concerns, where he used to meet friends in the 1920s and 1930s.  In 1925, Pessoa wrote in English a guidebook to Lisbon but it remained unpublished until 1992.

Literature and occultism.

Pessoa translated a number of Portuguese books into English, and into Portuguese "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the short stories "The Theory and the Hound", "The Roads We Take" and "Georgia's Ruling" by O. Henry. Pessoa also translated into Portuguese the poetry "Godiva" by Alfred Tennyson, "Lucy" by William Wordsworth, "Barbara Frietchie" by John Greenleaf Whittier, "Catarina to Camoens" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and "The Raven", "Annabel Lee" and "Ulalume" by Edgar Allan Poe who, along with Walt Whitman, strongly influenced him.  As a translator, Pessoa had his own method:  In addition, Pessoa translated into Portuguese some books by the leading theosophists Helena Blavatsky, Charles Webster Leadbeater, Annie Besant, and Mabel Collins.  In 1912–14, while living with his aunt "Anica" and cousins, Pessoa took part in "semi-spiritualist sessions" that were carried out at home, but he was considered a "delaying element" by the other members of the sessions. Pessoa's interest in spiritualism was truly awakened in the second half of 1915, while translating theosophist books. This was further deepened in the end of March 1916, when he suddenly started having experiences where he believed he became a medium, having experimented with automatic writing. On 24 June, Pessoa wrote an impressive letter to his aunt and godmother, then living in Switzerland with her daughter and son in law, in which he describes this "mystery case" that surprised him.  Besides automatic writing, Pessoa stated also that he had "astral" or "etherial visions" and was able to see "magnetic auras" similar to radiographic images. He felt "more curiosity than fear", but was respectful towards this phenomenon and asked secrecy, because "there is no advantage, but many disadvantages" in speaking about this. Mediumship exerted a strong influence in Pessoa's writings, who felt "sometimes suddenly being owned by something else" or having a "very curious sensation" in the right arm, which was "lifted into the air" without his will. Looking in the mirror, Pessoa saw several times what appeared to be the heteronyms: his "face fading out" and being replaced by the one of "a bearded man", or another one, four men in total.  Pessoa also developed a strong interest in astrology, becoming a competent astrologist. He elaborated more than 1,500 astrological charts, including well-known people like William Shakespeare, Lord Byron, Oscar Wilde, Chopin, Robespierre, Napoleon I, Benito Mussolini, Wilhelm II, Leopold II of Belgium, Victor Emmanuel III, Alfonso XIII, or the Kings Sebastian and Charles of Portugal, and Salazar. In 1915, he created the heteronym "Raphael Baldaya", an astrologist who planned to write "System of Astrology" and "Introduction to the Study of Occultism". Pessoa established the pricing of his astrological services from 500 to 5,000 réis and made horoscopes of customers, friends and also himself and, astonishingly, of the heteronyms and also of journals as "Orpheu".  Born on 13 June, Pessoa was native of Gemini and had Scorpio as rising sign. The characters of the main heteronyms were inspired by the four astral elements: air, fire, water and earth. It means that Pessoa and his heteronyms altogether comprised the full principles of ancient knowledge. Those heteronyms were designed according to their horoscopes, all including Mercury, the planet of literature. Astrology was part of his everyday life and Pessoa kept that interest until his death, which he was able to predict with some accuracy.  As a mysticist, Pessoa was an enthusiast of esotericism, occultism, hermetism, numerology and alchemy. Along with spiritualism and astrology, he also paid attention to neopaganism, theosophy, rosicrucianism and freemasonry, which strongly influenced his literary work. He has declared himself a Pagan, in the sense of an "intellectual mystic of the sad race of the Neoplatonists from Alexandria" and a believer in "the Gods, their agency and their real and materially superior existence". His interest in occultism led Pessoa to correspond with Aleister Crowley and later helped him to elaborate a fake suicide, when Crowley visited Portugal in 1930. Pessoa translated Crowley's poem "Hymn To Pan" into Portuguese, and the catalogue of Pessoa's library shows that he possessed Crowley's books "Magick in Theory and Practice" and "Confessions". Pessoa also wrote on Crowley's doctrine of Thelema in several fragments, including "Moral".  Pessoa's declared about secret societies:  Literary critic Martin Lüdke described Pessoa's philosophy as a kind of pandeism, especially those writings under the heteronym Alberto Caeiro.

Writing a lifetime.

In his early years, Pessoa was influenced by major English classic poets such as Shakespeare, Milton and Pope, or romantics like Shelley, Byron, Keats, Wordsworth, Coleridge and Tennyson. After his return to Lisbon in 1905, Pessoa was influenced by French symbolists and decadentists Charles Baudelaire, Maurice Rollinat, Stéphane Mallarmé; mainly by Portuguese poets as Antero de Quental, Gomes Leal, Cesário Verde, António Nobre, Camilo Pessanha or Teixeira de Pascoaes. Later on, he was also influenced by modernists as W. B. Yeats, James Joyce, Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot, among many other writers.  During World War I, Pessoa wrote to a number of British publishers, namely Constable & Co. Ltd. (currently Constable & Robinson), in order to print his collection of English verse "The Mad Fiddler" (unpublished during his lifetime), but it was refused. However, in 1920, the prestigious literary journal "Athenaeum" included one of those poems. Since the British publication failed, in 1918 Pessoa published in Lisbon two slim volumes of English verse: "Antinous" and "35 Sonnets", received by the British literary press without enthusiasm. Along with some friends, he founded another publishing house – Olisipo – which published in 1921 a further two English poetry volumes: "English Poems I–II" and "English Poems III" by Fernando Pessoa. In his publishing house, Pessoa issued also some books by his friends: "A Invenção do Dia Claro" (The invention of the clear day) by José de Almada Negreiros, "Canções" (Songs) by António Botto, and "Sodoma Divinizada" (Deified Sodom) by Raul Leal (Henoch). Olisipo closed down in 1923, following the scandal known as "Literatura de Sodoma" (Literature of Sodom), which Pessoa started with his paper "António Botto e o Ideal Estético em Portugal" (António Botto and the aesthetical ideal in Portugal), published in the journal "Contemporanea".  Politically, Pessoa described himself as "a British-style conservative, that is to say, liberal within conservatism and absolutely anti-reactionary," and adhered closely to the Spencerian individualism of his upbringing. He described his brand of nationalism as "mystic, cosmopolitan, liberal, and anti-Catholic." He was an outspoken elitist and aligned himself against communism, socialism, fascism and Catholicism. He initially rallied to the First Portuguese Republic but the ensuing instability caused him to reluctantly support the military coups of 1917 and 1926 as a means of restoring order and preparing the transition to a new constitutional normality. He wrote a pamphlet in 1928 supportive of the military dictatorship but after the establishment of the New State, in 1933, Pessoa became disenchanted with the regime and wrote critically of Salazar and fascism in general, maintaining a hostile stance towards its corporatist program, illiberalism, and censorship. In the beginning of 1935, Pessoa was banned by the Salazar regime, after he wrote in defense of Freemasonry. The regime also suppressed two articles Pessoa wrote in which he condemned Mussolini's invasion of Abyssinia and fascism as a threat to human liberty everywhere.  On 29 November 1935, Pessoa was taken to the Hospital de São Luís, suffering from abdominal pain and a high fever; there he wrote, in English, his last words: "I know not what tomorrow will bring." He died the next day, 30 November 1935, around 8 pm, aged 47. His cause of death is commonly given as cirrhosis of the liver, due to alcoholism, though this is disputed: others attribute his death to pancreatitis (again from alcoholism), or other ailments.  In his lifetime, he published four books in English and one alone in Portuguese: "Mensagem" (Message). However, he left a lifetime of unpublished, unfinished or just sketchy work in a domed, wooden trunk (25,574 manuscript and typed pages which have been housed in the Portuguese National Library since 1988). The heavy burden of editing this huge work is still in progress. In 1985 (fifty years after his death), Pessoa's remains were moved to the Hieronymites Monastery, in Lisbon, where Vasco da Gama, Luís de Camões, and Alexandre Herculano are also buried. Pessoa's portrait was on the 100-escudo banknote.

The triumphant day.

As the fake heteronym Coelho Pacheco, over a long period Pessoa's "triumphant day" was taken as real, however, it has been proved that this event was one more fiction created by Pessoa.

Heteronyms.

Pessoa's earliest heteronym, at the age of six, was Chevalier de Pas. Other childhood heteronyms included Dr. Pancrácio and David Merrick, followed by Charles Robert Anon, an English young man that became Pessoa's "alter ego". In 1905/7, when Pessoa was a student at the University of Lisbon, Alexander Search took the place of Anon. The main reason for this was that, although Search is English, he was born in Lisbon as his author. But Search represents a transition heteronym that Pessoa used while searching to adapt to the Portuguese cultural reality. After the republican revolution, in 1910, and consequent patriotic atmosphere, Pessoa created another "alter ego", Álvaro de Campos, supposedly a Portuguese naval engineer, born in Tavira and graduated in Glasgow. Translator Richard Zenith notes that Pessoa eventually established at least seventy-two heteronyms. According to Pessoa himself, there were three main heteronyms: Alberto Caeiro, Álvaro de Campos and Ricardo Reis. The heteronyms possess distinct biographies, temperaments, philosophies, appearances, writing styles and even signatures.  Pessoa wrote on the heteronyms:

Alberto Caeiro.

Alberto Caeiro was Pessoa's first great heteronym; it is summarized by Pessoa as follows: "He sees things with the eyes only, not with the mind. He does not let any thoughts arise when he looks at a flower... the only thing a stone tells him is that it has nothing at all to tell him... this way of looking at a stone may be described as the totally unpoetic way of looking at it. The stupendous fact about Caeiro is that out of this sentiment, or rather, absence of sentiment, he makes poetry."  What this means, and what makes Caeiro such an original poet is the way he apprehends existence. He does not question anything whatsoever; he calmly accepts the world as it is. The recurrent themes to be found in nearly all of Caeiro's poems are wide-eyed childlike wonder at the infinite variety of nature, as noted by a critic. He is free of metaphysical entanglements. Central to his world-view is the idea that in the world around us, all is surface: things are precisely what they seem, there is no hidden meaning anywhere.  He manages thus to free himself from the anxieties that batter his peers; for Caeiro, things simply exist and we have no right to credit them with more than that. Caeiro attains happiness by not questioning, and by thus avoiding doubts and uncertainties. He apprehends reality solely through his eyes, through his senses. Octavio Paz called him the innocent poet. Paz made a shrewd remark on the heteronyms: In each are particles of negation or unreality. Reis believes in form, Campos in sensation, Pessoa in symbols. Caeiro doesn't believe in anything. He exists.  Poetry before Caeiro was essentially interpretative; what poets did was to offer an interpretation of their perceived surroundings; Caeiro does not do this. Instead, he attempts to communicate his senses, and his feelings, without any interpretation whatsoever.  Caeiro attempts to approach Nature from a qualitatively different mode of apprehension; that of simply perceiving (an approach akin to phenomenological approaches to philosophy). Poets before him would make use of intricate metaphors to describe what was before them; not so Caeiro: his self-appointed task is to bring these objects to the reader's attention, as directly and simply as possible. Caeiro sought a direct experience of the objects before him.  As such it is not surprising to find that Caeiro has been called an anti-intellectual, anti-Romantic, anti-subjectivist, anti-metaphysical...an anti-poet, by critics; Caeiro simply—is. He is in this sense very unlike his creator Fernando Pessoa: Pessoa was besieged by metaphysical uncertainties; these were, to a large extent, the cause of his unhappiness; not so Caeiro: his attitude is anti-metaphysical; he avoided uncertainties by adamantly clinging to a certainty: his belief that there is no meaning behind things. Things, for him, simply—are.  Caeiro represents a primal vision of reality, of things. He is the pagan incarnate. Indeed, Caeiro was not simply a pagan but paganism itself.  The critic Jane M. Sheets sees the insurgence of Caeiro—who was Pessoa's first major heteronym—as essential in founding the later poetic "personas": By means of this artless yet affirmative anti-poet, Caeiro, a short-lived but vital member of his coterie, Pessoa acquired the base of an experienced and universal poetic vision. After Caeiro's tenets had been established, the avowedly poetic voices of Campos, Reis and Pessoa himself spoke with greater assurance.

Ricardo Reis.

In a letter to William Bentley, Pessoa wrote that "a "knowledge" of the language would be indispensable, for instance, to appraise the 'Odes' of Ricardo Reis, whose Portuguese would draw upon him the blessing of António Vieira, as his stile and diction that of Horace (he has been called, admirably I believe, 'a Greek Horace who writes in Portuguese')".  Reis, both a character and a heteronym of Fernando Pessoa himself, sums up his philosophy of life in his own words, admonishing, "See life from a distance. Never question it. There's nothing it can tell you." Like Caeiro, whom he admires, Reis defers from questioning life. He is a modern pagan who urges one to seize the day and accept fate with tranquility. "Wise is the one who does not seek. The seeker will find in all things the abyss, and doubt in himself." In this sense, Reis shares essential affinities with Caeiro.  Believing in the Greek gods, yet living in a Christian Europe, Reis feels that his spiritual life is limited and true happiness cannot be attained. This, added to his belief in Fate as a driving force for all that exists, as such disregarding freedom, leads to his epicureanist philosophy, which entails the avoidance of pain, defending that man should seek tranquility and calm above all else, avoiding emotional extremes.  Where Caeiro wrote freely and spontaneously, with joviality, of his basic, meaningless connection to the world, Reis writes in an austere, cerebral manner, with premeditated rhythm and structure and a particular attention to the correct use of the language when approaching his subjects of, as characterized by Richard Zenith, "the brevity of life, the vanity of wealth and struggle, the joy of simple pleasures, patience in time of trouble, and avoidance of extremes".  In his detached, intellectual approach, he is closer to Fernando Pessoa's constant rationalization, as such representing the orthonym's wish for measure and sobriety and a world free of troubles and respite, in stark contrast to Caeiro's spirit and style. As such, where Caeiro's predominant attitude is that of joviality, his sadness being accepted as natural ("My sadness is a comfort for it is natural and right."), Reis is marked by melancholy, saddened by the impermanence of all things.  Ricardo Reis is the main character of José Saramago's 1986 novel "The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis".

Álvaro de Campos.

Álvaro de Campos manifests, in a way, as a hyperbolic version of Pessoa himself. Of the three heteronyms he is the one who feels most strongly, his motto being 'to feel everything in every way.' 'The best way to travel,' he wrote, 'is to feel.' As such, his poetry is the most emotionally intense and varied, constantly juggling two fundamental impulses: on the one hand a feverish desire to be and feel everything and everyone, declaring that 'in every corner of my soul stands an altar to a different god' (alluding to Walt Whitman's desire to 'contain multitudes'), on the other, a wish for a state of isolation and a sense of nothingness.  As a result, his mood and principles varied between violent, dynamic exultation, as he fervently wishes to experience the entirety of the universe in himself, in all manners possible (a particularly distinctive trait in this state being his futuristic leanings, including the expression of great enthusiasm as to the meaning of city life and its components) and a state of nostalgic melancholy, where life is viewed as, essentially, empty.  One of the poet's constant preoccupations, as part of his dichotomous character, is that of identity: he does not know who he is, or rather, fails at achieving an ideal identity. Wanting to be everything, and inevitably failing, he despairs. Unlike Caeiro, who asks nothing of life, he asks too much. In his poetic meditation 'Tobacco Shop' he asks:

Summaries of selected works.

"Message".

"Mensagem", written in Portuguese, is a symbolist epic made up of 44 short poems organized in three parts or Cycles:  The first, called "Brasão" (Coat-of-Arms), relates Portuguese historical protagonists to each of the fields and charges in the Portuguese coat of arms. The first two poems ("The castles" and "The escutcheons") draw inspiration from the material and spiritual natures of Portugal. Each of the remaining poems associates to each charge a historical personality. Ultimately they all lead to the Golden Age of Discovery.  The second Part, called "Mar Português" (Portuguese Sea), references the country's Age of Portuguese Exploration and to its seaborne Empire that ended with the death of King Sebastian at El-Ksar el Kebir ("Alcácer-Quibir" in Portuguese) in 1578. Pessoa brings the reader to the present as if he had woken up from a dream of the past, to fall in a dream of the future: he sees King Sebastian returning and still bent on accomplishing a Universal Empire.  The third Cycle, called "O Encoberto" ("The Hidden One"), refers to Pessoa's vision of a future world of peace and the Fifth Empire (which, according to Pessoa, is spiritual and not material, because if it were material England would already have achieved it). After the Age of Force, (Vis), and Taedium (Otium) will come Science (understanding) through a reawakening of "The Hidden One", or "King Sebastian". The Hidden One represents the fulfillment of the destiny of mankind, designed by God since before Time, and the accomplishment of Portugal.  King Sebastian is very important, indeed he appears in all three parts of Mensagem. He represents the capacity of dreaming, and believing that it's possible to achieve dreams.  One of the most famous quotes from "Mensagem" is the first line from "O Infante" (belonging to the second Part), which is "Deus quer, o homem sonha, a obra nasce" (which translates roughly to "God wishes, man dreams, the work is born"). Another well-known quote from "Mensagem" is the first line from "Ulysses", "O mito é o nada que é tudo" (a possible translation is "The myth is the nothing that is all"). This poem refers to Ulysses, king of Ithaca, as Lisbon's founder (recalling an ancient Greek myth).

Literary essays.

In 1912, Fernando Pessoa wrote a set of essays (later collected as "The New Portuguese Poetry") for the cultural journal "A Águia" (The Eagle), founded in Oporto, in December 1910, and run by the republican association Renascença Portuguesa. In the first years of the Portuguese Republic, this cultural association was started by republican intellectuals led by the writer and poet Teixeira de Pascoaes, philosopher Leonardo Coimbra and historian Jaime Cortesão, aiming for the renewal of Portuguese culture through the aesthetic movement called Saudosismo. Pessoa contributed to the journal "A Águia" with a series of papers: 'The new Portuguese Poetry Sociologically Considered' (nr. 4), 'Relapsing...' (nr. 5) and 'The Psychological Aspect of the new Portuguese Poetry' (nrs. 9,11 and 12). These writings were strongly encomiastic to saudosist literature, namely the poetry of Teixeira de Pascoaes and Mário Beirão. The articles disclose Pessoa as a connoisseur of modern European literature and an expert of recent literary trends. On the other hand, he does not care much for a methodology of analysis or problems in the history of ideas. He states his confidence that Portugal would soon produce a great poet – a super-Camões – pledged to make an important contribution for European culture, and indeed, for humanity.

Philosophical essays.

The philosophical notes of the young Pessoa, mostly written between 1905 and 1912, illustrate his debt to the history of Philosophy more through commentators than through a first-hand protracted reading of the Classics, ancient or modern. The issues he engages with pertain to every philosophical discipline and concern a large profusion of concepts, creating a vast semantic spectrum in texts whose length varies between half a dozen lines and half a dozen pages and whose density of analysis is extremely variable; simple paraphrasis, expression of assumptions and original speculation.  Pessoa sorted the philosophical systems thus:  Such pantheist transcendentalism is used by Pessoa to define the project that "encompasses and exceeds all systems"; to characterize the new poetry of Saudosismo where the "typical contradiction of this system" occurs; to inquire of the particular social and political results of its adoption as the leading cultural paradigm; and, at last, he hints that metaphysics and religiosity strive "to find in everything a beyond".

Fernando António Nogueira Pessoa (; 13 June 1888 – 30 November 1935) was a Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, publisher and philosopher, described as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century and one of the greatest poets in the Portuguese language. He also wrote in and translated from English and French.

Fernando Pessoa [] (* 13. Juni 1888 in Lissabon; † 30. November 1935 ebenda), eigentlich "Fernando António Nogueira de Seabra Pessoa", war ein portugiesischer Dichter, Schriftsteller, Angestellter eines Handelshauses und Geisteswissenschaftler. Er verfasste seine Werke hauptsächlich unter den drei Heteronymen Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis, Álvaro de Campos und dem Halb-Heteronym Bernardo Soares. Weitere Heteronyme Pessoas waren die Brüder Charles James und Alexander Search.


Etymology.

"Castrum" appears in Oscan and Umbrian, two other Italic languages, suggesting an origin at least as old as Proto-Italic language.  Julius Pokorny traces a probable derivation from *k̂es-, "schneiden" (“cut”) in *k̂es-tro-m, "Schneidewerkzeug" (“cutting tool”).  These Italic reflexes based on *kastrom include Oscan "castrous" (genitive case) and Umbrian "castruo", "kastruvuf" (accusative case). They have the same meaning, says Pokorny, as Latin "fundus", an estate, or tract of land. This is not any land, but is a prepared or cultivated tract, such as a farm enclosed by a fence or a wooden or stone wall of some kind. Cornelius Nepos uses Latin "castrum" in that sense: when Alcibiades deserts to the Persians, Pharnabazus gives him an estate ("castrum") worth 500 talents in tax revenues. This is a change of meaning from the reflexes in other languages, which still mean some sort of knife, axe, or spear. Pokorny explains it as "’Lager’ als ‘abgeschnittenes Stück Land’", “a lager, as a cut-off piece of land.”  If this is the civilian interpretation, the military version must be “military reservation,” a piece of land cut off from the common land around it and modified for military use. All castra must be defended by works, often no more than a stockade, for which the soldiers carried stakes, and a ditch. The "castra" could be prepared under attack within a hollow square or behind a battle line. Considering that the earliest military shelters were tents made of hide or cloth, and all but the most permanent bases housed the men in tents placed in quadrangles and separated by numbered streets, one "castrum" may well have acquired the connotation of tent.

Linguistic development of the military castra.

The commonest Latin syntagmata (here phrases) for the term "castra" are:  In Latin the term "castrum" is much more frequently used as a proper name for geographical locations: e.g., Castrum Album, Castrum Inui, Castrum Novum, Castrum Truentinum, Castrum Vergium. The plural was also used as a place name, as Castra Cornelia, and from this comes the Welsh place name prefix "caer-" and English suffixes "-caster" and "-chester"; e.g., Winchester, Lancaster.  "Castrorum Filius", "son of the camps," was one of the names used by the emperor Caligula and then also by other emperors.  "Castro", also derived from "Castrum", is a common Spanish family name as well as toponym in Italy, the Balkans and Spain and other Hispanophone countries, either by itself or in various compounds such as the World Heritage Site of Gjirokastër (earlier "Argurokastro").  The terms stratopedon ("army camp") and phrourion ("fortification") were used by Greek language authors to translate "castrum" and "castellum", respectively.

Description.

A "castrum" was designed to house and protect the soldiers, their equipment and supplies when they were not fighting or marching.  The most detailed description that survives about Roman military camps is "De Munitionibus Castrorum", a manuscript of 11 pages that dates most probably from the late 1st to early 2nd century AD.  Regulations required a major unit in the field to retire to a properly constructed camp every day. "... as soon as they have marched into an enemy's land, they do not begin to fight until they have walled their camp about; nor is the fence they raise rashly made, or uneven; nor do they all abide ill it, nor do those that are in it take their places at random; but if it happens that the ground is uneven, it is first levelled: their camp is also four-square by measure, and carpenters are ready, in great numbers, with their tools, to erect their buildings for them." To this end a marching column ported the equipment needed to build and stock the camp in a baggage train of wagons and on the backs of the soldiers.  Camps were the responsibility of engineering units to which specialists of many types belonged, officered by "architecti", "chief engineers", who requisitioned manual labor from the soldiers at large as required. They could throw up a camp under enemy attack in as little as a few hours. Judging from the names, they probably used a repertory of camp plans, selecting the one appropriate to the length of time a legion would spend in it: "tertia castra", "quarta castra", etc. ("a camp of three days", "four days", etc.).  More permanent camps were "castra stativa" ("standing camps"). The least permanent of these were "castra aestiva" or "aestivalia", "summer camps", in which the soldiers were housed "sub pellibus" or "sub tentoriis", "under tents". Summer was the campaign season. For the winter the soldiers retired to "castra hiberna" containing barracks and other buildings of more solid materials, with timber construction gradually being replaced by stone.  The camp allowed the Romans to keep a rested and supplied army in the field. Neither the Celtic nor Germanic armies had this capability: they found it necessary to disperse after only a few days.  The largest castra were "legionary fortresses" built as bases for one or more whole legions.  From the time of Augustus more permanent castra with wooden or stone buildings and walls were introduced as the distant and hard-won boundaries of the expanding empire required permanent garrisons to control local and external threats from war-like tribes. Previously, legions were raised for specific military campaigns and subsequently disbanded, requiring only temporary castra. From then on many castra of various sizes were established many of which became permanent settlements.

Plan of forts.

Sources and origins.

From the most ancient times Roman camps were constructed according to a certain ideal pattern, formally described in two main sources, the "De Munitionibus Castrorum" and the works of Polybius. P. Fl. Vegetius Renatus has a small section on entrenched camps as well. The terminology varies but the basic plan is the same. The hypothesis of an Etruscan origin is a viable alternative.

Layout.

The ideal enforced a linear plan for a camp or fort: a square for camps to contain one legion or smaller unit, a rectangle for two legions, each legion being placed back-to-back with headquarters next to each other. Laying it out was a geometric exercise conducted by experienced officers called "metatores", who used graduated measuring rods called "decempedae" ("10-footers") and "gromatici" who used a groma, a sighting device consisting of a vertical staff with horizontal cross pieces and vertical plumb-lines. Ideally the process started in the centre of the planned camp at the site of the headquarters tent or building (principia). Streets and other features were marked with coloured pennants or rods.  The street plans of various present-day cities still retain traces of a Roman camp, for example Marsala in Sicily, the ancient Lilybaeum, where the name of the main street, the Cassaro, perpetuates the name "castrum".

Wall and ditch.

The Castrum's special structure also defended from attacks.  The base ("munimentum", "fortification") was placed entirely within the "vallum" ("wall"), which could be constructed under the protection of the legion in battle formation if necessary. The "vallum" was quadrangular aligned on the cardinal points of the compass. The construction crews dug a trench ("fossa"), throwing the excavated material inward, to be formed into the rampart ("agger"). On top of this a palisade of stakes ("sudes" or "valli") was erected. The soldiers had to carry these stakes on the march. Over the course of time, the palisade might be replaced by a fine brick or stone wall, and the ditch serve also as a moat. A legion-sized camp always placed towers at intervals along the wall with positions between for the division artillery.

Interval.

Around the inside periphery of the "vallum" was a clear space, the "intervallum", which served to catch enemy missiles, as an access route to the "vallum" and as a storage space for cattle ("capita") and plunder ("praeda"). Legionaries were quartered in a peripheral zone inside the "intervallum", which they could rapidly cross to take up position on the "vallum". Inside of the legionary quarters was a peripheral road, the "Via Sagularis", probably a type of "service road", as the "sagum", a kind of cloak, was the garment of soldiers.

Streets, gates and central plaza.

Every camp included "main street", which ran through the camp in a north-south direction and was very wide. The names of streets in many cities formerly occupied by the Romans suggest that the street was called "cardo" or "cardus maximus". This name applies more to cities than it does to ancient camps.  Typically "main street" was the "via principalis". The central portion was used as a parade ground and headquarters area. The "headquarters" building was called the "praetorium" because it housed the "praetor" or base commander ("first officer"), and his staff. In the camp of a full legion he held the rank of "consul" or "proconsul" but officers of lesser ranks might command.  On one side of the "praetorium" was the "quaestorium", the building of the "quaestor" (supply officer). On the other side was the "forum", a small duplicate of an urban forum, where public business could be conducted. Along the "Via Principalis" were the homes or tents of the several tribunes in front of the barracks of the units they commanded.  The "Via Principalis" went through the "vallum" in the "Porta Principalis Dextra" ("right principal gate") and "Porta Principalis Sinistra" ("left, etc."), which were gates fortified with "turres" ("towers"). Which was on the north and which on the south depends on whether the praetorium faced east or west, which remains unknown.  The central region of the "Via Principalis" with the buildings for the command staff was called the "Principia" (plural of "principium"). It was actually a square, as across this at right angles to the "Via Principalis" was the "Via Praetoria", so called because the "praetorium" interrupted it. The "Via Principalis" and the "Via Praetoria" offered another division of the camp into four quarters. Across the central plaza ("principia") to the east or west was the main gate, the "Porta Praetoria". Marching through it and down "headquarters street" a unit ended up in formation in front of the headquarters. The standards of the legion were located on display there, very much like the flag of modern camps.  On the other side of the praetorium the "Via Praetoria" continued to the wall, where it went through the "Porta Decumana". In theory this was the back gate. Supplies were supposed to come in through it and so it was also called, descriptively, the "Porta Quaestoria". The term Decumana, "of the 10th", came from the arranging of "manipuli" or "turmae" from the first to the 10th, such that the 10th was near the "intervallum" on that side. The "Via Praetoria" on that side might take the name "Via Decumana" or the entire "Via Praetoria" be replaced with "Decumanus Maximus".

Canteen.

In peaceful times the camp set up a marketplace with the natives in the area. They were allowed into the camp as far as the units numbered 5 (half-way to the praetorium). There another street crossed the camp at right angles to the "Via Decumana", called the "Via Quintana", "5th street". If the camp needed more gates, one or two of the "Porta Quintana" were built, presumably named "dextra" and "sinistra". If the gates were not built, the "Porta Decumana" also became the "Porta Quintana". At "5th street" a public market was allowed.

Major buildings.

The "Via Quintana" and the "Via Principalis" divided the camp into three districts: the "Latera Praetorii", the "Praetentura" and the "Retentura". In the "latera" ("sides") were the "Arae" (sacrificial altars), the "Auguratorium" (for auspices), the "Tribunal", where courts martial and arbitrations were conducted (it had a raised platform), the guardhouse, the quarters of various kinds of staff and the storehouses for grain ("horrea") or meat ("carnarea"). Sometimes the "horrea" were located near the barracks and the meat was stored on the hoof. Analysis of sewage from latrines indicates the legionary diet was mainly grain. Also located in the "Latera" was the "Armamentarium", a long shed containing any heavy weapons and artillery not on the wall.  The "Praetentura" ("stretching to the front") contained the "Scamnum Legatorum", the quarters of officers who were below general but higher than company commanders ("Legati"). Near the "Principia" were the "Valetudinarium" (hospital), "Veterinarium" (for horses), "Fabrica" ("workshop", metals and wood), and further to the front the quarters of special forces. These included "Classici" ("marines", as most European camps were on rivers and contained a river naval command), "Equites" ("cavalry"), "Exploratores" ("scouts"), and "Vexillarii" (carriers of vexillae, the official pennants of the legion and its units). Troops who did not fit elsewhere also were there.  The part of the "Retentura" ("stretching to the rear") closest to the "Principia" contained the "Quaestorium". By the late empire it had developed also into a safekeep for plunder and a prison for hostages and high-ranking enemy captives. Near the "Quaestorium" were the quarters of the headquarters guard ("Statores"), who amounted to two centuries (companies). If the "Imperator" was present they served as his bodyguard.

Barracks.

Further from the "Quaestorium" were the tents of the "Nationes" ("natives"), who were auxiliaries of foreign troops, and the legionaries themselves in double rows of tents or barracks ("Strigae"). One "Striga" was as long as required and 18 m wide. In it were two "Hemistrigia" of facing tents centered in its 9 m strip. Arms could be stacked before the tents and baggage carts kept there as well. Space on the other side of the tent was for passage.  In the northern places like Britain, where it got cold in the winter, they would make wood or stone barracks. The Romans would also put a fireplace in the barracks. They had about three bunk beds in it. They had a small room beside it where they put their armour; it was as big as the tents. They would also make these barracks if the fort they had was going to stay there for good.  A tent was 3 by 3.5 metres (0.6 m for the aisle), ten men per tent. Ideally a company took 10 tents, arranged in a line of 10 companies, with the 10th near the "Porta Decumana". Of the c. 9.2 square metres of bunk space each man received 0.9, or about 0.6 by 1.5 m, which was only practical if they slept with heads to the aisle. The single tent with its men was called "contubernium", also used for "squad". A squad during some periods was 8 men or fewer.  The "Centurion", or company commander, had a double-sized tent for his quarters, which served also as official company area. Other than there, the men had to find other places to be. To avoid mutiny, it became extremely important for the officers to keep them busy.  A covered portico might protect the walkway along the tents. If barracks had been constructed, one company was housed in one barracks building, with the arms at one end and the common area at the other. The company area was used for cooking and recreation, such as gaming. The army provisioned the men and had their bread ("panis militaris") baked in outdoor ovens, but the men were responsible for cooking and serving themselves. They could buy meals or supplementary foods at the canteen. The officers were allowed servants.

Sanitation.

For sanitary facilities, a camp had both public and private latrines. A public latrine consisted of a bank of seats situated over a channel of running water. One of the major considerations for selecting the site of a camp was the presence of running water, which the engineers diverted into the sanitary channels. Drinking water came from wells; however, the larger and more permanent bases featured the "aqueduct", a structure running a stream captured from high ground (sometimes miles away) into the camp. The praetorium had its own latrine, and probably the quarters of the high-ranking officers. In or near the "intervallum", where they could easily be accessed, were the latrines of the soldiers. A public bathhouse for the soldiers, also containing a latrine, was located near or on the "Via Principalis".

Territory.

The influence of a base extended far beyond its walls. The total land required for the maintenance of a permanent base was called its "territoria". In it were located all the resources of nature and the terrain required by the base: pastures, woodlots, water sources, stone quarries, mines, exercise fields and attached villages. The central castra might also support various fortified adjuncts to the main base, which were not in themselves self-sustaining (as was the base). In this category were "speculae", "watchtowers", "castella", "small camps", and naval bases.  All the major bases near rivers featured some sort of fortified naval installation, one side of which was formed by the river or lake. The other sides were formed by a polygonal wall and ditch constructed in the usual way, with gates and watchtowers. The main internal features were the boat sheds and the docks. When not in use, the boats were drawn up into the sheds for maintenance and protection. Since the camp was placed to best advantage on a hill or slope near the river, the naval base was usually outside its walls. The "classici" and the "optiones" of the naval installation relied on the camp for its permanent defense. Naval personnel generally enjoyed better quarters and facilities. Many were civilians working for the military.

Modifications in practice.

This ideal was always modified to suit the terrain and the circumstances. Each camp discovered by archaeology has its own specific layout and architectural features, which makes sense from a military point of view.  If, for example, the camp was built on an outcrop, it followed the lines of the outcrop. The terrain for which it was best suited and for which it was probably designed in distant prehistoric times was the rolling plain. The camp was best placed on the summit and along the side of a low hill, with spring water running in rivulets through the camp ("aquatio") and pastureland to provide grazing ("pabulatio") for the animals. In case of attack, arrows, javelins and sling missiles could be fired down at an enemy tiring himself to come up. For defence troops could be formed in an "acies", or "battle-line", outside the gates, where they could be easily resupplied and replenished, as well as being supported by archery from the palisade.  The streets, gates and buildings present depended on the requirements and resources of the camp. The gates might vary from two to six and not be centred on the sides. Not all the streets and buildings might be present.

Quadrangular camps in later times.

Many settlements in Europe originated as Roman military camps and still show traces of their original pattern (e.g. Castres in France, Barcelona in Spain). The pattern was also used by Spanish colonizers in America following strict rules by the Spanish monarchy for founding new cities in the New World.  Many of the towns of England still retain forms of the word "castra" in their names, usually as the suffixes "-caster", "-cester" or "-chester" – Lancaster, Tadcaster, Worcester, Gloucester, Mancetter, Uttoxeter, Colchester, Chester, Manchester and Ribchester for example. Castle has the same derivation, from the diminutive "castellum" or "little fort", but does not usually indicate a former Roman camp. Whitley Castle however is an exception, referring to the Roman fort of Epiacum in Northumberland.

Camp life.

Activities conducted in a castra can be divided into ordinary and "the duty" or "the watch". Ordinary activity was performed during regular working hours. The duty was associated with operating the installation as a military facility. For example, none of the soldiers were required to man the walls all the time, but round-the clock duty always required a portion of the soldiers to be on duty at any time.  Duty time was divided into "vigilia", the eight watches into which the 24-hour day was divided so they stood guard for 3 hours that day. The Romans used signals on brass instruments to mark time. These were mainly the "buccina" or "bucina", the "cornu" and the "tuba". As they did not possess valves for regulating the pitch, the range of these instruments was somewhat limited. Nevertheless, the musicians ("Aenatores", "brassmen") managed to define enough signals for issuing commands. The instrument used to mark the passage of a watch was the "buccina", from which the trumpet derives. It was sounded by a "buccinator".

Ordinary life.

Ordinary camp life began with a "buccina" call at daybreak, the first watch of the day. The soldiers arose at this time and shortly after collected in the company area for breakfast and assembly. The centurions were up before them and off to the "principia" where they and the "equites" were required to assemble. The regimental commanders, the tribunes, were already converging on the "praetorium". There the general staff was busily at work planning the day. At a staff meeting the "Tribunes" received the password and the orders of the day. They brought those back to the "centuriones", who returned to their company areas to instruct the men.  For soldiers, the main item of the agenda was a vigorous training session lasting about a watch long. Recruits received two, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Planning and supervision of training were under a general staff officer, who might manage training at several camps. According to Vegetius, the men might take a hike or a jog under full pack, or swim a river. Marching drill was always in order.  Each soldier was taught the use of every weapon and also was taught to ride. Seamanship was taught at naval bases. Soldiers were generalists in the military and construction arts. They practiced archery, spear-throwing and above all swordsmanship against posts ("pali") fixed in the ground. Training was taken very seriously and was democratic. Ordinary soldiers would see all the officers training with them including the "praetor", or the Emperor, if he was in camp.  Swordsmanship lessons and use of the shooting range probably took place on the "campus", a "field" outside the "castra", from which English camp derives. Its surface could be lightly paved. Winter curtailed outdoor training. The general might in that case have sheds constructed, which served as field houses for training. There is archaeological evidence in one case of an indoor equestrian ring.  Apart from the training, each soldier had a regular job on the base, of which there were a large variety from the various kinds of clerks to the craftsmen. Soldiers changed jobs frequently. The commander's policy was to have all the soldiers skilled in all the arts and crafts so that they could be as interchangeable as possible. Even then the goal was not entirely achievable. The gap was bridged by the specialists, the "optiones" or "chosen men", of which there were many different kinds. For example, a skilled artisan might be chosen to superintend a workshop. The supply administration was run as a business using money as the medium of exchange. The aureus was the preferred coin of the late republic and early empire; in the late empire the solidus came into use. The larger bases, such as "Moguntiacum", minted their own coins. As does any business, the base quaestorium required careful record keeping, performed mainly by the optiones. A chance cache of tablets from Vindolanda in Britain gives us a glimpse of some supply transactions. They record, among other things, the purchase of consumables and raw supplies, the storage and repair of clothing and other items, and the sale of items, including foodstuffs, to achieve an income. Vindolanda traded vigorously with the surrounding natives.  Another feature of the camp was the military hospital ("valetudinarium", later "hospitium"). Augustus instituted the first permanent medical corps in the Roman army. Its physicians, the "medici ordinarii", had to be qualified physicians. They were allowed medical students, practitioners and whatever orderlies they needed; i.e., the military hospitals were medical schools and places of residency as well.  Officers were allowed to marry and to reside with their families on base. The army did not extend the same privileges to the men, who were not allowed to marry. However, they often kept common law families off base in communities nearby. The communities might be native, as the tribesmen tended to build around a permanent base for purposes of trade, but also the base sponsored villages ("vici") of dependents and businessmen. Dependants were not allowed to follow an army on the march into hostile territory.  Military service was for about 25 years. At the end of that time, the veteran was given a certificate of honorable discharge ("honesta missio"). Some of these have survived engraved on stone. Typically they certify that the veteran, his wife (one per veteran) and children or his sweetheart were now Roman citizens, which is a good indication that troops, which were used chiefly on the frontier, were from peoples elsewhere on the frontier who wished to earn Roman citizenship. However, under Antoninus Pius, citizenship was no longer granted to the children of rank-and-file veterans, the privilege becoming restricted only to officers.  Veterans often went into business in the communities near a base. They became permanent members of the community and would stay on after the troops were withdrawn, as in the notable case of Saint Patrick's family.

Duties.

Conducted in parallel with the ordinary activities was "the duty", the official chores required by the camp under strict military discipline. The "Legate" was ultimately responsible for them as he was for the entire camp, but he delegated the duty to a tribune chosen as officer of the day. The line "Tribunes" were commanders of "Cohortes" and were approximately the equivalent of colonels. The 6 tribunes were divided into units of two, with each unit being responsible for filling the position of officer of the day for two months. The two men of a unit decided among themselves who would take what day. They could alternate days or each take a month. One filled in for the other in case of illness. On his day, the tribune effectively commanded the camp and was even respected as such by the "Legate".  The equivalent concept of the duties performed in modern camps is roughly the detail. The responsibilities ("curae") of the many kinds of detail were distributed to the men by all the methods considered fair and democratic: lot, rotation and negotiation. Certain kinds of "cura" were assigned certain classes or types of troops; for example, wall sentries were chosen only from "Velites". Soldiers could be temporarily or permanently exempted: the "immunes". For example, a Triarius was "immunis" from the "curae" of the Hastati.  The duty year was divided into time slices, typically one or two months, which were apportioned to units, typically maniples or centuries. They were always allowed to negotiate who took the duty and when. The most common kind of "cura" were the posts of the sentinels, called the "excubiae" by day and the "vigilae" at night. Wall posts were "praesidia", gate posts, "custodiae", advance positions before the gates, "stationes".  In addition were special guards and details. One post was typically filled by four men, one sentinel and the others at ease until a situation arose or it was their turn to be sentinel. Some of the details were:

External links.

Below are a number of links to sites reporting or summarizing current research or thinking. Many are reprints of articles made available to the public at no charge. The historical researcher will find their bibliographies of great interest.

In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word castrum (plural castra) was a building, or plot of land, used as a fortified military camp. In English, the terms "Roman fort", "Roman camp" and "Roman fortress" are commonly used for "castrum". However, scholastic convention tends toward the use of the words "fort", "camp", "marching camp" and "fortress" as a translation of "castrum".

Das römische Militärlager (lat. "Castrum", Mehrzahl "Castra"; für: befestigter Ort), auch Kastell (von lateinisch "castellum", Verkleinerungsform von "castrum"), war ein wesentliches Element des römischen Heerwesens. Die römische Gesellschaft, die zu ihrem unbegrenzten kulturellen Sendungsbewusstsein auch das Militär einsetzte, veranlasste Tacitus zu folgender Aussage: „Das Lager ist der besondere Stolz der Soldaten. Es ist ihr Vaterland, das seine Soldaten beheimatet“. Militärische Einrichtungen, insbesondere die Kastelle, waren, wo auch immer das Imperium in der Welt auftrat, die „physische Manifestation Roms“. Zusätzlich zu seiner Funktion als Ausgangspunkt für militärische Operationen oder als kurzfristiger Standort vor Schlachten hatten insbesondere die ständigen Garnisonen aufgrund ihrer Wirtschaftskraft wesentlichen Anteil an der Romanisierung der eroberten Gebiete. Zahlreiche Städtegründungen gehen auf ursprünglich militärische Standorte der Römer zurück. Dies war eine Nachwirkung des römischen zivilisatorischen Sendungsbewußtseins.


History.

The term "magic" etymologically derives from the Greek word "mageia" (μαγεία). In ancient times, Greeks and Persians had been at war for centuries, and the Persian priests, called "magosh" in Persian, came to be known as "magoi" in Greek. Ritual acts of Persian priests came to be known as "mageia", and then "magika" — which eventually came to mean any foreign, unorthodox, or illegitimate ritual practice. To the general public, successful acts of illusion could be perceived as if it were similar to a feat of magic supposed to have been able to be performed by the ancient magoi. The performance of tricks of illusion, or magical illusion, and the apparent workings and effects of such acts have often been referred to as "magic" and particularly as magic tricks.  The earliest known book to explain magic secrets, "The Discoverie of Witchcraft", was published in 1584. It was created by Reginald Scot to stop people killed for witchcraft. During the 17th century, many books were published that described magic tricks. Until the 18th century, magic shows were a common source of entertainment at fairs. A founding figure of modern entertainment magic was Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, who had a magic theatre in Paris in 1845. John Henry Anderson was pioneering the same transition in London in the 1840s. Towards the end of the 19th century, large magic shows permanently staged at big theatre venues became the norm. As a form of entertainment, magic easily moved from theatrical venues to television magic specials.  Performances that modern observers would recognize as conjuring have been practiced throughout history. For example, a trick with three cups and balls has been performed since 3 B.C. and is still performed today on stage and in street magic shows. For many recorded centuries, magicians were associated with the devil and the occult. During the 19th and 20th centuries, many stage magicians even capitalized on this notion in their advertisements. The same level of ingenuity that was used to produce famous ancient deceptions such as the Trojan Horse would also have been used for entertainment, or at least for cheating in money games. They were also used by the practitioners of various religions and cults from ancient times onwards to frighten uneducated people into obedience or turn them into adherents. However, the profession of the illusionist gained strength only in the 18th century, and has enjoyed several popular vogues since.

Magic tricks.

Opinions vary among magicians on how to categorize a given effect, but a number of categories have been developed. Magicians may pull a rabbit from an empty hat, make something seem to disappear, or transform a red silk handkerchief into a green silk handkerchief. Magicians may also destroy something, like cutting a head off, and then "restore" it, make something appear to move from one place to another, or they may escape from a restraining device. Other illusions include making something appear to defy gravity, making a solid object appear to pass through another object, or appearing to predict the choice of a spectator. Many magic routines use combinations of effects. One of the earliest books on the subject is Gantziony's work of 1489, "Natural and Unnatural Magic", which describes and explains old-time tricks. In 1584, Englishman Reginald Scot published "The Discoverie of Witchcraft", part of which was devoted to debunking the claims that magicians used supernatural methods, and showing how their "magic tricks" were in reality accomplished. Among the tricks discussed were sleight-of-hand manipulations with rope, paper and coins. At the time, fear and belief in witchcraft was widespread and the book tried to demonstrate that these fears were misplaced. Popular belief held that all obtainable copies were burned on the accession of James I in 1603.  During the 17th century, many similar books were published that described in detail the methods of a number of magic tricks, including "The Art of Conjuring" (1614) and "The Anatomy of Legerdemain: The Art of Juggling" (c. 1675). Until the 18th century, magic shows were a common source of entertainment at fairs, where itinerant performers would entertain the public with magic tricks, as well as the more traditional spectacles of sword swallowing, juggling and fire breathing. In the early 18th century, as belief in witchcraft was waning, the art became increasingly respectable and shows would be put on for rich private patrons. A notable figure in this transition was the English showman, Isaac Fawkes, who began to promote his act in advertisements from the 1720s—he even claimed to have performed for King George II. One of Fawkes' advertisements described his routine in some detail: From 1756 to 1781, Jacob Philadelphia performed feats of magic, sometimes under the guise of scientific exhibitions, throughout Europe and in Russia.

Modern stage magic.

A founding figure of modern entertainment magic was Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, originally a clockmaker, who opened a magic theatre in Paris in 1845. He transformed his art from one performed at fairs to a performance that the public paid to see at the theatre. His speciality was constructing mechanical automata that appeared to move and act as if alive. Many of Robert-Houdin's mechanisms for illusion were pirated by his assistant and ended up in the performances of his rivals, John Henry Anderson and Alexander Herrmann.  John Henry Anderson was pioneering the same transition in London. In 1840 he opened the New Strand Theatre, where he performed as "The Great Wizard of the North". His success came from advertising his shows and captivating his audience with expert showmanship. He became one of the earliest magicians to attain a high level of world renown. He opened a second theatre in Glasgow in 1845. Towards the end of the century, large magic shows permanently staged at big theatre venues became the norm. The British performer J N Maskelyne and his partner Cooke were established at the Egyptian Hall in London's Piccadilly in 1873 by their manager William Morton, and continued there for 31 years. The show incorporated stage illusions and reinvented traditional tricks with exotic (often Oriental) imagery. The potential of the stage was exploited for hidden mechanisms and assistants, and the control it offers over the audience's point of view. Maskelyne and Cooke invented many of the illusions still performed today—one of his best-known being levitation.  The model for the look of a 'typical' magician—a man with wavy hair, a top hat, a goatee, and a tailcoat—was Alexander Herrmann (1844–1896), also known as Herrmann the Great. Herrmann was a French magician and was part of the Herrmann family name that is the "first-family of magic".  The escapologist and magician Harry Houdini (1874-1926) took his stage name from Robert-Houdin and developed a range of stage magic tricks, many of them based on what became known after his death as escapology. Houdini was genuinely skilled in techniques such as lockpicking and escaping straitjackets, but also made full use of the range of conjuring techniques, including fake equipment and collusion with individuals in the audience. Houdini's show-business savvy was as great as his performance skill. There is a Houdini Museum dedicated to him in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  The Magic Circle was formed in London in 1905 to promote and advance the art of stage magic.  As a form of entertainment, magic easily moved from theatrical venues to television specials, which opened up new opportunities for deceptions, and brought stage magic to huge audiences. Famous magicians of the 20th century included Okito, David Devant, Harry Blackstone Sr., Harry Blackstone Jr., Howard Thurston, Theodore Annemann, Cardini, Joseph Dunninger, Dai Vernon, Fred Culpitt, Tommy Wonder, Siegfried & Roy, and Doug Henning. Popular 20th- and 21st-century magicians include David Copperfield, Lance Burton, James Randi, Penn and Teller, David Blaine, Criss Angel, Hans Klok, Derren Brown and Dynamo. Well-known women magicians include Dell O'Dell and Dorothy Dietrich. Most television magicians perform before a live audience, who provide the remote viewer with a reassurance that the illusions are not obtained with post-production visual effects.  Many of the principles of stage magic are old. There is an expression, "it's all done with smoke and mirrors", used to explain something baffling, but effects seldom use mirrors today, due to the amount of installation work and transport difficulties. For example, the famous Pepper's Ghost, a stage illusion first used in 19th-century London, required a specially built theatre. Modern performers have vanished objects as large as the Taj Mahal, the Statue of Liberty, and a space shuttle, using other kinds of optical deceptions.

Types of magic performance.

Magic is often described according to various specialties or genres.

Stage illusions.

Stage illusions are performed for large audiences, typically within a theatre or auditorium. This type of magic is distinguished by large-scale props, the use of assistants and often exotic animals such as elephants and tigers. Famous stage illusionists, past and present, include Harry Blackstone, Sr., Howard Thurston, Chung Ling Soo, David Copperfield, Lance Burton, Silvan, Siegfried & Roy, and Harry Blackstone, Jr.

Parlor magic.

Parlor magic is done for larger audiences than close-up magic (which is for a few people or even one person) and for smaller audiences than stage magic. In parlor magic, the performer is usually standing and on the same level as the audience, which may be seated on chairs or even on the floor. According to the "Encyclopedia of Magic and Magicians" by T.A. Waters, "The phrase [parlor magic] is often used as a pejorative to imply that an effect under discussion is not suitable for professional performance." Also, many magicians consider the term "parlor" old fashioned and limiting, since this type of magic is often done in rooms much larger than the traditional parlor, or even outdoors. A better term for this branch of magic may be "platform", "club" or "cabaret". Examples of such magicians include Jeff McBride, David Abbott, Channing Pollock, Black Herman, and Fred Kaps.

Close-up magic.

Close-up magic (or table magic) is performed with the audience close to the magician, sometimes even one-on-one. It usually makes use of everyday items as props, such as cards (see Card manipulation), coins (see Coin magic), and seemingly 'impromptu' effects. This may be called "table magic", particularly when performed as dinner entertainment. Ricky Jay, Mahdi Moudini, and Lee Asher, following in the traditions of Dai Vernon, Slydini, and Max Malini, are considered among the foremost practitioners of close-up magic.

Escapology.

Escapology is the branch of magic that deals with escapes from confinement or restraints. Harry Houdini is a well-known example of an "escape artist" or "escapologist".

Pickpocket magic.

Pickpocket magicians use magic to misdirect members of the audience while removing wallets, belts, ties and other personal effects. It can be presented on a stage, in a cabaret setting, before small close-up groups, or even for one spectator. Well-known pickpockets include James Freedman, David Avadon, Bob Arno, and Apollo Robbins.

Mentalism.

Mentalism creates the impression in the minds of the audience that the performer possesses special powers to read thoughts, predict events, control other minds, and similar feats. It can be presented on a stage, in a cabaret setting, before small close-up groups, or even for one spectator. Well-known mentalists of the past and present include Alexander, The Zancigs, Axel Hellstrom, Dunninger, Kreskin, Derren Brown, Rich Ferguson, Guy Bavli, Banachek, and Alain Nu.

Séances.

Theatrical séances simulate spiritualistic or mediumistic phenomena for theatrical effect. This genre of stage magic has been misused at times by charlatans pretending to actually be in contact with spirits.

Children's magic.

Children's magic is performed for an audience primarily composed of children. It is typically performed at birthday parties, preschools, elementary schools, Sunday schools or libraries. This type of magic is usually comedic in nature and involves audience interaction as well as volunteer assistants.

Online magic.

Online magic tricks were designed to function on a computer screen. The computer essentially replaces the magician. Some online magic tricks recreate traditional card tricks and require user participation, while others, like Plato's Cursed Triangle, are based on mathematical, geometrical and/or optical illusions. One such online magic trick, called Esmeralda's Crystal Ball, became a viral phenomenon that fooled so many computer users into believing that their computer had supernatural powers, that Snopes dedicated a page to debunking the trick.

Mathemagic.

Mathemagic is a genre of stage magic that combines magic and mathematics. It is commonly used by children's magicians and mentalists.

Corporate magic.

Corporate magic or trade show magic uses magic as a communication and sales tool, as opposed to just straightforward entertainment. Corporate magicians may come from a business background and typically present at meetings, conferences and product launches. They run workshops and can sometimes be found at trade shows, where their patter and illusions enhance an entertaining presentation of the products offered by their corporate sponsors. Pioneer performers in this arena include Eddie Tullock and Guy Bavli.

Gospel magic.

Gospel magic uses magic to catechize and evangelize. Gospel magic was first used by St. John Bosco to interest children in 19th-century Turin, Italy to come back to school, to accept assistance and to attend church.

Street magic.

Street magic is a form of street performing or busking that employs a hybrid of stage magic, platform and close-up magic, usually performed 'in the round' or surrounded by the audience. Notable modern street magic performers include Jeff Sheridan and Gazzo. Since the first David Blaine TV special "Street Magic" aired in 1997, the term "street magic" has also come to describe a style of 'guerilla' performance in which magicians approach and perform for unsuspecting members of the public on the street. Unlike traditional street magic, this style is almost purely designed for TV and gains its impact from the wild reactions of the public. Magicians of this type include David Blaine and Cyril Takayama.

Bizarre magic.

Bizarre magic uses mystical, horror, fantasy, and other similar themes in performance. Bizarre magic is typically performed in a close-up venue, although some performers have effectively presented it in a stage setting. Charles Cameron has generally been credited as the "godfather of bizarre magic". Others such as Tony Andruzzi have contributed significantly to its development.

Shock magic.

Shock magic is a genre of magic that shocks the audience. Sometimes referred to as "geek magic", it takes its roots from circus sideshows, in which 'freakish' performances were shown to audiences. Common shock magic or geek magic effects include eating razor blades, needle-through-arm, string through neck and pen-through-tongue.,

Comedy magic.

Comedy magic is the use of magic in which is combined with stand-up comedy. Famous comedy magicians include The Amazing Johnathan, Mac King, and Penn & Teller.

Quick change magic.

Quick change magic is the use of magic which is combined with the very quick changing of costumes. Famous quick change artists include Sos & Victoria Petrosyan.

Camera magic.

Camera magic (or "video magic") is magic that is aimed at viewers watching broadcasts or recordings. It includes tricks based on the restricted viewing angles of cameras and clever editing. Camera magic often features paid extras posing as spectators who may even be assisting in the performance. Camera magic can be done live, such as Derren Brown's lottery prediction. Famous examples of camera magic include David Copperfield's Floating Over the Grand Canyon and many of Criss Angel's illusions.

Classical magic.

Classical Magic is a style of magic that conveys feelings of elegance and skill akin to prominent magicians of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Notable classical magicians today include Yu Ho-Jin and Ryan Lally.

Mechanical magic.

Mechanical magic is a form of stage magic in which the magician uses a variety of mechanical devices to perform acts which appear to be physically impossible. Examples include such things as a false-bottomed mortar in which the magician places an audience member's watch only to later produce several feet away inside a wooden frame. Mechanical magic requires a certain degree of sleight of hand and carefully functioning mechanisms and devices to be performed convincingly. This form of magic was popular around the turn of the 19th century— today, many of the original mechanisms used for this magic have become antique collector's pieces and may require significant and careful restoration to function.

Categories of effects.

Magicians describe the type of tricks they perform in various ways. Opinions vary as to how to categorize a given effect, and disagreement as to what categories actually exist. For instance, some magicians consider "penetrations" a separate category, while others consider penetrations a form of restoration or teleportation. Some magicians today, such as Guy Hollingworth and Tom Stone have begun to challenge the notion that all magic effects fit into a limited number of categories. Among magicians who believe in a limited number of categories (such as Dariel Fitzkee, Harlan Tarbell, S.H. Sharpe), there has been disagreement as to how many different types of effects there are. Some of these are listed below.  Many magic routines use combinations of effects. For example, in "cups and balls" a magician may use vanishes, productions, penetrations, teleportation and transformations as part of the one presentation.  The methodology behind magic is often referred to as a science (often a branch of physics) while the performance aspect is more of an art form.

Learning magic.

Dedication to magic can teach confidence and creativity, as well as the work ethic associated with regular practice and the responsibility that comes with devotion to an art. The teaching of performance magic was once a secretive practice. Professional magicians were unwilling to share knowledge with anyone outside the profession to prevent the laity from learning their secrets. This often made it difficult for an interested apprentice to learn anything but the basics of magic. Some had strict rules against members discussing magic secrets with anyone but established magicians.  From the 1584 publication of Reginald Scot's "Discoverie of Witchcraft" until the end of the 19th century, only a few books were available for magicians to learn the craft, whereas today mass-market books offer a myriad titles. Videos and DVDs are a newer medium of tuition, but many of the methods found in this format are readily found in previously published books. However, they can serve as a visual demonstration.  Persons interested in learning to perform magic can join magic clubs. Here magicians, both seasoned and novitiate, can work together and help one another for mutual improvement, to learn new techniques, to discuss all aspects of magic, to perform for each other—sharing advice, encouragement, and criticism. Before a magician can join one of these clubs, they usually have to audition. The purpose is to show to the membership they are a magician and not just someone off the street wanting to discover magic secrets.  The world's largest magic organization is the International Brotherhood of Magicians; it publishes a monthly journal, "The Linking Ring". The oldest organization is the Society of American Magicians, which publishes the monthly magazine "M-U-M" and of which Houdini was a member and president for several years. In London, England, there is The Magic Circle, which houses the largest magic library in Europe. Also PSYCRETS—The British Society of Mystery Entertainers—caters specifically to mentalists, bizarrists, storytellers, readers, spiritualist performers, and other mystery entertainers. Davenport's Magic in London's The Strand was the world's oldest family-run magic shop. It is now closed. The Magic Castle in Hollywood, California, is home to the Academy of Magical Arts.  Traditionally, magicians refuse to reveal the methods behind their tricks to the audience. Membership in professional magicians' organizations often requires a commitment never to reveal the secrets of magic to non-magicians. Magic performances tend to fall into a few specialties or genres. Stage illusions use large-scale props and even large animals. Platform magic is performed for a medium to large audience. Close-up magic is performed with the audience close to the magician. Escapology involves escapes from confinement or restraints. Pickpocket magicians take audience members' wallets, belts, and ties. Mentalism creates the illusion that the magician can read minds. Comedy magic is the use of magic combined with stand-up comedy, an example being Penn & Teller. Some modern illusionists believe that it is unethical to give a performance that claims to be anything other than a clever and skillful deception. Others argue that they can claim that the effects are due to magic. These apparently irreconcilable differences of opinion have led to some conflicts among performers. Another issue is the use of deceptive practices for personal gain outside the venue of a magic performance. Examples include fraudulent mediums, con men and grifters who use deception for cheating at card games.

Misuse of magic.

Some modern illusionists believe that it is unethical to give a performance that claims to be anything other than a clever and skillful deception. Most of these performers therefore eschew the term "magician" (which they view as making a claim to supernatural power) in favor of "illusionist" and similar descriptions; for example, the performer Jamy Ian Swiss makes these points by billing himself as an "honest liar". Alternatively, many performers say that magical acts, as a form of theatre, need no more of a disclaimer than any play or film; this policy is advocated by the magician and mentalist Joseph Dunninger, who states "For those who believe, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not believe, no explanation will suffice."  These apparently irreconcilable differences of opinion have led to some conflicts among performers. For example, more than thirty years after the illusionist Uri Geller made his first appearances on television in the 1970s to exhibit his self-proclaimed psychic ability to bend spoons, his actions still provoke controversy among some magic performers, because he claimed he was not using conjuring techniques. On the other hand, because Geller bent—and continues to bend—spoons within a performance context and has lectured at several magic conventions, the Dunninger quote may be said to apply.  Less fraught with controversy, however, may be the use of deceptive practices by those who employ conjuring techniques for personal gain outside the venue of a magic performance.  Fraudulent mediums have long capitalized on the popular belief in paranormal phenomena to prey on the bereaved for financial gain. From the 1840s to the 1920s, during the greatest popularity of the Spiritualism religious movement as well as public interest in séances, a number of fraudulent mediums used conjuring methods to perform illusions such as table-knocking, slate-writing, and telekinetic effects, which they attributed to the actions of ghosts or other spirits. The great escapologist and illusionist Harry Houdini devoted much of his time to exposing such fraudulent operators. Magician James Randi, magic duo Penn & Teller, and the mentalist Derren Brown have also devoted much time to investigating and debunking paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims.  Fraudulent faith healers have also been shown to employ sleight of hand to give the appearance of removing chicken-giblet "tumors" from patients' abdomens.  Con men and grifters too may use techniques of conjuring for fraudulent goals. Cheating at card games is an obvious example, and not a surprising one: one of the most respected textbooks of card techniques for magicians, "The Expert at the Card Table" by Erdnase, was primarily written as an instruction manual for card sharps. The card trick known as "Find the Lady" or "Three-card Monte" is an old favourite of street hustlers, who lure the victim into betting on what seems like a simple proposition: to identify, after a seemingly easy-to-track mixing sequence, which one of three face-down cards is the Queen. Another example is the shell game, in which a pea is hidden under one of three walnut shells, then shuffled around the table (or sidewalk) so slowly as to make the pea's position seemingly obvious. Although these are well known as frauds, people still lose money on them; a shell-game ring was broken up in Los Angeles as recently as December 2009.

Researching magic.

Because of the secretive nature of magic, research can be a challenge. Many magic resources are privately held and most libraries only have small populist collections of magicana. However, organizations exist to band together independent collectors, writers, and researchers of magic history, including the Magic Collectors' Association, which publishes a quarterly magazine and hosts an annual convention; and the Conjuring Arts Research Center, which publishes a monthly newsletter and biannual magazine, and offers its members use of a searchable database of rare books and periodicals.  Performance magic is particularly notable as a key area of popular culture from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries. Many performances and performers can be followed through newspapers of the time.  Many books have been written about magic tricks; so many are written every year that at least one magic author has suggested that more books are written about magic than any other performing art. Although the bulk of these books are not seen on the shelves of libraries or public bookstores, the serious student can find many titles through specialized stores catering to the needs of magic performers.  Several notable public research collections on magic are the "WG Alma Conjuring Collection" at the State Library of Victoria; the "R. B. Robbins Collection of Stage Magic and Conjuring" at the State Library of NSW; the " H. Adrian Smith Collection of Conjuring and Magicana" at Brown University; and the "Carl W. Jones Magic Collection, 1870s–1948" at Princeton University.

Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of illusion, stage magic, and close up magic, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks or illusions of seemingly impossible feats using natural means. It is to be distinguished from paranormal magic which are effects claimed to be created through supernatural means. It is one of the oldest performing arts in the world.

Die Zauberkunst (auch: "Zaubern", "Zauberei") beschreibt eine Form der darstellenden Kunst, die es versteht, durch künstlerische Kommunikation (verbal und non-verbal) und unter Verwendung verschiedener Techniken und Methoden Illusionen in den Köpfen der Betrachter und Gefühle in den Herzen der Menschen auszulösen. Dabei ist die Vorführung an keine spezielle Räumlichkeit oder Situation gebunden. Je bereitwilliger der Betrachter ist, sich verzaubern zu lassen, desto größer kann die Illusion in seiner Vorstellung entstehen.