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In 1274 BC at Qadesh the armies of Ramses II fought against the army of Muwatalli II. Pharaoh claimed a resounding victory at Qadesh and ordered his scribe to write down the glorious battle. The testimony of the king of the Hittites, however, was very different and described Qadesh as a Hittite victory. In fact, the battle had an uncertain outcome and ended with a peace treaty which was written in both languages, of which some fragments are preserved. -
The night before the expedition to Sicily various statues of the God Hermes were desecrated in Athens, and many of Alcibiade's political enemies reported that he was the person that organized this profanity. Many of the accusers were interrogated and what came out was that Alcibiades was innocent. While he was abroad, the same enemies accused him of other crimes and a trial in absentia began; without having the opportunity to defend himself he was proven guilty and he was sentenced to death. -
There survives a long list of the omens that attended Caesar’s assassination. Roman sources report that an Etruscan soothsayer warned Caesar about danger on the Ides. The dictator had many bad omens before: the night before the Ides, his wife had a dream about his bloody murder that upset them both. As Caesar entered the Senate, he supposedly said to Spurinna, “You realize the Ides have come?”. Spurinna’s reply: “You realize they have not yet gone?” There he was stabbed 23 times.
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To characterize the conflict between the two were many fake news, scattered among the Roman plebs to foment dissent towards one or the other contender. The text that Octavian read is probably partially false. It seems really unlikely that Mark Antony had written a will thanks to which he would have been taken for a mad by anyone and above all that Octavian had faithfully reported it, since he had every interest in manipulating him and making it seem that Mark Antony was a traitor.
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According to the historians Suetonius and Cassio Dio, Caligula wanted to name his horse Incitatus consul and priest to ridicule the sentators. Historians report that Incitatus should have recovered many different roles, however there are several doubts about the veracity of this fact. Moreover what is reported by historians appears after the death of the emperor, influenced by the bad reputation of Caligula.
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in 18th july 64 a.d. there was the first and biggest fake news of the history: Rome burnt,. Nero unjustly accused Christians, but neither he nor the Christians were responsible for the fire. Historians agree that the biggest fire in the history of Rome was an accident, which occurred under precise conditions: very hot days, in a city that was almost entirely made of wood. The next day the wind blew, and that was the end. Rome burned for nine days. -
Geta was Septimus Severus’ son, always loved by both the poor and rich citizens, except for his brother Caracalla. Geta was killed in a conspiracy plotted by his brother, who decided to proclaim his damnatio memoriae, only for his jealousy and fear of not being enough; so after his death everything about him was deleted.
He wasn’t a bad imperator so the damnatio memoriae was wrong and that’s the fake. -
The donation of Constantine was a document of great importance in the Middle Ages. It was used by the Church to support its claim of supreme rule over even earthly powers. It was supposedly given by the emperor Constantine to Pope Sylvester I in the 4th century, when Constantine relocated his capital to Constantinople, granting the Pope dominion over all Italy, Jerusalem, Constantinople and Alessandria. During Renaissance Lorenzo Valla demonstrated that it was a fake (apocryphe document)
