Sextus Roscius of Ameria: The Parricide Trial That Launched Cicero
Cicero’s defense exposed a scheme built on proscription lists and a freedman’s influence. According to Cicero, in September of 81 BC a wealthy landowner from … Read more
Featured
Discover the intriguing and peculiar side of Italy with our Featured Articles on WeirdItaly.com. Explore the unknown, bizarre, and fascinating stories, events, and places that have shaped Italy’s unique character, culture, and history. Delve into the mysterious and uncanny, and let us transport you on an extraordinary journey through the lesser-known corners of this enchanting land.
A Murder Trial in Ancient Rome: The Poison Ring of 331 BC
How a slave’s testimony uncovered the first criminal inquiry into poisoning in Roman history According to Livy, in the year 331 BC the city of … Read more
A Murder in Ancient Rome: The Case of Pedanius Secundus and the Slaughter of His Household
The praefectus urbi’s murder reopened a debate the empire had avoided for generations According to Tacitus, in the year 61 AD the city of Rome … Read more
The Surreal Story of How Wehrmacht’s Central Asian Conscripts Wiped Out Tuscany’s Historic Camels
The Dromedaries of San Rossore: How World War II Wiped Out Tuscany’s Century-Old Herd For over three hundred years, the coastal pine forests of San … Read more
Venice: A Guide to the City and Its Lagoon
A guide to the lagoon city’s history, architecture, islands, and the peculiar institutions that kept it independent for over a millennium Few cities have written … Read more
Pink Flamingos Are Returning to the Venice Lagoon in Record Numbers
The Venice Lagoon Has Become One of Europe’s Most Important Flamingo Sanctuaries For much of the twentieth century, flamingos were an exotic postcard image associated … Read more
South Tyrol: A Guide to the Mountains, the Minorities and the Complicated Past
How the Raeti, the Romans and the Bavarian Settlers Shaped a Territory That Still Defies Easy Categories The autonomous province of Bolzano sits at Italy’s … Read more
Italy’s Hidden Languages: Italy’s Linguistic Minority Map
Forty Languages, One Peninsula: A geographic and historical guide to the twelve communities recognised under national law, from the Dolomites to Salento Italy is commonly … Read more
Michele Loffredo on the Covers That Defined an Era: Italian Science Fiction 1952–1972
Rockets, Bikinis, and Lost Originals: Michele Loffredo on Italian Science Fiction Covers Michele Loffredo is a prominent Italian art historian and critic who has bridged … Read more
The Wine, The Storm, and the Arctic Void: The Transcendent Drift of Pietro Querini
The Accidental Marriage of Venetian Commerce and Norwegian Survival January 1432. The edge of the world is not a cliff, but a jagged, frost-bitten tooth … Read more
A Chronicle of the Homemade Tank that Invaded Piazza San Marco in 1997
Technical disruption and agricultural engineering of an improvised Venetian army In the belfry of St Mark’s Campanile, a hundred meters above the lagoon, the air … Read more
Learning Italian Through Love Songs
30 + 1 Italian Love Song for Valentine’s Day Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to be guided by the words and melodies of love, … Read more
New Publication: Weird Italy Contributes to “Italian/American Fantastika” (SUNY Press, Feb 2026)
Science Fiction and Italian Identity in SUNY Press New Release We are thrilled to announce that Weird Italy has officially contributed to the forthcoming academic … Read more
20 Essential Italian Giallo Films and Their Directors
Masters of Suspense: 20 Landmark Italian Giallo Films The term Giallo refers to a specific category of Italian thriller literature and cinema. The name originates … Read more
From the Circus Maximus to Today’s Streets: The Long and Unceasing History of the Male Gaze
What Ovid’s Seduction Manual Tells Us About Catcalling in 2025 How many times have girls or women found themselves being watched while crossing a street? … Read more