Villa Owned by Ben-Hur's Rival Identified

Archaeologists investigating the Tuscan island of Elba have identified the remains of the villa belonging to the real-life individual that inspired one of the principal characters in the epic tale of Ben-Hur. Overlooking Portoferraio’s bay, the once magnificent 1st-century B.C. estate, known as Villa Le Grotte (the Caves) because of the shape of its vaulted facades facing the sea, has long been believed to have been owned by Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, portrayed racing his rival Ben-Hur in the Hollywood blockbuster starring Charlton Heston as Ben Hur. Feb.13; http://bit.ly/1CRZ3tP

A chart drawn for the New Moon of Feb.19  at Portoferraio fleshes out the details of this news item. The New Moon [0pi] is conjunct Neptune [7pi] on the cusp of the 4^th house and trine the TNPs Hades [3cn] and Kronos [8cn]. The 4^th house, in general,  is linked to land, houses or buildings [1]. More specifically Neptune[7pi]  and IC [3pi] are part of  the Chinese asterism Kia-Ou meaning The Masonry of the House. According to Schlegel, it was also The Last House of the Master. Notice also that the TNPs Hades-Kronos  together refer to a “famous historical personage”[2]. And now this is where things get really interesting. Among the stars that form the back drop to the TNPs  is kappa Aurigae [3cn] on the whip in the right hand of the Charioteer [3]! How strange that even though the character of Ben Hur was a fiction, historical Messalla’s name has become connected  with the chariot race, one of  cinema’s most famous sequences and that shows up in the stars!!

[1] http://www.skyscript.co.uk/temples/h4.html

[2] The Orders of Light; Martha-Lang Wescott (p.106)

[3] http://www.constellationsofwords.com/Constellations/Auriga.html