There is a rumor that Marcus Aurelius wrote part of his Meditations on the banks of the Váh river during the Marcommanic Wars, perhaps even in modern day Trenčín. This may or may not be true; from what i could deduce using internet resources, there seems to be general agreement he at least wrote them in the general area of Pannonia, which theoretically could include the Váh basin. What is apparently true is that Trenčín was the northernmost site the Roman legions ever occupied, though the single lasting indication of this is an inscription now only visible from inside the local Tatra Hotel, which is built in front of the cliff it was carved into. The Marcommanic tribes were led by Ballomar, who formed a Germanic coalition against the Empire and created quite a bit of havoc. However, they eventually succumbed to the greater military power of Rome, though not without a fight that lasted at least a decade. More than a millenium later, the area became enmeshed in Mitteleuropa's constant flux of kingdoms, princedoms, and defense against foreign invaders (most notably, the Turks).

As mentioned couple of weeks ago, I finally made the trip up to see the castle, which as far as medieval castles go, is fairly impressive. Unfortunately, the tours are given only in Slovak - a language i cannot follow even on the most primitive level - and pictures aren't allowed inside the buildings without an additional picture-taking ticket, so i can't show you any of the neolithic artifacts, roman skeletons (complete!) or cool medieval warrior garb on display. There are also many rooms of family portraits, mostly from the Illesházy line, which held the place for several generations. This was a Hungarian-Slovak family, though my temperamental guide was not too keen on acknowledging the first part of that combination. It's strange this animosity against Hungarians in Slovakia, since they never invaded the territory in the same ruthless way many others did. (Perhaps now that racism is no longer going to be in issue in the US, some of the American sociologists who don't want to look for jobs in history departments will come over here and sort it all out.)

The old town of Trenčín is still rather charming. The domed structure i'd immediately assumed was a Turkish bath, but in fact, it's an old synagogue. And the creature? You are looking at a taxidermic exhibit of Zubor Európsky, otherwise known as Bison bonasus. Yes, indeed, there once were bisons in Europe. Admitting my ignorance on that one, it was quite a surprise to see this in the town museum, where nobody was around to admonish me for using a camera.