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Category Archives: Rome
Hair Apparent
I was turning for comfort and relief to Seneca, as I often do, when he turned around and stabbed me in the eyeball with this triple-forked slam. He’s writing about his contemporaries who have screwed-up priorities. His contemporaries, but maybe … Continue reading
Posted in politics, Roman history, Rome
Tagged EverythingIsBetterWithLatin!™, Seneca
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Wearing the Mask
I’m rereading Seneca’s De Beneficiis, using Kaster’s shiny new OCT edition, and came across this crunchy line: hanc personam induisti: agenda est.—Seneca, De Beneficiis 2.17.2“You’ve put on this mask; you have to act out the part.” Seneca’s line is almost … Continue reading
Posted in ancient art, art, language, Rome, sff
Tagged EverythingIsBetterWithLatin!™, masks, theater
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Actaeons Have Consequences
“διὰ τί, πολλῶν ὄντων ἐν Ῥώμῃ ναῶν Ἀρτέμιδος, εἰς μόνον τὸν ἐν τῷ καλουμένῳ Πατρικίῳ στενωπῷ ἄνδρες οὐκ εἰσίασιν;” ἢ διὰ τὸν λεγόμενον μῦθον; γυναῖκα γὰρ αὐτόθι τὴν θεὸν σεβομένην βιαζόμενός τις ὑπὸ τῶν κυνῶν διεσπάσθη, καὶ ἀπὸ τούτου δεισιδαιμονίας … Continue reading
Posted in Adventures in the Public Domain, ancient art, art, fantasy, fantasy art, history, Myth & Legend, Roman history, Rome
Tagged FAFO, Ovid
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Eldritch Lore of Lightning, Stars, and Magic
On Facebook, Michael Swanwick mentioned a historical (or maybe apocryphal) episode when the Pope invited Etruscan seers to use lightning magic to defend Rome against Alaric and his Ostrogoths. It’s a pretty good story, whether or not it’s actually history. … Continue reading
Posted in academia, Adventures in the Public Domain, astronomy, books, fantasy, history, language, magic, Myth & Legend, Roman history, Rome, science, sff, social media, sword-and-sorcery
Tagged folklore, Greek, Latin
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Vintage Archaeology
Emlyn Dodd has a nice piece up today at The Conversation about a newly excavated winery from the later Roman Empire. The property originally belonged to the Quintilii brothers, and then became part of the emperor’s holdings after Commodus had … Continue reading
Posted in ancient art, history, Roman history, Rome
Tagged Edward Gibbon, wine
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Goa, Going, Gone
I was scrolling through an electronic edition of a venerable Latin dictionary, which is a totally normal thing to do, and I was brought up short by the entry for superstitio: “excessive fear of the goas; unreasonable religious belief.” I … Continue reading
Posted in fantasy, language, Morlock, Myth & Legend, Rome, sword-and-sorcery, Typo of the Day, words
Tagged Latin
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Let’s Give Vespasian a Great Big Hand
Prandente eo quondam canis extrarius e trivio manum humanam intulit mensaeque subiecit. —Suetonius, Divus Vespasianus 5.4 “Once, while he was having lunch, a stray dog carried in a human hand from the crossroads and threw it under his table.” This is one of the … Continue reading
Posted in ancient art, dogs, Rome
Tagged Latin
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Merv?
A gryphon holding up the corner of a sarcophagus. I took this photo in the Vatican Museum, in the now-distant summer of 2008. I was collecting gryphons that year.
Posted in ancient art, Rome
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Delusions of Grandeur
divinam ex eo maiestatem asserere sibi coepit; datoque negotio, ut simulacra numinum religione et arte praeclara, inter quae Olympii Iovis, apportarentur e Graecia, quibus capite dempto suum imponeret. —Suetonius, CALIGULA 22 “From that time he began to claim godhood for … Continue reading