tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63901185871201521452023-06-15T07:59:50.709-07:00Ancient LinksAncient Links - Trivia and Useless Facts about the AncientsNoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-52956399208478142842014-12-14T23:14:00.002-08:002014-12-14T23:16:17.623-08:00Against Hieroglyph Tattoos <div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Are you thinking of getting a
hieroglyph tattoo? Maybe an eye of Horus, or an ankh, or your name in
a cartouche? Don't. It's disrespectful towards a great culture and
all that, but also, because Egyptian scribes were jerks, your name in
a cartouche may end up saying “the wearer frequently performs
unnatural acts with ducks”.
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Because...
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1. The ancient Egyptians actually had
an alphabet. Did you know that? I had no idea. Some of the
hieroglyphs stand for a single consonant, resulting in a very usable
and friendly alphabet. Which the scribes did not use – or rather,
did not always use.
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And I have a theory why, a very
scientific and well-researched theory, not at all made up while
writing this: the scribes had a good life, not plowing, not going to
war, not washing their own dirty clothes, just writing, so they tried
to keep it for themselves, and made writing as complicated as
possible. Don't take my word for it, go read the Miscellanea, the
texts used for training new scribes. They say “we have a good life,
we do not plow, we do not go to war, we do not do our own laundry, so
let's keep it a secret by making writing as confusing as possible”
(more or less).
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6bFwdd883N8/VI5z1NPhmXI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/WmOZDAmJHAc/s1600/Egypt_scribes_in_school.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6bFwdd883N8/VI5z1NPhmXI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/WmOZDAmJHAc/s1600/Egypt_scribes_in_school.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>... and remember, children, you can always spell Son of Horus backwards as Son of the mailman. Just keep a straight face while pretending to write from dictation.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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2. You know what's the hieroglyph for
road? Why, this:<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fdbil9prv_c/VI50ck-wWtI/AAAAAAAAAPY/K30oqxqeWpk/s1600/Egypt_hieroglyph_road.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fdbil9prv_c/VI50ck-wWtI/AAAAAAAAAPY/K30oqxqeWpk/s1600/Egypt_hieroglyph_road.png" /></a></div>
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<br />
Seriously, does that look like a road
to you? No wonder they weren't very keen on using wheeled vehicles.
And what are those, speed bumps? (Upon further research, they're
shrub/papyrus flowers. Still doesn't make sense.)</div>
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3. At least the hieroglyphs for man and
woman are fairly intuitive.
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dPaNKeIdoTw/VI6G6SEpqSI/AAAAAAAAAQI/QbqbSuZZjo4/s1600/man%2Band%2Bwoman.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dPaNKeIdoTw/VI6G6SEpqSI/AAAAAAAAAQI/QbqbSuZZjo4/s1600/man%2Band%2Bwoman.JPG" /></a></div>
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Men had arms, women did not. But, don't
worry, women gained arms while giving birth: <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rE6CBVz1EB4/VI6GL1HvfzI/AAAAAAAAAQA/FsMeX06JLSo/s1600/Egypt_hieroglyph_woman_giving_birth.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rE6CBVz1EB4/VI6GL1HvfzI/AAAAAAAAAQA/FsMeX06JLSo/s1600/Egypt_hieroglyph_woman_giving_birth.png" /></a></div>
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Gardiner's classification lists 56
hieroglyphs under “Man and his occupations” and only 7 under “Woman and her occupations”, including this little “queen
holding a flower”, which has got to be the saddest thing I've seen
all week:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BryhAGOttMg/VI6HAiwBVmI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/uTZhsb_fjdA/s1600/Egypt_hieroglyph_queen_with_flower.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BryhAGOttMg/VI6HAiwBVmI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/uTZhsb_fjdA/s1600/Egypt_hieroglyph_queen_with_flower.png" /></a></div>
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I was about to add misogyny on the list
of why scribes were jerks, but, in all due honesty, the hieroglyphs
about men and their occupations can be broadly divided into man
sitting down and man running around like an idiot waving a stick. Oh,
and man holding two giraffes – undoubtedly, a very popular
occupation in ancient Egypt.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mdwp68fe2Yc/VI6HKJi1ekI/AAAAAAAAAQY/COZz0zBxybY/s1600/Egypt_hieroglyph_man_with_giraffes.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mdwp68fe2Yc/VI6HKJi1ekI/AAAAAAAAAQY/COZz0zBxybY/s1600/Egypt_hieroglyph_man_with_giraffes.png" /></a></div>
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4. Gardiner has cataloged no less than
54 hieroglyphs depicting birds. 54 birds. Before you can even think
about spelling your own name, you need to identify 54 birds,
including a lapwing and a hoopoe (and none of them stands for
performing unnatural acts with a duck – or at least I haven't found
that one yet).
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7KYTIZ7JQtk/VI6ICQQt9UI/AAAAAAAAAQg/eVlmfb4xMlk/s1600/Egyptian_hieroglyphs_birds.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7KYTIZ7JQtk/VI6ICQQt9UI/AAAAAAAAAQg/eVlmfb4xMlk/s1600/Egyptian_hieroglyphs_birds.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>- OMG, look at that handwriting!<br />- No way, you can't even tell a black ibis from a crested ibis.<br />- How did he even pass first grade? </i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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5. Hieroglyphs were written right to
left. Or left to write. Or upwards, or downwards. Sometimes in the
same text. They used a mixture of alphabetic signs, logographs
(representing morphemes), and ideographs (pretty pictures of the
object depicted). Sometimes in the same word. Because, hey, let's
twist Monsieur Champollion's head around and see how fast it spins.
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6. And speaking of Monsieur
Champollion, don't assume your tattoo is safe because hieroglyphs
have been fully deciphered. One Ptolemaic jerk's idea of a pun was a
text written almost entirely with crocodiles. That is just one of the
many not deciphered yet. I've decided it refers to some very brave
unnatural acts with crocodiles, but I may be wrong.
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7. A papyrus from a collection called
the Theban Magical Library (which may or may not come from Thebes,
may or may not be related to magic, and may or may not have come from
a library) is written in a mixture of no less than seven (yes, seven)
writing systems (Hieratic, Demotic, alphabetic Demotic, Greek,
Cipher, old Coptic, and Charakteres – just in case you don't trust
me, count them, seven). There, that's proof for you, right
there – they were trying to make things complicated at all costs,
for the sole reason of being jerks.
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So go get a tattoo of a cat, like
everybody else. Not an Egyptian cat, just a regular cat. Oh, and here
are the hieroglyphs for urination and defecation. You're welcome. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oBGNEX-YitI/VI6JJRT8-cI/AAAAAAAAAQw/Fq7rnlijodE/s1600/defecate.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oBGNEX-YitI/VI6JJRT8-cI/AAAAAAAAAQw/Fq7rnlijodE/s1600/defecate.JPG" /></a></div>
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NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-90137277352842085152012-05-03T04:44:00.000-07:002012-05-03T04:44:49.178-07:00Chronicle of the Roman Republic by Philip Matyszak – Review<br />
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<td>The <b><i>Chronicle of the Roman Republic</i></b> by
<b>Philip Matyszak</b> presents the lives and times of Roman rulers from
Romulus to Augustus, in an accessible and colorful way. The book is
part of the Chronicle Series, published by Thames & Hudson, which
also includes the Chronicle of the Roman Emperors, of the Popes, of
the Old Testament Kings, of the Russian Tsars, and so on – with the
obvious goal of making history accessible and easy to understand.
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Truth is, this is the kind of book
you'd never think of buying until you run out of gift ideas for a
friend with an interest in history. It's rather a coffee table book
than one you can take with you in the bathtub to enhance your
knowledge while relaxing in lavender bubbles. It has hundreds of nice
illustrations, inserts and text boxes that describe various aspects
of the daily life in ancient Rome, serving as explanations for the
main events.
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Thus, the book is awesome for quick
references, when you don't have your smartphone to check something on
the net, but it doesn't get you a smooth reading experience, which is
a pity, since history is supposed to be a story after all. The format
would be better suited for hypertext rather than printed text, but I
have yet to find a website that's organized with so much care and
attention to details. The main problem is that the format of the
Chronicles series doesn't really suit the topic. The author has to
break down the time-line by the lives of the rulers, so he can't
always follow through each event in its logical unfolding. The format
works great for the imperial period, but the history of the Republic
is a mixture of legends, confusion, and taunting archaeological
evidence, which doesn't always make sense. Probably the Romans
themselves, despite being used to the annals, would have been
confused by the system as well: their first history of Rome purposely
mentioned no names; people weren't relevant, the City was.
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Once you get over the initial
disappointment that you have a pretty book that can't be read like a
normal book, you'll find that the <b><i>Chronicle of the Roman Republic</i></b> has
actually a lot of substance. <b>Philip Matyszak</b> does not compromise
accuracy for the appeal of the text, but he does have a sense of
selecting trivia and amusing details to keep the reader entertained.
If you've already read all the primary, ancient sources, and one or
two other books about the period, you may not find a lot of new
information in the Chronicle – but it's still a pretty thing to
have. If you're new to the topic, and you're looking for a good
overview, it makes a great resource, because the Republic is
otherwise rather dull, and many other materials that have been
published on the topic are not easy to swallow by casual readers. </div>NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-30797822657348156122012-04-25T07:42:00.000-07:002012-04-25T07:42:39.690-07:00Getting Very Serious about Knots... Hercules Knots, That Is<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Some people take knots seriously.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">For instance, the Hercules knot, which is a simple, square knot, used to tie a rope around something... basically what knots do, when they're left alone to be doing what they're supposed to. But Hercules knot has an aesthetic dimension as well, unfortunately for it. It's symmetrical, and therefore caught the attention of jewelry makers and fashion designers since ancient times. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Square_knot.svg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="113" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Square_knot.svg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">It's main use though is in medicine, to tie bandages. Pliny records that wounds heal faster when the bandage is protected by a Hercules knot, which, like many absurdities recorded by Pliny, is correct, and modern medicine still uses this knot to this day. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Another association is with Mercury, whose trademark caduceus displays two snakes which appear to form a square knot. This signifies the strength of an agreement (Mercury being the god of merchants, bankers, robbers, and other honest people) – the more the sides are pulled apart, the stronger the connection between them. By why do they call it Hercules knot, when it belongs to Mercury? Good question. Maybe the Gauls inspired the change, considering that they identified Mercury with Hercules. Or maybe not, I have no idea. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">So – healing, commitment, bonding – the next logical step is to associate the Hercules knot with marriage, of course, and to use it for the design of bridal jewelry and clothing. (Hence the phrase to tie the knot? Hm. Maybe.)</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-blV7zygA7jU/T5gNPQaKWJI/AAAAAAAAAIk/NDUvZ3iajNk/s1600/ring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-blV7zygA7jU/T5gNPQaKWJI/AAAAAAAAAIk/NDUvZ3iajNk/s1600/ring.jpg" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The sad part is that the Hercules knot is actually very weak. The International Guild of Knot Tyers (told you some people were very serious about this) warns against its improper use, which allegedly caused many deaths over the years. Maybe you should think twice before selecting is as your wedding ring design. Maybe a Celtic knot would be more appropriate? How about no knot at all? </div>NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-12355589746958675852012-04-24T07:10:00.000-07:002012-04-24T07:10:19.980-07:00A Mist of Prophecies by Steven Saylor – Review<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">In 48 BC, Rome is holding its breath, waiting for the outcome of the conflict between Caesar and Pompey. Nobody knows which side to take, everybody expects a bloodshed, irrespective of the winner, supplies are scarce, debts are accumulating, and, basically, the world is changing forever... but that's no reason for a good detective to stop investigating murders, is it?</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><table><tbody>
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<b><i>A Mist of Prophecies</i></b> is another novel by <b>Steven Saylor </b>in the Roma Sub Rosa series, and we follow yet again Gordianus the Finder as he tries to navigate carefully among the many political factions of the time, balance his checkbook, maintain peace in a household full of adopted children, and, of course, catch a murderer. If you liked the other novels in the Roma Sub Rosa series, you'll love this one. If you liked any of the mysteries set in the ancient world ever written, you'll love Steven Saylor, who's without a doubt one of the masters of the genre. (And, by the way, if you don't know yet what “Sub Rosa” stands for, you'll find out in this novel.) </td> </tr>
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The highlight of the Mist of Prophecies is the gallery of Roman women: Terentia, Fulvia, Sempronia, Cytheris, Fausta, Clodia, and Calpurnia – all actual historical characters, of which we know relatively little today. Saylor tries to give them a voice, or at least an image, and to imagine which places they held in the web of political intrigue of the age. This approach gives the author a lot of room for creativity, since the historical documents about the women of the time are scarce anyway, and unreliable at best, and the actual detective plot is entirely fictional – but Saylor does not compromise on historical accuracy in other details, which is why he's among my favorites. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Gordianus himself is more Hercule Poirot than James Bond, which does contribute to the impression of authenticity, but not to the character's charm. I for one could sympathize with his financial problems, but I found the romantic plot a bit far-fetched. Then again, after about a dozen of mysteries solved, maybe it was time for Gordianus to get trapped in a love story, like all detectives should, at some point. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The most fascinating character of them all, however, is Rome itself, seen through the eyes of Gordianus – at the same time familiar (in the way New York is familiar to those who watch CSI-NY, without having ever been there) and frightening – the place where anything can happen, and nothing is what it seems. It's good that we have Gordianus to guide us in the maze of streets, and it's even better that Gordianus has a bodyguard to take care of things when they get rough. But in the end, even if Rome is dangerous and unpredictable in 48 BC, you end up envying Gordianus the Finder, for being so closely involved in the events that changed the world. And for his love affair with a beautiful Egyptian. </div>NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-32327371779373974222012-04-23T12:07:00.000-07:002012-04-23T12:07:15.850-07:00Tiny Token Empires Game Review – Conquer the Ancient World – The Fun WayHave you ever wanted to recruit an army of philosophers, that can do some serious damage against ordinary legionaries, by dazzling and confusing them with complex theorems? Well, I hadn't – but mostly because I didn't know it was possible, until I stumbled upon this simple, but highly addictive game called <b><a href="http://www.tinytokenempires.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tiny Token Empires</a></b>.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The game is a match three – strategy mash up, and one of the best mash ups I've seen in years. The matching part is quite original, as it's used to determine the results of the battles. You're not against the clock, and you also have to take into account the opponent's moves – so you have to think more like a chess player – and who thought there could be a new twist to match-3 games? You can skip the matching part, and allow the computer to decide the outcome of the battles for you, but, if you're not too keen on these games, you probably shouldn't try <b>Tiny Token Empires</b> in the first place, as the strategy part won't keep you occupied for too long. On the other hand, if you're good (and patient) at matching, you can do some serious damage without recruiting too many troops.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/eSm8WHO_I9M" width="560"></iframe><br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">You can play various campaigns, on the Greek, Roman, Carthaginian, Persian or Egyptian side, collect artifacts from monsters, or simply go for the old and classic “conquer the whole known world” objective – what makes this game interesting is that it never takes itself seriously, as your powerful armies are, after all, just tiny tokens. The game has an easy-going appeal – but make no mistake, it's the kind of game that gets you hooked, and, before you know it, you end up spending hours and hours in order to conquer just one more territory or to find just one more artifact. The artwork is quite entertaining, and the texts are witty, so take your time to read the descriptions for each territory – you'll be missing out if you don't. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>Tiny Token Empires Cheats and Hints </b> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Normally I'm not a big fan of using cheats, but, sometimes during the Carthaginian campaigns, the game began to act stupid, and I really wanted to move on, so here are the cheats I've found so far, in case anybody else gets stuck: while you are on the map screen, type the following: </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><ul><li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">zeushelpme – you'll get 5000 gold</div></li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">givemefive – 5 random territories will become part of your empire</div></li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">fromhell – five mythological units are placed randomly on the map, in your service</div></li>
</ul><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">So go plunder Persepolis, mess with the gods, defeat the Cerberus, help your generals find true love, and don't forget to add a couple of catapults to your army of philosophers, you never know when they might come in handy. </div>NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-18557175141548279232011-12-19T14:25:00.000-08:002011-12-19T14:26:37.032-08:00At Least They SMELL Like Christmas'Tis the season to be jolly, to buy shiny crap and to bake stuff, so watch out for the cookie monsters. They actually smell a lot better than they look. And they taste like Jamaican rum with cinnamon. Maybe I can create a new cocktail recipe - one that doesn't involve baking, only drinking. Except that I don't really like cinnamon.<br />
So, anyway, I just wanted to brag about my cookie monsters - with an assortment of chocolate chips, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and some red berries that may or may not be poisonous.<br />
One of the reasons why I don't go to live in ancient Rome is that they don't have rum.<br />
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</div>NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-85120744084345755162011-09-13T00:34:00.001-07:002011-09-13T01:19:49.793-07:00Translator's Oath<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I don't think I've made this confession before on this blog, but I've been working in the translation industry for the past 6 years. More specifically, in the software localization industry, which is the evil, albeit more interesting, sister of the translation industry. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Today, being forced to do some research on the Rosetta Stone, something hit me. What if, 3,000 years on, they will have no other record of my mother-tongue, except for this over-rated, over-priced piece of software I'm currently working on? What if something I translated becomes the only method future people will have to decipher my language? Will the translation stand from a linguistic and stylistic point of view? Will it at least be useful? Or will the Champollion of the year 5011 look confused and say: “OK, this language seems to have a vocabulary of maximum five hundred words and only a present tense”? </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I bet the people doing administrative paperwork (or rather, administrative stonework) in Demotic, Egyptian and Greek weren't aware of the importance of their endeavor. Most likely they were cursing the pay, the deadline and the quality of the source text, like the rest of us. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Maybe we need a Hippocratic Oath for translators. We can call it the Rosettan Oath: “I solemnly pledge to convey the meaning of the source text as accurately as possible, while doing no harm to the target language. I will protect my mother-tongue the same way I protect my trust fund investments, and I will insure the best representation of its interests against today's clients as well as against future alien races that will attempt to communicate with us.” </div>NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-49226354916834063122011-08-06T06:47:00.000-07:002011-08-06T06:47:32.061-07:00Pompeii by Robert Harris – Book Review<table cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5"><tbody>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I am a huge, huge fan of <b>Robert Harris</b>, and I strongly believe he is one of the best contemporary British novelists – and there's some stiff competition out there. So imagine how thrilled I was about <i>Pompeii</i> – a novel by one of my favorite authors, set in one of my favorite time periods, the Flavian dynasty, and whose main character is the little working hero of the Roman empire, the engineer. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Young engineer Marcus Attilius Primus is appointed to take care of the great aqueduct Aqua Augusta when the previous chief engineer disappears without a trace. Yay, mystery. He meets a girl and they fall in love – yay, romance – but her evil father gets in the way – yay, Romeo and Juliet. The real hero of the novel is, as you might have guessed, Vesuvius itself, on the verge of producing one of the biggest natural disasters in ancient Rome. There's also a cameo appearance by Pliny the Elder – I would have been very disappointed without it. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
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</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Even for a freak like me, it doesn't get any more Roman than a story about an aqueduct and an engineer. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I guess I was over-excited about this book for the first 50 pages or so. Then, it started getting on my nerves. The characters are stereotypical, the storyline falls flat – we pretty much know the volcano is going to erupt, can we get some action going in the meantime? - and the descriptive paragraphs just fail to accentuate the drama. Somehow I always assumed the great dualism, on a descriptive level, was between the mild, inviting, serene landscape of the area and the brutal destruction it revealed to be capable of – but <i>Pompeii </i>didn't confirm that. And didn't give me a better idea, either. I assume the great eruption is a subject better fitted for a painter than a writer. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">After 100 pages or so, I started to notice the anachronisms, which is not a good sign; and I was dragging along over the lava-filled ending. I could very well see <b>Robert Harris</b>' <i>Pompeii</i> turned into a B movie, like those about the earthquake, the snake invasion, the killer bees invasion or the natural disaster of your choice wreaking havoc in the city of your choice. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">All in all, <b>Robert Harris</b>' <i>Pompeii </i>is too dry to be a historical whodunit, too simple to be great historical fiction, too inaccurate to present itself as decent historical reading, and I can only say: don't judge Rober Harris on this book. He's got some great ones out there. </div>NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-4620599518291155032011-08-05T06:36:00.000-07:002011-08-05T06:36:09.313-07:00How to Commit a Crime for Fame<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Many people commit crime for money, some for love, and then there are those who'd go at extreme lengths for fame. But what does it take to become a successful criminal, if your goal is just to be remembered? </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>The Crime of the Century </b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The crime of the century (the 20<sup>th</sup> century that is, which makes it pretty ancient today) was the kidnapping of the 18 months' old Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., son of famous aviator Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. A gigantic man-hunt followed, kidnapping became a federal crime and thus the FBI got involved, one of the witnesses committed suicide due to violent police tactics, and, after the child's body was discovered, Bruno Hauptmann (one of the names we should forget) was arrested and sentenced to death in a circus-trial. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">What's more interesting is that, during the investigation, over 200 people came forward with false confessions, claiming to have kidnapped the child. Their motivation? They wanted their names in the newspapers. In fact, studies suggest that most voluntary false confessions are driven by the same motivation: fame. (How unimaginative. Go commit your own crimes, the real criminals must think.)</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>Let's Just Remember John </b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Also in the ancient 20<sup>th</sup> century, there was a guy who identified himself with Holden Caulfield from <i>Catcher in the Rye</i> and with Dorothy from the <i>Wizard of Oz</i>. That's not a crime, is it? It also won't make you famous. So this guy, Mark David Chapman (one of the names we should forget), found another method. 25 years later, he pretty much admitted that he killed John Lennon for fame: "The result would be that I would be famous, the result would be that my life would change and I would receive a tremendous amount of attention, which I did receive.”</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>The Media is to Blame... Not</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Let's turn off MTV for a moment to get real ancient here, with one of the Seven Wonders of the World: the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, possibly the first Greek temple made in marble, with columns standing about 40 feet high. When it was completed, the temple became an instant hit and a major tourist attraction... for a very short while. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">On July 21, 356 BC (notice how exact we are with dates here), Herostratus set the temple on fire, for the sole purpose of getting his name remembered for generations. Apparently, for every seven wonders of the world, there is one maniac who'd do anything for fame. The catch here is that messing with a wonder of the world may get you a little more than the regular 15 minutes of fame, as Herostratus proves. (We know the exact date because it's also the day when Alexander the Great was born. Plutarch, with his weird sense of humor, noted that the goddess Artemis was too busy delivering Alexander to take care of her own temple that day.)</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Herostratus was swiftly put on trial and sentenced to death, but the judges of the time also instituted a more appropriate punishment: his name was to be erased from all documents, and nobody was to mention him anymore, under threat of death. Appropriate punishment, but nonetheless an epic fail: two thousand years later we still have the phrase Herostratic fame and the German word Herostrat, meaning basically somebody who commits crime just for glory. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Fortunately, today we no longer have to destroy a wonder of the world to get famous. That's what Facebook is for. </div>NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-39092256921443671532011-08-04T04:40:00.001-07:002011-08-04T04:40:16.931-07:00Praying to Ancient Gods for Inspiration<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I got a gig to write about the literary image of Dionysus, and I was pretty excited about it all. I rarely get paid to write about what I like and know, and this seemed a rare opportunity. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">But the paper was going nowhere. I did tons of research, drew the outline, named the chapters, but the words would not sit on my computer screen. Three days before the deadline I only had a bunch of unattached phrases and a ton of spelling mistakes. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Then I thought – this is about Dionysus, the god of inspiration and theatrical representation. Why not ask him for some help? So I turned to wine, and a couple of bottles later the only achievement was that I completely forgot about my deadline. Not good. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">And then, the 3 am miracle, the epiphany: I was doing it all wrong. The inspiration was not in the glass of wine, Dionysus does not approve of such behavior. He's not the god of binge drinking, what was I thinking? Dionysus is the god of social binge drinking!</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">A day before the deadline, I made paella, asked some friends over, downed several bottles together, ate melons and ice cream, drank some more, and there you have it, my paper was ready, delivered with plenty of time to spare (hey! 30 minutes is plenty of time to spare. You just have to cherish every second.) and today it got approved and paid. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">It pays to pay for the ancient gods for inspiration. Thank you, Dionysus. Now, what are we going to do about the headache? </div>NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-71579463684558465692011-08-04T03:53:00.000-07:002011-08-04T03:53:42.027-07:00Euripides' Bacchae - Character Analysis: Dionysus<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The storyline was undoubtedly familiar to the public of the time, as it should be to modern audiences as well. Dionysus, the god in human form, comes up on stage in the very beginning to detail the plot line, announcing straightforward that he's seeking revenge for the treatment he and his mother received from their mortal relatives. The god is angry and vengeful – but without his direct announcement, the audience would have no way of knowing – throughout the rest of the play, <b>Dionysus</b> is the embodiment of calm grace. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The force behind events that change the world, <b>Dionysus</b> himself is a static character: gods don't change. He is multi-faceted and ambiguous, and the human form he takes on stage is just one his many; however, he does not evolve – rather, he pushes others on the path of spiritual evolution. Unchanging, Dionysus is the god of transformation and rebirth, and of all the perils that lie when one renounces social individuality in search of deeper inner knowledge. Even more, <b>Euripides' Dionysus</b> is the god of the mask, not just of theater masks, but the ones people wear every day to maintain their social status. In the same line of interpretation, he's also the god of letting the mask drop to reveal the deepest secrets. <b>Dionysus </b>slowly pushes the proud Pentheus to reveal himself, showing that there's nothing behind the ruler's mask – nothing but death. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The entire play is heavy on dualities: law and chaos, civilization and barbarism, Pentheus and Dionysus, old (Tiresias and Cadmus) and young Asian Bacchae, humans and gods, hunt and murder, religious tradition and innovation. For <b>Dionysus </b>the god, there's an interesting parallel drawn early on, by Pentheus, who claims the women of his land are not praying to the new god, but rather lust for carnal pleasures: “<i>Bacchios! Nay, ’Tis more to Aphrodite that they pray</i>.” This is the first sign that Pentheus refuses to accept the sublimation of deep, inner instincts brought by <b>Dionysus</b>, and prefers the most common, earthly version that people are simply seeking to satisfy their primordial instincts. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The interpretation of the godly powers of <b>Dionysus </b>gathers immediately a new dimension, when the blind prophet Tiresias draws a new parallel, this time justly so, with Demeter, mother Earth. Both Demeter and Dionysus were gods of rebirth, and both were celebrated in mysteries that remain covered in shrouds to this day. It should also be noted that the two old and wise characters, Cadmus and Tiresias, both decide to embrace the cult of the new god and feel his rewards, without being caught in the spell cast by <b>Dionysus </b>over Thebes:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“<i>Aye, men will rail that I forgot my years, </i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>To dance and wreath with ivy these white hairs</i>” </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">For the audiences of the time, there was no need to prove <b>Dionysus </b>as a rightful god, it went without saying, but Cadmus and wise Tiresias both act as literary reinforcements of the cult's legitimacy. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The effeminate looks of the human form of <b>Dionysus </b>are essential in understanding the character and the impact he makes, and Pentheus never ceases to mention them. The first thing Pentheus wants to do when he apprehends <b>Dionysus </b>is to cut his curly hair, and he receives the answer: “I have vowed it to my God; 'tis holy hair”. That's a strange argument to hear from <b>Dionysus </b>the god, it means that his hair is vowed to himself, a very early “beauty for beauty's sake” argument. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Dionysus' intervention in the human world is not brutal and direct; rather, he unleashes the hidden forces of human nature, and lets events unveil at their own pace. He could strike down Pentheus and Agave, he proves so when he destroys their palace with an earthquake – but then again, he is a god, and doesn't need to prove anything. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Dionysus is without a doubt cruel, all ancient Greek gods were. The image of Agave carrying her son's head, boasting about her kill, is bone-chilling, surpassed only by the moment when she realizes she murdered her own son. Euripides' Dionysus doesn't push anybody to murder – he simply allows people to follow their instincts – which prove disastrous. The question that lingers at the end of the play is would <b>Dionysus </b>allow Pentheus to live, had he seen his errors and embraced the new cult? In mythology, events are fixed, and once the spell is cast on the women of Thebes, there is no turning back. From a literary perspective, however, <b>Euripides' Dionysus</b> subtly hints that redemption is not utterly impossible. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The most important question is now what meaning has <b>Euripides' Dionysus</b> mean for a modern audience, for those who know relatively little of the conventions of ancient Greek, and have limited time for finding more. Beyond the respect we owe to a piece of ancient literature, does this character still speak to a contemporary sensibility? We are no strangers today to various escapism methods, but we also tend to seek confirmation for our preconceptions in theatrical and all other entertainment experiences, so <b>Dionysus</b> still stands as a stern reminder of balance in duality. There is no reality without fantasy, no order without chaos and no law without transgression. </div>NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-33239146883489986812011-08-01T04:36:00.000-07:002011-08-01T04:36:11.889-07:00Top 10 Songs with Latin LyricsYou know anyone who still uses the Latin language today? Except for your Latin teacher, I mean. There are quite a few bands out there, and here's my very personal top 10 songs with Latin lyrics. Before we get to it, a word about one of the most popular songs in Latin, which you won't find in the top: Helloween's Lavdate Dominvm. I listen to Hellloween every now and then, and they're coming to a town near me for a concert this summer, but this particular tune is getting on my nerves. <br />
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10. <b>Rhapsody of Fire - Lux Triumphans</b><br />
There's quite a large number of progressive rock bands that use Latin lyrics; I can't – or rather, don't want to include all of them. I am a little partial to this band called Rhapsody of Fire (if I'm not mistaken, they previously called themselves simply Rhapsody), that makes an interesting mix of Latin and English lyrics: <br />
“<i>Furia cieca, caos in me</i><br />
<i>Demoni</i><br />
<i>Lead me to your horned beast named king</i>”<br />
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9. <b>U2 – Gloria</b><br />
Again, a combination of English and Latin lyrics, but let's get to what really matters: wasn't Bono young? Weren't we all back then? <br />
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8. <b>In Extremo - Totus Floreo</b><br />
"<i>Sile philomena pro tempore </i><br />
<i>Surge catilena do pectore</i><br />
<i>O, o, totus floreo</i>"<br />
Huh?<br />
Anyway, In Extremo have a bunch of other songs in Latin, which is somewhat better for my ears than when their singing in their native German.<br />
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7. <b>Simon and Garfunkel – Benedictus</b><br />
Not a lot of creativity here, but never met anyone who didn't like these guys.<br />
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6. <b>Deus ex Machina - Perpetua Lux</b><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I mean the Italian band called <b>Deus ex Machina</b> (there are at least three bands with that name that I know of, most likely more). The entire album - <b><i>De Republica</i></b> - is pretty awesome on the whole, and full of Latin lyrics, if you're into progressive rock. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">5. <b>My Dying Bride - Sear Me</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">So, now we're getting serious with some heavier stuff. I'm a bit surprised that there aren't more death/doom bands using Latin words, seems to suit their genre in a way. Not that it matters, 'cause nobody understands the lyrics anyway. Argh, never mind. <b>My Dying Bride</b> is one of the best bands out there, by the way. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">4. <b>Cat Stevens - O Caritas</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">When I was 17, I spent an entire year listening to nothing but Cat Stevens. If you're looking into learning Latin, I suggest you start with this song. It's like learning German with Rammstein. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">3. <b>The Cranberries - Electric Blue</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">One more combination of English and Latin lyrics (I'm going to brand this an Irish thing and won't comment on it). I've seen The Cranberries live, by the way. Totally off topic, just wanted to brag about it. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">2. <b>Kamelot - Memento Mori</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I had to search the lyrics four times to find the Latin bits, but this is one of the my favorites this year, so who cares if all it has is "Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori / memento mori"? It's quite enough to make it on my list. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">1. <b>The Misfits - Halloween II</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Latin should be the language of punk, if you ask me: short and to the point. There's a lot of meaning you can squeeze in two minutes or less. Besides, this has been a classic punk summer for me all the way – and it's not over yet. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">There is one other reason this song is number one on my list: it's very creative use of the Latin language. This is not the standard stuff they teach in school, it's about witches and wolves and trees and stuff. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">"<i>Formulae ueteres exorsismorum et excommunicationum</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>Strigas et fictos lupos credere</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>Daemon pellem lupinam </i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>In trunco quodam cauae</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>Arboris occultandum</i>"</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Goes to prove that Latin is very much alive and kicking. So is punk. </div><br />
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</div>NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-13706642855609328842011-08-01T01:26:00.000-07:002011-08-01T01:26:16.218-07:00Filip Florian - Little Fingers - Book Review<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><table cellspacing="5"><tbody>
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In modern day Romania, once a border province of the Roman Empire, archaeologists working to uncover a Roman fort stumble upon a mass grave. As the bones surface, former political prisoners and the sensationalist media will stop at nothing to prove that this is the site of mass murders committed by the Communist regime. The archaeologists sulkily stand aside, waiting for the truth to be uncovered, (but whose truth?) so that they can go on with their work. <br />
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<b><i>Little Fingers</i></b>, <b>Filip Florian</b>'s debut novel, has all the premises for a historical mystery, but it turns out to be something else. It's more of a gallery of picturesque portraits, interwoven to in a meditation on history – how long does it take for a crushed, devastated generation to let go of the past, allowing it to become history?</td> </tr>
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">It's not really a book on ancient Rome, as you've probably figured out, but the ruins of the Roman fort serve as foundation for the unraveling modern events in <b><i>Little Fingers</i></b>. The theme is deep and disturbing, some of the portraits are memorable, and the style is brilliant in places. In a few places. Quite often, the abundance of adjectives makes it very inviting to skip a few paragraphs – that is, if the book would have any paragraphs. But it doesn't. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Little Fingers left me with an overall impression that it could have been a brilliant short novel, instead of a full-fledged novel that's dragging in places. The characters get a long introductory presentation, with very little development to follow – and the fruit-salad comparison for the archeologist's girlfriend is a trying experience for any reader. Same goes for the long and obviously dogmatic digression that introduces the Argentinian characters – that play little part from then on – and for the author's obsession to explain his metaphors and connections (if you are familiar with soccer, you'll get them without explanations, if you're not – you won't get them anyway, so several pages are an exercise in futility). </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I'd say that <b>Filip Florian</b>'s <b><i>Little Fingers</i></b> is an overly ambitious exercise for a first novel. You may want to pick it up when you have some free time on your hands – I had the feeling that I had to finish it in one sitting, or I won't pick it up again. Fortunately, it's short. You may also want to read it it you have an interest in the massively under-estimated Eastern European literature, or if you want to check out the first work of someone who promises to become an excellent novel writer. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">By the same author: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0547388357/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=ancien0d2-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=0547388357">The Days of the King</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=0547388357&camp=217145&creative=399373" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
(also dealing with Romanian history, and a much better literary achievement)</div>NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-84263737918423273482011-07-19T13:13:00.000-07:002011-07-19T13:13:18.093-07:00Iggy's Caesar LivesIn my previous post I mentioned <b>Iggy Pop</b> in a weird analogy, but that reminded me of something I've been meaning to say for quite some time now. As you all (should) know, Iggy has an album called <i>American Caesar</i>, and one song named <i>Caesar</i> - but perhaps fewer people know that he wrote a brief commentary to <b>Edward Gibbon</b>'s <i>Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire</i>.<br />
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I mean, for real. And it was published in an actual scholarly magazine called <a href="http://www.ucd.ie/cai/classics-ireland/1995/Pop95.html" target="new">Classics Ireland.</a> "<b>I urge anyone who wants life on earth to really come alive for them to enjoy the beautiful ancestral ancient world</b>." We should all listen to Iggy.<br />
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(Couldn't really bring myself to post <i>Caesar</i>, which I don't like that much, but here's something from the same album.)<br />
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<object height="349" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/nNXJBXBoiN0?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/nNXJBXBoiN0?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="349" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-35255779340192201802011-07-19T07:28:00.000-07:002011-07-19T07:48:18.053-07:00The Story of Cytheris / Lycoris – or How to Make it Big as an Actress in Ancient RomeIt was around 70 BC and the Roman Republic was getting ready for its dying years when a new type of theatrical representation gathered popularity in the city: the mime. It was a show that included singing, dancing, acting, mythological references, bathroom humor, striptease, political jokes and a lot of improvisation – so pretty much throw in anything short of the kitchen sink, and you've got a show. Another thing about these mimes was that they allowed female actresses – the mimae – as opposed to the classic tragedies and comedies, where all the parts were played by men. <br />
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Troubled times bring new opportunities for those who know where to look, and the success of the mimes brought a shiny new career path for women in ancient Rome – especially since there were very few opportunities for them anyway. <br />
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At about that time a slave girl was born in the house of the Roman knight Publius Volumnius Eutrapelus. Years later, she became a famous mima, and when she was freed, she took the name of Volumnia, after her master, and the Hellenized cognomen of Cytheris – hinting to the Greek Aphrodite, the goddess of Cythera. However, Roman freed slaves were not actually free to go seek their fortunes as they pleased; they remained in the service of their master – so freeing an actress slave like Cytheris was not an act of gratuitous kindness. There surely was a hidden reason for it. <br />
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Hidden, and no so much – as shortly after Cytheris embarked in a passionate love affair with Mark Anthony (the one of Anthony and Cleopatra and “Brutus is an honorable man” fame). See, Anthony was a senator, and it wasn't proper for a senator to be seen with somebody else's slave all day long. It wasn't proper for a senator to be seen with an actress, either, but Anthony was quite famous for doing only improper things – and an actress was somewhat more acceptable than a slave. <br />
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And Eutrapelus? Well, there were troubled times, and power shifted overnight. It was important to have someone close to the power players of the day, and Cytheris and Mark Anthony could not have been closer. And the scandal erupted. <br />
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Political opponents made fun of Mark Anthony calling him Cytherius – Cytheris's man – and the self-righteous Cicero fumbled, pointing out that Anthony's entourage called the woman Volumnia – which would have been the name of the daughter of Volumnius of the equestrian order – instead of Cytheris – the cognomen which clearly placed her among freed slaves. Cicero's life was filled with such matters of the utmost importance, which is why nobody could blame Anthony for killing him several years later. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anthony, sexy as always</td></tr>
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Anthony made a fool of himself, as he usually did with ladies, but Caesar, still alive and very much in power at the time, would have none of it: so he ordered the love birds to break it off, which they quickly did. <br />
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After that, Cytheris had a short-lived affair with Brutus (of the “Brutus was an honorable man” fame), but that didn't last, mostly on account of Brutus being a fugitive soon to be dead traitor. It was also around that time that Cicero, somewhat reconciled with Cytheris now that Anthony was out of the picture, went to see her play, and was so impressed he wrote a letter on how moved he was by each verse she recited. Which, of course, was too little too late and he'd still wind up dead. <br />
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Things were on fast forward in those days, and soon Caesar was dead, Brutus was dead, Cicero was dead and Anthony was with Cleopatra and neither was feeling very well. The new man in the town was Octavian, and Cytheris decided (or rather, Eutrapelus decided for her) it was time to stay close to somebody from the new political elite, and that somebody was Gaius Cornelius Gallus, politician and poet (deadly combination), who had just taken the newly created position of prefect of Egypt. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YxVPjew-4FM/TiWZGesZuzI/AAAAAAAAAGg/pPH4TJO6m7M/s1600/ancient+roman+educated+women_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YxVPjew-4FM/TiWZGesZuzI/AAAAAAAAAGg/pPH4TJO6m7M/s320/ancient+roman+educated+women_4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ancient Rome's Chelsea Girls</td></tr>
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Gallus was supposed to be one of Rome's greatest poets, and he wrote four volumes of elegies to honor his beloved Cytheris, now poetically renamed Lycoris (following the Clodia – Lesbia tradition. Speaking of which, Gallus also complains of how cold and heartless his lover was to him, which we know cannot be true, so it must have been a poetic convention of the time, and this throws a whole new light on Catullus.) <br />
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So, Gallus was supposed to be this great poet and Cytheris now Lycoris was his muse – and we know that because Virgil, Ovid, and Martial all say so, and it's not wise to mess with the entire battalion of Roman poetry at once. It wasn't until 1978 that a few lines by Gallus were discovered on a papyrus in Egypt, and indeed they reference Lycoris. They're also crappy poetry. <br />
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After writing his four volumes of what we now know to be crappy poetry, Gallus did something stupid and Octavian had him killed. Cytheris found consolation in the arms of an army officer, and went on with him to endure the not-so-harsh life in a Roman fort. That's where we lose her. Ever since, the mimae all over the empire took the stage names of Cytheris and Lycoris in her honor, and this makes it very difficult to trace where she went after she left Rome. <br />
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The romantic version of the story says that her former master finally let her go for good, and she married the said soldier and lived happily ever after as a family, with the one child she had with Mark Anthony. That's probably not true. So who cares? A couple of millennia later, I think of Cytheris and Anthony, Brutus and Gallus as a sort of weird mirroring of Nico and Lou Reed, Jim Morrison and Iggy Pop. Oh, and Caesar as Andy Warhol.NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-48156454081302160392011-06-27T04:47:00.000-07:002011-06-27T04:47:20.959-07:00The Eagle – Review<table BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=2><tr>
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There's nothing like the boredom of hot summer months. Makes you do the darnedest things, like watch Hollywood movies set in ancient times. You know they're gonna stink, but you watch them anyway. So a few days back I sat down with a beer and watched “<b><i>The Eagle</i>”</b>. <br />
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Here's the thing: “<i><b>The Eagle</b></i>” is an action-adventure movie, and it counts on your suspension of disbelief. Grant it that, and it not a painfully bad movie. It has a bunch of historical anachronisms, not worse than other movies of its kind (the most annoying for me is the consistent use of stirrups – thought Hollywood would eventually learn, but they're there all the time). The action is also predictable – probably the result of being based on a book for teenagers. Oh, and the leading character's name is Aquila. Shesh! We get it already!<br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">It's got Channing Tatum, with relatively convincing bangles (but that's about everything that's convincing about him), a likable Jamie Bell, who didn't shine, but made me somewhat curious to see what else he can do, and an underused and spectacular supporting cast. You'll recognized a lot of actors in secondary roles, but watch out especially for the talented Tahar Rahim from “<i>The Profet</i>”. I'll give you a piece of candy if you recognize him before his final scene. There are no women whatsoever in “<i><b>The Eagle</b></i>”, thus making it a passable chick flick, with a decent homoerotic storyline (but doesn't excel at that either). </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The natives looked like ripped off from a prehistoric Mad Max. I don't claim I know how they looked back then – I only wish they weren't so cartoonized in “<i><b>The Eagle</b></i>”. I appreciated however that they weren't forced to speak English, and we, the viewers, had no idea what they said. Kinda put everything in a Roman perspective. (And, if the natives actually looked like that, made you understand why Romans used them for entertainment.) </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Ignoring everything you know about fighting tactics and formations at the time, some of the battle scenes are really good. But the strongest feature of the movie is the eery landscape (is it so awful to say something like that about a movie?), highlighted by the great work of cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (remember him from Lars von Trier's "<i>Antichrist"</i>?)</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">There are movies worth seeing, and there are movies that happen to be there on a rainy Sunday afternoon. If you've got nothing else to do, watch “<i><b>The Eagle</b></i>”, it won't make you wanna rip your eyeballs off. </div>NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-20124770628843006262011-06-23T23:22:00.000-07:002011-06-23T23:22:29.962-07:00Yet More Ancient Plumbing! Flushed by W. Hodding Carter – ReviewYes, I know, I have a fixation with <b>ancient plumbing</b> and toilets. Is it creepy that I find them entertaining? Especially the <b>ancient Roman toilets</b>, where people could have a nice chat and catch up on the news and gossip while doing their... business. <br />
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Well, at least I'm not the only one with such a problem with ancient plumbing, as proved by “<i><b>Flushed </b>– How the Plumber Saved Civilization Proves</i>”. <b>W Hodding Carter</b> is funny and charming and turned this book into a really easy reading experience. <br />
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The journey starts from the earliest times, spends a lot of time in ancient Rome, moves on to worse experiences in the overcrowded London a millennium and a half later, and ends up with our modern facilities. Everything is spiced up by the author's attempts to recreate ancient toilets in his own backyard. (He did it so we don't have to.)</td> </tr>
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<i><b>Flushed</b></i> is funny, relaxing, and kept me awake on an airplane trip, which says a lot. <br />
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Don't buy it if you're an expert in plumbing or the history of plumbing and you're looking to expand your knowledge into what's already your area of expertise. It's not technical, and doesn't bring anything new. (Even if it's not a technical manual on how to build your own ancient Roman plumbing system, it could have benefited from some pictures and illustrations – which, sadly, are not there.)<br />
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Also don't buy it if you're a history buff and you're going to frown upon every little inconsistency. The sources are secondary, at best, and the accuracy is questionable. <br />
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If you're everybody else on the planet, go ahead and read it. You'll treat your toilet with much more respect after that.NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-7641303790870489492011-06-03T06:53:00.000-07:002011-06-03T06:53:49.228-07:00Differences Between Aphrodite and Venus – Part II – The Extended Family<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Did you miss part I – <a href="http://ancientlinks.blogspot.com/2011/05/differences-between-aphrodite-and-venus.html">Differences Between Aphrodite and Venus</a>? Go check it out. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">It took a while before Rome adopted Venus, but when it did, it went all the way. Like most Roman gods, Venus did not have stories of her own, just “inherited” those of Aphrodite. And one of those stories made her the central character for Rome's history. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">See, Aphrodite caused the Trojan war by making Helen fall for Paris. She remained loyal to the Trojan side, lost the war, the city, Helen and watched as all inhabitants were killed or enslaved. But she did manage to help a handful of people escape from the burning ruins of Troy, including Aeneas, her own son. (What? Gods getting a bit of nepotism in play? No! Who would've thought?!) </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Son of Aphrodite, who was now slowly turning into Venus, Aeneas had an odd behavior, rejecting love for duty and filial piety, and ended up founding the Roman Empire, and continued one of the most complicated family trees in history, which started with Zeus and Electra, continued with Aphrodite and Anchises, then with Rhea and Ares (at this point fully converted into Mars) and ended with the Julio-Claudian family. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Do you know any Julio-Claudians? Look at them carefully, they are descendants of at least three major gods. The most famous of the Julio-Claudians, Julius Caesar himself, couldn't stress enough his relation to Venus. In one of his classic conceited propaganda moves, Caesar issued a coin which depicted Venus on the obverse and Aeneas with his father on the reverse. The text on the coin was clear and simple: “Caesar”. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Caesar insisted on a form of cult that gave the Greek Aphrodite a very Roman name: Venus Genetrix – Venus the Mother, the Birth-giver. Makes you think what all those births did to her figure. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Caesar allegedly took an oath to dedicate a temple to Venus in Rome if he won the battle of Pharsalus – which he won. He commissioned the Venus Genetrix statue to a certain sculptor named Arkesilaos, who did what artist of the time did best: he copied a Greek original. The Roman Venus Genetrix, clothed with a peplos that only underlined her female forms, was copied after a Greek Aphrodite sculpted by the famous Callimachus. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Caesar took the opportunity to add a status of himself and one of Cleopatra in his new temple of Venus. I wonder how Cleopatra felt, when she was compared to Venus on a daily basis. </div>NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-2512964533093875832011-06-02T07:04:00.000-07:002011-06-02T07:04:52.203-07:00Between a Muse and a Mermaid, with a Touch of Harpy<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">That's a siren for you: a reversed muse, a degenerate mermaid, a harpy with a harp. C'mon, the harpy with a harp part is funny. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">To begin with, the sirens looked like harpies: half women – half bird, with claws and wings. And even if the bird used to manufacture a siren was just a common and humble sparrow, they were by no means less threatening: the sirens' song drew sailors to their island like a magnet. The island was surrounded by sharp rocks, which tore boats apart, leaving the shipwrecked sailors to die on the sirens' island. The entire island was covered with the white bones of those unfortunate sailors, and the sirens used those bones to make musical instruments. Gruesome. Though it's not clear who ever managed to get so close to the island to get this accurate description. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A random muse</td></tr>
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The sirens were descendents of the muses, daughters of either of Melpomene (who was initially muse of song, before becoming the muse of tragedy) or Terpsichore, the muse of dancing. Initially fair maidens who accompanied Persephone, they were transformed into bird-women and received their wings after Hades kidnapped Persephone, so that they could fly and find her faster. Others say that they got the feathers as punishment, because they weren't able to protect Persephone. And there are even some who claim that they were punished by Aphrodite, because they despised the pleasures of love and swore to remain maidens forever (but, seriously, we're too eager to blame Aphrodite for everything). </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More random mermaids </td></tr>
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Because of their association with Persephone, queen of the Underworld, the sirens are sometimes considered the muses from below, offering inspiration to the damned and leading souls astray. Despite their association with sailors, sirens are not aquatic deities, even if they'll soon end up in a fishy form. See, they were so proud of their singing skills, which lured humans into their deadly trap, that they though they could challenge the muses to a duel. The scene is depicted on a <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/10.104">Roman sarcophagus</a> currently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Sirens are often found in funeral art, because they're all-knowing creatures, like the sphinx, and thus they can help humans find their way in the world of the dead. Or because winged creatures look sort of cool.) </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Needless to say, the sirens lost. So the muses plucked their feathers as punishment. No longer able to fly, the sirens adjusted and developed a fish tail, so that they could move at least in the water. Hence their association with mermaids. But sirens are not aquatic deities. For reasons that I fail to remember right now, it's important to keep that in mind. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Odysseus and Sirens. Image PD</td></tr>
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The sirens could live only until a man heard their song and survived. The lucky one was Odysseus, returning from Troy, who tied himself to his ship mast, and thus heard the sirens' song, but could not follow them to their island of doom. (The Argonauts also passed safely by the sirens, but that's only because they had Orpheus aboard, who rocked way louder, so they couldn't hear a thing. So that doesn't count.)</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">So after that, the sirens killed themselves. The end. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Sirens were slightly resurrected during the Middle Ages, and popped up in various more or less documented writings. A certain Jesuit scholar wrote that women have “the glance of a basilisk and the voice of a siren – sight and voice together bringing voice and destruction”. Told you we should stop blaming Aphrodite for everything. </div>NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-10635280393563438562011-06-01T08:27:00.000-07:002011-06-01T08:27:13.895-07:00More Ancient Roman Sewers and Toilets in the NewsWho doesn't like news from the sewers? <b>Ancient Roman sewers</b>, that is, and some toilets and aqueducts and everything you need to flush properly. <br />
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Archaeologists have recently uncovered one of Rome's 11 aqueducts known as <b>Aqua Traiana</b> (5 points if you've figured out why it's called like that.) They found it by accident (aren't all great discoveries made like that?) when they were looking for another aqueduct – good thing there were so many of them!<br />
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The basin that collected water is richly decorated, painted with the expensive Egyptian blue; it contains a nyphaeum and a small temple, and might have been inaugurated by Trajan himself. The site is currently a waste dump for a pig farm. <br />
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Another striking discovery comes from Portus (one of Rome's ports, close to Ostia) where archaeologists recently unearthed a small, but stylish amphitheater, which might have been used by visiting emperors. They also find an elegant <b>Ancient Roman toilet</b> there, with marble walls and floors and three seats, for the emperor to have company when he was... well, busy. Now archaeologists are collecting dump from this <b>Ancient Roman toilet</b> to find out what people ate back then. They have all the fun, really they do. <br />
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Last but not least, a few years back Emperor Vespasian's summer villa was found North of Rome. I don't have a description of its toilets, but there must have been some, therefore I found it fitting to include the discovery in this small collage. After all, Vespasian did die of diarrhea, a fitting punishment from the toilet god for introducing a tax on urinals in Rome.NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-37055507266843158212011-05-18T06:56:00.000-07:002011-05-18T06:56:53.997-07:00Differences between Aphrodite and Venus – Part I – The Beginning<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Aphrodite and Venus... the only good excuse Renaissance artists had for depicting naked females. But I must say, not my favorite goddesses from the bunch – I'll tell you why some other time. For now, let me get to the differences between Aphrodite and Venus – a long overdue piece. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Before Aphrodite and before Venus there was an Etruscan goddess called Turan – a young girl with wings, believed to be Venus' great-grandmother, because she was a common decoration for mirrors, and because she was surrounded by swans and doves. And geese. Geese are the birds of love too, you know. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Before landing the job of ultimate swimsuit top-model, Venus started out as the goddess of gardens and vegetation. And before moving to the capital of fashion, love, good food and, well, capital of the entire world at the time, Venus resided in the small town of Ardea, where we find the oldest temple dedicated to the goddess (in 293 BC, on the 15 of August – if you want to be that specific, though you shouldn't ask a goddess how old she is). This aspect of Venus was perhaps prolonged later on, after her association with Aphrodite, when she was considered to be the mother of Priapus, also a god of gardens, vegetation, and, well, other things. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><a title='See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons' href='http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Venus_de_Milo_Louvre_Ma399.jpg'><img width='240' alt='Venus de Milo Louvre Ma399' src='http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/Venus_de_Milo_Louvre_Ma399.jpg/240px-Venus_de_Milo_Louvre_Ma399.jpg'/></a><br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">It's quite possible that this young Venus was seen as an intermediary for prayers, and, as original goddess of beauty, she probably presided over all aspects of beauty, not just that of women (naked, mostly). Even in this primitive form, Venus made her debut in Rome rather late, and sometime during the second Punic War the famous Sibylline oracle had to ask the Romans to import a foreign Venus to their city. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Similar to all Roman gods, Venus doesn't have any stories of her own, and overlaps with Aphrodite in literature and arts. (Which is ok, since Aphrodite had enough adventures and affairs to fill several volumes and an entire television series.) </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">With the town of Rome itself, Venus would have a rather special relationship. As Aphrodite, she started the Trojan war, lost it, and managed to save only her son, Aeneas. As Venus, she now protected the town of Aeneas, Rome. Things will get even more personal, as Caesar, and the entire Julian family, claimed to be direct descendents of Aeneas, and thus close family to Venus. Considering what we know of Caesar's life, the goddess of love favored him more than other mortals, so maybe there is some truth to this story, no matter how outrageous it may seem today. </div>NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-70267975734326048102011-05-09T07:13:00.000-07:002011-05-09T07:13:05.502-07:00Steven Saylor - A Murder on the Appian Way - Review<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00342VGA4/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&tag=ancien0d2-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=B00342VGA4"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B00342VGA4&MarketPlace=US&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=ancien0d2-20&ServiceVersion=20070822" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=B00342VGA4&camp=217145&creative=399349" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
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I'm quite good at starting the review of a series with the most illogical item. So, keeping up with a good tradition, <b><i>A Murder on the Appian Way</i></b> is the fifth volume in <b>Steven Saylor</b>'s “<b><i>Roma Sub Rosa</i></b>” series. <br />
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I've been meaning to write about the <b><i>Roma Sub Rosa</i></b> series for some time now, as it stands out from the dozens of whodunits placed against a historical background due to the impressive research work and accurate re-creation of the Roman world in the troubled moments when the republic was about to become an empire. <br />
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Argh, who am I kidding? If you like the historical mysteries genre, you'll like them all, and you must try Saylor's series. <br />
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The main character, Gordianus the Finder, is more realistic than his detective counterparts from similar books – wiser, kinder, more mature. Since he's not part of the nobility, his family, his home and his habits provide a believable reconstruction of the daily life of the regular people, in contrast with the unavoidable descriptions of the properties of the rich and famous. <br />
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That being said, I'm not sure I like Gordianus. He's old, happily married with children, which is not at all my idea of a mysterious, sexy, adventurous private eye. (Yes, it's a cliché. Go read Dostoevsky if cliches bother you that much.) <br />
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The murder on the Appian Way is that of Clodius, and Saylor takes the opportunity to recreate in detail the most famous of the famous Roman roads. This is one of the highlights of the novel, along with the delicate study of mob control techniques – not that different back then from what they are now. I also enjoyed the portrayal of Cicero, very close to how I imagined him, and not so much that of Clodia – but this is mostly my problem, Clodia keeps popping up in every book I've been reading recently, and she's so not worth all the hype. <br />
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If the historical part of the book is brilliant, I can't say the same for the mystery part, which was a bit disappointing. The action drags along at times, and the murderer is... well, go read it and judge for yourselves. <b><i>A Murder on the Appian Way</i></b> did not make it in my personal top ten, but it was definitely worth my time.NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-90694224971015091802011-05-02T03:21:00.000-07:002011-05-02T03:23:06.210-07:00I write like...<!-- Begin I Write Like Badge --><br />
<div style="overflow:auto;border:2px solid #ddd;font:20px/1.2 Arial,sans-serif;width:380px;padding:5px; background:#F7F7F7; color:#555"><img src="http://s.iwl.me/w.png" style="float:right" width="120"><div style="padding:20px; border-bottom:1px solid #eee; text-shadow:#fff 0 1px">I write like<br />
<a href="http://iwl.me/w/f0797b6c" style="font-size:30px;color:#698B22;text-decoration:none">William Shakespeare</a></div><p style="font-size:11px; text-align:center; color:#888"><em>I Write Like</em> by Mémoires, <a href="http://www.codingrobots.com/memoires/" style="color:#888">journal software</a>. <a href="http://iwl.me" style="color:#333; background:#FFFFE0"><b>Analyze your writing!</b></a></p></div><!-- End I Write Like Badge --><br />
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This was the third attempt to have my writing analyzed on this site, but well worth it. The sample text, in case you're wondering, was taken from this blog. Go me.<br />
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And in case you missed me... I'll be back in a couple of days with more Shakespearean writing samples, apologies for a couple of dry months and crude ancient jokes.NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-23195996325368659192011-03-03T07:02:00.000-08:002011-03-03T07:02:25.371-08:00Go Read a BookTake a day off from history and unplug with a smart book.<br />
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And what can be smarted than a book about the human mind? Find a wide selection of books and reviews available on <a href="http://www.mind-stories.com/" target="new">Mind Stories</a> - a site that showcases books on the altered mind, including hypnosis, psychedelic experiences and other things I can't pretend I understand.<br />
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When's the last time you put yourself through a real challenge? Go read a book.NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390118587120152145.post-74527672188350383802011-03-02T05:55:00.000-08:002011-03-02T05:55:25.483-08:00Nero's Bowel Movements<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">History is all about finding pieces of the great puzzle, answers to fundamental questions, and solutions to timeless problems. Like constipation. What, you think emperors don't get constipated? And poor Romans didn't even have fiber supplements, digestive yogurt or bran muffins. Come to think of it, maybe they had bran muffins, I should check. And yogurt – I mean, how difficult is it to add whole grains to it? </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Oh, dear. So many questions, so few answers uncovered until now. Let me get back to what we know for sure: what did Nero eat when he was constipated?</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Oxyporium or oxyporum was a product designed to help digestion, based on vinegar or pepper – or both, for really stubborn cases. The name is a transliteration from ancient Greek, as I'm sure you've figured out already. Nero's favorite recipe included quinces, pomegranates, rowan berries (you'd say an emperor so obsessed with poisoning would be more careful about those), boiled in must with saffron and tanner's sumach (which, by the way, is also very toxic. Maybe emperors didn't get poisoned because somebody wanted them dead, they were just trying to regulate their bowl movements). Come to think of it, must is already a very strong laxative and diuretic; adding more laxatives to the combo makes me think Nero had a very, very bad case of constipation. Couldn't that explain some of his rather controversial decisions? </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Sorbus-aucuparia.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Sorbus-aucuparia.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's a rowan berry bush. I had to look it up.</td></tr>
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Apicius gives a gentler recipe, calling it oxygarum: </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“1/2 ounce of pepper, 3 scruples of Gallic silphium, 6 scruples of cardamom, 6 of cumin, 1 scruple of leaves, 6 scruples of dry mint. These ingredients are broken singly and crushed and made into a paste bound by honey. When this work is done or whenever you desire add broth and vinegar to taste.”</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">(Translation from Walter M. Hill, because I'm already lost among all the spices; text is public domain.) </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I think (but don't quote me on that) you're supposed to add this mixture to the previously prepared garum, and use everything as a sauce. Or take a spoonful after each meal. Or you know what? Go get a bran muffin. </div>NoWayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212565873465291137noreply@blogger.com