Roman Resources

[Frank Petrexa]

Found this video elsewhere and thought it a rather fun dash through both the changing nature of Roman warfare and a useful pointer to quite how long a period is covered with the simple notion "Roman".

I guess I should also mention that the "model" reminded me of some old American animated cartoon characters--Dudley Doright of the Mounties and Roger Ramjet.

(No offense is intended to the RCMP, of course.)

 

[Marcius]

Better late than never: a 2014 article discussing Roman capital punishment and burial of criminals, unfortunately available as Google Books preview only.

The new version -- The Final Days of Jesus and the Realities of Roman Capital Punishment: What Happened to All Those Bodies? -- is freely available.

 

[Marcius]

Roman prostitutes, at least about the time of the late republic/early empire, were required to wear red togas ("flame red" according to Colleen McCullough, not sure where she got that). The toga was generally reserved for men, but prostitutes were an exception, maybe because a toga was quick and easy to get out of. I didn't have a toga to put on Verina, so I settled for a short chiton instead, and I made it flame red because I wanted her to stand out.

I've been reading an article on Roman female clothing [Kelly Olson (2002) Matrona and Whore: The Clothing of Women in Roman Antiquity, Fashion Theory, 6:4, 387-420] and noted this:

It is one contention of this study that the toga was not in fact the “normal” dress of the whore, but only one of many types of dress prostitutes could adopt. Although this has been stated by Thomas McGinn, an account of the descriptive details of prostitute clothing is lacking, and needs to be provided comprehensively. There are many passages in classical literature in which whores, depending on their station, appear in everything from rich clothing all the way down to little (or no) clothing at all: passages in which, moreover, the toga as their distinctive dress is not named.​

 

[Eulalia]

I've been reading an article on Roman female clothing [Kelly Olson (2002) Matrona and Whore: The Clothing of Women in Roman Antiquity, Fashion Theory, 6:4, 387-420] and noted this:

It is one contention of this study that the toga was not in fact the “normal” dress of the whore, but only one of many types of dress prostitutes could adopt. Although this has been stated by Thomas McGinn, an account of the descriptive details of prostitute clothing is lacking, and needs to be provided comprehensively. There are many passages in classical literature in which whores, depending on their station, appear in everything from rich clothing all the way down to little (or no) clothing at all: passages in which, moreover, the toga as their distinctive dress is not named.​

'Roman' is of course ambiguous. There might have been laws in the city of Rome (at least at some time) about who could wear what and/or how prostitutes should make their trade known, but it's hard to believe such laws applied throughout the Roman world. And anything about prostitutes in (male) classical sources has to be taken with a pinch of salt, much of it a mixture of hypocritical moralising and ill-disguised wishful thinking!

 

[Marcius]

'Roman' is of course ambiguous. There might have been laws in the city of Rome (at least at some time) about who could wear what and/or how prostitutes should make their trade known, but it's hard to believe such laws applied throughout the Roman world. And anything about prostitutes in (male) classical sources has to be taken with a pinch of salt, much of it a mixture of hypocritical moralising and ill-disguised wishful thinking!

Indeed, the idea of prostitutes in Arabia or Scotland donning togas is absurd on its face (and other body parts). It is known that by the time of Hadrian it was difficult enough to make senators and equestrians wear it in Rome itself. Speaking of the sources: mulier togata in many cases could be less than a literal description.

 

[Marcius]

An interesting article on one of the earliest depictions of Jesus' crucifixion:

Roy D. Kotansky, “The Magic ‘Crucifixion Gem’ in the British Museum” [PDF], Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 57.3 (2017): 631-659

 

[Marcius]

A very important 2012 article by John Granger Cook, “Crucifixion as Spectacle in Roman Campania”, Novum Testamentum 54: 68–100.

 

[Barbaria1]

A very important 2012 article by John Granger Cook, “Crucifixion as Spectacle in Roman Campania”, Novum Testamentum 54: 68–100.

Abstract: Four artifacts from ancient Campania illuminate Roman crucifixion: a notice in Pompeii announcing the execution of some individuals by crucifixion in Cumae during a gladiatorial spectacle.

I haven't read the article ... but does this confirm that crucifixion in the arena was a crowd pleaser attached to gladiatorial spectacle?

 

[Marcius]

Abstract: Four artifacts from ancient Campania illuminate Roman crucifixion: a notice in Pompeii announcing the execution of some individuals by crucifixion in Cumae during a gladiatorial spectacle.

I haven't read the article ... but does this confirm that crucifixion in the arena was a crowd pleaser attached to gladiatorial spectacle?

It certainly does, along with, for example, Martial's Laureolus, who 'hanging on no false cross, gave up his defenceless entrails to a Scottish bear' in the Colosseum.

 

[Barbaria1]

It certainly does, along with, for example, Martial's Laureolus, who 'hanging on no false cross, gave up his defenceless entrails to a Scottish bear' in the Colosseum.

Now I imagine myself hanging naked from a cross, along with other victims ... while all around me below gladiators duel to the death ... the clang of sword and shield mingles with the roar of the crowd ... my cross shudders as a gladiator falls and dies against its base.

 

[Marcius]

Now I imagine myself hanging naked from a cross, along with other victims ... while all around me below gladiators duel to the death ... the clang of sword and shield mingles with the roar of the crowd ... my cross shudders as a gladiator falls and dies against its base.

No bears, tho?

 

[Eulalia]

Interesting reference to a Scottish bear - what's the original Latin?
Scottus, Scotticus would have meant Irish, and I didn't think Hibernia had bears.
There may have been some in Scotland still, there's some doubt about when exactly they became extinct.

 

[Barbaria1]

No bears, tho?

That's in act II.

 

[Barbaria1]

Interesting reference to a Scottish bear - what's the original Latin?
Scottus, Scotticus would have meant Irish, and I didn't think Hibernia had bears.
There may have been some in Scotland still, there's some doubt about when exactly they became extinct.

 

[Marcius]

Interesting reference to a Scottish bear - what's the original Latin?
Scottus, Scotticus would have meant Irish, and I didn't think Hibernia had bears.
There may have been some in Scotland still, there's some doubt about when exactly they became extinct.

nuda Caledonio sic uiscera praebuit urso
non falsa pendens in cruce Laureolus

 

[Eulalia]

Found it - that didn't take long!

Qualiter in Scythica religatus rupe Prometheus
adsiduam nimio pectore pavit avem,
nuda Caledonio sic viscera praebuit urso
non falsa pendens in cruce Laureolus.

So, a Caledonian bear, from the Highlands north of Loch Tay.

P.S. Thanks Marcius, our posts overlapped!

 

[Marcius]

That's in act II.

'There are no second acts in American lives.'

 

[Marcius]

Found it - that didn't take long!

Qualiter in Scythica religatus rupe Prometheus
adsiduam nimio pectore pavit avem,
nuda Caledonio sic viscera praebuit urso
non falsa pendens in cruce Laureolus.

So, a Caledonian bear, from the Highlands north of Loch Tay.

'One does not simply walk into Caledonia.' (Septimius Severus )

 

[Loxuru]

I haven't read the article ... but does this confirm that crucifixion in the arena was a crowd pleaser attached to gladiatorial spectacle?

Let's... make a conjecture. The crucifixions were extra events, sponsored by advertisers. Like this, the arena could afford bringing up bears from Scotland, of lions or tigers, or pay the wages of top gladiators. They could have simply put the publicity on poles in the arena, but a smart advertiser knows that pub needs drawing the attention of the crowds. They did so, by using the poles for sponsored crucifixion! Sensation and attention guaranteed! A little bit far fetched perhaps, but I think they would do it like this today!

 

[Apostate]

From that "Crucifixion as Spectacle" article:

It is not necessary to attempt a “definitive” interpretation of the graffito here. Perhaps the artist who inscribed the graffito did not intend it to be a woman. But the person who wrote “Alkimila” did want the onlookers to view the crucified individual as a woman. Latin and Greek inscriptions do not necessarily imply that it was a slave’s name. 113 The lines on the body and left leg are unusual. They may portray curvature or possibly marks from scourging. Langner’s collection of Roman graffiti contains a large number of scenes in which the artists drew lines to help indicate flat planes or curved planes. 114 In any case one cannot conclude that the lines indicate an animal’s skin that would have been used in a damnatio ad bestias. 115 The graffito could reflect the practice of crucifixion in Puteoli, or perhaps it is merely some kind of curse or jest. The author of the Alkimila graffito probably intends the scene to portray a historical crucifixion, just as the wealth of graffiti of gladiators in Pompeii often portrayed known fighters. The graffito of the crucified woman is at the least a moving scene of death for the modern viewer and presumably for many ancient viewers who had some direct experience of the penalty.

I’ve been aware of this graffito for a number of years, but this is the first time I’ve seen it interpreted as the crucifixion of a woman.

Hmmm. . . .