At September Crown, one sweet gentle took offense to me referring to Drusa as my slave. “Maybe you could call her… your ladies’ maid?”
My reaction was “Um… but in my period that would have been a slave.” I chalked it up to my passion for Getting It Right (even in my non-SCA life I am all about accuracy) but something about it has been tickling the back of my brain. This morning I finally placed it.
Ignoring a truth because it makes you uncomfortable is not okay.
SCA events are usually camping events… and that means biffies (aka Portajohns, Honey Buckets, etc). I decided a little distraction was in order at this year’s September Crown, so I posted a series of 4 pages on Roman toilets (Cloacina, goddess of the sewer, private and public bathrooms, and bathroom-related graffiti) inside the biffs, then encouraged readers to “catch ’em all!” The 5th page lists the sources I used.
This is a great little documentary looking at the ruins of Herculaneum. I don’t usually dig (!) mass media aimed at the general public, but the reconstructions of the ceilings are amazing!
Posca is a wonderfully refreshing drink that was used by Romans to deal with a hot Mediterranean climate and hard physical work. If you were poor or a soldier, it’s just vinegar and water. If you were lucky enough to afford it, honey was added.
A sugar, an acid, and water: This formula has been used as an electrolyte replacer for millennia. It’s MUCH better than water for keeping you happy and functional on a hot working day. The Persians did a mint/sugar thing called Sekanjibin. In the medieval period it was called shrub. In the American south it was switchel… until it was replaced with lemonade.
It’s super easy to make:
1 part vinegar (I use Bragg’s apple cider vinegar for its digestive benefits. The Romans would have used wine vinegar)
1 part honey
You don’t even need to heat it – just stir it a little. That gives you a syrup that is shelf stable and great for transporting to events. Dilute it about 10-1 with water in a cup or pitcher. If it burns, add more water. If it tastes bad, add more syrup. I know that sounds odd, but remember how icky a watered down soda tastes when the ice melts?
NOTE: Some people like to add in spices (coriander, ginger, etc) or mint for variety!
I taught my new class for the first time last weekend at Grand Thing. It was really fun! I love bringing the little details alive… it’s what makes history sing! The handout is available here: DAILY LIFE in ANCIENT ROME. It’s mostly a list of topics, but includes references in case you want to investigate further.
This is totally not my thing (personally I don’t think it’s really the Roman empire by this point*) but it’s in the books on my shelves and someone asked, so…
Women’s clothing in Italy in the 5th century:
From Sebesta & Bonfante “The World of Roman Costume” come these images:
My Saturnalia-flavored Christmas decor, with pomegranates.
I just posted a brief paper written for Three Mountain’s 2015 Yule. The class is meant to address the secular celebratory rituals of December 25th before the 5th century, not any religious or sacred issues.
Many of the Yuletime traditions we observe actually date back to Saturnalia. It’s fascinating to me how many of our current traditions have persisted for two thousand years. Look for a future paper on the Roman origin of wedding rituals… The Empire may have fallen, but we are still enacting a surprising number of Roman memes.
Read the History of Christmas!
Bonus video (not by me): The VII Days of Saturnalia! (Dec 17-23)
Classes I’m developing: 1) Daily Life in Rome, and 2) a special thing for Yule – the history Christmas, starting with Saturnalia (the origin of many Christmas traditions), and then the Feast of the Unconquered Sun (Dec 25th), then handing it off to a medievalist.
I’m thinking hard about Kingdom Arts & Sciences 2016. I think I need to stick to a single entry, but the one I have in mind does encompass a few different skills. It’s a rag doll, with a hand spun/woven tunica, and possibly leather shoes, if I can figure out a way to make them historically accurate, yet work on blobby doll feet. The idea is to create a doll that Tullia would have made for her own kids or to distract the children of a patient as she’s practicing her midwifery.
I NEED to make some Roman shoes for Caius (he’s still wearing a broken pair of Jesus sandals). Of course I want more shoes too!
I want to continue research on the spintriae – those wonderful explicit coins that the public mistakenly thinks are brothel coins.
My long term project is my Roman garden. There will be a mosaic, of course. Caius is getting inspired with the plants – so far we plan on figs, lavender, rosemary, coriander, grapes, laurel, elderberry, St John’s wort, and salvia. The tricky part is going to be including Priapus (an essential figure in any Roman garden) in a way that won’t scandalize our modern 13 year old. I’m thinking we can stand him behind a big rosemary bush or something. 🙂
Unfortunately, life (finding a new office and moving my business, not to mention settling into the new house) has interfered with my A&S. Hopefully I can be more productive for the last quarter of 2015!
I strive for historic accuracy, but safety comes first. At events I am living in a canvas tent, and wind is often an issue. For these reasons, I skip the romance of the open flame in favor of electric tealights. I’d love to figure out how to make a realistic-looking fake oil lamp. Until then:
Here are two lanterns found at Pompeii. They were originally fitted with translucent horn.
I found these lanterns at Craft Warehouse (sorry, I forgot to take a “before” pic). They are about 5″ tall, and were on sale for a buck or two (I can’t remember exactly). I also bought a sheet of vellum paper in the scrapbooking section, and some ModgePodge.
I cut little rectangles of the vellum to fit. Then I used a sponge applicator to cover a pane of glass with the Modge Podge. I found I wanted enough that it didn’t dry before I got the paper down, but not so much that the extra oozed out around the sides when I smoothed it with a fingertip.
End result: Not bad! They’re no A&S miracle, but they pass the 20 ft rule, and they are both safer than fire and cuter than bare LED candles. Super cheap, super fast… I am quite pleased.
Edited to add: I STINK! I totally forgot to mention that Eulalia Piebakere gave me the idea for these!
The beautiful and ancient Barony of Three Mountains summons its artisans to compete for the honor of serving as Arts and Sciences Champion on Oct 10, 2015. We are rightfully and enormously proud of our populace and its skills, and we wish to see you challenge yourselves! All those participating, either for display or entry, will see their word fame spread across the mighty Kingdom of An Tir. If you choose to enter this rigorous trial, the format and requirements you seek are listed below. Continue reading
ROMANA SUM 