The latest WordPress software upgrade has made the site a little wonky. If you see any problem spots, please let me know!
This came up about the previous comic; reposting in case you missed it. kit the brave asked: What would little Roman kids call their fathers? Papa for “pater”?
In addition to pater, I know of the use of tata, tetta, and dada. Possibly papa, though “papa,” “pappa,” and “papae” had other meanings in Latin lingo—”feed me” in baby talk, “eating baby pap,” and “wow!”
Here’s an example of “tata” for “dad” in Martial:
Mammas atque tatas habet Afra, sed ipsa tatarum
Dici et mammarum maxima mamma potest
Loosely translated: “Afra is so old, she talks about her mom this and dad that, but she could be everybody’s grandma.”
It looks as if Felix is preparing a escape route for when they need one.
And maybe weighing his options in case he needs to throw any miscreants off the roof. It was easier in Herculaneum where, from the right rooftop, he could toss people directly into the bay. Or close enough. Either way, pretty fatal.
Here’s a thing that seems possibly broken via the update: before this evening, I was able to click on a button directly below the center of the comic image to be taken to the comments for that comic, but now it is missing. The only way I could get here was to click on a tiny little link in the bottom right corner of the post’s main comment (ie, the text you wrote, Klio, when you posted the comic), which might be harder for people to find or maybe even harder to differentiate between replies to your posting comment and comments on the comic itself. I checked, and I’m pretty sure there’s nothing about my software interrupting things (I guess that’s still possible though — is anyone else having this issue?). I’m not sure if I’m being clear enough in my bug report! It might cut down on comments/participation if it’s not replaced, though.
Also, in response to Larry — I think Felix is more shoring up the defenses to prevent unwanted guests (possibly sent by a certain authority we’ve met before) more than he is looking for an escape route — though I guess it could work both ways. 🙂
Thank you for reporting on that. They did an extra, automatic update today, and all the navigation buttons completely disappeared. I’ll go see if there’s already a fix in the works. Argh.
I believe the navigation is fixed now. Thank you again for letting me know–that gave me a chance to do some overnight cleanup!
And Felix might want to consider installing a moat full of alligators.
It worked: the “overnight update.”
Alligators might be obvious. Felix needs something subtle: like a couple Phalanx turrets. (Not their phalanx, our Phalanx. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx_CIWS )
Wow.
The Romans may have considered themselves the pinnacle of snazzy military tech of the time, but you know they’d love to get their hands on that Phalanx turret. That’ll keep your townhouse safe. I wonder if a clay tile roof can support one…?
It does look like it’s fixed now. Hooray!
Felix prepares to defend his domicile. That boy could really come in handy you know. He’s got just the skill set to benefit from Felix’s training in ‘wetwork’. Attaboy Felix, you can do it.
All that climbing through windows and skittering through dark crawlspaces is hard on the knees after those years of marching around on campaign; better to let the kid handle it.
There is a legend explainig how a city inhabitants earned their nickname of “cats” after some volunteer climbed a wall during the siege to take it…
Felix son is clearly another Felix!
You have to assume, though, that if Damon is climbing a wall during a siege, he’s making a run for the hills to get away…. 🙂
If it’s sneaky, Damon can do it. Bt I’d feel much better if they left town. now.
did he steal that doll from Josephus’ house? and the bracelet
from Spendusa in the market?
Yep–Damon stole the doll from Josephus’s house. And the bracelet from Spendusa, and his necklace at the same time. Here he is putting the necklace on and showing up adorned at Josephus’s house.
The coins come from…well who knows. Maybe at the temple of Venus when he was wandering around bumping into people whose backs were turned. He clearly operates on the idea of “when you get to a new town, take all the stuff, just in case.”
Nothing like a little father-and-son time bonding over housebreaking techniques.
The family that steals together stays together. I’m fairly sure that’s how the saying goes.