Iusta is a brave gal; Roman ghosts tended to be associated with (as they often are in our own tradition) things like vengeance or injustice – haunting the spot where they were murdered or the like – or warning of the usual bad news…
Tho her “don’t go” suggests that this ghost is someone she misses and considers well-disposed towards her, so there’s that.
I personally imagine Vitalis teaching her daughter, “Did YOU do anything wrong to him? Then don’t be scared and go see what the ghost wants. Bring wine.”
Then, if they’d have to tear down the house to appease restless spirits, try to sell it fast before the word gets out and let the new owners deal with it.
Marginally related: When I was a kid we put on a production of Plautus’s Mostellaria (The Haunted House, parts of which were used in the plot of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum); but I don’t think it was a very good production…forgive me, friends I talked into going on stage 🙂
about yr recent portrait of Otho, i foudn this in wikipedia: Physical appearance[edit]
Suetonius, in The Lives of the Caesars, comments on Otho’s appearance and personal hygiene.
He is said to have been of moderate height, splay-footed and bandy-legged, but almost feminine in his care of his person. He had the hair of his body plucked out, and because of the thinness of his locks wore a wig so carefully fashioned and fitted to his head, that no one suspected it. Moreover, they say that he used to shave every day and smear his face with moist bread, beginning the practice with the appearance of the first down, so as never to have a beard
Juvenal, in a passage in the Satire II dealing with homosexuality, specifically mentions Otho as being vain, looking at himself in the mirror prior to going into battle, and “plaster[ing] his face with dough” in order to look good.
With moist bread? With dough? Do you suppose a habit of evening out his complexion with pancake makeup (forgive me)–well, you know, face powder–got deliberately or accidentally misinterpreted? Or is using dough a method of waxing? I admittedly only know a little bit about Roman makeup; I’ll have to look into this business of smearing one’s face with dinner rolls.
All proper Felix-type manly men make sure to have a nice dark covering of stubble by noon….
Believe it or not, funguses do have skin whitening properties caused by their breaking down of melinin. You can find plenty of “natural” facial masks using bakers yeast and yes, bread online.
I don’t know how well it worked, but Otho might have been trying to gently bleach his beard or skin.
As a note: I’ve no idea of translations or Roman beauty practices. I just know that this is a thing.
Wow. Thank you for (and Susan too) for the info, and…wow.
Let’s see…I knew about lead white & animal fat makeup, tooth whiteners, kohl, other hair dyes, and perfumes, but mostly only that they were used, not much on the detail side except about perfumes. I hadn’t heard about bread! That might have to end up in the comic when Iusta’s ornatrix and cosmetae visit. Oh, Otho. You should have known better than to let your fellow Romans catch you caring about your appearance.
I loves me some Suetonius, but I always read him like a late-1st Century supermarket checkout tabloid; he never met a scurrilous tale about the Rich and Famous he didn’t like. So I’m good that Otho was metrosexual and probably indulged in some of the more out-there Roman grooming habits I’m not sure I’d buy the whole bread thing without a head-scratch. Like CJG, I’d want to find it somewhere else in the literature to feel comfortable that ol’ Sue wasn’t gleefully recounting some backstairs palace gossip…
Justa, you know ghosts don’t say “I’ll rouse the porter.”
Very polite ghosts?
Feels very MacBeth-y
Iusta is a brave gal; Roman ghosts tended to be associated with (as they often are in our own tradition) things like vengeance or injustice – haunting the spot where they were murdered or the like – or warning of the usual bad news…
Tho her “don’t go” suggests that this ghost is someone she misses and considers well-disposed towards her, so there’s that.
I personally imagine Vitalis teaching her daughter, “Did YOU do anything wrong to him? Then don’t be scared and go see what the ghost wants. Bring wine.”
Then, if they’d have to tear down the house to appease restless spirits, try to sell it fast before the word gets out and let the new owners deal with it.
Marginally related: When I was a kid we put on a production of Plautus’s Mostellaria (The Haunted House, parts of which were used in the plot of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum); but I don’t think it was a very good production…forgive me, friends I talked into going on stage 🙂
Nice little essay that includes a section on ghosts in Roman literature here: http://www.ancient.eu/ghost/
As well as: http://www.ashmolean.org/ashwpress/latininscriptions/2014/10/30/did-the-romans-believe-in-ghosts/
Nice article–very clear and concise, and some nice pics of inscriptions.
about yr recent portrait of Otho, i foudn this in wikipedia: Physical appearance[edit]
Suetonius, in The Lives of the Caesars, comments on Otho’s appearance and personal hygiene.
He is said to have been of moderate height, splay-footed and bandy-legged, but almost feminine in his care of his person. He had the hair of his body plucked out, and because of the thinness of his locks wore a wig so carefully fashioned and fitted to his head, that no one suspected it. Moreover, they say that he used to shave every day and smear his face with moist bread, beginning the practice with the appearance of the first down, so as never to have a beard
Juvenal, in a passage in the Satire II dealing with homosexuality, specifically mentions Otho as being vain, looking at himself in the mirror prior to going into battle, and “plaster[ing] his face with dough” in order to look good.
With moist bread? With dough? Do you suppose a habit of evening out his complexion with pancake makeup (forgive me)–well, you know, face powder–got deliberately or accidentally misinterpreted? Or is using dough a method of waxing? I admittedly only know a little bit about Roman makeup; I’ll have to look into this business of smearing one’s face with dinner rolls.
All proper Felix-type manly men make sure to have a nice dark covering of stubble by noon….
Believe it or not, funguses do have skin whitening properties caused by their breaking down of melinin. You can find plenty of “natural” facial masks using bakers yeast and yes, bread online.
I don’t know how well it worked, but Otho might have been trying to gently bleach his beard or skin.
As a note: I’ve no idea of translations or Roman beauty practices. I just know that this is a thing.
Wow. Thank you for (and Susan too) for the info, and…wow.
Let’s see…I knew about lead white & animal fat makeup, tooth whiteners, kohl, other hair dyes, and perfumes, but mostly only that they were used, not much on the detail side except about perfumes. I hadn’t heard about bread! That might have to end up in the comic when Iusta’s ornatrix and cosmetae visit. Oh, Otho. You should have known better than to let your fellow Romans catch you caring about your appearance.
I loves me some Suetonius, but I always read him like a late-1st Century supermarket checkout tabloid; he never met a scurrilous tale about the Rich and Famous he didn’t like. So I’m good that Otho was metrosexual and probably indulged in some of the more out-there Roman grooming habits I’m not sure I’d buy the whole bread thing without a head-scratch. Like CJG, I’d want to find it somewhere else in the literature to feel comfortable that ol’ Sue wasn’t gleefully recounting some backstairs palace gossip…
Wow!! Just came over here out of curiousity and I find a current comic! Are you back? if so, SQUEEEEEEEEEEE!!
I am! Slowly, but surely continuing.
Sorry it took me so long to approve your comment–your comments should be automatically ok’d from now on!