Jasminia

Also, just a side note... the Pantheon is not across the street from Santa Maria Maggiore, it is across from Santa Maria sopra Minerva!!! This is where the confusion comes in!!! This is the church you meant, right? In front of it is an obelisk on top of an elephant. So, I probably have the right information about the Santa Maria Maggiore and the Magna Mater afterall... which makes sense because the Pantheon is built on what had been the Field of Mars, also the location of the Isis Temple I had mentioned. (*pats self on back*) Lupercus Of course, you're right. I meant Sta Maria sopra Minerva -- the gothic church with the Bernini elephant statue as base to the little obelisk (probably) from the temple of Isis on the Campus Martius. There's just way too many Sta Maria's in Rome to keep up with I also read in Italy that Sta. Maria Maggiore may have also been a site for a modest shrine to Isis as well. Sorry for the delay in responding -- grad school is slowly sucking out my soul

The medieval cathedral of Braga, in Portugal, which is dedicated to the Virgin, was built on top a temple of Isis. I know replies are late in coming, but better late than never, neh? It's shocking how many churches and cathedrals dedicated to the Virgin are built atop previous temples to Isis in Rome. The most glaring example of this is Santa Maria Maggiore (the only Gothic cathedral in Rome), which is across the street from the Pantheon. The Iseum Campense is underneath that and quite a bit of surrounding (modern) blocks. 4 of the 8 ancient Egyptian obelisks (of Egyptian antiquity, not Roman remakes) that stand in Rome today used to adorn this Iseum. Also, an Italian book suggested that even the Duomo in Siena was built on top of a temple or shrine to Isis. Jasmine, she who has emerged from the other side of the Atlantic with her verb in her mouth

Though I'd revitalize this thread because I have recently successfully defended my thesis entitled "Roman Isis and the Pendulum of Religious Tolerance in the Empire". Posted for your enjoyment at http://www.jazzhaven.com/thesis/ Ciao ciao tutti!

Both the Lares and Penates were hearth spirits/gods in charge of the care and safety of the hearth and home. I remember reading that the tradition of carrying around Penates was probably derived from the Aeneid, where Aeneas was bringing the Trojan gods into Latium (dum conderet urbem inferretque deos Latio). True, an invented history, but one the Roman adhered to nonetheless. Carrying your gods while traveling on precarious journeys was like carrying around little pieces of home and lent itself to feelings of security.

To add to Ursus... If you consider the Eastern Roman Empire/Byzantine Empire to be Roman, you can include Islam (7th-8th centuries). Generally, post-Constantine (with a very brief break during Julian the Apostate's reign), Christianity became quite aggressive in "wiping out" the "pagan" religions, particulary the traditional state religions. The more power the bishops and monks got, the less the government did. Julian the Apostate (4th century) also tried to do a number on Christianity resulting an a weakening of the Roman political machine. In his attempt to restore traditional religions and guarantee freedom of religion, he tried to separate church from the state at the level of the governing classes. Not sure of a "return" to the status quo matches your question, but it's an attempt to restore religious "supremacy" of tolerance.

My vote's for disembowelment. The English and Japanese did it -- I think the Dutch as well. Nothing like holding your own guts as you die to give you a moment of reflection for your actions. Ewww.

One possibility is that Pullo's parents were freed, making him a free-born citizen and able to serve in the military.

Slaves could be manumitted exclusively for the purpose of marrying (cf Pullo/Eirene), because citizens couldn't marry slaves. Jocasta's only claim to a higher marriage was her father, merchant of (that dreadful) Macedonia, and the wealth that came with. Despite being a citizen, she was penniless and "dishonored" by the brutes who killed her family. Not to mention a stoner and orgy-partaker. Prolly the best she could do. I'd be interested to see if Atia, machinatrix optima, tries to sever Jocasta's friendship with Octavia on the basis of being married to a freedman.

I'm still loving the show, even in all of its Forrest Gumpiness. Perhaps, because of it. Rome was much more than its celebrities, and celebrities are much more than the histories they make. This fictional/hypothetical take on the private lives of the people whose public lives and actions we study is bringing them to life for me in more ways than chronologies of their achievements has thus far. It's a truly guilty pleasure, and we can't deny the mental gymnastics it gives us and the knowledge we share when correcting the historical inaccuracies. The visual level of detail continues to amaze me, and the script ... Let's just say that I've gotten so much amusement at the startled faces of fellow classicists and friends (and even professors) when throwing around some of my favorite quotes at appropriate moments. Nothing seems to shock people more than a lady with a potty-mouth Needless to say, I will continue to wait expectantly for upcoming episodes, will buy the dvd when it comes out, and desperately hope that this isn't the last season.

"You are either a Wild Cat or a Fox personality. But you may also be a Swan personality. " Yep, that's me. All of the above

Vorena the Elder was making "the horns" -- it's a curse.

Thank you for the reference, Jasminia. I've been contemplating some research into Catholicism. You might start with Sts Thomas and Augustine. Or earlier, with Eusebius.

An excellent read on saint veneration in late antiquity is Peter Brown's "Cult of the Saints".

I agree with most of the posts made, but would like to add some things not yet mentioned. Coinage was not necessarily considered "art", so accurate depictions are less necessary. They can be considered political billboards due to their wide dissemination, representing power and influence. The stout neck, hooked nose, and her overall ghastly appearance on the coin can be seen to follow a pattern of the vision of power on Roman coins. Because depictions of power in Rome in the period (with the exceptions of gods of course) were of men, that may account in part for an undecidedly unappealing visage. Depicting Cleo with features often associated with other Roman men of power may also have been an intentional ploy to make her seem less foreign and more closely linked with Roman authority. I found an interesting quote: "In the Pens

Here's a short list of some of the books I most enjoyed: Imperial Rome and the Christian Triumph, by Jas Elsner On Roman Time: The Codex Calendar of 354, by Michele Renee Salzman The Politics of Latin Literature, by Thomas Habinek The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus, by Paul Zanker Religions of Rome (Vols 1&2), by Beard, North & Price The World of Late Antiquity, by Peter Brown Pompeii (fiction), by Robert Harris