Nephele

Ouch. If you screw on your balls too tightly, won't the pressure make your eyeballs pop out like corks from a champagne bottle? -- Nephele

From the article: "Some people are alarmed by the holiday's apparent transformation. ChristmasGram.com, a Web site based in St. Louis, is battling the adult-oriented commercialism with its own form of commercialism. The firm offers personalized video messages from Santa Claus that remind viewers of the religious roots of Christmas." The irony here made me smile. -- Nephele

My man (who is from England) introduced me to Christmas crackers. They're lots of fun -- they're little packages that you pull apart (with a partner) and they make a sort of firecracker "pop!" Inside the cracker is a little prize, a goofy joke or riddle printed on paper, and a paper crown. Christmas crackers are catching on here in the U.S., and I recently discovered that they now make Chanukah crackers, too. (I got some at Borders Book Store last year.) Another fun thing about Christmas crackers -- you can find boxes of them themed to various TV shows. My first experience with Christmas crackers (in England) was with a bunch of "Danger Mouse" themed crackers. That's a British, James Bond/Danger Man parody cartoon series from the '80s. The prizes inside these crackers were little Danger Mouse figures (which are collectibles today). -- Nephele

I often get the impression from my overseas friends that foreigners tend to think of all of America as being like California. I think this is probably due to America's entertainment industry being almost entirely in California, and American entertainment is a big export. There you go. The size being yet another reason for people overseas to view California as representative of America. I've been to California only once in my life, but managed to see both San Francisco and Los Angeles. It was in late summer, and I was nearly blinded by the intense sunlight you have there! I'd never experienced such extreme sunlight in my life before -- it left me positively staggered. My man got sunburned (on his face) just walking around outdoors (he's originally from England, and I'm a native New Yorker). You may get some winter weather there, but I'll never figure out how you cope with all that sunlight. -- Nephele

I've heard from UNRV member Flavia Gemina (author Caroline Lawrence) and she's currently polishing up her final book in her Roman Mysteries series. For those of you who are raising up Romanophile children of your own (or who, yourselves, will always be children at heart, like me) it will be a bit sad to see the adventures of detectrix Flavia Gemina come to an end. On the other hand, I'm curious to see how the story arc finally resolves itself. Anyway, Caroline sends Saturnalia greetings to all, and she's put up a fun little Christmas Quiz on her site. It's for the kids, but you might have fun taking it as, well. (I'm embarrassed to admit that I got two of the answers wrong.) -- Nephele

"Personally, I'm hoping for more candidates with funny-sounding names." With a wave of my magic anagramming wand, I grant your wish by transforming (anagramming) Caroline Kennedy into... Corey Anne Dinkel I'm with Nicholas Kristof on this one. Also, I found the etymology you gave for the word "noble" quite interesting! -- Nephele

Thank you, Ursus, and GPM! GPM, thanks for bringing up this interesting member of the Manlii. You being inspired by my surnames project has served to introduce me to someone new! I had a look in my Smith's Dictionary, and it mentions that Boethius' praenomen may have been Flavius, and that "the Anician family had for the two preceding centuries been the most illustrious in Rome (see Gibbon, c. 31), and several of its members have been reckoned amongst the direct ancestors of Bo

What a great story, MPC! Thanks for sharing that here! Hahaha! Too true! That and your story remind me of Nova Roma's amusing raison d'etre: "Because Roman Virtues mean more than Family Values." Which, I suppose, ironically illustrates how our American Republican Party (touting "Family Values") differs from Republican Rome. -- Nephele

wizofboz, you are a member of the Helvia gens. Yours is a plebeian gens that produced an emperor -- Publius Helvius Pertinax -- who reigned for a mere 86 days (from December 31, 192 until March 28, 193 when he was assassinated by his Praetorian Guard). Your cognomen of "Probatior" indicates that your peers considered you to have been proven good, acceptable, and they nicknamed you thus. With such a stamp of approval, you are most likely safe from sharing the fate of your imperial relative, Pertinax. Your praenomen is "Publius" (just like Pertinax's), and customarily abbreviated as "P." Your full Roman name is: P. Helvius Probatior = iltozopbraehbzirp -bzz +vus Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

The Manlii, in terms of patrician prestige and influence, were not far behind the five princely clans of the Aemilii, Claudii, Cornelii, Fabii, and Valerii. In fact, the 19th century classicist Mommsen included the Manlii among these aforementioned gentes maiores, from whose ranks the patrician princeps senatus -- "chief of the senate" -- was always chosen. This was because, in the year 209 BCE, a member of the Manlii was proposed as princeps senatus... ...read the full article of the Surnames of the Manlii

manekenpix, you are a member of the Cossinia gens, a Roman family which came from Tibur. While none of the members of your gens ever obtained any of the higher offices of the state, one member -- your father, Lucius Cossinius -- was particularly notable for having been a dear friend of Cicero's. Your father died in 45 BCE, and Cicero took a personal interest in your education and political career (until his own death two years later). Your cognomen is "Mento," given to you by your peers due to the fact that you have a remarkably large chin. Your praenomen is "Aulus," customarily abbreviated as "A." Your full Roman name is: A. Cossinius Mento = osnismiatofenhc -fh +us You also asked for a female name. If you were a Roman maiden, you would be a member of the Cominia gens, making you related to the dear Cominia Tyche, whose funerary altar can be found in New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art: Your cognomen of "Fessonia" indicates that your parents honored the goddess Fessonia in naming you. Fessonia is the Roman goddess who aids the weary. Your full Roman name would be: Cominia Fessonia = osnismiatofenhc -th +ia Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

Shhh...! We're hiding from the Optio. PP, deal me another card. GPM, I'll meet you and raise you ten. -- Nephele

Whoa, looks like you were being stalked by a MOB of pigeons. They all come from NYC, you know. And sound like Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Robert DeNiro, and Marlon Brando. The Goodfeathers -- Nephele

I lasted pretty long (people kept paying me coins!), but then I got stuck in the Storeroom with no more choices left (but in possession of 1 coin, 1 rock, 1 lamp, and 1 meat). This reminds me a little of Caroline's online Roman Mysteries game that the BBC did. -- Nephele

Oooo, can we get a close-up picture of it? Does the eBay dealer have more? -- Nephele

Nice jewelry. I was particularly interested in that piece you're wearing as a necklace. What is that? -- Nephele

Asclepiades, there is no need to continually reiterate yourself (or for me to do likewise), as it does not add additional weight to one's argument. We've already covered this in the other topic. -- Nephele

Ah, thanks for that explanation on the talking statues! Do we have any ancient sources that name specific statues that were used for these purposes? (I'd like to see that photo you have of the other famous talking statue.) I guess I could try hunting up some ancient sources on my own, but it's late now, and if you already have some, it would save me the time. -- Nephele

This issue has been extensively discussed on a previous thread. My own conclusion after all that: Lucius Brutus was a too mythological (ie, fictitious) figure to reach any useful conclusion regarding the patrician-plebeian social system. In any case, the indisputedly plebeian Marcus Brutus was indeed widely accepted as Lucius Brutus descendent, MT Cicero included. And as far as I know, patrician status inheritance was not optional (just ask Clodius). That topic was Brutus: Patrician or Plebeian?, and I believe Maty is already aware of that topic, seeing as how he participated in it. While I agree that L. Iunius Brutus was probably legendized, I continue to share M

Thanks for the picture! "Madama Lucrezia on Piazza San Marco is one of the 'talking statues' of Rome..." Now I need to know why this is called one of the "talking statues"! Is it because she is sculpted with her mouth open -- or is it because the structure of the statue somehow allows one to play some sort of acoustical "magic" trick by making the statue appear as though she is talking? (I know of a 19th century magician -- David P. Abbott -- who created illusions like that.) -- Nephele

Wow -- what a great new Google feature! I just found this picture of Isadora Duncan instructing her students: What an evocative, classical pose, from an American original. -- Nephele

I actually covered this in my Surnames of the Servilii with M

There are remains of a statue of Isis in NYC? I didn't know that! I think I'll pay a visit to the UN this Sunday and see if I can get a nice picture of this. Do you have any more information on this -- such as where on the UN grounds this statue might be? Thanks! -- Nephele

Wow! Anagrams can be revealing! I swear Ursus didn't tell me anything about your work! The ancient Romans customarily abbreviated the names Gaius and Gnaeus with a "C." This was because originally the Latin alphabet lacked the letter "G." The "G" was added later to the Latin alphabet, but by then the traditional name abbreviations had already been established. -- Nephele