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Nephele

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  1. Nephele
    (Can I go twice?) One thing I like about the person above me (Ursus) is his delicious vocabulary. I find his book reviews and articles delightfully garnished with choice and tasty words like "syncretic" and "apotheosis" and "theurgy". Ursus serves up a sumptuous spread of savory speech -- which is never too filling, but leaves you satisfied all the same. (Don't do me again. Somebody choose somebody else -- anybody -- from UNRV now!) -- Nephele
  2. Nephele
    Well, a lot of Latin surnames are derived from Latin words. But, yes, there are surnames -- as well as given names -- that were derived straight from Latin words rather than from ancient Roman names. But much of this was due to the influence of the medieval Catholic Church, which had a strong hand in European name development (as mentioned earlier in this thread by docoflove). Latin, after all, became the language of the Church. One such name that comes quickest to mind is "Benedict", meaning "blessed". In its original Latin form of "Benedictus" this name rose in popularity due to the 5th-6th century saint and founder of the Benedictine order of monks. Most likely this was a Latin-based name that St. Benedict either chose for himself to replace a "pagan" name, or was bestowed upon him by his Christian parents or church elders to express his religious ideals. -- Nephele
  3. Nephele
    Jacobs_43, your nomen gentilicium of Braccius has its roots in the old Oscan dialect, the Osci having been the inhabitants of southern Italy who, along with other historic tribes, fought against the early Romans before being eventually assimilated by them. Members of your branch of the Braccii were noted for their cheerful nature, and thus today you bear the cognomen of "Gaudens", indicating this. Your praenomen is Aulus, abbreviated as "A." Your full Roman name is: A. Braccius Gaudens = cnaoejabiagcrdus -jo +us Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele
  4. Nephele
    No success, oh well if everyone sees it fine, i suppose it's not to much to worry about then. Any other suggestions welcome nonetheless. vtc Do other people's profiles come up oddly on your computer, too? Try checking mine and see if it looks smushed like yours, or normal. -- Nephele
  5. Nephele
    I just had a look at your profile, and it's coming up fine on my computer screen. But I think I can see what you mean from that screen capture you took. There must be something funny going on with your computer. Try exiting and deleting cookies, then come back and see if that fixes anything? -- Nephele
  6. Nephele
    Actually, Collina is a Latin name. It's one of the names of the 35 voting tribes of ancient Rome. A Roman's full name (at its most complex) would include the name of his tribe along with the names of his father and grandfather (and sometimes great-grandfather). Collina/us also appears in inscriptions as a simple cognomen. But as a tribal name addition, this would generally appear abbreviated in inscriptions as "COL." at the end of the Roman's full, formal name. -- Nephele
  7. Nephele

    Nephele commented on docoflove1974's blog entry in The Language of Love

    Treat yourself to the beach, DoL! And... hey! I've got a San Francisco cultural question to ask you, while I'm at it. You wrote... "But here's the thing...I don't really feel that different." Okay. I have GOT to ask you this... I happen to be a huge fan of the television series Monk which, as you know, is set in your own city of San Francisco. Now, Monk frequently uses the expression: "Here's the thing..." Before the series' writers decided to make it a Monk catchphrase (prior to Season 3, I believe), they had other characters in the series often saying: "Here's the thing..." I had NEVER before heard folks say "Here's the thing..." -- not before hearing this on Monk all the time. Is this an expression that's common only to you San Franciscans? Enquiring minds need to know. -- Nephele
  8. Nephele
    MUSEUM THOUGHTS Portrait of a Lady (c. 75 A.D.) by Morris Bishop Julia to the barber went And got herself a permanent. Since the perm was unsurpassed, "Fine!" she said. "But will it last?" (I approximate the sense Of "Estne vere permanens?") Then the vehement coiffeur, Warmly reassuring her, Guaranteed with confidence The permanence of permanents. Rome is gone and all her pride, Still the dainty curls abide; Venus, Mars, and Jove are dead, Still remains the lovely head. Let a thousand years go by, Let our gods and empires die, Time will never set a term To the life of Julia's perm. Mundo semper erit gratus Iste capitis ornatus. I first encountered this witty little poem in my high school Latin (first year) textbook. I had memorized only the first four lines of the poem and, as the years passed, I sadly never came across this poem in its entirety again. Until today. Having been inspired by this thread -- and the picture of the bust of the Roman lady which Klingan posted (which, coincidentally, was the exact same picture which illustrated this poem in my Latin textbook) -- I was determined to find this favorite old poem from my childhood. A bit of online research revealed that this poem had first appeared in a 1953 issue of The New Yorker magazine. So today I visited the New York Public Library, searched through their microfilm and, voil
  9. Nephele
    UNRV needs more guitarists (ancient Rome certainly could've used a few!), and Vibius Tiberius Costa (above me) is a most welcome addition! Woot! -- Nephele
  10. Nephele
    I lifted that pic from this website that sells antique prints of Barker's illustrations. I'm not certain if Cicely Mary Barker was familiar with the Doctrine of Signatures, but she was very familiar with folklore about flowers, herbs and trees. She incorporated much of this into her poems which accompanied her illustrations. Her Flower Fairies have lately been re-discovered, and publishers of children's books are now cashing in through the mass-marketing of Flower Fairy picture books, sticker books, calendars, etc. I despise the mass-marketing, which focuses on the sugar-candy appeal of fairies and ignores Barker's attention to artistic detail and herbal folklore. -- Nephele
  11. Nephele
    Absolutely lovely! You're quite an artist! -- Nephele
  12. Nephele
    paulus vevus, you belong to the family of the Livii -- though of plebian origin, they nevertheless rose to the height of Roman nobility and one of their most notable members was the Lady Livia who married the Emperor Augustus Caesar, and another one was the historian known as Livy. You served admirably in Rome's XX Legion, and thus took the emblem of that Legion (the ferocious wild boar) as the basis for your cognomen: "Aper". You possess the uncommon praenomen of "Vibius", abbreviated as "V." Your full Roman name is: V. Livius Aper = slpevrievau -e +i Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele
  13. Nephele
    I know that ancient Roman fashion in hair styles for women were prone to change so that sculptors would carve the busts of wealthy ladies with detachable headpieces. That the busts might be updated with the latest hairstyle. -- Nephele
  14. Nephele
    Ah, meadowsweet -- or queen of the meadow -- one of my favorite wildflowers. Here's some more lore for you, Pertinax: "If the Meadow-sweet, or Queen of the Meadow, be taken on St. John's Day, it will reveal a thief, says the Icelander, who calls the plant Mjadurt, or Mead-wort; if the thief be a woman the plant will float, if a man it will sink." (from Hilderic Friend's Flowers and Flower Lore, 1884). Pertinax, your thoughts on Cicely Mary Barker's personification of the flowers/herbs/trees, through her "Flower Fairies" illustrations and poems? -- Nephele
  15. Nephele
    Birthday hails to you, WotWotius! Heheh, I think I've only got books older than you -- but a lot of those are older than me, too. Have a cool day! -- Nephele
  16. Nephele
    EricT, you are of the Aburii, a notable plebian gens which gave birth to at least one Tribune of the Plebs, in 187 B.C.E. (see Smith's). You happen to belong to a branch of the Aburii that made its fortune in money lending, and so your cognomen is "Creditor". Your praenomen is "Servius", abbreviated as "Ser." Your full Roman name is: Ser. Aburius Creditor = crhrideacbrrtrgioe -cghr +usus Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele
  17. Nephele
    Birthday hails to you, Spittle! Where in Hades have you been? You've been gone nearly a month! The dancing slave girls are tapping their feet impatiently for your return! -- Nephele
  18. Nephele
    Characterization is important in any story, as your character must be convincing in order to engage your readers. With historical fiction, you must presume that those interested enough in reading your story will also know something about the real-life person you may be portraying. So if you write your historical character "out of character", he or she isn't going to be a very convincing character for the reader. It's the same problem with much "fan fiction" that is written -- the writer becomes a bit too self-indulgent and doesn't stick to "canon". Then the character is no longer believable. So, yes, I would say that character accuracy is imperative in historical fiction. VTC, I can probably help you with compiling a list of Roman magistrates for any particular year during the era of the Republic, as I have access to Broughton's Magistrates of the Roman Republic. I don't believe these volumes include those senators who didn't also serve as magistrates, though. Perhaps someone here can suggest additional sources for your senatorial list. -- Nephele
  19. Nephele

    All done!

    Nephele commented on The Augusta's blog entry in Casa di Livia

    Livia lives! -- Nephele
  20. Nephele
    When I read historical fiction I want to be drawn into the era about which I'm reading. I want not only to see, with my mind's eye, the events unfolding, I also want to become so fully immersed in the era that, through the words I am reading, I am able to taste the food that the people back then tasted, smell the surroundings (whether pleasant or not), hear the typical urban or rural noises, etc. The patrician's feast or the poor man's fare, the perfumes of the nobility or the sweat of the laborers, the cartwheels creaking over the city paving stones or the sole legionary's horse softly snorting in the morning-misted forests of Cisalpine Gaul -- this is what I want from a novel of historical Roman fiction. I want glorious, vivid, imaginative description. (Otherwise I'll just crack upon a dry history book.) But I don't want so much description that it slows down the pace of the story. It's a delicate balance for an author to maintain. -- Nephele
  21. Nephele
    Vibius Tiberius Costa, thanks for the props! You came to Rome as a captive from the Gaulic wars. In fact, you had been named after the Gaulic chief of the Bellovaci, Correus (see Smith's), because you exhibited the same "high spirit of independence" as did the original Correus. Eventually you were set free by your master Opiter Petronius (of the literary Petronii.) As is customary, you took the praenomen and nomen of your former master for yourself, keeping your original, Latinized Gaulic name as your cognomen. Your praenomen of Opiter (a name given to a Roman child whose father was not living at the time of his birth, but whose grandfather was alive) is abbreviated as "Op." and your full Roman name is: Op. Petronius Correus = sthoeporpoincsherr -hh +uu -- Nephele
  22. Nephele
    Absinthe! Food of the Goths! -- Nephele
  23. Nephele
    Ah, I knew I could count on you, Pertinax, in all matters of pharmacology! I guess the HBO Rome folks got their natrah confused with nushtar? I'm looking forward to hearing what your Bengalii contacts might have to add. -- Nephele
  24. Nephele
    Faustus, you are of the Thoranii, a notable family that included a 1st century BCE legate, a tribune of the plebs, and the tutor/guardian of the young Octavianus (see Smith's). Your cognomen of "Dignatus" signifies that you were deemed worthy by your peers. Your praenomen is "Titus", abbreviated as T. Your full Roman name is: T. Thoranius Dignatus ddvai ytoannh grwtih -hvwy +usus Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele
  25. Nephele
    Resurrecting this thread, as I've just finished watching the commentary version of episode 5 of the second season of HBO's Rome. The series writers or producers or consultants (?) acknowledged that opium was mainly ingested in the ancient world, rather than smoked, but they also gave this reason for their depiction of the opium smoking scenes: "In the ancient world, opium was mainly eaten or taken as a drink, like laudanum, called cretic wine. There is, however, evidence from India that narcotics were already smoked in a primitive kind of bong. It was made from a gourd and its Indian name was doom natrah." I can't find any reference anywhere to "doom natrah", and I've found only two references on the 'net to "cretic wine" Has anyone here ever heard or read of these? -- Nephele
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