Nephele

But of course! You must be descended from the ancient Batavi, spoken of by Tacitus! Good luck in your quest! -- Nephele

If I'm recalling correctly, Hollywood produced a water clock for a scene in the old Liz Taylor movie, Cleopatra. The water clock appears in the scene in which Antony is dining with his wife, Octavia. I hope I'm remembering this correctly. Okay, I just pulled out my DVD of the movie. It's in scene 33, titled: "A Marriage of State". There are actually a number of quite good close-ups of the water clock (which is ticking annoyingly throughout the scene). Octavia says to an obviously distracted Antony: "Do you find it pleasing, my lord?" (I think Antony finds the clock's ticking as maddening as the audience must, but Octavia prattles on.) "It was made here in Athens. Not as practical as our Roman ones, of course. The Greeks have such a weakness for... [pregnant pause -- aha! she's thinking bitterly about Cleo] ...beauty." -- Nephele

ASCLEPIADES, you belong to the same gens as that famous 1st century C.E. general and politician, A. Didius Gallus. However, your branch of the Didii were renown for their skill as huntsmen, pleasing your emperor patron with an endless supply of fresh boar, hare, and stag for his banquets. And so your worthy cognomen is Venator, meaning "hunter". Your praenomen is Lucius, abbreviated as "L.", and your full Roman name is: L. Didius Venator HRTDAO KVLIISDN -hk +eu -- Nephele

Thank you, MPC, for that lovely tribute to public libraries. You certainly warmed the heart of this public library director. LarusArgentatus, I was sorry to read that your own public library may not have the materials you're looking for. I don't know where you live, but public libraries do have interlibrary loan services and can get you materials from other collections. Some public libraries (such as my own) even provide patrons access to databases on the university level, such as JSTOR. -- Nephele

Gaius Omarius, you share the same gens as a great, 1st century B.C.E. Roman poet, making you a member of the gens Albia. Your cognomen of "Dominator" suggests that yours was a somewhat imperious branch of the gens. Your praenomen of Aulus is abbreviated as "A." Your full (hidden) Roman name is... A. Albius Dominator Rmoa Dair Bnsliaou -r +t Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

-- Nephele

Heyyyy... Is that our Pertinax hitched up to your cart, Cornelia? I played the game already, and now I'm all done. Time for you to think up some more online mysteries to solve, FG! -- Nephele

The October Horse? I'd recently read a journal article that described the annual race and sacrifice of the October Horse, and I mentioned it in the Animal Sacrifice topic. Skarr, does McCullough's novel depict this ritual -- or did she just use "October Horse" as a likely title for a novel on Rome? I'd really be interested in reading McCullough's depiction of the ritual, if she did indeed include it in her novel. -- Nephele

The last book I read was Between Two Worlds, Escape from Tyranny: Growing up in the Shadow of Saddam. This is the absolutely engrossing life story of Zainab Salbi, whose father was Saddam Hussein's personal pilot. Zainab Salbi grew up as a member of "Amo" ("Uncle") Saddam's extended family -- a "family" that was held together with threats and fear. After immigrating to the U.S., Zainab Salbi became the founder and president of Women for Women International: "Supporting women in war-torn regions with financial and emotional aid, job-skills training, rights education and small business assistance so they can rebuild their lives." Among the many appalling things about Saddam that Zainab tells in her book, what perhaps relates best to this board is how Saddam deliberately destroyed ancient archaeological sites in Iraq in order to create his own tasteless architectural "wonders" and private parkland, as monuments to his ego. Here is an excerpt from Zainab's book: -- Nephele

Volubilis? -- Nephele

FLAVIUS: Hence! Home, you idle creatures, get you home. Is this a holiday? What! Know you not, Being mechanical [workingmen], you ought not walk Upon a laboring day without the sign [tools and working clothes] Of your profession? Speak, what trade art thou? -- Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene i. I'm not certain if this was an actual law, but I'm inclined to think that Shakespeare was merely seizing an opportunity to get a few laughs from the audience by inventing a reason for a pair of overbearing public officials (the tribunes Flavius and Marullus) to confront a (typical) sassy member of the working class. And the obligatory puns (which appear to go over the heads of the tribunes) are pretty painful, as the cobbler describes himself as "a mender of bad soles", and "I meddle with no tradesman's matters, nor women's matters, but with awl." Ow. Not that I'm anyone to criticize bad puns, mind you. -- Nephele

He had added a $2 bill (

Yikes, what a nightmare. I think maybe you should go directly to the issuing office in London and present them with whatever documentation you have to demonstrate an emergency need. I wouldn't wait to see if they mail the passport to you on time, or for some overworked, inattentive bureaucrat to get around to returning your phone call. Contact a newspaper, too, and tell them about your plight. A student about to lose

I agree that the Founders had incredible foresight. I also think that, in the intervening years between the drafting of our Constitution and today, our nation has enacted far too many laws which should not be the purview of government. What one chooses to put into one's own body or remove from one's own body should not be subject to governmental decree -- whether it be on the Federal, State, or Local level. To say that such is a matter for the State to decide rather than the Federal government is merely passing the authoritarian buck. It's not a matter for any government to decide or dictate. Period. The problem is not so much that the Constitution is being ignored, but rather that our freedoms are being buried under an excess of legislation. -- Nephele

Thank you, Pan! The hippocamp really is my favorite beastie, and it's no coincidence that my favorite Nephele from ancient legend is the Nephele of Ovid's Metamorphoses (Book III), an Oceanid and attendant of the goddess Diana. As the Oceanid Nephele, I should have had a hippocamp of my very own to ride. -- Nephele

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I disagree that the matter of abortion is purely a "social policy" to be determined by the states, much like the matter of same-gender marriage. The question of "when life begins" is a religious question -- but the question of the individual's sovereignty over his or her own body is a question of basic rights. Our Constitution has been amended in the past to correct oversights regarding the individual's sovereignty over his or her own body, as in the case of the 13th Amendment outlawing slavery. But there will never be an amendment -- proposed or accepted -- regarding a woman's sovereignty over her own body as in the matter of abortion, as long as religion holds sway over this nation. -- Nephele

I just realized those are pottery shards we've been collecting. I've got to pay closer attention! Hey, here's another, similar Roman mystery game from the BBC: Death in Rome I solved the mystery with only 10 minutes to spare! Mr. Monk, where are you? -- Nephele

I'm not thrilled with Paul's position on the abortion issue, and his support of Bush's Secure Fence Act (which should perhaps more properly be called the Not-So-Secure-But-Very-Expensive Fence Act) is a bit of a disappointment. But all-in-all he strikes me as an honest and capable candidate for the presidency. I'd probably vote for him, too. -- Nephele

Miguel, you are a descendant of the 1st century C.E. Roman Stoic philosopher Gaius Musonius Rufus, noted for his commendable ethics and defense of free speech and rational thought. (Do take the time to read the essay on Musonius that I linked here, by Richard Carrier, author of Sense and Goodness Without God.) Your Roman name is: Musonia snae ium -e +o -- Nephele

The horse is linked to Mars in that the horse is symbolic of war. Even the spear that was used in the sacrifice of the October Horse is a symbol of war. According to the German classical philologist, Georg Wissowa, as reported in a scholarly article for Harvard Studies in Classical Philology ("October Horse," 1981) by C. Bennett Pascal (Professor of Classics at the University of Oregon), the race of the October Horse would be run at the end of the season of military campaigns, "as an expiatory sacrifice to cleanse the army of the taint of human blood and foreign contact." But the sacrifice of the horse was also tied into an agricultural ritual, as the decapitated head of the horse would be garlanded with loaves of bread, representing a successful crop of grain for the year. Mars, while not an agricultural deity, nevertheless was tied into the agricultural aspect of the ritual, in that Mars was given responsibility for that successful crop by virtue of the fact that he kept the harvest safe by repelling the enemy from the fields. -- Nephele

Hahahaha! I had to smile, when I saw the name of that mule! But it's appropriate, isn't it? As one of the meanings of "pertinax" is "stubborn"! Flavia Gemina, did you have a hand in designing these games? I thought I saw your hand in naming the mule, as a lot of the names in your books describe the attributes of the characters. I'm registered as "Nephele" for the game, and I've already completed the first four parts and received my mysterious scraps of scroll. I presume they'll have something to do with the final game next week. -- Nephele

There appears to be a great deal of emphasis in this thread placed on animal sacrifice being a practical means to initiate feasts and to feed the urban poor, but I think some mention should be made of the species of animals that the Romans sacrificed with no intention of eating. Each year at the celebration of the Robigalia (April 25th), a dog along with a sheep was slaughtered. Ovid, in his Fasti, writes about his return from Nomentum to Rome, and how he was blocked on the road by a white-robed crowd viewing the flamen on his way to the grove of the god (or goddess) Robigo with the entrails of both the sheep and the dog. We know that the flesh of the sacrificed dog wasn't considered fit for human consumption, as Ovid refers to "the foul entrails of a filthy dog", also calling the dog "an unwonted victim" (translation by James George Frazer). Then there was the annual sacrifice of the October Horse, to Mars, on the Campus Martius. Side note: Now, I've read that the ancient Romans abhorred horsemeat, and I've found a quote from Tacitus which pretty much makes it clear that the ancient Romans viewed horsemeat as being "unclean and disgusting" and only to be considered consumable as a last resort. While admitting that horsemeat is viewed as a delicacy in some parts of the world (as is dogmeat, too), and suspecting that someone here (Andrew Dalby? Pertinax?) might even manage to dig up an ancient Roman recipe for horse that will rival even the yummy pig's womb recipe I've seen here... In the meantime I'll just continue in my belief that the ancient Romans didn't eat horse unless they had to. So, getting back to the sacrifice of the October Horse... The sacrificial victim came from the racetrack -- the righthand horse of the winning pair in a chariot race being chosen and then speared in sacrifice. Flavia Gemina, if you're reading this, I sincerely hope that the valiant racehorse Pegasus in your Roman Mystery novel The Charioteer of Delphi was spared what (seems to me) a poor reward for victory. -- Nephele

Epicharis, you are a member of the patrician class, as you belong to the noble gens which bears the name of Valerius. Your ancestors' reputation for ferocity on the battlefield has earned your branch of the Valerii the cognomen of "Lanio", which literally means "butcher" and metaphorically means "executioner". Your praenomen of "Aulus" is abbreviated as "A." Your full Roman name is: A. Valerius Lanio volraanyladdei -ydd +ius Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

What exactly are we peeking at, AofS? -- Nephele