ParaVox3

Please include me as well. Thank you!

I don't have a lot to add, but after reading parts of the document left by Nephele, I thought I would mention the gesture where one places one's middle and ring finger against the thumb and holds the forefingers out - apparently this is used to indicate seriousness or the weight of an issue being discussed. Still looking for more.

I read something just tonight by some scholar at some uni who said "Roman 'thumbs up' was a signal to kill, while a closed fist, thumb pressing the forefinger in, was the signal to let a gladiator live'. It had some supporting evidence as well, but the reason I'm not a scholar is that I really don't remember who said it, etc. Sorry! Generally, I need household body language - how people might look at one another, greet one another and so forth. However, anything I can find in any regards would be quite useful as it can help me imagine what we don't know. For example, I can imagine that the thumbs up signal could be used to insult someone. Thank you both - I'll be looking at the link regarding the oratory instruction tomorrow morning. That will no doubt give me some thought on Ancient Roman physical manner. It's well past my bedtime now. -E

Heyla, I'm looking for information that may not be available regarding how Romans interacted using body language. Specifically: 1) How did slaves show deference for their masters? Was it different for a female master or a male master? 2) How did Romans show agreement? Did they nod? Or was there a different gesture? 3) How did Romans seal an agreement? 4) Were handshakes used? Were they the same as ours? 5) What kinds of gestures do we know about that have meaning? 6) Is there any documentation regarding personal deportment available? 7) Were there any gestures in particular that have a certain meaning for us today that had a different meaning for the Romans? I know this is more esoteric than a lot of other questions, but I'm avidly interested if anyone has anything worthwhile to point out. I'll be happy with annecdotal stuff as opposed to anything factual as well. Also, if anyone can think of any gestures I didn't cover, I'd love to see them crop up in this thread. The purpose of this is to help me breath some life into some Roman character's I'm writing about. Thank you! Warm regards, -E

Actually, I'm not a scholar and the frescos and such that I saw really didn't stick with me, though I do recall them when I look at pictures online. Just a tourist only. Thank you so much for your help!

Hehe, thanks. I've actually been to both Pompeii and Herculaneum, but I didn't make the connection for some reason. I do remember the thigh-high stone pallets in the brothels. My brain is fried. Do you have any knowledge of bedding - eg, sheets and such? One of the books I have suggests that togas were sometimes used and it depended a bit on the season as well. I'm also wondering about things such as mosquito netting.

I was curious as to what sort of bedding Romans used, and their beds actually, based on class? Was it rope beds? Wooden pallets? What about blankets and sheets? How did it differ by social class? Thank you! -E

Once again, thank you everyone. This has been one of the most informative and delightful forums I've ever had the pleasure to make an inquiry on. As my husband just said to me from his computer across the way - we're both very impressed at the time and consideration put into the answers here. Thank you. Warm regards, -E

Thank you everyone for your responses. This has given us a lot of insight and modified our story significantly. For note, this is supposed to occur in the Republic period, around 110AD. It's our general thought that not everyone obeys the law, so the importance to our story is that we're aware of how society would react and ensure that legalties are properly depicted. With this in mind, we've decided that the husband of the "adoptee"'s mother demands she expose the child, but does not wish to expose himself as a cuckold (and thus no proceedings against the mother as an adultress). The 'adoption' may occur through the child's real father taking the girl in and simply claiming she's his and his wife's child through some mechanism (we've explored the possibility of the first wife being pregnant and forced to claim she had twins). It may not be entirely pretty, but it would at least conceal the problems from the general public and still give the 'outsider' daughter legitimate status.

Hi, I'm Rugged Indoorsman's wife. Thank you so much for your response. This is the scenario we're slowly working out, and we'd very much like any feedback of the following nature: 1) Is it plausible? 2) What should we be careful of to avoid any major faux pas? In the story, the background of the main characters begins with two patrician families (or one patrician and one very rich equestrian). The main family is patrican, however, either way. In the history of the main family (patrician), the man is married to a woman and has at least two sons and one daughter with her, perhaps more. However, he has fallen in love with the wife of another man (either another patrician or equestrian family). He gets her pregnant while her husband is off doing whatever (possibly war, or if equestrian, business). When the cuckold comes home and finds his wife pregnant, he's furious. Either he kicks her out (and does not divorce her) or he makes it clear he'll never acknowledge the child and she walks out on him. Having nowhere to go (perhaps her family is upset over her betrayal), she goes to her lover and tells him she is pregnant with his child. He sets her up in a villa and essentially takes her to be his mistress. She has the baby, a girl, and he adopts her. At this time perhaps the husband of the mistress may get into some legal battle with the patrician over 'their' daughter. My understanding is that patricians were well neigh unassailable in court by lower classes, so I imagine that the patrician would handily win the case if his opponent were equestrian, and perhaps some bribery to officials may go in if the 2nd family is patrician. In any case, despite the mechanism, the daughter is adopted by the patrician pater familias. Eventually, the wife of the pater familias dies and so does the husband of the mistress. They may or may not marry, but at this stage they're venerable anyway and the story is about their kids. The main characters are the girl-child who was adopted and older legitimate-born sister. There's several issues between the two, from jealousy over looks to the fights over dowry for the adopted girl (as there's less money for the elder). The girls are in competition over everything, but eventually it boils down to a fight to get better husbands. Once married, the rivalries continue as each one tries to outdo the other in making their men more powerful. Ultimately, they both unwittingly (or not so unwittingly) set powerful men against one another to cause political havoc. Thanks for your time! -E