Pertinax

I have some more info now on the Borage as a beer- firstly " syrup made of the flowers of Borage comferteth the heart, purgins melancholy and quieteth phreneticke and lunaticke person" Gerarde 1597. Ok the herb is mucilaginous,expectorant, diaphoretic ,tonic and calmative, antidepressant and anti-inflammatory.It is especially useful after severe and prolonged stress.The leaves, flowers and seeds are abundant with a high concentration of Gamma Linoleic Acid ( so you would nowadays use to reduce prostatic swelling and to deal with dense breast tissue, and for endemetriosis ). Its usage was as a pre-combat tonic/intoxicant as an additive to heather mead (with the most significant "fogg" fungal nerve agent ( a fine powdery lichen like growth) gathered with the heather flowers). Heather itself being in some species narcotic .So, one would slap on the malachite/woad ready use wound dressing ,get tanked up on beer and leap onto the yoke pole of your chariot! Hopefully you harvested the Borage in spring when it was lusty and full of sap otherwise you might not fancy fighting anyone. ps its full of magnesium as well -a strong nervine, so full in fact that the dried herb makes a nice little firework display!The alkoloids are present only in small quantities-but , the fresh herb has a greater concentration and I suggest the GLA gets these into circulation (literally) quite fast.Not a few modern patients are unable to take the oil as they find an unpleasant increase in blood presure occurs. In Hibernia, Medb of Connacht would be invoked to give courage to the warrior ,with Borage as an offering

Welcome! You are a spring chicken at 43! Beer -oh yes, and food -there are lively threads on Roman/Pict and Modern equivalents

would you be so kind as to ask about these-alavana (is this beautiful or sacred/notable) as a pre name ie:Alavna Carvettorium? Vircovicium. Vindolanda (white land?) .Medobogdium. Glannaventa (is supply port really correct?) Olinacum . Galava. Maia and Blatobulgium. I would be most grateful for any help.

Andrew Dalby has answered this in another thread (im looking for it! ) the short reply ? It hasnt died out at all, French, Italian, Romanian , Portugeuse and Spanish are all modern dialects with specific names: whilst ancient greek is still called greek! The modern forms have adapted to "modern" living but AD contends that the basic bones are visible . aha simulta neous posts!

Oh my, I think I must bite the bullet and go ahead and order a copy. The backlog of books in queue might have to get used to their status! Im moving steadily into the text -but this is a dense work-Buhner's technical herbal and chemical knowledge is vast (never mind the recipes).I hope no one rushes out and tries Henbane Beer as a first attempt-

I will cover this item in the Blog, but I have a lot of reading to do yet. As an aside on Pictish brewing (of heather and heather honey)I was very interested to note that the Picts used the whole hive in the process of fermentation, comb, honey , propolis, angry bees, pollen, grubs.No wonder this was so high in protein as a foodstuff -and of such repute as a medicine.They also included the "fogg" deposit from the heather flowers that clings to them in the Scottish climate, this final addition would ensure a possible hallucogenic component to the mix.I understand that although several Erica species flourish in N America the "fogg" is unknown. A side note in the text refers to the Roman's great desire to get hold of quality local beer from the Pictii. No wonder.

i spend as much time as I can searching for Roman artefacts, big or small , to record in some way-the one constant occurence throughout my visits to museums and preserved sites is the relentless solemnity of the dedication of altars to presiding deities. The soldiery constantly express themselves in tersely worded altar dedications, to a catholic range of deities, with a historical continuity in remote and obscure sites. These men are drawn from all over the Empire, Illyria, Sarmatia, Africa and Gaul yet the sheer weight of the finds is quite breathtaking to me. One thing that strikes me is that the Auxiliary Regiments are proud to show they are become citizens, yet they are in no way ashamed to honour deities specific to themselves. excellent post WW , I hope this kicks some debate off

Indeed, this was in no way an exercise in futility. As Chief Dan George said in Little Big Man: "My heart soars like a hawk!" Am I still in this world? Sometimes the magic works...sometimes it doesnt! and remember -there is a limited supply of Human Beings.

Tristo . But you have greater knowledge -and that is not a bad thing.

She is an excellent Mother -there will be a reason!

actually I didnt make a choice-I just stole MPCs stuff-so :- a phial of best quality liquamen (grade A garum) and the authentic recipe. a set of Medicus instruments the working notebooks of an experienced doctor working in Rome (and id keep an eye out for Biguus Diccus and see if a speech therapist could help him) .

The visit to the extremity of the Western Defences was hampered by poor weather. Ice, fog and bad light! Not so good for any of the locations I wanted to post in the Gallery, Medibogdum is a non-starter in icey conditions as the road is not much better than a cart track -and also happens to be the highest driveable pass in Britain.That will have to wait for another visit.I was able to get some shots of the bath ruins at Glannaventa (home of the Batavian "marine/amphibious " auxiliaries) a Flavian fort occupied virtually till the end of the Roman occupation. The first cohort of the Aelian Fleet were here in 158, they may be the first garisson to have had a long initial occupation.The first cohort of the Morini are attested in the 4th and 5th centuries< natives of Glesoriacum of the Belgae (Boulogne to you and I). Alavana (carvetiorum) -the "beautiful place of the Carvetii".It may be that this was the admin centre for the western defences. Valeria Victrix were here,(XX),and II Augusta. The auxiliary Cohors I Hispania did some later refurb work.First Cohort Dalmatiae were also epigraphically attested in 138. The Roman museum is on winter hours at present so I was unable to furnish any small item shots. So a few shots in my "Historical Sites " album -plus a passing anenome

Pantagathus speaks the truth! Ill have a copy of MPCs Aristotle and a few small plantlets of Siliphium.

This book is even more important than my initial glee would have you believe, the introduction is one of the most effective de-bunking essays on "modernism /scientific reductionism" I have ever read . I am still wandering through its pages, whilst its links to Rome are not exceptional its mind set in interpretation of historical ideas in relation to the "idea of progress" is excellent, what I suggest is that I will offer a review on (perhaps most fittingly) a pagan/polytheist web site and link back to this thread. Many forum members would , I feel , be interested in its startlingly non-pc language and its admiration of ancient technologies and the psychological and spiritual strengths of ancient societies in relation to anomic "modernism". ...and thats just a book about beer and plants!