U is for Unusual Details

After the fall of gladiatorial sports, the Colosseum was unused for a number of years, allowing nature to consume it. That itself is not unusual. What is unusual is this--it became covered with exotic plants not native to the area.

Why?

The reason is because of the beast fights. Zebras and rhinos and lions and all types of animals were brought in from all over the known world. Those animals carried seeds and spores on their coats, which later grew and flourished in Rome's humid, long-growing season.

I love these unusual details in novels--when the author bypasses the obvious to give a unique detail that illustrates the complexity and variety of the world. So often authors stop at the obvious--a mountain town that smells of pine trees and sharp air. But what about the smell of forest fires during the dry season? Or the exhaust from the line of cars sitting on the one highway though town when tourists visit on the weekends? And, granted, these aren't the most usual details either. I'm sure if I lived in a little mountain town, I'd have better examples.

The challenge is always to research and experience and think until the unusual details appear. Hard work? Absolutely. Worth it? Definitely!

T is for Toilet, or relaxing with 20 of your closest friends

In the late Roman Empire, there were at least 144 public toilets in Rome. However, these weren't places to just do your business--they were comfortable places where one could read or talk to others and perhaps even obtain a dinner invitation.

An epigram written by Martial (41 AD - 104 AD):

Why does Vacerra spend his hours

in all the privies, and day-long sit?

He wants a supper, not a shit.

The first picture is of the Ostila public latrine. The second is from Ephesus, a Greek city.

Notice the level of comfort--just cold, hard stone.

I'vw always thought that using the restroom is a solitary adventure. But I used to think the same thing about writing too. I wrote for years without ever consulting anyone. When I joined a critique group four years ago, I had no idea what my strengths and weaknesses were as a writer--wow, has that changed. I never look at writing as a solitary adventure anymore. So who knows what I will think about going to the restroom in ten years?

S is for Scammers, Ancient Rome Style

A few scammers from Ancient Rome:

Polycharmus was sickly. He would lie in bed ten times per year with various ailments. Every time he "recovered", he was showered with gifts.

Clytus claimed to have eight birthdays per year.

Bithynicus thought he was the scammer--he found an old, rich lady named Naevia who was constantly coughing and wheezing and married her with the hopes of inheriting her legacy. Unfortunately for Bithynicus, Naevia was faking all her symptoms in order to gain his attentions.

At one time, Senators were allowed to take their young sons with them to senate meetings. Papirius was one of those young sons, and he would accompany his father occasionally. Sons were told they couldn't talk to anyone about what happened in the senate chambers. However, Papirius' mother annoyed him with questions when he got home. Papirius concocted this story: the senate was going to enact some new marriage laws and had discussed whether it was more advantageous for a husband to have two wives or a wife to have two husbands. Mother bought the story, and the next day, women thronged to the senate house in support of the one wife to two husbands rules. Papirius had to tell the senators what he had done. From that day on, no senator's sons were allowed at the Senate meetings--except for Papirius.

Source

Matz, D. Daily Life of the Ancient Romans. Greenwood Press, 2002.

R is for Roman Recipes

A few Ancient Roman Recipes from Apicius's De Re Coquinaria (On Cooking):

Honey Refresher for Travelers

The wayfarer's honey refresher (so called because it gives endurance and strength to pedestrians).

Flavor honey with ground pepper and skim; in the moment of serving, put honey in a cup, as much as desired to obtain the right degree of sweetness, and mix with wine, not more than a needed quantity; also, add some wine to the spiced honey to facilitate its flow and the mixing.

Fine Ragout of Brains and Bacon

Strain hard-boiled eggs with parboiled brains [calf's or pig's], the skin and nerves of which have been removed. Also, cook chicken giblets, all in proportion to the fish. Put this aforesaid mixture in a saucepan, placed the cook bacon in the center, grind pepper and lovage [herbs]. And to sweeten, add a dash of mead. Heat. When hot, stir briskly with a rue whip, and bind [thicken] with roux [flour].

Peas (Supreme Style)

Cook the peas in oil with a piece of sow's belly. Put in a saucepan: broth, leek heads, green coriander, and put on the fire to be cooked. Dice tid-bits [finely chopped meats]. Similarly cook thrushes or other small game prides, or take sliced chicken or diced brain, properly cooked.

These selected recipes are a bit misleading. The average Roman didn't eat meat often. Instead, diet consisted of mostly bread, fruit and vegetables. Fish was consumed more regularly than meat.

Q is for Quality of Life

When thinking about Ancient Rome, sometimes I forget about the incredible disparity that existed. Quality of life was vastly different for different Romans.

At one extreme is the Emperor and other powerful families of Rome. These individuals were incredibly wealthy. For example, Emperor Caligula's favorite horse, Incitaus, lived better than most Romans. Incitaus lived in an ivory manger with a golden cup from which to drink his expensive wine.

On the other side, most Romans lived in apartments that were notoriously filthy and prone to fire, and a solid 40% of the people living in Rome were slaves.

When writing a novel, it is so easy to focus in on the MC and not see the variety of people living around him or her. But like the slaves that make up almost half of the Roman population, we can't forget about the people who surround the MC. While the general populous may fade into the background of the novel, they still influence the experiences and the voice of the MC.

P is for Phallus Windchimes

In Ancient Rome, phallus symbols were extremely common--they were used for good luck, fertility and to give directions (usually to point the way to a brothel). Roman generals might paint a phallus on the side of his carriage to display his triumph.

The Roman mindset about displaying a penis is completely different from ours today. Phallic symbols had to do with much more than just sex--they were a symbol of power and happiness. Shops of all kinds (not just brothels) displayed phallic symbols with the words "Here lies happiness". The penis was the source of life.

Of course, sex was still part of it. Priapus, the god that personifies the phallus represented the sexual impulse in its most brutal form. According to rumor, when Christians came to Rome, they were able to convince many of the Romans to give up all their gods--except for Priapus.

Many everyday objects were decorated with a phallus. The pictures include windchimes, a lamp and a drinking bowl. Even bread was often baked into a penis shape.

I've thought a lot about what this significance of this symbol says about gender in Ancient Rome--how a uniquely male symbol represents power, luck and fertility, and what this means in how both genders regarded themselves and each other. I wonder if both women and men had the same level of reverence for phallic symbols.

O is for Open

I flaked out on N and M. I’m not particularly surprised with myself. I’m one of those people who tends to finish things, but not without a couple of flake outs along the way.

I was getting burnt out, and I don’t do things that aren’t fun unless it is absolutely necessary. So I disappeared for a few days, but now I am back and excited.

That said, Ancient Rome returns tomorrow with phallus windchimes. Today I want to share a little more about myself.

This is hard for me because I’m not a very open person. I’m quiet and introverted. There was a time I would have used the word shy to describe myself, but the term isn’t fitting anymore. I have grown out of being shy--perhaps because I no longer feel intimidated about being myself--but I still have many of the characteristics of a shy person.

I wondered for many years why I am still quiet and introverted while not feeling shy. At some point, I realized that I’m just not an open person--and not just in relation to others, also in respect to myself.

What I mean is that I don’t feel emotions very deeply. I see others around me reacting with a whole entourage of emotions--anger, frustration, joy, love, etc--I feel them, but I don’t feel them as deeply as others seem to.

Examples? I haven’t cried since 2004, and I cried then because I was trying to quit smoking and was extremely frustrated with my addiction (I did quit btw--just passed the five year mark!). But it is more than just methods of relieving stress--I’ve never been angry with my husband. Never. We’ve had a few discussions, and he now rinses out his milk glass instead of leaving it on the counter for the yuckie white circle at the bottom of the glass to set, but I’ve never felt anger toward him. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I was angry with anything. I don’t get frustrated with friends or traffic. But I don’t feel overly excited either. When Riley was born, I wasn’t ecstatic. I looked at him, and I thought--Wow. A little person. I’ve grown to love him very deeply and steadily, but there was never a flood of emotions.

For a long time, I have been embarrassed to admit this. Like maybe I’m not living life as deeply and fully as others. I don’t want someone to pity me--to say that my life is flat.

But then I realized that I love my life. Deep emotions or not, I consider myself a happy person, and I wouldn’t change who I am--so it doesn’t matter so much what other people think.

And I realized there must be other people like me. Others who watch the people around them and are amazed by how intense they seem to be about everyone and everything. Even little things, like when co-workers get frustrated with something, but it just doesn’t bother us. Others who suspect that their lives don’t have as many ups and downs.

Have you ever thought that you don’t feel emotions as deeply as other people? Does this concern you?

L is for Lucky Little Horn Amulet

Ancients Romans were superstitious about the evil eye. The premise of the evil eye is that some people have the ability to harm others just by looking at them. This concept is seen in many different cultures. In Rome, there was concern that giving the evil eye could harm a nursing mother, children, nursing animals and male fertility.

In order to ward against the evil eye, a variety of amulets were worn. One of the most common amulets is a little horn, called a cornicello charm--pictured below.

Another common charm worn for good luck and to ward off an evil eye was a phallus. The one pictured below is from 100 A.D.

Sadly, we don't have any phallus charms hanging in our house, but we do have a kind of lucky ornament that graces our house. It was a gift from my parents when my husband and I were married--a door ornament from Singapore. The bats around the edges of the ornament are a symbol for luck.

Do you have any lucky charms?

K is for King Romulus (and Remus!) and the founding of Rome

Rome was founded sometime around 750 BC. There are many legends surrounding the founding of the city, but the most prominent is the story of Romulus and his twin brother, Remus, who are considered the first kings of Rome.

According to legend, Romulus and Remus were the sons of the god Mars and Rhea Silvia, a Vestal Virgin (more on Vestal Virgins later in the challenge--for V perhaps?). As soon as the boys were born, they were abandoned because their great-uncle, Amulius, was concerned that the boys would one day kill him. They boys were placed in a trough and thrown into the River Tiber.

At the time of the attempted infanticide, the River Tiber was flooded, and as the waters receded, the boys drifted to shore. They were found by a she-wolf who nursed the boys and cared for them as if they were her own pups. The statute depicts them being nursed. As a mom who is currently nursing--that picture makes me uncomfortable. That she-wolf could feed an army.

After a time, Romulus and Remus were discovered by a shepherd named Faustulus, and they were cared for by his wife, Acca Larentia. Some legends argue that it was actually Acca Larentia who nursed the boys. Interestingly, she was also known by the name Lupa, derived from the Latin word Lupus. Lupus means wolf.

Regardless, Romulus and Remus grew up, and after killing Amulius (he was right to be worried), they decided to start their own city. They returned to the River Tiber--at the point where the she-wolf found them--and began to build a city on Palatine Hill.

Romulus set to building walls on Palatine Hill, but Remus made fun of him because the walls were so low. Remus mocked Romulus by jumping over the walls. Romulus became angry with his brother and killed him. After Remus' death, Romulus named the city Roma--after himself.

Like any story passed down over a number of years, it is unclear how much truth there is to the legend. However, archaeologists have discovered ruins on Palatine Hill that date back to around 750 BC. Some of the ruins include walls fortifying the north side of the hill.

I've always wanted to write a legend--something with gods and power hunger kings and murder. I've sat down multiple times to try and brainstorm/outline a legend, but I am never able to really get moving on it. Soon I get distracted and start working on something else.

Have you ever written a legend? Any interest in writing one?

J is for Jewelry--Don't forget your poisoned ring!

Jewelry was common in Ancient Rome. Romans wore a variety of jewelry including bracelets, necklaces, armlets and earrings. However, the favorite piece of jewelry was the ring.

According to Pliny the Elder, Romans first started wearing rings in the forth century B.C. It became common for Romans to wear rings on every finger excluding the middle finger (this finger was named the digitus impudicus--"imprudent finger"). In some cases, smaller rings to decorate each finger joint were also worn.

A small amount of poison was occasionally hidden inside a ring's gemstone. This was used in case the wearer needed a speedy exit. For example, when about 2,000 pounds of gold was stolen from Jupiter's temple, the temple official on watch was retained for questioning. Before any legal action could be taken, he bit down on his poisoned ring, killing himself.

Jewelry--poisoned or otherwise--is one of those things that I rarely include in character descriptions. However, it is an area that I shouldn't be ignoring. Jewelry can be a very telling detail, whether it is a woman sporting an engagement ring with a gemstone larger than the width of her finger or a small claddagh charm on a necklace.

When crafting characters, do you ever consider what kinds of jewelry the character might wear? Has a piece of jewelry ever figured prominently in one of your stories?

I am definitely going to be writing about a poisoned ring at some point!

I is for Impluvium

An impluvium is a feature in a ancient Roman home. Roman homes (well, the homes owned by wealthier individuals) had open air atriums in the central areas. The impluvium was located in the atrium and was designed to hold rainwater that fell in though the open space. Rain water would fall into the impluvium and the trickle down into a kind of well so the water could be used immediately or in the future.

Imagine what it would be like to have this atrium in your home. To be able to watch and smell the rain as it descends into the open area. All those little rain drops are like the ideas that cascade down on writers every moment of every day. Do you have a impluvium where you store your ideas? How do you decide what ideas to nurture and what ideas to discard?

H is for Hermogenes the napkin thief

Apparently, there were quite a few napkin thieves in Rome--individuals who would go to parties and steal napkins. The most well-known napkin thief was Hermogenes. The rumor was that Hermogenes was so skilled at stealing napkins that he could find a way to nab one even if a fellow diner watched his right hand while holding his left.

Hermogenes didn’t limit himself to swiping napkins at dinner parties. During gladiatorial shows, spectators sometimes waived handkerchiefs as signs of approval for a wounded gladiator. Hermogenes would manage to steal these handkerchiefs--once he was able to pilfer four of them during one celebration.

At some dinner parties where Hermogenes was a guest, hosts stopped providing napkins. Hermogenes began stealing tablecloths and the valances from couches.

What makes me love this story is that Hermogenes continued to get invitations to dinner parties. He probably got some invitations because of his reputation. I love quirky characters who break the rules--they are fun to write and fun to read. I’d love to have Hermogenes over for dinner.

Source

Matz, D. Daily Life of the Ancient Romans. Greenwood Press, 2002.

G is for Gladiatorial Moonlighting, or keeping your day job

How have I resisted bringing up gladiators for this long?

Although, this post is less about gladiators and more about Emperor Commodus. He gets a bad rap from the Gladiator film. Not that this representation isn’t partly deserved, but as is usually the case in most movies and novels, it isn’t the entire story.

One aspect of Gladiator that is true is that Commodus enjoyed fighting in the arena. He gained about 1,100 victories to his name in gladiatorial combat--some against various animals and some against men. He was a showman--he was known to wear women’s dresses in the boxes of the amphitheater. He also appeared completely naked, except for his sword, for a fight once. There are a variety of sources that state that these fights were not entirely fair and that gladiators fought against him using wooden swords and the animal were shackled. The extent to which these competitions were rigged is not clear.

What is clear is that Commodus loved the games. Despite the fact that the status of gladiators in Rome was equal to slaves, Commodus would drink with them and carry his gladiatorial honors proudly (he was awarded the title Captain of the Secutores’ 620 times). He even considered moving to the gladiatorial barracks.

And he did all this while keeping his day job: Emperor of Rome.

Most writers struggle, like Commodus, trying to balance responsibilities and loves. There are always blogs about not being able to quit a day job or how writing won’t get one rich. I usually stop reading whenever a blogger starts talking about such things. Not because I don’t believe it, but because I just don’t care.

I love having “day” jobs. I’ve had more than I want to admit (mostly because I lost count a long time ago). Some haven’t been the funnest, but all have combined to help create my life experiences--those experiences that I bring with me into writing. From being a listings editor for Writer’s Market (talk about boring) to an attorney to an English teacher to a Subway Sandwich Artist to my current profession as a dog walker, all have taught me about life and writing.

Commodus wouldn’t have been the same person if he wasn’t Emperor. And while none of my jobs have involved governing a nation, I wouldn’t be the same without them either. I hope to keep having new experiences--to keep meeting new people and learning new things, which means I’m not done with day jobs--even if I am able to make a living from writing.

By the way, Commodus’ love of being a gladiator didn’t kill him. He was killed at home by his training partner, not in the arena as Gladiator depicted.

Tomorrow

H is for Hermogenes the napkin thief

Source

Nossov, K., Gladiator: Rome’s Bloody Spectacle, Osprey Publishing, 2009.

F is for Fasti (and free books)

There were a lot of great suggestions for F today, but after spending some time researching, I decided to focus on Fa L'Americana’s suggestion of Fasti--the Roman Calendar. The Fasti became the register of days for legal and public business as well as religious festivals. Some examples are pictured below.

It is hard to summarize what the Fasti contained because they were unique to the different regions of Rome. In addition, there were many aspects to the calendars--I decided to limit the discussion to the Kalends, Nones and Ides.

Each month had specially named days that were based on the lunar cycle.

-Kalends fell on the first of the Roman month--the first appearance of the crescent moon.

-Nones fell on the 7th day of months with 31 days and the 5th day of all shorter months--the quarter moon.

-Ides fell on the 15th of months with 31 days and the 13th of all other months--the full moon.

When looking the Roman Fasti, the cycles of the months based on the moon become vary apparent--much more apparent than in our current calendar. It made me think of my current WIP in terms of years and months. The entire WIP representing a year, and each chapter representing an individual month. I think a lot about the structure of the entire WIP. I’m a visual person, so I have graphs and spreadsheets and all sorts of nonsense to represent the novel’s arc. What I often overlook are the smaller arcs in each chapter. Does each chapter have a Kalends, Nones and Ides that help guide the reader?

I outlined the Kalends, Nones, and Ides for the first twelve chapters in my WIP. I considered the Kalends to be the inciting incident (the first glimpse of the moon), Nones the rising action (the growth of the moon) and Ides to be the climax (the full moon--the point when everything changes). I was pleasantly surprised with some chapters and mortified by the lack of Nones or Ides in others. Looking at the novel in this way also incited my excitement--which is always appreciated.

Thanks to Fa L'Americana for the suggestion. Please head on over and check out her blog--she is a fabulous A-Zer who blogs about her life in Sicily.

And..F has a double meaning today. Free books. Who doesn't like free books? Gina is having a fun contest over at her blog, so go get yourself entered. And, as Gina pointed out, she is Roman--so I totally get credit for a twofer today.

Examples of Fasti:

Tomorrow

G is for Gladiatorial Moonlighting

Sources

Calendars though the Ages Webexhibits, Institute for Dynamic Educational Advancement.

Matz, D. Daily Life of the Ancient Romans. Greenwood Press, 2002.

E is for Emperor: The most dangerous job in Rome

Between 27 B.C. (the beginning of Augustus’ reign--he is depicted in the picture) and 476 A.D (the fall of Rome) there were 112 Roman emperors. About half of them died from natural causes, illness or in battle. The other half weren’t so “lucky” and were either murdered or committed suicide. Twelve of them were deposed and mutilated.

The worst year for emperors was 236 A.D. Six emperors died that year. One was killed in battle and then four were murdered. The next emperor made it to the end of the year--no doubt with a few glances over his shoulder.

These stats remind me how fiction often splits from real life. We aren't accustomed to losing at least half of our leaders in such dramatic fashions, but it happens all the time in fiction. As a reader you never know if someone is going to make it to the end of the novel. Heck, as a writer sometimes you don’t know if someone is going to make it to the end of the novel. I love the way that anything can happen when writing, and if you don’t like how it turned out, you can always go back and axe a character or two.

Tomorrow

I have no idea. F is proving to be a challenge.

Source

Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families, ed. Richard D. Weigel, Western Kentucky University

D is for a Dolphin named Simon

During the reign of Augustus (ruled 27 B.C. to 14 A.D.), there was a dolphin who lived in Lake Lucrinus, a lake in Southern Italy that still exists today. The picture is of modern day Lake Lucrinus.

The dolphin took a liking to a young boy who frequented the lakeshore and fed the dolphin bread. The boy called the dolphin Simon (Greek for sub-nose). Simon met the boy at the lakeshore whenever the boy called for him. Eventually Simon even gave the boy rides around the lake on his back. The boy’s school was on the opposite side of the lake, and Simon ferried him back and forth daily.

This went on for a number of years until the boy died from a childhood illness. Everyday Simon continued to swim to the place where he had met the boy until the dolphin eventually passed away.

I love this story for the same reason that I love certain books: the relationship. There are some relationships that are so beautiful I can read about them over and over. I strive to create such a wonderful pairing.

Of course the relationships in novels are rife with conflict and not all of them can be classified as beautiful. But at the core, there is something that pulls two characters together. Whether it is friendship, love, dependence, family or the desire for revenge--there is a hinge that keeps two character joined. One of my favorite aspects of writing is creating that hinge. And then, of course, trying to rip it apart.

Tomorrow

E is for Emperor: The most dangerous job in Rome

Source

Matz, D. Daily Life of the Ancient Romans. Greenwood Press, 2002.

And Wikipedia...did I just say that? Don’t worry--I verified everything I found there

C is for Communal Sponge

Ever wonder what people used before toilet paper? While there were a variety of options around the world, the most common in Rome was the communal sponge. A sea sponge was kept next to the toilet or commode (depending on your wealth--those with means often had indoor toilets with running water). The sponge was typically attached to a stick and utilized to--well, you get the point.

The sponge was washed in a variety ways. In public restrooms (more on this later in the Challenge), the toilet had two holes. One for you and one for the sponge. The sponge had its home in fresh running water to keep it clean. At home, it is likely that the sponge would be cleaned in a bucket of salt water.

Certainly other things were used in addition to the sponge--cloth, moss, paper, etc. But it appears that toilet paper, as we know it, didn’t exist until 6th Century AD--a solid 650 years after my current WIP.

The difficulties I have with the idea of the communal sponge is what is left behind. I wonder how Romans felt about the sponge.

In thinking about this topic, I wondered if the sponge is like the “traditional story lines” that are returned to story after story. Some say that there are only seven original plots that we use over and over or that everything has already been written. I don’t believe that. Like on the sponge, every writer leaves their individual germs behind. Give two writers the same plot line and the same characters, and they will both write different novels. The characters will respond in different ways and develop different motivations. Just like we are unique, our stories are unique. There may be some universal truths or commonalties--but the only person who can tell your story is you.

Tomorrow

D is for a Dolphin named Simon

B is for Baldness: The Ancient Comb Over

Martial, an Ancient Roman epigrammatist, had a few words to say about almost everyone he knew. A few of these choice words were reserved for his friend Marinus about Marinus’ hairstyle. Marinus was bald and let the fringes of his naked dome grow long enough that he could comb them over the top in the attempt to look like he had a full head of hair. Without the help of Aqua Net (did I just date myself?), whenever a gust of wind came up, his long tendrils of hair would return to their place--dangling on the side of his head.

Martial’s advice: “Admit your old, Marinus, and quit trying to give the appearance of two people.”

But that is the fun about writing--you get to be two people. You can be five hundred people. I love getting to try on someone’s skin, walk around and survive though the consequences of their decisions. And there is nothing like being someone else to remind you about yourself.

It's unlikely that someone would accuse Julius Caesar of being two people (to his face at least), but he also had the same problem. There are a few references that the famous consul may have been one of the originators of the comb over. He also wore his laurel wreath often--likely for the same reason my husband wears a baseball hat.

Apparently Cleopatra recommended to Caesar he try a mix of charred and ground mice, horse teeth, bear grease and deer. It is unclear if Caesar was supposed to use this combination topically or orally. Unfortunately, whatever he did with it, it didn’t work for him.

Monday

C is for Communal Sponge: Why I love toilet paper

Sources

Matz, D. Daily Life of the Ancient Romans. Greenwood Press, 2002.

Witworth, D. Even Julius Caesar struggled to hide thinness of his thatch. The Sunday Times, 2007.