Solsitium 2772 - December 21st, 2019

Attendees:
Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia (Hostess)
Marcus Quintius Clavus
Aulus Iulius Paterculus
Cindy (Arrived Later)

        Around noon, Sibylla, Quintius, & I met at Sibylla's house. For the first part of the meeting, we sat by the fire discussing Roman topics. On the table in front of us were a number of snacks, including hard-boiled eggs, dried fruit with nuts, bread, and assorted olives.
        Quintius presented his collection of Ancient History magazines to us, including issues on Africa, ancient cities, and the Etruscans. He shared the steps which had to be taken to obtain copies, as they are published in Europe, and some of the features which made them such valuable reading. In particular, he pointed out that they do not recycle old artwork, as many publishers do, but instead commission new art to the highest standard of historical accuracy. Sibylla and I were temporarily distracted from the conversation by looking over these beautiful magazines with interest.
        Sibylla outlined the progress of her various theses on Mithraism, of which her article for the American Meteor Society in particular had advanced a great deal since we last met and was basically ready for publication. In connection with this topic, I asked two questions: firstly whether we were in touch with the creator of the
mithraism.info website. Secondly, I asked whether the fact that the Mithraic Liturgy had been scribed by a man for his daughter, as I had recently heard, had any bearing on what we should think about the gender-exclusivity of Mithraic rites, as what this document meant overall. Sibylla answered that she had not looked at the Liturgy in
depth, but that other Mithraists used it, including Patti, an attendee of MithraCon. Quintius mentioned a recent post by Patti on Roman Army Talk concerning the Roman Mithras as opposed to the Zoroastrian aspect of the god.
        Cindy, a friend and housemate of Sibylla, arrived at the house and joined us by the fire for a time. She opened a discussion on the presentation of the ancient world, as well as medieval times, in film. As it happened, one of the articles in the magazines Quintius had brought turned on this very topic, and we thought over what it had to say as well. Quintius commented on the excellence of the film Alexander, partly due to the creation of new period-appropriate props rather than recycling items from other movies of approximately (meaning "within a thousand
years") the same time period, one of the flaws the article had pointed out in the film it reviewed.
        We then went into the dining room for the main meal of the evening. In addition to all the items remaining from the spread by the fire, there was ham provided by Sibylla, and a kind of casserole made of eggs, vegetables, garum, and asafoetida made by Quintius. After that we served a nut tart with honey which I baked the night before. At the table, Sibylla and Quintius discussed events by the Society of Creative Anachronism, particularly a craft contest of which Sibylla was to be a judge. CT State Latin Day was also brought up.
        After dinner, Cindy retired for the night and the rest of us returned to our places beside the fire. We discussed ecological depletion in the Roman empire: the extinction of the European lion, of silphium, etc. We also brought up Cato the Younger, on whom there was a bit of disagreement. Quintius argued that he took political obstinacy to an
extreme and was himself partly responsible for the end of the Republic. I found him to be an admirable figure, although perhaps one whom it would be difficult to live with in practice. Both of us recommended the biography Rome's Last Citizen to Sibylla, who was not as familiar with this particular figure.

New Nova Britannia Weblist

  For anyone who would like to sign up for Nova Britannia's email list, M. Cassius Julianus has created a new version of this list (due in part to changes to Yahoo Groups) at https://groups.io/g/NovaBritanniaProvincia/.
  If you find the information on this blog helpful, then you are likely to find membership in our weblist even more so, as the same events advertised here are discussed there as they are being planned. Members can share their own ideas for activities to be taken here in New England and any interesting facts about Rome about which they happen to learn.

Rome's Last Citizen: The Life and Legacy of Cato, Mortal Enemy of Caesar by Rob Goodman and Jimmy Soni

   This book aims to be both a biography of Cato the Younger and an analysis of the impact the legend which followed him had on later generations. Both journalists, the authors seem particularly attuned to politics, and convincingly dissect both the political strategies which Cato himself employed and the use to which he was put by such worthies as George Washington. Occasionally, their search for parallels between ancient Roman politics and those of modern times may go too far, as when they refer to the populares as occupying the "left" of the Roman political scene (a characterization which has a touch of truth, but could lead a careless reader to import too many assumptions).
   More often, particularly during the more purely biographical section which takes all but the Prologue and Epilogue of the book, this strategic reading of the conflicts between the factions of the Late Republic provides a quiet sub-current to the essentially character-based narrative which the authors drew from the work of numerous ancient writers. Cato's great strength and weakness, the authors let us see repeatedly, was that he demanded personal virtue triumph while viewing often viewing mere strategy with contempt. The authors are often critical of this approach, but reveal and explain the partial successes that resulted from it. In some ways, the type of politician who succeeds is a reflection of the people who vote him, or her, into power; Goodman & Soni do not neglect the strands of Roman thought which Cato came to symbolize and why others often chose to support him, even at the expense of their own interests.
    In the foreground to all of this was a life of self-imposed hardship: not so much the famed austerity, though that is mentioned as well, but relationships personal and political strained because of an unwillingness to compromise and an encroaching melancholy as the Republic careened from one looming threat to another yet more serious. There is powerful writing in many places, as the authors depict the frustration Cato must have felt when his warnings were unheard and his efforts to preserve libertas seemed doomed. At other points, there are glimpses of success, even happiness. We also see a certain evolution in Cato's thought and action over time, which remains opaque despite the authors' attempts to interpret it: as his goals seemed more remote in the pragmatic Roman present, Cato seems to have embraced both the antique Roman model and a universalizing Stoicism with increasing fervour. At last, these two pillars of his existence seemed to fuse together, so that Rome was synonymous with virtue and freedom.
   This book deserves the greatest praise it can be given: that it does justice to its subject. I recommend it to everyone, particularly those who would like to think over the essence of the Roman Republic. Although Cato's is not the only perspective of value, I don't think we can fully understand that ideal without giving due weight to his vision, as they were expressed in his words and deeds.

Book Review: Dreaming the Eagle: A Novel of Boudica, The Warrior Queen by Manda Scott

   This book treats us to two parallel Bildungsromans: the comming of age of the warrior Breaca, including how she came to be known by the title Boudica ("She Who Brings Victory", the authoress translates for us) and that of her fictional brother Bán. Over the course of their initiations into their very different roles as adults, we see first something of contemporary British Celtic society as Scott imagines it & gradually increasing signs of the past & future conflict between the Celts & Romans.
   This book occupies a place somewhere between historical fiction & fantasy in terms of genre. Although there is no point at which the tale deviates from known history (so far as I could tell), little enough is known of Boudica's life & the society into which she was born that much is authorial invention by necessity, and some of that invention was slightly mystical, particularly those which take place on the island of Mona. These elements were well integrated into the story as a whole, and suspending disbelief while reading was easy. In retrospect, it seems that the culture of the British tribes are a little too tailored to modern sensibilities to be fully plausible (no slavery & a great deal of concern for animal welfare; the full equality of the sexes is somewhat believable, since Boudica was, after all, a real person).
   It takes time to understand the characters, but we get a chance to see the virtues & flaws of each, with the exception of a few wholly villianous characters. Scott is similarly nuanced in her depictions of the two cultures on display: despite the fact that the Romans are antagonistic to her heroine, Scott never adopts the same hostility towards them as many of her more sympathetic characters. A noble Roman is introduced fairly early in the story, apparently to dispel any inclination of readers to view the Empire as a conquest-hungry monolith, although it soon becomes clear that he also has a significant role in the plot.
   Certain scenes portray the abuse of slaves, which many people may find painful to read , but they clearly have a justification in terms of character development: they are not gratuitous.
   Overall, this is an excellent book - probably not the best for learning about the culture of the Celts as it actually existed, but great entertainment, and possibly a good starting point to develop an interest in this corner of the empire.

After Action Report: MithraCon 2019

Friday, April 12th, 2019
Participants:
Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia (Hostess)
Marcus Quintius Clavus
Marcus Cassius Julianus
Mercuria Cassia
Ed
Wenna
Aulus Iulius Paterculus
   Quintius & I arrived to find Sibylla, Cassius, and Mercuria already in the room and deep in discussion.
   We left for dinner almost immediately. The Afghani restaurant where we had eaten the previous year had closed, so we ate the "Basil" restaurant (a Thai/Chinese/Japanese fusion establishment) next door instead. Cassius passed out laminated fact sheets on the interactions between Rome and China in antiquity, which we read in appreciative silence. Soon after our orders arrived, Ed and Wenna joined the group.
  There was some disscussion on general topics, MithraCons past, and what restaurant we might visit next year, but much of our attention was occupied by the food in front of us, which were in generous portions accompanied by pots of tea for the table. Reactions on the food itself varied.
  After dinner, Ed and Wenna said their farewells and the rest of us returned to the room to engage in further conversation. Sibylla shared insights gained from another year's reasearch into Mithraism. Cassius contributed more insights from his Masonic experience; Mercuria fact-checked information online, discovering some additional details, of which even Cassius had not been aware.
  Sibylla mentioned the recent reintroduction of the priesthood training by Cn. Lentulus and the possibility that Sibylla might organize an official Mithraic cult to be recognized by Nova Roma.
  Cassius caught us up with some of the progress made by Byzantium Novum over the previous year.
  Cassius also presented us with T-shirts which had been made at his copy shop, which showed a beautiful image of the Rockbirth of Mithras.

Saturday, April 13th, 2019
Additional Participants:
Alex
Adam
   The following day we enjoyed the now traditional breakfast at Patricia’s, the diner less than a block from the hotel. Mercuria was sadly not able to join us at breakfast due to headache, but later arrived at the Sterling library for a day of intense research. When the library finally closed, we exited to find a group of students practicing improv of the steps ahead of the library entrance.
   Afterwards, we split into two groups, head to the Yale Barnes & Nobles and the hotel. We re-united in an hour or two in the hotel room over a feast including stuffed grape leaves, fruit, bread, chicken, lettuce, and large quantities of cheese, followed by raspberry and apple tarts brought down from Maine. Our discussion touched on a number of topics including the modern U.S. navy, before turning to the research we had done in the library during the day. Sibylla had a long list on Mithraism which she had ordered to Sterling in advance. Cassius told us about two particular books he had recently purchased, Pictish Mithraism, which postulated a link between Pictish carved
standing stones and Mithraism and The Trail of Mithras  which examined a supposed line of Mithraea running
across the Roman Empire and the churches later built above some of them. I had read selections from books on various topics, including the infinity problem in quantum physics, the lives of Laura Ingalls
and Rose Wilder, the novels of Steven King, and Greek tragedy.
  Alex & Adam arrived partway through our discussion of library research. Conversation turned to how Alex had
come to join us: as it turned out, he had been entranced by the Mithraeum when he began working as at the Yale Art Gallery and been told by a fellow employee about the conference which visited each year. We discussed Mithraism for some time after that; in particular details of initiation which it appeared could be deduced from the
mosaic and frescos at the Felicissima Mithraeum and the "Mithraic liturgy".

Sunday, April 14th, 2018
  We returned for Patricia's for a second excellent breakfast, this time with Mercuria as part of the group. Quintius was not with us, as he had returned home the previous night. Discussion turned mainly upon life in New England and personal interests, including research into runes by both Mercuria and Sibylla.
  On our way to the art gallery, we passed an interesting used bookstore, but although the sign said "Open", it was actually closed. Someone joked that on the way back the sign would say "Closed", but the store would be open.
  We arrived at the gallery somewhat early, and hence had time to tour not only the Classical wing of the gallery but a section devoted to coins of assorted eras and another devoted to Byzantine art. Alex soon joined us at looking over the items in the Classical wing, and particularly the Dura Europe exhibit. This exhibit had been somewhat
diminished, as certain items were on loan elsewhere, but the Mithraeum was still intact. Sibylla spoke about the items before us both with Alex and with some other patrons of the gallery. After a little while, Cassius and Mercuria left, followed soon after by Alex. Quintius joined Sibylla and me shortly afterwards. We had coffee & tea together, followed by a visit to the bookstore we had passed earlier, which was indeed open and had an adequate collection of Classics-related books.

Origin of the Nova Britannia Flag

Apparently, one of the official flags of New England is a red flag with a pine tree on a white field in one corner.

This flag, called the "Bunker Hill Flag" is clearly the inspiration behind our own Nova Britannia flag.

Marcus Audens must have used his extensive knowledge of  the American Revolution when designing our local emblem - an interesting and appropriate connection.