Saturday, December 21, 2019

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.