Saturnalia 2778 - December 20th, 2025

Saturday, December 20th, MMDCCLXXVIII, Approximately 10:00 a.m. - 8:10 p.m.
Participants: Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia
                    Marcus Cassius Julianus
                    Marcus Quintius Clavus
                    Aulus Iulius Paterculus
                    Numerius Octavius Astronomus
                    Titus Ovidius Nonus
   The evening before, on December 19th, there had been a major storm. The power went out in the home of Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia, where our meeting was to take place. M. Cassius Julianus, who arrived after dark, had not been able to call ahead and had seen downed trees along the way, giving some hints of what had occurred. Nonetheless, Sibylla and Cassius had made the best of the situation, going to a nearby restaurant for a dinner of fish & chips that night and out for coffee (and water) in the morning of December 20th.
    M. Quintius Clavus and I arrived around 10 a.m. Quintius was aware of the situation, having checked the power outage map online and spoken with Sibylla by cell phone the previous night. Sibylla and Cassius greeted us outside and led us through the garage to sitting room, where the hearth was blazing. We had a lengthy conversation, which went into the current situation and our daily lives as well as into Roman topics.
    We discussed fiction series: the Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough (which Quintius, Cassius, & I loved and which Sibylla had yet to read) and the Karus Saga by Marc Alan Edelheit (of which I had just finished the first book, Lost Legio IX). Cassius recommended the Destroyermen series by Taylor Anderson as a similar tale of people from a specific historical period being transferred to another world, adding that though the premise sounded a bit silly, everyone to whom he'd recommended it had enjoyed it. I stated that this reminded me of the Codex Alera series, which had been the result of a deliberately silly prompt (Lost Roman Legion plus Pokemon) being given to the author, Jim Butcher, only to become a success.
   Quintius spoke about a nonfiction book, The Inheritance of Rome by Christopher Wickham and its thesis that much more of the Roman Empire survived into the Middle Ages than was commonly thought.
   Contemplation of the fire brought Nero and Crassus the Rich to mind, and there was some thoughtful discussion of them, including whether either might be considered underrated or misunderstood. Cassius and Quintius agreed that Nero was a more complex figure than generally appreciated. Quintius pointed out that Nero's mother had attempted to rule through him while he was quite young and Cassius said that the remnants of Nero's Golden House had the feeling of a profoundly sad place. I argued that having Crassus around to purchase and then save burning buildings was an improvement over having no fire department at all, which elicited what looked like an appalled expression from Cassius, though he conceded some truth to it, at least for those not personally obliged to sell under those conditions.
  A little after noon, the power came back on. We had called N. Octavius Astronomus earlier to let him know that the plan to contact him through Zoom might not succeed due to the outage, but when 1 p.m. arrived and we were able to connect to the internet, we called to see whether he would be able to join after all. Just after he agreed to connect through Zoom and hung up, the power failed again. We called back and spoke to Astronomus on speaker. Astronomus shared his goals with his continuing education at the university, and stated that he hoped to study and possibly one day move abroad. There was some discussion which followed, especially between Astronomus and Sibylla, about learning languages and differences between Norwegian and Swedish. Eventually, Astronomus had to go, in case there was someone who wanted to see the next presentation at the planetarium where Astronomus worked, which were scheduled for every half hour.
  Cassius reported briefly on happenings in Byzantium Novum, noting that they had members as far away as Thailand and that there had been a number of Zoom meetings, with a few offline ones as well, though none Cassius had personally had the chance to attend thus far. Cassius also mentioned that one citizen of Byzantium Novum had attended MithraCon in a previous year.
   This prompted me to ask whether Mithraism had persisted into the Byzantine Period. Cassius answered that it had, and this led into an extended discussion on religion.
   Quintius recounted some events which had transpired during past reenactments, and Cassius recalled that one of the legionaries mentioned in the anecdote Quintius was telling had left behind his armour and some other items, which Cassius had in storage, waiting for some other legionary to take them one day.
   Sibylla and Quintius talked about the SCA. Sibylla shared some activities of members of the SCA in the Navy which had taken place over the years. One such incident involved the U.S. SCA folks appearing on deck in their period garb, thus baffling the Russians known to be spying on them. Quintius described judging the "Artifacts of a Life" contest, which had required creating and using a number of items which would have belonged to a specific person at a specific time and place in history, then describing how these objects illustrated the life of that particular person.
   Eventually, we decided to serve the dates, figs, and almonds, snacking on these items as we continued our conversation.
   We had been checking the driveway periodically, as T. Ovidius Nonus had said he would arrive around 3:00 p.m. He arrived a little later, and joined us next to the fire. He was dressed in a tunic, which was impressively historical-looking. After greetings, introductions (Nonus and Cassius had already met), and a brief tour of the premises, Nonus told us a bit about his interests in permaculture, archaeology (which he hoped might become a career), and religion, as well as his experiences in Nova Roma thus far. Quintius advised that Vindolanda in Britain was always looking for more people to help them excavate.
   The power came back on again around dusk, somewhat after Nonus arrived.
   Nonus served the bread he had brought along. Sibylla brought out some grapes and wine as well.
   Nonus was interested in becoming an augur and was doing an exhaustive reading of primary sources, but had not yet found the guidance for which he'd been hoping on how to pursue this study within Nova Roma. I noted that Nova Roma required holding a more junior priesthood before moving on to a senior one, but  suggested reaching out to Flavius Vedius Germanicus for advice on how to get started.
  Sibylla highly recommended the M. Didius Falco series, highlighting how each novel illuminated a different facet of Roman life.
  Quintius said that the railroad gauge being based on the width of Roman roads (something which we had just discussed during our December MMDCCLXXVIII Remote General Meeting) was an old wives' tale.
   As the power had come back too late for us to do the cooking we had intended, three pizzas were ordered. Cassius very generously paid for the meal, and went with Quintius to retrieve it.
   I asked Cassius about planning for a potential conventus in Maine. Cassius listed what was available in his vicinity: his office, space in his apartment in which a few guests could conceivably stay, the local Oddfellows Hall, and hotels in which people could also rent rooms. Sibylla and Quintius were both somewhat skeptical that this was feasible, but offered some helpful thoughts. Cassius, reflecting on what Quintius said would be needed both (indoor and outdoor space, as well as insurance), said that the best thing might be to rent a private campground during the off-season. Quintius mentioned that Nova Roma expected people to dress in Roman garb, and Nonus suggested having a garment-making workshop as part of the event. Cassius agreed to discuss the topic further with Astronomus and me after the holidays. Nonus asked to be included in these communications as well. 
  Nonus had brought along a game of Yahtzee. (Out of curiosity, someone looked up how Yahtzee go its name. The answer found: it was originally played on yachts!) He had also brought some recreated tesserae, six-sided dice made from bone. He mentioned that they were not balanced, compared to say, the casino-grade dice he had considered bringing. Indeed when we rolled them, they seemed reluctant to roll threes and twos, but they had a nice feeling in the hand, rather different from plastic dice. While Cassius was up checking something, we agreed that the prize to the winner would be the remaining half bag of almonds. Cassius won, and I handed him the prize, which he said he could enjoy on the ride back to Maine. He later commented that when he was told he won a prize, he thought he might have been selected for human sacrifice (a la Shirley Jackson).
  I mentioned that now that there were four relatively active citizens based in Maine, they might have some regio-level gatherings in addition to those they participated in as part of Nova Britannia as a whole (and the conventus we one day hoped to host for Nova Roma as a whole). Cassius was thoughtful and begin talking with Nonus about the possibilities for a casual meeting.
  Quintius and I left soon after the game finished. On the ride back to his house, Quintius told me about a four book series he had been reading set in Roman Britain.

Nova Britannia Latin Meeting: Decembris MMDCCLXXVIII

Monday, December 15th, MMDCCLXXVIII, 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Participants:    Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia
                        Marcus Quintius Clavus
                        Publius Sextius Laevus
                        Aulus Iulius Paterculus
   The meeting began, as expected, with discussion of Nova Britannia's Saturnalian festivities on Saturday, December 20th. Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia confirmed that M. Cassius Julianus would be coming down from Maine, as would T. Ovidius Nonus. M. Quintius Clavus and I were expected around 10 a.m.
    Sibylla mentioned some of the food & drink which would be awaiting her guests, including chicken and celeriac, wine & shrub. Quintius asked who liked asparagus: the answer was everyone present. P. Sextius Laevus declared that he liked everything; I asked him whether he would have some dormice should we serve it at some future event he was able to attend. Laevus confirmed that he would, and clarified that any food people ate as part of a regular meal (rather than as a college prank) he'd be willing to try. Quintius said he would be ready to have some dormice as well.
    Laevus shared with a us quote: "PONE MERUM ET TALOS PEREAT QUI CRASTINA CURAT MORS AUREM VELLENS VIVITE AIT VENIO" from the Copa Vergiliana. Laevus also referenced a link he had shared on the Nova Britannia list. The creator of this YouTube channel presented a Latin word each day and, for the month of December, a quote as well.
    Quintius departed, and the rest of us talked for a little while longer before we settled into our Latin study. We read up to page 70 of Familia Romana, near the start of Capitulum X. In the course of this study, we wondered whether ovis was a word which could refer only to female sheep. (Based a double check later that night, it appears so.)
    Just before the call was to end, I asked whether we planned to set up a Zoom meeting as part of our in-person meeting. Laevus said not to do so on his behalf, as he would be quite busy Saturday, but he would try to come on briefly if possible should we decide set up a such a meeting for other reasons, and that an earlier time would make this more feasible. Sibylla said that if such a meeting was scheduled, it would be a good idea to share the link on the Main List, so that any Novi Romani who wished to attend could do so.
    The night ended with an early round of Io Saturnalia!

Nova Britannia General Meeting: Decembris MMDCCLXXVII

Monday, December 1st, MMDCCLXXVIII, 6:00 p.m. - 7:21 p.m.
Participants: Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia
Numerius Octavius Astronomus
Aulus Iulius Paterculus
    Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia and I were the first to join the meeting. We were both hopeful that others would join to help work out the details of the Saturnalia gathering on December 20th, but we started hammering out those details we could while it was just the two of us. I confirmed those transportation arrangements with which I was involved, and we each spoke about what we would be contributing towards the potluck. It was estimated that arrival would be 10 a.m. the morning of December 20th.
    Sibylla also noted that Cassius had reserved rooms for MithraCon, which would take place on April 24th, 25th, & 26th. We discussed who might be attending.
    We discussed Roman roads, and Sibylla shared that the gauge on most modern railways, with the odd exception of those in Russia, were based on the spacing of grooves for wagons on Roman roads. This lead into a brief discussion of railway travel. We also discussed other aspects of Roman transportation and compared with what we knew of other contemporary societies (which was not very detailed knowledge for either of us).
    I reported that another Nova Roman, Cn. Aurelius Carolus, had shared plans in the Forum Domitium to build a hydraulus. I suggested that we invite Cn. Aurelius to present the results to us once the project was farther along, knowing that we had multiple fans of the organ in our province, and Sibylla was enthusiastic about the idea.
    Soon after, N. Octavius Astronomus joined the call. Astronomus told us about his schedule and conflicts which could potentially prevent him from attending Saturnalia in-person, though he wanted to if it was possible. If not, he suggested incorporating an hour-long Zoom call into the meeting for remote attendance.
    Astronomus shared a book on science in antiquity which he thought he might have acquired during MithraCon. There were chapters on science in a number of ancient civilizations. We discussed the fact that the libri fulgurales divided the sky into 16 sections rather than the more usual 12, and whether this might have some relation to the origins of the Etruscans.
    Astronomus shared a video on ancient timekeeping from Luke Ranieri's Polymathy channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSV0Amt0GC8).
    Astronomus said he would reach out to Marcus Claudius Pupienus Maximus and Tyler to see whether they would be coming down to Connecticut for Saturnalia. Astronomus reported that Pupienus had been occupied with publishing his book on Roman numismatics and related history. He also said that Tyler had been making a study of ancient philosophy. Sibylla said she would reach out to M. Cassius Julianus to clarify whether he was coming down for Saturnalia also and asked me to send an email to the Main List to invite Novi Romani from further afield.
    Astronomus stated that he would be heading back to Toronto next summer and would be meeting with Corvus again, and possibly other Nova Romans in Canada. We discussed whether he could get a message to Canada's provincial forum letting the local citizens know he would be interested in meeting them.
    We discussed the future remote meetings for the month: a Latin meeting on December 15th, which we decided should probably begin with 10 minutes or so in English to finish our planning for the 20th, and the 29th, which might be a good time for someone to give a presentation.

Book Review: Medicus by Ruth Downie

     This book had been recommended to me multiple times by different people, so I was exited to finally sit down and read it. It did not disappoint.

     To summarize briefly, the main character is a Roman military doctor (thus "Medicus" is his job title as well as the title of the book) recently stationed in Britain, who discovers that a few recent deaths were not accidental and is pulled into solving the mystery.

    The strength of the novel is in its slow characterization. Most of the characters start out fairly opaque, and often somewhat unsympathetic, but gradually we learn more of their motives and histories, which explains their behavior.

    There is definitely historical flavour to the setting and characters, with no obvious anachronisms, but there were a few occasions, when I found myself wondering things like, "Did the Romans really have Civilian Liaison Officers?" Thoughtfully, the authoress disentangles known fact from supposition in an afterword, admitting to having filled in a few blanks about the Roman military based on what seemed plausible to her. While it's hard to imagine she got every detail correct when making these few leaps into speculation, the details which have been added in this way have clearly been chosen to add to the story and for the most part don't break immersion.

    Since it is a mystery, it would be unfair to give too many details about the way the plot unfolds. However, the denouement does feel believable, given what was learned previously about the characters and events which had taken place. It also felt like a satisfying conclusion. While I later confirmed that this book was the start of a series, as I had originally thought, it stands well enough on its own not to need a sequel if Ruth Downie had decided not to write one.

   I look forward to reading further books in the series, and perhaps eventually re-reading this one. You may want to check it out as well, if historical mysteries are something you like. 

Nova Britannia General Meeting: Novembris MMDCCLXXVII

Monday, November 3rd, MMDCCLXXVIII, 6:00 p.m. - 7:38 p.m.
Participants: Publius Sextius Laevus

Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia

Marcus Quintius Clavus

Numerius Octavius Astronomus

Aulus Iulius Paterculus

   When I joined the meeting, P. Sextius Laevus was already present. He asked whether I had seen the link which he had posted to a Latin Halloween story (https://beluosus.dreamwidth.org/544998.html) in Discord. I replied that I had seen this link both there and on the Nova Britannia list, though I had not read the story itself. I asked whether he wanted to make an attempt to read it during our Latin meeting later that month, and he replied that it depended on what others wanted to do, as it might make for slow reading. I agreed, recalling that our last attempt to read a story by the same author, while entertaining, had been rather challenging.

   Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia joined the call, followed shortly thereafter by M. Quintius Clavus. We had a short conversation on several modern topics, including vacination and various wildlife which people had encountered both close to home and while on trips. Quintius reported seeing bighorn sheep, rocky mountain goats, coyotes, and a wolf on trips in the Black Hills and Canada. Sibylla also brought up the issue of Quintius' car, which as it turned out had given out entirely. This meant that Quintius would need a ride to Sibylla's house for Saturnalia.

   Sibylla brought the topic back to Roman things, asking what each of us had been looking into recently. I mentioned having begun a fantasy audiobook about the Legio IX Hispania and its teleportation to another plane of existance (Lost Legio IX by Marc Alan Edelheit).

   Laevus shared with the others what he had been telling me about the story he'd read, and mentioned that it referred to a real Roman town which had been excavated near Cambridge, Durobrivae. He mentioned that there was a Wikipedia page and three YouTube videos (https://youtu.be/fbjnzTjBP58?si=W38wJk8mPKKPgywU ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_CCsWf1c9w ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TeCQhuTZVM) about it.

   Quintius talked about reading some letters sent by a Roman soldier who had attempted to join Legio III Cyrenaica (in ancient times, not our Legio III!) and was sent into the Navy instead before finally gaining the deployment he wanted. Laevus asked for the link to these letters.

   There was some discussion about the authorship of the gospels of Luke and Matthew based on the language, with Luke appearing to be a native Greek speaker while Matthew was not. Laevus mentioned a desire to learn Greek, but noted that there was not really time to pursue such a gramatically complex language at the moment, in addition to Latin. There was some conversation about the evolution of the Christian Church. Sibylla brought up the cult of Isis, and Quintius made the point that the Isis brought to Rome was a thoroughly Hellenized version of the goddess as a result of Ptolemaic influence. Laevus mentioned that he would like to have an in-depth religious discussion with a cultor or cultrix deorum. Quintius talked about a book he'd read about Roman army religion in Britain, including both Roman and indigenious British deities. He mentioned that the cult of Mithras appeared to draw mainly from the ranks of centurions, while lower ranking soldiers tended to worship a British god who was similar in certain ways.

   The call was cut off here. Laevus and Quintius rejoined, but Sibylla did not, presumably having gone to bed. Astronomus joined soon after, having just arrived back home from college.

   There was a bit of personal discussion, and Laevus told Astronomus a bit about the Halloween story and the town of Durobrivae, as Astronomus had been absent for the earlier conversation.

   Quintius said that he recognized the name, though he might not have been able to place the town on a map. He said he might have passed near the town on his trip to England. Quintius told us about some of the ruins he'd visited on that occasion, one of which was in a cowfield entered through a "kissing gate" (designed so that humans could pass easily while humans could not), which the tour guide had complained was not being maintained. Astronomus shared the YouTube channel of Paul Whitewick (https://www.youtube.com/@pwhitewick), who took viewers through some of these ruins in the British countryside.

   Laevus talked about having steped on the ground of the old Roman forum in one English town he visited, much to the annoyance of the residents of the home above, who had tourists traipsing through their house all the time. Astronomus said that the fact that it was underground showed how the ground had settled. Quintius remarked that this was much like the underground part of Seattle, which had similarly been buried through the passage of time.

   The meeting ended again, and this time Laevus did not come back. Quintius and Astronomus talked about upcoming events. Sibylla would be at Changing Times Changing Worlds (https://ctcw.net/ctcw-2025-speakers/). Quintius would be at the Worchester Art Museum November 22 (https://www.worcesterart.org/exhibitions/arms-and-armor/), but possibly not on December 13 when others from Legio III Cyrenaica would be there (https://www.worcesterart.org/events/arms-and-armor-up-close-legion-iii-cyrenaica/), due to the car troubles. Astronomus expressed a desire to gather some citizens to visit the Worchester Art Museum together for one of these events. We also talked about Saturnalia, and Quintius confirmed that there was no conflict for him after all, meaning it would probably be the weekend of December 20th-21st.

   There followed a discussion of the evolution of Roman helms and armour. Quintius cited Thomas Fischer (https://www.oxbowbooks.com/9781789251845/army-of-the-roman-emperors/) as an opponent of the school which believed in a more "linear" evolution.
  

Nova Britannia Latin Meeting: Octobris MMDCCLXXVIII

Monday, October 20th, MMDCCLXXVIII, 6:00 p.m. - 7:03 p.m.
Participants:    Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia

                        Publius Sextius Laevus

                        Marcus Quintius Clavus

                        Numerius Octavius Astronomus

                        Aulus Iulius Paterculus

    Early in the meeting there were in-person congratulations, first by M. Quintius Clavus and then by P. Sextius Laevus and me, of Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia on her adlection to the Senate. There was some discussion of what responsibilities this entailed, which it was agreed would also be posted in written form on the Nova Britannia list for future reference. Sibylla promised to be a voice for Nova Britannia in the Senate and told everyone to let her know their concerns.

    Quintius then left the call to enjoy dinner. I noted that it would be good to have a version of the phrase " Bon appétit" in Latin, but no one knew it.

    The three of us still present on the call spent some time reading and translating from Familia Romana. We read from the start of Capitulum IX to line 74, leaving on a cliffhanger: the words "Lupus collum ovis petit dentibus..."

    We decided to end the Latin session there, and were cut off just as Laevus was about to make some final comment. I returned just in case Laevus wanted to come back and finish what he was saying.

     This was fortuitous, because shortly thereafter, N. Octavius Astronomus joined the call. Astronomus explained that he had just returned home from school and asked whether there was any vital news in Nova Britannia. I commented on Sibylla's adlection and we discussed this for a while, as well as how the censors usually post the results of the census in general. Astronomus was struck by the fact that the censors hadn't contacted Sibylla beforehand, but had left her to discover her new status along with everyone else.

    Astronomus gave some updates on his work as Triumvir monetalis, working alongside Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus and Marcus Octavius Corvus to plan the creation of new Nova Roman coins. Astronomus said the process was going well but slowly, with the cost of the project being a large factor and an ongoing debate on whether to use modern or ancient minting methods. He added that the reception and use of the new coins by citizens was a major consideration. Astronomus also said he'd communicated with some Rome enthusiasts outside Nova Roma for advice on the project.

    Astronomus asked whether there had been any progress on the conventus. I said there had not, but that I had not tried to get in contact with Cassius recently and should reach out again.

    Astronomus described his busy schedule, but said that he would try to make at least one meeting a month and that he would try to let people know if he was planning to attend, so that we knew to wait for him. He sent greetings to everyone, saying to let them know he was still here.

Nova Britannia General Meeting: Octobris MMDCCLXXVIII

Monday, October 6th, MMDCCLXXVIII, 6:00 p.m. - 6:56 p.m.

Participants:    Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia

                        Marcus Quintius Clavus

                        Aulus Iulius Paterculus

   Upon joining the call, I asked Sibylla, who was already present, "What's new?"/"Quid novi?" She responded to both the English and Latin version of the question with a shrug.

   This prompted me to ask whether the shrug was used in ancient Rome, noting that in ancient Greece we knew nods to have a different usage than in most of the modern West. Quintius, who had joined about this time, concurred that nods and other gestures were different in ancient Greece. Quintius added that Jan Fraizer, whose YouTube series on Alexander the Great Quintius had found very enjoyable, had gone into this topic, as had some historical novels. However, the gestures used by the Romans had not been explored by the same sources. Quintius did comment that the shrug in particular was sometimes associated with the Jews. I wondered aloud how far back any such cultural connection might have gone.

  This lead to a discussion of Jewish history, and particularly of the Babylonian exile. Quintius clarified that the Babylonians had actually taken two groups of Jews captive at different times, both times primarily elites, while much of the lower class was permitted to remain in Israel. Quintius stated that these captives did not appear to have been enslaved, and added that slavery was somewhat less pervasive in Babylon than in Rome, though still extant. Also discussed was the origin of the Jewish diaspora with these events and the decision of some communities of Jews to remain abroad when the Persians ended the exile. Quintius wondered how far back the synagogue found at Dura Europus might have been found to date.

  I commented that the Romans also would probably not have enslaved members of a foreign elite, even if they were taken captive, as this would have compromised the broader project of co-opting the elites of subject peoples. Quintius agreed, citing the examples of Arminius taken as a hostage for his father and the of Claudians an elite clan of a non-Roman (non-Etruscan) people which had joined the Romans back in the Regal Period.

  I then asked about plans the others had for the Autumn season. Sibylla stated that farmer's markets were tapering off for the year. Quintius stated that he would be attending the East Kingdom Coronation for the Society of Creative Anachronism in Wooster, followed by the Providence Columbus Day Parade with Legio III Cyrenaica. He commented that it might rain, and that while they would march rain or shine, it was a bit miserable dealing with wet armour.

  This led to conversation about the weather, which Sibylla deftly brought back on topic by asking whether there had been frost in Rome. Both Quintius and I asserted that there had been. Quintius more specifically stated that there was cold weather on north shore of Mediterranean, but that the climate was mildness due to the temperature-moderating effect of the sea. He added that during the height of the western Roman empire, the climate worldwide was warmer and that archaeologists were able to measure drought.

 Quintius also mentioned that grapes in Britain during this time, another sign of warmer temperatures. I mentioned Concord grapes, developed during the era of the North American British colonies, as a form of grape which could endure a cooler climate. Sibylla stated that the Concord grapes were likely bred from indigenous wild grapes and I agreed.

 Quintius stated that humanity had engaged in selective breeding from time immemorial. Sibylla cited the examples of corn, bred originally from a kind of grass, and of the various exotic breeds of dogs. Quintius brought up cats as a species which had not been quite as heavily modified through breeding as dogs. I mentioned that there was a certain breed I'd heard of with dog-like behavior patterns, though I didn't recall which one. Quintius recalled something similar and also did not remember the breed, although he did mention that Siamese cats could become very attached to a single person.

  Sibylla stated that dogs were frequently mentioned by Romans in their literature and that cats had likely come north with the Roman Empire, although the Norwegian forest cats may have already been there from an earlier migration. Sibylla mentioned that these were the ancestor of the Maine coon cat (which she also later mentioned was the breed she'd had at home while growing up). Quintius recalled a genetic test which revealed some Siberian cat ancestry.

  Zoom then ended the call. Sibylla had time to warn us that she would not be coming back that evening, as it was time for bed.

  However, Quintius and I rejoined for a while. I asked Quintius whether the proposed date of December 21st for Saturnalia would work for him. He cited a potential conflict with the Yule celebration for the local SCA and agreed to discuss this with Sibylla once the SCA's dates were finalized.

  Quintius shared the sad news of having read an obituary on the Main List. I was shocked to learn that this obituary was for P. Annaeus Constantinus Placidus and we spent some time reflecting on his character and achievements.

  Quintius asked after Astronomus, and, after a bit of further conversation, signed off.

Nova Britannia General Meeting: Septembris MMDCCLXXVII

Monday, September 15th, MMDCCLXXVIII, 6:00 p.m. - 7:02 p.m.

Participants:    Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia

                        Aulus Iulius Paterculus

   The evening started with some catching up on one another's activities. Sibylla reported having been busy with the spice trade, which had been busy. I mentioned having begun Medicus by Ruth Downie, a book which Sibylla had confirmed having read in the past. We talked a bit about historical fiction, including the Marcus Didius Falco books and Household Gods by Judith Tarr and Harry Turtledove.

   Sibylla's roommate Cindy dropped by and shared some Latin quotations that she knew.

   We talked a bit about Roman cuisine, naturally including spices. Sibylla talked about the origins of the varieties of pepper (long and black). I recalled a recent interview with Mary Beard (though I don't recommend it too highly) in which there was a brief mention of the enormous amounts of silver mined in Spain and shipped east to buy spices. Mary Beard was new to Sibylla, and I recommended her as an authoress who was both accessible and academically qualified.

   We read a bit of Capitulum VI from Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata.

    We also briefly talked about the Interpretation of Dreams by Artemidorus, of which I had recently acquired a copy. 

   Sibylla disclosed that the date for our Saturnalia festivities was tentatively set - December 20th-21st. I encouraged her to share this on the list to make sure everyone was in agreement on the dates. Sibylla also mentioned that Cassius had firm dates for MithraCon.

    In discussing Saturnalia, Sibylla mentioned that Quintius was planning to bring his fantastic Roman cheesecake. I asked whether there was such a thing as Roman fruitcake. We both felt that there must be, and a brief search revealed this page, with a recipe from Apicius for a pear dessert.

    We also tried to brainstorm some ideas for future presentation topics. Sibylla came up with two interesting ones which neither of us knew much about - Roman farming and Roman fishing.

Book Review: Mystery Cults of the Ancient World by Hugh Bowden

     This is a fairly comprehensive overview of mystery religion in ancient Greco-Roman world, ranging from the best known (e.g. the Eleusinian Mysteries, the cults of Isis & Mithras) to the obscure (e.g. mysteries at Andania and Lycosura). The definition of "mystery cult" used by the author is broad and flexible, so as to include both one-time initiation rites and recurring (often ecstatic) ceremonies like those dedicated to Dionysus/Bacchus and Magna Mater. One chapter is even dedicated to the gold tablets found in certain tombs, which Bowden suggests may not have been linked to any ceremony in which the deceased had participated in life at all (despite the opinion of others that these were specifically buried with Orphic initiates).

     If there is a flaw in this text, it may be that Bowden is a bit too confident at times in reconstructing the broad outlines of some of the better-known rites, but all of his conjectures are grounded in either literary or archaeological evidence, frequently both. He does admit uncertainty at times and at least mentions some of the scholarly theories he rejects, such as the use of mind-altering substances by participants in the mysteries of Eleusis. Where there is a clear gap in evidence, this is disclosed as well.

    Particularly in the introduction and final chapter, Bowden draws interesting comparisons with contemporary religions, especially those Christian churches in which snake-handling is practiced. While such comparisons could be overstated (which Bowden is careful not to do), they do seem to provide some insight, as does Bowden's contrast between "doctrinal" and "imagistic" forms of religion.

    On the subject of images, this book had many, some in colour.

    Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of mystery cults.

Nova Britannia General Meeting: II Januarius MMDCCLXXVIII

 Monday, January 27th, MMDCCLXXVIII, 6:00 p.m. - 7:20 p.m.

Participants: Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia

Publius Sextius Laevus

Numerius Octavius Astronomus

Marcus Quintius Clavus

Aulus Iulius Paterculus

    Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia & I were the first to join. Sibylla told me she was reading about World War II history and recounted a story about two of her own family members during that war. P. Sextius Laevus arrived in time to hear the end of the story.

    Conversation returned to ancient and modern (water, pipe, and reed) organs. Laevus explained the principles by which different types of organs created sound vibrations, comparing them to smaller instruments like recorders, transverse flutes, and harmonicas. He had even sketched out illustration to show how the shape of the instrument effected airflow. N. Octavius Astronomus joined just as Laevus was showing this illustration. Laevus also shared the website where he had obtained much of this information (https://www.archaeologychannel.org/video-guide-summary/109-the-ancient-hydraulis).

   Sibylla wondered aloud how the Romans had been inspired to create the organ. Laevus speculated that panpipes had been the original protype and recounted for us the myth of Pan and Syrinx. Around this time, M. Quintius Clavus joined the call.

   Laevus wondered whether the Romans had bells, or, if not, what would have been used to wake people up in the mornings. 'Sunlight' was my suggestion. Laevus mentioned horns or trumpets, and Quintius confirmed these to have been used by the army to mark out watches. Another possibility raised by Laevus was that of someone being hired to go door-to-door waking people, and Quintius mentioned being cast in this role himself on one occasion. I asked how Quintius himself managed to wake up on time, to which he replied that he was naturally an early riser.

    Discussion moved on to other ancient musical instruments and what we knew of the music itself. Astronomus recommended the YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@faryafaraji, which not only had re-creations of ancient music, but explained how these recreations were made. I mentioned having started (but not finished) the lecture in Latin by Luke Ranieri on YouTube for which Astronomus had shared a link on the Forum Domitium shortly before the meeting (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OjMTxWYrOY&t=77s). I commented that the astronomical terms must be useful to Astronomus, and he agreed there was a lot of interesting technical terminology, adding that some terms were relatively easy to figure out.

    This led to a discussion of Latin in general. Laevus commented on how the most recent Sunday Latin meeting had gone and made suggestions for future improvements. Astronomus brought up Latin-related activities he had seen taking place in Virginia. Quintius commented that Classical studies received a lot of attention in that area. I wondered about Nova Roman activities in the area. Astronomus found the local legion on our website (http://novaroma.org/nr/Legio_XXIV_Media_Atlantia_(Nova_Roma)). Quintius told us some of the history of this legion and of Legion XX (https://www.larp.com/legioxx/), which was not affiliated with Nova Roma, but was known for such excellent research that our own Legio III Cyrenaica used them as a source.

Nova Britannia General Meeting: Januarius MMDCCLXXVIII

Monday, January 6th, MMDCCLXXVIII, 6:00 p.m. - 7:02 p.m.

Participants: Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia

Publius Sextius Laevus

Aulus Iulius Paterculus

   The conversation opened with comments by Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia and Publius Sextius Laevus on the macronational event which had taken place in the United States earlier that day. There had also been a snowstorm in Connecticut.

    Laevus then talked a bit about his plans for the new year, including restoration of the organ in his home. Sibylla expressed her enthusiasm about organs and asked whether it was a reed organ. Laevus clarified that it was a pipe organ. Laevus picked up his webcam to show us the organ, also summarizing the history of that particular pipe organ. The organ was built in 1832 in Portland Maine by Paine & Sparrow, 1 manual, 4 ranks of pipes, enclosed in a swell box and either foot pumped or hand pumped at the right side. It is believed that Paine made fifes for the Revolutionary War and his grandson was the composer John Knowles Paine. It was shipped to its current location by Laevus himself

    This led to a brief conversation about the Roman water organ, the hydraulis, and the changing attitudes of Christianity toward organ music, which at times was considered too pagan.

    It was mentioned that this meeting had fewer attendees than we might have hoped, and I agreed that this was a shame, particularly since there was some major business to discuss, which had been written up in an agenda.

   Laevus brought up the Latin meetings scheduled for January 12th and 13th, mentioning his excitement to be returning to Latin after being occupied by the holiday season. Laevus then invited me to proceed with the agenda.

   We ran through the agenda. First, I noted that the provincial reports were in progress.

   Then, I stated that we needed a new governor, listing the key requirements: taxpayer status, taking of the Oath of Office, submission of the provincial reports, and either having been quaestor or receiving a waiver (which I had been told was likely). Sibylla expressed some willingness to step forward, but noted taxes as an obstacle, as money was thin. I said that Quintius had mentioned being up to date with his taxes, and Sibylla agreed to discuss the idea with Quintius the following evening. Sibylla & Laevus encouraged me to put in my name as well, and I agreed.

   In addition to the strict requirements, I also described my wishlist of things the incoming governor would do: repeal or renew past edicts and appoint regional legates. Sibylla said that if she did take the role, she would be sure to do those things. I asked the others whether they had any requests for whomever eventually took the job. Sibylla said she hoped whoever took charge would keep up our existing program of activity.

   The next topic on the agenda was presentations for the year. Sibylla volunteered to do two: one on Roman cooking, in which she would show the actual prepared dishes (I suggested moving this meeting to a night on which Quintius was present to help eat the feast once it was shown off) and one on fortune-telling. I suggested advertising this later presentation to the Sodalitas Artium Magicum (https://groups.io/g/SodalitasArtiumMagicum). Sibylla also suggested someone else might present on ancient musical instruments and that she might eventually want to do a presentation on ancient spies & codes, but that much more research would be needed.

   Laevus seconded the suggestion for a presentation on musical instruments and added the topics of surveying, math, and the calendar would all be interesting. Laevus said he would consider whether to present himself.

   I said that I would like to present on late Roman historians.

   I mentioned there were still a few presentations left planned from last year. Astronumus on reading Latin verse and Cassius on Roman astronomy. Astronomus had also made the suggestion in the past for someone to do a presentation on timekeeping in the ancient world.

   The last point from the agenda was that the link to Facebook on http://novabritannia.org/ needed to be updated to https://www.facebook.com/groups/novabritannia.novaroma.org/. I committed to send an email to Cassius about it.

   Conversation returned to our next meeting. It was agreed we would return to our regular schedule: Latin on Monday, January 13th and another general meeting on Monday, January 27th. Sibylla would not be able to attend on the 13th but expected to be present for the 27th.

Notes: Thanks to P. Sextius Laevus for clarifying details about the pipe organ.