Nova Britannia General Meeting: Februarius MMDCCLXXIX

Monday, February 2, 2026, 6:19 p.m. - 7:41 p.m.
Participants: Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia
   Titus Ovidius Nonus
    Aulus Iulius Paterculus
   The meeting started 19 minutes late because I had not sent the Zoom link to the Nova Britannia list the preceeding night as I had thought. T. Ovidius Nonus pointed out that there should have been a meeting. Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia was the first to join once the link had been sent.  
Sibylla and I spoke about our current activities for a while.
    Turning to Roman topics, I brought up a recent discovery in Britain (https://archaeologymag.com/2025/01/roman-road-and-mercury-temple-in-germany/), though I didn't remember any details. We talked about how modern roadwork often turned up archaeological discoveries, and whether the Romans might similarly have turned up items from earlier eras when they were excavating roads. I speculated that certain antiquarians might have been interested in purchasing interesting artifacts which were found. 
    Around this time, T. Ovidius Nonus joined us. The three of us continued discussion of archaelogists in ancient times. I pointed to the preservation of certain historical sites, notably Pindar's house, as a sign that people in the ancient world respected their history.
This eventually turned to the topic of witches who were said in ancient times to dig up bones for use in their spells, something about which Nonus had recalled hearing. I also remembered having heard of a character in the Civil War (De Bello Civili/Pharsalia by Lucan) who was described as practicing that type of magic, though I hadn't read the poem.
     This brought us around to discussing other items on our reading lists. Sibylla was reading about WWII submarines. I had just discovered the Dionysica, an epic poem discussing the invasion of India by Dionysius, and read a long excerpt in translation. Nonus commented that not only was this right in his area of interest, but that since it was written by another Nonnus he would really have to read it. I admitted that I hadn't read the history by M. Velleius Paterculus and probably should. Also, Sibylla had not read the Sibyline Oracles. Nonus had read these oracles however and not only recommended them highly but also offered to send Sibylla a PDF, which she accepted, as this would complement her previous interest in and research into divination.
    Nonus brought up the topic of ancient archaeology again, having looked up some information. There were people involved in such activities, he'd read, but more in the spirit of treasure hunting rather than the more methodical study of the past we associate with archaeology today. We discussed recovered shipwrecks from ancient times and more recent ones, with Sibylla telling us about the recovery of the Swedish warship Vasa and about ships which were deliberately sunk around harbours in wartime as a defensive measure. Sibylla also talked about the entrepot and its role in trade.
    We talked about recent usage of Latin, including by Carl Linnaeus, who not only used Latin in his classification system but titled and wrote books in Latin. In part this may have been because he was Swedish and Latin was more widely understood at the time than his native language.
We talked a bit about plans for MithraCon, before Zoom ended the call.
    Once we had reconnected, we talked about potential for meeting(s) to take place in Maine where Nonus was located.
    We discussed whether the Romans ever tried to cross Atlantic. The answer appeared to be "no", and the reason appeared to have been there was no need. During the Age of Exploration, the Ottomans blocked the Spanish & Portugese from traditional spice routes, motivating them to look for another route. With those trade routes still open, the Romans didn't have the same motives to go searching unfamiliar seas. I recalled some northward exploration which took place during ancient times (the voyages of the Greek explorer Pytheas being the prime example.
    Nonus asked about a claim one of his professors had made: that crepes at Candlemas dated back to Roman tradition. I brought an old message on the Nova Britannia list which had actually touched upon a similar topic (https://groups.io/g/NovaBritanniaProvincia/message/93 and the original article https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9265655/Second-century-pancake-recipe-proves-Romans-similar-sweet-tooth-modern-day.html).
    I asked about how the cats who now populated Rome had first gotten there. This lead to a discussion of the domestication of cats more generally. We learned in researching the topic that a separate species of cat had been domesticated independently in China.
    We discussed some other interesting facts about domestication. Nonus brought up as story he'd encountered about river otters trained by villagers in South Asia. It was reported that dogs diverged from wolves thousands of years prior to domestication and that the dingo descended from dogs domesticated in China.
    We also discussed potential pre-Colombian Chinese contact with new world before turning in for the night.