Nova Britannia General Meeting: Novembris MMDCCLXXVIII

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 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.

After Action Report: September 2021 Remote Nova Britannia Chat

 September 27th, 2021, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Participants: C. Claudius Quadratus

                     A. Tullia Scholastica

                     A. Iulius Paterculus (Host)

 Quadratus was the first to join the meeting an opened our discussion of Roman topics by mentioning that he had just started to re-read The First Man in Rome, as he tends to do once every ten years.

Quadratus also said that he was hoping to travel to Rome, but that there had been flight delays, which was not a good sign. In Rome itself, he had heard there were riots over Green Passes (the vaccine passport system in Italy).

We talked a little about the essay contest which had concluded the recent Ludi Romani. I agreed with Quadratus that the upper wordcount for these essays should probably have been higher and stated that I had hoped sharing the essays would have sparked some conversation on the Main List.

For instance, I said, I was strongly in agreement with the argument Quadratus had made in his essay that modern politicians should observe term restrictions as they had during the Roman Republic. I particularly thought that politicians should not have the ability to run for successive terms, since it resulted in time wasted in campaigning when they should be doing their jobs. Quadratus stated that the elections in Canada occurred with roughly five weeks’ notice, which reduced this problem somewhat. He also suggested a maximum age limit for politicians. I argued that if he was concerned about their mental state, it would be better to give competency exams and that the younger cohort probably would benefit by such screening just as much.

                Scholastica joined the call. She informed us that her Latin classes were very busy, as there were only two teachers in place of three. Scholastica also said that this particular group of students was more diverse than average, with students from Hong Kong, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Dar es Salaam, Wuhan, Iran, Italy, & the United States. Despite this, one student had such limited exposure to other cultures as to complain that the Spring and Winter breaks were not named after Easter and Christmas, which “everyone” celebrated, but Quinquatria and Saturnalia, which “no one” did.

                 Quadratus filled Scholastica in on his plans to re-read Colleen McCullough’s series. We all appreciated her work, Scholastica commenting that it had been comforting reading during a time of illness and was also handy for lifting as a weight! Quadratus said that the 100 page glossary in the back taught him more than a college class. I asked them what they thought of McCullough’s other work, saying I’d enjoyed The Thorn Birds but not The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet. Quadratus said that he hadn’t liked the other series of hers he had once started.

                Quadratus mentioned adopting a shy cat named “Biden” from the shelter. The shelter had named it and registered that name with the authorities when it was microchipped.  Friends and relatives of Quadratus, knowing his political bent, found it very funny.  Biden was a very nice cat and slowly getting used to his new surroundings.

                Quadratus stated that he was pausing his plans for a numismatic sodalitas, since there didn’t seem to be enough interest. Scholastica answered that there had not been much activity in the sodalitates in general, although one new member had joined Musarum the preceding day. I said that this could well be a friend to whom I had recommended the group.

                I said that building the sodalitates would take much time and effort, including a number of posts to encourage others to join in the conversation. I also said that it would be nice to have a sodalitas devoted to philosophy, and that it was rather surprising we didn’t already have one.

                Scholastica said we already had one, albeit an unofficial one, headed by Cassius.  She added that there was not much interest in the subject, quoting a similar observation by the satirist Juvenal. I disagreed, citing the ongoing Stoic renaissance, including multiple in-person groups in Connecticut in recent years and, within Nova Roma, a citizen who used to blog passages from Seneca. Scholastica recalled similar posts on the Main List once, but no longer.

                Scholastica said that that she and Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus had different approaches to contacting prospective members. Scholastica added that the probationary period and citizenship test had been reinstated effective September 1^st.

                Quadratus questioned whether these restrictions would really benefit recruitment, but Scholastica countered that many people applied for citizenship for reasons other than a love of Rome, such as an ambition to immigrate to the land we once owned in Texas.

                The discussion turned to animal sacrifice: Scholastica said that the thought of killing an animal to please a deity disturbed her, even if said animal was also eaten, but also that it didn’t much affect her since she was not a cultrix. Quadratus said that this practice was a deal-breaker for him, and that he had banned it is his province of Canada. I was in favour of animal sacrifice, and stated that if an animal was to be slaughtered anyway, having an additional purpose in doing so couldn’t do any harm, even if one didn’t credit the intended benefit. However, my main emphasis was the hope that cultores who did and did not engage in this practice could tolerate one another without denigrating or trying to stop one another’s acts of worship.

                Quadratus brought up that the U.S./Canada was still sealed for quarantine. This brought up discussion of the Antonine Plague and the plague of Athens. Scholastica pointed out that the plague of Athens was aggravated by Spartans whose siege crowded Athenians into their city and who tossed bodies over the walls. Quadratus also recalled food shortages which contributed to vulnerability to disease. I expressed surprise that catapults had already been invented in Classical Greece.

                I asked whether there was much activity in Canada or Mediatlantica. Quadratus said there was none in Canada, as he had little interest from local citizens and was happier to attend than organize in any case – though in-person was better than virtual.

                I asked whether they might come down to Connecticut. Quadratus confirmed that he would, possibly as soon a November. Scholastica said that she could not engage in such long-term driving at present, due to recent injuries.

Book Review: Saturnalia: A Tale of Wickedness and Redemption in Ancient Rome by Adam Alexander Haviaras

    Saturnalia: A Tale of Wickedness and Redemption in Ancient Rome is a fairly straightforward adaption of Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol from Victorian London to Imperial Rome. There will be few surprises here for those who have read the original story or witnessed any of the myriad stage or film versions, but that isn't necessarily a flaw: knowing the eventual outcome of the story can sometimes enhance drama rather than undercut it.

   As historical fiction, this novel is a mixed success. The author succeeds in portraying the spirit of the time in question (during the Severan Dynasty), and gets a variety of details right (portraying the diversity of Rome at the time, for instance). There may also be a few minor mistakes. The single most noticeable example is a detail concerning the ritus Graecus given correctly in an earlier chapter and then incorrectly in a later one. There is a glossary of Latin terms in the back which may be helpful to some, particularly as there are a few Latin words used which would normally have been translated (i.e. "cerei" instead of "candles").

  As a morality tale, the story is markedly more successful. The author very effectively sets up the greed and callousness of the main character early on (going significantly further than did Dickens: Scrooge was only a serious source of distress to his employees, so far as I can recall, while Catus Pompilius seems at times to be a menace to the entire Eternal City), and his change of heart comes gradually enough to be at least partly believable. One interesting thing about this book is how pious it is: reverence for the gods is repeatedly put hand with generosity, familial affection, enjoyment of life, and the other virtues promoted by the text, and it is the gods themselves who intervene to show the main character the error of his ways.

   Overall, this book is worth reading. It may even leave you feeling the urge to practice a bit more kindness and generosity in your own life.

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.

Book Review: From Unseen Fire by Cass Morris

                The last days of the Roman Republic (a tale very familiar to most of us) are retold through a fantasy lens in the new series The Aven Cycle. The premise of the alternate Rome in which much of this story is set (called “Aven” because Remus succeeded in founding it on the Aventine Hill) is that some individuals have been born with magical powers (divided into nine elements, although some of these mages have talents with more than one of the nine). Though honored, these individuals are barred from ascending the full cursus honorem, to avoid too great a concentration of power. The main characters of the book include three sisters thus gifted with magic, the Vitellae, as well this world’s Caesar equivalent, Vibius Sempronius Tarren.

                The manner in which the authoress modifies the actual history to fit this fantastic element is generally plausible & interesting. The leges tabulae magicae, laws the Aventans have devised to deal with magic, ring true to how the Romans would have handled such a situation (though the Latin doesn’t sound quite right to my ear). The magic employed by the Celts operates on a different system from that of Aven, which seems appropriate and raises hopes that unusual spellcraft from yet other lands will make it into future books in the series. There are a few points on which it would be easy to quibble: Morris associates each of her magical elements with one or more gods, for instance, and it is tempting to argue a few of the correspondences, but this is highly subjective.

                Depiction of the political scene is of mixed quality. On the one hand, the author cuts between the schemes of Sempronius, the plotting of his Optimate rivals within Aven, and the intrigues of their mutual Celtic foes, which adds variety and allows us a more complete view of the plot as it develops than is granted to any of the characters. On the other, I did feel at the time of reading this that the author’s sympathies lie a little too openly with the Populare faction: at times it seems that the fears of the Optimates that the mos maiorem is being eroded or that the ambitions of Semprionius could lead to dictatorship are presented as pure paranoia or a pretext to retain their own hold on power, when history proved the same fears by their counterparts to be well founded. Also, Ocella, a Sulla equivalent, features prominently toward the beginning, while no version of Marius is reported anywhere, making it look like past misdeeds were all on one side.

                The personal & romantic side of the book is focused mainly on Latona, one of the Vitelliae, although there is again a sub-plot among the Celts. In each case, Morris takes pains to draw how past experiences influence her heroines in the present. While I still didn’t understand or agree with every decision the characters made, this did create enough investment in the characters to hope they would be able to find happiness. These threads also revealed more depths to the characters male romantic interests. I only wish that the authoress had seen fit to create an Optimate romance as well to balance the three parts of her narrative and to show another side to these schemers in the Senate (one could argue some early scenes with Ocella fill this role, but these certainly did not showcase the tenderness of the dictator).

                Overall, this promises to be the start to an entertaining series.

                If this appeals to you, you may want to check out the website of the authoress at https://cassmorriswrites.com/.

Nightside the Long Sun

This book was filled with Classical references, particularly religious ones. Here are a few:

The Throne of Zeus

   This review was originally written with Demian's Gamebook Web Page in mind, but since they already have several reviews of the book, it seemed more effective to share my thoughts here instead.
   The Throne of Zeus is surprisingly effective at putting a great deal of mythological material in a small space. Most of the transitions between myths feel natural rather forced and you can see several play out nearly in their entirety. Glaring inaccuracies in the myths themselves are few, although some of the premises are more than a little suspicious. (There were physical thrones for each of the gods on Olympus? The gods have more interest in humanity on the summer solstice than during the rest of the year?) One disappointment was that the branches from one starting myth is much shorter than from the other.
   There are a few opportunities for the reader's character to become (semi-)divine which some may view as impious.

Book Review: "After Rome" by Morgan Llywelyn

Since this is apparently the day I choose to link to literary reviews, I thought I might link to one of my own: a historical fiction review written for the Nova Britannia weblist. However, it turns out that some technical issue prevented it from reaching that group, so here is the full text:

  This work of historical fiction uses the writings of historians such as Gildas and Stephen Johnson to imagine life in Britain just after the recall of the Roman army. The novel alternates between two members of the Romanized provincial elite from the city of Viroconium, each trying to cope with the anarchy caused by Rome's departure, and perhaps become involved in the formation of a new society.
   Although the author takes time to show the the implications of contemporary international events, the characters and the interactions between them are given at least as much attention. Perhaps to emphasize the contrast between the two protagonists, the storyline of Cadogan revolves around his relationships to his father, the other citizens of Viroconium, and a stranger who comes to live with him, while that of Dinas looks more into the psychology of each of each of his allies and less into how they relate to him.
   The best points of this book, in my opinion, were the evolution of the conflict between Cadogan and his father Vintrex, the exploration of why each of companions of Dinas  follows him, and the scenes showing how ordinary lives were affected by the loss of imperial government. A cameo appearance by the semi-historical King Vortigern is also a nice touch. The main weakness was some clumsiness in introducing some of the background material, particularly toward the beginning. Cadogan's dealings with his unwelcome guest Quartilla seemed implausible to me, but some may think differently.
   This book would be a fair choice for non-experts interested in Late Antiquity/the Early Medieval Period, or even fans of post-Apocalyptic literature, of which this could almost be considered an example.