General disorder and an unfinished bathroom project continue around my house. The toilet is still homeless and the bathtub continues to hold court in my living room, but the painting is done and we are making progress. Some posts I enjoyed this week from around the web:
Love stylish shoes? How about ancient Roman shoes? Apparently the Italian skill at shoes started early. Here’s a photo of a gorgeous Roman shoe, found in a well in the Germanic fortress called The Saalburg. This post claims Romans invented the closed shoe—elsewhere I believe protecting the foot was also invented early on—and the kinds of soles and decorations of Roman shoes. I do want a pair of these, however. Click here for Open Culture “Fashionable 2000 year old Roman shoe found in a well”
Read any books or imagined historical moments in which a Roman prisoner was thrown into the famous pit of a prison (carcer in Latin) before being dragged out for execution or left to starve in the darkness? The prison’s name during classical Roman times was Tullianum, now Mamertine. It’s been restored and reopened. It’s now underneath a church and has become associated, rather imaginatively it must be said, with the imprisonment of Paul, but it had a gruesome past in the early Roman period. Recently Elisabeth Storrs locked up a main character there quite vividly in her novel Call to Juno. Jugurtha had an unfortunate stay there. Who else, fictional or historical? What’s your favorite depiction of this notorious ancient prison (more dark hole than prison, strictly speaking)? Click here for “Roman Prison with Holy Inmates Reopens”
Intriguing article about everyday meals in ancient Israel and the prevalence of legume and vegetable stews over meat, as well as the ceramic cooking pots and ovens they were made in. On the ASOR blog—ASOR is an excellent Eastern Mediterranean archaeology association to befriend if you are interested in these topics. Click here for ASOR blog “The Daily Stew: everyday meals in ancient Israel”
From the Old Bones blog of zooarchaeologist, Rebecca Dean, here’s a response to Representative Steve King’s assertion that virtually all “civilization” came from white people. His view of history (and his version of civilization) is so profoundly misinformed and ignorant that it seems hard to figure out where it comes from, except, as this blog points out, most textbooks we teach/taught from wouldn’t go very far toward building a more accurate understanding. Personally, I like writing systems, mathematics, Greek mythology (oh, you thought the Greeks invented that, silly you! Look east!) and tons of other ideas and practical systems that we depend upon in our civilization. We need to teach way more history and of the broadest, most well-informed sort or we’ll be guided by small minds. Click here for Rebecca Dean “Steve King is wrong Obviously”