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inky-duchess · 6 months

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Fantasy Guide to Interiors

As a followup to the very popular post on architecture, I decided to add onto it by exploring the interior of each movement and the different design techniques and tastes of each era. This post at be helpful for historical fiction, fantasy or just a long read when you're bored.

Interior Design Terms

Reeding and fluting: Fluting is a technique that consists a continuous pattern of concave grooves in a flat surface across a surface. Reeding is it's opposite.

Embossing: stamping, carving or moulding a symbol to make it stand out on a surface.

Paneling: Panels of carved wood or fabric a fixed to a wall in a continuous pattern.

Gilding: the use of gold to highlight features.

Glazed Tile: Ceramic or porcelain tiles coated with liquid coloured glass or enamel.

Column: A column is a pillar of stone or wood built to support a ceiling. We will see more of columns later on.

Bay Window: The Bay Window is a window projecting outward from a building.

Frescos: A design element of painting images upon wet plaster.

Mosaic: Mosaics are a design element that involves using pieces of coloured glass and fitted them together upon the floor or wall to form images.

Mouldings: ornate strips of carved wood along the top of a wall.

Wainscoting: paneling along the lower portion of a wall.

Chinoiserie: A European take on East Asian art. Usually seen in wallpaper.

Clerestory: A series of eye-level windows.

Sconces: A light fixture supported on a wall.

Niche: A sunken area within a wall.

Monochromatic: Focusing on a single colour within a scheme.

Ceiling rose: A moulding fashioned on the ceiling in the shape of a rose usually supporting a light fixture.

Baluster: the vertical bars of a railing.

Façade: front portion of a building

Lintel: Top of a door or window.

Portico: a covered structure over a door supported by columns

Eaves: the part of the roof overhanging from the building

Skirting: border around lower length of a wall

Ancient Greece

Houses were made of either sun-dried clay bricks or stone which were painted when they dried. Ground floors were decorated with coloured stones and tiles called Mosaics. Upper level floors were made from wood. Homes were furnished with tapestries and furniture, and in grand homes statues and grand altars would be found. Furniture was very skillfully crafted in Ancient Greece, much attention was paid to the carving and decoration of such things. Of course, Ancient Greece is ancient so I won't be going through all the movements but I will talk a little about columns.

Doric: Doric is the oldest of the orders and some argue it is the simplest. The columns of this style are set close together, without bases and carved with concave curves called flutes. The capitals (the top of the column) are plain often built with a curve at the base called an echinus and are topped by a square at the apex called an abacus. The entablature is marked by frieze of vertical channels/triglyphs. In between the channels would be detail of carved marble. The Parthenon in Athens is your best example of Doric architecture.

Ionic: The Ionic style was used for smaller buildings and the interiors. The columns had twin volutes, scroll-like designs on its capital. Between these scrolls, there was a carved curve known as an egg and in this style the entablature is much narrower and the frieze is thick with carvings. The example of Ionic Architecture is the Temple to Athena Nike at the Athens Acropolis.

Corinthian: The Corinthian style has some similarities with the Ionic order, the bases, entablature and columns almost the same but the capital is more ornate its base, column, and entablature, but its capital is far more ornate, commonly carved with depictions of acanthus leaves. The style was more slender than the others on this list, used less for bearing weight but more for decoration. Corinthian style can be found along the top levels of the Colosseum in Rome.

Tuscan: The Tuscan order shares much with the Doric order, but the columns are un-fluted and smooth. The entablature is far simpler, formed without triglyphs or guttae. The columns are capped with round capitals.

Composite: This style is mixed. It features the volutes of the Ionic order and the capitals of the Corinthian order. The volutes are larger in these columns and often more ornate. The column's capital is rather plain. for the capital, with no consistent differences to that above or below the capital.

Ancient Rome

Rome is well known for its outward architectural styles. However the Romans did know how to add that rizz to the interior. Ceilings were either vaulted or made from exploded beams that could be painted. The Romans were big into design. Moasics were a common interior sight, the use of little pieces of coloured glass or stone to create a larger image. Frescoes were used to add colour to the home, depicting mythical figures and beasts and also different textures such as stonework or brick. The Romans loved their furniture. Dining tables were low and the Romans ate on couches. Weaving was a popular pastime so there would be tapestries and wall hangings in the house. Rich households could even afford to import fine rugs from across the Empire. Glass was also a feature in Roman interior but windows were usually not paned as large panes were hard to make. Doors were usually treated with panels that were carved or in lain with bronze.

Ancient Egypt

Egypt was one of the first great civilisations, known for its immense and grand structures. Wealthy Egyptians had grand homes. The walls were painted or plastered usually with bright colours and hues. The Egyptians are cool because they mapped out their buildings in such a way to adhere to astrological movements meaning on special days if the calendar the temple or monuments were in the right place always. The columns of Egyptian where thicker, more bulbous and often had capitals shaped like bundles of papyrus reeds. Woven mats and tapestries were popular decor. Motifs from the river such as palms, papyrus and reeds were popular symbols used.

Ancient Africa

African Architecture is a very mixed bag and more structurally different and impressive than Hollywood would have you believe. Far beyond the common depictions of primitive buildings, the African nations were among the giants of their time in architecture, no style quite the same as the last but just as breathtaking.

Rwandan Architecture: The Rwandans commonly built of hardened clay with thatched roofs of dried grass or reeds. Mats of woven reeds carpeted the floors of royal abodes. These residences folded about a large public area known as a karubanda and were often so large that they became almost like a maze, connecting different chambers/huts of all kinds of uses be they residential or for other purposes.

Ashanti Architecture: The Ashanti style can be found in present day Ghana. The style incorporates walls of plaster formed of mud and designed with bright paint and buildings with a courtyard at the heart, not unlike another examples on this post. The Ashanti also formed their buildings of the favourite method of wattle and daub.

Nubian Architecture: Nubia, in modern day Ethiopia, was home to the Nubians who were one of the world's most impressive architects at the beginning of the architecture world and probably would be more talked about if it weren't for the Egyptians building monuments only up the road. The Nubians were famous for building the speos, tall tower-like spires carved of stone. The Nubians used a variety of materials and skills to build, for example wattle and daub and mudbrick. The Kingdom of Kush, the people who took over the Nubian Empire was a fan of Egyptian works even if they didn't like them very much. The Kushites began building pyramid-like structures such at the sight of Gebel Barkal

Japanese Interiors

Japenese interior design rests upon 7 principles. Kanso (簡素)- Simplicity, Fukinsei (不均整)- Asymmetry, Shizen (自然)- Natural, Shibumi (渋味) – Simple beauty, Yugen (幽玄)- subtle grace, Datsuzoku (脱俗) – freedom from habitual behaviour, Seijaku (静寂)- tranquillity.

Common features of Japanese Interior Design:

Shoji walls: these are the screens you think of when you think of the traditional Japanese homes. They are made of wooden frames, rice paper and used to partition

Tatami: Tatami mats are used within Japanese households to blanket the floors. They were made of rice straw and rush straw, laid down to cushion the floor.

Genkan: The Genkan was a sunken space between the front door and the rest of the house. This area is meant to separate the home from the outside and is where shoes are discarded before entering.

Japanese furniture: often lowest, close to the ground. These include tables and chairs but often tanked are replaced by zabuton, large cushions. Furniture is usually carved of wood in a minimalist design.

Nature: As both the Shinto and Buddhist beliefs are great influences upon architecture, there is a strong presence of nature with the architecture. Wood is used for this reason and natural light is prevalent with in the home. The orientation is meant to reflect the best view of the world.

Islamic World Interior

The Islamic world has one of the most beautiful and impressive interior design styles across the world. Colour and detail are absolute staples in the movement. Windows are usually not paned with glass but covered in ornate lattices known as jali. The jali give ventilation, light and privacy to the home. Islamic Interiors are ornate and colourful, using coloured ceramic tiles. The upper parts of walls and ceilings are usually flat decorated with arabesques (foliate ornamentation), while the lower wall areas were usually tiled. Features such as honeycombed ceilings, horseshoe arches, stalactite-fringed arches and stalactite vaults (Muqarnas) are prevalent among many famous Islamic buildings such as the Alhambra and the Blue Mosque.

Byzantine (330/395–1453 A. D)

The Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire was where eat met west, leading to a melting pot of different interior designs based on early Christian styles and Persian influences. Mosaics are probably what you think of when you think of the Byzantine Empire. Ivory was also a popular feature in the Interiors, with carved ivory or the use of it in inlay. The use of gold as a decorative feature usually by way of repoussé (decorating metals by hammering in the design from the backside of the metal). Fabrics from Persia, heavily embroidered and intricately woven along with silks from afar a field as China, would also be used to upholster furniture or be used as wall hangings. The Byzantines favoured natural light, usually from the use of copolas.

Indian Interiors

India is of course, the font of all intricate designs. India's history is sectioned into many eras but we will focus on a few to give you an idea of prevalent techniques and tastes.

The Gupta Empire (320 – 650 CE): The Gupta era was a time of stone carving. As impressive as the outside of these buildings are, the Interiors are just as amazing. Gupta era buildings featured many details such as ogee (circular or horseshoe arch), gavaksha/chandrashala (the motif centred these arches), ashlar masonry (built of squared stone blocks) with ceilings of plain, flat slabs of stone.

Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526): Another period of beautifully carved stone. The Delhi sultanate had influence from the Islamic world, with heavy uses of mosaics, brackets, intricate mouldings, columns and and hypostyle halls.

Mughal Empire (1526–1857): Stonework was also important on the Mughal Empire. Intricately carved stonework was seen in the pillars, low relief panels depicting nature images and jalis (marble screens). Stonework was also decorated in a stye known as pietra dura/parchin kari with inscriptions and geometric designs using colored stones to create images. Tilework was also popular during this period. Moasic tiles were cut and fitted together to create larger patters while cuerda seca tiles were coloured tiles outlined with black.

Chinese Interiors

Common features of Chinese Interiors

Use of Colours: Colour in Chinese Interior is usually vibrant and bold. Red and Black are are traditional colours, meant to bring luck, happiness, power, knowledge and stability to the household.

Latticework: Lattices are a staple in Chinese interiors most often seen on shutters, screens, doors of cabinets snf even traditional beds.

Lacquer: Multiple coats of lacquer are applied to furniture or cabinets (now walls) and then carved. The skill is called Diaoqi (雕漆).

Decorative Screens: Screens are used to partition off part of a room. They are usually of carved wood, pained with very intricate murals.

Shrines: Spaces were reserved on the home to honour ancestors, usually consisting of an altar where offerings could be made.

Of course, Chinese Interiors are not all the same through the different eras. While some details and techniques were interchangeable through different dynasties, usually a dynasty had a notable style or deviation. These aren't all the dynasties of course but a few interesting examples.

Song Dynasty (960–1279): The Song Dynasty is known for its stonework. Sculpture was an important part of Song Dynasty interior. It was in this period than brick and stone work became the most used material. The Song Dynasty was also known for its very intricate attention to detail, paintings, and used tiles.

Ming Dynasty(1368–1644): Ceilings were adorned with cloisons usually featuring yellow reed work. The floors would be of flagstones usually of deep tones, mostly black. The Ming Dynasty favoured richly coloured silk hangings, tapestries and furnishings. Furniture was usually carved of darker woods, arrayed in a certain way to bring peace to the dwelling.

Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD): Interior walls were plastered and painted to show important figures and scenes. Lacquer, though it was discovered earlier, came into greater prominence with better skill in this era.

Tang Dynasty (618–907) : The colour palette is restrained, reserved. But the Tang dynasty is not without it's beauty. Earthenware reached it's peak in this era, many homes would display fine examples as well. The Tang dynasty is famous for its upturned eaves, the ceilings supported by timber columns mounted with metal or stone bases. Glazed tiles were popular in this era, either a fixed to the roof or decorating a screen wall.

Romanesque (6th -11th century/12th)

Romanesque Architecture is a span between the end of Roman Empire to the Gothic style. Taking inspiration from the Roman and Byzantine Empires, the Romanesque period incorporates many of the styles. The most common details are carved floral and foliage symbols with the stonework of the Romanesque buildings. Cable mouldings or twisted rope-like carvings would have framed doorways. As per the name, Romansque Interiors relied heavily on its love and admiration for Rome. The Romanesque style uses geometric shapes as statements using curves, circles snf arches. The colours would be clean and warm, focusing on minimal ornamentation.

Gothic Architecture (12th Century - 16th Century)

The Gothic style is what you think of when you think of old European cathedrals and probably one of the beautiful of the styles on this list and one of most recognisable. The Gothic style is a dramatic, opposing sight and one of the easiest to describe. Decoration in this era became more ornate, stonework began to sport carving and modelling in a way it did not before. The ceilings moved away from barreled vaults to quadripartite and sexpartite vaulting. Columns slimmed as other supportive structures were invented. Intricate stained glass windows began their popularity here. In Gothic structures, everything is very symmetrical and even.

Mediaeval (500 AD to 1500)

Interiors of mediaeval homes are not quite as drab as Hollywood likes to make out. Building materials may be hidden by plaster in rich homes, sometimes even painted. Floors were either dirt strewn with rushes or flagstones in larger homes. Stonework was popular, especially around fireplaces. Grand homes would be decorated with intricate woodwork, carved heraldic beasts and wall hangings of fine fabrics.

Renaissance (late 1300s-1600s)

The Renaissance was a period of great artistry and splendor. The revival of old styles injected symmetry and colour into the homes. Frescoes were back. Painted mouldings adorned the ceilings and walls. Furniture became more ornate, fixed with luxurious upholstery and fine carvings. Caryatids (pillars in the shape of women), grotesques, Roman and Greek images were used to spruce up the place. Floors began to become more intricate, with coloured stone and marble. Modelled stucco, sgraffiti arabesques (made by cutting lines through a layer of plaster or stucco to reveal an underlayer), and fine wall painting were used in brilliant combinations in the early part of the 16th century.

Tudor Interior (1485-1603)

The Tudor period is a starkly unique style within England and very recognisable. Windows were fixed with lattice work, usually casement. Stained glass was also in in this period, usually depicting figures and heraldic beasts. Rooms would be panelled with wood or plastered. Walls would be adorned with tapestries or embroidered hangings. Windows and furniture would be furnished with fine fabrics such as brocade. Floors would typically be of wood, sometimes strewn with rush matting mixed with fresh herbs and flowers to freshen the room.

Baroque (1600 to 1750)

The Baroque period was a time for splendor and for splashing the cash. The interior of a baroque room was usually intricate, usually of a light palette, featuring a very high ceiling heavy with detail. Furniture would choke the room, ornately carved and stitched with very high quality fabrics. The rooms would be full of art not limited to just paintings but also sculptures of marble or bronze, large intricate mirrors, moldings along the walls which may be heavily gilded, chandeliers and detailed paneling.

Victorian (1837-1901)

We think of the interiors of Victorian homes as dowdy and dark but that isn't true. The Victorians favoured tapestries, intricate rugs, decorated wallpaper, exquisitely furniture, and surprisingly, bright colour. Dyes were more widely available to people of all stations and the Victorians did not want for colour. Patterns and details were usually nature inspired, usually floral or vines. Walls could also be painted to mimic a building material such as wood or marble and most likely painted in rich tones. The Victorians were suckers for furniture, preferring them grandly carved with fine fabric usually embroidered or buttoned. And they did not believe in minimalism. If you could fit another piece of furniture in a room, it was going in there. Floors were almost eclusively wood laid with the previously mentioned rugs. But the Victorians did enjoy tiled floors but restricted them to entrances. The Victorians were quite in touch with their green thumbs so expect a lot of flowers and greenery inside. with various elaborately decorated patterned rugs. And remember, the Victorians loved to display as much wealth as they could. Every shelf, cabinet, case and ledge would be chocked full of ornaments and antiques.

Edwardian/The Gilded Age/Belle Epoque (1880s-1914)

This period (I've lumped them together for simplicity) began to move away from the deep tones and ornate patterns of the Victorian period. Colour became more neutral. Nature still had a place in design. Stained glass began to become popular, especially on lampshades and light fixtures. Embossing started to gain popularity and tile work began to expand from the entrance halls to other parts of the house. Furniture began to move away from dark wood, some families favouring breathable woods like wicker. The rooms would be less cluttered.

Art Deco (1920s-1930s)

The 1920s was a time of buzz and change. Gone were the refined tastes of the pre-war era and now the wow factor was in. Walls were smoother, buildings were sharper and more jagged, doorways and windows were decorated with reeding and fluting. Pastels were in, as was the heavy use of black and white, along with gold. Mirrors and glass were in, injecting light into rooms. Gold, silver, steel and chrome were used in furnishings and decor. Geometric shapes were a favourite design choice. Again, high quality and bold fabrics were used such as animal skins or colourful velvet. It was all a rejection of the Art Noveau movement, away from nature focusing on the man made.

Modernism (1930 - 1965)

Modernism came after the Art Deco movement. Fuss and feathers were out the door and now, practicality was in. Materials used are shown as they are, wood is not painted, metal is not coated. Bright colours were acceptable but neutral palettes were favoured. Interiors were open and favoured large windows. Furniture was practical, for use rather than the ornamentation, featuring plain details of any and geometric shapes. Away from Art Deco, everything is straight, linear and streamlined.

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vidavalor · 1 month

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The Ok Sign's historical ties to Vavooming

When Crowley describes his "hypothetical" (😉) Vavoom scenario in S2, he gesticulates a moving version of the OK hand sign to Aziraphale. The history of this particular gesture is rather interesting... especially when you consider what Crowley is saying when he is choosing to use it.

In modern times, the initial, vertical part of what Crowley is doing while talking about canopies is a sign known as "the OK sign" and, in most places, it is seen as signaling a positive response to something. Even though something that is "okay" is seen as sort of middling-- more "not terrible" than "good"-- the OK hand gesture has a much more positive connotation than the word itself does and generally means that something is excellent. It came to mean that in the United States and many other countries through American political campaigns of the early 19th century. The gesture itself, though, is much, much older than that and can be traced back to ancient Rome and ancient Greece... where it has ties to romantic love.

When painted on vases and the like, the gesture was meant to evoke a kiss through the touching of the tips of the thumb and the index finger. Interesting considering the topic of a vavoomy first kiss in the scene while Crowley is making this gesture, no?

In first century Rome-- a time and place we know to be significant to Crowley and Aziraphale's history-- it was a gesture of assent and if a person made the gesture towards another person in the Greco-Roman world? It was a way of professing romantic love for that person.

While describing a hypothetical scenario for Maggie and Nina that many of us suspect is really a recounting of his and Aziraphale's first kiss, Crowley is gesturing "I love you" to Aziraphale by the social customs of classical antiquity.

There's also a bit of fish, food and Jesus in this as well... so, very Ineffable Husbands. In the modern era, the OK sign is also the gesture used universally by scuba divers to signal that they are feeling good while on a dive. It is also a version of the "chef's kiss"-- the one that is more of an OK sign near the face than kissing the tips of your fingers. In the original version of 'The Prisoner,' the watched prisoners use the OK sign to communicate with each other, which was famously inspired by use of The Sign of the Fish/Jesus Fish as a secret symbol used by early Christians.

The gesture is also used in another unspoken language: Christian monks who took a vow of silence would also use the gesture as a base to indicate other things to communicate-- forming the index finger and thumb into a ring and holding it in front of one's self as Crowley does in this scene would indicate in that language an oblation, or offering, to God.

Crowley then keeps his fingers in the OK position and tips his hand down when he says "together", turning it all into a second gesture-- one that is known as gyan/jnana mudra, which is a hand sign used most frequently in meditation and sometimes in yoga. It is known as the knowledge mudra. Crowley also used it during the Gabriel miracle while Aziraphale used its pair at the same time-- chin mudra-- which is the same gesture, just with the palm facing up, and focuses on similar things.

Both focus on knowledge gained and the calming effects of the unification of the individual soul/ego (represented by the index finger) with the thumb (the supreme soul/paramatman-- the more actualized individual soul made boundless by light and wisdom.) The gesture is done as part of meditation to create a circuit that redirects the prana-- life force/energy-- through the body, alleviating anxiety and calming the mind through a grounding sense of connection, calm and peace.

By connecting the two gestures into one while talking about this canopy scenario, Crowley seems to be connecting the erotic and the spiritual and referencing his millennia-old romantic passion for Aziraphale to Aziraphale by using a gesture for love from antiquity... and that's somehow all before this shows up:

Who knew Richard Curtis films were this hot?

#ineffable husbands #good omens #crowley #aziraphale #aziracrow #good omens 2 #good omens meta

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homunculus-argument · 9 months

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I get annoyed by the way I can always tell that the author of a book about the general history of something is an american by the way the region they talk about shifts, in the same exact pattern. It moves like a fibonacci spiral placed on the upper left quarter of a world map, starting from ancient Greece and Rome, curving upward to central Europe around the medieval era, and somewhere around the year 1700 or so curves towards North America and then stays there, focusing more and more keenly on the US in meticulous detail, as if the rest of the world simply ceased to exist, ceased to progress, and ceased to be interesting as soon as the author's favourite country was founded.

But then again, to be fair, I never notice that they were exclusively talking about Europe before they stop talking about Europe.

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blueiskewl · 8 months

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A 2,600-Year-Old Unopened Etruscan Tomb Discovered in Italy

Community leaders and archeologists in central Italy recently gathered in the municipality of Montalto di Castro for the opening of a tomb that dates back more than 2 1/2 millennia, the municipality announced in a social media post last week.

"Today … we witnessed the opening of an ancient Etruscan tomb buried at the Osteria Necropolis in Vulci," the municipality of Montalto di Castro, which sits along the Mediterranean Sea about 100 miles northwest of Rome, wrote Oct. 27 on Facebook, calling the grand unveiling "a day of culture and history" in a translated statement.

Historians say the Etruscans built their civilization on a portion of the land that is now modern-day Italy, beginning as early as 900 B.C., and operated as a network of city-states not completely unlike the Roman Republic that came after it. The Etruscans dominated Italy until falling, as a result of the Roman-Etruscan wars, to the then-expanding Roman empire around the 4th century B.C.

Vulci, an archaeological site in the northern Lazio region not far from Montalto di Castro, was once a rich Etruscan city. Its ruins have become a popular spot for tourist visits and as well as a place of interest for archaeological excavations.

The tomb discovered there earlier this year was found remarkably intact when it was officially opened at the end of October, for the first time in about 2,600 years, according to the Italian online magazine Finestre sull'Arte, which focuses on ancient and contemporary art. It was opened and explored following the opening of a similar tomb in the area this past April, the magazine reported. Montalto di Castro Mayor Emanuela Socciarelli attended the opening along with Simona Baldassarre, the councilor of culture for the Lazio region, Simona Carosi, the manager of the Superintendency of Archaeology for the province of Viterbo and southern Etruria, and Carlos Casi, the director of the Vulci Foundation, which helped lead the excavation alongside archeologists.

Archaeologists found a collection of long-lost treasures inside the ancient tomb, including a collection of pottery and amphorae, which are tall jars with two handles and a narrow neck typically associated with ancient Greek or Roman cultures. The jars contained wine from Greece, likely from the island of Chios, Finestre sull'Arte reported. It could be a relic of the wine trade happening at that time in history.

Utensils, cups, iron objects, and a variety of ceramics and decorative accessories were also found inside the tomb in perfect condition, as was a tablecloth that may have been used for a funerary ritual offering called "the last meal" or "meal of the dead." A bronze cauldron was also found.

The stockpile of personal belongings found inside the tomb suggests the family for whom it was constructed was probably quite wealthy in their day.

The complex structure and layout of the burial site is also important to archeologists and historians, Casi told the Italian news outlet Il Messaggero, noting that the tomb "appears to be characterized by a partition saved in the rock which creates a passage arch between the dromos, i.e. the short corridor with steps, and the vestibule, from which the two rooms were accessed, the front one and the one on the left: the usual one on the right is missing, evidently because the space had already been occupied by other tombs."

By EMILY MAE CZACHOR.

#A 2600-Year-Old Unopened Etruscan Tomb Discovered in Italy #Montalto di Castro #Osteria Necropolis in Vulci #ancient tomb #ancient grave #ancient necropolis #ancient artifacts #archeology #archeolgst #history #history news #ancient history #ancient culture #ancient civilizations #roman history #roman empire #etruscan history

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virromanus · 6 months

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How the Renaissance Shaped the Italian Language

The Renaissance, a period of immense cultural, artistic, and intellectual growth in Europe, played a crucial role in the development of the modern Italian language. This era, spanning the 14th to the 17th century, witnessed a revival of interest in the classical art, literature, and learning of ancient Greece and Rome, significantly influencing the evolution of the Italian language.

Dante Alighieri's Contribution:

Dante Alighieri, often referred to as the "Father of the Italian language," was instrumental in establishing the Tuscan dialect as the standard for the Italian language. His most famous work, "The Divine Comedy" ("Divina Commedia"), written in the early 14th century, was one of the first major works of literature written in the vernacular, i.e., the local Tuscan dialect, instead of Latin. Dante's choice of the vernacular over Latin marked a pivotal moment in the development of Italian as a literary language.

Dante's works demonstrated the expressive and aesthetic possibilities of the Italian language, elevating its status and proving it could be used for serious, high literary pursuits, a domain previously reserved for Latin.

Petrarch's Influence:

Francesco Petrarca, known as Petrarch, further solidified the use of the vernacular in literature. He is best known for his Italian sonnet sequences, which focused on themes of love, personal reflection, and the human experience. Petrarch's poetry, particularly his "Canzoniere" (Songbook), greatly influenced Italian literature and language. His refined use of the vernacular and his development of the Italian sonnet format set a standard for lyrical poetry in Italian.

Boccaccio's Contributions:

Giovanni Boccaccio, another key figure of the Italian Renaissance, also contributed significantly to the development of the Italian language. His most famous work, "The Decameron," is a collection of novellas written in the vernacular. It not only had a profound impact on Italian literature but also helped to shape the Italian language by demonstrating its suitability for both serious and more lighthearted, secular topics.

Impact on Standardizing Italian:

The works of these authors were essential in the standardization of the Italian language. Their choice of the Tuscan dialect, particularly that of the Florentine region, as their literary medium contributed to its status as the basis of standard modern Italian.

Legacy and Continued Influence:

The Renaissance's focus on humanism and the return to classical sources also played a role in shaping the Italian language. This period encouraged a deeper exploration of the human condition, emotion, and intellect, aspects that were deeply integrated into the Italian language through literature and art.

In sum, the Renaissance was a period of reawakening that not only rediscovered the riches of classical antiquity but also set the foundation for the development of the modern Italian language. The works of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio were not just literary masterpieces but also linguistic milestones that established the prestige and potential of the Italian vernacular, leading to its evolution into the modern Italian language we know today.

#italian language #learning italian #italian linguistics #renaissance #italian #italian literature #italian culture #romance languages #learning latin #latin linguistics #latin language #roman #italy #italian landscape

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apollosgiftofprophecy · 5 months

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not sure if anyone's asked you this before/yet, but so you have any opinions or thoughts of the relationship between all of the pantheons? general relationship and possibly some more personal ones?

I've read many different headcanons and fanfiction where people have mentioned their thoughts on it, but nothing they've ever gone into detail about.

there's nothing really preventing them from interacting *👀 I keep remembering the smallest tiniest hint of freypollo we got* but that doesn't mean they go out of their way doing it, yk?

OKAY SO-

The pantheons I'll be mainly focusing on are the Greek, Roman, Norse, & Egyptian ones. I'll probably make little nods to other ones too tho :3

Don't be surprised if this mainly centers on Apollo XD He's my guy <3

GREEK & ROMAN

Let's kick it off with these two!

"But aren't they the same-?"

Nope! The Roman pantheon started off as their own sets of gods - the thing is, they had very little myths written down so we don't know much about how they were characterized :(

Howmever. We do know that when they were synchronized with Greece's gods, you can see the little differences between them - for instance, the Roman gods were more Forces Of Nature than gods who went out and Did Stuff, like Greece's.

Jupiter for example! He didn't have the "fucks around" rep Zeus does! Jupiter from the Roman's perspective didn't go out and do much. He rooted on Aeneus, yes, but the myths of his children weren't quite as popular in Rome as they were in Greece (probably because they were. ya know. Greek heroes, and not Roman)

And Apollo. Oh, Apollo...the only major god who didn't have a Latin equivalent.

Rome loved you so much they adopted you and went "no. no. he was always here. no we aren't lying. see? he's in the Dii Consentes!" XD

Fun Fact: Apollo is basically multiple gods in a trench coat. Paion (Mycenean), Smitheus (Mycenean), Aplu (Etruscan), Apaulinus (Hittie), Grannus (Celtic), ect were all Apollo-equivalents who historians have concluded to be past incarnations of Apollo!

which is INTERESTING because...do those gods still exist in the RRverse? Are they connected to Apollo in some way? Are they little voices in his head? DO THEY HAVE DRINKS TOGETHER?

I have questions and I need answers.

Greek & Egyptian

Saving the Norse for last because we all wanna save Freypollo for last <3 the best for last lmao

RIGHT OFF THE BAT I'M GONNA SAY THAT ZEUS DOESN'T LIKE THE OTHER PANTHEONS! I BET HE DOESN'T!

Which sucks for him because Apollo has friends in Egypt XD

I do think Apollo and Horus would be friends! Not only are they both associated with the sun in some way, but they were actually identified with each other when Greece met Egypt!

Greece: Oh so you have a super-powerful son of the king of the gods associated with light? So do we! :D

Egypt: Oh my gosh we do! :D

You know the myth of Typhon? Apollo transformed into a hawk to escape, and you know who has a hawk head?

Horus. :D

also Horus took over the thrown from Osiris - sure, not in an overthrow way but still. he overthrew Set and claimed the throne

sounds like something we all want hmm...

Also, I headcanon that Helios and Ra go WAAAAYYYY back and Apollo only met Ra like. once. before Isis did her blackmailing and Ra disappeared.

SO WHEN RA CAME BACK, WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN DURING HOO BTW, APOLLO HAS NO IDEA! HE'S ON DELOS AT THAT POINT! THEN HIS TRIALS!

So when he rolls up to the next sun god meeting he sees Ra and is like "wait what who are you- OH WAIT!"

And Ra's like; "WHO LET THIS CHILD BE PUT IN CHARGE OF THE SUN???"

Apollo: I'm over 4,000 years old-

Ra, pointing: BABY

(Headcanon that Ra & Amaterasu are like. the defacto sun god 'leaders' who keep the meetings rolling. Amaterasu was very tired when Ra disappeared and she had to wrangle these fiery gods together XD)

(Also Helios thought Horus was a lil' upstart XD)

Finally, I also saw someone else mention that Apollo could have learned some Egyptian magic and used it to create the border of CHB!

Headcanon Hecate snuck along with him and it's their little secret :3

Greek & Norse

HERE. WE. ARE.

LEMME GET MY MAP OUT

SO.

Green highlight is where Greece is. Blue is where Hyperborea is (see this post for details)

In that post, I came to the conclusion that Apollo Totally Definitely Has Met Norse Gods BECAUSE OF HIS WINTER VACATIONS!

AND IF YOU LOOK ACROSS THE BALTIC SEA-

STOCKHOLM.

AND WHERE DID APOLLO MEET THAT HOT GOD WITH A TALKING SWORD???

A TAVERN. IN. STOCKHOLM!

FREYPOLLO LIVES (<-knows very well it's basically already canon XD)

Fun fact: the people of Hyperborea were most likely the mythological avatars of the Norse people! :D

SO I CONCLUDE-

Apollo takes a trip across the Baltic Sea and flirts in the Stockholm tavern and that's how Freypollo happens <3

Other Pantheon Thoughts

Hindu: This thought came while I was creating my @underrated-lovers-of-apollo-poll - Apollo & Indra!

They shared an elephant ride that one time! Wouldn't it be fun if they also kissed? :3

also Indra is a storm god with thunder and lightning think of the angst-

Shinto: Amaterasu taught Apollo Japanese when he discovered the haiku for the first time - sadly, only Athena ever bothered to learn it to experience the haiku in its fullest. pushing my sibling agenda again haha

Because haikus always sound better in their native language <3

Hittie: This connects to the 'Apollo trenchcoat' thing earlier - if Apollo is like. the current form of Apaulinus, would the Hittie pantheon like. drop in from time to time like 'heyyyy we miss you <3'

Apollo: *trojan war flashbacks*

Apaulinus was heavily associated with Wilusa, whom historians have confirmed was Troy, and Apollo's first temple doesn't show up under AFTER the bronze age collapse and the war happened BEFORE that happened meaning HE WAS APAULINUS WHEN THE WAR HAPPENED MY HEART-

i need to look into more pantheons. it's so much fun making these connections and coming up with headcanons for the RRverse :3

#the oracle speaks #ramblings of an oracle #the trials of apollo #apollo #zeus #pjo apollo #pjo zeus #pjo jupiter #pjo helios #tkc horus #tkc ra #tkc set #pjo hecate #mcatgoa frey #freypollo #rrverse indra #rrverse amaterasu

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overthinkingpolytheist · 1 year

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Daily Meal Offerings

In ancient Greece/Rome, it was common, almost a no-brainer, to offer morsels of your meal and libations to the gods. Here's what they did:

Short version

Used for daily offerings, each meal.

Before the meal:

Set aside a morsel of food for Hestia while focusing on her energy or saying a prayer/hymn

After the meal:

Pour libation for Agathos Daimon and ask for blessings of protection, luck, etc

Longer Version

Used during formal festivals or sacred days

Before meal:

Morsel to Hestia (focus or prayer/hymn)

Morsel to Apollon (focus or prayer/hymn)

Morsel to Zeus, to protect the outside [of your home]

Morsel to Zeus, to protect the inside [of your home]

After meal

Libation to Agathos Daimon for luck, protection, etc.

If you eat out, obviously, this may not be able to be done. Do it as you can.

#hellenic devotion #hellenic pagan #hellenic polytheism #hellenic reconstructionism #apollo #hellenic polythiest #hellenic deities #polytheism #zeus greek mythology #artemis

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racefortheironthrone · 11 months

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How would the food supply chain work for city states in in places like Ancient Greece and more recently, the Italian City States? Would they control agricultural land, or would they have to buy food from nearby (or perhaps not so nearby) agricultural regions? What measures would they take in times of war to avoid having their food supply cut off?

Great question!

To answer "How would the food supply chain work for city states," I would answer by answering your other question "Would they control agricultural land, or would they have to buy food from nearby (or perhaps not so nearby) agricultural regions?" by saying: it's both.

Paradigmatically, a city-state consists of a metropole (the city in question) and the periphery (subordinated lands and territories under the city's control). (Or metropolis and hinterland, if you prefer). To further break this down, the periphery consists of a mix of different lands, including both overseas colonies and tributaries, conquered (and thus lesser and weaker) city-states and their peripheries, and the agricultural hinterland around the metropole. To take just this last category, we can think of the relationship between Athens and Attica, Rome and Latium, Venice and the Mestre and Veneto (everyone always focuses on Venice's overseas empire, but it's rarely remembered that Venice at its height basically controlled all of northeastern Italy and fought Milan for northcentral and parts of northwestern Italy), or Florence and (eventually all of) Tuscany.

How far that agricultural hinterland extended beyond the city's walls depended a lot on transportation technology. Brett Devereaux has very good (but lengthy) explanations of the difficulties of overland grain trade here and here, but the TLDR is that, as a rough rule of thumb, "the price of grain doubles every hundred miles it is moved overland." Those kind of price increases aren't really affordable, so I think if you're looking for a rough rule of thumb, a hundred miles is probably a good maximum radius for an agricultural hinterland, whereas the minimum radius is probably around 7-12 miles (based on medieval urban regulations for agricultural markets), which was roughly how far a cart could travel in a day.

However, certain factors can change the effective radius of the hinterland:

The more and better roads you have, carts can move faster and come from more directions/places, which effectively expands that cart/day radius.

If the city is on a river (and this is one of the main reasons why most historic cities were on rivers, if they weren't on coasts), you can use river-barges to transport grain. Sail-barges could travel 14 miles an hour in good winds, and tow- or pole-barges could do 10-40 miles a day (depending on whether they were going upriver or downriver). Moreover, because of buoyancy, barges can carry much heavier loads than carts, which makes them much more eficient in transporting bulk goods like grain.

Finally, the population density and degree of urbanization matters, because it raises the possibility of making partial trips, because smaller population centers will act as local metropoles and more efficiently bring in grain from rural areas allowing for more efficient routes; also, higher density and urbanization allows for the creation of a network of granaries that allow you to store grain along the way so that you can make partial trips rather than covering the whole distance from the city to the very edge of the periphery.

However, the hinterland usually wasn't enough on its own to supply the city-state, but the same advantages of wind-speed and buoyancy also meant that a long-distance overseas grain trade was absolutely viable in both the Ancient and Medieval worlds. So for example, Greek city-states would draw on grain from southern France, southern Italy and Sicily, the Black Sea, and Anatolia; much of Rome's grain supply came from North Africa and Egypt; and so on. Moreover, as Fernand Braudel points out, the interconnected grain trade of the Mediterranean was the indispensable foundation for southern European urbanism from the Middle Ages through to the Early Modern period, and the geospatial dynamics of that system did not really change that much until the invention of the steam engine.

To answer your final question - "What measures would they take in times of war to avoid having their food supply cut off?" - it was usually by a mix of metropolis/hinterland logistics and long-distance trade. A well-organized city-state would have granaries set up both in the city and in the more urbanized areas of the periphery and would have contingency plans to harvest and transport as much grain as possible to the city to use as reserves in a time of crisis. (You'll note that this leaves the periphery in a really bad situation in times of crisis, and this prioritization of the metropole over the periphery is one of the main reasons why it sucked to be in the periphery, which is why there was so much competition over who got to be the metropole and why there were so many rebellions on the peirphery.)

At the same time, if the city-state had naval supremacy over its enemies, it could pretty much indefinitely hold out against its enemies as long as it could maintain a lifeline to the sea. This is why Athens was able to hold out against Sparta for so long during the Pelopennesian War, why Constantinople won so many of its sieges, and why Venice was able to take on most of Europe and still come out on top most of the time.

#history #ancient history #medieval history #renaissance history #city-states #metropole #periphery #metropolis #hinterland #logistics #economic history #medieval economics

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just-late-roman-republic-things · 6 months

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Notes on Craig Williams' Roman Homosexuality, chapter 2! This time we're focusing on how "Roman" or "un-Roman" different sexual practices were, and how Romans reacted to Greek influences. Warning again for non-explicit references to pederasty, slavery, and what we'd now consider rape.

Acceptance of homosexual relationships predated Greek influence in Rome, and Romans didn't see homosexuality as a particularly Greek custom.

However, the open acceptance of sexual relationships between men and freeborn boys - pederasty - was unique to Greece. Roman freeborn boys were supposed to be off-limits.

Hence Roman women, children, and young men were supposed to guard their pudicitia, roughly "sexual integrity," or "chastity." In theory, anyway. And slaves of any age or gender couldn't have pudicitia, because their bodies weren't their own. (I wonder if this may be partly why ex-slaves were still looked down on sometimes, because they were seen as having "lost their virtue"?)

On the other hand, it was much more socially acceptable for Roman men to be attracted to adult men than it was in Greece. Although both Roman and Greek writers talk about the "flower of [male] youth," i.e. the attractiveness of teen boys, only in Roman sources do we see relationships between adult men mentioned in a neutral or positive manner. The Romans also talked openly about male prostitutes who were full adults or acted as the penetrating partners. However, a Roman man was still expected to only have such relations with slaves or prostitutes, not with other free Roman men, and he was supposed to be the penetrator and to act masculine in public.

(Note: if any one has examples to the contrary, please let me know! I was really surprised by Williams' claim that this was more accepted in Rome than in Greece.)

In practice, Roman and Greek sexual relationships were very diverse, just as they are in our time. But Williams is focusing on the cultural norms men would have been judged by, and the language they had available to describe themselves.

Roman traditionalists decried Greek influence, but they mainly objected to what they saw as unnecessary luxury, overindulgence, military weakness, and effeminacy, not homosexual practices. "Overindulgence" could include excessive sexual activity, which critics usually put in the same category as other appetites like food and wine, but it's the degree of luxury they criticize, not the gender of the participants.

In another book (I think it was Mary Beard's SPQR) I read that the Roman virtue of austerity was constructed in response to the growing empire, and wealth and foreign peoples flowing into Rome. Rome's laws permitted many non-ethnic-Romans to gain citizenship through manumission. Thus the idealization of "old-fashioned Roman austerity" may have been an attempt by Romans to differentiate their culture further from what they saw as the luxuries and "decadence" of the Hellenistic world.

#jlrrt reads #roman homosexuality #craig williams #jlrrt essays

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beautiful-basque-country · 4 months

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@numantinecitizen: Thing is what you described is most of history, only in the last 200 years have we really had the means to end the cycle of violence and oppression (though it continues), but any "great" civilization of ancient times was founded in this way. I do agree though its creeps me out when people glorify Rome or some other empire too much, we must be aware of all the aspects and the human cost to achieve the technology they did. I remember reading about a Dominican professor who works in "the classics" and he is really contraversial and pisses off other people in the field, because A he doesn't thinks the classics should even exist as a separate field of study, its blatant eurocentric propganda that acts like Rome and Greece are founding fathers of all (white) Europeans, which is nonsense, and B as a black Dominican he focused especially on the history of slavery in Rome, and its sickening seeing things like ancient Roman slave collars saying "if lost please return to owner".

Yeah, of course, I'm a aware that history is a string of conquerors and conquered, but I mean, I think in this day and age we should be more conscious. One anon told me about sickening La Entrada in New Mexico, and how for many people it's just a parade and a festive day and how they don't take it too seriously, while it's actually hurtful for native people. I can see how many of these parades started as victory anniversaries that also served as a reminder of who was in charge for the conquered; as time went by they evolved to something like a party day for many, but still for some descendants of those conquered it's still as hurtful as it was for their ancestors.

That professor is totally right, btw, I'd love to read some of his essays on the matter.

And regarding the Roman celebrations, maybe I'm reading too much into them, but I feel there's also a really big racist ingredient there. I mean, there aren't celebrations of how the Muslims beat the Wisigoths' asses, or recreation of battles that Christians lost. However, we have recreations - and celebrations! - of the Carthaginians or Cantabrians losing to Rome 💁‍♀️.

There's still many people that say that Spaniards and Italians are half brothers because they all come from the Romans, as if 1) there was only one color and culture in the Roman empire and 2) nobody else had come and mixed with Iberian people since Rome fell.

I can understand that Italian and Spanish are very similar and there's a closer culture between the two than with, let's say, Morocco. But there's also this racist undertone there like, call me descendant of Romans or Wisigoths, but don't call me descendant of Moors. I don't know if I make sense.

#euskal herria #basque country #pays basque #pais vasco #euskadi #culture #personal #history #spain #rome

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poisonnxkki · 1 year

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Necromancy & Reanimation In Ancient Times🕯

Dead Man's Tongue by Karol Bem

🖤This post focuses on necromancy during ancient Greece/Rome, methods will differ depending on the tradition.

Ancient Classifications of the Restless Dead:

Note: In ancient times, the restless dead tended to be the ones exploited for magical endeavours.

Aôroi- those dead before their time, which is anyone who died of anything other than natural causes in old age.

Bi(ai)othanatoi- those dead by violence, includes those who died at war, executed criminals or murder victims.

Agamoi- those dead before marriage, includes both males and females.

Ataphoi- those deprived of burial, anyone who died without a proper burial were unable to rest peacefully.

Features of Ancient Necromancy:

Note: Ancient necromancy is the act of communing with the dead, this is often done with the help of oracles of the dead.

It always takes place at night

Rites require a pit and a fire

Libations of honey-milk, wine, water, olive oil (occasionally) and barley are offered to the dead

Black cattle are sacrificed for the entities of the underworld, the blood is drained into the pit and the remains are burned whole

Prayers are made to both the dead and their rulers, which secures the soul's temporary release from Hades

Features of Ancient Reanimation:

Note: Reanimation originates from Egypt and differs from necromancy in both method and appearance.

The corpse must stand before it can speak, the act of standing symbolizes its return to life

Herbs are used to reanimate the corpse

The dead being revived is always angry at their revival, unlike in necromancy which is often enjoyed by the dead

Reanimation always fails the first time, the threat of a second attempt is what makes the reanimation successful

*All images are from Pinterest*

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ditipatri · 2 years

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This year's Saturnalia is coming soon, which calls for a moment of devotion for its main, though not only, Divinity, the Titan Saturn. Initially an agricultural Deity of abundance and good harvest of Roman and Greek land, Saturn is most well known for being the keeper of Time and the Titan who ate His children.

However, He is a much more complex God, or Titan, than that, and in this post I'd like to cover His cult across Greece and the Roman Empire as well as offerings, gifts, and activities that can be devoted to Him.

Saturn, or Cronos, has quite a number of myths spoken of him as well as a lot of versions as to how the Deity initially came to be. The most well-known and popular story about His early years is that of Uranus and Gaia, who the Greeks considered to be His parents; and Him, Their youngest child. Accordingly to this myth, it was Cronos who cut off His father's genitalia, which, falling into the sea, both birthed Venus and created Sicily, the region that was called fertilissima, or "most fertile" land. The sickle, after being used for that, fell on Earth and formed the Strait of Messina, the sickled shape of which was believed to remind one of the God's tool and weapon.

The story of Cronos, after emasculating His father and taking reign over the skies, is quite well-known. He was given a prophecy that one of His children would dethrone Him in turn, and to prevent that, he consumed all of them, but Rhea, determined to save at least one, provided Him a wrapped stone instead of little Zeus. Years passed, and children grew safely in Their father's stomach, seeing that They were immortal, locked up until Zeus, raised by Metis, fed Cronos a mixture of wine and mustard that made Him throw up all of His consumed children. After the Gods waged war on the Titan, he got chained up in Tartarus alongside those who helped Him. Zeus overtook Olympus, ending the cycle.

The Roman legend seems to decode a different part of Saturn's self, story, and power. While the Greek story focuses on the aspect of Saturn as a primordial Divine ruler over all that exists, the Roman tale speaks on Him as a joyful king of the era long before humankind; the mystical Golden Age. Seen as a God, in the Roman myth Saturn is the Deity of abundance and rich harvest, celebrated alongside Dis Pater, Proserpina, and Ops during the annual festival of Saturnalia in December. His very name, Saturn or Saturno, derives from an Ancient Indo-European root sat which has the meaning "life giving", "prosperous" (hence "sated"). Saturn in the Roman Empire is a benevolent, all-giving Deity that received an enormous amount of respect and worship, even having His own Temple at the Capitolian Hill in Rome. This was a sign of utmost respect as only those Gods that were seen as Rome's protectors and keepers received an aedis, a dwelling place, in the capital.

Roman mythology saw the Age of Saturn's reign as a time of utter joy as no slavery existed back then, according to the Romans. People and Gods lived together, with mortals not aging and happily spending the days in drinking and partying. When the time of Death came, they fell into a happy slumber. To celebrate this memory, Saturnalia was introduced. Saturn was praised together with Ops, his Divine wife. She was seen as responsible for the fruits of the Earth as well as a protectoress of abundance alongside Her husband - and the Mother of All. This was also reflected in her name, Ops, or Opima (hence "opulence").

Thus, one can witness the radical difference between Saturn and Cronos, who must not be mixed up despite their mutual identification as the same Deity seen differently. Cronos is a gloomy ex-king burdened by defeat to his own son, locked away in the Underworld as a way of punishment. Roman Saturn, however, is a much more positive power: a benevolent king of the mystical Golden Age, the leading Deity of Saturnalia, the happiest time of the year, and a keeper of mystical golden seeds one can find if they discover His tomb under Lazio.

Saturn was so beloved in Rome that His constant presence in its life is depicted in local stories and myths, too. For example, in the story of Aeneas, when he and his crew land in Etruria after the fall of Troy and travel to Lazio, they find Evandro, the ruler of the land. He, having arrived to Palatine Hill long before the Trojan war, says that the indigenous peoples there were already praticing the cult of Saturn.

The myth of Roman Saturn usually ends with Saturn being exiled by Jupiter, who then takes up His role as the King, and thus brings a change of season and a cycle of aging into the previous Golden Age.

However, this is where the story of Saturn and Janus begins. Saturn for the Romans was one of the Deities called Numina, powers that had no established forms and of whom we so far discovered close to no myths. Those powers included such well-known Godly presences as the Lari and the Penati. Saturn belonged among the Numina and was regarded as the protector of the fields, thus receiving praise for good harvest.

According to the Roman myth, after exile He settled in what would later become Southern Italy, specifically in the region of Ausonia in Lazio. Here, He and His brother Janus founded mythical cities of Saturn, called Saturnalia as the festival created later on will also be named. They were benevolent rulers, and Their people knew of architecture, as well as law and justice. Allegedly, it was Saturn who granted Janus His gift of foresight.

After Janus was deified by the Romans, Saturn became the center of the festival of Saturnalia, which in itself is so grand that it deserves each own post to be spoken of, which I will of course provide.

To speak of the cult of Saturn, we must first talk of His representation within the common perception. Now, His main attribute was a scythe, which represented both His inherent status of an agricultural Deity as well as His later association with Death and Time that brings it; much like a reaper of souls. Crow was his companion bird, which became associated with both Greek Cronos and Roman Saturn. Interestingly enough, this came from Latin as the term for crow, cornix, sounded similar enough to Chrono. The Greeks took up the spelling and turned Cronos into Chronos, thus associating the two. Chronos, also, means "Time", which was what led people to believe He was the personification of Time itself.

The cult of Saturn has been noted to exist in multiple parts of the Roman world. Precisely in Sicily, where the Deity was first documented, and in Northern Africa during the Roman rule of the lands. Due to the nature of the Cult itself, we can't say much about how exactly Saturn was praised at the very beginning of His worship, though we can enumerate some general aspects of the cultic activity.

From what we know, the cult in Sicily associated Saturn with the Punic Deity named Baal, or Baal-Hammon, who represented agricultural power of abundance and was a gift-giving God. He was praised along the Northern part of Africa and was known to the South of Italy and Sicily. In the cult of Baal-Hammon, animal sacrifice was practiced, which, while distributed very unevenly across the Roman Empire of the time, seemed to be a generally typical feature of the cult. In Caltabellotta, Sicily, according to Ancient sources, Baal-Cronos was honored with human sacrifice. Aside from Italy and North Africa, another place of dwelling of the God is said to be Mount Scuderi with a mythical tomb in it.

Saturn in North Africa received handmade wooden and stone-carved altars, or stelae, that would be dedications of vows from those who made them. These could be made by individuals, groups of individuals, or whole templar communities if a temple existed. The dedication of the stelae was often preceded by a "visitation in a dream", ex visu, as proven by multiple texts of the votive rites of the time. These stelae were sort of a promise from the mortal giver to the God Himself; and a place of commemoration of Him and the gifts He would grant the loyal. The stelae depicted the God, His companions, a miniature of a worshipper performing a sacrifice, and a lot of other decorum. Young lambs were sacrificed to Him all year long, according to bone analysis and texts found.

It needs to be said here that Roman cults split into sacra publica and sacra privata: public and personal. Public cults involved some sort of common activity of the people and provision by the state, such as the state paying for the temples, while private worship meant that the God received personal dedications of an individual. As mentioned befor, it is said that Saturn did not require an official dwelling place, such as a temple in the city; he still received one as, supposedly, the Romans did not want to "let go" of such a benevolent protector. His statue in Rome had covers draped over His feet as a symbolic gesture.

The biggest celebration of the God is Saturnalia, an Ancient festival that has roots in the archaic era. It is said to also have involved human sacrifice of the chosen King of the Saturnalia, though it's hard to provide proof for such claims. However, we know for a fact that animal sacrifice, spoken of by multiple Roman authors, was made during the festival at the biggest temple of those built in Rome - the Temple of Saturn. This temple was located at the Roman Forum; it dates back to the early Republican era. Until the end of Republic, it was used as a treasury that kept in bronze plates with engraved laws, Senate decrees, army insignia, and a scale for weighing metal. Metal reserve (gold, bronze, silver) of the state was also kept there right up until the coming of the Empire.

Aside from being praised as a keeper of Rome, an agricultural God of Sicily as well as North Africa, and a mythical King of the age before humanity, Saturn was also associated with the so-called Genius of Palermo. There, in Palermo, the people believed in the presence of a God that depicted civic virtues and cultural identity of the locals; He was depicted as a bearded man with a snake feeding off His chest. A manuscript found in the area suggests this God to be Saturn, "God of earth and time, father of time and father of the Gods and men”. Additionally, a statue of the God was found in Palazzo Pretorio with an engraving on its side that said, suos devorat, alienos nutrit: devours his own, feeds the foreigners. That, if we remember the myth of Saturn consuming His own children, also created a link of Genius of Palermo to this God.

Saturn had a lot of faces and a lot of interpretations. His cult was both what we could call intense, as it involved human and animal sacrifice, and liberating as He brought along one of the happiest and oldest Roman holidays. Now, this is the God that, in my opinion, deserves a lot of attention, adoration, and worship. If you would like to learn of ways to honor Him that I want to offer, then it's time to pass on to the ways of ritual rites in honor of Saturn.

Nepenthes Itea Virginica Eucalyptus Cinerea Pine Cones Fritillaria Meleagris Carnations Portulaca Ilex

Figs Dates Honey Nuts Gilded Cakes Passum Liquamen

Crows Goats Deer Stars Snakes Sun

Lovage Asafoetida Coriander Mint Marjoram Oregano

Crow feathers Snake skin Aged animal bones

Swathes Garlands Wreaths Harpe Sickle Sundial Clock Teeth

Balsam Evergreen Cardamom Cloves Fresh Pine

Taking a break from work if you work otherwise during the year, going on a vacation, or somehow else finding time to relax and unwind.

Treating yourself to something you don't usually indulge in just for the occasion of celebrating the God, as long as it's safe.

Cooking for the sake of sharing the food with others or gifting it to others as well as cooking for or with Him.

Taking time to prepare and wrap a gift for Him, with natural materials used if possible.

Preparing gifts for somebody else or Him, if your skill and budget allow you to.

Dedicating the time of day for the worship of Him and scheduling the day so that each hour is devoted to a new devotional activity.

Praying your troubles away to Him, talking about your problems with Him, and asking for His protection.

Creating your own votive imagery of Him; it doesn't have to be anything expensive and can be made out of anything.

Performing in His name, public or private, or visiting local city fairs.

Commemorating your family's elderly members; this can include contacting them or spending time with them if they watn that.

#◴◦╧╧ ⧖ ╧╧◦◶#theoi #helpol #greek gods #roman gods #roman polytheism #hellenic polytheism #religio romana #saturn deity #cronos deity #saturn worship #cronos worship

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