#rome poetry

[beluosus]

Ἄρτεμις / Diana

[dykepulpfriction]

catullus my babygirl........

[rise-deepseamonster]

Sally, after Percy tells her about the battle with the giants: So what did we learn today about tending to every injury, even minor ones, immediately?

[fairydrowning]

"You look like you've eaten the sun, like you drank so much sunlight you're drowning in it."

– Yves Olade, from Bloodsport; "When Rome Falls"

[g0thicgr33n]

Virgil having the faggiest face of anyone on this good green earth

[life-imitates-art-far-more]

Johann Heinrich von Dannecker (1758-1841) "Lesbia and her Sparrow" Marble Neoclassical

[historical-kitten]

Ancient Roman Poets on a Modern Date

Catullus (Gaius Valerius Catullus)

If you meet him before Lesbia, he will be charming, eloquent, and happy to go wherever you like, although his funds could be limited. Even so, he'll make sure you both enjoy yourselves. Theater or concert tickets in the plebian--nosebleed--section, for instance. If you meet him after Lesbia, there is a possibility he will spend the entire time trauma-dumping about his ex. If you also have one to complain about, this could be cathartic.

Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro)

He takes you out to his beehive dressed in full bee-keeping gear to introduce you to his bees and then goes inside, where you sample different varieties of honey drizzled over fruit. He is sweet, but does talk about fields and bees a lot.

Ovid (Gaius Valerius Catullus)

Let's be honest. This might be more of a Tinder or Grindr hookup than a date. However, it's possible you met at a theater, race track, parade, or seaside resort. If you are aro/ace, run away. If you aren't and you are interested in seeing if he truly is proficient as a teacher of love, stick around. Don't expect him to be faithful, however. And although his manners are perfect, remember that it's an art and a game to him, so guard your heart.

Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus)

He'll take you out for a night of expensive dining and pay for it solely because the friend of a friend that owns the place owes him. He is charming company and can get you into any exclusive club or private experience you want to go to, but will expect reciprocated favors. Also, he turns on the charm, but absolutely expects to be complimented in return.

Sulpicia

She plays hard to get initially, not wanting to be too obvious with her affection. The first date will be YOUR choice. Pick well and she'll follow that with a candlelit dinner and eternal devotion. She does have expensive taste, however, and she would absolutely report you to her scary uncle if you break her heart.

Martial (Marcus Valerius Martialis)

He takes you on a picnic. Despite this being in the country, he'll opt for fine wine and gourmet food. He's easy to talk to, funny, and catty with his gossip. However, he'll also go on about his childhood in the country and how he went hunting and fishing and how he misses the simple country life. (All while sipping from an expensive goblet.)

Livy (Titus Livius)

He takes you to a museum and acts as your tour guide throughout the entire thing. Who knew that your date would double as a living and breathing audio tour? You're supposed to eat at the museum cafe, but you may not make it there before it closes... If you're a fan of history, you're in for a treat.

Iullus Antonius

Iullus is a huge romantic and just as charming as his famous father. He will show up with flowers and take you on a date in a small, undiscovered restaurant and to a lot of cute places that are off the beaten path. Whether you hit it off romantically or not, he's the kind of guy who could be your ride or die. (Spoiler alert, when he says he's your ride or die, he's extremely serious. 💀)

Albius Tibullus

When he falls, he falls hard. He takes you on a date in an orchard. This includes picking grapes and then tasting wines. If the date is before he was entranced with one of the lovers he wrote about, all is well. If not, he might get a little teary eyed about his past love(s). He is polite, sweet, attentive, and apologetic though.

Juvenal (Decimus Junius Juvenalis)

He takes you to an expensive restaurant and makes it clear he is only paying for HIS meal. The entire time he criticizes everyone else in the restaurant for being posers and judges them based upon appearance, status, and gender. His date is not a safe place for anyone who doesn't fit his definition of traditional values. Definitely talks about kids these days and the degradation of society.

[wingedbeings]

— Yves Olade, in "When Rome Falls" ✶ from "Bloodsport"

[pulquedeguayaba]

From Palfest ig account

Tobias Menzies (The Crown, Game of Thrones) reads from the social media posts of Gazan poet Mosab Abu Toha

Recorded on October 31st at a Palestine Festival of Literature event in London

[lionofchaeronea]

Death of a Charioteer

Martial, Epigrams X.53

I am the famous Scorpus, glory of the shout-filled Circus, Source of your clapping, Rome, and your brief delight; Envious Lachesis snatched me away at twenty-seven-- Counting my victories, she thought me elderly.

Ille ego sum Scorpus, clamosi gloria Circi, Plausus, Roma, tui deliciaeque breves, Invida quem Lachesis raptum trieteride nona, Dum numerat palmas, credidit esse senem.

Mosaic depicting a charioteer of the albata (White) faction, one of the four factions that dominated Roman chariot racing, with his horse. Artist unknown; 1st half of 3rd cent. CE. From the Villa dei Severi, Baccano; now in the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome.

[burningvelvet]

“A woman’s face with nature’s own hand painted / Hast thou, the master-mistress of my passion”

Lines from the poem Sonnet 20 by William Shakespeare (1609) one of his texts most noted for the theme of sexual ambiguity, and the sculpture Sleeping Hermaphroditus, an Imperial Roman copy of a Hellenistic original by Polycles (circa. 155 BC) rediscovered during the early 1600s and subsequently accented with a marble pillow sculpted by Bernini in 1620; now housed in The Louvre, Paris.

[beluosus]

reliqua desunt

[sicknessinmotion]

jimmy's freakishly haunted house came alive by maz rome (@sicknessinmotion)

[i-was-today-years-old-when]

i learned about Gaius Valerius Catullus, also referred to simply as Catullus. A well-known Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes.

Catullus's poems were widely appreciated by his contemporaries, significantly influencing such great as Ovid and Virgil, among others.

However, the explicit sexual imagery which Catullus uses in some of his poems would be shocking to most modern readers - so much so that they would hardly see the light of day in the hands of the modern conservatives.

Case in point, in the first century BCE, Catullus addressed two of his libelous critics, another poet Furius and a senator Aurelius, in a poem considered so vulgar and obscene that it was not translated outside of Latin until the 20th century.

Modern bust of Catullus

English translation of the Catullus’s vitriolic poem:

I will sodomize you and face-f*ck you,

Cock-sucker Aurelius and catamite Furius,

You who think, because my verses

Are delicate, that I am modest

For it's right for the devoted poet to be chaste

Himself, but it's not necessary for his verses to be so.

Verses which then have taste and charm,

If they are delicate and sexy,

And can incite an itch,

And I don't mean in boys, but in those hairy old men

Who can't get their flaccid dicks up.

You, because you have read of my countless kisses,

You think I'm a sissy?

I will sodomize you and face-f*ck you!

No doubt, Catullus was not the type to mince his words; he sure was a straight shooter. During his times, without worrying a bit about political correctness or the cancel culture, he could address his critics in the way that is unthinkable today, not to mention severe legal and social ramifications.

But, that was then!

Nevertheless, standing up for one’s reputation and honor, even in less than a civilized manner, would be acceptable only in the zeitgeist of ancient Rome.

[amicus-noctis]

“Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is.” ― Albert Camus

Sculpture: Ernst Herter "Dying Achilles"

[kusurrone]

October 15th? You mean Virgil's birthday???🐝🐝🎉🎉🎉