Flaroh Illustration

On the 11th and 15th of January, ancient Romans celebrated the goddess Carmentis (aka Carmenta), who was the protector of midwives and their clients in childbirth, the observer of the future and the past, and the mythical inventor of the Latin alphabet(!!)!

I’ve drawn her here in a dual form emulating her sisterly attendants, Postvorta and Antevorta, who represented what has been and what shall come to pass, as well as the position of the child in childbirth (being born either head-first or feet-first). She was important enough to have a dedicated flamen (priest) out of the only fifteen in Roman state-sponsored religion. Her base was largely female, and one of the few things we know for certain about her worship is that leather and any “dead” animal products were banned from her temple as to not desecrate it with death.

I’ve been continuing to play with cover concepts, and am very excited to share this one for a prospective collection of Sappho’s poem fragments. 💘

🌿I went to uni in Baltimore for a bachelors in Ancient Studies, and then returned to the UK for a masters in Museum Studies. I now live in Newcastle which is at the east end of Hadrian’s Wall, and I am constantly inspired by the Romano-British archaeology around me🏺🌿

🏛️for fun I like to hike around the beautiful Northumberland countryside, grab drinks with my friends, read books for my bookclubs, learn Italian, spend all my money travelling to Italy, and occasionally have a Sims or BoTW marathon. I absolutely HATE heights, cooked spinach, not seeing the sun all winter, and all this mass produced AI art nonsense clogging up my feeds 😡

Happy Natale di Roma everyone (albeit one day late)!! Aprils illustration is of the empress Livia Drusilla, who ascended to the throne in 27 BCE with her husband Emperor Augustus. This portrait shows her infront of part of the garden fresco found in her villa. She holds a totally not tampered with fig in her hand and looks at the viewer with an imperious gaze 👸🏻

The April sticker is of The Boxer at Rest, a Roman bronze statue of a Hellenistic original. I hope to visit both this guy and Livia’s frescos this week at the museo palazzo since I’m heading off on a cheeky Rome trip tomorrow!!🏛️🌿