#erat05

Page-by-Page Notes

Page 1 

Val wears a pilleus and holds a terracotta modiolus (cup with a handle, wine not pictured).

Pilleus – a conical cap made of felt that originated in Ancient Greece. In Rome, pillei were worn by manumitted slaves. Romans of all social statuses donned pillei during Saturnalia, representing the reversal of roles. 

Martial’s Epigrams (on Saturnalia) 

“Now, while the knights and the lordly senators delight in the festive robe, and the cap of liberty is assumed by our Jupiter” (XIV.1) 

“In these festive days of the scythe-bearing old man, when the dice-box rules supreme, you will permit me, I feel assured, cap-clad Rome, to sport in unlaboured verse. You smile: I may do so then, and am not forbidden. Depart, pale cares, far away from hence; let us say whatever comes uppermost without disagreeable reflection. Mix cup after cup, my attendants [...] I can do nothing without wine; but, while I am drinking, the power of fifteen poets will show itself in me” (XI.6)

Page 2

Val’s biclinium got converted into a triclinium 

The people in the bottom right panel are playing tali, a dice game. 

Garlands/festoons (serta, -ae; f) were made using leaves (e.g., acanthus, laurel, bay), flowers, and fruits (e.g., apples, pomegranates, grapes). 

Closeup of garlands in southeast triclinium of the House of the Vettii painted in the fourth style, mid-1st century CE, fresco, Pompeii. 

Wall painting from the west wall of Room L of the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale, c. 50–40 BCE, fresco, Roman, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/247008.

Other examples of garlands: (1) (2)

Page 3

An oil lamp (bottom left)

2 small drawstring sacks of stuff (gifts)

Page 4

Birds are related to omens, good and bad. The word “auspicious” comes from auspicium (“bird-watching”), which involves observing the movement and the type of bird to draw a favorable/unfavorable outcome. 

Glass pitchers, various cups (Etruscan, British, Egyptian, Chinese, terra sigillata), and bottles

Pot with laurel, roses, chamomile

Page 5

Know-it-all trope 

Foods (center bottom panel – top to bottom): Libum, placenta, globi, encytum 

A strigillated (repeated S-shaped flutes/shallow grooves) pitcher

Some non-Roman cups (Sogdian fluted cup, chalice, Chinese wine cup)

Page 6

Sempronia is represented by a screech owl (ulula) and Sextus by a raven (corvus) 

Page 7

Skin/face cream and perfume bottle 

Reference (perfume bottle): (1) (2)

Face cream in tin alloy canister, c. 100-150 CE, London. https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/v/object-727368/tin-tin-alloy-canister/. 

Page 8 (notes in progress)

To clarify, the sparkles indicate whenever something magical happens. Valentinus’ parents (Vitalinus and Laura) naturally have magic (as suggested by Curio, who notes that they have a “charm” to them). Val’s magic works when he comes in physical contact with someone/thing whilst using speech. 

Theurgy (θεουργία) – communication with spirits and deities, involves rituals of ascetic disciplines (prayers, dances, meditation, etc.) and/or external influences/tools (drugs, perfumes, light) to connect with higher powers 

Goetia (γοητεία) – witchcraft, may involve the utilization of instruments such as wands, curse tablets (tabella defixionis, κατάδεσμος) or texts, and amulets. 

Divination (divinatio, -is) – foresight 

Laura (and Lucia’s) power. 

Charms (physical, magical) (fascinum, -i)

Val and Vitalinus’ powers are based on blandimentum (flattery, allure, charm)

Magicians, religion, and healing ​​(Pliny, Natural History, XXX)

Page 9

Val’s gifts were originally supposed to be wooden dolls, I felt that clay Sigillaria were more fitting given the holiday

The gifting of Sigillaria usually marks the end of Saturnalia, which Macrobius (Saturnalia, 1.10.24) notes extended the celebration to seven days (i.e., December 23rd). 

Sigillarium (-a): a pottery or wax figurine often made in the likeness of a divinity, mythological/fantastical figure, or animal (or in this case, anything at all, really).

Page 10

Vitalinus’ sigillarium is holding a cabbage! Farming was an idealized occupation as its “simplicity” promoted a virtuous and stable way of life (hi, Cincinnatus and Cato the Elder). Cabbage was believed to have all-encompassing health benefits from promoting digestion to healing wounds (Cato, De Agricultura, 156-157). 

Shocked marble statue gag 

The parents canonically have even more statuettes and figurines lying around. 

Lar (pl: lares): a protective household spirit/guardian deity believed to protect and watch over the space they were displayed in.

Page 12 

Panel with a sparrow on a branch looks awkward because there’s supposed to be a colored background. 

A fountain with a lion head spout 

Page 13

Val wears a bulla (circular protective amulet worn by boys until they come of age)

Girl’s equivalent: lunula (moon/crescent shaped) 

Page 15 

Lucia takes the female form of Vitalinus’ praenomen (whereas Val takes his grandfather’s) 

Women often took the female form of the gens nomen (like Sempronia). Both Val and Lucia’s cases are less common.

Page 16

“Parthian-style” chicken with stuffed dates and apricots, grapes 

Greek lekythos (λήκυθος) (olive oil container)

Bird-head pitcher (without a design on the belly) 

Other examples: (1) (2)

Page 17

Egyptians legally did not have equal status to Roman citizens but were accepted into/layered onto Greco-Roman culture and identity. Romans would have been cognizant of Egyptian culture/religion (and given that Roman tourist travels included Egypt). 

Ancient tourists bought souvenirs on their travels– Casson (1994) notes “a distinctive type of cheap faience pot with a figure in relief on it of one of the Ptolemaic queens” which “appealed to visitors, who carried them off as souvenirs”.  

Page 19 

Vitalinus (tries to) use his magic powers on Val and Laura notices.

Page 20 

Glass mosque lamp and mirror (left side) 

Reference (lamp): (1) (2) 

Bookshelf not filled now (April 2025)

Page 23

The dimension that Val falls into has Roman, Greek, and Egyptian columns 

Roman: stacked drums (fluted) or monolithic (smooth)

Greek: stacked drums (fluted)

Egyptian: stacked drums (with relief)

Tableware

Terra sigillata was a type of mass-produced red pottery with shiny surface slips and intricate relief designs. Distinct products include Arretine ware (produced in Arezzo/Italy), Samian ware (Gaul), and African red slip ware (North Africa). 

Arretine ware: cups and plate, 20-40 CE, Italian red slip ware, Arezzo, made by the potter Inachus. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1814-0704-1554. 

Featured tableware obviously not from Rome (or Val’s time period) 

Chinese wine cup from Tang dynasty (late 7th century CE) and Sogdian cup (7th century CE), metal. https://sogdians.si.edu/sidebars/sogdian-metalworking/. 

Val’s parents (Vitalinus and Laura) references

Portrait of Gaius Cassius Longinus (originally thought to be Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo), 1st century BCE, Parian marble, Rome, Musei Capitolini Centrale Montemartini. Female portrait, c. 1-10 CE, Parian marble, Rome, Musei Capitolini Centrale Montemartini. 

Funerary relief with two spouses, c. 50 BCE, limestone, Rome (via Statilia). https://www.centralemontemartini.org/it/opera/rilievo-funerario-di-due-coniugi-da-statilia.

Valentinus’ Saturnalia Menu: 

Cato the Elder’s De Agri Cultura (c. 160 BCE) 

(Marcus Gavius) Apicius’ De Re Coquinaria (c. 1st century CE or 5th century CE)

(Include olive oil as needed)

Pastries 

Classic bread

Libum (cheesecake-bread with pine nuts and honey)

Placenta (“cheesecake”– cheese and dough layers wrapped in a crust and flavored with bay leaves and honey)

Spira (a baked spiral cheese pastry) 

Scriblita (honey-less placenta; like a pancake) 

Globi (fried cheese balls with poppy seed and honey drizzle) 

Encytum (fried funnel cake glazed with honey)

Fish 

Butter-basted broiled lobster with pepper and coriander sauce 

Stuffed calamari 

Raw oysters with pepper and lovage

Sea urchin with liquamen/garum 

Steamed stuffed sardines and baby tunny

Sauces 

Laser/silphium sauce (flavoring) 

Also comes from Parthia 

Peas/beans with yolks and laser sauce 

(Indian peas) Peas with leeks and minced cuttlefish flavored with wine 

Braised Parthian-style chicken with laser and wine

(ius alexandrinum in pisce asso) Alexandrian sauce 

Boiled colocasia (Egyptian bean root– taro/dasheen) 

Desserts

Watermelon/honey melon with parsley and pepper, seasoned with salt and silphium

Stewed honey dates with ground nuts (stuffed dates)

Pancakes served with honey and pepper

Fruit: 

Apples, grapes, pears, pomegranates, dates

Blackberries, strawberries 

Peaches, apricots (introduced in early empire)

Citrons, lemons, oranges (expensive, imported later on)  

Fresco of bread, fruits, and wine cup on a tray found in the atrium of a house (IX.10), c. 1st century BCE- 1st century CE, Pompeii. https://pompeiisites.org/en/comunicati/pompeii-a-still-life-discovered-by-the-new-excavations-of-regio-ix/. 

Fresco of hanging fawn and fish with basket of shellfish in the Casa del Tiaso (House of Thiasus), c. 40-30 BCE. https://pompeiisites.org/en/comunicati/pompeii-discovery-of-a-room-with-frescoes-depicting-the-initiation-into-the-mysteries-and-the-dionysiac-procession/#&gid=1&pid=3. 

Bibliography (in progress)

Apicius. Cooking and Dining in Imperial Rome. Translated by Joseph Dommers Vehling. Dover Publications, 1977. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/29728/29728-h/29728-h.htm. 

Caneva, Giulia and Lorenza Bohuny. “Botanic analysis of Livia’s villa painted flora (Prima Porta, Roma).” Journal of Cultural Heritage 4, no. 2 (2003): 149-155. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1296-2074(03)00026-8. 

Casson, Lionel. Travel in the Ancient World. United Kingdom: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994.

Cato the Elder. De Agri Cultura, LXXIV‑XC. Edited by Bill Thayer. University of Chicago, 2012. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/thayer/e/roman/texts/cato/de_agricultura/e*.html.

Grout, James. “Saturnalia.” Encyclopaedia Romana. Accessed December 17, 2024. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/saturnalia.html. 

Luck, Georg. Arcana Mundi: Magic and the Occult in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Collection of Ancient Texts. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. 

Martial. Epigrams, Book XIV. Translated by D. R. Shackleton Bailey. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993. https://www.loebclassics.com/view/martial-epigrams/1993/pb_LCL480.229.xml 

Pantke, Micaela. “Antique Roman Dishes - Collection”. July 22, 1993. https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/recipes/ethnic/ancient-rome/index.html. 

Pliny the Elder. 1855. The Natural History. Translated by John Bostock and Henry T. Riley. Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, London: Taylor and Francis.

Rogers, Dylan. "The Hanging Garlands of Pompeii: Mimetic Acts of Ancient Lived Religion" Arts 9, no. 2 (2020): 65. https://doi.org/10.3390/arts9020065. 

Roller, Matthew B. “Dining Men: Posture, Leisure, and Privilege.” Dining Posture in Ancient Rome: Bodies, Values, and Status, 15–95. Princeton University Press, 2006. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1p0vjp4.7. Rowlandson, Jane. “Dissing the Egyptians: Legal, Ethnic, and Cultural Identities in Roman Egypt.” Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. Supplement, no. 120 (2013): 213–47. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44216745.