#Julia Felix

[city-of-ladies]

"Here’s what we know about Julia Felix: she lived in Pompeii from at least 62 CE. She was possibly illegitimate but was definitely not a member of the social and cultural elite. She worked for a living setting up and running a very interesting business and, by 79 CE, she had planned to shift her focus from managing a business to owning property. We know all these things because twentieth-century excavations at her business uncovered an advert, carved in stone and attached to the external wall of her huge building. It reads:

"To rent for the period of five years from the thirteenth day of next August to the thirteenth day of the sixth August, the Venus Bath fitted for the nogentium, shops with living quarters over the shops, apartments on the second floor located in the building of Julia Felix, daughter of Spurius. At the end of five years, the agreement is terminated."

This find illuminated the building it was attached to, bringing what otherwise looked like a very large anonymous domestic house into dazzling focus. With this description of the purpose of each room written by the owner herself, archaeologists and historians could see the site through a whole new lens and they realised that they had discovered a Roman entertainment space for the working middle classes. It is, so far, a completely unique find and it is magnificent. It offers us, as modern viewers, two amazing things: a little glimpse into the lives of the commercial classes of the Roman Empire who are so often completely and utterly invisible, and a brutal reminder that so much of what we ‘know’ about Roman women in the Roman world comes from rules concerning only the most elite.

We’ll do that second part first, because it’s the least fun. Roman written and legal sources are pretty universal in their agreement that although women could own property, they could not control it; they had no legal rights, could not make contracts and were to be treated as minors by the legal system for their entire lives. In order to buy or sell property women required a male guardian to oversee and sign off on any transactions. This is a basic truism of women in the Roman Empire, repeated ad nauseum by sources both ancient and modern including me, and it is undermined by Julia Felix’s rental notice. 

The rental ad makes it pretty clear that Julia Felix is the owner-operator of a business complex including public baths, shops and apartments (there’s more too, as we’ll see), and she doesn’t seem to require anyone else to help her rent it out. She names her father – sort of; ‘Spurius’ might just mean that she is illegitimate – but this is effectively a surname, a personal identifier to differentiate her from other Julia Felixes in the area. It doesn’t mean her father was involved. Furthermore, the use of her father’s name as an identifier suggests that Julia didn’t have a husband and was either unmarried or widowed in 79 CE. The strong implication of her advert is that Julia Felix was an independent lady, a honey making money and a momma profiting dollars who could truthfully throw her hands up to Destiny’s Child.

We will never know if Julia escaped the flames and choking ash of 79 CE, fleeing as it swallowed her business and her home, but one discovery, made on 28 January 1952, suggests that she didn’t. The archaeologists, led by Amedeo Maiuri, uncovered on that day the skeleton of a woman who had fallen while running across the garden during the disaster. It’s clear this fallen woman was well off, because she was wearing a lot of gold jewellery. She carried four gold half-hoop earrings and wore four gold rings. Two of these rings were particularly expensive; both contained a red carnelian gem, one carved with a figure of Mercury, the other with an eagle. Around her neck she wore a necklace of gold filigree, dotted with ten pearls and hung with a green pendant. Someone stole both the necklace and earrings from the Pompeii Antiquarium in 1975 and no one, somehow, had ever bothered to photograph them so all we have are descriptions but the rings that survive are fine and expensive. The woman who wore them – was wearing them when she died – had real money to buy these objects and the woman who wore them did'nt leave Pompei in time.

 Moreover, when she was found it was clear that at the moment of her death she was heading not towards the street or towards safety, but towards the shrine to Isis in the garden where all the most valuable possessions were kept. The valuable possessions that Julia Felix grafted for and maybe couldn’t bear to leave behind. There’s no way to tell whether this skeleton is Julia Felix, whether these bones once stood and looked at the plots of land Julia bought and made plans, or whether they belong to a looter or a chancer or someone just caught out. But it’s nice to pretend that Julia Felix, who shaped the city’s roads around her dream and offered respite and luxury to workers and made a tonne of money doing it, died and was buried with the place that still bears her name."

A Rome of One's Own: The Forgotten Women of the Roman Empire, Emma Southon

[billiemilou]

Today’s Classicstober is Julia Felix, known for her property, The House of Julia Felix in Rome; which had an array of apartments, gardens, shops, and baths, even a pool. Was in the mood to actually draw in my sketchbook today!

[maiemorrae]

Out of Context Tag Game

Thank you @amaiguri for the tag. I actually have a perfectly funny one for this from some late night writing.

The idea with this tag game is to just share a line from a WIP without any context.

Diana paused, her leg hung from her cane as she leveled a questioning look at Julia. "What happened this time?"

This is just such a funny mental image for me.

[classicstober]

#ClassicsTober24 Day 11. Julia Felix

Picked by Elodie Harper, Journalist and Ancient Historical Fiction Author

[art-crosternum]

Felix... or should I say... orange Olive........

[agarcil]

✔

Leonard Cohen & Julia Felix | Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye

[ashwithane]

i was watching this drawfee episode and the minute they read the last prompt i wanted to make this drawing

[meadow-roses]

Some lil bitty Felix doodles

[romegreeceart]

Still life with eggs, birds and bronze dishes

* House of Julia Felix

* Pompeii

* 1st century CE

* MANN

attribution: Naples National Archaeological Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

[grim-vs-lizard]

[curiousb]

The Bertram Family Album: Volume XIX

So many of my youngsters are now entering their teenage years - ah, they grow up so fast!

Francesca takes the lead - as always.

Ooh, she's turning out well! I think the Churchill genes are dominant here.

~ Aries 7 / 0 / 7 / 4 / 3

~ Brave / Eccentric / Loves the Outdoors / Brooding

~ OTH: Tinkering

~ Favourite Colour(s): Turquoise

~ Aspiration: Knowledge

~ Turn-ons / -off: +Alien / +Reserved / -Fun-Loving

Twin brother Francis is close behind - also looking good!

~ Aries 9 / 0 / 4 / 6 / 2

~ Eccentric / Perfectionist / Workaholic / Natural Cook

~ OTH: Cuisine

~ Favourite Colour(s): Yellow

~ Aspiration: Knowledge

~ Turn-ons / -off: +Alien / +Foodie / -Practical

And both of them have a bit of a thing for aliens, it seems.

This is standard behaviour in the Bertram household, and visitors just have to deal with it.

Hmm, Francesca's lack of social graces doesn't seem to be off-putting to her childhood friend Felix though...

To celebrate the double birthday, Julia whips up a special treat - Crepes Suzette! (Exactly what are those pink lumps supposed to be?)

Francesca: "Daa-aaad, do you have to be so embarrassing?!"

[seospicybin]

EFF LOOK

LOOK AT THIS

THE WAY I SCREAMED

WHEREVER I GO I SEE HIS TATTOOED BACK OH MY GOD PLS I'M NOT YOUR STRONGEST SOLDIER

I'M WEAK. I'M WEAK. I'M— *FLATLINING*

[dlya-dyshi]

characters of the "zombie apocalypse" as heroes of marvel/dc comics [pt.1]

riley west as rachel roths raven

kiernan moran as dick grayson's nightwing

erlin reichert as raven darkholme's mystique

[maiemorrae]

Luctine Valentine's Day Headcannons

Still need to think of an actual name for this kind of holiday in Luctine but I definitely have some cute thoughts about how some of my characters spend the day.

Aleksandr and Ellis

Aleksandr takes Ellis to the fairgrounds, knowing that she loves to see the various lights and he makes sure they try a bunch of the different sweet things there.

He'll say they're his favorites but he knows she wants to try them but would be too nervous to ask directly.

There would be a Ferris Wheel that Ellis would ask for them to go on. Turns out Aleksandr isn't a fan of heights but they sit close together and Ellis encourages him to keep his focus on her. Later Aleksander asks to go again because he loves being close.

Amelia and Lucas

They go on a proper-looking date as would be expected of them. A fancy dinner and a walk through the Capital City's finest gardens.

The whole time the two look like a picturesque noble couple in love.

They're actually going back and forth coming up with new electotech designs together.

When going through the gardens they take turns trying to one-up each other when it comes to their nature knowledge (hint hint, neither of them knows anything about plants they're just making it up).

Diana and Julia

Diana tells Julia that she has to work slightly later at the hospital tonight. Julia pretends to be disappointed but is actually glad because that gives her time to prepare something special.

Diana doesn't actually have to work late, she's instead meeting with some contacts of Julia to pick up a gift she had them get for her.

When Diana gets home late Julia has put together a romantic dinner up on the roof of their building where they can look over much of Alemere.

During dinner, Diana reveals that she was actually getting a gift for Julia, some of the finest lockpicks a thief could ask for. Diana shows her that they're slightly enchanted to where she'll always be able to produce one of them, even if the set is lost or taken away.

Bonus, The Archivist

As governor of Alemere and being unmarried it isn't uncommon for flowers, invitations, and other various gifts to come across her desk as various nobles vie for her attentions.

She spends the day handwriting polite responses and thank yous to most of the letters and politely declining the ones that are more forward in their wording.

At the end of the day, just as she's about to return to the library she hears a knock at the balcony window in her office. She steps out, slightly expecting it to be a messenger bird, not a completely odd occurrence, but nothing is there.

Turning back to her desk she sees a new bundle has appeared on the desk. A distinct bundle of Ghost Lillies wrapped in a light blue ribbon.

These are the only flowers she personally keeps of all the ones she received.

If I had infinite time I'd write out all of these. I hope you all have a lovely day with the ones you love!

[adamofingolstadt]

Eugene and Felix Vs. The World

Your honor, I simply love them

[16strings]

Selini Quartet on the occasion of International Women's Day 2022

Fanny Hensel (Mendelssohn), String Quartet E flat major, 1st movement Hildegard von Bingen, String Quartet "Three Antiphons", No. 1 "O Virtus Sapiente Julia Purgina, String Quartet "Four Moments Musicaux" No. 3 Felix Mendelssohn, String Quartet No. 6 in F minor Op. 80, 1st movement

Nadja Kalmykova, violin Ljuba Kalmykova, violin Loredana Apetrei, viola Loukia Loulaki, cello