#especially if it's ancient history

[sleep-nurse]

i realised my hatred for history (school subject) isn't because it's boring but because every single oral exam and exam that put me through so much stress and anxiety and having to memorise so much bullshit at once was always history. ever since elementary btw

[sarafangirlart]

Every time I see someone praise Sparta for anything (regardless of their political leaning) this image flashes before my eyes

[navree]

refusing to be undone.

Atia Balba, niece to Julius Caesar, died only a year after his assassination, and was survived by her two children, Octavia the Younger and Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus, who she had named Gaius Octavius at birth. Both her son and daughter would outlive her by several years.

[serpentface]

Do psychotropic drugs and/or ritual play a role in any of the blightseed cultures? A pretty broad question, lol

Yeah that’s a very broad question, the answer is about as much as it tends to play roles in real history. Alcohol is pretty ubiquitous (outside of cultures that abstain from intoxicants) and used for a variety of purposes, opioids are commonly used in some parts for pain relief or recreational purposes, stimulants (usually in mild, natural forms) are used to provide extra energy, and hallucinogens are most commonly used as part of a larger religious framework (rather than for recreational purposes). Any more elaborate answer kinda has to be case by case in a certain culture or part of the setting.

I'll just take this as an opportunity to talk about the one established sect that pretty much REVOLVES around psychoactive use. This is the Scholarly Order of the Root, which is a sort of mystery religion + elite community of scholars who currently occupy the Ur-Tree and its forest in the far southern Lowlands (southeast of Imperial Wardin, on the same land mass).

The Ur-Tree is the obligatory Huge Fucking Fantasy Tree (and its surrounding forest). It’s a mass of vegetation about a mile tall and almost as old as Plant Life Itself, its upper branches are primeval plants, which become more modern the nearer they get to the ground (and each 'level' holds tiny ecosystems, some containing descendants of LONG-extinct arthropods/other small animals). Its lowest branches and the surrounding forest are contemporary plant life, and all is connected and protected by an incomparably MASSIVE fungal mycelium network (which is itself a living god).

A lot of the Scholars' more secretive practices revolve around experimentation with substance use with the goal of expanding the Mind and transcending the body to fully connect to the Dreamlands, and they have a supply chain of traders and mercenaries called Rootrunners who traffic substances into the Lowlands. Most of their psychoactive use is in a very intentional capacity and not just like, for fun, but a LOT of them are just straight up addicted to cocaine (in the form of alchemically refined bruljenum, which is used for practical purposes of its stimulant effect during long hours of work).

All known psychoactives are desirable for experimentation (particularly hallucinogens), with each having properties that either allow expansion of the Mind, transcendence of the body, or outright divine communion. Their effects are logged in great detail and interpreted to form the basis of the Scholars' understanding of the natural world and reality itself.

The most important substance is Ur-Root, which is root matter from subterranean levels of the Ur-Tree that have both their own intrinsic psychoactive substances and a very, very high concentration of living god mycelium. The tree root contains DMT and the mycelium has its own wholly unique effects (being an actual living god). They alchemically refine it into a purer, more potent form, and use it to expand beyond the body and directly commune with the Giants, a group of entities they have identified as the only true gods.

An Ur-Root trip starts off with minor visual distortion, which turns into shifting fractals that slowly obscure the vision. Eventually the senses are entirely taken over by a 'tunnel' of rapidly shifting fractals and geometries. In a complete trip, the experiencer gets a sense that they have been pushed through a membrane and entered another realm, finding themselves in a distinct experiential Space.

At this point they may encounter entities which communicate to them in a language impossible to describe but wholly understood. These beings are understood to be the Giants, or at least aspects of the Giants that mortals are capable of comprehending (they often take familiar tutelary forms of the Mantis or the Snake, or appear resembling the same type of sophont that the experiencer is, all composed of ever-shifting geometries). The experiencer often feels a sense of unconditional and endless love from these beings, though the Giants may be more hostile and may appear in the form of the Trickster (usually a cultural figure regarded as malicious, be it an animal or otherwise) in a bad trip.

(^Up until this point, this has mostly just been a DMT 'breakthrough' experience ft. 'machine elves' and the like).

They are then removed from this space and returned to something that feels like the real world, but is nearly unrecognizable. They have a sense of rapidly moving through time, and will usually see 'the spires' towards the beginning, which just so happen to look like this:

(source + some context via Implication- the spires are exactly what this art is depicting)

The experiencer continues to move across an unfathomable amount of time, occasionally 'seeing' other such flashes of unfamiliar landscapes and creatures, and yet also being devoid of all their senses, the 'seeing' is pure, unfiltered experience. There is a sense of interconnectedness with all life, and that one has become the forest (or even Life) itself. The sense of time is wildly distorted, the trip lasts only about 5 minutes but feels like an eternity and is understood as literal hundreds of millions of years.

The experiencer has usually lost any remaining sense of Self and individual consciousness during this phase (in which case this time distortion is usually a neutral or even peaceful experience), but some retain a fraction of their identity, and find themselves trapped and conscious while experiencing what feels like eternity (which can be LIFE-CHANGINGLY distressing, even after the fact).

(^This latter part of the trip is the effects of the Ur-Tree fungus).

The trip ends with a sense of rushing through the ground and back up into one's body, at which point they will abruptly return to their senses and consciousness. The details are then immediately retrieved via interview and recorded in immense detail. The whole experience is understood as having been full comprehension of the Dreamlands, communion with the Giants, and then a tour through the act of creation.

This is done as part of the initiatory practice into the inner mystery-religion of the scholars, and as needed for study by high scholar-priests. It is not taken lightly, both as it is absolute communion with the gods and reality, and in that it can be a very, very difficult experience. People who have gone through this often walk away with a permanently shifted perspective, often in a positive and/or comforting way- a sense of interconnectedness with all life, a peace with the concept of death, seeing less of a point in individual ego and the concept of Self, and comfort in the sense of divine love they (may have) experienced. This heavily influences the philosophy of the Scholars and has had effects by proxy in the religious worldviews of the region.

Details of this experience are closely guarded, and initiates are given absolutely no prior knowledge and expectations for their trip. This is seen as a necessity- their naivety will allow for a true, unfiltered experience, and can be used to gauge whether they should or should not be accepted. Those that have a distinctly bad trip upon initiation may be assumed to have been 'rejected' by the giants and thus denied full priesthood, though this largely depends on How they interpret their distressing trip- those who identify this as a test and harsh lesson in a journey to enlightenment may be accepted (as this is how fully initiated scholar-priests interpret and handle their bad trips).

This inner priesthood is only a small fraction of the Scholarly Order, and its greater function is as a hub of education and repository of knowledge, and Scholar-trained doctors can provide some of the best medical care available in the setting ('best medical care in this setting' only means so much but it's pretty solid, relatively speaking). Only a chosen few Scholars ever get to commune with the Ur-Root, and most of the divine secrets revealed in the process are kept hidden (though they indirectly influence the politics and worldview of the entire order).

[tomwambsgans]

yearning for another day, another time

[uncanny-tranny]

There's something so insane to me about being able to create and recreate vintage or even ancient music, clothes, fabrics, building architecture, anything, really.

I watched this video about a lady who knit a WWII-era vest, and it was really unique, because the cable work would eat up yarn, when there were shortages of fibers. This pattern would have likely been used by people to send overseas to soldiers, and now it's being created in a time where this war has been over for generations. What were the people making this pattern thinking of? What about the people making the vest? Could they fathom a world where world wars didn't happen back to back? Could they imagine what peace felt like, or did it fade like a distant memory, a faint friend? All we have now are the remnants of their efforts, a "simple" vest that would warm the bodies of countless people the knitter would never have imagined were here on earth with them.

We're reaching across time to learn about other people - we're reaching our hands out just to grasp anything tangible. And when we've take hold of something, all we can do is say I love you I love you I love you

[dramatic-dolphin]

Helots as a concept shouldn't exist if the world was right!

oh yeah. it's honestly just so fucked when you actually look at ancient romr and greece with both eyes and you realize "oh. these were slave states. that was a state built on slavery. a state that could not have existed without slavery." i think we don't talk about that enough.

[tlgtw]

Man that DLC's final boss has got me feeling kinda fucked. I'm kinda depressed about it now that I'm done. Everything else is, was, so good. But I do not like that plot development. I honestly think it is bad. Why did they choose not to foreshadow this in literally any way? Why did Miquella attempt to resurrect Godwyn at all in the first place, then? Practice? Was this really what was originally planned? There's no actual evidence to the contrary so you gotta assume it must've been.

So yeowch...

[bradshawsbaby]

Rome, 94 C.E.

Since the construction of the Colosseum, Rome’s thirst for blood has grown insatiable. With each new drop that is spilled on the arena’s sand, the people cry all the louder for death and destruction, a savage game where a man’s fate rests on the capricious whims of the crowd and the good will of Caesar.

To win the crowd’s favor is to win a chance at life beyond the arena, and no one has charmed the people more than their hero.

Respected by his peers and feared by his opponents, Rooster remains the undefeated champion of Rome. But while riches may pour in after each victory, they fill the coffers of his master, not his pockets. His life is not his own and never has been.

Accepting his bitter lot, Rooster has long embraced the notion that it matters little whether he lives or dies. He rather welcomes the idea of death, in fact.

Until you.

Now he has something to live for—the beautiful slave girl whose gentle hands have tended his broken body and brought him back to life.

No matter how hard he has to fight, no matter who he has to destroy, Rooster will see you set free.

Or die trying.

[buildoblivion]

four to doomsday is a funny serial because it’s objectively kinda dull but it’s so SO good at showing us what makes fivey and his friends tick

[spineless-lobster]

Thinking about halfdan again… I love you halfdan

[dongslinger--420]

No but the birthday dad episode was so fucking funny Mr Peanutbutter creates the stupidest pitch for a film imaginable and Princess Carolyn, despite having no incentive to do so and with the added complication of being forced to interact with her ex, is just like "fine whatever" so then she goes to said ex and he's like "no I really really don't get it what is this show and what do you want from me" and Princess Carolyn says, verbatim "it's birthday dad! :)" and Ralph is like fuck it who cares sure I'll lease(???) you the card. And then Princess Carolyn almost has a baby.

[livethrushit]

was talking to my friend about how i feel silly calling myself a bby linguist when it's "just a special interest" and not something i'll ever be professionally. they pointed out: a special interest i've spent years learning in various ways outside of academia. through multiple ongoing study groups with friends i've made bc they also love learning these languages, countless books and hyper niche journals, videos, and lotsssssss of study practice.

i learn languages very slowly and grammar fucks me up which gives way to imposter syndrome & being bad at my passion. but id rather spend my days buried in ancient languages and painstakingly learning the philosophies, histories, and methodologies of translation and linguistics than study anything else this in depth more easily.

i've done presentations for study groups on translations of specific words and how vast the interpretations could be as a result. like did you know the whale (it's actually a giant fish) in the biblical story of jonah is a masculine noun in the beginning of the story and changes to a feminine noun later on? and how much that confused the fuck out of early commentators? JUST ONE WORD!! it's beautiful.

i know grammar structures of multiple germanic languages & semitic languages. that's not nothing!! that is COOL actually.

academics are people who are *mostly* able to afford to study their special interests is the way i'm choosing to look at it. barriers don't mean my studies are less important.

[astrum-aetherium]

Henry getting agitated at you during class because you purposefully challenge him, you are academic rivals after all. And him taking it out on you after everyone leaves…

-sun

winding him up for the sole fun of it during class would be such a thrill. constantly challenging and refuting his claims, piping up and perhaps even speaking over him, adding information he forwent... it would set him the hell off.

of course, he wouldn't exactly portray it; you, however, would notice how increasingly tense he'd become, how firmly his hand would close around his pen, how he would need to draw longer and deeper breaths. the agitation would be encrypted in his every gesture, so tense and stiff and thereby obscuring pure anger. it would allure you greatly — mostly because, due to your previously established rather debaucherously-shaded affinity, it would pay off in more ways than one: you would not only prove your intelligence to both him and everyone else present, but also have him generating so much resentful tension that he would have no other choice than to unleash it all on you somehow.

the precise moment class would end, henry would rise into the air rather stiffly, clear his throat and gather his things. then, across the classroom, he would lowly call out to you and say, calmly and diplomatically, "about the last issue you raised — follow me into the library and i will present you with a volume or two that pretty much solidifies my point." at first, you'd even buy into the potential scenario. having drawn your polite goodbyes to the rest of the greek class, who'd claim to be entirely exhausted and announce the desire to retire to someplace other than the library (preferably somewhere with a liquor license), you would let yourself be led down the hampden hallways by a silent, overly tense henry.

on your way there, however, he drags you into the first janitor's closet the two of you walk past. all of your belongings are at once discarded on the floor, and henry's much larger palms restrain you in every way he can — keeping your arms pinned to your sides, gradually pulling them upward and crossing them above your head. his lips would immediately be pressed to yours, as would his towering frame, and you'd merely melt into the curve of his body. a grin would play on your face, mischievous and triumphant — you will have gotten what you wanted.

upon his drawing back for air, you'd quip, "this isn't the library." in response, he would say, bittered greatly, "and this isn't how i appreciate being talked to." whether or not you'd apologize depends on your playfulness, but in either case, it wouldn't make that great of a difference — he would have your face pressed against the cool wall and thrusting into you roughly and punitively some two minutes later in either case. with your hair bouncing in your field of vision, his hand would be cupped around your mouth due to your increasingly bratty urge to make as much noise as possible on purpose.

he would be incredibly agitated with your behavior, marking the fact thereof known via spanking you from behind and feeding you a wholly penal, relentless pace. you'd flutter around his length, dripping on him and down your thighs, which he would only deride you for and forbid you to clean up after you're done — he'd simply pull your tights back over the mess and fold your skirt back over the supple curve of your backside, and drag you back out of the room. from there on, you'd proceed down the hallway with a barely perceptible, yet painful limp.

and yes, he'd still take you to the library afterward to prove his goddamn point. with the evidence of his orgasm still scorching and novel between your thighs and inside you, however, you would find very few reasons to pay exceeding mind — instead, your head would be occupied with various ways to pay him back.

[wishesofeternity]

"Stratonike evidently retained the Akkadian royal title used for her even after [her husband] Antiochos’ death, since the astronomical diary entry identifies her as šarratu, in logograms GAŠAN, which means “queen.” In earlier centuries under previous regimes this title could not be used of a royal woman unless she also ruled. As suggestive as this is, there is no direct corroborating evidence for Stratonike exercising rulership, unless we credit her influence with her children as a form of political dominance. The trope of the domineering dowager queen mother should be familiar enough from interpretations of other royal families throughout history. But the diary, normally fairly precise in noting royal family connections, does not call her “mother [or widow] of the king,” meaning that at least some people remembered Stratonike as a queenly figure on her own, without reference to male relatives. This is an interesting hint at how these royal women could carry out their duties so as to be regarded as individual rulers in their own right."

-Gillian Ramsey, "Apama and Stratonike: The first Seleukid basilissai," "The Routledge Companion to Women and Monarchy in the Ancient Mediterranean World" (edited by Elizabeth D. Carney and Sabine Müller)

[maxellminidisc]

Greek and Roman power structures are why I hesitate to call most things people call "queer" about their societies queer on the internet or like when people ask the stupid question of "Do you think theyd be into bdsm?" I'm like do you WANT that kind of inherently bad for consent society to be into bdsm???

Putting my thoughts under a read more cause its lengthy and something that I've wanted to talk about for a while now!

Like I'm sure queer relationships with like 1) no weird power dynamic and 2) pedastry existed in these societies, we have always existed, but it would not have been easy. They most likely still would have had to have played the part of a man who followed the rule and roles of what a MAN had to to be considered a man on the surface of society, because if they didnt, they would've been ridiculed and seen as lesser men. A big example of one such rule in the sexual realm is men could not and should not be penetrated; penetration was the domain of those lesser than men, if you were a man who liked being penetrated you were a fucking joke. They would've even been called perverse for not having a weird power dynamic in their romantic or sexual relationship with other men.

Slaves, young boys, slave boys, etc were basically equivalent to women in classical Greek society: they are those below the status of men and thus suitable objects of ones sexual desires. Like think about how fucked up that is??? And on top of that courting was also fundamentally tied to this perception of these groups of lesser status and required guidelines, so seeming genuinely invested and lovesick in ones relationship to these lesser beings was also seen as ridiculous.

Like it was all seen as taboo for the WRONG reasons. They'd would be so confused, ridicule you, or frankly be pissed if you pointed out how awful the inherit vacuum for consent these dynamics are and rife for abuse of power these relationships would have been to begin with because you're basically questioning the standards of classical Greek masculinity.

And I also wish we discussed more how the classical periods in Greece and Rome played a part in contemporary homophobia. Like it's not all 100% the result of Christianity moving into these societies, but more so a chain with Christianity being the biggest domino to fall at the end. Rome in particular was influenced by these sexual and social ideas of class and sexual dynamics in Greece, so the undercurrent of homophobia inherit to those ideas made Christianity all the more appealing for aligning with those already establied ideas.

In the end sex was basically used the same way everything else was to men in classical Greek and Roman society: its about power, gaining power, flexing that power and through this, raising ones status in these societies. It left very little room for partnerships of equals and the little room that was there was probably incredibly suffocating for anyone who didn't want to abide by these rules and standards of masculinity or others of which they were expected to.