#roman classics

[firnen-the-teragram-teabag]

[ihavenomouthandimustyap]

Do you think Boethius would aprove of my cat reading his work?

[constanzarte]

Death of Sappho, by Miguel Carbonell Selva

[blvvdk3ep]

I love you people going into "useless" fields I love you classics majors I love you cultural studies majors I love you comparative literature majors I love you film studies majors I love you near eastern religions majors I love you Greek, Latin, and Hebrew majors I love you ethnic studies I love you people going into any and all small field that isn't considered lucrative in our rotting capitalist society please never stop keeping the sacred flame of knowledge for the sake of knowledge and understanding humanity and not merely for the sake of money alive

[theghostofbean]

”Men think about the Roman Empire” “What’s the female version of the Roman Empire” SHUT UPPPPP. SHUT THE FUCK UPPPPPP. AS A WOMAN I LOVE THE ROMAN EMPIRE. AS A WOMAN I LOVE ANCIENT HISTORY AND BATTLES AND POLITICAL INSTABILITY. THE “GIRL VERSION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE” IS THE ROMAN EMPIRE. IM GOING TO STAB YOU 23 TIMES

[the-evil-clergyman]

A Favorite Custom by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1909)

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Child's Sock from Egypt, c.250-350 CE: this colorful sock is nearly 1,700 years old

This sock was discovered during excavations in the ancient city of Oxyrhynchus. It was likely created for a child during the late Roman period, c.250-350 CE.

Similar-looking socks from late antiquity and the early Byzantine period have also been found at several other sites throughout Egypt; these socks often have colorful, striped patterns with divided toes, and they were crafted out of wool using a technique known as nålbinding.

Above: a similar child's sock from Antinoöpolis, in Egypt, c.250-350 CE

The sock depicted above was created during the same period, and it was found in a midden heap (an ancient rubbish pit) in the city of Antinoöpolis. A multispectral imaging analysis of this sock yielded some interesting results back in 2018, as this article explains:

... analysis revealed that the sock contained seven hues of wool yarn woven together in a meticulous, stripy pattern. Just three natural, plant-based dyes—madder roots for red, woad leaves for blue and weld flowers for yellow—were used to create the different color combinations featured on the sock, according to Joanne Dyer, lead author of the study.

In the paper, she and her co-authors explain that the imaging technique also revealed how the colors were mixed to create hues of green, purple and orange: In some cases, fibers of different colors were spun together; in others, individual yarns went through multiple dye baths.

Such intricacy is pretty impressive, considering that the ancient sock is both “tiny” and “fragile."

Given its size and orientation, the researchers believe it may have been worn on a child’s left foot.

Above: child's sock from Al Fayyum, Egypt, c.300-500 CE

The ancient Egyptians employed a single-needle looping technique, often referred to as nålbindning, to create their socks. Notably, the approach could be used to separate the big toe and four other toes in the sock—which just may have given life to the ever-controversial socks-and-sandals trend.

Sources & More Info:

Manchester Museum: Child's Sock from Oxyrhynchus

British Museum: Sock from Antinoupolis

Royal Ontario Museum: Sock from Al Fayyum

Smithsonian Magazine: 1,700-Year-Old Sock Spins Yarn About Ancient Egyptian Fashion

The Guardian: Imaging Tool Unravels Secrets of Child's Sock from Ancient Egypt

PLOS ONE Journal: A Multispectral Imaging Approach Integrated into the Study of Late Antique Textiles from Egypt

National Museums Scotland: The Lost Sock

[onesockartist]

Birth of Venus 🩵✨

One of the rare instances a school assignment actually turns out good

[obsession-of-aesthetic]

"A Roman Holiday" by Frank Markham Skipworth (1889)

[thefoilguy]

Pieta by Michelangelo - Aluminum Foil Sculpture

[firnen-the-teragram-teabag]

Rest in peace Cicero you would've loved twitter

[illustratus]

The Triumph of Light over Darkness by Franz von Matsch

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Charles-Amable Lenoir (French, 1860-1926) A dance by the sea, n.d.

[lionofchaeronea]

Mosaic of sea creatures (the so-called "Fish Catalog") from the House of the Geometric Mosaics (VIII.2.16) at Pompeii. Artist unknown; ca. 100 BCE. Now in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples. Photo credit: Massimo Finizio.

[flatoutin-eaurouge]

Mika and his kids shopping for plushies:

Hugo: "Daddy, I want the lion, no the monkey, maybe the tiger..."

Mika: "THE TURTLE. You're getting the TURTLE." 🐢🐢

[the-evil-clergyman]

Flora by Valentine Walter Bromley (1874)