Amica

[Velut Luna]

The plinth of the obelisk, with all that inscriptions, seems to be the Pasquino's statue!

 

[Pia]

Amica 16


'Eulalia! Eulalia! it's late! We must run top speed to Lucius’ bathroom or we’ll be whipped! '

'Don’t worry, last night Lucius went to bed late, and with two of the maids, and he’d drunk a lot of Falernum too – he won’t wake up till lunch time.'

Unconvinced, I get up and go to the balnea for my morning shower. I stumble a couple of times over tunics abandoned on the ground by those who could hardly wait to take them off, and couldn’t wait at all....

I also find on the floor a sheet of parchment with writing, I’ll try to read it, I want to learn soon!

Dressed in only a white towel around my waist, my hair still wet, I hasten to Lucius's room, and sit on a stool in readiness for when he comes out to go to his private balnea. I start reading, it is a text written in a neat script.

Quaeris quot?

Quaeris, quot mihi basiationes tuae,
duae? tres? Lesbia, sint satis superque?
da mihi basia centum,
dein mille altera, tuam aperis labiis,
deinde usque altera mille,
ad summam centum adde,
dein alia decem millia,
quam magnus numerus Libyssae harenae,
laserpiciferis iacet Cyrenis,
(Unde contrariis remediis)
oraclum Iovis inter aestuosi,
et Batti veteris sacrum sepulcrum;
aut quam sidera multa, cum tacet nox,
furtivos hominum vident amores:
tam te basia multa basiare
donec Catulli phallus indurescat quod vult,
quae nec pernumerare curiosi
possint nec mala fascinare lingua.



(How many?

How many kisses – two or three?
Lesbia asks, enough for me?
Give me a hundred for a start,
A thousand - keep your lips apart!
Another hundred, let them come,
And add a thousand to the sum,
Give me another hundred more,
And then ten thousand, till you score
More than the sand that Libya fills
(Whence come those contraceptive pills)*
Between old Battus’ sacred tomb
And Jove’s fire-oracle of doom,
More than the stars in silent nights
Spying on humans’ love-delights –
Kiss me with so many kisses
Till Catullus’ cock grows hard as he wishes,
And jealous gossips cannot count,
To cast bad spells on our account!)**


But I don’t understand any of it! Whatever does 'Libyssae' mean? 'laserpiciferis'? 'cyrenis'? And what is a 'phallus'?


A hand takes the sheet from my fingers, it’s him, Fannius! What an embarrassment! Here he is in front of me and I haven’t even noticed, so attentive was I in reading these words. I blush, lower my eyes, I want to get down and kneel before him, but he’s still holding me firmly, his left hand resting on my shoulder, demurely I cover my breasts with my arms.

'Where have you come from? I didn’t see you yesterday at my party - where were you, who are you? These aren’t suitable lines a virgin to be reading! '


So! All my best-laid plans have gone agley, all my premeditated moves have melted away in a moment, I'm at the mercy of this Fannius, he’s interrogating me, what can I say? I barely know a few words of Latin ...

He lifts up my face, placing his index finger under my chin, gazing into my eyes. I’m blushing with shame like a scolded child.

'I'm Amica, Eulalia's slave.'

'But it’s written here on this collar that you're a slavegirl of Lucius Silius Satrianus.'

'Lucius has given me to Eulalia.'

'Eulalia was looking for you yesterday, to bring you to the party.'

'I was in Eulalia’s room, I didn’t feel well.'

'So you must be that Sibyl who predicted my arrival? My mother was very impressed by that prophecy of yours!'

My legs are trembling, my heart is in turmoil ...

‘So you know how to read?'

'Eulalia's teaching me.'

'Repeat what you’ve just been reading!'


'Queris quot? Queris, quot mii basiationes tue, due? tres? Lesbia, sint satis superque? da mii basia centum, dein mille altera, tuam aperis labiis, deinde usque altera mille, ad summam centum adde, dein alia decem millia, quam magnus numerus Libisse arene laserci... laserpifer... laserpiciferis iacet Cirenis (Unde contrariis remediis)oraclum Iovis inter estuosi, et Batti veteris sacrum sepulcrum; aut quam sidera multa, cum tacet nox, furtivos ominum vident amores: tam te basia multa basiare donec Catulli pallus indurescat quod vult, que nec pernu... pernumerare curiosi possint nec mala fascinare lingua.'


'You’ve learnt well! Now you needn't stay stand here waiting for my father, he won’t wake up before lunch-time, you serve me my breakfast!'

He takes me by my arm and leads me into the right-hand triclinium. On the table in the middle of the room are dishes ready-made for jentaculum, I fill a tray and approach close to him where he has reclined. Now I'm topless in front of Fannius! I bow, offering him the tray, he looks at me, nods to put some pieces of meat in the dinner-dish left from yesterday, some white bread, a glass of Falernum, cheese and fruit, figs.

'You’re beautiful, your hair’s so light it seems to be threads of silver - where have you come from?'

'I lived in a distant land where the sun never sets.'

'I've heard of this country, it’s far to the north of the land of the Germans.'

He beckons me to get some food for myself and sit next to him, I get a bowl of warm milk and a piece of bread to dip in it. But now here come his five comrades! So I run to serve them, they look at me amazed, they didn’t have sight of me yesterday.

'She’s the slavegirl of Eulalia, my tutor.'

Ah, that explains it! I understand that he has a lot of respect for his teacher. Now his comrades eat their jentaculum.

'Come here now! Make me a prophecy! '

I kneel down, take his hand, press my index finger on to the centre of his palm, to trace his future destiny.

'Ibis, Redibis!' (You’ll go, you’ll come back!’)

I’d like to add 'for me', but I dare not.

Laughter.

'That's the kind of thing all Sibyls say, like the Sibyl of Cuma!'

'I don’t know the Sibyl of Cuma, I don’t know where Cuma is.'

'It’s near here, just beyond Cape Misenum! But one thing is already true in your prophecy, 'ibis' - in fact, I have to leave now for Rome. As to the second part, my return is in the lap of the Gods.'

He gets up, signals to his companions that it is time to leave, takes me by the arm, looks me in the eyes.

'Don’t waste yourself.'

He pinches my breasts lightly, and presses his hand on the cloth that covers my pussy,

‘keep yourself as you are, until I get back!'


I’m dizzy, my heart’s pounding, I’m trembling with emotion. He nods his head as a signal, they set off towards the exit, where six horses are being held in position by slaves. There’s a chariot with a charioteer in Lucius’ service to drive it, a crate with weapons and armour resting on the floor of a wagon. He’s dressed in a short white tunic edged with red, a dark red cloak over his shoulders, and over it the wolf-skin.

My eyes are filling with tears but I restrain myself, this sudden departure upsets me, but what upset me more are his piercing eyes, as if they’re imposing his will on me. Yes, I'll stay a virgin until he returns, but that won’t be soon, I can feel it.

----------------
* 'laserpiciferis iacet Cyrenis (Unde contrariis remediis)', refers to 'laser', a resin from an African plant, 'silphium', probably now extinct, which had a drastic medicinal effect - used as a contraceptive, for stopping menstruation, or procuring abortions.

** eul's free translation

Beautiful writing....

 

[Pia]

Amica 20


All the household is in action, though the sun has not yet risen. The rosy light of dawn is illuminating the sky, a feeling of euphoria fills me, I want to do something.

You put in my hands three 'κλεψάμμία' klepsámmia - sand-clocks - a larger one with red sand, two others alike in size, one with white sand and the other black, along with a wax tablet and a stylus.


'Get yourself a veil, when the sun is high in the sky it will burn you, with your white skin!'

I follow you now outside, onto the terrace in front of the house. You have with you the rolls with the drawings, the slaves have already brought out two tables and two wooden stools. You place the sand-clocks and the tablet on one table, that will be my place of work, and you lay the drawings open on the other.

On the ground are ropes, and rods with marks inscribed at finger’s-width intervals. There’s a post, taller than four men’s height, with a support formed by five poles, two pairs crossed, and the other resting on the hook above the crossed ones. There are several boxes with stones in them, some engraved, some are white, some black and some red.

'See, I have already prepared the ground last winter, and this spring, the stones will be the reference-points for the construction of the great sun-clock.'

Slaves are stretching the ropes so that they pass across marks on the stones, and laying them down on the ground.

'This line, that goes to the wall of the house, is the meridian, it marks the direction of the shadow at the sixth hour of the day, the moment when the sun is at its maximum height above the horizon every day. This second line, pointing towards the sea, in the direction of the headland of Misenum, marks the direction of the setting sun on the two days in which the duration of the light is equal to the duration of the dark. There, on the opposite side, the rising sun would be visible if those mountains in the distance were not there. This third rope, as you see, points towards the seaward headland on the island of Capri, and it marks the spot where the sun sets on the shortest day of the year. In the opposite direction, the sun would rise on the longest day, but the mountains hide the rising sun, only for a short time, but enough to confuse everything!'

This reminds me of my home in the far north, I could show you the notch between the mountains where the sun sets on those ‘equal night’ dates. But in my land at midwinter it hardly rises over the sea, and it sets almost immediately. At midsummer, it’s only hidden for a short time behind the mountains, it doesn’t get dark.

The slaves raise up the long pole with its sharp point. Its base rests on a stone near the rope that marks the meridian, they check that it is properly positioned - at its sides hang two thin cords with weights at their ends, they measure these with a short wooden ruler to ensure that the length of the cable is the same in both directions. The pole is now supported against the beam between the crossed-stake supports. The slaves lay on the ground the cords that will hold the pole, the gnomon, as you call it, saying that it is not yet the final one, today we shall draw on the ground around the diagram and check if everything is in order. Tomorrow a travertine marble column will arrive, the obelisk that will become the definitive gnomon.

Says the fly on the horns of the ox to the frog who asks her what she's doing up there, 'Can’t you see? I’m ploughing! That’s how I’m feeling while they’re all working and I look and say ‘we’ll trace', 'we’ll check '.

Everything is ready, I sit at the table with the sand-clocks in front of me, as the sun rises. Immediately I turn the sand-clock with the white sand and make a mark on the left of the wax tablet. The shadow of the tip of the gnomon projects along the ground, you indicate with the point of a stick the precise place where a slave has to place a white stone as big as an apple. I have to instruct a young slave who will follow the course of the tip of the shadow until the sand in the glass runs out, he has to trace a line in the earth where the next stones will be placed.

You indicate the two assistant slaves where to put a new cord stretched between another two stones that have already been positioned, this string will indicate the second time, just where the shadow of the tip of the gnomon reaches it. I turn the other two sand-clocks upside down, the one with the red sand and the one with black sand. I make two marks on the wax tablet, one in the center to indicate that I’ve turned the red one, and a mark to the right for the black one. A red stone marks the location where the shadow met the first string.

You’ve explained to me that the big sand-clock with the red sand is very precise, it would be turned exactly twelve times between sunrise and sunset on the day of the equinox, but today it will be turned more times - as we are at the Ides of May (May 15th), the days are longer than the nights, so we will have to place more red stones, and black stones which will be positioned at the time when the black sand runs down.

I understand about the days being longer. It’s been hard for me since I was brought to these lands, the days don’t seem to vary much in length, they do a bit, but not like at home. And at night the stars are mostly ones I know, but not in the same parts of the sky. But when we were on the slave-trader’s boat, I thought one night, it must be close to the date midway between the equal-night day and midsummer. That’s an important date in our calendar, I should have been making a sacrifice to our gods. But all these strings and coloured stones are a mystery...


I have to say 'rubra' or 'alba' or 'nigra' (red or white or black), and immediately turn the sand-clock, and the young slave will place the stone of the right color, except for the black one, which I will only turn that one when the shadow reaches the string.


The work doesn’t seem so tiring for me, the important thing is that I do not confuse which clocks to turn. I don’t yet understand what all this complication is about, these colored stones and strings.

Meanwhile the slaves, following your instructions, trace out a great diagram, with arcs of a circle drawn with thin cords, measurements marked out with dividers, taut strings, and positioned stones. The sun is rising high in the sky, the heat increasing, other slaves bring a sheet to form a small tent over where our tables are, with a pitcher of water and glasses.


The magic moment arrives, when the red sand runs out, the shadow reaches the meridian line!

We take a morsel of bread, a piece of cheese, a fruit, a drink of water, and the work goes on. By now you and the slaves have finished tracing out the lines, now your are drawing strange curves that intersect the diagram from east to west. They turn toward the north above the line of the equinox, to the south below it. And I go on saying ‘red’, ‘white’, ‘black’, turning the clocks and marking the tablet, and the young slave marks the location, following the shadow of the pole tip, with the stones on the ground.


It is almost sunset when Lucius arrives to inspect the work. He seems satisfied, but you stops him just in time before stumbling on one of the stones that have been laid out.


'What are these? I don’t understand them – they weren’t included in the design! Why have you put them here?'

I’m stupefied, has all my 'work' been useless? Why has Eulalia kept me all day watching sand sinking, saying ‘red’, ‘white’, ‘black’?

Now Lucius seems upset.

The last white stone as big as an apple is laid when the sun sets behind the hill of Naples and the shadow of the gnomon fades away.

'You see, Lucius, the precisely positioned stones indicate the error that the Romans make in always dividing the length of daylight into twelve hours. The taut strings, and the path now traced under them, represent the time in the way you Romans favour. The red stones, on the other hand, indicate hours that have the same duration as on the days of the equinox when the hours of the day and those of the night are equal, that I call fixed hours. As you can see, today the daytime lasted over fourteen of these equal fixed hours, the black stones indicate how much each ‘hour’, according to your system, is longer than the fixed hour, and the white stones indicate the deviation from the other hours if we start to measure the time from sunrise here, and track the fixed hours, they show how they relate to the hours of your time-system.'

It’s a challenge! Eulalia, how dare you contradict Lucius? We’re risking a hundred lashes!

But Lucius looks attentive, surprised, then he says:

'Of course Eulalia, you're right, you’ve done it just right, you've traced the hours of our system. But the Romans are not so naive as not to understand that before the equinox our hours are shorter, and after it they are longer, but we pay those who work for only six hours before then, because the day is shorter, and only for eight hours after the equinox. Workers always think they’ll work for the same length of time, but in summer they work up to twelve of your fixed hours, so we save on the payroll and get more work done!'

View attachment 147013

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This is soooo clever and soooo beautifully told!

 

[Velut Luna]

Amica 21b


On the third, facing the viewer from the house, the description of the construction of large sundial:

Hoc obeliscus, qui est in Quarto, Lucius Silius addidit
mirabilem usum, ad depredendas Solis
umbras, dierumque ac noctium ita magnitudines,
strato lapide ad magnitudinem Obelisci, cui par
fieret umbra, brumae confectae die, sextam hora,
paulatimque per regulas quae sunt ex aere
inclusae singulis diebus decresceret, ac rursus
augesceret: digna cognitu res ingenio foecundo
Eulalia Mathematica. Apici auratam pilam additit,
cujus umbra vertice colligeretur in se ipsa, alias
enormiter jaculante apice, ratione [ut ferunt] a
capite hominis intellecta. (3)


On the fourth there is a little joke:

Ut illum Di(i) perdant, primus qui horas repperit,
Quique adeo primus statuit hic solarium,
Qui mihi comminuit misero articulatim diem.
Nam me puero venter hic erat solarium
Multum omnium istorum optimum ac verissimum.
Ibi iste monebat esse, nisi cum nihil erat,
Nunc etiam quod est, non estur nisi soli lubet.
Itaque jam oppletum est oppidum solariis
Major pars populi aridi reptant fame. (4)

​

​

The meridian line is of gilded bronze, inset between the black basalt stones, shining in the light of the sun. It is intersected by lines that represent the divisions of the zodiacal signs and the months, and shorter intervals indicate the kalends, nones and ides. Facing us, with its back to the left side of obelisk, are the symbols and names of the signs of the zodiac carved in Greek on the travertine marble:


ΚΡΙΟΣ
ΤΑΥΡΟΣ
ΔΙΔΥΜΟΙ
ΚΑΡΚΙΝΟΣ
ΛΕΩΝ
ΠΑΡΘΕΝΟΣ
ΖΥΓΟΣ
ΣΚΟΡΠΙΟΣ
ΤΟΞΟΤΗΣ
ΑΙΓΟΚΕΡΩΣ
ΥΔΡΟΧΟΟΣ
ΙΧΘΥΕΣ

on the right side, in Latin, are the names of the months.

At about the mid-point in the month of May there is an inscription in Greek: ΘΕΡΟΥΣ ΑΡΧΗ, thérous arkhē, the beginning of summer, and to the right the Latin letters LN.

All the lines etched into the stone have been filled with molten metal - lead, copper and tin. The surface of the sundial is of polished volcanic tuff. At the ends of the curves that divide the signs of the zodiac are carved their symbols, and at the ends of the straight lines that identify the hours is carved the Latin numeral for each one. At the points where we put the red stones that indicated the equal hours, there are now bronze studs embedded in the surface, as a reminder that the hours can be measured by a different system.

At the foot of the plinth of the obelisk is this inscription:

PRINCIPIVM MENSIS CVIVSQVE VOCATO KALENDAS
SEX MAIVS NONAS OCTOBER JIVLIVS ET MARS
QVATTVOR AT RELIQVI . DABIT IDVS QVIDLIBET OCTO

The first of the month is called the Kalends.
In March, May, July, and October, the Nones fall six days later [on the 7th]
In the other eight months, four days after the Kalends [on the 5th]
The Ides fall eight days after that [on the 15th or 13th]


Then, outside and separate from the path of the clock, are other lines, focused towards the center of the gnomon, indicating the directions of:

ROMA, PARTHENOPÆ, CVMÆ, MISENVM, CAPRÆ, SVRENTIVM, STABIÆ, SATRIANVM, NOLÆ, OCTAVIANVM,

and, well apart from all the others, with the inscription in Greek, ΑΘΗΝΗ, Athénē, your city, Athens.

A plaque set in the ground between the line that indicates the winter solstice and the outer wall of the house, is engraved with the inscription that Lucius has commissioned:

PRÆF . VRBIS . SIL . FIL
LVCIVS SATRI
MAGIS EQVITVM
PRÆ XI COS X TRIB POT XI
SOLI DONVM DEDIT

The Prefect of the City, Lucius Satrianus, son of Silius, Master of Cavalry, [to commemorate his high military rank] being Prefect for the tenth time, Consul for the eleventh time, and having the power of Tribune for the eleventh time, has dedicated this offering to the Sun.

------------------------

(3)

This obelisk in Quarto has been given a remarkable function by Lucius Silius, that of marking the shadows projected by the sun, and so measuring the length of the days and nights, by means of a stone pavement, the extreme length of which corresponds exactly with the length of the shadow thrown by the obelisk at the sixth hour on the day of the winter solstice. After this date, the shadow will go on, day by day, gradually decreasing, and will then again gradually increase, in correspondence with the brass lines inserted in the stone. This is a device that deserves to be well known, it is due to the fertile ingenuity of Eulalia the Mathematician. Upon the apex of the obelisk she has placed a gilded ball so that the shadow of the summit itself might be drawn together on it, otherwise it would project a fine line of enormous length, a consideration suggested to her by the shadow projected by the human head.

based on Pliny, Naturalis Historia XXXVI.72.

(4)
May the gods destroy him, whoever first divided out the hours,
and likewise him who was first to put a sundial here,
which for me, poor devil, breaks up the day in pieces, bit by bit.
When I was a lad, my stomach told me the time,
it was a lot more accurate than all these gadgets here.
Then it was there to warn me to eat, though then there was no food,
now when there is food, I can’t eat unless the sun approves!
And so, now the town is festooned with sundials
and most of the people are crawling around hungry.

from a lost play of Plautus, quoted by Aulus Gellius in Noctes Atticæ III.3.

All translations by Eulalia

 

[Barbaria1]

Amica 21b


On the third, facing the viewer from the house, the description of the construction of large sundial:

Hoc obeliscus, qui est in Quarto, Lucius Silius addidit
mirabilem usum, ad depredendas Solis
umbras, dierumque ac noctium ita magnitudines,
strato lapide ad magnitudinem Obelisci, cui par
fieret umbra, brumae confectae die, sextam hora,
paulatimque per regulas quae sunt ex aere
inclusae singulis diebus decresceret, ac rursus
augesceret: digna cognitu res ingenio foecundo
Eulalia Mathematica. Apici auratam pilam additit,
cujus umbra vertice colligeretur in se ipsa, alias
enormiter jaculante apice, ratione [ut ferunt] a
capite hominis intellecta. (3)


On the fourth there is a little joke:

Ut illum Di(i) perdant, primus qui horas repperit,
Quique adeo primus statuit hic solarium,
Qui mihi comminuit misero articulatim diem.
Nam me puero venter hic erat solarium
Multum omnium istorum optumum ac verissimum.
Ibi iste monebat esse, nisi cum nihil erat,
Nunc etiam quod est, non estur nisi soli lubet.Itaque jam oppletum est oppidum solariis
Major pars populi aridi reptant fame. (4)

​

View attachment 148215

​

The meridian line is of gilded bronze, inset between the black basalt stones, shining in the light of the sun. It is intersected by lines that represent the divisions of the zodiacal signs and the months, and shorter intervals indicate the kalends, nones and ides. Facing us, with its back to the left side of obelisk, are the symbols and names of the signs of the zodiac carved in Greek on the travertine marble:


ΚΡΙΟΣ
ΤΑΥΡΟΣ
ΔΙΔΥΜΟΙ
ΚΑΡΚΙΝΟΣ
ΛΕΩΝ
ΠΑΡΘΕΝΟΣ
ΖΥΓΟΣ
ΣΚΟΡΠΙΟΣ
ΤΟΞΟΤΗΣ
ΑΙΓΟΚΕΡΩΣ
ΥΔΡΟΧΟΟΣ
ΙΧΘΥΕΣ

Κριός, Ταύρος, Δίδυμοι, Καρκίνος, Λέων, Παρθένος, Ζυγός, Σκορπιός, Τοξότης, Αιγόκερως, Υδροχόος , Ιχθύες; on the right side, in Latin, are the names of the months.

At about the mid-point in the month of May there is an inscription in Greek: ΘΕΡΟΥΣ ΑΡΧΗ, θέρους αρχή, thérous arkhē, the beginning of summer, and to the right the Latin letters LN.

All the lines etched into the stone have been filled with molten metal - lead, copper and tin. The surface of the sundial is of polished volcanic tuff. At the ends of the curves that divide the signs of the zodiac are carved their symbols, and at the ends of the straight lines that identify the hours is carved the Latin numeral for each one. At the points where we put the red stones that indicated the equal hours, there are now bronze studs embedded in the surface, as a reminder that the hours can be measured by a different system.

At the foot of the plinth of the obelisk is this inscription:

PRINCIPIVM MENSIS CVIVSQVE VOCATO KALENDAS
SEX MAIVS NONAS OCTOBER JIVLIVS ET MARS
QVATTVOR AT RELIQVI . DABIT IDVS QVIDLIBET OCTO

Principium mensis cujusque vocato kalendas:
Sex Maius nonas, October, Julius, et Mars;
Quattuor at reliqui: dabit idus quidlibet octo.


The first of the month is called the Kalends.
In March, May, July, and October, the Nones fall six days later [on the 7th]
In the other eight months, four days after the Kalends [on the 5th]
The Ides fall eight days after that [on the 15th or 13th]


Then, outside and separate from the path of the clock, are other lines, focused towards the center of the gnomon, indicating the directions of:

ROMA, PARTHENOPÆ, CVMÆ, MISENVM, CAPRÆ, SVRENTIVM, STABIÆ, SATRIANVM, NOLÆ, OCTAVIANVM,

and, well apart from all the others, with the inscription in Greek, ΑΘΗΝΗ (Aθήνη, Athénē), your city, Athens.

A plaque set in the ground between the line that indicates the winter solstice and the outer wall of the house, is engraved with the inscription that Lucius has commissioned:

'Praef. Urbis Sil. fil. / Lucius Satri. / Magis. Equitum / prae. X cos. XI trib. pot. XI / Soli donum dedit.'

PRÆ .VRBIS . SIL . FIL
LVCIVS SATRI
MAGIS EQVITVM
PRÆ XI COS X TRIB POT XI
SOLI DONVM DEDIT

The Prefect of the City, Lucius Satrianus, son of Silius, Master of Cavalry, [to commemorate his high military rank] being Prefect for the tenth time, Consul for the eleventh time, and having the power of Tribune for the eleventh time, has dedicated this offering to the Sun.

------------------------

All translations by Eulalia

(3)

This obelisk in Quarto has been given a remarkable function by Lucius Silius, that of marking the shadows projected by the sun, and so measuring the length of the days and nights, by means of a stone pavement, the extreme length of which corresponds exactly with the length of the shadow thrown by the obelisk at the sixth hour on the day of the winter solstice. After this date, the shadow will go on, day by day, gradually decreasing, and will then again gradually increase, in correspondence with the brass lines inserted in the stone. This is a device that deserves to be well known, it is due to the fertile ingenuity of Eulalia the Mathematician. Upon the apex of the obelisk she has placed a gilded ball so that the shadow of the summit itself might be drawn together on it, otherwise it would project a fine line of enormous length, a consideration suggested to her by the shadow projected by the human head.

based on Pliny, Naturalis Historia XXXVI.72.

(4)
May the gods destroy him, whoever first divided out the hours,
and likewise him who was first to put a sundial here,
which for me, poor devil, breaks up the day in pieces, bit by bit.
When I was a lad, my stomach told me the time,
it was a lot more accurate than all these gadgets here.
Then it was there to warn me to eat, though then there was no food,
now when there is food, I can’t eat unless the sun approves!
And so, now the town is festooned with sundials
and most of the people are crawling around hungry.

from a lost play of Plautus, quoted by Aulus Gellius in Noctes Atticæ III.3.

this is all so amazing....

 

[Velut Luna]

Hi to all friends!
Eul and Luna are busy for the next two weeks!
Amica return scheduled for 10th/11th october!

 

[Pia]

I love toasting marshmallows!

 

[LittleSiss]

I love toasting marshmallows!

And squeezing them!

 

[Barbaria1]

And squeezing them!

mashing and rolling them too.

 

[LittleSiss]

mashing and rolling them too.

It beats selling Cookies! (Biscuits)

Although! I do like me Cookies.

 

[Barbaria1]

It beats selling Cookies! (Biscuits)

Although! I do like me Cookies.

View attachment 148982

I'm coming...where are we going?

 

[messaline]

It beats selling Cookies! (Biscuits)

Although! I do like me Cookies.

View attachment 148982

NO ! I'M COMING , my beauty !!!

 

[thehangingtree]

It beats selling Cookies! (Biscuits)

Although! I do like me Cookies.

View attachment 148982

tree

 

[RacingRodent]

It beats selling Cookies! (Biscuits)

Although! I do like me Cookies.

View attachment 148982

RR is now hungry and confused

 

[LittleSiss]

I'm coming...where are we going?

From the light into the night.

 

[messaline]

Oh! I've not the equipment to fly into the night !

 

[LittleSiss]

NO ! I'M COMING , my beauty !!!

View attachment 148987 View attachment 148988

I'll be waiting at the door.

 

[thehangingtree]

Oh! I've not the equipment to fly into the night !

really???


tree

...yes I am aware the hair color is wrong, Ulrika. It is the lighting...

...are we hijacking this thread???

 

[LittleSiss]

really???
View attachment 148994

tree

...yes I am aware the hair color is wrong, Ulrika. It is the lighting...

...are we hijacking this thread???

Don't worry, Tree! Luna is not one to get upset at a little bit of fun!
Right ... Luna?

 

[Barbaria1]

Don't worry, Tree! Luna is not one to get upset at a little bit of fun!
Right ... Luna?

FINIS....OK LUNA?.....IT'S DONE.