TE ACCIPIO & OMNIA VINCIT AMOR: Updated Printable Wristbands for Pride Week!

In preparation for this year's Pride Week, I have created new & updated printable wristbands! This lesson now includes two designs, with the phrases TE ACCIPIO as well as OMNIA VINCIT AMOR!

The previous lesson is still available, but you can access the updated lesson here. 

This lesson is based on the famous words of the Aeneid, 

..iam pectore toto
[te] accipio et comitem casus complector in omnis.
Nulla meis sine te quaeretur gloria rebus:
seu pacem seu bella geram, tibi maxima rerum
verborumque fides."
--Vergil, Aeneid IX.275 - 280

Translation:
"With all my heart I accept you and embrace you as a companion in all my troubles. I shall seek no glory without you; in war or peace, you have my truest loyalty in both my words and in my deeds."

A Lesson Plan: Love and Life in Pompeii; A Walk Among Graffiti

 

Love and Life in Pompeii: A Walk Among Graffiti

A Lesson Plan

Objective:

Students Will Be Able To:  infer perspectives of daily life and activities of the ancient Romans through analyzing Pompeiian graffiti 

 Essential Questions

·         Why is the discovery of Pompeii important to our understanding of Roman culture?

·         How can studying a culture’s graffiti provide insight into their perspectives?

·         What can we learn by comparing different cultures’ perspectives on love and life?

Love and Life in Pompeii: A Walk Among Graffiti Lesson Plan

Caeneus, Trans Warrior King and Conqueror of Centaurs, Acusilaus fr. 22

The Warrior King Caeneus

Name: Acusilaus Date:   6th century BCE Region:    Argos [modern Greece] Citation:   fragment 22 / P. Oxy.13.1611

Acusilaus says the following about Caeneus: Poseidon slept with Caenis, the child of Elatus. Not being able to bear a child for him or anyone else, Poseidon made him an invincible man, having  the greatest strength of all mankind, nor could anyone pierce him with iron or bronze, or anything else. And so he became king of the Lapiths, and fought against the Centaurs.

λέγει γὰρ περὶ Καινέα̣  οὕτως· Καινῆι δὲ τῆι  ʼΕλάτου μίσγεται Ποσι- δῶν. ἔπειτα οὐ γὰρ ἦν αὐτῆι ἰσ̣τ̣ὸν παῖδας  τεκνὲ̣ν οὔτ’ ἐξ̣  ἐκείνου οὔτ’ ἐξ ἄλλου οὐ δενός, ποιεῖ αὐτὸν Πο- σε̣δέων ἄνδρα ἄτρω- τον̣, ἰ̣σχύν ἔχοντα μεγ̣ί- στη̣ν τῶν ἀνθρώπων τῶν τότε, καὶ ὅτε τις αὐ- τὸν κεντοίη σιδερῶι ἢ χαλκῶι, ἠλίσκετο μά- λιστα χρημάτων. καὶ γίγνεται βασιλεὺς οὗ- τος Λαπιθέων καὶ τοῖς Κενταύροις πολεμεεσκε.

Haec fabula de Caeneo [ab Acusilaeo historico] fertur: Neptunum Caenidi, Elati proli, miscuisse. Quae nec illo nec cuiquam filios gignere nequiens, in virum atrotum & ex omnibus fortissimum a Neptuno transformatus, nec ferro nec aere nec telo alio vulnerari potuit. Deinde Caeneus Rex Lapithorum factus, et Centaurisque bellum ingessit. Translated into Latin by Kris Masters

Acusilaus of Argos [6th century BCE, modern Greece] Little is known about the life or works of Acusilaus, but he is thought to be a mythographer from the 6th century BCE. Only fragments of his work remain.

Primary Sources on Vestal Virgins: Aulus Gellius, Noct. Att. I.12

Aulus Gellius on the Selection and Lifestyle of Vestal Virgins

Name: Aulus Gellius  Date: 125 – 180 CE Region:  Rome [modern Italy] Citation:  Athenian Nights 1.12

Regarding Vestal Virgins: On the Appropriate Age, Family Background, Initiation Ceremony, How They are Claimed by the Pontifex Maximus, How they Take their Oath and Become “Taken” ; Also How, as Labeo says, They Can neither Inherit nor Bequeath Property in their Wills

Those who describe the “taking” of a Vestal Virgin [and Labeo Antistius describes this the most elaborately] state that it is inappropriate to take one:

·        younger than six years old, or one that is older than ten

·        if she has lost her mother or father

·        if she has a speech impediment or is hard of hearing, or has any other disability

·        if either she or her father is emancipated, even if her father is alive, but her grandfather is her patriarch

·        or if either (or both) parents are currently a slave, or are involved in shady business practices.

Furthermore, it is also noted that she is exempt if

·        her sister has been chosen for a priesthood

·        her father is a flamen augur, a Salian priest, one of the fifteen overseers of the Sibylline books, or one of the seven overseers of the holy banquets.

Other exemptions include

·        if she is engaged to a priest

·        if she is a daughter of the sacred Trumpeters.

Moreover, in his writings, Capito Ateius stated that a daughter should not be selected from a family that does not have residency in Italy, as well as a family that doesn’t have three children.

Once a Vestal Virgin is chosen, she is led to the Temple of Vesta and handed over to its priests. As soon as that happens, she is immediately freed from her patriarch’s control without an official emancipation declaration and without losing control of her rights; she is also able to make her own will.

There are no ancient sources on the selection of a Vestal Virgin, but [it is known] that the first ones were selected by King Numa. I have, however, found the Papian Law that twenty maidens are selected from the general population under the oversight of the Chief Priest, and from that number, a lottery is held. The women selected by the Chief Priest become Vestal Virgins. Nowadays, this lottery set up by the Papian Law is no longer necessary. If someone of noble birth approaches the Chief Priest and offers his daughter to the priesthood, provided that religious observances are maintained, he can be exempt from the Papian Law.

A Vestal Virgin is said to be “taken,” because she is taken by the hand of the Chief Priest from the control of her parents, the way that a hostage is taken in wartime. In Book 1 of his work on history, Fabius Pictor preserves the oath that a Chief Priest is supposed to say when he “takes” a Vestal Virgin.  This is the oath: “Beloved one, I hereby seize you as one worthy to be a Vestal Virgin, who shall perform rites on behalf of the Roman people.” 

Many people think that the word “taken” should only apply to Vestal Virgins; however, Flamen Dialis, priests, and augurs are also said to be “taken.” In the second book of his history, L. Sulla wrote: “P. Cornelius, the first to be named Sulla, was taken as a Flamen Dialis.” When M. Cato accused Servius Galba, he said the following about the Lusitanians: “They say that they wanted to rebel. I really want to know the priestly ways, so does that mean I can be made a priest? If I really wanted to know augury, does that mean I can be an augur?”  Moreover, in Labeo’s commentaries On the Twelve Tables, the following quote exists: “A Vestal Virgin nether an heir to anyone intestate, nor does her property go to another; instead, her property is liquidated by the state.”

She is called “Beloved,” [Amata] when she is taken by the Chief Priest because that was the name of the first Vestal Virgin taken.

 

Aulus Gellius on the Selection and Lifestyle of Vestal Virgins

Virgo Vestae quid aetatis et ex quali familia et quo ritu quibusque caerimoniis ac religionibus ac quo nomine a pontifice maximo capiatur et quo statim iure esse incipiat, simul atque capta est; quodque, ut Labeo dicit, nec intestato cuiquam nec eius intestatae quisquam iure heres est.

Qui de virgine capienda scripserunt, quorum diligentissime scripsit Labeo Antistius, minorem quam annos sex, maiorem quam annos decem natam negaverunt capi fas esse; item quae non sit patrima et matrima, item quae lingua debili sensuve aurium deminuta aliave qua corporis labe insignita sit; item quae ipsa aut cuius pater emancipatus sit, etiamsi vivo patre in avi potestate sit; item cuius parentes alter ambove servitutem servierunt aut in negotiis sordidis versantur. Sed et eam, cuius soror ad id sacerdotium lecta est, excusationem mereri aiunt; item cuius pater flamen aut augur aut quindecimvirum sacris faciundis aut septemvirum epulonum aut Salius est. Sponsae quoque pontificis et tubicinis sacrorum filiae vacatio a sacerdotio isto tribui solet. 

Praeterea Capito Ateius scriptum reliquit neque eius legendam filiam, qui domicilium in Italia non haberet, et excusandam eius, qui liberos tres haberet. Virgo autem Vestalis, simul est capta atque in atrium Vestae deducta et pontificibus tradita est, eo statim tempore sine emancipatione ac sine capitis minutione e patris potestate exit et ius testamenti faciundi adipiscitur. De more autem rituque capiundae virginis litterae quidem antiquiores non exstant, nisi, quae capta prima et, a Numa rege esse captam. Sed Papiam legem invenimus, qua cavetur, ut pontificis maximi arbitratu virgines e populo viginti legantur sortitioque in contione ex eo numero fiat et, cuius virginis ducta erit, ut eam pontifex maximus capiat eaque Vestae fiat. Sed ea sortitio ex lege Papia non necessaria nunc videri solet.

Nam si quis honesto loco natus adeat pontificem maximum atque offerat ad sacerdotium filiam suam, cuius dumtaxat salvis religionum observationibus ratio haberi possit, gratia Papiae legis per senatum fit. 

“Capi” autem virgo propterea dici videtur, quia pontificis maximi manu prensa ab eo parente, in cuius potestate est, veluti bello capta abducitur. In libro primo Fabii Pictoris, quae verba pontificem maximum dicere oporteat, cum virginem capiat, scriptum est. Ea verba haec sunt: “Sacerdotem Vestalem, quae sacra faciat, quae ius sit sacerdotem Vestalem facere pro populo Romano Quiritibus, uti quae optima lege fuit, ita te, Amata, capio.” Plerique autem “capi” virginem solam debere dici putant. Sed flamines quoque Diales, item pontifices et augures “capi” dicebantur. L. Sulla rerum gestarum libro secundo ita scripsit: “P. Cornelius, cui primum cognomen Sullae impositum est, flamen Dialis captus.” M. Cato de Lusitanis, cum Servium Galbam accusavit: “Tamen dicunt deficere voluisse. Ego me nunc volo ius pontificium optime scire; iamne ea causa pontifex capiar? Si volo augurium optime tenere, ecquis me ob eam rem augurem capiat?” 

Praeterea in commentariis Labeonis, quae ad duodecim tabulas composuit, ita scriptum est: “Virgo Vestalis neque heres est cuiquam intestato, neque intestatae quisquam, sed bona eius in publicum redigi aiunt. Id quo iure fiat, quaeritur.” “Amata” inter capiendum a pontifice maximo appellatur, quoniam, quae prima capta est, hoc fuisse nomen traditum est.   

Challenging Gender Roles: The Philosopher Hipparchia, Greek Anthology 7.413

Hipparchia, The Cynic Philosopher

Name:  Antipater of Sidon Date:    2nd – 1st century BCE Region:     Sidon [modern Lebanon] Citation:     Greek Anthology  7.413

 Hipparchia was a famous Cynic philosopher who lived during the late 4th or early 3rd century BCE. According to tradition, Hipparchia rejected her role as an Athenian noblewoman to marry the famous Cynic philosopher Crates, and spent the remainder of her life following the ascetic lifestyle of a Cynic. Although she was a prolific author, only fragments of her writing remain.

 

No longer dwelling in the lifestyle of the wide-belted ladies,

I, Hipparchia, have chosen the manly life of a Cynic.

Pretty robes and stylish shoes no longer work for me;

Neither do pretty hair-nets.

A rugged staff is my companion, as well as a double-layered cloak, and

The rough ground is my home.

To me, my life is better than Atalanta’s,

Since wisdom is so much better than jogging.

οὐχὶ βαθυστόλμων Ἱππαρχία ἔργα γυναικῶν, τῶν δὲ Κυνῶν ἑλόμαν ῥωμαλέον βίοτον οὐδέ μοι ἀμπεχόναι περονήτιδες, οὐ βαθύπελμος εὔμαρὶς, οὐ λιπόων εὔαδε κεκρύφαλος: οὐλὰς δὲ σκίπωνι συνέμπορος, ἅ τε συνῳδὸς δίπλαξ, καὶ κοίτας βλῆμα χαμαιλεχέος. ἄμμι δὲ Μαιναλίας κάρ’ῥων μνάμα Ἀταλάντας τόσσον, ὅσον σοφία κρέσσον ὀριδρομίας.

Non ego feminei mores Hipparchia sexus, sed mare sum forte corde secuta canes. Non placuit pallam substringens fibula, non pes vinctus, et unguentis oblita vitta mihi: sed baculus nudique pedes, quaeque artubus haeret Diplois, inque locum dura cubilis humus. Maenaliae tantum potior mea vita puellae, quanto venari quam sapuisse minus. Translated into Latin by Hugo Grotius

 

 Antipater of Sidon [2nd – 1st century BCE, modern Lebanon] was a Greek poet who lived under Roman rule during the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE. Dozens of his poems were preserved in the Greek Anthology.

I'll Be Your Anything: The Genderfluid God Vertumnus, Propertius, E. 4.2

Vertumnus  Boasts of His Abilities

Name:  Propertius Date:  50 – 15 BCE Region:   Assisium [modern Italy] Citation:    Elegies 4.2

Why are you surprised by my many shapes in my one body? 

Just accept that I, Vertumnus, am a god.

I’m Tuscan born, and I’m native of Tuscany,

And I’m not ashamed to have abandoned the Volsinian side in battle.

This is my kind of crowd. I’m not too fond of ivory temples,

I’m okay with just watching over the Roman Forum.

This is where the Tiber River once made its way;

It is said that the sound of oars was heard splashing here.

And after Father Tiber granted this land to his offspring, 

I, Vertumnus was named after the “Bend in the Stream [1].”

Or, maybe I’m named that way because I receive first fruits after the “turning of the year [2]"

And you believe this is sacred rite to Vertumnus.

The grape in its cluster ripens for me; the wheat heads grow heavy.

In me, you see the sweet cherry, the autumn plums, and the mulberry deepen in color on a summer day.

You see the grafter dedicate a crown of fruit to me, after an unwilling pear tree begins to sprout apples.

Okay, stop talking about me; there’s another reason to my name.

Believe me, a god, as I tell you about myself:

Nature made me fit for every figure.

I can change into any shape you want.

Clothe me in Coan clothes and I’ll be a flirty girl;

If I put on a toga, who will deny that I’m a man?

 Give me a scythe and put a knot of hay upon my forehead, and you’d swear I was the reaper who cut the grain myself.

There was I time that I remember when I took up arms, and I was renowned for it, and I was a reaper bearing a load of baskets.

I’m serious as a lawyer, but if you put a garland on my head, you’d swear I was a partygoer.  Put a Phrygian cap on my head, and I will rave like a bacchant; I’ll play Apollo, if you give me a lyre. Give me hunting supplies, and I’ll be a hunter; but, with other supplies, I’ll only hunt birds.

And I’ve also been a charioteer, as well as a warrior who can leap from horse to horse. Give me a rod, and I’ll be a fisherman; or give me a long tunic, and I’ll be a fastidious merchant. I can pose like a shepherd with his crook; I can carry a basket of roses through the dusty streets.

What else should I add to heighten my fame, that puts the first fruits of the garden into my hands? Dark cucumbers and fat gourds and cabbages tied with a garland of rushes give away my identity; no flower blossoms in the fields that doesn’t also rest upon my forehead.

But since I alone can turn [3] into every shape, I was named for this in my country’s language.

You, Rome, have given tribute to my Tuscans (this is where the Tuscan Way got its name), when Lycomedius came with armed reinforcement, when he defeated cruel Tatius’ Sabine forces.  I myself saw the broken ranks, the falling weapons, the enemy forced into a shameful retreat.

Blessed Jupiter, see to it that the toga-wearing race of Rome stay in my sight forever.

Only six lines left: you are off to court, go on your way, I won’t keep you, don’t bother to read the rest.

I used to be a trunk of a maple tree,

But then I was carved by an ax.

Before Numa’s reign, I was a humble god in a humble city.

But Mamurrius, the artist sculpted me in bronze,

May the Oscan earth never harm your hands, Mammurius,

Since you created me for such a pleasant purpose!

There is only one sculpture of me, but more than one honors for such a sculpture.

 

 Vertumnus Boasts of His Abilities

Quid mirare meas tot in uno corpore formas,

accipe Vertumni signa fatente deo.

Tuscus ego Tuscis orior, nec paenitet inter

proelis Volsinios deseruisse focos.

Haec me turba iuuat, nec templo laetor eburno:

Romanum satis est posse videre Forum.

Hac quondam Tiberinus iter faciebat, et aiunt

remorum auditos per vada pulsa sonos:

at postquam ille suis tantum concessit alumnis,

VertAMNUS verso dicor ab amne deus.

Seu, quia vertentis fructum praecepimus anni,

VertANNI rursus creditur esse sacrum.

Prima mihi variat liventibus uva racemis,

et coma lactenti spicea fruge tumet;

hic dulcis cerasos, hic autumnalia pruna

cernis et aestiuo mora rubere die;

insitor hic soluit pomosa vota corona,

cum pirus invito stipite mala tulit.

Mendax fama, vaces: alius mihi nominis index:

de se narranti tu modo crede deo.

Opportuna mea est cunctis natura figuris:

in quamcumque voles verte, decorus ero.

Indue me Cois, fiam non dura puella:

meque virum sumpta quis neget esse toga?

Da falcem et torto frontem mihi comprime faeno:

iurabis nostra gramina secta manu.

Arma tuli quondam et, memini, laudabar in illis:

corbis et imposito pondere messor eram.

Sobrius ad lites: at cum est imposta corona,

clamabis capiti vina subisse meo.

Cinge caput mitra, speciem furabor Iacchi;

furabor Phoebi, si modo plectra dabis.

Cassibus impositis venor: sed harundine sumpta

fautor plumoso sum deus aucupio.

Est etiam aurigae species cum verbere et eius

traicit alterno qui leve corpus equo.

Suppetat hic, piscis calamo praedabor, et ibo

mundus demissis institor in tunicis.

Pastor me ad baculum possum curvare vel idem

sirpiculis medio pulvere ferre rosam.

Nam quid ego adiciam, de quo mihi maxima fama est,

hortorum in manibus dona probata meis?

Caeruleus cucumis tumidoque cucurbita ventre

me notat et iunco brassica vincta levi;

nec flos ullus hiat pratis, quin ille decenter

impositus fronti langueat ante meae.

At mihi, quod formas unus vertebar in omnis,

nomen ab eventu patria lingua dedit; 

et tu, Roma, meis tribuisti praemia Tuscis,

 (unde hodie Vicus nomina Tuscus habet),

tempore quo sociis venit Lycomedius armis

atque Sabina feri contudit arma Tati.

Vidi ego labentis acies et tela caduca,

atque hostis turpi terga dedisse fugae.

Sed facias, divum Sator, ut Romana per aevum

transeat ante meos turba togata pedes.

Sex superant versus: te, qui ad vadimonia curris,

non moror: haec spatiis ultima creta meis.

Stipes acernus eram, properanti falce dolatus,

ante Numam grata pauper in urbe deus.

At tibi, Mamurri, formae caelator aenae,

tellus artifices ne terat Osca manus,

qui me tam docilis potuisti fundere in usus.

Unum opus est, operi non datur unus honos.  

 

---

[1] A pun on the ‘vert-’ prefix in his name.

[2] Another pun on the ‘vert-’ prefix in his name.

[3] Another pun on the ‘vert-’ prefix in his name.

Propertius [Sextus Propertius; 50-15 BCE, modern Italy] was an Italian-born Roman lyric poet whose love poetry provides insight into the customs of Augustan Rome. Like Catullus and Tibullus, Propertius used a pseudonym for the object of his attention; many of his love poems were addressed to “Cynthia.”