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ljredux @ljredux.com · 26/03/2026

Re-reading Horace's Odes (3.1.1) this morning: "Odi profanum vulgus et arceo." Basically my thoughts on Twitter/X right now. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #poetry #latin #ancientrome

Latin quote 'Odi profanum vulgus et arceo' with English translation: 'I hate the common rabble and I keep them at a distance.'

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 06/03/2026

The first documented case of someone buying a monitor that's far too wide for the desk. 😜 OK, so it's really a fresco from the Temple of Isis Portico (Pompeii) depicting a Nile scene with pygmies & a theatrical mask peeking over the top. 🏛️ Naples Archaeological Museum. #FrescoFriday #AncientBlueSky

Roman fresco from Pompeii painted on a red wall. It depicts a long, narrow landscape panel, painted to look like a framed picture resting on a white marble shelf. The scene shows a Nile marsh with birds, ducks, straw huts and straw enclosure walls, small pygmy figures, and two dogs, with a crocodile in the water at the far right. A large theatrical mask with comically tall hair and a dramatic, shocked expression appears to rest on the panel, giving the impression of a person behind peeking over its top edge.

Photo by Jebulon (Wikimedia), CC0 public domain dedication.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 05/03/2026

Who knew little flying willies could be so powerful? Excavated from the Roman settlement at Stonea Grange, Cambridgeshire in the early 80s, these winged phalli promised protection from harm, envy, and bad luck. Which obviously worked. (43-409 AD) #AncientBlueSky #AncientRome #PhallusThursday

An ancient ceramic beaker with a dark, clay-coloured finish. The vessel has a wide, rounded body that tapers sharply to a small circular base. The exterior is decorated in barbotine, a technique of trailing liquid clay, with a row of small dashes circling the top, just below the rim. Two visible phallic symbols (fascinii) dominate the design. The prominent phallus at the front is winged, while a partly obscured one on the left is unwinged. There are four in all (two not visible in the photo), conveying the idea they are flying or swimming around the vessel. Chips and wear in the dark coating reveal a lighter terracotta colour beneath.

© The Trustees of the British Museum. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 05/03/2026

Sorry if you saw that #phallusthursday post before I ninja deleted it twice. Made myself queasy with my own joke. It was definitely too much. Tamer version incoming.... 😅

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 02/03/2026

Veii: famous for a 4th century BC siege, but in the 4th century AD it may have been one of Imperial Rome's wild-animal depots. This mosaic of an elephant boarding a ship was found there (modern-day Isola Farnese). #mosaicmonday #AncientBlueSky 📷 by Carole Raddato. Badisches Landesmuseum, Germany.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 28/02/2026

Seems to follow the same number/side convention too. 1 opposite 6, 2 opposite 5, 3 opposite 4. (Opposite faces always add up to seven.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 02/08/2025

Great article. Some parts of Rome would have smelt far worse than others too. Tanneries were banished to the Transtiberim district by law due to the stench. It must have been horrendous since fullers were on every second residential block washing clothes in urine. 🤢 #AncientBlueSky #AncientRome

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 01/08/2025

Pliny The Elder's parenting hack for restless babies? Bung some goat poo in their nappies. It's a gender thing, mostly for girls... because science? Or something. 😬 Found in J.C. McKeown's *A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities*. A great coffee table addition! #AncientRome #AncientBlueSky #Books #History

A page from a book displaying historical child-rearing advice. An italicized quote by Pliny the Elder reads: "Putting goat dung in their diapers soothes hyperactive children, especially girls (Pliny Natural History 28.259)."

The cover of the book "A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities" by J. C. McKeown. The cover is designed to look like a wooden cabinet with five horizontal drawers. Each "drawer" features a brass pull handle on the right and a framed artefact on the left. From top to bottom, the images depict: a man playing a a pipe and a woman dancing; a human skull surrounded by various objects; two draped classical women; and a flamingo-like bird, it's body in a woven sling (possibly a carrier) restricting its wings and legs. The full title reads "A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities," with the subtitle "Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from the World's Greatest Empire" at the bottom. The author's name, J. C. McKeown, is on the label of the bottom drawer.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 25/07/2025

After 45 minutes of arsing around with the #Yoti face scan app because I want to read my #Bluesky DMs, I can confirm that I don't have a real face. Turns out I've been a hallucination this whole time. Sorry to anyone who's made eye contact with me. It was probably just pareidolia.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 25/07/2025

Daedalus: "Okay, so hear me out. What if I made a cow... and *you* get inside it?" Pasiphaë: 👀 Everyone else: 😬 #FrescoFriday #AncientBlueSky (ALT text has more.)

Roman fresco from the House of the Vettii, Pompeii: Daedalus, wearing a reddish-brown tunic with his back to the viewer and arms outstretched, presents a large white cow to Queen Pasiphaë. She is seated, wearing a sheer pale pink garment that exposes one shoulder and clings to her upper body, with a sheer, ruffled yellow fabric draped around her lower half, partially covering the layer beneath. She looks towards Daedalus, who gestures to a cow on a wheeled platform at the right. Two attendants (one female, one male) stand behind her seat looking towards the cow. In the foreground at lower left, the boy Icarus works on a piece of wood with tools. Image: WolfgangRieger, Wikimedia Commons.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 24/07/2025

The Real Lives of Roman Britain by Guy de la Bédoyère. While you lot are busy with battles and boundaries, I'll be over here finding out who was sleeping with whom behind Hadrian's Wall. 😏 #AncientBlueSky

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 23/07/2025

23rd July = Neptunalia *and* #ReliefWednesday. I'd love to share some amazing Neptune reliefs I found online, but too many museums lock down their content tight. Cultural heritage should be easier to share than this. #OpenCulture

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 21/07/2025

I'm getting lost in Roman art while reading the Aeneid again (Fagles this time) & came across Virgil in a 3rd C AD mosaic (oldest known depiction). On his scroll: "Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso, quidve...." It feels like an ancient teaser! #MosaicMonday #AncientRome #AncientBluesky 🏺

Ancient mosaic of the poet Virgil seated between two standing female Muses. He wears a white toga and holds a scroll bearing the words: 'Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso, quidve...'. On his right, Clio (the Muse of History) wears a green sleeveless garment with gold drapery over her shoulder and around her hips; she holds a scroll. On his left, Melpomene (the Muse of Tragedy) wears a long, red and gold patterned gown with green draper over her shoulder; she holds a tragic mask. Photo: boyd1960 (Wikipedia Commons).

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 14/07/2025

This #BastilleDay, I've chosen Racine's Britannicus as my emotional torture device. Why did Molière's Le Misanthrope make Early Modern French seem so easy?! Send help! 😭 #Books #French #AncientRome

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 14/07/2025

Meet Cuiriacus, a champion charioteer flashing the ancient signs of victory (palm branches for him *and* his horses). Made in Carthage around 500 AD, this mosaic fragment underscores how Roman art & circus culture persisted even under Vandal rule. #MosaicMonday #AncientBlueSky #Art #History

Ancient Roman mosaic fragment from Carthage (ca. 500 AD), depicting a victorious charioteer named Cuiriacus (inscribed above him in Latin). He stands helmeted on a four-horse chariot, holding a victory wreath in one hand and a palm frond in the other, dressed in a tunic and protective gear; the horses have palm fronds on their heads, and wear black strap harnesses, each with decorative elements dangling below the neck. The mosaic fragment is made of colourful marble and glass tesserae.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 07/07/2025

I can see it now: "Keeping Up With The Julio-Claudians... sponsored by garum and excessive hubris." #MosaicMonday

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 03/03/2025

Roman boxing was naked & brutal. This mosaic shows a winner wearing spiked gloves with a palm branch in his mouth. The other crouches in defeat. People of short stature were often hired for this entertainment. The third figure is likely the umpire. 1-2AD.British Museum. #mosaicmonday #AncientBlueSky

Description by the British Museum: "Stone (?) mosaic showing a victorious boxer. The winner’s palm branch is held in his mouth, and his defeated opponent crouches beside him. The boxers appear to be people of short stature, commonly hired by Romans to perform and compete for their entertainment. The third, draped, figure is probably the umpire. The boxers are naked except for their gloves, which in the case of the winner appear to be fitted with vicious spikes. Roman boxers are known to have worn gloves (caestus), which were weighted with metal to increase injury to their opponents."

© The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 27/02/2025

Just your average 1st-century Roman group figurine… Horny old Silenus, arms around a lady, giving her a big kiss while she grabs hold of his ding-dong. Totally not awkward, right? #PhallusThursday #AncientBluesky🏺

Ancient Roman clay figurine of Silenus, an old bearded man, seated with a woman. He has one arm around her shoulder and the other grasping her chin as he kisses her. The woman wears a brimless, bowl-shaped hat (similar to a simple pillbox hat) and a draped tunic, while Silenus is nude. His legs are spread, and the woman grips his penis. Their short, stocky proportions and exaggerated features are typical of Roman theatrical caricature.

Origin: Apulia (1st Century AD). Acquired by the Louvre in 1861. Not on display.

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Reposted by ljredux

James Coverley @jamescoverley.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

#AncientBluesky #Skystorians #RomanHistory Were the Romans really as grumpy as they seem in movies or on TV? They laughed at all manner of stuff, but how did laughter manifest itself in Roman society? Please remember to help yourself to a free sub! open.substack.com/pub/jamescov...

open.substack.com

What Did the Romans Laugh At?

Romans were a grumpy old lot, or so modern depictions of them would have you believe.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 02/12/2024

Mosaics like this ~250 CE gem from Roman Utica with their playful sea themes adorned lavish fountains. Now housed at the Louvre, it shows Cupids—known as the Amores when appearing in multiples—frolicking with dolphins and sea creatures. #AncientBlueSky #MosaicMonday #AncientRome

Photograph of a semi-circular Roman mosaic from approximately 250 CE. The artwork features a lively, detailed marine scene with eight cherubic figures, each depicted nude with small wings, playfully interacting with dolphins in various poses. The dolphins, rendered in shades of green and blue, are surrounded by smaller marine life, including fish, eels and crabs, all set against a light background of intricately arranged mosaic tiles. The piece was originally part of a fountain’s decoration. The overall tone is both whimsical and harmonious, reflecting the luxury and artistry of Roman imperial culture.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 22/11/2024

Suetonius claims Caligula despised being seen as Agrippa's descendant—yet here we are with Agrippa's portrait featured on a coin struck under his rule. The striking profile, complete with rostral crown, seems to defy the sentiment Caligula supposedly espoused. #AncientBluesky #AncientRome #Coin

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 20/11/2024

A headstone depicting freedmen & freedwomen of the Furius family. 13 BCE — 5 CE. The hair is SO on point with the women channelling the rolled fringes of Livia, Octavia the Younger & Julia the Elder. (Gregoriano Profano Museum, Vatican.) #ReliefWednesday #AncientBlueSky #AncientRome

A horizontal, rectangular marble funerary relief from the Augustan Age depicts three women and two men, all freedmen and freedwomen (libertini) of the Furius family. Carved in shallow relief, their faces and upper bodies are set within a recessed, framed niche and gaze out at the viewer. Each holds one hand to their chest.

From left to right: a woman (Furia) in a frontal pose, her hair styled in a distinctive nodus coiffure (popular in Augustan times); a man (Publius Furius) with a short, Augustus-like hairstyle, facing slightly right; a woman (Furia) facing slightly left, with a more subtle nodus coiffure; a woman (Furia) facing slightly right, with a prominent nodus coiffure; a man (Gaius Sulpicius) facing slightly left, again with short, Augustus-like hair. The pose and position of the two couples on the right suggests they are married.

Below the figures is a Latin inscription indicating their names:

FVRIA.Ɔ.L. P.FVRIVS.P.L. FVRIA.Ɔ.L. FVRIA.Ɔ.L. C.SVLPICIVS.C.L.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 18/11/2024

This Roman mosaic (ca. 175–225 CE) brings the legendary Calydonian boar hunt to vivid life. Meleager leads the charge against the formidable boar, a scene steeped in epic tradition and reworked by Homer himself. Found in Vienne, France, it now resides at the Louvre. #MosaicMonday #AncientBluesky

A Roman mosaic depicting the Calydonian boar hunt. The scene shows Meleager, the Greek mythological hero, advancing toward a large boar cornered in rocky terrain. Meleager wields a spear and appears mostly naked as the cloak around his neck flows behind him. A rocky archway forms the backdrop—through which a narrow stream flows downhill towards the action. Three hunting dogs, two brown, one black, surround the boar in dynamic poses, rushing towards it, one leaping in the foreground.

The background is a light eggshell colour and shades of tesserae between beige, reddish-brown and black dominate the depicted scene. The composition is enclosed within a simple black, square border.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 11/11/2024

Ever been judged by a pavement? This 1st-century pavement fragment unearthed in Campania spent a long time scowling at footsteps. He wasn't thrilled about being stepped on, to put it mildly, and has been recuperating in the British Museum since 1856. #MosaicMonday #AncientBluesky #AncientRome

A 1st-century Roman marble mosaic fragment, measuring 15 cm x 15 cm, depicting a close-up of a comic theatre mask. The square tile features a bearded male face with a scowling expression and unkempt, wavy hair. It is rendered in small, multicoloured marble tesserae, with dominant shades of red, brown, and black, while strips of white tesserae highlight certain areas. The mosaic shows signs of age and wear, with some tesserae missing or damaged. The overall effect is a detailed, expressive portrayal, despite the age and condition of the artifact.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 05/11/2024

@bsky.app Hello! Just a suggestion: Wouldn't it be useful if Alt-text could be edited after posting? Maybe with time or update limits? I've made mistakes more than once, and I hate having to delete/repost the same message to rectify it. It annoys followers.

bsky.app

Bluesky

Social media as it should be. Find your community among millions of users, unleash your creativity, and have some fun again.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 05/11/2024

Trying to avoid U.S. Election coverage is like trying to avoid your ex’s new relationship—it’s none of your business, but somehow impossible to ignore. Sending soothing cups of tea from Britain.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 04/11/2024

OK so November 4th is the start of the Ludi Plebeii (Plebeian Games) and I'm celebrating with this totally-not-related-but-I'm-pretending-it-is mosaic from the House of the Tragic Poet, Pompeii. They had theatre, I have theatre... #CloseEnough, right? Happy #MosaicMonday #AncientBluesky #AncientRome

A Roman mosaic from the House of the Tragic Poet in Pompeii, featuring seven men. Two actors on the left wear flamboyant, feather-like plumage around their waists, with one wearing a mask raised above his face. A man adjusts the aulos player's attire, while another dresses an actor on the right, who has his arms raised. A mask sits on a pedestal to the right, and a bald man in the foreground, dressed only in white robes around his waist, attends to masks in a box.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 01/10/2024

Not all Roman portraits were idealized. This bust of a senior male—once linked to Lucius Munatius Plancus—showcases a striking asymmetry that hints at one-sided paralysis, possibly a stroke. #AncientRome #AncientBlueSky #History

Portrait supposedly of Lucius Munatius Plancus, at Lugdunum Museum, Lyon, France. It depicts an aging man with one sided facial paralysis.
Author: Romainbehar / Wikimedia Commons.

Portrait supposedly of Lucius Munatius Plancus, at Lugdunum Museum, Lyon, France. It depicts an aging man with one sided facial paralysis.
Author: Scailyna / Wikimedia Commons.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 09/09/2024

Looks like these ancient Roman fishermen were working up a sweat! This late 1st/early 2nd century AD mosaic was found in 1875 near Via Labicana & Via Merulana (a little east of the Colosseum); now on display at the Capitoline Museums' Antiquarium. #MosaicMonday #AncientBlueSky #AncientRome

This ancient Roman mosaic shows two fishermen at work. One on the left is bending over, using a tool, with his head and strong arms visible. The other fisherman, his torso and strong arms bare, gazes across at him.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 30/08/2024

A stunning fresco from the House of Sirico, Pompeii, showing Aeneas being treated by Iapyx as described in Virgil’s Aeneid. His tearful son Ascanius—who would become the first King of Alba Longa—at his side. You can see this today at the Archaeological Museum of Naples. #FrescoFriday #AncientBlueSky

Iapyx removing an arrowhead from the leg of Aeneas, with Aeneas's son, Ascanius, crying beside him. Antique fresco from Pompeii.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 22/08/2024

Nothing like buying a top-rated book on one of Rome’s greatest foes, only to find a spectacular blunder in the very first sentence. 😩 #AncientRome #Mithridates #Classics #Books

An extract from Mithridates the Great (Philip Matyszak) incorrectly stating the ancient ruler was born in 120 BCE.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 18/08/2024

When Mary Beard met Nero, or is it just Richard Hammond trying out a new look? #AncientRome

Mary Beard patting the head of a waxwork model of Emperor Nero at Rome's waxwork museum.

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ljredux @ljredux.com · 14/08/2024

Domitian wasn’t emperor until two years after Vesuvius erupted, so some people are asking why a coin bearing his image was found among valuables near these skeletal remains. The answer is that Domitian was consul several times in the 70s AD. The perks of Daddy being emperor and all that.

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