Frescoes By Bogdanoff

“Happy he who has passed his whole life mid his own fields, he of whose birth and old age the same house is witness…For him the recurring seasons, not the consuls, mark the year; he knows autumn by his fruits and spring by her flowers.”
–Claudian, Carmina Minora (XX)

“It was not a nuthouse!”
–Neely O’Hara

Claudian, the Greek-speaking Roman poet who made Rome his home before 395 AD, speaks of fruits in the above poem. Neely O’Hara, the Valley of the Dolls alcoholic and drug addict who was drummed right out of Hollywood and came crawlin’ back to Broadway, and who failed at her attempt at a comeback, is referring to her stint at a sanitarium when she mentions the ‘nuthouse.’

Both Claudian and Neely reference fruits and nuts in their statements. Attributed to Romulus, the first ruler of Rome, the Roman calendar (c. 700 BC) originally was determined by the seasons of the cycles of the moon and the seasons of the agricultural year. Fruits, nuts, vegetables and herbs played a tremendous role in the lives of the Romans, thus their calendar was modeled around planting and harvesting.

Beginning in March, in the spring, and ending in December with the autumn planting, the year then was 10 months long (304 days) and had six months with 30 days and four with 31. (Ten successive lunar months actually would have been about 295 days and, because each began and ended with the new moon, that day would have belonged both to the new month and the old— and must have been counted twice.)

Just like Neely needed her grain alcohol to sustain her addiction, the Romans depended on grains to sustain their existence. Grains, like the other agricultural products, needed to be planned out through the Roman calendar year in order to survive the seasons. This explains why the winter months, when there was no work in the field, were not counted.

Broadway, however, offered plenty of work in the field of the theatre. Visitors to the Big Apple (note reference to fruit) enjoy seeing shows during this pretty time of year, with 42nd Street and the surrounding avenues blanketed with snow.

Helen Lawson, a famous Broadway star who has a vicious temperament, is seen here singing “I’ll Plant My Own Tree.” Planting for the Romans began in March (Martus). During the month, calendar festivals included the day honoring New Year’s Day according to the pre-Julian calendar, the Women’s festival of Matronalia, and the gods of one’s household (the 1st); Day sacred to Hercules (the 11th); and, the Festival of Bacchus (the 16th).

Bacchus was the Roman god of wine and debauchery. The Festival of Bacchus ended on the 17th, so there were two days of drinking.

As with all wine festivals, it’s important to pace yourself so you don’t get alcohol bloat.

Detail from my fresco entitled "Bacchus and Flora"

Festivals in April (Aprilis) included the Festival of Fortuna Virilis (the 1st), Birthday of Cybele (the 10th) and the Festival of Jupiter and Juno. May (Maius) brought the Women’s Festival of Bona Dia (the 1st), Festival of Mars Invictus (the 14th), Festival for Dea Dia (the 17th), and the Feast of Mars (the 29th). In June (Junonius) the Roman celebrations included the Day sacred to Tempestas (the 1st), Women’s festival of Vestalia (the 15th), Festival for Anna (the 18th), and Festival for Minerva. From January 1st through the end of June, the total number of festivals and celebrations on the Roman calendar were 152.

By July (Julius), you would think that the Romans would be all partied out. But, like Neely, there’s never enough to fuel the flames of a continuous buzz. From the beginning of July through the end of December, the Romans were able to fit in another 125 festivals and celebrations, which brought the annual total to 277.

With all that partying going on, fights were bound to break out.

The Early Roman army, which was formed c. 300 BC, kept order through c. 641 AD The Roman army is a generic term for the armed forces deployed by the kingdom of Rome (to c. 500 BC), the Roman Republic (500-31 BC), the Roman Empire (31 BC – 476 AD) and its successor, the Byzantine empire (476-1453 AD). It is thus a term that spans approximately 2,000 years, during which the Roman armed forces underwent numerous permutations in composition, organization, equipment and tactics, while conserving a core of lasting traditions.

You may have noticed that I’ve referenced a 12-month calendar of events, though I mentioned in the beginning of this post that the winter months were left out of the calendar. The two months that were originally omitted are January and February. It was Numa Pompilius, the second king or Rome (715-673 BC), who divided the year into 12 lunar months. However, the lunar months were not reliable because the moon’s lunation, a period of approximagely 29.5 days, is not the same length of time as the earth’s annual orbit around the sun, a period of approximately 365.25 days. Twelve lunar months are shorter by about 11 days than the solar year (365-354).It wasn’t until 46 BC that a reformed calendar, based on the solar year, was introduced by Caesar, who first heard about it while consorting with Cleopatra.

Here we see Jennifer North, the beautiful and talentless actress who later marries Tony Polar, a talentless singer, modeling a headdress, which was probably inspired by Cleopatra’s wardrobe.

When Caesar finally returned to Rome from Cleopatra and the Egyptian campaign in 46 BC, and was declared dictator, a three-month discrepancy existed between the seasons and their calendar date. The harvest was being celebrated long before the crops even had been taken in. Hence, Caesar’s motivation to reform the Roman calendar.

Of the 277 days of festivals and celebrations on the Roman calendar, approximately 135 days are devoted to women. Ancient Roman woman had little political freedom in society, but substantial freedom outside of politics, and some were outspoken and took an interest in the politics of their day. The status of a woman would vary from a fish monger with very little money to a woman of great wealth who was a daughter of and married to prominent politicians. Anne Wells would have been the latter.

With her good cheekbones and classy good looks, Anne would have fit right in with high society in ancient Roman times. She was beautiful and evoked goddess-like qualities. Goddesses were worshipped as evident by the number of festivals dedicated to them. Many female deities represented different aspects of the natural world. An example is Pomona, the Goddess of fruit trees, orchards and gardens.

Neely would have fallen in the former category of a fish monger.

The last event of the year falls on the 29th of December (same spelling). Compitalia, a rustic celebration at the end of the farming season, actually has no fixed date but falls between the end of Saturnalia (the 24th) and the Nones of January.

Anne had no fixed dates, either. When she first moved to New York City from her picturesque New England hometown of Lawrenceville, she lived at the Martha Washington Hotel for Women, where men were not allowed. Shortly thereafter, Anne has the misfortune to meet and fall in love with cad Lyon Burke.  So, in her book dating was out of the question. Lyon refused to commit to marriage, which was something Anne desperately craved. Lyon ended up having an affair with Neely. As a result, Anne followed suit and fell under the allure of booze and “dolls” to escape her doomed relationship.

Actually, no festival dates could actually be called fixed. This is because the early Roman calendar was based on a lunar cycle, not the solar cycle that we use today. The Romans marked time as being before the cycles of the moon (i.e., five days before the Kalends of October). As such, festival dates changed dates from year to year. The dates given in this post are general dates, and, depending on the calendar one is using, could be off by a few days.

But nothing could be as off as Helen Lawson’s wig. Neely made sure of that. When Neely crashes a press party for Helen’s new show, a scuffle ensues and Neely snatches Helen’s wig.

After trying to flush it down the toilet, Neely tosses the hairpiece over the stall door, where it lands on the floor with a splat. Neely hightails it out of there. Like the women of Roman high society, Helen stands regal. She removes a scarf from her neck and covers her matronly shock of white hair. “I’ll go out the way I came in,” she nobly declares, exiting through the front door.

Respectable Roman women were not supposed to be wandering around alone outside, so it’s a good thing that Helen wasn’t living in ancient Rome upon her exit.

Roman Fasti
Some 200 fragments of Roman calendars have been found so far, and they are collectively known as Fasti. Here are various examples of the calendar:

Some calendars were carved in marble or stone, but many were painted on walls for decoration.

During her stint as The Gillian Girl model, Anne Wells was thrown into a montage of funky ads. The image below depicts Anne spraying “product” at stone and marble archaeological artifacts.

To sum up what we’ve learned, the Roman calendar (c. 700 BC) and Valley of the Dolls (1967 AD) had many similarities:

1. The Roman calendar had many festivals which, one could say, were on the edge of cultish. Valley of the Dolls has a huge cult following.
2. The early Roman calendar was based on the lunar cycle. Neely had cycles of lunacy.
3. Neely defended the sanitarium where she dried out, bellowing that it was not a nuthouse. Romans depended on fruits and nuts. Fruits can be dried out.
4. The large egos of Roman Emperors would cause them to puff out their chests, fueled by their addiction to power. Neely’s addiction was fueled by alcohol and drugs, which made her puffy.

I love Christmas

December is the month when holidays such as Christmas and Hanukkah are celebrated however, people can easily forget the true meaning of their holiday and get pretty twisted in the process.

got a light?

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The True Meaning of Giving

Any way you spin it, the “holidays” are about celebrating and generously contributing to those in need:

Department store chains and online merchants.

I remember when Christmas ads would start right around Thanksgiving, but in the modern age of consumerism, ads for holiday shopping now start soon after Labor Day. There may be eight days of Hanukkah, but limiting your gifts to eight?…I don’t think so! And Christmas, the granddaddy of em’ all, has no suggested limit as to the amount of gifts to give. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, is deemed the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. Department stores open before the sun rises, and shoppers are waiting outside in the dark cold mornings just to get a jump on their shopping. Last year, Black Friday turned chaotic and deadly, as desperate consumers broke through the door of a Wal-Mart on Long Island, New York, and trampled an employee to death. At least four other people, including a woman who was eight months pregnant, were taken to hospitals. Meanwhile, two men at a crowded Toys “R” Us in Palm Desert, Calif., pulled guns and shot each other to death after women with them brawled.

So what does this all have to do with an ancient city of 20,000 inhabitants that was destroyed by a volcanic eruption on August 24, AD 79?

Shopping, of course!

The Goods on Pompeii

In its beginning, Pompeii was no more than a typical town. Nomadic tribes seeking a place to settle at started Pompeii. From the small tribal village grew a large city. The city was an oval about two miles around. It contained 90-degree angle streets, theaters, and forums just like any other Roman city. What attracted ancient Romans to Pompeii was its beautiful scenery. Blue skies were seen throughout the day in Pompeii. Because of this many wealthy Romans built holiday villas here. Because it was a port city, Pompeii had a diverse mix of social classes including slaves, artisans, merchants, and wealthy landowners. Pompeii eventually became a wealthy town through trading. Merchants traded wines, fish, breads, and oils. In addition, there were an abundance of shops that sold glassware, pottery, wine, produce, fish, and cloth.

counting her sheckles

Businesswomen of Pompeii – Beauty and Brains

Pompeian women were extremely involved with money and power, from the smallest business to the largest industry.

The wives of artisans and traders were often responsible for running the shops. The fresco to the left depicts a woman holding a jointed writing tablet, probably used for recording sales and keeping track of accounts.

In addition to shops, it was often women who ran the inns and bars, which were frequented by a somewhat coarse clientele. The Pompeian women weren’t shrinking violets, and could throw a troublemaker out on the street without a moment’s hesitation.

For What the Wool’s Worth

Wool merchandise made desirable gifts, and everyone knew that Eumachia had the ‘market’ on wool.

Bahhh Humbug

Eumachia occupied a position of unusual importance in Pompeian society. She was born into an old Pompeian family, the Eumachii, who owned vineyards and brickworks, as well as played an important part in municipal affairs. Using her wealth and status, she funded the construction of a large building next to the public forum in Pompeii. This is an example of the idea of euergetism, the socio-political phenomenon of voluntary gift-giving, which exerted an influence on the wealthy people of her time period. Eumachia’s importance in Roman history stems from her being seen as a good example of how a Roman woman of non-imperial descent can become involved in public affairs. She is also viewed as a model for the increasing involvement of women in politics, using the power of a public priestess for social mobility.

Eumachia was also known as the patron of the fullers, an economically significant guild in Pompeii which consisted of dyers and clothing-makers. The building she erected was used as a wool market. Here wool was prepared and made into fine fabrics. Wool was one of Pompeii’s most principal industries, and Eumachia’s business was thriving. Being the patroness of this trade would have been quite notable for Eumachia and her family.

There’s Stock in that Market

In addition to little shops, a market was held each week under the portico of the forum. The fresco below depicts the market, which was decorated with garlands of flowers for the occasion. The stalls were set out at pavement level. A shoemaker on the right shows off his wares to two seated female customers, while others wait their turn. On the left, an elderly man appears to have fallen asleep over the take-out meals he is offering for sale; large jars contain the stews and sauces.

"Can I get two for $10?"

Cherubs of Bacchus by Bogdanoff

Nice Vintage

Wine played a large role in the sales industry. Even the ancient citizens of Pompeii understood the value of marketing. Some of the wine jars found on the site bear what might be the first marketing pun – “Vesuvinum” – the combination of Vesuvius and vinum, the Latin word for wine. There is a largely intact shop with clay pots buried in the counters among the ruins, and some believe that it may have been a wine bar. Grapes from the fertile hillsides of Mt. Vesuvius were the source for producing wine. The Pompeians would sweeten the fermented wine with honey and lace it with salt water. Today, this would most likely turn any wine snob into a hard liquor consumer. Certainly not what you’d find in your neighborhood Trader Joe’s.

Real Collectables

What would shopping be without jewelry? The Pompeian jewelry makers were masters of their trade. Gold and gemstones were used to create true works of art.

The gold bracelet on the left was found on a victim in Pompeii and weighs over 1.3 pounds.

The pair of cluster earrings below consists of beads strung on gold threads. Cluster earrings were a popular style.

ear bobs

opal ring

Above is a hollowed gold ring,
ornamented by an oval comelian
setting with an engraved image.

Ongoing entertainment events, such as plays and music performances in Pompeii’s vibrant theatre district, were great excuses for the wealthy socialites to don their magnificent jewelry for all to see.

Wrapping it Up

So, as you can see, the need to shop has been handed down from the ages. I guess I can’t blame commercialism on all those out there who spent way too much for gifts that will be either discarded in the trash or re-gifted. I did it (again) this season myself. Amazon.com was my best friend.

Happy Holidays to All and to All a Good Night…

And may we all wake up on Dec. 26th to amazing ‘after-Christmas’ sales!