That Roman Girl

The parallels between the Capitol city in The Hunger Games film adaptation and the pageantry of the Roman Empire are hard to miss.

Compare the two city seals:

Citizens in the film have names like Caesar, Seneca, Claudius, Flavia, Octavia, Cinna, and Cato. Those chosen to participate in the games are called “tributes,” from the Latin “tributum” - a contribution from a conquered province to the dominant power as a sign of allegiance.

Upon examination of the Roman author Juvenal’s tenth satire, we find his famous reference to “panem et circenses,” or bread and circuses. He writes that the Roman people had given up their political power for plentiful food and entertainment. Opulence is obvious in the Capitol, as is the society’s insatiable appetite for the spectacle of the Hunger Games.

What I found most fascinating about the movie was the tributes’ training and introduction into the society that consumes them. Roman gladiators were similarly taught to use various weapons and presented before high society prior to combat. Making a good impression on wealthy patrons or winning the favor of the crowd could secure a gladiator’s freedom. The Hunger Games also explored the psychology of training and forming relationships with fighters who would later meet and die in the arena.

This glimpse into history has been presented many times before. And if it takes technicolor drag queens and computerized beasts to tell the tale today, let’s hope we learn our lessons from the past this time around.

Ancient Roman wordsmiths shine in this post from NPR:

The Delights of Reading Upside Down by ROBERT KRULWICH 

Evidence gathered from ancient perfume vessels reveals the fragrant past of the Greeks.

My notes on a discussion with Jasper Gaunt, Curator of Greek and Roman Art at the Carlos Museum. February 7, 2012:

“A fragrance shaken forever forth” Perfumes and their Containers in Archaic Greece 

A variety of scented oil vessels, or aryballoi, were used by the ancient Greeks for ceremonial purposes including:

• Rituals of the Dead 
• Religious Festivals (special occasions when people wanted to smell fancy!)
• Games (athletes and citizen-solders, or hoplites, used oil to warm up their muscles and appear impressive. Think of modern body-builders!)
• At a Symposium (only men were welcome at these gatherings to drink, debate, and fraternize. Imagine a cross between a board meeting and a stag party.)

Scented oils were used by both men and women, and containers were fashioned accordingly. Vessels for men depicted mythic creatures, athletes, or even individual body parts.

Aryballos in the form of a Satyr’s bust (Greek, Rhodian, ca. 580 B.C.)

While women would have used aryballoi in the shape of animals, birds, or the female human form…

Aryballos owl (ca. 630 B.C.)   SO CUTE! :)

Wonder if this owl could have also represented Athena? What woman wouldn’t want to smell like a goddess? Perhaps ancient Greeks were wise to marketing tactics, too!

I asked Jasper Gaunt about the ingredients that the ancient Greeks used to create perfumes, and he said that most began with an olive oil base. Plant essences of rosemary, roses, myrrh, and frankincense were added to enhance the aromas. A wonderful book called The Fragrant Past details many other ingredients extracted from the remains of ancient vessels. It is available for purchase at the Carlos Museum Bookshop, and is also sitting on my bookshelf!

The Fragrant Past by Giuseppe Donato and Monique Seefried