If you’re applying to become Jupiter’s next high priest (flamen Dialis), you best get rid of your dog and pick up a swear jar now. Because either Jupiter was an extremely fussy god-king with undiagnosed OCD, or he must have loved to stack taboos on his priests like Jenga blocks. Here are ten of the…
Contrary to common assumptions, alcohol and biting on a stick were not the only solutions to withstanding surgery in ancient times. Evidence of herbal anesthetics date back to the Roman period. In 800 AD, a Benedictine monk in Southern Italy scribbled down his recipe, which involved opium, henbane, mulberry juice, lettuce, hemlock, mandragora, and ivy….
Currently, I’m in the throes of editing The Last Goddess after a wild misadventure that involved three different dev readers (that’s a doozy of a story* I’ll dig into another day). To keep me centered, I return to these five epic pieces of artwork that vibe with Roman gods running amok during the early Renaissance…