This is the gayest icon I have ok

[elenchus]

Today I learned that when I was six or seven, my dad tried to explain to me that some boys love boys and some girls love girls. And my response at the time was “That’s me!” Add that to the fact that when I was four I told my mom that I wanted to marry a girl (not a specific girl mind you, just a girl), and I really was the gayest little kid I’ve ever heard of. How was I not out until college?!?

In today’s vaguely ancient news, I watched the first episode of HBO’s Rome. So gorgeous! I’m trying not to nitpick and to assume that the writers know more about ancient Rome than I do (which is hopefully true), but I’m having a hard time getting over “Octavian.” I mean, really? How hard would it have been to name the kid Octavius and then throw in a single line later about how he’s changing his name in light of his adoption? I guess they wanted to keep it simple and let little Gaius Octavius have one name right on through. I also assume that his family would call him Gaius, not Octavi-anything, but I might well be wrong about that, and I’m having an easier time suspending disbelief there. Not sure if I like him yet – as I indicated yesterday, I have strong feelings about the early years of Caesar Augustus. His brilliant strategizing is pretty adorable though, which is plus points. Can’t wait until he meets Agrippa and Maecenas(ok, mostly Agrippa. Sorry Maecenas!).
I’m not really feeling the guy who plays Pompey Magnus. He feels like more of a Crassus the Rich than Pompey the Great – although I’m probably biased here by all the stories of his exploits as a young man. I dunno, maybe he’ll grow on me. The other senators were great in their so-far-minor roles; of course Cato is bitching about Caesar and of course Cicero is rolling his eyes at everyone. I bet Cato makes that exact same speech every. Single. Day.

I’m not really sure how to talk about spoilers for the series as I watch more of it – does the historical stuff count? The fictional characters are one thing, but the historical characters kinda come pre-spoiled. I suppose I’ll err on the side of caution and throw it all under a cut if I end up talking a lot about the show

Comments

[pensnest]

Hi - I saw your journal on Latest Things and thought you had interesting things to talk about, hence the subscribing out of the blue. :-)

I love 'Rome'! I'm afraid I get confused by talk of Octavius/Octavian, simply because in my head that's a Justinian—he's a perfect little baby Justin Timberlake. Okay, I know, weird. But the thought is so firmly planted in my head now, it won't go away. I love the kid, though.

I expect I'm at an advantage for enjoying the series purely as a series, because I'm not really familiar with the historical material. But isn't the show *beautiful*? If you happen to fancy any, I did a bunch of Rome icons a while back, here, though possibly some of the text on them may be spoilers for you.

I swear my comments aren't always this long

[elenchus]

Hi there!
I’m flattered – if a bit baffled – that you think I have interesting things to say; just be forewarned that my journal is basically equal parts philosophy/history, knitting and complaining about papers. And that during the school year I have a tendency to forget about it completely. But regardless, welcome!
And hey, since I’m trying to fill posts to get myself into a posting habit, let me know if there are any ancient dudes or ladies that you find interesting. Maybe I will have opinions on them?

I'm no authority on Roman history either; I’m definitely a classical hobbyist rather than actual scholar. But I’ve done some reading from the era – you know, Cicero, Plutarch, that crowd – and I’m listening to the excellent History of Rome podcast (highly recommended!). Knowing my Roman trivia was, for the first episode at least, mostly good for catching little in-jokes (like getting a chuckle out of Cato’s cranky speech). As things go forward I will probably have more feelings about Octavian, and…well, I already have unhappy feelings about Atia, and the tired “evil and manipulative woman schemes for power” trope that Roman history loves so dearly. We’ll see how things go moving forward.
I can totally see Octavian as a baby Justin Timberlake. Am now worried that Justin Timberlake may be capable of overthrowing the republic and establishing a principate O.O

If you’re not familiar with the whole Octavius/Octavian divide, the boy in question was born Gaius Octavius, and lived for nineteen years under that name. When great-uncle Julius died and posthumously adopted Gaius, his name changed to Gauis Octavianus Julius Caesar. The added syllable was a marker of his adoption, and gives historians a very handy reminder of his change in circumstance. Before adoption: Octavius. After adoption: Octavianus. After beating the pants off Marc Anthony and solidifying his place at the top of the heap: Augustus. It’s the kind of neat division that historian love, even if it doesn’t 100% match what people would have actually called him at the time (apparently he never actually went by Octavianus, preferring to rub his new “Julius Caesar”-ness in everyone’s face, and his friends just called him Gaius throughout). There’s a lot of anachronistic name usage in history books, in large part because of the upper-class tendency to reuse names like it was going out of style. The Julio-Claudian family tree is a nightmare if you leave off the nicknames.

(The less said about my crack Caracalla/Caligula ship based entirely off of the fact that they were sadistic tyrants nicknamed after articles of clothing the better.)

Those are some great icons! I may have to grab a few. After I get myself some Game of Thrones icons, Rome is next on my list. I have a newfound (though unsurprising) weakness for gorgeous and expensive HBO shows about bloody political struggle.

Re: I swear my comments aren't always this long

[pensnest]

The philosophy/history should be educational! I've already learned stuff from your posts—admittedly it isn't likely to take up permanent residence in my head, but you never know. The knitting I can definitely sympathise with! I'm currently wrestling with numbers to try and figure out how to knit a top-down, seamless jacket for my daughter. I have a basic recipe, but she's not living at home and I really need to know that I'm aiming for the right kind of size before I embark, as opportunities to try it on her will be occasional rather than frequent.

See, this is the fun part about being able to Subscribe to people on DW! I feel much better about it than about 'friending' random people who have no particular interest in being my 'friend'.