07.06.25: blunt razors, blood-letting and glowing walnut shells; Comenius LXXVI; at the barber’s shop [3]

From the authors:

[i] Terence at the barber’s:

Tōnstrīna erat quaedam │ there was a certain barber’s shop

[ii] Plautus at the barber’s:

in tōnstrīnā ut sedēbam │ as I was sitting in the barber’s shop

cūr nōn vēnistī, ut iusseram, in tōnstrīnam? │ Why didn't you come to the barber's shop, as I ordered you?

Ad tōnsōrem īre dīxit. │ He said he was going to the barber(’s shop)

[iii] Dionysus … not at the barber’s:

quīn etiam nē tōnsōrī collum committeret, tondēre fīliās suās docuit. ita sordidō ancillārīque artificiō rēgiae virginēs ut tōnstrīculae tondēbant barbam et capillum patris. et tamen ab is ipsīs, cum iam essent adultae, ferrum remōvit īnstituitque, ut candentibus iūglandium putāminibus barbam sibi et capillum adūrerent. (Cicero)

Moreover, to not entrust his neck to a barber, he taught his daughters to shave him. Thus the royal virgins, in base skill, like little barbers, shaved their father's beard and hair. And yet, when they are already adults, he took away the razor from these very ones and he arranged that they would burn off his beard and hair with glowing walnut shells.

[iv] Sometimes, you get a “glimpse” of an everyday aspect of Roman life. Petronius and the blunt razor …

Haec locūtus mercennāriō Eumolpī novāculam rapit, et semel iterumque cervice percussa ante pedes collabitur nostros.│ With these words he snatches a razor from Eumolpus's hired servant, and drawing it once and again across his throat, tumbles down at our feet.

But no panic …

… Rudis enim novācula et in hōc retūsa, ut puerīs discentibus audāciam tōnsōris daret, īnstrūxerat thēcam. │ The fact is, the razor had no edge, coming from a case (of razors) purposely blunted, with the object of giving apprentice boys the courage of a barber.

It could also suggest that the razor was in an individual sheath, no doubt for “health and safety reasons”, Roman style. That it is purposely blunted may suggest the barber wanted to avoid a lawsuit if, by using a sharpened one, his apprentices accidentally cut the throat of a wealthy customer!

Image: bronze shaving razor (1^st – 2^nd century AD)