linteum, -ī [2/n]: linen cloth; bedsheet; sail; towel … but also napkins, the theft of which upsets the poet Catullus; it isn’t the money, but the sentimental value! Extract from Catullus 12; the full poem is at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catullus_12
Marrūcīnē Asinī,
manū sinistrā / nōn bellē ūteris: in iocō atque vīnō / tollis lintea
neglegentiōrum… │ Marrucinius Asinius, your left hand you do not use
beautifully; in joke and in wine you lift the napkins of the careless
people …
ūtor, ūtī
[3/deponent verb]: use; followed by the ablative case
manū
sinistrā / nōn … ūteris │ you do not use the left hand
tollō, -ere,
sustulī [3]: lift up
Quārē aut hendecasyllabōs
trecentōs / exspectā, aut mihi linteum remitte │ Therefore, either expect three
hundred poems, or send the napkin back to me
hendecasyllabus,
-ī [2/m]: a line of poetry comprising eleven syllables, which was a feature of
Catullus’s poetry
quod mē nōn movet aestimātiōne,
/ vērum est mnēmosynum meī sodālis. │ which doesn't move me with [by
means of / because of its] value, but because it is a souvenir of my comrade.
aestimātiō,
aestimātiōnis [3/f]: estimation (of value)
mnēmosynum, -ī
[2/n]: souvenir; keepsake
sodālis, -is
[3m/f]: mate, buddy, companion
Nam sūdāria
Saetaba ex Hibērīs / mīsērunt mihi mūnerī Fabullus / et
Verānius │ for Fabullus and Veranius sent the Saetaban cloths from the Iberians
to me as a gift;
Hibērus, or Ibērus,
-a, -um: Iberian, the adjective related to Hibērēs or Ibērēs, the
Greek word for Spaniards
munus, muneris
[3/n]: gift
Saetabis, a city
near the eastern coast of Spain and noted for the manufacture of flax
sūdārium, -ī
[2/n]: small piece of cloth e.g. a handkerchief or for removing perspiration
And so, after all of this, could you in Ancient Rome go to the barber’s, cut your hair (with heated walnuts), comb your hair, curl your hair, shave your beard, dye your hair brown, pluck the eyebrows, wear a wig, anoint yourself from a perfume bottle, cut yourself with a blunt razor, admire your handiwork in a mirror and steal napkins? Yes, because – either through what they wrote or we can see – they did all of it and, as the image shows, you could also smother your face in cream. Sure, we can, and should, read about Caesar and Hannibal and Augustus, but we can also learn about Romans who had a bad hair day.
Image:
unearthed at Southwark, a pot of cosmetic cream or ointment, 2000 years old,
Roman and still with the fingerprints of whoever used it
https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/627986733145932/
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jul/28/artsnews.london
But there’s one more thing that the barber could do …
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