De phallus impudicus staat al in bloei
Hans
Grrr - why is there no way to delete posts?! Bring back the preview button, say I... :roll: or have I already mentioned that? ;-)
Mike Bishop
Quote:But Internet research showed that phallic symbols were believed to have magical properties and were a common Roman motif.
Wow, I bet some interesting 'hits' came back when our intrepid journo googled for this. Still, can't have been as bad as when a BBC producer decided to do
some research on sewerage street furniture.
hock:
Mike Bishop
Mike, there IS a delete button in the lower right corner. And there's an edit button, too.
Alas, no preview. I often used that, too. Guess I'll have to eat another Oreo to drown my sorrow. Sigh.
I wonder if it is a charm for Priapus. I've never heard of gold being used, but perhaps there is some significance to the metal.
Supposedly, in this famous Pompeii fresco he is weighing his phallus against what has been interpreted as a bag of gold.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pompey...3tica6.jpg
Quote:It may well have belonged to a soldier.
Is there anything in particular that suggests that it belonged to a soldier?
Nope, no particular reason to assume it might have belonged to a soldier - unless the site where found has strong military connections. As said in the article, they were charms to ward off the evil eye and civilians used them as well. Romans were a superstitious people and hung all sorts of amulets about their persons or on their possessions to bring good luck or to ward off bad luck.
Quote:Mike, there IS a delete button in the lower right corner. And there's an edit button, too.
Edit button yes, delete button no. One of us is hallucinating!
Mike Bishop
@Hans: I liked your first post much more! :mrgreen: :-D :lol: :!:
@forty-one: no, just my vivid imagination!
Mr. Mike, I apologize. It might well be that moderators have a delete button, and others do not. I hadn't thought of that until just now. And, look: thousands of beautiful butterflies spiraling out of my PC speakers. Wow, Far Out, man!!
Well, delete button or not, the first post of this thread only says, "It could have belonged to a Roman soldier."8-)
Or... maybe it belonged to a rich and horny woman.:roll:
Or... maybe "it" was something else, like a singular sandal, or one of those limp danglies hanging from a balteus.:mrgreen: