Roman Customs that persist in modern (Italian etc) society

[flavia]

A modern Italian curse called "mano cornuto" dates back to antiquity. It was also used to ward off curses like the evil eye. I remember my sister had a pendant of the mano cornuto when she was a teenager. They were pretty popular among the Italian-Americans in my area during the 80's.

Oh and I almost forgot that the middle-finger dates back to Roman times. I remember reading that a Roman performer was getting jeered by the crowd so he flipped them the bird.

For a while I thought it was interesting that Roman basilicae resembled modern day churches. I came to find out that in ancient times basilicae were modified from being administrative buildings to churches. The architectural style lasts to this day.

I like the idea of the finger going back so far.What does mano cornuto look like Do you mean when you make horns with with your small and first finger. Your right it is an very old sign. In Venezia they say a person has a "testa dura" a head like a hard pot supposed to be from army talk. So is the tradition of boots on a table being bad luck. Flavia aka Carolina