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Did Batavians dye their hair red?
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07-04-2010, 09:31 AM
In the story Julius Civilis is said to have dyed his hair red. However I was watching an Dutch movie about the rebellion which said that Batavians dyed their hair red when going to war. I'm wondering if there is any kind of proof for this? Did Batavians do that or was Julius Civilis an exception? :?
"Go and tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie." -Thermopylae
Peter 
07-04-2010, 11:27 AM
Quote:In the story Julius Civilis is said to have dyed his hair red. However I was watching an Dutch movie about the rebellion which said that Batavians dyed their hair red when going to war. I'm wondering if there is any kind of proof for this? Did Batavians do that or was Julius Civilis an exception? :?To the best of my knowledge - and I believe I have read all sources on the subject for a book I am now publishing on the Low Countries in the Roman age - there is no other evidence. Tacitus' remark stands alone, although Pliny writes that soap can be used to paint hair red (Pl. NH 28.191). It is also mentioned by Martial, Epigram 8.33.19-20, but the remark that it was used when Batavians went to war is inaccurate. |
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