The visit to the extremity of the Western Defences was hampered by poor weather. Ice, fog and bad light! Not so good for any of the locations I wanted to post in the Gallery, Medibogdum is a non-starter in icey conditions as the road is not much better than a cart track -and also happens to be the highest driveable pass in Britain.That will have to wait for another visit.I was able to get some shots of the bath ruins at Glannaventa (home of the Batavian "marine/amphibious " auxiliaries) a Flavia
Salvete Omnes!
I have returned from Vindolanda and Vercovicium with a massive portfolio of photographs. Dea Fortuna favoured the lone scout from UNRV moving quietly through the early morning mists to steal the images of the special places.I will spend some time editing and paring down , many of the shots I will load onto my own home site ( though its link is still defective) particularly the detailed "object" museum shots . For now I will post a couple of images in the miscellenia gallery .
Im determined to get to Hadrian's Wall in the next few days -I dont know if the weather will allow me to present any reasonable photos,if it remains gloomy I may have to confine myself to interior artefacts at the Roman Army Museum and the Castle Museum at Carlisle.
Britain has a general water shortage , this does not seem to affecting Brittania Inferior.So I will be absent for a while. I will be on the Wall again at the start of February so lets hope for a few hours sunshine.
Madame Perti
This does not mean squalid as in "profane or unseemly", rather "untidy or unkempt." If my meaning is defective im sure I will be corrected.And I mean My entries not the gallery as a whole!
My intention within the Roman Herbal Gallery is to present a dual image of any significant "ancient" herb. As can be seen from the previous classification entry, I am making a basic attempt at catalouging plants used by Greek, Roman, Celtiberian and Medieval societies. Different plants have varied significa
The herb from which Absinthe is made .As a medicine it is excellent,strongly anthelmintic ( worm killer) and choleretic (bile stimulant) amongst other virtues. Thujone though (a volatile oil from the plant ) is a nasty hallucogen and is addictive-hence the problems suffered in 19th Century France.If the thujone is removed though the virtues of the medicine remain. I understand that ,like quassia , the wood was used for bowls and drinking vessels thereby flavouring and influencing whatever was co
"those who have swallowed quicksilver find a remedy in lard. Poisons-especially henbane, mistletoe,hemlock, sea-hare , and others-are neutralised by drinking ass's milk. "
"Bear-grease mixed with laudunum and maidenhair, prevents baldness and cures mange and thin eyebrows if compounded with lamp -black from lamp wicks.Mixed with wine bear grease is a cure for dandruff" (complex fatty acid/lettuce/maidenhair/carbon -q a mix)
Pliny might be a bit shaky in this area so dont shoot any bear
I was just adding the Convolvulus (Morning Glory) entry to my Herbal album in the gallery and I realised that I have now managed to present a passable Toxicological catalogue.
May I regale you with the basic categories of plant toxins:
1. Inebriants-exciting cerebral functions, cause loss of co-ordination, deep sleep or fatal coma may follow.
2.Deliriant- spectral illusions and deliriousness: thirst often a direct side effect:may lead to paralysis.
3.Convulsivant-Intermittent spasms(head
Not a bad trip to York , the winter sun doesnt help when trying to get panned shots of the walls so I think that will have to wait till spring. The Roman Bath's 'Museum" is in turmoil at present so no shots of that , however the Yorkshire Museum had an excellent array of items. The Walls were a bit tricky because of the lighting conditions so I concentrated on the Gatehouses.The wallls were in part original Roman built and constantly extended in medieval times. I was struck by the fact that the
Ive dropped a couple of "welded " photos into my "Historic Site" Gallery, they arent meant to be proper exhibits in the sense of cultural/historical importance .I hope members would take a look and give critical feedback, I want to adopt the method to try and get long panoramic shots of certain of the wall sections around York.However if the images are too small for comfortable viewing ill try a different approach.
The welds are now withdrawn -only theMultangular Tower shot remains in Eborac
Lost Warrior asked a question which I have pondered on for many years-what is your prefered method of delivery for herbal medicines?. ( the basic question was infusion or oil as a preference).
Pardon me double blogging today but this needs a reasonably considered reply.
The reply is more complicated: my preferences would be:
1. Fluid Extract (strong/pure).This in truth is an infusion in concentrated form.
2.Tincture ( quite strong /stable for a long time).
3.Pure herb-but this depe
Ive become absorbed in Pliny, some of his one liners' are priceless: and I dont mean this to denigrate him where it appears that "modern" science concludes he is mistaken in a thing.
For some reason I was drawn to his writing on the Elephant , which he describes as second only to man in intellect and a thoughtful beast capable of offering homage to the Gods, and to its own Chief beasts.My favourite observation was "elephants mate in secret because of their modesty" what a quaint but elegant
Apart from materia medica my abiding passion is for the Triclinium, and I will keep members informed of any particularly outre gustatory experiences.I will also endeavour to gather a little more material regarding medieval recipes and pass these on from time to time.
You will all be amused to hear that I have succumbed to a stomach bug today, but as I hold to the virtue of plant medicine I have mixed the inner bark of the Red Elm (native to N.America) with Manuka honey.It seems to have done the
Greetings all!
I would like to use the blog feature to co-ordinate additional information on herbal medicines with the plant illustrations in my album. I am awaiting the "Pompeiian Herbal" to read and review, I hope I can make a small contribution towards the modern understanding of the use of plant medicines by the Greeks and Romans.
I am aware that Yarrow "The soldier's herb" has not made an appearence yet , but im biding my time till I can take a worthy photo.(note: this herb followe
The digging work at Vindolanda is an ongoing process.It must be remembered that the fort area has building remains from the Flavian period onwards, with continuous evidence of construction and rebuilding through a very active Severan usage onto the time of Constantine and beyond. So Flavius Cerealis' burning of the Vindolanda tablets is a very early episode in pre-Hadrianic years (97-105 AD). Five wooden forts and two stone ones occupied the site (in various positions ) until a wholesale rebuild
I finally managed to get some reasonable internal photos of the Conduit Court in Skipton Castle.The Court was the well spring for the Castle. Originally built in 1090 the Castle was massivley strengthened in 1310.In the War of the Roses this was a Lancastrian House (Red Rose).The Tudor wing (1536) is attached to the NE, and bore the brunt of unsympathetic internal Victorian "improvement".In the Civil War this was the last Castle to hold out for the King in the north.Somehow the place has survive
Carl Jung wrote a piece on "acausal coincidence" ie: unrelated events prompting in the observer a feeling that greater forces are at play than his or her powers of logical deduction will enable him to properly interpret. That certainly happened today , Peter Heather invoked York Minster Crypt as a place redolent with historical atmosphere (and Vindolanda, Birdoswald and Tullie) -just as I was searching for photos of the Minster in relation to the Roman Fortress and the original ground levels in
I am gratified and amused by the learned interest that my image and commentary on Cuckoopint herb has stirred. At first I had thought perhaps there was an urgent cultural need to understand the starching of Elizabethen costume ruffs, I now see that it may have been more related to my initial commentary on the seminal vessels .
The glycosides in this plant are of unknown structure, the other main constituent is a group of acetylated mannans.Large doses administered for sore throats have ca
I have just returned from another photo recce on Hadrian's Wall . This time I moved from the Western extremity of Luguvallum (Carlisle) to meet up with the images already posted for Vindolanda and Vircovicium.
http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...&cmd=si&img=436
Bana is the first major survival to the east of Brampton (eight miles east of Carlisle). It is the present day museum of Birdoswald , housed in an old water mill attached to an austere victorian house. This is the only
I was cross checking the contents of the "Roman Herbal Gallery" and I see that a fair amount of information has built up . For quick reference I am now adding a list of names versus main properties:
Orchis-aphrodisiac/mucilage-(Roman amatory stimulant)
Ruta graveolens (Rue)-antaphrodisiac/bitter (Roman "cold shoulder", stomach medicine)
Absinthum (Wormwood))-anthelmintic/hallucogen (and to counteract Hemlock by the Greeks)
Convolvulous (morning glory)-purgative/abortifactant
I am waiting for some favourable weather before going on photo recce to the more photogenic parts of the wall. I am presently re-reading Sawley's "Oxford History of Roman Britain", and this gives a good broad brush picture of the military and political activities leading to the construction/modification of the wall. The book strongly conveys the idea that one can consider the areas to the south of the wall being offered "shelter" by the wall to prevent unwholesome combinations of tribes ( inte
The akwardness of spanning from thread to blog to gallery has been solved by Viggen's suggestion of a "report" form for the Wall visit-he himself has an excellent report on a visit to Aguntum in the Roman Culture Section .
Sub divided galleries can be used so that areas of interest can be approached more easily than a horizontal trawl through the gallery area. So I aim to produce a "central" hadrians wall gallery and add individual sites as and when the opportunity arises . I envisage a separat
As Viggen strives to piece together my "report" galleries for the Wall and Vindolanda , I hope to visit Mediobogdum a sensationally remote fortlet in the heart of the Lake District. Alavana (and its museum) are also on my shopping list. Not much remains of the turf defence line into the Solway sands , but they were an integral part of the western arm of the Wall defence system with Glannaventa as the supply port.As usual if the weather holds, Mediobogdum in particular is spectacularly situated a
part ye thirdde
Gruit, now here is a thing ,I find that the natural range of the three main semi-psychotropic ingredients of Gruit seems to overlap quite remarkably with the territory of the Brigantes-especially the coastal areas .Sweet Gale (Myrica gale) also called bog myrtle ,is the most elusive nowadays ,yet here I am quite close to its restircted range
Yarrow (see my gallery and herbal notes in the blog-the soldiers herb par excellence ) is adittive number two,and wild rosemary is th
A completely unforseen stroke of luck saw me with a day for selfish recreation, excellent weather and a very fast car.Dea Fortuna and Mercurius will recieve Libation.
I offer you therefore Cilvrinum Fort (Chesters) , I have now pushed further east beyond Vindolanda toward Wallsend ( Segedunum). The weather was glorious, the museum of artefacts is crammed with retrieved inscriptions/altars and the fort bathhouse must have one of the best rustic views in the Empire.
http://www.unrv.com/
