That Fabulous Dye, Tyrian Purple
The process of making Tyrian purple dye was long, difficult and expensive. Tens of thousands of tiny snails had to be found, their shells...
The Cardo Maximus
In “The Guest”, a story in The Deadliest Deceptions, Gershon explains to Miriam that he has an old friend staying with him, a man he once...
Morpheus: The Greek God of Dreams and Nightmares
The last line of “The Guest,” one of the nine short stories in The Deadliest Deceptions, reads: “Closing his heavily lidded eyes, he slid...
This Old Rag, Part II
Don’t let this model fool you. She did not pick this old rag off a rack at Walmart’s. This garment was unveiled in 2022 at the...
This Old Rag, Part I
Lucia Antonia was wearing a peplos when she fell to her death. The peplos was a long tube with the top edge folded down about halfway, so...
The Song of the Sirens
Do you remember when Odysseus sailed past the island of the Sirens? Using their music—one played the cithara, the second sang, and the...
Hair Removal In Ancient Rome
In Ancient Rome, shaving was not only a passion, but it had a cultural significance. A young Roman’s first shave was a “coming into...
Let's Celebrate
Miriam tells us in “The Revenge” how she and Phoebe celebrated the Vernal Equinox: We were in the Flamingo’s Tongue about to peruse the...
Indian Cotton
Ancient Greek and Roman texts make references to Indian cotton. It was initially described as a tree that grew wool; some ancient...