Cleopatra's Moon
“She had finally returned from her travels. With her came that all too familiar sense of dread and foreboding. Would she really try to do to us what Octavianus dared not? How would I ensure our safety around her?
We stood with Octavia and all the other children with our backs to Livia’s wall of death masks, which were designed to show her family’s aristocratic lineage. The Romans called the wax masks, molded upon the faces of the dead, imagines. At funerals, family members donned them to show re...spect. (And the Romans thought our death rituals bizarre!) Across from us, the walls were painted top to bottom in blocks of brilliant reds, yellows, and blacks. I had still not gotten used to the way Romans closed themselves off in small spaces painted with elaborate outdoor scenes. Every intsa of wall was covered with what seemed to me a jumble of architectural and garden images. Why not just open up the rooms and let true light in as we did in Alexandria?
As the waiting continued, I noticed that I was not the only anxious one in the room.MoreLess
We stood with Octavia and all the other children with our backs to Livia’s wall of death masks, which were designed to show her family’s aristocratic lineage. The Romans called the wax masks, molded upon the faces of the dead, imagines. At funerals, family members donned them to show re...spect. (And the Romans thought our death rituals bizarre!) Across from us, the walls were painted top to bottom in blocks of brilliant reds, yellows, and blacks. I had still not gotten used to the way Romans closed themselves off in small spaces painted with elaborate outdoor scenes. Every intsa of wall was covered with what seemed to me a jumble of architectural and garden images. Why not just open up the rooms and let true light in as we did in Alexandria?
As the waiting continued, I noticed that I was not the only anxious one in the room.MoreLess
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