http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/30/world/europe/uk-london-roman-eagle/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
I hoped when I read the headline that they had found an actual legion eagle, but it’s a representation.
I disagree with the museum’s interpretation: the snake did not represent evil to the Romans, who did not even have a Christian concept of evil. It represented the earth, rebirth, and the realm of the dead. The eagle is the bird of Jupiter, and Jupiter Tonans (Jupiter of the Thunder) is the god at the crest of the Capitoline, the capitolium of Rome. It represents Rome overcoming the forces of the earth, or as we would see it, the sky and the forces of civilization overcoming the chaos and darkness of the world-below, ie, the disorder.
Some pictures
They say it’s a funerary sculpture, probably from a mausoleum.
It looks a lot like the eagle on the flag of Mexico. All that’s missing is the cactus…
Ummm, not to get too picky–well, alright, to be picky about it ;), eagles don’t eat snakes unless of necessity. However, the Buteo family of hawks do. In particular snakes and reptiles make up a significant part of the diet of the Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis. Harris’s hawks, native to Mexico and the Southwest, are particularly noted for perching on cacti. Except for the Golden Eagle, which prefers stuff like rabbits, the other New World eagles, Bald Eagle, and in the far north, Steller’s Sea Eagle, are fish eaters.
Eagles and snakes are both potent symbols for the ancient world: the one because it dominates the sky and other birds fear it and the other because it is a bit mysterious, sometimes dangerous, and comes out of the depths of the earth. Since eagles will indeed eat snakes given the opportunity to snatch a sunning snake—and the snake will resist being eaten—it provides an omen-filled spectacle for the locals. God versus god.
We have carved representations of the legion eagles, which are a bit different in form, no snake, but the number of the legion.
Depending on where this sculpture was set—-ie, was it on a house or public building, or on a tomb? —the meaning is various: on a house, it might be: ‘we’re living here representing the light of civilization over the darkness of barbarism’; on a public building it could symbolize “We’re about order over chaos.” And on a tomb it could mean “Life overcoming death.”
The Celts believed in a Great Wheel or Cycle of birth and rebirth, a year of years, as well, which is a major cycle, and that things repeat.
Romans of Augustus time and after (ca the change between BC and AD) were into various religious experimentation: some were fascinated by Asian cults like Mithras, which soldiers particularly venerated: a rebirth religion. Some were into the forbidden goddess, Cybele, another Asian cult that had tried to enter Rome earlier, but was outright outlawed because it was an orgiastic religion the Roman authorities thought undermined Roman values—though the cult of Vesta, a women’s religion observed by the whole city, may have taken on certain aspects of it—I should emphasize that the Vestal priestesses were required to be and remain virgins, and had considerable legal power, so the orgiastic part of the Cybele worship was not where the influence was. There were Egyptian cults: Isis was particularly popular with women interested in children. Jewish religious writings had some currency among philosophers, along with Epictetus and the Stoics, though Stoicism blossomed later. The state gods were more or less a pro-forma religion, viewed sort of as a time-keeping operation; the emperor-cult was purely political, not really a worship thing at all–more like a social convention of bowing to authority: the emperor simply joined the state gods, who got funding and sacrifice, but rarely did an individual ever get involved with that worship except in a deep personal crisis. The gods that mattered to the Romans were the household gods, which were similar but unique to each house, and the ancestors, who were viewed as present in a general way with the living, sort of like local spirits that generally gave you luck and kept misfortune away. Those, people got passionate about. They got passionate about their cults if they were involved in them—I left out a major set of cults, the Mystery Cults, which promised eternal life if you were an initiate: they had their version of the afterlife, offered ceremonies that guided you through representations of it, told you secret phrases that would open doors for you, and promised you, for funds, that you would go to THIS afterworld and everything would be fine.
Linking that with Halloween, Trader Joe’s (now in Spokane) has the perfect Halloween wine, Sangiovese (sanguis Jovis), the blood of Jove. Prices vary by state, but it should be under $10. A nice rich red.
Neat!
Down here, it’s $4. (Just got a bottle.) Sounds too low, but I’ve learned to trust their wine buyer.
This may be just a California thing, but 14 roses for $6! I’m a native, but the capability for the Central Valley to grow anything at any time boggles me. One time I asked for a gin & tonic in Sydney, Australia. The bartender explained that lime was out of season. “What is this season you speak of?”
If you like cinnamon, try the cinnamon wisk; if you really like it, try the cinnamon broom. (More decorative than functional, unless the function is smelling nice.)
And they take things back, just like Costco: don’t like it, get a refund.
“Two Buck Chuck” is $3 here in Oregon. I forget why. Still, a bottle of wine for $3 is a steal. Presumably one has seen the news predicting a wine shortage to come.
The usual culprits are transport and taxes, but you’re only two bits above CA. Sometime in the last year, they threw in the towel after $1.99 for 12(?) years and bumped it to $2.49. And the amazing thing is, it wins awards in blind tastings. The vintner is Franzia (a relative of the Gallos) who sold the Franzia name, stock, and bag to Coke (IIRC). So he can’t use his own name or a bag, but while Gallo tries for an utterly consistant (but IMO so-so) product, Franzia makes the best wine possible from the grapes he has: sometimes only good; sometimes even great; often a different taste.
The only time Gallo seems to win awards is from industry groups, for most efficient production. 😛
I did see the wine shortage article, but the Chinese (whence the high demand) are making the beginner’s mistake of equating price with quality. This has never been the case–or even the bottle. Franzia (now Bronco Wines) has gone to Australia before. At one point, in addition to the half a dozen CA wines, they had some Aussie wines. And, not under the Charles Shaw brand, I’ve been seeing Malbec and Vogier, at least the former from S. America.
I’ve always admired your rapidly changing avatar, Paul. What’s with this one? You look a little frazzled. Pumpkin explosion? 😉
We have only 1 Trader Joe’s here in the islands, and I’m not sure if it is officially here, or only proposed. I would have to go to Oahu to find out. I’ve never tried any of their products, except when someone goes to the mainland and brings back a bag of this or that Trader Joe snack. Franzia is the company that produces the much-maligned box wines, the official house wine of Pizza Hut.
No, there’s no TJ in Hawaii. I don’t think it’s really possible. They only recently moved into Texas. They’re private and they seem to self-fund, so moving into a new area requires a distribution center and enough stores to make it worthwhile. As I’m sure you’re aware, transportation to and among the Islands is difficult.
Tulrose, I’m not sure where you are. I think TJ is a US-only, or at least North-America-only. Outside of the US, the same owners run Aldi and some other brands. Costco is pretty widespread, though.
No Trader Joes here, nor Costco. 🙁
@Walt: You’re absolutely right about cost and quality. I’m a member of our Westside Wine Club.
(www.westsidewineclub.com) Although we annually have a “flaws tasting” meeting, by and large I’ve tasted better wines made by our members than I’ve bought–though being retired and on Social Security payments it’s very rare indeed that I’ll be spending $40-50 for a bottle! (Usually, unless it’s something my buddy & I made, it’s a boxed wine, Franzia or Peter Vella, which are OK and good value.) Our members do regularly win top prizes at local and state fairs. Given that Oregon is a producer of premium Pinot Noirs, the state fair competition is nothing to sneeze at. Coincidentally, some Chinese DNS registrar contacted us about someone there wanting to register the name with their TLD, asking if we wanted to buy it first. Scam, possibly, but we couldn’t afford to buy everything.
p.s. It’s “Viognier”.
p.p.s. It’s my Thanksgiving turkey! I think this one will survive until December. 😉