Faine Greenwood: this bothered me so much when i heard about it! The ancient Romans had mass-market souvenirs - we've been doing this stuff *forever*.

this bothered me so much when i heard about it! The ancient Romans had mass-market souvenirs - we've been doing this stuff *forever*.

I heard that in Gladiator there was going to be a scene involving successful gladiators being used for advertising products but focus groups said it was too unrealistic and distracted them from the movie even though it was basically accurate (idk if I'm remembering all the details right)

How ancient Roman souvenirs made memories and meanings | Aeon Essaysaeon.co Ancient Romans bought mementos to commemorate their travels. These speak eloquently of their world, if we care to listen

My favorite is the My Friend Went to Rome and All He Got Me Was This Stupid Pencil stylus discovered recently

This Ancient Roman Souvenir Stylus Is Inscribed With a Corny Jokewww.smithsonianmag.com Loosely translated, the message reads, ‘I went to Rome and all I got you was this stylus’

good on the smithsonian for correctly using the term "pottery shards", though unfortunately the page it links to uses the abominable "sherds"

Please tell me the difference between shards and sherds, I beg you, I am but a simple paleontologist suddenly forced by circumstance into reading the archeology literature and I don’t understand

I'm not an archeologist myself, but the ones I've known sometimes claim that glass breaks into shards and pottery into "sherds" but they are lying liars who cannot be trusted

This has absolutely made my day.

📌

This is the best thing I've seen in a while.

While researching the "backstage Colosseum" series that @peter.petermorwood.com and I sold in the late 1990s (and which died in the wake of 9/11 as unnerved foreign investors pulled out), we found so much of this stuff had been forgotten or misclassified. The period action figures were fabulous. :)

Ooh, there WERE period action figures? Tell me more!

I've seen the ancient Greek jointed dolls and a few other things of that ilk, but I'd really like to see more. www.bbc.com/future/artic...

The mystery ancient toys puzzling archaeologistswww.bbc.com The world's oldest toys date back thousands of years – but determining whether ancient children played with them, and how, remains a mystery archaeologists are piecing together.

also you've probably seen this but that moveable/jointed ancient Olmec statue is cool as hell www.flickr.com/photos/12774...

Hombre Arrodillado, los adornos lo presentan como una persona de alta jerarquia en la sociedad olmeca. Los brazos deben haber sido moviles, por los agujeros que estan en los hombros. La cabeza no fue ...www.flickr.com Se ha pensado que era un jugador de pelota decapitado. Monumentto #34 de San Lorenzo

My wife made "circus beakers" out of plastic cups, shrinky stickers and markers for a roman-themed event she was at, to mimic the souvenirs people bought at gladiatorial games.

I love this

So did the folks at the event! They were boggling, "I can keep this?" Yes! It is a souvenir, just like the Romans had. ^_^ They were covered in Roman animal art and we filled in shapes lines with markers. They looked amazing

Here is a picture!

Market vendor: Interest you in a miniature Colossus, sir? Athenian tourist [in Latin]: That's an "oxymoron". Spouse [in Greek]: You're such a fucking pedant.

Haven’t they found complaints written by older Romans about the incorrigibility of “the youths these days”?

Socrates famously is said to have expressed the sentiment

Of course he was famously sentenced to death for being too obnoxious to let live.

I have absolutely no issue with someone saying kids are PITA these days as long as they immediately admit they were as bad or worse at the same age.

Yes.

"“Farewell, Romance!” the Cave-men said; “With bone well carved he went away, “Flint arms the ignoble arrowhead, “And jasper tips the spear to-day. “Changed are the Gods of Hunt and Dance, “And he with these. Farewell, Romance!" (Kipling, "The King")

“Farewell, Romance!” the Author chirped “His chosen tools have been elapsed. Paper and pen are now usurped By clicking keys and cellphone apps. Gone are the days when we could sell Just through the post. Romance, farewell!”

“Farewell, Romance!” the blogger blogged “Gone with our Perl and Python script. Facebook is where opinion’s flogged, And Twitter’s where a meme is quipped. Off to a day job, wearing pants, To pay the rent. Farewell, Romance!”

“Farewell, Romance!” the Artist cried “Undone in canvas, paint and stone. Midjourney's where all thought has died, and ancient impulse to build has flown. Now server farms are the arts' milieu. The Machine wins. Romance, adieu!”

I saw a museum exhibit on ancient Chinese music where they documented that Kung Fu'ze (Confucius) really, no kidding, wrote, "...and the music these young people listen to today is just noise."

Thus proving that Boomerism is a nearly immutable part of Getting Older.

Fun fact, we actually have been misquoting Ben Franklin for centuries. He actually said "Nothing is certain except death and tchotchkes."

From ancient Egypt we have rude graffiti about the rulers, nasty p(apyrus)-mail exchanges, and letters from angry parents saying, "I didn't send you to scribal school to drink beer, hang out with your friends, and listen to degenerate music!" Humans have always been like this. 😁

Disney Hercules was accurate??

I'm sorry, WHO?

There's a whole scene in the Bible where St. Paul says Artemis isn't real and it pisses off the Ephesians because they're doing a brisk trade in mini Artemis statues and they're worried he will ruin their business

Dick jokes and product endorsements are the lynchpins of Roman society.

I believe I have seen ancient museum images of Roman drinking glasses depicting gladiators on them. So perhaps one could get a glass with the likeness of a favorite hunky dude on it? Not sure of the context of those glasses though.

Oh yes, I’ve seen those too…

Hunter Gatherer Tinker Tailor Soldier Consumer-at-a-trough

I mean, yes. You didn't have photographs. You want something to remind you of the vacation, wedding, whatever Souvenirs were more important then

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