Scott Sussman – Roman Revolutions

A Fraternal Lamentation

By Scott Sussman | May 8, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

Oh Hybrida, my former brother

I would have done anything for you

If you killed your father, I would have jumped into the sack for you

Into the cold river, I would have let the dog tear out my achilles

The serpent my eyes, the monkey my face

If it were a crime unspeakable, I would have taken the fish and radish in your stead

If the tyrannical vulture came for you, I would have let it eat out my heart before it touched you

Us, we were partners, friends, brothers

But, as if Cicero had is own special Fascinum

He took hold of you, corrupted you, stole you from me

With his dark magic, he convinced you to betray me

Taken from me, who served with you as consul

Betray ME, who gave you his own law from his back

What god have I wronged, what ritual neglected, which rite ignored?

Like Lucretia, I lament for the loss of purity, our purity

I never thought you would let Cicero be our Sextus

Why must I anguish so? The stoics,

They say to revel in every challenge, to thank god for every obstacle,

To not be consumed by the actions of others, for they are ignorant of right and wrong

But, you, you know right from wrong

You are not a stranger, you were my brother

But now, you are gone, I cannot recognize your face

Our eyes, you refuse to let them meet

The words leaving your mouth sound foreign and strange (except when you stole my law that was pretty familiar).

Your hands move in ways I’ve never seen before

You have left me, and with you, have taken my heart and soul

A thief is what you are

Summary

When I saw “I’m Spartacus!” scene in class, I knew that I would have to watch Spartacus for acta. The movie opens with Spartacus as a slave in a mining pit, and he has been sentenced to death for gnawing on the achilles of a Roman overseer in the mines. As he is being punished through starvation, a gladiator trainer named Batiatus visits the mines and purchases Spartacus. After Spartacus arrives at the training school, which also doubles as Batiatus’s estate, he meets the gladiator instructor Marcellus. Marcellus and sometimes Batiatus are cruel to the gladiators, especially Spartacus. They even shame him for refusing to rape an enslaved woman, Varinia, who they send to his room to have sex with him. Spartacus and Virinia gradually fal in love with one another, and as Spartacus is continuing with his training, Marcus Licinius Crassus arrives at Batiatus’s estate with a group of wealthy friends. These friends make Batiatus choose two pairs of the gladiators-in-training to fight to the death, which Batiatus protests is not commonly done and will reduce the trainees’ morale. Crassus and his friends insist, and Spartacus is chosen to fight against an Ethiopian man named Draba. Right as Draba is about to win the fight, he turns away from Spartacus and throws his trident at Crassus’s head, narrowly missing him. After Draba is killed for this, Marcellus taunts Spartacus for being upset that Crassus bought Varinia and is leaving, which causes Spartacus to lunge and attack Marcellus, which incites a revolt at the Batiatus estate.

This riot allows all the ex-gladiators to escape the estate, and through raiding other Roman estates and freeing slaves, amasses a large group of ex-slaves and a lot of money. After meeting with a Cilician pirate, Spartacus resolves to raise enough money and arms to fund the creation of ships to take him and his people out of Rome. He plans to do this by taking his people south to Brundisium, and on the way he will raise the money and arms. On this journey down to Brundisium, he reunites with Varinia and defeats six cohorts of the Roman Garrison, which concerns the Roman senate. Eventually, Spartacus makes it to Brundisium with enough money for the ships, a well armed army, and Varinia pregnant with his child. The audience and Julius Caesar then learn that the Cilicians were bribed by Gracchus to help Spartacus leave Italy. Caesar then tells this to Crassus, who then bribes the pirates to not help Spartacus. So, when Spartacus talks with the pirates at Brundisium, he learns that there are no ships, Pompey and Crassus are coming at him with their legions, and his only choice is to march to Rome. He does this, and meets with both Pompey and Crassus on the field, losing the battle. After the battle, Crassus asks the survivors which one of them is Spartacus, and if they reveal this, they all will be spared except Spartacus, and if they do not, they will all be crucified. To this, the survivors stand up and begin to declare that each of them are Spartacus, until it reaches the point where they are all standing and declaring that they are Spartacus. After this, Spartacus is forced to fight a battle with one of his former men, and Varinia and her son are taken by Crassus. Finally, Gracchus frees Varinia and her son to insult Crassus, and as Varinia is leaving Crassus’s estate, she sees Spartacus being crucified. She shows him their son, and with tears says that they are finally free.

Reflection

I am really happy I chose this movie to watch. The ending, and arguably the entire movie, was heartbreaking for Spartacus. Even though I knew how it would end because of history, I still found myself in denial hoping that there was some way that Spartacus won, almost like a Battle of the Bastards-esq rescue from some other army at the end, or some other pirates helping him, or anything that allowed him to survive. It was really cool seeing the history we learned in class play out, and I almost wish that they worked even more of it into the movie (maybe some Dignitas or Ius action). Furthermore, it was really cool to see the mos maiorum in action, and I loved understanding what an atrium was and knowing how some of the characters may have looked at certain issues. Crassus was an unbelievably despisable villian, and the movie did a great job using him to depict how awful it was in those times to be a slave. All in all, Spartacus was an entertaining, immersive movie with amazing characters and a really heart-wrenching story.

Cato’s Bread

By Scott Sussman | March 17, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

Introduction

What I attempted to do here is to recreate Cato’s recipe for kneaded bread from De Agri Cultura. Cato wasn’t very specific about his directions; he didn’t include times, proportions, or any real directions. The directions read as followed: “Recipe for kneaded bread: Wash your hands and a bowl thoroughly. Pour meal into the bowl, add water gradually, and knead thoroughly. When it is well kneaded, roll out and bake under a crock.” As you can see, I wasn’t really going off of much here, so I took some liberties creating my bread. I also enlisted the help of my girlfriend, who is a much better cook than I am and has actually made bread before. Between the two of us, I hoped to make Cato proud.

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 packet of yeast
Pinch of salt
Olive Oil
1.5 cups of water
Pinch of sugar
Seasonings of choice

Directions

Add flour, salt, and seasonings to large mixing bowl (also wash your hands like Cato)

In a separate bowl, add yeast,warm water, and sugar together. Although the sugar part isn’t very Roman (or the packet of yeast), it helps with the activation of the yeast. You’ll know if your mixture is activated when you see frothy bubbles rising to the surface of the mixture
Gradually add yeast-water mixture to the large mixing bowl, kneading the dough then adding a little more water. When you’ve added about half the mixture, add olive oil to the big bowl.
After the dough has been kneaded, cover the bowl and let rise in a warm place for about half an hour
After the dough has risen, form the dough into a circle and place on a parchment paper lined baking tray. It should look like this.
Heat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place the bread on the middle rack. Cook for a minimum of 45 minutes. When finished, the bread should look golden brown and feel crispy. Here is the finished product! Feel free to dip in olive oil or whatever you like.

Reflections

I’m not sure how proud Cato would have been with our work. I had a lot of fun making the bread, and when I was taking turns with my girlfriend kneading I felt like a true Roman. The recipe was pretty simple, and the bread turned out alright. The outside was very hard, and the inner bread part was very soft, albeit kind of tasteless. However, it was delicious when dipped in olive oil mixed with salt and pepper. If I were to make this again, I’d try and find a crock (which is an earthenware lid) to make it more authentic. I also would have let the bread rise for much longer and let it sit for longer as well to help develop the flavors better. If I was Cato, I’m not sure I’d be eating this. However, as a peasant who had to cook his own food, I would have definitely made this with grain allotted to me by the Gracchi brothers. My girlfriend told me that she was grateful that she wasn’t a Roman, but she did have fun making it and said she saw how a Roman would make and eat this. After all I’ve learned so far, I’m grateful that I’m not a Roman too.

Author: Scott Sussman