Roman spintria with erotic scene on obverse and "VIIII" on reverse, ca. 22-37 AD

Okay so I usually try to keep it "PG" but yesterday I found out there's a bunch of really sexual roman coins, many depicting gay and lesbian scenes, and apparently no one is actually sure what they're for.

That's neat... Right?

ZAÄAR / Spintria - Genesis of Cyclopian Sorcerer

Genesis of Cyclopian Sorcerer by ZAÄAR / Spintria

Spintria modificada - Monedas romanas como tatuaje

Of the principles in Cultist Simulator, some seem easier than others to get a feeling for what the common thread is meant to be in their themes, and Heart seemed like one of the more confusing to me, but I feel like I have a better idea of it now after having thought about it in the context of literal hearts. I know in theory that the heart is made of a different kind of muscle from the skeletal muscle, and it's specialised to work continuously, but intuitively it feels weird that it never rests. It speeds up and slows down as needed, but it never stops. If you're lucky, your heart may beat continuously for a hundred years, never pausing once in all that time. If it's injured, it just heals while working. If it's not strong enough for the demands placed on it, it gets stronger while working. Normal muscles need a mixture of work and rest to get stronger, but not the heart, or at least not in the same way. If it pauses for just a minute, that's a life-threatening emergency. Occasionally (particularly if I have a blocked nose), I feel tired of breathing, and take a break for half a minute or so. I suppose there are even multiple sets of muscles that work the lungs, so if one can't be used, others can temporarily take over. With the heart that's not an option, it just has to keep going. If you think about all this, does your heart feel tired? Mine does. I assume it's just psychological. They're built for this after all. I can't remember if I've read anything about Heart Longs, but whatever it is they do, it must be exhausting, but perhaps they're built for it too. If Longs even have muscles, are all of a Heart Long's muscles cardiac muscle? I assume percussigants lack the ability to become tired. The heart must work continuously, because its work is the work of staying alive. It isn't the only part of the body with this property, but it is one of the most visible and obvious. This links in to another of the themes of Heart, vitality. Both Heart and Nectar relate to life, but I think a large part of the difference is that Heart is life like warm-blooded animals live it, needing to constantly keep going because if it stops it will never start again, while Nectar relates more to the much more chill lifestyle of plants. Vitality provides the ability to keep going through hardship, but the continuous act of living is also what creates vitality. Joy, too, inspires action over rest. Most of the game's curses can be overcome with Heart. I guess you just need to persevere and outlast them. The principles generally have something a bit creepy about them, something that's just too much. I think this is what that is for Heart, even though it's one of the more overtly positive Principles. Possibly I'm overgeneralising from a few examples. I'm not sure I can actually describe all the other principles this way. Perhaps it's silly to put too much thought into understanding the principle of Heart, given there is no deep truth to be discovered here in real life, it's just a bundle of associations that the authors put together. That doesn't mean it's not something that can be understood though. The games are well-written, with thought put into fitting things together in a way that makes sense.

I love my wife but not enough to give him the Frangiclave.

WOOHOO DANCER HEART VICTORY

Finally after getting the DLC and a week of dying and rising again. Victory is now mine.

Censorship (ugh)

Tumblr took down my Modi again... Don't know what the big deal is when Marcantonio Raimondi was able to post HIS engravings of MY Modi but it's fine I guess. If these were mythological figures you guys wouldn't be complaining. I'm not mad. (;¬_¬) #sarcasm

If they could have erotic art on the walls in Pompeii idk what the big deal is. Thought this website used to be cool.

Have you guys even read the manuals?

Anyways, I have some pretty cool medals if anyone wants to come over and look at my collection. Since apparently tumblr won't let me share those either. (¬▂¬) Guess they aren't ready to see the human form in it's full glory. #Whatever 凸(`△´＃)

“Spintriae”, Roman coins used as token for entrance in Roman brothels.

When your knowledge of the Invisible Arts has grown advanced enough that you can accept occult treatise commissions in exchange for spintria, the currency of the secret world

I'm playing my second runthrough of BoH now.

The first book I managed to read gave Memory : Storm. (It was The Flayed Tantra btw, and I'm honestly really proud of doing that.)

My FIRST visitor was one of he few that know Cracktrack, which is one of the two languages that I Absolutely Need to win with my current librarian.

I hadn't gotten my stipend yet (I probably should've replied to the Trust not in spring, but you live and you learn.)

Anyways, I had thankfully opened the Cloister path like actually the day before, so I rushed through A) Re-reading the Tantra, B) Recruiting Denzil, C) Tossing my Chor in his general direction, followed by the memory twenty seconds later, D) Opening the first floor of the staircase, and E) Considering the couch to get the hidden Bronze Spintria.

I am so incredibly proud of this I swear to the Second Dawn it was glorious.

Valciane, as I walk into HQ with the sixth broken mirror this week: *deep sigh* Just hand me the Spintria.

Curiosidades 🤔

Qué era la “Espintria” en la antigua Roma?

"La Spintria", era la moneda sexual de la antigua Roma, utilizada para pagar el uso de los prostíbulos. En teoría, estaba prohibido pagar con monedas con la efigie del emperador en esos lugares, de aquí el uso de la espintria.

Son fichas de bronce o plata qué tiene un lado una pareja representada en una posición sexual.

Dependiendo del prestigio de la prostituta en cuestión, los clientes solían pagar entre dos y dieciséis ases (lo que equivalía a un denario de plata) por mantener una relación sexual con ella.

Siempre se entregaba el dinero por adelantado. El leno también contaba con varias fichas o monedas en la que había grabada una posición sexual.

Estaban acuñadas en latón o bronce y tenían unos 20 mm de diámetro. No poseían, un carácter oficial por el Estado y ni era éste el encargado de la acuñación.

En ellas se representa una gran variedad de escenas sexuales y un numerario que abarca desde el I al XVI.

El numerario según la teoría más aceptada actualmente, es que cada acto sexual correspondiera con un precio, asignado en ases, para cada acto sexual, sin embargo es una hipótesis inicial, puesto que los números que incluyen no coinciden con los precios conocidos entre las prostitutas romanas. Otra hipótesis es, que los números, indicarían a su vez el trabajo a realizar, por la prostituta, una especie de catálogo numérico.

Las representaciones gráficas, muy realistas, facilitaban las cosas entre romanos y prostitutas extranjeras, que no entendían el latín.

Más información: www.muyhistoria.es

Kitling Ripe's Tasty Treats

The Velvet is the Hour of secrets; and so very little is known of the - Moth-long? Nectar-long? - who ascend to immortality under her auspices. But this book (by 'Kitling's Friend') purports to be part cook-book, and part manual for immortality.

Tally Price (3) A price as the invisible world would reckon it; paid in uncommon currency, like the tokens called spintriae.

Mystery: Nectar (4) Greater challenges require stronger skills.

Readable There are worse things to put in your eyes than this.

Thing 'The gentleman makes things his servants. The petty man is servant to things.' - Master Xun

Codex Pages, cover, spine, knowledge decently tucked away like organs.

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … November 16

42 BC – Tiberius, Roman emperor, born (d.37 AD); second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in CE 14 until his own death in 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced his father and was remarried to Octavian Augustus in 39 BC. Tiberius would later marry Augustus' daughter Julia the Elder (from an earlier marriage) and even later be adopted by Augustus and by this act he became a Julian. The subsequent emperors after Tiberius would continue this blended dynasty of both families for the next forty years; historians have named it the Julio-Claudian dynasty.

Tiberius was the predecessor to Caligula and he was certainly the appropriate curtain-raiser. His sexual excesses were widely known, especially when he "retired" to Capri, governing Rome via correspondence, and becoming the patron saint of that future gay mecca. Suetonius reported that Tiberius trained young boys, whom he called his "minnows," to stay between his legs while he was swimming so they could lick and nibble him until he came. Suetonius reports that Tiberius can be credited with the "daisy chain" or spintriae - a conga line of people joined front and back in sexual congress.

1942 – Barton Lidice Beneš, born in Hackensack, New Jersey (d.2012), was an artist who lived and worked in New York City. He studied at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York and Beaux-Arts, Avignon, France.

His father, the son of Czech immigrants gave him his middle name in memory of Lidice, the Czech town destroyed by the Nazis that year. He grew up in Queens with Czech-born grandparents, who instilled in him a dedication to the Roman Catholic traditions of reliquaries and memorials to the dead.

Barton Beneš' art incorporated shadow boxes filled with bits and pieces that revealed the myths and ironies of life. The fragments in Beneš' work often involved famous people and events, from a piece of Elizabeth Taylor's shoe to a crumb from the wedding cake of the Prince of Wales. His travelling exhibition series about AIDS, "Lethal Weapons," was the focus of an independent documentary film released in 1997. "Lethal Weapons" consisted of 30 vessels such as a water pistol, an atomizer, and hollow darts, all filled with the artist's or other people's HIV-infected blood.

Another work, "Brenda," was a wall relief carpeted with red AIDS-awareness ribbons and slathered with a coat of gray paste made from the cremated remains of a woman who had died of AIDS. "I absolutely hate those [AIDS] ribbons," he said, contending that wearing them did nothing more than assuage people's consciences.

Although galleries and museums refused to show this work, they were displayed without incident at the North Dakota Museum of Art in 1993. Beneš did not forget the courage and commitment to art of this prairie institution. When he died he left instructions to be cremated and have his remains placed in a pillowcase on his bed. The bed was the central part Beneš last completed and most personal work, his 850-square-foot home in Greenwich Village containing thousands of objects including masks and religious relics and the mementoes and remains of his loved ones. This enormous piece with its thousands of contents will be moved to Grand Forks, North Dakota, where they will be exhibited in a replica of the apartment

Among the museums that have acquired his works are the Chicago Art Institute, the National Museum of American Art, the National Gallery of Australia, and most importantly the North Dakota Museum of Art.

Scott Wittman (L) with Marc Shaiman

1955 – Born: Lyricist and director Scott Wittman, who, with composer Marc Shaiman, his partner in life and collaborator in theater, film, and television projects, has a long list of credits in the entertainment industry. Their work on the musical version of John Waters' Hairspray earned Tony and Grammy awards in 2003.

Both Shaiman and Wittman grew up in the vicinity of New York City, the former in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, and the latter in Nyack, New York. Both were fascinated with musical theater from an early age and dreamed of careers on Broadway. Shaiman played piano with local community theater groups from the time that he was twelve, and Wittman apprenticed in summer stock in his hometown. Such was their love for the stage that they both cut high school classes to travel into New York for matinees.

Wittman attended Emerson College in Boston but left after two years to pursue a career as a writer and director in musical theater in New York. In the city's East Village he crossed paths with Shaiman, who had quit high school at sixteen to join the New York musical scene. Wittman was directing a show at a club in Greenwich Village when Shaiman came in and started playing the piano. Wittman promptly hired him. They subsequently fell in love and have been a couple since 1979.

The two soon began collaborating professionally, writing songs that Shaiman describes as "full of anarchy and joy."

Since 1997 Shaiman and Wittman have contributed and directed music for the Academy Awards presentation show. At the same time Wittman, who humorously calls himself "a great diva wrangler," has directed concerts. In addition to working with Bette Midler, he has had a long association with Patti LuPone and has worked with Christine Ebersole, Raquel Welch, Dame Edna Everage (Barry Humphries), and Lypsinka among many others.

Shaiman and Wittman's greatest triumph thus far is Hairspray, an adaptation of the 1988 John Waters movie for the musical stage. Shaiman and Wittman wrote the music, and Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan the book for the play.

The show dominated the 2003 Tony Awards, winning eight, including best musical and best score. At the end of their acceptance speeches Shaiman declared to Wittman, "I love you, and I'd like to spend the rest of my life with you." The couple then embraced and shared a long and tender kiss. News outlets around the world took note of this affecting moment.

1964 – Waheed Alli, Baron Alli is a British multimillionaire media entrepreneur and politician. He was co-founder and managing director of Planet 24, a TV production company, and managing director at Carlton Television Productions. He was, until November 2012, chairman of ASOS.com. He is the chairman of Silvergate Media, which purchased two of the media rights previously held by Chorion Ltd, where Alli was former chairman. He is a Labour life peer and is described as one of only a few openly gay Muslim politicians in the world.

In British political terms he is considered Asian, though both of his parents are from the Caribbean. His mother, a nurse, is from Trinidad, and his estranged father, a mechanic, is from British Guiana (now Guyana). His mother was Hindu and his father Muslim; he has two brothers, one of each faith. He was named one of the 20 most important Asians in British media in 2005. At the same time, he maintains ties with his Caribbean roots, both with other British-Guyanese politicians such as Valerie Amos and Trevor Phillips, and with President Bharrat Jagdeo.

Alli joined the Labour Party at the persuasion of his neighbour Emily Thornberry, to whom he remains close. He is also close to Anji Hunter, Director of Government Relations in Tony Blair's first government. Prime Minister Blair used him for years as a means to help him reach out to a younger generation (aka "yoof culture"), and as such he is considered one of "Tony's Cronies". He was made a life peer as Baron Alli, of Norbury in the London Borough of Croydon, on 18 July 1998 at the age of 34, becoming the youngest and the first openly gay peer in Parliament. He sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords. The BBC summarised his appointment as "the antithesis of the stereotypical 'establishment' peer – young, Asian and from the world of media and entertainment".

Alli has used his political position to argue for gay rights. He spearheaded the campaign to repeal Section 28. He advocated lowering the age of consent for homosexuals from 18 to 16, equal to heterosexuals; this eventually became law as the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000. It was during a heated exchange with conservative opponents, led by Baroness Young, that he informed his fellow peers that he was gay. In April 1999, he said in a speech, "I have never been confused about my sexuality. I have been confused about the way I am treated as a result of it. The only confusion lies in the prejudice shown, some of it tonight [i.e. in the House], and much of it enshrined in the law."

In 2009, he spearheaded an effort to repeal clauses in the Civil Partnership Act 2004 which prohibited religious institutions from conducting the ceremonies on their premises. This campaign culminated in a bipartisan amendment, which became part of the Equality Act 2010.

2007 – Breakfast With Scot - In 2006, straight Canadian actor Tom Cavanagh began filming Breakfast with Scot, in which he plays a gay retired hockey player who becomes an adoptive father to a young boy. The film, released on this day in 2007, drew attention as the first gay-themed film ever to win approval from a major league sports franchise to use its real name and logo; Cavanagh's character formerly played for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

1989 – The Center for Homosexual Lifestyles was established in Berlin. It was the first time in Germany that a public office was established specifically to deal with the concerns of lesbians and gay men.

1995 – A directive was issued by the Canadian Government allowing workers in same-sex relationships to take time off in the event of a partner's illness or death.

1999 – The Rhode Island Supreme Court rules that all pending consensual sodomy prosecutions at the time of the 1998 legislative repeal must be abandoned.