By Mary Harrsch © 2025
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Bronze pendant from north Italy possibly from the Golasecca culture dated to between 800-500 BCE photographed at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford by Mary Harrsch. |
An online magazine about current archaeology and classical research into the lives of inhabitants of the Roman Empire and Byzantium and the civilizations around them.
By Mary Harrsch © 2025
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Bronze pendant from north Italy possibly from the Golasecca culture dated to between 800-500 BCE photographed at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford by Mary Harrsch. |
by Mary Harrsch © 2025
I found another interesting theatrical scene found in either Herculaneum or Pompeii and reproduced by Henri Roux Ainé in a copper engraving and reproduced in Barré’s 1839 text. Barré interprets it as a comedic slave holding his left hand in a signal indicating a cuckolded husband. On the right we see an embarrassed young woman and an older woman that Barré describes as wearing a red headdress and all red clothing that would normally signal to the audience she was, "a mother of a courtesan or an old woman who traffics in the dishonor of young girls," what we would call in modern terms, a Madame, who secures men for young women working as prostitutes. However, she looks equally grief-stricken at the gesture indicating she is either a matronly companion or mother of the younger woman. Barré uses this image to decry "the comic theater of the ancients in terms of decency, nobility, and dignity."
Barré’s interpretation of the matronly figure is really just based on her red attire. The girl is wearing nothing immodest and her attire is described as a blue undergarment with a white overgarment. I assume he identifies the slave because of the comic mask and the fact that he wears a short, striped yellow tunic and cloak.
In Roman comedy, masks and short tunics in yellow, brown, and other “common” hues were associated with low status. Maidens were often depicted in delicate colors such as white and blue which Barré tells us in his translated text is the case here. A lena or procuress was usually depicted as an older woman in gaudy or bright colors, sometimes red as in this case that is meant to signal vulgarity on stage. However, the facial expressions of both the younger woman and the matronly woman appear to be embarrassment and I don’t think that would be the case if the older woman was a procuress even though Barré’s interpretation was based upon known ancient theatrical costumes.
Red
and especially crimson was produced with a luxury dye, that under normal
circumstances connoted wealth. However, it was also associated with sensuality
and women of questionable reputation when used in theatrical or satirical
contexts. Wall paintings often transposed these stage conventions, but with
artistic license. The frescoes in domestic settings weren’t exact reproductions
of stage costumes — instead, they gave viewers enough hints (mask, garment length, bright vs. modest colors) to
trigger recognition of stock types.
by Mary Harrsch © 2025
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Print from a copper engraving by Henri Roux the Elder of a fresco found in either Herculaneum or Pompeii of characters in a tragic play included in an 1839 text by Louis Barré |
by Mary Harrsch © 2025
This morning I was astounded when I read this news release by Archaeology Magazine saying new LiDAR studies reveal an estimated 16 million Maya may have occupied 36,700 square miles of the Maya Lowlands—an area that comprises parts of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize—during the Late Classic period (600–900 CE).
In my paper, "Blood and Ash: Human sacrifice as a response to ecological catastrophe in the ancient Americas" I had compared juvenile mortality of Rome and the Maya then discussed sanitation issues and water management strategies of the two cultures to account for the difference between Rome's juvenile mortality of 30-35% and the Maya's at 35-50%. But, I did not explore differences in population density.
With ChatGPT's help I revisited the differences in juvenile mortality as revealed in indicators such as differences in trade networks, presence of epidemic pathogens and agricultural practices and diet:
Feature | Maya Lowlands | Roman Heartland (~108 mi radius around Rome) | Notes / Impact |
---|---|---|---|
Population | ~16,000,000 | ~2,500,000 | Maya ~6× higher within same area |
Population Density | ~436 people/sq mile | ~68 people/sq mile | Reflects intensive local agriculture + settlement clustering vs. more extensive Roman land use |
Agricultural Productivity / Diet | Intensive maize-bean-squash polyculture; under ecological stress, supplemented with ramón nuts, cassava (manioc), Amaranthus cruentus (amaranth) | Extensive grain and pastoral farming; heavily reliant on imported wheat from Egypt, North Africa, and Sicily | Maya could sustain high density locally; Roman density dependent on long-distance supply chains; diet quality declined under droughts for Maya |
Settlement Pattern | Core-periphery structure with dispersed compounds; elite separation | Urban centers (Rome) with dense insulae, surrounding villas and farmland | Stratification moderates mortality but doesn’t drive density |
Sanitation / Water Management | Some elite cisterns with filtered water; generally minimal for non-elite populations | Aqueducts, sewers, public baths | Romans had systematic infrastructure reducing waterborne disease risk; Maya had localized mitigation but not widespread |
Pathogen Exposure | Low; geographic isolation and limited trade networks minimized introduction of epidemic diseases | High; extensive long-distance trade (as far as China) introduced epidemic pathogens | Isolation helped Maya maintain dense populations with moderate mortality |
Mortality (Juvenile/Infant) | 35–50% | ~30–35% | Despite lack of Roman-style infrastructure, isolation and localized water/nutrition strategies moderated mortality |
Ecological Stress | Megadroughts, volcanic impact; diet deterioration under stress | Generally stable; some localized droughts or floods | Maya droughts periodically increased mortality and reduced diet quality |
by Mary Harrsch © 2025
I've just uploaded the final version of my paper: Blood and Ash:Ecological Collapse and the Rise of Human Sacrifice in the Ancient Americas. It has 127 illustrations and I have cited 431 sources. In it I compare the response to ecological catastrophes of cultures in ancient America with those of Late Antique Rome under the reign of Justinian. I also compare their different agricultural strategies, sanitation systems, treatment of refugee populations, and contributors to infant mortality.
You can read it here: