Ancient Baths

Most people in ancient times did not wash their whole bodies often, especially if they lived in the country or in a village. First of all, water could be scarce, so it was saved for more important purposes, like drinking. Plus, water had to be brought from a well, and it wasn’t easy to carry enough to provide an adequate bath.

Cities often had public baths. Most of these charged a fee. The baths usually had separate rooms for women and men, or if they didn’t have enough space, they had separate bathing times for women and men.

In the best public baths, you would leave your clothes in the changing room with your own slave. (There were no lockers, so theft could be a problem if you didn’t have someone trustworthy watching over your clothes.) Then you went to a lukewarm pool or to a sauna room if there was one. After that, you went to the hot pool for a good scrub, then back to a tepid pool to cool down. Last of all, you took a dip in the cold pool, after which you dried off. Somewhere in there, you’d get rubbed down and oiled.

To heat water for the hot pool and sauna, the Romans invented the hypocaust, which was in the basement of the baths. Slaves kept a fire burning under a raised tank of water. The water flowed down from this tank through a pipe in a tunnel and emptied into the pool.

Wealthy people sometimes had pools for bathing at their homes or villas. But wherever and whenever you bathed, there was no deodorant to put on afterward. To smell good, you might scrub yourself with strong-smelling herbs like rosemary or marjoram. Or if you were oiled at the bath, the oil might be scented. Perfumes were also popular.

In Eye of the Sword, Trevin and his friend visit the baths in Flauren, the capitol city of Eldarra, where they are duly scrubbed and oiled.

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Mythical Fire

In ancient times, fire was a mystery, a wonder, and a necessity. Because fire was not easy to start, a public fire was kept burning in most ancient villages, often in the center of town. When you needed to start your own brazier or oven or hearthfire, you could light a brand or a twist of reed at the public fire and carry it home.

Ancient cultures often connected deities with fire. Greek mythology tells how Prometheus sneaked fire out of the constantly burning hearth in Olympus and carried it to people – to the consternation of Zeus, who didn’t want to squander fire on such lowly creatures.

Zoroastrians believed that fire was a creation of Ahura Mazda, their supreme god, so fire symbolized truth, purity, wisdom, and the divine. Zoroastrian mythology tells of a dragon that tried to extinguish the divine fire. Atar (meaning “fire”), the son of Ahura Mazda, overcame the dragon and chained it to a mountain.

The Rig Veda, sacred hymns of Hinduism, tells about the god Agni (meaning “fire”). He protects hearthfire and receives bodies during cremation. Images of Agni show him as a red being with a long beard and flaming clothes.

In Breath of Angel, the Archae are guardian angels of the world’s elements. Flametender, a dark-skinned
Archon with wild copper hair is the guardian of fire. She sometimes appears in campfires or hearthfires. When she comes near, you feel the heat, as Trevin does in Eye of the Sword.

Another Elevensie author digs into mythology for his debut novel. Congratulations to Karsten Knight for his YA debut this week. I love this cover!

 Wildefire: ”Ashline Wilde never received an instruction manual on how to be a 16-year-old  Polynesian volcano goddess. Instead, Ash has to learn life lessons the hard way as her  dormant powers erupt at the most awkward times. In the wake of a hometown tragedy,  Ash transfers to a boarding school nestled in California’s redwoods, where a group of  fellow gods-on-earth have mysteriously convened. As if sophomore year  couldn’t get any  worse, her storm goddess older sister, the wild and unpredictable Eve, resurfaces to haunt  Ashline. With a war between the gods looming over Blackwood, Ash  must master the fire  smoldering within her before she clashes with her sister one final time. When warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.”

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Writing on Wax + Two Debuts

These days we hit the delete key to erase. In ancient times a writer would use the flat end of a stylus made of bone, bronze or silver to rub over wax that covered a wooden tablet. Or if you were writing on a scroll made of skin – usually goatskin or sheepskin – you would scrape off the mistake. If you could afford it, you might write on papyrus with a split reed as your pen. Ink came in a dry powdered form that you mixed with water. To delete something written with ink, you either scraped it off or simply washed it off (which made forgery fairly easy).

With these methods, the physical act of communicating in written form took longer than it does today. Still, writers produced thousands of books. One of the oldest libraries – 3,000 BCE, ancient Sumeria – contained about 30,000 works written on clay tablets. The famous library in Alexandria, Egypt, founded in the 300′s BCE, held over 400,000 scrolls. But most people in ancient times couldn’t read, so libraries served only the educated.

In the Angelaeon Circle novels, the angel Jarrod keeps archives at a “scriptory,” a library in a cave high in the Aubendahl hills. In the third book, Melaia investigates an intriguing statue that stands in the palace library at Redcliff.

As for today’s libraries: two Elevensies YA debuts hit the shelves this month. Congratulations to authors Medeia Sharif and Carrie Harris.

 Bestest. Ramadan. Ever. by Medeia Sharif: “During Ramadan, Almira is not allowed to eat  from sunrise to sunset for a whole month. She thinks it wouldn’t be so bad if she had a  boyfriend, but her parents forbid her to date, a rule Almira thinks is wrong, especially since  she suspects that Peter, a cute and crushable artist, might be her soul mate. Problem is, her  best friend Lisa likes Peter too. To top it off, a new Muslim girl in school struts around in  super-short skirts, commanding every boy’s attention—including Peter’s. How can Almira  get Peter to notice her? Will she ever feel like a typical American girl?”

 

 Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris: “Super-smart Kate gets to play doctor, helping out her  high school football team. Not only will the experience look good on her college apps, she  gets to be this close to her quarterback crush, Aaron. Then Kate finds out that the coach  has given the team steroids. Except the vials she finds don’t exactly contain steroids.  Whatever’s in them is turning hot gridiron hunks into mindless, flesh-eating  zombies. Unless she finds an antidote, no one is safe. Not  Aaron, not Kate’s brother, not  her best friend . . . not even Kate . . .”

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What? The Whole World Doesn’t Love Me?

To read or not to read reviews. That is the question over at Elevensies, where some of us, all debut authors, are discussing reader reviews. My personal policy, which I’ve noted before, is to not read reviews, good or bad. The only exception is when my publisher or publicist sends me a review. But they only send good ones, and then only once in awhile. Otherwise, I find reading reviews to be a distraction, a drain on my time, and an emotional roller-coaster. My critique partners, agent, and editor tell me when I’m on track and give me trustworthy, professional, objective opinions about my work.

We all want the whole world to love us. But the truth is, not everyone will. First-time novelists are plucking the daisy: “she-loves-me; she-loves-me-not.” We’re finding our readers, and they are finding us. We’ve written our novels for people who gravitate to the same interests we have, who enjoy the types of stories we tell, who “get it” when they read our books.

For readers, the first novel is an unknown quantity. Some who try it love it, some shrug, some hate it. Some of the haters seem to enjoy book-bashing with a vengeance, and with the internet, book-bashing can rise to new heights – or perhaps more precisely, sink to new depths. (The interesting thing is: most reviews reveal the heart/mind of the reviewer, not the writer.)

Anyway an author’s first novel separates the field of readers. On one side are your fans. They’re the ones you’re writing for. On the other side are the not-your-fans. They were never your intended audience, because they don’t “get it.” Which is not the author’s fault. After the first novel, fans will follow you. Not-fans will move on to other books (we hope). I think the critiques of not-fans are fairly harmless, because fans will defend you whatever happens. As they say in the music business, you will “cry all the way to the bank.” Amen.

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Inns and Interview: A Cynsations New Voice

Breath of Angel is featured in an interview this week as a “new voice” on Cynthia Leitich Smith’s fantastic  blog, Cynsations. Cynthia is herself an award-winning writer of a variety of books,  including whimsical picture books and YA novels about angel-types in the contemporary  world. She also teaches in the Writing for Children and  Young Adults MFA program at  Vermont College of Fine Arts – and she somehow finds time to connect writers, readers,  teachers, and librarians into a sharing, caring community. Thanks for your generosity and  encouragement, Cynthia! (Tantalize starts a series. Could be just the thing to take along  when you travel this summer.)

Wealthy travelers in the ancient world sometimes carried scrolls to read – classics like The Iliad and The Odyssey were relatively new back then. I heard of one man who took his entire library with him when he traveled. On camel. Of course at night, you’d have to read by light from a torch, an oil lamp, or the moon.

In ancient times your best bet when traveling was to stay overnight with relatives or friends. It was safer and cleaner than an inn (depending on the relative or friend). If you had a wealthy friend who owned a villa, you were really in luck. You could probably stay there even if your friend was out of town. Of course without his slaves to heat the water, you’d probably have a cold bath.

Inns were usually situated in cities and along main roads. But they were reserved for wealthy travelers. Most inns contained a small number of bedrooms that lined two, maybe three sides of an inner courtyard. One side of the yard might hold a kitchen. The fourth side, the entrance by the main road, might hold a small restaurant or tavern. Stables would be nearby. But again, these inns were for people who could afford it.

If you weren’t rich, you could camp out. The wise traveler journeyed with a group, so the entire group would make camp and take turns throughout the night watching for wild animals and bandits. As an alternative you might stay at a caravansary, which was walled like a small fort. The inner area was open to the sky. Small rooms around the sides were for paying guests. The room might have a locking door – or not. The rooms also might be upstairs above stalls for animals (you can imagine the smell). In a caravansary if you couldn’t afford a room, you’d sleep under the stars in the courtyard – or in a stall with your animals.

In Breath of Angel, Trevin and Melaia stay in a caravansary. See an illustration on my website. If you’re traveling this week, I wish you safety and health and a good place to spend your nights.

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Angel Trailer #2 + How Fast Can You Travel?

Breath of Angel has a second trailer. After you watch, we’ll get to the questions I posed last blog: How far could a messenger travel in a day in ancient times? What about an ordinary traveler?

In the ancient Mediterranean world, you could travel overland by horseback or carriage (both expensive and usually for wealthier people) or by mule, donkey, or wagon (cheaper, especially if you hitched a ride on a wagon). But most people traveled on foot. By foot, you could travel about 15 to 20 miles a day, sometimes 25 (depending on the weather, how fast you walked, and whether you had kids with you). A carriage or wagon was faster at about 5 mph, covering about 40-50 miles a day, though if you were in a caravan, the going could be slower, especially if camels were involved. Camels carrying loads covered about 25 miles a day.

Riding a horse was faster. The most comfortable gait was a walk, which would take you about 10 miles in an hour. But your horse might tire before you did and would need to stop to eat and rest. So again, anywhere between 25 and 50 miles a day, depending on how hard you pushed and whether you changed mounts.

Messengers traveled fastest – on horseback, of course. Changing mounts at way-stations as the horses tired, they could cover about 75 miles a day. One source (Life and Leisure in Ancient Rome) records Tiberius galloping full-speed from Italy to Germany in 9 BCE to reach his brother, who was on his death-bed. Tiberius took only 24 hours to travel 200 miles. The source doesn’t say how many horses he exhausted on the way or how sore he was when he got there.

In Breath of Angel and its sequels, characters often travel – by horse, donkey, cart, wagon, and even caravan (though no camels are involved).  It’s tricky to keep all the distances and modes of travel in mind as I write. How long does it take Melaia to get from Navia to the summer palace in Redcliff? It depends – overland or by road? Walking or on horseback or by caravan? On the other hand, I find it delightful to wander ancient roads with my characters, and I hope readers will enjoy it too.

More about ancient travel and inns in the next post. Have a wonderful week!

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Reluctant Readers? Prefer a Scroll?

Do you know a reluctant middle-grade reader? Elevensies debut author Tommy Greenwald may have just the book for him (or her). It’s getting great reviews! Congratulations, Tommy!

 

 ”CHARLIE JOE JACKSON may be the most reluctant reader ever born. He does  whatever it takes to get out of reading, and so far, it’s worked out really well. But one day in  middle school he gets into trouble, and finds his impressive record is on the line. Will he  push his luck and do whatever it takes to get out of reading, or will he finally bite the bullet  and… gasp… read a book??!?”

 

In the ancient Mediterranean world (loosely equivalent to the world of the Angelaeon Circle), reading was a privilege reserved mostly for men and boys. Girls were not usually schooled in reading and writing, although there were some exceptions. Most “books” were actually scrolls – the longest could be up to 40 yards unrolled! Scrolls – and books when they were invented – were kept in libraries, temples, and the homes of the wealthy. They were stored in cabinets or trunks, or in the case of scrolls, they could be slipped into circular niches cut into the wall for that purpose. (One wall of the new library in Alexandria, Egypt is decorated with niches like these as a reminder of the famous ancient library there.)

In Breath of Angel, Melaia was trained to read the temple scrolls, because she is a chantress, a priestess who transmits the stories and teachings of her time through music. She also visits a scriptory where scribes copy histories onto scrolls. And she comes to own one of the first books made in her world, which has a wooden cover with the sign of the Tree carved on front. Scrolls – and Melaia’s unique book – will continue to play a part in the world of the Angelaeon as secrets are revealed, documents are written, and sealed messages are sent, all on scrolls.

Which brings up a question to be answered in the next blog: How far could a messenger travel in a day in ancient times? What about an ordinary traveler?

If you’re traveling this week, be safe! And enjoy!

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Do Angels Have Holidays?

Since the word “holiday” technically means “holy day,” and holy means “divine, honored as sacred,” it seems that any day for a divine, honored-as-sacred angel must be a holiday. Of course in the Angelaeon Circle novels, the angels we meet have been trapped in the world for almost 200 years. Most of them have taken on human bodies and blended into the general population, many marrying into the human race. So they celebrate the days that are important to the world in which they are stranded.

Since the world of Breath of Angel and its sequels is based loosely on the time of ancient Rome-Greece-Palestine, upcoming blogs will let you in on interesting tidbits about that ancient time. In honor of the Fourth of July and the summer holiday in general, here’s a look at ancient Roman holidays.

In ancient Rome, schoolchildren (all of them boys in those days), had a summer break that lasted from the beginning of July until the middle of October. According to one source, the ancient Roman writer Martial said that if a boy could avoid getting sick during the summer break, that would be worth more than anything he could have learned in school. Saturnalia was the winter holiday, the most important of the year. Spring break was almost a week long and came in March.

Every eighth day was market day, which counted as a day off for schoolboys and most other people as well. In ancient times on the eighth day you would cut your nails and wash your whole body (not just the usual daily pits-and-privates clean-up). Men might shave. Then you would go into town for business and marketing. (Obviously business people and merchants did not take the day off.)

Festival days were another matter. A festival was usually dedicated to a god or goddess. Not all of festival days were honored by everyone. For a farmer or vineyard owner, most important festivals occurred in spring to honor deities responsible for granting a good crop. Military men honored the war god Mars in October, a month that usually signaled colder weather and the end of the fighting season.

Sometimes a sacred procession would wind through town on a holiday. Not all shops closed, but workers along the parade route were expected to stop working as the parade passed in order not to offend the deity being honored. A herald or crier trotted down the parade route ahead of the procession to announce that it was on its way. Shop workers would then be forewarned and could put down their tools – and take a break while the parade passed.

In the Angelaeon Circle novels, the people of Camrithia, like most ancients, usually celebrate a Harvest Festival. But the festival has been suspended because of the blight. In Eye of the Sword, Trevin says, “The court doesn’t go to Qanreef until after the harvest festival.” The guard answers, “You think there’ll be a harvest this year? Half the city has left for hither and yon. Farmers can’t produce, no foodstuff’s coming in. Some of us have stayed, but how long we can hold without a bulk of supplies arriving is anyone’s guess.”

To have a festival, you have to have something to celebrate.

Despite all our ups and downs, we do live in a marvelous country. Happy Birthday, USA! Happy Fourth of July! And enjoy the summer holiday!

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