Ancient Chinese Han Officials Loved Bath And Hair Washing Day

The Han Dynasty of ancient China was founded by a man named Liu Bang, an anti-Qin rebel who became king of Han in 206 BCE and, after having defeated his rival, Xiang Yu, ascended to the rank of Supreme Emperor in 202 BCE. Officials in the government of this new Han Dynasty were usually given housing in buildings near the palace, so that they could be in close proximity to the emperor. The families of the officials were apparently not allowed to live in the state-provided dormitories and the duties of the officials would often keep them at the palace for days at a time.

Every fifth day, however, was a special occasion called “bath and hair washing day”—it was a time to…well…bathe, but for the palace officials, it was also basically a code phrase for rest and recovery. On bath and hair washing day, officials could leave the palace and return to their family homes to spend time on their private property with their family. Nevertheless, it was only a day, so the officials would need to eventually rush back to the palace and eagerly await the next bath and hair washing day.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (River painting by Tang Yin  (1470–1524), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

Emperor Louis The Pious Survived A Building Collapse

In 817, less than four years after succeeding Charlemagne as emperor of the Franks, Louis the Pious, as his name suggests, attended a Maundy Thursday service with over twenty companions. After the sermons and ceremonies were over on that holy day, Louis began to exit the church, his route taking him through a corridor dominated by wooden arches. The unsuspecting emperor of the Franks, however, was not aware that the wooden beams above his head were constructed of disastrously poor quality materials. The arched corridor had apparently either been built with rotting wood or otherwise was poorly maintained. Consequently, right as the emperor and his companions were passing under the arches, the rotted beams suddenly snapped and the passageway toppled down on top of their heads.

According to the Royal Frankish Annals, Louis the Pious and twenty other churchgoers were caught in the collapse. While no deaths were reported, many of the people walking under the unstable arcade were severely wounded. Fortunately for Louis, he was reportedly the least injured of all those affected. Even so, he did not escape the collapse unscathed. He suffered a bruised chest, a cut or scratched right ear, and another bad bruise on his right thigh, which was caused by falling lumber. It reportedly took Louis twenty days to recover from his wounds, but after that time had passed, he felt well enough to go on a hunting trip.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Sources:

• Carolingian Chronicles: Royal Frankish Annals and Nithard’s Histories, translated by Bernhard Scholz and Barbara Rogers. Ann Arbor Paperbacks / University of Michigan Press, 1972.

Octavian’s Stolen Luck At Perusia

After defeating their opposition in two gigantic and chaotic military brawls at Philippi in October, c. 42 BCE, Octavian and Mark Antony dispersed to their respective spheres of influence in the Roman Empire. Octavian headed to Italy, where he began to seize large tracts of land, which he intended to bequeath to his loyal soldiers. This move, however, angered the landholders in Rome, and the region of Perusia (modern Perugia) erupted into open revolt against Octavian. Awkwardly enough, this Perusine War was instigated by Mark Antony’s family, including his wife, Fulvia, and his brother, Lucius.

Octavian quickly besieged the rebels of Perusia in late 41 or early 40 BCE. The Roman biographer, Suetonius (c. 70-130+ CE), recorded an odd tale about the siege. According to the story, Octavian was not confident about storming Perusia. To assay his reservations, he ordered that sacrifices be made and omens be observed for a sign of the gods’ will. After the sacrifices had been made and the diviners had interpreted the gods’ will, the omens were found to not be at all favorable to Octavian’s side. As a result, Octavian called for more sacrifices to be held, and decided not to launch an assault until the omens showed clear signs of support.

According to Octavian’s wishes, the besieging army gathered more sacrificial animals and prepared for another ceremony. Before the sacrifices could be completed, however, the rebels of Perusia launched a sortie against Octavian’s forces. The skirmish that ensued was not very damaging, but the rebels managed to steal all of Octavian’s sacrificial equipment and animals, including the remains of some previously sacrificed creatures. In the aftermath of the skirmish, Octavian was reportedly worried that his luck would be even worse than before. Yet, he was quickly cheered up by his diviners, who were curiously happy—the priests and practitioners of divination in Octavian’s camp victoriously explained that by stealing the sacrifices, the rebels had unknowingly assumed the burden of the bad omens on themselves. Whether or not this story of Suetonius has any truth to it, Octavian did indeed capture Perusia before the end of 40 BCE.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Image of Roman Sacrifice from page 1063 of "A dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities" (1849), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius, translated by Robert Graves and edited by James B. Rives. New York: Penguin Classics, 2007.
• The Roman History by Cassius Dio, translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert. New York: Penguin Classics, 1987.  

King Herlaug’s Fatally Grave Response To Harald Finehair, The First King Of All Norway

Using poetic and prose sources, Snorri Sturluson (c. 1179-1241) determined in his Heimskringla (History of the Kings of Norway) that there were two sibling kings of Naumu Dale, named Herlaug and Hrollaug, who had the misfortune of being contemporaries of Harald Finehair (c. 850-940), the man who would bring all of Norway under one monarchy. The kings of Naumu Dale, a region north of Trondheim, probably encountered King Harald during the early years of his rule, but placing the events of King Harald’s reign on a timeline can be tricky and controversial. For that reason, we will tentatively place the date of Naumu Dale’s submission as occurring well before 900 CE, by which point Harald Finehair had enforced his position as King of all Norway in the decisive battle of Hafrsfjord.

According to Snorri Sturluson, by the time Harald Finehair began his march to Naumu Dale, he was already one of the most powerful chiefs in Norway. Harald’s power was so great that the co-kings of Naumu Dale did not even consider raising their forces to confront the king who was invading their land. Yet, even though the two brothers knew they could not beat Harald in battle, they had differing opinions on how they should react to Harald’s sudden appearance. According to the tale, the king named Hrollaug ultimately went to his seat of power, and, before all of his followers, he abdicated his kingship and demoted himself to the rank of Jarl (or Earl). Hrollaug then swore fealty to Harald Finehair, who, in thanks, allowed Hrollaug to continue ruling Naumu Dale on the behalf of the new king.

The other co-king of Naumu Dale, however, was not willing to be demoted and had no intention of groveling before Harald Finehair. Instead, Herlaug decided to die as a king. Therefore, before King Harald’s arrival, Herlaug reportedly gathered eleven trusted companions and, carrying a decent amount of provisions, they all entered a burial mound that the kings of Naumu Dale had spent three years preparing. Finally, after he, his companions, and his finite amount of food and drink were in the burial mound, Herlaug had the tomb sealed shut.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Scene from the Saga of Magnus the Good, by Halfdan Egedius (1877–1899), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Heimskringla, by Snorri Sturluson and translated by Lee Hollander. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964, 2018.
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harald-I-king-of-Norway
• https://www.britannica.com/place/Norway/Earliest-peoples#ref188684 

The Fake New Year Jade Of Emperor Wen

Around 164 BCE, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty reached his seventeenth year of rule, according to the ancient Chinese calendar. That year, a man named Xinyuan Ping began to send reports to the emperor of great wondrous cloud formations and the appearance of mystical signs. He also recommended that searches should be mounted for the lost sacred cauldrons of the fallen Zhou Dynasty and he also suspected that a magnificent jade artifact would soon be discovered.

As Xinyuan Ping predicted, a beautiful jade cup was found with an inscription that read, “Long Life to the Lord of Men.” Emperor Wen was so excited about the jade object that he ordered feasts and parties to be held throughout his empire. The emperor believed the discovery was such a momentous event in his life that he decided to reset the years of his reign—it was no longer the seventeenth year of his rule; now it was the first year of the second part of his reign.

Emperor Wen’s exuberation, however, did not last for long. Before the end of 164 BCE, the jade cup and the other signs reported by Xinyuan Ping were all proven to be fraudulent. As a response to the embarrassment, Emperor Wen had Xinyuan Ping and three sets of his relatives executed, even though the emperor strongly wanted to outlaw multi-generational punishment. The reset in the numbering of Emperor Wen’s reign, however, interestingly remained intact.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Chinese jade (nephrite) bowl, 19th century, Dayton Art Institute, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wendi-emperor-of-Han-dynasty 
• http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/personshanwendi.html  

The Dreamy Bidding Of Aponius Saturninus

One of the more humorous stories that the Roman scholar, Suetonius, recorded about Caligula (r. 37-41) involved a certain Roman nobleman named Aponius Saturninus, presumably the very same man who would later play a significant role in the chaos after the death of Nero (d. 68). Nevertheless, in this story, Suetonius portrayed him less as a powerful player in the Roman Empire and instead gave him a less auspicious role as a drowsy theatre attendee.

According to Suetonius, Emperor Caligula liked to jump on stage after a theatre performance or gladiatorial match in order to turn the still-packed venue into an auction house. Aponius Saturninus had the misfortune of attending one of these performances, and he fell asleep either during the show or in the midst of Caligula’s auction. Regrettably for Aponius, he was apparently a restless sleeper, prone to muscle jerks and spasms. Emperor Caligula reportedly saw Aponius’ nocturnal twitching and seized the chance to make some serious money.

According to the tale, every time Aponius Saturninus’ sleepy head bobbed forward, Caligula counted the movement as a bid for whatever was being auctioned. Consequently, Aponius unwittingly became quite a high bidder in Caligula’s auction. According to Suetonius, by the time Aponius Saturninus woke up, he had bought thirteen gladiators for the grand sum of nine million sesterces.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Images of ancient Roman dress by Albert Kretschmer, c. 1882, painter and costumer to the Royal Court Theatre, Berin, and Dr. Carl Rohrbach. [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius, translated by Robert Graves and edited by James B. Rives. New York: Penguin Classics, 2007.

The Cursed Duchy of Spoleto in 824

At the start of 824, Suppo I was the Duke of Spoleto, a position he had held for two years. Suppo, however, fell ill and died in 824, leaving his position vacant. Amazingly, Suppo would not be the last Duke of Spoleto to die of illness in 824.

According to the Royal Frankish Annals, the duchy first passed to Adalhard the Younger. He got off to a great start, ruling for around five months, but he eventually died of a fever and Spoleto, once again, needed another duke. After Adalhard’s death, Mauring became the new duke. This duke, however, had an even shorter reign than his predecessor. Mauring was already ill when he received his title and he died only after a few days of being duke. After commenting on the death of Mauring, the Royal Frankish Annals neglected to mention his successor. From other sources, however, the successor might be identified as Duke Adelchis I. Reminiscent of the saying, ‘third time’s a charm,’ Adelchis, unlike his predecessors, had a long reign.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Painting of 9th century Franks, by Albert Kretschmer c. 1882, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Carolingian Chronicles: Royal Frankish Annals and Nithard’s Histories, translated by Bernhard Scholz and Barbara Rogers. Ann Arbor Paperbacks / University of Michigan Press, 1972.
• https://www.revolvy.com/page/Duke-of-Spoleto 
• https://www.revolvy.com/page/Adelchis-I-of-Spoleto