Talk:Roman triumphal honours

Copy-edit queries

Re: the toga picta (or is it?) pic: (see article) Any idea of date? Stylistically it seems very early to me but the Commons source is not helpful with provenance. Btw, I can provide citation for some of this material, and expand in a minor way but will have to do so at leisure between other projects. Haploidavey (talk) 20:46, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

I see EraNavigator asked the same question at Commons. No satisfactory answer, but I guess I'll just keep my eyes open. I agree the drapery and style are wrong for a toga - though picta it certainly is. If I can find a pic with more certain attribution, I'll substitute. Haploidavey (talk) 20:53, 19 September 2009 (UTC)

Hang on a bit, the image rang a bell - the Vel Saties tomb. It's from 4th cent BC and Etruscan. Yes, 'tis he: or rather, it's his image within the Francois Tomb in Vulci, 350-330 BC. [1] (halfway down the page). I'll go label the Commons image if I can figure out how. As far as I can make out, most commentaries interpret Vel Saties as taking the auspices - the photo in wiki Commons is not the clearest, and may have been reversed but anyway, he's observing a bird in flight. The smaller, rather dwarfish figure holds a tether, with a tame or captive bird attached. Or else, he's simply watching his son playing with birds. PS - sorry, I rather lost the point there - Vel Saties' costume type (assuming it is a type) is sometimes interpreted as a possible original for the Roman triumphal toga picta. But only sometimes, and tentatively. The dating's apparently just as problematic!Haploidavey (talk) 21:52, 19 September 2009 (UTC)