Tuesday, September 6, 2016

The Lethal Mooning...!

Just about as far back as we can go, men have found some rather nasty ways to insult one another.

The first recorded act of Mooning took place back in the Roman times and was the cause for some serious fighting and rioting.

First Mooning



Photo credit: William Whiston

Though mooning (the act of baring one’s buttocks) did not become common until the Middle Ages, the earliest recorded case dates from Roman times. According to the Roman historian Josephus, a Roman soldier mooned a passing group of Jews who were celebrating Passover. It was not so much the mooning itself but the act that accompanied it that caused offense. As Josephus delicately puts it: “One of the soldiers, lifting up the back of his garments . . . With his bottom to them crouched in a shameless way and released at them a foul-smelling sound.”

The result was a riot that caused the deaths of more than 30,000 people—so besides being the earliest, this was perhaps the most lethal mooning in history.

Guess they took the mooning as a serious insult back then. It was pretty rude!

Coffee out on the patio again!

5 comments:

  1. One can only hope that he was one of the 30,000.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hope the Roman got what he deserved. Didn't know mooning had been around that long. Hope you had a nice Labor Day weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That must have been one heck of "a foul-smelling sound" ....

    ReplyDelete
  4. My goodness that was rude but to start such a war over it.

    Patio sound nice this morning

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey Gorges...
    It would seem only fair.
    Thanks for stopping by today!


    Hey Linda...
    Yeah, it isn't something new. Sounds like many paid the price for the rudeness.
    Thanks for coming over this morning!


    Hey Phyllis...
    The aftermath was pretty bad!
    Thanks for stopping by today!


    Hey Jo...
    Doesn't take much to start a war sometimes. I reckon there was already some bad feelings there.
    Thanks for dropping by today, sweetie!

    ReplyDelete