Ancient Rome and Modern Italy 11 



or, perhaps, to be thoroughly frightened by her submission to it 

 if she was to prove responsive. 21 



There is a belief as old as Roman days that during a woman's 

 period of gestation any special desires that she cherishes should, 

 if possible, be gratified. 22 Since, according to this persistent su- 

 perstition, the baby will bear a birthmark which pictures more or 

 less perfectly the object of his mother's craving at whatever' place 

 on his body the woman may be touching on her own as she does 

 her wishing, a foresighted Italian who senses that she has centered 

 her desire overmuch on something touches her buttocks, and this, 

 she imagines, will protect her child from having a disfigurement on 

 some more public part of its anatomy. 23 However, the situation 

 at the worst is not hopeless: the marking of the newborn can be 

 cancelled, it is claimed, by washing it with a little blood from the 

 placenta upon which it depended as a fetus. 24 The mother her- 

 self may have to suffer when she fails to get something that she 

 "honed for" during pregnancy. Thus, an unsatisfied craving for 

 an eel may bring upon her a facial neuralgia, a tic douloureux. 25 

 It may seem to us a strange choice of food anyway where there 

 were so many other possibilities for her fancy to dwell on. But, 

 of course, it could be near Christmas Eve when the place of honor 

 on the festal board goes to the capitone. It would be like denying 

 a New Englander turkey at Thanksgiving time. 



Roman parents who had set their hearts on having children 

 were naturally anxious that a conception should not be in vain. 

 They recognized many perils, many of them such as no gyne- 

 cologist would think of today. For instance, we are warned that 

 the stench of a lamp that has just been extinguished may be 

 enough to cause an abortion. 26 This may seem amusing when 

 we recall how ignorant of sanitation and of chemical controls 

 ancient communities were, so that malodor would be ubiquitous 

 among the people and sudden affronts to the nose scarcely avoid- 

 able. We are told, furthermore, that miscarriage may occur, if 

 the woman merely sneezes after sexual congress, or yawns at the 

 time of her delivery, 27 or even looks at a sea hare. 28 



The Romans were acquainted with Greek medical works on 

 chaplets which told which flowers were injurious to the head. 29 

 This was of interest to them, since wreaths and cut flowers were 

 used in abundance at their banquets in spite of their tendency to 



