Horton Tarot Card

Emperor and the Scribe

That Tiberius – according to the lost annals of Tacitus – had the reputation for unimaginable debauchery and licentiousness was due, in no small part, to his scribe, Lucius. Recalled to Rome from his exile in Capri, after the death of his stepfather, Augustus, who he had always disliked for his moral insincerity, the new …

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Horton Tarot Card

The Warty Banker

The wart-faced banker, Marcus Fulvius was a notorious lecher. One day, during their regular sweat in the laconicum, his friend, Ottavius noted his gloomy disposition. “Cheer up, old boy,” he said. “Soon it will be the seventeenth”. Fulvius, however, was not looking forward to the saturnalia. “It will be the usual miserable fest,” he declared. …

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Horton Tarot Card

The Widow

A soldier of Caesar’s army died in battle leaving a widow. The widow had four sons who were forced to grow up around the Roman camp while she plied her trade. Fed up with their wild ways, she decided to knock some sense into them. “Each of you will go to the lupanar[1],” she said. …

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Horton Tarot Card

Sailor Fresco

In a Roman tavern a woman was observed fondling a man while he boasted of the Nubian slave girls he had seen down at the port… The sailor was also overheard saying: “Nolo cum Murtal. I don’t want to with Murtale.” Later, when the lady of the night went away, the sailor called for a …

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Horton Tarot Card

The Emperor and the Scribe

That Tiberius had the reputation for unimaginable debauchery and licentiousness was due, in no small part, to his scribe, Lucius. Recalled to Rome from his exile in Capri, after the death of his stepfather, Augustus, who he had always disliked for his moral insincerity, the new emperor was keen to sweep everything under the carpet; …

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