December 1, 2025

The Mouth of Truth

The famous “Mouth of Truth,” known for the legend that “a liar who puts a hand inside will have it bitten off,” is located at the Greek Orthodox church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin.

This church was built in the 6th century for the many Greeks who lived in the area.

When it was renovated in the 8th century, Greek residents decorated the building — hence the name Cosmedin.

In English we see the same root in words such as cosmetic, cosmetic surgery, and cosmetician.

The iconic scene from Roman Holiday, where Gregory Peck pretends his hand has been bitten off to surprise Princess Ann, played by Audrey Hepburn, is known around the world.

The stone featuring the Mouth of Truth originally served as a manhole cover for an ancient Roman sewer.

 Although the face looks like that of an old man with a thick beard, it is not human at all, but Pan, the rustic god from Greek mythology and the guardian deity of forests, fields, and livestock.

Pan was the child of Hermes, the messenger of the gods.

From birth he had a full beard, goat’s horns on his forehead, and goat’s hooves for legs.

His startled mother fled in fear, but Hermes carried the infant to Mount Olympus to show him to the other gods.

Amused and delighted by the baby’s odd appearance, they welcomed him joyfully.

Because he pleased all the gods, he was named Pan, the Greek word for “all.”

The prefix pan- appears in many words: panorama (a full view), pandemic (a widespread infectious outbreak), panperitonitis (generalized peritonitis), and pancytopenia (a reduction in all blood cell types).

As he grew into a rustic deity, Pan lived in caves, roamed the forests, and often hid in the bushes to ambush nymphs.

When he failed, he would retreat alone to indulge himself — earning a reputation as a thoroughly lascivious god.

Pan persistently pursued the nymph Echo, but when she rejected him, he robbed her of her ability to speak anything except repeated words.

This myth is the origin of the word echo, meaning “reverberation.”
The medical “echo” device we use today is likewise based on reflected sound.

Pan also bothered the nymph Syrinx, who fled and transformed herself into a reed along a riverbank.

Heartbroken, Pan cut several reeds to make a flute, which he named the syrinx, and played a mournful tune.

In the illustration, Pan is shown playing this reed pipe.

From this story came the word syrinx for “tube,” which later gave rise to syringe, the English word for an injection needle.

Pan often napped in the shade of the forest.

When disturbed, he would roar with tremendous noise.

Startled cattle and sheep would scatter in confusion, and people too would panic and flee.

This is the origin of panic, the word for sudden fear or terror. 

　Today, the number of patients suffering from panic disorder — a type of anxiety disorder — continues to rise.

November 1, 2025

Foro Romano - continued

Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C.

At the site where his body was cremated and where Mark Antony delivered his famous funeral oration, Caesar’s grand-nephew and adopted son, Augustus (the first emperor of the Roman Empire), built the Temple of Caesar.

Ionic columns from the structure still remain today.

Caesar’s full name was Gaius Julius Caesar, meaning Gaius of the Caesar family, which belonged to the Julian clan (gens Julia).

Incidentally, the clan name Julius implies descent from Jupiter, the chief god of Roman mythology and equivalent to Zeus, the all-powerful god in Greek mythology.

Caesar is the most famous general and politician in Roman history.

He is widely known for his characteristic sayings such as:

“The die is cast.”

“I came, I saw, I conquered.”

“Et tu, Brute?” (“Brutus, you too?”)

He was the most ambitious man in ancient Rome and ultimately became dictator for life, but was eventually killed by Brutus and his fellow conspirators.

After his death, the name Caesar became an imperial title, used be successive Roman emperors from Augustus (the first emperor) to Hadrian.

It is also the origin of the German word Kaiser (emperor) and the Russian czar (or tsar).

The term Cesarean section (in German, Kaiserschnitt) refers to the surgical procedure of delivering a baby by cutting open the uterus.

This name comes from the legend that Caesar himself was born through such an operation.

Among Japanese physicians, the procedure is commonly abbreviated as Teisetsu or simply called Kaiser.

The Japanese term teiō sekkai, literally "emperor incision" is a translation of the German Kaiserschnitt.

However, in ancient times, it would have been impossible for both mother and child to survive such a surgery.

Thus, it is highly unlikely that Caesar was actually born by Cesarean section.

In front of the Temple of Caesar stands a soot-darkened stone tablet.

In ancient times, such white stone boards were set up throughout the Roman Forum.

They served as official noticeboards for citizens and were called album.

The Latin word albus means "white".

The word album, now used for photo books, originally referred to a collection of white pages.

There are many white things beginning with alb or alp.

For example:

In church ceremonies, the white robes worn by priests and believers are called alb.

The Alps mountains, the albatross (a large white seabird) – all share this root meaning “white.”

In the field of medicine as well, there are many examples:

Albumin (a type of protein)

Linea alba (the white line in the abdomen)

Albino (a person or animal lacking pigmentation)

Albism (albinism)

Corpus albicans (the scar tissue formed from the corpus luteum in the ovary)

Candida albicans (a species of yeast with a whitish appearance)

 -all derived from the same Latin root for “white.”

to be continued