Not so long ago it became known that five of the six "Avengers" who were originally part of the squad - Chris Evans (Captain America), Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) and Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) - got the same tattoos. Apparently, in this way the actors decided to celebrate the success of the film. Only Mark Ruffalo (aka Hulk) refused a tattoo, who, apparently, does not really like the role of a green bull and wants to have as little as possible in common with Tony Stark. By the way, Downey admitted that he and Renner almost forced Hemsworth to stigmatize himself with a reminder that he pissed off Thanos. Well, who will dare to unnerve the Hulk once again! Apparently, in ordinary life, Ruffalo is an even bigger monster than on a chroma key. The tattoo is a combination of the letter A (avengers - "Avengers"), the number 6 (that's how many Avengers were in the first film) and an arrow.
But The Avengers is not the first to decide to leave a commemorative mark. Back in 2003, eight of the nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring had the number "9" in Elvish stamped on various parts of their bodies. It was symbolic, because the four-year shooting ended, during which the actors became close friends. Even the overgrown Gandalf - aka Sir Ian McKellen - was not afraid and made the first and last tattoo in his life. Only John Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli, refused. Either the dwarf was scared, or for a serious dramatic actor, the role of a gnome is the maximum allowable zashkvar, but he got out of the situation beautifully, sending his understudy instead of himself, who spent many hours on the set.
What's more, The Avengers wasn't even second. Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul got commemorative tattoos with the show's logo after wrapping up filming on the television drama Breaking Bad. A beautiful and symbolic gesture, because the men who became friends during the filming owe their popularity to this ingenious series.
However, the tradition of making yourself distinctive tattoos has its roots in ancient times. So the actors are far from the first who decided on this, even if we assume that the crowd on the platform, captured in the very first film "The Arrival of the Train at La Ciotat Station" in 1896, after filming, stuffed a little engine on their coccyx.
Polynesians are considered to be. The word tattoo itself is a Polynesian language term borrowed from the Tahitian dialect: “tatau” means “drawing”. Therefore, in the view of an ordinary European, the inhabitants of this subregion should be covered with tattoos from head to toe. Even the muzzle should be in aggressive ornaments.
Even thousands of years ago, they hammered intricate geometric patterns into the skin using tools made from boar fangs and turtle shells. Initially, the tattoo was not considered an ornament and only priests, the most respected people of the tribe, had the right to wear it. The drawing itself embodied a set of basic information about the bearer: clan, tribe and his position in the tribe, family, personal qualities, the main actions in life and the main occupation - a kind of passport of primitive society. Some tattoos had to be earned by proving to the tribesmen the superiority of their strength and dexterity, for example, in hunting. There were no special divisions by gender: both men and women were slaughtered. The process itself was painful and could last for a whole day, but it was impossible to interrupt, because tattooing is a sacred process. Most of the traditional Polynesian tattoos depict a boat, which symbolizes the sea voyage that once brought their ancestors to these tiny but "satisfying" islands.
As Cicero wrote: "The conquered Greece won the conqueror." Following cultural influence, many Hellenistic ideas about beauty migrated to the Roman worldview. Including a look at tattoos. As a rule, they were used in certain cases to brand slaves. Usually they were stuffed with the initials of their owner. Nevertheless, the application of signs was regulated by official laws. For example, runaway slaves were tattooed with the letter F applied to their forehead, that is, fuggitivo - “fugitive”. Tattoos were incomparable with such a concept as a free person or citizen. To present them to the nobility was the height of madness. Unless we were talking about people of high rank who were guilty before Caligula: he really liked to disgrace the nobility with indelible ink driven into the skin. How can you get tattoos if they are worn only by slaves and the main enemies of a civilized empire - barbarians? Both those and others were considered inferior people. Barbarians apply patterns to intimidate, and the Roman army does not need such nonsense, since it is already powerful and always acts with justice.
However, some sources claim that legionnaires who fought with wild peoples adopted the habit of decorating their bodies from conquered peoples. Initially, they filled themselves with Civis Romanus, that is, "Citizen of Rome." Such a mark had a practical purpose: it made it possible to bury a legionnaire who fell on the battlefield with proper honors, or to identify a deserter who had fled. Later, they began to add to it the symbol or name of the legion, the name of the emperor (if he was loved and respected). As a rule, tattoos were applied to the arms, but the physician Aetius in the collection of medical texts Medicorum Graecorum noted that many soldiers stuffed such distinctive signs on the face and other parts of the body. And there were many such Faces in the Roman legion.
Already after Christianization, Emperor Constantine legislated that a tattoo can only be present on the arms or legs. And the muzzle of the face cannot be spoiled with a tattoo, since it is created in the image and likeness of God.
During the Middle Ages, the crusaders who reached the Holy Land stuffed crosses on their hands as a reminder of the righteous goal of their expedition. Subsequently, they were made by almost all pilgrims. In 1612, William Lithgow writes about a pilgrimage to the Holy Land: “Early the next day a man came to us, Elias Areacheros, a Christian priest in Bethlehem and abbot of the monks who made an engraving on our shoulder. For which they were given two small piastres as a reward.”
Tough guys who made the difficult journey to the Holy Land got them stuffed even though the Bible is traditionally against tattoos: “For the sake of the dead, do not make cuts on your body and do not stick letters on yourself. I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:28). Like you, the Pope forbade Christians to get tattoos, only the Crusaders listened to another Pope. In 787, the Council of Northumberland (a medieval kingdom in England) gave the green light to tattoos that are somehow connected with Christian symbols or images: for example, a fish, a pointing finger raised up, etc. As the Church Fathers said: “When a person passes the test of a tattoo for the sake of God, it is laudatory. But when he covers himself with a tattoo for superstitious reasons, as pagans do, he will not get any benefit from it. But they had to distinguish between secular and Christian tattoos because traditional British tattoos, which were still practiced at that time, were very popular on the island.
What a sailor without a tattoo - at least an anchor for decency should hang! And for beauty - the silhouette of a beloved girl, saving from loneliness during a long voyage.
It is believed that the tradition of marine tattoos began after James Cook's voyage across Oceania. Maori tattoos are beautiful in themselves, but superstitious sailors stuffed them not only for the sake of beauty, quickly believing that they bring good luck. By the beginning of the 20th century, marine tattoos had become as much a sign of craft as a vest, a pipe, and going to brothels. True, the leadership did not welcome the Papuan-like sailors in the service of Her Majesty. As a result, everything was allowed, except for tattoos above the neck and below the knee, as well as obscene words and drawings. Nevertheless, each drawing had some meaning and carried specific information about its owner. Or was a talisman. Since English sailors were everywhere, the sailors of other states became infected with the fashion to draw patterns on the body. Although the same Russian, Dutch and French sailors who actively sailed in Oceania (Papua New Guinea almost became a Russian colony) picked up the habit without intermediaries.
As was said, stuffed different. The most popular are the pig and the rooster, which were prescribed on the legs. These two living creatures were supposed to help the sailor survive during the crash: neither a pig nor a chicken can swim, which means that the Lord will help them. Although the reason is that they very often escaped, as they were transported in wooden boxes that floated perfectly on the water. The anchor originally symbolized sailing on the Atlantic - a little later, boatswains began to fill it. Now the anchor is hit by all and sundry. But with crossed anchors, it's a completely different story. It is also made by boatswains and either those who have visited all the oceans (placed on the left hand), or those who have visited 7 seas (on the right). With a compass, everything is clear: a guiding star that will not let you go astray. But what do swallows mean? There is nothing tender about this - they are stuffed for stern men who have traveled 5,000 nautical miles (9,260 kilometers). It was only after a while that the brutal romanticism of the sea wolves infected land rats and sea tattoos migrated to ordinary life, giving courage to those who have the same attitude to the sea as the rapper Feduk has to him with his song “Sailor”.
But these days, when it comes to highly specialized tattoos, then, as a rule, the criminal world is implied. In each country, each group has its own separate art gallery, where each partak means something. And what kind of artists are there, mother do not cry! Remember only the drawings on the bodies of decent and not very prisoners from domestic prisons. However, what's the point of talking about them - any schoolboy knows better than the prisoners themselves what "S.L.O.N" is and why, during the time of repression, some stuffed the proud profile of Comrade Stalin.
However, distinctive tattoos are stuffed on their flesh not only by prisoners, but also by members of gangs from all over the world. This is a kind of way to prove that you are loyal to the organization for the rest of your life. Take, for example, the richest criminal world in the United States: these are tattoos on the faces of members of Latin gangs, and Nazi runes, and the names of groups encrypted under numbers. For example, the "black hand of death" is commonly found among members of the Mexican La Eme mafia. Members of this gang keep the situation in prisons under control, sell drugs, trade in racketeering. The Nazi factions (the ones that Big Sen initially wanted to join) are stuffing woodpeckers. There is nothing humiliating in this, it's just that in the slave-owning South, blacks compared whites to importunate and stupid woodpeckers.
But face tattoos are much more popular. Not the ones that Lil Peep has, but the famous three dots that symbolize the life path of a gang member: prison, hospital and cemetery. Or the crazy and reckless life of a citizen. You can also remember the tears that indicate that a person will mourn a homie killed in a shootout all his life. But this is if the tear is painted over. And if not painted over, then the citizen mourns the one he killed. True, in Australia, tears fill pedophiles, and therefore it is dangerous to walk there with such beauty, because the continent has rich prison traditions - a nation of descendants of convicts.
Roman tattoos, the meaning of which is described below, will be a great idea for people who prefer the good old classics and appreciate the canons of ancient art. Such tattoos can look very stylish and unusual. You will learn about the most popular motives of Roman tattoos, as well as stylizations of such works from this article.
Roman tattoos send us back to the era of brave warriors and heroic battles, to the time of real men and the monsters they opposed. Most often, such tattoos are made by men, but there are no strict restrictions in this matter, therefore, if you wish, representatives of the beautiful half of humanity can also decorate their bodies with Roman-style tattoos.
The main meanings of Roman tattoos are as follows:
This is interesting! Many young people come from the army with tattoos of their unit numbers. Interestingly, the ancient Roman warriors did about the same thing: dots were tattooed on their skin, which denoted the sign of the legion, as well as the name of the commander of the legion in which the soldier served.
Roman tattoos, photos of which are presented in the article, can look very original and unusual. For example, you can style letters and numbers by choosing old school or new school styles.
You can play with numbers in the style of a graph or a dot-work. The date, which is made in Roman numerals, which seem to be cut out of a modern newspaper, will look quite peculiar.
Often Roman numerals and symbols are used in trash polka. Typically, these tattoos combine realism and graphics. A realistic portrait of a Roman warrior, complemented by elements of modern pop art, will look spectacular.
Advice! Often people refuse a tattoo because they are afraid of severe pain in the process of applying it. If you have been putting off going to the tattoo parlor for a similar reason, just ask the tattoo artist to use a special ointment that includes analgesics.
Roman tattoos, the sketches of which are presented in the article, can be located on any part of the body. A small commemorative date may be placed behind the ear or around the neck. Often numbers or letters are tattooed on the knuckles (although this place is considered one of the most painful for tattooing on the body).
Battle scenes may be depicted on the back, shoulder blades or thighs. Roman warrior can decorate
August 4, 2018
Decorative coloring of the human body has long been used in many cultures since ancient times. Tattooing, as one of the methods of applying an indelible drawing, was a kind of personal identification, belonging to certain social groups, and was also used in some initiation rites. Many historians note that this was a fairly common custom among various barbarian peoples. However, Roman tattoos have their own history.
The earliest evidence of the use of tattooing in Europe was found in the region of the modern Austro-Italian border, in the Etzal Alps, where in 1991 they found a well-preserved mummy of a man who lived more than 3000 years ago and received the nickname "Otzi". Known as "The Similun Man" or "Tyrolean Ice Man", the remains of whose body were inscribed with about 60 drawings of parallel lines, dots and crosses.
As you know, even Mark Thulius Cicero (106-43 BC), an ancient Roman philosopher and orator, said: “Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit”, that is, “Defeated Greece won the winner.” He meant that having conquered the territory of Greece, the Romans were strongly influenced by ancient Greek culture, becoming, in turn, defeated. The phrase he said largely explains the almost identical vision of beauty in the Roman and Greek worlds. The tattoo is no exception, which, like some other cultural values, came to Rome from Greece.
This is interesting!
The Roman tattoo was called "stigma". Its application, as in ancient Greece, was provided for all kinds of criminals and slaves in order to mark them as such. According to the ancient Roman chronicler Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD), slaves were usually branded with the initials of their master, because a slave was considered a human subspecies, working flesh, some kind of animal. However, the application of signs was regulated by official laws. For example, runaway slaves were tattooed with the letter “F” applied to their foreheads, that is, “fuggitivo” - a fugitive.
In ancient Rome, tattoos were inconsistent with such concepts as a free person or a citizen. They could not be seen on the bodies of senators or Roman nobility. Emperor Caligula applied them to people of high rank only when they needed to be publicly punished or humiliated, since tattooing on the body was regarded as a symbol of inferiority and was considered the prerogative of the barbarians. This is also confirmed by many chroniclers in such works as Germania by Tacitus, De bello Gallicum by Caesar, or Bellorum Germaniae by Pliny the Elder. In particular, it noted that "Gauls and Germans change their bodies with indelible coloring to intimidate the Roman army, while the Roman army itself does not need to change its human appearance, since it is civil and fair." 
However, the conquest of more and more new territories had a significant impact on the spread of tattooing in the Roman Empire itself. Legionnaires, influenced by the customs of the conquered peoples, began to adorn their bodies with the words "Civis Romanus", that is, "Citizen of Rome". It was a kind of distinctive sign that made it possible to bury a legionnaire who fell on the battlefield with proper honors, or to identify a deserter who had fled. Subsequently, they began to add the symbol or name of the legion to it, as well as the name of the emperor - especially when he was loved and respected, although, according to Herodotus, this practice was not approved by the authorities.
Before Christianity became the state religion, many followers who believed in the Savior independently began to apply various religious symbols to the body, marking themselves as witnesses of their own faith, and slaves, doomed to hard physical labor in quarries or to gladiator fights, were branded on its most prominent areas.
S.P.Q.R. - an abbreviation of the Latin phrase "Senatus Populus Que Romanus", that is, "The Senate and citizens of Rome" or, literally - "The Senate and citizens are Rome"
Roman tattoos for Christians were finally banned by Pope Adrian I at the Council of Nicaea in 787, which was later confirmed by papal bulls. In their application, a connection was seen with paganism, which was considered a belief from the devil. Since that time, the practice of tattooing gradually began to disappear throughout the Apennine Peninsula. However, for many centuries the tattoo was still the hallmark of sailors, war veterans, criminals and some ethnic minorities; it was regarded as an indicator of backwardness and even some mental disorder.
Numbers play a huge role in the lives of people in any culture. Yes, these are superstitions, but in all countries there are lucky and unlucky numbers. We celebrate round dates, we believe in the crisis of 1 year of relationships, 3 years after birth, 40 days after death, and so on and so forth.
Why? The numbers are very symbolic and specific. The number is easy to calculate and see the pattern (this is a property of our brain). It is no wonder that people often depict or put numbers and numbers in the plots of their tattoos.
Most often, a figure or number is visible and understandable immediately (when such is the intention of a person):
But some "encrypt" numbers and numbers in their tattoos. Try to find and understand:
Let's start by explaining what Roman numerals and numbers are.
The ancient Romans used the symbols I, V, X, Θ, and Φ to represent the numbers 1, 5, 10, 100, and 1000. All numbers were obtained from them by arrangement, addition and subtraction. For example, the number 15 is written as XVI: 10 + 5 + 1. Let's rearrange one character: XIV is already 14, because one comes before five (10 + 5 - 1).
Much has been written about the original meaning of the symbols, but there is no convincing evidence for these versions. According to one version, the Roman numeral V is an open palm with four fingers pressed and the thumb extended. According to the same theory, X is crossed arms or double V.
Let's get back to tattoos. Roman numerals often appear on the watch face:
Even if Roman numerals are not depicted on the clock, they still often symbolize time (eternity, the finiteness of life)
On the tattoo below, the number is doubly Roman: we are talking about the format and the fact that they are on a Roman legionnaire:
Naturally, the most popular date for a tattoo is a birthday, your own or a loved one.
Sometimes such tattoos simply write the date, sometimes they draw a portrait, and sometimes they add an image that symbolizes a person (as in the tattoo with the devil above).
Here, for example, the famous rapper Pharaoh stuffed his year of birth on his stomach (tattoo 1996):
On the hands, Roman numerals are usually part of a large composition. You won't even see them :)
Happened? If yes, congratulations - you have excellent eyesight.
But it happens that the numbers are an important part or the basis of the plot, and then they are drawn large, noticeable, so as not to be missed:
On the fingers, they usually depict the year (birth, wedding, first walker or liberation), because there are just 4 fingers in the fist - under 4 digits of the year.
Not only dates are applied to the fingers, but also other important numbers - the number of sports trophies, height, the number of girls and other measurable achievements.
There are cases when people typed on their fingers the code from the safe or the password from the computer. It's good that nuclear presidents don't do that with the red button briefcase code.
There is little space on the wrist, so the plots of the tattoos here are quite simple, and the numbers on them are small.
There is quite a lot of space on the ribs, so the numbers here do more than, for example, on the wrist, neck or ankle.
Athletes wear numbers on the chest (and back), so all tattoos with football players, basketball players, hockey players and so on have them.
In such a prominent place, figures and numbers that are very important for a person are usually depicted.
Since we already explained what Roman numerals are, we need to talk about Arabic ones. An interesting fact: the word number comes from the Arabic صفر ṣifr "nothing, emptiness".
Arabic refers to the traditional set of ten characters - 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 - used in most countries to write numbers in the decimal system. These figures appeared in India around the 5th century. At the same time, the concept of zero was introduced, which made it possible to move on to positional notation, in which the value depends on the position of the digit.
Arabic numerals are written on banknotes and playing cards all over the world, so tattoos with money and cards usually contain them:
Arabic numerals mark important dates close to a person or plots. For example, the famous Moscow Olympiad of the 80th:
Sometimes the tattoo is just funny, without a deep meaning, and the numbers are there for the sake of completeness:
Unfortunately, the dates are not always joyful, but the person remains in our memory...
And sometimes numbers mean something to a person, but will not say anything to an outsider:
A small introduction. The interpretation of numbers is occupied by numerology, which is sometimes mistakenly called "science", although it looks more like a religion. You have to believe in her, but she doesn’t particularly provide evidence of her innocence. If you believe in the magic of numbers, we have nothing against :)
Every number in numerology has a meaning - either on its own or because it contains some kind of digit. Numerology was created in Ancient Egypt, and then it was adopted in China, Greece and Rome. Numerology is based on simple addition and subtraction, with the help of which complex numbers are reduced to simple ones. If you are interested, there is a lot of information about this on the Internet.
So, 13. A tattoo with the number 13 seems illogical, because in modern Western culture this is the number of unhappiness. True, numerology thinks differently :) In it, 13 symbolizes the "human spirit striving for love." In Christianity, 13 is the ten and the Trinity, which together symbolize the universe. Among the Jews, 13 also has a positive meaning and symbolizes God. How, with such symbolism, the number 13 became a symbol of misfortune, it is not clear ...
We are not sure that all the owners of such tattoos have read books on numerology. They could have had a completely different reason: a protest, the number of their favorite player on the local football team, or the number of children from their first marriage.
The meaning of the tattoo with the number 7 is known: bringing good luck. 777 - jackpot, the biggest win.
In numerology, the seven means the ability to think, wisdom.
The number 14 is a complex number, as it consists of one and four, which have different interpretations.
1 is a leader, a figure for energetic and powerful people. In the language of numerology, a unit is energy. But the unit is very chaotic and does not know how to direct itself, control power, determine what is good and what is bad.
The control number in this combination is the four, which means balance. Sometimes the four is interpreted as stopping everything, that is, death. In China, four is the most unlucky number.
The "magic" of the number 14 is made up of one and four, energy and balance: deliberate actions, without improvisation or pressure of emotions. Fourteen calms, reconciles with reality.
19 is also a composite number. In numerology, it symbolizes the highest destiny.
We talked about the unit above. Nine is an enhanced value of the three (3x3) - and the three means the ability to find a way out of any situation.
You can show off and get yourself a tattoo with unusual numbers. For example, from the hexadecimal number system, which uses numbers from 0 to 9 and Latin letters from A to F. This system is used in low-level programming and computer documentation, since in modern computers the minimum unit of memory is an 8-bit byte, the values \u200b\u200bof which are conveniently written in two hexadecimal digits.
You can also take the number of Maya Indians. The Mayan notation is based on the vigesimal positional system that was used for the calendar. Maya numbers consisted of zero, which was denoted sea shell, and 19 composite digits. These figures, in turn, were made up of one (dot) and five (horizontal line). For example, the number 19 was written as four dots in a horizontal row above three horizontal lines.
Interestingly, the Mayan system is similar to the ancient Egyptian, Roman, and ancient Chinese, although historians will tell you that these civilizations never crossed paths. Apparently, all developed civilizations have passed more or less the same path.
