The Roman Ottobrata

There is a word Romans use that has no real translation: Ottobrata. Literally, it means “the October days”, but in truth it describes something far more elusive: the lingering warmth after summer has gone, the golden afternoons when the sun hangs low, the way people stretch themselves out into the light as if storing it up before November closes in. It is not just climate. It is a shared state of mind that belongs entirely to this city and to this season.