Viggen

...what a quote... The Celts were no match for these roughnecks. The Romans had taught them how to play the lyre and drink copious amounts of wine, but the populace in the regions controlled by the Pax Romana was barred from carrying weapons. As a result, the local peoples, no longer accustomed to the sword, lost one battle after the next and were forced to the edges of the island. ...so what you think did the Romans soften up the celts too much?

How Germanic is Great Britain really? Archeologists and geneticists have unveiled surprising revelations about the historical origins of people in the modern United Kingdom -- many of whom have ancestors who once crossed the North Sea. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, two Germanic tribesmen, Hengist and Horsa, came ashore on the coast of Kent in southeast England in the year 449. They had sailed 600 kilometers (372 miles) down the coast from their native North Frisia, and had then made the crossing to a green and pleasant Britain. But how many people came to Britain across the North Sea in total? A thousand? Ten thousand? Or was it an even higher number? Until now, the so-called Minimalists have set the tone in British archeology. They believe in what they call an "elite transfer", in which a small caste of Germanic noble warriors, perhaps a few thousand, placed themselves at the top of society in a coup of sorts, and eventually even displaced the Celtic language with their own. Many contemporary Britons, not overly keen on having such a close kinship with the Continent, like this scenario. Archeologist Heinrich Hörke of the University of Reading has now come up with a quantitative estimate of the migratory movement. He suspects that "up to 200,000 emigrants" crossed the North Sea. The massive movement of people was apparently triggered in 407 A.D., the year in which the ailing Roman Empire withdrew much of its army from Britain. Soon afterwards, it stopped paying its soldiers altogether. As a result, the last legionaries took off. again a fascinating article from Der Spiegel

For many years, the ruins of this ancient Roman villa retreat for the family and guests of four Roman emperors remained unnoticeable, far from the limelight of scholarly research and exploration. Now, it is the focus of new excavations and research by a team of archaeologists and other specialists who aim to resurrect what lies beneath the surface near a picturesque Italian town 18 miles from present-day Rome, Italy. What remains may say something about emperors Antoninus Pius, Lucius Verus, Marcus Aurelius, and Commodus, all major players, for better or worse, in ancient Rome's illustrious 138-192 A.D. Antonine Dynasty. Located along the ancient Via Appia road adjacent to the modern town of Genzano, the only clearly visible features that mark the spot of this Antonine villa today are the remains of structures associated with its bath house. Much of the rest of its remains still lie beneath the landscape or have been destroyed by the sprawl of past urban development. Site investigators indicate that approximately 3 hectares still remains to be unearthed.... ...read the full article at Popular Archaeology

...my road to loose weight will take much longer than i anticipated, however i make it as pleasant as possible and try to make lifestyle changes rather than just a diet and some workout. I started to read up allot on paleo and primal diet, (very low carb, lots of protein and fat), so if you are a vegetarian, this is defenitely not for you... As with many things in live i rather aproach this with a relaxed attitude and small things can make a difference already. For example I knew one of my problems where my excessive coffee intace (caffeine stimulates insuline production), so i reduced it now to 2 cups in the morning and 2 cups in the afternoon (thats 50% less, so you see there was something i had to work on), of course i dont sweeten the coffee either, but with the spirit of primal eating i use full cream instead of milk (low fat is a total no go for primal eating). I must say although i am far away from being primal, i do feel already much more energized, i am stronger, healthier and have more endurance, btw. weight is now at 111.8 kilograms = 246.476809 pounds which is compared to two months ago 117.2 kg (258,381771 pounds) so in 8 weeks i lost 5,4 kg (11.9049622 pounds) , thats 0.675 kilograms = 1.48812027 pounds per week which is very pleasing as i built muscle as well in that time, and its a rate that is sustainable for the next couple of months...

Archaeological excavations on the site of the Hyderabad and Meeanee barracks off Mersea Road in Colchester have revealed a number of burials including two

Evidence of beer making in Mediterranean France, as far back as the 5th century BC, has been unearthed by Laurent Bouby from the CNRS - Centre de Bio-Archeologie et d'Ecology in Montepellier, France, and colleagues. Their analyses at the Roquepertuse excavation site in Provence reveal the presence of poorly preserved barley grains suggesting germination, as well as equipment and other remains of deliberate malting in the home. Taken together, these findings suggest that, as well as regular wine making, the French had an early passion for beer brewing. The work has just been published online in Springer's journal Human Ecology... ...read the full article at Physorg.com

...and here you can actually listen to it... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13733615 cheers viggen

The beautiful face with lips slightly parted and a shimmering androgynous appearance is eerily familiar. It could be the cousin of the world-famous Crosby Garrett helmet, which a small museum in Cumbria raised an astonishing

Archaeologists found a treasure trove of everyday artefacts after digging up nearly 800 sacks of compacted human waste from the tank, which lies beneath the remains of a Roman apartment block in Herculaneum, destroyed after it was buried by ash from the volcano in AD79. The British team has found hundreds of objects, including bronze coins, precious stones, bone hair pins and an exquisite gold ring decorated with a tiny figure of the god Mercury... ...read the full article at the Telegraph

Eromenos by Melanie McDonald Review by Ludovicus Melanie McDonald

Kraftwerk are one of the most influential bands of the past 35 years. Without them, dance music as we know it today might never have existed. The signature Kraftwerk sound combines driving, repetitive rhythms with catchy melodies, mainly following a Western Classical style of harmony, with a minimalistic and strictly electronic instrumentation. The group's simplified lyrics are at times sung through a vocoder or generated by computer-speech software. Kraftwerk were one of the first groups to popularize electronic music and are considered pioneers in the field. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Kraftwerk's distinctive sound was revolutionary, and has had a lasting effect across many genres of modern music... Autobahn 1975 via BBC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuEo5IdVUvU

Anyone who works out knows that getting a six pack abdomen means hard work, careful nutrion and lots of time, is there any information on how they achieved this? http://www.learner.org/courses/worldhistory/archive.html?f_itemNumber=4288&return=25-1 (looking at those athletes i have to guess that their body fat level is of not more than 8%, so thats one hell of a job to get to that level)

this site has the most detailed hypothesis what this thing might be This article presents a new theory for the use of the dodecahedron, together with experimental support. Shortly summarized, my new theory can be described as followed: the dodecahedron was an astronomic measuring instrument with which the angle of the sunlight can be measured and thereby one specific date in springtime, and one date in the autumn can be determined with accuracy. The dates that can be measured were probably of importance for the agriculture. The sowing date of winter grain is important for the achievement of optimal produce. Therefore I anticipate that the dodecahedron would only be used in autumn time. http://www.dodecaeder.nl/en/hypothese

...only recently i read about this incredible place, mindbogling to be honest, G

...what i have seen lately from HBO (True Blood, Game of Thrones) they like to do 12 to 13 episodes per book, so i would not be surprised to have two seasons with total of 24 to 26 episodes... cheers viggen

Roman Religion (Cambridge Introduction to Roman Civilization) by Valerie M. Warrior Within the constraints it sets for itself, Roman Religion offers a pleasing and informative overview of the bygone days of Roman paganism. Well written, easily understandable and lavishly illustrated, Warrior's book is an excellent eye opener to those with no prior exposure to the academic study of pre-Christian Roman religion. Other works are far more erudite, but I am reviewing this for the benefit of the absolute neophyte who simply wants a crash course on the subject... ...read the full review of Roman Religion (Cambridge Introduction to Roman Civilization) by Valerie M. Warrior

This is so much harder than i thought, almost a week since my last weight post and i only lost 0.1 kilograms = 0.220462262 pounds, I am not eating particulary much, neither unhealthy, in fact, i eat mostly vegetables and fruits and some meat, the only hope i have is that my muscle building is just as fast than my fat loss, (although i dont really see that in the mirror), i do however feel much more energized. I finally got my first MP3 player (Ipod Shuffle which is ideal as its extremely small so doesnt bother me when exercising), it gives me the perfect opportunity listening to the Ancient Warfare podcast and to get distracted while working out... Its going to be a much longe ride than i thought but at least its fun while doing it....

HBO is going back into business with Rome duo Jane Tranter and Anne Thomopoulos for a miniseries based on Robert Graves

Can you do what the world's archaeologists can't? Can you explain this -- thing? It

...here more to the story from Discovery http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/06/07/ancient-greek-knew-geology-thousands-of-years-before-his-time/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+80beats+%2880beats%29

To say it has been an archaeological mystery may be an understatement: why are fragments of beautiful but deliberately smashed bronze age figurines buried in shallow pits on a small, rocky Greek island whose main inhabitants have always been goats? Today, academics at Cambridge University will release findings that shed light on the 4,500-year-old puzzle of Keros, a tiny Cycladic island in the Aegean. It appears Keros was the ceremonial destination for a ritual that involved islanders breaking prized possessions and making a pilgrimage with fragments for burial... ...read the full story at the Guardian

Very interesting discussion about Gaius Marius with editor Jasper Oorthuys, Lindsay Powell, Michael Taylor and Murray Dahm about Ancient Warfare V.1, 2011 The 'new man' who saved Rome - Gaius Marius at war Gaius Marius is credited with introducing wide ranging reforms which would transform the Roman Army into the professional machine of the Empire. Elected consul and unprecedented seven times, he authorised landless citizens to do military service (something that may have lead to the eventually down fall of the Roman Empire as troops became bound to their Generals to ensure their care), he gave them fixed duration of service and as such established a standing army. But were all of Marius's reforms his own? What was there impact? And was he the great a leader as we are allowed to believe? In a lively discussion Jasper, Lindsay, Murray and Michael discuss Ancient Warfare magazine V-1, The 'new man' who saved Rome. Gaius Marius at War. http://traffic.libsyn.com/thehistorynetwork/Gaius_Marius_at_war.mp3

Greek linguist, Ioanna Sitaridou, located a population of people in Northeastern Turkish villages, near the Black Sea (or Pontus), speaking the Romeyka dialect of ancient Greek. Ancient Greek has not been in use for thousands of years, so a finding like this can give us a bit of insight into how the language sounded.... read the full article (including video) at Antrophology.net