Ludovicus

Thanks, i found those already, the problem wasn't really finding those but rather showing the evolution of the Forum. I'm planning on discussing the ones in Pompeii Lepcis Magna and a few others. I'm currently discussing how important the Forum was in everyday life for the Romans. Do you think it would be a good idea to look at floor plans of all the different forums in the cities and analyze the differences and gather an analysis from that? ie see what buildings have changed, whats grown larger/smaller, disappeared/added and so on... Yes, sounds like a good idea. Yes, it's important to get familiar with why the Romans across the Empire needed a forum in the first place. What kinds of necessary activities went on there? Somewhere I read that in Verona the local forum was abandoned very early--around the 7th century AD. Was it merely a drop in population or were Verona's Romans doing different things? Was there a cultural break that made a forum no longer necessary? Were communal activities organized around a new center? If you link the change in building types with the wide changes in Roman life across the history of the Empire, then I think you'll have a good paper.

You need to do some looking on your own first. Then others here may be about to help you narrow or deepen your topic. It took me about 30 seconds to find this reference on Roman forums in Italy, outside Rome. I'm sure you could do much better given more time. http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Forum-(Roman)

"Marine archaeologists have found the remains of a slave ship wrecked off the Turks and Caicos Islands in 1841, an accident that set free the ancestors of many current residents of those islands. Some 192 Africans survived the sinking of the Spanish ship Trouvadore off the British-ruled islands, where the slave trade was banned." http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-scien...ave.Ship.Found/

Yes, last evening on National Public Radio (US) I heard the interview with the military and artists who are part of this project. Amazing insights into the healing powers of ancient Greek drama! The session should be available on an NPR podcast.

That's good to hear, thanks much for the heads-up. I really will take a good look at it as soon as I can find the time. Do you know by any chance what the relation between domus and insula is or (even better) their numbers as included in the project? I would be very interested to know what data were used to determine it. This is another thing lacking in the plastico, too many palaces, not enough 'common' homes. Yes, I noticed the same thing. Where are all the mud brick insulae? "Archaeology Today," a decade ago, had an interesting article or two on housing patterns in Rome. Rich domus could be found next to crowded housing for the poor. Super high density, it was. That's why the imperial fora were so attractive with their large open spaces.

What a very informative review of the Satyricon's importance. In my readings about the history of the Romance languages I sometimes come across references to the popular Latin that can be found in Petronius's work. Now I've learned more. Gratiam tibi ago.

Here's an image from the Crypta Balbi Museum showing a workshop of the "calcari" or limeburners, early medieval era. http://www.iconoclasm.dk/images/cryptabalbi.jpg

Thanks. How interesting!

According to the Italian newspaper "La Repubblica" the image of Rome's Colosseum wins as the internet's most popular travel image. Here's the score from figures presented at the London World Travel Market: Number of hits in the millions: Colosseum: 20 Leaning Tower of Pisa: 16.3 Milan's Duomo: 12.4 St. Peter's 10.8 For a remarkable series of 18 photos of the Flavian Amphitheater: http://roma.repubblica.it/multimedia/home/3639657/1/3

TZIBICHEN CENOTE, Mexico

A German archaeologist by the name of Klaus Schmidt has claimed discovery in Turkey of the world's oldest temple. Called Gobekli Tepe, it predates Stonehenge by six thousand years, and Smithsonian magazine writes that "the find upends the conventional view of the rise of civilization:" To Schmidt and others, these new findings suggest a novel theory of civilization. Scholars have long believed that only after people learned to farm and live in settled communities did they have the time, organization and resources to construct temples and support complicated social structures. But Schmidt argues it was the other way around: the extensive, coordinated effort to build the monoliths literally laid the groundwork for the development of complex societies. The immensity of the undertaking at Gobekli Tepe reinforces that view. Schmidt says the monuments could not have been built by ragged bands of hunter-gatherers. To carve, erect and bury rings of seven-ton stone pillars would have required hundreds of workers, all needing to be fed and housed. Hence the eventual emergence of settled communities in the area around 10,000 years ago. "This shows sociocultural changes come first, agriculture comes later," says Stanford University archaeologist Ian Hodder, who excavated Catalhoyuk, a prehistoric settlement 300 miles from Gobekli Tepe. "You can make a good case this area is the real origin of complex Neolithic societies." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/09/w...c_n_142417.html

"The city of Florence in Italy is lifting the covers of an archeological dig under one of its most storied buildings, the Palazzo Vecchio, which was once the seat of local government. Visitors enter through a side door of the Palazzo, where a copy of the statue of David sits in front. They enter a cavernous room, where there's a series of trenches, metres deep, and criss-crossed by wooden planks. Archaeologists have spent the past few years unearthing the remains of an ancient Roman theatre

A battle has been won and a healing begun. Let's see what we can do with it. Personally, I feel that for the first time in a long time, here in the US,we have a person with the intelligence and vision to occupy the presidency.

Perhaps it would be helpful to mention why Paul is such an important figure in the history of Christianity. He deserves much credit for the spread of the new religion through much of the Mediterranean basin. He took full advantage of the Roman patrolled sea lanes and highways. Here's a bit more on him from Wikipedia: "Paul the apostle (Hebrew: שאול התרסי‎

Salve L, et gratiam habeo for such useful advice! Yes, it's an incredible web application. I was able to do a 360 degree turn on one street. Just a few minutes ago I was able to find my favorite hotel in Rome, the Tirreno, on San Martino ai Monti, on the Esquiline. Love that block, graffiti filled though it is. I wish I knew how to insert an image in this text block. Think how handy it would be to use a "street view" image from Google to enhance a text entry about a particular location.

Major Italian cities are being added to Google's "Street View" option on Google's map service. Just go to Google, then choose Maps. Place an address in the search window and then choose "Street View." An icon of a human will appear on the map at your address. Click on it and you can "walk" up or down the street. What a great way to visit your favorite streets in modern Rome.

In Rome, in the church of San Paolo fuori le mura (St. Paul's Outside the Walls) there is a stone which claims to mark Paul's tomb within the building. Here's a link to the National Geographic Article with info. on the subject of Paul's tomb: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/20...saint-paul.html

"Papal Sins: Structures of Deceit" by Gary Wills Here's a review: Amazon.com Review "Catholics have fallen out of the healthy old habit of reminding each other how sinful Popes can be," notes Garry Wills in the introduction to Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit. In his book, Wills alludes occasionally to the most egregious papal scoundrels: "In the tenth century a dissolute teenager could be elected Pope (John XII) because of his family connections and die a decade later in the bed of a married woman." But most of the author's energy is devoted to an incisive analysis of recent popes' doctrinal pronouncements, which Wills believes have eroded the Church's moral authority and contributed to the drastic decline in vocations to the priesthood today. "The arguments for much of what passes as current church doctrine are so intellectually contemptible that mere self-respect forbids a man to voice them as his own," Wills writes. "The cartoon version of natural law used to argue against contraception, or artificial insemination, or masturbation, would make a sophomore blush. The attempt to whitewash past attitudes toward Jews is so dishonest in its use of historical evidence that a man condemns himself in his own eyes if he tries to claim that he agrees with it."

Neil, Very interesting. Don't you get the feeling that scientists have just begun to make discoveries about this crucial period in human history? What revelations await us?

'New pathway' for African exodus BBC News "Modern humans had reached the Levant by 100,000 years ago Researchers have found a possible new route taken by early modern humans as they expanded out of Africa to colonise the rest of the world. A study published in the journal PNAS proposes a "wet corridor" through Libya for ancient human migrations. Rivers once flowed from the central Saharan watershed all the way to the Mediterranean, the team explains." For the entire article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7668250.stm

Thanks, Gladius. This is an important event in the saint's life which is not well known. Here I quote from Thomas Cahill's "Mysteries of the Middle Ages," pp. 165-166 : [The saint's nonviolent example] "in an age when the most visible signs of the Christian religion were the wars and atrocities of the red-crossed crusaders, was shockingly otherworldly--and slyly effective...It even impelled Francis himself to joint the Fifth Crusade, not as a warrior but as a healer. He sailed across the Mediterranean to the Egyptian court of al-Malik al-Kamil, nephew of the great Saladin who had defeated the forces of the hapless Third Crusade...The attempt to proselytize a Muslim would have been cause for on-the-spot decapitation, but Kamil was a wise and moderate man who was deeply impressed by Francis's courage and sincerity and invited him to stay for a week of serious conversation. Francis, in his turn was deeply impressed by the religious devotion of the Muslims, especially by their fivefold daily call to prayer...Francis was not impressed by the crusaders, nominal Christians whose sacrilegious brutality horrified him...It is a tragedy of history that Kamil and Francis were unable to talk longer, to coordinate their strengths, and to form an alliance. Had they been able to do so, "the clash of civilizations" might not even be a phrase in our world." http://www.amazon.com/Mysteries-Middle-Age...2354&sr=1-3

"Scientists say that studying the genes of mice will reveal new information about patterns of human migration." For the entire article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7645908.stm

I don't know if you read Italian. If you or someone you know does and you can access this book via interlibrary loan, take a look: Galla Placidia. La nobilissima di Sirago Vito A. http://www.unilibro.it/find_buy/Scheda/lib...obilissima_.htm A piece on the web, also in Italian: http://www.ariannaeditrice.it/articolo.php?id_articolo=13604 Bona fortuna!

Obama had his Youtube pastor moment and now Palin has hers. This one surfaced yesterday, and to tell you the truth it brings shivers up my back to think that she one day may be vice president: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...5-12377,00.html A YOUTUBE video has surfaced showing Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin being blessed in her hometown church by a Kenyan pastor who prayed for her protection from "witchcraft" as she prepared to seek higher office three years ago. Governor Palin is shown standing with her hands open before Bishop Thomas Muthee in the Wasilla Assembly of God church as he asked Jesus Christ to keep her safe from "every form of witchcraft", the Associated Press reported.