Ludovicus

I'll be in Rome in October. Can anyone recommend a new museum or exhibit? The Ara Pacis has a new enclosure. Has anyone been there lately?

Thanks Docoflove! I understood all of it. Looks like stressed vowel "o" hadn't become Spanish "ue" yet in Ladino. Incidentally, one of the four official languages of Switzerland is related to Ladino. It's called Rumantsch. Here's a link with more about this Latin based language: http://www.all-about-switzerland.info/ruma...h-language.html From Wikipedia: Ladin (Ladino in Italian, Ladin in Ladin, Ladinisch in German) is a Rhaeto-Romance language spoken in the Dolomite mountains in Italy, between the regions of Trentino-Alto Adige/S

Does anyone have an image of the toga in the 5th century C.E? How did it differ from earlier styles? When does the toga disappear from Roman history?

I basically agree with Gruen's theory, and I point to Caesar as the necessary cause and ALMOST sufficient cause. One man caused it alone? That surely means, either Julius was the most influential persona of all time, or the republic was taking the last breaths already, right? cheers viggen I greatly dislike "Great Man" based histories, I prefer to look at underlying socio-economic and cultural causes. It is my opinion that after the Marian reforms it was a near certainty that a rouge general would end the Republic. I would like to come at this at a different angle, and give my simplistic reason for the demise of the Republic: Rome expanding her overseas provinces. The great influx of slaves Rome experienced as a result of her foreign wars meant that Rome's workforce was now saturated with free labour; this subsequently lead to the rise of Latifundia (large slave run prairie farms owned by senators, rich from Rome expansion), and before you knew it, Italian farmers were forced off their land into over-crowded cities; this social injustice at the hands of the nobility then instigated the ideologies which internally wounded the Republic (e.g. Opimates Vs Populares). Additionally, the rise in Rome's territories meant that armies on the frontlines were great distances from Rome, and were often on campaign for a longer amount of time. The expansion of provinces would mean a greater amount of warfare. If a successful general led the troops, warfare would mean booty. Booty would mean loyalty to the general rather than Rome. These ambitious generals therefore, could use their troops dissociation with Rome, and subsequent loyalty to them, to their advantage: if they wanted them to (as the events of the Later Republic proved), generals could persuade their troops to march on Rome. This is my own view as well, as it is the view of one of my favorite historians, A. J. Toynbee. I think that you've articulated my own understanding of the death of the Republic. In the modern era, Thomas Jefferson said that you cannot maintain a republic and an empire at the same time. These are contradictory forms of power. The citizens of a republic end up, one way or another, by paying for the costs of empire.

Here's a lead for you: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encycl...ins/london.html

Thanks to Klingan for this very interesting post. I lived in Mexico for a while, became fascinated by the Aztecs. A very accessible book on the Aztec view of the Spanish Conquest is "The Broken Spears," Miguel Leon-Portillo, in English. It's required reading for many of the foreign students studying in Mexico. Another very interesting work, tho more challenging, is the excellent "The Conquest of Mexico: The Incorporation of Indian Societies into the Western World, 16Th-18th Centuries" by Serge Gruzinski and Eileen Corrigan. It would be wonderful to see an undisturbed royal Aztec tomb!

Much of ancient Rome underground is fairly well preserved but seldom visited. Of course the catacombs have always been a tourist destination, but there is much, much more. There's now an entirely new campaign by the city to publicize and make available many other sites, Roma Sotterranea (Underground Rome). For a list: http://www.romasotterranea.com/index.php?o...257〈=en

In high school we used the very excellent Henle Grammar. That was in the 1960's. There are helpful rules for many of the tricky declensions. Here's a reference: http://www.aquinasandmore.com/index.cfm/ti...18154/index.htm

Salve, L! Publius Vergilius Maro didn

The saying "Life is beautiful," doesn't hit me as a very Roman thought. Frankly, it doesn't seem very Italian either, despite its use in an Italian movie. "Life is difficult," is more like it. "Life is tricky," maybe. "Life is to be dominated," better. "Life is to be put into order," very Roman. Or "Life is a patron-client relationship," very Roman culturally. I'm not criticizing the translation of "Life is beautiful." We've got the right to use any language to translate any thought. It's just that the idea of proclaiming life as beautiful seems very un-Roman. What do others think?

The City of Rome offers "Roma Pass," a card with discount admission to many of the city's important museums and cultural events. There are public transportation discounts, too. http://www.romapass.it/english/index.html

Here are two of my favorites for first timers: The Capitoline Museums are not to be missed. In addition, the main museum is situated on the Campidoglio, one of the most beautiful public spaces in the world: http://en.museicapitolini.org/ Not many people know of the "overflow" collections of the Capitoline Museums, located in a different location. Precious Roman marbles set up in an old electric generating plant, tres chic! http://en.centralemontemartini.org/

Sounds like the Italian game of "bocce." Could it have been a Roman export to Egypt?

Gregory the Great, pope beginning in the 590's, was from the ancient gens of the Anicii. I can't think of another great Roman family surving later than this period. "Gregory was born probably a year or two before the death of St. Benedict. The son of the Roman senator, Gordianus, and a scion of the noble house of the Anicii, he inherited vast possessions in the Roman Campagna..." See: http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/gregory_...ogues_intro.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england...ire/6906107.stm From the BBC: 'Astonishing discovery' Metal detectorists David and Andrew Whelan, who uncovered the treasures, said the find was a "thing of dreams". The pair, from Leeds, said the hoard was worth about

"The German Shepherd"? But... I like dogs. -- Nephele Yes, that's what my Catholic cousin, an Italian in Italy, calls him. Ratzinger's policy is to negate the Vatican II Council.

The Italians call the new pope "il pastore tedesco." The pun works in English, too.

There is evidence that public buildings were protected as late as the 6th century. I'll site the sources in another post. By the 7th century, the Forum was the scene of church building in which older public buildings where converted, e.g. the Roman Senate's transformation into the church of San Adriano. The Forum of Trajan still functioned until the early 9th century when a powerful earthquake took it down. If you're ever in Rome, you'll won't want to miss the Museo Crypta Balbi. It will give you an idea how the city survived amid the decay of the post Justinian era and beyond. A lively business in burning marble for lime and in recycling ancient columns (spolia) employed post classical Romans for centuries. Go to any of the very ancient churches in Rome and you will notice the lack of conformity in the marble columns

What a nice thought. You might create a website as a memorial to your father. There are a number of providers of free homepages. Your email provider may offer this free service to you. On the site you could include a brief biographical sketch, links to your father's favorite books, articles, pictures, etc. You could even provide links to UNRV and other sites with a special connection to your father's life. You don't have to publicize your site on Google. You may want it just to send to family and friends. Best of luck. Your father's life achievements and your warm memories of him will help you through this period of mourning.

Divi Filius, I sympathize with you. When I graduated from college in he US very few of us were burdened with college tuition debts. That was in the 60's. My younger sister, after 20 years and four children, is still paying off her master's degree debt. My Italian cousin in Rome, Aurelio, in 1990, was paying $800 a year in fees to attend law school at the University of Rome (La Sapienza), founded in the 1303. With the high college or university tuition required by US institutions a financial roadblock is created that limits entry to promising but poor students. The Europeans have at least two advantages that we lack, affordable higher ed and universal low cost health care. They pay more in taxes, as has been noted, but what they pay goes into services that benefits the entire society. We pay high taxes too, but much of our money goes into maintaining the troops that maintain the Empire.

Unlike the Romans, US troops do not maintain their presence abroad to enforce will of an executive, to collect taxes, or to administer martial law. The comparison is totally superficial. And do you also think that US troops have been sent to Iraq to "spread democracy" ? And who do you think pays for the 120 country troop presence? Rome's widespread empire was paid for by its citizens, especially the decuriones. http://www.livius.org/de-dh/decuriones/decuriones.html "Among the financial obligations of the decuriones was to advance the imperial taxes. This was in itself not a very heavy obligation, because the hundred members just advanced the money to the provincial governor and received their money back from their loyal tax-paying fellow-citizens. However, in the third century CE, the taxes started to rise, and advancing the money was increasingly difficult. At the same time, inflation destroyed the funds for the upkeep of public monuments, which meant that decuriones were forced to pay lots of money. As a consequence, they started to evade their obligations. The emperors took countermeasures. The minimum age became eighteen years and people of sufficient means could be forced to become decuriones.

I've heard the interview with the author of "Are We Rome." You can get the podcast from the Diane Rehm Show, <http://wamu.org/help/podcasts.php>. It's very difficult to make comparisons across two thousand years. That said, for me the most compelling lesson from Rome's long history is from the fate of the Republic, that participatory democracy for citizens. By the time of the Empire, it turned into a permanent dictatorship with the small farmer citizen/soldier eliminated as a political class. Look at the fate of the US farmer. Look at the falling standard of living for the middle class in the US. Look at the growth of empire with 350,000 US troops stationed in about 120 countries.

Seems to me we're more like later imperial Rome. Institutions of the Republic are being lost. Cheney's theory of the vice presidency and Bush's "unitary executive" dogma both tend toward imperium rather than democratic leadership. Bush's novel use of signing statements makes the Congress almost unnecessary. I wouldn't blame the Bush Administration for initiating these changes, but they've taken them to new and unfortunate levels.

Thanks for the link to Latin made easy site! It serves as a good review of Latin 1. Anyone know of a good site that gives instruction in Vulgar (as in popular speech) Latin?