Ursus

Given the dearth of UNRV blogging, I recently bowed out myself. Didn't seem much of a point in taking time to keep a blog when only 5 or 6 people are going to read it. It would be different if some of the authors and scholars associated with UNRV would use them as a means of interaction with the wider UNRV membership. But everyone is using Facebook and Twitter these days.

Haven't seen the the production you mention, but there is a body of evidence for Israeli Polytheism. The Old Testament prophets themselves were often bewailing Israelites for honoring gods other than YHWH.

I've lost my ability to translate metric into American. And I'm not sure if the companies I know ship to wherever you are (presumably somewhere in Europe). But here are two statues: http://www.somaluna.com/prod/athena_statue.asp?m=50 http://www.somaluna.com/prod/athena_with_nike_statue.asp?m=50 I have the first one, and I like it!

"All roads lead to UNRV." That should be our motto.

Yeah, that's my whole problem with the Celts and the Germans. From time to time I try to read books on their history and mythology. But the fact they were functionally illiterate and didn't really build enduring monuments means you never really know quite what they believed. Meh.

From what I have read, they were a bit like the Celtic tribes insofar as every tribe could have a somewhat different pantheon than the next tribe. I.E, this tribe worshipped such-and-such god as its divine ancestor, while the next tribe over never heard of said god. However, very broadly they seemed to share in mythology, and had some major gods in common. If you look at place names in Germany in the 7th century, or even in Anglo-Saxon England, you'll find lots of places dedicated to Woden. Woden is linguistically related to Odin. Then you have Thunor related to Thor, and so on. So there is good reason to assume the major gods of the Norse were around in some fashion to the Germanic tribes of the Roman era. But the interpretatio romana is an imperfect thing at best.

I think Augustus helped accelerate and solidify a Hellenizing trend in Ancient Rome, and therefore should be noted for that. Yes, he was a gangster before coming to power. But once in power he was a patron of the arts.

There were only 2 books on Ancient Rome in my local library, all written before 1980. So I had to donate some of my own collection to get them up to date.

I had heard Jones series was more about American foreign policy than about ancient cultures (i.e., how a supposedly advanced superpower is culturally inferior to civilizations with whom it is at war). In any event, I can't take Jones seriously. Why? Including the Greeks in his "barbarian" musings is preposterous. The Greeks invented the word "barbarian," and among all their subject peoples, the Roman held classical Greek culture in high esteem.

He says they worship Mercury, Hercules and Mars. These are most likely Odin, Thor and Tyr, respectively. He says some of the Suevi worship Isis. Isis is probably Freya, or Frigga, or both. What Tacitus does say, which is interesting, is that the Germans do not build temples to their gods, but worship them in sacred groves and natural settings. To give Caesar the benefit of the doubt, perhaps he saw Germans doing rituals in in the woods, and assumed they were simply honoring natural elements rather than gods per se. Who knows.

1 and 2. Just a few generations later, Tacitus records the various Germanic tribes as having certain deities. So Caesar's description is a little suspect. But also, there were indeed some changes in Germanic religion between the time Tacitus wrote and the ascendancy of the Viking Lore.

Posting in the After Hours Baths doesn't increase it either.

In the Gaulish and Germanic provinces, columns were erected to Jupiter, called Jupiter Columns. These columns usually depict a mounted Jupiter attacking various monsters, some of whom are snake footed. The statues probably depict a version of Jupiter syncretized with a local Gaulish or Germanic deity, as Jupiter in Rome is never depicted on horseback. The identity of the snake footed enemies is also debatable. Possibly it could be The Giants or the Titans with whom Zeus battles in Greek myth. But again it might be something inspired by barbarian belief.

Augustan Culture by Karl Galinsky touches on some of this.

Ancient Greece. Outside the classical world, I have an interest in a general historical overview of the world, or at least the European section of it. I'm a big fan of WWII. Finally, I have an interest in Western art history, which grew directly from reviewing some Roman art books from this site.

Two books I have read may help you along these lines, at least with the New Testament: http://www.unrv.com/book-review/historical-figure-of-jesus.php http://www.unrv.com/book-review/backgrounds-of-early-christianity.php As for me, I'm very wary of the whole thing. Growing up as a kid I always took it as granted that (for instance) the Egyptians used Hebrew slaves to build the pyramids. Then as an adult I read history and archaeology books that prove that Egyptians never had slavery on that scale (and I'm not sure if there were ever large numbers of Hebews in Egypt). If the Exodus story, one of the central pillars of Judeo-Christian belief, is simply a fairy tale, everything else should be questioned as well.

I think I'll skip this round. Although the first book on Late Antiquity seems mildly interesting, and rather cheap.

Chance: Go to the Arena. Do not Pass Go. Do not collect $200. You are killed by gladiators. Game over. Chance: You make an enemy of a crazed emperor. Your life is proscribed and your assets seized. Game Over. Chance: Slave uprising on your mining property! You forfeit your assets on this property. While you and your opponent try to gobble up most of the properties, you hadn't noticed that Germanic tribesmen swept in and took half the board from you.

50 years ago many of the stories were about heroes, often Judeo-Christian in nature, struggling against "the tyranny of pagan Rome" as stated in the opening prologue of Kubrick's Spartacus. Rome was backwards, savage, godless, and Our Heroes fight for a better future based on Judeo-Christian faith or humanist values. These days it seems like the violence of Ancient Rome is glorified for no other reason than to draw viewers in to special effects and fight scenes, in order to rake in money. However, if there is a message, it seems to be about Rome as a corrupt imperialist power, and parallels are drawn with varying levels of credulity to modern America.

Never read it. But authors comparing modern heads of state to ancient Roman emperors comes across a bit crass, and detracts from my inclination to read said book. And off the top of my head I could recite a few bad jokes about Clinton's Stoic inclinations with White House interns, but that would be too obvious, I suppose.

We had the digital/analog thing happen last year. I was confused what a shrubbery had to do with it. Maybe I am being obtuse today (it is a Monday). Anyway, welcome new recruits.

Digital or analogue? You lost me ....

But first, before you can participate, all you newbies must find and bring the UNRV Senate ..... a shrubbery!!!!

I remember that being an essential feature of the old, old forum we had on 2004. It was kind of neat seeing people's reputations rise after posting a good article or review .... or seeing some troll's reputation head into the negative.

I agree, except for one thing ... Caesar wasn't the type to simply retire from power. I think the Ides conspirators knew that as well, which is why they did what they did (not saying I sympathize with the aristocrats, but I can understand their motivations).