Ursus

"Freedman and sons of freedmen were usually not admitted. It is also evident that senators had to be qualified for membership of the equestrian order, which meant ownership of landed property worth 400,000 sesterces." Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd edition. In the imperial era, the requirement was for 1 million sesterces.

Excellent review. Thank you, Maty. Pat Southern was a lot more sympathetic in her treatmeant of the two lovers. I think I am more inclined to side with Goldworthy with Antony as a "drunken boor" and Cleopatra as a "homocidal geek." Yep, that sounds about right. I'll definitely be on the look out for this book when it comes to paperbook! And hurray for an Augustus bio! But please, no stories of Livia and poisoned figs.

Did it wrap up? Excellent. The DVD should be out in 6 months, then. Edit: It's already available for pre-order on Amazon. Wow.

Disciplina ("discipline"). Also known as Discipulina, a roman goddess of of orderly conduct used for propaganda purposes in the later empire to help maintain order within the legions. The earliest dedication to this goddess appears to be an inscription on the altar found at Chesters, Hadrian's Wall, England. Here the dedication was to the discipline of the Emperor Hadrian and dates to his reign (117 - 138). Dedications were more usually "Disciplina Augusti" or "Discipulinae Augusti" ("to the discipline of the Emperor"). Disciplina was portrayed on coins during the latter part of Hadrian's reign, and dedications are known from various parts of the empire where troops were stationed. Eight dedications are known from Britain and seven North Africa. - Dictionary of Roman Religion. Adkins and Adkins. I don't think Discliplina was a real goddess per se, more like a deified virtue along the lines of Peace or Concord, used to inspire servants of the empire and reinforce the ruler cult. The fact that there are only a few dedications known, all of them military, seem to enforce that view. I doubt you'll find much more than what the Adkins managed to dredge up.

That's an interesting theory, Melvadius ... Klingan, I don't think so. I could be wrong, but I don't think Greek scientists were that advanced.

I've read Ulansey. I agree with the overal thesis that the role of astrology seems critical to the cult, but I think some of his details are wild conjecture. The bull probably represents the moon, as bull's horns are linked to the crescent moon in Greco-Roman astrology. Why does Mithras, the Invincible Sun, look away from the Bull/Moon at the moment of sacrifice? It's probably some central theological code known to the initiates of the cult, now lost to history.

http://www.npr.org/2011/02/20/133913215/Detroit-May-Need-A-Hero-But-Is-It-Really-Robocop So, Primuspilus, what are your thoughts on this?

Thank you, Mr Roller, for saying everything that needs to be said. Honestly, we could boil it down to this: 1) Cleopatra wasn't "black" 2) This should'nt matter to anyone except crazy Afro-centrists

Ancient Britons devoured their dead and created gruesome goblets from the skulls of their remains, according to new research published on Wednesday. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/17/us-science-britain-skulls-idUSTRE71G2JB20110217

Well, I'll gladly read your reviews, Bryaxis. But I meant I was hoping Viggen could secure a few books on foreign cultures for free giveaways.

Great idea. One thing I would like to see is more books related to cultures from the Forum Peregrini. I know you recently handed out one on Carthage. I'd like to see the occasional book on Ancient Greece and the Hellenistic kingdoms, the Celts and the Germanic tribes, etc.

Was this any good? I had read another book by Ellis and he was, uh, very biased toward the Celts.

I bought The Celtic World, which is an anthology of essays edited by Miranda Green. It is a rather expensive book, but I found it cheaply used on Amazon. It is very academic and not intended for the general reader. It is dry, long winded, and some of the topics are rather arcane. But those who have a keen interest in the Celts may find it rewarding.

Homosexual acts have obviously been around since the dawn of time. But homosexuality as an identity has only been around in the past century or so. As some people noted, back then you were expected to marry and reproduce no matter your true inclinations. Trying to retroactively force a modern identity construct on someone whose era couldn't understand said identity construct makes the whole issue rather absurd.

The East was always richer, both culturally and financially. I do believe a move was inevitable. If Antony had won at Actium, no doubt he would have left a lieutenant in charge of Rome while he and his dynasty ruled from Alexandria.

.... well, the red and yellow together doesn't look quite as bad as the article made it seem. Still, not exactly my own taste in color schemes .....

hail!

I have this book halfway read. I personally like it, but I don't think it's going to appeal to someone wanting a more traditional politico-military perspective. I'll explain in a forthcoming review.

Pretty evenly split between positive and negative. It seems like one can enjoy it as long as one wants nothing more than an action piece set in Roman times.

Hahaha!

I believe our own Klingan is Swedish, I'm sure he can translate it.

... I don't think this was a major revelation, was it? People might quibble over the figure a little bit, but it sounds roughly in line with what I had always heard about populations and population distributions around this time frame. Or maybe I am missing the significance?

I saw a trailer for this the other day on the TV. Why is that significant? Well, I don't remember seeing much advertisement for "Centurion" at all when it was in this country.

I haven't read the whole piece (economics being as exciting to me as watching paint dry), but if the summary is true, then it seems to corroborate Peter Heather's beliefs that the later empire was not the impoverished mess some people suggest it was.

This Yankee had to look up what "snooker" meant. At first I thought it was some kind of recreational drug.