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Ursus

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Everything posted by Ursus

  1. It could be said the trend started with Augustus, who was granted a variety of titles to legitimize his rule in a society that did not want to officially recognize monarchs. By Aurelian's time, the need to have an almost god-like ruler to shore up the manifest weaknesses of the Imperial government, and offset potential pretenders to the throne, had become gross.
  2. Ursus

    Caesar

    Indeed, looks interesting.
  3. I think it's a question of applying a strict cost/benefit analysis to each new acquisition. In the Western Empire the regions around the Mediterranean were reasonably wealthy. They were also relatively Romanized to the degree that most often a full legion wasn't even necessary to keep order. Thus with minimal military overhead, those acquisitions could be considered profitable. The further we get outside the Mediterranean, the less wealthy the regions seem to be. The less Romanized the areas are as well, thus requiring more military overhead (three Legions in the comparitively small land mass of Britannia, for instance). The returns from conquest start to decline and probably become negative once we get to Britain. The Romans though were not guided by accounting principles in conquest so much as cultural ideals - empire without end, bringing "civilization" to far flung barbarians, and bringing honor and glory to the commanders who conquered them. In that sense, conquest for its own ends probably made the Western Empire unstable to begin with. They did not have, and were not interested in, the basic rational analysis employed by every modern company. The Byzantine Empire was, compared to the West, wealthier and in a better defensible position. It was simply more profitable, and thus able to survive longer.
  4. Olives, bread and chicpea soup? Yeah, even if there is some 'baker's surprise' in the bread it sounds pretty healthy to me in comparison to the greasy chicken and hamburger most (increasingly obese) Americans consume.
  5. All I can tell you is that in the original lunar calendar ( before Caesar's solar reforms), the Ides would have been the full moon, and associated with Jupiter, the sky god. I would think a day consecrated to Jupiter, the supreme god of the state, would actually have been considered lucky if anything, not an ill omen.
  6. I had that happen to me today, actually. Something about validation errors. But aside from that, I haven't noticed any major problems. I like the new set-up and the new look.
  7. I did book reviews on bios for Aurelian and Constantine if you want to take a look: http://www.unrv.com/contributors.php
  8. Thanks, Viggen. I can't seem to find any books here I will be buying. I'm sure the last book listed would cause no end of discussion on the Arena.
  9. Perhaps not as such, but he advocated for a very strong poetic reimagining of ancient religion in his White Goddess and other works. He basically crafted an imaginary ancient world with imaginary religions. The problem is that when people in your country got together after the repeal of its witchcraft laws to detemine exactly what pre-Christian religions were like, they used the works of Graves and others like him to craft a religion for ... for a new age, so to speak. This poetic retelling of ancient religion had little in common with history, though it was often presented as history by its adherents. Graves' forays into religious thought is damned by many scholars and cultural traditionalists for this reason.
  10. "Hush?" Really? Probably the best episode of the series, though it introduced Tara whom I never really liked as a character.... Next time if plays on reruns I'm watching for Flavia's cameos!
  11. Pat Robertson and the Republican primaries have a certain connection these days. I really doubt the libertarians and the moderates will win the party back from the neocons.
  12. I can't recommend anything by Graves. He may have been a good literati, but his historical and religious views are questionable at best. His bad scholarship basically laid the foundation for a lot of New Age myths.
  13. Ursus

    Greek History.

    One more suggestion: while it's something of a coffeebook table, Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece by Angus Konstam is well-done. Lots of great pictures and illustrations.
  14. Wow, it's been a long time since I wrote this essay. I wrote it basically as a response to some New Age enthusiast on the board who said "all religions are the same at the end of the day" - a view to which I took obvious exception. Apollo does represent a type of role model ... refined peace, cultivated civilization. At least this was the view Augustus seemed to promote. Dead on. In the years since I wrote this, I've come to view it as blase and elitist too. I have more sympathy now for the soteriological cults that eventually won out over Apollo.
  15. I have a Pentacostal Cousin who says much the same thing. Must be what Pat Robertson is telling his flock.
  16. Ursus

    Greek History.

    Ancient Greece: From Pre-Historic to Hellenistic Times by Thomas R. Martin is a good generalist introduction. A nice "bare bones" reference book on all aspects of Greece is Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece by Adkins and Adkins.
  17. I thought it was deeper than most people gave it credit for. It had a sense of humor I appreciated. And it also had Charisma Carpenter parading around in her California Girl outfits.
  18. Another entry in a long line of female empowerment shows. Personally I preferred "Buffythe Vampire Slayer" - it was a little more intelligently done.
  19. What did ye fans think of the season finale?
  20. I believe it is a religious work based on Jewish and Christian sentiments, with the former not accepting the claims of the latter. Perhaps you're referring to the New Testament alone, which places things in a different perspective. As far as historical veracity of the Bible as a whole, it is mixed. e.g., The Egyptians used domestic conscripts to build their pyramids. There is not much archaeological evidence to support large numbers of Hebrew slaves in Egypt. Exodus has about as much historical validity as the Aeneid. I look at it like this: myth usually has some very distant historical connection as a basis, or we wouldn't call it a myth. When stories are set in Never-Never lands, we call them fairy tales. But the actual myths themselves are probably better as allegory than history.
  21. The DVD is now available for pre-order on Amazon. I do not wish to spend $66 on it. However, if the producers are reading this, I would give it the most kindly review possible in exchange for a free copy.
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