Ursus

A hotel? So you were traveling. Your patron must have been busy and not watching one of his favorite charges. May you recover quickly.

Nah, those poems would ruin my image around here. Besides ... what if they work and you all start swooning for me?

Nah. Unlike music, I can compose my own love poems. And I have. To great effect.

Simply that their families were ethnically Etruscan. But the Etruscans had been so culturally Romanized by the time of the early empire that their native language and culture were not much in evidence.

When the Romans talked about other cultures, they were apt to apply their own terms to alien institutions in a desperate attempt to draw parallels. Caesar called the chief policy making body of several Celtic tribes as a "Senate" though we can be assured this is not what the Celtic tribes called their own council, nor did it operate in like manner. The Punic government was superficially similar to the Romans insofar as it had two chief magistrates, a council of oligarchic families (the "senate" in question, I suppose), and a lower body of commoners. The Punic "Senate" seems to have been composed of the leading families of the commercial empire that was Carthage. However, a fundamental difference between the Carthaginian and Roman republican government is that the military sphere was separated from the civil.

I resolve to never give my opinion unless asked, to be less demanding and controlling of others, to be more understanding of drivel and stupidity, and to be generally more diplomatic and pleasant in demeanor. * * * * [snicker] * * * * * [snort] * * * * * BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had you all going for a second, didn't I?

Also wishing a Happy Birthday to the doc of love!

This thread is arena bound. Watch the insults or you'll find yourself starting out the New Year on moderated status.

I've been a bit unattentive lately, but I do hope the coming year blesses all members with favor and fortitude. Greet Janus with a smile. I shall have a drink in one hand and a cutie in the other.

Can we Pagans have the Parthenon and Pantheon back?

^ You know, I really like that Carnal girl and the way she thinks.

Thank you all for your suggestions, but your tastes in music differ from mine. I've decided my theme song will be "Unchained Melody" as sung by Elvis. Yeah, so there.

Well, I hope thigns do get better. Happy Yule/Saturnalia/Solstice. May the Gods favor you!

Yeah, I've heard of them. Not my thing, but I'd take them over the modern hip-hop crap anyday. ... I'm surprised no one listed "Baby One more Time" by Spears....

The I-am-at-work-and-can't-think-straight-because-my-blood-boils-with-desire kind of love.

In your opinion, what is the greatest love song ever?

I believe there was an old folk tale called the Saturnalia Carmina. Caesar had become an implacable tyrant hell bent on establishing a monarchy. Then one Saturnalia night he was visited by three manes who showed him visions of Rome past, present and future. Caesar learns the True Meaning of the Republic and renounces his ambitions. The whole thing concludes with Marc Antony exclaiming "Jupiter bless us everyone!"

Still happy you left the Beltway for Seattle? ;-) Glad you are ok.

Alternatively, you guys can renounce this bureacratic fantasy you call a European Union, tell your monarchy to get a real job, and become the 51st state.

Taking the ball and going home because you can't play nice with the other kiddies? This is like the third time? Maybe you should decide if you really want to come back.

But what kind of world do we live in when a mad squirrel can terrorize the populace and get away with it?

A woman on North 24th Avenue told police her ex-boyfriend was sending her dirty text messages. The ex-boyfriend told police he was receiving harassing phone calls from her. Both of them were told to leave each other alone. A man defecated on his father's vehicle along South Black Avenue. A deputy stopped to check on a vehicle pulled over on the interstate. The driver stopped his car to talk on his cell phone. The deputy praised the man for being safe and stopping his car to talk on the phone. A disgruntled employee defecated in a bag and set in near his job trailer in Cobblestone subdivision. The disgruntled employee then set the poop on fire. A teenager on Driftwood Drive was upset with his parents for making him work all the time. They also don't pay him for the chores. The boy was told to listen to his parents. There were some cows at large on Jackrabbit Lane Sunday. A man witnessed a cat and pigeon fighting on South Sixth Avenue and took the pigeon home after deciding the fight was unfair. Deputies assisted a disoriented motorist on Interstate 90 who pulled his vehicle into a ditch while wearing no pants, one sock and sunglasses at night. A rabid squirrel, foaming at the mouth, chased a man on South Third Avenue Sunday. The squirrel was not located. A man threw up on a dancer at a Gallatin Road strip club Thursday. A sick looking gopher was reported on West Main Street. The caller was concerned the animal might "jump out and eat someone." Police could not find the sick animal. A dog escaped a kennel on Amsterdam Road Sunday. The dog was corralled, kenneled and warned. A door was damaged on a Reese Creek Road home and a caller said a gopher definitely didn't do it. A woman who attempted to destroy a marijuana bong was cited for possession of drug paraphernalia. A man was running behind the Law and Justice Center. Police stopped him and found out he was just jogging. Officers responded to a 911 call from a woman on High Ridge Road and said two attackers were in her home holding a knife to her throat and hitting her repeatedly. She said the attackers stole "beanie babies" according to the report. When sheriff's deputies arrived they found the woman in the house alone, with no marks on her and found nothing was taken. The women, who was heavily intoxicated, then admitted to making the story up.

Saint Ursus was just trying to spread some holiday cheer, not incite a religious argument. You guys are naughty. Lumps of coals in all your stockings!

And what a crass, pornographic link it is. You're missing out.