Ursus

Nice post, Zama. While whatever historical prelude to the Trojan war is fascinating, I'll reiterate what I said in another thread. Mythology should be read as allegory or entertainment (or both), and attempts to ground it somehow in the real world are superfluous. The Greek war bands probably marched against Ilium for control of the surrounding trade routes, and that's all well and good. But Homer's Trojan War is about the relation of men to gods, fate and honor - and that's what matters. :-)

I understand it is a reboot of the franchise? I hope it gives Bond a fresh new persepctive. The last few Bond movies have been horrible. The post-Cold War world has not been kind to male escapist espionage fantasies.

The church didn't fully split until 1054. My advice is not to trust any "historical" assertion found in books that have those little crescent moons on them symbolic of Wicca.

I'll also add for the original poster, you may wish to check out the Forum Peregrini for topics on the Celts and Romano-Celts, some of which are related to Roman Britain. Many of our UK residents such as Pertinax have an obvious interest in the area and are quite erudite on the subject.

I will see if what I can find out for you. The gods of the barbarians are not my strong suit, but I know people for whom they are.

I am flattered. Happy reading.

Yes, provided it was a delectable lunch.

And with all due respect to the Semitic languages, Latin doesn't sound like one is hacking up one's lungs .... You guys ever see Branagh's "Henry V" where after the Battle of Agincourt they sing "Non Nobis Domine?" Beautiful. Latin has long mystified this non-Catholic, and I think Ratzinger, whatever else may be said about him, is bringing the Church back to certain cultural and aesthetic roots. As a culturalist I'm all for it, and it's not even my religion.

I'm all for women's studies until it degenerates into bitchy pomo deconstructionist blather. Aside from that, the early empire and the growing freedom of women (of at least the upper class variety) in contrast to the patriarchy of the Republic is quite interesting. The topic of women and sexuality in ancient Rome is also very interesting, but perhaps not suitable to everyone.

Do you play strip poker online?

_Roman Britain_ by Guy de la Bedoyere is a must.

Aurelian instituted the cult of Sol Invictus, and it existed more in tandem to the cult of Jupiter than as a replacement for it. In the tradition of Augustus, most shrewd emperors knew how to introduce new cults without officially replacing older ones. Aurelian, in fact, most often associated himself with Jupiter before finding Sol Invictus. Diocletian's religious policies have to be understood in light of the politics of the times. The Crisis of the Third Century made ruling circles keenly aware of how fragile the empire really was. It was thought that religious comformity would reunite the empire culturally and return the favor of the gods from a troubled time. This was especially poignant since Caracalla had proclaimed near universal Roman citizenship, making the Roman gods the gods of everyone, in effect. If certain Greco-Oriental cults were gaining in popularity over more traditional Roman ones, it was because those Eastern gods offered more: a better afterlife, mystical union with a deity, a clear moral code and cosmology, colorful rites and rituals, etc. In the private religious life of the people (as distinct from the state run cults) it seems the common person honored a variety of deities and spirits, new and old.

The legions were keen to honor such deities as Mithras and Jupiter Dolchenus, whose respective attributes endeared them to soldiers. But probably not the same thing as a death/warrior cult. You might want to look at Germanic polytheism with Wotan and the tradition of "beserkers."

"We are lovers of beauty without extravagance, and lovers of wisdom without effiminancy. Wealth to us is not mere material for vainglory but opportunity for achievement; and we think poverty nothing to be ashamed of unless one makes no attempt to overcome it. Our citizens attend to both public and private duties and do not allow absorption in their own affairs to diminish their knowledge of the City's business. We differ from other states in regarding the man who keeps aloof from public life not as "private" but as useless; we decide or debate, carefully and in person, all matters of policy, and we hold, not that words and deeds go ill together, but that acts are foredoomed to failure when undertaken undiscussed. For we are noted at once for being most adventurous in action and most reflective beforehand. Other men are bold in ignorance, while reflection will stop their going forward. But the bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what lies before them, glory and danger alike - and yet go forth to meet it." I agree the speech has a certain merit. :-)

I always wanted to go to a Catholic Mass and listen to the Latin.

Excellent.

Mythology should be read somewhere between divinely inspired allegory and entertaining folklore. I'm not sure how profitable it is to relate it to a real world setting....

I'm not so inclined as trying to decipher these ramblings as I am to suggest this thread simply doesn't belong here. Let's move it to the Afterhours forum.

The audio commentary states they are all scenes from Rome's legendary early history, with some other allusions to Greco-Roman mythology. The Geese are Juno's sacred geese warning the Roman defenders of Gallic invaders. The scene where men are carrying female figures overhead depicts the rape of the Sabine women. The medusa head should be a fairly obvious mythological allusion. I liked the graffiti opening when I first saw it, but I do believe they need something different for season 2.

Hellenism means different things to different people. It can mean the archaic warrior values of Homer's heroes. The heady intellectualism of philosophy. The world denying mysticism of Orpheus and Pythagoras. The drunken mania of Dionysus. The democracy of Athens, the militarism of Sparta, or the monarchial grandeur of Ptolemaic Egypt. Pagans, Christians and Agnostics alike can point to Hellas for religious origins. Literature, Art, philosophy. religion, science and math, politics - there is a wide range from which to choose. What does Hellenism mean to you? Which of its legacies do you internalize?

This thread was started in the Forum Peregrini. Since this culture doesn't really relate to Rome, the best I can say of it is that it should moved to the Post-Roman history folder, where the Viking connections to Byzantium and the Germanic successor kingdoms to Rome may be more on topic.

Uninhibited Nymphomaniacs Realizing *iagr*

Happy Birthday to Moonlapse!

I'm inclined to think you would have saved the taxpayers and the judicial system a lot of money and time if you had shot him with your pistol. But at least he won't be bugging you anymore. :-)

If you see something big and scary following you around this Halloween, don't worry - it's just your butt. (seen on a Hallmark card)