Kosmo

Iulia Valentia Banasa in Mauretania Tingitana http://picasaweb.google.be/bryaxis/BanasaOctobre2008#

Oh, Reductio ad Nazium, elegant! Slavery in the Old World was never like in Uncle Tom's Cabin. Also, choosing your sexual partners, especially for females, it's a recent trend and is still far from universal.

Indeed. Slaves vs. free it's misleading. Slaves often are like freedman and often freedman are clients of their former owner, but in Rome everybody, not only freedman, had a patron. So, slave, freedman, client are different but related. Children and wifes are also a lot like slaves. And as FV mentioned most ottoman sultans were sons of slave mothers and those mothers called "valide sultan" played a huge role at the court.

Please do. I never heard about this before. Please look here, Kosmo. The website in the link shows a plaster cast of a crucified figure with the names Orpheus and Bacchus clearly inscribed in greek. http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=9856 and: http://www.vexen.co.uk/books/jesusmysteries.html Thank you!

Often the women were freed (by dropping nuts on their heads) and their children became roman citizens like their fathers. Using slaves for pleasure was widespread but still frowned upon. I bet few romans would tell a slave from the imperial household that he was less then human.

This time they don't look roman at all. Very nice movie except for the plot that I did not like that much.

"...I had been transported into the past, watching a performance in a semicircular Roman theater in the southern French city of Orange much as spectators had done 2,000 years ago. In front of me was one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering to have survived the cruelty of the centuries: a theatrical wall. Despite its scarred and stained stones, the wall stands defiantly. It is still deserving of the description: “The finest wall in my kingdom,” bestowed by Louis XIV..." http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/trave...mfrance.html?em http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/05/1...show_index.html http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/travel/1...mfrance.html?em IHT/NYT made an article about the roman ruins in Southern France, a nice slide show and travel tips.

Nimes?

Lord of the Misfits, Quirky Liberal Alpha Male here The intro looked like it was written by FV

Please do. I never heard about this before.

Here is a list of legions used against Parthia that I posted some time ago: "In his biography of Trajan, Julian Bennet mentions that, at the begining of the parthian campaign the roman army was gathered at Satala (south of Trapezunt in Cappadocia) The army was supposed of being made from some entire legions or parts of legions as follows: -from Syria - III Galica, IV Scythica, VI Ferrata - from Cappadocia - XII Fulminata, XVI Flavia Firma (the last was based in Satala) - Judeea - X Fratensis - Arabia - III Cyrenaica From the Danube came, on land across the Balkans and Asia Minor, or on the Black Sea from Tomis to Trapezunt the following: - in full - I Adiutrix, XV Apollinaris - probably in part - VII Claudia, XI Claudia, XIII Gemina, II Traiana fortis, XII Primigenia, XXX Ulpia victris, I Italica, V Macedonica. The total number it's hard to guess, but the author proposes that from this 17 legions were at least 8 full legions with at least as many auxilliaries for a total of some 80. 000 men." I will look in Bennet for the legions of the Dacian wars.

Augustus had created a post service for the relay of important messages, magistrates, taxes etc. How were the private letters and packages sent across the empire? Important people had their own messengers but this is clearly too expansive for the many letters that commoners send.

Interesting comparison. The balance of power was not changed much after the first round of wars while inter war actions like the occupation of Ruhr and the taking over of Corsica and Sardinia maintained the animosity.

Well done! I will put in the albums soon some of my pictures taken from this amazing site. NN it's your turn.

You've got the modern country right.

No. The heir of the roman emperors it's close to the city now.

Almost. It's Palmyra's sister city.

No. It's a theater in an other city.

Sorry for the delay.

There are 2 types of modern art. The first it's the business of decorating homes and hotels with pleasing unoriginal paintings mass produced especially in China and India. The other it's the production of crazy installations, that FV described so well above, in the hope of making some money and fame. Worse then modern art it's university art education. It is ridiculous to imagine that someone will be a more original artist if he is taught about art and forced to conform by some short minded teachers. I know one of this teachers and he made a good living by making flattering paintings of communist leaders and now in an effort to be original he paints only with black paint and makes collages with photos of nude women in provocative positions. I think FV was ironic above.

My own, rather large experience, with modern artists is that are all frauds. There is no idea behind the ugly things they made and if there is one that is childish and stupid. People buy modern visual art out of snobbery.

Porta di Venere in Spello?

The examples above are of people that have made it to centurion rank or above and probably had enough money to join the equestrian order. They were enjoying large pay, power and much better conditions then a grunt so they had good reason to stay in the army. For most others veterans receiving a nice farm plot in some border province was their retirement plan.

Roman entertainment was extremely brutal. Gruesome public executions, gladiator fights and hunts in the arena, dangerous chariot races, boxing with metal gloves, realist deaths during theatrical performances were all making people less sensitive to the pain of others.

Happy Birthday Ursus!