caldrail

"Their drills were bloodless battles and their battles bloody drills". yes this quote keep emerging, its from Josephus's account of the jewish war. We know the romans did practice large scale fights occaisionally, even building temporary forts to practice siege warfare, and i can imagine the men were drilled hard. Of course they were, warfare fought face to face is a tough gritty business, one for which you need a certain mindset, and the romans were under no illusions about the reality of combat. An important observation is that this quote was applied to roman legions at that time. What the romans did stress was a need for physical training. That was why they trained with heavier practice weapons and shields, to accustom men to using weighty objects and to build strength and endurance. Its also true the romans were far from merciful. Once the decision had been made to assault a settlement, its inhabitants could expect a sword thrust into them. There's an interesting passage from Josephus that describes the capture of Jerusalem. Huge numbers of civilians were slain by rampaging troops, not too unusual for romans, but at some point even they became tired of the endless slaughter. Those lucky enough not be killed were either sent for slave labour in Egypt or the the provinces and an entertaining death. That psychological state in their legionaries was the aim of training too, because it not only made the men more frearsome, it also acted as a deterrent against resistance from the enemy by reputation. Roman pyschological warfare was far from sophisticated - it didn't need to be.

I don't usually like to sound sexist, but I've decided that after many years experience, women bosses are useless. Why? First is DG. She rose to power on the basis of impressing the male managers with her knowledge and expertise of our database workstations. Actually I don't think she knew that much - she was just better than most of making a big thing of it. Anyhow, she became the warehouse manager. All very smart and efficient, but she never left her office. The whole warehouse got to the point of collapse when she emerged one day and asked - "Whats going on?". She was also the person who left a briefcase in the foyer and sparked off a bomb alert involving police, the fire brigade, and a bomb disposal team from the army. Ok, everyone, you can go home now.... Or BB. Bless her. She was a rising star in the offices and they brought her into the warehouse for experience. One day she gathered a few of us long-timers and sat us down. "Right" She said, "I want you all to oversee stock control, and I want to sit down together each day and discuss any issues and resolve them amongst each other, and..." I stopped BB in mid flow. B, I said, whats the point? There's no issues to discuss and if we need anything, we just ask someone. BB stared open jawed at the alien concept of co-operation, then said "Yes, but I want you to discuss your issues....." Lets not forget DS. A dizzy blonde who cannot retain her balance in social situations, a woman for whom no frivolity was beneath her. A woman who turned the office into a practice range for elastic band missiles, whom I personally wrestled for possession of her golf balls (which she had been banging on the desk - why? What did you think they were?). A woman who sacks anyone who doesn't join her crowd of admirers, and a woman who has spent time in psychiatric counselling (nicknamed the 'Nutty Club' by us minions). A woman who believes a Vauxhall Vectra is a desirable motor car. Luckily she's also got a memory span that a goldfish would pour scorn on so now that she's sacked me, I can relax safe in the knowledge she's already forgotten me. How to be patient The telephone rings. I fall off the seat clumsily and pick up the receiver to speak with a bemused delivery driver who can't find my address. Not too suprising, since the address was incorrect. Is that typical for imports through Ireland? No matter. The driver was given the correct address, and I awaited my software eagerly. At 15:00 hours (approximately) I begin installing the package. Gone are the days of multiple disks and hefty instruction manuals, all you get now is a DVD. At 16:45, I realise the install procedure isn't going to be quick. Good job I'm patient. The progress bar has hardly moved. I decide to wander off and do something else in the meantime. At 21:38, the install dialog brings up a message saying "Processing Help System. Help is being installed. This may take an extended amount of time". My desk soon develops several dents and my head hurts... 00:35 and all is well! Its installed! Yahoooo! (thump) zzzzzzz.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........

Yep, that sort of thing happens in merry England too. As kids, we were hugely amused to learn that a certain blonde teacher had unwittingly gotten off with a student. Mind you, I don't think she was particularly worried judging by the big smirk on her face. The woman was shameless. However, I doubt too many of us would have volunteered for that sort of detention with her. I think in most cases the female teachers are well aware of the effect they have over hormone laden lads and treat it with reasonable caution, but every so often, human chemistry interferes... and... another paycheck to a jouirnalist.

Be careful with Vegetius. He's writing about traditional methods of training which weren't current in his day. There's no guarantee that all the methods described were applied to each individual legionary in any case, and there must have been some variation in the quality and extent of training provided according to who ran the legion and the circumstances of the time. For instance, if troops were needed desperately, then much of this training schedule would have been dropped. In periods of extended peace, its also likely a lot of this training would have been viewed as unnecessary by some some commanders and men given alternative, more useful duties.

No, I didn't see that, but I'm aware that women in some moslem societies get a raw deal. Two hundred lashes is a very harsh sentence though. British soldiers of the American War of Independence era were named 'Bloodybacks' for the punishments meted out for even minor transgressions. According to my information, one hundred lashes was potentially fatal, and wasn't always delivered in one session. There are some interesting points in that womans fate however. Notice that she's held responsible and therefore guilty, that a woman of good character and common sense would not have been raped in the first place, and that she must have in some way tempted the man to wrong-doing. I would be curious to know what happened to the man, how important he was in Saudi society, or how influential the families concerned were. It does seem to me that Saudi opnion is that women are inherently 'bad' and need to be contained as a threat to societies well-being, which if I remember right is a very old and traditional viewpoint common to the middle east. There are some nasty or duplicitous women around (I've bumped into one or two in my time) but isn't this a case of being tarred with a brush?

It is pretty obvious that Sejanus wanted power in Rome, and was using Tiberius's authority to achieve it. Tiberius was a funny sort of guy, he just didn't seem to like people, something of a loner? When Sejanus offers to take away some of the strain of leadership, Tiberius is only too willing to let him have it. Was the empire run badly under the Tiberius/Sejanus regime? Its true that many leading romans were eliminated from competition at that time, but that doesn't mean the empire was being badly run, although one does wonder if the loss of talent at the top was starting to make itself felt. By this time, I think, the empire was running on momentum quite happily. Had things been allowed to continue of course, Sejanus would have assumed control and I suspect he had a fair ability in organisation, albeit a reign that might have ended quickly as did with other tyrannical emperors.

GO, try this... http://www.bonannocoins.com/blog/index.html

Thats it, my last day in the shed. Big H was friendly and almost engaged us in conversation! Especially with AD, who he never forgave for comparing a sheepdog as his dad. First time those two have spoken in twelve months. I notice an english teacher got arrested in Sudan for allowing kids to name a bear 'Mohammed'. I get called names all the time but no-one arrests them. I'd shout back at them but under british justice the poor dears would get me arrested for breaching their peace. On the news last night they reported that in numerical memory tests chimpanzees beat human beings. Comes as no suprise to me. I get demonstrations of human intelligence every Saturday night. Conspiracy Theory of the Week Apparently this year the humble hedgehog has been observed in huge numbers - particularly for this time year. Its proof of Global Warming I tell you. They're thriving on our sub-tropical winters and unleaded fuel. Nothing stops them, not even their carbon footprints. We now know they breed faster in wet weather too, because the July Floods forced them out of their little hidey holes and made them to act together to survive. Don't laugh, you have been warned... The Hedgehogs Are Coming!

I'm not disputing the apparatus of roman democracy, just to what extent it actually meant to the ordinary people. Study of such things tends to emphasise these laws and such, which is fine, but I see it as more important to study how meaningful these laws actually were and how people related to them. For instance, a law might say that the population were allowed some benefit, whereas the great and good simply ignore it as an incovenience. Thats not a historical point, just that things aren't always so cut and dried and records of various institutions don't underwrite everyones actions and views. Democracy is always ambiguous, because it relies on the sum of differing opinions. But then I notice a lot of people have very precise definitions of what they believe democracy to be, whereas I would say it's a generic term for a range of possible systems. Cato's description of a 'free state' is a specific description of socio-political contructs, which require rules, regulations, boundaries, obligations, and responsibilities. These are not freedoms. A society of that nature protects a certain amount of freedom in theory, not in practice, because as we know human nature tends toward getting what you want at someone elses expense. People thrive on exploitation, and always have. Don't get me wrong, I'm not some anarcho-commie rebel in the hills, but all our socio-political constructs are extensions and derivations of instinctive social behaviour, which even on a primitive level require that members of the herd do as the boss says or you get bitten, humiliated, or chased away. The greeks invented a democratic system (I believe they were the first?), but I would shy away from describing it as a huge step forward in human relations. It was extraordinary political experiment but one that actually doesn't usually work too well, since inevitably an individual comes along and says, 'No, I want to be top dog'. Which is why modern democracy is about voting for leaders as opposed to the greek participation method. And lets face, since when did modern politicans give ordinary people a chance to participate directly unless they can benefit from that themselves? Where the romans any different? No, of course not. You have a non-hereditary aristocracy that like calling the shots. I've no doubt some of them were happy with roman democracy as it stood, I can easily see some of them hissing with fury and frustration when they couldn't get their own way. So what do you do about that? You make allies. You do a deal. You persuade people to do what you want both publicly and privately. You do as the romans.

The problem with describing the horror of war from roman eyes is that the common soldier didn't write of his experiences, apart perhaps from private correspondence which probably hasn't survived. So the great majority of descriptions of such things come from educated men who might not have experienced warfare themselves. What you need to do is read through accounts of campaigns, and I would suggest Julius Caesars description of his conquest of Gaul, which apart from the exaggerations gives a commanders eye view of what was going on, and also Josephus's account of the Jewish War for glimpses of roman soldiers who are bored and careless besides those implacably besieging the jews. Back that up with say, Tacitus and Suetonius, who fill in with stories and anecdotes of warfare, and a general picture emerges. What you need to do though is look closely at what is being said. Sometimes there's little clues to be had in phrases that otherwise might pass mention - for instance, in Suetonius, where he describes Julius Caesar pushing men back into line as their morale crumbles in the heat of battle, being threatened by one standard bearer, and another running off leaving the standard in his hands. There is an extraordinary account of camping over winter somewhere, so cold that one mans hands fall off as he picks up firewood. A little overstated perhaps, but there's a hint of frostbite there definitely. Typically, a roman soldier is a robust character, strong camaraderie, very much someone to find a way of getting off heavy duties, a man who would casually steal a civilians donkey and use violence if the man complained, a soldier who was trained to fight and dehumanised enough to slay the occupants of a town if ordered to do so, fully capable of long hard marches to get there, and fully capable of building fortifications right there and then. They were rough men, accustomed to hardship and violence, and men who actually became indifferent soldiers very quickly if poorly led, and very bolshy if they decided they were badly treated. They were also men who lived in a regime where punishments might be severe, and despite the risk, guards regularly slept propped up on the spears and shields. In most cases I imagine they weren't afraid of their enemies either, though often there must have been some grudging respect. I think the important thing is that roman soldiers were taught and trained to expect hardship, to overcome fear, and to shrug off the privations of army life. Many of them would have shouldered their loads as ordered and gritted their teeth at discomfort. And complain mightily if their commander didn't acknowledge their efforts.

No, they didn't, especially the private roads that linked important estates directly.

I disagree - but you might not see my point. Thing is, I regard Augustus as something of a successful dictator in the modern sense, a man who has managed to overcome criticism and any potential threats and makes great efforts to appear a benign ruler. He is in other words putting on a public act. Now I know there are people who will disagree with that - fair enough - but follow the arguement. You have a man who ahcieves a great reputation, both by deed and propaganda (not to mention a lot of help from others), so the man who follows him would have to be pretty exceptional to be seen in the same terms. Who could have possibly put Augustus in the shade? There is a train of thought that says such a man as Augustus would deliberately choose a worse man to follow him in order to remembered in favourable terms. Augustus was certainly capable of acting in that fashion, and lets remember he was keen to keep Claudius under wraps. However, he also had the misfortune to lose family members who would have been groomed to follow him, and for all his faults, I think Augustus actually did want the empire to be a success after him.

There's no concrete information whether a legionary was assigned to clean or repair footwear, or indeed if both activities were required. It may even have been an onerous duty given to those legionaries foolish enough to be caught out by a senior man, or even if they hadn't bribed him. I should actually stress that although there was a very physical regime in the legions, this obviously wasn't always practised, and the soldiers were accustomed to bribing officers to be given light duties, and its even on record that at one time soldiers complained that there weren't enough opportunities for bribery! Incidentially, there's a good appraisal of the egyptian record I mentioned in Adrian Goldsworthy's The Complete Roman Army

Sunday morning is a time when we survey the damage left by late night revellers. A womans shoe is on the pavement, a sure sign that Cinderella went to the ball and decided that Prince Charming wasn't charming enough. Not really suprising since he and his mates were drunk, engaging in a singing competition in which random lyrics are put to random melodies and may the loudest voice win. Every week this goes on. Where's Simon Cowell when you need him? At any rate, Cinderella was probably on a girls night out and was too drunk to care, whooping and screaming every time she blindly bumped into something. But that was last night. Her taxi is now a pumpkin again, and the man who headbutts taxi's has gone home to sleep off his bruises. A key left on my front wall? Not mine, and I must admit I do feel a little smug that other people can lock themselves out of their homes too. Not that I ever do that of course. The fact that I'm on first name terms with my local locksmith is entirely co-incidental. He's an ex-RAF chap, a man for whom manning a machinegun in a helicopter window was not the career he had originally envisaged, and to be honest, you get the impression he thinks that idiots who lock themselves out of their own homes deserve to be gunned down by passing RAF helicopters. What saves me from certain doom of course is that I pay him to get in. And also that as a civilian the RAF are none too keen to let him man machineguns anymore. Phew. Talking of RAF helicopters, a couple of years ago I was hiking along the Thames Pathway one sunday. The weather wasn't particularly good, the fishermen along the banks were miserable and unwilling to let me by, and the path itself bore an uncanny resemblance to no mans land. There I was, in the middle of a grassy field, when an RAF helicopter burst into view at tree top height, obviously following the river. I reached for my camera, hoping for a close up all action photo, and immediately, the 'copter banked hard right and performed an extraordinary evasive manoever. Very impressed lads. It seems I now own the only Ground to Air Camera that registers on RAF threat displays. Near the top of the hill I turn off the main road and pass by the Rushey Platt Blind Association building, whose car park entrance is being repaired. One does wonder, eh? Visit of the Week AD decides to let me see the warehouse where I'll be working. Security is busy sleeping in the gatehouse, jerking upright as we toot our horn driving by. I think he needs a another pet rat to keep him company. Turns out our new home is a nice place. Clean, tidy, not like the grubby Shed or the cavernous dark underworld of the Hangar. Very busy place too, with stuff lying everywhere. So... we ask in all innocence, where exactly is the floor space allocated to our use? Huh? For a moment he blinked, his jaw hanging open. What we have here is a failure to communicate...

Perhaps it might be better to give the pro's and cons of each character rather than deciding who was in which camp? It is largely opinion after all.

Not that I know of, but are you talking about recruit training or ordinary drills for long standing legionaries? If the latter, then it raises some objections. I cannot believe the legionaries were allowed one day of rest in three. Most had no money, having gambled, spent, sent, salted away, used it for bribes, or having been cheated of it at some point. The romans were very keen to keep soldiers busy - troops with time on their hands become very badly behaved. As for getting tired out, no army allows its men to get tired do they? What appears to be the case in recruitment circumstances is any man who can't hack it is drummed out, there and then. Roman legionaries exhibit an astonishing camaraderie. They frequently refer to each other as 'brother', and quickly close ranks against people taking legal action against soldiers. For much of legion history roman soldiers weren't allowed to marry, the idea being that the lack of sex would make them fierce, and a lack of family commitment would make them more willing to travel as required. Do you see the pattern emerging? These are men who are put through harsh exercise regimes and become proud of their ability to tough it out. These legionaries had often been recruited from men who had been brought up used to physical hardship. As for cleaning, a papyrus document from egypt shows that men were allocated to such duties, much like KP (kitchen patrol) is today. Some were tasked to care for boots in some way, either repairing them or cleaning, perhaps both? However, each man would almost inevitably have had to keep his own kit clean and given the usual wear and tear, this must have been regular activity rather than an allocated duty. Armies haven't changed that much in two thousand years! As I understand it, garrison troops were expected to practice route marches and overnight camp building once per week. The egyptian document doesn't list this, so perhaps in times of peace things might get a little lax? Troops were also expected to guard local public buildings, serve as assistants to senior men, and other mundane activity. The legions did not give troops a rest after battle, at least not officially, and it should be remembered that a battle is usually part of a campaign thus the troops were needed somewhere else to continue the war. If at the end of a war, then it was likely it was a siege of some kind, and instead of a rest the troops were allowed to loot and pillage at will, something regarded as a perk of victory.

There's an internet cafe I use infrequently. Its sited in an area of immigrant people, many of them muslim (the proprietor is - I've seen him using his prayer mat behind the desk). Now, as individuals, I have no arguement with these people. I do not like zealotry of any kind, its too dangerous and irrational for my sensibilities, and whilst I've no reason to believe that anyone sitting at the computers there are terrorists hell bent on destroying western civilisation as e know it, there's always an uncomfortable feeling. Clearly I'm viewed as an outsider, tolerated because society says discrimination is wrong and heck, I suppose my money is as good as anyone elses. Here's the difference though - whilst I will quite happily converse and deal with these people as required, they seem very reluctant to do so with me. Why? I'm an ordinary citizen, I'm a customer, I don't bother anyone else unduly nor do I hold their culture(s) in contempt. But at the same time this feeling of seperation (it isn't rejection thankfully) isn't conducive to good relations is it? I suspect this is true of many people, not just me. How much of this atmosphere is down to the media? Our collective opinion? Our tribal inclinations? Is this a result of bomb blasts or rabble-rousing clerics in foreign lands? To what extent are we influenced by word of mouth as opposed to establishment sources? I have to be honest -whilst I would like to be objective about this its difficult to be so in the light of terrorism and all its random barbarity.

Exceptions? What difference does that make? It happened Cato, you can't just ignore events that don't suit you. And I should point out that Sertorius and Brutus weren't from amongst the great unwashed either. Hardly a point in favour of plebian democracy. What on earth are you gabbling on about? A free man exists in a state of harmonious anarchy, a benign state of infinite individuality. He lives without threat, obligation, or responsibility. Like any asymptotic value, its impossible to achieve, largely because we're social animals and form cultures as an extension of our pack behaviour. For every situation that requires interaction and group effort, that free man must relinquish some of his freedoms to co-operate. A free man cannot defend democracy alone, he must therefore seek co-operate with others and either lead or accept leadership to co-ordinate efforts to preserve his herd. The obligations of service and responsibilities of command are not freedom. Those that choose not to co-operate risk rejection by the group, and since we're programmed by nature to regard this as a poor survival strategy we generally go with the flow. Therefore, your concept of democracy is hopelessly biased toward your own ideals (based on classical ideas which I see you admire greatly). Influence Cato, influence. Human beings do that all the time and always have. You for instance are trying to influence others to believe I'm talking nonsense by pouring scorn on everything I'm writing. Its absurd to believe the roman republican government was whiter than white. Those men were ambitious, powerful, wealthy capitalists who ran a conquest state that ruthlessly enslaved or slaughtered anyone they wanted to. Not a recipe for democratic paradise is it? Get real Cato. Of course there were dirty deals done behind closed doors, there always is in any human society, or are the morning papers not evidence enough for you? If I want to use the word 'conspriacy', I will do so thank you. No thats your reasoning. America may hae based its constitution on classical ideas but wake up, its the twenty first century and a different nation. or do all roads lead to Washington DC? Pardon? Since when was democracy precisely defined by real world politics? Even the greeks fell short and their participating democracy is the closest there's been , at least as far as I'm aware. Democracy is an ideal, one you can approach but never achieve, and like many things in life, it isn't a black and white issue, its shades of grey. The romans had their own shade of it. I'm sorry Cato, but your idea of democracy is utterly naive. You know Cato, I've presented arguments against your view of republican politics. Ok, I may not be an expert on such things, but so far your argument appears to be that I'm wrong, the books I read are wrong, and only the books that agree with your opinion have any value. There is no way I can accept your argument on those principles. Say what you like, your case is unproven, and you won't prove it by attempting to bully me into silence. Please present an arguement based on fact, not your opinion - that is after all what you're demanding of me.

You know, I remember some books I had from when I was very young. All those carefully painted pictures of aeroplanes and trains. Modern publications and their hard focused photographs lack the same romanticised mystery don't they?

A free people require their leaders to explain themselves and justify their actions, as the tribunes of the republic required of consuls like Pompey and senators like Cicero--they don't permit homicidal lunatics like Caligula and Nero to abuse them without resistance, as the lapdogs of the empire did. So why wasn't Sulla removed from power for breaking one the most important traditions, of no military interference in Rome? Why did he not have to explain himself tio the masses? Why was Julius Caesar not removed from power in Rome for the same reason? My point however is that the the romans were not entirely a free people. No individual of the lower ranks of Rome could make his voice felt. They only did so if someone of higher status decided their cause was just, or if they spoke as a mob. These supposedly free men were restricted in where they could sit for crying out loud. You keeping pushing the view that Rome was democratic, but that ignores the restrictions of roman culture. A free people take an interest in the defense of their state, as they did in the republic--they don't cut off their thumbs to avoid military service, as they did during the empire. Although the cutting of thumbs was common practice by the late empire, its recorded that Augustus had to deal with that problem, and since recruiment had remained more or less the same since Marius, we can safely assume the problem existed during the republic too. Also, free people often have no interest in defense at all. Why should they? If they feel the need to defend, then people are not free - they are required by circumstance or inclination to adopt a restricted attitude. A free people can even taunt, satirize, and write ribald poems about their leaders, as Favorinus and Catullus did--during the empire, this kind of thing could and did get people killed. Plenty of figures got satirised and mocked in public, including emperors, and I notice the suprise in Suetonius when Augustus refuses to punish severely a slave who mocked. These attitudes were nothing new, so therefore, I can again safely assume that pre-imperial VIP's did get upset sometimes. However I concede there was more restraint in republican times. A free people can chart their own personal lives. Just think about the incident with Augustus and his daughter Julia--only when you have supreme power vested in one person do you get the utter absurdity of one woman's sex life causing the deaths and exiles of so many people. During the republic, women like Julia certainly existed (Servilia, Fulvia and Fulvia come immediately to mind), but they were free to be as promiscuous as they wanted w/o getting all their lovers killed. But promiscuity was rarer in the republic, because the prevailing uncertainty meant that people led more austere lives. I forget her name, but one woman scandalised roman society during the late republic for the same activity that merely raised gossip in imperial times. These lifestyle restrictions are part of roman culture, and a free people can't do what they want if they can't afford to. Many of these people were genuinely poor. Thats why they begged for coins at the doors of the wealthy, and also why the wealthy were able to persuade them to do them a favour. Even from first principles it works. We DON'T know that patronage was very nearly an alternative government. NO Roman sources attest to such an arrangement. If you can find a SINGLE ancient source that attests to such a system, I'll eat crow. Really, if we're going to just make up institutions out of thin air, we might as well get creative and claim that Martians were very nearly an alternative government! Martians were running the republic? Thats an interesting premis Cato. Do you have any evidence for that? Thought not. Lets stick to romans shall we? Of course there's no text saying these things - good grief, the records were written by the very same people who were pulling the strings in most cases. On the one hand it was simply life and not worth mentioning, on the other it carried a hint of corruption and wasn't something to admit to. In contrast to this fictional system for which there is absolutely no evidence, we DO have ample evidence of voting in ancient Rome, as well as the fact that voting was a legal right. Thats not what I meant. Voting was indeed a legal right. What I'm disputing is 'one man, one vote' had any reality in roman politics, and it didn't. The popular assemblies used block votes, not some 'first past the post' system. There were people who campaigned for democracy in roman politics but this was offset by resistance of the privilged, just like most societies. Further, the secret ballot wasn't introduced until 139-131BC, and if Cicero is anything to go by, it was a move that frustrated members of the senate. I wonder why?

Its also known that contraception by various means was practised regularly. Leather condoms have been recovered. Also, does this 100 illegimate children include those unacknowledged by the father and exposed/left for slavers? Those born to slave women aren't likely to be counted to be honest, since they're simply property of the slaves owner. Or is this claim made to underline the virility of the gentleman?

Looking good as ever!

And Michael Grant? John L Patterson (Political Life In The City Of Rome)? They all say the same things. I agree with them. You see, you regard the republic as essentially superior to the empire. But what was different? The romans hadn't changed one iota. They were still competitive, they were still prone to corruption, they were still class concious, and they still operated by obligation and private agreement, just like they always had. Rome may well have had good intentions (or rather thsoe romans who weren't among the aristocracy and were campaigning for exactly the sort of democratic state you describe) with all these assemblies, traditions, and rulings, but you cannot escape the nature of the roman people. Just because a law exists does not mean its adhered to. Do you ever break the speed limit when driving? More to the point, the law exists often in an attempt to rectify a lack of observance of existing rules. Just ask our current government, they make laws to enforce laws that were made to 'plug gaps' in laws that already covered the situation. Was Rome really so different? No, I don't think so. And its all very well rubbishing Michael Crawfords work claiming he has no evidence, but you don't have any evidence that 'one man, one vote' ever really existed in roman politics as a safeguarded tradition and legal right, especially since we know that patronage was very nearly an alternative government.

It is interesting to compare Napoleons experience with Hitlers. In 1812, La Grande Armee advanced along a narrow corridor with at least 100,000 men, with Moscow as the military objective to force russian capitulation. Hitler unleashed three million troops plus modern arms and logistics on a broad front, occupying territory and with oil as a major objective. In 1812, the russians harassed the advance but refused to commit to battle until the gates of Moscow were in sight. In 1941, the russians defended every inch as best they could. For these reasons the campaigns were very different. In terms of weather, there are obvious similarities. Neither the french nor the german invasions had planned or equipped for cold weather. Whereas the french advance was difficult, the failure of modern transport in russian conditions brought the german advance almost to a standstill, requiring the requisition of civilian horses and carts. Another point about advancing into russia is the experience of german soldiers, who recorded in interviews filmed in the 70's that the endless flatttened terrain of russia was both difficult to navigate and extremely depressing since after you reached the next hill there was only another in the distance. Vosslers account doesn't mention this malaise, and I'm not sure why.

We don't own the Shed we work in. No, we rent it, at a stupid price, from NF the site manager. NF wants us out of the Shed so he could squeeze us in with all our pallets in the Hangar, and rent the Shed to someone else at an even stupider price. Which sort of backfired a little because we're shortly to move down the road to rent warehouse space from a professional company at a stupider price still. Now I turn up for work one morning. I have to walk through the Hangar to reach the yard, but found the back door locked up. So I went into the office and enquired, only to be told that no-one had any idea who I was and until they did, no access allowed. I've been working here for months! They folded their arms. Well after some irate words and emails and phone calls, I was finally allowed to use the key to the back door, which I could obtain from Security, a pleasant old chap at the front gate who reminisces about his pet rat (deceased) and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of rechargeable batteries. Now I turn up for work one morning. The key had gone! Vanished! Nowhere to be found! Ok, off to the office to enquire. Go find SB they tell me, he's got it. Why? Oh never mind. As chance would have it SB is forklifting pallets around the Hangar and I ask him for the key. "Its open." he shrugs, and drives off. Ok, off to the office to complain. NF decides its time to have this out, so a little later he approaches me in the back yard. "Why do you need the key? Is it really important?" Pardon? Yes says I, its a matter of principle, its a matter of security, its a matter of access, its.... And so on, until NF decided that a confrontation wasn't worth the tonguelashing. One key, duly delivered. They used to do this to AD, but apparently he got his way by breaking open the fire escape every time. And the second time the key vanished from Security? Found in someones car. Career Move of the Week JD is a young lady who joined us because her previous job was too quiet. After four months at Head Office she's now leaving her current job too, this time because its even quieter. Apparently everyone sat next to each other in that office communicate by email only. At least I have an excuse. I'm eighty miles away.