caldrail

Let me rephrase my statement. I did not mean to imply that most or even many Romans were not superstitious. Just that a "flat earth" concept would not be held by greek educated romans, as differentiated from the ranks of legions, they however would have been familiar with Eratosthenes and his proof of the earths roundness and his calculation of it's approximate size. I recall seeing a roman coin years ago that had a globe on it. Interesting. However the existence of this knowledge does not prove everyone knew or agreed with it. Despite some rather conclusive proof of Erastjenes ideas, we still have people today who beleive the world is flat. The idea that the average sailor was conversant with what was scientific theory of the time is hard to justify, since they were unlikely to be particularly well educated and almost certainly extremely superstitious as sailors usually are. Further, if you notice, the form of the world the Romans lived in is not discussed widely at all. The truth was that although the greeks had formulated some odd idea that the world was round, the majority of Romans only conceived the world as a place that got increasingly mysterious as you travelled beyond the reach of Rome. With the renaissance Eratosthenes was rediscovered and was the argument used at the Spanish court for not supporting Columbus's request for ships and money. His position was that the earth was narrower east to west than north to south. Eratosthenes only proved its size in the longitude not the latitudes. Columbus knew his argument was unassailable even if he probably didn't believe it. He just had to close the deal. Irrelevant. Don't forget that the divine Julius had landed in britain and that the stories of blood thirsty woad painted savages on chariots with blades in the wheels would have been circulated and no doubt exaggerated by the rank and file. Both heroes and monsters grow in the retelling. Julius Caesar had indeed braved the mysteroies of Britain but that doesn't discount myth. For instance, the US has landed men on the moon but we still read stories of strange faces on its surface or other things that should not be. But more to the point, the Romans had some very deep seated beliefs about crossing water. Fording a river wasn't just a matter of getting your feet wet, but intruding upon the doman of a local god, though I agree individual Romans had a greater or lesser regard for such superstitions. In other words, although the bulk of Britain was still largely unknown and retained its reputation, it was the crossing of the channel and the ensuing temptation of the gods that worried the legions on the shores of Gaul waiting for Caligula to send them across. Caligula was of course merely playing the role of conqueror. For him it was just another game, an interesting idea to exploit, and he was treating his legions as just another toy. Once the legions had expressed their concerns about this expedition - and let's remember how close Caesar came to grief on both his expeditions - Caligula would have been unimpressed by the level of courage and obedience displayed. So instead, he decided that if Britain was protected by Neptune, then Neptune would be made war upon, so he deliberately humiliated his troops by having them collect seashells as booty of the conquest. Then of course he displayed that booty in the senate in order to show the esteemed politicians exactly what sort of stuff their legions were made of. Unfortunately the joke was lost in translation and Suetonius records a mad act instead.

Slavery will never be fully eradicated. Part of human psychology responds favourably to the idae that people can made to serve at a whim, or be thought of as property. Most of us wouldn't conciously enslave but notice what happens at work if your manager discovers you have influence he doesn't.

Can someone please briefly explain the recruitment practices of the Roman Army before Marius? Ploybius did in some detail. I don't remember off hand whether it was book six or ten of his histories, but it shouldn't be hard to find. What I am trying understand is why there was a property qualification to serve in the army before Marius suspended the property qualification for military service in 107 B.C. That's because the Romans considered that land-owning classes had every reason to volunteer to defend their property. Those without land were of no account. Remember also that Romans soldiers (sorry, 'levies' - Augustus was the first to call legionaries 'soldiers') were expected to to pay for arms and equipment, so obviously the land owning wealthy tended to turn up better equipped than some poor god for nothing who hasn't a sestercii to rub together. Part of the reason I guess is that you wish to ensure the soldiers can afford the military equipment. But if someone shows up with the shield and sword and helmet and so on, which he bought by selling his land or inherited, why did the army care if the person had sufficient land before accepting him into the service? Social status. Martial virtue was highly prized in Roman society and although from our perspective the man who sells his land to buy armour and weaponry is a choice he makes as an individual to perform his part in war, to the Romans he was immediately reduced to a lower class by reducing his circumstances. The Romans were far more concious of social status than we are. Furthermore, who attended to the land of these soldiers while they were away? Did they usually have slaves to take care care of their land while they were on campaign? This was inded a problem for the Romans. While the men were away the land was less likely to be effectively farmed. Although slavery always existed, it wasn't until victory in large scale wars that slaves were available in abundance (It was said the slave market of Delos handled ten thousand slaes of slaves in one day) and only toward the latter half of the Republic was large scale slavery a feature of rural life as the patrons accumulated small armies of servants to handle big country estates. For the legionaries you're discussing, the land would more likely be taken care of by friends and family. In addition, was service in the army primarily a privilege and therefore restricted to higher social classes? Military service was seen as an essential qualification for social status. There are stories of politicians ripping open their toga in the senate to reveal their war wounds, declaring that they had fought for Rome and were entitled to be listened to. If so, what was to be gained from it beyond prestige and honor (which were very significant gains to be sure)? Was there any financial gain to be had from service? Since regular pay was a feature of the post marian era, the ealier legionary had to make do with booty won from the enemy. Pillaging settlements is not an unusual practice for soldiers of any era and the Romans saw no problem with grabbing what they wanted from those that had defied them. In later times, commanders allowed soldiers to sell slaves from the conquered populations, but was this a common practice before the Marian reforms, when soldiers were not dependent on war spoils, financially? Strictly speaking, no. The best example is an event described by Wikipedia as follows... Since 193 BCE, the Lusitanians had been fighting the Romans. In 150 BCE, they were defeated by Praetor Servius Galba: springing a clever trap, he killed 9,000 Lusitanians and later sold 20,000 more as slaves in Gaul. What Servius Galba did was offer a cessation of hostilities to the Lusitanii and told them that if they surrendered their weapons at any of three camps, they could live peacefully as Roman allies with their own land and no hard feelings. Galba was of course lying, and immediately the weapons were surrendered he slaughtered the hapless barbarians and profitted mightily from selling the rest in Rome. In fact, the Senate was outraged by this example of immoral behaviour and had Galba prosecuted. The wily ex-general had his young children brought into the senate house crying their eyes out because they'd been told daddy was to be executed. The senators couldn't bear to see children so upset and so let Galba off.

Fascinating stuff. What's clear is the expedience of the Roman world. If priorities change, so does the use of a building. Perhaps the original usage declined and the facility was left idle, but the same inclination to exploit is there.

Actually I don't happen to believe Columbus was first across the Atlantic. As for the various cultures and factions who have a claim to that prize, I don't know, I haven't seen any overwhelming evidence, though I can accept the Vikings reached Newfoundland as at least potentially possible. However, Columbus wasn't being honest. Clearly he knew, rather than believed,, that a land mass was just over the horizon. it may well be he thought that was the orient, since the idea of a spherical Earth was being discussed from that period. His behaviour as recorded in the story is fairly typical of a sea captain with a hidden rutter (a handbook of handwritten notes and maps pertaining to sea travel, very rare before nautical charts and much prized) to guide him. So who got there before Columbus? No idea. If that happened the unknown captain kept quiet for fear the profit of his discovery would be lost, but that of course raises the question of how the rutter, if it existed, came into Columbus's possession.

Heve you ever noticed how persitently the civil service agencies tell us how great their customer serrvice is? They hang posters on every wall, print colourful pamphlets, and assure us that everyone is equal and important to the world. The truth, as I've discovered, is that human beings fall well short of government guidelines. Not just the politicians, but those bureaucrats who work on their behalf. I had a drubbing in public from Bovine Betty more than a year ago. I remember her deliberate attempt to shout me down in front of everyone. At the time I could do no more than sit and suffer because she threatened to have me thrown out of the building if I said a word. "You need to mind your manners" She finished with. I reminded her she needed to mind hers. It's very easy to think of these confrontations as something of a competition in which one either wins or loses. I try not to, despite all my instincts screaming for some kind of revenge, yet if these standards of customer service exist, people like Bovine Betty need to understand they are liable for breaches of ettitquette. Today I handed in documents to the Job Centre, a regular formality that's been part of claiming benefits for a while now. Big R has been on the Job Centre team for as long as I've had to suffer unemployment. He's a 'John Prescott' kind of chap, except perhaps not so loud or self important. He accepted my documents and made the error of referring to me as 'Mister'. Sigh. Here we go again. As politely as possible I pointed to my supporting evidence that I ought to be referred to as 'Lord' if spoken to in a formal manner. He looked at me in north-of-england outrage. "You exoect me to call you that?" He said. Yes. "On your bike, you prat!" He spat dismissively, then went of to speak to a security guard for reasons I can only guess at - but ones that are probably obvious. Well. I knew the Job Centre fell short of customer service having already experienced the wrath of the working class claims advisor, but I've been Lord Caldrail for more than eighteen months now. All official. And I note that the only hassle I get is from the Job Centre. It appears that we unemployed people, of whatever background, are really only scumbags and that customer service has face value only. Making The Wold A Better Place Over the weekend I attended a film show and group discussion on how individuals can make positive contributions to society. That isn't the sort of thing I usually get involved with. Not only because as an unemployed person there asre some who regard me as beneath society, but also because such things always seem wishy washy and all rather pointless. The two films were short and sweet. The first was a collage of people from around the world underlining their belief in 'interconnectivity' of the modern world. It was a message of belief that we can all make the world a better place if we respect each other and get along. Clearly the local Job Centre haven't seen it. The discussion seemed to revolve around the concept that mankind was going to evolve spiritually. That somehow the desire to get along will overcome the more worldly motives of the population. You might find this a little strange considering I'm a spiritualist, but I would point out that humans are not exempt from natural processes, and that our primeval ancestory tends to make us do things for our own profit, a corruption of the survival instinct. We're a social animal and as such, we will sooner or later argue over where to put the fence. The United Nations has done its part in preventing another world war, but notice the global escalation of smaller conflicts. It seems interconnecting has both positive and negative aspects. The other film was the story of a lion rescued from it's owner as a cub and reared in a garden until it got too big to keep. With responsible good intentions, the new owners decided it was best if the rapidly growing lion was re-introduced into the wild. So the waved goodbye and left nature to take its course. Some years later they decided to find out what happened to their former pet. Animals touch our hearts all too easily and they simply couldn't forget the short time the lion had been part of their lives. So off they went to Africa, where they were warned that the ion had become master of it's own pride and was probably too dangerous to approach. With some faith in 'interconnectivity' they went ahead nonetheless. The lion saw them, approached, and greeted his former masters with undisguised joy. It was a teary eyed moment - the film really didn't need the tear-jerking music in the background. Perhaps it was just as well the former owners had treated the lion so well it remembered them fondly. Otherwise that could have all gone horribly wrong. Perhaps there's a lesson for the Job Centre in that? The lion is coming back later today.

In the words of the old joke about the person who was 'other religion' of choice' accepting being given the 'last rites' if everything else has been tried 'Now is not the time to start making enemies!' Glancing through Seutonius it strikes me that some doctors aren't exactly allies to begin with, but I guess that malaise only afflicts the wealthy and their political machinations. Or maybe not? After all, we don't have records of dubious care of soldiers (or civilians of lower stature other than slaves and gladiators, and even then only in connection with important figures)

The silk road was only open as a safe and established trading route between east and west between ad112 and the retreat of chinese security sometime in the following century (I don't know extacly when). That doesn't mean that trade didn't travel that way before or after, rather that it was the preferred route for a period. It#s also worth noting that goods were transferred between merchants en route rather than going the whole distance in one shot. However, the sporadic visits of chinese merchants to Roman provinces from the 1st century onward means that traxde continued nonetheless, and there were a number of alternative land routes across the middle east. Sea travel was the most persistent means of getting there. The Romans had already established trading links with Taprobane (Sri Lanka) by 85 and a guide to the peoples of the Indian Ocean appeard some fifteen years afterward. Whilst I agree that sailors venturing eastward had profit in mind rather than exploration as a pure objective, there were no nautical charts back then and sailors either had to find local information, investigate a route themselves, or simply grit their teeth and risk all against the hazards of nature and wrath of the gods for being so foolhardy. It wasn't just 'wind regimes' but tides, ocean currents, shallow waters, and reefs to contend with, and despite a century of Hollywood feature films, I doubt sailors weathered storms in the deep ocean all too easily - the Indoian Ocean is notorious for colossal waves - thus a safe anchorage as the weather begins to look dubious would certainly help. They may not have conveived a definite picture of the edges of the earth, but they were keenly aware that they didn't know everything. Caligula's legions were not happy at the prospect of crossing the english channel and invading Britain, largely out of superstition, thus he made them collect seashells on the beaches as a means of berating them for cowardice, though in fairness I doubt Caligula really understood what a serious foreign campaign involved. Whilst the Romans eagerly recorded what they learned of faraway places, there was still a great deal of mystery. As for superstition, it's widely recognised that the Romans were indeed among the superstitious peoples of the world. They were wary of crossing rivers for fear the local gods would get upset, for instance, and why else did they make sacrifices aboard ships before a battle to determine whether they had the gods favour?

It's also important to realise that a fort with such facilities was a fixed defensive site, and not a temporary marching camp. There's no dispute that such facilities existed in permanent stations, but I doubt many of us would be happy with the standard of health care. Would you be confident with doctor whp prays for your health to get better?

'Martial Arts' is a modern phrase and anachrinistic when used in reference to the Romans. However, regarding the passage you quoted, that does not equate to the pancration. The greeks invented that form of competition as an athletic sport, not a combat style, and given they took the attitude that winning was everything and losers can limp away loathed and despised, it follows they thought of wrestling with almost no holds barred. I have no doubt that Roman soldiers engaged in bouts of wrestling from time to time. That was considered a manly pursuit and indeed, note your quotation applauds his skills at it. It must be understood however that Roman soldiers were not athletes, who generally took on the stigma of slavery and infamy in Roman circles, and that the idea of rebdering your opponent too severely injured to continue (the whole point of pancration was to win mercilessly) did not lend itself to Roman policy of fitness, virility, and latin conformity. Also, be aware that these sort of descriptions are often written to underline the special nature of the individual, and there's no guarantee that the prose was not an exaggeration, something Roman writers often indulged in.

Strictly speaking he didn't. All he proved was that modern sea travellers could take a reproduction of an egyptian papyrus boat across the Atlantic. Bear in mind that the knoweldge of mariners in those times lacked a certain background and sophistication, not to mention modern era overight/rescue, and some idea of where they were going. I'm not disputing the sailors of the ancient world weren't skilled as voyages across the Indian Ocean are known to have been a regular occurence once the silk road was closed due to barbarian interdiction and the failure of the chinese to maintain security in the Tarim Basin during the 3rd century, more or a less a century after the Silk Road was regarded as open for business. However we do have to realise that geograhical information was not so easily had back then. I'm thinking in terms of a phoenician captain who was followed by a Roman ship toward Britain. The phoenicians beached their ship rather than reveal the harbour they were intending to trade with and the captain received a reward for his foresight and courage in denying the Romans the secret of the trading post. The question of superstition also has an impact. Whereas the chritian view held that the world had an edge and if one sailed too far, you went off the surface of the sea, the ancients did not have such a boundary in mind. However, the unknown reaches were very much a consideration. Most vessels did not sail all day and night for fear of accident, and would find a safe anchorage along the coastline to set out again at first light/morning tide. For that reason alone the exploration of the Indian Ocean was a gradual affair but one that gave sailors confidence that they knew where to go. With the Atlantic - there was nothing but water. I'm not discounting the possibility of long distance travel in ancient times. There is persistent urban legend to that effect though no-one has yet convincingly argued that this was achieved, never mind on a regular basis, and even the journey around Africa by ship has been called into question. The use of re-enactment such as Thor Heyedahls journey provides useful practical knowledge about sea travel in those days but in no way does it prove that the Egyptians were capable of crossing the Atlantic.

There's been plenty of reminders in the news that a six ton satellite is about to crash toward Earth as the laws of gravity overcome millions of dollars worth of investment in orbital technology. No-one knows exactly where it's coming down, or exactly when. Apparently my chances of being hit by lumps of melted NASA hardware are something like 1 in 3200. Given that a satellite of this size crashes to Earth every year, that does make my future look little better than standing at the target end of a shooting range used by blind people. Thing is though.. If satellites as big as double decker buses crash every year, why is this the first one we've been told about? Is it no coincidence that Facebook is receiving a facelift? Are we to believe that cloud gaming began at the same time this satellite crashed as being a mere accident? Or that a hiolidy jet lands in the wrong airport? Or that the projected state of Palestine is being taking seriously for the first time? Or maybe NASA is out to get me for making lame jokes? Way Too Fast I note with something of a groan that scientists have measured a neutrino, a tiny sub-atomic particle, as travelling a teeny bit faster than light. By now the internet pundits are probably licking their lips with forum posts claiming that science is wrong, that God has given us a sign, that James T Kirk could become a reality in the next century, and that salt sucking alien monsters will thrive in the worlds drier hotter climate. There's many possibilities. One is that the clocks were not perfectly synchronised, or that the curvature of the Earth has distorted the calculation of a particle that travels through solid substances without much difficulty in a straight line, or simply that this neutrino is a very naughty particle and must be spanked severely. i hope this isn't going to be another 'cold fusion' episode. Well Intended Reminders On my way here I stopped at a pedestrian crossing and pushed the button. At this particular spot it's wise not to step across the road if it looks clear, because the blind bend often has cars piling around it at a fair old speed. Sure enough a hot hatch growled into view. I was a bit startled by the sudden braking, and noting that the vehicle had stopped and that someone else was crossing the road from the other side, I decided to step across. It turns out the car had braked to avoid the pedestrian and the lights weren't in my favour. Oh well. At least the Highway Code says I have right of way if traffic is stationary. Unfortunately the driver hadn't read that bit. Finally losing his patience, he swerved around me and accelerated away with a loud reminder to look next time, which whilst understandable, isn't going to impress the police at all. So read the Highway Code next time, you dozy wazzock!

Constantine is, perhaps understandably, eulogised by typical christian thinking whereas there's plenty of reasons to see him as anything else than laudable. Anyone who puts Constantine into context is doing just fine in my book.

There was a recent newspaper report of evidence for moorish troops stationed at Hadrians Wall.

When an organisation says something will have minimal impact, what they mean is that they haven't got the time, money, or inclination to do anything about it.

Way back when I was very young I had a fascination for dinosaurs. Time and again I would leaf through books showing artists impressions of lost worlds, painted images, rather than the photoreal imaging that is increasingly common in childrens books today. Back then dinosaurs were an object of curiosity but unfashionable. Kids generally preferred football. Not me. In my imagination I walked among the swamps andf orests of the Jurassic world. These dinosaurs are immensely popular. And to underline the point, last night I was bombarded with television programs about them. Planet Dinosaur, the latest BBC 3D animation fest, told me about the chinese fossils, ranging from small semi-birds to violent carnivorous turkeys weighing a ton and a half. How To Build A Dinosaur showed me the expense and expertise of recreating dinosaurs for chasing museum security guards. Extinct showed me how even in the last few decades, our 'Golden Age' of fossil finds has found many times more new speices and even more detailed investigation into colour, form, lifestyle, and behaviour. Enough. My primitive 1960's brain can take in no more information. The thing is though when I learned about dinosaurs as a child they were no more than monstrous lizards, ferocious carnivores and huge grazers wallowing in deep swamps. As we learn more about these extraordinary creatures, it dawns on me how alien and bizarre they're becoming. Yet the toy dinosaurs on sale at my local supermarket haven't changed a bit. The truth is that like all those strange supernatural hazards of past ages, we want them to be ferocious monsters. Not Quite Extinct Yet By now most of you will know that birds are the modern descendants of the dinosaur breed, and increasingly researchers are using birds as a guide to what the dinosaurs actually were. Generally speaking though birds don't do anyone any harm, apart from muggijng old age pensioners for bread crumbs in the local park. Only Alfred Hitchcock could make birds scary, though I have to admit watching an angry swan cross the lake toward me at full attack speed was a bit hair raising, though in fairness the swan was annoyed at some upstart goose and wanted to beat him up. Just of late though there's been a lot of reported shark attacks. Sharks are another great survivor. They've been around since before the dinosaurs, and only four million years ago a giant shark finally died out. It's a funny thing though. In popular culture sharks are depicted as ruthless and cold blooded killers. In some respects they are. But the sailors of those tall wooden ships in swashbuckling days never mention them. With the british Navy sinking every suspicious vessel on the seven seas in a hail of gunpowder smoke, you'd think sharks would merit some form of threat. Maybe the sharks are trying to find something to eat? With trawlers reducing fish stocks around the world perhaps sharks are getting so hungry they have no choice but to eat us instead. Or perhaps they've gotten fed up of all the trash we throw overboard? Waiting For The Big One After all the fuss I made about the extent of borrowing the Labour Government did when they were in power, it would be a litle hypocritical to ignore the fact that our current coalition government has borrowed at a heavier rate. We have the deputy prime minister telling us yet again that life is going to get tough. Is Britain going through it's Cretaceous Period, struggling with an increasingly difficult financial enviroment and in danger of rapid extinction from some big european asteroid? At any rate, we now have clear evidence that the British Politician is not yet an endangered species. Strikes me though they survive because we feed them breadcrumbs or else.

You see, those last two replies are exactly what I mean. The issue of loss and unrealised promise is not contested. I agree with you both. My point was the motive that underlies that sentiment. Think about it. If for instance he'd died a hero in battle, we would still mourn his passing, but instead of a 'meaningless loss' his death would have taken on a meaning deeply entrenched in our psyche. It would be.. Well, maybe not acceptable as such, but we could rationalise and accept his passing so much easier. Don't forget, the man was a successful actor albeit with an unintentionally short career.

Since when were my views extreme? All I've ever suggested is that the Romans did not invent the twenty first century. Whatever the Romans did for us was thrown in the bin within a century of their military withdrawal. And as for medical assistane, it would be as well to realise there was no formal training for medics whatsoever. Any idiot could call himself a physician in ancient times and set up shop. I suspect a great many did, some of them operating at a low level quack healer rather than the skilled surgeon people want to believe in. Of course the legions felt a need to keep their men fit and healthy. Viralty was admired in Roman culture to begin with, along with martial virtue. The last thing they wanted was six thousand malingerering poofters sitting in beds with the sniffles at public expense. That they made some official attempt to provide healthcare is noteworthy but as I've already pointed out, describing the Roman world in our terms does lend itself to accurate reporting, nor does it encourage the issue of context, and basically you end up describing the world you know rather than the one you want to discover.

Yesterday I'd arranged to meet DW for a photo-shoot in town. The weather map last night showed rain crossing the country and I had images in my mind of being immortalised as a miserable drowned rat. As it happens the weather wasn't too bad, being merely overcast. With my business for the day seen to I had some time on my hands. Quite a lot of it So I sat down outside the library and watched the world go by. What is this life if we have no time to sit and doss? All of a sudden I realised DW was emerging from the nearby cafe. That was a suprise. I hadn't expected him to turn up on time, never mind an hour early. He looked mystified. "Are you seriously going to sit there for another hour?" He asked. Mate - I'm unemployed. What did you think I was going to do? Being Seen This wasn't the first time I'd done a photo shoot by any means. Having been in the music business for many years the need to be publicised usually got the better of me sooner or later. DW asked if I was okay about doing something unusual in public. Erm... Like what? I'm not stripping naked mate. He'd chosen that part of town to get a sense of activity and life into the photos as the public walk by. I guess a lot of people might find that sort of thing intimidating, posing for photos in a busy public thoroughfare, because let's face it, inevitably you look ridiculous. Some members of the public thought I might be some kind of nut. No comments please. Actually I'm not botherd. I've performed in public since I was a little kid. Just another gig really. So for a fun hour I had my picture taken. It's a strange thing to see yourself in a photograph sometimes. Normally I only gaze wearily at a face in the mirror every morning and I think my brain is trying to con me into believing I'm still twenty one. In the photographs I look like Moses. All I need to do is grow my hair a bit and Ian McKellen will never get the chance of playing an old wizard in feature films ever again. Inevitable The Lib-Dem conference is in full swing and they want to be the greenest party ever. For some reason that doesn't fill me with joy. In their enthusiasm to inspire ours, they tell us that cutting carbon is essential for human survival. Actually that's rubbish. Cutting carbon won't make that much difference. With populations expanding everywhere it's inevitable that at some future point there really will be starvation on a colossal scale. It's a law of supply and demand that nature is very strict on. Less carbon does not equal more food. Never mind. At least the low carbon economy will boost growth. Not sure why that should be, because inevitably enforcing restrictions raises costs and reduces spending. In any case the while the Lib-Dems talk about it the rest of the world is slowly overtaking them. I see on the news that the first hydrogen refuelling station has opened in Swindon. That's inevitable too, with petrochemicals taxed several times over and batteries just as incredibly expensive as they always were. It does beg the question though who actually owns a hydrogen powered in Swindon.? Anyone? No? Let The Buyer Beware I know that shops are struggling these days but heck - avoid music shops at all costs. I made the mistake of asking for some replacement locknuts yesterday, little nuts and bolts that aren't essential for an electric guitar but certainly help keep it in tune. Fifteen pounds they charged me. Fifteen quid! The guy told me he only orders japanese parts, not the rubbish chinese ones. What a rip off. I daresay he was very pleased with himself having cost me a weeks food. I wonder if he realises how much trade that's going to cost him?

With a proliferation of middle eastern cults you might think so. However, I would point out that many of these cults did not appeal to educated classes. One in particular was popular among rural slaves. Notice also that verbal traditions are far more important in ancient times and since the Romans weren't shy of accusations of witchcraft, even in pre-christian times, you wouldn't expect such damning evidence to be lying around.

Yeah - I knew someone would. Try this for size... However, in considering medicine in Roman Britain it is crucial not to become blinkered by a modern perspective: health and health care must always be seen in context... ...By adopting a twenty first century view it is also all too easy to dismiss or denigrate some aspects of ancient medicine and yet to overplay others significantly. How can we be confident that a bronze instrument was actually a surgical tool? Do acqueducts, drains, and health houses really reflect a concern for public health? Should we so easily dismiss dream therapy and other apparently bizarre treatments as being ineffective in the context of Roman Britain? Introduction - Medicine and Health Care In Roman Britain (Nicholas Summerton)

Unsightly and actually sometimes dangerous. Blades come off occaisionally. I'm not too concerned with birds hitting these things - they hit everything sooner or later, including cars, aeroplanes, and their own reflection in a window - but I just don't like them. It's an unreasonable bitter hatred I suppose. Don't care. Turbines are 'orrible nasty things and I'm slowly turning into a raging NIMBY.

You know what? After being accused of leading a fantasy life, I have to speak out. Sorry, but it's real. I really am here. And just to prove how lame my life can be, I wish to describe the highlights of yesterday... 1 - A woman asks me for assistance. That was unexpected. The reason was of course Microsoft Excel, the cause of more lost hair and failed interviews than anything else known to mankind. Don't get me wrong, my excel skills are best described as 'Almost', yet I still know more about this secret arcane program than your typical library goer. Thing is though... How did she know? How could she possibly have known that I've studied excelmancy in my spare time? 2 - Another woman plays video too loud. I've no idea what it was. My first thought was that it was a news report but at times it sounded suspiciously like a sermon, brought to you by the miracle of the internet. Who needs Jesus when you have telecommunications technology? I asked her to down it down but she just smiled at me. Maybe she didn't understand english? Or did she not know how to control this miraculous device that displayed the sermon on the full colour flat screen 1280x1024 monitor before her? 3 - Youth cracks his knuckles. It happens now and then. Some kid sits down to watch a music video and cracks his knuckles for something to do with that part of his brain that's waiting for the rap track to finish. Unusually though this kid has learned how to crack his knuckles at fifteen decibels louder than anyone else. Every time he did that it echoed around the quietened room. A part of me wishes that he'll suffer some ailment caused by continual cracking of the knuckles, like RKSS (Repetitive Knuckle Stress Syndrome) but I can't wait that long. That would have been it, but at the last moment, I decided to go for a walk around the local park, and who should I bump into?.... Bird Watching Yes, it was DW, our intrepid reporter. Bet you never saw that one coming. Well he decided to tag along and we discussed the finer points of philosophy and practice for the modern comedian, dinosaur nests, and in-depth analysis of bird species inhabiting the lake. No really, he knows about birds. Feathered ones. I now know those aggressive seabirds are Black Headed Gulls. They don't seem to very black headed to me. "That" DW assured me, "Is because black is out of season." Well there you go. Gulls can be fashionable too. Unfortunately we humans can only emulate their sense of colour and variety. In the case of one young lady walking by, badly. She wore black see-through leggings which revealed her underwear beneath. That was.. Erm... Interesting.... Sorry... What were you saying? Oh yes, the gulls.

Try Celebrity Deathmatch. Its a animated series showing spoof fights to the death between celebs. Gory stuff and completely stupid. Actually it's not that funny either. Okay, maybe it isn't worth watching after all...

I considered it necessary, because inevitably when features of a site are described in modern terms, there's an immediate reaction in readers that goes beyond that point. I'm not disputing these features exist - I'm pointing out that it's unwise to draw conclusions from them without corrobrative evidence.