Gaius Octavius

I would still like to know what it means, v.g., 'This far and no more!'? LW, have you tried it?

I don't know what 'rumeli hissar' is?

If my memory serves, The City had water on three sides. The major wall was landward, which made it more defensible. I think that Mehmet II pulled his ships over the land north of The City to get at the Roman navy that was protected by two great chains drawn across the mouth of the northerly bay. The idea was to attack The City from land and sea. I believe that he lost the naval battle that ensued. Had The City been posted on the Asiatic side, it would have made a tempting and constant target for the Persians.

Nah! Probably wouldn't work. Those wiley Scotsmen would have carried her off to another pond the night before activities commenced. Or they would reveal that there is a Nestor somewhere. Or a Sasquatch. Beshrew me, do any recall the ORIGINAL TITLE OF THIS BIT?

The below taken from Pertinax' latest blog entry. (Without permission!) HAND What does the hand at the top signify? The badges and the moon under the badges? GLADIUS I note that the gladius' sheath is slung towards the back with thongs attached to the belt. Provision seems to have been made for slinging it forwards. Or its remaining perpendicular to the ground. Was there uniformity in the line? What would be the purpose for the apparently three different positions? What is the staff in his hands and its purpose? PLUME With his gladius on the left, I presume that he is a centurion. Yet his helmet has no plume. If so, did it matter? Was there any purpose for the direction of a plume?

"Maybe its just Americans, but a lot of people I know are conditioned to think that giving people (other than themselves or who they associate themselves with) a lot of freedom is undesirable." Amen! U.S.A. today. "How do you give people the ability to reason, forsee consequences, and respect the freedom they and others deserve? With a state regulation or institution?" What would you substitute? "Most government intervention never truly solves any problems, it transfers responsibility from individuals to an establishment and reinforces the need for further intervention as a solution. I'm rambling now..." Slavery? Civil rights? Crime? The gluttony of CEO's and BoD's? "The point is, that freedom itself doesn't solve problems, but it creates people who can - because they have learned that using your mind and/or body to overcome the challenge of survival is the essence of life." Without government or its 'interference', how would these other 'people', create and maintain this end? "The reason I've focused on educational deregulation in many of my discussions is because children are the key to social change. I'd like to see kids growing up and learning outside the influence of the government with no limitations on what they can know or think and see the resulting changes in the U.S." I agree with most of what you have said about the education system in the U.S., yet it has produced so much for the modern world. What, exactly, would you substitute? My point, in my response, is that the individual alone or even in large groups, cannot gain or maintain 'freedom' without government. Again, I cite slavery as one example.

During an Antiques program on PBS, a Republic of Texas artillery officer's sword, made in Massachusetts, was shown. It looked very much like a gladius, of about the same length, but thinner. A point was brought up that the blade was peened at the end of the handle as earlier swords of the type had the tendency for the blade to fall out of the handle. Looking at my gladius would proove nothing, as it is a copy made in Spain recently. Does anyone know if The Romans had this problem or was their gladius peened? Rivited? It seems odd to me that so obvious a feature would be left off of the Texas sword.

P., do you know what the "H S E" at the bottom of the memorial means?

The logic of this thread is addling my poor wits. I'm off to put a Perfect Patented Pertimaxus into the corpus.

If an enemy slashes with a sword, he leaves himself open to a jab. A jab does not open the body to a counter stroke.

Tombstone? In Greece? Thought that he was burned at Rome. In any case, it doesn't go to where he was born. In re the 'twerps', it could very well be that they got it in the back while advancing.

This is indeed true, but when his century was in tight formation he would more or less be on the sidelines giving the orders. From this it doesn't follow that the centurion wasn't in the thick of the fight. Still, wouldn't an enemy want to get at the one giving the orders?

The centurions were at the head of the battle. Am I right to suggest that Centurions suffered a disproportianate casualty rate ? Does anyone have a source as relates to this suggestion? I believe that you are right but I can't give a citation at the moment. In WWII, platoon leaders suffered the highest casualty rates. The person to get first, was and is the officer. Doing so cuts off the head, so to speak. BTW, I think that at one point in this thread I held with the right hand draw of the gladius.

The centurions were at the head of the battle.

L., did all you wrote add up to a British chasing (or 'rebellion'), of the Romans out of Britain?

Definitely food for thought. One would have to define these words before a discussion could take place. Did the Sun Yat Sen, Bolshevic, French or American revolutions bring freedom to all those peoples? I don't think so.

In the 1940's and 1950's there was a cough medicine (in the U.S.) called chericol (?). It was cherry flavored and contained codene. Tasted good and worked. Perhaps, its formulation might be of help in your quest. A cursory search on the web produced nothing of value - but then that is for me.

What are you working at? :mellow: It's not a hoagie; it's a hero! Only the annointed may use more than 10 emoticons

Welcome aboard Jasminia.

LOL, if you think that german is a slavic dialect then yes, you do have no clue That was German? I speak it fluently! Just can't read or write a word of it. Leave that part to my brother. My Bride is of the Teutonic persuasion, and thus we are encumbered with the likes of Asbach Uralt, the which I am presently making great inroads on.

Twelve pounds for a pair of kippers??? I wouldn't pay that much for a pair of shoes or a pair of Scotsmen! Kidding aside, the sites Perinax has links to are well worth a gander. And not just for food. An offshoot from one of them should prove of interest for the siege craft devotees HERE

Sorry, that Wendish dialect is indecipherable to me.

Fellow Boozers: Some Korean Mooney type, named Rock Lee, has invaded America. This new blister hath sattethe on the right side of God. He hathethe commanded angels. But can't seem to get that walking on water thingy right. Probably can't do the Cana bit either. Will trade him for a couple of millions of wetbacks - or one Brigantine - or yea, and I sayethe unto all y'all, Col. Rupert Rebel! Domina Claudia, in Her wisdom, has just named me Pontifex Messimus. I wonder why? Some Russian has worked out the Pointcare(?) mathematical problem as to wheather we are all dieing on a meatball or a dough nut shaped object in space. Thrilling! Had recourse to matico this AM after erring whilst shaving. Bride back to rationing booze again. Need a little ting-a-ling bell to summon Her when the SENATOR is in need of refreshments. After shampooing the headquarters, will command Her to give me a haircut. Can you believe it, Gasper has jacked up the price of haircuts from a quarter! Refuse to encourage such inflation. ,

No! Definitely! But I did. Morganatic marriage. :wub: