Gaius Octavius

Although this belongs in 'Lingua Latina', I am posting this here for good reason. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/03/opinion/...amp;ref=opinion Note the author's use of punctuation, and grammar. Implications are to be drawn from what the author writes. And, yes, the previous two sentences are meant to be cryptic and sarcastic.

Try to get kissinger to join your troupe. Watch out for rabid bears.

Thanks Moon.

It was me! Don't anyone dare give me ersatz booze!

Better than eating that chum that makes you sick! Sir Basil

Semper Fi, jarheads.

Nut Sedge(?) and berserk Chickadees? Sir Basil

What's going on here? No one tells me anything! The Pater Arcanae bribed her inquisitors to pass her off. Does that mean that she gets to spank any who step out of line? Meh. Sir Basil

What I meant by 'Wind' is that it is my understanding that Roman city planners laid out city grids in accordance with the 'Sixteen Winds' to more easily heat and cool, and move air around. I was thinking of ameliorating the effects of sand storms and sunlight here. As to the canopy, when I looked for 'post holes' on the sides of the building, both in your pictures and those on another site, I didn't see any.

The other day B.M. interviewed Thomas Cahill. Cahill suggested that he felt that the prime reason for the Fall, was that the barbarians wanted to get into the Empire for a better life and not to conquer it. It was Rome's refusal of entry that led to the invasions.

Was the amphitheater laid out to collect the 'Wind'? Did it have a canopy? When was it erected and when was it last used? How much of the population was 'Roman'?

Melvadius, is there anywhere in the Mediterranean world that 'child sacrifice' occurred?

How fortunate UNRV is that the last fragment is missing! Quack!

L_W, 'Blackadder' is the history of the English side of my family. It is available on a 4 DVD set, or: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/blackadder/ ------------------------------ Doll, it is quite obvious that those quakes out there in La-La Land have disineffectuated your 'central intelligence agency'. I mercifully commend a blood letting for you, commencing with a carotid artery. Follow this up with one of My Lord Pertinax' purgatives, which will cleanse you of the SFB syndrome. ------------------------------ P.P., without so much as a doubt, the Four Humors of your corpse are out of whack. If you wish to put them in balance again, you must have a series of 13 cuppings, followed by a course of leeches for 7 days. In the likely event that you consider this quackery, or tomfoolery, please visit: http://www.unani.com/humours.htm You could try one of those modern discoveries, i.e., a heating pad!

Again: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gaze...works/home.html

Not sure how much help this will be: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gaze...works/home.html If you play detective, it might help.

Is beer a laxative?

Whilst on an interlude from my own bed, (where I sleep with a pillow between my legs, hugging another, and on my right side), my left leg commenced to jump into the air of its own accord. Quacks were of no help, and after some testing it was concluded that I had sciatica. When I returned to my old ways, the leg has behaved. Give the pillow treatment a try.

Is there a reconstruction model of that ship?

Ramses, you delinquent, you're in big poo-poo now!

You're all locked up! :) But, seriously, have you tried blood letting?

"The worship of Baal extended from the Canaanites to the Phoenicians who also were partially an agricultural people. Both Baal and his cohort Ashtoreth, or Astarte, who is equivalent to the Greek goddess Aphrodite, were both Phoenician fertility symbols. Baal, the sun god, was fervently prayed to for the protection of livestock and crops. Priests instructed the people that Baal was responsible for droughts, plagues, and other calamities. People were often worked up into great frenzies at the prospects of displeasing Baal. In times of great turbulence human sacrifices, particularly children, were made to the great god Moloch." Whole article at: http://www.pantheon.org/articles/b/baal.html From the same site: Moloch by Micha F. Lindemans "King". The sun god of the Canaanites (Ammonites?) in old Palestine and sometimes associated with the Sumerian Baal, although Moloch (or Molekh) was entirely malevolent. In the 8th-6th century BCE, firstborn children were sacrificed to him by the Israelites in the Valleye of Hinnom, south-east of Jerusalem (see also Gehenna). These sacrifices to the sun god were made to renew the strength of the sun fire. This ritual was probably borrowed from surrounding nations, and was also popular in ancient Carthage. Moloch was represented as a huge bronze statue with the head of a bull. The statue was hollow, and inside there burned a fire which colored the Moloch a glowing red. Children were placed on the hands of the statue. Through an ingenious system the hands were raised to the mouth (as if Moloch were eating) and the children fell into the fire where they were consumed by the flames. The people gathered before the Moloch were dancing on the sounds of flutes and tambourines to drown out the screams of the victims. According to some sources, the Moloch in the Old Testament is not a god, but a specific form of sacrifice. ----------------------------------------- I have no idea as to the creditability or accuracy of this site.

Stagflation, anybody? Faustus, the Bank of Sweden (not too long ago.), had an overnight rate of 150%. What the heck. Back in the olden days, 1970's, we used to borrow from our bank (with municipal bonds as collateral) at the closing 'Fed Funds' rate. On the last business day of one particularly bad year, this 'market' rate closed at 25%. Wanna bet that the boys arranged a Mickey Mouse last trade?

Tell it to Joey Buttafuoco. We put him away because he looked like one of you!