Gaius Paulinus Maximus

I've read that Diocletian transformed the role of emperor into an oriental type monarchy and that anyone in his presence was required to prostrate themselves on the ground before him. Is there any truth in this? and if so what do you think?

I still doubt the whole conspiracy was as much a threat as it was made out to be, IMO the threat was blown way out of proportion by Cicero. firstly because he loathed Catiline, and secondly, the whole affair would make Cicero's term as consul one of the most memorable in history and help to cement his name in the history books a "The man who saved Rome". The fact that Catiline was a bad apple and a want to be 'demagogue' is pretty clear but the accusations of overthrowing and murdering the senate were far fetched to say the least. Catiline was everything that Cicero hated, for a start he had been Cicero's opponent in the run for the consulship, he lived a playboy lifestyle, was handsome, good with the ladies, wealthy, with impeccable Patrician ancestry, he had everything handed to him on a plate where as Cicero had to work extremely hard against all the odds to get where he was. Cicero needed a target to make his consulship one to remember and Catiline fit the bill perfectly. I'm not saying that Catiline was an angel or anything because he wasn't, he was a nasty peace of work, his actions during Sulla's proscriptions prove that, but what I do think is that Cicero turned the whole affair into a witch hunt and forced Catiline down the road he eventually took.

During the middle and late republic a villa rustica (house in the country) was a farmstead attached to an estate, with farm buildings and accommodation for the estate owner when he wished to visit. From the 2nd century BC the term villa was also used for large country houses that served as retreats from city life for wealthy Romans. The difference between these functions became blurred, and it is now virtually impossible to to define precisely the function of Roman sites categorized as villas. the functions of such establishments probably varied with time, as they passed through the hands of different owners. These functions included farms run by an owner occupier, by a bailiff for an absentee landlord or one who only visited occasionally, with the villa being a country retreat or even what might now be termed as a stately home. the same villa might have performed all these functions over a period of time. Taken from Adkins Handbook to Ancient Rome.

Now you're calling him a sandal wearing tramp!!

I think we can safely say that this thread is dead and buried!

Hehe Neph, it's about time these jokes were laid to rest!

In China a man has died after a Liao Dynasty (907-1125AD) tomb he was attempting to rob collapsed on him. Six people who were also involved in the attempted theft were still trying to extract him when police arrived. Ironically the tomb he was trying to raid had nothing in it - most likely because it been emptied by previous tomb robbers. Grave robbery and other artifact thefts are a major problem in China with the items proving extremely popular in auctions worldwide.

Sequined shirt!!??? What are you trying to say Doc?? That Caldrails fashion sense is stuck in the 70's? Those hip and happening dudes downstairs had better watch out, Caldrail Travolta is about to crash the party!!!!

I've just listened to the show, I thought it was quite an interesting discussion, very enjoyable. Thanks for the heads up Asclepiades!

Some metal's can be radiocarbon dated but it must contain sufficient traces of carbon-14 though. Iron and steel are the best candidates for radiocarbon dating.

A statue symbolising the mythical origins and power of Rome, long thought to have been made around 500BC, has been found to date from the 1200s. The statue depicts a she-wolf suckling Remus and his twin brother Romulus - who is said to have founded Rome. The statue of the wolf was carbon-dated last year, but the test results have only now been made public. The figures of Romulus and Remus have already been shown to be 15th Century additions to the statue. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7499469.stm

It's difficult to read, even when you zoom in on it. From what I can make out it starts of with IMPERATOR CAESAR DIVI VESPASIAN after that it becomes harder to work out. I can possibly see VIC which could indicate 'victorious' or 'he has lived for/ his age is...' Then further down we see COS which indicates 'consul' or 'bearing consular powers' and that's about as much as I can work out! Just out of interest, where is this picture taken?

Maybe Alice Cooper's hit 'Poison' would be a fitting anthem for Livia!!

Don't want to talk about the Turkey game

And what happens when you reach this trance or meditative state?

What the hell is trance dancing ??

Portugal 2 Germany 3 A great game and the best team won, typical Germany, just getting better as the tourny goes along, they're big and strong and can dominate other teams, Podolski and Ballack were excellent. Ballack was head and shoulders above everyone on the park tonight except maybe Deco who really didn't deserve to be on the losing side. But what did I say in an earlier post (70) about Ricardo in goal for the Portuguese , I said he'd make a costly mistake and as it turned out his poor goal keeping on Ballack's goal eventually sent the Portuguese home. I'm glad Portugal went out, too much diving, screaming and play acting for my liking! Just hope Croatia beat the dirty Turks tomorrow night, I'm definitely getting my red and white checks out tomorrow!!

I Thought the Russians looked good tonight, they're a good young team who play quick attacking football. There's a lot of money being pumped into Russian football at the moment and I think in a few years Russian football is going to be a force to be reckoned with at domestic and international level, FC Zenit St Petersburg have already won the UEFA cup this year and I think they'll be one of the contenders for the champions league next year (IMO). Can't wait for the quarters, any one of the eight teams is capable of winning it, should be very interesting!!

Yes your right Augusta, Buffon is proving just how good he really is at this tournament. Italy came out comfortable winners in the end. The game was pretty much a for gone conclusion when Ribery went off injured and with Abidal's sending off shortly after. The french basically didn't have a clue what to do or where to go with the ball, No creativity, no imagination, no flair. Good riddance to the dullest team in the competition!! I just hope the Croatians turn over the dirty Turks in the next round!!

Archaeologists hope to find out more about what could be a 2,000-year-old warehouse over the next few weeks. A team of 50 are taking part in the excavation of a corner of a Roman fortress in Caerleon near Newport. The dig will open a large trench over the building, which is believed to have supplied the Roman legion. Dr Peter Guest, of Cardiff University, said: "Store buildings are a largely unknown feature of legionary fortresses." The experts from Cardiff and University College London will also keeping a blog updated of their progress in excavating the remains of a monumental courtyard building in the south-western corner of the fortress, which was known as Isca. Full story HERE

One of the worst goal-keeping errors I've seen from one of the worlds best goal-keepers, to say I was shocked when Petr Cech dropped that ball would be an understatement, the guy hardly ever ever makes mistakes. I was gutted the Turks went through, I have no love what so ever for Turkish football due to an incident a few years ago involving my home town club, so when I saw them turn that game around in the last couple of minutes I was gutted.

Nice pics Klingan, Cheers. I've promised my daughter that I'd take her to Pompeii for her birthday in February next year and seeing your pictures I'm glad I did. I can't wait to get over there. Which would you say was the better site, Pompeii or Herculaneum??

Just a quick question about the NHL draft. How does the drafting system work? Who and how is it decided which teams get the first pick?

Well done DoL, I've got high hopes for you, if you want to be teachers pet you're going about it the right way! Who knows if you carry on with this kind of attitude you might just make something out of your life, maybe even get a few letters after your name!!!

Maybe THIS will help you out a bit, everything you need to know about Euro 2008.