Gaius Paulinus Maximus

The best thing to do Doc is just give yourself a pat on the back and grab the bull by the horns and get on with it!!

Well I've got to say that I'm really really enjoying this tournament! Nearly every game has been full of excitement, great goals and controversy, even the rubbish Greece V Sweden game had a possible goal of the tournament winner in it. And tonight's games were no exception. Firstly, Italy V Romania, it looks like the Azzuri are going to have to do it the hard way, they don't make it easy for themselves do they? They've got Gigi Buffon to thank for them still being in the competition after his performance tonight, a great save from Mutu's penalty among others, I actually felt quite sorry for old Adrian, he'd worked his socks off all night and was distraught at the final whistle. Luca Toni was unlucky with the goal that was ruled off side when it clearly wasn't. Italy are still looking a bit shaky in defence though and Pirlo still isn't firing on all cylinders, he's supposedly the best play maker in the world today but he's clearly not lived up to his potential so far, maybe he's saving it for later in the competition On a plus note I was impressed with De Rossi, he was all over the park and was unlucky not to score on a couple of occasions. On the whole I think a draw was a fair result, both teams gave a good account of themselves and showed that they are worthy of going through to the knockout stages. Secondly, Holland V France, another great game, end to end action and good goals. Holland are on fire at the moment, they're solid right through the team and with a subs like Robben and Van Persie to come on they are certainly a force to be reckoned with, but I just wonder if they've peaked too soon?? France I still don't rate, they played better tonight but I just can't see them going any further, they just don't seem to have the pace and energy that they used to and the defence is looking a bit old and ragged too. Henry scored a good goal but I think he too is past his best. Ribery is a good player but he can't do it all on his own. The Augusta seems to be leaning towards Portugal as potential winners which is not a bad shout because they have a great attacking line up but I have severe reservations about their goalie Ricardo, IMO he is one of the worst keepers in the tournament, he's dodgy in the air and dodgy at kicking, I just think somewhere along the line he's gonna let them down. Where as Holland and Spain for instance also have great attacking options but more importantly they have an extremely sound and capable goalie's in Van Der Sar and Casillias. But I still wouldn't rule out the Germans or Italians either, these two are masters of the big tournaments and both have a good mix of youth and experience. The start to Euro 2008 has been so good this year that one of at least six teams is still thoroughly capable of winning it. WOW, I just love talking about football!! I just wish my knowledge of Rome was as good as my knowledge of the beautiful game, I'd probably be an ancient history professor or something!!

It's a good job this happened in California because if it had happened in Alaska they'd have been bloody Friesian!!! MOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

This is taken from an excellent Rome sight seeing guide........... It is time for the Capitoline Hill walk. The place is dominated by the trapese Piazza del Campidoglio, designed and built by Michelangelo in 1536. The staircase connecting it to via del Teatro di Marcello is called Cordonata and was built with a low steep specifically to allow the pontif's easy access to Palazzo Nuovo and Palazzo dei Conservatori. From Piazza del Campidoglio you can go directly to the Foro Romano. However, you should first take a detour to see The Tarpeian Rock; supposedly, this is the place where the traitors were thrown towards a deadly red cliff, in ancient times. To reach The Tarpeian Rock follow v.d. Tempio di Giove and descend the staircases on the left. Then head again uphill, and follow the road to Foro Romano. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt..._GB228%26sa%3DX

As much as I hate to say it because I really wanted them to do well, but Austria seriously blew it last night. At this level of football you just can't afford to miss three clear cut chances like the Austrians did last night, that game would have been all over after 20 Min's if Austria had had a bit of composure in front of goal, OK Boruc is an excellent keeper and he did well but to miss those kind of chances in such an important game is just criminal. I think If Austria had have won last night and gone into the final game against the Germans we could have had a shock on our hands, Austria would be full of confidence after the last victory plus with the home advantage and the crowd behind them they could well have got a result out of a not so impressive German team. I know it's still all to play for and I still think it'll be a close game but I think it might just be a bit to much for them. I thought Croatia were outstanding last night and put in one of the best performances of the tournament so far, they're certainly going to be the ones to watch.

It was a very nice game. Portugal plays great, efficient and spectacular, and they are qualified already. Clearly, one of my favorite teams. Yes Portugal played well, they do play some good attractive attacking football but the thing that really grinds me about them is all the diving, rolling around, screaming and play acting, sometimes it was almost embarrassing. They do have a chance of winning the tournament but they have a very obvious weak link in their keeper Ricardo, he is very dodgy in the air and I predict he'll make some sort of error during the tournament that could well prove costly.

Hi SPQR, welcome to UNRV. Don't forget SPQR that as good as "Imperium" was, it was only a novel, i.e. fiction loosely based on an historical event. You can't begin to answer a question as big and important as this using a novel as your source. Cicero was a great orator and statesman and his work which has come down to us is invaluable in understanding the Romans of the late Republic but as far as greatest is concerned I'm not so sure.....

Hmm.. maybe there is a loophole here which will make it possible for me to market my products? Let me work it out.. If I sell my theatre in its half completed state for

In a strange sort of way I'm really enjoying this tournament with out England in it, it's good to just sit back and watch football with out any of the worry or hype generated by the press about whether England are good enough, which we quite obviously aren't, I mean, Russia knocked us out in the qualifying stages and they got tonked by Spain!.Or about who we're playing next or who's fit and who isn't etc etc. Look on the bright side at least Wayne and Colleen can enjoy their wedding in peace! Sorry NN but I'm afraid I on the other hand am not rooting for Les Bleus, I've never been a big fan of the French, I know they were the World and European champs a few years ago but I honestly think they are totally over rated. Their whole team revolved around Zinadine Zidane who IMO was easily the best player in the world and when he retired they became just another ordinary team again. I too can't wait for the Czech V Portugal game, it should be a cracker!

Very true Kosmo, Spain have everything required to win Euro 08, They've got two world class strikers in Villa and Torres, a skillful, creative midfield with Iniesta and Fabregas pulling the strings, and a solid defense with Puyol, Ramos and Cassilas between the sticks, They got a good mix of youth and experience through out the team. The only problem is that we always seem to say the same thing about Spain every tournament and they always seem to come up short, they just don't seem to rise to the big occasion the way teams like Germany and Italy do. So for me the jury's still out with the Spaniards, on paper they have the quality to win it but the big question is do they have the bottle??

Very true Augusta, Italy were far from poor, they played some great stuff at times and contributed to a fast paced exciting game of football, the only thing that let them down was consistency, they'd play well for 15 mins or so and then take their foot of the gas and let the Dutch back on top. They were unlucky with the first goal, then Van Bronckhorst cleared off the line and Holland went up the other end and scored a great goal, then for the third Van Der Sar made a world class save from Pirlo's free kick and the same thing happened again, Holland counter attacked, caught the Italians out of position and scored another great team goal, Kuyts work rate for 90 mins was phenomenal. So in truth with a bit of luck here and there the game could easily have gone the way of the Italians. As it was the best team on the night got the win they deserved. I'm very confident that Italy will turn Romania and France over though, France were very very poor, when Claude Makelele is playing as both defensive midfielder and play maker then you've got a problem, the French are clearly lacking any kind of creative influence in midfield. Romania are a very solid team and don't concede many goals, they finished top of their qualifying group ahead of Holland so they are certainly no mugs. But I think Italy will still reach the next round.... Fingers crossed Augusta!

Holland 3-0 Italy, By far the best game of the tournament so far, good attacking football, end to end stuff, excellent goalkeeping , great finishing, a perfect game for the neutral supporter. Holland didn't put a foot wrong the whole game, they were much stronger, fitter and creative all across the pitch, Italy missed Cannavaro for sure but I thought Sneijder and Van De Vaart ran the show for the Dutch where as Pirlo just didn't quite do enough for the Italians. The Dutch got a bit of good luck with the first goal which was clearly off-side but the second and third goals were perfect examples of counter - attacking football. In contrast to this, the France V Romania game was an absolute shocker, very dull, so even after this heavy defeat I think the Azzuri should still have enough quality to go through to the second phase but I think they need to play Del Piero from the start, they looked a much better team when he came on.

Cheers for the heads up Vig, I switched from IE to firefox a couple of years ago and haven't looked back. The new version looks great.

WooooHoooooo Happy days........SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!

Yesterday I found a gem of a book in my local secondhand / antique bookshop,this shop is full of wonderful old books and has quite a big selection on Roman history, last year I bought a 1917 copy of Caesar's commentari de bello Gallico with the Latin on one side of the page and the translation on the other, my favorite book in my collection. Anyway, the book I came away with yesterday is called "Roman Britain and the English Settlements" by Collingwood and Myers it's a first edition from 1936 and it's in fantastic condition and it only cost me

A recent discovery of a stone dating back to 700AD found in a cemetery on the Shetland Isles jogged my memory of an earlier stone in fact one of four that have been found in 1992 in the same cemetery, what stood this particular stone known as the Mail Stone out from the rest was that on it it depicted a mystery figure with a dog head or either wearing a dog head mask. HERE'S a very interesting paper on the Mail Stone, scroll down to page 4 of 11 for a picture of the mysterious figure, plus many more depictions of dog head figures from across Europe. HERE'S the original article that jogged my memory.

Excellent work as usual NN, beats the hell out of lego!

That's right Viggen, rub it in why don't you!!!! I know how you feel, there's nothing like the excitement that a big tournament brings to the lucky countries that are participating. England normally goes football crazy, at this time of year every car, pub and building is usually sporting the flag of St George, the papers are full of expectation and people in general are usually in a buoyant mood, my wife even gets excited about footy, on match days the pubs are full to the rafters and usually a good day is had by all...............But not this year!!! Oh no, not a flag in sight, football fans across the country are depressed and there's not a sniff of football fever in the papers. Enjoy it while it lasts Vig, because to be honest, I can't really see Austria getting past the group stages, can you? The Croats are one of the dark horses for the tournament and the Germans are well......The Germans! They always seem to pull it out of the bag when it matters. The only good thing I have to look forward to is that at least I don't have to sit through another agonising penalty shoot out which will ultimately end in heartache, I can just sit back and enjoy the tournament for what it is........ A great footballing spectacle, with the best footballers in the world on show. Armchair supporting is the way forward this year!

I wont really be supporting anyone this year, but like most here I do have a soft spot for the Italians for the obvious reasons so I'll definitely keep an eye on their progress. I tipped Spain to win it in an earlier post and still stand by it but the dark horses for the tournament are Croatia, they're solid in every department and are very hard to beat which England found out the hard way!

It's a nice thought isn't it but there's not a chance in hell it's going to happen. Before Boris starts the Latin classes he wants to make sure that the 'hoodies' graduate from the "actually going to school class" first! Good old Boris, What next? Classes in Jedi mind tricks??

Teaching hoodies Latin and ancient Greek could help turn them away from knife crime, London Mayor Boris Johnson said yesterday. He said education was the key to helping disadvantaged kids keep out of trouble. Speaking at his first press conference at City Hall since being elected last month, Mr Johnson said: "I think there's a huge amount we can do in London by promoting the learning of languages including Latin." He added: "I would like to see not only that but I would like to see ancient Greek. Latin can help with all languages." Boxing clubs could also help keep youngsters out of trouble, he said. Cambridge University classics expert Will Griffiths welcomed the move last night.He said: "Forcing everyone in London to learn Latin won't solve every problem but it will improve education and open doors for people."

THE head of the Army last night called for soldiers to get a wage rise

I'm gonna raise a toast to Tuesday's socks!...... Tuesdays socks!! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! For they are jolly good fellows........................

A group of museum directors has issued new guidelines for collecting antiquities with the goal of discouraging looting of archaeological treasures. The guidelines announced Wednesday by the Association of Art Museum Directors say that member museums should normally not acquire an ancient work of art unless research proves that the work was outside the country where it was discovered in 1970 or was legally exported from its country of discovery after 1970. Objects without documentation going back that far are more likely to have been stolen or illegally dug up and smuggled out of their country of origin. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080604/ap_en_...FAbTH7yd6lFeQoB About bloody time!