Gaius Paulinus Maximus

Nice one Sulla, well done mate! Sounds like a dream contract, working less hours for more cash and the icing on the cake is it's on a bloody tropical island as well!!! Have fun mate and try not to work too hard! I'm sure your kids will cherish every moment of spending your hard earned cash, as I'm sure you will spending time with them. Speak soon mate .

The Romans were not the first, but may very well have used war dogs the most effectively. The Roman Army had whole companies composed entirely of dogs. Sometimes they were starved before battle, then unleashed on an unsuspecting enemy. Their dog of choice was the great Molossian dogs of Epirus, specifically trained for battle. These dogs, halved starved and ferocious, helped spread the Roman Empire across the ancient world. They dominated battles until they meet their match in the Britain, where powerful Mastiffs called Pugnaces Britanniae had been born and breed. Gratius Falsius, an ancient Roman author and historian, wrote of these frightful canines in the 8 AD....... They were physically unspectacular, but renowned and feared on the battlefield. The Roman Molossians were no match. Gratius writes, "Although the British dogs are distinguished neither by color nor good anatomy, I could not find any particular faults with them. When grim work must be done, when special pluck is needed, when Mars summons us to battle most extreme, then the powerful Molossus will please you less and the Athamanen dog cannot measure up to the skill of the British dog either. " Seeing first hand their effectiveness in battle, the Romans quickly began employing these dogs in the Empire's service. They were set loose across the ancient world - trained, ravenous, and fiercely loyal. HERE'S a nice article on dogs of war.

Apparently so. I saw this documentary a while back, they attempted to re create the claw and then prove that it worked, it was like a kind of crane with a grappling hook on the end that would drop down onto the deck of the ship then lift it up out of the water and then drop it, they reckoned that this would be enough to capsize the ship. take a look HERE.

Welcome to UNRV Dyna Take a look around the site, you'll find pretty much everything you need to know about Rome, but if you don't find what your looking for then just post a question and I'm sure one of the many know it all's around here will help you out! Enjoy

I'm currently reading Fagle's Aeneid, I think his story telling and translation is superb, he keeps the story going at along at a fast pace and keeps it exciting, sad and entertaining all in the right places. It's thoroughly enjoyable. If I were to rate the four translations I'd go for Fagles, Lombardo, Ruden, Ahl.

I agree, how do they know it's Caesar? Does it actually have his name engraved somewhere on the bust, because the article isn't very clear as to how they ascertained it was Caesar. For all we know it could just be some wealthy citizen of Arles who just happened to have a receding hairline as well. Can't really see the resemblance myself.

Hear, hear!! Great review and interview Ursus. My eldest daughter is a big fan of the Roman Mysteries, as she's only six I read the books with her and we both love them. The books are so well researched and educational as well as entertaining that anyone whether child or adult can not fail to enjoy them. I've certainly got a budding young Romanophile under my wing.

That's terrible! LOL, the pun wasn't intended. Must have been subliminally influenced... Just sparked off, did it? Indeed, I was mentally charged. Don't blow your top PP, he's only joking! ( This is getting really bad)

Might I suggest a doorstop until you get the door fixed. Bella might get jealous of THIS one though

Captain senior?? Captain junior??? Legion liaison officer??? Signal officer??? Assistant lieutenant??? RW you obviously know your fair share about the Roman army but your terminology is way of the mark, along with all the little symbols you use, it does nothing more than confuse me. Instead of Captain Senior, junior, lieutenant etc shouldn't you just use terms like centurion, optio etc??? i.e. the correct Roman name instead of a modern equivalent.

So, I take it you Brits don't figure Boris Johnson, then, for next Prez? I gather he must be quite a character. -- Nephele Don't get me wrong I quite like the guy, he's certainly a character alright, infact yeah why not Boris for president!! He's gotta be more fun than Bush! Probably talks more sense too!

Me too DC, I've often thought about taking a course in ancient history but I just don't think I've got the time to give it my full attention, I've had a look at a few courses and you really need to be 100% dedicated to it or you will most certainly fail and to do that would be a complete waste of my time and not to mention money, because they're not cheap! Maybe in few years when the kids are a bit older and less demanding.

Pure comedy!!! Boris Johnson the most powerful man in the world!!

Ahhh Caldrail, now your talking. On Friday morning I was working at a Petrol station in Hyde, Manchester when a midnight blue Lamborghini Gallardo rolled in to fill up, now everyone who was at the garage stopped what they were doing and just stared at the car for a few minutes then looked at each other and nodded their heads in appreciation. The car was out of this world and when I win the lottery next Saturday I'll be driving a Lamborghini Sunday morning! Incidentally because the car was so beautiful nobody noticed who the driver was until the last minute, It was James Beattie, for those of you who don't know, he's a professional footballer now playing for Sheffield Utd. After he'd drove away and everything had returned to normal I had a walk over to the pump and had a look at how much It had cost to fill up that dream car............

The Battle of Actium was the defining moment in the struggle for power between Octavius and Marcus Antonius. Here are their speeches before the battle, which do you think is the most inspiring. Augustus before Actium Antonius before Actium

Yes, as good as good as the book is, it's nothing more that a guidebook to the perfect way to conduct Roman warfare, written by somebody who has no actual experience of war. Basically it's like a man who's never played football to a high standard writing a book telling professional footballers how to play football. There may be a preferred way to go about things but in the cold hard light of day things on the pitch / battlefield never follow a set routine, something always happens to upset the applecart and that's where experience counts for everything. You can't just stop, get your guidebook out and see what to do next, you've got to use all your knowledge and experience to try and turn the situation around to your favor.

Flavius Vegetius Renatus was a Roman of high rank. In some manuscripts he is given the title of count. Raphael of Volterra calls him a Count of Constantinople. Little is known of his life. It is apparent from his book that he had not had extensive practical experience as a soldier.. He states quite frankly that his purpose was to collect and synthesize from ancient manuscripts and regulations the military customs and wisdom that made ancient Rome great. According to his statement, his principal sources were Cato the Elder, Cornelius Celsus, Paternus, Frontinus, and the regulations and ordinances of Augustus, Trajan and Hadrian. http://www.pvv.ntnu.no/~madsb/home/war/vegetius/

What an interesting point! A very interesting point indeed. Maybe the fact that the crime Sextius Roscius was accused of was parricide had something to do with the fact that this glaringly obvious (which no-one seems to have noticed!! ) point was over looked. Under Sulla's rules of proscription I wonder was it OK for a son to commit parricide or was this act still considered one of the most terrible crimes a Roman can commit? I just can't believe that Cicero wouldn't have addressed this issue if it had been relevant to the case.

HERE'S a discussion we had a while back about this question, although many different and plausible answers are given I think the true answer is still pretty inconclusive.

Apparently the Burmese leader / tyrant Than Shwe has promised

AHHHHHHHHHH! -- Nephele THIS has got to be the best one. Incidentally did you know that R.Lee Ermey who played Gunnery Sergeant Hartman was actually a real life drill instructor in the Marines before he took up acting.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FAUSTUS!!! Hope you have a great day!

Just watched Stanley Kubricks 'Full Metal Jacket', What a great film! That guy really knew how to make great movies. Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: What's your name fat-body? Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, Leonard Lawrence, sir. Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Lawrence? Lawrence what of Arabia? Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, No, sir. Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: That name sounds like royalty are you royalty? Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, No, sir. Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Do you suck dicks? Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, No, sir. Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Bullshit. I bet you could suck a golfball through a garden hose. Private Gomer Pyle: Sir, No, sir. Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: I don't like the name Lawrence, only faggots and sailors are called Lawrence. From now on you're Gomer Pyle.

Not much is known about the Scissores, from what I can gather some say he was similar to the Secutores. The Secutor was equipped with a smooth helmet, manica, a oblong shield and a gladius. While others describe him like your picture shows, as using a special short sword called a scissores. This sword had two blades (that looked like a pair of open scissors but without a hinge). It is speculated that they attempted to trap their opponents weapon between the twin blades in order to disarm them. The one thing that most of the sources seem to agree on is that his opponent was more than likely the Retiarri.

Some kind of training must have been carried out from the earliest times. Polybius gives information about the retraining of experienced soldiers after Scipio captured Carthage in 209 B.C. It took the form of a seven day schedule comprising running i9n full armour, cleaning of weapons and armor and weapons drill (carried out with wooden swords and javelins with a button on the end to avoid accidents.) The schedules were repeated until the soldiers were considered competent. There's a quote from the later empire by Josephus which goes "It would be fair enough to call their drills bloodless battles and their battles bloody drills"