Gaius Paulinus Maximus

Lets not forget that Vercingetorix was a 'barbarian' who had the audacity to stand against the might of Rome, he was responsible for the death of many Roman soldiers, so Rome would expect or even demand that he be captured and brought back to Rome to be shown off to the people and then executed. Ok Caesar would keep him imprisoned for 5 years so he could show him of in his triumph but again Caesar is just playing the game, the mob loved a triumph and with Vercingetorix on show it makes the people love Caesar even more. Caesar wasn't the first or the last general to use this method of gaining popularity with the people of Rome. During the civil war Caesar regularly showed his humane character by releasing and forgiving those who had chosen to stand against him, he could have quite easily put them to the sword but instead he either gave them the opportunity to join his ranks or let them walk away right back into the arms of Pompey to fight against him another day. Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus springs to mind here. Also his sadness upon recieving the head of Pompey and then his reaction afterwards shows that the bloodshed of fellow Romans wasn't what he wanted. Ultimately Caesars leniency probably played a big part in his assassination. A good portion of the 'liberators' had at some time been forgiven by Caesar against the wishes of his close confidants. Who knows if Caesar had been a bit more ruthless in his climb to the top then...................... enough, I'm sick of what if's!!

" I'm warning you if you speak out against the weather god again I'll........(stone smashes against his head) "Right! Who threw that?"................"C'mon, who threw that???" "she did, she did,....HE DID, HE DID, HIM, HIM!!!!" "No one is to stone anyone until I blow this whistle, is that clear??? Classic!

What about Steven Saylor , his Roma Sub Rosa series of books starring Gordianus the Finder are excellent. These are similar to John Maddox's series of books but in my opinion slightly better. He's also responsible for the epic novels 'Roma' and 'Empire'

It was certainly a fun one to write. I think the printers were caught out by how many pre-publication orders there were, so there's now a delay in stocks reaching Amazon. Who would have thought Petillius Cerialis had so many fans? Yes I know, I've just been on to Amazon to buy the book only to be told that it's out of stock!! He certainly sounds like an interesting kind of guy though, the kind of all out action hero that we see in the movies!

Imperial General by Maty will definately be going on my list, sounds like a very interesting read. The Caligula book sounds pretty good too, I'd be interested to see just how different a story the author tells. A good selection of books this month Viggen!

I don't doubt that regardless of how it did eventually happen, Caesar at some point in his career would have gone on to become the dominant force in Rome, he was too big a character not to, he was an ambitious man and maybe the success had gone to his head, who knows? I just think that given the choice he would have rather gone about the proccess in a less violent manner, Caesar's hand was forced, there's no doubt about that and he reacted accordingly. I don't think bloodshed was the way he wanted to go. I think the last thing he wanted was Roman fighting against Roman. But at the end of the day thats how it played out and he had to see it through. . Alea iacta est.......

After divorcing his first wife for infidelity Cato the Younger married Marcia, the daughter of L. Marcius Philippus, consul in 56, and "a woman of excellent reputation, about whom there was the most abundant talk." Plutarch's description of her suggests that she was somewhat more mature than many Roman brides, though she had not previously been married. There is little material on Marcia, though she also was deeply concerned over Cato's personal safety, and Appian says that Cato was extremely fond of her. She had borne Cato three children, and there is not the slightest indication that they were not happily married, when suddenly Cato divorced her. He divorced her because his close friend Hortensius had asked him for his own wife's hand in marriage! At first Hortensius had wanted to marry Cato's daughter Porcia, but she was already happily married to Bibulus with two young sons and the fact the he was at least forty years older than Porcia made the situation even more out of the question so old Hortensius changed his attention to his good buddys missus and Cato being the good guy that he was gave his wife to Hortensius. Strabo says that Cato gave Marcia in marriage to Hortensius "according to an old custom of the Romans" Does anybody know what this old custom was??? Oh by the way, after Hortensius died, Cato took Marcia back as if he had merely loaned her!!

I would say that Caesar's decision to cross the Rubicon was not initially to replace a broken Republic or for personal power but simply a matter of survival. Imo Caesar had been backed into a corner by the senate, if he'd have stood his legions down and crossed the Rubicon and entered Rome on his own then his career as a soldier and a politician would have certainly been over and his life would have also been in serious jeopardy. Caesar had accquired many enemies during his time in Gaul and to enter Rome alone would have been suicidal to say the least. So for me he wasn't really left with much option was he? Caesar was not the sort of man to just turn and walk away from a problem he was the the kind to meet it head on, and that's exactly what he did. Whether he made the correct decision or not will be argued over through the ages, but I'm pretty sure that if I was faced with the same choices after achieving so much then it would have been hard to turn around and walk away with my tail between my legs. Don't you think? Hero or villian? The ancient world was a cruel and savage place where only the strongest survived. It may be a bit of a cliche but it's true, through out history the names that stand out have all been ruthless, determined, brave, cruel, intelligent characters. To achieve this legendary status you had to be both a hero at times and a villian at others. Caesar definately falls into this cateogary.

Skiing at the summer Olympics?? C'mon Caldrail, I know the UK is cold but it's not that cold in July!

I've had quick search around and haven't found any other sources mentioning this monument or any evidennce that it still exists today. Plutarch description..... . Artemisium is a part of Euboea above Hestiaea,

Welcome on board Scott, I've read Memnon, a very enjoyable book. Obviously I prefer Roman novels but anything ancient is good by me!

Nice work Klingan! Pretty impressive stats! How long did that take you?

Welcome Lyedecker!

Thanks. I think Scullard's is a 'general history of' type for Rome not an in depth study, but I've seen it around so much I might pick it up. I have the Beesley book (its free on gutenberg). I somehow missed the Stockton book, its circa 1980 or so but worth a try. Pity nothing more contemporary (though I do have a few dozen journal articles). Scullard's book is definitely worth having on your book shelf, a good book but you won't learn anything new about the Gracchi that you don''t already know, but David Stockton's book is solely dedicated to the Gracchi so this book probably fits your criteria, it's quite old and dated though and is also a bit pricey too, but I did pick up a reasonably priced used copy on Amazon. So it might be worth shopping around a bit.

From the Gracchi to Nero by HH Scullard. The Gracchi, Marius and Sulla by AH Beesley. The Gracchi by David Stockton

Nothing remotely Roman related this time I'm afraid but still two excellent books. Mud Sweat and Tears, the Bear Grylls autobiography, a very honest and entertaining story about his early life and remarkable achievements like passing SAS selection, breaking his back in a parachuting accident then recovering and going on to climb Mount Everest all before his 24th birthday. No Way Down, Life and Death on K2 by Graham Bowley. I could not put this book down, It's the story of the ill fated attempt to climb K2 in 2008, thirty climbers attempt to reach the summit of the most savage mountain on Earth. They make it, but before they start their descent an ice shelf collapses, sweeping away their ropes, it is dark, their lines are gone, they are low on oxygen, and it's getting very cold. It's a gripping, terrifying story of struggle for survival with stories of heroism, sadness and extraordinary endurance. I would highly recommend these books!

What about ........ "Carthago delanda est".. ( Carthage must be destroyed.) The famous saying by Cato the Elder. I'd say this was rather punchy!!

Like GoC say's it wasn't just one road that led from China to the west but many different routes spanning across Asia, Africa and Europe. Silk road in the 1st centuary.

Could it possibly be the very modern building seen beyond the the gateway??

I agree! Btw Puzo takes it for me! But I reckon part II is the best movie of the trilogy.

Every day is a school day here at UNRV!! A big welcome to all the new members.

Fantastic!!! Music to my ears, roll on February!! Cheers Ian.

Macro is the tricky one for me too, Russell Crowe is probably the obvious one as Is James Purefoy but I fear they would then be compared too much to thier roles in Gladiator and Rome, I think maybe to typecast for them? What about Jason Statham?? Or maybe even Vigo Mortisen?? As for Cato I think Shia Lebouf from the Transformer films would be pretty good. He's young fairly tall, quite geeky like I imagine Cato to be, especially in the earlier books. Or What about Justin Timberlake???

Two things in response: First, for the reasons stated above, I do not compare book and movie when reviewing one of them. Well personally I think when reviewing a movie that is based on a book, it would do well to take into account the part the friendship plays in the storyline of the book before completely dismissing it out of hand in the movie?

Although I am an avid watcher of this thread, though I very rarely attempt to mix it with you big hitters, I'm going to hazard a guess that this place is in Bulgaria??