Gaius Paulinus Maximus

At this point GPM staggers from one of the many bedrooms followed by a blushing slave girl just in time to direct Klingan toward the impluvium where he embarrassingly empties the contents of his stomach into the pool, after handing him an handkerchief to wipe the bile from his chin, GPM tells Klingan to come and see him tomorrow and he'll see if he can help him out in advancing his career. He then stumbles over to GO who's still spinning uncontrollably in the middle of the floor much to the amusement of the other guest who are now placing wagers on which wall he is going to go crashing into first, GPM grabs him by the toga which unintentionally comes loose and falls to the fall leaving GO standing there in his birthday suit, the matrons cover the faces and giggle, the men look at each other and snigger and in the back ground Cato has recovered from the effects of Pertinax's weed just in time to see GO's embarrassing little problem at which point he starts whooping with joy and cartwheeling around the room (maybe he hasn't fully recovered from Pertinax's medicine!) GPM slumps on to the nearest couch laughing uncontrollably

Excellent work as usual JP But don't you think that the soldier (in the middle) in the picture below looks a bit on the camp side? He looks like a bit of a wet lettuce to me

It's a Monty Python sketch, where four middle-aged men try to outdo each other in the "We had it tough, back in the day"-department. Ahhh of course, I thought it sounded like a ridiculous statement , should have known it was from those comedy genius's. Thanks for the link.

Ahhhh thanks.

I'm confused Maladict [Four Yorkshiremen] ?? They used to show the NHL on channel 5 in the UK at about 3am (I used to record it and watch it later at a proper hour!) but half way through the season they cancelled it with no explanation! So now the only way I get a sniff of hockey is on the internet as well. P.S. So much for my prediction of Tampa for the cup

I would agree that the citizens had had enough of civil war and I would agree that Augustus served Rome well for 41 years but I wouldn't say that they were entirely glad to put Rome into the hands of Octavian/Augustus at the very beginning, I would say that it was more like fear that persuaded them to do so, the beginnings of Octavian's rise to power were based on a platform of fear and proscriptions, the majority of citizens probably thought it better to just tow the line to save their names being next on the list. Maybe the harsh measures that Octavian used were the necessary ones needed to transform Rome, because after all like you say , he did serve Rome for a successful and prosperous 41 years.

I'm willing to travel either north or south, as I'm pretty centrally located it doesn't really make any difference to me, although I must say that the re-enactment team suggested by AC that's doing the march on Hadrian's Wall on the 29th sept. does sound pretty appealing. I'm easy which ever way we do it, as long as we get a north/south meet in this year, as for the annual meet, York or Chester are both great cities for a get together.

Could you just clarify something for me LW. What's "MN" and "PTSD"?

After Belisarius took Ravenna back from the Ostrogoth's in 540AD, the Emperor Justinian declared Ravenna the seat of Byzantine government in Italy. The Byzantines had a governor known as a Exarch who governed Italy until they were eventually overthrown by the Lombard's in 751AD.

I'm athiest too, I don't believe in god, I've nothing against people who do as long as they don't start preaching to me......God is great!....... God is life!......Heaven awaits those who believe! Prove it and I'll consider it!

Great clip Nephele , Showed it to the kids and they loved it, they made me play it over and over again, now I'm sick of the sight of it

There's nothing wrong with an heated debate as long as it doesn't start getting personal which thankfully on this forum it doesn't happen very often and when it does happen the Tyrants are on top of it in a flash Cheers for a great site guys P.S. Who'd have thought it, Pertinax the off spring of a hamster!! Well wonders never cease, every days a school day on UNRV.

Excellent replies PNS! There's also the strong possibility that if Caesar lives to a ripe old age then there is still the chance that he could have fathered a legitimate son, then this would surely push Octavian as well as Brutus (as long as he'd stayed in JC's good books) further down the pecking order of succession. Where would he be then? I think this is a certainty, the people would get rid of anyone with any connection to Caesar whatsoever, Octavian would surely be a dead man! Again the question of legitimate heir's crops up with this one, true Brutus would be out of the picture but Antony I'm not so sure, who Knows even Octavian might have been against the idea of a monarchy, he may well have distanced himself or even rebelled against it himself. Then where does that leave us??????? Great stuff, keep them coming

This is a spin off from the "Did Caesar deserve to die?" thread. If the liberators had failed in their attempt to assassinate Julius Caesar and he'd gone on to dominate Rome , then what would have become of Octavian? Would he have still had the determination and intelligence to rise and become a prominent figure and successor to Caesar or would he have just been another face in the shadow of Caesar never coming to the fore and would he just go down in history as another name who lived in the age of Caesar? I know this is another "what if ?" question but I enjoy them, it's interesting and fun to see the different tangents that people go off on. So please give me your thoughts.

Shah was the Persian term for 'Monarch' or 'Ruler' and even 'King of Kings' so I suppose it does refer to Caesar in a round about way.

Fresh from from campaigning in the forests of Germania the General Gaius Paulinus Maximus enters the party dressed in a dazzling white toga and on his head he wears the corona graminea awarded him by his legions on the Rhine frontier. He surveys the room and notes that it's full of Rome's finest and instantly decides that this is the place to be, he beckons a slave girl and takes a glass of the delicious wine being served, slaps her on the bum and sends her on her way, and then decides which of the beautiful but tipsy stunner's to converse with first, he also makes a mental note to keep an eye on the Thracian Gladiator with crumbs around his chops.... Barbarians! They're all the same! Absolutely no class! Now let's get this party started!!

A forum meet in Italy! Now that would be pretty special.

Found this on Wikipedia

I think this is a good question DC, when you compare Attila, Gaiseric, Alaric or even lesser known barbarians achievements, on paper Attila's doesn't look any more impress than the others, so why does he over shadow them?? It's like when ever the every day person in the street is asked "Name a famous Roman?" 9 out of 10 will say Julius Caesar, I think the same counts here, whenever the question "Name a famous barbarian?" the name on most peoples lips will be Attila the Hun! There's been some good posts so far and I've enjoyed reading them, unfortunately my knowledge of these barbarians is not good enough to give an educated opinion but I just thought I'd stick my two pence in anyway .

Great idea guy's! I thought I'd probably have to wait until next year before another meet was organized but lo and behold we're talking about this September at the wall and then next spring down south which for me is spot on, I'm away on holiday for the last two weeks in August so the holiday will be over and done with (I might also have a tan as well ). Anythings good for me, the Wall's a good idea as is a re-enactment or to combine the both would be brilliant, so let's get this sorted!

I think that this just goes to show how far above everybody else Caesar thought himself to be, the fact that he could alienate himself from some of the men who liked Rome the way it was and who he would surely need to help him to continue to make Rome flourish in which ever way he intended it, and also to think that he was so great, god like and untouchable that even after offending these men he could just walk freely around Rome with absolutely no threat to himself and that no man would dare to lay a finger on him let alone stab him to death. - Maybe the great man was not only slipping but delusional as well ? Absolutely! Who knows what would have become of Octavian had Caesar's life not ended prematurely. He might have just been another name in the long list of Romans around at the time of Caesar. But that questions for another thread......mmmmmm.

Happy birthday A of S Have a good one mate!

Nobody knew for sure what Caesar's intentions for the Republic were, the assassins were stout Republicans and didn't like the idea of change, who knows maybe Caesar's intentions for the future of Rome would have been a revelation, but that's besides the point and we'll never know, but in my opinion Caesar didn't deserve to die, he was a great man who'd achieved great things in the name of Rome and to be stabbed to death by lesser cowardly men was not the fitting end to his life that he deserved.

Oh yes there were many a coin tossed into the fountain! The piazza Navona was good but I preferred Campo De Fiori where we spent our second night eating and drinking. I've been really busy this past few weeks with work and stuff so haven't had much time to finish the rest of my blog, hopefully I'll get it done this week end.

Your gonna need it! I'm so glad I'm not female