Gaius Paulinus Maximus

Very nice ring, are you going to wear it or put it away for safe keeping?

I'd like to bring Vespasian and his son Titus back to Rome and let them stand back and admire thier dream and creation in all it's glory - the Colosseum or as they knew it - the Flavian Amphitheater, still standing 1927yrs after it was completed. The looks on thier faces would be priceless! :smartass:

Nah. Unlike music, I can compose my own love poems. And I have. To great effect. Give us one then Ursus and we'll be the judges of that!

Not sure that i agree LW, he's already holding a spear in his hand, thats definately a bow behind him so he must be carrying arrows, maybe JP just forgot to add the feathers/flights to the ends( heaven forbid! ) I think only JP can answer this one. Oh yes by the way, as always excellent work JP

Ave Gladius xx Yes i think it's definitely worth reading Caesar's Civil War commentaries, lets not forget that this is a first hand account of what happened from somebody who was there and in the thick of it, ok it's probably a pretty one-sided account but all the same it was still written at the time of the event and that to me is a very good reason to read it, it's informative, not too long and not too hard a read. So if you've got the time , why not.

I found this little piece of infomation by the greek historian Ammianus Marcellinus describing the clibinarii cavalry of Shapur II All the companies were clad in iron, and all parts of their bodies were covered with thick plates, so fitted that the stiff-joints conformed with those of their limbs; and the forms of human faces were so skilfully fitted to their heads, that since their entire body was covered with metal, arrows that fell upon them could lodge only where they could see a little through tiny openings opposite the pupil of the eye, or where through the tip of their nose they were able to get a little breath. Of these some who were armed with pikes, stood so motionless that you would have thought them held fast by clamps of bronze. Hope this helps.

The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon has quite a lot to say on the career of Belisarius. Take a look http://www.ccel.org/g/gibbon/decline/volume2/chap41.htm Hope this helps.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE AND ALL :drunk: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE DOC ASWELL

Which one was like the modern day poncho, with just a hole in the middle to stick your head through, i think it was the paenula but i'm not sure. Anybody got any pictures or illustrations?

Loving your work JP, keep em' coming

It is said the pen is mightier than the sword, but Caesar could use both with deadly efficacy. How very true this statement is, great review Ursus, well done!

I finally got the 'Rome' box set which I've been waiting ages for! I also got ' Spartacus' on DVD, I've already got it on VHS but the DVDs got loads more extras, so all in all as far as Rome goes Santa was pretty generous

Fantastic picture JP Just out of interest, how long did that picture take you from start to finish?

Hope you al have a VERY merry christmas and a VERY happy new year! :beer: cheers

Aside from all the obvious ones, my own personal favorite guitarists are John Squires (The Stone Roses) and Noel Gallagher (Oasis) I'm not laughing doc, i think that Prince is an absolute genius with a guitar, i saw him live a few years ago and he did a 5 min guitar solo which ended with a standing ovation from the entire arena!

If i'm not mistaken i seem to remember reading somewhere that Augustus had this map or chart engraved onto marble and placed in one of the temples or some other place of importance within Rome, can anyone expand on this further?

Caligula gets my vote, i think the guy had a very very wicked sense of humor and although in his own mind he probably thought the things he was doing were amusing, to everyone else around him they were probably terrifying. Yes by the end of his days he was 100% fruit-cake!

Thank you very much UNRV :notworthy:

Christianity eneded up doing the same with many of it's rituals. Christmas is a joining together of the Roman winter festival, Saturnalia, celebrating Saturn, the god of agriculture, and the northern pagan ritual, known as Yule. Yule was a celebration of the birth of the pagan Sun God, Mithras and was observed on the 21st December.

LARS Porsena of Clusium By the Nine Gods he swore That the great house of Tarquin Should suffer wrong no more. By the Nine Gods he swore it, And named a trysting day, And bade his messengers ride forth, East and west and south and north, To summon his array. I know it's not quite what your looking for but i think it's a fantastic poem telling the tale of Lars Porsena's march on Rome and of the heroic Horatius who stood alone to defend his city. http://www.englishverse.com/poems/horatius It's quite a long poem, but give it a chance , you will not be disappointed.

Lictors had quite a few other jobs than just escorting consuls, they sometimes escorted private citizens on special occasions like funerals or political reunions as a show of respect from the city. There was also the Lictor Curitas who were religious lictors and carried no fasces, these were at the command of the Pontifex Maximus, and were present at sacrifices, they were incharge of the sacrificial animal. I think these were the one's who escorted the vesals about.

This is a good idea, there were some very interesting Roman women around like Livia, Porcia, Servilia etc all very intelligent and complex women in thier own right who could quite easily have ruled the Empire on thier own. Then there's the women like Julia the elder and Messalina who's depravity and seediness reached all time lows, these women had everything they could possibly want and should have set the example of Roman matronliness but yet they spent every spare minute in the gutter.

Bars are frequented by members of the public, any member of the public can walk into a bar and order a drink when ever he or she chooses (within the licensing laws obviously), unless it's a private members bar then thats a different matter.

I think Sulla's epitaph which was apparently written by himself pretty much sums the man up No greater friend, no worse enemy. - Lucius Cornelius Sulla

Just a single chest from Quintus Servilius Caepio's famous gold of Tolosa, i'm not a greedy man