spittle

It would be a Honourary Knighthood for a non-Brit. You should have discussed becoming the King of Scotland. If Idi Amin could do it from Uganda.....

This is what I don't understand.... English school children are taught that the 'Light of Rome was extinguished by the barbarian hordes...' and an age of survival began. The flame of knowledge was barely kept alight by Irish Monks and, to a greater extent, early Muslims. It would seem that the light of Rome simply moved east? This may be an oversimplification but seems closer to events than Romes civilisation coming to an abrupt end. Why this Fall of Rome scenario as though it was the end of everything? Is it Eurocentric prejudice? By extension the 'Eastern Romans' must have had similar experiences with Islamic expansion that the Western Empire had with Christianity. I know that Islam was spread in a military blitzkreig totally different to Christian teaching but the ideology of new religions was nothing new. By the time that Wesrern Romans were over run they were predominantly Christian and, I believe, Constantinople stayed Christian til 1492. This would leave ample time for several phases of acceptance or war. In that time there MUST have been heroes and villains but I know of none! Why is it so obscure?

I replied prematurely. My apologies. It should be an interesting thread.

This is getting silly. In another thread someone said that 'Caesar supported Christianity....' and, from its context, he was referring to Gaius Julius Caesar! Caesar was older than Christ. The Western Roman Empire had been over run by the time the Prophet Mohammad (Praise be His Name....yabba yabba....)started the spread of Islam

Can anyone believe that Rome attracted less viewers than Six Feet Under ?!? BUMP! Season 2? Anybody????

I cannot find a start date for British viewers anywhere on the internet and its pissing me off! You Yanks will be watching re-runs (which, incidentally, is an inferior term to its British equivalent 'Repeats') by the time we see episode one!

I disagree that Caesar was 'aiming to get full power'. He was pushed into a corner. And the whole episode as been considered a matter of honour since at least as far back as when Shakespear wrote of it. Its even quoted in modern movies when phrases such as 'Brutus too was an honourable man...' are used to express ambiguities in motive.

"Christianity was also favourable to Caesar, whose empire was thought to be Gods chosen medium of spreading the faith" ? Julius Caesar a fan of Christianity? MPC. Good point on time warping judgement for genocide. Could Napoleon come under this heading?

I met HRH in 2001 at a substance misuse rehab in Tyneside. No one was allowed to smoke for 2 days prior to his arrival because he hates the smell of cigs. He must get sick of smelling paint as every where he visits gets spruced up. For a few days before he arrived members of the Royal protection Squad (who I would bet were ex-SAS to a man!) checked the entire area and put wax seals on drain covers to ensure assassins or bombs were not placed therein. When he turned up he was very nice and friendly. Not as tall as I expected, less than 6ft, with ears of normal size and angle. But he had to be very careful what he talked about. We'd just joined the Northern Alliance tofight the Taliban and when I pointed out that our allies (not the Taliban) were the worlds biggest producers and smugglers of heroin his aid informed me that HRH could not be seen to criticize our Afghani allies. God knows what he'd have said if I had finished the sentence...The third time since ww2 that the USA has joined forces with the biggest suppliers of hard drugs on earth'.

GEORGE WASHINGTON was suckled by AN wolf and killed his brother, DENZIL, The similarities never an end.

Don't forget 'DONATIVES'. One of the reasons that Galba's reign was so short was because he refused to pay the legions a donative or, as he put it, "I choose my soldiers, not buy them". This bonus, essentially a bribe, could be a few years wages. I'm assuming Severus and Caracalla raised the wages due to hyper inflation? The one caused because of the weight of gold and silver coins being reduced to try and save some money (????)

Whilst most experts agree that Caesar was born on 13th July 100 BCE a few disagree and think he was born in 101 or 102 BCE. My point is this. We know the consular name of the year of his birth BUT if some scholars disagree on the actual year of the particular consular naming how can we be certain that any are chronologically correct? Caesar137. Hats off to you! You really know your stuff when it comes to this darker age of early Roman history. I have both Cornells "Early History of Rome" and Forsythes "A Critical History of Early Rome". I'll get around to reading them when I have completed the individual biographies of the Julio-Claudian Emperors (and related characters, Mark Antony, Pompey, Livia....) so be ready for a thousand questions and requests for clarification on the era.

Late Republic/Early Principate. That is THE era! I hoped to to gather a basic knowledge of all Roman history but keep getting sucked back into Sulla/Marius to the Flavians, with a special concentration on Caesar v Pompey to Actium. If there is a half a century as important as this to Western history I am unsure what it is. BTW. This time zone is the physical and idealogical battle ground of REPUBLIC v PRINCIPATE.

QUOTE "Once upon a time there were TWO Emperors. One in the West and one in the East". Correct me if I am wrong but, just before Constantine the Great (330 CE), there were TWO Emperors in the East and TWO Emperors in the West. Making a total of FOUR Emperors. I know little of this era but watched the BBC 'Ancient Rome' doc a few months ago that showed how Constantine won his wife's brother in battle, making him the sole Emperor in the west whilst helping one of the eastern Emperors do the same in that part of the empire. He then deposed the Eastern Emperor making him the undisputed, undefeated Emperor of ALL the Roman Empire. The last Eastern Emperor was exiled in powerless luxury but then assassinated with his familly to pre-empt any possible attempts to take the power back.

So AGRIPPA is in it?

Excellent review! I'm going to order this book now.

What do we actually know about the Sibyline Scrolls? I'm assuming they were destroyed in an early Christian book burning event (a practice that Christians seem to have enjoyed for over a millenium). What books have the most information about these scrolls?

SIBYLINE SCROLLS. There is quite a lot of reference to these in RUBICON by Tom Holland. The part that sticks in my mind was something to do with burying a Gaul and a Greek alive, under the forum (?) to prevent some catastrophe.

JEFF BRAZIER. HE IS FAMOUS FOR BEING jADE gOODY'S EX. I'd rather die on a cross.

What if the Rooster dies??? We're all doomed! Luck and Ability. A great conbination. AUGUSTUS was a very lucky person but he helped to make his own luck. IMHO, much like POMPEY.

Any of the autobiographical material that Augustus wrote during his lifetime would be a major find. I believe its all lost and we just have fragments in the form of quotes in other peoples works. The best possible memoir (IMHO) would have been if Livia had told ALL on her death bed to a scribe. It would have been far more exciting than I,CLAVDIVS! From her near death as a rebel against Octavian (running through a burning forest clutching the infant TIBERIUS to her chest) to her being one of the three people that made AUGUSTUS into the man he became (The other two were AGRIPPA and MAECEANAS).

fASTI beginning of year SUFECTI replacements mid-year? Thanks guys. Incredibly informed responses.

The Romans named each individual year after the elected consuls that took office on Jan 1st of the year. How many years/consuls are we sure of? How many can we speculate over? How many are total mysteries? This naming system happened every year from the founding of the republic and was used as well as the chronological 'from the founding', so hundreds of consuls would have been used as year names.

What about the luxury that Atia and her family live in? I have read Octavian described as middle class NOT upper. And certainly never called a new rich like the fantastically wealthy but less than high born Pompey. Opinions please.

Yeah, and we all know that he died miles from Rome. I don't mind fiction at all, Paul. I'll even accept a fictional Atia. What I won't accept is a portrayal rooted in the 20th century rather than the 1st BC. Can you accuse Sian Phillips of that? Another thing I won't accept is a woman living on for years after she is supposed to be dead just to fill a fictional plot line. Livia in 'Claudius' died when she was supposed to die. There are certain rules in historical fiction, whether on screen or in literature, that are acceptable, and some are not. As for the Agrippa question again - I have now scoured the 'full casts and crews' for the 10 episodes and can find no mention of him anywhere. This is a gross miscalculation by HBO - let's even leave out the historical aspect for a moment. The man had character and was a 'rags to riches' sort of guy. Which is precisely why I think HBO are going to leave him out and let Pullo fill that role. What is the point of two of 'em? But let's face it: this show is not for the historians among us - it's there to entertain, and in that it succeeds. I just have to suspend disbelief when I watch it, that's all. I am probably way too critical, as this is what I consider to be 'my' period. Fair comment on histoirical fiction. The first series was the thing that hooked me on Roman history, so I have a real affection for it. Whether you consider it a success or failure I still think that Atia's character was 'inspired' by I,Claudius Livia. THE MISSING AGRIPPA What about the next five generations of Julio-Claudians??? How do they explain the glut of Agrippinna's? Vipsania? Julia? Series 2 must be the last because, without Agrippa, there is no foundation to further tell the history. Its crazy!