Nephele

I thought Robyn's home was depressing. -- Nephele

I have a lot of problems with people citing Wikipedia as a reference source, not the least of these being that the material to be found in Wiki articles is taken from other sources by people who often don't appear to have a clue as to what they are taking, and then reworded (to avoid the appearance of plagiarism) to the point of actually creating errors in the original information. Time and again I have found such errors in Wiki articles, and I have posted about those errors here on this forum. One doesn't even need to mention that Wiki articles can be altered at the whim of any delusional user with too much time on his hands and the inclination to create a Wiki account for himself. I am truly saddened to see any veteran member of this board (who knows better) steering anyone requesting information in the direction of Wikipedia. I really feel for your situation, Caldrail, but I thought that you spent a lot of time in your public library (you'd mentioned a few times in your blog that you use the public computers there). I'm sure your public library must have resources you can avail yourself of. If they don't, they can interloan books for you. If it takes weeks for you to research and write an article, there's nothing wrong with that. There's no deadline on articles here, nobody's impressed with overnight speed, and it may even turn out to be a better article. And, yes, I guess I am prodding you, because I know that you can do better than Wikipedia. -- Nephele

Not for nothing, but I would expect that our esteemed UNRV members might be able to provide reference sources a bit more scholarly than the Wikipedia Idiot's Guide to Everything. -- Nephele

...another mildly insulting remark which you probably wouldn't have said had you been in the same room together. Try to keep it civil and relevant. Granted; what about this one? Frankly, I find it little more than "mildly"... Sylla, if you (or anyone else) should have a complaint about any member of this community, then you are welcome to privately PM that individual to work things out between yourselves. Or you may privately PM a Moderator who will most assuredly tend to the matter either privately or publicly. No backseat moderating, please. Thank you. EDIT: to Neil, I see we were responding to this simultaneously! -- Nephele

One request that others back up their statements with evidence is enough. One needn't badger anyone in this thread or elsewhere on this board. We get it. Honestly. -- Nephele

While some Roman praenomina have survived to modern day times as popular first names with variants (Marcus, Marco, Mark, Lucius, Tiberius, Titus, Tito), it doesn't appear to have been the case with Gaius. Perhaps the television series, Battlestar Galactica, with its character Gaius Baltar, may result in a resurrection of the name. -- Nephele

As you know, the Romans created ties with families other than their own, through the act of adoption. Natural fathers would give over their sons to families with which they wished to establish ties, and the close association of some families thus became well recognized. Such as the connections between the plebeian Livii with the patrician Aemilii. And then there were the three princely clans of the Aemilii, Cornelii, and Fabii who affirmed their unification through inter-adoption. I'm not certain as to when the custom of Roman adoptio and adrogatio started, or whether it went back to the time of the tribal raiders of the Tiber valley. -- Nephele

Thank you! Do you mean familial connections? The Porcii Catones were most likely related to the Porcii Laecae and Porcii Licini. M

The Porcii were an aristocratic plebeian gens that had its origins in Tusculum. The name is derived from porcus, a Latin word meaning "pig," and most likely this was a metonymic name indicating that the earliest members of the gens were noted for keeping and breeding swine. The most distinguished branch of the gens was without a doubt the Porcii Catones, and the first member of the Porcii to obtain the consulship was M. Porcius Cato Censorius (Cato the Elder) in 195 BCE. As I did with my Surnames of the Cornelii, Surnames of the Claudii, Surnames of the Valerii, Surnames of the Fabii, Surnames of the Aemilii, Surnames of the Servilii, Surnames of the Licinii, Surnames of the Manlii, Surnames of the Junii, Surnames of the Sempronii, Surnames of the Julii, and Surnames of the Livii, I have attempted here to list and define the various surnames used by the Porcii of the Republic, particularly those who served in magisterial positions during the time of the Republic as noted in Broughton's Magistrates of the Roman Republic. For the purpose of this list, I have included cognomina, adoptive cognomina, and agnomina under the collective term of "surnames." ...read the full article of the Surnames of the Porcii

I'd have "Bring Me My Bride" for my wedding march, and also have my bridesmaids come dancing down the aisle dressed like the courtesans Tintinabula, Vibrata, Gymnasia, Panacea, Gemina I and Gemina II. -- Nephele

Axel, your repugnantly stupid response to Primus Pilus in this thread will not be approved and is in fact headed for Tartarus. So you can rage all you want. Nobody gives a shit about your irrational and immature "point of view." Grow up, or get the hell out of here. -- Nephele

Wishing you a happy birthday, and thanking you for your birthday present to UNRV of that fine book review of Age of the Gladiators. -- Nephele

Nicely reviewed, JGolomb! -- Nephele

Ursus, if you're planning on getting this book, then I happily yield the UNRV review of it to you. I did a snapshot review of it for Amazon and AmazonUK, but I'd really like to see your own, more in-depth review of it here at UNRV. -- Nephele

USAurelia, your scramble is a bit long. Can you give me a scramble with just first/last or first/middle names? Thanks! -- Nephele

I just want to give everyone here a heads-up that UNRV member and classical scholar Maty has a new book out: The Classical Compendium: A Miscellany of Scandalous Gossip, Bawdy Jokes, Peculiar Facts and Bad Behavior from the Ancient Greeks and Romans If I can get my stuff together, I'll write up a more formal review. But for the meantime, I'll just say that this book is great fun and full of the sort of little facts and pieces of fascinating information that one might encounter at a lively dinner party for classicists -- or perhaps even pick up if one could time-travel back to ancient Rome and get oneself invited to a lavish banquet there where the gossip flows as freely as the wine. You've done it again, Maty! Great book, and all hails to you! -- Nephele

DuncanDee, you are a member of the Vedii, a Roman clan to which also belonged a Publius Vedius who was a close friend of Pompey's. Cicero gossiped about the extravagant and scandalous nature of this Vedius in one of his letters to his friend Atticus:

Axel, if you are incapable of responding rationally to people here, then you will remain on moderated status. Additionally, if no one responds to your posted picture (in the Hora Postilla Thermae forum) of your grandfather, best friend, family pet, whatever, then do not nag people by bumping that posting every hour. If no one is interested, then that's the way it is. Thread closed. -- Nephele

Sounds interesting, Crispina. I just downloaded a free copy of Volume I from Google Books. I guess I'll have a look at it. I hereby declare The Roman Empresses Drinking Game to be in progress -- take one sip everytime you read the word "debauched." -- Nephele

Echo_of_your_past, I've scrambled your name for you to proctect your privacy. I also had to remove your middle name, as it was just a few too many letters to work with. Here you go! You are a member of the Lusia gens, having come to this gens first as a slave of the praetorian prefect, Lusius Geta (who served under the emperor Claudius in 48 C.E.). When Lusius made you his freedwoman, you took his gens name (in the feminine form), as was customary. Your cognomen of Rhodanola indicates your place of origin -- as your Roman captors had named you for the Rhodanus river in Gaul (today known as the Rhone river), from the banks of which you had been captured. Your full Roman name is: Lusia Rhodanola = sawahnalrdooly -wy +ui Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

I have indeed taken all of the pictures myself. The museums are however very touchy when it comes to photos. Most Italian museums have a policy dictating that no photos are allowed at all (even if the Italian law makes it clear that it is allowed). The problem also touches publication and if blogging is publishing. I've never heard of one single museum that would allow you to publish a picture (in a book/official page and in theory even in lecture powerpoints) without their expressed permission. One horrible example is Pompeii, where the authorities demand 50

I thought that if you took the picture yourself, then the copyright was yours. That's provided the museum permitted photo-taking and you didn't take any pics on the sly. Am I missing something here? I would mention the museum, anyway, for those who might be interested in knowing where to go see the artifact represented in your photo. -- Nephele

I watch these dated epics for the acting and cinematography rather than the story. Although I have to admit that DeMille's 1923 silent film The Ten Commandments, has some pretty over-the-top scenes in it. If you're a fan of Penn & Teller's television series Bullshit!, you'll recognize some of the scenes from that epic used in their episode on the bible. The fairly recent release of William Wyler's 1959 Ben Hur DVD set includes the 1925 silent version of the film, and I recommend that DVD set. It has some excellent accompanying narration by film historian T. Gene Hatcher. -- Nephele (pictured in avatar as Theda Bara from the 1917 film Cleopatra)

Am I to presume that there will be a Nephele/Audacia gladiatrix in your next novel, Lanista? Hot stuff! If she has to die, then I hope she dies after wreaking much havoc and bloodshed. -- Audacia a.k.a. Nephele She's about to wreak right now - its a bit of a twilight zone moment cos I just typed this "Audacia strode out from the Gate of Life, her arms raised aloft. She was a thraex, armed with short sword and shield. Illeana studied her and was impressed. She was well-muscled and heavier than Pyrra, her defined physique demonstrating hard-training and her gait oozing confidence. The crowd hooted, always enthusiastic at the sight of female flesh

Am I to presume that there will be a Nephele/Audacia gladiatrix in your next novel, Lanista? Hot stuff! If she has to die, then I hope she dies after wreaking much havoc and bloodshed. -- Audacia a.k.a. Nephele