Nephele

Author Caroline Lawrence's series about four, mystery-solving friends living in the Roman world of 79 C.E. has been a fairly popular children's book series for a number of years. I've heard that the BBC has been filming the books for the past year, for a soon-to-be-released (this May?) theatrical version. Have checked out the author's website, but there doesn't appear to be a precise date set for the release, or information on whether the filmed version may be coming to the States as well. Have any of our UNRV members living in the U.K. heard of this series coming out this summer? -- Nephele

Here

Ah, thank you. I'm remembering the urn now, that Agrippina carried. Not to go too far off topic, but I wonder whether the Roman Catholic veneration of saints in the form of wax effigies on public display might be yet another carryover from Roman practice? In Manhattan there's a church up near Fort Tryon Park, and its altar is actually a clear glass sarcophagus publicly displaying the remains of the Roman Catholic saint known as Mother Cabrini. They say it's actually her "incorruptible" dead body that's been lying there intact since the 1930s, as saints aren't supposed to decay after death. I've seen her and, while the love of the macabre in me quite likes the idea of a nearly 80-year-old corpse adorning a church, I find I must, disappointedly, go with the wax effigy theory. -- Nephele

Am I remembering incorrectly, or didn't I, Claudius show Agrippina arriving in Rome with the corpse of Germanicus (or a replication of Germanicus) carried off the ship reclining on a litter? -- Nephele

Nephele: Our President wants to spend additional billions of dollars and also ship another 21,500 U.S. troops to Iraq. We've been helping the Iraqis since 2003. Scipio: Helping the Iraqis?? By now, every U.S. household should OWN an Iraqi! -- Nephele

Kiam vi parolos sencon, tiam mi parolos la anglan. :wub: -- Nephele

Reverend? Who? some dung moon. -- Nephele You mean Sun Myung Moon? Wherever did you get that Badnarik supported him? Unless you can point me to some news article stating this, I'm inclined to think that you're getting Badnarik and the Libertarian Party confused with Neil Bush and the Republicans. -- Nephele

Reverend? Who? -- Nephele

Although this may not be of much help regarding the origin of the phrase primus inter pares, I found it interesting that Colleen McCullough used the phrase within a passage describing the ambitious musings of Julius Caesar (in her book Caesar's Women): -- Nephele

I'm not a learned doctor of religion, but I can provide the following information from my interest in classical goddesses. Nemesis was not only the personification of divine vengeance, she was also, along with Dice (Justice) and Themis (Order), one of the assistants of Zeus/Jupiter in his recognized capacity as the founder of law and order. Gaia's crime was already severe enough to warrant the attention of Nemesis, but to lie to Nemesis would presumably be the equivalent of perjuring oneself before a judge -- which could only compound one's guilt and earn a harsher sentence for oneself in the afterlife. -- Nephele

Do you mean "bad" as in "dope"; "tight"? -- Nephele

I wonder who the Libertarian candidate will be in '08? Not that the Libertarians have a chance of winning, but I thought Badnarik was a poor LP choice in '04, and they couldn't seriously put him up for another round. No experience, and he flip-flopped more than a trout gasping on the dock. -- Nephele

NEPHELE: As you can see, at our circuses we don't bet on chariot races. Instead, we are entertained by performances that include animals, acrobats... and clowns! EMPEROR HADRIAN (irritably picking cotton candy out of his beard): A dozen clowns squeezing into a tiny chariot is not my idea of entertainment. Although, I quite like the tigers. But when do the tigers stop their tiresome jumping through the hoops so the bestiarius can do battle with them? NEPHELE: We don't do battle with tigers at the circus. An organization called People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals would shut down the circus, if a tiger got hurt. HADRIAN (looking at me as though I'm nuts): What if a tiger eats the bestiarius? Is that permitted at least? NEPHELE: Haha, that's not going to happen. HADRIAN: You people pay money for this? -- Nephele

"Tips" go far with the dancing slave girls. Why do you think I gave you a chest of gold coins for your birthday? That ought to keep you "busy" a loooong time. Have a GREAT time in Rome! What a cool lady love you have, to have given you such a wonderful pressie! -- Nephele

Nephele leads a troupe of dancing slave girls and musicians to the birthday festivities of the noble Gaius Paulinus Maximus. Laughingly, they push the man of honor down onto his gilded, cushioned couch, tossing garlands over his shoulders and bringing forth golden platters containing small roasted game birds, slices of honeyed melon, and other delicacies. Finally, with a trumpet fanfare, GPM's gift is brought forth: a chest from Quintus Servilius Caepio's famous gold of Tolosa -- as once requested by G. Paulinus "I'm not a greedy man" Maximus. -- Nephele

It's just a little idea I've been knocking around for some time. I'm not a computer whiz, so it's not something I can set up on a website anywhere -- it's just something I'm playing around with for myself, for the time being. It's a concept based on the Dark Alleyway game that's been highly popular on the 'net for the past five years. -- Nephele

Publius Nonius Severus, thanks for a brilliant suggestion! I hadn't considered using actual ancient street names, but it does lend more of an air of authenticity. Again, many thanks for that link! -- Nephele

Declare war on the War on Drugs! These drug laws are only "protecting" us from our fundamental right to sovereignty over our own bodies. To quote H.L. Mencken: "The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it." -- Nephele

Does anyone here have any ideas for consecutive street names (from A to Zeta) for a virtual reality Roman city laid out in a grid pattern such as this one? I'm thinking that perhaps east-west streets might be named Primus, Secundus, Tertius, Quartus, etc. But I'm looking for an alphabetical theme for north-south streets, in Latin. Perhaps trees/flowers? Deities? Any ideas? Thanks in advance. -- Nephele

It is a wonderful book. Hint taken. (Nephele gets off her lazy derri

Having been summoned, Nephele arrives with her friends, the Nymphae Avernales -- Nymphs of the Underworld who usually accompany Hecate. Bearing torches and dressed in gowns the color of aubergine, crowned with garlands of amaranth, lilies and other funereal flowers, we weave a fearsome dance around you, Gaius Octavius. You'll dream dark dreams tonight. -- Nephele of the Nymphae Avernales

My taste for the macabre naturally drew me to your essay, DC. An enjoyable read! I don't know whether any of your sources provided the full quotation for one of those epitaphs you quoted ("I was not, I was, I am not, I don't care") but here it is: "Bathing, wine, and love-affairs -- these hurt our bodies, but they make life worth living. I've lived my days. I revelled, and I drank all that I desired. Once I was not; then I was; now I am not again -- but I don't care!" -- Nephele

Is the city underwater? -- Nephele

I'll add one more vote for the Principate. Specifically, the era of "The Five Good Emperors". One of my all-time favorite books is W.S. Davis' A Day in Old Rome, which describes down to the most minute details what one might see and experience if one lived in Rome in the year 134 C.E., during the reign of Hadrian. Since my high school days, I've read and re-read my tattered old copy of this wonderful little book to the point where Hadrian's Rome is now the Rome I call "home". Not that I'm adverse to reading about other eras of Roman history, which all have their merits. But I find myself agreeing with Professor Davis where he provides his reason for selecting this particular era for his hypothetical visit to Rome: "Rome was then architecturally nearly completed, the Empire seemed in its most prosperous state, although many of the old usages and traditions of the Republic still survived, and the evil days of decadence were as yet hardly visible in the background." -- Nephele

Don't pick Franco. It's been said that choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil. -- Nephele