Nephele

Well done, Jimmy Wales! "Shall I tell you what the real evil is? To cringe to the things that are called evils, to surrender to them our freedom, in defiance of which we ought to face any suffering." -- Seneca

Thank you, Maladict. Here we go... -- Nephele

omg, that is the bomb! I had to get up and DANCE! All your base all your base all your base are belong to us... (still dancing) -- Nephele

Anybody know? The site has been down for days and I hope this isn't permanent. I miss their online Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. -- Nephele

Yatta is the inspiration for a few message board comment pics. Such as this one. -- Nephele

This is the Roman arena in El Djem, Tunisia? (City's ancient name: Thysdrus) -- Nephele

Did I miss the anniversary? Were there presents? Isn't paper the traditional gift for the first year anniversary? Did somebody serve you papers, G.O.? -- Nephele

GPM, you make a shocking Apollo! At least G.O. has got a toga on. Okay, I'll be an Egyptian goddess. Nephthys is my favorite. -- Nephele

Felix sit annus novus! Nephele organizes a mummers PARADE through the forums. Everyone has to dress up as a favorite god or goddess. Who's first, and what are you wearing? -- Nephele

I enjoyed those snippets of Ladino, DoL! In NYC we have an old Ladino-speaking population, as the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue (at Central Park West and 70th Street) was built by the first Jewish congregation (Shearith Israel) in not only NYC, but also in all of North America. Up until the early 19th century, all of NYC's Jewish population -- Sephardi and Ashkenazi alike -- belonged to this congregation. So, Ladino became fairly established in NYC. I'm more familiar with Yiddish, myself, but I enjoy hearing Ladino spoken. -- Nephele

Made me laugh! This thread needed a bit of lightening up. And, honestly, I can't get too worked up over who was doing whom, either. Not in the context of historical discussion, at least, although for a costume drama such as HBO's Rome it may add a bit of spice. But I appreciated MPC's differentiation between condemnation and taunting and, in that context, I can see the significance. -- Nephele

By day? And if by night? It was worse for the thief if he happened to be caught in the act by night. He could be immediately and legally killed by the person from whom he stole and the offended party would not be charged with homicide. Same rules appeared to apply to a thief caught in the act during the day, if the thief also happened to be armed while committing the theft. -- Nephele

While doing a search on "vigiles" here, I came across this old posting. According to what I've read, petty criminals (by the time of Augustus) would be brought before the Praefectus Vigilum (Praefect of the Watch) for immediate trial. As far as punishment for the conviction of a petty crime, I wondered whether the ancient Romans differentiated between the theft of say, a loaf of bread, and something more valuable? The punishment for theft, as laid out in the Lex Duodecim Tabularum, doesn't really appear to vary according to any value set on the item stolen. It simply states that a thief caught by day would first be scourged, and then given up as a slave to the offended party. If the thief already happened to be a slave, he would be beaten with rods and then hurled from the Tarpeian Rock. If the thief happened to be a child, the decision of whether or not he would be scourged (and worse) would be left to the mercy of the Praetor. Does anyone know whether Roman justice might have been tempered in accordance with the value of the item stolen? Or was thievery always viewed as a determinate crime demanding the same justice/punishment, regardless of the apparent degree of the theft? -- Nephele

Rameses, nicely stated praise for this site! It

That link isn't working right now. In the meantime, here's another one I found: Clicky. -- Nephele

Not only is little Julia still missing, but shouldn't Octavia have a veritable brood of children by this point? I'm counting at least five children under the age of 12 in tow -- three by Octavia's first husband (conveniently forgotten by the series' writers), and two daughters by Antony. I'm not counting Antony's children by Fulvia, given over to Octavia to rear, as they should be teenagers by now, and one of them living with Dad. I thought Cleopatra's and Antony's cruelty was a bit over-the-top in the scene where they're practicing their archery skills on the slave dressed as a stag. Rather than an amusing touch of macabre which I've come to enjoy in this series, I thought that scene was just corny -- with Cleopatra being alternately distracted by conversation and a poor shot, and the slave apparently breathing a sigh of relief each time, until the ("tough luck, buddy!") end. But overall, I enjoyed this episode. -- Nephele

It says, "Stop wasting your time. Get a life." Thanks, Moonlapse! -- Nephele

I know! They give you, like, a WHOLE chicken! It's a little chicken, but it's still a giggle watching people rip the limbs off with their hands (going "Aaaarrrr!") and eat like Henry VIII. There are these Medieval Times places across the country (the one nearest me is in Lyndhurst, New Jersey) and I think the folks who came up with the concept must make history teachers cry. -- Nephele

I lack depth perception because I see out of only one eye. The other eye works when the "good eye" is covered, but when both eyes are uncovered my brain suppresses the image in the "bad eye" so I don't see double vision. I've had strabismic amblyopia from childhood, which couldn't be corrected. Maybe that's why I find these "magic eye" things so frustrating. Won't somebody pleeeeeze tell me what the darn thing says in that link?? -- Nephele

Sounds like you had a great time! You get the Jack Bauer Award for getting the smokers to confess (and you didn't even have to torture the information out of them!) At Medieval Times, did your assigned team "win"? I think it's kind of goofy fun (especially if you've had a few tankards of "medieval" beer) to root for your team, even if the jousting does look pretty fake. -- Nephele

omg, that stuff is making my eyeballs roll around my head in opposite directions. I have never been able to "get" that stuff. Please spill. What's the secret message that you're seeing in the original link? -- Nephele

I agree with Ursus, in that the Gladiator scene of Maximus venerating tiny figurines of his family members (both while they were still alive and after their death) seemed "more Hollywood than history". I noticed in HBO's Rome that in the scene where Vorenus and Pullo were shipwrecked, Vorenus was shown to be carrying a small portrait of his wife -- much as one today carries a family photo in one's wallet. I wondered, too, about the authenticity of that. We know that the Romans used imagines (waxen death masks) for ancestral remembrance, and we see an example of these in a few scenes in HBO's Rome, where lighted death masks of past Junii adorn the walls of Servilia's personal chambers. During funeral processions, illustrious families with numerous ancestral death masks in their possession would hire actors to don these death masks and join the procession, so that spectators might take note of past consuls, aediles, or other noteworthy ancestors of the deceased. Still-living family members were represented by lifesize portrait busts within the home. Sometimes, the portrait bust of a female member of the family might be sculpted with a detachable headdress, as hairstyles were likely to change in Rome and this would be a money-saving means of keeping representations of living family members up-to-date. -- Nephele

Nephele places a garland of sweet-scented roses upon the heads of The Augusta and Docoflove. She claps her hands, and a servant appears bearing Nephele's gifts of elaborately embroidered pallae, made of that exciting new material brought by caravans from the East, called silk. Nephele fondly drapes a delicate, violet-colored palla across the fair and noble shoulders of each of the stately dominae. Hail, new Patricians! The Senate will be graced by your presence! -- Nephele

Yay! We've managed to stave off the depressing bluebirds and bumblebees for at least a bit longer. -- Nephele

Oh my! Decimus Vitus, your virtual domus is outstanding! I'll be visiting often! Many thanks for doing this! -- Nephele