Nephele

Wow! Congratulations, WotWotius! Cheers on your well-earned diploma with honors! -- Nephele

The Pope said Sunday that a probe through a tiny hole in the sarcophagus at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Wall proved they contained remains from the time of Christ. If Indian Jones has taught us anything, then the Pope & Co. had better keep their eyes tightly shut when they open up that ancient sarcophagus... -- Nephele

Are you on a lecture tour, MPC? I'm so sorry I missed you when you were in New York a few weekends back! GhostOfClayton, a belated birthday hail to you. I didn't think you were still around. Nice to see that you're still here! -- Nephele

Drugs are calorie-free. -- Nephele

Are you referring to the book titled A History of the Roman People, by Ward, Heichelheim, and Yeo? When asking for help, please include all pertinent and correct information regarding whatever source from which you may be quoting. Thank you. Just mentioning this, in case of any confusion. I'm sure someone will be along soon with some suggested further reading for you. Good luck! -- Nephele

We already have one? Shows how much I'm into online chatting (which actually isn't very much). I had no idea! -- Nephele

Wow -- that's a lot of quotes! -- Nephele

Octavius owns the chat room, and I think he drafted me. I was just now in there again for a little while. So were Crispina, Artimi, Formosus, and Octavius. It's interesting to see the direction that live chat takes. I came in on a conversation involving Roman tourism, which turned into a discussion of the catacombs, then Agrippa's "Black Bedroom," then Christ's bare footprint on the Via Appia (leading to some hilarious irreverence), which sequed into talk of Bigfoot as perhaps being the source of that footprint, then a bit of politically incorrect punning on Chinese names, then speculation over whether the ancient Romans had ever encountered the Chinese, then some discussion about some of the more wacky things to be found in Pliny's Natural History... Yup, quite fun. -- Nephele

Me too. I was there half an hour after them. I went back later and encountered Octavius, Formosus, Artimi, and Crispina in the chat room. I have to say, it was quite a bit of fun. -- Nephele

I had a peek in and it looks like I just missed Klingan and Artimi. I was all alone in the chat room. -- Nephele

Toppers, you are a member of the Renia gens, "known to us only from coins" depicting the head of Pallas Athena and a chariot drawn by two goats. Your cognomen is "Croto," derived from the name of a Greek colony (Croton) near the "toe" of Italy. It is likely that your ancestors came from this colony. Your praenomen is "Caius" or "Gaius," customarily abbreviated with the letter "C." Your full Roman name is: C. Renius Croto = ctreoroeknec -eek +ius Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

You've now got me picturing PP as a skinny Black dude. -- Nephele

Unfortunately for the study of Classical music only a limited amount of information is known about Roman musical history. Relatively little has survived to be passed down which deals with Roman music specifically. A possible explanation for this is the Church

There have been catty comments observed coming from BOTH sides of this debate. Mods have been watching this topic, but pretty much letting you both sort things out between yourselves. Try to keep it civil, both of you, or this topic will be shut down. Nobody gives a crap who the self-perceived "winner" of the debate might be. -- Nephele

I figured you'd be the one to take the cat. -- Nephele

Yikes. Sounds like a very stressful time for you. Who's going to get the cat? -- Nephele

Brilliant! -- Nephele

No, I haven't. I know that Primus Pilus went through a veritable circus trying to get his own stuff removed from Wikipedia for a long time. If you know whom to contact and if you'd care to PM me the info, I'd be most appreciative. -- Nephele

The praenomen "Appius" was "used only by the gens Claudia." False. While "Appius" was perhaps the most restricted of the commonly seen praenomina (primarily during the period of the Republic), it could nevertheless be found in the following gentes in addition to the Claudii: the Annii, Modii, Popidii, and Iunii/Junii. (Reference: Charles Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina.") Wiktionary perpetuates this error, in its article titled "List of Roman Praenomina". But no doubt they will soon lift what I have written here, in order to correct their own article on Roman praenomina. Just as Wikipaedia plagiarized my article "Roman Naming Practices During the Principate Period" in their article titled "Praenomen". In their article on the praenomen, the folks at Wikipaedia clearly lifted their information on the number and frequency of praenomina from my article. They write: "Compared to most cultures, Romans used very few given names: the common praenomina were fewer than 40. The 17 most common male praenomina accounted for 98% of all male Roman names[1]. The most popular - Lucius, Gaius, and Marcus - constituted 59% of the total." The reference they give for this is the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, which shows that they don't know what they are talking about, because the CIL does not provide conveniently worked-out percentages of praenomina usage. I had worked out those percentages myself, based on a compilation of praenomina made by Charles Davis Chase (whom I credited in my own article), and this compilation of Chase's was taken only from the first volume of the CIL. Wikipaedia is frequently wrong and frequently plagiarizes other sources without giving sufficient credit to those sources. I know that our own Primus Pilus on this site has had this same experience with Wikipaedia. I think that anyone here who wants to be taken seriously should refrain from quoting Wikipaedia as a source to back up their debates, arguments, whatever on any particular subject. While I, myself, admit to having been guilty on occasion of referring to a Wikipaedia article for a quickie definition, I try not to make a habit of it. Because that is just plain lazy. In fact, henceforth I am boycotting Wikipaedia. And anyone here who quotes from a Wikipaedia article is going to be the most deserved object of my mockery and derision. -- Nephele

Yes, as Kosmo said, you must have inadvertently changed your display mode, Ingsoc. To correct this, just click on the Options box located at the upper right, just above the box that contains the posted text in the first posting in this thread. Then select "Switch to: Standard" from the drop down display menu under "Display Modes." -- Nephele

There was the legendary Gaius Mucius Scaevola, who earned his nickname of "Scaevola" (meaning "left-handed") due to having supposedly placed his right hand in flames in order to impress his Etruscan captors with his bravery. The plebeian Mucii Scaevolae of the Republican era claimed descent from this legendary patrician Scaevola, as other plebeian families also tended to claim descent from legendary patrician figures of the Regal era. We also have the plebian consuls of 325 and 292 BCE, both named Decimus Junius Brutus Scaeva. Their additional surname of "Scaeva" is likely to have referred to a left-handed condition (in remembrance of the legendary Scaevola). Alternately, it might have referred to the loss of a right eye, as in the later case of Julius Caesar's heroic centurion, Cassius Scaeva, who is said to have lost an eye in battle. There were also the patrician Valerii Laevini, whose hereditary cognomen meant "left-handed." Although it's possible that the original ancestor who bore this name may have been bestowed with it in a figurative rather than literal sense, due to his possible awkwardness. -- Nephele

Within the city of Rome a visitor would probably rent a room for himself within the many insulae (apartment blocks). That's if he didn't already have a hospes, a friend offering him hospitality by accommodating him with a room in his private town house. -- Nephele

Titus Trebatius Sacerdos, you are a member of the Aemilii, one of the most prominent of the gentes in producing the greatest number of magistrates for the Roman Republic. Your cognomen is "Mallo," meaning "the stem of onions," possibly a metonymic name indicating that your particular branch of the Aemilii originally made their living as farmers and/or onion-dealers. Your praenomen is "Lucius," customarily abbreviated as "L." Your full Roman name is: L. Aemilius Mallo = WiimallO'Mellay -wy +us Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

Those are the cleanest hippies I've ever seen. -- Nephele