Nephele

I wish you would move to New York, DoL. Not that I know of any openings for college professors, but just that it would be cool to have you on the East Coast. I'm keeping positive thoughts for you to land a summer teaching job. -- Nephele

I'm sure our MPC, or PP, can provide all the sources that tell us of Cato's reason for dressing in a dark toga (with no tunic underneath), but I know of at least one source. From Plutarch's Lives, Cato the Younger: "And in general Cato esteemed the customs and manners of men at that time so corrupt, and a reformation in them so necessary, that he thought it requisite, in many things, to go contrary to the ordinary way of the world. Seeing the lightest and gayest purple was then most in fashion, he would always wear that which was the nearest black; and he would often go out of doors, after his morning meal, without either shoes or tunic; not that he sought vain-glory from such novelties, but he would accustom himself to be ashamed only of what deserves shame, and to despise all other sorts of disgrace." -- Nephele

Because my style of dress frequently gets me taken for a vampire, I suppose I should say that my favorite drink is arterial blood. But actually I'm more fond of Irish coffee -- made with Jameson's whiskey and a small amount of lightly whipped cream. No aerosol whipped topping, gawds no, please. And also no poncy sweet liqueurs added, and definitely no sugar added. -- Nephele

Wow! That would be great not only for exploring virtual Pompeii, but also a fantasy-come-true for strolling the streets of ancient Rome. What a novel money-making "ride" that could be for museums desperate for funding. Museum-goers would pay a separate admission fee to take a turn on the treadmill -- and experience the busy forum or explore an elegant private domus (complete with lavish furnishings) of the ancient Romans. Hope it's not too many years before we see something like this made easily available. -- Nephele

I'm having difficulty telling. I compared this one with a few images found online and, while they all appear to have pretty much the same bearded features, the eyes seem different on this one. -- Nephele

If they were North American (and real), my money would be on the terrifying schoolgirls of Ronald Searle's enduring St.Trinian's cartoons. -- Nephele

"In a separate operation, Italy recovered a marble head depicting Faustina, the wife of the Emperor Antoninus Pius, the predecessor and adoptive father of Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius "Faustina's portrait had been stolen in 1961 from an ancient theater in Minturno, south of Rome, and made its way to an American collector. The statue was returned by the collector through U.S. authorities after he realized it had been looted, Rossi said." I wonder who was that American collector who returned the stolen statue? I remember reading awhile back about how Steven Spielberg had discovered that a Norman Rockwell painting ("Russian Schoolroom") in his collection had been stolen (when he accessed a database on stolen art), and how he voluntarily returned the Rockwell painting to the museum from which it had been stolen, even though he had paid nearly a quarter of a million dollars for it. Considering the fact that a lot of stolen art is obviously peddled to the wealthy and powerful who can afford to purchase these pieces, it's heartening to know that there are billionaires who choose to do the right thing. -- Nephele

G-Man, is that a typo for Horton Hears a Who, or Horton Hears a Ho? I didn't think you'd be bringing the kids to see Horton Hears a Ho. -- Nephele

Oooo, yah. I've got the craving now. Ever try Worcestershire sauce on hard boiled eggs? Instead of sprinkling salt and pepper on the hard boiled egg, dash on the sauce, take a bite, dash on the sauce, take a bite... Um... Excuse me. I have to go boil some water now. -- Nephele

I love Worcestershire sauce on instant Ramen noodles. Actually, I love Worcestershire sauce on a lot of stuff. Actually, I can drink Worcestershire sauce by the teaspoon all on its own. I think I may have a Worcestershire sauce problem! It never before occurred to me that the stuff resembles garum! Thanks for that revelation! -- Nephele

Hi, Kristian. No, a scramble isn't necessary. I just ask people to scramble their names for privacy. But since privacy isn't a concern of yours, it doesn't matter. You are a member of the Atinia gens. Although all the Atinii bore the cognomen of "Labeo" you differ significantly from them, having earned the cognomen of "Amator" ("lover") due to your prodigious.... reputation with the ladies. Your praenomen is "Decimus," customarily abbreviated as "D." Your full Roman name is: D. Atinius Amator = Kristian D'Amato -k +u Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

I'm not sure about the top five, either, but for the top of the list I vote for the combined events which led to the creation of the Internet, which itself has perhaps had the greatest societal, political, economic, and cultural influence on the planet since the beginning of humankind's history. -- Nephele

I'd look at it, except we here in the States get this message: "Sorry, this programme is only available to play in the UK." Will a proxy server work? I tried The Cloak, with no success. -- Nephele

I vote for the Olympic addition of a Chinese pie-eating contest. Anyone who has survived the tainted Chinese food imports has had ample training for this event. -- Nephele P.S. Screw China. I'll tell them where to put their sodding Olympic torch.

The author, Sarah Elise Phang, has an impressive curriculum vitae. Do you know her, Maty? Even though her book, The Marriage of Roman Soldiers (13 B.C.-A.D. 235), is a bit pricey, I'm inclined to buy it for my public library. I see she has another book available from Amazon as well: Roman Military Service. Thanks for that find, GPM! -- Nephele

Despite the scant evidence to be found in the ancient sources (as already noted in this thread), Dr. Leonhard Schmitz (classicist and 19th century Rector of the High School of Edinburgh) seemed convinced that Livia Ocellina and Livia Drusilla were related. In his article on Galba for Smith's Dictionary he wrote: "Livia Ocellina, a relative of Livia, the wife of Augustus, and the second wife of Galba's father, adopted young Ser. Sulpicius Glaba, who on this account altered his name into L. Livius Ocella, which he bore down to the time of his elevation." I, too, thought that women of ancient Rome were barred from adopting. Perhaps Livia Ocellina may have been a special case, considering her relationship to Livia Drusilla and the imperial family. The fact that the young Servius Sulpicius Galba not only took the nomen gentilicium and cognomen of Livia Ocellina, but also the praenomen of "Lucius", suggests to me that perhaps the father of Livia Ocellina had been named "Lucius." There was a Lucius Livius Ocella who had been a praetor in the late Republic, and it's likely that Livia Ocellina may have been descended from him. Another noteworthy Ocella was Gaius Livius Ocella (the son of a Lucius) who was a quaestor in Spain in the late Republic (circa 40 BCE). -- Nephele

Congratulations on the new acquisition! Ooo, her name is "Josie"? Could that be short for "Josepha"? Because, if she's a well-mannered little laptop, her full name could be "Josepha T. Polite" (anagram of "Josie the Laptop"). You knew that was coming, right? -- Nephele

I can see, Maty, how sources to support or refute the view that Augustus' decree applied only to new recruits are tough to find. Adolf Berger, in his mammoth compilation of Roman law that he presented to the American Philosophical Society in 1953, apparently agrees. He wrote on matrimonium militis that: "The influence of the husband's enlistment on the existence of the marriage is controversial. The sources do not give a precise answer as to whether the marriage became automatically null or only suspended." Regardless of whether Berger is speaking only of soldiers married before enlistment, or also of enlisted soldiers married at the time of Augustus' decree, I suspect that in either instance sources giving a precise answer will be difficult to find. -- Nephele

*Nephele cautiously looks around, and stealthily pulls the half-empty bag of chips out from under the sofa cushion*

Outstanding series, and memorable introduction to Hypatia. I took the time to transcribe Sagan's words. Here they be: "Let me tell you about the end. It's a story about the last scientist to work in this place, a mathematician, astronomer, physicist, and head of the school of Neoplatonic philosophy in Alexandria. That's an extraordinary range of accomplishments for any individual in any age. Her name was Hypatia. She was born in this city in the year 370 A.D. "This was a time when women had essentially no options. They were considered property. Nevertheless, Hypatia was able to move freely, unselfconsciously through traditional male domains. By all accounts she was a great beauty. And, although she had many suitors, she had no interest in marriage. "The Alexandria of Hypatia's time, by then long under Roman rule, was a city in grave conflict. Slavery, the cancer of the ancient world, had sapped classical civilization of its vitality. The growing Christian Church was consolidating its power and attempting to eradicate pagan influence and culture. Hypatia stood at the focus -- at the epicenter -- of mighty social forces. Cyril, the Bishop of Alexandria, despised her, in part because of her close friendship with the Roman governor, but also because she was a symbol of learning and science, which were largely identified by the early Church with paganism. "In great personal danger, Hypatia continued to teach and to publish until, in the year 415 A.D., on her way to work, she was set upon by a fanatical mob of Cyril's followers. They dragged her from her chariot, tore off her clothes, and flayed her flesh from her bones with abalone shells. Her remains were burned, her works obliterated, her name forgotten. Cyril was made a saint. "The glory you see around me is nothing but a memory. It does not exist. The last remains of the Library were destroyed within a year of Hypatia's death. It's as if an entire civilization had undergone a sort of self-inflicted, radical brain surgery, so that most of its memories, discoveries, ideas, and passions were irrevocably wiped out. "The loss was incalculable. In some cases, we know only the tantalizing titles of books that had been destroyed. In most cases, we know neither the titles nor the authors. We do know that in this Library there were a hundred and twenty-three different plays by Sophocles, of which only seven have survived to our time. One of those seven is Oedipus Rex. Similar numbers apply to the lost works of Aeschylus, Euripedes, Aristophanes. It's a little as if the only surviving works of a man named William Shakespeare were Coriolanus and A Winter's Tale, although we had heard he'd written some other things which were highly prized in his time. Plays called Hamlet, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet. "History is full of people who, out of fear or ignorance or the lust for power, have destroyed treasures of immeasurable value which truly belong to all of us. We must not let it happen again." -- Carl Sagan on Hypatia and the end of the Library of Alexandria, from Cosmos

Yes, indeed. I can see Cato as John Rabe. Google him, if you don't know who John Rabe was. -- Nephele

It's been a few months, and I'd really missed these, G-Man. -- Nephele

And that's perfectly cool, too. Absolutely. To each his scone. -- Nephele

Welcome to UNRV, Ioannes Ahenobarbus! (And I'm sure you've sprouted an outstanding ahenobarbus for yourself, there). The way this thing works, though, is that you provide me with a scramble of the letters of your own name, which I then blanagram into a Roman name for you. Your screen name is already a Roman name. -- Nephele

Here in the U.S. we have our own share of the Food Police who attempt to give "the government a few to work on." They mainly consist of numerous activist organizations and individuals (not unlike your own Rod Jackson in New Zealand) who incessantly prevail upon our government to enact punitive taxes as a means of "protecting" (read: "controlling") the rest of us. Click on The Center for Consumer Freedom for a list of the numerous proposals for "fat taxes" -- and even a proposal for a "sin tax" on meat products by the so-called "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals." P.E.T.A., by the way, has on numerous occasions warranted special attention from The Center for Consumer Freedom which, a couple of years ago and in brave disregard for retaliatory lawsuits from P.E.T.A., erected the famous "P.E.T.A. Kills Animals" billboard in New York City's Times Square (bringing to public attention the hypocrisy of P.E.T.A.). -- Nephele