Nephele

Salve - Reading through that little book (IX to V) you recommended, Nephele, and understanding the conventions on names, which I've learned more about recently from you than I ever knew before, I have to ask a na

Or a descendant of someone from Dalmatia. It would be interesting to know. -- Nephele

Neat observation. And what of Vorenus? Thanks. But I'm afraid I can't make as neat a coincidental connection between the meaning of the name Vorenus and the personality quirks of his character in Rome. Kajanto suggests that the cognomen "Varanus" (and, by association, Varenus/Vorenus) is derived from the place-name Varae in Dalmatia. -- Nephele

Here in the States I've just watched Anne of the Thousand Days again, and found it a refreshing (and much welcome) contrast to The Tudors. -- Nephele

Thanks, MPC for providing that primary source material and the interesting overview of Rome's principal characters! I find the spelling variations of Pullo's name in these sources to be especially interesting. Can we presume that "Pulfio" and "Pulcio" might be the result of transcription errors over the centuries? While Kajanto, in his work on Latin cognomina, makes no mention of the names Pulfio or Pulcio, he does include the names Pullo and Pul(l)io, which are found in volumes I and IX of the Corpus inscriptionum Latinarum. According to Kajanto, the meaning of these names (Pullo, Pulio, Pullio) suggest "childhood". Which, coincidentally, describes the basic character of Titus Pullo in the Rome television series, as he's depicted as being somewhat innocently childlike and uncomplicated in his loyalty. -- Nephele

DDickey, you are related by gens to that same Marcus Laenius Flaccus who defied the edict of Clodius in 58 BCE and sheltered Cicero in his country-house near Brundisium. Belonging to a different branch of the Laenii, you bear the cognomen of "Catonellus" -- a name that is a diminutive of "Catonianus", an adjective describing a person possessing the high principles of Cato. Your praenomen is Decimus, abbreviated as "D." Your full Roman name is: D. Laenius Catonellus = diadcenoleutkanlly -dky +uss Welcome to UNRV! And, we're glad you found this site, too. -- Nephele

I remember that posting, and I was keen to see more, too. (Still am! These were great!) But I did ask at the time whether you might be planning to put this in your blog: http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?s=&amp...ost&p=69953 Other forum members have posted re-enactment event pictures (with commentary) in the Gallery. Pertinax, for example, frequently posts Roman re-enactment events in his Gallery albums. Lost_Warrior keeps us updated with her amazing smithing via her UNRV blog. I can understand your concern about your event and pictures getting buried here in the After Hours forum. But as a member of the Equites, you're entitled to your personal UNRV blog and gallery albums. And, as a note to other forum members -- do check out the UNRV Gallery. (You'll find the links to Gallery and Blogs at the top of the screen). There's an amazing wealth of members' personal, Roman-related photographic material in the Gallery. -- Nephele

Thanks for the recommendation, Ursus. And, yes, I find Isis an entirely more interesting goddess than Hera, as well. What I'd like, is to be pointed towards a book or books that cover goddesses exclusively. Another book I have is Goddesses in the World Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary by Martha Ann and Dorothy Myers Imel. Books of that nature (like the one by Bell I'd mentioned previously), are what I'm looking for. -- Nephele

Do they have any idea who torched your high school? I don't think it's at all "selfish" that you find it disturbing that the place you studied at for three years is now gone. I'm sure it held a lot of memories for you. That made it a part of you. And now someone else has wiped all of that out for no rational reason at all. That would make me feel oddly old, too. Trying to recall something that's gone too soon. -- Nephele

Hahaha! Nephele's age is officially "1 year old", because I was "born" when I discovered UNRV, on September 14, 2006. As far as my UNRV statistical curiosity goes concerning age, VTC is ten days older than me. And you, Klingan, are a whoppin' 5 MONTHS older than me! It's the triumviri, Primus Pilus, Moonlapse, and Viggen, who are the old men around here -- more than 4 years old! -- Nephele

Ah, I see now. Thank you. I have an interest in these goddess cults, having read Robin Lorsch Wildfang's work on the Vestal Virgins. For the Quintus Libri project, Ursus, you posted 5 best intro books on Greco-Roman polytheism. Can you direct me to which of these books examine the goddess cults in the most depth? And... (here's a special request. ) Would you be inclined to compile another one of your lists for Quintus Libri, this one specifically focusing on the five best books dealing with Greco-Roman goddesses and their cults? One of my favorites is Bell's Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary, but I'd like to add to my collection. -- Nephele

I thought that Hera represented the idealized wife and that this was why she was revered? Not idealized for giving her husband grief over his amorous dalliances with other goddesses, nymphs, etc., but rather idealized because she didn't partake in such dalliances of her own? (Thus promoting the ancients' inequitable perception of "family values".) Have I got this right, Pan? Anyone? -- Nephele

Some good information on Diocletian's price edict of 301 CE, setting a maximum price for goods and services, can be found at the SPQR Encyclopaedia Romana site, under the following articles: Venatores and Garum. -- Nephele

Salve, Ladies. I think it's a quill, as a symbol of ancient Literature, an obligatory source for linguistic investigation. I'd thought that it might be a quill, but there's no nub. It's kind of a silly graphic. I go with DoL's "Yankee Doodle" guess. "Called it macaroni" works as a better linguistics connection. -- Nephele

Interesting! Just curious about one thing... Why the feather icon? Is there some connection between feathers and linguistics that I'm missing? -- Nephele

The army shot your puppy??? No wonder thay can't find Osama, if they're targeting puppies as "the enemy". Be safe, Onasander. Sending positive thoughts for your quick return home. For the quick return home of all the troops. -- Nephele

FG, I've read that the building of the Aswan Dam has impacted negatively on Egypt's fishing industry, and ruined the fertilizing silt that would come from the Nile each year. Have I got this right? Did you see much evidence of this when you were over there? -- Nephele

I second that. I third that! For the great libraries there, and also for all the reasons Flavia Gemina cited above. -- Nephele

Jag1HP, you are related (by gens) to that same Largius Licinus spoken of by Pliny the Younger in one of his letters. Perhaps because your distant relative was spoken of disparagingly (for hiring his own cheering section in the courts of law), your own branch of the family has chosen to identify itself by a different cognomen: "Macer" (meaning "lean"). For, lean and mean you are, with no patience for the antics of that other branch of the Largii. Your praenomen is "Aulus", abbreviated as "A." Your full Roman name is: A. Largius Macer = rlaemacagrisd -d +u Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

doherty, you are a member of the Decia gens -- a plebeian gens, "but of high antiquity" which "became illustrious in Roman history by two members of it sacrificing themselves for the preservation of their country." Your cognomen is "Raptor" -- a word though nowadays recognized as being the most terrifyingly predatory dinosaur from Jurassic Park, in ancient Roman times it indicated one who was a robber who seized and abruptly made off with his prize. Your branch of the Decii obtained this cognomen due to their unapologetic reputation of getting what they want. Your praenomen is "Tiberius", abbreviated as "Ti." Your full Roman name is: Ti. Decius Raptor = paircekthrdoty -khy +ius Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

Good questions! Unfortunately, sources don't seem to identify who the first plebeian Vestal may have been, as Vestals were mostly only noted in history when accused of the crime of incestum, tried, and either acquitted or condemned to death. The earliest date for a possible identified plebeian Vestal might be 483 BCE, being the year of the first immolation of a Vestal during the time of the early Republic. That Vestal has been variously identified as being named Oppia, Opimia, Pompilia, or Popillia, but Robin Lorsch Wildfang (the author I mentioned earlier in this thread) states that scholars have generally accepted the name "Oppia" for this particular Vestal. Tying this into the political dynamics of the time, Wildfang writes: Again, it would be difficult to tell how the plebeian Vestals may have grown in proportion over time, since individual Vestals were rarely mentioned in historical records. But it appears that the patricians may have had the edge in having their daughters selected over plebeians, due to the criteria in choosing young Vestal candidates. Not only did the girls have to be virgins, they had to have had parents who had never engaged in any business which the Romans termed sordidum. As explained by Wildfang: "This term has a variety of meanings ranging from simply filthy or dirty to common or of low origin to dishonourable." It may be that patricians were perceived as less likely to be engaged in sordid occupations than were the plebeians, thereby making patrician daughters more qualified for Vestal selection. Until, of course, the plebeians also became eligible for magisterial office, I imagine, and families such as the Licinii rose up the social ladder from whatever "sordid" plebeian occupations (tradesmen?) in which they may have previously engaged. It's interesting to note that there has been more than one Vestal named "Licinia" mentioned in the records. -- Nephele

It's not a bad comparison. Mario Puzo would seem to agree: HAGEN You were around the old timers who dreamed up how the Families should be organized, how they based it on the old Roman Legions, and called them 'Regimes'... with the 'Capos' and 'Soldiers,' and it worked. PENTANGELI Yeah, it worked. Those were great old days. We was like the Roman Empire. The Corleone family was like the Roman Empire. The Sopranos television series, too, has made several comparisons between New Jersey's favorite organized crime family and the Roman Empire. For example, there is an episode titled "Pax Soprano" -- an obvious allusion to Rome's "Pax Romana." And, I suppose like Augustus, Tony Soprano has his good qualities along with his bad. He definitely shares with Augustus a peculiar sense of morality as regards "family values." Regardless of everything else about Augustus, good with the bad, I shall never be able to reconcile myself to his banishment of my favorite Roman poet, Ovid. -- Nephele

Yes, isn't it wonderful? The Amazon site gives an excerpt that includes Charles Martin's poetic translation of Ovid's description of the creation of mankind: And even though all other animals lean forward and look down toward the ground, he gave to man a face that is uplifted, and ordred him to stand erect and look directly up into the vaulted heavens and turn his countenance to meet the stars; the earth, that was so lately rude and formless, was changed by taking on the shapes of men. Beyond comparisons with the creation story in Milton's Paradise Lost, Martin's use of language is absolutely sublime. I agree with what The Hudson Review wrote: "Charles Martin's new translation of the Metamorphoses, the latest in a 500-year-old tradition, both gives us an Ovid for our times and reminds us that in our times Ovid is everywhere." -- Nephele

I'll say! Looks like there's a continuity/production error in this one shot though: Can't quite make out what website they've got opened up there ... Hahahaha! Now we know where our own Flavia Gemina is, when she's posting on the UNRV board! -- Nephele

James Randi totally rocks. I attended a lecture of his at Tufts University a couple years ago, and he picked me out of the audience for his spoon-bending demonstration (to debunk the claims of "psychic" Uri Geller). I still have the bent spoon (which I shall never part with). And, even though James Randi is not much taller than a Hobbit, he's waaaay cooler. -- Nephele