Nephele

WOW! These sets are lavishly detailed, and certainly rival (if not surpass) the sets of HBO's Rome. I especially liked the pictures of the Roman interiors, such as the bedrooms of Flavia Gemina and Miriam. What an intimate peek into the private lives of the ancient Romans! -- Nephele

I can give a really good example, not of rhyming poetry in Latin translation from English (or vice versa rhymes), but of an English translation from Latin, into blank verse in iambic pentameter. Pulitzer Prize nominee for poetry, and New York City's own, Charles Martin, recently came out with a new and highly-acclaimed translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses. Here's an except from one of my (obviously) favorite passages: ....She is here today; arriving, she hands the Armoress of Nymphs her spear, her quiver, and her unstrung bow; and while one nymph folds her discarded robe over an arm, two more remove her sandals, and that accomplished Theban nymph, Crocale, gathers the stray hairs on Diana's neck into a knot (we cannot help but notice that her own hair is left in careless freedom!); five other nymphs, whose names are Nephele, Hyale, Rhanis, Psecas, and Phiale, fetch and pour water from enormous urns. And here are those corresponding lines from Ovid's original Latin work: quo postquam subiit, nympharum tradidit uni armigerae iaculum pharetramque arcusque retentos, altera depositae subiecit bracchia pallae, vincla duae pedibus demunt; nam doctior illis Ismenis Crocale sparsos per colla capillos colligit in nodum, quamvis erat ipsa solutis. excipiunt laticem Nepheleque Hyaleque Rhanisque et Psecas et Phiale funduntque capacibus urnis. -- Nephele

Ohmygawds! Nostradamus predicted Tolkien's Lord of the Rings! That quatrain is a SPOILER! That thoughtless bastard! One day the two great leaders will become friends The human leader Aragorn and the wizard leader Gandalf become friends. In the path of the hollow mountains In Khazad-d

Stewart's Diet Cream Soda rocks harder than chocolate. -- Nephele

And now, out of pure self-indulgence (because this has little to do with UNRV statistics, but it nevertheless honors the UNRV ladies) I've looked up in The Floral Calendar the "anniversary flower" of each of our UNRV ladies. I crown each with a virtual wreath of her anniversary flowers: Jan 18 - Silentium - four-toothed moss Jan 19 - Crysnia - white dead nettle Feb 2 - Kathleenb - snowdrop Feb 13 - docoflove1974 - polyanthus Feb 18 - Lacertus - wall speedwell Mar 2 - Aphrodite - mouse-eared chickweed Apr 6 - Ginevra - hyacinth Apr 6 - Julia C

Agent-ESv1, you are a member of the Abudii, noted mostly for your unfortunate ancestor, Abudius Rufo, who was banished from Rome by the Emperor Tiberius. Your cognomen/nickname is "Heres", meaning "a heir", because, on the upside of your ancestor's banishment, you inherited his wealth. Your praenomen is "Gaius". Although customarily abbreviated as "C.", you obstinately choose to abbreviate your praenomen with a "G." Your full Roman name is: G. Abudius Heres = JrdohhBaeuesg -joh +ius (I finally managed to get something out of that difficult name of yours! Thanks for your patience!) -- Nephele

The public library automated circulation system, along with the public access catalog. Multi-region DVD recorder/players. Electronic tickets for air travel. Diet soda. -- Nephele

One of my favorite Latin words is actually the name of a Roman patrician gens: Cornelia. It's one of my favorites, because it's also an anagram of "Caroline" -- the name of a favorite author of fiction based in ancient Rome. -- Nephele

We've got you, Violentilla! With thanks to Pantagathus and Gaius Paulinus Maximus, I've been able to include a few more names of female UNRV members (who had not indicated their gender in their profiles). Here are the revised statistics.*** The first line in each grouping states the month and year in which UNRV received new female members. The second line in each grouping names those new members. The third line in each grouping shows the percentage of female membership for UNRV from its inception up through that month and year, as well as the total membership. See NOTE below. January, 2005 Silentium, Crysnia 3.77% of 53 total members February, 2005 Lacertus 4.91% of 61 total members April, 2005 Lost_Warrior 5.06% of 79 total members October, 2005 Violentilla, Messalina Mommsen, sullafelix, emperess 5.75% of 139 total members November, 2005 claudia 5.88% of 153 total members February, 2006 Kathleenb, docoflove1974 5.91% of 186 total members March, 2006 Aphrodite 6.06% of 198 total members April, 2006 Ginevra, Julia Caesaris Filia Principis, suzhannah 7.17% of 209 total members May, 2006 Gini 7.44% of 215 total members July, 2006 Jasminia 7.76% of 219 total members August, 2006 miquel 7.92% of 227 total members September, 2006 theilian, Nephele, The Augusta 8.86% of 237 total members April, 2007 Drusus Nero 7.97% of 276 total members June, 2007 Flavia Gemina, cleopatra 8.33% of 288 total members July, 2007 Octavia 8.53% of 293 total members September, 2007 Agrippina of the Julii, Praebitorae 9% of 300 total members ***NOTE: While UNRV has had thousands of visitors and casual registrants over the years, I have limited my statistics for this purpose to include only those active members who have, as of October 16th, 2007, attained a minimum post count of 10 (placing them in the "Plebes" or higher status category). I am sure we can expect these statistics to change over the months to come, as female registrants (along with the general UNRV population of members) attain individual post counts of 10 or higher. -- Nephele

Sorry, still too long, Agent-ESv1. Can we try a scramble of just your first and last names? Thanks. Btw, welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

That scramble's a bit long to work with. Could you remove a middle name (or two)? Thanks! -- Nephele

Is he jealous of Incitatus? -- Nephele

Now, that's obscure -- and looks like you nailed it, G-Man. -- Nephele

I don't know how obscure Hadrian is, but of all the Roman emperors, this picture looks (to me) the most like him. -- Nephele

Nephele claps her hands, and orders in the beefcake dancing slaves for the amusement of The Augusta. "Ardens, Magnus, Robustus, Torus! Strut your stuff for The Augusta! It's her birthday!" -- Nephele

Break out the best wine and bring on the dancing slave girls beefcake lads, for today is the birthday of The Augusta! (Okay, it's not quite the 17th here in the States yet, but it's just turned midnight in the U.K., so... Time to PARTY!) Have a cool night -- and day -- and another night, Augusta! -- Nephele

Ah, of course! Forgive me for suspecting your motives! The board statistics feature doesn't give age as a search and filter option. But ages listed in individual profiles range from "1 year old" (me!) to "99 years old" (suzhannah) -- with representative ages for every intervening decade. So, you're spoilt for choice. -- Nephele

I went back into the board statistics and this time excluded from the total population all registered members who had not set their gender in their profiles. Results (for members with a minimum of 10 postings) were: 64 males; 13 females -- with the females representing 16.88 percent of the total. Then I did the stats to include all indicated male and female members, regardless of post count (including those who had registered and never posted on the board). The results were: 92 males; 26 females -- with females representing 22.03 percent of the total. Somewhat higher, but still less than a quarter of the total population (of those who indicated their gender). -- Nephele

Not a problem, Asclepiades. I didn't separate the males, as I did the females, when compiling these stats. I merely compared the total females to the total membership (males, females, and unspecified gender included). And, yes, PP, I guess we feminae are pretty vocal. We've got to be, to stand out amongst all you toga-clad and armor-clad types. -- Nephele

Yes, the ladies definitely have better representation in the upper ranks of UNRV. Of the total 14 Triumviri, Legati, and Patricii, 4 of these (representing 28.57 percent of the total) are female. I would have liked to have included UNRV member Julia Caesaris Filia Principis in these stats (she joined in April of 2006 and is a member of the Equites), but she never indicated in her profile that she is of the female gender. I suppose I could simply assume that she's female for the purpose of inclusion. And, maybe the next time I do these, I shall include her. *Nephele picks up her distaff, regards Pertinax with narrowed eyes, and contemplates where to put the distaff...* -- Nephele

In yet another one of my perhaps useless pursuits of statistical trivia, I thought I'd find out what the percentage of female UNRV members has been over the years, in comparison to the general UNRV population. I present the following for your amusement, illumination, etc. While we have had thousands of visitors and casual registrants for UNRV over the years, I have limited my compiled and sorted stats to include only those members who have, as of today (October 16th, 2007), attained a minimum post count of 10 (placing them in the "plebes" or higher status category). As of today we have a total of 13 of these members who have also indicated in their profiles that their gender is female. One, "Drusus Nero," is perhaps open to question (due to the choice of a masculine screen name). But unless Drusus Nero changes her gender status in her profile, I'll presume that she is female. These 13 female members of UNRV represent, to date, 4.31 percent of the total number of 301 UNRV members (who fit the criteria stated above, for this purpose). When the first of these 13, Silentium, joined UNRV in January of 2005, she represented 1.26 percent of the then total 53 members. Next came Lost_Warrior in April of 2005, raising the female percentage to 2.53 (of 79 total members) for that month. She was followed by docoflove1974 in February of 2006, but the female percentage had now dropped back to 1.61, as UNRV total membership had more than doubled by this point to 186. By April of 2006, suzhannah arrived, boosting the female percentage up to 1.91 Total UNRV membership now was 209. The arrival of miquel in August of 2006 brought the female percentage up to 2.20 -- nearly the height at which it had been when Lost_Warrior had arrived. Total UNRV membership now was 227. Then, the following month of September, UNRV experienced a small female invasion, with the arrival of theilian, Nephele, and The Augusta. This brought UNRV's female population up to a whopping 3.37 percent of the then total members of 237. Drusus Nero arrived in April of 2007 and, despite the fact that UNRV total membership was now at 276, the female population was pretty much holding its own with 3.26 percent of this total. The month of June 2007 marked UNRV's second "female invasion", with the arrival of two new female members: cleopatra and Flavia Gemina. This brought the female percentage up to 3.81 (out of 288 total members). Finally, a third "female invasion" in September of 2007 brought in an additional two new female members: Praebitorae and Agrippina of the Julii. This month represented UNRV's highest percentage for female membership (in accordance with the criteria stated above) of 4.33 percent of the then total membership of 300. I'm sure we can expect these statistics to change over the months to come, as female registrants (along with the general UNRV population of members) attain individual post counts of 10 or higher. I may be inclined to do an update of these statistics a few months from now, if there's interest in this sort of thing. -- Nephele

According to my latitude game, I would wind up living just a degree below Rome. Although Pantagathus has given me the additional options of living in Conimbriga (Lusitania), Oleastrum (Hispania), and Erycinum (Sardinia). -- Nephele

As an outside observer, it appears to me that the Church has been slipping for centuries. In the past they would frighten people away from dissenting views with deliciously lurid tales of demons and hellfire. Now, with this latest Halloween costume campaign, they merely bore folks stupid by blowing sunshine up their sheets. -- Nephele

Birthday hails to you, Longbow! In addition to the customary adorning with robes and wreath, in my dual capacity as anagram sorceress I shall conjure up for you a lovely companion of the evening (assuming, of course, that any lady friend you may already have won't slap you upside the head for accepting). Muttering a few arcane words of magic, I take your beloved "English war bow" and anagram it into an archer wench named: "Breagh Winslow". Enjoy the birthday present! -- Nephele