Nephele

Actually, mime was the more lowbrow of the two. I know that our Flavia Gemina (Caroline Lawrence) has done quite a bit of research into Roman pantomime, as it figures prominently in her next book The Beggar of Volubilis (not yet published). She's away right now, but when she's back I'm sure she'll be able to shed some more light on the subject here in this topic. In her book, she makes a point of distinguishing between mime and pantomime, the former being the crude, unmasked acting with speaking roles portraying everyday life, while the later consisted of the higher art form which used masks, minimal speech, and portrayed loftier themes such as events from mythology. She describes a pantomime (the story of Diana and Actaeon acted out) in detail in this book, along with the enthralled reactions of her characters on seeing a pantomime for the first time after having been previously exposed to mime. According to William Stearns Davis, author of my favorite old book on Roman social life and customs, A Day in Old Rome, both mime and pantomime were both not only still going strong in Rome right up to the reign of Hadrian, but were both wildly popular with the masses. For the cruder, Roman mime, Davis names two major roles: that of the chief mimus, "who takes the leading part," and that of the strepidus or parasitus, the secondary actor who usually draws the most applause and serves as a clown (with shaven head) that gets slapped around by the chief mime for the amusement of all. Reading Davis' account of mime, I couldn't help but be reminded of Three Stooges comedy, wherein Moe might be identified as the chief mimus, and bald-headed, knucklehead Curly would obviously be the strepidus or parasitus. And all members of the theatre world were given short shrift by polite society, as our Maty (Philip Matyszak) mentions in his book Ancient Rome on Fire Denarii a Day: "Roman law permitted the on-the-spot killing of actors, gladiators, criminals or slaves if caught in flagrante delicto with a wife." -- Nephele

Whoa, impressive graphics! I especially like the fact that the "Heroes" section gives a choice of female roles for Scout, Priest, Nomad, Mystic, Soldier, and Gladiator. (I think the female gladiators look the foxiest.) -- Nephele

Yes, but at least archaeologist Jerry Rosengren from Lund University is insisting that critter is a lion -- not a Disney mouse. Oh, wait. I can see the correction in the newspaper headlines now: "Iron Age Lion King Found". Perhaps, but I wouldn't count on a Tolkien connection to generate additional funding for science. I thought Lord-of-the-Ringers mostly spend their money at fantasy conventions, furtively seeking out Elijah Woods/Orlando Bloom slash fanfic. -- Nephele

Have a cool day! -- Nephele

Joelius Chapmanicus, you are a member of the Caledii, and thereby related to that Caledius, a military commander in Roman Britain, who set up a shrine to the Goddess Fortuna (Balnearis). It would seem that the Goddess Fortuna is a significant deity for your family. Your particular branch of the Caledii, however, are somewhat of the black sheep of the family -- or, rather, predatory wolves. Your cognomen of "Praedano" is derived from the Latin word praedo, meaning a "robber" or "pirate". Your praenomen is "Marcus", abbreviated as "M." Your full Roman name is: M. Caledius Praedano = WOLCAMAEDJADPNRHE -jwh +ius Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

Is there anyone else here, besides me, who finds it disturbing that someone might name a newly discovered species of human ancestor after an irritating race of tubby, furry-footed creatures from a series of fantasy novels? I suppose the choice was a whimsical one (I shudder at calling it "cute"), but I've never been a Tolkien fan. And, frankly, I hate Hobbits. Do we actually have scientists to thank for this -- or was some media-meister responsible? -- Nephele

Agrippina of the Julii, you belong to the little-known gens of Vebidia, a mention of which can be found in the first volume of the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. You go by a diminutive of your gens name: "Vebidiolla". Your cognomen (or nickname) is "Thyrsa", indicating that you are a follower of the god Dionysius, as the thyrsus (a fennel staff entwined with ivy and topped with a pine cone) is carried in Dionysian celebrations. Your full Roman name is: Vebidiolla Thyrsa = iilblbrtvwyodyeh -bwy +aas Welcome to UNRV! -- Nephele

Lucius Sergius Catilina? -- Nephele

Oh, no. I know you were really looking forward to getting her, too, and naming her. Oh, I'm so sorry, LW. -- Nephele

Will do, on both counts!! I tried to look up cithara last night but Firefox crashed. How long before your harp arrives? Have you considered contacting any SCA folks in your area and arranging to barter for lessons? By bartering your smithing skills, you can probably work out a terrific deal. -- Nephele

There's a wonderfully exciting book titled The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language by Melvyn Bragg (published in 2003) that contains an entire chapter on what the Vikings did (indirectly) to ensure the survival of the English language. Bragg writes of three centuries of Viking raids beginning in 793 which "devastated huge tracts of the English islands and threatened to supplant the language which had begun to show such astonishing promise." But it was King Alfred who used the English language to unite the various tribes of the kingdom (already speaking some Celtic and various Germanic dialects) against the invaders. Alfred "was the first but by no means the last to see that loyalty and strength could come through an appeal to a shared language. He saw that inside the language itself, in the words of the day, there lay a community of history and continuity which could be invoked. He set out to teach the English English and make them proud of it, gather around it, be prepared to fight for it." Bragg maintains that the English language not only survived these invasions, but eventually benefited as a result. Alfred used English to resurrect the written culture of the land, which had been destroyed by the invaders, through his promotion of the English language for translating Latin texts so that (as Alfred himself wrote) "we can all understand and also arrange it...so that all the youth of free men now among the English people...may be set to study...until the time that they are able to read English writing well." So it was the Viking threat which provided the impetus for the English language to become a unifying tool to the extent that, even when the invaders returned and defeated the English at the Battle of Maldon in 991, and despite the fact that "authority in the land was once again decided on battlefields," it was thanks to Alfred's experience with these invaders a hundred years previously that "authority in the language had been settled." Bragg states the old aphorism that it is the victors who write history -- however, "here the defeated English did that service, proving that although the Danes had the land again, they could not possess the language." -- Nephele

Thanks for re-enabling that feature, Moonlapse! G-Manicus, in addition to what P.Clodius wrote, I believe a number of educators and Romanophiles also have links to this site on their own websites.. I found UNRV linked at Roman History Books and More, for instance. And then we have members talking up UNRV to friends all the time. I know I'm always doing that. Hey, here's something I've wondered about... How come no one has yet written up a Wikipedia article on UNRV? -- Nephele

Not really a problem, but just wondering anyhow: What happened to the link at the bottom of the page, that you could click on to see what topics members were currently viewing on the board? I used to get clued in to a lot of old threads that way, that I might have otherwise missed. -- Nephele

Yes, I've read that, too. LW, here's a link to some mp3s of the sound of actual cithara playing. You'll have to tell us how this compares with that gorgeous harp of yours that you've ordered. -- Nephele

Okay, this one absolutely creased me. Has The Augusta seen this? Hahahaha! -- Nephele

L'shanah tovah. -- Nephele

Hahaha! Hey, can you photoshop some famous ancient Romans as goths? (I mean "goth" as in the subculture from the '80s -- not "Goth" as in the Teutonic invaders). -- Nephele

You found her, Asclepiades! The dear Cominia Tyche, who has been at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art for many a year. I've seen her so many times, I almost feel as though I know her. -- Nephele

Here's a list that might interest you of some more masculine, first declension nouns, including masculine Greek loan-words with feminine endings. And (as you noted DoL) some of these nouns, such as auriga ("charioteer") and andabata ("gladiator who fought blindfolded") certainly seem like "cross-dressers" in a feminine-dominated declension. But since Greek isn't a Romance language, do you know whether these "cross-dressing" Greek loan-words got "ironed out", too, over time? -- Nephele

I can dig music inspired by Budapestian statuary of freakish, antlered horses. -- Nephele

Okay, since I know I'm right with my Nerva guess, I'll take the next turn: This lady's husband mourned her When she died age twenty-seven; Her silhouette is at the Met (Dunno if she's in heaven). -- Nephele

Another clue ... The letters in the name he's known by can be rearranged to spell a type of bird (and NFL team) Hahaha! You're giving me an anagram clue? It's Nerva! (Raven, Baltimore Ravens) -- Nephele

I saw this DVD in my public library awhile back, but I hadn't gotten around to viewing it. Although I heard that the movie didn't get the greatest reviews, I agree with sentiments expressed here that Peter O'Toole could make practically anything worth viewing. Now that this thread has reminded me again of this movie, I may check it out this weekend! phil25, thanks for the overview of the movie. I'd also like to get The Augusta's take on Charlotte Rampling's portrayal of Livia. -- Nephele

MPC and Kosmo, great suggestions! MPC, both of those links that you gave Jason lead to the same page: "Legal and Institutional Chronology of the Roman Republic". I think maybe you wanted that second link ("the men who wrote and fought for these laws") to go to this page? -- Nephele

Sounds like you've got a lot of work cut out for you, Jason. You can probably get a lot of background to help you prepare for your Western Civ class presentation by just perusing this site -- and using the "Search" function for various subjects. Have you had a look around here yet? I'm sure you'll find folks here willing to answer a question or two -- but the "comparing, contrasting, and evaluating" bit really sounds more like what your teacher would expect you to be doing, yourself -- don't you think? -- Nephele