Nephele

Thanks, AD, but I think something must have gone wonky with the quote function, because it was actually Primus Pilus who dug up the Wiki source. But I found it interesting, too. -- Nephele

Cool! And, if you or anyone would like a hippie name, here's the link: Summer of Love. -- Nephele (Trying to picture what ancient Roman hippies might've looked like, making the pax sign, and all that...)

Klingan, I'm delighted to blanagram a Roman name for your classmate. She is a member of the gens Egilia, descended from the noted 2nd century B.C.E. wit, Egilius. Her cognomen (which is also the name by which she is best known) is "Honesta", signifying her respectability as a Roman maiden. Her full Roman name is... Egilia Honesta (lseaibEth ngIo -b +a) I don't get to do nearly enough feminine Roman names -- this was a treat! I'm always open for business for any other lady friends of UNRV members here. -- Nephele

Evangelist and creationist Randall Niles (apparent author of that piece you quoted), co-founder of All About God Ministries, cites these sources on his website for his conclusions: "Recent discoveries reveal that the Romans did have a regular enrollment of taxpayers and held a formal census every 14 years, beginning with the reign of Caesar Augustus." E. M. Blaiklock, "Quirinius," The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, vol. 5, Zondervan Publishing House, 1976, 6. See also, http://users.rcn.com/tlclcms/census.html#Anchor4. "In addition, an inscription and other archaeological evidence reveal that Quirinius was indeed

Feeling somewhat vexed that Caldrail has not been agreeable to swapping for his tasty Nubian slave, Nephele decides to use her sorcery skills with the Ars Magna. She petulantly changes "Manlius tha Nubian" into a "Lithuanian busman". Hmm... Manlius still looks rather imposing as a Lithuanian busman. I may leave him that way. Unless Caldrail can mollify me with a bribe and persuade me to change him back. -- Nephele

Nephele tickles Manlius' nose with a peacock feather, while considering swapping her panther for Caldrail's Nubian. He's prettier than the panther. But he'll require a larger, diamond-studded collar...

Do it! -- Nephele

"Any society with healthy values will self-regulate such 'excesses' of free speech by ostracizing, ridiculing, and shunning those who propagate them. This de facto social censorship can be troublesome sometimes, but it does okay at balancing freedom and civility." Absolutely. Regulating such offenders shouldn't be the purview of governments. It cracks me up when you occasionally get someone on a privately-maintained Internet message board crying "censorship!" for being pulled up short (or booted out) on account of a lack of civility, where one has no business invoking government to determine what others should endure on what is basically their private property. The individual's freedom of association is no less precious than the individual's freedom of speech, but with one sweep for political correctness now, governments in Europe are curtailing both. Hate-speech is abhorrent, and people who spew it simply suck. But you can't legislate civility. Governments that attempt to do so will only succeed in driving the hate underground -- governments won't make it go away. It takes individuals to change society's attitudes, not governments. Often, those individuals happen to be comedians doing cutting-edge routines that test the very limits of what "polite" society will tolerate. I find it ironic that the very people who are advancing ideas about the stupidity of racism -- comedians such as Sacha Baron Cohen or Sarah Silverman who deliberately mirror the hatespeakers by "publicly condoning, denying, or grossly trivializing" sensitive issues -- are the very people who would be criminalized under the EU's rulings. -- Nephele

What an eloquent first post, Diocles! Welcome to UNRV! Looking forward to reading more of your postings! -- Nephele

You tell 'em, NN! -- Nephele (Who wonders whether Moonlapse is ever going to let her 'gram him...)

In the name of Satana, Joplin, and Holy Hendrix, I christen you, DoL with yet another anagrammed hippie name... Ambroziah Eternal Hash -- Nephele

How exciting! I'll give you an anagram identity for the road (not that you'll need one, but what the heck). In fact, I'll anagram your name into a hippie name, as I've been doing on the board to amuse myself. Behold! As you trek across the nation, knapsack on your back and adventure in your heart, you get the hippie name of: "Kelcey MintJello". -- Nephele "Kathy," I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh, "Michigan seems like a dream to me now." It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw; I've gone to look for America... -- Paul Simon, "America" (1968)

Hahaha, wait till you see yours... Kosmo, your hippie parents were HUGE fans of the 1966 San Francisco formed band Santana, and so you were named after the band. Your full hippie name is: Santana Cozmic Oblivion = Zabalovici Anton Cosmin Rock on. -- Nephele

Hot stuff! I just now placed an order for this one -- thanks for the recommendation, MPC! I have read this book, O' Cloudy Libidinous one, and I believe you shall enjoy it. My review is on the site if you are interested. As for listing 5 books, it would require more research. And perhaps some reenacting. A thoroughly absorbing review, o unbridled ursine one. "The book itself is basically a visual feast of some very explicit art pieces. The writing is clear and erudite enough. I highly recommend this work. I have seen no other work that places Roman sexuality in such precise terms. Whether you agree with Roman sexuality or not, you will be better informed on the subject." Precisely the book I'm looking for, for my reading at the beach. With all that healthy salt sea air, seems a perfect place for... um... inspired research. I was holding off on buying Ancient Rome on Five Denarii a Day, as I've been waiting for another review copy to turn up at the Strand. I picked one up at half price at the Strand before its official release date and, because it's set in the year 200 C.E., I was planning to compare it in review to my old favorite A Day in Old Rome (which is set in 134 C.E.). But a Romanophile author friend of mine had a birthday this month, so I sent it to her as a present instead. I've given up waiting for the Strand to get another copy, and have now ordered the book from Amazon. I did have a look at the review copy I had, before I sent it off to my friend, and it's brilliant. The book even lists ancient travel time by sea from various ports to Rome (for planning your ancient Roman holiday, in case you live in one of the provinces). The book quotes numerous primary sources, as well. Can't wait to get my hands back on another copy -- this time for myself. -- Nephele

Thanks for that link, Viggen! Heheh, looking at the pic of that German edition of Stephen Hawking's book, on first glance it looks almost like: "DAS UNIVERSE IN DER NUMBSCHULL". I'm now wondering how many U.S. Immigration Officers, back in the day when the immigrants would come in through Ellis Island, might have been responsible for renaming German families on account of having mistaken the "

Hot stuff! I just now placed an order for this one -- thanks for the recommendation, MPC! Hey... Is there anyone here inclined to post a "5 Books on Roman Sex" for the Quintus Libri Project? -- Nephele

The item about the German surnames being affected by this change is of particular interest to me. Do you have any links to news stories about those Germans who refused to pay their taxes because of the dispute regarding the spelling of their surnames? -- Nephele

Ursus, question for you... Was there ever any direct connection between this "Sol et Luna" temple at Rome and a representation of Apollo and Diana as "Sun and Moon" twin siblings? I ask, because it's my understanding that a significant difference between the Greek and Roman versions of Apollo is that, while the original Sabine and Latin goddess Diana was later identified with the Greek Artemis and shared many of her attributes, the brother-sister relationship between Apollo and Artemis for the Greeks wasn't the same between Apollo and Diana for the Romans. And, in fact, Apollo had very little to do with Diana in her cult worship as Diana Nemorensis. -- Nephele

"Dear Supporter of the Roman History! If you are not able to come to Rome, Rome will come to You!" Sounds inviting! I've a few questions that didn't appear to be answered on the website: Will these lectures focus primarily on archaeology, or will other subject areas be included, such as Roman social life and customs? Even though your foundation appears to be based in Rome, can we expect these lectures to be offered in languages other than Italian? Will there be a fee for these lectures -- or are they free? Thanks! -- Nephele

Augusta, you look like a junior Vestal in that pic! Which, of course, calls for an additional Roman name for you. This time I got a true blanagram (substituting only one letter) out of your name: Seguliola Soteris (swapping the k for an r) Seguliola is a feminine diminutive of Segulius, making you a descendant of that notable artist in gold. Your cognomen of Soteris (meaning "savior") is a form of a surname borne by the goddesses Artemis, Persephone, and Athena. It was also the cognomen of a woman mentioned in Pliny the Younger's correspondence with the Emperor Trajan (Epistula X), in which Pliny entreated Trajan "to grant the full privileges of a Roman" to Pancharia Soteris (and others). All hail little Seguliola of the past! And present-day retired Vestal Seguliola, who still possesses the authority and influence of a respected Vestal, but who now can lawfully make up for lost time with the menfolk. -- Nephele

You'd better not hurt my panther with that big sword of yours, Caldrail. -- Nephele

Last time he was gone for awhile (around the Ides of April) he said it was because of business that he had to attend to. Hope that's all it is this time again. I've sent him a shout in e-mail. -- Nephele

Ah, thank you for that recommendation, A.D. -- I'll be checking later to see if I have that in my public library's collection. We have many of the Loeb Classical Library volumes, but there's been some contention regarding the problem of the original translators for this otherwise outstanding series having tended to "clean up" certain passages deemed rude. I understand that they are now working on putting the salty language back into the text, and that they're getting around to revising a few volumes each year. I see that The Satyricon has been included among the recent Loeb revisions, although I'm sure I wouldn't know which bits might have been missing from the old, or put back in the new. Do you have any comments on the current Loeb edition of The Satyricon? Does the revised LCL edition do Petronius justice? In the meantime, I've an intriguing copy of "The Satyrica Concluded" set aside for my reading on the train tomorrow morning! Many thanks for that, A.D.! -- Nephele

Nephele hears the summons of Docoflove and returns to the party, leading a panther on a leash. She spies Augustus Caesar hiding behind a pillar. "Augie C.!" exclaims Nephele, "What are you doing hiding behind this pillar? Here, watch my panther for me while I go powder my nose." Nephele thrusts the panther's leash into A.C.'s hand and then swans off across the atrium. Augustus Caesar stands uncomfortably with the panther's leash in his hand. The panther looks up at Augustus with some interest, and licks its chops. "How odd," muses Augustus Caesar. "I didn't think panthers could smile..." -- Nephele