The Augusta

A good point, GPM. I was born and bred only 8 miles from Manchester but as a child growing up I always realised that my Dad 'talked funny' - i.e. not like Mum, me and my maternal relatives. Dad was from Manchester. So even the tiny difference of 8 miles can deliver a totally different accent, perhaps not discernible to a person from the south of England, or abroad, but to locals - well, the Manc accent is as aurally far removed from my own as it is from Irish. Therefore, the question is not only how regional accents evolved, but local ones too. I guess we'll wait for Doc to check in, as I'm sure she'll be able to offer her usual erudite take on matters.

Thanks for the replies, guys. It is as I feared - the Romans were not cat-lovers. Now, I wonder if the fact that the feline nature does not take well to domination had something to do with their undesirability as 'pets'. Any thoughts on that one?

Hehe - nice one - but NOPE! And I'm giving no clues this time. Just wait till Asky gets on - he'll snap her up!

Inspired by this thread by Viggen and going off on one of my usual tangents - I wanted to raise a discussion about regional accents. Not just in the UK but worldwide. This is clearly one for the Doc, so I wonder if she could shed light on just how regional accents (which I find so fascinating) have come about through the centuries. For instance, in the UK, one can hear a mixture of - say - Welsh, Irish and Mancunian in the horrendous Scouse (Liverpudlian ), or some traces of Scots and Norse in the gorgeous Geordie accent of the North East etc. What then of Cockney? What elements of the settlers in our history have gone to make up this accent? Indeed, our American cousins themselves? Over here in the UK, we say 'suchabody has an American accent' but there is more than one type of accent in the vast territory that makes up the USA. Why is the New York accent so distinct from - say - the Californian? And even I as a Brit can hear the enormous differences here. We know that Irish, Italian etc have had their part to play in modern New York accents, but just what has gone into the various regional accents of the USA? Of different parts of Germany? Of the UK? This is always a topic that I have loved and yet I haven't found time to study. Can Doc or one of our other esteemed linguists give us any insights into the genesis and development of regional accents? And pointers towards further study would be appreciated.

Another easy lady....

I would find it hard to imagine that given the nature of dogs and to a (MUCH, MUCH!) lesser extent, cats, to show affection to the Alpha, that eventually said Alpha would put their hand down and give Fido a scratch of the ear, which in turn would lead to Fido completely falling over and wagging his tale like mad at this act of affection. Ah - G-Man - clearly you have not met my Persian! Affection? She could knock any dog into a cocked hat!

You are correct! (only in that it looks like him ... but it ain't him) This is Claudius - surely!

Before I go further - Welcome back to our Flavia! You have been missed. Now, as a cat-lover rather than a dog-lover, I am quite interested in how the Romans saw their Pussums (my word!) I know that they were revered for catching vermin, but were they actually given love and cuddles? I somehow doubt this, as they had a definite job to do like any other household slave. The only mosaic I have managed to retrieve on the Internet shows a cat pouncing on a bird - so, the superior, independent, noble species had its reputation to keep up 2000 years ago. I note that Steven Saylor's books have a place for a cat - Bast, whom his main character loves - but he is certainly unique among authors of Roman historical novels in attaching affection to the noble species. (Clearly, the modern Steven loves Pussums - but is he imbuing the ancient vermin-hunters with a sentimentality that the Romans didn't really feel?) Any thoughts on the Pussums of Rome?

I am glad to see that my needs and PP's are very similar. It does so much for Anglo-American relations! As for the downtime - I couldn't access the site for a couple of hours mid morning, but it's been fine since then.

I am not surprised to hear this, G-Man. The God Consul is a wonderful man, but applying intellectual techniques to the solving of problems is not his strong point! And by the way, Gaius - you know I love you too! And please sober up and post a nice picture for me to sharpen my intellectual nails on. Failing that, perhaps our Ingsoc could bring some decorum back into the proceedings. G-Man - now you know for sure that you have joined the asylum.

GO - you can't have that many goes!!! I know this from somewhere. But let's narrow it down properly, men! For a start the portrait is almost certainly late Republican/early Principate - due to the gap on top of the head where the roll should be in the traditional 'nodus' hairstyle. You - see - let's apply some logic here.... Also - the portrait does not seem to have holes for shoulder locks, so it's probably Republican. (Producers of 'Rome' and its silly, wrong period hairstyles, take note!). It could be an early Octavia with its nose squashed.

And a lot of today's criticism is modern cynicism.

Yep - I certainly had to switch off my brain, Ursus. Even so, this was a really mediocre first episode. But I do intend to see if it improves this coming Friday.

Regarding Henry's lack of ginger hair - it is a damned liberty. However, it is not without precedent. Anyone remember 'Anne of a Thousand Days'? Burton declined the use of red wig for that one. Then again - we had a ginger Octavian in Rome...... and they even managed to shove a blonde wig on Brian Blessed, for heavens' sake! With Henry VIII, of course, as Spittle rightly points out, his red locks were not only famous through England but we have enough damned portraits of him for the producers to have got it right. Maybe red hair isn't aesthetically pleasing to the folks at Showtime! Yep - this is a mess. I'll give it one more episode.

Yep - same shout from me. I think Ingsoc has it - even though its not a 'typey' Agrippa bust (I'm making him sound like a Persian cat!) Has Ingsoc got it, Asc?

OK - this is going to drive me mad - because I know the bust so well, but can't just bring the name to mind. It's definitely Julio-Claudian or late Republic/early Principate (same period, anyway). I am multi-tasking at the moment so give me a little time...) I may even have this on my hard drive - will go and look..... Just a quick first time guess - Drusus.

Actually, to many contemporaries he was in some sense divine, the precursor of the Hellenistic god-kings.. Surely not, Julius Ratus! As Ursus points out - he was far from 'just a man' to the Macedonians who followed him.

Hehe - yes - it did seem to be the Shakespearean equivalent of 'Oh - the man I most love in all the world is dead!' Thing is - it made me think of Lear - don't know why. And a very overplayed Lear - a la Olivier.

Does 'legata' work? If not, let's just call her 'Domina' and have done.

Phew - well, although I am as ready to dismiss this as Spittle is, I will attempt some objective appraisal of the situation. My daughter loved it. She is 18 and in love with the lead. Will that do as an objective appraisal? There's a lot more I could say, but I will give kudos to Sam Neil as Wolsey, Jeremy Northam (?sp) as More and 'that lass from The Commitments who played Catherine of Aragon'. They were outstanding. Much too much is being made of the Buckingham affair, and we haven't even got to The Field of the Cloth of Gold yet. Is this first series just going to be Henry VIII? Good points: Beautifully shot, nicely acted by the majority. Bad points: We were told that we were going to 'Paris, France'!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in one scene. Please - for we English, whose dynasty this is, there is only one bloody Paris! Bad script: Thomas Boleyn hands his daughters a drink and calls Mary merely 'Mary', but Anne he calls 'Anne Boleyn'. Like the audience do not know who Anne Boleyn was or will become. Oh, for god's sake. And I thought Rome was bad. The thing is - I'm much more laid back about accepting liberties being taken with English history. I made up my mind about Henry years ago (I think I was 12) so I can quite happily sit back and enjoy this as Catherine Cookson in Tudor costume. Hate to do this again to you folks, but compare it to 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII' by the BBC (c.1972)

Neph, I am absolutely thrilled for you - and this is so well deserved! I promise to behave myself But seriously - well done! A great addition to our panel of legates.

Erm...strike my last answer. I've done it again, haven't I, Asc? I said it looked like a young beardless Marcus Aurelius...... But as it's very late and I have to go to bed - please feel free to load another pic if you like.

Well - I'll be blowed.... I was sure I had that one! OK - the only member of the dynasty left - is it Lucius Verus?

These are absolutely brilliant, G-Man. And I'm so jealous, cos I'm waiting until I get a new PC before I re-install my photo suites. But I'd love to have a go at some of these. That Cato the Goth was brill! Come on, let's have more and more and more... And BTW - hearty congrats on your promotion!

Sorry for the delay, Dr. A - as soon as I wrote Elagabalus I knew I didn't mean him at all! I actually meant Commodus! (The face looked familiar and I kept seeing that famous bust of the guy in the Hercules' headdress. That was, of course, old Commie, wasn't it?) Actually this is quite a nice portrait. Looks like a younger beardless version of his old Dad.