The Augusta

Can you not treat us to your review of the first episode, dear Pertinax? Although it's no longer for me, I would still enjoy reading the community's views on the new series.

Well, if the gods are kind, Pan, I do intend to submit it for publication. I submitted a MS years ago to Macmillan - that was a novel more about Augustus than his dear wife, and told from a multiple POV. Macmillan told me I could definitely write well enough to achieve publication of a novel, but they wanted 'a more modern subject' (Rome was not in vogue at the time). They actually asked me to submit something else, but I never did. So, I am hoping to jump on the bandwagon at the moment. I really don't want to write about anything other than Rome.

Ah, no - I cannot cut out the nurse's character altogether. She has a very crucial part to play - trust me. 400 pages, Kosmo? I can read forever if the story is good enough, but after wading through 4 volumes of Scott's Boudica at 600+ a volume, I know where you're coming from....

This brings me to one of my pet theories, Georgious. From Gibbon through to the late 20th century, many of the 'most renowned' ancient historians were from Britain and Europe where generations had grown up under monarchies. Therefore, I don't just think it is a class thing: these historians were the inheritors of the monarchical system, in which the personality of the monarch was under scrutiny. As for the British, they also were the inheritors of the British Empire in which the aristocracy and 'better people' became sahibs in India purely due to their British blood. Well, even those who were not exactly 'top drawer' became sahibs. You make a very valid point here which informs the way the last generation of historians viewed the emperors - i.e. when there was a decent one: Augustus, Trajan etc. they were revered; a poor one: Nero, Commodus etc. were reviled. And it is true that many of these historians regarded the emperors as existing in some form of vacuum, when really, they had a body of close advisers about them who were not only functional but crucial to the governmental process. This is why, I believe IMHO, that the view is changing nowadays, when the USA has become the superpower: a nation that has inherited a purely Republican system. It's just a thought, but I for one think its valid.

What is this real beer? LOL - anything brewed north of Watford in England. London may be our capital but its breweries are rubbish. Real beer consists of the bitter variety or the mild variety with a very frothy head. We also allow Irish stout to come into the realm of acceptance. The watery substance that passes for beer in Europe and the US (Stella Artois, Budweiser etc) is actually lager.

Hehe - yes, I know. And I was only joking about that miscarriage....! Actually I've cut down the first 45 pages to 20 this afternoon by conveying essential information in a different way and it has worked a treat - so I am well on the way.

Welcome Carthago. I am sure you will contribute much to our ever-growing community - just as long as you remember that real beer should never be served very, very cold! It should be kept in a cold cellar - that's the trick! Seriously - have fun here. We all look forward to posting with you.

Yes, Joe - I am getting a Yahoo screen which asks me for my BT internet password. That's fine as I do use BT Yahoo for e-mails etc. but even when I sign in it wants me to create a new 'Flickr' account. Could you post a different link to the pic? Thanks.

Huh? Marcus Agrippa and Octavia...in love? Despite this quirk, I'll still give series 2 a look. If I can stomach Uli Edel's 'Julius Caesar', then I can definately tolerate the inaccuracies of Rome 2 (I hope...) Ahem - getting back to this for the briefest of moments.... I watched the repeat on Thursday night of Episode One of Series 2. It was well-acted. I can't think of anything more constructive to say. I hope everyone else enjoys it. I won't be watching.

I now find that my drafted Livia has reached the sprawling mass of 92,000 words and she's only just escaping from Perusia. This means that unless some drastic editing is done, by the time we reach 35BC where I propose to end this first part of her story, the book will be pushing towards epic proportions. And so I set about pruning; weeding out gorgeous little cameo characters that have been a joy to create but who can be sacrificed as they add nothing to the overall story. I look through, re-read, decide where I can combine that incident with that one, thus cutting out the need for that and so forth. I kid myself that it's all good fun, when in fact it's bloody hard work. It is indeed far more difficult to prune and edit than it is to write in the first place. Dialogue is my problem, I am fast discovering. I love writing it, and not to blow my own trumpet too much, I know I write it well. But I write too much of it! I am, first and foremost, a communicator; therefore, so are my characters. So, should I stick with more dialogue and cut down the narrative? Choices, choices. Choices and sacrifice. Which characters can go? Do we really need him, or her? Does she really need that conversation with her father in that scene etc. etc? And then I consider my theatrical background: perhaps, as dialogue/characterisation is some of my strongest writing, I should turn the bloody thing into a play! No - it would make Richard III seem like a one act fringe offering! I want to finish this damned novel, and I will do it if it kills me. So - a major culling is on the cards. Superfluous characters will be crucified forthwith and any scene that does not advance the story or illustrate some part of Livia's character will be axed. I must be strict with myself and not wallow in self-indulgent babbling about this gorgeous world we all love. For god's sake - how many Romans do I need to bring back to life? And do I need to add to my problems by creating even more fictional ones? No! Let's leave fictional characters to a minimum. The odd slave who helps. Get rid of her childhood tutor; does her nurse really need to have that miscarriage? All superfluous. Have I learned nothing from that bloody TV series with its meandering sub-plots? This is not Catherine Cookson! I will arm myself to the teeth for the drastic cuts, and my goal is now to get Liv to the Spartan forest fire in an absolute maximum of 200 pages, leaving an equal number for development of her story with that little blonde chap she has to marry. I will need all the help Apollo and his nine maidens can send me!

At last the Augusta may emerge from her alcove, as she notices that the bevy of colourful new slaves have really livened the place up. She waves her husband, the Emperor, bye bye and prepares to party with the really interesting people. They're her set, after all. She begins to discuss the intricacies of nail polish with a particularly gorgeous drag queen, and asks how s/he thinks the Emperor would look in green organza. As for the snow falling - thank the gods, she thinks! She thought the lovely stuff would never arrive. Now for a mirror....

A fascinating, if somewhat pedantic, thread. I was taught my Latin by a mad Welshman who nevertheless drummed into we terrified lasses the 'correct' pronunciation. Therefore, when I came to study the history of Rome in some depth and came up against famous folks that I had so far not met, I pronounced their names as the esteemed Mr. Southall had taught me. Now, I knew Caesar and Cicero from Shakespeare in any case - but my first literary meeting with Maecenas, for instance, had me pronouncing his name MYE-KANE-AS - which is no doubt 'correct' but no one would know who you meant if you pronounced it that way in the world of Academe or Literature. Or would they? However, there is one thing that I do insist upon. Marcellus is MarKellus - and I'll NOT say it any other way! As for Jacobi's (as we're being pedantic, please note spelling of Sir Derek's name) pronunciation - can we remember that he's an actor, not a classicist. Actors don't care how they pronounce things, as long as it sounds nice! We also come to what other people have said about common usage, e.g. SEEZER and not Kaisar. I insist upon saying KWEYE-STORE etc. just like Flavia, but in many a historical documentary or chat with other academics, I have heard PREETER and EEDIL and KWEESTER. It jars with me as it no doubt does with others. But how pedantic are we going to be. After all - it should be OW-Goos-toos, not OR-gus-tus. It should be Ti-bairi-oos and not TYE-beeri-us. Heck - it should not be Vesp-ay-sian but Wesp-ah-sian! And Tye-tus is Ti-toos. 'I, Clowdioos', anyone? The thing is, as most of these names have passed into history in English speaking countries with the traditional pronunciation, it would simply be an affectation to change them now. I personally would not wish to pick holes in an actor's rendition of the printed word. And after all, if we're going to be so 'correct', there is no way we should be speaking of 'Mark Antony' and 'Octavian'. Marcus Antonius and Octavianus are the correct names. May I also take this opportunity of giving a warm welcome to Flavia. I hope you are with us for a long time to come.

Ah, as do I, Cato. Had there been no 'Ides of March', there would have been no Augustus! (Sorry - I couldn't resist that one...)

Perhaps not as such, but he advocated for a very strong poetic reimagining of ancient religion in his White Goddess and other works. He basically crafted an imaginary ancient world with imaginary religions. The problem is that when people in your country got together after the repeal of its witchcraft laws to detemine exactly what pre-Christian religions were like, they used the works of Graves and others like him to craft a religion for ... for a new age, so to speak. This poetic retelling of ancient religion had little in common with history, though it was often presented as history by its adherents. Graves' forays into religious thought is damned by many scholars and cultural traditionalists for this reason. Ah - thank you Ursus, for clarifying. I confess to not having read his White Goddess. However, this is an interesting topic in itself - religion being founded on poetic re-tellings and such. But it's not the subject of the thread, so we'll save it for another time. Suffice it to say - all poets and novelists are romantics at heart, and can skewer the truth to create something else. But I agree - that is 'bad scholarship' when dealing with history. And to Pertinax - yes, Goodbye to All That is a nice romp. Some very amusing little anecdotes.

Welcome Kyle - hope you have fun here. As you can see from the last couple of posts by two of our most esteemed members - this is a madhouse! And only one or two of us bite

To be fair, Graves is not a historian, nor did he have any pretensions of being. You are right, Ursus - he was first and foremost a poet. However, I would still recommend his translation of Suetonius over anyone's! His Greek Myths are something of a staple, though, and quite extensive. Bad scholarship? His 'scholarship' was English Literature! We should hardly be using him as a classical source. His contribution to the classical world was as a translator.

Well, now back in the land of the living, having seen off two very tricky centaurs with Medusa shields; an enormous, cute T-Rex (it was a pity to kill him); old Torso mutant who got his hands shot off; and our end-of-game Natla - harder than she was in the original but still a breeze for a vet raider like me. That game was tough, and I played it on 'Hard' mode throughout. Probably the best TR since the classics of the 90s - good puzzles, tricky timed sequences. Her new bullet-time dodge and wall run. Wall run? Gods - she's not fit to kiss the tip of Prince's dagger with that! She has to use a grapple! Don't talk to me about that damned grapple! One level took 30 tries with that bloody thing! All good fun. Time to put on my serious head again.... And now back to business - I have to finish Signor Severo for the Forum. The Augusta dons her stola again, citizens.

Wasn't the origin of the Minotaur due to a coupling of a bull and a queen? And that bull wasn't even a disguised god! A certain Nephele from Greek myth was said to have been the mother of the race of Centaurs, although it's difficult to figure that one out, as it was a male of the two-legged variety -- a man named Ixion -- with whom she had intercourse. The only explanation I can think of for Nephele's horse-children being the result, must have been due to her and Ixion having had a stable relationship. -- Nephele Or perhaps he was hung like a stallion. (Blushes at her own naughtiness!)

Or his brain in my case! Although brains and wealth would be heaven!

Also, Suzhannah, a lot of material can be found in Appians' Civil Wars.

Yes - welcome back Gaius. Your Auntie Liv has been worried about you, ya know! You know I take my materfamilias duties very seriously. Now please do not disappear again without my written permission. Thank you.

My son was about 6 or 7 when he picked up John Warry's Warfare in the Classical World off one of my shelves and started to devour it. There is a linear text to place the battles in their historical context, with a decent overview of the background politics. The illustrations are colourful and will catch a young boy's eye (I am presuming this is a boy); so too will the battle plan diagrams. From reading the Warry (or at least imbibing the pictures and some of the text) my son went on to watch Time Commanders on TV and decided he wanted to learn more about the Greeks and Romans, so started to raid my shelves. There's also the more light-hearted Horrible Histories series (I can't get the link to work on this one). This presents some salient facts in a funny way and again gets a youngster interested, although I doubt he'd be ready for an erudite discussion on the merits of the Republic or the Athenian Democracy after reading one of these. They are fun, though. If it's myths you're after, another decent introduction for a youngster is an old favourite by H.A. Guerber: The Myths of Greece and Rome (again the link won't work - sorry). This has been reprinted so many times, it must be in it's 50th edition in 2005. My own edition from 1978 is a hardcover with some nice photos of famous art to help illustrate the myths. It gives the more famous tales concerning the 12 Olympians - Apollo/Daphne etc. It's a nice little book to dip into. If I can come up with any more, I'll post again.

And all we need is a pic, Kosmo. No matter if you're not old enough for the Summer of Love - neither is Nephele. I echo NN's sentiments: Let's have some childhood photos - the more comical the better.

Ah - didn't we tell you, Caldrail? You weren't offered a choice on whether to come along or not. Your attendance is compulsory - especially as weaponry will be on display!

I haven't blogged for ages - which is something I must rectify. However, I will recommence my musings by admitting to a terrible vice. I AM OBSESSED WITH LARA CROFT. There - I've said it. You must think what you will. As a female I have the inherent ability to multi-task. This means that I will be able to complete my review on Severus; scrape together something vaguely erudite about Dixon's Reading Roman Women; visit the Forum every day to read new posts and contribute to any that take my fancy; stay in touch with certain friends by PM; work, eat, clean bathrooms (a hard task this morning in sweltering heat), shop, and administer affection and basic care to two cats. BUT - I must also find time for Lara. Lara, when she breezes into my life every year or two, leaping her way across chasms, solving riddles and fighting nasty baddies, claims a great part of my heart and my attention. This attention, since yesterday, 1st June 2007, or 'L-Day', has been fractionated once again as I anxiously thrust the disk into the PS2 and get cracking! Tomb Raider: Anniversary. The latest offering from Eidos starring my favourite lady after Livia! Purchased at 9.15am yesterday morning by this very sad middle-aged woman who has had a special relationship with one of the greatest game heroines ever, I salivated all through the working day; the anticipation was almost too much, but eventually, at about 7pm last night, I settled down to send Lara off on her latest adventure. It's not a new adventure, of course: Anniversary is Lara's farewell to PS2 before she steps prettily over to the new PS3 next year. So, Eidos have put out a total remake of the very first Tomb Raider, which was one of the best games ever devised. Therefore, we know the storyline and the levels - more or less - but everything has been enhanced with the new game engine and gorgeous graphics that have turned the original landscapes into sheer wonderment. Those pesky velociraptors(?sp) are much more troublesome this time round - especially as I, as a veteran Raider, set the game to 'difficult'. Even those silly bats can hurt my Lara. For the first level - those gorgeous caves in Peru - I struggle to get back into analogue stick mode! Lara was a D-pad girl when she was in all her glory, but I know times must move on. A few tumbles off high cliffs later and I am back in the swing of things, especially as I get my fingers working in tune with the 'jump and grapple'. I happily find all secrets and complete the level after a few stumbles and little or no damage to health. Thankfully, Eidos and Crystal Dynamics have abandoned the ridiculous headset worn by Lara in the last game, Legend, and she is back to the lonely tracking through endless ruins, where eerie background music sends a tingle down the spine. Just Lara alone, meeting up with her wolves and bears. When we finally arrive at 'The Lost Valley', our old friend the T. Rex has become a real boss. No longer can we hide behind rocks and sneak out to fire at him; he is a real piece of work this time and takes a lot of skill to despatch. But I finally do it, and feel the old adrenalin rush and that sense of achievement when he lies dead. This is what Tomb Raider was always about, and Eidos have triumphed once again. So, going to bed at 2.10am last night/this morning, I asked myself: just what is it about Tomb Raider that attracts me like no other game? I love the Caesar games - constructive, thoughtful etc.; I love other 'puzzle' and adventure games such as Prince of Persia or even the earlier Silent Hills (the latest two were rubbish). I have never been a 'shoot-em-up' fan, nor a driving fan, and although I'm a fan of football, the soccer games bore me rigid. But Lara rules supreme for me. It could be because she is female, and everything we all want to be. It could be because she raids tombs and ruins, which fits with my love of the ancient world. It may even be because Tomb Raider 2 (my ALL TIME favourite) was the very first game I ever played on a Play Station when my son got one for Christmas (he was 6!). I don't really know what magic Lara holds, but her charisma infects me yet again with each new game - even the bad ones like Angel of Darkness and the ridiculously easy and short Chronicles. I play my favourite ones over and over again when I find myself bored. She is incredibly therapeutic when I want to kill someone..... So, thank you Miss Croft. I may flirt with Persian princes and build Roman cities, but you will always be my number one girl!