P.Clodius

Fav movie, too many to choose from but... LOTR series is definately up there as is Bad Santa, hahaha, classic. Novel Catch 22 Non fiction Again too many, anything by Goldsworthy, Meier, Grant, Dodge Favorite quotes Anything by Caesar, "It was they who would have it so!", etc...

I was under the impression the Curia was commenced under the Divine Julius and was finished under the Divine Augustus after the lastone was used as a funeral pyre for my namesake

I was disappointed they didn't have otters noses, badgers earlobes and wolfs nipple chips in the series!

I have zero input on roman numerals and roman science, obviously our current method of notation is superior. However, I'm very much behind this sentence as I have stated in other threads. History is cyclical. I don't think there'd be a US, etc. if Rome fell. It evolved end of story.

Agreed. The advent of the internet has really opened the world up as we all know. Not sure if Meier is still around but lastyears loss of Grant has hurt, he was great. Don't see the next gen of greats yet. Goldsworth is great but tends to only write on millitary aspects.

I have the book, have had it for sometime but have yet to read it because I'm backed up, bookwise that is :-). I remember when I got it, I glanced through it as you generally do. I got the impression that it has a VERY modern socialist slant to it. If so, that would be most unwelcome as there were absolutely no socialists/socialism in ancient Rome. I will reserve judgement.

Similar yes. mine is more user friendly (when it works) though.

Wait, it takes me to the site fine but when I try to enter something it doesn't work. Looks like an internal error, i.e. the site is down or something. Is this what you mean?

It works when I click on it!!! But here it is in the raw. http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/

....thanks to Panthagus for pointing THIS out to me yesterday. Its a goldmine. Just type in your subject, ex. "Oppius", and it'll find every reference to Oppius ever written in the ancient sources, nicely grouped together. This is like a late xmas present!

HAHAHA, this one is funny.

Nice collection of references Pantagathus. I will refer back to this thread when I need to, thanks.

Altogether a very educational post Pertinax et al. Certainly an unusual subject too. Well researched and presented. Thank you.

Sitting on the subway this morning on my way to work I was reminded of an inccident that occurred a couple of months ago that made me laugh to myself. HAHAHA, I'm laughing now just thinking about it. Primetime rush hour, I got a seat, the banks of seats face eachother on this older model train. A couple of stops into the ride an older man, in his mid 50's-early 60's gets on, finds a seat just accross from me next to a guy in his early 20's. I'm reading my book, as commute time is my main study time. Next minute, I hear some unusual sounds followed by surpressed laughter, I look up to see the guy in his 20's giggling, obviously trying surpress his laughter. I continue to watch. The old guy proceeds to tear large chunks from a bagel he had in his hands and insert the pieces into both his nostrels, at the sametime making loud chomping and slurrping noises out of his mouth. The pieces of bagel were flying everywhere, the younger guy was cracking up, I proceeded to crackup, along with others. I burried my head in my book and tried my best to surpress my laughter, obviously failing....Just one of those everyday events that break the monotony of the everyday life in NYC...HAHAHAHAHA

I'm saying there's little out there except passing references.

They wore gloves made from cabbage!

I grew up in UK, there was a lot of lead piping around when I was growing up. Could this be why I'm a driveling idiot? PS. I love cabbage!

I was honestly asking. also, that post was many moons ago and I have learned much more since then. But still, there is almost no primary or secondary source material.

HAHAHAHAHA, Nice. I'm sure the site gets backedup atleast once a week. Right Viggen?

Well, he was certainly another candidate who incites controversy that's for sure, but remember, he was a product of his times. I hate to keep harping on about Mos Maiorum but it really is central to understanding roman political psyche. Clodius did nothing unprecedented, its just whatever he did, he did to the extreme or so the sources would have it appear on the face of it. His credentials were pristine and why he would seek to have himself "demoted" is unclear. The common explaination is that he sought the office of tribune. The process of demotion to another class was called "Relegatio", and the fact that there was a legal mechanism in place in order for him to do so indicates that he was not the first. Clodius was critisized for employing gangs to ensure things went according to "plan" in the forum. This he certainly did but why he did and how he employed them is unclear. Again, he was not the first to do this, Sulpicius was. Sulpicius employed 600 men whom he called his "Anti-Senate" to afford himself protection. The office of tribune was supposedly sacrosanct but upto Clodius' time there was a significant list of dead tribunes, dead at the hands of senate partisans. What would you or I do if in the same position? His legislative agenda was not as radical as some had feared it would be. There was legislation to bring back guilds that had previously been banned (under Sulla I think), and there was the free distribution of grain once a month to the poor. These first two are clearly aimed at building a solid and significant client base. Other legislation included privelege against arbitrary punishment without due process, curtailing religion and its power to stop assemblies from meeting on "unlucky" days. After his tribunship there was political deadlock in the forums, often involving running battles between the gangs of Clodius and the professional gladiators hired by the senates man, Milo. Clodius carefully followed the cursus honorum and was clearly aiming for higher office (at the time of his death he was running for Praetor), makes you wonder what he'd have done as consul! In the end he was a solid "populares" politician, most certainly not Caesar's man as some have made out to be but was certainly leaning that way as he was obliged to tow the family line after his brother, Appius, pater familias, went to the conference of Luca and came back as one of Caesar's "men".

Never had a blog before, see how it goes. Looking at other peoples blogs, words seem to flow easily and are a pleasant read. Ursus particularly appears to be able to write descriptively and clearly on just about anything. I doubt you'll find that here as I tend to be to the point, matter of fact, if it takes 3 sentences to say, why bother kind of attitude. Guess that's why I've been divorced twice, hehehehe!

Are you refering to the Curia? If you are I believe it was built by Caesar (or started by) because the otherone was used as a funeral pyre for my namesake.

Actually, its easy to dwell on the negative of Carthage and also easy to forget that Rome sacrificed by burying alive a gallic man and woman and a greek man and woman after Cannae. This was the last time this was done but still...Also, the gladiatorial combats were rooted in human sacrifice.

Congrats on your new job. How does this help you study though? Surely all those passengers bothering you for drinks, peanuts, tissues, etc will interrupt you!

I wasn't saying that and I agree with you. He does have good, obviously researched arguments that are well presented. I have no issue with his intelligent posts, its the comments that I have issue with. Unfortunately, I often fall into the trap of firing back and shall now desist from doing so.