P.Clodius

They did it with clubs and I think it was your tentmates. There is a famous incedent in which Caesar orders decimation for a rebelious legion. He later relents to just have the ringleaders killed but when they are brought before him one of the condemned indicates he wasn't even in camp when the rebelion happened and was being victimized by his Centurion. His comrades confirmed this so Caesar had the Centurion beaten to death with clubs in his place.

Longbow is not making it up, its true. Not sure from where it is derived but it is probably religeous in nature

Vespasian has a lot going for him. He was noted for his abilities during the invasion and pacification of Britainia. Was part of Nero's court but lost favour when he fel asleep during one of Nero's performances. Was appointed to the overall command of the Jewish war after Corbulo was eliminated by Nero. He then made initial moves into Judea but put on hold the full prosecution of the war pending events in Rome. After securing support for his bid for the emperorship he went for it leaving his son, Titus with the jewish command. Vespasian was thrifty by nature. He also raised taxes to a very high rate to replenish the depleted treasury that had been squandered by mismanagement under Nero and the 3 emperors. But above all he brought a new Pax Romana and ushered in an era of relative stability. I don't know where you got the impression that Tiberius was a poor cmdr but let me assure you that was not the case. Tiberius was a very able cmdr who prosectuted very successful campaigns in both Germany and Ilyria.

Yeap, I'd love to have been a fly on the wall of Hannibal's tent when he received Rome's responce to his offers after Cannae. Something like "DOH!!!"

PM, don't you love the story of how the Tribunate was founded?

I know what you're saying Regulus. A study of the late Republic can be insightful, and it can be easy to make comparisons to US politics.

Mine is 2nd Punic war through to the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD. I know this is a pretty broad period but to me its the real meat and potatoes of Roman history. What's yours?

Yes PP, you're right. Sorry for the bum steer folks!

Yes, they're both awesome books. He based them both on the writings of Tacitus and Josephus.

I'm beginning to sense an anti-Caesarian in Spartacus, or anti-populares! If you could go back would you be an Optimate? Would you ally yourself with Cato?

Yes, the Varian legions were never reformed. That is no legion took the numbers.

No, I'm saying what the nazi's did is nothing new! Just the scale was different due to the industrial age. Before the Romans, the Syracusan's starved and tormented thousands of Athenian prisoners to death, the jews were persecuted long before 753BC, etc.....

Ethnic cleansing is a modern term for what humans have been doing for millenia, (Yeap, even before the nasty old Romans).

OK, my fault. I completely missed that. Sorry :-)

To the original question of what Shefield and Rome have in common

So what's the answer?

This game already makes me want to visit the vomitorium!! Both football teams are wank? Shefield UTD's manager was suckled by a she wolf? Rome had a thriving steel industry?

Yes Livy is good and I wouldn't take it with a grain of salt though. Remember, he probably had access to sources that we don't, maybe even to Quintus Fabius Pictor, and to Arval records. He's certainly THE most reliable primary source we have.

I would say the most famous is Legio X, Caesar's favorites.

Foreign affairs were the Senate's domain also. One of the issues the senate had with the Gracchi is they both intruded on this sacred cow. Tiberius propsosed a law (which passed) to use funds recently willed to the Roman people by a foriegn power to fund his land relocation bill. Gaius propossed the colonization of former Cartheginian territory. The senate's concern was, what happened to Mos Maiorum?

ISTP

Yes 20-25 miles was the norm. All the roman troops would help build the camp. Building a camp involved several different chores though. Piquets would be posted, possibly patroling also, foraging for food would be undertaken, as well as the building of the camp itself.

Yes Cannae takes the biscuit. I don't blame Paulus for that entirely though as it was not his turn to command. By all accounts he was against attacking from the position the romans found themselves in. Also, there is Gaius Curio's expedition in North Africa against a Scipio and Cato. Curio's defeat was nothing on the scale of Cannae or Carhae but it does show a surprsing lack of judgement on Caesar's part by choosing Curio.

You could also look at the construction of the walls, each walls location indicated the boundaries, or extent of the city at the time the wall was built. I believe the first wall was the Servian Wall constructed after Allia. Try google, or this site.

Sacrifice 160,000 people!! Where'd you hear that?