dale1257

Amongst the upper echelon I would like to meet Cleopatra, Marc Antony, and Claudius. But to be more honest, I would prefer a conversation with 1.) A common Roman soldier from various times in Roman History, one whom had actually served in Judea during the time of Christ; One who had served in Britain during the time of Boudicca, one who had served with Julius Ceasar and one who had served when Caligula or Nero was emperor. 2) A common Roman citizen during the times of Julius and of Nero; 3) A male and female Roman slave who lived during the above listed times. And frankly, I cannot create such a list without adding Spartacus.

Greetings I am an avid lover of History, and Roman History is a subject that has only recently entered my radar. I have always been fascinated by Roman History, but have never tried to actually study it much. (History is a hobby for me, btw. It is only my own curiosity that drives my interest) I have recently finished a book called "Cleopatra A Life" by Stacey Schiff. Cleopatra obviously had a huge impact on Rome, but in this forum, I am more interested in the Roman attitudes toward her. I get from Schiff's book that a large part of the problem was not just that she ruled over a vast, profitable and prosperous empire, but equally as important was that she was indeed a 'she'. Apparently, the Roman mind just could not comprehend the concept of a powerful woman. This cost them greatly in terms of blood and treasure. Nor was she the last. Bodecia in Brittain gave them fits as well. Apparently, both were consistently underestimated because of their sex. While not the first book I have read about Rome, nor will it be the last, when I take it in conjunction with snippets I have read of Tactus, Plutarch, Dio etc, I get the impression that ancient Roman from the emperor down to the vendors on the street, Romans were very arrogant, to say the least. But far more than just being what we today would call 'sexist', it seems the Romans grew to be very arrogant and condescending toward, well, everybody who was not Roman. This attitude led to complacency within the halls of government, and opened the door for greed and corruption of all stripes. This led to the ability of one person generally being able to assume total control. Julius Cesar did it, Agustus did it, and the rest, as they say, is history. As one who is comparatively new to the study of ancient Rome, I am wondering if I am on the right track here. Your thoughts and insight would be greatly appreciated.