Bryaxis Hecatee

I'd say your list is quite classic but leaves too many most interesting places of the southern side of the Mediteranean out of it, like Volubilis (Marocco) or some Algerian, Tunisian or Lyban sites. Also, even if Ephesus is included, some places in Turquey could and should get on the list, like Sagalassos (where all the blocks are being put on top of each other since they're all there). Pompei is probably the most over-rated site in the list after the Colosseum, Herculanum is more interesting IMO. But still it's a good attemp, especially if you restrict your list to things that could be seen when in Rome (but that's not what your list is about since you had Hadrian's wall and Diocletian Palace at Split to the list).

Once more a very nice article which really should be part of a book for you really got a lot of experience dealing with this material.

I both began and finished yesterday Mr. Matyszak book "The classical compendium". A fast read, nice but with some issues I'll probably raise in a more detailled review but which includes some doublon in the facts, a kind of bias toward english related curios, a lack of consistency in sources details, and a few other points. Nothing truly bad and I presume my academic training might be a bit of a bias here. I still have to check the bibliography and some elements before completing my review though, so it'll probably have to wait until this weekend. Anyway, as I first said it is a pleasant reading so congratulations to the author (and to Nephele for her help to Mr Matyszak, maybe with the dog's names lists ?) !

The thing we can notice in the so-called barbarization issue is that up to the fourth century the barbarians were included in roman trained units under romanized leaders, soldiers being enrolled as men, even prestigious chieftains (who would be enrolled with a privileged rank, like Arminius who was enrolled as a soldier but also as an Equites citizen). This was the trend since very early on even when the romans enrolled large corps of mercenaries under their own officers and they made sure to always have roman officers in overall charge of the unit. What changed in the later empire was that the romans began to enroll chieftains and their retinue, or even their tribe, and let them keep their identity by leaving them under their own organization and leadership, with their own discipline even. This was first done because of the need to recruit troops then as a way to buy off barbarian forces striking in areas where roman power was waning. Also for the romans these kinds of recruiting also served to repopulate deserted areas with the expected goal that it would lead to an economic revival of areas devastated by invasions. But those tribes usually did not pay taxes, required money to stay put and also did not romanize as planned, not settling in urban and agricultural units of organization like those they or the previous invaders had destroyed. Thus their was no gain but a steady drain and a loss of military power. This was more the real barbarization of the later roman empire.

A not too bad recent fiction on the battle is Harry Turtledove's "Give me back my legions"

I don't know if it was popular but it's definitively worth the read. It's also recommended by Goldsworthy. The second volume of the serie (king of kings) has just been published about one month ago too.

Damn I thought it would live a bit longer it is the porta rosa of Velia, unfortunately the area was off limits when I went there last april so I could'nt see it with my own eyes... Your turn !

Impressive remains, as the size of the house next to it shows ! Never been there yet, but I hope I'll be able to do it in a not too distant future

the so-called "temple de Janus" in Autun, France

I've read the thesis some days before the press took a hold of it and I must say it looked rather convincing to me. Many factors have been taken into account and the autors' experience in wooden buildings' analysis is not new. The way he presents data (which I haven't correlated with other sources) does make sense, as does his use of the litterary sources availlables. Unfortunately the evidences are scarces and having a definitive opinion on the subject might not happen before quite a long time.

Is this amphitheater Caerleon ?

Other than that in the ancient world (greek or roman) you have : - Harry Turtledove "Give me back my legions" - Varus' defeat, a true historical novel for the master of the alternate history - Harry Sidebottom "Warrior of Rome" serie : "Fire in the east" and "king of kings" (even Goldsworthy recommands the reading of these novel from a Oxford University professor, warfare in the middle of the 3rd century AD) - Christian Cameron "Tyrant" serie : "Tyrant" and "Storm of Arrow" : greek mercenaries in the black sea area at the time of Alexander the Great - Valerio Massimo Manfredi : his big Alexander trilogy, "The Lost Legion"(end of the roman empire), "The spartan" (thermopilae), "tyrant" (greek against carthaginians in the 4th century), "Empire of the dragons" (romans from Carrhae enter the chinese army), "The lost army" (Xenophon's 10 000) and in october you'll have "The ides of march" (Cesars' last days) - Steven Pressfield : "Gates of fire" (Thermopylae), "Alexander : The afghan campaign", "Last of the amazons" (Attic's invasion by Amazons in the time of Theseus), "Tides of war" (Alcibiades live), "Alexander : the virtue of war" (Alexander's life) - Scott Oden : "Men of Bronze" (Greek mercenaries in Egypt at the time of the persian invasion), "Memnon" (life of the greek commander of the persian forces during the first months of Alexander's campaign) - John Stack "Ship of Rome" (Rome's first fleet during the first punic war) Have a plaisant reading ! I've read all those books and while some pleased me better than other none were bad.

Well i'd say it could be anyone from the 16th century onward : russians, austro-hungarians (though I don't think they went there), local nobles, ... The area saw quite a lot of troops movements during the fightings between Russians and Turks in what is now Romania and Bulgaria. It could even be a german build road of WW2... or a russian road of the same era. Without knowing the exact location of the road we're hard put to give you anymore information on the road

it looks a bit like Velia...

Yes indeed it is Lato, the first site of the city whose institutions later went to Lato Pros Kamara, today the town of Hagios Nikolaos. Lato was in alliance with Cnossos and Itanos, among others, against cities like Hierapitna and Olous. A first war against the pro-rodhians ended in a victory celebrated in the stelae of Sta Lenika studied by Van Effenterre during the 1940's. His view of things was that after this first war Lato won lands on Olous. Then a few years later a new war started, officially due to a conflict on the cargo of a (pirated ? grounded ?) ship. The ship was probably a simple excuse for what was in fact a question of access to Lato's good port. It looks like the war did not go very well for Lato, who called upon international powers to settle things. Cnossos was the first arbiter and gave all the lands back to Lato. Then a new settlement, confirming Cnossos judgement, was arbitred in Delphi. Then when, in 113/112, a roman commission came to pacify Crete they confirmed the two previous arbitrages. Lato continued as a peacefull town in the roman period, not suffering from the roman war of conquest. So you got the hand Sylla !

Not Dyme. In fact I know of no Dyme in Crete...

that would have been too easy, since this is the best known dig of Van Effenterre But you're on the right island. We are indeed in Crete and the war we are speaking of is the war between cretan cities organized in two leagues under the patronage of Rhodes and Egypt, a war which forced the mediation of the romans led by Q. Fabius Maximus, probably in 113/112 BC.

Rhodes is the second internationnal player I spoke of, doing a war by proxy against ptolemaic Egypt during this period, the city we are looking for being part of the egyptian alliance. Epigraphic evidences are quite numerous in the city and give detailled informations on the conflict of which I'm speaking. A french scholar, Henri Van Effenterre, worked on the history of this city.

No it isn't. We are on an island.

I am not speaking of Naupaktos. To be more precise, the roman delegation came to this town in the last quarter of the second century B.C. and Livy is one of our main sources.

Alexandria plays a role in the enigm as it was the capital of one of the international powers I mentionned but it is not the place we are looking for, which is much smaller and, at the time we're speaking of (which is some 40 to 50 years from the date you spoke of), is in a league of cities which has been warring another league for some time. With this city (I should say town...) we are right in the middle of the topic hellenistic diplomatic fightings and roman intervention. I will add to elements to that : the picture is the old town center and the building on the picture is archaic, at the time we're speaking of most of the population has relocated some kilometers from here to the city's port, a port still in existance today.

So is it proving a challenge and do the honourable assembly require some tips ? This place was visited by a roman delegation in the late second century B.C. during an effort to settle various quarels in an area torn between the competing interest of various international powers...

well I went there when I was around and kept a good memory of the place, very interesting one by the way... Now well go to a ancient city that, I hope, will be hard to identify :

could it be Vaison la Romaine (France, near Lyon) ?

could it be one of those tunisian sites ?