Gladius Hispaniensis

Point taken.

I have a degree in political science .... and I am in management for a Call Center. A liberal arts degree is designed to improve your appreciation of our intellectual heritage, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll get a job tied directly to your chosen interest. If you want a job tied directly to your chosen discipline, and one that will allow you plenty of employment opportunities, I'd go for accounting. In these tough economic times businesses and government now more than ever need someone to keep track of every penny. Sorry Ursus. I must be missing something here. How is accounting tied to my chosen discipline?

Do it! you wont regret it, im doing a BA in Art history/Theology major branching off into secondary teaching, its suprisingly good and there is space for movement, but anyway if your enthusiastic about history why not do it ? Because of the economic imperatives that are involved. I have a family to support, not just myself.

Methinks that part of the problem in Roman-Christian relations was the deifying by a minority sect of a person who was ostensibly crucified for sedition against the empire. To modern eyes this may not seem much of an issue but put in it's proper historical context the import is enormous. Can you imagine how a sect that adored Spartacus as a deity would have fared in those times? The analogy might be a little grotesque but we have to bear in mind that people back then understand a simple fact that escapes our modern minds - crucifixion was a standard punishment for sedition and rebellion, which were considered heinous crimes in most classes of Roman society. The fact that Christians adored a crucified figure would have been, as they say in the Indian subcontinent, a bone in the kebab, the only solution for which would have been extensive doctoring and remaking of Christian doctrine and wholesale borrowing of pagan religious and social paraphernalia.

I wouldn't be too sure of that. I think we have sufficient evidence about the various procurators and prefects in Judea from the pens of Tacitus and Josephus.

Ave Asclepiades That self-defence answer would have been a classic during the European colonial expansions of the 19th century. Nowadays it might sound a little absurd, unless, of course, you belong to the Bush/Blair School of Preemptive Military Strikes.

Ave Why is it so unlikely that someone like Sejanus would have been plotting against the Emperor? I am rather inclined to believe Antonia.

Ave I finally have an opportunity to go back to school after three children and two marriages. And my love for history is as undiminished as ever. I want to take up history as a major. What are my future prospects in this line? Sad to say, most history majors I've known end up working at Burger King or stuck in some call-centre. With a family to support, what would be the best thing to do? Thanks in advance.

Warmest greetings!

Just getting started on "Boudicca" - The Warrior Queen by M.J. Trow

Ave Does anyone know at what point in time legionaries switched from carrying two pila to just one pilum?

Not much different, I fear. Frederick II did succeed, but it did not matter much in the long run. Too many bigots, even for an emperor. Ah, yes. Stupor Mundi. A man truly born ahead of his time. The guy was quite a character.

Thanks, Gladius. This is an important event in the saint's life which is not well known. Here I quote from Thomas Cahill's "Mysteries of the Middle Ages," pp. 165-166 : [The saint's nonviolent example] "in an age when the most visible signs of the Christian religion were the wars and atrocities of the red-crossed crusaders, was shockingly otherworldly--and slyly effective...It even impelled Francis himself to joint the Fifth Crusade, not as a warrior but as a healer. He sailed across the Mediterranean to the Egyptian court of al-Malik al-Kamil, nephew of the great Saladin who had defeated the forces of the hapless Third Crusade...The attempt to proselytize a Muslim would have been cause for on-the-spot decapitation, but Kamil was a wise and moderate man who was deeply impressed by Francis's courage and sincerity and invited him to stay for a week of serious conversation. Francis, in his turn was deeply impressed by the religious devotion of the Muslims, especially by their fivefold daily call to prayer...Francis was not impressed by the crusaders, nominal Christians whose sacrilegious brutality horrified him...It is a tragedy of history that Kamil and Francis were unable to talk longer, to coordinate their strengths, and to form an alliance. Had they been able to do so, "the clash of civilizations" might not even be a phrase in our world." http://www.amazon.com/Mysteries-Middle-Age...2354&sr=1-3 One of those lost opportunities, eh? Another one would be the marriage between Saif ud Din the brother of Saladin and Joanna the sister of Richard Coeur de Leon that Richard was so enthusiastic about. Joanna herself refused to marry an "infidel" otherwise who knows what the world would be like today.

Amazing fellow. Even the Saracens listened politely to his proselytisation in Egypt before sending him on his way. That was during the Crusading era mind you.

All this is very likely but I just wonder why our sources are so reticent about giving the precise reason for Sejanus' downfall. I think it is truly amazing that a suspicious man like Tiberius would have allowed the prefect to even get as close as he did.

Ave The downfall of the prefect Sejanus seems to be something of a mystery. I couldn't find any reason for why someone in such high esteem should have fallen so abruptly. Does anyone know what the Emperor's beef was?

Your tribalism is simply overwhelming.

Ave Currently reading "Ancient Rome" - A Military and Political History by Christopher Mackay

Fascinating topic, gentlemen While on the subject of Labienus, I wonder what really was the reason for his deserting his erstwhile commander-in-chief and going over to Pompey's side? I don't recall Caesar touching on the topic in his Commentario. Or did I miss something there?

You never know. Now we have an interesting scenario - two black men, Hannibal Barca and Scipio Africanus, fighting each other on their native soil, Africa. The plot thickens.

The "tradition" that she was black is so contemptibly stupid it hardly merits comment. I doubt its taken seriously at all in sober academic circles. I have also examined the so called evidence for this contention and for the other one that the Pharaohs were mostly black and none of it is convincing at all. I really hit the roof when I see some circles twisting and misrepresenting historical data to further their own agenda. I hope this nasty habit is finally laid to rest but seeing the level of historical knowledge among the general public I must say I don't feel very sanguine about this.

Good point. I'm sure Jona has an answer for that one.

Thanks for that link Nephele. Livius.org is excellent. I spend quite some time reading the articles therein. I was rather startled to read that Caesar's massacre of the Germans during a truce caused so much odium in the Curia. I read the Commentaries when I was 12 years old and I have forgotten a lot of material. I think I'll read it again when I have time.

Actually, CJ Caesar built at least two bridges over the Rhine in 55 & 53 BC (DCXCIX & DCCI AUC) according to (Commentarii de Bello Gallico, Liber IV cp. XVII-XVIII & Liber VI cp. IX) on almost the same spot. The spot, according to en.wikipedia. Thanks Asclepiades. Any traces left of the original?

Ave I was wondering if anyone knew the approximate spot where Caesar built his famous bridge over the Rhine in order to cross over and defeat Ariovistus. Are there any remnants or traces of this bridge? Thanks in advance.