Primus Pilus

Birley is thorough and excellent from a scholarly perspective. It's not the easiest read especially for the layman, but since the folks who frequent this forum are hardly laymen on Roman history, it's quite appropriate. I've read a couple of his books and found them to be incredible research material, but not so much a "great read" if you know what I mean. He relies heavily, understandably, on ancient sources so you might occasionally read something horrible that Commodus had done to someone as a child and have a bit of an "oh please" moment. However, he also evaluates such ancient source material along with various coinage, architecture and archaeology in order to refute or confirm (i.e. the highly debated accuracy of the Historia Augusta).

Some excellent articles on Roman Concrete

By the by, since some of us are posting stuff that they seem to like or have liked, I just wanted to clarify that the videos I am posting are intended to be completely absurd Didn't want people to think I'm jumping around here in my office doing the Safety Dance. On that, what video tribute would be complete without visiting Wesley Willis These are not "official" videos, but the music is definately 'The Wesley Willis Fiasco' The second song includes one of the great lyrical expressions in human history... Tell your barber that you're sick of looking like an asshole.

The ancients definately mention it as well. It may be a bit of dramatic effect for the story, but as I recall all sources confirm some variation of it. It certainly adds to the legend.

Yes they do. You could always mix and match I suppose.

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David Van Meter's: Handbook of Imperial Roman Coins is an excellent starting point. It's affordable and comprised in a single volume (though possibly hard to find and nothing on Republican coins). http://members.aol.com/LaurionPub/Booklist.html David R. Sear is a definative authority, but there are several volumes and they are quite pricey. http://www.davidrsear.com/roman_coins.html Wayne G. Sayles is another authority, but again you are dealing with several volumes. http://ancientcoins.ac/wgs/wgsbooks.html

What did they claim as the source or was it just an arbitrary statement? At any rate it sounds like an Aphrodite/Venus inference, but I'm afraid I'm not familiar with any details. I sure can't recall any of the typical Roman sources having mentioned this. [edit] It's possible somebody embellished a single mythological story?

George Michael before he lost his fame and fortune hanging out at rest stops. I know everybody just wants to dance! Wake me up before you go go!

The original books are lost. The contents were closely guarded and only a select few were even allowed to view them at any given time. As I recall there are no surviving instances of the actual contents of the original prophecies since so few were privy to the contents. Any existing "Sybilline Prophecies" are the works of later Christian writers. Sybilline Books from William Smith's Dictionary

That's groooooovy! Captain Beefheart and Meatloaf should get together and make a music sandwich.

All the recent postings of music videos has me absolutely hooked on youtube.com. This thread will be dedicated to making us shake our heads in disbelief. These are videos that I can readily recall having been previously posted. Lordi Hard Rock Hallelujah Safety Dance Please feel free to add entries that will make someone cringe. Weren't the 80's wonderful? Missing Persons - Words

At least it's not this Safety Dance

I'm chiming in a bit late here, but I was randomly struck with a thought regarding the Praetorian Praefecture. I suppose it could be argued that the social/political status of the Praetorian Praefect may have been fairly dependent upon the Princeps himself. The accumulation of power occurs most earnestly under the usual suspects (ie Sutorius Macro under Gaius, Burrus with Nero, Perennis and Cleander with Commodus, etc.) and the clear case of Sejanus with Tiberius. A case could be argued that the Praefectus Aegypti was a very close rival for the top Equestrian post, and its difficult to argue with provincial appointments such as Britannia, Pannonia and Syria with command of multiple legions. However, when we consider that Vespasian actually made Titus (who had been clearly marked as Caesar and heir from the very beginning of Vespasian's victory) the Praetorian Prefect, the position's importance and standing is quite clearly illustrated. That does not necessarily stand as an absolute since Titus still outranked any other position by virtue of his status as "Caesar" , but I suppose it lends additional support to the notion that the Praetorian Praefect was essentially the top ranking appointment in the Principate.

Hard Rock Hallelujah - Lordi Oh, no wait, that was some other thread. Actually: US - One Bad Apple - Osmonds UK - Baby Jump - Mungo Jerry

Here's a list to get you started... Roman Fiction Books By the by we are working on a database that will be far more suitable to sorting and finding all sorts of Roman related books.

As strange as it may seem, and obviously the article is intended to be humorous, it makes me wonder just how much we might overanalyze the ancient world. Enjoy... Recently Unearthed E-Mail Reveals What Life Was Like In 1995

While Plutarch has long been lauded for his attention to detail and accuracy we must also be aware of two factors. 1. Plutarch did pay particular attention to the works of previous writers such as Cleitarchus and Ptolemy whose works include information based on the even earlier recordings in the Deeds of Alexander and the Royal Diary, etc.. However, while it's understood that Plutarch attempts to use all available material for accuracy, the possibility of this source material being tainted or altered over the course of 3 to 4 centuries is a viable concern. 2. Despite my personal appreciation of Plutarch his intention is not necessarily a narrative history but a look into the character of greatness and achievement, etc. Perhaps it is Plutarch himself who says it best in his own prologue of the Alexander/Caesar comparison:

Its clearly a prototype for humanity's ultimate nemesis. First old women... then Romanophiles. Beware!

I'm sure they were convinced of his involvement in the Cataline affair and maintained the notion that he would be willing to upstage the state for personal glory and gain. Perhaps that fear above all, whether justified or not, is what made compromise ultimately unattainable. Even had a compromise been reached in theory, would either party have trusted the other enough to follow through?

I'm sure you've already perused some of this stuff, but I'll include it anyway just in case you've missed some. Plutarch should provide some ideas in his various biographies (Antony's and Cicero's should be among the better sources... it's a shame he never continued his parallel lives into the principate era.) http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roma...tarch/home.html Scroll down for list of biographies. Deeds of the Divine Augustus might prove useful. Suetonius: Augustus Cassius Dio is excellent for quotes (as I said in the other thread, he can be rather long winded with speeches and such), but it is highly debatable whether anyone (other than Dio of course) ever actually said these things. The Octavian information starts about book 45 and continues for several books.

Personally I find these sort of things to be so arbitrary that it renders them into a battle of wills. So many historical events are dependent upon preceeding events even to have happened. Would there have been a Hitler or a Stalin without Julius Caesar? Would the shape of nations continued the way they did in Europe without Napolean, etc? Yes I know we can differentiate between individuals and achievements and rank them according to our own measuring sticks and things will happen independent of preceeding factors. However, since the idea of this thread is "influence" isn't each event influenced by preceeding events. With that in mind, the earlier the event occured the more likely its influence over the history of humanity. For instance, had Alexander not existed, who knows how different our world could be today. Without him, the chain of events that could be altered to this point is far more significant than more recent members of the list. Just my 3 cents on the matter. (I added a penny to compensate for rising gas prices =P)

Thank you Dr. Keaveney for participating in our "Ask the Expert" discussion topic.

It certainly makes some sense. Clearly the conspirators were limited by time constraints... Caesar's impending campaign to Parthia, so I think perhaps the festival may have been a convenient coincidence. It might however, along with providing empty streets for escape for Antonius and others, explain how there was a relatively mild initial reaction from the public. An interesting concept that I've never really put any thought into. I also admit to knowing virtually nothing of the actual festival.

Indeed, forgive my misuse of 'Forum' in the verbiage. I meant that the theatre served as one alternative Curia (Senate House) and not as an actual forum.