Primus Pilus

From Dio Cassius book XLVII beginning with Chapter 26... Dio doesn't say, other than that Bassus left seemingly in good health. Livy doesn't say either... and only slightly mentions him in Book 114 of the Periochae From Appian the Civil Wars Book III Beginning with Chapter 77 Again an incomplete account

Forty years ago, the antiquities market in Europe and the United States was flooded with looted artifacts from the Pet

Two thousand years ago its furnaces must have been working around the clock, turning out the bricks that built ancient Rome. Now archaeologists have discovered the site of the brickworks that provided Rome with its most famous monuments, including the Colosseum and the Pantheon... Full article @ News.Telegraph

I suppose that's easier than putting out a casting call for 'well-endowed' men.

An excellent find PM... a fanstastic collection courteous of Indiana University (just giving them credit) Pinned this topic.

I also signed up a few days ago... I am the 'Dominion of The Red Scary Dragon' Red Scary Dragon My people will face certain oppression... poor bastards. If we get some more, we could start a UNRV region.

Depending on which historical reference you use... the earliest form of the bicycle seems to have been developed in the late 18th century. However, anything resembling modern mechanics seems to have taken another century. Though Da Vinci did make a sketch in the 15th century. Too bad it never actually left the proverbial drawing board. From what I can tell from Googling... the first Tour de France was in 1903. Caesar would've been 2003 years old, I doubt he could have finished in the top 10.

Welcome Lo-Lo, we're always happy to have more Romanophiles around.

No, I'm afraid not... as I write in blocks, my back-up copies are a hodge-podge collection of .doc files

Absolutely... please do! 'Italia' had roots as an individually name region dating back to the origin of the Itali people. Its incorporation into a single 'province' is a rather long evolution, involving several forms of government and classification. Augustus officially made Italia a single 'province' like area broken into 11 smaller districts, but the name Italy had roots dating back for centuries. Generally before this people would refer to the regions based on the dominant tribe or city of that area... Latium (Latin), Samnium (Samnites), Etruria (Etruscans) etc. A very brief overview Italia Quite simply it was the border between Cisalpine Gaul (Gaul this side of the Alps) and 'Italy'. Generals only had imperium within their own provinces and weren't allowed to cross without special permission. Armies entering the province to protect Rome from an invader and armies returning for special invited triumphal marches were perfectly acceptable, but crossing with the intention of seizing power (ie Sulla and Caesar) was an entirely different matter. Armies crossed borders all the time for various purposes. The reaction to these activities depended entirely on the political environment, the reason for the crossing, and who was in command. I'll let someone else handle the bulk of the social question here... but essentially marriage created alliances societal bonding and perhaps above all... an encouraging arrangement for continued procreation and the preservation of Rome.

Indeed, that's an excellent summary of our purpose Ursus. UNRV is simply a friendly place (usually anyway) for people to gather and discuss our passion for Rome and the ancient world. There are plenty of places to join recreation societies and those folks do an excellent job, we aim only to discuss history, society and culture. Welcome to our forum!

They do seem to be taking liberties with some political stances for the sake of entertainment value, but nothing they have presented should be considered an impossibility. They have to play some games with historical continuity to make it all fit (ie they never mention Caesar going to Spain) and the 'disloyalty' of Antony idea might have been presented as a bit too much too soon. There has always been speculation regarding Antony and his motives especially towards the end of Caesar's life (some have suggested his distant involvement in Caesar's assassination, although his behavior afterwards would not indicate that). We do know his political actions while Master of Horse as Caesar was in Egypt and immediately following Caesar's death were brazen, boisterous and largely incompetent. Building up this aspect of Antony's rather unscrupulous behavior is entirely reasonable, though the 'disloyalty' factor seems to have been given too much weight. imo.

You guys are all off-topic. If Caesar entered the Tour de France he would've lost. Simply speaking, Caesar never learned how to ride a bike. Seriously, those topics are difficult for some of us to participate in, but there are folks who like to discuss it. I generally have no problem provided they maintain civility. My suggestion is for those of us who aren't big fans of the hypothetical battle threads is simply to stay out of them, and let those who like it lead the conversation. If they receive little attention from the community as a whole, they won't gain much of a foothold anyway I suppose.

Forgive my self-promotion... Sulla the Dictator

I believe that there are two Hannibal movies in the works... one starring Vin Diesel and one starring Denzel Washington. While Vin Diesel would probably look the part more than Denzel, I'm sure the second will provide a much more pleasing performance. I just get the impression based on casting that it will be a revisionist thing trying to highlight Hannibal as a great black African hero. As long as its not too over the top with that angle I can get past it and enjoy it, since Washington is a hell of a fine actor. I like Vin Diesel for what he is, an ass-kicking action guy, but I can't see him giving the dramatic role of Hannibal the justice it would likely deserve. Hopefully I'm wrong.

That is an interesting question.. I certainly can't recall ever reading much about her. If there is anything it will certainly be a bit of buried text. I don't recall Suetonius even mentioning her, but I'm going to check him as well as the other usual suspects.

While an interesting discussion/debate... let's keep in mind the idea here. The concept is the perceived morality of the ancient world, albeit compared to our own modern notions, but we seem to be sliding farther and farther into a discussion of modern ethics. I understand the evolution of a debate, but lets try to keep tying it in with the original concept. Thanks guys... but do feel free to speak your mind of course.

My personal opinion... Ebay is going to regret this. As China puts the clamps down on the technology in order to save their own telephony product profits and the US FCC eventually hammers it on various rules here, Ebay is going to be left holding onto a very expensive technology that isn't usable in two huge markets.

Does Mommsen mention Gergovia or does he gloss over that loss as well? He certainly has a reputation as a political propogandist but since I haven't read this particular work, its hard for me to make a judgement. In his 'Provinces of the Roman Empire' the discussion is far less a socio-political comparison to his own time in Germany, than what he does with 'History of Rome.' At least that's my understanding.

As long as its related in some way to Rome, we're happy to publish it

I believe there is an inscription mentioning his name as the Praefectus Ala II Asturum (as you suggest) that was found somewhere around the fort in Chesters. Other than that... anything else is pure conjecture. You may want to check Roman Britain.org to find the actual inscription.

Extraordinarii were magistrates that quite frankly held extraordinary positions of power. Examples include Dictator, Military Tribunes with Consular power (dating from the very early Republic)... Another example that might be the problem here is the Magister Equitum. The title of the Dictator's 'Master of Horse' (Cavalry) was also an extraordinary magistrate and perhaps this is somehow being mistranslated to mean that an entire cavalry wing was extraordinarii? [EDIT: I edited the topic title because misspelling also drives me nuts sometimes ]

Nice to have one's grandfather's odd stories somewhat validated after all these years. Would you happen to know if the one he told me about the horse drawn ice wagon and the kid that stuck his tongue to it was real Oh yes... and happy birthday to any of you folks including perhaps our youngest member, Incitatus.

Indeed, Augustus was born Gaius Octavius (some add Thurinus as cognomen shortly after his birth) and would have been identified largely as Octavius until his adulthood. Upon Caesar's adoption he became Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus and would've been largely known simply as Caesar. To avoid confusion in the historical record though, historians mostly use Octavian rather than a Caesar Minor or some other butchering. Why is Octavian seemingly more popular than Octavius... perhaps simply because it was the adult signification. PS> welcome to the forum Taximus and Guillermolo.

Strangely enough I remember asking my grandfather that very question many moons ago. He told me it had something to do with young men actually standing around on street corners cracking whips, rather than working. I don't remember why, when or where, but I'd imagine its a 18th century thing from somewhere in Britain? I also can't quite be sure why someone would do that... but if they did, I guess giving them a ridiculous name was warranted. Somehow that stuck with me over the years. I'm probably way off and it has something to do with milking a cow or something else ridiculous.