Primus Pilus

I use Firefox and have the same problem... I've also just been 'marking all posts as read' to get past it. It is irritating, but at least there is a work around.

Just a bit earlier... the siege of Quintus Cicero's camp at the hands of the Nervii.

I'm not altogether sure about them being "completely" ficticious. Its been a while since I read the Commentaries but I do recall Caesar telling of a legionary asking for forgiveness after losing his shield in a river after he fought off some Britons. And there was the centurion at Dyrracium who'd had his shield pierced by 100+ arrows and Caesar singled him out for distinction. Not sure if he mentions thier names though. As far as the treasury goes, Pompey and the optimates fled Rome so fast they forgot about it. Caesar siezed the treasury upon arrival which made him very unpopular. 14607[/snapback] Indeed, my apologies, they are not completely fictitious as names in history... however, their lives beyond a single event are essentially made up entirely. There is no historical record for these men beyond the following passage from De Bello Gallico. I did jumped the gun on the use of 'completely fictitious and I hope all will be forgiven From the Gallic Wars book 5 chapter 44.

Completely fictitious. As for the 3rd episode... the theft of the treasury by Pollo makes me nervous that the series will start slipping into the ridiculous, but as I'm still enjoying it... I'm not worried yet. They are still doing a fine job, for the most part, of making everyone's role believable.

That's simply the google bot checking the forums for new stuff to index. Its here quite often... pretty amazing that every little thing we type on this board is routinely scanned by Google within just a few hours.

We haven't sent PM's to those we've added. If you are interested you should see that you are now a citizen in your member profile, and that the blog and gallery option are now available to you in the menu on the upper right of this forum.

Ok, we've added several more people to the 'citizen' list. Let me know if I've missed anyone that would like to have access to the options. Keep in mind we based it on seniority (how long people have been visiting), contributions (quality post count) and activity (some folks with larger post counts but who haven't been here in a while were skipped over)

Because in some respects the perception that the Italians were treated the same way by the Romans was very real. It was not so many year prior to Hannibal's invasion that the Italians (and Greeks for that matter) fought desperately against the Romans and its understandable that Hannibal believed the war could be won by testing their loyalty. However, what he failed to realized was that in the generations that passed since the Italian conquests, the Italian people began to see themselves as a part of Rome, and that they embraced the culture that was brought to them. They longed to be an even larger part of the Roman world, and their recurring enmity with Rome over the following centuries did not come from a desire to be free, but to be even more closely tied. That's why Hannibal's plan was destined to fail from the start.

I've added it to our book section: Barbarians in the Republic

Looks like we aren't really having any problems with the blog and a few of you have really put it to use. We're going to finish everything up over the weekend and figure out the best way to open up the features to more of our regulars.

Agreed... the detail put into the minor characters helps bring 'Rome' to life, and makes it 'feel' real. They've really done a wonderful job. I too hope that it will go beyond the first season (provided the budget and production quality stays up to par). I worry that it will be hard to age Octavian in future seasons, but I'm sure they would figure something out. Max Pirkis (also in Master and Commander) is an excellent young actor and I expect we'll be seeing alot of him in the future. Welcome to the forum Jordon

Sorry I missed this earlier psychonin. Keep in mind this part of the show was completely non historical but is used to quickly illustrate the political climate. That being said, the 'thieves' appear to have been hired by Pompey (his henchmen being present is the dead giveaway methinks), though Caesar I also get the impression that Caesar 'allowed' it to happen.

Thanks, I've already Ms. Cross's entire site and her work on Roman Women. She also has an excellent account on Augustus. Mind you most members of this forum are very well read on the subject of ancient Rome, and implying that we are not, is yet another irritant. Now I'll point you to my own account of Caesar's affair in Britain just as a matter of course. First Invasion of Britain I am a big admirer of Caesar and his accomplishments. His crossing to Britain was a huge coup from a propoganda perspective, and he did exact a relatively minor amount of tribute. However, his crossing did not lead to any lasting degree of Roman dominance of the island. His presence was hotly resisted and even though the second invasion did provide a measure of 'face saving', he was fortunate to escape after the first invasion. Why did he return the second time? Because the first time was unsuccessful. Had he defeated the Britons enough for them to submit he would've left victorious with hostages and the proper tribute. Instead he had to go back to Gaul, regroup and return with a larger more intimidating force. Did Caesar get what he wanted out of his crossing? Of course he did. He subdued a part of the coastal region and souther Britain and gathered even more fame. Just like his crossing of the Rhine, while impressive, did not end in the subjugation of Germania, the crossing of the canal did not lead to the subjugation of Britain. In the end, the first invasion was a minor defeat because his goal was not accomplished. He rectified it on the second invasion but the first still counts. While Gergovia is a defeat and he followed it up with the brilliant siege of Alesia, we still recognize Gergovia as a defeat.

Well, except for those tiny little skirmishes called the Crusades.

Yes indeed, many (most?) agree with this assessment. Sometimes it is simply how we state things that get people all worked up. Thank you for making the clear clarification relating directly to the Caesar/Alexander discussion.

More accurate than any other mass media production I've ever seen. Rest assured, you will learn some real history from this show. It truly is that well done (so far) The problem is, as you say... without any previous knowledge to base it on, its hard to know when you might be seeing the real thing and whan you are seeing made for TV moments.

Congrats and welcome to our obsession Hopefully in the future we can welcome you into our regular discussions!

I do agree that fighting alot of battles and surviving against a superior opponent would be an indication of a generals ability, however, one must then prove that the opponent is actually superior and put both armies on an equal footing. The numbers of battles fought may indicate greatness of a general but they may also indicate a great number of things. Troop experience and moral vs. the opponent, number of available fighting men, supply and logisitics, terrain, fortifications, etc. may all play a major role in this 'tally of battles'. If an army defeats a quality opponent in a single or relatively few battles, wouldn't that indicate that the victor was a 'great' general.

Absolutely. Michael Grant was one of the world's foremost authorities on Rome (in my opinion). I have said in many places on this forum that he also wrote in a style that is accessable and easily understood by a beginner. Grant is definately a good place to start.

A timely addition Spurius. I recently took the family camping in the Hocking Hills area which is quite near Logan. We all thoroughly enjoyed the area and its nice to get a bit a history to go along with the place name.

Oh I dont think anyone believes the caves themselves are a hoax, but if there were real significant finds there, a true investigation could not be stopped, in my opinion.

I think Viggen beat us to the punch.

Seems to me the argument is based on a semantical interpretation of a post. Virgil isn't condemning Octavian, simply pointing out that he has at times been labelled with negativity throughout history.

My own take on Caesar's date of birth...

Agreed, the United States needs to be more proactive on language. Most young Europeans can speak or at least understand several languages and the advantages this can create is remarkable.