Primus Pilus

Your thesis can be any number of options really. Any 'cause' for the fall of Rome can be argued as the leading culprit (and each can be broken down into a multitude of sub groups), whether it be social/cultural/religious disintegration (lax citizenship requirement/benefit, Christianity, etc.), barbarian invasion, economic failure, military failure and the list goes on and on, even including the presence of lead in the Aqueducts and plumbing. Perhaps as a bit of an alternative you might want to establish a thesis arguing that the fall of Rome was inevitable, stemming from the concept that nothing can last forever. Much of western civilization, including the rise and fall of nations after Rome, have been compared to Rome, but we often hear little of Rome being compared to earlier human civilization (other than Greece). Its certainly different, but I wouldn't personally be able to support the thesis because I don't believe the concept of fate, and its also very difficult to 'prove'. Still its a direction that might gain points for 'thinking out of the box'?

Absolutely, somebody had to be the common soldier. Its a bit different than Gestapo or SS.

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LOL< apologies, I think I had John Paul on the brain when I typed this. corrected...

Welcome to the new Catholic Pope, the 265th, Joseph Ratzinger of Germany.

As for WWII movies, some personal favorites... The Longest Day... an incredible all-star cast John Wayne, Hendry Fonda, Eddie Albert, Richard Burton, Paul Anka, Robert Mitchum, Robert Wagner, Sean Connery... just to name a few. And told from multiple perspectives: American (mostly), British, German and a tiny bit of French. Stalag 17, the serious motivation for 'Hogan's Hero's' Tora! Tora! Tora! - Something about watching Pearl Harbor recreated gets my patriotic juices flowing especially when Yamamoto utters the now infamous line "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." (Not the exact movie quote as I recall, and this has never been proven to be said historically)

Indeed, it seems implausible to me that we won't eventually 'discover' that many works we thought to be lost are just hung up in some bureaucratic/archaeological red tape. Thats the shame of it really.

Of the countless lost books (not even counting those we aren't aware of) I would really like to read Claudius' work on the Etruscans.

Yes, there were Roman citizens of all skin colors and ethnicities. Therefore, there were legionaries as well. By the mid to late imperial period, as citizenship became less exclusive and non Latin or Italian citizenship boomed, there was a disproportionate number of these non Latin/Italic soldiers.

Its very difficult walking that fine line between open debate and intolerable argument sometimes, but we are trying. I hate to seem like a censor, but we really want this forum to be a place for quality discussion (whether it be in depth or light hearted) where people feel comfortable and welcome. We can't always control the direction of the topics but we can tell when its heading to a point of no return...

Yes, excellent synopsis as always Ursus.

I love all the classic epics... Ben Hur, Spartacus and Fall of the Roman Empire, etc. (despite the inaccuracies)

I like the big heist movies... Oceans 11, Italian Job, etc. Mainly I stick with historical though (not necessarily true history but period themes)... A recent favorite is the western 'Open Range'. Also the first time I watched Master and Commander I was only mildly entertained, but I've seen it a few times since (HBO, lol) and I don't find myself changing the station.

Please do, I'm finding myself looking forward to your periodic first hand archaeology reports.

And I completely forgot

Interesting idea Skenderbeg. Perhaps better than the military ranking we are currently using.

I dont doubt it... But this was not written by a Greek. LOL, nicely done

I did C'mon PM, you know that sort of thing is only going to invite flaming. If you want to attack Bush, feel free, but please open a new thread where the discussion can be appropriately contained in its own topic.

My own rather short analysis... Without North Africa (and the defeat of Carthage) Rome never becomes the superpower that it did. Despite the fact that the conquests of the Hellenized east brought fabulous wealth and helped spread the Greco-Roman culture throughout the western world, I still think that without the Carthaginian victory Rome would've been constrained into more local/regional strength. All the conquests carry enormous weight and various repurcussions for western history, but I have to stick with the one that started it off.

Very interesting study on the origin of Columbus, though I do wonder the significance. I suppose its another issue of national/ethnic pride? Another very interesting if somewhat lengthy analysis of Columbus.. Christopher Pellegrino or Christopher Columbus: A Critical Study on the Origin of Christopher Columbus

I don't know enough about British party philosophy to be much use, and then again even if I did, the things I believe in may be totally different. Does Blair have a chance? Seems to me after Iraq and the Kelly incident that it was a foregone conclusion that he would be ousted. Have things changed that much in the last year or 2 that He (his party) could actually remain in majority?