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Primus Pilus

Patricii
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  1. An American researcher claimed Sunday to have discovered the remains of the legendary lost city of Atlantis on the bottom of the east Mediterranean Sea. But Cyprus' chief government archaeologist was skeptical. Robert Sarmast said sonar scanning of the seabed between east Cyprus and Syria revealed man-made walls, one as long as 3 kilometers (2 miles), and trenches at a depth of 1,500 meters (1,640 yards). "It is a miracle we found these walls as their location, and lengths match exactly the description of the acropolis of Atlantis provided by Plato in his writings," Sarmast said, referring to the ancient Greek philosopher... Full Article @ ABC.net.au
  2. Hmm, part of the problem I think is the 'history' section is really intended as a complete story. Individual pages sometimes leave out part of the story if read alone. Anyway, simplified here: the wealthy were buying up land while debt in the lower classes was at a ridiculous high. Small landowners could no longer compete with the large slave estate farms and they would sell out for 'pennies on the dollar' in order to pay off that debt or just to survive. In addition, the impact of generations of warfare left many small estates with too few male family members to work the farm at competitive or profitable levels. It was really a re-occurring theme since the end of the Punic Wars. And yes, plebes (which includes the equestrian class) could serve in the army. Many land owners were plebes. Consider that very few Romans, by comparison to the total population, were high ranking Equestrians or Patricians. It would've been very difficult to field an entire army with just the highest classes. As for 'peasantry' there were working and contributing (almost middle class) plebes, and there were the landless poor. There are examples, such as the Second Punic War, where the 'head count' was conscripted into emergency armies. Sometimes we paint Roman history with a broad generalization (and I am guilty of it too at times), but Rome never would've survived without occasionally dipping into their lowest classes for support.
  3. Imperial legion. Armor looks authentic to me.
  4. Yes, there are Americans, I am one. Very little historic treasure is in the US actually. One can't compare imported antiquities to the existence of actual buildings, historic sites and archaeological digs to imported goods. Well in my opinion anyway.
  5. I don't believe thats an auxilia unit. It just appears to be an early legion formation.
  6. Looks like the primus pilus to me. Could be a centurion though. Head dresses can be deceiving depending on the context of the entire unit though.
  7. Everybody the world over is from somewhere. Using the concept of the US as an immigrant state against us is plain wrong. The fact that anyone can come here and practice 'freedom' is the definition of the term. There is no racial or national 'purity'. The lessons of history and migrations teach us that. Some places have a longer standing tradition of cultural uniformity, but it doesn't make it more 'right'. This thread is about the re-birth of the Roman Empire, as vague and open as that may be, it's not about anti-Americanism. If you wish to discuss that topic, feel free to open another one in the After Hours lounge as Ursus suggests. I'm sure you'll find plenty of views on the subject, and would gladly participate in the appropriate forum.
  8. Though a bit later than the period you start with, the Spanish Inquisition is definately one such example. Starting in the late 15th century, it lasted 350+ years. Spanish Inquisition
  9. They are generally all quite bad from a historical perspective. I've learned to try and ignore and just enjoy the theme. It's difficult, but it got me through Gladiator. I think one of the best historically themed movies recently is Passion of the Christ. I thought it was an excellent film.
  10. Well you must consider... the name of many places in the ancient world derived from a tribal name.
  11. The Itali is an ancient tribe name with very little reliable reference points. Its assumed they were absorbed quickly into surrounding cultures and the nature of their existance is somewhat mysterious. Unfortunately I don't have any reference material off the top of my head, but I'll see what I can come up with.
  12. I agree that Sulla had an incredible impact, and that's why I had a hard time 'voting' on this. Each event is tied into one another. Without each thing occuring, perhaps the next doesn't happen at all, or happens in a different way. There is no question regarding the impact of Sulla, setting a precedent for marching on Rome and putting oneself before the state, but most of his legislation was reversed after his death. The power struggle between the two factions continued for another 25 years after Sulla, but his actions did pave the way for the successive Imperatorial leaders.
  13. Unfortunately, that period of Caesar's life is one of the few areas where there is little historical evidence. It is widely assumed that Caesar served his friend Crassus during the rebellion of Spartacus, but his service is unknown. We know that he returned to Rome from the east in 73 BC and was elected as a Military Tribune for 72 BC. This office held a term of 2 to 3 years. Crassus took command of the war against Spartacus in that same year and the final battle against Spartacus at Brundisium occurred in 71 BC. If Caesar served with Crassus, and that's really the only 'if' here, he was most definately still considered a Tribune.
  14. Its arguably one of the best strategy games ever made. All the total war games are really.
  15. Thanks, thats a new one on me
  16. Sorry I keep rambling, but I almost forgot to mention Michael Grant. Yes, he recently passed, and its a shame but he lived a long and apparantly influential life. His books, of which there are many, have been a great source of both information and inspiration to me. He is one of the first historians to make history main stream and accessable to the average reader. He still gives all the insight and facts that you need, but writes it such a way as not to seem like some history can be, a text book or encyclopedia.
  17. Btw, I don't begrudge anyone for liking what they like. This topic is here for discussion. I certainly don't mean to say its crazy to like an author, simply because I don't. The more options we have as readers, the better, and I welcome all styles, whether I read it or not. Forgot you asked about other writers, Paolo. There are some other good ones.... Maybe check out our fiction book area of our book section. Fiction Books I really like several. Some are up and coming, and books by newer authors usually get better as they get past their first one (sometimes) In no particular order: I, Claudius by Robert Graves has probably inspired countless historical fiction writers. Though McCullough has a similar style that you seem to find dry, Paolo, so I'm not sure if you'd like him or not. Gillian Bradshaw. She is an excellent writer and often over-looked for her contribution to historical fiction. I loved Island of Ghosts. Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield, though Greek and not Roman, is one of the greatest historical fiction novels of all time (in my opinion) Michael Curtis Ford is also well regarded, but he has had a couple duds, so probably check out "The Ten Thousand" (also another Greek era book) to see if you like his style. Simon Scarrow's entire 'Eagle' series is excellent and widely read, and shouldn't be missed for fans of the Roman Legions. Wallace Breem has a similar following to Scarrow. If you like mysteries, Steven Saylor seems to be the most liked, though I personally have never read him. Hmm, sounds like a plan. Some other up and comers are: William Altimari with 'Legion' Patrick Larkin with 'Tribune' One who seems to be little known is Rafael Scott with 'Lion's Brood'. I did a full review of his book here and look forward to more.
  18. It has been a while since I read the book so I admit I may be a little off here. As I recall, Caesar's father was referred to as Julius. That's just wrong, he would've been known as Gaius or Caesar, the Roman's did not refer to eachother by their nomen or middle name. The only exceptions were with people who had no cognomen or third name (ie. Gaius Marius). The book has Caesar growing up in the Italian countryside. Its quite well documented that Caesar spent most of his youth within the 'slums' or subura of Rome in an ancient apartment like complex. (Insula) In the book, he arrived in Rome seemingly and completely unaware of Roman political traditions and customs. The man is a patrician of the highest order, and yet he seemed to not only not know who his clients may have been, but even what a client was. He loves a slave girl. Caesar's own well documented behavior regarding his own dignity makes this completely out of the realm of possibility. The historical Caesar may have pursued her for sexual satisfaction, but never would've allowed it to occupy his thoughts. He was a notorious philanderer, and it seems doubtful that any one women ever could've done this to him, except for perhaps his first wife, Cornelia. He apparantly so dearly loved her, that he refused Sulla's command to divorce her to prove his loyalty (she was the daughter of Sulla's enemy Cinna). There was something about the friendship with Marcus that also bothered me. Didn't Marcus turn out to be someone important? Like Brutus or Antonius? I can't quite remember. Either way, something still doesn't seem right, but it was almost two years ago that I read it, lol. There is more, but I was terribly frustrated, and didn't retain much of the book. Wasn't there like a gladiator trainer or something? Caesar would've been trained and schooled in Rome, very likely on the Campus Martius like other patricians. Did Iggulden kill off his mother? In reality his mother lived until Caesar was in the middle of his Gallic campaign as a middle aged man. Maybe I need to re-read it, so I don't commit the sin of blasting his book with stuff he didn't do I hate to sound terrible about it too. I really did like his style. I comapred it to a Huck Finn style of adventure. If it only wasn't about someone so well known as Caesar I probably would've liked it alot.
  19. It's so hard to answer that. Each event is a piece of the puzzle, the ever toppling dominoes really. I will still vote for Caesar. Why? Well he did take the fateful step that truly ended any chance for the Republic. Had he submitted to Republican authority the civil war may have been delayed for a considerable time. Though there were others who very much wanted supreme authority, only Caesar had the military means.
  20. I don't begrudge anyone for not liking McCullough. A preference of style can't be forced on anyone. My problem with Iggulden has nothing to do with style. If he was writing another type of fiction, or even 'historical' fiction without using well known events and characters I may like him. However, he takes a well known character, Caesar, and time period, the Fall of the Republic, and butchers the accuracy, seemingly with little deference for the facts. Mind you, nobody knows the exact facts of relationships and so forth, but some of Iggulden's concepts are simply implausible. If someone is writing sci-fi or fantasy, the author has complete control over the world and characters developed. There is no need to do research or stick within a certain timetable of events and such. If they want to write historical fiction, they should at least try to make it in line with known historical issues.
  21. I have a hard time voting for this because I find both 'interesting'. I voted Post Marian because of the impact that it had, both in the military and social culture.
  22. Welcome Paolo, glad to have you... and thanks.
  23. Colleen McCullough is highly regarded because of her research and relative sense of accuracy. Conn Iggulden spins of a tale that has little to with history and is complete fiction. It's just a preference in style. If I read 'fiction' I still like the feeling that it could be the real thing.
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