Primus Pilus

It definitely sounds troublesome. Indeed another indication of using fear and hype to impose restrictive laws on everyone rather than use existing laws to prosecute transgressors. At any rate, I'm not too worried about being shut down, but installing age verification utilities might be a painful/expensive process. There seems to be loopholes, especially considering the nature of the net as an international entity, but I will be writing a letter to my state representative and US senators in order to make my opposition heard.

Actually Gnaeus Julius Agricola the governor of Britain crushed a revolt by the Ordovices in Wales around year 77. After that revolt i don't know of any major rebellions in Wales against Roman authority, so i don't believe wales needed any special watching. It may be true that there were no major open revolts after Agricola, but the disproportionate number of legionary/auxilia forts in Wales proves that it never became the model of Romanization that southeastern Britain became.

Unfortunately, the details of such command is both sketchy and often contradictory. A tribune could command a cohort and likely did so often, but it could also be left to the command of the Pilus Prior (the leading centurion of each cohort, save the first, which was led by the Primus Pilus). A tribune could act as both a general staff officer and a direct commander depending on circumstances.

Please people, just because the thread resides in the "Thermae" forum, lets not take every thread randomly off-topic. This thread is about the NCAA basketball tournament in the USA.

I assure you from the ears of a Southerner that Midwestern is a definitely a discernable accent. I've always been interested to know, can someone who isn't a midwesterner tell me, what parts of our "accent" make it discernable? Are there any characteristics to the "Midwestern accent"? I sure can't hear any, but maybe someone who hasn't spoken like this for their entire life can point them out. I've always heard that we Midwesterners sound "Nasally".

Anything involving fire would be rather unpleasant I should think.

Press the quote button.. or use BB Code... typing quote brackets around the text in your message... [quote]I am quoting a message[/quote] would look like this in the actual post...

OMG, please tell me that statement wasn

Indeed, even were the head still attached, one might still be hard pressed to make a definitive statement such as this.

The Gospels are pretty good. They have truly impacted world culture and continue to be international best sellers despite being published nearly 2 millenia ago. Sorry about that... couldn't resist Seriously though, I'd like to second Moon's Skystone suggestion. I forgot completely about this one as the later books in the series lost some of the original luster (in my opinion of course.) Would also like to add "Gates of Fire" by Pressfield that recounts Thermopylae. Despite being Greek rather than Roman, it would be a disservice to not include it.

A 2,200-year-old statue of the goddess Hera has been found in a wall of a city under Mount Olympus, mythical home of Greece's ancient gods, archaeologists announced Thursday. The headless marble statue was discovered last year during excavations in the ruins of ancient Dion, some 50 miles southwest of Thessaloniki... Yahoo News

There was no annually published Guinness Book of Records to keep track, but the ancient Greeks and Romans were crazy about setting and breaking records. Now two Swedish archaeologists have compiled a selection. The Ancient Greeks and Romans liked to keep records of top achievements in sport, nature, anatomy and sex. Not long after the birth of Christ, when the most debauched phase of Roman history began, the wife of Emperor Claudius -- Messalina, 34 years his junior -- made a name for herself by challenging the city's best known whore to a sex marathon. Who can keep going for longer, the licentious wife wanted to know. She won by holding out for "25 rounds.".. Spiegel

Archaeologists have discovered extensive remains of what is believed to be an ancient marketplace with shops and a religious center at the southern edge of Athens, the Culture Ministry said Friday. The finds, in the coastal neighborhood of Voula, date from the 4th or 5th century B.C. "It is a very large complex," the ministry said. "It was a site of rich financial and religious activity, which was most probably a marketplace."... Washington Post

A reminder that there are only 10 days left before your entries are due. Also, be aware that we will gladly accept previously written and updated papers for various school projects or what have you. There is no rule that suggests anything must be newly written. We are gladly willing to reward quality work regardless of when it may have originated. Though of course, it must be your own work.

By actual law, he would had to have been a citizen to be a legionary, but who rightly knows how his status was written in the series.

I also enjoyed both of Harris' Roman related books. I might have enjoyed Pompeii more, simply because I wasn't as concerned with the accuracy of a completely fictional character as a participant in a grand historic event. Imperial Governor by George Shipway is worth a read as well. It provides an account of Suetonius Paulinus, who as governor of Britain under Nero, faces the revolt of Boudicca. An excellent account that stays within the realm of believability. Additionally, I've always felt that I, Claudius is a must as far as novels go, despite Grave's rather liberal account of things.

My wife and I had the show on in the background while we were playing a game, and were frequently interrupted by the 200 sex scenes. Servilia killing herself (in an admittedly dramatic moment) while Atia's presence continues to defy history was finally too much for me. I think I'm done devoting my time on Sunday night.

A shipwreck off the North Carolina coast believed to be that of notorious pirate Blackbeard could be fully excavated in three years, officials working on the project said. "That's really our target," Steve Claggett, the state archaeologist, said Friday while discussing 10 years of research that has been conducted since the shipwreck was found just off Atlantic Beach. Archaeologists and historians planned Friday to review 10 years of research on the shipwreck. It is the oldest shipwreck discovered off the North Carolina coast .. CNN

Thanks Virgil... too bad I didn't write it. Ursus, Ursus, he's your man.

But there again, PP, was his wish to delegate yet another thing he had learned from Augustus? Augustus, after all, had made Agrippa his actual co-regent in 18BC with a maius imperium over the East. And throughout his reign he good pick good men. I have always believed that Tiberius looked for just such a helper in Sejanus. Unfortunately, Tiberius was not the best judge of character! And Tiberius himself had held the tribunician power under Augustus, therefore I cannot condemn him for the act of delegating, only to whom. Had circumstances been equal you have a completely valid point. However, Augustus' delegation of power, while maintaining ultimate authority and participation in government, appears decidedly different than Tiberius' delegation and personal withdrawal. I suppose that had Sejanus proven to be more even handed towards the aristocracy, you might be right and history would have judged Tiberius in a completely different light.

Sophia Loren looking stunning in "Fall of the Roman Empire". Seriously though, the movie seems to be sometimes forgotten in comparison to Ben Hur and Spartacus, but I enjoyed the film despite it's Hollywood inaccuracies. I loved Alec Guiness as Marcus Aurelius whose script was essentially a series of quotes from "Meditations".

That's true if we accept Suetonius verbatim, but as we know the topic of Caligula's intentions on that beach (or perhaps on the Rhine as an alternative location for the event) is hotly debated. The entire affair seems a bit erroneous to me, but I understand the necessity to recognize it for lack of alternative reports. There is enough evidence to suggest that a serious campaign was intended though (the raising of new legions, extensive training and supply, etc.). Regardless, we can be sure that no extensive campaign was ever conducted, but that alone does not indicate that the legionaries themselves felt mistreated. Other than the rather glossed over Gaetulicus incident (which may or may not have included King Ptolemy of Mauretania who was executed in roughly the same time period) there is no great evidence of revolt among the legions against Caligula. I concede that this in itself does not indicate military endearment to him, nor the idea that Gaius liked being called Caligula, but I don't see any evidence that he mistreated the legionaries. Perhaps he confused the hell out of them, but it doesn't seem there was any lasting damage. They were on the payroll after all, so a trip to the beach with their beloved ego maniacal son of the great Germanicus might not have been all that bad. I can certainly understand some grumbling to the effect of "While the hell did that crazy bastard march us all the way over for this?" but again there seems to be no evidence of legionary displeasure in the form of disloyalty. (which may or may not also help to dispel the notions of complete erratic behavior, but that's not really the point of this discussion) In any case, I may be missing your original point Caldrail. Originally, if I read it right, you said that Caligula did not like to be called Gaius. Are you saying that due to his concern with station he also did not like Caligula and rather preferred only Caesar or Germanicus or something to that effect? I did find in the Annals that Agrippina wished her son to be called Caesar Caligula rather than Caligula alone (Tac. Ann. 1.69), but unfortunately I'm unable to find any indication of what the adult Caligula preferred. In the end, I suppose its a rather trivial debate, but I don't see any reason to think that he wouldn't mind the connection to the name Caligula as a reminder to the legions of past love and loyalty. After all that rambling, what I mean to suggest is that tolerating a name for political gain it and preferring it are two entirely different sets of circumstances.

Another review has been completed for our Roman Books section, thanks to Ursus. As I trudge about Romanophilia in my own amateur way, I have discovered that books written in bygone eras offer an enthralling Old School view whose charm is seldom replicated in modern times. They are often dated, but not always outdated. They offer a straightforward presentation of facts rather than a tableau of convoluted revisionist theories. They are imbued with a prosaic language rather than postmodern jargon. Finally, they seem possessed of a genuine conviction and enthusiasm rather than the cynical nay saying of modern academia. It is with regards to such virtues that I devoured H.H. Scullard

Another review has been completed for our Roman Books section, thanks to Pertinax. This is not one of those attention grabbing titles that will appeal to the sword and combat enthusiast, nor to the afficionado of heavyweight power politics and great personages. It is however a piece of subtle, steady and scholarly discourse that gives weight and texture to any Romanophiles imagining of the Roman (and Grecian) world. I personally found that the work helped me form a more grounded mental picture of the Attic and Italian countryside, its pattern of landholdings and the nature and dynamic of its inhabitants... ...read the full review of Famine and Food Supply in the Graeco-Roman World by P. Garsney

Let's try to revert to the topic of Caesar's actual personality, rather than whether or not we personally like, dislike, approve or disapprove of Caesar as well as other ideological tangents. I think its already fairly clear from several pre-existing threads where the participants here stand on Caesar's historical impact on the world.