ASCLEPIADES

Salve, G. Your quoting is incomplete, because it lacks the source of the abstract, Dr. C.(Charles N.) Haas. You can get his e-mail at the Drexler University, Philadelphi, PA, to send him your questions and/or commentaries (or alternatively, via the Bulletin de l'Acad

They mean specifically Fanum Voltumnae; (as Fanum simply means "temple", Livy wrote it many more times): Here comes Ab Urbe Condita: Liber IV, Cp. XXIII: "Not only ... the Veientines ... but the Faliscans too ... sent round envoys to the twelve cantons, and i... a meeting was proclaimed of the national council of Etruria, to be held at the temple of Voltumna. ibid, Cp. XXV: "Projects of war were discussed in the national councils of the Volscians and Aequi, and in Etruria at the temple of Voltumna." ibid, Cp. LXI: "It was by them that Veii was first invested. Immediately after the siege had commenced, a largely-attended meeting of the national council of the Etruscans was held at the fane of Voltumna, but no decision was arrived at as to whether the Veientines should be defended by the armed strength of the whole nation. " Liber V, Cp. XVII: "Whilst this was going on the national council of Etruria met at the Fane of Voltumna. The Capenates and the Faliscans demanded that all the cantons of Etruria should unite in common action to raise the siege of Veii;" Liber VI, Cp. II: "On the one side, the Volscians, their ancient foes, had taken up arms in the determination to wipe out the name of Rome; on the other side, traders were bringing in reports of an assembly at the fane of Voltumna, where the leading men from all the Etruscan cantons were forming a hostile league." The long siege of Veies took place from circa CCCXLVIII to CCCLVIII AUC (406 to 396 BC).

Here's an earlier report of Livius on Etruscan elections (Ab Urbe Condita, Liber I, Cp. VIII): "...Romulus called his people to a council. ..he called into his service twelve lictors. Some think that he fixed upon this number from the number of the birds who foretold his sovereignty; but I am inclined to agree with those who think that as this class of public officers was borrowed from the same people from whom the "sella curulis" and the "toga praetexta" were adopted - their neighbours, the Etruscans - so the number itself also was taken from them. Its use amongst the Etruscans is traced to the custom of the twelve sovereign cities of Etruria, when jointly electing a king, furnishing him each with one lictor..."

Here comes Suetonius at his best: 25 After the civil wars he never called any of the troops "comrades," either in the assembly or in an edict, but always "soldiers"; 33 He himself administered justice regularly and sometimes up to nightfall, having a litter placed upon the tribunal, if he was indisposed, or even lying down at home. 40 Considering it also of great importance to keep the people pure and unsullied by any taint of foreign or servile blood, he was most chary of conferring Roman citizenship. 45 He himself usually watched the games in the Circus from the upper rooms of his friends and freedmen, but sometimes from the imperial box, and even in company with his wife and children. 66 He did not readily make friends, but he clung to them with the utmost constancy, not only suitably rewarding their virtues and deserts but even condoning their faults, provided they were not too great...In return he demanded of his friends affection on their part, both in life and after death. 68 In early youth he incurred the reproach of sundry shameless acts. 69 That he was given to adultery not even his friends deny, although it is true that they excuse it as committed not from passion but from policy, (67... But he forced Polus, a favourite freedman of his, to take his own life, because he was convicted of adultery with Roman matrons) 73 The simplicity of his furniture and household goods may be seen from couches and tables still in existence, many of which are scarcely fine enough for a private citizen. They say that he always slept on a low and plainly furnished bed. Except on special occasions he wore common clothes for the house, made by his sister, wife, daughter or granddaughters; 74 He gave dinner parties constantly and always formally, with great regard to the rank and personality of his guests. 76 I quote word for word from some of his letters: "I ate a little bread and some dates in my carriage."..."Not even a Jew, my dear Tiberius, fasts so scrupulously on his sabbaths as I have to‑day; for it was not until after the first hour of the night that I ate two mouthfuls of bread in the bath before I began to be anointed." 77 He was by nature most sparing also in his use of wine. 81 In the course of his life he suffered from several severe and dangerous illnesses... He experienced also some disorders which recurred every year at definite times; 83 Immediately after the civil war he gave up exercise with horses and arms in the Campus Martius, at first turning to pass-ball and balloon-ball, but soon confining himself to riding or taking a walk, ending the latter by running and leaping, wrapped in a mantle or a blanket. To divert his mind he sometimes angled and sometimes played at dice, marbles and nuts with little boys, searching everywhere for such as were attractive for their pretty faces or their prattle, especially Syrians or Moors; for he abhorred dwarfs, cripples, and everything of that sort, as freaks of nature and of ill omen. 84 From early youth he devoted himself eagerly and with utmost diligence to oratory and liberal studies...to avoid the danger of forgetting what he was to say, or wasting time in committing it to memory, he adopted the practice of reading everything from a manuscript. Even his conversations with individuals and the more important of those with his own wife Livia, he always wrote out and read from a note-book, 85 He wrote numerous works of various kinds in prose,...for example, his "Reply to Brutus on Cato." At the reading of these volumes he had all but come to the end, when he grew tired and handed them to Tiberius to finish, for he was well on in years. He also wrote "Exhortations to Philosophy" and some volumes of an Autobiography,... His essays in poetry were but slight. 88 He does not strictly comply with orthography 89 Yet he never acquired the ability to speak Greek fluently or to compose anything in it; for if he had occasion to use the language, he wrote what he had to say in Latin and gave it to someone else to translate. 90 ...He was somewhat weak in his fear of thunder and lightning, for he always carried a seal-skin about with him everywhere as a protection, and at any sign of a violent storm took refuge in an underground vaulted room;

Please note I didn

The name of the first cosmic bitch on Sputnik II fifty years ago was Laika (Лайка; Russian for "barker"), altough it has been reported that her original name was Kudryavka (кудрявка) This is Milla. Even if she was born in the USSR, her name (M. Jovovich) is Sebian.

You're right, they are simply alternative (and valid) spellings of the same cognomen of a Patrician family within the Gens Cornelia, to which the notorious Dictator LC Sulla Felix belonged; the Roman Republic had more than enough devastation with only one like him. Alternative spellings are not uncommon for Classical Latin names. "Sulla" would be the most commonly founded spelling on Latin sources. "Sylla" is a Hellenism (Σύλλα) and "Silla" is its latinized form; consequently, they are prevalent on Greek sources, particularly Plutarchus and Appian, both of them paramount for the study of this Dictator.

You're right, they are simply alternative (and valid) spellings of the same cognomen of a Patrician family within the Gens Cornelia, to which the notorious Dictator LC Sulla Felix belonged; the Roman Republic had more than enough devastation with only one like him. Alternative spellings are not uncommon for Classical Latin names. "Sulla" would be the most commonly founded spelling on primary sources.

Salve SP. It is indeed frequently difficult to find such translations; Plinius Maior "Naturalis Historia" is a good example. I can read a little Latin; I'm trying to learn more for getting what's lost on translation from the sources. (And it's certainly a lot of stuff!). I would love to learn a little Greek for the same reason. Vale.

Yes. See Pliny. (Can't find English translation) Here comes Caius Plinius Secundus Maior, Naturalis Historia. Liber III, Ch. V, Sec. LXX: "Ita ex antiquo Latio LIII populi interiere sine vestigiis. in Campano autem agro Stabiae oppidum fuere usque ad Cn. Pompeium L. Catonem cos. pr. kal. Mai., quo die L. Sulla legatus bello sociali id delevit, quod nunc in villam abiit. intercidit ibi et Taurania. Thus of the Old Latium there be fifty-three States perished, without any Remains left behind. Moreover, in the Campaign Country, the Town Stabiae continued to the Time that Cn. Pompeius and L. Cato were Consuls, the last Day of April ; upon which Day L. Sylla, Legate in the Social War, destroyed it utterly : which now is turned into Farm-houses. There is decayed also there Taurania." This text had to be edited (Please check posts #7 and #9 on this thread)

You forgetting that in Rome there were no separation of civil and military posts, so any politician would require to command troops in order to advance in cursus honorum. As for Augustus, the fact that he manage to secure the love and loyalty of the army without having any uncanny military merits (in fact at best we could say that he was a mediocare general as evidence from the fact that most of the military campaigns were commanded by Agrippa and later Tiberius and Drusus) and the fact that his rule was base of the army but he himself manage to present himself as the restorer of the republic to appease the public mind while in fact he was in all but name a king is evidence that he was a brilliant politician. On that counts, we absolutely agree.

And what do you think about the selected soldiers mentioned by Livius and Sallustius (Post #10 of this thread)? Would they qualify as "elite" in a more conventional way?

French and Spanish populations evident in other areas than the east coast were not American colonists, by definition. The Dutch colonists at New Netherland were assimilated by the British colonists. Then, the same as later Dutch and German groups, they became immigrants to a British Colony. Any citizen of the Colonies was British by definition and was considered as such during the wars against the Frenchs. Period. Aside from some evidently fake legends that try to relate the Latin/Sabine and Etruscan dynasties with Greek celebrities (ie, Numa with Pythagoras), I think you will find it hard to show evidence of "hellenistic principles" (I suppose you mean Hellenic) during the Royal period. The Roman Empire was Hellenized to such degree, that the Greek language eventually replaced the Latin on the Eastern half (not to talk about the "Byzantine" period). All that said, I still don't find useful the analogy quoted by Spittle (ie, the British as Greeks and the Americans as Romans). Up to this moment, I'm not sure if you disagree or not.

Sorry for my contribution to your confusion. I think I would agree with your last statement. In fact, the Empire ("Romania") went on when Rome (the city) didn't, ie after the Tetrarchy and, through the "Byzantine" Millennium, until 1453.

Gratiam habeo for your patience. If you don't mind, I would like to make another couple of questions Do you know if the service conditions of the soldiers of the following armies would have been enough to qualify them as professionals? - Carthaginians (under Hannibal). - Macedonians (after Alexander). - Parthians (under Surena). - Sassanids. - Jewish (under Herod the Great). Thanks in advance.

I don't think so. Such peoples were there before the coming of the Romans; they had no other choice than to "tolerate" their conquerors. Not to talk about a little bit of genocide (Carthage, Corinth, Capua, the Jews, Cimbri/Teutons et Cetera), arguably most of it during the Republican period.

About that, we completely agree.

) EDIT: I'm sorry for the duplication of this post. My bad. This is its definitive edition.

You mistook Augustus for Maximinus Thrax. He may have been a ruthless gangster, but not any kind of gangster. After the Ides of March of DCCX AUC (44 BC), the Roman world stood on the brink of disintegration. After his death on DCCLXVII AUC (14 AD), he left Rome with an adequate and effective system of government which was to endure more than three centuries, and eventually shaped western Europe and, consequently, the World. Plaudite! Arguably, that's politics.

Salve, F. If there

Faustina the Elder?

Salve, Amici and Ladies. I dare to concur. Besides, the story is completely unhistorical; pure unashamed flattery for Augustus (and Caesar, BTW). The Hero is all candidness and naiveness (!?!).

I find your analogy quite imperfect, to say the least. At the beginning, American colonists were also British. 100%. Romans were never Greek. (They were eventually more or less hellenized, but that'a another story).

Salve, CJ. I haven't read it nor found a review at UNRV. But Viggen states it was the fifth bestselling book at UNVR during 2005 (Sequitur).