ASCLEPIADES

Fire-damaged Olympia to be reforested Wed Sep 5, 3:34 PM ET ATHENS (AFP) - The Greek Olympic Committee said Wednesday it had accepted an offer from Israel for experts and 10,000 trees to help repair damage caused by fires on Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games. Greece's President Karolos Papoulias also accepted a proposal from the German city of Munich to reforest the Cronius hill above Olympia which was sacred to ancient Greeks. Singed by a 12-day fire inferno that killed 65 people around the country, Olympia needs to spruce up ahead of the lighting ceremony of the Olympic flame for the 2008 Games in Beijing. "(There is) an international effort to restore beauty to the landscape of ancient Olympia ahead of the lighting ceremony in March," the Olympic committee said Sequitur

A little historical accuracy, then: "Flavius Josephus ... In his view, the Sicarians were religious fanatics, who belonged to the Zealot movement which he held responsible for the outbreak of the war and the destruction of Jerusalem. To stress this, he has composed a speech in which Eleaser son of Yair abjures his earlier ideas about the use of violence...The -admittedly dull- truth is that the people who occupied Masada, were neither religious literalists nor fanatic soldiers... Archaeologists have found the bones of pigs on the plateau, which does not point at people who were deeply attached to the Jewish faith. They also discovered the bodies of people who tried to flee from the violence. And it is not true that the Jews at Masada were the last to defend the freedom of Judaea; they were people who had to be killed in order to reinforce an ancient imperialist superpower's reputation of invincibility." Sequitur Jona Lendering

Salve, Ladies! The VI is an episode with a strong support from the primary sources, mainly C. Tacitus (Annales Liber III, Ch. XV-XVI): "Plancina was equally detested, but had stronger interest. Consequently it was considered a question how far the emperor would be allowed to go against her. While Piso's hopes were in suspense, she offered to share his lot, whatever it might be, and in the worst event, to be his companion in death. But as soon as she had secured her pardon through the secret intercessions of Augusta, she gradually withdrew from her husband and separated her defence from his. When the prisoner saw that this was fatal to him, he hesitated whether he should still persist, but at the urgent request of his sons braced his courage and once more entered the Senate. There he bore patiently the renewal of the accusation, the furious voices of the Senators, savage opposition indeed from every quarter, but nothing daunted him so much as to see Tiberius, without pity and without anger, resolutely closing himself against any inroad of emotion. He was conveyed back to his house, where, seemingly by way of preparing his defence for the next day, he wrote a few words, sealed the paper and handed it to a freedman. Then he bestowed the usual attention on his person; after a while, late at night, his wife having left his chamber, he ordered the doors to be closed, and at daybreak was found with his throat cut and a sword lying on the ground. I remember to have heard old men say that a document was often seen in Piso's hands, the substance of which he never himself divulged, but which his friends repeatedly declared contained a letter from Tiberius with instructions referring to Germanicus, and that it was his intention to produce it before the Senate and upbraid the emperor, had he not been deluded by vain promises from Sejanus. Nor did he perish, they said, by his own hand, but by that of one sent to be his executioner. Neither of these statements would I positively affirm; still it would not have been right for me to conceal what was related by those who lived up to the time of my youth. The emperor, assuming an air of sadness, complained in the Senate that the purpose of such a death was to bring odium on himself, and he asked with repeated questionings how Piso had spent his last day and night. Receiving answers which were mostly judicious, though in part somewhat incautious, he read out a note written by Piso, nearly to the following effect:-- "Crushed by a conspiracy of my foes and the odium excited by a lying charge, since my truth and innocence find no place here, I call the immortal gods to witness that towards you C

Evora?

Salve! This is the famous definition by Polybius of the Roman constitution (Histories, Book VI Ch.XI):

Admirabilis opus.

Salve! Nine Latin phrases you pretend to understand

All that said, I think most of what we have said about Caesar's soldiers motivations applies also to other rebels of the late Roman Republic, like Sulla, Sertorius, Lepidus, Mallius (Catilina) and so on.

Gratiam habeo, PC.IOU one.

Gratum mihi venis, Appius Iulianus Correus Apicius!

Gratiam habeo, PP. IOU another.

Salve! Maybe Marcus Tullius Cicero was not a New Man after all; the first recorded plebeian consul of the gens Tullia was Marcus Tullius Decula at 81 BC (673 AUC), 18 years before Cicero. Here comes Appian, Bellum Civilis Book I, Ch. XI, sec. C: "Nevertheless, as the form of the republic remained he allowed them to appoint consuls. Marcus Tullius and Cornelius Dolabella were chosen. But Sulla, like a reigning sovereign, was dictator over the consuls." However, it's always possible that they were from different families. It has been very difficult to find any information about MT Decula. Does somebody have any positive reference about the potential familiar relationship between these two consuls?

And the Greeks too. And then?

Yes. Then and now. Tenderness and sadism are not mutually exclusive.

Classifying slavery as culture doesn't seem too enlightened to me, not even relatively; if that is so, any sort of human abuse might be considered folklore; vg, female genital mutilation ("circumcision") or even anti-Semitism. Since when did culture have to be enlightened? Culture is simply how a group of people prefer to live and the customs they adopt. If you choose the highbrow meaning, fine, but not everyone would see that as superior. Check your own quote; the "enlightened" term was introduced by you, not me. You're right; by such a broad definition, both female genital mutilation and anti-Semitism qualify as culture.

Salve! Yes, indeed. Your turn. (Sorry for taking so long to answer)

The master of this particular slave was declared a traitor; Sulpicius was deprived of any right, especially the potestas, which includes his rule over his slaves. Even more, anybody was able to kill him. As any other of his possessions, his slaves had to wait until the State had determined who their new owner was. This unlucky slave undoubtedly expected to be freed for his service to the state (it happened indeed). What Sulla did to him might have been explained as one of those constant warnings that Romans gave to their servii to prevent rebellion. I think it would be even more easily explained as a typically twisted Sulla's joke.

I would think probably the substantive point is the bolded quotation where Plutarch tell us that Sulla first gave each Marian man a separate trial before he executed him, at least until time failed him. That

Let's try rhis one.

First find some examples of common soldiers being charged or convicted of high treason. Also see if there examples of common soldiery being proscribed. How about twelve thousand of them to begin with? Here comes Plutarch, Parallel Lives; Sulla; Ch. XXXII, sec. I [...] And here comes Appian, The Civil Wars, Book I, Ch. XCIV [...] The Praeneste massacre (which I already cited above) did not follow a conviction of treason--it was plain butchery and was expressly forbidden by the lex Valeria and leges Porciae, which forbade summary execution of soldiers. Furthermore, if you want to continue this line that Caesar's troops couldn't desert him lest they be executed for treason by the republican forces, the critical evidence has to come from surrendering troops, not captured troops. Your quoting is incomplete: Meanwhile Marius the younger, at the point of being captured, slew himself; and Sulla, coming to Praeneste, at first gave each man there a separate trial before he executed him, but afterwards, since time failed him, gathered them all together in one place

Salve! This is pre-Ptolemaic, but the story of the Philaeni brothers might be of some interest: Here comes Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum, Ch. LXXIX: "Since the affairs of the people of Lepcis have brought us to this region, it seems fitting to relate the noble and memorable act of two Carthaginians; the place calls the event to mind. At the time when the Carthaginians ruled in the greater part of Africa, the people of Cyrene were also strong and prosperous. Between that city and Carthage lay a sandy plain of monotonous aspect. There was neither river nor hill to mark the frontiers, a circumstance which involved the two peoples in bitter and lasting strife. After many armies and fleets had been beaten and put to flight on both sides, and the long struggle p301had somewhat wearied them both, they began to fear that presently a third party might attack victors and vanquished in their weak state. They therefore called a truce and agreed that on a given day envoys should set out from each city and that the place where they met should be regarded as the common frontier of the two peoples. Accordingly, two brothers were sent from Carthage, called Philaeni, and these made haste to complete their journey. Those from Cyrene went more deliberately. Whether this was due to sloth or chance I cannot say, but in those lands a storm often causes no less delay than on the sea; for when the wind rises on those level and barren plains, it sweeps up the sand from the ground and drives it with such violence as to fill the mouth and eyes. Thus one is halted because one cannot see. Now when the men of Cyrene realized that they were somewhat belated and feared punishment for their failure when they returned, they accused the Carthaginians of having left home ahead of time and refused to abide by the agreement; in fact they were willing to do anything rather than go home defeated. But when the Carthaginians demanded other terms, provided they were fair, the Greeks gave them the choice, either of being buried alive in the place which they claimed as the boundary of their country, or of allowing the Greeks on the same condition to advance as far as they wished. The Philaeni accepted the terms and gave up their lives for their country; so they were buried alive. The Carthaginians consecrated altars on that spot to the Philaeni brothers, and other honours were established for them at home. I now return to my subject." Some scholars speculate that this story may have inspired the famous legend of the combat between the Roman Horatii and the Alban Curiatii triplet brothers (Titus Livius, Ab Vrbe Condita, Liber I, Ch. XXIV-XXVI).

Last Greek fire under control ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- The last major fire in southern Greece has been brought under control after flaring up again over the weekend, fire officials said Sunday. Officials also said two other big fires were completely extinguished, leaving only minor fires smoldering in the area. The blazes had been largely contained for several days but firefighters struggled to prevent them from rekindling and causing more damage. Two villages were evacuated and 23 people were rescued by helicopter Saturday after one fire restarted in Greece's southern Peloponnese region. Nine firefighting planes and two helicopters helped contain that blaze on Mount Parnon, Sunday. Two other fires outside the towns of Megalopoli and Karytaina were out. Meanwhile, rain was reported across much of northern Greece, with flooding on the Halkidiki peninsula, but it had not reached any areas affected by fires. Fires have destroyed an estimated 190 hectares (469,000 acres) of mostly forest and farmland over the past 10 days, prompting a massive relief effort but also criticism of Greece's government for allegedly responding to the crisis slowly and failing to safely evacuate villages before they were burned. The death toll rose to 65, Sunday, after a man seriously burned in a fire on the island of Evia died in a hospital. Also funeral services were held for a mother and her four children who were killed outside the southern village of Artemida while trying to flee the fires by car on August 24. Four other people also died in the same convoy of cars when it became trapped in flames. Authorities have not released any damage assessment, but an estimated 4,000 people lost their homes, according to independent estimates based on claims for assistance by individuals and local authorities.