ASCLEPIADES

Salve! Here comes Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, De Vita XII Caesarum , Libri II Divus Augustus , Ch. LXXII-LXXIII: "Habitavit primo iuxta Romanum Forum supra Scalas anularias, in domo quae Calvi oratoris fuerat; postea in Palatio, sed nihilo minus aedibus modicis Hortensianis, et neque laxitate neque cultu conspicuis, ut in quibus porticus breves essent Albanarum columnarum et sine marmore ullo aut insigni pavimento conclavia. Ac per annos amplius quadraginta eodem cubiculo hieme et aestate mansit, quamvis parum salubrem valitudini suae urbem hieme experiretur assidueque in urbe hiemaret. Si quando quid secreto aut sine interpellatione agere proposuisset, erat illi locus in edito singularis, quem Syracusas et technyphion vocabat; huc transibat aut in alicuius libertorum suburbanum; aeger autem in domo Maecenatis cubabat. Ex secessibus praecipue frequentavit maritima insulasque Campaniae aut proxima urbi oppida, Lanuvium, Praeneste, Tibur, ubi etiam in porticibus Herculis templi persaepe ius dixit. Ampla et operosa praetoria gravabatur. Et neptis quidem suae Iuliae, profuse ab ea exstructa, etiam diruit ad solum, sua vero quamvis modica non tam statuarum tabularumque pictarum ornatu quam xystis et nemoribus excoluit rebusque vetustate ac raritate notabilibus, qualia sunt Capreis immanium beluarum ferarumque membra praegrandia, quae dicuntur gigantum ossa, et arma heroum. Instrumenti eius et supellectilis parsimonia apparet etiam nunc residuis lectis atque mensis, quorum pleraque vix privatae elegantiae sint." "He lived at first near the Forum Romanum, above the Stairs of the Ringmakers, in a house which had belonged to the orator Calvus; afterwards, on the Palatine, but in the no less modest dwelling of Hortensius, which was remarkable neither for size nor elegance, having but short colonnades with columns of Alban stone, and rooms without any marble decorations or handsome pavements. For more than forty years too he used the same bedroom in winter and summer; although he found the city unfavourable to his health in the winter, yet continued to winter there. If ever he planned to do anything in private or without interruption, he had a retired place at the top of the house, which he called "Syracuse" and "technyphion." In this he used to take refuge, or else in the villa of one of his freedmen in the suburbs; but whenever he was not well, he slept at Maecenas's house. For retirement he went most frequently to places by the sea and the islands of Campania, or to the towns near Rome, such as Lanuvium, Praeneste or Tibur, where he very often held court in the colonnades of the Temple of Hercules. He disliked large and sumptuous country palaces, actually razing to the ground one which his granddaughter Julia built on a lavish scale. His own villas, which were modest enough, he decorated not so much with handsome statues and pictures as with terraces, groves, and objects noteworthy for their antiquity and rarity; for example, at Capreae the monstrous bones of huge sea monsters and wild beasts, called the "bones of the giants," and the weapons of the heroes. 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."

Salve! This is a tiny extract from the X-traordinary discussion on the Romania/Byzantine controversy at the website of the Friesian school (www.friesian.com) "Oh!" you say, "You mean Byzantium! That's not the Roman Empire! That's some horrible medieval thing!" That certainly would have been news to Constantine, or to Zeno, or to Justinian (527-565), or even to Basil II in the 11th century (963-1025). "Byzantium," although the name of the original Greek city where Constantinople was founded, was not a word that was ever used to refer to the Empire, or to anything about it, by its rulers, its inhabitants, or even its enemies. The emperor was always of the "Romans," Rh

Clearly, not all the South African people think on the same way (probably beginning with the Zulu themselves). An example in English. An example in Afrikaans.

Cagliari (Karalis)?

Nope, you can't conclude that. Even if there was no republic's oath (absence of evidence is no evidence of absence), oaths were not the only valid legal allegiance. The Tarpeian rock and alternative methods were there to help assure the citizens' loyalty, irrespective of the omnipresent legal background. It's an absolute for any established nation. Conversely, even if we weren't aware of the sacramentum (BTW, it was not the only military Oath among the Romans), we can rest assure that the Roman army, and any other army deserving such name, had well defined methods to compel their soldiers to obey their commander's orders. After all, no regular army is ruled by its privates' consensus. A minimum of military discipline is another absolute. Internal military revolts had always posed the same alternatives through all history: the established regime versus your rebel comrades. The degree of administrative autonomy for each army has been extremely variable, but with the possible exception of some mercenaries, the soldiers have always had allegiances with both sides to some extent. Caesar's soldiers couldn't ignore the obvious fact that they were exposing themselves to severe punishment by following the orders of a rebel. If that wasn't the case, it was only because theirs was ultimately the winner side.

Yes, Sheila White played Valeria Messalina. Cheryl Johnson played Octavia, Claudius' daugther. I guess it was Nero himself who responded to Agrippinilla. Pallas was there with her, but he didn't talk until Nero came in.

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.

Salve, Lady CO! Not surprisingly, Helvia seems to have been important mainly to her notorious family. This is what the "Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology" by Sir William Smith tell us about Helvia of Corduba: "Wife of M. Annaeus Seneca, of Corduba, the rhetorician, and mother of his three sons, M. Annaeus Novatus, L. Annaeus Seneca, the philosopher, and L. Annaeus Mela. (Sen. Consol. ad Helv. 2.) Helvia was probably a native of Spain, and followed her husband to Rome, about A. D. 3-5, while her second son was an infant. (Ibid. 17.) The life Helvia is contained in Seneca's address of condolence to his mother (Consolatio ad Helviam) on his exile to Corsica, in the reign of Claudius, A. D. 47-9.Through the rhetorical amplifications of this address we discover that Helvia had borne her full share of the sorrows of life. Her mother died giving birth to her. She was brought up by a step-mother. She had lost her husband and a most indulgent uncle within a month of each other; and her grief for the untimely decease of one of her grandsons was embittered by the exile of her son Helvia had at least one sister (Cons. ad Helv. 17), but her name is unknown." Seneca DE CONSOLATIONE AD HELVIAM is the Book XII of his Essays, following this link. It's a bit long (20 chapters). I hope this may be useful.

This is an X-traordinarily interesting material; but more than anything, it is extremely beautiful. Both ladies were clearly unable to hide the joyous emotion of tracking memories.

There are some notorious examples of Ladino's archaizing metathesis and lack of diphthongization of some irregular verbs as in modern Castilian on both samples of this material: "recodros" instead of "recuerdos" on the first one and "acodro" instead of "acuerdo" on sample 2; the lady of this last one also says "hablates" instead of "hablaste".

The following explanation comes from the Orbilat website: "Alh

And finally, here comes the 5th Emperor, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, aka Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Drusus Germanicus: (G Suetonius T, De Vita Caesarem, Book V Nero, Ch. LI) "He was about the average height, his body marked with spots and malodorous, his hair light blond, his features regular rather than attractive, his eyes blue and somewhat weak, his neck over thick, his belly prominent, and his legs very slender. His health was good, for though indulging in every kind of riotous excess, he was ill but three times in all during the fourteen years of his reign, and even then not enough to give up wine or any of his usual habits. He was utterly shameless in the care of his person and in his dress, always having his hair arranged in tiers of curls, and during the trip to Greece also letting it grow long and hang down behind; and he often appeared in public in a dining-robe, with a handkerchief bound about his neck, ungirt and unshod." I hope this may be useful.

Here comes the 4th Emperor, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, aka Ti. Claudius C. Augustus Germanicus : (G Suetonius T, De Vita Caesarem, Book IV Divus Claudius, Ch. XXX-XXXI) "He possessed majesty and dignity of appearance, but only when he was standing still or sitting, and especially when he was lying down; for he was tall but not slender, with an attractive face, becoming white hair, and a full neck. But when he walked, his weak knees gave way under him and he had many disagreeable traits both in his lighter moments and when he was engaged in business; his laughter was unseemly and his anger still more disgusting, for he would foam at the mouth and trickle at the nose; he stammered besides and his head was very shaky at all times, but especially when he made the least exertion. Though previously his health was bad, it was excellent while he was emperor except for attacks of heartburn, which he said all but drove him to suicide."

Here comes the 3rd Emperor, Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , aka Caligula: (G Suetonius T, De Vita Caesarem, Book IV Gaius, Ch. L) "He was very tall and extremely pale, with an unshapely body, but very thin neck and legs. His eyes and temples were hollow, his forehead broad and grim, his hair thin and entirely gone on the top of his head, though his body was hairy. Because of this to look upon him from a higher place as he passed by, or for any reason whatever to mention a goat, was treated as a capital offence. While his face was naturally forbidding and ugly, he purposely made it even more savage, practising all kinds of terrible and fearsome expressions before a mirror. He was sound neither of body nor mind. As a boy he was troubled with the falling sickness, and while in his youth he had some endurance, yet at times because of sudden faintness he was hardly able to walk, to stand up, to collect his thoughts, or to hold up his head... He was especially tormented with sleeplessness; for he never rested more than three hours at night, and even for that length of time he did not sleep quietly,..."

Here comes the 2nd Emperor, Tiberius Claudius Nero , aka Tiberius Caesar Augustus: (G Suetonius T, De Vita Caesarem, Book III Tiberius, Ch. LXVIII) "He was large and strong of frame, and of a stature above the average; broad of shoulders and chest; well proportioned and symmetrical from head to foot. His left hand was the more nimble and stronger, and its joints were so powerful that he could bore through a fresh, sound apple with his finger, and break the head of a boy, or even a young man, with a fillip. He was of fair complexion and wore his hair rather long at the back, so much so as even to cover the nape of his neck; which was apparently a family trait. His face was handsome, but would break out on a sudden with many pimples. His eyes were unusually large and, strange to say, had the power of seeing even at night and in the dark, but only for a short time when first opened after sleep; presently they grew dim-sighted again. He strode along with his neck stiff and bent forward, usually with a stern countenance and for the most part in silence, never or very rarely conversing with his companions, and then speaking with great deliberation and with a kind of supple movement of his fingers. All of these mannerisms of his, which were disagreeable and signs of arrogance, were remarked by Augustus, who often tried to excuse them to the senate and people by declaring that they were natural failings, and not intentional. He enjoyed excellent health, which was all but perfect during nearly the whole of his reign, although from the thirtieth year of his age he took care of it according to his own ideas, without the aid or advice of physicians."

Salve, L! Even if we don't know the Hunnic version of the story, the battle of the Catalaunian Fields was a massive inconclusive carnage, where the clocks of both sides were thoroughly cleaned; Hunnic army's retreat across the Rhine might be interpreted as defeat or strategy (or both). Besides, Flavius Aetius shared command at that battle at least with the Visigothic King Theodoric, and probably also with the Alan king Sangiban.

Salve! Both groups have "real" but different Ladinos; each word is a convergent but independent derivative of the Latin word "latinus" (ultimately coming from "Latium"). Both terms have independent entries on English dictionaries (vg, the Webster New World, 3rd Ed.): The entry 'Ladino' corresponds usually to the "Judeo-Spanish",'Dzhudezmo' , 'Judeo-Espanyol'/'Djudio' (Turkish Jews), 'Hakitia' (Moroccan Jews) and 'Spanyol', all of them alternative names currently accepted by Ethnologue. The term got into English at 1889; it comes from medieval Castilian and is still used in nowadays Spanish meaning "sagacious, cunning, crafty," ie "someone knowing Latin". The entry and preferred English spelling for the Rhaeto-Romanic dialect spoken in Switzerland and Tyrol is "Ladin" (Ladino in Italian, Ladinisch in German, Ladin in Ladin); it got into English a little earlier (1877). Source: Online Etymology Dictionary.

Salve, Lady CO! Here comes the firts one, Gaius Octavius, aka Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, aka Augustus: (G Suetonius T, De Vita Caesarem, Book II Divus Augustus, Ch. LXXIX-LXXX) "He was unusually handsome and exceedingly graceful at all periods of his life, though he cared nothing for personal adornment. He was so far from being particular about the dressing of his hair, that he would have several barbers working in a hurry at the same time, and as for his beard he now had it clipped and now shaved, while at the very same time he would either be reading or writing something. His expression, whether in conversation or when he was silent, was so calm and mild, that one of the leading men of the Gallic provinces admitted to his countrymen that it had softened his heart, and kept him from carrying out his design of pushing the emperor over a cliff, when he had been allowed to approach him under the pretence of a conference, as he was crossing the Alps. He had clear, bright eyes, in which he liked to have it thought that there was a kind of divine power, and it greatly pleased him, whenever he looked keenly at anyone, if he let his face fall as if before the radiance of the sun; but in his old age he could not see very well with his left eye. His teeth were wide apart, small, and ill-kept; his hair was slightly curly and inclining to golden; his eyebrows met. His ears were of moderate size, and his nose projected a little at the top and then bent slightly inward. His complexion was between dark and fair. He was short of stature (although Julius Marathus, his freedman and keeper of his records, says that he was five feet and nine inches in height), but this was concealed by the fine proportion and symmetry of his figure, and was noticeable only by comparison with some taller person standing beside him. It is said that his body was covered with spots and that he had birthmarks scattered over his breast and belly, corresponding in form, order and number with the stars of the Bear in the heavens; also numerous callous places resembling ringworm, caused by a constant itching of his body and a vigorous use of the strigil. He was not very strong in his left hip, thigh, and leg, and even limped slightly at times; but he strengthened them by treatment with sand and reeds. He sometimes found the forefinger of his right hand so weak, when it was numb and shrunken with the cold, that he could hardly use it for writing even with the aid of a finger-stall of horn. He complained of his bladder too, and was relieved of the pain only after passing stones in his urine."

Salve! An X-cellent V post may be welcomed here. Check it out.

X-cellent post, V. Congratulations.

Slavery is illegal in this African country, but the authorities turn a blind eye. Tens of thousands are born into servitude each year, and freed slaves face a second-class existence. Yet the battle for liberation goes on, despite threats and intimidation. Leonard Doyle reports from Konni Published: 29 December 2006 Sahnoun's description of the slave's life as essentially a happy one was in sharp contrast to the picture painted by a group of recently freed ones I had met earlier in the day. Amie Ilitimine, a beautiful 14-year-old who has been free for just two years, described how the family who "owned" her forced her to work as a domestic servant. She was contacted by a local anti-slavery activist called Tutu who offered to help her secure her freedom. Now she is being looked after by his family and learning a skill. Another young Arab girl is attending the local secondary school, and is being sponsored by a French documentary maker. Another woman, Hadizou Karou, was freed in August 2005 after eight attempts to get the courts to intervene. She pulled out a certificate proving she was a free woman and then showed me the welts the slave owner had left on her shoulder. The certificate is three lines long and reads: Certificat D'affranchissement (Esclave). Le soussign

Evidence that the Roman senate was modeled on the Carthaginian? Seems unlikely to me given the vast differences. A previous related thread.

So the question left to answer is, had Rome not needed to fortify the Rhenus on a permanent basis for 5 centuries, would there have been more resources available to complete the eastern conquests or would said forces have just occupied fortifications along the Alps and the Rhodanus anyway? Of course, if we factor in the ultimately futile campaigns of Drusus, Tiberius and Germanicus against the Germanics (campaigns that never would've taken place without the conquest of Gaul) we have a clear example of how resources could've been better used elsewhere.

Satellite images show how the intensity of the fires is changing Thousands of Greeks have been queuing at banks to collect government aid handed out in response to the country's worst forest fires for decades. Some 7,500 people reportedly withdrew 24m euros ($33m;