GhostOfClayton

Tough one. Stories of what all the Gods got up to have evaded me thus far, and Wikipedia (which is where I learned everything I know) isn't much help. We therefore must deal with statistical likelihoods. Most likely, based on sheer volume of accessible remains and relevance to Nike, would be Ephasus. Therefore my guess is Ephesus.

Good lad! Whilst you're right that you'll find the centurion in question on the cover of some editions of Eagle of the Ninth, the truth is that it and my Avatar share the same original source. Identify that source, and the mystery prize will be yours (if the Christmas present from the blog wasn't enough - what a munificent man I am!)

Hmm. I must admit, it seems quite an academic way of stating a distance, and I haven't seen it done before in a fictional context. I'd aim for a much more touchy-feely way of representing distance. Most of the time in fiction, lengths are stated to give the reader an idea of the distance involved, rather than a an actual 'hard-and-fast' measurement. This could be done by using such phrses as "a days's march" and still get the concept right over to the reader. One star just for that is tough criticism, though.

Hmm . . . you didn't mention the key word, but I'll let you have it anyway (if you promise another cryptic in return.) The key word was 'Lincoln' . . . a shortened form of Lindum Colonia, itself a shortened form of Colonia Domitiana Lindensium. Lindum became the provincial capital of Flavia Caesariensis when the province of Britannia Inferior was subdivided in the early 4th century. It is one of only 3 cities that retain its identity as a Colonia in its modern name. The other two are (as stated above) Cologne and Colchester. Back to you.

Important to point out that this was found under Cardiff (Wales). UK residents can (and, I'm sure, will) insert their own jokes about the Welsh at this point.

Roman Britain: A Timewatch Guide Country: UK Channel: BBC 4 (and BBC 4 HD) Date: Tuesday, 17th Februaryat 2100 GMT, repeated 0300 the next morning and 2200 on the 19th. Episodes: 1 (60 minutes) Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b052vcbg As usual, this one will be on iPlayer, but if you're living outside this green and pleasant land, you may not be able to get it. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Alice Roberts can do no wrong in my eyes, though she seems odd for Auntie Beeb to keep rolling her out to front Roman History programmes, even though she has a sound knowledge of palaeopathology (in a Renaisance woman kind of way), there are many more excellent presenters with a broad Roman background swilling about the corridors of W1A. Still, this programme will no doubt be yet another of BBC4's staple offerings, where they mine the archives for interesting titbits, edit them together, and pop a charaismatic, clever and photogenic 'expert' in front of the camera in a relevant location. Mark my words, there will be nothing new on offer here, but it will be 60 minutes' worth of interesting telly.

Yeah, to be honest, I just knew it, and i wanted to let it run a little longer. Anyway, while we're being a bit cryptic, try this place: My first is in Hell, but not in Hades, My second’s in Latins, but not Pelagones My third is in Novum but not in Homo My fourth’s not in Major, but is in Domo My fifth’s in Dracunculus, though not in Artemisia And my last’s in Maritima, but not in Caesaria. ‘The Place by the Pool’ is how I am known. And I’m the third in the list: Colchester, Cologne. . .

Would this cityhave been home to Artemisia Dracunculus?

Most convincing answer so far, Meneer Arrectibus.

Hello everyone, and welcome to the GhostOfClayton ‘once-again-it’s-turned-out-to-be-less-frequent-than-twice-fortnightly’ blog. The litmus test of a civilised society Very little is new at OfClayton Towers (though that isn’t an excuse). The main thing is that Mrs OfClayton has started a new job. She is now working in a library, and she enjoys it very much. I must admit it sounds quite interesting, helping people research projects / interests and the like. Trouble is, libraries are very much an endangered species in the UK at the moment. I [would] like to think of myself as a liberal intellectual, and a good socialist, so you’d think I would be throwing up my hands in horror at the actual and threatened loss of so many libraries. These institutions are iconic of a civilised society, surely. Trouble is, visitor numbers are dropping. Clientele seem to consist solely of Eastern Europeans who use the computers to Skype back to the family, elderly readers who’ve used libraries all their lives (understandably, numbers will dwindle in this category), and middle class parents taking their children, in a futile attempt to buck the trend. This is disheartening. It smacks of a litmus test of our modern western society that is starting to show an unappetising colour. However, (you knew there’d be a however, didn’t you?) the more I think about it, the more I think waving the white flag might not be quite the societal disaster that my heart thinks it would be. I was a regular in the library when I was a kid and these days I do have to do an awful lot of research, but even I don’t visit the library very often at all,. People aren’t using the libraries because it’s easier and quicker to get on the internet. Yes, that’s a gross oversimplification, and there are loads of little down sides to losing a library service. But how long before the numbers dwindle to almost zero? It’s depressing (or is it?) Once again, this blog has failed to come to a conclusion. No trends being bucked there, then. The future of this blog Just a note about the immediate future of this blog. On Friday night, I’ll be heading out to Austria, so there’ll definitely not be a blog the following Thursday. My colleague works out there as a ski rep in the winter sports season, and he thinks there just might be a hint of a whisper of a chance of some absence cover work going. I’ve no idea how long it will last, if it happens at all, so you’ll have to watch this space. If I come back, I’ll blog. Ciao for now.

We don't use the word 'douchebag' half enough over here. It's a great word! Personally, I would welcome it into our vernacular.

I know that the Orbis Terrarum was Agrippa's (I think) map of the known world, but how does 'Orbis' literally translate into English. I'm guessing it isn't 'map'.

Is this for the second book in the series, Cinzia?

It was covered very well on a documentary called Rome's Lost Empire (see http://www.unrv.com/forum/topic/11550-coming-up-next/?p=122617). I can't find it on Youtube or any of the usual sources. You may have something over that side of the pond.

It's 1st/2nd century, but you may be interested in Vindolanda Tablet 343.

It's the sort of Engineering that can be achieved on a grand scale with the necessary labour, and can be quite low tech. I'd bet there's plenty more sizeable installations out there left to find.

"Would fall" and "would say", eh? My Centurion once knew a Gaul Who, when rising from drinking, would fall The Optio would say, Putting more drink away, Come on, man, you've had bugger all! Seriously though. Yes it's going to be a rival to the Vindolanda tablets if they get much more.

Welcome Dirk. I've no idea. I'm not a Latin speaker, but one of the other cognoscenti may be able to help, if we nudge this post now and again.

All reasonable theories, but not so clear cut to me. Year of 6 emperors was my first thought, but why not year of the 4 emperors and year of the 5 emperors. Why not have those in solver? And why not include Gordian III?

I think it did. There's a very clever comedian in the UK called Stewart Lee, and his gags and comedy is aimed pretty squarely at those with a bit of you-know-what in the head department. Sometimes, predictably, the gag is so clever that insufficient of his audience get it to start a laugh (although a few extra seconds' thought will often get you there, it's too late in a live comedy situation). In these instances, he'll look wryly at the camera (as if sharing a joke with the TV audience and not the live audience) a say "sometimes you put one in that's 'just for you' ". I think that was what Vespasian was doing. Making a little sarcastic comment, purely for his own benefit.

I have a mouse mat showing all the Roman Emperors up to Diocletian. (http://www.westair-reproductions.com/popup_image.php?pID=1062ℑ=0) Question: Why are Maximinus Thrax Gordian I, Gordian II and Blabinus & Pupienus shown in silver, while the rest are in gold?

I'm so pleased it wasn't just me. With all due modesty, I was whizzing my way through all the questions with confident ease, and this one baffled me. And then I looked at the answer and the explanation . . . and i was still baffled.

If something ironic has irony, what does something sardonic have? I always felt that Vespesian's last words, "Vae, puto, deus fio" (Uh, oh! It seems I'm becoming a God!) were spoken with a knowing look and an eyebrow firmly raised.

To digress. It's a linguistic curosity that Caldrail (from the UK) named her 'Ass-inoe', and Indianasmith (from the good ol' US of A) named her 'Ars-inoe'. I would've thought it'd be the other way round. NB For the record, Caldrail's entry was a trypo - he knows his stuff, and is well aware of the proper spelling of her name. For those interested in her story, she was Arsinoe IV

Hi Druidware - welcome on board. Did you vsit anything else in the area other than pompeii & Herculaneum?