GhostOfClayton

LZ I can take or leave . . . Did that make me sound like Yoda? I mean I can take or leave LZ.

. . . and so having diverged, our musical tastes are back in perfect sync. I love TMBG. My favourite is a little known track called "I'm Your Boyfriend Now" from "The Else" album. www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkXLNWNBOz0 if you're curious.

There you go, Doc, we've now found where our musical tastes diverge. The Eagles are a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. It all started (predictably) with Hotel California, and (much less predictably) the lesser known and uncharacteristic instrumental .

Do you think newly minted Roman coinage actually stopped reaching Roman Britain after 410, or do you think it only arrived through unofficial routes (e.g. travellers or small trade). If the whole pot was full of Honorius' mug shot, that would be something, but surely the odd one coin isn't too much of a surprise, is it?

With Flavia Albia being British born (as stated on Lindsey Davis' wiki page), I suspect I haven't come across her yet. Presumably she appears in A Body in the Bath House, or The Jupiter Myth. At least I'll be able to get in on this one at the ground floor.

According to her website, Lindsey Davis' next book (entitled 'The Ides of April') will be the start of a new series.

It's been a while since I visited UNRV, and I feel I must bring you up to date with my journey through Falco's adventures. Back in June (was it that long ago?) I reported on 'Two for the Lions'. I took a bit of a break from Falco after that, but recently returned and picked up 'One Virgin Too Many'. This wasn't a return to the olive oil theme covered in 'A Dying Light in Corduba', but a story set against the world of the Vestal Virgins. A cracking read with all the standard murder, political and religious intrigue (much the same animal in ancient Rome), but also a race against time to save a young girl's life. Exciting stuff, but 3-hands is still my favourite.

Hi Crispina. I read the first and second, but am yet to read the third. I'll echo what has been said so far. Well read, and quite exciting. Well researched. Good characters. I very much enjoyed reading them, though I didn't rush out for the third book. I won't bore you with a full review, but some of the gory scenes are very gory, and as a lady of delicate constitution, you may be advised to skip ahead once things start getting too 'wet'.

Has anyone here actually worn any? How useful was it when the action started? Too heavy? Too cumbersome? It's defensive properties seem to be well documented in this thread, but to what extent will it inhibit an offence?

Best of luck with the whole 'boyfirend moving in' thing, Doc. Is marriage on the cards? You don't know the true meaning of happiness until you get married. . . . of course, it's too late by then.

My money is on: DIVO = Dee-Vo (Vo rhymes with 'No') DIVUS = Dee-Vuss (Vuss rhymes with 'Bus') DEUS = Day-uss (again, rhymes with 'Bus')

Heard of Movember? Here�s a quick explanation, but if you�d like more detail, have a look at www.movember.com. Movember is a charitable organisation that hopes to encourage as many men as possible to grow a moustache (or Mo, for short) during the month of November. Mo-vember, geddit? The idea is so that funds can be raised, and awareness made for Men�s Health Issues (or, as a less reputable colleague referred to them, "Bloke cancer, rather than chick cancer"). His misogynism is factually, if not politically- correct. Now, I wholeheartedly support this cause, though I have to admit, I�m not sure what the exact mechanism by which me growing a big, bushy tash fills the coffers. To mitigate this, I bunged them a fiver. Feel free to do the same, if you�d like. Awareness, however is a whole different matter. I�m a successful and prolific blogger with a multitude of signed up followers, so surely I can use this very medium to spread the good word about Men�s Health Issues. Here goes:- I�m not a medical man, so the technical detail eludes me, but my advice to all you blokes out there is two-fold: Step 1 � Grow a Mo during November, and tell everyone why you�re doing it. Step 2 � (a) Have a good feel around in your 'Gentleman�s Area' on a regular basis, and ( tell your doctor if anything changes. Step 2(a) really isn�t an issue for men, in fact there would be a significant problem if it were something men were being encouraged to stop doing. 2( , however, is something we�re notoriously bad at, most especially when it involves showing your privates to another man. Throw in the (quite real) possibility that the same man will end up handling our precious trouser-cargo, and it�s a wonder anyone with a 'Y' chromosome ever goes near their local surgery. My advice? Man up! Be bold. Hold your head high, march into that office and, (having first told the Doctor confidently about your concerns � that bit�s important), get it all out, and slap it down in front of him with a hearty "There�s the lunch-box, Doc. Whadaya think?" Right, with both fundraising and awareness behind us, we can move on with the story. I decided at the end of the 2012 tourist season (late September for me) to grow a Mo for Movember, however I had a nagging concern. Whiskers have never graced the OfClayton cheeks for longer than a couple of days, say when travelling, and shaving is inconvenient, or some such. Other than that, I�ve been clean shaven since I first looked in the mirror and saw Shaggy from Scooby Doo looking back at me. So, growing a Mo was a worry. How fast would it grow? If I started in November (like you�re supposed to), I may not have anything you could call a Mo until February. I have a friend who has been moustachioed for many years, but no-one has noticed. What if mine was like his. If I was going to do it, I wanted something akin to those sported by the Thompson Twins in Tin-Tin. So I admit, I cheated. You�re supposed to start 1st November clean shaven, but I stopped shaving at the beginning of October (much to the chagrin of Mrs ofClayton). I admit, that after 14 days, it still looked like something that would disappear if I washed my face, but I needn�t have worried. Here I am, 28 days later, and I am now the proud owner of a moustache. Would you like to see it? here it is. The little thing below my bottom lip is supposed to be there. For those taking notes, according to that standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, Wikipedia, it's either called a 'Smig' (Irish word for a chin), 'Mouche' (French word for a fly), or a Soul Patch. I'd like to refer to mine as a Soul Patch, but to be honest, it feels more like a Smig. There you go, I've both educated you, and reduced your chances of dying from bloke cancer. Surely that's enough for this week?

You are exactly on the nose there, Melvadius. I'm pretty certain that's the entire 3 (obviously, most people forget Lincoln). If there are more, I need to know about it pronto (that's your homework!) Well done. Whilst there is no material prize available, you've won the respect and admiration of your peers, which is much, much more valuable

I'm not going to add anything to this thread, Fulvia. Sorry about that. What I will say is firstly, lucky old you, and secondly, it's an excuse to bump this post back to the top. I've always had a hankering to spend my 50th birthday in Rome, and so if anyone adds any tips/tricks to your thread, rest assured I'll be taking careful note, so that I can wet-noodle them myself. Enjoy your time there.

I seem to remember it was amongst the propeganda of one of those 'Metric martyr/UKIP' types, so its authenticity is in serious doubt.

That's OK then. Carry on. As you were.

This is a little off topic, but here's a quiz question for you. Cologne is one of three cities whose modern name has retained the COL of COLONIA. What are the other two? I'll give the answers (if no-one gets it) some time in the indeterminate future, depending on wifi availability.

I'll PM to not clog up this thread, but to put it in a nutshell: Wet.

Did I read somewhere that the pound (weight) came from the ideal weight of a stone to be used in a sling?

Can I just check my facts here? Do you guys doubt the existence of trade between Britannia and areas under Roman control in 150AD? I'm not going to go out and trawl the internet for evidence, but surely the distances and obstacles were not great enough to impede trade as late as 150BC.

In this episode of the BBC programme Who Do You Think You Are", Mayor of London Boris Johnson finds records taking his ancestry back to God (yes, you did read it right). Disclaimer: The above makes me sound like a krank. That may be the case, but rest assured the persona I adopt on this forum is perfectly normal, logical, and capable of reasoned argument.

Welcome One and All to the GhostOfClayton extremely occasional blog. Are you all sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin. I know that, looking at me, you wouldn�t think it, but I�m not a drinker. Not absolutely tee total, but only drink socially and very occasionally. So, on Saturday night, after a very small amount of beer, I found myself quite tipsy. Myself and Mrs OfClayton had been invited round by the brother and sister out-law to watch the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games. Did you see it, dear reader? I�m sorry, but I can�t really describe it in detail in these pages, so I shall write as if you did. I saw the sheep on Glastonbury Tor, and got as far as recognising the man in the stovepipe hat as Isembard Kingdom Brunnel, before a combination of the alcohol in my bloodstream and the fact that I�m a ham-fisted, clumsy oaf, caused me to spill my beer all over their settee, blinds, carpet, furniture, many children, etc. There was a sort of time-stood-still moment whilst I tried desperately to stop myself shouting �Ger-Granville . . .Fer-fetch a cloth�, before the panicked reaction of all present moving stuff that had yet to be dripped on, away from beneath things that had already been dripped on, fer-fetching cloths and kitchen rolls, (and indeed anything deemed absorbent and washable/disposable) and generally trying to help. It�s amazing how far you can spread half a pint of Old Peculiar, and bewildering how many tiny nooks and crannies are owned by the OfClayton Out-Laws. And just how cubic centimetres of beer can settle into a nook/crannie that is physically too small to accept the edge of a sheet of kitchen roll. Anyway, to cut a long story short, by the time normality had been restored, the industrial revolution had been and gone, and Bevan was just about to launch the National Health Service. So. What did you all think to the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony? I can see that much of it would go over the heads of non-Brits. Why on earth would a significant portion of the ceremony be devoted our National Health Service? Did the Nation�s Sovereign really appear in a comedy sketch? The answer to the second is simply �Yes� (surely we�ve seen it all, now!). The answer to the first is more complex, and highlights the strange relationship we have with our primary care provider. Most see it as a sort of errant sibling. We argue amongst ourselves about its shortcomings, belittle it, tell each other how hopeless it is, etc., etc. But woe betide any outsider who tries to do the same. It�s our NHS, and as far as Johnny Foreigner is concerned, it�s the best in the world, and we�re justifiably proud to have it. Either that, or it was because Danny Boyle�s a bit of a leftie. But for most Brits I�ve talked to, it was a triumph. True, although it had spectacle aplenty, it didn�t have as much as Beijing. Mr Boyle would have been mad to pit himself against the weight of the People�s Republic in that respect, and Mr Cameron would have been mad (and extremely unlikely) to fund the attempt. It was never going to happen. But what it lacked in spectacle (not much in my, and many others�, humble opinion), it more than made up for in sheer exuberance and bare-faced quirkiness. Not only with the acting debut of our dear Queen, whose popularity rating must surely have sky-rocketed as a result, but Rowan Atkinson re-imagining the beach race scene from Chariots of Fire. And did Mr Boyle hand the ultimate accolade of the evening to one of our national sporting heroes? No, he made you think it would be Sir Steve Redgrave lighting the Olympic flame, but the honour went jointly to seven young, and hitherto unknown athletes on whose shoulders our country is pinning its future medal hopes. What a coup. Anyway, I'm off to the Netherlands for a while now, by way of escaping the olympic blanket coverage. Ciao for now.

Not sure how much of a Roman slant this one will have, but anyone interested in Roman flora should give it a listen. 'Gardeners' Question Time from Fishbourne Roman Palace' Country: UK Channel: BBC Radio 4 Date: Friday, 3rd August, repeated Sunday 5th August Time: 1500 GMT and 1400 GMT respectively (for 45 mins) Episodes: 1 Link: BBC Radio 4 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.

Not for any acedemic reason, but I'm sure you'll be interested if you read Asterix in Britain. It purports to answer your exact question, even though it is intended to be taken with a pinch of salt (the story, not the tea, which should be taken with a twist of lemon.)

Can anyone vouch for the quality of this, like by choosing a bit of history you are familiar with and see how true his story is? Probably this is fine, but I remember downloading all kinds of Roman history in the early days of podcasts and gradually realized they were often questionable accounts by enthusiasts just skimming thru a book and stereotyping at will. Sure, that is what I do in this very forum, but at least here it is exposed for people to dispute and correct. OK - a follow up on my previous post. My area of so-called expertise is the time of Hadrian. Moving backwards, it tapers off slowly back to late Republic, and forwards I'm not really too comfortable past the Severans. I've now listened as far as the co-emperor-ship of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. I haven't changed my opinion one jot. If anything, I now recommend it more highly.