GhostOfClayton

Even if the statue itself appears exactly as it did 2000 years ago, what's to say the person who painted it had ever laid eyes on the lad himself? I would guess he had a not-too-dark brown hair colour, and the painter just used what he had available that most approximated it. That said, the skin tone is pretty realistic for a limited colour pallette.

It's a massive sweeping generalisation, but I can broadly split my clients into 2 camps . . . and this is where language fails me a little, so bear with me at this point . . . there are those who are 'Interested' and those who are 'Intellectually Curious'. The Interesteds listen to what you tell them, and are happy to know it, but there it ends. No obvious desire to know more and few clarification questions. If I take them to a museum, they look round the place, report back that they enjoyed it, but never report that there wasn't enough time, or they plan to go back another day. The Intellectually Curiouses, show that extra interest, ask questions, chat to the Guide about the subject of the tour, rather than general conversation, that kind of thing. The more of them I see, the more I seem to be able to pigeonhole them into one camp or the other. As an experiment, have a think about the people you interact with, can they be similarly pigeonholed? Now here

Thanks - I have one in mind - just need a photo, which shouldn't be too long now. Watch this space.

This is Tour Guide gold, Maty. Thankyou for that - I'm very impressed by your knowlege of prostitution!

Just a quick note to report on 'Two For The Lions', which I finished some time ago, but didn't update this thread. Although Davis had set the bar pretty high with '3 Hands in the Fountain', I have to say that she has pulled it out of the bag once again with 2-4. This mixes the best of her gritty Rome location writing with the evocative destinations visited by Falco and friends. The best of both worlds, and in 2-4, done very well indeed. i won't try and choose between '2-4' and '3 Hands', (OK, I will - it was 3-Hands), but suffice it to say, if you liked the one, you would love the other. In summary: Keep 'em coming.

If it's not French, it could only be the The Roman Theatre in Volterra (located at Vallebuona), which was built in the late first century BC, and fell into disuse in the 3rd century, leaving room for baths to be built. These days, it's used for the annual celebration of International Festival of Volterra.

Ta.

What's a Dilectus?

Was he the "Lucullus dines with Lucullus" Lucullus?

Looks French to me.

Have a look at librivox.org

Glad you had a good time. I'm back there in June myself - look out for an overweight grey-haired tour guide!

My tour of duty at Hadrian's Wall kicks off at the end of June. So much new stuff to see! Can't wait.

Didn't I read somewhere that Vespasian was a keen apiarist? Also, we mustn't forget to mention that wine was widely sweetened with honey.

By the miracle of e-mail, I now have a copy. It's no secret, so I'm happy to share it with all:

Didn't the divine Julius grant himself 4 triumphs (the last being a step too far - a triumph over fellow Romans was not taken too well by the populusques).

When I get home I'll dig it out for you, RTT.

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. Because of the sheer amount of time I spend travelling these days, I've been listening to this podcast (available on Apple iTunes, as well). He started on the very founding of Rome, Romulus and Remus, etc, and so far I have listened almost as far as the battle of the Teutoberg Forest. I have nothing but praise for the man and his podcast. It's professionally put together, well read, well researched, and strikes the perfect balance between what could be a dry acedemic lecture, and what could be pure entertainment. The length (at between 20 and 30 minutes each) is just right. As to the content, the detail is there (Battle of Teutoberg Forest is number 55, which should give you an idea). He hasn't got to my area of expertise yet, but what I can say is that he has made errors, but only a handful, which have been corrected in the following episode. He clearly has a listenership that is prepared to let him know of any inaccuracies, so we can be happy about the content, I think. He is also at pains to point out where certain stuff is historical opinion, or although part of the accepted historical record, not really credible. Listen to it if you have the opportunity. You won't regret it. But I accept you'll need to devote quite a chunk of your life to it.

Lepsis Minus?

I have no way of looking up what these are. Are we talking about the tubular tiles used to vent a hypocaust up a wall?

Hello, fellow history nerd.

In 31BC, the actual Romans would have considered crossing the English Channel as a tough ask. They'd only done that a handful of times, and with limited success.

I managed to catch this on iPlayer on a recent (rare) evening at home. Mary B never disappoints. Looking forward to parts 2 and 3.

Too many great posters, too few walls!

It is Kev. You're right. Welcome.