GhostOfClayton

It was waiting for me on my doormat last night. Actually, it was so big that our Postie had to leave it in the greenhouse. My first impression on opening the packet was the sheer amount of television there is to watch. Given the "next-to-bu***r-all" I paid, it would have to be spectaculary bad for me to have wasted my money. . . and Russ' comments are very encouraging. Watch this space over the coming weeks, months, and possibly even years.

Hi Historicus - check your "Messenger" on this forum.

Speaking of the apocolypse, I couldn't resist lowering the tone somewhat, by inviting you all to have a look at

With the best will in the world, this does seem a wee bit tacky. And having just had a look at a clip on YouTube . . . well . . . judge for yourself: Funnily enough, is does seem quite well reviewed on this website, so you never know. What can it hurt to buy it?

For those of you who weren't aware of it, many of Rome's well-known writers are available to download as audiobooks from www.librivox.org. There is no catch. This excellent website has most of the primary sources, mostly in translation, and even one or two as nature intended (in Latin). I think they're all available both to download, and as podcasts via iTunes. I say there's no catch . . . they are pretty much all read by our friends from "His Majesty's Former Colonies in the West". With sincere respect to them, their accent does tend to grate on the British ear after a while. Honestly . . . I say that with all affection. I'm pretty sure the reverse must be true. Anyway, I digress. After the briefest of searches, I found the following: Livius. Titus (Livy). "From the Foundation of the City Vol. 01"

Clearly, Strabo would have been a welcome contributor to many a British tabloid newspaper!

Blaming the Gods sounds nicely Roman. Only the sceptical few could perhaps concieve of such a momentous disaster having a cause other than the Gods.

You know how, during the night when you're not quite awake and not quite asleep, you sometimes get a niggling question rolling around your brain, and you seem to focus on it and get almost obsessed by it. And then you wake up, remember the question and think, "well that's just really trivial", and forget all about it? Well, that happened to me last night, and it truly was a very trivial question . . . but I don't have an answer to it, so I'll plague you lot with it. What did left-handers do in the Roman Infantry? Let's take as an example a left-handed legionary called Marcus (to quote Blag from Chelmsford 123, "they're ALL called Marcus.") Presumably, whilst in any sort of formation, Marcus would have to hold his shield in his left hand, and his gladius in his right hand. No exceptions allowed, else Marcus (and the other members of his contubernium) would quickly feel to wrath of his Centurion's vine stick. Does that mean that Marcus had to fight with his weaker hand? Or could he swap hands when he was involved in the more hand-to-hand stile fighting. Or was there a Century tucked away on one side of the battle formation that contained only the left-handers? Or are these irrelevant questions, because poor old Marcus would have been drowned as an abomination when his horrified parents first became aware of his terrible affliction? Last night, this REALLY worried me.

On what little information you've given there would seem to be a parallel with the very, very excellent "Pompeii" by Robert Harris. Just making sure that you're aware of this work and that there's no uncomfortable overlap. Best of luck with it. If there's no Roman equivalent, how about "...they were gone, all of them, buried with the city under an ocean of ash." ?

OK - I'm going to buy the thing, and to hell with the expense. Watch this space.

. . . and the fulcrum. I knew that was an invention all along. It NEVER seemed to help me with lifting heavy stuff in my garden.

A year and a half later . . . . . . I'm in the sixth level (getting quite crowded in here), and I'm not even religious enough to call myself an atheist!

Even though I was fairly resigned to the fact that this was almost inevitable, I'm actually more than saddened by this - I'm pretty bloody cross about it (excuse my French!), and I'd like to think that I did at least something, however futile, to try and ensure it never happens again. So . . . advice please. Maybe start off with some kind of petition or letter writing campaign. What should we say? Who do we send it to? I have a sneaking suspicion that, given the current financial climate, these things are bought up by financial speculators. What do you think? If that is the case, surely Stella's idea of enforced public display would benefit the investor as well as the public, in terms of the savings on insurance and security costs whilst the object was in the care of the relevant museum. Let's not just moan about it, let's do something about it!

I picked up the DVD "Julius Caesar" from a Bargain Bucket in TJ Hughes last week. Apparently there was a 2002 mini-series, but it completely passed me by - it starred Jeremy Sisto, Richard Harris, and Christopher Walken. Having watched it, I thought it was only fair to share it with my fellow UNRV Forum members. And you never know - I might start a trend. So, anyone who would like to watch the DVD, post a reply to this thread. I'll then PM (Personal Message) you for your address and send it to you by post. No charge to you. There is a catch, however. After you have watched it, someone else may have posted a reply. You must then PM that person, get their address and send it to them . . etc., etc. This format should work for DVDs, books and audiobooks, so if you have any Roman examples of these that you no longer want, post a new thread, and let's get them circulating!

The small controversy aside, this is particulalry interesting stuff, Melvadius. When I was Arbeia (South Shields) with Augustus Caesar a few years back, I seem to remember him showing me something experimental they were doing with window glass. Hopefully he'll be reading this and have something to add your article.

I can confirm 6 times: 91 98 100 - 101 (let's count that as 2) 103 112 So the 'VII' is a proper mystery!

Still on preorder in paperback, but looks like it won't be long. Reasonably priced, too. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arrows-Fury-Empire-Anthony-Riches/dp/0340920351/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1286136755&sr=8-1

It really is a 'must have' for any user of this forum.

Each elephant's rider carried a hammer and chisel (or something akin to that) so that, should the beast threaten to cause havoc in the Roman ranks, it could be dispatched before too much damage was done.

First rate research, Melvadius. Thorough, but to the point. Thanks.

I'm sure it's just a case of the iPad providing extra tools in the Archaeologist's toolbox. Some would sooner write and type up later, some would sooner type on the spot (I know I can type much, much faster than I can write, and it would only be a matter of time before I got up to speed on iPad's 'keyboard), and there's even the option to dictate voice notes. Photos can be taken to compliment or replace hand drawings, and can be subsequently annotated whilst still in the trench. Different bonekickers (is that really a slang term for Archaeologist?) would use different methods/apps in different situations, and the iPad would increase their flexibility.

Thanks for the tip, Ludovicus. I'll certainly be downloading that one. It's available on iTunes by searching 'Classics164'. It's spread over two PodCasts. If anyone's interested in that one (why would they not be?), can I also recommend: http://webcast.berkeley.edu/course_details.php?seriesid=1906978539

Excellent. I don't want to sound like an overly scientific cynic, but I think that (whilst many ARE grounded in fact), most folk remedies arise from either: Quack doctors whose motivation is financial gain Misplaced optimism An actual (but random) improvement in someone's condition False logic (like the slightly disturbing "The Frog's Got Your Sore Throat" scene in The Whicker Man These instances then become lore. So, we can talk no more about medicinal properties and get on with the real question. Vis, did this plant exist or not. There are three possibilities: 1. It never existed. 2. It existed in the past, but is now extinct. 3. It's still kicking about somewhere in the world. Occam's Razor says that if (2) or (3) are true, then physical evidence (spores, etc.) would've been identified by cleverer folk than you or me (me, at any rate). However, Occam's Razor is a tad unscientific for my liking (even though it's usually right!) Through my rambling, I've talked myself back into my original plan. There must be a modern plant that looks a bit like it (from the picture.) I will take this further. Watch this space.

You rose to the challenge and then some, Kosmo - well done indeed! I can't see anyone out there can beating Marius & his Mules as the cause for the downfall of the Western Empire . . . . . One of GhostOfClayton's worthless prizes goes to the winner!

To clarify, Guy; are you skeptical about the existence of the plant itself, or its many and varied claimed properties? Does anyone know of a similar case of a mystical plant that never existed? (and I'm not allowing Triffidus Masenii).