Melvadius

Nice big area to start but no.

Although an interesting and partially valid observation it still comes down to which period you are referring to and how you define professional which point I don't think you have addressed. I tend to the view that irrespective of whether you are considering citizen legionnaires or (mainly) non-citizen auxilliaries the fact that for most of the first two centuries of the Principate/ Empire men were 'enlisted' as part of the Roman army for 20-25 years and sent to specific bases they can be considered as a 'professional' army. Admittedly during part of this time allied troops played a part notably in the earlier and later period of the Empire and in some specific campaigns such as those fought in the East where there were allied buffer states. However, as far as I am aware, at least during the earlier period they did not tend to form the primary or even long term garrisons of Roman fortifications on the limes or within the Empire itself. In comparison the southern Han army used short term conscripts as the main bulk of their army including manning of permanent garrison sites so the Han army can not be considered as a 'totally' professional army in a direct comparison with the Roman army of the same period. On these terms it doesn't matter if individual soldiers primary loyalty was to the emperor, state, or their individual commanders. If the vast majority were used to form either 'garrison' troops or a permanent field army, with units normally provided a permanent base during this period, men committed to service to the 'state' for 20-25 years on a full time basis and paid a regular salary then they must in effect have formed a 'professional' army. Edit - I don't see anyone successfully arguing that the Gurkha troops who notably serve with the British, Indian or Brunei armies are anything but professional so in the same way in my view being a 'non-citizen' cannot be seen as an automatic disqualification from this status for Roman auxilliary troops.

Thank you, next up: [

Taking the clue about British interest how about Monte Sannace which is near the airbase being used by the British to bomb Lybian targets?

If anybody can't wait for the Time Team special or cannot get access to it then you can get some insight into both the excavations and what has actually been found to date (they are back next year) by reading the excavator's blog form 2010 here.

Hope you have a great time today and many more to come

From a quick browse of Wikipedia I suspect part of the answer to which was the first 'professional' army depends on how you define 'professional' and whether you are considering the entirety of a given cultures' army. Lots of armies in the ancient and medieval world were mainly comprised of a few core units who could be classified as 'professionals' but these were often supplemented by either conscripts or, notably like the Carthaginian armies before and during the Punic Wars, large numbers of mercenaries. Although the Han Dynasty army (from about 206BC to 220AD did contain a large standing army of 'professionals' they were mainly confined to the Northern army. In comparison the Southern army was almost entirely conscripted and both armies were supported by additional conscript militias raised during times of great conflicts. On this basis Rome, irrespective of how poorly they may have been paid or how disciplined they were in actuality, possibly can justly be claimed to have been the first culture with a completely 'professional' standing army.

Staying on Sicily then - Heraclea Minoa?

The volcano fancier in the family suggest Tydaris but I am wondering about Syracuse both in Sicily

Personally I do not think that the blind hatred attributed to him is going to go away anytime soon. I suspect that like with the IRA in Ireland a single name may have been attached and used as a banner head for a large number of semi-automonous groups. In the same way that it has taken years to get most but not all 'Republicans' to take their grievances to the ballot boxes it may well take decades, if ever, for the multiplicity of nominal adherants of OBL to dissipate.

The sun is shining here today so hope it does for you too. Have a great day whatever you are doing

Discovery now has a short article as well along with a couple more photographs one showing the rope and another a wider shot of the excvations here. However I have now tracked down the link to the original article on the ANSA site which although in Italian has some really good photographs and other intformation here NB it was in the orignal Past Horizons article but buried at the bottom of the page not looking very obvious.

Past Horizons is carrying this report of the discovery of an 11 metre section of an Imperial period ship. NB The article claims that there are 10 images linked to the article but so far I have only found 2

Could it be somewhere along the coast of the Adriatic, previously part of Yugoslavia?

In that case should we be considering somewhare in mainland Greece?

I feel there are several inconsistencies in the written article about this if you consider the following extract: Either the documents exist or they don't. I suppose the files he has surrounded himself with are those he has obtained through the US Freedom of Information legislation but if they are not then it does call into question why he has them or indeed if they are originals or copies obtained from somewhere else. Personally I don't subscribe wholeheartedly to the conspiracy theories for one simple reason. I remember the joys of working with paper records and how long it took to compile and distribute even simple information in a massive organisation in the late-70's which were still in the days pre-mass computing power. Even if the security agencies may have had cutting edge-machines by the 70's they were still somewhat cumbersome devices to use and operate. A lot of the 'reasoning' behind the conspiracy theories stems from a basic misunderstanding of how easy or otherwise it was in the period to write up and transmit full reports around America and act on them when received. There also is a basic failure to understand how rife infighting was (and still is) within the competing security apparatus of the States. As far as I can remember there have been several attempts to work out how many shots could have been fired by someone skilled with a bolt action weapon against those whcih could be confirmed as fired on the basis of film soundtracks, sighting lines and the type of weapon apparently used. In my view the arguments for as many as 11 shots being fired (possibly from several marksmen) have never stacked up due in no small part to who else would have been hit in such a fusilade from differing angles. On that basis I remain skeptical but will reserve judgement until I see the quality of 'proof' which is claimed to 'now' exist. Edit - in the context of the preceeding this site has some interesting views on the 'strong' evidence in the case and looking at it I would say that it continues to point to 'Oswald' as the only reasonable suspect in the case. While this site lists some of the contradictory information from the original medical and other reports which conspiracy theorists have pounced on as evidence of a cover-up. My own view: yes it was confusing and several statements were contradictory but in the circumstances I can well understand that - everyone was in shock that the 'Golden Boy' President had been assassinated the press were demanding statements and hounding everyone they could think of for an opinion while the presidential guards/ police didn't know where the shots had come from initially and several went haring off all over the place including a certain grassy knoll. Conspiracy? The only conspiracy was confusion aided and abetted by a rampant press corp and in later years compounded by pseudo-documentaries like Oliver Stone's film.

It has something of a dry dusty look about it so should we be looking to the south of the Med again for our answer?

The BBC is currently carrying a report on problems encountered in some Indian banks due to termite infestations. Not a problem that usually occurs in europe or other areas without the extremes of both temperature and the insect world but one I am sure that more than one banker operating beyond or even at the edge of the law wished they could count on to hide their misdemeanours

This may be off-beam in the context of the above but IF the novel is set in the late empire presumably that means that Christianity is now the official religion. I suppose it is too much to hope for that the various times set for evening and night-time prayers had also come into effect for religious orders or was that a much later medieval institution? I am not sure they quite got up to a decent size and started to be hung in towers until later in the Early Middle ages but if it was after the fifth century someone ringing a bell on a fairly regular basis would make life a whole lot easier. Then again I suppose given the uncertainty of night-time time keeping and the disagreements of the early churches on how to carry out worship you would have to say 'when St Stephen's bell rings thrice' or 'St Anthony's twice'. Before that if there was a Greek style monastery about you would have to say when the semantron was rung.

Past Horizons is carrying an interesting report on a major discovery of medieval jewellry by someone extending his garden pond which was only recently reported in Austria. I wonder how many people reading it have gotten the sudden urge to dive straight out into their gardens and build that pond they have always been thinking about

Crotchety moi? I don't even do needle point Like I indicated already anyone who wants to can go and enjoy themselves anyway they like. I just wish the entire media circus blindly following the lead of our current PM didn't expect everyone to be salivating about it.

Should we be looking along or near the Adriatic coast then for this site?

You can add me to the British camp of 'who cares a fig about any wedding that isn't their own or close family or friends these days?' If a couple wish to get married or simply live together then all well and good - just don't expect me to attend or care if they aren't in the above category. As to street parties - anyone trying to hold one outside my house is not going to go down too well if I want in or out of my drive. Mind you they are liable to find themselves in a whole heap of trouble anyway, despite our numbskull leader plans about letting anyone who wants to hold street parties, as they would need to close a main through road.

I missed that but one problem to consider is that 'palms' and things that look like them from a distance can be grown even as far north as Britian if they are in sheltered areas. On second thought this site could have a couple of more southern aspect than I originally suggested even as far 'south' as Cyprus although I suspect not Sicily:(

Thank you - a lot of heavy reading in it but as I indicated despite a few relatively minor issues overall I found it very worthwhile and one I intend keeping handy.