Melvadius

Caldrail, You have made some good points but I think you may have misunderstood the original query which to me seemed more general in nature and did not imply the peasants knew what they would create their own way of life's destruction. You actually mentioned what I think was meant by the query at the end of the paragraph above - the original author indicated that unknowingly the Roman peasants particuipated in events which led to the destruction of their way of life. However to me, probably as it does to you, that seems a bit of an obvious statement in so far as nothing remains the same after any conflict. Although 20/20 hindsight is a great thing and usually granted to a few serious thinkers, if not everyone, long after the events no one going into a conflict can comprehend all of the ramifications of the combatants combined actions. However, self destruction by the Imperial process is the kind of viewpoint that Neil Faulkner is prone to take so I agree with Maty that he may well provide a suitable reference for the 'original' assertion or at least may suggest near contemporary sources for further research.

I suspect this may be a repeat showing of the BBC docu-drama Pompeii: The Last Day which was first shown in the UK back in 2003 and I believe recently by the Discovery Channel. If so I agree that it does provide some plausible explanations for a few of the remains found in Pompeii.

The BBC are carrying a nice article and associated videos on some of the secrets being revealed by recent research into skeletons actually found at Oplontis rather than Pompeii. I believe the associated video's come from the new BBC Two series on Pompeii which starts tonight (14 December '10).

A potentially interesting study but I wonder if they have thought through all of the ramifications and the varying factors which could have an influence on the composition of the coins in their collection. Firtsly the report metions that so far they have only analyised 20 coins although they intend anlysing another 100. Given the sheer volume of ancient coins in circulation in a country like Greece, let alone in the entirity of the Roman empire, along with ifferent mint sites and the possibility of gold or silver based coinage or even treasures raided from defeated enemies being melted down and 'restruck' that seems an extremely small sample base. Secondly, as I've mentioned in previous posts, some recent research into trace elements in metal ores indicates that a lot of the 'marker' elements which each source may contain are actually quite volatile and can easily be lost during processing or even additional elements transmitted in the case of coins or other items being struck by metal hammers. Taken together, irrespective of how good their analysis is these issues may make getting a 'positive' match between coin and ore origins extremely problematical to say the least. Despite this I will be interested to see if they can come to any conclusions at the end of their research.

The BBC report of the sale although shorter provides a couple of additional snippets of information. In same sale another famously rare 'book' was sold:

This must be one of the rarest of all finds and in suprisingly good condition as reported by Archnews

OK, locking shields over their heads does seem like a testudo. Can the Gauls be credited as the first to use this formation? Personally I wouldn't like to take bets on who first thought up the idea of putting their shields over their heads while someone was dropping rocks and other missiles on it. The question is possibly more properly whether soldiers were actively trained to do so and the description by Livy is unclear on this point but to me somehow suggests more of an ad hoc reaction than a pre-planned manouver.

There were some items of apparel which were an indicator of class liek the toga virilis (the toga of an adult man) which is explained at length on the Lacus Cirtius site. In addition I beleive slaves probably had identifying garments but apart from that while some professions may have had specific apparel in most cases I suspect these have not been recorded. Although it may be buried somewhere in one of Mommsen's volumes on Roman Law; I do not remember noticing any Roman reference to a specific requirement for a "beggars coat". However, on a quick search it does seem to crop up on several sites as writings relating to a Biblical story. If it originates in the Bible then my assumption would be that it probably derives from Hebrew religious practices, which had the force of law in most of Palestine despite the Roman presence, rather than being a specifically Roman legal practice.

I suspect the Wikipedia testudo origins suggestion is based on the quote in the on-line version of Livy (from 1905) which is referenced at the end of the section:

A further report which includes a summary of the initial items recovered as well as a video of the Burnham hoard being 'block lifted' from the Essex field is now available on Past Horizons.

I agree that it is a somewhat confusing book seeming to straddle at least two stools and not exactly explicit in what market it is aimed at but this very ambiguity could actually be a good thing. I had a quick 'browse inside' on amazon and although the cartoons sit a bit unfortably with the text the comments in the caveat lector (forward) very reasonably state the issues with any interpretation tending to be one of multiple possibilities. In addition there are some very astute comments in the 'References and Commentaries' listed from page 104 onwards. All in all I think it is the type of book that many early teens may find an interesting an dinformative read and could easily provide adults with a good starting point for further research.

I would agree with Byraxis that the most southerly Roman related objects are likely to be found in the Eastern side of Africa rather than the west where the Roman's seem to have had a deliberate policy of not going much further south than Morocco. There have been several discoveries of Roman material, probably imported, found at Meroe above the Fifth Cataract of the Nile and this is liable to be a lot further south than the edge of the Sahara where Roman influence stopped south of Libya/ Algeria and Tunisia. Without checking Miller's The Spice Trade of the Roman Empire, 29 BCto AD641 I am uncertain if there is any proven evidence for Roman trade much further south than Meroe along the coast of Africa but wouldn't be suprised if Miller indicated that there was.

Looks like you are having one of the traditional 'milestone' birthdays today so here's hoping you enjoy it

I have now checked the National Museum of Scotland website regarding the incidence of carved stone balls and it states that: Although they may date from approximately the same period as the arrival of the blue stones at Stonehenge and the construction of other stone circles in the Late Neolithic I am even less convinced than in my previous message that this is really a viable explanation for how large stones used in stone circles would have been moved elsewhere.

Something which most people thought was becoming impossible has occured a totally new idea about the movement of large stones in ancient times as reported by 'Science Daily' I suppose it is an explanation for the enigmatic carved stone balls which have long puzzled archaeologists at many Scottish sites although I do wonder how effective the grooved stone variety would be acting as 'ball bearings' in 'real' life. I am also less than certain that such carved stone balls have been found in any concentration (if at all) at large monumental sites in the south

This topic is already being debated under 'Anthropologists looking for Roman legion in China' thread here

From my current PC I can't see any authorship information on this item on the 'Discover' website but IF the apparently unattributed genetic marker information quoted is accurate it does make the Roman attribution of the Liguan people even more unlikely

Have a great day

Marek, In an earlier post I suggested Alan Wilkins book and think that it may well be a good reference point however as you are looking for specific technical information I would strongly advise that you send your questions to one of the Roman Re-enactment societies who have already had experience in making such devices. I know that a few years back Alan was involved with the Roman Military Research Society and was responsible for the design and eventual reconstruction of several different types of such weapons, including a massive ballista featured in the BBC documentary 'Building the Impossible' I believe Alan sometimes worked in conjunction with Len Morgan (also in RMRS), so you may be able to get the information you need if you contact Len via the Fabrica page on the RMRS website. If they are not available to help then one of the other long established Roman Re-enactment societies, especially if they have their own 'artillery' reconstructions, may be able to help if you contact them instead.

I am not convinced that the archaeological record supports the view of a ubiquitous use of tiles for roofs throughout Roman Britian so I would put one caveat on this. Although a proportion of the population in Britian probably did reside under a tiled roof it was probably more a material used for 'status' buildings and a few other buildings mainly in towns so by no means universally used. The roofing material of choice in most rural areas, unless you lived in a larger villa, retained a heavy pre-Roman influence as we have a lot of evidence now for roundhouses continuing in use well into the 3rd or possibly even 4th centuries AD so was probably a lot more skewed towards reed or other forms of thatch throughout the Roman period. <SNIP> I would agree that we 'could' use such a term but it is a bit of a mouthful which is probably why the Media still trot out the 'Dark Ages' tag on a regular basis. It may not be accurate but to a great extent is self-perpetuating having gained almost a cult following amongst a large number of people.

The term 'Dark Ages' is one which a lot of modern Historians are pulling back from using now as I understand that it really stems from one of the Early Christian writers talking about the situation which he saw in Britain rather than in Europe as a whole. The term used generally now is the Middle Ages and not just by 'revisionists'. The period as a whole is usually cited as starting with the fall of Rome in AD 476 AD, although Britain's period possibly started somewhat earlier with the departure of Rome's legions and the consequent loss of direct influence sometimes cited. IIRC again, as far as Britain is concerned, ending with the victory of Henry VII at Bosworth in AD 1485. However the actual end date varies depending upon which specific European country you are discussing and stretches over something like a century.

Two separate threads on this topic have now been merged here. BTW I suspect that I have told some of this before on the welcome thread as my forum name comes from my period in a Roman Re-enactment society. My "avatar" image actually comes from a mosaic I photographed in Tunisia another version of which is on my Leptiminus gallery.

You may also like to have a look at Alan Wilkins book Roman Artillery as it identifies some of the issues with any attempt at a reconstruction and a lot of it is based on his experience in Roman military re-enactment groups in Britain.

Caldrail, this may be some of the evidence you are thinking of: The Arch at Orange has some images of hexagonal shields on it although these may be part of an image of a triumph, I believe relating to the Battle of Actium, in which case I wouldn

EADT24 are carrying a long report on the recent discovery of around 400 photographs, some in colour, from the original 1930's excavations of the Sutton Hoo ship burial. Up to now the only photographs from the excavations consisted of the official British Museum taken 29 black and white images so there is potentially a lot of information which can be gained from these new images about how the original excavations were organised and carried out.