Formosus Viriustus

Salve Nephele, Viriustus : I saw that in the lovely little protestant churchyard in Rome. A relatively recent tombstone wit just a name and the dates and the inscription VIR IVSTVS and I thought, well that's nice, if they put that on your stone. Not likely to happen for me though, so ....

Salve Klingan et Omnes ! Hey, great shot of the Palatine Hippodrome, that ! That is exactly how I remember it. I bet they did put on races there. With shetland ponies and dwarfs. No ? Nil desperandum, (PS I have asked Aldus Marius to contact you by e-mail to work things out for you if possible)

That place is absolutely on my "must see" touring list! I don't remember, but I think that place might have been featured in The History Channel series called "Cities of the Underworld." I did a little mention of the series here. The first season DVD is definitely a good buy! -- Nephele Salve Regina, Well, they would have been very stupid if they missed that one. I wrote a few pieces on the catacombs and Roman churchyards, over at SVR. There's some lovers of the macabre there too. Our host, M. Octavius Gracchus, even has his own graveyards of illinois site. Vale !

Slave ! Great one, Nephe, And they can't swim like the divine Miss Williams anymore these days, either. (I hope my Xanthippe doesn't hear me.) A rather dubious compliment though, I think : 'I never trust a woman ... but I might trust you ...' Lave !

Salvete Sylla et Omnes, Well, I think that the Soviets claimed up to 20 million casualties during WW II. Military and civilians includes. That doesn't seem like 'minimizing casualties' much to me. Now it may well be that for certain batlles or fronts they downsized the numbers for some reasons while the war was still going on : you don't want to demoralize new recruits (and their families) by making it all too plain that they are going to a certain death. Stalin might well have done that. Seems reasonable to me. But it's my opinion that in almost all catastrophic events, be it wars or natural disasters or epidemics, casualty figures are far more often exagerated than minimized. (The Acient Greeks being notable exceptions - they hardly ever lost a man; except those 300 - which were more like a couple of thousand - that one time.) But I'll leave that subject to rest, otherwise we might get into very muddy waters. Yes, I have read 'de Bello Gallico', I think three times now, over the years ( last time several years back ) and I have read his book on the Civil War once. But I must say : I read those books as much for their litterary value as for their historical content. That is to say : I have read dBG three times because it is a litterary masterpiece in my view. His book on the Civil war otoh is sketchy and unfinished, as I remember. So I might read it once again maybe (it's not such a large volume) or I might not. Then, the 1000 man trampled to death. Is that impossible ? I'd rather have a ten tonner truck coming at me (I might have a chance to get out of the way), than say 2 roman legions, 12000 heavily armoured and armed men who are running for their life. All in all I have the impression that Caesar is not a wholy untrustworthy author. Of course embellished things every now and then. You'll have to take him 'cum grano salis', I guess, but I think that's true for most if not all things. Certainly with me : I love my history, I love talking with other people about these kind of subjects but I'm not an expert or a scholar or anything like that. Look at it this way : I am also very passionate about music, but I can't read a note and I can't play one on any instrument. But I might occasionally mention an 'Andante' or even 'Counterpoint' because I less or more know what those words mean. Doesn't make me a musician, does it ? Anyways, nice meeting you. May the gods smile on you and may we both live to fight another day. Valete optime !

Jupiter's Darling (1955) [ Fabius (George Sanders) loves his beautiful but vulnerable city, Rome, and he also loves his beautiful but invulnerable fiancee, Amytis (Esther Williams). Fascinated by the tales she has heard about Hannibal (Howard Keel), who is about to attack Rome, Amytis is driven by curiosity to the edge of his camp. Captured, she makes a last request of the indifferent Hannibal...that he spare the city. She offers to lead him to a hilltop where she can prove that taking the city is not worth the trouble. Hannibal goes with her, even though she has to cup her hand under his chin and float him across a river as he can't swim. Before long, Hannibal is doing more surveying of Amytis than of Rome. And Fabius finds he can defend neither his city nor his fiancee against the advances of Hannibal. Especially after he has his elephants painted bright colors because Amythis thinks gray is drab. Written by Les Adams {longhorn3708@windstream.net} ] More at IMDbPro Plenty of 'Cunctator' jokes too, of course. Ah, they still knew how to make movies when I was a kid (*sighs*)

Salve Sylla, I see. That explains why they supposedly lost only 48.000 men at Cannae. Vale bene et nil desperandum,

The Horror ! The horror ! I have used that one already when we had our legendary 'Tar Wars over at SVR. And if you are 'that kind of girl', just google 'santa maria della concezione'. Hours of fun. (And a must if you visit Rome.) Smorfius Virtuosus

Salve Nephele, Since you are a Goth and interested in names, you might want to know where I got mine from. Click here formosus and shiver. article (don't have any nightmares)

Salve Klingan, Thanks for your answers. Living in Rome ? Oh you lucky, lucky man ! You must have done many good deeds in your previous lifes ! The Hippodrome Horti explanation sounds more reasonable, given the dimensions (unless it is much bigger than it looks in the pictures ) But they did get up to some funny stuff there on the Palatine. Did you see the temple Heliogabalus erected there for his black stone that he dragged to Rome all the way from Syria ? Well, there isn't much left of it, but it's the idea, right ? And did you get a chance to see Heliogabalus' Hippodrome ? Not too far from St John in Lateran ? That was a real one if I'm not mistaken. About the Vaticanus : I just vaguely remember having heard there was something there at the time. Whether a Circus or an Amphitheatre, you'll no doubt know much better than me. I am not much of a scholar and my memory often plays tricks on me. Yes, I did find your pictures and your blog, but I'm still new around here, so I probably make some quirky detours every now and then. (And thanks for moving my post to the right place.) And I'm looking forward to hearing more about your impressions of Rome if you will find the time. I do like your pictures. You are a good photographer. But to be frank, I am much more interested in impressions. Pictures you can find pretty much everywhere. But you are not in the habit of wanting to pose in them, as many people do. So that's a good thing. I really hate those ( 'Here's me in front of the Colosseum, and here's me in front of the Trevi fountain, and here's me in front of the Vatican, and here's me ....' where's my shotgun, so I can shoot you and your pictures ?) You'll find out more about that if and when you get into the SVR. I'll look into that. I am still a novice there too, but they are pretty liberal and not in the habit of banning people. Unless it was a really naughty boy that has used your IP before. But I'll ask around and let you know. Et salve to you, Silentium. Nice to see a Roman Roman. In amicitia,

Classical music and Ancient history Here is another Haendel favourite of mine : 'Ombra mai fu' from the opera 'Xerxes' Pretty popular this one. There are about a 100 versions of it on Youtube. The best version I heard is by . Nice pictures to go with it.And the worst, but also the funniest and the cutest, by

Salve Klingane Maxime, Oh, You Lucky Man ! Great Picts. I had some comments about that mysterious hole in the ground on the Palatine that might interest you. Due to my inexperience here, they ended up in the Introduction Thread. Have a gelati for all of us. Evita Brevis Ears Longa

Ave Prime Pile, Actually it was the other way round, I believe. It was the Emperor Penguin 'Aptenodytes Forsterius' who defeated the Batmen and the Robins, under their famous general 'Turdus Migratorius' at the Battle of Ross Island. Vale bene et nil desperandum, Smorfius Virtuosus

Salvete Klingan et Omnes, I just had a look at your pictures of the Palatine. They make me feel right back home where I belong. (Goose Bumps). Ahime ! I have been living in exile for far toooo long now. I couldn't quite work out how to add my comments there in the Photo Gallery, so I'll post them here. You wrote : 'This shot is taken from the hill into a large area in the ground. I don't know what it's been maybe someone can help me out?' and 'Yet another picture of the mysterious hole in the ground.' I think I can help you out with that. It is nothing less than a private Circus or Race Course. Yes, they had their own chariot races inside the Palace grounds. Well, it is a long way across the street to the Circus Maximus even if you have a covered gangway to your own private loggia there. You don't always want to see or be seen by the unruly plebs and they don't always put on a show there when you feel like seeing one. Most probably they also had a couple of gladiators slaughtered there when they got bored with the chariot races. I'm not sure which IMP CAES AVG COS TRIB POS exactly is responsible, but Heliogabalus later on had his own private Circus built just outside the walls to the South East of the city, in the Tiburtina area. The one in the Palatine was probably not big enough to his taste. But I couldn't get in there. I think it was not open to the public at the time. Also, might interest you, there was either a circus or an amphitheater (forgot which) on the Vaticanus at the time and ... the present St Peter's Square (Oval, really) with its collonades is a perfect match for the Colloseum. And that's no coincidence. You wrote : 'Again, a general view of the "hilltop". Those buildings are actually much larger then what they may seem here' As Epikouros said : 'The sun is as large as it seems' I'm not much of a picture-taking person myself, I just buy the postcards, so I have none to show you. But I have written down some of my fonder memories of my visits to Rome on the SVR site. Here's the link. when in rome Valete optime !

Salve Gaii Pauline Maxime, Thank you for your kind words. Vale bene, Formosus Viriustus

Great lead, Aurelia, I love that kind of PinC (or as I mistakenly used to say, PunC - another lesson learned) jokes. I'll have to look a bit further into that. You have to be careful though with that kind of stuff : those frigging peace loving hippies and obroms (obsessive romans) don't have much of a sense of humour. They take Everything Dead Serious. We have two humour threads running over at SVR. I have made a few contributions there myself. Not all equally funny, but hey, I'm only human. Here are the links. latin lovers roman humour Vale optime !

Gratias Nephele, Those are great. Now just let me get my dog leash and my winged helmet, and I'm off. And I fear the anagram bug is contagious. Here's the best I could come up with. It's a bit of an hybrid and I have a handful of letters left. Eery Edmund Harpifer. And here is a nice word I came across that I didn't know : 'Mundungus' (foul-smelling tobacco) . I am a chain smoker. Couldn't quite make it fit alas. Vale Optime !

Thanks for the new name, Nephele. It's the kind of name that has to grow on you, I guess. So I'll stick with the Formosus Viriustus one for a while. But I do like the Harpifer bit quite a lot. There's nothing I like better than chopping off gladiatrixes' heads. (Just kidding, Medusa ) Maybe I could add that part to my name ? Or would that be cheating ? Well, I have my black mascara and my spikey collar on and now I'm just waiting for an appropriate name to go out clubbing.

Salve Aurelia, I see, I got it the wrong way round then. The Girl from Ipanema, no less. And now living in cloudy and rainy Belgium. I do pity you. And someone from Brussels that does speak Dutch. That's unusual I must say. But you weren't born there. That probably explains it.

Salve iterum Aurelia, I must compliment you on your excellent taste in music. Yes, that World Cup put opera on the map in a big way, didn't it ? Puccini is also one of my absolute favourite composers. If I was so silly as to make lists, I'd put him in at n

Salve Aurelia, Yes, the SVR is a very friendly place too. A bit more 'sleepy' than over here. More adapted to my pace, I guess. Just a few people that are really active there, but all well worth meeting (well, almost all) I can guarantee you. There has been quite a bit of movement between the two sites these last few days, initiated by your friend Ursus. So you'll see a few familiar names over there too, just as I have seen some here. So, are you living in Brasil or what ? I assume you are Dutch speaking ? Out of courtesy to our fellow members I'll keep it to a minimum but I'll have to say : 'Leuk jou te leren kennen en vele hartelijke groeten' In Amicitia,

Well here is a line I like very much. Besides being a Roman-in-spirit, I am also a lover of good classical music. I guess it's far from unusual that people discover classical music through the movies. Have you never noticed that almost all real movie classics have excellent musical scores too ? Often 'original' music but not seldom great existing classical pieces. I have been known to say that Stanley Kubrick was an excellent director, but his greatest gift was maybe his taste in music and how he worked that into his movies. 'Clockwork Orange' and 'Barry Lyndon' to name a few that really stand out. The only thing I hate is that some directors just take little snippets of great music and paste them onto their pictures, don't bother to make it really fit, not even have the decency to fade it in or out properly. But well, if it gets some people to go and listen to the complete works, can't complain too much, I suppose. Most of the works I have seen mentioned here so far are some of the better known and popular pieces. Nothing wrong with that : there is usually good reason for why they are so popular. But there is an almost endless store of opera's and oratorio with libretti based on ancient and Roman history for those who like both. A lot of tedious stuff, that's true, but there are some real gems there too. Mozart has written a few. 'Mitridate, r

Thanks for the warm welcome at UNRV. A special thanks to Ursus, Nephele, Viggen and Aurelia. Looking forward to hearing more from you all. Valete Optime !

Salve Nephele, So, I am looking forward to what you can come up with for me. (And although it is a bit out of my age range, I wouldn't mind a good goth pseudonym too. eydurmeiherrrfgeepnia I have only read through a couple of your posts, but I am already a fan. And thanks for ridding me of that nagging headache that has been bothering me for years about the deal with the Caius / Gaius and Cnaeus / Gnaeus question. Vale Optime !