Trethiwr

Well if you would like Romanogram, you can have it. It is a very small repayment for all the great info you and the other boards members have furnished me with so far.

On the subject of my kids on their way to Rome, here's how they are getting on. There was a misunderstanding about an exotic animal which they say is called a "tigris" They tell me its like a wildcat but about four times as big, you know how kids exaggerate. One of these things escaped and killed a slave (we have those) the boys caught the tigris and wanted to keep it. The owner said no so my boys offered to release it and then the man changed his mind and told them to take it after all. I think the man changed his mind again later and accused them of stealing. Anyway they got rid of the evidence by killing the tigris in a religious ceremony. Nobody saw them because they were in some woods to the south east of Rome. Thing is, they've been hiding in the woods for over a week and they decided to try going to Rome on the Via Appia, which I presume is some sort of road. Does anyone know of a decent map of Rome and the immediate surrounding area which shows how the city looks now in the Consulship of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus and Gaius Norbanus Whenever I search I find something called "The Colosseum" and other such things which my divination tells me will not be built for several decades, yet.

Oh believe me it will be getting rigorous testing in a spiral of expertise. I already read snippets to my kids. Next when I have a first draft I will read it to them right through and see if it is not actually too BORING. Then it will go to my sister who is an English teacher, who will take out all the wild punctuation and suggest syntax changes. I also plan to send it with my second son who is going to a Celtic living history site in June. So it is perfectly on the cards if it gets past all that that I will want a Roman history expert to look over it and add their two penn'th. But just don't hold your breath. When I have changed it around I'll give it another read to make sure it still makes sense and then send test copies to my eldest son's school for feedback. I figure that new authors have next to no chance of getting a book published but that's no reason not to do the best I can to make the book good.

By the way, why is it a 'blanagram' and not a Romanogram?

Actually that could well creep into my book at some point. (Not a fake Roman passport obviously, just the name) It has a remarkable relevance to parts of the plot. There are a lot of cryptic horse references already.

Excellent, now to go and get a fake Roman passport to corroborate my cover. Ooops, what a give-away!

Oh go on then. oooieerthnvjloly so you will straight away make that oooieerthnviloli Which is rather a lot of vowels, methinks. So an 'o' is sure to become a 'u' for starters, right? Just don't think you can Latinise me any more. No offence. I've seen your cities. Forests of brick with stark white walls, streets and roads devoid of grass or trees. Roof tiles that interlock like the shields of your legionaries. I've seen how you shut out nature from your lives and let yourselves go soft with underfloor heating and windows with glass! Pah! Nothing wrong with a good roaring fire and a thatched roof. Plenty of furs on a raised wooden platform and you've got everything you need. There I've said my piece, what's my Latin name? Oh I'm a 'wiros' or 'vir' in your language. Quite similar really. How that turned into the word 'man' over the centuries is a mystery to me.

Definitely true Sylla. If this man can flog snail porridge to rich discerning diners in his restaurant (emperors new dish notwithstanding) then I'm sure he can make a tasty morsel out of pigs nipples. Also true that his final creations pushed factuality (did I just make up a new and terribly clumsy word?) aside in favour of edibility and televisual entertainment, approximately in that order. But I trust you agree that he did make some apology to purists for this small peccadillo.

Oh sorry I can't resist. Wolf nipple chips! Get 'em while they're 'ot - they're lovely!

Come on someone, help Nephele out. I don't have the software or know-how to do the you tube thing. My PC still has a starting handle for cold mornings! This whole series is brilliant. He goes into loads of detail about the history using as much source material as possible and where he uses modern facilities such as a hot tub to slow boil a whole pig, he admits he is not following the recipe. He did make his own garum but cut a few corners and he admitted it and explained why. True the diners sat and there wasn't entertainment. True he didn't serve up a peasant meal. TV has an hour to impress a fickle audience, we are not going to sit enthralled as he rustles up a simple broth with more gruel than meat. Mind you this is the guy who sells "snail porridge" in his five star restaurant to diners who will cheerfully part with

Hi folks, really thrilled to stumble across this thread right now. I am (as a side project to a book I am writing) curious about the whole 'ancient Britons using Woad' thing. It is relevant here because, for some reason I have not managed to understand (or perhaps accept) the Latin word Vitrum which means 'glass' has also been accepted by linguists to mean 'woad'. Julius Caesar wrote about the ancient Britons using glass/woad (??) to colour themselves. I read a post that said the woad translation was invented MUCH later (16th century) at a time when the British dye industry was losing out to imported indigo from the far east. The writer thought to make it a matter of patriotism to side with woad as the favoured dye of our ancestors. Clearly from all the fascinating posts and from all the glassmaking links which I have read in full, woad had nothing at all to do with the colouration of glass. So does anybody know of any supporting evidence from antiquity of the word vitrum being used to mean woad?? I am also posting on a Latin language forum about the linguistic side of this.

This stuff is dynamite. Thanks everybody. Its pretty much as I have been guessing and hoping. I'll level with you folks. I am writing a book. Before you all clamour for a royalty I have little hope of publication. However (just in case, and for my kids sakes) I am trying to keep it as historically accurate as possible, since I despise more than anything historical novels which can't be bothered to keep within the framework of reality. The only diversion from reality that I am allowing is that magic is real, at least sometimes. A lot of the characters that profess to do magic are in fact just clever tricksters, but the heroes can do the real thing. (Nowhere near as powerful and all encompassing as the world of Harry Potter though. ) The story focusses on three brothers in their teens. Celts from the Dorset area of England, who are learning to become druids but get thrown out and go on a bit of a tour of the known world. The eldest shares a birthday with Julius Caesar and their paths are destined to cross at some point. This is my first full book attempt and I feel that the story is always one step ahead of me. I'm trying to weave a climax and ending out of events around the late 80s BC, I have already decided NOT to be so cheesy as to use the third slave revolt of 73 BC and I'm planning on using the Gallic wars as the backdrop for a later story. Research takes me into tangents off tangents, almost ad infinitum. I THINK that the eldest brother is going to be kidnapped and sold into slavery perhaps ending up in the arena. They are accompanied by a powerful Druidess who has a full command of Latin. She is also six feet tall with platinum blonde hair to her waist and looks that could stop a chariot at fifty paces. (just in case I defy the odds and it goes to the big screen. ) They are of course aware that the Romans are no fans of their cult and are trying to keep a low profile. Unfortunately there is a bit of a misunderstanding. A consignment of exotic animals is being unloaded and a tiger escapes terrorising the dockside. My heroes, capture the animal and then demand to keep it as a reward. The owner 'accidentally' falls in the Tiber and the boys take this as a signal to leave with the tiger and also a monkey. It is for this that they are accused of theft, so...... If they were to hide out in the woods for a couple of weeks and just supposing the animals were killed as part of a special ritual. Do you think, having disposed of the evidence, the boys could at least proceed to Rome and have a fair chance of avoiding recognition for a while?

That sounds like an excellent answer. Well two excellent answers actually. The legal terms are especially helpful. At this time, the Dwr-Y-Tryges are not at war with Rome, since we have very little contact. Our hunting dogs are much prized in Italia, and our tin is vital for making bronze, and of course we have a little silver and gold. In exchange we get wine, and luxury goods such as fine ceramics. I love your drinking vessels, so refined. Obviously there are tribes which have in the past been hostile to Rome, but I trust the likes of Brennus are long forgotten, at least in official circles. Gallia Narbonensis has long been accepted as a Roman province and I am sure the remainder of Gaul can expect nothing but good relations with the Republic, for many generations, since both sides would have too much to lose from any conflict. We have a young and upcoming warrior called Vercingetorix who it is said is unbeatable in battle. However, supposing they went as merchants and ran into some trouble in Ostia involving an (unfounded) accusation of theft, say, of exotic animals. Would that pose a problem if they were to attempt to continue to Rome or would the anonymity of a big city be sufficient to cloak them? Also what is the Roman attitude at this time to such things as (for want of a better word) witchcraft? Not that my family ever has any dealings with the supernatural, especially NOT Druids.

Salve, I am an iron age inhabitant of the island you call Albion. In my language it is called Pretan. I am related to the chief of the Dwr-Y-Tryges and we are not short of gold and land. My kids are going on a trip to visit your capital around the year of your consuls L. Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus and C. Norbanus and wonder if they will be welcomed. Would they need to adopt a false identity or could well to do Celts (to use your term) visit Rome without being sold into slavery? I'm sorry I do not wish to offend anyone but one hears stories, you know?