Favonius Cornelius

The wee folk. They could be hiding anywhere...mean and mischievous, with sharp little cruel daggers.

That's pretty cool. Will certainly get it. I hope they come out with a Fantasy Total War at some point though. Thanks for the heads up!

Ahem, yes.

So, you're saying that Praetorian guards walked around in togas with swords? The popular movie representations of Praetorian Soldiers marching around in armor is all wrong? Stylus...stilettoes....I think you're on to something Pertinax!

Heh, I wonder if the laws spawned a generation of daggers which looked like a stylus and could be used like a stylus but were just a BIT big... http://www.edgarlowen.com/b5939.jpg Ouch!

I was wondering if anyone knew any particulars about the laws (if any) restricting the possession and carrying of arms and armor in the Empire. Was it illegal for a man to have his own gladius and armor and not be a soldier?

Incorrect!!

While we are waiting for Moonlapse's info, I'll pose another question: The Kings of the Britons traced their lineage through a certain man, but what was the original Latin name of his home city?

It seems that for whatever reason the native Corsicans never embraced agriculture. ("Ignorant of tillage" according to Diodorus. Thats why I called them 'pastoralists' and not 'agri-pastoralists'). From what I've read it would also seem that even in the Roman period, little grain was grown (or even imported) and cultivation of grapes, olives & fruit was almost completely neglected. Maybe thats why they sent people like Seneca into excile there? As to the milk, it would have been sheep & goat. Corsica does not strike me to be a very fertile land...more a rock than a field. I'm sure if the growing was good some Roman would have started a latifundia there at some point.

He did this? Was it for the Aegyptians?

I've never heard of a disease affecting a population proportionally more because the people ran around half-naked in the sticks or lived in cities. However, assuming that cities did contribute to proportionally greater degree of disease, I would say that there is a trade off for anything in life, the plus side of cities being the various bonuses to production and intellectualism.

I don't even know where to begin with this one. No, I do. It begins with the sacred Twelve Tables.

As much as I love Caesar, I have to admit I do wonder if he should be painted in such a Republican light as I am hearing here...

Hm, yes perhaps TOO close to the capital which would be sure to have a decent garrison would not be tactically feasible. Lidda?

Samaria?

At midnight behind the theater, assemble the guards, and when the emperor leaves.... I think the Empire probably knew more failed plots that any other era in human history. Which is your favorite?

I'm having a hard time understanding what your 'old boys club' refers to exactly? Do you mean established scholars loosing touch with true scientific approach?

Thing that gets me most about some professors is academic arrogance. I guess the need to be smart and get grant money to carry on sometimes develops too competitive a take on scholarship, when it should always be a cooperative effort.

Well, true, but that thread asks how did you get interested, this one wants details on what about them is interesting, so I figure this is valid. For me there are quite a few reasons: incredible military system and wars, amazing personalities, the Republic and the political battles, the fact that all western society, and now even eastern more and more so, has the stamp of the Romans. Bottom line, their legacy is so influential as to make their long history the most important to man so far in my opinion.

No, not necessarily. The best trade routes to Europe lay through Asia Minor at this time. As you probably know, most of Europe at this time was Christian. Christian trade could not always travel safely through Muslim lands (i.e. Syria, Egypt, Israel etc.), and whilst the Byzantines held Anatolia and Asia Minor, along with Armenia owing allegiance to the Empire, the best course for European merchants for trade with China, India etc was to via the Byzantine provinces in this area. Thus, merchants could pass relatively safely through Christian land, and the Byzantines could impose taxes, levies and duties on the goods passing through the Empire, as well as conducting it's own trade to China etc. However, once the Turks (Muslims) had control of Anatolia and Asia Minor, it was no longer safe to send Christian merchant trains through this area. Thus, not only did the Byzantine's trade with the East and the West dry up, but they could no longer exact money from the European merchants passing through their territory. And thus, nations like Venice realised they could do a better job with trade then the Byzantines, and they took most of the trade from Byzantium. With the lifeblood of the Empire (trade) rapidly dwindling, it's economy collapsed, and it couldn't hire or maintain armies, and thus collapsed. The problem of trade with China and India and the other areas supplying exotic goods being blocked by the Muslims lasted into the renaissance, and resulted in people such as Columbus, Magellan etc searching for alternate routes to India and China. Ah I see. And I am guessing that a quick jump by ship from Constantinople to some port in the eastern Black Sea/Cholchis area would not help at all? It's this corridor I am curious about. After all Trebizund seemed to be able to ike out a decent living in its area, I assumed it had something to do with trade along the Black Sea.

My personal opinion is this theory is all bunk, but you can read more about it here: http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=2951

I find it interesting that a lot of genetic research goes into the origins and nature of the Ashkenazi Jews. My assumption is because this strain of Jews has a lot of hereditary disease and so those who research it look to find clues to understanding this. However when people begin to talk about genetic intellectual superiority, you begin to wonder: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_Jews

Ya Stern gets a lot of flack from people who have these enshrined and archaic ideas of what their version of morality is, but I think that its the modus of his operandi, and I think we need a guy like him around to piss off people like this. It's refreshing when on the other hand you have insane fools like Pat Robertson calling for international assassination and holy war. I'll take the nudity thanks.

Such a thing has been present through every epic of history.

All I have to add to my colleague