Lost_Warrior

That's a good explaination for the large neck guard, I had not found a decent one (honestly I simply hadn't thought of that) and it seemed that the overly large neck guard would simply have been a nussance (of course, when you are fighting in close formation without a terrible amount of room to move, any restriction of movement because of that huge helmet would not be a very big problem). It might not be that missiles were thrown from above, as much as any arrow or missile is generally thrown at an angle to achieve greater distance and therefore would tend to come at it's target at a downward angle. And Furius is right about the Celts, (and many other ancient peoples) those large sweeping slashes *would* most likely land on the head and shoulders of the men. Remembering that in the case of the Celts, size was a big factor (Celts being of "monstrous" size compared to the Romans) and a taller Celt was even more likely to hit a legionaries head, shoulders, or even back with a slashing weapon of some kind. Of course, if nothing else, it DOES keep the rain from running down the back of legionaries' armor

Have much fun. I'll send you a "wish I was there" postcard. Can't wait to see those pictures!

Oh, wow.... I hate when stuff like this happens. I have a really good week or so and then something bad always happens to me too...the upside is that if something bad happens usually something good is just around the corner. It might take a little while, but it always happened so far

Prayers were generally accompanied by offerings of incense or whatever the family happened to be eating for dinner that night, and prayers/offerings were usually given after dinner and before desert. Some Romans prayed in the mornings as well, and occasionally special food offerings were made (the food being cooked specifically for offerings and probably not eaten by the people.) As for the prayers themselves, well, the "main" prayers were probably simple and concise, as were the ceremonies surrounding them. Prayers offered at other times perhaps not so concise, or so simple, but prayer being a highly individual thing I doubt there was any real "set" way to pray outside of the prayers offered at specific times ie. the family offering, except that the prayers would follow the Roman ideals as much as every other aspect of Roman life. Romans prayed to their specific gods (each family had their "preferred set" of gods) as well as all other gods, and some even went as far as to pray to "gods we do not know about" in order to avoid offending any. Romans viewed many of their prayers as "contracts" with the gods, and if the Roman performed the prayer and ceremony improperly in some way, the gods no longer had to hold up their end of the "bargain", so in an attempt to keep all the gods happy and secure a favorable outcome for the family and the state, the "prescribed" prayers were carried out with the utmost of duty and attention to detail.

Thanks for posting that Pertinax. I'll look up the book again.

Hmm...now I'm even more curious. When I get the chance I'll try to find the book in my school library and quote what it says about them. It was just a tiny blurb.

Hehe I was sharing driving stories with my neighbor.... My first time behind the wheel of a car, first day with my permit, I was off the road on a small street near a very rich neighborhood. I was off the road, on the LEFT (for those in other countries that's the WRONG side of the road in America). A couple in a Lexus came by, I stopped the truck (still off the road) and you should have seen the looks on their faces, they were terrified (no doubt thinking I was drunk or something and they were driving thier shiny Lexus). Then they saw who was driving and burst out laughing! LOL I've gotten much better since then... Thanks for the happy BDays!