Northern Neil

Webster seems to think that this soldier died whilst still serving - or 'In Harness' as he puts it. Maybe the inscription gives some clue to this? Unfortunately I cannot find an image or verbatim quote from the gravestone. EDIT: I just found this: D M M AVRELIVS ALEXAND PRAEF CAST LEG XX V V NAT SYRVS OSR VIXIT AN LXXII ...C ... ...YCES ET S ... The inscription does not state wether he was serving or not as you say, Sylla. I wonder why Webster states he died 'Still in harness'?

Sorry Vig: I missed out Vienna, Budapest and Prague!

Inevitably the country which happens to be 'top Nation' in any particular era gets compared with great empires of the past, and to be fair on modern commentators, the governments of those countries often promote this. Is it any coincidence that the most beautiful and grandiose neo classical architecture can be found in Washington, London, Paris and Berlin?

Another senior officer was the Praefectus Castrorum or camp prefect....who had risen through the centurionate...For example, M.Aurelius Alexander, a Syrian of Commagene of XX VALERIA, died at the age of seventy two, as his tombstone at Chester indicates, still apparently in harness. Graham Webster, Roman Imperial Army. ...does Britannia beat Pannonia

At Cramond, the fort at the eastern end of the Antonine Wall, there is/was an inscription which read: LEG II AVG FECIT

I would say it was to save space, when one considers that almost half the words on many latin inscriptions seem to be abbreviations. Some inscriptions I have seen are almost like modern text-speak, they are so replete with abbreviations and space saving devices.

...Or simply declare elements of the last two posts and continue merrily with the discussion on legionary literacy.

As always, A mixture of Brian Setzer, Pep Torres and 50's Rock n' Roll/Rockabilly, punctuated by Django Reinhhardt, Les Paul and Julie London.

It will be 'The Roman Imperial Mausoleum in Late Antiquity (Hardcover)' for me. Aside from the earlier structures of hadrian and augustus, I had no idea these buildings existed.

I can trace my family back to a protozoa floating around in the Tethys Ocean.

In his book 'Collapse' ( http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2005/jan/15/society ) Jared Diamond suggests that the Little Ice Age starts somewhat earlier, round about 1350. His account of the extinction of the Greenland Vikings due to climatic factors is a harrowing and dramatic read.

Oh? Do tell! Is there a 'new Romantic' phase you would sooner forget?

It must be said that Belisarius (under Justinian) was the last general who made significant territorial gains in the name of the Empire, even though they were reconquests. The brief reconquests by the Comnene dynasty in the 10th cenury were paltry in comparison. Therefore I hold with Sonic's view that he is probably the last general who can be equated with figures from the Principate. That the Byzantine Empire was the same state as the one set up by Augustus is beyond doubt, and even the Franks of the Crusader period acknowledged this. However, they noted also that it was now run by Greeks. Furthermore, Constantinople - especially under Justinian - had a policy of distancing itself from its pagan, classical heritage. It is generally considered that by the end of the sixth century there had been a big enough cutural and linguistic shift to regard the Roman Empire of Constantinople as a different entity to the classical Empire of Ancient Rome.

Many thanks for your felicitations, friends. I hope I will be up to the job!

what, isnt he normal then?

I just have - absolutely amazing!!!

Ludovicus - this book is indeed a gem, I have it myself! It is one of my most beloved books - and I got it second hand for

Agreed. Though, if these were the only three people left in the world to have sex with, I'd have to go with Britney too. Hmm...pink at an absolute push...

Would I sound like too much of a curmudgeon if I answered 'None of the above'? I cannot STAND these identikit - standardised - plastic celebs who are unaccountably lauded as beautiful or desirable.

Jolly good idea, old boy - I think there are a few ongoing topics which could be moved here already!

haha! Yes!

...whereas mine, on the other hand, does. An EXTREMIS POPULARIS for me - sometimes the will of the people demands a temporary suspension of democracy

Mind you, a lot of Romano brit villages, even quite remote from the main Roman centres, were rebuilt with Rectangular buildings and small finds suggest a willingness to enjoy the luxurious material benefits of Roman culture.

As is always the case when I hear such vocal work, I started to cringe when Beyonce started adding her wobbly - vocal R+B type twist to it.