Northern Neil

Mon Francais est pas mal ... pour un Anglais! Many Scots are under the impression that they were too 'hard' for the Romans, hence Hadrian's Wall. When it is pointed out to them that Scotland wasn't economically viable for the romans to colonise but they had to close the frontier somewhere, they dont like it one bit!

hahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Great!!!

Maybe the West should've allowed the Islamic government there to prevail. At least they might have unified the country, and Oi tell 'ee, me shiverin' matey, the offer of international aid may have prompted such a government to clamp down on the pirates themselves.

We Brits are very realistic when it comes to appraising Francis Drake, and are fully aware that he was as nasty a piece of work as you can get, even though he was sanctioned by the crown. When the British Royal Family changed dynasties, James I ordered all piratical activity to cease. Walter Raleigh ignored this, and was executed to smooth over relations between England and Spain. I must say, these Somali pirates seem a rather tame lot, speaking in relative terms of course Thats unless I've missed something. They appear to treat their captives well, and I have not heard any news stories of them comitting gratuitous murder or torture. I would love to hear ' Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum' shouted in an African accent...

Yes: 'One day the Roman Empire started to decline'. very good indeed - in the style of '1066 and all that'!

'There was this legion that could beat... anybody... it could beat the Spanish and could beat anybody...there was 3000 men in a legion' Roman general with stirrups... a very dubious fantasy type weapon wielded by the heavily made - up warrior queen, who simply states how nice it is to ride horses... by Jove, it sucks already!! I feel genuinely saddened for the committed re-enactors who as extras must be boiling with rage at the main players for not even reading the most basic information on the characters or people they are supposed to be playing.

Was this map orientated with south at the top?

Take a look at this!

I am currently away from home and have a limited access to computing facilities just now, but I will start to gather data on hotels etc when I get back home next week. Maybe myself and Augustus can PM each other as I haven't thus far done any organising for one of these. Would camping be out of the question? It would certainly cut down on expenses for everyone.

That wont bother me too much - I dont mind fictional plot lines in Roman films, as long as the gear, buildings and contexts are authentic.

So is it st. Albans then? September - ish would be best for me, as August is pretty tied up work wise. But, I dont mind doing some of the organisation even if I cant get there.

Its also nice of them to carry on acknowledging the old gods, albeit demoting them to the rank of 'Angel'. Its also nice that they carry on the old Roman ritual of deifying prominent people, even if the word 'Saint' is used instead of 'God'. Pity you couldn't get inside on the day of the Equinox, when I believe a strange phenomenon occurs.

qu'est- ce tu fais ce soir, pussycat?

Hmm.. if so, maybe the fiddler on the roof is exaggerating his stature somewhat

Remarkable as ever, Ludovicus. Has the tetrarch's foot been reunited with the rest of the porphyry relief?

...or even an African American bodybuilder. How long must this madness persist? Do these idiots not realise that the Sahara in ancient times presented a barrier as impenetrable as an ocean, and that North Africans were as separate from Black Africans as they were from Chinese and Amerindians? If I was a native of the Maghreb, I would be very annoyed indeed about this. A contemporary bust shows him thus:

What about Verulamium?

happy birthday, old boy. Glad you are still with us!

I do not understand the 'all or nothing' approach to this. Wether Cleopatra had African ancestry or not does not exclude her Greek ancestry. A line of descent three centuries old is likely to have several different strands, much the same as with any individual who is part of an immigrant population.

belated happy birthday, old chap!

Are there any traces of Greek in Napolitano and Oscan?

This is one of the most interesting pieces of archaeological news I have seen for some time. When I was about 14 I visited Pont du Gard in southern france, and walked through the top channel, which carried the water. At one end there is a tunnel bored into the surrounding hillside, a continuity odf the aqueduct. I found this impressive enough, about 60 meters long. But - 66 miles?!!! Thats impressive, to give a typically British understatement!

You'll care when our government decides to send troops into Darfur next, and our tax dollars start pouring into another backward country that hates our guts. -- Nephele Sadly, neither your government or mine will ever send troops into this area because it is not profitable. And that is exactly why we should care. These countries hate our guts because our military intervention so obviously follows our own interests, and is not at all geared to combating injustice, like our propaganda states. And this is just as transparent to people in these countries as was the crass propaganda of the Eastern Block a generation ago to us. Our intervention in Iraq replaced one tyranny with another (as the locals see it). Our intervention in Darfur or Rwanda would have given ( or will give ) the world a sign that our intentions are benign and in the interests of benefiting innocent people. Maybe, if that happens, people will start hating our guts a little bit less.

Add another one to that. I think that was a bit of a given on this forum, though. Go to my local pub when the football is on and the answers will be less consistant.

Well, speaking as a half - Frenchie (and we should know!!) I have often stored the remaining half bottle of Vin Rouge in the fridge, and the next day allowed it to 'breathe' a while before drinking. No discernible difference!