Northern Neil

I have Amazon UK open on another window, and I am about to order our very own Sonic's Belisarius!!

Rome always seemed to need an excuse to maintain a veneer of legality or moral high ground - at least during the Republic. The second punic war developed after the Carthaginians used force to expel moorish raiders. Because it did not apply to Rome for a 'permit' to use armed force, this gave Rome the legal pretext for finally ridding the world of the Carthaginian state. Again,Rhodes had no option but to 'provoke' Rome into open war, but only after Rome had declared Delos a tax-free port in the first instance.

...and still do. The Holy Trinity itself, with the Virgin Mary, gives worshippers a choice of four 'gods' to fit different situations. Plus there is the army of souls who were made into saints after their deaths, which suggests a continuity of the Roman practice of deifiing prominent citizens. In addition, the saints cover just about every aspect of temporal life, just as the old gods did. They get prayed to as well, despite the commandment of only worshipping one god. Also, the other gods are still there aren't they? Mercury - winged messenger, Angel Michael - winged messenger, for example. Could it be that they are both the same guy? To say that they are angels and not gods is a play on words - they are still up there, with all their supernatural powers. (According to the scriptures, by Dawkins!)

It seems that gold and silver always seem to have kept their prices relative to each other, about 20/1.

Ahh yes - just spotted Australia. Russia is there too (surprisingly) - New Jersey.

Wow - it is great to see a piece of the Wall in the midst of the conurb. of Newcastle - I had assumed that most of the stuff in the city had been overbuilt or fully demolished! I find it strange indeed that the eastern end of the wall - Arbeiia, Segedunum and fragments like this are visible, yet the western end, far less built up and developed, has little more than a dim suggestion of the vallum, and perhaps the vague outline of the platform of Stanwix fort.

Oddly enough, I think Britain didnt get on because its GDP, like that of Germany and Australia (Also absent) is slightly greater than that of France which gets California, the richest US state.

Although not related directly to things Roman, This made me laugh when I heard about it on radio. A Czech artist ( the same one who painted a Russian tank pink during the Velvet Revolution) was commissioned to make a sculpture depicting attributes of EU countries as part of the Czech EU presidency. What emerged was an airfix type model with different countries depicted according to crude national steriotypes. For example, Germany was shown as a series of autobahns in a vague swastika shape, France was shown as 'On Strike' and the bit where the UK was supposed to be was empty, in recognition of our constant euroscepticism. Although any EU officials are very cross, I laughed my socks off! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/...ritain-out.html

Absolutely! Seriously though, I suspect that in the confines of a tunnel, the ignition of the pitch and sulphur must have had an almost explosive effect, rapidly clearing the tunnel of defenders.

Which makes me wonder - at risk of broadening the topic, where did they store all their cash? Did the state have treasuries? What kind of safeguards were there to prevent thefts from treasuries?

I think the system worked well when it was clear that the co - rulers were subordinate. Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius both had assistants who administered the East, and stretching a point, you could even include Marcus Antonius as an example. I think the problems became more acute when these co-rulers were given imperial titles.

Many thanks, friends! Actually the ale was consumed on the evening of the tenth, so I spent the whole of yesterday recovering. As 50 appears on the horizon I cant celebrate quite like I used to! This coming year there are more projects in the pipeline for HOMVNVLVM - including completion of the Theatre ( To be opened by Laurensolivius and Alecguinnus) rebuilding of the bath houe and completion of the city wall circuit. Watch this space!

As a free thinker with some sympathetic leanings toward polytheism, I often find myself wondering what would have happened had Maxentius defeated Constantine, thus preventing the train of events which would promote a tiny mystery cult into a re - invented state religion, and later a world religion. Although I like to think that the Classical World would have continued, with true science emerging centuries earlier, my personal view is that there was perhaps some inevitability with the rise of monotheism. Here is why. Throughout history, social and technological conditions have made inevitable certain events. Even if the personalities surrounding these events had not existed or somehow been prevented from their courses of action, someone else would have stepped in and enabled the event to happen. A few examples: 1) Columbus - Improvements in shipbuilding and navigation, coupled with the completion of the reconquista and a need to move on to fresh glories, meant that the Americas were bound to be discovered by the Spanish/Portuguese (In a permanent and meaningful way) sometime around 1500. 2) Protestantism - without Martin Luther this would probably have happened anyway, as Europe moved out of the Middle Ages and a growing middle class demanded more say and challenged the status quo. 3) World Wars 1 and 2 - forecasted by the American Civil War, the flowering of the industrial age coupled with an agressive cynicism towards traditional forms of government would probably have given rise to any number of Stalins, Hitlers and Mussolinis. Japan, still in a feudal mindset but emboldened by the acquisition of modern technology, would have tried its luck at some stage regardless of the presence of Tojo, Hirohito etc. So, what do you all think? My view is that sometime around the first half of the 4th century, an intelligent Roman emperor would have noticed the fanaticism and loyalty with which believers pursue their beliefs, and would have recognised this as a force with which to repair a fragmenting state. Also, the social conditions were such that the common people needed something to ensure their loyalty to the state as it plodded through the third and fourth centuries, and what better than a religion that promised an eternal life of reward, luxury and paradise in return for a few decades of obedience now? I think that if Constantine had been thwarted, or otherwise prevented from embarking upon his career, monotheism would have taken hold anyway, maybe under the name of Mithraism, or 'Bacchusism' or whatever, but basically purveying the same message of obedience and reward, and with essentially the same magic tricks performed by the hero, to strengthen the belief of the peasentry. Maybe it was also inevitable that Persia adopted the eastern varient of this later on and used this to re ignite its 'business as usual' situation vis-a-vis the Roman Empire. Islam, after all, is little more than a regurgitation of Judaism and Christianity, with a bit of early medieval Arab history thrown in.

Yes - we understand the etymology. This was the case in the early republican period, but not for most of the period under scrutiny. For most of the later republican period and all of the imperial/early dominate the unit strngth was 80 men, though the term 'Centuria' was retained. In much the same way, British hussar regiments no longer ride horses, but retain their nomenclature.

Gaius was 25 when he became emperor. (Born 12 AD) True. Sorry! Even so, with my mental health nurse's head on, I would be hesitant to advise making a head of state of someone with such a dysfunctional upbringing. Looking back, I was only slightly less vulnerable and foolhardy at 25 than I was at 18!

Gaius was 25 when he became emperor. (Born 12 AD) True. Sorry! Even so, with my mental health nurse's head on, I would be hesitant to advise making a head of state of someone with such a dysfunctional upbringing. Looking back, I was only slightly less vulnerable and foolhardy at 25 than I was at 18!

Well, I 'took the plunge' last night and signed up. Maybe its my computer, I dont know - but after 4 hours loading the game, I spent a further 2 hours frowning and giving myself a migraine simply learning how to point with the dagger - thingy, and then change again to viewing mode. I could not do this and eventually had to move around the place crabwise as I could not look left or right! In the meantime the

Here's a tip. Do NOT upgrade your city walls to 'Epic Stone Wall'. For some strange reason, the game designers leave them flat, without crennelations. Although you can place ballistae etc. on them, your troops are actually more vulnerable. The 'Epic Stone Walls' only are an advantage if you auto resolve your battles in campaign mode.

I would like to fight WITH Maxentius AGAINST Constantine, and do my bit to restore Rome as the centre of the Empire, and try to prevent the monster Constantine from gaining power, re - centering the Empire in the east, reducing the legions to a watchtower militia and introducing measures which would pave the way for the destruction of classical culture.

I believe they were. Although not faced in marble, the clamps holding the dressed stone of the Flavian Amphitheatre were very visible, and one can still see the small holes (like staple holes) where the iron clamps used to be. I suspect that on marble buildings the clamps must have been whitewashed or otherwise waterproofed, to prevent unsightly orange streaks running down the marble.

I believe they were. Although not faced in marble, the clamps holding the dressed stone of the Flavian Amphitheatre were very visible, and one can still see the small holes (like staple holes) where the iron clamps used to be. I suspect that on marble buildings the clamps must have been whitewashed or otherwise waterproofed, to prevent unsightly orange streaks running down the marble.

I believe that 'Vlach' is a general name given to all latin peoples of the Balkans/ lower Danube. They became today's Romanians and Moldovans, and their Romance language indeed indicates that they continued to speak Latin, not Greek like the rest of the Eastern Empire. Our friend Kosmo will no doubt be able to give a far more detailed picture.

There is also another book in this series you might like called 'Frontier Wolf', set between the time of Silver Branch and Lantern Bearers (about 340). I found Silver Branch a bit disjointed and the story slightly preposterous, but Frontier Wolf returns to the same style as Eagle of the Ninth.

I agree completely. Antonio Banderas would've made a better 'Spaniard' in the film Gladiator than Crowe, in my opinion.