Northern Neil

I agree with this entirely. Incidentally, and admittedly a little tangential to this subject, the initials S.P.Q.R. appear on a monument dedicated to Stilicho, and I remember elsewhere on this forum reading that even in Julian's time references were still being made to the 'Republic'. The categorization Caldrail refers to can sometimes blind us to these small but significant reminders that, for the people of the Empire themselves, the Pax Romana was very much alive and ancient traditions considered obsolete in the later Empire to modern historians were in fact continued.

It is true they acquitted themselves well at Strasbourg; however, the passage in Ammianus Marcellinus I refer to describes their efficacy and fighting quality during the Persian campaign.

This indeed the case, and units which had retained the prefix 'LEGIO' continued to be so named until the early 7th century when the Thematic reforms took place. If I had my books handy (I am away from home just now) I could even name some Legions which retained their designation from at least the third century up until the time of Heraclius in 625.These legions were, in turn, originally formed from vexillations of the earlier legions formed in the Principate. Caldrail's source paints a depressing picture of the later Roman army, and this description of forces under some of the later Roman emperors certainly applied to a great many units. This was not, however, universal. Ammianus Marcellinus refers to Gallic legions in the service of the General Julian ( later emperor ) who fought with great discipline and almost fanaticism, and whose engineering skills were on a par with those of the earlier empire.

Do it, Ghost, do it! You know you want to. It was on Turner's Movie Classics channel over here and probably will be repeated at some point. Me too!! This looks hilarious. I especially liked the bit where the legionaries patiently waited for the scythe - wheeled chariot, and all fell to the ground screaming as it rode past, presumably after having their legs sliced off by the scythes! Brilliant.

Do it, Ghost, do it! You know you want to. It was on Turner's Movie Classics channel over here and probably will be repeated at some point. Me too!! This looks hilarious. I especially liked the bit where the legionaries patiently waited for the scythe - wheeled chariot, and all fell to the ground screaming as it rode past, presumably after having their legs sliced off by the scythes! Brilliant.

The unit would easily be able to sieze Rome, and with probably little expenditure of ammo from their 'magical' weapons. All they need do then is to persuade the Romans that their weapons are gifts from Mars, and to suggest that they are inexhaustible. This would be easy to do. Send envoys to the rest of the Empire, together with a company in each major regional capital (Keeping half the unit in Rome itself), and then - Bingo! An empire is yours.

I assume, then, that the clenched fist to the chest is a Hollywood invention?

Yes, commiserations - my 'big 50' next!

Ok, a fellow who was a bit of a contrast to the last one. The effete pearl diadem gives away the period. Also, he was a bit of a contrast to his father, too.

I often wonder if the 'Plagues of Egypt' story could be a garbled account of the chaos and death which would have occurred in the Eastern Mediterranean round about the time of the Santorini eruption. The date and the Pharaoh are about right.

Could this be Maximinus Thrax?

The entire series feaures lineal descendents of Marcus and Cottia. These are: Eagle of the Ninth The Silver Branch Frontier Wolf The Lantern Bearers Sword at Sunset Dawn Wind Throughout the entire series, the family ring with its flawed emerald is worn by the main characters.

Chelmsford 123!

I received my DVDs from Amazon yesterday; I am watching the second episode of season 2 as we speak. 'You have on your staff a man widely acknowledged as the finest civil engineer in the Empire' 'Then why isn't he here?' 'He is!' 'Sorry Viatorus, I didn't recognise you by the description. If you had said "A man widely acknowledged as the most boring old fart in he Empire" I would have made the connection more easily' Terrific!

I just ordered mine!

I'm not entirely sure what you need, but here goes. Forgive me if I am suggesting points you are already aware of, or ideas you have already tried. Eye Colour: Chances are that, being from central Italy, this would be brown. Hair Colour: This would almost certainly be black. Skin colour: 'Olive' complexion common to many people of mediterranean origin. Perhaps if these physical attributes are artistically added to an image of Skipio's bust, a reasonable human likeness can be obtained? I know that artists have done this with other Roman figures, with quite convincing results. Of course, the eye/hair colour and complexion are educated guesses. After all, He could have been blond and blue - eyed. But I doubt it! In this example, I would say that Caligula looks fairly typically Italian. Hope this helps.

Could this be a barrack block at MEDIOBOGDVM, the fort at Hardknott Pass, Cumbria? The hill in the background looks VERY much like Black Coombe on the Cumbrian coast.

Ok, Here goes. Based on a combination of factors - reputation, engineering/performance, and romance: 5) Vaught Corsair 4) P51 d 3) FW 190 2) P47 1):To Quote Jeremy Clarkson, from the UK TV motor - show Top Gear: The fact is simple. The Spitfire looked good. It was every bit as dashing as the young men who flew it, and in flight it was as graceful as any bird. Its progress through the sky seemed effortless, as though it was simply riding the breeze and its Merlin engine was only there to provide a suitable soundtrack. Possibly, just possibly, the Spitfire is the greatest machine ever made.

Welcome aboard, Fohu. I hope you decide to stay with us and share some of your knowledge and opinions. Regarding Constantine and his christianity, I believe that there are three main points which need to be considered: 1) For several decades prior to Constantine, efforts had been made by emperors to find a religion which would unify the otherwise diverse provinces and cultures of the Empire. Why did Constantine choose Christianity, rather than the many other very similar cults which existed at the time? 2) How much truth is there in the Pagan assertion that Christianity was the only religion which would forgive him for the murder of various members of his family? 3) To what extent did constantine influence the Christian religion to make it more palatable to Romans? Was a version of Christianity which was most amenable to the Roman mindset adopted in favour of other, possibly original versions of the religion? I pose these questions because in many ways, nothing major seemed to have changed with the adoption of Christianity, apart from a form of unity which gave the Roman World perhaps a further century or so of stability, and a sudden rush of self - denial and embarassment about natural functions and drives. Prominent people were still deified (sanctified), Women still ended up being second class citizens, pagan festivals were retained and renamed, and if one includes Father, Son, Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary AND all the saints, the Roman tradition of having a choice of 'gods' to pray to even remained. Could it be that Constantine's aims were primarily self - interest and politics?

TB, well done for bumping this long dormant but fascinating thread, which I was ignorant of as it predates even my membership here! I have no direct information on this subject, but hopefully a little bit of circumstantial stuff. It seems that there were two main trade routes from the mediterranean world to Black Africa. The Western route came through the sahara up the River Niger through Timbuktu, both of which were dimly perceived by the Romans. The Eastern route was a sea route, which originated somewhere around Zanzibar and came up through the Red Sea. Direct travel down the Nile from its source was vitually impossible because of an area of near impassable Mangrove swamp just south of the current Sudanese border. The question is, in the absence of any direct evidence, how many black traders, slaves, workers etc. actually travelled the full length of these routes, ending up in imperial provinces? Undoubtedly some did. Maybe there is new DNA stuff that could shed some light on this?

I find ANYTHING which pokes fun at so - called celebs funny. Mrs Northern Neil works as a Wardrobe Manageress in theatre and films, and has personally met some of our more dubious and vacuous z-listers. Some of them really are shallow as puddles, and a total waste of biomass!

I'm not sure that Guy in his initial post, or any subsequent poster, was actually making a case for modernity, so much as giving us an interesting insight into the Roman concept of hospitals. In any discussion such as this, advances they made which ultimately led to modern practice will naturally be remarked upon. I think there is a counter assumption going on here that when the advancement of some Roman achievements are referred to, and parallels noted, the writer is thinking of modernity. After all, none of us has come up with any assertion that they had an x-ray camera, antibiotics or a Machine That Goes 'Ping'. I would be interested, though, to hear of any other cultures at that time, or for any time up to the crusades come to that, when hospitals were purpose built.

Indeed, it was an hypothesis which was found to be valid 1900 years later. In much the same way as Leucippus and Democritus' hypotheses regarding atoms were subsequently found to be valid. Historically speaking, nothing is actually 'modern' prior to the year 1500. But I think it is fair to say that, as with so many other aspects of human development, the area of medicine in Roman times was quite advanced, and following the fall of classical culture and the moribund centuries of the early mediaeval age, it took a few hundred years before such advances were at a comparable level.

Even without getting carried away or making assumptions, it is difficult to ignore the modern parallels, though. True, religeous and astrological `influences muddied the picture somewhat, but the fact that there were purpose built hospitals at all, and that hygiene was a consideration, is pretty conclusive. As a dual trained nurse, I can see the modernity of many of these surgical instruments: