Northern Neil

I am a psychiatric nurse. A considerable second income comes from guitar and double bass playing - mainly Jazz, but occasionally Rock n' Roll / Rockabilly.

Speaking as someone who has been professionally involved with people who have autism - and has been married to someone who showed all the signs of high - functioning autism, I would like to say that Autistic Spectrum disorder is regarded as a continuum, on which we can all be placed to a greater or lesser degree. Most of us are, of course, on the lower end, with a preponderance of males showing more of the very mild attributes - for example, the 'Geekishness' alluded to by Ursus. Perhaps this is down to the fact that minority hobbies/intellectual studies involve less social contact, which people with Autism or Aspergers find more agreeable. I must say, I have read little about Claudius aside from Robert Grave's excellent Claudius novels - which, if they were researched accurately, certainly suggest that Claudius was awkward in social situations, and overly pedantic to small, unneccesary detail. A tendency to think in concrete terms is also suggested by the novels. These characteristics would suggest that there were at least some autistic tendencies in Claudius' psychological makeup. Other famous individuals said to have had Aspergers Syndrome are Isaac Newton, and the Jazz Guitarist Django Reinhardt.

Maybe it is more helpful to regard 610 as the start of the Byzantine 'phase' of the Empire, whilst recognising that the actual state itself was still the same entity as the one set up by the Romans. I think that slowly but surely the term 'Byzantine Empire' is starting to lose ground, as I see the term 'Eastern Roman Empire ' used increasingly in textbooks, historical atlases etc. even after 610. And about time too! Egypt is not given a different name when the Libyan Pharaohs take over, and the Chinese Empire does not have a different name when it enters a different cultural phase. Indeed, the Persian Empire keeps its name despite the 500 year break between the Achaemenid Dynasty and the Sassanids! Although the Empire was officially re-unified with the deposition of Romulus Augustus, it is perhaps useful to keep the name 'Eastern Roman Empire' to recognise "the many differences between the Roman Empire of Constantinople, and the Classical Empire of Rome"(Colin McEvedy, Penguin Atlas of Medieval History).

I believe so, just as the Dutch 'Dit train is vol' can be translated to 'This train is full'. Yet, English and Dutch remain - largely - unintelligible. I believe that Welsh and Gaelic have corresponding similarities. However, it seems to me, using Cunliffe and Oppenheimers theories, that the people who call themselves Celts now are not neccessarily the same people who the Romans and Greeks called Celts, and who followed the La Tene culture - given that they are said to have spoken a language intelligible to Germans.

I believe 610 is the most widely accepted date, when Heraclius overhauled the administration of the Empire, and Greek was finally adopted as its official language of government. Prior to this the Empire still appears in historical atlases as the 'Eastern Roman Empire'.

Does 'The Prince' by Machiavelli count as literature, or is it philosophy? I have read this several times and find it very captivating. I have also read Orwell's 1984 many, many times.

Indeed. However, examination of DNA evidence throws more fuel into this debate. I revive this dormant discussion having recently read 'The Origins of the British' by Stephen Oppenheimer, published in 2006. He states that our current theories about the extent of the Celts in Europe are derived from VIctorian assumptions. For example: Assuming that all people who belonged to the LaTene culture were by definition Celtic. To cut a massive story short, he states that the Angles, Saxons and Jutes contribution to the British gene pool is only 5%. Further, the degree of separation of English from mainland Germanic languages is more in the order of Several thousand years, rather than the 1500 years assumed in current (and again Victorian) theories. He concludes that the area we now call 'England' has been Germanic - not Celtic speaking from a very early time, and that insular Celts always HAVE been confined to the West. Historical evidence in support of this is Caesar and Tacitus' description of Belgae, Northern Gauls and lowland Britons, who are described as tall and blonde, which would make them resemble Germans in appearance. Neither of these historians says anything about the languages they speak. Again, inhabitants of Western Britain are described as shorter and dark. Even today, inhabitants of parts of Wales and Ireland resemble very strongly the physical appearance of people from the Iberian peninsula (Older theories explaining this by saying that shipwrecked Spanish sailors in the 16th century were responsible. Doubtful, given the tiny numbers involved.). According to genetic studies, Britain was subject to a slow but constant colonisation from two directions - from the Iberian peninsula, Western Gaul and Brittany, settling in Ireland and Western Britain. The other migration came from north east Gaul and the Low Countries/Jutland, which of course settled the south east of the island. Getting back to the original context of this discussion, basically the term 'Celt' in ancient times included a lot of peoples who spoke a mixture of language, Germanic, Celtic and even Scythian(which I believe is related to Iranian.) We have always assumed this mass of people to be celts because they largely belonged to the LaTene culture. This is a bit like assuming that all people who drive German cars are German. What the ancients called Celtic and what we now call Celtic are very different things. It seems that the modern Celts, as a linguistic group, have always lived in the areas they now inhabit (plus the Iberian peninsula), and further East the people we assumed to be celts were actually not, in the linguistic sense.

I am myself an environmentalist. I am often exasperated by the antics of radical environmentalists, whose outspoken and ludicrous views have far more effect than their tiny numbers should allow. It is also alarming that this miniscule minority's flawed views are used by right - wing polititians with short term financial interests to denegrate the environmental movement as a whole. The antics of religious zealots and oddball extreme environmentalists are far less of a threat to us than the ordinary inhabitant of the Western world. Our increasing insistance on more and more consumer goods and easy lifestyles, largely provided by Chinese coal - burning and use of fossil fuels, will probably be the ultimate killer.

A friend of mine read this. He messed around in school and was a bit of a teenage thug - but one day a teacher gave him a copy of this book as a punishment for disrupting the class. He was told to read it and write an essay about it by the end of the week, or be put 'on report' - the school version of 'tagging' or house arrest. He enjoyed the book so much that he read it cover to cover in three days, AND delivered said essay. It opened up a world of reading literature to him; the guy is now taking his doctorate in psychology.

Maybe there is no puzzle at all, and it is simply a portrait of a woman, the painting of which one or more models may have been used.

It must also be said that these excavations probably wouldn't take place at all if not for TV funding. Also, in the Child/adolescent facility in which I once worked, this programme fostered a genuine interest in archaeology and history among teenage boys whose prior interests were limited to a vague tribal affilliation to a premiership football team, and trying to dress like an LA gangster.

Many thanks, my friends. I had a nice quiet little party between myself, my laptop and a few glasses of whisky. I will be a little more active and accessible during the next year! Thanks again.

The term 'Turkic' means belonging to the language group which the Turks do - the Altaic / central asian language group. it does not mean these people were Turks in the modern sense. In the same way, the English, Dutch, Swedes can be said to be 'Germanic' but not actually German.

I must say, I completely agree with your point there. I wonder, however, if it is possible to be a successful polititian WITHOUT lying at some stage? A different discussion for a different day, no doubt!

That's the problem with Obama...he's a proven liar. Forgive a Brit poking his nose in, but I have yet to come across any politition - at all - who ISNT a proven liar! But as for the Democrats (i.e.Clinton and Obama) being socialists as another commentator has suggested... no, definitely not. Endorsing slightly green policies and occasionally sticking up for the little guy does NOT make a socialist out of a religious believer who's life and culture is totally enmeshed in the global market - capitalist ideal. For an accurate description on what makes a socialist, I suggest the writings of Karl Mark or Leon Trotsky.

By Dawkins! Thats a comprehensive list Ram, old chap - well, in the absence of a '50's Rock n' Roll, Rockabilly or Jazz category, I will have to vote for 'other'.

This may have been true of the Visigoths in Aquitaine, but it must be said that the Roman way of life, political structures and material culture remained almost unchanged in Italy during Odoacer's reign and that of the Ostrogoths. It only ended when the Roman Empire re-took the province smashing up half of the cities whilst so doing.

The Khazars were originally a Turkic people living on the River Volga who did indeed convert to Judaism round about the tenth century. There are theories that Jews of Eastern European origin were/are so numerous in that part of the world as a direct result of this. So I suppose, in one sense they are still extant. I think there are quite a few Jewish folks on this forum - maybe they can shed more light on this?

According to Desmond Morris, The Greeks wave at each other with the palm of the hand towards them, which looks to us like they are beckoning. The Southern Italians and Sicilians do this also - but further north, they wave with the palm outwards, like the rest of us. He draws the conclusion that this coincides exactly with the areas of Italy settled by the Greeks, and although the Greek language is now gone from these parts (aside from a few dialect words) the Southern Italians are still Greek in their non - verbal communication. Thus, it would appear that such gestures have remained unchanged throughout the centuries.

Skeletons have been found in Portugal which have both modern and Neanderthal features. They are dated about 30'000 BC. Origins Reconsidered (Leakey, Lewin) discusses this.

Calders, have a look at the link I posted above, at the start of this discussion. The book mentioned answers this question and a lot more besides, about the many mystery religions which had very close similarities to christianity. And also the ludicrous concept of 'Diabolical mimicry' in which the early church attempted to explain away these similarities by saying that the devil anticipated Christ, and so invented the mystery religions to mimic him - hundreds of years before christ was born.

Yes, a bit of a must, if the cover is anything to go by. And of course overlooking the 800 year anacronysm of Persian Wars period hoplites serving in the army of Agamemnon!

Thought this might raise a smile. http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_the_R...he_Roman_Empire

I might be in a minority here, but I think 'Quo Vadis' is about the worst I've seen. Plastic helmets and Scuta the size and thickness of A4 paper do not a legionary make, and the infantile - yet widely believed - depiction of anti christian persecutions has perpetuated this Victorian myth well into, and beyond, the late 20th century. Caligula, for me, was good for the performance of an immediate post - Clockwork Orange Malcolm McDowell, and the skimpy costumes worn by the female cast. And in any case - was this film any more vulgar or tasteless than the person who inspired it?

I would like to hear how the myth originated in the first place. If it was from an Athenian source, then it must be viewed VERY suspiciously!