Northern Neil

The mindless postmodern culture to which I think you are alluding is not just America's - all us capitalist countries have had a hand in it, and contributed to the bland global culture which is imposing a trashy universality throughout the world. Modern British polititians have since the '50's been imposing a 'multicultural' society on its citizens, no doubt fuelled by guilt and self - loathing from our colonial past. But they should consider this: Their ancestors may well have exploited India, the Irish and Black Africans, but at that time, my ancestors and most other Brit's ancestors didn't - they were working as virtual slaves in mills, on farms, if unemployed sent to the workhouse, and their children sent to be chimney sweeps apprentices, to die of soot inhalation before they were twenty. Why should we feel guilty? Still, there is light at the end of the tunnel - the guilty descendents of the mill owners, colonists and slave traders can always escape the ghastly, terrorist - ridden monster of a social experiment they have produced and go and live somewhere else. We'll just stay here, and get bombed on the London underground.

Having now read this thread properly, here is another bit of information. In Rome there is a place called Monte Testaccio. It is an artificial hill, about 120 feet in height, and it is made up entirely of discarded amphorae numbering in the tens of millions. It was in use from about 150BC to AD 250. It is now a park on the right bank of the Tiber, to the south of the Circus Maximus. Google Earth shows it perfectly.

York had an extensive sewer system which was discovered by accident in the 1970's. I have scoured the web for photos, but cannot find any - although I have seen photos, which show vaulted tunnels in very good condition. These sewers are still doing their job, whilst Victorian ones nearby are starting to crumble. Check this out... http://72.30.186.56/search/cache?p=Roman+S...=1&.intl=uk I believe that if sewers were present at York, they must have been pretty universal. I have seen with my own eyes toilets at Vaison La Romaine (Southern France) with stone benches, in which are keyhole shaped holes for citizens to sit upon. A run - off from the bath house flushed the excrement away.

Thanks, chaps - I believe I have seen plain white used in some reconstruction illustrations for late period buildings - it does not surprise me that the custom of painting red to shoulder height may have been dropped by this time.

You know, I didn't get to see a single one of these programmes. I was in the middle of a house move at the time... I suppose I will have to get the DVDs. Hmmm... didn't he have Stilicho murdered?

There are too many to mention, but most I think are deliberate - such as the depiction of a motorway service centre, but on a Roman road, and built in classical style. Another one that springs to mind is the ring of forts around the edge of Corsica - about thirty of them. Things which are very accurate indeed are depictions of the Circus Maximus, theatres, bath houses etc. Military installations perhaps less so.

Yes - leave it until later in the year, then maybe I can come!!

As well as all the above points, this site has sparked off meetings, or potential meetings, both sides of the Atlantic which will no doubt turn acquaintances into friends.

You sure got me sized up, Nephele! Naturally, I wear flying jacket, RAF Goggles and open face helmet. My bike is a BSA Spitfire - but really, I would prefer a spitfire with wings! Kilt and bagpipes are acceptable. By the way, have you chaps got your meeting sorted out yet?

Malaga?

I collected all of these when in my teens, and still have them. I have recently started buying them in French to speak the language better. I have not seen the Depardieu film - is it any good?

Dont tell us - us Brits havent seen any of it yet! And anyway, you must admit, Atia is a bit of a babe...!

We havent! Here is the real man: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00000K52T?tag=un...DT4R6CCXCS& Seriously though, various coins of the time show a thick set, almost brutish looking man with a thick neck and bulging eyes. This is shown on a thread elsewhere on this forum. That at least rules out the 'dashing' bit. As for the rest, From what I've read, I think what the contemporary sources miss out, rather than say, that lead the series makers to portray Anthony as they do.

Wow - your catching up with me! When your my age, I'll be 73!!!

The Lorica Segmentata for a while was believed to be made of leather, because the statues/carvings (ie Trajan's Column) typically depicted a muscled cuirass leather in appearance. Recently however this idea has been disregarded... Lorica Segmentata made from metal was discovered some years ago at Corbridge, England. http://www.legionxxiv.org/corbridgbenlrg/ The use of leather to keep the integrity of the Lorica is not in itself a use of leather for armour. I believe the current view is that Lorica Segmentata was universally made from metal.

I wonder if the east-west split simply consolidated a centuries old status quo? The cultural/linguistic divide was there anyway, and from the days of the triumvirate onwards the east was presided over by a trusted general or 'senior governor' (my words). This state of affairs was well under way by the time of Marcus Aurelius, who had a right-hand man responsible for the admin and security of the east.

Why not come to it? Can you not get a cheap flight from NY to Manchester? I could pick you up from there and then off to York! Youwould only need a hotel for the York bit, and the Travelodges are very cheap!

...Our meeting gets ever nearer. 21 days and counting!!!

One could extend this to emperors of mixed ancestry, who nonetheless were true Romans. I have heard the phrase 'Half Barbarian' used to describe the Pannonian Emperor Valentinian. He is said to have had Gothic and Dacian ancestry, as well as Roman. Yet he was a fanatical Roman, who died after a fit of rage in which he was beside himself with anger at the impertinance of a barbarian embassy.

Yes. The morale and resolve of Londoners in WW2 and New Yorkers in 9/11 rose as a result of those attacks, and both peoples have reason to be proud of the way they met those attacks. EDIT: I sent this seconds after as Augusta's last post; it is meant to answer the last one by Gaius Octavius. Augusta is quite correct here that we are discussing semantics, although th point about terrorism not being on the orders of a government raises other interesting issues - what about so-called 'State Sponsored Terrorism'? Is the term a misnomer? Perhaps the various governments isuing the orders would call it 'Covert actions'.

I would like to expand on Augusta's point here by giving a few historical examples. Prior to the American Civil War factions on both sides carried ot attrocities and used 'tactics' which are similar to those used by modern day terrorist groups and insurgencies. The same can be said for the revolutionary forces of France. I believe there is an economical side to this debate. Individuals with very little economic 'clout' tend to use force dictated by their limited means. These means are usually the ones associated with terrorism. Using civilians as shields, deception, kidnapping, the hitting of soft targets to gain a demoralising effect on civilian populations, are the best ways to use and conserve limited resources to the maximum effect. As the French revolutionaries grew in power and economic backing, they moved away from kidnapping people and torching houses, and started to use more orthodox military means. If groups like Al - Quaida and ETA were to acquire the economic and logistical means to use fighter planes, regular uniformed troops and cruise missiles, they probably would do.

Heres a few more. The list takes up from the last one:: Phillipus - Shahba, Syria. Claudius Gothicus - Illyria Aurelian - Sirmium, Pannonia. Tacitus - (Rome?) Florianus (Rome?) Probus - Sirmium, Pannonia Carus - Narona, Illyria Carinus - Narona, Illyria Numerian - Narona, Illyria Diocletian - Salonae, Dalmatia {Maximian - Sirmium, Pannonia Galerius - Serdica, Thrace Constantius - Illyria} Constantine - Nis, Moesia

'Vatican Rag' is quite amusing.

I cant get my picture on! How do you do it? Help!

The Japanese had been pushing a programme of modernisation and industrialisation since the middle of the nineteenth century in an attempt to become, in effect, a western - style industrialised nation. With input from the US and European powers, they succeeded. Russia, onthe other hand, was probably the least developed of the European powers. I think this also explains a lot.