Northern Neil

No there not resolved at all. If they were Orangemen would not march through Catholic neighborhoods!!!!!!!! In a democratic country, anyone should be allowed to march anywhere - and no one group should claim a neighbourhood as its own, exclusive to others. The attitudes of the marchers are irritating and infantile, but then lots of people in society do infantile and irritating things. If the RC community starts to regard these marches as silly and quaint, rather than responding in the way the orange order want them too, they will eventually cease to have a function. Not resolved at all? Are you sure about that? I did say 'mostly'. Obviously, hard line attitudes persist in some quarters and probably will for decades. But what about the Good Friday agreement, the cessation of the armed struggle, power sharing, the acceptance from Sinn Feinn that the British military presence no longer has a colonial function, the formation of the Northern Ireland Police Service? In the Republic, there is no longer a widespread dislike of British people, no resentment based on historical events. In Britain Irish people are regarded very positively, as opposed to a generation ago when they were seen as bumpkins to be satirised. Most British people believe that Ireland should be united, whereas a generation or two ago that was not the case. I believe that the situation is immensely improved on what we had in the early nineties and beyond. A few thousand bigots on both sides should not wipe out attitudes of millions.

When I saw this book, I thought 'wow!' and instantly bought it. The first few chapters had me enthralled, then for some reason it just lost its momentum - for me, at least - and by the middle of the book I put it down, and eight months later it remains unfinished. I think the problem with this kind of book is that everyone has their own idea as to how things would have turned out in an alternative history. After the first few chapters, the story seemed to become yet another thriller set in the modern world, the only difference being the placenames were a slightly altered, and there were the occasional references to an alternative history already described in previous chapters. This disappointed me, as I felt there was still lots of mileage left in attempting to describe this alternative world in more detail.

Nearly! I fell off my bike once on the Paris Peripherique. Pouring with rain. Trucks zooming past me on both sides with inches to spare. Rounders is like baseball but a British version.

St. Patrick was said to be a Romano Brit who was captured by the Scotti on one of their raids on the western coast of Britain. It has been suggested that the settlement could have been SEGONTIVM on the North Welsh coast. There is also a theory that he may have been abducted from one of the forts and settlements on the Cumbrian Coast, an hour's drive from where I live. To me this theory is more logical, as * the Scotti Raided Northern Britain, hence the eventual rise of the Kingdom of Scotland, and * The Cumbrian coast was far easier to reach than North Wales. Northern Ireland is only about 15 miles from Southern Scotland, and the raiders could stay close to the southern coast of Scotland in their flimsy boats, eventually descending on West Cumbria with its poorly equipped Limitaneii and rich settlements. Crossing the Irish Sea to Wales, a far larger distance, would have been considered far too risky. Do us Brigantians get a 'thank you'??

Are we perchance discussing the curious variant of Rugby in which the players feel they need head and shoulder protection to avoid getting hurt, or are we discussing rounders?

'Frontier Wolf' - novel by Rosemary Sutcliffe. Set in the late 4th century, at an outpost fort north of Hadrian's Wall. Good coverage of the delicate political situation between the pro - Roman Votadini and hostile Caledonii. The Fort commandant leads a numerus of frontier scouts and a group of Arcani, who he doesn't exactly trust... rumours of diplomatic links between Caledonii, Irish and Saxons...ignorant senior officers being arrogant with allies and threatening to upset a delicate balance...soldiers grumbling because of increasing pay arrears and substandard, intermittent supplies...great description of the fort and ramshackle late Roman repairs and alterations. Do not be put off by the unlikely cover pic of horseman, dressed in Lorica Segmentata, dressed like a trajanic period legionary in mediterranean kit, in the middle of winter in the Cheviot hills in the 4th century - this is a terrific read, and Sutcliffe goes to great pains to describe what life was like in a frontier garrison in the late 4th century.

A bit of advice needed - my latest building project involves a comparative study of a 2nd century barrack block against the same barrack block, but rebuilt in the 4th century. For those familiar with Hadrian's Wall, they will be aware that barracks in 4th century Northern British forts were rebuilt in a slightly chaotic fashion, and resembled a jumble of victorian terraced houses rather than the straight, no nonsense buildings of earlier centuries. My question is this: we all know, from Pompeii and other places, that it was the convention to plaster buildings and then paint them various shades of red, green or grey up to shoulder height. Did this fashion persist into the fourth and fifth centuries, or did it fizzle out, like so many other 'standard' conventions of Roman life in the third century? Any help, references and opinions welcome.

Augusta - focus on an object about 10 feet behind your monitor. Then look at the monitor, but do not alter the focus of your eyes. Then you will get it.

Ha Ha!! Yes.

I used to have this book, but unfortunately lent it to someone and didn't get it back. Apart from revisions in some fort names at the western end of the wall, and the perception now that it and the forts may have been plastered, I dont think there iss anything particularly wrong with this book historically. It certainly inspired me!!

and not to mention words truly fail me. What an undertaking! I do believe that his models are even tinier than my 6mm scale ones. Now that takes immense skill given the level of detail!

... rubber ducky ...? (Is this a word association game?) I believe Gracchi may have been referring to the city of Bath (Aquae Sulis), which had extensive baths comparable to any in the Mediterranean world. He probably believes it deserves a mention, as it runs contrary to the view that Roman civilisation in Britain was superficial.

I seem to remember something like that. The Belgae to me suggest that ethnicity and language are not neccessarily linked. Although celtic speakers, they seem to have resembled in appearance the teutons who were their neighbours. Perhaps they were originally Germans who slipped into the Celtic orbit. just as we Brits are celts who bacame linguistically teutonic. The Bastarnae were celtic speakers, but their material culture was German.

Happy Birthday, Oh stoic one! As a Primus Pilus I can pledge my Milliary cohort to the republican cause and will embark on a 6mm reconstruction of the Roman Curia in celebration of this august event.

Arent we just talking semantics here? The Romans called a great many supernatural beings they prayed to 'gods' and it seems to me to have been an umbrella term. Since Christianity, there is of course only one being called a God; the other 'gods' are still there, though, and are still suppose to have influence. Apart from the terminology, what is the difference between the Angel Michael (a winged messanger) and the god Mercury, also a winged messenger? Given the slight similarity of name, they might even be the same guy! Again, what is the difference between having gods who look after various aspects of life, and later on having saints who do the same thing? No difference at all. Saying that there is only one 'god' and calling all the other gods something else does not disguise the polytheistic and pagan roots of Christianity.

I believe the Romans defeated the combined might of the Silures, Demetae and Ordovices last saturday, in the dying minutes of the game at Rome. It was close, though.

I will be building a temple to your greatness in due course. I will PM you for your temporal address so I can send it to you, stone by stone, when built. Let work begin!!

...and when you ride British motorbike, you have to do a lot of pushing!!

Nah... she's shacked up with a new pair of tights already! Probably Tully Applebottom, or the Spanish enfanta. Or even the Earl of Doncaster...

...with, dare I say, some hot gypsies thrown in?

You Brits always make me so jealous. ------------------------------- Never mind, Octavius - I will toast you in your absence with a glass or three of Jim Beam!

Aulus Paulinus, governor of Britain, and his sidekick Grasientus had this to say, in the ITV series 'Chelmsford 123:' Aulus: 'Dont you feel spring coarsing through your veins? Do you not wake up in the mornings with a touch of 'tent-pole toga'? Grasientus: 'No Aulus. Fortunately I am not a slave to that part of my anatomy' Aulus: Thats just as well, Grasientus. For you are, with respect, an ugly B@st@rd!!'

Simon Scarrow's work is pretty good, and his novels kept me company through the hard times of summer and autumn last year. But then, I always liked C.S. Forester's Hornblower novels, and to me Macro and Cato resemble, respectively, Bush and Hornblower. Almost identically, in my view!

Indeed. The archers and slingers formed up behind the eight ranks of infantry to give a covering barrage, in addition to the plumbatae thrown by the legionaries. Regarding the courage of late period legionaries, Ammianus Marcellinus states that in Julian's Persian war, the Gallic legions had a very 'gung ho' (my words, of course) attitude, and often launched attacks on their own initiative. They were even rebuked on occasion for taking too many casualties in this way.

For me, its GOT to be the Edward II thing. It might not have actually happened to him, but it almost certainly happened to others.