Onasander

Purely by coincidence, I was researching a sufi saint and found this: http://www.sevenpillarshouse.org/article/sarmad_the_cheerful_naked_martyr The Cynic Movement remained strong in Persia after is went away in the west.

It's a very good counter to academic assertions as to the nature of Cynicism in regards to money.... It was rarely money persay but individual association in terms of ludricious behavior in seeking money that drove the Cynics. At least three from Pontus alone were currency speculators or the slave of currency speculators, Diogenes being one of them.... quite a few were known for pestering royalty relentlessly for a talent, one for years. I think the tax was very wise. It drove up taxes on the upper and middle class alone, and the resource gathering was rather simple. The problem becomes, why wasn't it enough? If you can build a stadium..... why can't you fund more essential functions of a state if a state is necessary at all? And did they money supply every dry up, and why? The flow of the liquid yellow gold sure didn't peter out first before it's tax revenue. I know medieval Florence made cash off it for its wool industry. What becomes of this free, certain flow of money we become dependent on? It should be like the Athenians finding the silver vein..... but everyday. Money Money Money..... but Roman Armies deteriorated, the cities crumbled, men lived and died in filth and ignorance.

Never looked into this. I know about the ventilation system, and basics about the kinds of games.... never much was that interested in it in and of itself, not a big sports guy to begin with. So the giant statue of Nero was over his own palace? That's tacky. Reminds me of the big pictures of Marx in North Korean Squares. Welcome to Nero Town.

Not just the fish farmers. And it was very odd and disturbing to us too. But you get used to it. I just summed it up to how well Islam actually was accepted, a pick and choose. They dont do that in the Maldives or Bosnia, so its not the message of Islam, so I assume it was there before. Lots of fish and mansex, and this cult overlapped in area. Even if we.could trace both to purely Islamic beginnings, it is.very easy for.me to picture it in my head. Fish and buttslave religion..... yep. Got that image, cant shake it.

So.... Christians were NOT being killed in it durjng Nero's reign, because it did not exist yet?

Yes, I know about Marius' reforms, and have doubts gained from long personal experience as just how often this accured. 1) Marius was in Carthage-Numedia...... as cold as it can.get in the desert, its not a variant lower than the romans wouldnt be accustomed to. I dont think they were carrying around the massive tents we see in movies and reenactments. 2) They 99% certain couldnt carry that crap in the humid, frost ridden north. Ive seen the hypothetical kits.... Its not out of reason, what is out of reason is the concept of truely independent infantry lacking a base or supply train for a operation more than a few days. I spent a few years in the infantry, but my expertise in carrying loads comes more from my hardcore Cynic days, where every inch of space and once counts. The later roman Rucksack had 6 straps (thin straps , no frame, clearly meant to be worn over body armor, but the US Army reenactor who showcased it on TV didnt grasp this) had a definate upper weight limit and space limitations. Factor in the weight of all the armor, quality of shoes..... and distance needed ti travel, and in combat missions, the need to arrive fresh enough to fight, the belief in independent infantry carrying everything quickly goes out the window. I know the mantra, and also the belief they would train and get used to it, but come on..... seriously?

http://ancientstandard.com/2007/06/04/at-least-you-don%E2%80%99t-pay-urine-tax%E2%80%A6-1st-c-ad/ So.... Issues here...... I thought Nero had a huge statue of himself there, and I assumed he came prior ...... How was the stadium funded and built? From the chunks tourists here have broken off of it, it looks like red clay to me. Dont seem that expensive raw material wise.

http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/11565 This reminds me of when I was 13 or 14, I was a volunteer on a archeological dig at fort steuben, and the professors thought nothing of me, and so tossed me into the square the outhouse to a late 19th Century Pig Farm.... I started finding cool stuff like a mechanized music jewelry box..... got kicked out fast by the assisstant professor and was given a foot thick concrete parking lot to hack through off to the side.... I got through it, only to discover pills dated to 30 years earlier, minus one day, in a pristine pharmacy bottle in a gap underneath, thereby exactingly dating when the parking lot was laid down. Whenever I look at a place, I look for, as well as ask where the old outhouse was. Why? Because that is where the treasure is at! Which is true. In my opinion, there is only one spot we should even bother digging, and thats the latrines and garbage heaps. Everything else lacks intimacy and is rather generic. Foundations, mosaic, dead people, etc... what a bore.

http://www.humanist.de/rome/rts/geography.html I finally found this page that explains why the laws were set up that way..... I can't believe they would actually exile people for carrying too large a load on the roads.

When you say the cults in Syria were not well documented, what do you mean? We had fish farms immediately north of my base in Iraq, and all the guys civilian wise were homosexual. They treated women as breeding cattle, covered head to toe, and the men walked around holding hands and kissing. You go back a few centuries, and the area had Holy Fish cults lead by transexual priests. The.Syrian cults never seem to be left out of books on Roman Paganism. They are well documented, by the Romans and by modern scholarship. Was there something even stranger going on in Syria?

I am very pessemistic in view of rationed promises to supplying the men with stuff like donkies. Such promises often fail, despite the ironclad assurances, and such soldiers would discover that they are, indeed, the donkey. Just speaking from bitter experience.... I see a setup for broken hopes and bad work details in such assurances. Recognitioning is going to depend on the commanders orders as to how prevelant it is. I understand.... constant civil wars, military has no checks and balances, they can do what they want, right? Not if the commander is opposed, for whatever reason. You gotta live with those people, pissing them all off then grunting your legions name and motto leads significant civil unrest not easily repaired. On this site, we point out the pointlessness of complaining about soldiers taking your stuff.... we fail to grasp the people believed there was such a means to getting their stuff back. Would you go pester a Hun Commander for your stuff back, or a Vandel? No.... you wouldnt even bother. The fact that some people made themselves a fool suggests they were following a tradition of redress that didnt always end so foolishly. Hence why they even bothered to ask. 1 1/2 tons would fit most work details realistically that I can imagine. Men load up on the wagon, with a large water skin, tools, hammer or chop or hunt..... roads or fortifications could be resupplied with building materials.... a donkey could carry the cookware if the wagon cant maintain all that on the first walk out.... Yeah..... thats more realistic. Calvary can screen or troops switch out on guard details with the ones laboring for rest periods when in combat zones. Im getting this image of guys loading up on a wagon early morning to head five miles out for a detail, pick axes loaded up, two donkies tied to the wagons rear..... some cookware in the corner..... someone in the wagon asking another to pull their finger..... everything is cold and dewie..... sun isnt quite above the horizon...... wondering if this is going to take all day again..... Yeah, 1 1/2 tons can do nicely. So..... what is up with the Roman Law forbidding over a thousand pounds?

http://ft111.com/horsepower.html I cant remember which thread I mentioned this in, but it was in this section. Roman horses were rather useless as beasts of burden. The horse collar wasnt in existence for the western empire.... meaning logistics was.... complicated, and simple tasks were donkey powered, which is always highly reliable, especially when the weather is bad and you really, really need the tired donkey to work. Or imagine wagons flying at the speed of an ox.

Has anyone heard about St. Catherine's Monastery? I remember hearing it was closed (to tourists or completely I dont know). Im a little worry about it, given the smuggler Bedouins and drug cartels pretty much have independant range of movement between Sinai and Jordan. I cant find reliable data on how porous it actually is up to Syria.... just know Jordan isnt able to do much west right now, and Egypt isnt doing anything beyond a few show patrols. St. Catherine has the second largest library from Antiquity in the west, second only to the vatican.

http://m.speakingtree.in/spiritual-slideshow/seekers/pilgrimage/did-jesus-christ-visit-india/40374 The earliest known reference to Buddism by any Christian recorded was the first Manicheans missionaries in 50AD. Pyrrhonism was almost exactly identical with certain sects of Indic Buddhism, minus the yoga (It's not self evidentiary does anything, so went bye bye). We have only evidence of a single Upanisad in the west that has come down intact from history, though it appears we also had bishops debate against certain others. Gymnosophists are usually identified as being naked Jains. I don't see much evidence, if we were to assume Jesus did gain insights from the east, that he ever had to travel there to get it. Some was clearly available from time to time in the west..... but just some. Never a majority, till the Neo-Platonists. Even then, it was a gentleman's game wits, we had a few centuries of active philosophical debate, both sides taking from the other until they died off (lost too many arguments in the west to survive, but Neo-Platonism' root, Vedanta in India, did the opposite there to Christainity from Persian and Egypt.) I don't see this need to assume he traveled way, way, way over there, then rushed back to teach a belief system that has local precedents, in the Jewish Diaspora under the Ptolomies and Assyrians, Platonism and Aristotelian influences from Alexandria, and a school of local Cynicism nearby in Gadara. Many Greeks in this era were Buddhists in the east, and the old Selecuid Capital Antioch was a little north, and had been the far end of Indian travels since Hurrian and Hittite Times. I have a decent background in Suzuki 's Zen, Nicheran, and Tibetan Buddhism, simply living in San Francisco and Hawaii ( and handing out on George Feuerstein's old forum).... I never had to travel through Asia to gain this knowledge..... I lived where Asians tended to travel and settle in the west, and had access. Same with Antioch and Alexandria, and eventually Constantinople. Influence is felt, and vice versa.

I agree 100% with Virgil, backing any candidate is a bad idea. It didn't work well in Taiwan or Korea either. You gotta build the civil sector first, use servant leadership to pick out who is the intuitive leaders and managers are, and essentially let them take the reins from you. It's a very good thing for cliques within a protectorate (which Egypt essentially was) to think they are capable of democracy, and know better about their own affairs than some group of foreigners. Just as long as the civil aspect of society are developed enough to control the military. It's not quite there in Egypt. I'm not interested in a repeat of the Madhi War, or Pharoah 4.0..... and don't see much evidence they want that either. We have the corner military wise..... just gotta keep them restrained till the civil aspects catch up.

I found the exact location of one, part of Patrick Henry's western billet system guarding the frontier from the Indians and Detroit (Proto Canadians). Also found a few little roads they built, and a Absurd little vineyard they maintained till the mill was built. For this area, the fort system closely matched the terrain..... Ohio River north to south, valleys of the Appalachian Plateau East to West,with Pittsburg to the east a days march. Each creek was named and fortified. Samuel Brady organized the North South spy network of forts to communicate with the rear. He was a Ranger, it's not alien logic. Problem arises is, most people today don't understand the frontier infantry moved much, much faster than their modern counterparts. My knee is lame, but I can still move double the speed of your cross country runner downhill, 4 times faster than anyone in my old unit prior to getting messed up. It hasn't dawned on the historians this is the case.... but it explains the absurd, lopsided frontier battles how a few frontiersmen on the run could outpace and outgun their pursuers. This is important information for me to know for gadging distances for forts, but I'm stuck going off the workings of flatlanders who don't even know how to run downhill. Corps of Engineers rerouting the flow of once crooked creek systems hasn't helped, nor the department of transportation. Likewise, Virginia and Pennsylvania warring over this territory, holding seperate court records for land ownership, based on non existent oak trees isn't helping either. (My town is the only one to border 3 states in the US, and for shits and giggles decided to run the county line right down the middle of town). Add to this civil war complications, half our old records are in the state of Virginia, other half West Virginia (not to mention PA, OH, not to mention Wisconsin for some weird reason)..... I'm going insane. Even more frustrating is..... Lord Dunmore fled to England. I haven't the slightest Damn clue what is there. He choose this town to start the war..... it was essentially the first shot of what would become the revolutionary war (he did it to thin out the frontier population).... It drives me nuts. None the less, I have some success. When I say approximate, I really mean it. Just might be under a road or railtracks. Not a whole lot of options here..... it was a very logical frontier fort system, using strong points in narrow valleys as well as rear forts with organized militias for depth defence whenever the Indians or Empire penetrated. I even have a little success in tracking the trails used for this penetration.

Just take the time to work on your presentation. Study up on some historical methods and principles. You need time to mature in thought. The moderator didn't outright ban you, which allows you this chance to grow. In the meantime, study. Study us, and study yourself. Learn a little tact..... a sledge hammer behaves like a wave, swinging back and forth.... you sought in everything the decisive moment of the blow. Thermodynamics doesn't work that way, not in physics, nor in Rhetoric. Just wait a while, focus on other stuff if your going to post, and grow yourself in terms of being a historian. There has to be other topics your into other than this Flavian stuff. I wish you the best.

My position ceaded to yours.

Ha ha ha, apparently he used to walk begging for money holding a dead Raven, claiming it wasn't for him, but for the raven.... Reminds me of Diogenes begging to the statues in the market.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/12/02/skulls-found-in-mass-grave-in-china-reveal-ancient-female-sacrifice/?intcmp=obinsite Everyone knows about infanticide China engages in, and the preference to kill females over males. This dig shows though the motivations and ideology may of been intellectually different, the instinct and results are the same. Women dying for a male engineered outlook. I'm sure they all thought very highly of what they were doing, just like today when we kill our dependents.

Just found this on today's news: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/12/05/mummy-mystery-multiple-tombs-hidden-in-egypt-valley-kings/?intcmp=features

direct dial USA, toll free number. 1-866-216-1072 And here is their Long Distance/International contact number 1-206-266-2992 This is the Amazon.com number you call if you download the wrong stuff. I went to download Season 1 of Falling Skies, and did Season 3 by accident. I used a gift card, so thought I was screwed.... I did this mistake 5 minutes ago, and the problem is already fixed.

My friend dissapeared in Egypt a few years ago. I told him nothing was going to come of the revolution, and get the he'll out now, buy some arm floaties and swim to Turkish Cyprus. Last I heard, he was joining in a March (just after Israel's embassy was sacked) on Gaza, but he was a Atheist, heavily closeted, but a Atheist none the less. Just disseapeared. Egypt has always been a crazy despotism. The same fanaticism that caused them to kill people who harmed cats back in Pagan Times is still at play. The Sun is really, really hot, and someone is to blame for that, and they won't stop the mayhem till they find them. It's going to take decades to democritize them. It took Taiwan and South Korea a really long time, they were military dictatorships for decade receiving aid from the US in a very slow convergent pattern towards democracy. In South Vietnam, we pushed it way too quick, in Egypt, we were going at the right pace..... just the whole Arab Spring ducked that goat. You end up with an oddity of a very liberal, almost westernized military (that is unable to perform simple combined arm maneuvers) that is reacting to an ideal of democracy, without it actually being there. The military is more developed than the civil. When you allow the military development to dominate, and disregard civil democratization, you end up with grotesque oddities, like the Empire of Central Africa. For countries at realistic risk of social friction and foreign invasion, you are even worst off, as people will confuse a steady, responsible growth into democracy with Socialism and Equality. Such societies will grow slower, will remain intellectually weaker, and will eventually have to give up control to others, and once that happens, it's down hill from there on out. It's better to focus on security first, then democracy, but never a foolish absolute towards an either or. Both needs brought up from infancy together. In Egypt, thankfully it has the chance to rebound. However, this is a important time to check the ambitions of another military dictatorship. The government Egypt elected was moronic, but at the same time, Egyptians didn't quite grasp what democracy really was. I say, play the two off on each other, while restraining outright military brutality using the US' leverage on the Egyptian military. Where responsible, stable power sharing is possible, seek it out. Wait till the next election, and make sure everyone feels the pain of not thinking a election out. It's going to be a very, very long time before Egypt gets it's act together. Having Obama making every wrong, shitheaded move possible isnt helping much, but it's not beyond salvage. It took the US a long time to stabilize Europe. It will take longer for these countries.

Stupid spellchecker must of changed it to Heidi. Yeah, I read many of the prequels. I was one of the ones pushing for the Dune philosophy book. I should also point out we also had/have the largest trailhead. So big, it swallowed up a neighborhood. It's still claimed to be, but they are tearing big segments of it up. Bigger than anything I've seen hiking out west.... They tore the line up heading out to Pittsburg Pa here, 30-40 miles to the city..... and turned it into a walking trail...... and in the process blew up a hill the rail line was dug through during the civil war..... big field now, with fat people waddling down it holding Diet Cokes. I was the only one who used to hike it. They wonder why we can't find the forts from Lord Dunmore's War or the Revolutionary War there...... this area was a crucial battleground area.... but they dropped a billion tones of slag and mined and blew up everything.

A german language page with no info displayed? I dunno.... buy heck, maybe your right. I used to have George Sphrantzes history (the very, very last book of the Roman Empire) but never finished it. I read in one case, he was from the island, in another, he was born in Constantinople.His book is pretty awesome, it has the best opening for any autobiography ever written. He was a magnificent sore loser. Boethius soughts the consolations of Philosophy when he died and the west was lost with him, George just was straight up pissed and depressed. He witnessed the end, from a position of honored authority. Im sure he covers this. I gotta find another copy of that book and finish it.