Tobias

Perhaps, seeing as the flamen dialis was the special priest to Jupiter Optimus Maximus, the restrictions on the position were meant to only make a certain type of person become the flamen dialis...perhaps someone with strong character, strong willpower or strong Stoicism, to have to live under such restrictions, and hence be a man a slight cut above normal men. The special priest was probably meant to be "special" in more ways than one.

The Tarpeian Rock; traditional place of execution for Roman citizen traitors, the favourite threat of the Tribunes of the Plebs against obstructive Senators and a famous historical overhang. We have many references to this famous place in Roman history. However, where was it in ancient Rome, and whereabouts would it's position have been in modern day Rome? It is said that it was visible from the lower Forum Romanum. Unfortunately, that doesn't give the best idea of where it was. Anybody got any ideas?

Thanks very much for those inputs. I believe the Flamen Dialis could also not touch anything made of iron or handle a weapon, and he could not ride. They could stand for no curule executive position. The Flamen Dialis automatically qualified to enter the senate upon becoming Jupiter's special priest. For someone like Caesar, i imagine that qualifying for automatic respect and honour without ever earning it would be a torture. Interestingly enough, none of the other flamines seemed to be very restricted by things they could not look upon, touch etc. I daresay that it is these restrictions that reiterate the importance of Jupiter Optimus Maximus to the Romans.

G'day All I've been doing a lot of reading into the republic lately. In reaching the time of Gaius Marius, Lucius Cornelius Sulla and the young Julius Caesar, there are some references to Julius Caesar being made to become the Flamen Dialis - special priest to Jupiter Optimus Maximus. In looking into this further, i haven't found anything solid. I was wondering if anyone here knows anything about Julius Caesar becoming Flamen Dialis, and how he can possibly have escaped the bonds of this position. A general description/history of the position of Flamen Dialis would also be appreciated. Cheers

Hey mate, good to hear from you again! Take care of yourself, and don't do anything we wouldn't do Very interesting picture as well...

Yes, i believe we could say that Romulus Augustus was the last of the Emperors with two names (although Julius Nepos did hang around after Romulus Augustus).

Yeah, it's pretty obvious to me now that with the steady decline of Roman culture, and the constant barbarian raids, and the eventual fall of the west, it's only natural that such things as the Tria Nomina to begin to die out.

Ah right. Thanks for the confirmation Viggen. Now i know which of those little dots in Australia is most likely to be me

G'day all We all see examples of political correctness in our respective countries quite often i'm sure; so let's have a little fun with that. Everyone list down their favourite politically correct term, or the one they find most amusing/ridiculous. A recent one here in Australia; a black-out is no longer a black-out, but an "Electrical Interruption"

Unfortunately, part of it is the old scourge, political correctness. Protected by such terms as "race-based attacks", "racism", "xenophobia" etc, different cultures go to countries and are increasingly expecting these cultures to adapt to them, rather then the other way around. Now, in the case of Australia, i'm not a supporter of the old "White Australia" policy, but to be brutally honest, Australia hasn't exactly gained from being inundated with Asians, "People of Middle-Eastern Appearance" etc...

I would perhaps be inclined to agree with this, but this is more a sign of the times than anything else. As is being discussed in the Hora Postilla Thermae, if you make a discovery in Egypt, you must immediately inform Mr Hawass, and if you act alternatively, you are automatically part of the evil forces of Seth, according to Hawass, and you are sent packing, your credibility most likely shattered. Elsewhere in the world, if archaeological discoveries are made, all manner of obstacles can appear;you must contend with the native land owners the discovery was found on in many countries, you must cut the multitude of red tape (if at all possible), you must contact all kinds of bureaucratic departments (the kind that are the bane of the world), etc etc etc. No wonder most archaeologists caring about their careers are treading lightly! I'm not saying there are no archaeologists in the world who do not cross the rubicon occassionally, but the above is becoming more and more endemic.

Now that is quite exceptionally fascinating; does it show merely site visitors, or does it show the actual members as well? I suppose it doesn't distinguish between the two though....

Ah well, one down, another plethora of fanatics to go....it's a good start though Old Osami doesn't look too healthy these days does he? I suppose all that living like the rat he is must be getting to him....

Well, that is rather interesting. Pray, what do you wish to gain from this topic apart from people looking at a midly interesting article, although not earth shattering?

Ah yes, that does give me some interesting references. Thanks for that Lacertus!

Same with mine, he was on the Kokoda trail as a communications officer, and he would never say anything beyond the fact that he saw the Japanese of that time as the ultimate of barbarians. I'm not saying that's the case today though (gotta be careful, the politically correct lot are everywhere these days lol), just that the Japanese certainly weren't exactly sticklers for the Geneva Convention then.

In conjunction with the P.O.W. theme of this discussion, here is a tv series that was on the Australian ABC that you people may be interested in: http://www.abc.net.au/changi/history/default.htm

LOL Same here in Australia; all of us evil European descendants etc here in Australia would probably have to give all of Australia back to the Aboriginals, and either leave, or ask the Aboriginals if we're allowed to stay. If we can't stay, then i'm sure it'll be a cinch to take the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, the MCG etc with us How's Gibraltar by the way? Does it belong to Spain again yet?

I can only reiterate what has been said; in an ideal world, it would be right to give Egypt it's national heritage back, if Egypt could show that it would look after the artifacts properly and guarantee that all people could at least see these artifacts if they wished too.

Hmm, i tell you what, that is a particularly well structured argument Shelby, well done sir. (sarcasm heavily apparent in my statement I would hope)

G'day all As i'm sure most of you know, from the early times of the Roman Republic, most people of Rome had the three names of praenomen, nomen, and cognomen. This was true of most of the nobles and notable figures of the Republic, and the Emperors of the Empire, for much of the history of the Empire. However, when we reach the run up to the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the advent of the "Byzantine" Empire, Emperors began to have only two names, or even less, and the tria nomina appears to be dying out after Emperor Majorian (Julius Valerius Maiorianus). Mostly, the Valentian and Theodosian Emperors only had two names, i.e. Valens was Fl. Valens, and Theodosius I & II were both Fl. Theodosius. From Marcian onward there is no evidence of any traditional Roman nomenclature. Why did this occur? I'd be interested in some opinions or theories...

I always wonder who puts these sort of sites together, they're amazing people Well, on my birthday, in the UK, the top song was "Hand on your heart", by Kylie Minogue, and in the USA, it was "I'll be there for you" by Bon Jovi

Argh...the cybermen have returned!!! If you woke up in the morning to see that thing looking at you, what would your imnmediate reaction be?

"Wise men talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something"-Plato How true.

I voted for Napoleon. As Virgil61 said, he certainly changed the face of Europe, and helped to change political systems for the future. The advent of Napoleon's rise to power and eventually, his self coronation as "Emperor", helped to unite much of Europe against him, and also caused Great Britain to rise out of it's reverie after the loss of the American colonies (although Britain rising can also be attributed to the Spanish affair). Had Napoleon succeeded in conquering Britain, the face of the world may have been very different indeed. A person i was wondering about was Joan of Arc. She commanded the entire armies of France at a rather young age, in a time where for a woman to be in such a position was very unusual. She helped to inspire the French and succeeded in causing the eventual expulsion of Britain from France, as well as reigniting French Nationalism.