Tobias

LOL, i think Shane Warne may need to be careful; he'll end up with hair like Bert Newton

I don't see the Dark Ages as being a time of collapse and destruction. When Romulus Augustus was deposed, nothing more traumatic occurred than had been occurring for years beforehand, and most of European society during the Dark Ages merely stood still to regain their footing. As is said in my statement, i was referring mainly to what began the Dark Ages, the neglect and falling apart of Roman infrastructure, the loss of a standard coinage etc. I don't believe that the entire dark ages were bad, nor am i speaking of them in a negative way; as i said, i'm speaking mainly of the initial stages, which was the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

It was her personal opinion, i have too high an opinion of the British in general to think it to be a universal opinion over there

Just of of curiosity, might i ask what you dislike about Justinian?

I'm prepared to overlook his "private" life if he continues to take exorbitant amounts of wickets for Australia For god's sakes, leave the best spin bowler in the world alone, paparazzi

At my school here in Australia, we recently got a young new teacher, who came from England. She questioned us about ANZAC day here, and why we would want to continue to remember the wars Australia participated in. She commented that she had little use for days like ANZAC day and Remembrance Day. I must admit that i was rather surprised; i would have thought a British person would understand why these days exist. These days exist so that we don't forget the horrors of war. I felt rather worried that if a new teacher should believe that such days and commemorations were unnecessary, then how many others believe the same thing? If the belief that we don't need to remember the atrocoties of the wars catches on, then Wars on a similar, or worse, scale will certainly occur again. ..anyway, that's just my two bob's worth for today ...

Thank you Skarr, that's pretty much how i feel, it's just difficult to put feelings down into words sometimes I believe it comes back to the ancient fact; No matter what sort of system there is in place, it will not work for someone, or someone will want to bring it down. The fact is that humankind is so diverse that a system cannot be customised to fit every single person. No-one is perfect, and not all are necessarily good at heart.

Well said Germanicus I noted that Shane Warne is in trouble....again....

I would not go so far as to say that the Byzantines had a negative effect on Western Europe; they absorbed most of the overtures made by the Persians and the Arabs, and protected the west from many threats through protecting their own interests, as was said by Kosmo. It can also be said that they didn't necessarily believe in exactly the same religion; the Orthodox and Catholic churches were quite often at odds with each other, especially after the Byzantines lost Rome.

Indeed, some of the only lights of learning were preserved in Constantinople. In the last years of the Empire, there was a great flourishing of art and learning, and some great works were produced; some of the last legacies of the Byzantines to be produced. With the steady besiegement on all sides, these scholars, artists etc fled to the Italian centres of civilisation, like Venice, Florence, Milan etc, and helped to set off the renaissance

I got Winona Ryder - who the hell is that? The next closest were Natalie Portman, Angelina Jolie and Kirsten Dunst. To tell the truth, i have little time for celebrities....

I couldn't believe that - there i was celebrating at another Australian record - and the South African team beats us! But yeah, Australia is toning down now, letting a few other teams get some glory for a change; if Australia was to win all the time, the game would be just boring - we've got to be fair But seriously, South Africa just outdid us completely that day; good on them

Now that is quite amazing. I have a book called "Orbit" at home, released by National Geographic, and the book contains pictures from space of places in all the continents; that is amazing in itself, but these ancient sites are incredible; especially Stonehenge I've heard many times that the best satellites can read the time of one's wristwatch

Yes, the people at Bletchly Park certainly deserve a lot of credit, and Montgomery did his fair share too. It certainly helps to know your enemy's battle strategy and his supply routes

It's amazing how, when you research into an area you previously knew virtually nothing about, you thoroughly enjoy researching. I couldn't believe how much i was interested in Justin after even a small read about him, and i would recommend to all to look into nonentical Roman Emperors; you may be pleasantly surprised

Your grandfather too has a lot to be proud of. Scotland would have been an ok place to spend the war If General Rommel had succeeded and taken El Alamein, eventually the Suez Canal, and hence the gates to the oilfields of the Middle East, the world may have a different face on it to today. El Alamein was a pivotal point in WWII, and it's a shame that it's not as well known.

It strikes me all the time when i research various aspects of history; there are so many amazing events that have occurred, or were sparked, by a person or people who thought they were acting for the greater good; for what they thought was right. In my opinion, Cato didn't destroy the Republic. Yes, he may have gone to some interesting lengths throughout his remarkable life, and yes, he could be construed as the villain of the piece (especially to readers of Colleen McCullough's "Caesar" ), but as has been said, he acted on principle; on what he believed was right. I had a teacher who said that the highest level of thinking can be defined as standing by what one believes in, no matter what, if one thinks it is right. Who has the right to say that what one says is not necessarily right? Perspective is a very strong thing, and causes division when not realised. Caesar acted for what he thought was right (although, as i'm sure M. Porcius Cato shall say, he also had other motivations), and Cato acted as he thought right. It can be said that both had their fair share in destroying the republic, but no one person (in my opinion) can be given the dubious honour of bringing down an entire system.

I named no-one; it was merely a general observation. Those i don't know as well on the site i give the respect i think their due; there's no irony about it, i was merely respectful. My opinion was never meant to suggest a complete solution as to why the later Emperors wore beards; and by dismissing Emperors and their wartime beards, you have missed my point; I thought that perhaps the later Emperors seized upon it as symbol of a strong militant attitude; of being devoted to the state in times of trouble so far as to perhaps neglect personal physical features such as beards. You make a valid point; however, historical discussion wouldn't be as interesting without some theories

My grandfather fought at El Alamein, as part of the 12th Lancers. He's had a stroke, so i can't exactly talk to him about the battles around that place these days, but that has served to pique my interest. This movie sounds familiar; i may have seen it. The ANZACs were at El Alamein, but they are more famous in North Africa for the Battles of Tobruk

If you were an Emperor, would you get statues of coinage done of yourself with you not looking your best? Just because an Emperor isn't wearing a beard on coinage or on statues is no proof whatsoever that they didn't acquire beards when on campaign etc. You will also observe sir, that i added the qualification " 'might' retain his beard". One must keep an open mind with history, and listen to the opinions of others

For so long, Europe had been organised, governed and defended by Rome. No matter what the situation, Rome was virtually always there for the furthest extents of Europe. The beginning of the continuing invasions of barbarians shook the world, but so many continued to believe in Rome. Eventually, when Rome's soldiers coming to the rescue began to become more and more uncommon, the populace turned in on themselves. Barbarians were destroying infrastructure, coinage occassionally had little or no value and the system that the people had come to see as being inevitable, perpetual and indestructible was dismantled violently. These times, the invasions of the Huns, the goths and the reign of Romulus Augustus, were the true beginnings of the Dark Ages. What so many generations of people had believed in was now gone, or rather was run by barbarians, which amounted to the same thing. With the loss of law, infrastructure, direction and protection, the peoples of Europe had only one order of the day; survival. The people had to return to the basics; rudimentary trade of goods having more value then coinage, frugal living and lack of technology etc etc. They had to defend themselves and make enough food and income of some kind to keep themselves alive. This effectively froze Europe. Virtually no central authority could assert the sort of control that Rome had had in it's heyday, because of small dominions, and various conflicting confederations all working to protect their own interests. Of course, the church contributed it's bit. With life being so very tough, the main consolation for the general populace and indeed the upper echelons of society was that if you followed the instructions of the church to the letter, you would go the everlasting Paradise; Heaven. The church generally opposed anything outside of the bible, and the majority of the writings of ancient Rome were lost through destruction, censorship or negligence, and a life dictated by something other then the church was inconceivable. It came to be that most could not conceive of a life that was not dominated and ruled by the church, and ancient Rome (a life and time far better than what they were experiencing) may have been considered to be a legend. That was what kept the church's grip so strong throughout this time. Of course, the church generally opposed change and advancement, which assisted in holding Europe back. The fact that the dark ages lasted so long shows exactly the influence Rome had on Europe, and how terrible the effects of the barbarian invasions must have been.

Perhaps a small element of it may relate to the ancient Roman days, when in times of war, a Roman Emperor might retain his beard; as the Byzantine Empire was mostly always under threat from some direction, the beard may have had an element of representing a new warlike element of Roman Emperors; of course, many Byzantine Emperors weren't all that warlike, or competent, but it might have just added to the standards of the advancing dark and mediaeval ages.

My focus of interest is the Byzantine Era; The longevity of this empire, and it's ability to spring back from disaster, to me embodies the great ideal of Rome. Granted, for every great Emperor, there were a whole spiel of nonentities, but that is the same for all nations.

LOL, doesn't he just have that air of Imperial Majesty about him?

I would also mention Ioan Gruffudd, but it depends on whether you define a Welshman as "British" . Having seen him in various movies and series (Titanic, Hornblower, King Arthur etc.), he's one of my favourite actors.