DecimusCaesar

I've been reading 'Roman Art' by Michael Siebler. It is a very short and well illustrated title on some of the greatest pieces of Roman art. Everything from the Capitoline wolf and the bust of Cicero to the statue of the tetrarchs and the marble head of Constantine are covered. Most of the items are well known, although Siebler does take a look at some lesser known items such as the 'Lycurgus Legend' and the 'Achilles' silver platter from Augusta Raurica. It is no way an in-depth study, but it's an ok introductory (95 page) title for art students.

I was given a book on this subject a few years back. I didn't find the evidence that convincing. We might not have a 100% understanding of how the Pyramids were built, but I don't think we can bring supermen from Atlantis into the equation.

From the Article: Jas Elsner briefly discusses the object in the introduction to Imperial Rome and Christian Triumph: The Art of the Roman Empire AD 100-450 (Oxford, 1998). In his caption, he writes (p. 22),

That's a fascinating discovery. If it really is the body of a Druid, then the grave dates to the very end of the Druid period in Britain, around the time of Boudica's Revolt.

I was given the hardback addition of 'Rome and Her Enemies: An Empire Created and Destroyed by War' as a Christmas present back in 2005. It is basically a collection of Osprey titles on the ancient Roman military and its enemies, ranging from The Etruscans to the Huns. It has lots of lovely colour plates and photographs, although the battle maps aren't very detailed. I'd recommend it as a good light read.

I have never seen pictures like these. Thanks for sharing. What is written on the portrait? I can only read "kerami" by deduction I think it refers to pottery( ?

I've seen History of the World: Part One a few times on TV. It's very funny, and filled with lots of memorable one liners. I also liked how when a few Roman soldiers rushed into the Temple of Vesta, the Vestals put on special belts with no entry symbols on them. By the way, did anyone notice John Hurt as Jesus in the movie?

You can get a very readable and excellently written account of the last years of the Western Roman Empire (and afterwards) with Adrian Murdoch's The Last Roman. Theoderic was a great ruler who did his best to encourage the arts and culture. Sadly though the civilisation he built in imitation of Roman heritage was paper thin, and much of it disappeared after his death. Some people who lived at the time of Theodoric described his age as a flowering of Italy, not seen since the age of Augustus or Trajan. As one chronicler stated: Theoderic was a man of great distinction and of goodwill towards all men. He ruled for thirty three years. In his times, for thirty years, Italy enjoyed such good fortune that his successors also inherited peace. Cassiodorus also calls him a moderniser and a forward thinker. The Pope Gelasius says that Italy had suffered destruction, war, pestilence and famine until Theoderic conquered the country. The Byzantine wars helped put a stop to most of the achievements of Theoderic, and the later invasions of the Lombards in AD 568 helped sweep most of Roman civilisation away. The Lombards carved out dukedoms for themselves in northern Italy - eventually becoming such a nuisance that the Pope called on Charlemagne to come drive them out in AD 770. The Lombards then surrendered to Charlemagne at the siege of Pavia. By AD 800, Charlemagne had himself crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope at Rome, in the hope of resurrecting the Western Roman Empire. By then, most of the old Roman culture of Italy had disappeared.

It was originally believed that the portrait ( seen in my avatar) was originally that of Valentinian III, his sister Honoria and their mother Galla Placidia. Now archaeologists believe that it is just a portrait of an ordinary wealthy family, dating back to the third century BC.

This week I watched Martin Scorcese's Taxi Driver. I really enjoyed it. It is strange how a film made over 30 years ago can still be hard hitting.

I got this one on friday. I read it and really enjoyed it, It's one of the most enjoyable books on Roman society I've come across. I only wish I had taken the time to check up the CD when the author mentioned it during some passages in the book. Still, I will check it out later. Thank you again for the recommendation.

Thank you for clearing that up Ursus!

It is worth noting that some recent scholarship is attempting to overthrow the old belief that the Goths originated in Scandza (Sweden) as the Gothic historian Jordanes noted. Arne Soby Christensen cliams that Jordanes and Cassiodorus based their works not on Gothic tradition as they would like us to believe, but on Greek and Roman literature, which is not exactly reliable - considering that they were dealing with events far outside their borders. I'd really like to get a hold of this work, although it is far too expensive. It'd be worth reading just to see how it would reshape our understanding of the Gothic migrations.

1453 is usually seen as the end of the Byzantine Empire (even though a part of it survived in the form of the empire of Trebizond till 1461) because the Turks took over the Imperial regalia. In AD 477, Odoacer sent the Imperial regalia to Zeno at Constantinople. Could AD 477 therefore be considered as the breakaway date, considering that Odoacer had sent the imperial symbols of Rome to the Emperor at Byzantium? One interesting thing to note - Zeno ordered Odoacer to accept Julius Nepos as Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, which would imply that the rulers of Byzantium did not see the fall of Rome to Odoacer as a breakaway point.

Happy Birthday Silentum!

Great interview Ursus, I found it enlightening. Maty's new work on Mithridates of Pontus sounds very interesting, as were his views on Caligula and Tiberius.

That's a good idea. Thank you. Interestingly if you click Michael Larvey's name on the Amazon UK site, it claims he co-authoured Roman Sex with John R. Clarke. Is there any mention of Mr. Clarke co-authouring Roman Sex with Larvey in your copy of the book? (I don't own a copy of Roman Sex so I have to go with whatever amazon says). I have already purchased Roman Life, thank you again for the great review.

In Tim Newark's 'The Ancient Celts', the author even calls the Dacians 'Celts'. I am not sure I've seen anyone else do this. In the book he writes: The Dacian people were a mixture of many different races and cultures. Steppe warriors from north of the Black Sea appear to have invaded the area, and their Sarmatian culture mixed with Graceo-Thracian culture to the south in present-day Bulgaria and the Celtic culture of central Europe to the west. We therefore have a people who retained Celtic manners long after the body of Celts had moved westwards. He also refers to Trajan's column, claiming that some of the weapons carried by the Dacians show signs of Cetic influence. This is interesting as it goes back to John Collis work on Iron Age Europe where he stated that La Tene art and artifacts are not proof of Celtic civilisation. Personally I can't see how The Dacians can fit into what we might define as 'Celtic', considering that most archaeologists state that they were a people who lived primarily in western continental Europe and areas of Anatolia. What does everyone else think of this classification of Dacians as Celts? Do they really have much similarities with traditionally 'Celtic' people such as the Gauls or Celt-Iberians?

I read your brilliant review Ursus and went looking for the book on Amazon. It took me a while to find it, as the book is listed as being written by Michael Larvey rather than John R. Clarke, which is very strange. So I'm taking a rather dangerous plunge by buying this book, as I might end up with a completely different title. Here's the link to the Amazon UK site: Roman Life 100 BC - AD 200 Some of the book information on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk do seem to match up, so in all probability it could be the same book.

It's also a favourite book of mine. It's always handy to have it at hand. Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins also wrote the Dictionary of Roman Religion, which was recommended by Ursus in his top 5 list. That's another great title that's worth getting as well.

Sadly for me Europa Barbarorum just won't work. I've heard it's been reviewed in some major PC gaming magazines. One magazine callled it the greatest computer gaming MOD ever made, and they also praised it as being far more in depth and playable than any other Total War game - even the ones designed by the Creative Assembly. Hopefully, one day I'll get a PC that'll be advanced enough to play it.

Happy Birthday DDickey!

The episode on Constantine was badly rushed in my opinion. Not only did it shove in some scene that had already been used in the previous episodes, but it also left out vital moments from Constaine's life...there is no mention of his involvement in Eboracum (York) or his founding of Constantinople. It also suggests that Constantine made a 100% conversion to Christianity following the Battle of Milvian Bridge, which is also false. He made use of Pagan symbols and religion for most of his life, not fully converting until he was on his deathbed.

I know of the remains of a cloth Vexillum from Egypt. It is made from linen and shows a winged Victory holding a wreath. She stands on top of the globe. The subject is given a good overview on Red Rampant - Vexillum - Red Rampant

I am not too sure about this, but perhaps the works of Xenophon might shed some light on houses in Ancient Greece. I believe he describes life in the family home in one of his books. It is also worth checking out Peter Connolly's Ancient City. It has many layouts and illustrations covering Greek houses, although you might have that book already.