DecimusCaesar

I've never seen King Arthur. I'm not sure If I'll have the chance to see this movie. The fact that it's been delayed for a long time does not usually bode well for the quality of the film. Still, It might end up being a surprise.

Saw that this has made the front page on some sites. If it is Hatshepsut, then this is really great news. No doubt there will be a dozen Discovery Channel specials to come in the next few weeks/months. I see that Zahi Hawass is taking all the credit again.

Welcome Carthago! I hope You'll enjoy yourself on the forums here.

The new series is taking even more liberties with history. Why did Antony make deal with Brutus after Caesar's death? And what was Octavian doing in Rome? Come to think of it, there was no sign of Cleopatra anywhere. It would have been interseing seeing Brutus and Gladiator bodygurads locking themsleves up from the angry Plebs as they did historically, yet sadly that wasn't shown. Still, the first series wasn't exactly realistic and this new series is certainly shaping up to be good entertainment. Unfortunately I just didn't get a chance to see all of tonight's (Sunday) episode as I thought that they only repeated the wednesday one on Sunday. I'll just have to see it when it's released on DVD, which I believe might happen this September.

Spartacus (is/was) a popular hero for the communists in the early twentieth century. It is mentioned that Spartacus shared the loot from his 'campaigns' equally among the members of his slave army, so that's a comparison between his actions and the beliefs of Marxists. As Appian says: "Because he divided the spoils in equal shares his numbers swelled quickly..." I've also heard it mentioned (such as in Philip Matyszack's 'Chronicle of the Roman Republic') that Marcus Licinius Crassus has been viewed by some historians as an early capitalist. Whether this view has been directly influenced by Spartacus been referred to as a communist, I am unsure. Perhaps the idea developed seperately. But the idea of an a proto-communist battling against a proto-capitalist would obviously be attractive to some Communists. As for Spartacus's aims, again I'm not sure. The sources on Spartacus are few and far between, and they amount only to brief mentions in the works of Plutarch, Appian and others. Perhaps Spartacus' main goal was fight his way across Italy to the Alps in the hope of establishing a new home for him and his followers in Gaul. Upon reaching the Alps, many of Spartacus followers, who were influenced by Crixus, decided to stay in Italy to plunder the villas in the countryside. Spartacus therefore had to abandon his plans and in the following period he took to plundering Italy. (Crixus and his followers would later break off from Spartacus main force, leading to the defeats of both forces). Appian also mentions that Spartacus planned on leading his men to Rome, but abandoned his plan after he realised that he was no match for the defenders. As a result, it is difficult to see what were Spartacus's long term plans. Perhaps he had none. I personally do not think he was attempting a revolution. I think that his immediate goal was to bolster the ranks of his army so that he could launch an attack on Rome, or perhaps break free of Roman territory. The destrutction of slavery was not a goal of his, I believe.

I've ordered Jared Diamond's book. After reading the reviews on Amazon, it seems that he does make many references to modern ecological problems, so it isn't just an examination of the collapse of ancient civilisations as I originally believe. As for Pryor's Britain BC, I've been reading it today and I highly recommend it. It's a brilliant book.

Ancient Tomb Found in Mexico Reveals Mass Child Sacrifice Kelly Hearn for National Geographic News June 12, 2007 The skeletons of two dozen children killed in an ancient mass sacrifice have been found in a tomb at a construction site in Mexico. The find reveals new details about the ancient Toltec civilization and adds to an ongoing debate over ritualistic killing in historic Mesoamerica. Read full article - National Geographic - Toltec Sacrifice

I know that this is off-topic but: "Geographer Jared Diamond's Collapse (Penguin Group, 2005) demonstrates how natural and human-caused environmental catastrophes led to the collapse of civilizations. I was looking for this very book today, after work. It was there the previous day, but someone had brought the last copy! Ah well, I could get it another time. I ended up buying Francis Pryor's Britain BC. Hopefully, I'll get back to Collapse in the near future, and I'll tell you what I think them. Personally I can't see the connection between Global Warming and what's discussed in Diamond's book, other than the Ancient Mayans ruined their fragile ecology and therefore destroyed their civilisation. As a result, I can't see how his book could persuade a Climate change skeptic to change his mind. Perhaps the other titles that Nephele mentioned would be more effective.

For a moment I thought that this was another archaeology spoof. I have to admit, the 'mickey mouse' looks rather weird. It has a strange quality about it.

Great to see you're enjoying yourself.

An interesting article that reflects what some scholars have been saying about Gladiators for the last few years. I believe that even back int he sixties, Michael grant hinted at some of these ideas in his books. Gladiators were also portrayed similarly in a recent BBC docudrama. Was the 1960's movie Barabas about a Gladiator that took part in organised matches? I haven't seen it, but I am sure that might what be depicted in the film.

Here's to Divi Filius! I Hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Perhaps for many modern Italians the connection with Ancient Rome has been ruined by Mussolini. After all, didn't he link his own fascist Italy of the 30's and 40's with Ancient Rome? Maybe the connection between ancient Rome and Fascist Italy is too much for some modern Italians. I'm not saying that this is the case, but it might be a possible factor.

Some of Peter Cobnnelly's books are worth getting, although they might be a bit too complex for six year olds. Still, You might like to try getting hold of 'Pompeii', 'The Roman Fort', 'The Legionary and 'The Cavalryman'. Like Wot, I'd recommend 'The Rotten Romans' by Terry Deary (I'v heard that he has released a sequal 'The Ruthless Romans' as well). I can't comment on the Ruthless Romans, but I should tell you that 'The Rotten Romans' does have a few mistakes, including a claim that Caligula watched men being butchered in the Colosseum.

Although, as Edgewaters says we will never no for sure, how probable would it be if the Celts simply slept in open fields with their blankets and cloaks for protection? afterall, we hear of some armies still camping this way into the early modern period. All though this might not be desirable, It probably would have happened on some occassion.

I've read that title and enjoyed it. The language was difficult at first, but then I got used to it. Welcome Back Gaius!!

Am I not mistaken or did Augustus Caesar use hot walnuts to flatten the hairs on his legs according to Suetonius? What reason did he have for doing this?

The Opium wars are still seen with some resentment by the Chinese to this day. I remember watching a clip of two Chinese men playing a shooting game at a Fair. It involved firing projectiles from a small cannon at some cardboard cut- outs of British ships.

I wonder if Caesar Salad would work?

My Own Classical themed Amazon wishlist: Atlas of the Classical World - Richard Talbert (its being on the list since April 2005!) The Greco-Persian Wars - Peter Green ( a great author, I really enjoyed his biography of Alexander) Granicus 334 BC - Alexander's first Persian Victory - Michael Thompson ( not yet published) Theodosius: The Empire at Bay (Roman Imperial Biographies) - Stephen Williams , J.G.P. Friell. Roman Battle Tactics 109BC - AD313 (Elite) - Ross Cowan (Not yet published) Ruling the Later Roman Empire (Revealing Antiquity) - Christopher Kelly The Goths (Peoples of Europe) - Peter Heather The Huns (Peoples of Europe) - E.A. Thompson The Army of Herod the Great (Men-at-arms) - Samuel Rocco (Not yet published) Emperor Constantine - Michael Grant The Two Voulmes of The Later Roman Empire - A.H.M Jones (Very expensive, I don't think I'll be able to buy these) Great Women of Imperial Rome - Jasper Burns.

I'd been wondering the same thing a short while ago, I checked his profile to see if he'd left any news. Let's hope he returns again soon.

Semi-Spathae are mentioned in P. Southern and K. Dixon's book 'The Late Roman Army' - They say: "Vegetius writing in the fourth century, states that both spathae and smaller swords called semispathae were employed..." (It should be noted that these semi spathae were not similar to the Pugio daggers, as they remained the same from the early to late empires.) I.P Stephenson also devotes a section of his book, Romano-Byzantine Infantry Equipment to the semispatha. The Semispatha might have been a little larger than the gladius but smaller in size than the spatha. They might have been used as secondary weapons.

The Later Roman soldiers used the semi-spatha, a type of sword similar to those used by cavalrymen. these swords were much longer than the traditional gladius which would would make them good for slashing, but less so far stabbing. Ammianus Marcellinus, when discussing the battle of Adrianople in AD 378 mentions that the Roman soldiers were so tightly packed together that they could not draw their spatha swords in defense and were killed where they stood. Despite these shortcomings, Ian Stephenson, author of many books on the subject of Roman arms, armour and equipment; says that these Spatha swords were the equals if not the betters of the gladius in quality. They lacked none of the weight or penetrative power of the gladius hispaniensis. Ammianus Marcellinus also says that "While in open, or skirmish, order the extra blade length of the spatha gave it an edge over its predecessor." This type of sword was therefore much better suited to the type of warfare that was prevalent in later Roman Europe.

That's a very good point. Afterall, didn't Augustus mark the day that the Varus Legions were defeated as a black day for all? The defeat of Varus Legions certainly played a huge part on influncing Roman and German relations. Another example would be the Gauls' sack of Rome in 390 BC. The Romans of Caesar's day still despised the Gauls for a crime they'd committed centuries earlier.

I've been wondering if racism would have been dominant in the provinces. Afterall, in the east, the main language and culture was still Hellenistic even during the later years of Roman occupation. I can see the citizens of Rome having their racist attitudes towards the Greeks, although I can't see the Romans having those same views in areas that were dominated by Greek Culture and language - a place where even a large part of government officials and soldiers spoke Greek instead of Latin. Still, The Romans in Judea still held Jewish culture and people in contempt, even though the Romans were in the minority. Do you think that interaction with foreign people throughout Imperial history made the Romans less racist or more racist? Afterall, It might make more "sense" for Romans to think of the Greeks in derogatory terms during the Macedonian wars rather than centuries after the conquest of their country. What is interesting when you consider the history of the Later Empire is that, despite having large numbers of Germans in the army and in important government positions (Stilicho for instance), the Romans still held the Germans in utter contempt. There are many examples of Roman xenophobia towards the Germans even during this later period (despite centuries of interaction). This hatred wasn't just directed at Rome's German enemies but towards Germans that had become Roman citizens. There seems to be a dule attitude towards these Germans. Prudentius for instance, wrote this verse: "A common Law made them equals and bound them in single name... We live in most diverse countries, like fellow-citizens of the same blood dwelling within the single ramparts of their native city and all united in an ancestral home." This might seem like a positive attitude, but Prudentius later writes: "As beasts from men, as dumb from those who speak, as from the good who God's Commandments seek differ the foolish heathen, so Rome stands, Alone in pride above barbarian lands."