DecimusCaesar

I'm not sure what to think of this. I haven't seen the film yet, but it seems jarring to have a film based in Ancient Rome being set in modern times with 16th Century English dialogue. I can understand why some Shakespeare plays like Much Ado about Nothing could be set in different time periods, but I never understood the need to set his Historical Plays in other eras. It almost feels as if Ralph Fiennes has no faith in the story, as if setting it in period costume might bore the audience, so he needs to alter it to make it more palatable to 21st century tastes.

I suppose it could be Rome during the reign of Antoninus Pious. The Empire at that time was stable and prosperous, and pretty much as close as it could come to being a Golden Age. Some could say the reign of Trajan was better, but at the time Rome had just suffered terrible defeats at the hands of the Dacians a few years earlier during the reign of Domitian. By Antoninus's time, Rome had been ruled by Good Emperors for a few generations, so it was probably better off than directly during Trajan's time.

Thanks guys!

Carthage must be Destroyed is currently on my future reading list> I got the book as a gift this Christmas, but I still haven't got round to reading it yet.

Neither have I. I remember reading an article in a book many years ago and being blown away at the thought that homo sapines shared the world with other'species' of human beings, from Neanderthals and Homo Erectus to Homo Floresiensis and now Denisovans too.

Happy Birthday neil, hope you had a great one!

This is probably accurate. Italy became a battlefield throughout the Dark Ages, Middle Ages and even into the early Renaissance. After all the country was only reunited in 1870-71. With so many armies tramping across Italian soil and areas switching control between factions, it isn't surprising that the Ostrogoths got assimilated into a larger identity overtime.

It's an interesting find with a curious backstory involving its burial. It does seem to me that it was buried as a trophy taken by a native tribesman during the conquest, considering its ritualised burial with the dogs. Ever since I've read Raffaele D'Amato's Arms & Armour of Imperial Rome I've been somewhat sceptical of the labelling of helmets like this as cavalry helmets. Just because they are heavily decorated doesn't necessarily mean it belonged to a cavalryman. There seems to be too many decoarted helmets and facemasks recovered by archaeologists for them all to belong to cavalrymen or the Hippika Gymnasia. Cavalry formed a very small part of the Roman army during the Principate, and the Hippika Gymnasia an even smaller part.

Happy Birthday Doc, and a Happy New Year to everyone at UNRV!

Here's an interesting video about shields by an archaeologist. It does explain some of the reasons why there is a central handle in the centre of ancient shields such as the Roman scutum:

Didn't upper-class Roman males become adults at the age of 14 on average?

I'm curious to know what's been updated in the lastest edition. I think in the last edition there were only a few changes, mostly involving such minor details as changing the Samnite banners into tunics hung on spears, as what was once believed to be a Samnite Flag depicted on a wall painting might actually have been looted clothing. It actually goes to show the quality of the scholarship put into the book that only a few changes were necessary, although new editions of old scholarly works sometimes need a complete re-write. If there have been substantial changes to this New Edition then I wil definately get this one, as Greece and Rome at War is one of the best books ever written on ancient warfare.

Happy Birthday Fulvia! Hope you had a great day yesterday.

I've never quite understood Edwrad Gibbon's claim that the age of the Good Emperors, which includes the reign of Marcus Aurelius, was a golden age. Didn't the Roman army suffer horrific casualties in his wars against the Marcomanni? Not only that, you also have one of the worst ever plagues to hit Europe taking place during his reign, with millions dead. Marcus Aurelius was hardly to blame for the plague, but I hardly think his reign was a Golden Age for the Roman people.

Merry Christmas to everyone at UNRV!

I'm surprised how many many modern names are derived from Latin ones. Patrick seems like the quintessential (or stereotypical) Irish name, but I never made the connection between Patrician and Patrick. Makes sense considering Patrick was a Romano-British citizen.

This is the type of book where it makes sense to try and get it as early as possible. The chances are a few years down the line the book is going to be out of print, and then it might end up like H Russell Robinson's Armor of Imperial Rome - a book that sells for a lot of money in second hand book stores (online and in the real world).

I believe that Timewatch might have made a documentary on The Dacian Wars in 1990s, although the actual emphasis of the documentary was on the Roman military machine. They only covered the Dacian Wars because Trajan's column presents a good visual guide to the Roman legions. As for the Dacian Wars on the History Channel here is one documentary from a few years back - The Dacian Wars As for Scotland, I believe I saw a documentary about Septimius Severus's invasion of Caledonia on Channel 4. Channel 4's Youtube page did have the documentary, but they've unfortunately taken it down since then, I believe.

here are a few I haven't seen - Sign of the Cross (1932) Constantine and the Cross (1963) Imperium Nero (2004) Dacii (1967) Conqueror of Corinth (1961)

The Invisible Romans has been sitting on my wishlist for months now. Something I should get round to getting this Christmas maybe.

Was Boudica's army even an army in the real sense? or was it just a mob of people riding on anger and hatred of the Romans. Afterall they brought their wives and children with them to the battle of Watling Street. boudica's biggest mistake (if it really was Boudica leading the army) was to pit tribal warriors against much more professional soldiers in an open battle. She ought to have stuck to guerrilla warfare.

Synaulia's music is used in Gladiator too, especially in the scene that takes place in the camp after the battle against the Germans. I was under the impression though that Synaulia compose their own music, but that they play it on traditional ancient instruments. How much genuine Roman music has survived to our own time in papyrus fragments?

I agree, it is odd that the Franks seem to have lost their Germanic identity, when much smaller ethnic groups managed to hold on to theirs for much longer. Perhaps the Germanic Franks were a much smaller elite group rather like the Normans in England. Just like the Normans they might have held control of the country, but they eventually adopted the language and culture of the native population.

I've got to get round to watching the prequel series. Hopefully Season 2 will live up to the promise of the first season. One thing that's nice to see is that we have a Roman TV series which has survived more than two seasons, unlike HBO's Rome.

...And I'm even later. Hope you had a great birthday Caldrail!