DecimusCaesar

There are also some inaccuracies in the militarty equipment of the legionaires. They should be wearing Montefortino helmets instead of the ones they are wearing (which seem to be designed specifcally for the show). There is also some artistic licence with the lorica hamata that is worn by Vorenus in some episodes, with it's leather shoulder pads that come down over the chest , the one worn by Pullo seems more accurate. Well at least they aren't wearing lorica segmentata! In 'The Spoils' we see the soldiers getting ready for Caesar's parade and there are square shaped scutum in the background, when the ones that were in use by the legions at this time was oval. The Scutums also appear too flat and thin and are too small in size. Soldiers also carry the Draco wind-sock standards during the parade, which were introduced by the Sarmatians around the Second Century AD. There is no evidence to support the tunics worn by the soldiers with the eagle insignia on it are real either, as important high-ranking soldiers who were off duty would wear (an often bland looking) tunic with a cloak slung over the shoulder that was held in place by a pin, they could use this cloak to conceal their weapons, seeing as armed and armoured soldiers were a taboo on the streets of Rome.

Like many others on this thread, I'm not quite sure why it is that I like the Romans more than many other periods in history (although I am fascinated by other cultures and periods in history). For instance I admire many things in Greek culture, their science and technology and their ideas about philosophy, their titanic struggles against the Persian Empire, their innovative spirit and the way that one civilization could have so much in common in terms of language, fashion etc yet be completely different, like Athens and Sparta. But yet I like the Romans more, perhaps it is because the Romans shaped the enviroment around me (archaeologists found the remains of three houses dating back to the Roman period near my home a few years back) or perhaps it is because they have many fascinating characters,look at the difference between Cato the Stoic in the Republic and the extravagant Emperor Elagabalus. They have such diverse personalities and many of them would do things and act in certain ways that we would not dare do today. There are many things I do not like in the Roman character, they could be excessively cruel, especially when it came to their entertainment, yet I admire their achievements and the way the helped shape the world.

It might seem best to have it in August, the days are longer, the chances of sunshine are much higher plus people can ask for a summer holiday around that time.

Gaius Octavius is right when he says that Alexander ran into trouble when he marched through unknown territory, especially if it consisted of the desert. On more than one ocassion Alexander got lost in the desert whether it was travelling to the orcale at Siwa, marching through towards Oxiana and his final march through the desert of the Makran. If Alexander only had a short supply he would need to march closely to the coast of Africa in order to get to Carthage, something that would be made increasingly difficult with the Carthaginian navy, who would, no doubt trying to disrupt his supplies and his line of communication. How Alexander would have overcome this, we will never know and we can't even be sure how the Carthaginians would have reacted to his invasion. If he had lived and his conquest of Arabia had been succesful and there were no plots to have him killed then I'm sure it was in Alexander's nature to carry on his wars of conquest.

It's true that the horses absolutely terrified the native peoples and they had no clue how to react to them until the last few weeks of the siege of Tenochtitlan (the Aztecs had created long spears to repel them). The Conquistadores greatest weapon was the horse as they often defeated armies of Aztecs or Incas just by charging into their rears when they least expected them. The guns and the crossbows on the other hand were not very good, only a handful of men were armed with guns during Cortez's expedition (120 at Tenochtitlan a lot less earlier on). Guerilla warfare tactics of the natives rendered the Arquebus and the crossbow useless for the Conquistadores, so they had rely even more on native auxillaries (just as Doc and Ludovicus have pointed out) and on their own bravery...Pizzaro's men at the battle of Cajamarca. I have also seen 'The Mission' Ludovicus, the cinematography and music score were brilliant and the script was well written, even if it was rather slow paced from time to time. It didn't have much of an emotional impact on me till I saw it for the second or third time and it's a rather sad tale. You were lucky to be able to see it in 1986 (most other people saw it years later) I would have prefered to see it on the big screen.

On a slightly unrelated matter, did anyone remember the 'Ancient Egyptians' Tv series from a few years back? Here was a similar series to 'Ancient Rome' in that instead of having historians talk us through events, they had actors, sets (both real and CGI) and a whole hoard of props to try and recreate Egypt in ancient times. Each episode would follow a true story, The Battle of Kadesh for instance, and they would have the actors speaking in Egyptian (with subtitles) supposedly with the actual words of the people (the Pharaoh, the Generals etc). The latter episodes were rather interesting as they delved into real events that were not so famous, such as the prosecution and execution of a Tomb raider, the lives of twin sisters that were kicked out of their mother's home and who later asked the Ptolemaic Pharaoh for assistance. It's my guess that the series will be similair to this in style (I wonder if the characters speak latin?) or perhaps the Gladiator documentary the BBC showed a few years ago.

I remember on a documentary 'War and Civilization' (with John Keegan and narrated by Walter Cronkite), they claimed that it was Gaius Marius who came up with the 'Roman salute' as well as the numerous other symbols for the newly formed legions. I have never read or seen any other program that makes the same claim, so I might have to look through Plutarch's Life of Marius to find the source (if it exists).

Read an article about it yesterday, sounds very good. If I won't have a chance to see it on Thursday, I will probably buy the DVD when it's released.

Even if he died of natural causes, I believe he would have been assassinated eventually. I don't think his generals could bear having to go to another long war to secure Carthage, followed by a very long war across Europe to the "the Britannic isles" as Arrian suggested. After all there was a assassination attempt earlier in his career with the 'conspiracy of the pages'. Philotas got the blame for that one.

Have you seen the movie Ludovicus? What do you think of it?

I've never seen the 1963 'Cleopatra' film, but I think I read that the Actium scene was one of the most difficult movie scenes to film- did they actually build a 100 Roman war galleys? I haven't seen much of these old productions, I only have Spartacus (1960); I, Claudius; (1976); Gladiator (2000); Julius Caesar (2002) and Rome (2005) on DVD. I have seen some scenes from other Roman films or TV shows, including a TV movie about Cleopatra from a few years ago starring that guy from titanic, whose name I can't recall. Most of them are melodramatic affairs that have little connection with history and seem to be based more on Shakespeare's work.

true, The Egyptians tried to stamp out his religion, even Akenhaten's son Tutanaten's name was chnged to Tutankhamun (after the god Amun-Ra). The Egyptians even took steps to erase the entire families names of all the monuments of Egypt, meaning that Tutankhamun's tomb survived ( although it was defaced somewhat by robbers). So at least the Egyptian experiment with monothesism did produce the wonders of Tutankhamun's tomb.

I've found the review... Tom Holland Review Personally I really liked the book as well as Lane Fox's 'Alexander the Great' (another book I recommend), but I believe that Holland and other modern cholars might be offended by Lane Fox's "old fashioned" views on the Classical World.

I wish I could come, but unfortunately, unless I learn how to drive in the next few weeks I won't be able to get up to York, which is a shame, as I would like to visit York one day even if this meeting was never organized as I have always wanted to visit the sites (both Roman and Viking). Oddly enough my sister was planning to go to York a few months ago, but she went to Warwick castle instead ( I haven't been). I wish you luck on your venture and i hope you have a fun time, If you have a chance to make it there! Good Luck!

What Horatius says is very true, If Rome was based on Greek culture and architecture and the Greeks were influenced by the east, then Rome really did go home when the capital was transferred to Constantinople. (Not only considering as Horatius pointed out, that the Romans believed the Aeniad of Virgil, that they were descendants of the Trojan refugees). Very interesting Ursus, I will be looking forward to your review. Does the book mention how the Romanised client cultures saw themselves (especially those that existed outside of Roman borders but had a sufficient amount of Roman culture and material goods). I have read of Romans being greeted by German tribes who lived along the border of the Empire, but were almost indestingushable between from those who lived on the other side of the border. Would they have saw themsleves as being part of Rome's glory? or just as a individual tribe with Roman style wealth and material goods?

Excellent review for an excellent book. I've been reading through it recently and I liked the chapter about how the Roman's despised many of the Greek cultural traits and the Greeks looked down on the Romans for being "Overly religious". It shows how much the Greeks and Romans differed from each other and how much they were the same. I think Tom Holland and many other younger scholars have criticised Lane Fox as being too old fashioned and for ignoring new research in some fields (concerning the Barbarian tribes and the persians) he supposedly takes the view that they were either 'savages' when talking of the barbarians and 'effeminate and decadent' when it comes to the Persians. Just like the Greeks and Romans saw these people. I will try to find that review for you...

I would have thoughtwatching some of the most surreal scenes from the Young Ones would have sparked a few hallucinations.

Sorry to hear about this, You would have thought that at least your Boss would have given you a warning long before hand. Good luck!

he he he Cato won't like that.

Thank you Primus! I have been rather weary of Ebay.

I have read Lord Norwich's trilogy as well (after having read his Short history of Byzantium). they really are excellent books, among the best narrative history I have read. I'm glad you have enjoyed them. Norwich has also written a book on the history of Venice as well, I haven't read it but you might want to check it out if you are developing an intrest in that area.

Perhaps they named the guy after Peter Stringfellow, club owner in the UK... It would be very weird if they did.