DecimusCaesar

'In the Name of Rome' by Adrian Goldsworthy is another good book, as it's a biography of the various generals and soldiers throught Roman history. I also like the Chronicle series of books, published by Thames & Hudson. They have two books, one about called 'Chronicle of the Roman Emperors' by Chris Scarre, and the other is about famous Senators, Generals and other figures of the Roman Republic by Phillip Matyszak called 'Chronicle of the Roman Republic'.

HBO/BBC's attitude towards Rome seems to be very strange, they spend a huge amount on making the show, then they can't be bothered with the DVD release, unless of course, that they are planning on adding lots of specials features or other things that will make the DVD set worth purchasing.

LOL, that is bound to happen it, Primus I had no idea that he had been location scouting fro 4 years, I thought he had already done filming, but then again I haven't been following the progress of the film that much. Personally I don't know what to make of it, but I remeber reading an interview with Vin Diesel where he stated that he was attempting to make the film as historically accurate as possible ( he even said he was going to use Mel Gibson's techniqe of using characters speaking ancient languages into the movie.) But with filming in the Caribbean that idea seems to have been thrown out of the window.

The Mod looks great, and I also hear that the Byzantines will be available to play in the new Total war game, Medieval:2. As for the odd colours and designs in Osprey, I have been thinking about the same thing myself. The designs in the Roman books themselves aren't that bad (I recently got the Roman Cavalryman book) but the Samurai armours looked far too impractical too be worn on the battlefield. They might have worked for military parades but I don't see how they could have moved effectively in those suits while they were fighting

I saw a similar programme on the BBC last year; in which a female archaeologist tried to rebuild the Crane that the defenders of Syracuse used to topple Roman battleships. They did manage to pick it up a little but with a lot of diffuculty, plus the battleship was completely stationary. I doubt any navy commander would be stupid enough to sail up to enemy battlements and sit there patiently as the enemy try to topple the ship.

I hope it is released so that I can finally see the series uncut.

Don't give him that it'll bite him! seeing as we are on the subject of Roman food; I heard about the recepie for hamburgers, but I can't recall from which Roman cookbook this came from. I just remember that from a television show I saw years ago, and it said one Roman's name and that he had written this cookbook or list.

Christopher A. Snyder's book The Britons has some mention of it, but I think basically that the most Romanized areas in Britain were in England. Most of the settlements found in Wales for instance were military, like auxillary fortresses and as such Roman culture and language never really took off. After the Saxons arrived in Britain in 410, they slowly conquered Southern Britain and over the course of about 500 years, Roman and Celtic culture eroded and this meant the languages died with them as well. One thing I found interesting was that Cadwallon ap Cadfan, King of Gwynedd (North Wales) and a warlord; sent a military expedition into England around AD 633, and conquered Northumbria and areas in Southern England, but one of the problems he had was that the Brythonic or welsh tribes that still lived in England at that time had already abandoned their language and culture and as a result he found it hard to get their support. So it is apparent therefore that the native Britons who lived in the areas conquered by the Saxons quickly lost touch with their own language and culture and therefore they abandoned latin as well. Even so we can still see small traces of Latin and Brythonic/welsh place names in England, like Stratford on Avon, 'Avon' coming from the welsh 'afon', which means river.

I've also heard about this. I remember reading that one of the theories of how it got to Mexico was that a roman galley wreck had drifted to the continent, and that it was later picked up by the natives on the beach. The remains of the galley must have rotted away over the centuries.

I read one method that Caligula used was to inflict thousands of tiny little cuts on his victims and then watch them bleed to death.

I remember seeing a TV documentary about the Romans in Britain some years ago, in which they showed Roman soldiers (re-enactors) chanting and singing military songs in Latin during their training, while beating their pila against their shields. If only I could have recorded it, but then again it might have been an invention of the Re-enactors, but that is unlikely. btw, did anyone else notice that the battle cry of the German warriors at the beginning of Gladiator was straight off the Zulu soundtrack. It's strange hearing Ancient Germans shouting "Usuthu!" like African tribal warriors.

This might be slightly off-topic but the celebration of the birth of Mithras was on 25th of December, and many of its ceremonies involved the drinking of wine and the eating of bread; which certainly annoyed the early Christians. As for Temples to Mithras (mithrea) in Britain, their are archaeological remains in London, Housesteads, Carrawburgh and Caernarfon. Although there are signs of Mithraic worship in places like Caerleon, York, Chester and Rudchester too.

I wonder if Caligula would have ended up the same guy if he hadn't spent so much time with Tiberius? after all, I think it was Tiberius who said that he was raising up a viper for the Roman people. As for Germanicus, I would done what most of guys would have done, depose Tiberius and then maybe get back to subduing the German tribes.

I also recommend John Norwich's Byzantium trilogy, but if that is too long then you can get a shorter one book volume called the Short History of Byzantium although that doesn't go into too much detail. You Might also want to check out The Oxford History of Byzantium (Edited by Cyril Mango) although I warn you that its definately not for beginners, but it does have some interesting chapters and some good pictures of Byzantine art. As for the subject of the Late Roman Empire and the fall of the West, then you might want to check out Averil Cameron's The Later Roman Empire. It has chapters about different subjects such as Diocletian's reforms, the different sources of the era i.e - the historians, and chapters about the economy, society, Military and Culture.

I came across this site after I was searching through links from Richard Campbell's Roman Digest.

I rather enjoyed Suetonius' the Twelve Caesars, even though a lot of people say it's the Roman equivalent of some tabloid newspapers I also enjoyed Tom Holland's Rubicon, I was lucky enough to get a signed copy of his new book 'Persian Fire' when I visited the British museum to the see the Persian Exhibition.

The typical Greek style Phalanx was reformed around 390 BC by the Athenian General Iphicrates. The newly reformed army was similar in equipment to the Macedonian Pezhetaroi; in that they carried a large spear that needed to be held in two hands and a small shield. They also wore a padded linen cuirass instead of traditional bronze armour. If the Spartans ( who were usually rather conservative when it came to military reforms) had also adopted the same type of equipment as the Athenian 'Iphicratid' Hoplite, then it is probable that Xanthipus (The Spartan Mercenary General) used a Macedonian style Phalanx in defence of Carthage. (I read in Peter Green's biography of Alexander that at the battle of Chaeronea, the Theban and Athenian Hoplites were lightly armed and armoured and this was one factor that led to their defeat. It is therefore probable that lightly armoured Hoplites were common in this period, but is not mentioned if the Hoplites were carrying the new longer spear, or the shorter over-head spear that was more common during the 400's BC).

Here is Plutarch's 15 Greek Heroes, from the Lives - http://www.e-classics.com/index.html Here are the Lives that are covered: Theseus The Athenian Adventurer (c. 1300 B.C.) Lycurgus The Father of Sparta (c. 800 B.C.) Solon The Lawmaker of Athens (c. 600 B.C.) Aristides "The Just" (530 - 468 B.C.) Pericles "The Olympian" (495 - 429 B.C.) Nicias The Slave of Fear (died 413 B.C.) Agesilaus The Lame King of Sparta (444 - 360 B.C.) Pelopidas The Freedom Fighter (410 - 364 B.C.) Dion The Savior of Syracuse (409 - 354 B.C.) Timoleon The Friend of Fortune (411 - 336 B.C.) Alexander "The Great" (356 - 323 B.C.) Phocion "The Good" (402 - 318 B.C.) Pyrrhus The Fool of Hope (319 - 272 B.C.) Agis The Reformer of Sparta (reigned 245 - 241 B.C.) Philopoemen "The Last of the Greeks" (252 - 182 B.C.)

According to the Oxford History of Medieval Europe, Some areas of the former Western Roman Empire changed while others did not. For Instance the running down of public life in Noricum (Western Austria) was quick in the face of German pressure, because after the Germans cut off supplies and payments the area was abandoned. Italy, being the home of the Western Empire did not see much drastic changes in the years following the abdication of Augustulus in 476, for instance the old Roman senatorial system with its Consuls, Aediles etc survived according to some sources up until AD 534. It was therefore a matter of where you lived within the Former Western Empire, as some areas declined faster than others, although many things such as Civic life or Roman fashion might survive in Italy they would have declined much faster in places such as Britain (although Rome had already cut off political links with Britannia in 410) so it probably depended on where you lived.

Architecture. The Greco-Roman architectural style, with its columns and arches has become a symbol of power, that's why many buildings such as banks, court houses and even buildings such as the White house and Congress have Greo-Roman style architecture.

What was Rome's Relationship with the Seleucid Empire? I read that the Roman Envoy C. Popilius Laenas was sent to meet Antiochus IV and his army as he was about to cross over to Egypt. Laenas handed over the Senate's demands arrogantly and drew a circle around the King's feet with a stick, saying that he would not be allowed to move out of the circle without making a decision. According to Polybius, Antiochus agreed to the Envoy's demands. This story is usually told to show the Romans Confidence/arrogance. (Depending on which side you believe ) Other than this story I don't know much about the relationship between Rome and the Seleucid Kingdom, although I do know that the Empire ( or at least its Eastern half) was overrun by the Parthians. Does anyone have interesting information about this Empire? Battles they fought, the politics, interesting anecdotes? Anything will do. Thanks in advance.

For Publius Claudius Pulcher it had the opposite affect; When he threw the sacred chickens off the boats before the battle of Drepana, no doubt the Romans considered his defeat as a sign of displeasure from the Gods. Although the Gods weren't angry enough to kill him after this blasphemous act, the outraged people of Rome certainly bayed for his blood and he was brought to trial for Perduellio ( which If I remember correctly was to do with sacrilege) . By the way, Did he Kill himself afterwards?

I've also thought that Caesar's Invasion of Britain was a publicity stunt, He probably invaded in order to enhance his reputation and to explore the outskirts of the island to see if it had any resources that the Romans might need in future. I believe another reason he did it was in order to punish some Britonnic tribes who had assisted the Gauls, according to Rome at War (Osprey - Histories Special 6 - Caesar's Gallic Wars) the invasion had political benefits: