Sextus Roscius

Thank you very much. I'm honored.

Tomorrow is the official date for the Roman holiday Saturnalia. The day were master's switch places with slaves, gifts of silver are given to others, and all Rome feasts and drinks the night away. So I was wondering what we of UNRV are going to be doing for the holiday. Oh yes, if anyone has a vegitarian Roman dish that can be made with relitively little money and time, please tell me.

I was about to slap you silly, I also agree that Nero was a horrible politician( only thing he ever learned was assassination). Can't recommend highly enough Richard Holland's 'Nero : The Man Behind the Myth' (Sutton Publishing, UK) for a new and convincing perspective on the most maligned emperor in Roman history. (His 'Augustus : Godfather of Europe' is also excellent.) Nero was certainly the wrong man for the job, but would any of our leading Stoics care to confess what they'd have done if they'd been the teenager handed control of Rome, its treasury and its starstruck women, or should we move that discussion to the baths ? True words Aquila I must agree that while Nero certainly was the wrong person for the job, not many teenagers could handle the Roman Empire. I myself (a mere eight grader) doubt I would have any control at all after I became Emperor. Though if I could come to my sense's, I would try to do things well.

true enough, I suppose I'm a little neglectent when it comes to schoo quality. I come from a very good school system (chapel hill-carrboro) in terms of public schools anyways. I do see your point in more urban cities certainly have a lower quality educational system. I think it depends most on the language spoken at home. If a child, combined with not being forced to use English, grows up in ahome where they speak, lets say spanish, all the time at home and never are forced to elarn English, they won't. All and all, very true Ursus

I definatly agree, the death penalty has little real point that to satisfy the victim's family. It used to be a psychological terror. I heard a historian say this, though I can't remember who "it is far more effective to cause your enemy to route than it is to kill him" and I must agree. I think recently certain pacifists have said "well, the point is to have that person dead, so why not do it discreatly" which is certainly incorrect, the purpose of the death penalty is to deter further villiany. And by golly it worked for the ancients, what makes is so much more horrible today?

Thats worse than bad, at least the Bush administration is finaly doing something right and they are putting up stronger imigration laws and having more border defenses along the mexican boarder as well as stronger coast guard to stop cubans from entering the country. Personaly I'd been wanting them to put up stronger imigration laws for quite a while now. I've got nothing agianst people comming from other countries if they don't take up money and help the economy, but we've got to draw the line some where. Forigners are starting to eat up American business. As long as they don't get into politics too much, the last thing. But I think the problem with the illiteracy rate is that so many forigeners can't speak proper english, I live in a town thats a university town, so we've got all different races, cultures, and languages spoken throughout the town, but I think we've got to draw the line. We've got to stop posting all our signs in different languages now, maybe that will force peopel to learn english, though it would be a bad move when refering to the immediate circumstances.

that it absolutely insane.... but cool...

All I'm saying is that, even though each case tragic, 27 people over 80 years isn't exactly a lot compared to all the innocents who have died in many other ways also carried out by the government. Yes they are tragic, but I don't think we should blow it out of porportion.

If you are to be shocked by people being wrongly killed, I suggest that you find a better area to cry over, such as Allied incendiary bombings against Axis cities or another matter. When it comes down to it, no matter what descision is made on a large scale, some one is going to die, and you can't cry over that. I'm sorry that there were inocent people executed but we humans aren't perfect. Consider the number of guilty people killed for the slaughter of others, and I think you'll find that the numbers are significantly comparable. As for method of death, I agree with who ever it was that lethal injection is very inhumane. Personaly I'd request a painless poisen in a drink. I'd drink it, then die without pain. Thats my opinion on it. They should say to the prisoner "you've got two choices, you can drink this glass of painless poisen, or we'll just shoot you" The choice is obvious, no one can blame the state if some one chose death by bullet to a painless death.

Indeed, poor Cicero. At least he was valiant and brave to the end, he didn't even make a sound after the hairpin was jabbed through his tounge. Well, I suppose that was after the end...

I agree, the mobs are certainly not true to the majority, but the fact that even though you aren't going out in mobs, you still having negative feelings towards multiculturalism. This, consciously or not, means you have a dislike, no matter how slight, agianst a group. More specificaly, those not of your race. This gives a possibility, no matter how slight, for that feeling to be kindeled and to escalate into something more extreme. Thought I suppose I should try and calm down. But when it comes down to it, I think its going to be far more important what ethnic group you are from and whether people consider you to be deserving. As you said the "our Grandfathers fought for our flag and our country, not so you can come and pollute the country" arguement is going in spark a lot of people off. In America that ones going to get a lot, especialy becuase all the most valiant people from WWII are dieing off, and that might leave some in a bad mood...

well, there is no doubt that they lived outside the forts and followed the armies. Perhaps the camp prefect would get bored and decide to let the soldiers enjoy themselves or simply they had slaves around. Who knows, I don't.

No he didn't, he was found not guilty. He was a victim of Crysoganus' conspiracies. Ah, I've always had my doubts anyways. I know he wasn't found guilty though, Cicero made a valiant defence and saved the man's life. I've always used it as a joke and I would still like to get it made formorly known as father-killer becuase he was thought to be guilty for a while. It was a big trial at the time. Ah well.

As done by the romans, I would much rather die than go to prison, to sit for days in a cell would be to me but hanging in the state between life and death for how ever long my sentance was. I'd rather die.

Yes I have. Its from a play by T. Maccius Plautus, called Poenulus

Perhaps, though I hate to combined ethics and morales and the law unless absolutely nessacary, the living with the tourture of knowning they killed a person they loved would be more punishment then simply being killed?

I'm largely uneducated in languages having taken 5 years of French (which I never liked) in elementary school, then a year of spanish (couldn't trill -R's) then I didn't take a language the next year so I forgot most of my spanish I had learned, and then wound up in Latin this year which I absolutely love with all my heart. I'd love to learn anceint greek when and if I ever get around to it but all in all I'm not a linguistics type person. At least I have a very extensive comand of english.

Agreed P.P., it really doesn't have the effect it used to. It only serves to satisfy the prosecution witht he knowledge of justice served. The masses (do to humanitarians) have no idea of what happens to those people other than that they were executed and so that doesn't provide a deterent to the other people who will commit more acts to be executed.

Personaly I think this is just the spark the world needed to set off the racial wars, perhaps I'm wrong, but this is a perfect example of how a small minor law breaking can become an issue of international importance and can cause mass riots world-wide. It's just the tip of the iceberg I fear, the best we can do is not take part and remain on our current paths.

Thank heavens, I was hoping we'd kill him, what a sicko, you should've heard some of the things the witnesses quoted from him and records of taped phone conversations. How could you not kill a guy who killed a family and started one of the worst gangs in the U.S.? I'm largely selective my my favoritism on Capital Punishment. Capital Punishment should be used for people found guilty of intentional mansluaghter, murder, and all charges rating higher above. I also am teatering on my opinion of wether of rape should be punishible by death, but its only a slight part of me that beleives so, having known people who where raped, or almost raped. It scares people for life, affects their social life, and just about everything. Largely it depends on the case and I'd have to see the actual trial, acusations, and evidence to decide wether I actualy beleive capital punishment is acceptable so it is hard to write a general opinion.

I'm starting to see the Jar-Jar resemblence already I just changed my signature now, its a quote from play that I've found relevant to modern life alot and sounds really good. I think they altered the words in the translation to make them rhyme.

I want a translation of it now, its becoming one of my favorite sayings. "May the gods confound him, who first invented the hours, and who placed the first sundial in Rome!" "Pity me, pity me! They have segmented my day like the teeth of a comb! When I was a boy my stomach was my clock, and it never sterred me wrong; now even if the table overflows there's no eating till shadows are long. Rome is rule by the sundial; Romans starve and thirst all the while!"

In my eyes, all the traditional Roman values from the Republican times, and the traditional fear, power, glory, knowledge, wealth, and all around sense of what Rome truely meant fell when the eternal city was overun by the Barbarians. The Byzantines followed new beleifs, ideas, and strategies that were not the same as what it originaly meant to be Roman. Rome technacily survived after the fall of the Eternal city, but the infasturcture, lifestyle, and values that were traditionaly Roman fell. This can be seen becuase right after the western Empires fall Europe descended into fudeal states and they destroyed the great infastructure the Romans had put up. Ultimatly, The Roman Empire ended with no hope of recovery in the year Romulus Agustus (Ironic isn't it) and the Eternal city were no longer controled by Romans.

Thank you very much Flavius, I need to find that play now.... I love that line so much though.

Very well done Sextus Roscius, you're far too good for me But then, if you really look at all the facts given, it is pretty simple in the end. It is only an apparently difficult riddle because of the large amount of information given, some of it irrelevant and intended to lead down the wrong track. Oh goody, I was right then. How bout this one. If Johny has two apples and sally has three, why don't they shut up and eat? Seriously, I need an explantion. hmmmm, I need to come up witha better one...