Pertinax

The author Andre Norton went into that territory I believe.

Hatters used mercury ( quicksilver) to form felt into various shapes, it is absorbed very easily through the skin and they became deranged by early middle age. Much alleged chronic fatigue syndrome is from mercury amalgam fillings, and a long drawn out chelation detox is needed to stop people falling into sloth and mental torpor.Googling will give you some scarey info. off topic I admit -so please move if needs be.

I believe that I would prefer Mercury. Slow ailing health isn't too bad. are you aware of the phrase "mad as a hatter" and its origin?

or perhaps some peach kernels? we are talking Egyptian execution here

but...Equestrian wit is universal!

The Romans disdain for cow's milk is very sensible-the size of the fat globules is considerable, the relative whey content is low, as far as digestion goes ( and skin condition) they chose shrewdly, the rule they followed was -the thinner the milk (ie; more whey) the better. . Nowadays as well certain of the substances injected into the poor animals ( never mind oxytet in feedstuffs) happen to accelerate damage to the surface of the pancreas. So I practice as a I preach, drinking only goat and sheeps' milk.

I am part way through this particular work and I have to back up MPCs comment.I suggest a lot of the "evolved Germanic" trend is ,firstly: actually PC thinking trying to iron out "conflict" in history as it makes liberals faint and ,secondly: pro "european" writers are merely trying to give some historic justification to the non-functioning mess of the EU. Rant over.

Happy New Year Fratres! now-a very plain ,very simple recipe for your jaded palates after the great Saturnalia. Roman Toasts- Remove the crusts from slices of white bread, dip these in milk ( camel is best , goat will do if you are poor-never use cow's milk ,that would make you no better than a gaul!), saute quickly in best virgin olive oil. Sprinkle with meadow honey. Lentil stew I suggest a dish of Lentils flavoured with onion and cumin to restore your flagging digestion, 45 minutes steady stewing should do it -if you are a robust trencherman add some red wine ( youve probably drunk way too much Falernian by now anyway). you see, I can be sympathetic to the overtaxed gut sometimes.

If I cant have Rogue then id say Enki Bilal's "Nikopol" -he's possesed by Horus in post-apocalypse Paris -fairly superheroish id say? A bas les Choublanquistes!

Cowan and Goldsworthy's books are top notch, if rather brief. The Osprey book is ,as usual sparse, concise and direct.

could someone nail this to the other "Gladiator" thread please?

I made a lot of comments in a previous "Gladiator " thread about really VERY BAD Romans being played by Britons,(Ustinov as a splendidly oily Nero in particular, MacDowell as a totally gonzo Caligula, Burton as a grim Welsh Antony ) Troy looked great but I cringed at the acting ( other than the usual white bearded ( Trevor Eve, Nigel Terry)British actor's as "wise sears "). Gladiator in the "full " version (3 disc) has a lot of very interesting Romanophilic extras ,its not very good history but it certainly looks grungy enough in the Marcomannic conflict section to be a great "imagining" and likewise in the various grades of arena conflict. I reiterate my admiration for Oliver Reed. I have just ordered the directors cut of Alexander despite the dire reviews, and if I get my courage up I will order Hopkins in Titus Andronicus.

Im afraid British Irony doesn't translate to the America's too well-was it Churchill who said "Britain and America , two nation's divided by a common language?" . I found the review cutting , scholarly and shrewishly amusing.

Very best of Luck to you all.

As the book is in its 50th anniversarry edition , I suppose I should call this "Eagle of the Ninth, Redux" Happy New Year! where you from Willard?

Greetings and Good Health to all for the New Year. And Happy New year to Tobias who is already there.

there are also tell tale stress striations on the vertebrae

I am re-reading this book after many years, Prof Ward-Perkins named it as one of three books that evoked the spirit and reality of Roman life ( especially here in Britain) . It is strictly a childs book , ignore that and read it .It gives flesh to the bones of a half forgotten past, it brings ghosts out of the ground , it is a great story of fidelity and honourable activity,affecting and uplifting. This took me right back to being a gawping kid in short trousers staring north from Hadrian's Wall , waiting for half imagined Picts to materialise out of the mists.I cant spoil the story by re-telling any part of it here, but this is a great read to set alongside much sterner technical stuff and esoteric theoretical works. Sutcliff seems to have reached straight to a point where a child's imagination ( or an adult remembering childhood's vivid imaginings) is sparked without effort. In some ways this is a retreat to a simpler type of "old fashioned" storytelling , sophists might say its plot is linear and rather obvious , I say it is a clean , true spirited and unfashionably clear cut . I have read an awful lot of books this last year but this one above all others has lifted my heart up. I suppose long-ago echoes of Brigantia run through the book, to me it reveals an older landscape hidden beneath shopping precincts and tarmac.Tthe last wolf was not killed in England till at least a thousand years after this tale , if you visit her wild places even today (despite the small size of the Island) the dark wraith filled past is only a step away. This book rings true as it did 30 odd years ago, forget being an adult , return to the clarity of childhood! See Rome's works, see Brigantia.This is Brigantia the wild frontier not the Mother of Empire nearly two millenia later. the other two books Prof WP suggested are -Rubicon, and Pompeii (the recent novel), both well worth a read.

Sorry, didnt make myself clear about the helmets, I meant the very late style towards the end of the Empire. I wonder if the falx was also used like the Naginata, swipe towards the shins if no other target available?