Pertinax

You may have noticed Mark Antony being c;leaned by his slave in HBOs Rome? The instrument is the stirgil, used to remove the oil and effluvia from the body.I will post a small picture in my miscellenia galley to show a scene .The actual scene is ,I think of wrestlers but the principle is the same for any bather. In many ways this was the very centre of (Imperial )Roman life, or rather the use of the baths as a social, business and political venue .Try this link .http://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/iloveny/romans/2004/roman_bath/index.shtml

Not a bad idea at all but of course sometimes the best laid book review plans of mice and men go astray.The excitement of partisan election campaigns might be stirring though!

Lost Warrior asked a question which I have pondered on for many years-what is your prefered method of delivery for herbal medicines?. ( the basic question was infusion or oil as a preference). Pardon me double blogging today but this needs a reasonably considered reply. The reply is more complicated: my preferences would be: 1. Fluid Extract (strong/pure).This in truth is an infusion in concentrated form. 2.Tincture ( quite strong /stable for a long time). 3.Pure herb-but this depends on the required use ,so for example I would prefer to use Slippery Elm (Ulmus fulva) as a powder in conjunction with Golden Seal (as a tincture) , being the "best" combination for some stomachic problems.Otherwise the pure herb is relativley weak in comparison to 1 and 2 above, though for a wound (Yarrow) I would apply the fresh plant and take the extract. 4.encapsulated herb extract-if you dont like the taste or smell of a strong herb 5.tablets and lozenges-tend to be milder formulations. 6.oils-deceptivley easy to use but can be fearsomely strong so best avoided if you are unsure.Pure oils are excellent, Frankinscence and Wintergreen are great healing medicaments but must be used with care.l As you can see I havent given a straight answer , if I was Medicus to a legion I would ensure a.a supply of freshly cut herbs( say comfrey and yarrow in particular for bruising, gashes), b.a store of dried herb and herbs macerated in wine ( wormwood and walnut for antiparasitic use as well as the two entries above and something as a cough medicine, probably a mallow) .c.acetum for wounds d.a supply of Opium and henbane for painkilling . And a lot of wine for me, and some attractive female assistants

I think one of the great missed opportunities was the Burton/Taylor Cleopatra-Burton had the best voice of his generation and a fearsome presence, Harrison is not far off as Caesar ( I dont think Hind's is either) ,the film looks wonderful in parts but its just too much ham to stay afloat at Actium.

I did try Ernest Borgnine as Ragnor in the Vikings as my avatar-all that gorging and drinking ,(and bellowing) but it just didnt look right.The Secutor looked the part facing Longbow's Sutton Hoo helmet so I kept it . I do admire Pertinax himself but we have no features in commen and although very successful and an able leader he didnt last too long as Emperor.Panoramix the Druid is too old even for me. I did look for a full face version of the Sassanid Clibanarius mail aventail helmet, a personal favourite and of course traded into Scandanavia from Miklagaard, but no luck .

I finally managed to get some reasonable internal photos of the Conduit Court in Skipton Castle.The Court was the well spring for the Castle. Originally built in 1090 the Castle was massivley strengthened in 1310.In the War of the Roses this was a Lancastrian House (Red Rose).The Tudor wing (1536) is attached to the NE, and bore the brunt of unsympathetic internal Victorian "improvement".In the Civil War this was the last Castle to hold out for the King in the north.Somehow the place has survived as the most complete Medieval Castle in Britain despite seeing some fierce action. The Court is very atmospheric but the light is difficult and its tricky to get the ancient yew tree and the mellow colour of the stone ,these shots seem reasonable,but I think I can get better in summer. I did try to get a shot down through the castle privy-the drop is about 200 feet-but it didnt turn out well.( I just re-read that last sentence and realised I had made an unintentional bad pun-but ill leave it in ). The present Earl was there today and I was talking to him for a while before I realised who he was, otherwise the place was deserted-except for the tea lady. additional mote: what I havent been able to show yet is the northern elevation where the Castle towers over the river to its rear, the light was too contrasty to get a clean shot-you can see how bright it was ,but the shade was pitch black.

I still go for "parasite" at a noble party-but the guy who declaims the edicts and news in the forum( in HBO) looks to have a job for life (literally) and to be quite well fed so I might settle for that.

I looked hard at the passage-and was trying to imagine what he was driving at ,obviously the Elephant was a cultural icon (to use a modern term), and ivory was fantastically valuable -as an item of conspicuous consumption vis a vis the fabulous nature of the actual beast, how would he know that they buried tusks? so I think your comment is very appropriate Pantagathus, it seems to betray a pre knowledge of fossil deposits. The whole entry on elephants is suffused with a sort of moral restraint and sadness, not reserved for many other animals or people.

I just wonder what tiny percentage of historical remains we are aware of ? What huge finds remain undiscovered and will prove to be radical in our perception of the "ancient" world( getting a bit downhearted there).

or watch Pullo training Octavian

regretably no-incredibly its perceived as an "intellectual" programme-shows how far our broadcasting has declined toward mass taste.Audience numbers are good though.In the past this is the standard that would have been demanded as a benchmark of ability.

I thought it was rather conservative. Oddly enough we had a "hog killing" as I believe you say in the Americas this week, so ive been eating some rather bristly pork :blink:How different hand reared animals taste-and how sadly one kills them, but better than eating mass produced and processed food .

Time again for a visit to the kitchen Fratres: Roast Wild Boar- you need either a very large oven or a very small boar.Jointed boar would probably be best nowadays.Rmove bristles and scatter with plentiful sea salt, crushed pepper and ground roasted cummin.Leave in your ice house (fridge) for 2 -3 days turn from time to time. Boar can be dry so wrap in slices of bacon and pork caul.Sear in a very hot oven for 10 minutes.Then reduce heat and roast (350 deg F, 1 hour per pound) . In the meantime prepare the sauce, reduce 500ml of winre to 200 ml add 2 tablespoons of honey, 100ml of dessert wine and Garum.Allow the meat to reat from the oven.Pour off the fat , then deglaze with the sauce mix. Carve the boar-well not you ,your slaves obviously-and serve with the sweet sauce

No chance of compensation for having no TV set then.

shield-for offence and defence, gladius, and a mace on the belt for after hours close quarter work (skulls,ribs etc).

Pharsalus screened,if Vorenus is the centre of Roman morality then im with him.What an awesome episode-ok we could have had an expensive battle scene but what excellence, Caesar welcoming Brutus and Cicero back-Pompey explaining the battle to Vorenus, Vorenus upholding Pompeys dignity. As I said way back in this thread this is a perfect exposition of percieved lower upper and upper middle class British morality .