Pertinax

thanks Flavius my eyes were tired by that point! What is the publication date of the volume you have? I hope to have part 2 up later today.

there was a third suggestion that a linguist might be able to fathom-that Haggis is a french invention the origin of the name being related to the word describing a magpies nest. The logic being that a magpie collects all odds and ends in its nest, haggis certainly fits that bil.

This title is a recent publication(2004).It is a very well presented volume with a considerable range of quality illustrations.The whole presentation of this work is a constant reminder to modern scholars that one must always try to take a step back from any historical material ( and previous scholarly works) to avoid imposing the "modern" on the behaviour and goals of our various ancestors. Cruse is rigorous in attempting to step aside from judgements based on contemporary usage, this is most immediatley obvious in the references to healing plants, as materia medica plants can have a stratlingly wide range of uses for very different medical conditions though within historical eras they have a tendency to be fashionable for one predominant disease.The Opium Poppy was the esteemed painkiller it is today, so our assumptions of the use of the poppy latex in anasthesia are not unreasonable;contrast this to the use of Mandrake (nowadays considerd a byword for medieval superstition and not in conventional usage) it contains hyoscine which prior to the development of modern anasthesia and the use of ether it would have been one of the main tools of anasthesia. It is in the details that Cruse shows her skill throughout the text but her generalisations are also pertinent.We are reminded very cogently that medicine is specific to its culture, time and place ."Our" medicine is no freer from its own "superstitions", no Roman doctor would have had a massive layer of insulating bureaucracy abetween himself and his patient, indeed in contemporary terms the process would be more holistic.Cruse outlines the origins of our medicine in archaic Greece,its evolution under Plato and the rise of cult related healing sites.the developmennt of hospitals is shown as a result of Rome's military aspirations.The healer gods and their sanctuaries are discussed. It is interesting to note where disease and morbidity diverge from our present experience, for instance eye conditions were of great concern in the Ancient world ( I would personally suggest that this is strongly linked to the incidence of parasitical infections) and there wasa large volume trade in solidified eye salves( and fistula medication) for travellers mirroring our own airport trade in medicaments .Healing sleep within shrines of a healing deity stood alongside the "rational" intervention of medication, the widespread use of votive objects (as thanks or for concentration of the deities efforts) is attested, and there is particular mention of the conflation of Gallic votive practises into the Roman sphere. A section which resonated very amusingly was where the use of ritual chanting /prayer /music was used to effect a cure or palliative: ie midwives being able to relieve birth pangs by chant and song-exactly how different is that to modern whale song and ambient music in birthing pools? When Cruse moves onto the use of plants her writing covers ceremonial,spiritual and clinical properties and I was delighted to see the continuity with modern herbalism (elsewhere on UNRV in thre Gallery section I have posted a few illustrations) .Healers in Rome were well aware of the potential deadliness of Opium,henbane, Stramonium and Nightshade but also were able to deduce that a weakened poppy could be cultivated with less toxic side effects -from which we see the escaped poppies across British fields.We see that the Pax Romana was a huge impetus to the trading of plants on a continet wide scale either for commerce or medicine, and that finds from Pompeii evidence a range of cultivated plants for processing into medicines. Health and hygeine are covered , the provision of water and sewerage seem to be rather superior to contemporay usage certainly the constant flushing of sewers by waste fountain water would be a step forward!A short history of the Cloaca Maxima is included and some information on the use of lead for water distribution. The unfortunate side effects of the widespread lead technology are also considerd, the chronic anemia caused by constant overuse of water and food exposed to lead is explained in an excellent study of Poundbury in Roman Britain (chronic fatigue,infertility, depression), with an excellent rejoinder showing how taking of iron rich waters was used as a cure. . end of first part of review(continued shortly)..

A brief article in one of the national papers (mail) will trouble the culinary sensibilities of the Scottish Nation: The famous chef and bon vivant Clarissa Dickson-Wright suggestes that the Romans were the first to produce the Haggis before Scotish national identity emerged. Opinion is divided though , others suggest an arrival of the Haggis within the raiding ships of those going a-viking. The Roman theory is attractive-mixing "puls" with offal as a handy ration seems virtuous and efficient .

Thank you Longbow , the first link confirms what I suspected about perceived "heaviness"and is also a good reminder of why opinions should be questioned , and why practical archeaology is so important

dare I ask -how does Alexander compare?

thanks Longbow that is new information to me and very interesting as I trace my ancestery to pure ( ie non-irish outer route "norse") Dublin Viking roots. do you know the dead weight of the "viking " swords? I would be interested to compare the weights to my Japanese "pair"? Also Id better mention that carrying the "two swords" does not involve carrying a shield.

If a sword is balanced there is no reason why it cant be long or heavy- my practical experience is only with the Japanese Katana and Companion swords,( and practice weapons wooden boktu and bamboo shinai), oddly ive never touched anything other than a viking hand-and -a-half sword from my "native" weapons. The main Japanese sword is around 44" long and though you have to watch the scabbard if turning round in a confined space ,it feels "natural". The Companion sword (Wakizashi) feels really neat and nimble (29" in total length), you can see why people happily walked about indoors with one slotted into the belt. I know these live blades are not massivley built but they weigh heavy if picked up "dead" in an incorrect manner and they have a natural spring and can be easily wielded one handed if needs be. If European swords are "heavy" but balanced I suggest even a 56" blade can be wielded by a trained swordsman to economical effect. The Gladius comes across as a wicked, neat steak knife, no wonder the "Orientals" were horrified by its use to stab into the viscera or face without preliminary flourish.

Im glad Tobias , Ursus and Flavius didnt know about the game because I felt a bit foolish not knowing it existed.However the site lead me to getting Rome (total realism) and though im not the game player I was ive enjoyed it very much. This site is a credit to its creators.

Flavius with you in mind I have posted a photograph of Stonyhurst School in England-the leading Jesuit school here, it has many famous ex pupils but the best known is probably Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The school is not far from Ribchester .Montgomery of Alemain is the best known soldier educated there. And as you will see I now have a new motto kindly provided by you. Salve.

Is this as poor as the film "Augustus " is said to be ? Then I can avoid wasting time watching either.

Longbow -is the Claymore the sword of the Irish Galowglas (again from a latre period)? Also is the term hand and a half sword applicable to the viking weapons you posted a photo of? I notice that in the later 3rd century AD some Legionnaires carried much heavier and longer swords than in previous centuries,( though im not sure how widespread this practice was), and these weapons seem ,superficially at least, to remind me of viking and norman weapons.

Salve Marcus Julius ! your English is excellent .You are too modest of Finnish history , The Winter War ( and its continuation) is an unbelievable undertaking for a people few in number but big in resolve against an arrogant enemy. Pertinax is the work of Eino Lukkannen the famous aviator still available in Finland? (forgive my spelling of his name).

You have defeated the greatest footballing mercenaries in the world!

and to quote Homer again " I like it!"

and as an historical aside -Roman teeth although more worn down (due to coarse grains and a diet heavy in veg) were altogether less cairious than modern western teeth. Honey was the only main sweetner in any use and not used to the degree that sugar ( brought back by the crusaders) and corn starch syrup are today. Emulate Rome also by renouncing carbohydrates! There is a lot more of this to come when I post the "Roman Medicine" review Best of Luck Favonius! May the Gods preserve your Dentition!

or you get a peanut stuck in the soft cavity.

The area of sexuality is a minefield for "modern" people.The thread on "Homosexuality" covers a lot of ground relevant to assumptions about historical sexual relationships and applies also to "hetrosexual" elationships.Suffice to say that you need to look at marriage, concubinage, slavery and brothel keeping within the same economic nexus before examining roles of individuals in Roman society.The Oxford companion to Classical Civilisation has two very pertinent entries .

Triclinium is the dining area in general and also the couch upon which the guests are seated. Scipio if you use your search engine on "image " function I am confident it will yield an appropriate image , if it doesntI have one I will send you one

Squirting Cucumber-yes indeed a bizzare name but an antique abortifactant. Tansy ,Pennyroyal ,Slippery Elm, Raspberry Leaf and more besides any of these deployed by a "crafty woman" would achieve such an end. As far as spermicidal agents are involved any "barrier" cream or gel would suffice if the spermatozoa were exposed to air or fatally delayed.Sponges soaked in weak vinegar were used or cedar resin applied to the mouth of the womb. In all seriousness coitus interruptus has long been assumed to be an effective birth control method in Roman times. Many substances are Emmenagouges -ie: allow the healthy sloughing of the womb lining but if increased in dose are abortifactants. I have added a gallery picture of the Cucumber.