Pertinax

Ursus has already written a perceptive review on this book, but I felt compelled to add some comments.. The narrative style is excellent ,your attention is held and you will find that you have progressed deeply into the text with little mental effort. The style makes the story unfold like a thriller with good historical detail, I think that the written word in this form achieves via the imagination what only the cleverest of films or theatre can do. Despite the fact that I was aware of a great deal of the "storyline" I found that I was drawn to the protaganists and found them to be conjured before me with vivd phrases and descriptive technique... ...read the full review of Rubicon by Tom Holland

Right first time!

Fratres-look closely at the centre of picture: do you see anything looking a little out of context?

This thread seems to be a bit like the Rome/USA comparison thread-the debate is more "contemporary attitudes to ancient sexual mores" . We know the Romans had very different social mores in many areas: eg: the word spinster did not exist as it was conceptually ( no pun intended) ludicrous, a Roman female would be a child, marriageable adult, widowed/divorced, re-marriageable.; a Roman woman would be the Progenitor of Citizens imbuing a new Citizen with her bodies milk and directly passing her "virtue" ( her Republican uprightness).

Patrician 81% -this is easily the worst quiz ive seen. :bag:

The romans often ate in the open airin front of a temple or statue of a god, at home the compluvium provided direct access to the sky .Thus the heavenly gods were able to peer directly into the dining room,the ceiling symbloising the heavens,planets and the celestial gods. Horace ( Satyricon) describes a dinner during which part of a ceiling and the wall draperies fell to the floor. This was such a dire omen that the guests left at once , ignoring the host who tempted them to stay with exqusite sweetmeats.

Battlefield anasthesia was one area where the romans knew how to act effectivley-the opium poopy was well known.

Would I be foolish in suggesting that the Assyrian war machine represented a serious radicalisation of warfare, both in duration and deadliness of combat and that therefore the logistical tools needed ( of whatever nature) would need to be radicalised and streamlined? If your client now fights in winter as well as other seasons you have a seriously expanded logistics train, (indeed a constant one, with the abolition of a campaign season).If your goal is commerce then " your salesmen drive the business". If you are a good businessman you might have some technical tools saved for a rainy day-so maybe id say the Phonecians assimilated , synthesised and then deployed as clients upped the pace. But I am no linguist!

A note on serving styles: The Repositorium (my favourite) is of course a buffet ,great care would be taken to produce attractive display dishes .Guests helped themselves without much assistance from slaves. Roasts-brought in whole and carved by the specialised scissor slave in an elegant manner (sometimes to music) Plate service-like a modern restaurant-not much enjoyed by the fashionable seen as unsociable and vulgar (barbarians -note this, and no licking the meat juices ) A table each-the old Etruscan mode ,similar in many ways to Japanese dining .Elegant but rather restrained Athenian style -buffet but individual tables-not popular,mainly like haute cuisine today-not enough grub. and I leave you with a stinging rebuke of Celtic customs " they eat a little bread ,but great quantities of meat ( boiled,grilled or roasted on a spit). They may eat hygienically ,but they do so with bestial greed"(Athenaeus )

Im not sure people read books anymore. I exclude our worthy citizens of course from this remark but electronic media dont allow "immersion" in a topic if you have no knowledge to share and discuss.Intersting you should mention libraries ,here they are turning into the equivalent of internet cafes-a friend worked in one until recently and was dismayed at how little books were regarded. Woe! and Thrice Woe! as Frankie Howerd used to say. Sorry that was my " outraged of Tunbridge Wells " moment

The small fiat driving past in one scene rather puts a dampner on things. What an excellent post Spurius I really enjoyed that, any of these items on manners and customs are insightful

Tiberius's post is also reflected in Samurai ethics, I apologise if this is slightly off topic but my observation is that the Spiritual strength and moral vigour of a fighting Samurai retainer were not seen to be diminished by such "liasons" but what was considered inappropriate was to be promiscuous . Promiscuity was seen as an affront to proper thinking and decorum.

Episode two just screened-well if this is an edited down version I could stand more politics without detriment to being entertained .Poor old Vorenus he is so constipatedly English in his decency and romantic akwardness, but I see that once again he and Pullo are serious gladius users. Very good,not as stunning as the first episode as now the "universe " is partly established.How I relished the visit of the doctor to deal with Pullos head wound, everyone came into watch-I swear people would do just the same today if you gave them the opportunity.

Elegabalus had the knackof making traditional recipes even more interesting- "ten days in a row he served the udders of wild sows with the womb attached, thirty per day.With this he served peas with pieces of gold ,lentils with onyx, beans with amber and rice with pearls. He also sprinkled pearls over mushrooms instead of pepper" (Opilius Macrinus) The guests were allowed to keep the pearls.Elegabalus was certainly an entertainig host -at one meal serving the brains of 600 ostriches.

Or possibly hurled it by Onager into the Forum. Im sorry thats a little cruel of me.

yes -did they actually say what might happen if it did touch the ground?

I understand that (nowadays ) the greatest obstacle to any military use of the dog is the distress caused to handlers by by having an animal killed or injured <( I say military to include sniffer roles ).So that in situations where the animal might prove useful the handlers are loathe to risk the animal.

Wait till I post the puppy recipe The Romans were keen on kebabs and beer -many of the urban poor in "apartments" having no real cooking facilities. So contemporary descendants of the Icenii and Brigantes would have been quite at home in a Pompeiian ganea ( " a place to gorge yourself") or the gurgustium ( "a place to stuff yourself"). Nero often popped out in disguise for a bit of low life carousing in town. Dont forget to check my "moray eel " thread in the after hours lounge for more food tips.

I browsed the "home" area for quite a while before getting involved in the Forum, I was delighted to find a site where people could variously ,enthuse, discuss ,joke and engage in mature argument. The "student" situation is a bit dispiriting- only a little true interest makes one avid for information :but perhaps an unregarded enquiry might spark a true desire for knowledge.

More tips for visiting Gauls and Goths coming soon! Cultivating Eels became a sort of statement of a playboy lifestyle- to get saltwater to fish pens was horribly expensive and took a great deal of man hours . The origin of any of the prestigious animals/fish used for food (even if tasting insipid or downright bad) ws conditioned by two factors-actual quality and expensive rareness/strangeness. The Black Sea ,Sardinia and Spain were the main sources of seafish and mammals( dolphin/seal). Any marine fish were expensive in Rome as the Romans had quite an aversion to fishing the med especially in winter. Plutarch says "fish is costly. Cato hit the nail on the head when ,in his battle against luxury and excess in Rome,he said that a fish costs more than a cow. And the asking price for a barrrel of smoked fish would not buy a hundred sheep or the meat of an ox" -so a serious luxury good even if we discount hyperbole. Conger was unusal as it was offered to the Gods unlike most other fish,particularly very large animals. Electric eel tasted lousy but was sought after because of its weirdness!

the Cloaca being the cavity into which intestinal and genito urinary tracts empty

yes this is the destruction of Varus's legions have a look at Tacitus "The Annals" and the Osprey book on Legionnaires around turn of Christian Era. Its Romes "France in Vietnam " moment ( Street Without Joy and The Quiet American are good sources).

Life of Brian refers

wonderful ,I thought my recipes were obscure! How apposite though the Romans were most fastidious in the disposal of effluvia.

We must never forget. Soon those who fought in The Second War will pass away ,to forget any of them is an act of stupidity,selfishness and disrespect. All power to your arm Longbow.