Pertinax

Solstice Greetings and Good Health to you all!

The I-am-at-work-and-can't-think-straight-because-my-blood-boils-with-desire kind of love. Oh dear its LURVE! for sure id suggest............

Further proof! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_5Ek5BfDu4

Reference please Wotwotius? Indeed , I was under the impression most thought it to be a globe, (given the rather accurate Greek calculation of its size)?

Egads, so his invention of the internet was just a ruse to blind us all!!!! Foolish Earthlings!

Another festive toxicological glossary: Datura : Thorn apple/jimsonweed, the fruit and leaves (which Arabs smoke) have a high concentration of alkaloids (atropine and scopolamine) , in small doses a specific for asthma, otherwise deleriant and hallucogenic. Digitalis: foxglove , full of semi toxic cardaic glycosides. You may have a relative who takes digoxin for his heart? Slows a damaged heart to allow steady systole/diastole movement, too much and it stops.. Dioxins: organic compounds containig chlorine , damaging to DNA- hence exposed persons may have damaged offspring . Ergot: a fungal infestation of sveral grasses -lysurgic acid ring a bell? Produces mania and can lead to gangrene by cutting off blood supply to extremities. Hemlock :Conium maculatum an umbillifer that causes a drowsy gentle death, unlike Hemlock Water Dropwort (Oenanthe) which causes a paroxysmic one. Laudunum: tincture of Opium freely available in many Victorian medicines , used recreationally but poisinous in strong doses. Lead :toxic heavy metal , breaks the disulfide bridge in proteins hence distorts them and alters proper function. Can be removed by steady countermeasures especially by sulphur based compounds.\ Levant nut: Cocculus , a stupifier used by thieves and assasins to render a victim incapable. Mercury: heavy metal curse of the modern world, friend of parasites and disease.

Very well more clues:What is Xmas without a brain teaser? PP is of course correct to draw your attention to the disguised "trojan" horse and its alien riders, however conspiracy theorists will not be surprised by this information: 1. as we all know the President of America (Mr Al Gore) puts radio messages in all Macdonalds foods via this hidden structure to prepare Britain for mind control by his Alien Masters . 2. Emperor Shaddam IV has a similar flying palace, ("release the Sardukar!"), probably used by the Tlielaxu to scavenge and re-animate giant sandworm flesh. 3. This structure can only be seen at dawn on the Winter Solstice and dreadful sacrificial offerings must be made to its denizens to prevent their killer mutant-cyborg robot servants (as designed by Moonlapse) from stealing our women. Does that help?

So what is this building and where might it be? http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1492 its not in Bosnia! Happy SolsticeTide.

Know Your Poisons! All senior members of Roman society should be on the alert for poisoned figs!

Votadini, id suggest a pm to "Caesar Augustus" , as he is the man nearest to the spot. Or find him here: http://hadrians-wall.info/hadrianswall/segedunum/index.htm

Socks are warm and versatile.

THis is a nice chatty informal mp3 download-I hope members will check it out. Note please when listening the ubiquity of cabbage in the Roman diet vis a vis the lead thread mentioned above. Note also the mention of the starter to this very thread-Pig's womb!

Aha , nice link Edmund, may I hint that Sally Grainger is closely related to a most eminent Patrician....

Follow this link for a fun quiz on serial killers who used poison! http://www.funtrivia.com/trivia-quiz/Peopl...ers-120566.html

Better?-if your local Druid is a man of finesse, otherwise... If she has a very pale face and ruby lips when enticing you into the nuptial chamber -kiss only the lips.

Or maybe " I say old chap why dont you try some of this luminous beetle stew ive made ?" "Thank you so much, excuse me I must see my wife about something, aaagghh..."

Heres a Festive blog link to concentrate the mind: http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...g&blogid=19 as you will see the "anti grazing" capabilities of certain plants have a lot to answer for in terms of the history of toxicology-also notice that many of the items cited are ancient and modern poisons. Not too great a leap of imagination to consider that pastoral societies must have had a a grasp of those plants and herbs that afflicted livestock, and thence not a great leap in faith to consider the possibility of low level , widespread knowledge.

Several members of the Forum have a well developed (and probably deeply unhealthy) interest in a number of plant toxins used in the ancient world, (sometimes for medicine, other times for the removal of offensive relatives/political opponents).Here I offer a small guide to some common toxic principles (having previously blogged on the main toxic categories. Aconite: two plants actually have this name (daisy and buttercup families respectivley), the name is used to refer to the alkaloid derived from the buttercup (monkshood/wolfbane). Agaric: 1. a fairly harmless tree fungus 2.fly agaric a deadly mushroom Alkaloid A nitrogen base compound (usually biologically active), an anti herbivore grazing "countermeasure" (includes morphine, nicotine, hyoscyamine,ephedrine, strychnine, atropene...good thing we arent herbivores) Antimony Toxic heavy metal Arsenic ditto, usually the oxide -used to be a common cosmetic, (a lot of dead husbands in Napoli ring a bell?). Belladonna :atropine, overtaxes the cardio system. Calabar bean: "ordeal bean" of Africa , a type of pea contains the deadly phyto stigmine. Cantharides: aka Spanish Fly -provoker of uncontrollable lust and deadly poison: macerated pre-bruised beetle in chloroform (Pantagathus would you imagine anyone starting that formula from scratch? :pimp: Weird City. Cardiac glycosides: steroid compounds that damage heart and kidneys , another anti-ruminant countermeasure. Colocynth :the bitter apple of Palestine , a specific for malaria but take care! Cyanide: hydrogen cyanide (prussic acid) essentially stops oxygen transmission from the blood to the cells-hence proving fatal . Zyklon B was a derivitive. only A to C so far -any fatalities in the Senate during Saturnalia and I will be most suspicious.

Here is a link to a thread where we touched on the lead poisoning theory previously http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?showto...=lead+poisoning I need to work this up to logical argument sometime in the not too distant future. Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna) is an easy plant to find -and yes you could process it yourself with a little ethanol and clean water .

I actually remember my grandma painting her foot with belladonna because of the gout! This must have been in the 60s when I was a tiny tot - but it was definitely belladonna. Do we know when it was withdrawn? Mid 70s I would suggest, as my Mother retained some for her lumbar pain., and is deeply irritated that none are now available. Just as well your Grandmama did not follow Pliny, as we see the sea-hare resurfacing: "For the cure of gout and of diseases of the joints, oil is useful in which the intestines of frogs have been boiled. Ashes, too, of burnt bramble-frogs are similarly employed, with stale grease; in addition to which, some persons use calcined barley, the three ingredients being mixed in equal proportions. It is recommended too, in cases of gout, to rub the parts affected with a sea-hare" (The Natural History).

AS I suspected NN , (whose architectural re-creations are in the Gallery area), has an interesting point to make about he "domestic" configuration of potential heating technology. The Roman "tiles" would ,in a ventilated stack of the same , be an excellent DPM (damp proof membrane) , given the unremmiting wetness of Northern Britain the notion is beguiling. As granary sub-floors look very similar to "hypocaust" construction (but coolness and thorough ventilation are required to stop ergot forming on grain) perhaps ventilation/surface water run-off was most important. Dont forget that it is suggested that many buildings might have had half-height walls (stone to knee or waist high then timber to eaves height), given the Roman propensity to clear sites by burning redundant property prior to re-construction.I dont suggest this a s a technique for urban areas! The context is military as a logical development of razing wooden temporary structures. Hearths I have to assume, though again NN may wish to comment. I have noted the siting of bread ovens in the extremities of Wall Fort gate sites, again to minimise fire risk.The two constant factors of Northern weather are rain and cold, and the exclusion of the former and amelioration of the latter.

I am tantalised as to what the "poisons" might be. I have to add that some "poisinous" properties depend on the mode of application, aconite and belladona for example are excellent as external salves (on unbroken flesh) , but enormous care would be needed to use them medicinally. I suppose Ricin is the best modern example, the castor bean is harmless as an expressed oil (indeed most beneficial for a bad digestion) , but the ricin toxin taken from the crushed oil meal is deadly if it enters the bloodstream via an external or intramuscular wound -and in the tiniest amount. Belladonna , as you may know was withdrawn as an external plaster for arthritic pain because one or two peole couldnt resist sliting the dressings open and poisoning their husbands................ http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=132

WW jogged my memory about Sempronia in another thread, but I can only find references to her "allowing access" to the putative assassins of her husband. One always conjectures that such an "unexplained" death in the presence of a woman of intelligence and political acumen would suggest the use of a poison .

The hypocaust design appears in two guises, (Northern Neil will I suspect be the man to tell us the situation in Britain as far as "nuts and bolts go") , my understanding is as folllows: a steam room in the baths needs a specific furnace to fir eit, hence the frequent removal of garisson bathhouses some little way from the Fort because of the fire risk involved.The pattern of construction is as shown here: http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=429 this is the early bathhouse at Vindolanda. Then we have the domestic context for a similarly designed system that would operate at a lower level of intensity, and not involve the tanking or sealing of the rooms above (to seal in heat and stop damp travelling). Here is the CO's house at Vircovicivm : http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...=si&img=446 but here we see similar work to achieve ventilation and cooling in a granary sub floor! http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...si&img=1408