Pertinax

Certo! I wish you had mentioned this before, I assume our own Lord Lucan is with them?.

An aside on Gladiatorial combat: from what I have gleaned from gladiatorial re-enactment , the sword (of whatever ilk) is either held high or concealed behind the scutum (of whatever shape) , the logic is as in Japanese swordplay-threaten the "centre" especially the eyes , (rather than the throat in the oriental case ). If you do not threaten the eyes, then conceal the blade so that a strike can be from any angle of inclination. A further note, the sword /shield combo is much better than net / trident , the logic is this - armour is a vital life saver close up,and an offensive capability-a retarius has very little cover, if you close inside the trident he/she is finished , of course the net is tricky, but range is vital. Retarii are a solution to providing cheap entertainment with minimal weaponry, a cut fishing net and tuna fork will do.

So you are saying Elvis was a Mayan Alien, with possible Atlantean parentage? How does this now reflect on Colonel Tom Parker and his accomplice Colonel Sanders as regards Ethnic origin? Obviously no-one can now believe Col.Parker is from a mythical country called Holland. I actually cannot believe this thread exists, it is a true psychedelic happening.

The Peganum harmala , I must add , is a well known queller of excessive male sexual desire. This is as reported by Ibn Sina ( AD 980-1133) from the work of Galen. It is the primary herb prescribed by Ibn Sina for sexual incontinence and an "excess of heated humours".

earlier here! http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000BYA...ce&n=283926

:stupid: Oh how I have longed to use that icon! You would have us cross Ocean , and fall off the edge of the World? Surely to voyage toward Thule is madness!

And the Museums are excellent. Please consider however the likely availability and cost of an overnight stay in a "target location" . Aqua Sullis might be a good compromise for WW.

WW has just pmd in , he is a student with limited means who will be in Isca D soon but is keen to meet, and would like to visit Londinium.

It's true that everything else I ever have to do in England is in the south; therefore a southern location would mean less travelling for me. But really I would be happy with any location with Roman connections. South of Mons Graupius. In Italy, wow. An excuse to visit the Imperial Capital would make me very happy. But there are so many other places too ... What do others think? Viggen hasn't spoken on this, has he? Is he likely to join us on either of these mooted expeditions? Well, what I was trying to do here was see if the Brigantes could mount a small scale, beer fuelled raid as a possible precursor to something bigger.

I say , on behalf of the worthy men of Ludos Gladiotorum( and I suspect BIG incoming if I represent them incorrectly), that the gesture was: thumb extended but drawn sideways across the throat as in "cut here" , approval being a wave or gesture of dismissal by wavng the hand palm down, a sort of modern "close it down gesture" for someone operating machinery.

Nope, inept moderation I fear. I pmd sprog! Ill tidy up the "loop" when everyone has got the drift of where the thread is now working.

Ah! Excellent Omens. AD and PC, I will not to suggest any sort of commitment till we have talked the thing over thoroughly, but, do you have any personal preferences as regards location a.in Britain b. in Italy (if I dare ask). I am inclined to suggest that a workable quorum will be achieved by perhaps six members meeting together.So far we seem to have myself ( who can travel any distance) and NN ( who can travel any reasonable distance), Phil who is constrained by the Rail network(but I think that will not be difficult to work round) Princeps is a possible at present. Plenty of others not reported in yet.I have pmd accordingly.

My error here , Ive welded the two threads and not left a referal point -this is the thread ! Please scroll back , and apologies to GO who found the glitch.

Phil has a good point about Graves here, I meant to back him up on this comment elsewhere on the forum, but neglected to do so. Graves is a good, enthralling and entertaining writer but he "spins a yarn" albeit beautifully. I think the difficulty is that his writing can be engrossing so one tends to accept his words as a truth , rather than a good story. There is a recent biography which I am hunting for , the review of which , in the Sunday Times underscored the fact that Graves' life was , after the First War very much an inward ( and to a degree ultimately frustrated ) looking journey with mythological and historical ideas as his "playthings".

Check the "restoration" part of the gallery as well, and you will see the change in thinking about the overall proportions of the component parts.We seem to have an evolution from someone with a wide squat head to a tall narrower face.

I thought Gulden Draak already was? So many beers....so difficult a moral choice.... I suggest we have a long term testing programme to determine a hierarchy of acceptable Romanophile vine and grain beverages.About 10 years, with consumption by a panel of specially selected persons, should give us a statistically useful database, and we would be performing a valuable service to both learning and culture.

I think the thing to bear in mind is, that the re-enactment is a compromise in terms of perceived accuracy and modern understanding. I would envisage a Midwife of some quality being available in the Colonia, this person being in attendance for the wives of the higher ranking citizens and soldiery , the client may have travelled to the Midwife or vice versa ( this is another question that I need to ask) . I would also imagine that practical neccesity needed "wise women" available for the delivery of those born "in castrum" to co habiting couples. So treat the image as a composite, though I think we are seeing a "top end" practice here.As we know the "in castrum" designation is widespread , we also see retired men setting up home right next to Forts, (Vindolanda is a good example), so some "domestic arrangements" must have flourished. I have an Email invite out to the LEG II AVG , especially the Midwife and Medicus (for my own interests) , but to all the soldiery and civilian re-enactors to peruse our Forum and offer comment and criticism. If I have made any gross errors regarding the medical professions , hopefully they will speak out.

I have been moved to post a small item regarding "Gonzo Imperial Porter" ( with prestigious embellishment and editing by the learned Pantagathus) ,perhaps this should be our "mascot" beer?

Right on Longbow! The Assyrian friezes round the corner are vivid and alive, Ive been back to look at them time and again since I was at Uni in London.

Dont worry , I wasnt even thinking about fixing a date for this year, just trying to gauge if its even remotely feasible -same message to everyone -no hurry at all, but would be great if we could achieve it.

Northern Neil has pmd me to say he is happy to travel to whatever is the consensus destination of the "sub forum" , as am I , so please post if you are interested. It goes without saying that I extend this invitation to any European members , but the proposals are in their infancy and I do not expect a "weighty" conference .I will be happy to proceed with a quorum of a half dozen members chatting with little formality about all things Roman, if we have a favoured destination examination of that locality would be a useful starting point.

May I mention that if you switch to the "Brewery and Brewery Pubs menu " on the TNOG site , then scroll down to "Twice Brewed ", here is a possible centre for an excursion along Hadrian's Wall

My Lord (and I don't mean you, Pertinax!), why hast Thou forsaken me? Cursed, I tell you (once again). Kursed! Is there no balm in Gilead? Er yes actually http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/b/balofg05.html from the same family as Myrrh -oh dear I realise that saying Myrrh could spark a "Life of Brian" riot.

I can't do that one, either...my middle name has always been in the top 20...and usually also in the top 10. In fact, I would imagine that the combo for my first and middle names is one of the most popular for girls--I know of several, besides myself. I have so many middle names that I sound like the roll-call for a small auxilliary fortlet. Seen? good grief , if you ever hear a real Paddy say "Sean" the S is indistinguishable from the J in John ( a Gh sound) so the pronunciation is actually identical as both names are expressed as a quick guttural sound.

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=h...cial_s%26sa%3DG as you can see this is a subject that gets scholars hot under the collar.