Pertinax

Off topic? Its achieved escape from the Earth's gravitational pull.

Hmm , I am a lowly Decurion at heart (Beer -"a corporals drink!")- with oysters I would have to say Adnams Oyster Stout . I dont think my spiritual and gustatory predecessor on the Wall would have been drinking anything radically different, given water quality was excellent and full of magnesium salts, local oats are attested as available, Celtic beer was definitley in demand -though I suspect a touch of heather would have infiltrated.Despite the robust nature of a stout ,oats give a very smooth finish and dont overwhelm the seafood -and fried oysters, yes indeed , king scallops likewise . Oddly enough George Orwell mentions in his days as a plongeur " having a serving girl sitting on his knee eating oysters and beer".(Down and Out in Paris and London). Did Lucullus give any hints on what to drink with the products of his ponds? What should we have with Eel? Banyuls

Im not venturing to answer PPs post but I would mention 1. The Saxon Shore defences look coherent with hindsight and with the granting of the title relating to responsibility for that system -but they are ,perhaps like Hadrian's Wall (in a way) an organic response to changing conditions but in particular problems arising from the "separatist" Gallic Imperium , and the need to keep Britain relativley stable in comparison to the continent. The Wall is "organic" in the sense of a construction project altered by seat of the pants experience. 2.Roman internal marine ops look suspiciously like some of the Viking penetrations of navigable rivers, I know this is against internal insurgents but I mention it in relation to possible "security forces" likely vessel/combat unit makeup. Also proir to continental incursions the defences (Brancaster in particular) had heavy land based artillery which appears to be designed to be used against renegade "roman type" units. just observations-this is not my field!

I might add that so far as anyone has attempted restoration of cult figures in "temple re-creations" we see only a conventional palate in terms of room and artefact decoration.The Syrian Lady at Birdoswald looks very Roman despite being the cult figure for a Syrian Cohort.

Sodom and Gommorah , yes? a biblical reference of course to their "unpardonable activities" , and also the the title to one of Marcel Proust's volumes in "A la recherche" -for reasons that are fairly obvious after the first page or two.

Oh no not the "cities of the plain " again. All you Proustians know what I mean.

It all reads very much like the rise of the Dreadnoughts, the almost immediate obscelescence , the battlecruiser as an innovation ...history repeating itself once more.The manouverability is echoed in the Armada galleases (sp?) versus small English ships. Its yet another example of this whole forum showing how lessons are forgotten and re-learned in all areas of warfare. And as I pmd , and must make public, a "forty" with 3000 marines and crew besides must have been quite a challenge to the olfactory apparatus.

I was aware of the ship to ship size disparity at Actium , but not the actual technical spec. Again marine warfare is not my forte was this manouverability versus larger combat platform?I know the standard "Cleopatra makes a run" description. Am I correct in saying that MA lost a lot of men by surrender to Octavian? What happened to Ptolmey's "moon shot" statement? Did she fight?

A sixteen! Holy Moley ( to quote Homer (J Simpson)). What was that deployed for? Other than scaring everyone else with your machismo and exceptional spending power?

Well , speaking locally, at Vindolanda the commander got his Oysters from the North Sea and drank best quality imported Italian wine . This is attested in the Vindolanda tablets. Seafood was a welcome addittion to garisson rations and anything caught was given a try, the very well known "send more beer" tablet tells us what the squaddies were drinking. AD is the specialist on the foods ,but I know Apicius tells us to have a nice salty sea urchin snack after sweating ourselves clean and pink at the baths. Snails mais certainment-eaten by the discerning since prehistory.If you scroll back a page on the link below-voila..snails in cummin! http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?showto...=60entry24962 have a look at this poor neglected thread , perhaps you will spot some other delicacy. also: I presume you are familiar with Luc Sante's "Low Life" book http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1...7923368-4219015 general debauchery in 19th C New York-makes modern behaviour look dull.

Pantagathus , thank you for that very informative reply. It leads me to ask a little more: is there any substantiated link in pedigree between Norman transport vessels and Roman transportation ships of any period?( the horse transports crossed my mind). I presume with what appears to be an "unstable" design ( I use the word only to simplify) given weight distribution, that a critical absolute size in tiered warship design must (did) exist? What life expectancy would a trireme hull have in the Med?(outside of combat).

Norah Lofts "The Celts" was a decent read , but it seems to have dropped off the radar at Amazon UK -it was considered a solid introductory work when I was graduating,( at the time I was working on vernacular buildings and the historical evolution of the British landscape) so it was backup work . http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0...7923368-4219015 im pleased to see Hoskins is still in print, this is invaluable if you are fascinated by the evolution of the land and how societal change influenced it. http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0...7923368-4219015 ditto Brunskill, though she concentrates on buildings.

Its certainly been the "thinking man's " route in psychological/religious enquiry for some time - Jung , went off on all sorts of tangents I know, but he landed heavily on Gnostic philosophy and a lot of Jungians or post-Jungians are bumping around the territory. I see the "two Mary's" could have sparked a bitter interprative schism

Damm , Virgil! I couldnt look at the site and read the tributes without my lip quivering.

"it is better to die on your feet , than live on your knees" . Amen to that. (Zappata).

Hello and welcome. An initial starting point might be the two Osprey titles "Roman Auxiliary Cavalryman " (AD 14 -193) and "Rome's Northern Frontier" AD 70 -235. If you flick through the Gallery area I have an "Historic sites " album which will lead you to some annotated images on the Hadrianic defences and some further notes on various Auxilliae.Thats just for basic starters. http://www.roman-britain.org/overview.htm this link takes you to a neat little site with auxilliae linked to location in Britain. Which continent are you on by the way?

Its kind of you to make your thanks public, I was going to remove the Edinburgh Gallery after your visit: but I might expand it to become an Antonine Wall /Northern Tribes -and add some more Fringe shots. http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?act=mo...&cmd=si&img=375 and heres that Bison Grass cocktail!

so if we refer way back to the start of the thread, those who stood on the battlefield effecting multiple loading of muskets were doubly unlucky in having to expose themselves to fire : at least later in the conflict a man could take a more defensible position.Or am I mistaken and this is a reference to dragoon units or those armed with carbines?