WotWotius

Sadly I can only trance my Polish ancestry as far back as my Great-great-grandparents; many of my family records were lost during WWII, and most of what I know comes from my family photo album.

I cannot seem to find and contemporary sources. However

Reference please Wotwotius? Give me a couple of hours to plough through my notes...

1) One of Caligula's German bodyguards so I can get back from the pub safely. 2) All of Rome's lost music manuscripts (it would be wonderful to hear the music Emperors revelled in). 3) The fire from the Temple of Vesta. 4) Cicero's hands complete with Senate door.

Although many ancient geographer may have said otherwise, that the vast majority of Romans believed that the world was disc-shaped; incidentally, this may have been one of the reasons why the British invasion force of 44 AD mutinied before setting sail (for all they knew, sailing on the Channel may result in falling off the end of the earth).

I think various human rights laws will stop me from getting 'babes' this Christmas. Or did you mean 'babes' as in Babe 1 & 2 on DVD (oh, aren't I funny!)? A box of cigars sounds good; they are guaranteed to increase my coolness by at least 14%. That would be an interesting present.

Methinks that I am on my way to becoming middle-aged! This morning my mother asked me what I would like for Christmas, and all I could think of was an umbrella (it rains a hell of a lot in Exeter). What has become of me? I suppose my family and I are not really in the mood for Christmas this year, but even so, I normally want tons of pointless crap; now all I want is one commodity. I don't know...

Are there any references to Rome's lower classes using poisons against each other? If so, how did they differ from the poisons use by the upper class?

This sounds all too familiar; the above post have an air of Cold War appocalipticism about it. People have been crowing that 'the end is nigh' since the dawn of mankind. Are they ever right? In some cases, yes, but with the vast majority of cases they are mainly wrong. This prediction of immediate and painful doom was present in more recent time: as mentioned earlier, during the 1950s people were convinced that nuclear war would obliterate mankind; this mentality was further mirrored by films (the skin of History always flakes off as cinema). And did this obliteration happen? I think the main problem today is that the media has a tendency to exacerbate situations – MRSA and bird flu are just two examples of this – and this most definitely fueled the collective ideas of these oracles of doom. Additionally the view that history is cyclical helps support the idea of a neo-dark age: i.e. dark ages have happened in the past, so another one is just around the corner. Although we can detect certain patterns within History, the past is not a blueprint of the future; though scholars that try to justify the study of the past will make one think otherwise, not every situation is the same as another. Finally, I believe that due to the current status of our global society, a new dark age will be a highly improbable event. I hardly believe immigration can be compared to the ‘migrating “hordes”’ responsible for the destruction of Rome. However, I have been known to be wrong – if society crumbles in the next thirty and seventy years, I will owe NN a pint!

I was not able to find anymore information on Sempronia, but I was able to find an account in Livy of poinsoners from an earlier time (331 BC), Cornelia and Sergia: 'M. Claudius Marcellus and T. Valerius were the new consuls. I find in the annals Flaccus and Potitus variously given as the consul's cognomen, but the question is of small importance. This year gained an evil notoriety, either through the unhealthy weather or through human guilt. I would gladly believe - and the authorities are not unanimous on the point - that it is a false story which states that those whose deaths made the year notorious for pestilence were really carried off by poison. I shall, however, relate the matter as it has been handed down to avoid any appearance of impugning the credit of our authorities. The foremost men in the State were being attacked by the same malady, and in almost every case with the same fatal results. A maid-servant went to Q. Fabius Maximus, one of the curule aediles, and promised to reveal the cause of the public mischief if the government would guarantee her against any danger in which her discovery might involve her. Fabius at once brought the matter to the notice of the consuls and they referred it to the senate, who authorised the promise of immunity to be given. She then disclosed the fact that the State was suffering through the crimes of certain women; those poisons were concocted by Roman matrons, and if they would follow her at once she promised that they should catch the poisoners in the act. They followed their informant and actually found some women compounding poisonous drugs and some poisons already made up. These latter were brought into the Forum, and as many as twenty matrons, at whose houses they had been seized, were brought up by the magistrates' officers. Two of them, Cornelia and Sergia, both members of patrician houses, contended that the drugs were medicinal preparations. The maid-servant, when confronted with them, told them to drink some that they might prove she had given false evidence. They were allowed time to consult as to what they would do, and the bystanders were ordered to retire that they might take counsel with the other matrons. They all consented to drink the drugs, and after doing so fell victims to their own criminal designs. Their attendants were instantly arrested, and denounced a large number of matrons as being guilty of the same offence, out of whom a hundred and seventy were found guilty. Up to that time there had never been a charge of poison investigated in Rome. The whole incident was regarded as a portent, and thought to be an act of madness rather than deliberate wickedness. In consequence of the universal alarm created, it was decided to follow the precedent recorded in the annals. During the secessions of the plebs in the old days a nail had been driven in by the Dictator, and by this act of expiation men's minds, disordered by civil strife, had been restored to sanity. A resolution was passed accordingly, that a Dictator should be appointed to drive in the nail. Cnaeus Quinctilius was appointed and named L. Valerius as his Master of the Horse. After the nail was driven in they resigned office.' -Livy, 8.18.

...murdered by disgruntled Gracchans. It may well have been his wife, Sempronia for all we know.

Well that just wouldn't be cricket. There you go again! 'Cricket' - a little vermin! , in deed! Well, (I say), you're from Ratae. I am not sure if this comment is just nonsensical rambling, an unfunny joke, or just too highbrow for me to understand.

Good news! I met 'that guy' in a bar before I left for the Christmas holidays, and I think that I was able to break him. I simply asked him the following: 'If you know so much about English, tell me this

I used to hate group work; it always seemed to turn me into some sort of twisted control-freak.

Well that just wouldn't be cricket.

I will probably involve killing the English in some way, so maybe Hannibal will end up in Britain!

On a personal level, for some disturbing reason I admire him Sulla. Unlike Marius, Sulla was to some extent learned

The fact that Sulla was a horrible individual does not bother me in the slightest as all Romans were by today's standards. I do not judge figures of antiquity by how many people the kill

I am not responsible for any harm that this interview with Vin Diesel causes. My favourite quote from it being: 'Diesel has even sought the advice of his friend and advisor Mel Gibson.' ...God help us all.

You probably would not want to know what they are.

I just received a rather amusing e-mail this morning from my half-American friend, and I was wondering if any of you Americans would appreciate it: Petition to revoke the independence of the United States of America Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories. Except Utah, which she does not fancy. Your new Prime Minister (The Right Honourable Tony Blair MP, for the 97.85% of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders) will appoint a Minister for America without the need for further elections. The House of Representatives and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect: 1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up "aluminium." Check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour'; skipping the letter 'U' is nothing more than laziness on your part. Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters. You will end your love affair with the letter 'Z' (pronounced 'zed' not 'zee') and the suffix "ize" will be replaced by the suffix "ise." You will learn that the suffix 'burgh' is pronounced 'burra' e.g. Edinburgh. You are welcome to re-spell Pittsburgh as 'Pittsberg' if you can't cope with correct pronunciation. Generally, you should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up

I would just like to say thank you for giving everybody the chance to win.

Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan, greatest nation in the world. All other countries are run by little girls...

Braund, D. 1984 Rome and the Friendly King: the character of client kingship. discusses clientela-theory in the provinces.

Yes to both. Thank you for your concern.