WotWotius

'My mother made me a homosexual' - Pub toilet graffiti. 'If I give her the wool, will she knit me one?' - Written below it.

I will say two statements that encapsulate the game: 1) Do not wear white while playing the game. 2) Never again...

The game has already been executed tonight at a Classics Society social! Thank you Pantagathus for your wonderful idea! I am a little far gone at the moment, but I shall give you a full reprot tomorrow afternoon.

Seeing that Domitian was the first Roman Emperor since the time of Augustus to give all branches of the Roman military a pay rise, I think there was a degree of personal incentive in the guards

During his reign, Nerva was by no means in a sound position. Though Tacitus would have us believe that his rule was catalyst for a 'golden age', Nerva faced great opposition from the Praetorian guard: Casperius Aelianus, commander of the guard, practically imprisoned Nerva in the Imperial palace, demanded the handing over of Domitian's assassins, and killed them almost in front of Nerva. Nerva escaped the ordeal unharmed, but, his position was severely weakened - had Nerva not adopted Trajan as his successor we may well have seen a repeat of the 'year of the four emperors' - therefore, Nerva had to resort to public handouts and tax reform as a desperate means of gaining popular support. Keep in mind that by in large, senators and senators wrote the history books. Nerva's reign is only interpreted as a 'golden age' due to fact that was highly respectful towards the senate, and he was not Domitian - human nature dictates that man tends to like rulers that do not kill them!

Alas, I have finally located the book in my student library. The only problem now however, is that I do not have enough time to read it.

Go for it.

What was its mother city?

To cite the words of the late John Belushi: '...toga, toga, toga!'

I lost half my family because they had 'A/C on the brain' - I think it may be hereditary!

Besides, Big Ben is more iconic than wondrous.

When, and under what circumstances, was Massilia (Marseilles, South France) incorporated into the Roman Empire?

This weekend I have returned to Ratae (Leicester) for the weekend. Other than the fact that Leicester is flatter and contains my friends and family, I have not really missed this place; it is dirtier, and contains more pigeons that Isca. Leicester additionally has an odd smell (which reminds me of a fake, cheap-Russian Calvin Cline aftershave), which I never really noticed before. But having said this, I am looking forward to seeing Leicester Diwali lights; they are apparently the most spectacular lights out of India.

His other useful building projects included: draining the Potine Marshes; constructing the Aqua Claudia; and erecting a lighthouse at Ostia - for this, Caligula's pleasure boat was used a base.

So if we abide by this hypothesis, the Spanish population must have been decimated upon their initial contact with the Carthaginians. Do you have any historical/archaeological evidence for this?

May I be the first to hail Pantagathus in his new found position of Legatus.

Sites dating from around c.13,000-10,500 y.a. indicate that in the Near East, there was a manipulation of wild wheat, barley and lentils, which in turn formed domesticated varieties. Pastoral farming began in this area around c.10,000-9,000 y.a. when wild sheep and pig herds were managed into a domesticated form. In Europe, both pastoral and arable farming spread to the Balkans around c.9000 y.a.; this subsequently spread to Central Europe c.7000 y.a., which in turn reach Britain c.6300 y.a. Other key farming dates are as follows: c.10,000 y.a. - Farming of squash in Mexico. c.9000-8,500 y.a. - Millet and rice farming in China. c.8000 y.a. - Farming and animal domestication in the Indus valley. c.6000 y.a. - Yams are cultivated in New Guinea, which subsequently spreads to South East Asia. c.5600 y.a. - Farming of maize and beans in Mexico. c.5000 y.a. - Farming of potatoes in the Andes; sunflower and goosefoot in North America. This is in fact a very generalised overview, but these are roughly the agreed dates.

I'm sorry...how much!?

The late First Century BC Geographer, Strabo commented on British slaves in Rome's market places.

Caesar boasted of killing a million, and enslaving a million. Like most recorded boasts of antiquity, Caesar's is most probably an exaggeration; the fact that it was a boast shows that subduing enemies on an industrial scale camping was a desirable thing; therefore, Caesar most probably exaggerated the death toll as a means of gaining popular support. Yes, I agree with Cato

To conceal the mistakes of the past, and/or to make ignorance an avoidable mentality.

Isn't there evidence to suggest that Corbridge was violently sacked during the inter Agricolan-Hadrian's Wall period. I once read an archaeological journal on the matter - when I find it again, I shall post more information.

It just seems that Sertorius felt that he was in a strong enough position to give such an offer. True, he had just beaten his rivals twice in battle, but it seems that at this point, Sertious was seen as a more of a nuisance to the Rome

In my view, it seems that the Principate was much better suited to supporting a large urban population than the Republican government ever did. Though the average Roman pleb was would have still been suffering various social injustices under the Principate--as stated in previous discussions--from what I have read into the matter, quality of life and maybe even life expectancy was better under the rule of emperors. For instance, the centralised government provided by Augustus initiated various building programs designed to appease the urban poor; most notable of which were the three aqueducts built under the supervision of Marcus Agrippa, and after his death, under the eyes of three curators of the water supply (all of which were well established patricians at the height of their careers). Once built, the aqueducts were thoroughly maintained and monitored: according to Dio, Agrippa had a troop of 240 trained slaves to repair them and to cut off people who have tapped the water supply illegally. Because water was now so readily available, Augustus was in a position to order the construction of the Baths of Agrippa: Rome's first large-scale public baths. Another service provided under the principate was the fight service. After the antics of Rufus Egnatius--a praetor who attempted to form a fire brigade--Augustus created his own fire brigade under the command of an adile; though this did not really amount to much. However, in 6 AD, he eventually brought the Cohortes Vigiles into existence--town watchmen who also acted as firefighters. During the age of Augustus, wholesale slum clearance was beyond the technology and the think of the time. Suetonius tells us that Augustus did however re-house people living in the slums cleared to make way for the Forum Augustum. He additionally proposed legislation to limit the number of stories attached to the Roman apartment (insulae). But if we are to believe the satirist Juvenal, this law was often evaded. Augustus' reign witnessed the beginning of a permanent free Annona ration: 'I made grain and cash contributions from my granary...sometimes for 100, 000 people or more.' -Res Gestae During a particularly bad famine in 22 BC grain was supplied at a '...very cheap rate; sometimes he provided it for free...' -Suetonius, life of Augustus. Though we do indeed hear of riots within the streets Rome at this time, these were mainly caused by the physical and military state situation of the Empire: the grain riot mentioned above was initiated by the fact that there just happened to be a large concentration on hungry individuals in a confined space, rather than because of the urban poor's view of Augustus - in fact, during this riot, the plebeians were (according to Suetonius) howling for Augustus to take up the dictatorship. One of the few other urban riot that Augustus presided over occurred directly after the Varus disaster - hearsay gained momentum, and soon enough, the citizens of Rome were under the impression that barbarians were at the gates. So it would seem that it was the air of fear that caused the riot rather than Augustus' political position. Finally there was also the additional perk of Augustus' freebies such as games and and largesse: 'None of Augustus' predecessors had provided such splendid shows.' -Suetonius, life of Augustus 'His awards of largesse to the people were frequent...' -Suetonius, life of Augustus All of these services may well have arisen if the Republic prevailed. However, under the centralised rule of Augustus these services were provided more quickly and efficiently than they would have done under the bureaucratic Republic. My point being that because of all these services, quality of life would have been better under the principate, the city may have been able to support such great influx of people. However, if we are to believe Tacitus' unrealistically biased view of the Principate, all of these amenities provided by Augustus were only created by the man to secure his position - though that would probably mean absolutely nothing to an under-nourished pleb receiving bread (selling one's political values was probably worth it). Tacitus would also have us think that though Augustus 'seduced the public' with gifts, he actually stole their liberty. I will probably get heckled for writing this, but it would seem that the only political rights that a pleb had before the principate was to express their political anguish by rioting (Saturnius' fate in 100 B.C. is a good a good example of this). Therefore, when Augustus put an end to politically-based riots by establishing the Praetorian Guard, he extinguished the tiny amount of liberty the plebs had left; in my estimation, the urban poor's pre Augustan 'libertas' was so minute, that what Augustus did would not have been noticed, or would have been overlooked by the fact that now, under Augustus, Rome's citizens now had: a fixed grain supply; more aqueducts; fewer riots; a town watch; occasional gifts and ludi days; and, more importantly, peace.

Under what authority did he have the means to distribute territory so freely? Another question is: do you think Sertorius successes as a general was more to do with the rift between Metellus and Pompey, or because of his own merits as a strategist? Excellent article by the way; I do not think you could have added more detail it you tried.