WotWotius

The story above is indeed very interesting, but I do not see how you can admire Cassius so much, the man was a greedy extortionist; you are probably aware of the fact that he instigated the sack of Rhodes in 43 AD solely for financial gain. I see your point that after his death few people resisted the tyranny of the principate, however, if being a

How did triumphal arches from the Republican period differ from ones from the time of the principate? I know there is little archaeological evidence for the existence of Republican triumphal arches, but surely textual description have been found.

You mention that the triumvirs put there family members on the list, but as far as I know Octavian did not proscribe a single blood relative, and Antony's and Lepidus' choice of family members were able to get off without execution. Antony's uncle, Lucius, was indeed placed on the proscription lists by Octavian. However, Octavian only put his name there because he was attempting to dissuade Antony from executing Cicero (probably because of Octavian's early political connection with him) by having Antony

I have just started to watch HBO/BBC's Rome (that I bought it yesterday), and noticed that the politician and military leader, Lepidus doesn't seem to make an appearance in it. I know that Lepidus did not really become a protagonist of the Late Republic until the assassination of Caesar (ultimately resulting in Lepidus' emergence in the Second Triumvirate), but beforehand he was a competent and prominent caesarian politician: Caesar appointed him as a governor of Spain in 49 BC, for which he received a triumph in 46 BC; Caesar sufficiently trusted him enough to make him his official right hand man, making him consul in 46 BC; and in the year of Caesar's assassination he had about to take command in Gaul. It seems strange to leave out such a character from the program. I mean he would have to make appearance in the second series, so why not put him in the first?

I read somewhere that the oracle at Delphi was situated just above an underground volcano. In order to get intoxicated, she inhaled the fumes emitted from a crater under the temple. I do not know the ins and outs of process, but I think that is was happened.

Ahh thanks for clearing that up No problem.

Sorry, I was refering to traditional oval shaped scutum of the late rupublican/imperial legionary.

When Juba is referred to in Pliny's Natural history, he is referred to as a Roman Citizen. Pliny additionally writes that only Juba ordered the expedition to the Canary Islands, and that he himself was not present on the trip.

I wonder why somebody has voted for Stamford Bridge (1066 AD), I know it was officially the last Viking raid, but if the Vikings won surely William the Conqueror would have ultimately defeated them. Thus transferring the island

The scutum seems to be a completly Roman design: it was not flat, as was the case with shields used by Celtic tribes, but semi-circular. Additionally, it seems to be different from the shields used by Italic tribes.

After he publicly spared Juba's life when he was displayed in a triumphal procession, Julius Caesar paid for his education in Rome and he was raised as a royal hostage. I assume that like other client hostages (e.g. Arminius of the Cherusci), Juba received Roman citizenship.

'There is no French word for entrepreneur' -George W Bush. ...there are too many Bushisms out there, so much so that I think there should be a law against comedians mocking him...it's just too easy!

Yes, but unlike the standard Hellenistic soldiers, Triarii were much more flexiable; there purpose being to fill the gaps in the back ranks, and for this the needed to be reasonably mobile.

I remember reading about that island. It is believed to modern day St Michael's Mount, just off the coast of Cornwall. Yes, I believe that was during the time of Augustus. Does anybody have any information on the expedition?

Below is a picture of the bust mentioned above.

So did Heyerdahl sail alone, or did he assemble a team of Argonauts?

You could arrange a situation whereby your new found billionaire husband 'accidently' fall down the several flights of stairs, that way you'll be rich without divorce. :thumbs_up:

Yeah, aren't maps fun.

So trade between the Egypt and the Americas seems to be an unlikely concept. Though if it did occur, it would explain why various coca traces have been found in Ancient Egyptian sites

I have recently been reading around the subject of the late republican legionary equipment, and it came to my attention that military attire during this period was not as innovative as I originally perceived it to be. For instance, the helmets used by legion were in fact modelled on Gallic designs, and both pugio and the gladius were of Spanish origin. I am aware of the fact that much of standard issue legionary equipment (e.g. the scutum) was indeed solely a Roman idea, but I was just thrown by just how many military ideas that were copied and improved upon by the Romans. I suppose it was the Romans

Wasn't a perfectly persevered bust of Octavian found in the sands of Nubia? It may well have been stolen by the Nubians during Cornelius Gallus' term as prefect of Egypt (26-23 BC); during which he, as stated above, led an unsuccessful raid into Nubia (the result of which is greatly falsified when referred to in Augustus' Res Gestae), and was on the receiving end of a counter attack led by the Nubian queen, Candace Amanirenas. Both of these disastrous events brought Gallus into disgrace, and rather than face prosecution by Augustus, he took his own life. However, the bust could just as well be evidence for Roman influence spreading to this area outside the imperial wing of the empire. Though having said this, the former explanation seems to be more likely. Anyway, if my memory serves me correctly, I do believe the bust is on display in the British Museum.

This may have come up in the article--I really feel too unwell to read it--but wasn't Heyerdahl the person who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in a raft made of papyrus, thus illustrating that trade between Afro-European and the Americas could have been present in the Ancient world.

Yeah, just look at Vin Diesel's 'Hannibal' film...:frusty:

The Romans additionally granted their subjected peoples a surprising amount of autonomy. This policy was manifested in the construction of civitas or civic centres: semi-Romanised towns where provincials could run their local affairs if their loyalty was to Rome first. In these places various local traditions were still upheld, and religious tolerance was granted, so long as it was compatible with Roman gravitas. Eventually after about one or two generations the newly built civitas could contain all the perks of a Roman lifestyle, and develop into a bustling trading centre. My point being that under various circumstances, subjected peoples could do very well under the wing of Rome. However, having said this subjects of Rome often drew the short straw upon the initial conquest of their lands; some peoples had to endure years of Rome oppressive, grasping nature before any sort of 'great civilization' emerged (Roman Britain and Northern Gaul are probably the best examples of this happening).