WotWotius

I assume that most choired singing too place within odea or theatres.

I would probably go for the Praetorian Guard: oppressed citizens are quiet ones...

Before you all start penalise me about my choice of topic, I would like to say that I am well aware of the fact that comparing the power of Rome to that of the US is clich

Click here for an exellent tribal map.

Talking of military casualty figures, there is a Roman Inscription in Britain (RIB) that gives a list of how many dead and how many wounded a Roman cohort experienced during a skirmish. If memory serves me correctly, I think it was from the time of Hadrian. Does anybody know of such an inscription?

The Carmen Saeculare, or Secular Hymn, was a song written by the poet Horace, commissioned by Augustus. It was sung during the Emperor's Secular Games. Its purpose was, along with generally glorifying Augustus and his empire, was to promote the restoration of the traditional Olympian Gods--many citizens of Rome had long been seduced by eastern religions such a Cybele worship. If you want the latin version click here. If you would like the translation click here. Oh, and as for the little 'ditties' you were asking for: read Suetonius' life of Tiberius you will find a song the disgruntled population sung about him. I would quote it but I haven't got my copy anymore.

Each of the two statues could represent the genius (personal guardian spirits who granted intellect) of his family members. The statues may have been a symbol of his families Lars (guardian god of the family); the way they are displayed is not to dissimilar to how statues were in a lararium (small household alter to lars).

...good point.

Thank you for retrieving this article; I was going to read that article in the Independent from two days ago, but my Dad threw it away (grr). It seems like builders often hide uncovered historical artefacts in order to continue their building work. When builders in Leicester (constructing a 'cultural centre') uncovered two medieval skeletons, they were hidden until a passer-by noticed which subsequently instigated an archaeological dig.

Given Mr Jones' predisposition to naturism, I am relieved to hear he was fully clothed during the signing. awww....

Can the coins found near the excavation site give us a more accurate date that just 'Flavian'?

So what was the site like?

But he's even cooler when he's in a dress.

It could be anything from a farm to a metropolis; we aren't yet aware of size.

Giving Scipio proconsular imperium for his Spanish campaign was both creative and dramatic. It was creative because the name Scipio was well known and respected in Spain, so receiving the loyalty of the local tribes would be an easier task for him. The drama came from the fact that Scipio was also campaigning to avenge the deaths of his father and his uncle, whose forces were defeated and they themselves killed by Handrubal and Mago during an earlier Spanish campaign (212 BC). Additionally the move could be considered unique; it was very rare for a senator to obtain proconsular imperium before holding the position of consul.

...and easy for the enemy to find him. I think we've found the reason for the disproportionate amount of centurion casualties on the battlefield

I read about that centurion in a Horrible History (Terry Dearing's The Rotten Romans): probably not a good source, but a good primary school read nonetheless.

Was the stick also carried to the battlefield as a sign of rank? Very true, I remember hearing about a cohort Russian Napoleonic reenactors who, during a mock battle, accidentally impaled a reeactor with cannon cleaner (they left it inside the cannon when firing it...), and in the name of authenticity they just put to one side and didn't give him any medical attention until after the battle had passed. ...those crazy Russkis

I once heard that Mr Diesel was apparently a very well read man on the subject of Ancient Rome, for some reason I had the lack of common sense to believe them...oh well, at least now I know the truth

Maybe he meant 'freedom' in the way that George Bush meant 'freedom' when he invaded Iraq.

Archaeologists working in Egypt claim to have found the ruins of an ancient Roman city in the Mediterranean Sea. Click here for the full article. Does anybody have any more information on this?

Ok, I have another question regarding the Brigantes as strategic allies. Tacitus mentions Queen Cartimandua's court and I'm assuming that it contained some sort of Iron Age (or even, to a certain degree, a Romanised) palace. Is there any archaeological evidence to support such a place existing?

Not by a brash, bristling, Brigantine? Or a super-sexy Silurian...

I have a feeling that this film will be just as long, and just as uninteresting as Oliver Stone's Alexander (That film made me lose 4 HOURS of my life; I wrote to Oliver asking for them back, but he hasn't replied yet ).

This is indeed true, Tacitus was actually writing during a time of Christian tolerance. It was around this time that Pliny, as governor of Bithanya, wrote a letter to Trajan asking whether or not to punish Christians in his province, to which Trajan replied something along the lines of 'Only punish if they have committed a crime' (this is paraphrased, but you get the idea). Anyway, I voted for other as wanted Marcus Aurelius the list. According to a book I read on Christianity within the Empire (I cannot recall the title) Marcus Aurelius' Christian persecutions, though not as cruel as those of Diocletian, were more numerous than any other emperor.