M. Porcius Cato

Seems like the rationale of your argument is based on a false premise. The number of senate seats was not limited, but open-ended. With each equestrian elected to an aedileship, the number of senate seats would have grown by one. Yes, there *was* a conflict between equestrians and senators, but it wasn't a matter of equestrians vying for a limited number of seats in the all-powerful senate but a matter of what powers the senate would have. This is a great thread, btw.

BTW, it's a steal at $6. I paid MUCH more. Also, if you're interested in the topic of clientele, this book marked a radical change in how historians viewed the relationship between patron and client.

Out of town and I miss my favorite anagrammatist's birthday! Hope you had a great one, Nephele.

The speaker, whose rosy fingers can be found tracing out the hour of daybreak, would be Aurora/Eos? And then, of all her loves, who is most dear? Three possible ones: Astraeus, lord of the dusk, with whom Aurora had the most children (for what that's worth!); tragic Tithonus, kidnapped by Aurora and granted an unnatural longevity from which he begged to be released (again: be careful what you wish for!); and Cephalus, with whom Aurora had a brief infatuation with terrible consequences for poor Cephalus. Of these, the one most likely to muse beneath Aurora's bower seems to be Tithonus. Tough one, Augusta. Beautiful but tough -- like Livia I guess. Am I close?

Great work, Nephele! I love these lists that you've been compiling; they always offer nice leads to other discoveries. It's interesting to note, for example, that beyond the large number of consuls produced by this plebeian family is also a very large number of seminal laws, including the opening of the higher magistracies to plebs. BTW, what is the relation between the name Licinus and Licinius? There was an L. Porcius Licinus, who passed the lex Porcia that protected citizens from degrading punishment like flogging and crucifixion when outside Rome (hence, the controlling law cited by Cicero in his rousing speech against Verres). Any connection between the two?

Are you Cupid, whose arrows had the power to ignite the love that was his mother's domain?

Great analyses, Nephele and Asclepiades. Your turn, A.

Would you be... Atlas? yes--want to give the decoding a shot? For example, "Creation's first lovers"? "Olympian thug"?

Creation's first lovers, denied embrace, crush my shoulders, fix my place. Two tortures set by an Olympian thug, Why must I struggle? Why not shrug?

Would you be ... Thetis? Desired by Zeus, who feared the prophesy of her son's greatness, Thetis was turned over to Peleus, king of Myrmidons, who caught the siren after she rode her bridled dolphin into a cave where Pelesus hid. Indeed, their son did "outshine his sire"--who knows Peleus who does not know his son Achilles?--and thus "Zeus found a mortal stand-in". The most famous modern image of Thetis:

Atalanta? She was swift-ankled, the suitor's bane in that those who failed to catch her in a race suffered the penalty of death. She was finally "subdued" by Hippomenes (with his trick of the golden apples), but both Hippomenes and Atalanta offended the goddess Cybele by having sex at her temple and, as punishment, Cybele transformed them both into lions - hence, "subdued by man, by mane". (Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 10) Very quick, Nephele! And great idea for a thread... if no one picks up her pen soon, please don't hesitate to offer your own.

According to the Guardian, plans to erect a new Colossus of Rhodes have been revived and received funding from the World Trade Centre Association: Like the original, erected in homage to the sun god Helios by the master sculptor Chares of Lindos, the new Colossus will adorn an outer pier in the harbour area of Rhodes, and be visible to passing ships. And like its ancient namesake, the modern-day wonder will be dedicated to celebrating peace and built, at least in part, out of melted-down weapons from around the world. But unlike the ancient Colossus, which stood 34 metres high before an earthquake toppled it in 226BC, the groundbreaking work of art is slated to be much taller and bigger. And unlike previous reconstruction efforts, officials say the Cologne-based design team is determined to avoid recreating a replica.

Good question!!

Swift-ankled maiden, a suitor's bane, In a temple subdued by man, by mane, Who am I?

The BBC reports that "An ancestor of Monty Python's famous Dead Parrot comedy sketch has been found in a joke book dating back to Greece in the 4th Century. Philogelos: The Laugh Addict, which has been translated from Greek manuscripts, contains a joke where a man complains that a slave he was sold had died. "When he was with me, he never did any such thing!" is the reply." Among other ancient two-liners:

You'll probably be safe from the Google satellites. Microsoft's on the other hand...

Good one.

Wasn't the Greek cross-bow (the gastrophetes, 'belly-shooter') used in siege defense in Syracusae? From a protected and fixed position of short range like that, the cross-bow seems awfully useful.

I agree completely. Changes in language, like changes in biology and the marketplace of ideas, are wonderful examples of spontaneous change through variation, adaptation, and selection.

In a speech here in Columbus, Barack Obama posed an unusual challenge to McCain's independence: "He hasn't been a maverick. He's been a sidekick. He's like Cato to the Green Lantern." Don't they teach anything at Harvard Law School? For the record, it's Green Hornet, not Green Lantern.

In 216, the two aediles of the plebs were M. Aurelius Cotta and M. Claudius Marcellus (Liv. 23.30.17). In 185, the praetor named Marcus was M. Claudius Marcellus (Liv. 39.23.2). In 183, the consul was M. Claudius Marcellus (previously praetor in 188--Liv. 38.42.7, Val. Max. 6.6.3).

Some classical scholar should attend a meeting of these numbskull populares and hit a buzzer every time they use a Latin term. After 15 minutes, their ears would be ringing with the sounds of their own absurdity.

Of course there are anecdotes of physicians (like Charmis) asking for large sums of money. I could add that Augustus' physician Antonius Musa was reportedly paid 300,000 sesterces as Augustus' private physician. Sounds like a lot doesn't it? Given the current value of silver, that amounts to about $150,000/year--which isn't too far off the salary of an early-career physician today. The problem with these anecdotes is that they shouldn't blind us to what the main trend was. In the Pliny source, for example, we're reminded of some basic economics that it would be foolish to ignore: "it being no moderation on their part, but the rivalry existing between such numbers of practitioners, that keeps their charges within moderation." Thus, as soon as some Charmis is successful in charging 200,000 sesterces for his services (was that yearly?), a multitude of other practitioners will be happy to undercut Charmis with lower prices, as will their rivals and their rivals' rivals. A second problem with the Charmis anecdote is that -- like all anecdotes -- it necessarily reflects the extraordinary rather than the ordinary. The ordinary medicus would have been able to line his instruments in gold if he had been routinely paid (by whom, one wonders) like Charmis. Yet the archaeological and epigraphical evidence at best shows physicians to have lived much like any moderately successful merchant, with their names appearing only sporadically in regional inscriptions and their collegia bearing no more influence than any other. Finally, the whole idea that physicians were normally paid like Charmis has to raise the obvious question: Who the heck could pay such a fee? If the answer is, "hardly nobody", and we know that there were both large numbers of medici practicing throughout Rome and large numbers of people obtaining medical services, then the fee paid to Charmis must have been an outlier. Indeed, given the efficacy of Roman medicine (attested to by the use of the Lex Aquilia to recover damages from physicians), this shouldn't be surprising--indeed, some of the remedies probably weren't even worth the fee that Plautus found typical--"less than a nummus" (i.e., one sestercius).

Sigh. Free medical care was dispensed at the temples to Aesculapius. The first of these temples was imported to Rome from Epidaurus in 293 BCE, and nearly the whole of Insula Tiberina was devoted to the Aesculapium and a long-term recovery center. Being free, these centers were sometimes abused, with unprofitable slaves sent to the Aesculapium and abandoned there, a practice that led Claudius to legislate that such slaves were to be granted their freedom. Like all temples, the temples to Aesculapius and Apollo the healer would have been supported by private donations and the public treasury under the supervision of popularly-elected magistrates (at least during the republic). Additionally, the fees collected by celebrity physicians like Galen were vastly greater than those collected by the physicians consulted by most Romans. The first recorded private medical practice in Rome was sponsored by the consuls in 219, when Archagathus visited Rome and was persuaded to stay by being given citizenship and a shop near the compitium Acilii. The fees paid by the poor were very small. According to the Plautus (Aulularia 448), "It was less than a nummus" (i.e., one sestercius).

Fascinating post Asclepiades. I see the argument against dating the MPC coin later than 89, but why not earlier--back to 93-91 when there was an MPC who was officially posted to mint?