M. Porcius Cato

OPEC apparently didn't cut production--there were talks, but according to a later story, nothing came of them.

Look forward to seeing it. What are your major sources on Sertorius?

Updated data from EIA: 9/11 - US Avg (Regular Grade): $ 2.618 9/18 - US Avg (Regular Grade): $ 2.497 9/25 - US Avg (Regular Grade): $ 2.378 10/2 - US Avg (Regular Grade): $ 2.310 10/9 - US Avg (Regular Grade): $ 2.261 9/11 - US Avg (All Grades): $ 2.670 9/18 - US Avg (All Grades): $ 2.549 9/25 - US Avg (All Grades): $ 2.429 10/2 - US Avg (All Grades): $ 2.360 10/9 - US Avg (All Grades): $ 2.310 Data still consistent with two opposing hypotheses: (1) oil company/GOP price manipulation in anticipation of early November elections, (2) the seasonal fall in prices that occurs every year. The real test will come between early November and December. The first hypothesis sees a gradual return to pre-election prices (when oil companies would feel free to 'gouge' consumers); the second hypothesis sees continuing declines until demand picks up again in the spring. Only time will tell...

I'd not dispute that one member of the Julii gens had a large impact on Roman history, but in judging gentes as a whole, none were more prominent in peace, in war, in popularity, and even in infamy than the Cornelia. In fact, without the Cornelia, Caesar would have been nothing: even two of Caesar's three wives (I recall) were from the Cornelian family (from the Sullan and the Cinnan branches). Heck, without the Cornelia, Hannibal might have left Rome as a mere trading port in the mighty empire of the Carthaginian republic, in which case Caesar would have been a mere Punic toadie.

Thanks, Virgil, for posting this fascinating article. Oppenheimer corrects quite a few misconceptions about the so-called Celtic diaspora, but I was disappointed that he didn't provide any evidence for the notion that the original inhabitants of Britain were Basque immigrants.

This is odd. I find the relevant passage in Everitt, but not in de Officiis (the source Everitt lists). I wonder where Everitt really found this passage if it's not in de Officiis.

As you mentioned, Columbus was unaware of the disease vectors that he brought to (and from) the New World, so I'd hardly say that Columbus put Caesar to shame. Presumably Caesar knew that sticking cold hard steel into Gallic intestines would harm them... Sounds right to me. Newton, Pasteur, Darwin, Edison, Ford, Einstein, Watson and Crick--so many heroes of science and technology that deserve much greater recognition. Why, among all the great British men of the past, we Americans choose to honor those theocratic Puritans in Massachusetts is beyond me.

Yeah I know. Ive wondered this too but apparently this was a direct quote from old Marcus Tullius Cicero himself. Source?

Came across this precious excerpt from Livy (1.32) on the Roman art of declaring war. Enjoy!

How could they have produced "deafening" music without an electric amplifier?

Sertorius may have been among the best men of his age, but without information about his policial reforms in Spain, it's hard to know whether equals to Sertorius could have been found to continue his successes. IMO, the most optimistic of realistic possibilities would have Spain becoming so Hellenized as to receive Greek rights. Less optimistically (and just as likely), Rome would have treated Spain to the same ending as Corinth and Carthage.

This argument never ceases to astonish me. Whether there were already people in the Americas and whether Columbus knew how far from India he was is completely irrelevant to Columbus' achievement--which was to discover a new population of people (an anthropological discovery), a new sea route (a navigational discovery), and the existence and relations among previously uncharted land masses (a cartographical discovery). Before Columbus, no one had ever tried an exploratory sea voyage of such audacity, nor was any previous exploration so far reaching in its consequences. And these consequences obtained because Columbus RECORDED where he was going. That's what made Columbus' discovery of the Americas different from all the previous landings in the Americas, and it's what made it more consequential than any of the previous ones.

In Columbus we don't celebrate! Amazing.

Suetonius said that Caesar rode a horse with human-like feet. What absurdity could we read into that that wasn't already there?

Can you think of any examples where a previously hard-fighting group of veterans suddenly got lazy simply because they ate better? I'm skeptical.

Why did you start with four (eminently reasonable) factors--and then end with only one? Given fantastic leadership, a weakened economy, an emaciated army, and unpatriotic citizens, Rome would have been nearly as vulnerable to the barbarians as she would have been without fantastic leadership, but still with a weakened economy, an emaciated army, and unpatriotic citizens.

I've had the same problem. It's irritating, no?

On the basis of what evidence do you make this claim? For hundreds of years, Christians owned slaves and pointed to St. Paul's sermon for theological justification. Christianity per se had no effect at all on slavery.

For my BA alma mater, there was no requirement to take classics, but if you were so inclined, you could fulfill most of your humanities requirements through the classics department (which I did). Where I teach (not the classics btw, I'm purely an amateur just like most everyone else on this forum), students have to take at least 25 credits in the Arts and Humanities, and Classics counts. In both places, ancient history, ancient art, and Greek and Latin were taught by separate departments.

Looks like OPEC is already talking about cutting production--prices of oil have now climbed to $60/barrel. We may see gasoline prices climb back up even before the election--something neither of us predicted!

WW--how are you defining 'antiquity' and 'modern states'? I assume you don't mean that the greatest influence on modern France was Odacer, correct?

PP--I think you underestimate the willingness of people to conform and to obey authority, especially when survival depends on group solidarity. After 8 years in darkest Gaul where they were separated from any normal life they knew, the soldiers learned in every conceivable fashion that their survival depended on their obedience and the will of Caesar, the man who was responsible for having them fed, clothed, healed, or killed. So even if Caesar weren't dripping personal charisma (and supposedly he had some), he could ask his men to do nearly anything. It was the power of the social situation. And, really, that little ploy Hinds' Caesar used to get his men to cross the Rubicon in HBO Rome perfectly illustrated this social dynamic. I think Hinds was simply fantastic.

Maybe, but isn't it possible that written histories are also motivated by the same force that leads people to write personal diaries? People like to bear witness to important events--to say to themselves and the universe, I'm not crazy, this thing really happened! I don't deny the social component, but historians aren't motivated simply by the desire to please the populace. Sometimes, they don't care a fig for what others think--they want to speak the truth (as they see it) for its own sake.

Oh, nice one, Andrew! Hadn't thought of that one before. Do you think there's a rule here, or is it just a remarkable coincidence?

I assure you that the Greeks--especially the Athenians--cared about Asia Minor a great deal.