Origins Of Romanophilia

[M. Porcius Cato]

How did you get interested in ancient Rome, and what brought you to UNRV?

[FLavius Valerius Constantinus]

I remember a really old thread on this before, but for some reason, I can't find it anymore. Oh wells, I might as well introduce myself again.

 

I found UNRV while searching for Julius Caesar like many people. Didn't notice there was a forum at all. I assumed that the "Forum" was actually articles about the actual Forum Romanum. Six months later, I figured about the online forum, but took me another 6 months to join because I was so lazy. When I first looked at the forum, I first noticed the Han China vs. Rome debate.

 

 

I particularly blame the Discovery and History Channel on luring me into the study of the Roman Empire. They had so many great documentaries on when I was young, and so I was impressed and thus followed the propaganda(that's what I call it. ) Then when I first hit high school, I was given the choice of learning either classical Greek or Latin(because it was a Jesuit school). Latin won out even though I'm going to take Greek next year anyways and the Latin at the same time. So therefore Latin class( and World History class) forced me to learn about the Roman Empire, sometimes by having to read it in Latin too. Somehow, I retained lots of knowledge and resulted into being turned into a Latin geek as I call myself. I also joined the Latin team by the way, we do Certamens which are so fun( Certamen is the w ord for contest in which we are in schools teams and we compete against others to decide who's the best at latin grammar,myths, and the Roman Empire. Its like the Scholastic Bowl.)

 

In my opinion, if this forum was a latin team in some sort of competition, we would be invincible. DOn't you think because we've got so many knowledgable people.

Edited December 28, 2005 by FLavius Valerius Constantinus

[Germanicus]

I was always interested in ancient history, for as long as I can remember. I probably began to read more about it in my childhood after watching a BBC series called "The Eagle of the Ninth" which I remember as a really gritty depiction.

 

How did you get into it Cato ?

[Tobias]

I was motivated by curiosity- i always heard about this "Roman Empire" when i was younger, and i longed to find out what it was. Well, as is the case with many, once i started, i couldn't stop. I come across this site whilst researching online, and i liked what i saw enough to join the site. I love all aspects of the history of Rome, with the exception of a deep interest in Religion. My main area of study is the Eastern or Byzantine Empire. That is my forte, and the area i know most about and am most strongly dedicated to. (Although i can never manage to keep out of the Civil Wars of the Republic)

Edited December 28, 2005 by Tobias

[Pantagathus]

I have been interested in the Greco-Roman world for as long as I can remember and general history for even longer...

 

I came accross the site while doing research as well and like Flavius it took me a while to realize there was a forum attached to the site. Once I figured out that there was a forum there was a 'somewhat' Roman related question I wanted to pose folks in regards to a line of investigation I was working on and I figured this would be as good a place as any to pose it.

 

Funny enough, that first thread kinda died an early death but my interest in this community has of course remained quite strong.

[M. Porcius Cato]

When I was 4, my grandmother gave me a coloring book of the Roman gods and goddesses, and I was hooked--my mother took me to the library to check out all the books on mythology I could, and I kept at it. Later, we acquired an old encyclopedia, and I read everything I could about the Romans, mostly by following the cross-references. In college, I double-majored in the Classical Humanities (but it wasn't my real major, just for fun).

 

I came to this site because I wanted to look up something or another having to do with the History Channel. Soon, I preferred the site to my old Sinnegen & Boak textbook, and when HBO's Rome was on, I came here looking for news.

 

Two things have always attracted me to Rome--first, it was pagan; second, it was a republic. There's always been something very exciting about those two qualities for me, and I think it's the liberty associated with each.

[Valerius]

What really set me off was a recurring dream I had when I was young. This may sound utterly crazy, but I assure you its true. I used to dream that I was walking along a road in a Roman city following a man in front who was carrying a sack. The man was talking about an individual called Valerius Valens. Apparently I used to talk in my sleep and my dad used to come into the bedroom and listen. He spoke fluent Italian and thought the language I was speaking was Latin. When I was older I looked up the name and discovered that there had been two brothers in 3rd century Rome called Valerius and Valens. I assumed that it was these two individuals that the man was talking about but always felt sure he was talking about someone he knew and that it was one person. Last year I had the opportunity to visit Corinth in Greece and, in the museum there, found a tombstone dedicated to one Caius Valerius Valens! You can imagine my shock.

[Pertinax]

When I was very young I was given a book to "colour in" medieval and roman costumes, that was the start of being drawn to history as a topic .My school had a field trip to Housesteads when I was 12 years old, that was it for a specific addiction to Rome! Ive just made it worse over time by visiting the British Museum constantly, the Ashmolean in Oxford likewise and visiting Pompeii,Ercolano and Rome .

 

Marcus Aurelius brought me to UNRV, I was looking for references to various editions of his "Spiritual Teachings".I lost the site bookmark and took a while to identify it again. I didnt spot the forum for a while, I was too busy trawling the front end of the site.

Edited December 28, 2005 by Pertinax

[Lost_Warrior]

What really set me off was a recurring dream I had when I was young. This may sound utterly crazy, but I assure you its true. I used to dream that I was walking along a road in a Roman city following a man in front who was carrying a sack. The man was talking about an individual called Valerius Valens. Apparently I used to talk in my sleep and my dad used to come into the bedroom and listen. He spoke fluent Italian and thought the language I was speaking was Latin. When I was older I looked up the name and discovered that there had been two brothers in 3rd century Rome called Valerius and Valens. I assumed that it was these two individuals that the man was talking about but always felt sure he was talking about someone he knew and that it was one person. Last year I had the opportunity to visit Corinth in Greece and, in the museum there, found a tombstone dedicated to one Caius Valerius Valens! You can imagine my shock.

 

This does not sound crazy at all. Would you believe I was Roman in a past life? (well I already know most of you wouldn't lol. I went by Vernus then but I don't think that was my real name.)

 

Of course that isn't the only reason. I'm also very interested in ancient cultures in general, the way they lived, etc. And the military. I'm pretty much an ancient military (also sword and armor) fanatic.

Edited December 28, 2005 by Lost_Warrior

[Primus Pilus]

I'm not sure what truly inspired my love of Rome, but I think it was just always there. As a history enthusiast I love all periods and an early fascination with American history (and its foundational ties to Republican Rome) certainly helped foster my 'Romanophilia'.

 

I remember as a child asking my mom to get me the biggest piece of poster board she could find so I could make a huge continuous chart of Roman Emperors by lineage. Imagine my disappointment when I realized there was no connection between most and organizing such a chart by lineage was quite simly impossible. The memory is vivid despite the many years that have passed. Perhaps it was that simple event that inspired part of UNRV.com.

[Sextus Roscius]

As a young child, I always had a nack for admiring great people, generals, the type of people who one can always depict standing on a balcony looking out over either thousands of cheering people or thousands of soldiers in pericise blocks of troops. Of course, if one trys to find people like that, Rome is top on the list, and so I started trying to learn about the roman army, which was my original area of intrest.

 

Though dispite this, I've had things like that before (trains as a small child) and so I can't exactly pinpoint what did it, but something did. At least Fortuna gave me her blessing in my quest.

 

As for what lead me to this website, I beleive I was actually searching for information about roman military decorations and honors, but thats general info, can't remember percisely what it was. Fortuna once again

[R]

honestly...i forgot...i have always been interested in ancient Italian architecture (dont know if that is spelled right) becuase i am a structural engineer, so i guess that is it, and i am fascinated about how the culture of the ancient romans has effected all cultures today a great deal.

[Ursus]

I always liked ancient history, ever since grade school. But then I was a geek an Honors Student all through school and had many diverse and enthusiastic interests. It's only been in the last few years of my post-college life that I've settled down and focused on ancient history. I fell in with a crowd that takes pre-Christian religious systems a tad more seriously than most people, and study is a big part of that.

 

As to how I found UNRV, I don't remember the specifics. I was searching for something on the internet and came here. I always liked most of the people, but back in the day this place wasn't quite as active or as grand. In fact most of the threads seemed to be of the now banned "Roman Legion vs XYZ" variety. I'm glad I stuck with it to see it blossom into the diverse place that it came to be.

[Emperor Goblinus]

From 6th to 11th grade, I took Latin, and was immersed in ancient Roman history and culture, especially, in the firt two years. We did participate in local Certamens, but generally, we did not do so good, to put it mildly. In 10th grade in Western Civilization, we studied ancient Rome and I found it fascinating. Just this semester in college, I took another Westen Civ course, where Rome was ne of the highlights. I became more interested, and started reading some books on my spare time.

I found this site looking for exactly what this is: a Roman history forum. At least from my experience, there aren't too many out there.

[longbow]

I found this site whilst trawling for info on the Marius reforms,like most others i didnt know about the forum section of the site .The UNRV website kept my attention for a good while then i joined the forum where i was amazed to find other people with the same interests as me,i thought i was daft .

 

I was allways interested in Rome and all history really,but especially British history.In school we used to go for day trips to Hadrians wall,when your 7 years old its quite an impressive sight.We learnt about Roman roads and the Villa lifestyle,i was hooked quite early on.Another factor was my Grandfather,he was an Artist and he had a painting of Vercingetorex surrendering to Caesar in his study and i used to stare at it for hours,it captivated me.I loved it when we went to Grandads house cos i could get his books out and look at the Renaissance paintings of the ancients,you know the kind of painting Achilles and Hector fighting etc..

But its not just Rome i like to study,i enjoy learning about the Celts, Saxons and Medieval periods just as much.

Im currently reading about the Saxon withdrawal of Aengland and that got me to learn of the Varangian unit in Constantinople,so back to the Romans .

 

Longbow.