November 25, 2004

• Great link. Very interesting, I like this stuff. Thankyou, rolypoly.
• Nice stuff roly, I had this linked after being recommended but I haven't really explored it yet. I also found the Interactive Ancient Mediterranean for related stuff but again haven't really checked it out. Still waiting to get a copy of Rome - Total War but not in the shops here.
• Thanks, roly and Abiezer: I've always been into Greek history, and got into Roman after watching I Claudius. And, Suetonius! What a great gossip. Great stuff!
• Neat thread, rolypolyman! I recall seeing the I, Clavdivs series on tv some time ago. One of the best productions the beeb ever did, imho. Old Caligula was quite teh party animal.
• These are fine links, rolypolyman. Graves could write, and his prose seems more attractive than his poetry. His Greek Myths is a bit controversial, but great fun nonetheless, if you want off-the-beaten-path ideas about a legendary/mythical figure, such as Hercules, or about any of the classical deities.
• That's one hell of a hat you have there,rolypolyman. I know where I'm spending the next week or two.
• Ave, Virolipoli! Great stuff. Graves is great too, but I can't quite forgive his portrayal of some characters - Augustus and especially Livia, who becomes a kind of cardboard cut-out evil witch, instead of the complex and probably virtuous woman she really was.
• I just finished a section of I, Claudius where he does give Livia due credit in running the empire fairly and efficiently (right around Tiberius' early rule). In reading this book I see she's getting more even-handed treatment than in the BBC telecast; she comes off as more of a micromanager than a witch. I'm looking forward to seeing what Suetonius has to say about her.
• The Emperor Caligula 's Habits wetre somewhat irregula. When he sat down to lunch He got frunk at onch. -- Robert Longden
• frunk = drunk
• Spain destroys lost Roman city for a car park
• The story doesn't say whether they had moved the statuary and other finds out before the concrete came in, though I prefer to assume that they did. And, bees - "frunk" looks like a portmanteau word. Do you suppose he got both?
• They didn't destroy the buried ruins, they merely reburied them. Considering what happens to many uncovered arch. sites, maybe that is for the best? I mean, the pollution of modern civilization does much to destroy ancient ruins. For the sake of future generations, I think it is best to keep the stuff buried and out of sight.
• The lost treasures of Emperor Maxentius have been found on the Palatine Hill in Rome 1,700 years after they were hidden.
• The enigma of Italy's ancient Etruscans is finally unravelled
• "...they were called "tuscii" in Latin. The obvious explanation for this has always been their fondness for building tower-like, walled, hilltop towns like those still to be seen scattered across Umbria and Tuscany. But the latest conclusions may add weight to a rival, apparently more fanciful, theory that links their name to Troy, the "city of towers" and a part of the Lydian empire." Very interesting, thanks h-dogg.
• Colossal statue of the emperor Hadrian discovered
• Becoming the Emperor: How Marguerite Yourcenar reinvented the past.
• This is way cool, Homi. For the rest of you Monks: google map overlay of site a nice link to the site and the Anatolia region Wish I'd have been able to visit this in 2000--so many sites, so little time *sigh
• Two excellent links, homonculus. That statue is breathtaking. He were quite a handsome feller. I can never think of Hadrian, though, without thinking of the MST3K sketch where Mike mixed up Hadrian and Adrienne Barbeau.
• Ancient Roman road map unveiled
• Parts of a giant, exquisitely carved marble sculpture depicting the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius have been found at an archaeological site in Turkey.
• !
• So that's why the troops called him "Old Big'ead"
• That mouth seriously looks like it's about to speak.
• He was one of the good ones.
• Roman ship had on-board fish tank: Hand-operated pump would have kept catch alive during long trips.
• Roman-era shipwreck reveals ancient medical secrets
• Ancient Mosaics Reveal Changing Fish Size
• Secrets of the Colosseum

  The hypogeum played a vital role in these staged hunts, allowing animals and hunters to enter the arena in countless ways. Eyewitnesses describe how animals appeared suddenly from below, as if by magic, sometimes apparently launched high into the air. “The hypogeum allowed the organizers of the games to create surprises and build suspense,” Beste says. “A hunter in the arena wouldn’t know where the next lion would appear, or whether two or three lions might emerge instead of just one.” This uncertainty could be exploited for comic effect. Emperor Gallienus punished a merchant who had swindled the empress, selling her glass jewels instead of authentic ones, by setting him in the arena to face a ferocious lion. When the cage opened, however, a chicken walked out, to the delight of the crowd. Gallienus then told the herald to proclaim: “He practiced deceit and then had it practiced on him.” The emperor let the jeweler go home.

• Homunculus, stop hiding this stuff and start posting it as FPPs! Ima reach through the screen and smack you!
• Roman Frontiers: Rome’s border walls were the beginning of its end.
• Interesting. IMHO, what brought down Rome was a combination of corrupt government and piss-poor economics. Hand in hand with lousy management was the stratification of the rich and their hoarding of resources, and the (mostly) poor, with their unsatisfactory bread and circuses. Anybody see any current parallels here?
• In the 80s, it appeared to me that Communism and Capitalism were racing to see which would collapse first. Communism won easily, but that didn't stop Capitalism from continuing full-speed-to-the-bottom.
• First Ever Etruscan Pyramids Found in Italy
• Those Etruscans liked digging. The nails, pot, and bronze coins as an offertory were interesting.
• Ancient Romans carved winged penises to ward off the evil eye
• And it worked! Because nobody wants a poke in the eye from a flying wanger.
• Monkeyfilter: Because nobody wants a poke in the eye from a flying wanger aaaah that felt good
• Banter about Dildoes
• 1 Kitty, 2 Empires, 2,000 Years: World History Told Through a Brick
• The Roman persecution of Christians turns out to be yet another exaggeration.
• Stars Aligned at Ancient Tomb in Spain
• Plague Helped Bring Down Roman Empire, Graveyard Suggests
• Could a 2,000-Year-Old Recipe for Cement Be Superior to Our Own?
• Share it like Cicero: How Roman authors used social networking
• The Portonaccio Sarcophagus - Amazing Relic of Rome
• Stunning!
• Cook Real Recipes from Ancient Rome: Ostrich Ragoût, Roast Wild Boar, Nut Tarts & More
• First you have to catch your ostrich...
• But imagine the drumsticks!!!
• Sorry Ed, the Romans weren't much into the drumsticks.
• Archaeologists Unearth What May Be Oldest Roman Temple
• Gladiator School Discovery Reveals Hard Lives of Ancient Warriors: Archaeologists have mapped an ancient gladiator school, where the famed warriors lived, trained, and fought.
• Mary Beard: humour in ancient Rome was a matter of life and death
• It's Hard To Believe This "Ancient Rome Vs. China" Movie Is Real