Ursus

Hi, the factionalism of Christianity is not a new discovery. It's recorded in the contemporary primary texts by the Christian and Roman authors themselves. (The History Channel has a very poor reputation these days and tries to sensationalize everything). There are dozens of books on this you can easily buy from Amazon or somewhere else. Just do a search for "Early Christianity."

That looks like too much work. When I play a video game I want to sit on my butt and drink a beer.

By the time of Claudius there were substantial numbers of new Gaulish citizens bearing the clan name of Julius. I guess the desire to integrate themselves into the Roman power structure overcame any resentment of Caesar's conquest.

Fascinating! I have an interest in ghost hunting. Thanks for finding this.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure such a feat would have been mentioned by the various Mediterranean commentators who saw the Celts in action. And none of the pro-Celtic revisionist scholars out there, who are otherwise happy to credit the Celts with all manner of improbable achievements, have ever suggested they invented a western martial arts tradition.

Seriously, is it just me, or are Roman books getting more specialized all the time? It's like so much study has been done in the past few decades that for someone to get noticed they have to turn to increasingly arcane topics. And as a lot of these specialized books are rather expensive, it puzzles me how anyone but a major university would buy them.

Such specialized topics .... I think I'll skip this round.

Has anyone who ordered this from Amazon.com actually gotten a copy? I get a message every 2 weeks saying "sorry for the delay."

"Indiana Jones is old school, we've moved on from Indy, sorry Harrison Ford." Bwahahah! But seriously, an amazing find.

I don't mean to come across as sounding ascerbic, but ... I think its all poppycock. What good are some karate kicks against a wall of shields and stabbing swords formed by the Roman legions? If Gauls fought this way against a legion in formation, they'd simply get their feet chopped off.

I've never actually read a history book on Rome that is older than 30-40 years (aside from the primary sources). I think Scullard would be the oldest. Am I missing anything?

Mr Chepstow-Lusty has spent years analysing organic deposits in the mud of a small lake, "more of a pond really," called Marcaccocha on the road between the lower-lying jungle and Machu Picchu. His team found a correlation between the first appearance of maize pollen around 700BC - which showed for the first time that the cereal could be grown at high altitudes - and a spike in the number of mites who feed on animal excrement. They concluded that the widespread shift to agriculture was only possible with an extra ingredient: organic fertilisers on a vast scale. In other words, lots of llama droppings. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13439093

Archaeological excavations of the Tollense Valley in northern Germany unearthed fractured skulls, wooden clubs and horse remains dating from around 1200 BC. The injuries to the skulls suggest face-to-face combat in a battle perhaps fought between warring tribes, say the researchers. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13469861

Well, there were as you say a variety of state sponsored cults, festivals and religious officials. During important festivals, Romans were expected to suspend official business. They also were expected to not malign the gods in public. So there was something of an official religion. Just not one that enforced a rigid set of "morality" or belief.

It does seem like an interesting book.

I read the first 2 books in the series and enjoyed it; I typically don't enjoy fantasy, but as you say this was different. More "historical" than fantasy and more adult than juvenile. I don't get HBO, but intend to buy the DVD when it comes out.

The Getty Museum of Las Angeles has returned a 4th century BCE statue of Aphrodite to Italy: http://www.npr.org/2...art-world-deals

I read that book many years ago. I liked the author's writing style.

I have been amusing myself by reading through the alternate history wiki. Here is someone's overly simplified yet interesting idea of an alternate Rome. Marcus Aurelius chooses a better heir than Commodus, beginning an alternative jumping off point.. The Empire becomes federated, and survives into the nuclear age with the emperor as Christian theocrat. http://althistory.wikia.com/wiki/Roman_Empire_(Superpowers) Other alternative timelines: The Confedarate States of America win. The Nazis win. You know, the usual alternate history stuff .

Thank you for the free copy, Viggen. As always, my pleasure to review it. Aurelia, I'll have to check out that movie, I never saw it. Sounds interesting.

Congrats to Russ for what seems like a nice book!

In 1979 a seismologist predicted Rome would be hit by a "massive earthquake" on 5/11/11. (Or so rumor has it) http://www.bbc.co.uk...europe-13354988

I watched "Thor" the other day. It took major liberties with Norse mythology (though I understand the movie is based on a comic book which is itself only loosely based on mythology). That aside, I liked that movie. Better action, better acting, even better special effects. I don't know ... "Thor" did it for me whereas "Clash" didn't.

Barry Strauss, author of a few books reviewed on this forum, weighs in: http://www.ithaca.com/news/article_e32bca0e-773c-11e0-b49a-001cc4c002e0.html

Yes, the ending was mercifully short.