[Spartacus: Vengeance]

In production:

 

[New Roman History Books (October 2011)]

I may get the book on Germanic goddesses.

 

The Viking one looks intriguing, but price would be an issue.

[A Post-EU World?]

China's "grotesque and destructive" policies of over-investment (50pc of GDP) and under-consumption (36pc of GDP) are unprecedented in history

 

Yeah, maybe that is partially why China's economy is the world's current success story, and why the Western world is bankrupt through reckless consumption.

 

 

 

I have always felt the EU or at least the Eurozone should have been confined to Germany, France and the Benelux countries, at least initially. The expansion into fiscally irresponsible countries threatens the entire project.

 

As long as Germany is willing to bail out southern Europe the charade will continue, but I suspect even the Germans will eventually get tired (after all, those within living memory of WWII are rapidly dying off, and post World War II guilt can't be used indefinitely to tame Germany into submission).

[What are reputable online booksellers]

I have heard Abebooks.com is a good place to find used out-of-print books.

 

Is Barnes and Nobles still around?

[How did Roman Music sound like?]

 

Interesting group called Synaulia...

 

http://www.soundcent...synauliaeng.htm

 

 

 

That was interesting. I am not sure if I would call it pleasant, however.

[Early French had a taste for beer]

Could anyone else really use a beer right now?

[Augustus, father of western civilization....?]

More than likely, Western Europe as a whole would probably have been largely a Celtic culture.

 

The Germans most likely would have still invaded. So, a hybrid Germanic-Celtic culture.

[Roman Culture a Rip-Off of Greek Culture(and other Cultures Rome Conqu]

The upper class Romans were schooled in Greek letters. They were often tutored by educated Greek slaves, and finished their schooling in Greek cities like Athens and Rhodes.

 

Upper class Roman culture from the late Republic through the Empire does bear an influence of Hellenistic culture. A prime example is Virgil, whose Aeneid was a conscious imitation of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.

 

That being said, Roman culture is not synonymous with Greek. Roman literature and philosophy may be influenced by the Greek, but it has its own tone (less abstract, more practical). Roman architecture may be based on Greek, but it has its own stories to tell (the use of arches, concrete).

 

Even some of the religious cults that were imported from the Hellenistic east were to some degree Romanized (the Cults of Isis and Bacchus had to find a Roman niche, for instance).

 

Then the majority of Romans, the Plebians, who were not educated in Greek ways, held to their native culture. Gladiator games and such would be their cultural experiences.

[I thought slavery was illegal]

Though the "sweatshop" atmosphere does probably violate several labor laws, in the case of the Amazon warehouse, technically it isn't slavery because people ultimately have a choice whether or not they want to work there.

 

I am displeased to find out Amazon treats its employees so. I'll have to think twice about ordering from there (which puts a damper on the recent Amazon contest among premium members).

 

 

 

 

 

[Legacy of Mussolini?]

Italy is the little version of the EU a powerful north that drags along the not so powerful south. ...

 

Much the same in the US. Most of the poorest states are in the Old South.

 

But seriously,. when I read that the northern 3rd of Italy accounts for 55% of the Italian economy, I suddenly understand calls for federalism, or outright secession. Hail Padania!

[What's the last thing you saw/heard/played etc. ?]

I re-watched Krull. AN 80's movie where Star Wars meets Lord of the Rings.

 

But is it better than Lord of the Rings?

[Polytheism versus Monotheism]

Rome prospered while they respected the gods of their ancestors. Things went down the Cloaca Maxima after they abandoned them. Just sayin'.

 

As much as I despise Constantine's religious policies, I point out things were becoming dark for Rome long before that. The weaknesses of the Empire were beginning to show themselves around the time of Commodus. And it weren't for Aurelian, the empire as we know it would have ceased to exist in the third century.

[What's the last thing you saw/heard/played etc. ?]

I rewatched The Blair Witch. I don't care what anyone says: I liked it. I thought it was original for its day, something different than the tired old formulas from Hollywood.

 

Of course, the sequel sucked.

[Spartacus: Gods of the Arena]

I just watched 6 hours of gore, sex and slow motion of special effects.

 

Now, after my brain stops having an epileptic fit, I'll have to form an opinion and write a review.

[What's the last thing you saw/heard/played etc. ?]

I just watched Troll Hunter

 

[Constantine's Christianity]

In the last couple of years there have been a number of books on Constantine and the Nicean Council.

 

I have read at least 1 bio of Constantine that took an even handed approach (he did have some political and military acumen, regardless of what I think of his religious policies).

 

http://www.unrv.com/...ntine-great.php

 

The main problem was that it was not, strictly speaking, academic.

[If Rome had Reality TV]

Roman-Celtic Wife Swap

 

 

There is a bunch of other stuff, but the boards don't let me post more than one media link in one post.

[Cynicism and the Common People]

I would say no, it didn't appeal to the common people. New non-mainsream philosophies or religions seem to appeal to those people who have everything but are bored or feel unfullfilled in their lives. For example Buddha came from the aristocracy and turned himself away from the materialism of the world. The common people are less interested in spiritual fullfillment and more interested acquiring those things that they don't have, whether it is money, prestige, power, or whatever.

 

I agree.

 

Furthermore .... did any philosophy really appeal to the commoners? I think you had to have a certain education and certain amount of leisure time to appreciate the heady speculation of Hellenic philosophers. I don't think peasants toiling in the fields or townsmen working in their shops would be really inclined for that sort of thing.

[Ptolemy's Map of Germania]

Oops. Must have missed that one.

[Ptolemy's Map of Germania]

A group of classical philologists, mathematical historians and surveying experts at Berlin Technical University's Department for Geodesy and Geoinformation Science has produced an astonishing map of central Europe as it was 2,000 years ago.

 

The map shows that both the North and Baltic Seas were known as the "Germanic Ocean" and the Franconian Forest in northern Bavaria was "Sudeti Montes." The map indicates three "Saxons' islands" off the Frisian coast in northwestern Germany -- known today as Amrum, F

[Spartacus Star has passed away]

Sad to die so young.

[What's the last book you read?]

"The Lost Gods of England" by Brian Branston.

 

I found the lost gods ... they were behind the couch.

[Druids: A Very Short Introduction by Barry Cunliffe]

The reviewer did not like the cover. Please reconsider--it's gorgeous! And the VSI series does indeed have some nice volumes. --Sept 8, 2011.

 

I think we must agree to disagree on matters of "artistic" taste.

[Theogony by Hesiod (translation by Richard S. Caldwell)]

I enjoyed The Theogony. He has a slightly different take on the Greek gods than Homer. The influence of Near Eastern motives on Greek mythology also come across strongly in Hesiod's works.

[Did the earth move for you too?]

"Did the earth move for you too?"

 

I had a girl friend who helped me make the earth move. Does that count?

 

Does she operate a bulldozer?