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Ursus

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Posts posted by Ursus

  1. Hebrew slaves or military wing?

    in Historia in Universum

    Posted

    Is there any solid archaeological evidence that large numbers of Hebrews were in Egypt and then escaped? As far as we know native Egyptians built the pyramids, not foreign slaves.

     

    The story of Exodus seems to be little more than a fanciful origin myth, having no more basis in reality than Romans being descended from Trojans.

  8. College "text book" type books on ancient Rome

    in Libri

    Posted

    Scullard was a standard read for a previous generation: http://www.unrv.com/book-review/history-roman-world.php

     

    More recently, this is the text that is designed (in the UK) to replace Scullard, but it deals with only the Mid-Late Republic: http://www.unrv.com/book-review/aspect-of-roman-history.php

     

    This book gives a broad look at the early empire: http://www.unrv.com/book-review/roman-empire.php

     

    Not sure if it is a textbook, but this gives a broad overview of Roman history from Founding to Fall (very light on culture, though): http://www.unrv.com/book-review/ancient-rome.php

     

    For a look at culture, you may want to try: http://www.unrv.com/book-review/oxford-history-roman-world.php

  9. -Stoopid peeple kant spel

    in Hora Postilla Thermae

    Posted · Edited by Ursus

    Honestly I didn't care to analyze it as much as you guys. By the time I had come to the herpes/ Her Pies and "you need a comma" /"she's in a coma" threads, I was rolling in laughter along with Sonic. biggrin.gif

     

    As far as the BBC's list of Bad Americanisms, I have looked at the list and simply shrugged at most of them. It's still English, even if it is not the Queen's English taught in Oxbridge. Rather, the American massacre of the English language occurs among Ebonics in urban culture, hick speak among poorly educated rural whites, or "Spanglish" among young Hispanic immigrants.

  12. History Mystery - Roman dodecahedron

    in Archaeology

    Posted

    Weren't the Pythagoreans obsessed with the religious significance of the dodecahedron? How long did their religion last following the the death of their leader? Afterall the Pythagoreans felt that the dodecahedron had something of the magic of the universe in its design - perhaps this belief survived into Roman times.

     

    I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but something of the cult did indeed survive.

     

    Good catch, Decimus. I'd have no problem believing this was an offshoot of a Pythagorean cult.

  13. James Purefoy as King Lot

    in Hora Postilla Thermae

    Posted

    "On June 30, 2011 Starz announced it was not going to order new seasons of Camelot, citing significant production challenges, predominantly scheduling conflicts with some members of the cast, including Joseph Fiennes, Jamie Campbell Bower and Eva Green" - Wikipeda

    Critics called it a "light-weight Game of Thrones."

  16. Roman Legion Victory Record-Was it as impressive as we tend to assume?

    in Gloria Exercitus - 'Glory of the Army'

    Posted

    One thing I would like to ponder though - was this superiority on a par with the superiority of, say, colonial armies against Zulus, Arabs, Apaches etc, or was the advantage much less marked?

     

     

     

    I believe Roman arms and armor were often mere improvements upon Celtic products, ne? In any case, the technology gap between Romans and Barbarians doesn't seem to match the technology gap between Europeans (who had gunpowder) and Natives (who didn't).

     

    Rome's main advantage seems to have been the discipline and organization wrought from a cold blooded "professional" force dedicated to geopolitical domination, rather than loose groupings of tribal warriors out for mere plunder.

  25. 2nd largest US bookstore chain shutting down

    in Hora Postilla Thermae

    Posted

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303661904576454353768550280.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

     

    The loss of Borders may also make it more difficult for new writers to be discovered. "The liquidation of Borders is an irreplaceable loss of a big part of the book-discovery ecosystem," said Michael Norris, a senior analyst at Simba Information, a unit of MarketResearch.com "Thousands of people whose job consisted of talking up and selling books will eventually being doing something else, and that's bad for authors, agents, and everyone associated with the value chain in books."

     

    Mr. Norris said other booksellers, including Barnes & Noble Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., will go after the shoppers who formerly considered themselves Borders customers. "They won't be able to pick up everyone," he added. "If shopping at your local Borders is part of your weekly routine, and then Borders is gone, you may end up doing something other than buying books."

     

     

    Personally I have always used Amazon so I don't care. But, yeah, those of you who are authors or aspiring authors might find this upsetting.

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