Kosmo

This is very funny

Living inside Appia Antica Park means accommodating the history, and even the former residents, of ancient Rome. There are currently 3,000 people living within the park, a 3,400-hectare, or 8,400-acre, protected area of tufa-stone mansions, farms and ruins a few kilometers from the Coliseum. And anyone who plants a shovel in the ground without the proper permit can attract a bevy of government archaeologists and bureaucrats with the power to fine transgressors or even seize property.

The dates don't add up.

Phanariot Kantakouzenos, Palaeologos and Komnenos families established themselves in the Romanian principalities and claimed byzantine imperial descent, but is unclear if the claim has any merit because they generally can't prove their genealogy before 1600. The House of Gonzaga is descended through marriage from the heiress of the Paleologos of Montserrat. Nice to see you again.

Romans were not racists. Goths invaded the Empire and established within it's borders by force. The fact that Romans were not happy with this situation is not a form of discrimination but a power struggle.

Tea, coffee, cocoa and other herbal infusions are modern drinks in Europe,mulled spice wine was probably the only hot drink available to Romans.

Compared with The Da Vinci Code or The Last Legion this stuff is pretty good.

This is great news. Can't wait to play it! Edit: It seems I'll have to wait till Christmas 2013. Still great news anyway.

You just blew my mind with the implications of what you're saying. From where is the first image?

Thank you for the interesting article, but I'm not convinced that roman society can be regarded as having polygyny just because slave owners fathered children with slaves. Given the high rate of divorce among the elite I see it more like a society with serial monogamy but that refutes the logic of the article because they see a progression from polygyny to strict monogamy and finally to serial monogamy. This makes little sense to me. I believe that societies with strict monogamy are exceptional. Also, a progression from sequential monogamy to strict monogamy seems more natural then from polygyny straight to strict monogamy.

This is very interesting. Makes one wonder if the Japanese had any idea from where those glass beads came.

I wonder when and how the strict monogamy promoted by Christians replaced both the polygyny allowed by Judaism and the serial monogamy enabled by divorce, that Romans favored. Valentinian I divorced in 370 AD Severa, mother of Gratian, and married Justina, mother of Valentinian II.

KYTHIRA, Greece

The funniest thing is that among top finds for my name is an UNRV thread that Nephele did - Your Hidden Roman Name

Customs like this are still around. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-real-vampire-slayers-397874.html Hey, Miami has zombies, we have vampires.

We are having local elections soon and I hope the mayor who spent almost 50.000 Euros on this horror will be thrown out and he will be followed by Trajan. I mean Trajan the Emperor because Traian the President will be around for another 2 years.

A statue of Emperor Trajan was recently placed on the stairs in front of the National History Museum, in the historical center of Bucharest. The statue is also supposed to represent the birth of the Romanian people from Dacians (represented by the Draco military flag) and Romans (the rest of the body of the she-wolf) The result is beyond hilarious. Enjoy! A couple more photos here http://www.ici-colo....-traian-cu.html

I think honey was the only sweetener available. The use of wax for candles started probably in the Late Empire but is not very clear when and where. Some claim it was a result of the olive oil distribution networks during the migrations.

Either date has nothing to do with Romans and their temple. The article states no construction date, but it can't be earlier then 51 BC and is probably much later.

A freedmen definitely, a slave probably. There was no dress code for slaves so they looked just like free people. Maybe sumptuary laws had an interdiction, but they were rarely enforced after the end of the Republic. Iron earrings? I doubt that existed. Iron rusts and rust is prime habitat for the tetanus bacteria that makes a nasty disease. Iron is also not very decorative. Bronze and pewter are more likely metals for cheap jewelry.

That guy has no idea of what is he talking about. Probably his knowledge comes from what he has seen in movies. BTW Romans never conquered little Turkish towns

It is in 19th century France where we find the regime that resembles most that of Imperial Rome and it was a very deliberate copy. Bonapartism had all the characteristics you listed above. Also, a comparison between the Roman Empire and the First French Empire it is between two fairly similar societies, even the Second Empire can be compared a bit, but XXth century Europe was already a very different place.

Christianity was created in Roman provinces by subjects of Rome. The central figure is connected with roman administration from birth (the presumed census) till death (sentenced and executed by Roman authorities) The same can be said about the entire New Testament, all of the Apostles and, in Orthodoxy at least, about most saints. The same about Christian theology and art. The Church played a central role in the Empire for more then a millennium, but it was the Empire that shaped the Church. PS Can we keep Hitler and Obama out of this, please?