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Aphrodite

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Posts posted by Aphrodite

  2. The Life Of A Roman Soldier....

    in Romana Humanitas

    Posted

    What i find intrequing is that as the army progressed into its alter form, conditions were made better, pay was increased, the men were allowed to marry and smalled units meant they had bigger living space - archelogical evidence of forst in england indicate that by the forth century soliders may of had their own chalet with fire place, rather than sleeping in bunks with numerous men squeezed into a small space...

     

    So taking into account all these factors, they still had problems recruiting.

     

    Maybe this indicates that materialistic pleaseures do not equal happiness and high moral :)

  5. Roman Special Troops

    in Gloria Exercitus - 'Glory of the Army'

    Posted

    I have no idea if this has any basis in the true history, but in RTW they have those arcani. Kind of sounds like an excuse to put ninjas into the game though. :)

     

    The arcani operated to the north of Hadriens wall in Roman Britain. They were the first element of the northern defensive system, and they were paid to move amongst the tribe who occupied the scottish lowlands and try and stop any trouble before it started. They were also to send warnings back to the Roman side if trouble was brewing.

     

    They were not roman citizens, they were generally mercenaries from other barbarian countries which meant they were easy to bribe into silence, something that happend around 360 when all the tribes around britain form a sort of coalition to mount on massive attack on its frontiers.

     

     

    I once heard a discussion on "king arthur and his knights" and how they were like a special kind of merc platoon in a way, even though king arthur probably never was a real person, from what i have read on this discussion there seems to be something similar to that the licters and the like but were there actually true mercenary's who were like the roman knights (sorry mongolian horsemen)(I think so any way) that killed to protect "the roman empire" or at least the "glory of it" so in a way they were like assasins or something similar other then the cavlary or special unit cavlary.

     

    Considering that the true origin of 'Arthur' is open to conjecture and guesswork, why would you believe such supposed detail as to the nature of his knights? The Sarmatian cavalry in Britain (one of the theories in the origin of Arthur's knights) were just that... cavalry. Admittedly they were exceptional horseman and the Sarmatians held a natural affinity with their horses, but otherwise the rest of it sounds a bit hollywoodish.

     

    The ledgend of king aurthur is said likely to come from the dark ages after the Romans left britain, during the time when numerous small kindoms and kings sprung up, and i too have read theories that the remaining samaritan horsemen may have contributed to this legend. He is beleived to originate from the south of england in the cornwall area i beleive.

     

    When i was little and used to go swimming in lakes i used to always imagine Id be the one to find excaliber! :lol:

  6. Roman Siege And Fortifications Information

    in Gloria Exercitus - 'Glory of the Army'

    Posted

    Constantinople had the ability to survive under seige against the ottomans for years. There were vast water holders that collected water beneath the city, and people were not allowed to live within its walls unless they had means to feed themselves for two, or four (i forget) years. They kept their morla high while under seige by rally around religious images of saints that were paraded around on the walls.

     

    The idea of a seige is to outsit the attacking enemy until it can no longer feed or support its attack. Constantinople was a long way from the Ottoman capital which meant getting supplies found it difficult to get through.

     

    The ottomans finaly beat the byzantines after they managed to build a fortress on the other side of the water.

  10. Byzantium Total War

    in Circensis

    Posted · Edited by Aphrodite

    I am very much into ancient clothing, infact I'm doing a module on ancient dress and identity at uni!

     

    Last week we went to the British Museum with uni to put on a reconstruction of ancient clothing and dressed up in outfits made using anceint techniques, I was a Minoan Snake Queen, my freind was Helen of Troy - some of the outfits featured have been used on BBC documentaries! I get to work with some academics who are experts in their fields! :)

  12. The Late Roman Army

    in Gloria Exercitus - 'Glory of the Army'

    Posted

    ... "Roman Europe AD350-425" by Hugh Elton, so i'm thinking of the periods looked at within these books really.

     

    Be aware that on the dispute about the quality of the later Roman army Elton generally comes down on the side of the argument that believes it remained at a high level. I think he tends to be in the minority of historians on this question.

     

    Thansk i'll bear that in mnd :)

     

    ... "Roman Europe AD350-425" by Hugh Elton, so i'm thinking of the periods looked at within these books really.

     

    Be aware that on the dispute about the quality of the later Roman army Elton generally comes down on the side of the argument that believes it remained at a high level. I think he tends to be in the minority of historians on this question.

     

    LoL, indeed... and I share his view on the quality being high with the Late Roman Army...

     

     

    Aphrodite, I ask because having read the book and taken much information away from it, I'd like to know what is said to be unreliable...

     

    I don't know i'm afraid, that comment was just from a comment I saw in someone elses bibliogrpahy.

  15. Your Level Of Education?

    in Hora Postilla Thermae

    Posted

    What is grad school?

     

    I get confused by all the american terms!

     

    I'm in my second year at uni.

     

    The route of education in England goes sort of like this:

     

    Primary School (4-11yrs)

    Secondary School (11 - 16yrs)

    College/6th Form (16-18 or 19yrs)

    University (18+)

     

    The average degree here lasts for 3 years. 4 years if you choose a year of study abroad or do a work placement.

     

    After undergraduate you can go on to further study that can last for up to a further 3 years.

     

    I did things a little different by starting work at 16 and then deciding I wanted to go to uni, so doing my A Level at night class while working full time as a secretary and living in my own house!

  23. Metics

    in Historia in Universum

    Posted · Edited by Aphrodite

    I have found the following article on the definition of a Metic....

     

    As the Greek polis evolved it sought to differentiate, amongst its inhabitants, between insiders and outsiders. Insiders par excellence were its own members, the citizens; palpable outsiders were its slaves, indigenous or imported (see slavery); but this simple dichotomy would have sufficed only for communities like Sparta which discouraged immigration.

     

    Elsewhere it was necessary to recognize free persons who lived, temporarily or permanently, in the polis without becoming its citizens. Several-oikos words are attested of such persons, with metoikos (

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