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Aurelianus

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Everything posted by Aurelianus

  1. Aurelianus

    A Book Called Spartan

    no probs. happy to help . dont worry about the spelling, im little better.
  2. Aurelianus

    Rome: Total War

    It is a very good game (cant wait for medeival II), even if it is inacurate in everything apart from (on the whole) the military units. A question: you cant train the first cohort with the eagle can you? I was playing the macedonians for the first time the other day, and their realy dificult, they have the same position as the Byzantine Empire; facing east and west. I just finished off the Greek cities when I was attacked by the Brutii, Thrace, Dacia and Egypt. . I would have to say the spartans look good, but you have a point: how is that robe going to give them any protection?
  3. Aurelianus

    Roman Medicine

    Thanks! ive been meaning to do something about my knowledge in ancient medicine for years, but never got around to it. It's something I often want to refer to in my writing, and also the more practical side of me likes little bits of knowledge like that. My memory hates me for it though . So much to know so little time to learn it in. *sighs*
  4. Aurelianus

    Roman Medicine

    im glad you think im sane. Do you think you could recommend a source on traditional or 'alternative' remedies such as the ones you have described, either an Internet site or book (cheapish). I find that Googling it turns up unrelated or brief sites.
  5. Aurelianus

    Greece And Persia

    I don't think that it was wholly coincidence, but nor do I think that there is a general rule that can be applied, suffice to say familiarity breeds contempt; the Romans viewed Germans as an unorganised rabble, whilst the Persians considered the Greeks to be an unimportant and insignificant terrorist state or states. After that the parallels are less. Persia was blind to the rising power of Macedon, and was then conquered by an able and ambitious individual. The Germans were forced out of their homelands and forced to seek refuge within the Roman borders, they were then bled white with taxes, and so revolted. so the insignificant border states felled the mighty empire, but in different ways.
  6. Aurelianus

    Another Roman Recipe To Delight All

    I just tried this (feel free comment on my sanity) and it was actually quite nice, although I left out the fish sauce, and added ginger. It certainly woke me up.
  7. Aurelianus

    When Does Antiquity End?

    for an expanded version of what Gaius said you can look here and here
  8. Aurelianus

    The Eternal Republic?

    If Augustus had retired like Sula then some other ambitious general would have wanted power, creating endless civil wars. What Augustus did when he created the Principate was create stability. Sula had set the mould, and there was no going back. If Augustus had retired it is likely that either Rome would not have lasted nearly so long, or someone else would have founded the the Principate and the outcome would have been the same.
  9. Aurelianus

    When Does Antiquity End?

    Of course time alone is not a factor, as it is the things within time that enable you to define it, so yes it is the ideas that characterise a period of time. So according to this, the ancient era should have a series of characteristics that gradually come into being and then gradually fade away, therefore making it difficult to define when exactly the era ends. Different people will have different ideas as to what his characteristics are, which will lead to controversy surrounding when an era begins and ends.
  10. Aurelianus

    When Does Antiquity End?

    well, thats the middle ages, or medeival times. i personaly would not equate antiquity to advancement, more to cultural periods. edit: in reply to Viggen's Q. there are (in my opinion) no fixed dates, they vary, acording to the place you talk about, but i would say that the middle ages begin when clear cut natains started to appear after the fall of the west.
  11. Aurelianus

    When Does Antiquity End?

    I have always assosiated antiquity with the beginning of byzantium, say about 500-600, when many peoples, nations were evolving and emerging. I suspect it will have differant meanings for differant people, and in differant contexts.
  12. Aurelianus

    Greece And Persia

    Phalanxes were every cavalry units worst nightmare, because no horse, well, very few horses have suicidal tendencies, and charging headlong onto a row of spikes is a very good way to commit suicide. Of course there are the flanks etc, but if the infantry is well deployed then the cavalry will be ineffectual. The Persians did not always control the seas, for instance at Thermopylae the Athenian fleet managed neutralise the Persian one.
  13. Aurelianus

    Complete Roman History In 5 Minutes...

    lmao. people should do that more often. im betting there's some poor deluded beeing out there who was taken in by that. lol
  14. didn't his maternal uncle, alexander of epirus go west, and died in an ambush in italy? or is that fiction?
  15. Aurelianus

    Why Was Alexander "great"?

    Slightly off topic i know, but are you suggesting that after Alexander and before Pompey and Caesar there were no able generals? If that's what you're saying, then you're dismissing a multitude of great generals, such as the Scipios Africanus and Aemilianus, Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla, to name but a few. I was responding to what Divi Filius said "The warfare he fought would dissappear until the time of Julius Caesar and beyond." i think what we both ment was that it was not repeated imediately or for the next "few" years. We've had great big discussions on this in the past here in the forum. My view is that while it is true that the Romans and any other peoples in these times have done things like killed a bunch of people in battle, or sacked a city, it is absolutely no comparison to a systematic extinction of a people. Caesar never wanted that for the Gauls and went to great lengths to try and get them to accept the status quo. In fact Caesar infrequently sacked any Gaul towns. At worst he enslaved them, and the major killings were part of battles. As for Carthage, it was destruction of an enemy, not a race and not systematic. There were no roundups of Carthaginian peoples across the coasts of Africa and in Hispania for the sole intent of extermination. It was about destroying a power bloc, which was a city. So in the end it
  16. Aurelianus

    What Profession?

    Whats wrong with that? pays bound to be good. the screams might get to you a bit though...
  17. Aurelianus

    A Book Called Spartan

    yeah, it was by Valerio Massimo Manfredi Spartan is about a spartan boy (called Tallos i think) who is cripled, and so his family have to abandon him, and he is raised by a hellot goat heard. you should read some of the other stuff by him; his alexander series is good, and the last legion is well writen, if a little fancifull
  18. Aurelianus

    The Legend Of Vampires

    Tiberius was not nearly as bad as all that. the poor fellow suffered from bad press, partly because of his mothers habits, and partly because he was over paranoid. Caligula was insane and just downright queer. it probably wasn't beyond him, and perhaps if he had lived then he would have gone on to it? perhaps if he had then myths about vampires would have started much earlier...
  19. Aurelianus

    Why Was Alexander "great"?

    Im not disputing that Alexander was great, just trying to form a better picture of why he was considered the best/greatest. Yes, Alexander did display amazing self confidance, but i suspect that was just a personality trait, he was also headstrong and arbitrary, going on to paranoia. Phillip gave him an extensive military education, so he would probably have done all that could be by the age of 18. Aplying tactics to an army twice the size is no feat. maintaining an army twice the size is, but that was Hepheastions job. The warfare he fought required an able and charismatic leader; there was not realy anyone between him and Pompey/Ceasar who was as good. None of the campaigns of the above ever succeeded in creating such vast empires. That wasn't my point; im saying they were better generals. so they could have achieved more in Alexander's place. Indeed, Julian, i have often heard it argued, was on the verge of repeating Alexander's acheivements. If he had done so they would have been all the greater, for the sassanid empire was in no way crumbling. the persian was when Alex took it. 1. Embarrases the western world 2. None left such as a significant cultural legacy. Alexander is mentioned in the Kuran and was revered in Persian well into the Sassanid Empire 1. Genghis Khan dosn't embarres the west, the mongols never got further than poland; sure they could have done if Ogadi hadnt died, but they still didn't. 2. Charlemagne did as well, or Ceasar or Pompey for that matter. they dont seem to afect us so much, but enevitably the world would be a very diferant place without them. So your'e saying that it was his legacy that made him great? The stamp he left across the middle east saying ALEXANDER, in monuments, culture and legend, making him imortal in the minds of people all over the world is what makes him great?
  20. Aurelianus

    An Open Ended Question

    Naturaly, it is hard to invisage such a what if question, but if the Empire had had time to recover its strength i dont think the outcome would have been any diferant. If it the south fell in the reighn of a compatent emperor like Heraklios, then there were plenty of long periods when the empire was in chaos, with apauling emperors in charge. In my oppinion the Turks were far more responsible for the disintergration of the empire than the arabs, or more likely, the idiotic policies of emperors like Konstantinos X and Michael VII Ducas that lost asia minor. With asior minor the empire lost its most valuable source of man-power, and so when a competent Emperor such as Alexius I Komnenus comes to revitalize the empire the resources are limited. I belive that had the turkish invasion of byzantine lands never occered, then the turks and arabs would have fought each other to exhastian, and there would most likely be a modern greek state that would encompas modern Greece, Macedonia and Turky.
  21. Aurelianus

    Manuel II Paleologos

    A basic background of Manuel II: he was the father of the last two Emprors, and worked hard and tirelessly for the preservation of his diminishing domains. On the whole his projects failed, mainly because of the lack of resources available to him, and no doubt he died in the knowledge that the empire was closer to its death than it had ever been before.
  22. Aurelianus

    The Legend Of Vampires

    I thought it was Vlad II Dracul r.1436-46 who was count Dracula? His son Vlad III Tepes (Vlad the Impaler) r.1456-62 was well known for impaling captured Ottomans, and was deposed because his people were scared of Ottoman retribution. DC, what source is this? it is posible, although i suspect that they would have to be very distant relatives.
  23. Aurelianus

    Why Do You Like Rome?

    I had a succession of good and knowledgeable history teachers, and they fuled my interest in all thing historical, but i dont think they started it. My memory refuses to let me know how it started, although my earliest recolection of interest was when i listned to Bernard Cornwall's 'Harlequin', and then just wanted to know more... and more. I was 12 then, and over the past 4-5 years i have simply read and researched, moving from period to period. I don't know when i first came to be enamoured with all things roman, but i doubt i will ever cease to be. The shear amount of diferant and complex characters there were is so fascinating and intriguing, from Romulus (and befor acording to virgil) to Konstantinos Dragases. Recently i have been expanding my knowledge of Byzantium, and find it sad that they failed to learn from the mistakes of the west, and eventualy died to make way for a new world order.
  24. Aurelianus

    Roman Noses

    My understanding of a roman nose is that it is big, with a steepening of the angle at about half way down, few of the busts/coins i just looked at actualy showed that. The Flavians seem to have had archetypal Roman noses; three of the links Favonius posted show a Flavian. The right qualities for a good ruler are not neccissaraly traits you would want to find in your best friend. I would have to agree though that arrogance has no use.
  25. Aurelianus

    What Profession?

    Ah, good point. For women, lets just say you would have liked to be married to a weak willed man in the posision of... or just name a male profession .
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