spittle
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Posts posted by spittle
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After Brutus gave a very academic and dry speach (that went completely above the heads of most of his listeners) Mark Antony used theatre to enrage the audience by revealing Caesars blood stained toga and inciting riotous revenge in the listening crowd.
If you google 'Mark Antony speach after death of caesar' you'll find what your looking for.
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I firmly believe that natural causes killed Germanicus.
After years in Western Europe he travelled to Syria and Armenia where he would have been exposed to bacteria and contagion for which he had little natural immunity.
The idea of the infant Gaius (Caligula) frightening his superstitious father to death is pure fiction.
I could be wrong about this but I think the idea was never even mentioned before Robert Graves used it in his fictional work I, Claudius.
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I'm looking forward to his next book 'The Life of Elvis Hitler'.
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Very enjoyable.
It seems to me that the worst thing a person could be (in a Roman court) was a non-Roman.
The re-enactment was pro-Cicero but, reading between the lines, he emphasized Crysogenus's (sp?) Greek slave past.
I read an account of another trial where the advocat pointed out that one man was born and raised in Rome and the other had been born in Spain. The court found for the former, despite everything pointing to the other persons argument being just and truthful.
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Persian Fire is excellent. Nearly as good as Rubicon (and I was never even interested Greece!).
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In the UK a litre of petrol is around
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In the UK a litre of petrol is around
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The reviews on Amazon.com are more favourable to the Oxford Latin Course than the Cambridge one.
I'm learning Polish and after ten two hour lessons in a local college one is lucky to be able to order a large coffee (I know from comparing experiences with other learners) but after a few one to one lessons with a teacher over an internet skype connection the foundations for learning this very difficult inflected language are starting to fall into place.
With Polish the grammar is the key. This makes the shortcut style of Rosetta Stone little more than an aid for learning extra vocab and practising pronounciation. No one could learn Polish to any useful standard using Rosetta Stone alone. I suspect the same could be said of Latin. But if you want it don't spend good money on it either buy a copy from e-bay (as I did) or bit-torrent it (as my friend explained I could have, after I'd spent
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Are Patrick/Patricia offshoots of Patrician?
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Will those portaloo's have modern toilet paper or will the re-enactors share a sponge on a stick, for realism?
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tsk, tsk!
Geoffery. How could you!
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Do single issue parties (pressure grioups) ever have surprise victories under the American system?
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Didn't Napoleon or somebody say that it was a great mistake to underrate Pompey as a general? Somebody definitely said that amateurs study tactics and professionals study logistics, and it was in logistics and strategy that Pompey's genius lay. He beat the Marians in Sicily and Africa in record time, crushed the Gallic rebels on the way to Spain, conducted the pirate war on an unprecedented scale, and when he beat Mithridates and Tigranes they stayed beat! Also he faced two of the three greatest Roman commanders (Sertorius and Caesar) and beat them too. He got a bad press because the aristocrats, who hated him, wrote the histories. He may have loved praise a bit too much, committed questionable acts in his youth and suffered a loss of nerve at the end, but he wasn't arrogant enough to cause a civil war in the name of his "dignity". He fought for the Republic and was destroyed for it.
"..he wasn't arrogant enough to cause a civil war for his 'dignity'...."
Didn't contemporaries of Caesar/Pompey have a saying that 'Caesar could not stand a superior and Pompey could not stand an equal'?
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I was taking the piss!
I was surprised to learn, from the Lithuanians and Latvians I have worked with, how popular Basketball is over there. It's also very popular in The Phillipines, wierd considering the average size of the locals!
Baseball (which I find equally dull as cricket) is loved all over Latin America and the far East. It is, however, more fun to play than cricket, if my schooldays are remembered correctly.
Ice Hockey is vastly removed from the 'jolly hockeysticks' chinless inbreeds of St Sabastians School for Girls with Rich daddies....
We Europeans actually find the North American style to be too aggressive. A rare compliment when considering the majority of European Ice Hockey pro's are the descendents of Vikings.
Our variety is like of society. Mature and civilised.....But that's another discussion.
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The tradition of freeing was common to medieval Europe. In Germany the tradition of serfdom after a year and a day was recorded.
However to return to the original point, NN and myself are somewhat at opposite poles regarding saxon settlement. We both refer to evidence and reach different conclusions. This time I'm going to suggest something else for consideration, the Caldrail Theory of Arthurian COnflict.
Now some might be already rolling their eyes - I don't care. What I'm suggesting is that once you strip away the medieval fantasy and celtic legend, there is a story of romano-celtic resistance not to the saxons, jutes, angles et al, but to picts, scots, and irish scots during the same period. Now whereas we know the saxons weren't popular (being aggressive and greedy heathens) and that they resorted to violence to claim british land on occaision, we also know they were invited over at least once (by Vortigern).
What if the pressure in early dark age britain wasn't so much saxons, who may have been valuable if distrusted allies, but the invaders from north and west who may have been taking advantage of the roman withdrawal? The arthurian mythos suggests these conflicts took place in northern england or scotland, yet arthurs origin is firmly in the west country, one of the last regions to have been settled by saxons.
Opinions everyone?
Arthur's legend may be a mix of influences.
The events of further north (when fighting incursions from the scots/picts) being simplified for public consumption by the personification of the whole era in the person of Arthur. And, as history is written by the victors, Arthur's origins were chosen to show how a certain area produced men of legendary quality.
One need only watch American films to see the same process.
Anglo-Polish WW2 exploits in Colditz being portrayed as pure American ingenuity.
Characters in movies that are an amalgam of several individuals.
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I never once saw Fosters (or Castlemain xxxx) whilst I was in Sydney.
It seemed everyone drank V.B. (Victoria Beer) in 'scooners', about two thirds of a pint.
A nice, cold drink.
Despite my gender and upbringing all pointing me towards pints of lager or bitter my favourite tipple is 'Baileys Irish Cream (with a hint if caramel)' or 'Dooley's Butterscotch liqueur'. Either are gorgeous when served in a tall, slim glass full of ice.
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You North Americans love our girls sports,
Hockey is a sport played by upper middle class girls at private schools. If they were upper class they'd be playing laCross.
Basketball is a variation on the girls sport 'Netball'.
Baseball is a male version of 'Rounders'. Also a girls sport.
American football is alot like Rugby, a very masculine sport. But Brit rugby players do not ware helmets and padding over half their bodies. They simply take the pain.
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I'm guessing it's a sport your discussing but I have no idea which one.
Do please tell.
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It should be a good year for the ping-pong.
I'm a little confused as to why I should care about Tibet (or Kashmir). They don't supply my countries shops with
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I have no evidence to support this, I have not even read it anywhere BUT couldn't a return to Paganism be a result of the locals believing the Fall of Roman rule in Britain being a result of Christianity, or more specifically neglecting their former Gods?
After all Christianity had been the official religion for a relatively tiny length of time.
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The Naked Archeologist only appeared on British TV for a few episodes and I don't think it even had its own regular slot in the schedule or I'd agree to give him another chance.
It wouldn't be a hardship. I find myself watching history programmes of the pooorest quality simply because the choice is so limited.
Now if I loved soap opera's I could pick and choose with abandon.........!
That must be wrong!
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I'm a big fan of Michael Wood. He is reserved and contained but emits an intense enthusiasm for whichever subject he is explaining.
Whilst considering this post I realised that all the T.V. historians I knew of were British. Simon Schama, Nigel Spivey, Adam Hart-Davis, Michael Wood and the celebrity amateurs such as Tony Robinson (et al) and Terry Jones.
Are these people known around the world?
Or does every area have its own televised historians?
N.B.
I have just remembered a Canadian historian who had a very low budget show called 'The Naked Archeologist' (?).
50% of the airtime was devoted to him getting ready to leave from home (being helped to pack by his cute kiddies and kissing his wife, etc).
Another significant chunk of this show was his return home (being helped to unpack by his cute kiddies and kissing his wife....).
Very different to what I'm accustomed to in a history programme.
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Top 10 - History's Most Overlooked Mysteries
in Historia in Universum
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Likewise. I wouldn't call it overlooked (In fact it's probably the most debated historical mystery there is) but I'd love conclusive proof of Richards guilt/innicence.
LOCH NESS MONSTER
Tourism!
The great Lochs litter western Scotland. Most are left alone (you can find your own loch for a few days) but Loch Ness is always full of coach parties buying Loch Ness Monster cups, pencils tea-towels, baseball caps, T-Shirts.........
Its the one loch I avoid!