Gardapthia

According to the article I just posted for another piece of news, the Italian government plans to build a museum alongside the tomb . An Italian friend of mine living in Rome told me that they also plan to reconstruct what they can of the tomb from the pieces there and they believe that from the relatively little disturbance of the site that they have hopes of even finding his remains. If found, the remains would be moved though to a maximum security area.

Workers in Rome have discovered an entire mini city of dead inside of Rome. From what the article says, its looking like a giant neighborhood! They also believe that at least part of those buried there are freed slaves of Greek origin. There are also a number of other tidbits on other discoveries, including the belief that they discovered the hallway where Caligula was murdered by his own guards! http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/10/17...s.ap/index.html

It sure is ironic that while the Iranians seem to show little interest in their pre-Islamic heritage, that they were quick to be critical of how the Persians were portrayed in the recent movie, 300.

nope. The term "barbarian" refers to them basically as the "bearded ones." The term came about when the Romans started considering being clean-shaven, or as they called it, barbered, as civilized. Everyone who wasn't barbered was termed as a barbarian.

Yes, this game is really addicting! I can play it for hours. I just moved into Rome on it and kicked out the Senate . Now all the major families of Rome have declared war on me.

If I had to live somewheres else, it would have to be Rome, Paris, Athens or Rhodes. I have been to all 4 and if I could, I would have a home in each! Rome beacause its, well, Rome! I've been to Rome and that city is like walking into a living museum, all the buildings of the past, present and future are all blended together with some even being built into each other. The roads can be very confusing though . Paris because of my heritage as part of the French Nobility and all the museums there. I love the sidewalk cafes there as well, something they need more of in the US! Athens is another city like Rome that is a living museum. The city is clean and even the sidwalks(in the parts I went to anyways) were made of marble, though Rome had some like that as well. The Greeks are friendly and their music beautiful. They have wonderul districts that are nothing but shopping! This city, though old, has the feel of being young and vibrant! Rhodes is yes another living museum. It combines the history that I enjoy with wonderful beaches and scenery along with a great climate. When you come into the harbor, the first thing you notice is the massive city walls. There is little development outside the walls, so it adds to the historical value. When you enter the city through the gates, the roads are paved with cobblestones and the buildings old. I haven't been to the modern part of Rhodes, but I imagine that it is not like this. The old city though is fun to walk through and really sends you into a time warp.

I am interested in every aspect of the Empire. As for why I am interested, that comes from my spiritual(it's not Christianity) beliefs .

The world "Italy," or "Italia" as the Romans call it, was derived from the the Itali tribe. The Itali tribe referred to their area in southern Italy as Itali. When the Romans conquered them, they adopted the name and spread it to the whole penninsula and the name in Latin was "Italia." This name was spread during the time of the Repulic. The name then stuck and it remains that way today. If you go to Italy, the Italians refer to their country as "Italia."

I don't see the rebirth of a Roman Empire in the sense of architecture and religion, but I do notice that it is cropping up in other ways. Take a good, hard look at the EU. The EU, at least economically at this point, is beginning to resemble the Roman Empire. For the first time since the collapse of the Roman Empire, Europe has become economically tied to each other, through a common currency as well as numerous other agreements. There are also seamless borders at many points, allowing you to drive from one country to another without the need to through a border crossing point. The EU has also been working on forming a military "strike force." A common second language has been batted around as well, especially now with more countries joining and Latin has been batted around as a possibility because no country wants to use another country's language as their secondary for fears it will make that country more dominate. Latin is considered a "neutral" language since no country uses it(at least in its purest form) and having this language brought into common use again would tribute Europes history as well as its historical ties to the Church. Now with Turkey wanting to join and hearing from friends in Europe that Morocco and Israel had thrown indications that they would join if the possibility came up, the Roman Empire would be practically recreated geographically too.