Hieronymus Longinus Rufus

Yup. Lots of testosterone on the loose!

Are you English? Blimey! Poppycock and Codswallop! No. I'm a Yank who counts a few Irish as his ancestors. But I'm completely bored by the tale of an invincible man who can hold off an army all by his lonesome self. I haven't read it myself, but I cant see how it can be any more ridiculous than "Beowulf," the English national epic. (I'm an anglophile,btw. )

Are you English?

When you are done with "Imperium", read "Conspirata" also by Harris. ("Lustrum" in the UK.) See my review of it. Then you must return to the "Roma Sub Rosa" series. Saylor's books are a treat to read. My personal favorite of them was "Catalina's Riddle."

Interesting that you should have read that. I have just read another insiders book, "In the Garden of Beasts" by Erik Larson. What follows is my review of it. In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family In Hitler's Berlin, Random House,(2011), is a compelling story of sex, politics, spies, duplicity, cynicism, naivet

I think it's that sense of promise unrealized.

I may be wrong (I usually am)but it seems to me that there's some confusion as to the military tribune and the political tribune, e.g., Tribune of the Plebs. Wikipedia isn't the most reliable of sources, but I think they are correct in this instance. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_tribune

You might find the "Medicus " series of books by Ruth Downie to be interesting. The main character, for a Roman point of view, is Ruso who is a medical officer attached to a legion in Britania. He develops an unwanted affinity for solving mysteries. Did you know the Romans had an effective treatment for the removal of cataracts?

You will find Gordianus to be a most unconventional detective and a most unconventional Roman.

Don't forget that early in his career, Cicero faced down perhaps the most dangerous dictator of them all, Sulla, and won. Ironically, late in his life, he choked in the face of Clodius' thugs and could not deliver his defense of Milo, who may have been indefensible, anyway.

You'll have to do better than that! Do our American friends blush at the sound of 'Lust' within a word? Do we Brits find 'Conspire' a tad too edgy? By the way. I've had the Audiobook of Lustrum buried under rubbish in my in-tray since it was released. Ebayers won't touch it, so if anyone wants it for the price of postage, they can have it. No. It's just that most Americans would not bother to look up "lustrum" but would immediately recognize that "conspirata" is vaguely similar to "conspiracy." And also there are simply too many of your Oxford and Cambridge types there who haven't migrated across the pond to find real work, thus to increase our collective IQ.

I must see this movie. I've been to Rochester castle twice. It is one of my favorite places in the UK. It is, for me, a magical place. But I always thought The Marshal was one of King John's men and that he stood with the king against the barons at Runnymede.

Does she operate a bulldozer? No. Oh no, indeed.

You find SPQR all over Rome. Mussolini revived the logo in the 30's. I dont thiks that's terribly important, though. After all, Hitler commissioned Ferdinand Porsche to design and produce the Volkswagen.

I've read the entire Roma Sub Rosa series except for the latest which is being serialized in a fiction magazine. You are right, it is an excellent series with an unconventional hero. "Roma" and "Empire" by Saylor should be on the must read list. These novels tell the history of Rome from the perspective of various members of two of the most ancient, somtimes competing, patrician families, from the founding of the city through Hadrian's reign. Excellent reading.

"Did the earth move for you too?" I had a girl friend who helped me make the earth move. Does that count?

As I was watching "True Blood" Sunday evening, it occurred to me that the program was developing into a Russian novel with more charactes and conflicts than is good for the longevity of the series. We now have had ghosts, maenads, witches, vampires, shapeshifters, werewolves, werepanthers, fairies, and telepaths. And Arlene's baby, whatever he is/was. What's next? Ancient aliens? Each one of these has or has had a storyline that ranges from the sublime to the sublimely ridiculous. For example, Sunday night Andy, whose would be girl friend is a witch, got laid by a fairy. What's that all about? The writing is becoming too diluted and plot twists are becoming convoluted. At this rate, it wont be long before audiences grow weary and start feeling they're being played like trout. It's like "Dallas" when Bobby awoke from his dream. And that will be the downfall of the series.

Marketing.

Conspirata, by Robert Harris, Simon & Shuster, 2010, could have been just another fairy tale lawyer story. But, Marcus Tullius Cicero was not just another lawyer. Before there was Sir Thomas More, and before there was Clarence Darrow, there was Cicero. It must be a daunting task to write a popular biography, even a fictionalized one, of a giant like Cicero, but Harris has pulled it off magnificently. Published in the UK as Lustrum, Conspirata, together with Imperium and the yet to be released third part of the trilogy, does for Cicero what Inherit the Wind and A Man for All Seasons did for Darrow and More. In this book, the second of the trilogy, Harris, through the eyes of Cicero

Enjoy!

Yes, I noticed it on IMDB not long after reading it. It's the sort of novel that would make for an excellent film. Shame the plans faded out. Well the good news is that Harris is still friendly with Polanski and they are collaborating on another script. Also, since the film of Pompeii was scrapped because of the actors strike, it may be possible to resurrect it, much like the city itself. Hopefully with Johnny Depp instead of Orlando Bloom

I have read "Conspirata." If you like I wil review it. Probably for next week.

With the Roman flanks secured by deep gorges and a dense forest to the Roman rear, maneuver battle, such as envelopment, was not really available to Boudica. Lacking any artillery, the only thing she could hope to do was to either overwhelm the the Romans by frontal assault, or to draw them off the hill, much as William did at Hastings. A third course of action would have been to lay siege to the Romans and starve them, or to clear the area and hope to catch them in the open where her numbers would have been more effective. Boudica could not withdraw when her assaults failed because the wagons containing all the families got in the way and trapped the warriors. The wagons had been drawn up in a semi-circle across the rear of the Iceni forces so the families could watch. Instead they acted as a wall penning them in.

Pompeii, a book review As I write this, it is still August 25, 2011 in the U.S. central time zone, the 1932d anniversary of the 79 AD eruption of Italy

My name is a reasonably close Roman approximation of what my real name might of been had I been born a Roman. The avatar is the bust of Cicero.