Julius Ratus

I think that he would have been apalled by the state of the Late Republic, let alone the Principate. While those offices existed under the Principate, it was in an immasculated form. Even during the Late Republic the system began to fall apart.

Its a bad comparison. Roman democracy wasn't entirely based on the greek model. It was after all a plutocracy - government by the wealthy. Rule by one man isn't limited to eastern culture. Thats normal human behaviour which the weakened senate was unable or unwilling to curb. The empire was Rome living on borrowed time in one sense. Polybius has an interesting take on this subject. He proposed that the Roman Republican system was the best because it incorporated all three elements (Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Democracy) and had checks and balances to ensure that neither branch was too strong. The Monarchy was the Consuls, the Senate was the Aristocracy, and the Concilium Plebis/Tribunes represented the will of the people. As far as the origional question, I think it is a matter of personal interest. Neither one was "better" than the other entirely. All in all, I enjoy the Late Republic the most, from Marius to the Early Principate. After Actium I loose some interest.

I wonder if the show will ever make mention of where Octavian got the legion from. Didn't he get it by stealing it from Lepidus (or maybe Antony) by invocing the name of Caesar?

Thanks, I get it now. Please don't bottle it up, sharing is caring.

Furthermore, the Greek Orthodox Church's position could be construed as one of self preservation. The last time pagans were the dominant religion in Greece, Christians ended up getting fed to lions and other such unpleasantries. As far as modern paganism goes, one only has to look as far as Sweeden to see the Church burnings and you can get a glimpse of what modern pagan rule may bring. This sort of thing has many Eastern Christians worried.

Nice to finally hear some good news comming from Cyprus.

I am afraid that I am missing the joke. I don't know much Greek so that could be the problem. ANy explanations would be appreciated, so I may join you in mocking that rotten ba$tard.

If there are any religion experts present, was Hades really considered to be that dark of a god? I had always thought that the man down under being evil was more of a later addition. It seems natural that Pullo would be troubled by Vorenus' sacrilage, as my Proffessor explained, when the gods stike people down they don't care about collateral damage. It would seem that Olympus lacks a hyperactive media . Most people tried to avoid those guilty of hubris and sacrilage for reasons of self-preservation. As far as Antony saying that no man was beyond redemtion goes, I think he was using it as a sale pitch to keep Vorenus, a potential ally, in the game. He had already said that Vorenus should have done his duty "and opened his stomache", so he shows the belief that suicide was the proper end for thos who have been shamed. When he noticed that Vorenus still took his oath of loyalty seriously, Marcus knew that he needed Vorenus to snap out of it so he offered him the one thing that he truely wanted: redemption. My two denarii

Ursus -- Would you rather the Turks? If these modern pagans tried the same thing over in Ionia today they would be quite deceased. Edit -- I can never get the quote thing to work properly.

Primus Pilus -- Notice how the slave showed more interest in the kid after he made his offer... Primus Pilus -- I'm pretty sure that the Cleopatras are the same. The nose is quite distinctive. I think that they are going for the Caesarion = Pullo's son thing. Remember at the dinner party Atia says, "Looks nothing like him" refering to Caesarion not looking like Caesar. M. Porcius Cato -- 1. Thank God 2. "" 3. I was kind of hoping for a stronger, and preferably older Cicero. He is such a wiesel in this one.

If you need a good man to stand by you in rugged Parthia, then Optio Julius Ratus is your man (though I will expect a promotion for my services, Centurio would be nice).

They couldn't, because Vorenus' children are not dead. I'm betting they're going to turn up in a later episode in a fairly dramatic fashion. Erastes had to die quickly as a plot device, because torture would have convinced Vorenus that Erastes initial answer, that he didn't know their whereabouts, was true, and the entire series would then have become Vorenus' search for his children, or would otherwise spoil the incident which will involve their dramatic return. As for Erastes' motivation, repeated denials would have led to his torture, so he goaded Vorenus into giving him a quick death. Interesting. I will let my brother know your opinion. He told me to ask "those Roman people on the internet" about this episode. He is a diesel mechanic with no love for history, but he loves the show Rome.

Pompey beat Caesar at Dyrrachium, but ultimately lost the war in Greece and his head in Egypt. Every General can be afforded a lost battle if he wins the War. Pompey didn't win the war against Spartacus, he killed a disorganised bunch of slaves. Crassus deserves the glory for defeating Spartacus. If he didn't get the credit then, he deserves to now that we have 20-20 historical hindsight. Furthermore, I attribute Pompey's loss at Pharsalus to the fact that he had the "old men" with him. If he had waited he might have won.

My vote goes to Borat as well.

I liked the way they left out the funeral oration and told it second hand. We have Shakespeare and Suetonius to show me the oration. I just wished that they had spent more time on Erastes, if anyone ever deserved a drawn out death...

Thank You Primus. Come on people, in a nation-state that values property rights, this should be common knollege. Unfortunately, too many people are willing to sell their essential freedoms for the illusion of security. I stand by Benjamin Franklin in saying those people deserve neither. You cannot be secure, you cannot be safe, YOU WILL DIE. Get over it and try to have a life and let others have theirs without harassment.

Based on you description (iron starfish) I think I know what picture you are talking about. Give me a while and I will try finding it. I think that it was a picture of a Parthian from Dura Eurotas.

And how would you have had the senate conduct its business if it were not to debate matters? Were the right policies simply to emerge from the head of Jove, or is it possible that all that "squabbling" was actually productive and in the best interests of the republic? Seeing that Athena sprouted form Joves head, maybe that would have been a good policy for the senate, figureatively speaking. Maybe if they had sprouted more wisdom and less wit they might have gotten someting done. The best example I can think of is the B.S. where the Senate gave Scipio command of Sicilia knowing that he intended to invade Africa from there, but did not give him the right to levy troops. I don't know how they expected him to properly execute the war without men, and luckily for the republic he was able to find volunteers and the Cannae legions, without which all he would have had was Massinissa's Numidians (keep in mind that at this point Massinissa had no kingdom). It's that type of crap that caused the frustration of so many of Rome's greatest men, who were trying to help but were stifled by the "old men". Much like celebrities today.

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As far as I know, the whole basis of the argument for the Goths comming from Scandanavia is the similarity of the name "Goth", to that of the Gotar, the southernmost of the two in Sweeden at the time (the other one being the Svear). For the most part, the Goth = Gotar thing is largely ignored by modern historians, there being little further evidence beyond the name simularities. The Jutes were rather well connected witht he Romans, fighting as mercenaries in Brittain for the Romans, and colonizing it after they left (the "invasion" of England by the Germanic people was similar to the colonization/invasion of America. The term used is dependant upon which side you were on). There have been numerous Roman artifacts unearthed in modern Denmark, found in graves, often coins. For more about Scandanavian contact with Rome read "The Vikings" by Else Rosedahl.

White seems like a reasonable colour choice because the urine needed to bleach it is readily available. Red or purple would seem unlikely because they were rather expensive, and anyone employed by the state should know, the state will always cut costs whenever possible. The Spartans were known to wear crimson, and according to the Life of Lycugus by Plutarch, the expense seems to have been part of the reason behind the Spartans wearing crimson. Since the Legion was paid for by the Roman government after a certain point, they probably weren't to lavishly dressed, except for possibly officers. I had also heard that black wasn't a common colour in ancient times, as that it faded far too quickly and rapidly turned to gray. Gray would probobly be a common colour beause alot of wool is naturally grayish, and anything dyed black would quickly become gray. On the side, I heard that many of the Macedonian royal family members favoured black because of its expense (the expense comming not form the price of the dye but because of the need for new clothing when the old clothes went gray). For all this black stuff, I don't know where the sources for this are, I heard it from my Professor, who is an Alexander specialist.

Moderate populare. I am fully for the Popularis cause but anything done to excess is problematic at best. I have a conservative streak but have no use for the "old blood", especially when all they do is squabble amongst themselves.

If dear old Antonius is surgically removing someone's head, it is probably Mr. Tully.

Love songs all end up sounding the same and annoy me. So for something different try "Heirate Mich" by Rammstein. It is about love that goes beyond death...

Say what you will, I still look forward to season two.