[Gaius Julius Caesar - Flamen Dialis?]

On 7/6/2006 at 10:50 AM, Skarr said:

Colleen McCullough covers the subject well in her series of books on the Republic and I think this particular topic is found in her third book, "Fortune's Favorites" where there is an interesting scene between the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla and Caesar. Sulla has his own private reasons for freeing Caesar from the offices of the flamen dialis, a clever way for Marius to get rid of a potential rival, as Caesar could never distinguish himself militarily or have any political career in Rome, as long as he remained in that office.

 

According to Colleen's version, Sulla frees Caesar not because he wants to do him a good turn but out of a sheer sense of spite or dislike of Marius, his way of evening the score by undoing what he wanted done. There is also another great scene in that book between Sulla and Caesar's mother, Aurelia, as Sulla had originally wanted Caesar killed and it is on her request or rather, plea, that he is spared by the dictator. I'm not sure if this is how all this occurred, as this is really fiction but good fiction at that, very believable in the way it is presented to the reader.

On a side note, I love that series of her's.  Very well writen.

[Beat the teacher quiz: could you pass Year 10 ancient history?]

I got an 8 out of 10.  One of them, I guessed and 1 of them I clicked the wrong one when I knew the answer.  I guess all that reading paid off for me....Where's my diploma. 

[Good Nero Article in National Geographic Sept 2014]

I've always been fascinated with Nero.  Such power at such a young age, and to have grown up with Agrippina as his mom...Must've been tormented with a lot of things throughout his life.

[Was Achilles Suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?]

I agree totally.  Regardless of their society, all of the brutality and violence has to take a toll on their mental state.  I mean, it's not brutality all the time, right?  When at home with their family or walking around town, etc.  There has to be lots of down time in between battles and wars so that's when I think the PTSD would come into play.  I'm sure there were bad dreams from time to time about these horror's they lived through.  It had to take a negative toll on them, IMO.

[Germanicus by Lindsay Powell]

I've always been a fan of Germanicus.  He was the man who retrieved the standards lost in the Teutoburg Forest fiasco....Anyone that can father Caligula has to be interesting in my book.  LOL.  Thanks for this review.

[Was Achilles Suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?]

_{This is an interesting point of view and one that makes total sense.  I mean, PTSD can't be something that's just popped onto our landscape in the last 30-40 years it has to have been around since the beginning of time....Nice find, thanks.}

[Dating the Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum]

That is VERY interesting.  I love it when stuff like this just pops up.  Makes them have to rethink the whole deal.  Great article.

[Archaeologists discover Roman 'free choice' cemetery]

This is an interesting take, one I've not really thought of until now.  I'm the same in that when I visit Rome, I'm in awe of almost EVERY artifact that I see on the street.  But, I live near Orlando, FL in the U.S. and I've been to Disney World about 300 times in my life.  So, when I think about going or see something referencing it, I'm very ho-hum about the topic.  So, Romans of today probably have a similar feeling regarding what they see daily as well.  Never thought of it like that, but it definitely makes sense.

[First free online course on Hadrian's Wall goes live]

I'm in, thanks.

[Medicus: A Novel of the Roman Empire]

Looks like a good read, I'll probably check it out.