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Stoic

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About Stoic

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  1. Stoic

    Roman Divination

    No problem! I guess their scarcity in that region makes for why they aren't mentioned more often but it's kind of neat to realize that they are pretty harmless creatures, feeding only off the dead n' such.
  2. Stoic

    Timeline

    Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I'll go with Suetonius first then. M. Porcius Cato, I'm liking it! Going to pick that up ASAP. Thanks again everyone.
  3. Stoic

    Timeline

    Mainly just entertainment and to get a broad understanding. I considered becoming an ancient history major, as ancient history has always been my supreme interest, but instead am going for International Relations as to have something a bit more pratical considering the current state of the fields. So it's mostly just a hobby. And I have every intention of picking up the secondary sources, I know from reading the foot/endnotes that what I'm reading is flawed in one way or another but I like reading the voices of the times. What we would consider superstition presented as fact, etc...makes for quite an enjoyable read.
  4. Stoic

    Roman Divination

    It took me a bit to find where I picked it up but it's from Plutarch's Life of Romulus:
  5. Stoic

    Roman Divination

    From what I've picked up so far: Vultures were the most sacred birds because they never killed a living thing (hence the Romulus and Remus competition as to who would see the most vultures would be the founder of the city); Geece were sacred and saved Rome (As they warned the Romans that the Gauls were trying to take their citadel durring their sack of Rome); the chickens eating as mentioned before (the hungrier they were the better). The livers of certain animals were considered to predict a positive outcome if they were clear during their inspection and if they contained a defined 'head' (but if the head was missing this was bad), lightening striking a temple usually indicated that the said God was unsatisified whereas lightening striking a wall indicated the same (as far as I can tell anyways, probably whichever God was considered the patron of said city was the one who was angry); derformed animals and people at birth (having both sexual organs particularly) were considered abombinations and cast into the sea; 'raining stones' (not hail as I orginally thought since this is mentioned seperately) was an omen of particular concern and the books were always pulled out when that happend. Other then those, there are many, many mentions of isolated incidences such as strange lights and objects in the sky, statures bleeding or sweating, the sun turning red, rivers and fountains issuing blood, etc...
  6. Stoic

    Timeline

    Thanks for the replies. I do have Appian's Civil War and Plutarch's lives (which I have been reading as I first discover the individuals in their settings in other texts). I will definetly check into Dio as I've seen him mentioned during my lurking here quite often. Another question, I have both Tacticus' Annals and Histories and Suetonius' twelve Caesars. They both seem to revolve around the same period more or less, any suggestions on which I should read first when I get there?
  7. Stoic

    New Hannibal Film

    What's with all the negativity? This movie is going to be great! Who can actually sit there and defend those dastardly Brits? I mean, if Hannibal hadn't invaded Britain to free the slaves, who would have? I am looking forward to the sequel "Hannibal vs. the Third Reich".
  8. Stoic

    Timeline

    I have been reading quite a bit the last year on Greece and primarily Rome but am having some problems filling in the gaps timeline wise. This is what I have read so far: The Histories- Herodotus History of the Peloponessian War- Thucydides A History of My Times- Xenophon The Campaigns of Alexander- Arrian The Rise of the Roman Republic- Livy Rome And Italy- Livy The War with Hannibal- Livy The Rise of the Roman Empire- Polybius The Dawn of the Roman Empire- Livy My problem is, I don't really know where to go from here. I had gaps before but am hoping that there is something which can span the 70 some years between the last Livy book and Sallust's Jugurthine War (which is next on my list) since this is when Rome really begins to start its shift away from Republicanism. Any help would be appreciated. P.S.- I am looking for classical texts only. I plan on delving into modern books on the subject after I've filled my head with what they will probably use as references.
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