Ingsoc
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Posts posted by Ingsoc
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The articles on this discovery really bugs me, instead of focusing on the historical character and maybe even give us a more detailed description of his life from his tombstone, they goes on and on about some stupid character in a dumb ass movie.
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"Roman propaganda cups, 1st century BC, from Museo Nazionale Romano - Terme di Diocleziano, Rome.
These cups, filled with food or drinks, were offered in the streets in occasion of the elections; the cups had the name of a candidate embroided. The cups depicted were produced for 63 BC elections for 62 BC. With the cup on the left, Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the younger) asks (petit) to be elected Tribune of the plebs. The cup on the right is payed by Lucius Cassius Longinus (praetor with Cicero in 66 BC) to support (suffragatur) Lucius Sergius Catilina (Catilinae) bid for consulate." (Source)
However we need to remember the higher magistrates we're elected in the Centuriata Comitia in a timochratian method so at least for them it's was as much propaganda to the masses but trying to convince the members of the higher Centurias to support them.
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Happy Birthday!
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So many people have believed that the Romans sent troops from one side of the world to the other to fight, in order to stop attrition and the A.W.O.L. factor. This evidence shows the Romans did in fact the opposite.
Actually when thing went bad in a province the Roman tend to send a Vexillatio which was a detachment unit send to assist a troubled area, that way the war get it's reinforcement and the military defenses in other parts of the empire weren't weaken by the transferring of a whole legion.
Really? I've never seen Gemina mentioned in that context.
Agreed, it's well know that the legion who fought in Judea was Fretensis.
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Perhaps you mean the fourth eclogue of Virgil?
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I don't why the fact that someone is Plebiean should matter in 150 BC, anyway scrolls were available to anyone who could pay for them and usually if you were rich you had a slave which wrote your letters.
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Here is the translation by Canon Roberts:
"I, on the other hand, shall look for a further reward of my labours in being able to close my eyes to the evils which our generation has witnessed for so many years; so long, at least, as I am devoting all my thoughts to retracing those pristine records, free from all the anxiety which can disturb the historian of his own times even if it cannot warp him from the truth."
In all probability it's a reference to the civil wars and the autocratic rule by Augustus.
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Most ancient sources refer to a conspiracy lead by Sejanus which aim to overthrow Tiberius, however from the fact that Tiberius move against him went so smoothly (even the Praetorians who was under Sejanus commands for years didn't came to him aid) it's safe to assume that Sejanus didn't have his own faction and his friends ally themselves with him because he was close to the emperor and when his relationship with Tiberius gone bad they abandon him.
Then why Tiberius had moved against him? I think it's most likely was due to Sejanus desire to marry Liviila (the widow of his son Drusus) and receive the Tribunica Potestas (which would mark his as Tiberius' heir), now from other incidents unrelated to this one who know that Tiberius was a thought formalist who guard with great care the social differences between the order and it's must have seen to his as an insolence that a man of equestrian rank would want to be his heir.
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Strange but according to this translation Claudius had captured Decebalus but I always was under the impression from his depiction of the Trajan column that the Dacian king committed suicide.
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Here you could find an illustration of the alter of Disciplina found in Birrens.
This coin struck by emperor Hadrian, thought I'm not sure if the writing refer to the deity or the merits of his soldiers.
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Brutus and Cassius didn't find Cicero trustworthy enough to include him in the plot.
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One could say that all sons of consular families saw themselves as future consuls (Cicero bitterly call them "consuls from their cribs") and no doubt that the great ambition of Sulla, Caesar and Catilina stem from the fact they all came from declining Patrician families.
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Another change was in the names of adopted children, for example when Augustus adopted Tiberius in 4 AD, Tiberius should have change his name to "Gaius Julius Caesar Claudianus" instead he chose to drop the fourth name which commemorate his original nomen and stick with his original praenomen and was named "Tiberius Julius Caesar".
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Egyptian archaeologists located the pink, granite monument at a site in Tell Basta, once the capital of the ancient state 50 miles north of Cairo.
The great king's nose had been broken and his beard was missing, said Zahi Hawass, the head of the country's supreme council of antiquities.
Ramses, also known by his Greek name Ozymandias, commanded a mighty empire during Egypt's new kingdom from 1279-1213 BC.
He built luxurious palaces, lavish temples and other huge monuments across the kingdom.
These included Abu Simbel, constructed in the far south of the country. The husband of the beautiful queen Nefertiti, he has also been identified with the Biblical Exodus led by Moses into ancient Israel.
Ramses was buried in the valley of the kings at Luxor, but was discovered last century and his mummified remains are now displayed in a Cairo museum.
"The head is 76 cm high (around 30 inches), the nose is broken, and the false beard that was once attached to the king's chin is missing," Mr Hawass said.
"The discovery is important because it may indicate that the excavators are close to the ruins of a major temple of Ramses II in the area".
Archaeologists are still excavating the Tell Basta site in the hopes of discovering the rest of the statue.
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As for mediocrity, I think any man who refuses the purple and honors Augustus' wishes is a great man, at least morally. How many generals plundered and cast Rome into Civil War for this very reason?
As I said before much of Germanicus "greatness" is a result of the anti-Tiberian attitude of historians, true Tacitus say that the German legion support him: "For the memory of Drusus was held in honour by the Roman people, and they believed that had he obtained empire, he would have restored freedom. Hence they regarded Germanicus with favour and with the same hope" (Annales, 1.33) however from other comments this assessment seem baseless:
"As soon as he touched on the mutiny and asked what had become of soldierly obedience, of the glory of ancient discipline, whither they had driven their tribunes and centurions, they all bared their bodies and taunted him with the scars of their wounds and the marks of the lash. And then with confused exclamations they spoke bitterly of the prices of exemptions, of their scanty pay, of the severity of their tasks, with special mention of the entrenchment, the fosse, the conveyance of fodder, building-timber, firewood, and whatever else had to be procured from necessity, or as a check on idleness in the camp. The fiercest clamour arose from the veteran soldiers, who, as they counted their thirty campaigns or more, implored him to relieve worn-out men, and not let them die under the same hardships, but have an end of such harassing service, and repose without beggary. Some even claimed the legacy of the Divine Augustus, with words of good omen for Germanicus, and, should he wish for empire, they showed themselves abundantly willing. Thereupon, as though he were contracting the pollution of guilt, he leapt impetuously from the tribunal. The men opposed his departure with their weapons, threatening him repeatedly if he would not go back. But Germanicus protesting that he would die rather than cast off his loyalty, plucked his sword from his side, raised it aloft and was plunging it into his breast, when those nearest him seized his hand and held it by force. The remotest and most densely crowded part of the throng, and, what almost passes belief, some, who came close up to him, urged him to strike the blow, and a soldier, by name Calusidius, offered him a drawn sword, saying that it was sharper than his own. Even in their fury, this seemed to them a savage act and one of evil precedent, and there was a pause during which Caesar's friends hurried him into his tent." (Annales, 1.35)
Despite the claims of support for him as an emperor we could see that the main claims of the legion was their bad service conditions and when Germanicus "threaten" to end his life it's hardly raise a shock among the troops, hardly a reaction you would expect if Germanicus was indeed their knight in shining armor, in sharp contrast the prestige of his wife Agrippina and toddler son Gaius was greater than his (Tacitus, Annales, 1.41).
In the end Germanicus only manage to get a hold over the legions by surrendering to their demands (Tacitus, Annales, 1.37).
As for his battles, they all seem to have gone well. His objectives were met, Arminius defanged, and the lost standards recovered. There were some losses, but that is war. Tiberius ended the Campaigns in Germania, most likely out of jealousy or fear of his adopted son's rising popularity and fame. So he did not leave in defeat.And again while Tacitus is hostile to Tiberius and sympathize with Germanicus he doesn't hide the great failures of his campaigns against the Germans (for example see Annales, 2.8) and at best we could say his campaigns had mixed results (another example is Annales, 1.55-74) the hostile Tacitus condemn the recalling of Germanicus by Tiberius, but in fact it was the continuation of Augustus policy not to get involved in a long costly war over territory which the benefits to Rome from it are extremely small.
As for Piso, I think Germanicus was just too fair and eager to follow the rules, for his own good. With men like Piso, you cant reason.Germanicus behavior in the east was deplorable, he dressed as a greek and flatter the natives (Tacitus, Annales, 2.59), he receive golden crown from the Nabatean king (Annales 2.57) not exactly a behavior worthy of a proper Roman.
Inqsoc. Would Germanicus have been in control of Syria, or Piso as Governor? I am not certain. I would love to see what resources each had at their disposal.Germanucs was given Maius Imperium in the eastern provinces, this mean that in any such province all of the other Roman officials are subjected to his authority. Piso was no different, however Germanicus seem to lack the talent to bend him to his will and make his follow his commands and orders.
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I would say Germanicus. The Roman world love him dearly.
He was indeed a popular figure, but can you point to a lasting achievement? Well, I can think of the one thing that Germanicus left to the Roman World - Caligula!
I agree, Germanicus was a mediocre person at best, his campaigns in Germany ended with defeat and while he stayed on the east he didn't show sufficient character to assert his command over Piso. The only reason he so highly regarded in that ancient writer tend to discredit Tiberius.
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GO posts could always put a smile on my face. he will be missed.
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As well as the other Liberatores, their motives were presumably mixed; some bona fide idealistic nationalism (after all, CJ Caesar was the subjugator of the Roman Republic) with a good doses of personal ambition.
I don't think that you could separate the two, the Nobilitas concept of Libertas (Freedom) was that they should be freed from servitude to another man and that all should (meaning the aristocracy) get a chance to serve at the hight offices - that concept is which Caesar deeply offended and it's why he was murdered.
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The Patrician-Plebian division lost it's importance after the early Republic.
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It is possible, perhaps even likely that Labienus was originally a client and protege of Pompey, and simply returned to his original patron when forced to decide between his old and new commanders.
Those who have the latin (Syme and Munzer for example) say that names ending in "-ienus" often indicate Picentine origin. The family of Pompey was dominant in that region of Italy. So much so that Pompey could raise three legions there on his own authority to support Sulla. A succesful career for any ambitious soldier from Picenum would probably depend on the patronage of Pompey. When Caesar left for Gaul in 59 BC he and Pompey were allies and Pompey might well have lent the services of his client to his political ally.
In his Labienus biography Tyrell seem to agree with this notion that Labienus was from Picenum however from Caesar word (he use to refer to those as approch Labienus as "Inimici" which would indicate they were of the Senatorial faction and not the Pompenian faction) that Labienus abandon Caesar as a result of republicanism, he also note that their seem to have bad blood between Labienus and Caesar.
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I have question that is probably to basic for this, but I'll go for it anyway: was latin written without spaces? I know it was writtten in all caps, but it seems on here there are no spaces either. if there were no spaces, wouldnt it be difficult to read?
ATG
I believe the ancient Romans generally used interpuncts to separate the words, although perhaps these interpuncts weren't always apparent?
-- Nephele
It's all depend on the quality of the inscriber, for example it's likely that a milestone in some minor province would be of a much lesser quality then an imperial inscription in Rome.
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Hard Happy By It! a birthday greeting in a truly anagrammatic style
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Today I stumble upon this picture which portray Augustus as an Egyptian Pharaoh.
I assume this was made for propaganda purposes, which is a bit hard to believe since the Roman look down on the Egyptian culture (and in general on all the civilizations of the east) and as far as I know it's was never imitated in any other province. was this propaganda went any further than just depicting of Roman emperors as Pharaohs?
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The "tradition" that she was black is so contemptibly stupid it hardly merits comment. I doubt its taken seriously at all in sober academic circles. I have also examined the so called evidence for this contention and for the other one that the Pharaohs were mostly black and none of it is convincing at all. I really hit the roof when I see some circles twisting and misrepresenting historical data to further their own agenda. I hope this nasty habit is finally laid to rest but seeing the level of historical among the general public I must say I don't feel very sanguine about this.
It's all part of the "Black Athena" theory which claim that the original Egyptians were black and the Greeks stole their culture and hence all of their achievements were actually belong to the Egyptians. I believe this theory became popular in some American universities among the African study professors.
M. Porcius Cato
in Imperium Romanorum
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I stumble across this Fasti Consulares which list a M. Porcius Cato as the Consul Suffectus of 36 AD. Now as far as I know the last refernce to the Porcii was in 42 BC when it's was mention that M. Porcius Cato, the son of Cato Minor, has fallen in the battle of Philipi.
I didn't manage to find anything about this Cato who was consul of 36 AD, from his name it's safe to assume that he was a descendant of Cato Maior. Sadly the Smith and the Oxford dictionaries has no entry about this person so I was hoping someone here could give out more details.