ASCLEPIADES
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Posts posted by ASCLEPIADES
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I've read an exclent article, that I can not quote now, that there was no transaharian route.
Thank you, K
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and here is a commentary on the Hippocratic writings about proctology.
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Here is a description of the founding of some more surgical instruments when exploring a shipwreck some years ago.
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Salve, Mr. Dalby! Do you think that the simmilarities between the Odyssey and the Epic of Gilgamesh are enough to suppose a direct relationship?
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Salve! Does anybody know if there was any kind of trans-saharian trade or contact during the Empire?
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Indeed and Drinkwater also falls into this camp as does Heather, (though Heather believes the decline began with the loss of Africa... losing the tax base to pay and upkeep the army as we have the one comment from Valentinian III, the source escapes me at the moment, saying he can't even pay for them army he has), while Elton feels it is with the death of Majorian and the breakaway of Aegidius. I'd like to add Marcellinus as well in Dalmatia, taking away the other units in the Western Empire from central authority as well.
Salve! During the twenty-some years that Soissons was isolated in the north, what kind of relation maintained it with the empire(s)?
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So these autmata are on the same technical level as cuckoo clocks and clockworks. Clever devices, but hardly ancient robotics.
Clearly, that depends on the definition of robotics. The authors of this article uses it as a synonym of the Greek "automata" which is in fact the name of one of the books of Hero; it simply means that the devices work independently, without simultaneous human or animal traction. You are right, cuckoo clocks and clockworks are considered automata and they are included in many histories of robotics. It is true that these devices probably wouldn't have a place in a Congress of Robotics today, but neither the Aristotelian taxonomy in a Congress of Biology.
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I don't think Cato championed the cause of the Plebs.
And what do you have as supporting evidence for this claim? What evidence supports another explanation for Cato's Lex Porcii? Or his marriages to the great plebeian house of Licinia? Or his buiilding of the tribune house, the Basilica Porcia? Or his opposition to patrician families? Or his professed admiration for the plebeian hero M. Curius Dentatus?
It's one thing to show that Cato (when he was not yet 20) was supported by the Valerian clan, but there's still the matter of his next 60 years to explain! By your reasoning, Marius wouldn't count as a champion of the plebs either since he also had the support of a patrician family.
The "cause of the plebs" implies to me a conflict between this class and another group, which in the roman republic could be no other than the patrician. Assuming that during Cato's lifetime we can identify a significant ongoing conflict between patrician and plebs (which is not the same as between rich and poor, as long as there were substantial plebeian nobility and even some impoverished patricians), I cannot see that any of these arguments support that Cato had any established position in such a conflict:
- Lex Portia (if we are talking about the same), as far as I know, forbade any citizen flagellation, not specifically that of the plebs and/or the poor.
-The great plebeian house of Licina was great because it had been noble and rich for a long time and the marriage of Cato would be a great advance in his political career and social status.
-Big and notorious works during a politician's tenure had always been (and continue to be) bonuses for the advance of his career.
-I understand that as any noted politician, Cato opposed to a lot of people, among them (inevitably) some members of important patrician families, and not to those families per se. The Scipio brothers were probably the most notorious case. Cato's elder son married a member of the Aemilia Gens, cr
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Does anyone know anything about the Kingdom of Soissons ruled by Syagrius, last Roman enclave in Gaul?
Sorry for the last (failed) post. Afranius Syagrius was the last of at least three rulers (his father Aegydius, one Paulus and himself) of the remanents of the Gallic provinces left by the emergence of the Germanic Kingdoms between the rivers Somme and Loire, around the city of Noviodunum (Soissons), at least from 464 to 486, in both geographical and political isolation. They ruled with various titles, including Comes, Dux and specially magister militum per Gallias, a direct opposition to the Suebian Ricimer and his successors after the death of Majorian, probably the last western emperor that deserves such title. They were apparently ignored by both Ravenna and Constantinople and survived mainly exploiting the conflicts between Visigoths and Salian Franks, who called them "rex romanorum" (this is how the domain of Soissons became known as a "Kingdom"). It is an almost unknown period, but the conquest of Soissons and the death of Syagrius by the Frankish king Clovis are well attested in French legends, as they are frequently considered the beginning of the Merovingian rule and, subsequently, of the Kingdom of France. By outliving the western empire for a decade, Syagrius became the last roman ruler north of the Alps. Here is an (imaginary) depiction of the demise of Soissons. Here
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M.P. Cato, thanks for the response. Poor choice of words on my part when I mentioned 'stoic'. Although I thought I read that Cato was exposed to the writing of a Greek stoic(name escapes me) and was influenced by said philosopher. Could be wrong.
I was aware of his outstanding education of his son, but was unaware of an experimental school for other children. Did it flourish?
Still, it is a shame his influence on Romans of the day was not more pronounced or long lasting. In many ways his attemps at championing the cause of the Plebs, reminds me of Tiberius Gracchus' attempts, who I am reading right now in Plutarchs 'Lives'.
Cheers.
Alex
I don't think Cato championed the cause of the Plebs. As a pragmatic new man from the province, his tactic for thriving in late republican politics, besides the support of the Valeria Gens, was probably something like that of Ghandi, turning poverty into civic virtue, and also claiming to be more genuinely roman and chauvinistic even than the Patricii. This strategy was extremely successful and gives to his writings some similarities to the stoic thought, but as MPC was telling, he was intensely hellenophobic. When the historians say that the late Republic tried to run its empire like it used to run a mere city, they are clearly thinking in people like him. "Carthaginem esse delendam" was good personal promotion but bad politics; that's why the roman had to rebuilt that city later.
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According to today's standards, who would consider Julius Caesar a Democrat..a Republican?
Why?
I think that for Caesar (and any other roman politician), his party was HIM, and maybe his family. Impoverished aristocrats like Caesar or Sulla tended to be more radical ("revolutionary"), while new men like Cato Maiorus or Cicero tended to be more conservative.
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Do you see a difference between those cities that adopted a god as their patron, and those cities that adopted a goddess?
I don't see a difference. Just about all the ancient societies were "patriarchal" by modern standards, so women didn't have a much of a say in the choice of patron deities.
Rome had three deities, two of which were female, and it was known more for its armies than for its arts. So I don't think gender was reflective of cultural development.
Maybe you should define "pagan" with a little more detail. I have been a "gentile
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Ehm, yeah it's a very beautiful bridge, but there's really no reason for those quote/blank posts.
Trying to find it.
The quote/blank posts are only evidence of my poor skills driving the controls.
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There's more still. The Iliad and Odyssey each contain internal contradictions and loose ends. That's not surprising from an author who must have been close to oral composition methods. It's to be expected, in fact. But, strangely, there are practically no true contradictions between the Iliad on one side and the Odyssey on the other. Practically nowhere where, in reading the Odyssey, you can say: that can't have happened if we believe the Iliad. Now, how can it be that there are no contradictions of that kind? My answer is: because the author of the Iliad had had twenty or thirty years to re-read his/her own work (a very unusual activity at that period) and was totally familiar with it -- and was then commissioned to compose the Odyssey.
I
Hi. Mr. Dalby. If the lack of true contradictions between the Iliad and the Odyssey is an argument for a common authorship, I would expect that the presence of internal contradictions would be an argument for multiple authorships of both books. What do you think about it?
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From the New Scientist:In about 60 AD, a Greek engineer called Hero constructed a three-wheeled cart that could carry a group of automata to the front of a stage where they would perform for an audience. Power came from a falling weight that pulled on string wrapped round the cart's drive axle, and Sharkey reckons this string-based control mechanism is exactly equivalent to a modern programming language. He describes it in this week's issue of New Scientist magazine.from New Scientist.
Here is a description of an automata of Hero used in a theatre.
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From the New Scientist:In about 60 AD, a Greek engineer called Hero constructed a three-wheeled cart that could carry a group of automata to the front of a stage where they would perform for an audience. Power came from a falling weight that pulled on string wrapped round the cart's drive axle, and Sharkey reckons this string-based control mechanism is exactly equivalent to a modern programming language. He describes it in this week's issue of New Scientist magazine.from New Scientist.
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I was recently commissioned to write a book and am hoping to finish it in the next couple of months.
Once it is finished, I'll - obviously! - be wanting to write another one. I am aiming to specialise in writing 'military' biographies (ie biographies of military men in the ancient world). However, I am unsure of who to write about next and was wondering if you lot had any ideas? Who would you like to see a biography on?? I'm not interested in writing yet another book about Julius C., Alexander t. G., etc, as these have all been well covered already. What I'm thinking of is an individual who may be slightly less well known but whose story could still run to between 70,- and 90,000 words. (So somebody who is only mentioned twice in Tacitus would be no good!!)
It need not necessarily be Roman, just somebody who was living prior to the reconquests of Justinian, as that is where my knowledge becomes fragmentary at best!
Any ideas folks, or do I have to use my own mind up?? (Trust me - that is not a good idea!!)
It's not easy to find specific biographies of the enemies of Caesar and/or Augustus. What do you think of Titus Labienus? Or Sextus Pompeius? Or Caius Cassius Longinus? My preferences go in that order.
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Just a mild corrective to Flavia and Caldrail, here. Alexandria was part of Egypt and therefore NOT part of the Roman province of Africa, as such. I think the Romans made this distinction. It is actually quite a little idiosyncracy of theirs. We would very much term Egypt as being part of North Africa, but to the Romans it was sort of vaguely 'the east' - at least during the Republic and early Principate.
Was this because the Romans viewed Egypt as part of Alexander's empire, therefore part of the east?
The name Africa (from latin Afer of uncertain ethymology, probably phoenician) was used for the land around Carthage, mostly included in modern day Tunisia. It was made a province after the III punic war and persisted with various denominations until the muslim conquest and even after (arab Ifriquiya); most of Antiquity the term for the continent was Libya, a word that came through the greek from the pharaonic Egypt, where it was used for the land located to the west of the Nile valley at least since the XIX dynasty. When the ancients began to divide the known world into continents, most of them (for example, Herodotus, Dionysius, Pliny, Sallust, Hirtius) fixed the boundary of Asia and Libya at the descent of the Nile or even at Catabathmus Magna (31
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If there were more stories like those of Aspasia and Phryne, I would become an Ancient Greek fan.
If that's all it takes to make you an ancient Greek fan, then along with Aspasia and Phryne you may want to consider a *cough* closer "examination" of the following noteworthy courtesans: Archeanassa, Lais of Corinth, Lais of Hyccara, Neaira, Tha
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Was Cicero a great statesman? Hard to say. One has to approach the question from two views. Firstly, the view from that of a Roman of his day. If the Roman of the day was monied, and was politically connected, I venture that he was viewed as an annoyance, although at times useful. If the Roman of the day was a Pleb., I also venture he was viewed as a champion, especially if one were fortunate enough to hear his 'honeyed' speeches in person.
Secondly, the view from today, compared to the modern statesmen. I feel Cicero would fit right in with most of today's 'statesmen'. I feel that many statesmen or so called statesmen nowadays just don't measure up to many Roman Republic politicians. Certainly the modern ones don't exhibit the skill or eloquence of speech that Cicero did.
In his speeches Cicero unfailingly self promotes himself, and I feel, that he felt this was necessary to further his political career. Not coming from the monied aristocracy this was a necessary tactic. I feel this is one reason why Cicero leaves such a 'bad taste' in readers mouths so to speak. His use of sophistry should not be compared to the 'sophistry' used by modern politicians.
In conclusion, from a 21st century perspective he is likely over-rated as a statesman. But to me Cicero's skill at rhetoric will always be viewed as his strength. Maybe this is how we should remember him.
Alex
This thread and the precedent have a bunch of notable contributions (Note: Catilina, not
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I have some nice images posted of the "House of Falling Waters" from Utica in the "Guess the Ancient City" thread. More generally, I'm keen to learn as much as possible about Roman Africa generally and Utica in particular.
As MPC was saying, today there are no less than seven pics from five different roman cities over three present countries of north Africa in the "Guess the Ancient City" thread (excluding Aegyptus, of course).
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Laodicea?
Yup!!
Wow, miguel ... it was mere luck!
Sorry, guys! Inserting this link is the best I can do for now. Pretty bridge, isn't it?
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Zeugma?
No.
Is it really that difficult?
The name of this city appears in the Bible five times, including some verses in Paul's letter to the Colossians.
This should be a big hint.
Laodicea?
Napoleons Retreat From Moscow
in Historia in Universum
Posted