GhostOfClayton

It was Caracalla that instituted the policy of citizenship for all residents of the Empire, presumably as some sort of method of raising taxes. Before that, a common way to get yourself into the 'civis romanus sum' club was to sign up to 25 years in the Legionary Auxilliaries. Upon completion you were automatically a Roman Citizen, as were your children/descendants.

'Gotten' is a fine example. Say 'Gotten' to anally retentive English-Language grammar nazis (like me, for example), and they will bemoan 'creeping Americansation' (as opposed to creeping AmericaniZation) spreading like a mould through our great and ancient English culture. What they fail to realise (not realiZe) is that we sent 'Gotten' over to the New World in the Mayflower. Once over the pond, it went into a sort of holding pattern, while the inhabitants of His Majesty's Colonies looked after it for us. Back here, we lost the word from common usage (presumably we'd gotten careless), and now that we need it back, our friends in the good old US of A are happy to provide. We should all speak Esparanto. Konsentite? PS Doc, thought you should know. Bill Bryson talks at length about the loss of dialect in Martha's Vinyard in his book 'The Lost Continent'.

I can only think of it in terms of the kind of shield wall the Romans were using to great effect during the early Principate. If the shield wall was in the process of being used to great effect, why put that advantage in jeopardy by trying to pull off a risky manoeuvre? The time to pull off a risky manoeuvre like that is if things aren't going well. In order to be effective, this must be planned for and drilled for. The only time I can see it being planned for is if the result of the battle is in some doubt. So, in the chaos of fighting a (probably losing) battle, some kind of signal must be given, either visual or audible. I think it's accepted that this sort of thing happened, hence the gaps around the ears on a Roman infantry helmet. On the signal, all must turn almost as one and run away at a sufficiently quick pace not to get your arse swiped by a barbarian slashing sword akin to a spartha, but sufficiently slowly for phase 3 to be effective. Phase 3 is initialted by another signal, and involves the dead straigjht line of retreating squaddies to stop and turn as one, and get the shield wall back in place. Sounds massively tricky, but if anyone could have pulled it off, it would have been a legionary cohort. Another reason why this sort of manoeuvre may be useful, (if it could be reliably executed) involves sloping ground. Lets say the cohort starts from the top of a good slope and fights facing downhill. With the shield-shoving action, gravity, and line of men behind holding onto their belts, there is likely to be a gradual downward motion - and while that is the case, the Romans hold the advantage. However, the trouble with downward slopes is that, sooner or later, they tend to start going upward again, and the advantage is lost. If the cohort could suddenly and unexpectedly dash back to the top of the hill, they have the advantage once again. QED . . . but they're also quite out of breath. . . . but so are their adversaries. But yes, it sounds like a very awkward trick to pull off succesfully.

I think it was a book in two halves. The first half was a little slow to get going, and not just in the way of a new series settling in, introducing new charaters, etc. The book is quite rightly written as if you already know everyone concerned, and you get to know the main characters as you pick up snippets of information. The level is perfect from that respect. The second half is fast-paced, and action packed. A few natty little plot twists add to the enjoyment. In summary, Falco's legacy is in safe hands with Albia, and Linsey Davis remains on form.

Well . . . I never knew Ms Loren was such a rum lass. Who'd o' thought?

If you remember, last time I left you on a cliff-hanger: Did I go to Bottom Pub with the crowd, or did I respect my 25 year old ban, and stay away? Sorry, you�ll have to wait until next time for the answer to that. I have something topical to discuss this week. That is to say, it was topical when I wrote it. Subsequently, the UNRV website fell into its long coma. It�s no longer topical, but you can read it anyway:- I�m not sure just how much this news has filtered into other countries, or even if the problem extends to mainland Europe, but there was only one story in the media in the UK of late (at the time of writing), and that is the Horsemeat Scandal. Apparently, criminal gangs have been infiltrating the meat supply chain, and supplying horsemeat instead of beef. This has been happening on a scale that is quite dizzying. You have to admire the sheer logistical effort that allows them to supply that quantity of any meat, let alone whilst seemingly remaining �under the radar� for quite a long time. I can�t help thinking that if they were capable of using these management skills in legitimate business, they could really make some serious money. The horsemeat tended to find its way into ready meals with a high minced beef content (or claim to have a high minced beef content); burgers, lasagne, that kind of thing, and seemingly no food giant or supermarket was immune. Huge amounts of food was removed from shelves. So much that it makes you wonder where all the beef that would normally be produced to go into these foods had actually gone. Now that is a terrible thing, and I�ve told you about it, and that�s as far as I want to go with the scandal itself. It�s the reaction of Joe Public that bemused me. They were horrified. Not horrified that they could no longer have any confidence that what they thought they were eating wasn�t what they were actually eating (which is what they should be truly horrified about). No . . . what really horrified them deep down to their very core was the thought that they might have eaten horsemeat. Now I know that my ample frame is testament to the fact that I�m not a picky eater, so I may not be best qualified to sympathise with that reaction. I have eaten horse, in a very pleasant little bistro in Nice�s Vielle Ville. It was very tasty. Very lean, slightly sweeter than beef; on the whole, not a low quality meat. In fact, I remember as a poor student regularly going down to the supermarket and buying a stack of 30 �value� burgers for a pound. I would have been delighted had I known there was anything in there as high quality as horsemeat. It�s not all black and white Looking at the title of this section, you might guess (or hope?) that maybe I�m about to blog about the latest �chick-*or*� bestseller, �50 Shades of Grey�. I am not. Don�t get me wrong, I have many insightful, amusing, controversial, and no doubt down-right risqu� things to say about �50 Shades�. But that is not the subject of this particular blog. I am only prepared to blog about �50 Shades� on request; so if you�d like me to cover that particular Magnum Opus, just ask, and I will. No, the subject of this blog section (�blog-ette� if you will, or maybe �blogella�) is the good old Black and White Minstrels. For those too young or too foreign to know about the Black and White Minstrels, they were a sort of song and dance troupe, popular in the sixties and seventies, consisting of men who would �black up�, but then give themselves huge white mouths (like a clown�s mouth may be red) and round white eyes. There may have been more than one dance-troupe, I don�t know . . . it may have been a . . . what�s the word? . .. �genre� of entertainment (that�s not the word!) There may have been huge gangs of these men roaming around the piers of England, offering post-bingo entertainment to holidaymakers. Anyway, their numbers are irrelevant to this blog. The key point is that you don�t see them anymore. At some stage it became racially insensitive to �black-up� for reasons of entertainment (soldiers attempting a night raid on a Taliban stronghold would still be fine). �That�s all well and good,� you say. �That�s cultural progress.� �Black people were probably never threatened or insulted by this sort of thing, but where racial intolerance is concerned it pays to err on the safe side.� And I would tend to agree . . . anything that helps me stay out of fights scores highly in my book. But that raises a question: What about that most ancient and venerable of thespian institutions, the Pantomime Dame. Surely if blacking-up for entertainment is racist, then dragging up for entertainment must be Trans-genderist, mustn�t it? And yet we not only tolerate it, we love it . . . take our kids to see it and everything. I dressed up as one once � had the time of my life. This whole blog was leading up to that one question, and I don�t even care about the answer. If there�s any real truth, it�s that this motley isle has a baffling culture where nothing makes sense if you try to analyse it. I, for one, intend to sit back and enjoy the ride. �Oh, no you don�t!� Oh yes I do.

OK, I'm back. here's what i found: The Cantebury Roman Museum: Nice little museum. Nothing out of the ordinary or surprising in there, worth the small charge to get in. I looked at everything, and spent about one and three quarter hours. Also visible in Cantebury are the foundations of a watch tower (behind glass in a sort of shop unit on the wall side of the bus station), and the well displayed remains of a hypocaust floor in the basement of Waterstones. Museum of London: As good as ever. Free to enter, but a fiver is the suggested donation, which still makes this remarkable value for money, even if you just visit the Roman Gallery. There's also a good section of wall on a lawned area just outside (head on the elevated walkway towards the Barbican, and go all the way down the first set of steps on the left.) The masonary is mostly Medieval, but it's nice to try and spot which bits are Roman. Incidentally, i didn't have time to visit it, but there's a branch of the Museum of London in the Docklands at West India Quay. I didn't get chance to visit, but the literature suggested there may be Roman stuff there. The App: It was a nice distraction to look round using the App as a guide, though finding your way around using the Roman street plan as a guide wasn't easy. I spoke to the staff at Museum of London, and they had no idea if there were plans to make it Android or not - it was all put together by a third party and reading between the lines, Museum of London only provided info and put their name to it. The Temple of Mithras: This is currently inaccessible, being in a huge area that was boarded off for construction. Again, I spoke to the staff at Mus of London about this. No-one knows at the moment how long this will be for (though looking at what's going on there, I doubt it will be this year). They couldn't even say whether or not it would be open to the public after the construction project, though they felt it would be accessible in some form or another. St Brides: Another little find was the tesselated pavement in the crypt of St Brides church (a few metres south of Fleet Street). Basically, they have a little museum in the crypt of this very ancient church. At one end, there are mirrors angled so you can catch a glimspe of a small section of well-preserved pavement. Not that exciting, but a lovely, atmospheric location. Suggested donation

This looks like just the kind of thing I love to watch; proper 'boys-own' telly! (With respect to all the girls who would love it, as well). If anyone finds details that will help me get to watch it, please do post them here.

Very interesting, Caldrail. Especially as I read this whilst on a train.

Just a little tip for any Latin speaker with a sense of humour. Find the Podcast entitled 'Friday Night Comedy From BBC Radio 4' and download the episode from 15th Feb 2013. (This is best achieved using iTunes, but whatever Podcast client you happen to use should be fine). The amusing bit in Latin is exactly 14 minutes in. Even with my very basic grasp of Latin, I found it very funny. Give it a go.

Wow. Big subject! You could go as far as to say Augustus, because he laid down much of the infrstructure that allowed it to continue on for so long, or even (and this is really pushing it) Marius for putting together the military processes that allowed the army to be so succesful. But that's just toying with taking ideas to extremes. Diocletian would have my vote. Sorry not to be original.

I discovered an iPhone/iPad app called Streetmuseum Londinium (not sure if it's available on Android). It's published by the Museum of London, so excellent credentials, and is free. I'm travelling down on Tuesday, and although I'll have to work evenings, daytimes will be my own for a few days. I'll try out the app, and report back. I intend to visit Canterbury Roman Museum one day. What's in Chelmsford?

I do miss the ability to look at recent (as opposed to 'new') posts . . . unless I'm missing something.

A lovely crisp tenner is winging its way to you. All the best with this endeavour; especially with the oceans of mud you'll encounter (I'm sorry, but barring some kind of heatwave, it's almost inevitable!)

Welcome to the site. It's a very good question, and I'd be interested in an answer to that one. I don't recall any of the hadrian's wall literature covering histories of the auxiliary cohorts.

I

I can't take credit for 'Falcophile', I'm afraid. I heard/read it somewhere, but can't remember where. Agreed - the ending of Nemesis was a perfect end to the series.

OK - Finished. I didn't post individual comments about the last four books, because there were no big surprises. The quality of the Falco books has been ramping up throughout the series, and these four: See Delphi and Die, Saturnalia, Alexandria and Nemesis, didn't buck the trend at all. Fluent writing, good characterisation, exciting plot, and the final book ending strongly, certainly not abruptly as if the author just stopped bringing new books out. The next thing a Falcophile will be anitcipating is Ides of April, (to be published 11 April 2013 in the UK and June 2013 in the USA), first of a new series centred on Falco's adopted daughter Flavia Albia. I await it with eager anticipation!

Wings . . . Female. . . Victory, perhaps?

How very well observed!

Lincoln shows little if any evidence of occupation following Roman withdrawal, right up until the Vikings dropped in.

France?

Yikes!

One of the Vindolanda tablets suggested there was a bit of that went on. But you raise a good point, it is more likeley to have been a general purpose building.

Addendum: For those of you not able to receive UK TV stations like Channel 4 on your TVs, try www.tvcatchup.com. I'd be interested to know if you're able gain access. I've used the iPhone App abroad, but it may know that I'm a UK resident/TV Licence Fee payer.