Crispina

Was a lunar eclipse ever mentioned in the writings of Roman historians? The moon turning red would have been a great mystery, how did they interpret this?

Merry Saturnalia to all of you. Eat, drink, bathe and debauch!

I wonder why it was in that particular spot? Do you suppose the head is nearby? What an amazing thing to come upon while out for a stroll.

Sounds worth more than two cents to me.

I do not know if you can access this from elsewhere but the full programme is currently available on BBC i-player until 9:59PM Tue, 21 Dec 2010 (I presume GMT but it doesn't explicity state this). This is the same documentary that I watched Monday night as part of the "When Rome Ruled" series on National Geo. I enjoyed it very much. Yes, Viggen. Wasn't that interesting? What surprised me was that all these years I've been told and read that ancient Romans exposed deformed or sickly children. The story of the twins is contrary to that idea, at least in this case. Someone actually cared for them for 11 or 12 yrs., and as the narrator mentioned it would have not been an easy thing to do. As any caregiver knows.

Ok, finished "Time to Depart". Not as good as I had hoped, in fact I found myself rushing through the last five chapters just to be done with it. But, I will say I still learned something - I always do with each book. That I can not complain about. In "Time to Depart" there was a heck of alot of stuff going on! And with my easily distracted mind, that's not a good thing. Not sure why Ms. Davis added the "skip baby", perhaps he will become an important character in future novels? As always there is a rousing ending and I do enjoy how well she writes action. Picked up the next, "A Dying Light in Corduba", and like this book right off. I've read six chapters so far.

I've suspect that all the recent programming on Pompeii may be a means of bringing more attention to the need for keeping the site from tumbling down. I certainly hope so.

Do you think so? I thought it was very good, at least they didn't do the "everyone ran to beneath the piers on the shore" scenario again. I never knew skeletons were found in homes and buildings, but why wouldn't there have been? This is the first time I've heard this information.

Thanks for posting this. Very interesting. I hope it comes to USA or at least as a download later. What a thrill to hold that jewelry, the mind just boggles imagining who the person(s) was that wore it.

"Putting the human face on things is always very interesting to me". Me too.

Someone brought this new series to my attention, and I tried to find the thread but was unable to. I was able to catch most of the first episode Sunday night about the Colosseum, and then there followed another episode about Caligula. I decided after watching awhile that there wasn't any real new info presented, but there were some interesting graphics (reconstruction of the amphitheater); didn't watch the second one on Caligula as I suspected same ole', same ole' as well. Anyone watch? Tonight's episode (9pm) deals with Pompeii, so I'll have to watch to see if and how they present any new facts. I'm sure the graphics, again, will be good. The second episode profiles Julius Caesar.

I don't understand "iTweetus". Of course, I've never understood "tweeting" nor even read at any sites. How does this work? Anyone can contribute to the story, or is just one person making entries?

I wonder how many of those things were actually invented (in some form)and the guy/gal was told he/she was nuts and it never caught on. Or someone's Uncle Castor made a zipper just to entertain the kiddies, after he died the thing got thrown away.

Happy Birthday.

Happy Belated Birthday, Kosmos.

Crispina has lots of little "memory incidents". Thanks Clayton.

I try not to post spoilers, but Nephele's right - Falco does get his dog soon, or the dog gets him. Just wanted to share something funny. You know that old movie, "Clueless" with Alicia Silverstone? Well, I admit I like this silly quirky movie and I've watched it more than once. Today it was on again. This time, and I'm sure it's because I've been reading these books we speak of, I heard a line I never picked up on before. "Cher" (Silverstone) makes a remark while watching a movie with Tony Curtis. She says something like "who cares about a movie about "Sparatacus", obviously meaning "Spartacus". Does that name ring a bell? Sparatacus is Falco's landord! Edit: My bad. Told a lie, just picked up the book and the name is "Smaractus", not "Sparatacus". Now who's the one that is clueless? Sheesh.

You're leading me in Davis' books like a breakout auriga! I'm only partway through LAIP. I love the story arc of all these novels, and I especially love the way Helena Justina assists Falco in his sleuthing. They remind me so much of the patrician Nora and her somewhat seedy detective mate, Nick Charles, in those old The Thin Man movies. I know from having read a couple of the later novels (before I started reading them in order) that Falco even has a dog as Nick had. Now that I'm reading the novels in order, I'm curious as to when Nux (the counterpart to Asta) will make her first appearance. -- Nephele I'm thinking Nux has already been in one of the earlier books, albeit a paragraph or two. Or maybe there was another dog that adopted him for awhile on one of his travels. Forget the goat's name! The book I've just started has the title of "Time to Depart", totally not what I expected the title to refer to. Yes, I tend to get excited and read through a series rather quickly just as I did the Cato and Macro novels. The problem is I forget their contents just as quickly when I do that.

Hey, Dr. Musa was a hottie!

Nephele, I finished "Last Act in Palmyra" today and already fetched "Time to Depart" from the library. LAIP - brilliant ending! As usual Ms.Davis manages to add humor in just the right places and does it so well. This seventh book has to be one of my favorites.

Falco in Huaxia "Last heard of having a hard time with the locals in Parthia, the Legio XXXV Magna Victrix seems to have vanished from the face of the known world, and the Emperor Vespasian isn't happy at all. And when the Emperor isn't happy, he usually calls for Marcus Didius Falco, Imperial Agent, and Rome's foremost investigator-for-hire. So Falco has a mission like none he's undertaken before. Risking dragons, Monkey Gods and strangely androgynous holy men, he must travel the mysterious Silk Road in search of oriental wisdom and an entire Roman Legion. Oh, . . and silks for Helena Justina." :lol: :lol:

How about THIS?! Oh my gosh. There goes my idea.

Well, this would make a great plot for a novel that's all I can say. Roman legion gets lost and ends up in China. Title?