dianamt54
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Posts posted by dianamt54
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I watched 'American Gangster'. Went to the movies (films), did the whole bit. The movie was good, I thought, but perhaps you have to gangster movies to begin with. A friend who accompanied me thought it was boring.
Being such a Russell Crowe fan, I have not seen it yet. Not a movie to see with kids around.
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It has been a while since I read the book so I admit I may be a little off here.
As I recall, Caesar's father was referred to as Julius. That's just wrong, he would've been known as Gaius or Caesar, the Roman's did not refer to eachother by their nomen or middle name. The only exceptions were with people who had no cognomen or third name (ie. Gaius Marius).
The book has Caesar growing up in the Italian countryside. Its quite well documented that Caesar spent most of his youth within the 'slums' or subura of Rome in an ancient apartment like complex. (Insula)
In the book, he arrived in Rome seemingly and completely unaware of Roman political traditions and customs. The man is a patrician of the highest order, and yet he seemed to not only not know who his clients may have been, but even what a client was.
He loves a slave girl. Caesar's own well documented behavior regarding his own dignity makes this completely out of the realm of possibility. The historical Caesar may have pursued her for sexual satisfaction, but never would've allowed it to occupy his thoughts. He was a notorious philanderer, and it seems doubtful that any one women ever could've done this to him, except for perhaps his first wife, Cornelia. He refused Sulla's command to divorce her to prove his loyalty (she was the daughter of Sulla's enemy Cinna).
There was something about the friendship with Marcus that also bothered me. Didn't Marcus turn out to be someone important? Like Brutus or Antonius? I can't quite remember. Either way, something still doesn't seem right, but it was almost two years ago that I read it.
There is more, but I was terribly frustrated, and didn't retain much of the book. Wasn't there like a gladiator trainer or something? Caesar would've been trained and schooled in Rome, very likely on the Campus Martius like other patricians. Did Iggulden kill off his mother? In reality his mother lived until Caesar was in the middle of his Gallic campaign as a middle aged man....
I had a problem with this book. I could not get use to Caesar being called Julius. Caesar had two sisters, he was not an only child. If there were no sisters, there was no Atia, and then there would be no Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. I know this is an old thread
. Just had too! -
I am getting on my speaker's corner box:
I was just wondering, what do you think about the controversary? I don't believe that the Olympics should have ever been awarded to China. I am not sure what China presented to the Olympic committee, but what ever the Chinese presented the committee was impressed. If certain countries or people want to protest, that is fine, but no violent. Not trying to grab the flame from the runners hand. The runners have been training for this day. They are honored to carry the flame. My mom told me that some where that the protesters turned their back when the person carrying the flame ran by. If China is being blamed for violence, what does that say about the protesters and violence?
I hope that everything goes well in China.
Can coutries really keep politics and sports separate?
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I just keep this in mind, if the meteorologist can't perdict the weather for tomorrow, how can they perdict the weather in 100, 200 and so on years?
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Not that I mean to stifle discussion, but the original post here was from over 3 years ago.
However...Who sanctioned the Triumvirate? Did the three just meet somewhere and decide this? Did they march into the senate and said, this is the way it is going to be and that is it?Thanks for the info, I have been thinking about the triumvirate for the last couple of days.
Though much more involved than suggested, yes, Pompeius, Crassus and Caesar for all intensive purposes, virtually announced to the Senate they were in charge by virtue of controlling the key components of the Roman political system. There was still considerable opposition of course, and that opposition had a voice (M. Porcius Cato in particular), but little real power. The "triumvirate" (so-called only in retrospect as it was not an official designation of government or authority) controlled the tribunate (and therefore the power to legislate) through support of the urban populace, held significant support of the army via Pompey and had access to massive wealth and the support of the Equites via Crassus.
Additionally, even after Caesar had left Rome for Gaul, the scheming of Clodius managed to manipulate the senate into sending Cato to govern Cyprus (and exiled Cicero, but Cicero could hardly be recognized as a great opponent to the triumvirs and in fact supported them in some legislation/activity).
Thanks for the info, being I am still an infant, I do go back and try to read as many posts as I can. I don't look at the date, I just look at the subject. Are there more up to date ways of looking for certain topics? Sometimes, I just happen apon one and just start writing questions. Thanks again!
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Why do governments want to control what we eat??
In my opinion, the better question is... what don't governments want to control? Every new uncontested method of control restriction of personal liberty breeds more government dependency. It ensures the status quo as regards the ruling class and preserves their positions of authority and privilege. While there may be some who honestly think they are trying to help people, ultimately I find it impossible to believe that the bureaucratic establishment truly cares about our health as individuals...including what we eat, smoke, drink or otherwise shove into our various bodily orifices.
PS. Even if margarine were "one molecule away from being plastic" it is essential to note that the existence of that one particular molecule or any other slight variation in chemical structure makes it not plastic or not toxic (though there are ingredients in natural forms of some products that can be harmful--aluminum in deodorant/anti-perspirant for example). However, I do agree that eating products closer to their natural state as opposed to processed foods, is in general terms, a wise policy. (Provided one is not spending all day eating toxic 'shrooms.)
How funny, I made shrooms for dinner. Not that kind, normal kind.
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I'm a Kiwi (a New Zealander) as many of you know, and our government could sooner outlaw breathing than outlaw any kind of dairy product. They're aware of this but I'd bet two for four that the 'health specialist' who come up with this idea has now given the government a few to work on. The idea may be 'naive and impractical' now, but throw a marketing campaign at it, give it a year or two to sink into the consciousness and conscience of the populace and hey presto! Butter will be Public Enemy No.1 and politically correct mums and dads all over the country will be calling for it's abolition while their teenage sons and daughters drink to excess, mix the booze with narcotics, smash up their cars and ruin their lives.
The biggest problem I foresee with the idea would be that we love butter here. As far as the majority of Kiwis are concerned, margarine is plastic.
But if our government really thought it was something worth pursuing, they'd first attempt to brainwash us, then guilt trip us, and if that didn't work, they'd just ride roughshod over us.
Oh my gosh, did you just describe the United States?? You know that government always deals the such important issues! I thought it was ridiculous to have congressional meetings on baseball. I know there are a lot of steroids in everthing, but to waste time on that when there are so much more important issues to deal with, it just crazy! Just my opinion. I think bindge drinking and all you said are so true. I know that I did it, and by the Grace of God, I am still here! When my children go to College, I am just going to move in with them.
To butter or not to butter! I just like it better and don't like margarine.
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I would like to know what the 'reasons' (not the legends) for the following emperors to have chosen their successors:
Augustus > Tiberius.
Tiberius > Caligula.
Claudius > Nero
Tiberius was also the son of Luvia Drusilla and third wife of Augustus. After Augustus's grandchildren died, he adopted Tiberius and his name was Tiberius Caesar Augustus.
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I was listening to Rush Limbaugh yesterday and he said that New Zealand was going to out law butter. Its fattening. Sure, if you eat a tub of it.
Also heard that Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE from being PLASTIC. Some people believe it, some don't. I just rather eat butter. Why do governments want to control what we eat?? In the USA, they changed the recipe on movie popcorn! I know that some people go to the movies a lot, but since I don't go as often as I would like to, but if I want movie popcorn, I want it! Just a thought!
And, yes, I do have a lot of time on my hands!
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Yep, I've got a hoody with an SPQR design much like the one in your sig. I'm not that keen on lables but I love wearing stuff that says something about my interests and are unique (I've got this one of a kind Black Sabbath t-shirt that I absolutely love). I get a lot of stares with the SPQR hoody; I've even been asked if I am some kind of Neo Nazi!
Ignoramii!
I am the same way. I always wear tee-shirts and hoodies. I guess I collect tee-shirts. I bought two hoodies for my boys at Christmas, but the sizes we off. So I ordered a new one for the oldest one. It might be able to fit in it, plus I don't want him to wear it. He has lost one court, and three hoddies at school. It is a good thing they were super cheap. Where did you get your SPQR hoodie?
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Who sanctioned the Triumvirate? Did the three just meet somewhere and decide this? Did they march into the senate and said, this is the way it is going to be and that is it?
Thanks for the info, I have been thinking about the triumvirate for the last couple of days.
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Another thing that intrigues me about the man is that even by writers who were writing closer to his time, (and ever since) he has been profiled as a Villain, capital V. In a era with markedly different ideas on the nature of good and bad men, this is a notably infamous achievement. He has been cast as one of 'The Bad Men' of history.
Certainly your characterization is supported by what we hear from Cicero's speeches and by the fact that Sulla's own former supporters rushed to undo his legislation. Still, I wonder whether those who had been victimized by Cinna and Marius felt the same way.
Between the war between Sulla and Marius, the killings by Cinna and Marius, and then Sulla's reign of Terror, I am amazed any one was left in Rome. Didn't all these killings deplete Rome of senators, their sons and half of the patricians?
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In 90 B.C., the Roman Consul, L. Juluis Caesar, passes a law giving citizenship to residents of cities not fighting Rome in the Social War.
When the next Consul comes into "office", could the law be revoked?
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So that's what the Romans did for us. The question is would anyone else have done it if the Romans were not around? Let's take a look at some of the points mentioned here.
Sewers and Aqueducts. The Etruscans taught the Romans how to make sewers (and roads). There were aqueducts in other parts of the world as well as Rome - e.g. fifth century Athens - (anyway aqueducts never caught on in Britain for some reason).
Town planning with a grid system - Hippodamus - was Greek and did it for the Piraeas in Athens and Alexandria in Egypt. Oratory - before Cicero there was Demosthenes, and before Demosthenes there was Pirekles. Currency and alphabet - Phoenicia, and laws, Hammaburai.
Language - our language system is basically Germanic, though we use some Latin vocabulary (which we got mostly from the French after 1066). However, English uses auxilaries and basic verb forms with word order for meaning, whereas Latin uses a rigid inflexion system.
So, assuming the Brits were not stupid (and Stonehenge predates the pyramids, so they knew a bit) they would have picked up most of what the Romans had anyway. And bear in mind that archeology suggests that the Romans did not so much 'give' these things to the Brits, as bring them for themselves whilst occupying the island. Most Brits seem to have spoken their own language and lived in wattle huts as ever.Particularly Roman innovations seem to have been gladiatorial shows, and fast-drying cement. (And according to another post I will have to look at ball bearings!) Basically there was an entire Mediterranean civilization which helped to make the western world. We get a lot of our culture from Greeks, Egyptians, Semitic peoples and the Assyrians and Bablyonians. Until they had conquered and absorbed these cultures into their own, the Romans did not contribute much apart from sudden death, which is why the above civilizations considered the Romans as barbarians until about 250 BC.
Thanks for the info. I was wondering, why then are the Romans credited with all this? Are the Greeks being forgotten? Why is Rome more known?
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Rome gave the USA our form of government.
Marius gave the world the standing army.
Almost all cities are based on a grid, and have a center point like a forum. Even the small hell hole I live in.
Public libraries, firemen and police.
If you look past the Republic, Imperial Rome, to the Church of Rome, religion.
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just wondering if anyone read the conn igulden books u know the emperor books like gates of rome,death of kings, and feild of swords.i love those books
I tried reading the first one, but gave up about half way through. His style is fast paced and entertaining, and should he write about a different time period or cast of characters I might sample him again. But for those books, in my opinion, he butchered the very well known history of one of the worlds most famous people and chain of events. I know its being 'stodgy' but I'm afraid I just couldn't get through it.
Amen, and that is all I am going to say about that!
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Maybe it is not such a bad idea to go to a camp for a couple of days. Get away from it all and be pampered.
The thought I had is when one Patrician woman has her courses in the house,the rest of the women stay with her out of sight from the men. Of course if there were a lot of women in the house, like mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, no one would see the women for days.
Didn't patrician houses have one side of the house for women and the other for men?
I think the pleb women probably just worked through it. Some of them didn't have slaves, so they worked very hard keeping the household running.
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I still believe that if a person sees some of these movies, and they liked them, then they will research the time period and learn the true facts, just like me.
For every person that does, there must be 10 that do not. Most people are too lazy to crack open a book.
There are still a lot of people that take "The Da Vinci Code" as gospel.
Congrats, dianamt; I for one am profoundly happy that you're that one in ten!
It's saddening to me that reading seems to be losing popularity with children. The majority of the kids I know fit right into that category of 'too lazy to crack open a book'. It's not Playstation's fault either; it's the parents fault! Even worse than reading "The Da Vinci Code" and taking it as gospel is watching the movie and thinking it is. I wasn't a fan of Dan Brown's book, but at least it got people reading!
Damn all crap movies to Hades, I say!
I know this is off topic, but "The Da Vinci Code" was an awful movie. But wait a minute, it does have something to do with Rome! All you churces in our area of Kansas had signs up saying come and learn the truth about movie. Our pastor told us not to go to it. Being as smart as my husband and I are (haha) we knew it was just a movie. On Monday after the movie tanked, all the signs were down and not a mention of it again.
My children are good readers. My oldest, Vibius Hedius Donatius, can read a book in a day. I am a slow reader. Decimus Hedius Exoratus, read in spurts.
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I find it interesting that both Caesar and Augustus had only one heir each and only daughters. Caesar did a least have a natural heir, his great newphew.
I think that Augustus used Julia to beget heirs. Since he couldn't. He married her off as soon as one husband died. In the end, he didn't have any natural heirs.
Julia just rebelled, in the only way she knew how. Get back at daddy by using sex. What other rescourse did she have?
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Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi. She's a fascinating woman who was connected in one way or another to all Paullus, Africanus, Aemilianus, her sons (of course) and outlived them all. I reckon the conversation that could be had about her and her family and her times would be fantastic. Answers would just lead to more questions.
I can't limit it to one, sorry.
She would be an wonderful woman to meet. I would also like to meet Aurelia and Servilla. Not sure what I would talk about. Maybe how did you survive child birth? Didn't Cornelia had 12 children? Just two and I am done!
I would love to meet Julius Caesar. "Did you want to be king?" I would like to meet Brutus, but I don't intend to meet him in Dante's deep layer of hell.
Can I also say Richard III? I would ask him "Who Killed the Prince's in the Tower"?
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I had a personal photo up and then I added some pictures to my signature and my personal photo went away. I tried to put another one and is kept saying contact the board for help. Help! I made the picture the right size and now it won't work.
What am I doing wrong???
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What drew me to this topic is, I am a psychiatric nurse by profession, and I have often thought that Caesar showed many characteristics of a person with a personality disorder (in other words, psychopath), of the Narcissistic type. In my experience, such people (ancient AND modern) are often highly intelligent, attractive, highly motivated and have great charisma. They also have great faith in their own abilities, enjoy being the centre of attention, are good at criticising but are unable to accept criticism, and are very good at 'holding court' to an audience. They broadcast their own successes, but are oblivious to the fact that their successes are due to the contribution or sacrifice of other individuals.
I didn't a chance to expand last night, but if Caesar showed characteristics of a personality disorder, than Sulla must have something.
Multiple personality disorder? Schizophrena? He was a genius, but I guess all those years of war, wine and woman, he just snapped.
What do you think?
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Caesar's siege engineer, Mamurra, was very accommodating (or so Catullus says).
So was King Nicomedes IV Philapator of Bithynia, if we are to start sinking to that level...
I'll admit that I have a considerable admiration for Caesar, and I'll also admit that Colleen McCullough did much to facilitate this admiration. I believe Caesar's military ability was not overrated, and that he was also an orator, writer and legal draftsman up there with (and perhaps beyond) Cicero himself. His Achilles' Heel, to me, was his complete and utter devotion to his dignitas. McCullough suggests that he firmly believed in the concept that his and every man's dignitas was also Rome's dignitas, and as such strove to the utmost all his life to increase it. Perhaps this is somewhat naive, but i don't like to assume the worst about people. This almost fanatic zeal made him incapable of the sort of compromise that would see his dignitas decreased, even a little. Maybe if he was more subtle, less obviously aiming for greatness, he would not have attracted the jealousy of his peers. This was the way of Augustus I believe.
The Oxford Latin Dictionary defines the expression as fitness, suitability, worthiness, visual impressiveness or distinction, dignity of style and gesture, rank, status, position, standing, esteem, importance, and honor.
Wow, what a list of words. Maybe that is why some people hold Caesar in such high esteem. The ultimate man. Is it all about image? I think that the populus that were interest in politics wanted to achieve this, the populus that only cared about food on the table, had no idea what dignitas. Reminds me of today.
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What drew me to this topic is, I am a psychiatric nurse by profession, and I have often thought that Caesar showed many characteristics of a person with a personality disorder (in other words, psychopath), of the Narcissistic type. In my experience, such people (ancient AND modern) are often highly intelligent, attractive, highly motivated and have great charisma. They also have great faith in their own abilities, enjoy being the centre of attention, are good at criticising but are unable to accept criticism, and are very good at 'holding court' to an audience. They broadcast their own successes, but are oblivious to the fact that their successes are due to the contribution or sacrifice of other individuals.
What do think of Sulla?
What movies have you seen recently?
in Hora Postilla Thermae
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I like that one also! Funny!