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JGolomb

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Everything posted by JGolomb

  1. JGolomb

    Tourism in Venice is Reaching Meltdown

    I was in Venice in late June of this year and didn't find the crowds out of control at all. I think we may have beaten the serious tourist rush by a few weeks and it's possible that the down economy kept tourism down overall in Europe. I also felt like I saw a solid number of folks who appeared to be full time residents - parents with kids carrying their bikes over canal bridges, kids knocking around a soccer ball, etc. The city felt very genuine to me, not all that different than any large US city with tons of tourists and tourist trappings. J
  2. Here's another story and a video...but the video is only available to folks in the UK. J
  3. Roman military sites investigated
  4. Western Wall Heritage Center a threat to Jerusalem's Roman History?
  5. JGolomb

    Cleopatra's Lost Tomb

    About a year or year-and-a-half ago, Yale University and the Peruvian Gov't entered into an agreement whereby Yale would return hundreds of artifacts found by Hiram Bingham when he "discovered" Machu Picchu in 1911. Part of the agreement included that Yale would get to keep some artifacts and/or hold onto some things on load from Peru. Peru would open a modern museum dedicated to the discovery of Machu Picchu that would spotlight Bingham's "discovery" and the returned artifacts. One nuance here is that there is pretty clear documentation SIGNED by Bingham himself indicating that he was only taking the artifacts out of the country temporarily for research purposes. Yale has since reneged on the agreement and the two parties are still battling it out. I thought the compromise between Yale and Peru was a nice way to reconcile their differences and theoretically ensure that both parties would have a beneficial outcome. Here's a recent story on the ongoing Yale-Peru battle. Quite frankly, I don't buy the statute of limitations argument. I don't see how you can argue for a legal statute of limitations when dealing with objects that were in a region/country/whatever for hundreds, or sometimes thousands, of years.
  6. I'm taking a page from the Sylla Book of Skepticism here... This full article provides a very long and detailed review of Cambyses related discoveries. I'm highlighting some of the key points...
  7. I've read recently in a couple of books on Ancient Rome that the thirst for bigger and more awe inspiring Games led to a massive kill-off of animals throughout the Empire and its' environs. I've read of the need to hunt further and further from Rome to find animals that were once available more locally. And I've read of animals that were killed off completely. I'm reading Allessando Barbero's "The Day of the Barbarians" about the Battle at Adrianople in 378. 9 years before this momentous battle, the Emperor of the eastern Empire, Valens, signs a treaty with the Goths. A Greek rhetorician Themistius gives a speech in praise of the peace. According to Barbero, Themistius says (in a combination of direct quotation and paraphrase), "We worry so much about preserving animal species, we're worried that elephants may disappear from Libya, lions from Thessaly, and hippopotamuses, from the Nile; therefore we should rejoice that a race of men, yes, barbarians, as some will say, but men, has been saved from extermination." The comparison between animals and Goths is interesting, but not the topic I'm raising at the moment. Clearly Themistius is referencing a common and well known concern for the preservation of animals. I'm curious is anyone else has come across similar concerns in literature? Are there any specific statistics around the amount of animals that must've been killed in Games to raise concerns over their continued existence?
  8. Roman ruins found under theatre An ancient Roman ruin has been discovered by builders working on the
  9. JGolomb

    Coins found at Jewish Temple site

    Guy - sorry, I double posted on this. Should've checked out the new postings first. J
  10. JGolomb

    A Dying Emperor's Unsolved Mystery

    Great question, Sylla. I'm about half way through Everitt's biography and there's a tremendous amount of speculation, just shy of assumption, on Everitt's part. It hasn't hurt that this thread's been educating me on Historia Augusta. The bio, up until Hadrian becomes Emperor, is focused on the context of the world in which Hadrian lived. For me, this adds a great deal of color to that timeframe, but it's definitely lacking in its ability to add flesh to the character that is Hadrian.
  11. A Dying Emperor's Unsolved Mystery A very interesting, and poorly written, article on Hadrian's last words and their lasting mystery - a story I've never actually never come across. Since watching a rather dry History Channel special on Rome and a segment on Hadrian, I've always felt a certain affinity towards the Emperor. A running joke between my wife and I during a trip to Rome last summer was over the so many things we came across that involved him. Here's a post I made in a board shortly after I joined the community - Greatest Roman Figure. Upon re-reading this post, I see that I walked the fence a bit and didn't declare a GREATEST, but made some points for Hadrian to be up there with Augustus and Caesar. I'm reading Anthony Everitt's "Hadrian - Triumph of Rome" and hope to have a review for UNRV in a couple of weeks. I can only assume this story of his final words will be addressed. But in the meantime, I thought I'd share this article and let the UNRV community help analyze. I don't read Latin, so if anyone can provide a straight translation, that would make a good start.
  12. Israeli museum displays coins from Jewish revolt, destruction of biblical Jerusalem Temple A bronze coin with a palm tree dated by Israeli archaeologists to 69 AD, part of an exhibition displayed at the Davidson Center in Jerusalem's Old City, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009. The Israel Antiquities Authority displayed for the first time Wednesday a collection of rare coins excavated at the foot the Temple Mount, found charred and burned from when the Romans razed the Jewish Temple nearly two thousand years ago. These some 70 coins give a rare glimpse into the period of the Jewish revolt that eventually led to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, said Hava Katz, the curator of the exhibition. JERUSALEM (AP)
  13. Mel - terrific insight. Looking forward to reading about what you uncover. -Jason
  14. Kosmo - good instincts. Here's some additional backstory and a piece of a documentary about the finding. Quite an archaeological adventure - and some terrific "moments of discovery". Story- The quest for Cambyses' lost army Short Video- The Lost Army Of Cambyses These are different than what I posted yesterday.
  15. Whatever happened to all the Neros? There's no real mention of why they now think this is a young Nero...the statue was discovered 40 years ago.
  16. I think, for the moment, a conclusion rests on whether or not one accepts the credibility of the primary scientists: Dr Rob Symmons, curator of archaeology at Fishbourne, and Bournemouth University lecturers Dr Miles Russell and Harry Manley. We'll see if they come up with something a little more concrete. Interesting thread all around... J
  17. Very interesting editorial here. I have no real historical understanding of Byzantium, but I thought I'd toss this to the community to see what folks thought of this. The piece feels a little lightweight to me. Take Me Back to Constantinople Economic crisis, mounting national debt, excessive foreign commitments -- this is no way to run an empire. America needs serious strategic counseling. And fast. It has never been Rome, and to adopt its strategies no -- its ruthless expansion of empire, domination of foreign peoples, and bone-crushing brand of total war -- would only hasten America's decline. Better instead to look to the empire's eastern incarnation: Byzantium, which outlasted its Roman predecessor by eight centuries. It is the lessons of Byzantine grand strategy that America must rediscover today. Fortunately, the Byzantines are far easier to learn from than the Romans, who left virtually no written legacy of their strategy and tactics, just textual fragments and one bookish compilation by Vegetius, who knew little about statecraft or war. The Byzantines, however, wrote it all down -- their techniques of persuasion, intelligence gathering, strategic thinking, tactical doctrines, and operational methods. All of this is laid out clearly in a series of surviving Byzantine military manuals and a major guidebook on statecraft. I've spent the past two decades poring over these texts to compile a study of Byzantine grand strategy. The United States would do well to heed the following seven lessons if it wishes to remain a great power: I. Avoid war by every possible means, in all possible circumstances, but always act as if war might start at any time. Train intensively and be ready for battle at all times -- but do not be eager to fight. The highest purpose of combat readiness is to reduce the probability of having to fight. II. Gather intelligence on the enemy and his mentality, and monitor his actions continuously. Efforts to do so by all possible means might not be very productive, but they are seldom wasted. III. Campaign vigorously, both offensively and defensively, but avoid battles, especially large-scale battles, except in very favorable circumstances. Don't think like the Romans, who viewed persuasion as just an adjunct to force. Instead, employ force in the smallest possible doses to help persuade the persuadable and harm those not yet amenable to persuasion. IV. Replace the battle of attrition and occupation of countries with maneuver warfare -- lightning strikes and offensive raids to disrupt enemies, followed by rapid withdrawals. The object is not to destroy your enemies, because they can become tomorrow's allies. A multiplicity of enemies can be less of a threat than just one, so long as they can be persuaded to attack one another. V. Strive to end wars successfully by recruiting allies to change the balance of power. Diplomacy is even more important during war than peace. Reject, as the Byzantines did, the foolish aphorism that when the guns speak, diplomats fall silent. The most useful allies are those nearest to the enemy, for they know how best to fight his forces. VI. Subversion is the cheapest path to victory. So cheap, in fact, as compared with the costs and risks of battle, that it must always be attempted, even with the most seemingly irreconcilable enemies. Remember: Even religious fanatics can be bribed, as the Byzantines were some of the first to discover, because zealots can be quite creative in inventing religious justifications for betraying their own cause ("since the ultimate victory of Islam is inevitable anyway
  18. I'm glad you wrote that - exactly what I thought after reading the editorial. Notice that he's got a book out on the Byzantine Grand Strategy, so presumably he knows his stuff, it's just not tied to anything real in the format above.
  19. JGolomb

    The Classical Compendium

    Ursus - Well done! I'm adding some of Maty's books to my Amazon wishlist right now. :-) -Jason
  20. Odd trinity of numismatic news: 1. Exclusive: Scots metal detector man finds 2000-year-old lost treasure trove worth
  21. Cheesy photo of the new hoard's discoverer - and a sampling of said hoard.
  22. JGolomb

    Logging 'caused Nazca collapse'

    UNRVers - Following on the recent UNRV participation by Dr. Peter Turchin regarding his work behind hoard-population theories, I dropped a quick note to Dr. David Beresford-Jones who led his team's Nazca investigations. Here's his note below.
  23. 'No new money' for Antonine Wall Opposition politicians have criticised the Scottish government for failing to spend more on developing the potential of the Antonine Wall. The ancient fortified wall, which formed the north-west frontier of the Roman Empire, was given world heritage status in July last year. Falkirk East Labour MP Cathy Peattie said more cash was needed to raise the profile of the 37-mile structure. Culture Minister Mike Russell said future funding would be considered. He said an "action plan", led by North Lanarkshire Council, was being put together to decide how to best promote the wall, built in 142 AD by Emperor Antoninus Pius. There is an ongoing campaign for a new visitor centre to be created at the wall, which runs from Bo'ness, near Falkirk, to Old Kilpatrick in West Dunbartonshire. Although much of it was destroyed over time, sections of the fortification can still be seen at several points, with sections in Falkirk among the best preserved. Campaigners hope that the decision to give the wall world heritage status will boost tourism in the area. In response to a parliamentary question from Ms Peattie, which asked what additional funding had been given to promoting and developing facilities for the wall, Mr Russell said: "There has been no additional funding allocated to date and each of the organisations is contributing expertise or funding to the planning. "However, once the action plan is agreed, the projects to deliver a rolling programme of improvement will seek funding and this is likely to come from a variety of sources, not just the public purse." Ms Peattie said: "It's good to hear that there's an action plan but I would like to see some additional funding being allocated to promote and enhance the awareness of the Antonine Wall. "In England, work is being taken forward on Hadrian's Wall by a management company, which receives substantial funds via the UK government. "The investment there is bringing a real return, providing excellent new visitor and interpretation facilities, which attract tourists to the area and provide a welcome boost to the economy in the north of England." A spokeswoman for Historic Scotland said: "We are working closely with Scottish Natural Heritage, the Forestry Commission, the five local authorities that share responsibility for stretches of the wall and others to look at how to develop the access to the wall in general and the way it is presented."
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