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JGolomb

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  6. All time favorite book

    in Libri

    Posted

    I forgot to mention, "The Roman Empresses" by Robert Graves. My very first non-fiction(?) book about Rome.

     

    Right now I'm on the third chapter of "Eagle in The Snow". Hey - no blood, guts, short sword thrusts or decapitations so far! Just when I was getting used to all that after finishing Scarrow's Under the Eagle series. :) Not to mention it is 400AD now.

     

    Hey - I remember thinking the same thing about "Eagle in the Snow"...took a little bit to reorient myself before I started to find myself staying up into the middle of the night to finish it...

     

    J

  7. All time favorite book

    in Libri

    Posted

    I thought I'd throw out my all-time top books list...not just Roman-focused...would love to see what others would bring on a desert island...

     

    Top Ten Desert Island Books:

    Aztec by Gary Jennings

    Conquest of the Incas by John Hemming

    Eagle in the Snow

    I, Claudius

    Ilium by Dan Simmons

    Lost City of the Incas by Hiram Bingham

    Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson

    Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

    The Game by Ken Dryden

    Jaws by Peter Benchley

  10. All time favorite book

    in Libri

    Posted

    My Top Ten in Roman Empire Fiction:

    I, Claudius - Graves

    Eagle in the Snow - Breem

    Claudius the God - Graves

    Eagle of the Ninth - Sutcliffe

    The Light Bearer - Gillespie

    Under the Eagle (#1 in Scarrow's series) - Scarrow

    Sand of the Arena - Duffy

    Eagle's Conquest (#2 Scarrow) - Scarrow

    Fire in the East - Sidebottom

    Fight for Rome - Duffy

    Gladiatrix - Whitfield

     

    (hmm...that would be my Top 11...I'm soooo Spinal Tap)

  12. All time favorite book

    in Libri

    Posted

    I love the Simon Scarrow books but my favorites are not that widely known:

     

    James Duffy

    "Sand of the Arena"

    "The Fight for Rome"

     

    The author had intended to write a trilogy but since he did not sell enough of the first two volumes he cancelled this project which makes me very sad since they are the best novels on gladiators I've read so far.

     

    I'm glad to read that you liked these two books. I thought they were terrific...perhaps stronger than Scarrow in terms of "pop" fiction. The action is absolutely terrific. I'd highly recommend both of these.

     

    I'm sad to read that the third book is canceled. I kind of thought that might be the case based on my reading between the lines on Duffy's website. That's a shame, because he had a real good thing going.

  17. First North Americans book series by Gears

    in Hora Postilla Thermae

    Posted

    While browsing KMart's book shelves today I saw six books in this series, the first being People of The Wolf. Has anyone read this series? They are written by two authors by the name of Gear - Katherine was one? I even looked it up but now have forgotten that quickly. Apparently there are about 20 books in the series. Almost bought the 1st. (POTW) for $4.99, but put it back. Reviews I read online were mixed.

     

     

    Oops. I guess I did post this in the wrong forum originally. Sorry!

    Crispina - I've read that the books are very good. The Gears have written a ton. I'd be interested if others have read them as well...

     

    In addition to Rome, I am very interested in pre-conquest and conquest-era Mexico, Central and South America. I believe these are focused on North America...

     

    J

  18. The Future of Archaeology

    in Archaeology

    Posted

    The Future of Archaeology: 12 Expert Predictions for the Decade Ahead

    Details in the full article above. Some thoughts and highlights below...

    1: "Science will be the driving force in breakthroughs in archaeology"

    I've talked about this with friends and colleagues for a few years now. Many archaeological and historical "break throughs" stem more from what new science can expose from old discoveries, rather than new discoveries themselves. Egyptology is rife with new information brought on by genetics (watch for a new announcements from Hawass on King Tut's genes) and scanning technologies. More solid dating technologies should expose and rewrite numerous theories, and the increased ability to preserve findings should have both short term and longer term payoffs.

     

    4: "Embracing new forms of communication will be vital to museums"

    My take on this item is that new forms of communication (social networks specifically) could not only bring more attention to archaeology, but could lead to a new world of collaboration among scientists. New modes of communication, however, may also cause an uptick in the obstacles brought on by politics (at both a national and professional level).

  20. Virtual and Rebuilt Experiences

    in Archaeology

    Posted

    JGolomb, I noticed in that article you linked that the author goes on to talk about experiencing the virtual reality of SPQR in Second Life. Has anyone here participated in SPQR?

     

    I've never really looked into Second Life -- the first time I even heard of it was from watching an episode of The Office (Dwight Schrute has a superhero alter ego in Second Life).

     

    The Roman theme of Second Life's SPQR sounds interesting, but I'd like to know if anyone here has tried it and found it entertaining (if not exactly edifying).

     

    -- Nephele

     

    Neph - Second City was hot about two years ago. I'm pretty sure it's popularity has either stabilized or dropped.

     

    National Geographic looked very very hard at creating a virtual world to explore, but (rightfully, in my opinion), we opted to stay away from the rather pricey proposition.

     

    I don't play in virtual worlds, but I understand their appeal. Check out youtube and you can see some flyovers of the Second Life SPQR environment. I wasn't all that impressed.

  21. Virtual and Rebuilt Experiences

    in Archaeology

    Posted

    Maybe not the ideal topic to plunk this in, but I don't fully understand this announcement about Pompeii and google streets view anyway:

    http://www.beniculturali.it/mibac/export/M..._272501365.html

     

    http://maps.google.it/maps?f=q&source=...,245.17,,0,2.38

     

    Well, I couldn't read the Italian, but an announcement was made about this a few weeks ago. Google streetview has started to go "off road" into some historic sites...very up close and personal. Most of the street view is traditional city and town roads. Check out Stonehenge (drag the little icon of the dude into the rocks). It's closer that you can get even when you're there.

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