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JGolomb

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Everything posted by JGolomb

  1. This is going to be an interesting story and will have tentacles that reach across a number of news categories. First up is the basic story from National Geographic News: Shroud of Turin Not Jesus', Tomb Discovery Suggests
  2. DC - Funny, but I don't specifically remember that. I think the Conservatives must be right - TV and Rock n Roll have made me immune to violence and sex. Yes...the book/s (Jennings wrote a sequel to Aztec before his editor and the other writer released three or four more) are VERY heavy on the sex and violence. Much harder core than Scarrow for example. Jennings is extremely detail oriented and his characters and plot are exceedingly rich and deep. "Aztec" is epic in scope (and in pages...about 1000).
  3. I'm currently reading the second of James Duffy's "Gladiators of Rome" series, called "A Fight for Rome". I have to tell you that I love it so far. Duffy takes the main characters out of the arena and puts them in the middle of the so-called year of four emperors. It's fun history and gives Duffy an opportunity to expand his battle-writing beyond your typical gladiator scenes into larger war scenarios. I've not yet gotten to Scarrow's "Eagle's Prey" but it sounds like with the addition of Roman Naval scenes, he was seeking ways to jump outside of the typical battles which were becoming all too similar. Duffy is a very solid writer and the book is surprisingly (and fortunately) light on hokieness. I'd highly recommend both of his books to the Scarrow crowd and I wouldn't be surprised if many folks don't end up favoring Duffy's story telling. ------------------------------------------- I just finished a newly released book written from notes left by Gary Jennings called "Apocalypse 2012: A Novel". If you're not familiar with Jennings, I would absolutely recommend his "Aztec". It's a story that's stuck with me a solid two years after I read it. Jennings passed away but his former editor and another author have continued to release books under Jennings' name. Below is a quick review if you're interested:
  4. I've written a review of "Day of the Barbarians" which hasn't been posted yet. But I wrote a paragraph on the impact to the Western Empire:
  5. Here's your lost underwater city in Japan. :-) Japan's Ancient Underwater "Pyramid" Mystifies Scholars
  6. This is strange...the second article I reference above was written just two days ago. I searched for related stories and obviously didn't read the timestamp carefully on the first one. The only other items I found seemed to wire-releases of the older story. So I wonder if the Heritage piece is actually new or a retread from the 2001 story. Sorry about that. I'll make sure to read a little more closely. Neil - no, I wasn't able to find anything else of interest. I was kind of figuring a few more stories would show up. J
  7. Mary Beard takes aim at the issue. She makes the most cogent arguments I've read against repatriation. My instinct states that the items should be returned to their "home". But it's clearly not a cut and dry issue. Full story here: Should the Rosetta Stone go back....where? Highlights below:
  8. I thought these would be interesting to the UNRV community: From Archaeology Magazine... Top 10 Discoveries of 2009 Rome-related stories include the discovery of palace of Mithradates VI, the Anglo-Saxon Hoard, earliest signs of chemical warfare used against Roman soliders in Syria. From National Geographic News... Top Ten Archaeology Finds: Most Viewed of 2009 The only Rome-related item is the Anglo-Saxon Hoard
  9. This is some great stuff. I can't find any pictures, but the quotes are a headline dream... Explorers view lost city under Caribbean Experts Reveal Secret Lost Caribbean City
  10. Dr. Zahi Hawass has been on an international tour pitching his new book. One of his stops is at the British Museum which houses the Rosetta Stone...an item that Dr. Hawass wants back in Egypt very badly. Here are a few full articles on the issue and I've pulled some highlights and images below. Zahi Hawass Visits London's British Museum (and 'Doesn't' Mention Rosetta Stone) "We are not Pirates!" Zahi Hawass Anger at British Museum Rosetta Stone Loan Letter
  11. Ancient Tablets Decoded; Shed Light on Assyrian Empire Full story in the link above...highlight below
  12. Medusa - you just made my day. Thank you. Enjoy and let us know what you think... J
  13. DC - thank you very much. That's a terrific complement. Can you tell me a little bit about this book's place in an English upbringing? I'd actually never heard about it until I saw it spoken of so highly in UNRV forums. Is it a commonly taught book at a High School level? How key is Roman Britain in what's taught in British history classes? I'm not sure there's any equivalent in the states basically because our history is so damn short compared to most of the rest of the world. -Jason
  14. JGolomb

    Simon Scarrow

    Nice score! Pays off to be patient, eh? So I've given up on Manfredi's "The Last Legion". I was actually enjoying the story itself and my major issue, if you recall, was the dialogue. After mentioning that on the boards and a brief discussion, I chalked it up to maybe a poor translation. But as I approached the books half-way point and read through a scene with the following: Romulus Augustus to Livia (one of his saviors): Are you Aurelius's girlfriend? Livia: No, I'm not RA: Would you like to be? Livia: I don't think it concerns you. Really? RA sounds like a 5 year old whose parents have recently gone through a divorce and mommy is now starting to date... I'm just done with these people. Romulus's character ranges from strong-budding-emperor, to mentally challenged half-wit, to brooding insolent teenager. It was all over the place and I realized that I had too many other interesting books to start on rather than burning another week slogging through this. Has anyone read Manfredi's Alexander series? It seems to be extremely popular (outside the US, at least). J
  15. More ancient Mediterranean destruction here: Libya: Ancient Roman city found off coast
  16. Libya: Ancient Roman city found off coast The story indicates that the catastrophe that caused this city's destruction was well after the destruction of Helike and Thera which are being discussed here.
  17. This is terrific (well, once it works...). I wasn't able to get into Pompeii as the current implementation seems to stop at the gates. Although it's kinda fun checking out the people who on their ways in and out... For anyone checking out google maps...go to stonehenge...I just came across this earlier in the week and the street view is fabulous. You can virtually walk around and within the stones. Now why isn't this available for the Forum?! J
  18. Yeah, but the irregular drama is a LOT more fun. I'm glad you pointed this out. I didn't quite follow the logic on the Darius "conclusion", but it seemed a bit circumstantial.
  19. Mel - great find... This is turning into quite a little story-within-a-story, eh? Any other theories you're aware of about what they MAY have found if not the 50k soliders? J
  20. Politics are starting to surround this discovery: Iran Urges UNESCO to Step in Over Lost Persian Army in Egyptian Desert
  21. New story on the old bust... A Museum Hails Caesar, Even if Some Antiquarians Don
  22. All, A timely piece from New Scientist summarizes 7 sunken cities, but does not include Helike: Drowned cities: Myths and secrets of the deep Here's the summary on Atlantis:
  23. JGolomb

    Simon Scarrow

    Artimi - Good point! I think the translator was Manfredi's wife (or maybe sister...or mother...same last names at any rate). I wondered about the very same thing through the first 25 pages or so...the dialogue was rather melodramatic. However,the dialogue is becoming more comfortable as the book progresses. There's virtually little hope for a movie to be equal to its book. There's such depth and detail that a book can provide that's near impossible for a movie to match due to obvious limitations in time and often scope. An obvious exception is the Lord of the Rings film trilogy which I really enjoyed. That being said, I've not read the books...but I'd heard from fans that the movies were strong partners to the books. I watched Angels and Demons over the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It didn't hurt that it was based in Rome, mind you. I read the book a few years ago, so couldn't recall every detail, however I thought Ron Howard and the writers did a nice job choosing which parts of the plot to remove or modify in order to work in the film version. J
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