Turb0!

No ... he introduces this colorful prologue without ever mentioning it again. Well that's no fun at all! Thanks for the info ursus, I'll scratch that one off of my list.

Nice stuff, although I never knew so many of the Roman gods had leaves instead of penises!

Yeah, Ive read about that in some reviews and it struck me as odd. One of them said that he backs up that dramatic scene with some historical evidence though. I'm guessing that his theory didnt ring true with you though?

Thanks Sophokles and Ursus. I own The Complete Roman Army but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I've been looking into getting either Cicero, Hadrian, or Augustus by Everitt but haven't decided which one I want to read. Has anyone here read any of those titles?

Well, Rubicon is non-fiction but Holland weaves together historical events to make a very compelling narrative. Ive actually never read any historical fiction about Rome, but I was thinking of finding something to read over the summer so I will definitely look into that book.

Does anyone have an all-time favorite book on Roman history? Mine is Rubicon by Tom Holland, about the late Republic and the Civil Wars. I read it when I was in fifth or sixth grade and I've been fascinated by the history of Rome ever since.

Got Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Augustus, Livius, and Caius Marius.... Im wondering if they mean Seneca the Elder or Seneca the Younger. If nothing else that distinction could point to my propensity for suicide, haha.

Thanks barca, it seems to be a good book on the subject from what Amazon allowed me to preview.

Overall it seems to be a pretty good show if you don't think too hard while watching it. I don't buy it being a show just for men though, since there is quite a bit of sweaty, well muscled guys working out in booty shorts during the episodes I have seen. And honestly thats fine by me. We men always get the sex-appeal geared towards us so it's only fair that the women get some eye-candy too. I just try to enjoy the entertainment and suspend all notion of historical accuracy from my mind. Once you do that movies like Gladiator or 300 aren't so bad. On the other hand I really have trouble not laughing while watching this show. So many great lines such as: "We are here to fuck your women!" Also, I'm not sure why the Getai in the first episode were portrayed as weird werewolf creatures. The funniest thing about this show has to be the blood. A guy gets his arm cut off- about 10 cc's of blood and the severed arm flies 50 feet to stage left. Spartacus stubs his toe- gallons upon gallons of blood cover the screen!

caldrail, barca, and ursus- Thank you for the information! As I said, I'm just as happy with info which could disprove what I was thinking. The Nietzsche link is interesting. I have a professor who likes to quote Nietzsche when talking about the Romans. It seems that if pre-Christian Romans really fit those descriptions, then their relationships with the gods would have been more of a barter system than the kind of spiritual devotion that exists in the Western world today. In the first place it seemed strange to me that the gods could be involved in so many aspects of life without the Romans possessing some sort of deep spirituality, but on the other hand, having grown up in a world dominated by monotheism, it is perhaps just hard for me to wrap my head around the concept of a wide-ranging religion without it affecting anyone on a personal or emotional level as it does today. After all, one of the traditional Roman values was piety. Of course, the way they thought of piety could be completely different from the understanding of modern people.

Thanks caldrail. Of course, I'm sure that the religious lives of Romans were across the board from irreverent to devout, as with people today. This topic came to mind because I found it hard to believe that the majority of Romans only paid lip-service to the gods whenever it benefited them, given the enormous structures built and the elaborate rituals performed in their names. That is one of the reasons I was hoping to see if anyone could direct me to a primary source which might discuss personal feelings towards the gods apart from the desire to gain something from them. Apuleius seems to be the only good example of this I can find, despite it being a work of fiction. Cato the Elder also seems to hint at it, but just barely. Other Cato- Yes, I can imagine facts to the contrary of what I am thinking. If that weren't the case, not only would I not bother researching the subject, I wouldn't have asked for information regarding it. My hypothesis is that at a good deal of Romans experienced their religion on a deep and personal level, apart from seeing it merely as a means of reward, protection, or political advancement. I would be as satisfied with a source that could conclusively deny that as I would with one which could support it.

I've seen a lot of literature on the structure and ritual practices of Roman pagan religion, but it seems like there isn't much which talks about the way Romans felt about their religion: how it shaped their morals, how it directed their behavior in everyday life, etc. While it's clear that the old religion was used as a tool of politicians and the state, I don't buy the notion that pre-christian Romans did not experience their religion on a deeply personal level as many people do today. I would like to do some research into this topic over the summer and was wondering if anyone knows of any works, especially primary sources, which approach this subject.