Segestan
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Posts posted by Segestan
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A realistic take on the EU.
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Here is a Princeton University lecture that covers this topic. It is fascinating but at well over an hour, you may wish to take it in chunks.
http://www.princeton.edu/WebMedia/flash/le..._magnasco.shtml
Awesome lecture. Thanks for that link.
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Somnia Imperii................ http://www.ancestral.co.uk/romanmusic.htm
Roman music composed by ; David Marshall
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Thanks for the review. I'll put this book on my list of do's.
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Seems the debate is very emotional on both sides, some things never change.
"As you know, Congressional representatives, Pentagon, and State Department officials publicly acknowledge Macedonia?s material commitment of blood and treasure on behalf of missions that support the fundamental values of both the United States and Macedonia. They also recognize the rapid progress that Macedonia has made in developing a pluralistic, representative democracy -- characterized by implementation of free market principles and the rule of law -- during its now 20 years of independence. Last fall, nineteen House Representatives and four Senators sent letters to President Obama urging his administration to support Macedonia?s accession to NATO. Moreover, the United States recognizes Macedonia?s constitutional name: the Republic of Macedonia. An additional 131 other countries also recognize Macedonia by the rightful name its citizens have chosen for their country.
In stark contrast, Greece
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In my opinion, ancient empires such as the Medes and the Babylonians are often overlooked by many people. I think there should be more study on these subjects, because these empires really interest me.
Agree. There is very much to learn from the story of these past cultures. Why and how such advanced peoples rose and fell?
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Mr Charles Rollin wrote an excellent book describing the former glory of the east.... http://www.archive.org/stream/historyofegyptia01rolliala#page/184/mode/2up
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There is a good deal of research done on this topic............. http://www.livius.org/maa-mam/macedonia/macedonia.html
Modern Greek state and local politics is itself an invention of western influence.
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What is a good source material for ancient monetary policy. Does anyone know about ancient monetary policies in Rome and the Hellenic world..?
Thanks
A topic we covered extensively in the past makes a second appearance, this time courtesy of Abigail Doolittle and The Weekly Peak, whose weekly musings focus on the much fabled ratio between the price of gold and silver. Some observations:
* 323 B.C.
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Charles Rollin did what I believe was the best retelling of Roman history........ http://www.archive.org/stream/romanhistory...age/n9/mode/2up
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Thanks for the explanation guy, however after just finished again A Short History of Nearly Everything (which is btw. the by far best armchair science book i ever read), i have to ask you in the spirit of this book, "how do we know its the first gold coin from Rome?
cheers
viggen
Although I'm no expert (and that's obvious
), I think the archaeological evidence (which is quite extensive) supports the theory that gold coinage wasn't produced before this period (the Second Punic War 218-202 B.C.). In fact, gold coinage made in Rome stopped after the end of the Second Punic War and didn't resume until the time of Sulla, more than a century later.Let me plagiarize from Kenneth Harl's book Coinage in the Roman Economy: 300 B.C. to A.D. 700
Gold was not thought necessary for trade and commerce in Ancient Rome, especially after the introduction of silver coinage.
Harl quotes Livy as stating that 269/268 B.C. "was the first time the Roman people began to use silver coins" (p. 26).
By the first year of the Second Punic War, Rome faced a severe shortage of silver, requiring the lowering of the silver content of coins from 97% to 91%. (p. 30) This could have been one of the pressures for the creation of gold coinage.
Romans thought silver was the preferred medium of exchange and the preferred store of value (and not gold).
How many of us today think in terms of platinum or palladium coins, despite their high value?
In many ancient societies, bartering was still an important part of trade. Stored or implied value was to be found in things other than gold coinage. Harl writes, "Etruscan towns, the most sophisticated centers in Italy during the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. never struck gold or silver coins even though they had extensive trade with the Greeks and Carthaginians. Etruscans reserved gold and silver...for plate and jewelry." (p.21) [Harl is probably incorrect in this assertion. Although bronze was the typical Etruscan coinage found, silver and gold coins attributed to the Etruscans have now been found. These silver and gold coins are in the coastal regions, possibly indicative of the exposure to the Greek and Hellenistic influences of gold and silver coinage. The point of this assertion, however, was that Etruscans did not think of silver and gold coinage as essential to their economy.]
According to Harl, Rome preferred silver for their coins and viewed gold as a "regal medal better dedicated to the gods." "The [early] Republic, with no need to hire mercenaries and with limited long distance trade, could afford to dispense with an international gold currency." (p.49)
guy also known as gaius
Addendum: An interesting blog about the philosphy of gold, also quoting Harl's book:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/22732-why-...stand-inflation
What proof that the image is that of a Pig? Nice coin... priceless.
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I would probably say that an emperor was successful through both military conquest and opinion of the people. If they kept the Empire in line, for example Marcus Aurelius, or if you conquered new lands, eg Claudius, then you would be successful. However, if the people despise the emperor, he is obviously not very successful. So a popular emperor would be a key factor also.
I would say the number one element that made or broke an emperors place in being great or killed was .... Gold!
With gold all other attributes could be seen for what they were great leadership or a disgrace to Rome.
Before the civil wars , at least in the main , the number one element for a great leader was personal bravery and organizational leadership ability.
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The founding of Carthage is estimated to be somewhere around 800 or 900 BC
The fall of Troy probably around 1200 BC or more
Can we be sure about these dates? Is it possible that the Trojan war was more recent than is generally accepted?
Was the legend of Dido and Aeneas in existance long bfore Vergil or did he just make it up?
The Tale of Aeneas existed long before Virgil. The Romans nobles were from the Trojan blood line. I suggest you read Charles Rollins ' The Roman History' , one of the very best re-tellings of Roman History. ..... http://www.archive.org/stream/romanhistory...age/n9/mode/2up
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Thats a tough one. Like others here have already said; the out come would depend on many factors beyond unit gear and tactics alone. But my vote, would go to an Army of Phalanx over the Cohort's mobility in a war. My reasoning is the Phalanx unit was also armed with swords. the rear of a phalanx was the weak point but those men who were the back of the unit could turn and fight to hold the frontal formation against rout. If you had several Phalanx units they could form a square around missile units who had taken position on small hill for example and with enough supply, those missile units could stop any cohort or barbarian mobility. The Phalanx however was not limited still and needed heavy cavalry support in rough terrain or wood lands. The cohorts were a great fighting unit not just in mobility but in having darts to throw at an enemy before making contact thus reducing the Phalanx formations ability . But all in all I say the Phalanx wins...Just an opinion.
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btw. this is the irish poem
Yes that should be quite an eventful tour. Nice that at least in some circles , Western history and tradition are still valued. Keep us, who are not so fortunate, all informed on this Viggen.
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A typical wall would be framed with studs and then blocked between the standing studs, in other words the wood framed wall had 'windows' framed in over the whole framed area, then stone blocks and mortar , such as in a road , would be placed between the studs inside those windowed places in the walled block areas, with a final finish layer of mortar coat to allow a smooth finish for paint or marble over . I would imagine marble would have to have been pegged and set in place in wet concret points to be anchored on the wall. I have no idea when such a technique originated.
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The peaceful annexation of some states during the Late Republic (II-I century AD) was a curious phenomenon that has intrigued me for some time.
It seems that some (maybe many) countries might actually have asked Rome for their own annexation (Judea?... who knows?).
If that was not amazing enough... I is even more surprising that apparently sometimes the Senate just didn't care!
I would like to analyze first a couple of seemingly well documented cases; naturally, the first question should be if such cases were representative or not of this whole phenomenon.
Here comes Donald Earl, The Age of Augustus cp VI pg 134:
"Again,Cyrene, a wealrthy and well organized country, was left to Rome by its last king, Ptolemy Apion, when he died in 96 BC. The Senate made no attempt to annex, still less to govern and administer this unfortunate kingdom which was allowed for the next two decades to drift into anarchy. All that the Senate did was to arrange for some of Cyrene's income to be diverted to Rome and even this was not systematically done. No regular system of tax collection was institued. Cyrene was not organized until 75-74 BC, when a desperate shortage of grain and money at Rome resulted in popular unrest and compelled action".
But the amaze never ceased; regarding the wealthiest country of all (ibid):
"Egypt was also bequeathed to Rome in 88 BC, by Ptolemy Alexander I, a bequeth staggering in its wealth. Yet once more the Senate did nothing. Egypt became the playground of rival and dubious claimants to the throne".
Why would the powerful and despotic Ptolemies like to release whole wealthy nations to the Roman republic?
Why was the Roman republic so reluctant to accept them?
And your best guesses are...
Human nature being what it is most likely .... Security. In Militarily being annexed to the worlds greatest power, the center of civilization , economical wealth , security of the ruling class from would be rivals.
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http://www.freedocumentaries.org/film.php?id=214
Watch this documentary to learn the truths about who holds the worlds dept ... the money changers.
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Caesar's Messiah, a real life Da Vinci Code, presents the dramatic and controversial discovery that the conventional views of Christian origins may be wrong. Author Joseph Atwill makes the case that the Christian Gospels were actually written under the direction of first-century Roman emperors. The purpose of these texts was to establish a peaceful Jewish sect to counterbalance the militaristic Jewish forces that had just been defeated by the Roman Emperor Titus in 70 A.D.
Atwill uncovered the secret key to this story in the writings of Josephus, the famed first-century Roman historian. Reading Josephus's chronicle, The War of the Jews, the author found detail after detail that closely paralleled events recounted in the Gospels.
Atwill skillfully demonstrates that the emperors used the Gospels to spark a new religious movement that would aid them in maintaining power and order. What's more, by including hidden literary clues, they took the story of the Emperor Titus's glorious military victory, as recounted by Josephus, and embedded that story in the Gospels - a sly and satirical way of glorifying the emperors through the ages.
I am not promoting this, but I am interested to know if anyone has read this, or has any thoughts about the premise itself. Just as with the idea that Jesus was Caesar, this is very interesting material to say the least.
LJV
No chance of this theory being correct. The Roman Emperors were Already Gods. They didn't need to cleverly seek out any religious cult to make that claim. It's just pure nonsense.
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Hello All,
This is my first forums post. At the direction of Christen I decided to post here with regards to my book, The History that was Never Spoken. I just published it and am looking for reviews to help boost sales. Here is some information on the subject:
Sitting in his high school history class, David E. Gray couldn
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In terms of my knowledge of Roman Magistrates, they can tax(they can also lease the taxes out). They are the judges in courts in provincial disputes. They are in charge of the provincial garrisons or legions.
I'm interested in knowing more about you're game. It is like Rome Total War?
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Hello everyone. I was just wondering if the sources said anything about who murdered Germanicus? I don't think it was Caligula. Not sure though, but he wiould had been a young boy at the time. What do you all think happened to him and who did it? I believe it could have been poison that killed him. Not sure.
Well it was Tiberius who had Germanicus removed from the legions , sent to the east to " superintend the eastern frontiers and provinces" however he died soon after his arrival.
No one knows for sure but Tiberius has to be a serious suspect.
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In fact, if you read carefully the Liber VI of the Polybian Histories and its derived Ciceronian "Scipio's dream" (De Re Publica), you will find the Roman constitution is depicted there as neither democratic nor aristocratic nor monarchical, but as a fourth way that would have gotten the best of the other three systems without their shortcomings. That's the main way both authors explained their perceived Roman jingoistic superiority.
Could you further expand on Romes fourth way?
What sort of example ?
Mysterious shackled skeletons found in ancient Greek mass grave
in Archaeological News: The World
Posted
They appear to have been buried alive. Clearly young persons, the teeth are in excellent condition. Respect? Hmmm