Violentilla

Personally, being a bit obsessed with Medusa myself, I can say that it may be because the image represents a powerful protection figure. The idea that her fearsome image will turn you to stone just for looking upon her makes using the head of Medusa a wonderful decoration for armor and homes, things you want to keep safe. Seems pretty simple to me.

As I recall, the Roman salute is not found in any ancient texts. I'm sure there are more knowledgeable folks than me around here that can tell you more.

This is the one I was wondering about: http://pc.ign.com/objects/818/818085.html I saw it on G4 and it looked quite good.

They are also having some rather large clearance sale it seems, but I haven't had a chance to check around for items and prices. It's still much cheaper at Amazon. 62.99 with free shipping.

This is not fair! I can't get mine until August!

This is extremely helpful, thank you for taking the time to type it out. I am in the process of dedicating a sacred space to offer prayer and sacrifice to Neptunus, and this is all a great help. Anything else that you come across is well appreciated.

However, all indications seem to lead one to the conclusion that Pirapus was more revered as a patron to sailors than Neptune... You know what's funny is that when one really looks into it, I think us moderns give more credit to Neptune (at least in his seaborne capacity) than the Romans did. For one, his temple/alters (Neptunus Aedes Delubrum, Basilica Neptuni) don't seem to have been built until mostly the late Republican - early Imperial period. Secondly, a Roman was more likely to give an offering to Portunes when departing on a sea journey than Neptune as his temple was in a prominent position on the Tiber along the road that lead to Ostia. Neptune's were not so convenient! So in his sweet water and equine aspects, would you say he was better known? Has anyone come across anything done with horses, prayers or whatever?

This is incredibly helpful, thank you.

Thank you, that has a few things I've not read before!

I'm looking for all information I can find about priesthoods, sacrifices, and festivals to Neptune. I've read of the festivals where Romans would picnic near springs, and i've read of course about his actions in The Odyssey. The only priest I've read about is Laocoon, and the only sacrifice I've come across is bulls, but I know that there are historians far more knowledgeable here. I am hoping to find out just what a priest of Neptune might deal with.

I would think that it would have the full episodes, and it does say that there is bonus material for each episode. It sounds like all I could ask for and more. I've already got it marked on my calendar, LOL.

I saw this posted just yesterday on a ROME community: http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=5521

I think that is an awesome idea! I say it with him all the time!

We were glued to the screen last night. What an intense show, and well worth the wait. Buy ROME merchandise! The mugs and shirts are of excellent quality, by the way, and though it looks like yellow print on black, it is actually gold foil! Excerpt from an article where an Chris Albrecht, chairman of HBO, talks about ROME: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ But Mr. Albrecht disputes any notion that HBO is off its game. "I feel like we've done the job we needed to do in programming," he said. "Our audience has certainly moved off Sunday nights to other points during the week." As for "Rome," he said, HBO has been encouraged by the series' growth among viewers and by a second round of critical comments, which largely moved from tepid to enthusiastic. In strict viewer terms, HBO calls "Rome" a success because, while its Sunday totals are not overwhelming, it accumulates more than 7 million viewers a week during its multiple showings. Mr. Albrecht announced only a couple of weeks into its run that he was renewing the series for another season. But in the interview he said, "That ship hasn't entirely sailed yet." The reason, he said, has nothing to do with how well "Rome" turned out. Mainly, the issue has been money. "Rome" was wildly expensive, costing an estimated $100 million. It initially experienced debilitating production delays, fueling rumors that it was a troubled show. Once it was on the air and was seen to be a quality production, Mr. Albrecht said, those rumors subsided. But he said those delays meant he had only a short window of time to retain a hold on the actors, which was why he renewed the series so quickly. For now, that means ordering scripts, which will be difficult to write because they need to cover the complicated period following the fall of Caesar. "The real reason why, even though I ordered the show, we haven't formally gone into production, is how long it's going to take," he said. " 'Rome' won't be back until, at the earliest, March of 2007. Which makes you say to yourself: When I bring the show back, can I build an audience?" Long interruptions have never cooled viewers' ardor for "The Sopranos," but Mr. Albrecht acknowledged that those layoffs had not been ideal for scheduling. "Part of the challenge for us is to figure a way to be a little more flexible," he said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/tv/article.adp?...117071109990001

Because it was more theatrical to have him killed during the triumph. It made you pity the fallen Gaul, and cheer his people finding and burning his body (even though there is nothing about that in history books either). It gave finality to his conquest of Gaul. It gets you ready to watch the fall of Caesar. But mostly it was so we could see a Frenchman in rouge get strangled.

Bad weaponry! I agree! But good storyline. My husband and I were glued to our couch for the end bits of this one, and I admit I teared up slightly when Vorenus yelled "thirteenth!" Of course I am a sap, so keep that in mind as well. I also seethed when the 'mean girls' picked on Niobe's dress! hehe.

It is supposed to be vermillion, but they sure made it look like blood in the show. All I remember was that they would paint the general's face red with vermillion for a truimph, and that they also painted the face of Jupiter's statue on some festival days the same way.

Not yet. You can probably download the American episodes with bit torrent or another comparable program, though.

I didn't know that they were Australian! I do know that exotic animals were all the rage in upper class Roman households, but I have no idea if the shipping lines went that far, I woudl think it unlikely.

Oops, sorry!

With Carnivale, you did have to know what was going on, but once you watched a couple of episodes, it got very interesting. What sucks is that we were all built up for this big showdown between good and evil, and they cancelled it. I wrote an email to HBO, expressing my disappointment. Denec is right, there are a few other shows I'd rather see get the axe.

One of the ways to help support the show is to go to the HBO store and buy ROME merchandise. I've bought two shirts and two mugs, which, by the way, are of excellent quality. Execs look at numbers, give them some.

Bes was actually popular in Rome as both a military god and a god of fertility and sexual pleasure. So, it makes sense in that respect. I think Pullo is more opportunistic when it comes to prayer, and I figure he saw the shrine to Bes on the same street and figured it wouldn't hurt to give him a nod. His opposite would be Vorenus, who acts as a family patriarch, and is devout to the gods because he lives with the private religion.

I think, and I'm not sure, that it might be the Egyptian god Bes.

Fatboy, that story is hilarious! Do you mind if I post it in my journal for my friends?