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Pertinax

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Everything posted by Pertinax

  1. Pertinax

    Bedding

    A business trip has allowed me a quick visit to Arbeia (South Shields) the western end of Hadrian's Wall. Great effort has been expended on re-creating the interior of the Commander's House and the Barrack area as well as the well known re-construction of a defensive gate structure.I have posted some gallery images relating to couces/beds/dining . http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...si&img=2149 The link leads to the first upload, I will add others here and offsite on MSN. and the Triclinium of course... http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...si&img=2150
  2. Pertinax

    The Romans carried out cataract ops

    I suspect that either the chewing of poppy skins (with some residual latex) or the use of henbane herb ,(hyoscine as used today as a pre-med) would be the desired medication (if affordable). The former is accredited for dental work and the latter is more commonplace , but would require skill in dosage versus body mass . Alcohol might be a possibility , certainly id need to be very drunk. My suggestion might be that , as with other procedures, skill and speed were built with practice on the servile so the more fortunate might at least have an uncomfortable, but speedy, excision. Heres a shot from 2006 from II AVGs visit to the Roman Villa at Gargrave: http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...si&img=2143 John the Medicus is showing me the delicacy of the eye surgery equipment. Here is a previous dentistry shot: http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...=si&img=923 we can see that subtle work could be done.
  3. Pertinax

    The Romans carried out cataract ops

    Indeed, and the fineness of the equipment (from the "Italian " end of the Empire) puts modern tools to shame. Certainly macular problems and conjunctivitis seem to have been especial problems in Roman Britain (the constant references to eye salve accrediation stamps), I conjecture that a lack of vitamin A , C and D amongst non-native troops in gloomy Britain might have conspired to make this situation worse. A and D can be dealt with via a nice oily fish diet (or decent exposure to sunlight..a precious commodity here).So a dull winter with dull provisions (not unlike mariners suffering the early stages of scurvy) might have made the situation tricky for those from warmer climes.
  4. Pertinax

    The Veneto and Verona

    Hello to everyone after my unfortunate absence , here is a short blog to get me back into the swing of things. A long European jorney took me via Koln, Frankfurt, Zurich and Innsbruck to Verona and the Venetian Carnival. Verona has the second largest surviving amphitheatre outside of Rome, and what a joy it is to behold in mellow sunlight. One might imagine that Theatre is worn and fragile with antiquity, however under a patina of weathering the massive structure retains its basic integrity and is used as a major venue for opera. I sat alone in the upper rows of the theatre on one of the huge stone blocks that constitute the visible inner finish of the auditorium, the sheer weight of the structure is impressive , its beauty is sublime.Here we have a shot of the interior, (quite suitable for an appearence by Caldrail id say) http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...si&img=2132 http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...si&img=2128 This is a shot of the surviving part of the outer curtain wall, even without this structure the remaining edifice is impressive. The whole mood of the place is one of mellow maturity, I have attached some general shots of the Town which give a good idea of the relaxed ambience. Also extant are remains of the Roman town gates, two such exist , the Porta Leoni http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...p;img=2129(with exposed groundworks showing the usual considerable change in levels from the original construction to modern street level) and the Porta de Borsarii ( a later medieval name for an early structure) http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...si&img=2131 http://www.arena.it/eng/arenaeng.urd/portal.show?c=1 Well worth a visit.Oh the carnevale? http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...si&img=2127 Some more to follow I think.
  5. Pertinax

    UK Meet 2008

    Count me in.
  6. Pertinax

    Knights templar

    This is most interesting: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20071012/tts...-bed299d_2.html look at the work that is going into this project!
  7. Pertinax

    UK Meet 2008

    here's another AC! This one is "steady away" with decent beer. http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/30460/ I hope im not making a nuisance of myself.
  8. Pertinax

    UK Meet 2008

    For all UNRV bon vivant's this is an excellent place to eat at modest cost: http://www.herdinghillfarm.co.uk/index.html not at all far from the Wall.I dont know if this can be edged into the itinerary, but I do reccomend it
  9. Pertinax

    UK Meet 2008

    Im ok as well. Doc, the weather should be better at that time of year, but dont count on a heatwave.
  10. Pertinax

    "Justinian's Flea" by William Rosen

    Absolutely Kosmo, the grain was firstly the favoured food of the rat Secondly the rat did not naturally travel , but was "taken along for the ride" in large numbers. Storage of grain was related to processing in urban areas , outbreaks spreading from the dock areas to the city , the wealthiest areas succumbing last. Dissemination within the hinterland followed the main roads, where population was sparse and communications disorganised the bacteria could not penetrate populations so easily, and a flea cannot bite more than a few nomads at any one time. The more i consider the situation the more I am inclined to think that it is the single biggest factor in the military advancement of Islam.
  11. Pertinax

    "Justinian's Flea" by William Rosen

    The plague spread via the main distributive arteries of the rural economy, the main waterborne grain routes providing the fastest transmission of the Y Pestis, metalled highways providing the other route for dissemination.As Rosen observes those intimate to the storage and processing of grain were therefore the most likely to be open to infection, the destruction of ship crewmembers and transport staff would be the first major economic problem for the machinery of empire. The relative density of city supporting populations (say versus arab nomads) also pushes the percentages toward survival downward ie: general popualtin morbidity is enhanced anyway prior to actual mortality.In urban areas the magnitude of mortality was such as to undermine the functioning of city daily life, the dead were so numerous that burying them was beyond the capability of those remaining to attempt the task.Many did of course recover from bubonic infection (that is a relative term of course, perhaps 30 percentum- that would be a dire survivability rate for any other disease) , had the plague transmutted to pneumonic no-one would have survived (thats right 100 percent fatality..scarcely believable , but correct). The uptake of the three field system was painfully slow, I re-iterate , the suggestion is that a minimun of 200 years were needed to see off the actual "episode" and a further 200 to move toward any properly functioning subinfeudated landscape (so we are getting close to say 966 CE..which date may resonate with the UK members). Ill have more for you soon Kosmo
  12. Pertinax

    Ave, Pertinax

    Thank you all very much. Pantagathus, I only wish circumstances had allowed a vsit to your Nuptial Feast and a detour to the humble seaside tent of the Pater Arcanae. However I hope that (although you do not presently style yourself The Darling of Venus ) you are attending to your Husbandly obligations.
  13. Pertinax

    "Justinian's Flea" by William Rosen

    Nephele: thank you again, and i will be interested to hear what you make of the audio version. Kosmo:the three field system does not need to be more labour intensive, however the key variable in the context of `"what happens next" after the plague has de-stabilised the existing agricultural status quo , was could some area actually function as a basic agricultural provider to support urban communities?.It wasnt just the destruction of the labour force and the consequent under utilisation of "Southern" soils , rather the three field sytem allowed better nitrogen fixation by enforced rotation/fallow (and the fallow follows a lack of persons to cultivate), on land capable of supporting "easy growing" staples (I mention oats which were treated as a weed ).The "North" achieved a reasonably stable (if probably undermanned) agriculture producing dull staples, whereas the "South" was paralysed by "total systems failure".Rosen is swift to point out that recovery from the plague episodes took perhaps 500 years!
  14. A new resource page has appeared at the Ashmolean Museum's website : http://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/ Presently of the Antonine period , but looking to be the basis of a much bigger resource.Im sure some of you will find this very exciting , as I do.
  15. Pertinax

    "Justinian's Flea" by William Rosen

    The compliments and interest engendered are gratefully noted. Some references that might be useful to Asclepiades regarding likely morbidity/mortality issues: Hordern (in M Mass ) "Mediterranean Plague in the Age of Justinian (Cambrige Companion to the Age of Justinian) 2004 Biraben and le Goff " Plague in the Early Middle Ages" (in Biology of Man in History..Forster and Ranum) 1975. Christie Infectious Diseases and Clinical Practice (1969) as quoted in Scott and Duncan Biology of Plagues CUP (2001) Hollingsworth " Historical demography" cited in Stathakopolous "famine and pestilence in The Late Roman empire and Early Byzantine Empire.(Ashgate 2004)
  16. Pertinax

    Academic Podcasts

    Thank you Moon , thats rather useful to me.
  17. Pertinax

    THE TUDORS. USA opinions wanted.

    Traffic Bollard Spoiler I did attempt to watch an episode , but just drifted away from the screen (sober). I do not wish to spoil my Keith Michell inspired version of Good King Henry , its part of the cultural territory of my youth.Ive found myself in a similar quandry with Robin Hood (Prince of Modern Liberal Inclusivnesss) , who is forever Richard Greene. However , I was interested to see that viewers have noted the following inappropriate items on set : a modern concrete traffic bollard, victorian gates (near the Albert Hall exit of Hyde park ), and a splendid Tudor central heating radiator. Henry's armour in the Tower is robust, in modern sporting terms one would suggest a hefty prop-forward from a Rugby team or perhaps one of your "Fullbacks" (large running back?) from The NFL. http://www.burbage-jun.leics.sch.uk/HTML%2.../p95_armour.jpg
  18. Pertinax

    Heroes & Villains: Napoleon

    Ok , we had the usual "lets film at night to make the extras go further", but I thought this was a decent pen-portrait. It concentrated everything on the siege of Toulon, but it was coherent . A big improvement on the previous Roman effort. I thought Young Napoleon was reasonably well cast.I didnt cringe with embarrassment as I did with the Roman series.Also I recognised a street in Malta that I know, (which was nice).
  19. Pertinax

    "Justinian's Flea" by William Rosen

    Some off the cuff answers: Rosen's figure regarding mortatlity is actually a hefty downgrade of many 19th and 20 th C estimates, the actual figure is in many ways irrelevant in the context of the structural economic damage suffered by the Byzantine society ..most importantly the "freezing" of agricultural production.Learned journals of the time give detailed descriptive information of the outbreak, the episode is noted as the first "properly recorded " plague. The Y Pestis mutation from the Pseudo "mainstream" is meticulously documented, (check my blog for a previous specific entry on this particular area) The society was hit from top to bottom , Justinian himself suffered and recovered, morbidity was centered on the less wealthy (lower immune function via diet ) but mortality was so severe that the whole economic edifice was paralysed. Persia was fatally weakened , indeed the sub thread to the book is the destruction of Sassanid power , Europe suffered dreadfully , but its "fortune" was that the previously unattractive northern landscappe was able to accomodate the three field system as the nascent underpinning of subinfeudated land tenure. The road from this to nation state is a long one , but Rosen sees the scene is set for the possibility of statehood via what becomes feudal tenure.The rise of Islam is especially important in the context of populations unaffected (or less severely affected ) by Y pestis. Dont forget this "episode" was at least 200 years of ebbing, deadly epidemics, not just the first huge onslaught. Its late at night here now so thats my interim answer, im happy to take up the thread again. The book should be available via amazon edit: For me one of the most fascinating things was the "jump" of the infected flea species from the egyptian rat to the black rat , how on earth did the mutation make such a critical "decision" to go for a much more widespread host? Sheer chance and reproductive ferocity I must suppose.The mutation from Pseudo tubercolosis to pestis needs a book of its own.
  20. Pertinax

    The Romano-British Countryside

    That is indeed quite startling, what is the given reason for this enforced nudity?
  21. Pertinax

    CALIGULA (1980)

    This is the best part, because you could go home at last. The horse seems unhappy. http://youtube.com/watch?v=QwfKbSiKH0Y My only question is , why did Morrisey from the Smiths ( may only resonate with UK members) take the part of Longinus?
  22. Pertinax

    CALIGULA (1980)

    Even worse than I remembered, a prequel to the Jerry Springer special "I married my Horse" (I speak only the truth) , but not as moving. Now I must burn my PC screen and bury its ashes. In clip number two I see that Malcolm has borrowed Peter O'Toole's dicition (no Up Pompeii double entendres please) most particularly from his Lawrence of Arabia speech " greedy , babarous and cruel"
  23. Pertinax

    Greek Fire and re-usable laxatives.

    I have encountered a case today of a person suffering systemic poisoning by antimony trisulphide. This is fairly unusual , but not impluasible as he has been working with heavy machine bearings which contain an alloy of antimony .Antimony has a very strange history as a medicine, a cosmetic , part of a weapon system and a medieval re-usable laxative. Antimony is toxic if one has more than 100 milligrams in the body, indeed 2 mg is the norm for an adult. Rather unfortunately it has had a long vogue as a medication, and indeed in some modern contexts is used in the eye as a granular powder by certain devout Muslims emulating the Prophet (I am told that its stings unpleasantly). It is not a true metal rather a metalloid and its sister element is our old friend arsenic, but unlike arsenic it is not easily lost from the body.Antimony converts to a far more deadly gaseous form , stibine (a hydride of antimony, SbH3).Dioscorides was familiar with the sulfide stibi as it was then known , which was used for skin complaints and burns. The vogue for medication gathered pace in the 16th C , doctors and vets using it abundantly as an antimony salt of tartaric acid ..inducing instant vomiting and purging "ill humors" from the body At this time wine was often left overnight in an antimony receptacle to achieve a similar purpose.It is suggested that Mozart died (or hastened his own end) by being fond of using antimony tartrate , his death throes being identical to those caused by antimony poisoning. Stibinite (the sulphide mineral compound) was used by the Ancient Egyptians as mascara, kohl being the term you may well be familiar with, and the pigment "Naples yellow" made well into the 20th C is from the same mineral base (if precipitated out of solution the mineral is orange red rather than black as the natural mineral). So how does Greek Fire get into the equation? The suggestion is that , given the impossibility of extinguishing this ordnance once the siphons had launched it, that the possible admixture was crude oil , stibinite and saltpetere. This mix is highly flammable and cannot be extinguished with water.Once stibinite ignites it produces a great deal of heat. We cannot know the recipe as, of course, divulgence meant death. In modern warfare oddly enough the sulfide is used in paints to reflect infrared , so your camo paint contains antimony. And the laxatives? In the middle ages antimony metal pills were sold as "re-usable" pills..the constipated person swallowed one (about pea size) vomited and otherwise discharged effluvia, and the pill was retrived from said discharge for future use.It is said that such pills were passed down from generation to generation...
  24. Pertinax

    CALIGULA (1980)

    I remember this ironic comment: " Sir John Gielgud said he was "unaware of any sex or violence in the filmscript "after an initial reading of his salary cheque. I remember being very bored by the excess of the whole thing, my impression was that someone was trying very hard to be as naughty as possible to display how liberal they were (and failing horribly).It was a relief when Malcolm's head was finally lopped off and we could go home.
  25. Pertinax

    Ave, Pertinax

    How did I get this ancient? Thank you all.
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