The Geography of History Buffs

[Primus Pilus]

While I believe that introducing students to ancient history in primary school...

 

We already do. The first report I remember giving, probably in 6th grade, was on the Roman Empire. Couple of years ago, I was rumaging through some books that survived from my parents' library and I came across an organizational chart I had drawn of a Marian legion, stuck between the pages of a Bible dictionary; I vaguely remember drawing it about the time I was in 9th grade.

 

My point was simply that I can't recall more than a cursory introduction in comparison to the heavily weighted focus on the age of explorers through the American civil war period. I do remember a regular bashing of the Romans as decadent and authoritarian in my earlier lutheran school days however.

[Pantagathus]

And Marcus Caelius, remember that there is a big gulf between when you were in grade school as compaired to now...

 

Heck, there is even a ~ 20 year difference between when you and when P-P & I went through grade school.

[CiceroD]

Where are you from Marcus Caelius?

 

I only remember American Hisory in "primary school'

[Marcus Caelius]

Where are you from Marcus Caelius?

 

I only remember American Hisory in "primary school'

 

 

Hint: I've already given you enough info to lob a missile at my house.

 

And Marcus Caelius, remember that there is a big gulf between when you were in grade school as compaired to now...

 

Heck, there is even a ~ 20 year difference between when you and when P-P & I went through grade school.

 

 

Well, I guess that's true.

 

Is that why I'm more interested in college-age girls than they are in me?

[Gaius Paulinus Maximus]

Before i discovered UNRV i had never had or been involved in a serious discussion about Ancient Rome, i had never met anyone face to face who had even a half the passion or knowledge (which compared to some on this site is pretty minimal) for all things Roman.

 

THANK GOD FOR UNRV!

[CiceroD]

Do you guys think that more Rome related movies games and TV shows would help though?

[Primus Pilus]

Do you guys think that more Rome related movies games and TV shows would help though?

 

I believe that Rome Total War in particular has led to a great interest in further historical study. While we might often bemoan poorly produced/written books, games, movie/documentary filming and television programming, each has the potential to introduce the ancient world to the curious. We certainly wouldn't want to saturate the market with poor examples of such media for fear of turning people off entirely, but yes, I do believe it does help.

[M. Porcius Cato]

Do you guys think that more Rome related movies games and TV shows would help though?

 

Yes. Speaking for myself, watching "I, Claudius" in the summer before I started university not only cemented my choice of Latin as my required language, but it also spurred me to figure out how to shoe-horn into my schedule all the classes on Roman history that I possibly could.

 

Also, the content of the movies, games, and TV shows probably matters a great deal to how broadly and deeply someone gets interested in Roman history. I doubt that something like "Rome: Total War" is going to get anyone interested in someone like M Porcius Cato (though did you notice that he's in the game?), but it sure could fire up someone's imagination about the military. Also, nothing about "I, Claudius" had me remotely interested in how the Romans dealt with enemy cavalry (which RTW got me interested in), but it did make me wonder how the heck the Roman republic could have been jilted for maniacs like Caligula.

 

My guess is that more Roman-related media will create the demand for more detail and accuracy, as competitors seek to differentiate their products on the market for increasingly sophisticated consumers. As the demand for more detail and accuracy increases, so will the demand for historical expertise. (Obviously, though, there will still be people who are happy with merely Roman-ish movies like Gladiator and its exploding chariots.)

[Gaius Paulinus Maximus]

Like MPC says the majority of people will be happy to believe that Rome was just like it is in the blockbusters and be happy to leave it at that, i think it takes someone with a true love of Rome to take the time to look into the real history of Rome and get past all the blood and gore of the movies and delve into the "boring" side like the workings of the senate, the daily life of the typical citizen etc. To Romanophiles like us that sort of stuff is fascinating, to people who like blood, guts, action hero's that sort of stuff is boring.

 

Basically i think it takes more than a movie to get you properly interested i think the interest in history has got to be inside you from the very beginning.

[Ursus]

any other theories as to this drought of Graeco-Roman interest?

 

 

The current trend in academics seems to be to study and embrace "the other" in culture. Greco-Roman society is far too Dead White Male to carry currency with younder legions of angry young deconstructionists who want to fight The Establishment.

[CiceroD]

Well it always takes a certain kind of person to be a history buff,

 

But hopefully more Rome related media will attract more history buffs to be roman history buffs

 

as I see it though the expense of producing Rome related movies an television is the largest obstacle

as relatively few people read historical fiction

[M. Porcius Cato]

[The current trend in academics seems to be to study and embrace "the other" in culture. Greco-Roman society is far too Dead White Male to carry currency with younder legions of angry young deconstructionists who want to fight The Establishment.

 

You'll be happy to know, Ursus, that political correctness, deconstructionism, and post-modernism lost their luster sometime around the turn of the century. When I was in school, it was the rage; today, I can't find a single student who doesn't take Foucault and company as anything but a punchline. Unfortunately, that still hasn't translated into re-invigorating the classics.

[Marcus Caelius]

Yes. Speaking for myself, watching "I, Claudius" in the summer before I started university not only cemented my choice of Latin as my required language, but it also spurred me to figure out how to shoe-horn into my schedule all the classes on Roman history that I possibly could.

 

Hmm...

 

Here's a slightly different view of "I, Claudius" than what I've seen here (from The Straight Dope, emphasis mine):

 

All six writers were hostile to Caligula for one reason or another, and they agree that he was not a very nice guy, to say the least. But there is a strong tendency for the stories to get progressively wilder the further removed the writer is from the emperor's times. The trend continues apace, with some of the wildest stories of all being invented for twentieth-century fictional works: the 1934 novel I, Claudius by Robert Graves or the 1976 miniseries based on it and on its sequel Claudius the God; the 1942 religious novel The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas; the play Caligula by Albert Camus (first published in 1944 but written several years earlier); and most of all, the 1979 big-budget glorified *or* flick produced by Bob Guccione. In addition to the ancient sources on Caligula, some of the stories told about Caligula in these modern fictional works appear to be invented out of whole cloth, while others seem to be inspired by stories Suetonius related about two other imperial bad boys, Nero and Domitian.

Edited November 30, 2006 by Marcus Caelius

[WotWotius]

Before i discovered UNRV i had never had or been involved in a serious discussion about Ancient Rome, i had never met anyone face to face who had even a half the passion or knowledge (which compared to some on this site is pretty minimal) for all things Roman.

 

THANK GOD FOR UNRV!

 

I do not mean to gloat, but where I am, I'm surrounded by Romanophiles, each with their own unique view on History.

[CiceroD]

Before i discovered UNRV i had never had or been involved in a serious discussion about Ancient Rome, i had never met anyone face to face who had even a half the passion or knowledge (which compared to some on this site is pretty minimal) for all things Roman.

 

THANK GOD FOR UNRV!

 

I do not mean to gloat, but where I am, I'm surrounded by Romanophiles, each with their own unique view on History.

 

A-HA!!

 

I thought there had to be at least pockets of romanophilia in Britain!

Why does Fortuna favor Thee WotWotius?