Author Topic: Classics Forum  (Read 350590 times)

Frybabe

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #320 on: June 30, 2011, 03:55:00 PM »
Has anyone read Swords Against The Senate: The Rise Of The Roman Army And The Fall Of The Republic by Erik Hildinger? If so, I would appreciate an opinion.

Frybabe

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #321 on: July 03, 2011, 04:14:10 PM »
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/myshot/jigsaw-puzzles#/recently-added/250701/1149831/

I ran across this pix of a tannery in Morocco. I imagine this is what they pretty much looked like in ancient times.  What do you think?

ginny

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #322 on: July 04, 2011, 08:11:03 AM »
Good heavens, I have no idea, how interesting. They had to do something to prepare leather for their shoes, and they have found vats for clothing cleaning.

  I haven't read Swords Against the Senate,  how would you review it?

Thank you also Mary for that interesting bit on the gladiators. On that same site is a Discovery News film  item about finding the source of Trajan's Aqueduct and the Nymphaeum, and that bit is quite fascinating, the decorations and the statement about Egyptian Blue, the only blue color the Romans used, is interesting, also.




SPRING BREAK NEWS:

Our Spring Break in Latin will begin March 4 and we'll return on March 21.

Frybabe

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #323 on: July 04, 2011, 08:54:31 AM »
Ginny, here is a review of Swords Against The Senate: The Rise Of The Roman Army And The Fall Of The Republic . There is not much information about the UNRV (United Nations of Roma Victrix), but wow look at all the books and reviews about the Roman Empire.

http://www.unrv.com/book-review/sword-against-senate.php


The library is going to get a real workout finding some of these books. Just the kind I would rather buy for my permanent collection.  :( sigh!


ginny

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #324 on: July 04, 2011, 09:16:09 AM »
hahaha, well that's certainly an odd reviewer, anyway. :)
SPRING BREAK NEWS:

Our Spring Break in Latin will begin March 4 and we'll return on March 21.

Frybabe

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #325 on: July 04, 2011, 09:28:55 AM »
  ;D

Did you get the feeling you were reading someone's book report for school? Apparently all the reviewers are using Latin names. Amazon has some interesting reviews.

There is a similar book review for Roman Medicine which is a book I wanted to get several years back but it was out of stock at the time.

Frybabe

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #326 on: July 09, 2011, 12:14:26 PM »
While nosing around on my state's website, I ran into this. Governor Corbett's commencement speech to the first graduating class of Boy's Latin of Philadelphia Charter School. He extols the importance of knowing Latin history and language as well as Greek. http://www.pacast.com/players/fbplayer.asp?video_filename=8947_BoysLatinSpeech_clean.m4v&title=Governor%20Tom%20Corbett%20Speaks%20to%20the%20Graduating%20Class%20of%20the%20Boys%20Latin%20of%20Philadelphia%20Charter%20School%20&image=http://pacast.com/thumbnails/8947_BoysLatinSpeech_clean_web.jpg

Here is the academics page from the school explaining their Latin Department (scroll down a little to find it). They get four years of Latin before they even get to college. http://www.boyslatin.org/academics


The only problem with this I see is Boy's Latin. Is there a Girl's Latin? Nothing shows up when I Google.

roshanarose

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #327 on: July 09, 2011, 11:17:43 PM »
Frybabe - Let me know if you find it.  Girls latin that is.  Maybe try coed Latin...

No DON'T do a search for coed Latin - the search page is for porn.  Ha ha ha.  Bit of a shock for an old girl.

Found one!  Look this one up.

Boston Latin Academy is a public exam school founded in 1877 in Boston, Massachusetts providing students in grades 7th through 12th a rigorous classical preparatory education.

Formerly named Girls' Latin School prior to 1977, the school was the first college preparatory high school for girls in the United States. Now coeducational, the school is currently located in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston and is part of the Boston Public School system
How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?  - Plato

Maryemm

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #328 on: July 18, 2011, 09:15:19 AM »





 
A hoard of twenty one silver denarii has been recovered during the recent excavation of the foundations of a clay floor in a centurion’s apartment of the late Antonine period (cAD180-200) at Vindolanda, northeast England

Read more at:
 http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/07/2011/archaeologists-discover-a-hoard-of-silver-roman-denarii-coins-at-vindolanda#ixzz1SSi8aToX








Maryemm

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #329 on: July 25, 2011, 10:30:45 AM »

( I missed this: June 23rd 2011)


Sacks of Human Waste Reveal Secrets of Ancient Rome

See: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/06/110623-ancient-rome-human-waste-herculaneum-science-diet-excrement-italy/

roshanarose

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #330 on: July 26, 2011, 10:59:57 PM »
Maryemm : What can I say?  It is good that someone got to the bottom of Roman sewers.  Interesting story.  Do you watch Time Team?

I liked the shark story as well.  Better to meet one IN a boat than UNDER a boat.  It would have been mighty scary though  :o
How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?  - Plato

Maryemm

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #331 on: August 02, 2011, 09:49:37 AM »

Maryemm

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #332 on: August 02, 2011, 10:08:41 AM »
Quote
It is good that someone got to the bottom of Roman sewers
RoshanaRose


Lindsey Davis actually descended into the Cloaca Maxima aqueduct in Rome as part of her research for her novel "Three Hands in the Fountain".

Now that's dedication!


 

Frybabe

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #333 on: August 02, 2011, 10:25:59 AM »
That one was one of my favorites (aren't they all?  ;D), MaryEmm.

Maryemm

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #334 on: August 02, 2011, 04:48:49 PM »


 Yes, I like that one and have read it many times.

 See that there are no Falco novels in the pipeline but a new "venture" :  "Master and God", a substantial novel set in the reign of Domitian, for new publisher Hodder and Stoughton and for St Martin’s Press, will be published in March 2012.

Frybabe

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #335 on: August 02, 2011, 05:29:37 PM »
I'll have to keep an eye out, Maryemm. Domitian was such a nasty piece of work.

I am getting quite a collection of books about Rome and Roman society downloaded from Project Gutenberg or ManyBooks.net. So, not only do I have a stack of print books (several in fact) to read, but now I have a stack in my Kindle cue.

Roman Women - Alfred Brittain
The Reign of Tiberius - apparently part of his Annals of Tacitus covering his account of Germany and the life of Agricola
Roman Britain in 1914 - F. Haverfield
The Wars of the Jews - Flavius Josephus
The Towns of Roman Britain - James Oliver Bevan
The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus - Marcellinus. This covers Emperors Constantius, Julian, Jovianus, Valentinian and Valens.
Conspiracy of Catiline and the Jurgurthine War - Sallust
Roman Farm Management - Marcus Porcius Cato (I'd really rather read Plinny's treatises on agriculture)
Dio's Rome, Vols I, II, IV, VI I guess the others are not translated or are missing.
The Roman Traitor, Vols I & II
Latin for Beginners - Benjamin L D-Ooge
Latin Literature -J. W. Mackail
Roman Pronunciation on Latin - Frances E. Lord

roshanarose

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #336 on: August 03, 2011, 11:16:08 PM »
Thanks Maryemm and Frybabe

I just recently read on About.com (Ancient History) about the toilet habits of Romans.  Fascinating.  I saw lots of Roman toilets at Corinth and Dion in Greece.  According to the article many tactics and business deals were discussed upon these loos.  They had a communal sponge on a stick for cleaning up later.  The famous toilets of Knossos are thought to be the first flushing toilets in history.  The Romans didn't build them though.  Well, they didn't exactly flush like ours do, but they had running water through terracotta pipes.  

Coincidentally, the word "cloaca" refers to the male shark's private bits and pieces.

Frybabe - Thanks for those books that can be downloaded at the Gutenberg Project.  The Josephus is the one I want.  One of the very very few primary sources that mentions Jesus.

A quick glance at the Roman "denari" reminded me of my father who was born in England.  He often used to refer to money in general as "denars" or "dinars".  Interesting how the word is (or maybe was) still used in certain parts of England.
How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?  - Plato

Gumtree

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #337 on: August 04, 2011, 02:13:48 AM »
Hi Roshanarose Hope you enjoy Josephus - I have an old and tattered or rather badly foxed Penguin edition which I read long years ago travelling to and fro to work on the tram. Wish my eyesight could cope with that now!

Denari - 'deena' used to be Aussie slang for one shilling in the same way that 'trey' was threepence (from Latin 'tres' meaning three)  and a 'quid' was a pound. I daresay the English slang was something similar.
Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

Maryemm

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #338 on: August 04, 2011, 12:26:22 PM »
Quote
He often used to refer to money in general as "denars" : Roshanarose

Quote
'deena' used to be Aussie slang for one shilling : Gumtree


Those comments gave my memory a jolt. I recall my father using the term. Never gave it a thought that it referred possibly to the Latin words. My father was born in Australia so he might have picked it up there and a lot of Aussies originally came from the UK!!

roshanarose

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #339 on: August 04, 2011, 11:18:12 PM »
Thanks Gum.  I didn't realise it was Australian slang much of which was in the early days related to Cockney slang. 

Hey Maryemm - Where was your Dad born?
How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?  - Plato

Maryemm

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #340 on: August 06, 2011, 06:30:30 AM »

Quote
Where was your Dad born?roshanarose

He always thought it was Ballarat but when he did get around to getting his birth certificate he discovered it was Coolgardie. My grandfather went out there gold-prospecting.

A neighbour lent me a book written by a 50+ Welshman who became a swagman and kept a diary. It made fascinating reading. Can't recall title or author (duh!), but he wrote about food prices and living conditions. Must ask my neighbour about it.

Gumtree

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #341 on: August 06, 2011, 06:41:26 AM »
Maryemm:  My dad was born in Coolgardie too - in 1901 - I think we talked about it one time.
Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

roshanarose

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #342 on: August 06, 2011, 08:31:14 PM »
Nice coincidence there.
How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?  - Plato

Maryemm

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #343 on: August 08, 2011, 10:13:43 AM »

Quote
An archaeologist works on a mosaic discovered in downtown Rome, Friday, July 29, 2011. Excavations in the bowels of an ancient Roman hill have turned up a well-preserved, late 1st Century wall mosaic with a figure of Apollo, naked except for a colorful mantle over a shoulder. The mosaic-covered wall is 16 meters (53 feet) wide and at least 2 meters (6.6 feet) high. Officials think the wall continues down some 8 meters (26.5 feet) more. Archaeologists say the wall appears to be in a tunnel built to help support Trajan's Baths, named for the emperor who ruled from 98 till 117. The mosaic, which also depicts a Muse, apparently embellished a room where wealthy Romans gathered to hear music and discuss art. Photo: Pier Paolo Cito / AP


Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Dig-through-ancient-Rome-finds-mosaic-1639883.php
 
...

Follow-up from GINNY


I've learned a lot about the Oppian Hill, and its origin. I was just there on the 25th and they are digging up Rome right and left. I finally made it to the Caelian Hill this year and had wondered idly what the Oppian was, and lo and behold  here's another one I had not gone to extensively.  I love the description here: http://rometour.org/colle-oppio-park-parco-del-colle-oppio-next-colosseum.html.

I understood the Golden House had partially collapsed earlier this year, so I am not sure it's open again. I first went thru years ago when it first opened and  you had to have reservations, etc., and since then they've had two collapses, have restarted the tours once  and I am not sure they are currently operating, but everywhere in Rome (and Pompeii) you see the orange fences and construction.

It's a very exciting time to be studying Latin!

Maryemm

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #344 on: August 09, 2011, 06:10:25 AM »



Heard recently that Boris Johnson, Mayor of London and an eccentric character, occasionally makes speeches in Latin! Then I read this interview:

 http://www.festival-latin-grec.eu/?lang=en&keyRubrique=boris-johnson-mayor-of-london
 










Maryemm

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #345 on: August 23, 2011, 02:51:20 PM »
Aldborough Roman amphitheatre       Tuesday, 23rd August, 2011



http://saesferd.wordpress.com/2011/08/23/

Gumtree

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #346 on: August 25, 2011, 11:11:04 AM »
Maryemm : Thanks for posting about the Aldborough discovery- let's hope they get enough funding to carry on and discover what else is there.
Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

Maryemm

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #347 on: August 30, 2011, 01:05:07 PM »


 
Mystery over Roman battle may rule it out from list




   http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-14668152


roshanarose

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #348 on: September 03, 2011, 10:09:59 PM »
Hail September!  

Octavius/Octavian/Augustus was born in September - not sure of exact date.  Looked it up - actually he is a born on the Cusp of Virgo and Libra.  D.O.B. 23 September, 63 BC.

Battle of Actium was fought 2nd September, 31 BC

Battle of Naulochus was fought 3rd September, 36 BC

Gibbon states - Fall of Rome September 4, AD 476
How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?  - Plato

Athena

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  • Hello from Atlanta, GA~USA
Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #349 on: September 12, 2011, 11:55:14 AM »
It's time for fall classes!

Hope everyone returns to the Classics Bulletin with a lot of good items.

 Maryemm, may your force be with us.
"Better by far you should forget and smile than that you should remember and be sad." ~ Christina Rossetti.

Maryemm

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #350 on: September 22, 2011, 05:13:09 PM »


Belated Report


Hoard of Roman coins found in Powys field :July 28 2011






Read all about it here at:

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/07/28/hoard-of-roman-coins-found-in-powys-field-91466-29132808/



Maryemm

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #351 on: September 22, 2011, 05:18:11 PM »
Southampton university archaeologists unearth Roman shipyard.


See slideshow here at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-15021956

More details here at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-15016053

Frybabe

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #352 on: September 22, 2011, 05:33:54 PM »
Wow, MaryEmm! Thanks.

Athena

  • Posts: 2722
  • Hello from Atlanta, GA~USA
Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #353 on: September 23, 2011, 07:37:57 AM »
This info from G. Keillor's "Writer's Almanac"

It's the birthday of Roman emperor Caesar Augustus, born Gaius Octavius Thurinus in Rome in the year 63 B.C. The great-nephew of Julius Caesar, Augustus was named as the childless statesman's heir upon his assassination. Despite Roman custom, Augustus dropped his middle and last name altogether to emphasize his new name, Caesar, probably hoping it would help legitimize his power grab. It did. The money he inherited helped, too. With the Senate in disarray, Augustus joined forces with two other leaders to form a three-headed military dictatorship. When that inevitably fell apart, Augustus remained in power. The Senate eventually decided to formalize his rule, changing the government's entire structure from a republican state to that of an empire. It was the beginning of an era that would last nearly 1,500 years, until the fall of Constantinople.

Augustus was widely respected during his reign, in part because of good works campaigns such as starting the first police and firefighting services and distributing funds to soldiers and veterans, in part because of his cultivated modesty, melting down statues of himself and restoring temples of Roman deities, and in part because of his creation of an imperial guard that acted as his personal intimidation team.

Augustus was not actually called Augustus until years into his reign; the term means "the revered one" and was given to him by the Senate. Roman emperors that followed him were also granted the term, and adopted the name "Caesar" too. Today, Caesar has come to be synonymous with emperor or ruler, but it began as simply a surname, probably from the Latin expression meaning "hairy." The word Augustus has found its way into modern-day language too; the sixth month of the Roman calendar was named in honor of the emperor — in English, we call it August.
"Better by far you should forget and smile than that you should remember and be sad." ~ Christina Rossetti.

Gumtree

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #354 on: September 23, 2011, 12:33:32 PM »
Maryemm:  Thanks for those postings - Some shipyard - and that hoard of coins would no doubt have been worth a pretty penny at the time.

Athena:  Haven't seen you for quite a while. Funny, when I was a child I wanted to be called Augusta - born in August and all that - couldn't understand why my parents didn't think of it - still can't  :D
Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

roshanarose

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #355 on: September 23, 2011, 11:51:33 PM »
Gum - It was a wise move of your parents' not to call you Augusta.  At school they would have surely called you "Gussy". 8)
How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?  - Plato

Gumtree

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #356 on: September 24, 2011, 03:52:36 AM »
RR Or maybe Gorgeous Gussie  - but you're too young to remember her - the tennis player  Gussie Moran who wore gorgeous scanties under her tennis skirt.
Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

roshanarose

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #357 on: September 26, 2011, 08:00:06 AM »
I wish that I was so young, Gumtree.  I have heard of her from my parents, particularly my mother who adored tennis.
How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?  - Plato

Maryemm

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #358 on: September 26, 2011, 03:06:27 PM »

 I remember Gorgeous Gussie. She brought glamour to the tennis courts, and some interesting newspaper headlines.

Maryemm

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #359 on: September 26, 2011, 03:32:14 PM »
Ginny has asked me to edit another issue of our on-line magazine "Ecce".

 It would be great if every person reading this were to write an article/pen a few lines/submit appropriate photographs to be included in Issue 5. It is our magazine and its success depends on every one of us.

Please put on your thinking caps now and send the item to me as soon as possible.

I look forward to hearing from YOU.

My THANKS