|
You really need to narrow that down a bit. You pretty much asked "how would life be different on Long Island in 1500, in 1750, and in 2000?" Note that those dates are all within what is commonly considered the 'modern era' of history. 'ancient history' can be just as temporally diverse. Cyrano4747 fucked around with this message at 09:59 on Jul 11, 2014 |
#
?
Jul 11, 2014 09:56
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 11, 2024 09:24 |
|
|
Claudius' journal. Or his primer on Etruscan language and culture. What are they going to do if it's like, porn?
|
|
#
?
Jul 11, 2014 12:26
|
|
|
The book I would like to be found today: Suetonius "Lives of famous Whores" 
|
|
#
?
Jul 11, 2014 12:33
|
|
|
Yell excitedly that we found new literature - and it's porn!- I expect. We're not so prudish about the ancients as we once were. And, really, is it going to be any worse than the brothels we already have, with all their graffiti?
|
|
#
?
Jul 11, 2014 12:36
|
|
|
I like the international brothel in Ostia or wherever that had a picture menu of everything you could order.
|
|
#
?
Jul 11, 2014 12:54
|
|
|
Cyrano4747 posted:You really need to narrow that down a bit. You pretty much asked "how would life be different on Long Island in 1500, in 1750, and in 2000?" Yeah, sorry it's a really general question. I guess the main thing I'm wondering about is what they looked like physically. Were they living in tents? Stone houses? In 300 BC would a guy going from Rome to one of the settlements have been taken aback by how primitive they were? I really don't know anything about that area at that time but I've always been curious.
|
|
#
?
Jul 11, 2014 22:16
|
|
|
The Celts of Gaul weren't the barbarians the Romans and Greeks might lead you to believe. Many of them lived in or near Oppidums which were hill forts that typically had stone walls and houses built out of earth and wood. For instance the Oppidum and capital of the Aedui, Bibracte, was an important commercial center with strong trade links to Rome and many Roman goods passed through Bibracte and on to other parts of Gaul. Commerce was a key component of their power, they taxed everything that passed through their territory. In 300 BC Rome is only 90 years removed from the first sacking of the city by Brennus and the Gauls. At this point Rome was far from the dominant military power in the Mediterranean. At the time Rome was still busy consolidating its power on the Italian Peninsula and the first Punic War wouldn't be fought for 40 years.
|
|
#
?
Jul 11, 2014 22:59
|
|
|
Grand Fromage posted:There's still hazard pay too. Some people will want to be deployed somewhere dangerous just for the money. A completely new historian or philosopher or poet would be nice, but I'd also kind of like if we were able to fill in the gaps with someone already well known, like Livy. where we have so little of him.
|
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2014 01:07
|
|
|
I was thinking 90 of the same poo poo we already have not filling in new material, you nerds. 
|
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2014 03:59
|
|
|
Rockopolis posted:Claudius' journal. Probably get really excited about the potential to research ancient human sexuality 
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2014 01:09
|
|
|
The Etruscan history is what I most want. Iirc there was still Etruscan oral history alive at the time.
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2014 01:12
|
|
|
How to travel in time: A beginner's guide. Once all the text is recovered, it will be reprinted and sold widely, and one enterprising fellow will use it to travel back in time to Pompeii, and then...
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2014 01:14
|
|
|
They'll open a waxing salon, which will explain a lot of historical movies.
|
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2014 01:26
|
|
|
What made the Kingdom of Armenia such a crucial client state for both sides during the Roman-Persian wars?
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2014 04:03
|
|
|
brozozo posted:What made the Kingdom of Armenia such a crucial client state for both sides during the Roman-Persian wars? Does this help?  (time period is roughly 50 BC-150 AD)
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2014 04:10
|
|
|
Beyond the simple geographical proximity, look at where Carrhae is on that map. Moving through that area was apparently pretty rough on the Roman army attempting to move through it into Persia, and presumably it wasn't much better for Persians trying to go the other way. Crassus had it particularly bad because his intelligence was coming from a guy in the employ of the Persian emperor, but the route through Armenia is supposedly still rather more inviting. The Armenians got to play a lot of gatekeeper I'd expect.
PittTheElder fucked around with this message at 05:07 on Jul 15, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2014 05:05
|
|
Yes, it's like a lava lamp.
|
Okay I may have seen this on imgur but it's a really nice anecdote from Dio:Cassius Dio posted:23 1 This same year Vedius Pollio died, a man who in general had done nothing deserving of remembrance, as he was sprung from freedmen, belonged to the knights, and had performed no brilliant deeds; but he had become very famous for his wealth and for his cruelty, so that he has even gained a place in history. 2 Most of the things he did it would be wearisome to relate, but I may mention that he kept in reservoirs p341huge lampreysd that had been trained to eat men, and he was accustomed to throw to them such of his slaves as he desired to put to death. Once, when he was entertaining Augustus, his cup-bearer broke a crystal goblet, and without regard for his guest, Pollio ordered the fellow to be thrown to the lampreys. 3 Hereupon the slave fell on his knees before Augustus and supplicated him, and Augustus at first tried to persuade Pollio not to commit so monstrous a deed. Then, when Pollio paid no heed to him, the emperor said, "Bring all the rest of the drinking vessels which are of like sort or any others of value that you possess, in order that I may use them," 4 and when they were brought, he ordered them to be broken. When Pollio saw this, he was vexed, of course; but since he was no longer angry over the one goblet, considering the great number of the others that were ruined, and, on the other hand, could not punish his servant for what Augustus also had done, he held his peace, though much against his will. 5 This is the sort of person Pollio was, who died at this time. Among his many bequests to many persons he left to Augustus a good share of his estate together with Pausilypon, the place between Neapolis and Puteoli, with instructions that some public work of great beauty should be erected there. 6 Augustus razed Pollio's house to the ground, on the pretext of preparing for the erection of the other structure, but really with the purpose that Pollio should have no monument in the city; p343and he built a colonnade, inscribing on it the name, not of Pollio, but of Livia.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2014 17:17
|
|
|
PittTheElder posted:Beyond the simple geographical proximity, look at where Carrhae is on that map. Moving through that area was apparently pretty rough on the Roman army attempting to move through it into Persia, and presumably it wasn't much better for Persians trying to go the other way. Crassus had it particularly bad because his intelligence was coming from a guy in the employ of the Persian emperor, but the route through Armenia is supposedly still rather more inviting. The Armenians got to play a lot of gatekeeper I'd expect. Crassus had it bad? How about poor old Valerian? An emperor becoming a king's footstool. I'd much rather die.
|
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2014 12:39
|
|
|
Octy posted:Crassus had it bad? How about poor old Valerian? An emperor becoming a king's footstool. I'd much rather die. Was watching Rome last week, and everybody seemed to be using dudes as stools, especially when mounting up on their horses. Was that a common thing, or just dramatic license to let us viewers know that these guys were dicks?
|
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2014 14:09
|
|
|
By the time of the late Republic, untrained slaves were incredibly cheap, and Romans were huge dicks anyway.
|
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2014 14:16
|
|
|
Angry Lobster posted:By the time of the late Republic, untrained slaves were incredibly cheap, and Romans were huge dicks anyway. I wonder if Sword Boy from Army of Darkness was ever a real thing?
|
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2014 22:41
|
|
|
sullat posted:Was watching Rome last week, and everybody seemed to be using dudes as stools, especially when mounting up on their horses. Was that a common thing, or just dramatic license to let us viewers know that these guys were dicks? Why purchase an actual footstool when you can just use the nearest slave? It's not like they're real people.
|
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2014 23:28
|
|
|
Somebody has to carry a stool. A slave carries itself.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 01:16
|
|
|
Arglebargle III posted:Okay I may have seen this on imgur but it's a really nice anecdote from Dio: Any man with a tank of trained man-eating lampreys is halfway to being a Bond villain already.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 02:07
|
|
|
Do you expect me to talk, Crassus?
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 02:35
|
|
|
No, Brutus, I expect you to die!
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 08:58
|
|
|
Crassus pretty much did end up dying a Bond villain's death, what with getting molten gold poured down his throat. Yes yes I know that probably didn't happen unreliable sources etc etc. Vincent Van Goatse fucked around with this message at 09:57 on Jul 17, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 09:55
|
|
|
ALL-PRO SEXMAN posted:Crassus pretty much did end up dying a Bond villain's death, what with getting molten gold poured down his throat. And it apparently happened after his death, so not as cool. Also, my Valerian being used as a footstool story is likely apocryphal too. 
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 10:02
|
|
|
Octy posted:Also, my Valerian being used as a footstool story is likely apocryphal too. The whole human footstool thing has never sounded very Roman to me. Like they prided themselves on being independent and militaristic, and were relatively careful to not flaunt the status of slaves or overly abuse them for fear of causing uprisings. The idea of a Roman using a slave as a stool to get onto a horse, in public, seems completely alien to their self-image. And frankly it doesn't sound that useful, since person on their hands and knees wouldn't be a particularly tall or reliable stool.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 11:05
|
|
|
Kaal posted:The whole human footstool thing has never sounded very Roman to me. Like they prided themselves on being independent and militaristic, and were relatively careful to not flaunt the status of slaves or overly abuse them for fear of causing uprisings. The idea of a Roman using a slave as a stool to get onto a horse, in public, seems completely alien to their self-image. And frankly it doesn't sound that useful, since person on their hands and knees wouldn't be a particularly tall or reliable stool. Wasn't Valerian used as a footstool by a Persian in the story, though?
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 11:10
|
|
|
Oberleutnant posted:Wasn't Valerian used as a footstool by a Persian in the story, though? I actually hadn't heard that story before. Usually the whole human footstool idea has the Romans on top, for obvious reasons. Valerian being used as a footstool seems equally petty and unRoman, but fair point.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 11:40
|
|
|
Kaal posted:I actually hadn't heard that story before. Usually the whole human footstool idea has the Romans on top, for obvious reasons. Valerian being used as a footstool seems equally petty and unRoman, but fair point. There is some version of the story that claims Valerian was forced, while alive, to swallow molten gold. One up on Crassus again.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 12:20
|
|
|
Arglebargle III posted:Okay I may have seen this on imgur but it's a really nice anecdote from Dio: You made me google what this animal looks like. Thanks a bunch. 
Power Khan fucked around with this message at 12:41 on Jul 17, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 12:31
|
|
|
Kaal posted:I actually hadn't heard that story before. Usually the whole human footstool idea has the Romans on top, for obvious reasons. Valerian being used as a footstool seems equally petty and unRoman, but fair point. Petty degradation was the whole point. Being able to get on a horse unaided was a vital skill to have so it's not like the slave-stool was necessary - Valerian being used as a footstool is a symbol of the complete and utter humiliation of being a captured emperor, and the humiliation of the empire as a whole having been beaten so soundly.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 13:06
|
|
|
I was listening to a thing today that claimed Carthage used a large number of Indian mahouts to wrangle their war elephants. Anyone ever read a source for this?
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 13:16
|
|
|
Grand Fromage posted:I was listening to a thing today that claimed Carthage used a large number of Indian mahouts to wrangle their war elephants. Anyone ever read a source for this? It's probably pulled straight from someone's rear end. There was a native elephant population in North Africa that was where the Carthaginians got their elephants. No need to import mahouts from the next continent over.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 13:28
|
|
|
ALL-PRO SEXMAN posted:It's probably pulled straight from someone's rear end. There was a native elephant population in North Africa that was where the Carthaginians got their elephants. No need to import mahouts from the next continent over. They did get some Indian/Asian elephants from Egypt though, which the Ptolemies had captured from the Seleucids. Hannibal's elephant was in all likelihood Asian. They would want to import elephants because the elephants in Carthage were smaller.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 13:39
|
|
|
I've heard the Indian/Asian elephants of Carthage argument before, the only historical source you can find about the riders I think is Polybius, during the battle of Panormus during the first Punic War it explicitly says that the riders were Indians.Back To 99 posted:They would want to import elephants because the elephants in Carthage were smaller I'm not sure about that, African elephants are in fact bigger than Asian ones as far as I know, but what you said I think is a myth that Polybius started with his account of the battle of Raphia, for reasons unknown, maybe to perpetuate the story about everything being bigger in India? Also, there's the fact that elephants cannot be broken or tamed as horses, they instead develop a life long relationship with a single trainer, and I read somewhere that African elephants were harder to do so. On the other hand, I've heard stories about now extinct races of elephants, forest elephants, syrian variants and so much bullshit that the whole thing confuses the poo poo out of me 
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 13:50
|
|
|
Ah, that Polybius must be it. There were north African elephants which are now extinct. The Carthaginians almost certainly got elephants from Syria too, Hannibal's personal one was named Syrian. The north African elephants weren't exactly the same as modern African elephants, though they were more similar than they were to Asian I assume.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 13:56
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 11, 2024 09:24 |
|
|
I'm pretty skeptical of the idea that you could train lampreys.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 15:19
|
|