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Who the gently caress is Marcus Lisinius Crassus?  e: oh jesus this is not top-of-page material.
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Mar 11, 2015 02:30
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Yes, it's like a lava lamp.
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RZApublican posted:I didn't know the Romans had those, how did they work? There are some schematics if you GIS for Roman elevator. Basically it was a platform, a pulley, some ropes and some dudes. There's more to it but that's the fundamental engineering concept.
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Mar 11, 2015 03:08
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Some engineering concepts suddenly become easier if you have a bunch of slaves do the grunt work.
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Mar 11, 2015 03:19
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Tomn posted:ban midget gladiatorial combats today Allegedley Commodus used to have midgets brought in to fight so that he could pretend to be a giant in his gladiatorial bouts. No idea if that actually happened but it's Commodus so nothing can be ruled out.
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Mar 11, 2015 03:29
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MrNemo posted:Allegedley Commodus used to have midgets brought in to fight so that he could pretend to be a giant in his gladiatorial bouts. No idea if that actually happened but it's Commodus so nothing can be ruled out. The wikipedia entry on Commodus is always good for a laugh Wikipedia posted:Perhaps seeing this as an opportunity, early in 192 Commodus, declaring himself the new Romulus, ritually re-founded Rome, renaming the city Colonia Lucia Annia Commodiana. All the months of the year were renamed to correspond exactly with his (now twelve) names: Lucius, Aelius, Aurelius, Commodus, Augustus, Herculeus, Romanus, Exsuperatorius, Amazonius, Invictus, Felix, Pius. The legions were renamed Commodianae, the fleet which imported grain from Africa was termed Alexandria Commodiana Togata, the Senate was entitled the Commodian Fortunate Senate, his palace and the Roman people themselves were all given the name Commodianus, and the day on which these reforms were decreed was to be called Dies Commodianus.[6] Especially the part about the senate given everything else Commodus ever did to the senate, that's some fine dark comedy.
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Mar 11, 2015 03:39
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euphronius posted:They were always related but different but then became closer again over time when Rome conquered Greece. There are still roman deities with no Greek analog. Also, you'll note that the Roman gods were more aloof than the Greek gods. If Jupiter doesn't like you he'll hit you with lightning or have an eagle poo poo on your hat. If Zeus doesn't like you, he'll go gently caress your wife or something.
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Mar 11, 2015 04:13
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PittTheElder posted:They're actually quite distinct if you really look at them (or so I've been told by people in this thread). But Roman religion is very syncretic, so it definitely adopts aspects of other religions who seem to be on to something. Agean90 posted:They developed from the same Indo-european predecessor religion, then mixed when greece got conquered. euphronius posted:They were always related but different but then became closer again over time when Rome conquered Greece. There are still roman deities with no Greek analog. Oh ok. I guess they just seemed like rip-offs because Greece and Rome have so often been lumped together. "Greco-Roman", "Classical civilization", and so on. So they always seemed pretty much the same. But i'm sure there are tons of subtle differences. I know that togas are a Roman thing, for example. Fun fact: "Hercules" is actually the Roman name for the mythological figure. The actual Greek name is "Herakles".
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Mar 11, 2015 04:31
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I like to picture it as this family tree separating, and then pulling together again. Ala the Hapsburg family tree. I had a high school textbook that suggested Zeus-pater -> Jupiter as a legit linguistic theory on the origin of the god's name. Is that still an accepted theory? Polytheism in the Med. is kinda really weird. Herodotus has a great couple of sections running down all these weird Egypt cults and trying to sort out whose version of <x> or <y> came first. It's just very casual about "here they call Dionysus Smarbeldarb and worship him by doing these things. The temple priests tell me they have been worshiping here since the time of Pharoh Big Dick the Eighth." I also like how he goes "a bunch of Egyptians tell me that Helen ended up here instead of going all the way to Troy... seems they seem trustworthy, and that's a plausible enough story for me. In conclusion, Helen never made it to Troy."
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Mar 11, 2015 05:04
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I'd like to know if any scholars have tried creating a family tree of Semitic religions to match what they've made for the Indo-Europeans.
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Mar 11, 2015 06:20
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I love the bit from The Birds where Prometheus shows up holding an umbrella. Gods can't see you if you're under an umbrella.
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Mar 11, 2015 07:02
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Blue Star posted:Oh ok. I guess they just seemed like rip-offs because Greece and Rome have so often been lumped together. "Greco-Roman", "Classical civilization", and so on. So they always seemed pretty much the same. But i'm sure there are tons of subtle differences. I know that togas are a Roman thing, for example. My go-to for this question is read about Ares and Mars. They're both the god of war and are considered equivalent in the Greek-Roman syncretism, but are vastly different figures in their personalities, their myths, and their position in the culture.
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Mar 11, 2015 10:43
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the JJ posted:I like to picture it as this family tree separating, and then pulling together again. Ala the Hapsburg family tree. I had a high school textbook that suggested Zeus-pater -> Jupiter as a legit linguistic theory on the origin of the god's name. Is that still an accepted theory? Not *Zeus-pater, but PIE *djous patēr. *djous meant "day, sky", so, you know, our father who art in heaven. quote:I also like how he goes "a bunch of Egyptians tell me that Helen ended up here instead of going all the way to Troy... seems they seem trustworthy, and that's a plausible enough story for me. In conclusion, Helen never made it to Troy." That either was or later became a Greek tradition too. Euripides wrote a play on Helen in Egypt.
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Mar 11, 2015 11:06
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Ras Het posted:Not *Zeus-pater, but PIE *djous patēr. *djous meant "day, sky", so, you know, our father who art in heaven. I'd always thought that Zeus and the Latin word deus were descendants of a proto Indo-European word which meant "god" (the same origin of the proto-Germanic tiwaz, which gives us Tyr). Is this not the case, or does this word for "sky" also or later mean "god"?
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Mar 11, 2015 13:48
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Both "god" and "sky" share the same root! Not hard to figure out who ancient humans worshipped!
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Mar 11, 2015 14:06
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deadking posted:I'd always thought that Zeus and the Latin word deus were descendants of a proto Indo-European word which meant "god" (the same origin of the proto-Germanic tiwaz, which gives us Tyr). Is this not the case, or does this word for "sky" also or later mean "god"? They descent from different declensions of the same word I believe. Like how Latin has both Iuppiter and deus. But yes, the chief deity of Indo-European religion was (or is, if we take Hinduism as its descendant) the male god of the sky (comparable to traditional Central Asian religion), and the ideas are deeply intertwined. An example: the Finnish word for "sky, heaven" is taivas, a loanword which descents from the name of a PIE, Balto-Slavic or proto-Iranian sky deity... much like, say, the word deity.
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Mar 11, 2015 14:06
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quote:Fun fact: "Hercules" is actually the Roman name for the mythological figure. The actual Greek name is "Herakles". Hercules is also a pretty good example of the Romans lifting a god (well, demi-god) straight outta Greece.
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Mar 11, 2015 14:07
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sullat posted:Hercules is also a pretty good example of the Romans lifting a god (well, demi-god) straight outta Greece. Except that he came to the Latins via the Etruscans, I believe.
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Mar 11, 2015 14:09
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The Etruscans had close contacts with the Greeks way before Rome was even a poo poo-stinking town of convicts and Etrucscan colonists.
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Mar 11, 2015 14:11
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I have a question about how the Roman approach to foreign relations worked during the late Republic/Early Imperial phases- The Roman Empire was huge, and despite a really neat message relay/road system, I'm pretty sure a message coming from outside of Italy would take a while to reach the Senate. What did they do to address frontiers or border territories next to suspicious/hostile civilizations? Did provincial governors or military commanders possess any sort of autonomy with foreign policy issues, or did they wait for a message to make it to and from the Senate about the matter? I know they usually kept a prominent Roman with experience in the region to help with governance, but did that person have the ability to act unilaterally in a crisis? Related to this, I'm also looking for any sources I can pick up about the reach and effectiveness of Roman territorial management if anyone has any.
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Mar 11, 2015 20:08
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Ras Het posted:Except that he came to the Latins via the Etruscans, I believe. And kept going until he hit Japan.
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Mar 11, 2015 21:19
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Provincial administrators did have a fair amount of autonomy to govern their provinces and deal with emergencies in a hurry. It probably took less time than you believe to communicate in the ancient world. Using Orbis (http://orbis.stanford.edu/), the length of the trip from Rome to Alexandria by sea was about 14 days. A message sent by relay from Rome to Trier would have taken about a week. Extremely pressing issues, like imminent invasion or domestic unrest would have been sent by this method, but you're still looking at two weeks between when you send the message from Germany until the point you can expect a reply, under a best case scenario. In the event of a barbarian invasion, administrators or generals would send a dispatch to the next province over. There are probably a lot of sources on territorial management of the Roman Empire. The first person that pops into my head is David Kennedy, who focused much of his career on the Roman frontier in the East: https://uwa.academia.edu/DavidKennedy
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Mar 11, 2015 21:19
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Komet posted:Provincial administrators did have a fair amount of autonomy to govern their provinces and deal with emergencies in a hurry. It probably took less time than you believe to communicate in the ancient world. Using Orbis (http://orbis.stanford.edu/), the length of the trip from Rome to Alexandria by sea was about 14 days. A message sent by relay from Rome to Trier would have taken about a week. Extremely pressing issues, like imminent invasion or domestic unrest would have been sent by this method, but you're still looking at two weeks between when you send the message from Germany until the point you can expect a reply, under a best case scenario. In the event of a barbarian invasion, administrators or generals would send a dispatch to the next province over. There are probably a lot of sources on territorial management of the Roman Empire. The first person that pops into my head is David Kennedy, who focused much of his career on the Roman frontier in the East: https://uwa.academia.edu/DavidKennedy Hey thanks, I knew that the correspondence times were comparatively speedy but was unsure about the other items you covered. I also really appreciate the source recommendation!
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Mar 11, 2015 22:14
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Also, proconsular governors had the authority of the consul, including over the legions in the province. They didn't have to mail home to ask about what to do in an invasion.
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Mar 11, 2015 22:26
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I really like the Pro- system, as a means of delegating authority. it seems so neat and tidy, though obviously it had risks.
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Mar 11, 2015 22:36
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Speaking of ISIL
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Mar 12, 2015 00:51
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Tunicate posted:Speaking of ISIL I will cry manly tears whenever this inevitably happens. Nobody is going to stop them from doing poo poo like this.
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Mar 12, 2015 01:02
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edit: never mind.
NLJP fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Mar 12, 2015 |
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Mar 12, 2015 04:06
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Tunicate posted:Speaking of ISIL The pyramids are going to be several times harder to damage, but security is apparently lax. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/10/porno-at-pyramids_n_6822358.html (It's a Kuwaiti preacher pushing for this, the Egyptians think it's nuts)
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Mar 12, 2015 05:00
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Tunicate posted:Speaking of ISIL    Reason number 7658654 Why these guys and their ideology must be fought and hopefully annihilated.
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Mar 12, 2015 05:54
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Tunicate posted:Speaking of ISIL I kinda suspect the actual Egyptians would be wildly against this. If nothing else, it'd play merry hell on the tourism industry, and isn't that rather important to Egypt? Aside from that, nationalist pride I suspect is going to override any religious sensibilities here.
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Mar 12, 2015 09:14
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I'm less concerned about that one, yeah. Egypt has its own issues but I don't see them falling to IS or the Egyptians destroying their history.
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Mar 12, 2015 09:18
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The pyramids are more likely to be damaged from the thousands of tourists that walk all over them every year.
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Mar 12, 2015 09:39
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Noctis Horrendae posted:I will cry manly tears whenever this inevitably happens. Nobody is going to stop them from doing poo poo like this. Maybe the actual Egyptian people and government? I'm not sure why people are agonizing over some powerless desire to destroy monuments miles away from their current location. Anyway, who's considered the absoluted worst Roman Emperor? Kurtofan fucked around with this message at 09:59 on Mar 12, 2015 |
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Mar 12, 2015 09:52
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Kurtofan posted:Maybe the actual Egyptian people and government? I'm not sure why people are agonizing over some powerless desire to destroy monuments miles away from their current location. I'm not sure why people care about who was the worst emperor of a now defunct civilization. (See what I did there?) Dude. Do you think the people in Iraq and Syria want this to happen? No. But it is. And Egypt is a stone throw away and in the last few years, has not been the most stable country. It could happen there just like its happening elsewhere. Although I don't worry too much about the pyramids, (considering they've withstood millenia's, countless wars and tourism) but the same cannot be said for most sites.
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Mar 12, 2015 10:15
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It hasn't even happened yet is what I mean, no need to be so fatalistic about everything.
Kurtofan fucked around with this message at 11:20 on Mar 12, 2015 |
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Mar 12, 2015 10:38
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[quote="Kurtofan" post=""4426363"] Anyway, who's considered the absoluted worst Roman Emperor? [/quote] Probably Commodus Smoking Crow fucked around with this message at 13:40 on Mar 12, 2015 |
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Mar 12, 2015 13:29
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I'm just looking forward to the IS declaring the sun and moon idolatrous and ordering them to be destroyed. Not sure what they're going about the sky, or the stars, but hey, baby steps.
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Mar 12, 2015 13:33
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Rockopolis posted:I'm just looking forward to the IS declaring the sun and moon idolatrous and ordering them to be destroyed. Not sure what they're going about the sky, or the stars, but hey, baby steps. I'd be pretty OK with this if this involved firing AKs at the sun during high noon.
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Mar 12, 2015 13:53
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Earth is also pretty idolatrous, Gaia everyone? Time to blow up the Earth. Drill, baby, drill 
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Mar 12, 2015 15:10
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Smoking Crow posted:Probably Commodus Not Caligula???
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Mar 12, 2015 16:04
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