Roman/ancient history: Checkmate, Atenists

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Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

# ¿ May 27, 2012 20:16

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 11:47

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Pfirti86 posted:

Honorius (really had no idea what was going on, probably better off running a fruit stand)

Wasn't he the guy who was more interested in feeding his pigeons than defending Rome?

# ¿ May 28, 2012 18:20

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

DarkCrawler posted:

Also, was the Hannibal the only person badass enough to make Romans need to resort into guerilla warfare? Does anyone else come even close to his boogeyman status in the minds of Romans?

Maybe the Germans? The Germans destroyed three legions in the battle of the Teutoburg Forest and the numbers of those legions were never used again.

# ¿ May 29, 2012 18:26

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

BrainDance posted:

I dont know enough about Roman culture, or that anyone does, but how much of that survived to the present?

Basically a poo poo ton of modern politics comes from ancient Rome.
I also read that that the whole EU project it's a legacy from the ancient Rome when most of Europe was united.

# ¿ May 30, 2012 15:22

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Shimrra Jamaane posted:

It's funny how Mussolini considered himself the successor to the Roman Empire when anyone actually from ancient Rome would have considered him an inept moron.

Even Hitler considered Mussolini an inept moron though. If he wasn't responsible for so much terrible things Mussolini would be a joke, he was pretty much the totalitarian rear end in a top hat version of emperor Norton.

# ¿ May 30, 2012 18:33

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Grand Fromage posted:

I don't believe the Viking culture existed in the classical period, nor was there really anything up there worth trading for, so no. If they did it wasn't notable enough to mention them as a separate group of people, they'd probably just fall within the generic German label.

The viking age began with the raid of Lindisfarne before that Scandinavia was pretty much unknown territory.

# ¿ Jun 1, 2012 18:40

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

WoodrowSkillson posted:

I think there was color coding in the single stripe on the togas as well, but it escapes me at the moment, its late here and I need to go to bed.

Ordinary men used a plain white toga (toga virillis), consuls wore togas with a purple trim, people who were candidates wore a bleached toga, people who were in mourning wore grey or brown togas and finally prostitutes were the only women that wore togas.

# ¿ Jun 6, 2012 17:14

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Grand Fromage posted:

This is also commonly accepted to be why things like [...] lions no longer exist in North Africa.

Or Europe.

# ¿ Jun 9, 2012 19:08

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Octy posted:

Looking at that graffiti I can't help but laugh at how appalled 18th and 19th century 'archaeologists' must have been when they found and translated those.

A lot of that stuff was actually hidden and kept from the public:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretum_(British_Museum)

# ¿ Jul 3, 2012 11:30

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Iseeyouseemeseeyou posted:

The only ancestors would be black

How did the Romans view skin color? Did it matter to them? I know they would have had blacks from Numidia, Ethipoia?, Mali? and asians. I just find it odd we never really see any examples of prominent non-whites in the Empire.

The Romans didn't care what skin color you were only that you were a citizen. The idea that people with different skin color is inferior is actually a relatively new one.

# ¿ Jul 3, 2012 19:00

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Fornadan posted:

Elephants were quite a shock to the Romans when they fought Pyrrhus at the Battle of Heraclea in 280 BC

Didn't Hannibal had one of his elephants opening it's mouth over a roman general's head and was impressed when he didn't poo poo his pants?

# ¿ Jul 13, 2012 20:32

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Jazerus posted:

So, this is something I've been wondering for a while and I can't find any sources that even mention it in any detail.

Do we have any records from Romans traveling outside the Empire? By that I mean way outside of the Empire, like an exploratory expedition to Scandia or even just into interior Germania.

Scandinavia was long a huge white spot on the map. It wasn't until after year 1000 that a monk travelled there to explore and see if there were any Christians there and he probably didn't make it further than Denmark.

# ¿ Jul 17, 2012 17:25

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

feedmegin posted:

Considering the Vikings were not just raiding but conquering parts of the British Isles quite a bit before this, that seems a bit unlikely. I mean Beowulf is set in Scandinavia, even.

It wasn't considered worth going to. As far as the rest of the world was concerned it was a barren desolate place where barbarians, cannibals and cyclops ruled. The first to try to explore the region was Adam of Bremen in 1068 and it's doubtful if he even made it past Denmark. He probably relied on the stories that the current king, Svein Estridsson, told him.

# ¿ Jul 18, 2012 13:34

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

az jan jananam posted:

From what I know about Roman history, for the most part no "master" race developed that held primacy over other races (unlike the early Islamic empire). I realize race relations is a large issue so are there any generalizations as to why this phenomenon occurred and how it progressed throughout the rise and decline of the empire? Was otherization and race-based propaganda ever a thing in Roman writing (against say, Persians or Carthiginians)?

Tacitus is interesting because he describes the Germans as poor, primitive drunkards but at least they weren't the loving pussies he thought the Romans were.

# ¿ Aug 27, 2012 20:05

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Grand Fromage posted:

In a place like the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, they're not going to dig until they think the technology exists to ensure its preservation.

There's also the fact that that tomb is filled with still working booby traps.

# ¿ Oct 7, 2012 18:51

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Vigilance posted:

Also I don't know about the rest of you but I'd definitely watch CSI:Rome.

The books by Steven Saylor is pretty much this.

# ¿ Nov 6, 2012 21:00

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

AdjectiveNoun posted:

Wasn't Asterix's village set in like, Brittany, not Belgium? Or am I completely forgetting?

# ¿ Mar 9, 2013 15:18

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Ho Chi Mint posted:

How I wish that Rome could have had more seasons and perhaps eventually covered down on the later emperors.

Rome was supposedly going to cover the life of Christ in the later seasons.

# ¿ Apr 15, 2013 14:48

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Ghetto Prince posted:

Holy poo poo, I finished the thread .... I mean, great thread, really interesting and informative.

Anyway, I've heard that works like Aesop's Fables and The Odyssey were supposed to be studied seriously and I've been wondering what ancient Romans would have read for fun? What was the classical version of the 1001 Nights or Grimms Fairy Tales?

They had joke books: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/mar/13/roman-joke-book-beard

One joke that isn't that article: A man is on a boat with his slaves when suddenly a storm breaks out. The slaves screams in terror but the man tell them not to worry since has freed them all in his will.

# ¿ Nov 26, 2013 20:14

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Big Beef City posted:

So far as I am aware, and please post to prove me wrong, are that drug/alcohol abuse was seen as a moral failing, but one that was well known and not overly criticized more than common day.

In a surprise twist the vikings actually warned against drinking too much. From H�vam�l (High speech, a bunch of sayings attributed to Odin):

11. A worse provision
on the way he cannot carry
than too much beer-bibbing;
so good is not,
as it is said,
beer for the sons of men.

12. A worse provision
no man can take from table
than too much beer-bibbing:
for the more he drinks
the less control he has
of his own mind.

13. Oblivion�s heron �tis called
that over potations hovers,
he steals the minds of men.
With this bird�s pinions
I was fettered
in Gunnl�ds dwelling.

14. Drunk I was,
I was over-drunk,
at that cunning Fjalar�s.
It�s the best drunkenness,
when every one after it
regains his reason.

# ¿ Nov 28, 2013 21:41

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

The Romans didn't like the Kymeans and so they were often the butts of the jokes:
A man visit a Kymean village where there's a funeral. He asks "who died?" the grievers says "the man in the casket."

There was a doctor from Kyme who switched to a blunt scalpel because the patient on whom he was operating was screaming so much from the pain.

They also had jokes about people from Abdera:
A man from Abdera tries to hang himself. The rope snaps and he hurts his head. He then goes to a doctor to get an ointment for his head before he goes home to hang himself again.

mediadave posted:

There's a lot of jokes about dead children...

My favourite is probably:

A fellow approaches a stupid prophet and asks if his enemy will come to town. The prophet responds that he's not coming. But when the fellow learns a few days later that his enemy is actually in town now, the prophet remarks: "Yeah, the guy's outrageous, isn't he?"

Another joke about a bad prophet:
An astrologer makes a horoscope for a child. He predicts that this child will grow up to be a successful lawyer. Then the child dies and the mother complains to the astrologer. The astrologer replies that if the child hadn't died he would indeed have been a successful lawyer.

A slave joke:
A furious slave owner complains to the seller that the slave he bought died, the seller replies astonished: "Really? He never did that when I owned him."

# ¿ Dec 3, 2013 21:44

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Frostwerks posted:

What weren't the ancients good at?!

Anatomy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_four_humours

# ¿ Dec 4, 2013 18:03

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

bobthedinosaur posted:

More of a Latin question, but what're the best Roman insults?

You assumed a man�s toga and at once turned it into a prostitute�s frock. At first you were a common rent boy; you charged a fix fee, and a steep one at that. Curio soon turned of, though, and took you off your game. You were as firmly wedded to Curio as if he had given you a married woman�s dress. No boy bought for lust was ever as much in his master�s power as you were in Curio�s. How many times did his father throw you out of his house? How many times did he set the watchmen to make sure you did not cross his front door? And yet under cover of night, driven by lust and money, you were let in through the roof tiles.

# ¿ Jan 9, 2014 21:21

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Ynglaur posted:

Now you've gotten me interested in the Ottoman Empire. Do you have any recommended reading for a good overview of its history?

There's Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2014 18:37

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Agean90 posted:

To be fair, Hades was pretty mellow compared to the other gods.

Yeah, he only has one recorded act of rape.

Agamemnon posted:

Why do we loathe Hades more than any god, if not because he is so adamantine and unyielding?

# ¿ Jun 15, 2014 12:04

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

achillesforever6 posted:

I bet the Romans would love Pro Wrestling.

They had that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrestling_history#Antiquity

# ¿ Jul 4, 2014 13:56

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

SlothfulCobra posted:

How comfortable was shaving back in Roman days?

Most of them (including Caesar) plucked their hair.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2014 09:21

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Freudian posted:

The Black Cleopatra thing confuses me, given that she was Greek. From a Greek family notorious for inbreeding.

The Ptolemy ruled for about 300 years, not even the Targaryens could've kept the bloodline "pure" for that long. I'm not saying she was black but I also don't think you could call her Greek either.

# ¿ Sep 21, 2014 14:44

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Pivotal Lever posted:

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this amazing thread. I've been reading it over the past few weeks and I'm almost caught up.

Now, for my question. What was going on in Scandinavia/Russia/Ukraine during antiquity (say, 400 BC-500 AD, from the Roman Republic to roughly the "fall" of the Western Roman Empire)?

Creation of democracy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thing_(assembly)

# ¿ Sep 24, 2014 19:33

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Exioce posted:

Didn't the Romans have some sort of contraption that fired multiple arrow bolts at a time?

That was the Koreans: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hwacha

# ¿ Oct 3, 2014 19:01

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Berke Negri posted:

but New World societies weren't backwards or behind by any stretch.

That they didn't know what the wheel was is also a myth:

# ¿ Oct 4, 2014 22:47

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

karl fungus posted:

Did Rome even have modern-style serial killers?

Locusta?

# ¿ Nov 22, 2014 13:17

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

SeaWolf posted:

Hey I've got a question about roman courts and law after the talk about imprisonment!

So we know trials themselves basically boiled down to whomever party's lawyer gave better oration and won the crowd over won the case.

As far as I know trials boiled to how many friends and allies you could stuff your jury with and who had the most money to bribe the judge. Unless you're Verres, then you're poo poo out of luck.

# ¿ Jan 15, 2015 20:32

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Thwomp posted:

Edit: Back on ancient history topics - what do we know about sub-Saharan African history? Like from the earliest civilizations to late-antiquity?

There's Great Zimbabwe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Zimbabwe

# ¿ Jan 30, 2015 20:20

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Smoking Crow posted:

I mean this isn't the first time something like this has happened

The Ottomans melted down ancient Greek sculpture for the bronze

To be fair, the Greeks chopped up Athena Parthenos for it's valuable metals.

# ¿ Feb 27, 2015 19:38

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Tomn posted:

Again, explain Chinese corruption. What, did Romans infect China too?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liqian_(village) :tinfoil:

# ¿ Mar 9, 2015 20:07

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Grand Fromage posted:

and there was running water going past in a little trench that you used to rinse off your butt sponge (we think this was what it did, anyway).

They used ceramic discs: http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/22921

# ¿ Mar 10, 2015 15:20

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

HEY GAL posted:

Killing 25,000 people in a single day, before industrialization, is a feat.

Or as the Mongols would call it: Lazy.

# ¿ Apr 11, 2015 18:19

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Deteriorata posted:

(which wasn't hard - the Oracle said a lot of ambiguous stuff that could mean anything).

Case in point, before Croesus went to war he went to the Oracle who said "If Croesus goes to war he will destroy a great empire." After he lost he complained to the priests who said that the Oracle had been right, a great empire had been destroyed, Croesus' :smug:

# ¿ Apr 18, 2015 19:17

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 11:47

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Kurtofan posted:

Who destroyed the Library of Alexandria?

Related to the Library of Alexandria: There existed a rival library in Pergamum and at one point Ptolemy Egypt refused to sell them papyrus. To replace it they began using parchment or, as it's also called, pergament.

# ¿ May 17, 2015 17:21

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