Ancient/Classical History Forum discussion and questions on Ancient Rome, including Caligula, Roman ingredients, Caesar, the Rise and Fall of Rome, Hannibal, Polybius, goldsmiths, mail delivery, and the lack of equality in the baths.

CALIGULA, THE MOVIE
"I have only seen the "R" rated version of this movie, it was a total bore. I can only assume that there was a lot of drug use during the filming. I certainly understood why Gore Vidal insisted that his name be removed from the credits."

CHICKEN, A MUST
"I've just downloaded some Apician recipes, and I'm relieved to hear you had such success with the cena! My family usually eats anything I cook. But they're drawing the line at liquid-filled chicken with hot must rolls."

CROSSING THE RUBICON
"I will assume that the reference someone made to James Earl Ray being one of Caesar's assassins was a joke. The man's name was Jamus E. Rayus."

FALL OF US AND ROME
"If history repeats itself, have we had anyone like Scipio Africanus, Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, Cato, Catiline or Cicero in our lifetime? If so, does that mean that our equivalents of Julius Caesar, Augustus, Diocletian, etc., are still in the future?"

HANNIBAL'S POWER (OR LACK THEREOF) IN CARTHAGE
"I don't know that he exercised any real power in Carthage while he was out of the country on campaign for what, like 18 years? True, his precipitous action at Saguntum took the decision making away from the gang back in Carthage. However, he really didn't get into the politics there until after Zama when he went back as a "suffete" and then tried to make Carthage more democratic, as I understand his attempted constitutional reforms."

MEDITATIONS
"I am trying to find information/insight on the organization and format of Meditations. Do you know of any work that has been done in that area? Are the divisions into books/entries done by convention or was that part of the original work?"

NAKED INEQUALITY
"Fagan argues against the belief that the baths were the great equalizers with the commoners and elite mingling in blissful harmony. This would have compromised the "dignitas" of the elite. Instead, the baths were like any other public venue where the elite would "show off" and "flaunt" their social superiority."

POLYBIUS AND HANNIBAL
"Polybios' depiction of Rome, by and large, is that it was not a predator... not aggressive."

RISE OF ROME
"I can't think of a single example in history where a professional army has ever been beaten by a disorganised mob, and the Romans took that professionalism to a fine art."

ROMAN SLAVE GOLDSMITHS
"I may be way off base here, but wouldn't artisans, such as goldsmiths, most likely have been slaves?"

ROMAN SNAIL MAIL?
"I'm preparing a brief talk for an adult class on mail and post in the ancient world. It's to be nominally a talk on the mechanics of the epistles of Paul and how they were prepared, transported, and read. So, the information need not be specifically Pauline. What did letters look like? How were they carried and delivered? How would a formal letter such as Paul's or the like be presented? In a public reading? How rich did a person have to be to send a letter beyond the next villlage?"

ROMAN VOTER RECOUNTS
"When this happened the officials could hire a haruspec (soothsayer) to divine the deceased voter's intention by watching the way his dead body swung from the scaffold. This was referred to as a 'hanging shard.'"

SLOVENLY ROMAN FORTS
"Hey, they lived together with their horses: 'One surprising fact discovered by Dr McCarthy is that Roman horses were not kept in separate stables but lived with the soldiers in their barrack blocks.'"

TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU KNOW -- AND FAST!
"What can you tell me about the "First Triumvirate" between Caesar, Pompeyand Crassus. I need your help really soon, because in just 9 hours I´m going to have a discourse about that."

VOLCANOS AND CIVIL WAR?
"I'm looking for information on possible climate change in marginal areas of the Roman Empire, specifically Britain 154-181. I'm aware of dendrochronology evidence, also possibility of civil unrest in several centres. Could this be linked to volcanic activity?"