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Thursday, January 30, 2003 Slitherine announces Chariots of War ( 2:17 PM ) Mary Slitherine, the developers of "Legion" have announced a new game "Chariots of War". It sounds like great fun with some elements sounding very familiar to those of us that have played Caesar III. "Slitherine Strategies are pleased to announce that their latest game - Chariots of War - will be released in Spring 2003. " "4000 years ago in the Cradle of Civilization, mighty Empires fought for water, resources and the arable land in the Fertile Crescent. Play the Egyptians in Chariots of War, Babylonians in bronze armour, screaming Nubian warriors, and the Assyrians behind their walls of stone. Develop your country by producing commodities and sell them to your neighbours. Raise glorious armies and wage wars of conquest. Roll over the plains in the childhood of Mankind with your Chariots of War! " "Chariots of War is a turn based strategy game with real time battles, though you do not directly control the battles. It is an extension of the Legion engine so you will be familiar with many of the game elements if you have played Legion. Some areas of the game have been completely rewritten such as diplomacy & AI as we've tried to build on the success of Legion and alter the areas people were not so happy with. There are also a host of new features, some of which are listed below." * High resolution 1024x768 graphics engine that brings the ancient world to life. * Play one of 58 different nations on a large & beautiful grand campaign map covering the whole Middle East including 164 cities and 80 minor settlements. There are 10 types of nations each with their own unique units. Smaller campaigns are also included for gamers who want a shorter game. * Build hundreds buildings and city improvements, and re-fine 9 different resources such as Myrrh, Gems and Horses. * A Random event system that depicts the Era in colourfully detail, recreating historical phenomena such as Earth-quakes, Floods and Locusts storms. * The Happiness and welfare of the inhabitants of your cities will depend on overpopulation, recruitment levels, garrisons and food, and by developing temples, entertainment and other buildings you keep revolters at bay * Advances will increase the development of your tribe. * Recruit units from nearly thirty different troop types for you invincible armies * Barbarian tribes will roam the land, attacking anything they meet. * Trade allows you to buy and sell the 9 resources. Different areas of the map have access to different resources so trade is key. * Diplomats can be sent out to gather information. You can eject enemy diplomats in a number of gory ways. For the latest up to date information visit their website at http://www.slitherine.co.uk or you can post questions and ideas at the Chariots of War message Forum at http://www.europa-universalis.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=144. # posted by Mary Harrsch on 2:17 PM | link
Gladiators: Romes Violent Past to air on Discovery Channel
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Monday, January 27, 2003 Cato and His Heirs: Roman Ideals of Suicide ( 9:34 AM ) Mary In this morning's lecture Dr. Fagan described Cato's graphic suicide. I had never heard the details before. He apparently fell on his sword. His servants heard his moans and found him and sewed him up and bandaged him. When they left him alone, he ripped off the bandages pulled out the stitches with his fingers then yanked out his own intestines. Now that was a determined man! Suicide has been supported by a number of prominent Roman writers and philosophers: Seneca, a passionate defender of suicide, writes that "the wise man will live as long as he ought, not as long as he can" and adds that "the best thing which eternal law ever ordained was that it allowed us one entrance into life, but many exits" (Epistulae 70.4; 70.14). Similarly, the elder Pliny writes, "the chief consolation for nature's imperfection in the case of man is that not even for a god are all things possible - for he cannot, even if he wishes, kill himself, the supreme boon that nature has bestowed on man among all the penalties of life" (Natural History 2.27). Lucan extols "the glory of suicide" arguing that "no man’s life is too short if it affords him time to contrive his own death" (Pharsalia 4.478-80). For Lucan, suicide is sweet and fitting, but "only those whose onrushing fate is already upon them are granted this revelation: those who will go on living – the gods keep them in the dark, that they may endure to live on: death is a blessing!" (Pharsalia 4.517-20). The Stoic philosopher Epictetus uses elaborate metaphors to endorse suicide: "Above all, remember that the door stands open. Do not be more fearful than children. But, just as when they are tired of the game they cry, ‘I will play no more,’ so too when you are in a similar situation, cry, ‘I will play no more’ and depart. But if you stay, do not cry." Similarly, he later adds, "Is there smoke in the room? If it is slight, I remain. If it is grievous, I quit it" (Discourses 1.24-25). Roman writers advocating suicide often praised it as a path to freedom. For Lucan this can mean a freedom from fear of death itself: "Make death your choice, and all fear vanishes" (Pharsalia 4.485). For Seneca, life is nothing but "bonds of slavery" subjugating men to the whims of Fortune. However, although "Fortune has all power over one who lives . . . she has no power over one who knows how to die" (Ep. 70.6). Lucan agrees: "It is no arduous feat to escape slavery by one’s own hand . . . weapons were granted that none need live as slave" (Pharsalia 4.576-8). Plutarch has Cato express a similar sentiment when his sword is brought to him the evening before his suicide: "Now I am master of myself," he declares (Lives, Life of Cato the Younger, pg. 959). Seneca eloquently sums up this idea of suicide as an expression of freedom in De Ira: In whatever direction you may turn your eyes, there lies the means to end your woes. Do you see that precipice? Down that is the way to liberty. Do you see that sea, that well? There sits liberty - at the bottom. Do you see that tree, stunted, blighted and barren? Yet from its branches hangs liberty. Do you see that throat of yours, your gullet, your heart? They are ways of escape from servitude. Are the ways of egress I show you too toilsome, do they require too much courage and strength? Do you ask what is the highway to liberty? Any vein in your body (3.15.4)." However, suicide was not universally accepted by Roman society: "To a defeated Roman general, all his options other than suicide were effectively fates worse than death. If he had been defeated by a non-Roman enemy, he faced capture and likely execution – both unbearable humiliations. If his enemy was another Roman faction, he faced either execution and its attendant humiliations (such as having his head paraded through Rome), or else, perhaps worst of all, clemency from his conqueror. Roman aristocrats, who prided themselves on being utterly equal to their peers, could not abide being beholden to anyone for anything, and what debt could be greater than owing another one’s very life? Avoiding the dishonor of being pardoned was probably one of Cato’s primary motives for committing suicide, as Caesar prided himself on his clemency. Indeed, Caesar is supposed to have said, upon learning of Cato’s suicide, "Cato, I grudge you your death, as you have grudged me the preservation of your life" (Plutarch, Cato the Younger 959). " # posted by Mary Harrsch on 9:34 AM | link
Friday, January 24, 2003 Caesars Gallic Wars by C. M. Gilliver. ISBN: 1841763055 ( 9:20 AM ) Mary Osprey has a new book entitled "Caesar's Gallic Wars" by C.M Gilliver. ISBN: 1841763055 "Gilliver studied Classics and Classical Archaeology at King's College London and took her PhD in Roman Military Theory at The Institute of Archaeology, University College London. She is lecturer in Ancient History at Cardiff University and is the author of The Roman Art of War (1999). She is currently preparing a book on Roman siege warfare and was the historical ccnsultant for a BBC Timewatch programme on Roman soldiers." # posted by Mary Harrsch on 9:20 AM | link
Thursday, January 23, 2003 Encaustic Painting and the Fayum Portraits ( 10:18 AM ) Mary Last night I received a beautifully illustrated book "The Mysterious Fayum Portraits: Faces From Ancient Egypt" by EUPHROSYNE DOXIADIS. I've been fascinated by Fayum portraits ever since I saw one at the "Splendors of Ancient Egypt " exhibit (http://www2.sptimes.com/Egypt/Artifacts/Default.html) several years ago. I particularly liked the portrait of Aline, daughter of Herodas, an example of the tempera technique. I also liked a male portrait with an oil-paint texture that the author suggests indicated the wax was applied cold as in the Punic wax technique. "Pliny and Dioscorides, both men of Ancient history, give very similar recipes for Punic Wax. They told of a process where beeswax is boiled in salt sea water then strained through cheese cloth to remove impurities. This was done several times. They then decreed that the wax be left in sun or moonlight for several days to better bleach it. After this the wax needed to be saponified (made soap-like) by adding sodium hydrogen carbonate (Sodium Bicarbonate). This was mixed together and then later, drained again through cheesecloth, rinsed in lukewarm water and finally air dried. It would then probably have been tempered for painting by mixing with other naturally available ingredients: oil to improve and help keep it fluid (perhaps linseed) egg yolk to improve adhesion to the support and add resilience to the wax making it slightly harder. These components when combined into a medium and mixed with pigment certainly produce a workable paint that enables results of very similar visual character to those found in Ancient Roman Egypt. " One of the most beautiful portraits, an Antonine woman, was produced using the more typical encaustic hot wax technique. "The wax would be heated and once molten the pigments might have been blended into a volume of wax and applied to the wood surface by brush. For finer colouring or smaller quantities it might have been more practical to dip a brush into some molten wax then blend this on a heated palette surface with small amounts of pigment, perhaps laid out in bowls so that the brush tip could just be dipped in to collect the right amount of the powder. For many portraits, the main body of colour was applied using the brushes and then afterwards tooled with special hot or cold instruments to form greater blending, texturing and variety of thickness: Cautarium - probably a type of metal palette knife that could be used heated to blend the wax colours Cestrum - a small needle like pointed item that may have been used to draw into the wax cold or perhaps it was heated. It may also have been used more directly in the molten wax. Pencillium - brushes used to apply most of the wax colour and backgrounds in the portraits. " http://www.encaustic.com/features/history/history.html 
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Wednesday, January 22, 2003 ( 10:09 AM ) Mary In discussing the reasons for the rise of the Roman Empire, Dr. Fagan mentioned that there are three perspectives with a sizable following all based on much more modern contexts. He said Momsen explained the rise of the empire because of a perceived need to defend territory and new allies. This perspective, he pointed out, was quite popular with Momsen's contemporaries because of the extensive European empires developed from colonization thriving at that time. He said in 1979, a theory was promoted that viewed Rome as essentially the typical "evil" empire that expanded based on "might makes right". He pointed out that this theory was, of course, popular with the post-Vietnam, post-Nixon Watergate crowd. He said more recently a theory has been put forward based on a systems approach. It concludes that the empire evolved because Rome's confederation put so much manpower at it's disposal it had to do SOMETHING with them. (Although as a technologist and a practioner of the systems approach in many arenas, I find this explanation the least viable to me). Dr. Fagan himself expressed his belief that the rise of Rome was a dynamic process and not particularly attributable to one specific reason. I agree with him more than the somewhat simplistic explanations above. For example, Rome clashed with Philip V over his support of Carthage and domination of Greece but withdrew their troops after a treaty was reached. It took three more conflicts with Philip, Perseus, etc. before Rome finally resorted to annexing Macedonia as a province. So it does not appear to me to be a straightforward methodical process of conquest merely for the sake of expansion. In fact, I was curious why the Greeks could be convinced to "rebel" against Rome when Rome had willingly withdrawn its troops. Philip was hardly an admirable character: "When they had defeated Carthage, the Romans saved Athens after Philip's forces sacked the suburbs. The Romans then invaded Macedonia, and supported by the Aetolian league, defeated the Macedonian army in Thessaly in 197 BC. The poet Alcaeus, who satirized Philip for attacking everything except Mount Olympus and for poisoning Epicrates and Callias wrote the following epigram: Not wept for and not buried in this tomb we lie, traveler, thirty-thousand men, destroyed by the fighting Aetolians and Latins brought by Titus from broad Italy, a calamity to Emathia; while His Boldness, Philip, went off faster than any deer. Apparently Philip V had the critical poet crucified, for he left the following epigram: Traveler, on this ridge a leafless, barkless tree, one gaunt cross, is planted: Alcaeus's. " http://www.barca.fsnet.co.uk/greece-early.htm # posted by Mary Harrsch on 10:09 AM | link
Tuesday, January 21, 2003 ( 3:08 PM ) Mary I was pleased to see that Audible.com now offers Gibbon's work on audio totally unabridged. I selected it for one of my two January titles but I am still busy with my audio courses from the Teaching Company so it resides in my "library". For those of you who are unfamiliar with Audible (http://www.audible.com ), it is an online service offering audiobooks that download onto your computer or into a Pocket PC or MP3 player. I am a "Lite Listener" member and get two audio books per month for $17.95 (the regular rate is $19.95 but I was a premier member of the service upon its introduction three years ago). I can select any books I wish regardless of their regular per book price. This month I selected the unabridged Gibbon's "Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire" (over 20 hrs.) and "Jews, God, and History" by Max I Dimont (almost 18 hrs.). Their regular retail price would have been something like $41. In addition to the classics, they also have such popular titles as the Brother Cadfael mysteries, historical mysteries by Elizabeth Peters, Diana Gabaldon, Anne Rice, Mary Renault, Michael Crichton, Caleb Carr, etc. # posted by Mary Harrsch on 3:08 PM | link
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Friday, January 17, 2003 ( 9:57 AM ) Mary When I was researching Herakles labors and pages discussing the Nemean lion I came across this really nicely done website devoted to all aspects of the king of beasts: http://home.concepts-ict.nl/~rlion/lklionse.htm I also followed some of the links and found Lieut.-Col. J. H. Patterson's complete account of his encounter with the "MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO" published in 1919. http://www.rtpnet.org/robroy/tsavo/tsavo.html#p125 # posted by Mary Harrsch on 9:57 AM | link
Thursday, January 16, 2003 ( 9:01 AM ) Mary In an interesting reference in last night's lecture, Dr. Fagan mentioned that the Romans adopted the design for their marching camp from Pyrrhus. But Plutarch states in his biography of Pyrrhus: " When he saw the Roman camp (at the battle of Heraclea), Pyrrhus was amazed by its high level of organization and discipline. That changed his mind about waiting for the allies. But the Romans wanted to fight before the allies arrived, so Pyrrhus was compelled to do battle." So, I wonder what the Romans saw of Pyrrhus' camp that they wanted to emulate? # posted by Mary Harrsch on 9:01 AM | link
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Wednesday, January 15, 2003 ( 1:21 PM ) Mary On my lunch hour today I noticed a DVD up on Ebay entitled "Gladiators and Amazons". The description says: STARRING: PATRICK BERGIN, JENNIFER RUBIN, and RICHARD NORTON introducing NICHOLE M. HILTZ In Caesars era, power and reward often come at a mortal cost. Serena understands this first hand when, at age 12, Governor Crassius and his army attack her village killing her parents and separating her from her sister. At the time, she is unaware that her destiny is to become a hero and saviour to her people. Ten years later, the beautiful Serena (now a slave), finds herself warding off the lascivious advances of a drunken Roman Senator and accidentally kills him. She escapes and ends up joining Queen Zenobia and her Amazon warriors. Serena discovers her mastery of the sword but also that her inner spirit demands discipline. Ultimately, Serena must confront her thirst for revenge and face Crassius in an ultimate battle for her life and for the freedom of her people. Yeah, I know it sounds a bit cheesy but hey, it's been so long since Gladiator! # posted by Mary Harrsch on 1:21 PM | link
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Wednesday, January 08, 2003 ( 4:28 PM ) Mary In the lecture I listened to this morning Dr. Fagan pointed out that the Romans claimed they had seven kings during the regal period. But the number 7 has mythical connotations. Professor Fagan said that only 7 kings would mean that each king would have ruled for an average of 35 years which was not duplicated in any contemporary or preceding culture. He explained that some scholars think there were either more kings that were ignored or the regal period was much shorter than legends claim. He also pointed out that each king seemed to be a symbol for a particular cultural development and their name seemed to reflect this as well. For example, Numa Pompillius was credited with founding the religious structure of the pontificates and "pompa" was the latin name for religious rites (forgive any of my misspelling - I'm working from audio again! :-) Tullus Hostilius, the third king, was known for the first wars of expansion or "hostilities". However, he does acknowledge that there have been some pottery sherds and epigraphic evidence with the inscription "Rex" from the 6th century BC so there must have been kings at some point. # posted by Mary Harrsch on 4:28 PM | link
Tuesday, January 07, 2003 ( 2:51 PM ) Mary I have begun a new audio course, "The History of Ancient Rome" presented by Dr. Garrett Fagan. In my third lecture on ancient Rome, Dr. Fagan discusses the Etruscans and mentions that in recent years, Tim Cornell(http://www.art.man.ac.uk/clah/staff/cornell/home.htm) , in his work "The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (C. 1000-264 Bc) (Routledge History of the Ancient World )" - 1995, observes that there is little epigraphic evidence of the Etruscan presence in Latium (only Etruria and Compania). So there is now a contingent of scholars who think the Etruscans exercised only a "sphere of influence" over the early Romans but were never monarchs over them. So does this mean the Tarquinian kings could not have been Etruscans? From my web research, I notice that in a recent paper produced as part of The Roman Middle Republic: Politics, Religion, and Historiography c. 400-133 B.C. Rome: Institutum Romanum Finlandiae, 2000. Pp. 310. ISBN 952-5323-00-5, Dr. Cornell "takes the notice in Festus on the lex Ovinia to mean that the Senate in the early Republic might change composition every year and that it was precisely this law that shifted the balance of power away from the consuls or military tribunes and towards the Senate as a corporate body. Cornell also dates the law to c.340 rather than 312 and draws attention to the strengthening of the position of the Senate just as Rome achieved political domination in Italy. The Senate was thus freed from the control of the consuls and grew over time in both numbers and prestige into the dominant body with which we are all familiar. " http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2001/2001-01-15.html I see Dr. Cornell is also leading "a project to produce a new edition of the fragmentary Roman Historians; that is, of the historical works of Romans -- writing in Greek as well as Latin from the earliest times to the second century AD -- whose works are lost, but which survive in part through quotations and allusions in other authors. " Currently the standard critical edition of these "fragments" is that by Hermann W.G. Peter: the Historicorum Romanorum Reliquiae 2 vols. (B.G. Teubner, Leipzig, 1870, 2nd ed. 1914-16), also available in a one-volume reduced edition, Historicorum Romanorum Fragmenta (1883) that, due to more recent studies, is now considered quite antiquated. http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/classics/research/projects.htm # posted by Mary Harrsch on 2:51 PM | link
Monday, January 06, 2003 ( 8:28 AM ) Mary "Highland Warriors", a new game by Data Becker set for release on January 22 looks fascinating: http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/categories/products/product.asp?pf_id=225106&site=GSBUY "Fight the battle at Stirling Bridge side-by-side with William Wallace, or share in the glorious victory at Bannockburn with Robert the Bruce. Of course, you can also fight on the English side and show the Scots at Falkirk just what the English Cavalry is able to do." The close-in screen shots look terrific and reviewers say the AI is formidable (not like the original "Braveheart" game). However, the system requirements are substantial - 800 Mhz PIII, 256 Mb Ram and 32 Mb of Video Ram - definitely for newer systems. # posted by Mary Harrsch on 8:28 AM | link
Friday, January 03, 2003 ( 10:05 AM ) Mary Monday night I watched a History Channel special on "The Emperor Who Saved Rome" (Vespasianus). I wish I hadn't been so tired from driving for hours in a pouring rainstorm but I managed to stay awake through half of it and taped it so I can watch the other half this weekend. The part I did see mentioned that Vespasian was rather proud of being called a "Muleteer". He was referred to in that way because he was born in a town in Italy that was and is still known for raising quality mules. It said his mother bought him a place in the political arena even though his father was of peasant stock. He served in various roles through the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, and Vitellus - an astounding feat of survival. It mentioned that when he served as Aedile during Caligula's reign, he had a hard time keeping the streets clean (one of his responsibilities) because of Caligula's incessant lavish festivities. Caligula reprimanded him publicly and smeared him with dung. # posted by Mary Harrsch on 10:05 AM | link
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