Anyone else interested in the ancient world?

Harris HTM · Apr 14, 2016

"γνῶθι σεαυτόν". Pronounced as "gnothi se afton". Literally means "Know Thyself". It was inscribed in the Temple of Apollo in the Oracle of Delphi, before the Christians (the butcher Theodosius) destroyed it (unluckily not the only one).
Modern Greek is based on Ancient Greek.

Harris HTM · Apr 14, 2016

And a latin phrase that really got stuck in my mind when I first read "The Name of the Rose": Stat Rosa Pristina Nomine... Nomina Nuda Tenemus. Roughly translated as "the rose that once existed lives only as a name... We hold empty names".

Smithy · Apr 14, 2016

I have an interest in ancient history and specifically Greek and Roman, although it's been surpassed by my interest in the air wars in WWI and WWII. Did latin and classical studies at school (Greek and Roman) and thoroughly enjoyed them. Actually read Tom Holland's recent translation of "The Histories" just last year and loved it. Whilst some may turn their noses up at it, it certainly captured Herodotus's entertaining enthusiasm which my old classics teacher said was missing from most modern translations.

Benny Holiday said:
I have a fascination with the Saxons and the Vikings, probably has a lot to do with that being my ancestry. As well as historical non-fiction books, I love Bernard Cornwell's novels set in England at the time of the Viking incursions. Brilliant reads, each one.

Wes old mate, you'd have a field day here, we've got a large Viking burial mound not far from here and an island in one of the fjords nearby which was used by the Vikings for executions. If you ever make it over to Norway the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo is an absolute must see, truly breathtaking.

Harris HTM · Apr 14, 2016

Smithy said:
If you ever make it over to Norway the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo is an absolute must see, truly breathtaking.

Amazing museum. If i remember well it is located outside Oslo.

Another good source for daily life in Ancient Greece is the works of the 3 classic tragedians, Aischylos, Sofokles and Euripides and the comedian Aristophanes (especially the last one is still contemporary and fresh!).

Smithy · Apr 14, 2016

Harris HTM said:
Amazing museum. If i remember well it is located outside Oslo.

No still technically Oslo, but Oslo kommune rambles a bit, like most cities with urban sprawl

A most amazing museum and the level of preservation of the ships is unbelievable. And a hop, skip and a jump from the Kon-Tiki Museum which boggles the mind when you think they crossed the Pacific on that thing!

Smithy · Apr 14, 2016

I still remember my parents taking me to a production of Oedipus Rex when I was possibly slightly too young, bloody thing gave me nightmares!

Tiki Tom · Apr 26, 2016

This just dug up in Turkey. 2,400 years old. The writing says: "Be cheerful, enjoy your life." Nicely juxtaposed against the memento mori! Note the wine bottle and (I presume) food/bread. The skeleton is obviously enjoying a cup of wine at a symposium.
Those ancients were not so different from us in their thinking.

160425170735-hatay-skeleton-mosaic-be-cheerful-exlarge-169.jpeg

Nunc est bibendum!

Lean'n'mean · Apr 26, 2016

^^^^^^
Shouldn't that be 'Beware' of being cheerful & enjoying life;

I'd want a second opinion on the translation before I drank from that bottle.

IXL · Apr 26, 2016

Tiki Tom said:
................
Benny Holiday: In my younger days I went through a Viking period. Was mostly interested in their having served as (I think) the personal bodyguard of the emperor in Byzantium...

This was the Varangian Guard. Many of their members were originally comprised of the Rus' offshoot of the Viking-Scandinavian family tree.

Benny Holiday · Apr 27, 2016

Smithy said:
Wes old mate, you'd have a field day here, we've got a large Viking burial mound not far from here and an island in one of the fjords nearby which was used by the Vikings for executions. If you ever make it over to Norway the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo is an absolute must see, truly breathtaking.

I'd love to see it mate, watched a lot of documentaries on TV that featured the museum but it's not the same as actually being there.

sufidancer · Nov 15, 2016

I read my fair share of Conan the Barbarian comic books as a kid. Yes Yes it was for the sexy scantly clad barbarian vixens but still...

Fading Fast · Nov 15, 2016

sufidancer said:
I read my fair share of Conan the Barbarian comic books as a kid. Yes Yes it was for the sexy scantly clad barbarian vixens but still...

Not me, I watched it for the articles, but some people watched "Xena: Warrior Princess" for the same reason that you read the Conan books.

Inkstainedwretch · Nov 16, 2016

I wrote 8 Conan pastiches for Tor Books in the 90s. It was fun and they made my house downpayment.

sufidancer · Nov 17, 2016

Inkstainedwretch said:
I wrote 8 Conan pastiches for Tor Books in the 90s. It was fun and they made my house downpayment.

CROM.

Tiki Tom · Nov 23, 2016

That is strange (see link below). Of course, it seems to be mostly based on hearsay. Periodically, you hear strange tales purporting to offer evidence that at least a stray Roman galley or two made it to the new world, if only by accident. Yet the claims are pretty far "out there" and mostly disregarded at this point. On the other hand, I've recently learned that the Romans traded with the Canary Islands, so... who knows? Maybe one day a verifiable find will surprise us.

http://www.econ.ohio-state.edu/jhm/arch/coins/fallsoh.htm

Nunc est bibendum!

2jakes · Dec 17, 2016

Something I found about road "bumps" in ancient Pompeii.

All the roads were paved in stone. A road with 3 stones were for
chariots because the wheelbase would fit between these.

This road was designated for foot traffic. Chariots wouldn't fit.
Not sure about the fence across the road.
Toll road perhaps?

Fading Fast · Dec 17, 2016

⇧ Ancient Rome was on a roll (teehee), but kidding aside, if a few more tumblers of history had fallen correctly into place, the Dark Ages could have been avoided and the Industrial Revolution moved forward about 1000 years.

We'd either all be living sickness and worry free owing to an extra 1000 years of advancement or the human race would have long ago been extinguished from some man-made cataclysm.

2jakes · Dec 17, 2016

Fading Fast said:
⇧ Ancient Rome was on a roll (teehee), but kidding aside, if a few more tumblers of history had fallen correctly into place, the Dark Ages could have been avoided and the Industrial Revolution moved forward about 1000 years.

We'd either all be living sickness and worry free owing to an extra 1000 years of advancement or the human race would have long ago been extinguished from some man-made cataclysm.

Let us not forget the words of our wise & beloved dictator.

"Without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn!"

LizzieMaine · Dec 17, 2016

Tiki Tom said:
This just dug up in Turkey. 2,400 years old. The writing says: "Be cheerful, enjoy your life." Nicely juxtaposed against the memento mori! Note the wine bottle and (I presume) food/bread. The skeleton is obviously enjoying a cup of wine at a symposium.
Those ancients were not so different from us in their thinking.

Nunc est bibendum!

"Tain't no sin to take off your skin and dance around in your bones." -- Donaldson & Leslie, 1929

LizzieMaine · Dec 17, 2016

Fading Fast said:
⇧ Ancient Rome was on a roll (teehee), but kidding aside, if a few more tumblers of history had fallen correctly into place, the Dark Ages could have been avoided and the Industrial Revolution moved forward about 1000 years.

We'd either all be living sickness and worry free owing to an extra 1000 years of advancement or the human race would have long ago been extinguished from some man-made cataclysm.

On the other hand, there would have been no England and no Norman Conquest thereof, and most of us wouldn't be here discussing it.

Anyone else interested in the ancient world?

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