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pawelk1986
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25 Jun 2014, 6:42 pm

I'm among them, but in Poland we have very few roman artifact, because Roman Empire does not reach land that now belong Poland, expect part of Southern Poland where i live.

Our archaeologist also found some artifact in so called "Szlak Bursztynowy - Amber Road" it was roman trade route for Amber.

I do not know why so much appreciate "Roman Empire" even have the game "Total War: Rome 2"

Although the Roman Empire dopuszało also acts that today would call for the crimes of war and crimes against humanity, genocide, I mean primarily the destruction of Carthage during the Third Punic War

When I was wondering, I want to see what life was like in the Roman Empire "I do not know why you always when I think of" Roman Empire "immediately raises my association with the" British Empire "under the rule of Queen Victoria, or the contemporary United States: D



Adamantium
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25 Jun 2014, 7:48 pm

Well, there were the aqueducts...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9foi342LXQE[/youtube]



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25 Jun 2014, 8:04 pm

I guess that since we weren't there during the wars its easier for us to appreciate the good things they did. They were very educated and knowledgeable and they did a lot of good things (along with the bad ones).


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25 Jun 2014, 8:37 pm

Because the Romans are the parents of western civilization.


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ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
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25 Jun 2014, 8:50 pm

The Romans were filled with violence and lead from their wine decanters. Their civilization, like most at the time, was built on slavery. They worshiped many gods and goddesses. Abuse was rampant.

Ripe for the takeover a religion like Christianity.

It's so fascinating because we cannot fathom it. We cannot imagine what it would be like witnessing the consumption of humans by lions before our eyes or the vivid opulence of the state houses and palaces. People wrinkle their noses at the idea of clothing being stomped by human feet in a pit of urine.

It's just so different from how so many live and they wonder what it was like to live that way. Most Europeans would be slaves in such an Empire.



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25 Jun 2014, 9:09 pm

I like weird history,one of the stories I found interesting was their passion for roses,agricultural land was turned into Rose farms,one emperor had an orgy where so many rose petals were dropped on the guests that some of the more drunken ones suffocated under the petals.A Rose was hung on the ceiling when conversations were to be kept private,the orgin of the term sub rosa.Sweat from athletes was scrapped off and sold as a tonic,gross.Julius Ceasar's mom must have been one tough old bird to have survived his birth. :wink: The vats the wine fermented in were made of lead,so were their water pipes,no wonder some were batty as hell.


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GoonSquad
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25 Jun 2014, 9:13 pm

ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo wrote:
The Romans were filled with violence and lead from their wine decanters. Their civilization, like most at the time, was built on slavery. They worshiped many gods and goddesses. Abuse was rampant.

Ripe for the takeover a religion like Christianity.

It's so fascinating because we cannot fathom it. We cannot imagine what it would be like witnessing the consumption of humans by lions before our eyes or the vivid opulence of the state houses and palaces. People wrinkle their noses at the idea of clothing being stomped by human feet in a pit of urine.

It's just so different from how so many live and they wonder what it was like to live that way. Most Europeans would be slaves in such an Empire.


If you want to know what life was like, just read Seneca or Cicero. Seneca does a very good job of describing day at the games in his epistle on the influence of crowds. Cicero's defense of Marcus Caelius Rufus paints a vivid picture of the life of young wealthy Romans.

And as for togas soaked in urine...The Emperor Vespasian put a tax on public toilets just because urine was so valuable for doing laundry. Even today the word for urinal in French, Italian, and Romanian derives directly from Vespasian's name.
How's that for immortality? :lol:


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DentArthurDent
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25 Jun 2014, 9:43 pm

Adamantium wrote:
Well, there were the aqueducts...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9foi342LXQE[/youtube]



:lol:

Nice


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26 Jun 2014, 3:18 am

pawelk-

I've always had an interest in the Roman period. Quite fascinating is the view from outside the empire, by your Slavic and my Germanic ancestors. Our peoples were the Barbarians on the outside, against whom the Romans built defensive walls manned by seasoned troops along the Rhine and Danube. Our ancestors had different reasons for fighting the Romans - either they were resisting Roman expansionism, or were raiding inside the empire in order to steal really cool stuff.


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pawelk1986
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26 Jun 2014, 4:40 am

Kraichgauer wrote:
pawelk-

I've always had an interest in the Roman period. Quite fascinating is the view from outside the empire, by your Slavic and my Germanic ancestors. Our peoples were the Barbarians on the outside, against whom the Romans built defensive walls manned by seasoned troops along the Rhine and Danube. Our ancestors had different reasons for fighting the Romans - either they were resisting Roman expansionism, or were raiding inside the empire in order to steal really cool stuff.


I wonder in ancient Rome was a country in which every man would want to live.
Just as now the U.S. or UK, many Poles want to immigrate to USA in search of a better life, which is problematic because it requires a visa immigration, much easier to get to the UK.

In ancient Rome it was the land of endless possibilities, where you Roman dream may become true :D

"From the Legionnaire to the Emperor" :D



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26 Jun 2014, 4:47 am

pawelk1986 wrote:
Kraichgauer wrote:
pawelk-

I've always had an interest in the Roman period. Quite fascinating is the view from outside the empire, by your Slavic and my Germanic ancestors. Our peoples were the Barbarians on the outside, against whom the Romans built defensive walls manned by seasoned troops along the Rhine and Danube. Our ancestors had different reasons for fighting the Romans - either they were resisting Roman expansionism, or were raiding inside the empire in order to steal really cool stuff.


I wonder in ancient Rome was a country in which every man would want to live.
Just as now the U.S. or UK, many Poles want to immigrate to USA in search of a better life, which is problematic because it requires a visa immigration, much easier to get to the UK.

In ancient Rome it was the land of endless possibilities, where you Roman dream may become true :D

"From the Legionnaire to the Emperor" :D


I know there was a king on the other side of the Jordan who wanted to become a Roman slave so he could rise up to being a Roman citizen, as unlikely as that would have been. But it's also true that plenty of people died fighting against Roman imperialism, so I guess it's a matter of who you're talking about.


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26 Jun 2014, 7:13 am

Rome wasn't what we thought it was. Everything wasn't pure and white (Roman statues were painted and looked silly when they were new), they did not have massive orgies (they were, in fact, extremely prudish), and they were extremely egalitarian in terms of race.


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26 Jun 2014, 7:19 am

Most civil wars begin when one part of a country or union wants independence from the whole...

The Social War--basically a civil war between Rome and her Italian allies--started because the allies wanted full citizenship and closer ties to Rome... I think they musta been doing something right.

That monty python video is not far off the mark really. If I had to live in the classical world, I think I'd want to be a Roman citizen during the early Principate or the reign of the five good Emperors. Edward Gibbon thought it was the peak of human civilization...


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pawelk1986
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26 Jun 2014, 8:37 am

Kurgan wrote:
Rome wasn't what we thought it was. Everything wasn't pure and white (Roman statues were painted and looked silly when they were new), they did not have massive orgies (they were, in fact, extremely prudish), and they were extremely egalitarian in terms of race.



Strange I heard something else that they indulged in orgies and drinking of liquor in excess.



ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
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26 Jun 2014, 8:44 am

GoonSquad wrote:
ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo wrote:
The Romans were filled with violence and lead from their wine decanters. Their civilization, like most at the time, was built on slavery. They worshiped many gods and goddesses. Abuse was rampant.

Ripe for the takeover a religion like Christianity.

It's so fascinating because we cannot fathom it. We cannot imagine what it would be like witnessing the consumption of humans by lions before our eyes or the vivid opulence of the state houses and palaces. People wrinkle their noses at the idea of clothing being stomped by human feet in a pit of urine.

It's just so different from how so many live and they wonder what it was like to live that way. Most Europeans would be slaves in such an Empire.


If you want to know what life was like, just read Seneca or Cicero. Seneca does a very good job of describing day at the games in his epistle on the influence of crowds. Cicero's defense of Marcus Caelius Rufus paints a vivid picture of the life of young wealthy Romans.

And as for togas soaked in urine...The Emperor Vespasian put a tax on public toilets just because urine was so valuable for doing laundry. Even today the word for urinal in French, Italian, and Romanian derives directly from Vespasian's name.
How's that for immortality? :lol:


I like Suetonius's Twelve Caesars.



ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
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26 Jun 2014, 8:45 am

pawelk1986 wrote:
Kurgan wrote:
Rome wasn't what we thought it was. Everything wasn't pure and white (Roman statues were painted and looked silly when they were new), they did not have massive orgies (they were, in fact, extremely prudish), and they were extremely egalitarian in terms of race.



Strange I heard something else that they indulged in orgies and drinking of liquor in excess.


Actually the Romans frowned on intoxication. It was okay to drink wine, just not get drunk.