A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
A look at history and popular culture
This is the the fourth part of our our planned five part series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc) on the structure of the Roman Republic during the third and second centuries, the ‘Middle’ Republic.’ Over the last few posts we looked at the role of Roman magistrates who carried out a range of executive functions … Continue reading Collections: How to Roman Republic, Part IV: The Senate
Fireside this week! Depending on the order that things get written, we may have a few weeks of 'break' from our How to Roman Republic series, but do not fret: we will finish it. The one thing I am looking to 'slot in' as it were is a look at the armor of Baldur's Gate … Continue reading Fireside Friday, September 1, 2023
This is the third section of the third part of our our planned five part series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb) on the structure of the Roman Republic during the third and second centuries, the ‘Middle’ Republic.' Last time we looked at the top of the Roman political career in the republic, the offices that carried … Continue reading Collections: How to Roman Republic, Part IIIc: Ten Tribunes, Two Censors and Twenty-Six Guys
This is the second section of the third part of our planned five part series (I, II, IIIa) on the structure of the Roman Republic during the third and second centuries, the 'Middle' Republic. Last week we discussed the overall structure of the 'career path' for a Roman politician and the first few offices along … Continue reading Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Part IIIb: Imperium
This is the third of our planned five part series (I, II) on the structure of the Roman Republic during the third and second centuries. Last time we discussed Rome's popular assemblies, which at least notionally expressed the will of the people. One of the key tasks those assemblies had, we noted, was the election … Continue reading Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Part IIIa: Starting Down the Path of Honors
This is the second of our planned five-part look (I) at the nature and structure of the Roman Republic, particularly the governing institutions of the Middle Republic, the period of the republic's height from c. 287-100 BC. Last time we discussed the component parts and nature of the res publica as a whole. This week, … Continue reading Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Part II: Romans, Assemble!
This is the first of a planned five-part series looking at the structure of the Roman Republic as another example of civic governance structures in antiquity, to match our series on the Greek polis. As with that series, we're going to start by defining our community and its constituent parts in this part, before moving … Continue reading Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Part I: SPQR
This week we're going to take a look at an aspect of contemporary international relations, rather than ancient ones. As has become somewhat customary, I am going to use the the week of July 4th to talk about the United States, or more correctly for this July 4th, the informal coalition (with formal components) of … Continue reading Collections: The Status Quo Coalition
This week we're going to take a look at the process by which the Romans raised legions in the Middle Republic (c. 290-100 BC, think the age of Pyrrhus, Hannibal and the various well-known Scipios; this is also the period of Rome's initial overseas expansion and its great power wars), what the Romans called the … Continue reading Collections: How To Raise a Roman Army: The Dilectus
This week on the blog we're going to talk about Cleopatra or to be more specific, we're going to talk about Cleopatra VII Philopator, who is the only Cleopatra you've likely ever heard of, but that 'seven' after he name should signal that she's not the only Cleopatra. One of the trends in scholarship over … Continue reading Collections: On the Reign of Cleopatra