I didn't see anything sort of like this.
When I say, "go into the future," I mean farther than the future that is happening at this moment...
Please don't just give an answer, but give some reasons as well.
Why would I wanna go into the past? I was a pathetic, angry, insecured person then. Transition has opened up my horizons, Im happy, I respect myself, I like who I am & now I only look into the future. Going backwards is only for losers & Im not one of them.
Are we talking our personal past and future or the past and future in general?
If you mean just I my lifetime, the future. I agree with Pia, the past sucked, the whole reason I am here is to make my future better.
If we are talking in all of history though...
Barring G.I.D., I would have loved to have lived during the 40's, 50's and 60's. I have felt and been told a few times that I was born decades late.
The future... Exciting things are coming, but I also see a lot of problems on the horizon and things will be getting FAR worse before things get better. To jump past that would place me in a world I do not know or understand or belong. No thanks.
So yeah, the past.
I'd go far into the future. I'm fascinated by progress and I'd like to see how we get better not worse. I'd want to see the stars and, given our intellect, I want to know how (not if) we make it happen.
Past. :)
I'd like to see where I went right / wrong, not to change it, but to refresh my memory and learn from it. :)
O, I kinda am satisfied with the present and would rather just live at home rather than finding a new one in the past or the future.
Nichole
the past. i think i was william wallace in another life. :laugh:
Both past and future, but I'll have to choose one over the other.
The past because living in New England between 1800 and 1860 would be very nice.
The future out of curiosity over what will it be like.
I choose the past. Sleeping with clean air and silence would be nice. That was a time for innovation and learning. There were all kinds of groups dedicated toward religion, philosophy, and general mulling over of truths. You could more easily help people because most times the help was physical and not monetary. For example, if someone was sick and needed help getting their vegetables to market, you could just bring the veggies to market for them as opposed to someone being sick and then needing a ton of money for gas to transport their stuff.
Also, people say nice things about me now, but I feel I would be a better person given an existence that lacks the pressure and stresses we have today.
aloha
Id like to go into the past... White i dont envy the social standing, id love to be a Roman woman... the whole togas thing suits my complexion....
Not to mention the roman army Rawr!
heck, i have a thing forthe 1600s too... Pirate wench would utterly rock...
I agree with Nichole. The here and now. I am happier than I have ever been and the past is too full of pain. The future is to uncertain.
I'd love to go back into the distant, prehistoric past and answer all those grey areas about our development that are still so hotly contested - issues like the building of the Sphinx, Pyramids in China, etc. Apart from that, there are specific people I'd love to meet - Pythagoras, Plato, Apolonius of Tyana, Hypatia, Leonardo da Vinci, Queen Boadica - Oh wow, more people than I can count actually!
Personal history - hmmm. I don't know if I'd want to go back and knock some sense into myself earlier - I am a much better person because of my mistakes and disasters.
~Simone.
What if you went back to knock sense into yourself and we had to pull you off?
"Right here, right now
There is no other place I wanna be
Right here, right now
Watching the world wake up from history"
--Jesus Jones
Ironically, I first heard this song when I was miserable in boot camp trimming the base General's hedges. But the song always left a resonance with me that has never died, and holds true through the good times and bad.
Chris
Posted on: November 05, 2008, 12:39:44 am
Quote from: lady amarant on November 04, 2008, 10:06:34 PM
I'd love to go back into the distant, prehistoric past and answer all those grey areas about our development that are still so hotly contested - issues like the building of the Sphinx, Pyramids in China, etc. Apart from that, there are specific people I'd love to meet - Pythagoras, Plato, Apolonius of Tyana, Hypatia, Leonardo da Vinci, Queen Boadica - Oh wow, more people than I can count actually!
Personal history - hmmm. I don't know if I'd want to go back and knock some sense into myself earlier - I am a much better person because of my mistakes and disasters.
~Simone.
Boudicca of the Iceni...now that's one woman I would not want to piss off.
What about Archimedes? Sitting in his tub yelling "Eureka!", a mad looking old man on the battlements of Syracuse with his death ray against the Roman fleet? THAT I'd like to see.
My all time favorite is my screen namesake, the Philosopher King Marcus Aurelius...in the cold northern forests of the Rhine, old and withered and tired, King Arthur like, desperately trying to protect his bright and shining idea without the desire or corruption of power, desiring peace but faced with unrelenting war, doomed for ulitmate failure yet acted out with such a triumph of spirit...maybe not entirely true, a romantic notion perhaps, but one I like to envision.
Chris
I would rather go into the future so my surgerys and transition was finished and I was finally happy and over every speed bump.. ;D
Chris, something tells me you're a fan of Marcus Aurelius - maybe I'm just psychic. Yeah, I'd love to meet Boudica and Hypatia of Alexandria, both SUCH powerful women in times when there weren't many opportunities for females. More recently, the steampunk geek in me would LOVE to meet Ada Lovelace - hell, I wouldn't mind giving her and Babbage a nudge in the right direction as far as computing goes. Mind you, imagine if one coulda given Da Vinci that same nudge ... ;D
~Simone.
i would like to get drink with samuel pepys.
wait... is this a hypothetical which would you like to experience for jollies or in YOUR life?
if so can i go back to my birth and bitchslap the doctor till he DOESNT sew me up?
Quote from: Starbuck on November 05, 2008, 10:32:24 AM
if so can i go back to my birth and bitchslap the doctor till he DOESNT sew me up?
Methinks this sounds like a most excellent idea. Make sure you take knuckledusters.
~Simone.
Quote from: lady amarant on November 05, 2008, 04:47:17 AM
Chris, something tells me you're a fan of Marcus Aurelius - maybe I'm just psychic. Yeah, I'd love to meet Boudica and Hypatia of Alexandria, both SUCH powerful women in times when there weren't many opportunities for females. More recently, the steampunk geek in me would LOVE to meet Ada Lovelace - hell, I wouldn't mind giving her and Babbage a nudge in the right direction as far as computing goes. Mind you, imagine if one coulda given Da Vinci that same nudge ... ;D
~Simone.
Fan, indeed I am; but there are many others to. It is so hard to find people from antiquity who aren't villians, or more commonly, "heroes" who had also done great evil (like Constantine the Great, who had his own son murdered) in the name of the state or otherwise. Aurelius to me was the best that the empire had to offer in the golden age of emperors...Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, M. Aurelius (the Antonines). Never before and never since would the ancient Romans do so well as under them.
I like reading of Boudicca...and she most certainly qualifies as the dominant female personality from Roman Britain. But I would never, NEVER, piss her off! My favorite woman from the past is probably still Elizabeth I, the very best Merry England had to offer male or female. Remember many woman ruled or sub-ruled without the actual title, and ruled very well indeed...ie Theodosius' sister Pulchera comes to mind.
Through it all...I like the thinkers, male or female. Spinoza, Kant, Copernicus, Gallileo, Newton, Locke, Hume the list goes ever on.
I find it interesting no one has mentioned the openly transgendered Roman Emperor Elagulabus (AD218-222), very interesting but bizarre story. He actually wanted his physician to give him a sex change, but was told it was impossible. I will recount the story if anyone wants to read it.
Chris
I want to hear, oh sage of Roman Imperial history.
~Simone.
Quote from: lady amarant on November 05, 2008, 11:38:27 AM
I want to hear, oh sage of Roman Imperial history.
~Simone.
No sage, just a bookworm;)
I will try to sum it up so as to avoid mistakes (like his name is spelled Elagabalus).
Elagabalus was a fourteen year old when he became Emperor in AD 218. It was soley through the political machinations of his mother, after the defeat and death of his predecessor, Macrinus. His mother basically got the Eastern armies in Syria to proclaim her son Emperor and they won the short civil war that followed.
Anyways Elagabalus (which I will refer to as "E") was Syrian, and worshipped the Syrian sun god "Elagabala", where his nickname comes from. When he came to Rome, he shocked Roman citizens by what they considered a bizarre religion alien to theirs. But that was only the beginning. "E" was very flagrantly bisexual (as other emperors were from time to time) but he took it to extremes. Keep in mind, he is the leader of the strongest empire on earth...he started to dress in very elaborate female clothing (think Ru-Paul) in his court. He would often go out, late at night, and take residence in a brothel in disguise...the next day he would proudly show others in his imperial court how much money he made. He had a male slave (described to us as having a very large phallus) in the palace take residence with him, and "married" him in an elaborate ceremony. "E" would then "cheat" on him with other male courtesans, and have his "husband" beat him like a wife for the infidelities. I use quotes because "E" was actually married to three different women in succession during this time. "E" asked his court physician to explore the possibilty of having his penis turned into a vagina, and offered a huge sum of public money to discover a way...he was told that it was impossible. All the while, still carrying on with wild orgies and bizarre elaborate parties and ceremonies to his god.
All the while, his mother was running the show, as expected. But she couldn't keep these things secret for too long. "E" wasn't just a harmless hedonist, and did even had his father-in-law murdered, so I don't feel sorry for him when the end came four years later. In 221, he tried to have his cousin murdered, which backfired...the short story is six months later he wound up being hunted down and cornered in a latrine, where he was dragged out and beheaded, with his mother, and their bodies were dragged naked through the streets of Rome and then thrown into the Tiber. His cousin, Alexander Severus, became Emperor.
Another little story, concerning Nero...after the death of his wife Poppea (whom died after he kicked her, pregnent, square in the stomach in a rage) he became severely depressed. He found this slave boy, Sporus, who resembled his beloved. So he had the kid castrated, made him dress as a woman, and married him and in the words of Tacitus "Nero used him in every way like a woman".
Reality TV or HBO could never come up with this stuff! Long live Rome!
Gee, what healthy role-models you have. :P
And they thought they could hold a candle to the Greeks. Pfft! Arrogant savages.
~Simone.
Am I hanging that sign out or what.
Role Model? No. Roman debauchery and intrigue as a bedtime story better than a the Sopranos? Absolutely!
Okay, as to your sign...even the mighty Romans dare not hold a candle to the Greeks. They embraced it, and were more Greek in the end than they were Roman (Hellenization). The Greeks won, and are still winning today. Even the early Christians heavily incorporated Greek ideas, like Aristotle, into their doctrine. Jokers like Nero and "E" aside, with their superior laws, engineering, military and organizational skills they transmitted Greek ideas and culture throughout the western world, where it stayed, and which we have inherited to this day. So like I said (for a much more valid reason) Long Live Rome!
Chris
Neither. Even though things in the past have been unpleasant, I have learned from them. I don't really regret anything that has happened. As for the future, I'll just take it as it comes. There's no point in getting closer to death, because we can enjoy the life we have. As for not experiencing most of my 20's as a female, that seems to be taken care of with the age reversal that hormones seem to have done to me. :)
Yeah okay, so it might be argued that Rome did some good by preserving and spreading classical greek culture ... though they had a good enough time of it destroying classical celtic culture ... and classical germanic culture ... and classical nubian culture ... and classical egyptian culture ... and ...
~Simone.
Pretty bloody obstinate and childishly intent on winning. ;D
talking of antiquity, I'd like to prevent the firing of the great library of alexandria.
Quote from: lady amarant on November 05, 2008, 03:28:24 PM
Yeah okay, so it might be argued that Rome did some good by preserving and spreading classical greek culture ... though they had a good enough time of it destroying classical celtic culture ... and classical germanic culture ... and classical nubian culture ... and classical egyptian culture ... and ...
~Simone.
Pretty bloody obstinate and childishly intent on winning. ;D
Interesting you say that...
They did not destroy Germany, Germany destroyed them...what they did was influence Germanic culture, in fits and starts, but never conquered the barbarian Germania. But with that same influence, Germany began a thriving culture and organized kingdoms of their own (Goths, Ostragoths, Visigoths, Vandals, etc). It is ironic to me that when Alaric sacked Rome, it was with a Christian Germanic army which he did it with.
Rome didn't destroy Egypt...Alexander the Great already did that three centuries before. Rome just picked up the pieces. And I don't believe Egypt was ever truly gone, and continued to influence the west in a different way.
The Celts or Picts? I think that's what that wall North of where you live was all about...I don't think anybody has ever really conquered those incorrugable Scots.
"The problem with Scotland, is that it is full of Scots"-->Edward I in "Braveheart"
All in all, I think we are both right. Rome did much good, but it also did great harm. They did destroy many cultures. Remember, they lasted for a thousand years and their child Byzantium lasted a thousand more...clearly there is no one judgement we can make on such a long history.
"Pretty bloody obstinate and childishly intent on winning"-->that sounds like, well, me!
Chris
Hehehe. Thanks for playing Chris! That was fun!
And as a final blow to my dear Greeks - Alexander was one. :(
Sleep well. Way past my bedtime. :D
~Simone.
Okay, sweet dreams Queen Simone of the Iceni, riding your chariot into the sunset:)
Chris
When I say, "go into the future," I mean farther than the future that is happening at this moment...
Oh, pooh. I was going to say that I like my worldline to remain causal and continuous ... and preferably without to large a second derivative (OUCH!).
But since you're being all particular, I'll say I'd like to see what the universe was like 13.8 billion years ago. Alas, it looks as though, with my current research, I'll have to settle for 13.7bya. >:-)
Quote from: Aurelius on November 05, 2008, 04:00:55 PM
Quote from: lady amarant on November 05, 2008, 03:28:24 PM
Yeah okay, so it might be argued that Rome did some good by preserving and spreading classical greek culture ... though they had a good enough time of it destroying classical celtic culture ... and classical germanic culture ... and classical nubian culture ... and classical egyptian culture ... and ...
~Simone.
Pretty bloody obstinate and childishly intent on winning. ;D
Interesting you say that...
They did not destroy Germany, Germany destroyed them...what they did was influence Germanic culture, in fits and starts, but never conquered the barbarian Germania. But with that same influence, Germany began a thriving culture and organized kingdoms of their own (Goths, Ostragoths, Visigoths, Vandals, etc). It is ironic to me that when Alaric sacked Rome, it was with a Christian Germanic army which he did it with.
Rome didn't destroy Egypt...Alexander the Great already did that three centuries before. Rome just picked up the pieces. And I don't believe Egypt was ever truly gone, and continued to influence the west in a different way.
The Celts or Picts? I think that's what that wall North of where you live was all about...I don't think anybody has ever really conquered those incorrugable Scots.
"The problem with Scotland, is that it is full of Scots"-->Edward I in "Braveheart"
All in all, I think we are both right. Rome did much good, but it also did great harm. They did destroy many cultures. Remember, they lasted for a thousand years and their child Byzantium lasted a thousand more...clearly there is no one judgement we can make on such a long history.
"Pretty bloody obstinate and childishly intent on winning"-->that sounds like, well, me!
Chris
Quite right... the romans were rather diplomatic... a lot of the gods in england were edited or converted roman gods... keeping a british flavour to the roman gods... the romans didnt destroy... they took over and worked the local people with the most effective method there was... thier own system... You know what? it was bloody effective :)
"But since you're being all particular, I'll say I'd like to see what the universe was like 13.8 billion years ago. Alas, it looks as though, with my current research, I'll have to settle for 13.7bya."
Make sure you wear sunscreen, it was still only what, 10 billion degrees? :)
I'm a layman on the big bang, but I thought we had finally figured out what things were like prior to 300k yrs after? Or is that what you are saying...it was just very hot plasma and no vacation then?
Posted on: November 05, 2008, 05:54:22 pm
"Quite right... the romans were rather diplomatic... a lot of the gods in england were edited or converted roman gods... keeping a british flavour to the roman gods... the romans didnt destroy... they took over and worked the local people with the most effective method there was... thier own system... You know what? it was bloody effective"
Yes...Civilizations and cultures evolve rather than disappear. And the Romans' primary motive was not ambition, but protection...the best way to do that was to conquer them (or bribe them, which they did often). Once conquered, they didn't care what the people did as long as they behaved themselves and paid taxes (some exceptions were, say, Christians under Nero and Diocletian and the Jews under Titus). What the Roman Empire evolved into what was not an Empire with Rome as it's head, but a commonwealth of nations mutually supporting (and sometimes fighting) each other, and this became what we know as Europe.
I already know what's in the past, so it's the future for me.
And I'm going there now, one day forward everyday.
Quote from: Aurelius on November 05, 2008, 05:05:04 PM
"But since you're being all particular, I'll say I'd like to see what the universe was like 13.8 billion years ago. Alas, it looks as though, with my current research, I'll have to settle for 13.7bya."
Make sure you wear sunscreen, it was still only what, 10 billion degrees? :)
I'm a layman on the big bang, but I thought we had finally figured out what things were like prior to 300k yrs after? Or is that what you are saying...it was just very hot plasma and no vacation then?
I was thinking a bit higher than 10 billion degrees -- more like 150,000,000,000,000,000 degrees or so -- 14 in more convenient units (TeV).
Now, 13.8bya, well, let's just say that I'll do that after I take a vacation to 100 degrees north of the equator, or 5000 miles below the surface fo the earth. ;)
I've decided that I would definitely prefer to go back into the past and then come back through the future.
Quote from: Alyssa M. on November 05, 2008, 06:13:51 PM
I was thinking a bit higher than 10 billion degrees -- more like 150,000,000,000,000,000 degrees or so -- 14 in more convenient units (TeV).
Now, 13.8bya, well, let's just say that I'll do that after I take a vacation to 100 degrees north of the equator, or 5000 miles below the surface fo the earth. ;)
Ooooh. Things are getting interesting now. ;D
there are theories floating around that, as our universe nears its end in heat death, an advanced civilization might engineer new big bangs, creating universes branching off from this old, dying one, and then create wormholes to escape there. Alyssa can comment on whether this would be theoretically possible, but assuming one could move matter from this universe "elsewhere", wouldn't it be cool to go back and see if that is what happened here? If so, what happened to the entities that would've attempted to escape to here?
~Simone.
Quote from: lady amarant on November 05, 2008, 10:19:52 PM
Quote from: Alyssa M. on November 05, 2008, 06:13:51 PM
I was thinking a bit higher than 10 billion degrees -- more like 150,000,000,000,000,000 degrees or so -- 14 in more convenient units (TeV).
Now, 13.8bya, well, let's just say that I'll do that after I take a vacation to 100 degrees north of the equator, or 5000 miles below the surface fo the earth. ;)
Ooooh. Things are getting interesting now. ;D
there are theories floating around that, as our universe nears its end in heat death, an advanced civilization might engineer new big bangs, creating universes branching off from this old, dying one, and then create wormholes to escape there. Alyssa can comment on whether this would be theoretically possible, but assuming one could move matter from this universe "elsewhere", wouldn't it be cool to go back and see if that is what happened here? If so, what happened to the entities that would've attempted to escape to here?
~Simone.
Thought you were in the land of Nod Simone?
Anyways I have no qualifications to say if any was possible. But I will say that the nearest star from Earth is several light years away, if the solar system were an inch long, the nearest star would be a something like a mile away. We are in an outer arm of a medium sized galaxy with 200 billion stars which is 100,000 light years across, the nearest galaxy Andromeda is three million light years away, which is the biggest in a family of about 40 galaxies, which is in a cluster of hundreds of galaxies which form a universe of hundreds of billions of galaxies that is near 14 billion years old...which could have contained, or contain, or will contain, millions of other civilizations far greater than us humans that we will never know of.
One universe is big enough for me ???
Chris
QuoteThought you were in the land of Nod Simone.
The price of living in the sub-tropics in summer - if you are going to bed late, expect little sleep, 'cause the sun bakes you out of bed at 5 in the morning.
The universe is big yeah, but I want to know the magick behind it. Every time we think we have the basics down, a new revelation comes around and shows that what we thought we knew was just a reflection. We thought we had it at Newton, then Einstein came along, then the quantum mechanics bunch showed that he didn't have the whole story, then we moved on to string and m-theory, now we're looking for the "god" particle at CERN. THAT's the stuff that fascinates me - I mean, travel all the way to Andromeda and most likely things will be quite similar to here - gravity will still work, light will travel at the same speed, time will move forward ... but jump across to the next universe over and all the bets are off. Whole new physics, different fundamentals. I mean, how cool is that?!
~Simone.
Quote from: je on July 03, 2008, 06:40:43 PMWould you rather go back into the past or go into the future?
None. The past is boring, because I already know what happens. And the future would be at a loss without me here to shape it with what I'm doing here right now.
Quote from: lady amarant on November 06, 2008, 02:20:02 AM
QuoteThought you were in the land of Nod Simone.
The price of living in the sub-tropics in summer - if you are going to bed late, expect little sleep, 'cause the sun bakes you out of bed at 5 in the morning.
The universe is big yeah, but I want to know the magick behind it. Every time we think we have the basics down, a new revelation comes around and shows that what we thought we knew was just a reflection. We thought we had it at Newton, then Einstein came along, then the quantum mechanics bunch showed that he didn't have the whole story, then we moved on to string and m-theory, now we're looking for the "god" particle at CERN. THAT's the stuff that fascinates me - I mean, travel all the way to Andromeda and most likely things will be quite similar to here - gravity will still work, light will travel at the same speed, time will move forward ... but jump across to the next universe over and all the bets are off. Whole new physics, different fundamentals. I mean, how cool is that?!
~Simone.
Yes, Iraq and many other far-off unhappy places over these past many years were the same way...I made great strides to get air-conditioning, and in usually failing that, got used to it and slept in anyways. I can sleep anywhere now :)
Very cool Simone, I find it very cool. I've read a number of books on the subject, some (okay, alot) of which I admit above my head. But with the mechanics of the whole mess over my head, once I come close to understanding, it becomes more of a philisophical question for me. I always have to interpret some kind of meaning out of it...like what does quantum physics prove about reality (do things really exist, or it only because they are most likely to)? What does relative physics prove about absolute values (my clock is different than yours, and very much different than it is in a galaxy far, far away)? I only say that, because until Schroedenger and Einstein we took these things for granted, and I believe that even though scientific understanding (the what) is making great strides forward, the philisophical understanding (the why) is being left in the dust, at least for now. I know that Bertrand Russell took a shot at it, but what about everyone else? I think its perhaps because the average person, like myself, is only just now learning to grasp these grand concepts, and trying very hard to keep up with new discoveries. I worry it is also because we as humans are drifting away from the "why" towards not just "what" but "whatever".
Chris
Quote from: Aurelius on November 06, 2008, 02:56:05 AMand I believe that even though scientific understanding (the what) is making great strides forward, the philisophical understanding (the why) is being left in the dust, at least for now.
Oh, I very much agree. Some people in new age and pagan circles are taking a stab at it, but it's kinda - haphazard. I think in general though philosophy is a bit ... stagnant at the moment, and until we do start asking the "big" questions again instead of "science will tell us", that won't change.
QuoteI think its perhaps because the average person, like myself, is only just now learning to grasp these grand concepts, and trying very hard to keep up with new discoveries. I worry it is also because we as humans are drifting away from the "why" towards not just "what" but "whatever".
I think it has a lot to do with how we're raised in Western society, a value system that the rest of the world is adopting as quickly as it can. "Practicality", and more importantly "how can I practically get rich/famous as quickly as I can". The pursuit of knowledge and wisdom is not at all highly valued by our society - compare how much business people and entertainers are rewarded for their work vs. what academics, teachers, artists and the like get, and you see it in action. It will need some huge event to shift our collective mindset into a different value-system, I think, for things to change.
~Simone.
Very much agree about Western Society. I also think it has to do with the industrial and technological revolutions, which provided the materials for materialism...in conjunction with scientific knowledge, caused us to understand how a computer works, and that dinosaurs once walked the earth, and how far away the stars really were...we then sighed and went back to our TV sets and countless other distractions.
The sense of magic and mystery was gone, we don't look up at the heavens and wonder anymore. True, God or gods aren't used as a handy excuse for everything anymore, but there was something to be said for that, because we actually had to think about it and prove it without physical evidence.
The need for deductive/positive reasoning, as it applies to concepts and ideas rather than machines, is becoming a lost skill.
The world runs on money, and philosophers need to eat, too. I think also alot of ideas remain undiscovered, as you walk into a modern book store you will find sixty thousand new titles a year. It is hard to figure out what is important in such a sea of clamoring voices.
But I have hope.
Anyways good talking to you Simone, I owe, I owe, so off to work I go :-\
Chris
While I can think of some exact places and moments I'd like to check out in the past, say to be able to catch Miles and 'Trane jamming at the Blue Note or Keystone Club back in '58 or so, that would be awesome. And I would have loved to be able to dance to Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman on the eve of the war, but other than some isolated events, the past was, pretty much as Hobbs described it, 'nasty, brutish and short.' Sure, go back and be a Roman, but most 'romans' were slaves, not emperors - so the luck of the draw would get you slave status or in the Legion for the most part.
Perhaps some of the native North American tribes before Columbus might have been nice.
And the future is a crapshoot.
So, I stick with this being the best of all possible worlds. Hard enough to muddle through day to day as it is.
um?
Romans were by definition... not slaves....
slaves were NOT roman citizens. As im a girl, i doubt they'd let me in the legions ;) nomatter how much of a warrior woman i am
That's why I used a small 'r' romans in quotes, to mean 'people living in the Roman Empire' as opposed to a Roman Citizen.
doesnt matter... they arnt romans....
'Romans, or _romans_ MEANS roman citizens.... citizens of rome = roman
Oh the empire, I think I'd prefer 2nd Century Byzantium myself. Rome was much too much I think, but the Empire was cool in places.
Quote from: tekla on November 06, 2008, 12:28:49 PM
Oh the empire, I think I'd prefer 2nd Century Byzantium myself. Rome was much too much I think, but the Empire was cool in places.
Why is everyone picking on you for semantics Tekla? Constantinople in the 2nd century, even though Constantine's capital, was by definition still Roman...it did not "officially" become Byzantium until the Emperor Valens, a hundred fifty years later, and became its own entity after the coup de grace in 474 to the Western Empire. I agree there is some ambiguity there, but close enough.
But I know what you meant, just kidding really. I have the advantage. I am currently reading the second volume of "Byzantium" by John Julius Norwich...never realized how rich their history really was. I just finished with the reign of Irene...not a very nice lady.
"best of all possible worlds"-->Voltaire is rolling in his grave.
Chris
Posted on: November 06, 2008, 03:45:36 pm
Quote from: Starbuck on November 06, 2008, 11:12:08 AM
doesnt matter... they arnt romans....
'Romans, or _romans_ MEANS roman citizens.... citizens of rome = roman
Were you actually growling when you wrote that? ;D
Also remember the name "Roman" was used for 1000 years after there ceased to be a Roman Empire (Byzantines, Holy Romans, etc). Now only actual Romans live in the city of Rome. Long live SPQR!
possibly....
long live the empire
Yes. The American Empire will last longer than any Empire that has come before it.
No
Just..... No.... ::)
Perhaps not Rach, but when we go out, were taking everyone, and everything, with us. And that's not hard to imagine.
Yeah. And just for kicks we may even take the moon out along with the Earth.
My new slogan
TAKE OUT THE MOON TOO!
catchy.
Mark II reply.
Future, because the past hurts to much. Although I would love to see Jesus and the others again, even though it would hurt immensely. Speaking of that, I would SO hug Judas.
But meh, anyway regarding history, ESPECIALLY regarding Boudica remember that the winning side wrote history for the most part.
.... *sighs* still not getting away with the post without tears..
Quote from: tekla on November 06, 2008, 07:35:47 PM
Perhaps not Rach, but when we go out, were taking everyone, and everything, with us. And that's not hard to imagine.
again you miss understand... america is more likely to get taken out by the rest of the world with such force it takes everyone out...
you are not the global daddy you belive...
Kimberly: nah, most of the boudicca history was writen locally and kept in house as it were... the romans didnt care for her,
Quote from: Starbuck on November 07, 2008, 07:16:28 AM
Quote from: tekla on November 06, 2008, 07:35:47 PM
Perhaps not Rach, but when we go out, were taking everyone, and everything, with us. And that's not hard to imagine.
again you miss understand... america is more likely to get taken out by the rest of the world with such force it takes everyone out...
you are not the global daddy you belive...
Yes we are.
Bring it on!
Hahahahahahha
thanks Rebis... i've not laughed that hard since.... i dont quite remember...
You're welcome. :) I think.
wait... you really think america is the bestest evar?
No No No.
I think we are on the level of every other nation. We have good points and bad points. I wish we'd work on it more.
I just wasn't sure if you were taking me seriously, or if you knew I was kidding.
I did take you seriously at first :S Then again, i know a fair few Americans who are deadly serious about being the most awesomest in the awesomesauce.....
*rebis respect restored*
hehe
Thanks.
Now, let us go then, you and I, into a future that we can bend to our own desires.
I still much prefer the past... But im confused as so many seem to think that the past is only bad... the past is awesome!
Oh yes. Most of the past is awesome, it just depends upon where and who you are.
For instance, there have probably been a great amount of people who lived quiet lives in the country living off of farming or some kind of skill set who were never bothered by the stupid trends of 'civilization' such as beheadings and wars.
It's why I picked New England 1800 to 1860. Except for the war of 1812, things were peaceful. And anyway, I would have skipped the war, so that wouldn't of bothered me anyway.
Living in the country, having fresh air, clean water, listening to birds and raccoons making their sounds. Very peaceful. Even if you have to walk a hundred yards from your house to poo and you have no electricity. Who cares? so go to bed at dark.
I know there are more exciting places to be and things to do, but I don't need excitement. If I wanted to, I could get a gig on a whaling vessel for a year or two.
Quote from: Rebis on November 07, 2008, 08:33:48 AM
Oh yes. Most of the past is awesome, it just depends upon where and who you are.
For instance, there have probably been a great amount of people who lived quiet lives in the country living off of farming or some kind of skill set who were never bothered by the stupid trends of 'civilization' such as beheadings and wars.
It's why I picked New England 1800 to 1860. Except for the war of 1812, things were peaceful. And anyway, I would have skipped the war, so that wouldn't of bothered me anyway.
Living in the country, having fresh air, clean water, listening to birds and raccoons making their sounds. Very peaceful. Even if you have to walk a hundred yards from your house to poo and you have no electricity. Who cares? so go to bed at dark.
I know there are more exciting places to be and things to do, but I don't need excitement. If I wanted to, I could get a gig on a whaling vessel for a year or two.
That's a very beautiful vision, and one I share with you...I live in Northern Michigan, so I can at least taste it...
But don't be fooled by visions of the past. There were plenty of wars being fought besides 1812...that little adventure in Mexico comes to mind. But even with what we view as "the worst of times" people not affected are still going about their business, living unexciting life as we are. What about people looking at us from a thousand years from now? What will they say?
I try not to think of my own country as an empire, but I think the difference for me is I look at it in very broad terms. The US is only a little over two hundred years old...we still have a long way to go if that is the direction we're going, which I think not as the rules of history have changed considerably and cannot be compared to that of the Romans, the Persian Caliphate, British Empire, etc...American Empire? Maybe. Sounds like something I would want to read about...1000 years from now. But I don't see it now.
Chris
Posted on: November 07, 2008, 10:08:54 am
All this time...(excerpt)
Teachers told us
The Romans built this place
They built the walls and the temples
In this edge of the empire garrison town
They lived and they died
They prayed to their gods
But some gods did not make a sound
And their empire crumbled
Till all that was left
Was the stones the workmen found
Chris
What we call 'the mexican-american war' in our textbooks they call 'the great war for empire' south of the border. That Manifest Destiny deal was pretty imperial in the final cut.
I think there were no wars being fought in my state at the time. I don't recall if the British passed thru, but they wouldn't care about me anyway.
I just don't want to get caught in a crossfire.
Besides, I could be a part of the underground railroad. Heh. Anything to screw the Man, or, whitey, or whomever. :)
Michigan must have some great places in the past.
Quote from: tekla on November 07, 2008, 09:12:48 AM
What we call 'the mexican-american war' in our textbooks they call 'the great war for empire' south of the border. That Manifest Destiny deal was pretty imperial in the final cut.
100% agreement. Don't forget also the Spanish American war...imperialism at its finest. But both were in the past, I think the world at large moved/is moving away from imperialism...I don't know, maybe globalism good, bad, and ugly. Maybe economic imperialism. I'm stuck in this part of history like you, and can only see the trees and not the forest, so I can't really say for sure.
"Right here, right now
No other place I want to be.
Right here, right now
Watching the world wake up from history"
Sounds like something I want to be a part of, and words you can apply for a long time to come...and my original answer for this post's question!
Chris
Posted on: November 07, 2008, 12:56:33 pm
Quote from: Rebis on November 07, 2008, 11:26:00 AM
I there no no wars being fought in my state at the time. I don't recall if the British passed thru, but they wouldn't care about me anyway.
I just don't want to get caught in a crossfire.
Besides, I could be a part of the underground railroad. Heh. Anything to screw the Man, or, whitey, or whomever. :)
Michigan must have some great places in the past.
It still does have some great places!
Underground railroad would be cool.
Sorry, it just reminded me of somebody (I'm not saying this is you). He had read "Gates of Fire" and got this notion in his head how great it would be to be a medieval knight. Sounds great when watching movies I guess, but most certainly not how things really were.
Which reminds me, anybody out there...if you could go back and change history (I don't mean just your personal history), would you? Keep in mind things may not turn out how you want them to be, and have unintended consequences...
Quote from: tekla on November 07, 2008, 09:12:48 AM
What we call 'the mexican-american war' in our textbooks they call 'the great war for empire' south of the border. That Manifest Destiny deal was pretty imperial in the final cut.
Let's not forget the "War of Northern Aggression" (a.k.a. "The Late Unpleasantness"). And they don't generally call the "Vietnam War" the "Vietnam War" in Vietnam.
But, yes, 1847 was about two empires battling it out over land neither had legitimate claim to. To all those (few) Mexicans who are sore about the loss, all I can say is, "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!"
If i could change history... or if i had a time machine.... id go back specifically to stop people changing history. Too many things depend on what happened... our futures depend on it... WE depend on it. As much as id love to go back and change the decision at my birth... i can think of several consequences that would rip people i love from me....
Quote from: Starbuck on November 07, 2008, 02:34:26 PM
If i could change history... or if i had a time machine.... id go back specifically to stop people changing history. Too many things depend on what happened... our futures depend on it... WE depend on it. As much as id love to go back and change the decision at my birth... i can think of several consequences that would rip people i love from me....
And let's not forget, before we go messing around with history, that All is for the Best in This, the Best of All Possible Worlds!
~Dr. Pangloss
Quote from: Alyssa M. on November 07, 2008, 02:55:31 PM
Quote from: Starbuck on November 07, 2008, 02:34:26 PM
If i could change history... or if i had a time machine.... id go back specifically to stop people changing history. Too many things depend on what happened... our futures depend on it... WE depend on it. As much as id love to go back and change the decision at my birth... i can think of several consequences that would rip people i love from me....
And let's not forget, before we go messing around with history, that All is for the Best in This, the Best of All Possible Worlds!
~Dr. Pangloss
I'm rolling in my grave-->Voltaire
I agree with Pangloss-->me
Quote from: Aurelius on November 07, 2008, 03:47:39 PM
I agree with Pangloss-->me
Really? Huh.
Cultivating my garden-->me
Quote from: Alyssa M. on November 07, 2008, 04:04:36 PM
Quote from: Aurelius on November 07, 2008, 03:47:39 PM
I agree with Pangloss-->me
Really? Huh.
Cultivating my garden-->me
Best of all possible worlds? Past tense, yes. We cannot change it.
Cultivate our garden? For a better future, always.