>My powerful oratory will save the republic
>one rex is the devil>but a group of rexes is how things should bewhy are romans like this?
>>219381562Because their old kings were much more efficient at fucking things up.The senate kept itself in check in a certain way with politics. Eventually though even that boiled over
Why is he standing like a fag
>>219381671It was the style at the time
>>219381562>a rex is someone who only rules for one year during which he gets shit on from everyone around him especially the old farts of the senate and cant make a single decision without discussing it with his husband, the other elected rex, beforehandwhy are you retarded?
>>219381302And then the whole senate clapped
Finishing up this book atm. It's fantastic. I usually prefer stuff a bit more on the academic side of pop history like what Goldsworthy writes but as far as narrative history with more psychoanalytical elements this is so good. It's a shame there arer so few people in the ancient world for whom there is good enough sourcing to be able to write this and it not turn into complete speculative drivel like everything Anthony Everitt or Tom Holland write.
>>219381671Posturing and hand motions while public speaking was a important skill to Romans
>>219381834What was homeboy eating? A British fry-up every morning, prelunch sandwiches and lager, probably massive pasta lunch with a couple sides of Trve Roman bread. Good god.
>>219381834this. it was important for bullshiting your way out of anything or gettting plebs to do your bidding all which they learned from greek pedophiles
>>219381302UUUUEEEEEHHHHHG
>>219381831What’s wrong with Anthony Everitt? I’ve not read any of his books but I’m planning to
>>219381984There's nothing wrong. When reading roman history (or any historical interpretation) you are going to get people proclaiming one source superior or inferior over another. Just read as many sources on the subject as you can and then make up your own mind.
>>219381831>GoldsworthyListened to much of his audiobook on Caesar's life. Good stuff.
Read picrel. It's basically a summary of every source we have. It's a door-stopper of a book. Author wrote it during the Covid lockdown.
>>219382113>Marx
>>219382124https://www.classics.ucsb.edu/faculty/robert-morstein-marx/I don't think he's Jewish.
>>219382124Yeah, for Mars
>>219382057Well yeah, you should read the primary sources and look to secondary sources for interpretation. But anon took issue with Everitt and I’m probing to see what’s wrong with him. Holland I’m aware seems to be very error prone and isn’t really a historian.
>>219381984First and foremost he's a bad writer in a technical sense. His pose is painful. That's more subjective of a dislike I guess. The real issue is that he isn't a historian. He doesn't take a historians lens when writing about these subjects and historicity always takes a back seat to a "compelling narrative". He has a terrible habit of constantly assuming the inner emotional state of people for which there simply isn't enough good sourcing to do so. He also doesn't really grasp the fundamental differences in how Romans perceived themselves as humans and as members of society or how that society actually worked. Way too much obvious parallelism with modernity. If you're just getting into Rome, Adrian Goldsworthy is really great for pop history. He's an actual historian who is a great writer as well and he manages to balance the line of historicity and narrative momentum very well. Most works like these by pure academics are very dry, his aren't. I'd recommend his biography of Caesar as an entry point. >>219382057Strongly disagree. You genuinely might as well read fiction instead of their stuff. There are so many better authors to choose from.
>>219381562splitting absolute power between several people/branches with different incentives and goals is literally how modern democracy works.if a single person gets to call all the shots, they will inevitably fuck up at some point.if several dozen people need to debate and come to a compromise, and share the responsibility, things will usually work out.this is a tried and tested and pretty successful concept. stil has its flaws, but better than a king, which is always a diceroll if you have a complete retard. and the romans had A LOT more retard emperors than good ones.
>>219381834i refuse to believe people actually got the news from just listening to some dude yell shit on the street
>>219382236I have always got the news from my dreams and various feelings and intuitions, much more effective than having to actually watch/read the news
>>219382236This Anon has never heard of Paul Revere.
It's a stupid question, but were men at that time all clean shaven like that? I imagine the blades and the process must have been much worse than today
>>219382430Yes, beards and long hair were seen as barbaric. Scippio is the only one I can think of who got away with it. Sorta.
>>219382430It was customary for Romans in this period to be clean shaven, and they would have slaves to do it for them
>>219382233It wasn’t perfect, but the Roman Republic reaching the heights it did without an absolute ruler before Augustus was pretty crazy. Theres something that was admirable about the citizens’ (at least the Patricians) rabid devoutness to their Republic and animosity towards kings. The fact that for hundreds of years Consuls handed back power annually in the biggest Mediterranean ancient power is remarkable There’s things I admire about some of the emperors too but you’re right. Many of them were horrible and almost brought Roman society to its knees
>>219382556>(at least the Patricians) rabid devoutness to their RepublicOligarchs protective over their oligarchy
>>219382430Romans took grooming seriously. A shaved face and cut hair was an essential part of being roman as it differentiated them from their barbarian neighbors.Notice how busts of Nero show him having a neckbeard and he was famous degenerate.
>>219382430Straight blades have existed for a long time, it only recently fell out of style but barbers were still using them as recently as 60s/70s when single blades came onto the scene in the 50s. Safety guards rose with mass producing plastics.
>>219382574Yeah it was an oligarchy but it still stopped retards from obtaining absolute power. Appealing to plebs is how the worst emperors kept power anyway (besides a select few and Caesar himself)
>>219382534Scipio got away with it only because of who he was, and even then it was still controversial. The feeling towards his country was mutual by the end of his life to be fair
>>219381302>*out of breath*>TRVE ROMAN BREAD.. FOR TRVE ROMANS>*almost passes out*
>>219383013>but it still stopped retards from obtaining absolute powerNo it didn’t, their inability to accept reform is what led to Caesar>Appealing to plebsEven very rich equites were locked out of politics. That’s why Cicero was so remarkable, but he sucked up to the aristocracy.
>>219383156Wtf bros I thought Rome was le heckin cosmopolitan and lacked modern conceptions of race
>>219383164>No it didn’t, their inability to accept reform is what led to CaesarTrue, but Caesar happened hundreds of years after its founding and also Rome sort of lost that patriotism and love of their country of the past by the time of Caesar. Don’t get me wrong the republic was by no means perfect and in some ways even bad, but my point is there was a lot to be admired about it
>>219382233>if several dozen people need to debate and come to a compromise, and share the responsibility, things will usually work out.>things will usually work out.LOL, this is obviously not true, but you were mostly getting to the main reason democracy is preferable -- it often mitigates a single person's decision making weaknesses by "spreading" the decision among multiple people, sometimes many people.
>>219383476That’s because after the Punic Wars, Rome was able to expand across the Mediterranean and loot everything. The aristocracy had a monopoly on governorships and therefore became very rich because they were in charge of this process. This is what led to the fully fledged oligarchy. A system built for managing a city state expanded to the entire mediterranean and the republication framework couldn’t cope.
>>219382236I'd prefer it if everyone were relegated to getting their news from a street corner Trve Roman. >>219382344>I have always got the news from my dreams and various feelings and intuitionsextremely based.
>>219382113
>>219382236This was back in the day when most people couldn't read
>I address you directly, Antony>Please listen as if you were sober and intelligent and not a drink sodden, sex addled wreck>You are certainly not without accomplishments!>It is a rare man who can boast of becoming a bankrupt before even coming of age>You have brought upon us war, pestilence, and destruction>You are Rome's Helen of Troy>But then...
>>219384259
