History Channel: Alexander

[Q Rutilius]

Watched this program last night. Anyone else see it? What did you think? Not bad but a few glitches. I swear I saw a sword that looks suspiciously like a gladius in one of the reenactment scenes. Pretty good treatment of Alex overall I thought. I was very impressed that they had Peter Green commenting. I do wish they had time to cover the battle at the Hydaspes.<br>
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This post probably belongs over on GAT, but that place is dead. Besides, I want to know, did anyone else see that gladius? <p></p><i></i>

[Theodosius the Great]

Ave.<br>
<br>
Yes, I saw it and thought the production was good overall. They forgot to dye the actor's hair blonde .<br>
<br>
I don't recall seeing a gladius, but I was looking at the armor. If I'm not mistaken, all the gear shown is made and newly released by Deepeeka (the linen armor, shields, helmets, etc.) I thought it looked great.<br>
<br>
Have you seen the episode of "Decisive Battles" that covers the Battle of Gagemella (sorry about the spelling) ? I don't think any production can beat that series. I found it to be more insightful than that Alexander bio we just saw. I hope they release that series on DVD soon .<br>
<br>
-Theo <p></p><i></i>

[Robert Vermaat]

Quote:</em></strong><hr>They forgot to dye the actor's hair blonde <hr><br>
Was it it? The famous Pompei mosaic shows Alexander with dark hair.<br>
<br>
Quote:</em></strong><hr>Gagemella (sorry about the spelling) <hr><br>
it's usually spelled Gaugamela, but I'm sure there's an original Persian name as well.<br>
<br>
Valete,<br>
Valerius/Robert <p></p><i></i>

[John Maddox Roberts]

In some scenes, Philip wore a gladius or spatha. Only got glimpses of the handle, but it was definitely Roman, not greek. Otherwise, at least they made an effort to keep it in period and locale. Lots of Italo-Attic helmets. <p></p><i></i>

[Theodosius the Great]

Thanks for correcting my spelling, Valerius.<br>
<br>
I'm 99% sure that Alexander was a blonde. I don't remember the source that mentions it.<br>
<br>
But Oliver Stone got it right with his new movie "Alexander" as did the director of the older version with Richard Burton. I like the Richard Burton version, my only complaint about it is that the battle scenes are not done very well and the costumes (but they usually mess up on contumes in Hollywood).<br>
<br>
Some other powerful rulers with blonde hair in classical times include :<br>
<br>
*Julius Caesar<br>
*Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus<br>
*Octavian (Augustus)<br>
*Gaius "Caligula"<br>
<br>
Vale,<br>
-Theo<br>
<br>
<p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Some other powerful rulers with blonde hair in classical times include :<br>
<br>
*Julius Caesar<br>
*Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus<br>
*Octavian (Augustus)<br>
*Gaius "Caligula"<br>
<br>
Vale,<br>
-Theo<br>
<br>
Furthermore, if a Newbie may speak up, Lucius Cornerius Sulla was supposedly a red-head...<br>
<br>
Vandevere <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Hmmm...Did Sulla dye his hair red with poisoned red wine? <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

All of the gear shown in the History Channel production of Alexander the Great was built by Caius Man, Centurio of Legio VI Victrix in So Cal. Some of that, like the Attic-style helmets, were resin copies of the Deepeeka model. Every Greek uniform was constructed in his garage of linen, foam, leather, paint (and as the shooting went on, duct tape!). Likewise, the actors were almost all Victrix legionaries. You don't see more gladii because we didn't wear swords with the lineothorax armor, some of which was part foam, and would've ripped from the jerky movement of the baldric during the battle scenes. There were only 23 of us involved, the scenes of whole phalanxes of Macedonians were computer generated, based off of the original 23 guys.<br>
<br>
Alexander's own "lion" helmet was rented from Terry Nix, of Nix Emporeum, TX.<br>
<br>
RE: the blond hair, I've always thought that as well.<br>
<br>
RE: the NEW Alexander out this week, I was very disappointed to see Colin Farrel in his beautiful helmet and armor while atop a rearing horse... only to see that he's got modern US Army speed-lacer combat boots on (spray-painted gold) And, like the History Channel production, the name "Darius" is mispronounced throughout the film as "Durr EYE us". One of our members, Ardisher, is from Persia (Iran); he confirmed that it is, and always has been, pronounced "DAR ee ous". Aggravating, especially if your adopted Ancient world name is in fact Darius!<br>
<br>
Happy Thanksgiving to all,<br>
Darius,<br>
L VI VPF SoCal <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

In case this is of comfort to you : in Germany, the name Darius is pronounced the correct way. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=gabrielecampbell>gabriele campbell</A> at: 11/25/04 9:43 pm<br></i>

[Crispvs]

This is the first time I have ever known Darius to be pronounced 'Durr-EYE-us'. Up until now the only pronunciation I have ever heard has been 'DAR-ee-us'.<br>
<br>
Crispvs <p></p><i></i>

[Uwe Bahr]

English is a nice language and I like it, but what it often makes out of ancient names .... It's not only the pronounciation of names like Darius.<br>
<br>
In my eyes it is worse how some Roman names are changed:<br>
Liv<span style="text-decoration:underline">ius</span> = Liv<span style="text-decoration:underline">y</span>, Plin<span style="text-decoration:underline">ius</span> = Plin<span style="text-decoration:underline">y</span>, Anton<span style="text-decoration:underline">ius</span> = Ant<strong>h</strong>on<span style="text-decoration:underline">y</span><br>
I shakes me when I imagine what could happen to Ga<span style="text-decoration:underline">ius</span> ...<br>
<br>
<p></p><i></i>

[Robert Vermaat]

Quote:</em></strong><hr>Livius = Livy, Plinius = Pliny, Antonius = Anthony<hr><br>
Petrus = Peter, Paulus = Paul, but then why Juli<span style="text-decoration:underline">us</span> and not Jul<span style="text-decoration:underline">y</span>?<br>
<br>
Valete,<br>
Valery /Robert <p></p><i></i>

[Theodosius the Great]

Quote:</em></strong><hr>This is the first time I have ever known Darius to be pronounced 'Durr-EYE-us'. Up until now the only pronunciation I have ever heard has been 'DAR-ee-us<hr><br>
<br>
I know, same here. They pronounced it right in "Alexander the Great", starring Richard Burton.<br>
<br>
But lately everyone on the History Channel has been pronouncing it as 'Durr-EYE-us'. And everyone in the new movie pronounces it like that as well. <p></p><i></i>

[Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus]

To understand why we native english speakers shorten these roman names, and many other words, is quite simple. We are lazy when it comes to foreign words or names incorporated into english. We are based on time efficent culture, which means we don't want to take the time to pronounce full words, so we shorten them. <p>O xein angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti tede keimetha tois keinon rhemasi peithomenoi -<br>
<br>
Simonides</p><i></i>

[Theodosius the Great]

Quote:</em></strong><hr>we native english speakers shorten these roman names<hr><br>
<br>
Hey, at least we native english speakers don't chop off the "us" from Latin names. The Italians, Spaniards, and others replace the endings <span style="text-decoration:underline">us</span> with <span style="text-decoration:underline">o</span>. In other words, they speak the barbarized versions of Latin names. <br>
<br>
Example :<br>
<br>
*Julius, Julio<br>
*Belisarius, Belisario<br>
*Marcus, Marco<br>
*Augustus, Augusto<br>
<br>
Who's version is closer to the original latin ?<br>
<br>
-Theo <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=theodosiusthegreat>Theodosius the Great</A> at: 11/28/04 11:28 pm<br></i>