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05-02-2001, 05:07 AM

I have recently read this, in a book called "The Roman Mind at Work" by Paul MacKendric, found it to be very humorous and thought you guys might enjoy this. 
It states: 
Hard-headedness is exemplefied by the admiral who, when the sacred chickens refused to eat, threw them overboard, remarking, "If they will not eat, then let them drink!" 
*Laugh* hope you guys enjoy this humorous blurb as I did! 
~Quintus

05-02-2001, 05:13 AM

HA! That is funny! And very well stated, too! ...in layman's terms.

***Praefectusclassis*** · 05-02-2001, 06:05 AM

I bet the admiral laughed bitterly when he lost the battle afterwards! :-) 
It is indeed a funny anecdote, but the morale of the story is plainly obvious, so is this a good representative for the Roman mind? 
The full story is that the sacred chickens were supposed to eat their food to show that the outcome of the battle would be good. They didn't, were drowned by the admiral and the Romans lost... 
That would nearly make one religious, the Roman way, that is! ;-) 
 
Greets 
 
Jasper

05-02-2001, 02:54 PM

Well, the Claudians were known for their hard headedness. Remeber, that same admiral was also a direct ancestor of Nero. 
 
WWB

12-28-2001, 02:52 PM

Another nice example of roman humour. Maybe it was not really appreciated by others.. 
I don't remember the details but the story goes like this: during the republic one of the Ptolemaic kings of Egypt decided to go to war --once again-- with his cousin the Seleucid king of Asia. At that time, Rome didn't need a war there. So the Senate sent an officer and a small troop to meet the King of Egypt who advanced with his big army towards Palestine. 
The message of SPQR to the King was simple: "Forget it and go home". 
The king answered that he needed time to think about it. At which point the Roman officer drew a very tight circle in the sand around the King's feet with his staff and replied: "Take as much time as you like. Just give me the answer when you step out of that circle". 
I find this hilarious. Maybe I'm strange...

12-30-2001, 05:37 AM

I've always liked that story too, antoninus

01-06-2002, 08:28 AM

One story that I always found funny, was about a man that owned many of the properties in Rome. He owned a fire-station business and when ppls places were burning down, he would negotiate the price for his services- all the while, the blaze burning in the background. Most often, he would end up owning the property and the previous owner would have to pay him rent. 
 
It is funny, in a twisted sort of way...... I have been looking for the last hour for the book that I read it in and I can't find it yet. I will post again when I come across it though and add more detail if it is good to do so.... lmao 
 
Vale, 
Quintus Peltrasius don't they say that "those who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it." Interesting, if we don't learn the true history (or the little details therein), then..... what have we learned????

***Praefectusclassis*** · 01-06-2002, 08:53 AM

That's from Plutarch's Crassus (caput 2), also told in Steven Saylor's Roman Blood. Very nice story about someone known for his greed! Greets 
 
Jasper

Catiline · 01-06-2002, 12:54 PM

And no doubt somewhat overstated. IIRC though Crassus negotiated to by the burning property, and then sent in his slaves to put out the flames after he'd purchased it. 
 
I think htat a lot oof htese stories htat have little bassis in fact but have been presented as history are as important in some respects as hte real history. THey demonstrate how we want to view the past, as exemplars of virtue, or as monsters. HTe more sensational the story the more it's propogated, so we have all sorts of nonsense about the private lives of the Republican Roman great passsed down,and very little information in some scases of the detail of what they were actually doing. 2000 years of writing down only what seems exciting rather corrupts the historical record.

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