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I think my own views are largely summed up by the reply of the 5th century Athenian politician, Themistocles, when a visitor from Seriphos told him he owed his fame to the fact he was born in Athens, had he been born in Seriphos no one would have heard of him. "Very true. Had I been born in...

Smaug- no offense

BS- Sorry, but I can't agree with your analysis. Squeezing the rich (an entirely admirable process in my opinion, by the by) is not a long term strategy, it's a means of getting cash to keep the army quiet. Diocletian, by contrast, did have a program of administrative reform. Maximinus wasn't...

There are some things so noticeable it ain't worth mentioning. And sorry, but I'd swop the whole of THE LANCERS for the scene where Chuck realises that the storekeeper he's talking to is essentially a dead man.

BS- I suspect (though I've forgotten most of what I ever knew of this period) that your admiration of Maximinus is as one sided as somebody else's condemnation. He was a competent (but limited) commander who showed no sign of any sort of ability (unlike the later Balkan marshals) to conceive any...

With Williamson gone I'm trying to think who the hell could be considered SF's G.O.M.? Clarke is too late an arrival and has written too little of real interest.

Smaug- sorry, but to me, in the end, history is a serious matter. It's interesting to discuss what could have beens, etc, but I try to remember that I'm talking about people's lives. It comes down, finally, to some poor bugger squatting in a foxhole or in a cell waiting questioning.

BS "an emperor without legitimacy was an emperor with a short life expectancy." Quite true. But the only real legitimacy by that time was the support of the Army, the distant descendant of Rome's Town Council was of no importance. And I could argue with every historical instance you've given...

I hadn't realised that Jack Williamson was still alive. Must have been nearly a centenarian. But there's a website which contains extracts from Stirling's new trilogy. Easy to find on google.

BS- you're cobbling together arguments here. Claudius's policy of the use of freedman was continued by Nero. A couple of Claudius's appointees were got rid of but this was to get hands on their property and because they'd opposed the rise of Agrippina. No essential change in practise. The...

Without looking at the initial poster, I might have guessed...

Midgard- they hardly thwarted Maximinus (about whom, by the by, Arthur Conan Doyle did a rather enjoyable short story). That was the work of the Praetorians. Max- the Senate didn't elect Pertinax. He had been selected for the job by the conspirators (the Praetorian Prefect, the Chamberlain...

Well, currently ,the two AH scenes that stick most in my mind (I'll be nasty and not identify them): ""It's the end of the world as we knew it, and of civilization. So we'd like to buy some things from you , if you're still foolish enough to accept money. We're running for our lives and...

Midgard- I assume you're talking about the appointment of Pupienus and Balbinus as co-emperors after the defeat of Gordianus's revolt in North Africa. This is, I'm afraid, more a sign of Senatorial impotence than anything else. They realised that Maximinus would take revenge for their...

BS- can you actually give me a single example of the Senate thwarting an Emperor? When an Emperor fell, it was usually family conspiracy, the Guard turning against him, or provincial revolt. The vulnerability of the Senate is quite obvious through the reigns of the Julio Claudians (even Claudius...

It's not "kinda sick", it's "kinda silly". What period are you talking about? What's this about "always thwarting his plans"? I think you've been watching GLADIATOR too often.

The theme was handled rather interestingly in John Christopher's 1962 novel, THE WORLD IN WINTER. As I remember it (it's a long time since I read it) British refugees to Africa find themselves at the bottom of the social ladder. Desperate for cash for food, the British sell off nuclear weapons...

Fenk- this is an egg, Granny, and this is how you suck it. As far as I'm concerned, the first famous work of AH is Geoffroy-Chateau's NAPOLEON AND THE CONQUEST OF THE WORLD (1836). Contrary to what you'll find in some reference books Whately's HISTORIC DOUBTS (1819) is not AH. I don't think...

I'm not happy with the concept of "coolest" here, but if I were forced to name one it would be the ending of the 1981 Japanese film SENGOKU JIETAI/TIMESLIP/G I SAMURAI about a Japanese army unit transported back to the 16th century. The unit and their 16th century ally have defeated their last...

Hmm, I'm pretty pissed (it being Thursday Storngbow Cider, Friday- Sunday it'll be Strongarm Bitter, an excellent brew) but I'll try to give a coherent answer. Nappy- to me the whole point of an adventure story is conviction. I've got to believe this is happening. LANCERS fails as an...