NUGAE

Oh, wait. So far there have only been four.

1. Getting elected

Who would have thought that a black man with very little experience, with the middle name Hussein, fathered by a man from Kenya would beat the Democratic powerhouse Hillary Clinton to the nomination and get elected on top of that. That’s more like two sizable miracles in one.

2. Passing Obamacare

With pride now have Democrats started using the word Obamacare which only a short while ago was only used by Republicans in a derogative manner. Think about Obamacare what you want but you can’t deny that we are looking at sweeping changes here bringing healthcare to many millions that couldn’t afford it and improving the chances of keeping coverage in times of sickness. Who would have thought that Congress ever sign anything like that?

3. Keeping Obamacare

The Supreme Court did not strike down Obamacare because of chief justice John Roberts who co-authored the opinion against it and then voted for it in its most critical pieces - and he wrote that opinion too.

He was concerned with his personal legacy after the ‘Citizens United’ decision which allows unlimited corporate funding during elections. His court would have looked hyper-partisan and lose much of its reputation, so he had to do something when an internal vote revealed that somebody had to switch sides to keep Obamacare alive. If that isn’t a miracle.

4. Getting reeclected

The ‘Citizens United’ decision was meant to give elected office to the person with the biggest war chest because that’s what usually happens - or the loudest voice if you will. The economy had shown some signs of life, but unemployment was (and is) still high and on top of that he was running against a veritable business man with a lengthy resume. He had to make history again, that was the word and he did.

5. Surviving the Trifecta

Think what you will about the events in Benghazi, the IRS scandal or the Associated Press probe which makes him look a lot like the younger Bush - but rest assured this trifecta is what the rest of his presidency mainly is going to be about. The Republicans will do whatever they can to destroy his presidency (and another potential candidate along the way) and impeach him - unless…

This is an interesting article stating quite convincingly that the Cimbri were Celts and not Germans despite the fact that they likely originate from at the time supposedly solid German Northern Europe.

Not all of them left apparently since Augustus later reports that his legions encountered them around a hundred years later on the coast of the Northern sea, living among other German tribes.

Remnants of the Cimbri that had survived the onslaught of the Roman legions under Marius’ command are said to have participated in the Spartacus revolt thirty years later after the decisive battle in 101 BC.

The battle of Aquae Sextiae

Origins of the Cimbri – German or Celt?: Before delving into the topic in any depth it is essential to clear up one matter which seems to have created the largest swirl of controversy – were the Cimbri Germans, or were they Celts? Since they resided in the heart of the northern Germanic, southern Scandinavian region the answer should be obvious, however what seems apparent may only be an illusion.

http://www.davidkfaux.org/Cimbri-Chronology.pdf

Sextus Pompey fought together with the rest of the family against Caesar and continued the fight after his father got murdered in Egypt. At the end of the war when his older brother got killed too he managed to escape to Sicily where he laid low until the assassination of Caesar.

What is not well known: the pact of Misenum was sealed aboard of one Sextus’ large warships with a banquet which Octavian and Marc Antony both attended. While the three leaders were celebrating a short-lived peace one of Sextus’ naval commanders, Menodorus, approached Sextus with the idea of cutting the ship lose and taking control of the whole empire for themselves.

Sextus declined.

But allegedly he also responded that Menodorus should have done it without asking him, since he couldn’t break the oath he had just sworn.

Denarius by Sextus Pompeius. 44–43 

After the pact of Brundisium, Sextus Pompey or Magnus Pius as he called himself, son of Gnaeus Pomepius Magnus, maintained a stranglehold in Sicily and on the Roman grain supply. A short lived agreement with Antony to work in cooperation against Octavian fell apart after Brundisium, but the two triumvirs were in no position to challenge Pompey’s naval superiority. By 39 BC, Pompey’s fleet was near to causing famine in Italy, but rather than risk immediate hostilities, the two Roman power brokers sought to appease their hostile neighbor and cut him in on the action.

http://www.unrv.com/fall-republic/sextus-pompey.php

Pine cones? Rocks? Good lord.

I know, I know! I’m always blogging about toilets and evil eyes and gladiator-scraping love-potion and suchlike, but I can’t help it. It is all so fascinating! My husband Richard was the one who taught me the first lesson of history: NO TOILET PAPER!

So how did the people in olden days wipe their bottoms?

This question draws in even the most reluctant child. In fact it is often especially appealing to kids who find history unbelievably dull. It’s a Way To Show Them That History Is Totally COOL!

For the past dozen years I’ve been travelling around the world, speaking to schoolkids about the Ancient Romans and my writing. Everywhere I go, I carry my talisman, my good luck charm, my fave artifact: a sponge-on-a-stick.

http://flavias.blogspot.ca/2013/05/ten-things-romans-used-for-toilet-paper.html

via http://rogueclassicism.com/

Plague may have helped finish off the Roman Empire, researchers now reveal.

Plague is a fatal disease so infamous that it has become synonymous with any dangerous, widespread contagion. It was linked to one of the first known examples of biological warfare, when Mongols catapulted plague victims into cities.

The bacterium that causes plague, Yersinia pestis, has been linked with at least two of the most devastating pandemics in recorded history.

http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/plague-helped-fall-of-roman-empire-130510.htm

We always have magazines about history and archaeology flying around the house. My wife rarely picks any of them up, not even on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Recently this enigmatic site was on the cover of one those magazines..

Petra was a city of wealth, prosperity, and enormous ingenuity that allowed the Nabataean people to settle and even thrive in one of the harshest environments on earth. The city became the center of trade between the Middle East and the Roman Empire, which brought both wealth and power to its people. It also provided the resources for the construction of staggering tombs, monuments, and cities that turned the desert into an oasis. In addition, the confluence of cultures created the unique Nabataean art style, which incorporated some of the greatest elements of architecture from all over the ancient world and has left an unmistakable mark on the harsh desert landscape.

http://historyoftheancientworld.com/2013/04/the-history-and-architecture-of-petra/

Substantial evidence supports the perspective that the people of Ancient Greece had a language for and some use for drugs, both for the purpose of medicine and poison; however, the question remains whether Ancient Greek civilization held a concept approximating what we today call drug addiction. This article explores the textual evidence for the use of two drugs, nepenthes and cannabis, in Ancient Greece. While the existence of nepenthes remains in doubt, the use of cannabis is well documented. Either drug or both drugs may have been used in the rites of the Bacchic and Orphic mysteries, which might explain why there are so few references to these drugs in the Ancient Greek literature. 

http://www.janushead.org/7-1/Arata.pdf

Did you know that the Rosetta stone was actually a tax document?

Taxation has existed in various forms since civilization began. In days of old the source of wealth was land and its proceeds. Before the existence of a monetary system, taxes were paid by a percentage of crops raised. Through most of history, the tax assessor and the tax collector were the same person; therefore, “tax collector” is used interchangeably with “tax assessor” throughout the following paper. Some of the most common forms of taxation over the millennia were poll taxes, tariffs on goods, and property taxes on the value of land, buildings, and other personal property. The purpose of this paper is to present some of the major moments in the history of real and personal property taxation. Let’s take a short walk through time to understand what we have in common with our ancestor assessors, what we can learn from them, and how developed the current property tax system has come to be.

http://historyoftheancientworld.com/2013/04/a-brief-history-of-property-tax/

Here’s part 2.

The rule for election of Consuls of Rome required that a man be 43 years of age unless he was of the patrician class and then he would get two years credit and be eligible at 41. Election during the first year of eligibility was on Caesar’s mind as he waited for the end of 60 B.C. and the voting. During his term as provincial governor of Spain, Caesar had acquired enough capital to pay off many of his debts. Moreover, his experience leading men in battle had energized him for more efforts in the arena of war. But first it had to be Rome and the Consulship.

http://www.mikeanderson.biz/2013/05/dissecting-romes-first-triumvirate-part.html

via http://rogueclassicism.com/