Posted on 03/05/2007 8:57:24 AM PST by Proud_USA_Republican
ohhhhh.....my.
Lord, he's beautiful.
Roman cities had both clean running water from a tap, a sewage system for waste disposal, and public hot baths that you went to every day to relax, shave, and get clean.
Yes, that's a very good site.
Happy to see that someone realized there was a market for this type of film.
I remember watching the third film in the "Lord of the Rings" series, the one with the big battle, and my friend and I were picking out all the parallels to the War on Terror. When the screaming eagles flew onscreen, we both laughed and said, It's the U.S. Air Force!
I'm a fan of Gerard Butler and I'll be in the cineplex opening weekend.
I love this line:
If you fight us our arrows will blacken out the sun.
Great then we will be fighting in the shade!
In an aside, I'd like to recommend the film "Apocalypto" to readers of this thread, because it would appeal to the same demographic that enjoys "300" and "Gladiator". The film is gone from most bargain houses by now but will be out on DVD in May. I found the story of a man's survival in the jungle angainst a marauding predator band, trying to rescue his family, most inspiring.
Except for the worst of jobs a Roman or Greek slave was better off than the typical Native America even the Chippewa. There was no development in the latter no expanding the boundaries of human endeavor and existence.
A life which leaves nothing to build upon is not much of a life for a human. Too animalistic to me. I prefer to reach for the stars. A life which does not create great music or appreciate it has no real appeal.
Frank "I'd prostitute my own daughter for a paycheck" Miller was also the writer behind the atrocious Robocop sequels. I found his recent "Sin City" to be an exercise in "cynicism for the sake of cynicism", nearly as bad a case of theatrical auto-eroticism as "Kill Bill". I'll withhold judgment until I see the movie, but I'm not optimistic.
I've been meaning to get it done, but I'm quite anal about my historical accuracy. I don't want to go out and get something tattooed that I would want changed a few years later.
Perfect example is my American Flag tatt on my shoulder. The guy who did it was a Gulf War (1st Gulf War) vet, and he talked me into getting it done "Flag Forward." Explaining to people over and over again that it was actually done correctly was a PITA. I don't regret it now though.
I'll stick with my hat, thanks. ;-)
Don't hold the Robocop sequels against Frank. Those were his first dealings with how Hollywood works and he got steamrolled by the process (half a dozen re-writes and all the other fun of being a mere writer). Even Frank hates the movies, hated them enough to eventually let the script for 2 get turned into a graphic novel.
Sin City is cynicism for the sake of cynicism, actually the books are cynicism for the sake of drawing what he likes to draw (which is frequently hot chicks in rain).
The "300" number is romance, and was the number of Greeks present. There were close to 7000 total troops from various city-states/countries united against the Persians present at Thermopylae.
But that won't stop me from watching a good movie.
The fact that Gerard Butler is in it is reason enough to go see it.
Yum!!!
For the better classes of people, yes. Not for the bottom two thirds. And he was talking about Athens.
Depending on where the genetic lottery cast your lot, the Roman Empire could have been great or an unrelenting horror.
That's the problem with ancient empires, which makes life in certain (not all) of the less civilized areas of the time more appealing. A very flat social structure is a mercy in an age when empire rendered the weak the playthings of the strong.
It's not about "truth"...it's about what people find "admirable".
It was poor, xenophobic and totally reactionary. There was nothing admirable about Sparta other than its army.
Maybe this description came fron liberals? History is replete with contradictory narratives. Was Julius Caesar a "Great Warrior and Statesman" or a "Tyrant"? Was Athens a "great" city or "weak, decadent and without honor"?
History has given its verdict. Sparta disappeared as a city of significance while Athens remained a city of importance.
It is no liberal plot which associates much of western thought and culture with Athens and NONE with Sparta.
When one speaks of "Greek Civilization" one is speaking of Athens. Sparta was less cultured than EVERY major city in Greek: Athens, Thebes, Corith all contributed more.
Sparta was a military camp. It was organized to support the army. Everything was pointed to that end. AND it was communistic. These are not points of controversy or contention within the Classics.
But then, "what is history," asked Napoleon, "but a fable agreed upon?"
That very comment is history. It exists and can be evaluated as real.
There are few historical episodes as real as those of ancient Greece. Schieleman showed that as well.
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