And regarding Umbria and the northern territories of Italy, Alexander sought agreement with Rome on four points: first that the parties should agree as to the independence of the northern territories, second either party could sign treaties with any of the states in the north, third that any alliance made by either would count as one with both parties, and fourth the northern territories would not be asked to go to war with Samnium. That way they could protect the north from the Gauls should they choose to come down.
Ptolemy told the Romans they must except his proposal as is with no negotiation. If they refused or allied themselves with the Samnites, they would not be able to stop Alexander from continuing with his plans. Rome accepted Alexander’s offer without hesitation.
The next year Alexander landed at Tarentum, assembled his army and crushed the Samnites. He now controlled one half of the Italian Peninsula and could use it as a stepping stone to conquer Sicily and then Carthage.
This story did not happen, of course, but it could have. Toynbee teases us with a historical phantasy. One can imagine that Rome would eventually rise to the power she became once Alexander was out of the picture, after all the Italians were native to the peninsula and the Greeks were outsiders. The cultural bond between Italians would have eventually won the day.
Britain is naturally divided by geography; the south is generally warmer, more fertile, and closer to the continent than the North. Southern England had tin, and could control much of the trade in copper from the Irish Sea, so it was an important component in Prehistoric Northern Europe. The North itself is divided -- Scotland split between a highlands and lowlands.
The realpolitik in ancient times was how to stop those in the north from taking materials from their more prosperous southern neighbours. These North-South dynamics were a recurrent theme of English history and both the North–South divide and Scottish independence are live political issues even today.
I will use the word Celt here even though Caesar made clear he was dealing with the local aristocracy. In this context warfare was interaction between two ruling classes vying for ultimate control of land, its resources, and the people who worked it. ‘Romanization’ was a top down process.
Certainly, there was warfare, but this was driven by diplomacy and a political narrative. The Celtic peoples had long interacted with the Mediterranean world, and in many ways the Roman army was shaped by early unsuccessful encounters with them. For all concerned, warfare was a career and a business opportunity, so everybody knew the rules and what to expect.
The Wall was a live frontier; so clearly nobody within striking range of the Roman Army was going to be openly hostile, but beyond them were still the people who were isolated. Whatever the political and military circumstances that established the peace, splitting the country in two with a physical barrier probably came as a surprise to those beyond it.
The Roman Army was unlikely to face infantry in mass formation in open battle, and so the main threat probably came from concentrations fast moving mounted troops. A physical barrier forced them to dismount and fight on the Roman terms, against gateways that allowed the Romans to counter attack and outflank their opponents.
Hadrian’s wall is a military engineering solution to the North-South Divide. The line of forts and observation points had proved ineffective, but the Wall changes the geography.
For instance, topological electronic crystals like the one mentioned in the current study are quite special. In these unique crystals, electrons move in a very stable way, no matter if there are small defects or impurities in the material.
What makes them special is that their stability comes from the material’s internal structure and not from outside influences like temperature or pressure.
However, these crystals are rare because only certain materials have the right atomic arrangement to support topological electron behavior.
How were the Romans able to spread themselves out across an eighty mile construction project without protection?
In the first season the bulk of the troops were engaged in creating a timber and earth wall with a ditch in front it which protected the work parties behind it. Each of the forts being built was staged with a temporary camp to house the garrison and builders while work was on-going. Similarly, those guarding and building the Wall required accommodations. As part of the process, a construction trench was dug behind the wall for a road -- the spoil neatly piled to allow two wide verges on either side of the planned metalled carriageway. The skilled workers were concentrated in specialist groups working on the Wall starting in the East, while others started work on milecastles and forts. Those digging the trench and laying the foundation were not as skilled as the crews working on the stone wall so their work was completed well ahead of time.
Little remains of the wall to study, after centuries of robbing, and its systematic demolition by engineers in 1740’s in what turned out to be the final action on the frontier. On 16 April 1746, the Battle of Culloden, probably not that far from Mons Graupius, finally brought the highlands under central control.
There has been very little investigation of the scant traces of that remain of the extensive temporary works or of the builders and forces that guarded them. In the archaeology of these timber and earth structures lies the real key to understanding how the Wall was constructed.
This behavior resulted in a strange electronic effect. Inside the material, electrons became frozen in place, making it act like an insulator. However, along the edges, electrons moved effortlessly, allowing electricity to flow without resistance.
Generally, when electrons freeze and settle down such a structure is called the Wigner crystal. However, in this case, the rotational motion of electrons along the edges resulted in something different — the topological electronic crystal.
“The rotation of the electrons in the crystal is analogous to the twist in the Möbius strip and leads to the remarkable characteristic of the topological electronic crystal never before seen in the rare cases where electron crystals have been observed in the past,” the study authors said.
This rare discovery could contribute to the development of highly efficient electronic and quantum computing applications.
The wall was constructed at the direction of emperor Hadrian, according to restored sandstone tablets in found in Jarrow England, to “keep intact the empire” which had been imposed on him by “divine instruction”.
Hadrian traveled to Great Britain in 122 A.D. and may have visited the wall during the initial period of construction. The wall took seven years to build and it was completed in 128 A.D. Spanning a 73 mile distance from east of Newcastle through Carlisle and on to the coastline of the Stolway Firth, the wall is stone from the River Irthing east and earthen from the river west. The difference in construction materials reflects the availability of stone in the east and the lack of same in the other direction.
‘Homestead’ Goes Deeper than Apocalyptic Prep
Angel Studios film asks tough questions about worst-case scenarios
It’s true that when the common defense becomes unreliable, the prepared will want their safe havens to be secure.
But life isn’t so cut and dry, says part of the message within “Homestead.”
A blow-‘em-up disaster scene under the bombing of Los Angeles may be how
This Ben Smallbone movie begins with a nuclear bomb detonating in Los Angeles, but when the nuclear fallout settles, genuine slices of humanity punctuate the film’s adventurous remainder.
Ian and Jenna Ross (Neal McDonough and Dawn Olivieri), the owners of a well-stocked, secret location called Homestead, have their grain stores and underground water supplies locked in.
What happens when a family with a member suffering from a difficult disease, whose ability to prep was lesser, shows up at the gate pleading for a safe place to heal?
Will Ian, Homestead’s chief protector, give entry?
The circumstances are beyond what the civilized mind can imagine, as fears about “us and them” are taken to an extreme. How would essential trust be built in this “SHTF” scenario? Where is the right balance between protecting and sharing?
Questions such as these make for relevant drama on several counts.
“Homestead” is written by Phillip Abraham and Leah Bateman, a married couple working in the entertainment industry together. Their marriage may contribute to the realistic dialogue between Ian and Jenna, and is a welcome, unique factor in the “Homestead” script.
In a reflective line in the script, Jenna Ross says, “Everyone’s wondering how the world ended, but this is the story of how it began again.”
Perhaps that positive energy of freedom being reset is what is driving the large and growing homesteading movement. Though counting the number of people who’ve exited the system to raise their food is difficult, it has been estimated at 2.2 million Americans in the millennial generation are homesteaders.
The wall in the east was a stone structure constructed using concrete as the strengthening material. It was about eight feet wide and extended to a height of twelve to sixteen feet. The walkway along the top was four to five feet wide. West of the Irthing, where the wall was earthen, the structures were wood or stone.
A defensive ditch was located twenty-two feet north of the wall. V-shaped with the bottom squared out into a channel, its dimensions were thirty-five feet wide and ten feet deep. The ditch was omitted where the wall ran along precipitous rocks.
The wall was first mentioned by Dio writing in 230 A.D. He said “The tribes of the island crossed the wall which divides them and the Roman stations and were doing much damage…” Later he says, “the Maeatae live close to the Wall which bisects the island, and the Caledonians beyond them”.
Towards the end of the same century, Aelius Spartianus, one of the writers of the Historia Augusta, said of Hadrian: “he visited Britain and put many things straight there: he also was the first to build a Wall, eighty miles long, to divide the barbarians from the Romans”.
"I think it doesn't matter about party in [the] office," he added. "It's about the people sitting in the dark. It's got nothing to do with politics."
In June, Costner left his hit show "Yellowstone" due to scheduling and contract issues that were preventing him from focusing on his four-part Civil War drama "Horizon: An American Saga," which he starred in and directed. The actor backed the movie series with $38 million of his own money, calling it a passion project from nearly 30 years ago.
"I don’t play to my fan base as much as I play to people who are willing to still go to the theater and take them to a place they didn’t imagine," he said. "I don’t ignore my fanbase on any level, but I don’t cater to the idea of anybody except myself, when it comes to a story that I want to share."
The two-time Academy Award winner admitted that he doesn't enjoy directing movies, saying that it "kills me."
"There's only one joy – that you’re going to see the movie unfiltered," he continued. "You’re going to see it unvarnished – you’re going to see it the way I want, and it won’t be manipulated. There won’t be some committee deciding, ‘Well, that’s too hard, or we need to go faster here, or we need to do that.’"
" I tried to arbitrate that for an audience. I try to become the audience while making it. I think what people don’t want is to be bored on any level, and I don’t think they like being talked down to," Costner added.
"I don’t think that they flinch from the hard parts of life because there’s not a person in that theater that isn’t bruised."
In the Republican strategy, which ran to the time of Claudius, armed forces were distributed in pockets around the perimeter of Roman territory. Troops were garrisoned in multi-legion armies which were not intended for territorial defense of the frontier. No Roman troops were deployed in client states but there was constant diplomacy going on between Rome and the clients it sought to influence. The primary aim of the diplomacy was to remind the client of the infinite Roman power and the uselessness of trying to oppose her. This effort of deterrence was part of a “carrot and stick” philosophy where the carrot consisted of subsidies provided to influential persons.
The legions were mobile and freely deployable to any location requiring military intervention, so that major rebellions, like Illyricum in 9 A.D, could call for sending half the army without risking the security of the frontier. Absent rebellions, the deployed legions could also be used to advance the frontier where it was open, as in the case of Great Britain. In the Republican model, the reach of Roman power and the costs of operating the army were not proportional because the psychological threat of the Roman Army greatly exceeded that of the physical army.
The second, or Antonine System, was in use from about 69 A.D. to the middle of the third century. Here the Empire saw its army deployed everywhere to protect and secure the borders and the interior. The effective power and actual power were now in strict proportion because the psychological threat was backed up by large forces that could enforce it. Weak clients were ignored because they provided no value. Strong clients could not be tolerated because their strength posed a threat to the Empire.
Whitney Webb has been a professional writer, researcher, and journalist since 2016. She has written for several websites and, from 2017 to 2020, was a staff writer and senior investigative reporter for Mint Press News. She currently writes for Unlimited Hangout and contributes to The Last American Vagabond. She hosts an independent podcast called Unlimited Hangout and is the author of the books 'One Nation Under Blackmail' Vol 1 and 2. Her work aims to highlight under-reported issues and find common ground between people of different political persuasions regarding corruption, government overreach, the lack of accountability for militaries and intelligence agencies, and the military industrial complex.
Politics was now critical because growing prosperity and the Romanization of the frontier were fostering enculturation. Meanwhile, the threat of facing enemies was low because of their separation from each other. Elaborate border defenses, such as Hadrian’s Wall took the place of large troop deployments and allowed the army to operate with fewer units.
In spite of these positive aspects, there was a growing dissatisfaction among people outside the territories because their adoption of Roman ways was not accompanied by the rights associated with citizenship. As a result, the enculturation created a kinship among the disadvantaged. German tribes now took center stage as their drive to unification became stronger than the influence of Rome. The perimeter defense was not adequate to resist these large unified groups.
At this point the empire enjoyed only a small economy of scale advantage over the alternative of independent regional states but that advantage was counteracted by the inefficiency of administration far from home. The reality of a unified all powerful Empire was now a memory outside of the will of those in power who endeavored to keep the Empire intact.
As we have discussed before, Homoioi were Spartiates who had graduated from the Agoge training and were able to make a regular contribution to the Mess. They constituted the most highly trained and skilled members of the Spartan Army, but were never large enough in numbers to constitute a potent military force, so Sparta came to rely on its neighbors for reinforcements.
At Platea in 479 B.C, for example, the Lacedaemonian Army was fifty percent Spartiates and fifty percent Perioikoi. By 425 B.C, the ratio was sixty percent Perioikoi.
Four Enomotia made up a Pentecostys, two Pentecostys per Lochos, and four Lochos per Mora, making a total of approximately 1200 men. These ratios varied widely over time and there are questions about their accuracy. We know that the Spartan Army originally had five Lochi, one for each of the five villages of Sparta, but that would only total about 1500 men. Later there were twenty-four Lochi, or 7200 men at an age 60 deployment – a rare occurance.
Each of the units had its own commander: Enomotia were commanded by a Enomotiarch, Pentecostys by a Penetecosteres, Lochos by a Lochagoi, and Mora by a Polemarch.
So we can see a balanced Republican government of three bodies: Gerousia, Assembly, and Ephors, remarkably similar to the Roman Republic which would come along two hundred years later. Seeing a similar structure in Greece and Rome, separated by time and space, one can’t help thinking that the Republic was a natural development of human society – the bridge system between autocrats and democracy.
Moving along in the evolution of the Spartan government, we again turn to Plutarch. “The second and the boldest of political reforms of Sparta was the redistribution of the land. Great inequalities existed, many poor and needy people had become a burden to the state, while wealth had got into a very few hands.”
!summarize #Trump #palmbeach #billionaires #florida #wealth
And regarding Umbria and the northern territories of Italy, Alexander sought agreement with Rome on four points: first that the parties should agree as to the independence of the northern territories, second either party could sign treaties with any of the states in the north, third that any alliance made by either would count as one with both parties, and fourth the northern territories would not be asked to go to war with Samnium. That way they could protect the north from the Gauls should they choose to come down.
Ptolemy told the Romans they must except his proposal as is with no negotiation. If they refused or allied themselves with the Samnites, they would not be able to stop Alexander from continuing with his plans. Rome accepted Alexander’s offer without hesitation.
!summarize #west #unitedstates #coast #costs #income #wealth
The next year Alexander landed at Tarentum, assembled his army and crushed the Samnites. He now controlled one half of the Italian Peninsula and could use it as a stepping stone to conquer Sicily and then Carthage.
This story did not happen, of course, but it could have. Toynbee teases us with a historical phantasy. One can imagine that Rome would eventually rise to the power she became once Alexander was out of the picture, after all the Italians were native to the peninsula and the Greeks were outsiders. The cultural bond between Italians would have eventually won the day.
Hadrian and the North South Divide
Britain is naturally divided by geography; the south is generally warmer, more fertile, and closer to the continent than the North. Southern England had tin, and could control much of the trade in copper from the Irish Sea, so it was an important component in Prehistoric Northern Europe. The North itself is divided -- Scotland split between a highlands and lowlands.
The realpolitik in ancient times was how to stop those in the north from taking materials from their more prosperous southern neighbours. These North-South dynamics were a recurrent theme of English history and both the North–South divide and Scottish independence are live political issues even today.
!summarize #yiavang #chef #Porkchop #food
!summarize #civilizations #ancient #collapse #history #ancienthistory
I will use the word Celt here even though Caesar made clear he was dealing with the local aristocracy. In this context warfare was interaction between two ruling classes vying for ultimate control of land, its resources, and the people who worked it. ‘Romanization’ was a top down process.
Certainly, there was warfare, but this was driven by diplomacy and a political narrative. The Celtic peoples had long interacted with the Mediterranean world, and in many ways the Roman army was shaped by early unsuccessful encounters with them. For all concerned, warfare was a career and a business opportunity, so everybody knew the rules and what to expect.
The Wall was a live frontier; so clearly nobody within striking range of the Roman Army was going to be openly hostile, but beyond them were still the people who were isolated. Whatever the political and military circumstances that established the peace, splitting the country in two with a physical barrier probably came as a surprise to those beyond it.
The Roman Army was unlikely to face infantry in mass formation in open battle, and so the main threat probably came from concentrations fast moving mounted troops. A physical barrier forced them to dismount and fight on the Roman terms, against gateways that allowed the Romans to counter attack and outflank their opponents.
Hadrian’s wall is a military engineering solution to the North-South Divide. The line of forts and observation points had proved ineffective, but the Wall changes the geography.
For instance, topological electronic crystals like the one mentioned in the current study are quite special. In these unique crystals, electrons move in a very stable way, no matter if there are small defects or impurities in the material.
What makes them special is that their stability comes from the material’s internal structure and not from outside influences like temperature or pressure.
However, these crystals are rare because only certain materials have the right atomic arrangement to support topological electron behavior.
How were the Romans able to spread themselves out across an eighty mile construction project without protection?
In the first season the bulk of the troops were engaged in creating a timber and earth wall with a ditch in front it which protected the work parties behind it. Each of the forts being built was staged with a temporary camp to house the garrison and builders while work was on-going. Similarly, those guarding and building the Wall required accommodations. As part of the process, a construction trench was dug behind the wall for a road -- the spoil neatly piled to allow two wide verges on either side of the planned metalled carriageway. The skilled workers were concentrated in specialist groups working on the Wall starting in the East, while others started work on milecastles and forts. Those digging the trench and laying the foundation were not as skilled as the crews working on the stone wall so their work was completed well ahead of time.
!summarize #richardpanek #telescope #cosmology #astronomy #space
Little remains of the wall to study, after centuries of robbing, and its systematic demolition by engineers in 1740’s in what turned out to be the final action on the frontier. On 16 April 1746, the Battle of Culloden, probably not that far from Mons Graupius, finally brought the highlands under central control.
There has been very little investigation of the scant traces of that remain of the extensive temporary works or of the builders and forces that guarded them. In the archaeology of these timber and earth structures lies the real key to understanding how the Wall was constructed.
This behavior resulted in a strange electronic effect. Inside the material, electrons became frozen in place, making it act like an insulator. However, along the edges, electrons moved effortlessly, allowing electricity to flow without resistance.
Generally, when electrons freeze and settle down such a structure is called the Wigner crystal. However, in this case, the rotational motion of electrons along the edges resulted in something different — the topological electronic crystal.
“The rotation of the electrons in the crystal is analogous to the twist in the Möbius strip and leads to the remarkable characteristic of the topological electronic crystal never before seen in the rare cases where electron crystals have been observed in the past,” the study authors said.
This rare discovery could contribute to the development of highly efficient electronic and quantum computing applications.
The wall was constructed at the direction of emperor Hadrian, according to restored sandstone tablets in found in Jarrow England, to “keep intact the empire” which had been imposed on him by “divine instruction”.
Hadrian traveled to Great Britain in 122 A.D. and may have visited the wall during the initial period of construction. The wall took seven years to build and it was completed in 128 A.D. Spanning a 73 mile distance from east of Newcastle through Carlisle and on to the coastline of the Stolway Firth, the wall is stone from the River Irthing east and earthen from the river west. The difference in construction materials reflects the availability of stone in the east and the lack of same in the other direction.
‘Homestead’ Goes Deeper than Apocalyptic Prep
Angel Studios film asks tough questions about worst-case scenarios
It’s true that when the common defense becomes unreliable, the prepared will want their safe havens to be secure.
But life isn’t so cut and dry, says part of the message within “Homestead.”
A blow-‘em-up disaster scene under the bombing of Los Angeles may be how
This Ben Smallbone movie begins with a nuclear bomb detonating in Los Angeles, but when the nuclear fallout settles, genuine slices of humanity punctuate the film’s adventurous remainder.
Homestead
Ian and Jenna Ross (Neal McDonough and Dawn Olivieri), the owners of a well-stocked, secret location called Homestead, have their grain stores and underground water supplies locked in.
What happens when a family with a member suffering from a difficult disease, whose ability to prep was lesser, shows up at the gate pleading for a safe place to heal?
Will Ian, Homestead’s chief protector, give entry?
The circumstances are beyond what the civilized mind can imagine, as fears about “us and them” are taken to an extreme. How would essential trust be built in this “SHTF” scenario? Where is the right balance between protecting and sharing?
Questions such as these make for relevant drama on several counts.
“Homestead” is written by Phillip Abraham and Leah Bateman, a married couple working in the entertainment industry together. Their marriage may contribute to the realistic dialogue between Ian and Jenna, and is a welcome, unique factor in the “Homestead” script.
In a reflective line in the script, Jenna Ross says, “Everyone’s wondering how the world ended, but this is the story of how it began again.”
Perhaps that positive energy of freedom being reset is what is driving the large and growing homesteading movement. Though counting the number of people who’ve exited the system to raise their food is difficult, it has been estimated at 2.2 million Americans in the millennial generation are homesteaders.
Wall Detail:
The wall in the east was a stone structure constructed using concrete as the strengthening material. It was about eight feet wide and extended to a height of twelve to sixteen feet. The walkway along the top was four to five feet wide. West of the Irthing, where the wall was earthen, the structures were wood or stone.
A defensive ditch was located twenty-two feet north of the wall. V-shaped with the bottom squared out into a channel, its dimensions were thirty-five feet wide and ten feet deep. The ditch was omitted where the wall ran along precipitous rocks.
!summarize #life #alaska #travel
The wall was first mentioned by Dio writing in 230 A.D. He said “The tribes of the island crossed the wall which divides them and the Roman stations and were doing much damage…” Later he says, “the Maeatae live close to the Wall which bisects the island, and the Caledonians beyond them”.
Towards the end of the same century, Aelius Spartianus, one of the writers of the Historia Augusta, said of Hadrian: “he visited Britain and put many things straight there: he also was the first to build a Wall, eighty miles long, to divide the barbarians from the Romans”.
"I think it doesn't matter about party in [the] office," he added. "It's about the people sitting in the dark. It's got nothing to do with politics."
In June, Costner left his hit show "Yellowstone" due to scheduling and contract issues that were preventing him from focusing on his four-part Civil War drama "Horizon: An American Saga," which he starred in and directed. The actor backed the movie series with $38 million of his own money, calling it a passion project from nearly 30 years ago.
"I don’t play to my fan base as much as I play to people who are willing to still go to the theater and take them to a place they didn’t imagine," he said. "I don’t ignore my fanbase on any level, but I don’t cater to the idea of anybody except myself, when it comes to a story that I want to share."
The two-time Academy Award winner admitted that he doesn't enjoy directing movies, saying that it "kills me."
"There's only one joy – that you’re going to see the movie unfiltered," he continued. "You’re going to see it unvarnished – you’re going to see it the way I want, and it won’t be manipulated. There won’t be some committee deciding, ‘Well, that’s too hard, or we need to go faster here, or we need to do that.’"
" I tried to arbitrate that for an audience. I try to become the audience while making it. I think what people don’t want is to be bored on any level, and I don’t think they like being talked down to," Costner added.
"I don’t think that they flinch from the hard parts of life because there’s not a person in that theater that isn’t bruised."
!summarize #tomfitton #kashpatel #fbi
!summarize #tomhoman #immigration #illegal
!summarize #steveyoung #49ers #sanfrancisco #nfl #usfl
In the Republican strategy, which ran to the time of Claudius, armed forces were distributed in pockets around the perimeter of Roman territory. Troops were garrisoned in multi-legion armies which were not intended for territorial defense of the frontier. No Roman troops were deployed in client states but there was constant diplomacy going on between Rome and the clients it sought to influence. The primary aim of the diplomacy was to remind the client of the infinite Roman power and the uselessness of trying to oppose her. This effort of deterrence was part of a “carrot and stick” philosophy where the carrot consisted of subsidies provided to influential persons.
!summarize #steveyoung #nil #football #college
The legions were mobile and freely deployable to any location requiring military intervention, so that major rebellions, like Illyricum in 9 A.D, could call for sending half the army without risking the security of the frontier. Absent rebellions, the deployed legions could also be used to advance the frontier where it was open, as in the case of Great Britain. In the Republican model, the reach of Roman power and the costs of operating the army were not proportional because the psychological threat of the Roman Army greatly exceeded that of the physical army.
The second, or Antonine System, was in use from about 69 A.D. to the middle of the third century. Here the Empire saw its army deployed everywhere to protect and secure the borders and the interior. The effective power and actual power were now in strict proportion because the psychological threat was backed up by large forces that could enforce it. Weak clients were ignored because they provided no value. Strong clients could not be tolerated because their strength posed a threat to the Empire.
!summarize #epstein #sex #trafficking #underage
Whitney Webb has been a professional writer, researcher, and journalist since 2016. She has written for several websites and, from 2017 to 2020, was a staff writer and senior investigative reporter for Mint Press News. She currently writes for Unlimited Hangout and contributes to The Last American Vagabond. She hosts an independent podcast called Unlimited Hangout and is the author of the books 'One Nation Under Blackmail' Vol 1 and 2. Her work aims to highlight under-reported issues and find common ground between people of different political persuasions regarding corruption, government overreach, the lack of accountability for militaries and intelligence agencies, and the military industrial complex.
!summarize #elonmusk #whitneywebb #epstein
!summarize #danmarino #nfl #patrickmahomes #superbowl #quarterback #halloffame
!summarize #longevity #technology #hoax
!summarize #russia #physical #exam
Politics was now critical because growing prosperity and the Romanization of the frontier were fostering enculturation. Meanwhile, the threat of facing enemies was low because of their separation from each other. Elaborate border defenses, such as Hadrian’s Wall took the place of large troop deployments and allowed the army to operate with fewer units.
In spite of these positive aspects, there was a growing dissatisfaction among people outside the territories because their adoption of Roman ways was not accompanied by the rights associated with citizenship. As a result, the enculturation created a kinship among the disadvantaged. German tribes now took center stage as their drive to unification became stronger than the influence of Rome. The perimeter defense was not adequate to resist these large unified groups.
!summarize #antartica #mcmurdo #science #station
!summarize #jamaica #island
At this point the empire enjoyed only a small economy of scale advantage over the alternative of independent regional states but that advantage was counteracted by the inefficiency of administration far from home. The reality of a unified all powerful Empire was now a memory outside of the will of those in power who endeavored to keep the Empire intact.
!summarize #Russia #truckers #winter #cold #freezing
As we have discussed before, Homoioi were Spartiates who had graduated from the Agoge training and were able to make a regular contribution to the Mess. They constituted the most highly trained and skilled members of the Spartan Army, but were never large enough in numbers to constitute a potent military force, so Sparta came to rely on its neighbors for reinforcements.
At Platea in 479 B.C, for example, the Lacedaemonian Army was fifty percent Spartiates and fifty percent Perioikoi. By 425 B.C, the ratio was sixty percent Perioikoi.
Four Enomotia made up a Pentecostys, two Pentecostys per Lochos, and four Lochos per Mora, making a total of approximately 1200 men. These ratios varied widely over time and there are questions about their accuracy. We know that the Spartan Army originally had five Lochi, one for each of the five villages of Sparta, but that would only total about 1500 men. Later there were twenty-four Lochi, or 7200 men at an age 60 deployment – a rare occurance.
Each of the units had its own commander: Enomotia were commanded by a Enomotiarch, Pentecostys by a Penetecosteres, Lochos by a Lochagoi, and Mora by a Polemarch.
!summarize #coloradoriver #lithium
!summarize #bono #u2 #music #singer #band #dislike
!summarize #Russia #apartment #living #realestate
So we can see a balanced Republican government of three bodies: Gerousia, Assembly, and Ephors, remarkably similar to the Roman Republic which would come along two hundred years later. Seeing a similar structure in Greece and Rome, separated by time and space, one can’t help thinking that the Republic was a natural development of human society – the bridge system between autocrats and democracy.
Moving along in the evolution of the Spartan government, we again turn to Plutarch. “The second and the boldest of political reforms of Sparta was the redistribution of the land. Great inequalities existed, many poor and needy people had become a burden to the state, while wealth had got into a very few hands.”