OOTS #1216 - The Discussion Thread

[Grey_Wolf_c]

The Romans had a dislike for kings (Rex) because of a guy named Tarquin.
Of course it didn't take long for the Emperors to turn even worse.

...

It took 500 years, give or take. By human standards, that is quite long.

GW

[Petrocorus]

...
It took 500 years, give or take. By human standards, that is quite long.

GW

500 years between what? Tarquin and Caligula?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

500 years between what? Tarquin and Caligula?

I was more thinking Tiberius, but sure.

GW

[hamishspence]

Of course it didn't take long for the Emperors to turn even worse.

It took 500 years, give or take. By human standards, that is quite long.

I'm guessing they meant, that it didn't take long between the rise of the first emperor, and the rise of "an emperor as bad as the kings"

Rather than "between the fall of the last king, and the rise of an emperor as bad as him".

[Fyraltari]

I was more thinking Tiberius, but sure.

GW

Tiberius wasn’t a tyrant, he was slandered by later historians.
And he shouldn’t have trusted Sejanus.

[arimareiji]

The existence of various « dialects » inside the cries of animal species depending on place and length of isolation is a well-known fact. Studies on the subject have mostly been carried out on birds and primates.

Since my last thoughts weren't silly enough: Given how much communication is "nonverbal" even with humans, and given how much information cats/dogs communicate by peeing on things and sniffing each other's butts, is it fair to guess that somewhere in the universe there is a species that primarily communicates in various dialects of fart?

"I'm sorry, I'm not very fluent in Oh My God What Crawled Up There And Died. Maybe we should resume this conversation after we finish eating this zebra."

[Fyraltari]

Since my last thoughts weren't silly enough: Given how much communication is "nonverbal" even with humans, and given how much information cats/dogs communicate by peeing on things and sniffing each other's butts, is it fair to guess that somewhere in the universe there is a species that primarily communicates in various dialects of fart?

"I'm sorry, I'm not very fluent in Oh My God What Crawled Up There And Died. Maybe we should resume this conversation after we finish eating this zebra."

Apparently there was.

[arimareiji]

Apparently there was.

Wow. I don't think Nabisco could produce enough crackers for that much cheese in a year. XD

[Petrocorus]

I'm guessing they meant, that it didn't take long between the rise of the first emperor, and the rise of "an emperor as bad as the kings"

Rather than "between the fall of the last king, and the rise of an emperor as bad as him".

Yes, that actually what i meant.
I don't know well about Tiberius, but AFAIK, Caligula and Nero, who were third and fifth emperor respectively, were bona fide villains. And i use "villain" not to use words forbidden by forum rules.

[Fyraltari]

Yes, that actually what i meant.
I don't know well about Tiberius, but AFAIK, Caligula and Nero, who were third and fifth emperor respectively, were bona fide villains. And i use "villain" not to use words forbidden by forum rules.

It's probably more accurate to say that the emperors weren't any better (or worse) than the kings some were great, some were terrible most were average. And frankly I doubt the Republic was any better for the random roman.

EDIT: As for Nero and Caligula (and Elagabalus and all of the mad emperors really) while they certainly had a list of crimes longer than my arm, and undiagnosed mental issues (not helped by the different socio-religious context that makes everything looks even weirder to our eyes) a lot of their reputation seem to flow more from roman historians trash-talking them for political points and a game of telephone then from actual facts. Take Nero, for example, he wasn't even in Rome when it burned much less playing the lyre or the harp, his naming a horse consul was an insult to the senators, not a serious nomination and he was genuinely liked by the people with many still hoping for his return decades after his passing.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Wasn't it Caligula who named his horse consul?

[Doug Lampert]

Wasn't it Caligula who named his horse consul?

Yes, but it was still done as a deliberate insult to an eminently insultable group of people.

[KorvinStarmast]

Wasn't it Caligula who named his horse consul?

My grandpa once told me that there are more horses' behinds than there are horses - perhaps this is the origin of that jest.

[Ron Miel]

Take Nero, for example, he wasn't even in Rome when it burned much less playing the lyre or the harp ...

He was in Antium about 70km from Rome when the fire started. But the fire burned for 6 days, during which he returned to manage the efforts to fight the fire. The historian Tacitus records a rumour that he recited a passage from Homer about the destruction of Troy, which is the origin of the fiddle/ lyre while Rome burned story. It is at least plausible. Six days is a long time. Even if someone is managing a bad situation well, you can allow them a few breaks. And comparing the situation to a bit of popular culture is just human nature.

[Ruck]

undiagnosed mental issues

Wasn't there a lot of lead used in building stuff like the Roman sewer systems?

[KorvinStarmast]

Wasn't there a lot of lead used in building stuff like the Roman sewer systems?

And in their wine jugs (lead allegedly made it taste sweeter - the wine)

[Ron Miel]

Okay, remind me. How did we move from discussing the difference between fruit and vegetables to talking about the history of the Roman empire?

This is a weird forum.

[Peelee]

Okay, remind me. How did we move from discussing the difference between fruit and vegetables to talking about the history of the Roman empire?

This is the main comic discussion thread, and the question you're asking is how it got to the history of the Roman empire from the starting point of discussing the difference between fruits and vegetables.

This is a weird forum.

This is a weird forum!

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Okay, remind me. How did we move from discussing the difference between fruit and vegetables to talking about the history of the Roman empire?

Because the sun never sets on France, but their weather is annoying.

GW

[Petrocorus]

Because the sun never sets on France, but their weather is annoying.

GW

That really depends on what part of France you are in. Mainland itself has easily 4 or 5 different climate.

[Rogar Demonblud]

And in their wine jugs (lead allegedly made it taste sweeter - the wine)

Same thing helped kill Beethoven. Wines were lead fortified for an absurdly long time.

[danielxcutter]

I guess it lead to a lot of early deaths then.

[Fyraltari]

Wasn't it Caligula who named his horse consul?

And this is why I shouldn’t post in the late evening.

[arimareiji]

Wasn't it Caligula who named his horse consul?

Yes, but it was still done as a deliberate insult to an eminently insultable group of people.

I don't believe the noble Incitatus (Caligula's favorite horse, ridiculously pampered) was actually made a consul... but like many stories it's too good not to tell.

Wrt deliberate insults: I wonder to what degree the movie Caligula popularized the notion that after his much-too-beloved sister died, he was goading them into killing him because he was done with life. In the movie, Incitatus was actually pretty small potatoes by comparison. For example, his scheme for raising money without taxes: "Who collects the most money in Rome? The prostitutes! And who are the biggest prostitutes? The Senators' wives!"

...please don't judge too harshly. I studied the late Roman Republic and didn't know all that much about the first emperors, so I thought it would be a good opportunity when I saw this distinguished-looking tape at the video store with famous actors headlining it.


(Protip: It really, really wasn't. Not only was the content extremely not-safe-for-work, a lot of it was not-safe-for-brain. )

[Fyraltari]

This is the main comic discussion thread, and the question you're asking is how it got to the history of the Roman empire from the starting point of discussing the difference between fruits and vegetables.

This is a weird forum!

Because the sun never sets on France, but their weather is annoying.

GW

What do you mean annoying? You can pick whichever you want between: too ****ing windy, too ****ing rainy, too ****ing hot and many more!

[Grey_Wolf_c]

What do you mean annoying? You can pick whichever you want between: too ****ing windy, too ****ing rainy, too ****ing hot and many more!

I'm just reporting the facts.

And here i thought my equatorial weather was annoying.

GW

[Fyraltari]

I'm just reporting the facts.


GW

[Petrocorus]

I'm just reporting the facts.


GW

Well.. as i said, this is one part of France. We have many different climates.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Well.. as i said, this is one part of France. We have many different climates.

Sigh. OK, let's kill frogs and explain jokes.

Ron Miel asked how we transitioned from one random topic (for a comic discussion thread) to a separate random topic. I chose to answer by presenting a transition point as a similar random topic, seemingly unrelated to the other two, and to highlight the silliness, I chose to present the topic in as random fashion as I could think in the approximately 20 seconds I devoted to what was going to be a weak joke.

Grey Wolf

[KorvinStarmast]

(Protip: It really, really wasn't. Not only was the content extremely not-safe-for-work, a lot of it was not-safe-for-brain. )

Put into context, I was around when that film was released. Saw an extended version when it came out on VHS.
In those ancient days producing a film like that was 'edgy' since a lot of the epic Roman empire stories (Quo Vadis, Ben Hur, Spartacus) had the whole togas and Rome bit going for them, but left out the orgies. {I think that Bob Guccione had a hand in the film's production. (Penthouse publisher).} It was worth one watch, but not repeated viewings. Yeah, rated R or X for lewd content. I'd seen Malcom McDowell in Clockwork Orange before that. For my money, the latter film was a lot more disturbing than Caligula ever was.

Well.. as i said, this is one part of France. We have many different climates.

Likewise with Texas, and oddly enough Texas and France are about the same size.

Hmmmmm, I sense a strangeness in the Force ...