You will know them by their love

[reverendjeremiah]

Or was it bronze age?

The Roman Empire was about 2 to 3 hundred years into the iron age when the beginning of the common era started (Jesus' birth supposedly). Of course Bronze was still popular, but if you had and army carrying bronze weapons going up against Rome at the time, well, lets just say you better out number them 20 to 1 or your ass is going to get slaughtered.

---

2000 years ago an unwashed, hippie looking schmuck got executed according to the practices of the prevailing empire at the time. They didn't find him as holier-than-thou as his mother did...a common problem.

I thought thats what Jewish mothers were supposed to do by tradition?

[thesummerqueen]

That's why I inserted it in there.

[RW_9]

I stand corrected. I'm in the habit of including "stone age" for my snide comments about the old testament and it slipped in. Thankfully, I didn't do this in the ban above thread.

[reverendjeremiah]

Yeah, when comparing the side by side history of the neighboring countries to the Roman empire, you can see one of the reasons Rome was so successful. Most of its neighbors were either in the bronze or stone age while Rome was clearly Iron age. An even mediocrely trained army wearing Iron armor has a better chance at surviving against a highly trained army in bronze armor.

[RW_9]

That and the skirts. The skirts are awesome.

[Doubting Thomas]

[The Grand Nudger]

The rank and file wore leather. Officers maybe wore a breastplate, but it was usually studded leather (or reenforced) in most cases. It was their system of logistics, supply, and ag that drove their military. That and they actually trained soldiers, which was a bit better than the "pick up spear and roll" thing everyone else was rolling with. As far as military tech goes, history is filled with instances of "superior" arms being absolutely outshined by primitive counterparts. One thing the romans had going for them was the mass transition to bows from atlatl's (which would have annihilated roman armor and formations despite being more "primitive"-this transition actually occuring a bit farther back in history, with the disappearence of the megafauna, and thus, the need for atlatls). I don't want to downplay their weapons, but it was the infrastructure behind those weapons and soldiers that allowed them to deploy and respond so effectively. When they fell, their tactics ad weapons were still by and large superior (and vastly so) but their infrastructure had crumbled. Think of a soldier with a weapon as a bullet...and infrastructure as the gun.

(as a short aside, the romans understood the power of a spear or dart sized projectile, they used them frequently, an atlatl is just a sort of lever that adds power to the throw)

[thesummerqueen]

The barbarian Celts sure scared the ever-living fuck out of them, primitive in comparison as they were.

[The Grand Nudger]

They were early iron age adopters as well. Hallstatt and La Tene (8th century BC onwards). They did, apparently, still use chariots when they met the Romans, but an entirely different type of chariot (with a primitive suspension) and entirely different tactics. So, a primitive weapon with a novel use can sometimes be off-putting as well.

(I've wanted to build a replica for a couple of years..maybe this year will be the year..lol)

[twocompulsive]

The obvious solution to this would
be to have a symbol which was non
specific to any one particular religion
or belief system as different ones died
on that tragic day however. A cross may
be very well for Christians but what about
those who were not ? Where is their symbol

But now that it is actually up it should be allowed
to stay there as a mark of respect otherwise it will
upset many some of whom may have lost loved ones
Sometimes in life there are more important things than
debating symbols and such like : what matters here is that
the dead are remembered and not how they are remembered

This is a very sensitive issue and as a mark of respect nothing
should be done to antagonise the bereaved who have to live with
this forever particularly children who lost a mother or father. Some
times in life you know when to hold your peace and this is one of them

Regarding the facebook comments : I would not worry too much about them
There is a world of difference between posting an opinion and carrying out the
threat implied however. Those Christians strike me as angry since they think we
are disrespecting the dead : we are not but even so might be good idea though not
to unnecessarily antagonise them and remenber that we are all on the same side here