Sorry

[richsc]

That's a very mature approach to take: congratulations. This forum is no more anti-youth than it is anti-Christian or anti-American, but you do have to have a good foundation of knowledge to stand up to challenges. You should never hesitate to express an opinion, but you should always be prepared to defend it. Same as in life.

[A_Volpe]

You should ask more questions than [regurgitate] answers. When you come up with an argument or a theory or even an assumption or statement, you better have sources and solid evidence to back your claim. That's pretty much standard procedure.

There are a few on this board who are professional academics and archaeologists. It's their job to "get it right", but, they're not infallible either. So ask questions, don't race to Assumption-Land. We're all still learning about these Romans, we're still digging them up and finding more information, so working in absolutions is a misguided approach.

You've seen us post a lot of source materials, studies, journal papers, etc. We don't list them just to amuse ourselves or stroke our egos (not all of us perhaps, hmmm). Do whatever you can to get a hold of the primary sources, academic books and journals and
do your share of reading and research. A lot of these documents are becoming available free online. Take advantage of that.

Regurgitating information, conclusions and theories by others without really understanding where it's coming from or its context is a mistake. It turns into a big game of Telephone, and how we end up with BS factoids or Hollywood Romans.

[Caballo]

Very much agree that its takes a big person to take such a mature approach- well done and respect.

And you'll also find that the more you ( and all of us) read, the less we realise we know. The most modest people I've met in the area - and the most likely to admit willingly to not knowing the answers- have often been the most eminent archaeologists.

[Timianus]

Jason:

For what it is worth, when I joined a while back, I foolishly thought I was an "amateur expert" in this area, having minored in classics, read Gibbon and a mini-library worth of modern histories on Rome as a hobby/passion. My lack of knowledge about the current state of scholarship in many areas quickly became apparent. And, as someone whose latin is very very rusty, I find it difficult if not presumptuous to participate is many of the debates here, as 90% of my knowledge comes from reading secondary sources, whereas true knowledge and debate comes from the primary literary sources and archeological record.

I do a whole lot more reading than posting now and my posts tend to me more inquisitive than assertive. There is a wealth of knowledge here and you can learn a whole lot from this forum. On the other hand, the longer I hang around, the more I realize that there is still so much unknown and that the true "experts" on here can have fundamental disagreements (often heated) about basic things.

if you are truly interested/passionate about Rome, stay on. The first step to enlightenment is realizing you know nothing (even when you think you do).