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+--- Thread: Roman officers in 'Only Connect' (/showthread.php?tid=25446)
Roman officers in 'Only Connect' - Carus Andiae - 03-15-2016
The BBC's erudite quiz Only Connect featured a group of 'Roman officers' in one of the connecting walls in last night's edition. For those not familiar with the series, the idea is essentially to find the link between apparently unrelated items, pieces of music, people etc. The connecting walls feature sixteen items which have to be grouped into four sets of fours, and there is usually at least one red herring.
The Roman officers listed were Quaternion, Prefect, Legate, Centurion, with the red-herring being Tribune (which fitted into a group of political magazines).
However, I understood that 'Quaternion' was not an officer but a squad of four (and the only reference I can find to it is in the Acts of the Apostles). Could it be that one of their researches has goofed?
RE: Roman officers in 'Only Connect' - Robert Vermaat - 03-15-2016
I think you're right. A quaternio is a group of 4 soldiers (half-contubernium). I think they're mentioned in the Bible a few times.
Goofups are not rare in BBC erudite programs - QI messed up once by mixup up Constantine I with Constantine XI.
RE: Roman officers in 'Only Connect' - Carus Andiae - 03-15-2016
Thanks. I thought it didn't sound right.