08-20-2007, 04:27 AM
....this is all most interesting, Steven, and I sincerely hope you can get it published. I agree with almost all you have said about sources etc, and am guilty of repeatedly saying the source should be trusted unless proven wrong, and then only that the statement concerned is in error, not that the source is wrong as a whole.
However, the fact that one of Livy's major sources was Fabius Pictor is well known - no surprises there !
Nor is the fact that Rome's military was consistently based on 60 sub-units.
...and Duncan is right too, it is not only "moderns" who copy one another un-questioningly, the "ancients" are sometimes guilty of it too !
A mathematical consistency however, would be a most impressive thing !!
BTW, you are partially right about the number 'zero'. It is generally accepted that it was the invention of moslem arabic mathematicians from Islamic Spain - but that is merely how Europeans came to acquire the concept. 'zero' as a place holder e.g '101', as opposed to '11' was used in Babylonian accounting in Seleucid times and possibly earlier, and the Mayans and Indian astronomers may also have discovered the concept long before Arabs and Europeans........
However, the fact that one of Livy's major sources was Fabius Pictor is well known - no surprises there !
Nor is the fact that Rome's military was consistently based on 60 sub-units.
...and Duncan is right too, it is not only "moderns" who copy one another un-questioningly, the "ancients" are sometimes guilty of it too !
A mathematical consistency however, would be a most impressive thing !!
BTW, you are partially right about the number 'zero'. It is generally accepted that it was the invention of moslem arabic mathematicians from Islamic Spain - but that is merely how Europeans came to acquire the concept. 'zero' as a place holder e.g '101', as opposed to '11' was used in Babylonian accounting in Seleucid times and possibly earlier, and the Mayans and Indian astronomers may also have discovered the concept long before Arabs and Europeans........
"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori " - Horace
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
