12-02-2007, 12:40 AM
I posted this on a similar question elsewhere but alas, to my disappointment, the thread took aturn toward chocolate ( maybe not such a bad thing! :wink: ) and there was no response to this.
So......I'll re-post it here, which seems more appropriate, so that all may throw brickbats or bouquets, as the saying goes ! :? ?
"I'm no techie, so alas can contribute little.......but I would endorse what has been said before, in particular a better search engine,(as it is I often have more success with Google than the internal search engine...surprisingly Google often brings up results from RAT1, which is evidently still out there in cyber-space somewhere.....) easier ways to put images in, and some thought given to building an 'Ancient Resource'.
On a more fundamental note, What is the Purpose of RAT? What should the Purpose be?
It seems to me we have an enormous anount of talent, energy and knowledge among our members, which is often frittered away in 'idle chit-chat'. Taking RAT in a new direction, gathering, collecting, sorting and making available data on all the various subjects would be a very worthwhile undertaking. Just members photos alone, for example....or consider this, "The Greek helmet database" project, though not even off the ground yet has already revealed that there are far more helmets to be catalogued than first thought...over 1300 in fact, and there has been no 'Russell-Robinson' to get this particular ball rolling. How much other 'ancient warfare' knowledge is out there? How many other 'gaps' waiting to be filled? And this can apply to all the other sections too...'How to sections' for re-production of equipment ( imagine if we could pool all our re-enactors hard-won knowledge in one place ?)Examples of how ancient musical instruments sounded courtesy of Susannah and friends? You-tube type clips on everything from armouring to ancient tunic weaving! Clips of Roman cavalry exercises....clips of plumbata testing ( Yes, I mean you, Robert! ) Virtual/video tours of ancient sites and battlefields ( either members videos eg of Pompeii or things like google earth)...one member here has already built a 'virtual' roman house. A video scutum making tutorial?...the possibilities here are endless.....RAT is already often quoted as a source to students of ancient warfare, but it can become something so much better.
We older people often bemoan the fact that " you can't put old heads on young shoulders" - meaning you can't instantly pass on knowledge/experience. Well, we can !
I believe RAT's purpose, and its greatest gift to the future, should be as a repository of knowledge, of all kinds, no matter how trivial, on the Ancient Mediterranean world and warfare...and later maybe, expand that to the ancient world generally.... (maybe draw a line somewhere? 500AD? 750AD?).....I could go on, but I'd better not get too carried away! .......I have a dream....! "
So......I'll re-post it here, which seems more appropriate, so that all may throw brickbats or bouquets, as the saying goes ! :? ?
"I'm no techie, so alas can contribute little.......but I would endorse what has been said before, in particular a better search engine,(as it is I often have more success with Google than the internal search engine...surprisingly Google often brings up results from RAT1, which is evidently still out there in cyber-space somewhere.....) easier ways to put images in, and some thought given to building an 'Ancient Resource'.
On a more fundamental note, What is the Purpose of RAT? What should the Purpose be?
It seems to me we have an enormous anount of talent, energy and knowledge among our members, which is often frittered away in 'idle chit-chat'. Taking RAT in a new direction, gathering, collecting, sorting and making available data on all the various subjects would be a very worthwhile undertaking. Just members photos alone, for example....or consider this, "The Greek helmet database" project, though not even off the ground yet has already revealed that there are far more helmets to be catalogued than first thought...over 1300 in fact, and there has been no 'Russell-Robinson' to get this particular ball rolling. How much other 'ancient warfare' knowledge is out there? How many other 'gaps' waiting to be filled? And this can apply to all the other sections too...'How to sections' for re-production of equipment ( imagine if we could pool all our re-enactors hard-won knowledge in one place ?)Examples of how ancient musical instruments sounded courtesy of Susannah and friends? You-tube type clips on everything from armouring to ancient tunic weaving! Clips of Roman cavalry exercises....clips of plumbata testing ( Yes, I mean you, Robert! ) Virtual/video tours of ancient sites and battlefields ( either members videos eg of Pompeii or things like google earth)...one member here has already built a 'virtual' roman house. A video scutum making tutorial?...the possibilities here are endless.....RAT is already often quoted as a source to students of ancient warfare, but it can become something so much better.
We older people often bemoan the fact that " you can't put old heads on young shoulders" - meaning you can't instantly pass on knowledge/experience. Well, we can !
I believe RAT's purpose, and its greatest gift to the future, should be as a repository of knowledge, of all kinds, no matter how trivial, on the Ancient Mediterranean world and warfare...and later maybe, expand that to the ancient world generally.... (maybe draw a line somewhere? 500AD? 750AD?).....I could go on, but I'd better not get too carried away! .......I have a dream....! "
"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
