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Just for fun!
Add your own ends to this question (and answer for some too)
How many Roman Legions would it take to ........................?
And how long would it take them?
Examples:
..........build a bridge to nowhere?
And how long would it take them? Answer: About the same time it would take Congress to write the bill.
........... secure a border? (You know which one)
............ pacify modern Afghanistan?
............ raise the ninth ward in New Orleans 30 feet?
............. build a new water supply for New York city? (New York is building a tunnel will eventually be more than 60 miles (97 km) long and is expected to cost a total of 6 billion dollars. Construction on the tunnel began in 1970 and will not be completed until at least 2020.)
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Correct me if I am wrong, but did'nt Julius Caesars' legions bridge the Rhine in three days? Congress takes longer than that for lunch! 
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Mark Hayes
"The men who once dwelled beneath the crags of Mt Helicon, the broad land of Thespiae now boasts of their courage"
Philiades
"So now I meet my doom. Let me at least sell my life dearly and have a not inglorius end, after some feat of arms that shall come to the ears of generations still unborn"
Hektor, the Iliad
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Quote:............ pacify modern Afghanistan?
No chance unless they were commanded by Alexander the Great.
He is the only guy who did it.
Kind regards
Gaius Decius Aquilius
Unregistered
Is the the old joke format? like - How many Marxist does it take to change a lightbulb? None, the seeds of Revolution are within the lightbulb itself...
Or, given: How many Real Men does it take to cross a river? Thirtyone. It takes thirty to build the suspension bridge and one to drive the tractor trailer rig across.
Based on that logic: How many legions does it take to build a bridge? Seven. One cohort to build the bridge, and nine cohorts and six legions to cross it, and invade Dacia.
Ralph
(Sorry, I couldn't help the Marxist joke, I am taking an Art History class this semester. I had wondered where all the campus commies had gone... seems they are all teaching A.H. or English Lit... they never did get a job after all...)
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Perhaps the questions (and answers) can be viewed in the light of the facts that our ancestors seemed to be able to do things with relative ease that are extremely difficult to next to impossible to accomplish now. Even in 1900's the people of Galveston Texas raised the whole city up 17 feet to protect against future hurricanes (without Federal Government help) while over 100 years later the same can't be accomplished for New Orleans!
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Quote:Perhaps the questions (and answers) can be viewed in the light of the facts that our ancestors seemed to be able to do things with relative ease that are extremely difficult to next to impossible to accomplish now. Even in 1900's the people of Galveston Texas raised the whole city up 17 feet to protect against future hurricanes (without Federal Government help) while over 100 years later the same can't be accomplished for New Orleans!
I am probably stating the obvious, but it is quite clear that the astounding accomplishments of our ancestors were due to the fact that typically one person was giving the orders. If Julius Caesar said: 'build me a bridge', then thousands of men went into action without arguement and no committee was needed, same could be said of Alexander, the Pharaohs of Egypt etc. There is a modern saying that goes: 'A mouse ran by committee, becomes an elephant' and these days we simply have far too many committees.
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Mark Hayes
"The men who once dwelled beneath the crags of Mt Helicon, the broad land of Thespiae now boasts of their courage"
Philiades
"So now I meet my doom. Let me at least sell my life dearly and have a not inglorius end, after some feat of arms that shall come to the ears of generations still unborn"
Hektor, the Iliad
Gaius Decius Aquilius
Unregistered
I hate to put it this way, but I think it is true... It takes hundreds of millions of dollars to write a law that can be up to 1000 to 1500 pages long. It takes billions to interpret the same law in the uncounted law suits that will follow. Who benefits? Lawyers, no matter what side is represented. They write everything that has to do with anything like public works, construction, you name it. They profit from every event in the aftermath. The bureacreatic stranglehold and gridlock on our civilization is nothing more than money in their pocket and they will be the death of us.
How many lawyers would it take to deal with a Roman legion building a road one mile? How many years would the case be in court before they got the clearance? How many law suits would result from liability once the road was built? How many billions of denarii would the tax collectors have to take in to keep the legion solvent, until the Emperor's brother-in-law got an insider deal on a road maintenance contract?
Ralph
(meditate on this until the second awakening)
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Quote: How many lawyers would it take to deal with a Roman legion building a road one mile?
Hmm.....a legion?
_____________________________________________________
Mark Hayes
"The men who once dwelled beneath the crags of Mt Helicon, the broad land of Thespiae now boasts of their courage"
Philiades
"So now I meet my doom. Let me at least sell my life dearly and have a not inglorius end, after some feat of arms that shall come to the ears of generations still unborn"
Hektor, the Iliad
Gaius Decius Aquilius
Unregistered
And where would we be now if the Romans had a legal system as invasive an frivolous as ours? Probably on mile six of that same road.
Ralph
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Quote:And where would we be now if the Romans had a legal system as invasive an frivolous as ours? Probably on mile six of that same road.
Ralph
 D D D D D D D
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Maybe it's because the Romans killed their lawyers, even the good ones.
Cicero's last words, before being assassinated by Herennius (a centurion) and Popilius (a tribune), were, "There is nothing proper about what you are doing, soldier, but do try to kill me properly." :?
"Fugit irreparabile tempus" (Irrecoverable time glides away) Virgil
Ron Andrea
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Quote:Maybe it's because the Romans killed their lawyers, even the good ones.
Cicero's last words, before being assassinated by Herennius (a centurion) and Popilius (a tribune), were, "There is nothing proper about what you are doing, soldier, but do try to kill me properly." :?
It seems we still have much to learn from the Romans! lol:
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Mark Hayes
"The men who once dwelled beneath the crags of Mt Helicon, the broad land of Thespiae now boasts of their courage"
Philiades
"So now I meet my doom. Let me at least sell my life dearly and have a not inglorius end, after some feat of arms that shall come to the ears of generations still unborn"
Hektor, the Iliad
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Now that is "TRUE" cut-throat politics. I think the job gets done quicker when physical harm is involved. Not to say it is the absolute best procedure but things do get done. 
Craig Bellofatto
Going to college for Massage Therapy. So reading alot of Latin Terminology 
It is like a finger pointing to the moon. DON\'T concentrate on the finger or you miss all the heavenly glory before you!-Bruce Lee
Train easy; the fight is hard. Train hard; the fight is easy.- Thai Proverb
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How attorneys sleep: they lie on one side, then they lie on the other.
"Fugit irreparabile tempus" (Irrecoverable time glides away) Virgil
Ron Andrea
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