greetings all raters from newbie elbe.
in the phrase "friends, romans, countrymen" who exactly was, and what defined a "roman" and a "countryman"? how might i say similar in today's modern English, i.e. "friends, ____________, ______________"?
thx for help.
newbie elbe
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No Roman is ever likely to have said this. It is an invention of Shakespeare's. The bard probably used the phrase to separate those who lived in the city of Rome from those who lived in the rest of Italy. ie "countrymen" refers to those who live in Italy (the nation) not those who live in rural areas.
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Elbe, I deleted the other posts in the 'Enemies of Rome' and 'Civ Talk' sections because they were a copy of your question here.
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Quote:greetings all raters from newbie elbe.
in the phrase "friends, romans, countrymen" who exactly was, and what defined a "roman" and a "countryman"? how might i say similar in today's modern English, i.e. "friends, ____________, ______________"?
thx for help.
newbie elbe
It would be the same as saying, "Friends, Americans, citizens, lend me..."
Or in England, "Friends, Britons, citizens, lend me..."
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The current phraseology of choice is "my fellow Americans". 
Felix Wang
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I'm pretty sure Shakespeare meant it as "Friends, Londoners, Englishmen." The Italian equivalent isn't really relevant during the time of Classical Rome.
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more like hey everybody, save the irish, everybody else...
Tiberius Claudius Lupus
Chuck Russell
Keyser,WV, USA
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Quote:more like hey everybody, save the irish, everybody else...
Name that movie!:
We'll take the (racial epithets edited) but we ain't taking the Irish!
On a more serious note, there is a clear cultural and political distinction in Roman times between the civites, who are citizens and Paesani (this is the Italian term, I don't know the latin off-hand) who are countryfolk. In the republic these would have been freeborn men who did not necessarily have all the rights of Roman citizens. Later all Italians would come to receive roman citizenship, but paesani were still regarded, culturally though not legally, as second tier citizens. It is in fact where we get the term "peasant" indicating a free born, but uncouth farmer, which in Medieval times indicated a person of tenant or serf status.
Romans had all these same prejudices but whether Shakespeare was that subtle in his reading of Roman history I don't know and wouldn't hazard a guess.
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Blazing Saddles
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Quote:Blazing Saddles
Dead on. Probably the least politically correct movie of all time!
"The sheriff is a n- (BONG!)"
Theodoros of Smyrna (Byzantine name)
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I think he said, "The sheriff is near!"
Just as an aside, hanging on the wall in my favorite pub is sign reading, "HELP WANTED: IRISH NEED NOT APPLY"
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Are you sure it wasn't,
"Help wanted, No Irish Need Apply?"
"NINA" was a common term in domestic employment advertisements in the US in the 19th century, no kidding. As in, "Experienced Nanny wanted, NINA"
rkmvca/Rich Klein
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No, I'm not sure. It was a pub, and I was using it for what pubs are used for, not memorizing the decorations.
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