If you could have a conversation with any . . .

[M.H. White]

If you could sit down and have a conversation (assuming being able to communicate freely) with any man of the ancient world, who would it be? Why?



For myself, I think I'd choose Pericles of Athens. To my mind, he is the most remarkable man of Classical Greece. He was a man of the highest nobility, and yet he worked to bring power to the people. Not to mention being able to rule the Athenian demos simply by persuasion and the force of his personality.

After that, I think Socrates would have been quite a unique man.

[Praefectusclassis]

Just one? Jeeez, that'd be hard. Do you pick someone we know a lot about, or just the opposite? Caesar or Sulla? Is Antoninus Pius really the most boring emperor ever, or are we just lacking good stories about him because they didn't survive? Augustus would certainly be an interesting, intelligent and ruthless character to talk to. Pliny, as commander of the Misenate fleet, would be interesting to talk to from my own studies, but I sort of fear he would just be a pedantic know-it-all. Too much like me. :wink:

[Jeroen Pelgrom]

Caesar, Marius, Constantine the Great

[Jona Lendering]

Herodotus!

[Robert Vermaat]

If you could sit down and have a conversation (assuming being able to communicate freely) with any man of the ancient world, who would it be? Why?

Are you kidding me?
How about Our Lord Jesus, and I mean that without kidding. How could anyone choose some politician when they had the chance to meet (let alone speak with) God himself? hock:

[Ioannis]

Alcibiades. In order to find out why on earth everybody was so crazy about him!!!

[Et tu brute]

:o !: Hmm, Julius Caesar definatly, also Archimedes, Pompey aswell, I could go on all day but I'll settle with three :lol:

[Tarbicus]

Take your pick from the RA.com Imagebase.

[Cornelius Quintus]

How about Our Lord Jesus, and I mean that without kidding. How could anyone choose some politician when they had the chance to meet (let alone speak with) God himself? hock:

Ave Robert,

some people believe he’s still around here, so the suggested discussion would be more interesting concerning people who are gone ;-) )

My personal favourites are

Apostle Paul (who in Eph 6 took the well known Roman legionary’s kit as a pattern for his symbolic ‘spiritual armour’ which Chistians should wear.

Centurio Cornelius (what’s about his further career and every day’s life?)

And for some actual reconstruction reason: The unknown armourer who forged the AG 800 Niedermörmter ;-) )

[LUCIUS ALFENUS AVITIANUS]

Reals Lucius Alfenus Avitianus! :lol:

(There were two: The grandfather was a Primus Pilus and the other was one general of Septimius Severus)

[Robert Vermaat]

How about Our Lord Jesus, and I mean that without kidding. How could anyone choose some politician when they had the chance to meet (let alone speak with) God himself? hock:

Ave Robert,
some people believe he’s still around here, so the suggested discussion would be more interesting concerning people who are gone ;-) )

Well, you are right of course but so far I've not heard from anyone who had a good conversation with Him about his experiences with Roman justice, to name but one topic..

[Magnus]

I'd take Polybius, just to pick his brain about the Roman army and ask him to clarify certain things that he's written of which we're unsure about.

[Goffredo]

1) Archimedes
2) Aristole
3) Ceasar
4) Attila

[Primvs Pavlvs]

I think speaking to the average person in the Roman empire would be enough to fill volumes of information that we have no idea about.


I would pick the average Joe veteran......more insights at least for me.

I have learned more about WW2 from the common soldier than I have ever learned from any historian.

[SOCL]

hock: Oh, jeez, I'm going to go crazy trying to decide. :x Um...um...

I'd put the following names in a hat and choose at random:

• 1. Hannibal Barca
  2. Sulla
  3. Caesar
  4. Alexander
  5. Jesus
  6. Scipio Africanus (Maior)
  7. Fabius Maximus
  8. (Saint) Luke
  9. any centurion who survived the Gallic Wars and civil wars to the rule of Augustus

Actually, I think, inadvertantly, that's my exact order of preference. :lol: Really, though, I wouldn't care as long as I got to sit down with someone--anyone from ancient Rome. Sure, the big name fellows are interesting, but we lack material on what the common, average Roman thought of events. Ideally, a citizen-soldier who was in his 20-40s either during the Second Punic War or the civil wars.


Now you've excited me over nothing. :evil: