The Emperor has married a horse.

http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/reviews/12...City_Rome.html

It seems to be a neat game, but I probably won't buy it, I like RTW too much.

...Where did the "Married a horse" thing come from

Caligula made his horse his consort and IIRC a senator.

Also Celtic kings married horses (probably dating well back into IE pre-history, too) as the horse was a personification of the land, ie King and Land are wedded. More disturbingly, perhaps, the wedding had to be consummated in front of the rest of the tribe.

Caligula was just nuts, though....

So... basically it's Caesar 4 ?

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Originally Posted by macsen rufus

Caligula made his horse his consort and IIRC a senator.

Also Celtic kings married horses (probably dating well back into IE pre-history, too) as the horse was a personification of the land, ie King and Land are wedded. More disturbingly, perhaps, the wedding had to be consummated in front of the rest of the tribe.

Caligula was just nuts, though....

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Lol He was nuts.
Why were the first few emperors all corrupt decadent flim flams?

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Originally Posted by Olaf_The_Great

Lol He was nuts.
Why were the first few emperors all corrupt decadent flim flams?

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The first few? They were all nuts, with few exceptions :)
There were some heavily distorted genes in the Julio-Claudian family ;)

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Originally Posted by eadingas

The first few? They were all nuts, with few exceptions :)
There were some heavily distorted genes in the Julio-Claudian family ;)

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Well everyone between Augustus and the Emperors after and during the conquest of Britannia we're insane.

....What the heck is a "flim flam"

this is CivCity Rome
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/...me/review.html

it sucks

This is Caesar IV
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/...?q=caesar%20iv

its going to roxx!

Oh cool. I liked Caesar series.

Yeah Civ city rome sucks, I have it. I'm looking forward to Ceasar 4 though.

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Originally Posted by Olaf_The_Great

Well everyone between Augustus and the Emperors after and during the conquest of Britannia we're insane.

....What the heck is a "flim flam"

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Tiberius and Claudius were both fine. There is some evidence that Claudius didn't actually intend Nero to succeed him but that he was murdered before he could prclaim Britanicus. Ironically he relaxed his anti-assassination protocals before he died. Nero himself was too young and unsuited mentally.

Tiberius on the other hand just didn't want the job, the flippin Senate just wouldn't take any responsibility.

Part of the reason Caligula appointed his horse as senator was because he wanted it to be a slap in the face and show them how useless the post of senator had become in his eyes. Maybe he also did have a little... uhm... summer romance with the horse, he was a bit off the mark.

Why is this in the EB forum? :inquisitive: LoL.

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Originally Posted by Zastrow

Why is this in the EB forum? :inquisitive: LoL.

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I think the real question is why not more of it?

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Originally Posted by Wigferth Ironwall

Tiberius and Claudius were both fine. There is some evidence that Claudius didn't actually intend Nero to succeed him but that he was murdered before he could prclaim Britanicus. Ironically he relaxed his anti-assassination protocals before he died. Nero himself was too young and unsuited mentally.

Tiberius on the other hand just didn't want the job, the flippin Senate just wouldn't take any responsibility.

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I wouldn't call Tiberius and Claudius "fine". They were better than some, but they weren't exactly model rulers.

Later in his life, Tiberius started to get really paranoid. People were put to death even if there was very little evidence of disloyalty. I think I read somewhere that a senator was put to death because he carried a coin with Tiberius's image on it into a public restroom. While all this was happening Tiberius was living in Capri engaging in various activities that I do not care to mention.

Claudius was even more fearful of his life, but he did at least have a good reason. His predecessor had been assassinated and there were several attempts on his life. His main problem was that this fear made it possible for his unfaithful wife and some of his government officials to manipulate him for their own good.

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Originally Posted by abou

I think the real question is why not more of it?

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Pehaps there's a case for a few possible traits in post 0.8.

Ones that are generational and added to Generals who are responsible for/survive battlefield/siege massacres. 26% chance of the guys kids and grand kids developing some kind of PTSD from being brought up by the guy. Same as is the case for Vietnam Veterans Children.

Various levels of insecurities, paranoia, ferocity, violence, suicide attempts and associated psychological disorders. Combining with some earnt traits, and "giving syphallis to your first cousin"as the Black Adder put it, for the chance of your faction developing its' very own sadistically insane "Little Boot" four generations down the track?

Ahhhhh! The possabilities for internal assasination/civil war !:juggle2: :inquisitive: :laugh4:

I heard that the lead that was used on the pipes of the aqueduct system slowly but surely poisoned the folks who used it regularly. This caused inherited diseases, defects, retardness and all kinds of general nastiness in pretty much everyone who had been affected in several generations by it.

Wasn't there an extreme amount of violence involved with their educational system as well? I remember reading that was one reason for their sadistic behavior.

Add to that the fact that hellenistic Roman youth(only nobles and such of course) lead an increasingly extravagant life and it was even encouraged.

to be more detailed, Caligual tried to make his horse consul...

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to be more detailed, Caligual tried to make his horse consul...

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I thought that he considered making his horse a consul but never actually did.

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Originally Posted by tk-421

I thought that he considered making his horse a consul but never actually did.

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Thats not what he told the horse later that night!

Murdering of the relatives just to survive, civil and foreign massacres, PTSD, the Education System, lead poisoning, inbreeding, the privileges and decadence of class, and being forced to wear sandals after mating with horses.

No wonder the Claudian Dynasty is one of the top brutal inhuman regimes of history.

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Originally Posted by Slartibardfast

Pehaps there's a case for a few possible traits in post 0.8.

Ones that are generational and added to Generals who are responsible for/survive battlefield/siege massacres. 26% chance of the guys kids and grand kids developing some kind of PTSD from being brought up by the guy. Same as is the case for Vietnam Veterans Children.

Various levels of insecurities, paranoia, ferocity, violence, suicide attempts and associated psychological disorders. Combining with some earnt traits, and "giving syphallis to your first cousin"as the Black Adder put it, for the chance of your faction developing its' very own sadistically insane "Little Boot" four generations down the track?

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This could be done....it would be somewhat easy to implement too. Your mention of syphilis gave me another idea though: why not create traits for various diseases, like syphilis, diphteria, leprosy, pneumonia, etc.? The chances of infection could be related to sanitary conditions in settlements, long sieges, poorly supplied troops and so on. Heck, I think I would be able to code them myself. :2thumbsup:

Given there was lead poisoning from the aqueducts good sanitary conditions could lead to a couple as well. :laugh4:

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Originally Posted by BozosLiveHere

This could be done....it would be somewhat easy to implement too. Your mention of syphilis gave me another idea though: why not create traits for various diseases, like syphilis, diphteria, leprosy, pneumonia, etc.? The chances of infection could be related to sanitary conditions in settlements, long sieges, poorly supplied troops and so on. Heck, I think I would be able to code them myself. :2thumbsup:

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You should post this idea in the Suggestions thread, its very good:2thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by BozosLiveHere

This could be done....it would be somewhat easy to implement too. Your mention of syphilis gave me another idea though: why not create traits for various diseases, like syphilis, diphteria, leprosy, pneumonia, etc.? The chances of infection could be related to sanitary conditions in settlements, long sieges, poorly supplied troops and so on. Heck, I think I would be able to code them myself. :2thumbsup:

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Cool!

Put this to the EB team in the "Sugestions for 0.8" thread.

sweet, diseases:inquisitive:

Well we've already got the "takes after his father" trait, so this should be easy.. problem is, we don't have too many experienced traiters right now, so this kind of thing will have to be postponed for a while.

I think plague already has a higher chance of happening during a long siege. I was besieging some Indian city as Baktria for like 10 turns, and I wondered why so many of their soldiers were dying. When they surrendered the town, the pride and joy of my army discovered this "gamplay element".

Civ City Rome reminds me of Stronghold 2 imho

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Originally Posted by Sdragon

Given there was lead poisoning from the aqueducts good sanitary conditions could lead to a couple as well. :laugh4:

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Not to mention the Sapha the Romans used in a sweetner in their food, and as a boost to their wine. This stuff typically contains high doses of lead ions sulphate ions (one of the very few easy to come by lead salts that actually dissolve fairly well in water) and is probably the cause of many a lead poisoning! Who would have suspected the varied and overall still healthy Roman regimen to kill them? ~D

After a few years though, the aquaducts didn't contribute to lead poisoning anymore as scale would isolate the lead from the running water.

Well, given that the amount of lead in our diet and water has increased dramatically in the past century, I don't think we have much reason to feel superior to the Romans. At least they didn't know it was toxic.

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Originally Posted by Ludens

Well, given that the amount of lead in our diet and water has increased dramatically in the past century, I don't think we have much reason to feel superior to the Romans. At least they didn't know it was toxic.

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I believe we are superior to the Romans in several respects. With the exception of the "Toys being bigger and better" I can see no real functional difference in how the worlds major factions get run today.

Any impartial psycological appraisal of any of the worlds present crop of "leaders" can only return a result of clinical psycopathic behavior. Anyone found any large stockpiles of WMD's outside the USA lately for an example.

Your right at least there was a certain basic frankness about the inherent psychopathy of the Claudian dynasty, with most of them doing a lot of their own dirty work in the front lines so to speak, that would seem refreshing by todays standards.

Maybe we should bring back the public Equine Copulation rituals. Personally with John Howard in power I like this reform before the next rigged Australian federal election.

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Originally Posted by Ludens

Well, given that the amount of lead in our diet and water has increased dramatically in the past century, I don't think we have much reason to feel superior to the Romans. At least they didn't know it was toxic.

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I pretty much second this statement. Their a many things today that widely are used because of their advantages despite possible negative, largely unresearched effects on the human body, for example various EM radiation from the devices we use or genetically engineered crops.

However, the romans didn't know for sure that lead was toxic, and why it was unhealthy, but at least some suspected it. Vitrivus, in the only work about roman engineering and architecture that survived completly, warns explicitly to use lead pipes instead of clay pipes, that are also easier to manufacture and repair.


Marcus Vitruvius Pollio:
de Architectura, Book VIII

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10. Water conducted through earthen pipes is more wholesome than that through lead; indeed that conveyed in lead must be injurious, because from it white lead is obtained, and this is said to be injurious to the human system. Hence, if what is generated from it is pernicious, there can be no doubt that itself cannot be a wholesome body.

11. This may be verified by observing the workers in lead, who are of a pallid colour; for in casting lead, the fumes from it fixing on the different members, and daily burning them, destroy the vigour of the blood; water should therefore on no account be conducted in leaden pipes if we are desirous that it should be wholesome. That the flavour of that conveyed in earthen pipes is better, is shewn at our daily meals, for all those whose tables are furnished with silver vessels, nevertheless use those made of earth, from the purity of the flavour being preserved in them.

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Originally Posted by cunctator

Marcus Vitruvius Pollio:
de Architectura, Book VIII
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10. Water conducted through earthen pipes is more wholesome than that through lead; indeed that conveyed in lead must be injurious, because from it white lead is obtained, and this is said to be injurious to the human system. Hence, if what is generated from it is pernicious, there can be no doubt that itself cannot be a wholesome body.

11. This may be verified by observing the workers in lead, who are of a pallid colour; for in casting lead, the fumes from it fixing on the different members, and daily burning them, destroy the vigour of the blood; water should therefore on no account be conducted in leaden pipes if we are desirous that it should be wholesome. That the flavour of that conveyed in earthen pipes is better, is shewn at our daily meals, for all those whose tables are furnished with silver vessels, nevertheless use those made of earth, from the purity of the flavour being preserved in them.

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Facinating stuff.

I can remember a TV documenmtry, the name of which I completely forget, based on the level of tocxic chemicals polutants produced from Roman iron smeltering opperations in Spain and the effects it would of had on the workers and local residents.

It would be interesting to know how much the Romans actually did know about the effects of harmfull chemicals and envioronmental degredation. Your Marcus Vitruvius Pollio quopte shows they were being warned, at least of the dangers of some of them. I wonder how much the Roman governmental hierachy did ignore such warnings in light of the economic impact of actually doing anything about them?

Ah Vitruvius, Caesar's brilliant engineer and siege engineer.


About the horse.. I believe the story is that Caligula got his horse into the Senate, but he also attempted to appoint it to CONSUL.

Wikipedia suggests that this may be a myth.

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Originally Posted by wikipedia

The Roman historian Suetonius referred to Caligula as a "monster", and the surviving sources are universal in their condemnation. One popular tale, often cited as an example of his insanity and tyranny, is that Caligula appointed his favourite horse, Incitatus, to a seat on the senate and attempted to appoint it to the position of consul. The story, however, owes its unrelenting currency to its charm: it is based on a single misunderstood near-contemporary reference, in which Suetonius merely repeats an unattributed rumour that Caligula was thinking about doing it (Suet. Cal. 55.3). Caligula is often alleged to have had incestuous relationships with his sisters, most notably his younger sister Drusilla, but there is no credible evidence to support such claims either. In short, the surviving sources are filled with anecdotes of Caligula's cruelty and insanity rather than an actual account of his reign, making any reconstruction of his time as Princeps nearly impossible.

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Originally Posted by We all need someone

I think plague already has a higher chance of happening during a long siege. I was besieging some Indian city as Baktria for like 10 turns, and I wondered why so many of their soldiers were dying. When they surrendered the town, the pride and joy of my army discovered this "gamplay element".

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Ouch. You'd think the people inside the city would being lofting the bodies out into the besieging army....

Wow 1,280 views and well over 30 comments this is my largest thread.