Pointless playing Romani?

[Conqueror]

Aemilius Paulus: Thank you for the clarification. It can be hard to tell on an internet forum whether someone is meaning things in a literal sense or not.

[fenix3279]

Historical discussions like this always put a smile on my face.

Was Rome really as powerful as one might be led to believe or did they just get lucky sometimes? For example, they (usually) only fought in wars that they were sure to win and even then, they chose their enemies carefully. Some of the nations Rome conquered had already at war with others for some time, so their resources and manpower might've already been scarce to begin with (like Makedonia). Others were suffering from political instability and civil war that threatened to tear the country apart and Rome siezed the opportunity (like Gaul). Rome's power was never really tested after the Punic Wars against Carthage-- A war Rome barely won.

[Lysimachos]

Rome's power was never really tested after the Punic Wars against Carthage-- A war Rome barely won.

I think it is a sign of power not having to use it. Who can claim to have achieved what rome did without being really tested?
And the barely won war against carthage might be because it was the western-mediterranean superpower until then.

[fenix3279]

I think it is a sign of power not having to use it. Who can claim to have achieved what rome did without being really tested?

True

[Tollheit]

Rome's power was never really tested after the Punic Wars against Carthage

terror cimbricus?

[fenix3279]

Are you speaking of Teutoberg Forest?

[Tollheit]

No, I'm not. I'm speaking of the Cimbri, a people from what is now Denmark. Those hobos defeated the Romani many times, and sometimes quite decisively, during their cruise through Europe 113-105 BC. When they decided to head for Italy, Rome was in panic. According to Livy, the Romani lost 80,000 soldiers at the subsequent battle of Arausio, auxilia not included.
The Romani were so desperate that they decided to toss their constitution overboard as they made Gaius Marius consul for 5 consecutive years.

[machinor]

No, Tollheit refers to the Germanic Cimbri and Teutones (spelling?) who migrated into Italy and obliberated several Roman armies. They were on the march to Rome when they suddenly turned elsewhere. One of the two tribes migrated into Gaul, I think (not sure about that, though). The other one got beaten and annihilated by Marius.
The Romans considered that the greatest threat to Rome itself they had faced since Hannibal. Especially since the only thing, that saved Rome was the sudden change of mind of the Germanic tribes.

EDIT: A little bit too slow...

[fenix3279]

No, Tollheit refers to the Germanic Cimbri and Teutones (spelling?) who migrated into Italy and obliberated several Roman armies. They were on the march to Rome when they suddenly turned elsewhere. One of the two tribes migrated into Gaul, I think (not sure about that, though). The other one got beaten and annihilated by Marius.
The Romans considered that the greatest threat to Rome itself they had faced since Hannibal. Especially since the only thing, that saved Rome was the sudden change of mind of the Germanic tribes.

EDIT: A little bit too slow...

Thanks for enlightening me. I have heard the expression Terror Cimbricus before and knew it had something to do with the Cimbri and Teutons but of course, I was unsure of it's significance. I incorrectly thought it was related to the Teutoberg Forest incident.

[Cbvani]

Rome's power was never really tested after the Punic Wars against Carthage-- A war Rome barely won.

Not entirely true. Rome's power was tested in the most brutal way imaginable - against herself.
The Roman Civil wars (I'm including the final major Italian rebellion before universal Roman rights were granted to all of Italy here) really tested the ability of the whole infrastructure to survive. I doubt Rome would have lasted had they not had a Pax Augusta once Augustus came into power. Oh, and the sacking of Egypt helped.