What was life – and death – like for Roman legionaries? | Hacker News Reader

What was life – and death – like for Roman legionaries?

theguardian.com

85 pointspepys41 comments

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Here is a youtuber who talks a lot about Roman life such as

- What Was a Roman Emperor’s Daily Life Like?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKVtenoNLgo

- What The Day-To-Day Life Was Really Like In Ancient Rome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVUy_bm4V1k

Mary Beard is one of the best historians of Rome ever. Her SPQR book is comprehensive, detailed and challenges cliches by grounding itself in sound scholarship with a great balance between literary sources and archaeology.

And as a good history will, it really gets across how many gaps there are and how little we know.

She has a great series on Prime Video!

https://www.amazon.com/Rome-Empire-Without-Limit/dp/B077NW6K...

I also just read her book on the triumph. Super interesting.

There‘s an excellent book that I used to read as a kid by Peter Connolly on the topic. Based on the life of Tiberius Maximus, a real life legionary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius_Claudius_Maximus

The is is the book: https://www.amazon.com/Tiberius-Claudius-Maximus-Legionary-R...

The last few paragraphs about the legionary recruited from Syria and fighting for Rome in England then enslaving a woman in England and eventually marrying her just raises a lot of questions and upturns a lot of conventional portrayals in media.

Philip Matyszak’s ‘Legionary’ is a very engaging look into life as a Roman soldier.

I think he is also the author of the 24 hours in series? For example, 24 Hours in Ancient Rome, and 24 Hours in Ancient Egypt. I enjoyed those books

Yup, he also tutors various courses with the Institute of Continuing Education at Cambridge University, very affable guy.

I should have a look out for him doing talks in London this year :D I am looking forward going to this talk: https://www.britishmuseum.org/events/seven-wonders-ancient-w...

Some striking commodities we take for granted today and were unavailable in Rome:

- Soap and shaving cream - Toilet paper

- Sunflower oil for cooking coze sunflower is native to America

- Potatoes, tomatoes (also corn but I could do without it)

Isnt olive oil used as cooking oil. I think hardly anyone is using sunflower oil in southern europe.

In America the most common cooking oil is now soybean oil. Canola and corn are the other popular ones.

Olive and sunflower both have similar small shares.

However, for home cooking in the university educated set olive is probably predominant. I expect it is much more common in Europe as well.

You can assume virtually any restaurant food has been cooked in a vegetable oil unless you are eating haute cuisine.

https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/americas-most-wi...

Many will know, some will not: "rapeseed" and "canola" are the European and American descriptors for the same substance.

That's such a trope.

What is sunflower oil best used for? Given its neutral flavour and high smoke point, sunflower oil is versatile:

- Deep Frying: Ideal for frying foods like chips, samosas, and doughnuts.

- Baking: Its subtle flavour won’t overpower baked goods, making it perfect for cakes, muffins, and more.

- Roasting: Use it to roast vegetables or meats without introducing a competing flavour.

- General Cooking: From stir-fries to stews, it’s an all-rounder.

Also: For Germany [...] we had four main groups of oils:

- undeclared “vegetable oil”: This is normally a mix of different (cheap) oils, but generally the most important ingredient is rapeseed oil. Market share ~30%

- Pure Sunflower oil: Market share ~30%

- Olive oil: Market share ~15%

- Pure Rapeseed oil: Market share ~10%

Wonder what show this refers to

Scrolling down:

Legion: Life in the Roman Army at The British Museum - https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/legion-life-roman-...

The article is headed by The Guardian grouping link https://www.theguardian.com/culture/museums

Seems odd to call that exhibition a “show” but I’m not British so what do I know

It's not a word that's reserved for use only by circus acts ..

The Greatest Show on Earth - Ringling Bros. | Barnum & Bailey Circus | et al.

show noun (PUBLIC EVENT)

an event at which a group of related things are available for the public to look at:

retrospective show of

They put on a retrospective show of his work at the National Museum of American Art.

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