Counterfeit challenge (ancients)

On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 15:23:20 GMT, "The Fausts"
wrote:

Yes, some people think that.

I think that. I think. g Dogma is the enemy of creativity.

Funny thing about Constantine is how pagan types remained prominent on his
coins. You still find Sol frolicking on the reverses long after Milvian
Bridge.

So you're a pagan too?

I just remembered with amusement seeing the amazing bronze equestrian statue
of Marcus Aurelius when I was in Rome. It survived only because people
mistook the rider for Constantine!

My most enduring memories of Rome are the faded grandeur of the
Colosseum and how they made pizza without cheese.

--

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"Reid Goldsborough" wrote in message
...

Dogma is the enemy of creativity.

Indeed. Another problem with dogma is that it sounds like it should be the
name of a cute Saturday morning cartoon character.


Funny thing about Constantine is how pagan types remained prominent on
his
coins. You still find Sol frolicking on the reverses long after Milvian
Bridge.

So you're a pagan too?

I'm a pagan, you're a pagan, wouldn't you like to be a pagan too?


My most enduring memories of Rome are the faded grandeur of the
Colosseum and how they made pizza without cheese.

I will never forget seeing the Colosseum for the first time! Our hotel was
right across from the Forum, and the Colosseum was easily viewable from the
roof where we had breakfast every morning. We explored both sites
thoroughly. I had my first Italian pizza not far from there.
Pompeii is awe-inspiring as well. The highlights included the splendor of
the baths, walking across the very ground of the amphitheater where
gladiators fought, and just the sheer enormity of the ancient town and how
much of it is intact-- there's no way to see the whole thing in one day.

On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 17:59:36 GMT, "The Fausts"
wrote:

I'm a pagan, you're a pagan, wouldn't you like to be a pagan too?

If you saw the image of Zeus on this 46mm, 88.7g Ptolemy II bronze I
have here, you'd worship him too.

I will never forget seeing the Colosseum for the first time! Our hotel was
right across from the Forum, and the Colosseum was easily viewable from the
roof where we had breakfast every morning. We explored both sites
thoroughly. I had my first Italian pizza not far from there.
Pompeii is awe-inspiring as well. The highlights included the splendor of
the baths, walking across the very ground of the amphitheater where
gladiators fought, and just the sheer enormity of the ancient town and how
much of it is intact-- there's no way to see the whole thing in one day.

Those were the days, for me. Carefree travel. No kids. No coins
either. Show-off mode on: I had a chance to climb the Tower of Pisa
before it was closed to the public and walk inside the Parthenon in
Athens before it was closed to the public. Hitchhiked down through
Yugoslavia before it was ethnically cleansed. Made love inside a train
in Switzerland and sweated bullets that no one would walk inside our
compartment as the train made a stop on its way to Zurich. Skied on a
glacier in Swedish Lapland in the middle of summer and almost died by
taking a steep, narrow, rocky trail well beyond my abilities. Was
offered heroin by a Russian dealer who stopped another guy and me on
the streets of Leningrad (nyet, thanks but no thanks). Getting off a
bus in Helsinki, had to fend off a mental patient who was about to
attack my Finnish girlfriend for being with a foreigner (wrestled him
to the ground; the cops took him back to his facility). Took a camel
ride three hours into the Sahara in Tunisia and couldn't walk the next
day because my hamstrings were so sore. Saw the sun rise over the Dead
Sea and set sitting on top of Mount Sinai. OK, I'm done. Sorry about
that.

We travel as a family but it's not the same. If I didn't have family
responsibilities, I'd probably be travel writer right now.

--

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Eric wrote: "I just remembered with amusement seeing the amazing bronze
equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius when I was in Rome. It survived only
because people mistook the rider for Constantine!"


On my first visit to Rome back in 1970, our priest/friend took us to the
Campidoglio, pointed out Marcus and his horse (miraculously exhibiting some of
its original gilt) and related to us the prophesy which still circulates among
Romans today: When the last fleck of gold is washed away by the elements, Rome
will fall.

On my next visit, the statue was still on the Capitoline, but housed (I assumed
temporarily) in a corrugated tin shack. I could barely make them out in the
dark, through a slit in the metal sheeting, but they were both there, Marcus
and his horse. Whether or not there was any gilt remaining, I couldn't tell.
Perhaps it was around this time that the statue was moved to the nearby Palazzo
Nuovo, a museum.

Better safe than sorry.


Anka Z
Co-president of the once thriving, but now defunct, Tommy John Fan Club.
Go, Lake County Captains!

"Ankaaz" wrote in message
...
On my first visit to Rome back in 1970, our priest/friend took us to the
Campidoglio, pointed out Marcus and his horse (miraculously exhibiting
some of
its original gilt) and related to us the prophesy which still circulates
among
Romans today: When the last fleck of gold is washed away by the elements,
Rome
will fall.

On my next visit, the statue was still on the Capitoline, but housed (I
assumed
temporarily) in a corrugated tin shack. I could barely make them out in
the
dark, through a slit in the metal sheeting, but they were both there,
Marcus
and his horse. Whether or not there was any gilt remaining, I couldn't
tell.
Perhaps it was around this time that the statue was moved to the nearby
Palazzo
Nuovo, a museum.

And at Palazzo Nuovo it remains, behind a wall of glass. For anyone who is
interested, here is a picture of it in its current location, about midway
down this page on he right:

http://www.photo.net/italy/rome-campidoglio

We were told the same colorful story you mention about the statue.

A good copy of the statue now stands in the Campidoglio, but who cares when
the real thing is so nearby?

Eric

"Reid Goldsborough" wrote in message
...

If you saw the image of Zeus on this 46mm, 88.7g Ptolemy II bronze I
have here, you'd worship him too.

That monster probably weighs half as much as my entire ancient collection!
Do you have a photo or scan of it?
Until my focus shifts from Roman to Greek, I'll remain faithful to Jupiter,
thank you. (Same difference, I suppose.)


Those were the days, for me. Carefree travel. No kids. No coins
either. Show-off mode on: I had a chance to climb the Tower of Pisa
before it was closed to the public and walk inside the Parthenon in
Athens before it was closed to the public.

I've seen a good part of Italy, but missed Pisa. At least I had coins at the
time.
And I'm very sorry to say I haven't made it to Athens yet. I've promised
myself I'll go someday. My wife used to vacation annually in Greece and will
be thrilled to go back again.


Hitchhiked down through
Yugoslavia before it was ethnically cleansed.

I have been there since the whole mess took place. I imagine we have very
different memories of it.
One of the places we visited was an isolated village in the mountains that
was overrun by the Germans in WW II, and all of the males over 16 were
executed. My wife's family once owned much of the town, but most of their
land was redistributed when the communists came to power.
Belgrade is a whole other fascinating subject. We spent this past New
Year's Eve in a fancy restaurant on the main square there. Those people can
party! Some interesting ruins there, too. The site was first occupied as
a Roman fort.


Made love inside a train
in Switzerland and sweated bullets that no one would walk inside our
compartment as the train made a stop on its way to Zurich.

Have you been cross-posting to rec.travel.naughty again?


Skied on a
glacier in Swedish Lapland in the middle of summer and almost died by
taking a steep, narrow, rocky trail well beyond my abilities.
Was
offered heroin by a Russian dealer who stopped another guy and me on
the streets of Leningrad (nyet, thanks but no thanks). Getting off a
bus in Helsinki, had to fend off a mental patient who was about to
attack my Finnish girlfriend for being with a foreigner (wrestled him
to the ground; the cops took him back to his facility). Took a camel
ride three hours into the Sahara in Tunisia and couldn't walk the next
day because my hamstrings were so sore. Saw the sun rise over the Dead
Sea and set sitting on top of Mount Sinai. OK, I'm done. Sorry about
that.


Impressive list!
Other places I've been include Brussels, Kassel, Frankfurt, Venice, Puerto
Rico, and St. Maartin. I hope to keep adding to this list, but family plans
slow everyone's travel plans down sooner or later, I suppose.

Eric

On Fri, 31 Oct 2003 17:42:33 GMT, "The Fausts"
wrote:

That monster probably weighs half as much as my entire ancient collection!
Do you have a photo or scan of it?
Until my focus shifts from Roman to Greek, I'll remain faithful to Jupiter,
thank you. (Same difference, I suppose.)

I have a little page in which the above coin and another are
illustrated. I have two other large Ptolemaic bronzes but haven't yet
photographed them.

http://rg.cointalk.org/ptolemy

And I'm very sorry to say I haven't made it to Athens yet.

There are a lot of places I'd like to visit but haven't. The Pyramids
of Egypt (did see and climb the largest pyramids in the Americas, the
Teotihuacan Pyramids in Mexico). Antarctica. There was a time when I
think I would have climbed Everest if I had had the money, but it's
too late for that now. Sub-Saharan Africa (did visit a rain forest in
Central America -- Belize -- and saw some holler monkeys up close).
Haven't been anywhere in the Far East or Australia.

One of the places we visited was an isolated village in the mountains that
was overrun by the Germans in WW II, and all of the males over 16 were
executed. My wife's family once owned much of the town, but most of their
land was redistributed when the communists came to power.
Belgrade is a whole other fascinating subject. We spent this past New
Year's Eve in a fancy restaurant on the main square there. Those people can
party! Some interesting ruins there, too. The site was first occupied as
a Roman fort.

That must have been amazing. It's always better, more poignant, I'd
imagine, when there's a family connection to places you travel to.
Better when you have friends there too.

Other places I've been include Brussels

Nope.

Kassel

Nope.

Frankfurt

Yep. Had to travel there from Finland to get working papers for a
teaching job in Finland.

Venice

Yep. Got pooped on by a pigeon.

Puerto Rico

Yep. Went with the wife and kids when the kids were a year old.
Present to ourselves for surviving that year. Just as we were pulling
into the resort on a bus, my son threw up all over me. I was the night
duty parent, and for some reason one or the other of them woke up at
night just about every night. Best sleepless vacation I ever had.

St. Maartin

Nope.

--

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(Ankaaz) wrote in message ...
Eric wrote: "I just remembered with amusement seeing the amazing bronze
equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius when I was in Rome. It survived only
because people mistook the rider for Constantine!"


On my first visit to Rome back in 1970, our priest/friend took us to the
Campidoglio, pointed out Marcus and his horse (miraculously exhibiting some of
its original gilt) and related to us the prophesy which still circulates among
Romans today: When the last fleck of gold is washed away by the elements, Rome
will fall.

On my next visit, the statue was still on the Capitoline, but housed (I assumed
temporarily) in a corrugated tin shack. I could barely make them out in the
dark, through a slit in the metal sheeting, but they were both there, Marcus
and his horse. Whether or not there was any gilt remaining, I couldn't tell.
Perhaps it was around this time that the statue was moved to the nearby Palazzo
Nuovo, a museum.

Better safe than sorry.


Anka Z

I was in Rome in spring of 2001, the original statue of Marcus is now
inside the Palazzo Nuovo behind a thick glass window, maybe eight feet
high and the full length of the statue, so that it is visible from the
courtyard. As I recall it does still have some gilding on it, I'll
have to check my photos to be sure. There is also a replica of the
statue on the pedestal in the Campidoglio where the original used to
stand; presumably they don't care if the replica is damaged by the
elements.

Also in the courtyard of the Capitoline Museum are some reliefs from
the Temple of Hadrian (one wall of which still stands and is part of
the Rome Stock Exchange building) and some fragments of a huge marble
statue of probably Constantine I, or possibly II. One fragment I
nicknamed the Big Giant Head because, well, it's just a Big Giant
Head.

All this talk of Rome is making me nostalgic, and also anxious to
revisit the city.

-Robert A. DeRose, Jr.

Also in the courtyard of the Capitoline Museum are some reliefs from
the Temple of Hadrian (one wall of which still stands and is part of
the Rome Stock Exchange building) and some fragments of a huge marble
statue of probably Constantine I, or possibly II. One fragment I
nicknamed the Big Giant Head because, well, it's just a Big Giant
Head.

I remember that statue and I have a photo of it's cousin the Big Giant
Hand... well it's a... you know...


All this talk of Rome is making me nostalgic, and also anxious to
revisit the city.


It'll be there waiting for you. You did throw a coin in the Trevi though
didn't you???


-Robert A. DeRose, Jr.