Here we see Tommy as he appears on Taiwanese TV where they praise him as someone whose star is shining so bright it is making all the other American pop stars disappear. Then they demonstrate.
Great people of history, Tommy Page, lived 1967-2017
One of the joys of history is discovering people who had extremely interesting lives. And with that I present Tommy Page (lived 1967-2017), an obscure American pop singer who somehow managed to gain a big following in Taiwan around 1990 when I was teaching English and living there. For those who wish to truly understand the . . . um . . . incredibleness of this historic East-West relationship, let me offer this incredible video.
Here we see Tommy as he appears on Taiwanese TV where they praise him as someone whose star is shining so bright it is making all the other American pop stars disappear. Then they demonstrate.
Here we see Tommy as he appears on Taiwanese TV where they praise him as someone whose star is shining so bright it is making all the other American pop stars disappear. Then they demonstrate.
Ancient Rome - What was the arena and what were “the games”?
PREFACE --I'm a writer, That means I write stuff. Please check out my newest release, a short story collection called "Put Your Favorite Picture Here" at https://www.amazon.com -However, that's not my only work. This post is an excerpt from my current project, a guide for wargamers to Roman Gladiators. Taking a tip from Cory Dotorow, I've decided to share this work in progress chapter by chapter on my blog.
If you wish to support this blog, well, at the moment there's no Patreon button, but feel free to show your enthusiasm and support by browsing the blog, checking out the other posts, sending links to friends and sharing through social media, and leaving comments and asking questions or starting discussions. Thanks.
If you wish to support this blog, well, at the moment there's no Patreon button, but feel free to show your enthusiasm and support by browsing the blog, checking out the other posts, sending links to friends and sharing through social media, and leaving comments and asking questions or starting discussions. Thanks.
Ancient Rome-What was the arena and what were “the games”?
The “Roman Games”
consisted of several kinds of events. In this section, we will look at the
events and discuss what they were as well as look at their potential for
gaming.
1.
Gladiatorial Combats
Of course, one of
the most common and popular events at the Roman Games were Gladiatorial
Combats. These consisted of staged fights between individuals or small (perhaps
less than ten at the most to give an estimate) groups of fighters. These fights
were staged and scheduled. The fighters, although usually not volunteers, could
be considered professionals in that they were trained, drilled, and kept in
shape for the purpose of appearing in events such as these.
The fighters were
classified into different types. Each type was equipped in a certain way to
fight and trained to fight in a certain style that fit their armor and weaponry
as well as the mythology and background behind the type of fighter they were
supposed to be portraying. These different types will be discussed in a later
chapter. Suffice it to say that there were customs and traditions and
expectations surrounding the gladiator battles of this time. There were referees and other workers
expected to maintain these traditions and ensure that the fights were done in
the proper manner.
Although these combats
were forced, and thus morally questionable at best, from our safe perspective
two thousand years later, give or take a few centuries, there is a lot of
potential for small scale historical gaming. Games featuring conflicts between
individual gladiators or small groups of gladiators can make good games.
Campaigns that follow the ups and downs of an individual or perhaps a
gladiatorial “ludi” can also be interesting. (A ludi is a school or troupe of
gladiators usually under the ownership of a particular individual,)
This book will
focus on such gladiatorial combats and providing the information needed to game
them in a satisfying and reasonably
historically correct manner.
2.
Animal shows
The ancient Romans
loved animal shows. As the empire expanded they went to great expense and
effort to bring large quantities of exotic animals to Rome in order to parade
them before the Roman citizenry. Animals used ranged from ostriches to
elephants; hippos and lions also being favorites.
Once the animals
were exhibited, however, it was customary to kill them in front of the crowd
for the amusement of the spectators. [1]
Sometimes this was done by letting the animals kill and then eat each other.
Other times it was done by letting hunters or others shoot them with bows. The result was a gory spectacle.
It takes a bit of a stretch to see how these
could make good games, but it is possible. Perhaps one could have a game where
animals fight each other or archers compete to see who can kill the most
animals? It would be an unusual but not impossible game.
3.
Venatio
The Venatio were
sort of a mixture of gladiatorial contests and animal shows.
Animals were put
in the arena and then trained animal fighters called venatores would enter and
fight them. The venatores were trained
to do this. Like the gladiators (who fought humans only) many venatores were
slaves or people who otherwise were forced to do this.
It should be
mentioned that venatores and gladiators were separate categories and people
generally did not belong to both or cross back and forth. (Although many
gladiator game rules encourage them to do so, for better or worse. If it makes
you happy and harms no one, we’re not going to make any effort to stop you.
Just please understand that it is not historically correct according to current
understanding. )
The animals were
generally dangerous animals that were able to fight back against the venatores,
thus ensuring an exciting show for the spectators.
For better or
worse, however, this was not always the case.
On one occasion,
the Emperor Commodus entered the arena himself and killed a large number of
ostriches and other large necked birds in an effort to display his prowess to
the crowds. The crowds reportedly cheered although as it would have been
dangerous for them not to, they seem to have cheered under duress.
This booklet will
only discuss venatio in a superficial manner.
4.
Chariot races
The Romans loved
chariot races, and they were a major part of activity in the arena as well as
spectator sports throughout the Roman Empire.
Although Roman
chariot races make a wonderful subject for exciting games, we will not deal
with them here. There are, however, several good games that cover Roman chariot
races. Not only that, but some Roman gladiator rules include rules for chariots
and in some cases extend them to chariot races.
5.
Mock land battles
Gladiatorial
combat involved individual or small groups of highly trained fighters.
By contrast, the
Romans occasionally held much larger battles, consisting of small virtual
armies and have them fight for the entertainment of the crowds. Like the
gladiator fights, the combatants were usually slaves and not willing
participants. When compared to the the gladiator contests however, these fights
were much more bloody and the risk of
death much higher.
Although a slave,
a gladiator was a highly trained, highly specialized, and well fed slave, with
the capacity to earn its owner great wealth and prestige and thus highly
valuable. Although he, or in some cases, she, might not have much value as a
human being, they did have a high value as a commodity and thus a gladiator’s life
would not be thrown away casually. Therefore most gladiatorial battles did not
end in death for the fighters. (Exact casualty rates will be discussed later.)
By contrast, the
fighters in the large scale battles were also slaves but were not trained and did
not have as high a monetary value. Therefore, as they possessed less value, it
did not matter so much if they died. So
for that reason these battles were not just larger, but also had a high rate of
fatalities.
Of course, these
could make interesting wargames, particularly as a variant on the more common
ancient miniatures battle. A good set of medium size battle rules would be
required. However, as the size of the battles and rules required are very
different from those of the better known, more common gladiatorial battles
these mock land battles will not be discussed in much depth here either.
6.
Naumachea
Not only did the
Romans have mock land battles in which large numbers of slaves were forced to
fight one another to the death, but they also had mock naval battles using real
ships on artificial lakes, again for the amusement of spectators. These, too, resulted in large numbers of
deaths and casualties.
Again, these could
make interesting games. However, as the rules for small scale naval battles are
very different from those for small scale gladiatorial battles, they will not
be covered except in a cursory manner here.
Romans did not
like to see themselves defeated so the battles they recreated rarely involved
Rome itself. (Nossov 2009, 41-43) (Junkelmann 2000, 74) (Auget 1994, 1972, 68-71)
7.
Noxii
The Roman legal
system tended to be both brutal and public. For many reasons, including showing
that justice was swift and harsh and that the bad would be punished it was
considered appropriate for condemned people to be killed in front of a crowd of
enthused spectators. There were several
ways in which such condemned people were executed. These included being bound
to stakes then fed to or mauled by animals, bound to stakes, then lit on fire
(sometimes after being covered with enough pitch and such so that they would be
able to function as a torch and light the arena) or put in the arena free, and
then mauled and eaten by animals.
The victims of
such executions, the people condemned to die, were called “Noxii.”
I cannot imagine
that such events would make a good game, and therefore will not discuss them
much here.
Along similar
lines, the Emperor Claudius, one of several emperors known for decadent and
elaborate spectacles, arranged one in which the sack of a British town or city
was simulated for the entertainment of the crowd with he taking the role of
commanding general of the sacking army in the event. (Auget 1994, 1972, 70-71)
8.
Mythological dramas held in the amphitheater
(were these the executions?)
In some cases, the Romans put extra time and effort into these executions
in order to provide a better spectacle and more entertainment for the audience.
Sometimes these executions would take the form of a drama, often from legend or
myth, with a condemned person taking the central role. For instance, many know
the tale of Icarus, the man who built wings and flew only to fly too close the
sun, have the wax on his wings melt, the wings collapse, and then fall to earth
and die unable to fly anymore.
The Romans might act this out in the arena in front of a crowd. They
might get a pulley system and a rope, take a condemned prisoner, then put wings
on him, hoist him up and swing him around for the amusement of the crowd while
the audience “oohs” and “aahs” and cheers. All the while someone would narrate
the story of Icarus, and then, at the key point where the wings falls off and
Icarus plummets to his death, the arena workers would release the rope from
which the condemned man hung, causing him to fall to his death.
Gaming possibilities? Not many, and therefore this subject also will not
be covered much here.
9.
Ordinary, by modern standards, performers
Finally, it’s
worth mentioning that ordinary dramatic performers would perform in the arena.
These would
include dramatic troupes that would perform theatrical presentations such as
dramas and comedies. Trained animal acts would also perform. There were a wide
variety of such performers.
For better or
worse, however, it’s difficult to imagine them as subject of a wargame and
therefore they will not be dealt with much further here.
[1]
Someone once commented that one of the keys to understanding ancient and
medieval history is to realize that many adult type decisions, including “what
do we do with the animals at the animal show, once the show is over?” were
being made by teenagers or even adolescents.
Work in Progress -Gladiators in the Roman Arena -Who were the Gladiators?
PREFACE --I'm a writer, That means I write stuff. Please check out my newest release, a short story collection called "Put Your Favorite Picture Here" at https://www.amazon.com -However, that's not my only work. This post is an excerpt from my current project, a guide for wargamers to Roman Gladiators.
From Albacon 2018, me running a game of Hoc, Habet, Hoc
From Albacon 2018, me running a game of Hoc, Habet, Hoc
Most
Gladiators were unwilling participants forced to fight against their will. In
fact, originally, they were slaves, prisoners of war, and condemned prisoners.
Although
historians and other social scientists debate the motivations and appeal of the
Roman Games, they generally agree that the Roman Games were a bloody spectacle
where the authorities publicly displayed their dominance over criminal elements
within the empire, foreign enemies, and the threatening aspects of nature represented
in the form of wild and savage animals.
It’s
for this reason that those who fought and died in the arena were slaves, prisoners
of war, and criminals, condemned men. On occasion these were noteworthy
condemned men, for instance, Caligula, one of Rome’s most decadent and insane
emperors, occasionally ordered nobles who had offended him or someone else he
considered important to fight in the arena but they were still condemned men.
(Nossov, p. 147)
Although
some gladiators voluntarily took to the life of being a professional fighter
who killed and risked death, maiming, or wounding for the amusement of others,
this was rare.
To
fight in the arena was unpleasant and dangerous. Not only could gladiators be
killed, injured, or maimed, they also could be called upon to fight and kill
people they trained with, lived with, and were friends with. Not only that, but
in Roman culture, people who entertained others were looked down upon. As the
gladiators fought for their lives, drunken spectators would laugh and jeer at
them. It was not uncommon for gladiators to attempt suicide rather than face
the arena, and although steps were taken to prevent this, nevertheless, some
succeeded at ending their own lives. (Nossov, p. 151)
Many
gladiators resented their lot. Today, most people have heard of Spartacus’s
revolt. Spartacus, a prisoner of war, was forced into being a gladiator. He and
his fellow gladiators eventually found a way to take over their ludi (gladiator
troupe), escape, and then stage a revolt of gladiators and other slaves. This
was a desperate act with little likelihood of real long-term success. Although
they had several successes in battle
against the Roman authorities and army, ultimately their revolt was put down
and the bulk of the surviving participants executed. A fuller accounting of
these vents is included in a later chapter of this work.
One
detail of the revolt that is of particular interest here is that on at least
one occasion when Spartacus and his troops captured Roman soldiers, they forced
them, in turn, to fight as gladiators for the amusement of he and his troops,
something that horrified the Roman authorities when they heard of it. To these
gladiators turned rebels, this turnabout and punishment of their aggressors, gives
an insight into how they really felt about their lot.
Sometimes
the organizers of games did not just want slaves for the arena but wanted
particular kinds of slaves in order to present a unique or particularly themed
event. Dwarves and women were sometimes sought as a variation on the standard
battle between two men. Although Blacks were not uncommon in the arena, there
was one game where all the participants were Black, a unique twist on the
standard event, much appreciated perhaps by the crowds.
Still, as stated above,
not all gladiators were forced into this role. Some were volunteers. As time went on and the games became more
popular and interest in not just gladiatorial events but specific gladiators
grew, and some gladiators became popular and admired by the spectators,
ordinary Romans often dreamed of emulating them. In time, volunteer gladiators, called
“auctorati,” became increasingly common. Some had debts they had accrued and
needed to pay off. Others sought thrills
or glory. Aside from thrill seeking or wishing the glory, although glory mixed
with disgust, that eventually came from being a gladiator, motivations could
vary. Some were people who had spent their inheritance and now needed
funds. (Wisdom, p. 13) As kidnapping was
a real problem in the Roman empire, others took to the arena to win sufficient
cash to ransom a friend or relative who was being held captive. (Wisdom, p. 16) (Nossov, p. 146, 147-148)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Auget. 1994, 1972. Cruelty and Civilization --The
Roman Games. New York: Barnes and Noble Books.
Fields, Nic. 2009. Spartacus and the
Slave War, 73-71 BC -A Gladiator Rebels Against Rome. Oxford, UK : Osprey
Publishing .
Junkelmann, Marcus. 2000. "Familia
Gladiatoria -The Heroes of the Amphitheatre." In Gladiators and
Caesars the Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome, by Kohne Ewigleben.
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Kohne, Eckart and Ewigleben, ?? 2000. Gladiators
and Caesars --The Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome. Berkeley,
California: University of California Press.
Nossov, Konstantin. 2009. Gladiators
--Rome's Bloody Spectacles. Oxford UK: Osprey.
Strauss, Barry. 2009. The Spartacus
War. New York, N.Y. : Simon & Schuster Paperbacks .
Wisdom, Stephen. 2001. Gladiators
100BC -AD 200. Oxford: Osprey.
Book Review: Terra Cognita -The Mental Discovery of America, by Eviatar Zeruvabel
Years ago, I had the opportunity to ask Magnus Fiskesjo, one of my thesis advisors at Cornell, about Gavin Menzies books on his alleged (and easily disproven) claims of the Chinese discovering America. Dr. Fiskesjo recommended I read this book instead, I did and found it quite interesting and encourage others to do so as well. Please note while I read the first edition, there is now a second edition of the book. (This essay was originally written as a review on . Amazon.com)
![Terra Cognita: The Mental Discovery of America by [Zerubavel, Eviatar]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41xF%2Br-GXaL.jpg)
As we all know, Columbus was not aware in 1492 that he had landed on a new continent. Hence the lingering odd term "Indian." This work discusses in great detail the often ignored process, and it emphasizes process, of how and why and when Europeans began to realize that they had discovered an entire new continent (or two) that was completely unconnected with Asia.
The author is an Israeli geographer and does this in large part through discussions of period maps and a couple globes. (The work includes 31 plates of period maps showing how cartographers in Europe viewed the relationship between newly discovered areas of America and the rest of the world.) He emphasizes in great detail the need to look at varying definitions of terms like "continent," "discover," "North America," and so on.
A great deal of time is spent not only on explorers, be they Spanish, Italian, Viking, English or Russian (who approached North America from the West but were the first to truly prove it is not attached to Asia) over a period of many centuries, as well as the cartographers and writers in Europe who disseminated, analyzed, sorted, filtered and processed the new information that was being uncovered and tried to put it in a context. (In fact, this work was first recommended to me by a professor who recommended it as partial refutation of Gavin Menzies silly claims that the Chinese not only discovered America in 1421, but, somehow, instantly new what it was and then told Columbus.)
Best of all, the work is only 118 pages long, plus plates and footnotes, making it a relatively quick read.
It does provide a great deal of information on the context of actions that might otherwise have been missed. (i.e. Coronado was apparently searching for a mythical seven cities of gold, but was not sure how these cities related to the civilization of China and the spice areas of SE Asia, for instance, and thought there might be a connection between the two.)
Dolly Parton sings about women's suffrage
Dolly Parton, yes, THE Dolly Parton has a new song about women's suffrage and how women won the right to vote in the USA. Seems well worth sharing here. Give it a listen and leave a comment about what you think.
HOW TO BROWSE THIS BLOG
If you're on a browser that works like Google Chrome, look to the upper left of the blog post and you will see a box like group of bars. Click on it. Scroll down. Play with the labels and the archive section. If it only shows a limited selection of topics, click on the section that encourages you to see more. When you're done exploring and reading, if you'd like, leave a comment or share through e-mail or social media. Thanks.
South East Asian Cultural Boundaries of the Pre-Modern World and their Continuing Effects on the Modern World.
Author's note: Originally written almost 9 years ago. Still significant today. I've spent a lot of time in the last ten years studying, visiting, teaching, and hanging out with refugees from this part of the world. This is the map that made a lot of things click.
SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2009
Asia / Refugee Stuff : South East Asian Cutural Boundaries and the modern world.
Ah! I wish I could go back to graduate school and make writing and researching about Asian culture and history the focus of my life. Alas! It shall not be so anytime soon.
Therefore, for the moment, I must be content to speculate, pontificate and elucidate in these pages instead of elsewhere.
One of the joys of academic research is when you get those wonderful "Eureka" moments. That great "Ah ha!" feeling sweeps throughout you and you realize that a great deal of once complex information suddenly makes sense and fits a pattern. (Of course, one must be careful of assuming this feeling actually means your conclusions are making sense. Conspiracy theorists and schizophrenics, for instance, are blessed with brains that misfire this way all the time. Still, the sensation is blissfully exciting, which explains perhaps why schizophrenics and conspiracy theorists spend so much time lost in their own odd thoughts.)
Recently while reading "In Search of Asia" I had such a moment while viewing this map. The map is entitled "Centers of power in Southeast Asia at the end of the Eighteenth Century" and appears on page 98 of the 1987 edition of "In Search of Southeast Asia."
Essentially what the map shows is the extent of cultural power and cultural influence in various centers in southeast Asia at the beginning of the modern era. At the time the kingdoms and cultures that are now dominant in Burma, Thailand and Vietnam did not have boundaries in the sense of anything resembling the modern sense of the term. And the role of the king was often different than in Europe of the time as well. Simplifying greatly for ease of transmitting a concept, the king hd less of a political role and more of a ritual role in the lives of his citizens. His power was not seen as uniform through a given geographical territory. Instead, his power radiated outward from the center, becoming weaker the further one was from that center. Instead of there being a strict boundary to the state, instead the state just sort of faded away becoming less and less important until it faded away altogether at the edge of civilization. Then came the rugged lands of hills and forest and jungle, the lands where the uncivilized people who existed outside the pale of civilization.
And that's what this map shows. The black "core area" is the center of the civilized area. Beyond it is a gray realm, where civilization exists but there's a certain lack of sophistication although the people are still part of the dominant culture. Light gray is a "fringe area" and the striped lines represent the areas where two different relatively equal states vie for control.
Now if one examines the map of Burma what you essentially see is the way in which Burma is divided between a dominant, Burmese culture, and a surrounding area with many other minority cultures. And it is from these minority cultures, i.e. the Karen, the Chin, that many refugees come. And to some extent the reason they come here is over a dispute over their relationship with the central government of the state now known as Myanmar.
In neighboring Thailand this map also shows the difference between the areas where hill tribes (some of which overlap with Burma) live.
As for Vietnam, the map shows the area where the so-called montagniards live.
A similar map could easily be made for China.
SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2009
Asia / Refugee Stuff : South East Asian Cutural Boundaries and the modern world.
Ah! I wish I could go back to graduate school and make writing and researching about Asian culture and history the focus of my life. Alas! It shall not be so anytime soon.
Therefore, for the moment, I must be content to speculate, pontificate and elucidate in these pages instead of elsewhere.
 |
| The importance of this map is explained in the text. |
Recently while reading "In Search of Asia" I had such a moment while viewing this map. The map is entitled "Centers of power in Southeast Asia at the end of the Eighteenth Century" and appears on page 98 of the 1987 edition of "In Search of Southeast Asia."
Essentially what the map shows is the extent of cultural power and cultural influence in various centers in southeast Asia at the beginning of the modern era. At the time the kingdoms and cultures that are now dominant in Burma, Thailand and Vietnam did not have boundaries in the sense of anything resembling the modern sense of the term. And the role of the king was often different than in Europe of the time as well. Simplifying greatly for ease of transmitting a concept, the king hd less of a political role and more of a ritual role in the lives of his citizens. His power was not seen as uniform through a given geographical territory. Instead, his power radiated outward from the center, becoming weaker the further one was from that center. Instead of there being a strict boundary to the state, instead the state just sort of faded away becoming less and less important until it faded away altogether at the edge of civilization. Then came the rugged lands of hills and forest and jungle, the lands where the uncivilized people who existed outside the pale of civilization.
And that's what this map shows. The black "core area" is the center of the civilized area. Beyond it is a gray realm, where civilization exists but there's a certain lack of sophistication although the people are still part of the dominant culture. Light gray is a "fringe area" and the striped lines represent the areas where two different relatively equal states vie for control.
Now if one examines the map of Burma what you essentially see is the way in which Burma is divided between a dominant, Burmese culture, and a surrounding area with many other minority cultures. And it is from these minority cultures, i.e. the Karen, the Chin, that many refugees come. And to some extent the reason they come here is over a dispute over their relationship with the central government of the state now known as Myanmar.
In neighboring Thailand this map also shows the difference between the areas where hill tribes (some of which overlap with Burma) live.
As for Vietnam, the map shows the area where the so-called montagniards live.
A similar map could easily be made for China.
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