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Monday, July 30, 2007

What have the Romans ever done for us?


Nicola, Pete, Lola and Nell want to travel the world with a difference. We hope to get a taste of many countries without adding to climate change (with needless emissions from aeroplanes) or having to waste hours of holiday time in airport terminals. We hope our adventures inspire you to take a Grand Tour of your neighbourhood whatever the weather. This post is from Pete


Being laid low with cellulitus (thankfully lessening with antibiotics) while the others walk Hadrian's Wall has given me the chance to take the bus to the magnificent Roman forts of Housesteads, Chesters and Vindolanda (so named because of the Romans' love for the native Brits' vindaloos). And I might have been better off with the Romans, having viewed the hospital at Housesteads. Firstly they wore sandals which encouraged air circulation and would have countered my athelete's foot. Plus they had proper hospitals with Greek surgeons, herb beds for alternative remedies and honey to stop infection seeping into wounds. It all sounds like Stoke Newington.

And who said Roman history was boring? Get this, they loved daubing great big willies wherever they went. There's a phallus carved into the Wall at Birdoswald (a comment on the Scots or a statement that a big man builds a big wall?), a pottery penis on display at the Vindolanda Museum and a willie carved into the floor of the headquarters at Chesters. Scholars tend to say these are fertility symbols or good luck charms; but having read the famous Vindolanda tablets where ordinary Romans request beer and the details of any good local inns, my conclusion is that they were simply early readers of Loaded.

Ditulis Oleh : admin // 1:39 PM
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