From Arthur.Pomeroy@vuw.ac.nz Sat May 27 23:00:50 2000 Received: from mxu1.u.washington.edu (mxu1.u.washington.edu [140.142.32.8]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.9.3+UW00.05/8.9.3+UW99.09) with ESMTP id XAA14436 for ; Sat, 27 May 2000 23:00:49 -0700 Received: from rata.vuw.ac.nz (rata.vuw.ac.nz [130.195.2.11]) by mxu1.u.washington.edu (8.9.3+UW00.02/8.9.3+UW99.09) with ESMTP id XAA07782 for ; Sat, 27 May 2000 23:00:47 -0700 Received: from matai.vuw.ac.nz (matai.vuw.ac.nz [130.195.2.13]) by rata.vuw.ac.nz (8.10.1/8.10.1) with ESMTP id e4S60kX04116 for ; Sun, 28 May 2000 18:00:46 +1200 (NZST) Received: from [130.195.48.76] (dhcp4149.classics.vuw.ac.nz [130.195.48.76]) by matai.vuw.ac.nz (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id SAA06981 for ; Sun, 28 May 2000 18:00:46 +1200 (NZST) Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Sender: turo1953@matai.vuw.ac.nz Message-Id: In-Reply-To: <3930AC62.7B4C@loyno.edu> References: <200005280118.UAA23515@darwin.helios.nd.edu> <3930AC62.7B4C@loyno.edu> Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 18:00:45 +1200 To: classics@u.washington.edu From: Arthur Pomeroy Subject: Re: Civilized Achievements Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" For a further comment on Roman practices, I note the following recent summary of Roman attitudes to international affairs: "This study suggest hat international relations, for the Romans, were not so much a complex geopolitical chess game as a competition for status, with much violent demonstration of superior prowess, aggressive posturing, and terrorization of the opponent. The Romans behaved on an international level like Homeric heroes, Mafia gangsters, or participants in any society where status and security depend on one's perceived ability to inflict violence." S.P. Mattern, Rome and the Enemy (Berkeley/LA 1999) xii. My only minor dissent is that the implied suggestion that chess players do not also use aggressive posturing and terrorization of the opponent. My experience is that the most successful are frequently aggressive on and off the board. Art Pomeroy .