Mike70
10-Apr-2008, 03:47 AM
the word hero is a bit overused in our time, so i'll stick with people that i admire.
publius cornelius scipio - duh. the man we know as scipio africanus. one of the most brilliant and daring military minds ever. also a damn shrewd politician, that tends to get lost amidst his other acheivements. also a man willing to take a backseat to his little brother lucius, so younger bro could get some glory at the battle of magnesia at the expense of antiochus.
sextus pompey - a man whose name should resound down the centuries but is lost unfortunately. after the senate's final defeat at munda, sextus took over sicily and carried on the fight against caesar and the triumvirs until 35 BC. a true rebel.
vergil - arma virumque cano. need i say more?
catullus - the bad boy of the late republic. his poetry is by turns pathetic and utterly hilarious. his very frank discussion of sex in ancient rome has been entertaining folks for centuries.
james cook - you know the guy who has two space shuttles (endeavor and discovery) named after his ships? his logs are an amazing read and can be found here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8106/8106-h/8106-h.htm
miltiades - the man who led the athenians and plateans to victory at marathon.
and grouped together:
empedocles, parmenides, and democritus - all 3 pre-socratic greek philosophers who laid the groundwork for modern science. democritus in particular sort of creeps me out. this was a dude talking about atomic theory centuries before the atom was even considered a part of nature. a dude way ahead of his time.
publius cornelius scipio - duh. the man we know as scipio africanus. one of the most brilliant and daring military minds ever. also a damn shrewd politician, that tends to get lost amidst his other acheivements. also a man willing to take a backseat to his little brother lucius, so younger bro could get some glory at the battle of magnesia at the expense of antiochus.
sextus pompey - a man whose name should resound down the centuries but is lost unfortunately. after the senate's final defeat at munda, sextus took over sicily and carried on the fight against caesar and the triumvirs until 35 BC. a true rebel.
vergil - arma virumque cano. need i say more?
catullus - the bad boy of the late republic. his poetry is by turns pathetic and utterly hilarious. his very frank discussion of sex in ancient rome has been entertaining folks for centuries.
james cook - you know the guy who has two space shuttles (endeavor and discovery) named after his ships? his logs are an amazing read and can be found here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8106/8106-h/8106-h.htm
miltiades - the man who led the athenians and plateans to victory at marathon.
and grouped together:
empedocles, parmenides, and democritus - all 3 pre-socratic greek philosophers who laid the groundwork for modern science. democritus in particular sort of creeps me out. this was a dude talking about atomic theory centuries before the atom was even considered a part of nature. a dude way ahead of his time.