Poll: Which Ancient Civilisation would yo liked to have lived in?

[Ilikemilkshake]

Probably Greece or Rome... they had some semblance of a democracy. (at certain times anyway)
So i'd research which of those 2 and go for that.

 

[charda11]

Why is there no Ancient China option? Sure, if I was a peasant I'd spend most of my days working in a rice paddy and getting ring worm, but if you happened to be rich you were really rich. Not to mention the country was almost always at war with itself, so things would have been lively.

 

[DirtyJunkieScum]

I thought the Vandals (and judging by one dude hitting another about it they thought the same) were a tribe from the German region?

I know a vandal is a miscreant though in modern language, but I've been told by several drunks that vandals were a tribe... I'm starting to sound like Hagrid from Harry Potter, "got it off a bloke in a pub"

Yes, they were, but as I said, I sincerely doubt anyone is going to punch someone for suggesting they may be related to an ancient Germanic tribe. Calling someone a vandal in the modern sense however might well do it. The modern use of vandal is everyday parlance, "Vandal" as in the tribe is not widely known at all, and even then it's not really usable as an insult, unless these guys were some hardcore racists debating which of them had pure Saxon blood I doubt anyone would take offence, but since the Saxons were Germanic I doubt it. Really, suggesting someone is descended from the vandals is just about one of the oddest reasons to hit someone I've ever heard. Calling them a vandal in the modern sense, not so much.

 

[Silent Anima]

I picked Gaul/Germanic/Briton. They, like people have already stated, had that sense of brotherhood and unity. They weren't so wrapped up in corrupt politics like other civilizations on there. Also, Helvetii FTW!! But can all of you who picked Romans not slaughter us Gauls please? Kthxbye! ^-^

[sub][sub]I want to play Rome: Total War now...[/sub][/sub]

 

[DigitalSushi]

Oi, the Romans were afraid of the Irish as well!

Everyone's afraid of the Irish!

I live in London and I love playing the "Why are you celebrating St Patricks Day Game?" on the 17th of March, its great, on the 17th go out and ask an English that question, wait for the reply of
"My nan was half Irish on her dad's side"

Yes, they were, but as I said, I sincerely doubt anyone is going to punch someone for suggesting they may be related to an ancient Germanic tribe. Calling someone a vandal in the modern sense however might well do it. The modern use of vandal is everyday parlance, "Vandal" as in the tribe is not widely known at all, and even then it's not really usable as an insult, unless these guys were some hardcore racists debating which of them had pure Saxon blood I doubt anyone would take offence, but since the Saxons were Germanic I doubt it. Really, suggesting someone is descended from the vandals is just about one of the oddest reasons to hit someone I've ever heard. Calling them a vandal in the modern sense, not so much.

LMAO

I've not been entirely honest with you, yes someone did hit someone else after they were told they are descended from Vandals... the person who hit the other person is half English and is female.

The woman doing the hitting is my Mother, and she's an Angle/Gaul and has got a mean left hook.

 

[Yoshisummons]

None because they all are batshit crazy! Then there is the lack of medicine and paranoia(which some could argue still exists in large amounts).

 

[Xanadu84]

The most recent one that still counts as ancient. Seriously, the world keeps getting better, nicer, kinder and smarter. The further back you go, the more brutal, unpleasent and stupid you get. The best indicater for how nice a place is is proximity to the present, not race, religion, creed or culture.

 

[DirtyJunkieScum]

I've not been entirely honest with you, yes someone did hit someone else after they were told they are descended from Vandals... the person who hit the other person is half English and is female.

The woman doing the hitting is my Mother, and she's an Angle/Gaul and has got a mean left hook.

Do you mean Anglo/French or literally Angle/Gaul, because the latter is...very unlikely to say the least, we've had over 1500 years of mixing since then, it would be very surprising if she didn't have a bit of vandal blood in her, or various African, Asian or middle eastern tribes. Trying to attach yourself to one ancient tribe and separate from another is going to be pretty much all in your head.

Anyway, yes referring to your mum hitting someone who called her a vandal (I'll guess in the context of the conversation and your mother's interests, personality etc this makes sense) as "I've seen someone get hit in a pub in England for calling someone a vandal" is not particularly honest, it may be true in the literal sense but it's disingenuous to say the least.

I should probably have included the word "also" in my original definition of the modern word, I guess that is the cause of the misunderstanding in this case.

Finally the Angles only controlled a limited area of England, what is now known as East Anglia and the areas north (Northumbria, from the east coast to about half way inland) and east (Mercia, about half way to wales). South of that it was all Saxon apart from cornwall which was still Briton. The East coast and wales was also Briton. Then the Saxons went on the warpath and took the lot, except the north and large parts of the Midlands, which the Danes took until they were finally booted out. Sadly for the Saxons the Normans came in and nabbed the lot just over 100 years later. So really, calling the English "Angles" is pretty darned inaccurate.

 

[Bebus]

'Greek' is an odd one to put up there, because ancient 'Greece' did not exist as such it was more a collection of assorted city states different from each other but more different from the barbarians surrounding them.

Still, I chose it because I love the period and studied it for my degree. The best the Romans could come up with was a copy of the Greeks' best.

I would have loved to be in Classical Athens, or to see the Spartans in action.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Consider that my ethnic origin is Chinese, I have great interest in my Chinese heritage so travelling back to ancient China appeal to me the most. I first however want to speak Chinese properly before I go there (it will only frustrate me futher).

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

I'd go with Greek all the way.

I hear that the buildings and statues were actually in color, I demand to know how crazy they were. Also, I just love Ancient Greece, so I don't need much of a reason to be there.

Here you go dude...it's on the Ashmolean in Oxford, I know its actually Caesar and Roman but you get the idea.

Also being an Ancient historian I'd have to say none of them...they're all dirty horrible places, and I think I'd be too poor to ever go out and see anything

BUT I would like to see the Mayans...or the Hittites...or even the Mesopotamians.

I've actually seen that picture of that statue, and I remember the guy that showed it to me said that was pretty tame, and not as bright as they normally are. Still, I would just like to see what that it was like back then without reading it in a book.

Hittites? I kinda forgot about them to be honest, Babylonians would be pretty cool too.

 

[omicron1]

I'll vote Hatti.
Their access to iron (during the late Bronze Age!) made them a prosperous and powerful empire for a period of 6-800 years, and they were never really conquered; they simply faded away. Plus, their geographic location in Turkey would have put them closer to temperate climes than, say, Sumeria or Egypt.

 

[DigitalSushi]

Do you mean Anglo/French or literally Angle/Gaul, because the latter is...very unlikely to say the least, we've had over 1500 years of mixing since then, it would be very surprising if she didn't have a bit of vandal blood in her, or various African, Asian or middle eastern tribes. Trying to attach yourself to one ancient tribe and separate from another is going to be pretty much all in your head.

I don't think she was attaching herself to being an Angle/Gaul, more of detaching herself from being called a Vandal.

Your taking this too literally, she doesn't walk around telling everyone that she is an Angle/Gaul, she only replied in that instance that she wasn't a Vandal and is in fact half English (Angle) and half French (from the Gaul regions).

There are other factors too, but you gotta admit put yourself in my shoes, how funny is it that my Mother punched a guy because he called her a Vandal. Its one of those "we'll laugh about it in the future" type scenarios.

Anyway, yes referring to your mum hitting someone who called her a vandal (I'll guess in the context of the conversation and your mother's interests, personality etc this makes sense) as "I've seen someone get hit in a pub in England for calling someone a vandal" is not particularly honest, it may be true in the literal sense but it's disingenuous to say the least.

I'm not too sure what your getting at here

I should probably have included the word "also" in my original definition of the modern word, I guess that is the cause of the misunderstanding in this case.

Finally the Angles only controlled a limited area of England, what is now known as East Anglia and the areas north (Northumbria, from the east coast to about half way inland) and east (Mercia, about half way to wales). South of that it was all Saxon apart from cornwall which was still Briton. The East coast and wales was also Briton. Then the Saxons went on the warpath and took the lot, except the north and large parts of the Midlands, which the Danes took until they were finally booted out. Sadly for the Saxons the Normans came in and nabbed the lot just over 100 years later. So really, calling the English "Angles" is pretty darned inaccurate.

Ahhh that makes sense, what with East Anglia being called "anglia".

Yeah I know its inaccurate, but I was just pointing out earlier on that the English are Angles hence us French call the country "Angleterre", I was aware of the Saxons and also that the Vikings totally rocked the British isles too but it would have been extraneous of me to have a disclaimer stating as such because saying that the tribe of the Angles becoming Angleterre is accurate, me saying the English are Saxons and thats why the French called England "Saxonterre" would be an outright fabrication.

*disclaimer, DigitalSushi is probably wrong on all counts!

Its a shame that History isn't something I'm good at, because its great reading about it, via your comments and just coming across the information... but for some strange reason I just can't remember it, its the same with grammar in any language, my brain seems to purge the info.

 

[Ieyke]

Gonna go with Rome. I've always loved Roman history and if you have to back anyone, back the top dog.
Also, I might get to hang out with this guy.

I think if Ray Stevenson turned up in ancient Rome, everyone would run away screaming...

55BC - average height of an adult Roman man - 5ft2in ... !

S'why they referred to Gauls (average male adult height 5ft6in) as 'barbarian giants'... makes you feel rather tall all of a sudden...

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
At 6'1", yea, I always do feel rather tall....so in Ancient Rome I'd be a giant among giants. Giant in all respects, which in Ancient Greece would be seen as bad, but in Ancient Rome was seen as fantastic.


But yea, I'm all about Greco-Roman mythology and the Roman Republic/Empire, so Ancient Rome hands down.

 

[Ethan Asia]

Rome. I don't know why, I guess I identified with those funky skirts. I'd love to be in their senate.

 

[Lucem712]

None because they all are batshit crazy! Then there is the lack of medicine and paranoia(which some could argue still exists in large amounts).

Roman medicine was actually pretty good (by ancient world standards), they boiled their surgery tools in water before every surgery, and doctors actually had different levels of qualification. They also had hospitals were doctors could observe you. (The fact of running water/bath houses in Rome also helped ward off disease that allowed them to have such a booming city live)

Although, the gov't didn't allow human dissection, so some surgeons decided to practice on pigs.

You win some, you lose some.

 

[Chemical Alia]

As a woman I wouldn't want to go back to the 1980's, much less any ancient civilizations. Also, why did you omit ancient China?

 

[SckizoBoy]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the height thing is mostly nutritional. Nowadays people have a broader, more balanced diet, while people in ancient times often had stunted growth as the result of very limited diets.

Yeah, most of the human height growth occurred as a result of deep sea international trade (which is a helluva lot older than people think). AFAIK, the diet those days consisted of (at least in Greece): cheese; meat; bread; ... and olives.

Oooh, or Crete.

Ah, the life of a Cretan mercenary...

Long range missiles
Can use flaming missiles
Good morale

=P

"All right, but apart from sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?"

You're kidding me, right?! PORN!! XD

Sparta, Greece by far.
Not just because of 300, but because it would've been an awesome place to live.
I hate the idea of war in this modern age, but I've always been fascinated by the idea of honourable combat with no guns.
Also, it would be pretty awesome living as a Spartan, what with the intense training and everything.

Yeah, good luck, old boy! The agoge killed about a fifth of the Spartiate boys, lots of pederastic sex, men had few rights/freedoms unless they were Agiad/Eurypontid or Ephors and shit food. I'd rather be a perioeci, thankee.