u/hadrian10

We often look at the Roman Empire as the peak of antiquity, but I’ve been thinking about the 5th Century Greece. If the Sicilian Expedition had succeeded and Athens had crushed Sparta in the Peloponnesian War, do we end up with a "United States of Hellas"?

Gold and resources would have kept flowing into Athens, we may have gotten twice as many plays by Sophocles, or even more grand architecture. Who knows, it’s also possible that the Athenians become so overbearing that they collapse in on themselves.

I know historical “What ifs” are frowned upon, but it’s fun to think about and discuss. Thoughts?

So we all know that the Romans had some of the best, and worst, names. But I was thinking to myself who has the best name, so I wrote down some candidates. This is strictly on the phonetics of the name, and how it feels to say, as well as how it feels to hear. Here’s my list:

5: Hadrian

4: Constantine

3: Aurelian

2: Trajan

1: Nero

I excluded names like Pupienus for obvious phonetic distractions! This might be the only category that I would rank Nero as being the best (other than top psychopaths), but the name Nero really does have some gravitas imo. Which emperors do you think had the best name?

Just how people say that LA is the second city of the US, what was the second city of Rome in the year 100 AD?

Let's go with overall influence, not just economic output, cultural output, or strategic importance, but all of those combined.

I happened to purchase the book 'Marathon' by Christian Cameron at a book store without knowing anything about the series. I just finished it, and it was great! I really enjoyed the bit around Miletus (don't want to spoil anything), and the fact that the Persians aren't portrayed as monsters.

I didn't realize it was a series until after I finished Marathon. Has anyone read the entire series? Do you recommend it?