# Rome 10/30 (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-30-open-spoilers/328670 "2005-10-31T03:09:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-30-open-spoilers/328670/61 "2005-11-04T01:38:38Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I thought soldier were allowed to marry. Does anyone have a cite for the opposite? I mean, after all, GJC is married, GPM was married, all the other higher ranking officers would almost have to be. Pre-dating this show, Gaius Marius was married, well, I could go on. There is, in fact, a book on the topic 🙂 : [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cam/CSCT/CSCT/marriage.htm](http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cam/CSCT/CSCT/marriage.htm) Interestingly enough, one cite claims the ban was promulgated by Augustus, which raises obvious problems vis-a-vis the series ;). But it may be ( not having read the book ) that it was common discipline before that and he just codified it. Also I don’t think such a ban would apply to officers, nor discharged veterans ( not sure if Pullo is discharged at this point or not ). > [@jsc1953](#): > > What was the significance of the battle of Thaspus? I was surprised there were any battles left to fight – after Pompey’s death, and Cicero & Brutus surrendered, I thought the civil war was over. Nope - it just eliminated Pompey, but not Cato, Pompey’s sons, or other prominent anti-Caesar republicans like Titus Labienus ( a former lieutenant and friend of Caesar, famous for his military exploits in Gaul ) and Metellus Scipio. Thapsus put the end to Cato and Scipio ( as seen in the last episode ). But even then Labienus and Pompey’s sons still weren’t beaten - the last big battle of the civil war was at Munda in Spain, in 45 ( a battle in which Octavian played a key role ). > [@](#): > > Was Erestes the same thug that briefly employed Vorenus as a loan collector/leg breaker? Yep. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-30-open-spoilers/328670/62 "2005-11-04T01:39:46Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Atia spied on them. I’m almost certain that was Atia’s main slave woman I saw spying on them. You know the older one with a dagger in her robes who’s always in the room while Atia is getting sexed? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-30-open-spoilers/328670/63 "2005-11-04T02:46:45Z")
I can’t remember - does Servillia know about Vorenus’s illegitimate child? If so, I would expect her to use that against Caesar once she discovers that Vorenus has been elevated to being a powerful ally of Caesar’s. If so, that’s going to bring up Pullo’s role in this, and that could be very bad for the Pullo/Vorenus relationship. What would Roman honor say about that situation? If a man like Vorenus were to find out that his wife had an illegitimate child, what would honor demand of him? And what if he found that his good friend knew this and didn’t tell him? And that he had killed the father? Oh, what a tangled web we weave… ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-30-open-spoilers/328670/64 "2005-11-04T02:54:42Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] …I do feel bad about Pullo & his slave girl. I still don’t understand how it all works. Pullo was the son of a slave, so wouldn’t he still be a slave? How did he get un-slaved? Just by joining the military?..QUOTE] If his mother was freed before she gave birth then he’d be a citizen. Besides Romans didn’t do alot of cross-checking of records. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-30-open-spoilers/328670/65 "2005-11-04T18:10:47Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > If his mother was freed before she gave birth then he’d be a citizen. Besides Romans didn’t do alot of cross-checking of records. But if his mother was freed before he was born, would he have referred to her as a slave? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-30-open-spoilers/328670/66 "2005-11-04T20:48:23Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > What would Roman honor say about that situation? If a man like Vorenus were to find out that his wife had an illegitimate child, what would honor demand of him? The honorable thing to do would be to kill both wife and child. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-30-open-spoilers/328670/67 "2005-11-04T21:26:33Z")
At one point during this episode, Caesar said something about returning Rome to the glory of the Golden Age. When did they consider the Golden Age of Rome to have occurred? ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-30-open-spoilers/328670/68 "2005-11-04T21:31:48Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > But if his mother was freed before he was born, would he have referred to her as a slave? I thought Pullo only referred to his father as a slave. > [@Sam Stone](#): > > I can’t remember - does Servillia know about Vorenus’s illegitimate child? If so, I would expect her to use that against Caesar once she discovers that Vorenus has been elevated to being a powerful ally of Caesar’s. If so, that’s going to bring up Pullo’s role in this, and that could be very bad for the Pullo/Vorenus relationship. She does now. I wonder, if Servillia tries to come public regarding Caesar’s new magistrate, and Pullo and Octavian silence her, would Brutus see this as an insult and use therefore become Caesar’s enemy? A motive for March 15th? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-30-open-spoilers/328670/69 "2005-11-04T23:14:14Z")
> [@Maus Magill](#): > > I thought Pullo only referred to his father as a slave. His mother was a slave, and he remembers she smelled of pine, so she must have been from the north. He assumed his father was probably a slave, but he never knew him I guess. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rome-10-30-open-spoilers/328670.md?page=3)