Category: History

Ancient Romans proved to be pretty much as you always imagined them

The Discovery Channel website reported a couple of days ago that an interesting piece of ancient Roman pop culture has just been discovered by divers exploring near Durham, England.

Divers exploring a river near a former Roman Empire fort and settlement in Britain have found a piece of pottery that depicts the backside of a rather buff gladiator wielding a whip and wearing nothing but a G-string, according to British researchers.

The image represents the first known depiction of a gladiator in such revealing attire. It adds to the evidence that ancient Romans viewed gladiators not only as fearless warriors, but also as sex symbols.

It seems almost absurd that gladiators weren’t sex symbols. A couple of days ago I posted a link to some fantastic ancient Roman graffitti. Here is what was written about gladiators.

II.7 (gladiator barracks); 8767: Floronius, privileged soldier of the 7th legion, was here. The women did not know of his presence. Only six women came to know, too few for such a stallion.

II.7 (gladiator barracks); 8792: On April 19th, I made bread

II.7 (gladiator barracks); 8792b: Antiochus hung out here with his girlfriend Cithera.

V.5.3 (barracks of the Julian-Claudian gladiators; column in the peristyle); 4289: Celadus the Thracian gladiator is the delight of all the girls

Asian History Carnival

I don’t normally get into all this blog inter-linking for the sake of linking stuff, but the Asian History Carnival is seriously worth a mention. For those who don’t know, the basic of the blog ‘carnival’ thing is basically just a regular feature, which rotates between different blogs as host, collecting high quality links to blog posts on a certain topic created since the last installment.

The Asian History Carnival was created by the excellent Frog in a Well group history blog (unrelated to this blog), and the second installment was just posted at Muninn.net.
In addition to linking to my post on the ROC English textbook I found, Muninn has collected links to quite a few fascinating pieces on history. I haven’t yet read through more than a couple of them, but I definitely plan to at least skim them all before the set comes along.

Ancient graffitti from Pompei

I love seeing graffitti in different places, and these translations of ancient Roman graffitti found in the ruins of Pompei are both informative and hilarious. Here’s a random selection from around the middle of the page. Isn’t it amazing how much it’s like what you see scrawled on bathroom walls across the globe even today?

VI.14.36 (Bar of Salvius; over a picture of a woman carrying a pitcher of wine and a drinking goblet); 3494: Whoever wants to serve themselves can go on an drink from the sea.

VI.14.37 (Wood-Working Shop of Potitus): 3498: What a lot of tricks you use to deceive, innkeeper. You sell water but drink unmixed wine

VI.14.43 (atrium of a House of the Large Brothel); 1520: Blondie has taught me to hate dark-haired girls. I shall hat them, if I can, but I wouldn’t mind loving them. Pompeian Venus Fisica wrote this.

VI.15.6 (House of Caesius Valens and Herennius Nardus); 4637: Rufus loves Cornelia Hele

VI.16.15 (atrium of the House of Pinarius); 6842: If anyone does not believe in Venus, they should gaze at my girl friend

VII (House of the Tetrastyle Atrium); 2060: Romula hung out here with Staphylus.

Japanese Peruvians: the rest of the story

The recent Fujimori ruckus reminds us of the often-forgotten diversity in Latin America. Besides Native Americans (yes, they live in South America, too), there are about 90,000 people of Japanese ancestry living in Peru.

Japanese immigration to Peru started in 1899 with a boatload of 790 people, arriving in Callao to make a new living as sugar plantation workers. But, as in the United States and other American countries, immigration ended in the early 20th century, and a wave of anti-Japanese sentiment swept the country in the 1930s (when Fujimori’s family entered the country), culminating in mass riots in 1940. Although Peru waited until 1945 to declare war on Japan, the government froze Japanese assets immediately after Pearl Harbor, confiscated Japanese-owned property, and deported some Japanese individuals to U.S. concentration camps beginning in 1942. Even after the war, it was not until 1955 that assets were un-frozen, and Japanese could not enter Peru until 1960 (and were even then subject to strict quotas and eligibility requirements).

Of course, by then, the job market in Japan was much better than in Peru. But Peruvians in Japan were few and far between… until 1987, when Tokyo began issuing visas for ethnic Japanese in South America to return to Japan as workers (a practice called dekasegi). And the Peruvian population swelled in response: from 500 in 1985 to 10,000 in 1990. Despite the unimpressive Japanese economy of the 1990s, Peruvians in Japan quadrupled in number between 1990 and 2000. Brazilians grew by a similar proportion.

Now, there are 55,000 Peruvians in Japan, making them the #5 foreign nationality after Koreans, Chinese, Brazilians, and Filipinos. Since most are ethnic Japanese (or at least pretending to be), they are hard to distinguish from natives, especially when they speak the language and have Japanese names (as they commonly do). There are enough in the major cities that you’re likely to meet a few if you hop around enough bars and clubs.

So while Fujimori’s story is far from usual, finding a Japanese in Peru or a Peruvian in Japan is far from unusual.

ROC Armed Forces English Manual

Earlier today I bought two neat old booklets from an old man on the sidewalk just outside Taiwan National History Museum.

Both books are from the same series, published by the Republic of China Military Foreign Language school in 1965.

As you can see from the table of contents, the range of material is a little different from the typical English textbook.

As you may expect from a language textbook published by the military of a fascist government, there is a certain amount of propaganda. For example, a sample sentence for the phrase”come from” is:

The refugees all come from the mainland.

Most the “humorous stories” are also demonstrations of the evils of Communism.

Budapest schoolteacher “What is the cause of the increase of population here in our capital city?”
Pupil: “The population increases because the people from the country flock to town.” Teacher: “Now think carefully, children. What could be done to prevent the influx of the country population?”

Pupil: We could set up collective farms here, too”

And a history lesson:

The arrival of Soviet “technicians” in Cuba brought forth this story from that Communist-dominated island:

A Cuban pupil in a local school was asked by his teacher: “Pepito, who was Napoleon?” “That’s easy,” the boy replied. “He was a technician who left Francee to help Italy, Egypt and lots of countries.”

What you might not expect is that the quality of the English is often very poor. Bold marks the phrase they are trying to explain.

At the same time he will do it if you pay him some money.

The very day at his marriage.

We have lived together for that time on. [The other example correctly says “from that time on.”)

It is better for a woman to marry a man who loves her not a man she loves.

When you’re very lucky, you can even find propaganda and poor English in the same text sample.

Why is the statement that the Principle of Nationality is equivalent to the doctrine of the state is applicable in China but not in the West?

Answer: The statement that the Principle of Nationality is equivalent to the doctrine of the state is applicable in China but not in the West? For the reason that China, since the Ch’in and Han dynasties, has been developing a single state out of a single race, while foreign countries have developed many states from one race and have included many nationalities within one state.

Makiko Tanaka is amusing

I’m binging on rotten.com tonight, and came across the following brief anecdote in their profile of President Bush (scroll to bottom):

17 Jun 2001 – Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka returns to German Town High School in Philadelphia, where she studied for two years as a high school student. During a conversation with her former classmates, Tanaka gives her concise assessment of President George W Bush: “He is totally an asshole.”

I offer a cash reward to anyone who can find audio or video of this.

Conspiracy theory time! Albright and Kim

Lord Curzon’s post at Coming Anarchy about Hu Jintao’s trip to North Korea reminded me of this shenanigan:

Is is just me, or is there WAY too much resemblance between the two of them? I submit that it can be explained by any of the following theories:

  • Kim and Albright are alien beings, sent to our planet by an extraterrestrial race with an eye for messing with geopolitics.
  • Albright is a clone created by North Korea’s secret genetic engineering laboratories to infiltrate the Clinton administration and make it unwilling to go after rogue states.
  • Albright and Kim are both descended from an unspeakably evil overlord, who may or may not also be responsible for Alan Greenspan.

On a more serious note, living in Philadelphia makes me really hate organized labor. If the President can break up airline strikes, why the hell can’t he break up mass transit strikes, which wreak so much more havoc on people’s lives? I mean, if Bush stepped in and forced the transit workers to go back to work, Philadelphia would go red in 2008, no further questions asked.

Good going CKS

A professor from Australia’s Monash University has a piece in the Sunday edition of Taipei Times that confirms what I’d always suspected about Taiwan’s ostracization from the international community. Namely, that it was all Chiang Kai Shek’s fault.

Chiang lost the ROC its UN seat

n mid-1971, the US and other countries began to push for a “dual representation” solution. The Australian ambassador to Taipei, Hugh Dunn, wrote on June 4, 1971, to then Minister of Foreign Affairs Chow Shu-kai (周書楷): “What we would see as a desirable finish is that the People’s Republic take over the Security Council seat, and that Taiwan remains on as a member, an ordinary member, of the UN … If the UN recognizes the PRC instead of the ROC as occupying the Chinese seat, and nothing else is done, Taiwan would be out in the cold. We wouldn’t favor that resolution.”

Chow showed some willingness to adjust to the new situation. When talking to the Japanese ambassador to Taipei, he said: “Although I have no way to approve of it and under the circumstances must express my opposition, we could tolerate its existence.” The English phrase, “We can live with it,” is added to the Chinese text.

In an “absolutely secret” secret document dated Aug. 3, 1971, the ministry laid out the options and Taiwan’s preferences. The first preference was that the “important question” motion be passed, which meant that the PRC would require a two-thirds vote to be admitted. The second preference was “dual recognition.” But even at this late moment, after more than 20 years of rejecting any alternative to “one China,” the Nationalist authorities would not openly embrace dual recognition.

So back in 1971 the USA, France, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and possibly other countries were all ready to support a motion granting the Republic of China (aka Taiwan) independent membership in the UN simultaneous with the recognition of the People’s Republic of China (aka Red China/Mainland China) as the holders of the Security Council seat. From today’s perspective, at a time in which the PRC’s economic, political, and military power is rising fast it we forget how powerless they really were back then – isolated internationally far more than Taiwan is today, their economy and social structure devastated by the Cultural Revolution. Had the ROC/Taiwan government actually put its support behind a two nation, dual representation structure at that time, China would have had absolutely no chance of opposing them, and the absurd fiction of the ‘one China policy’ would have never gotten off the ground.

The Roots of Japan

The good people at Utopia Network (“Millenium Era/For New Space Age!”) have cleared up this confusing historical problem once and for all.

Around 355-360, the ocean country “Kudara” had been conquering with Saishu Island in today’s South Korea, Tsushima, Kyushu, Chugoku area, Shikoku area and Kii Peninsula in today’s Japan. In about 360, the ocean country “Kudara” founded the Yamato Dynasty with the emperor system and the centralistic country of Japan in today’s Nara Prefecture, Japan. And then the relative control of Kudara Dynasty began in Japan. Japan and Kudara had the strongest relationship just like the same country. And most of the Japanese traditional culture came from “Kudara.” “Emperor Jinmu” in the ancient book of “Kojiki” was “King Onjo,” who was the founder of Kudara. And “Emperor Sujin,” who was the founder of Japan, was seemed to be the grandson of “King Kei,” who was the 12th King of Kudara Dynasty. Also, “King Kinshoko,” who was the 13th King of Kudara Dynasty, founded the great ocean country “Kudara” in 346. The Kudara Dynasty were descendants of “Joseph,” who was sold to the Ancient Egypt, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Noah, and Adam in “The Old Testament of the Bible.”