17:11 Aug 30, 2009 

Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit, et artes intulit agresti latio

In other words, he calls the Romans "yahoos" -- but OK, it's a huge topic (particularly huge since the ratio of Greek literature to pre-Christian Latin literature is 10:1 !)

17:05 Aug 30, 2009 

--- that it's common to say that the Romans were inferior to the Greeks. I've never seen any evidence that they were. However this is not germane to the topic....I will desist now :)

16:59 Aug 30, 2009 

Their empire was conquered and expanded by land armies. Generally afraid of the sea, they perfected the ritual of giving thanks upon reaching shore. Frightened of the sea, but masters of the land, they were the converse of the Greeks, about whom the Romans always had an inferiority complex -- particularly in the cultural arena, but also whenever they had a look at a trireme. The trips to Britannia and Africa were very short ones, and that's the way they liked it.

16:52 Aug 30, 2009 

They must have been pretty good seafarers....look at the size of the empire they had - much of it only accessible by sea (North Africa, Britannia, etc.)

But we wander off-topic....

16:50 Aug 30, 2009 

(literally, from L. "carina")
Of course you have to know what kind of keels the Romans had. They were pretty poor seafarers, so things may have changed.

16:28 Aug 30, 2009 

Like this: http://www.trocadero.com/AAA/items/266408/item266408store.ht...

"carinated" or "carenated" (both are correct) means this particular shape: "bulging" in the lower part and "straight" in the upper part (those are not the correct technical terms but you can probably understand what I mean)

16:25 Aug 30, 2009 

Can you describe it in words, a picture?

16:24 Aug 30, 2009 

Done.

16:22 Aug 30, 2009 

Perhaps you would be kind enough to share your answer Tom by making a glossary entry.