h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm really glad someone is doing this, it's a topic that needs entries!



Feel free to link to my entries on Roman Britain when you get to Claudius!

Guess what - I did. Thanks for writing those; they make a great link!

Even better. I'll keep an eye out for these in PR.

Well, it might be a long time until you see the project page in PR - but in the meantime you can check them out as they appear on the project page and give me advice if you can think of any.

Will do.

Well, I've read them briefly like I promised on that other thread, and here are my thoughts:

1) They're fantastic! I can't see anything really needing to be done in PR, you've really put a lot of effort into them. Helps being a scout and a sub ed, I suppose!

2) In the Caligula entry, it says near the top : "considerable fascination with pornography3— an interest which may " - the hyphen appears much longer in the entry itself, can you fix this?

3) I think I know the reason Caligula had treasure chests of seashells. (I may be wrong, though, it could be unconnected). It's mentioned in a couple of sources that Caligula was planning to invade Britain. He had several legions on the northern coast of France, with ships, supplies and so on. He then ordered the soldiers to start attacking the sea, and his balistas to fire into it. (This may be connected with the war against Neptune you mentioned, I'm not sure). The soldiers were bemused but enjoyed themselves. He then ordered them to pick up seashells as the spoils of war.

Not sure if you want to mention that, and you may well have come across it in your research but decided not to include it. I thought I'd mention it just in case!

Out of interest, why do Claudius and Caligula before the earlier Emperors?

Thanks for that, Elentari

The hyphen is really an m-dash - that's probably why it appears extra-long. Hyphens join words; m-dashes (or n-dashes, depending on what the publisher's convention is) join phrases. So I like to use them, even though it's strictly against hootoo style.

As far as I know, Caligula's war against Neptune (and the subsequent collection of seashells) did stem from a proposed invasion of Britain - but then again, most of what I know comes from Robert Graves' novels I, Claudius and Claudius the God.

That's why I decided to do Caligula and Claudius first, as I had mroe background knowledge to start with. I'm saving Nero for last, as I know very little about him and I'll have to do some research.

Ah. I see. But if it's against hootoo style, you'll have to change it eventually anyway. Up to you though.

As for the info coming from Robert Graves' books (they're great, aren't they?) I think they're fairly historically accurate, and I've definately read that story in contemporary sources. I'm not sure which, but if you have the time you could try looking for it in Tacitus (Annals or Histories, I think) and Suetonius (Lives of the Twelve Caesars). Of course, just cus they say it doesn't mean it's true, but a quick flick through the index might be in order. I would have thought the local library, and maybe your school library, should have them.

I think we probably have them at home - classical history is a hobby of my dad's.

I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up leaving the m-dashes in, due to the large volume I've managed to slip past subs and the italics, and the large volume I've put in entries that I've subbed!

I'll keep an eye on it, see if you can manage it!

When do you think the next one might be ready, so I can have a look at that?

I think Graves used Suetonius as his main source, anyway.

Sorry, didn't see the last post - hopefully this week/weekend. I think I'll do Tiberius next.

Ok, Ill keep an eye open. I imagine you're studying history at school? What areas/periods do you do?

Right now I'm in AP European History: AP (advanced placement) courses are meant to be on the level of university courses and they come with a HUGE test in April to prove that you've studied the material. You get more credit for them than for any other regular or advanced course. The Euro curriculum goes from around 1400 to the present. We're on the Scientific Revolution right now.

Last year we did world history, next year we do American history and the year after we can choose to do American Government, World Affairs or Political Science. Those are the four years of high school, pretty much - defined by their respective history classes.

Sounds good. I'm very impressed tht you're doing uni level stuff at high school! What's your favourite event/period etc that you've studied? (Sorry for all the questions, I'm just interestd in how it works in the States)!

We just did a bit on the English Civil War and now we're into the Scientific Revolution, which is probably my favourite period in all history (though early Imperial Rome would be a close second, as would Chaucer's medieval Europe). I've read loads about these periods before and always enjoy learning more about them. I intend to spend the rest of my life doing so, you see.

I may write an entry about AP courses, if I can ever find the time.

You're going to do history at uni then? I'm enjoying my course!

Do you want to be an academic then?

That's the general idea, I think.

Cool. Good luck with that!

Thanks!