Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes- ish . Quoting a bit from Dr. Bret Devereaux, whose take on Cleopatra VII I linked a bit further down: > Let’s start with languages, because I think this fact can be presented in a somewhat distorted way. The language of the Ptolemaic court was Greek, initially Macedonian Greek (the Macedonians had a pronounced accent), though Plutarch notes that some of the later Ptolemies had lost their Macedonian accent (Plut.…
Troglodytes? cave dwellers?
On clock faces, 4 is Expressed as IIII, not IV
211–220 of 270 posts
Re: On clock faces, 4 is Expressed as IIII, not IV
#212Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's not true? Maurya and Gupta empires spanned nearly all of the Indian subcontinent.
Not the South of India. And they held areas in the North West that aren’t part of modern India.
That's also not really true. It included large parts of south India, including present day states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh etc. It only did not include the southern tip.
Re: On clock faces, 4 is Expressed as IIII, not IV
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
I remember someone (maybe Tamim Ansary?) writing that states that claimed to be the direct successor of the Roman Empire existed until 1922, at least in the sense that the Ottoman Empire used some titles and administrative terminology of the Byzantine Empire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sultans_of_the_Ottoman... > After the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Mehmed II, Ottoman sultans came to regard them…
Also the Czars of Russia. The Romanovs were descending from the niece of the last Byzantine Emperor (Sophia Palaiologina niece of Constantine XI). So you are right that WWI can be argued to the real end of the Roman Empire!!! One of these days I am going to a series on “When did the Roman Empire End?” Currently, I have at least 10 plausible dates/events. It turns out to be a very interesting overview of a lot of even…
> Also the Czars of Russia.
Yep. "Czar" = "Caesar". Likewise "Kaiser" in the Germanic regions.
The British monarch was called "Kaisar-i-Hind" by Hindi-speaking people, when the subcontinent was controlled by the British.
Re: On clock faces, 4 is Expressed as IIII, not IV
#214IMHO there's an obvious reason not mentioned: due to their position on the dial and convention IV and VI would typically be depicted upside down, increasing the likelihood of confusing them—particularly with a semi-literate populace.
Hmm... I'm skeptical that anyone able to read a clock in the first place would be unaware that 4 comes before 5 and 6 comes afterward.
Re: On clock faces, 4 is Expressed as IIII, not IV
#215I still remember vividly how I once wrote IIII instead of IV in an outline numbering at school and my teacher was furious about it and basically told me I was stupid for writing it that way. So glad these days are over.
I'm sorry this happened to you. Sadly, the days of stupid and abusive teachers are far from over.
I think you're focusing on the wrong thing here. If it hadn't been Roman numerals it would have been something else.
Teachers are much the same as cops. Some go into those fields because they genuinely want to help people. Other go into them because they enjoy having power.
Re: On clock faces, 4 is Expressed as IIII, not IV
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you forget Italian fascists trying to bring it back, otherwise you could push it to the end of WWII
Unfortunately, Putin still occasionally invokes Russia as the successor to the Eastern Roman Empire in an attempt to justify his imperial ambitions, so we're still riding this train.
This video claims 2011
Re: On clock faces, 4 is Expressed as IIII, not IV
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
The 13 month per calendar year (Mayan calendar) just makes so much sense as a web developer but somehow as a human it also seems hella mundane to have the same 28 day cycle repeated. Maybe that last day of the year party would make up for it though.
I quite like the hobbit calendar. 12 months of 30 days each, plus 5 (or 6) extra days that don't belong to a month and are celebration days. Mid-year day and the leap day don't have a day of the week, so each date always is the same day of the week. https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Shire_Calendar
Days that aren't part of a month are such a elegant way to solve the problem.
Even now 29 Feb shouldn't exist, it should just be "leap day" and have no numerical significance.
Screw the computers, they can learn to adapt.
Re: On clock faces, 4 is Expressed as IIII, not IV
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
Woah. The change happened over multiple generations but they must have noticed, no?
its always hot there, so no wonder they didn't notice winter shift (joking).
This is actually partially part of it - if you're tracking your activities based on natural phenomena, you don't need to worry about a calendar - just things like "days since full moon" or "weeks since the flood".
Re: On clock faces, 4 is Expressed as IIII, not IV
#219Earlier quoted context omitted.
I mean... most European countries (modulo some exceptions like Germany) existed (non-continuously) for at least a thousand years.
> I mean... most European countries (modulo some exceptions like Germany) existed (non-continuously) for at least a thousand years. This is interesting to me. What does it mean for a country to exist non-continuously? I can understand making the case under some sort of continuity despite dramatic changes in e.g. control of land or type of government. Sort of like a nation-state Ship of Theseus. But I don't understand…
Some examples were given as answers, occupations etc. But even when nothing like that happens, in the "continuous" case - a country is still undergoing changes. Laws, language, culture, people, etc are not the same 100s of years later. So even that is kind of a Ship of Theseus type of challenge...
Re: On clock faces, 4 is Expressed as IIII, not IV
#220Heh. When I was a teenager, I once convinced my parents not to buy a clock because it used IIII instead of IV. Clearly a counterfeit!
Then we went home and noticed all the clocks in the house had IIII.