[Sonar]

Just post any stuff up here about ancient civiliaztions... leaders.... whatever....

Demosthenes- he was a greek orator. his father was very rich. then his father died and he was raised by his guardians. but they stole money from his family secretly... he brought them to court and did so well in that case that he decided to become a politician. he realized that Phillip II was planning to conquer greece, so he made many speeches. They were called the Phillipics (phillipic now means a bitter attack with words). Sadly he didnt succeed completely. Phillip gained control of delphi. then greece was separated. He persuaded them to ally against Philip. However Philip still won. one day his attack failed and he poisoned himself so as not to be taken prisoner. then philip II went on to have alexander the great and bla bla bla.....

i decided to do it on demosthenes just because i found alot of people who use that name only because of Demosthenes from the book "Ender's Game". So... that is who he really was.

[The Red Goblin]

Anything about Ancient history?

On the Left; Spartacus has been called the first Communist rebel before. I would definately recommend Howard Fast's novel to those who may not be familiar with him. "Fact" is hard to come by, as even Spartacus' origins are not clear. Some sources say Thracian, but that may have simply been the gladiatorial style in which he fought. Other sources mention he may have been an ex-legionairre. This might explain his being able to wield slaves into a coherent fighting force.

[Sonar]

what is the book's title?

[The Red Goblin]

Simply called "Spartacus", by Howard Fast. He was a Leftist writer in the middle years of the 20th century, kind of an early Howard Zinn. The famous movie starring Kirk Douglas was very loosely based on the book. The movie was 1958, I believe, so the book would have been published a few years earlier. Mass market paperback, so used book shops and yard sales may turn one up easily enough. My copy is long gone.