<\/p>\n
2) There\u2019s also the controversy over the pollice verso<\/strong>, which is the \u201cthumbs down\u201d gesture typically believed to have been the signal for a gladiator to slay his opponent. Some scholars believe that it wasn\u2019t a downturned thumb that was used to signal death. Rather the thumb was enclosed within the fist to signal death. There are other scholars that believe that the signal for death was the thumb held horizontally, apart from the fingers. Whatever the signal may be, there\u2019s no denying that the \u201cthumbs down\u201d version has dominated the imagination of popular culture.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 3) Not only are there controversies about specifics related to gladiators, there are also controversies about Julius Caesar as well. For example, after crossing the Rubicon, Julius Caesar was quoted as saying \u201cAlea<\/strong> iacta est<\/strong>\u201d which in Latin means\u00a0 \u201cThe die is cast\u201d. However, scholars say that he borrowed this quote from a Greek playwright named Menander, which would have meant that the original quote was in Greek, not Latin. If that\u2019s the case, then the correct phrase would have been \u201calea jacta esto<\/strong>\u201d, which is a more precise translation of the Greek phrase \u201cLet the dice be cast\u201d. What\u2019s puzzling is that Plutarch favored the Greek translation while Suetonius favored the Latin translation. The debate goes on as to what Julius Caesar actually said, which brings up the question, \u201cDoes it matter what Julius Caesar actually said?\u201d Well perhaps it does. If you\u2019re the scholar that supports the Latin translation, then you could argue that perhaps Caesar\u2019s crossing of the Rubicon was a way of Cesar resigning to his fate to destiny. A kind \u201coh well, leave it up to fate\u201d sort of mentality. However, if you\u2019re the scholar that supports the Greek translation, you could argue that Caesar took a deliberate and active initiative to disobey the Senate. In layman\u2019s terms it might mean, \u201cthere\u2019s no looking back, cross the Rubicon!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There are so many controversies out there that relates to ancient Rome. So, let me pose the question, what are your top three ancient Roman controversies?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are certain controversies about ancient Rome that scholars have continued to argue over. Here is my Top Three List of controversies about ancient Rome. 1) There are a lot of controversies surrounding gladiators. There\u2019s a popular belief that before gladiators fought to the death, they recited the phrase, \u201cAve Imperator, morituri te salutant\u201d. The…<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2011\/05\/caesarrubicon-350x276.jpg\")