The action occurred aboard the vessel, and at each city’s Gold Launch thread, where topics and neighborhoods had been carefully built in preparation. The passengers actually had a sense of “traveling” from the ship to the cities and back again, by porters, camel high-speed trains, luxurious barges, and every variety of ancient labor-saving transport device.

Starting on October 18, the ship cruised to Machu Picchu where, on the 19th, we had a full-day excursion to Cos’co, with bearers taking the worst of the work out of the mountain heights. Besides plenty of historical posts about the Incas, the first totem of the Gold Launch made its appearance – in the Sacsayhuaman Llama Race, llamas ran rampant from Day 2 of the launch until its very end! [For those who don’t know that Studdeley was later nominated for a special “mammalian support award,” read the posts and weep. A fine high-altitude banquet concluded with the passengers whisked back to the ship and a rapid-fire cruise to the North Sea. On October 21, the passengers met in the elegant bar of the vessel, “The Apotheosis Lounge,” to meet Alaric, conqueror of Rome, interviewed in a chat by a reporter for the ACTA DIURNA. Alaric, to say the least, left a lasting impression on all present, including the Romans!

Arriving at the mouth of the Rhine, we found the Roman governor, Varus, sweeping up with his entourage to welcome us to Germania. Then, after a fascinating trip up river and a stop at a Roman outpost town, we were led deep into the interior where the tribes had prepared an incredible celebration for the unwary tourists. Ask Cornellia what she thought of the finale entertainment in the Great Feast Hall of Mattiacum!

Leaving Germania full of gold and beer, passengers were whisked to not one, or two, but three different areas showing the richness of Celtia’s culture. On October 23, a shipboard chat was held with that intimidating lady with the torques and the daggers, Boudica, Queen of the Iceni. On the 24th, stops were made in Ynes Mon, Cork, Eboracum, and a hair-raising chariot race to Hadrian’s Wall, all encompassed thanks to the modern technological miracle of the “Taran Tube” which whisked passengers through time and space in minutes. A spear toss, a Bardic competition, and a wee touch of the pixies kept most of the passengers happily busy.

By this time, souvenir hunting had become a spectator sport. Each city outdid its predecessors in passports, gifts, medallions, and plaques, and a great many of them were contributed by the inimitable Voluptua of the “House of Amytas.” Music was everywhere, and the number of bars springing up caused some concern that the passengers wouldn’t survive the voyage! Not to mention, the fact that llamas, breeding in the hold of the vessel as an unwanted souvenir of Machu, became the gossip of choice.

On October 26, the ship docked in spectacular Alexandria for the beginning of the Egyptian tour: perhaps AW’s most ambitious tour, in which FOUR different Egyptian historical periods, and four major rulers, provided chats, posts, entertainment, and excitement throughout the day. After the extraordinary Pyramid-climbing contest and the amazing maze, the evening ended with an enlightening chat with Cleopatra VII. Of course, the Wet T-Unics contest when on into the night until the authorities were forcibly called.

By this time, party fatigue was beginning to set in. Prescriptions for herbal hangover remedies had literally become dearer than gold (which was lying about in heaps, anyway). Everyone on the vessel knew that Voluptua, lovely queen of Babylon, was charging half-a-dozen-annual-incomes’ worth on her charge cards in every city. Studdeley the llama was “news,” as well as Heraklia’s other peculiar acquisitions. Julius Caesar was seen lurking in corners of the vessel, while Ceres the Vestal AND Maximius the Pontifex Maximus were both discovered on board ship – leaving Rome, presumably, high and religiously dry during their vacations. Llamas were breeding like rabbits and were definitely On the Brain.

On October 28, while cruising towards Athens, the passengers met Pericles for a wee dram, followed by arrival in golden Athens on the 28th and a full day of shopping and trips all over the fabled city. That night, in a remarkable ceremony, Pericles and numerous legendary Athenians re-dedicated the Parthenon, while the most popular place on site was Dionysius’ Drink Stand!

October 29-30 saw the Phoenix winging towards elegant Babylon, and on the 29th it docked at Tyre, after a chat with Nebuchadnezzer himself. Beginning with the Yacht race, then the royal lion hunt, THEN the Camel Race, and ending with a night under the stars with the Bedu, Babylon knocked the socks and, sometimes, the heads, right off its visitors!

On All Hallow’s Eve, The Phoenix was returning home at last; after docking in Ostia, bearers transported the exhausted party animals to a migrating Halloween in Hades before Rome’s celebrations began on November 1, following a chat with the Divine Julius. A Triumphal Parade concluded Rome’s celebrations, and the llama issue was – it was thought – finally resolved by the Emperor himself.

By Saturday, November 2, passengers were disembarking from the beloved Phoenix and visitors were streaming in from invitations extended to our old Ancientsites membership. The entire site partied throughout the day, which seems impossible based on what had gone before. Finally, on Saturday evening, the gods themselves descended to help the city scribes thank those whose contributions to the Gold Launch had been particularly outstanding, in the first of many awards, we hope, for support “above and beyond” the call of AncientWorlds. Awards were also granted to the runners for the Beta-Launch, and the whole site cheered itself hoarse.

While the last parties extended late into the night, your humble reporter took the Pookah, Toodles the Lion Cub, and left Studdeley with the Emperor, and went home to bed! (It was darkly rumored, later, that Tobius Tullius sank The Golden Phoenix in an excess of piratical wrath, but that Onions rescued all the llamas still retained below decks!)

It was truly a once-in-a-virtual-lifetime launch, and dozens of citizens were instrumental in it. What a celebration – and avete, citizens of AncientWorlds!

The phoenix was a sacred symbol for the legions, which held the mythical bird in awe. Its appearance was considered to be an omen of impending death and the beginning of a new era. The bird was sighted in 43 AD and was believed to prophesy the death of Tiberius. It was also adopted by the Christians later on, and has a special significance to Christ as a representation of the resurrection. In later years it was part of the symbolism of the medieval period, with a number of peers taking the phoenix as part of their heraldic coat of arms - including a branch of the Howard family around the time of Henry VIII.

Golden Phoenix

We can find the phoenix in astrology as well. The phoenix is one of three symbols that signify the sign of Scorpio. The scorpion is of course associated with this sign, as well as the snake. It's interesting to note that a lot of dictators bore the sign of Scorpio in their ascendant; including Machiavelli, Lenin and Castro just to name a few. These people rise quickly in a blaze of destructive glory before returning to the ashes, just like the phoenix.

Having said all this, I hope Ancient Worlds will persevere and have no need to rise again from its own destruction! Cheers!

All along the Roman festivals special races were conducted at the renovated Circus Maximus. Special thanks to the renovators, especially the Chief Architet Tobius Tullius! Romans and foreigners could also take the magnificent Walkthrough of Rome, which was compiled by the illustrous Josephia Flavius. If you did not take the tour at that time, don't worry: the guides are still there and will show you around!

Rome Passport

The Halloween in Hades was a mysterious adventure to the Underworld - though not many dared to make this trip! Heraklia Aelius and Senex Caecilius did excellent work writing the mysterious events of October the 31st. The Triumphal Parade for the victors of the SiteWide Trivia Contest was conducted with people from all the Ancient Lands present, and followed by a vast outdoor dinner for thousands of Romans and foreigners. Thanks for this event, as for many others, goes to Cornellia Cornelius. Also special thanks to Julilla Sempronius for finding graphics for every event. I don't know how Julilla does it - her graphics archive seems to be bottomless.

Now, after the launch, new groups will emerge and the groups that are already there are taking off as new members flood in. A reliable source tells there will be many groups appearing soon! As so many new people come back and register every day, a welcoming committee is prepared for Rome and volunteers are being gathered. If you are interested, please contact your humble reporter.

The origin of the manuscript is completely unknown, but it may have belonged to one of the monasteries dissolved by Henry VIII. Eventually, it came into the possession of the antiquarian Sir Robert Cotton. His library, which was augmented by his son and grandson after his death in 1631, was the richest collection of Anglo-Saxon literary and historical documents in existence. The manuscripts were bound in leather and placed in fourteen bookcases, each watched over by the bust of one of the twelve Caesars, with those of Cleopatra and Faustina presiding over the remaining two. The manuscript of Beowulf was known by the designation Vitellius A.xv: the fifteenth volume on the first shelf under the bust of Vitellius.

In 1700, the Cottonian library was willed to the British nation and eventually moved to Ashburnham House at Westminster, which was thought to be a safer location. But, two years later, on October 23, 1731, there was a fire. The trustees broke into the burning building and carried away, or threw from the windows, hundreds of threatened volumes. Of the 958 manuscripts in the library, several hundred were severely damaged either by fire or water and thirteen completely destroyed, including a unique copy of The Battle of Maldon and Asser's Life of Alfred. Tightly bound between its leather covers, the Beowulf manuscript survived but was burnt along its exposed edges.

The collection was moved to the British Museum in 1753, when it was founded. But the manuscript remained in its original binding, and nothing was done to stop the dry, brittle pages from disintegrating. Over time, the margins and even some of the text, itself, gradually crumbled away.

In 1786, some fifty years after the disastrous fire, G. J. Thorkelin, an Icelandic scholar, came to the Museum, looking for documents relating to Denmark, where the first part of Beowulf takes place. He made two complete copies of the manuscript, the first time this had been done, one by a professional copyist and the other, himself, and returned to Copenhagen to study them. But, then, calamity. Denmark was occupied during the Napoleonic Wars and, in 1807, the English bombarded Copenhagen. Thorkelin's house burned and his manuscript for an edition of Beowulf, which just had been completed, was destroyed. The two transcripts were saved, however, and Thorkelin began his work over again, publishing the first printed edition of Beowulf in 1815.

The first English edition of Beowulf appeared in 1833, and, in its preparation, the manuscript was re-examined. It was discovered that the neglected volume had deteriorated even more and that many of the words Thorkelin had been able to decipher after the fire now were lost. Finally, in 1845, the British Museum took steps to preserve what remained. Each leaf was mounted on a paper frame and the manuscript rebound. Although this preserved the fragile edges, the paper and tape obscured some of the letters. Beginning in 1993, the manuscript has been re-examined and digitized as part of the Electronic Beowulf project and now is available on CD-ROM. Almost two thousand letters have disappeared along the brittle edges. Were it not for Thorkelin's transcripts, which are in the Royal Library of Denmark, many of these lost words and letters could never have been restored.