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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels August 23, 2004 Food & History The Romans are still with us Jeff Cheek The Roman Empire fell some 1,600 years ago but their influence is still with us. Drive through rural Spain and you will find aqueducts still carrying water to villages. They were built by the Romans. Part of the original wall around Zaragoza still stands. Emperor Augustus Caesar had his own version of a Veteran's Bureau. Old Legionnaires from the 6th Macedonian and the l0th Gallacian Legions were discharged and permitted to take up land in Spain. They named the city they founded after the Emperor. Two thousand years later, the name Augustus Caesar has evolved into Zaragoza. There is no physical evidence in America, but they are with us, too. Look at the way we measure distance. The word mile comes from the Latin "mille passuum" or one thousand paces. A pace was five feet so the Roman mile was 5,000 feet. Our mile is 5,280 feet. What happened ? We can blame the English for this odd number. When Rome conquered England in the First Century, they discovered that the natives had established a furlong to measure distance. A furlong was the distance a horse could pull a plow without resting, or 660 feet. The English converted the Roman mile into eight furlongs, or 5,280 feet. This gives us an unwieldy measurement for the mile and we are still stuck with the furlong. Horses do not race for one mile. It is eight furlongs. The Kentucky Derby is one and a quarter mile or ten furlongs. Why are railroad rails placed four feet, eight-and-a-half inches apart? The Romans never studied physics but they knew the optimum pulling power of a horse was when the wheels were in a direct line with his body, but less when the wheels were offline. Their location on two horse chariots was determined by the position of the horse . When they invaded England, these chariots cut ruts in English roads. Centuries later, when England introduced horse drawn trolleys, these ruts were used to place the rails. Later these trolleys gave way to locomotives. The width of the tracks had already been established. These same measurements came from England to America. In short, American railroad specifications were written by Roman horses. The legal profession is crammed with words and practices from Romans. We get the word alias from the Latin "alias dictus" (also called). Joe Smith might adopt the name John Doe to escape detection. In court he would have to be identified as Joe Smith alias dictus John Doe. This was shortened to alias. A person required to appear in court receives a subpoena. The full Latin title was "sub poena ad testificandum." (Under penalty to come and give testimony.) This has been shortened and condensed into subpoena. Have you ever heard of a bulga? Probably not but you have to live on one. Roman wives kept their household money in a small leather bag, a bulga. Bulga became "bougette" in French then finally emerged in English as budget. It is a systematic plan to balance income and expenditures. And it all started with Roman housewives and their little leather bags. Almost twenty years ago a friend gave me a recipe for Miracle Muffins. Being the original Doubting Thomas, I tested them twice. They are great. That's the miracle. Ingredients 1 cup self rising flour 3 tablespoons mayonnaise 1/2 cup milk Preparation Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix flour and mayo in mixing bowl. Add milk and knead. Divide into 6 balls. Bake in ungreased muffin pan for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams