Watching the History Channel -- Rome: Engineering an Empire

[LiberalFighter]

I thought the guy providing some narration was an actor. Turns out it is Peter Weller of RoboCop.

Weller holds a masters in Roman and Renaissance Art. He is also a lecturer about Hollywood and the Roman Empire at Syracuse University.

[ms liberty]

1. You've made one tiny mistake there...

It's actually Peter Weller of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension. The Peter Weller of Robocop is just not as cool as the Peter Weller of Buckaroo Banzai.

[truebrit71]

2. And definitely not as cool as the Peter Weller of Leviathon...

...i actually ran into Peter Weller and Tom Hanks at a Kings game in L.A. many moons ago....very pleasant and cordial...

[chemenger]

3. There's three Peter Wellers?

n/t

[myrna minx]

6. Wellers are brought about by esoteric parthenogenesis.

:rofl:

[Coexist]

21. *snort*

:rofl:

[CatWoman]

5. actually, Sweets, he "is" the Peter Weller of Leviathon as well

:hi:

[truebrit71]

8. Too bad my eyes are bluer than his...

...Yeah Baby, YEAH!!!

[CatWoman]

9. *melting*

:)

[truebrit71]

19. And I have a cooler accent....

;-)

[CatWoman]

20. *Double melting*

:loveya:

[PVnRT]

7. The Peter Wellers of "Screamers" is the coolest ever

n/t

[Bridget Burke]

11. Neurosurgeon, Rock Star, Driver of Weird Test Vehicles....

We all know that Buckaroo Banzai is a man of many talents.

(& I'm still pissed they never made a sequel.)

[CatWoman]

4. Yup

he is one smart cookie.

I am biased, in that I had to buy that DVD because I liked it so much.

Peter also hosts "engineering" shows highlighting other ancient groups, such as the Chinese, Egyptians, etc.

[rinsd]

10. Can you imagine attending a lecture by this guy?

I love his Engineering an Empire series.

[supernova]

12. I was watching that too earlier

I didn't know that Vespasian built the Coliseum on the ruins of Nero's more-grandiose and gaudy-than-thou palace complex. It was a way to return downtown Rome to the people. Cool details like that really make that show come alive.

I wondered if that really was the same Peter Weller.

[CatWoman]

13. The many faces of Peter

[supernova]

17. The very definition of

brains being sexy! :D

Cool pix, CW!

[Aristus]

14. The Colosseum (actually dubbed the Flavian Amphitheater; it didn't

become known as the Colosseum until the 8th Century, or so.) was built on the drained site of what had been a private man-made lake on the grounds of Nero's Golden House. 'Colosseum' was used to describe the fact that it stood near a colossal statue of Nero at the time.

[supernova]

16. Thanks for the word by word replay!

Just like listening again for the first time! :D

[CatWoman]

18. sometimes it's a pain in the ass to be so smart!!!!

:)

:hi:

[supernova]

22. But he's so cute

we gotta love on him anyway! :hi:

[MissB]

15. Dh and I were watching that the other night.

I turned to him and asked him what "Peter's" last name was. He couldn't even identify him as Peter, let alone Peter Weller. I reminded him that he was in Robocop.

It was a bit of a funny moment, given the good quality of the History Channel program. Robo does Rome.