Wednesday 18 August 2010

What did the Romans ever do for us?


One of my favourite clips from Monty Python's " The Life of Brian". The way in which John Cleese plays this scene is just pure brilliance!

10 comments:

Nota Bene said...

Yes...love this - mind you I once asked their management if we could use the text under licence and they said a resounding no...quite precious about their genius, and who can blame them?

Mickle in NZ said...

Ah now - now wasn't it just the lovely lead piping - they pinched half the other ideas from the Greeks!

Okay -so they pinched their Gods from The Greeks, and just renamed them! Drummed into me in 6th and 7th form Classical Studies "Never mix up the names of Greek and Roman Gods (and the lower deities and heros)"

the fly in the web said...

That was super...I hadn't seen it in years!

Troy said...

Who'd have thought thirty year ago we'd all be sittin' here at our computers watching Monty Python sketches, eh?

ADDY said...

Brings back many memories, that sketch!

French Fancy... said...

Hiya Hade - not been around much. Hope you are both doing okay. As for the clip - this is one of our favourite films and now each time I see it, when it comes to this scene I will think of you

x

Hadriana's Treasures said...

Hello NB,

Yes I can imagine their response. I was guiding at Vindolanda a few weeks ago (we've been away these last few weeks in Dorset, Surrey, Kent and Berkshire!)....and I turned round and there was a chap who looked remarkably like John Cleese. I took a deep breath and carried on. I told myself not to be so stupid. He turned out not to be JC just a doppelganger. Quite a few celebs (hate the word) have been seen in these parts including Mick Jagger!

Yes...quite right MZ...they nicked loads of stuff from the Greeks. Amazing - how we all copy each other isn't it?

Thanks Fly!

Troy...we've been and done a tour of Britain lately and I noticed that there is a Troy Town beside the Tolpuddle Martyrs town...do you know of it? I thought immediately of you. I wanted to take a photo of the sign but we'd whizzed past it too fast on the motorway.

Another coincidence is that in the paper it was talking about gold (one of your "things" a bit like my Roman obsession...and they talk about gold troy ounces. I never knew that!

ADDY...thank you for saying that.

FF: Hope you are settled now. We were in Kent just last week and I thought of you. :)

Anonymous said...

I love that sketch too Hadriana - though my favourite is the centurion correcting the grammar of the grafitti - Romans Go Home!

Strawberry Jam Anne said...

Oh yes I love this too - in fact the whole film makes me laugh out loud. Great stuff. A x

Hadriana's Treasures said...

Alienne and SJA. . . it's fab isn't it? Alienne: I love that graffiti sketch too..in fact it cropped up in a previous post: http://www.hadrianastreasures.com/2008/10/romans-go-home.html

The silliness. Wonderful.:)