Vale AncientSites

also known as SPQR, from the on-line game that spawned

an Empire which spread into five continents

but which, alas, fell to the vagarities of chaos

30th march 2001ad

or, as I put it at the time ...

As this was a "screen capture" the AncientSites page is framed by my web browser. The original capture was a TIF, but I had to reduce this to a JPEG for reasons of webspace, and so there is some loss of quality with the background, due to the digital compression. One had a choice of background colours & I chose blue.

[Please note that the current holder of the Ancientsites copyright - whoever that may be! - retains copyright for the actual AncientSites format, text & images, whereas text & images provided by the AS members is their own copyright. Albeit, as the members at Ancientsites operated under pseudonyms, it is usually quite impossible to contact these individuals!]

Be that as it may, you may well say, stop verbally perambulating & tell us what it was!

AncientSites was a collection of virtual Cities/States which covered various periods of human antiquity. There must have been an original growth and then expansion, but when I knew it, the Cities/States were seven in number, like the Ancient Wonders:

Rome.. [generally Late Republic to Early Empire]

Athens..[Classical Period]

Egypt.. [Pharoic Dynasties]

Babylon..[1st or 2nd Empire]

Tara.. [Celtic, largely pre-Roman Empire]

New Amsterdam..[New York as a Dutch Colony - 1624 to 1664]

Macchu Pichu..[at the height of Inca Empire]

You became a member of one City/State, enrolling in one of the Families there. This gave you a Family Name, while you choose a Given Name [and a password]. This is shown with my details at the log-on screen:

[One problem was that many people, albeit not me, chose non-period names!]

Initially you joined as a Dayling, becoming a Novice the next day, and after a few weeks probation, a Citizen with Bronze Membership. This was all free of charge and gave you the right to visit, to have your own Domus [House] plus webpages. Apart from your City/State and Family, you could become a member of up to three Boards, where you could post messages, but you could read everything in the public area.

Silver and Gold Memberships were obtained by payment of money and gave greater freedom in Board Membership, plus an additional room to the Domus.

[One problem with this system is that even visiting AncientSites once, caused your name and domus to stay there until the end of time, to wit 30th march 2001ad!]

What you actually did there was to write lots of messages, and to read even more!! Most popular was role playing, but there was also much exchange of anecdotes and information. And there was a lot of intelligent and thoughtful comment posted.

Yet, as human nature is what it is, more than a few of these posts were nonsense - as with the person who solemnly assured all, on the Mysteries Board, that all the leaves of a Gingko Tree turn yellow and drop to the ground on but a single day!!!

[hushed silence in wonder please !!!]

I replied that I live close to several Ginko Trees, all of which take days to turn their leaves yellow, and some weeks to lose them all.

There were complaints from many Citizens about the site navigation, but I never found it a problem. It all depends on what you are used to and how prepared you are to learn.

Personally I found that my few years as GaiusPlinius Caecilius, Lawyer and Minor Political Obscurity, very enjoyable. I miss it enough that I saved various fragments of The Eternal City, Roma, which I am now paying Homage too.

Tony Sims, alias GaiusPlinius Caecilius.

Dated this Day, the 9th November 2001AD.

Please note that any messages may be sent here

EEEEEE oilyway@comcen.com.au

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