Ricardus: Ancient Roman?

[dharmabum]

A lot of people have put forth the idea that Richard is an Ancient Egyptian. The theory that he's a Roman seemed to go by the wayside for a while. But between Ilana calling him "Ricardus", and the fact that he seems to speak the smoothest Latin of any of the characters we've seen speaking the language, it seems the Roman theory has something to be said for it again.

Perhaps Jacob had some ties to Egypt (he seems a little fair-featured to be an Egyptian himself- but who knows?) then made his way over to Tunisia and onto the island. Ricardus the Roman could have followed at some time in the future, then was given his gift of agelessness by Jacob.

Or perhaps Richard's good Latin can just be attributed to Nestor Carbonell's fluent Spanish? :)

[hyperchord24]

"Ricardus" when looking up people with those names on wikipedia was used for people living in the 1200-1300's. But all of the itles just gave Richard _______. So, I'm not sure if I uncovered any information.

[heru]

maybe Ricardus is cursed to roam the island like the Roman the was cursed to walk the earth til Jesus returned. the Roman that pierced the side of Jesus with a spear

[whitestar2]

A lot of people have put forth the idea that Richard is an Ancient Egyptian. The theory that he's a Roman seemed to go by the wayside for a while. But between Ilana calling him "Ricardus", and the fact that he seems to speak the smoothest Latin of any of the characters we've seen speaking the language, it seems the Roman theory has something to be said for it again.

Perhaps Jacob had some ties to Egypt (he seems a little fair-featured to be an Egyptian himself- but who knows?) then made his way over to Tunisia and onto the island. Ricardus the Roman could have followed at some time in the future, then was given his gift of agelessness by Jacob.

Or perhaps Richard's good Latin can just be attributed to Nestor Carbonell's fluent Spanish? :) Actually I think its more simple than that. Ilana is most likely an Other--she is merely addressing Richard with the latin form of his name.

[dharmabum]

Actually I think its more simple than that. Ilana is most likely an Other--she is merely addressing Richard with the latin form of his name.Perhaps. Still, it is pretty clear that Jacob is much older than even the Black Rock, seeing as how on the beach he and the other man talked about what would happen as if it had happened many times before. Now this could have been a reference to a time loop, but Jacob also mentioned "progress", so I'm not so sure.

My guess is that Richard goes back to at least the Black Rock time period, if not earlier, possibly much earlier.

[dharmabum]

maybe Ricardus is cursed to roam the island like the Roman the was cursed to walk the earth til Jesus returned. the Roman that pierced the side of Jesus with a spearNow there's an intriguing theory. Could his reluctance to participate in the violence going on around him have to do with the remorse he feels because of this, or does it just have something to do with the nature of his role as an advisor?

[New Age Messiah]

Did Rome ever conquer Egypt? Or vice versa?

[dharmabum]

Did Rome ever conquer Egypt? Or vice versa?Rome conquered Egypt, and indeed the entire Mediterranean, which relates to another theory I've been considering: perhaps Jacob and Richard were both Roman soldiers stationed in Egypt, where Jacob discovered a portal to the island, gained special powers, and came back to show his friend Richard what he had found. Perhaps Egyptians had already been there before them, hence the temple, the statue, etc., or perhaps the powers of the island convinced them of the value of Egyptian religion and culture, causing them to bring people over to construct the statue and so on. Perhaps only Jacob came to the island during the period of Roman rule over Egypt, and Richard came to the island at some later period.

[Greg Dharma]

Rome conquered Egypt, and indeed the entire Mediterranean, which relates to another theory I've been considering: perhaps Jacob and Richard were both Roman soldiers stationed in Egypt, where Jacob discovered a portal to the island, gained special powers, and came back to show his friend Richard what he had found. Perhaps Egyptians had already been there before them, hence the temple, the statue, etc., or perhaps the powers of the island convinced them of the value of Egyptian religion and culture, causing them to bring people over to construct the statue and so on. Perhaps only Jacob came to the island during the period of Roman rule over Egypt, and Richard came to the island at some later period.

why would he come back to show his friend? why not just stay there and be powerful by himself? i think richard arrived on the black rock, he definitely has a connection to it. he could be older than that, or he could... not be older than that. 'ricardus' could be important or it could not be. we've already heard the others speaking Latin before, so it might just be their code.

so far we've seen the tunisian portal operate one way. but tunis was a roman colony, so the jacob is an immortal roman theory could be plausible if a)he's stationed on tunis and discovers a wormhole to the island and b) he somehow gains knowledge of egyptian religion dating back before his time. i like this better than the roman stationed in egypt theory as everything on lost seems to have to connect with everything else.

btw, the romans only overcame egypt after most of the "real" egyptians were gone. cleopatra was technically greek as were the rest of the ptolemaic pharoahs.

[notsolost42]

That reminded me of MAGNUS Hanso on the Black Rock....another Latin name.

[Greg Dharma]

That reminded me of MAGNUS Hanso on the Black Rock....another Latin name.

yes but the last name is Danish. also, i dont think Alvar is Latin. but who knows if these are important clues or not?

[dharmabum]

btw, the romans only overcame egypt after most of the "real" egyptians were gone. cleopatra was technically greek as were the rest of the ptolemaic pharoahs.Sure, the original pharonic dynasties were gone, but the ptolemies made a point of preserving the Anceint Egyptian religion and priesthood, so there was cultural continuity in that sense.

[Paradise Lost]

Did anyone else notice that in Jacob's Den (in the foot), the drawings on the wall that Ben was staring at contained both Greek and Egyptian writings? As if Jacob transcribed the Egyptian glyphs to Greek characters, almost like a Rosetta Stone?

As you all have been talking about...Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome are not mutually exclusive time periods, much of their history, religion, and culture are intertwined.

[gwynnie]

Did Rome ever conquer Egypt? Or vice versa?


Do you remember the story of Antony (Roman) and Cleopatra (Queen of the Nile/Egypt? What do you think????;)

[thebecoming]

The roman references led me to the idea of the Inquisition and Roman Catholic faith that I posted earlier (http://www.lost.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9611). I don't know Richard's story, but the clues suggest that he may be on the Church/Island side being led by Smokie/The Grand Inquisitor in a struggle to maintain control over the Others.

[krakup]

Did Rome ever conquer Egypt? Or vice versa?

Do you remember the story of Antony (Roman) and Cleopatra (Queen of the Nile/Egypt? What do you think????;)

touche right there

[Greg Dharma]

Sure, the original pharonic dynasties were gone, but the ptolemies made a point of preserving the Anceint Egyptian religion and priesthood, so there was cultural continuity in that sense.

in a sense, you are correct, but they Ptolemaic dynasties lacked much of the cultural authenticity of, say, the 18th Dynasty.

Alexander's conquest took much from Egypt, yet added little.

the Ptolemies knew in order to placate the Egyptian people they had to act like they were Pharonic = descended from the gods. so they adopted a religion which wasnt theirs, learned hieratic script and wrote official documents in Greek, Hieroglyphs, and Demotic, like the Rosetta stone.

there's a serious drop in Pharonic gravitas when describing any of the Ptolemies as opposed to Ramses II or III, any of the Amenhoteps, Akhnaten, Seti, Cheops, or Tutmoses.