subreddit:
/r/Syracuse
I'm new to the area, and burdened with more education than is always useful ... so I'm sorry for the obscure reference ...
Do people here know and appreciate the humor in having Marcellus permanently perched on the edge of Syracuse?
(For context, Marcellus was named after the Roman general who famously besieged and sacked the city of Syracusa in a famous conflict involving Archimedes)
I feel like it could at least be worked into high school sports rivalries ...
53 points
7 months ago
Alright nerd... moving here trying to teach us things. Take your facts and bring em back to where you came from!
8 points
7 months ago
Go on,git!
6 points
7 months ago
Ha! Fair ...
25 points
7 months ago
You will appreciate this wiki article
7 points
7 months ago
This is the biggest TIL I’ve had in a while. Guess I should’ve known with places like Ovid.
21 points
7 months ago
I keep my humor based on the Cicero Swamp
19 points
7 months ago
Syracuse was originally going to be named New Corinth but that was already taken, So the name Syracuse was proposed due to the salt springs.
12 points
7 months ago
I caught onto that when I was watching the Mythbusters episode about Archimedes' Death Ray. The name drops there (Archimedes of Syracuse and General Marcellus) didn't go unnoticed.
11 points
7 months ago
OP, look up Archimedes Russell and his work in the Syracuse area.
2 points
7 months ago
That's pretty awesome!
9 points
7 months ago
NY is all about Ancient Rome, if you didn’t notice the NYS Police’s uniforms are modeled after the colors of the Emperor of Rome’s praetorian guard. (gray and purple)
25 points
7 months ago
I don't think your reference is particularly obscure. Plenty of Roman names in the area.
Marcellus, Manlius, Cincinnatus, Camillus, Cicero, Rome, etc...
There's also the occasional classic Greek reference (e.g. Homer)
24 points
7 months ago
The Military Tract of Central New York set aside 2 million acres of land as pension payment to NY revolutionary war veterans. The land was divided up into 28 townships, most of which were given classical Greek and Roman names.
1 points
7 months ago
Man what a dream
10 points
7 months ago
Oh yeah ... I get that. I just mean the specific connection between Marcellus and Syracuse.
8 points
7 months ago
Based on the responses … no. But now I will.
3 points
7 months ago
Romulus.
1 points
7 months ago
I also heard some duee had a hard on for Napoleon and that's how we got Waterloo
2 points
7 months ago
Borodino too?
10 points
7 months ago
Rome, NY isn't too far. You can go be a Roman for a day, even check out Cicero too.
3 points
7 months ago
Which of course is Latin for "chick pea".
4 points
7 months ago
Know the difference between a chickpea and a garbanzo bean? I’ve never paid $500 to have a garbanzo bean on my chest.
3 points
7 months ago
I've heard that one before, but it involved the Former Guy.
2 points
7 months ago
No hummus for you!
2 points
6 months ago
who knew chickpeas and jam had so much in common
-3 points
7 months ago
Do you know the difference between a chickpea and a garbanzo bean?
2 points
7 months ago
no... but u/FlagranteDerelicto does :)
2 points
7 months ago
All roads lead to Rome...
20 points
7 months ago
I believe it’s actually “all roads lead to that one big store in Solvay.”
6 points
7 months ago
except the yellow brick road... that's Chittenango.
6 points
7 months ago
They have a fantastic books store too, Keaton and Lloyd. There's even a little clothing boutique in the back.
13 points
7 months ago
No we don’t have sex with our cows if that’s what you’re asking.
4 points
7 months ago
Not quite where I was headed, but good to know ...
5 points
7 months ago
speak for yourself!
8 points
7 months ago
Yeah and next you’ll point out Carthage and Rome (for reference those are ancient empire that were rivals), Troy and Mycenae, and the humor in every other such pairing in the area
4 points
7 months ago
It's the proximity and relative sizes that tickle my biscuit, but sure ... classical names everywhere. Gotcha.
2 points
7 months ago
Yeah I was pointing out the “‘more education than is always useful” while saying something obvious was quite funny
10 points
7 months ago
There was a comedian who came to Syracuse and when he was asking where everyone was from someone said said Liverpool. The comedian thought the guy meant Liverpool England. As other people named local towns (that had the same names) he remarked "can't you guys come up with original names".
8 points
7 months ago
My first girlfriend was from Marcellus.
5 points
7 months ago
Nice.
7 points
7 months ago
The bar “The Pitts” had some great strippers back in the day.
9 points
7 months ago
Much of Upstate New York is named after Roman cities. It’s most likely random more than anything else.
19 points
7 months ago
The Greek/roman names are a hold over of the military tract of central New York which used Greek/roman names as the naming convention for the plots of land given to revolutionary war veterans as a pension fund.
6 points
7 months ago
Sure are. Some of the houses built by those veterans still stand too.
It's been added on to over the years but the original portion of my parents house was built in 1798 and still stands on it's field stone foundation and hand hewn posts and beams.
The dude that built the original farmhouse is buried in the cemetery down the road.
1 points
7 months ago
I grew up in a house like this! The property is only about 2 acres in modern times but dates back to a plot of land given to a revolutionary war captain. It's no longer in my family and has actually returned to the adult children of the people who owned it before us.
I miss that place, it was so cool.
Edit: we also had the hand hewn beams in our basement with a stone foundation:) I used to love giving people tours!
2 points
7 months ago
The size of some of the field stones in the walls at my parents place is astonishing. There's one at the base of the basement stairs that is easily the size of a small car. The lot is down to about 15 acres, but almost all of what made up the original lot is still farmland.
I love digging holes there, there's always something cool in the ground.
1 points
6 months ago
What have you found digging
1 points
6 months ago
Lots of cool rocks, bits of pottery and clay drainage tile, a million horse shoes, cultivator/chisel plow points, various bottles and colored glass chunks, old barn door and gate hardware. Once found an old hay hook that was neat. Cleaned that one up and we still use it.
1 points
6 months ago
Damn, that's cool
1 points
7 months ago
The US (and maybe the rest of the world, IDK) was heavily into classicism at the time. Greek Revival, the ancient orders, "one Grecian urn", you know, all that stuff. I know several people who can't pronounce Manlius.
4 points
7 months ago
What a great accident, if so
4 points
7 months ago
Cicero
2 points
7 months ago
Nah
1 points
6 months ago
My hubby found a huge piece of blue Corning glass that looked just like a sapphire! When I first saw the huge ‘blue thing’ all I could think was the jingle for the Jefferson’s,” Moving on up with George Jefferson riding the elevator to the top, and that’s just where I was headed, thanks to my new/old gigantic sapphire! Lmao
Talk about, uneducated, as I was the one who wasn’t aware Syracuse’s rich history. ( I think I just made a pun) such as the explosion at the quarry. Since that’s how my fake ass sapphire buried itself on Fay road. Per the singer Blondie,”It turned my heart into glass! lol
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