Smokey and the Bandit

to Texarkana, Texas, and back again in 28 hours?"
Bandit: "It's only 900 miles here, 900 miles back!"
Snowman: Well, for your information...that ain't never been done before, not in no rig."
Bandit: "That's 'cause you and I ain't never done it in no rig; you got to stop being so negative, son! Course we can make it, we ain't never not made it YET, have we?"
Snowman: "No..."
Bandit: "Ya see?"
.
. Snowman: "You mean to tell me, we're gonna drive from here..
. When we get home, the first thing I'm gonna do is punch your momma in the mouth!".
. that you came from my loins.

.

NO WAY.. Some may find him difficult, he speaks the language of the professional scholar, but reading his works is certainly worth the time and effort. Justice: (to Junior) "There is no way.. The Association of Ancient Historians has honored Ramsay MacMullen as being the finest ancient historian of the Roman Empire in our time. is a complete lack of respect for the law.". [3]. Justice: "What we're dealing with here.. [2].

Make it fast, I'm in a goddamn hurry! Do you want anything son?"
Junior: "Hush puppies daddy."
Justice: "We don't have time for that crap!". After 312, he added maximus ("the greatest"), and after 325 replaced invictus ("unconquerable") with victor, as invictus reminded of Sol Invictus, the Sun God. Pepper. 1- In the English language, Constantine's official Imperial title is Imperator Caesar Flavius Constantine Augustus, the blessed, the lucky, the unconquerable. Justice: "Let me have a diablo sandwich, a Dr. Monmouth also said that Constantine was proclaimed "King of the Britons" at York, rather than Roman Emperor. Come on!"
Bandit: "Talk to me, good buddy."
Justice: (Over the CB) "You got trouble coming."
Bandit: "What's your handle son, and what's your 20?"
Justice: (Over the CB) "My handle's Smokey Bear, and I'm tail-grabbing your ass right now!". It was indecorous, Geoffrey considered, that a king might have less-than-noble ancestors.

(Bandit and Justice Meet For the First Time)
Justice: (Over the CB) "Breaker, breaker to the Bandit."
Bandit: "Come on back breaker."
Justice: "(Over the CB) Bandit, I got a smokey report for you. A daughter for King Cole had not previously figured in the lore, at least not as it has survived in writing, and this pedigree is likely to reflect Geoffrey's desire to create a continuous line of regal descent. Justice look like a possum's pecker."
Junior: "Except that --"
Justice: "Shut your ass!". Geoffrey claimed that Helena, Constantine's mother, was actually the daughter of "King Cole", the mythical King of the Britons and eponymous founder of Colchester. Justice: "Nobody, nobody makes Sheriff Buford T. 1136 during the reign of Stephen of England) is not considered a reliable source by modern historians. Carrie had run away from her wedding to Justice's son, Junior (Henry). His Historia Regum Britanniae (written ca.

Justice (Gleason). The English chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth offered a genealogy of British kings that linked them to the Fall of Troy at the end of the Trojan War. Along the way, Bandit picks up Carrie "Frog" (Field), and finds himself being pursued by Sheriff Buford T. The last member of his dynasty was his nephew and son-in-law, Julian, who attempted to restore paganism. They were promised $80,000 from Big and Little Enos Burdett if they could make the run in 28 hours. He was succeeded by his three sons by Fausta, Constantine II, Constantius II and Constans, who secured their hold on the empire with the murder of a number of relatives and supporters of Constantine. Most of the movie centers around Cledus "Snowman" Snow (Reed) and Bo "Bandit" Darville (Reynolds) taking a shipment of Coors beer from Texarkana, Texas to Atlanta, Georgia (At the time Coors wasn't available in the eastern US, it was illegal to ship it east of Texas). At the time of his death, he was planning a great expedition to put an end to raids on the eastern provinces from the Persian Empire.

The 3 movies introduced three generations of the Pontiac Trans Am (unlike the television movie version which the other Bandit drives the Dodge Stealth R/T Twin Turbo). In fact, by 336, Constantine had actually reoccupied most of the long-lost province of Dacia, which Aurelian had been forced to abandon in 271. Also, a television movie was loosely based on the film called The Bandit. In addition to reuniting the empire under one emperor, Constantine won major victories over the Franks and Alamanni (306–308), the Franks again (313–314), the Visigoths in 332 and the Sarmatians in 334. It would inspire several other trucking films including two sequels, Smokey and the Bandit II, and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3. Although he earned his honorific of "The Great" from Christian historians long after he had died, he could have claimed the title on his military achievements alone. Smokey and the Bandit was a 1977 movie starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Paul Williams, and Mike Henry. There was a singing of hymns." (New Catholic Encyclopedia 1908).

At the dedication of Constantinople in 330 a ceremony half Pagan and half Christian was performed, in the market place, the Cross of Christ was placed over the head of the Sun-God's chariot. Offensive forms of worship, either Christian or Pagan, were suppressed. These funds were given to the favored Christian clergy. The repair of Pagan temples that had decayed was forbidden.

"From Pagan temples Constantine had his statue removed. (MacMullen 1969,1984, New Catholic Encyclopedia 1908). Leading Roman families that refused Christianity were denied positions of power, yet two-thirds of his top government was non-Christian. Constantine respected cultivation and Christianity, and his court was composed of older, respected, and honored men.

(MacMullen 1969, New Catholic Encyclopedia 1908). Some examples:. Constantine's laws in many ways improved those of his predecessors, though they also reflect his more violent age. He began a large building program of churches in the Holy Land, which while greatly expanding the faith also allowed considerable increase in the power and wealth (and as such the corruption) of the clergy, as the clergy took over many aspects of government, including the courts and civil cases.

Exerting his absolute power, the army recited his composed Latin prayer in an attempt to convert them to Christianity, which failed. However, pagans still received appointments, even up to the end of his life. The reason for this later "change of heart" remains conjectural. His sermons preached harmony at first, but gradually turned more confrontational with the old pagan ways.

In his later life he even turned to preaching, giving his own sermons in the palace before his court and invited crowds. Constantine also passed laws making the occupations of butcher and baker hereditary, and more importantly, supported converting the coloni (tenant farmers) into serfs — laying the foundation for European society during the Middle Ages. (MacMullen 1969). After his death it was renamed Constantinopolis (or Constantinople, "Constantine's City"), and gradually became the capital of the empire.

Generations later there was the story that a Divine vision lead Constantine to this spot, and an angel no one else could see, led him on a circuit of the new walls. On the site of a temple to Aphrodite was built the new Basilica of the Apostles. The figures of old gods were replaced and often assimilated into Christian symbolism. He renamed the city Nova Roma (New Rome), providing it with a Senate and civic offices similar to the older Rome, and the new city was protected by the alleged True Cross, the Rod of Moses and other holy relics.

Constantine rebuilt the city of Byzantium which was said to have been founded by colonists from the Greek city of Megara under Byzas in 667 BC. This battle represented the passing of old Rome, and the beginnings of the Eastern Empire as a center of learning, prosperity, and cultural preservation. (MacMullen 1969). He was the sole emperor of the entire Roman Empire.

Supposedly outnumbered, but fired by their zeal, Constantine's army emerged victorious. Constantine and his Franks marched under the Christian standard of the labarum, and both sides saw the battle in religious terms. Licinius, aided by Goth mercenaries, represented the past and the ancient faith of Paganism. The armies were so large another like these would not be seen again until at least the 14th century.

It became a challenge to Constantine in the west, climaxing in the great civil war of 324. This was a puzzling inconsistency since Constantia, half-sister of Constantine and wife of Licinius, was an influential Christian. In the year 320, Licinius, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, reneged on the religious freedom promised by the Edict of Milan in 313 and began another persecution of the Christians. He gradually consolidated his military superiority over his rivals in the crumbling Tetrarchy.

His victory in 312 over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge resulted in his becoming Western Augustus, or ruler of the entire Western Roman Empire. The large staring eyes will loom larger as the 4th century progresses: compare the early 5th century silver coinage of Theodosius I. The great staring eyes in the iconography of Constantine, though not specifically Christian, show how official images were moving away from early imperial conventions of realistic portrayal towards schematic representations: the Emperor as Emperor, not merely as this particular individual Constantine, with his characteristic broad jaw and cleft chin. Also, Eusebius was a close friend of Constantine's sister; she probably secured his recall from exile.

As the general custom, Constantine was not baptized until close to his death in 337, when his choice fell upon the Arian bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia, who happened, despite his being an overt ally of Arius, to still be the bishop of the region. Helena became known later in life for numerous pilgrimages. Family influence is thought to account for a personal adoption of Christianity: Helena is said to be "probably born a Christian" though virtually nothing is known of her background, save that her mother was the daughter of an innkeeper and her father a successful soldier, a career that excluded overt Christians. Their sources are not stated.

The rumours were reported however by 5th century historian Zosimus and 12th century historian Joannes Zonaras. There are rumours of step-mother and step-son having had an affair which caused Constantine's jealousy. (Crispus was the only known son of Constantine by his first wife Minervina). In 326, Constantine executed first his eldest son Crispus and a few months later his own second wife Fausta.

Constantine was also known for being ruthless with his political enemies, deposing the Eastern Roman Emperor Licinius, his brother-in-law, by strangulation in 325 even though he had publicly promised not to execute him upon Licinius' surrender in 324. There are also coins depicting Apollo driving the chariot of the Sun on a shield Constantine is holding and another (313?) shows the Christian chi-rho on a helmet Constantine is wearing. In the 320s Constantine has a halo of his own. The depiction represents Apollo with a solar halo, Helios-like, and the globe in his hands.

Thereafter the reverses of his coinage were dominated for several years by his "companion, the unconquered Sol" -- the inscriptions read SOLI INVICTO COMITI. In mid-310, two years before the victory at the Milvian Bridge, Constantine reportedly experienced the publicly announced vision in which Apollo-Sol Invictus appeared to him with omens of success. Gothicus had claimed the divine protection of Apollo-Sol Invictus. Historians however suspect this account to be a genealogical fabrication to flatter Constantine.

The Augustan History of the 4th century reports Constantine's paternal grandmother Claudia to be a daughter of Crispus, Crispus being a reported brother of both Claudius II and Quintillus. After his breach with his father's old colleague Maximian in 309–310, Constantine began to claim legitimate descent from the 3rd century emperor Marcus Aurelius Claudius Gothicus, the hero of the Battle of Naissus (September, 268). Mars had been associated with the Tetrarchy, and Constantine's use of this symbolism served to emphasize the legitimacy of his rule. During the early part of Constantine's rule, representations first of Mars and then (from 310) of Apollo as Sun god consistently appear on the reverse of the coinage.

Coins struck for emperors often reveal details of their personal iconography. For the next eighteen years, he fought a series of battles and wars of consolidation that first obtained him co-rule with the Eastern Roman Emperor, and then finally leadership of a reunified Roman Empire. Constantine managed to be at his deathbed in Eboracum (York) of Roman Britain, where the loyal general Crocus, of Alamannic descent, and the troops loyal to his father's memory proclaimed him an Augustus ("Emperor"). However, Constantius fell sick during an expedition against the Picts and Scots of Caledonia, and died on July 25, 306.

In 305, the Augustus, Maximian, abdicated, and Constantius succeeded to the position. Young Constantine was well educated and served at the court of Diocletian in Nicomedia, after the appointment of his father as one of the two caesares(junior emperors) of the Tetrarchy in 293. Theodora would give birth to six half-siblings of Constantine, including Julius Constantius. His father left his mother around 292 to marry Flavia Maximiana Theodora, daughter or step-daughter of the Western Roman Emperor Maximian.

Constantine was born at Naissus, (today's Niš, Serbia, Serbia and Montenegro) in Upper Moesia, to Constantius I Chlorus, a general of Greek descent, and Flavia Iulia Helena, an innkeeper's daughter who at the time was an adolescent of only sixteen years. . These actions are considered major factors in that religion's spread, and his reputation as the "first Christian Emperor" has been promulgated by historians from Lactantius and Eusebius of Caesarea to the present day. Constantine is best remembered in modern times for the Edict of Milan in 313 and the Council of Nicaea in 325, which fully legalized and then legitimized Christianity in the Empire for the first time.

Constantine is famed for his refounding of Byzantium (modern Istanbul) as "Nova Roma" (New Rome), which was popularly known in his time as "Constantine's City"— (Constantinopolis, Constantinople). Gaius Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus (Latin: IMP CAESAR FLAVIVS CONSTANTINVS PIVS FELIX INVICTVS AVGVSTVS ¹) (February 27, 272–May 22, 337), commonly known as Constantine I or Constantine the Great, was proclaimed Augustus by his troops on July 25, 306 and ruled an ever-growing portion of the Roman Empire until his death. Rassias,"Es Edafos Ferein", 2nd edition, Athens, 2000, ISBN 960-7748-20-4. Vlassis R.

Marcus Cornelius Fronto, Letters of Marcus Cornelius Fronto. Galen, On the Natural Faculties. Sources on the Antonine Plague