The forum at Pothos

[L*ndaK]

I think the issue here is between commenting on works published, which Amyntoros did, and being rude to people on the forum, directly, or indirectly. The first is ok, even if strong language is used (and humour is a big factor here), the second, I would say, is absolutely off limits. Sometimes people do get angry, or people take things the wrong way, but apologies, and gentlemanly handshakes, and agreements to differ, or stay out of each others way, are always civilised possibilities.I do think, now, this forum should require registration, that registration should be linked to email, and that people who flout the rules (which may need revision to include impersonating someone else, and causing mischief) should be banned.And someone with a brain should administer the rules - the present mods seems to fit that requirement.Linda

[conrad]

ROFL. You have to hand it to him, persistant little guy aint he!

[ancientlibrary]

People were attacking Jona??! Good grief,
who?

[ancientlibrary]

Who actively mods the forum here? Nick?

[amyntoros]

Tim, I think youGÇÖll already know from succesive threads that the problems were in a different thread which has now been deleted. I do want to add here that IGÇÖm not trying to GÇ£silenceGÇ¥ anyone: I only want to end the cycle of abuse that is taking place on the forum. That may be a misnomer, but I canGÇÖt think of a better way to describe what has been happening. Any of the individuals concerned should be able to post here - and make no mistake, though Kenny has now identified himself, there was more than one person on the attack GÇô I'm asking only that their posts are civil and that they discuss the topic without abusing those who disagree with them.I agree that AlexanderGÇÖs ability to still generate excitement and passion is a wonderful thing, as long as these emotions are channeled towards the discussion of Alexander. If I say any more it will only be redundant. :-)Best regards,Amyntoros

[amyntoros]

No, Heinrich, I was talking of other people and not Jona. He gave his reasons for leaving Pothos and it would be disrespectful towards him if my post was interpreted as meaning otherwise. ThatGÇÖs why I specifically excluded him. However, I certainly understand why you might think I was talking about him GÇô he was shamefully treated by certain individuals. Yet Jona always responded to insults with great dignity, patience, and even attempts to mollify his attackers. I havenGÇÖt read his book because I donGÇÖt know the Dutch language, but I certainly appreciated his participation on Pothos (not to mention his website). He was always there with answers to questions, especially about the Persians. I miss him already.Best regards,Amyntoros

[amyntoros]

Hi LindaA long, long time ago I tried to register on Yahoo groups and it wouldn't accept any of the names I tried - including my real one. (I found out on the web that there's even a woman with an identical name who lives only a couple of miles from me!) After endless attempts, Yahoo finally accepted Amyntoros, and obviously I then took the name with me to other forums. But because there was some question as to whether I was male or female, and because I'm neither trying to hide my identity nor wanting to appear prententious, I ended up signing off with my real name. But, as we've seen, that isn't really working here any more.Still, I am quite fond of Amyntoros and it does rather indicate that I'm a "supporter" of Hephaistion. Now where is Marcus with that Hephaistion article he's been threatening to post? :-)All the best,Amyntoros

[S]

Greetings All>I do think, now, this forum should require registration, that registration should be linked to email, and that people who flout the rules (which may need revision to include impersonating someone else, and causing mischief) should be banned.I do think, now, this forum should require registration, that registration should be linked to email, and that people who flout the rules (which may need revision to include impersonating someone else, and causing mischief) should be banned.I do think, now, this forum should require registration, that registration should be linked to email, and that people who flout the rules (which may need revision to include impersonating someone else, and causing mischief) should be banned.Interesting idea. And one that often works well.
I moderate a Yahoo group discussion on Alexander and the ancient world. One of the things that has been helpful(based on member suggestion) has been to have the group set up so that new members are moderated and only after proving they can disagree respectfully and post responsibly are they removed from the moderation list.
The rules of engagement and discussion on the discussion group are clearly spelled out; if a member fails to respect the rules of civil discourse they are given a warning. If they choose to ignore that warning, they are removed. I do not believe that, in this new century, we cannot learn to have both civil discourse and respect for differences, both of opinion and of people. There has been both obvious and subtle gender, orientation and ethnic bias expressed on the Pothos Forum; it is often ignored, but too often supported.
At times, when people *have* called attention to the negative comments, or when moderators have acted upon a request for deletion, these are the people "chastised" rather than the offending party or article. This has made the moderators (Nick, Halil, Susan, myself and ??? included)less enthusiastic about moderating, so we have tended to let members decide when to take action by calling our attention to an offending post. We can see the results of decreased moderation in the postings of the past few weeks...

I received more than one request to delete the Rome-Macedon thread, which I forwarded on (my current system does not allow my personal editing, but I do take requests and pass them on to other moderators. You can send requests to look at a thread for possible moderation to philoalexandros@hotmail.com or send an email to Nick) I suspect neither Nick, Susan, Halil, myself nor other moderators have much time to "police" the Forum; it is up to members to set the tone and establish what sort of group they wish to create. We act on the requests we receive. I *can* say that, in the many years we have moderated, I have never felt any of the moderators deleted anything unncessarily or frivolously, despite accusations of same. What we *try* to do is moderate with a sensitivity to the rights of *all*

[marcus]

Oh, it's coming, don't you worry about that ...

[Andrys]

I read that first note without realizing who wrote
it but thinking while reading, "How well said this
is." Then I scrolled up and saw it was Linda. I'm new to all this, having been impressed greatly
by the more positive of Alexander's contradictions
after reading Renault's bio, about 20 years ago. I then forgot all about Alexander until I was in
Istanbul and looked for the sculptures I had read
were there. I was blown away by what I saw, as
the persona still had its effect on me and the
sculptures were amazing in many ways. In the meantime, I joined some forums to find
out more, about 2 months ago, and found that
were it not for discussion of the pros AND cons of
his life and approach, I'd not be interested in
reading it. It's not a religion. It's history
and a look at or study of someone with huge
impact and tremendous complexity, with not a
little light and also much darkness. So, the forum here would be meaningless for
people like me unless we were able to read all
perspectives. So, I'm with Amyntoros on this. Thanks, all.