title: Sergey Surovikin

text: In June 2022, it was revealed that he became the commander of the Army Group "South" of the Russian Armed Forces in the Southern Ukraine campaign. On 8 October, it was announced that he will be commander of all Russian forces in Ukraine, succeeding Colonel General Gennady Zhidko. On 18 October Surovikin was reported as saying that "The situation in the area of the 'Special Military Operation' can be described as tense".


title: Sergey Surovikin

text: On 18 October 2022, he said in an interview with Russian media that "Our opponent is a criminal regime, while we and the Ukrainians are one people and want the same thing: for Ukraine to be a country that’s friendly to Russia and independent from the West".


title: Sergey Surovikin

text: According to sources close to the Kremlin, Surovikin is a proponent of large-scale missile attacks on civilian infrastructure.


title: Sergey Surovikin

text: On 9 November 2022, in a televised meeting with Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu, Surovikin, made a public statement on Russian media—along with other military staff—recommending a withdrawal of Russian forces from Kherson in order to save Russian troops who faced being trapped. In the same TV appearance, Shoigu approved the withdrawal.


title: Sergey Surovikin

text: In February 2022, Surovikin was added to the European Union sanctions list for being "responsible for actively supporting and implementing actions and policies that undermine and threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine as well as the stability or security in Ukraine".


title: Sergey Surovikin

text: Surovikin has been awarded the Order of the Red Star, the Order of Military Merit and the Order of Courage three times. He was awarded the Hero of the Russian Federation in December 2017.


title: Sergey Surovikin

text: Surovikin is accused of having ordered troops to open fire on pro-democracy protestors in Moscow, during the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, when three people were killed. Surovikin was jailed for six months but was later released without trial by order of President Boris Yeltsin. In 1995, Surovikin was found guilty of illegal arms trade. He was sentenced but later let off following allegations that he had been framed.


title: Sergey Surovikin

text: An October 2020 Human Rights Watch report listed Surovikin as one of the commanders "who may bear command responsibility for violations" during the 2019–2020 offensive in Idlib, Syria.


title: The Kills

text: The Kills are an English-American rock duo formed by American singer Alison "VV" Mosshart and English guitarist Jamie "Hotel" Hince. They are signed to Domino Records. Their first four albums, "Keep On Your Mean Side", "No Wow", "Midnight Boom", and "Blood Pressures", all reached the UK album chart. Their fifth and most recent studio album, "Ash & Ice", was released in 2016 and reached the UK Top 20 album chart.


title: The Kills

text: Mosshart and Hince both played in other bands before they formed The Kills in 2001. Mosshart was previously the vocalist of punk rock band Discount, while Hince featured in rock bands such as Scarfo and Blyth Power. Mosshart encountered Hince when her band was touring England, where Hince was "staying in the flat upstairs from where [she] was staying" in London. Mosshart insisted on forming a band with Hince and "really persisted, and eventually we started writing and he encouraged me". Hince supplied her with a four-track tape recorder and insisted she write music as well as lyrics while on tour with her band. The two continued to exchange music ideas by sending each other tapes.


title: The Kills

text: Discount disbanded in 2000, and Mosshart moved to London in the same year. Before settling on a name, Mosshart and Hince performed as "VV" and "Hotel", respectively, Hince explaining that they "named each other off the top of our heads as a stupid romantic ode to the pop art scene". The duo opted for The Kills as it "sounded like a band that could exist in any decade".


title: The Kills

text: Using the ideas on the tapes, Mosshart and Hince began to write minimalist songs with the aid of a drum machine. In 2001 they showcased their new songs on a demo tape; however, the pair shunned approaches from major record labels. Recording as VV and Hotel, they contributed the song "Restaurant Blouse" to the compilation "If the Twenty-First Century Did Not Exist, It Would Be Necessary to Invent It". Shortly after this they recorded their debut release, the "Black Rooster EP", which saw release on British indie label Domino Records and was picked up for distribution by Dim Mak Records in the United States.


title: The Kills

text: Following international touring, they entered Toe Rag Studios, where the White Stripes had recorded their album "Elephant", to record their debut album "Keep on Your Mean Side", mostly on 8-track, in just 2 weeks. Distributed in the US and UK by Rough Trade Records, the album was similar in style to the EP, veering from the Velvets-esque stomp of "Wait" to the noisy, dirty garage punk blues of "Fuck the People" and dark psychedelia of "Kissy Kissy". The record was well received by the music press, though the White Stripes comparisons would not go away.


title: The Kills

text: Mosshart chain-smoked while singing, rarely speaking to the audience; at a New York City show following the ban on public smoking, Mosshart went on stage with three bottles of water, lit up a cigarette and proceeded to smoke constantly from the first song to the last note of the set. In 2004 Mosshart and Hince bought a house together in Dalston. In 2005, "Monkey 23" was used in "De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté", where it played over the closing credits. It was also featured in season three of "Peaky Blinders". In 2006, "Wait" was used in "Children of Men", where it was described in-universe as "a blast from the past all the way back to 2003, that beautiful time when people refused to accept the future is just around the corner".


title: The Kills

text: Their second album, "No Wow", was released by Domino Records on February 21, 2005. Featuring an artier, less ""guitar rock"" sound, the record embraced post punk influences and sounded even more stripped down than "Keep on Your Mean Side". Originally written to be performed on a Moog, the band was forced to change directions and record it primarily using a guitar after Hince's Moog broke and couldn't be repaired before entering the studio. A 40-minute DVD documentary was included with a limited number of copies and features interview, performance and on the road footage shot on tour. The first single, "The Good Ones", from "No Wow", was released on February 7, 2005, and reached number 23 in the UK Singles Chart, which is their highest-charting single in that chart to date. Mosshart features in the title track of Placebo's album "Meds". She also features on the Primal Scream album "Riot City Blues".


title: The Kills

text: "Midnight Boom" was released in March 2008. Its music was used throughout many American TV shows, including "90210". A big selection of songs from the album were featured in the hit television series "Gossip Girl", and also, their track "Sour Cherry" was featured as the soundbed for Season Two's official trailer. "Sour Cherry" was also featured in the "Footloose" trailer, as well as in the 2008 rom-com "The House Bunny". The album also picked up new mainstream success for the band with various TV performances in the UK; appearing on "Later With Jools Holland", "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross", "T4", "The Album Chart Show", "Sound", "Live From Abbey Road", and "From The Basement".


title: The Kills

text: On October 21, 2008, "Cheap and Cheerful" was used on the show "House" during the opening scene of the episode "Lucky Thirteen". "Cheap and Cheerful" can also be heard on the "NHL 09" soundtrack. It was later used in the Fendi's TV commercial for the "Fan di Fendi" perfume (2010). "U.R.A. Fever" was played during a love scene in the 2010 movie "The Losers". Only the chorus of the song is played. "U.R.A. Fever" was heard in the 2010 film "Welcome to the Rileys", as well as appearing on its soundtrack. It is also heard on the 2011 movie "Catch .44" (partially) and the 2012 movie Detention. The bonus song "Night Train" appeared in the 2009 remake of the film Friday The 13th and in the 2012 American drama film "What Maisie Knew", along with "Hook and Line". The song "What New York Used to Be" was used in the film "Push".


title: The Kills

text: On September 11, 2009, it was announced on the band's MySpace page that they had begun work on their fourth studio album though no release date had been set. "Black Balloon" from their "Black Balloon EP", released in 2009, was featured in the Season 2 episode of "The Good Wife", "Net Worth", on February 15, 2011. The Kills' fourth studio album, "Blood Pressures", was released in April 2011. A video for the first single from "Blood Pressures", "Satellite", was released on February 9, 2011, followed By Future Starts Slow, Baby Says, The Last Goodbye, and Wild Charms in September 2012. "Future Starts Slow" was also used in a promotion for the episode "The Wait Is Almost Over" of hit TV series True Blood (season 4). The song from the same album "Damned If She Do" was also used in the promotion of "The Vampire Diaries" third season, and has received positive reviews from the fans. "The Last Goodbye" was used in the 2012 film "Just Like A Woman", starring Sienna Miller.


title: The Kills

text: "Future Starts Slow" appears in the trailer for the 2012 action thriller film "Contraband", a March 2012 episode of the "Vampire Diaries", in a promotion and, beginning with the second episode, was used as the theme music for the 2012 TV series "Political Animals (miniseries)", was used towards the end of episode 16, season 2 of "Person of Interest" and featured in the season 1 finale of "Altered Carbon". They contributed a cover of "Dreams" to the Fleetwood Mac tribute compilation ""Just Tell Me That You Want Me"", set for release on August 14, 2012, through Hear Music and Concord Music Group.


title: The Kills

text: In September the duo published the photo book "Dream & Drive", created together with the photographer Kenneth Capello. It coincided with an exhibition at the Milk Gallery, London. "Paris Spleen: The Kills Live at L'Olympia", the film of their show from November 2011 was released on 20 September 2013 in partnership with the French clothing company Equipment. The Kills were set to go on a small American tour with Queens of the Stone Age in December 2013. In the same year, Hince suffered an injury to his left hand when a car door closed on it. He lost the use of his middle finger and had to have a number of operations. This resulted in change in playing style and equipment.


title: The Kills

text: Shortly after the announcement of the shows, the band's record label, Domino Records confirmed that the duo were working on their next album. In May 2014, Mosshart said that they were looking for a new sound and that this new album will be completely different from the others. She noted that """You never know what's going to happen with a record when you're writing. It could be done all of a sudden in two months, or it could take another year. You get on these tangents, and you find new directions. You kind of follow the scent wherever it's taking you. Sometimes it takes a long time. Sometimes it's fast as hell."


title: The Kills

text: The Kills were part of the line-up for Coachella 2016. The Kills fifth studio album, "Ash & Ice", was released on 3 June 2016. A new single titled "Doing It to Death" was released in March 2016. The duo embarked on a lengthy world tour, but were forced to cancel European festival dates after Mosshart suffered with pneumonia. In 2017 the group were the support act for Guns N' Roses during the UK leg of their world tour. In 2018 they released a 7" single with cover versions of 'List of Demands (Reparations)' and 'Steppin' Razor' followed by promotional 7" a year later for National Dive Bar Day, with the B-sides 'Blue Moon' and 'Night Train'. Mosshart also published her multimedia book Car Ma later that year.


title: The Kills

text: In December 2020 the band released the rarities collection "Little Bastards", which collects the B-sides and demos from the period 2002 - 2009.


title: The Kills

text: The band has cited Royal Trux, PJ Harvey, the Velvet Underground, Sleater-Kinney, Fugazi, The Clash, The Rolling Stones, Nirvana, Pixies, Bikini Kill, and Sonic Youth as influences.


title: First English Civil War

text: The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. They include the Bishops' Wars, the Irish Confederate Wars, the Second English Civil War, the Anglo-Scottish war (1650–1652) and the 1649 to 1653 Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. Historians estimate that between 15% to 20% of all adult males in England and Wales served in the military between 1639 to 1653, while around 4% of the total population died from war-related causes. This compares to a figure of 2.23% for World War I, which illustrates the impact of the conflict on society in general and the bitterness it engendered.


title: First English Civil War

text: Conflict over the role of Parliament and religious practice dated from the accession of James VI and I in 1603. These tensions culminated in the imposition of Personal Rule in 1629 by his son, Charles I, who finally recalled Parliament in April and November 1640. He did so hoping to obtain funding that would enable him to reverse his defeat by Scots Covenanters in the Bishops' Wars, but in return they demanded a greater share in government than he was willing to concede.


title: First English Civil War

text: In its early stages, the vast majority on both sides supported the institution of monarchy, but disagreed on who held ultimate authority. Royalists generally argued both Parliament and the Church of England were subordinate to the king, while most of their Parliamentarian opponents claimed his supremacy did not extend to religion, and wanted a form of constitutional monarchy. However, the reality was considerably more complex, with political allegiances heavily influenced by religious belief or personal loyalty. Horrified at the devastation inflicted on Europe by the Thirty Years War, many tried to remain neutral, or took up arms with great reluctance.


title: First English Civil War

text: When fighting began in August 1642, both sides believed it would be settled by a single battle, but it soon became clear this was not the case. Royalist successes in 1643 led to an alliance between Parliament and the Scots who won a series of battles in 1644, the most significant being the Battle of Marston Moor. Alleged failures to exploit these successes led Parliament in February 1645 to set up the New Model Army, the first centrally-funded and professional military force in England, whose success at Naseby in June 1645 proved decisive. The war ended with victory for the Parliamentarian alliance in June 1646 and Charles in custody, but his refusal to negotiate concessions and divisions among his opponents led to the Second English Civil War in 1648.


title: First English Civil War

text: The 1642 to 1646 First English Civil War is one in a series of connected civil wars between 1639 and 1653, fought in England and Wales, along with the separate kingdoms of Scotland and Ireland. It was the culmination of a long-running struggle for political and religious control between the monarchy and Parliament that began in 1603 when James VI and I became king, and continued after the 1660 Stuart Restoration. Many of the issues involved were only finally resolved with the 1688 Glorious Revolution, and arguably continued beyond that point; American historians like Kevin Phillips have identified many similarities between those at stake in 1642 and the American Revolution in 1776.


title: First English Civil War

text: Known collectively as the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, other conflicts include the 1641 to 1653 Irish Confederate Wars, the 1639 to 1640 Bishops' Wars, and the 1649 to 1653 Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. Separately, the First and Second English Civil Wars are grouped together into the 1642 to 1649 English Civil War. What was previously known as the 1650 to 1652 Third English Civil War is now more commonly referred to as the Anglo-Scottish war, since it was fought between Scots and English armies and not accompanied by an uprising in England.


title: First English Civil War

text: Splitting the parties into Cavaliers, 'wrong, but romantic', and Roundheads, 'right, but repulsive', is a perspective largely promulgated by the Victorians, and while long accepted as outdated, this view still informs modern perceptions. One reason is the complex personal nature and historical reputation of Oliver Cromwell, particularly in Ireland. The installation of his statue outside the Houses of Parliament was approved in 1856, but not carried out until 1895, with most of the funds supplied by Lord Rosebery, then Prime Minister. In 2004, a group of MPs unsuccessfully proposed a motion to have it melted down, and the debate continues.


title: First English Civil War

text: In reality, individual motives for choosing a side were complex and there were considerable areas of overlap, particularly in the early stages. Historian Tim Harris suggests that by 1640 there was general agreement attempts by Charles to govern without Parliament had gone too far. This changed after the Grand Remonstrance was submitted in late 1641, when moderates like Edward Hyde switched sides, arguing Parliament was trying to alter the balance too much the other way. Both sides claimed they were seeking to restore the "ancient constitution"; for many Parliamentarians, Stuart concepts of Divine right of kings and absolutism brought in by James VI and I in 1603 were "innovations" that had undermined traditional English political and legal principles. This helps explain the internal tensions that developed within Parliament as the war progressed, since not everyone agreed on what they were seeking to restore or even if it were desirable.


title: First English Civil War

text: Most Parliamentarians went to war in 1642 to regulate the king's powers, rather than depose him; John Pym, their leader in the Commons, was one of the few to recognise it might be the only option, since past experience showed Charles would not keep commitments he considered forced on him. Examples included his annulment of the 1628 Petition of Right, and the recent Bishops Wars, when he agreed peace terms with the Scots in 1639 only to provide time for another attempt in 1640. These doubts were confirmed when he and his wife Henrietta Maria repeatedly told foreign ambassadors any concessions made to Parliament were temporary, and would be retrieved by force.


title: First English Civil War

text: The personality and credibility of the king mattered, because regardless of religion or political belief, the vast majority in all three kingdoms believed a 'well-ordered' monarchy was divinely mandated. His opponents argued that if Charles would not obey his own laws or keep his promises, his refusal presented a threat to the state which required military intervention to either force him to do so, or depose him in favour of his eldest son. Where they disagreed was what 'well-ordered' meant and who held ultimate authority, especially in clerical affairs; this mattered, because in the 17th century 'true religion' and 'good government' were assumed to be the same. In general, Royalists supported a Church of England governed by bishops, appointed by, and answerable to, the king, while most Parliamentarians believed he was answerable to the leaders of the church, appointed by their congregations.


title: First English Civil War

text: Another common misperception is that "Roundhead" was interchangeable with "Puritan", a general term for those who wanted to "purify" the Church of England of "Papist" practices, and which covered a wide range of views. Although the majority supported Parliament, some prominent Puritans like Sir William Savile backed Charles out of personal loyalty. Conversely, many Royalists objected to Laudianism, and opposed the appointment of Catholics to senior positions, while attempts to integrate Irish Catholic troops in 1643 caused some regiments to mutiny. Parliamentarians were divided between Presbyterians like Pym who wanted to reform the Church of England, and religious Independents who rejected any form of established church and wanted it abolished. They included Congregationalists like Cromwell and Baptists, who were especially well represented in the New Model Army.


title: First English Civil War

text: Later in the war, conflicting religious and political aims resulted in the emergence within Parliament of a middle party of "Independent Royalists", who were generally religious radicals but social conservatives. Led by William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele, his son Nathaniel Fiennes, and Nathaniel Rich, they were distinguished from Royalists in believing Charles had to be defeated militarily, and from moderate Presbyterians by their fervent opposition to state-mandated religion. After Parliament's victory in 1646, this group supported the Treaty of Newport and a "balanced" political solution that would leave Charles on the throne. Its members avoided participation in his trial and execution, although they did not speak against it.


title: First English Civil War

text: While Puritans were the most visible in opposing Laudian reforms and demanding the removal of bishops from the Church of England, their objections were shared by many Royalists, such as George Morley and Sir Edmund Verney. One reason was that bishops held a variety of non-religious roles which impacted all levels of society; they acted as state censors, who were able to ban sermons and writings, while ordinary people could be tried by church courts for crimes including blasphemy, heresy, fornication and other 'sins of the flesh', as well as matrimonial or inheritance disputes. As members of the House of Lords, bishops often blocked legislation opposed by the Crown; their ousting from Parliament by the Clergy Act 1640 was a major step on the road to war, since it meant Charles could no longer prevent passage of legislation that he opposed.


title: First English Civil War

text: Their removal also ended censorship and led to an explosion in the printing of pamphlets, books and sermons, many advocating radical religious and political principles, especially in London. Even before 1642, such radicalism concerned Parliamentarians like Denzil Holles who believed in a limited electorate and a Presbyterian church similar to the Church of Scotland. Both they and their Scottish allies came to see the Independents as more dangerous than the Royalists and formed the "Peace Party", seeking a negotiated end to the war; an alliance between these groups led to the Second English Civil War in 1648. Lastly, England in 1642 was a structured, socially conservative and peaceful society, while the example of the Thirty Years War meant many wanted to avoid conflict at any cost. Choice of sides was often driven by personal relationships or loyalties, and in the early stages there were numerous examples of armed neutrality, or local truces, designed to force the two sides to negotiate.


title: First English Civil War

text: Over the winter of 1641 to 1642, many towns strengthened their defences, and purchased weapons, although not necessarily due to fears of civil war. Lurid details of the Irish Rebellion of 1641 meant many were more concerned by reports of a planned Catholic invasion. Both sides supported raising troops to suppress the rising, but alleged Royalist conspiracies to use them against Parliament meant neither trusted the other with their control. When Charles left London after failing to arrest the Five Members in January 1642, he handed Parliament control of the largest city, port and commercial centre in England, its biggest weapons store in the Tower of London, and best equipped local militia, or Trained bands.


title: First English Civil War

text: Founded in 1572, these were organised by county, controlled by Lord-lieutenants appointed by the king, and constituted the only permanent military force in the country. The muster roll of February 1638 shows wide variations in size, equipment and training; Yorkshire had the largest, with 12,000 men, followed by London with 8,000, later increased to 20,000. 'Royalist' counties like Shropshire or Glamorgan had fewer than 500 men.


title: First English Civil War

text: In March 1642, Parliament approved the Militia Ordinance, claiming control of the trained bands; Charles responded with his own Commissions of Array. More important than the men were the local arsenals, with Parliament holding the two largest in London, and Hull. These belonged to the local community, who often resisted attempts to remove them, by either side. In Royalist Cheshire, the towns of Nantwich, Knutsford and Chester declared a state of armed neutrality, and excluded both parties.


title: First English Civil War

text: Ports were vital for access to internal and external waterways, the primary method of importing and transporting bulk supplies until the advent of railways in the 19th century. Most of the Royal Navy declared for Parliament, allowing them to protect the trade routes vital to the London merchant community, block Royalist imports and resupply isolated Parliamentarian garrisons. It also made other countries wary of antagonising one of the strongest navies in Europe by providing support to their opponents. By September, forces loyal to Parliament held every major port in England apart from Newcastle, which prevented Royalist areas in Wales, South-West and North East England from supporting each other. In February 1642, Charles sent his wife, Henrietta Maria, to the Hague to raise money and purchase weapons; lack of a secure port delayed her return until February 1643, and even then, she narrowly escaped capture.


title: First English Civil War

text: On 1 June 1642, Parliament approved a list of proposals known as the Nineteen Propositions, which would give them control over ministerial appointments, the army and management of the Royal household, including the education and marriage of his children. These were presented to Charles at Newmarket, who angrily rejected them without further discussion. He was later persuaded to issue a more conciliatory answer, whose objective was primarily to appeal to moderates by placing blame for what now seemed an inevitable military conflict on Pym and his followers. Drafted by Hyde, this response has been seen as the origin of "mixed" or Constitutional monarchy, although whether Charles himself genuinely believed in it is debatable.


title: First English Civil War

text: Both sides expected a single battle and quick victory; for the Royalists, this meant capturing London, for Parliament, 'rescuing' the king from his 'evil counsellors.' After failing to capture Hull in July, Charles left York for Nottingham, chosen for its proximity to Royalist areas in the Midlands and Northern Wales. Particularly in the early stages of the conflict, locally raised troops were reluctant to serve outside their own county, and most of the Royalist troops raised in Yorkshire refused to accompany him.


title: First English Civil War

text: On 22 August, Charles formally declared war on Parliamentarian 'rebels', but by early September his army consisted of only 1,500 horse and 1,000 infantry, with much of England hoping to remain neutral. Financing from the London mercantile community and weapons from the Tower enabled Parliament to recruit and equip an army of 20,000. It was commanded by the Presbyterian Earl of Essex, who left London on 3 September for Northampton. Charles relocated to Shrewsbury, further away from London, but a key Royalist recruitment centre throughout the war. When Essex learned of this, he marched on Worcester, where the first major encounter of the war took place at Powick Bridge on 23 September. A relatively minor Royalist victory, it established the reputation of Prince Rupert, and gained a psychological edge over the Parliamentarian cavalry.


title: First English Civil War

text: The Royalist army now numbered around 15,000, although much of the infantry were armed with clubs or scythes. While better equipped, Essex' force was half-trained, poorly disciplined, and his logistics inadequate to support such numbers. Charles headed for London, while Essex tried to prevent it; on 23 October, the two armies fought a bloody, chaotic, and indecisive battle at Edgehill. Essex continued retreating towards London; after an inconclusive encounter on 16 November at Turnham Green, west of London, operations ended for the winter. The Royalists withdrew to Oxford, which became their capital for the rest of the war. Elsewhere, Sir William Waller secured the south-east for Parliament; in December, Lord Wilmot captured Marlborough, opening communications between Oxford, and Royalist forces based at Launceston, in Cornwall.


title: First English Civil War

text: The events of 1642 showed the need to plan for a lengthy conflict. For the Royalists, this meant fortifying their new capital in Oxford, and connecting areas of support in England and Wales; Parliament focused on consolidating control of the areas they already held. Although peace talks were held, both parties continued to negotiate for Scots and Irish support; Charles sought to end the war in Ireland, allowing troops from the Royal Irish Army to be used to support the Royalists in England.


title: First English Civil War

text: Fighting continued during the winter in Yorkshire, as Royalist leader Newcastle tried to secure a landing place for an arms shipment from the Dutch Republic. With insufficient troops to hold the entire area, his task was complicated by Parliamentarian forces under Lord Fairfax and his son Sir Thomas, which retained key towns like Hull and Leeds. The weapons convoy carrying Henrietta Maria finally managed to land at Bridlington in late February; on 4 June she left York escorted by 5,000 cavalry, arriving in Oxford in mid-July.


title: First English Civil War

text: In the south-west, Royalist commander Sir Ralph Hopton secured Cornwall with victory at Braddock Down in January. In June, he advanced into Wiltshire, inflicting a serious defeat on Waller's 'Army of the Southern Association' at Roundway Down on 13 July. Arguably the most comprehensive Royalist victory of the war, it isolated Parliament's garrisons in the west and Prince Rupert stormed Bristol on 26 July. This gave the Royalists control of the second largest city in Britain and landing point for reinforcements from Ireland.


title: First English Civil War

text: By late August, the Parliamentarian cause was close to collapse but was saved by Pym's leadership and determination, which resulted in important reforms. Both sides struggled to properly supply troops fighting outside their home regions and Parliament agreed steps to mitigate the problem. Seeing an opportunity to force Parliamentary moderates into a negotiated peace, in September the Royalists agreed a new three-part offensive. After taking Gloucester, Prince Rupert would advance on London, while Newcastle would tied down the Eastern Association army by advancing into East Anglia and Lincolnshire. Finally, Hopton would march into Hampshire and Sussex, threatening London from the south, and closing the iron foundries that were Parliament's main source of armaments.


title: First English Civil War

text: However, Essex forced Prince Rupert to retreat from Gloucester, then checked his advance on London at Newbury on 20 September. Although Hopton reached Winchester, Waller prevented him making further progress; in October, Newcastle abandoned the second siege of Hull, while victory at Winceby secured eastern England for Parliament. Royalist failure ended any chance of concluding the war in the near future, leading both sides to step up the search for allies.


title: First English Civil War

text: In September, the Royalists in Ireland agreed a truce with the Catholic Confederation, allowing Ormond to transfer troops to England but cost Charles the support of many Irish Protestants, especially in Munster. At the same time, details emerged of the "Antrim scheme", an alleged plan to use 20,000 Irish troops to recapture Southern Scotland for Charles; although highly impractical, the Covenanter government ended negotiations with the Royalists. Shortly thereafter, they signed the Solemn League and Covenant, agreeing to provide Parliament military backing in return for subsidies, and discussions on creating a single, Presbyterian church.


title: First English Civil War

text: The Solemn League created a Committee of Both Kingdoms to co-ordinate strategy in all three war zones, England, Scotland and Ireland, although Pym's death in December 1643 deprived Parliament of their most important leader. The Scots under Leven were ordered to take Newcastle, securing coal supplies for London, and closing the major import point for Royalist war supplies. He besieged the town in early February, but made little progress, observed by the Earl of Newcastle from his base in Durham.


title: First English Civil War

text: On 29 March, Waller ended the offensive in Southern England by defeating Hopton at Cheriton, then joined Essex to threaten Oxford. Two weeks later, the Earl of Manchester defeated a Royalist force at Selby, forcing Newcastle to leave Durham and garrison York. The city was besieged by the Scots, Sir Thomas Fairfax, and Manchester's Army of the Eastern Association.


title: First English Civil War

text: In May, Prince Rupert left Shrewsbury, and marched north, capturing Liverpool and Bolton en route. To avoid being shut up in Oxford, a field army nominally commanded by Charles retreated to Worcester; Essex ordered Waller to remain there, while he went west to relieve the siege of Lyme Regis. On 29 June, Waller clashed with Charles at Cropredy Bridge; although losses were minimal, his men were demoralised, and the army disintegrated, allowing Charles to pursue Essex into the West Country.


title: First English Civil War

text: On the same day, Prince Rupert arrived at Knaresborough, 30 kilometres from York, to find himself facing a superior force. In the largest battle of the war on 2 July, the two armies met at Marston Moor, a decisive Royalist defeat that lost them the North. York surrendered on 16 July, and the Earl of Newcastle went into exile.


title: First English Civil War

text: Essex forced the Royalists to abandon Lyme Regis, then continued into Cornwall, ignoring orders to return to London. In September, his army was trapped at Lostwithiel; 5,000 infantry were forced to surrender, although Essex and the cavalry escaped. At Second Newbury on 27 October, the Royalists lifted the siege of Donnington Castle, and Charles re-entered Oxford.


title: First English Civil War

text: In military terms, by the end of 1644 the Royalists had recovered from the disaster at Marston Moor; of greater concern was their ability to finance the war. Unlike Parliament, which could levy taxes on imports and exports through London and other commercial centres, the Royalists simply took supplies from the areas they controlled. This led to the creation of Clubmen, or local self-defence associations; they opposed confiscations by either party, but were a bigger issue in Royalist areas like Cornwall and Hertfordshire.


title: First English Civil War

text: The deaths of John Pym and John Hampden in 1643 removed a unifying force within Parliament, and deepened divisions. Supported by the Scots, the 'Peace Party' were concerned by political radicals like the Levellers, and wanted an immediate, negotiated settlement. The 'War Party' fundamentally mistrusted Charles, and saw military victory as the only way to secure their objectives. Many were religious Independents who opposed any state church, and strongly objected to Scottish demands for a unified, Presbyterian church of England and Scotland; Oliver Cromwell claimed he would fight, rather than accept such an outcome.


title: First English Civil War

text: Failure to exploit Marston Moor, Essex' capitulation at Lostwithiel, and Manchester's alleged unwillingness to fight at Newbury led to claims some senior commanders were not committed to victory. Accusations against Manchester and Essex in particular were not confined to Cromwell, but shared by some Presbyterians, including Waller. In December, Sir Henry Vane introduced the Self-denying Ordinance, requiring any military officers who also sat in Parliament to resign one office or the other. Manchester and Essex were automatically removed, since they could not resign their titles, although they could be re-appointed, 'if Parliament approved.'


title: First English Civil War

text: It also led to the creation of the New Model Army, a centralised, professional force, able and willing to operate wherever needed. Many of its recruits had served with Cromwell in the Eastern Association, or shared his views, and opponents viewed the New Model with suspicion from the outset. To offset this, they appointed the moderates Fairfax and Philip Skippon as Commander-in-Chief and head of the infantry respectively, as well as retaining some regional forces. These included the Northern and Western Associations, plus those serving in Cheshire and South Wales, all commanded by supporters of the Presbyterian faction in Parliament. Although he remained an MP, Cromwell was given command of the cavalry, under a 'temporary' three-month commission, constantly renewed.


title: First English Civil War

text: In January, representatives of both sides met at Uxbridge to discuss peace terms, but talks ended without agreement in February. Failure strengthened the pro-war parties, since it was clear Charles would never make concessions voluntarily, while divisions among their opponents encouraged the Royalists to continue fighting.


title: First English Civil War

text: In early 1645, the Royalists still controlled most of the West Country, Wales, and counties along the English border, despite losing their key supply base at Shrewsbury in February. Lord Goring's Western Army made another attempt on Portsmouth and Farnham; although he was forced to retreat, it showed Parliament could not assume this area was secure, while Montrose's Highland Campaign opened another front in the war.


title: First English Civil War

text: On 31 May, Prince Rupert stormed Leicester; in response, Fairfax and the New Model Army abandoned their blockade of Oxford, and on 14 June, won a decisive victory at Naseby. Defeat cost the Royalists their most formidable field army, along with their artillery train, stores, and Charles' personal baggage. This included his private correspondence, detailing efforts to gain support from the Irish Catholic Confederation, the Papacy and France. Published by Parliament in a pamphlet entitled "The King's Cabinet Opened", it seriously damaged his reputation.


title: First English Civil War

text: After Naseby, Royalist strategy was to preserve their positions in Western England and Wales, while their cavalry went north to link up with Montrose in Scotland. Charles also hoped the Irish Catholic Confederation would supply him with an army of 10,000, that would land in Bristol and combine with Lord Goring to smash the New Model. Such hopes were illusory, and the only result was to deepen divisions among the Royalist leadership, many of whom viewed the proposed use of Catholic Irish troops in England with as much horror as their Parliamentarian opponents. Concerned by the wider implications of Royalist defeat and urged on by Henrietta Maria, French chief minister Cardinal Mazarin looked for ways to restore Charles with minimal French intervention. Talks were held between his representative, Jean de Montereul, and Lord Lothian, a senior Covenanter who was deeply suspicious of Cromwell and the Independents, but these discussions ultimately went nowhere.


title: First English Civil War

text: Prince Rupert was sent to supervise the defence of Bristol and the West, while Charles made his way to Raglan Castle, then headed for the Scottish border. He reached as far north as Doncaster in Yorkshire, before retreating to Oxford in the face of superior Parliamentarian forces. In July, Fairfax lifted the siege of Taunton; a few days later at Langport, he destroyed Lord Goring's Western Army, the last significant Royalist field force. At the end of August, Charles left Oxford to relieve Hereford, which was besieged by the Covenanter army; as he approached, Leven was ordered to return to Scotland, following Montrose's victory at Kilsyth. The king moved onto Chester, where he learned Prince Rupert had surrendered Bristol on 10 September. Shocked by the loss, Charles dismissed his nephew.


title: First English Civil War

text: While one detachment from the New Model under Colonel Rainsborough secured Berkeley Castle, another under Cromwell captured Royalist strongholds at Basing House and Winchester. Having secured his rear, Fairfax began reducing remaining positions in the west; by now, Clubmen militia in Hampshire and Dorset were as big an issue as the Royalist army. When his remaining cavalry were scattered at Rowton Heath on 24 September, Charles abandoned attempts to reach Scotland and returned to Newark. On 13 October, he learned of Montrose's defeat at Philiphaugh a month earlier, ending plans for taking the war into Scotland. The loss of Carmarthen and Chepstow in South Wales cut connections with Royalist supporters in Ireland (see Map) and Charles made his way back to Oxford, where he spent the winter besieged by the New Model.


title: First English Civil War

text: Following the fall of Hereford in December 1645, the Royalists held only Devon, Cornwall, North Wales, and isolated garrisons in Exeter, Oxford, Newark, and Scarborough Castle. Chester surrendered in February, after which the Northern Association Army joined the Covenanters besieging Newark. Hopton replaced Lord Goring as commander of the Western Army, and attempted to relieve Exeter. Defeated by the New Model at Torrington on 16 February, he surrendered at Truro on 12 March.


title: First English Civil War

text: The last pitched battle of the war took place at Stow-on-the-Wold on 21 March, when 3,000 Royalists were dispersed by Parliamentary forces. With the end of the war in sight, Parliament issued a proclamation, allowing favourable terms for any Royalists who 'compounded' prior to 1 May. Those whose estates had been confiscated could regain them on payment of a fine, which was calculated on the value of their lands, and level of support; many took advantage of this.


title: First English Civil War

text: After capturing Exeter and Barnstaple in April, the New Model marched on Oxford; on 27 April, Charles left the city in disguise, accompanied by two others. Parliament learned of his escape on 29th, but for over a week had no idea where he was. On 6 May, they received a letter from David Leslie, the Scottish commander at Newark, announcing he had Charles in custody. Newark surrendered the same day, and the Scots went north to Newcastle, taking the king with them. This led to furious objections from Parliament, who approved a resolution ordering the Scots to leave England immediately.


title: First English Civil War

text: After lengthy negotiations, Oxford capitulated on 24 June; the garrison received passes to return home, and Prince Rupert and his brother, Prince Maurice, were ordered to leave England. Wallingford Castle surrendered on 27 July, then the remaining Royalist strongholds, although Harlech Castle in Wales held out until 13 March 1647.


title: First English Civil War

text: In 1642, many Parliamentarians assumed military defeat would force Charles to agree to terms, which proved a fundamental misunderstanding of his character. When Prince Rupert argued in August 1645 that the war could no longer be won, Charles responded that while this may have been an accurate assessment of the military situation, 'God will not suffer rebels and traitors to prosper'. This deeply-held conviction meant he refused to agree to any substantial concessions, frustrating both allies and opponents.


title: First English Civil War

text: Although Charles correctly assumed widespread support for the institution of monarchy made his position extremely strong, he failed to appreciate the impact of his constant prevarications, both before and during the war. He made peace with the Scots in 1639, then raised an army against them in 1640; his actions prior to March 1642 convinced Parliament he would not keep his promises, and any money they supplied would be employed against them. At various points, he was negotiating separately with the Irish Confederation, the English Independents, the Covenanters, English Presbyterians, France, and the Papacy.


title: First English Civil War

text: The result was the creation of a powerful faction who believed Charles would never voluntarily agree to a suitable political settlement, and whose control of the New Model Army gave them the ability to impose one. Often grouped together as 'Independents', the reality was far more fluid; Sir Thomas Fairfax was a Presbyterian, who fought for Charles in 1639, and refused to participate in his execution, while even Cromwell initially viewed him with great respect. William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele, and his sons Nathaniel and John, are examples of those supported the Independents out of religious conviction, but wanted Charles to retain his throne.


title: First English Civil War

text: Charles continued to stall, to the increasing frustration of all parties, especially members of the New Model, many of whom had not been paid for over a year and wanted to go home. In March 1647, moderates in Parliament led by Denzil Holles decided to remove the threat by sending the army to Ireland; only those who agreed would receive their arrears. When regimental representatives, or Agitators, demanded full payment for all in advance, Parliament disbanded the New Model, which refused to be dissolved. Although both Cromwell and Fairfax were disturbed by the radicalism shown by parts of the army, they sympathised with them over pay, and took their side against Parliament. These tensions led to the outbreak of the Second English Civil War in 1648.


title: Masked Wolf

text: Harry Michael (born February 12, 1991), known professionally as Masked Wolf, is an Australian rapper from Sydney, New South Wales. He is best known for his song "Astronaut in the Ocean", which became a sleeper hit in 2021, peaking at number 4 on the Australian ARIA Charts and number 6 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, having been initially released in June 2019.


title: Masked Wolf

text: In an interview in 2019, Michael said, "I've always been interested in music and as a young kid, my musical outlet was actually playing instruments like the piano, keyboard, guitar and drums." He is a "huge fan" of American hip hop. He began writing at the age of 13.


title: Masked Wolf

text: Michael signed to Teamwrk Records and released his debut single "Speed Racer" in December 2018. All of his subsequent releases were on the label, up until 2021, when "Astronaut in the Ocean" was re-released.


title: Masked Wolf

text: On 28 January 2021, Michael signed to US-based label Elektra Records, owned by Warner Music Group, in a multi-album deal. Elektra represent Michael's music in all regions except Australia and New Zealand, where he continues to be represented by Teamwrk Records. In a statement, Michael said: "I'm so happy to be a part of the Elektra family, I am really excited to be able to have the opportunity for the world to now hear my music... not only do they develop artists, but they care about each song and that's why I wanted to join them." On 4 June, Michael released the single "Gravity Glidin". The following week, "Gravity Glidin" debuted and peaked at number 40 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart for the chart dated 13 June. On 8 July, Michael released the single "Say So". The following week, "Say So" debuted and peaked at number twenty on the NZ Hot Singles Chart for the chart dated 18 July. On 21 July, Michael was announced for having the highest listener growth on Spotify in the first half of the year, which saw more than 27 million new listeners. On 24 July, Michael performed at the Splendour in the Grass virtual festival Splendour XR. On 4 September, Michael announced his debut mixtape, "Astrononomical", and released the single "Razor's Edge", which features X Ambassadors. "Astronomical" was released on 10 September.


title: Masked Wolf

text: On 19 November 2021, Masked Wolf released "It's You, Not Me (Sabotage)" with Bebe Rexha; a reimagined version of Rexha's own "Sabotage".


title: Masked Wolf

text: The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually.


title: Masked Wolf

text: The ARIA Music Awards is an annual ceremony presented by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the music of Australia. They commenced in 1987.


title: Masked Wolf

text: The Rolling Stone Australia Awards are awarded annually in January or February by the Australian edition of "Rolling Stone" magazine for outstanding contributions to popular culture in the previous year.


title: Serengeti National Park

text: The Serengeti National Park is a large national park in northern Tanzania that stretches over . It is located entirely in eastern Mara Region and north east portion of Simiyu Region and contains over of virgin savanna. The park was established in 1940.


title: Serengeti National Park

text: The Serengeti is well known for the largest annual animal migration in the world of over 1.5 million blue wildebeest and 250,000 zebra along with smaller herds of Thomas' Gazelle and eland. The national park is also home to the largest lion population in Africa. It is under threat from deforestation, population growth and ranching.


title: Serengeti National Park

text: The name "Serengeti" is an approximation of the word "siringet" used by the Maasai people for the area, which means "the place where the land runs on forever".


title: Serengeti National Park

text: In 1930, an area of was designated as a game reserve in southern and eastern Serengeti. In the 1930s, the government of Tanganyika established a system of national parks compliant with the Convention Relative to the Preservation of Fauna and Flora in their Natural State. The area became a national park in 1940. It was granted strict protection in 1948 when the Serengeti National Park Board of Trustees was formed to administer the national park. The government restricted the movements of the resident Maasai people, and the park boundaries were finalized in 1951. In 1959, an area of was split off in the eastern part of the national park and re-established as Ngorongoro Conservation Area intended to accommodate the traditional land use interests of the Maasai people in a multiple land use area. In 1981, the Serengeti National Park covered , which was less than half of the Serengeti.


title: Serengeti National Park

text: The Serengeti gained fame after Bernhard Grzimek and his son Michael produced a book and documentary titled "Serengeti Shall Not Die" in 1959.


title: Serengeti National Park

text: Serengeti National Park forms a Lion Conservation Unit since 2005 together with Maasai Mara National Reserve.


title: Serengeti National Park

text: More than 3,000 lions live in this ecosystem. The population density of the African leopard is estimated at 5.41 individuals per in the dry season.


title: Serengeti National Park

text: African bush elephant herds recovered from a population low in the 1980s caused by poaching, and numbered over 5,000 individuals by 2014. The African buffalo population declined between 1976 and 1996 due to poaching, but increased to 28,524 individuals by 2008. The black rhinoceros population was reduced to about 10 individuals in the 1980s due to poaching, and less than 70 individuals survive in the park today. Rhinos mostly browse on grasses, woody "Indigofera", "Acacia" and "Crotalaria" forbs and shrubs.


title: Serengeti National Park

text: Other mammal carnivores include the Cheetah, about 3,500 spotted hyena, Black-backed jackal, African golden wolf, honey badger, striped hyena, caracal, serval, banded mongoose, and two species of otters. The African wild dog was reintroduced to the area in 2012 after disappearing in 1991. Other mammals include hippopotamus, common warthog, aardvark, aardwolf, African wildcat, African civet, common genet, zorilla, african striped weasel, bat-eared fox, ground pangolin, crested porcupine, three species of hyraxes and cape hare. Primates such as yellow and olive baboons, patas monkeys, and vervet monkey, mantled guereza are also seen in the gallery forests of the Grumeti River.


title: Serengeti National Park

text: Reptiles include Nile crocodile, leopard tortoise, serrated hinged terrapin, rainbow agama, Nile monitor, Jackson's chameleon, African python, black mamba, black-necked spitting cobra, and puff adder.


title: Serengeti National Park

text: More than 500 bird species can be seen such as Masai ostrich, secretarybird, kori bustards, helmeted guineafowls, Grey-breasted spurfowl, blacksmith lapwing, african collared dove, red-billed buffalo weaver, southern ground hornbill, crowned cranes, sacred ibis, cattle egrets, black herons, knob-billed ducks, saddle-billed storks, white stork, goliath herons, marabou storks, yellow-billed stork, spotted thick-knees, lesser flamingo, shoebills, abdim's stork, hamerkops, hadada ibis, african fish eagles, pink-backed pelicans, tanzanian red-billed hornbill, martial eagles, egyptian geese, lovebirds, spur-winged geese, oxpeckers, and many species of vultures.


title: Serengeti National Park

text: The great migration is the world's longest overland migration. The complete migration route is around . South of this migration route covers the Ngorongoro Conservation Area where around half a million Wildebeest are born between January and March. By March, at the beginning of the dry season, roughly 1.5 million and 250,000 zebras start to migrate heading north towards Maasai Mara in Kenya. Common eland, plains zebra, and Thomson's gazelle join the wildebeest. In April and May, the migrating herds pass through the Western Corridor. To get to the Maasai Mara, the herds have to cross the Grumeti and Mara Rivers where around 3,000 crocodiles lie in wait. For every wildebeest captured by the crocodiles, 50 drown. When the dry season ends in late October, the migrating herds start to head back south. Around 250,000 wildebeests and 30,000 plains zebras die annually from drowning, predation, exhaustion, thirst, or disease.


title: Serengeti National Park

text: The basement complex consists of Archaen Nyanzian System greenstones (2.81–2.63 Ga in age), Archaean granite-gneiss plutons (2.72–2.56 Ga in age), which were uplifted 180 Ma ago) forming koppies and elongated hills, the Neoproterozoic Mozambique Belt consisting of quartzite and granite, and the Neoproterozoic Ikorongo Group, consisting of sandstone, shale and siltstone that form linear ridges. The southeast portion of the park contains Neogene-aged volcanic rock and Oldoinyo Lengai Holocene-aged volcanic ash. The Grumeti, Mara, Mbalageti, and Orangi rivers flow westward to Lake Victoria, while the Oldupai River flows eastward into the Olbalbal Swamps.


title: Serengeti National Park

text: On the eastern portion of the park lies the Serengeti volcanic grasslands which is a Tropical Grassland Ecozone. The grasslands grow on deposits of volcanic ash from the Kerimasi Volcano, which erupted 150,000 years ago, and also from the Ol Doinyo Lengai volcanic eruptions, which created layers of calcareous tuff and calcitic hard-pan soil (vertisols) from rapid weathering of the natrocarbonatite lava produced by the volcanoes.


title: Serengeti National Park

text: The park covers of grassland plains, savanna, riverine forest, and woodlands. The park lies in northwestern Tanzania, bordered to the north by the Kenyan border, where it is continuous with the Maasai Mara National Reserve. To the southeast of the park is the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, to the southwest lies Maswa Game Reserve, to the west are the Ikorongo and Grumeti Game Reserves, and to the northeast and east lies the Loliondo Game Control Area.


title: Serengeti National Park

text: The landscape of the Serengeti Plain is extremely varied, ranging from savannah to hilly woodlands to open grasslands. The region's geographic diversity is due to the extreme weather conditions that plague the area, particularly the potent combination of heat and wind. The diverse habitats in the region may have originated from a series of volcanoes, whose activity shaped the basic geographic features of the plain by adding mountains and craters to the landscape.


title: Serengeti National Park

text: The Mara River, which flows through Maasai Mara National Reserve from the Kenyan highlands to Lake Victoria, is the only permanently-flowing river in the Serengeti ecosystem.


title: Serengeti National Park

text: Human habitation is forbidden in the park except for the Tanzania National Parks Authority staff, researchers and staff of the various lodges, campsites, and hotels. The main settlement is Seronera with its primary airstrip.


title: Serengeti National Park

text: The park is listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as a World Heritage Site. It is designated as a Category II protected area under the system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which means that it should be managed to protect the ecosystem or ecological processes.


title: Serengeti National Park

text: The administrative body for all parks in Tanzania is the Tanzania National Parks Authority. Myles Turner was one of the park's first game wardens and is credited with bringing its rampant poaching under control.


title: Serengeti National Park

text: Deforestation in the Mau Forest region has changed the hydrology of the Mara River. There are invasive species of plants such as Siam weed, Prickly pear, Feverfew and Mexican sunflower. A study in 1996 estimated that the human population of the western side of the park is growing by four percent yearly. Livestock use is also growing which increased the amount of land turned over to farming and ranching. A study by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre in 2001 estimated that roughly 200,000 animals are killed by poaching every year.


title: G-Man (Half-Life)

text: The G-Man is a mysterious recurring character and one of the main antagonists in the "Half-Life" series of first-person shooter video games. Described as a "sinister, interdimensional bureaucrat", he is known to display peculiar behavior and capabilities beyond those of normal humans.


title: G-Man (Half-Life)

text: Throughout the story of the "Half-Life" series, the G-Man plays the role of an overseer and employer: he navigates player-character Gordon Freeman's insertion to, or extraction from, the game-world on several occasions, and his monologues with Freeman reveal his importance to the series' overall narrative. He claims to answer to some unseen higher authority, to which he refers as his "employers". His mysterious nature has made him an icon of the "Half-Life" series, with his identity and motives remaining almost completely unexplained.


title: G-Man (Half-Life)

text: The G-Man's name comes from "G-man", an American colloquialism meaning "government man". However, within the "Half-Life" games, he is identified by this name only in the program code and the multiplayer profile menu as a default name option, not within the story itself. His name is derived from his "Half-Life" model and entity name and has since been reused in subsequent games of the series. His name has been confirmed and referred to in documentaries featuring Valve employees, as well as in the voice-actor credits for "Half-Life 2" and in "Raising the Bar", a book about game development.


title: G-Man (Half-Life)

text: A description of the G-Man's nature is given in the comment section of the file "npc_G-Man.cpp" in the Source SDK file "sourcesdk.gcf": "// Purpose: The G-Man, misunderstood servant of the people." In the official "Half-Life" audio script, the G-Man is referred to as "Administrator", suggesting he is the one overseeing experiments. This title was later retconned to refer to Wallace Breen.


title: G-Man (Half-Life)

text: Frank Sheldon, the person on whom the G-Man's "Half-Life 2" model is based, was originally slated to be the model for Dr. Breen. He was chosen for the G-Man's appearance after Bill Van Buren created a modified image of Sheldon, with chopped-off hair and a scaled-down face shape. Doug Wood, who designed the facial expressions of the "Half-Life 2" G-Man model, wanted the player to never quite know what side the G-Man was on by giving him ambiguous facial expressions.


title: G-Man (Half-Life)

text: The G-Man appears throughout the series either in monologue scenes that occur at key points in the story or in live gameplay, where he can be seen briefly in far-off background areas or locations that the player cannot access until later in the level where he has disappeared. The character has the appearance of a middle-aged, light-skinned male with a tall and thin physique, pale/chalky skin, dark brown hair shaped in a military-style crew cut with a prominent widow's peak, blue-green eyes, a purple tie and usually holding a briefcase. He is conservative in appearance, dressed in an ordinary gray/blue two-piece business suit. The book "" states that his appearance in "Half-Life 2" is based on Frank Sheldon. The G-Man speaks in a slow, raspy yet commanding manner, with a certain accentuated low-key moroseness to his tone, sometimes placing unusual stress on syllables, stressing the wrong parts of words, making unneeded pauses, inhaling sharply and audibly throughout his speech, and awkwardly changing the pitch of his voice, sometimes in the middle of a word. At the end of "Half-Life 2", the G-Man emphasizes the word "time" repeatedly as well, most likely referring to the fact that moments before, he seemingly stopped time. It is common for the G-Man to elongate "S" sounds.


title: G-Man (Half-Life)

text: His odd manner of speaking, along with his appearance, alludes to the behavior of the "men in black" in various reports, and the apparent age and physical status of the G-Man does not seem to change in the time that passes between "Half-Life" and "Half-Life 2" (which, according to the "Episode One" website, is nearly twenty years).


title: G-Man (Half-Life)

text: The G-Man exudes a calm, almost uninterested demeanor – in situations in which other humans panic and flee, the G-Man can be seen calmly straightening his tie or brushing his suit lapels with his hand. When developing the G-Man in "Half-Life 2", animator Doug Wood stated, "I wanted the player to never quite know what side the G-Man was on. I would have him express an apologetic look toward Freeman as he 'regretted' to put Dr. Freeman in this situation, but then give a slight smirk or smile at the end to keep you guessing about his sincerity." Before animating the G-Man's facial expressions, Wood spent weeks in front of a mirror practicing the expressions on himself. He is voiced by Michael Shapiro.


title: G-Man (Half-Life)

text: At the start of "Half-Life 2", a Vortigaunt is seen speaking to the G-Man on a television. During the final chapter of "Half-Life 2", Doctor Breen speaks to Gordon Freeman, stating he has "proven himself a fine pawn for those who control him", and informing Freeman that his "contract was open to the highest bidder".


title: G-Man (Half-Life)

text: In the introduction to "Half-Life 2: Episode One", the Vortigaunts are able to directly confront him. They restrict his abilities to manipulate Gordon through a purple barrier; allowing Gordon to exit stasis and return to City 17. In "Half-Life 2: Episode Two", Eli Vance indicates that he also knows the G-Man, referring to him as "our mutual friend". Additionally, in "Episode Two", Alyx Vance is directly spoken to by the G-Man while she is unconscious, and then repeats the words to her father per his instructions, confirming that she and the G-Man have come into contact.


title: G-Man (Half-Life)

text: In "Half-Life: Alyx", the G-Man is absent from most of the story and is constrained by the Combine in a levitating prison called the Vault. After he is freed by Alyx Vance, he pulls her into his dimension. Alyx mistakes him for Gordon Freeman, which amuses the G-Man. Alyx asks who he is, but he refuses to answer, saying "what" he is, is not important. Instead, he offers his services to her. Alyx requests that the G-Man remove the Combine from Earth, but he stresses that this action would contradict the interests of his "employers". He offers an alternate service, subjecting her to a future event and giving her the power to kill the Advisor that would murder her father. Alyx does so and saves Eli's life, where the G-Man points out she has proven a worthy successor to Freeman, whom he claims to have grown dissatisfied with due to Freeman's inability or refusal to carry out his orders. Alyx asks that he send her home, but the G-Man simply replies that she misunderstands the situation before forcing her into stasis.


title: G-Man (Half-Life)

text: The G-Man appears to have many inhuman abilities. He seems to have the power to appear in any place he chooses, including moving to and from other dimensions on a whim. He is also able to stop or slow down time at various points. In "Half-Life", the G-Man will repeatedly appear in places that he should not be able to exit unnoticed or at all, yet has disappeared by the time the player can reach these areas. At the very end of "Half-Life 2", on top of the Citadel, he halts time completely during a huge explosion that would have killed Gordon and Alyx.


title: G-Man (Half-Life)

text: The G-Man seems to be able to take people into "parallel universe"-like "voids" and put them into stasis; this void is also known as his 'plane'. In most games featuring the G-Man, there are several sequences when he is talking at close range to the player, and various areas can be seen in the background, including areas from Black Mesa or even areas the player will visit later into the game. In these sequences, the G-Man talks to the player (the player's character never responds or reacts in any way, except in "Half-Life: Alyx") and can be seen quickly appearing in different portions of the screen, in dream-like sequences. In "Half-Life 2: Episode One", Vortigaunts enter the G-Man's plane and hold him back while chanting, which is accompanied by the creation of portal-like structures. This is one of the first instances that the G-Man is seen hindered in his own dimension.


title: G-Man (Half-Life)

text: The G-Man seems to possess a form of technopathy, being able to display his own image on unplugged TVs and "Breen-casts". He is also seen operating a wide range of machinery, from cellular phones and sealed steel doors to nuclear warheads and teleporters. In addition, he appears to have the ability to plant subconscious suggestions or commands in others through psychic or hypnotic means, as he demonstrates on Alyx Vance in "Half-Life 2: Episode Two" by ordering her to relay a phrase to her father, which she does with no apparent awareness of what she was doing.


title: G-Man (Half-Life)

text: He also hints at having additional, unseen powers in "Half-Life 2: Episode Two" and "Half-Life: Alyx". The G-Man expresses regret at not being able to do more than keeping an eye on Gordon Freeman, claiming his employers have given him "restrictions".


title: G-Man (Half-Life)

text: GameDaily listed the G-Man as number 5 of the top 25 evil video game masterminds of all time in 2008. The G-Man is famous in the "Garry's Mod" community for his numerous humorous poses, exaggerated facial expressions and/or as a running joke in many videos, relayed by the "YTMND" community. He was placed as the fourth "biggest freak" on PlayStation's games by "PlayStation Official Magazine". TheGamer also included and claimed G-Man as the best meme character ever.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: The Fall of the Roman Empire is a 1964 American epic historical drama film directed by Anthony Mann and produced by Samuel Bronston, with a screenplay by Ben Barzman, Basilio Franchina and Philip Yordan. The film stars Sophia Loren, Stephen Boyd, Alec Guinness, James Mason, Christopher Plummer, Mel Ferrer, and Omar Sharif.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: When filming for "El Cid" (1961) had finished, Anthony Mann saw a copy of Edward Gibbon's 1776–1789 six-volume series "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" inside the Hatchards bookshop. He pitched a film adaptation of the book to Samuel Bronston, who then agreed to produce the project. Philip Yordan was enlisted to write the script while Charlton Heston was initially set to star. However, Heston backed out of the film and agreed to star in "55 Days at Peking" (1963). Prominent actors were cast to portray multiple roles in the film. The final screenplay was written by Ben Barzman and Basilio Franchina with a prologue written by historian Will Durant. Filming began in January 1963 and wrapped in July. Additionally, the film featured the largest outdoor film set in the history of film at that time, a replica of the Roman Forum.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: The film's name refers not to the final fall of the Roman empire, which did in fact survive for centuries after the period depicted in the film, but rather to the onset of corruption and decadence which led to Rome's demise. It deals extensively with the problem of imperial succession, and examines both the relationship between father and son on the background of imperial politics as well as the nature and limits of loyalty and friendship.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: On March 24, 1964, the film premiered at the London Astoria. Critics criticized the script as void of emotion and humanity and the directing as misguided, but showed some praise for the large spectacles. The film was a financial failure at the box-office.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: In the winter of 180 AD, the ailing Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius fights to keep Germanic tribes from invading his northern territories on the Danube frontier. His deputies are the Greek ex-slave Timonides and the stern and honest general Gaius Livius. Privately Aurelius holds egalitarian ideals, and wants a successor who will reform the empire and grant equal rights to all its subjects; this disqualifies his son Commodus, who prefers to rule by force. Instead, Aurelius decides to nominate Livius, Commodus' closest friend and the lover of the emperor's daughter Lucilla.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: Before Aurelius can announce his plan, he is poisoned by Commodus' cronies, who hope to secure their own political future by putting their friend on the throne. Feeling that a plebeian such as himself would never be accepted as emperor without Aurelius' explicit backing, Livius lets his old friend take the position instead. Commodus was not part of the murder plot, but nonetheless hated his father for trying to deny him the throne. He dedicates himself to undoing all of Aurelius' policies of equality, and to extracting heavy taxes from the provinces to enrich the city of Rome.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: Meanwhile, Livius' army defeats the Germans on the frontier. Among the captives are the chieftain Ballomar and his court. Timonides and Lucilla convince Livius to advocate for mercy towards the conquered barbarians, thus perpetuating the legacy of Aurelius. Timonides wins the Germans' trust by successfully undergoing an ordeal, having his hand held in the flame of a torch without crying out, and they agree to submit to the judgement of the Roman Senate. Despite hostility from Commodus, speeches by Livius and Timonides persuade the senators to let the German captives become peaceful farmers on Italian land, thereby encouraging their fellow barbarians to cooperate with Rome instead of fighting it. Thwarted, Commodus sends Livius back to the northern frontier and Lucilla to Armenia, with whose king, Sohaemus, she shares a loveless political marriage.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: Lucilla joins a revolt in Rome's eastern provinces, where a famine has been exacerbated by the new taxes. Commodus sends his northern army against the rebels, knowing that Livius will put aside personal feelings and fight to preserve the unity of the Empire. As the opposing Roman armies meet for battle, Sohaemus arrives and attacks Livius with both the Armenian army and troops borrowed from Rome's archenemy, the Persians. The rebels patriotically decide to fight Persia instead of Rome, joining with Livius and helping him to vanquish Sohaemus. As a reward Commodus declares Livius his co-emperor, but only on condition that the northern army inflicts harsh punishments on the rebellious provinces.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: Rejecting this piece of brutality, Livius and Lucilla take their army to Rome, intending to make Commodus abdicate. The emperor responds by bribing away the soldiers' loyalty and massacring Timonides and the population of the German colony. Lucilla tries to hire Verulus, Commodus’ gladiator bodyguard, to assassinate her brother; Verulus declines, confessing that he slept with Aurelius’ wife and that Commodus is his illegitimate son.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: The Senate declares Commodus a god, and Livius and Lucilla are sentenced to be burned alive as human sacrifices to the new deity as the Roman citizens drunkenly celebrate. In consideration of their former friendship, Commodus offers Livius a duel for the throne. The two fight with javelins in the Roman Forum, where Livius eventually runs Commodus through. At last Livius is free to become emperor, but he has lost faith in Rome's ability to reform. He departs the city with Lucilla, as Commodus' old advisers fight over the throne and offer competing bribes to the army in an attempt to gain military support.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: A voice-over epilogue states that though the Roman Empire did not fall immediately, internal corruption led to its eventual collapse.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: The idea for "The Fall of the Roman Empire" originated with Anthony Mann who had just finished directing "El Cid" (1961). In London, while waiting for a taxi cab, he spotted an Oxford concise edition of Edward Gibbon's six-volume series "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" near the front window at the Hatchards bookshop. Mann then considered a film adaptation of the book as his next project after having read the book on a flight trip to Madrid, in which he later presented the idea to Samuel Bronston to which the producer agreed. In July 1961, Bronston told "The New York Times" that "The Fall of the Roman Empire" would be his next project, but he had also ruled out filming on location in Rome. He stated that upon "checking I found the Eternal City was not the 'city' of the time of the fall of the empire, so we'll build our 'Rome' in Madrid." Additionally, Philip Yordan had been tasked to write the script while Charlton Heston was being offered the role of Marcus Aurelius.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: In September 1961, Bronston formally announced he was planning a trilogy of historical spectacles in Spain, which included "The Fall of the Roman Empire" with Mann and Heston returning to direct and star in. Filming was initially set in February 1962, with the production design for the Roman Forum being placed under construction under Veniero Colasanti and John Moore's supervision. However, Heston had disliked Yordan's script for the film. In December, at the premiere of "El Cid" in Madrid, Heston told Bronston associate Michael Waszynski that he was uninterested in starring in "The Fall of the Roman Empire". On the next day, during a jet flight back to Los Angeles, Yordan, who was seated next to Heston, and director Nicholas Ray pitched the idea for "55 Days at Peking" (1963) to him. Subsequently, "55 Days at Peking" went into production while "Roman Empire" was placed on hold. The elaborate sets for "Roman Empire" were later demolished and replaced with the Forbidden City sets for "55 Days at Peking".


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: In April 1963, Mann explained to the "Los Angeles Times" that while the film was not a direct adaptation of Gibbon's volume series, the focus on a fifteen-year period from Marcus Aurelius' reign to Commodus' death was backed by historians as "the turning point in the history of the empire and by concentrating our story on it we can keep the same group of characters within the range of our drama." Having selected a focal point for the film, screenwriter Basilio Franchina was hired for his broad knowledge of the period while Ben Barzman would handle the actual writing of the script. Together, they subsequently wrote a 350-page film treatment. After this, Mann consulted with the screenwriters on further developing the characters, in which they wrote six drafts in total. The sixth draft would be developed throughout the shooting of the film. Mann later explained, "The writing took us more than one year. We did not have artists in mind when we were writing; but we wanted characters with memorable scenes to attract artists of the calibre of Guinness to want to play them."


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: As the script was being written, the Roman Forum was being constructed at Bronston's studio backlot although their script had made no mention of it. Under Yordan's supervision, the action was re-written for scenes they had not written for the Forum to occur there, which brought much dismay from Barzman. In January 1963, it was reported that historian Will Durant had written a prologue for the film.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: It was envisioned that Heston would be cast as Livius, but he turned it down. The part had also been offered to Kirk Douglas, who turned it down as well following an offer of $1.5 million. In 1971, he later said he regretted this "because with $1.5 million there are lots of things you can do that you want to." In May 1962, it was announced that Stephen Boyd, who played opposite to Heston in "Ben-Hur" (1959), would play the lead opposite Gina Lollobrigida as Lucilla. In September 1962, it was announced that Sophia Loren had been cast as Lucilla, in which she was paid $1 million.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: In August 1962, it was reported that Alec Guinness had been cast as Marcus Aurelius, while Richard Harris, Albert Finney, John Gielgud, Terence Stamp were being considered for other roles. Later that same month, it was reported that Harris had been cast as Commodus. However, in January 1963, he was replaced by Christopher Plummer who had pulled out of "The V.I.P.s" (1963) to do so. Harris would later play the role of Marcus Aurelius in the similarly themed 2000 film "Gladiator". By the time filming was set to begin, Anthony Quayle, Omar Sharif, John Ireland, and Mel Ferrer had been cast in supporting roles.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: Principal photography began on January 14, 1963. Marcus Aurelius's winter camp on the Danube was shot on location in the snow along the Sierra de Guadarrama in northern Madrid. By the next month, filming in the area was suspended due to a severe blizzard. The "Battle of the Four Armies" involved 8,000 soldiers including 1,200 cavalry and was shot on an undulating plain at Manzanares el Real, which allowed large numbers of soldiers to be visible over a long distance.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: Meanwhile, Yakima Canutt had been hired as the second unit director at the insistence of Mann. As he had done in "El Cid" (1961), Canutt performed his own stunts while his son Tap served as the stunt double for Stephen Boyd. Jack Williams served as the body double for Christopher Plummer. Among the first scenes shot was the chariot race sequence between Livius and Commodus. 1,500 horses were gathered from Spain and Portugal for which they were trained to fall safety during the battle sequences.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: Interior scenes were shot in Madrid at the Samuel Bronston Studios (formerly known as the Chamartín Studios) and at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome where Commodus's baths and gymnasiums were constructed. Filming had been arranged to shoot at Cinecittà in order to make it eligible for government subsidies. In July 1963, filming was finished after 143 days. Second unit directors Canutt and Andrew Marton spent an additional 63 days shooting the action sequences.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: Veniero Colasanti and John Moore served as the art directors overseeing the production design with the guidance of Will Durant. Actual construction began on October 1, 1962, using 1,100 men who labored for seven months. About 400 art students and craftsmen throughout Spain worked on the statuary, tiles, frescoes, and details of the set. The film's reconstruction of the Roman Forum was constructed in Las Matas near Madrid, approximately sixteen miles from Bronston's studio. The entire set was measured at 400 x 230 meters (1312 x 754 feet), which holds the record for the largest outdoor film set. Uniquely for the film, the set was not extended through the use of matte paintings.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: The Temple of Jupiter was constructed on a 95-foot high hill along the plains of Las Matas by which craftsmen built the 165-foot temple on it. The bronze equestrian figures at the top of the temple were 260 feet above the pavement of the forum set. For the statuary, 350 statues had to be constructed. There were 76 life-size statues, more than a thousand sculpted bases for the remaining figures and victory columns, and a series of the aforementioned equestrian statues that were 25 feet high. Ultimately, more than 3,000 sketches were drawn to illustrate the 27 structures that would comprise the sets. The various ancient Rome settings covered . After much of the set was pulled down, the remaining sections were reused in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (1966).


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: Dimitri Tiomkin's score, which is one of the notable features of the film, is more than 150 minutes in length. It is scored for a large orchestra, including an important part for cathedral organ. Several cues are extended compositions in their own right. These include "Pax Romana" in which Marcus Aurelius summons the governors of all the Roman provinces. Although Christopher Palmer stated in his book on film music, "The Composer in Hollywood", that it was a march, the cue is actually in the style of a bolero.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: Other notable cues include those for "The Roman Forum", composed to accompany Commodus's triumphal return to Rome as the newly installed Emperor; a percussive scherzo for a barbarian attack by Ballomar's army; the Tarantella danced by the Roman mob on the evening presaging the gladiatorial combat between Livius and Commodus (which seems to be modelled on the Tarantella movement from the Piano Concerto of Tiomkin's teacher Ferruccio Busoni).


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: The music was recorded at the Royal Albert Hall. The music editor was George Korngold, son of Erich Wolfgang Korngold. A soundtrack album was released by Columbia Records to coincide with the release of the film.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: Prior to the film's release, columnist Hedda Hopper predicted in the "Los Angeles Times" that "this beautiful, honest, superbly done film will make millions." The film had its world premiere screening at the London Astoria on March 24, 1964, and ran there for 70 weeks. Two days later, the film premiered at the DeMille Theater in New York City. In April 1964, the film was screened out of competition at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival. Sophia Loren was a guest, appearing at the premiere on a chariot.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: The film had been shot in Ultra Panavision 70 with a 2.76:1 aspect ratio, although it was never screened in that format. Instead, it was screened with a 2.20:1 aspect ratio for 70mm roadshow presentations, and subsequently in 35mm at 2.35:1 during the film's general release. The film's original running time had totaled 184 minutes including an overture, intermission, and exit music. However, for the film's general release, the film was reduced by half an hour.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: In conjunction with the film's release, a paperback novelization also titled "The Fall of the Roman Empire" was published by Fawcett Publications. The novelization was written by Harry Whittington and was based on the film's screenplay. The cover of the novel is a screenshot from the film. The text of the novel provides a more detailed exposition of the film's plot line. Other covers that were not screenshots of the film were used for this novel of the film.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: The film was first released on LaserDisc in a letterboxed format during the 1990s. The most complete version of the film was released on Super 8mm in the early 1990s, extracted from a 16mm print.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: On April 29, 2008, the film was released on a three-disc limited collector's edition DVD as part of the Miriam Collection by the Weinstein Company. This edition included bonus materials including an audio commentary by Bill Bronston (son of producer Samuel Bronston) and biographer Mel Martin; a reproduction of the original 1964 souvenir program; a behind-the-scenes look at the fall of the real Roman Empire; a "making of" documentary; five "Encyclopædia Britannica" featurettes on the Roman Empire; and a set of six color production stills. The Blu-ray disc was released in the United Kingdom on May 16, 2011.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: Bosley Crowther of "The New York Times" sharply criticized the film writing, "So massive and incoherent is it, so loaded with Technicolored spectacles, tableaus and military melees that have no real meaning or emotional pull, that you're likely to have the feeling after sitting through its more than three hours (not counting time out for intermission), that the Roman Empire has fallen on you. The reason it misses is obvious — misses as entertainment, that is, not as a mass of noisy footage that leaves the senses flattened and numbed. There isn't a character in it for whom you're made to care two hoots —or, indeed, made to feel is important, or, for that matter, made to understand. The fellows who wrote the screenplay — Ben Barzman, Basilio Franchina and Philip Yordan—have failed completely to shape a drama that has human interest or even sense." "Time" magazine criticized the production design as well noting "Bronston's Rome is patently too fabulous to have been built in a day, but it doesn't look lived-in either. Director Anthony Mann makes it a picture-book setting aswarm with extras behaving like extras and movie stars all dressed up to face posterity in spanking new tunics, togas, and armor."


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: Hollis Alpert of "Saturday Review" wrote: "Never before have script writers (there were three involved) written a screenplay like this one, in which the two main parts are complete voids. One must assume Mr. Bronston offered Mr. Boyd and Miss Loren huge sums to journey to Spain for the movie, they took time only to read the contract and not the script. Several others also appear to great disadvantage in the film, among them James Mason, Omar Sharif, Mel Ferrer, and Anthony Quayle." Philip K. Scheuer, reviewing for the "Los Angeles Times", felt the film was "more like a recapitulation of all the great movie spectacles, historical and pseudo, than a monumental entity in itself." He further wrote "Yet the only emotion it engenders is excitement — intermittent excitement, and its art lies in its parts (the camera work, the color, a few of the performances, even the music) but not in their sum. Its triumph is the triumphs of its technicians, of matter over mind." In contrast, "Variety" praised the film summarizing that "Large in theme and concept, colorful in treatment, "The Fall of the Roman Empire" is Sam Bronston's greatest coup de cinema."


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: Among later reviews, Mike Cummings from AllMovie gave the film a positive review, praising the film for its performances and musical score. Leonard Maltin awarded the film 3 out of 4 stars, writing "Intelligent scripting, good direction, and fine acting place this far above the usual empty-headed spectacle". Steven H. Scheuer disliked the film at first and asked his "Movies on TV" readers to "excuse the divine Sophia Loren for looking so uncomfortable," but later reconsidered his opinion and rated it 3 out of 4 stars.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: The film has a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 13 reviews, with an average of 7.20 out of 10.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: The film grossed $4.8 million at the box office in the United States and Canada, from which it returned $1.9 million in North American distributor rentals.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: Following the release of "The Fall of the Roman Empire", Bronston was slated to release "Circus World" in the following June. In March 1964, it was reported that Pierre S. du Pont III took over the company, in which he had signed guarantee bonds for the films to reach completion so it would enable Bronston to raise finance. However, two months later, in June 1964, Bronston Production filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reporting over $5.6 million in debts to du Pont.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: In May 1971, Bronston attempted a comeback with a planned epic about Isabella of Spain. Glenda Jackson had signed to portray the title role while John Philip Law was to play Ferdinand II, but the film was never made. In the following June, a court ordered Bronston to pay Du Pont $3 million.


title: The Fall of the Roman Empire (film)

text: During the bankruptcy proceedings, Bronston was asked, under oath, by a lawyer for one of the creditors if he had had an account in Zurich at any time while running the company. He answered that the company had had an account there for six months. While that answer was true, later research found that Bronston personally had had an account in Zurich at another time, and the lawyers referred the case to federal prosecutors who secured a perjury conviction against Bronston. He appealed, on the grounds that while he had not told the whole truth, he had not been lying about the company's Zurich account. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, but in 1973 the United States Supreme Court agreed with Bronston, holding unanimously that "literally truthful but technically misleading" answers to questions under oath did not constitute perjury and instead examiners should ask further questions clarifying the matter.


title: Groom of the Stool

text: The Groom of the Stool (formally styled: "Groom of the King's Close Stool") was the most intimate of an English monarch's courtiers, responsible for assisting the king in excretion and hygiene.


title: Groom of the Stool

text: The physical intimacy of the role naturally led to his becoming a man in whom much confidence was placed by his royal master and with whom many royal secrets were shared as a matter of course. This secret information—while it would never have been revealed, for it would have led to the discredit of his honour—in turn led to his becoming feared and respected and therefore powerful within the royal court in his own right. The office developed gradually over decades and centuries into one of administration of the royal finances, and under Henry VII, the Groom of the Stool became a powerful official involved in setting national fiscal policy, under the "chamber system".


title: Groom of the Stool

text: Later, the office was renamed Groom of the Stole. The Tudor historian David Starkey classes this change as classic Victorianism: "When the Victorians came to look at this office, they spelt it s-t-o-l-e, and imagined all kinds of fictions about elaborate robes draped around the neck of the monarch at the coronation"; however, the change is in fact seen as early as the 17th century.


title: Groom of the Stool

text: The Groom of the Stool was a male servant in the household of the English monarch who was responsible for assisting the king in his toileting needs. It is a matter of some debate as to whether the duties involved cleaning the king's anus, but the groom is known to have been responsible for supplying a bowl, water and towels and also for monitoring the king's diet and bowel movements and liaising with the Royal Doctor about the king's health. The appellation "Groom of the Close Stool" derived from the item of furniture used as a toilet. It also appears as "Grom of the Stole" as the word "Groom" comes from the Old Low Franconian word "Grom".


title: Groom of the Stool

text: By the Tudor age, the role of Groom of the Stool was fulfilled by a substantial figure, such as Hugh Denys (d. 1511) who was a member of the Gloucestershire gentry, married to an aristocratic wife, and who died possessing at least four manors. The function was transformed into that of a virtual minister of the royal treasury, being then an essential figure in the king's management of fiscal policy.


title: Groom of the Stool

text: In the early years of Henry VIII's reign, the title was awarded to court companions of the king who spent time with him in the privy chamber. These were generally the sons of noblemen or important members of the gentry. In time they came to act as virtual personal secretaries to the king, carrying out a variety of administrative tasks within his private rooms. The position was an especially prized one, as it allowed unobstructed access to the king. David Starkey writes: "The Groom of the Stool had (to our eyes) the most menial tasks; his standing, though, was the highest ... Clearly then, the royal body service must have been seen as entirely honourable, without a trace of the demeaning or the humiliating." Further, "the mere word of the Gentleman of the Privy Chamber was sufficient evidence in itself of the king's will", and the Groom of the Stool bore "the indefinable charisma of the monarchy".


title: Groom of the Stool

text: The office was exclusively one serving male monarchs, so on the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, it was replaced by the First Lady of the Bedchamber, first held by Kat Ashley. The office effectively came to an end when it was "neutralised" in 1559.


title: Groom of the Stool

text: In Scotland the valets of the chamber like John Gibb had an equivalent role. On the accession of James I, the male office was revived as the senior Gentleman of the Bedchamber, who always was a great nobleman who had considerable power because of its intimate access to the king. During the reign of Charles I, the term "stool" appears to have lost its original signification of "chair". From 1660 the office of Groom of the Stole (revived with the Restoration of the Monarchy) was invariably coupled with that of First Gentleman (or Lady) of the Bedchamber; as effective Head of the royal Bedchamber, the Groom of the Stole was a powerful individual who had the right to attend the monarch at all times and to regulate access to his or her private quarters. Incongruously, the office of Groom of the Stole continued in use during the reign of Queen Anne, when it was held by a duchess who combined its duties with those of Mistress of the Robes.


title: Groom of the Stool

text: Under the Hanoverians the 'Groom of the Stole' began to be named in "The London Gazette". In 1726, John Chamberlayne wrote that while the Lord Chamberlain has oversight of all Officers belonging to the King's Chamber, 'the Precinct of the King's Bed-Chamber […] is wholly under the Groom of the Stole'. Chamberlayne defines the Groom of the Stole as the first of the Gentlemen of the Bedchamber; translating his title ('from the Greek') as 'Groom or Servant of the Long-robe or Vestment', he explains that he has 'the Office and Honour to present and put on his Majesty's first Garment or Shirt every morning, and to order the Things of the Bed-Chamber'. By 1740 the Groom of the Stole is described as having 'the care of the king's wardrobe'.


title: Groom of the Stool

text: The office again fell into abeyance with the accession of Queen Victoria, though her husband, Prince Albert, and their son, Edward, Prince of Wales, employed similar courtiers; but when Edward acceded to the throne as King Edward VII in 1901, he discontinued the office.


title: Groom of the Stool

text: Heneage and Denny, as servants "whom he used secretly about him", were privy to Henry VIII's most intimate confidences about Anne of Cleves. He told them he doubted her virginity, on account of "her brests so slacke".


title: Groom of the Stool

text: "Victoria did not appoint a Groom of the Stole; appointments were made, however, in the households of her husband and eldest son".


title: Kelly Jones

text: Kelly Jones (born 3 June 1974) is a Welsh singer-songwriter and a founding member, lead singer, and guitarist of the rock band Stereophonics.


title: Kelly Jones

text: Kelly Jones was born youngest of three boys for Beryl and Arwyn Jones in the small Welsh former mining village of Cwmaman, Rhondda Cynon Taf, spending his childhood with them and his two older brothers, Kevin and Lee.