What does Arcoscephale mean?

[Twan]

No no, names give very precise information.

Arcocephale = their head is an arc... an allusion to the fact mind mages are the only good ranged unit of Arco

Man = a nation of simple men, standing no chance against magic and gods

etc...

[Sombre]

Ulm - the sound you make when you're randomly assigned them in a duel against Arcoscephale.

[Dedas]

Anyone here from Ulm?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulm

[capnq]

Maybe the capital of Arcoscephale is an arcology.

While we're on the subject, does anybody have an educated guess on how Arcoscephale is pronounced? When I look at it, I think "AR-co-seh-FAYL", but my limited knowledge of Greek makes me think it's more properly "ar-CO-seh-FA-lay".

[Agema]

Ancient Greek did not have a 'c', just kappa. Although kappa is often translated into English via the letter 'c', pronunciation should always be hard like a 'k'. In the case of Arcoscephale, all the vowels should be short (as in pAt, pOt, pEt). I think it should pronounce as 'Arkoskefaly'.

As for what it means...

"-cephale" would refer to head, as pointed out. "Arcos" would not mean arches or bridges as that's a Latin root. I think the nearest you could get to "Arcos" would probably be "arch-" rather than "arc-". The root is to be first or come before; an Archon was an ancient Greek ruler or magistrate for instance.

Hence Arcoscephale would mean literally 'head first'. You could interpret that several ways with artistic licence, but I like to do it as 'The mind is paramount'. I think it suits a nation who put great store in philosophy, science and other mental pursuits.

[Tuidjy]

Mine interpretation is very close to Agema. I always translated it as "lead by the Mind",
and I pronounce it Ar-KO-ceh-FAH-lee. They are also a favorite nation of mine.

[Technowolf]

Twan said:
Man = a nation of simple men, standing no chance against magic and gods

I always thought it was named after the Isle of Man, a British Territory located between Ireland and Britain.

[Agema]

I think Twan might have been joking

[Professor_Dyar]

Man is a reference to the Isle of Man, which is an island in the straits between Wales and Ireland that has had an active parliament for over a thousand years. I think that the island has been likened to the fabled island of Avalon, which is why the Devs chose it.

[lch]

I pronounce Arcoscephale like Arcoscephalos, and then lose the -os.
Arcos like arc, Cephalos like zephyr. So, more or less: Ar-Kos-Ze-Fal.