🔘 SUCCESSION IN EARLY BYZANTIUM “Now at that same time the emperor Anastasius had three grandsons, namely, Pompeius, Probus, and Hypatius. Considering which one of them he should make his successor, he invited them to have luncheon with him one day, and after luncheon to take their midday siesta within the palace, where he had a couch prepared for each of them. Under the pillow on one couch he ordered the symbol of royalty to be put, and decided that whichever of them chose that couch for his nap, in him he ought to recognise the one to whom he should later turn over the rule. One of the grandsons threw himself down on one couch, but the other two, from brotherly affection, took their places together on another, and so it happened that none of them slept on the couch where the emblem of royalty had been placed. When Anastasius saw this, he began to ponder, and learning from it that none of them should rule, he began to pray to God that He would show him a sign, so that while he still lived he might know who should receive the royal power after his death. While he was considering the question with fasting and prayer, one night in a dream he saw a man, who advised him as follows: "The person whose arrival shall first be announced to you tomorrow in your bedroom will be the one to receive your throne after you." Now it chanced that Justinus, who was commander of the watch, on coming to a place whither he had been directed to go by the emperor, was the first to be announced to him by his head-chamberlain. And when the king knew this, he began to thank God for having deigned to reveal to him who his successor should be.” The Anonymus Valesianus

“What is truth?” Pontius Pilate

🔵 CARTHAGO NOVA, SPAIN “It stands about half-way down the coast of Iberia in a gulf which faces south-west, running about twenty stades inland, and about ten stades broad at its entrance. The whole gulf is made a harbour by the fact that an island1lies at its mouth and thus makes the entrance channels on each side of it exceedingly narrow. It breaks the force of the waves also, and the whole gulf has thus smooth water, except when south-west winds setting down the two channels raise a surf: with all other winds it is perfectly calm, from being so nearly landlocked. In the recess of the gulf a mountain juts out in the form of a chersonese, and it is on this mountain that the city stands, surrounded by the sea on the east and south, and on the west by a lagoon extending so far northward that the remaining space to the sea on the other side, to connect it with the continent, is not more than two stades. The city itself has a deep depression in its centre, presenting on its south side a level approach from the sea; while the rest of it is hemmed in by hills, two of them mountainous and rough, three others much lower, but rocky and difficult of ascent; the largest of which lies on the east of the town running out into the sea, on which stands a temple of Asclepius. Exactly opposite this lies the western mountain in a closely-corresponding position, on which a palace had been erected at great cost, which it is said was built by Hasdrubal when he was aiming at establishing royal power. The remaining three lesser elevations bound it on the north, of which the westernmost is called the hill of Hephaestus, the next to it that of Aletes,—who is believed to have attained divine honours from having been the discoverer of the silver mines,—and the third is called the hill of Cronus. The lagoon has been connected with the adjoining sea artificially for the sake of the maritime folk; and over the channel thus cut between it and the sea a bridge has been built, for beasts of burden and carts to bring in provisions from the country.” Polybius, histories

ST AUGUSTINE. “I fell upon a certain book of Cicero, whose speech almost all admire, not so his heart. This book of his contains an exhortation to philosophy, and is called “Hortensius.” But this book altered my affections, and turned my prayers to Thyself O Lord; and made me have other purposes and desires. Every vain hope at once became worthless to me; and I longed with an incredibly burning desire for an immortality of wisdom, and began now to arise, that I might return to Thee.”

🟣 SENECA ON GLADIATORIAL CONTESTS The Roman philosopher Seneca took a dim view of gladiatorial contests and the spectacle that accompanied them. Interestingly, his criticism is not based on revulsion at the butchery he witnesses, but because the display is boring and therefore unworthy of the attention of a well-reasoned man. "There is nothing so ruinous to good character as to idle away one's time at some spectacle. Vices have a way of creeping in because of the feeling of pleasure that it brings. Why do you think that I say that I personally return from shows greedier, more ambitious and more given to luxury, and I might add, with thoughts of greater cruelty and less humanity, simply because I have been among humans?” “Unhappy as I am, how have I deserved that I must look on such a scene as this? Do not, my Lucilius, attend the games, I pray you. Either you will be corrupted by the multitude, or, if you show disgust, be hated by them. So stay away."

Rise and fall of ancient Rome.

⚪️ ROUGH LIGURIANS “The nights the Ligurians (north west italy and southern france) spend in the fields, rarely in a kind of crude shanty or hut, more often in the hollows of rocks and natural caves which may offer them sufficient protection. In pursuance of these habits they have also other practices wherein they preserve the manner of life which is primitive and lacking in implements. Speaking generally, in these regions the women possess the vigour and might of men, and the men those of wild beasts. Indeed, they say that often times in campaigns the mightiest warrior among the Gauls has been challenged to single combat by a quite slender Ligurian and slain. The weapons of the Ligurians are lighter in their structure than those of the Romans; for their protection is a long shield, worked in the Gallic fashion, and a shirt gathered in with a belt, and about them they throw the skins of wild animals and carry a sword of moderate size; but some of them, now that they have been incorporated in the Roman state, have changed the type of their weapons, adapting themselves to their rulers.” Diodorus Siculus

For some reason this bike never gets me to the pub.

GN 🟠🟣

"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

🟢 AGRIPPINA THE YOUNGER Agrippina the Younger was a prominent figure in the Julio-Claudian dynasty of Roman emperors. Born Julia Agrippina Minor in 15 AD, she was the daughter of the celebrated general Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, making her a great-granddaughter of Emperor Augustus. This illustrious lineage positioned her at the heart of Roman power. Agrippina's life was marked by both tragedy and ambition. She witnessed the rise and fall of her brother, Caligula, who succeeded their uncle Tiberius as emperor. After Caligula's assassination, Agrippina played a pivotal role in securing the throne for her uncle, Claudius. This involved navigating treacherous political waters and overcoming societal norms by marrying Claudius, her uncle, in 49 AD. As empress, Agrippina wielded considerable power. She effectively promoted her son, Nero, as Claudius' heir, ensuring his succession to the throne. However, her influence did not diminish after Claudius' death. Agrippina continued to exert significant control over her young son, often meddling in his affairs of state. Ultimately, Nero, fearing his mother's growing power and interference, ordered her assassination in 59 AD.

"I sing of arms and the man, who, forced by fate, and haughty Juno's unrelenting hate, expell'd from Troy, brought war to Italy"

⚫️ THE 14TH AND THE BATAVIANS “Vitellius decided to send them back to Britain, from which Nero had withdrawn them, and in the meantime to have the Batavian cohorts camp with them, because the Batavians had had a difference of long standing with the Fourteenth. Peace did not last long among armed men who hated one another so violently. At Turin a Batavian charged a workman with being a thief, while a legionary defended the workman as his host; thereupon their fellow-soldiers rallied to the support of each and matters soon passed from words to blows. In fact there would have been a bloody battle if two Praetorian cohorts had not taken the side of the soldiers of the Fourteenth and inspired them with courage while they frightened the Batavians. Vitellius directed that the Batavians, as being trustworthy, should join his train, while the Fourteenth was to be conducted over the Graian Alps by a circuitous route to avoid Vienna, for the people of Vienna also gave him alarm.” Tacitus, Histories

It iiiiiis what it iiiiiiiis.

🟡 TRIBUNE OF THE PLEBS “But it was the speech of his colleague, Tiberius Gracchus, that produced the greatest effect. He said that for a man to use his official position as the instrument of his own personal animosities was in any case setting a bad precedent, but for a tribune of the plebs to become the agent of another man's vindictiveness was a disgraceful proceeding quite unworthy of the power and inviolability of the college of tribunes. Each man ought to judge for himself whom to love and whom to hate, what actions to approve of and what to disapprove of; he must not wait upon another man's look or nod, nor must he be driven hither and thither by the motives which sway another man's mind. A tribune who becomes the tool of an angry consul and is careful to remember what M. Aemilius entrusted to him privately, forgets that the tribuneship was entrusted to him publicly by the people of Rome, and entrusted to him for the protection and liberty of private citizens, not for the defence of an autocratic consul.” Livy, history of Rome

🟤 IN THE MOUNTAINS OF SCOTLAND "He [Agricola] sent his fleet ahead to plunder at various points and thus spread uncertainty and terror, and, with an army marching light, which he had reinforced with the bravest of the Britons and those whose loyalty had been proved during a long peace, reached the Graupian Mountain, which he found occupied by the enemy. The Britons were, in fact, undaunted by the loss of the previous battle, and welcomed the choice between revenge and enslavement. They had realized at last that common action was needed to meet the common danger, and had sent round embassies and drawn up treaties to rally the full force of all their states.” Tacitus, Agricola (XXIX)

🔶 ROME WAS TO BE FEARED "The security of Rome's frontiers was based on dominating her neighbours, very much in keeping with the belief that peace came from Roman victory. Rome was to be feared, which meant that her might was paraded as a constant reminder of her strength, while attackers were dealt with ruthlessly and the communities believed to support them ravaged with fire and sword." (From Pax Romana) Adrian Goldsworthy