Suetonius on Caligula

Christian went on his way; yet, at the sight of the Old Man that sat in the mouth of the cave, he could not tell what to think, especially because he spake to him, though he could not go after him, saying, "You will never mend till more of you be burned." Bunyan

Heavily symbolic wherever you live

But when the bright light of all the world was put out, or, rather, when the Roman Empire was decapitated, and, to speak more correctly, the whole world perished in one city St. Jerome

Croesus on the pyre from an Attic Vase

And in the end The love you take Is equal to the love you make…

I could have been a contender

“The words of this wizard stand on their heads. In the language of Orthanc help means ruin, and saving means slaying, that is plain.” Gimli

“Well, there it goes again. … And we just sit here without opposable thumbs.”

Familiar

Dionysius of Halicarnassus

Roman fragment

Francois Tomb in Vulci, Italy, a fresco portrait of Vel Saties, an Etruscan aristocrat

Iron and Coal - by William Bell Scott ( with the little girl at the left ignoring Heath and safety issues / fire, hammers, hot metal etc )

Strong room Corbridge

Sol

Corbridge lion

She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…

Rome

A new model is finding connections spanning the Roman world

Teeth marks suggest 'terror bird' was killed by reptile 13 million years ago www.bbc.com/news/article...

Must have been a bit more attractive to the in crowd in the 30s

Nice spot for a Roman villa Lake Garda

Though 'The Game-Keeper's Daughter,' (1886) appears to have been painted directly from life, Edward Walton made it from a series of small sketches which he later worked up in his studio at Cockburnspath in the Scottish borders.

During the First World War, Louis and Antoinette Thuillier created thousands of glass negatives containing photographs of soldiers. The digitized images are astonishingly clear: you can read the date of a newspaper folded on a lap.

Or Bring me the head of Thomas More if you like

Fountain at villa near Lucca

No clouds at all

Clement Attlee on Stalin in 1945: “Reminded me of the Renaissance despots -no principles, any methods, but no flowery language - always yes or no, though you could only count on him if it was a no.”

Michael Collins and his sister the Teesside nun Helena Collins (Lena), a nun in Teesside received letters from her brother, Michael Collins, as Ireland’s fight for freedom raged on northeastbylines.co.uk/culture/hist...

“How true it is that in this world we can never tell behind what corner Fate may not be lurking with the brass knuckles.” P. G. Wodehouse,

Thus Gaius, after doing in three years, nine months, and twenty-eight days all that has been related, learned by actual experience that he was not a god. Dio Cassius being ironic about Caligula’s assassination

Clement Attlee puts the boot in - politely…

Day 1 at @imc-leeds.bsky.social ...

Oscar Wilde — 'There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book.Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.'

A bit depressing

Sound advice from Welsh artist Gwen John (1876 –1939): "Rules to Keep the World away: Do not listen to people (more than is necessary); Do not look at people (ditto); Have as little intercourse with people as possible; When you come into contact with people, talk as little a possible."

Elephant propaganda doesn’t come off

Yep

Heavy stuff man..

Julian Ashton (1851–1942) A Solitary Ramble, 1888.

“Perhaps we grow very strong, stronger than Wraiths. Lord Smeagol? Gollum the Great? The Gollum! Eat fish every day, three times a day, fresh from the sea. “