Caesar & Drinking

"That he was the most sparing drinker of wine, his very enemies did not even deny. Whereuopon rose the remark of Marcus Cato:"

'that Caesar was the only sober man amongst all those who had tried to overthrow the state'

[Suetonius, Julius Caesar, 53]

Tales from the Park

I saw this very sad poster in the park the other day.

 

I really hope George turns up. Its pretty cold out there and he looks like a nice wee fellow! Obviously much loved.

With Me & I

The hypnotic effect of the open road and some hardcore Hendrix reminds me strongly of that cult British classic, Withnail & I.

On this trip we did not run foul of the law - 'honestly Ocifer'. A full chicken dinner was not consumed on the passenger side - although a Marks and Spencers lunch might have been.

For details of the cult classic (a favourite of mine) see:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094336/

Berwick - Historic Border Town

Last weekend we spent an afternoon in the beautiful historic border town of Berwick. Just over an hour South of Edinburgh and only just inside the modern English Border, Berwick has for centuries been fought over by the English and the Scots.

A walk along the town's ancient walls at the mouth of the river Tweed was made strangely atmospheric by a very localised har fog that rose from the river.

The very old and somewhat delapidated stone buildings of the town added to a sense of the town's heritage.

I really liked it and hope to return to do more sightseeing on a clearer day. We would certianly recommend a visit if you get the chance.

See: http://www.exploreberwick.co.uk/

Anstruther by the Sea

[The picturesque fishing village. Anstruther, Fife, Scotland]

You'll Have had your Tea?

I am sure that we have all on occasion had house guests who have imposed on us at a bad time, or perhaps outstayed an original welcome? I know that I have.

Of course good manners - not to mention the primeval laws of human hospitality - dictate that one cannot refuse a visitor. Even harder when that visitor be friend, family or a work associate. Perhaps then, we should all spare a thought for that great statesman of the Late Roman Republic, Marcus Tulius Cicero, who in 45 BC was honoured by a rather onerous visit from his then political ally, Julius Caesar. Receiving this most powerful guest, probably at his estate at Pueoli, Cicero was alarmed to note that Caesar travelled with a personal retinue of no less than 2,000 men:

"His entourage moreover were lavishly entertained in three other dining rooms. The humbler freedmen and slaves had all they wanted - the smarter ones I entertained in style. In a word I showed I knew how to live. But my guest was not the kind of person to whom one says 'Do come again when you are next in the neighbourhood.' Once is enough. .... There you are, a visit, or should I call it a billeting, which as I said was troublesome to me but not disagreeable."

[Cicero, Letters to Atticus 110, Penguin, London 1986]

Of course the next time I am imposed upon in my small tenement flat, I shall think of Cicero and count myself lucky.

Rainbow over Leith

[Leith Docks, Edinburgh. Scotland]

For a History of Leith see:http://www.leithhistory.co.uk/