The Exuberance of Imperial Youth

The Emperor's younger brother recently went for a constitutional walk on the Lomond hills.

Something in the air encouraged the young prince into a state of reckless abandon.

Its no way to run an empire ..... let me tell you.

Luckily my own subjects can count on a higher degree of imperial dignity and gravitas. :-)

[Just for the record: I had nothing to do with this picture, it was taken by my brother's consort!]

Pliny on the Nature of Exotic Birds

My old acquaintance Pliny the Elder (Uncle of my past Australian travelling companion, The Younger), had much to say on the nature of interesting and exotic bird life.

In book 10 of his encyclopaedic Natural Historia, Pliny notes:

"It followeth that we should speak of the nature of birds, of which the greatest are the Ostriches.* .. They are higher than a man sitting on horseback; and they are also swifter than a horse; their wings being only given them to help them in running; for otherwise they do not fly, nor do they even rise from the ground. It is a wonder in their nature, ... for, high as the rest of their body is, if they hide their head and neck in a bush, they think themselves altogether concealed. The advantages obtained from them are their eggs, that are so big that some use them for vessels; and their feathers adorn the crests and helmets of soldiers."

[Pliny, Natural Historia, X.1]

*Ostriches are part of the Ratite genus of which the Emu is also a close relative.

Shelf Life - The Vase

Funny how it seems that some objects have been in the family for ever.

The vase below has long been special to me and appears always to have belonged at my Mum's.

It fills me strongly with a sense of my own childhood. I was never allowed near it as a child! But now as a mature Emperor - she can't stop me.

I am told by the Imperial Mother that this simply designed slab vase was a present bought for her by her brother in 1966 as a special present for her 21st birthday. An original piece by the Swedish post-war designer, Stig Lindburg, it appealed to my Uncle's love of simple Scandinavian design, at a time when my Uncle himself was still a young student at Glasgow School of Art.

The depicted scenes with their honest, vibrant colours, are not fully known to my family. However, my august Mother has a notion, or perhaps part-memory, that it signifies the progression of the sainted Mary Magdalene. In some Christian traditions she was said to have landed on the South coast of France, near Marseilles, after the death of Christ.

There May be Trouble Ahead ...

I thought it was said that 'talk was cheap' ... , if not even free?

We should perhaps not take anything for granted as recession in Britain intensifies.

[A social observation; Edinburgh, South Bridge]

Unstable Gables - An Imperial Perspective

It seems that 2010 has not been kind to imperial roofs!

In late March, the emperor's court was shocked to hear of a ceiling collapse at old uncle Nero's famed Golden Palace - Domus Aurea. Situated between the Esquiline and Palatine hills in the centre of ancient Rome, the palace has stood for more than 2000 years. It was perhaps to have been expected that time would take its toll eventually.

'Rome was not built in a day' and it has certainly not decayed in one day either.

As if news from the old empire was not enough, consultation with my own august mother has recently confirmed that roofing work is also now required on my family's own imperial residence in Scotland.

The work required is not inconsiderable, and although I know the improvements will be sound, I find myself wondering for how long that roof will endure?

Will it be that my dynasty's own modest palace will endure into the futures of men as yet not even born?

[Master Roofer at work on the Imperial palace; applying wet harling]

For the recent collapse of the Domus Aurea see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8595660.stm

For the palace itself see also:
http://www.the-colosseum.net/history/domusaurea.htm

Cramond Island, Edinburgh

A striking summer sunset; off Cramond Island in the Forth Estuary, just outside Edinburgh.

For Cramond and its Island See: http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/edinburgh/cramond/index.html

One of my esteemed antecedents, Antoninus Pius (86 - 161 AD) built a fort at Cramond in the 140's AD. Its nice to pop back on a Summer's evening to view the old place. Its funny to muse that the northern most limmits of Antonius's old empire are now at the very centre of mine.

Caesar on Friends

"His friends he treated at all times with so great courtesy and tender respect, that when Caius Oppius, who accompanied him in his journey through a wild forest, fell suddenly ill, he gave him the only place there was to shelter them at night, and lay upon the ground in the open air. Moreover, when he became sovereign lord of all, he advanced some of his faithful followers, though of humble origin, to the highest place of honour. And when he was reproached for this partiality, he professed openly, that if he had used the help of robbers, of cutters and pirates in maintaining his own dignity, he would not fail to requite them for their services."

[Suetonius, Caesar, 72]