Foreign Warships

[Foreign Warships in the Port of Leith, Edinburgh - May 2012]

"When they [the Romans] saw that the war was dragging on, they undertook for the first time to build ships, a hundred quinqueremes and twenty triremes. As their shipwrights were absolutely inexperienced in building quinqueremes, such ships never having been in use in Italy, the matter caused them much difficulty, and this fact shows us better than anything else how spirited and daring the Romans are when they are determined to do a thing."

"It was not that they had fairly good resources for it, but they had none whatever, nor had they ever given a thought to the sea; yet when they once had conceived the project, they took it in hand so boldly, that before gaining any experience in the matter they at once engaged the Carthaginians who had held for generations undisputed command of the sea. Evidence of the truth of what I am saying and of their incredible pluck is this."

 

"When they first undertook to send their forces across to Messene not only had they not any decked ships, but no long warships at all, not even a single boat, and borrowing fifty-oared boats and triremes from the Tarentines and Locrians, and also from the people of Elea and Naples they took their troops across in these at great hazard."

"On this occasion the Carthaginians put to sea to attack them as they were crossing the straits, and one of their decked ships advanced too far in its eagerness to overtake them and running aground fell into the hands of the Romans."

'This ship they now used as a model, and built their whole fleet on its pattern; so that it is evident that if this had not occurred they would have been entirely prevented from carrying out their design by lack of practical knowledge."

[Polybius, Histories, Book I.20.9-20]

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To Be An Emperor: Galba

[Galba:  one of the short-lived 'pretenders' of AD 69 that ultimately failed to succeed Nero]



"Rome is not like primitive countries with their kings. Here we have no ruling caste dominating a nation of slaves. You are called to be the leader of men who can tolerate neither total slavery nor total liberty."

[Tacitus, Histories, I.16]

The imperial usurper Galba's advice to his prospective heir, Piso - as put into words, by the cynical historian Tacitus.

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The sentiment reminds us that the position of a Roman Emperor was far from simple, or indeed, comfortable. Imperial stability required a powerful and largely autocratic ruler. And yet Roman sensibility, as moulded by many centuries of Republican and distinctly xenophobic prejudice, would not tolerate even the semblance of a tyrant. Or even worse, a derided foreign King!  

It was a bitterly ironic paradox; the lack of understanding of which proved the undoing of Caesar, Caligula and Nero.

"I am Caesar, and no King"

[Suetonius, Life of Julius Caesar, 79]

To little, too late, proved the unconvincing protestations of the great dictator ... and he paid for his mistake on the floor of the Senate House.

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Despite commanding (or at least seeming to command) the semblance of absolute power and spectacular wealth, the stability and security of an Emperor's rule, was always a complex and delicate affair. In the broadest of human terms, the Stoic wisdom of Seneca recognised that we should not automatically envy those in lofty positions. Not when we consider that:

"... what look like towering heights are indeed precipices.  ... there are many who are forced to cling to their pinnacle because they cannot descend without falling ... they are not so much elevated as impaled." 

[Seneca, Dialogues: On Tranquillity of Mind, 10 ]

To wear the Imperial purple was without doubt the most lofty of such pinnacles; and a descent from its heights, even for those few who it might be argued genuinely sought it, was riven with dangers that were all but insurmountable.

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For State, a relinquishment of imperial rule risked a return to the bitter murder and incessant civil war that had so blighted the last ages of the Republic. For the ruler who would so relinquish that power, the risk was total oblivion. As Octavian himself considered before the establishment of the very Principate:

"The question we are considering is not a matter of seizing hold of something, but of resolving not to lose it and thus expose [ourselves] to further danger. For you will not be forgiven if you thrust the control of affairs into the hands of the populace, or even if you entrust it to some other man. Remember that many have suffered at your hands, that virtually all of them will lay claim to sovereign power and that none of them will be willing to let you go unpunished for your actions or survive as a rival."     

[Cassius Dio, Roman Histories, LII.17]

Thus was it a somewhat reluctant Emperor [Tiberius] who had deftly perceived that to rule Rome was indeed like:

"... holding a wolf by the ears."

[Suetonius, Life of Tiberius, 25]

An Emperor was only safely in control, in so long as he held the power and guile not to release the unpredictable and savage animal that he so sought to dominate. Fail to dominate that savage animal and he was as good as dead. 

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To the casual observer a Roman Emperor seemed all powerful, but ever was his position actually vulnerable and fraught with threat.  To rule was inherently dangerous and yet to relinquish rule could be more dangerous still. What looked like towering heights, were indeed, precipices for some ....

Getting Ready for Scottish Independence ....

Moving the Imperial Capital

Sometimes an Emperor is compelled to move his capital city.

Such an eventuality was undertaken in the reign of my great ancestor Constantine the Great.  In 330 A.D. Constantine undertook the decision to transfer the seat of Roman imperial power from ancestral Rome to the Eastern Greek city of Byzantium (Constantinople) in Asia Minor.

[The Emperor Constantine the Great: 274 - 337A.D.]

It was a momentous historical decision that saw the Eastern Empire ultimately flourish; preserving effective 'Roman' civilisation for centuries beyond the subsequent slow death and eventual collapse of the Western Roman Empire. *

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It was with such a glorious precedent in mind that the Emperor recently moved his own capital (in a Ford Transit van), also from West to the East.

[The Emperor moves home: March 2012]

From 18 miles West of Edinburgh back into the North of the city it was not an easy move, but the Emperor believes it was a prudent one.

No it was not pressure from barbarian incursion or civil strife that led to my moving of the imperial capital, but more modern pressures such as employment, commuting, and the elusive work-life balance ....   

The Emperor will consolidate his new seat of his power. The 'Athens of the North' (Edinburgh), shall once again become my new Rome ...

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*Its an interesting footnote in this context to note that Rome - the remaining capital of Western Roman Empire -  was itself subsumed by the Northern Italian city of Ravenna, when in 402 A.D, Western power was transferred there by the Emperor Honorius. By this period in its fast fading glory the city of the Romans was no longer a viable or defensible capital.

Cato the Elder

[Catus Marlicus, The Elder Statesman]

The ancient historian Plutarch tells us:

"The Romans used to call men who had no family distinction, but were coming into public notice through their own achievements, "new men," and such they called Cato. But he himself used to say that as far as office and distinction went, he was indeed new, but having regard to ancestral deeds of valour, he was oldest of the old. His third name was not Cato at first, but Priscus. Afterwards he got the surname of Cato for his great abilities. The Romans call a man who is wise and prudent, catus. "

"As for his outward appearance, he had reddish hair, and keen grey eyes, as the author of the well-known epigram ill-naturedly gives us to understand:"

'Red-haired, snapper and biter, his grey eyes flashing defiance,

Porcius, come to the shades, back will be thrust by their Queen.'

[Plutarch, Life of Cato the Elder, 2-3]

To Be An Emperor: Marcus Aurelius

"When you act, let it be neither unwillingly, nor selfishly, not unthinkingly, not half-heartedly; do not attempt to embellish your thoughts by dressing them up in fine language; avoid excessive talk and superfluous action. Furthermore, let the deity within you be the overseer of one who is manly and mature, a statesman, a Roman and a ruler, who has taken his post as one who is awaiting the signal of his recall from life and is ready to obey without need of an oath or another man as his witness. And show a cheerful face to the world, and have no need of help from outside or the peace that others confer. In brief, you must stand upright, not be held upright"

[Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, III.5]

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Extract from the 'Meditations', by the Emperor, Marcus Aurelius [ruled 161-180 AD]. Self written notes written in the Stoic philosophy as a means of providing self-guidance and grounding to his own rule and conduct.

When Dolphins Become Men: Dolphin 'Human Rights'

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Its reported in the press that a respected group of scientists and philosophers are arguing for dolphins to be granted something akin to a bill of 'human' rights.

Of course its on account of their undoubted sensitivity, social complexity and intelligence.  

The recent news reminded the Emperor of a strange tale told by the Roman writer Pliny the Younger; concerning a dolphin that sought human interaction in the province of North Africa - 1st Century AD. In what is perhaps a typically Roman world-view, its a story that is at once both sentimental and brutal, uplifting and tragic:

"It happened [off the coast of Hippo, North Africa]  that a certain boy, bolder than the rest, launched out towards the opposite shore. He was met by a dolphin, who sometimes swam before him, and sometimes behind him, then played round him, and at last took him upon his back, and set him down, and afterwards took him again; and thus he carried the poor frightened fellow out into the deepest part; when immediately he turns back again to the shore, and lands him among his companions. The fame of this remarkable accident spread through the town, and crowds of people flocked round the boy (whom they viewed as a kind of prodigy) to ask him questions and hear him relate the story. The next day the shore was thronged with spectators, all attentively watching the ocean, and (what indeed is almost itself an ocean) the lake. Meanwhile the boys swam as usual, and among the rest, the boy I am speaking of went into the lake, but with more caution than before. The dolphin appeared again and came to the boy, who, together with his companions, swam away with the utmost precipitation. The dolphin, as though to invite and call them back, leaped and dived up and down, in a series of circular movements. This he practised the next day, the day after, and for several days together, till the people (accustomed from their infancy to the sea) began to be ashamed of their timidity. They ventured, therefore, to advance nearer, playing with him and calling him to them, while he, in return, suffered himself to be touched and stroked. Use rendered them courageous. The boy, in particular, who first made the experiment, swam by the side of him, and leaping upon his back, was carried backwards and forwards in that manner, and thought the dolphin knew him and was fond of him, while he too had grown fond of the dolphin. There seemed now, indeed, to be no fear on either side, the confidence of the one and tameness of the other mutually increasing; the rest of the boys, in the meanwhile surrounding and encouraging their companion. It is very remarkable that this dolphin was followed by a second, which seemed only as a spectator and attendant on the former; for he did not at all submit to the same familiarities as the first, but only escorted him backwards and forwards, as the boys did their comrade. But what is further surprising, and no less true than what I have already related, is that this dolphin, who thus played with the boys and carried them upon his back, would come upon the shore, dry himself in the sand, and, as soon as he grew warm, roll back into the sea. It is a fact that Octavius Avitus, deputy governor of the province, actuated by an absurd piece of superstition, poured some ointment over him as he lay on the shore: the novelty and smell of which made him retire into the ocean, and it was not till several days after that he was seen again, when he appeared dull and languid; however, he recovered his strength and continued his usual playful tricks. All the magistrates round flocked hither to view this sight, whose arrival and prolonged stay, was an additional expense, which the slender finances of this little community would ill afford; besides, the quiet and retirement of the place was utterly destroyed. It was thought proper, therefore, to remove the occasion of this concourse, by privately killing the poor dolphin. And now, with what a flow of tenderness will you describe this affecting catastrophe and how will your genius adorn and heighten this moving story! Though, indeed the subject does not require any fictitious embellishments; it will be sufficient to describe the actual facts of the case without suppression or diminution."

[Pliny The Younger, Letters IX.33]

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This Emperor himself was lucky enough to see a pod of dolphins himself while travelling near the town of Eden in NSW, Australia in 2009:

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Long live dolphin rights!!!!

 

For examples of news stories on the call for dolphin 'human' rights, see:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-17116882

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/21/whales-dolphins-legal-rights?newsfeed=true