Roman Empire

 As I mentioned not long ago, I associate Easter with Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, both their myths and their history. So when Easter comes, I watch and read a lot of sword and sandal stuff. I recently finished the Roman Empire docu-drama series on Netflix, narrated by Sean Bean. It's often rigged with inaccuracies (Claudius is depicted as rather handsome and with no stutter or physical ailment whatsoever for instance) and it gets ridiculously melodramatic at a time, but no more than your usual peplum. And there are historians commenting and giving some proper perspective. But I'd enjoy it just for Sean Bean's voice. In any case, watching it has been great fun and it's perfect for Easter.

The Assassination of Caligula

For history buffs here, today is an important date: it is the anniversary of the assassination of Caligula. It also thus the day when Claudius became emperor. A page in history that has been fictionalised and immortalised in I, Claudius by Robert Graves,and its TV series adaptation. I know it is not how it happened, yet for me, this is how I always imagined it happening. Since I first saw it some more than 25 years ago. I was completely blown away. Anyway, here is events unfolding, with Derek Jacobi as Claudius and John Hurt as the mad Caligula. British acting at its finest.

Neptune? No, Poseidon!

 Here's a bit of old news which I wanted to comment on, but forgot about. It's not very old, it's from the 8th of July, but I still think it needs to be adressed. I say this because the news sort of slightly irritated me. So anyway, the BBC reported that the face of Neptune appeared in the waves during a storm in Newhaven. My initial reaction was: "Neptune? Surely this is Poseidon!" Those darn Brits conquered by the Romans and since then having no idea what the true god of the ocean is! I blame them and Caligula of course (I hope some of my readers know the historical reference here). Anyway, if this was indeed a good showing up, it was Poseidon.

About Caligula

I am reading I, Claudius by Robert Graves, which first book I should expect to finish soon. Then on to a different kind of read, then I will go back to more of Graves story with the second book. But I digress. You can read more about what I think of it so far in this post. Among the many fascinating characters of the novel is Emperor Caligula, the first mad emperor. I found one quote about him by his uncle Claudius (who narrates the novel) particularly interesting: "He was beginning to be unpopular. That the crowds always likes a holiday is a common saying, but when the whole year becomes one long holiday, and nobody has time for attending to his business, and pleasure becomes compulsory, then it is a different matter."

Pretty contemporary, isn't it? There are some of our rulers who fit this bill perfectly. And to think this is meant to be about Ancient Rome.