For he 'imself has said hit, And it's greatly to 'is credit, That he is a Henglishman! That he is an Englishman! For he might have been a Roosian, [scoundrel] A Frrench, or Turk, or Proosian, [absolute blackguard] Or perhaps Itali-an! [the dirty dog] Or perhaps Itali-an!
But in spite of all temptations To belong to hother nations, He remains a Henglishman! [aha! stout feller!] He remains an Englishman!
For in spite of all temptations To belong to other nations, He remains an Englishman! [pip pip! carry on!] He remains an Englishman!
Lavinia: Why my dear, is that a... manly tear you brush from your cheek? Englishman: What what? Most certainly not m'dear. Something in me eye is all, polo pony or whatnot.
Forbidding but inert, Galba only shows signs of life and interest when money and discipline are concerned. If Tacitus seems over-harsh, there are the anecdotes of Suetonius for corroboration. Galba used to say that a man ought not to be called to account for what he does after hours [snobbery, cruelty, avarice, conceit, gluttony, homosexuality]. That was not the opinion held at Rome in the days of the Scipiones. Otho by contrast - affable, pliant, and corrupt - belonged to his own epoch, a choice luxury product of the Neronian court. It is on Otho when he resolves to end his life that the historian lavishes the resources of talent and sympathy, with the setting of a drama, with magnificent eloquence in farewell, with noble words of consolation for friends and family - and no hint that the capitulation of his forces is imminent or already transacted. What draws Tacitus is manifest. Not merely the opportunity to portray a theatrical suicide, such as the taste of the Romans took delight in, but a suicide more truly to be commended than when a good man took his own life in ostentatious rectitude [the proscribed opening, closing, opening their veins before an audience of friends, admirers, family], but with no advantage to the Commonwealth. Otho's resolution averted any further shedding of Roman blood in civil war. Other rulers fail by contrast. Nero could not summon energy for action, or dignity at the end. Vitellius, when his armies were lost, sank into lethargy like a fat animal. He let the futile struggle go on, incompetent even to manage aright his own abdication. The artifice of Tacitus is patent. No deception, no conflict with what the historian has previously revealed about the character, actions, and repute of Otho. Tacitus is quite clear. He sets it on record that Otho had been feared and detested much more than Vitellius. [...] Detesting civil strife and suspicious of power and success, Tacitus achieves a sombre and savage impartiality in the portrayal of the crime and violence of the year 69. Tacitus is harsh and bitter, offering no consolation anywhere. His despair is engendered by the contrasts between word and fact, between ambitions and achievement, by the tragic vicissitudes of men and governments. It has yet to be proved that acerbity or gloom is detrimental in an historian. Ronald Syme "Tacitus" (1958) vol 1 pp205-206 Above: Nero; Galba; Otho; Vitellius.
Biography offers the easy approach to history, and some go no further than biography. To this form of writing the establishment of the monarchy and the long duration of a dynasty might have seemed not a little propitious. Yet the earlier theme in imperial Rome is not so much the Caesars as their victims. If the practice took its origin from the funeral oration, it was soon exploited by persons extraneous to the deceased, avowedly as a genre intermediate between oratory and history. A certain C. Fannius resolved to write about those whom Nero killed or banished. He composed three volumes. Then the author was vouchsafed a vision of Nero. The spectre came and sat on his bed, read the scrolls one by one, and went away. Fannius divined that it was not his destiny to write any more; and Fannius died.
Ronald Syme "Tacitus" (1958) vol 1 p92 That immaculate semicolon.
Indeed, crow away about stumping up your £3 and helping Jeremy Corbyn on his way to the Labour leadership. What was that about the Opposition doesn't win elections, the Government loses them? I give you f'rinstance John Major's Traffic Cone Hotline, Gordon Brown's... well, Gordon Brown.
When a despot is killed or a dynasty destroyed less is achieved than some expect. After the initial transports of newly won liberation men look around and discover that the system abides - and most of the people.
Bit unfair of me maybe to spring "Tacitus" (2 vols) on my readers but if you haven't read "The Roman Revolution" you have missed one of the great historical works. This is about the Republic, the civil war following Caesar's assassination and the establishment of Augustus. Politics, war and more. His prose style is superb: precise, condensed, expressive.
Deletions made to make it clear that I am not delusional: I am well aware that I have no readers.
In a word, Toxoplasma gondii. The cat sez that's two words; okay, two. Either way, if you are reading this blog - which you aren't - chances are that it isn't you.
