⚫️ LIVIA SPEAKS WITH AUGUSTUS “To this Augustus replied: "But, wife, I, too, am aware that no high position is ever free from envy and treachery, and least of all a monarchy. Indeed, we should be equals of the gods if we had not troubles and cares and fears beyond all men in private station. But precisely this is what causes my grief, — that this is inevitably so and that no remedy for it can be found." "Yet," said Livia, "since some men are so constituted as to want to do wrong in any event, let us guard against them. We have many soldiers who protect us, some arrayed against foreign foes and others about your person, and also a large retinue, so that by their help we may live in security both at home and abroad." Cassius Dio

🟡 PLINY ON TALL PEOPLE “It is known that at the age of three a person's measurement is half his future stature. But it is almost a matter of observation that with the entire human race the stature on the whole is becoming smaller daily, and that few men are taller than their fathers, as the conflagration that is the crisis towards which the age is now verging is exhausting the fertility of the semen. When a mountain in Crete was cleft by an earthquake a body 69 feet in height was found, which some people thought must be that of Orion and others of Otus. The records attest that the body of Orestes dug up at the command of an oracle measured 10 ft. 6 in. Moreover, the famous bard Homer nearly 1000 years ago never ceased to lament that mortals were smaller of stature than in the old days. In the case of Naevius Pollio the annals do not record his height, but they show that was deemed portentous, because he was almost killed by the people flocking round him. The tallest person our age has seen was a man named Gabbara brought from Arabia in the principate of his late Majesty Claudius who was 9 ft. 9 in. in height.” Pliny the Elder

🟤 ROMANS, CELTS AND GREEKS. “Then Antiochus went down to the Hellespont and crossed over to Chersonesus and possessed himself of a large part of Thrace by conquest or surrender. He freed the Greeks who were under subjection to the Thracians, and conciliated the Byzantines in many ways, because their city was admirably situated at the outlet of the Euxine Sea. By gifts and by fear of his warlike preparations he brought the Galatians into his alliance, because he considered them formidable by reason of their bodily size. Then he went back to Ephesus and sent as ambassadors to Rome Lysias, Hegesianax, and Menippus. They were sent really to find out the intentions of the Senate, but for the sake of appearances Menippus said, "King Antiochus, while strongly desirous of the friendship of the Romans and willing to be their ally if they wish, is surprised that they urge him to give up the cities of Ionia and to remit tribute for certain states, and not to interfere with certain of the affairs of Asia and to leave Thrace alone, though it has always belonged to his ancestors. Yours are not the exhortations of friends, but resemble orders given by victors to the vanquished." The Senate, perceiving that the embassy had come to make a test of their disposition, replied curtly, "If Antiochus will leave the Greeks in Asia free and independent, and keep away from Europe, he can be the friend of the Roman people if he desires." Appian, Syrian Wars. The Galatians were a Celtic people who migrated from Europe to central Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) in the 3rd century BC. They established themselves in the region of Galatia and were known for their fierce warrior culture and Celtic traditions. Over time, the Galatians were influenced by Greek culture and eventually became part of the Roman province of Galatia.

🔶 THE BATTLE OF TIGRANOCERTA “With these words, he led his men against the mail-clad horsemen, ordering them not to hurl their javelins yet, but taking each his own man, to smite the enemy's legs and thighs, which are the only parts of these mail-clad horsemen left exposed. However, there was no need of this mode of fighting, for the enemy did not await the Romans, but, with loud cries and in most disgraceful flight, they hurled themselves and their horses, with all their weight, upon the ranks of their own infantry, before it had so much as begun to fight, and so all those tens of thousands were defeated without the infliction of a wound or the sight of blood. But the great slaughter began at once when they fled, or rather tried to fly, for they were prevented from really doing so by the closeness and depth of their own ranks. Tigranes rode away at the very outset with a few attendants, and took to flight. Seeing his son also in the same plight, he took off the diadem from his head and, in tears, gave it to him, bidding him save himself as best he could by another route. The young man, however, did not venture to assume the diadem, but gave it to his most trusted slave for safe keeping. This slave happened to be captured, and was brought to Lucullus, and thus even the diadem of Tigranes became a part of the booty. It is said that more than a hundred thousand of the enemy's infantry perished, while of the cavalry only a few, all told, made their escape. Of the Romans, on the other hand, only a hundred were wounded, and only five killed.” “Antiochus the philosopher makes mention of this battle in his treatise "Concerning Gods," and says that the sun never looked down on such another. And Strabo, another philosopher, in his "Historical Commentaries,"⁠ says that the Romans themselves were ashamed, and laughed one another to scorn for requiring arms against such slaves. Livy also has remarked that the Romans were never in such inferior numbers when they faced an enemy; for the victors were hardly even a twentieth part of the vanquished, but less than this. The Roman generals who were most capable and most experienced in war, praised Lucullus especially for this, that he out-generalled two kings who were most distinguished and power­ful by two most opposite tactics, speed and slowness. For he used up Mithridates, at the height of his power, by long delays; but crushed Tigranes by the speed of his operations, being one of the few generals of all time to use delay for greater achievement, and boldness for greater safety.” Plutarch

🔺 DELIVERY “C. Gracchus was more fortunate in his eloquence than his aspirations, because he strove with an ardent spirit to disturb rather than to defend the commonwealth. Whenever he spoke to the people, he had a slave that was skilled in music behind him, who with an ivory pipe regulated the tone of his voice, raising the note when it was too low, and pitching it lower when it was too high and eager; because the heat and passion of action did not permit him to be a true judge of the proper level.” (Gaius Sempronius Gracchus (c. 154 – 121 BC), a Roman reformer who, with his brother Tiberius, fought for the common people against the powerful Senate.) Valerius Maximus

🔘 WHY DO THE ROMANS GIVE A CHAPLET OF OAK LEAVES TO THE MAN WHO HAD SAVED THE LIFE OF A CITIZEN IN TIME OF WAR? “Is it because it is easy to find an abundance of oak leaves everywhere on a campaign? Or is it because the chaplet is sacred to Jupiter and Juno, whom they regard as guardians of the city? Or is the custom an ancient inheritance from the Arcadians, who have a certain kinship with the oak? for they are thought to have been the first men sprung from the earth, even as the oak was the first plant.” Plutarch, Roman Questions

🔵 ZOSIMUS ON THE JULIO-CLAUDIANS AND THE FLAVIANS “Octavian however appears to have ruled with great moderation, more particularly after he listened to the counsel of Athenodorus the stoic, and when compared to Tiberius his successor. The tyranny of the latter was so severe as to be intolerable to his subjects, who expelled him to an island, where he secreted himself for some time and then died. To him succeeded Caius Caligula, who far exceeded Tiberius in every species of wickedness, and was slain by Chaerea, who resolved by that bold action to deliver the state from his cruel tyranny.  The next emperor was Claudius, who intrusted the management of all his affairs to Libertini (the sons of those who had been slaves) that were eunuchs, and his end was disgraceful. Nero and his successors were then raised to the imperial throne. Of whom I shall not state any thing, in order that the world may not be pained by the repetition of the impious and monstrous enormities of which they were guilty.  But Vespasian, and Titus his son, acted during their reigns with greater moderation. On the contrary, Domitian exceeded all his predecessors in cruelty, luxury, and avarice; for which reason, after he had for fifteen successive years tormented the commonwealth, he was put to death by Stephanus, one of his freed men; thus receiving the punishment which his actions merited.” Zosimus, New history

🟣 GALLIA AQUITANIA “Again, the Arverni not only had extended their empire as far as Narbo and the boundaries of Massiliotis, but they were also masters of the tribes as far as the Pyrenees, and as far as the ocean and the Rhenus. Luerius, the father of the Bituitus who warred against Maximus and Dometius, is said to have been so exceptionally rich and extravagant that once, when making a display of his opulence to his friends, he rode on a carriage through a plain, scattering gold and silver coins here and there, for his followers to pick up.” Strabo