🔵 JEWS, GERMANY, CONSTANTINE In 321, Roman Emperor Constantine issued a decree allowing Jews to be appointed to the city council (curia) of Cologne. This decree is significant as it's the earliest surviving document indicating the existence of a Jewish community north of the Alps. The exact wording of the Decree of 321 regarding Jews in Cologne is not preserved in its original form. However, it is recorded in the Codex Theodosianus, a collection of Roman laws compiled in the 5th century. Here is a partial translation of the relevant passage from the Codex Theodosianus: "We allow all city councils to appoint through general law, Jewish people in the Curia." This indicates that the decree permitted the inclusion of Jews within the curia, the governing body of the Roman city of Cologne.

🟣 STRABO ON GLASS WORKING “Then one comes to Ptolemaïs, a large city, in earlier times named Acê; this city was used by the Persians as a base of operations against Aegypt. Between Acê and Tyre is a sandy beach, which produces the sand used in making glass. Now the sand, it is said, is not fused here, but is carried to Sidon and there melted and cast. Some say that the Sidonians, among others, have the glass-sand that is adapted to fusing, though others say that any sand anywhere can be used. I heard at Alexandria from the glass-workers that there was in Aegypt a kind of vitreous earth without which many-coloured and costly designs could not be executed, just as elsewhere different countries require different mixtures; and at Rome, also, it is said that many discoveries are made both for produ­cing the colours and for facility in manufacture, as, for example, in the case of glass-ware, where one can buy a glass beaker or drinking-cup for a copper.” Strabo

⚪️ A PERSON CAN CHANGE “Saturninus the tribune was a man of licentious habits. When he was quaestor, he had been put in charge of the transport of all the corn from Ostia to Rome; but owing to his laziness and his debased character, he was removed from this office by the senate, who committed the task to the care of others. But afterwards, when he had desisted from his former licentiousnes, and adopted a sober mode of life, he was chosen by the people to be tribune.” Diodorus Siculus

🟢 THE CIMBRIANS TAKE THE BAIT “When Quintus Lutatius Catulus had been repulsed by the Cimbrians, and his only hope of safety lay in passing a stream the banks of which were held by the enemy, he displayed his troops on the nearest mountain, as though intending to camp there. Then he commanded his men not to loose their packs, or put down their loads, and not to quit the ranks or standards. In order the more effectively to strengthen the impression made upon the enemy, he ordered a few tents to be erected in open view, and fires to be built, while some built a rampart and others went forth in plain sight to collect wood. The Cimbrians, deeming these performances genuine, themselves also chose a place for a camp, scattering through the nearest fields to gather the supplies necessary for their stay. In this way they afforded Catulus opportunity not merely to cross the stream, but also to attack their camp.” Frontinus: The Strategemata

⚫️ THE INFORMERS “The delatores, under the emperors, were a class of men who gained their livelihood by informing against their fellow-citizens. They constantly brought forward false charges to gratify the avarice or jealousy of the different emperors, and were consequently paid according to the importance of the information which they gave. In some cases, however, the law specified the sums which were to be given to the informers. The number of informers, however, increased so rapidly under the early emperors, and occasioned so much mischief in society, that many of them were frequently banished, and punished in other ways, by various emperors.” A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray, London, 1875.

🟡 DECIUS DECEIVED “Suffering from an affection of the eyes and distrusting the physicians of Rhegium, Decius sent for a medical man who had migrated from Rhegium to Messana so long before that it was forgotten that he was a Rhegian. The latter persuaded him that, if he wished speedy relief, he should use certain hot drugs. Having applied a burning and corrosive ointment to his eyes, he told him to bear the pain till he should come again. Then he secretly returned to Messana. Decius, after enduring the pain a long time, washed off the ointment and found that he had lost his eyesight.” Appian, the foreign wars

🟤 DEMETRIUS, ROMAN HOSTAGE “Afterward, on the death of Antiochus the Great, his son Seleucus succeeded him. He gave his son Demetrius as a hostage in place of his brother Antiochus. When the latter arrived at Athens on his way home, Seleucus was assassinated as the result of a conspiracy of a certain Heliodorus, one of the court officers. When Heliodorus sought to possess himself of the government he was driven out by Eumenes and Attalus, who installed Antiochus therein in order to secure his good-will; for, by reason of certain bickerings, they had already grown suspicious of the Romans. Thus Antiochus, the son of Antiochus the Great, ascended the throne of Syria. He was called Epiphanes (the Illustrious) by the Syrians, because when the government was seized by usurpers he showed himself to be their true sovereign. By cementing the friendship and alliance of Eumenes he governed Syria and the neighboring nations with a firm hand. He appointed Timarchus as satrap of Babylon and Heraclides as treasurer, two brothers, both of whom had been his favorites. He made an expedition against Artaxias, king of Armenia, and took him prisoner.”

🔶 NUMIDIAN SUCCESSION “In spite of all, that faction of the senate prevailed which rated money and favour higher than justice. It was voted that ten commissioners should divide Micipsa's former kingdom between Jugurtha and Adherbal. The head of this commission was Lucius Opimius, a distinguished man, who was influential in the senate at that time because in his consul­ship,⁠ after bringing about the death of Gaius Gracchus and Marcus Fulvius Flaccus, he had made cruel use of the victory of the nobles over the people. Although at Rome Opimius had been one of Jugurtha's opponents, the king received him with the greatest respect, and soon induced him, by many gifts and promises, to consider Jugurtha's advantage of more consequence than his own fair fame, his honour, and in short, than all personal considerations. Then adopting the same tactics with the other envoys, Jugurtha won over the greater number of them; only a few held their honour dearer than gold. When the division was made, the part of Numidia adjoining Mauretania, which was the more fertile and thickly populated, was assigned to Jugurtha; the other part, preferable in appearance rather than in reality, having more harbours and being provided with more buildings, fell to Adherbal.” Sallust

🔺 CLAIMING ROYAL LINEAGE “There was a certain person who dared to affirm that he was born of the womb of his (Augustus) most dear sister Octavia; saying that, on account of the infirmity of his body, he was put out to the person that bred him, and that person's son was taken in his stead. Thus at the same time he attempted to deprive a most sacred family of the memory of their true blood, and to contaminate it with the contagion of a lie. But while he was ascending to the utmost heights of boldness, he was condemned to row in a public trireme by order of Augustus.” Valerius Maximus

🔘 CONFIDENCE OR ARROGANCE? “Gnaeus Domitius, whom Scipio the Great appointed in his stead as a colleague for his brother Lucius in the war against Antiochus, when he had inspected the battle-line of the enemy, and the officers of his staff urged him to attack at once, said that there was not time enough to hew down so many thousands, plunder their baggage, return to camp, and enjoy their usual comforts; but all this they would do on the morrow at the right time. And on the next day he engaged the enemy, and slew fifty thousand of them.” Plutarch, Sayings Of The Romans