From the BBC History magazine
Feb. 26th, 2015 01:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladyofastolat"Decimus's letters to Cicero reveal a polite if terse man of action with a keen sense of honour, a nose for betrayal and a thirst for vengeance."
What does a nose for betrayal look like? Pinnocchio like, do you think, that zooms out on command and stabs your victim in the back?
"...neither combatant was able to deliver a telling blow before King Henry brought the duel to an end with the cry 'Ho! Ho! Ho!' (meaning stop.)
This is huge. For generations, we have been told that Father Christmas is a jolly old man who cheerily chortles "Ho! Ho! Ho!" in rotund merriment. But now the truth is revealed! He only ever meant to take a short trip to the corner shop, but those wild rogue reindeer went dashing off across the sky, faster than the speed of sound. "Ho! Ho! Ho!" he shouts (meaning stop) but do they heed him? No! He keeps trying to escape - sneaking off down chimneys and offering gifts to potential rescuers - but those evil reindeer always find him, lured in by the offering of carrots, and the "rescuers" are dazzled by the presents, and never see the true desperation that lies behind the "Ho! Ho! Ho!"
"He built the Colosseum, conquered the Isle of Wight and established the Flavian dynasty..."
I do like this implication that the conquest of the Isle of Wight is the second most important achievement of Vespasian's career. Presumably the ferries were off that day, but he managed to get there anyway.
What does a nose for betrayal look like? Pinnocchio like, do you think, that zooms out on command and stabs your victim in the back?
"...neither combatant was able to deliver a telling blow before King Henry brought the duel to an end with the cry 'Ho! Ho! Ho!' (meaning stop.)
This is huge. For generations, we have been told that Father Christmas is a jolly old man who cheerily chortles "Ho! Ho! Ho!" in rotund merriment. But now the truth is revealed! He only ever meant to take a short trip to the corner shop, but those wild rogue reindeer went dashing off across the sky, faster than the speed of sound. "Ho! Ho! Ho!" he shouts (meaning stop) but do they heed him? No! He keeps trying to escape - sneaking off down chimneys and offering gifts to potential rescuers - but those evil reindeer always find him, lured in by the offering of carrots, and the "rescuers" are dazzled by the presents, and never see the true desperation that lies behind the "Ho! Ho! Ho!"
"He built the Colosseum, conquered the Isle of Wight and established the Flavian dynasty..."
I do like this implication that the conquest of the Isle of Wight is the second most important achievement of Vespasian's career. Presumably the ferries were off that day, but he managed to get there anyway.
no subject
Date: 2015-02-26 02:30 pm (UTC)