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⚫️ THE LOVE FOR OTHO “After learning that his friends had gone, he passed a quiet night, and indeed, as is affirmed, he even slept somewhat. At dawn he fell on the steel. At the sound of his dying groans his freedmen and slaves entered, and with them Plotius Firmus, the prefect of the praetorian guard; they found but a single wound. His funeral was hurriedly accomplished. He had earnestly begged that this be done, that his head might not be cut off to be an object of insult. Praetorians bore his body to the pyre, praising him amid their tears and kissing his wound and his hands. Some soldiers slew themselves near his pyre, not because of any fault or from fear, but prompted by a desire to imitate his glorious example and moved by affection for their emperor. Afterwards many of every rank chose this form of death at Bedriacum, Placentia, and in other camps as well. The tomb erected for Otho was modest and therefore likely to endure. So he ended his life in the thirty-seventh year of his age.” Tacitus, Histories

🟡 ILLYRIAN SPOILS “The Illyrians were a nation formidable both by land and sea, who felt secure in their strong fortified positions, and Anicius had thoroughly subjugated them in a few days and captured their king and all his family. Many captured standards were carried in the procession, together with other spoils, and the furniture of the palace, 27 pounds of gold, and 19 of silver, besides 13,000 denarii and 120,000 silver pieces of Illyrian coinage. Before his chariot walked Gentius, with his wife and children, Caravantius his brother, and several Illyrian nobles. Out of the booty each legionary received 45 denarii, the centurions twice, and the cavalry three times as much. Anicius gave to the Latin allies as much as to the Romans, and to the seamen of the fleet as much as the soldiers received. The soldiers marched more joyously in this triumph, and the general himself was the subject of many laudatory songs. According to Antias, 200,000 sesterces were realised from the sale of that booty, besides the gold and silver deposited in the treasury, but as it is not clear to me how this sum was realised, I quote his authority instead of stating it as a fact. By resolution of the senate, Gentius, with his wife and children and brother, were interned in Spoletium; the rest of the captives were thrown into prison in Rome. As the Spoletians refused to be responsible for their safe-keeping, the royal family were transferred to Iguvium. The remainder of the Illyrian spoils consisted of 220 swift barques. These Q. Cassius was ordered by the senate to distribute amongst the Corcyraeans, the Apolloniates and the Dyrrhachians.” Livy, history of Rome

🔶 PAPYRUS LETTER FROM ROMAN EGYPT “FROM HILARION TO ALIS Date: 1 B.C. Hilarion to his sister Alis very many greetings, likewise to my lady Berous and Apollonarion. Know that we are still in Alexandria. Do not be anxious; if they really go home, I will remain in Alexandria. I beg and entreat you, take care of the little one, and as soon as we receive our pay I will send it up to you. If by chance you bear a child, if it is a boy, let it be, if it is a girl, cast it out. You have said to Aphrodisias "Do not forget me." How can I forget you? I beg you then not to be anxious. The 29th year of Caesar, Pauni 23. {Addressed, Deliver to Alis from Hilarion.”

🔴 THE DEATH OF A GLADIATOR “Spartacus saw the necessity that was upon him, and drew up his whole army in order of battle. In the first place, when his horse was brought to him, he drew his sword, and saying that if he won the day he would have many fine horses of the enemy's, but if he lost it he did not want any, he slew his horse. Then pushing his way towards Crassus himself through many flying weapons and wounded men, he did not indeed reach him, but slew two centurions who fell upon him together. Finally, after his companions had taken to flight, he stood alone, surrounded by a multitude of foes, and was still defending himself when he was cut down.” (Spartacus 103-71 BC was a Thracian gladiator who led a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic known as the Third Servile War 73-71 BC). Plutarch

🔘 THE FIRST AND NOT THE LAST “Constantine was also the first Christian emperor, with the exception of Philippus who seemed to me to have become a Christian merely in order that the one-thousandth year of Rome might be dedicated to Christ rather than to pagan idols. But from Constantine down to the present day all the emperors that have been chosen were Christians, with the exception of Julian, whose disastrous life forsook him in the midst of the impious plans which it was said that he was devising. Moreover, Constantine made the change in a just and humane fashion; for he issued an edict that the temples should be closed without any shedding of pagan blood. Afterwards he destroyed the bravest and most populous of the Gothic tribes in the very heart of the barbarian territory; that is, in the lands of the Sarmatians.” The Anonymus Valesianus

🔵 PTOLEMAEUS II PHILADELPHUS “Both Romans and Carthaginians were destitute of money; and the Romans could no longer build ships, being exhausted by taxes, yet they levied foot soldiers and sent them to Africa and Sicily from year to year, while the Carthaginians sent an embassy to Ptolemy, the son of Ptolemy the son of Lagus, king of Egypt, seeking to borrow 2000 talents. He was on terms of friendship with both Romans and Carthaginians, and he sought to bring about peace between them. As he was not able to accomplish this, he said: "It behooves one to assist friends against enemies, but not against friends."

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🟣 PLINY ON THE ERUPTION OF MOUNT VESUVIUS “My uncle was stationed at Misenum, in active command of the fleet. On 24 August, in the early afternoon, my mother drew his attention to a cloud of unusual size and appearance. He had been out in the sun, had taken a cold bath, and lunched while lying down, and was then working at his books. He called for his shoes and climbed up to a place which would give him the best view of the phenomenon. It was not clear at that distance from which mountain the cloud was rising (it was afterwards known to be Vesuvius); its general appearance can best be expressed as being like an umbrella pine, for it rose to a great height on a sort of trunk and then split off into branches, I imagine because it was thrust upwards by the first blast and then left unsupported as the pressure subsided, or else it was borne down by its own weight so that it spread out and gradually dispersed. In places it looked white, elsewhere blotched and dirty, according to the amount of soil and ashes it carried with it.” “Then the flames and smell of sulphur which gave warning of the approaching fire drove the others to take flight and roused him to stand up. He stood leaning on two slaves and then suddenly collapsed, I imagine because the dense, fumes choked his breathing by blocking his windpipe which was constitutionally weak and narrow and often inflamed. When daylight returned on the 26th - two days after the last day he had been seen - his body was found intact and uninjured, still fully clothed and looking more like sleep than death.” Pliny the younger

⚪️ ORIGINS OF THE CELTIBERIANS “In ancient times these two peoples, namely, the Iberians and the Celts, kept warring among themselves over the land, but when later they arranged their differences and settled upon the land altogether, and when they went further and agreed to intermarriage with each other, because of such intermixture the two peoples received the appellation given above. And since it was two powerful nations that united and the land of theirs was fertile, it came to pass that the Celtiberians advanced far in fame and were subdued by the Romans with difficulty and only after they had faced them in battle over a long period.” “And a peculiar and strange custom obtains among them: Careful and cleanly as they are in their ways of living, they nevertheless observe one practice which is low and partakes of great uncleanness; for they consistently use urine to bathe the body and wash their teeth with it, thinking that in this practice is constituted the care and healing of the body.” Diodorus Siculus

🟢 AGRIPPA, AUGUSTUS, WATER MANAGEMENT “Marcus Agrippa, after his aedile­ship (a post he held exceptionally, having already been consul), assumed responsibility for the works and benefactions he had himself provided and became thereby, so to speak, the first permanent water commissioner. Now that there was an adequate supply, Agrippa apportioned this water to public works, to streetside basins, and as grants to private persons. He had also a personal work crew for maintaining the conduits as well as delivery-tanksand basins. When Augustus inherited this crew from Agrippa, he transferred its owner­ship to the state. After Agrippa's death [12 B.C.E.], in the consul­ship of Quintus Aelius Tubero and Paulus Fabius Maximus [11 B.C.E.], resolutions were passed in the Senate and a statute was promulgated to deal with the matter of routine administration, for hitherto this had been handled in only a semi-official way and there had been no specific legal basis. Augustus also, by an edict, established what right those persons should enjoy who had water according to Agrippa's records, for the entire scheme of distribution had been left to the emperor's own pleasure. He also established the pipe-sizes of which I have spoken; and to be responsible for a comprehensive and rigorous administration he appointed Messala Corvinus as a chief commissioner, to be assisted by Postumius Sulpicius, an ex-praetor, and Lucius Cominius, a junior senator.” Sextus Julius Frontinus, De Aquis

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Commando’s Beyond The Call Of Duty 👇🏻

⚫️ THE LAST HOURS OF OTHO “His face was calm, his words showed no fear; but he checked the unseasonable tears of his friends. He gave orders that boats and carriages should be furnished those who were leaving. Every document or letter which was marked by loyalty towards him or by abuse of Vitellius he destroyed. He distributed money, but sparingly and not as if he were about to die. Then he took pains to console his nephew, Salvius Cocceianus, who was very young, frightened, and sad, praising his duti­ful affection, but reproving his fear. He asked him if he thought Vitellius would prove so cruel as not to grant him even such a return as this for saving the whole house. "By my quick end," said he, "I can earn the clemency of the victor. For it is not in the extremity of despair, but while my army is still demanding battle that I have saved the state this last misfortune. I have won enough fame for myself, enough high rank for my descendants. After the Julii, the Claudii, and the Servii, I have been the first to confer the imperial rank on a new family. Therefore face life with a brave heart; never forget or too constantly remember that Otho was your uncle." Tacitus, Histories

🟡 THE RISE OF A SLAVE “Lucius Voltacilius Plotius is said to have been a slave and even to have served as a doorkeeper in chains, according to the ancient custom, until he was set free because of his talent and interest in letters, and helped his patron prepare his accusations. Then becoming a teacher of rhetoric, he had Gnaeus Pompeius the Great for a pupil, and wrote a history of the exploits of Pompey's father, as well as those of the son, in several volumes. In the opinion of Cornelius Nepos, he was the first of all freedmen to take up the writing of history, which up to that time had been confined to men of the highest position.” Suetonius

🔶 PARTHIAN CULTURE “Each man has several wives, for the sake of gratifying desire with different objects. They punish no crime more severely than adultery, and accordingly they not only exclude their women from entertainments, but forbid them the very sight of men. They eat no flesh but that which they take in hunting. They ride on horseback on all occasions; on horses they go to war, and to feasts; on horses they discharge public and private duties; on horses they go abroad, meet together, traffic, and converse. Indeed the difference between slaves and freemen is, that slaves go on foot, but freemen only on horseback. They dispose of bodies by leaving them to be torn apart by birds or dogs; the bare bones they at last bury in the ground.” “In their superstitions and worship of the gods, the principal veneration is paid to rivers. The disposition of the people is proud, quarrelsome, faithless, and insolent; for a certain roughness of behaviour they think becoming to men, and gentleness only to women. They are always restless, and ready for any commotion, at home or abroad; taciturn by nature; more ready to act than speak, and consequently shrouding both their successes and failures in silence. They obey their princes, not from humility, but from fear. They are libidinous, but frugal in diet. To their word or promise they have no regard, except as far as suits their interest.” Justinus