Welcome to Litsy!

Roman history told through a focus on the wives of the emperors from Livia to Gallia Placida (and I will never tire of saying somebody needs to make a biopic or series about Gallia Placida). Interesting and enjoyable, but it's 14 years old and already some of the “contemporary“ resonances and parallels are starting to age and I have to think for a bit to remember what they are about.

I have two books in progress, but the #bookspin and #doublespin numbers came out today. This is my #doublespin and is all I want to read. I think I‘m going to make myself read at least a few chapters of one of the other books, but I will probably cave and start Nero later today.

I‘ve been really scattered brained. So I decided to find the most boring book on my shelves, from my 1994 undergraduate class on the Roman Empire. (Yeah, I was supposed to read it then. Oops) Well, i‘ve been reading it. Not sure how far i will get.

#NewYearNewBooks #TitleThatBeginswithS
This has been on my TBR for years , I bought this lovely copy years ago , who knows when I will get around to reading it!

I enjoyed the audiobook version of these 2 books. I feel like I was able to appreciate it more having read The song of Achilles beforehand 🥰 I love Greek mythology so this was a hit for me. Although, long at parts I‘m happy to scratch it off my poster 🥰

It‘s 410 BC & Xenophon leads a 10k strong army of Greek mercenaries, retreating from a failed attempt by their Persian paymaster, Cyrus, to seize the throne from his brother after their father dies. As they make their way back to the Black Sea & eventually Greece, they battle hostile natives & hardships caused by the terrain. Granted, it‘s a classic but it was a bit of a slog. It‘s repetitive & monotonous but, like Xenophon, I got there in the end

Oedipus at Colonus is a weird tragedy in that the climax of the play is not really tragic. I even hesitate to call this play a tragedy: yes, some machinations of fate are at play, and yes, Polynices' obstinacy to go to his death are sad, but the story here is of Oedipus and his fate to die in glory with the gods.

Oedipus is practically assumed as Christians would later call it—it‘s such a supernatural ending to such an earthy tradition, no?

A surprisingly engaging read! A little dry for me in description of the military operations, but personal as to the individuals involved. It was also just one d—— thing after another for Caesar and the Romans. But for the most part, you knew Caesar would prevail, just how would he make it happen.

Side note - Ariovistus was a proper villain - his arguments back to Caesar were “oh snap”. 🤣 (I believe he appears in issue 4 of serial reader)

The mountains look on Marathon –
And Marathon looks on the sea;
And musing there an hour alone,
I dream‘d that Greece might still be free;
For standing on the Persians‘ grave,
I could not deem myself a slave.

‘The Isles of Greece‘ by Lord Byron