I don't know if I can find anything out from Channel 5. The flaw in the argument does indeed seem quite marked. I wasn't sure whether we were asked to think that the plan for Augustus' succession was a climactic stroke of genius (let's hope Saddam Hussein is no Caesar) or a wild thought typical of the alleged frontal lobe epilepsy which incredibly happened to become reality. - Martin Hughes
On Thu, 27 Mar 2003, James Butrica wrote: > >What are the chances of this programme being re-aired or recorded > >(perhaps by our PBS) I would be interested in this, having discussed > >the Catilinarian orations and the various intrigues of the time. > > I too would be interested in seeing this, but I see one flaw in the reasoning: > > > >The thesis was the C deliberately laid himself open to assassination, > >motivated by a mixture of ill-health and plans for the future of Rome. > >The evidence is his claim to illness in the face of a Senate delegation, > >remarks of the 'I have lived long enough for nature and for reputation' > >style (I'm not sure that that was actually quoted) and his refusal to be > >surrounded with bodyguards. His plan was to show the Romans that if > >they > >rejected him as king they would find themselves forced to accept his > >nominated heir, so he would be a real king even in death. All this was > >fitted, with scientific flourish, into the pattern of symptoms and > >thoughts characteristic of frontal lobe epilepsy. > > That flaw, of course, is the notion of Romans being "forced to accept his > nominated heir": Antony and Lepidus seemed to have rather different ideas > about who would or should succeed Caesar and were readily available > alternatives. > > James L. P. Butrica > Department of Classics > The Memorial University of Newfoundland > St. John's NL A1C 5S7 > (709) 737-7914 / (709) 753-5799 (home) > > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. > Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message > "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You > can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub
