Saturday, July 25, 2009

Insomnia download of the day


For your listening pleasure:

Cicero's Philippics, or nasty overblown speeches.

From Wikipedia:

During the chaotic latter half of the first century B.C. marked by civil wars and the dictatorship of Gaius Julius Caesar, Cicero championed a return to the traditional republican government. However, his career as a statesman was marked by inconsistencies and a tendency to shift his position in response to changes in the political climate. His indecision may be attributed to his sensitive and impressionable personality; he was prone to overreaction in the face of political and private change. "

In other words, he was the "Rush Limbaugh" of ancient Rome...but exposing the corruption and powergrabbing tactics of Mark Anthony to all and sundry.


and one of Caesar Augustus' regrets was that he agreed to let Mark Anthony execute him for treason..

most of you probably know him from the HBO series Rome, where he is played by David Bamber.

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