Gloriana

On the 19th of December in 45 BCE, Caesar -- that is, Gaius Julius -- took dinner with Marcus Tullius Cicero. JC had brought with him troops of two thousand strong -- not a man, evidently, to travel light. The elegant orator was somewhat annoyed to have tough-as-nails soldiers traipsing flowerbeds and tracking mud on his mosaic floors, but he managed nonetheless to play the gracious host.

A "fine, well-appointed meal", Cicero wrote in a letter to a friend. He and Caesar spoke of "nothing serious, but a good deal on literary matters." Yes.

The meeting of two of the greatest authors in Roman history, and they discussed other people's work!

posted at 11:26:11 pm

theoneaodave
January 18, 2005 05:19 PM PST

That reminds me of a poem by Robert Service titled "Bookshelf".
Halcyon
January 17, 2005 04:09 PM PST

Well of course, if they have a disagreement about either of the others work it will escalate rapidly with two thousand soldiers outside.
Anjelle
January 17, 2005 02:00 PM PST

Most of the great authors I can think of would rather talk about someone else's work than their own. The mediocre ones are the ones that like to talk about themselves. Hee
Velvet
January 17, 2005 12:33 AM PST

I think they thought it'd be kind of egotistical to talk about their own.

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