(ii) "Nero felt no ambition to extend the Roman empire; he even considered withdrawing his forces from Britain, yet kept them there because such a decision might have reflected on the glory won by his adoptive father Claudius."
-Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars (London, 2007), p. 216.
Such a Neronic withdrawal from Britain would have altered the beginning of Poul and Karen Anderson's The King Of Ys Tetralogy which opens in Roman Britain centuries later.
(Augustus had a reason for curtailing imperial expansion, according to Neil Gaiman.)
(iii) Suetonius catalogues Nero's acts:
"...in order to segregate them from his follies and crimes, which I must now begin to list." (ibid.)
- as with Caligula.
Nero: a ruler who blustered when things went badly. Assassinations were common among early Roman Emperors.
7 comments:
It generally took about 25 years -- a generation -- for a new Roman province in the western or northern Empire to become revenue-neutral. Britannia was expensive because three legions (and a like number of auxiliaries) had to be kept there, but it later became a source of grain for the Rhine garrisons.
It was also the Roman Empire's primary source of pewter (tableware made of a tin-lead alloy) and was an important source of tin, copper and lead.
Kaor, Paul and Mr. Stirling!
Paul: I would be dismayed to lose my wallet! Never mind the usually small sums of cash I carry, it would be far more disturbing for me lose my driver's license, credit card, and insurance cards.
It was Varus' bungling, leading to the loss of three entire legions in Germany, which made Augustus feel compelled to curtail further expansion. I think Augustus had planned to fix the frontier of the Empire along the line of the Elbe River.
Mr. Stirling: I agree Roman Britain soon became a valued addition to the Empire, but that heavy use of lead by the Romans was unfortunate. We both know lead is poisonous for human beings.
Ad astra! Sean
Pewter isn't particularly dangerous -- the tin (and the layer of corrosion) keep the lead from dissolving into the food. The main source of Roman lead-poisoning was lead-based cosmetics, and the use of a syrup heavy in lead to sweeten wine.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
That makes me less uneasy, what you said about lead and pewter. Ugh, the Romans should have just flavored their wine with honey.
I thought another source of lead poisoning in ancient Rome was using lead for water pipes.
Were the cosmetics used by Elizabeth I in those portraits showing her heavily made up also made with lead?
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: Yes, as I recall.
Lead pipes generally didn't put lead into the water because a layer of lime bound itself to the surface of the pipes -- Roman aqueducts were generally made of limestone even if the water wasn't 'hard' in and of itself, which water generally is.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I've long thought those portraits of Elizabeth very odd looking--then I found out she used those cosmetics to cover up smallpox scars.
That's a relief, because of that layer of lime binding itself to lead water pipes. I had in mind how the Andersons had the Ysans using terracotta pipes for water in THE KING OF YS. Because of some vague understanding of lead being toxic.
Ad astra! Sean
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