Birds, Tacitus.

After much stress I managed to actually grab a picture of one of the birds.  These brutes sit in the trees above me singing away yet I cannot see them!  They know this and sing louder for spite!  Then if I get a good idea of where the brute is it moves to another branch.  The leaves are small still and only some blossom is around yet it is so hard to see these songbirds.  This one came down twice and moved so fast the camera failed to focus on him.  I'll get a decent shot one day.

Well that's another Tacitus finished.  'The Histories', detailing the year 69 A.D. when three men, Galba, Otho and Vitellius, became emperor for a wee while.  All ends nicely with the three men dead and Vespasian on the throne and he was the only one never to reach Rome during the crisis.  
His armies, and those Legions quick to support him, overcame the Legions and individuals who did not.  The oath taking for one and then another Emperor became confusing to me and I think to many soldiers.  Add to this the peoples dominated by Rome, the Germans, Gauls, English,Africans and the rest sometimes came to support Rome sometimes attempted rebellion.  As always individuals took their opportunities, the losers usually dying, and money was made and lost.
In the end it was just like today but with war involved.
Tacitus was not at his best when writing this book, his 'Annals' is much better written and in this book he spends too much time informing us of the bad guys bad actions and glorifying Vespasian and his men.  It was a wee bit like reading the 'Daily Mail' from that point of view.  He may have been right but it is not quite 'History.' 
I enjoyed this as the three Emperors were merely names to me, now I have one impression of their nature.  Tacitus also reveals how the Romans saw the Jews. They, and the Egyptians, were considered to reject true belief in the 'gods' and the Jews did not even have a statue of their God in the Temple!  The Romans thought the Jewish morals very strange indeed.  
Tacitus reveals something of the Roman outlook, the common people he refers to as 'riff-raff' and has no faith in them in any way.  His attitude is denigration at its best, 'snob' would be a good term for him, I wonder if he went to Eton with David Cameron?   Slaves were the lowest of the low, his opponents, or at least Vespasian's opponents were always immoral, the senate full of flattery and hypocrisy and few there were regarded by Tacitus as noble.  The army, that highly disciplined organisation was very much falling apart much of the time.  The leaders were corrupt, the officers either failures or killed by their men and it all appears to be exaggeration by the author to make his men look good. 
Still it was worth a read.      

Robin Hood?

Scotsman

This mornings 'Scotsman' featured one of the more important stories found in the papers today. The 'Tesco Express' shop in Inverness has been attacked by an intruder.  This Robin has decided to keep warm and find supper by entering the store to choose a few morsels.  Not only does he fly around the checkouts and loiter in the store he has encouraged a pigeon to do likewise!  This of course causes a health hazard and the 24 hour opening has been interrupted by closure of the store at eleven each night as the staff attempt to chase the birds out.

Not only is this happening to Tesco this December it also happened to another 'Tesco Express' last year also in Inverness.  On that occasion the robin, possibly the same one, entered the cafe and took tidbits from customers.  Another health hazard but also popular as you can imagine.  Some folks have birds in their garden, not that I'm naming names, others have to visit the park or wander into Tesco's in Inverness!  Mind you with the snow all around up there I'm with the birds, it's better indoors than out!

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Typical Spring

Waking early yesterday morning I was quickly aware that Spring was in full flow, the streets were damp and above hung a bright gray cloud the type of cloud well known to those who live north of Hadrian's Wall. Such weather has of course some advantages. The place was deserted bar an occasional dog walker, who like all Englishmen he wore his summertime shorts in spite of the actual chilly Spring air, also the dampness has released a strong pungent fragrance (I use the word 'fragrance' loosely) which was somewhat titillating. Cycling up the railway trail I was thus able to notice the bird life without interference from dog walkers and kids falling off their bikes. Last year there was an abundance of robins shouting about their presence, now however they appear to have suffered from the bad weather, alone this chap happily posed for me as I irked him by passing through his territory. A bit dark but that was the only area he would stop. His eye is bright, not because of his cheeky personality but because of the flash. Finches cheerfully sang from the sun drenched branches up above, well out of camera range, and one particular bird announced his presence with a fabulous song unlike any I have so far heard. He managed to keep hidden in the branches however so I have no idea what he might be. Still, such things please my little mind.

Talking of big birds in the sky, I came upon a wonderful website that allows us to follow the track of airliners as they pass along the air routes, gathering volcanic ash and ensuring your luggage is delivered to Lisbon when you are arriving at Stansted!  Flight Radar 24 This is a fantastic way to follow aircraft and all intelligent males, and one or two wimmen, will find this fantastic fun! Especially useful if you live near an airfield or have long wispy vapour trails high above you. Nosey folks like this also!