How Augustus rebuilt Rome The collapse of the Roman republic, and the establishment amid its rubble of the rule of the Caesars, constitutes the primal political narrative of the West. In 49 BC, a system of government founded on the conviction that the only conceivable alternative to liberty was death spectacularly imploded. The claim of Julius Caesar, the greatest general of his day, to a primacy over his fellow citizens resulted first in civil war, and then – after he had crushed his domestic foes as he had previously crushed the various tribes of Gaul – in his assassination. Two more murderous bouts of civil war followed. Assorted warlords struggled for supremacy.
Last modified on Wed 23 Dec 2020 06.59 EST
There is a yearly argument – online if nowhere else – as to whether Die Hard, the Bruce-Willis-versus-European-baddies action flick from 1988, is a Christmas movie. It’s set during a holiday party, after all. But every year, people argue that it can’t be a Christmas film, for no other reason I think than the fact that it spills more blood than eggnog.
And yet I’d say that Christmas and crime are not such strange bedfellows. For one thing, Christmas is that time of year during which families are thrown together in close proximity, often in overly warm houses with bad weather threatening outside. The liquor flows, and dusk arrives early. Sounds like an occasion for murder to me.
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