Quotes from Elizabeth Speller

Alexander was laid in state in the city he had founded. A previous imperial visit had not been a complete success; Augustus, passing his hands over the inspirational features of the conqueror's corpse, broke off his nose. Whether it was repaired or the emperor removed it as a relic is unrecorded.

During the reign of the Ptolemies the powerful Egyptian priests were indulged with elaborate temples, but the Greeks also introduced their own cultural spirit and under their aegis fine cities and seats of art and learning had been established. Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE, was in the first century, in its amalgam of cultures, a more elegant, civilised and learned metropolis than Rome could conceivably hope to be.

Political life was defined by money. Having it, taking it and giving it were the principal concerns of the powerful. It was not just a matter of lavish expenditure on public shows or comfortable living in the innumerable houses that one man might possess; set amounts of capital were required for a man to become an equestrian – a knight – or a senator.