Quotes About Florus

I don't want to be Caesar Plodding round Britain, [...] Freezing my nuts off in a Scythian midden Hadrian's matching riposte conveyed wit and affability and a side of his personality that he was eager to project: I don't want to be a Florus, Crawling round pubs, Skulking in pie-shops Bitten by bugs.

According to Josephus, Gessius Florus never omitted "any sort of violence, nor any unjust sort of punishment; . . . it was this Florus who necessitated us [the Jews] to take up arms against the Romans, while we thought it better to be destroyed at once, than by little and little" (Antiquities 20:254–57).

THE POET FLORUS TO HADRIAN I wouldn't want to be Caesar, And tramp round Britain, Getting ague in my knees For Scythian frosts later to freeze. HADRIAN'S REPLY I wouldn't want to be Florus And lurk in pubs, Eating pies and peas And wander round wine-shops Getting infested with fleas. HISTORIA AUGUSTA Hadrian 16