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We might not know much about the dread Emperor Claudius Gothicus II but he was the first of a long line of brutish barbarian Roman generals of quite remarkable cruelty who had regained the trust of a hesitant soldiery faced with the incipient threat of humanistic Christianity. There is little in the way of incontrovertible … Continued

  The Common Vampire Bat, Desmodus Rotundus Having been on the scene for 20 million years, the common vampire bat of South America has become increasingly intelligent, perceptive and highly sociable. It is little, up to 9 centimetres (3.5 inches) long. It feeds nightly on four times its weight in blood drained mostly from domesticated … Continued

Horace Walpole, 1741, Rosalba Carriera (1673-1757) Horace Walpole, an asexual and effete afterthought son of Prime Minister Robert Walpole, neo-Gothic architect, obsessive hoarder, abundant writer, a politician with more than an iota of intellect, had coined the word ‘serendipity’ on 28 January 1754 to describe ‘the discovery through change by a theoretically prepared mind of … Continued

Pretty Pig or Charming Chimp? “My opinion of this animal has much improved during the course of my research. Where once I thought of filth and greed, I now think of intelligence, affection, loyalty, and adaptability, with an added touch of joyous sensuality – qualities without which humans would not be humans.”       … Continued

Dr Eugen Steinach (1861-1944) The first endocrinologist, known to his grateful colleagues as “Father Christmas” The 19th century self-made man affirmed himself in the dirt dark stink of the Industrial Revolution. Impoverished rural peasantry, seeking a portion of the new wealth, provided near-slave labour for his mills, forges, factories and mines. The massive profits from the … Continued

A Seed of Silphium, Ferula drudeana, Cyrenian coin, 6th century BC Messalina’s likenesses had been obliterated, defaced, destroyed by the diktat of the Roman Senate, damnatio memoriae: we will never know what she looked like. What we think we do know is that she must have been abominably attractive and most certainly oversexed, “hypersexual”. Because … Continued

“Messalina, the wife of Claudius Caesar, thinking the palm quite worthy of an empress, selected for the purpose of deciding the question, one of the most notorious of the women who followed the profession of a hired prostitute; the empress outdid her, after continuous intercourse, night and day, at the twenty-fifth embrace.” Pliny the Elder, … Continued

Jeune femme des Iles Sandwich dansant,  1822, Jacques Arago (1770 – 1855) Kuini Liliha, this 17 year old hula dancer, an ali’i, a noble woman of O’ahu Island, was depicted by Jacques Arago in 1819 dancing the sitting hula. Hula, of course, was also performed standing – one way or the other, the dance would … Continued

Lighting Up, Brigitte Bardot (1934 – ) “I gave my beauty and my youth to men. I am going to give my wisdom and experience, the best of me, to animals”, Brigitte Bardot, 1973. Eh bien, alors… *** On Friday 14 June 1940, closely ordered long columns of grey Nazi troops stomped cheerless down a … Continued

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, 1844-1900   As the savvy but occasionally sanctimonious butler Jeeves said of his nitwit master Bertie Wooster’s frightful ex-fiancée Florence – “It was her intention to start you almost immediately upon Nietzsche. You would not like Nietzsche, Sir. He is fundamentally unsound”. Carry on, Jeeves, P.G. Wodehouse, 1925     Between the … Continued