I have been having difficulty with the Times 2 crossword. This is NOT, I hasten to add, The Times Crossword which is cryptic and completely beyond my comprehension. Although I did once get a clue – about 30 years ago! Anyway one clue on Monday for the Times 2 was ‘Successor to Julius Caesar’. Hmm. Claudius lived about then. Correct number of letters. Fitted with two of the other clues I had. Gave it a shot. Later having almost finished it I had to re-examine it because what I thought was the answer to one of the other clues wouldn’t fit. Eventually I decided that I didn’t know (mind blank time) and looked it up in one of my many reference books. I take the view that in an emergency one can confirm or find information using a book. It’s only cheating if you Google it! That’s what you do when you realise there’s no hope!
The list of Roman Emperors didn’t include Julius Caesar. Huh! Julius Caesar was a Roman Emperor. Wasn’t he? No. He wasn’t. Apparently. I am totally ashamed to say that I had never realised (or if I ever did know, I’d lost the knowledge long ago) that the Roman Empire started after his reign. Julius was Caesar of the Roman Republic. He was followed by Augustus, who was the first Emperor. I’ve spent ages this morning reading it all up on Wikipedia.
So now I know.
Going by your definitions, I'd have to say cheating is pretty much my life nowadays. Well, not so much with crosswords perhaps...
ReplyDeleteWho can keep all those Roman Emperors in mind. Did you also come across this in your studies:
"Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus. Because of the various names he bore, it is common to call him Octavius when referring to events between 63 and 44 BC, Octavian (or Octavianus) when referring to events between 44 and 27 BC, and Augustus when referring to events after 27 BC."
No wonder it's hard to come up with the right name straight away!
(Hm. Reminds me of someone...)