The Copybook

Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.

1615

© Gobbler, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Horatius at the Bridge Clay Lane

Horatius Cocles was the last man standing between Rome’s republic and the return of totalitarian government in 509 BC.

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1616

© Gobbler, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.

The Last Gladiator Clay Lane

The people of Rome suddenly turned their back on centuries of ‘sport’ - all because of one harmless old man.

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1617

© Sylvia Duckworth, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

A Bird in the Hand is Worth... Procopius of Caesarea

The Roman Emperor Honorius, so the story goes, had more on his mind than the impending sack of one of Europe’s iconic cities.

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1618

By TL. From Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Free Art Licence.

Hannibal’s Passage of the Alps Clay Lane

Hannibal’s crossing of the Alps with nearly 50,000 men and 38 elephants is the stuff of legend.

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1619

© Priasai, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.

The Siege of Arcot Thomas Babington Macaulay

Twenty-five-year-old Robert Clive’s extraordinary daring helped to prevent India falling into the hands of the French King.

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1620

© Serena, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.

Angel Cat Jerome K. Jerome

Cats do have a conscience: it tells them when to look innocent.

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