Alea Iacta Est

Sometimes it pays to have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and to be just a little bit on the geeky side.

Many people before have asked why I collect so many books. I can only provide the response that best sums it up: I hate being without answers; if I want to know something, I want to have a reference that immediately provides the correct answer.

I don't care how arcane the reference - at some point, I'll want to know. Like Gordon Gekko said - "The most valuable commodity I know of is information."

I read a couple of months ago that two of the supporting characters in Rome, Vorenus and Pullo, are based on real persons of the same names.

Curiosity got the best of me, as it usually does. Once I got home, I located my copy of Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War. In Book V, Chapter LXIV, Caesar himself writes of two Centurions, Lucuis Vorenus and Titus Pullo, who were of near equal strength and bravery.

The 355 words written by Gaius Julius over 2,000 year ago about these two warriors are the only historical record we have of their existence. Why their story was included is of great interest considering Pullo later supported Caesar's opponent in the civil war.

Reading these stories last night made me think:

Caesar was lucky in that his Rubicon was actually the Rubicon. The barrier he had to cross was both literal and figurative.

I've always wondered what mine is.