I Fundamentally Disagree With Thomas Jefferson And Mark Twain. "Never Use Two Words When One Will Do,"

I fundamentally disagree with Thomas Jefferson and Mark Twain. "Never use two words when one will do," "don't use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent word will do," I'm going to turn a single sentence into an essay and it's going to cost five hundred dollars per word because those are the right words to get across what I mean without ambiguity and misunderstanding, thankyouverymuch

i have an entire tracklist with who sings what drafted btw. i just need to find a way to make sure that pompey and caesar are played by the same actor in act 1 and 2 respectively

Fun fact about me. When I was 11 I wanted to be Cicero so bad. I would read his speeches all the time before bed. I decided to become a lawyer. I won multiple public speaking and mock trial awards. I am now a pre-law student. He's had more influence on my life than anyone alive.

hi. i love everything about this. are you sure you are not possessed by the spirit of cicero

Say what you want about the 2023 Shakespeare in The Park production of Hamlet, but the choices made in that play WORKED. Having Hamlet wear a black hoodie and camo pants and him dramatically putting his hood up when he was pissed off was inspired. Having Horatio video tape Claudius on an iPhone camera from the side of the stage during the play within the play was hilarious. Having the play within the play be a hip hop dance number that represented the murder!?! Fantastic. Having Ophelia be a singer before she went mad and having a beautiful voice that everyone loved to listen to and then seeing her singing get worse and worse as she got nearer to death?!?! Hamlet pulling out his iphone after killing Polonius to show his mom a picture of his dad compared to a picture of Claudius and angrily swiping back and forth between the two as he said “What judgement would step from this… to this?” The crowd fucking lost it every time. Horatio singing to Hamlet as he died made me fully sob every time. The way they did the ghost on stage was so chilling and I can’t even accurately describe it, you just had to be there. Hamlet being deeply exasperated the entire time was just perfect. Hamlet and Horatio had a secret handshake. Laertes inexplicably carried an acoustic guitar case for much of the play which was very funny but also hit you with the heartbreaking implication that he had used to play while Ophelia sang and he stopped carrying it after she died. It was peak teenage-angst-hamlet and it was so dear to me. PLEASE if anyone has a recording, send it to me.

Do you have any good resources/references/advice for drawing (late republican) Roman clothing? I want to draw a couple of historical figures but thinking about drawing a toga makes me feel like 😖😖😖...

-Costumes of the Greeks and Romans, Thomas Hope

-Greek and Roman Fashions, Tom Tierney

-The World of Roman Costume, ed. Judith Lynn Sebesta and Larissa Bonfante.

-Decorative Symbols and motifs for Artists and Craftsmen/Decorative Patterns of the Ancient World, Dover Publications

-photos & videos from reenactors and reenactment events

-build a screenshot reference library from movies and shows that have costume designs you like, that kind of thing. grab a blanket and wrap yourself up in it toga style and take a photo if you need a specific angle. etc. museums usually have a lot of their galleries online, and places like the met often shoot statues from multiple sides.

The more familiar with Cicero you are beforehand, the more the Pro Caelio feels like being punched in the face. It can be so very easy to buy into one view of Cicero's character, because he's simply so good at projecting the image he wants us to see. One minute all we see is absolute outrage towards anyone vaguely associated with Catiline's conspiracy, executions without trial, righteous anger and passion. And it's so bloody effective that we buy into it wholeheartedly.

But when he has to, he sheds this skin in the blink of an eye. From bemoaning the Times and Morals, Cicero pleads that the judges be lenient with Caelius, since perfect virtue like that of the heroes of the old Republic is something you find only in books and rarely in life. The times and morals become an excuse. Being dragged into the wrong political circles is just an unfortunate consequence of youthfulness. Coming from Cicero, this is just unbelievable.

But fun uncle Cicero is as much a persona as Mister Republic '63. It's only when you see such radically different versions of Cicero that you realise just what a master of rhetoric he is, how effectively he warps even our impression of him and of the case, though we are looking back with fresh eyes 2000 years later. The real Cicero is an elusive mastermind. Hearing his voice booming his ire through the senate house would have been heart-stopping. But realising how much he's playing with you in order to have such an effect is almost... something more awe-inspiring.