Thank you, Tom. You are a most gracious and thoughtful scholar.

I agree with Calpurnia; you're concise response is insightful. I had not considered the Claudian interests in the East, either! I'm quite willing to go down that speculative path.

I rather hope we have captured Tom as an occasional visitor. I'm sure he is feeling what each one of us felt years ago when we stumbled through some portal or other into the other virtual world called AncientSites! This place can infect you! Without meaning to you wander in just to see what's new, who's here, what outrage has been or is being perpetrated! (Okay, the outrages seem to have been brought under control ... sadly ... ).

Tom, I hope you write those parallel biographies for the fun of it! Throw in Clodius why don't you!

I wager if Milo had not murdered Clodius then Clodius might have made it to the top ... even if he had had to overthrow Caesar to get there!

Good fiction and another good example of the truth being stranger than ...