We thus arrive at a most unexpected imbroglio. The French have become a Germanic folk and the Germanic folk have become Gaulish!

He grabbed the thunder mug and squatted over it. That brought some measure of relief. But his belly. That was still afire. He turned, on hands and knees, and puked into the thunder mug, adding that to the already stinking contents of the container.

… to see the Antonines as they really were;—one may concede that the point of view from which Christianity appeared something anti-civil and anti-social, …

Ms. Barrio, often rightly lauded for the power and intensity of her performances, lends her creaturelike presence to the second half.