high crimes, the high festival of the sun

In Rome itself the official position was clear: the apotheosis of the emperor took place only after his death; this had to be officially recognized by the Senate, and only then did the emperor become a divus with an official cult.

This street, Alton Avenue, was on a slope... air-raid shelters had been dug into all the back gardens so that you had to stoop and go down a couple of steps to enter...my parents told one particular family if there was an air-raid they could share our shelter.

The book was a success – of a kind: a succès de scandale; but it secured him a valuable patron.