The barbarian kings of Italy pursued their own interests, but they ruled, to begin with at least, in the name of the distant Emperor in Constantinople, maintaining and honouring the Roman Senate, and accepting the honorific title ‘Patrician of the Romans’. Even Odoacer’s ferocious successor Theoderic, a man who could sign his own name only with the help of a stencil cut from a plate of gold, accepted and exploited the fiction of empire. Theoderic adopted Roman dress, and his coinage carried the image of the Emperor. The Gothic kings based themselves on the Adriatic coast, in the old capital of the Western empire at Ravenna, and the glamour of Rome persisted. As Theoderic himself declared, ‘Any Goth who can, wants to be a Roman: no Roman wants to be a Goth.’
However, I must give myself credit for a little sense on one occasion, at least. And it was a serious occasion, too-a crisis in my life-a crisis when I stood watching my dreams and my plans for the future and the work of years vanish into thin air. It happened like this. In my early thirties, I had decided to spend my life writing novels. I was
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“Winning isn’t about a Championship title anymore. It’s about making me proud, no matter the outcome. Other people’s praise is only an added bonus now. Because in the end, I spent way too many lost years focusing on the opinions of people who didn’t matter.”
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“I know what Title IX is.”
“I see. So you willfully chose to disregard it.”
“I— What? No. No, I didn’t!”
He shrugged. “I must be mistaken, then. Someone else
must have assaulted me.”
“Assault—I didn’t ‘assault’ you.”
“You did kiss me.”
“But not really.”
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Talihsiz Serüvenler Dizisi 9 - Karnaval UcubeleriLemony Snicket · Doğan Egmont Yayıncılık · 2011272 okunma