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Quote of the day: Felix, who had for some time been govern
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Twelve Emperors by Suetonius

Julius Caesar, Chapter 47: On gems.
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They say that he [Note 1] was led to invade Britannia by the hope of getting pearls, and that in comparing their size he sometimes weighed them with his own hand; that he was always a most enthusiastic collector of gems, carvings, statues and pictures by early artists; also of slaves of exceptional figure and training at enormous prices, of which he himself was so ashamed that he forbade their entry in his accounts.

Note 1: he = Julius Caesar

Britanniam petisse spe margaritarum, quarum amplitudinem conferentem interdum sua manu exegisse pondus; gemmas, toreumata, signa, tabulas operis antiqui semper animosissime comparasse; seruitia rectiora politioraque inmenso pretio, et cuius ipsum etiam puderet, sic ut rationibus uetaret inferri.