The Braggart

Thus does the Celtic warrior in his battle fury stand out larger than life, a swaggering braggart, his hand twitching for his sword, alert for insult, intended or accidental, through the swimming haze of alcohol that befuddled his mind. Classical writers marveled at him, his fellows set him above all others and accorded him the hero's portion at their feasts...

After various spasmodic troubles over the centuries, serious unrest came to the northern Roman frontier in 367, when a Celtic alliance of Picts, Scots and Attacotti (the identity of the latter is obscure) overran Hadrian's Wall. To deal with this 'Barbarian Conspiracy' one of the greatest military minds of the day, Theodosius, was sent to Britannia where he reorganized the defences (sic). Hadrian's Wall and some northern forts were restored to working order, signal stations were built along the Yorkshire coast and some towns had bastions added.
(Celtic Britain) Lloyd Laing

Sometimes others' words touch places that haven't been touched in years. I am going to re-read the book that brought me back to life after last summer. I don't believe in coincidences.

He said, "This is my biographical index!" "Your what?" "I started it when I was just beginning to write! I'd create a card for everyone I thought I might need to reference one day! There's a card for everyone I ever wrote about! And cards for people I talked to in the course of writing my pieces! and cards for people I read books about!..."

"...How many cards do you have?" "I've never counted!..."

"...What do you write on them?" "I write the name of the person and a one-word biography!" "Just one word?..."

"Henry Kissinger: war!
"Ornette Coleman: music!
"Che Guevara: war!
"Jeff Bezos: money!
"Phillip Guston: art!
"Mahatma Ghandi: war!"
"But he was a pacifist," I said.
"Right! War!"
...

"Do you have a card for yourself?"
He slid out a drawer.

A.R. BLACK: WAR
HUSBAND