The Roman Sonnet

[L Oquence]

For some of us, Gaul was as real as Rome -- Transalpine Gaul, Cisalpine Gaul, 'Omnia Gallia in tres partes divisa est' , as Caesar began his War Commentaries. Or the Rubicon......which was not supposed to be crossed, but was. We could cast into Latin any amount of rampart-throwing up, with no idea of what they might be, and were better acquainted with Vercingetorix and Pompey, than we were with our own leaders of the day. So no credit attaches to this; the a present-day inhabitant of the Hexagon might raise an eye at such a slip. The good General de Gaulle, who associated his name with the country, would not see a problem, having written long before he was begged to invent a new Constitution, and be President, that he always knew that it was his destiny. A fine man, though a little embarrassing to hear him at a political rally, suddenly break out into singing 'The Marseillaise'.

Reverting to your poem, I had wondered vaguely if you were intending to introduce the Foreign Legion, in the way people do this 'layer' business.

(sgd) Beau Cochon

Oh, no. Nothing to do with the modern French, although they're from the same area.