Preliminary studies have announced many of the themes found in the following pages, and although at times they have made me think I was adequately prepared for the larger work, this has taken an inordinate time to complete. In the process I have felt prematurely blasted by antiquity. But having got this far, there are occasions when I feel as buoyant as Sir Roger L'Estrange after laying down his onerous and odious offices to translate Cicero's. That I can make the comparison is due to many, not least Dr Paul Spira and the Prince of Wales Hospital.

Something long-winded, obscure and purple, had there been light enough to see it by, was passed rapidly to readers Professors Jonathan Scott and John Spurr, who treated it with the astringent professionalism it deserved and the constructive insight that it did not. Great thanks are always due to those who labour to save authors from themselves and to editors like Richard Fisher who handle them with such patience, tact and encouragement.