(no subject)

[ben_iarwain]

"The first recorded instance [of Roman officials learning and conducting business in Greek] enjoys special notoriety. L. Postumius Megellus, Roman ambassador to Tarentum in 282, conducted negotiations in Greek, a language whose finer points unfortunately escapred him. His slips in that toungue called forth jeers and insults from the Tarentines, one of whose members, to show his contempt, even defecated on Postumius' toga. The confrontation served to justify Rome's war on Tarentum."
-Gruen, Erich. Culture and Identity in Republican Rome. (Cornell 1992) 229-230.