Pyrrhic Victory

The Battle of Asculum ^[5] took place in 279 BC between the Roman Republic under the command of the consuls Publius Decius Mus and Publius Sulpicius Saverrio and the forces of king Pyrrhus of Epirus. (Wikipedia)

It is this battle that is referred to whenever anyone states the title of this post.

(And you know that one of my favourite themes is that if we do not learn from the past, we will continue to make the same mistakes in the future…)

In a series of emails recently, I had a gentle disagreement with someone about writing a book together. Well, I thought it was gentle, the other person did not, obviously. The email I got in return was full of insults and innuendo. Then I was told not to write to this person, ever again. (And, true to form, I got two more emails casting dispersion on my relationship with my wife.) I did not respond.

Did the person feel justified to do this, just because I chose not to participate? Obviously, the frustration of not getting one’s way was too much to bear.

So, to demonstrate that this is a long running battle for supremacy between the males and the females of the species, let me share one more picture. This may put the cat amongst the pigeons, as it were.

And to demonstrate how synchronicity works: this BBC report, published the next day.