Another in my series, "Little Known Cats Who Have Helped Humankind." I wrote these to relieve the darkness of writing my dark novel, Shadows Walking, about a Nazi doctor.
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Imagine our alphabet without the letter “u”—among other problems, how would anyone be able to send a text message? Instead, like the ancient Romans, we would have to use a “v” wherever a “u” should be. The Romans, despite their other practicalities, were unable to conceive of the letter “u” until Jvnivs Flavivs Albanivs (to spell his name as it appears on his birth-certificate) discovered the now ubiquitous letter in 106 A.D.
Junius, a cat from the western provinces (some historians claim that he was descended from Julius Caesar’s tent-cat during the Gallic wars), traveled to Rome during the consulate of Pliny the Younger. Meeting the consul by chance one morning in the Forum and inspired by the somewhat democratic spirit of the times, the cat protested at length that his name was unpronounceable as Jvnivs. Pliny sympathized and proposed replacing the “v’s” with “oo’s” but the cat had a better idea.
Seeing a piece of the previous night’s spaghetti shaped like the letter “u” on Pliny’s toga, Junius Flavius pointed to it and said, “Why not call that a “u”? Then no one will realize you are a sloppy eater. You can simply say you are wearing it as a visual aid for a speech you plan to give in favor of the new letter to the Senate.”
Pliny liked the suggestion and even took the cat along to hear the speech. With characteristic Roman honesty, the consul even admitted that Junius Flavius originated the idea. The Senate thereupon rewarded the cat with a small estate in the alley behind the Colliseum and a lifetime supply of vermicelli, cooked fresh daily.
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