MWIN Wrote:One of the problems of Sullla's diplomacy is carefully edited messages. They just don't sound honest.
Thats a good point, his letters do give the impression that they are from an all seeing deity, rather than a potenial friend and ally. I would guess that it's because he is college tutor / lecturer, it must be difficult to write in a friendly and open way when you spend all day corresponding in a Master / Student fashion. I suppose it's also difficult to pitch a message at a certain level when your ahead and at the top of the scoreboard. I have had the same issues after a hard days work, you spend all day writing in a business like tone addressing serious issues, then you have to build a consensus in a diplomatic message - it's a different ball game and without having another diplomat to check the message and provide some input it's very easy to have a unseen faux pax. Can get even worse if the person you are writing to is not a native english speaker.