DEAR SOPHIA,

1438. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT THE WHEELCHAIR. I AM GOING TO TRY TO KEEP EVERY PROMISE TO YOU. THAT INCLUDES GOING BACK TO THE WATER PARK IN CORFU AND WHEELCHAIRS AREN’T A GOOD IDEA THERE.

YOU ARE NOW OLD ENOUGH TO WATCH A PROGRAM THAT WILL GIVE YOU A GREAT INSIGHT AS TO HOW THE WORLD WORKS. THE PROGRAM IS CALLED, “I, CLAUDIUS.”

I FIRST SAW THIS PROGRAM WHEN I WAS 13. THIS PROGRAM IS ABOUT THE EMPEROR CLAUDIUS WHO WROTE A SECRET HISTORY OF HOW THE ROMAN EMPIRE BEGAN. IT HAS ALL THE INTRIGUES AND SINISTER PLOTS THAT HISTORY DOESN’T USUALLY TALK ABOUT. THIS WAS A SECRET DIARY THAT WAS FOUND 1900 YEARS AFTER HE DIED AND WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN FOUND.

BECAUSE IT SHOWS WHAT REALLY HAPPENS BEHIND THE SCENES OF GREAT EMPIRES, I THINK IT’S TIME THAT YOU WATCH ALL 13 EPISODES SO THAT YOU NOW BECOME AWARE OF HOW THE WORLD WORKS IN THE SHADOWS. EVERYTHING YOU WILL SEE IN THE SHOW IS THOUGHT TO BE TRUE. IMPORTANT TO LESSON TO DRAW FROM THIS IS THAT WE ARE LIVING IN AN EMPIRE THAT PARALLELS WHAT HAPPENED 2,000 YEARS AGO.

THE REALITY IS ALL EMPIRES MIRROR WHAT YOU WILL SEE IN THIS PROGRAM.

YOUR ROOTS AND HERITAGE START AT A PERIOD FROM 500 B.C. THAT GREW INTO THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE. THE REASON WHY THIS PROGRAM IS RELEVANT TO YOUR HERITAGE IS YOU WILL SEE THE INFLUENCES OF THE HELLENIC CIVILIZATION ON THE 1ST ROMAN EMPIRE AND THROUGH YOUR LEARNING OF HISTORY, YOU WILL SEE HOW IT CONNECTS TO THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE.

WHAT WILL MAKE YOU LAUGH (AS I WAS WHEN I WATCHED IT) WAS HOW THE ROMANS AT THE START OF THE EMPIRE CONSTANTLY WERE IN NEED OF THE SUPPORT OF “THE GREEKS,” WHICH ALWAYS FRUSTRATED THE ROMAN EMPERORS. PAY ATTENTION TO EACH EPISODE BECAUSE THERE ARE LESSONS IN EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM.

DO NOT BE OFFENDED OR FEEL THAT SOME OF THE IMAGES MAY BE INAPPROPRIATE BECAUSE THIS IS HOW PEOPLE LIVED THEN AND HOW THEY ACTED. THIS IS NOW REAL LIFE AND YOU ARE OLD ENOUGH TO BEGIN TO HAVE A KNOWLEDGE OF THAT WORLD.

I LOVE YOU WITH ALL OF MY HEART. I CAN’T WAIT TO HUG YOU, KISS YOU, AND JUST GET ON WITH BEING A FATHER FOR YOU AS I WAS BEFORE.

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Love,

Dad