His natural modesty prevented him from revealing that he’d memorized all of Homer and could recite any passage from memory unprompted.  It was a talent he’d acquired as an adolescent to fill his lonely evenings.

Whilst his contemporaries were exploring the opposite sex, themselves and the effects of undiluted wine, Philo has instead used his time to learn things.

He  could  read ten languages, name every consul going back to the formation of the republic and juggle six balls at once if called to do so. So far Philo’s impressive juggling skills remained undiscovered but his ability to memorize large bodies of text was about to be fully utilized.