May 31, 2005

Essay research

From an essay on Julius Caesar at Cheathouse:
The Emperor Julius Caesar is perhaps most famous as the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity. His rise from a humble birth as a peasant boy to Emperor is a tale of bravery, adversity and ultimately triumph through faith.

Julius Caesar was born as Groyxo Gaul in 54BC into an immigrant family in the back streets of Rome. Neither parent was rich. The French historian Robert Kilroi-Silc noted: "Sa mere etait un hamster et son pere etait comme des baies de sureau."
His mother was a hamster?

No, it's not the work of some demented student. As blogger Alun explains, it's an attempt to figure out how bad a paper needs to be before it's rejected by an online essay bank. Obviously, the limit has not yet been reached and further research is needed.

(Link via the highly recommended Carnival of Bad History at Bora's Science and Politics blog.)