Departing PM references Cincinnatus, who turned to farming after leaving Rome – but then returned to power
- Boris Johnson delivers farewell speech in Downing Street
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In his departure speech, Boris Johnson likened himself to Cincinnatus a figure who “returned to his plough”, apparently suggesting he would return quietly to the backbenches.
However, what Johnson, who studied classics at the University of Oxford, did not include in his speech was that while the Roman statesman Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus is said to have left Rome for a bucolic existence on his farm, he was later called upon to return to Rome and lead as a dictator.
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