There's an expression which I think of occasionally when I see or hear about cases where someone in authority seeks to abuse that authority, and it's "Caesars's wife". It's a shortened version of the actual expression, which is 'Caesar's wife must be above suspicion'. I've checked Wikipedia for the definitive meaning of the expression and this is what it says:
In 63 BC Caesar was elected to the position of Pontifex
Maximus, the chief priest of the Roman state religion, which came with an
official residence on the Via Sacra. In 62 BC Pompeia hosted the festival of
the Bona Dea ("good goddess"), which no man was permitted to attend,
in this house. However a young patrician named Publius Clodius Pulcher managed
to gain admittance disguised as a woman, apparently for the purpose of seducing
Pompeia. He was caught and prosecuted for sacrilege. Caesar gave no evidence
against Clodius at his trial, and he was acquitted. Nevertheless, Caesar
divorced Pompeia, saying that "my wife ought not even to be under
suspicion." This gave rise to a proverb, sometimes expressed:
"Caesar's wife must be above suspicion."
Here's an extract from the Highway Code:
244
You MUST
NOT park partially or wholly on the pavement in London, and should not
do so elsewhere unless signs permit it. Parking on the pavement can obstruct
and seriously inconvenience pedestrians, people in wheelchairs or with visual
impairments and people with prams or pushchairs.
[Law
GL(GP)A sect 15]
Note that it says 'should not do so elsewhere unless signs permit it', and not 'are allowed to do so elsewhere unless signs forbid it'.
In Dowson Road in Hyde there's a Shell filling station and there doesn't appear to be a notice in the vicinity saying that parking on any part of the pavement is allowed. Here's the 'Caesar's wife' photograph:
Please note that the above section of the Highway Code probably doesn't apply in Guernsey!
I don't think we would have pavement big enough to park on over here!
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