Caratacus was a 1st-century AD British chieftain of the Catuvellauni tribe, who led the British resistance to the Roman conquest. Before the Roman invasion Caratacus is associated with the expansion of his tribe's territory, his apparent success led to Roman invasion, nominally in support of his defeated enemies. He resisted the Romans for a decade, mixing guerrilla warfare with set-piece battles, but was unsuccessful in the latter. After his final defeat he fled to the territory of Queen Cartimandua, who captured him and handed him over to the Romans, he was sentenced to death as a military prisoner, but made a speech before his execution that persuaded the Emperor Claudius to spare him. The legendary Welsh character Caradog ap Bran and the legendary British king Arvirargus may be based upon Caratacus. Caratacus's speech to Claudius has been a common subject in art. Caratacus's name appears as both Caratacus and Caractacus in manuscripts of Tacitus, as Καράτακος and Καρτάκης in manuscripts of Dio.

Older reference works tend to favour the spelling "Caractacus", but modern scholars agree, based on historical linguistics and source criticism, that the original Common Brittonic form was *Karatākos, cognate with Welsh Caradog, Breton Karadeg, Irish Carthach, meaning "loving, dear. Caratacus is named by Dio Cassius as a son of the Catuvellaunian king Cunobelinus. Based on coin distribution Caratacus appears to have been the protégé of his uncle Epaticcus, who expanded Catuvellaunian power westwards most from his palace in Verulam the heartland of the Catuvellauni into the territory of the Atrebates. After Epaticcus died in about AD 35, the Atrebates, under Verica, regained some of their territory, but it appears Caratacus completed the conquest, as Dio tells us Verica was ousted, fled to Rome and appealed to the emperor Claudius for help; this was the excuse used by Claudius to launch his invasion of Britain in the summer of 43. The invasion targeted Caratacus's stronghold of Camulodunon the seat of his father Cunobelinus.

Cunobelinus had died some time before the invasion. Caratacus and his brother Togodumnus led the initial defence of the country against Aulus Plautius's four legions, thought to have been around 40,000 men using guerrilla tactics, they lost much of the south-east after being defeated in two crucial battles, the Battle of the River Medway and River Thames. Togodumnus was killed and the Catuvellauni's territories were conquered, their stronghold of Camulodunon was converted into the first Roman colonia in Britain, Colonia Victricensis. We next hear of Caratacus in Tacitus's Annals, leading the Silures and Ordovices of Wales against Plautius's successor as governor, Publius Ostorius Scapula. In 51, Scapula managed to defeat Caratacus in a set-piece battle somewhere in Ordovician territory, capturing Caratacus's wife and daughter and receiving the surrender of his brothers. Caratacus himself escaped, fled north to the lands of the Brigantes where the Brigantian queen, handed him over to the Romans in chains.

This was one of the factors that led to two Brigantian revolts against Cartimandua and her Roman allies, once in the 50s and once in 69, led by Venutius, who had once been Cartimandua's husband. With the capture of Caratacus, much of southern Britain from the Humber to the Severn was pacified and garrisoned throughout the 50s. Legends place Caratacus's last stand at either Caer Caradoc near Church Stretton or British Camp in the Malvern Hills, but the description of Tacitus makes either unlikely: resorted to the ultimate hazard, adopting a place for battle so that entry, everything would be unfavourable to us and for the better to his own men, with steep mountains all around, wherever a gentle access was possible, he strewed rocks in front in the manner of a rampart, and in front too there flowed a stream with an unsure ford, companies of armed men had taken up position along the defences. Although the Severn is visible from British Camp, it is nowhere near it, so this battle must have taken place elsewhere.

A number of locations have been suggested, including a site near Brampton Bryan. Bari Jones, in Archaeology Today in 1998, identified Blodwel Rocks at Llanymynech in Powys as representing a close fit with Tacitus's account. After his capture, Caratacus was sent to Rome as a war prize to be killed after a triumphal parade. Although a captive, he was allowed to speak to the Roman senate. Tacitus records a version of his speech in which he says that his stubborn resistance made Rome's glory in defeating him all the greater: If the degree of my nobility and fortune had been matched by moderation in success, I would have come to this City as a friend rather than a captive, nor would you have disdained to receive with a treaty of peace one sprung from brilliant ancestors and commanding a great many nations, but my present lot, disfiguring as it is for me, is magnificent for you. I had horses, men and wealth: what wonder if I was unwilling to lose them? If you wish to command everyone, does it follow that everyone should accept your slavery?

If I were now being handed over as one who had surrendered neither my fortune nor your glory would have achieved brilliance. It is true that in my case any reprisal will be followed by oblivion. On the ot

The Football League play-offs for the 1997–98 season were held in May 1998, with the finals taking place at the old Wembley Stadium in London. The play-off semi-finals were played over two legs and were contested by the teams who finish in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place in the Football League First Division and Football League Second Division and the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th placed teams in the Football League Third Division table; the winners of the semi-finals will go through to the finals, with the winner of the matches gaining promotion for the following season. The Football League play-offs have been held every year since 1987, they take place for each division following the conclusion of the regular season and are contested by the four clubs finishing below the automatic promotion places. In the First Division, who are aiming to return to the top flight after relegation last season, finished 1 point behind second placed Middlesbrough, who in turn finished 3 points behind champions Nottingham Forest, who returned to the top flight after being relegated last season.

Charlton Athletic, who are aiming to return to the top flight after 8 years outside the top division, finished in fourth place in the table. Ipswich Town, who are aiming to return to the top flight after 3 seasons outside the top division, finished in fifth place. Sheffield United, who are aiming to return to the top flight after a 4-year absence, finished 9 points behind Ipswich Town in sixth place; this means Sunderland and Sheffield United will play each other with Ipswich and Charlton playing each other just like in the 1987 playoffs only Charlton were the First Division and Ipswich were in the Second Division. First leg Second leg Charlton Athletic won 2–0 on aggregate. Sunderland won 3–2 on aggregate. First leg Second leg Grimsby Town won 2–1 on aggregate. Northampton Town won 4–3 on aggregate. First leg Second leg Colchester United won 3–2 on aggregate. Torquay United won 7–2 on aggregate. Football League website

Peter James Levinson was an American music publicist and biographer of jazz musicians. Levinson took his bachelor's at the University of Virginia, where he wrote on jazz in the university paper. After completing service in the Army in Korea, he wrote freelance on jazz music in New York City and took a job at Columbia Records in the late 1950s, his first job as a publicist was with Jack Jones, beginning in 1962. He spent nearly fifty years in the music industry as a promoter and representative for stars such as Count Basie, Artie Shaw, Woody Herman, Lalo Schifrin, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Chuck Mangione, Dave Brubeck, Rosemary Clooney, Erroll Garner, Stan Getz, Peggy Lee, Bill Evans, Dexter Gordon, Maynard Ferguson, Pete Fountain, Art Garfunkel, Bud Shank, Phyllis Diller, George Shearing, Chick Corea, Jim Hall, Benny Carter, Charlie Byrd, Louie Bellson, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jack Lemmon, Mel Tormé. Levinson's publicity work extended into television and film, working on Dallas, Z, Fiddler on the Roof, Kramer vs. Kramer.

He founded his own company, Peter Levinson Communications, based in New York. He helped orchestrate the 1986 introduction of a postage stamp in honor of Duke Ellington. Late in his career, Levinson began writing biographies, completing works on Harry James, Nelson Riddle, Tommy Dorsey. A biography of Fred Astaire was completed just before his death, was published in 2009: Puttin' on the Ritz: Fred Astaire and the Fine Art of Panache, St. Martin's Press OCLC 243544712. Levinson contracted amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2006, he died at the age of 74 after a fall at his home in Malibu, California on October 21, 2008. Trumpet Blues: The Life of Harry James September in the Rain: The Life of Nelson Riddle Tommy Dorsey: Livin' in a Great Big Way Puttin' on the Ritz: The Life of Fred Astaire