Context:

Tom mentions this novel by Saramago about the siege of Lisbon, describing its plot about an editor who inserts the word 'not' into a historical text about the crusaders' role in the siege, thereby changing the meaning of history.

Context:

Referenced as the source for a story about an embassy from Lisbon (Olisipo) reporting to Emperor Tiberius about a triton seen playing on a shell in a cave. Tom says 'we get this from a friend of the show, Pliny the Elder.'