A line in the sand (lines #7)

I never would have got this picture if Mrs 42 wasn't a primary school teacher!

Not that its my best blip, but completes my lines assignment series. Phew.

It got me thinking about where "A line in the sand" came from, because it clearly wasn't thought up by George W when he used it (in a terrible pun) when he was referring to Kuwait in the first Gulf War.

"It seems that one of the Macedonian kings, a bit short of cash, decided to invade Egypt, then a Roman protectorate. His army was met at the border by a lone Roman senator named Popillius Laenas, who ordered the king to withdraw. The king began to stall for time, so Popillius Laenas drew a circle in the sand around the king and demanded that the king agree to withdraw his army before he stepped out of the circle. The king, apparently impressed by the senator's nerve (or, more likely, by the Roman Empire in general), withdrew. Incidentally, not only is this account verified by contemporary historians, but it also may be the only known instance of a line drawn in the sand actually stopping someone."

More guesses here.

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LOTD: Cascaden's stone steps are simple and beautiful (clean lines?)