Wednesday, February 24, 2021
This is where we are.....
Edward Gibbon wrote in his famous tome "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", with regard to Commodus, who was the son of
Marcus Aurelius whose reign is where the line is drawn for the beginning of the decline and fall.
Gibbons writes of Commodus:
Every “distinction of every kind soon became criminal. The possession of wealth stimulated the diligence of the informers; rigid virtue implied a tacit censure of the irregularities of Commodus; important services implied a dangerous superiority of merit; and the friendship of the father always insured the aversion of the son. Suspicion was equivalent to proof; trial to condemnation. The execution of a considerable senator was attended with the death of all who might lament or revenge his fate; and when Commodus had once tasted human blood, he became incapable of pity or remorse”
(Book 1, Chapter 4).
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Monday, February 1, 2021
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