losing it
A BUTCHER'S #85
A BUTCHER’S hook/look (Cockney rhyming slang)
Roma washes whiter
Not actually Italian, I came across this ROMA laundry detergent from Mexico on the Lower East Side.
wha’ happened?
In Rome, everywhere you look there are reminders of an incredibly capable and accomplished past civilization. In fact it’s almost impossible for us to imagine how grand it was, and equally hard to think how it all came to an end.
As a frequent visitor to Rome, it’s been something I’ve always thought about….
How come? In the 4th century AD Rome had 424 temples and 28 libraries containing tens of thousands of books. Yet the first library of the Middle Ages in Italy contained only 120 books, and of the entire Roman Empire, the Pantheon is the only major temple nearly intact.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, as they say - and it didn’t fall in a day. The decline was a slow process with many contributing factors but all combined, the result was devastating. A centuries long siege by barbarian tribes, corrupt self serving leadership and external pressures led to an irreversible internal decay and loss of knowledge that would take centuries to recover.
When the the Goths / Visigoths / Vandals et al arrived from the north, conquering the Roman world, they were way more interested in the loot - leaving the buildings and structures intact. But knowledge took a real hit. Trade collapsed and the economy became local. People had to grow and make things themselves again but by 465AD the know-how was already lost. No concrete, nothing. Welcome to the Dark Ages.
As far as hygiene and housing went, the Romans of the Middle Ages lived as if the Rome of the Republic and Empire had barely existed. All the skill, all the learning and advanced engineering, was gone.
the fall
A painting from back in 1992
leftovers
It was the Romans themselves that followed, that did the real damage. All the marble was stripped from the Colosseum (and every other villa, arena and government building) - in fact the whole of Rome was just a convenient open quarry for ready made material - most was burnt to produce lime to make mortar - the statues, everything.
Under one medieval building, nearly 20 marble busts of Roman Emperors were found being used as filler in the foundation. It’s hard to comprehend really.
getting dumberer
While sorting out Anna’s parents apartment and looking for places to donate stuff, including books (lots of books) - encyclopedias appear to be the big challenge. No one wants them - you can’t give them away. Still trying to figure this out, we see a neighbor carting a complete set out to throw in the trash - they aren’t even recyclable because of the glue used.
This got me thinking….. We are more than eager to throw this source of knowledge away because we can google it. So what happens when they (the new tech Robber Barons or whoever) pull the plug? We’ve already voluntarily tossed all those ‘how-to’ books, the First Aid books, Atlases and road maps - we’re already crossing over!
civilizations
history repeating - I made this postcard collage in 2002
It took a lot of searching to find the New York postcard that not only fit well, but with light sources that match both the Colosseum and Midtown.
"Decline and Fall" is an Up and Up. Goes with the swords, scarlet, purple blue. How Commodus made a Sassanad arch - will look the Villa. Roma didn't end in a clean wash. #85 cleans up that illusion. gett gotterdumbering DC T Jefferson modeled on Paris; DC D Trump 'There will be a gold toilet in every pot,' and Victoria's Secret around the corner.' Same for me w/books. A phonebook?