All Thoughts Lead to Rome

I've been watching the new HBO series "Rome" and this week on the History Channel it's been Rome week. I've also been looking over the photos my daughter took in Rome this summer (yes, I'm jealous) while touring with the Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra.

So naturally, I've been obsessed with all things Roman.

There are many unpleasant and downright nasty things about these people, but there are also more than a little that I stand in amazement at. And through it all, I can't help thinking exactly how far civilization collapsed, right along with them.

I refuse to call the period after their collapse the "Middle Ages". It wasn't the middle of anything. It was a dark, dark time. Back to living in mud huts and digging in the ground with sticks. And it gives me a little twinge when I hear the current Pope wishing for a time where "the Church" had a more prominent roll in Europe's daily life. Yes, things were much better when the Catholics were in control of most everything (OK, most of what we refer to as "the West").

I've always been a fan of ancient Greece - probably my theater training, but wow, those Romans could build!

And yes, it's painful to think on how they lost their republic. It makes one think that such things are possible still today. Look how quickly it happened to them. Look how quickly it happened to the French with Napoleon. The Germans certainly tossed of their republic quickly and efficiently (It's a joke, son).

Ah, but that could never happen in the good ol' U. S. of A. Could it?


In case you miss my point, take a look at the Insurrection Act