ROME - THE ETERNAL TRIP
by armen pandola
About the time of the first Olympic Games in Greece, Rome was founded, legendarily by two brothers, Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a she-wolf. Although her rise in the ancient world was not sudden, it was spectacular. A year before Athens established its democracy, Rome threw off its monarchy and established the world’s first Republic. While Athens and Greece were establishing the pillars of Western Civilization in philosophy, science, mathematics, literature, history, architecture and fine art, Rome was conquering the other cities on the Italian peninsula.
Greek domination of the western world came to its culmination in Alexander the Great. Tellingly, he moved south and east to conquer the then-known western world, showing no interest in the backwater that was west of Greece in Italy and Rome. Within two centuries, that backwater moved east and south, conquering Greece, northern Africa and the Middle East. Within the next century, Rome moved west to conquer the rest of Europe. Rome had arrived and all roads led to its seven hills on the Tiber.
As with all empires, Rome fell, eventually. But if the American empire began with the 20th century, it would have to last until 2600 to come close to Rome’s domination. And just as its rise was slow but steady, its fall was more a decay than an explosion. But, unlike Athens, Rome had a trump card - religion.
From its origins, Romans loved religion and its twin, superstition. Maybe a small city having no real geopolitical advantage or, unlike modern empires, no major natural resources, could see its rise in the world as only ‘miraculous.’ Its most famous citizen’s most famous quote is not a Sophoclean ‘know thyself’ or a philosophical ‘man seeks god and in seeking, finds him’ but the call of the gambler - ‘the die is cast’ or more accurately, ‘let the dice fly high!’ Julius Caesar was, at the time, known more for his great good fortune than his military skill. Lucky he was - until the day he ignored all the bad omens of that fateful Ides of March.
Religion saved Rome. When one of its great, late emperors, Constantine, prayed to a relatively new Christian god for victory and won it, he converted and, because he was emperor, so did his subjects. Rome became the seat of the first, major religion that sought to convert the world. It almost succeeded. For a thousand years, the western world was dominated by the idea that this world is nothing and is only a prelude to the other world where we will all be judged and punished - yes, we must be punished because no matter how saintly we may be, original sin lies at the heart of all humanity. It was called the ‘Dark Ages.’
It took a long time for people to realize that condemning humanity did not make the world a better place. And it was Rome that led the way, if a little belatedly. The ‘renaissance’ or rebirth was a return to the ancient world and its basic belief. While the new artists used religious symbols to promote this idea, everyone with eyes could see that the symbols were just that - carriers for the truth behind the symbols, and that truth was - humans are magnificent creatures. Take one look at Michelangelo’s David and you can see that idea made real.
For the past five hundred years, people have gone to Rome to see the work of the western world’s greatest artists and to visit those few monuments that remain standing of its glorious past. But, more than that, they come to be among a people who have endured all the glory and all the disaster that the world can impose on a people. For almost three millennia, Rome and its people have endured - rises and falls, triumphs and sackings, wars won and lost, fortunes made and squandered, artists of such genius that their likes will never be seen again and tyrants of such infamy that the world can never forget them. Always at the center, like a bullseye, Rome attracted those who sought the spotlight.
I am spending this month, April, in Rome. We’ll explore it together in the coming weeks. I look forward to your company.