| The crab's
thought (August 2000) What the crab thinks in his hole-garden.
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| The crab's
thought (August 2000) What the crab thinks in his hole-garden.
|
| The last month I said the historians are unable to
objectively report either recent events, because they can’t be impartial,
or very long time since past events, because they can’t understand the
signs and the messages issued by ancient people who were very far from any
modern point of view. It’s known I’m an abject faultfinder. I already
estranged from many kind of people: lawyers, mechanicians, dentists and,
generally, all people charging very much money for a service that any people
could do better or that it should be better nobody do it. Never mind. It’s
always my arrogance running riot. Nevertheless I don’t know any person
more humble and kindly than me! But now why I should slander these worth
and mild researchers of our past whose efforts are surely higher than their
income? Now I want to make amends and now I think as the most part of people
think that the History is a teacher of life. You can think that this has
nothing to do with our argument. Really I think that the historians write
the history, so they would become our teachers of life. A simple fact can’t
teach anything to anybody. Did you ever see one of them beside the blackboard
shaking the wand? The History is teacher of life, but in a negative sense.
If you want to live well and very many years, your behaviour must be the
opposite, for example, than that roman emperors and their relatives did.
In fact those historic characters had some years to enjoy their incredible
comforts and delights, but in few years they were killed by praetorians or
by other killers. Someone died a natural death, but a natural death often
was confused with a death from poison. To be an emperor or a king means to be a star, at the centre of the attention. The emperors and the kings stand out because of their enormous ambition or their impudent luck leading them to be adopted or natural sons of kings and emperors. When neither emperors nor kings are foreseen, some characters can come out so famous and so powerful that they could really be called emperors. Scipio Africanus Major and Minor, Marius, Sylla, Pompey, Crassus and Caesar were so famous and so powerful that they could be considered as great emperors. In fact all their life is known. Consuls and dictators were ignored after their service period in the Republic age. How a common consul or a dictator died is known only if he died during his office. Often their name was only written in the Annals or in the Consular Fasti. Nevertheless to know how an important person died is a very interesting and educative news. Since the human beings always aspired to eternally live, the emperor’s short life isn’t enviable. Nowadays the ideal for a very important person is a quiet long life with wholesome not excessive food., moderate sex, travels, sport, nice friends, far from stress and diseases. It’s similar to the epicurean ideal even if the great Epicurus heroically suffered his heavy disease and Lucretius, one of his followers, had a short and unhappy life. But can the modern emperors reach this enviable ideal? Is it worth while to become emperor? I would ask Clinton or Bill Gates. What? The answer is: yes sir, it’s worth while and it’s very amusing. Just today while Camp David peace treaties are unsuccessful and our Outlook Express and Internet Explorer must be urgently updated otherwise our systems could collapse? These details are not included in the happiness manuals of the modern emperors, and are not comparable to the Barbarians rebellions at the Empire boundaries considered by emperors more dangerous than internal conspiracies.  mic.dang@tiscalinet.it mic.dang@libero.it BACK TO HOME
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