tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38472234.post7362621518462323743..comments2024-02-04T03:57:19.271+01:00Comments on Zenobia: Empress of the East: Stolen Oplontis fresco on show in RomeJudith Weingartenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06683483030413488309noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38472234.post-26291616351779361552008-05-16T05:34:00.000+02:002008-05-16T05:34:00.000+02:00THE CANTERBURY TALESbyGeoffrey Chaucer"THE MONK'S ...THE CANTERBURY TALES<BR/>by<BR/>Geoffrey Chaucer<BR/>"THE MONK'S TALE"<BR/>(MODERN TRANSLATION)<BR/> <BR/><BR/>Zenobia, one time Palmyra's queen,<BR/>As of her nobleness the Persians write<BR/>In arms was both so worthy and so keen<BR/>That none had greater fearlessness in fight<BR/>Or boasted of a lineage more bright.<BR/>Of kingly Persian blood was she the bearer:<BR/>I say not she was fairest to the sight,<BR/>And yet her figure could not have been fairer.<BR/><BR/>From childhood ever to the woods she fled--<BR/>No care on women's duties would she spend;<BR/>And there the blood of many a hart she shed<BR/>With broad and strong-winged arrows she would send;<BR/>These beasts she tracked, and caught them in the end;<BR/>When older, bears and lions would she kill,<BR/>And leopards---with her bare hands she would rend<BR/>Or in her arms would tame them to her will.<BR/><BR/>She dared to seek a wild beast in its den,<BR/>And range the hills by dark, and sleep all night<BR/>Beneath a bush. And she would face young men---<BR/>However strong they were, or swift and light-And wrestle them by force and very might;<BR/>No creature was her match that walked or ran;<BR/>She kept her maidenhood forever bright, And scorned to bind herself to any man.<BR/>But friends at length contrived to have her marry<BR/><BR/>One Odenathus, a prince of that same land,<BR/>Though long for this event she made them tarry;<BR/>And Odenathus, ye shall understand,<BR/>Had fancies much like hers; but hand in hand<BR/>When they were knit at last as man and wife,<BR/>No greater joy could any two command,<BR/>For each one loved the other as his life.<BR/><BR/>Two sons by Odenathus did she bear,<BR/>And taught them both in books and virtuous ways.<BR/>But to our tale. I say that one so rare<BR/>In honor, just and generous all her days,<BR/>So wise, and courteous beyond all praise,<BR/>So ardent in her wars yet careful too,<BR/>So staunch in all the toils that battles raise,<BR/>One could not find again the whole world through.<BR/><BR/>The richness of her state may not be told,<BR/>As to her vessels or the way she dressed: She was all clad in jewels and in gold;<BR/>Yet when at times from war she won a rest<BR/>She would not hunt, but rather showed a zest<BR/>For learning sundry tongues; or else her days<BR/>She gave to books, to study there how best<BR/>to live her life in high and virtuous ways.<BR/>And briefly all this story to relate,<BR/>So valiant was her husband and was she<BR/>That in the orient many a kingdom great<BR/>They won, and many a city fair to see,<BR/>That all had bowed beneath the majesty<BR/>Of Rome, and strong of hand they held them fast,<BR/>Nor ever could their foemen make them flee<BR/>Till Odenathus' days were done at last.<BR/><BR/>He that would of her many battles read<BR/>Against great Sahpor king and many more,<BR/>How year by year this process went, indeed,<BR/>What title to each land she won by war;<BR/>And later, of disaster that she bore,<BR/>And how she was besieged and captured too--<BR/>Let him my master Petrarch well explore,<BR/>That wrote enough of this, I promise you.<BR/>And after Odenathus died at length,<BR/>She held the kingdom with a sturdy hand,<BR/>And fought against her foes with such a strength<BR/>That no king lived, nor prince, in all that land<BR/>But he was glad to come at her command<BR/>And get some grace of her---to make a stay;<BR/>They made alliances and swore to stand<BR/>At peace with her, and let her ride and play.<BR/><BR/>Not Claudius, the Roman emperor,<BR/>nor Gallienus, he that held the sway<BR/>Before him, had such eagerness for war,<BR/>Nor Arab nor Armenian in that day,<BR/>Nor Syrian nor Egyptian, to essay<BR/>Against her in the field to make a fight,<BR/>Lest she in battle with her own hands slay<BR/>Or with her armies scatter them in flight.<BR/><BR/>In kingly habit went her sons, well-famed,<BR/>Heirs to their father's kingdoms, one and all;<BR/>Hermanno and Timoleus they were named,<BR/>Or so the Persians write, as I recall.<BR/>But always Fortune's honey hides some gall;<BR/>Not long this mighty queen enjoyed success;<BR/>Out of her kingdom Fortune made her fall<BR/>Into misfortune, grief, and wretchedness.<BR/><BR/>Aurelian, when he took the government<BR/>Of Rome to hand, planned long and spared no pains<BR/>For vengeance on this queen; and forth he went<BR/>And with his legions sought her on her plains,<BR/>And now to tell you briefly what remains,<BR/>He made her flee, and captured her at last,<BR/>And her and both her sons he put in chains,<BR/>And won the land, and home to Rome he passed.<BR/><BR/>Among the other trophies that he won<BR/>Her chariot, wrought of splendid gems and gold,<BR/>This mighty Roman, this Aurelian,<BR/>Led his train for all men to behold.<BR/>And foremost in his triumph as it rolled<BR/>Walked she, her neck in gilded chains, and crowned<BR/>To show the kingdoms she had once controlled,<BR/>And all in jeweled clothing richly gowned.<BR/><BR/>Ah, fortune! she that once held in honor<BR/>And feared by emperors and kingly powers,<BR/>Must let the crowding people stare upon her;<BR/>And she that helmed in steel in other hours<BR/>Waged bitter war and stormed strong towns and towers<BR/>Must wear a woman's cap upon her head,<BR/>And she that bore a scepter wreathed in flowers<BR/>Must bear a distaff now, to earn her bread.Glennhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13329143162945065284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38472234.post-84113396071577599592008-05-15T21:52:00.000+02:002008-05-15T21:52:00.000+02:00Lucius Verus Invades IraqByGlenn BarnettRecently I...Lucius Verus Invades Iraq<BR/>By<BR/>Glenn Barnett<BR/><BR/><BR/>Recently Italian police recovered a stolen bust of Roman emperor named Lucius Verus (161 – 169) who jointly administered the empire with his more famous adopted brother Marcus Aurelius. The find focuses new light on the ancient world. Verus apparently did not like to sit for portraits and so few of his statues have survived from antiquity. But is this how he is known to history?<BR/>Lucius Verus was best known for his invasion of Iraq, an event that brought disaster and untold suffering to the Roman world. Wars and revolutions have unintended consequences and Verus’ war was no exception.<BR/>While his senior colleague Marcus remained in Rome to deal with domestic issues Verus was dispatched to Syria to deal with an aggressive Persian neighbor. Persia consisted of the modern nations of Iraq, Iran and western Afghanistan. The Roman invasion of Iraq at this time has echoes into our own day.<BR/>In 164, Verus operating from a forward base at Antioch in Syria appointed General Avidius Cassius to lead an invasion of Iraq while he remained at a resort town on the Mediterranean coast. There he surrounded himself with actors, jesters, gladiators and other hangers-on, including a mistress named Panthea of Smyrna whose charms survive in the poetic gossip of Lucian and the Meditations of Aurelius (VIII 37).<BR/>The fighting was left to the soldiers. An excellent tactician, Avidius crossed the Euphrates River in three places. He soon out maneuvered the Persians and captured the Iraqi towns of Nisibis, Singara, Anatha and Haditha.<BR/>With his own brand of shock and awe he soon reached the Persian capital city of Ctesiphon (twelve miles south of Baghdad) which he took and sacked. Across the Tigris River from Ctesiphon stood the city of Seleucia which had been established by Alexander the Great four centuries earlier. It was peopled by a mostly Greek population who initially welcomed the Romans.<BR/>Avidius’ men however were only interested in loot and the potential allied city of Seleucia was put to the torch. The modern concept of ‘winning hearts and minds’ never occurred to the Romans. The whole population of Iraq now resented the Roman intrusion.<BR/>Worse the Romans grabbed everything within their reach. When they opened tombs to rob the grave goods however they altered the course of western history. Ancient writers attribute to these tomb raiders the contagion of the plague (perhaps smallpox) which was said to have been contracted from the looted graves.<BR/>Not yet aware of the contagion that they carried, the Romans left Iraq with their loot and returned to Syria. Verus who had received news of their great victories returned to Rome to enjoy the uniquely Roman victory parade known as a ‘triumph’. The honors he gained by looting Iraq were celebrated while Verus, the soul of courtesy, shared the honors with his brother Marcus Aurelius who had remained at home.<BR/>While Rome celebrated, the legionnaires were returning home infected with the contagious disease that they had contracted in Iraq. Within a decade the Roman world was decimated. Tens of thousands of people died of the Iraqi plague that swept through Europe leaving cities, towns and farms devastated and deserted.<BR/>Vast tracts of fallow farm land acted as a beacon for foreign peoples beyond the empire’s borders. They coveted the land while the Romans needed farmers and tax payers to re-people the farms. The Germanic immigrants first crossed into Roman territory as workers and farmers in a time of need. They would eventually overwhelm the empire.<BR/>Lucius Verus was not exempt from the disease that he unwittingly unleashed. He died in 169 as an unintended victim of his invasion of Iraq.<BR/>Glenn Barnett is an instructor at Cerritos College in Norwalk. His forthcoming book is “THE PERSIAN WAR: The Roman Conflicts with Iraq and Iran”.Glennhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13329143162945065284noreply@blogger.com