No washing machine

Tags

art., beijing, Berlin, history, life, Rome, St-Petersburg

Our washing machine died with a clunk and a whine last Thursday, we were able to secure a new washing machine almost within one hour. The drawback delivery takes 7 days, oh my! So the clothing has been piling up as well as sheets and towels. We are really dependent on this machine, now we know. But the delivery will be made by Friday so patience and no panic.

I really miss good conversation with friends face to face and the laughs and gossip. Zoom is NOT the same thing.

Scaffolding coming down this week at the main gate portal of the City Palace. Friday is the capping off of the building which can be followed on webcam. Starting at 6 am Berlin time, weather permitting.

https://cam01.berlinerschloss-webcam.de

For the last few postings I have been writing about the City Palace in Berlin and its final phase of re-construction. You may have wondered why so much interest in this one building. In fact I have been following several other projects in Europe.

One such projects is Buckingham Palace in London, the Official Residence of the Queen. There is little info on what is going on, but it is a major refit of the place from plumbing to electrical system to cleaning and painting and general repairs. Rooms have been dismantled and furniture and paintings removed for safe keeping. The Queen left London because of the pandemic but also because her London Residence was under repair and not fit to live in due to all the noise and workmen etc… Windsor is her real home, private and comfy. She and her husband only live in a suite of rooms in one wing of the Castle and not in the entire place as you might see it from the outside, still it is pretty grand. Many other people live at Windsor in what is term Grace and Favour apartments. The Queen also has other relatives live in London at Kensington Palace and St-James Palace again in apartments, all are at the pleasure of Her Majesty.

Another project is the Alexander Palace built in 1793 in an Italian/Palladian style in Tsarkoye Selo outside St-Petersburg, the work is now reaching completion after many years of complete reconstruction of what was essentially a ruined building. The last private home of Tsar Nicholas II and his wife and children before their arrest and deportation in 1917. This has been a massive work of research and archeology, restoration of furniture, original fabrics, flooring, tiling, etc. all this made possible because of voluminous archives kept on the building. This site has a huge following in Russia and around the world.

The Roman Forum is another place I love to explore and read about, about 95 years ago it became the pet project of Benito Mussolini who poured financial resources and had the best academic work on unearthing this area of what was ancient Rome. To this day several Universities and team of archeologist work for years and sometimes a life time on one area. Even now with the building of the new Metro Line crossing the Forum under Via Dei Fori Imperiali more treasures are discovered. I had the good fortune to visit some of those sites being under study and excavation, it is a real marvel.

While in Beijing, I visited various sites around the former Imperial Capital, temples, palaces and the Forbidden City compound. I lived there about 3 years prior to the Olympics. The City itself was under massive construction and re-building. Entire neighbourhoods of 3 million people each would be vacated in a matter of 48 hours with the help of the Police and Army. The Temple of Heaven and the great park around it was a favourite site. The Communist Party with the increase in tourism re-discovered the roots of Chinese culture and its historical past. So recreation was the name of the game, unfortunately so much had been lost between 1967-1976 under Mao ills advised but politically convenient cultural revolution, that doing studies and repairing the damage proved difficult, so the repairs were done very quickly and often of poor quality. What really mattered to the Communist party was money from Western tourists and pushing a re-written history of China always glorifying the Party and the leadership.

In Jordan, I would visit just outside Amman about 35 km away the antic city of Jerash or Gerasa in the Bible. Built by the Romans and prospering as an important commercial link and military city, the Jordanian Government had archeologists work at restoring the extensive ruined city, its temples and theatres. There was a lot of archeological material artefacts just lying on the ground forgotten by time.

Istanbul and the Topkapi Palace grounds is also well worth exploring and how well preserve it is, including the treasury with its incredible amounts of precious stones. If you take a look in the once private areas you will discover a Polo Pavilion and grounds enjoyed by the Sultan, the entire place as a very Oriental feel. The Turkish people migrated from Central Asia one thousand years ago, keeping their Oriental culture.

I am endlessly fascinated by architecture, archeology and factual history. It has always been a hobby of mine.

Remembering

Tags

Charlottetown, covid19, film, isolation, PEI, Rome, the past

With the crazy state of the world at the moment and being mostly confined to home due to the so called lock down it gives us a lot of time to think and reflect on the past and on where we are now. You hear a piece of music or an image and you are send back to another time in your life. Today we learned of the death of an old work colleague of W. and given her age it got us to think that W had retired some 22 years ago. I retired 7 years ago. We have been in PEI 4 years now. We left my last post Rome some 9 years ago. I graduated from University some 41 years ago. Amazing how time flies by quickly and it always seem like it was just yesterday. We have not really seen anyone in 7 weeks and not likely to see anyone for another 4 weeks, if there is no second wave.

This week in the mail was 2 documents from the Government of Canada, I thought someone is keeping watch, it was a reminder that in 11 months I should apply for my Canada Pension Plan commonly known as CPP, as Canadian taxpayer, I like everyone else have to pay into it and when you reach a certain age you can apply to get it back in monthly sums. Then the next day it was another letter and documents to apply for my OAS which is the Old Age Security and there is a third pension program for persons who are poor under a certain income level. This last program does not apply to me. The OAS I can wait I don’t have to apply for that one for another 5 years if I so choose. In terms of social programs who support you in life, Canadians are damn lucky since 1965 when most of those programs we take for granted including Health Care came into being. It is all about maintaining a social net. The amounts of money are a support to avoid you ending up in the street with nothing. They are also indexed to the cost of living yearly.

Same with the Pandemic now, everyday the Government of Canada and some Provincial Governments have announced financial support for individual Canadians, from students with no Summer Jobs can get between $1200 to $1750. There is rent relief for individuals, salary relief covering up to 75% of employee salaries so employers do not lay people off. Commercial rent relief for small businesses, Income for Canadians who are unemployed, more income support for seniors, etc… and the list goes on. It is costing so far about $285 Billion dollars to the Government of Canada. Still people complain it’s not enough, sheesh some people really. We have nothing to complain about. But I never thought we would ever find ourselves in this world situation. War, nuclear annihilation, climate change disaster yes of course that I expected, I grew up during the Cold War but not this. So I have now a very strong desire or feeling to go back to 1989 or before, though not perfect we were I think in a better place relatively speaking. I am also appalled at the selfishness of people, grasping for easy solutions. Constant whining about nothing.

This bring me back to remembering better days and better times. People who are gone or distant friends. I also wonder what the world will be like after all this has pass, if it passes. I am not confident that we are or will be out of it, to say nothing of climate change. I remember the world prior to September 11, 2001 and we have not gone back, it will be the same this time. I can see how travelling will be more difficult and complicated and not nearly as affordable as before.

This little clip of La Grande Bellezza (ROME) a movie I have seen many times and love. Reminds me of our time 10 years ago in a city I know so well. The main character Jep is played by a very good Italian actor Toni Servillo. The film won many awards in 2013. You can actually see the city this way either early in the morning before 8am or at dusk around 7pm, the streets can be so peaceful or in August when everyone is away on vacation. I wish I could return but that has to stay as a memory.

Today 2 May is our first day of relaxed restrictions, the main point is you can meet with up to 5 people outside but everyone must keep 6 feet apart from each other. I also got news today that a favourite restaurant is re-opening on 8 May, doing only take-out of course. In house dining will come later probably in July if all goes well.

If this issue does not resolve itself, we will have to re-invent life because no one can go on living in isolation forever.

Quarantaine

Tags

Cardinal, Catholic Church, life, Plague, Rome

We are currently facing a terrible pandemic around the World but humans throughout history faced much worse and much more devastating epidemics.

Between 1450 and 1660 Rome suffered plagues of all kinds almost every two to three years. Large amounts of people would die. The City then was also in full expansion and each Pope used armies of artists to build up public spaces we all enjoy today as tourists. The ancient Roman Aqueducts were also rebuilt to bring clean fresh water to the City of about 120,000 people. But nonetheless unsanitary conditions existed and thus the devastating plagues.

In 1656 the latest plague hit the city during the Papacy of Pope Alexander VII who wanted to see an end to such regular pandemics, he asked Cardinal Girolamo Gastaldi to use his knowledge to find a solution. Cardinal Gastaldi had written a treatise based on ancient texts about how to contain plagues. He proposed the concept of Quarantine based on the 40 days phenomenon often referred in Biblical texts. It was effective, punishment for anyone not respecting the quarantine rules were severe and thus health was restored to the City.

If you visit Rome, Piazza Del Popolo which was designed by Bernini, it has two churches at one end of the great piazza. The one on the left is known as Santa Maria di Montesanto or the Artists Church, Cardinal Girolama Gastaldi is buried there.

Piazza del popolo, Rome and the Church of  Santa Maria di Montesanto

Aqueducts

Tags

Antiquity, aqueduct, Rome, water

When in Rome or Italy, you hear a lot about the impressive infrastructure built by the ancient Romans, roads, bridges, buildings, fountains and aqueducts. Rome in antiquity before the first century grew to be the most populous city in the world, 1 million people lived in Rome when it was the Capital of the World. No other city in what was the ancient world was as populous and this meant that you needed a lot of urban planning and the Romans were very good at it, compared to us today.

There was a mathematical order to their cities, but also they were built for people to live in with all necessary facilities at hand, just a few steps away from your home. Same for their Military camps, well ordained and organized. Human needs were provided for, from the supply to safe drinking water, to food preparation areas with dining facilities, parks, public bathhouse and public toilets, markets and entertainment areas. All in the Urbe (city centre) the Sub-Urbia or below the centre was usually a less pleasant area for the poorer classes.

When you have a city of a million people, you need lots of clean water to drink and to wash and to feed into the massive bathhouses all around the city which provided hot and cold water 24/7. Rome also had and still has public fountains to drink water which is said to be the best water in all of Europe. The Nassone gush cold clean water usually in strategic areas of the city so you can have a quick drink on a hot day.

Back in 2008 we visited the Parco degli Acquedotti (Aqueduct Park) is located in the South East of Rome, it is an area that is still a bit out of the way, we took the Metro and then a bus to get to it. You will see 6 of the famous 11 aqueducts feeding the city. What we saw was surprising, several large aqueducts coming in from the countryside into the city.

The Aqueducts are the Anio Vetus (underground), Marcia, Tepula, Julia, Claudio and Anio Novus . There is also l’ acquedotto Felice (next to Julia), which was built at the time of the Renaissance by Pope Sixtjus V in 1586 in a program to both irrigate farmland and provide clean water. The Fountain of Moses next to the St-Regis Hotel is the terminus of this aqueduct. This one was in our neighbourhood so it is well known to us.

Fountain of Moses, corner of Via Venti Settembre and Largo di Santa Susanna

The Aqueduct system worked up to the fourth century A.D. when neglect and destruction brought about the barbarian hordes cut the flow of water into the City. Almost 1000 years would pass before the aqueducts would be restored by the Popes who had returned to Rome. This lack of clean water caused the fall of Rome, its population declined to about 10,000 people, large areas of the Capital were abandoned.

These great arches are gigantic and impressive, they carried millions of litre of clean water into the city each day and supplied the population with a basic necessity.

They survived to this day because they are very solidly built, the Romans used concrete and stone in building them and also most are underground only emerging above ground within the city, gravity pushes the water along.

There are also ancient farms in the area, This one near Via Latina is more than 1200 years old. They look like fortress with small windows and massive gates. At night people and livestock all came inside. Today they are kept as museum and open on appointment for a guided visit.

On Via di Porta Latina, one of the ancient roads of Rome

Aqueduct on Via Latina which leads to the Porta Latina in the Aurelian Walls of Rome. one of the more ancient gates of the city.

The aqueducts had to be maintained daily and an army of men worked at repairing and cleaning them daily. At the top of the aqueduct there is one or two chambers which are large enough for a grown man to stand in. Workers would go into the chambers and scrub the walls and do other maintenance work. The system allowed for the water to be temporarily diverted while they worked. There was also a system of pipes made of copper or cut stone directing water into fountains or basins. To create pressure the pipes would taper off and the water would jet out with force into pools.

Another famous fountain in Rome on the Janiculum Hill in Trastevere is the Fontana dell’Acqua Paola also known as Il Fontanone (“The big fountain”) near the church of San Pietro in Montorio and just above the Residence of the Spanish Ambassador in Rome. It was re-built in 1612 to mark the end of the Acqua Paola aqueduct and the extension of the ancient Aqueduct Traiana, restored by Pope Paul V, Borghese, and took its name from him.

The six coloured marble columns come from the original basilica of St-Peter 306 A.D. salvaged during the construction of the New St-Peter’s (built 1500 to 1626) we see today. All the white marble of the fountain comes from the Temple of Mars the Avenger in the Forum. This fountain is featured at the beginning of the movie La grande Bellezza. The view of Rome from the piazza in front of it is spectacular.

Another famous fountain in Rome which also gets its water from an ancient Aqueduct is the Trevi Fountain. The water comes from 14 miles outside Rome and carried by the Acqua Virgo one of the most ancient aquaduct of Rome built in 19 BC.

The aqueducts also supplied water to the many great bathhouses of Rome, one which can be visited and is fairly complete is the Baths of Caracalla, you can walk in the dried pools and admire the beautiful mosaic floors, visit the subterranean corridors where slaves labourer daily by feeding the various ovens with wood to produce hot water for the pools and also channel same hot water to heat the floors. The pools are quite shallow, hip deep only, Romans including sailors of the Imperial Navy did not know how to swim and many were afraid of any body of water, Romans were very superstitious and saw omens in almost anything. The baths were a social place to meet friends and relax, exercise and enjoy a meal. One aqueduct was feeding continually the Baths of Caracalla and today part of it pass across the gardens of the Canadian Ambassadors residence at Porta Latina, an impressive sight. Other aqueducts fed water to the Imperial palaces of the Palatine Hill.

Aqueduct in the garden of the Canadian Residence in Rome. (not open to the public)

pool floor in coloured mosaic at the Baths of Caracalla built in 212 AD.

When visiting other parts of Italy or of what was the Roman Empire you may encounter to this day a ruined aqueduct. One that is still working very well is at the Alcazar Palace in Seville. In the gardens you can see a jet of water shooting out of a large pipe well above a large pool, all the water is use to water the large gardens of the Alcazar and the Royal Palace which is still in use today for the King of Spain when he visits Seville.

If you want to read more on Roman engineering the book by A. Trevor Hodge, Roman Aqueduct and Water supply, is worth a read.

Two dates

Tags

Capena, dachshunds, dogs, Giorgio Porcino, life, Rome, Tiziana Tola

The 19 and 23 February is the 11th Birthdays of Eleonora (Nora) and Fantastico Nicky (Nicky) born in Capena, Italy in 2009 at the Casa degli Orsi owned by Tiziana Tola and her husband the celebrated veterinarian Professor Dottore Massimo Buzzanca.

Both are known in Italian as Bassotto Tedescho (German Bassett hound) or Dachshunds. All of their dogs have won numerous trophies and honours in Italy and in Europe. They usually have only one or two litters per year. We came upon their farm on the recommendation of friends who lived near them in the countryside. A very beautiful place with lots of mature trees and a big pond with giant Koi fish.

We had a contest on the internet to name them and settled on Nick and Nora from the film series Nick (William Powell) and Nora Charles (Myrna Loy). Nick and Nora Charles are fictional characters created by Dashiell Hammett in his novel The Thin Man. The characters were later adapted for film in a series of films between 1934 and 1947; for radio from 1941 to 1950; for television from 1957 through 1959; as a Broadway musical in 1991; and as a stage play in 2009.

We first saw them in late February, still very small with their mother and other siblings. We returned to pick them up some 7 weeks later. The road back to Rome to our home on Via dei Villini was only eventful in the fact that Nora looked afraid but quiet and Nick was whimpering all the way. They were sitting in the back with Will.

In Rome they were used to their walks in the centre of the City around our home, a quiet leafy area. Nora loved to put her head under the Nassone which is a drinking fountain with continuous flow of water coming from the mountains around the city. The water is very cold and she loved it. Then in July 2011 they flew to Canada with us as our time living in Rome ended with regret. Arrivederci Roma!

Nicky and Nora are always with us, if we travel we have a babysitter to look after them at home.  Tiziana Tola and many friends including our Vet in Rome, Giorgio Porcino told us be careful because they can be controlling, always pushing the limits to see who is in charge. Nora thinks she is in charge and can be very demanding and at the same time plays coquette. Nicky on the other hand is a cry baby, it was funny when he was a puppy but not at 11 he is an old dog but hey it works and he knows it. We are certainly at their service.

That day at the Farm Casa degli Orsi when they came with us to Rome. Nora (L) Nick (R). By law the owners have to have microchips for each dog upon purchase and they are also registered with the Italian Government for identity purposes.

Nick enjoying the sun in our Roman living room, to this day he enjoys sleeping in full sunlight.

Nora learning to type at 3 months. She is good at sending E-cards to people.

A three tier birthday cake with marzipan. Since birth and being with us we have spoiled them with pieces of celery and carrots, pieces of gouda and cheddar cheese and in the morning sometimes Will will give them a small piece of his bagel with cream cheese. Nora loves Espresso but we do not give it to her, she still tries to but her big nose in the cup.

They also get regular check ups at the UPEI Vet College. The Vets know them quite well to a point where if we call the clinic, the staff know their names by heart. Our old vet from the time we had our first two dachshunds Bundnie and Reesie said to us that when he died he wanted to come back as our dog because we took such good care of them.

Nick (L) and Nora (R)

390 BCE and roof repairs

Tags

390 BCE, dogs, Gaul, Geese, juno, Rome

What is the link between having your roof repaired and the sack of Rome by the Gauls in 390BCE you might ask. Well a lot I tell you.

Today the roofing company came to do maintenance work and replace the old roof on our house. Nora our little wire hair Dachshund is a hunting/tracking dog by nature and a guard dog by choice. She guards the house and her excellent sense of hearing and sight allows her to detect anything even if it is 600 feet away, nothing escapes her. She also has a very sharp sense of smell.

So with all the noise of the roofers she was distressed about the noise and all the people, warning us with her sharp high pitch hound bark of impending invaders, doom I tell you.

Nicky our male Dachshund well he just can’t snooze quietly with all this noise and that is annoying, no he won’t bark unless provoked. Nicky is a show dog with a long European pedigree, he is on the catwalk of life, paparazzi, gourmet biscuit for the idle dachshund. Let Nora do all the work I don’t need to get involved. His ancestors are Italian so no doubt they slept when during the night in 390 BCE the Gauls invaded Rome.

It was up to the Sacred Geese of Juno to sound the alarm. Had Nora been there she would have repulsed those uncouth Gauls back and off the Capitoline Hill.

Nora with her fierce look and Nicky in profile looking noble and aloof. Stranieri lascia Roma says Nora in her best Italian or Latin, Roma externi relinquo!

 

19 August, 14 C.E.

Tags

Augustus, Emperor, Livia, Prima Porta, Rome, Venus

On this day some 2005 years ago, Gaius Octavian Augustus aged 75 died in Nola, Italy.

He was the first Emperor of Rome, nephew of Julius Cesar. Augustus legacy to the Western World is important and he has become immortal in our memory. In Rome, you can visit his Mausoleum by the river Tiber and next to it the famous Ara Pacis (Altar of the Augustan Peace) where inscribed in marble on the wall is the text in Latin of the Res Gestae. The text consists of a short introduction, 35 body paragraphs, and a posthumous addendum. These paragraphs are conventionally grouped in four sections, political career, public benefactions, military accomplishments and a political statement.

His status as the founder of the Roman Principate has consolidated an enduring legacy as one of the most effective leaders in human history. He was born on the Palatine Hill in Rome in 27 B.C.E. and reigned for more than 40 years.

The original statue of Augustus of Prima Porta made posthumously for his widow Livia Drusilla and placed in the garden of her villa at Prima Porta where she retired after his death. Like all official statues in Rome it was made of marble and painted in life like colours.

As it appears today in the Vatican Museum. Augustus is barefoot, meaning that this is a posthumous portrait. The small Eros is the child of Venus, the House of the Julio-Claudian claimed to be descendants of Venus and in turn of Aeneas. The statue is life sized and is full of political ideology which in Rome was ever present. The public could interpret the message of what Augustus claimed he stood for. One message is a return to Greek antiquity, the golden age of Pericles 500 B.C.E., the Athenian republic.  We see a youthful and athletic Augustus, it’s model was the Doryphoros by Polykleitos. Another is a military commander and Augustus divinity in death.

 

Ten years ago in Rome

Tags

Capena, Dr Massimo Buzzanca, Italy, Rome, Wire hair

Today on FB I had a reminder of 10 yrs ago, showing a photo of two little puppies about 6 weeks old.

The 26 April 2009 we drove to Capena which is 30 minutes North of Rome. It is pretty straight forward taking Via Nomentana going North from our house on Via Dei Villini and then joining the SS-4 which is the ancient Via Salaria (Salt Road) on the way we will past some interesting site like the old Rome Airport of the 1920’s Roma-Urbe and then joining the old Via Tiberina at Prima Porta and going North still until the round about second exit and Capena is just further down the road. At this point we are in the countryside and it is green and dotted with nice houses.  Our destination was the farm of Dr Massimo Buzzanca and his wife Tiziana.

Via Tiberina is a very ancient Roman road from 396 BC and don’t be surprise to see around Settebagni and Capena a lot of prostitutes all decked out sitting on a sofa by the side of the road. We would learn later that a lot of those prostitutes were in fact nuns trying to make ends meet. Many came to Italy from far away impoverished countries and the Cardinal who runs the convents for his National congregations often don’t have the money to supplement all the needs of their priests and nuns, so they get a night job. Pretty amazing because the Vatican does not help them financially. Prostitution is illegal in cities but not on the highway between towns. But I digress…

We had met them some months prior when Nicky and Nora were just a few days old. In Italy when you buy a pet they are microchipped by Law at the point of purchase and this being Italy, the government department responsible for the registration of all animals has forms to fill out and a few months down the road, you will have to go collect the formal registration etc. You cannot name your pet whatever name you choose this is Italy and Style comes into play, by Law letters are assigned to a group of days in the year and so in our case that day the letters were F and E. So Nicky was christened Fantastico Nicky and Nora, Eleonora di Capena.

Nicky and Nora are very different in character, Nicky is a week younger than Nora and he is a show dog by pedigree and family lineage. Nora is a tracking and hunting dog on her family lineage. Meaning that Nora has always been our guard dog and early warning system whereas Nicky is a beach boy loving the sunshine and going through life as if he is on a walkway with lots of paparazzi.

On the drive back, Will sat on the back seat with Nora and Nicky. Nora was nervous about leaving the farm and her relatives whereas Nicky whined non-stop in his little whiny puppy voice. We discovered quickly that we could not take them together to the Vet clinic. We could walk them together in Rome but once in Canada that became impossible.

Imagine 10 years already, how time flies.

This photo was taken in our den at home on Via dei Villini. Nicky is on the left. They do not have their signature collars yet sent to us as a gift by our friend Cecilia H.

 

Happy Birthday!

Tags

Birthday, Capena, dachshunds, Rome, Via dei Villini

This week marks the 10th Birthday of Nicky and Nora, born in Capena, Italia in Febbraio   2009. Capena is a little town famous for a place of exile where the great Marcus Tullius Cicero wrote letters on Friendship and Old age in 58 BC. It is also the area where Livia wife of Augustus lived in old age in her great palace.

Nora was born 5 days before Nicky and they both have different sets of parents.  Nora comes from a line of European champion hunting/tracking dachshunds and Nicky from a line of champion show dogs like his father.

Here is Will in February 2009 in Capena in the room where they were born at the house of Dr Massimo and his wife Tiziana. See how small they both are, their eyes are still closed.

We saw them at 10 days and they came to live with us at 7 weeks. As we drove back into the City, Nicky was in the back of the car with Will and Nora and he was whimpering all the way.

They lived the first 2 years of their lives in Rome on Via dei Villini and then immigrated to Canada when we left.

Nicky on the sofa in our den at home in Rome

Nicky at 2 in the morning Sun on Via Dei Villini

Nora 

Nora in Ottawa, always keeping an eye out, just watching

Left to right, Nicky and Nora on the sofa

 

Left to right Nora and Nicky 

Reading again

Tags

Acadia, Faragher, Josephus, Kneale, Maritime, Palestine, Rome

Well I have been reading some more, reading usually in the evening before bedtime or until Morpheus comes to take me to the land of dreams. Lately I have been reading the Essential Works of Josephus compiled by Paul Maier.

Titus Flavius Josephus born Yosef ben Matityahu יוסף בן מתתיהו‬, was a first-century Roman-Jewish scholar, historian, born in 37 CE in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of  priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry.

He initially fought against the Romans during the First Roman-Jewish War as head of Jewish forces in Galilee, until surrendering in 67 CE to Roman Forces led by Vespasian after the six-week siege of Jotapata. Josephus claimed the Jewish Messianic Prophecies that initiated the First Roman-Jewish War made reference to Vespasian becoming Emperor of Rome and founding the Flavian Dynasty. In response Vespasian being superstitious  decided to keep Josephus as a slave and presumably interpreter. After Vespasian became Emperor in 69 CE, he granted Josephus his freedom, at which time Josephus assumed the emperor’s family name of Flavius and lived with them on the Palatine.

Flavius Josephus having defected to the Roman side and was granted Roman Citizenship. He became an advisor and friend of Vespasian’s son Titus, later Emperor, serving as his translator when Titus led the Siege of Jerusalem. Since the siege proved ineffective at stopping the Jewish revolt, the city’s destruction and the looting and destruction of Herod’s Temple (Second Temple) soon followed.

Josephus recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the first century CE and the First Jewish–Roman War (66-70 CE), including the Siege of Masada. His books provide valuable insight into first century Judaism and the background of early Christianity.

The works on Jewish history presents God or Yawveh יהוה as a vengeful god who thinks nothing of ordering the slaughter of entire cities over and over again simply to let his people win. His people turn against Yawveh many times but he is willing to forgive and forget if they do his bidding, more conquest and more killing. He always rewards his male followers by giving them fertile wives bearing many sons. Reading this reminded me of the book by José Saramago, The Gospel according to Jesus Christ, in this book Saramago present Yawveh has a rich Jewish merchant who is quite willing to do anything to get his way, unscrupulous and sadistic.

Josephus is interesting to read because it is the only account of that period to survive and can be used to compared to what you read in the Old Testament and the Gospels. Josephus wrote for his patrons the Flavian in Rome presenting their point of view.

The other book I read was a history of Rome in 7 sackings by Matthew Kneale. It is a different approach since it speaks directly of the ups and downs of Rome as a city as invaders come and go, from the first in July 387 BCE when the young city became embroiled in a conflict with a band of Gallic Celts led by the warlord Brennus to the last being the Nazis occupation in 1943-44.  Lots of details on daily life of Romans through the ages and what life in the city was like.

I am now reading a book I picked up during our trip this September in Nova Scotia entitled A great and Noble Scheme, the tragic history of the expulsion of the French Acadians from their homeland by John Mack Faragher a professor at Yale.

The history of the Acadians is one that touches all French speaking Canadian families in one way or another. Though officially the Acadians are forgotten in the history of modern Canada. Their deportation from the region that is today the Maritime Provinces of Canada happened in 1755 at the time this part of the world was still a band of colonies being disputed both by France and Britain, a pawn in Imperial gamesmanship. It is a complicated history yet fascinating to read, a civilian population at the mercy of two great powers who did not think much of the people.  The book is also interesting because Faragher present how France managed or we should say mismanaged its colonies overseas and how Britain was already involved in free market experiment and parliamentary consultation with colonists a concept totally foreign in France and seen as dangerous to Royal authority.

Faragher writes about social mores and how Acadian men often coming to the colonies alone would take native Mikmaw wives and become in the process assimilated into native culture though retaining their European heritage.  Speaking French and integrating Mikmaw words and expression into daily conversation. There was also amongst the Acadians a mix of Protestant Huguenots and Catholics fleeing the wars of religions in Europe, many showed litte religious fervour, everyone was in North America to trade and make a better life than what they left behind in France. On the other hand the social life of the New England Puritans was vastly different, no such mixing of races, lots of religion and horrified curiosity towards these Acadians with whom they did a lucrative commerce between Boston and Port Royal, the Puritans found the Acadian amusing, scandalous and rough.

Faragher’s book does away with the romantic notions and the often partisan presentation in most history books. It brings clarity to a confusing but compelling tale.