A ROMAN HOLIDAY!

By now, you know that I am a seeker of truth and a student of ancient history and ancient religion. I believe that the past is the best indication of what has lead up to our present situation and why we believe what we believe. The history of the rise and the fall of the Roman Empire is one of the best sources of knowledge about where we came from and where we are going. The Roman Empire lasted for 500 years and the Republic of the United States has existed for 300 years. The Roman Empire started out as a dictatorship (Romulus and Remus) but became a Republic (the Roman Senate). There are many parallels of the two Republics. Eventually, the Roman Empire became a dictatorship which became weak because of greed and immorality of its leaders and it was defeated. Let’s hope we can learn from history.

500 years before the Roman Empire came into existence, there was a settlement on the seven hills that mined salt and traded with other tribes. Their God was a winged phallus that emerged in a dream from a fire. This God was protection against evil and also was the God of fertility. The Vestal virgins were put in charge of keeping the fire burning to protect Fascinus, the winged phallus. A monster came onto the scene and was killing people and eating them. A God called Hercules saved the people by killing the Monster. Hercules became another important God of the Roman settlers. Ancient historians used their own imagination to describe the Gods. That is why they are considered to be myths. But who knows. There could be some truth in these stories. The Roman emperor, Constantine saw a cross in a dream and decided that Rome should take up Christianity. You know the rest of the story.

Nancy and I are going to Rome on Friday to check all of this out. We will let you know what we find out. Oh yeah, we will be drinking Chianti and eating good Italian food.

                                Ciao!