December 22, 2017
My heart goes out to my California brothers and sisters who have lost their homes, their family heirlooms, their livelihoods and/or have been displaced. I can\’t imagine enduring a single one of these — let alone all 4 scenarios at once. And I certainly can\’t forget our firemen!
Many alt conservatives are very happy to see California burning saying things like: \”Let those liberals burn — it serves them right!\” They see our State in flames as the Devil getting his due from our lascivious lifestyles and reprehensible morality (though I remind them that \’their woods\’ — remain dark and deep).
A saying I\’ve heard regarding our State goes something like this: \”As California goes, so does the rest of the country\”: but judging from what has been going on in Washington D.C. (a city modeled after ancient Rome) this past year, I\’d say that US political epicenter has had a head start on a blaze bigger than ours! And, like all hot-air driven wildfires, the D.C. wildfire, with its ignorance-filled embers — has been touching off new blazes everywhere — whether it be Jerusalem; North Korea; Iran; or, the ever-increasing hate crimes here at home.
I felt my feeble comparison (between the metaphorical Washingon D.C. blaze and the famous fire in Rome) deserved an insert from Wikipedia on The Fire of Rome (I\’m sure my readers will guess Pumpkinhead\’s character and the role of congress):
The Fire of Rome by Hubert Robert (1785)
The Great Fire of Rome erupted on the night of 18 July to 19 July, 64 AD. The fire started on the slope of the Aventine overlooking the Circus Maximus.
Tacitus, the main ancient source for information about the fire, wrote that countless mansions, residences and temples were destroyed. Tacitus and Cassius Dio have both written of extensive damage to the Palatine, which has been supported by subsequent archaeological excavations. The fire is reported to have burned for over a week. It destroyed three of fourteen Roman districts and severely damaged seven more.
Tacitus wrote that some ancient accounts described the fire as an accident, while others had claimed that it was a plot of Nero\’s. Tacitus is the only surviving source which does not blame Nero for starting the fire; he says he is \”unsure.\” Pliny the Elder, Suetonius and Cassius Dio all wrote that Nero was responsible for the fire. These accounts give several reasons for Nero\’s alleged arson; like Nero\’s envy of King Priam and a dislike for the city\’s ancient construction. Suetonius wrote that Nero started the fire because he wanted the space to build his Golden House. The Golden House, also called the Domus Aurea, included lush artificial landscapes and a 30-meter-tall statue of himself: the Colossus of Nero. The size of this complex is debated (from 100 to 300 acres).
Tacitus wrote that Nero accused Christians of starting the fire to remove suspicion from himself. According to this account, many Christians were arrested and brutally executed by \”being thrown to the beasts, crucified, and being burned alive.\”
Suetonius and Cassius Dio alleged that Nero sang the \”Sack of Ilium\” in stage costume while the city burned. The popular legend that Nero played the fiddle while Rome burned \”is at least partly a literary construct of Flavian propaganda which looked askance on the abortive Neronian attempt to rewrite Augustan models of rule.\”
According to Tacitus (however), Nero was in Antium during the fire. Upon hearing news of the fire, Nero returned to Rome to organize a relief effort, which he paid for from his own funds. Nero\’s contributions to the relief extended to personally taking part in the search for and rescue of victims of the blaze, spending days searching the debris without even his bodyguards. After the fire, Nero opened his palaces to provide shelter for the homeless, and arranged for food supplies to be delivered in order to prevent starvation among the survivors.
I can\’t help but think that this last paragraph — attributed to Tacitus — is fake news, er, fake history. It doesn\’t seem to fit the character of the opulent and free-wheeling Nero; and; the Nero who blamed the Christians (or the early Jews for Jesus) and made bloody use of the cross and the Coliseum. Did my readers guess who the purveyors of Flavian propaganda are?
I\’m fervently hoping that we Californians will survive our fires. And whatever Nero\’s role in The Fire of Rome truly was — we know things only got worse for him — which has me thinking that he set the fire!