REFLECTIONS OF A WEEKEND WITH FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN, FIRE IN THE STREETS OF CAIRO: MARCUS TULLUS CICERO AND THE REVOLT OF LUCIUS SERGIUS CATALINA Holding court at Fruit and Veg Food City, throne of oak stained pine, tub of soft serve with Cadbury Flake askew imbedded like the Tower of Pisa on bedrock of a softer kind, a bargain at R7.99, soft serving proof that good things should not necessarily cost an arm and a leg.. My pride and joy, my Bianchi “ Santa Lucia – La Illusstrissima-Victrix Semper Regina Monomotapaiea” covered in a film of red dust after a 60 kms solo ride through Walmansthal as I ponder upon a week of tumultuous events. My gaze fixed upon, not the vivacious Montana sand-blasted bobbed creature debussing from her 4x4 Behemoth not that I would not dare a furtive glance in that direction but dwarfed by my interest to look at my mountain, the Magalies, object of a major veld fire Thursday past and the erroneous reporting the next morning in Die Beeld about the massive veldfire threatening all of us north of the Magalies. There was no threat, and the Beeld report on the incident? - a hyperbolic invention of some journalist in the best traditions of Gonzo. Whilst at court glancing through Die Rapport, read with some interest Abel Pienaar’s musings on Marcus Tullus Cicero and the Six Mistakes of Man he postulated more than 2000 years ago. MARCUS TULLUS CICERO!!!! One of the greatest statesmen, soldier, philosopher, orator and writer of the western world with a legacy still imbedded today in our political cultures. But what about Lucius Sergius Catalina and the 2nd Catalinian Revolt dare I ask this exalted figure of gravitas, one of the Founding Fathers of the Republic - Republicanism, the most sublime form of governance? Senator Catalina, a distinguished Senator and Military Commander led a revolt against Rome, an agrarian revolt to ensure a better distribution of land-ownership - resisted by Cicero as the leading force to protect the aristocracy and its assets by nipping the revolt in the bud by arresting the principal five conspirators in Rome, ensured their summary execution and then mobilising the Roman Legions to crush three legions under command of Catalina, who died in action after a short but heroic last stand leading his men from the front. After that he was vilified even today and his remains carried through the streets of Rome. , Thus wrote Florus “ Epitome de Tito Livio” – “Lucius Sergius Catalina was found, far in advance of his men among the dead bodies, a most glorious death, had he thus fallen for his country” Stated CICERO is his 6 Mistakes of Man-“The delusion that personal gain is made by crushing others “ – did he really mean that? Now in Egypt more than a 1000 people had died in street demonstrations demanding the return to democracy and release and re-instatement of elected President Morsi and the picture for all of us adherents of Gonzo remains very unclear, amongst others I do have some uncertainty about the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt’s position on human rights and religious freedom for the Coptic Church (10% of the population). To complicate matters even more there appears to have been some visible popular civilian support for the Egyptian Defence Force to forcibly intervene and to break up the disrupting civil disobedience campaign of the Pro-Morsi camp. External support to the Egyptian Defence Force’s intervention includes notably Saudi Arabia supporting the Cairo Military Junta with substantial financial support. Why the House of Saudi, the ally of Washington in the Middle East supporting the Junta in Cairo and Washington’s lukewarm response to the carnage in Cairo? Hmm, officially you would only start to know 60 years hence when official CIA documents may be made public such as this week revelation from official released CIA documents that Langley aided and abetted the coup d’etat which put the Pahlavi family in charge of Iran as the Shah of Iran. Follow the money I say, ask the questions and then we may get closer to the truth. Truth?? Oh yes truth, that constant of all things seen and unseen made fickle by men and its endeavours as it is bended, spun and twisted, the curvature of reality in time, space matrix, where power forms the gravitational base.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 08:35:15 +0000
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