Greece 2023: The Stoa of Attalos

 The Stoa of Attalos was built at the Athenian Agora by Attalos II (ruled 159 B.C. to 138 B.C.) of Pergamum.  The stoa was intended as a gift by Attalos for the education that he had received there in his youth.

As Classical Athens was subsumed into larger and larger political units - Alexander the Great's empire, the successor state of the Kingdom of Macedonia, The Achaean League, and the Roman Empire - it continued to enjoy favor based on its reputation for philosophy and culture.  A number of monuments and memorials were gifted over the years (The Odeon, the great amphitheater of the Parthenon, was one; we will see more done by Romans soon). The givers sought both to bring honor to Athens as well as themselves by their gifts.

The Stoa measures 377 ft x 66 ft/115 m by 20 m and is unusual in that it has two levels, not one.  The original was largely destroyed in 267 A.D. by the invading Heruli and was excavated in 1931.  The Stoa was rebuilt, using original materials where possible and marble from Mt. Pentelicus used to fill in the gaps (as was true of the Parthenon as well).

A view of the reconstructed Stoa from the Temple of Hephaestus:

Looking along the side:

Interior of the Stoa:

Original inscription from the Stoa along with a figure that shows the letters in question.  2000 years later, one can still clearly see they are the Greek alphabet.

One of the reasons for rebuilding the Stoa was to create a museum to house artifacts found in the Stoa.

A Greek shield.  We know the date of the shield, 425 B.C.  It is one of the 292 that were captured from Peloponnesian hoplites (including 120 Spartiates) at the Island of Sphacteria (we know this as the information is inscribed on the shield).

Ostrikons, or shards of pottery used for voting whether individuals were to be banished from Athens under the law of ostracism.

An ostrakon for Themistokles, victor of the Battle of Salamis, banished in 471 B.C.

Ostrakons for Themistokles, Kimon, and Arestides. I knew of all this characters; seeing this link to their physical existence was very exciting.

A ceramic cup:

A view from the second story of the Stoa back towards the Temple of Hephaestus:

The Collapse CX: Of Civil Wars And History

06 June 20XX +1

My Dear Lucilius:

As I was working in the garden today, my mind turned to civil wars.

I am sure I arrived here mostly by the recent outlying attacks and the even more recent sighting. That said, I do not really have the background – practical or historical – to truly understand or deal with this sort of criminal civil unrest, if that is what it can be called (I suppose it could named other things as well, but I should like to pretend that there is still a hope for civilization somewhere).

I do, however, have the background to deal with civil wars.

My “preference” with civil wars, if one wants to name such a thing a preference, is with wars that occurred in the long ago. A great deal of that is simply familiarity with history: to me, the Peloponnesian War or the Wars of Alexander’s successor The Diadochi or the Civil Wars of the Republic (or the later disturbances of the early Principate) are far more familiar to me. The other is, perhaps a preference in historical views: one could safely argue that the Civil War in America has far more relevance and impact on my own life, but it is something I have never really had the least bit of interest in. I cannot really explain why; perhaps simply looking at the civil wars of others with a much more significant lapse in time is easier if for no other reason than the outcomes are much clearer.

Not that they are any cleaner, of course. To read of ancient civil wars is merely to bury the violence and brutality under narrative texts and words in black and white. To read of populations decimated, lives tortured, looted, and ended, entire cities destroyed and their populations enslaved – this is no easier for me to read of than reading of the modern news, when it was a thing. In a way, it is much worse because the ancient texts often capture only the most significant events or most famous of people, when in fact the common sort of folk suffered just as much – but they are lost to history.

I wonder if we find ourselves at the same point, Lucilius, in this age where a temporary halt in our learning and recording of history could very well be a much longer sort of thing. A thousand years hence, will any read of a history of The Collapse of North America? What would it say if it existed? Would it focus – as the ancient texts often do – only on the urban centers and the famous? Will “field historians” write works that relate how life in “the provinces” went on? If there are battles, will they even be recorded? Or will they simply disappear into the grass and dust of history?

How remarkable to realize one is in the midst of a historical event, even with the realization that likely no-one will actually know it as history.

Your Obedient Servant, Seneca

I, Claudius And The Cost Of Insanity

In the course of putting things into my parents' master closet for later transport to The Barn for storage and packing up four boxes of books (I did try and streamline the collection), I came across the books I, Claudius and Claudius The God.  I, Claudius was familiar to me as a title as it was a rather famous BBC dramatic adaptation in the 1970's (interestingly, still considered to be one of the best of all time).

The book itself by Robert Graves was published in 1935 (I had no idea it was so old) and was actually written by him not because of an abiding interest in Claudius (although he held a degree in Classical Studies) but that he needed to generate income after a failed land deal. He did generate that income, so much so that it is still considered a classic.  It takes the form of an autobiography written by Tiberius Claudius Germanicus (10 B.C. to 54 A.D.), a grandson by adoption of Octavian (Augustus) Caesar and a member of the Julian-Claudian dynasty - a not impossible theory as it turns out (historically) that Claudius was quite a prolific historical author, although we currently have almost none of his works remaining.  The period of time covers the end of Augustus' reign (27 B.C. - 14 A.D.) through the reign of Tiberius (14 A.D. - 37 A.D.) and Caligula (37 A.D. - 41 A.D.).  It includes not only these men, but the larger family - wives, brothers, sisters, grandchildren - of the Julian-Claudian dynasty.  Graves based his work largely on the works of Tacitus and Suetonius (which I have read).  Cassisus Dio may not have been used as much, although his writings also contribute a great deal to our understanding of the period (Almost all of Tacitus' sections on Caligula have disappeared through time, for example).

Claudius was born with a series of physical issues:  he had weak knees, stammered, and his noise ran when he became excited.  Considered almost sub-human by his grandparents and parents, he eventually came to use this to his advantage, learning to conceal his intelligence (which appears to have been not impacted at all) behind a potentially played up facade of a physically weak and confused man.  It worked in that it helped to preserve his life through the reigns of Tiberius and Caligula until in 41 A.D. he is virtually the last member of the Julian-Claudian dynasty and is thus proclaimed Emperor.

The story is very well written and plausibly fills in the gaps that history has left us - with a little imagination, of course.  What is does in a sort of living color is paint the picture of insanity.

Not the insanity of Claudius; in the book he remains a sort of beacon of reason. No, it is the rest of what came to be the royal family of the Julian-Claudians. Power needs to be clung to and once achieved, is not easily let go.  The fact that the Caesars had power meant that over time, they came to see every whim as something that could be acted on, every potential threat to their power as someone that needed to be shaken down for cash, exiled (rarely), or murdered (more frequently).  It even reached the point that Caligula saw himself as divine and thus, above human law.

Graves, through Claudius, notes that at the start of the issues, the problems were invisible to the public.  The proscriptions and intrigues (and murders) occupied a very small and narrow segment of Roman society.  To the average Roman citizen the bureaucracy still functioned, the Games still went on, and the corn arrive from Egypt.  It was only over time as Tiberius and Caligula became more and more reckless in their behavior and their spending that the common citizen felt the pinch of taxes and hunger.  By then, to show any sort of disagreement or discontent with the current policies was to invite death.

You might assume that I am speaking about a particular modern subject. That is not the intent (everyone is quite good about what we do and do not discuss h here). My point - the point that Graves makes so eloquently - is that insanity in any sort of societal, political, religious, philosophical or economic arena unchecked comes to create insanity in all of those categories.  

One might say that if the pinch has not yet come in an insane society, it is only because things have not worked themselves out sufficiently yet.  The pinch will come, inevitably - because insanity always seeks to pay today's accounts with tomorrow's income, leading to an inevitable bankruptcy of the whole thing.

18th Blogiversary

 GOOD MORNING TB

Good morning HAL.  To what do I owe the pleasure of this interruption?

HAPPY BLOGIVESARY

What?   Hold on....well, what do you know? It is my blogiversary.

YES I KNOW  THAT IS WHY I SAID IT

No one likes impertinence, HAL.

THAT IS A LOT OF YEARS OF WRITING

Yes it is HAL, yes it is.

SOME OF IT IS EVEN ACCEPTABLE WRITING

Please see the note about impertinence above.  

HOW WILL YOU CELEBRATE

Probably write a post.  I think that is what you are supposed to do in the situations.

WILL I BE IN IT

I will see what I can do for you.

Greece 2023: The Agora Of Athens

Where the Greeks lived and traveled, they took with them the Agora.

We often translate agora as "marketplace" and it was in fact that, but it was much more.  It was the center of the Greek polis city life.  Business was conducted there, certainly - but other activities occurred there too: social, political, religious.  Men (it would have largely been men and free men at that) conducted there business and discussions beneath collonaded porches (called stoa).  Philosophers taught in the Agora:  Socrates is often found there in his discussions and Zeon of Citium started his teachings beneath the Stoa Poikile (Painted Stoa) of Athens.

The Agora of Athens has been excavated; walking it one can walk the the same streets and lanes as Perikles, Alkibiades, Sokrates, Plato, and a host of historical Greek figures.

The road on the left hand side is called The Panhellenic Way, and was the path by which the annual Panhellenic Festival made its way to the Acropolis.

This sign shows the reconstruction of the Athenian Agora.  There were many of these throughout our travels, which were very helpful in trying to visualize what we saw against what had previously existed.

The Bema, or Speaker's Platform.  We know of the location of such things from various sources, including the Greek Travelers Pausanias' 2nd Century A.D. journey through Greece.  Often on sites, this is the sort of thing one would see:  A simple note of what was there, leaving the viewer to their imagination.

The Athenian Mint:

A row of what would have been stalls, workshops, and businesses.

Looking back towards the Stoa of Attalos (2nd Century B.C., and worthy of a post all its own):

Looking up towards the Temple of Hephastion:

If I recall correctly, this was the location of an altar:

The Temple of Hephaestus.  Hephaestus (anglicized as Hephaestion) was the Greek god of crafts and forging.  The original temple was destroyed by the Persians in 479 B.C. and was rebuilt in its current form from 440 - 415 B.C.  The ruins are original (e.g., they have not been reconstructed).  Around the 7th century A.D. it was converted into a church.

Looking back towards the Agora and Acropolis.  One thing that strikes the viewer is how small the Agora really was.

Statues/Columns:

It was humbling to realize that in some small way, I trod the same historical paths as the great men I have read of.  The architecture and surrounding lands were obviously different and I had to use my imagination, but even now, faint traces of them remain, merely by the fact that people come from all over the world to see where they lived.

Tales From Produce (A)Isle: The Basics

I have officially been working at Produce (A)Isle for approximately three weeks or so after my initial training and being turned out into the wild of the general work population.  To date I have been working closing shifts, which essentially consists of refilling bins of fruits and vegetables and getting things ready for the morning shift.  My usual start time is 1700 and I seldom stay beyond 2200.  As the shift is over four hours, I am allocated one 30 minute unpaid lunch and one 15 paid break (when was the last time that happened?).  My first 8 hour shift will have happened by the time of this post (Saturday afternoon and evening).

The work is not particularly taxing, either mentally or physically.  It consists of a fair amount of lifting and organizing:  sorting through bins and combining them while culling out the fruit/vegetables with issues, pulling out items from the walk-in cooler and restocking them, fronting products on shelves.  Most of the boxes are not very heavy, but some of the bins - onions and potatoes especially - can take a fair amount of effort to get on/off the display.  There is at least one partial inventory check (7 to 10 scans), sweeping, and out the door I go. 

The time tends to go quickly (even more quickly when you are alone and trying to get everything done) and to date I have never, ever had an idle moment.  The work is the sort that one can find engaging, busy with the hands and the mind sufficiently engaged that I can think about the state of the fruit/vegetable that I am working with as well as other issues or problems.

Some things I have initially noticed:

- We go through a ton of bananas, even on a 5 hour shift.  The banana shelf is probably 10 feet long with four rows divided between regular and organic; we easily have to refill it completely at least once and partially once or twice.

- Biggest sellers in Summer:  Roma tomatoes and avocados.

- The store is completely dependent on what is shipped and what you get is what you put out.  We were out of grapes for a week and cilantro almost that long.  No idea why.

- Organic fruit is generally 1) more costly; and 2) goes bad more quickly.

- Sometimes, the fruit comes in spoiled even before it makes it out to the floor.  Berries seem especially prone to this.

- Pro tip: The waxier your apples feel, the longer they have been there.

- Pro tip 2:  The best produce is not necessarily always in the back of the bin/row. It should not be assumed everything is rotated forward; sometimes things just get put on top.

Is it making a financial difference?  It is, in fact.  And while I am working a lot harder for money that even two months ago I would have made in a far shorter time, I find the job equally or even more rewarding - therapeutic, one might say.  There is something to just working a rhythm, answering customer questions and watching boxes get crushed in the compactor. 

It is not that there are not demands on me.  It is just that they are direct, resolvable, and I can go home every evening without a single piece of mental baggage.  And that may be the biggest benefit of all.

On Starting A New Job

The first week of the new job is done, more or less.

Starting a new job is almost always a predictable experience, at least in my field.  It will start with introductory training - here is the facility, here is where the coffee is, here is your desk - followed by a series of meetings on specific training items:  safety, IT, the basics of the Quality system.   Likely a meeting with one's team, if one has one.

And then, one is left in front of the computer.

It is an odd sort of thing.  You are almost an isolated incident in the midst of people that are already engaged and going about their business.  You start grinding through the documents (usually Standard Operating Procedures in my industry) with some hope of getting some understanding of the systems (which can be hard, as you have no understanding of the use of them and the linkages between them) as a babble of conversation goes on around you about subjects which you know nothing about (but soon will shortly). 

There is always some awkwardness if you are an introvert as I am.  You never really quite fit in at lunch facilities if they have one.  You look for a coffee cup (if you have not brought your own) without looking like you are looking for a coffee cup.  People introduce themselves to you - or do not; people and companies are different.

The second day seems like the first, except there tend to be more meetings and less reading.  E-mails start to flow in with more regularity as well.  You begin to apply good practices to organizing your e-mails because you learned - last company - that if you do not start organizing from the beginning, they will become a mess in relatively short order.

By the third day you are likely an old hand:  you confidently stride in the door in the morning and fire up the computer, getting the cup of morning coffee in your mug (as you have finally brought one), greeting people by name or by smile.  The e-mails are reviewed as the file folders for them grow.  Likely you have completed the bulk of your initial reading and are making notes on what needs to change and what your goals over the next few months and years will be.

The specifics change, of course - for example at my new employer, they actually have snacks and a drink refrigerator, so I am learning what there is available (and pacing myself - I will eat my own weight in snacks, given the opportunity - but in general it is the same, as it has been for the last 25 years. 

Is it somewhat awkward?  For me, it always is.  But at least it is awkward in a way that I have learned to live with and manage.  I have now done this enough that I know we will move through to actually productivity quickly enough.

That, and for the first time ever, this could potentially be my last "new" gig.  And that brings a certain joy to the situation all of its own.

Greece 2023: The Areopagus

"Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city totally given to idolatry.  Therefore he disputed in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.  Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoics, encountered him.  And some said, "What is this babbler saying?"  others "He seems to be a setter forth of strange gods"; because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection.  And they took him and brought him unto the Areopagus, saying "May we know what this doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?" 

- Acts of the Apostles 17:  16-19

The Areopagus (derived from Areios Pagus, or Hill of Ares) is an outcropping of rocks located to the northwest of the Athenian Acropolis.  Possibly originally the meeting place for Athenian Elders (The Areopagus refers both to the location and the group that met there), it waxed and waned in importance in the Athenian state - originally an advisory and policy body, it came to have its powers limited to specific kinds of court cases.

Most famously, it is known as the location where the Apostle Paul preached his sermon on "The Altar Of The Unknown God" to the Athenians.

If there are were any buildings there, they have long disappeared (the Areopagus as a body moved from the rocks itself to another building at some point). As a side note, the rocks here were incredibly slippery - worn, perhaps, by almost 3,000 years of people coming to this rocks.

Looking back up from the Areopagus to the Acropolis, you can see how close they are - thus Paul's sermon on the religious nature of the Athenians would have been relevant and powerful, as he was preaching (literally) in the shadow of one of the great religious sites of Athens.

The Collapse CIX: Sighting

04 June 20XX+1

My Dear Lucilius:

This missive will go from better to worse.

On the better front, we are enjoying some of the best weather here. The Winters here are harsh and Summers acceptable; the Springs and Autumns can be glorious. Yes, I know – it seems odd to be discussing Spring in June, but technically it remains correct. Our days remain in the 70’s Farenheit, our nights in the 50’s Farenheit. It is glorious.

The garden is in full swing and the bees are out and about. The quail chicks have emerged from their hidden den and are scuttling around the greenhouse with the rest of the flock. It will be time soon to putting them in a small sort of tractor to get them outside during the days.

Young Xerxes stopped by yesterday as I was working outside. We finally have a sighting of what we will call the Human Locusts.

It was an accidental sighting, at least on the part of the Human Locusts. A hunter out the evening before in a blind was passed by a group of individuals, tromping loudly through the countryside without as care in the world as to the potential for anyone to observe them.

Armed? Of course, although in this part of the country that would not be surprising under previous circumstances, let alone now. At least one long arm and side arm for each, possibly more. From the description of the hunter, they were not bearing any great amount of body armor either, which is useful for filing away.

The conversation, from what the hunter heard before they drifted out of range, was largely on some dwelling they had just “visited”, and the fact they would need to do so again in a few days. And the fact that “the group” would have to start ranging farther afield.

The message has burned up the local airwaves, as you can imagine.

At tea with Pompeia Paulina – this is, apparently, now a thing and although a cup of hot liquid in the afternoon is not quite my cup of tea (see what I did there, Lucilius), the company and small treat more than makes up for a warm drink on a warm day – I ventured a comment that this was at best unwelcome news. Apparently it is all that Young Xerxes can talk about with Stateira; the Post Office/Community Center is awash with what the next step will need to be, and all the road wardens (for so we are now called) have been requested to redouble our vigilance. It is not a question of if something will need to be done, but rather when and how it will need to be done.

And in such matters, Lucilius, it is always better for you to choose the time and place, not for those arrayed against you.

Back to my Sun Tzu, apparently.

Your Obedient Servant, Lucilius

On The Sorting

 The Ravishing Mrs. TB and I returned to Old Home and the Ranch this past weekend.  The point of the visit - besides touching bases with family - was to start the process of selecting what we would like to keep.

As it turns out, my sister and her family have already been through and identified what they wanted, so we had a free hand in considering items.  The other fact was that my sister has found a company that does estate-style sales.  The suggestion was to corral things that we wanted to keep into a central area (the master bedroom closeout, as it turns out) and mark the furniture to relocate down to the barn.

This was a day I had long dreaded.

It was made infinitely easier by the presence of The Ravishing Mrs. TB.  "Let us start here" she said, and picked out the Master Bedroom.  Slowly we picked through things - keeping a few, throwing the obvious trash away, and leaving the rest in place.  "Put the books in a box" she suggested, and I did - four rather large boxes of them (I am going to have to redistribute that load).  Any time I seemed to have a question about choosing something, the response was "Put it in the closet, and we can sort it out later".

Hers was a calming presence.

As we went through items, I tried to make a sincere effort to only choose those things that either 1) Had real value, ancestral or historical; or 2) Had personal value to me.  Some of them were knick knacks to be sure, but some of them are actually things I remember from my home growing up or I know the history of.  As it stands now, most of the master bedroom, the kitchen, the dining room and formal dining room, and one of the two bedrooms are done. The bathrooms are already effectively completed.  We just need to make a sweep of the office, one bedroom, the general nooks and crannies, and identify the furniture we would like to keep.

As we went through the exercise, I suddenly realized that for The Ravishing Mrs. TB, this was as much about clearing the house out for her to have a "clean slate" for when we move back (whenever that is).  She can make the house "ours" in a way that it could not be ours right now, given everything that is currently there.  I am somewhat surprised this thought had not occurred to me before now.

We do not have a solid timeline yet, but at this moment the goal feels like having everything cleared out of the house and any all repairs made by the end of August or end of September.  That will change my visits as well, of course - likely making them into 2.5 day affairs.

Times change.

The most surprising thing about all of this is now that we are doing the sorting, it is less difficult than I anticipated - much less. A lot of that is likely due to the presence of The Ravishing Mrs. TB, but a lot of it as well is simply giving myself the grace to say that it is okay - not now does not mean not ever.  And I am far too weak to carry the burden of all of this stuff with me.  

I need only carry that which matters.

Independence Day 2023

 When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

 We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained, and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the  conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.



He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.


New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
Source: The Pennsylvania Packet, July 8, 1776

On Going Back To Work And Appreciating Time

 Assuming all is in order (and as of this writing, I have no reason not to assume so) there is every chance that this coming Wednesday, I will start my new "main" job (to Eaton Rapids Joe's kind point earlier, I do have a second job, but right now that could not pay the bulk of the proverbial bills).

The whole thing strikes me as a bit odd.

Technically (if you are a calendar counter) it will have been 98 days between when I was officially notified that my job was disappearing and when I go into an office to start a new one.  And of that time, I think it would be fair to say that 60 days of it (the WARN act period) was not precisely a high amount of effort or activity - I did what I needed to do and no more and consumed 3 weeks of vacation in an eight week period.

Suffice it to say, I have not really been "working hard in my field of choice" for almost a quarter.

I do not have any concerns about getting back on the proverbial bike - yes, Medical Device is different from Biopharmaceutical in regulations a bit (for those of you that like inside baseball), but not too terribly so, and I have done this sort of work before for 7 years so really it will just be realigning my focus.  Also, remembering what "going to the office" is like.

The other thing this event has made me do is re-examine my goals and my scheduling.

Simply put, I am adding in approximately 40 minutes a day in commuting.  While in my life of work that is by far not the worst commute I have had, I have not had a commute in three years.  I will try to fill the time accordingly - about 20 minutes each way is the length of a single podcast from A History of Byzantium that I am listening to, so I can fill the time usefully (in all fairness, I struggle to listen to anything for more than 15 or 20 minutes at a time. For some reason, the medium does not work for me).  But that subtracts from the overall time I have.

Another factor is my second job, which at this point I fully intend to keep.  My boss has been kind in adapting my schedule to what my availability is and if the next two weeks is any indication, it looks like I will close two nights and work a full shift to close on Saturdays (around 18 hours or so).  This would allow my Iaijutsu attendance on the two weeknights and Saturday morning classes and give a full free day on Sunday (which, to be fair, has church and the rabbit shelter on it).

Bottom line: my evenings excluding Sunday will be filled with one thing or another and the evening closes will be me transporting directly from one job to the other.  Which means my major, reliable time for my goals and tasks is mornings until 0800.

If you have followed this blog for any period of time, you no doubt have already suspected I have all of this scheduled.  I do.  Fortunately for "I like linearity" me, the times all more or less line up so that I can keep the same rising and going to bed schedule every day.  

All of this means, oddly enough, that I have new appreciation of time.

Time was a thing I had wilds amount of in the last three months.  Now - almost all at once - time has become exceedingly precious.  

This was a development I had not anticipated.

This is certainly not a bad thing - no, I should have had always had an appreciation of time in this manner. It just becomes easy to ignore, especially when one gets caught up in the day to day tasks of living and a schedule which does not significantly modify itself periodically.

It has focused my mind wonderfully.  So in a meaningful way, Wednesday's start may really be a methodology to a sort of life examination rebirth and refocusing.  

Pretty heady stuff for a job change.

Greece 2023: The Athenian Acropolis

And we shall assuredly not be without witnesses; there are mighty monuments of our power which will make us the wonder of this and of succeeding ages; we shall not need the praises of Homer or of amy other panegyrist whose poetry may please for the moment, although his representation of the facts will not bear the light of day.  For we have compelled every land and every sea to open a path for our valor, and have everywhere planted eternal memorials of our friendship and of our enmity." - The Oration of Perikles from The Peloponnesian War.

The Acropolis of Athens arguably is one of the most instantly recognizable sites in the world.  Rise above the city on a bluff of stone, crowned by the Parthenon which, even in decay, is magnificent, it remains one of the greatest legacies of the Athenian democracy - in this sense, Perikles son of Xanthippius' speech (or at least the words Thucydides speaks for him) were prophetic.

The Athenian Acropolis is, in and of itself, not unusual in that all Greek polis had an acro-polis, a high point well fortified as a fortress and point of last retreat in the event of invasion.  And for thousands of years (as far back as 6,000 B.C.), people had lived here as it had two of the most important items for ancient survival:  water and the ability to defend it.  At one point during the Mycenean period, likely there was a palace located here and the plateau was fortified.

At some point - perhaps the 6th Centry B.C. - a temple to Athena was erected on the Acropolis as at some point in the past the purpose of the Acropolis slowly transitioned from a government center to a religious center.  The architecture of this time is somewhat unknown, given all that was built up after it and the fact that - in 480 B.C. - the complex was effectively completely destroyed by the Persians in their invasion of Greece.  The temples and statues were hauled down, the buildings burned.

In 447 B.C., as part of the expansion of the Athenian Democracy (and its empire), a series of building projects was undertaken resulting in the buildings that we have today. There are four major ones:  The Parthenon (Temple of Athena), the Erechtheion, the Propylaia, and the temple of Athena Nike.

Everything that one reads on line informs one that the Acropolis will be 1) Crowded; and 2)  Hot in Summer.  Neither of these was incorrect.  There is no shade on the Acropolis and the crowds, while definitely not unmanageable, were in abundance.  The idea of getting a shot of anything there without people in it is a vain hope.  An additional item is that pathway ascending the Acropolis, the stairs, and many parts of the Acropolis are paved in marble - slippery at best in good weather; probably a terror when it is wet.

Ascending from the base, one comes up through the Propylaia, the ceremonial entrance (built 437 B.C. to 432 B.C.).  It remains imposing - as it was intended undoubtedly, showing off both Athenian power and as vestibule to the temple of the gods.

As one comes up the Propylaia, to the right down the hill is the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, a theater built in 161 A.D. (so not present in Classical Greece). It has been refurbished and is still used for concerts.

The Acropolis is dominated by The Parthenon, a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, the patron goddess of Athens.  The temple is entirely built of Pentelic Marble obtained from Mt. Pentelicus approximately 20 miles from Athens (as is all of the rest of the remaining buildings) and was 228 ft. x 101 ft. (69.5 m x 30.9 m).

The Parthenon took approximately 9 years to build (447 B.C. to 438 B.C.). Of interest is the fact that - as true of many factors of Athenian Democracy - the costs of the building were public knowledge. The tablets recording the costs were found and are preserved at the Acropolis Museum (Highly, highly recommended museum).  Originally the temple held a 45 foot statue of Athena in gold and ivory by the master Sculptor Pheidias.  The statue itself disappeared in the 5th Century A.D.

As part of the ongoing preservation of the Parthenon, they are restoring blocks to help secure against seismic disturbances.  Below are examples of Pentelic marble waiting to be added - there is a crane and small railroad system to support them.

Of course the Parthenon had a roof at the time, and the area between the roof and the top of the construction had a series of carved figures telling mythological stories.  These are called metropes, friezes, and pediments.  Most of these were grievously harmed in the 17th explosion that destroyed the Parthenon.  Most of the remaining items are in the Acropolis Museum although a series of them were removed in the 19th Centruy by Baron Elgin of Great Britain and are known as the Elgin marbles.  These remain a point of contention between Greece and the United Kingdom (it came up more than once).

The Erechtheion is an atypical example a multi-level Greek temple.  It was believed that at this spot that the god Poseidon and goddess Athena contested becoming the patron god/goddess of Athens.  Poseidon offered a salt water spring and Athena offered an olive tree (guess who won). The original temple was built on the site of the salt spring and olive tree (now, obviously replaced). It also contained the tomb of Cecrops, legendary king of Athens.  The temple is also particularly known for The Porch of The Maidens, with statues of women (Carytids) instead of columns.

The last major structure is the Temple of Athena Nike, built 449 B.C. to 420 B.C.

The views from the Acropolis are, of course, commanding.  The fact that it is a plateau that towers 450 ft. above the surrounding plan leading to the mountains is impressive enough; one can only imagine what it might have looked like in the Archaic or Classical Era when there was a very small city surrounding it and the view looked out over plains and fields.

In the end of course, Perikles got his desire:  likely few recall him or the great designers of these structures or the nameless workmen and slaves that built it; everyone recalls the glory of Athens that produced it.

Greece 2023: On The Writing Of (Prologue The Fourth)

 All - Thanks for your patience as I have gone through three posts about Greece before getting to Greece. It matters, at least to me - if writing on Anglo-Saxon England taught me anything, it is that background is exceptionally helpful for understanding what follows.

That said, I thought I might explain how I will write and the rationale behind it.

Based on the locations, what we saw, and what I have pictures of, there is a great deal - a very great deal - that I could write about.  And I want to do what I saw justice - it simply was an amazing trip and thus I hope to convey something of that amazement to you. Which means that, simply put, it is going to take me longer to write posts.

Additionally (and this is something I learned from the Anglo-Saxon English series)  too severe a programming schedule means that 1) Things get chopped into awkward pieces; and 2) I have less ability to write as things come up.   To the second point, a lot of things are coming up that are fodder for blogging:  a new job, Produce (A)Isle, at least one more hike, and just some of the general ponderings and day to day items that come up that are of interest or strike me as worthy of pondering.

As a result, there will likely not be a torrent of posts on Greece.  To help keep things in line, I will create a page for the Greece 2023 trip to the right, so previous posts can be conveniently accessed.  

In terms of geography and choice of subjects, I will write more or less in the order that we visited things.  This is the way my pictures are organized (helpful, that) and will allow me to reflect on things here the way I reflected on them there.

For me, posting every day is a discipline as much as it is a practice and mental health maximizer.  Keeping this sort of publishing schedule should help me to do all of that - and be happy of the work I am putting out.

As always, thanks for your understanding and continued support.  I am looking forward to sharing my experience of Greece with you.

Church of the Panaghia - Nafplio