I’ve a long fascination with history; one-part drawn to the fantasy elements of Greek Gods, the allure of distant places occurring at a time and about the hub of Mediterranean Powers. American History is a favorite for the evolving value it represents however of classical history I focus on the Hellenistic, Persian and Roman period of war and conquest along with the writings of the various Scholars, Poets and Activists of the time and the narratives of those which survive and allow us to study a time that in many ways is no different than ours.
Marcus Tullius Cicero, contemporarily known simply as “Cicero”, offers us acutely relevant perspectives allowing for each of us to tune-in to the symphonic dangers of Autocratic Narcissism (oddly enough the very thematic rancor that defines the Biden-Scheme) and the follow selection shine brilliantly for this purpose:
“It is the nature of every person to error, but only the fool perseveres in error.”
“When you have no basis for an argument, abuse the plaintiff.”
“Freedom suppressed and again regained bites with keener fangs than freedom never endangered.”
I do hope you spend time in deliberate consideration of these commentaries and while each of these are deeply relevant to our time I believe that when you’ve become acquainted with Cicero’s acerbic wit and intolerant nature, a product of his contempt for and complete opposition to what history confirms as the random brutality of the time as various Political Forces strategically blazed a path that would ultimately lead to the end of the Roman Republic, we discover in the following few words the depth of Cicero’s devotion to the full emancipation of Mankind and why, as now, the Political Order of the day was so threatened by a movement that would unseat the authority and privilege they’ve become accustomed to and who would, ultimately, order his death. Consequently, we are also forced to face that we are perilously close to what future history might very well describe as the period that would either mark the end of the American Republic or at the very minimum, its suspension:
“Our minds possess by nature an insatiable desire to know the truth.”
The potency of this statement, by Cicero, has to be understood as being written at a time when he was expressing a debilitating sense of dread. He was central to and a direct witness to and personally victimized by a long-standing battle between the forces in support of Caesar’s Dictatorship and the Ideals that defined the Roman Republic including the refining ambitions that Cicero spoke of and bluntly opined, in a very public and transparent manner, by way of the open forum which was the custom of his day. If the constriction of speech, as comprehensively expressed and imposed in our time, existed during the Roman Republic the Apian way, it’s entire length, would have been lined with bodies hung from a cross.
Translations from Latin, Cicero’s language, to English do not fully describe the conversion that fully reports what is meant by “to know the truth” however deeper inquiry reveals that what he is referring to is not “truth” in the form of “fact” but “truth” in the form of “a compelling support behind the meaning of me as a purpose in life.” Cicero’s words intended to confess that there was a much deeper reasoning behind his unwillingness to capitulate to the disorder of the day and by way of using today’s language formatting, or better yet, as Thomas Jefferson expressed by way of the following:
“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.”
This phrase, this affirmation, is the “truth” Cicero was identifying and speaking to as being a state, condition, an ideal that though they might not be able to fully express in the language of our time, in their time, they understood precisely the “truth” they were speaking of.
Unfortunately, as in Cicero’s and Jefferson’s time, the concepts attendant to the idea of “self-evident” were neither evident nor were they revered and while these Men’s actions would pray to stir the conscience of their fellow man I believe it is fair to say the Jefferson had far better results than Cicero however I firmly believe that Jefferson would have never fully understood the concept were it not for Cicero.
While our ultimate destiny will continue to suffer the pitch and yaw of our too often hapless convictions our desires for Cicero’s insatiable ideal will remain and for a time seem more distant than they seemed from the hopeful and promising perspectives of November 3rd, 2020 but for now, we set aside the hunger and insistence upon our “unalienable rights” while we endure a national leadership trend that speaks preferably to the power and influences attendant to forced submission.
Curtis C. Greco, Founder
