The floor has a mosaic of Minerva's owl and aegis.
Bookcases reach to the ceiling.
Thousands of scrolls and codices are heaped on shelves.
A man reads while a vestal copies and a caretaker dusts.
Bodilis patiently searches and finds an account of a trans-Atlantic crossing three generations previously.
The library is on the Forum but no sound penetrates.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
As we both know, much Greco/Roman literature was lost during the chaotic centuries after the Western Empire fell. The works of Tacitus, for example, surviving only in fragments.
One writer whose works are almost entirely lost (aside from a few brief quotes in other writers works) are the books of the Emperor Claudius (who is sometimes rather favorably mentioned in THE KING OF YS). I hope someday his books will be rediscovered, that they somehow survived!
And the Vestal working as a copyist reminded me of the Christian monks who devoted their lives to painfully copying by hand not only the Scriptures but also many of the Greco/Roman classics.
Sean
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