After St Columba's encounter with the Loch Ness Monster and two short extracts from the Latin New Testament, we started Virgil! We even read, "...timeo Danaos et dona ferentes." (II, 49) ("I fear the Greeks, even bearing gifts.")
Virgil celebrated the Roman Empire which, in diverse timelines, is:
served by the King of Ys;
guarded by the Time Patrol;
the inspiration for the Terran Empire.
Virgil described the Greeks at Troy as "...fracti bello fatisque repulsi..." (II, 13) ("...shattered by war, rejected by the fates...") and this reflected his own experience of living through the Roman Civil Wars. It may also remind us of Poul Anderson's many descriptions of past and future wars. Virgil thanked Augustus for establishing an Imperial pax/peace. We can imagine Terrans reading Virgil while thanking Manuel Argos.
1 comment:
Hi, Paul!
Interesting thought, that many Terrans, in their gratitude for the order and peace brought by Manuel Argos after the chaos of the Time of Troubles, would be remined of how Virgil expressed similar views in the AENEID. And this kind of gratitude was almost certainly not limited to humans--I'm sure many non humans within the sphere claimed by Terra were just as graeteful.
I'm reminded of how a non human Shalmuan expressed the wish, even for the unworthy Josip, "May his name resound through eternity" in THE REBEL WORLDS. And one character in THE GAME OF EMPIRE wished the Empire still had Emperors descended from Manuel Argos. The gratitude so many had for the peace restored by the Founder would incline them to prefer or wish for Emperors descended from him.
Dynastic loyalty is not to be scorned. It would simply be how the desire or need to believe in the legitimacy of one's government took form in particular examples.
Sean
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