Lamp Postmodernism

[Obscure stickers appear on Edinburgh lamp posts]

Stay vigilant citizens. 

What a Relief!

Rude's The Departure of the Volunteers of 1792 (or "La Marseillaise")

 

The most famous of the four reliefs on the faces of the arch flanking the opening, this emotional composition depicts the French people rallying against enemies from abroad.

 

These citizens, both nude and in classical armor, are roused to patriotic fervor by the Roman goddess of war, Bellona, who has also been identified as a personification of Liberty.

 

This grouping so aroused spectators' patriotism that the work became known as "La Marseillaise," the French national anthem written in 1792 - the same year as the departure of the volunteers.

Who could resist the call to protect the new Republic from its monarchist enemies of the people?  

 

To Be An Emperor: Advice of Machiavelli

[Head of Augustus, Louvre Museum, Paris]

--------

 

"A prince therefore need not necessarily have all the good qualities I have mentioned, but he should certainly appear to have them. I would even go so far as to say that if he has these qualities and always behaves accordingly he will find them harmful; if he only appears to have them they will render him service. He should appear to be compassionate, faithful to his word, kind, guileless, and devout. And indeed he should be so. But his disposition should be such that, if he needs to be the opposite, he knows how. You must realise this; that a prince, and especially a new prince, cannot observe all those things which give men a reputation for virtue, because in order to maintain his state he is often forced to act in defiance of good faith, of charity, of kindness, of religion. And so he should have a flexible disposition, varying as fortune and circumstance dictate. ... he should not deviate from what is good, if that is possible, but he should know how to do evil if that is necessary."

[Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince, XVIII.5 ]

Modern Art

And indeed there were not ....

The above instillation may well have constituted the only light relief (literally a relief made of lights) that the Emperor experienced in a recent and lengthy day-trip to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.

"Not a big fan of modern art?", I hear the gallery whisper ... "Eh ... Nope" whips back my urbanely sophisticated response. 

See: http://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/introduction-118

----------

"Do you call the man leisured who arranges with anxious precision his Corinthian bronzes, the cost of which is inflated by the mania of a few collectors, and spends most of the day on rusty bits of metal?"

Seneca, Dialogues, On the Shortness of Life, 12

Weddings

Never previously a great fan of the wedding ceremony, the Emperor recently attended a delightful wedding at which he was honoured to act in a formal capacity.

 

 [Wedding favours for the Emperor and his Consort]

Imperial modesty prevents one from claiming to have been the best man in attendance that day. 

However, the Emperor did go home feeling himself proudly to be a better man for his involvement in the happy occasion. The bride and groom were resplendent and it was an honour to be included in the great occasion.

The Emperor is left to ponder whether the enjoyment of weddings grows with the advancement of age? 

 

Its a question that he will know the answer to soon enough ....  

Moving Times

Despite, the defamatory polemic that some imperial satirists have voiced ...

"No, the Emperor does not have the bailiffs after him."  The indignity of it ...!

My most recent move is just the complex culmination of work, love and circumstance.  Yes, the last year and half has seen the Emperor moving home for the third time.

Its been exhausting, but a stoical journey none the less and the Emperor would not change a thing!

 

[View from the new Imperial pad - Edinburgh New Town]

August in Paris

This Summer the Emperor spent the campaigning season in the wonderful city of Paris.

The Emperor was in his element, taking in the many wonders that the city is so famous for.

[Night time on the Seine River]

Despiste their chilly reputation towards tourists, the Emperor did not find the Parisians to be at all Gauling [forgive the pun].

[The famous Hall of Mirrors, Versailles]

The Emperor would certianly recommend a visit to this stylish cultural city and although Summer periods can get very busy with fellow tourists this did not cause too many problems for the Imperial retinue.   

 

[Under the Arc De Triomphe]

  

This short holiday was most rewarding and the Emperor fully intends to re-visit and see the many sites that he did not have time to see. 



[The iconic Eiffel Tower, dominating the city sky line]

 

----------------------

 

Great, great .... uncle Julius famously spent a few campaigning seasons in Gaul.

 

Whilst making himself almost entirely unpopular, its fair to say that he didn't really have a good word to say about the locals:

 

"The unstable character of the Gauls made [Caesar] anxious - for they are easily induced to form new plans and generally welcome political change - and he thought it better to place no reliance on them. It is a custom of theirs to stop travellers, even against their will, and to question them about what they have heard by chance or by enquiry on this or that subject; and in the towns a crowd will gather round traders and demand to know what country they have come from and what they have learnt there. Such hearsay reports often induce them to make momentous decisions, which they are bound to repent immediately afterwards, since they credulously swallow unconfirmed rumours, and most of their informants invent such answers as they think will please them."

 

[Caesar, Commentaries, IV.5]