TREEPOCALYPSE

 

Well, kind of. Two big branches fell from two big pecan trees into the back yard of the Compound, doubtless the victims of climate change and or global warming. I looked at them, hanging and lying on the parched, cracked earth of this part of North Central Texas.

If only we'd paid more tax and made our Illuminati NWO Vizier Satraps even wealthier than they are already. Why then, none of this ecological catastrophe would've happened. As it is, we'll have to get in there with carbon guzzling chainsaws and sort that pecan wood out, maybe tomorrow.

Speaking of Satraps, did you know that in late antiquity the Byzantine authority set up on the Palatine Hill in Rome, in the very palaces of the Emperors. Imagine them, looking out from decayed imperial grandeur on the vast ruin field of what had been a city of a million inhabitants.

Reflecting on this, along with Gregory the Great, Pantheon bronze and the Phocian Column, to say nothing of Justinian and Belisarius, I walked the dog to the Pick 'n Steal through a golden Texan sunset. Beautiful, and I thanked God for it, Providence is quite a thing.

That in mind, hope everyone had a great Labor Day and sang the Internationale unceasingly.

Net Zero Forever,

LSP

A Bit of This And a Bit of That

Everyone knows the Germans gave up their signature spiked helmets years ago but the tradition lives on, in South America. So if you're in the mood to see the infamous pickelhaube (point cap) in action, head over to Colombia or Chile.

Likewise, you're probably wondering about Imperial Roman standards, their Signa and famous Eagles. None of these have survived fully intact, though a gilded eagle (aquila) has been found in Romania. 

Remarkably, a cloth standard (vexillum) has come down to us. This square flag was discovered in Egypt and dates from the third century AD. It features the Goddess Victory but lacks unit designation. 

Vexillum experts tell us the flag would have represented a cavalry or auxiliary force or possibly the subdivision of a Legion, and was a significant if lesser emblem than the illustrious Signum or Aquila.

Speaking of which, it's said that the imperial standards lost at the disastrous battle of Adrianople (378 AD) were recovered by general Belisarius in his war against the Vandals. They were then paraded before Emperor Justinian in 534 AD at Constantinople's Hippodrome during the last Roman Triumph. So too were the treasures of the Jerusalem temple, looted by Titus and Vespasian and brought to Rome, only to be looted again by the Vandal King Gaiseric in the mid fifth century.

As Gaiseric's defeated son Gelimer was led in shame around the Hippodrome under the gaze of thousands of cheering Romans, he quoted scripture, "Vanity, vanity, all is vanity." But Gelimer wasn't strangled per the custom of old Rome, instead the vanquished Vandal was awarded estates in Galatia. He died in 553 AD.

I find this interesting unlike, say, the bogus impeachment spectacle taking place in the Senate.

Cheers,

LSP