U.S. Supreme Court under fascism.

[Jara sang]

"On November 28, 2005, a basketball-sized chunk of marble weighing approximately 172 lbs. fell four stories from the façade onto the steps of the Court; it had previously been part of the parapet above the word UNDER (as in, "Equal justice UNDER law", engraved on the court's façade ), and immediately above the figure of a Roman centurion carrying a fasces. The falling piece is not believed to be related to restoration work currently underway in the building."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Supreme_Court_building

[Kutjara]

1. I've never been a great one for omens, but...

...this one is too close to the bone to ignore.

[Selatius]

2. Yes, I'm sure many Romans would have seen it the same way

Of course, we're not Rome.........are we?

[Kutjara]

3. Not Rome, more like the Holy Roman Empire.

Not Holy, not Roman, and not even a proper Empire. Just a greedy bunch of wannabes without the brains to be emperors.

[Swamp Rat]

4. omen

[leveymg]

5. There are lots of fasces and fascists in Washington today

[Prophet 451]

6. Possibly

Although you have to remember that fascism didn't mean the same thing to teh Romans that it does to us.

[Cleita]

10. As crazy as the Christian fundies are, I don't think anyone can

convince them that * is a god, like the Romans were told the emperor was.

[Jara sang]

11. I think they see him as more like a "hero" like Perseus.

[Prophet 451]

12. The Romans didn't believe it either

The plebs generally didn't believe their emperor was a god but he was powerful enough to make it difficult to tell the difference so it was easier not to protest the association. Life was quite difficult enough for a pleb without bringing the guard down on you and so long as the taxes kept rolling in, no-one really cared anyway.

Even the patrician class didn't believe it much of the time. Many of them believed in the gods not in the same way a Christian would but as symbols or universal forces abstract from their daily lives. Besides, being teh son of a god wouldn't have meant as much to them as it would to us. To a Roman, life was about proving yourself and the worst fate that could befall a politically-minded Roman was failing to equal the achievments of his father. So while the Julii family claimed descent from the goddess Venus (although that was more a family legend than a serious boast), what had they done lately? The Brutii could claim descent from Romulus, the (probably mythical) founder of Rome but what had they done lately?

Besides, not many of the emperors actually proclaimed that they were gods. They implied it and it was known that they were supposed to be but not many went out of their way to make the point.

[Minnesota Libra]

7. I didn't know that - apparently the powers that be were sending...........

.....us a message that the neocons still haven't listened to. This is definitely an omen.:wow:

[many a good man]

8. Portico frieze photo

Next week is my last week working downtown in DC. I'm going to try to snap a new photo of the frieze during lunchtime and compare it to this photo.

[Jara sang]

9. Great shot. Thanks!