Saturday, June 16, 2018

Cicero Was Right On. Be Careful If You Also Are Right On.

I have a folder in my computer where I save Blog Idea for use in future efforts to Enrich Your Lives and Entertain You ... Or do they?  At present there are more than 360 potential future blogs residing in this folder. This Blog Posting was created using the oldest file from this folder. The file was dated November 2008.

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As a regular reader of my Blog you, certainly know how right I am on darn near everything. I just had a visit in my computer room from Cicero. He warned me to not be so right so often.

 

Knowing his reputation for eloquence I was at first confused about how difficult he was to understand. He just did not form his words well. Then I remembered why that was. As you read on below you will also understand why he was so Tongue Tied.

 

One of the reasons why I appear to be so smart is, as you already know, is I can see the future.

 

I don’t really know how far I can see into the future but my friend Cicero is hard to beat when it comes to seeing over the horizon. During this visit he repeated one of his forecasts about the Good Ole USofA which he said in 55BC. This means he could see somewhere around 756,645 days into the future. That’s a lot of foreseeing!

 

His quote references Rome, but he is so dead on about what is happening in our country today that you and I know he was talking about both Rome and the United States of America. Here is what he said about Rome and Us...

“The arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed, lest Rome fall.”

Here comes a lie...

As a result of what Cicero said above to his fellow Romans he became the toast of the town. He was praised everywhere he went. When he went into restaurants he never had to pay for his meals because there were always fellow Romans waiting in line to pick up his tab. When he died everyone was sad.

 

Here comes the Truth about what happened to Cicero for speaking the Truth...

Ø He was decapitated by his pursuers.

Ø Once discovered, he bowed to his captors, leaning his head out of his litter in a gladiatorial gesture to ease the task.

Ø By baring his neck and throat to the soldiers, he was indicating that he wouldn't resist.

Ø His hands were cut off and nailed and displayed along with his severed head on the Rostra in the Forum Romanum according to the tradition of Marius and Sulla, both of whom had displayed the heads of their enemies in the Forum.

 

Here is why I had trouble understanding Cicero’s words during his visit with me...

Marcus Antonius’ wife Fulvia took Cicero's head, pulled out his tongue, and jabbed it repeatedly with her hairpin in final revenge against Cicero's power of speech.

 

Since this is the Bottom of this Blog Posting, here is The Bottom Line...

If you must speak the truth, hold onto your head.

Would I kid u?

Smartfella

 

Lagniappe: Cicero was a very precise and proper person. He folded his socks into little balls and arranged them in straight rows in his sock drawer. Even at his death he wanted things to be precise and proper. Cicero's last words were said to have been, "There is nothing proper about what you are doing, soldier, but do try to kill me properly”.

 

I just love words.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good one Fella.... made a very good point!!

Ludwig said...

Indeed, telling truth is very costly. Alas, the highest price is friendship.