Word: ancient
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...course, I did not convince him; in fact, he is not, strictly speaking, wrong. It is true that the ancient ruins of the forum are poorly indicated (if at all), that the Palatine is no better, that there is not even much of the original structures left to see, and that—in a city where tourism is a primary industry—this lack of attention to such detail seems bizarre. It is also probably true that if Rome were Paris things might be labeled, maybe even with explanations in three or four languages. Rome, however...
...here’s my defense of the way the Romans have handled their ancient treasures: There is value to leaving structures, remnants of the past, in ruins. There is worth in seeing things fallen but not forgotten, in letting things be the way they are, in neither rebuilding nor destroying. There is value in not labeling everything, classifying it as though the capitol were some giant museum or a large still life. Rome is very much a living city, and the ruins are part of its vivaciousness. For centuries, millennia really, Italians have been building over, incorporating, and generally...
...there is a deeper reason for the disquiet tourists might feel looking at ancient Roman ruins, in particular the Roman forum: melancholy. It is beautiful and yet sad. The ruins are majesty fallen; they are things gone and not memorialized, but rather left to simply be. “And look,” one has to think, “present-day Italians, once Romans, once the most powerful people in the world, can’t even get it together to label the rubble...
...admit that the choice not to make the forum completely user friendly might not actually be a choice per se. Perhaps Italians don’t know how to handle their ancient treasures in a tourist-pleasing manner. In this sense, my friend might be right, but visitors must take Roman ruins on their own terms. The bitter-sweet taste might not induce comfort, but it does make you think...
...captivating as the panoramic views of the Seine, the Eiffel Tower and the Parisian cityscape. Something of a philosopher, Stassart challenges the notion that "a meal is simply something to nourish us, and taste but a sensation in your mouth." He is also given to discoursing on the ancient conflict between Apollo, god of the arts, reason and harmony, and Dionysus, god of wine, ecstasy and disorder. "Philosophically, we are trying to set aside this opposition between the body and soul," he declares. "Pleasure is in the mind, too; it's not only physical." Perhaps. But there's true corporeal...