The fountains of Rome are romanticized in Hollywood movies. The pines of Rome are evoked in Resphghi’s orchestral work, “The Pines of Rome”. Fountains and pines, art and nature, have enraptured me during my previous journeys to Italy. But this journey? In 2019, given what is happening in the world today? For me, the objects of my rapture this trip are the Obelisks of Rome, not art, not nature, but the symbolic monuments built by man-gods.
Egyptian obelisks can be found everywhere in Rome.
The rulers of Rome shipped them in from Egypt in great quantities. Some of the obelisks are so huge that it is hard to imagine how a multitude of Roman slaves could carry them onto a ship, or how the ship would not sink under the enormous weight of the stone. Egyptian Pharaohs considered themselves to be gods, and the people they ruled regarded their Pharaohs as gods. For this reason, Roman rulers greatly admired the Egyptians and promoted a sense of awe and submission in the people they ruled by erecting the Egyptian obelisks all around Ancient Rome.
As it turns out, my rapture with Rome’s obelisks since I landed in Italy two weeks ago has been quite prophetic. Rulers who think they are gods. Hmm.
ITALY, GERMANY, AND MORE! 