October 30, 2018 - We took a walk today to an archeological site in Rome called Torre Argentina. It is a site surrounded on all 4 sides by busy traffic about the size of a football field. It was saved from destruction by of all people, Mussolini.
The most significant find here was the remains of the Theatre of Pompey where the Roman Senate was meeting on March 15, 44 BC. Why the Senate was meeting here instead of the Forum, we do not know. It may have been a gladiator game organized by Senator Casca to lure Caesar here. Around 40 people were involved in the plot. On the steps in the picture, Casca lunged at him first but Caesar fought him off. He tried to escape but was mobbed by a group of sixty men. He was stabbed here 23 times. Only one of the blows was fatal.
Julius Caesar had only been Emperor for two years. During that time he was only in Rome for 4 months. Even today, after all this time, people still throw flowers on the spot in remembrance.
So what do you do with such an important site? You make it a sanctuary for feral cats of course. The area is completely cut off to protect the sensitivities of around 130 feral cats. They are protected and fed by a volunteer group. So most of the people looking over the wall were there to see the cats, not the momentous event that occurred here so long ago.
Is there a lesson? I think so. No matter how important you are, in the end we are all cat litter.
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