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Alea Iacta Story Hour: A Mythic Rome Campaign (Baby Announcement: 8/17)
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<blockquote data-quote="Orichalcum" data-source="post: 1304158" data-attributes="member: 3722"><p><strong>Alea Iacta VI: When in Rome Post 9: In the Library, With a Scroll</strong></p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Marcus and Wena have been peacefully visiting the Library of Trajan, an enormous multi-story pair of columned buildings, one for Greek books, one for Latin books, with intricately carved marble floors and busts of famous philosophers lining the walls. Wena has arranged to meet her old friend, the Roman philosopher and librarian Athanius Felix, who specializes in comparative philosophy from different cultures. Athanius is a rather fat, white-bearded Epicurean with a pleasant manner. Despite his geniality, Wena warns Marcus not to underestimate the philosopher; he’s renowned for being one of the only philosophers in Rome capable of telekinetically lifting a Praetorian elephant – only a few inches, admittedly, but still.</p><p> </p><p> Athanius warns Wena that she will be less welcome in the Library than in the old days of her last visit, when she was an honored member. The old Chief Librarian, Quintus Herennius, died six months ago, and the new Chief Librarian, Fufidius Priscus, is much more authoritarian and has restricted many of the scrolls to Roman citizens of high rank, equites or senators. When she hears Fufidius’ name, Cornelia comments later, “Ah, he must have been made fun of as a child.” </p><p> </p><p> Wena is somewhat surprised that Herennius, who was elderly, but in very good health, should have died so suddenly, and asks Athanius what happened. “Well, “ Athanius says, wringing his hands, “Herennius had become very excited that one of his old schoolmates from the Academy in Athens, the great Lysimachus of Chaeronea, was coming to visit him. Then he received news that Lysimachus’s ship had been lost at sea, and in the shock he suffered a fatal stroke. Very sad – two great losses for philosophy at the same time.” </p><p> </p><p> Pondering the timing, Wena and Marcus realize that Lysimachus’s ship disappeared around the same time that the pirates captured and killed a Greek philosopher and took his psionic greaves. They begin to suspect that at least Lysimachus, if not Herennius, was deliberately murdered by the Black Chain Philosopher. “Do you know what either of them was working on?” Marcus asks. </p><p> </p><p> “Mostly Neoplatonic issues – lots of very metaphysical scrolls, both of them. Honestly, I think Herennius was a bit preoccupied with turning all of the abstract philosophical concepts into concrete real places and objects in his old age. Sometimes a thought is just a thought.”</p><p> </p><p> “And what’s Fufidius Priscus’s speciality?” Wena asks.</p><p> “Oh, his great work-in-progress is an epitome of all the criticism written on Aristotle to date. He’s very much into collating and sorting all the references to the ancient great philosophers – which, I suppose, makes him at least a good librarian, if not a terribly original thinker.”</p><p> </p><p> Marcus decides to make an appointment to meet with Fufidius Priscus and use his credentials as an equites, if a low-ranking one, to gain access to the restricted section and see what’s in there; he despises Fufidius’ approach to philosophy, but is willing to be polite. </p><p> </p><p> Meanwhile, Wena sits down to read the manuscript that Athanius, absentmindedly, realizes he’s been saving for her until she got back. “It’s all about mixing Celtic and Greek philosophy, Wena,” Athanius comments. “It seemed like something you’d very much appreciate.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>On A Study of the Barbarian Mysteries</strong></p><p><strong>from an Enlightened Philosophical Perspective </strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>by T. Ligerius Postuminus, 698 A.U.C.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> ......and one sunny day in the Stoa we were walking through the garden, and Kassandros proclaimed the primacy of Greek philosophy, saying how the Greeks had discovered all the great truths of our world, and all others merely slavishly imitated the examples of Plato and Aristotle. And I argued that while the Greeks may have found truths they did nothing with them, while we Romans had set up a society that perfectly mirrored the best of Plato’s visions in a rational, practical fashion. And we debated this point for much time....and then Traphon, a slave of Kassandros, from the Allemagni, impudently spoke up, and he said,</p><p> </p><p> “O my masters, you have debated for many weeks over the differences between Greek and Roman philosophies. Yet you are not the only seekers of the truth. For let me assure you that the wise ones in my tribe also sought the truth and found it, and though they used different names than you do in your quests, yet their wisdom was not lesser.”</p><p> </p><p> And Kassandros hushed the impudent slave, and had him flogged for his impertinence. But each day, as we continued our conversation, Traphon would wait for a pause in our dialogue and would attempt to speak of the wise ones of his barbarian tribe, and finally, on the third day, we had little left to say on our own parts, and so we let him continue with his musings. And this is what I remember of what he said:</p><p> </p><p> “For Plato speaks of the ideal, of a fixed truth for every object. And Gryndrai [I think that was the name, though as a barbarian it is of little importance] of the Belgae says that all people and all creatures, even unto the trees and boulders, have a true name. And this true name defines and expresses all that is about a person or creature, just as the Platonic form represents the ideal version of an object,” Traphon argued.</p><p> </p><p> “But wait,” Kassandros spoke. “Plato does not suggest that you or I have an ideal Form, but rather that each type of creature – humans, horses, tables – has an ideal form in that realm where all the Forms exist, and that we are merely pale imitations of the Truths in that place.”</p><p> </p><p> “Are not the Guardians,” Traphon responded, “the true forms or names of what the leaders of a society should be like? I think that Gryndrai and the elders of my tribe are wiser than Plato was, in giving a goal for each individual to aspire to with their philosophy. For while Plato cares only about the larger society, Gryndrai tells us that we should each try to live up to our true name, to be as close to the best and truest version of ourselves that we can be.”</p><p> </p><p> Kassandros and myself found this latter point intriguing, despite Traphon’s dismissal of the Great Philosopher, and we spent much time debating how one might strive to be the best echo of one’s true Platonic self, and how a society would be shaped in which each person strove for such a goal....</p><p> </p><p> One day we were arguing about the issue of truth, and I raised the following point, “For how can an individual have a true name or a true form when individuals are always changing? If a tree is cut down and made into a table, was its truth then as a tree or as a table?”</p><p> </p><p> “Indeed,” Traphon responded, “The nature of truth must be that it is always both fixed and changing. For the heart of this tree lies not in its outward shape, whether standing tall in the forest or low in the dining room, but in its true purpose and function. And we have all seen tables that are badly made or where the wood was ill-suited for its function, and these are tables where the truth of the wood was not in accordance with the carpenter’s desire. And thus a smith may reforge the same piece of metal many times before he finally is satisfied with its ultimate form, and if he is a good smith, he will have come near the truth of that metal.”</p><p> </p><p> “Yet how then is it fixed?” Kassandros asked, for we had developed some interest in the pattern of the slave’s thoughts over these discussions.</p><p> </p><p> “The basic nature of an object or being may not be changed, I would think, or only with extreme difficulty. For in the realm of truth all things have a form, and that form is strictly defined by the gods [for Tryphon took the active creation of the gods in our world quite seriously], and may not be lightly moved. If the wood has a worldly representation as a tree and then becomes a table, it is still wood, but for it to transform into a marble table would take a great feat of alchemy or sorcery.” Tryphon said.</p><p> “Ah, is this then why the work of the Cretan philosophers to change lead into gold is so frustrating?” I enquired.</p><p> </p><p> “Indeed,” Kassandros contributed enthusiastically, “for by Tryphon’s argument such an attempt tries to redefine the true form of an object, and a great amount of energy must be invested in such an endeavor to resist the gods’ own decrees about an object.”</p><p> “Would it be possible for a Cretan to redefine or recreate Tryphon?” I asked carelessly.</p><p> </p><p> Tryphon answered with utmost seriousness. “To make me, say, not red-haired or a foot shorter, I would imagine that this would be possible at least for a short time with only a reasonable application of energy of some type. But to permanently change the way I thought or to make it as if I had never existed...I do not know if such a feat would be possible, and surely the gods themselves would rebel against it.”</p><p> </p><p> Yet men have challenged the gods before and won,” Kassandros mused.</p><p> Somewhat shocked at this typical Greek irreverence, I responded, “But not for long, and not without dire consequences for the men involved.”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Orichalcum, post: 1304158, member: 3722"] [b]Alea Iacta VI: When in Rome Post 9: In the Library, With a Scroll[/b] Meanwhile, Marcus and Wena have been peacefully visiting the Library of Trajan, an enormous multi-story pair of columned buildings, one for Greek books, one for Latin books, with intricately carved marble floors and busts of famous philosophers lining the walls. Wena has arranged to meet her old friend, the Roman philosopher and librarian Athanius Felix, who specializes in comparative philosophy from different cultures. Athanius is a rather fat, white-bearded Epicurean with a pleasant manner. Despite his geniality, Wena warns Marcus not to underestimate the philosopher; he’s renowned for being one of the only philosophers in Rome capable of telekinetically lifting a Praetorian elephant – only a few inches, admittedly, but still. Athanius warns Wena that she will be less welcome in the Library than in the old days of her last visit, when she was an honored member. The old Chief Librarian, Quintus Herennius, died six months ago, and the new Chief Librarian, Fufidius Priscus, is much more authoritarian and has restricted many of the scrolls to Roman citizens of high rank, equites or senators. When she hears Fufidius’ name, Cornelia comments later, “Ah, he must have been made fun of as a child.” Wena is somewhat surprised that Herennius, who was elderly, but in very good health, should have died so suddenly, and asks Athanius what happened. “Well, “ Athanius says, wringing his hands, “Herennius had become very excited that one of his old schoolmates from the Academy in Athens, the great Lysimachus of Chaeronea, was coming to visit him. Then he received news that Lysimachus’s ship had been lost at sea, and in the shock he suffered a fatal stroke. Very sad – two great losses for philosophy at the same time.” Pondering the timing, Wena and Marcus realize that Lysimachus’s ship disappeared around the same time that the pirates captured and killed a Greek philosopher and took his psionic greaves. They begin to suspect that at least Lysimachus, if not Herennius, was deliberately murdered by the Black Chain Philosopher. “Do you know what either of them was working on?” Marcus asks. “Mostly Neoplatonic issues – lots of very metaphysical scrolls, both of them. Honestly, I think Herennius was a bit preoccupied with turning all of the abstract philosophical concepts into concrete real places and objects in his old age. Sometimes a thought is just a thought.” “And what’s Fufidius Priscus’s speciality?” Wena asks. “Oh, his great work-in-progress is an epitome of all the criticism written on Aristotle to date. He’s very much into collating and sorting all the references to the ancient great philosophers – which, I suppose, makes him at least a good librarian, if not a terribly original thinker.” Marcus decides to make an appointment to meet with Fufidius Priscus and use his credentials as an equites, if a low-ranking one, to gain access to the restricted section and see what’s in there; he despises Fufidius’ approach to philosophy, but is willing to be polite. Meanwhile, Wena sits down to read the manuscript that Athanius, absentmindedly, realizes he’s been saving for her until she got back. “It’s all about mixing Celtic and Greek philosophy, Wena,” Athanius comments. “It seemed like something you’d very much appreciate. [b]On A Study of the Barbarian Mysteries from an Enlightened Philosophical Perspective [/b] by T. Ligerius Postuminus, 698 A.U.C. ......and one sunny day in the Stoa we were walking through the garden, and Kassandros proclaimed the primacy of Greek philosophy, saying how the Greeks had discovered all the great truths of our world, and all others merely slavishly imitated the examples of Plato and Aristotle. And I argued that while the Greeks may have found truths they did nothing with them, while we Romans had set up a society that perfectly mirrored the best of Plato’s visions in a rational, practical fashion. And we debated this point for much time....and then Traphon, a slave of Kassandros, from the Allemagni, impudently spoke up, and he said, “O my masters, you have debated for many weeks over the differences between Greek and Roman philosophies. Yet you are not the only seekers of the truth. For let me assure you that the wise ones in my tribe also sought the truth and found it, and though they used different names than you do in your quests, yet their wisdom was not lesser.” And Kassandros hushed the impudent slave, and had him flogged for his impertinence. But each day, as we continued our conversation, Traphon would wait for a pause in our dialogue and would attempt to speak of the wise ones of his barbarian tribe, and finally, on the third day, we had little left to say on our own parts, and so we let him continue with his musings. And this is what I remember of what he said: “For Plato speaks of the ideal, of a fixed truth for every object. And Gryndrai [I think that was the name, though as a barbarian it is of little importance] of the Belgae says that all people and all creatures, even unto the trees and boulders, have a true name. And this true name defines and expresses all that is about a person or creature, just as the Platonic form represents the ideal version of an object,” Traphon argued. “But wait,” Kassandros spoke. “Plato does not suggest that you or I have an ideal Form, but rather that each type of creature – humans, horses, tables – has an ideal form in that realm where all the Forms exist, and that we are merely pale imitations of the Truths in that place.” “Are not the Guardians,” Traphon responded, “the true forms or names of what the leaders of a society should be like? I think that Gryndrai and the elders of my tribe are wiser than Plato was, in giving a goal for each individual to aspire to with their philosophy. For while Plato cares only about the larger society, Gryndrai tells us that we should each try to live up to our true name, to be as close to the best and truest version of ourselves that we can be.” Kassandros and myself found this latter point intriguing, despite Traphon’s dismissal of the Great Philosopher, and we spent much time debating how one might strive to be the best echo of one’s true Platonic self, and how a society would be shaped in which each person strove for such a goal.... One day we were arguing about the issue of truth, and I raised the following point, “For how can an individual have a true name or a true form when individuals are always changing? If a tree is cut down and made into a table, was its truth then as a tree or as a table?” “Indeed,” Traphon responded, “The nature of truth must be that it is always both fixed and changing. For the heart of this tree lies not in its outward shape, whether standing tall in the forest or low in the dining room, but in its true purpose and function. And we have all seen tables that are badly made or where the wood was ill-suited for its function, and these are tables where the truth of the wood was not in accordance with the carpenter’s desire. And thus a smith may reforge the same piece of metal many times before he finally is satisfied with its ultimate form, and if he is a good smith, he will have come near the truth of that metal.” “Yet how then is it fixed?” Kassandros asked, for we had developed some interest in the pattern of the slave’s thoughts over these discussions. “The basic nature of an object or being may not be changed, I would think, or only with extreme difficulty. For in the realm of truth all things have a form, and that form is strictly defined by the gods [for Tryphon took the active creation of the gods in our world quite seriously], and may not be lightly moved. If the wood has a worldly representation as a tree and then becomes a table, it is still wood, but for it to transform into a marble table would take a great feat of alchemy or sorcery.” Tryphon said. “Ah, is this then why the work of the Cretan philosophers to change lead into gold is so frustrating?” I enquired. “Indeed,” Kassandros contributed enthusiastically, “for by Tryphon’s argument such an attempt tries to redefine the true form of an object, and a great amount of energy must be invested in such an endeavor to resist the gods’ own decrees about an object.” “Would it be possible for a Cretan to redefine or recreate Tryphon?” I asked carelessly. Tryphon answered with utmost seriousness. “To make me, say, not red-haired or a foot shorter, I would imagine that this would be possible at least for a short time with only a reasonable application of energy of some type. But to permanently change the way I thought or to make it as if I had never existed...I do not know if such a feat would be possible, and surely the gods themselves would rebel against it.” Yet men have challenged the gods before and won,” Kassandros mused. Somewhat shocked at this typical Greek irreverence, I responded, “But not for long, and not without dire consequences for the men involved.” [/QUOTE]
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