The Portal
Author: a_delacroix@hotmail.com
Chapter 28
Drusilla, the emperor's sister, convinced Senator Gallus to turn over his responsibilities for the final two races to his nephew so he could join their party as they headed over to the imperial palace for the evening's feast. Gallus loved chariot racing and had been so happy to have finally been able to sponsor a day's races at the Circus Maximus. But after the little show Ares and Aphrodite had put on, he was willing to forgo the last races in return for the opportunity to spend a couple more hours learning about them. So after giving his nephew a couple of last minute instructions, he escorted Drusilla from the box.
After one last look at the spear still protruding from the distant starting gate, Lana and Lex turned to join Chloe and then followed the others out of the imperial box.
As they started to walk, Lana quietly asked in English, "How did Clark do that? I can understand from your stories how your nanobots allowed you to did your little exhibition, but what about Clark? No way should he have been able to throw the spear that far."
After pausing to think for a moment, Chloe said, "I think it is best if you wait and ask him that question. I am sure, once we have some time alone, he will explain everything."
Lana nodded her acceptance. It seemed like Chloe knew the answer, but felt uncomfortable speaking without Clark's concurrance. She had shared a few secrets during her own life and understood the responsibility. Therefore she turned to other matters. "Okay, I'll ask him. But perhaps you could explain a little more about your new cover story. Before we arrived you mentioned Clark was going by the name of Ares and you might be referred to as Aphrodite, in addition to Coelia. Then there was the whole conversation about Gods and Clark's subsequent little demonstration. How does it all fit together?"
"Sorry we didn't have a chance to go into all of this before. We thought with Clark's and my abilities, playing 'Gods' might be the best way to intimidate the superstitious people back here and help neutralize the Professor and Venta's advantage of having spent the past decade setting up their powerbase. In places like this, I have found superstition can be more effective than even gold. So, if we were going to play gods, why not be the most famous ones - the Gods of Love and War."
Lana got this perplexed look on her face for a moment before asking, "Umm, I thought Venus was the Goddess of Love?"
"Yes, in Roman mythology Venus was the Goddess of Love, however in Greek mythology Aphrodite was the Goddess of Love.
"So, why are you going by Aphrodite? I mean, we are in Rome, duh. Shouldn't you be going by Venus instead of Aphrodite?"
Chloe looked over at Lana and over her shoulder she could see a small smile forming on Lex's face. "Lex, do you know why we are going by Aphrodite and Ares rather than by Venus and Mars?"
Lex shrugged. "I think so, but I wouldn't mind hearing your explanation."
"Okay," said Chloe before addressing Lana. "To understand this you need to learn a little about Roman history and the Roman psyche. Romans are not native to this area. In the same way the Goths will overrun and sack Rome four hundred years from now, the Romans overran the previous residents, the Etruscans. Well, not exactly the same way. The Goths looted, raped, and killed, but ultimately they moved on and life here returned to more or less as it was before. But not when the Romans overran the Etruscans. They utterly destroyed the Etruscan civilization. Smashed all of their art and statuary. Burned all of their writings. Killed all of the storytellers and musicians. And the Etruscans had their own wonderful musical style, which has now been lost forever, except in my memories. But I digress, the Romans did everything they could to wipe out all traces of the Etruscans before settling down on their freshly-won, new lands.
"But the Romans had been nomadic barbarians for centuries before arriving central Italy and had never had their own traditions of art, music, or culture. Once they were settled, they realized the mistake they had made, and they set out to change things. But Romans are not, at heart, artists. They are excellent warriors, administrators, even engineers. But not artists or philosophers. Ultimately, they came into contact with the Greek civilization, which was already at its peak when Rome was still struggling to control all of central Italy. And they found the art and culture they had been striving to create.
"You wouldn't believe how quickly, certainly not more than fifteen or twenty years, before Rome was transformed into their fantasy image of all things Greek. In the early days, it was in many ways more Greek than any real place in Greece. Sort of like one of those little villages at Epcot Center. On the outside it looks like the real thing, but it is all merely a facade. Of course it was more than just the architecture they borrowed. No, it was their artwork, their language, and even their Gods."
When Chloe paused briefly to catch her breath, Lex interjected, "So the early Romans were the exact opposite of the modern French. The French are so obsessed with not losing their cultural heritage they do seemingly insane things like legislate against the use of 'American' words or severely limit the amount of 'American' TV shows allowed on their networks. Yet the Romans were happily giving up what cultural traditions they had in favor of Greek ones?"
"Exactly. Oh, they made minor changes like the names of the Gods and they even went so far as adding Augustus to the ranks of the Gods. But if you really questioned hard the man in the street, he would admit Augustus was merely a man. And more important to us, he would also say the Roman variation of the Gods were not real, either.
"That's why I selected Ares and Aphrodite rather than Mars and Venus. If we used Mars and Venus, regardless of what spectacular things we did, most people in their hearts would not believe us and realize it was a scam. But say we are Greek Gods and everyone here will go out of their way trying to believe."
Lex nodded, "Yeah, that's more or less what I thought from my studies of history. I think their architecture is one of the key clues. I mean, the Romans were the first true masters of the barrel vault, which is more efficient and powerful than anything the Greeks had, but the Romans only used it for very utilitarian applications like bridges and aqueducts. But for all of their important public buildings they stuck to the Greek standard."
"Or," said Chloe. "When they built on a grand scale where the use of the vault became necessary, they usually hid it behind a Greek facade or Greek Statues. It is too bad the Coliseum is not built yet so you could see what I mean. The portions of the structure that remain standing in modern times clearly show all of the vaulted arches needed to make that project feasible. But the original, completed Coliseum was trimmed out with layer after layer of Greek columns, porticoes, and statues until all traces of the underlying structure were hidden from view."
"Okay, so the bottom-line is, if you had said you were Roman Gods, no one would really have believed you, but by claiming to be Greek Gods they do?"
Chloe nodded.
Lana shook her head. "I guess I am glad I am not in your place or I think I would have made a big mistake."
Chloe shrugged. "If you had spent decades or centuries living among the Etruscans, the Greeks, the Romans, and a hundred other primitive societies, these things would be equally clear to you."
Lana ran her fingers through her long, dark hair for a moment. "Well, that is unlikely to ever happen to me. I will have to trust to your insight. Hopefully, you can prevent me from putting my foot into my mouth at the wrong time."
Chloe grinned. "I'll try."
End of Chapter 28
Author: a_delacroix@hotmail.com
Chapter 28
Drusilla, the emperor's sister, convinced Senator Gallus to turn over his responsibilities for the final two races to his nephew so he could join their party as they headed over to the imperial palace for the evening's feast. Gallus loved chariot racing and had been so happy to have finally been able to sponsor a day's races at the Circus Maximus. But after the little show Ares and Aphrodite had put on, he was willing to forgo the last races in return for the opportunity to spend a couple more hours learning about them. So after giving his nephew a couple of last minute instructions, he escorted Drusilla from the box.
After one last look at the spear still protruding from the distant starting gate, Lana and Lex turned to join Chloe and then followed the others out of the imperial box.
As they started to walk, Lana quietly asked in English, "How did Clark do that? I can understand from your stories how your nanobots allowed you to did your little exhibition, but what about Clark? No way should he have been able to throw the spear that far."
After pausing to think for a moment, Chloe said, "I think it is best if you wait and ask him that question. I am sure, once we have some time alone, he will explain everything."
Lana nodded her acceptance. It seemed like Chloe knew the answer, but felt uncomfortable speaking without Clark's concurrance. She had shared a few secrets during her own life and understood the responsibility. Therefore she turned to other matters. "Okay, I'll ask him. But perhaps you could explain a little more about your new cover story. Before we arrived you mentioned Clark was going by the name of Ares and you might be referred to as Aphrodite, in addition to Coelia. Then there was the whole conversation about Gods and Clark's subsequent little demonstration. How does it all fit together?"
"Sorry we didn't have a chance to go into all of this before. We thought with Clark's and my abilities, playing 'Gods' might be the best way to intimidate the superstitious people back here and help neutralize the Professor and Venta's advantage of having spent the past decade setting up their powerbase. In places like this, I have found superstition can be more effective than even gold. So, if we were going to play gods, why not be the most famous ones - the Gods of Love and War."
Lana got this perplexed look on her face for a moment before asking, "Umm, I thought Venus was the Goddess of Love?"
"Yes, in Roman mythology Venus was the Goddess of Love, however in Greek mythology Aphrodite was the Goddess of Love.
"So, why are you going by Aphrodite? I mean, we are in Rome, duh. Shouldn't you be going by Venus instead of Aphrodite?"
Chloe looked over at Lana and over her shoulder she could see a small smile forming on Lex's face. "Lex, do you know why we are going by Aphrodite and Ares rather than by Venus and Mars?"
Lex shrugged. "I think so, but I wouldn't mind hearing your explanation."
"Okay," said Chloe before addressing Lana. "To understand this you need to learn a little about Roman history and the Roman psyche. Romans are not native to this area. In the same way the Goths will overrun and sack Rome four hundred years from now, the Romans overran the previous residents, the Etruscans. Well, not exactly the same way. The Goths looted, raped, and killed, but ultimately they moved on and life here returned to more or less as it was before. But not when the Romans overran the Etruscans. They utterly destroyed the Etruscan civilization. Smashed all of their art and statuary. Burned all of their writings. Killed all of the storytellers and musicians. And the Etruscans had their own wonderful musical style, which has now been lost forever, except in my memories. But I digress, the Romans did everything they could to wipe out all traces of the Etruscans before settling down on their freshly-won, new lands.
"But the Romans had been nomadic barbarians for centuries before arriving central Italy and had never had their own traditions of art, music, or culture. Once they were settled, they realized the mistake they had made, and they set out to change things. But Romans are not, at heart, artists. They are excellent warriors, administrators, even engineers. But not artists or philosophers. Ultimately, they came into contact with the Greek civilization, which was already at its peak when Rome was still struggling to control all of central Italy. And they found the art and culture they had been striving to create.
"You wouldn't believe how quickly, certainly not more than fifteen or twenty years, before Rome was transformed into their fantasy image of all things Greek. In the early days, it was in many ways more Greek than any real place in Greece. Sort of like one of those little villages at Epcot Center. On the outside it looks like the real thing, but it is all merely a facade. Of course it was more than just the architecture they borrowed. No, it was their artwork, their language, and even their Gods."
When Chloe paused briefly to catch her breath, Lex interjected, "So the early Romans were the exact opposite of the modern French. The French are so obsessed with not losing their cultural heritage they do seemingly insane things like legislate against the use of 'American' words or severely limit the amount of 'American' TV shows allowed on their networks. Yet the Romans were happily giving up what cultural traditions they had in favor of Greek ones?"
"Exactly. Oh, they made minor changes like the names of the Gods and they even went so far as adding Augustus to the ranks of the Gods. But if you really questioned hard the man in the street, he would admit Augustus was merely a man. And more important to us, he would also say the Roman variation of the Gods were not real, either.
"That's why I selected Ares and Aphrodite rather than Mars and Venus. If we used Mars and Venus, regardless of what spectacular things we did, most people in their hearts would not believe us and realize it was a scam. But say we are Greek Gods and everyone here will go out of their way trying to believe."
Lex nodded, "Yeah, that's more or less what I thought from my studies of history. I think their architecture is one of the key clues. I mean, the Romans were the first true masters of the barrel vault, which is more efficient and powerful than anything the Greeks had, but the Romans only used it for very utilitarian applications like bridges and aqueducts. But for all of their important public buildings they stuck to the Greek standard."
"Or," said Chloe. "When they built on a grand scale where the use of the vault became necessary, they usually hid it behind a Greek facade or Greek Statues. It is too bad the Coliseum is not built yet so you could see what I mean. The portions of the structure that remain standing in modern times clearly show all of the vaulted arches needed to make that project feasible. But the original, completed Coliseum was trimmed out with layer after layer of Greek columns, porticoes, and statues until all traces of the underlying structure were hidden from view."
"Okay, so the bottom-line is, if you had said you were Roman Gods, no one would really have believed you, but by claiming to be Greek Gods they do?"
Chloe nodded.
Lana shook her head. "I guess I am glad I am not in your place or I think I would have made a big mistake."
Chloe shrugged. "If you had spent decades or centuries living among the Etruscans, the Greeks, the Romans, and a hundred other primitive societies, these things would be equally clear to you."
Lana ran her fingers through her long, dark hair for a moment. "Well, that is unlikely to ever happen to me. I will have to trust to your insight. Hopefully, you can prevent me from putting my foot into my mouth at the wrong time."
Chloe grinned. "I'll try."
End of Chapter 28