Amazon.fr is recommending that I read Gueniffey, and other random bits of information
Worse still (because it's not like I would ever take recommendations like that from a stupid online bookstore), I am pretty much being compelled to read a rabid revisionist for my history paper, even though it isn't a paper on historiography. This is what my professor had to say on the subject, essentially:
"So, I'm recommending *cough* that you read this book by Hertzberg. I should warn you that he argues that the French Revolution was directly responsable for the Holocaust. No one believes this anymore. (Me: Good to know. *blinks*) But he's still a good source for this period and you need to read him. Why yes, I am pretty much implying that this is required, why do you ask?"
Now granted, in the essay, I'm going to completely slaughter all his arguments with the help of my good friend Losurdo. But. It will still be excruciatingly painful to read him. I have no idea how I'm going to be able to concentrate and/or not explode. ARGH.
.........On the other hand, I'm trying to be happy. It is Earth Day, after all, and I like Earth Day. Moreover, it's my birthday tomorrow and I'm finally turning 18, so that's something to be excited about, I suppose. (I know, I sound really thrilled. But this stupid revisionist crap I have to read is weighing on me. D: )
Also, Philip of Macedon and Alexander the Not-So-Great for the lose. Why couldn't by Greek History class have stayed in the Classical period? D:
Okay, I'll stop whining now, I promise. And you know what? Have another scene from "Brutus et Cassius." Though I know you probably don't want it. >.>
SCENE IV.
BRUTUS, CASSIUS, PORCIUS-CATO, MESSALA, STATILIUS, ROMANS of the senatorial order.
PORCIUS.
Adversaries of crime,
What indiscreet ardor drives you both?
Friends of virtue, avengers of nations,
Do not be overcome by your dissensions;
All the hope that remains to us is in your prudence:
If you are not united, what is our hope?
CASSIUS.
We always will be, by noble bonds;
Let us leave to tyrants, to ungrateful citizens,
The shameful fury of their jealous debates:
Let us remain friends, Brutus, and let us serve our country.
BRUTUS.
Come, let us leave the vain fits of a passing wrath
In these embraces;
You must pardon me; I excuse you without penalty;
And the triumvirs alone deserve our hatred.
PORCIUS.
Friends, more than ever we must hate them.
For us, for the whole State you see me blush for them.
I am told in writing that they are sharing out the world,
As one divides an untroubled inheritance.
You will shudder much more; the Romans learned this
Without appearing afflicted, neither content nor surprised:
It is no longer in those places that virtue breathes.
Antony will from now on hold under his empire
The subjugated waters of the Seine and of the Rhine;
Lepidus, the Durance, the Ebro and the Baetis [Guadalquivir];
Under the name of Caesar, from the Adriatic Sea
To the farthest waters of the Atlantic Ocean,
The son of Caepias will command kings,
And the enchained Tiber must follow under his laws.
STATILIUS.
The villains!
CASSIUS.
There, my friends, is Antony’s work.
STATILIUS.
We should have thought to prevent his rage.
CASSIUS.
Such was my design; and remember, Brutus,
That, but for your counsels alone, Antony were no more.
BRUTUS.
Cicero, whose hate was too legitimate,
Cicero, the immortal victim of that monster,
When our hands cut the course of Caesar’s days,
Reproached us those of Antony.
Favorite of Caesar and proud to thus appear,
He was, I saw, cowardly and wanting a master.
He caressed the insolent idol’s pride,
And prepared the coffin of liberty:
He had all my hatred; and my equitable hatred
Struck only Caesar, who alone was guilty.
Caesar, become king, justified our blows;
Have we seen Romans declare for us?
They, even the bravest, regretted their chains;
And, if it had been necessary to strike all the slaves,
I blush at it, but can you not know that our hands
Would have sacrificed the half of the Romans?
CASSIUS.
But then did you so badly guess his genius?
I, even in his irons, I saw his tyranny;
I saw that, in soliciting Caesar’s support,
He was letting him reign to reign after him.
What! In listening to the language of illusions,
Did you see nothing but a coward, a friend of slavery?
Was Antony unknown to you until now?
Could he have abused you?
BRUTUS.
No, no, I foresaw everything.
While his baseness, occupied with pillage,
Soiled, despite Sextus, the roof of the great Pompey,
I saw, without listening to vain illusion,
To what point his voiceless ambition wanted to climb;
I predicted what he dares, and I had for gage of it
His debauchery, his luxury, and all his brigandage.
But, even though our arms are enemies of crime,
They must punish only crimes committed;
And it is not for the laws to take for victim
He who, one day, may blacken himself with a crime.
PORCIUS.
What good does it do to return to all that has been done?
The past is nothing any longer; let’s think of the future.
When must we fight?
BRUTUS.
Today.
CASSIUS.
I am surprised
At this impatience to which your heart is abandoned.
If we are vanquished we fall without return,
And I would not like to risk everything in one day.
PORCIUS.
What then! Will this universe conquered by our ancestors
Have them for masters when we will have been vanquished?
The Sicilian shores, laden with combatants,
Can hold them yet a few instants.
Sextus…
BRUTUS.
Ah! Do not, credulous of appearances,
Founding your hopes on so feeble a support.
Beneath the weight of his name, Sextus, devastated,
Still hesitates, perhaps, to choose a party.
He is powerful on the seas of Sicily in vain;
An ambitious spirit, anxious, uncontrollable,
Jealous of the triumvirs more than their enemy;
Or, if he be better strengthened in justice,
Arming a vulgar sword for the Romans,
And having nothing great but the name of Pompey.
Rome lives in us alone, and perishes with us,
If the Gods do not guide our blows today;
But to wait longer for death or victory
Would be to betray her voice and our glory.
MESSALA.
I don’t know, but the sky, humanity’s oracle,
Seems to stop our hands at the moment of striking.
Do not, companions, go ignoring its omens.
A bloody vapor has reddened the clouds;
Sinister birds predict our misfortunes;
The bronze on the altars seems to shed tears;
Lamenting voices groan at night;
The forests are filled with frightening specters.
Yesterday still, yesterday, my horrified eyes
Saw two angry eagles clash:
While among us, on these fatal plains,
Already the famous tomb of Roman legions,
The vanquished struck the air with his last sighs,
The victor flew off into the camp of the triumvirs.
PORCIUS.
There are some ministers of the Gods hatred for you!
What do your sinister augurs matter, Messala?
It is not upon the faith of these vain omens
That we must delay the happiness of the Romans.
Warriors like us, leaders like ours,
This omen is fortunate; let us not listen to the others.
STATILIUS.
Today dies the unworthy hope of the tyrants!
PORCIUS.
May the virtuous power of the laws live forever!
Come, let us free the Tiber from a triple yoke;
We will stay idle when we will have made it free.
It groans in irons, friends, and we delay!
Each day, each instant that we wait here,
Is an instant lost for the safety of Rome.
BRUTUS.
Words worthy of a Roman and of the son of a great man!
CASSIUS.
But think…
STATILIUS.
Let’s fight, guide us.
CASSIUS.
Citizens,
You wish it; let us march, your wishes will be my own.
BRUTUS.
I have something, Porcius, to try your courage.
Fate has unfurled its rage against us;
There are so many misfortunes to devastate us all;
But I know of others that devastate only us.
PORCIUS.
Speak; my soul is hardened against every setback.
BRUTUS.
Heaven has ended the fortunes of Porcia.
PORCIUS.
Of my sister!
CASSIUS.
Is it true? Porcia…
BRUTUS.
She has lived.
Her demise fills me with consternation and has not conquered me.
I’ve learned this sad news from Decimus.
CASSIUS.
I insulted you in the midst of your cruel sorrow;
And Brutus is still loyal to friendship!
BRUTUS.
Go, I know your heart, and all is forgotten.
(To Porcius.)
Let us be on our guard against softening on this austere day;
With a calm and serene eye let us seek our destiny;
Let us fight, Porcius; if we are victorious,
We will find the time to give her tears.
STATILIUS.
Such virtue!
PORCIUS.
Brutus, your noble voice fires me;
Your example is my rule; it expands my soul;
And I will not be, I give you my word,
Unworthy of my father and of a leader such as you.
BRUTUS.
Be worthy of yourselves, intrepid companions.
If I were surrounded by timid citizens,
I would make, I admit, a sure victory
And the favor of the Gods shine forth before your eyes.
I speak to heroes: sometimes equity rests in vain
On the most noble cause,
And the sublime decrees of the Heavens have,
Too often, lent their favor to unjust plans.
We are all Romans; we have nothing to fear;
No, nothing: should liberty forever be extinguished.
But we must hope better from Rome and the world:
Friends, let us prepare everything for the fight.