THIS IS MY VAVORITE PICTURE SO YOU GET TO SEE IT OCCASIONALY. The smaller person in the pic is Deb, my woman of about three decades. I was moved by the acropolis, but it was the Coliseum  of Rome that struck both Deb and I with a strange warm aura, It was a cool evening after a sweltering summer day and as we stood gazing at the ruined amphitheater we turned to each other and, in unison, said, do you feel it?

Neither of us could figure out what we were feeling at the foot of Rome’s greatest monument.  However I had an epiphany a couple of days ago. When I looked upon the coliseum I saw the glory of two  powers slipping away. I saw the fruit of hubris in the ruins of greatness. I saw a people who quit believing in the basic values of their own country  I saw a once proud people who abandoned service to country, consumed by self gratification. I felt the stream of history flow from the past to me. I shared their humanness, and I fear sharing their fate.

After a General won a great battle he would be treated by leading a parade, (a tribute) through the streets of Rome. Behind him on the chariot  stood a slave, who would whisper in his ear, that all glory is fleeting.

All glory is fleeting.