WOJCIECH PLOCHARSKI

His Majesty's
Propagandists

2016

His Majesty's Propagandists

I have before me a rarity: the first printed history of Poland, published in 1521.
Chronica Polonorum by Maciej of Miechw has almost 400 pages,
contains 38 woodcuts. The first part is a description of the history of the country (based on previous reports) from the founding myths
to mid-fifteenth century. The second part is the author's analysis of the further history.
Miechowita was a versatile scholar of the Renaissance, also a geographer,
a professor at the university of Krakw. His other work Treatise on the Two Sarmatias,
is the first description of south-eastern Europe, which overthrew
some geographical myths and intrigued researchers from the continent.
Chronica Polonorum, in turn, was written in Latin and carefully released
in the print shop of Hieronim Wietor, a royal typographer.
It is an expression of state-church propaganda of a didactic character
directed - under the premise - to the educationally neglected foreigners.
The level of woodcuts, that illustrate the work, surprising with contemporary dynamics.
They show images of successive rulers, and several historical scenes.
Anonymous woodcutter with the Renaissance artistry captured
the sheen of rich robes and armor, shadows, vegetation, personality traits, proportions.
The book is the fruit of ambition of the state apparatus, which in the Renaissance
oversaw the promotion of the kingdom. Its principles are as old as civilization:
to overthrow geographical myths and intrigue researchers from continents.
MMXVI

The Birth of a Tough Guy

The second part of the chronicle1 by Anonymous called Gallus,
you read almost like an adventure novel for young people.
This is the apologia, but not sugary, which celebrates deeds of a Polish ruler
from the turn of the 11th and 12th century, Bolesaw III Wrymouth.
We learn from it how the valiant prince, alternately,
metes out justice to the Pomeranians, the Czechs or the crafty competitor his own brother, Zbigniew.
The report - like the first part, concerning the beginnings of the Piast dynasty bears the traces of self-censorship or editorial intervention, also includes
unobtrusive elements of ecclesiastical propaganda. Scenes of frantic battles
with the Pomeranians (Lechitic tribe of the southern shore of the Baltic Sea)
end with subjugation of these valorous people. Bolesaw - in their course more than once strikes the enemy at the head of a handful of knights;
it does not bother him that he charges forward on the wounded horse,
from blows to the armor suffers a series of injuries, which he feels
many days after the fight.
Battles, including the use of siege engines, are fought for the rich and populous cities:
Midzyrzecz, Santok, Biaogard, Czarnkw, Koobrzeg. The arrival
at the walls of this last-mentioned city from the Silesian Gogw
takes six days for Wrymouth's troops. However, they do not capture
the city at that time, as part of the knights is engaged in collecting the spoils,
coastal wealth, instead of complete conquest of the castle.
However, the expedition is crowned by well-known song, which Anonymous quotes:
Our fathers brought us reeking, salted fish.
But we, their sons, bring fish fresh and wriggling. (...)
Our fathers dealt with deers, and bees, and goats.
Their sons hunt for the monsters and the treasures of the deep.
Earlier, the chronicler says that Bolesaw as a boy pierced the wild boar
and bear with his javelin. This is an important moment for the medieval audience.
Heracles was starting likewise.
MMXVI

1 Cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum, composed in Latin about 11131116.

The Ballad of Gold and Silver

Imagine that you are in the Middle Ages, in the beginnings of the 2nd millennium ...
Anonymous (called Gallus) has protectors, counts also on the generosity of the prince:
creates Cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum - the booklet,
which contains a description of Polish statehood at the junction of millennia.
He describes the beginnings of the Piast dynasty. Among them the reign of Bolesaw I the Brave, the first king of Poland, stands out...
This energetic leader benefited a lot from the youthful idealism of
Otto III - the ruler recognized at that time as emperor (although it is difficult
to talk about the continuity of ancient culture in the Middle Ages).
Otto III, however, dreamed of the revival of the Roman Empire, composed of
Sclavinia, Germania, Gallia and Roma, and Bolesaw supported this project.
His courtiers wore robes of expensive fabrics, and clothing made of leather
with lining; gold was common, and silver cheap as straw - Anonymous reports.
The Polish ruler cared about the image of his reign - it happened that personally
was resolving disputes between serfs and nobles. He used to say also
with a hint of populism, that losses in peasants' inventory, caused by enemies,
are comparable to the loss of cities or castles.
In the collection of conquests he had, among others, Kiev, which he captured as Gallus describes sarcastically - when the leader of Ruthenians
was catching fish on the pole from a canoe.
The servants of Bolesaw's troops were to win [sic!] one of the battles in this conflict,
angered by insults of opponents from the other side of the river.
The ruler was merciful to the convicts, generous to his courtiers
(almost every day was preparing for them at least 40 tables),
and cared for his large army like a father - Anonymous narrates enthusiastically.
Adds that after Bolesaw, golden age turned into lead,
and the sound of the zither stopped
As a matter of fact, there is nothing surprising in this. It is a shortcoming of
even the most enlightened autocracy.
A system, in which silence is usually common, and speech - cheap as straw.
MMXVI

Wolf Among the Hounds

Solon's reforms from before 26 centuries - till today
make an impression as an innovative interlude
against the background of historical routine, developing
on the principles of inertia from error to error
Solon became the Athenian archon through literature,
in which he cheered effectively his countrymen to retake
the island of Salamis from the hands of the neighboring Megara.
As a result of the success it was recognized that
he has appropriate powers to reform the political system of Athens,
which was plagued by unsolvable conflict between rich and poor.
Solon, among others, abolished slavery for debt and introduced
the right to appeal to court, what pleased the people;
also strengthened the power of the nouveau riche (pentacosiomedimni)
extracting for them the highest social class - a key
in the distribution of important offices.
He also appreciated the group of bureaucrats,
adding to the existing aristocratic Areopagus Council more democratic Council of the Four Hundred.
The Constitution of the Athenians - the text attributed to Aristotle
(or someone in his entourage) says that the changes failed
to satisfy all sides to the end Solon had to fend off
pressure from political parties, which probably did not understand
the weight of his proposed compromise or type of social contract.
Resisting aggravators I showed my might on every side,
turning at bay like wolf among the hounds - Solon mocks in the citation.
To avoid challenging the reforms he embarks on a journey to Egypt
and realizes the fate of a tourist for a decade...
After a few years, the parties return to historical routine, developing
on the principles of inertia from error to error.
MMXVI

Epic of the Elephant

A monkey is quarreling about chips with people
on the suspension bridge. A dog is hindering the entrance,
sleeping on asphalt like the Greek letter .
Cattle circulating among stalls that offer squash
with lemon, sugarcane. Colourful statues of Hinduism
point the way to white beach on the emerald Ganges.
Two grey, gentle cows are sleeping on loose sand...
The embodied fairy tale from respectable books.
I'm on a boat - sailing up the river,
toward the mountain walls, the peaks of shrines, ashrams...
*
This guttersnipe demanding 50 rupees. I'm paying for his photo in specie
mercilessly. My two, slant-eyed companions defending me
from the street bluff with devotion. They don't know
I should get a medal for grubbing tricks in my own country...
I'm bribing the monks inside the temple, who give me
three-month guarantee on the passing away worries.
It's a good investment.
I'm investing in the temple moneyboxes, and
in understandable religious rules.
**
Ganesha is living in a palace, which resembles sometimes
an amusement park - cabinet of mirrors, a mole tunnel system.
I see regular, white teeth belonging to a smiling, swarthy tourist
in the emerald sari here. Ha! I cannot forget this smile carmine bow with ivory arrows?...
I have grown very fond of Ganesha.
I'm paying the stallholder for devotional articles readily.
***
These gods are close to the people, their stories are human.
They spend their lives in palaces; cradled by the musical trance...
Hey, get on this boat and sail up the river
toward the mountain walls, the peaks of shrines, ashrams...
Rishikesh, Haridwar

The Powerlessness of Shakespeare

The 16th-century Polish political writer, Wawrzyniec Golicki1
dusted off - in his widely read treatise De optimo senatore an ancient philosophical thought on the state and its institutions.
He gave a significant role to the Senate, which was to act
as a balance pointer: between autocratic greed of the ruler and
democratic immoderation of the nobility (the people).
The author of this book refreshes in it antique notions of virtue and wise man
to assign them to the ideal senator - a comprehensively
educated humanist, familiar with law, politics and economy.
Novelty of the approach lies in the fact that Golicki's treatise
is not the customary panegyric to the autocrat, but praises
the mechanism for fixing the balance in the country.
The book, published in Venice in 1568 and dedicated
to the Polish king, became for Golicki
a ticket to a diplomatic career. Soon it went also to British soil,
where many were struggling - in contrast to the 16th-century Poland with the absolutism of monarchs.
According to researchers, Shakespeare, among others, could hear about the book
and responded to its popularity through the character of Polonius,
a servile courtier keeping Hamlet under surveillance.
The playwright (prefering lighter Plutarch or Plautus), in powerless revenge,
ordered Hamlet to kill the pathetic chamberlain.
But sententious De optimo senatore did not succumb. This Polonius
marched through the English-language political thought in the following centuries
like a good-natured Fortinbras, the forerunner of civilization.
MMXVI

1 (Latin: Laurentius Grimaldius Goslicius)

Theropod Track
Last Sunday we dropped into the geological museum,
which is located in Warsaw in the edifice of the Polish Geological Institute.
This noble and elegant building was built in the 20s of the last century,
designed by Marian Lalewicz. The architect is responsible
for a number of distinctive public structures in Poland, his designs
are characterized by a restrained, economical and useful majesty,
in other words - are devoid of architectural talkativeness.
The building of the Institute, which houses the museum, is exactly
such a classicist form; inside, it contains references
to Renaissance constructions. The main hall of the museum
is a structure with a light, bright expression, mainly due to daylight
entering the interior through the roof of frosted glass. The cloisters
are open to the courtyard by columnar arcades and surround it on two floors.
Around, runs painted frieze reminiscent of Italian influence.
The exhibition tells, of course, about the history of the Earth, its task is
popularization of geology among potential adepts. Here are the skeletons
of extinct species such as Mammuthus primigenius and Coelodonta antiquitatis
and suggestive model of Dilophosaurus (Dilophosaurus wetherilli).
Around - you can see the petrified footprints of fossil reptiles
formed millions of years ago, that evoke an association
with an activity of oversized poultry on the feeding ground
Traces of the past predators sorted by methodical culture
in a spectacular interior.
MMXVI

Shadow at Delphi
The speech On the Peace can be called an expert oration.
Demosthenes appears in it already as a shaped politician with the visible characteristics of a statesman.
Therefore, he allows himself to more daring sarcasm
against the Athenian People's Assembly than in earlier speeches.
A note of cautious boastfulness appears here or
perhaps otherwise: self-confidence; finally the orator has had a part
in the official Athens delegation to the king of Macedonia,
and this has helped to enact the so-called Peace of Philocrates.
The speaker says that the ability
to accurate analysis of future events in foreign policy,
he owes just to good luck and selflessness in public affairs.
Urges to maintain concluded peace and to resist provocations,
because Philip influence may direct the wrath of states
of the so-called Amphictyony against Athens.
In earlier speeches to the Assembly in the First Philippic and the Olynthiacs inter alia,
Demosthenes insists on effective correction of the Macedonian king.
Shows even persistently way: it's a shift of resources dedicated
to the culture of the people (theorica) to the military sphere.
Meanwhile, in the oration On the Peace,
he can afford to defend a compromise with Philip: like a statesman,
knowledgeably empathizes with the tangle of subtle relations among the poleis.
Because it is not worth to battle for an delusory shadow at Delphi",
if you want to help the good luck and selflessness in public affairs.
MMXV

Morality Play with a Chicken Comb

In 1840, the book describing the life and customs of the 18th-century Poland,
written by Jdrzej Kitowicz, appeared in Pozna.
The author studied the material culture and customs of the Poles in these times
as a secretary and bookkeeper of church magnates.
You can therefore trust him, when he describes eg. the splendor of Polish cuisine
and the charms of feasting - he knows what he's saying.
His Description of Customs During the Reign of Augustus III contains a chapter
for gluttons: The new-fangled dishes.
The influence of French cuisine has inspired the development of
domestic cookery - writes Kitowicz. - Delicate soups, refined meats
and pts began to appear on the tables of gents;
honey has been replaced by sugar, lemons were common.
Capers, olives, anchovies, truffles and oysters were eaten, and salmon cooked in Burgundy wine. Chefs, preparing a variety of meat and fowl,
experimented with subtle sauces and complicated stuffings,
more ambitious (cooks) imparted fancy shapes to poultry dishes;
baking doughnuts has been improved, they became as soft as a sponge.
And now the best: 18th-century Polish gourmets considered as dainties:
insects, frogs, turtles, snails, chicken combs and partridge feet.
***
This culinary pluralism we have in Europe today as well,
with the proviso that
we do not really listen to those who want to impose upon us the menu.
MMXVI

Political Mechanism
Cicero's oration addressed to the assembly of the Romans
on Gnaeus Pompeius's supreme command,
named Pro Lege Manilia,
includes a political mechanism which colloquially
is called a favor for a favor.
Cicero, ambitious praetor, supports
the proposal of tribune of the people
for a Pompey's command
in the war against Mithridates, King of Pontus ...
He does this in a flowery style, by a stream of
repeatedly complex sentences;
using the classical discipline of words - builds the image of
an effective leader in the attorney's way.
He neutralizes the two requests of conservatives raised by Hortensius and Quintus Catulus.
The first one is afraid of monopolizing power in Rome by Pompey,
the second - the effects of the lack of a replacement
for the single leadership.
The speaker points out that lately,
despite similar objections, Pompey has effectively coped
with the scourge of Mediterranean piracy;
he also does not need a possible replacement
(by second consul), because has proven that represents
a tested format of "knight", whose nation supports.
Cicero stipulates that promotes
the proposal of the tribune Manilius
not because of "considerations of my own private interest",
but "for the sake of the republic".
We accept it with forbearance - he soon becomes consul;
and - you can see that in the finale of the speech,
added one teaspoon of sugar too much.
MMXV

Mr. Pollen
I'm looking at two historic pens belonging to one of gurus in the showcase on the wall at the Sikh temple.
Sikhs know that - using words - you can fight for the rights of the oppressed
more effectively, than applying daggers.
However they wear metal blades on their waist belts,
while the words are used in elaborate melorecitations ghazals.
A successful punch line is always rewarded
with the murmur of enthusiasm and consent,
because poetical recitations are a ritual, which gathers listeners in the temples not only during school ceremonies or in the theatre.
Sikhs think highly of poetry; a 60-years old man, whom I know the weapon producer professionally - privately, with passion,
composes poems - rhythmical ghazals:
their tact sometimes reminds the progress of the revolutionary speaker's statement,
sometimes a philosophical lamentation or satirist's lampoon.
Ghazals emerge from the mouth of a woman like nectar from tilted flower,
from the mouth of a man - resound with machine gun burst
or accelerative locomotive clatter.
I am not exaggerating, when I worship this poetic genre.
I'm trying to repay only for the words, which my friend Gurcharan
left in my own book after our recitations in gurudwara:
'I love your poetry and I love you, Mr. Pollen' - he disclosed.
However I wouldn't call it nectar, but ammunition.
Paonta Sahib

On the Track of Betrayal and Corruption

This speech is as fresh bread from the bakery delivered to home in the morning.
No wonder that all rave about this oration.
Only - as if - obsessive, populist theme:
punish "traitors and betrayers" - grown old here.
By today's standards probably - better to stop politicians
from entering the path of bribery
through education, benchmarks and the social etiquette,
that would preclude such behavior as uncivilized and ornery.
It's the ideal. Meanwhile, the Third Philippic
is delivered at the time,
when the king of Macedonia teases Athens like a gadfly ...
Some politicians, according to Demosthenes,
only cynically are seeking the favor of the city residents,
instead of giving them good advice.
Meanwhile, his advice is:
harsh treatment of treason and bribery in favor of Philip by the polis
(as the proud and principled Greek history suggests)
and as a result closing the "knave from Macedonia" in his the entrance point,
thanks to innovations in military strategy.
Athens should also first demonstrate self-reliance
in the face of this task, and then form a coalition of allies
***
The predecessors' etiquette did not tolerate - the orator indicates bribery in favor of the enemy No wonder that he raves about it.
It's the ideal. Fresh bread always tastes best in the morning.
MMXV

Banquet at the House of Callias

Plato poetically dramatized the character of Socrates,
presenting him in his dialogues as a tragic hero,
faithful to the ideals of humanism On the other hand Xenophon, whose fate
also intertwined with the philosopher,
showed him in the Socratic Works and Dialogues
as a sympathetic, practical rationalist or perhaps a logician;
often the manufacturer of simple truisms for folk use.
The Socratic Works as a whole are rejecting allegations that the Athenian thinker
was - horror of horrors! - godless, and youth demoralizator.
Written with the Platonic depth,
it would not reach a simple man probably.
Xenophon wrote his memoirs in swift and noncomplex language.
Socrates leads there not difficult disputes with his disciples,
his practical instruction guides them towards the path of virtue the author argues convincingly.
After a narratively good Apology and artless Memorabilia
time comes to paratheatrical Symposium. There, the philosopher takes part
in the banquet at a certain Callias, at his home in Piraeus.
The participants are chatting in the male group, sometimes quite frivolously,
watching performances by a pair of dancers. In the final, they proceed
to the theme of Eros.
... The feast ends with praise of virtues, including marriage;
Socrates teaches what is the pursuit of them wielding a cup of wine.
MMXVI

When the Law Was a God

On the island of Rgen, which I visited recently,
in early medieval fortress Arkona,
there was a center of worship of witowit (Svantevit)
This deity was considered effective oracle by the Rugian Rani,
also by the Obotrites and the Veleti, that is on the lands from the farthest westernmost Wagria
to the Oder in the east.
Helmold of Bosau, the author of the Latin chronicle Chronica Slavorum,
which contains descriptions of the culture
and religion of the Polabian Slavs from before the conquista,
reports about the genesis of this cult.
In the 9th century, missionaries, who were to convert the Rani,
built on the island of Rgen a chapel of St. Vitus. Soon, however,
the islanders returned to paganism, and their priests probably not wanting to disturb the minds of the people have not changed the name of the deity The cult of Svantevit on Rgen
officially ended only in the 12th century, together with the Danish conquest;
rich treasury was among the loot.
Helmold - the medieval Saxon historian - also speaks of other
Slavic god, whom he calls Prove.
He was worshiped among the old oak trees in the sacred grove,
and had no statue; every Monday the residents
along with the prince and priest gathered there to hold court.
Prove is considered to be distorted counterpart of the Slavic word:
Prawo (Law). In contrast to witowit this cult continues today.
MMXVI

100 Years Later

On the one of the western walls in the National Museum in Warsaw,
hanging a few paintings of a painter who flashed at the end of the 19th century
like a meteor in Polish art. Among them is
Nowy wiat Street in Warsaw on a Summer's Day - a painting
depicting the prospect of this famous street, seen from the windows
of the Kossakowski Palace; Wadysaw Podkowiski, because of the question,
had a studio there.
The picture captures the view of the street, traffic of horse-drawn trams
and passers-by, as well as the downtown buildings,
in the afternoon, in 1892.
In the initial period of creativity Podkowiski walked
on a leash of his academic professors. Then on the threshold of artistic maturity - he hesitated between
impressionism (where perfectly was capturing the play of light and shadow)
and symbolism, whose weight apparently he could not bear.
He died prematurely, with less than 30 years.
Exactly 100 years later - for almost a decade - I was peeking at the same
prospect of Nowy wiat from the windows of the editorial office,
in the building nearby. At that time,
many thousands demonstrations passed that way,
the shootings occurred, the partial eclipse of the sun happened, too.
However, in contrast to Podkowiski, I was just getting started then
(as a journalist), and the older editors had trouble with putting a leash on me.
MMXV

Philip Behind the Door

The oration On the Chersonese I would call a key speech...
The speaker added here, in fact, a number of arguments that took away
the propulsion of the philo-Macedonian faction in Ecclesia.
... During the meeting of the Assembly the Athenian adherents of Philip and supporters of peace
demanded the punishment for Diopeithes. This military commander,
sent by Athens with the settlers to Chersonese, has just scolded militarily
the king of Macedonia in the nearby Thrace.
Philip "wept" over his fate in an official protest to Athens,
the matter was taken up by pacifists and the king's men in Ecclesia.
Demosthenes maintains that egotistic, satiated democracy accustomed to rule over others - likes to listen to flattery and rewards for it.
It suppresses and even wants to punish logical and rational impulses,
the epitome of which is Diopeithes. Politicians who support Philip,
are getting richer, but you: getting poorer - he addresses to the Athenians with irony.
Comforts with pride, however, that democracy is an inspiration for those
who oppose tyrannies, and the idea of freedom, cultivated by Athens,
is harmful to the interests of the king of Macedonia.
***
The cure for Philip therefore should be the orator repeats Athenian war fund and as a result - the permanent army,
but not one that can afford only to react post factum ...
Here is the key to the doors that protect against Philip.
MMXV

Democracy in Action
As a young reporter for the news agency
I was informing about various phenomena
characteristic of early democracy. I was reacting to various topics:
once it was a street survey on Benetton billboard,
where a priest was kissing a nun.
This author's news sold out in the media as fresh rolls.
Another time I reached to the owner of the first tattoo parlor
in the capital (who knows if not the first in the country),
which was in the hotel in the city center.
The press at the time bought this with click of tongue.
Then "I was buying" a Kalashnikov on the former stadium,
that was turned into a Eurasian fair;
Volodya (or Sasha) promised to deliver a weapon the next day.
Newspapers were also excited about this news.
In the field of pop culture - I was informing, inter alia,
about the first performance by troupe of male strippers for ladies
in the palace of party congresses [sic]. This performance
also echoed in the media in a lively and moral way.
Hmm..., as a reporter I was informing about many various phenomena
in the first half of the 90s, characteristic of early democracy often chortling at the same time at their weirdness...
Today, however, when we look at the strange phenomena in the church,
the tattoo ordinariness, the omnipresence of market chains
and the participation of women,
we know that these are the characteristics of the developed and maybe even a little blase - democracy.
MMXV

Aristotle's Dream
Coming by road from Minsk to Vilnius, 50 km before the Lithuanian border,
we pass the village of Krewa, with poor farm buildings
looming in the distance. For a Pole - it's the sudden dj vu;
the name is known from the history books. For prudent Belarusians rather agricultural backroads, small town.
In the depths of the village are the ruins of the castle, where in 1385,
the first Polish-Lithuanian union, so-called Union of Krewa,
was concluded. A smart "barbarian", Wadysaw II Jagieo,
confirmed this document by many seals in the presence of the Polish delegation,
after ending negotiations.
As a result, Jagieo took the Polish throne and incorporated
the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into the Kingdom of Poland.
In the early 15th century, the agreement resulted in a knockout of common enemy the Teutonic Knights, who led an aggressive
and greedy Christianization of the neighboring Old Prussians.
During the reign of Jagieo the first Polish university, one of the oldest
in the world was founded. The ruler was also bribing the nobility willingly,
giving them numerous privileges and thus making a contribution
to the formation of a noble democracy. The Aristotelian politeia,
i.e. the reign of the middle class - became in the following centuries
the political system of the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth.
MMXV

King's Syndrome
The Third Philippic. Cicero uses the absence of Mark Antony
to take over the republican initiative in the Senate The consul went
to Cisalpine Gaul to expel thence Decimus Brutus,
who received the authority in this province from the late Caesar.
Antony wants to keep an eye on Rome - from Gaul is closer to the City,
than from Macedonia, which fell to him during comitia.
62-year-old Cicero is in his element: pelts the 40-year-old "frantic man"
with series of oratorical insults. ... Anthony has to his credit
a purge in Legions supporting the adopted son of Caesar;
Cicero, speaking in the Senate is in favor of an alliance between the republic
and Octavian and remuneration of repressed legionaries.
Thanks to them all, Antony has been pushed away from our throats emphasizes the merits of the young Caesar, who along with his army,
has dissuaded the consul from the subjugation of the Roman establishment.
He calls for strengthening the powers of the Senate
and designation of a safe leadership.
What a fine guardian () is the wolf of the sheep! - sneers at Antony
and burdens him with a king's syndrome. "At the house of this man
gold was constantly being weighed out in the spinning room,
and money was being paid" - indicates proving that the consul was trading
in immunities, rights and rewards belonging still to the Roman people.
MMXVI

Ctesiphon's Request
This man has charisma - one would exclaim
after reading the speech On the Crown...
It would seem that clash of officials - in fact, the bureaucrats cannot deliver emotions. Here, however, we have to deal with fast-paced,
more than 100-page defense speech, which turns
into an accusation and as a result - into a public success.
Meticulous, pro-Macedonian politician Aeschines challenged
the earlier request of one of the democrats
to publicly honour Demosthenes for his services to Athens.
Ctesiphon's request could be an initiative dictated by
a sincere generosity of the proposer's heart or...
poorly developed intrigue from Demosthenes' hand. Never mind the vigilant bureaucrat, Aeschines, pointed out (in the end)
procedural defects of the proposal.
Demosthenes does not give up
despite the legitimacy of part of the allegations.
In judicial speech defends his (disputed by the enemy)
merit and sacrifice in public service,
which he enumerates and analyzes. Counterattacking he also analyzes harmful activity of Aeschines,
proves his venal pro-Macedonian bias, ridicules his origin;
some of insults which he uses at the same time,
are not top-flight.
People's tribunal, however, thinks differently and rewards Demosthenes
for charisma.
MMXV

Tour de Farce
Do you remember probably The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte an essay or a pamphlet written by still relatively young Marx in 1852? ...
Unfortunately, I remember it quite vaguely - mostly as a show of passionate
and critical erudition of newcomer from boring Germany,
overwhelmed by the triumphal march of the French spirit,
lasting from half a century. This book fell once into my hands
accidentally, probably after the liquidation of some student library
In short: 34-year-old Karl shows in his work that the class struggle
is a manifestation of independent, human will, but at the same time
is determined by the past and takes place, as it were,
in the framework of a complicated engineering of history.
He also puts thesis - after Hegel - that historic facts and personages
appear, so to speak, twice. And adds: the first time as tragedy,
the second time as farce.
Marx criticizes opponents and apologists of Louis Bonaparte
for exaggerating this personality to the rank of a demiurge
Proves that the machinery of history allows elevation of mediocrities
on a pedestal, in this case - a caricature of Napoleon I.
***
Marx does not know yet that his thesis
will also refer to Marxism and its variants.
MMXV

Inside the Clock

The Constitution of the Athenians - a treatise attributed to Aristotle presents in its systematic part the pillars of the Athenian polity.
It defines who is entitled to political rights and how to educate young citizens
so they can responsibly acquire them, describes also
an election of the most important institutions and state officials,
their competencies.
We get to know procedures for the election, and rights or wages of clerical army:
from minor bureaucrats and arbitrators to archons and strategists.
For a moment - worried - we cross the threshold of the almost Kafkaesque world,
where low-ranking officials (astynomoi) supervise female musicians
to prevent their receiving fees of more than two drachmas
or the construction of doors opening outward on to the road...
Soon the climate of supervision becomes an atmosphere of impartiality;
choices, decisions are taken most often by lot, and then vote.
Election of judges to dikasteria resembles the lotto draw
in combination with stamping job cards in the factory; ensures their neutrality
in watchmaking style.
The jury consists of 500 to 1,500 people. The verdict is delivered
as a result of the vote. Water clocks regulate speaking time for parties.
MMXVI

The Sarmatian Connection

100 km south of Minsk lies a small town of Suck,
where in the 18th century the famous kontusz sashes,
popular among Polish nobility, were being produced.
This nobility, in the Baroque period,
adhered to an intellectual current, which derived their origin
from the ancient Sarmatians - Eastern people
actually assimilated (according to theorists) by the Early Slavs.
In pursuance of this concept, noblemen wore rich costumes,
stylized - as robes of the Orient. Inherent was just
this decorative belt (applied to the kontusz), which was being produced,
among others, by the manufactory in Suck.
I drove several times in the past
through this Belarusian town as a journalist,
traveling south of the country. Once I stopped there
to rummage in the Sarmatian heritage of the place. On the outskirts
I found a "museum" of Suck sashes - in a kiosk
resembling a provincial grocery store.
Indeed - there were several, perhaps modern
replicas of the kontusz sashes, but in the arrangement
typical for the folklore museum on the periphery.
Despite this, I froze there for a moment in solemn emotion,
traveling in my mind to the colourful culture of the noble republic,
with the election of kings.
MMXV

Three Obols in Hand

After winning the Persian Wars the Athenians gained self-confidence we read in the Constitution of the Athenians. ... The next step
was the acquisition of control by them over the Delian League,
an alliance of city-states of the Aegean Sea.
As a result, more than 20,000 people in Athens were maintained
out of the union tributes - Aristotle reports. It had to
satisfy the supporters of democracy - which received earlier
a solid foundations due to the reforms of Solon and Cleisthenes
After the constitutional confusion which was the final result of the Peloponnesian War democracy permanently is back to the city; it has made itself
master of everything and administers everything
by its votes in the Assembly and by the law-courts,
in which it holds the supreme power - we read in the treatise
created more than 2,300 years ago.
Citizens are lured by remuneration for their participation
in the sessions of the People's Assembly in the amount of 1 to 3 obols a day the author recounts with a hint of approval. Two- and three-obol allowance
for the needs of the people granted earlier - during demagogues he considers the demoralizing effect of flattering crowds.
MMXVI

At the Head of the Forces of Virtue

The Second Oration Against Catiline is an impressive melange
of literary Kinderstube and juridical verbosity.
... The enemies of the republic are almost unmasked.
Cicero, after a verbal duel with Catiline, takes for
other conspirators who remain in Rome.
In this speech to the citizens he analyzes (with sociological precision)
the opponents, dividing them into groups. They are:
indebted rich men (more or less passive),
counting on the abolition of debts
and military veterans from the time of Sulla,
dreaming of a return of the old robberies.
The consul also mentions the poor,
and the jumble of crooks and bandits, then,
young and vain proteges of Catiline the treacherous gamblers and libertines.
Ridicules the wretches and this banished troop of ruined men
and opposes them the vision of an efficient state apparatus.
Presents already appearing conflict as easy thrashing meted out to the forces of wickedness
by a well-organized forces of virtue.
Cicero can name, classify and incapacitate danger.
Here is the strength of loquacity.
MMXV

The Praise of the Eulogist

The Greek Archias, the adjutant writer of the Roman leader Lucullus,
acquired the citizenship of Rome in the Sicilian Heraclea a city allied with the Republic. Thirty years later
a man called Gratius challenged, under the new law,
Archias' citizenship. The complaint was likely to harm
the image of Lucullus.
The former consul, Cicero, defends Archias (earlier his preceptor of childhood)
arguing before the tribunal that - even not having civil rights
he deserves to enter him on the list of citizens.
The poet grows in his description to the rank of noble Romans good friend ...
The case is fairly easy: Archias has sufficient alibi, because completed
the procedural formalities. He was not included in the public registers,
because was with Lucullus in the East; moreover,
the tribunal is headed by the brother of Cicero, Quintus.
The orator can relax, and as usual, he focuses on himself fondly recalls the years of youthful, literary learning.
He praises the poetic adjutants of famous heroes and reveals that
Archias... also has begun to describe the illustrious history of his consulship.
MMXV

Monument to Conspirator
It is not easy to find someone as stupid as Catiline
in the pages of political literature. He is a distinguished figure
in the history of incompetent conspiracy.
Cicero detects the plan to bring about a revolution in Rome,
convenes a meeting of the Senate and in his first oration against Catiline
he proceeds in fact to verbal execution of the patrician.
During the consul speech
Catiline sitting patiently in the Temple of Jupiter Stator,
at a distance from outraged senators and listening to the stream of allegations.
Cicero without end scourges this lonely brawler with his literary,
flowery language (actually - climbing up on Catiline's back
to his own pedestal).
Sluggish Catiline still counts on the possibility of a reply. Unfortunately,
he is not able to get out from under the heap of consul's words;
escapes from the meeting and moves into "exile" - in practice
he gets to the camp of the rebels, and dies in battle
***
Lucius Sergius Catilina should have monuments in the courtyards of schools
as a patron of unsuccessful shortcuts.
MMXV

The Consul Wants to Intimidate

It's after the Ides of March - supporters of the republic
have meted out justice to a dictator... Brutus,
who dealt a death blow to Caesar, raised a shout
with the name of Cicero.
The conspirators are not interested
in continuing influence on authorities - Mark Antony,
therefore, remains consul.
The consul (former follower of Caesar) abolishes the dictatorship,
respects the Senate, but by - among others - the testament of dictator
begins to build his own position. The Senate becomes idle,
Cicero leaving Rome, officially moves in the senatorial trip to Greece.
... He returns due to unfavorable winds - and at the news that
Antony surrenders to the Senate.
That is not so. The consul still wants to intimidate.
He forces Cicero - like a superior - to appear in the Senate.
This, even paternally - in the First Philippic - using condensed language,
reproaches him that "prefers being feared by his fellow-citizens to
being loved by them". The road to glory does not lead this way - he believes
pointing to the fate of Caesar.
MMXV

Landscape with a Dog

In May, we set out for the island of Rgen...
Inspired by the famous painting of the German Romantic
C. D. Friedrich - Chalk Cliffs on Rgen, from 1818.
The island in the early Middle Ages was inhabited by Polabian Slavs,
who later joined the West as a result of the Crusades.
Rgen is famous for its white, chalk cliffs
and the original beech forest.
In spring the leaves are still in lime color;
the army of slender trees seems to march toward the edge of the cliff,
from where many of them slipping into the sea as on the slide.
The place has an unusual painterly atmosphere:
it is not surprising, therefore, that it became the inspiration for German art.
Although Friedrich dramatized his known landscape
with rocky pointednesses, in fact - I might add this place exudes an even more primal and geological character.
Majestic views stretch north of Sassnitz,
whence on foot you come to Wissower Klinken.
Here, everyone experiences painterly reverie,
including dogs.
MMXVI

The Tribes of Attica

The speech celebrating the fallen at the Battle of Chaeronea
is the oration, which demonstrates the power of words.
The transformation of sadness into pride and defeat into the spiritual victory
is the result of this speech.
This oration starts unattractively, the story meanders sluggishly
as banal melody. At the end, however when the speaker lists the motives that spurred heroes to fortitude
(resulting from half-mythical traditions of the ten Attic ancestral phylae) the oration achieves the desired effect. Topics covered in the course of speech
are harmoniously combined. Listeners freeze in the mood of heroic pride.
Earlier, Demosthenes cited factors
that have shaped the steadfast nature of the heroes, such as
"birth, education, habituation to high standards of conduct,
and the underlying principles of our form of government in general".
He mentioned at the same time also freedom of speech.
***
Even today, every day, in democratic systems,
the transformation of sadness into pride and defeat into victory
is the result of this freedom.
MMXV

In the Seaside Resort

In October we went to the seaside spit;
I also took the dog - usually I do not take him on a plane.
We stayed at a hotel situated between the sea and the lagoon,
near - the road ends.
The whole week we ate marine and freshwater fish,
relaxed in the hotel spa; by the sea - all the sand
belonged to us, to the flock of gulls and the occasional fishermen.
The sound of the waves was changing easily
in the noise of the pine forest, and this, in turn in the rustle of reeds near the lagoon.
On the opposite shore - we visited
the summer residence of the dethroned emperor. His escape
from the Belgian Spa to the Netherlands
was considered desertion in 1918. The whole sand over the lagoon
belonged only to us and to the occasional birds
***
After returning to the spit I acted unlike mentioned king:
I went to the spa, where rested like an emperor.
MMXV