Rome Journal: SPQR

                                    Flevy                                     

SPQR, Senātus Populusque Romanus, "the senate and the people of Rome" graces all the sewer covers, reminding you that you can't escape Rome. This is no small thing since these letters could and should be emblazoned on literally all the legislatures of the world from Parliament to the National Diet, the Knesset and naturally the tangled American congress which hones to the adage about "giving a person enough rope and they will strangle themselves." If ancient Greece was the birthplace of democracy, it was Rome which produced the body of laws and structures that could, for instance, lead to the notion of a bicameral legislature or a Napoleonic Code. One should also note that Rome is literally the only city to put its name on an empire. You have the Ottoman Empire and Imperial Russia which Putin would like to recreate. However, though you might refer to Muscowvites, the city of Moscow has not taken advantage of the naming opportunity that Russia's "special military operation" has incurred.

read the review of The Kafka Studies Department  by Francis Levy in Booklife

and listen to "Boogaloo Down Broadway" by Johnny C