Rome Journal IV: When in Rome

“When in Rome” is a vintage expression that may do for homiletic jargon what the Colosseum did for antiquity. Rome is so titrated out of the phrase that few people even think of the ancient city when they babble out the words, which are usually an injunction to conform. Do we need an archeologist of language to determine from whence “when in Rome” derives? Why not say “when in Syracuse” or “Ithaca” two names that like Rome are also now the names of cities in upper New York State. And why in hell did upstate towns ever get the idea of naming themselves after major cities of the Roman Empire? Was it simply grandiosity? Don Juan chasing windmills? But getting back to “when in Rome” Wikionary says the following about the origin of the expression: “First attested in medieval Latin si fueris Rōmae, Rōmānō vīvitō mōre; si fueris alibī, vīvitō sicut ibi ‎(“if you should be in Rome, live in the Roman manner; if you should be elsewhere, live as they do there”); which is attributed to St Ambrose.” That’s definitely cool and makes a lot of sense, but it still doesn’t account for singling out Rome. Back in medieval times you might easily have said “when in Constantinople live in the Constantinoplian manner” or “when in Avignon (a place where one of the popes retired to), live in the Avignonian manner. Perhaps it goes back to the expression “all roads lead to Mecca,” since Rome was a mecca for medieval scholars like St. Ambrose. In any case, the expression is totally useless and even harmful to outsiders. As everyone knows, it’s impossible for someone who isn’t Roman “to live in the Roman manner.” Rossellini’s Roma, Citta Aperta deals with Rome during the Nazi occupation and God help you if you try to behave like Pina (Anna Magnani) or Don Pietro (Aldo Fabrizi) when you’re in Rome.

Vermont Journal IV: Hero’s Welcome

Watercolor by Hallie Cohen

We know when in Rome and we know where the names of Rome, Ithaca and Sparta NY came from. But what about North and South Hero, Vermont? It’s unlikely that these towns were named for heroes in general. Can we conclude that antiquity is to blame in this case too and that the name derives from the myth of Hero and Leander? If you remember Hero is lured by Leander, but then loses him and kills herself. It’s a melancholy myth to tag onto a town, especially one that exists on the edge of a large body of water where storms and floods are always a threat. Actually any omens that might be presaged by the name are belied by the peace of this hamlet which is just south of the Canadian border. If you are looking for a timeless redoubt stay at one of the lakeside rooms at North Hero House, a vintage inn and then stroll onto the jetty outside your window on which Adirondack lawn chairs face an old-fashioned raft. There’s no surf to speak of, but children paddle their surfboards out past the raft and into the vast lake. Back on shore there’s a faded shuffle board deck and a college student manning a table advertising aquatic rentals simply bakes in the sun, undisturbed in her studies, by the threat of prospective customers. What do people do in North Hero for fun? They ride their bikes to Hero’s Welcome, the kind of timeless general store that has just about anything anyone could possibly need during their stay in either of the Heroes.

Mens Sana in Corpore Sano

There is an obvious explanation for the fact that upstate New York towns like Marathon, Rome and Ithaca have mythic names. Immigrants from Italy and the Peloponnesus settled them. But it can be startling to drive along I-81 or I-90 and spot signs for Rome or Marathon. For a moment, one is totally taken aback. Marathon, the legendary city after which our most famous footrace is named, conjures the image of classical or neo-classical Palladian architecture, while the surrounding landscape of split-level houses, fast food joints and discount shopping behemoths like Sam’s Club belies such hallowed associations. Seeing the sign for Rome, one thinks of the Colosseum, of Rosssano Brazzi in Three Coins in the Fountain or of Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, with its triage of post war aristocracy and culture. Ithaca of course is closest to the classical associations conjured by its name, being the home of Cornell University. Wandering the campus, the history of knowledge that it conjures is readily perceptible in the legends on the varying buildings. Cornell is of course one of the great seats of learning in the West, and the fact that its home is in Ithaca represents more of a geopolitical change than any disparity between it and the values the ancient Greeks held, in particular the precept mens sana in corpore sano, a saying that graces the Kongsbakken videregående skole in Tromsø, Norway.