Friday, January 8, 2021

Damnatio memoriae

Today on Twitter...

The Roman tiles were not just scrubbed of blood,
But of people too. Herostratus was erased,
Every trace of him removed, as if he never lived,
To save the Greatness of Rome from shame.

The mere use of Emperor Geta’s coin
Was a capital crime. Many names were effaced,
Faces chipped away. No one knows how many
Simply ceased — like extinguished stars — to exist.

Even the memory palaces, where the poets paced
Amid the lofty furnishings of their once-great patrons
To recall their lines — curtains, mosaics, urns —
Were cleansed of mnemonic devices.

Some memories are too awful. Today, for example,
The thought of free speech is still too raw,
The recollection of laws to protect one’s vote,
Of being permitted to leave one’s home …

Even the ones who remember must be punished.
The virus must be purged before it infects the future.
Truth has become such a revolutionary act
No form of execution is too cruel.