25 + 45 points
Disobedient Nature by Scarlett
June 20th, 2008 6:46 AM
De Rerum Natura:
A Walk Through My Neighborhood
By Scarlett
Part I:
In Which the Aurelian Walls Prove Penetrable
ROME (AP) — A 20-foot section of Rome's ancient Aurelian Wall collapsed near the capital's central train station after days of heavy rain, a conservation official said Friday.
The wall, part of a 16th century restoration, crumbled into a pile of bricks Thursday evening after water infiltrated the section, said Paola Virgili, an official in charge of the wall's restoration. No one was reported hurt.
The Aurelian Wall — named after the third century emperor who built it to defend the city against the first barbarian onslaughts — surrounds Rome with more than 11 miles of fortifications, towers and gates.
Experts had previously determined that the entire wall section in the area, a 1,100-foot stretch in the north of the capital, was in danger of collapsing and they had planned to start restoring it Monday.
"It came down before we could even cordon it off," Virgili said. "The problem is that these walls have a certain age and they are vulnerable to water infiltration."
Part II:
In Which a Church Encounters Water and Plantlife
Part III:
In Which a Palazzo Succumbs to Greater Forces
Mark how fleeting and paltry is the estate of man,—yesterday in embryo, to-morrow a mummy or ashes. So for the hair’s-breadth of time assigned to thee live rationally, and part with life cheerfully, as drops the ripe olive, extolling the season that bore it and the tree that matured it.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
A Walk Through My Neighborhood
By Scarlett
Part I:
In Which the Aurelian Walls Prove Penetrable
ROME (AP) — A 20-foot section of Rome's ancient Aurelian Wall collapsed near the capital's central train station after days of heavy rain, a conservation official said Friday.
The wall, part of a 16th century restoration, crumbled into a pile of bricks Thursday evening after water infiltrated the section, said Paola Virgili, an official in charge of the wall's restoration. No one was reported hurt.
The Aurelian Wall — named after the third century emperor who built it to defend the city against the first barbarian onslaughts — surrounds Rome with more than 11 miles of fortifications, towers and gates.
Experts had previously determined that the entire wall section in the area, a 1,100-foot stretch in the north of the capital, was in danger of collapsing and they had planned to start restoring it Monday.
"It came down before we could even cordon it off," Virgili said. "The problem is that these walls have a certain age and they are vulnerable to water infiltration."
Part II:In Which a Church Encounters Water and Plantlife
Part III:In Which a Palazzo Succumbs to Greater Forces
Mark how fleeting and paltry is the estate of man,—yesterday in embryo, to-morrow a mummy or ashes. So for the hair’s-breadth of time assigned to thee live rationally, and part with life cheerfully, as drops the ripe olive, extolling the season that bore it and the tree that matured it.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
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Love that last picture.