On this coldish Thursday of may, with the wind
sweeping cats and stripes of tattered clouds in a sky that is the colour of a
torquoise, off I went together with two delightful irish ladies and a lovely
chinese girl (who has lived in Ireland for the last fifteen years) for one of my
very special walks in the Eternal City. I will not, of course, tell you what we
saw and what I said (this you might discover one day, joining me for a two hour
spiritual tour…), and how Augustus came to life and seemed one and all with us,
walking in a City that was his and is no more. Up we went on the Capitol Hill,
threading on Michelangelo’s magnificent staircase, made for happy human feet,
and, oh, the beauties of the Forum seen from up above, under the sacred
presence of the Roman twins, one and all, the first king of the little town
hich would be great! There, yes, there, the Palatine, where Augustus lived in
simplicity, loving as he did the “antiqui mores” of his ancestors… Here, right
here, the arch of Septimius Severus, the African emperor who lived in Leptis
Magna (its pink remains in Lybia I always craved to see and never did and maybe
never will…), and while I am there, telling how Tiberius succeded in being
Augusto’s successor against the will of the great Pontifex Maximus, through the
charms and bets of his great mother Livia, my cellphone rings. I answer. It is
Mrs G., the lady who keeps my bank account, and she goes on merrily: “Hellò! Do
you have a daughter? Have you ever thought of having a supplementary pension?”.
Ok, maybe tomorrow.
To contact me for a two hours walk in Rome: bennidv@alice.it or mbennidv@gmail.com I'll be more than happy to give you all the details.
