Category: Roman Republic

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Revisit Mount Horeb: Comitia Americana

10/7/2019

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank RMH: Comitia Americana

Part 12 of 13

“… Which Congress Reb?”
“Continental.”
“So the Continental Congress recognized Morgan’s military side.”
“Commemorative coin of Cowpens.”
“What’s on the other side?”
“A battle scene.”
“What’s Comitia mean?”
“It’s an old Roman word.”
“They’re all old.”
“It means an assembly of citizens, a gathering of the people.”
“For?”
“Making laws, courts and so on.”
“A congress.”
“Americana.”
“How many coins were made?”
“Eleven.”
“All military?”
“Yes.”
“The coins still around?”
“Rare and valuable.”
“Roman, Greek, and American represented.”
“Mount Horeb too.”
“Thunderbolt’s been quiet Reb.”
“Shhhh.”
“Right …”

*Next Up: 8 October and the autumn series finale of Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Revisit Mount Horeb: On the Road Again.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

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Union 2016: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Down Mountain Sacred

3/12/2016

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Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Down

Winter series part 12 of 13

Oh, well, the night is long, the beads of time pass slow,
Tired eyes on the sunrise, waiting for the eastern glow.

“… Reb?”
“Just thinking.”
“Take your time.”
“You got me wondering Yank – wondering what makes anything sacred?”
“Moses and Elijah found the sacred on a mountain.”
“The Bible praises mountains.”
“In the Psalms.”
“Correct.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Mountain

“Maybe the Romans did too?”
“Did what?”
“Hear the Lord in the Mountains.”
“Divination.”
“Nice.”
“It means to foresee, to be inspired by -”
“- Mountains.”
“Right Gus.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Sacred

“Virginia has mountains.”
“Hills too.”
“Any sacred Johnny?”
“There’s the rub.”
“So sacred is a rub.”
“Seems so.”
“Maybe when we get back there,” Gus continued, “back there to Virginia, we try to find some sacred.”
“Perhaps.”
“You’re not being optimistic Johnny.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“The Union Gus, -”

*Next Up: The Union 2016 winter series finale, Saturday 19 March.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

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Union 2016: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Up Mountain Sacred

3/11/2016

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Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Up

Winter series part 11 of 13

The sky is filled with good and bad
That mortals never know.

“- What happened at the Sacred Mountain Reb?”
“The people went there Gus.”
“To do what?”
“Secede.”
“What’s that Johnny?”
“You heard me.”
“Secede though?”
“The plebs -”
“The what?”
“Plebs Gus: they were everyone not patrician.”
“The many.”
“Right.”
“They seceded?”
“The plebs, the many, moved out of Rome to the Sacred Mountain.”
“So the Roman many,” Gus pondered, “their secession wasn’t a violent one?”
“No.”
“They went up the mountain.”
“They did.”
“What did they do there Reb?”
“They waited.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Mons

“For what?”
“Rome had nearby enemies Yank.”
“So the enemies heard of the people moving to the mountain.”
“Right.”
“So the enemies attacked.”
“No."
“What happened?”
“The patricians -”
“The few.”
“- Correct,” continued Reb, “they made a deal to represent the people in the Roman Republic.”
“You don’t say.”
“They did.”
“And this happened because of Virginia?”
“She’s part of the story.”
“And Appius?”
“He meets his.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Sacer

“Does the Sacred Mountain have a name?”
“Mons Sacer.”
“Mons means mountain?”
“Mount.”
“Like Mount Horeb."
“Yes.”
“And Mount Sinai.”
“Yes again.”
“So it was more like a hill than a mountain.”
“True.”
“And what made it sacred Johnny? …”

*Next Up: The Union 2016 winter series continues tomorrow, Saturday 12 March, with part 12, Down the Sacred Mountain.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

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Union 2016: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Virginia Rome

3/5/2016

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Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Rome

Winter series part 10 of 13

Oh the war is common cry, pick up you swords and fly.

“- Whoa there Johnny.”
“Sure Gus.”
“This ain’t a tell-the-children kind of story.”
“No.”
“So the father, Virginius, kills his daughter, Virginia.”
“Yes.”
“And the bad guy …”
“Appius Claudius.”
“… Who was he?”
“Judge, patrician.”
“What’s a patrician?”
“Someone from the few.”
“So Virginius and Virginia were from the many.”
“They were.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Roming

“What happened?”
“Virginius is a centurion in the Roman -”
“Centurion? Is that like a general?”
“First Sergeant.”
“Okay Reb.”
“While Virginius is with the army outside of the city, Appius desires Virginia.”
“She single?”
“Betrothed.”
“So the judge does something?”
“Yes, which brings Virginius back to Rome.”
“Oh-oh.”
“Virginius loses the legal battle through treachery.”
“Cheaters.”
“In order to keep Virginia from becoming a slave, that’s when …”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Romed

“That’s when he kills her Johnny?”
“… Yeah Gus.”
“Quite a story.”
“Many angles.”
“There’s more too I figure,” Gus continued, “something still between Appius and Virginius.”
“The few and the many.”
“And maybe an Aesopic teaching point?”
“There’s a Sacred Mountain …”

*Next Up: The Union 2016 winter series continues Friday 11 March with part 11, To the Sacred Mountain.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

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Union 2016: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Virginia Roam

3/4/2016

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Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Roam

Winter series part 9 of 13

The apples turn to brown and black, the tyrant’s face is red.

“- Johnny?”
“Yeah Gus.”
“The Story of Virginia,” Gus thought, “must be an old story.”
“It is.”
“Virginia is a woman’s name.”
“Correct,” noted Reb, “and Virginius is the masculine.”
“Like Augusta and Augustus.”
“True.”
“So it’s Roman?”
“Foundational.”
“Where’d you learn this story?”
“Lots of places.”
“Name one.”
“West Point.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Roaming

“That’s right,” paused Gus, “Johnny Reb the West Pointer would have had quite an education.”
“Grant was a West Pointer.”
“So were Lee, Longstreet and Jackson.”
“Add Jeb Stuart, Braxton Bragg and Jefferson Davis.”
“The Confederate President?”
“Yes.”
“Oh geez.”
“I know.”
“So what’s the story?”
“With Virginia?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s one of sacrifice.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Roamed

“Oh-oh.”
“Right.”
“What gets sacrificed?"
“Virginia.”
“Reb!?”
“That’s the story Yank.”
“I did ask didn’t I.”
“You did.”
“So there must be a bad man?”
“Appius Claudius.”
“Never heard of him.”
“Appius was a tyrant during the early days of the Roman Republic.”
“Appius sacrificed Virginia?”
“No, Virginius did that.”
“Who’s he?”
“Her father ...”

*Next Up: The Union 2016 winter series continues tomorrow, Saturday 5 March, with part 10, the Virginia of Rome.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

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Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Revisit Mount Horeb: Comitia Americana

Union 2016: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Down Mountain Sacred

Union 2016: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Up Mountain Sacred

Union 2016: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Virginia Rome

Union 2016: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Nowhere Virginia Roam

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