Sunday, August 6, 2023

This dread of nations, this almighty Rome

The Rape of the Sabine Women by Giambologna


 The boasted ancestors of these great men,
Whose virtues you admire, were all such ruffians;
This dread of nations, this almighty Rome,
That comprehends in her wide empire's bounds
All under heaven, was founded on a rape.

-- Joseph Addison, Cato