The Aeneid, chapter 9

     " Euryalus countered: 'You're spinning empty arguments, they won't work. No, my mind won't change, won't budge an inch. Let's be gone!'"
                               From The Aeneid by Virgil
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     Empty arguments. Everyone hates them, yet they are so common. This passage, although one of the shortest in the book, is one that stands out to me more than others. It's interesting - an empty argument is one that is usually chock-full of words, feelings, and emotion. Yet they can be so meaningless to some. They most often don't work to accomplish much, yet we throw ourselves into them. I am the second-oldest of five children, and I can definitely relate to this.I know that, for me, when I've set my mind on something that I believe with my whole heart is right, true, or 'fair', no amount of yelling, pleading, or whining will change my mind. {Unless it's my parents, that is}. This is often called bullheadedness, but it's helped me - when I find out on my own that I was wrong - to put myself in others' shoes and remember that sometimes we need to just let people think what they think. Who cares if my seven-year-old  brother thinks the sky is purple!? He'll figure out the truth someday, but does it really matter now? Who am I to try and change what he has set his heart on?

Taking the time...

A Time to Talk

When a friend calls to me from the road
And slows his horse to a meaning walk,
I don't stand still and look around
On all the hills I haven't hoed,
And shout from where I am, What is it?
No, not as there is a time to talk.
I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,
Blade-end up and five feet tall,
And plod: I go up to the stone wall
For a friendly visit. 

Robert Frost

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This poem by Robert Frost is a great reminder to simply take the time. The character in his piece is in the middle of hoeing his fields when, unannounced, his neighbor rides by and slows to a 'meaning walk'. Instead of staying planted in his position and shouted ' Hey, neighbor, what's up?' he sets the tool down and takes the time to talk. Some would find this a waste of time, but really, it is much more meaningful than field work. To do what the character did shows true interest in a fellow's day, and - when the world comes to an end - it will be much more important that he took the time to listen, instead of talk or work. For everything there is a season, and a purpose for everything under the heavens. 

A document by Frontinus

" All the aqueducts reach the city at different elevations. Six of these streams flow into covered containers, where they lose their sediment....(goes on to describe the grandeur of the aqueducts)
    Compare such numerous and indispensable structures carrying so much water with the idle pyramids, or the useless but famous works of the Greeks."
                                                   ~Frontinus

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The first analysis I made of this document is the fact that, according to the last sentence, the author believes the aqueducts to be works of art. I can't help but agree with him, according to the definition of art. Art is anything that requires traits such as skill, patience, thought... and the list goes on. The last sentence may seem a little out there - but think about it: after you've defined the aqueducts as works of art, you must realize that such art is useful. With aqueducts came water - endless water - to the Romans. It didn't have to be pumped, and one didn't have to travel far to find it. So, when compared to the art of the Greeks, or the Egyptian pyramids, these things really do seem like useless things, that really aren't good for much at all.