romans

Romans

H Bartlette Geametti called Michael O'Loughlin's book, The Garlands of Repose (New York, 1985*), the best book ever written about leisure. In the book, O'Loughlin describes the tradition of "Civic Leisure" in ancient Rome, represented in the writings and life of Virgil. After fulfilling his civic duty to Rome, Virgil retired to the farm and took up the activities of his youth. Whereas Virgil had "worked" at farming in his younger years to make a living, after he retired he did many of the same things in his leisure; "setting vines in rows," and "grafting pears." By so doing, according to O'Loughlin, he transformed work and the commonplace into freedom,- into the highest achievement of the Roman State. It was not world conquest of lavish consumption that were the apex of Roman culture- it was this "Civic Leisure" that transformed the ordinary, elevating the everyday to the realm of freedom. Just so, to a more modest degree, did the Battle Creek gentlefolk transform the commonplace- raising gardening and household skill to the realm of freedom- giving the products of an "autotelic" away.

earlier and Later-

views of nature

original, Adam and eve

wilderness

Nobel savage/ tempest

romanticize/ fear

Nash Wilderness and the American Mind

nature, source of value and truth

"natural" water

go back, to an original

vs transform nature

FRENCH GARDEN ROMANTIC/ ENGLISH GARDEN

REVIEW

Michael O'Loughlin

Garlands of Repose

H Bartlette Geametti baseball commissioner

What is worth doing for itself- free activity

Greeks, liberal arts, chasing Truth (philosophy)

Romans = nature

Two traditions

CIVIC RETIRED

Virgil HORACE

RICH SIMPLE

epitome of the state individual self reliance/ do it yourself

banker from N.Y. hippie

GOLDEN AGE

UTOPIA/ perfection based on work/city ARCADIA/ anti progress

EPIC/ODE satire make fun of self- animal fable

a forest fit for a consul all I need is this little piece of

ground

anti-property/ownership

limits- this is as long as I will live

and all that I will need

city mouse/country mouse

Heroic poetry

transformation of work

that once done as work,

now done as play daddy uncle JC

enframing/ennobling

conversation/ conviviality

The LAND/ EARTH

Fructifying- ideal noble common sense /democratic