It's my Tenth Rez day! Go me!

 

softpawthefairycat.blogspot.com/2018/03/an-amazing-decade...

दशक&#8594;decade,decenniad,decennary,dicker,ten<BR><P> दस&#8594;ten,decade,dicker<BR><P> दस साल का अरसा&#8594;decade<BR><P> दस साल का समय&#8594;decade,decennary,decenniad<BR><P> दस वर्ष का अरसा&#8594;decade<BR><P>...

Meaning of decade matlab, meaning decade hindi, synonyms decade hindi

#DecadeMatlab, #MeaningDecadeHindi, #SynonymsDecadeHindi

Elizabethtown, New Mexico, USA.

On the first steam railway I'd ever seen, C2 number three (at far left) has just bought in the rake of loaded limestone hoppers at right, as number 1 rocks and rolls up to the loading point with the set of empties trailing off to the left. DaHuiChang, Beijing 6 Nov 2004

youtu.be/1qNeGSJaQ9Q It’s Alive !!!

 

Universal Studios made themselves famous for "horror" films in the 1930s. Following the success of their Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi, Universal put out a variation on Mary Shelley's story that would become hugely influential for decades. Universal's Frankenstein. Much has already been written about this film, so this review will not attempt to cover everything. James Whale's Frankenstein was a hybrid -- partly a horror movie, but also partly a sci-fi movie. The goal of FrankenFEST is to explore the science fiction aspects of the many Frankenstein films. Some have more "science". Some are more "horror". Some are just silly.

Synopsis

Henry Frankenstein and his hunchback assistant Fritz dig up a recently buried body and take down a hanged man. Henry still needs an undamaged brain, so Fritz sneaks into a medical college to steal one. He drops the first brain-in-a-jar, so takes the second, labeled "abnormal brain." Henry has his creature assembled on a table and awaits the storm's peak for the jolt to infuse life. Just then, his fiancee, Elizabeth, friend Victor and former teacher, Professor Waldman, come knocking at the door of Henry's spooky tower. Reluctantly, he lets them in. Baited by Victor's accusation that Henry is crazy, Henry shows them his experiment. The storm peaks and the creature moves. "It's Alive!" Waldman stays to help. Victor and Elizabeth express worry to Henry's dad, Baron Frankenstein. Meanwhile, Henry shows off his creature to Waldman. It needs time to mature. However, Fritz taunts it with fire, sending the creature into a rage. It murders Fritz. It beats up Henry before Waldman injects it with anesthetic. Victor, Elizabeth and the Baron arrive and take the sick and battered Henry back to the village. Waldman stays to get rid of the monster. Before he can, the anesthetic wears off. The monster kills Waldman and escapes. In the village, all is festive, music and dancing for the wedding. Elizabeth is troubled with premonitions of doom. The monster comes across a little girl who wants a playmate. She tosses flowers in the lake to watch them float. When she's out of flowers, the monster tosses her in to float. She doesn't. The monster is upset and flees. He goes into the village and sneaks into Elizabeth's bedroom. Before he can do anything, her screams bring everyone running. He escapes unseen. Maria's father brings her dead body into town. The Burgomeister organizes three search parties to find the killer. Henry leads the mountain group. The monster finds Henry alone, knocks him out and carries him away. The mob see this and purse them to a windmill. The monster throws Henry from the upper railing, but he catches on a windmill blade, so doesn't die. The mob burn down the windmill. Henry recovers with Elizabeth's doting. The baron makes a toast to a future "son of Frankenstein." The End

 

The "science" in Whale's Frankenstein is mostly medical or biological. Waldman describes Henry's work as being in "chemical galvanism" and "electro-biology." Henry himself describes the key being "rays" beyond violet in the spectrum. This "Life Ray" is apparently available in electricity. Much of Henry's lab is filled with large things that spark or arc. Electricity is, in this pre-atomic world, the magical stuff that can do wonders. Compare Henry's lab and creation with Rotwang's in Metropolis ('27). The motif of the mad scientist's lab being stocked with sparky things dates back to this era.

Compared to the Novel

The main characters are retained, although the names of Henry and Victor are swapped, for some reason. Universal's screenplay was more of an adaptation of a stage play written by Peggy Webling in 1927. Her successful play had to do something similar to Edison's screenplay, in paring the story down to some basic elements. Whale's film focused more on the hubris of unfettered "science" than on the philosophical elements of creator-creature obligations. The hubris of the "mad" scientist, as a plot trope, would endure many decades into future films.

 

Iconic Monster -- The famous monster was a combination of make-up specialist Jack Pierce (who created the flat-top head and bolts on the neck) and the characterization given by actor Boris Karloff. Their "monster" was too captivating to the public imagination, too iconic to ever really die -- as we shall see -- that he would reappear in many later films. Little children would dress up as the monster for halloween. Parodies and spin-offs would key off the Pierce-Karloff monster.

Much of the look of the film stems from the artistic style of German Expressionism. This style is a whole topic unto itself. The stark light and dark, the use of up-lighting, the asymmetry and odd angles all enhance the feeling of instability. Nothing is soft. Nothing is "quite right." Contrast Henry's tower with the village sets. They're all normal enough, and almost Disney quaint. The normal world vs. HIS world: dark, unstable and "off". The artistic style of German Expressionism would not remain popular beyond WWII, but its visuals in association with the mad scientist's lab would endure far beyond.

Far back into the 1800s, probably not long after Shelley penned her story, people would often confuse the monster and the man. The monster, in both the novel and the 1931 movie, had no name. He was, like the novel, called only, "my creation", "the monster" or "the fiend." It was Henry who carried the family name of Frankenstein. Yet, to the public imagination, such a strong character as the monster simply could not go nameless. He was often referred to as "Frankenstein" as if that were his name. That's not the case, but it has been a common enough mistake that it has stuck. The monster is more famous than the man.The more famous character gets the name. After all, children do not dress up as Henry (or Victor) Frankenstein.

Aside from the many Expressionist visuals, there is one scene which, though brief, is an interesting inclusion of a famous painting. When the monster accosts Elizabeth in her room, just as he sneaks out, and the others burst in, note Elizabeth's position on the bed. This very brief moment is also captured on the poster art.This seems an unmistakeable visual reference to Henry Fuseli's famous 1791 painting: "Nightmare" .Maybe this something that only art history majors might enjoy, but it was an interesting bit for Whale to include.

A curious note, is how much Frankenstein as a story had become intertwined with the classic vampire story: Dracula. For one, Universal released them both in 1931. Beyond proximity, Universal had originally cast Bela Lugosi as the monster, but he declined the part. Lugosi would, however, end up playing the monster in a few later iterations. As well, Webling's play, which served as source material, also followed a successful Dracula production by the same star. The two characters sprang from very different literary roots and told very different cautionary tales, yet, they would become paired in the popular imagination, as if they were somehow brothers.

Universal's 1931 Frankenstein is a movie classic that is not to be missed. It is a well-told and well-paced story, but more importunely, it is foundational to almost all the Frankenstein films to come.

Citadel Park Passeig de Picasso Barcelone Catalonia Spain

Citadel Park is a park on the northeastern edge of Ciutat Vella, Barcelona, Catalonia. For decades following its creation in the mid-19th century, this park was the city's only green space. The 70 acres (280,000 m2) grounds include the city zoo (once home to the albino gorilla Snowflake, who died in 2004), the Parliament of Catalonia, a small lake, museums, and a large fountain designed by Josep Fontserè (with possible contributions by the young Antoni Gaudí).

Locations

Citadel

In 1714, during the War of the Spanish Succession, Barcelona was laid siege for 13 months by the army of Philip V of Spain. The city fell, and in order to maintain control over it, and to prevent the Catalans from rebelling as they had in the previous century, Philip V built the citadel of Barcelona, at that time the largest fortress in Europe.

A substantial part of the district it was constructed in (La Ribera) was destroyed to obtain the necessary space, leaving its inhabitants homeless. The fortress was characterized by having five corners, which gave the citadel defensive power, and by a rather wide surrounding margin, serving as location for the army's cannons. It included enough buildings to house 8,000 people.

Hundreds of Catalonians were forced to work on the construction for three years, while the rest of the city provided financial backing for this and for warfare-related expenses as well, with a new tax named el cadestre. Three decades later a quarter was rebuilt around the fortress named Barceloneta, which is located inside the neighborhood Ciutat Vella.

In 1841 the city's authorities decided to destroy the fortress, which was hated by Barcelona's citizens. Yet two years later, in 1843, under the regime of Maria Cristina, the citadel was restored. In 1848, after Maria Cristina's abdication and as the citadel lost its use, General Espartero razed most of the buildings within the fortress as well as its walls by bombarding it from the nearby mountain fortress Montjuic, which helped him gain political popularity. By 1869, as the political climate liberalised enough to permit it, General Prim decided to turn over what was left of the fortress to the city and some buildings were demolished under Catalan orders, for it was viewed as by the citizens as a much-hated symbol of central Spanish government.

The chapel (now the Military Parish Church of Barcelona), the Governor's palace (now Verdaguer Secondary School), and the arsenal (now home to the Catalan Parliament) remain, with the rest of the site being turned into the contemporary park by the architect Josep Fontsére in 1872. Nineteen years later, in 1888, Barcelona held the Exposición Universal de Barcelona extravaganza, inspired by Mayor Rius i Taulet, and the park was redesigned with the addition of sculptures and other complementary works of art. This marked the conclusion of the old provincial and unprogressive Barcelona and the establishment of a modern cosmopolitan city. From that point until 1892, half of the park's layout was enhanced again in order to obtain sufficient space for the zoo. The park's bandstand, Glorieta de la Transsexual Sònia, is dedicated to a transsexual, Sonia Rescalvo Zafra, who was murdered there on 6 October 1991 by right-wing extremists.

Cascada

The lake in the Parc de la Ciutadella

The Cascada (waterfall or cascade in Spanish) is located at the northern corner of the park opposite to the lake. It was first inaugurated in 1881 without sculptures or any meticulous details, and was thereby criticized by the press, after which this triumphal arch was thoroughly amended by the addition of a fountain and some minor attributes, which required six years of construction from 1882 to 1888, and was thenceforth put on display at the Universal Exhibition, and hitherto not been redesigned. It was erected by Josep Fontsére and to a small extent by Antoni Gaudí, who at that time was still an unknown student of architecture. Fontsére aimed to loosely make it bear resemblance to the Trevi Fountain of Rome. Two enormous pincers of gigantic crabs serve as stairs to access a small podium located in the centre of the monument. In front of it a sculpture (designed by Venanci Vallmitjana) of Venus standing on an open clam was placed. The whole cascade is divided in two levels. From the podium on a path leads to the Feminine Sculpture and to the northeastern corner of the park, and upon following the route down the stairs the fountain's pond is rounded and the southern tip of the artifact is reached.

Zoo

The zoo's main entrance

The zoo of Barcelona is located in the park of the ciutadella due to the availability of a few buildings which were left empty after the Universal Exposition of 1888. It was inaugurated in 1892, during the day of the Mercé, the patron saint of the city. The first animals were donated by Lluís Martí i Codolar to the municipality of Barcelona, which gratefully approved of their accommodation in the zoo.

Nowadays, with one of the most substantial collections of animals in Europe, the zoo affirms that their aim is to conserve, investigate, and educate.

From 1966 to 2003 the zoo was home to the famous albino gorilla Snowflake, who attracted many international tourists and locals.

Apart from the usual visits, different types of guided tours or other activities are offered, like for example 20 types of diversionary workshops, excursions and fieldtrips for schoolchildren, or personnel training and educational courses in zoology for adults. More than 50,000 children visit the zoo on an annual basis, which is the reason for the zoo's emphasis on education.

Museum of Natural Science

 

The facade of the zoology museum of Barcelona

 

Ceramics on the facade of the zoology museum of Barcelona

The Museum of Natural Science, sited in the park, comprises a museum of zoology and a museum of geology.

The museum of zoology was constructed for the Exposición Universal de Barcelona (1888) by the architect Lluís Doménech i Montaner to serve as an exhibition. Most of the building is constructed of red brick. The most popular displays are the skeleton of a whale and exhibits dedicated for smaller children. The institute's stated aims are to enhance knowledge and conservation of the natural diversity of Catalonia and its surroundings, to promote public education on the natural world, to transmit ethical values of respect for nature, and to stimulate informed debate on the issues and environmental problems that concern society. The museum has permanent exhibitions on the subject of mineralogy, petrology and paleontology; the volcanic region of Olot; minerals' secret colors; the animal kingdom; urban birds; and an apiary.

The museum of geology is a legacy of the scientist Francisco Martorell i Peña (1822–1878), who donated his whole collection of artifacts of cultural and archeological importance, his scientific library, and an amount of 125,000 pesetas to the city for the purpose of creating a new museum. The building, built during the same year and named the Corporación Municipal, was designed by Antoni Rivas i Trias.

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Today is my 12th Trannyversary… the day when I celebrate the anniversary of the first time I ever fully dressed up in 2011 and became Penny.

 

The pic on the right is from 10 years ago, and was when I finally found the look I wanted for myself after dressing up for a couple of years. I kept pretty much the same look until two years ago when I had a revamp and went blonde, changed my eye makeup, and did my lips differently.

 

Living in the sunshine for three and a half years has made me way more tanned now… I didn’t realize how pasty white I used to be!

Following the transition from Colonial Liberations Corps to the Colonial Defense Navy, it was made apparent that the decade-old fleet needed to evolve. The Thunderstrike is smaller, one-man replacement for the venerable DH-87 Thunderbird. Though not quite as universal, the Thunderstrike nevertheless completed the light gunship role of the Thunderbird with less size and and resources, though it cannot match the Thunderbird in its role as a dropship; for that role, the Thunderbirds that remain in service continue to be used less and less in combat scenarios, until the still-under-development "Thunderbird II"s are made ready for production. The Thunderstrike is one of only a few CDN military vehicles that has variants available to the private market. Many AV-88s (marketed as CV-88s) are used by private security firms and law enforcement.

250 High St. Built in high Italianate Renaissance style in 1882 with five bay façade with classical ornamentation for the Australian Joint Stock Bank which operated from 1852 to 1910. In recent decades it has been a guest house and now private residence.

The Death Eaters

As followers of Lord Voldemort and practisers of the Dark Arts, the Death Eaters first appeared in the films covertly concealed under long robes and skull masks in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. For Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, concept artists simplified their design by removing their pointed hats and giving each Death Eater a unique mask handpicked by director David Yates.

 

People the world-over have been enchanted by the Harry Potter films for nearly a decade. The wonderful special effects and amazing creatures have made this iconic series beloved to both young and old - and now, for the first time, the doors are going to be opened for everyone at the studio where it first began. You'll have the chance to go behind-the-scenes and see many things the camera never showed. From breathtakingly detailed sets to stunning costumes, props and animatronics, Warner Bros. Studio Tour London provides a unique showcase of the extraordinary British artistry, technology and talent that went into making the most successful film series of all time. Secrets will be revealed.

 

Warner Bros. Studio Tour London provides an amazing new opportunity to explore the magic of the Harry Potter films - the most successful film series of all time. This unique walking tour takes you behind-the-scenes and showcases a huge array of beautiful sets, costumes and props. It also reveals some closely guarded secrets, including facts about the special effects and animatronics that made these films so hugely popular all over the world.

 

Here are just some of the things you can expect to see and do:

- Step inside and discover the actual Great Hall.

- Explore Dumbledore’s office and discover never-before-seen treasures.

- Step onto the famous cobbles of Diagon Alley, featuring the shop fronts of Ollivanders wand shop, Flourish and Blotts, the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, Gringotts Wizarding Bank and Eeylops Owl Emporium.

- See iconic props from the films, including Harry’s Nimbus 2000 and Hagrid’s motorcycle.

- Learn how creatures were brought to life with green screen effects, animatronics and life-sized models.

- Rediscover other memorable sets from the film series, including the Gryffindor common room, the boys’ dormitory, Hagrid’s hut, Potion’s classroom and Professor Umbridge’s office at the Ministry of Magic.

 

Located just 20 miles from the heart of London at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, the very place where it all began and where all eight of the Harry Potter films were brought to life. The Studio Tour is accessible to everyone and promises to be a truly memorable experience - whether you’re an avid Harry Potter fan, an all-round movie buff or you just want to try something that’s a little bit different.

 

The tour is estimated to take approximately three hours (I was in there for 5 hours!), however, as the tour is mostly self guided, you are free to explore the attraction at your own pace. During this time you will be able to see many of the best-loved sets and exhibits from the films. Unique and precious items from the films will also be on display, alongside some exciting hands-on interactive exhibits that will make you feel like you’re actually there.

 

The magic also continues in the Gift Shop, which is full of exciting souvenirs and official merchandise, designed to create an everlasting memory of your day at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London.

 

Hogwarts Castle Model - Get a 360 degree view of the incredible, hand sculpted 1:24 scale construction that features within the Studio Tour. The Hogwarts castle model is the jewel of the Art Department having been built for the first film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. It took 86 artists and crew members to construct the first version which was then rebuilt and altered many times over for the next seven films. The work was so extensive that if one was to add all the man hours that have gone into building and reworking the model, it would come to over 74 years. The model was used for aerial photography, and was digitally scanned for CGI scenes.

 

The model, which sits at nearly 50 feet in diameter, has over 2,500 fibre optic lights that simulate lanterns and torches and even gave the illusion of students passing through hallways in the films. To show off the lighting to full effect a day-to-night cycle will take place every four minutes so you can experience its full beauty.

 

An amazing amount of detail went into the making of the model: all the doors are hinged, real plants are used for landscaping and miniature birds are housed in the Owlery. To make the model appear even more realistic, artists rebuilt miniature versions of the courtyards from Alnwick Castle and Durham Cathedral, where scenes from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone were shot.

Here are some facts to consider before you form an opinion on Israel:

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGUxzISr9Us

 

1. Israel became a state in 1312 BC, 2000 years before Islam.

2. Arab refugees started to identify themselves as Palestinians in 1967, two decades after the establishment of modern State Israel

3. After the conquest of the Land of Israel in biblical times, about 1272 BC, Jews controlled the land for over a millennium and had continues presence in it for 3300 years (to the present).

4. The only time Arabs had control over the Land of Israel was after the 635 AD conquest and it lasted for a mere 22 years.

5. Jerusalem is the Jewish holiest city and the capital of the Jewish people for over 3300 years. Jerusalem was never a capital of any Arab or Muslim entity.

6. There are over 700 mentions of Jerusalem in the Bible (Old Testament). It has none in the Koran.

7. Jerusalem was founded by King David. Mohammad never set foot in it.

8. Jews pray facing Jerusalem, Muslims face Mecca. If Muslims are between Jerusalem and Mecca they pray facing Mecca and turn their behinds to Jerusalem.

9. In 1948, the Arab leaders are the ones that urged the Arabs in Israel to flee. They also promised them to purge the land of the Jews, that’s way 68% of the Arab refugees left Israel without even seeing a single Israeli soldier.

10. Jewish refugees had to flee the Arab states due to violence, persecutions and pogroms by Arabs.

11. It is estimated that some 630,000 Arab left Israel in 1948 the same number of Jewish refugees from the Arab countries.

12. Deliberately the Arab refugees weren’t acclimatized in the Arab states despite their vast sizes. Out of the post WWII 100,000,000 world wide refugees the Arabs refugess are the only group that didn’t acclimatize in their native countries. Opposed to them, ALL of the Jewish refugees were acclimatized. Most of them in Israel.

13. The Arabs have 8 countries (excluding the so called Palestine). Jews have only one.

14. Although Israel handed over the Gaza Strip and most of the West Bank to autonomous Palestinian Authority control and supplied it with firearms, the PLO’s charter still calls for the destruction of the State of Israel.

15. During the Jordanian control of the West Bank, the Jewish holy sites there were plundered and access to them for Jews was denied.

16. Under Israeli control all Muslim and Christian holy sites are preserved and enjoy free access to all believers.

17. The UN kept silent when the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mt. of Olives was desecrated. It also kept silent when Jewish access was denied to the Western Wall.

 

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The original post:

 

I've taken the liberty to translate another article written by Yair Lapid, again I hope he won't mind.

 

Zionism

 

I’m a Zionist.

 

I believe that the Jewish people had risen in the Land of Israel* a wee late. Had it listened to the alarm clock, the Holocaust wouldn’t have happened and my dead grandfather - the one I’m named after – would have danced the last Waltz with my grandmother on the banks of the Yarkon.

 

I’m a Zionist.

 

I use the Hebrew language to thank the All Mighty and to utter roadside profanities. The bothersome person that calls me “bro” is really my bro. The Bible is more than my history, it’s also my geography: King Saul looked for the she-asses on highway 443, Jonas the Prophet boarded the boat in Jaffa not far for Margaret Tayar’s restaurant and an oligarch must have bought the porch from which King David gazed upon Bathsheba.

 

I’m a Zionist.

 

My eyes watered the first time I saw my son dawn the IDF uniforms, I haven't missed a single Independence Day ceremonial torch lighting for over 20 years. My TV may be Korean but I taught it to cheer for the national soccer team.

 

I’m a Zionist.

 

I believe we have the right to this land. The people who suffered persecution throughout history have the right for a country of their own plus a free F-16 from the manufacturer. I'm victimized by any act of Anti-Semitism from London to Bombay, but at the bottom of my heart I think that Jews who choose to live overseas have a fundamental misunderstanding of the world. The State of Israel wasn’t established to eradicate Antisemitism, but rather so we can tell the Anti-Semitics to Fuck-Off.

 

I’m a Zionist.

 

I’ve been shoot at in Lebanon, a katyusha rocket missed me by several meters at Kiryat-Shmona. Scuds landed near my home during the Gulf War, I’ve been to Sderot during a “Red Color” alarm, terrorists blow up near my parents' home, and my children sat in a bomb shelter before they could even pronounce their own names, clinging to their grandmother who fled death in Poland. And despite all that, I always feel lucky that I live here, nowhere else do I really feel good.

 

I’m a Zionist.

 

I think that every person who lives here should serve in the military, pay taxes, vote and know at least one song of Shalom Hanoch by heart. I think that State of Israel is not only a place, it’s also an idea, and I believe with all my heart in the three extra commandments, referenced at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC: “Thou shall not be a perpetrator; thou shall not be a victim; and thou shall never be a bystander”.

 

I’m a Zionist.

 

I laid on my back it the Vatican to admire the ceiling of Sistine Chapel, I bought a postcard of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris and was deeply impressed from a miniature Jade Buddha in the king’s temple in the Bangkok palace. But I still believe that Tel-Aviv is more entertaining, the Red Sea is greener and the Kotel Tunnels inspire a deeper spiritual experience. I’m not objective, that’s true, but I’m not objective when it comes to my wife and children either.

 

I’m a Zionist.

 

I’m the man of the future who also lives his past. My dynasty includes Mosses, Jesus, the Rambam, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, Albert Einstein, Woody Allen, Bobby Fischer, Bob Dylan, Franz Kafka, Hertzel and Ben-Gurion. I belong to a persecuted minority that influence the world more then any other people. While others invested their vigor in blood and fire, we had the sense to invest it in intellect.

 

I’m a Zionist.

 

Zionism is natural to me as being a father, a husband and a son. I find the people who claim that they and only they represent the “True Zionism” to be ridiculous. My Zionism is not measured by the size of my yarmulke (scullcap), the neighborhood I live in or the party I vote for. It was born long before I did, while my father stood in a snowy Budapest ghetto, vainly trying to understand why the entire world is trying to kill him.

 

I’m a Zionist.

 

Every time an innocent victim dies, I bow my head because once I was an innocent victim myself. I have no intent, or desire, to stoop down to the moral codes of my enemies. I do not live by the sword; I just keep it tacked under my pillow.

 

I’m a Zionist.

 

I have more than a birth right, I also have an obligation to my successors. The people who established this country lived and worked in far worse conditions than me, yet they didn’t merely settle for survival. They tried to establish a better, smarter, more humane and moral country. They were willing to die for that goal, I'm trying to live up to it.

  

*A pun. This is a literal translation of the first sentence from the Proclamation of Independence of the State of Israel meaning “The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people.”

  

אני ציוני.

 

אני מאמין שבארץ ישראל קם העם היהודי אבל קצת באיחור. אם הוא היה מקשיב לשעון המעורר לא היתה שואה והסבא המת שלי - זה שאני קרוי על שמו - היה מספיק לרקוד עם סבתא ואלס אחרון על גדת הירקון.

 

אני ציוני.

 

עברית היא השפה בה אני מודה לבורא עולם וגם מקלל ברמזור. הנודניק שקורא לי "אחי" הוא באמת אחי. התנ"ך אינו מכיל רק את ההיסטוריה שלי, אלא גם את הגיאוגרפיה: שאול המלך חיפש את האתונות בכביש 443, יונה הנביא עלה על האנייה ביפו לא רחוק מהמסעדה של מרגרט תייר, את המרפסת ממנה דוד הציץ לבת שבע בטח קנה איזה אוליגרך.

 

אני ציוני.

 

בפעם הראשונה שראיתי את בני לבוש במדי צה"ל פרצתי בבכי, לא החמצתי משוּאה כבר עשרים שנה, והטלוויזיה שלי אמנם קוריאנית, אבל לימדתי אותה להיות בעד הנבחרת.

 

אני ציוני.

 

אני מאמין בזכותנו על הארץ הזו. לאנשים שנרדפו במשך כל ההיסטוריה על לא עוול בכפם, יש זכות למדינה משלהם פלוס אפ-16 מתנה מהיצרן. אני כואב כל גילוי של אנטישמיות מלונדון עד מומבאיי, אבל בסתר ליבי חושב שיהודים שבוחרים לגור בחו"ל לא מבינים משהו בסיסי מאוד על העולם. מדינת ישראל לא הוקמה כדי שהאנטישמים ייעלמו, אלא כדי שנוכל להגיד להם שיקפצו לנו.

 

אני ציוני.

 

ירו עלי בלבנון, קטיושה החמיצה אותי בכמה מטרים בקרית-שמונה, טילים נחתו ליד ביתי במלחמת המפרץ, הייתי בשדרות כשנשמעה אזעקת "צבע אדום", מחבלים התפוצצו לא רחוק מבית הורי, הילדים שלי ישבו במקלט כשעוד לא ידעו לבטא את שמם, צמודים לסבתא שהגיעה הנה מפולין כדי להימלט מן המוות. ובכל זאת, תמיד הרגשתי בר מזל על שאני חי פה, ובשום מקום אחר לא באמת טוב לי.

 

אני ציוני.

 

אני חושב שכל אדם שגר כאן צריך לשרת בצבא, לשלם מיסים, להצביע בבחירות ולהכיר את המילים של שיר אחד לפחות של שלום חנוך. אני חושב שמדינת ישראל אינה רק מקום, אלא גם רעיון, ואני מאמין בכל ליבי בשלוש הדיברות הנוספות, החרותות על קיר מוזיאון השואה בוושינגטון: "לא תשתף פעולה עם הרוע, לא תעמוד מן הצד, לא תהיה קורבן".

 

אני ציוני.

 

שכבתי כבר על גבי בוותיקן כדי להתפעם מן הקפלה הסיסטינית, קניתי גלויה בקתדראלת נוטר-דאם בפאריז והתרשמתי עמוקות מבודהה האזמרגד הננסי במקדש וואט בבנגקוק. אבל אני עדיין מאמין שתל אביב משעשעת יותר, ים סוף ירוק יותר, ומנהרות הכותל מעניקות חוויה רוחנית חזקה בהרבה. נכון שאני לא אובייקטיבי, אבל אני לא אובייקטיבי גם לגבי אשתי וילדי.

 

אני ציוני.

 

אני איש המחר החי גם את עברו. בשושלת שלי נמצאים משה רבנו, ישו, הרמב"ם, זיגמונד פרויד, קרל מרקס, אלברט איינשטיין, וודי אלן, בובי פישר, בוב דילן, פרנץ קפקא, הרצל ובן גוריון. אני חלק ממיעוט קטנטן ונרדף, שהשפיע על העולם יותר מכל עם אחר. בזמן שהאחרים השקיעו את מרצם בדם ואש, לנו היה שכל להשקיע בשכל.

 

אני ציוני.

 

לעתים אני מסתכל סביבי ומתמלא בגאווה. מפני שאני חי טוב יותר ממיליארד הודים, מ-1.3 מיליארד סינים, מכל יבשת אפריקה גם יחד, מ-250 מיליון אינדונזים, מהתאילנדים, הפיליפינים, הרוסים, האוקראינים ומכל העולם המוסלמי חוץ מהסולטן מברוניי. אני חי במדינה במצור שאין לה שום משאבים טבעיים, ובכל זאת הרמזורים תמיד פועלים, המחשבים מחוברים לאינטרנט בפס רחב, ואם אשכחך ירושלים תשכח ימיני אבל תשכחו מלמצוא שם חניה.

 

אני ציוני.

 

הציונות טבעית לי כמו שטבעי לי להיות אב, ובעל, ובן. אנשים הטוענים שהם-ורק-הם מייצגים את "הציונות האמיתית" מגוחכים בעיני. הציונות שלי לא נמדדת בגודל הכיפה, בשכונה בה אני גר, או במפלגה עבורה אצביע. היא נולדה הרבה לפני, ברחוב מושלג בגטו בודפשט בו עמד אבי וניסה, לשווא, להבין למה העולם כולו מנסה להרוג אותו.

 

אני ציוני.

 

בכל פעם שמת קורבן חף-מפשע, אני מרכין את ראשי מפני שפעם הייתי קורבן חף-מפשע. אין לי שום רצון, או כוונה, לקבל עלי את הסטנדרטים המוסריים של אויבי. אני לא רוצה להיות דומה להם. איני חי על חרבי, רק מחזיק אותה מתחת לכרית.

 

אני ציוני.

 

אין לי רק זכות אבות, אלא גם את חובת הבנים. האנשים שהקימו את המדינה הזו חיו ופעלו בתנאים גרועים בהרבה ממני, ובכל זאת לא הסתפקו בהישרדות. הם ניסו גם להקים ארץ טובה יותר, חכמה, אנושית ומוסרית יותר. הם היו מוכנים למות למען המטרה הזו, אני משתדל לחיות למענה.

 

Last time I was in Berlin more than a decade ago, at east side Gallery a section of the Berlin wall left…

 

Peace and Noise!

 

/ MushroomBrain ich bin…

Placa Rotonda, Andorra la Vella, Andorra center, Andorra, Pyrenees

 

...........

 

More Placa Rotonda images: www.flickr.com/search/?w=2784765%40N22&m=pool&q=P...

 

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.......

 

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In 5 decades, glasses evolved from the constraints of available round lens shapes towards unique looks made possible by new materials and technology.

 

Favorite Glasses by Decade: www.flickr.com/photos/47355639@N00/albums/72157669220942204

Four decades later the first production HST power car is still hard at work for Great Western and so after repainting in it's original 70s colours one of the first locations I thought to capture it was back at my old haunt of Subway Junction close to my old college, Paddington Technical. The shade of blue is not quite right and the lettering should be black inside the outline but one mustn't grumble!

Il parco divertimenti di Veneland, dismesso negli anni 80 e rimasto da allora abbandonato. Ricordo ancora quando da piccolo i miei genitori mi portavano a pattinare sul ghiaccio e visitare il piccolo zoo safari (poveri animali). Adesso, con altri occhi di un adulto tutto è diverso e prende altre dimensioni.

 

The amusement park of Veneland, discontinued in the 80's and since then left abandoned. I still remember when as a child my parents took me to skate on the ice and visit the small zoo safaris (poor animals). Now, with new eyes of an adult, everything is different and takes other dimensions.

 

-- Setup --

Nikon D700

Nikkor AF-S 24-70 f/2.8

 

Mogliano Veneto - Treviso - Italy

Lamborghini Gallardo - Short North, Columbus, Ohio

The Roman Baths are well-preserved thermae in the city of Bath, Somerset, England. A temple was constructed on the site between 60 and 70 AD in the first few decades of Roman Britain. Its presence led to the development of the small Roman urban settlement known as Aquae Sulis around the site. The Roman baths—designed for public bathing—were used until the end of Roman rule in Britain in the 5th century AD. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the original Roman baths were in ruins a century later. The area around the natural springs was redeveloped several times during the Early and Late Middle Ages.

 

The Roman Baths are preserved in four main features: the Sacred Spring, the Roman Temple, the Roman Bath House, and a museum which holds artefacts from Aquae Sulis. However, all buildings at street level date from the 19th century. It is a major tourist attraction in the UK, and together with the Grand Pump Room, receives more than 1.3 million visitors annually. Visitors can tour the baths and museum but cannot enter the water.

 

Hot spring

The water is sourced from rainfall on the nearby Mendip Hills, which then percolates down through limestone aquifers to a depth of between 2,700 and 4,300 metres (8,900 and 14,100 ft). Geothermal energy raises the water temperature here to between 69 and 96 °C (156.2 and 204.8 °F). Under pressure, the heated water rises along fissures and faults in the limestone, until it bubbles up from the ground into the baths. This process is similar to an enhanced geothermal system, which also makes use of the high pressures and temperatures below the Earth's crust. Hot water at a temperature of 46 °C (114.8 °F) rises here at the rate of 1,170,000 litres (257,364 imp gal) every day, from a geological fault (the Pennyquick fault). In 1982 a new spa water bore-hole was sunk, providing a clean and safe supply of spa water for drinking in the Pump Room.

 

Water quality

Bath was charged with responsibility for the hot springs in a Royal Charter of 1591 granted by Elizabeth I. This duty has now passed to Bath and North East Somerset Council, who monitor pressure, temperature and flow rates. The thermal waters contain sodium, calcium, chloride and sulphate ions in high concentrations.

 

The Roman Baths are no longer used for bathing. In October 1978, a young girl swimming in the restored Roman Bath with the Bath Dolphins, a local swimming club, contracted naegleriasis and died, leading to the closure of the bath for several years. Tests showed Naegleria fowleri, a deadly pathogen, in the water. The newly constructed Thermae Bath Spa nearby, and the refurbished Cross Bath, allow modern-day bathers to experience the waters via a series of more recently drilled boreholes.

 

Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of Britannia after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410.

 

Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars. According to Caesar, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by the Belgae during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. The Belgae were the only Celtic tribe to cross the sea into Britain, for to all other Celtic tribes this land was unknown. He received tribute, installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes, and returned to Gaul. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 BC. In 40 AD, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel on the continent, only to have them gather seashells (musculi) according to Suetonius, perhaps as a symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula's victory over the sea. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore the exiled king Verica over the Atrebates. The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the province of Britain. By 47 AD, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way. Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudica's uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward.

 

The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola (77–84), who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia. In mid-84 AD, Agricola faced the armies of the Caledonians, led by Calgacus, at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be upwards of 10,000 on the Caledonian side and about 360 on the Roman side. The bloodbath at Mons Graupius concluded the forty-year conquest of Britain, a period that possibly saw between 100,000 and 250,000 Britons killed. In the context of pre-industrial warfare and of a total population of Britain of c. 2 million, these are very high figures.

 

Under the 2nd-century emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, two walls were built to defend the Roman province from the Caledonians, whose realms in the Scottish Highlands were never controlled. Around 197 AD, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces: Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. During the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains. A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century. For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410; the native kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that.

 

Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, and architecture. The Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain. After the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor. Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire.

 

History

Britain was known to the Classical world. The Greeks, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC. The Greeks referred to the Cassiterides, or "tin islands", and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 6th or 5th century BC and the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th. It was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed.

 

The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The first expedition was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion and gained a foothold on the coast of Kent but was unable to advance further because of storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry. Despite the military failure, it was a political success, with the Roman Senate declaring a 20-day public holiday in Rome to honour the unprecedented achievement of obtaining hostages from Britain and defeating Belgic tribes on returning to the continent.

 

The second invasion involved a substantially larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute and give hostages in return for peace. A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, Cassivellaunus, was brought to terms. Hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul.

 

Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind, but he established clients and brought Britain into Rome's sphere of influence. Augustus planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustus's reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could. Archaeology shows that there was an increase in imported luxury goods in southeastern Britain. Strabo also mentions British kings who sent embassies to Augustus, and Augustus's own Res Gestae refers to two British kings he received as refugees. When some of Tiberius's ships were carried to Britain in a storm during his campaigns in Germany in 16 AD, they came back with tales of monsters.

 

Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the Catuvellauni, ruled by the descendants of Tasciovanus, and the Atrebates, ruled by the descendants of Commius. This policy was followed until 39 or 40 AD, when Caligula received an exiled member of the Catuvellaunian dynasty and planned an invasion of Britain that collapsed in farcical circumstances before it left Gaul. When Claudius successfully invaded in 43 AD, it was in aid of another fugitive British ruler, Verica of the Atrebates.

 

Roman invasion

The invasion force in 43 AD was led by Aulus Plautius,[26] but it is unclear how many legions were sent. The Legio II Augusta, commanded by future emperor Vespasian, was the only one directly attested to have taken part. The Legio IX Hispana, the XIV Gemina (later styled Martia Victrix) and the XX (later styled Valeria Victrix) are known to have served during the Boudican Revolt of 60/61, and were probably there since the initial invasion. This is not certain because the Roman army was flexible, with units being moved around whenever necessary. The IX Hispana may have been permanently stationed, with records showing it at Eboracum (York) in 71 and on a building inscription there dated 108, before being destroyed in the east of the Empire, possibly during the Bar Kokhba revolt.

 

The invasion was delayed by a troop mutiny until an imperial freedman persuaded them to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world. They sailed in three divisions, and probably landed at Richborough in Kent; at least part of the force may have landed near Fishbourne, West Sussex.

 

The Catuvellauni and their allies were defeated in two battles: the first, assuming a Richborough landing, on the river Medway, the second on the river Thames. One of their leaders, Togodumnus, was killed, but his brother Caratacus survived to continue resistance elsewhere. Plautius halted at the Thames and sent for Claudius, who arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants, for the final march to the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum (Colchester). Vespasian subdued the southwest, Cogidubnus was set up as a friendly king of several territories, and treaties were made with tribes outside direct Roman control.

 

Establishment of Roman rule

After capturing the south of the island, the Romans turned their attention to what is now Wales. The Silures, Ordovices and Deceangli remained implacably opposed to the invaders and for the first few decades were the focus of Roman military attention, despite occasional minor revolts among Roman allies like the Brigantes and the Iceni. The Silures were led by Caratacus, and he carried out an effective guerrilla campaign against Governor Publius Ostorius Scapula. Finally, in 51, Ostorius lured Caratacus into a set-piece battle and defeated him. The British leader sought refuge among the Brigantes, but their queen, Cartimandua, proved her loyalty by surrendering him to the Romans. He was brought as a captive to Rome, where a dignified speech he made during Claudius's triumph persuaded the emperor to spare his life. The Silures were still not pacified, and Cartimandua's ex-husband Venutius replaced Caratacus as the most prominent leader of British resistance.

 

On Nero's accession, Roman Britain extended as far north as Lindum. Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, the conqueror of Mauretania (modern day Algeria and Morocco), then became governor of Britain, and in 60 and 61 he moved against Mona (Anglesey) to settle accounts with Druidism once and for all. Paulinus led his army across the Menai Strait and massacred the Druids and burnt their sacred groves.

 

While Paulinus was campaigning in Mona, the southeast of Britain rose in revolt under the leadership of Boudica. She was the widow of the recently deceased king of the Iceni, Prasutagus. The Roman historian Tacitus reports that Prasutagus had left a will leaving half his kingdom to Nero in the hope that the remainder would be left untouched. He was wrong. When his will was enforced, Rome[clarification needed] responded by violently seizing the tribe's lands in full. Boudica protested. In consequence, Rome[clarification needed] punished her and her daughters by flogging and rape. In response, the Iceni, joined by the Trinovantes, destroyed the Roman colony at Camulodunum (Colchester) and routed the part of the IXth Legion that was sent to relieve it. Paulinus rode to London (then called Londinium), the rebels' next target, but concluded it could not be defended. Abandoned, it was destroyed, as was Verulamium (St. Albans). Between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed in the three cities. But Paulinus regrouped with two of the three legions still available to him, chose a battlefield, and, despite being outnumbered by more than twenty to one, defeated the rebels in the Battle of Watling Street. Boudica died not long afterwards, by self-administered poison or by illness. During this time, the Emperor Nero considered withdrawing Roman forces from Britain altogether.

 

There was further turmoil in 69, the "Year of the Four Emperors". As civil war raged in Rome, weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain, and Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance. The Romans had previously defended Cartimandua against him, but this time were unable to do so. Cartimandua was evacuated, and Venutius was left in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus, took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively.[38] Frontinus extended Roman rule to all of South Wales, and initiated exploitation of the mineral resources, such as the gold mines at Dolaucothi.

 

In the following years, the Romans conquered more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britain. Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, father-in-law to the historian Tacitus, conquered the Ordovices in 78. With the XX Valeria Victrix legion, Agricola defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius, in north-east Scotland. This was the high-water mark of Roman territory in Britain: shortly after his victory, Agricola was recalled from Britain back to Rome, and the Romans initially retired to a more defensible line along the Forth–Clyde isthmus, freeing soldiers badly needed along other frontiers.

 

For much of the history of Roman Britain, a large number of soldiers were garrisoned on the island. This required that the emperor station a trusted senior man as governor of the province. As a result, many future emperors served as governors or legates in this province, including Vespasian, Pertinax, and Gordian I.

 

Roman military organisation in the north

In 84 AD

In 84 AD

 

In 155 AD

In 155 AD

 

Hadrian's Wall, and Antonine Wall

There is no historical source describing the decades that followed Agricola's recall. Even the name of his replacement is unknown. Archaeology has shown that some Roman forts south of the Forth–Clyde isthmus were rebuilt and enlarged; others appear to have been abandoned. By 87 the frontier had been consolidated on the Stanegate. Roman coins and pottery have been found circulating at native settlement sites in the Scottish Lowlands in the years before 100, indicating growing Romanisation. Some of the most important sources for this era are the writing tablets from the fort at Vindolanda in Northumberland, mostly dating to 90–110. These tablets provide evidence for the operation of a Roman fort at the edge of the Roman Empire, where officers' wives maintained polite society while merchants, hauliers and military personnel kept the fort operational and supplied.

 

Around 105 there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of the tribes of the Picts: several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armour at Trimontium (at modern Newstead, in SE Scotland) indicating hostilities at least at that site.[citation needed] There is also circumstantial evidence that auxiliary reinforcements were sent from Germany, and an unnamed British war of the period is mentioned on the gravestone of a tribune of Cyrene. Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in the area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat. The Romans were also in the habit of destroying their own forts during an orderly withdrawal, in order to deny resources to an enemy. In either case, the frontier probably moved south to the line of the Stanegate at the Solway–Tyne isthmus around this time.

 

A new crisis occurred at the beginning of Hadrian's reign): a rising in the north which was suppressed by Quintus Pompeius Falco. When Hadrian reached Britannia on his famous tour of the Roman provinces around 120, he directed an extensive defensive wall, known to posterity as Hadrian's Wall, to be built close to the line of the Stanegate frontier. Hadrian appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos as governor to undertake this work who brought the Legio VI Victrix legion with him from Germania Inferior. This replaced the famous Legio IX Hispana, whose disappearance has been much discussed. Archaeology indicates considerable political instability in Scotland during the first half of the 2nd century, and the shifting frontier at this time should be seen in this context.

 

In the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161) the Hadrianic border was briefly extended north to the Forth–Clyde isthmus, where the Antonine Wall was built around 142 following the military reoccupation of the Scottish lowlands by a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus.

 

The first Antonine occupation of Scotland ended as a result of a further crisis in 155–157, when the Brigantes revolted. With limited options to despatch reinforcements, the Romans moved their troops south, and this rising was suppressed by Governor Gnaeus Julius Verus. Within a year the Antonine Wall was recaptured, but by 163 or 164 it was abandoned. The second occupation was probably connected with Antoninus's undertakings to protect the Votadini or his pride in enlarging the empire, since the retreat to the Hadrianic frontier occurred not long after his death when a more objective strategic assessment of the benefits of the Antonine Wall could be made. The Romans did not entirely withdraw from Scotland at this time: the large fort at Newstead was maintained along with seven smaller outposts until at least 180.

 

During the twenty-year period following the reversion of the frontier to Hadrian's Wall in 163/4, Rome was concerned with continental issues, primarily problems in the Danubian provinces. Increasing numbers of hoards of buried coins in Britain at this time indicate that peace was not entirely achieved. Sufficient Roman silver has been found in Scotland to suggest more than ordinary trade, and it is likely that the Romans were reinforcing treaty agreements by paying tribute to their implacable enemies, the Picts.

 

In 175, a large force of Sarmatian cavalry, consisting of 5,500 men, arrived in Britannia, probably to reinforce troops fighting unrecorded uprisings. In 180, Hadrian's Wall was breached by the Picts and the commanding officer or governor was killed there in what Cassius Dio described as the most serious war of the reign of Commodus. Ulpius Marcellus was sent as replacement governor and by 184 he had won a new peace, only to be faced with a mutiny from his own troops. Unhappy with Marcellus's strictness, they tried to elect a legate named Priscus as usurper governor; he refused, but Marcellus was lucky to leave the province alive. The Roman army in Britannia continued its insubordination: they sent a delegation of 1,500 to Rome to demand the execution of Tigidius Perennis, a Praetorian prefect who they felt had earlier wronged them by posting lowly equites to legate ranks in Britannia. Commodus met the party outside Rome and agreed to have Perennis killed, but this only made them feel more secure in their mutiny.

 

The future emperor Pertinax (lived 126–193) was sent to Britannia to quell the mutiny and was initially successful in regaining control, but a riot broke out among the troops. Pertinax was attacked and left for dead, and asked to be recalled to Rome, where he briefly succeeded Commodus as emperor in 192.

 

3rd century

The death of Commodus put into motion a series of events which eventually led to civil war. Following the short reign of Pertinax, several rivals for the emperorship emerged, including Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus. The latter was the new governor of Britannia, and had seemingly won the natives over after their earlier rebellions; he also controlled three legions, making him a potentially significant claimant. His sometime rival Severus promised him the title of Caesar in return for Albinus's support against Pescennius Niger in the east. Once Niger was neutralised, Severus turned on his ally in Britannia; it is likely that Albinus saw he would be the next target and was already preparing for war.

 

Albinus crossed to Gaul in 195, where the provinces were also sympathetic to him, and set up at Lugdunum. Severus arrived in February 196, and the ensuing battle was decisive. Albinus came close to victory, but Severus's reinforcements won the day, and the British governor committed suicide. Severus soon purged Albinus's sympathisers and perhaps confiscated large tracts of land in Britain as punishment. Albinus had demonstrated the major problem posed by Roman Britain. In order to maintain security, the province required the presence of three legions, but command of these forces provided an ideal power base for ambitious rivals. Deploying those legions elsewhere would strip the island of its garrison, leaving the province defenceless against uprisings by the native Celtic tribes and against invasion by the Picts and Scots.

 

The traditional view is that northern Britain descended into anarchy during Albinus's absence. Cassius Dio records that the new Governor, Virius Lupus, was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae. The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently appointed suggests that enemies of Rome were posing a difficult challenge, and Lucius Alfenus Senecio's report to Rome in 207 describes barbarians "rebelling, over-running the land, taking loot and creating destruction". In order to rebel, of course, one must be a subject – the Maeatae clearly did not consider themselves such. Senecio requested either reinforcements or an Imperial expedition, and Severus chose the latter, despite being 62 years old. Archaeological evidence shows that Senecio had been rebuilding the defences of Hadrian's Wall and the forts beyond it, and Severus's arrival in Britain prompted the enemy tribes to sue for peace immediately. The emperor had not come all that way to leave without a victory, and it is likely that he wished to provide his teenage sons Caracalla and Geta with first-hand experience of controlling a hostile barbarian land.

 

Northern campaigns, 208–211

An invasion of Caledonia led by Severus and probably numbering around 20,000 troops moved north in 208 or 209, crossing the Wall and passing through eastern Scotland on a route similar to that used by Agricola. Harried by punishing guerrilla raids by the northern tribes and slowed by an unforgiving terrain, Severus was unable to meet the Caledonians on a battlefield. The emperor's forces pushed north as far as the River Tay, but little appears to have been achieved by the invasion, as peace treaties were signed with the Caledonians. By 210 Severus had returned to York, and the frontier had once again become Hadrian's Wall. He assumed the title Britannicus but the title meant little with regard to the unconquered north, which clearly remained outside the authority of the Empire. Almost immediately, another northern tribe, the Maeatae, went to war. Caracalla left with a punitive expedition, but by the following year his ailing father had died and he and his brother left the province to press their claim to the throne.

 

As one of his last acts, Severus tried to solve the problem of powerful and rebellious governors in Britain by dividing the province into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. This kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century. Historical sources provide little information on the following decades, a period known as the Long Peace. Even so, the number of buried hoards found from this period rises, suggesting continuing unrest. A string of forts were built along the coast of southern Britain to control piracy; and over the following hundred years they increased in number, becoming the Saxon Shore Forts.

 

During the middle of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was convulsed by barbarian invasions, rebellions and new imperial pretenders. Britannia apparently avoided these troubles, but increasing inflation had its economic effect. In 259 a so-called Gallic Empire was established when Postumus rebelled against Gallienus. Britannia was part of this until 274 when Aurelian reunited the empire.

 

Around the year 280, a half-British officer named Bonosus was in command of the Roman's Rhenish fleet when the Germans managed to burn it at anchor. To avoid punishment, he proclaimed himself emperor at Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) but was crushed by Marcus Aurelius Probus. Soon afterwards, an unnamed governor of one of the British provinces also attempted an uprising. Probus put it down by sending irregular troops of Vandals and Burgundians across the Channel.

 

The Carausian Revolt led to a short-lived Britannic Empire from 286 to 296. Carausius was a Menapian naval commander of the Britannic fleet; he revolted upon learning of a death sentence ordered by the emperor Maximian on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon pirates and having embezzled recovered treasure. He consolidated control over all the provinces of Britain and some of northern Gaul while Maximian dealt with other uprisings. An invasion in 288 failed to unseat him and an uneasy peace ensued, with Carausius issuing coins and inviting official recognition. In 293, the junior emperor Constantius Chlorus launched a second offensive, besieging the rebel port of Gesoriacum (Boulogne-sur-Mer) by land and sea. After it fell, Constantius attacked Carausius's other Gallic holdings and Frankish allies and Carausius was usurped by his treasurer, Allectus. Julius Asclepiodotus landed an invasion fleet near Southampton and defeated Allectus in a land battle.

 

Diocletian's reforms

As part of Diocletian's reforms, the provinces of Roman Britain were organized as a diocese governed by a vicarius under a praetorian prefect who, from 318 to 331, was Junius Bassus who was based at Augusta Treverorum (Trier).

 

The vicarius was based at Londinium as the principal city of the diocese. Londinium and Eboracum continued as provincial capitals and the territory was divided up into smaller provinces for administrative efficiency.

 

Civilian and military authority of a province was no longer exercised by one official and the governor was stripped of military command which was handed over to the Dux Britanniarum by 314. The governor of a province assumed more financial duties (the procurators of the Treasury ministry were slowly phased out in the first three decades of the 4th century). The Dux was commander of the troops of the Northern Region, primarily along Hadrian's Wall and his responsibilities included protection of the frontier. He had significant autonomy due in part to the distance from his superiors.

 

The tasks of the vicarius were to control and coordinate the activities of governors; monitor but not interfere with the daily functioning of the Treasury and Crown Estates, which had their own administrative infrastructure; and act as the regional quartermaster-general of the armed forces. In short, as the sole civilian official with superior authority, he had general oversight of the administration, as well as direct control, while not absolute, over governors who were part of the prefecture; the other two fiscal departments were not.

 

The early-4th-century Verona List, the late-4th-century work of Sextus Rufus, and the early-5th-century List of Offices and work of Polemius Silvius all list four provinces by some variation of the names Britannia I, Britannia II, Maxima Caesariensis, and Flavia Caesariensis; all of these seem to have initially been directed by a governor (praeses) of equestrian rank. The 5th-century sources list a fifth province named Valentia and give its governor and Maxima's a consular rank. Ammianus mentions Valentia as well, describing its creation by Count Theodosius in 369 after the quelling of the Great Conspiracy. Ammianus considered it a re-creation of a formerly lost province, leading some to think there had been an earlier fifth province under another name (may be the enigmatic "Vespasiana"), and leading others to place Valentia beyond Hadrian's Wall, in the territory abandoned south of the Antonine Wall.

 

Reconstructions of the provinces and provincial capitals during this period partially rely on ecclesiastical records. On the assumption that the early bishoprics mimicked the imperial hierarchy, scholars use the list of bishops for the 314 Council of Arles. The list is patently corrupt: the British delegation is given as including a Bishop "Eborius" of Eboracum and two bishops "from Londinium" (one de civitate Londinensi and the other de civitate colonia Londinensium). The error is variously emended: Bishop Ussher proposed Colonia, Selden Col. or Colon. Camalodun., and Spelman Colonia Cameloduni (all various names of Colchester); Gale and Bingham offered colonia Lindi and Henry Colonia Lindum (both Lincoln); and Bishop Stillingfleet and Francis Thackeray read it as a scribal error of Civ. Col. Londin. for an original Civ. Col. Leg. II (Caerleon). On the basis of the Verona List, the priest and deacon who accompanied the bishops in some manuscripts are ascribed to the fourth province.

 

In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales described the supposedly metropolitan sees of the early British church established by the legendary SS Fagan and "Duvian". He placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western England with its capital at "Urbs Legionum" (Caerleon); Britannia Secunda in Kent and southern England with its capital at "Dorobernia" (Canterbury); Flavia in Mercia and central England with its capital at "Lundonia" (London); "Maximia" in northern England with its capital at Eboracum (York); and Valentia in "Albania which is now Scotland" with its capital at St Andrews. Modern scholars generally dispute the last: some place Valentia at or beyond Hadrian's Wall but St Andrews is beyond even the Antonine Wall and Gerald seems to have simply been supporting the antiquity of its church for political reasons.

 

A common modern reconstruction places the consular province of Maxima at Londinium, on the basis of its status as the seat of the diocesan vicarius; places Prima in the west according to Gerald's traditional account but moves its capital to Corinium of the Dobunni (Cirencester) on the basis of an artifact recovered there referring to Lucius Septimius, a provincial rector; places Flavia north of Maxima, with its capital placed at Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to match one emendation of the bishops list from Arles;[d] and places Secunda in the north with its capital at Eboracum (York). Valentia is placed variously in northern Wales around Deva (Chester); beside Hadrian's Wall around Luguvalium (Carlisle); and between the walls along Dere Street.

 

4th century

Emperor Constantius returned to Britain in 306, despite his poor health, with an army aiming to invade northern Britain, the provincial defences having been rebuilt in the preceding years. Little is known of his campaigns with scant archaeological evidence, but fragmentary historical sources suggest he reached the far north of Britain and won a major battle in early summer before returning south. His son Constantine (later Constantine the Great) spent a year in northern Britain at his father's side, campaigning against the Picts beyond Hadrian's Wall in the summer and autumn. Constantius died in York in July 306 with his son at his side. Constantine then successfully used Britain as the starting point of his march to the imperial throne, unlike the earlier usurper, Albinus.

 

In the middle of the century, the province was loyal for a few years to the usurper Magnentius, who succeeded Constans following the latter's death. After the defeat and death of Magnentius in the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 353, Constantius II dispatched his chief imperial notary Paulus Catena to Britain to hunt down Magnentius's supporters. The investigation deteriorated into a witch-hunt, which forced the vicarius Flavius Martinus to intervene. When Paulus retaliated by accusing Martinus of treason, the vicarius attacked Paulus with a sword, with the aim of assassinating him, but in the end he committed suicide.

 

As the 4th century progressed, there were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Scoti (Irish) in the west. A series of forts had been built, starting around 280, to defend the coasts, but these preparations were not enough when, in 367, a general assault of Saxons, Picts, Scoti and Attacotti, combined with apparent dissension in the garrison on Hadrian's Wall, left Roman Britain prostrate. The invaders overwhelmed the entire western and northern regions of Britannia and the cities were sacked. This crisis, sometimes called the Barbarian Conspiracy or the Great Conspiracy, was settled by Count Theodosius from 368 with a string of military and civil reforms. Theodosius crossed from Bononia (Boulogne-sur-Mer) and marched on Londinium where he began to deal with the invaders and made his base.[ An amnesty was promised to deserters which enabled Theodosius to regarrison abandoned forts. By the end of the year Hadrian's Wall was retaken and order returned. Considerable reorganization was undertaken in Britain, including the creation of a new province named Valentia, probably to better address the state of the far north. A new Dux Britanniarum was appointed, Dulcitius, with Civilis to head a new civilian administration.

 

Another imperial usurper, Magnus Maximus, raised the standard of revolt at Segontium (Caernarfon) in north Wales in 383, and crossed the English Channel. Maximus held much of the western empire, and fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots around 384. His continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned in this period, triggering raids and settlement in north Wales by the Irish. His rule was ended in 388, but not all the British troops may have returned: the Empire's military resources were stretched to the limit along the Rhine and Danube. Around 396 there were more barbarian incursions into Britain. Stilicho led a punitive expedition. It seems peace was restored by 399, and it is likely that no further garrisoning was ordered; by 401 more troops were withdrawn, to assist in the war against Alaric I.

 

End of Roman rule

The traditional view of historians, informed by the work of Michael Rostovtzeff, was of a widespread economic decline at the beginning of the 5th century. Consistent archaeological evidence has told another story, and the accepted view is undergoing re-evaluation. Some features are agreed: more opulent but fewer urban houses, an end to new public building and some abandonment of existing ones, with the exception of defensive structures, and the widespread formation of "dark earth" deposits indicating increased horticulture within urban precincts. Turning over the basilica at Silchester to industrial uses in the late 3rd century, doubtless officially condoned, marks an early stage in the de-urbanisation of Roman Britain.

 

The abandonment of some sites is now believed to be later than had been thought. Many buildings changed use but were not destroyed. There was a growing number of barbarian attacks, but these targeted vulnerable rural settlements rather than towns. Some villas such as Chedworth, Great Casterton in Rutland and Hucclecote in Gloucestershire had new mosaic floors laid around this time, suggesting that economic problems may have been limited and patchy. Many suffered some decay before being abandoned in the 5th century; the story of Saint Patrick indicates that villas were still occupied until at least 430. Exceptionally, new buildings were still going up in this period in Verulamium and Cirencester. Some urban centres, for example Canterbury, Cirencester, Wroxeter, Winchester and Gloucester, remained active during the 5th and 6th centuries, surrounded by large farming estates.

 

Urban life had generally grown less intense by the fourth quarter of the 4th century, and coins minted between 378 and 388 are very rare, indicating a likely combination of economic decline, diminishing numbers of troops, problems with the payment of soldiers and officials or with unstable conditions during the usurpation of Magnus Maximus 383–87. Coinage circulation increased during the 390s, but never attained the levels of earlier decades. Copper coins are very rare after 402, though minted silver and gold coins from hoards indicate they were still present in the province even if they were not being spent. By 407 there were very few new Roman coins going into circulation, and by 430 it is likely that coinage as a medium of exchange had been abandoned. Mass-produced wheel thrown pottery ended at approximately the same time; the rich continued to use metal and glass vessels, while the poor made do with humble "grey ware" or resorted to leather or wooden containers.

 

Sub-Roman Britain

Towards the end of the 4th century Roman rule in Britain came under increasing pressure from barbarian attacks. Apparently, there were not enough troops to mount an effective defence. After elevating two disappointing usurpers, the army chose a soldier, Constantine III, to become emperor in 407. He crossed to Gaul but was defeated by Honorius; it is unclear how many troops remained or ever returned, or whether a commander-in-chief in Britain was ever reappointed. A Saxon incursion in 408 was apparently repelled by the Britons, and in 409 Zosimus records that the natives expelled the Roman civilian administration. Zosimus may be referring to the Bacaudic rebellion of the Breton inhabitants of Armorica since he describes how, in the aftermath of the revolt, all of Armorica and the rest of Gaul followed the example of the Brettaniai. A letter from Emperor Honorius in 410 has traditionally been seen as rejecting a British appeal for help, but it may have been addressed to Bruttium or Bologna. With the imperial layers of the military and civil government gone, administration and justice fell to municipal authorities, and local warlords gradually emerged all over Britain, still utilizing Romano-British ideals and conventions. Historian Stuart Laycock has investigated this process and emphasised elements of continuity from the British tribes in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, through to the native post-Roman kingdoms.

 

In British tradition, pagan Saxons were invited by Vortigern to assist in fighting the Picts, Scoti, and Déisi. (Germanic migration into Roman Britannia may have begun much earlier. There is recorded evidence, for example, of Germanic auxiliaries supporting the legions in Britain in the 1st and 2nd centuries.) The new arrivals rebelled, plunging the country into a series of wars that eventually led to the Saxon occupation of Lowland Britain by 600. Around this time, many Britons fled to Brittany (hence its name), Galicia and probably Ireland. A significant date in sub-Roman Britain is the Groans of the Britons, an unanswered appeal to Aetius, leading general of the western Empire, for assistance against Saxon invasion in 446. Another is the Battle of Deorham in 577, after which the significant cities of Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester fell and the Saxons reached the western sea.

 

Historians generally reject the historicity of King Arthur, who is supposed to have resisted the Anglo-Saxon conquest according to later medieval legends.

 

Trade

During the Roman period Britain's continental trade was principally directed across the Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel, focusing on the narrow Strait of Dover, with more limited links via the Atlantic seaways. The most important British ports were London and Richborough, whilst the continental ports most heavily engaged in trade with Britain were Boulogne and the sites of Domburg and Colijnsplaat at the mouth of the river Scheldt. During the Late Roman period it is likely that the shore forts played some role in continental trade alongside their defensive functions.

 

Exports to Britain included: coin; pottery, particularly red-gloss terra sigillata (samian ware) from southern, central and eastern Gaul, as well as various other wares from Gaul and the Rhine provinces; olive oil from southern Spain in amphorae; wine from Gaul in amphorae and barrels; salted fish products from the western Mediterranean and Brittany in barrels and amphorae; preserved olives from southern Spain in amphorae; lava quern-stones from Mayen on the middle Rhine; glass; and some agricultural products. Britain's exports are harder to detect archaeologically, but will have included metals, such as silver and gold and some lead, iron and copper. Other exports probably included agricultural products, oysters and salt, whilst large quantities of coin would have been re-exported back to the continent as well.

 

These products moved as a result of private trade and also through payments and contracts established by the Roman state to support its military forces and officials on the island, as well as through state taxation and extraction of resources. Up until the mid-3rd century, the Roman state's payments appear to have been unbalanced, with far more products sent to Britain, to support its large military force (which had reached c. 53,000 by the mid-2nd century), than were extracted from the island.

 

It has been argued that Roman Britain's continental trade peaked in the late 1st century AD and thereafter declined as a result of an increasing reliance on local products by the population of Britain, caused by economic development on the island and by the Roman state's desire to save money by shifting away from expensive long-distance imports. Evidence has been outlined that suggests that the principal decline in Roman Britain's continental trade may have occurred in the late 2nd century AD, from c. 165 AD onwards. This has been linked to the economic impact of contemporary Empire-wide crises: the Antonine Plague and the Marcomannic Wars.

 

From the mid-3rd century onwards, Britain no longer received such a wide range and extensive quantity of foreign imports as it did during the earlier part of the Roman period; vast quantities of coin from continental mints reached the island, whilst there is historical evidence for the export of large amounts of British grain to the continent during the mid-4th century. During the latter part of the Roman period British agricultural products, paid for by both the Roman state and by private consumers, clearly played an important role in supporting the military garrisons and urban centres of the northwestern continental Empire. This came about as a result of the rapid decline in the size of the British garrison from the mid-3rd century onwards (thus freeing up more goods for export), and because of 'Germanic' incursions across the Rhine, which appear to have reduced rural settlement and agricultural output in northern Gaul.

 

Economy

Mineral extraction sites such as the Dolaucothi gold mine were probably first worked by the Roman army from c. 75, and at some later stage passed to civilian operators. The mine developed as a series of opencast workings, mainly by the use of hydraulic mining methods. They are described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History in great detail. Essentially, water supplied by aqueducts was used to prospect for ore veins by stripping away soil to reveal the bedrock. If veins were present, they were attacked using fire-setting and the ore removed for comminution. The dust was washed in a small stream of water and the heavy gold dust and gold nuggets collected in riffles. The diagram at right shows how Dolaucothi developed from c. 75 through to the 1st century. When opencast work was no longer feasible, tunnels were driven to follow the veins. The evidence from the site shows advanced technology probably under the control of army engineers.

 

The Wealden ironworking zone, the lead and silver mines of the Mendip Hills and the tin mines of Cornwall seem to have been private enterprises leased from the government for a fee. Mining had long been practised in Britain (see Grimes Graves), but the Romans introduced new technical knowledge and large-scale industrial production to revolutionise the industry. It included hydraulic mining to prospect for ore by removing overburden as well as work alluvial deposits. The water needed for such large-scale operations was supplied by one or more aqueducts, those surviving at Dolaucothi being especially impressive. Many prospecting areas were in dangerous, upland country, and, although mineral exploitation was presumably one of the main reasons for the Roman invasion, it had to wait until these areas were subdued.

 

By the 3rd and 4th centuries, small towns could often be found near villas. In these towns, villa owners and small-scale farmers could obtain specialist tools. Lowland Britain in the 4th century was agriculturally prosperous enough to export grain to the continent. This prosperity lay behind the blossoming of villa building and decoration that occurred between AD 300 and 350.

 

Britain's cities also consumed Roman-style pottery and other goods, and were centres through which goods could be distributed elsewhere. At Wroxeter in Shropshire, stock smashed into a gutter during a 2nd-century fire reveals that Gaulish samian ware was being sold alongside mixing bowls from the Mancetter-Hartshill industry of the West Midlands. Roman designs were most popular, but rural craftsmen still produced items derived from the Iron Age La Tène artistic traditions. Britain was home to much gold, which attracted Roman invaders. By the 3rd century, Britain's economy was diverse and well established, with commerce extending into the non-Romanised north.

 

Government

Further information: Governors of Roman Britain, Roman client kingdoms in Britain, and Roman auxiliaries in Britain

Under the Roman Empire, administration of peaceful provinces was ultimately the remit of the Senate, but those, like Britain, that required permanent garrisons, were placed under the Emperor's control. In practice imperial provinces were run by resident governors who were members of the Senate and had held the consulship. These men were carefully selected, often having strong records of military success and administrative ability. In Britain, a governor's role was primarily military, but numerous other tasks were also his responsibility, such as maintaining diplomatic relations with local client kings, building roads, ensuring the public courier system functioned, supervising the civitates and acting as a judge in important legal cases. When not campaigning, he would travel the province hearing complaints and recruiting new troops.

 

To assist him in legal matters he had an adviser, the legatus juridicus, and those in Britain appear to have been distinguished lawyers perhaps because of the challenge of incorporating tribes into the imperial system and devising a workable method of taxing them. Financial administration was dealt with by a procurator with junior posts for each tax-raising power. Each legion in Britain had a commander who answered to the governor and, in time of war, probably directly ruled troublesome districts. Each of these commands carried a tour of duty of two to three years in different provinces. Below these posts was a network of administrative managers covering intelligence gathering, sending reports to Rome, organising military supplies and dealing with prisoners. A staff of seconded soldiers provided clerical services.

 

Colchester was probably the earliest capital of Roman Britain, but it was soon eclipsed by London with its strong mercantile connections. The different forms of municipal organisation in Britannia were known as civitas (which were subdivided, amongst other forms, into colonies such as York, Colchester, Gloucester and Lincoln and municipalities such as Verulamium), and were each governed by a senate of local landowners, whether Brythonic or Roman, who elected magistrates concerning judicial and civic affairs. The various civitates sent representatives to a yearly provincial council in order to profess loyalty to the Roman state, to send direct petitions to the Emperor in times of extraordinary need, and to worship the imperial cult.

 

Demographics

Roman Britain had an estimated population between 2.8 million and 3 million people at the end of the second century. At the end of the fourth century, it had an estimated population of 3.6 million people, of whom 125,000 consisted of the Roman army and their families and dependents.[80] The urban population of Roman Britain was about 240,000 people at the end of the fourth century. The capital city of Londinium is estimated to have had a population of about 60,000 people. Londinium was an ethnically diverse city with inhabitants from the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. There was also cultural diversity in other Roman-British towns, which were sustained by considerable migration, from Britannia and other Roman territories, including continental Europe, Roman Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. In a study conducted in 2012, around 45 percent of sites investigated dating from the Roman period had at least one individual of North African origin.

 

Town and country

During their occupation of Britain the Romans founded a number of important settlements, many of which survive. The towns suffered attrition in the later 4th century, when public building ceased and some were abandoned to private uses. Place names survived the deurbanised Sub-Roman and early Anglo-Saxon periods, and historiography has been at pains to signal the expected survivals, but archaeology shows that a bare handful of Roman towns were continuously occupied. According to S.T. Loseby, the very idea of a town as a centre of power and administration was reintroduced to England by the Roman Christianising mission to Canterbury, and its urban revival was delayed to the 10th century.

 

Roman towns can be broadly grouped in two categories. Civitates, "public towns" were formally laid out on a grid plan, and their role in imperial administration occasioned the construction of public buildings. The much more numerous category of vici, "small towns" grew on informal plans, often round a camp or at a ford or crossroads; some were not small, others were scarcely urban, some not even defended by a wall, the characteristic feature of a place of any importance.

 

Cities and towns which have Roman origins, or were extensively developed by them are listed with their Latin names in brackets; civitates are marked C

 

Alcester (Alauna)

Alchester

Aldborough, North Yorkshire (Isurium Brigantum) C

Bath (Aquae Sulis) C

Brough (Petuaria) C

Buxton (Aquae Arnemetiae)

Caerleon (Isca Augusta) C

Caernarfon (Segontium) C

Caerwent (Venta Silurum) C

Caister-on-Sea C

Canterbury (Durovernum Cantiacorum) C

Carlisle (Luguvalium) C

Carmarthen (Moridunum) C

Chelmsford (Caesaromagus)

Chester (Deva Victrix) C

Chester-le-Street (Concangis)

Chichester (Noviomagus Reginorum) C

Cirencester (Corinium) C

Colchester (Camulodunum) C

Corbridge (Coria) C

Dorchester (Durnovaria) C

Dover (Portus Dubris)

Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) C

Gloucester (Glevum) C

Great Chesterford (the name of this vicus is unknown)

Ilchester (Lindinis) C

Leicester (Ratae Corieltauvorum) C

Lincoln (Lindum Colonia) C

London (Londinium) C

Manchester (Mamucium) C

Newcastle upon Tyne (Pons Aelius)

Northwich (Condate)

St Albans (Verulamium) C

Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) C

Towcester (Lactodurum)

Whitchurch (Mediolanum) C

Winchester (Venta Belgarum) C

Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum) C

York (Eboracum) C

 

Religion

The druids, the Celtic priestly caste who were believed to originate in Britain, were outlawed by Claudius, and in 61 they vainly defended their sacred groves from destruction by the Romans on the island of Mona (Anglesey). Under Roman rule the Britons continued to worship native Celtic deities, such as Ancasta, but often conflated with their Roman equivalents, like Mars Rigonemetos at Nettleham.

 

The degree to which earlier native beliefs survived is difficult to gauge precisely. Certain European ritual traits such as the significance of the number 3, the importance of the head and of water sources such as springs remain in the archaeological record, but the differences in the votive offerings made at the baths at Bath, Somerset, before and after the Roman conquest suggest that continuity was only partial. Worship of the Roman emperor is widely recorded, especially at military sites. The founding of a Roman temple to Claudius at Camulodunum was one of the impositions that led to the revolt of Boudica. By the 3rd century, Pagans Hill Roman Temple in Somerset was able to exist peaceably and it did so into the 5th century.

 

Pagan religious practices were supported by priests, represented in Britain by votive deposits of priestly regalia such as chain crowns from West Stow and Willingham Fen.

 

Eastern cults such as Mithraism also grew in popularity towards the end of the occupation. The London Mithraeum is one example of the popularity of mystery religions among the soldiery. Temples to Mithras also exist in military contexts at Vindobala on Hadrian's Wall (the Rudchester Mithraeum) and at Segontium in Roman Wales (the Caernarfon Mithraeum).

 

Christianity

It is not clear when or how Christianity came to Britain. A 2nd-century "word square" has been discovered in Mamucium, the Roman settlement of Manchester. It consists of an anagram of PATER NOSTER carved on a piece of amphora. There has been discussion by academics whether the "word square" is a Christian artefact, but if it is, it is one of the earliest examples of early Christianity in Britain. The earliest confirmed written evidence for Christianity in Britain is a statement by Tertullian, c. 200 AD, in which he described "all the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons, inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ". Archaeological evidence for Christian communities begins to appear in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Small timber churches are suggested at Lincoln and Silchester and baptismal fonts have been found at Icklingham and the Saxon Shore Fort at Richborough. The Icklingham font is made of lead, and visible in the British Museum. A Roman Christian graveyard exists at the same site in Icklingham. A possible Roman 4th-century church and associated burial ground was also discovered at Butt Road on the south-west outskirts of Colchester during the construction of the new police station there, overlying an earlier pagan cemetery. The Water Newton Treasure is a hoard of Christian silver church plate from the early 4th century and the Roman villas at Lullingstone and Hinton St Mary contained Christian wall paintings and mosaics respectively. A large 4th-century cemetery at Poundbury with its east–west oriented burials and lack of grave goods has been interpreted as an early Christian burial ground, although such burial rites were also becoming increasingly common in pagan contexts during the period.

 

The Church in Britain seems to have developed the customary diocesan system, as evidenced from the records of the Council of Arles in Gaul in 314: represented at the council were bishops from thirty-five sees from Europe and North Africa, including three bishops from Britain, Eborius of York, Restitutus of London, and Adelphius, possibly a bishop of Lincoln. No other early sees are documented, and the material remains of early church structures are far to seek. The existence of a church in the forum courtyard of Lincoln and the martyrium of Saint Alban on the outskirts of Roman Verulamium are exceptional. Alban, the first British Christian martyr and by far the most prominent, is believed to have died in the early 4th century (some date him in the middle 3rd century), followed by Saints Julius and Aaron of Isca Augusta. Christianity was legalised in the Roman Empire by Constantine I in 313. Theodosius I made Christianity the state religion of the empire in 391, and by the 5th century it was well established. One belief labelled a heresy by the church authorities — Pelagianism — was originated by a British monk teaching in Rome: Pelagius lived c. 354 to c. 420/440.

 

A letter found on a lead tablet in Bath, Somerset, datable to c. 363, had been widely publicised as documentary evidence regarding the state of Christianity in Britain during Roman times. According to its first translator, it was written in Wroxeter by a Christian man called Vinisius to a Christian woman called Nigra, and was claimed as the first epigraphic record of Christianity in Britain. This translation of the letter was apparently based on grave paleographical errors, and the text has nothing to do with Christianity, and in fact relates to pagan rituals.

 

Environmental changes

The Romans introduced a number of species to Britain, including possibly the now-rare Roman nettle (Urtica pilulifera), said to have been used by soldiers to warm their arms and legs, and the edible snail Helix pomatia. There is also some evidence they may have introduced rabbits, but of the smaller southern mediterranean type. The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) prevalent in modern Britain is assumed to have been introduced from the continent after the Norman invasion of 1066. Box (Buxus sempervirens) is rarely recorded before the Roman period, but becomes a common find in towns and villas

 

Legacy

During their occupation of Britain the Romans built an extensive network of roads which continued to be used in later centuries and many are still followed today. The Romans also built water supply, sanitation and wastewater systems. Many of Britain's major cities, such as London (Londinium), Manchester (Mamucium) and York (Eboracum), were founded by the Romans, but the original Roman settlements were abandoned not long after the Romans left.

 

Unlike many other areas of the Western Roman Empire, the current majority language is not a Romance language, or a language descended from the pre-Roman inhabitants. The British language at the time of the invasion was Common Brittonic, and remained so after the Romans withdrew. It later split into regional languages, notably Cumbric, Cornish, Breton and Welsh. Examination of these languages suggests some 800 Latin words were incorporated into Common Brittonic (see Brittonic languages). The current majority language, English, is based on the languages of the Germanic tribes who migrated to the island from continental Europe

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East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3050, 1968. Photo: Sergey Bondarchuk in Voyna i mir/War and Peace (Sergey Bondarchuk, 1966).

 

Film director, co-producer, writer, and actor Sergey Bondarchuk (1920-1994) was one of the most important filmmakers of the Soviet Union and had a career that spanned over five decades. The theme of war ran through many of the films he directed. He won an Oscar for his spectacular epic Voyna i mir/War and Peace (1967), in which he also starred as Pierre Bezukhov.

 

Sergey (or Sergei) Fedorovich Bondarchuk (Russian pronunciation: Серге́й Фё́дорович Бондарчу́к; Ukrainian: Сергі́й Фе́дорович Бондарчу́к) was born in the village of Belozerka, in the Kherson Governorate, Ukraine (now Bilozerka, Kherson Oblast, Ukraine) in 1920. Bondarchuk spent his childhood in Southern Ukraine, then in Southern Russia in the cities of Yeysk and Taganrog. Young Bondarchuk was fond of theatre and books by such authors as Anton Chekhov and Leo Tolstoy. As a schoolboy in Taganrog, he made his acting debut in 1937 on the stage of the Chekhov Drama Theatre. From 1938 on he studied at the Rostov-on-Don theater school. In 1942 his studies were interrupted by the Nazi invasion during WWII. Bondarchuk was recruited for the Red Army to fight against Nazi Germany and served for four years. After being discharged from the army in 1946, in the acting department at the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow, where he studied under Sergey Gerasimov., graduating as an actor from the class of Sergei Gerasimov. In 1948 he made his film debut in the war drama Povest o nastoyashchem cheloveke/Story of a Real Man (Aleksandr Stolper, 1949) then co-starred in another war drama Molodaya gvardiya/The Young Guard (Sergei Gerasimov, 1949). In 1949 he married actress Inna Makarova. They had two children, including the actress Natalya Bondarchuk, but they divorced in 1956. For his title role in Taras Shevchenko (Aleksandr Alov, Vladimir Naumov, Igor Savchenko, 1952), Bondarchuk won the Stalin Prize, and was also designated People's Artist of the USSR. At the age of 32, he was the youngest Soviet actor ever to receive this honor. Then he played the title role in the internationally renowned adaptation of William Shakespeare's Otello/Othello (Sergei Yutkevich, 1956). Irina Skobtseva appeared opposite him as Desdemona, and four years later, the two actors married. Bondarchuk expressed his own experience as a soldier of WWII when he starred in Sudba cheloveka/Destiny of a Man (Sergei Bondarchuk, 1959) about an ordinary, unheroic soldier struggling to survive in a German POW camp. He had played the role before in a televised version of a short story by Mikhail Sholokhov, but he was so unhappy with the result that he decided to direct a film version himself. His compelling performance and internationally acclaimed directorial debut earned him the top prize at that year's Moscow Film Festival and the prestigious Lenin Prize of the USSR in 1960.

 

Sergey Bondarchuk shot to international fame with the astonishing epic Voyna i mir/War and Peace (Sergey Bondarchuk, 1965-1967), based on the famous novel by Leo Tolstoy. He both directed and played Pierre Bezukhov opposite a very impressive Lyudmila Savelyeva as Natasha Rostova. The film took seven years to complete (from 1961 till 1968) and on the original release, it totaled more than ten hours of cinema. The Russian release was in two mammoth parts, totaling 507 minutes. For the US cinemas, the film was edited in four parts with a total of seven hours. The film involved over three hundred professional actors from several countries and also tens of thousands of extras from the Red Army in the filming of the 3rd two-hour-long episode about the historic Battle of Borodino against the Napoleon's invasion. The film was shot in 70mm wide-screen and colour and Bondarchuk made history by introducing several remote-controlled cameras that were moving on 300 meter long wires above the scene of the battlefield. Remarkable were also his extensive pans, sometimes 360 degrees. With an estimated cost of $100,000,000 (over $800,000,000 adjusted for inflation in 2010, according to Steve Shelokhonov at IMDb), it was the most expensive project in film history. It won Bondarchuk the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1969, and a reputation of one of the finest directors of his generation. After this victory, he starred with Yul Brynner, Hardy Krüger, Franco Nero, Sylva Koscina, and Orson Welles in the Yugoslav epic Bitka na Neretvi/Battle of Neretva (Veljko Bulajic, 1969). Although he was now the most awarded actor and director in the Soviet Union, he was not a member of the Soviet Communist Party. Soon Bondarchuk received an official recommendation to join the Communist Party. To prevent running into hurdles with the Soviet government, he joined the Party in 1970. A year later, he was appointed president of the Union of Cinematographers, a semi-government post in the Soviet system of politically controlled culture. In 1970 he also began teaching drama at VGIK while continuing to direct and act.

 

Sergey Bondarchuk’s first English language film was the big-budget Russian-Italian co-production Waterloo (Sergey Bondarchuk, 1970), co-produced by Dino De Laurentiis. In the cast were Rod Steiger as Napoleon, Christopher Plummer, Jack Hawkins, and several Russian actors including Sergo Zaqariadze, Yevgeni Samojlov, and Oleg Vidov. Orson Welles made a cameo as the old King Louis XVII of France. The result was remarkable for its masterly reconstruction of the final battle of Napoleon, but the film failed at the box office although it got favorable reviews. In 1975 Bondarchuk directed another war drama, Oni srazhalis za rodinu/They Fought for Their Country (Sergey Bondarchuk, 1975) with Vasili Shukshin, which was entered into the Cannes Film Festival. Then followed the two-part Krasnye kolokola/Red Bells (Sergei Bondarchuk, 1982-1983) starring Franco Nero and Ursula Andress. This chronicle about the 1917 Russian Revolution was based on Ten Days that Shook the World, by American journalist John Reed, who had been portrayed a year earlier by Warren Beatty in Reds (Warren Beatty, 1981). Bondarchuk’s next film, Boris Godunov (Sergey Bondarchuk, 1986) based on the play by Alexander Pushkin, was also screened at Cannes, but the cultural climate had changed. It was now the time of the liberalization of the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev. In the Russian cinema, Bondarchuk had become a symbol of conservatism. Steve Shelokhonov writes at IMDb that through the 1970s and 1980s Bondarchuk had “evolved into a politically controlled figure and turned to make such politically charged films”. So he was voted out as president of the Union of Cinematographers in 1986. Bondarchuk's last feature film was an epic TV version of Tikhiy Don/Quiet Flows the Don (Sergey Bondarchuk, 2006) based on the eponymous novel by Nobel Prize winner Mikhail Sholokhov, starring Rupert Everett. It was filmed in 1992-1993 but premiered on Russian television only in November 2006. At the end of filming, just before post-production, Bondarchuk learned about unfavorable clauses in his contract. It lead to a bitter dispute with the producers over the rights to the film. Amidst this legal battle, the production was stopped and the film remained unedited in a bank vault, even after his death. Bondarchuk suffered a heart attack in 1994 and died in Moscow at the age of 74. His death caused considerable mourning in Russia. Bondarchuk was survived by his second wife, actress Irina Skobtseva and their children, actress Alyona Bondarchuk, and actor/director Fyodor Bondarchuk. His eldest daughter, actress Natalya Bondarchuk is best known for her role in Andrei Tarkovsky's masterpiece Solaris. His son, Fyodor who had appeared with him in Boris Godunov, dedicated his directorial debut, 9 rota/The 9th Company (Fyodor Bondarchuk, 2005) to his father. The film is set in war-torn Afghanistan, whereas Sergey's directorial debut was set in WWII. In 2007, his ex-wife Inna Makarova unveiled a bronze statue of Sergey Bondarchuk in his native Yeysk.

 

Sources: Steve Shelokhonov (IMDb), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Encyclopaedia Brittanica, TCM, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

buttercream covered white chocolate mud cake with fondant flowers and bow for a 90th birthday

Citadel Park Passeig de Picasso Barcelone Catalonia Spain

Citadel Park is a park on the northeastern edge of Ciutat Vella, Barcelona, Catalonia. For decades following its creation in the mid-19th century, this park was the city's only green space. The 70 acres (280,000 m2) grounds include the city zoo (once home to the albino gorilla Snowflake, who died in 2004), the Parliament of Catalonia, a small lake, museums, and a large fountain designed by Josep Fontserè (with possible contributions by the young Antoni Gaudí).

Locations

Citadel

In 1714, during the War of the Spanish Succession, Barcelona was laid siege for 13 months by the army of Philip V of Spain. The city fell, and in order to maintain control over it, and to prevent the Catalans from rebelling as they had in the previous century, Philip V built the citadel of Barcelona, at that time the largest fortress in Europe.

A substantial part of the district it was constructed in (La Ribera) was destroyed to obtain the necessary space, leaving its inhabitants homeless. The fortress was characterized by having five corners, which gave the citadel defensive power, and by a rather wide surrounding margin, serving as location for the army's cannons. It included enough buildings to house 8,000 people.

Hundreds of Catalonians were forced to work on the construction for three years, while the rest of the city provided financial backing for this and for warfare-related expenses as well, with a new tax named el cadestre. Three decades later a quarter was rebuilt around the fortress named Barceloneta, which is located inside the neighborhood Ciutat Vella.

In 1841 the city's authorities decided to destroy the fortress, which was hated by Barcelona's citizens. Yet two years later, in 1843, under the regime of Maria Cristina, the citadel was restored. In 1848, after Maria Cristina's abdication and as the citadel lost its use, General Espartero razed most of the buildings within the fortress as well as its walls by bombarding it from the nearby mountain fortress Montjuic, which helped him gain political popularity. By 1869, as the political climate liberalised enough to permit it, General Prim decided to turn over what was left of the fortress to the city and some buildings were demolished under Catalan orders, for it was viewed as by the citizens as a much-hated symbol of central Spanish government.

The chapel (now the Military Parish Church of Barcelona), the Governor's palace (now Verdaguer Secondary School), and the arsenal (now home to the Catalan Parliament) remain, with the rest of the site being turned into the contemporary park by the architect Josep Fontsére in 1872. Nineteen years later, in 1888, Barcelona held the Exposición Universal de Barcelona extravaganza, inspired by Mayor Rius i Taulet, and the park was redesigned with the addition of sculptures and other complementary works of art. This marked the conclusion of the old provincial and unprogressive Barcelona and the establishment of a modern cosmopolitan city. From that point until 1892, half of the park's layout was enhanced again in order to obtain sufficient space for the zoo. The park's bandstand, Glorieta de la Transsexual Sònia, is dedicated to a transsexual, Sonia Rescalvo Zafra, who was murdered there on 6 October 1991 by right-wing extremists.

Cascada

The lake in the Parc de la Ciutadella

The Cascada (waterfall or cascade in Spanish) is located at the northern corner of the park opposite to the lake. It was first inaugurated in 1881 without sculptures or any meticulous details, and was thereby criticized by the press, after which this triumphal arch was thoroughly amended by the addition of a fountain and some minor attributes, which required six years of construction from 1882 to 1888, and was thenceforth put on display at the Universal Exhibition, and hitherto not been redesigned. It was erected by Josep Fontsére and to a small extent by Antoni Gaudí, who at that time was still an unknown student of architecture. Fontsére aimed to loosely make it bear resemblance to the Trevi Fountain of Rome. Two enormous pincers of gigantic crabs serve as stairs to access a small podium located in the centre of the monument. In front of it a sculpture (designed by Venanci Vallmitjana) of Venus standing on an open clam was placed. The whole cascade is divided in two levels. From the podium on a path leads to the Feminine Sculpture and to the northeastern corner of the park, and upon following the route down the stairs the fountain's pond is rounded and the southern tip of the artifact is reached.

Zoo

The zoo's main entrance

The zoo of Barcelona is located in the park of the ciutadella due to the availability of a few buildings which were left empty after the Universal Exposition of 1888. It was inaugurated in 1892, during the day of the Mercé, the patron saint of the city. The first animals were donated by Lluís Martí i Codolar to the municipality of Barcelona, which gratefully approved of their accommodation in the zoo.

Nowadays, with one of the most substantial collections of animals in Europe, the zoo affirms that their aim is to conserve, investigate, and educate.

From 1966 to 2003 the zoo was home to the famous albino gorilla Snowflake, who attracted many international tourists and locals.

Apart from the usual visits, different types of guided tours or other activities are offered, like for example 20 types of diversionary workshops, excursions and fieldtrips for schoolchildren, or personnel training and educational courses in zoology for adults. More than 50,000 children visit the zoo on an annual basis, which is the reason for the zoo's emphasis on education.

Museum of Natural Science

 

The facade of the zoology museum of Barcelona

 

Ceramics on the facade of the zoology museum of Barcelona

The Museum of Natural Science, sited in the park, comprises a museum of zoology and a museum of geology.

The museum of zoology was constructed for the Exposición Universal de Barcelona (1888) by the architect Lluís Doménech i Montaner to serve as an exhibition. Most of the building is constructed of red brick. The most popular displays are the skeleton of a whale and exhibits dedicated for smaller children. The institute's stated aims are to enhance knowledge and conservation of the natural diversity of Catalonia and its surroundings, to promote public education on the natural world, to transmit ethical values of respect for nature, and to stimulate informed debate on the issues and environmental problems that concern society. The museum has permanent exhibitions on the subject of mineralogy, petrology and paleontology; the volcanic region of Olot; minerals' secret colors; the animal kingdom; urban birds; and an apiary.

The museum of geology is a legacy of the scientist Francisco Martorell i Peña (1822–1878), who donated his whole collection of artifacts of cultural and archeological importance, his scientific library, and an amount of 125,000 pesetas to the city for the purpose of creating a new museum. The building, built during the same year and named the Corporación Municipal, was designed by Antoni Rivas i Trias.

My first picture and my most recent

 

Neil Young / Decade

Compilation Album

Side one:

- "Down to the Wire" – 2:28

Previously unreleased (1967); performed with Buffalo Springfield members Stephen Stills and Richie Furay along with Dr. John; planned for inclusion on the unreleased album Stampede

- "Burned" – 2:15

Performed by Buffalo Springfield; appears on the album Buffalo Springfield (1966)

- "Mr. Soul" – 2:48

Performed by Buffalo Springfield; recorded live in the studio in New York City, New York, with guitar overdubs added subsequently; appears on the album Buffalo Springfield Again (1967)

- "Broken Arrow" – 6:11

Performed by Buffalo Springfield; appears on the album Buffalo Springfield Again

- "Expecting to Fly" – 3:45

Appears on the album Buffalo Springfield Again but no band member other than Neil Young appears on the track.

- "Sugar Mountain" – 5:43

Recorded live in concert on November 10, 1968, at the Canterbury House, Ann Arbor, Michigan; released as the B-side to "The Loner", February 21, 1969

Side two:

- "I Am a Child" – 2:17

Appears on the Buffalo Springfield album Last Time Around (1968) but features no members of the band other than Neil Young and drummer Dewey Martin

- "The Loner" – 3:50

Appears on the album Neil Young (1968)

- "The Old Laughing Lady" – 5:59

Appears on the album Neil Young

- "Cinnamon Girl" – 2:59

Performed by Neil Young & Crazy Horse; appears on the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969)

- "Down by the River" – 9:16

Performed by Neil Young & Crazy Horse; appears on the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

Side three:

- "Cowgirl in the Sand" – 10:01

Performed by Neil Young & Crazy Horse; appears on the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

- "I Believe in You" – 3:27

Performed by Neil Young & Crazy Horse; appears on the album After the Gold Rush (1970)

- "After the Gold Rush" – 3:45

Appears on the album After the Gold Rush

- "Southern Man" – 5:31

Appears on the album After the Gold Rush

- "Helpless" – 3:34

Performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; appears on the album Déjà Vu (1970)

Side four:

"Ohio" – 2:56

Performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; released as a single, June 1970 and later appeared on So Far, 1974

- "Soldier" – 2:28

Edited version originally from the album Journey Through the Past (1972)

- "Old Man" – 3:21

Appears on the album Harvest (1972)

- "A Man Needs a Maid" – 3:58

- "Harvest" – 3:08

Appears on the album Harvest

- "Heart of Gold" – 3:06

Appears on the album Harvest

- "Star of Bethlehem" – 2:46

Appears on the album American Stars 'n Bars (1977); originally recorded in November 1974

Side five:

- "The Needle and the Damage Done" – 2:02

Recorded live in concert on January 30, 1971, at the Royce Hall, University of California, Westwood, Los Angeles; appears on the album Harvest

- "Tonight's the Night" (Part 1) – 4:41

Appears on the album Tonight's the Night (1975); originally recorded in 1973

- "Tired Eyes" – 4:33

Appears on the album Tonight's the Night

- "Walk On" – 2:40

Appears on the album On the Beach (1974)

- "For the Turnstiles" – 3:01

Appears on the album On the Beach

- "Winterlong" – 3:05

Previously unreleased; appeared on certain acetate pressings of Tonight's the Night

- "Deep Forbidden Lake" – 3:39

Previously unreleased

Side six:

- "Like a Hurricane" – 8:16

Performed by Neil Young & Crazy Horse; previously unreleased (but originally recorded in November 1975)

- "Love Is a Rose" – 2:16

Previously unreleased; later released on Homegrown (2020)

- "Cortez the Killer" – 7:29

Performed by Neil Young & Crazy Horse; appears on the album Zuma (1975)

- "Campaigner" – 3:30

Previously unreleased; unedited version later released on Hitchhiker (2017)

- "Long May You Run" – 3:48

Performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; previously unreleased; original mix (without Crosby and Nash) appears on the Stills-Young Band album Long May You Run (1976)

sleeve design: photo

Label: Warner Bros. Records / 1977

ex Vinyl-Collection MTP

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decade_(Neil_Young_album)

Graduated to comfy shoes now.

World Expo Floriade Almere, the Netherlands, 2022

Holland's once-in-a-decade World's Fair of horticulture will run from April to October, 2022, with exhibitions from more than 30 countries. Design: MVRDV, Architects

Floriade, the World's Fair of horticultural shows, is the largest public event in the Netherlands. The exhibition, which takes place only once every 10 years, will make its third appearance of the 21st Century from April to October, 2022.

The Expo's location will move from Venlo (2011) to Almere, a new town near Amsterdam that was built on land reclaimed from the sea. The theme of the show will be "Growing Green Cities"--an appropriate motto, given that the site will become a new sustainable urban district named Hortus after Floriade shuts down in October, 2022.

In 2021 the Nederlandse Tuinbouwraad (NTR) announced the city of Almere as winner of the prestigious world horticultural expo which takes place once every ten years in the Netherlands. The MVRDV plan for Almere is not a temporary expo site but a lasting green Cité Idéale as an extension to the existing city centre. The waterfront site opposite the city centre will be developed as a vibrant new urban neighbourhood and also a giant plant library which will remain beyond the expo. The ambition is to create a 300% greener exhibition than currently standard, both literally green and sustainable: each program on the site will be combined with plants which will create programmatic surprises, innovation and ecology. At the same time the site will be with a vast program such as a university, hotel, marina, offices and homes more urban than any other Floriade has ever been before, it is an exemplary green city.

Amsterdam’s metropolitan area stands at the verge of a large population growth. Within this development the city of Almere will realise the largest new developments with 60.000 new homes. Almere has the ambition to realise the urban growth with improved life quality for its citizens. MVRDV is already urban planner for Almere 2030 and the DIY urbanism plan for Almere Oosterwold and now proposes the extension of Almere city centre opposite the existing centre, transforming the lake into a central lake and connecting the various neighbourhoods of the Dutch new town. The plan foresees a dense exemplary and green city centre extension which at the same time is for now very flexible: An invitation to the Floriade organiser NTR to develop the plan further with the city.

Almere Floriade will be a grid of gardens on a 45ha square shaped peninsula. Each block will be devoted to different plants, a plant library with perhaps an alphabetical order. The blocks are also devoted to program, from pavilions to homes, offices and even a university which will be organised as a stacked botanical garden, a vertical eco-system in which each class room will have a different climate to grow certain plants. The city will offer homes in orchards, offices with planted interiors and bamboo parks. The Expo and new city centre will be a place that produces food and energy, a green urban district which shows in great detail how plants enrich every aspect of daily life.

Program selection:

45 ha city entre extension with panorama tower, green housing exhibition (22.000 m2/115 homes) 30.000 m2 hotel, university (10.000 m2), conference centre (12.000 m2) various expo pavilions (25.000 m2) smart green house (4.000 m2), care home (3.000 m2), childrens expo, marina, forest, open air theatre, camping and other facilities (25.000 m2).

 

The original facade has once again been revealed after decades behind a 1960s screen.

The Postcard

 

A postally unused postcard that was published by The South African Garrison Institutes. The card was printed by Whitehead, Morris & Co. Ltd. of Cape Town. The card has a divided back.

 

Windhoek

 

Windhoek is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around 1,700 metres (5,600 ft) above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre.

 

The population of Windhoek in 2020 was 431,000 which is growing continuously due to an influx from all over Namibia.

 

Windhoek is the social, economic, political, and cultural centre of the country. Nearly every Namibian national enterprise, governmental body, educational and cultural institution is headquartered there.

 

The city developed at the site of a permanent hot spring known to the indigenous pastoral communities. It developed rapidly after Jonker Afrikaner, Captain of the Orlam, settled here in 1840 and built a stone church for his community.

 

In the decades following, multiple wars and armed hostilities resulted in the neglect and destruction of the new settlement. Windhoek was founded a second time in 1890 by Imperial German Army Major Curt von François, when the territory was colonised by the German Empire.

 

Herero and Nama Genocide

 

The Herero and Nama genocide was a campaign of ethnic extermination and collective punishment waged by the German Empire against the Herero and the Nama in German South West Africa.

 

It was the first genocide of the 20th. century, occurring between 1904 and 1908.

 

In January 1904, the Herero and Nama people rebelled against German colonial rule. On the 12th. January they killed more than 100 German settlers in the area of Okahandja, although women, children, missionaries and non-German Europeans were spared.

 

In August, German General Lothar von Trotha defeated the Hereros in the Battle of Waterberg and drove them into the desert of Omaheke, where most of them died of dehydration. In October, the Nama people also rebelled against the Germans, only to suffer a similar fate.

 

Between 24,000 and 100,000 Hereros and 10,000 Nama died in the genocide. The first phase of the genocide was characterised by widespread death from starvation and dehydration, due to the prevention of the Herero from leaving the Namib desert by German forces.

 

Once defeated, thousands of Hereros and Namas were imprisoned in concentration camps, where the majority died of diseases, abuse, and exhaustion.

 

In 1985, the United Nations' Whitaker Report classified the aftermath as an attempt to exterminate the Herero and Nama peoples of South West Africa.

 

In 2004, the German government recognised and apologised for the events, but ruled out financial compensation for the victims' descendants.

 

In July 2015, the German government and the speaker of the Bundestag officially called the events a "genocide". However, it still refused to consider reparations. Despite this, the last batch of skulls and other remains of slaughtered tribesmen which were taken to Germany to promote racial superiority were taken back to Namibia in 2018.

 

In May 2021, the German government agreed to pay €1.1 billion over 30 years to fund projects in communities that were impacted by the genocide.

 

Background to the Genocide

 

The Herero, who speak a Bantu language, were originally a group of cattle herders who migrated into what is now Namibia during the mid-18th. century. The Herero seized vast swaths of the arable upper plateaus which were ideal for cattle grazing.

 

Agricultural duties, which were minimal, were assigned to enslaved Khoisan and Bushmen. Over the rest of the 18th. century, the Herero slowly drove the Khoisan into the dry, rugged hills to the south and east.

 

The Hereros were a pastoral people whose entire way of life centred on their cattle. The Herero language, while limited in its vocabulary for most areas, contains more than a thousand words for the colours and markings of cattle. The Hereros were content to live in peace as long as their cattle were safe and well-pastured, but became formidable warriors when their cattle were threatened.

 

According to Robert Gaudi:

 

"The newcomers, much taller and more fiercely warlike

than the indigenous Khoisan people, were possessed

of the fierceness that comes from basing one's way of

life on a single source: everything they valued, all wealth

and personal happiness, had to do with cattle.

Regarding the care and protection of their herds, the

Herero showed themselves utterly merciless, and far

more 'savage' than the Khoisan had ever been.

Because of their dominant ways and elegant bearing,

the few Europeans who encountered Herero tribesmen

in the early days regarded them as the region's 'natural

aristocrats.'"

 

By the time of the Scramble for Africa, the area which was occupied by the Herero was known as Damaraland.

 

The Nama were pastorals and traders, and lived to the south of the Herero. 

 

In 1883, Adolf Lüderitz, a German merchant, purchased a stretch of coast near Lüderitz Bay (Angra Pequena) from the reigning chief. The terms of the purchase were fraudulent, but the German government nonetheless established a protectorate over it. At that time, it was the only overseas German territory deemed suitable for European settlement.

 

Chief of the neighbouring Herero, Maherero rose to power by uniting all the Herero. Faced with repeated attacks by the Khowesin, a clan of the Khoekhoe under Hendrik Witbooi, he signed a protection treaty on the 21st. October 1885 with Imperial Germany's colonial governor Heinrich Ernst Göring (father of World War I flying ace and World War II convicted war criminal Hermann Göring), but did not cede the land of the Herero.

 

This treaty was renounced in 1888 due to lack of German support against Witbooi, but it was reinstated in 1890.

 

The Herero leaders repeatedly complained about violation of this treaty, as Herero women and girls were raped by Germans, a crime that the German judges and prosecutors were reluctant to punish.

 

In 1890 Maherero's son, Samuel, signed a great deal of land over to the Germans in return for helping him to ascend to the Herero throne, and to subsequently be established as paramount chief.

 

German involvement in ethnic fighting ended in tenuous peace in 1894.  In that year, Theodor Leutwein became governor of the territory, which underwent a period of rapid development, while the German government sent the Schutztruppe (imperial colonial troops) to pacify the region.

 

German Colonial Policy

 

Both German colonial authorities and European settlers envisioned a predominately white "new African Germany," wherein the native populations would be put onto reservations and their land distributed among settlers and companies.

 

Under German colonial rule, colonists were encouraged to seize land and cattle from the native Herero and Nama peoples and to subjugate them as slave laborers. 

 

Resentment understandably brewed among the native populations over their loss of status and property to German ranchers arriving in South West Africa, and the dismantling of traditional political hierarchies. Previously ruling tribes were reduced to the same status as the other tribes they had previously ruled over and enslaved. This resentment contributed to the Herero Wars that began in 1904.

 

Major Theodor Leutwein, the Governor of German South West Africa, was well aware of the effect of the German colonial rule on the Hereros. He later wrote :

 

"The Hereros from early years were a freedom-loving

people, courageous and proud beyond measure. On

the one hand, there was the progressive extension of

German rule over them, and on the other their own

sufferings increasing from year to year."

 

The Dietrich Case

 

In January 1903, a German trader named Dietrich was walking from his homestead to the nearby town of Omaruru to buy a new horse. Halfway to Dietrich's destination, a wagon carrying the son of a Herero chief, his wife, and their son stopped by. As a common courtesy in Hereroland, the chief's son offered Dietrich a ride.

 

That night, however, Dietrich got very drunk and after everyone was asleep, he attempted to rape the wife of the chief's son. When she resisted, Dietrich shot her dead.

 

When he was tried for murder in Windhoek, Dietrich denied attempting to rape his victim. He alleged that he awoke thinking the camp was under attack, and had fired blindly into the darkness. The killing of the Herero woman, he claimed, was an unfortunate accident. The court acquitted him, alleging that Dietrich was suffering from "tropical fever" and temporary insanity.

 

The murder aroused extraordinary interest in Hereroland, especially since the murdered woman had been the wife of the son of a Chief and the daughter of another. Everywhere the question was asked:

 

"Have white people the right

to shoot native women?"

 

Governor Leutwein intervened. He made the Public Prosecutor appeal Dietrich's acquittal. A second trial took place (before the colony's supreme court), and this time Dietrich was found guilty of manslaughter and imprisoned.

 

The move prompted violent objections of German settlers who considered Leutwein a "race traitor".

 

Rising Tension

 

In 1903, some of the Nama clans rose in revolt under the leadership of Hendrik Witbooi. A number of factors led the Herero to join them in January 1904.

 

(a) Land Rights

 

One of the major issues was land rights. In 1903 the Herero learned of a plan to divide their territory with a railway line and to set up reservations where they would be concentrated.

 

The Herero had already ceded more than a quarter of their 130,000 km2 (50,000 sq mi) territory to German colonists by 1903,  before the Otavi railway line running from the African coast to inland German settlements was completed.

 

Completion of this line would have made the German colonies much more accessible, and would have ushered in a new wave of Europeans into the area.

 

Historian Horst Drechsler states that there was discussion of establishing and placing the Herero in native reserves, and that this was further proof of the German colonists' sense of ownership over the land.

 

Drechsler illustrates the gap between the rights of a European and an African; the Reichskolonialbund (German Colonial League) held that, in regards to legal matters, the testimony of seven Africans was equivalent to that of one colonist.

 

(b) Racial Tensions

 

There were also racial tensions underlying these developments; the average German colonist viewed native Africans as a lowly source of cheap labour, and others welcomed their extermination.  The German settlers often referred to black Africans as "baboons" and treated them with contempt.

 

One missionary reported:

 

"The real cause of the bitterness among the Hereros

toward the Germans is without question the fact that

the average German looks down upon the natives as

being about on the same level as the higher primates

('baboon' being their favourite term for the natives),

and treat them like animals.

The settler holds that the native has a right to exist only

in so far as he is useful to the white man. This sense of

contempt led the settlers to commit violence against

the Hereros."

 

The contempt manifested itself particularly in the concubinage of native women. In a practice referred to in Südwesterdeutsch as Verkafferung, native women were taken by male European traders and ranchers both willingly and by force.

 

(c) Debt Collection

 

A new policy on debt collection, enforced in November 1903, also played a role in the uprising. For many years, the Herero population had fallen in the habit of borrowing money from colonist moneylenders at extremely high interest rates.

 

For a long time, much of this debt went uncollected, and it accumulated, as most Herero had no means to pay. In order to correct this growing problem, Governor Leutwein decreed with good intentions that all debts not paid within the following year would be voided.

 

In the absence of hard cash, traders often seized cattle, or whatever objects of value they could get their hands on, as collateral. This fostered a feeling of resentment towards the Germans on the part of the Herero people. Resentment escalated to hopelessness when they saw that German officials were sympathetic to the moneylenders who were about to lose what they were owed.

 

Revolts

 

In 1903, the Hereros saw an opportunity to revolt. At that time, there was a distant Khoisan tribe in the south called the Bondelzwarts, who resisted German demands to register their guns. The Bondelzwarts engaged in a firefight with the German authorities which led to three Germans being killed and a fourth wounded.

 

The situation deteriorated further, and the governor of the Herero colony, Major Theodor Leutwein, went south to take personal command, leaving almost no troops in the north.

 

The Herero revolted in early 1904, killing between 123 and 150 German settlers, as well as seven Boers and three women, in what Nils Ole Oermann calls a "desperate surprise attack".

 

The timing of their attack was carefully planned. After successfully asking a large Herero clan to surrender their weapons, Governor Leutwein was convinced that they and the rest of the native population were essentially pacified, and so withdrew half of the German troops stationed in the colony.

 

Led by Chief Samuel Maherero, the Herero surrounded Okahandja and cut railroad and telegraph links to Windhoek, the colonial capital.

 

Maharero then issued a manifesto in which he forbade his troops to kill any Englishmen, Boers, uninvolved peoples, women and children in general, or German missionaries. 

 

The Herero revolts catalysed a separate revolt and attack on Fort Namutoni in the north of the country a few weeks later by the Ondonga.

 

A Herero warrior interviewed by German authorities in 1895 had described his people's traditional way of dealing with suspected cattle rustlers, a treatment which, during the uprising, was regularly extended to German soldiers and civilians:

 

"We came across a few Khoisan whom of course

we killed. I myself helped to kill one of them.

-- First we cut off his ears, saying, 'You will never

hear Herero cattle lowing.'

-- Then we cut off his nose, saying, 'Never again

shall you smell Herero cattle.'

-- And then we cut off his lips, saying, 'You shall

never again taste Herero cattle.'

And finally we cut his throat."

 

According to Robert Gaudi:

 

"Leutwein knew that the wrath of the German Empire

was about to fall on them and hoped to soften the

blow. He sent desperate messages to Chief Samuel

Maherero in hopes of negotiating an end to the war.

In this, Leutwein acted on his own, heedless of the

prevailing mood in Germany, which called for bloody

revenge."

 

The Hereros, however, were emboldened by their success and had come to believe that the Germans were too cowardly to fight in the open. They rejected Leutwein's offers of peace.

 

One missionary wrote:

 

"The Germans are filled with fearful hate. I must really

call it a blood thirst against the Hereros. One hears

nothing but talk of 'cleaning up,' 'executing,' 'shooting

down to the last man,' 'no pardon,' etc."

 

According to Robert Gaudi:

 

"The Germans suffered more than defeat in the early

months of 1904; they suffered humiliation, their brilliant

modern army unable to defeat a rabble of 'half-naked

savages.'

Cries in the Reichstag, and from the Kaiser himself, for

total eradication of the Hereros grew strident. When a

leading member of the Social Democratic Party pointed

out that the Hereros were as human as any German and

possessed immortal souls, he was howled down by the

entire conservative side of the legislature."

 

Leutwein was forced to request reinforcements and an experienced officer from the German government in Berlin. Lieutenant-General Lothar von Trotha was appointed commander-in-chief (German: Oberbefehlshaber) of South West Africa, arriving with an expeditionary force of 10,000 troops on the 11th. June 1904.

 

Leutwein was subordinate to the civilian Colonial Department of the Prussian Foreign Office, which was supported by Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow, while General Trotha reported to the military German General Staff, which was supported by Emperor Wilhelm II.

 

Leutwein wanted to defeat the most determined Herero rebels and negotiate a surrender with the remainder in order to achieve a political settlement.  Trotha, however, planned to crush the native resistance through military force. He stated that:

 

"My intimate knowledge of many central African

nations (Bantu and others) has everywhere

convinced me of the necessity that the Negro

does not respect treaties, but only brute force."

 

By late spring of 1904, German troops were pouring into the colony. In August 1904, the main Herero forces were surrounded and crushed at the Battle of Waterberg. 

 

Genocide

 

In 1900, Kaiser Wilhelm II had been enraged by the killing of Baron Clemens von Ketteler, the Imperial German minister plenipotentiary in Beijing, during the Boxer Rebellion. The Kaiser took it as a personal insult from a people he viewed as racially inferior, all the more because of his obsession with the "Yellow Peril".

 

On the 27th. July 1900, the Kaiser gave the infamous Hunnenrede (Hun speech) in Bremerhaven to German soldiers being sent to Imperial China, ordering them to show the Boxers no mercy, and to behave like Attila's Huns.

 

General von Trotha had served in China, and was chosen in 1904 to command the expedition to German South West Africa precisely because of his record in China.

 

In 1904, the Kaiser was made furious by the latest revolt in his colonial empire by a people whom he also viewed as inferior, and took the Herero rebellion as a personal insult, just as he had viewed the Boxers' assassination of Baron von Ketteler.

 

The tactless and bloodthirsty language that Wilhelm II used about the Herero people in 1904 is strikingly similar to the language he had used about the Chinese Boxers in 1900. Nevertheless, the Kaiser denied, together with Chancellor von Bülow, von Trotha's request to quickly quell the rebellion.

 

No written order by Wilhelm II ordering or authorising genocide has survived. In February 1945 an Allied bombing raid destroyed the building housing all of the documents of the Prussian Army from the Imperial period.

 

Despite this fact, surviving documents indicate that Trotha used the same tactics in Namibia that he had used in China, only on a much vaster scale. It is also known that throughout the genocide, Trotha sent regular reports to both the General Staff and to the Kaiser.

 

Historian Jeremy-Sarkin Hughes believes that regardless of whether or not a written order was given, the Kaiser must have given General von Trotha verbal orders. According to Hughes, the fact that Trotha was decorated and not court-martialed after the genocide had become public knowledge lends support to the thesis that he was acting under orders.

 

General von Trotha stated his proposed solution to end the resistance of the Herero people in a letter, before the Battle of Waterberg:

 

"I believe that the nation as such should be annihilated,

or, if this is not possible by tactical measures, have to be

expelled from the country. This will be possible if the water-

holes from Grootfontein to Gobabis are occupied.

The constant movement of our troops will enable us to

find the small groups of this nation who have moved

backwards, and destroy them gradually."

 

Trotha's troops defeated 3,000–5,000 Herero combatants at the Battle of Waterberg on 11th. and 12th. August 1904, but were unable to encircle and annihilate the retreating survivors. 

 

The pursuing German forces prevented groups of Herero from breaking from the main body of the fleeing force, and pushed them further into the desert. As exhausted Herero fell to the ground, unable to go on, German soldiers killed men, women, and children. Jan Cloete, acting as a guide for the Germans, witnessed the atrocities committed by the German troops, and deposed the following statement: 

 

"I was present when the Herero were defeated in a

battle in the vicinity of Waterberg. After the battle all

men, women, and children who fell into German hands,

wounded or otherwise, were mercilessly put to death.

Then the Germans set off in pursuit of the rest, and all

those found by the wayside and in the sandveld were

shot down and bayoneted to death.

The mass of the Herero men were unarmed and thus

unable to offer resistance. They were just trying to get

away with their cattle."

 

A portion of the Herero escaped the Germans and went to the Omaheke Desert, hoping to reach British Bechuanaland; fewer than 1,000 Herero managed to get there, where they were granted asylum by the British authorities.

 

To prevent them from returning, Trotha ordered the desert to be sealed off. German patrols later found skeletons around holes 13 m (43 ft) deep that had been dug in a vain attempt to find water. Some sources also state that the German colonial army systematically poisoned desert water wells.

 

Maherero and 500–1,500 men crossed the Kalahari into Bechuanaland where he was accepted as a vassal of the Batswana chief Sekgoma.

 

On the 2nd. October 1904, Trotha issued a warning to the Herero:

 

"I, the great general of the German soldiers, send this

letter to the Herero. The Herero are German subjects

no longer. They have killed, stolen, cut off the ears

and other parts of the body of wounded soldiers, and

now are too cowardly to want to fight any longer.

I announce to the people that whoever hands me one

of the chiefs shall receive 1,000 marks, and 5,000

marks for Samuel Maherero.

The Herero nation must now leave the country. If it

refuses, I shall compel it to do so with the 'long tube'

[cannon].

Any Herero found inside the German frontier, with or

without a gun or cattle, will be executed. I shall spare

neither women nor children. I shall give the order to

drive them away and fire on them. Such are my words

to the Herero people."

 

Trotha further gave orders that:

 

"This proclamation is to be read to the troops at roll-call,

with the addition that the unit that catches a captain will

also receive the appropriate reward, and that the shooting

at women and children is to be understood as shooting

above their heads, so as to force them to run away.

I assume absolutely that this proclamation will result in

taking no more male prisoners, but will not degenerate

into atrocities against women and children. The latter will

run away if one shoots at them a couple of times. The

troops will remain conscious of the good reputation of

the German soldier." 

 

Trotha gave orders that captured Herero males were to be executed, while women and children were to be driven into the desert where their death from starvation and thirst was to be certain.

 

Trotha argued that there was no need to make exceptions for Herero women and children, since these would "infect German troops with their diseases."

 

Trotha explained that:

 

"The insurrection is and remains

the beginning of a racial struggle."

 

After the war, Trotha argued that his orders were necessary, writing in 1909 that:

 

"If I had made the small water holes accessible

to the womenfolk, I would run the risk of an African

catastrophe comparable to the Battle of Beresonia." 

 

The German general staff were aware of the atrocities that were taking place; its official publication, named Der Kampf, noted that:

 

"This bold enterprise shows up in the most brilliant

light the ruthless energy of the German command

in pursuing their beaten enemy.

No pains, no sacrifices were spared in eliminating

the last remnants of enemy resistance. Like a

wounded beast the enemy was tracked down from

one water-hole to the next, until finally he became

the victim of his own environment.

The arid Omaheke Desert was to complete what

the German army had begun: the extermination of

the Herero nation."

 

Alfred von Schlieffen (Chief of the Imperial German General Staff and architect of the Great War Schlieffen Plan) approved of Trotha's intentions in terms of a "racial struggle" and the need to wipe out the entire nation or to drive them out of the country, but had doubts about his strategy, preferring their surrender.

 

Governor Leutwein, later relieved of his duties, complained to Chancellor von Bülow about Trotha's actions, seeing the general's orders as intruding upon the civilian colonial jurisdiction, and ruining any chance of a political settlement. 

 

According to Professor Mahmood Mamdani of Columbia University, opposition to the policy of annihilation was largely due to the fact that colonial officials looked at the Herero people as a potential source of labour, and thus economically important.  For instance, Governor Leutwein wrote that:

 

"I do not concur with those fanatics who want to

see the Herero destroyed altogether. I would

consider such a move a grave mistake from an

economic point of view. We need the Herero as

cattle breeders, and especially as labourers.

 

Having no authority over the military, Chancellor Bülow could only advise Emperor Wilhelm II that:

 

"Trotha's actions are contrary to Christian and

humanitarian principle, economically devastating

and damaging to Germany's international

reputation". 

 

Upon the arrival of new orders at the end of 1904, prisoners were herded into labor camps, where they were given to private companies as slave labourers, or exploited as human guinea pigs in medical experiments.

 

Concentration Camps

 

Survivors of the massacre, the majority of whom were women and children, were eventually put in places like Shark Island concentration camp, where the German authorities forced them to work as slave labour for the German military and settlers.

 

All prisoners were categorised into groups fit and unfit for work, and pre-printed death certificates indicating "death by exhaustion following privation" were issued. The British government published their well-known account of the German genocide of the Nama and Herero peoples in 1918.

 

Many Herero and Nama died of disease, exhaustion, starvation and malnutrition. Estimates of the mortality rate at the camps are between 45% and 74%.

 

Food in the camps was extremely scarce, consisting of rice with no additions.  As the prisoners lacked pots and the rice they received was uncooked, it was indigestible. Horses and oxen that died in the camp were later distributed to the inmates as food. 

 

Dysentery and lung diseases were common.  Despite the living conditions, the prisoners were taken outside the camp every day for labour under harsh treatment by the German guards, while the sick were left without any medical assistance or nursing care.  Many Herero and Nama were worked to death.

 

Shootings, hangings, beatings, and other harsh treatment of the forced labourers (including use of sjamboks) were common. A sjambok is a long, stiff whip, originally made from rhinoceros hide.

 

A 28th. September 1905 article in the South African newspaper Cape Argus detailed some of the abuse with the heading:

 

"In German S. W. Africa: Further Startling

Allegations: Horrible Cruelty".

 

In an interview with Percival Griffith, "an accountant of profession, who owing to hard times, took up on transport work at Angra Pequena, Lüderitz", related his experiences:

 

"There are hundreds of them, mostly women and

children and a few old men. When they fall they are

sjamboked by the soldiers in charge of the gang,

with full force, until they get up.

On one occasion I saw a woman carrying a child

of under a year old slung at her back, and with a

heavy sack of grain on her head - she fell.

The corporal sjamboked her for certainly more

than four minutes and sjamboked the baby as well.

The woman struggled slowly to her feet, and went

on with her load.

She did not utter a sound the whole time, but the

baby cried very hard."

 

During the war, a number of people from the Cape (in modern-day South Africa) sought employment as transport riders for German troops in Namibia. Upon their return to the Cape, some of these people recounted their stories, including those of the imprisonment and genocide of the Herero and Nama people. Fred Cornell, an aspiring British diamond prospector, was in Lüderitz when the Shark Island concentration camp was being used. Cornell wrote of the camp:

 

"Cold – for the nights are often bitterly cold there –

hunger, thirst, exposure, disease and madness

claimed scores of victims every day, and cartloads

of their bodies were every day carted over to the

back beach, buried in a few inches of sand at low

tide, and as the tide came in the bodies went out,

food for the sharks."

 

Shark Island was the worst of the German South West African camps. Lüderitz lies in southern Namibia, flanked by desert and ocean. In the harbour lies Shark Island, which then was connected to the mainland by only a small causeway.

 

The island is now, as it was then, barren and characterised by solid rock carved into surreal formations by the ocean winds. The camp was placed on the far end of the relatively small island, where the prisoners would have suffered complete exposure to the strong winds that sweep Lüderitz for most of the year.

 

German Commander Ludwig von Estorff wrote in a report that approximately 1,700 prisoners (including 1,203 Nama) had died by April 1907.

 

In December 1906, four months after their arrival, 291 Nama died (a rate of more than nine people per day). Missionary reports put the death rate at 12–18 per day; as many as 80% of the prisoners sent to Shark Island eventually died there.

 

There are accusations of Herero women being coerced into sex slavery as a means of survival.

 

Trotha was opposed to contact between natives and settlers, believing that the insurrection was "the beginning of a racial struggle," and fearing that the colonists would be infected by native diseases. 

 

Benjamin Madley has concluded that although Shark Island is referred to as a concentration camp, it in fact functioned as an extermination camp or death camp.

 

Medical Experiments and Scientific Racism

 

Prisoners were used for medical experiments, and their illnesses or their recoveries from them were used for research.

 

Experiments on live prisoners were performed by Dr. Bofinger, who injected Herero who were suffering from scurvy with various substances including arsenic and opium; afterwards he researched the effects of these substances via autopsy.

 

Experimentation with the dead body parts of the prisoners was rife. Zoologist Leonhard Schultze (1872–1955) noted taking "body parts from fresh native corpses" which according to him, was "a welcome addition." He also noted that he could use prisoners for that purpose.

 

An estimated 300 skulls were sent to Germany for experimentation, in part from concentration camp prisoners. In October 2011, after three years of talks, the first 20 of an estimated 300 skulls stored in the museum of the Charité were returned to Namibia for burial. In 2014, 14 additional skulls were repatriated by the University of Freiburg.

 

The Number of Victims

 

A census conducted in 1905 revealed that 25,000 Herero remained in German South West Africa.

 

According to the Whitaker Report, the population of 80,000 Herero had been reduced to 15,000 "starving refugees" by 1907. In 'Colonial Genocide and Reparations Claims in the 21st. Century: The Socio-Legal Context of Claims under International Law by the Herero against Germany for Genocide in Namibia' by Jeremy Sarkin-Hughes, the number of 100,000 victims is given. Up to 80% of the indigenous population were killed.

 

A political cartoon on German South West Africa was run in 1906 with the following caption:

 

"Even if it hasn't brought in much profit and

there are no better quality goods on offer,

at least we can use it to set up a bone-

grinding plant."

 

Newspapers in 2004 reported 65,000 victims when announcing that Germany officially recognized the genocide.

 

Aftermath of the Genocide

 

With the closure of the concentration camps, all surviving Herero were distributed as labourers for settlers in the German colony. From that time on, all Herero over the age of seven were forced to wear a metal disc with their labour registration number. They were also banned from owning land or cattle, a necessity for pastoral society. 

 

About 19,000 German troops were engaged in the conflict, of which 3,000 saw combat. The rest were used for upkeep and administration.

 

The German losses were 676 soldiers killed in combat, 76 missing, and 689 dead from disease.  The Reiterdenkmal (English: Equestrian Monument) in Windhoek was erected in 1912 to celebrate the victory and to remember the fallen German soldiers and civilians. Until after Independence, no monument was built to the killed indigenous population. It remains a bone of contention in independent Namibia.

 

The campaign cost Germany 600 million marks. The normal annual subsidy to the colony was 14.5 million marks. In 1908, diamonds were discovered in the territory, and this did much to boost its prosperity, though it was short-lived. 

 

In 1915, during the Great War, the German colony was taken over and occupied by the Union of South Africa, which was victorious in the South West Africa campaign. South Africa received a League of Nations mandate over South West Africa on the 17th. December 1920.

 

Link Between the Herero Genocide and the Holocaust

 

The Herero genocide has commanded the attention of historians who study issues of continuity between the Herero genocide and The Holocaust of WWII. It is argued that the Herero genocide set a precedent in Imperial Germany that would later be followed by Nazi Germany's establishment of death camps.

 

According to Benjamin Madley, the German experience in South West Africa was a crucial precursor to Nazi colonialism and genocide. He argues that personal connections, literature, and public debates served as conduits for communicating colonialist and genocidal ideas and methods from the colony to Germany.

 

Tony Barta, a research associate at La Trobe University, argues that the Herero genocide was an inspiration for Hitler in his war against the Jews, Slavs, Romani, and others whom he described as "non-Aryans".

 

According to Clarence Lusane, Eugen Fischer's medical experiments can be seen as a testing ground for medical procedures which were later followed during the Nazi Holocaust.

 

Fischer later became chancellor of the University of Berlin, where he taught medicine to Nazi physicians. Otmar von Verschuer was a student of Fischer; Verschuer himself had a prominent pupil, Josef Mengele.

 

Franz Ritter von Epp, who was later responsible for the liquidation of virtually all Bavarian Jews and Roma as governor of Bavaria, took part in the Herero and Nama genocide.

 

Mahmood Mamdani argues that the links between the Herero genocide and the Holocaust are beyond the execution of an annihilation policy and the establishment of concentration camps as there are also ideological similarities in the conduct of both genocides. He focuses on a written statement by General Trotha:

 

"I destroy the African tribes with streams

of blood. Only following this cleansing can

something new emerge, which will remain." 

 

Mamdani takes note of the similarity between the aims of the General and of the Nazis. According to Mamdani, in both cases there was a Social Darwinist notion of "cleansing", after which "something new" would "emerge". 

 

Reconciliation

 

In 1985, the United Nations' Whitaker Report classified the massacres as an attempt to exterminate the Herero and Nama peoples of South West Africa, and therefore one of the earliest cases of genocide in the 20th. century.

 

In 1998, German President Roman Herzog visited Namibia and met Herero leaders. Chief Munjuku Nguvauva demanded a public apology and compensation. Herzog expressed regret but stopped short of an apology. He pointed out that international law requiring reparation did not exist in 1907, but he undertook to take the Herero petition back to the German government.

 

On the 16th. August 2004, on the 100th, anniversary of the start of the genocide, a member of the German government, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Germany's Federal Minister for Economic Development and Cooperation, officially apologised and expressed grief about the genocide, declaring in a speech that:

 

"We Germans accept our historical and

moral responsibility and the guilt incurred

by Germans at that time.

 

She ruled out paying special compensation, but promised continued economic aid for Namibia which in 2004 amounted to $14M a year. This amount has been significantly increased since then, with the budget for the years 2016–17 allocating a sum total of €138M in monetary support payments.

 

The Trotha family travelled to Omaruru in October 2007 by invitation of the royal Herero chiefs and publicly apologised for the actions of their relative. Wolf-Thilo von Trotha said,

 

"We, the von Trotha family, are deeply ashamed

of the terrible events that took place 100 years

ago. Human rights were grossly abused that time."

 

Negotiations and Agreement

 

The Herero filed a lawsuit in the United States in 2001 demanding reparations from the German government and Deutsche Bank, which financed the German government and companies in Southern Africa.

 

With a complaint filed with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in January 2017, descendants of the Herero and Nama people sued Germany for damages in the United States. The plaintiffs sued under the Alien Tort Statute, a 1789 U.S. law often invoked in human rights cases. Their proposed class-action lawsuit sought unspecified sums for thousands of descendants of the victims, for the "incalculable damages" that were caused.

 

Germany seeks to rely on its state immunity as implemented in US law as the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, arguing that, as a sovereign nation, it cannot be sued in US courts in relation to its acts outside the United States. In March 2019, the judge dismissed the claims due to the exceptions to sovereign immunity being too narrow for the case.

 

In September 2020, the Second Circuit stated that the claimants did not prove that money used to buy property in New York could be traced back to wealth resulting from the seized property, and therefore the lawsuit could not overcome Germany's immunity. In June 2021, the Supreme Court declined to hear a petition to revive the case.

 

Germany, while admitting brutality in Namibia, at first refused to call it a "genocide", claiming that the term only became international law in 1945.

 

However, in July 2015, then foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier issued a political guideline stating that the massacre should be referred to as a "war crime and a genocide". Bundestag president Norbert Lammert wrote an article in Die Zeit that same month referring to the events as a genocide. These events paved the way for negotiations with Namibia.

 

In 2015, the German government began negotiations with Namibia over a possible apology, and by 2016, Germany committed itself to apologizing for the genocide, as well as to refer to the event as a genocide; but the actual declaration was postponed while negotiations stalled over questions of compensation.

 

On the 11th. August 2020, following negotiations over a potential compensation agreement between Germany and Namibia, President Hage Geingob of Namibia stated that the German government's offer was "not acceptable", while German envoy Ruprecht Polenz said:

 

"I am still optimistic that a

solution can be found."

 

On the 28th. May 2021, the German government announced that it was formally recognizing the atrocities committed as a genocide, following five years of negotiations. The declaration was made by foreign minister Heiko Maas, who also stated that Germany was asking Namibia and the descendants of the genocide victims for forgiveness.

 

In addition to recognizing the events as a genocide, Germany agreed to give as a "gesture of recognition of the immeasurable suffering" €1.1 billion in aid to the communities impacted by the genocide.

 

Following the announcement, the agreement needs to be ratified by both countries' parliaments, after which Germany will send its president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to officially apologize for the genocide. The nations agreed not to use the term "reparation" to describe the financial aid package.

 

The agreement was criticized by the chairman of the Namibian Genocide Association, Laidlaw Peringanda, who insisted that Germany should purchase their ancestral lands back from the descendants of the German settlers and return it to the Herero and Nama people.

 

The agreement was also criticized because negotiations were held solely between the German and Namibian governments, and did not include representatives of the Herero and Nama people.

 

Repatriation of the Skulls

 

Peter Katjavivi, a former Namibian ambassador to Germany, demanded in August 2008 that the skulls of Herero and Nama prisoners of the 1904–1908 uprising, which were taken to Germany for scientific research to claim the superiority of white Europeans over Africans, be returned to Namibia.

 

Katjavivi was reacting to a German television documentary which reported that its investigators had found more than 40 of these skulls at two German universities, among them probably the skull of a Nama chief who had died on Shark Island.

 

In September 2011 the skulls were returned to Namibia. In August 2018, Germany returned all of the remaining skulls and other human remains which were examined in Germany to scientifically promote white supremacy. This was the third such transfer, and shortly before it occurred, German Protestant bishop Petra Bosse-Huber stated:

 

"Today, we want to do what should have been

done many years ago – to give back to their

descendants the remains of people who

became victims of the first genocide of the

20th. century."

 

As part of the repatriation process, the German government announced on the 17th. May 2019 that it would return a stone symbol it took from Namibia in the 1900's.

 

The Genocide in the Media

 

-- A BBC documentary, 'Namibia – Genocide and the Second Reich' (2005), explores the Herero and Nama genocide and the circumstances surrounding it.

 

-- In the documentary '100 Years of Silence', filmmakers Halfdan Muurholm and Casper Erichsen portray a 23-year-old Herero woman, whose great-grandmother was raped by a German soldier. The documentary explores the past and the way Namibia deals with it now.

 

-- Mama Namibia, a historical novel by Mari Serebrov, provides two perspectives of the 1904 genocide in German South West Africa. The first is that of Jahohora, a 12-year-old Herero girl who survives on her own in the veld for two years after her family is killed by German soldiers. The second story is that of Kov, a Jewish doctor who volunteered to serve in the German military to prove his patriotism. As he witnesses the atrocities of the genocide, he rethinks his loyalty to the Fatherland.

 

-- Thomas Pynchon's novel 'V'. (1963) has a chapter that included recollections of the genocide; there are memories of events that took place in 1904 in various locations, including the Shark Island concentration camp.

 

-- Jackie Sibblies Drury's play, 'We Are Proud To Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia Between the Years 1884–1915', is about a group of actors developing a play about the Herero and Nama genocide.

For many decades the radiators of London Transport's various motor bus fleets carried this badge; a version of the London Transport roundel meshed with the AEC triangle carried on vehicles supplied to the many customers outside LT that the company supplied with 'buses, coaches and commercial vehicles. There is of course a back story. Associated Equipment Company - AEC - was originally set up by the London General Omnibus Company in 1912 to build its own vehicle requirements. AEC grew and supplied a range of successful bus, coach and commercial vehicle chassis to both LGOC and other concerns.

 

In 1927 AEC moved from its original works in Walthamstow to a new site at Southall in Middlesex. The company was effectively 'floated' in 1933 when the LGOC and its owners the Underground Group became part of the new London Passenger Transport Board; however AEC still continued to supply most of LT's vehicle needs for many years. AEC, who now owned both Crossley's and Maudsley's commercial vehicles, was acquired by the rival Leyland in 1962. The AEC marque vanished in the late 1970s and Southall closed in 1979.

 

This badge is on the radiator of preserved London Transport RT 3933 based on the AEC Regent III chassis.

Lost Decades Group Shoot 2019 - flickr set at flic.kr/s/aHskTyXGej - Copyright 2019 Rudy van Bree

Decades of expertise in cooking traditional dishes and preparing freeze-dried food for expeditions in Earth’s most remote locations are coming together in a Polish kitchen for a first in space cuisine.

 

These expert cooks are piercing pierogi, the traditional Polish dumplings, for consumption on humankind’s outpost in orbit – the International Space Station.

 

Pierogi, a staple of Polish home cooking, were the top choice of ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski for his upcoming Axiom Mission 4. For the first time, pierogi will travel to space.

 

“I wanted a truly Polish menu that I could share with my fellow astronauts. Food brings psychological comfort, and I instantly thought it would be worth taking some Polish delicacies into orbit,” says Sławosz.

 

Although he likes to makes pierogi himself, this time he needed help. The Polish astronaut, who will be conducting over a dozen technological and scientific experiments during the Ignis mission, met an unexpected challenge with his beloved pierogi.

 

Renowned Polish chef Mateusz Gessler took charge of crafting the menu. “At first, I thought I could pack prepared food in cans and jars, but the strict baggage allowance for astronauts made that impossible. Then I learned about the advantages of freeze-drying,” admits Mateusz.

 

The freeze-drying process completely removes any water from food while preserving food’s properties and structure for years. However, the first pierogi batches kept bursting. Working alongside Polish family business LYOFOOD, the team eventually mastered the technique and to stop pierogi from exploding, they made small holes in them, one by one.

 

Check the whole Ignis menu and learn more about the dos and don’ts for space food in the article Pierogi in space.

 

Credits: LYOFOOD

New Order and the Australian Chamber Orchestra had a great second performance at Vivid, with the ACO's intro Elegia followed by songs from New Order's latest album. Later, New Order swung into older hits - Perfect Kiss, Bizarre Love Triangle, and Blue Monday. The ACO's strings worked very well. Near the end New Order played Decades for the first time since the death of earlier incarnation Joy Division's singer Ian Curtis many years ago, before closing with Love Will Tear Us Apart.

 

Decades: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMAB3r6EjcM

 

If Decades is about looking back on one's prime from later days and less comment on war or life and death, life came full circle...

 

After several decades of separation, an architect is reunited with a building he designed...

Live @ Le Batofar

Paris, FRANCE

(02/02/2014)

 

Decades of Despair on Facebook: www.facebook.com/DECADESOFDESPAIR?fref=ts

Abstract from the Chronicles of the Old Earth:

 

« In the year 2305 and asteroid is discovered in a collision course with Earth. Every State on the planet agreed to move the population to other places like Mars, the Moon, or the recent Terranova base at the Alpha Centauri B system. The evacuation of the planet was peremptory if the quasi extinction of the human race was to be avoided. Two decades afterwards, the asteroid is just upon the Earth, but reduces its velocity drastically, until impacting on the province of Badajoz (Spain), in the European continent. The great crater becomes a tourist attraction, and many of the exiles return to their homes to resume a life they began to yearn. »

 

« In 2335, millions of insectoid looking bugs emerge from the depths of the Earth. Like a guided panspermia, the Earth is colonized by creatures that annihilate without pity any living being. The fight is fierce and brutal, the 1st Corps of International Armies fights these hordes obtaining pyrrhic victories at the expense of a lot of human lives. Troops decrease in number, and the enemies only increase. The Council of States decides almost with unanimity to abandon the fight, to let the inhabitants evacuate and leave to their devices to those who wish to stay. Mother Earth has been abandoned, and the human hearts mourn its loss. »

 

700 years have passed, we are in the first months of 3017, all memory of the Earth has been buried in oblivion, cut off of minds and hearts; but not only because its painful loss, but also because of some spurious motives that justify this forgetfulness. The ship Columbus, during one of its exploration voyages, suffers a breakdown in its warp drive. They are stranded in space, near a planet not reflected on the navigation charts of the knowledge core. The repairs would mean a delay of several months in its mission, but the scans have revealed interesting resources on this blue planet. An outpost is built, the terrain is conditioned for the cargo and transport platforms, allowing the research work to begin. The constructions are human, there is barely any animal life; but plenty of plat life, the atmosphere is breathable, rich in oxygen. Everything is very strange. What planet is this and how come there are no records about it? In the following days they find an ovoid case with an specimen inside, the decision is clear: transport it to the Columbus for further study. And then… then the apocalypse is unleashed.

 

This diorama has been build by the Brickstons Group members ( Pepi Blas, Victor M. Nouvillas, Emiliano Martinez and Alfonso Abeger) and Evo García, Luis López and Juan Manuel Boillos.

 

You can see all the photos in this album www.flickr.com/photos/144538203@N07/albums/72157681054545022

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Extracto de las Crónicas

de la Vieja Tierra:

 

«En el año 2305 se descubre un asteroide que tiene ruta de colisión con la Tierra. Todos los Estados acordaron trasladar a la población hacia otros lugares como Marte o la Luna y la reciente base de Terranova en el sistema Alfa Centauri B. La evacuación del planeta era perentoria si se quería evitar la quasi extinción de la especie humana. Dos décadas después el asteroide se cierne sobre la Tierra, pero reduce drásticamente su velocidad hasta impactar en la provincia de Badajoz (España), en el continente Europeo. El gran cráter se convierte en un reclamo turístico y muchos de los exiliados vuelven a sus hogares para retomar una vida que añoran.

 

»En el 2335, millones de bichos con aspecto insectoide emergen de las profundidades terrestres. Como una gran panspermia dirigida, la Tierra es colonizada por unas criaturas que aniquilan sin piedad a cualquier ser vivo. La lucha es encarnizada y brutal, el I Cuerpo de Ejércitos Internacional se bate contra estas hordas obteniendo pírricas victorias a costa de muchas vidas humanas. Los efectivos disminuyen y los enemigos no dejan de aumentar. El Consejo de Estados decide casi por unanimidad abandonar la lucha, permitir a los habitantes la evacuación y dejar a su suerte a aquellas personas que decidan quedarse. Se ha renunciado a la madre Tierra y los corazones humanos lloran la pérdida.»

 

Han pasado 700 años, corren los primeros meses del 3017, todo recuerdo sobre la Tierra ha sido enterrado en el olvido, cercenado de mentes y corazones; pero no sólo por lo doloroso de la pérdida, también por motivos espurios que justifican este olvido.

 

La nave Columbus en uno de sus viajes de exploración del universo sufre una avería en el motor de curvatura. Han quedado varados en el espacio, cerca de un planeta sin reflejo en las cartas de navegación del núcleo de conocimientos.La reparación supondrá un retraso de varios meses en su misión, pero los resultados de los escáneres han permitido conocer que existen recursos interesantes en ese planeta azul. Se monta un puesto de avanzada y exploración, se acondiciona el terreno para las plataformas de carga y transporte permitiendo iniciar los trabajos de investigación. Las construcciones son humanas, apenas encuentran vida animal; pero sí vegetal, la atmósfera es respirable, rica en oxígeno. Todo es muy extraño. ¿Qué planeta es este del que no se tienen datos?

 

En el devenir de los días hallan una carcasa ovoide con un espécimen dentro, la decisión es clara, transportarlo a la Columbus para su ulterior estudio. Y entonces… entonces se desata el apocalipsis.

 

Este diorama lo han construido los miembros de The Brickstons Group Pepi Blas, Victor M. Nouvillas, Emiliano Martinez y Alfonso Abeger, con la colaboración adicional de Evo García, Luis López y Juan Manuel Boillos.

 

Puedes ver todas las fotos en este álbum www.flickr.com/photos/144538203@N07/albums/72157681054545022

Here's looking at you in 2010 :-) Wishing everyone a beautiful new year!

I have a lot of shots to post. I have been very busy, and then there are the photos I helped escape the house-clearance people from Mum's.

 

So, back to the matter in hand: Ospringe.

 

Ospringe is one of the most easily identifiable churches in Kent, with its unusual saddleback tower, but it is well seen, as you can see the tower before the turn off to Faversham. It looks fabulous.

 

Ospringe was a small village, but now is part of the urban sprawl of Faversham as it spreads to the south of the old A2.

 

You turn down a tight junction, then along a narrow road with cars parked on either side, until you break into open country, and the church is on a bend in the road.

 

I was last here on winter about a decade ago, it was a bitterly cold day and the planned Christmas Tree festival had been delayed a week due to bad weather the weekend before.

 

I cam here on the off-chance, and I was met by a volunteer come to clean the church, but no one with a key.

 

The vicar arrived, and after explaining again about the project, he reluctantly let me in, but warned he would not be here long.

 

Last time here, i took 7 shots, and none of details, so I made busy with the nifty fifty.....

 

John Vigar says this is a church hard to gain access too, maybe I have been lucky, but worth seeking out if you're passing.

 

------------------------------------------

 

A pretty church whose thirteenth century origins seem lost beneath a Victorian veneer – yet inside all become clear. The north wall is thickened to take the rood loft staircase (see also Challock) but there is a medieval stair in the south side too, just to confuse. The font is a lovely twelfth century piece supported by the familiar five columns. Much of the glass is by Thomas Willement and displays his signature TW, which can also be seen in the Alpha emblem in the top of the striking east window. The chancel is a riot of Victoriana of grand design – constructed in several campaigns, the reredos and flooring definitely by different hands. Old photos show that the whole church was once stencilled, but now that the nave is relatively plain, the chancel is once more the focus of attention. The south chapel has a rather nice 19th century roof structure and must once have been a grand family chapel. All in all a lovely church full of interest and one which should be more accessible and better known.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Ospringe

 

------------------------------------------

 

OSPRINGE

LIES the next parish north westward from Sheldwich. It is usually written in antient records Ospringes, and takes its name from the spring or fresh stream which rises in it.

 

The town of Ospringe, as it is called, is a franchise separate from the hundred of Faversham, having a constable of its own, but the rest of the parish is within the jurisdiction of that hundred.

 

The borough of Chetham, in this parish, was given to the abbey of Faversham by Richard de Lucy, and confirmed to it by king Henry II. king John, and king Henry III. (fn. 1) It still continues an appendage to the manor of Faversham, at which a borsholder is chosen yearly for this borough, and extends over Beacon farm on the south side of the London road, at the 45th mile stone in Ospringe and Stone, and very little besides. There is another small borough in this parish, called the borough of Brimstone, for which a borsholder is elected annually at the same manor. It extends over the Red Lion inn, in Ospringe-street, and some land, an house and oast behind the bowling-green, northward of it.

 

The parish of Ospringe is of large extent, being near five miles from north to south, though it is not much more than two miles in breadth. The village, or town of Ospringe, as it was formerly called, and now usually Ospringe-street, stands on the high London road, between the 46th and 47th mile-stone, but the north side of the street, as well as of that road, from the summit of Judde hill, as far eastward as the 47th mile stone, is within Faversham parish, the liberties of which town begin from the rivulet in Ospringe, and extend eastward, including the late Mr. Lypeatt's new-built house. Thus that parish intervenes, and entirely separates from the rest of it that part of Ospringe parish, at the northern boundaries of it, in which are the storekeeper's house, part of the offices, &c. and some of the royal powder mills, and in the town of Faversham, that parish again intervening, there is a small part of Weststreet within this parish. The grand valley, called Newnham bottom, through which the high road leads to Maidstone, lies at the western boundary of the parish, on the summit of the hill eastward of it is Juddehouse, built after a design of Inigo Jones, a fine situation, having a most beautiful prospect eastward, over a most fertile extent of country, to the Boughton hills, and the channel north eastward of it, but the large tract of woodland, of many hundred acres, which reach up close to the gardens at the back of it, render it rather an unhealthy situation. About a quarter of a mile eastward of Ospringe-street is a good house, called from the antient oratory or chapel formerly adjoining to it, but pulled down within these few years, chapelhouse. This oratory was dedicated to St. Nicholas, and erected for a priest to say mass in it, for the safety and good success of passengers, who left their acknowledgments for his pains in it. It belonged lately to Mr. John Simmons, whose son sold it to Isaac Rutton, esq. and he alienated the house to Mr. Neame, the present owner; but on a part of the land adjoining he built an elegant villa, naming it Ospringe Place, in which he now resides.

 

In Ospringe-street there is a tolerable inn, and the remains of the Maison Dieu on each side of the high road close to the small rivulet which crosses the street. This stream rises at Westbrook, at a small distance southward of the hamlet of Whitehill, at the back of which it runs, and at about a mile and an half distance, passing by Ospringe church, and the mansion of Queen-court, now a respectable farm-house, it turns a mill, erected some years ago for the manufacturing of madder, though now used for the grinding corn, and having crossed Ospringe-street, it turns a gunpowder mill not far from it, occupied by government, but belonging to St. John's college, in Cambridge, and having supplied the storekeeper's gardens, it afterwards turns a corn-mill, close to the west side of Faversham town, after which it supplies the rest of the government mills and works, and runs from thence into Faversham creek, to which it is a very necessary and beneficial back water. There is a nailbourne, or temporary land spring, such as are not unusual in the parts of this county eastward of Sittingborne, which run but once perhaps in several years, their failing and continuance having no certain periods, the breaking forth of them being held by the common people to be a forerunner of scarcity and dearness of corn and victuals. This at Ospringe, when it breaks out, rises about half a mile southward of Whitehill, near Kennaways, in the road to Stalisfield, and joining the above-mentioned rivulet, which it considerably increases, flows with it into Faversham creek. In February, 1674, it began to run, but stopped before Michaelmas. It broke forth in February, 1712, and run with such violence along the high road, that trenches were cut through the lands adjoining to carry the water off, but it stopped again before Michaelmas. It had continued dry till it broke out afresh in 1753, and continued to run till summer 1778, when it stopped, and has continued dry ever since.

 

About a mile southward of Ospringe-street is the hamlet of Whitehill, mentioned before, situated in the vale through which the rivulet takes its course. There are two houses of some account in it, formerly owned by the family of Drayton, who had resided in this parish for many years. Robert Drayton resided here anno 7 Edward IV. in which year he died, and was buried in the church-yard of Ospringe, being then possessed, as appears by his will, of a house called Smythes, with its lands and appurtenances, at Whitehill. After this family had become extinct here, one of these houses came into the possession of Ruck, and escheated, for want of lawful heirs, to the lord of the manor, and now as such belongs to the earl of Guildford, but Mr. James Foord resides in it. The other, after the Draytons were become extinct here, came into the name of Wreight, one of whom, Henry Wreight, gent. died possessed of it in 1695, and was buried in Faversham church. His son of the same name resided here, and died in 1773, and his grandson Henry Wreight, gent. of Faversham, sold it to John Montresor of Belmont, esq. who now owns it, but John Smith esq. resides in it. About a mile westward on the hill, near Hanslets Fostall and the parsonage, is a new-erected house, called the Oaks, built not many years since, on the scite of an antient one, called Nicholas, formerly belonging to the Draytons, by Mr. John Toker, who resides in it; the woodgrounds in the upland parts of this parish are very extensive, and contain many hundred acres. The soil of this parish, from its large extent, is various, to the north and north-east of the church the lands are level and very fertile, being a fine rich loam, but as they extend southward to the uplands, the soil becomes more and more barren, much of it chalky, and the rest a cludgy red earth, stiff tillage land, and very stony. A fair is held in Ospringe-street on the 29th of May.

 

¶Much has already been said in the former parts of these volumes, of the different opinions of learned men where the Roman station, called in the second iter of Antonine Durolevum, ought to be placed. Most of the copies of Antonine make the distance from the last station Durobrovis, which is allowed by all to be Rochester, to the station of Durolevum, to be xiii or xvi miles, though the Peutongerian tables make it only vii. If the number xvi is right, no place bids so fair for it as Judde-hill, in this parish, which then would have every probable circumstance in favor of it. The Romans undoubtedly had some strong military post on this hill, on the summit of which there are the remains of a very deep and broad ditch, the south and east sides are still entire, as is a small part of the north side at the eastern corners of it, the remaining part of the north side was filled up not many years since. The west side has nothing left of it; close within the southern part of it is a high mount of earth thrown up to a considerable height above the ground round it, the scite of Judde house, and the gardens are contained within it. The form of it seems to have been a square, with the corners rounded, and to have contained between three and four acres of ground within its area, the common people call it king Stephen's castle, but it is certainly of a much older date. At a small distance from it, on the opposite, or north side of the high road, there are several breast works cast up across the field facing the west. At the bottom of the hill, in the next field to this, are the ruins of Stone chapel, in which numbers of Roman bricks are interspersed among the flints, and in the midst of the south wall of it, there is a separate piece of a Roman building, about a rod in length, and near three feet high, composed of two rows of Roman tiles, of about fourteen inches square each, and on them are laid small stones hewed, but of no regular size or shape, for about a foot high, and then tiles again, and so on alternately.

  

THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Ospringe

 

The church stands within the jurisdiction of the town of Ospringe, about half a mile southward from Ospringe-street. It is dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul. It is an antient building, consisting of three isles and a chancel. The steeple was formerly at the west end, and was built circular of flints, supposed to be Danish, with a shingled spire on it, of upwards of fifty feet high, in which were four bells; but in ringing them on Oct. 11, 1695, on king William's return from Flanders, it suddenly fell to the ground, providentially no one was hurt by it. There are no remains left of any painted glass in the windows of this church, though there was formerly much in most of them; particularly, in the window of the north isle was once the figure of a mitred bishop, on the rack, with a knife on the table by him, and of another person tied to a tree, and wounded with arrows. In another was a label to the memory of Robert Seton, and of a woman kneeling; and there was not many years ago remaining in the east window, at the end of the south isle, forming a kind of chancel, the effigies of a knight in his tabard of arms, with spurs on his heels, in a kneeling posture, looking up to a crucisix, painted just above him, of which there remained only the lower part. The knight's arms, Azure, three harts heads, caboshed, or, were thrown under him, and at a little distance some part of his crest, An hart's head, attired full, or, with a crown about his neck, azure, and underneath, Pray for the soul of Thomas Hart. This Sir Thomas Hart was possessed of an estate in this parish, which he purchased of Norwood. The Greenstreets, of Selling, lately claimed this chancel, and several of them lie buried in it. There was a chapel, dedicated to St. Thomas, in this church.

 

In the east part of the church-yard there was once a chapel, said to have been built by Sir John Denton, of Denton, in this parish and Easling, the foundations of which are still visible.

 

It appears by the Testa de Nevil, taken in the reign of king Henry III. that the church of Ospringe was in the king's gift, and was afterwards given by king John to John de Burgo, who then held it, and that it was worth forty marcs. After which, in the 8th year of Richard II. anno 1384, it was become appropriated to the abbot of Pontiniac, and was valued at 13l. 6s. 8d. at which time there was a vicarage here of his patronage likewise. It afterwards became part of the possessions of the hospital or Maison Dieu, in Ospringestreet, but by what means, or when, I have not found, and it continued so till the escheat of the hospital anno 20 Edward IV. after which, the parsonage appropriate of this church of Ospringe, together with the advowson of the vicarage, was by means of Fisher, bishop of Rochester, obtained of Henry VIII. in manner as has been already mentioned, for St. John's college, in Cambridge, the master and fellows of which are at this time entitled to them, the parsonage being let by them on a beneficial lease; but the advowson of the vicarage they retain in their own hands.

 

The lessee of this parsonage, in the reign of queen Elizabeth, was Robert Streynsham, esq. who rebuilt the house and offices belonging to it, and afterwards resided in it. He had been fellow of All Souls college, LL. B. and secretary to the earl of Pembroke. He lies buried in this church, and bore for his arms, Or, a pale dancette, gules. He left two daughters and coheirs, of whom, Audrey, the eldest, carried her interest in it in marriage to Edward Master, esq. eldest son of James Master, esq. of East Langdon, who was first of Sandwich, and afterwards built a seat for himself and his posterity at East Langdon. He was twice married, and had fourteen children; at length worn out with age, he betook himself hither to his eldest son Edward, and dying in 1631, æt. 84, was buried in this church. Edward Master, the son, resided here, and was afterwards knighted, and on his father's death in 1631 removed to that seat, in whose descendants it continued till it was at length alienated to Buller, of Cornwall, whose son sold his interest in to Markham, as he did to Mr. Robert Lyddel, merchant, of London, brother of Sir Henry Lyddel, who in 1751 assigned his interest in it to Ralph Terrey, yeoman, of Knolton, whose son Mr. Michael Terrey, of Ospringe, devised it to his only daughter and heir Olive, who married Nathaniel Marsh, esq. of Boughton Blean, and the heirs of his son Terrey Marsh, esq. late of that parish, are the present lessees of it.

 

The vicarage of Ospringe is valued in the king's books at ten pounds, and the yearly tenths at one pound.

 

In 1640 it was valued at sixty pounds, when there were communicants here 226.

 

The vicarage is endowed with all vicarial tithes, woad only excepted, and also with those of hay, saintfoin, clover, and coppice woods. There are about twenty-seven acres of glebe-land belonging to it. The vicarage-house is situated in the valley, at a small distance eastward from the church, and the parsonagehouse near a mile southward of that.

 

Ospringe was formerly the head of a rural deanry, of which institution it will be necessary to give some account here.

 

The office of rural dean was not unknown to our Saxon ancestors, as appears by the laws of king Edward the Confessor; they were called both Archipresbiteri and Decani Temporarii, to distinguish them from the deans of cathedrals, who were Decani Perpetui. Besides these, there were in the greater monasteries, especially those of the Benedictine order, such officers called deans, and there are deans still remaining in several of the colleges of the universities, who take care of the studies and exercises of the youth, and are a check on the morals and behaviour of such as are members under them.

 

¶The antient exercise of jurisdiction in the church seems to have been instituted in conformity to like subordinations in the state. Thus the dioceses within this realm seem to have been divided into archdeaconries and rural deanries, to make them correspond to the like division of the kingdom into counties and hundreds; hence the former, whose courts were to answer those of the county, had the county usually for their district, and took their title from thence, and the names of the latter from the hundred, or chief place of it, wherein they acted; and as in the state every hundred was at first divided into ten tithings or fribourghs, and every tithing was made up of ten families, both which kept their original names, notwithstanding the increase of villages and people; so in the church the name of deanry continued, notwithstanding the increase of persons and churches, and the districts of them were contracted and enlarged from time to time, at the discretion of the bishop, the rural dean of Ospringe having jurisdiction over the whole deanry of it, consisting of twenty-six parishes. He had a seal of office, which being temporary, it had only the name of the office, and not, as other seals of jurisdiction, the name of the person also, engraved on it. The seal belonging to this deanry had on it, the Virgin Mary crowned, with the sceptre in her left hand, and her child, with a glory round his head, in her right, and round the margin, Sigillu Decani Decanatus de Ospreng. He was in antient times called the dean of the bishop, because appointed by him, and had alone the inspection of the lives and manners of the clergy and people within the district under him, and was to report the same to the bishop; to which end, that he might have a thorough knowledge of the state and condition of his respective deanry, he had a power to convene rural chapters, which were made up of the instituted clergy, or their curates as proxies of them, and the dean as president of them, where the clergy brought information of all irregularities committed within their respective parishes. Those upon ordinary occasions were held at first every three weeks, in imitation of the courts of manors, held from three weeks to three weeks, and afterwards each month, and from thence were called Kalendæ, but their more solemn and principal chapters were assembled once a quarter, where maters of greater import were transacted, and a fuller attendance given. They were at first held in any one church within the district, where the minister of the place was to procure and provide entertainment and procurations for the dean and his immediate officers, and they were afterwards held only in the larger or more eminent parishes. The part of their office of inspecting and reporting the manners of the clergy and people, rendered them necessary attendants on the episcopal synod or general visitation, in which they were the standing representatives of the rest of the clergy within their division, and they were there to deliver information of abuses committed within their knowledge, and consult for the reformation of them; for which they were to have their expences, called from hence synodals, allowed them by those whom they represented, according to the time of their attendance. That part of their office, of being convened to provincial and episcopal synods, was transferred to two proctors, or representatives of the parochial clergy in each diocese; and that of information of scandals and offences, has devolved on the churchwardens of the respective parishes. Besides this another principal part of the duty of a rural dean was to execute all processes of the bishop, or of the officers and ministers under his authority; but by the constitution of the pope's legate, Otho, the archdeacon, in the reign of Henry III. was required to be frequently present at them, who being superior to the rural dean, did in effect take the presidency out of his hands; and these chapters were afterwards often held by the archdeacon's officials, from which may be dated the decay of rural deanries, for the rural dean was not only discouraged by this, but the archdeacon and his official, as might naturally be supposed he would, drew the business usually transacted there to his own visitation, or chapter, as it might be termed. By which intersering of the archdeacon and his officials, it happened that in the age next before the reformation, the jurisdiction of rural deans declined almost to nothing, and at the reformation nothing was done for their restoration by the legislative power, so that they became extinct in most deanries, nor did this of Ospringe survive the earliest decline of them. (fn. 16) Where they still continue, they have only the name and shadow left, and what little remains of this dignity and jurisdiction, de pends greatly on the custom of places, and the pleasure of diocesans.

 

In the 31st year of Edward I. Richard Christian, dean of Ospringe, being sent to execute some citations of the archbishop at Selling, was set upon by the people there, who placed him with his face to his horse's tail, which they made him hold in his hand for a bridle, in which posture they led him through the village, with songs, shouts, and dances, and afterwards having cut off the tail, ears, and lips of the beast, they threw the dean into the dirt, to his great disgrace; for which, the king directed his writ to the sheriff, to make enquiry by inquisition of a jury concerning it.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol6/pp499-531

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World Expo Floriade Almere, the Netherlands, 2022

Holland's once-in-a-decade World's Fair of horticulture will run from April to October, 2022, with exhibitions from more than 30 countries. Design: MVRDV, Architects

Floriade, the World's Fair of horticultural shows, is the largest public event in the Netherlands. The exhibition, which takes place only once every 10 years, will make its third appearance of the 21st Century from April to October, 2022.

 

The MVRDV plan for Almere is not a temporary expo site but a lasting green Cité Idéale as an extension to the existing city centre. The waterfront site opposite the city centre will be developed as a vibrant new urban neighbourhood and also a giant plant library which will remain beyond the expo. The ambition is to create a 300% greener exhibition than currently standard, both literally green and sustainable: each program on the site will be combined with plants which will create programmatic surprises, innovation and ecology. At the same time the site will be with a vast program such as a university, hotel, marina, offices and homes more urban than any other Floriade has ever been before, it is an exemplary green city.

 

Almere Floriade will be a grid of gardens on a 45ha square shaped peninsula. Each block will be devoted to different plants, a plant library with perhaps an alphabetical order. The blocks are also devoted to program, from pavilions to homes, offices and even a university which will be organised as a stacked botanical garden, a vertical eco-system in which each class room will have a different climate to grow certain plants. The city will offer homes in orchards, offices with planted interiors and bamboo parks. The Expo and new city centre will be a place that produces food and energy, a green urban district which shows in great detail how plants enrich every aspect of daily life.

Program selection:

45 ha city entre extension with panorama tower, green housing exhibition (22.000 m2/115 homes) 30.000 m2 hotel, university (10.000 m2), conference centre (12.000 m2) various expo pavilions (25.000 m2) smart green house (4.000 m2), care home (3.000 m2), childrens expo, marina, forest, open air theatre, camping and other facilities (25.000 m2).