Saturday, October 27, 2012

Rerun Saturday... or the Battle of the Milvian Bridge

No, nobody has designated today as Rerun Saturday, not even us.

It's just... well, several of the Usual Suspects declare today to be Cranky Co-Workers Day -- after we've just had Grouch Day and, this week, Sourest Day.

Enough, already.

Besides, what are you going to do? Go to the home of some annoying co-worker on a day off to spend more time with someone who probably makes everyone in your whole row of cubicles miserable from Monday to Friday? Are you crazy?

And some of the Usual Suspects also declare today to be Navy Day.

Nothing against the Navy, mind you, but we just celebrated the U.S. Navy's Birthday two weeks ago today.

Some of the Usual Suspects proclaim today as Boxer Shorts Day because, supposedly, that rather personal garment was first marketed on this day in 1901. Well, semper ubi, sub ubi say we, but didn't we commemorate Underwear Day just this past August 5?

Why, yes, we did.

Punchbowl.com would have us believe that today is American Beer Day -- not that we have anything against beer, of course, and especially on a Saturday afternoon -- but International Beer Day was also commemorated on August 5.

Thus... in our opinion... Rerun Saturday.

Image obtained from Wikipedia

If you're looking for something more substantive, today is also the 1,700th anniversary of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge.

Not ringing a bell? It was on this day in 312 that the Emperor Constantine defeated his co-emperor Maxentius, marking the beginning of Constantine's consolidation of power.

Now, true, Roman emperors and Roman wanna-be-emperors were constantly battling one another, around this bridge or that one, but this battle stands out in history because, supposedly, on the eve of battle, Constantine received a vision that if he fought in the name of Christ he would prevail (in hoc signo vinces). Whatever Constantine saw or may have seen, it is a matter of historical fact that, during his subsequent reign, for better or worse, Christianity would emerge from the catacombs to become the state religion of the Roman Empire.

1 comment:

Gerald said...

Warfare is a fascinating subject. Despite the dubious morality of using violence to achieve personal or political aims. It remains that conflict has been used to do just that throughout recorded history.

Your article is very well done, a good read.