"Damnatio Memoriae" Or, When Was the Last Time Anyone Named a Kid Caligula?
Damnatio memoriae is a Latin phrase literally meaning condemnation of memory, the sense being a judgment that a person must not be remembered. It was a form of dishonor that could be passed by the Roman Senate upon traitors or others who brought dishonor to the Roman State. The intent was to erase someone from history, a task somewhat easier in ancient times, when documentation was much sparser. In ancient Rome, the practice of damnatio memoriae could be used to condemn Roman elites and emperors after their deaths. He/they could have their property seized, their names erased, and whatever statues, coins or friezes might exist, reworked. Then too, it was a sure sign that no one would ever again be called by those names; I mean, when was the last time anyone named a child Caligula, Nero, Domitian (that’s his effaced bust on the left) or Vespasian?
(n.b. the Romans weren’t the only ones into damnatio memoriae: centuries before the Romans, the Egyptians removed all mention of Queen Hatshepsut and Pharaoh Akhenaten (the husband of Queen Nefertiti) from royal history; as recently as 2011, Hosni Mubarak, the President of Egypt for almost 30 years, was deposed. After his deposition, the names of both Hosni and his wife, Suzanne, were removed from all Egyptian monuments. The Soviets under Stalin were also hip deep in this practice, becoming expert at eliminating enemies of the state from photographs in which they were originally posed next their “revered leader.” The most famous case was likely that of Nikolai Yezhov, nicknamed ‘The Vanishing Commisar.’ Then too, it is an ancient Jewish custom to “blot out the name of Amalek” - from whom the wicked Haman was descended “from under the Heavens” - by the sound of noisemakers on the joyous [some would say “frivolous”] holiday known as Purim (c.f. Deut. 25:15.)
Were it up to me, I would heartily reimpliment damnatio memoriae and not just for the current POTUS. Indeed, I would gladly place under this umbrella of ignominy the names of Mike Pence (V.P.), Mike Pompeo (Sec. of State), William Barr (Attorney General), Steven Mnuchin (Sec. of Treasury), Wilbur Ross (Sec. of Commerce), Betsy DeVos (Sec. of Education), Ben Carson (Sec. of Housing and Urban Development), and Elaine Chaio (Sec. of Transportation, not to mention Senator Mitch McConnell (Senate Majority Leader) and Chief Congressional Enabler), and Rep. Devin Nunes (Ranking Member, House Intelligence Committee, not to mention Jared Kusher and Stephen Miller, (Senior White House Advisers).
Why these folks, one well may ask? Because they have gladly, willingly and chillingly lent their wholehearted support to a president whose political raison d’être has had since day one far, far more to do with his ego and their personal interests than the needs of the people or nation they are supposed to be serving. I cannot for the life of me understand why these supposedly well-educated, highly successful people could maintain such silence and servility in the face of so much psychopathy. Are they afraid of being fired or of being called names? Or are they more interested in bringing about some sort of religious rapture for the very well heeled?
Of course, the mere exercise of those mentioned above, who in my humble opinion should be considered for a spot on our national damnatio memoriae list, is a bit of satiric wish fulfillment. Nonetheless, what’s been going on these past 3+ years - and especially the past several weeks - certainly qualifies the POTUS and his enablers to be part of this ancient ritual. The sins for which he and his clique should be eliminated from memory include far more than the tax bonanza granted the hyper wealthy, the steady stream of lies, and the utter incompetence and what The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols calls his “political glossolalia.” The worst of the worst it seems to me, is the sin of convincing a solid minority that the media can neither be trusted nor believed ever again; that they are consciously engaged in taking this administration down; that anyone who disagrees with the POTUS - and this list includes the likes of Speaker Pelosi, Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff and the likely soon-to-be-fired Dr. Anthony Fauci - is a traitorous conspirator bent on destroying not only the president, but the nation itself. And if for no other reason than the video-taped fact that ‘45 will not supply states whose governors aren’t “nice to” or “supportive of” the man in the Oval Office with respirators, surgical gloves, masks and gowns . . . makes him eminently worthy of being forgotten. Oh, I forgot, all these medical necessities belong to him personally . . . not the people.
The time will come when well-heeled Trump supporters begin collecting gazillions of dollars in order to create a presidential library/museum in perpetual remembrance of a man they never truly liked in the first place. For those who believe in damnatio memoriae, I am happy to report that purchasing land for such a library will be next to impossible. Think about it: the price of empty space to build a presidential library in:
Independence, Missouri (Harry Truman)
Grand Rapids, Michigan: Jerald R. Ford)
Simi Valley, California (Ronald Reagan)
Atlanta, Georgia (Jimmy Carter)
College Station, Texas (George W.Bush)
Little Rock, Arkansas (Bill Clinton) and
Hoffman Estates, Illinois (Barack Obama)
was and is far, far less pricey than 725 5th Avenue, New York, New York, where the Trump Library/Museum would likely be located. And despite the fact that none of America’s previous 44 presidents were outright paragons of moral or political perfection, they all spoke and wrote English with greater facility, and knew more about the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and Emancipation Proclamation than the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. None, so far as I know, exhibited the mass of foibles, personal insecurity or contempt for both the people and the nation they were elected to serve as does ‘45. It seems to me that the greatest punishment the nation could mete out to this self-proclaimed “stable genius” would be a declaration of damnatio memoriae.
Just think: no more children named Caligula, Hatshepsut, Domitian or . . . Donald.
204 days until the next election . . . whether in person or via mail.
Copyright©2020, Kurt F. Stone