A play: Act I Scene I (Ottawa, September 16, 2021. Justinian, Marcus Antonius and the Soothsayer share a skin of vino)
Soothsayer: Beware Justinian, this foul deed of calling an election so soon after the Ides of September shall smell above the earth. The carrion crows shall pick your candidate's bones.
Justinian: Ha, the Ides of September have come and yet we still are close in the polls. We will hold the day and with a majority, rule the kingdom. I mean, Dominion.
Soothsayer: Yes, the Ides have come, but not yet gone, for the judgment day is but a week away. (exeunt)
Freelandia: (enter stage right) Fair Justinian, there may yet be time to venture again into Gaul, I mean Quebec. Promise them more freedom of language in lex XXI so they may keep their Gaullist roots pure from the slang and arrows of those to the south.
Justinian: Fear not, good Freelandia, for our good captains have secured the Liberal Fortress of Toronto and even unto the GTA.
Marc Anthony Rotus: Sire, therein may be the rub: Our Captains of the Army are in disarray; their leadership suspect, excepting yourself. There is distrust in the ranks, even among the generals and admirals. The Governor General herself has raised her eyebrow and spoken strange words at the shenanigans over the new ships and replacement aeroplanes, not to mention sexual misconduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.
Justinian: It is but a passing thing like the sex scandals of the Centurions, those horse-mounted miles who police the populi.
Freelandia: I think sire you doeth confuse them with the Praetorium Guard. The Praetorium are the ones who did investigate the Lavalin Affair, the WE Charity, and the former appointment of the Astronauta at Rideau Hall.
Justinian: Did I not say to worry no more; those were passing things, a mere blip on the radarus. I have apologized and that is that. Or in the vernacular, it is what it is.
M-A Rotus: And yet, Justinian, as speaker, wrapped in my black toga and wearing that funny hat, I must advise that the SPQR tire of your apologies and are seeking action, not words, to quote one Tootlus, Erinus. The people in the hinterlands are crying for the repairs to the aqueducts, a promise you made before your adventure in Britannia.
Justinian: Yes, yes, we must get on with that as soon as we rid ourselves of this fractious rabble in the Senate. Have you prepared my victory speech Marc Anthony Rotus?
M-A Rotus: Yes, sire it is ready.
Justinian. Good. I must away to the Baths. (Exeunt)
Freelandia: I hope it is a good speech, Anthony.
M-A Rotus: Indeed, I have prepared two speeches – one in case Justinian does not win, as said the Soothsayer.
Freelandia: Please let me hear it in case I, as deputy ruler, must address the people.
M-A Rotus: Et tu, Chrystia? Here is what I shall say: Friends, Canadians, compatriots, lend me your ears. I come to say adieu to Justinian, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their brief history, or in his case, histrionics. . . and so forth.
Chrystia: Good one, Anthony. See you on the 23rd day of September. Hail Caesar Justinian!
Exeunt stage left
***
I am the first to acknowledge that my mind works in strange ways. Actually, Martha was the first to mention that, but when Justin called the election for a week after the Ides of September, I thought immediately of Julius Caesar: The play by Shakespeare; Roman history; and then Wayne and Schuster.
We all know that Julius Caesar was assassinated on March 15, the Ides of March, having ignored the soothsayer’s warning not to go to the forum. Julie, thinking he was surrounded by friends, ignored the advice, giving Will Shakespeare fodder for the play and Wayne and Shuster the idea for the hilarious skit “Rinse the Blood off my Toga”. (Do your own Google search as there are likely some now PC offenses in the skit). Anyway, I began to draw comparisons between Julius and Justin, the wannabe modern-day Canadian Caesar. And then, in jest, between Marc Antony and Anthony Rota, our MP.
Justinian thought he had support from his caucus, even though some were fearful of losing their minority. Just as the Germanic Celts gave Julius some problems, the Nova Scotia Celts have turfed out the Family Liberalis, perhaps a sign from the gods that not all is well in the Dominium. Now Justinian is nervously reading goat entrails and looking over his shoulder to spot a Brutus. The army is troubled by scandal and good leadership; there is a problem with the water supply in the outlying areas; the Senate is in rebellion; there is fire in the west, floods in the east, and drought in the middle of the land. And another version of the virus haunts the electorate.
With all the problems back in 44 BCE and in 2021 AD why would a leader try to consolidate his position when the status quo might have been the better solution to the problems? Too often quoted is the phrase that we seem to learn nothing from history. What we have not learned is to understand the human condition. The same human greed, hunger for power, and self-aggrandizement that drove Julie is driving Justinian. Julie did not need to become a dictator/king; Justinian does not need a majority to declare himself king or queen.
Nonetheless, there is a problem for me: how does one not support Justinian by voting for Mark Antony? I mean Anthony. One can only dream that the Speaker of the House would stand on the marble steps of the Parliament and declaim: “Friends, Canadians, lend me your ears . . .” Solum dicto.
