So Israel and Iran have been battering each other -- battered each other till they ran out of missiles, then agreed to a ceasefire. How much hate can there be in this world?
For all the battering and damage done, their circumstances did not change in any significant way. So much for human nature. It has not changed through history. From the Romans versus the Germanic tribes, who eventually entered Rome, to the Japanese in WW2 who waited until atomic bombs fell on them - and then they needed two - before agreeing to peace - surrender as it then had to be.
Of course, Trump had to join in with his buddy Netanyahu, which he did, forgetting the Constitution and the right of declaring war given to Congress. Some in his own party are calling for his impeachment. If enough defect and the Democrats use the opportunity, Trump is in trouble. Well, legally he has been skating on thin ice in all kinds of ways including in his business.
A new translation, "The Lives of the Caesars", of the Suetonius history has been published and it has many difficult-to-read passages. For example, the much-admired Augustus, who started the dynasty and was Julius' adopted son Octavian, once himself gouged out the eyes of a spy he invited to a party, as an example one supposes to others.
In a lighter vein, there is another anecdote, this one about Lady Astor and Winston Churchill at a dinner party: Lady Astor is reputed to have said, " If I was married to you I'd put poison in your coffee", and Churchill is said to have responded, "If I was married to you I'd drink it."
No love lost there to be sure, and neither is there between Israel and Iran. What can mediators do but keep the exhausted antagonists apart. Intervals of peace are used to build up arsenals. Perhaps some new leaders will realize this can not go on forever. But then that, too, has been tried -- remember Sadat and Begin.
Going back a few centuries, and to the Mughal emperor Shah Jehan. He is remembered for his love of art and for the magnificence of the tomb he built for his beloved wife Mumtaz who died in childbirth. Mumtaz Mahal (Mumtaz Palace) was soon abbreviated to Taz and in local speech to Taj.
He was planning another similar structure in black marble on the other side of the river Jumma (now called Yamuna) but his son Aurangzeb put a stop to it when he seized power and put his father into early retirement.
Momentous events with some altogether human stories to go with them. If Shah Jehan had untold wealth, he was not immune to the vagaries of fortune. The same applies to the actors of our time and place.
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