I'm reading Caesar's Women by Colleen McCullough. The dates covered by this volume are 68-58 B.C. Caesar is in his stride, politically, and is opposed at every turn by the boni, a clique of conservative patrician Romans, whose main goal in life seems to be to oppose Caesar, no matter how reasonable or necessary his proposals. It becomes obvious that the hatred and vicious attacks are personal, and even though many voters are appalled by the illegal and unethical tactics the boni use to thwart Caesar, the group is successful finally by opposing everything, even refusing to come to work on a far-fetched religious pretext, in order to prevent any legislation from being promulgated, and if any is, then it can be annulled because it was created in contravention to religious rules.

For the last couple of days I've been reading this and hearing echoes of our own time and place. The boni spout all kinds of high moral jargon combined with vicious, underhanded personal attacks. They are most successful when they just dig in their heels and refuse to cooperate with anything Caesar's group tries to do, to the great detriment of the Roman economy and efforts to feed and settle military veterans on land they have been promised in exchange for years of military service. It's obvious that it is much easier to be destructive than to right wrongs and create a better future.

A fitting book to be reading on this day we observe Memorial Day and remember the past.