Sunday, May 10, 2009

My Jewels

This fair Mother's Day I am reminded of a favorite story from Roman history, the story of Cornelia and her sons, Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus. Cornelia was the daughter of Scipio Africanus the Elder, defeater of Hannibal in the second Punic War, and thus, the memory of Scipio was formative in the shaping of his grandsons' goals of civic service and duty.

The Gracchi occupy their own significant place in Roman history, however it is the anecdote told of their mother, Cornelia, which has the most correspondence to my own life:

A rich noble women once visited Cornelia and ostentatiously displayed her jewels. After doing so, she asked Cornelia to show her own; Cornelia called her boys into the room and said,

"These are my jewels!"


My Jewels

2 comments:

MagistraCarminum said...

Beautiful picture, and beautiful sentiment!

Anonymous said...

Your children are beautiful too! They sure have grown up since I saw them last. I look forward to seeing you again, and your daughter is welcome anytime!
Kellie