“Decadence surrounds us and we have grown fat and lackadaisical. The barbarian hordes have infiltrated our own masses and insidiously plot our demise. Their armies lie in wait outside our boarders and grow in numbers and strength. They are assisted by enemy states that see our weakness and wish to rid the world of us. These internal enemies conceal themselves in the recesses of our impoverished masses and mask their sedition in the legitimate aspirations of the downtrodden. Our own citizens and senators both knowingly and unknowingly protect and aid them. Attempts to quash them are seen by our own citizens as an affront to their legitimate struggles. They are so camouflaged in our society that the innocent would surely suffer even if we could determine where their legitimate struggles end and sedition begins. I fear that our society shall grow weaker from within and the barbarians shall overrun us from afar. I make one last attempt to warn the senate of our impending fate and call upon it to act. “
Sidonius Apollinaris, bishop of Clermont, in an address to the senate three years before the collapse of the Western Empire in 450 A.D.
** I found this file on my computer from some time ago. I really like the way this was supposedly said… I kept thinking that I couldn’t have said it better myself. In fact, I am sure that I have said something like this at one time or another. Did I plagerize? Maybe I am reincarnated from this Sidonius Apollinaris? I searched and found many instances of Sidonius Apollinaris. 450 AD is roughly correct in so far as the Fall of the Western Empire albeit a bit too specific… whereas this “fall” was a long process. 476 is given as the official “fall” date. First Hole.
This guy, sidonious… was alive in 450 AD, was a bishop in 469 and was a prolific author. He lived till 489. He was in the center of 5th century Roman Affairs and did write about many things political. He was heavily involved with Gaul… present day France… which is in fact, the Western Empire. The defended the city against the Goths and was captured…. though he was allowed to govern his bishopric until his death under their reign. So… certainly this guy fits with the story. This lends credence to the story though he was quite young in 450. He certainly was involved with the fall of the western empire but much later than 450.
I have searched tirelessly for even a portion of the above statement. I skimmed through several versions if period history… some more conjecture than actual history. There is no reference to any part of the above statement. Large, inescapable hole #2.
Looking at the wording… words such as “lackadaisical,” and “downtrodden,” don’t sound to me as though there would be a corresponding Latin sentiment. It sounds like me. I recognize my own sentiments and my own style of writing here. I am almost positive this was written by me. Why would I have attributed this to some Roman Bishop that (as far as I can remember) I have never heard of until today? I remember reading all of Cicero’s writings for some political point I was trying to make… years ago. This sounds more like M.T. Cicero’s sentiments that it does Sidonius Apollinaris’. Could I have been trying to prove some sort of point regarding the convenient mis-quoting of Roman orators? That sounds like something I would do. I don’t think I would try and “fool” anyone maliciously. I must have done my homework on this guy because he was in the right place, near the right time… there were “barbarian hordes,” to contend with. Nearly everything fits. My former self almost fooled my present self… I don’t know how to feel about that.
