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Sulla. The man who destroyed Athens

Started by Imperial Dave, February 11, 2025, 05:53:39 AM

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Imperial Dave

Former Slingshot editor

Keraunos

#1
The photograph of the ruins of the Acropolis below the headline conveys the impression that it was Sulla who was responsible for that.  I always thought it survived down to the 17th Century and then was blown up when being used to store gunpowder during an Ottoman or Venetian siege of the city?

And, in the final paragraph there is the following "His ruthlessness demonstrated Rome's unwillingness to use overwhelming force against those who resisted its authority."  Some mistake, surely!!

DBS

Spot of Athenian bias in there - Sulla was arguably a pussycat compared to what the Romans had previously inflicted on Syracuse and Corinth.

And yes, it was the Venetians who blew up the Parthenon with a mortar hit on the Ottoman magazine therein.  Morosini, the Venetian commander, then did even more damage trying and largely failing to loot the sculptures.  Whatever the rights and wrongs of the blessed Marbles, I wish the Greeks would occasionally be as critical of the Venetians as much as they are of dear old Elgin...
David Stevens