Loyola College - Review Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

Page 32 text:

LOYOLA COLLEGE REVIEW Gangsters HOSE who are distressed @ by the signs of the times М might find consolation 4 іп comparing them with | the political chaos d through which Rome 9) struggled in the first cen- tury B.C.; and further consolation in observing that Rome survived it all by four hundred years. While the disorders lasted however, they were so devastating and affected so many citizens that no modern gang- ster could hope to achieve similar results. The Roman gangsters arose in the transition from city state to empire. No radical change in constitution was adopted to rei pace with the colonial expansion. As long as Rome remained a republic she was ruled by two consuls and several praetors who were elected annually and had much the same func- tions as mayors and aldermen in a modern city. These positions were especially desirable as the stepping- stones to the governorship of a province. Thus mayors and aldermen after their year's office became absolute monarchs of Sicily, sections of Spain, Gaul, North Africa and Asia Minor; as if the mayor of a small American city were suddenly appointed emperor of France. For a time it was also a function of the mayors to act as generals in time of war. They gave a notable specimen of their ability when Hannibal trapped and killed a hundred thousand Romans at Cannae. The problem of appointing expert gene- rals for long foreign wars remained unsolved. The same inefficiency predominated in the city itself. Administration by peace- ful:means was becoming more and more difficult since there were not sufficient of Rome legal checks on men of ambition. Re- formers were not welcome in Rome at this time and the customary reward for their efforts was assassination. The Gracchi brothers, Tiberius and Gaius, originated a Васі to the Гапа ' move- ment which displeased the senators and incited them to have the Gracchi bumped об”, both within ten years. The senate dealt with Livius Drusus in the same way when he tried to bring about the emancipation of the Italian allies. Drusus fell dead in his own home, struck by a dagger from an unseen hand. His death was the шоо of the Italians who resorted to rebellion. Wartime appointments at this time depended on the military strength the army leaders could put in the field because the Roman armies were no longer loyal to the state but only to their leaders. Sulla and Marius, both gangsters of atrocious cruelty, decided the command of the Mithridatic war between themselves by pitting their armies together. Sulla wrested the com- mission from Marius in spite of a decree of the people; whereupon Marius, in the absence of his opponent, usurped the consulship of Rome. Any pedestrian whom Marius happened to meet on the streets and did not greet as a friend was killed on the spot by his gang. But the excitement was too much for the old man and he died of heart failure. In the meantime Sulla returned just in time to save Rome from the rebelling Samnites. He then proceeded to har- angue the senators, unperturbed by the shrieks of eight thousand Samnite сар- tives who were being cut down at his orders nearby. Not to be outdone by Marius in bloodshed, Sulla posted up lists bearing the names of Romans who were to die. Thousands of Sulla's {14}

Page 31 text:

LOYOLA COLLEGE REVIEW — will lose in Vinney one of their most capable and conscientious officers. As first Secretary of the Officers’ Mess his name will live in his works. In fine, he is reserved and controlled, having been known to lose his temper only once in a memorable bridge game. He is a capable stu dent, an energetic worker and well- deserving of all the success which we confidently predict for him. Activities: Scientific Society; Loyola College Literary and Debating Society; Intramural Debating; Associate Editor Loyola News 1932; C.O.T.C.: Lewis Gun Team 1929-30, C.S.M. 1931-32, Platoon Commander 1932-33, Secre- tary Officers’ Mess 1933; President Xi Eta Fraternity; Loyola Rifle Team 1932-33. On a Day in Late Autumn ри me escape this brooding monster, Wind, That blowing, does the aged world enfold Like a miser poring on his gold; To some, far other land suffer me to find My way, where eyes shall never see, nor mind Endure such weariness. Free me from the old And faded sun, whose fitful fingers bold The ravaged glade where lately Autumn dined. — For I remember now the flowing green That gowned the trees when once the year was young, The leafy beauty which then used to dress The nakedness that now alone is seen. So sorrow fills me, and my heart is wrung With pain for so much wasted loveliness. Етмвв Supa, 35 ПОР

Page 33 text:

LOYOLA COLLEGE REVIEW -eM enemies and many harmless individuals lost their lives as private jealousy was given full scope by the ease with which any name could be included in the lists. The attempt to alleviate the depressed classes also entailed armed conflict due, no doubt, to the author of the main attempt, Са пе. This man's methods belied the worthy mo tives that may have prompted his actions. His pre- liminary murders were directed at his brother, wife and son in order that he might better his social standing. After being barred from the consulship on charges of extortion in Africa, ће formed a plot to murder the consuls; in this he would have succeeded had he not given the signal prematurely. He then collected a gang of twenty thous- and from the slums of Rome with the intention of wiping the city from the face of the earth by slaughter and fire. The plan was thwarted only by Cicero's utmost vigilance. Catiline's gang perished to a man in pitched battle, their leader fighting desperately to the last. Not even every-day business could be conducted without resorting to arms. For where Catiline failed, another gang- ster, Publius Clodius, met with con- siderable success in promoting less pre- tentious disturbances. His powerful gangs of freedmen and slaves terrorized Rome by their continual spilling of blood and their control of the streets. Clodius took keen delight in making cue a impossible. Ас one time ompey, then at the height of his great- ness, was besieged in his house by a creature of Clodius; according to a legal technicality onc citizen had a constitu- tional right to besiege another and the besieger could not be legally prevented. Clodius found his equal, however, in Titus Annius Milo who checked his rival's gang of slaves with one of gladiators. Clashes between the two in the strects were occurrences of every day and if any trial or election happened to interest either, it could not be held. Both leaders, accompanied by small parties, met for the last time on the Appian way, quite by chance. A skir- mish ensued in which Clodius was wounded. Milo hounded him to a tavern where he had sought to hide and killed the defenceless wretch in cold blood besides all the inmates of the tavern. А regular Da gh funeral was arranged for Clodius by his relatives. They played upon the emotions of the mob by exposing the mutilated corpse of the gangster in the Forum and by dramatizing the hysterical grief of his widow. The flames of the huge pyre erected by the frenzied audience, razed the senate house to the ground. But for the protection of Pompey's soldiers, Milo would have been lynched. He was fairly tried, however, and condemned to exile. Finally Julius Caesar ended the old regime by virtue of a ps trained army. For ten years he practised his men on the Gauls, then turned on Rome, leaving none in the city to dispute his mastery. When Brutus and Cassius, jealous for the sake of the now defunct republic, waved their daggers dripping with Caesar's blood and shouted Liberty to the роршасс of Rome, the populace was quite indifferent. It did not want liberty but bread and cir- cuses’’. Јонм ANGLIN, 34 Home A house of stone for the absent sun, A house of flesh for my fragile heart, A house of cards for my dreams’ wild chart, And a house of earth when the long trail s done. Ermer Suga, 35 415}