Monumental
Legacies
History
has consciously inclined today’s leaders to
respectfully
reckon with
their decisions knowing their actions will become the foundation to
build their legacies such as Lincoln Memorial and Mount Rushmore.
Furthermore, scrolls of history have provided paths wherein one can
travel back in time to examine, discuss, and analyze events and
decisions that have shaped legacies. Leaders were compelled by a need
to not only prove they existed, but also of their desire and demand
to be remembered. Monuments, testaments, and the persisted interest
of historians and scholars have forever shaped the legacies of the
Pharaohs, Greek and Roman Emperors.
The
plans of elaborate tomb monuments were legacies created to be admired
as the sun and planets that remain in our solar system throughout
generations. The
Great Pyramids of Giza and
the Temple of
Ramses II
for example,
structures
of such wonder continue to astound vast descendants worldwide. It
is not strange for people to travel around the globe to experience
the magnitude of such legacy as these colossal monuments continue to
remind the world of past events. The Pharaohs’ hope of a god-like
afterlife was an ingrained hereditary belief that bears witness to
the records of the tangible monumental artifacts.
But,
contrary to the Pharaohs, leaders like Julius Caesar, Alexander,
Cicero, and Augusta were fully persuaded by the need to be ascribed
as: leaders, world conquerors, warriors, orators, and philosophers
with the adjective great to precede
each
term. These leaders were driven by a passionate need to take
ownership in architectural designs, myths, legends, stories, songs,
and poems such as Homer’s
epic, Aenied, and Ennius. Julius
and Augusta created the twelve month calendar; later, the months
Quintilis and
Sextilis were changed to July
and August in their honor. These actions branded and preserved a
tribute in the forefront of citizens’ minds and those who would
learn of their leadership. Yet, unlike any of his predecessors,
Constantine’s leadership was different. For example, wherein Herod
and Nero’s legacies had been stained and tainted with the blood of
innocent children and Christians, it was under Constantine’s
command to cease the religious persecution and embrace Christianity,
for he made it the official religion for the Roman Empire.
Moreover,
these leaders were determined legacy builders. Historians, scholars,
and archaeologists have obliged their eternal hope to be remembered
through careful painstaking search. They have sought, excavated, and
analyzed tangible artifacts: scrolls, tablets of clay, detail art,
depiction on cave walls, epics, records, sculptures, paintings, and
have pieced them together like a lifelike puzzle that continues to
resurrect their legacies in the minds of readers.
History
has detailed that each leader was different and each period in
history was built upon the leaders’ personal belief in culture,
religion, and government. Wherein the Pharaohs were obsessed with the
preparation for the afterlife, these Emperors were obsessed with
conquering the world in their current lives. The acts in how they
lived seemed not only to determine their death, but also the legacies
they built. To conclude, the grandeur monuments and epics have
created many perceptions that will never be erased from history, and
will forever be viewed as monumental legacies of their leadership. Written by aka Reveal Says...
