Why have our two consuls and praetors come out today wearing their embroidered, their scarlet togas? Why have they put on bracelets with so many amethysts, rings sparkling with magnificent emeralds? Why are they carrying elegant canes beautifully worked in silver and gold? Because the barbarians are coming today and things like that dazzle the barbarians.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Officials dress in expensive clothes because they believe it will impress the arriving barbarians.
- In plain terms
- Officials dress up because they think the barbarians will like it.
- What can you take from it?
- Society often performs status to impress external threats.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do we dress for others?
- What impresses you most?
Another view
It reduces complex politics to mere spectacle.
More from Constantine P. Cavafy
What are we waiting for, assembled in the forum? The barbarians are due here today.
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