Bridge of Reason

Pompey   The first permanent stone theatre in Rome was built by the Republican general and political leader Pompey in 55 BC. The Theatrum Pompeii was the biggest of three theatres built in the Campus Martius . It was described as wanton, licentious, the stronghold of every vice. The censors of the day, concerned for the moral welfare of the public, often sought to close down shows, even close the theatres. Pompey, concerned for his legacy, attempted to get around the censors by building a temple to Venus over his theatre, ‘under which,’ he said, ‘we have put rows of seats for the shows.’ A newly converted Tertullian wrote: ‘Thus did he cloak this damned and damnable work under the name of a temple, and by the aid of superstition eluded the rule.’ (From De Spectaculis , or Treatise on Public Shows ) It seems to me that many churches today have followed the example of Pompey. The sense of the sacred has been replaced by the call of the carnal as clowns and jesters roam the court...