"The Course of Empire", a series of paintings by Thomas Cole.

[raccoon]

I post this periodically in DU. It seems especially appropriate now, more so even than when I posted it in the recent past.


The Savage State





The Pastoral State



Consummation




Destruction




Desolation






All posted from http://pasleybrothers.com/jefferson/course_of_empire.htm

[stuckinarut]

1. So fitting.

Thanks for the post!

[xchrom]

2. recommend

[Blue_Tires]

3. those poor Romans...

[ewagner]

4. Excellent

The only problem is that we aren't thinking in the terms of sustaining our "empire" . We're only thinking about the next ten minutes...if that...

[AngryAmish]

5. I get your point but that is rather ahistorical

None of the glories of Byzantium? And there is an argument that "Rome" did not end until the Romanovs were murdered.