334/Everyday Life in the Later Roman Empire - Revision history

Eb at 06:49, 25 January 2025

2025-01-25T06:49:18Z

Eb at 05:27, 7 April 2022

2022-04-07T05:27:26Z

Eb: /* No one was killed but a couple of electricians */

2018-01-05T01:24:56Z

No one was killed but a couple of electricians

Eb: /* the Lowen School */ cite autobio

2017-08-25T06:33:39Z

the Lowen School: cite autobio

Eb: use template

2017-02-13T01:47:33Z

use template

Eb: /* Summary */

2017-02-13T01:40:15Z

Summary

Eb at 21:10, 11 August 2016

2016-08-11T21:10:45Z

Eb: /* a frantic Mickey Mouse */

2016-08-03T20:09:05Z

a frantic Mickey Mouse

Eb at 17:23, 3 August 2016

2016-08-03T17:23:00Z

Eb: /* either waiting or walking up to the seventeenth floor */

2016-07-17T03:54:37Z

either waiting or walking up to the seventeenth floor

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:49, 25 January 2025
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		+	{{#addbodyclass: tiled-toc tiled-toc-no-chapters}}
	'''"Everyday Life in the Later Roman Empire"''' is the third section of ''[[334]]''. It first appeared separately in [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?34952 ''Bad Moon Rising''], 1973.		'''"Everyday Life in the Later Roman Empire"''' is the third section of ''[[334]]''. It first appeared separately in [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?34952 ''Bad Moon Rising''], 1973.

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:27, 7 April 2022
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−	'''"Everyday Life in the Later Roman Empire"''' is the third section of ''[[334]]''. It first appeared separately in ''Bad Moon Rising'', 1973.	+	'''"Everyday Life in the Later Roman Empire"''' is the third section of ''[[334]]''. It first appeared separately in [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?34952 ''Bad Moon Rising''], 1973.

	{{SummaryCollapsed \|		{{SummaryCollapsed \|

@@ Line 70: / Line 70: @@
 === No one was killed but a couple of electricians ===
-Lottie's and Alexa's relief at this news makes sense given the higher death toll one might expect from a plane crash, but it may also reflect an uneasy attitude toward people with technological skills. Alexa in this chapter, speaking about her fear of condemning her son to a technical education instead of an arts-oriented one, says she considers them equivalent to soldiers— people who do unpleasant, dangerous things to keep society intact— implying that the technology that sustains their world is really a form of violence. Lottie in [[334 Part V (31)]] says she's never met any such people and doesn't understand them.
+Lottie's and Alexa's relief at this news makes sense given the higher death toll one might expect from a plane crash, but it may also reflect a dismissive attitude toward people with technical jobs. Alexa in this chapter, speaking about her fear of condemning her son to a technical education instead of an arts-oriented one, says she considers them equivalent to soldiers— people who do unpleasant, dangerous things to keep society intact— implying that the technology that sustains their world is really a form of violence. Lottie in [[334 Part V (31)]] says she's never met any such people and doesn't understand them.
 {{334 nav}}

@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
 === the Lowen School ===
-{{wp|Alexander Lowen}} was the founder of "bioenergetic analysis", a psychotherapeutic practice influenced by Wilhelm Reich. The Lowen School is fictional, but seems reminiscent of [[wikipedia:Waldorf education|Waldorf schools]].
+{{wp|Alexander Lowen}} was the founder of "bioenergetic analysis", a psychotherapeutic practice influenced by Wilhelm Reich. Disch once described his own experience with a Lowen-inspired therapist who "had me doing isometric exercises to channel my cosmic energies from my overenergized head to the southern, underdeveloped regions of my body. At the same time I was encouraged to go out and fuck more."<ref>{{Cite Disch autobio}}</ref>
 === a frantic Mickey Mouse ===

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 '''"Everyday Life in the Later Roman Empire"''' is the third section of ''[[334]]''. It first appeared separately in ''Bad Moon Rising'', 1973.
-== Summary ==
+{{SummaryCollapsed |
-<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">Alexa Miller, a welfare caseworker employed by [[334/The Death of Socrates#MODICUM|MODICUM]], is facing an upper-middle-class dilemma: whether to place her son in an artsy private school, or a high-end public school where he'll learn more marketable technical skills. Her sister tells her that the latter option would not be "a human life"; Alexa feels similarly, but she's come to believe that 21st-century America is so irredeemably decadent that maybe children shouldn't aspire to anything. This belief is tied to Alexa's participation in a drug-assisted mind-game where her alter ego is a Roman matron born in the year 334.
+Alexa Miller, a welfare caseworker employed by [[334/The Death of Socrates#MODICUM|MODICUM]], is facing an upper-middle-class dilemma: whether to place her son in an artsy private school, or a high-end public school where he'll learn more marketable technical skills. Her sister tells her that the latter option would not be "a human life"; Alexa feels similarly, but she's come to believe that 21st-century America is so irredeemably decadent that maybe children shouldn't aspire to anything. This belief is tied to Alexa's participation in a drug-assisted mind-game where her alter ego is a Roman matron born in the year 334.
-Alexa's correspondence with her sister places this chapter in the spring of 2025.</div>
+Alexa's correspondence with her sister places this chapter in the spring of 2025.
 == Related characters ==

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:10, 11 August 2016
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	Lottie's and Alexa's relief at this news makes sense given the higher death toll one might expect from a plane crash, but it may also reflect an uneasy attitude toward people with technological skills. Alexa in this chapter, speaking about her fear of condemning her son to a technical education instead of an arts-oriented one, says she considers them equivalent to soldiers— people who do unpleasant, dangerous things to keep society intact— implying that the technology that sustains their world is really a form of violence. Lottie in [[334 Part V (31)]] says she's never met any such people and doesn't understand them.		Lottie's and Alexa's relief at this news makes sense given the higher death toll one might expect from a plane crash, but it may also reflect an uneasy attitude toward people with technological skills. Alexa in this chapter, speaking about her fear of condemning her son to a technical education instead of an arts-oriented one, says she considers them equivalent to soldiers— people who do unpleasant, dangerous things to keep society intact— implying that the technology that sustains their world is really a form of violence. Lottie in [[334 Part V (31)]] says she's never met any such people and doesn't understand them.

−	~~[[Category:~~334]]	+	{{334 nav}}

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 === a frantic Mickey Mouse ===
-In the original text, this was spelled "mickeymouse", as if Mickey had become a generic term.
+In earlier [[334/Editions#Textual differences|editions]], this was spelled "mickeymouse", as if Mickey had become a generic term.
 === the best-selling book of 1919 ===

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 === Stuyvesant ===
-[[wikipedia:Stuyvesant High School|Stuyvesant High School]] is a NYC public school known for its high academic standards, extremely competitive admission process, and focus on math and science. It is now in Battery Park City, but at the time of Disch's writing it was at 345 E. 15th St., a short distance from the main setting of the novel.
+{{wp|Stuyvesant High School}} is a NYC public school known for its high academic standards, extremely competitive admission process, and focus on math and science. It is now in Battery Park City, but at the time of Disch's writing it was at 345 E. 15th St., a short distance from the main setting of the novel.
 === thermal salvage ===
-There's no description of this process; the term is sometimes used in the real world to mean simply burning waste, but from context it seems to mean a future technology for reusing excess heat energy. Later in the chapter, G. says of his job: "I fight [[wikipedia:Entropy|entropy]] for a living." The dissipation of heat is one example of entropy, but metaphorically another example is the increasing disorder of life in a declining city.
+There's no description of this process; the term is sometimes used in the real world to mean simply burning waste, but from context it seems to mean a future technology for reusing excess heat energy. Later in the chapter, G. says of his job: "I fight {{wp|entropy}} for a living." The dissipation of heat is one example of entropy, but metaphorically another example is the increasing disorder of life in a declining city.
 === you just wanted me out of the bathtub so you could do the dishes ===
@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 === the god-bearer and the cista-bearer ===
-A [[wikipedia:Cista|cista]] was a casket containing sacred objects.
+A {{wp|cista}} was a casket containing sacred objects.
 === the Met ===
@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 === the Lowen School ===
-[[wikipedia:Alexander Lowen|Alexander Lowen]] was the founder of "bioenergetic analysis", a psychotherapeutic practice influenced by Wilhelm Reich. The Lowen School is fictional, but seems reminiscent of [[wikipedia:Waldorf education|Waldorf schools]].
+{{wp|Alexander Lowen}} was the founder of "bioenergetic analysis", a psychotherapeutic practice influenced by Wilhelm Reich. The Lowen School is fictional, but seems reminiscent of [[wikipedia:Waldorf education|Waldorf schools]].
 === a frantic Mickey Mouse ===
@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 === the best-selling book of 1919 ===
-The quote is from Oswald Spengler's ''[[wikipedia:The Decline of the West|The Decline of the West]]''. Spengler's fatalistic view of Europe's future mirrors the attitude of Alexa and her privileged friends toward 21st century America.
+The quote is from Oswald Spengler's ''{{wp|The Decline of the West}}''. Spengler's fatalistic view of Europe's future mirrors the attitude of Alexa and her privileged friends toward 21st century America.
 === Could it be Don Hershey? ===
@@ Line 50: / Line 50: @@
 === her mother's place at the corner with the broom and the can ===
-Mrs. Levin's job is to sweep the street on this particular block. These sweepers are licensed but not paid by the city; instead they work for tips, and expect to receive presents from local residents on holidays. Lottie Hanson at one point hoped to get this job, but the license went to Mrs. Levin instead ("[[334 Part III (19)]]").
+Mrs. Levin's job is to sweep the street on this particular block. These sweepers are licensed but not paid by the city; instead they work for tips, and expect to receive presents from local residents on holidays. Lottie Hanson at one point hoped to get this job, but the license went to Mrs. Levin instead ([[334 Part III (19)]]).
 === either waiting or walking up to the seventeenth floor ===
-The elevators at 334 E. 11th are consistently broken. Shrimp Hanson will start a campaign to fix them in 2026 ("[[334 Part II (13)]]").
+The elevators at 334 E. 11th are consistently broken. Shrimp Hanson will start a campaign to fix them in 2026 ([[334 Part II (13)]]).
 === Mrs. Levin might lose her apartment (Blake had been known to do worse) ===
-Blake is the malicious bureaucrat that Shrimp encounters in her elevator campaign ("[[334 Part II (13)]]").
+Blake is the malicious bureaucrat that Shrimp encounters in her elevator campaign ([[334 Part II (13)]]).
 Although Alexa resolves to walk up to the Levins' apartment and fill out the necessary paperwork to protect them from Blake, it isn't clear from the rest of this chapter whether she actually does so, since she is almost immediately distracted by Lottie's news about the bombing and runs up to the roof to look.
@@ Line 67: / Line 67: @@
 === No one was killed but a couple of electricians ===
-Lottie's and Alexa's relief at this news makes sense given the higher death toll one might expect from a plane crash, but it may also reflect an uneasy attitude toward people with technological skills. Alexa in this chapter, speaking about her fear of condemning her son to a technical education instead of an arts-oriented one, says she considers them equivalent to soldiers— people who do unpleasant, dangerous things to keep society intact— implying that the technology that sustains their world is really a form of violence. Lottie in "[[334 Part V (31)]]" says she's never met any such people and doesn't understand them.
+Lottie's and Alexa's relief at this news makes sense given the higher death toll one might expect from a plane crash, but it may also reflect an uneasy attitude toward people with technological skills. Alexa in this chapter, speaking about her fear of condemning her son to a technical education instead of an arts-oriented one, says she considers them equivalent to soldiers— people who do unpleasant, dangerous things to keep society intact— implying that the technology that sustains their world is really a form of violence. Lottie in [[334 Part V (31)]] says she's never met any such people and doesn't understand them.