Monday, December 21, 2009

MMIX

The comrades of Oceania are dictated to by the Corpus Juris Civilis. Blindly they circumnavigate the world, gently brushing keystrokes; fingertips reading the dots that denote each letter. No further interpretation could be made. All must abide by the unwritten obligations of the Jus Civile, which tracks the errors one can make: Crimethink, Crimespeak, Oldthink, Oldspeak. A series of amateur spies act as a modern day Censura; enabling Big Brother in his pursuit of the reckless, the thoughtless, and the brave.

"Be my friend, comrade," they cajole. Information passes freely; privacy an Oldspeak term diligently made redundant by these regulators of public morality. She knows this, but still pursues the contact; trapped by the unenviable human desire for companionship. There are others, she is sure. Numbed by Victory gin, the web of deceit spins delicately around the limbs of the damned citizen. Paralysed, her soul is dragged to the forum for judgement. Elsewhere, the lions wait.

The stench of betrayal hangs in the air, weaving a path towards the baited meal. Still the lions wait. The comrades mock. The comrades pity. Regimen morum, however, must be upheld. Behind the column of stone lurks the victim's comrade, now promoted to the much revered role of Castigator. An appropriate pathway to Caesar she was sure. The Castigator smiled as she watched her fallen comrade branded with the nota censoria. With that, the damage was done.


How's your Latin?

Corpus Juris Civilis - Body of Civil Law

Jus Civile – Civil Law

Censura – Censor

Regimen morum – Keeping the public morals

Castigator – Chastiser

Nota censorial – Censorial mark

4 comments:

  1. My Latin is terrible. So terrible I did not even know it was latin. LOL.
    Thanks for the heads up.

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  2. love the amateur spies line....so apt :) I also like how there is no definite outcome for the comrade who betrayed...she was sure of a way to Caesar, but no proof of that is seen.

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  3. I have no knowledge of Latin, but wish to learn. Teach me

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  4. Sorry ladies, I don't know a lot of Latin either. The Latin I know is only from research. Hope you liked the piece and thanks for stopping by.

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