Aurel's laurels

My first apartment.

Back during my Roman period, these guys built apartment buildings of brick and rented out rooms and small apartments called INSULI. I wonder if that is, in fact, where "insular", comes from. I got one of these in Ostia, which was much better preserved because, as we moved out, swamps took over and they didn't build other towns over mine. The late, great, (actually a very petty tyrant), Benito Mussel Man was the first to drain those swamps for, I suppose, the glory of Rome. I am secretly glad he got the trains to run on time and rejuvenated, (does that come from Juvenal?), all those Roman artifacts. I mean ancient Rome was probably a nasty place, built on the degradation and exploitation of lands further afield, but their architectonical detailing was something wonderful, wasn't it?

I close with Palladio.