Today in history

Munsell's Every Day Book of History and Chronology records under the date October 15, 1764:

Gibbon says that on this day, as he sat musing among the ruins of the Roman capitol, while the barefooted friars were singing vespers in the Temple of Jupiter, he first conceived the idea of writing the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

from rogueclassicism

For some reason this reminded me of my trip to Israel in the 80s. I remember that our tour group was standing on a kind of floor of an ancient house in the Biblical town of Capernaum.. It was all that was left of the building, in fact it was basically all that was left of the town.” I remember thinking at the time of the words of Jesus spoken to that town that was once thriving and alive, “and you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.”