Day 23: If you had the power to time travel – would you, where would you visit, what would you do?
I would love to think that time travel will one day be possible and that the greatest mysteries in history could be solved, was there a second shooter on a grassy knoll that day in Dallas? Did Marilyn overdose? Did an alien crash at Roswell?
But if I could only visit one time and place it would be Egypt in the middle Cleopatra’s reign, a time when her links with Rome were fairly secure. The young queen had secured her throne and the affections of the most powerful men in Rome. The riches produced by her country ensured despite having to hand over large quantities of her produce it remained a land of plenty. Descriptions of the opulent and extravagant banquets held aboard the Royal Barge combined with her beauty have inspired the greatest minds to write about her
The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne,
Burned on the water; the poop was beaten gold,
Purple the sails, and so perfumed, that
The winds were love-sick with them, the oars were silver,
Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made
The water which they beat to follow faster,
As amorous of their strokes. For her own person,
It beggared all description; she did lie
In her pavilion,–cloth-of-gold of tissue,–
O’er-picturing that Venus where we see
The fancy outwork nature; on each side her
Stood pretty-dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids,
With divers-coloured fans, whose wind did seem
To glow the delicate cheeks which they did cool,
And what they undid did. (2.2.200)Shakespeare
And of course who could forget the epic immortalization in film
I would love to see if the woman lived up to the legend or whether another depiction could be closer to the truth
Where would you like to go?
Enobarbus describes Queen Cleopatra
Enobarbus: I will tell you. The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne, Burned on the water: the poop was beaten gold; Purple the sails, and so perfumed that The winds were lovesick with them; the oars were silver, Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made The water which they beat to follow faster, As amorous of their strokes. For her own person, It beggar'd all description: she did lie In her pavilion, cloth-of-gold of tissue, O'erpicturing that Venus where we see The fancy outwork nature: on each side her Stood pretty dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids, With divers-colour'd fans, whose wind did seem To glow the delicate cheeks which they did cool, And what they undid did. Agrippa: O, rare for Antony. Enobarbus: Her gentlewomen, like the Nereides, So many mermaids, tended her i' th' eyes, And made their bends adornings. At the helm A seeming mermaid steers: the silken tackle Swell with the touches of those flower-soft hands That yarely frame the office. From the barge A strange invisible perfume hits the sense Of the adjacent wharfs. The city cast Her people out upon her; and Antony, Enthroned i' th' marketplace, did sit alone, Whistling to th' air; which, but for vacancy, Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too, And made a gap in nature. Agrippa: Rare Egyptian! Enobarbus: Upon her landing, Antony sent to her, Invited her to supper. She replied It should be better he became her guest; Which she entreated. Our courteous Antony, Whom ne'er the word of "No" woman heard speak, Being barbered ten times o'er, goes to the feast, And for his ordinary, pays his heart For what his eyes eat only. Agrippa: Royal wench! She made great Caesar lay his sword to bed; He plowed her, and she cropped. Enobarbus: I saw her once Hop forty paces through the public street; And having lost her breath, she spoke, and panted, That she did make defect perfection, And, breathless, pow'r breathe forth. Maecenas: Now Antony must leave her utterly. Enobarbus: Never; He will not: Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety. Other women cloy The appetites they feed, but she makes hungry Where most she satisfies; for vilest things Become themselves in her, that the holy priests Bless her when she is riggish.
– See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/21335#sthash.YzqX3MKD.dpuf
Antony and Cleopatra, Act II, Scene II [The barge she sat in, like a burnish’d throne]
by William Shakespeare
Enobarbus describes Queen Cleopatra
Enobarbus: I will tell you. The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne, Burned on the water: the poop was beaten gold; Purple the sails, and so perfumed that The winds were lovesick with them; the oars were silver, Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made The water which they beat to follow faster, As amorous of their strokes. For her own person, It beggar'd all description: she did lie In her pavilion, cloth-of-gold of tissue, O'erpicturing that Venus where we see The fancy outwork nature: on each side her Stood pretty dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids, With divers-colour'd fans, whose wind did seem To glow the delicate cheeks which they did cool, And what they undid did. Agrippa: O, rare for Antony. Enobarbus: Her gentlewomen, like the Nereides, So many mermaids, tended her i' th' eyes, And made their bends adornings. At the helm A seeming mermaid steers: the silken tackle Swell with the touches of those flower-soft hands That yarely frame the office. From the barge A strange invisible perfume hits the sense Of the adjacent wharfs. The city cast Her people out upon her; and Antony, Enthroned i' th' marketplace, did sit alone, Whistling to th' air; which, but for vacancy, Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too, And made a gap in nature. Agrippa: Rare Egyptian! Enobarbus: Upon her landing, Antony sent to her, Invited her to supper. She replied It should be better he became her guest; Which she entreated. Our courteous Antony, Whom ne'er the word of "No" woman heard speak, Being barbered ten times o'er, goes to the feast, And for his ordinary, pays his heart For what his eyes eat only. Agrippa: Royal wench! She made great Caesar lay his sword to bed; He plowed her, and she cropped. Enobarbus: I saw her once Hop forty paces through the public street; And having lost her breath, she spoke, and panted, That she did make defect perfection, And, breathless, pow'r breathe forth. Maecenas: Now Antony must leave her utterly. Enobarbus: Never; He will not: Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety. Other women cloy The appetites they feed, but she makes hungry Where most she satisfies; for vilest things Become themselves in her, that the holy priests Bless her when she is riggish.
– See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/21335#sthash.YzqX3MKD.dpuf
Antony and Cleopatra, Act II, Scene II [The barge she sat in, like a burnish’d throne]
by William Shakespeare
Enobarbus describes Queen Cleopatra
Enobarbus: I will tell you. The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne, Burned on the water: the poop was beaten gold; Purple the sails, and so perfumed that The winds were lovesick with them; the oars were silver, Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made The water which they beat to follow faster, As amorous of their strokes. For her own person, It beggar'd all description: she did lie In her pavilion, cloth-of-gold of tissue, O'erpicturing that Venus where we see The fancy outwork nature: on each side her Stood pretty dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids, With divers-colour'd fans, whose wind did seem To glow the delicate cheeks which they did cool, And what they undid did. Agrippa: O, rare for Antony. Enobarbus: Her gentlewomen, like the Nereides, So many mermaids, tended her i' th' eyes, And made their bends adornings. At the helm A seeming mermaid steers: the silken tackle Swell with the touches of those flower-soft hands That yarely frame the office. From the barge A strange invisible perfume hits the sense Of the adjacent wharfs. The city cast Her people out upon her; and Antony, Enthroned i' th' marketplace, did sit alone, Whistling to th' air; which, but for vacancy, Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too, And made a gap in nature. Agrippa: Rare Egyptian! Enobarbus: Upon her landing, Antony sent to her, Invited her to supper. She replied It should be better he became her guest; Which she entreated. Our courteous Antony, Whom ne'er the word of "No" woman heard speak, Being barbered ten times o'er, goes to the feast, And for his ordinary, pays his heart For what his eyes eat only. Agrippa: Royal wench! She made great Caesar lay his sword to bed; He plowed her, and she cropped. Enobarbus: I saw her once Hop forty paces through the public street; And having lost her breath, she spoke, and panted, That she did make defect perfection, And, breathless, pow'r breathe forth. Maecenas: Now Antony must leave her utterly. Enobarbus: Never; He will not: Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety. Other women cloy The appetites they feed, but she makes hungry Where most she satisfies; for vilest things Become themselves in her, that the holy priests Bless her when she is riggish.
– See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/21335#sthash.YzqX3MKD.dpuf
Antony and Cleopatra, Act II, Scene II [The barge she sat in, like a burnish’d throne]
by William Shakespeare
Enobarbus describes Queen Cleopatra
Enobarbus: I will tell you. The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne, Burned on the water: the poop was beaten gold; Purple the sails, and so perfumed that The winds were lovesick with them; the oars were silver, Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made The water which they beat to follow faster, As amorous of their strokes. For her own person, It beggar'd all description: she did lie In her pavilion, cloth-of-gold of tissue, O'erpicturing that Venus where we see The fancy outwork nature: on each side her Stood pretty dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids, With divers-colour'd fans, whose wind did seem To glow the delicate cheeks which they did cool, And what they undid did. Agrippa: O, rare for Antony. Enobarbus: Her gentlewomen, like the Nereides, So many mermaids, tended her i' th' eyes, And made their bends adornings. At the helm A seeming mermaid steers: the silken tackle Swell with the touches of those flower-soft hands That yarely frame the office. From the barge A strange invisible perfume hits the sense Of the adjacent wharfs. The city cast Her people out upon her; and Antony, Enthroned i' th' marketplace, did sit alone, Whistling to th' air; which, but for vacancy, Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too, And made a gap in nature. Agrippa: Rare Egyptian! Enobarbus: Upon her landing, Antony sent to her, Invited her to supper. She replied It should be better he became her guest; Which she entreated. Our courteous Antony, Whom ne'er the word of "No" woman heard speak, Being barbered ten times o'er, goes to the feast, And for his ordinary, pays his heart For what his eyes eat only. Agrippa: Royal wench! She made great Caesar lay his sword to bed; He plowed her, and she cropped. Enobarbus: I saw her once Hop forty paces through the public street; And having lost her breath, she spoke, and panted, That she did make defect perfection, And, breathless, pow'r breathe forth. Maecenas: Now Antony must leave her utterly. Enobarbus: Never; He will not: Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety. Other women cloy The appetites they feed, but she makes hungry Where most she satisfies; for vilest things Become themselves in her, that the holy priests Bless her when she is riggish.
– See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/21335#sthash.YzqX3MKD.dpuf
Paula Acton 
Interesting question, Paula. I have been to Roswell, and I DO think there was a huge government coverup. I think it would be of great interest to every person on this planet to know what really happened that night.
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Far to many choices. The Crowning of Elizabeth I. The first showing of Romeo and Juliet. The swearing in of George Washington.
There are so many points in history that might be relevant and interesting to see. How would you ever chose?
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