Beware the Ides of March: Some Semi-Classical Reflections on Time

In some ways, being in Rome feels like a homecoming. Unlike lots of the places we’ve been recently, we have been here before, several times. And we can get around in the language (better than we’d expected, actually, especially when the topic is food. And in Italy, when isn’t it?) In other ways, though, Rome feels entirely new this time around. Some of this is COVID: like everywhere, there are empty storefronts. But most of it is us.

It turns out that retirement is fantastic; who knew? One of the things that is fantastic and also unexpected is that we’re feeling more relaxed about everything. There is a lot we want to see and do in Rome. A LOT. But surprisingly little of it focuses on the ancient classical sites, which used to be our bread and butter. We are much more interested in meeting people, in learning Italian, in getting to know our way around the different neighbourhoods, and, of course, in eating Italian food.

When we first talked with one particular academic friend about our plans to retire but maybe not keep being scholars – and this is someone we’d think of as entirely devoted to his scholarship, forever and ever – he said he knew exactly what we meant. He then noted that he’d spent decades developing himself in one direction, building a career, becoming an expert, that he felt as though many other aspects of his life had remained stunted. He liked the idea of doing other things.

It turns out that we do too. We’re sure we’ll get to see a lot of the must-sees in Rome, even those we’ve been to before. We’ve even made a (long) list. So far, though, our days are filled with long walks and meals instead of long lines at museums. From the perspective of our previous lives, time is an incredible luxury. That’s why we wanted to write about it, today, on a day when we will (probably) not be assassinated in Pompey’s theatre. Still, you never know: we might, even without a disregarded warning.

We used to be time-poor, planning out everything we could as a way to control things, to get more in. From many perspectives, this is a smart way to use a limited resource. But most people have a deeply problematic relationship with time: we spend it, waste, it or use it well. We’ve begun trying to stop managing it, and simply to experience it as it flows past.

We realize that not everyone is ready or able to make this shift. But we thought we’d encourage you to stop fighting time whenever you are able to do so and however briefly. Even if it’s not today, you’re bound to lose.