Let’s talk about the Salute that was really a Gesture.
I wish it weren’t necessary for me to put a caveat on what I’m about to write – that being the acknowledgement of the hazardous intent of a salute accompanied by a particular phrase of which the entire world is aware of – but in this time of inverted progressive modernity it is required lest we all get carted away to the gulag.
Sad times. But here we are.
Nearly everyone knows that Elon Musk, in his enthusiasm at the inauguration of Donald J Trump as the 47th American President, was coming from a position of gratitude using a gesture which is widely associated with use in ancient and medieval times. Some people also know that Musk is a devotee of ancient Roman history.
But can we be honest, please, and say that nobody owns bodily gestures?
It is a “gesture.” An arm extended in a particular way to convey gratitude for something or someone.
I have scoured my Roman history primary sources this past week but cannot find any specific mention of the salute. The closest I have come to finding a reference is in an account by Suetonius of the emperor, Claudius, paying his respects to the consuls of the day on celebratory occasions:
And when they gave games, he would rise up with the rest of the crowd to greet them, paying his respects with word and gesture.
We can debate what that gesture was – an arm extended or raised – but the Romans did pay their respects to leaders in various situations which did not result in any accusatory symbolic skullduggery.
Will this possession of every bodily action we make never end?!
Buyers beware! – there is one quote on Wikipedia, but it is not in any of the primary sources which I possess. This is not to say a reference does not exist. I am not an expert in all Roman history and there may be someone out there reading this article who can point us in that direction if it exists.
Most of what we have come to associate with Romans and saluting is from cinema portrayals. But as a historian who is committed to facts, cinema is not a reliable source, particularly for such a contentious topic.
However, it is the sculpture of Augustus, first emperor of Rome, that lends the most poignant picture of how the ancient Romans signified their appreciation or adoration of their leaders.
It is from this portrayal that, in my opinion, we can glean Musk’s intent.
The Augusta Prima Porta.
This is an image of a ruler with outstretched arm regaled in highly decorated attire, dated to the beginning of the first century AD, and the image that has become symbolic with ancient Rome.
Other remnants of supporting evidence of a salute in recognition of gratitude or commitment to one’s ruling elite that existed long before the 1930s characters were ever born, are seen in the paintings of Jacques-Louis David with his portrayals of the saluto in the late eighteenth century:
The Oath of the Horatii in 1784; the Tennis Court Oath in 1791; and the Distribution of the Eagle Standard in 1810.
In 1899 a theatrical adaptation of Ben-Hur was produced from a novel by Lew Wallace, replete with spectacle and salutes.
Isn’t it time we got a grip on relativity before we launched into vicious slurs of fascism for a “gesture” clearly meant as an act of gratitude?
Not only has Musk copped the slings and arrows, but now a well-known and much admired Anglican Catholic priest, Father Calvin Robinson, has had his licence to preach revoked because he dared to mimic Musk’s gesture, in jest, while speaking at a Pro Life conference in America. He is now warding off the fascist labels and hate mail that inevitably come from standing up to make a point on an issue that really shouldn’t be one.
Can we be honest, please, and say that nobody owns bodily gestures?
The salute as it has been handed down to us pictorially has become hijacked for political purposes. Young people learning about history today are taught to associate it only with evil tyrannical regimes of the twentieth century.
The salute is now considered a demonstrative act, rather than what it ought to be – an unemotional gesture in response to a particular set of circumstances at a particular time in history.
The fact that modernity can hijack history and reassign a gesture used from centuries before in a way that was relative to their time is complete nonsense.
What is next? Will we be told we can’t lift our hand in a certain way to a certain height; turn our head this way or that way; lift our eyes to the sky, or else face the dire consequences of inciting violence?
Will this possession of every bodily action we make never end?!
Gerardine here uses every ouch of diplomacy at Labor, Liberal and Greens' move this week to enact one year mandatory jail for those using that ancient gesture.
No more John Cleese or Hogan's Heroes skits, it seems.
I'll be less diplomatic. You don't stop extremism by sending it underground. One of the first things the National Socialists in Germany did on securing power was to ban political speech. Oh the irony!
Labor, Liberal and Greens ... a more authoritarian triumvirate you cannot find.
Here are ... 8 Reasons Liberal Democracies Should Never Ban Political Expression
https://www.libertyitch.com/p/8-reasons-liberal-democracies-should-never-ban-political-speech?utm_source=publication-search
Well done Gerardine!