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LauraT
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Apr 27, 2022 11:53PM
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LauraT wrote: "thief (in Italy we say "piove, governo ladro" - "It's rainingm thief gevernment"!)"Why we say 'it rains, government thief'
Salt is closely linked to human history. This is demonstrated by a strong tradition of customs and persistent traces in the language. The ancient belief that inadvertently pouring salt causes harm derives precisely from the fact that it was considered such a precious commodity that it could not be squandered; in the painting "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci, Judas Iscariot, who a little later will betray Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, is recognizable by the salt shaker overturned on the table, right in front of him.
The saying: "cum grano salis", or "with a grain of salt" is used to indicate the use of reason and intelligence before any important decision.
In ancient Rome, salt was a precious food and bargaining chip, so much so that the legionaries themselves were paid with salt: hence the word salary to indicate the remuneration for the work done.
Via Salaria has this name because it was designed and built mainly to supply the ancient city of Rome with salt. The Austrian city of Salzburg, or Salzburg, means "city of salt" due to the important rock salt deposit enclosed in the subsoil.
At one time the transporters of goods, and in particular of salt, had to pay the duty for the transit on the crossings, and they paid by weight; the officials waited for it to rain to let them pass. In fact, the water wet the bags and made them heavier due to the ability of the salt to absorb water and thus increased the tax to be paid. Hence the saying: "It's raining, government thief"!
Adriano Mazzarella
Head of the Meteorological Observatory of the Federico II University of Naples
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Why we say 'it rains, government thief'
Salt is closely linked to human history. This is demons..."
And speaking of salt, in Perugia we remember the "salt war" that the city lost against Pope Paul III Farnese (hence our bread is unsalted!) after which the Pope built a ponderous Fortress (the Rocca Paolina) on top of a whole district of Perugia, the Col Landone, destroying the houses of the most important families (the Baglioni for all) that had opposed him, together with one of the most important church of the town then.
Part of it - a little one I'm afraid - is still visible today, but originally it was huge and much wider than what can be now seen. It is a sort of medieval town frozen by architecture. So much so that when Liliana Cavani shoot her San Francesco with Mickey Rourke as main character (it was 1985, I remember it so well!!!) she decided to set the outdoor scenes inside the Rocca instead of on the streets of Assisi, being those much changed since the period described in the film, while inside the Rocca time seems not to have passed.
https://turismo.comune.perugia.it/poi...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances...
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All About Books
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Dorothy L. Sayers (other topics)
Edgar Lee Masters (other topics)
