This is Chişinau’s Arch of Triumph, and is described in two on-line sources as having been built in 1840 and 1841. There are plaques on two sides giving dates of 1836 and 1846. One on-line source describes it as commemorating Russian victory in „The Russo-Turkish War“ however readers of history or followers of my Balkan travels will immediately ask which Russo-Turkish War? An American woman was having her photo taken in front of it by her Moldavan guide, and I asked them to explain to me what this is. The guide helpfully explained that it is Moldava’s Arch of Triumph. Full stop. Which triumph? I asked. Triumph by who? Over what? She took a look at the arch, spied a plaque, and authoritatively suggested that she could translate the plaque for me, as it was in Russian (silly Americans). She said there were two dates on it, 1846 and 1973 (which strangely enough, as they were written in Arabic numerals I could also read). The architect was, and she read the name. Stopped. Looked at me. Am I satisfied now? I thanked her, and asked the American tourist why she was having her photo taken in front of it. „Oh, because it’s like, you know, scenic“ was her answer verbatim. I made a point of remembering every word because my memory is not what it used to be.
I am thinking of this because a friend texted a reference just this morning to MLK’s invocation of Theodore Parker’s universal moral arc. I am considering that people who look to Barack Obama for any sort of inspiration (a mistake to begin with) may hear him quote MLK and nod sagely, however if we have such a hazy or non-existent knowledge of the 19th Century how can we have any understanding of the context from which Parker was speaking? If we know little of the 19th Century then the idea of having any sort of inkling of the nature of „the universe“ seems beyond absurd, and the idea of agreeing or disagreeing with any propositions involving the nature of the universal has no meaning.
