VIII.i. An End

"Italians come to ruin most generally in three ways: women, gambling, and farming. My family chose the slowest one."
- Pope John XXIII

The Pope is dying. Thousands of people have gathered in Bologna's Piazza Maggiore, and on television every channel has interrupted normal programming.
    I'm not quite sure where things stand with my pledge to go to Rome to witness this event. I have to go to Milan later this evening, so perhaps I will wait until to Papal conclave, something far less morbid. Still, the images show flocks of people descending on Saint Peter's square, mobbing Bernini's colonnade. The media circus is gearing up for a glimpse of history in an era that is so often deprived of it. Every major international news organization has been preparing to cover this event for years, and most have contracts with Roman hotels and owners of rooftops with views over saint Peter's square. For historians, who see the passing of eras as somewhat vaster than mere lifetimes, this is almost a routine event; for others, history is colliding with an ahistorical world, and all they can do is watch.