Justice has been, for sure, the main prerogative of royal power. In times where there was bilingualism, or even more linguistic sources, generally known (because some were polyglots…); as it happens in our actual situation, with English language having primacy before other idioms.
Languages that were, as one knows in Europe until Modern Age, Latin -perhaps also Greek and Hebraic? – and naturally the inborn languages: that subsequently began to gain its own importance, above Latin.
To who tries to know the past, we suppose this is an indispensable fact, one must not forget.
Another circumstance to remember is the main role of Justice: the enormous relevance it had. And if different idioms provided architectural shapes, that before were Ideograms (and «philological materials»*) the same occurred with Justice: as it has been, also, the reason for the incorporation of important ornaments -or particular details- in architecture.
Not only because Justice has been an essential power, but as we can perceive, because many aspects of life converged in a desire of salvation: first here, on Earth, in everyone’s lifetime; after –many, or all, felt the necessity of being justified– by God.
Thinking nowadays and the way people are treating our innovations we have to ask:
How to build a fairer society, in Enterprises, Schools or chiefly in People's Heads, in their simplest acts, when in appropriate places –of Government, Public Administration, and so on…- Justice fails? Why to wait common standards of respect and civility, if fundamental and countless laws and their practice, are not systematically inspected, verified or made obligatory?
Our Ph.D. studies will be recognized in a country like this? Where those who should protect creativity and intellectual production are the first to hide it**?
Or the first being dishonest in their strongest desire to deny the effectiveness of our findings…
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*See Hersey, G. The Lost Meaning of Classical Architecture, the MIT Press, 1988, and the illustrations we chose
**Notice that some of them helped us, enormously, until certain point. Perhaps when we spoke of a specific Glossary we intended to make?
And after things turned...
See:
http://iconoteologia.blogs.sapo.pt/