Pillar from a Roman Granary I like to think some wily slave once set his back against this stone, to rest perhaps from hauling grain in awkward sacks off wooden carts then up the broad stone steps. And did he find a moment to inspect —when his master’s back was turned— the deftly-chiseled, outward curve that signifies a bulging muscle’s strength? The pillar’s convex line implies more weight above—impressive now the modest roof. So why exaggerate the commonplace? Why, architect, did you embellish truth? And did the slave see Rome’s omnipotence or how it buckled under this pretence? Jason Brennan…