Among the Roman gods, Bona Dea, “The Good Goddess”, was associated with fertility and chastity of married Roman women. There was a winter festival held in her honor each December that was attended only by women as men were strictly forbidden.

In 62 BCE the festival was held in the home of the Pontifex Maximus, Rome’s highest religious office, the equivalent of the pope. The pontifex could not be present, of course, but his wife, Pompeia, hosted the ceremonies.

The festival was well attended by Roman wives, as well as the Vestal Virgins, you know, the Roman version of nuns.

As it says in Ecclesiastes 1:9:

What has been will be again,
    what has been done will be done again;
    there is nothing new under the sun.

While this was was ostensibly a religious ceremony, it was also the only time that Roman women were allowed to drink strong wine, as opposed to the heavily diluted stuff that they could drink on other occasions. No wonder the high attendance rate.

As the festivities were well underway, a new figure entered and was quickly unmasked as Publius Clodius Pulcher, a politician dressed in women’s garb, who was presumably there to try seduce Pompeia after she had been drinking the strong wine.

It was quite the scandal.

Afterwards the Pontifex Maximus divorced his wife because “Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion”.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, the Pontifex Maximus, you know, the Pope, was none other than Julius Caesar.

This was at the start of his career, and it’s likely that he divorced Pompeia because she was no longer useful in advancing his political career.

In any case the saying “Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion” has come down to us as indicating anyone in public office or anyone associated with them must remain squeaky clean.

Which brings me to: What the hell was Fani Willis thinking?

OK, as far as I can tell she hasn’t actually done anything wrong, nothing that should have a bearing on prosecuting the case anyway.

But what the hell was she thinking?

She had to know that in this day and age her affair would not, could not be kept a secret.

She had to realize that those that she was prosecuting would get wind of it and would try to use it as a delaying tactic. At the very least.

And it looks like they may very well succeed.

So what the hell was she thinking?

I don’t know. Maybe I’m just jealous because nobody has ever put me in a compromising situation.

As it says in Ecclesiastes 1:9:

What has been will be again,
    what has been done will be done again;
    there is nothing new under the sun.