During the recent clashes over Civil War statues, the defenders of the Old South and other associated racists such as the KKK. Nazis, etc have insisted that these statues are necessary for historical education. OK, Fair enough. Physical imagery – statues, sculptor, paintings - have long been used to portray historical events and persons of historical significance. In the case of statues, the intent is generally to exalt the individual. Past political and military leaders are typically portrayed as bigger than life, often perched gallantly atop a steed, and almost always carrying some kind of weapon. Words are unnecessary. The plain message is “this person was strong... this person was good... this person was a hero.”
However, adulation and hagiography do not necessarily need to be the case. The concept of Damnatio Memoriae, or oblivion, as a punishment dates back centuries. The peoples of Ephesos after Herostratus set fire to the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of antiquity. This generally involved either the complete destruction of a statue or building or, in some cases, modifying the original item or erecting a monument that clearly demonstrated contempt.
A classic example was the emperor Lucius Aelius Sejanus. He suffered damnatio memoriae following a failed conspiracy to overthrow emperor Tiberius in A.D. 31. His statues were destroyed and his name obliterated from all public records. This coin from Augusta Bilbilis, originally struck to mark the consulship of Sejanus, has the words L. Aelio Seiano obliterated.
With that in mind, I submit the following commemoration of all political and military leaders of the Confederated States of America: