The first of the Seljuk sultans was Togrul Beg. Of him Edward Gibbon said, “It would be superfluous to praise the valour of a Turk; and the ambition of Togrul was equal to his valour.” This is a supreme compliment, and entirely true. By the time of his death in 1063 he had firmly laid the foundations for the Seljuk Empire in the Middle East and Central Asia.
One of the greatest of the medieval Turkish princes was Mahmud of Ghazni (محمود غزنوی) or Mahmud Ghaznawi. He lived from about 971 to 1030. During this time his forces conquered large parts of what is now Iran, Afghanistan, and northern India. It was apparently for him that the title of sultan was first invented.
The question here is: “How do I avoid burnout?”
But–as is often the case–I sense a hidden question lurking below the surface here that deals with isolation and loneliness.
We discuss some answers.
The Soviet Union is no more, as everyone knows. Its political system proved to be unsuccessful; it was incapable of adapting to the challenges of history.
Janusz Bardach’s Man Is Wolf To Man: Surviving The Gulag ranks among the best prison-camp memoirs of the Second World War era. As an epic of suffering and survival, it makes an excellent companion to Siegfried Knappe’s Soldat: Reflections Of A German Soldier, 1936-1949, another dark chronicle of a dark era.
So-called “experts” and pundits will always try to pigeon-hole you. They will try to categorize you as they see fit, in order to make themselves feel good. If you are pursuing your passions or mission, you’ll notice people trying to “put you in your place.” Some alleged “authority” will try to cut you down.
Here’s a very good paper from 2014 that discusses the importance of On Duties in the Western tradition.
It’s one of the best summaries out there, and I think readers will benefit from going through it. The writers call it a “core text for every curriculum.”
The Renaissance literary figure Petrarch met his fame and success with ambivalence. On the one hand it was the fulfillment of what he had worked for, but on the other, it left him with deep feelings of unease. These feelings eventually ripened into outright contempt for those who could not understand the origin of his malaise.
We deal with a few recent questions from readers. They are:
I had a chance yesterday to learn more about a strange and tragic incident in recent Brazilian history: the country’s so-called “rubber soldiers” (soldados na borracha) program of the Second World War. The story is almost totally unknown in the United States, and for this reason I thought it would be worthwhile to share some details about it here.
Quintus Curtius 
You must be logged in to post a comment.