Buried in the learned and fecund pages of Ibn Khallikan (IV.43) is an amusing tale of an impoverished poet of medieval Sicily. Who will object to its retelling?
Continue readingThe Enmity Of Poets Is The Worst Of Acquisitions
Month: March 2025
The Musa Brothers Confirm The Measurement Of The Earth’s Circumference
Enthusiasts of the history of science are familiar with the ingenious method used by the ancient Greek scientist Eratosthenes to measure the Earth’s circumference. Briefly described, he measured the angle of a shadow cast by a stake driven into the ground at midday in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. He compared this to the fact that, at the same time, a stake located far to the south at Cyene, Egypt cast no shadow at all. Knowing from geometry that alternate interior angels are equal, he was able to calculate the number of degrees on the Earth’s spherical surface between Cyene and Alexandria, and from this, to produce a number for the sphere’s circumference.
Continue readingPurgation
The Roman writer Aulus Gellius (X.8) relates an interesting anecdote about his country’s military punishments in olden times. He says that if a soldier committed some offense, he would be “bled”: that is, he would be subjected to a ritualistic opening of a vein and be forced to lose some blood.
Continue readingBook Review: “General Eoin O’Duffy: The Political Life Of An Irish Firebrand” (Podcast)
This podcast is a book review of General Eoin O’Duffy: The Political Life Of An Irish Firebrand, by Jack Traynor. This book is a scholarly but brief political biography of a key figure of Irish politics from the War of Independence through the end of the 1930s. We discuss the book and its subject matter, and venture some thoughts. What does O’Duffy’s life teach us about the influence of character on a man’s fate?
Continue readingA Conversation With Dr. Massimo Pigliucci (Podcast Video)
In December 2024, I had a great conversation with Dr. Massimo Pigliucci, a professor of philosophy at City College in New York City, an evolutionary biologist, a scholar of Greco-Roman practical philosophy, and an authority on Stoicism. He is also the author of How to Be a Stoic and The Quest for Character. We covered a wide range of topics, and the full dialogue can be found in the link below:
Continue readingThe Survival Of Terry Jo Duperrault: Mass Murder On The High Seas
Enthusiasts of sea tales and true crime stories will find much to ponder in the horrific account of the ordeal of Terry Jo Duperrault aboard the Bluebelle. The story is a relatively recent one, and has been told before. But since many readers may be unfamiliar with the episode, I believe it is worth recounting here again. In the annals of maritime crime, few incidents can equal it in sheer depravity and cold-blooded calculation.
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Quintus Curtius 
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