You can find a complete listing of all the articles on this site here. They are listed in reverse chronological order, and are all clickable links. Twenty-five articles are displayed per page, with the publication date included. To find older articles, click on the page numbers at the bottom.
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A Reading From “Pantheon”: Ice Odyssey: Douglas Mawson’s Race Against Death
In this podcast, I read a chapter from my 2015 book Pantheon. The chapter is entitled “Ice Odyssey: Douglas Mawson’s Race Against Death.” It is good for us to be reminded of stories like this.
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Georg Wilhelm Freytag’s Latin Compendium Of Arabic Proverbs
About a year ago one of the readers here at Fortress of the Mind informed me of a work of scholarship that he thought might be of interest. The work was Georg Wilhelm Freytag’s monumental Latin treatise Arabum Proverbia (literally Proverbs of the Arabs, but better rendered as Arabic Proverbs), a three-volume collection of classical Arabic…
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Film Roundup (1/2/2019)
Here are some of the latest viewings.
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The Villa Of The Papyri: A Glimpse At A Roman Book Collection
Sometimes an accident of history can preserve records of great value. As is well-known, Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupted in 79 A.D. entombing the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum in ash and ejecta. In the eighteenth century, these sites began to be explored in a random and haphazard manner; one of the villas so discovered…
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The Top Ten Articles At Fortress Of The Mind For 2018
The following articles were the most popular at the site in 2018. There are some surprises here. For the first time since the site was founded in 2015, a podcast made it to the top ten list. And not just one podcast, but two of them. They were “The Surrealistic World of Michael Porfirio” (at…
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Ibn Qalaqis On The Importance Of Travel
The poet Nasrallah Ibn Abdallah Al-Qalaqis (نصر اللّه بن عبد اللّه القاضي الأعزّ ابن قلاقس) was born near Alexandria, Egypt in 1137. He was a master of language and a composer of many exquisite verses, and was also an intrepid traveler. The name by which he is generally known (Ibn Qalaqis) is derived from the…
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Between Mouth And Morsel
The Roman writer Aulus Gellius relates an anecdote about his discovery of the meaning of an old proverb. He tells us that he read the following line in one of the speeches of Marcus Cato Censorius:
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The Pride Of Mihyar Al Daylami
The poet Mihyar Al Daylami (?–1037) came from that region of Persia which bordered the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. He wrote in Arabic, and his works were so copious that his biographer says they filled four volumes. He was originally a Zoroastrian, but converted to Islam around the year 1003 under the influence…
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A Man Is Often The Cause Of His Own Misfortune
A reasonable amount of experience in life teaches us that we are often the source of the wrongs that fall upon our shoulders. This is not always true, of course; but even a short period of honest reflection will reveal to us, if we examine the details of things, that we might have handled some…
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Films, Trade, And Pleasure (Podcast)
I didn’t really know what to call this podcast. It’s a mix of a few different things. I wanted to talk about the movies I reviewed in the last post here, but I also wanted to toss out an interesting comment made by Samuel Johnson on trade and pleasure. And finally–to relax and unwind a…
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Film Roundup (12/15/2018)
Here are some of the more interesting choices of the past few weeks. Watching movies is much like trying new dishes: you just have to “consume” them and judge for yourself.
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“Sallust” Is Now Available In Hardcover
Fortress of the Mind Publications is pleased to announce that Sallust: The Conspiracy of Catiline and The War of Jugurtha is now available in a beautiful hardcover edition on Amazon and all other major book retailers. With extensive annotations, maps, photos, indexes, chronological tables, and an acclaimed introduction, this is a book designed to last…
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“On Moral Ends” Is Now Available In Audio Book Format
On Moral Ends is now available in audio book format on Amazon Audible and iTunes. For the first time, this essential classic has been introduced to a new generation of readers in a way that preserves the integrity and majesty of the original Latin work. Engagingly and professionally read read by Saethon Williams, this audio…
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“On Duties” Is Now Available In Hardcover
Fortress of the Mind Publications is pleased to announce the issuance of On Duties in hardcover. First published in 2016, Quintus Curtius’s innovative translation of On Duties has helped introduce this masterpiece of moral philosophy to a new generation of readers, many of whom have had no previous exposure to classical studies. In so doing,…
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The Eight Qualities Of The Man Of Understanding
One of the first and greatest classics of Arabic prose is the Book of Kalila and Dimna. It is a collection of fables told with an allegorical purpose, but it is presented with such wisdom, poetic eloquence, and engaging humor as to make it one of the treasures of world literature. Its pedigree verifies its…
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On His Deathbed, Johnson Celebrates Youth’s Vitality And Spirit
It is right that youth should celebrate its vigor. We do it a grave injustice by shackling its natural ebullience, by attempting to douse its fires with an excess of admonitions and restrictives. Let it, as far as health and safety will permit, taste the light of the open sky, the airs of unexplored mountains,…
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A London Men’s Club Of 1783 (Podcast)
Men’s clubs used to be places where like-minded individuals could congregate and discuss topics of mutual interest. As society has changed, this is becoming an increasingly rare tradition. To see just what a gentleman’s club was like in London in 1783, we go to the original sources and read the club’s by-laws. Nothing better illustrates…
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Some Bits Of Travel Advice
It is very easy to find travel advice. It gushes in currents, like the waters of a melting glacier, carrying all before it. I have no desire here to provide an exhaustive laundry-list of action items; my goal is only to toss out a few thoughts on the subject that have come to me in…
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Obsession, Judgment, And Restraint (Podcast)
At what point does a man’s dedication turn into obsession? And at what point can this obsession turn self-destructive? What role should judgment and restraint play in our lives? We discuss these issues, and offer the example of storm chaser Tim Samaras.
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The Travels Of Sir Thomas Roe
One of the most successful diplomats of his era, Thomas Roe (1581–1644) got an early start on success in life. In his era it helped to be a part of the nobility. He was born in Essex, the son of Sir Robert Rowe, and was educated at Oxford; his genteel manners and refined ways soon…
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Ibn Fadlan’s Unique Travels In Central Asia And Rus
The name of Ibn Fadlan (أحمد بن فضلان بن العباس بن راشد) has received some notoriety in recent years, primarily due to fictionalized accounts of his travels in print and film. Enthusiasts of travel literature who have taken the time to read his work will find, however, that his actual travels have little to do…
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An Interview With Delta2Alpha
Last week I had a great interview with Ace Johnson of Delta2Alpha, an elite knife manufacturing company that I’ve written about before. I think it was one of the most enjoyable I’ve done; Ace knew the right questions and kept things moving.
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When To Deliver A Rebuke, And When To Have Fun
There are times when a leader must deliver a sharp rebuke to someone in order to get him or her back on the right track. It is a technique that has to be used carefully, as it is not appropriate for every situation. We relate an anecdote in which the holy man Athanasios of Athos…
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The Wisdom And Character Of Athanasios Of Athos
Of all the great and sanctified names of Mount Athos, few inspire more veneration than that of Athanasios. He lived from about A.D. 925 to 1001, and occupies a central place in the development of the monasticism there. As a young man he was a teacher and scholar in Constantinople, and mixed with the upper…
Original copy of Cicero’s De Officiis (On Duties) published in Holland in 1642. From the collection of Fortress of the Mind.
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