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Edgar Allan Poe’s Sinister Inspiration For “The Cask Of Amontillado”
Most readers will be familiar with Edgar Allan Poe’s macabre tale The Cask of Amontillado. It is a dark tale of revenge, in which one man deliberately intoxicates a hated enemy and then walls him up alive in a crypt. Like most writers, Poe took his inspiration from his life experiences, and then mixed those with…
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We Can’t Expect Too Much From People (Podcast)
One big frustration we can experience in life is having unrealistic expectations of other people. That is, we can want people to behave in ways that are just not within their desires or capabilities. What is the best way to deal with this? We use the example of the humanist Petrarch’s strained relationship with his…
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The Importance Of Theodore Roosevelt’s “New Nationalism” Speech
This past weekend, I visited the John Brown cabin and museum in Osawatomie, Kansas. This historic former residence of the abolitionist–a key figure in American Civil War history–is now a state park. What I had not known was that the park was dedicated in 1910 by none other than Theodore Roosevelt, a man who is…
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Sometimes It Is Not Advisable To Question Authority Or Tradition
While it may be good in some instances to question inherited tradition and authority, there are many times when one should not. Free-thinking individualism has its place, but there is an equally valid place for respecting the power of authority and tradition. This point is amusingly illustrated in the two anecdotes presented below. They are…
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Using Your Ingenuity To Accomplish Your Goals
Those who are resourceful will find ways of carrying out their purposes. They will not be deterred by momentary setbacks or obstacles. The lazy man or the dullard will take refuge behind the natural obstructions that life places in his path and, using such problems as excuses to avoid work, take comfort in his failures.…
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Wednesday Film Roundup (6/21/2017)
Fury of a Patient Man (Tarde para la ira) (2016) Director: Raúl Arévalo This is a very well done Spanish noir revenge thriller that combines realism and narrative power. The plot: José is a taciturn guy who likes to hang out at a drab neighborhood bar. He spends enough time there to catch the…
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Julius Caesar’s Speech To The Senate In “The Conspiracy Of Catiline” (Podcast)
This podcast is a reading and commentary on the speech of Julius Caesar found in Sallust’s “Conspiracy of Catiline.” Caesar’s address to the senate made important points about the value of precedent, leniency, and how abuses of power can follow from seemingly good intentions.
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The Plague Of Justinian
During the reign of the eastern Roman emperor Justinian, the Mediterranean world was hit by a pandemic whose virulence was exceeded only by the outbreak of the Black Plague in western Europe many centuries later. The pandemic–commonly known today as the Plague of Justinian–only lasted from A.D. 541 to 542, but there were residual aftershocks…
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The Search For The Real Anwar Sadat
Immediately after he was assassinated in 1981, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat was canonized by the Western media. He was portrayed as a brave crusader for peace who had taken bold steps to overcome his people’s alleged resistance to resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. By single-handedly flying to the Israeli Knesset and embracing Menachem Begin, he had…
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Mentorships And Career Choices (Podcast)
In this podcast we deal with questions from two reader emails. The first question asks about mentorships. The second question deals with the concerns one guy is having about his career path.
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Sunday Film Roundup (6/11/2017)
Some very good results this week.
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Cover Art For My Books Is Now Available In Special Products
In response to some questions I’ve been getting since the release of Sallust, I’ve decided to offer the cover art for all of my books in a variety of products. The website can be found by clicking here. Once there, click on the “Products” tab to see all the different merchandise available. Imagine having the…
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On Forming Our Own Judgments
When we need to form our own estimates of others, we should learn to trust our own judgments, and not be swayed by the criticisms or slanders of others. Behavior is better verified by observation, rather than by the rumors and innuendos of others.
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Sunday Movie Roundup (6/4/2017)
Gilles’s Wife (La Femme de Gilles) (2004) Director: Frédéric Fonteyne
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You Do What You Have To Do To Survive (Podcast)
A recent news article talks about how young, unemployed urban Greeks are leaving the city to return to agricultural work in the countryside. They’re producing and marketing their own products directly to consumers. It’s part of a wider economic trend that has a lot of positive features. In life, you do what you have to do…
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Limits Must Be Imposed On Our Desires
Among the many problems that we are faced with today is the lack of restraint, the lack of moderation, that is actively supported and encouraged by our culture. If you have something, you are told that you deserve more. If you want something, you are told that you deserve to have it. If something stands…
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Sunday Movie Roundup (5/28/2017)
Chew on these.
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Why We Study Great Exemplars Of History
You may ask yourself why we study the lives and experiences of great exemplars. When I say “exemplar” I mean a person of substance and distinction, a person of notoriety in some field of endeavor. There are many reasons for this; I will attempt to give a few of them here.
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The Dangers Arising From One’s Subordinates: The Case Of Eumenes
No matter how much ability a commander may have, his purposes will ultimately come to nothing if he is surrounded by discontented or disloyal associates. It was for this reason that, as the historian Sallust relates, the Roman general Metellus decided to send his disloyal subordinate Marius back to Rome. A further example of this…
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“Sallust: The Conspiracy Of Catiline And The War Of Jugurtha” Is Now Available
Click above for purchase information I am pleased to announce that my latest book, an original and extensively annotated translation of Sallust’s Conspiracy of Catiline and War of Jugurtha, is now available for purchase. It uses a fresh, modern English idiom that preserves the flavor of the historian’s famous epigrammatic style. Fully outfitted for comprehension…
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Linnaeus And The Art Of Classification
One of the great names of eighteenth century science is the botanist Carl von Linné, more commonly known as Carl Linnaeus. His primary importance to history lies in his innovative classification system for living organisms. Before him, there was a chaos of competing names and terms for the swelling corpus of knowledge about plants and animals;…
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Sunday Movie Roundup (5/14/2017)
This was a great week. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: discovering unexpectedly good films in out-of-the-way places is one of the things that keeps my faith in cinema alive. There are good things happening out there; you just have to be persistent and know how to wade through all the sewage.
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“How Do I Convince A Student That His Ideas Are Wrong?” (Podcast)
A reader who is a teacher is troubled by the fact that one of his teenage students firmly believes in fascist government. The teacher seeks advice on how to deal with this situation. He relates this situation to similar experiences he had as a soldier in Afghanistan when he was speaking with local villagers.
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The Great New York City Blackout Of 1977
I saw a program the other day about an event I previously had known little about: the great New York blackout of 1977. Something about the story left me with a distinct feeling of unease. I don’t imagine many readers here are familiar with it, either. Let me describe some of the details.
Original copy of Cicero’s De Officiis (On Duties) published in Holland in 1642. From the collection of Fortress of the Mind.
Quintus Curtius 
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