ARTICLES ARCHIVE

 

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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  • James Madison And Abraham Lincoln: Contrasts In Wartime Leadership

    It will be useful to compare the leadership styles of two wartime American presidents of the nineteenth century.  James Madison was president during the War of 1812, while Abraham Lincoln occupied the office of chief executive during the American Civil War.  The first of these must be counted a failure as a wartime commander-in-chief, while…

  • The Importance Of Direct Experience (Podcast)

    There are people who feel starved for direct, real experience. They see themselves as living a lie, and are desperate to fill the void. So they channel their energies into avenues that offer little in terms of real value: “life coaches,” counselors, “nutrition experts,” etc. What they are really lacking is the inner satisfaction that…

  • The Wounded Commodore Barney Meets The British Commanders At Bladensburg

    It is unfortunate that the War of 1812 is understudied, for it furnishes us modernly with a great many lessons on the consequences of unpreparedness and military ineptitude in defense of one’s homeland.  While the Americans scored some notable naval victories during the war, the land campaign remains a dreary record of defeat and flight,…

  • Webinar Discussion Of Cicero’s “On The Nature Of The Gods”

    In September 2023, I was fortunate enough to participate in a webinar to discuss some aspects of Cicero’s On the Nature of the Gods. It really was a great discussion. The participants were Dr. Michael Fontaine of Cornell University, Anya Leonard of classicalwisdom.com, and myself. You can view the entire webinar here:

  • Lt. Joshua Barney Escapes From England’s Old Mill Prison

    The name of Joshua Barney is unlikely to be familiar with readers.  He was, however, one of the principal American naval heroes of both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.  We have not sufficient space here to recount his long and distinguished career as a combatant; but we will relate his daring escape…

  • “How Should I Pray?” (Podcast)

    A reader asks a question I’ve never heard before: “How should I pray?” Although it’s not an easy question to answer, I offer some thoughts and suggestions that relate to these points:

  • The Vase Of Hormuzan

    In Gibbon’s history (Ch. 51), there is an anecdote related to the Arab military campaigns in Persia in A.D. 639 to 640.  It concerns a nobleman named Hormuzan, who was, we are told, “a prince or satrap of Ahwaz and Susa.”  Modern historians have identified him as the governor of Khuzestan, and one of the…

  • Soft Sentiments And External Warnings Are The Opponents Of Great Plans

    In a letter to Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV in 1361, the scholar Petrarch included the following lines of advice:

  • There Is No Place Which Armed Ambition And Avarice Cannot Reach

    The Italian scholar Petrarch spent a significant period of time in southeastern France as a boy and a young man.  In 1311, when he was seven years old, he moved to Avignon with his family; in 1312, he moved to the small town of Carpentras and remained there until 1316.  During other periods of his…

  • Anger Does Not Look Ahead

    Of all the emotions that palpitate the breast of man, none is so potentially destructive as anger.  It comes in many flavors and varieties; but the common thread running through all of them is a ruinous loss of control that renders a man incapable of exercising rational judgment. 

  • Some Points On Reading And Understanding The Ancient Historians

    Anyone who has bothered to open the works of ancient Greek and Roman historians will notice marked differences between them and modern historians.  The differences are not trivial.  In how they express themselves, in what they emphasize or ignore, in how they view their responsibilities, and in various other ways, the ancients are simply different. …

  • Do Things Stay Professional, Or Do They Get Personal? (Podcast)

    I receive an email asking about the personal and professional aspects of litigation. Do things stay professional, or can things get personal? I offer some thoughts and comments from the trenches of the legal world.

  • The Greatest Movies Of The 1990s

    The 1990s is in some ways a unique decade. Sandwiched between the last gasp of Cold War mania (the 1980s) and the global “war on terror” (the early 2000s), it was a time of relative peace and prosperity. The internet had not yet permeated every facet of life; the isolation and atomization of the current era had…

  • You Have To Embrace Your Failures! (Podcast)

    A reader emails me with a question about a painful failure he just experienced. He wants to know if I’ve experienced similar setbacks, and how I’ve handled them. I give my thoughts on the subject, and arrive at some general rules.

  • Stop Being Afraid Of Everything! (Podcast)

    So many people today are totally possessed by their fears. Our society encourages this way of thinking. They take counsel of their fears, they stoke their fears, and they let their fears control their minds. The result is permanent stagnation. Stop being ruled by worry and fear. Break free of this mentality, and learn to have the confidence that…

  • The Greatest Movies Of The 1980s

    It isn’t easy, of course, to reduce an entire decade to convenient encapsulations.  But it is possible to put our finger on its corporeal pulse.  The 1980s did not have the grim, disillusioned, bitter flavor of the 1970s; nor did the decade have the self-satisfied triumphalism of the 1990s.  In some ways the 1980s was…

  • Do You Believe In Yourself? (Podcast)

    A reader asks a question about his personal situation. He feels like he’s working harder and harder, but not getting ahead. He also feels underappreciated by his in-laws, for whom he has done a lot. But instead of worrying about the opinions of others, maybe he should be focusing on his own opinion of himself. And then, he’ll know…

  • The Greatest Movies Of The 1970s

    More than any other decade, the 1970s laid the foundations of modern cinema.  The 1960s were no better a decade for film than the 1950s; its experimental excesses could not compensate for a shockingly meager output of quality work.  But something magical happened in the 1970s.  Perhaps it was the arrival on the scene of…

  • The Top Ten Essays Of 2023

    The following were the most viewed essays of those published here in 2023. They are listed in declining order, based on the number of views. There are some surprises here. If you haven’t had a chance to read some of them, now would be a good time to take a look:

  • “What You Need Is Strength Equal To Theirs”

    We recently discussed some words spoken by the Greek mercenary general Charidamus to the Persian king Darius III on the eve of the Battle of Issus in 333 B.C.  But we discussed only a small part of his speech.  His complete comments are worthy of our meticulous consideration.

  • Words Do Not Retreat

    There is an anecdote told about the prelude to the Battle of Issus in 333 B.C.  This momentous contest, which involved the armies of Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia, was to decide the fate of Asia. 

  • Sometimes The Game Is Rigged Against You (Podcast)

    Sometimes the game is fixed against you. In fact, sometimes what appears to be a level playing field turns out to be a rigged game. What can be done in such situations? How does a man maintain his honor and dignity? We discuss.

  • The First Fruits Of Virtue And Character Are To Displease The Corrupt And Ignorant

    In the 1340s the Italian scholar Petrarch composed a long letter to the poet Homer.  He enjoyed these imaginary exercises in which he could “communicate” with some of the great literary figures of the past; there exist letters to Cicero, Livy, and some other ancient writers.

  • The Duel Of Conway And Cadwalader

    In the early years of the American Revolutionary War, there existed a loose association of military men who lacked faith in George Washington’s ability to lead the Continental Army, and who were convinced he should be replaced.  Although Washington’s position was never seriously in jeopardy, these undercurrents of discontent eventually broke through the surface, taking…

  • The Cruel Wreck Of H.M.S. Nautilus

    The island of Cerigo, modernly called Kythira, is situated off one of the southern-jutting fingers of the Greek peninsula.  Greece’s rocky shores have without doubt claimed more than their fair share of shipwrecks; and in 1807, near the end of the Napoleonic wars, they became the scene of a terrible tale of maritime suffering and…

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Original copy of Cicero’s De Officiis (On Duties) published in Holland in 1642.  From the collection of Fortress of the Mind.