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 Selection Of Latin Readings (Podcast)
In this podcast, I offer a short selection of Latin readings from Cornelius Nepos, Cicero, and Sallust, at the request of a follower on Twitter (@DingoStar64).
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The White Towel
The Soviet defector and writer Victor Suvorov published a book in 1987 called Spetsnaz: The Inside Story of the Soviet Special Forces. Suvorov, whose real name is Vladimir Bogdanovich Rezun, was himself a Spetsnaz veteran and a Soviet intelligence officer. I enjoyed his book Inside the Soviet Army as well; and he has written other…
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The Audiobook Of The New Translation Of Cicero’s “On The Nature Of The Gods” Is Now Available
We’re pleased to announce that the audiobook of the new translation of Cicero’s On the Nature of the Gods is now available on Amazon’s Audible. To take a look at it, and hear a audio sample, you can click here. Audiobooks add a whole new dimension to the learning experience. The translation is available in…
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The Nightmare Wreck Of The “Nottingham Galley”
Would a captain deliberately wreck his own ship, or turn it over to privateers, in order to collect insurance money? This is one of the central questions surrounding the strange and controversial story of the British merchant ship Nottingham Galley, which was wrecked off the coast of Maine in December of 1710. It is a…
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Into A Dark Forest
In very ancient times there was a dense, feared, and trackless forest that separated the territory of Rome from that of Etruria. It was called the Ciminian Forest (Silva Ciminia), and it was a region that the Romans avoided.
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Anecdotes Related To Ya’qub Ibn Al-Laith Al-Saffar, Founder Of The Saffarid Dynasty
Ya’qub Ibn Al-Laith Al-Saffar was the founder of the Saffarid Dynasty of Sistan. He lived from A.D. 840 to 879, and rose from humble origins in Afghanistan to conquer an immense area comprising parts of Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
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The Bixby Letter
Those who have seen the movie Saving Private Ryan (1998) will recall a scene where the actor playing General George Marshall reads to his staff an eloquent and moving letter of condolence written by President Abraham Lincoln to a Mrs. Lydia A. Bixby during the Civil War. This justly famous epistle, now known as the…
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Gratitude Links To Attitude (Podcast)
Gratitude is what determines our attitude and outlook on life. When we are imbued with a sense of thankfulness, when we look at the world from this perspective, doors open up for us. But if we see everything from a negative, grievance perspective, then we are unable to make progress–and in fact go backwards. We…
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The Leadership Of Captain Thrupp
Tales of superlative leadership abound in naval history. Through the study of historical examples, we are instructed in the qualities and characteristics of proper command. In early 1871 the British Admiralty sent a detachment of soldiers and marines to Australia aboard the iron screw frigate Megaera. The ship carried 42 officers, 44 marines, 180 seamen,…
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The Object Of Unceasing Pursuit
One of Poe’s lesser-known stories, The Domain of Arnheim, seems to offer his theory of aesthetics. I say “seems to,” because the dream-like quality of the story leaves the reader with more than a residue of ambiguity.
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The Delusion Of Indispensability
More futility than nobility is found in the wars of the emperor Justinian. His capable general Belisarius reconquered Africa and Italy, humbling the strutting pride of the Vandals and Goths; but these fugacious victories only hastened the West’s final ruin.
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Your Own Lying Eyes
Edgar Allan Poe’s short story The Sphinx is not one that readers may be immediately familiar with. Despite having been composed in 1850, its lesson resonates powerfully in the age of social media and unrelenting news cycles.
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The Necessity Of Unity And Cohesion
In 1870 an obscure French army officer and military theorist named Charles Jean Jacques Joseph Ardant du Picq died from wounds he received during an engagement of the Franco-Prussian War.
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The New Translation Of Cicero’s “On The Nature Of The Gods” Is Now Available (Podcast)
Last week the new translation of Cicero’s On The Nature Of The Gods was published. It is available in paperback, hardcover, and Kindle. An audiobook version will come out next month. This podcast explains what the book is about, why it is important, and the special features my translation has. I also read the translation’s…
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Ancient Contacts Between The Roman Empire And China
The curious mind may be puzzled by the apparent paucity of commercial and cultural contacts between the Roman and Chinese empires. That these two mighty states seem to have had such meager intercourse with each other, for so many centuries, is one of the oddities of antique history.
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The New Translation Of Cicero’s “On The Nature Of The Gods” Is Now Available
The new, annotated translation of Cicero’s classic On the Nature of the Gods (De Natura Deorum) is now available in paperback, hardcover (with classic dust-jacket), and Kindle editions. An audiobook edition will follow in October.
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Benjamin Franklin’s Levee: A Warning Against Concentrations Of Power
Readers may not be aware that one of the meanings of the word levee is an assemblage of visitors before a sovereign. It was in this sense of the word that Benjamin Franklin composed a short but pointed commentary on an Old Testament parable from the Book of Job, which he entitled “The Levee.”
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The “Excessive Questions Warrior”
There is a certain personality type that anyone offering a service is aware of. I call him the Excessive Questions Warrior. This is someone who peppers you will extended, excessive questions about their issue, with an inordinate focus on your capabilities. The purpose is to exert control or dominance over the interaction. Such people are…
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Some Business And Money Advice From Benjamin Franklin
The fecund pen of Benjamin Franklin has conveyed, in the realm of personal and professional advice, numberless treasures to posterity. Recently, while engaged in research for an upcoming translation project, I was directed to an old volume of Franklin’s writings. In it appeared the short composition presented below.
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Lack Of Compliance With The Small Things Spells Trouble With The Big Things (Podcast)
If you are in a job where you have to deal with clients or the general public, be alert to the small clues or “tells” that reveal a person’s state of mind and attitude. If a prospective client fails to show a willingness to comply with reasonable, basic rules, it almost always means the person…
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Podcast With The Bonner Report
I recently had a great podcast with scholar and historian Dr. Michael Bonner, who can be found on X (formerly known as Twitter) by clicking here.
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“Oppenheimer”: A Movie Review (Podcast)
In this podcast, we discuss Christopher Nolan’s masterful Oppenheimer (2023), and explore its strengths and minor flaws. As a character study, the film is highly instructive; it paints a picture of a brilliant man who failed to appreciate the role of emotions and personalities in human affairs, a fact which caused him to fall victim…
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The Chessboard Of Sissah
Ibn Khallikan’s Biographical Dictionary contains an entry (III.68) for one Abu Bakr Al Suli, who is described as an accomplished scholar, biographer, and enthusiast of the game of chess. He was so good at this game, we are told, that his name entered the roll of Arabic proverbs in the saying, “He plays chess like…
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The Torrent Does Not Precede The Rain
The noted jurisprudent, polymath, political scientist, and theologian Ali Ibn Muhammad Ibn Habib (علي إبن محمد إبن حبيب) was a native of Basra, Iraq, and lived from about A.D. 974 to 1058. He is more commonly known by the name Al-Mawardi (الماوردي).
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A Pig Cannot Teach Minerva
There is a saying referenced in Cicero’s Academica (I.5) that touches on our practical inability to give instruction to power. The reference is as follows:
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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