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 Foreword.
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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.
Continue readingThe 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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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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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 never going to hire you. Either someone trusts you and and is willing to take guidance from you, or they do not. We discuss how to spot these types, and how to handle them.
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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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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 is going to be a problem client. Do not ignore these subtle clues.
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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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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 to his hubris and naivete.
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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 Al Suli.”
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Quintus Curtius 
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