For a change of pace, in this video I discuss my impressions of the new blued Colt Python and the classic Smith & Wesson Model 27.
Continue readingThe 2024 Blued Colt Python And The Smith & Wesson Model 27: Impressions And Opinion
Author: Quintus Curtius
The Palomares Incident
We often underestimate the ease with which terrible disasters can accompany our efforts and enterprises. Vigilance tends to lapse with routine; and with time, even the most dangerous cargoes may begin to look benign. Any nation wishing to handle nuclear materials enters a kind of pact with the devil: in return for power and prestige, it can never forget what it is dealing with, and it can never let its guard down. Two lines from the Roman poet Lucan (Pharsalia IX.1020) expresses this idea well:
Continue readingTo The Man Of Virtue, All Soil Is Native
There is a line in Statius’s Thebiad (VIII.320) which reads,
Omne homini natale solum.
This means, “All soil is native to man.” I think it is appropriate to interpret soil in an abstract form, and understand it as signifying land. He does not mean just any land, but terra incognita: the vast expense of the unknown, untamed and hostile. Does this line have any significance, or is it just another poetic garland? To me the poet is trying to communicate the idea that, for the brave man, every piece of ground on this earth may be claimed as his own, and called his own; and that, through his discipline and efforts, the man of virtue may conquer the challenges of his environment, wherever the locale may be.
Continue readingSometimes Winning Is Not Enough (Podcast)
Sometimes even a decisive victory is not enough. The victory may create entirely new landscapes, obstacles, and challenges that test you to the ultimate limit. There is no such thing as reaching a safe “end zone.” We discuss the Battle of Cunaxa in 401 B.C., where the Greek mercenaries of Cyrus won the battle, but immediately realized that their fight for survival had just begun. One man, a natural leader named Xenophon the Athenian, then stepped forward to assume the responsibility of command.
Continue readingThe Books Of Numa Pompilius
The defilement of a nation’s cultural heritage is among the most odious of crimes. But the offense is especially noxious, and finally unforgivable, when committed by national leaders for their own personal aggrandizement. The past is always vulnerable to the malicious exigencies of the present. An illustrative example is found in the pages of Roman history.
Continue readingDecius Iubellius Has His Appointment With Fate
Philosophers and theologians have often pondered whether, or to what extent, wicked deeds are punished within the lifetime of a malefactor. Some maintain that the consequences of evil actions can never be avoided, and that, sooner or later, divine retribution will be visited upon him who offends the gods of justice. Others take a different position, and hold that punishment for the commission of foul acts is a purely random occurrence. Some men, they say, arrive at their appointment with Fate, while others seem to lead charmed lives, escaping justice while walking through life’s raindrops. As for which view is correct, no man can know. For my own part I tend to subscribe to the belief that wicked deeds always exact a certain price from their authors. That price may be postponed, or deferred, or placed in arrears, or hidden from the view of others; but the levy nevertheless weighs on the soul of the malefactor, and steadily corrodes it from within.
Continue readingComing In Late 2025: A New, Annotated Translation Of Frontinus’s “Stratagems”
I expect to publish a new, annotated translation of the Roman military classic Stratagems. It will contain a detailed explanatory introduction, hundreds of footnotes, a commentary on the text, a bibliography, and an extensive index.
Continue readingTwo Amusing Anecdotes From The Siege Of Charleston In 1780
In 1822, Alexander Garden, an aide-de-camp of Major General Nathanael Greene, published a fascinating work titled Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War in America, With Sketches in Character. Some of the stories contained in the volume are based on Garden’s own experiences, or were conveyed to him personally by veterans of the conflict. Out of a great many fascinating and forgotten morsels, I have selected two for the reader’s enjoyment.
Continue readingA Tale Of Chivalry From The Revolutionary War
A touching example of battlefield chivalry is found in the august pages of Alexander Garden’s Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War in America. This forgotten work, through interviews with veterans and knowledgeable parties, was published in 1822, and compiles a great number of stories connected with the war and its combatants. One of them we will present here.
Continue readingThe Enmity Of Poets Is The Worst Of Acquisitions
Buried in the learned and fecund pages of Ibn Khallikan (IV.43) is an amusing tale of an impoverished poet of medieval Sicily. Who will object to its retelling?
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Quintus Curtius 
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