Men’s clubs used to be places where like-minded individuals could congregate and discuss topics of mutual interest. As society has changed, this is becoming an increasingly rare tradition. To see just what a gentleman’s club was like in London in 1783, we go to the original sources and read the club’s by-laws. Nothing better illustrates how different that era was from today.
It is very easy to find travel advice. It gushes in currents, like the waters of a melting glacier, carrying all before it. I have no desire here to provide an exhaustive laundry-list of action items; my goal is only to toss out a few thoughts on the subject that have come to me in recent days. I recently read the following travel recommendations which appear in Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson. They are taken from a letter he wrote to one Mr. Perkins in 1782, when Johnson was 73 years old:
At what point does a man’s dedication turn into obsession? And at what point can this obsession turn self-destructive? What role should judgment and restraint play in our lives? We discuss these issues, and offer the example of storm chaser Tim Samaras.
One of the most successful diplomats of his era, Thomas Roe (1581–1644) got an early start on success in life. In his era it helped to be a part of the nobility. He was born in Essex, the son of Sir Robert Rowe, and was educated at Oxford; his genteel manners and refined ways soon gained him access to the court of Elizabeth I. A knighthood followed in 1604, and with this came increased opportunities for advancement and commercial success.
The name of Ibn Fadlan (أحمد بن فضلان بن العباس بن راشد) has received some notoriety in recent years, primarily due to fictionalized accounts of his travels in print and film. Enthusiasts of travel literature who have taken the time to read his work will find, however, that his actual travels have little to do with these sensationalized tales. His book is of great value to modern ethnographers; for it remains the only first-hand account we have of the customs and habits of Viking communities in Russia during the medieval period.
Last week I had a great interview with Ace Johnson of Delta2Alpha, an elite knife manufacturing company that I’ve written about before. I think it was one of the most enjoyable I’ve done; Ace knew the right questions and kept things moving.
There are times when a leader must deliver a sharp rebuke to someone in order to get him or her back on the right track. It is a technique that has to be used carefully, as it is not appropriate for every situation. We relate an anecdote in which the holy man Athanasios of Athos used it effectively.
We then turn to some irreverent fun, with a reading of some of the tweets of the G Manifesto (on Twitter: @MichaelPorfirio).
Of all the great and sanctified names of Mount Athos, few inspire more veneration than that of Athanasios. He lived from about A.D. 925 to 1001, and occupies a central place in the development of the monasticism there. As a young man he was a teacher and scholar in Constantinople, and mixed with the upper classes of that great city; he knew personally the Byzantine emperor Nicephoras II Phocas and served as his spiritual advisor. But at some point he underwent some kind of conversion experience, and abandoned his old life to pursue the road of religion. This pattern is not unknown among great holy men; we find it often repeated in the histories of the world’s great faiths.
The hardcover version of the groundbreaking new translation of Cicero’s On Moral Ends is now available. It can be found on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository, Books-A-Million, and many other retailers as well. Let me know if you have any questions or issues. Some people prefer hardcover for important literary works, so I wanted to accommodate these requests.
I’ve seen quite a few lately, along with some decent miniseries productions. But here are the highlights of the movies that most caught my attention.
Quintus Curtius 
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