I am pleased to announce that my translation of Sallust’s Conspiracy of Catiline and The War of Jugurtha is now available as an audio book on Amazon and iTunes (click on the image above).
The book is engagingly read by narrator Saethon Williams, who captures Sallust’s stirring narrative style. These great historical works are not only exciting stories in their own right, but function as timely warnings of the dangers of debased character and moral corruption.
Many men are in the habit of seeing only the privileges of the powerful, while failing to take note of the crushing burdens that such men must carry. Nothing in this world is gifted to us for free; there is a price to be paid for every acquisition, every privilege, and every benefit. This cost may not be apparent at first; but over time, it will make itself known.
When one examines the characters of different civilizations, one begins to notice commonalities of concern. That is, recurring patterns. Especially in the most ancient of civilizations. There is this obsession with capturing the Spirit of Life, mastering its principles, and using that Mastery as a sort of pole-vault—if you will—to leap over the Wall of Life into the realm of the After-Life. Look at those old Assyrian stone reliefs, showing the bearded kings pollinating their date-plants, which were the staff of life in the ancient Near East. Look at the pharaoh smiting his enemies with a mace, and enjoying every minute of it. Mastering life in order to master death, in other words.
The city-state of Florence in the late 13th century was suffering from an imbalance of political and economic power. In its hands, the nobility had concentrated vast powers to the exclusion of the common citizens, who were either ignored or deliberately disenfranchised. Political leaders functioned as the hand-puppets of powerful families–the medieval equivalent of the modern corporate conglomerate or “special interest” group–who pulled the strings from behind the scenes. Demagogues, ever-ready to prey on the innocence or gullibility of the masses, promised what they never intended to deliver; and when they could not deliver, contented themselves with distracting the populace with frights, scares, amusements, or foreign military adventures.
The audio book of my translation of Cicero’s Stoic Paradoxes is now available on Amazon, iTunes, and Audible. You can find it by clicking on the image above. The audio book is complete and unabridged; it contains the complete texts of Stoic Paradoxes, as well as the Dream of Scipio, along with summaries and commentary.
It is the responsibility of every man to keep himself out of the abyss. Yet he cannot do this job alone; a set of guiding principles must light the way along the dark and confusing pathways of the forest. In some cases, he must be hectored, badgered, cajoled, and—in the end—forced to keep along the path; in other cases, he need only be guided by gentle instruction in the illuminating lights of philosophical inquiry. Every situation is different, and calls for different remedies.
This podcast deals with two different questions I recently received:
1. A guy in his early 20s feels like his girlfriend is holding him back and smothering him, but he’s not sure how to handle the situation.
2. A girl in her 20s is feeling frustrated that she can’t find the kind of long-term relationship that she would like to have.
The astute observer of affairs will keep his finger on the pulse of unfolding events. He will make his observations, draw his own conclusions, and adjust his behavior accordingly. It is of no use to pretend that something is not what it clearly is; to live in denial is to live with a suspended sentence hovering over one’s head. For when the conditions are right for a fire, any spark can be the cause of a conflagration.
The diplomat and traveler now known as Leo Africanus was born Hasan Ibn Muhammad al-Wazan al-Fasi (حسن ابن محمد الوزان الفاسي) in the early 1490s in Spanish Grenada; of the exact date we are not certain. This period was not a favorable one to be an Andalusian Arab in Spain, as the last vestiges of the old caliphate were being pushed off the Iberian peninsula by the nascent Castilian kingdom. When Granada passed into Christian hands, Leo’s family found it expedient to move to Fez in Morocco, and there he received a good education.
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In the year 1260, Tuscany was engulfed in war. The cities of Florence and Siena were engaged in mutual hostilities. About twenty-five miles from Siena was located the small town of Montalcino, which happened to be a friend and ally of Florence. The Sienese hoped that by staging an attack on Montalcino they might be able to compel the Florentines to send an expedition for its relief–an expedition that, they hoped, they could lure into a trap. To this end, the Sienese government publicly announced their intention to move against Montalcino, and watched to see what the Florentine response would be.
Quintus Curtius 
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