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 reading
Enthusiasts of the history of science are familiar with the ingenious method used by the ancient Greek scientist Eratosthenes to measure the Earth’s circumference. Briefly described, he measured the angle of a shadow cast by a stake driven into the ground at midday in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. He compared this to the fact that, at the same time, a stake located far to the south at Cyene, Egypt cast no shadow at all. Knowing from geometry that alternate interior angels are equal, he was able to calculate the number of degrees on the Earth’s spherical surface between Cyene and Alexandria, and from this, to produce a number for the sphere’s circumference.
Continue reading
Enthusiasts of sea tales and true crime stories will find much to ponder in the horrific account of the ordeal of Terry Jo Duperrault aboard the Bluebelle. The story is a relatively recent one, and has been told before. But since many readers may be unfamiliar with the episode, I believe it is worth recounting here again. In the annals of maritime crime, few incidents can equal it in sheer depravity and cold-blooded calculation.
Continue reading
It can often be instructive, in the study of history, to play the intriguing game of “what if?” We are inclined to believe in the inevitability of historical events, simply because things turned out as they did; yet we tend to forget that different decisions might have produced very different outcomes. Thought experiments also help us to review those timeless principles of leadership and morals that may be applicable to our own lives. Let us, then, review Hannibal’s decision not to march on Rome in the immediate wake of his shattering victory at Cannae in August of 216 B.C.
Continue reading
When Napoleon was finally imprisoned on St. Helena, the British government thought it prudent to occupy a small volcanic island named Tristan da Cunha, which was located about twenty degrees south of St. Helena. It was assumed that, if the wily French emperor attempted an escape from his island lodgings, Tristan da Cunha would present an ideal staging area. Occupation of Tristan would forestall such an eventuality. Within a few years a fort and barracks had been constructed, and the island was eventually garrisoned; a few dairy cows completed the island’s fortification.
Continue reading
Among the most remarkable events of the late medieval period was the rise and growth of the Ottoman state in Anatolia and beyond. George Finlay, in his seven-volume history of Greece, called the Ottoman Empire “one of the most singular creations of human genius.” In the empire’s early centuries, at least, we cannot disagree with this verdict. How was it that a tiny, obscure tribe of Asiatic migrants came to conquer the proud and ancient domains of the Byzantine Greeks with such rapidity?
Continue reading
In November of 43 B.C., Rome was gripped by a terrible sense of foreboding. The historian Appian, in his Civil Wars (IV.1.4) relates that all kinds of strange portents were observed around the city. Statues sweated blood; a newborn infant uttered words; lightning struck sacred temples; and cattle spoke with a human voice. So alarmed were some senators that they summoned expert diviners from Etruria to weigh these ominous signs. The most authoritative of these was an elderly man who told them, “The monarchical rule of ancient times is returning. You will all be slaves except me.” Once the Etruscan priest spoke these words to the startled senators, says Appian, he closed his mouth and held his breath until he dropped dead before them.
Continue reading
St. Paul Island is one of those innumerable specks of land in the northeast Atlantic that are perpetually lashed by frigid wind and wave. It is located about fifteen miles northeast of Cape North on Cape Breton Island; it is near the Cabot Strait between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean. In centuries past it hosted residents, but is now uninhabited.
Continue reading
Abraham Lincoln’s literary powers were a product of his life experiences and his innate abilities. From a young age, his exposure to tragedy had been personal and continuous. The death of his mother, the death of Ann Rutledge, and various other hardships had given him an acute sensitivity to the meaning of loss. In the writing of letters of consolation, Lincoln was able to harness these sentiments and express them in ways that gave specific tragedies a timeless and almost cosmic significance. We have already here discussed the famous Bixby Letter. Two other letters of consolation from Lincoln’s hand, much less well-known, merit our attention as models of compassion and heartfelt sympathy.
Continue reading
It has been said that both courage and cowardice are contagious. This is certainly true, as anyone who has spent time with a group engaged in some kind of enterprise knows well. Courageous or cowardly actions always begin with one man; his example, witnessed by the rest of the group, is like a firebrand thrown on dried kindling. And it has precisely the same effect.
Continue reading
Quintus Curtius 
You must be logged in to post a comment.