History

The Scheming And Ruthless Antonina

Quintus Curtius Biography, History , , ,

In a previous article here we recounted the dramatic fall of one of the Emperor Justinian’s venal officials, John of Cappadocia.  The key roles of this drama were the Empress Theodora and her amoral compatriot Antonina (c. 484-565), the wife of Belisarius.  It is now time to relate yet more adventures of this depraved yet admittedly fascinating figure.  Almost all of what we know about her and her unscrupulous maneuverings comes from the historian Procopius, whose Secret History (Anecdota) is a scorching indictment of Justinian, Theodora, and their court.  He is not an impartial source; and he seems to have been a snubbed official who revenged himself on the court by chronicling their indiscretions for posterity.  Yet there is some truth to his accounts, and his is not a voice that can easily be dismissed.

Continue reading →

The Story Of John The Cappadocian: Schemes And Intrigues In The Palace

Quintus Curtius History , , , ,

The Emperor Justinian (A.D. 485-565) and his wife, the Empress Theodora, are well-known sovereigns of the eastern Roman Empire.  The absolute power which centered around the throne at this period in history encouraged palace intrigues of all sorts, and their reign was no exception.  One of the more interesting stories of betrayal and revenge during their rule is that of John the Cappadocian, the Praetorian Prefect of the East.  He was a native of Caesarea in Cappadocia, and was of obscure background.  He came to the attention of the emperor somehow during the scope of his duties as a magister militum (master of soldiers).  By his own schemes he rose up through the ranks to become Praetorian Prefect around A.D. 531.

Continue reading →

The Strange Adventures Of Antonio Marques Da Sylva

Quintus Curtius History ,

omens1

Toby Green’s excellent book Inquisition:  The Reign of Fear contains an interesting story that highlights how uncertain and adventurous life could be in ages past.  The story concerns one Antonio Marques da Sylva, a Brazilian man who lived in seventeenth century Bahia.

In 1647 he was married to Maria Figeuira de Abreu.  He had children with her and lived in Bahia for three years.  He then decided to sail to Portugal for business in 1650.  What seemed like a simple decision actually set in motion a bizarre sequence of events.

Continue reading →

Michael Collins: The Irish Prophet Of Urban Guerrilla Warfare

Quintus Curtius Biography, History , , ,

Few figures in the history of guerrilla warfare have been as influential and successful as Michael Collins (1890-1922), the Irish revolutionary leader.  His tactical and strategic mastery of urban guerrilla techniques showed what a determined minority could do against an oppressive system of domination.  His career is said to have been studied carefully by such widely disparate figures as Mao Zedong and Yitzak Shamir.

He was born on October 12, 1890 in County Cork, Ireland, as the youngest of eight children.  The Ireland into which he was born was subject to direct British rule.  But Irish nationalism was in his blood: his father’s family had had connections with the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and he imbibed from this well as a youth.

Continue reading →

On Making Setbacks Appear To Be Advances

Quintus Curtius History, Thought , ,

alps1

Conflict surges back and forth.  There will be advances, and there will be reverses.  It is inevitable:  no one who is actively engaged in the games of life will be able to avoid reverses.  But then the question becomes:  how may reverses be characterized as gains?

If you believe that this is not a question worth asking, then I would disagree strongly with you.  There are times when it will be necessary to conceal the magnitude of one’s reverses, so as not to embolden the enemy.

Remember:  you will normally have very few allies.  Most people want to see you fail, so that their inaction and timidity are thereby affirmed.  We must be mindful of human nature, which in these matters resembles the proverbial crab in the bucket, clawing at every other crab, to the detriment of all.

Continue reading →

Paul Von Lettow-Vorbeck: The Greatest German Commander Of The Great War

Quintus Curtius Biography, History , ,

paul1

The leadership principle of “economy of management” holds that we should strive to do more with less.  If the ability to do much with limited resources is a measure of greatness, then few field commanders in twentieth century military history are greater than Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck.  His name is relatively unknown today, but a recounting of his exploits in East Africa during the First World War leave no room for doubt that this was one of the few truly great men of that conflict.  His tactics and innovations form the foundation for modern rules of guerrilla warfare.

Continue reading →

Take The Initiative And Do The Unexpected

Quintus Curtius History , ,

 

Your enemies are slothful, satisfied, and unwilling to tolerate pain and discomfort.  They wish to be comfortable, to enjoy their privileges, and to spend their days in leisure.

They would rather hate on you than do any work to improve themselves.

They are cozy in their little domains.  You, on the other hand, are willing to head out into the wasteland:

Your enemies are afraid of the wasteland.  But you embrace it.  You have conquered your fear of it.  You are willing to do what is necessary, unlike them.  And this is why you will triumph, and they will not.  Take the initiative, and keep moving.

Several examples illustrate this point.

Continue reading →

The Apple Of Empress Eudocia

Quintus Curtius Biography, History , ,

I came across a poignant little tale yesterday, languishing in a forgotten volume of history on the reign of the Roman emperor Theodosius II (A.D. 401-450).  The book is the Chronographia of the ecclesiastical historian John Malalas (c. 491-578).

Continue reading →

The Ethic Of Prison Camp Survival

Quintus Curtius History , ,

prison1

One of the greatest accounts of suffering and survival that I’ve read is the book Prisoners of the Japanese by writer Gavan Daws.  It’s a compendium of anecdotes, stories, and harrowing accounts of Allied prisoners taken by the Japanese Army in the Pacific.

More than this, it is a painstakingly-assembed oral record of the men–almost all of them dead now–who lived and survived in now-forgotten hellholes like Changi Prison, Cabanatuan, the Burma-Siam railroad, Davao, and a dozen other places.

Thousands of men from the armed forces of the United States, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand, and the Netherlands were done to death in these camps, either by disease, forced labor, starvation, or related causes.

Continue reading →

How The Romans Collected Beehives In The Wild

Quintus Curtius History , , ,

Who Was Columella?

In perusing forgotten volumes, we occasionally come across something of great interest.  I had one such experience yesterday, and thought that writing about it would be a refreshing departure from some recent more serious fare.  Sometimes learning should be frivolous.

Continue reading →