There is a saying referenced in Cicero’s Academica (I.5) that touches on our practical inability to give instruction to power. The reference is as follows:
Continue readingA Pig Cannot Teach Minerva
Thought
The Mysterious Onager Of Bahram Gur
An enigmatic story is contained in Ibn Khallikan’s biographical summary of the life of the seventh century Basran poet Ibn Mufarrigh. The story is one of the few times that the biographer, speaking of himself in the first person, relates an incident connected with his own life.
Continue readingWe Must Be Bold In All Our Designs
We will relate two anecdotes that appear in the historian Polyaenus’s Stratagems (V.14—V.15). There once was a young man named Thrasymedes who fell in love with the daughter of Peisistratus, an ancient tyrant of Athens. One day, as the girl was walking in an official processing through the streets of the city, Thrasymedes boldly approached her and attempted to engage her in conversation.
Continue readingHooke’s Law And The Problem Of Longitude
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word elasticity in the following way: “Of material substances, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous: that spontaneously resumes (after a longer or shorter interval) its normal bulk or shape after having been contracted, dilated, or distorted by external force.”
Continue readingThe Gift Does Not Reveal The Intentions Of The Giver
There is a passage in Cicero’s On the Nature of the Gods that is worthy of reflection and discussion. It is found in III.28 of the treatise, and reads as follows:
Continue readingThe Qualities Of The Good Attorney
The practicing attorney must play a variety of roles. The personalities and needs of his clients, and the circumstances of each case, will compel him to hone a specific set of human relations skills. I imagine this holds true for many professions. I want to describe briefly some of the more recurring roles that I have had to play in my twenty-three years of representing clients in the areas of bankruptcy and criminal defense.
Continue readingSynesius’s Wise Advice On Kingship
By 400 A.D. the Roman state was struggling with severe problems both internal and external. In 395, the Goths, a foreign nation Rome had unwisely permitted to settle within the empire’s borders, initiated an armed revolt, and laid waste to the provinces south of the Danube. “[They] boldly avowed the hostile designs,” says Gibbon, “which they had long cherished in their ferocious minds.” (Ch. XXX).
Continue readingVegetius Discusses The Importance Of The Martial Virtues
We know almost nothing of the life and career of the Roman military writer Vegetius. Historical references in his books suggest that he flourished in the late fourth century A.D. His work on Roman military affairs, De Re Militari (On Military Science) is a revealing window on the state of the empire’s military preparedness in its author’s era.
Continue readingThe Leadership Principles Of Iphicrates
History distinguishes the Athenian general Iphicrates for the superlative quality of his leadership, the extent of his martial innovations, and his understanding of the psychological dimension of war. He lived from about 418 B.C. to 353 B.C. We will discuss some of the leadership principles that may be distilled from the writings of two ancient historians, Cornelius Nepos and Polyaenus.
Continue readingAlexander And Porus Speak On Fortune And Glory
Alexander the Great’s incursions into the Indian subcontinent brought him into conflict with local rulers unwilling to submit to Macedonian rule. One of these rulers is known to history by the name Porus. The sources are vague and contradictory, but he apparently controlled the Punjabi region bordered by the Jhelum and Chenab rivers.
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Quintus Curtius 
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