The Wounded Commodore Barney Meets The British Commanders At Bladensburg

Quintus Curtius History , , ,
The burning of Washington [PD: US]

It is unfortunate that the War of 1812 is understudied, for it furnishes us modernly with a great many lessons on the consequences of unpreparedness and military ineptitude in defense of one’s homeland.  While the Americans scored some notable naval victories during the war, the land campaign remains a dreary record of defeat and flight, relieved only by Andrew Jackson’s impressive, but strategically inconsequential, victory at New Orleans two weeks after the treaty concluding the conflict had been signed at Ghent. 

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Webinar Discussion Of Cicero’s “On The Nature Of The Gods”

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In September 2023, I was fortunate enough to participate in a webinar to discuss some aspects of Cicero’s On the Nature of the Gods. It really was a great discussion. The participants were Dr. Michael Fontaine of Cornell University, Anya Leonard of classicalwisdom.com, and myself.

You can view the entire webinar here:

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Lt. Joshua Barney Escapes From England’s Old Mill Prison

Quintus Curtius History , , ,

The name of Joshua Barney is unlikely to be familiar with readers.  He was, however, one of the principal American naval heroes of both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.  We have not sufficient space here to recount his long and distinguished career as a combatant; but we will relate his daring escape from British captivity during the revolution, as it illustrates his dominant traits of resourcefulness and courage.

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“How Should I Pray?” (Podcast)

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A reader asks a question I’ve never heard before: “How should I pray?” Although it’s not an easy question to answer, I offer some thoughts and suggestions that relate to these points:

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The Vase Of Hormuzan

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In Gibbon’s history (Ch. 51), there is an anecdote related to the Arab military campaigns in Persia in A.D. 639 to 640.  It concerns a nobleman named Hormuzan, who was, we are told, “a prince or satrap of Ahwaz and Susa.”  Modern historians have identified him as the governor of Khuzestan, and one of the Persian military officers during the famous Battle of Qadisiyya in A.D. 636.  Gibbon apparently extracted this story from the historical writings of Al Tabari or Al Masudi.

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Soft Sentiments And External Warnings Are The Opponents Of Great Plans

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In a letter to Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV in 1361, the scholar Petrarch included the following lines of advice:

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There Is No Place Which Armed Ambition And Avarice Cannot Reach

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The Italian scholar Petrarch spent a significant period of time in southeastern France as a boy and a young man.  In 1311, when he was seven years old, he moved to Avignon with his family; in 1312, he moved to the small town of Carpentras and remained there until 1316.  During other periods of his life from the 1330s to the 1350s, he chose to reside in what is now the French department of Vaucluse. 

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Anger Does Not Look Ahead

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Of all the emotions that palpitate the breast of man, none is so potentially destructive as anger.  It comes in many flavors and varieties; but the common thread running through all of them is a ruinous loss of control that renders a man incapable of exercising rational judgment. 

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Some Points On Reading And Understanding The Ancient Historians

Quintus Curtius Thought , , ,

Anyone who has bothered to open the works of ancient Greek and Roman historians will notice marked differences between them and modern historians.  The differences are not trivial.  In how they express themselves, in what they emphasize or ignore, in how they view their responsibilities, and in various other ways, the ancients are simply different.  There is no getting around this fact. I wanted to use this essay to suggest some ways of understanding the ancient historians; and if informed readers wince at my gross generalizations and oversimplifications, I make no apologies.  Judgmental economy has its uses. 

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Do Things Stay Professional, Or Do They Get Personal? (Podcast)

Quintus Curtius Podcast , ,

I receive an email asking about the personal and professional aspects of litigation. Do things stay professional, or can things get personal? I offer some thoughts and comments from the trenches of the legal world.

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