I recently received an email that asked the following:
Coming In Summer 2017: Sallust’s “Conspiracy Of Catiline” And “War Of Jugurtha”
Intrigue…murder…the lust for power…and the fatal hubris that leads men to their dooms.
These are some of the compelling themes of Sallust’s famous works The Conspiracy of Catiline and The War of Jugurtha. Considered the first of the great Roman historians, Sallust’s gripping narratives have been read for centuries for their penetrating character studies, timeless moral insights, and matchless rhetoric. His profiles of flawed men led inexorably to ruin by excessive ambition or character defects resonate with us today more powerfully than ever.
Sunday Movie Roundup (2/5/2017)
Black Mass (2015)
Director: Scott Cooper
Boston has always been a more “closed” town than the other big east coast American cities. It’s always been a weird mix of provincialism and internationalism. And even within Boston, South Boston is a very different place from the other parts of the city. If you grew up in Massachusetts in the 1970s and 1980s, and one side of your family was Irish immigrants in Boston, chances are just about 100% that you knew something about the Bulger family. And by this I mean Billy Bulger, at one time the most powerful politician in the state, and his older brother James “Whitey” Bulger.
Money Is Of Secondary Importance In War
Human nature being what it is, there will always be many different reasons why wars begin. All of these reasons ultimately find their roots in human passions: greed, the lust for power, or simply a desire to “put fortune to the test” (fortunam temptare) as the ancient Latin historians would say.
Movie Roundup (2/1/2017)
I usually do movie reviews on Sundays, but what the hell. Sometimes it’s good to vary up the routine a bit.
The World’s Fury, And The Spirit’s Repose
It should be a consolation to us to know that the world’s mindless injustices and furies are of old date. Every age sees and experiences them, and every man finds his own way of adapting himself to the clamor and tumult around him. Some throw themselves into their work; others retreat into solitude; some find a balance between such extremes and navigate the white-crested waters of Fate as best they can.
Successful In One Job, A Failure In Another (Podcast)
Herbert Hoover, the 31st president of the United States, is generally considered to have been a dismal failure as chief executive. Less well known is the fact that he was a brilliantly successful organizer of humanitarian projects around the world before he became president. Among those successes was his Russian famine relief operation in the early 1920s. His career illustrates the principle that no man is capable at everything. As leaders we should focus on evaluating character and talent, and seek to find the right person for the right job.
Seeking One’s Fortune, And Meeting George Washington
François-René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848) was a French writer, diplomat and historian famous for his posthumous autobiography Memoirs from Beyond the Tomb. The book is appealing for its admixture of blunt honesty and romantic reflection that capture the spirit of the times in a way that enables the reader to feel he is a participant himself.
Why Did The Reds Defeat The Whites In The Russian Civil War of 1917-1922? (Podcast)
The former Russian Empire was torn apart by chaos and civil war from 1917 to 1922. On one side were the Bolshevists, seeking to impose a revolutionary communist society on the people; and on the other were the so-called “White” Russians, a collection of nationalists and traditionalists trying to dislodge the Red regime. Why did the Reds win and the Whites lose? Why were the Reds able to remain in power? We explore some answers.
Quintus Curtius 
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