Tag: Roman Republic

2,217 words

The Left clutches their pearls about the Constitution whenever the Right attempts to do anything productive, especially on immigration. Using buzzwords like “due process,” which they do not themselves believe in (as shown by the Covid lockdowns and treatment of the J6ers), is a standard Saul Alinsky tactic which is becoming less effective from overuse. (more…)

4,727 words

When I was in the army in the mid-70s, I was posted to Frankfurt, Germany and spent a lot of time catching up on my reading. Some guys in my company devoured books, the vast majority westerns, sci-fi, and the occasional odd jobs like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Repair. (more…)

The Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD changed the religious order of the Roman Empire.

3,173 words

Part 1 of 3 (Part 2 here)

Theology matters. The ideas arising from how religious thinkers have connected things in scripture drive a great deal of social policy. The outcomes of these policies can be good or bad. Societies that follow a Calvinist interpretation of Christianity, for example, tend to be wealthy. (more…)

4,287 words

Part 1 of 2 (Part 2 here)

Alexander Bätz
Nero: Wahnsinn und Wirklichkeit
‎Hamburg: Rowohlt Buchverlag, 2023

Among those able to name any Roman emperors, Nero is likely to be on their list. Although he was Roman Emperor for only 14 years, from 54 to 68 AD, he is widely viewed as one of the most famous or infamous of all of them, strongly associated with the persecution of the Christians and the murder of both his mother and wife, and he is widely seen as the embodiment of tyranny. (more…)

1,597 words

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the flamboyant leader of the mercenary Wagner Group, launched a coup against the Russian government on June 23, 2023 which began after he broadcast a video message over social media. (more…)

Theodoros Pelecanos, Ouroboros (1478)

6,611 words

Part 1 of 7 (Part 2 here)

One of the most startling historical truths is that Europeans invented the writing of history as “a method of sorting out the true from the false,” as a conscious search for a rational explanation of the causes of events, while rendering the results of their investigations in sustained narratives of excellent prose. The other peoples of the world, including the Chinese who maintained for centuries a tradition of chronological writers, barely rose above annalistic forms of recording the deeds of rulers or the construction of genealogies devoid of reflections on historical causation. This would not have been judged a controversial view a few decades ago. (more…)

Illustration from J. N. Dolfen’s Darkness Over Cannæ (2020).

7,819 words

And I have in mine owne bowels made my grave, That of all nations now I am forlorn, “I was that citie that the garland wore . . . delivered unto me By Romane victors, which it wonne of yore; Though not at all but ruines now I bee, And lie in mine owne ashes, as ye see.”^[1]

Scipio’s Tears, Scipio’s Oath

There was that memorable scene, played again and again in every age. That vision of ruin at the moment of triumph. So did Napoleon later look out on the vale leading down to the Olomouc Road and see that the hunt after honor had reared a trophy for “devouring death.” (more…)

“Let the dice fly high,”^[2] Julius Cæsar Crosses the Rubicon, Adolphe Yvon

Part 2 of 3 (Part 1 here, Part 3 here)

“A God Who Has Appeared Among Us for the Salvation of Mankind”:^[1] Cæsar vs. Rome (more…)

3,395 words

Mike Duncan
The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic
New York: Public Affairs, 2017

If the United States is anywhere on the Roman timeline, it must be somewhere between the great wars of conquest and the rise of the Caesars. (more…)

Julius Caesar by Andrea di Pietro di Marco Ferrucci, ca. 1512

9,042 words

The following is the complete text of the second chapter of The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century, vol. I, originally published in 1899, which was translated from the German by John Lees in 1910 and revised in 1912. The original Cyrillic Greek words for “Spartans” and “Acheans” have not been included. The text was provided by A. E. Stern.

DISPOSITION

To define in clear terms what we have inherited from Rome, what out of that vast manufactory of human destinies still exercises a living influence, (more…)

Jacopo Ripanda, Hannibal Crossing the Alps

3,308 words

Part 2 of 2 (Part One here)

Many factors contributed to the rise of Rome, but above the rest stood Rome’s indefatigability. Internal turmoil seemed just as prevalent as external strife. Rome overcame both because the Romans persevered. (more…)

Peter Paul Rubens, Mars & Rhea Silvia, the parents of Romulus & Remus, the mythical founders of Rome

2,409 words

Part 1 of 2

Much pen and paper is spent analyzing the fall of Rome, but there has been much less concerning the rise of Rome. This is understandable, since Western Civilization is by all measures in decline, having reached the terminal phase of foreign invasion and the replacement of its people. (more…)