I missed this when first posted, but my wife (happily) advised me to go back and read it. My conclusion: our former president had some of the impressive elements of the greatest leaders of all time. Seriously--very interesting stuff. Thanks, Massimo.
Well put Massimo, one small nit pick: several times you use the word "weary" when you mean "wary" (I should have been a Homonym Controller rather than an Emperor!). Thanks for reviewing this series. One question: Do you think that the idea of selectively using parts of the texts is in general a good idea as they do in the series?
Glenn, thanks for pointing out the mistake, corrected!
Yes, I do think that presenting a modern language translation of excerpts is a good approach. A lot of the ancient texts are redundant or go into a lot of culturally/historically-specific details that do not really concern the contemporary reader very much. Also, one can use these books as a sort of samplers of ancient wisdom, and then select those specific authors/texts one finds most interesting.
That said, I was disappointed not to see Domitian included in this selection from Suetonius. He's the one that sent Epictetus in exile. Vespasian, who killed some of the members of the "Stoic opposition" would also have been a good entry.
I missed this when first posted, but my wife (happily) advised me to go back and read it. My conclusion: our former president had some of the impressive elements of the greatest leaders of all time. Seriously--very interesting stuff. Thanks, Massimo.
Say hi to Diane for me, Ed! And yes, the parallels between some Roman emperors and the Orange One are, ahem, impressive...
Well put Massimo, one small nit pick: several times you use the word "weary" when you mean "wary" (I should have been a Homonym Controller rather than an Emperor!). Thanks for reviewing this series. One question: Do you think that the idea of selectively using parts of the texts is in general a good idea as they do in the series?
Glenn, thanks for pointing out the mistake, corrected!
Yes, I do think that presenting a modern language translation of excerpts is a good approach. A lot of the ancient texts are redundant or go into a lot of culturally/historically-specific details that do not really concern the contemporary reader very much. Also, one can use these books as a sort of samplers of ancient wisdom, and then select those specific authors/texts one finds most interesting.
That said, I was disappointed not to see Domitian included in this selection from Suetonius. He's the one that sent Epictetus in exile. Vespasian, who killed some of the members of the "Stoic opposition" would also have been a good entry.
Let us hope that in America, our Republic can last against the machinations of our Orange Caligula and his followers.
The thought had, obviously, occurred to me... Let's hope!
Exactly. Sobering.