Tony Spawforth— Around 60 BC an ancient freighter foundered in the treacherous waters off the southeastern tip of mainland Greece. Two millennia later, fishermen happened upon remnants of its cargo still strewn on the seabed. Divers to the wreck site brought up ancient objects barely recognizable after their long immersion
Luca Fezzi— In the creative chaos of the reflections on the first election campaign won by Barack Hussein Obama in 2008, a daring parallel emerged between the newly elected president and the Roman orator and politician Marcus Tullius Cicero, for their status as well-learned politicians and excellent speakers. The article
Musonius Rufus— In order to support more easily and more cheerfully those hardships which we may expect to suffer in behalf of virtue and goodness, it is useful to recall what hardships people will endure for unworthy ends. Thus for example consider what intemperate lovers undergo for the sake of
As the days grow warmer and the nights grow longer, some are on vacation and many more are wishing they were. The best trips provide opportunities to see new sights, learn about another culture, and return home enriched by the experience. All too often, though, travelers witness the attractions that
CAESAR Who is it in the press that calls on me? I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music, Cry ‘Caesar!’ Speak; Caesar is turn’d to hear. SOOTHSAYER Beware the ides of March. Some might say that the death of Caesar on this day in 44 BCE was the
As Father’s Day rapidly approaches, we at the Press would like to suggest a few great picks for last-minute shoppers hoping to give dad a gift that can be enjoyed for years to come. For fans of real-life tales of espionage, John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr, and Alexander Vassiliev’s Spies:
In honor of the Halloween spirit, check out these spooks–I mean books–from Yale University Press. Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality by Paul Barber In this engrossing book, Paul Barber surveys centuries of folklore about vampires and offers the first scientific explanation for the origins of the vampire legends.
Steve Coates reviewed Adrian Goldsworthy’s biography of Caesar in Sunday’s New York Times Book Review. Says Coates: The dramatic trajectory of [Caesar’s] life, with its bloody denouement, well suits Goldworthy’s vigorous and un-self-conscious style. The result is an authoritative and exciting portrait not only of Caesar but of the complex
In today’s Wall Street Journal, Mark Miller writes, “There are points of similarity between the political culture of late republican Rome and our own, but the differences reveal how far we have to go before we hit bottom — contrary to the dire warnings emanating from certain political quarters today.”