Petrarch the Moralist, with Jim Easton and Dr. Thomas Fleming
In this podcast we introduce Petrarch, speak briefly about his life and work, and proceed to discuss his recommendations on how to lead a private life.
Category: Fleming
Pisa: Decline and Fall
Seeing an opportunity in the Pisan disaster, Florence and its Guelf allies struck, but after the fall of Ugolino, Pisan patriotism revived, and–short of men–in 1292 they secured a famous condottiere, Guido da Montefeltro, who trained the Pisan militia to use crossbows and recovered the city’s lost fortresses from both Lucca and Florence.
The Prince: Persia, France, and the USSA
Machiavelli’s fourth chapter is devoted, at least ostensibly, to answering the question: Why did the Persians not rebel, after the death of Alexander the Great? The republican Machiavelli has a reasonable answer, but one that should be chilling to any American who can think dispassionately about his own country.
A Plea to My Readers
Attentive reading has become a lost art like the production of stained class and the painting of frescoes. Part of careful reading is being careful not to draw conclusions before examining the evidence.
Pisa: Rise and Decline
What the Good Men of Pisa and their Archbishop had in mind was a duomo beyond the dreams of Theoderic or Charlemagne
The Government We Deserve Part III (of 4)
Among the many reasons why a regime would wish to eliminate all knowledge of antiquity and the insights ancient writers offer is the desire to shield the subject masses from anything that might make them uneasy. We might view it as a kindness on the part of the ruling class.
“You Shall Be As Gods.”
Pico della Mirandola’s “Oration on the Dignity of Man” is celebrated by leftists and conservatives as a classic statement on human dignity. In fact, this confused product of a a brilliant young mind is one of the opening shots in the rebellion against God and human nature. There is, however, a happy ending.
The Prince, II
As a rational and classically trained writer, Machiavelli begins with definitions. He first distinguishes the two types of government as republics and principalities.
Of Cabbages and Kings, Pizza and Confucius, Part II
Artificial Intelligence is the operation of a machine programmed by dullwitted aliens posing as human beings.
The Prince I: Historical Introduction
The dates of Machiavelli’s life are significant: He was born in the year Lorenzo “the magnificent” succeeded his father as ruler of Florence and died in the year the Medici were again expelled and when the Emperor Charles V sacked Rome.
