Humpty Dumpty: The New Blasphemy
In a previous light-hearted exercise in “revenge fantasy,” we touched upon the secular/blasphemous misuse of words with strong religious or cultural roots.
Category: Fleming
The Prince: How to Gain and Keep a Kingdom
In Chapters 5-8, Machiavelli surveys, without a trace of moral indignation, the various ways by which a prince may gain power and, perhaps more importantly, how his long-term success is at least partly conditioned by the means he used to establish his rule.
Question of the Day: If we had a country, what would it be like?
For example, would we allow people from Third World Islamic nations that hate Christ and despise the West to immigrate, become citizens, vote, and hold office?
A Brief Account of Siena, Part II
In Tuscany, as in ancient Greece, neighborhoods and religious associations played a major part in the organization of everyday life. In Tuscany the church Parishes and the neighborhoods that grew around them, whether known as quartieri (quarters), sesti (sixths), or (in Rome and elsewhere) rioni were the locus of many activities, including the repair of roads and walls.
The Government We Deserve: Postscript
If we can trust a recent Rasmussen poll, nearly half the eligible voters in the United States believe the republic established by the mythical founding fathers has crumbled. Predictably, Republicans are more inclined to this gloomy opinion than Democrats, and perhaps surprisingly, women more than men.
Siena: A Brief Account, I
If access to the sea determined the future of Pisa as a race of sailors and adventurers, Siena’s location in the arid mountains was equally significant. Despite the great beauty of the landscape, the fact is that Siena lacked water and was subject to serious droughts.
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.
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.
