Inner Strife and the Dynasts of the Late Republic.
(This post is based on a lecture held by Jan Frode Hatlen at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, September 11 2008, but any factual errors in the text are strictly my responsibility.)
(Also, lecture #3 was a discussion lecture where we were given extracts from the [...]
Posts filed in History
References to things that have happened in the past. Duh. :P Also, I’m a history buff.
Consequences of the Middle Republic Wars — lecture #4
The Punic Wars and Expansion — Lecture #2
2nd lecture — The Punic Wars: From Village to Mediterranean Empire.
(This post is based on a lecture held by Jan Frode Hatlen at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology on August 28 2008. However, any factual errors in the text is strictly my responsibility.)
Introduction and Overview — Lecture #1
Lecture #1 — A General Introduction and Overview.
(This post is based on a lecture held by Jan Frode Hatlen at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, August 21 2008. However, any factual errors in the text is strictly my responsibility.)
It is hard to be precise about what Rome was like before approximately 500 BCE, [...]
Not again!
Shit.
Here I turn my head for a second, and when I turn back towards the ‘net again, two months have passed. If I’d had a dollar for every time this has happened (or, perhaps more precise, for every time I’ve done this) in the last three years, I’d probably have… enough for a soda, anyway.
So, [...]
Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie
2008.
536 pages (Gollancz Fantasy trade paperback).
“Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge.”
— Paul Gaugin.
This being the opening quote of Last Argument of Kings, the concluding volume in Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law series, one can perhaps perceive that this is a bleak affair. As I remarked in my reviews of the first [...]
The Well of the Unicorn by Fletcher Pratt
1948.
338 pages.
Gollancz Fantasy Masterworks.
When young Airar Alvarson is evicted from his family farm by a henchman of the occupant Vulkings, he does not require much prodding to join the Dalecarl resistance, who are (or would be) fighting against the Vulkings’ rule over their homelands of Dalarna. A seemingly chance meeting with the old enchanter and [...]
Status report, Western Europe ca 700CE
“Culturally Latin Christendom, like a ruined family that could no longer maintain its old dwelling, came to live in a few rooms in the cellar.”
— F.B. Artz,
as quoted in Torbjørn L. Knutsen’s A History of International Relations Theory, p. 22.
Inheritance
“The nineteenth century’s legacy to the twentieth century’s social scientists resembles an old house inherited from a rich aunt: worn, overdecorated, cluttered, but probably salvageable.”
— Charles Tilly,
as quoted in Torbjørn L. Knutsen’s A History of International Relations Theory.
A Plague! A Plague on Our Houses!
In my Last.fm shoutbox, I was recently asked by one of my readers to post more frequently in my blog, and seeing as your whim is my law, I bring you this: an essay of sorts about the last topic you’d expected me to write about!
One of the things you might not know [...]
Almost Famous
Almost Famous has been described as doing for the 70s what Rock Star did for the 80s. Do I believe this description is an accurate one? Perhaps. What I do believe is that it’s a great movie.
Supposedly, Almost Famous is based on writer/director Cameron Crowe’s own experiences as a Rolling Stones journalist. In it he [...]
Rock Star
Rock Star is the movie about the young Chris (Mark Wahlberg), who idolates the Heavy Metal band Steel Dragon and sings in a Steel Dragon tribute band (from whence the immortal comment “We’re not a cover band, we’re a tribute band!” arises). The first half or so of the movie portrays Chris’ day to day [...]
Is there anything more fun that an academic insult?
“I en klasse for seg er Christian Meier. I Res Publica amissa. Eine Studie zur Verfassung und Geschichte der späten römischen Republik, Wiesbaden 1966, finner han at bruk av valgforbund er sjeldnere enn factio-skolen (Taylor, Scullard og Ronald Syme) har hevdet. For øvrig er boka preget av total mangel på kildekritikk idet moralistiske utsagn fra [...]
Why I’m skeptical to Toynbee
At several occasions in the past two years, I’ve found myself in positions where I critizise other people for referring to Toynbee in discussions on the Roman Republic, but I’ve been unable to remember where I got this antipathy from. Today, I believe I learned why I’m skeptical to Toynbee.
It is often so that one’s [...]
Atheists <3 Averröes (or ibn Rushd, if you prefer)
“In the Christian intellectual environment of the thirteenth century, apparent conflicts between argumentation in natural philosophy and argumentation in matter sof theological doctrine became exceptionally acute. The newly introduced writings of from the ancients — Greek philosophy and science, accompanied by Arabic and Hebrew commentary — rigorously set forth propositions alien to fundamental dicta of [...]
A Message from the Lost Son: Why I Love Heraclius
“The Persians were applying inexorable pressure on what remained of the empire. Heraclius was faced with a stark choice: he could either wait for the Persian grip to tighten, fighting a series of rearguard actions which offered little chance for ultimate success, or he could throw caution to the wind and take battle to the [...]
Debunking “feudalism”
Today, I learned the details of something I first learned the general idea of two and an half years ago, namely the reality of feudalism in the European Middle Ages.
Traditionally — that is, in the tradition of the Brunner Thesis — Feudalism has been perceived and presented as a system where a material reward (the [...]
Literacy among Norwegians in the 18th century
Today I learned that Norwegian peasants and farmers in the 18th century read a lot more than we have previously thought. The idea of “The Reading Peasant” was long considered to be a National Romantic myth, meant to build up under another myth — that of Norwegians being free, despite being a Danish colony and [...]
Curses! Or constructing next term’s schedule
I checked my course registration page at NTNU (ooh!) about an hour ago, and much to my delight I discovered that I’ve been registered for not two but three courses this spring, and that these three combined fill my required term quota of 30 study points.
English Linguistics gives me 7,5 points if I pass it; [...]
Our hope
“But we will not be around in 500 years to see how our predictions have fared; we can only hope that historians of that future time will be understanding of our inability to guess how things would turn out and why.”
— Laurie Bauer in the conclusion of the discussion of the chances of a [...]
I’m concerned for my university
I had my fifth and final exam for the term today, and unfortunately, I thought it was just like the four previous ones.
You see, based on the curriculi and the lectures in the courses I’ve been taking this fall, I’ve been expecting to be satisfied with a straight Cs. Global English had a lot of [...]
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