History
8
Apr 12
Likewise
Words.
They can aspire to the loftiest heights or wallow in the dingiest gutters. The loveliest sentiment may flow readily from the lips, followed in step by a vile and blackened curse.
Gods are panegyricized, philosophical subtleties uncovered and utter nonsense made sacrosanct under their charge, as both the garrulous sage and the loquacious fool share in the spoils.
Despite all their inadequacy, words nevertheless matter, forming and expanding the boundaries of thought while circumscribing the expression of the idea itself, which makes communication possible, deficient though it may be.
In the mid fourth century AD St. Hilary of Poitiers took to the pen in order to give an account concerning the eastern understanding of the nature of the Son.
Some 25 years earlier the Council of Nicea had met to definitely settle the matter of the relation of the nature of the Son to the nature of the Father. From the Council’s deliberation emerged the Nicene Creed which predicated of the Son that he was homoousious with the Father. Homoousios as understood by Nicea refers to the Son as being of the same substance or essence as the Father. Continue reading →
2
Apr 12
No More Heroes
Never did he go forth to the place of gathering, where men win glory, nor ever to war, but wasted away his own heart, as he tarried where he was; and he longed for the war-cry and the battle.
In these verses of Homer we find the hero Achilles having what amounts to a temper tantrum. Agamemnon, having been forced by Achilles to return his bride to assuage a plague ravaging the Greeks, returns the favor by demanding that Achilles do the same. Furious, Achilles refuses to lead the attack on Troy, staying home to pout. In fact, Achilles’ rage is so great that he prays that the gods will grant the Trojans victory so that he will be vindicated.
But even though you can take the soldier out of the battle, you can’t take the battle out of the soldier. The time wears on and Achilles begins to feel the strain of being away from the war. After all, the battlefield is where honor and glory is won. A hero he has been and a hero he must be.
Eventually the Greek forces, on the verge of defeat, beg the aid of their champion. He relents and sails for Troy. Immediately his presence turns the tide, and even the gods’ assistance of the Trojans proves futile against the fury and power of Achilles. After killing the Trojan hero Hector, Achilles gains the glory he knows he was due.
For the ancient Greeks warfare was a matter of glory and honor. In the epics of Homer we find the elevation of the individual warrior- his exploits, though buttressed by the collective forces of his allies, are nevertheless thrown into stark relief against the din of the overall conflict. The hero is next to the gods- a chiseled physique, adroit with weaponry and filled with courage and a concomitant disdain of the fear of death. The struggle of the individual is for glory, for everlasting renown. In this manner, war is where one’s mettle is proved. The killing fields became imbued with a certain romanticism- battle is a glorious thing done by equally glorious men. Continue reading →
19
Mar 12
The Mighty West
Following the breakup and decline of the Western Roman Empire, many contemporary writers described the subsequent rise to prominence of the Germanic powers (such as the Visigoths, Ostrogoths and Vandals) as nothing short of a ‘barbarian’ invasion. Despite the many disruptions that occurred- some more violent and protracted than others- a sort of tenuous equilibrium was eventually reached within the West. Wars, uprisings, and power struggles went on as they had before, (The Empire had never achieved the Pax Romana which has been presumed of it) but so did trade, farming and all the things that had comprised life up until then. For many it may have even been a little better, as the oppressive taxation under the Empire was exchanged for lesser taxes under the more localized political structures, and some may have even found themselves in possession of some land, which came to be the real currency for centuries to come.
In the East, Justinian’s vision of restoring the glories of the Empire nearly came to fruition; well executed military excursions combined with a widespread lack of unity among the West allowed Byzantium to reclaim large swaths of territory- North Africa, Spain, and parts of Italy all came back under Eastern jurisdiction. His reconquests had the effect of all but eliminating the power of the Vandal and Ostrogoth kingdoms, while severely weakening the Visigoths in Spain. This would leave the Franks in former Gaul as the major power in the West, which would have repercussions for the next thousand years. Continue reading →
7
Mar 12
The Woman Who Saved the West
During the beginning of the so-called Dark Ages (of which I have written here) the Church faced a veritable crisis. While the paganism of the now defunct Roman Empire had nearly completely receded and Arianism had been roundly defeated both at the Councils of Nicea and Chalcedon, both still continued to plague the Church’s attempts at evangelizing Europe and building up a more markedly Christian civilization.
Paganism of the Roman sort had largely disappeared, existing mainly in a few pockets of some of the intellectual elites in a more sophisticated allegorical mode or on the fringes of rural society in a somewhat rudimentary, almost animistic guise. Yet as the ‘barbarian’ invasions brought new people groups into what had previous been the territory of the Empire, these quasi-Romanized people also brought with them much of their religious predilections, often of the pagan variety.
Yet not all of these new people groups were primarily pagan. After Nicea Arianism still maintained a large following, at times (and under imperial support) even outnumbering or at least overpowering the orthodox who subscribed to Nicea. As imperial favor eventually turned back to favor orthodoxy, those still holding Arian opinions ventured north (not always willingly…) in evangelistic missions to the ‘barbarians,’ often meeting with considerable success. In fact, as these supposedly ‘barbarian’ invasions progressed, many of the Romans of the withering empire may have been surprised to find that these ‘unwashed hordes’ had the name of Christ on their lips. Continue reading →
6
Mar 12
Silky Smooth: Industrial Espionage, Byzantine Style
Ever since the trade routes between the Mediterranean and the Far East had been established, silk was one of the most sought after commodities. Sericulture- silk production – was the domain of the Chinese, and they held a veritable monopoly on its production and distribution and had for thousands of years.
Since silk production was time-consuming and as the Chinese initially controlled distribution, silk was extremely valuable and equally expensive. At times it even rivaled or surpassed the market value of gold, at least in the Mediterranean and the West. As such, only emperors and the insanely wealthy could afford silk in any form, and for the Byzantines it often was used in diplomatic overtures with rulers in the West following the dissolution of the Western Empire.
As with any valuable commodity, the Chinese had a vested interest in maintaining control over production and distribution, as it meant higher prices and greater profits. (Not that silk was therefore any less expensive in China itself…) The secret of sericulture had apparently been so well guarded (Apple, Inc. would be proud) that Westerners had absolutely no idea how it was accomplished. It may very well have been that the Chinese also engaged in some misinformation. The Roman historian Pliny was under the impression that silk was obtained by removing the down from the leaves with the help of water… Continue reading →
27
Jan 12
Rhetorical Probability
I always find it amusing when I am sitting in a doctor’s office during the middle of the day how the only thing on the TV is a show involving some manner of litigation. I don’t know if Judge Judy is still doing her thing, but there always seems to be some ridiculous sort of court case being televised.
Lest one think this to be something novel to our society, we have nothing on the fifth-century Athenians.
Athenians loved to litigate and argue and dispute with each other. In many ways, it was a form of entertainment, for the juries were large. (between 201 and 501 jurors) The Athenian democracy assumed that you were going to participate, and any man could speak if he wanted.
In fact, if you were involved in the litigation somehow, whether of a civil or criminal manner, you were expected to speak on your own behalf. During this period the idea of a having lawyer with a formal understanding of legal procedures and precedents was unknown. As such, one’s rhetorical ability became a rather important aspect of winning the case. Continue reading →
19
Jan 12
The Light That Never Went Out
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the phrase The Dark Ages?
Hordes of barbarians descending from the mountainside, laying waste to an enlightened and ordered society, leaving only violence and lawlessness in their wake?
The utter disintegration of art, learning, science and culture for nearly 400 years?
Unrelenting war, pestilence, savagery, ignorance and barbarity?
The suppression of reason in favor of faith?
The “Dark Ages” (enough of the scare quotes…) are probably one of the most misunderstood periods of history, (an irony, of course, about an age supposedly characterized by ignorance) and often function as a sort of trump card to demonstrate the supposedly disastrous consequences of the age of faith over an age of reason. After all, who wants to be stuck in the Dark Ages?
But were the Dark Ages really all that dark? Edward Gibbon, who is best known for his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, describes what amounts to a veritable Paradisio in the late Roman Empire:
In the second century of the Christian era, the empire of Rome comprehended the fairest part of the earth, and the most civilized portion of mankind. The frontiers of that extensive monarchy were guarded by ancient renown and disciplined valour. The gentle, but powerful, influence of laws and manners had gradually cemented the union of the provinces. Their peaceful inhabitants enjoyed and abused the advantages of of wealth and luxury. The image of a free constitution was preserved with decent reverence. The Roman Senate appeared to possess the sovereign authority, and devolved on the emperors all the executive powers of government. During a happy period of more than four-score years, the public administration was conducted by the virtue and abilities of Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian and the two Antonines.1
Of course, such a rosy picture is hardly an accurate assessment of this period. Unfortunately, this is the sort of idea that is generally juxtaposed with the intervening period when the Roman Empire as it was (or at least as it was conceived to be- more on this later) would be no more. Europe would descend into a black hole of cultural, intellectual and civil disorder, only to scrape itself out 400 years later with the Carolingian Renaissance, the last gasp effort to bring the Roman ideal back to life.
Or perhaps the light never went out. Continue reading →
- Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 1, Ch. 1, pg. 1 ↩
8
Jan 12
My Empire for a Pony!
It is a little known fact that the tide of the Peloponnesian War was turned by ponies.
Ok, that is perhaps a bit of an overstatement, but as the Athenians would discover in their utterly disastrous invasion of Sicily, 1200 ponies would bring an invasion force of 45,000 to its ruin.
The war with the Spartans had been going for seventeen grueling years. Despite losing a quarter of its population to a plague, suffering numerous setbacks on both land and sea and expending incalculable amounts of money and manpower in the conflict, Athens had still survived. A dramatic capture of some of Sparta’s elite hoplites had even ensured that the annual incursions into Attica had ceased, leading to a somewhat tenuous peace.
In many ways, Athens was even on the road to recovery, as the horror of the plague began to subside from memory and a rising generation of Athenians looked to a future where the empire could perhaps be extended. Things were not at their worst- Athens still had relative mastery of the seas as the Spartans had yet to be able to enlist Persian support for a fleet to match their enemies, and the relative time of peace had given Athens the chance to replant their crops, refit their armies and rebuild their fleets. Prosperity was not where it had been at the beginning of the war, but seventeen years later many felt the time was ripe for things to turn around. Continue reading →
3
Jan 12
300 (Or, Wearing a Breastplate Keeps You From Being Stabbed.)
As I have been reading through Victor Davis Hanson’s phenomenal work A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War, I have been thinking back on the cultural connotations associated with Spartans and warfare in general.
Perhaps none is more prominent in recent popular culture than the movie 300, which is a heavily stylized account of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC in which King Leonidas of the Spartans led 300 Spartans to hold out against incredible odds to withstand a Persian assault.
Of course, there were more than just 300 Spartans defending the pass- there were also 700 Thespians, 400 Thebans and perhaps a few hundred Athenians, but who’s counting? 
I won’t begrudge Hollywood its artistic license by any means, and neither is that the intent of this post. Battle scenes have to be exciting, and so a lot of liberties have to be taken. (And to be sure, 300 has some of the most exciting battle scenes in recent memory.) However, as I have been reading about how a Spartan phalanx actually operated, the truth is a lot further from the fiction, and in the end probably would not have made for a very good movie. In fact, it probably would have been a pretty boring movie. Here’s why. Continue reading →
