“Win over an angry person with poise.
Win over a mean one with kindness.
Win over a greedy person with generosity,
and one who speaks falsely with honesty.”
The Buddha (6th-5th centuries BCE)
“If something is to be done,
one should proceed firmly.
The inattentive practitioner
is more scattered than the dust.”
Xunzi (Hsün Tzu, c. 312-230 BCE)
“Through rites Heaven and earth join in harmony, the sun and moon shine, the four seasons proceed in order, the stars and constellations march, the rivers flow, and all things flourish.”
The two most widely recognized revolutionaries of the United States, save George Washington, are Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. Jefferson was a reserved man, who struggled with public speaking, but his masterful penmanship earned him international acclaim. Benjamin Franklin was a genius jack-of-all-trades, who dabbled in almost every topic he could research, and often found himself adept in whatever field he chose to assert himself. Jefferson and Franklin were both political philosophers, scientists and inventors, and they both improved upon an invention that all humans use to support themselves—the chair.
The rocking chair was one Benjamin Franklin’s passions. Mr. Franklin did not make this lovable piece of furniture that can excite and relax simultaneously. It was already in use within the colonies when Franklin was born, though the rocking chair is often subtly slipped into his enormous list of inventions. Nevertheless, Benjamin Franklin did invent some modifications for the chair. Most notably, he added a fan that was powered by the rocking motion of the chair.
While Benjamin Franklin was merely a chair modifier, Thomas Jefferson was a true chair revolutionary. In the 1770s, before drafting the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson ordered a simple Windsor chair, but what he did with the chair was groundbreaking for the future of office and school furniture—Jefferson put a swivel mechanism on his chair. Thus, the first swivel chair was born, allowing modern people to spin to their heart’s content when their bosses are not looking.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources
In the middle of the 3rd century BCE, Rome and Carthage, two superpowers of the ancient Mediterranean, began their fateful Punic Wars, which would decide which country and culture would come to dominate the classical world. At the onset of the wars, Carthage was the undisputed naval power of the Mediterranean. Rome, in contrast, was a battle-hardened infantry power, with almost no experience in naval warfare, except small campaigns against piracy. Nevertheless, Rome would win a great victory over a larger Carthaginian navy at the battle of Mylae in 260 BCE. They were able to win by using their renowned engineering capabilities, and a simple strategy—turn the naval battle into an infantry charge.
The first step for Rome was to build a fleet. To do this, Roman engineers studied a captured quinquereme (a ship with five stories of rowers) and quickly mass-produced over one hundred of their own quinqueremes, which would serve as the core of their Punic War navy. With their fleet mass-produced, Rome still had to nullify Carthage’s superiority in naval skill.
Ancient naval warfare was often a battle of opposing crews on their ships rowing up momentum and ramming their armored bows against enemy ships. In an orthodox naval battle, Carthage’s sailing skill would give them greater mobility and maneuverability over Rome’s fledgling navy. To counteract the skill of Carthage, Rome installed a device called a corvus on their ships, which was basically a ramp attached securely to the bow of the ship. The ramp made the Roman ships unstable, but it ultimately tipped the balance of power in Rome’s favor. With the corvus, the Roman marines could row up to the Carthaginian ships, drop their ramps, and bring their formidable infantry might to the seas.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Source
(Public Domain sketch of Apuleius)
The Roman author, and minor regional statesman, Apuleius (125-180), is best known today for his hilarious book, The Golden Ass (also called Metamorphoses). His imaginative tale details the journey of a man named Lucius, who is transformed into a donkey through magic, and must suffer a long string of odd and humorous events throughout the Roman Empire. The Golden Ass was likely written within the last twenty years of Apuleius’ life, when he had settled down in Carthage.
Apuleius shared many traits with Lucius, the main character of his fictional book. Like Lucius, Apuleius was a man from a wealthy family who traveled around the Roman Empire, visiting many of its numerous major cities and regions. As a young man, he traveled from his hometown in modern Mdaourouch, Algeria, to the city of Carthage to receive an education. From there, Apuleius continued to travel around the Roman world. After he left Carthage, he made his way to Athens to build upon his education, and from Athens he journeyed to Rome. In Rome, he transitioned from student to teacher, likely becoming a professor of rhetoric. When he eventually decided to leave the city of Rome, he made his way back to the northern provinces of Roman Africa.
Apuleius landed in Tripoli, intending to journey to Carthage. Before he left Tripoli, however, his life became much more interesting. He met and married his wife, Pudentilla. Their union, however, did not have a smooth start, for Pudentilla’s family charged Apuleius with using magic to force his new bride into marriage. Apuleius was able to clear himself of the charge of enchanting his wife with anything other than charm by writing his De Magia, also known as Apology. With his in-laws defeated, Apuleius, and his bride, settled in Carthage around 160 CE, and soon he began writing The Golden Ass.
During his life, The Golden Ass was in no way Apuleius’ sole work. He also wrote about the ideas of Plato and Aristotle. Other genres of his writing included poetry and natural history. Apuleius became one of the chief priests of his province in North Africa, and he even received multiple public honors for his deeds.
Even though he was a highly regarded figure in North Africa during his lifetime, it was not until much later that Apuleius’ The Golden Assbegan to receive acclaim. The Italian writer, Giovanni Boccaccio drew inspiration from Apuleius in his 14th century Decameron. In the early 17th century, Miguel de Cervantes also modeled bits of his Don Quixote on The Golden Ass. Even the 20th century writer, C. S. Lewis, used ideas from Apuleius. With a lifespan of nearly two millennia, The Golden Ass has inspired and entertained untold generations of readers.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Source:
Joseph E. Johnston (Confederate General of the U.S. Civil War, lived 1807-1891)
“The Southern infantry had great advantage over the Northern in their greater familiarity with firearms. It was the reverse, however, in relation to the artillery; for that of the South had had neither time nor ammunition for practice, while much of that of the North belonged to the regular service.”
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE)
“Eloquence is the attendant of peace, the companion of ease and prosperity, and the tender offspring of a free and a well established constitution.”
In the last decade of the 16th century, a respectable woman who owned a restaurant along with her husband in Nördlingen, Germany, was put under arrest by the authority of the town council on suspicion of witchcraft. At first, Holl was patient with the council and their questioners; she was confident that she would be released without much of a hassle. Unfortunately for Maria Holl, the council, inquisitors and the citizens of Nördlingen all believed that she was truly a witch.
With their supposed witch in custody, Holl’s questioners quickly launched into their investigations. First, they stripped their prisoner and searched every space of her body for any abnormalities, skin tags, moles or bumps, which they believed could be ‘witch marks.’ To be thorough, Maria Holl was shaved of all of her body hair, and when a suspected mark was found, it was prodded with a needle, but was not declared a mark of witchcraft. The interrogators concluded that there were no ‘witch marks’ on Holl’s body, but even so, the investigation was just getting under way.
With her body examined, the interrogators moved on to her mind. Their first line of questioning attempted to connect Maria Holl with the devil. Had she made a pact with the devil? Had she brought a curse on any of her fellow citizens? Had the devil seduced her? By this point, after having her naked body prodded by needles, and insinuation of adultery with the devil thrown her way by her questioners, Maria Holl abruptly ended her compliance with the interrogators—she refused to make any statements that could lead to self-incrimination.
With no diabolical blemishes on her body, and no semblance of a freely-spoken confession in sight, the interrogators called for torture to begin. The successive sessions of various torture techniques used by the interrogators lasted multiple months. There is little specific information on which torture devices were used, but the strappado (she was hung by her arms with a rope), thumbscrews and the Spanish boot (a device that compressed the leg, sometimes with spikes) were likely used. The rack and the age-old whip were also frequently used in the interrogation of witches in Nördlingen, Germany. Nevertheless, after 62 sessions of torture, possibly lasting a year, Maria Holl still refused to confess to witchcraft. Her steadfast proclamation of innocence, despite months of excruciating pain, finally began to impress the citizens of Nördlingen.
The more Maria Holl resisted torture, the more the people of her town began to believe in her innocence. As the population began to support Holl, they also increasingly lost faith in the judgment of the town council and the witch-hunt it was waging against the city. With no confession of witchcraft to justify an execution, the council grudgingly put an end to the torture of Maria Holl. At this point, Holl was not set free. No, the council needed to plan how to defend itself.
The council finally agreed on a plan that would deliver Maria Holl from their dungeon, while also saving their own skins. Holl would be set free, they declared, if and only if she signed a legal form, in which she swore that she would never seek reprisal through a judicial court. For added protection, she had to publicly claim that the town council had acted justly and properly during her trial for witchcraft. Even though Maria Holl received no justice for her abuse at the hands of the Nördlingen inquisitors, she did walk away with her life, and hers was the last case of witchcraft tried in Nördlingen, Germany.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
thehistorianshut.com
If you want to impress your friends and family with your knowledge of ancient writers, while also having a great time in the process, pick up a copy of The Golden Ass (written between 160-180 CE) by Apuleius. If you find the title of the book embarrassing or vulgar, you can use its other tame, alternative title: Metamorphoses. You can proclaim to the world that you read through an ancient Roman book that delves into the culture of the Roman Empire, and describes the priests and ceremonies belonging to the cults of Cybele and Isis. Once everyone is amazed by your perseverance in reading such an old book, you can tell (or not tell) the secret of The Golden Ass—it is an incredibly easy and fun read.
Despite the fact that The Golden Ass was written nearly two thousand years ago, Apuleius’ book reads like a comedic adventure novel. The story follows the odd life of a man named Lucius, who is cursed by an insatiable curiosity of the occult. His nosiness eventually leads him to the home of a witch, and from there, one thing leads to another—he finds himself transformed into a donkey. The rest of the book details Lucius’ journey as a donkey, and his pursuit of a cure to turn him back into human form. The story of The Golden Ass is filled with humor and strangeness that can bring a smile to any reader’s face. Lucius’ adventure as a donkey, from town to town, and owner to owner, is definitely a unique read that will leave a lasting impression on any reader.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Source:
