Thanks for reminding me that I spend too much time doing things other than reading proper books
Of these I'm ashamed to say I've only read the three Norwich books on Byzantium (not to sound like a complete wanker but I used to 'savour' long passages from them over a glass of Turkish tea while sailing across the Bosphorus on morning/evening ferry commutes ok I stop now)
I gave Cicero as a Christmas gift and have been meaning to get around to reading more Lewis. Puhvel and Seward books seem interesting also. I've read bits of Tocqueville...
At present I'm reading Mommsen's history of Roman republic (abridged for schools and colleges--and still I can sense a slight straining of my capabilities). After I get through it I will get stuck into the *real* stuff though.
Thanks, looking some of these up. I always felt like Mere Christianity was CS Lewis cribbing from Chesterton's Orthodoxy. Not taking anything away from Lewis, I admire him a great deal. But from my understanding Mere Christianity was a series of radio addresses that were later collected as a book, and it makes sense to me that he may have used Orthodoxy as an outline of sorts.
Chesterton did play a role in Lewis' spiritual development, though I wouldn't call it so significant as influencing Mere Christianity so specifically. Chesterton's vision was profoundly Catholic and Lewis remained an Anglican not averse to interdenominational apologetics.
Yeah I'm aware of that. Lewis's close friend Tolkien was also a devout Catholic, and I believe Lewis had considered conversion. The Anglican church of his era was a different animal (and much closer to traditional Catholicism) than what we see today, however, so perhaps it wasn't such a compelling need for him.
If you haven't compared the two recently, I'd encourage you to take a side by side read of Mere Christianity vs Orthodoxy and see what you think. Maybe I'll write up an analysis of it if I ever get time!
There's a wonderful book by an Italian Classicist named Andrea Marcolongo where she (manly name but a woman) talks about her love of Greek and how it's taught in schools there. She doesn't mention Athenaze directly, but I wouldn't doubt she's familiar with it.
Great list. I have read Tocqueville and Jacques Barzun. Haven’t read any of the others, but I have a copy of The Monks of War. One of my favorites stories is by Robert E, Howard, “The Sowers of the Thunder” which has a depiction of the Battle of Hattin, where the a few hundred Knights Templar and Knight Hospitalar rode out to their doom, with their fellow warriors of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and were crushed by Saladin’s host. Howard is the perfect writer for such a scene!
Such an intellectual and useful list of reading or rereading. The most interesting to me, besides John Julius Norwich, would be From Dance to Decadence, by Jacques Barzum. If he wrote his magnum opus at the age of 93, it gives me hope to publish my small opus at my age of 83. Thank you for list. And antique authors- Cicero- sound always so modern. Thank for reminding.
A wonderful list that escapes the tendency towards simply reciting the Greatest Hits. Bookmarked for future use. Extra points for hitting Deep Cut Lewis.
Also check Apple Books because sometimes they have classical works for free or very inexpensive. But also watch because the Cicero is free, but also in Latin!
Apple Books is good. Most of my links are to physical media, which I prefer, but the vast majority of the items in my list are older and available digitally for free.
Also try Pango Books app. I sell my used books there and instead of having the money deposited in my bank account I just use the credit to buy more books. But it’s a great way to pick up older books.
Not sure what edition of Athenaze I own, but I think you and I are roughly of an age, so there's a good chance it's the same one. The classical languages are HARD man. Best Monty Python skit ever is in the Life of Brian when the Roman centurion corrects the grammar of Brian's Latin graffiti. If you know, you know.
Cato disemboweled himself to avoid capture by Caesar. Cicero was murdered by agents of Mark Antony, whom he’d trolled by repeatedly calling him a bankrupt male prostitute.
It's definitely worth watching the two series of HBO's Rome. On the literary front, one mid-brow take on Cicero, Steven Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series featuring Gordianus the Finder, often in the employ of a fictional version of Cicero, is well-worth a read. It's a bit like Cadfael, but set in Rome.
Robert Harris also wrote a Cicero trilogy, but (although well-written) I wasn't too sure what to make of his blatant attempt to assert parallels between Cicero, politics in Ancient Rome, and the zeitgeist of political events at the time.
As a historical aside, the Founding Fathers drew heavily on Ancient Rome as well as English Common Law tradition, Enlightenment philosophers, and other sources. One of the reasons why political tribunes didn't survive the transplant of Roman Republic principles into the New American Republic, was because John Adams idolised Cicero. The persecution of Cicero by noble-turned-populist Clodius (probably the first Champagne socialist), probably weighed heavily on the decision not to include political tribunes in the New Republic.
Special Prosecutors tend to fill the role now, on an ad hoc basis- which is, of course, even worse. At least tribunes were elected by the plebeian assembly.
Thanks for reminding me that I spend too much time doing things other than reading proper books
Of these I'm ashamed to say I've only read the three Norwich books on Byzantium (not to sound like a complete wanker but I used to 'savour' long passages from them over a glass of Turkish tea while sailing across the Bosphorus on morning/evening ferry commutes ok I stop now)
I gave Cicero as a Christmas gift and have been meaning to get around to reading more Lewis. Puhvel and Seward books seem interesting also. I've read bits of Tocqueville...
At present I'm reading Mommsen's history of Roman republic (abridged for schools and colleges--and still I can sense a slight straining of my capabilities). After I get through it I will get stuck into the *real* stuff though.
Mommsen is great.
Thanks, looking some of these up. I always felt like Mere Christianity was CS Lewis cribbing from Chesterton's Orthodoxy. Not taking anything away from Lewis, I admire him a great deal. But from my understanding Mere Christianity was a series of radio addresses that were later collected as a book, and it makes sense to me that he may have used Orthodoxy as an outline of sorts.
Chesterton did play a role in Lewis' spiritual development, though I wouldn't call it so significant as influencing Mere Christianity so specifically. Chesterton's vision was profoundly Catholic and Lewis remained an Anglican not averse to interdenominational apologetics.
Yeah I'm aware of that. Lewis's close friend Tolkien was also a devout Catholic, and I believe Lewis had considered conversion. The Anglican church of his era was a different animal (and much closer to traditional Catholicism) than what we see today, however, so perhaps it wasn't such a compelling need for him.
If you haven't compared the two recently, I'd encourage you to take a side by side read of Mere Christianity vs Orthodoxy and see what you think. Maybe I'll write up an analysis of it if I ever get time!
🙃🙃🙃🤗🤗🤗😘😘😘😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰
I've heard the Italian version of Athenaze is much better as it follows the LLPSI method more closely.
There's a wonderful book by an Italian Classicist named Andrea Marcolongo where she (manly name but a woman) talks about her love of Greek and how it's taught in schools there. She doesn't mention Athenaze directly, but I wouldn't doubt she's familiar with it.
Great collection looks like I'm back to reading Cicero soon X) right after I'm done with Aquinas! This is such an awesome list Librarian!
Thank you very much.
Bienvenue mon ami
Thank you for putting this together. I’d be very interested in a booklist of religious books as well.
I'll work on that as well.
And I thought t'was only I who read The Monks of War. Of course I bought my copy in Valetta, so it is even monky than others
I bought my copy at a Highland Games event.
Thanks for the list - very helpful, especially from one who is teaching history.
Thank you for reading.
Great list. I have read Tocqueville and Jacques Barzun. Haven’t read any of the others, but I have a copy of The Monks of War. One of my favorites stories is by Robert E, Howard, “The Sowers of the Thunder” which has a depiction of the Battle of Hattin, where the a few hundred Knights Templar and Knight Hospitalar rode out to their doom, with their fellow warriors of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and were crushed by Saladin’s host. Howard is the perfect writer for such a scene!
Such an intellectual and useful list of reading or rereading. The most interesting to me, besides John Julius Norwich, would be From Dance to Decadence, by Jacques Barzum. If he wrote his magnum opus at the age of 93, it gives me hope to publish my small opus at my age of 83. Thank you for list. And antique authors- Cicero- sound always so modern. Thank for reminding.
It's never too late, and yet, its always later than you think.
Ah good stuff! Thank you so much, though it's cruel we have to wait for part 2!
It will be out soon.
Excellent. Yet more quality reading material to add to my ever growing list.
A wonderful list that escapes the tendency towards simply reciting the Greatest Hits. Bookmarked for future use. Extra points for hitting Deep Cut Lewis.
I wanted to introduce people to things they may not yet have heard of.
Also check Apple Books because sometimes they have classical works for free or very inexpensive. But also watch because the Cicero is free, but also in Latin!
Apple Books is good. Most of my links are to physical media, which I prefer, but the vast majority of the items in my list are older and available digitally for free.
Also try Pango Books app. I sell my used books there and instead of having the money deposited in my bank account I just use the credit to buy more books. But it’s a great way to pick up older books.
Not sure what edition of Athenaze I own, but I think you and I are roughly of an age, so there's a good chance it's the same one. The classical languages are HARD man. Best Monty Python skit ever is in the Life of Brian when the Roman centurion corrects the grammar of Brian's Latin graffiti. If you know, you know.
Learning Greek was the most challenging thing I've ever done.
Aww man, I've gone my whole life without seeing a picture of CS Lewis, dang that's unfortunate. Good writer though.
About Cicero, he disemboweled himself right? It's been a while since I listened to my Plutarch audio (best value on Audible, but man it's morbid).
Cato disemboweled himself to avoid capture by Caesar. Cicero was murdered by agents of Mark Antony, whom he’d trolled by repeatedly calling him a bankrupt male prostitute.
Based.
It's definitely worth watching the two series of HBO's Rome. On the literary front, one mid-brow take on Cicero, Steven Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series featuring Gordianus the Finder, often in the employ of a fictional version of Cicero, is well-worth a read. It's a bit like Cadfael, but set in Rome.
Robert Harris also wrote a Cicero trilogy, but (although well-written) I wasn't too sure what to make of his blatant attempt to assert parallels between Cicero, politics in Ancient Rome, and the zeitgeist of political events at the time.
As a historical aside, the Founding Fathers drew heavily on Ancient Rome as well as English Common Law tradition, Enlightenment philosophers, and other sources. One of the reasons why political tribunes didn't survive the transplant of Roman Republic principles into the New American Republic, was because John Adams idolised Cicero. The persecution of Cicero by noble-turned-populist Clodius (probably the first Champagne socialist), probably weighed heavily on the decision not to include political tribunes in the New Republic.
Special Prosecutors tend to fill the role now, on an ad hoc basis- which is, of course, even worse. At least tribunes were elected by the plebeian assembly.
Yes Rome series is much better than I expected. I only got around to it a few months ago.