If history is deprived of the Truth, we are left with nothing but an idle, unprofitable tale
The following is a summary/reflection written during my study of the historical development of jurisprudence through Henry Sumner Maine's Ancient Law. It was an exciting and rewarding read, hence this piece of writing. It's also probably a bit more disconnected than usual, since Maine weaves together a large variety of ideas within short paragraphs and …
Continue reading The Historical Development of Legal Systems
Five hundred years before the birth of Christ, the world was still a wild and untamed place. In the aftermath of the Bronze Age Collapse, the quest for sustenance defined the lives of beasts and men alike. Civilisation, scattered and confused, was confined to the north of the equator, in a narrow strip of the …
Procopius records ‘he [Gelimer] neither wept nor cried but ceased not saying over the words of the Hebrew Scripture: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”’. Procopius commentates nothing; alas, there is no more to be said. Though in his lifetime the Mediterranean was once again a Romanum Lacum, Justinian’s empire was economically prostrate, beset on …
Continue reading Why do ancient historians use speeches in their works?
The notion of meritocracy – a societal system in which people are selected on the basis of their demonstrated abilities and merit – has been thoroughly, and for many unknowingly, ingrained into Western society and political structure. In the Western capitalist democracies, efficiency is integral to maintaining consistent advancements both technologically and economically; the premise …
“To break sharply with the past is to court the madness that may follow the shock of sudden blows or mutilation.” —Will Durant In the 1780s, France arrived at a critical juncture in history. It was at the apex of its geopolitical power, but also at the nadir of its social cohesion. Although it was …
Continue reading French Revolution Part 4: Dominant Discourses
A long long time ago, there once lived a sage who was so wise that he knew of all the mountains and the seas of the world. He had witnessed wonder and terror beyond comprehension. Through books and scrolls his mind soared high, and took him to where his feet could not tread. And so …
What follows is a personal interpretation and translation of the famed Chinese poem 长恨歌，or The Song of Everlasting Regret, by the poet 白居易. Written in the ninth century, it depicts the tragic love story between an emperor and his concubine and is renowned for its literary flourish and narrative flow. This article covers the first …
Recently, I watched the ‘Last Emperor’, famously directed by Bernardo Bertolucci in 1987, winning nine Academy Awards for its screenplay and performance. It was a fuzzy feeling seeing the imposing Forbidden City during the last years of the Qing Dynasty – guarded by rows of armoured imperial guards – in contrast with the desolate and …
Typically, when we think of a board game, our minds could wander off in many different directions. Perhaps it's that dusty board of monopoly you haven’t played since you were a kid. Perhaps you think of “Articulate!” a quick combination of wit and creativity, or maybe it's that green scrabble board. But for many young …
The Ancient World can be construed as a narrative of singularities, with globe-spanning empires founded upon the fabled bounties of the Fertile Crescent dominating the story. The advent of agricultural technology and the arrival of the Roman Climate Optimum had endowed the men and women of the Oecumene with the incentives to coalesce into three …
Continue reading French Revolution Part 3: The World of 1700s
Veni Vidi Veritatem 