In comparing the peculiar institution in the American Antebellum South with its ancestor in the ancient world, you find a few differences and many similarities. One of the most obvious differences is that to qualify as a slave in the Antebellum South, you had to have some Black African ancestry. You didn’t need much. By […]
How Did Slavery in the Amercan Antebellum South Compare to Slavery in the Ancient World?
May 22, 2014 By 1 Comment
Book Review: Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northrup
May 20, 2014 By Leave a Comment
I made the acquaintance of Solomon Northrup almost by chance. I had heard good things about the movie Twelve Years a Slave, but I probably wouldn’t have watched it if it hadn’t been offered as entertainment on an airplane flight to France. I wasn’t planning to read the book, but, as I was walking my […]
Legionary: The Roman Soldier’s (Unofficial) Manual by Philip Matyszak
May 12, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Anyone writing historical fiction or non-fiction about ancient Rome would do well to read Legionary, the Roman Soldier’s (Unofficial) Manual. This book tells all of the ins and outs of the Roman army-recruitment, training, gear, working conditions, benefits and drawbacks, possible assignments and promotion opportunities, various places you may be sent to, characteristics of possible […]
Excerpt #4 From my Work in Progress, In the Wake of Hannibal
May 9, 2014 By Leave a Comment
In order to save his infant son from being sacrificed as a burn offering, Gisco has fled to the Romans and has offered his services as a traitor: After a few weeks I was summoned to the tablinum of the owner of the domus. Lucius was there and alongside him sat two stern-looking middle-aged men […]
Book Review: Why God Won’t Go Away, Brain Science and the Biology of Belief, by Dr. Andrew Newberg et. al.
April 25, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Dr. Andrew Newberg and his colleagues believe that they have found the neural pathways that enable spiritual seekers to connect to the Absolute Unitary Being, in other words, God. The neural pathways involve various structures in the human brain, the amygdala, the hippocampus, the hypothalamus and other structures that direct the autonomic nervous system. Through […]
Excerpt #3 My Work in Progress The Last Carthaginian Part 1:In The Wake of Hannibal
April 25, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Hannibal’s brother Mago is not pleased that Indibal the priest of Tanit and Ba-al Hammon has demanded the sacrifice of his bast friend Gisco’s child, compelling Gisco to desert to the Romans. It had been a week since Gisco had gone to Khart Hadasht and he had still not returned. This was not like Gisco. […]
Another Excerpt from My Work In Progress The Last Carthaginian. Part 1, In the Wake of Hannibal
April 18, 2014 By 2 Comments
To avoid having his infant son sacrificed as a burnt offering to the Goddess Tanit and the God Ba-al Hammon, Gisco has fled New Carthage with his wife, three small children and two freed slaves. He faces down a delegation from New Carthage intending to persuade him to return, and travels safely to Roman territory. […]
Excerpt from My Forthcoming Book The Last Carthaginian
April 12, 2014 By 3 Comments
From The Last Carthaginian, part one: In the Wake of Hannibal. Gisco is told by the high priest of Tanit and Baal-Hammon that his infant son must be sacrificed as a burnt offering to the gods. In winter I returned to Khart Hadasht to find Sansara big with child. Within a month she had our […]
Book Review: Warhorn by J. Glenn Bauer
March 12, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Warhorn, as the name suggests, is a war story. The novel is past paced, exciting and graphic, with great amounts of blood and gore and intricate battle details. The novel takes place around the year 219 B.C. in Carthaginian-ruled Spain, just before the start of the Second Punic War between Carthage and Rome. Carthage has […]
What Was the Attitude of the Ancients Toward War?
March 5, 2014 By 3 Comments
How did the peoples of the ancient world regard war? Did they glory in it, or did they consider it a necessary evil. Did everyone in those days agree that “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori?” A bit of research would indicate that the attitude, at least of the educated ancients, was ambivalent to […]
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