Books With Flair

This book provides an assessment of Scipio Aemilianus as a political figure, in terms both of contemporary politics and of the general political development of the Roman Republic. His background, his character and the manner of his early success are examined and his career as a whole is considered in relation to issues of foreign policy, to social problems and to various trends in political behaviour. The crisis of 133 BC falls within this framework and the links between that crisis and Scipio's career are discussed.

210 BCE. The Roman Republic battles the empire of Carthage for control of the Mediterranean. Mago, Gisgo, and Hasdrubal hold Iberia and its riches firmly within their grip, preparing to send Hannibal the Great enough resources to destroy Rome forever. As the course of western civilization hangs in the balance, young Scipio sails to Iberia with a raw and undermanned army, undertaking a mission no other general would assume: to wrest control of Iberia from the Three Generals, the men who killed his father and uncle.

Ever since my fortunate—or shall I say unfortunate?—connection with that famous case of murder in Gramercy Park, I have had it intimated to me by many of my friends—and by some who were not my friends—that no woman who had met with such success as myself in detective work would ever be satisfied with a single display of her powers, and that sooner or later I would find myself again at work upon some other case of striking peculiarities. As vanity has never been my foible, and as, moreover, I never have forsaken and never am likely to forsake the plain path marked out for my sex, at any other call than that of duty, I invariably responded to these insinuations by an affable but incredulous smile, striving to excuse the presumption of my friends by remembering their ignorance of my nature and the very excellent reasons I had for my one notable interference in the police affairs of New York City. Besides, though I appeared to be resting quietly, if not in entire contentment, on my laurels, I was not so utterly removed from the old atmosphere of crime and its detection as the world in general considered me to be. Mr. Gryce still visited me; not on business, of course, but as a friend, for whom I had some regard; and naturally our conversation was not always confined to the weather or even to city politics, provocative as the latter subject is of wholesome controversy.

Bibliographical record of works published by members of the Association, in v. 28- 1897-

Hannibal is acknowledged to be one of history's greatest generals, and his crossing of the Alps - complete with elephants - to make war against Rome on its home soil is legendary. But even Hannibal met his match in Scipio, and ultimately Carthage was defeated by the rising power of Rome. In Hannibal's War, J. F. Lazenby provides the first scholarly account in English since 1886 solely devoted to the Second Punic War - what some have called the first "world war" for mastery of the Mediterranean world. By closely examining the accounts of Livy and Polybius, supplemented with the fruits of modern research, Lazenby provides a detailed military history of the entire war as it was fought in Italy, Spain, Greece, and North Africa. This edition includes a new preface covering recent research on Hannibal's war against Rome.

Three men, three vows: one to destroy Rome, another to protect it, a third to defeat the both of them. This is the saga of Scipio Africanus, one of history's greatest generals, and his history defining clash with Hannibal the Great and Cato the Elder. Born into a wealthy and powerful military family, Cornelius Scipio is a brilliant scholar who dreams of educating the common people of Rome. But he has promised his father he will become a soldier and defend Rome against Hannibal, its sworn enemy. Young Scipio soon finds himself fighting on two fronts: in Italia against the Carthaginians and in the Rome against Cato the Elder's austerity party. When all the veteran commanders fear to confront Hannibal and his brothers, Scipio steps forward to become Rome's boy general. Leaving his mother and betrothed to wage his political war at home, he sets forth to defeat the undefeated, relying on visionary genius to compensate for an outnumbered army of raw recruits. This is the first book in the Scipio Africanus Trilogy, based on his exploits during the Second Punic War. The second book, The Three Generals, will be out in mid-2014.

From government to literature to architecture, few fields in western culture are untouched by the influence of Ancient Greece and Rome. Even mores that may seem exclusively modern often have roots in the classical past. This book takes an in-depth look at the ancient roots of homophobia, including its Pythagorean origins and its eventual spread throughout the Roman Empire and, consequently, the rest of the world. Originally, male homosexuality occupied something of an honorable position in ancient Greece. By the end of the Roman period several centuries later, this attitude had changed so radically that to be found guilty of homosexual actions was punishable by death. This work investigates how such a shift occurred and traces the various cultural forces that brought about almost universal homophobia throughout western societies. Beginning with the earliest documented instance of homophobia in the teachings of Pythagoras (who was surrounded by mystery even in ancient times), the author examines its proliferation through various disciplines, citing sources from political history, anthropology, religion, and psychology as well as the analysis of ancient texts. Through extensive historical research, he follows the concept from Greece to Macedonia and finally to Rome, examining relevant religious attitudes including those of Christianity and Judaism. Finally, he discusses the ways in which homophobia was solidified in the legal legacy of the Roman Empire. An extensive bibliography provides additional resources regarding classical influence on modern culture.

This book considers the boast of literary power to glorify or immortalize, a topos of enormous popularity. Focusing on representative figures of Renaissance humanism and the roots of the topos in antiquity, author Stephen Murphy elaborates a complex myth of poetic power. This myth, constructed with the help of such theorists as Ernst Cassirer, Giambattista Vico, Marcel Mauss, and Theodor Adorno, includes the elements of nostalgia for a primordial epoch of magical effectiveness and social centrality, the ideal of patronage as gift exchange, and the absorption of these extra-literary circumstances into literary convention.