glenncolerussell's reviews
1456 reviews

A review of this book by a university professor notes how William H.F. Altman writes an incisive commentary and critique on Nietzsche's political thought and how this book on Nietzsche is the third volume of a trilogy of German political thought. I mention the professor's review since I am approaching Altman's book from quite a different angle -- I am not a scholar nor am I particularly interested in nineteenth century German history or German political thinking.

My interest is philosophy and how what Altman says about Nietzsche can apply to living in the twenty-first century. Altman writes his book in 150 short one-paragraph essays (in the style of Nietzsche himself) and, for the purposes of this review, I will focus on two of the essays as a way of sharing how this book has a great deal to say to the non-scholar and non-historian.

Essay #66: `The way of the slave and the master'. Altman begins this essay by writing, "Nietzsche's greatest insights - certainly those that first brought him critical acclaim - are rooted in the distinction between master and slave, or better, between master morality and slave morality." And toward the end of this essay, embedding a few Nietzsche quotes, Altman writes, "At this stage, Nietzsche sees slave morality as essentially a world-view designed to promote self-deception: "to make easier the existence of the suffering" by embracing values that will render the sufferers capable of "enduring the burdens of existence." Only virtues that are useful in easing these burdens are embraced by the slave: "Slave morality is essentially the morality of utility.""

Let's pause here and see how this slave morality and slave world-view is working in today's world. How many men and women since the time of Nietzsche have literally worked themselves to death? Of course, the work usually is of the most mundane, the most utilitarian kind - work within the world of business. And what undergirds this worldview and value system where one gladly and voluntarily works oneself to death? The Protestant work ethic. And one need not be a Protestant to be enslaved by this work ethic - simply being a part of modern Western society is enough. Ironically, the slaves in the ancient world were the ones worked to death in the fields and the mines. The ancient masters would never think to work themselves to death.

So, although slavery in the conventional sense is outlawed, we now have an entire population yoked to computer, cell-phone and email, working and chatting and entertaining themselves to death. If you balk, seeing this as a harsh evaluation, let me ask: how many people do you know willing to join Nietzsche and Zarathustra in living life from their artistic and spiritual depth? Recall how back in the 1970s Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said the Western world, in his estimation, would never serve as a model for a free society since it was enslaved to commercialism, intolerable music and TV stupor. Why commercialism, intolerable music and TV stupor? Following Nietzsche's philosophy, these three are exactly the sugarcoated pills the population takes in order to numb itself to endure the burden of existence, the burden of living a most superficial work-a-day slave-like life.

Essay #149: `A psychologist's idleness'. Altman makes a strong case that Nietzsche's eventual breakdown was more of a psychological breakdown than a purely physical one. The author traces the roots of Nietzsche's psychological difficulties back to his childhood upbringing, an upbringing with no father or adult male (Nietzsche's father died when he was 4) and his living with mother, grandmother, two aunts and one sister. We read: "The rigidly pious household dominated by Erdmuthe Nietzsche, sanctified to an expurgated version of his father's memory located in provincial and pedestrian Naumbury in Prussian Saxony was hardly a good environment in which to avoid guilt, shame, and ressentiment."

It doesn't take a psychologist to see a sensitive young Nietzsche being force-fed a diet of sin, guilt and fear of torment in hell by a string of overbearing, hyper-critical, self-righteous women contributed to his psychic collapse later in life. The author concludes his essay by stating, "Perhaps all who wish to make Nietzsche `responsible' for the evils of the twentieth century would do well to remember how liberating it is for all of us to have escaped the domination of those who (like his own religious relatives) humiliatingly held children responsible for simply being "human, all too human."" Yes, indeed. We all should be thankful we no longer, for the most part, live in a society that turns us against our own bodies, our own sexuality, and our own life.

I would encourage anybody interested in Nietzsche and his philosophy to order a copy of Alman's book and give it a careful read. It will prove to be a most rewarding experience.

"The human spirit is in prison. Prison is what I call this world, the given world of necessity." So begins Nicolas Berdyaev in the introduction to this spiritually-charged book of religious philosophy. For Berdyaev confesses to being close to Manichean dualism, that is, seeing the material world of necessity as evil, a world without God and not created by God. We must, Berdyaev insists, go out of the world and overcome the world completely, "Freedom from the world is the pathos of this book."

Where should we go when we leave this world of necessity and materialism? According to Berdyaev, to a state of being that is "freedom in the spirit, life in divine love, life in the Pleroma." If the world `Pleroma' sounds familiar, you probably have some acquaintance with the spirituality of the ancient Gnostic religions. However, Berdyaev also confesses to being close to a pantheistic monism, that is, seeing the world as divine and man as divine by nature. If this sounds like a paradox . . . well, confessing to both views is, in fact, a paradox, to which Berdyaev readily admits, "Religious consciousness experiences the world to the fullest extent, both as completely apart from God and as fully divine, experiences evil both as falling away from divine reason, and as having an immanent meaning in the process of the world's development."

Again, this is a spiritually-charged book of religious existentialist philosophy where Berdyaev addresses such topics as redemption, asceticism, sex, love, beauty, morals and mysticism through the lens of creativity. For example, the author writes: "Philosophy is creativeness, and not adaptation or obedience. The liberation of philosophy as a creative act is its liberation from all dependence upon science, i.e. heroic resistance to every sort of adaptation to necessity." Berdyaev sees any pulling back from the fresh, clean air of living a spiritually authentic life as a plunge into slavery and sickness. On the same subject, we read, "Philosophy is palsied by a frightful disease - the disease of reflection and dissociation. . . . Reflection and doubt deprive philosophy of its active-creative character, make it passive."

For someone with a background and interest in the arts, Berdyaev's chapter on beauty and art could very well prove the most inspiring. Since, like Nietzsche, to begin to understand Berdyaev is to read his actual words, here are several quotes: "The artist is always a creator. Art is always a victory over the heaviness of "the world" - never adaptation to "the world". The act of art is directly opposed to every sort of added burden - in art there is liberation." ----- "In the strict sense of the word, creativity is neither Christian nor pagan: it rises above and beyond them. In the creative artistic act darkness is overcome and transfigured into beauty." ----- "The creative act of an artist is essentially the non-submission of this world and its distortions. The creative act is a daring upsurge past the limitations of this world into the world of beauty."

I love Nicolas Berdyaev. Perhaps because, like him, I experience all of life as spiritually-charged as well as feeling the Pleroma as my true home. Ah, paradox! I first read The Meaning of the Creative Act back in college and now that I have spent much of the last 40 years of my life devoted to creativity within music, literature and the arts, I appreciate his words and his intensity even more. To end, let me note that Bredyaev says how a truly beautiful culture will create great architecture and our culture is not beautiful; rather, in our epoch, the spirit of music has become a favorite relaxation and recreation for the general public. How true, Nicolas! How many times are we exposed to the insipid and obnoxious sound of muzak or pop or rock music in public places or working in an office? To aspire to a spiritual, creative, artistic life is to constantly do battle with omnipresent crude, drab, mediocre mass culture. Ah, Nicolas Berdyaev! We can learn so much from you brilliant vision. How much? To find out, please order this book - the sooner the better.

Roman historian Suetonius (70 AD – 130 AD) wrote spirited biographies of 12 roman emperors from Julius Caesar to Domitian. One of my favorites is Emperor Glaba, who, at age 73, reigned for 7 months in the year 68 AD. Why only 7 months? Answer: no big surprise considering the hyper-violence of the Roman Empire – assassins cut his throat. Suetonius makes for fascinating reading since the author peppers his history with keen philosophical insights on the life and times in the Roman Empire. Below are my comments coupled with quotes from the text.

The family of Caesars came to an end with Nero. Good riddance! The Roman people had enough of the evil clowns as emperor. Nero was succeeded by Galba who, according to Suetonius, “was not in the remotest degree allied to the family of the Caesars, but, without doubt, of very noble extraction, being descended from a great and ancient family.”

Suetonius provides us with some of the detail and color of Galba’s many years as a high official in various remote parts of the Roman Empire. One example I find particularly charming: “During his praetorship, at the celebration of games in honor of the goddess Flora, Galba presented the new spectacle of elephants walking upon ropes. ----- The Romans sure knew how to entertain. Believe it or not, this can be done! Here is a link from a modern zoo in Thailand where an elephant walks on a tightrope. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YCfGZ0n_wX8/UKecIEvEDtI/AAAAAAAABCo/m_aIGZ1uNVg/s1600/bkk-sri-elephrope.jpg

“Upon the news of Caligula's death, though many earnestly pressed him to lay hold of that opportunity of seizing the empire, he chose rather to be quiet.” And then in the reign of Nero, we read: “Galba gave himself up to a life of indolence and inactivity, from the fear of giving Nero any occasion of jealousy, and because, as he used to say, "Nobody was obliged to render an account of their leisure hours."” --------- Galba had the wisdom to lay low at the outskirts of the empire during turbulent times. Thus, he made it to age 73, remarkable for a Roman leader during the bloodbaths from the time of Caligula to Nero.

“He possessed himself of the imperial power with more favor and authority than he administered it, although he gave many proofs of his being an excellent prince: but these were not so grateful to the people, as his misconduct was offensive.” ---------- But when Galba was proclaimed emperor, things changed. He did some good but his cruelty, stinginess, self-aggrandizement and self-indulgence outweighed any good.

“Galba’s hands and feet were so distorted with the gout, that he could neither wear a shoe, nor turn over the leaves of a book, or so much as hold it. He had likewise an excrescence in his right side, which hung down to that degree, that it was with difficulty kept up by a bandage.” ---------- A well-known Roman philosophic maxim: Mens sana in corpore sano (A sound mind in a sound body). Suetonius writes a vivid picture of a man who had neither.

“He was governed by three favorites, who, because they lived in the palace, and were constantly about him, obtained the name of his pedagogues. These were Titus Vinius, a man of insatiable avarice; Cornelius Laco, a person of intolerable arrogance and indolence; and his freedman Icelus, dignified a little before with the privilege of wearing the gold ring. ---------- Sounds like Galba turned over the Roman Empire to the 3 stooges – Greedy, Haughty, and Showy. Greco-Roman philosophers and historians continually emphasized the need to choose wise friends and counselors. Galba had influence and power, enough to be appointed emperor, but, turns out, he lacked that one critical quality: wisdom.

“By this conduct, he incurred the hatred of all orders of the people, but especially of the soldiery. For their commanders having promised them in his name a sum of money larger than usual, upon their taking the oath to him before his arrival at Rome; he refused to make it good, frequently bragging, "that it was his custom to choose his soldiers, not buy them." Thus the troops became exasperated against him in all quarters.” ---------- Hey, Galba! What were you thinking? Pissing off the soldiers and not giving them the money you promised – bad idea, very bad idea.

Then, shortly thereafter, when the solider gathered round Galba and unsheathed their swords, Glaba cried out, "What do you mean, fellow-soldiers? I am yours, and you are mine," and promised them money.” ---------- Sorry, Galba. Too little, too late. It cost your life.

The Roman historian Suetonius (70 AD – 130 AD) wrote The Twelve Caesars in clear straightforward prose. The modern world derives much knowledge of Roman rulers and Roman society, Roman culture and Roman decadence from his writing. Suetonius’s philosophic temper reveals itself in the many vivid comments he makes on that most esteemed of Roman virtues: strength of character. I find this to be particularly true in his life of Otho who ruled as Roman Emperor for 3 months at age 38. Below are quotes taken from text along with my brief comments.

“He was from his earliest youth so riotous and wild, that he was often severely scourged by his father. He was said to run about in the night-time, and seize upon any one he met, who was either drunk or too feeble to make resistance, and toss him in a blanket.” ---------- No question, the future emperor was a hellraiser as a teenager. My sense is Suetonius wants us to keep in mind how famous leaders were once very human youngsters.

“He is said to have been greatly frightened that night in his sleep, and to have groaned heavily; and being found, by those who came running in to see what the matter was, lying upon the floor before his bed, he endeavored by every kind of atonement to appease the ghost of Galba, by which he had found himself violently tumbled out of bed.” ---------- Suetonius routinely includes omens and dreams in his chapters on all the Caesars. For Emperor Otho, who had a hand in orchestrating Emperor Galba’s murder, to have such a ghastly nightmare does not bode well for his future.

"Otho, before his advancement to the empire, had such an abhorrence of civil war, that once, upon hearing an account given at table of the death of Cassius and Brutus, he fell into a trembling, and that he never would have interfered with Galba, but that he was confident of succeeding in his enterprise without a war." ---------- Otho was under the impression that with Emperor Galba’s death, he would take over as the next clear-cut emperor. Turns out, this was a catastrophic misjudgment – there was a Roman general in German territory by the name of Vitellius staking his own claim to be emperor. And Vitellius had an entire army of Roman soldiers willing to advance on Rome in his support.

Otho gathers his own army in an attempt to stop Vitellius. But, after marching north, Otho makes a rash decision to do battle without waiting for his reinforcements. His army engages Vitellius but is beaten back. This one decisive defeat is disastrous news for the Roman Empire: there now looms a very real prospect of a long civil war. Assessing the plight, Otho makes a courageous decision. Suetonius writes. “At last, after quenching his thirst with a draught of cold water, he took up two poniards, and having examined the points of both, put one of them under his pillow, and shutting his chamber-door, slept very soundly, until, awaking about break of day, he stabbed himself under the left pap.” ---------- Rather than plunging the entire empire into a bloody civil war, Otho took own life. Such self-sacrifice for the sake of his country was so admired that Suetonius writes: “Many of the soldiers who were present, kissing and bedewing with their tears his hands and feet as he lay dead, and celebrating him as "a most gallant man, and an incomparable emperor," immediately put an end to their own lives upon the spot, not far from his funeral pile.”

“The person and appearance of Otho no way corresponded to the great spirit he displayed on this occasion; for he is said to have been of low stature, splay-footed, and bandy-legged. He was, however, effeminately nice in the care of his person: the hair on his body he plucked out by the roots; and because he was somewhat bald, he wore a kind of peruke, so exactly fitted to his head, that nobody could have known it for such.” ---------- He certainly didn’t look the part of a hero (and Romans put such high premium on one’s good looks) but that didn’t stop Otho, given the dramatic and historic situation, from acting like a hero. Suetonius understand how fate can provide us with an opportunity to define our entire life by one noble act.

“He was not, so far as we can learn, a follower of any of the sects of philosophers which justified, and even recommended suicide, in particular cases: yet he perpetrated that act with extraordinary coolness and resolution; and, what is no less remarkable, from the motive, as he avowed, of public expediency only. It was observed of him, for many years after his death, that "none ever died like Otho."”---------- The Roman Stoics and other philosophic schools considered suicide a noble act when done for noble reasons. Otho’s noble suicide was adjudged akin to the suicides of philosophers such as Seneca and Cato the Younger. Quite high praise, indeed.

After the death of three successive emperors within one year via ancient Rome’s hyper-violence, Vespasian reigned as emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD and returned the empire to a time of relative stability and peace. The Roman historian Suetonius portrays Vespasian as an excellent administrator having a sometimes dry, sometimes ribald sense of humor. To provide a taste of this lively biography, below are quotes from the text along with my brief comments.

“While in attendance upon Nero in Achaia, he frequently withdrew from the theater while Nero was singing, and went to sleep if he remained, which gave so much offense, that he was not only excluded from his society, but debarred the liberty of saluting him in public. Upon this, he retired to a small out-of-the-way town, where he lay skulking in constant fear of his life, until a province, with an army, was offered him.” ---------- Now here is a man who follows his bliss. If he doesn’t like a performance, he either snoozes or leaves the theater. But, alas, he also understood Nero the singer is also Nero the sadistic and viscous emperor, so he hit the road and lived quietly on the outskirts under the radar.

“Returning now to Rome, under these auspices, and with a great reputation, after enjoying a triumph for victories over the Jews.” ---------- But after the death of Nero and the death of three other emperors in quick succession, he returns to Rome as emperor. Curiously, the destruction of the most sacred Jewish temple has enormous consequences for the Jewish people but, as far as Suetonius and the history of the Roman Empire, the defeat of the Jews is but one more blip in Roman domination.

“In other affairs, from the beginning to the end of his government, he conducted himself with great moderation and clemency. . . . And he was so little fond of external and adventitious ornaments, that, on the day of his triumph being quite tired of the length and tediousness of the procession, he could not forbear saying, "he was rightly served, for having in his old age been so silly as to desire a triumph; as if it was either due to his ancestors, or had ever been expected by himself."” ---------- Ha! Finally, an emperor who wasn’t cruel or sadistic. What a switch from what the Roman peoples suffered for many years.

“He bore with great mildness the freedom used by his friends, the satirical allusions of advocates, and the petulance of philosophers. Licinius Mucianus, who had been guilty of notorious acts of lewdness, but, presuming upon his great services, treated him very rudely, he reproved only in private; and when complaining of his conduct to a common friend of theirs, he concluded with these words, "However, I am a man."” ---------- How refreshing. A Roman Emperor who admits he is only human. With Vespasian we have none of that declaring himself a god.

“He bore with great mildness the freedom used by his friends, the satirical allusions of advocates, and the petulance of philosophers. Demetrius, the Cynic philosopher who had been sentenced to banishment, meeting him on the road, and refusing to rise up or salute him, nay, snarling at him in scurrilous language, he only called him a cur.” ----------- Even a humane response to an anti-establishment philosopher. Now that’s temperance and tolerance. The Greco-Roman Stoics would have been proud.

“It will scarcely be found, that so much as one innocent person suffered in his reign, unless in his absence, and without his knowledge, or, at least, contrary to his inclination, and when he was imposed upon. . . . He never rejoiced at the death of any man; nay he would shed tears, and sigh, at the just punishment of the guilty.” ---------- And Vespasian was humane to the point where he displayed compassion.

The only thing deservedly blameable in his character was his love of money. . . . When his son Titus blamed him for even laying a tax upon urine, he applied to his nose a piece of the money he received in the first installment, and asked him, "if it stunk?" And he replying no, "And yet," said he, "it is derived from urine." ----------- Turns out, Vespasian did have a vice – he loved money so much he even put a tax on urine! Oh well, nobody is perfect.

He was a great encourager of learning and the liberal arts. He first granted to the Latin and Greek professors of rhetoric the yearly stipend of a hundred thousand sesterces each out of the exchequer. He also bought the freedom of superior poets and artists, and gave a noble gratuity to the restorer of the Coan of Venus and to another artist who repaired the Colossus. ---------- Now that’s something! A Roman emperor who actually is a generous patron of the arts and learning. All in all, not such a bad time to be alive if you were a Roman citizen.


Suetonius available on-line: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6400/6...

The early Greek philosophers, thinkers like Thales, Anaximander, Pythagoras, Parmenides, Zeno, Empedocles, Leucippus, are foundational for the Western intellectual tradition. I couldn’t imagine a better introductory book then this one on the subject. Below are a few quotes from Jonathan Barnes’s excellent 40 page introduction along with my brief comments:

“First and most simply, the Presocratics invented the very idea of science and philosophy. They hit upon that special way of looking at the world which is the scientific and rational way. They saw the world as something ordered and intelligible, its history following an explicable course and its different parts arranged in a comprehensible system. The world was not a random collection of bits, its history was not an arbitrary jumble of events.” ---------- This is central to their spirit of inquiry, an approach compatible with a modern physicist or chemist.

“Nor was the world a series of events determined by the will or the caprice of the gods. The Presocratics were not atheists: they allowed the god into their brave new world, and some of them attempted to produce an improved and rationalized theology in place of the anthropomorphic divinities of the Olympian pantheon. But their theology had little to do with religion, and they removed most of the traditional functions of the gods. Their thunder was no longer the growling of a minatory Zeus.” ----------- Again, the Presocratics have kindred spirits in the science departments at modern universities.

Jonathan Barnes goes on to write how the Presocratics explained the world in ways that were systematic and economical, that is, these early philosophers wanted to “explain as much as possible in terms of as little as possible.” Some of their key concepts were order (kosmos), nature (phusis), origins (arche) , and reason (logos). --------- These Greek words are supercharged with meaning. I use one English word for simplicity sake. How supercharged? The author does a fine job elaborating.

The actual words of the Presocratics have come down to us as fragments. Here are several of my favorites:

Xenophanes
“But if cows and horses or lions had hands and drew with their hands or made the things men make, then horses would draw the forms of gods like horses, cows like cows, and each would make their bodies similar in shape to their own.”

Heraclitus
“The uncomprehending, when they hear, are like the deaf. To them applies the saying: though present they are absent.”

Democritus
“To a wise man the whole earth is accessible; for the country of a great soul is the whole world.”

“The desire for more destroys what is present – like Aesop’s dog.”

“One should tell the truth, not speak at length.”

Roman biographer Suetonius’s lively The Twelve Caesars makes for entertaining and enlightening reading. There were some good emperors and there were some bad emperors. Titus, who reigned from 79 AD to 81 AD, was one of the good ones. Unfortunately, Titus came down with a fever and died at age 42. Below are quotes from the text along with my brief comments.

“The darling and delight of mankind; so much did the natural genius, address, or good fortune he possessed tend to conciliate the favor of all . . . While yet a boy, he was remarkable for his noble endowments both of body and mind; and as he advanced in years, they became still more conspicuous. He had a fine person, combining an equal mixture of majesty and grace. . . . Gifted with an excellent memory, and a capacity for all the arts of peace and war; he was a perfect master of the use of arms and riding; very ready in the Latin and Greek tongues, both in verse and prose; and such was the facility he possessed in both, that he would harangue and versify extempore.” ---------- As we have nowadays the all-American boy or the all-Indian boy, back during the time of the Roman Empire, Titus was the all-Roman boy.

“From that time he constantly acted as colleague with his father, and, indeed, as regent of the empire. He triumphed with his father, bore jointly with him the office of censor and was, besides, his colleague not only in the tribunitian authority, but in seven consulships.” ---------- Titus did his father, Emperor Vespasian, proud. What a son!

“He was by nature extremely benevolent . . . For the relief of the people during the plague, he employed, in the way of sacrifice and medicine, all means both human and divine.” ---------- Now that’s saying something about a man who has unlimited power and rules an empire – he put his energies into helping others since by his natural inclination he was a person of good will.

“Though his brother was continually plotting against him, almost openly stirring up the armies to rebellion, and contriving to get away, yet he could not endure to put him to death, or to banish him from his presence; nor did he treat him with less respect than before. But from his first accession to the empire, he constantly declared him his partner in it, and that he should be his successor; begging of him sometimes in private, with tears in his eyes, "to return the affection he had for him."” ---------- His brother Domitian was an underhanded cur, but Titus returned Domitian’s evil designs with kindness and tolerance.

“Amidst all these favorable circumstances, Titus was cut off by an untimely death, more to the loss of mankind than himself, for he was seized with a fever, and being carried forward in a litter, they say that he drew back the curtains, and looked up to heaven, complaining heavily, "that his life was taken from him, though he had done nothing to deserve it”.” ---------- Ah, the injustice – a good man becomes ill and dies young while so many cruel and sadistic people live to a ripe old age. Such is the caprice of nature’s wheel of birth and death. Too bad all round. If he had lived longer, the Roman people would have been spared the reign of his brother’s terror.


Suetonius available on-line: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6400/6...

After the natural death of his father Vespasian and his brother Titus, Domitian became emperor in 81 AD at age 30 and ruled until he was assassinated 15 years later. Of all Suetonius’s biographies of the 12 Caesars, his life of Domitian is one of the liveliest. Below are my comments coupled with quotes from the text.

“From that time forward, he was constantly engaged in plots against his brother, both publicly and privately; until, falling dangerously ill, he ordered all his attendants to leave him, under pretense of his being dead, before he really was so; and, at his decease, paid him no other honor than that of enrolling him amongst the gods; and he often, both in speeches and edicts, carped at his memory by sneers and insinuations. -------- This speaks oodles about Domitian’s character. I couldn’t imagine a more mean-spirited and small-minded view of life. Incidentally, I’ve had the misfortune of being around a couple of people with similar character traits – a most disagreeable experience.

“In the beginning of his reign, he used to spend daily an hour by himself in private, during which time he did nothing else but catch flies, and stick them through the body with a sharp pin. . . . During some time, there was in his administration a strange mixture of virtue and vice, until at last his virtues themselves degenerated into vices; being, as we may reasonably conjecture concerning his character, inclined to avarice through want, and to cruelty through fear.” ---------- There you have it – the soul of a sadist. Becoming Roman Emperor and spending your quiet hours torturing flies.

“He frequently entertained the people with most magnificent and costly shows, not only in the amphitheater, but the circus; where, besides the usual races with chariots drawn by two or four horses a-breast, he exhibited the representation of an engagement between both horse and foot, and a sea-fight in the amphitheater. The people were also entertained with the chase of wild beasts and the combat of gladiators, even in the night-time, by torch-light. Nor did men only fight in these spectacles, but women also.” ----------- The key word here is ‘entertainment’. Suetonius recognizes these pubic death-shows and war-circuses are primarily to entertain. Of course, the Romans loves to see displays of how they ruled the known world extending to the world of animals and nature but ultimately all displays were assessed in terms of their entertainment value. A kid of flesh-and-blood TV culture. How much has modern culture transcended such hankering after garish entertainments?

“But he did not long persevere in this course of clemency and justice, although he sooner fell into cruelty than into avarice. He put to death a scholar of Paris, the pantomimic though a minor, and then sick, only because, both in person and the practice of his art, he resembled his master; as he did likewise Hermogenes of Tarsus for some oblique reflections in his History; crucifying, besides, the scribes who had copied the work.” ---------- Goodness. Domitian tortured and put to death many men and women for flimsy, nonsensical reasons. Come on, Domitian, these people are humans not flies.

“He suffered no statues to be erected for him in the Capitol, unless they were of gold and silver, and of a certain weight.” ---------- Domitian was Roman Emperor from age 30 to 45, yet his emotional maturity remained that of a spoiled 15-year-old.

“As the time of the danger which he apprehended drew near, he became daily more and more disturbed in mind; insomuch that he lined the walls of the porticos in which he used to walk, with the stone called Phengites by the reflection of which he could see every object behind him.” ---------- Now this is a ugly combination: a man who is not only heartless and sadistic but also paranoid.

And, predictably in these days of the , Domitian was assassinated by conspirators. Which goes to show, if you are cruel and sadistic, even paranoids have enemies. In conclusion, here are Suetonius on the character of Domitian: “He was insatiable in his lusts, calling frequent commerce with women, as if it was a sort of exercise, bed-wrestling; and it was reported that he plucked the hair from his concubines, and swam about in company with the lowest prostitutes.” --------- Modern historians reject Suetonius’s representing Domitian as a cruel, paranoid tyrant; rather, those moderns see him as an efficient autocrat. My own sense is if half of what Suetonius relays about the emperor’s treatment of people is accurate, I’m with Suetonius.

This Penguin Classic of The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius is the perfect place to start for anybody interested in ancient Greco-Roman history and culture. Not only is this a most engaging translation by Robert Graves, author of I Claudius, but there is a short Forward by classics scholar, Michael Grant. Additionally, there are ten maps of the city of Rome and the Roman Empire along with a glossary of key terms. From my own experience, once I started reading, I couldn’t stop. Matter of fact, I was inspired to write a Goodreads review of each of the twelve Caesars – Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus, Domitian.

Specifically, here are a couple of quotes from Michael Grant along with my brief comments:

“Suetonius’ principal contribution lies in his relatively high degree of objectivity. With him, we have moved away from the traditional eulogistic treatment, and have entered a much more astringent atmosphere, in which the men whom he is describing are looked at with a cooler and more disenchanted eye.” ---------- This ‘disenchanted eye’ is a thoroughly modern perspective, one having synchronicity with our 21st century sensibilities.

“The best quality of his work is his power to create rapid, dramatic, and often moving narratives, including, at times, impressive set-pieces, among which the death of Nero is especially notable.” ---------- Unlike a dry academic writing, Suetonius is lively, vivid and sometimes racy.

And excerpts from the translation by Robert Graves:

“During gladiatorial shows he would have the canopies removed as the hottest time of the day and forbid anyone to leave; or take away the usual equipment and pit feeble old fighters against decrepit wild animals; or stage comic duels between respectable householders who happened to be physically disabled in some way or other.”

“Nero’s unreasonable craving for immortal fame made him change a number of well-known names of things and places in his own favor. The month of April, for instance, became Neroneus; and Rome was on the point of being renamed ‘Neropolis’.

Again, once I started reading this book, I couldn't stop. Who would think a classic work of history and biography would be so engaging?

Ah, to be a college-age student traveling free and easy through the cities of Europe, soaking in all the color and vitality of the peoples and culture. You hit Barcelona, walk the broad tree-lines streets, visit the Picasso Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. What a dream come true. But, then, one evening leisurely strolling down the wrong street in the wrong neighborhood, you are attacked, brutally raped and then robbed of all your money, identity cards and passport. Other than the cloths on your back, you have nothing. And going to the police is out of the question, since you are pulled down very quickly into a complex web of crime. And to make matters even worse, you don’t even speak the language. Does this sound like a dream instantly transformed into a living nightmare? Well, welcome to the world of American author, Henry Martin’s Escaping Barcelona.

I planned to read this book over the course of a week. However, when I sat down last evening and started reading, I couldn’t stop. Totally engrossed and absorbed – 220 pages in one sitting. At one point the first-person narrator muses, “Hope, once more, starts to root in my heart. The hope I so desperately need, and so futilely try to fight off. Despite the thousand reasons against it, the hope thrives, even though I know that in the end the silver lining will tarnish, and instead of a strong rope my future will hang on a thin thread that cannot support my weight. How many more breaks can I endure before my heart breaks in two?”

Escaping Barcelona makes one fact very clear: the sharpest difference between people is those who have food and those who are hungry and without food. I wouldn’t want to spoil a reader’s experience of the ins and outs, the ups and many downs of this compelling novel, so I will end with one quote I find particularly memorable, “I clean my face the best I can and splash some water on my hair. The last time I’ve had a shave was at the police station, and now I am looking like a wild beast. The uneven hairline growing on my chin, a bit here and there, sticks out like overgrown whiskers. I take out the lighter and burn off the wildest parts. After few attempts it looks much better, only the smell of burnt hair is unbearable. I get out of the bathroom before I have to throw up again. How did I become such a skeleton? It is very bizarre to see one’s self in the mirror after a long time. Any new changes in appearances become more severe, more frightening; I have grown almost unrecognizable from the image I’ve had of myself until now. When I arrived in Barcelona I weighed around one hundred and sixty pounds – the liast time I was weighed at the police station I was just a little under one hundred. That was a while ago. I don’t even want to guess what I am today. It had never hit me until I looked in the damn mirror – I have become a human ruin, a sad, pathetic excuse for a man. I have to get out of this city before it claims my life.”