Gracchi from Westminster Wisdom: "Livy was a textual historian- his understanding was based on written materials because, as he says here, they were 'the only reliable' means for preserving the past. Therefore Livy's historical abilities were limited- by the fact that his hindsight went back as far as the history of literacy and the extant record. That is true of historians today: history is tied to writing." Lintott's book on the Roman Constitution concentrates on the constitution of the late republic for the same reason.
The art of the calling card.
The Sedition Act allowed the government to fine or imprison someone based upon writings that have been against the government in a 'false, scandalous, and malicious' manner. Which is pretty broad. It also required that it be done with the intent of bringing the government into 'contempt or disrepute; or to excite against them ... the hatred of the ... people'.
It was intended as a war time act to protect the nation from internal sabotage but it was quickly used by the Federalists as a political weapon in an election year. Four of the five most prominent Republican newspapers were shut down and their main agitators tried and imprisoned.
Geoffrey R. Stone argues that to understand the Federalist and Republican arguments over the Sedition Act the English law construct of Seditious Libel has to be understood. (more)
In the early years of American politics it was the Federalists who held power in the new American executive and Congress. The Federalists feared the inflow of new immigrants into America were placing them at a political disadvantage. Since most new immigrants were European and had fled tyrannical governments their politics were Republican.
At the time US Citizenship only had a two year residency requirement. The Federalists in response to this nature of immigration extended the residency requirement to five years and then in 1798 to fourteen years. (more)
Spartan coin was iron rods - ie rusty nails. (more)
One of the problems of history is thinking in our own terms of the past. For instance there have been several rationality changes in human endeavour such that previous mindsets become unknowable. The modern rationality of an interconnected digital world would be unfathomable for past rationalities, in the same way as we cannot understand how gravity could have been attributed to "god-stuff".
Victor Davis Hanson writes:
Even the soldiers who fought the war [Peloponnesion war between Sparta and Athens] were not much more than five foot five and 130 pounds. They were often unimpressive middle aged men who appear as mere children next to a contemporary towering two-hundred pound GIs.I can recall a comment when the US entered WWI from an English nurse who saw a bunch of tall men marching in France. The soldiers were six feet and at first she confused them for Australians or New Zealanders as English soldiers were much smaller due to poor diet. When she realised it was Americans she was jubilant. The interest part is that only a century ago the beef and mutton diet of Australia and America produced larger men and women.
The common view of Aboriginal people falls under stereotypes of either terra nullus pre-civilisation hunter gathers or the romantic noble savage at one with nature. We know from first-hand accounts that the Eora had a legal system which included the morality of personal property. We also know that Aboriginal land management techniques changed the Australian landscape to the point that species have become dependent on fire for reproduction.
Prior to smallpox making its appearance on the Australian continent the coastal regions were the most heavily populated areas. And for good reason, even today, the ocean is an extremely important system of production and food.
It is my contention that the Royal Navy and the French Army won World War I. The Royal Navy were past masters at blockading, it is how they dealt with all continental wars in the centuries past and only the American Revolutionary War slipped past their grasp using this strategy. The British sea blockade and their halting of the German ability to source materials through neutral nations placed direct pressure on German ability to expand their war economy.
The French Army was important as it bore the brunt of the fighting and the largest amount of the front. The French ability to absorb the German offensive in March of 1918 and stop it from reaching Paris or the coast is what saved the allied cause. After that the German back was broken and the pressures of lack of manpower, materials and food all came together to collapse Germany's ability to conduct war.
William H. McNeil writes in The Pursuit of Power that France was also the arsenal of democracy in World War I. (more)
I recently finished Ghenghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. I am always a bit nervous of 'great dates and great men' style histories as they often claim every minute historical point is pivotal. Arthur Hermann has a habit of writing that style of history. It doesn't detract from them as useful historical texts but they sometimes lean into hyperbole. Does the Mongol Empire have a claim to making the modern world? (more)
