This month I became a father. While I have scribbled and attempted to process the deluge of thoughts I have had in this life changing moment, the mind does not seem to work as well on only a few hours of sleep each evening (if even that…)
Still there have been a few note worthy editions to my library notes to share with you all here. Enjoy.
Hannibal by Philip Freeman
I had not been as keen to read (or in this case listen to) this book, even though I have thoroughly enjoyed Freemans works on Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great. Alexander was a better military general and philosopher, something Hannibal would acknowledge in his own life. Caesar was a better statesman though like Alexander his undoing would be his hubris in pursuit of becoming king.
This account of Hannibal’s life, however, gave me an insights into Hannibals world in a way I had not considered.
First, most of Hannibal’s formation came from his time in Spain. While he was of African origin, the journey through early Carthaginian Spain as Freeman describes it, is saturated with details where one easily imagines themselves in the port at Cadiz, the walls of Salamanca, and the founding of Cartagena.
Second, the Carthaginian focus to create colonies of commerce rather than conquering people as compared to the Roman’s centralization of power, is a fascinating study. One does not have to squint hard to see the allusions to two similar modern day powers applying these different schools of thought.
Finally, the insights from the other side of the battle field, of a Rome mired in its own bureaucracy, appointing generals who so predictably fall into Hannibal’s devastating tactics should be a warning to any government and people. Imagine if today ones forces were depleted so deeply, boys under sixteen had to be conscripted to fight with the weapons of their grandfathers. I paused on this picture with a heavy sigh as I gazed at my own son…
Tusculan Disputations by Cicero
This has been my first cover to cover completion of a work of Cicero, and Book V within the Tusculan Disputations has been as rich as any in thought to consider for a lifetime.
I thought at a time, being a hispanic male, without a college education, that somehow every educated person I had been surrounded by had been taught the classics. Surely they had to for such a high price of both time and money. This is not the case (and not a surprise to most of you reading this). We truly do not know what we do not know.
That said, Book V proposes the question: Whether virtue alone be sufficient for a happy life?
Even the most impetuous of friends and family paused when presented with this question as if the lights in the room had gone out and we all were looking for a new source of light.
I would argue this is one of those considerations, a person must know and settle in their own minds before they embark on an adult life. I have seen enough people chasing money made by governments and status made by strangers who believe they can figure out what will make them happy later. Or more terrifyingly, that those things will grant them happiness in and of themselves. But can virtue alone be sufficient for a happy life?
As Cicero expands on his contemplation, one word haunted me. Glorious.
Virtue has to be glorious and glory is not something one can cradle in the depths of themselves and believe yes some how I am virtuous or in the modern tongue, “I am a good person!” In Cicero’s disputation, the embodiment of this virtuous life, with my now hindsight of two millennia, is Jesus of Nazareth. Not Peter, not Paul, not the brothers of thunder, nor the rest of the lot who walked with him. Outward love and sacrifice from inward wisdom and character, the Golden Rule, the Greatest Commandment, should be considered the soil in which the virtuous and happy life grows.
Proverbs, Book I
While the book of Proverbs could be considered a collection of as many as eight collections of wisdom, the first 9 chapters as we now call them, seemed appropriate for morning reading while holding my son. Wisdom never goes out of style, it is only scorned by the stupid.
Returning to the Proverbs again, old words inspire new considerations. Perhaps this is why so many have returned to them over and over again.
In this first visiting as a father I’m struck by the implied medium of delivery and audience for this wisdom: these instructions were to be read to a child by a father. It should be no surprise that as we have destroyed men in our society, we have deliberately torn down a premier faucet on the transfer of wisdom.
Deeper still, there is a great mystery to be considered here. As the father (the masculine) is to present to their child wisdom (la sabiduría in Spanish, the feminine). What a mystery to consider! Something worth more words at another time.
If you liked this edition of Library Notes, please share them with a friend or family member. Start a conversation. If we cannot talk about the ideas we care about with the people we care about then we have already lost our civilization.
-Steven