History
/history15030
Discussions about history
You keep using that phrase. I do not think it means what you think it means!
https://acoup.blog/2024/12/20/collections-on-bread-and-circuses/
https://acoup.blog/2024/12/20/collections-on-bread-and-circuses/
Interesting post by @balajis.eth about tribalization in the 21st century.
What I find really interesting is the map of Germany before Bismarck's unification of Germany.
The interesting thing is that many people in Germany still identify more with their regional affiliation than with their national German identity. For example, a Swabian finds it more important to be a Swabian than a German. The same applies to Bavarians or Saxons.
https://x.com/balajis/status/1869997639175139452
What I find really interesting is the map of Germany before Bismarck's unification of Germany.
The interesting thing is that many people in Germany still identify more with their regional affiliation than with their national German identity. For example, a Swabian finds it more important to be a Swabian than a German. The same applies to Bavarians or Saxons.
https://x.com/balajis/status/1869997639175139452
Reminds me of the legend of Prester John (Presbyter Ioannes)
The Letters of Prester John was a letter that was circulated during The Crusades (I forget? 1165? 12th century I think?) and he was this embellished character who found riches and became a king in Ethiopia or India, or wherever was pretty far away, he was supposedly originally a Christian Monarch, and became this ideal or myth of hey look if we retake Jerusalem in the name of God, you can also get pretty rich too. One of the earliest forms of medieval propaganda and storytelling that worked
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prester_John
The Letters of Prester John was a letter that was circulated during The Crusades (I forget? 1165? 12th century I think?) and he was this embellished character who found riches and became a king in Ethiopia or India, or wherever was pretty far away, he was supposedly originally a Christian Monarch, and became this ideal or myth of hey look if we retake Jerusalem in the name of God, you can also get pretty rich too. One of the earliest forms of medieval propaganda and storytelling that worked
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prester_John
Wish I had a suitable wall for this!
https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/1430416794/ancient-roman-relief-in-the-vatican
https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/1430416794/ancient-roman-relief-in-the-vatican
One of the things reading Rubicon -- it made me think of the Greek concept of théia moira (divine fate) which found its Roman parallel primarily in the concepts of fatum and fortuna - alongside classic Roman "virtu"
Also it feels like culturally and collectively, folks (through authors like Cicero) wrestled during this late Republican period with how divine favor intersects with human agency - this move from Greek concept of divine fate (as being more whimsical) to fatum and fortuna (from the times of Sulla, adopting terms like Felix) slowly becoming a justification for the centralization of power (which wasn't a good or bad thing imo)
An interesting transition from Republican values of earned merit (which honestly, what does that mean? Seems like everyone in the Late Republic talks about this, but sounds to me like idealizing Cincinatus et co repeatedly) and then there is this increasingly personalized divine favor claimed by individual leaders, and the moral framework moves goal posts to support this
Also it feels like culturally and collectively, folks (through authors like Cicero) wrestled during this late Republican period with how divine favor intersects with human agency - this move from Greek concept of divine fate (as being more whimsical) to fatum and fortuna (from the times of Sulla, adopting terms like Felix) slowly becoming a justification for the centralization of power (which wasn't a good or bad thing imo)
An interesting transition from Republican values of earned merit (which honestly, what does that mean? Seems like everyone in the Late Republic talks about this, but sounds to me like idealizing Cincinatus et co repeatedly) and then there is this increasingly personalized divine favor claimed by individual leaders, and the moral framework moves goal posts to support this
1. Enron (2001) Enron - which just relaunched - went from being America's most innovative energy company into its biggest failure.
Executives hid $40 billion in debt through complex accounting schemes. When it collapsed, 20,000 employees lost their jobs and life savings.
2. Theranos (2015) Elizabeth Holmes convinced investors her startup could run hundreds of tests from a single drop of blood. She raised billions and became the world's youngest self-made female billionaire. The technology never worked.
When exposed, Theranos went from a $9 billion valuation to zero, becoming a symbol of Silicon Valley's hype culture.
Executives hid $40 billion in debt through complex accounting schemes. When it collapsed, 20,000 employees lost their jobs and life savings.
2. Theranos (2015) Elizabeth Holmes convinced investors her startup could run hundreds of tests from a single drop of blood. She raised billions and became the world's youngest self-made female billionaire. The technology never worked.
When exposed, Theranos went from a $9 billion valuation to zero, becoming a symbol of Silicon Valley's hype culture.
`Trachonitis was an ancient district located east of the sea of Galilee.
It was here that a primitive and unruly population made its living in banditry, preying on the people of Damascus and, according to Strabo, “robbing the merchants of Arabia Felix”` h/t Spencer
It was here that a primitive and unruly population made its living in banditry, preying on the people of Damascus and, according to Strabo, “robbing the merchants of Arabia Felix”` h/t Spencer
Good episode with a random crypto tie in.
The citizens of Uruk (the world’s first city) used “Bullae” which were clay balls with tokens inside and a contract written on the outside. When the contract was fulfilled, it was opened and the tokens were given to the payee.
The world’s first smart contracts.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0uvEj8HdkB8rpbTAeIUXQZ?si=DlZQIysBT8ar6aiL2ptVxg
The citizens of Uruk (the world’s first city) used “Bullae” which were clay balls with tokens inside and a contract written on the outside. When the contract was fulfilled, it was opened and the tokens were given to the payee.
The world’s first smart contracts.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0uvEj8HdkB8rpbTAeIUXQZ?si=DlZQIysBT8ar6aiL2ptVxg
“The art of removing superfluous water from land, must be as ancient as the art of cultivation; and from the time
when Noah and his family anxiously watched the subsiding of the waters into their appropriate channels, to
the present, men must have felt the ill effects of too much water, and adopted means more or less effective, to remove it.
The Roman writers upon agriculture, Cato, Columella, and Pliny, all mention draining, and some of them give
minute directions for forming drains with stones, branches
of trees, and straw. Palladius, in his De Aquae Ductibus, mentions earthenware tubes, used however for aqueducts, rather for conveying water from place to place, than for draining lands for agriculture.”
when Noah and his family anxiously watched the subsiding of the waters into their appropriate channels, to
the present, men must have felt the ill effects of too much water, and adopted means more or less effective, to remove it.
The Roman writers upon agriculture, Cato, Columella, and Pliny, all mention draining, and some of them give
minute directions for forming drains with stones, branches
of trees, and straw. Palladius, in his De Aquae Ductibus, mentions earthenware tubes, used however for aqueducts, rather for conveying water from place to place, than for draining lands for agriculture.”
Random, but still learned something
Talk with me about slave revolts under Spartacus
Benjamin Franklin was the original American "PDF Hustler."
https://newsletter.smallbets.co/p/the-original-pdf-hustler
https://newsletter.smallbets.co/p/the-original-pdf-hustler
“Obtaining the behavior you want from a bureaucracy is an immense challenge, especially if this is your first experience trying it.” A. Kling
Speculative gambling is a feature not a bug of technological revolutions.
Example: investor mania around canal construction in the late 1700s.
Go enjoy your MEME coins this Sunday. 🫡
Example: investor mania around canal construction in the late 1700s.
Go enjoy your MEME coins this Sunday. 🫡
“It has been 24 years since the first Gladiator film and in all that time, I see that Ridley Scott has still not learned how Roman names work”
https://acoup.blog/2024/11/22/fireside-friday-november-22-2024-roman-naming-conventions/
https://acoup.blog/2024/11/22/fireside-friday-november-22-2024-roman-naming-conventions/
From Babbage’s On Machinery & Manufacturers:
I’m looking for first-person accounts of life during the 1st Industrial Revolution in Europe and then the United States.
The ideal writer is capturing their experience close to real time, and is educated in business and economics.
Either unpolished manuscripts or edited books are fine.
Even better if not digitized.
Any recommendations?
The ideal writer is capturing their experience close to real time, and is educated in business and economics.
Either unpolished manuscripts or edited books are fine.
Even better if not digitized.
Any recommendations?
The last official duel in the history of France happened in 1967 between Gaston Defferre and René Ribière, both delegates at the French National Assembly. During an argument in the assembly room, Defferre said to Ribière "shut up, idiot" ("taisez-vous, abruti"). Defferre won the duel after four minutes of sword fighting, wounding his opponent twice.
Heightening the drama, Ribière was to be married the following day, though he could expect to live to see his own wedding, Defferre having vowed not to kill him but “wound him in such a way as to spoil his wedding night very considerably.”
Heightening the drama, Ribière was to be married the following day, though he could expect to live to see his own wedding, Defferre having vowed not to kill him but “wound him in such a way as to spoil his wedding night very considerably.”
at the Tokyo National Museum and interesting how the entire history of Japan is :
- the region coming into contact with another culture
- adopting some facets of jt
- followed by a period of distance either due to war or natural causes
- Make the adopted facets Japanese and do it better than the og culture
applies to Pottery(China), Buddhism(Korea), Cars (America)
- the region coming into contact with another culture
- adopting some facets of jt
- followed by a period of distance either due to war or natural causes
- Make the adopted facets Japanese and do it better than the og culture
applies to Pottery(China), Buddhism(Korea), Cars (America)
The execution of Lady Jane Gray
Her story is really tragic, she was queen for only nine days. It’s believed she was only 16 years old when she was executed.
Tom Holland did a podcast series on her story.
https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-rest-is-history/id1537788786?i=1000593076100
Her story is really tragic, she was queen for only nine days. It’s believed she was only 16 years old when she was executed.
Tom Holland did a podcast series on her story.
https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-rest-is-history/id1537788786?i=1000593076100
“The sheer scale of the exploitation of the mass of the population – an exploitation that grew in direct proportion to the growth in the magnificence of the temples, palaces, tombs and ruling class lifestyles – ensured stagnation of the means of providing a livelihood for society as a whole.” - C. Harman