#publius decius

[garland-on-thy-brow]

Interestingly, François Hinard (Les proscriptions de la Rome Républicaine 1985, p. 463) proposes the identification between the proscribed Decius of App. BC 4.27 and P. Decius the partisan of Antony. The latter is mentioned in Cic. Phil. 11.13 (has been in debt at some point, had property auctioned; I did not understand the details of the case) and Cic. Phil. 13.27, and can be the same as Decius of App. BC. 3.80 ("Decius also, one of Antony's officers, who had been taken prisoner at Mutina, Octavian treated with honour, allowing him to return to Antony if he wished, and when Decius asked what were his sentiments toward Antony, he said that he had given plenty of indications to persons of discernment and that even more would be insufficient for fools"). Hinard notes that just before learning of his proscription, Decius felt safe enough to attend a senate meeting, which speaks in favour of identifying him with the partisan of Antony.

So like. Cic. Fam 7.23.4 introduces Licinia, sister of a Cassius; there is a house in Rome next to Cicero's that belongs to Cassius and is inhabited by Licinia; Licinia's husband Dexius is gone to Spain.

We are not sure which Cassius owns the house, but we do know from the same letter that he is friends with Nicias, whom Shackleton Bailey identifies as Curtius Nicias of Cos: grammarian, Epicurean, friend and client of Dolabella. Cassius may be our Gaius Cassius Longinus or his younger brother Lucius.

Licinia's husband Dexius is otherwise unattested. It seems an obscure marriage for a half-sister of Cassius, and it needs an explanation. Nevertheless, I am very tempted to bring up Decius, proscribed and killed in 43 bce according to Appian (App. BC 4.27). I suspect they might be the same person.

[Note. Shackleton Bailey: "Manutius proposed Crasso ( i.e. M. Licinius Crassus , son of the ' Triumvir ' ) <;in place of Cassio>". This particular Crassus does not make sense: even if the unattested daughter of the triumvir existed, how likely was she to marry a no-name Dexius while her brothers married the daughters of Metellus Scipio and Metellus Creticus? Furthermore, by Shackleton Bailey's dating of the letter to 46 bce, M. Licinius Crassus the younger is long dead. Some other Crassus might make sense, but I do not think we have a suitable one at the time.]

[trialsinthelateromanrepublic]

trial of Publius Decius Subolo

date: 119? BCE charge: either lex Acilia de repetundis or lex Sempronia ne quis iudicio circumveniatur defendant: P. Decius Subolo tr. pl. 120, pr. 115

Cic. de Orat. 2.135; Part. 104

Badian (JRS 1956) 92-93 argues that Decius was charged with extortion, in a trial separate from that of Opimius, with the charge being that he had taken money to conduct the prosecution of Opimius. Gruen, RPCC 110 counters with the observation that, whereas the receipt of money ob accusandum vel non accusandum did constitute a violation of the lex Iulia de repetundis, there is no evidence that the same sort of provision existed under the lex Acilia. (Of course, our text of the statute is fragmentary.) He suggests that this may have been a comitial trial under the lex Sempronia ne quis iudicio circumveniatur, possibly the same as the lex Sempronia ne de capite civium Romanorum iniussu populi iudicetur.

[socialshakespeare]

Reading 6: Saturday, March 25

The sixth read-through of Julius Caesar.

(Most of you are double or triple cast, so double check which lines you have to read.) You can look up the lines of the characters here. The names listed below all go with the Folger Edition.

Please submit your confirmation or any request to understudy here. If you’re in any doubt, please ask.

Times and time zones:

EST (US): 2:00 PM CST (US): 1:00 PM MST (US): 12:00 PM PST (US): 11:00 AM GMT (UK): 6:00 PM AEDT (AU): 5:00 AM (Sunday, March 26)

Leader: @actorinfluence

Cast:

Marcus Brutus: @bottom-of-the-riverbed Caius Cassius, Carpenter: @lesbiancassius Mark Antony, Metellus Cimber, 3rd Soldier, Claudius: @girlantony Julius Caesar, Popilius Lena, 1st Soldier, Dardanus, Caius Ligarius: @actorinfluence Casca, Publius, 4th Pleb, 2nd Soldier, Volumnius, Messenger: @thestorywitch Portia, Servant, Pindarus, Strato, Varro: @sunnnymornings Lucilius, Lucius, Artemidorus, 1st Pleb/All, Flavius: @moo-the-monster Decius Brutus, Titinius, 3rd Pleb, Clitus, Cobbler, Lepidus: @ingridarcher Messala, Soothsayer, Trebonius, 2nd Pleb, Marullus, Cicero: @bellabugizy Octavius, Cinna, Cinna the Poet, Calphurnia, Young Cato, Another Poet: @agender-gidim

Please submit your confirmation here. - liking/reblogging this post does not count!

Read the Guidelines. To avoid the differences between editions that make for confusion and missed cues, please use the Folger edition of Julius Caesar during the read-through.

Be on time, be prepared, and make sure you know which lines to read. Good luck!

[ramrodd]

Commander of Special Forces gets told the honest truth

COMMENTARY:

Equity is the closest any human system of justice can come to divine justice. If we can achieve Equity, God will sort out the difference. The Bill of Rights and the Uniform Code of Miiitary Justice are both anchored by EQUiTY. The standard for Equity to which the Sergeant Major refers  is a stoic dimension established by the Roman Legions by a Roman general, Titus Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus who executed his son for disobedience. This is a Wikipedia summary of the event: >>>>During the conduct of the war, Manlius and his co-consul, Publius Decius Mus, decided that the old military discipline would be reinstated, and no man was allowed to leave his post, under penalty of death. Manlius's son, seeing an opportunity for glory, forgot this stricture, left his post with his friends, and defeated several Latin skirmishers in battle. He brought the spoils back to his father, who publicly berated him for disobedience and had him executed. "Manlian discipline" afterwards became an expression for merciless upholding of rules<<<< (Wikipediea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_Manlius_Imperiosus_Torquatus) Now, as I say, this standard of EQUITY is the anchor of both the civilian rule of law and the military justice system, Socretes submitted himself to the Athenian secular rule of law as an object lesson in the essential basis of democracy. Jesus submitted Himself to both the Law of Moses and to the Roman rule of law as an endorement and validation of Socretes example. In this respect, the Declaration of Indepences is anchored by 6 Ideals of Democratic Socialism to replace the Magna Carta of Tory Socialism:'s Life Liberty and Property/ John Locke identifies. Thos 6 Ideals are: Life Liberty, Fraternity, Equaulity, EQUITY, and the Pursuit of Happiness. The 6 white stripes of Old Glory symbolize those Ideals. The 6 red stripes are the blood of the Patriots at Yorktown who sanctified those Ideals. The 2nd Amendment represents the Constitutional boundary between the Bill of Rights and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The "well regulated militia' claused in the 2nd Amendment refers specividally to thie Ideal of EQUITY of the Miitary Justice System. It has nothing to do with private gun ownership. Furthermore, the EQUITY ideal is what is expressed by the E in Mark Cuban's DEI/ZenBusiness Model, Prject 2025 is opposed to EQUITY as it may apply to white supremaicests. The concept of EQUITY in this regards has obviously never occurred to Trump. J.D. Vance was a Marine, so it’s hard to know wht he believes. The Army has been a DEI insttuion since Truman integrated the federal government, The US Army Ranger School is based on  DEI performance thechnology.

[garland-on-thy-brow]

This is so sad Alexa sacrifice me to the gods of the Underworld

[boomcomplains]

white-throated-packrat : how about the story of Decius Mus?

Yay, someone asked! 

Even better, you chose someone from the Republican period, which is awesome because it means I get to talk about the Samnite War. I also get to talk about Di Manes (non-malevolent spirits, or ghosts... kind of) and Roman’s pathological need to follow prophecies (if you want to know more about that, just reply with “chickens” or “The Sybilline Books”),  which is even more exciting because I’m in the preparation period of making a novel about a ghost-hunting Roman.

Anyway... Publius Decius Mus, mostly known as Decius in the history books, is the shit, and his story starts during the First Samnite War (the war so good they decided to do it two more times).

Now, I’d love to get into Decius immediately, but I can’t just let people go on without knowing what the First Samnite War  was because it is an example of Roman foreign policy at it’s wackiest.

So, let’s go back to when Rome is basically just a city-state (not technically the right term, but go with it), nestled in the Italian peninsula surrounded by a lot of other powers that arguably stronger than they were. One of these badass tribes were the Samnites, who were basically the hill people of Italy. One of the not-so badass states was the poor Capuans, who really just liked to chill out and enjoy the nice weather and fertile farmlands (which was fertile because of active volcanos, but let’s just let them live in ignorance of that for now). In fact, the Capuans continued to be the rich hippies of Italy throughout Roman history, and it was very common for nobles to have vacation homes there. 

Of course, the Samnites looked around, saw the Capuans, and were like “Gimme.”

What does this have to do with Rome? Well, the Capuans pled for the help, but Rome did not come to save the day. They had a treaty with the Samnites, and as good as the Romans are at breaking treaties on petty technicalities, this was one they couldn’t renege on because there was no technicalities to be found. Not even a minor one, which was what the Romans loved to use the most when declaring war. So the Capuans asked the Romans for help, and the Romans shrugged and said “We can’t because of the treaty... sorry bro, we swore in front of the gods and everything.”

That’s when the Capuans had a genius idea. If they became a Roman territory, they would have to declare war on the Samnites to protect their property.

You read that right. To stop an invading force, the Capuans willingly gave up sovereignty to Rome.

The Romans saw this and were like “Sweet!”. They didn’t really think about consequences, and promptly sent a messenger to the Samnites to tell them they were in breach of the treaty since Capua was Roman now.

Fucking Rome, man. That takes a lot of balls to take land out from under your allies nose, and then tell them they are declaring war on you. Fucking Rome.

Understandably, the Samnites were like “Quid est si bullshit”, and ordered an attack in front of the Roman messenger. 

Anyway, this is where Decius comes in. Sort of. 

The war starts, and the consul Marcus Valerius Corvus (who is so cool in his own right that ravens help him fight his battles) commits to a two-pronged attack with Aulus Cornelius Cossus. 

You don’t really need to remember Cossus. His most salient contribution to Roman history is that he led his troops into a ravine, which is like Battle No-Nos 101. The Samnites were on the ridge, and started hurling shit at them from above.

Decius was a tribune under Cossus (a position he got despite being from a plebeian family, so, good work Decius), and he was the only one to notice that the Samnites, though on a ridge, were standing in a shadow. He reasoned there was another hill, and that if he could sneak a small contingent up there, he could distract the Samnites and it would be enough to save the rest of the army from the stones and arrows that were raining down on them.

His plan worked. The only problem is his plan was a suicide mission, so it working also mean him dying. The moron that got them into the predicament gets out safe, and poor Decius has to just sit on top of the hill and starve to death surrounded by a bunch of pissed off hill people.

Decius knew this was going to happen too, and he still led the mission. Decius was the shit.

But then, Decius decided to revisit his options. 1. Fortify his position and starve. 2. Try and sneak out.

Both ended in death, but the second option had a 3% chance of survival, and wel... that’s better than nothing. So, in the middle of the night, he takes his troops, and walk through the sleeping Samnite camp.

Just walks through it. Probably cartoon tippy-toeing around the man who were until sunset were trying to kill him.

Anyway, he would have probably gotten away scott-free, except one of his contingent dropped his shield. The gig up, Decius ordersed his soldiers to attack. The Samnites, half asleep, stood no chance, and Decius managed to get his soldiers out of there.

When they finally escaped, not a single one of his subordinates were dead despite the impromptu battle at midnight. How freakin’ cool is that?!

He even got a Grass Crown, which only goes to man who saves a legion from certain destruction. Now, keep in mind, it has to be that rescued legion that votes on the Grass Crown, and Romans are prideful people who don’t like to admit anyone saved them. Therefore, no one gets Grass Crowns except people like Scipio Africanus, one of the most legendary Romans of all time (you can read about him and his hilarious dinner party with Hannibal here).

Oh, did I mention he got two Grass Crowns? Holy shit, Decius. Holy shit.

My own personal narrative if I were to write this as a novel is that Decius knew that he had been on a suicide mission when taking on the Samnites, and the fact that he had not died meant that the gods kept him alive for a greater purpose. That was probably why it was so easy for him to do what was next.

That purpose came during the Latin War.

I would love to get more into the Latin War, but Roman’s history with the Latins is insane, and a long, convoluted labyrinth where the Romans take basically every wrong turn they could possibly take and still end up all right. Ask me about it, and the post will be like 80 pages long. So, let’s avoid that. 

Anyway, Decius, on account of being badass, is one of the consuls of Rome when the war starts along with a dude named Manlius. On the eve of the battle, he and Manlius have a shared dream that essentially says that one general in the battle will sacrifice his life. The other general will sacrifice his army.

When Manlius and Decius realize they had the same dream, they decide that one of their generals need to be sacrificed so they can win. Only problem... they are the generals.

I imagine the silence that followed that realization was quite awkward as Manlius slowly put his finger on his nose and whispers “Not it.”

After talking to Marcus Corvus, Decius decides it should be him. So he does the devotio (apparently this ritual was done enough times in history to have a name, but my only memory of someone doing it was Decius), and then takes his horse and Leeroy-Jenkins it in the Latin army.

Not expecting a Roman consul to just ride through their army screaming like a maniac, the Latins gave him a wide berth and just sort of threw darts at him from afar at him until he fell from his horse like a human porcupine.

Meanwhile, since the Latins were distracted by this idiotic one-man-army, Manlius comes in and destroys them. The prophecy came true. Rome lost a general, but the Latins lost an army.

And that is where the story of Publius Decius Mus ends. A pleb who worked himself through the ranks by being more selfless and smarter than the aristocrats died for his country in the shadows of Mount Vesuvius.

Now that... is bad ass.

[romegreeceart]

Famous people

Tag list of famous people from Ancient Rome and Greece. A few hellenistic rulers and some Etruscans are also included.

And for some reason the page is not working properly. The HTML code is there, but it only works on my dashboard. On this page links are inactive. I figure that page only understands “/tagged/Agrippina-the-Elder” - versions, but I’m too lazy / busy to rewrite the code. So if you want to check a tag, you’ll have to copy and paste it after the word “ .../tagged/”. And same goes for all the lists below.

URLs + copy&paste:

https://romegreeceart.tumblr.com/tagged/

https://romegreeceart.tumblr.com/archive/tagged/

A

Aelia Flaccilla- Pillar of the Church

Agrippina the Elder

Agrippina the Younger

Aemilia Lepida and her descendants  v emperor Nero

Aeschylus

Aetius

Alaric

Alcibiades

Alexander the Great

Ancus Marcius

Antinous

Antiochus I Soter

Antiochus III the Great

Antisthenes (philosopher, cynic school)

Antonia Minor - mother of Claudius and Germanicus

Antoninus Pius

Apicius

Apollodorus of Damascus

Apollonius of Tralles (Greek sculptor)

Aristotle

Arsinoe II

Arsinoe III

Artemisia II of Caria

Aspasia

Atticus (Cicero’s friend)

Attila

Augustus

Aulus Rustius Verus (Pompeian politician)

Aurelianus

B

Baltimore painter (Apulia, 4th century BCE)

Berenike II

Britannicus

Brygos Painter

Brutus (liberator, founder of the republic)

Brutus (assassin)

C

Caesarion

Caligula

Callimachus

Caracalla

Carausius (Roman Britain, emperor)

Carinus

Cassius Dio

Catiline

Cato the Elder

Cato the Younger

Cicero

Claudia Antonia (emperor’s daughter)

Claudius

Claudius Gothicus

Cleopatra

Cleopatra Selene

Cleopatra III

Clodius Albinus

Commodus

Constantine the Great

Constantius II

Constantius Chlorus

Corbulo

Cornelia Africana

Cornelia Minor (Caesar’s wife)

Crispina

Crispus (Constantine’s eldest son)

Croesus

Cynisca (Spartan princess, olympic winner)

D

Darius III

Decius

Demosthenes

Didia Clara (daughter of Didius Julianus)

Didius Julianus

Diocletianus

Dioscorides Pedanius (physician, botanist)

Diva Claudia (daughter of Nero)

Domitianus

Drusus Caesar (son of Germanicus)

Drusus the Younger (son of Tiberius)

Drusus the Elder (son of Livia)

E

Elagabalus

Eumachia (Pompeian priestess and patroness)

Euripides

F

Fabius Maximus Cunctator (”The Shield of Rome”)

Faustina Maior

Faustina Minor

Female painters

Flavian dynasty

G

Gaius Caesar

Galerius

Galba

Galen

Galla Placidia

Gallic emperors

Gallienus

Germanicus

Gelon

Gens Aemilia

Gens Cornelia

Gens Calpurnia

Geta

Gordian I

Gordian II

Gordian III

Gracchi Brothers

Gratian

Greek tyrants

H

Hadrianus

Hannibal

Hegias (Greek sculptor, 5th century BCE

Hellenistic kings

Herennius Etruscus (co-emperor)

Hermione Grammatike

Herodes Atticus

Herodotus

Hippocrates

Historians

Homeros

Honorius

Hostilianus

I

Iaia of Cyzicus (female painter)

Jovianus

Juba II

Julia (Augustus’ daughter)

Julia Aquilia Severa (Vestal virgin and empress)

Julia Domna

Julia Drusilla

Julia Felix (Pompeian business woman)

Julia Flavia (Titus’ daughter)

Julia Maesa

Julia Soaemias

Julian the Apostate

Julio-Claudian family (julioclaudian)

Julio-Claudian dynasty

Julio-Claudian

Julio-Claudian dynasty

Julius Caesar 1

Julius Caesar (2)

Julius Vindex

K

Kings

Kresilas (Athenian sculptor)

Kritios (Athenian sculptor)

L

Lady of Aigai

Lady of Vix (Celtic woman, late 6th century BCE)

Lassia (priestess of Ceres, Pompeii)

Lepidus

Leonidas

Livia

Livilla

Livius

Lucilla (daughter of Marcus Aurelius)

Lucius Appuleius Saturninus

Lucius Caecilius Jucundus (Pompeian banker)

Lucius Caesar

Lucius Herennius Flores (Boscoreale Villa, real owner ?)

Lucius Verus

Lysippos

Lysippos 2

M

Maecenas

Macrinus

Magnus Maximus

Mamia (Pompeian priestess and patroness)

Marcellus (Augustus’ heir)

Marcus Agrippa

Marcus Antonius

Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Claudius Tacitus (emperor)

Marcus Licinius Crassus

Marcus Terentius Varro

Marius

Martialis

Masinissa

Maussollos of Halicarnassos

Maxentius

Maximianus

Maximinus Daia

Maximinus Thrax

Members of imperial families

Menander

Miami painter

Milonia Caesonia

Miltiades (Greek general)

Mona Lisa of Galilee

Myron

N

Nero

Nero Julius Caesar (son of Germanicus)

Nerva

Nerva-Antonine family

Numa Pompilius

O

Octavia the Younger (Augustus’ sister)

Octavia (Claudius’ daughter)

Optimates

Otho

Ovidius

P

Paionios (Greek sculptor)

Patronesses

Penthesilea painter

Pericles

Pertinax

Pescennius Niger

Pheidias

Philip the Arab

Philosophers

Philip II of Macedonia

Phryne (Greek courtesan)

Plancia Magna

Plato

Pliny the Elder

Pliny the Younger

Poets

Polykleitos

Pompeius

Poppaea Sabina

Populares

Postumus Agrippa

Postumus (Gallic emperor)

Probus

Ptolemy of Mauretania

Praxiteles

Ptolemy I

Publius Clodius Pulcher

Publius Fannius Synistor

Publius Licinius Crassus (triumvir’s younger son)

Publius Sittius

Publius Quinctilius Varus

Pythagoras

Pyrrhus

Pytheas (a greek explorer)

Q

Queens

R

Roman Caesars (= princes, heirs to the throne)

Roman Civil War Commanders

Roman client kings

Roman consuls

Roman dictators

Roman emperors

Roman empresses

Roman generals

Roman gentes

Romans who declined the throne

Romulus Augustulus

Romulus and Remus

S

Sabina

Sallustius

Sappho

Scipio Africanus

Scopas

Sejanus

Septimius Severus

Seven sages

Severan dynasty

Severus Alexander

Sextus Pompeius

Shuvalov painter

Silanion ( Greek sculptor)

Socrates

Solon

Sophocles

Stilicho

Strabo

Sulla

Sulpicia (Roman female poet)

T

Tacitus

Tarpeia

Tarquinius Superbus

Themistocles

Theodosius

Theophrastus

Thucydides

Tiberius

Tiberius Claudius Verus (Pompeian politician)

Tigranes the Great

Titus

Titus Labienus

Titus Tatius

Titus Quinctius Flaminius

Trajanus

Trebonianus Gallus

Tribunes of the plebs

U

Ulpia Severina  (interim sovereign in 275 CE)

Urban prefects

Usurpers

V

Vaballathus (Palmyran king)

Valens

Valentinianus I

Valentinianus III (murderer of Aetius)

Valerianus

Valeria Messalina

Vel Saties

Velia Velcha (“Mona Lisa of antiquity”)

Velimna family (Hypogeum, Brescia)

Vercingetorix

Vergilius

Vespasianus

Vibia Sabina

Vipsania Agrippina

Viriathus (Lusitanian freedom fighter)

Vitellius

Volusianus

X

Xenophon

Y

Z

Zenobia

[elucubrare]

agamemnon and medea?

Agamemnon: what work could have burnt with the Library of Alexandria for all you care?

i've tried so hard to care about Greek Lyric and honestly, i just don't

Medea: most underappreciated ancient figure?

It's not like Publius Decius Mus is completely obscure, but his devotio in the Samnite Wars is so cool:

Once the battle was engaged, the left wing began to falter and Decius Mus called upon the Pontifex Maximus, M. Valerius, to tell him the means by which to save the army. The pontifex prescribed the required ritual acts and a prayer. After performing the ritual, the fully armored Decius Mus plunged his horse into the enemy with such supernatural vigor and violence that the awe-struck Latins soon refused to engage him, eventually bringing him down with darts. Even then, the Latins avoided his body, leaving a large space around it, and the left wing of the Romans, once faltering, now swept into this weakness in the enemy lines.

[catilinas]

hi tate :) i've recently finished Rene Girard's 'violence and the sacred' and I was wondering if you have any ideas on how it might apply to martyrdom/ self-sacrifice? (I'm writing abt paintings of gay saints at the moment) I know this isn't really your area but idk you might have some thoughts! :)

hi! unfortunately i have literally no clue bcs martyrs are a christian thing right? and idk much about That. self-sacrifice as in Sacrificing Your Self...... i am thinking about publius decius mus the consul in 340 bce and his son also called publius decius mus the consul in 312 bce who both sacrificed themselves in battle in a ritual called the devotio which walter burkert (wrote homo necans, the Other book about sacrifice published in 1972) says is scapegoat adjacent. if you read what he has to say and translated it into girard’s takes on sacrifice and then generalised the Self-sacrifice part you might be able to generate some Thoughts!

but if you do mean christian stuff specifically. i havent read it but book 2 of girard’s things hidden since the foundation of the world apparently has some Hot Takes?

what is happening here i do not know but you might want to! 

[kontextmaschine]

Spinning the Cylinder with Michael Anton

So two recent things on Michael “Decius” Anton, Machiavellian “Flight 93 Election” author turned White House pet intellectual.

First, the man’s own foreign policy manifesto and then this beat-sweetener from Vanity Fair.

Let’s start with his “America and the Liberal International Order”. Basically it’s his introductory remarks to the “foreign policy community”, arguing that the course he’s charting is well within their norms, practices, and ideals. As for what that course is, it’s down in the “Reforming the Liberal International Order” section. I read that once and got the sense it was a real monumental shift, but when I went to write it down I couldn’t really put my finger on what it consisted of and honestly I still can’t, which is about what you’d expect from a diplomatic theorist with a Straussian background, I suppose.

Basically giving up on democracy promotion as a goal in itself, reserving it for when democratization furthers other goals, “in a place where and at a time when we have the capacity to water it, and it is in our interest to do so”?

Orienting around controlling a (possibly illiberal) periphery for the sake of a core “liberal international order”, identified with old NATO, “The ‘liberal international order’ is thus better termed the ‘liberal rich-country order’ or—if you prefer foreign policy jargon—the ‘liberal functioning-core order.’”?

I mean I get that, but it’s really hard to picture what it means in practice. South Korea was an authoritarian periphery for most of the Cold War, now it’s a reasonably liberal international core, Turkey was a kind of authoritarian periphery even when it was in old NATO, now it’s becoming less Western liberal core because it’s becoming more democratic. What would this doctrine do, or have done with that? If Wahhabists AND Communists both rise in Indonesia or Malaysia, what does that mean to the US and how does it react under this operating philosophy?

But I guess a lot of diplomacy is about strategic vagueness to be filled in later. In pettier notes:

His line that “Since [Pancho Villa’s 1916 raid], we have suffered two mass casualty attacks on American territory.” I assume that’s Pearl Harbor and 9/11. And like, fair, the Philippines had upgraded from “territory” to “commonwealth” in the decade before the capture of Manila and the Bataan Death March, but they weren’t independent yet.

Read the “Prestige” section, about prestige/contempt and how they’re generated, and how they affect negotiating success, and alliance-building, and influence on vital regions, and try to tell me that’s not a design doc for a Paradox grand strategy game.

In that same section, he invokes the wisdom of Osama bin Laden, Thucydides, and Steve “one observer” Sailer, in that order.

Now the beat-sweetener. Tells what his job is (N.S.C. senior communications director), what that involves (distilling Trump’s foreign policy “message” and figuring out how various state ideological apparatuses can promote it), who had an equivalent role before him (Ben Rhodes, apparently). Gives some color: guy likes Machiavelli, guy likes suits. One colleague says “huh, really?”, a mentor says “I could see it”. Is he alt-right? Nah but there’s overlap. One guy says the themes carry over and the difference is sophistication.

The one really interesting thing here is the recurring theme of California. The mentor talks about Anton’s elegaic take on the lost Republican middle class California. Anton gives quote to confirm it. An essay is linked for more support. And remember quoting Sailer. Remember what I said about Sailer the other day, how the California transformation explains him.

So, that’s Trumpian intellectualism: not Breitbart, but Sailer.

[socialshakespeare]

Reading 7: Sunday, March 26

The seventh and last read-through of Julius Caesar.

(Most of you are double or triple cast, so double check which lines you have to read.) You can look up the lines of the characters here. The names listed below all go with the Folger Edition.

Please submit your confirmation or any request to understudy here. If you’re in any doubt, please ask.

Times and time zones:

EST (US): 6:00 PM CST (US): 5:00 PM MST (US): 4:00 PM PST (US): 3:00 PM GMT (UK): 11:00 PM AEDT (AU): 9:00 AM (Monday, March 27)

Leader: @purplemuskrat

Cast:

Marcus Brutus: @sayyestothejess Caius Cassius, Carpenter: @trashprinceofdenmark Mark Antony, Metellus Cimber, 3rd Soldier, Claudius: @sphinxyvic Julius Caesar, Popilius Lena, 1st Soldier, Dardanus, Caius Ligarius: @purplemuskrat Casca, Publius, 4th Pleb, 2nd Soldier, Volumnius, Messenger: @dude-watchin-with-the-brontes Portia, Servant, Pindarus, Strato, Varro: @daphneblakess Lucilius, Lucius, Artemidorus, 1st Pleb/All, Flavius: @amysterywrappedinanenigma Decius Brutus, Titinius, 3rd Pleb, Clitus, Cobbler, Lepidus: @laropasucia Messala, Soothsayer, Trebonius, 2nd Pleb, Marullus, Cicero: @cobbled-vibrance Octavius, Cinna, Cinna the Poet, Calphurnia, Young Cato, Another Poet: @oakcosmo Understudy: @dramamath

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Read the Guidelines. To avoid the differences between editions that make for confusion and missed cues, please use the Folger edition of Julius Caesar during the read-through.

Be on time, be prepared, and make sure you know which lines to read. Good luck!

[ramrodd]

Army Sergeant Major Shocks Soldiers with New Standards

COMMENTARY:

Equity is the closest any human system of justice can come to divine justice. If we can achieve Equity, God will sort out the difference. The Bill of Rights and the Uniform Code of Miiitary Justice are both anchored by EQUiTY. The standard for Equity to which the Sergeant Major refers  is a stoic dimension established by the Roman Legions by a Roman general, Titus Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus

who executed his son for disobedience. This is a Wikipedia summary of the event: >>>>During the conduct of the war, Manlius and his co-consul, Publius Decius Mus, decided that the old military discipline would be reinstated, and no man was allowed to leave his post, under penalty of death. Manlius's son, seeing an opportunity for glory, forgot this stricture, left his post with his friends, and defeated several Latin skirmishers in battle. He brought the spoils back to his father, who publicly berated him for disobedience and had him executed. "Manlian discipline" afterwards became an expression for merciless upholding of rules<<<< (Wikipediea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_Manlius_Imperiosus_Torquatus) Now, as I say, this standard of EQUITY is the anchor of both the civilian rule of law and the military justice system, Socretes submitted himself to the Athenian secular rule of law as an object lesson in the essential basis of democracy. Jesus submitted Himself to both the Law of Moses and to the Roman rule of law as an endorement and validation of Socretes example. In this respect, the Declaration of Indepences is anchored by 6 Ideals of Democratic Socialism to replace the Magna Carta of Tory Socialism:'s Life Liberty and Property/ John Locke identifies. Thos 6 Ideals are: Life Liberty, Fraternity, Equaulity, EQUITY, and the Pursuit of Happiness. The 6 white stripes of Old Glory symbolize those Ideals. The 6 red stripes are the blood of the Patriots at Yorktown who sanctified those Ideals. The 2nd Amendment represents the Constitutional boundary between the Bill of Rights and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The "well regulated militia' claused in the 2nd Amendment refers specividally to thie Ideal of EQUITY of the Miitary Justice System. It has nothing to do with private gun ownership. Furthermore, the EQUITY ideal is what is expressed by the E in Mark Cuban's DEI/ZenBusiness Model, Prject 2025 is opposed to EQUITY as it may apply to white supremaicests. The concept of EQUITY in this regards has obviously never occurred to Trump. J.D. Vance was a Marine, so it’s hard to know wht he believes.

[geoffrey5867]

The Giant’s Room with 15th century frescoes by Gentile da Fabriano at Trinci Palace, Foligno, Umbria, Italy.  

Gentile da Fabriano (c. 1370 – 1427) was an Italian painter born in or near the town of Fabriano, in the region of Marche, who worked in various places in central Italy. He’s considered one of the most important exponents of  the International Gothic painter style. 

The Trinci Palace, a patrician building in the center of Foligno, in the Piazza della Repubblica, is one of the most interesting late-Gothic dwellings in central Italy.  Today it houses the Civic Art Gallery, the Archaeological Museum and the Multimedia Museum of  Tournaments, Rides and Games.

The Giants' Room  located in in the Trinci Palace contains a cycle of fragmentary frescoes by Gentile da Fabriano and collaborators, dating back to 1411-1412, executed on commission of the Lord of Foligno Ugolino III. The complex decorative program, exquisitely profane, celebrates the  alleged continuity between the lordship of the Trinci family and the Roman Empire, and was inspired by the humanist Francesco da Fiano.

The years the frecoes where painted were recently established with certainty after the founding of  seventeenth-century copies of the documentation  regarding the payment of Gentile by the Trinci family. It is stated in one of this documents that on August 27, 1411, Gentile received 225 gold florins for the Giants Room and other frescoes in other rooms of the same palace.  In another document dated January 12, 1412, we can read that Gentile received another payment of 93 florins for the culmination of the Giant’s Room  and some other unspecified paints and a small table of Our Lady.  

The frescoes fell in the oblivion during more  300 years due to historical causes, linked to a kind of “damnatio memoriae” that invested the Trinci family after the papal domination of  Foligno. The frescoes were in fact snuffed. In 1864, half of the giants' figures were rediscovered into a kind of mezzanine created by infra-ling a floor plan to the attic. Other frescoes were found  only in 1918-1919.

Along the walls of the Giant’s Room there are several niches in which there were twenty monumental standing  characters , of which only fifteen are preserved today.  The  15 surviving frescoes depicts  famous men in Roman history: Augustus, Tiberius, Furius Camillus, Fabricius, Curius Dentatus, Manlius Torquatus , Cincinnatus, Claudius Marcellus, Scipio the African, Gaius Mucius Scaevola, Cato, Caius Marius, Publius Decius, Nero and Fabius Maximus.

At the entrance of the room there were some verses in latin,  no longer readable today. Yet, we know the verses were the following thanks to the above mentioned documents:  

“Grandia si placeant tantorum gesta virorum, / pasce tuos inspectu oculos et singula lustra” ("If you like the achievements of such famous men, nourish your gaze and  carefully inspect them one by one in this passageway”).

In the photos above, from top to bottom we can see:

·         The Giant’s Room

·         Cincinatus

·         Gaius Mucius Scaevola  

·         Scipio the African

·         Claudius Marcellus

[justsomeantifas]

Here’s your dose of “What the Fuck Is Going On” News (2/9/2017 edition)

A federal appeals court has refused to reinstate Trump's ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations. An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is now possible where much of the ban could expire and run it's course before a decision is made. However, the administration also could change the executive order, including changing its scope or duration. (source)

After Nordstrom (and other clothing stores) pulled Ivanka Trump's fashion line, Donald Trump went to Twitter to complain about the company. Today, Kellyanne Conway went on Fox News to speak about the incident and went on to officially endorse Ivanka's line. “This is just wonderful line. I own some of it. I fully — I’m going to give a free commercial here. Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online.” Being a federal employee, this is an outright violation of federal ethics laws. However enforcement measures are largely left to the head of the federal agency and in Conway's case this means the White House so chances are she will receive little to no punishment. (source)

A Phoenix woman, Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, was taken into custody late last night by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reflecting the Trump administration's crackdown on undocumented immigrants. Guadalupe came to the U.S as a young teen with her parents and hasn't lived in Mexico since she was 14. Now, 36 she has two children and has attended her scheduled meetings with the ICE every 6 months. This is an indication of the reach that Trump's executive order has received and that it will no longer prioritizing violent offenders. Protesters tried to help Guadalupe by blocking the ICE vans from taking her away, several were arrested and Guadalupe has officially been deported to Nogales, Mexico. (source)

A New York judge has ordered the NYPD to divulge files showing how it's been surveilling Black Lives Matter demonstrations over the last two years. (source)

Trump has signed another series of executive orders, this time dealing with crime, police, and cartels. One order tasks the attorney general with setting up a "Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety," that will work to reduce crime, particularly “illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and violent crime.” The second tasks the attorney general with developing a strategy, in coordination with local, state, and federal agencies, to prosecute individuals who commit violent crimes against police, as well as reviewing whether existing laws go far enough in protecting police from violent crimes.The third tasks the secretary of state, attorney general, secretary of homeland security, and director of national intelligence to co-chair and direct the existing interagency Threat Mitigation Working Group with a broad review of policies to make sure the US is adequately detecting and prosecuting international drug cartels. (source)

In a call with Vladimir Putin, Trump denounced a treaty that caps U.S. and Russian deployment of nuclear warheads as a bad deal for the United States. Trump said that the 2010 treaty, known as New START was a bad deal - but only after he paused the conversation to ask his aids what the treaty even was. (source)

After Sen. Richard Blumenthal relayed some of his conversation with Trump's Supreme Court pick, Neil Gorsuch, Trump attacked Blumenthal. According to Blumenthal, Gorsuch called Trump’s regular criticisms of the federal judiciary “disheartening” and “demoralizing," comments that were later confirmed. Trump claims that Gorsuch never made these comments and then went after Blumenthal's military record and how he misrepresented himself. Later Trump attacked CNN for never asking Blumenthal about this misrepresentation in the past, which they quickly debunked. (source) (source)

Construction crews have resumed work on the final segment of the Dakota Access pipeline, and the full system could be operational within three months. However, the Oceti Sakowin Camp are still working hard to oppose the efforts and have filed a legal challenge to block the work and protect their water supply. (source)

The Global Gag Rule – which cuts U.S. aid funding to charities that provide, support or discuss abortion is already causing major problems worldwide. This is an article that really should just be read in it’s entirety, warning for graphic content. 

Chuck Cooper, the conservative Supreme Court litigator, is withdrawing his name from consideration to be the next solicitor general. His withdrawal means that Kellyanne Conway's husband, George Conway, might be appointed to the role. (source)

Rep. Tom Price is Trump's pick for health and human services secretary and he's receiving a lot of push back due to his actions in Congress. Price spent the last 12 years in Congress writing legislation on health care issues, he also bought and sold health care stocks whose value was affected by the legislation he was working on. This isn't an illegal move, but it does raise a lot of concerns regarding ethics. Despite this concern, Price is headed towards his final confirmation vote. (source)

Today Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb pardoned a man named Keith Cooper. Back when Mike Pence was the governor of Indiana, he denied a pardon requested by Cooper after he spent nearly a decade in prison for a crime he did not commit. DNA evidence eventually found Cooper innocent but his record still showed he committed the crime, making life outside prison very difficult. (source)

The Trump administration is still reviewing Dodd-Frank Wall Street regulation, and there are plans to introduce new legislation to quash many bank regulations and regulators’ enforcement authority in Dodd-Frank. However, the acting Securities and Exchange Commission Chair, Michael Piwowar, is quickly trying to target one rule. The regulation under attack is one that require corporations to disclose the discrepancy between what their CEOs earn and what their ordinary workers take home. (source) (source)

A senior national security official, Michael Anton, in the Trump administration has be outed as a writer using the pseudonym Publius Decius Mus. He gained popularity for penning works that are anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, anti-immigration, and promoting white nationalism. Anton's works have noted that diversity is “a source of weakness, tension and disunion,” and asked “What good has immigration done for the United States and the American people?” Anton also defended the America First Committee, a group that urged the U.S. to stay out of World War II by invoking anti-Semitic stereotypes, by claiming it was “unfairly maligned.” (source) (source)