tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3543321200088397012024-03-05T00:27:27.203-08:00The Light Keeper.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-43125693553904504662015-08-09T12:02:00.000-07:002015-08-09T12:02:27.082-07:00The Secret History -- by Procopius of Caesarea (ca. 550 AD). <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/the-secret-history-by-procopius-of.html" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/the-secret-history-by-procopius-of.html" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnbornGiQcsZSlmmU6cD4Bk2HkVnomU1T9qNbsEQX6EmsruFXnUPYcwx9hZ4gSmtyvlm_AhiIdrVWKkrXCn7LNnmNqB7cBLv8W_8nYR-GpA0fYhIyAlZSQwRv2sXxizhX2n_GxgYS7Urjg/s200/Procopius.jpg" width="199" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click Pic for "The Secret History" by Procopius of Caesarea</td></tr>
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In this book of 30 brief chapters, the historian Procopius of Caesarea relates first how the great general Belisarius was hoodwinked by his wife Antonina, and later how Emporer Justinian and Theodora fell further and further into depravity.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/the-secret-history-by-procopius-of.html" target="_blank">The Secret History/Table of Contents</a></span> <br />
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..http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-8843889863338463142015-05-02T08:58:00.000-07:002015-08-09T12:06:28.821-07:00Book List - Chronological Publish Dates<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-masculine-principle-2013_5.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="THE MASCULINE PRINCIPLE" border="0" height="200" id="Image2_img" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFyZdmWUXWvSun2KzMLrjSX9FyscRPSMCov7EuXax58CrDa1Ep9JYuHZtsni2_ZJ4Pga-_Qhc1ULgTDuDI2UeIdTmbPWQ1s7Lm0T5EMi3pAae5wyeTSThQInMAmrhK1dtkT-dPkZNuGBg/s200/The+Masculine+Principle+-+Table+of+Contents.jpg" style="visibility: visible;" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-masculine-principle-2013_5.html" target="_blank">Click Picture for Table of Contents</a></td></tr>
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<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-masculine-principle-2013_5.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">The Masculine Principle (2013)</span></a><br />
<i>The Masculine Principle</i> explores such topics as the historical misogyny of religions, myths & legends and the civilizations related to them, with a particular focus on Christianity and Western Civilization's rise and decline. Sexuality, the nature of hypergamy and Briffault's law are discussed in relation to the structure of society, focusing on how the forces of the 19th Century Suffragette Movement combined with Second Wave Feminism and Marxism have deconstructed the pillars of Western Culture. An underlying theme is the Nature of Truth and how it has changed through time as the Masculine Principle has been displaced by the rising Feminine Principle. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thornwalker.com/ditch/devlin_home_ec_01.htm" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.thornwalker.com/ditch/devlin_home_ec_01.htm" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimZb5lVY-1JhXXwE-HzITFxZC4S7xI_Sya5WYLzT2OQZVUBMxcSvm1zN0WepIKlaF86FKUEESOC1sTIpsqteNtqcpZJ9I9L4mvexCQLt0kWcgY8xd-PjOG2XvDvdfANYbRYGLjflTABM4/s1600/Home+Economics+-+F.+Roger+Devlin.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thornwalker.com/ditch/devlin_home_ec_01.htm" target="_blank">Click Pic for "Home Economics"</a></td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.thornwalker.com/ditch/devlin_home_ec_01.htm" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Home Economics -- by F. Roger Devlin</span></a> (PDF)<br />
An excellent series of essays by independent scholar, F. Roger Devlin, Ph D, that examines the underlying economic truths of marriage and the family. An interesting theme Devlin touches on is the cultural changes that resulted in the home turning from a place of production into a place of consumption. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/nothing-higher-to-live-for-buddhist.html" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_QrZQD5bwmGIjgmEwY-xL769TDO_x9nLJaJEjWOSARuMwsk85GADpxe6sM144GcWZWSqx9C8zbilKmqQWWw8PhyphenhyphenjU-3vMDfSv82B7KIK2bfUwEliL9jJiA41Ereqnh9DvsNTa6Jlu2OI0/s1600/Nothing+Higher+to+Live+For.jpg" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click Pic for Essay</td></tr>
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<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/nothing-higher-to-live-for-buddhist.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Nothing Higher to Live For: A Buddhist View of Romantic Love (2005) -- by Bhikkhu Nyanasabhano (Leonard Price)</span></a><br />
"Practically nobody questions the supremacy of romantic love, which is
good enough reason to do a little poking around the foundations of its
pedestal. Who is entirely satisfied with the romance in his or her life?
Who has found the sublime rapture previously imagined? And if one has
actually found such a thing, does it last, or does it not rather change
and decline from the peak of ecstasy? And if it declines what becomes of
one's purpose in life? If a purpose is achieved it is no longer a
purpose; it can no longer guide or sustain us. Does one taste of nectar
satisfy us forever?"<br />
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"... <i>If we don't live for love we won't die for it either."</i> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/principles-of-seduction-2003.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/principles-of-seduction.html" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM3asCRxhs_SC-SYh0-fDLzTJpVY088o417o674VGgO3au9VNgdxd-LxEGtwmUrBgzJCs_sjiLGy7f26Zip2EpzH0w50bjNMyYewetCJnNGcCXcdqJ4QqQzvrNRG4rW7HvkT_dWKyaSpZR/s1600/Principles+of+Seduction+-+Table+of+Contents1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/principles-of-seduction-2003.html" target="_blank">Click Picture for Table of Contents</a></td></tr>
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<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/principles-of-seduction-2003.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Principles of Seduction (2003) </span></a><br />
Women are sick! That's the general thrust of the Bonecrker, who was the principle author of this brief but brilliant book. Mapping out "their disease" and adjusting your life accordingly in the areas of dating, sex and relationships is what's needed according to the author, who has particularly good insights and is clearly spoken in the realm of seduction and maintaining relational power with women. A refreshing element in this work is an almost complete lack of Pick-Up Artist's jargon, accompanied by the author's obviously principled moral values - despite his recommendations of never becoming monagamous with a woman. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.revolucionantifeminista.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/sex-ploytation.pdf" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.revolucionantifeminista.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/sex-ploytation.pdf" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFcX4x4m65adUWbwA-cUAr9Bu5zGYaAeF3Zj5uCeenBQkuHaxlMs7pmFb523iE9byvPzzUQpl2TwunEFcn4u8M3NE8dUSrc2aXmxToD3TDk5-k2pBYp3YBd_ck1P6j2fkXiHOA7nE7BkjL/s200/Sex-Ploytation+--+Matthew+Fitzgerald.jpg" width="123" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click for "Sex-Ploytation"</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.revolucionantifeminista.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/sex-ploytation.pdf" target="_blank">Sex-Ploytation (1999) -- by Matthew Fitzgerald</a></span> (PDF)<br />
The beauty about this book is that
it is blunt, straightforward, in your face, and there is no dithering
about. In other words: <u>It is a man's book!</u> And, most importantly,
it gives the reader a very good insight into how, and why, men have
ended up being treated like fourth-class citizens and how it is that
they have recently even been described as 'parasites' by academic
biologists.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/the-secret-history-by-procopius-of.html" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/the-secret-history-by-procopius-of.html" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnbornGiQcsZSlmmU6cD4Bk2HkVnomU1T9qNbsEQX6EmsruFXnUPYcwx9hZ4gSmtyvlm_AhiIdrVWKkrXCn7LNnmNqB7cBLv8W_8nYR-GpA0fYhIyAlZSQwRv2sXxizhX2n_GxgYS7Urjg/s200/Procopius.jpg" width="199" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click for "The Secret History" </td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/the-secret-history-by-procopius-of.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">The Secret History - Procopius of Caesarea (ca. 550 AD)</span></a></span><br />
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In this book of 30 brief chapters, the historian Procopius of Caesarea
relates first how the great general Belisarius was hoodwinked by his
wife Antonina, and later how Emporer Justinian and Theodora fell further
and further into depravity.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/advice-to-married-couples-plutarch.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/advice-to-married-couples-plutarch.html" border="0" height="200" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544757091049201682" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUQVJ40Szr0oWQv80NW0QBWwG6H6-AkLxxdNJzqRxc-CDE8uiCshJW33HMPpXPOnrOl2SQQUX9ddcEDONfm08RQVdvfh5X3c37JJfXw64w0e5RyDHiksUdEsOS9MHxUtBsNpTZTAcsgmM/s200/marriage.jpg" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;" width="148" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click for "Advice to Married Couples"</td></tr>
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<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/advice-to-married-couples-plutarch.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Advice to Married Couples - Plutarch (46-120AD)</span></a><br />
Plutarch writes to a newly wed couple and goes through a list of 48 "Rules" on how to behave towards eachother and society in a proper matrimonial manner. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-history-of-rome-titus-livius.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-history-of-rome-titus-livius.html" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2IuM80mXS7gCtzruYpi7oWU-uZt434fMQy0cRjey7epIReKsQxiCcfQVWqkVO01XkjNb4akOoLVuPPCzM6BG1RBvGeKVrhcb3uRxBYSWyNz62C4b1jDP7sXQfDk4Xfe9RhuUZbJUAbxBR/s200/slut3.jpg" width="168" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click for "The History of Rome"</td></tr>
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<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-history-of-rome-titus-livius.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">The History of Rome (excerpts) - Titus Livius (59BC-17AD)</span></a> <br />
There are a lot of truths in this story of women's rebellion in Ancient
Rome, and it is from here that we get the following famous quote by Cato
the Censor:<br />
<i>. </i><br />
<b><i>"If you allow them to pull
away these restraints and wrench them out one after another, and finally
put themselves on an equality with their husbands, do you imagine that
you will be able to tolerate them? From the moment that they become your
fellows they will become your masters."</i></b><br />
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The most remarkable thing I personally find about this story is the
striking similarities of the Ancient Roman Women's reaction to
suggestions that they ought to moderate their dress for the betterment
of society, and the Slut Walkers that exist in our modern day culture.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/de-officiius-excerpts-by-cicero.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-noble-suffragettes.html" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8-jp_LYnBQfoYJqMZAtw88LLoXfUZcT2ZnodM01GFMp6F876DC7AgSyRCZ9j4V-wYptwyJsZm0vWMR-_2BMcUNvRT3-F7kc9PaYngEO3Fd6b90yvHvig2beG_M4LtRmXMvml97zS0Ihn/s200/BreadAndCircuses.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click Pic for "de Officiius" by Cicero</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/de-officiius-excerpts-by-cicero.html" target="_blank">de Officiius - Cicero (Excerpts)</a></span><br />
In these two brief excerpts, Cicero tells of the Black Widow wife of Alexander of Pherae and how true generosity is different from the wealth displayed by offering bread and circuses to the crowd. <br />
<span id="goog_1447770330"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1447770331"></span> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/on-good-wife-by-aristotle-from.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/proverbs-3110-31-wife-of-noble.html" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvVnJFeqqUUbWSu_U_cnvXS4gk5YFbJMgbUoXDCrxOoGrFWPFXvNuF7MI0zCBglxot75CIIZfe6JqOqQrpFv5FEFE0WXZ-Hb5DZI9zF9511ZxfhSWtxRTnzmDqyniC28kX3CvOk_XLd24/s200/The+Wife+of+Noble+Character.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click for "On a Good Wife" - by Aristotle</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/on-good-wife-by-aristotle-from.html" target="_blank">(On a) Good Wife - Aristotle, from Oikinomikos (ca. 330AD)</a></span> <br />
In the same fashion as Solomon's declaration of what makes <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/proverbs-3110-31-wife-of-noble.html" target="_blank">a wife of noble character</a>, Aristotle describes what qualities a good wife ought to seek after. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-spartan-women-politics-of-aristotle.html" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-spartan-women-politics-of-aristotle.html" border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5C1VB4h5KCDnnSuTvDroyhUUilSCCYln8a1mqSRSdy-DlsJxAWZG4tWQiMJkNJJbWC3aOpsYMi9kLSEviVRokXe7Jb_J3nqmOJF2OVRl0ZL0Pbdggbc0lF3m6jP-NEAASAT0Uq6af9WqK/s200/This_is_sparta.GIF" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click Pic for "The Spartan Women"</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-spartan-women-politics-of-aristotle.html" target="_blank">The Spartan Women -- The Politics of Aristotle -- (With Attached Study: "Rulers Ruled by Women: An Economic Analysis of the Rise and Fall of Women's Rights in Ancient Sparta")</a></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/buddha-selected-writings-on-women.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/buddha-selected-writings-on-women.html" border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2PyU1p_VDz1OU0Ga_ngRQl5aLwytC9wh0sGuO180ElQKPxik21-3GdzWDwUa6C2l9ak94pwKiXeuyDWiR3ogTkSTZ90Iz3xujfSeOimCpaU3wZWizlP57Z5zbnJZ0H1ziadgmXqJ3tK2r/s1600/Mountain_Buddha.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click Pic for Selected Buddhist Writing on Women</td></tr>
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<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/buddha-selected-writings-on-women.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Buddha - Selected Writing on Women</span></a><br />
<b>The Ultimate Extinction of the Dharma Sutra</b><br />
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<b>The Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva</b> -- with Commentary by Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua, in America. <br />
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<b>Selected Writings of Nichiren</b><br />
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.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-46790350526664277042015-05-02T08:45:00.000-07:002015-05-17T09:57:29.891-07:00The Academic Cellar - Research, Studies and Other Odds & Ends.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRSfDnsAV9W-Jqq0-Wy0uEHRSK9Aclncpqm3fx7umZztQrpyDKbUjAo7eOR-jT8dIPEE9WgXbXcHfz8F7VFDtjJuLD9NV2lhdwJ4LvX7Nf8ztjhyjZACzxgSZV-CC-KJW6J3aTaPvTwY0j/s1600/The+Light+Keeper+-+The+Academic+Cellar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRSfDnsAV9W-Jqq0-Wy0uEHRSK9Aclncpqm3fx7umZztQrpyDKbUjAo7eOR-jT8dIPEE9WgXbXcHfz8F7VFDtjJuLD9NV2lhdwJ4LvX7Nf8ztjhyjZACzxgSZV-CC-KJW6J3aTaPvTwY0j/s640/The+Light+Keeper+-+The+Academic+Cellar.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.law.virginia.edu/pdf/olin/0708/hanssen.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Rulers Ruled by Women: An Economic Analysis of the Rise and Fall of Women's Rights in Sparta</span></a><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.law.virginia.edu/pdf/olin/0708/hanssen.pdf" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://no-maam.blogspot.ca/2010/11/whats-next-cries-of-sparta.html" border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5C1VB4h5KCDnnSuTvDroyhUUilSCCYln8a1mqSRSdy-DlsJxAWZG4tWQiMJkNJJbWC3aOpsYMi9kLSEviVRokXe7Jb_J3nqmOJF2OVRl0ZL0Pbdggbc0lF3m6jP-NEAASAT0Uq6af9WqK/s200/This_is_sparta.GIF" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click Pic for "Rulers Ruled by Women"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>ABSTRACT: Throughout most of history, women as a class have possessed
relatively few formal rights. The women of ancient Sparta were a
striking exception. Although they could not vote, Spartan women
reportedly owned 40 percent of Sparta’s agricultural land and enjoyed
other rights that were equally extraordinary. We offer a simple economic
explanation for the Spartan anomaly. The defining moment for Sparta was
its conquest of a neighboring land and people, which fundamentally
changed the marginal products of Spartan men’s and Spartan women’s
labor. To exploit the potential gains from a reallocation of labor –
specifically, to provide the appropriate incentives and the proper human
capital formation – men granted women property (and other) rights.
Consistent with our explanation for the rise of women’s rights, when
Sparta lost the conquered land several centuries later, the rights for
women disappeared. Two conclusions emerge that may help explain why
women’s rights have been so rare for most of history. First, in contrast
to the rest of the world, the optimal (from the men’s perspective)
division of labor among Spartans involved women in work that was not
easily monitored by men. <b>Second, the rights held by Spartan women may
have been part of an unstable equilibrium, which contained the seeds of
its own destruction.</b></i><br />
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Related: <a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-spartan-women-politics-of-aristotle.html" target="_blank">"The Spartan Women -- The Politics of Aristotle"</a> and <a href="http://no-maam.blogspot.ca/2003/01/man-woman-hic-mulier-1620.html" target="_blank">"The Man-Woman" -- by Hic Mulier (1620)</a> <br />
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. .http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-49599319059516535592015-05-02T08:30:00.000-07:002015-08-09T12:07:48.729-07:00Alphabetical Book and Essay Listings.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwyL1Fl1ccaYE_UL0MBC6LXt2mRRPaimprJgUnKkYKQAxqPf4ny_CO3ytY1ye5CzW5r209avt_-DxbGPHze0Kz1cbdva6_EL959u7KM1oudD3nq72EaqiL9VBiTVRm2Wl9sxpw3x8xy18N/s1600/The+Light+Keeper+Library.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwyL1Fl1ccaYE_UL0MBC6LXt2mRRPaimprJgUnKkYKQAxqPf4ny_CO3ytY1ye5CzW5r209avt_-DxbGPHze0Kz1cbdva6_EL959u7KM1oudD3nq72EaqiL9VBiTVRm2Wl9sxpw3x8xy18N/s640/The+Light+Keeper+Library.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/advice-to-married-couples-plutarch.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/advice-to-married-couples-plutarch.html" border="0" height="200" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544757091049201682" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUQVJ40Szr0oWQv80NW0QBWwG6H6-AkLxxdNJzqRxc-CDE8uiCshJW33HMPpXPOnrOl2SQQUX9ddcEDONfm08RQVdvfh5X3c37JJfXw64w0e5RyDHiksUdEsOS9MHxUtBsNpTZTAcsgmM/s200/marriage.jpg" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;" width="148" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click for "Advice to Married Couples"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/advice-to-married-couples-plutarch.html" target="_blank">Advice to Married Couples - Plutarch</a></span><br />
Plutarch writes to a newly wed couple and goes through a list of 48
"Rules" on how to behave towards eachother and society in a proper
matrimonial manner. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/buddha-selected-writings-on-women.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/buddha-selected-writings-on-women.html" border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2PyU1p_VDz1OU0Ga_ngRQl5aLwytC9wh0sGuO180ElQKPxik21-3GdzWDwUa6C2l9ak94pwKiXeuyDWiR3ogTkSTZ90Iz3xujfSeOimCpaU3wZWizlP57Z5zbnJZ0H1ziadgmXqJ3tK2r/s1600/Mountain_Buddha.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click Pic for Selected Buddhist Writing on Women</td></tr>
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<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/buddha-selected-writings-on-women.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Buddha - Selected Writing on Women</span></a><br />
<b>The Ultimate Extinction of the Dharma Sutra</b><br />
<br />
<b>The Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva</b> -- with Commentary by Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua, in America. <br />
<br />
<b>Selected Writings of Nichiren</b><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/on-good-wife-by-aristotle-from.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/proverbs-3110-31-wife-of-noble.html" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvVnJFeqqUUbWSu_U_cnvXS4gk5YFbJMgbUoXDCrxOoGrFWPFXvNuF7MI0zCBglxot75CIIZfe6JqOqQrpFv5FEFE0WXZ-Hb5DZI9zF9511ZxfhSWtxRTnzmDqyniC28kX3CvOk_XLd24/s200/The+Wife+of+Noble+Character.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click for "On a Good Wife" - by Aristotle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/on-good-wife-by-aristotle-from.html" target="_blank">(On a) Good Wife - Aristotle, from Oikinomikos (ca. 330AD)</a></span> <br />
In the same fashion as Solomon's declaration of what makes <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/proverbs-3110-31-wife-of-noble.html" target="_blank">a wife of noble character</a>, Aristotle describes what qualities a good wife ought to
seek after. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-history-of-rome-titus-livius.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-history-of-rome-titus-livius.html" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2IuM80mXS7gCtzruYpi7oWU-uZt434fMQy0cRjey7epIReKsQxiCcfQVWqkVO01XkjNb4akOoLVuPPCzM6BG1RBvGeKVrhcb3uRxBYSWyNz62C4b1jDP7sXQfDk4Xfe9RhuUZbJUAbxBR/s200/slut3.jpg" width="168" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click for "The History of Rome"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-history-of-rome-titus-livius.html" target="_blank">The History of Rome (excerpts) - Titus Livius</a> </span><br />
There are a lot of truths in this story of women's rebellion in Ancient
Rome, and it is from here that we get the following famous quote by Cato
the Censor:<br />
<i>. </i><br />
<b><i>"If you allow them to pull
away these restraints and wrench them out one after another, and finally
put themselves on an equality with their husbands, do you imagine that
you will be able to tolerate them? From the moment that they become your
fellows they will become your masters."</i></b><br />
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The most remarkable thing I personally find about this story is the
striking similarities of the Ancient Roman Women's reaction to
suggestions that they ought to moderate their dress for the betterment
of society, and the Slut Walkers that exist in our modern day culture.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thornwalker.com/ditch/devlin_home_ec_01.htm" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.thornwalker.com/ditch/devlin_home_ec_01.htm" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimZb5lVY-1JhXXwE-HzITFxZC4S7xI_Sya5WYLzT2OQZVUBMxcSvm1zN0WepIKlaF86FKUEESOC1sTIpsqteNtqcpZJ9I9L4mvexCQLt0kWcgY8xd-PjOG2XvDvdfANYbRYGLjflTABM4/s1600/Home+Economics+-+F.+Roger+Devlin.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thornwalker.com/ditch/devlin_home_ec_01.htm" target="_blank">Click Pic for "Home Economics"</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.thornwalker.com/ditch/devlin_home_ec_01.htm" target="_blank">Home Economics -- by F. Roger Devlin</a></span> (PDF)<br />
An excellent series of essays by independent scholar, F. Roger Devlin,
Ph D, that examines the underlying economic truths of marriage and the
family. An interesting theme Devlin touches on is the cultural changes
that resulted in the home turning from a place of production into a
place of consumption. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-masculine-principle-2013_5.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="THE MASCULINE PRINCIPLE" border="0" height="200" id="Image2_img" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFyZdmWUXWvSun2KzMLrjSX9FyscRPSMCov7EuXax58CrDa1Ep9JYuHZtsni2_ZJ4Pga-_Qhc1ULgTDuDI2UeIdTmbPWQ1s7Lm0T5EMi3pAae5wyeTSThQInMAmrhK1dtkT-dPkZNuGBg/s200/The+Masculine+Principle+-+Table+of+Contents.jpg" style="visibility: visible;" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-masculine-principle-2013_5.html" target="_blank">Click Picture for Table of Contents</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-masculine-principle-2013_5.html" target="_blank">The Masculine Principle (2013)</a></span><br />
<i>The Masculine Principle</i> explores such topics as the historical
misogyny of religions, myths & legends and the civilizations related
to them, with a particular focus on Christianity and Western
Civilization's rise and decline. Sexuality, the nature of hypergamy and
Briffault's law are discussed in relation to the structure of society,
focusing on how the forces of the 19th Century Suffragette Movement
combined with Second Wave Feminism and Marxism have deconstructed the
pillars of Western Culture. An underlying theme is the Nature of Truth
and how it has changed through time as the Masculine Principle has been
displaced by the rising Feminine Principle. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/nothing-higher-to-live-for-buddhist.html" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_QrZQD5bwmGIjgmEwY-xL769TDO_x9nLJaJEjWOSARuMwsk85GADpxe6sM144GcWZWSqx9C8zbilKmqQWWw8PhyphenhyphenjU-3vMDfSv82B7KIK2bfUwEliL9jJiA41Ereqnh9DvsNTa6Jlu2OI0/s1600/Nothing+Higher+to+Live+For.jpg" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click Pic for Essay</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/nothing-higher-to-live-for-buddhist.html" target="_blank">Nothing Higher to Live For: A Buddhist View of Romantic Love (2005) -- by Bhikkhu Nyanasabhano (Leonard Price)</a></span><br />
"Practically nobody questions the supremacy of romantic love, which is
good enough reason to do a little poking around the foundations of its
pedestal. Who is entirely satisfied with the romance in his or her life?
Who has found the sublime rapture previously imagined? And if one has
actually found such a thing, does it last, or does it not rather change
and decline from the peak of ecstasy? And if it declines what becomes of
one's purpose in life? If a purpose is achieved it is no longer a
purpose; it can no longer guide or sustain us. Does one taste of nectar
satisfy us forever?"<br />
<br />
"... <i>If we don't live for love we won't die for it either."</i><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/de-officiius-excerpts-by-cicero.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-noble-suffragettes.html" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8-jp_LYnBQfoYJqMZAtw88LLoXfUZcT2ZnodM01GFMp6F876DC7AgSyRCZ9j4V-wYptwyJsZm0vWMR-_2BMcUNvRT3-F7kc9PaYngEO3Fd6b90yvHvig2beG_M4LtRmXMvml97zS0Ihn/s200/BreadAndCircuses.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click Pic for "de Officiius" by Cicero</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/de-officiius-excerpts-by-cicero.html" target="_blank">de Officiius - Cicero (Excerpts)</a></span><br />
In these two brief excerpts, Cicero tells of the Black Widow wife of
Alexander of Pherae and how true generosity is different from the wealth
displayed by offering bread and circuses to the crowd. <br />
<span id="goog_1447770330"></span><span id="goog_1447770331"></span> <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/principles-of-seduction-2003.html" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/principles-of-seduction.html" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM3asCRxhs_SC-SYh0-fDLzTJpVY088o417o674VGgO3au9VNgdxd-LxEGtwmUrBgzJCs_sjiLGy7f26Zip2EpzH0w50bjNMyYewetCJnNGcCXcdqJ4QqQzvrNRG4rW7HvkT_dWKyaSpZR/s1600/Principles+of+Seduction+-+Table+of+Contents1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/principles-of-seduction-2003.html" target="_blank">Click Picture for Table of Contents</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/principles-of-seduction-2003.html" target="_blank">Principles of Seduction (2003) </a></span><br />
Women are sick! That's the general thrust of the Bonecrker, who was the
principle author of this brief but brilliant work. Mapping out "their
disease" and adjusting your life accordingly in the areas of dating, sex
and relationships is what's needed according to the author, who has
particularly good insights and is clearly spoken in the realm of
seduction and maintaining relational power with women. A refreshing
element in this work is an almost complete lack of Pick-Up Artist's
jargon, accompanied by the author's obviously principled moral values -
despite his recommendations of never becoming monagamous with a woman.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/the-secret-history-by-procopius-of.html" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/the-secret-history-by-procopius-of.html" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnbornGiQcsZSlmmU6cD4Bk2HkVnomU1T9qNbsEQX6EmsruFXnUPYcwx9hZ4gSmtyvlm_AhiIdrVWKkrXCn7LNnmNqB7cBLv8W_8nYR-GpA0fYhIyAlZSQwRv2sXxizhX2n_GxgYS7Urjg/s200/Procopius.jpg" width="199" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click for "The Secret History" </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/the-secret-history-by-procopius-of.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">The Secret History - Procopius of Caesarea (ca. 550 AD)</span></a></span><br />
<br />
In this book of 30 brief chapters, the historian Procopius of Caesarea
relates first how the great general Belisarius was hoodwinked by his
wife Antonina, and later how Emporer Justinian and Theodora fell further
and further into depravity.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.revolucionantifeminista.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/sex-ploytation.pdf" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.revolucionantifeminista.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/sex-ploytation.pdf" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFcX4x4m65adUWbwA-cUAr9Bu5zGYaAeF3Zj5uCeenBQkuHaxlMs7pmFb523iE9byvPzzUQpl2TwunEFcn4u8M3NE8dUSrc2aXmxToD3TDk5-k2pBYp3YBd_ck1P6j2fkXiHOA7nE7BkjL/s200/Sex-Ploytation+--+Matthew+Fitzgerald.jpg" width="123" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click for "Sex-Ploytation"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.revolucionantifeminista.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/sex-ploytation.pdf" target="_blank">Sex-Ploytation (1999) -- by Matthew Fitzgerald</a></span> (PDF)<br />
<br />
The beauty about this book is that
it is blunt, straightforward, in your face, and there is no dithering
about. In other words: <u>It is a man's book!</u> And, most importantly,
it gives the reader a very good insight into how, and why, men have
ended up being treated like fourth-class citizens and how it is that
they have recently even been described as 'parasites' by academic
biologists.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-spartan-women-politics-of-aristotle.html" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-spartan-women-politics-of-aristotle.html" border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5C1VB4h5KCDnnSuTvDroyhUUilSCCYln8a1mqSRSdy-DlsJxAWZG4tWQiMJkNJJbWC3aOpsYMi9kLSEviVRokXe7Jb_J3nqmOJF2OVRl0ZL0Pbdggbc0lF3m6jP-NEAASAT0Uq6af9WqK/s200/This_is_sparta.GIF" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click Pic for "The Spartan Women"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-spartan-women-politics-of-aristotle.html" target="_blank">The
Spartan Women -- The Politics of Aristotle -- (With Attached Study:
"Rulers Ruled by Women: An Economic Analysis of the Rise and Fall of
Women's Rights in Ancient Sparta")</a></span><br />
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. .http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-4134209315026155862015-05-01T06:00:00.000-07:002015-05-06T11:43:37.216-07:00The Masculine Principle (2013) .<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<i>The Masculine Principle</i> explores such aspects as the historical
misogyny of religions, myths & legends and the civilizations related
to them with a particular focus on Christianity and Western
Civilization's rise and decline. Sexuality, the nature of hypergamy
and Briffault's law are discussed in relation to the structure of
society, focusing on how the forces of the 19th Century Suffragette
Movement combined with Second Wave Feminism and Marxism have
deconstructed the pillars of Western Culture. An underlying theme is the
Nature of Truth and how it has changed through time as the Masculine
Principle has been displaced by the rising Feminine Principle.<br />
.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">*** </span></div>
.<br />
<a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/search/label/The%20Masculine%20Principle" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/search/label/The%20Masculine%20Principle" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8W1gPJMFdRUHHyBNx_5xzQ5nFhstp_96fCYpyXVOqeV0pikdWwLNWdlUDC_2_xWL19bp5L7RERq04p3SgstSKoXnBdl3DDuiUJQuFVCj-3atxwpjvPop54MIyo0pKMX2A0-mdNBkHMZst/s1600/The+Masculine+Principle.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>". . . The fact is that males and females are like two substances combined in
different proportions, but with either element never wholly missing. </i></span><br />
<a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-masculine-principle.html" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-masculine-principle.html" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqN6DbWWKiTXG-ylW6RWqnnBd-OD5brPmXYLoG3giUdo72YUZq2KBhiVhlr70lU49DbJcAGB_iDCbt6NIkmVr6ohtJ1fT7liaHLwB0fD7yjpF4AMXQa3eZdewqZyPbXxExKfS4Gl8Vz6E/s1600/1195427607377807441Stellaris_Yin_Yang.svg.med.png" height="200" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>We find,
so to speak, never either a man or a woman, </i><b>but only the male condition and the
female condition.</b><i> Any individual is never to be designated merely as a man or
a woman, but by a formula showing that it is a composite of male and female
characters in different proportions."</i> -- <a href="http://www.theabsolute.net/ottow/sexcharh.html#mf" target="_blank">Otto Weininger, <i>Sex and Character</i></a></span> <br />
. <br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/search/label/Chapter%201%20-%20Introduction" target="_blank"><u><b>Chapter One: Introduction</b></u></a></span><br />
Part 1: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-masculine-principle.html" target="_blank">The Masculine Principle</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 2: </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/generalizing-in-politically-correct.html" target="_blank">Generalizing in a Politically Correct World</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 3: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/peer-reviewed-research-holy-grail-of.html" target="_blank">Peer Reviewed Research: The Holy Grail of Truth?</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 4: </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/misogyny.html" target="_blank">The Truth About Misogyny</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 5: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/a-guide-to-birdwatching.html" target="_blank">A Guide to Birdwatching</a> </span><br />
. <br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/search/label/Chapter%202%20-%20Sexuality" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Chapter Two: Sexuality</b></u></span></a><br />
Part 1: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/male-and-female-equal-but-different.html" target="_blank">Male and Female: Equal But Different</a><br />
Part 2: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/sex-sells-hypergamy-explained.html" target="_blank">Sex Sells (Hypergamy Explained)</a><br />
Part 3: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/love-is-for-suckers-blood-suckers.html" target="_blank">Love is for Suckers... Blood Suckers</a><br />
Part 4: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/empty-vessels-and-relative-truth.html" target="_blank">The Garden of Eden, Empty Vessels and Relative Truth</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 5: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-myth-of-tiresias-and-ten-pleasures.html" target="_blank">The Myth of Tiresias and the Ten Pleasures of Sex</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 6: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/youre-such-tool.html" target="_blank">You're Such a Tool! (Briffault's law)</a><br />
Part 7: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/rites-of-passage-making-boys-into-men.html" target="_blank">Rites of Passage - Making Boys into Men</a><br />
Part 8: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/woman-most-responsible-teenager-in-house.html" target="_blank">Woman: The Most Responsible Teenager In The House?</a><br />
Part 9: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-amazon-women-science-of-why-males.html" target="_blank">The Amazon Women (The Science of "Why Males Exist")</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 10: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/testing-testing-123-testing.html" target="_blank">Testing, Testing... 1, 2, 3... Testing</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">.<br />
<a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/search/label/Chapter%203%20-%20The%20Gender%20War" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Chapter Three: The Gender War</b></u></span></a><br />
Part 1: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-fish-and-bicycle.html" target="_blank">The Fish and The Bicycle</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Part 2: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/social-strategy-why-men-shouldnt-argue.html" target="_blank">Social Strategy: Why Men Shouldn't Argue With Women</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Part 3: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-noble-suffragettes.html" target="_blank">The Suffragettes versus The Republic</a> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Part 4: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-suffragettes-versus-patriarchy.html" target="_blank">The Suffragettes versus The Patriarchy</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Part 5: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-suffragettes-versus-marketplace.html" target="_blank">The Suffragettes versus The Marketplace</a> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Part 6: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-suffragettes-versus-truth.html" target="_blank">The Suffragettes versus The Truth</a> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 7: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/father-custody-and-legend-of-selkie.html" target="_blank">Father Custody and The Legend of the Selkie</a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><br />
Part 8: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-fraud-of-modern-marriage.html" target="_blank">The Fraud of Modern Marriage (Women as Chattel)</a><br />
Part 9: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/feminizing-decline.html" target="_blank">Feminizing the Decline (Hypergamy & Birthrates)</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/search/label/Chapter%204%20-%20Marxism" target="_blank"><u><b><span style="font-size: large;">Chapter Four: The Pillars and the Plot</span></b></u></a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 1: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-powers-that-be.html" target="_blank">The Powers That Be</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 2: </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/its-not-marxism-because_11.html" target="_blank">It's Not Marxism Because...</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 3: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/cultural-pillars-and-critical-theory.html" target="_blank">Cultural Pillars and Critical Theory</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 4: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/useful-idiots-play-checkers-marxists_20.html" target="_blank">Useful Idiots Play Checkers, Marxists Play Chess</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 5: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-family-plot.html" target="_blank">The Family Plot: The Past (Their Oppressors Are Children)</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 6: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-dialectic-of-family-marriage-15.html" target="_blank">The Family Plot: The Present (No-Fault Divorce & Hypergamy)</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 7: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/marriage-20-versus-civil-unions-and.html" target="_blank">The Family Plot: The Future (Civil Unions & Shared Parenting)</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 8: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/following-masculine-principle-is-right.html" target="_blank">Following the Masculine Principle is the "Right Way"</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">.</span><br />
<a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/search/label/Chapter%206%20-%20Conclusion" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Chapter Five: Conclusion</b></u></span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 1: </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/work-with-world-dont-fight-against-it.html" target="_blank">Work With the World; Don't Fight Against It</a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 2: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-liberation-of-men.html" target="_blank">The Liberation of Men</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 3: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/the-want-of-men-was-their-ruin.html" target="_blank">The Want of Men Was Their Ruin</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 4: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/one-mans-kingdom.html" target="_blank">One Man's Kingdom</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">.</span> .http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-39609463052558381382015-04-30T06:00:00.000-07:002015-05-15T11:21:31.359-07:00Principles of Seduction (2003). <br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/principles-of-seduction.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Principles of Seduction (2003) </span></a><br />
Women are sick! That's the general thrust of the Bonecrker, who was the
principle author of this brief but brilliant book. Mapping out "their
disease" and adjusting your life accordingly in the areas of dating, sex
and relationships is what's needed according to the author, who has
particularly good insights and is clearly spoken in the realm of
seduction and maintaining relational power with women. A refreshing
element in this work is an almost complete lack of Pick-Up Artist's
jargon, accompanied by the author's obviously principled moral values -
despite his recommendations of never becoming monagamous with a woman.
<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">***</span> </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/principles-of-seduction.html" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/principles-of-seduction.html" border="0" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNAMFcXfH8f1e0mlvXWLZsR00RRnTuj0cdnCgGrSciu7eeAYPnbDCC-YWtPvu6OePzy1T1yIelIDUO9EneV3z3Y47FRncx6si6hDb3eVL1bBPDR-wG7wfRTRlB4s4TPTLm1XswfyWgNUo/s1600/Principles+of+Seduction+-+Table+of+Contents.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><i>“The moon had been observing the earth close-up longer than anyone. It
must have witnessed all of the phenomena occurring - and all of the acts
carried out - on this earth. </i></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><i>But the moon remained silent; it told no
stories. All it did was embrace the heavy past with a cool, measured
detachment. </i></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><i>On the moon there was neither air nor wind. Its vacuum was
perfect for preserving memories unscathed. No one could unlock the heart
of the moon. </i></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><i>Aomame raised her glass to the moon and asked, “Have you
gone to bed with someone in your arms lately?” </i></b><br />
<b><i><br />The moon did not answer. </i></b><br />
<b><i><br />“Do you have any friends?” she asked. </i></b><br />
<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-hHfTkvBm9d4Cj1n3ae0auZozIO6DHCFYlFCv2DLSSobmD3m1OuwvsDv59TA-VgHX7KgfOpMHOAaQMQ9aUVSJmvcv0LndQ3uhRXXXaK4nvUYLtDHIsELecZsYY0BB6k0KKOKqULydK0U/s1600/Principles+of+Seduction+Moon+Man.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-hHfTkvBm9d4Cj1n3ae0auZozIO6DHCFYlFCv2DLSSobmD3m1OuwvsDv59TA-VgHX7KgfOpMHOAaQMQ9aUVSJmvcv0LndQ3uhRXXXaK4nvUYLtDHIsELecZsYY0BB6k0KKOKqULydK0U/s1600/Principles+of+Seduction+Moon+Man.png" width="167" /></a><i><br />The moon did not answer. </i></b><br />
<b><i><br />“Don’t you get tired of always playing it cool?”</i></b><br />
<b><i><br />The moon did not answer."</i> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>-- Haruki Murakami, <i>1Q84</i></b></span><br />
.<br />
<a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/search/label/Chapter%201a%20-%20Introduction" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Chapter One: Introduction</u> </b></span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 1: </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/dating-advice-from-father.html" target="_blank">Dating Advice from a Father</a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 2: </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/women-teasing-tests-one-itis-and-hope.html" target="_blank">Women, Teasing, Tests, One-itis and Hope</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 3: </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/03/understanding-women-and-rules-for-men.html" target="_blank">Understanding Women and 'The Rules' for Men</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 4: </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/bad-boys-alphas-assholes-nice-guys-and.html" target="_blank">Bad Boys, Alphas, Assholes, Niceguys and Players</a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span> <br />
. <br />
<a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/search/label/Chapter%202%20-%20The%20Dance" target="_blank"><u><b><span style="font-size: large;">Chapter Two: The Dance</span></b></u></a> <br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 1: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/online-dating.html" target="_blank">Online Dating - Not!</a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 2: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/finding-small-pool-of-interested-women.html" target="_blank">Finding the Small Pool of Interested Women</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 3: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/the-sexes-approaching-each-other.html" target="_blank">The Sexes Approaching Each Other (Eye Contact, Escalating)</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 4: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/there-really-are-only-two-subjects-that.html" target="_blank">There Really Are Only Two Safe Subjects to Talk About with Women</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 5: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/be-lover-not-provider.html" target="_blank">Be a Lover, Not a Provider (Dates & Gifts)</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 6: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/most-women-dont-want-man-who-isnt-choosy.html" target="_blank">Most Women Don't Want a Man Who Isn't Choosy</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 7: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/you-mean-nothing-to-woman-until-you.html" target="_blank">You Mean Nothing to a Woman Until You've Had Sex</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 8: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/the-first-date-at-your-place.html" target="_blank">That First Date at Your Place</a> </span><br />
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<a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/search/label/Chapter%203%20-%20Mental%20Frame" target="_blank"><u><b><span style="font-size: large;">Chapter Three: Mental Frame</span></b></u></a> <br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 1: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/choose-confidence.html" target="_blank">Choose Confidence</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 2: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/04/women-are-not-able-to-get-sex-on-demand.html" target="_blank">Women Are Not Able to Get Sex On Demand</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 3: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/women-as-friends.html" target="_blank">Women as "Friends"</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 4: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/relationship-phases.html" target="_blank">Relationship Phases</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 5: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/dont-argue-with-women.html" target="_blank">Don't Argue with Women; Have Power & Choices</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 6: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/no-woman-is-out-of-your-league.html" target="_blank">No Woman is "Out of Your League"</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 7: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/raising-your-sexual-status.html" target="_blank">Raising Your Sexual Status</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 8: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/women-who-want-to-cheat-with-you.html" target="_blank">Women Who Want to Cheat with You</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 9: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/not-all-women-are-like-that-nawalt.html" target="_blank">NAWALT, Pre-Nups, Celibacy & Other Types of Bad Advice</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 10: </span><a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/why-you-must-never-give-woman-any-money.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Why You Must Never Give a Woman Any Money</span></a> <br />
.<br />
<a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/search/label/Chapter%203%20-%20Mental%20Frame" target="_blank"><u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Chapter Four: Her Mental Health</b></span></u></a> <br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 1: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/women-are-sick.html" target="_blank">Women are Sick!</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 2: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/living-in-la-la-land.html" target="_blank">Living in La-La-Land</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 3: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/just-say-no-to-divorced-women-single.html" target="_blank">Just Say "No" to Divorced Women and Single Moms</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 4: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/part-of-breaking-up-is-about-drama.html" target="_blank">Breaking Up is About Drama; Passive Aggression & the Female Orgasm</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 5: </span><a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/abusive-behaviour.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Abusive Behaviour (DV, Stalkers, Sarcasm & Shaming Language)</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 6: </span><a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/women-choosing-losers.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Women Choosing Losers</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 7: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/women-have-contradictory-love.html" target="_blank">Women Have Contradictory Love</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 8: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/rape-fantasies.html" target="_blank">Rape Fantasies, Religious Women and Projection</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 9: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/fat-bottomed-girls.html" target="_blank">Fat Bottomed Girls</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 10: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/four-kinds-of-women-which-are-more.html" target="_blank">Four Kinds of Women which are More Psycho than Others</a> </span> <br />
. <br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b><a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/search/label/Chapter%205%20-%20Culture%20Matters" target="_blank">Chapter Five: Culture Matters</a> </b></u></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 1: </span><a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/local-versus-foreign-women.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Local versus Foreign Women</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 2: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/humanity-transmitted-through.html" target="_blank">Humanity Transmitted Through Generations (The Bible, Fatherlessness)</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 3: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/ritalin-and-abusive-schools.html" target="_blank">Ritalin and Abusive Schools</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 4: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/most-people-who-work-in-community.html" target="_blank">Women in Power</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 5: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/prostitution.html" target="_blank">Prostitution</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 6: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/the-most-feminacentrist-statement-of.html" target="_blank">The Most Feminacentrist Statement of the 20th Century</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 7: <span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/feminism-turns-women-into-mere-sex.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Feminism Turns Women into Mere Sex Objects (Advice to Women)</span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Part 8: </span></span></span><a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/women-should-cultivate-anything-that-is.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Women Should Cultivate Anything That is a Virtue (Advice to Women)</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 9: </span><a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/boycott-those-who-disrespect-men.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;">Boycott Those Who Disrespect Men</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 10: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/lesbians-and-gay-men.html" target="_blank">Lesbians and Gay Men</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Part 11: <a href="http://masculineprinciple.blogspot.ca/2015/02/pushing-limits-of-sexual-fantasies.html" target="_blank">Pushing the Limits of Sexual Fantasies</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">. </span></span>.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-87591117684323570231970-05-31T12:06:00.000-07:002015-08-09T11:50:51.431-07:00Home Economics - by F. Roger Devlin.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thornwalker.com/ditch/devlin_home_ec_01.htm" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.thornwalker.com/ditch/devlin_home_ec_01.htm" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimZb5lVY-1JhXXwE-HzITFxZC4S7xI_Sya5WYLzT2OQZVUBMxcSvm1zN0WepIKlaF86FKUEESOC1sTIpsqteNtqcpZJ9I9L4mvexCQLt0kWcgY8xd-PjOG2XvDvdfANYbRYGLjflTABM4/s320/Home+Economics+-+F.+Roger+Devlin.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thornwalker.com/ditch/devlin_home_ec_01.htm" target="_blank">Click Pic for "Home Economics"</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.thornwalker.com/ditch/devlin_home_ec_01.htm" target="_blank">Home Economics -- by F. Roger Devlin</a></span> <br />
An excellent series of essays by independent scholar, F. Roger Devlin,
Ph D, that examines the underlying economic truths of marriage and the
family. An interesting theme Devlin touches on is the cultural changes
that resulted in the home turning from a place of production into a
place of consumption. <br />
<br />.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-19919130056973003931970-05-30T08:13:00.000-07:002015-06-03T12:06:59.726-07:00Sex-Ploytation -- by Matthew Fitzgerald.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.revolucionantifeminista.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/sex-ploytation.pdf" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.revolucionantifeminista.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/sex-ploytation.pdf" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFcX4x4m65adUWbwA-cUAr9Bu5zGYaAeF3Zj5uCeenBQkuHaxlMs7pmFb523iE9byvPzzUQpl2TwunEFcn4u8M3NE8dUSrc2aXmxToD3TDk5-k2pBYp3YBd_ck1P6j2fkXiHOA7nE7BkjL/s200/Sex-Ploytation+--+Matthew+Fitzgerald.jpg" width="123" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click for "Sex-Ploytation"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.revolucionantifeminista.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/sex-ploytation.pdf" target="_blank">Sex-Ploytation (1999) -- by Matthew Fitzgerald</a></span> (PDF)<br />
The beauty about this book is that
it is blunt, straightforward, in your face, and there is no dithering
about. In other words: <u>It is a man's book!</u> And, most importantly,
it gives the reader a very good insight into how, and why, men have
ended up being treated like fourth-class citizens and how it is that
they have recently even been described as 'parasites' by academic
biologists.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
. .http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-86828758701996505711970-05-29T18:54:00.000-07:002015-08-09T11:43:52.995-07:00The Secret History -- by Procopius of Caesarea (ca. 550 AD).<br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: 180%;">Procopius: The Secret History</span><br />
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8cY6a4rXr2Vvvq-Oz9k_ZE5UZ9rKrqfquZhGExtpiTMIaYtO8TY3SO7y0AkzESCV00Tnfm-dTiiDAEMIAG-m8xGMoNRXjM3mqDJQRgSPPvpN0jMYdGvsxQtsRd31Al7ApcvPgT1PqoiI/s1600/Procopius.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544835561056700930" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8cY6a4rXr2Vvvq-Oz9k_ZE5UZ9rKrqfquZhGExtpiTMIaYtO8TY3SO7y0AkzESCV00Tnfm-dTiiDAEMIAG-m8xGMoNRXjM3mqDJQRgSPPvpN0jMYdGvsxQtsRd31Al7ApcvPgT1PqoiI/s400/Procopius.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="399" /></a><b>By the Historian</b><br />
.<br />
In
what I have written on the Roman wars up to the present point, the
story was arranged in chronological order and as completely as the times
then permitted. What I shall write now follows a different plan,
supplementing the previous formal chronicle with a disclosure of what
really happened throughout the Roman Empire. You see, it was not
possible, during the life of certain persons, to write the truth of what
they did, as a historian should. If I had, their hordes of spies would
have found out about it, and they would have put me to a most horrible
death. I could not even trust my nearest relatives. That is why I was
compelled to hide the real explanation of many matters glossed over in
my previous books.<br />
<br />
These secrets it is now my duty to tell and
reveal the remaining hidden matters and motives. Yet when I approach
this different task, I find it hard indeed to have to stammer and
retract what I have written before about the lives of Justinian and
Theodora. Worse yet, it occurs to me that what I am now about to tell
will seem neither probable nor plausible to future generations,
especially as time flows on and my story becomes ancient history. I fear
they may think me a writer of fiction, and even put me among the poets.<br />
<br />
However,
I have this much to cheer me, that my account will not be unendorsed by
other testimony: so I shall not shrink from the duty of completing this
work. For the men of today, who know best the truth of these matters,
will be trustworthy witnesses to posterity of the accuracy of my
evidence.<br />
<br />
Still another thing for a long time deferred my passion
to relieve myself of this untold tale. For I wondered if it might be
prejudicial to future generations, and the wickedness of these deeds had
not best remain unknown to later times: lest future tyrants, hearing,
might emulate them. It is deplorably natural that most monarchs mimic
the sins of their predecessors and are most readily disposed to turn to
the evils of the past.<br />
<br />
But, finally, I was again constrained to
proceed with this history, for the reason that future tyrants may see
also that those who thus err cannot avoid retribution in the end, since
the persons of whom I write suffered that judgment. Furthermore, the
disclosure of these actions and tempers will be published for all time,
and in consequence others will perhaps feel less urge to transgress.<br />
<br />
For
who now would know of the unchastened life of Semiramis or the madness
of Sardanapalus or Nero, if the record had not thus been written by men
of their own times? Besides, even those who suffer similarly '-from
later tyrants will not find this narrative quite unprofitable. For the
miserable find comfort in the philosophy that not on them alone has evil
fallen.<br />
<br />
Accordingly, I begin the tale. First I shall reveal the folly of Belisarius, and then the depravity of Justinian and Theodora.<br />
<br />
<b>CONTENTS</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/1-how-great-general-belisarius-was.html" target="_blank">1 - How the Great General Belisarius Was Hoodwinked by His Wife</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/2-how-belated-jealousy-affected.html" target="_blank">2 - How Belated Jealousy Affected Belisarius's Military Judgment</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/3-showing-danger-of-interfering-with.html" target="_blank">3 - Showing the Danger of Interfering with a Woman's Intrigues </a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/4-how-theodora-humiliated-conqueror-of.html" target="_blank">4 - How Theodora Humiliated the Conqueror of Africa and Italy</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/5-how-theodora-tricked-generals-daughter.html" target="_blank">5 - How Theodora Tricked the General's Daughter</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/6-ignorance-of-emperor-justin-and-how.html" target="_blank">6 - Ignorance of the Emperor Justin, and How His Nephew Justinian Was the Virtual Ruler</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/7-outrages-of-blues.html" target="_blank">7 - Outrages of the Blues</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/8-character-and-appearance-of-justinian.html" target="_blank">8 - Character and Appearance of Justinian</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/9-how-theodora-most-depraved-of-all.html" target="_blank">9 - How Theodora, Most Depraved of All Courtesans, Won His Love</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/10-how-justinian-created-new-law.html" target="_blank">10 - How Justinian Created a New Law Permitting Him to Marry a Courtesan</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/11-how-defender-of-faith-ruined-his.html" target="_blank">11 - How the Defender of the Faith Ruined His Subjects</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/12-proving-that-justinian-and-theodora.html">12 - Proving That Justinian and Theodora Were Actually Fiends in Human Form</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/13-perceptive-affability-and-piety-of.html" target="_blank">13 - Perceptive Affability and Piety of a Tyrant</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/14-justice-for-sale.html" target="_blank">14 - Justice for Sale</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/15-how-all-roman-citizens-became-slaves.html" target="_blank">15 - How All Roman Citizens Became Slaves</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/16-what-happened-to-those-who-fell-out.html" target="_blank">16 - What Happened to Those Who Fell Out of Favor with Theodora</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/17-how-she-saved-five-hundred-harlots.html" target="_blank">17 - How She Saved Five Hundred Harlots from a Life of Sin</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/18-how-justinian-killed-trillion-people.html" target="_blank">18 - How Justinian Killed a Trillion People</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/19-how-he-seized-all-wealth-of-romans.html" target="_blank">19 - How He Seized All the Wealth of the Romans and Threw It Away</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/20-debasing-of-quaestorship.html" target="_blank">20 - Debasing of the Quaestorship</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/21-sky-tax-and-how-border-armies-were.html" target="_blank">21 - The Sky Tax, and How Border Armies Were Forbidden to Punish Invading Barbarians</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/22-further-corruption-in-high-places.html" target="_blank">22 - Further Corruption in High Places</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/23-how-landowners-were-ruined.html" target="_blank">23 - How Landowners Were Ruined</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/24-unjust-treatment-of-soldiers.html" target="_blank">24 - Unjust Treatment of the Soldiers</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/25-how-he-robbed-his-own-officials.html" target="_blank">25 - How He Robbed His Own Officials</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/26-how-he-spoiled-beauty-of-cities-and.html" target="_blank">26 - How He Spoiled the Beauty of the Cities and Plundered the Poor</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/27-how-defender-of-faith-protected.html" target="_blank">27 - How the Defender of the Faith Protected the Interests of the Christians</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/28-his-violation-of-laws-of-romans-and.html" target="_blank">28 - His Violation of the Laws of the Romans and How Jews Were Fined for Eating Lamb</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/29-other-incidents-revealing-him-as.html" target="_blank">29 - Other Incidents Revealing Him as a Liar and a Hypocrite</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://the-light-house-keeper.blogspot.ca/1970/05/30-further-innovations-of-justinian-and.html" target="_blank">30 - Further Innovations of Justinian and Theodora, and a Conclusion</a><br />
.</div>
.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-57855749634296031621970-05-29T18:42:00.000-07:002015-08-09T10:12:25.517-07:001 - How the Great General Belisarius Was Hoodwinked by His Wife .<br />
The father of Belisarius's wife, a lady whom I have mentioned in my
former books, was (and so was her grandfather) a charioteer, exhibiting
that trade in Constantinople and Thessalonica. Her mother was one of the
wenches of the theater; and she herself from the first led an utterly
wanton life. Acquainted with magic drugs used by her parents before her,
she learned how to use those of compelling qualities and became the
wedded wife of Belisarius, after having already borne many children.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9eidJnTPK63GA5vYFLTLn0_2-RNc378LqH0Vnc0BiRmROV8jTgPW2ZEN0Ih_VhhYduOhiXomxypKGxy7FIG6mT4ywIFcu1ChBgHlJEkFYpgUH8pOGwkIgqelPe9ge4ZZ0U8CD3wIBrUd7/s1600/158644307-antonina-belisarius-wife-detail-from-gettyimages.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9eidJnTPK63GA5vYFLTLn0_2-RNc378LqH0Vnc0BiRmROV8jTgPW2ZEN0Ih_VhhYduOhiXomxypKGxy7FIG6mT4ywIFcu1ChBgHlJEkFYpgUH8pOGwkIgqelPe9ge4ZZ0U8CD3wIBrUd7/s320/158644307-antonina-belisarius-wife-detail-from-gettyimages.jpg" width="253" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Antonina, Belisarius' Wife</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"></span>Now she was unfaithful as a wife from the start, but was careful to
conceal her indiscretions by the usual precautions; not from any awe of
her spouse (for she never felt any shame at anything) and fooled him
easily with her deceptions), but because she feared the punishment of
the Empress. For Theodora hated her, and had already shown her teeth.
But when that Queen became involved in difficulties, she won her
friendship by helping her, first to destroy Silverius, as shall be
related presently, and later to ruin John of Cappadocia, as I have told
elsewhere. After that, she became more and more fearless, and casting
all concealment aside, abandoned herself to the winds of desire.<br />
<br />
There was a youth from Thrace in the house of Belisarius: Theodosius by
name, and of the Eunomian heresy by descent. On the eve of his
expedition to Libya, Belisarius baptized this boy in holy water and
received him in his arms as a member henceforth of the family, welcoming
him with his wife as their son, according to the Christian rite of
adoption. And Antonina not only embraced Theodosius with reasonable
fondness as her son by holy word, and thus cared for him, but soon,
while her husband was away on his campaign, became wildly in love with
him; and, out of her senses with this malady, shook off all fear and
shame of God and man. She began by enjoying him surreptitiously, and
ended by dallying with him in the presence of the men servants and
waiting maids. For she was now possessed by passion and, openly
overwhelmed with love, could see no hindrance to its consummation.<br />
<br />
Once, in Carthage, Belisarius caught her in the very act, but allowed
himself to be deceived by his wife. Finding the two in an underground
room, he was very angry; but she said, showing no fear or attempt to
keep anything hidden, "I came here with the boy to bury the most
precious part of our plunder, where the Emperor will not discover it."
So she said by way of excuse, and he dismissed the matter as if he
believed her, even as he saw Theodosius's trousers belt somewhat
unmodestly unfastened. For so bound by love for the woman was he, that
he preferred to distrust the evidence of his own eyes.<br />
<br />
As her folly progressed to an indescribable extent, those who saw what
was going on kept silent, except one slave, Macedonia by name. When
Belisarius was in Syracuse as the conqueror of Sicily, she made her
master swear solemnly never to betray her to her mistress, and then told
him the whole story, presenting s witnesses two slave boys attending
the bed-chamber.<br />
<br />
When he heard this, Belisarius ordered one of his guards to put
Theodosius away; but the latter learned of this in time to flee to
Ephesus. For most of the servants, inspired by the weakness of the
husband's character, were more anxious to please his wife than to show
loyalty to him, and so betrayed the order he had given. But Constantine,
when he saw Belisarius's grief at what had befallen him, sympathized
entirely except to comment, "I would have tried to kill the woman rather
than the young man." Antonina heard of this, and hated him in secret.
How malicious was her spite against him shall be shown; for she was a
scorpion who could hide her sting.<br />
<br />
But not long after this, by the enchantment either of philtres or of her
caresses, she persuaded her husband that the charges against her were
untrue. Without more ado he sent word to Theodosius to return, and
promised to turn Macedonia and the two slave boys over to his wife. She
first cruelly cut out their tongues, it is said, and then cut their
bodies into little bits which were put into sacks and thrown into the
sea. One of her slaves, Eugenius, who had already wrought the outrage on
Silverius, helped her in this crime.<br />
<br />
And it was not long after this that Belisarius was persuaded by his wife
to kill Constantine. What happened at that time concerning Presidius
and the daggers I have narrated in my previous books. For while
Belisarius would have preferred to let Constantine alone, Antonina gave
him no peace until his remark, which I have just repeated, was avenged.
And as a result of this murder, much enmity was aroused against
Belisarius in the hearts of the Emperor and all the most important of
the Romans.<br />
<br />
So matters progressed. But Theodosius said he was unable to return to
Italy, where Belisarius and Antonina were now staying, unless Photius
were put out of the way. For this Photius was the sort who would bite if
anyone got the better of him in anything, and he had reason to be
choked with indignation at Theodosius. Though he was the rightful son,
he was utterly disregarded while the other grew in power and riches:
they say that from the two palaces at Carthage and Ravenna Theodosius
had taken plunder amounting to a hundred centenaries, as he alone had
been given the management of these conquered properties.<br />
<br />
But Antonina, when she learned of Theodosius's fear, never ceased laying
snares for her son and planning deadly plots against his welfare, until
he saw he would have to escape to Constantinople if he wished to live.
Then Theodosius came to Italy and her. There they stayed in the
satisfaction of their love, unhindered by the complaisant husband; and
later she took them both to Constantinople. There Theodosius became so
worried lest the affair became generally known, that he was at his wit's
end. He saw it would be impossible to fool everybody, as the woman was
no longer able to conceal her passion and indulge it secretly, but
thought nothing of being in fact and in reputation an avowed adulteress.<br />
<br />
Therefore he went back to Ephesus, and having his head shaved after the
religious custom, became a monk. Whereupon Antonina, insane over her
loss, exhibited her grief by donning mourning; and went around the house
shrieking and wailing, lamenting even in the presence of her husband
what a good friend she had lost, how faithful, how tender, how loving,
how energetic! In the end, even her spouse was won over to join in her
sorrow. And so the poor wretch wept too, calling for his beloved
Theodosius. Later he even went to the Emperor and implored both him and
the Empress, till they consented to summon Theodosius to return, as one
who was and would always be a necessity in the house of Belisarius.<br />
<br />
But Theodosius refused to leave his monastery, saying he was completely
resolved to give himself forever to the cloistered life. This noble
pronouncement, however, was not entirely sincere, for he was aware that
as soon as Belisarius left Constantinople, it would be possible for him
to come secretly to Antonina. Which, indeed, he did.<br />
<br />
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<br />
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
Related:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://no-maam.blogspot.com/2003/01/winning-sophistry-of-wives.html">The Winning Sophistry of Wives</a><br />
..http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-24930457460652963801970-05-29T18:41:00.000-07:002015-08-09T10:23:32.950-07:002 - How Belated Jealousy Affected Belisarius's Military Judgment .<br />
For soon Belisarius went off to war on Chosroes, and he took Photius
with him; but Antonina remained behind, though this was contrary to her
usual habit. She had always preferred to voyage wherever her husband
went, lest he, being alone, come to his senses and, forgetting her
enchantments, think of her for once as she deserved. But now, so that
Theodosius might have free access to her, she planned once more how to
rid herself permanently of Photius. She bribed some of Belisarius's
guards to slander and insult her son at all times; while she, writing
letters almost every day, denounced him, and thus set everything in
motion against him. Compelled by all of this to counterplot against his
mother, Photius got a witness to come from Constantinople with evidence
of Theodosius's commerce with Antonina, took him to Belisarius, and
commanded him to tell the whole story.<br />
<br />
When Belisarius heard it, he became passionately angry, fell at
Photius's feet, kissed them, and begged him to revenge one who had been
so wronged by those who should least have treated him thus. "My dearest
boy," he said, "your father, whoever he was, you have never known, for
he left you at your mother's breast when the sands of his life were
measured. Nor have you even benefited from his estate, since he was not
overblessed with wealth. But brought up by me, though I was only your
stepfather, you have arrived at an age where it becomes you to avenge my
wrongs. I, who have raised you to consular rank, and given you the
opportunity of acquiring such riches, might call myself your father and
mother and entire kindred, and I would be right, my son. For it is not
by their kinship of blood, but by their friendly deeds that men are wont
to measure their bonds to one another.<br />
<br />
"Now the hour has come, when you must not only look on me in the ruin of
my household and the loss of my greatest treasure, but as one sharing
the shame of your mother in the reproach of all mankind. And consider
too, that the sins of women injure not only their husbands, but touch
even more bitterly their children, whose reputation suffers the greater
from this reason, that they are expected to inherit the disposition of
those who bore them.<br />
<br />
"Yet remember this of me, that I still love my wife exceedingly well;
and if it is in my power to punish the ruiner of my house, to her I
shall do no hurt. But while Theodosius is present, I cannot condone this
charge against her."<br />
<br />
When he had heard this, Photius agreed to serve him in everything; but
at the same time he was afraid lest some trouble might come to himself
from it, for he had little confidence in Belisarius's strength of will,
where his wife was concerned. And among other unhappy possibilities, he
remembered with distaste what had happened to Macedonia. So he had
Belisarius exchange with him all the oaths that are held most sacred and
binding among Christians, and each swore never to betray the other,
even in the most mortal peril.<br />
<br />
Now for the present they decided the time had not yet come to take
action. But as soon as Antonina should arrive from Constantinople and
Theodosius return to Ephesus, Photius was to go to Ephesus and dispose
without difficulty of Theodosius and his property.<br />
<br />
It was at this time that they had invaded the Persian country with the
entire army, and there occurred to John of Cappadocia what is reported
in my previous works. There I had to hush up one matter out of prudence,
namely, that it was not without malice aforethought that Antonina
deceived John and his daughter, but by many oaths, than which none is
more reverenced by the Christians, she induced them to trust her as one
who would never use them ill. After she had done this, feeling more
confident than before of the friendship of the Empress, she sent
Theodosius to Ephesus, and herself, with no suspicion of opposition, set
out for the East.<br />
<br />
Belisarius had just taken the fort of Sisauranum when the news of her
coming was brought to him; and he, setting everything else as nothing in
comparison, ordered the army to retire. It so happened, as I have shown
elsewhere, that other things had occurred to the expedition which
fitted in with his order to withdraw, however, as I said in the foreword
to this book, it was not safe for me at that time to tell all the
underlying motives of these events. Accusation was consequently made
against Belisarius by all the Romans that he had put the most urgent
affairs of state below the lesser interests of his personal household.
For the fact was that, possessed with jealous passion for his wife, he
was unwilling to go far away from Roman territory, so that as soon as he
should learn his wife was coming from Constantinople, he could
immediately seize her and avenge himself on Theodosius.<br />
<br />
For this reason he ordered the forces under Arethas to cross the Tigris
River; and they returned home, having accomplished nothing worthy of
mention. And he himself was careful not to leave the Roman frontier for
much more than a one hour's ride. Indeed, the fort of Sisauranum, going
by way of the city of Nisibis, is not more than a day's journey for a
well-mounted man from the Roman border; and by another route is only
half that distance. Yet if he had been willing in the beginning to cross
the Tigris with his entire army, I believe he could have taken all the
plunder in the land of Assyria, and marched as far as the city of
Ctesiphon, with none to hinder him. And he could have rescued the
captured Antiochans and whatever other Romans misfortune had brought
there, and restored them to their native lands.<br />
<br />
Furthermore, he was culpable for Chosroes's unhindered return home from
Colchis. How this happened I shall now reveal. When Chosroes, Cabades's
son, invading the land of Colchis, accomplished not only what I have
elsewhere narrated, but captured Petra, a great part of the army of the
Medes was destroyed, either in battle or because of the difficulty of
the country. For Lazica, as I have explained, is almost roadless and
very mountainous. Also pestilence, falling upon them, had destroyed most
of -the army, and many had died from lack of necessary food and
treatment. It was at this time that messengers came from Persia with
news that Belisarius, having conquered Nabedes in battle before the city
of Nisibis, was approaching; that he had taken the fort of Sisauranum
by siege, captured at the point of the spear Bleschames and eight
hundred Persian cavalry; and that he had sent a second army of Romans
under Arethas, ruler of the Saracens, to cross the Tigris and ravage all
the land there that heretofore had not known fear.<br />
<br />
It happened also that the army of Huns which Chosroes had sent into
Roman Armenia, to create a diversion there so that the Romans would not
notice his expedition into Lazica, had fallen into the hands of Valerian
and his Romans, as other messengers now reported; and that these
barbarians had been badly beaten in battle, and most of them killed.
When the Persians heard this, already in low spirits over their ill
fortune among the Lazi, they now feared if they should meet a hostile
army in their present difficulties, among precipices and wilderness,
they would all perish in disorder. And they feared, too, for their
children and their wives and their country; indeed, the noblest men in
the army of the Medes reviled Chosroes, calling him one who had broken
his plighted word and the common law of man, by invading in time of
peace the land of the Romans. He had wronged, they cried, the oldest and
greatest of all nations, which he could not possibly surpass in war. A
mutiny was imminent.<br />
<br />
Aroused at this, Chosroes found the following remedy for the trouble. He
read them a letter which the Empress had recently written to
Zaberganes. This was the letter:<br />
<br />
"How highly I esteem you, Zaberganes, and that I believe you friendly to
our State, you, who were ambassador to us not so long ago, are well
aware. Would you not be acting suitably to this high opinion which I
have for you, if you could persuade King Chosroes to choose peace with
our government? If you do this, I can promise you will be rewarded by my
husband, who does nothing without my advice."<br />
<br />
Chosroes read this aloud, and asked the Persian leaders if they thought
this was an Empire which a woman managed. Thus he calmed their
nervousness. But even so, he withdrew from the place with considerable
anxiety, thinking that at any moment Belisarius's forces would confront
him. And when none of the enemy appeared to bar his retreat, with great
relief he marched back to his native land.<br />
<br />
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..http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-44887059892296430341970-05-29T18:40:00.000-07:002015-08-09T10:26:38.040-07:003 - Showing the Danger of Interfering with a Woman's Intrigues.<br />
On his return to Roman territory, Belisarius found his wife just
arriving from Constantinople. He put her under guard in disgrace, and
often was on the point of putting her to death; but each time he
weakened, overcome, I suppose, by the rekindling of his love for her.
But they say he was also driven from his senses by philtres she gave.
him.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile the outraged Photius had gone to Ephesus, taking the eunuch
Calligonus, pander for his mistress, with him, in chains; and under the
whip, during the course of his journey Calligonus confessed all his
lady's secrets. But Theodosius again learned of his peril, and fled to
the Church of St. John the Apostle, which is the holiest and most
revered sanctuary thereabouts. However Andrew, Bishop of Ephesus, was
bribed by Photius to give the man up into his hands.<br />
<br />
Theodora was now in some fear for Antonina, for she had heard what had
happened to her; so she sent word to Belisarius to bring his wife to
Constantinople. Photius, hearing of this, sent Theodosius to Cilicia,
where his own lancers and shield-bearers happened to be wintering;
enjoining upon those who took him thither to do so as secretly as
possible, and on arriving in Cilicia to hide him privately in the
garrison, letting no one know where in the world he was. Then, with
Calligonus and Theodosius's considerable moneys, Photius went to
Constantinople.<br />
<br />
Now the Empress gave evidence to all mankind that for every murder to
which she was indebted, she could pay in greater and even more savage
requital. For Antonina had betrayed for her one enemy, when she had
lately ensnared the Cappadocian; but she ruined, for Antonina's sake, a
number of blameless men. Some of Belisarius's and Photius's
acquaintances she put to the torture, when the only charge against them
was that they were friends of the two (and to this day we do not know
what was their ultimate fate), and others she banished into exile on the
same accusation.<br />
<br />
One man who had accompanied Photius to Ephesus, a Senator who was also
named Theodosius, not only lost his property but was thrown into a
dungeon, where he was, fastened to a manger by a rope around his neck so
short that the noose was always tight and could not be slackened.
Consequently the poor man had to stand at the manger all the time,
whether he ate or sought sleep or performed the other needs of the body.
The only difference between him and an ass, was that . he could not
bray. The time the man passed in this condition was not less than four
months; after which, overcome by melancholy, he went mad, and as such
they set him free to die.<br />
<br />
The reluctant Belisarius she forced to become reconciled with his wife;
while Photius, after she had him tortured like a slave and scourged on
the back and shoulders, was ordered to tell where Theodosius and the
pander were. But in spite of his anguish at the torture he kept silent
as he had sworn to do; though he had always been delicate and sickly,
had had to be very careful of his health, and was hitherto inexperienced
in such outrage and ill treatment. Yet none of Belisarius's secrets did
he divulge.<br />
<br />
Later, however, everything that up to this time had been concealed came
to light. Discovering Calligonus in the neighborhood, Theodora handed
him over to Antonina, and then had Theodosius brought back to
Constantinople, where she hid him in her palace. On the day after his
arrival she sent for Antonina. "My dearest lady," she said, "a pearl
fell into my hands yesterday, such a one as no mortal has ever seen. If
you wish, I will not grudge you a sight of this jewel, but will show it
to you." Not knowing what had happened, her friend begged Theodora to
show her the pearl; and the Empress, leading Theodosius from the rooms
of one of the eunuchs, revealed him.<br />
<br />
For a moment Antonina, speechless with joy, remained dumb. Then she
broke into an ecstasy of gratitude, and called Theodora her saviour, her
benefactress, and her true mistress. Thereafter, the Empress kept
Theodosius in the palace, wrapping him in every luxury, and declared she
would even make him general of all the Roman forces before long.
justice, however, intervened. Carried off by a dysentery, he disappeared
from the world of men.<br />
<br />
Now in Theodora's palace were certain secret dungeon rooms: dark,
unknown, and remote, wherein there was no difference between day and
night. In one of these Photius languished for a long time. He had the
good fortune, however, to escape, not once, but twice. The first time he
took refuge in the Church of the Virgin Mother, which is the most holy
and famous of the churches in Constantinople, and there took his place
at the sacred table as a suppliant. But she captured him even here, and
had him removed by force. The second time he fled to the Church of St.
Sophia and sought sanctuary at the holy font, which of all places the
Christians most reverence. Yet even from here the woman was able to drag
him: for to her no spot was too awful or venerable to transgress, and
she thought nothing of violating all the sanctuaries put together. Like
all the rest of the people, the Christian priests were struck dumb with
horror, but stood to one side and suffered her to do as she willed.<br />
<br />
Now for three years Photius remained thus in his cell; and then the
prophet Zechariah came to him in a dream, and ordered him in the name of
the Lord to escape, promising to aid him in this. Trusting in the
vision, he broke loose again, and unnoticed by anyone made his way to
Jerusalem. Though he passed through countless thousands of men on his
flight, not one of them saw the youth. There he shaved his head, assumed
the garb of the monks, and was free at last from the punishment of
Theodora.<br />
<br />
But Belisarius, disregarding his word of honor, took no measures to
avenge his accomplice's suffering of such impious treatment as has been
told. And all of his military expeditions from this time on- failed,
presumably by the will of God- For his next campaign against Chosroes
and the Medes, who were for the third time invading Roman territory, was
severely criticized; though one good thing was said of him, that he had
driven the foe back. But when Chosroes crossed the Euphrates River,
took the great city of Callinicus without a battle, and enslaved myriads
of Roman citizens, while Belisarius was careful not even to pursue the
enemy when he retired, he won the reputation of being one of two
things-either a traitor or a coward.<br />
<br />
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..http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-2465072015616341291970-05-29T18:39:00.000-07:002015-08-09T10:29:03.324-07:004 - How Theodora Humiliated the Conqueror of Africa and Italy .<br />
Soon after this, a further disaster befell him. The plague, which I have
described elsewhere, became epidemic at Constantinople, and the Emperor
Justinian was taken grievously ill; it was even said he had died of it.
Rumor spread this report till it reached the Roman army camp. There
some of the officers said that if the Romans tried to establish anyone
else at Constantinople as Emperor, they would never recognize him.
Presently, the Emperor's health bettered, and the officers of the army
brought charges against each other, the generals Peter and John the
Glutton alleging they had heard Belisarius and Buzes making the above
declaration.<br />
This hypothetical mutiny the indignant Queen took as intended by the two
men to refer to herself. So she recalled all the officers to
Constantinople to investigate the matter; and she summoned Buzes
impromptu to her private quarters, on the pretext she wished to discuss
with him matters of sudden urgency.<br />
<br />
Now underneath the palace was an underground cellar, secure and
labyrinthian, comparable to the infernal regions, in which most of those
who gave offense to her were eventually entombed. And so Buzes was
thrown into this oubliette, and there the man, though of consular rank,
remained with no one cognizant of his fate. Neither, as he sat there in
darkness, could he ever know whether it was day or night, nor could he
learn from anyone else; for the man who each day threw him his food was
dumb, and the scene was that of one wild beast confronting another.
Everybody soon thought him dead, but no one dared to mention even his
memory. But after two years and four months, Theodora took pity on the
man and released him. Ever after he was half blind and sick in body.
This is what she did to Buzes.<br />
<br />
Belisarius, although none of the charges against him were proved, was at
the insistence of the Empress relieved of his command by the Emperor;
who appointed Martinus in his place as General of the armies of the
East. Belisarius's lancers and shield-bearers, and such of his servants
as were of military use, he ordered to be divided between the other
generals and certain of the palace eunuchs. Drawing lots for these men
and their arms, they portioned them as the chances fell. And his
friends, and all who formerly had served him, were forbidden ever to
visit Belisarius. It was a bitter sight, and one no one would ever have
thought credible, to see Belisarius a private citizen in Constantinople,
almost deserted, melancholy and miserable of countenance, and ever
expectant of a further conspiracy to accomplish his death.<br />
<br />
Then the Empress learned he had acquired great wealth in the East, and
sent one of the eunuchs of the palace to confiscate it. Antonina, as I
have told, was now quite out of temper with her husband, but on the most
friendly and intimate terms with the Queen, since she had got rid of
John of Cappadocia. So, to please Antonina, Theodora arranged everything
so that the wife would appear to have asked mercy for her husband, and
from such peril to have saved his life; and the poor wretch not only
became quite reconciled to her, but let her make him her humblest slave
for having saved him from the Queen. And this is how that happened.<br />
<br />
One morning, Belisarius went to the palace as usual with his few and
pitiful followers. Finding the Emperor and Empress hostile, he was
further insulted in their presence by baseborn and common men. Late in
the evening he went home, often turning around as he withdrew and
looking in every direction for those who might be advancing to put him
to death. Accompanied by this dread, he entered his home and sat down
alone upon his couch. His spirit broken, he failed even to remember the
time when he was a man; sweating, dizzy and trembling, he counted
himself lost; devoured by slavish fears and mortal worry, he was
completely emasculated.<br />
<br />
Antonina, who neither knew just what arrangement of his fate had been
made nor much cared what would become of him, was walking up and down
nearby pretending a heartburn; for they were not exactly on friendly
terms. Meanwhile, an officer of the palace, Quadratus by name, had come
as the sun went down, and passing through the outer hall, suddenly stood
at the door of the men's apartments to say he had been sent here by the
Empress. And when Belisarius heard that, he drew up his arms and legs
onto the couch and lay down on his back, ready for the end. So far had
all manhood left him.<br />
<br />
Quadratus, however, approached only to hand him a letter from the Queen.
And thus the letter read: "You know, Sir, your offense against us. But
because I am greatly indebted to your wife, I have decided to dismiss
all charges against you and give her your life. So for the future you
may be of good cheer as to your personal safety and that of your
property; but we shall know by what happens to you how you conduct
yourself toward her."<br />
<br />
When Belisarius read this intoxicated with joy and yearning to give
evidence of his gratitude, he leapt from his couch and prostrated
himself at the feet of his wife. With each hand fondling one of her
legs, licking with his tongue the sole of first one of her feet and then
the other, he cried that she was the cause of his life and of his
safety: henceforth he would be her faithful slave, instead of her lord
and master.<br />
<br />
The Empress then gave thirty gold centenaries of his property to the
Emperor, and returned what was left to Belisarius. This is what happened
to the great general to whom destiny had not long before given both
Gelimer and Vitiges to be captives of his spear! But the wealth that
this subject of theirs had acquired had long ago gnawed jealous wounds
in the hearts of Justinian and Theodora, who deemed it grown too big for
any but the imperial coffers. And they said he had concealed most of
Gelimer's and Vitiges's moneys, which by conquest belonged to the State
and had handed over only a small fraction, hardly worth accepting by an
Emperor. Yet, when they counted the labors the man had accomplished, and
the cries of reproach they might arouse among the people, since they
had no credible pretext for punishing him, they kept their peace: until
now, when the Empress, discovering him out of his senses with terror, at
one fell stroke managed to become mistress of all his fortune.<br />
<br />
To tie him further to her, she betrothed Joannina, Belisarius's only daughter, to Anastasius her nephew.<br />
<br />
Belisarius now asked to be given back his old command, and as General of
the East lead the Roman armies once more against Chosroes and the
Medes; but Antonina would not hear of it. It was there she had been
insulted by him before, she said, and she never wanted to see the place
again. Accordingly, Belisarius was instead made Count of the imperial
remounts, and fared forth a second time to Italy; agreeing with the
Emperor, they say, not to ask him at any time for money toward this war,
but to prepare all the military equipment from his private purse.<br />
<br />
Now everybody took it for granted that Belisarius had arranged this with
his wife and made the agreement about the expedition with the Emperor,
merely so as to get away from his humiliating position in
Constantinople; and that as soon as he had gotten outside the city, he
intended to take up arms and retaliate, nobly and as becomes a man,
against his wife and those who had done him wrong. Instead, he made
light of all he had experienced, forgot or discounted his word of honor
to Photius and his other friends, and followed his wife about in a
perfect ecstasy of love: and that when she had now arrived at the age of
sixty years.<br />
<br />
However, as soon as he arrived in Italy, some new and different trouble
happened with each fresh day, for even Providence had turned against
him. For the plans this General had laid in the former campaign against
Theodatus and Vitiges, though they did not seem to be fitting to the
event, usually turned out to his advantage; while now, though he was
credited with laying better plans, as was to be expected after his
previous experience in warfare, they all turned out badly: so that the
final judgment was that he had no sense of strategy.<br />
<br />
Indeed, it is not by the plans of men, but by the hand of God that the
affairs of men are directed; and this men call Fate, not knowing the
reason for what things they see occur; and what seems to be without
cause is easy to call the accident of chance. Still, this is a matter
every mortal will decide for himself according to his taste.<br />
<br />
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..http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-28851901704236182441970-05-29T18:38:00.000-07:002015-08-09T10:31:20.766-07:005 - How Theodora Tricked the General's Daughter.<br />
From his second expedition to Italy Belisarius brought back nothing but
disgrace: for in the entire five years of the campaign he was unable to
set foot on that land, as I have related in my former books, because
there was no tenable position there; but all this time sailed up and
down along the coast.<br />
<br />
Totila, indeed, was willing enough to meet him before his city walls,
but could not catch him there, since like the rest of the Roman army he
was afraid to fight. Wherefore Belisarius recovered nothing of what had
been lost, but even lost Rome in addition; and everything else, if there
were anything left to lose. His mind was filled with avarice during
this time, and he thought of nothing but base gain. Since he had been
given no funds by the Emperor, he plundered nearly all the Italians
living in Ravenna and Sicily, and wherever else he found opportunity:
collecting a bill, as it were, for which those who dwelt there were in
no way responsible. Thus, he even went to Herodian and asked him for
money, and his threats so enraged Herodian that he rebelled against the
Roman army and gave his services, with those of his followers and the
city of Spoletum, to Totila and the Goths.<br />
<br />
And now I shall show how it came about that Belisarius and John, the
nephew of Vitalian, became estranged: a division that brought great
disaster to Roman affairs.<br />
<br />
Now so thoroughly did the Empress hate Germanus, and so conspicuously,
that no one dared to become a relative of his, though he was the nephew
of the Emperor. His sons remained unmarried while she lived, and his
daughter Justina, though in the flower of eighteen summers, was still
unwedded. Consequently, when John, sent by Belisarius, arrived in
Constantinople, Germanus was forced to approach him as a possible
son-in-law, though John was not at all worthy in station of such an
alliance. But when they had come to an agreement, they bound each other
by most solemn oaths to complete the alliance by all means in their
power; and this was necessary because neither had any confidence in the
good faith of the other. For John knew he was seeking a marriage far
above his rank, and Germanus feared that even this man might try to slip
out of the contract.<br />
<br />
The Empress, of course, was unable to contain herself at this: and in
every way, by every possible device, however unworthy, tried to hinder
the event. When, for all her menaces, she was unable to deter either of
them, she publicly threatened to put John to death. After this, on
john's return to Italy, fearing Antonina might join the plot against
him, he did not dare to meet Belisarius until she left for
Constantinople. That Antonina had been charged by the Queen to help
murder him, no one could have thought unlikely; and when he considered
Antonina's habits and Belisarius's enslavement by his wife, John was as
greatly as he was reasonably alarmed.<br />
<br />
The Roman expedition, already on its last legs, now collapsed entirely.
And this is how Belisarius concluded the Gothic war. In despair he
begged the Emperor to let him come home as fast as he could sail. And
when he received the monarch's permission to do this, he left
straightway in high spirits, bidding a long farewell to the Roman army
and to Italy. He left almost everything in the power of the enemy; and
while he was on his way home, Perusia, hard pressed by a most bitter
siege, was captured and submitted to every possible misery, as I have
elsewhere related.<br />
<br />
As if this were not enough, he suffered a further personal misfortune in
the following manner. The Empress Theodora, desiring to marry the
daughter of Belisarius to her nephew, worried the girl's parents with
frequent letters. To avoid this alliance, they delayed the ceremony
until they could both be present at it," and then, when the Empress
summoned them to Constantinople, pretended they were unable at the time
to leave Italy. But the Queen was still determined her nephew should be
master of Belisarius's wealth, for she knew his daughter would inherit
it, as Belisarius had no other child. Yet she had no confidence in
Antonina; and fearing that after her own life was ended, Antonina would
not be loyal to her house, for all that she had been so helpful in the
Empress's emergencies, and that she would break the agreement, Theodora
did an unholy thing.<br />
<br />
She made the boy and girl live together without any ceremony. And they
say she forced the girl against her will to submit to his clandestine
embrace, so that, being thus deflowered, the girl would agree to the
marriage, and the Emperor could not forbid the event. However, after the
first ravishing, Anastasius and the girl fell warmly in love with each
other, and for not less than eight months continued their unmarital
relations.<br />
<br />
But when, after Theodora's death, Antonina came to Constantinople, she
was unwilling to forget the outrage the Queen had committed against her.
Not bothering about the fact that if she united her daughter to any
other man, she would be making an ex-prostitute out of her, she refused
to accept Theodora's nephew as a son-in-law, and by force tore the girl,
ignoring her fondest pleadings, from the man she loved.<br />
<br />
For this act of senseless obstinacy she was universally censured. Yet
when her husband came home, she easily persuaded him to approve her
course: which should have openly disclosed the character of the man.
Still, though he had pledged himself to Photius and others of his
friends, and then broken his word, there were plenty who sympathized
with him. For they thought the reason for his perjury was not
uxoriousness, but his fear of the Empress. But after Theodora died, as I
have told, he still took no thought of Photius or any of his friends;
and it was clear he called Antonina his mistress, and Calligonus the
pander, his master. And then all men saw his shame, made him a public
laughing stock, and reviled him to his face as a nitwit. Now was the
folly of Belisarius completely revealed.<br />
<br />
As for Sergius, son of Bacchus, and his misdeeds in Libya, I have
described that affair sufficiently in my chapter elsewhere on the
subject: how he was most guilty for the disaster there to Roman power,
and how he disregarded the gospel oath he had sworn to the Levathae, and
criminally put to death their eighty ambassadors. So there remains for
me to add now only this, that neither did these men come to Sergius with
any intention of treachery, nor did Sergius have any suspicion that
they did; but nevertheless, after inviting them to a banquet under
pledge of safety, he put them shamefully to death. This resulted in the
loss of Solomon, the Roman Army, and all the Libyans. For consequent to
this affair, especially after Solomon's death, as I have told, neither
officer nor soldier was willing to venture the dangers of battle. Most
notably John son of Sisinnolus, kept entirely from the filed of war
because of his hatred of Sergius, until Areobinus came to Libya.<br />
<br />
This Sergius was a luxurious person and no soldier; juvenile in nature
and years; a jealous and swaggering bully; a wanton liver and a
blowhard. But after became the accepted suitor of her niece and was this
related to Antonina, Belasarius's wife, the Empress would not allow him
to be punished or removed from his command, even when she saw Libya
sure to be lost. And with the Emperor's consent she even let Solomon,
Sergius brother, go scot-free after the murder of Pegasius. How this
happened, I shall now relate.<br />
<br />
After Pegasius had ransomed Solomon from the Levathae, and the
barbarians had gone home, Solomon with Pegasius his ransomer and a few
soldiers, set out for Carthage. And on the way Pegasius reminded Solomon
of the wrong he had done, and said he should thank God for his rescue
from the enemy. Solomon vexed at being reproached for having been taken
captive, straightway slew Pegasius; and this was his requital to the man
who saved him. But when Solomon arrived in Constantinople, the Emperor
pardoned him on the ground that the man he killed was a traitor to the
Roman state. So Solomon this escaping justice, left gladly for the East
to visit his native country and his family. Yet God's vengeance overtook
him on the very journey, and removed him from the world of men.<br />
<br />
This is the explanation of the affair between Solomon and Pegasius.<br />
<br />
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..http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-71389612432644844951970-05-29T18:36:00.000-07:002015-08-09T10:33:53.925-07:006 - Ignorance of the Emperor Justin, and How His Nephew Justinian Was the Virtual Ruler.<br />
I now come to the tale of what sort of beings Justinian and Theodora were, and how they brought confusion on the Roman State.<br />
<br />
During the rule of the Emperor Leo in Constantinople, three young
farmers of Illyrian birth, named Zimarchus, Ditybistus, and Justin of
Bederiana, after a desperate struggle with poverty, left their homes to
try their fortune in the army. They made their way to Constantinople on
foot, carrying on their shoulders their blankets in which were wrapped
no other equipment except the biscuits they had baked at home. When the
arrived and were admitted into military service, the Emperor chose them
for the palace guard; for they were all three fine-looking men.<br />
<br />
Later, when Anastasius succeeded to the throne, war broke out with the
Isaurians when that nation rebelled; and against them Anastasius sent a
considerable army under John the Hunchback. This John for some offense
threw Justin into the guardhouse, and on the following day would have
sentenced him to death, had he not been stopped by a vision appearing to
him in a dream. For in this dream, the general said, he beheld a being,
gigantic in size and in every way mightier than mortals: and this being
commanded him to release the man whom he had arrested that day. Waking
from his sleep, John said, he decided the dream was not worth
considering. But the next night the vision returned, and again he heard
the same words he had heard before; yet even so he was not persuaded to
obey its command. But for the third time the vision appeared in his
dreams, and threatened him with fearful consequences if he did not do as
the angel ordered: warning that he would be in sore need of this man
and his family thereafter, when the day of wrath should overtake him.
And this time Justin was released.<br />
<br />
As time went on, this Justin came to great power. For the Emperor
Anastasius appointed him Count of the palace guard; and when the Emperor
departed from this world, by the force of his military power Justin
seized the throne. By this time he was an old man on the verge of the
grave, and so illiterate that he could neither read nor write: which
never before could have been said of a Roman ruler. It was the custom
for an Emperor to sign his edicts with his own hand, but he neither made
decrees nor was able to understand the business of state at all.<br />
<br />
The man on whom it befell to assist him as Quaestor was named Proclus;
and he managed everything to suit himself. But so that he might have
some evidence of the Emperor's hand, he invented the following device
for his clerks to construct. Cutting out of a block of wood the shapes
of the four letters required to make the Latin word, they dipped a pen
into the ink used by emperors for their signatures, and put it in the
Emperor's fingers. Laying the block of wood I have described on the
paper to be signed, they guided the Emperor's hand so that his pen
outlined the four letters, following all the curves of the stencil: and
thus they withdrew with the FIAT Of the Emperor. This is how the Romans
were ruled under Justin.<br />
<br />
His wife was named Lupicina: a slave and a barbarian, she was bought to
be his concubine. With Justin, as the sun of his life was about to set,
she ascended the throne.<br />
<br />
Now Justin was able to do his subjects neither harm nor good. For he was
simple, unable to carry on a conversation or make a speech, and utterly
bucolic. His nephew Justinian, while still a youth, was the virtual
ruler-, and the of more and worse calamities to the Romans than any one
man in all their previous history that has come down to us.- For he had
no scruples; against murder or the seizing of other persons property;
and it was nothing to him to make away with myriads of men, even when
they gave him no cause. He had no care for preserving established
customs, but was always eager for new experiments, and, in short, was
the greatest corrupter of all noble traditions.<br />
<br />
Though the plague, described in my former books, attacked the whole
world, no fewer men escaped than perished of it; for some never were
taken by the disease, and others recovered after it had smitten them.
But this man, not one of all the Romans could escape; but as if he were a
second pestilence sent from heaven, he fell on the nation and left no
man quite untouched. For some he slew without reason, and some he
released to struggle with penury, and their fate was worse than that of
those who had perished, so that they prayed for death to free them from
their misery; and others he robbed of their property and their lives
together.<br />
<br />
When there was nothing left to ruin in the Roman state, he determined
the conquest of Libya and Italy, for no other reason than to destroy the
people there, as he had those who were already his subjects.<br />
<br />
Indeed, his power was not ten days old, before he slew Amantius, chief
of the palace eunuchs, and several others, on no graver charge than that
Amantius had made some rash remark about John, Archbishop of the city.
After this, he was the most feared of men.<br />
<br />
Immediately after this he sent for the rebel Vitalian, to whom he had
first given pledges of safety, and partaken with him of the Christian
communion. But soon after he became suspicious and jealous, and murdered
Vitalian and his companions at a banquet in the palace: thus showing he
considered himself in no way bound by the most sacred of pledges.<br />
<br />
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..http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-68075992994308640371970-05-29T18:35:00.000-07:002015-08-09T10:35:42.176-07:007 - Outrages of the Blues.<br />
The people had since long previous time been divided, as I have
explained elsewhere, into two factions, the Blues and the Greens.
Justinian, by joining the former party, which had already shown favor to
him, was able to bring everything into confusion and turmoil, and by
its power to sink the Roman state to its knees before him. Not all the
Blues were willing to follow his leadership, but there were plenty who
were eager for civil war. Yet even these, as the trouble spread, seemed
the most prudent of men, for their crimes were less awful than was in
their power to commit. Nor did the Green partisans remain quiet, but
showed their resentment as violently as they could, though one by one
they were continually punished; which, indeed, urged them each time to
further recklessness. For men who are wronged are likely to become
desperate.<br />
<br />
Then it was that Justinian, fanning the flame and openly inciting the
Blues to fight, made the whole Roman Empire shake on its foundation, as
if an earthquake or a cataclysm had stricken it, or every city within
its confines had been taken by the foe. Everything everywhere was
uprooted: nothing was left undisturbed by him. Law and order, throughout
the State, overwhelmed by distraction, were turned upside down.<br />
<br />
First the rebels revolutionized the style of wearing their hair. For
they had it cut differently from the rest of the Romans: not molesting
the mustache or beard, which they allowed to keep on growing as long as
it would, as the Persians do, but clipping the hair short on the front
of the head down to the temples, and letting it hang down in great
length and disorder in the back, as the Massageti do. This weird
combination they called the Hun haircut.<br />
<br />
Next they decided to wear the purple stripe on their togas, and
swaggered about in a dress indicating a rank above their station: for it
was only by ill-gotten money they were able to buy this finery. And the
sleeves of their tunics were cut tight about the wrists, while from
there to the shoulders they were of an ineffable fullness; thus,
whenever they moved their hands, as when applauding at the theater or
encouraging a driver in the hippodrome, these immense sleeves fluttered
conspicuously, displaying to the simple public what beautiful and
well-developed physiques were these that required such large garments to
cover them. They did not consider that by the exaggeration of this
dress the meagerness of their stunted bodies appeared all the more
noticeable. Their cloaks, trousers, and boots were also different: and
these too were called the Hun style, which they imitated.<br />
<br />
Almost all of them carried steel openly from the first, while by day
they concealed their two-edged daggers along the thigh under their
cloaks. Collecting in gangs as soon as dusk fell, they robbed their
betters in the open Forum and in the narrow alleys, snatching from
passersby their mantles, belts, gold brooches, and whatever they had in
their hands. Some they killed after robbing them, so they could not
inform anyone of the assault.<br />
<br />
These outrages brought the enmity of everybody on them, especially that
of the Blue partisans who had not taken active part in the discord. When
even the latter were molested, they began to wear brass belts and
brooches and cheaper cloaks than most of them were privileged to
display, lest their elegance should lead to their deaths; and even
before the sun went down they went home to hide. But the evil
progressed; and as no punishment came to the criminals from those in
charge of the public peace, their boldness increased more and more. For
when crime finds itself licensed, there are no limits to its abuses;
since even when it is punished, it is never quite suppressed, most men
being by nature easily turned to error. Such, then, was the conduct of
the Blues.<br />
<br />
Some of the opposite party joined this faction so as to get even with
the people of their original side who had ill-treated them; others fled
in secret to other lands, but many were captured before they could get
away, and perished either at the hands of their foes or by sentence of
the State. And many other young men offered themselves to this society
who had never before taken any interest in the quarrel, but were now
induced by the power and possibility of insolence they could thus
acquire. For there is no villainy to which men give a name that was not
committed during this time, and remained unpunished.<br />
<br />
Now at first they killed only their opponents. But as matters
progressed, they also murdered men who had done nothing against them.
And there were many who bribed them with money, pointing out personal
enemies, whom the Blues straightway dispatched, declaring these victims
were Greens, when as a matter of fact they were utter strangers. And all
this went on not any longer at dark and by stealth, but in every hour
of the day, everywhere in the city: before the eyes of the most notable
men of the government, if they happened to be bystanders. For they did
not need to conceal their crimes, having no fear of punishment, but
considered it rather to the advantage of their reputation, as proving
their strength and manhood, to kill with one stroke of the dagger any
unarmed man who happened to be passing by.<br />
<br />
No one could hope to live very long under this state of affairs, for
everybody suspected he would be the next to be killed. No place was
safe, no time of day offered any pledge of security, since these murders
went on in the holiest of sanctuaries even during divine services. No
confidence was left in one's friends or relatives, for many died by
conspiracy of members of their own households. Nor was there any
investigation after these deeds, but the blow would fall unexpectedly,
and none avenged the victim. No longer was there left any force in law
or contract, because,of this disorder, but everything was settled by
violence. The State might as well have been a tyranny: not one, however,
that had been established, but one that was being overturned daily and
ever recommencing.<br />
<br />
The magistrates seemed to have been driven from their senses, and their
wits enslaved by the fear of one man. The judges, when deciding cases
that came up before them, cast their votes not according to what they
thought right or lawful, but according as either of the disputants was
an enemy or friend of the faction in power. For a judge who disregarded
its instruction was sentencing himself to death. And many creditors were
forced to receipt the bills they had sent to their debtors without
being paid what was due them; and many thus against their will had to
free their slaves.<br />
<br />
And they say that certain ladies were forced by their own slaves to do
what they did not want to do; and the sons of notable men, getting mixed
up with these young bandits, compelled their fathers, among other acts
against their will, to hand over their properties to them. Many boys
were constrained, with their fathers' knowledge, to serve the unnatural
desires of the Blues; and happily married women met the same misfortune.<br />
<br />
It is told that a woman of no undue beauty was ferrying with her husband
to the suburb opposite the mainland; when some men of this party met
them on the water, and jumping into her boat, dragged her abusively from
her husband and made her enter their vessel. She had whispered to her
spouse to trust her and have no fear of any reproach, for she would not
allow herself to be dishonored. Then, as he looked at her in great
grief, she threw her body into the Bosphorus and forthwith vanished from
the world of men. Such were the deeds this party dared to commit at
that time in Constantinople.<br />
<br />
Yet all of this disturbed people less than Justinian's offenses against
the State. For those who suffer the most grievously from evildoers are
relieved of the greater part of their anguish by the expectation they
will sometime be avenged by law and authority. Men who are confident of
the future can bear more easily and less painfully their present
troubles; but when they are outraged even by the government what befalls
them is naturally all the more grievous, and by the failing of all hope
of redress they are turned to utter despair. And Justinian's crime was
that he was not only unwilling to protect the injured, but saw no reason
why he should not be the open head of the guilty faction; he gave great
sums of money to these young men, and surrounded himself with them: and
some he even went so far as to appoint to high office and other posts
of honor.<br />
<br />
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..http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-80306598684683741041970-05-29T18:33:00.000-07:002015-08-09T10:38:11.878-07:008 - Character and Appearance of Justinian .<br />
Now this went on not only in Constantinople, but in every city: for like
any other disease, the evil, starting there, spread throughout the
entire Roman Empire. But the Emperor was undisturbed by the trouble,
even when it went on continually under his own eyes at the hippodrome.
For he was very complacent and resembled most the silly ass, which
follows, only shaking its ears, when one drags it by the bridle. As such
Justinian acted, and threw everything into confusion.<br />
<br />
As soon as he took over the rule from his uncle, his measure was to
spend the public money without restraint, now that he had control of it.
He gave much of it to the Huns who, from time to time, entered the
state; and in consequence the Roman provinces were subject to constant
incursions, for these barbarians, having once tasted Roman wealth, never
forgot the road that led to it. And he threw much money into the sea in
the form of moles, as if to master the eternal roaring of the breakers.
For he jealously hurled stone breakwaters far out from the mainland
against the onset of the sea, as if by the power of wealth he could
outmatch the might of ocean.<br />
<br />
He gathered to himself the private estates of Roman citizens from all
over the Empire: some by accusing their possessors of crimes of which
they were innocent, others by juggling their owners' words into the
semblance of a gift to him of their property. And many, caught in the
act of murder and other crimes, turned their possessions over to him and
thus escaped the penalty for their sins.<br />
<br />
Others, fraudulently disputing title to lands happening to adjoin their
own, when they saw they had no chance of getting the best of the
argument, with the law against them, gave him their equity in the claim
so as to be released from court. Thus, by a gesture that cost him
nothing, they gained his favor and were able illegally to get the better
of their opponents.<br />
<br />
I think this is as good a time as any to describe the personal
appearance of the man. Now in physique he was neither tall nor short,
but of average height; not thin, but moderately plump; his face was
round, and not bad looking, for he had good color, even when he fasted
for two days. To make a long description short, he much resembled
Domitian, Vespasian's son. He was the one whom the Romans so hated that
even tearing him into pieces did not satisfy their wrath against him,
but a decree was passed by the Senate that the name of this Emperor
should never be written, and that no statue of him should be preserved.
And so this name was erased in all the inscriptions at Rome and wherever
else it had been written, except only where it occurs in the list of
emperors; and nowhere may be seen any statue of him in all the Roman
Empire, save one in brass, which was made for the following reason.<br />
<br />
Domitian's wife was of free birth and otherwise noble; and neither had
she herself ever done wrong to anybody, nor had she assented in her
husband's acts. Wherefore she was dearly loved; and the Senate sent for
her, when Domitian died, and commanded her to ask whatever boon she
wished. But she asked only this: to set up in his memory one brass
image, wherever she might desire. To this the Senate agreed. Now the
lady, wishing to leave a memorial to future time of the savagery of
those who had butchered her husband, conceived this plan: collecting the
pieces of Domitian's body, she joined them accurately together and
sewed the body up again into its original semblance. Taking this to the
statue makers, she ordered them to produce the miserable form in brass.
So the artisans forthwith made the image, and the wife took it, and set
it up in the street which leads to the Capitol, on the right hand side
as one goes there from the Forum: a monument to Domitian and a
revelation of the manner of his death until this day.<br />
<br />
Justinian's entire person, his manner of expression and all of his features might be clearly pointed out in this statue.<br />
<br />
Now such was Justinian in appearance; but his character was something I
could not fully describe. For he was at once villainous and amenable; as
people say colloquially, a moron. He was never truthful with anyone,
but always guileful in what he said and did, yet easily hoodwinked by
any who wanted to deceive him. His nature was an unnatural mixture of
folly and wickedness. What in olden times a peripatetic philosopher said
was also true of him, that opposite qualities combine in a man as in
the mixing of colors. I will try to portray him, however, insofar as I
can fathom his complexity.<br />
<br />
This Emperor, then, was deceitful, devious, false, hypocritical,
two-faced, cruel, skilled in dissembling his thought, never moved to
tears by either joy or pain, though he could summon them artfully at
will when the occasion demanded, a liar always, not only offhand, but in
writing, and when he swore sacred oaths to his subjects in their very
hearing. Then he would immediately break his agreements and pledges,
like the vilest of slaves, whom indeed only the fear of torture drives
to confess their perjury. A faithless friend, he was a treacherous
enemy, insane for murder and plunder, quarrelsome and revolutionary,
easily led to anything evil, but never willing to listen to good
counsel, quick to plan mischief and carry it out, but finding even the
hearing of anything good distasteful to his ears.<br />
<br />
How could anyone put Justinian's ways into words? These and many even
worse vices were disclosed in him as in no other mortal nature seemed to
have taken the wickedness of all other men combined and planted it in
this man's soul. And besides this, he was too prone to listen to
accusations; and too quick to punish. For he decided such cases without
full examination, naming the punishment when he had heard only the
accuser s side of the matter. Without hesitation he wrote decrees for
the plundering of countries, sacking of cities, and slavery of whole
nations, for no cause whatever. So that if one wished to take all the
calamities which had befallen the Romans before this time and weigh them
against his crimes, I think it would be found that more men had been
murdered by this single man than in all previous history.<br />
<br />
He had no scruples about appropriating other people's property, and did
not even think any excuse necessary, legal or illegal, for confiscating
what did not belong to him. And when it was his, he was more than ready
to squander it in insane display, or give it as an unnecessary bribe to
the barbarians. In short, he neither held on to any money himself nor
let anyone else keep any: as if his reason were not avarice, but
jealousy of those who had riches. Driving all wealth from the country of
the Romans in this manner, he became the cause Of universal poverty.<br />
<br />
Now this was the character of Justinian, so far as I can portray it.<br />
<br />
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..http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-53498452670166810671970-05-29T18:32:00.000-07:002015-08-09T10:40:26.594-07:009 - How Theodora, Most Depraved of All Courtesans, Won His Love .<br />
He took a wife: and in what manner she was born and bred, and, wedded to
this man, tore up the Roman Empire by the very roots, I shall now
relate.<br />
<br />
Acacius was the keeper of wild beasts used in the amphitheater in
Constantinople; he belonged to the Green faction and was nicknamed the
Bearkeeper. This man, during the rule of Anastasius, fell sick and died,
leaving three daughters named Comito, Theodora and Anastasia: of whom
the eldest was not yet seven years old. His widow took a second husband,
who with her undertook to keep up Acacius's family and profession. But
Asterius, the dancing master of the Greens, on being bribed by another '
removed this office from them and assigned it to the man who gave him
the money. For the dancing masters had the power of distributing such
positions as they wished.<br />
<br />
When this woman saw the populace assembled in the amphitheater, she
placed laurel wreaths on her daughters' heads and in their hands, and
sent them out to sit on the ground in the attitude of suppliants. The
Greens eyed this mute appeal with indifference; but the Blues were moved
to bestow on the children an equal office, since their own
animal-keeper had just died.<br />
When these children reached the age of girlhood, their mother put them
on the local stage, for they were fair to look upon; she sent them
forth, however, not all at the same time, but as each one seemed to her
to have reached a suitable age. Comito, indeed, had already become one
of the leading hetaerae [high class prostitutes] of the day.<br />
<br />
Theodora, the second sister, dressed in a little tunic with sleeves,
like a slave girl, waited on Comito and used to follow her about
carrying on her shoulders the bench on which her favored sister was wont
to sit at public gatherings. Now Theodora was still too young to know
the normal relation of man with maid, but consented to the unnatural
violence of villainous slaves who, following their masters to the
theater, employed their leisure in this infamous manner. And for some
time in a brothel she suffered such misuse.<br />
<br />
But as soon as she arrived at the age of youth, and was now ready for
the world, her mother put her on the stage. Forthwith, she became a
courtesan, and such as the ancient Greeks used to call a common one, at
that: for she was not a flute or harp player, nor was she even trained
to dance, but only gave her youth to anyone she met, in utter
abandonment. Her general favors included, of course, the actors in the
theater; and in their productions she took part in the low comedy
scenes. For she was very funny and a good mimic, and immediately became
popular in this art. There was no shame in the girl, and no one ever saw
her dismayed: no role was too scandalous for her to, accept without a
blush.<br />
<br />
She was the kind of comedienne who delights the audience by letting
herself be cuffed and slapped on the cheeks, and makes them guffaw by
raising her skirts to reveal to the spectators those feminine secrets
here and there which custom veils from the eyes of the opposite sex.
With pretended laziness she mocked her lovers, and coquettishly adopting
ever new ways of embracing, was able to keep in a constant turmoil the
hearts of the sophisticated. And she did not wait to be asked by anyone
she met, but on the contrary, with inviting jests and a comic flaunting
of her skirts herself tempted all men who passed by, especially those
who were adolescent.<br />
<br />
On the field of pleasure she was never defeated. Often she would go
picnicking with ten young men or more, in the flower of their strength
and virility, and dallied with them all, the whole night through. When
they wearied of the sport, she would approach their servants, perhaps
thirty in number, and fight a duel with each of these; and even thus
found no allayment of her craving. Once, visiting the house of an
illustrious gentleman, they say she mounted the projecting corner of her
dining couch, pulled up the front of her dress, without a blush, and
thus carelessly showed her wantonness. And though she flung wide three
gates to the ambassadors of Cupid, she lamented that nature had not
similarly unlocked the straits of her bosom, that she might there have
contrived a further welcome to his emissaries.<br />
<br />
Frequently, she conceived but as she employed every artifice
immediately, a miscarriage was straightway effected. Often, even in the
theater, in the sight of all the people, she removed her costume and
stood nude in their midst, except for a girdle about the groin: not that
she was abashed at revealing that, too, to the audience, but because
there was a law against appearing altogether naked on the stage, without
at least this much of a fig-leaf. Covered thus with a ribbon, she would
sink down to the stage floor and recline on her back. Slaves to whom
the duty was entrusted would then scatter grains of barley from above
into the calyx of this passion flower, whence geese, trained for the
purpose, would next pick the grains one by one with their bills and eat.
When she rose, it was not with a blush, but she seemed rather to glory
in the performance. For she was not only impudent herself, but
endeavored to make everybody else as audacious. Often when she was alone
with other actors she would undress in their midst and arch her back
provocatively, advertising like a peacock both to those who had
experience of her and to those who had not yet had that privilege her
trained suppleness.<br />
<br />
So perverse was her wantonness that she should have hid not only the
customary part of her person, as other women do, but her face as well.
Thus those who were intimate with her were straightway recognized from
that very fact to be perverts, and any more respectable man who chanced
upon her in the Forum avoided her and withdrew in haste, lest the hem of
his mantle, touching such a creature, might be thought to share in her
pollution. For to those who saw her, especially at dawn, she was a bird
of ill omen. And toward her fellow actresses she was as savage as a
scorpion: for she was very malicious.<br />
<br />
Later, she followed Hecebolus, a Tyrian who had been made governor of
Pentapolis, serving him in the basest of ways; but finally she quarreled
with him and was sent summarily away. Consequently, she found herself
destitute of the means of life, which she proceeded to earn by
prostitution, as she had done before this adventure. She came thus to
Alexandria, and then traversing all the East, worked her way to
Constantinople; in every city plying a trade (which it is safer, I
fancy, in the sight of God not to name too clearly) as if the Devil were
determined there be no land on earth that should not know the sins of
Theodora.<br />
<br />
Thus was this woman born and bred, and her name was a byword beyond that of other common wenches on the tongues of all men.<br />
<br />
But when she came back to Constantinople, Justinian fell violently in
love with her. At first he kept her only as a mistress, though he raised
her to patrician rank. Through him Theodora was able immediately to
acquire an unholy power and exceedingly great riches. she seemed to him
the sweetest thing in the world, and like all lovers, he desired to
please his charmer with every possible favor and requite her with all
his wealth. The extravagance added fuel to the flames of passion. With
her now to help spend his money he plundered the people more than ever,
not only in the capital, but throughout the Roman Empire. As both of
them had for a long time been of the Blue party, they gave this faction
almost complete control of the affairs of state. It was long afterward
that the worst of this evil was checked in the following manner.<br />
<br />
Justinian had been ill for several days, and during this illness was in
such peril of his life that it was even said he had died; and the Blues,
who had been committing such crimes as I have mentioned, went so far as
to kill Hypatius, a gentleman of no mean importance, in broad daylight
in the Church of St. Sophia. The cry of horror at this crime came to the
Emperor's ears, and everyone about him seized the opportunity of
pointing out the enormity of what was going on in Justinian's absence
from public affairs; and they enumerated from the beginning how many
crimes had been committed. The Emperor then ordered the Prefect of the
city to punish these offenses. This man was one Theodotus, nicknamed the
Pumpkin. He made a thorough investigation and was able to apprehend
many of the guilty and sentence them to death, though many others were
not found out, and escaped. They were destined to perish later, together
with the Roman Empire.<br />
<br />
Justinian, unexpectedly restored to health, straightway undertook to put
Theodotus to death as a poisoner and a magician. But since he had no
proof on which to condemn the man, he tortured friends of his until they
were compelled to say the words that would wrongfully ruin him. When
everyone else stood to one side and only in silence lamented the plot
against Theodotus, one man, Proclus the Quaestor, dared to say openly
that the man was innocent of the charge against him, and in no way
merited death. Thanks to him, Theodotus was permitted by the Emperor to
be exiled to Jerusalem. But learning there that men were being sent to
do away with him, he hid himself in the church for the rest of his life
until he died. And this was the fate of Theodotus.<br />
<br />
But after this, the Blues became the most prudent of men. For they
ventured no longer to continue their offenses, even though they might
have transgressed more fearlessly than before. And the proof of this is,
that when a few of them later showed such courage, no punishment at all
befell them. For those who had the power to punish, always gave these
gangsters time to escape, tacitly encouraging the rest to trample upon
the laws.<br />
<br />
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..http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-40669218348191720921970-05-29T18:22:00.000-07:002015-08-09T10:42:22.555-07:0010 - How Justinian Created a New Law Permitting Him to Marry a Courtesan.<br />
Now as long as the former Empress was alive, Justinian was unable to
find a way to make Theodora his wedded wife. In this one matter she
opposed him as in nothing else: for the lady abhorred vice, being a
rustic and of barbarian descent, as I have shown. She was never able to
do any real good, because of her continued ignorance of the affairs of
state. She dropped her original name, for fear people would think it
ridiculous, and adopted the name of Euphemia when she came to the
palace. But finally her death removed this obstacle to Justinian's
desire.<br />
<br />
Justin, doting and utterly senile, was now the laughing stock of his
subjects; he was disregarded by everyone because of his inability to
oversee state affairs; but Justinian they all served with considerable
awe. His hand was in everything, and his passion for turmoil created
universal consternation.<br />
<br />
It was then that he undertook to complete his marriage with Theodora.
But as it was impossible for a man of senatorial rank to make a
courtesan his wife, this being forbidden by ancient law, he made the
Emperor nullify this ordinance by creating a new one, permitting him to
wed Theodora, and consequently making it possible for anyone else to
marry a courtesan.<br />
<br />
Immediately after this he seized the power of the Emperor, veiling his
usurpation with a transparent pretext: for he was proclaimed colleague
of his uncle as Emperor of the Romans by the questionable legality of an
election inspired by terror.<br />
<br />
So Justinian and Theodora ascended the imperial throne three days before
Easter, a time, indeed, when even making visits or greeting one's
friends is forbidden. And not many days later Justin died of an illness,
after a reign of nine years. Justinian was now sole .monarch, together,
of course, with Theodora.<br />
<br />
Thus it was that Theodora, though born and brought up as I have related,
rose to royal dignity over all obstacles. For no thought of shame came
to Justinian in marrying her, though he might have taken his pick of the
noblest born, most highly educated, most modest, carefully nurtured,
virtuous and beautiful virgins of all the ladies in the whole Roman
Empire: a maiden, as they say, with upstanding breasts. Instead, he
preferred to make his own :what, had been common to all men, alike,
careless of all her revealed history, took in wedlock a woman who was
not only guilty of every other contamination but boasted of her many
abortions.<br />
<br />
I need hardly mention any other proof of the character of this man: for
all the perversity of his soul was completely displayed in this union;
which alone was ample interpreter, witness, and historian of his
shamelessness. For when a man once disregards the disgrace of his
actions and is willing to brave the contempt of society, no path of
lawlessness is thereafter taboo to him; but with unflinching countenance
he advances, easily and without a scruple, to acts of the deepest
infamy.<br />
<br />
However, not a single member of even the Senate, seeing this disgrace
befalling the State, dared to complain or forbid the event; but all of
them bowed down before her as if she were a goddess. Nor was there a
priest who showed any resentment, but all hastened to greet her as
Highness. And the populace who had seen her before on the stage,
directly raised its hands to proclaim itself her slave in fact and in
name. Nor did any soldier grumble at being ordered to risk the perils of
war for the benefit of Theodora: nor was there any man on earth who
ventured to oppose her.<br />
<br />
Confronted with this disgrace, they all yielded, I suppose, to
necessity, for it was as if Fate were giving proof of its power to
control mortal affairs as malignantly as it pleases: showing that its
decrees need not always be according to reason or human propriety. Thus
does Destiny sometimes raise mortals suddenly to lofty heights in
defiance of reason, in challenge to all out cries of injustice; but
admits no obstacle, urging on his favorites to the appointed goal
without let or hindrance. But as this is the will of God, so let it
befall and be written.<br />
<br />
Now Theodora was fair of face and of a very graceful, though small,
person; her complexion was moderately colorful, if somewhat pale; and
her eyes were dazzling and vivacious. All eternity would not be long
enough to allow one to tell her escapades while she was on the stage,
but the few details I have mentioned above should be sufficient to
demonstrate the woman's character to future generations.<br />
<br />
What she and her husband did together must now be briefly described: for
neither did anything without the consent of the other. For some time it
was generally supposed they were totally different in mind and action;
but later it was revealed that their apparent disagreement had been
arranged so that their subjects might not unanimously revolt against
them, but instead be divided in opinion.<br />
<br />
Thus they split the Christians into two parties, each pretending to take
the part of one side, thus confusing both, as I shall soon show; and
then they ruined both political factions. Theodora feigned to support
the Blues with all her power, encouraging them to take the offensive
against the opposing party and perform the most outrageous deeds of
violence; while Justinian, affecting to be vexed and secretly jealous of
her, also pretended he could not openly oppose her orders. And thus
they gave the impression often that they were acting in opposition. Then
he would rule that the Blues must be punished for their crimes, and she
would angrily complain that against her will she was defeated by her
husband. However, the Blue partisans, as I have said, seemed cautious,
for they did not violate their neighbors as much as they might have
done.<br />
<br />
And in legal disputes each of the two would pretend to favor one of the
litigants, and compel the man with the worse case to win: and so they
robbed both disputants of most of the property at issue.<br />
<br />
In the same way, the Emperor, taking many persons into his intimacy,
gave them offices by power of which they could defraud the State to the
limits of their ambition. And as soon as they had collected enough
plunder, they would fall out of favor with Theodora, and straightway be
ruined. At first he would affect great sympathy in their behalf, but
soon he would somehow lose his confidence in them, and an air of doubt
would darken his zeal in their behalf. Then Theodora would use them
shamefully, while he, unconscious as it were of what was being done to
them, confiscated their properties and boldly enjoyed their wealth. By
such well-planned hypocrisies they confused the public and, pretending
to be at variance with each other, were able to establish a firm and
mutual tyranny.<br />
<br />
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..http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-13146715935455993151970-05-29T18:20:00.000-07:002015-08-09T10:44:07.110-07:0011 - How the Defender of the Faith Ruined His Subjects .<br />
As soon as Justinian came into power he turned everything upside down.
Whatever had been before by law, he now introduced into the government,
while he revoked all established customs: as if he had been given the
robes of an Emperor on the condition he would turn everything
topsy-turvy. Existing offices he abolished, and invented new ones for
the management of public affairs. He did the same thing to the laws and
to the regulations of the army; and his reason was not any improvement
of justice or any advantage, but simply that everything might be new and
named after himself. And whatever was beyond his power to abolish, he
renamed after himself anyway.<br />
<br />
Of the plundering of property or the murder of men, no weariness ever
overtook him. As soon as he had looted all the houses of the wealthy, he
looked around for others; meanwhile throwing away the spoils of his
previous robberies in subsidies to barbarians or senseless building
extravagances. And when he had ruined perhaps myriads in this mad
looting, he immediately sat down to plan how he could do likewise to
others in even greater number.<br />
<br />
As the Romans were now at peace with all the world and he had no other
means of satisfying his lust for slaughter, he set the barbarians all to
fighting each other. And for no reason at all he sent for the Hun
chieftains, and with idiotic magnanimity gave them large sums of money,
alleging he did this to secure their friendship. This, as I have said,
he had also done in Justin's time. These Huns, as soon as they had got
this money, sent it together with their soldiers to others of their
chieftains, with the word to make inroads into the land of the Emperor:
so that they might collect further tribute from him, to buy them off in a
second peace. Thus the Huns enslaved the Roman Empire, and were paid by
the Emperor to keep on doing it.<br />
<br />
This encouraged still others of them to rob the poor Romans; and after
their pillaging, they too were further rewarded by the gracious Emperor.
In this way all the Huns, for when it was not one tribe of them it was
another, continuously overran and laid waste the Empire. For the
barbarians were led by many different chieftains, and the war, thanks to
Justinian's senseless generosity, was thus endlessly protracted.
Consequently no place, mountain or cave, or any other spot in Roman
territory, during this time remained uninjured; and many regions were
pillaged more than five times.<br />
<br />
These misfortunes, and those that were caused by the Medes, Saracens,
Slavs, Antes, and the rest of the barbarians, I described in my previous
works. But, as I said in the preface to this narrative, the real cause
of these calamities remained to be told here.<br />
<br />
To Chosroes also -he paid many centenaries in behalf of peace, and then
with unreasonable arbitrariness caused the breaking of the truce by
making every effort to secure the friendship of Alamandur and his Huns,
who had been in alliance with the Persians: but this I freely discussed
in my chapters on the subject.<br />
<br />
Moreover, while he was encouraging civil strife and frontier warfare to
confound the Romans, with only one thought in his mind, that the earth
should run red with human blood and he might acquire more and more
booty, he invented a new means of murdering his subjects. Now among the
Christians in the entire Roman Empire, there are many with dissenting
doctrines, which are called heresies by the established church: such as
those of the Montanists and Sabbatians, and whatever others cause the
minds of men to wander from the true path. All of these beliefs he
ordered to be abolished, and their place taken by the orthodox dogma:
threatening, among the punishments for disobedience, loss of the
heretic's right to will property to his children or other relatives.<br />
<br />
Now the churches of these so-called heretics especially those belonging
to the Arian dissenters, were almost incredibly wealthy. Neither all the
Senate put together nor the greatest other unit of the Roman Empire,
had anything in property comparable to that of these churches. For their
gold and silver treasures, and stores of precious stones, were beyond
telling or numbering: they owned mansions and whole villages, land all
over the world, and everything else that is counted as wealth among men.<br />
<br />
As none of the previous Emperors had molested these churches, many men,
even those of the orthodox faith, got their livelihood by working on
their estates. But the Emperor Justinian, in confiscating these
properties, at the same time took away what for many people had been
their only means of earning a living.<br />
<br />
Agents were sent everywhere to force whomever they chanced upon to
renounce the faith of their fathers. This, which seemed impious to
rustic people, caused them to rebel against those who gave them such an
order. Thus many perished at the hands of the persecuting faction, and
others did away with themselves, foolishly thinking this the holier
course of two evils; but most of them by far quitted the land of their
fathers, and fled the country. The Montanists, who dwelt in Phrygia,
shut themselves up in their churches, set them on fire, and ascended to
glory in the flames. And thenceforth the whole Roman Empire was a scene
of massacre and flight.<br />
<br />
A similar law w as then passed against the Samaritans, which threw Palestine into an indescribable turmoil.<br />
<br />
Those, indeed, who lived in my own Caesarea and in the other cities,
deciding it silly to suffer harsh treatment over a ridiculous trifle of
dogma, took the name of Christians in exchange for the one they had
borne before, by which precaution they were able to avoid the perils of
the new law. The most reputable and better class of these citizens, once
they had adopted this religion, decided to remain faithful to it; the
majority, however, as if in spite for having not voluntarily, but by the
compulsion of law, abandoned the belief of their fathers, soon slipped
away into the Manichean sect and what is known as polytheism.<br />
<br />
The country people, however, banded together and determined to take arms
against the Emperor: choosing as their candidate for the throne a
bandit named Julian, son of Sabarus. And for a time they held their own
against the imperial troops; but finally, defeated in battle, were cut
down, together with their leader. Ten myriads of men are said to have
perished in this engagement, and the most fertile country on earth thus
became destitute of farmers. To the Christian owners of these lands, the
affair brought great hardship: for while their profits from these
properties were annihilated, they had to pay heavy annual taxes on them
to the Emperor for the rest of their lives, and secured no remission of
this burden.<br />
<br />
Next he turned his attention to those called Gentiles, torturing their
persons and plundering their lands. of this group, those who decided to
become nominal Christians saved themselves for the time being; but it
was not long before these, too, were caught performing libations and
sacrifices and other unholy rites. And how he treated the Christians
shall be told hereafter.<br />
<br />
After this he passed a law prohibiting pederasty: a law pointed not at
offenses committed after this decree, but at those who could be
convicted of having practised the vice in the past. The conduct of the
prosecution was utterly illegal. Sentence was passed when there was no
accuser: the word of one man or boy, and that perhaps a slave, compelled
against his will to bear witness against his owner, was defined as
sufficient evidence. Those who were convicted were castrated and then
exhibited in a public parade. At the start, this persecution was
directed only at those who were of the Green party, were reputed to be
especially wealthy, or had otherwise aroused jealousy.<br />
<br />
The Emperor's malice was also directed against the astrologer.
Accordingly, magistrates appointed to punish thieves also abused the
astrologers, for no other reason than that they belonged to this
profession; whipping them on the back and parading them on camels<br />
throughout the city, though they were old men, and in every way
respectable, with no reproach against them except that they studied the
science of the stars while living in such a city.<br />
<br />
Consequently there was a constant stream of emigration not only to the
land of the barbarians but to places farthest remote from the Romans;
and in every country and city one could see crowds of foreigners. For in
order to escape persecution, each would lightly exchange his native
land for another, as if his own country had been taken by an enemy.<br />
<br />
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..http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-21507742712415100161970-05-29T18:19:00.000-07:002015-08-09T10:46:05.148-07:0012 - Proving That Justinian and Theodora Were Actually Fiends in Human Form .<br />
Now the wealth of those in Constantinople and each other city who were
considered second in prosperity only to members of the Senate, was
brutally confiscated, in the ways I have described, by Justinian and
Theodora. But how they were able to rob even the Senate of all its
property I shall now reveal.<br />
<br />
There was in Constantinople a man by the name of Zeno, grandson of that
Anthamius who had formerly been Emperor of the West. This man they
appointed, with malice aforethought, Governor of Egypt, and commanded
his immediate departure. But he delayed his voyage long enough to load
his ship with his most valuable effects; for he had a countless amount
of silver and gold plate inlaid with pearls, emeralds and other such
precious stones. Whereupon they bribed some of his most trusted servants
to remove these valuables from the ship as fast as they could carry
them, set fire to the interior of the vessel, and inform Zeno that his
ship had burst into flames of spontaneous combustion, with the loss of
all his property. Later, when Zeno died suddenly, they took possession
of his estate immediately as his legal heirs; for they produced a will
which, it is whispered, he did not really make.<br />
<br />
In the same manner they made themselves heirs of Tatian, Demosthenes,
and Hilara, who were foremost in the Roman Senate. And others' estates
they obtained by counterfeited letters instead of wills. Thus they
became heirs of Dionysius, who lived in Libanus, and of John the son of
Basil, who was the most notable of the citizens of Edessa, and had been
given as hostage, against his will, by Belisarius to the Persians: as I
have recounted elsewhere. For Chosroes refused to let this John go,
charging that the Romans had disregarded the terms of the truce, as a
pledge of which John had been given him by Belisarius; and he said he
would only give him up as a prisoner of war. So his father's mother, who
was still living, got together a ransom not less than two thousand
pounds of silver, and was ready to purchase her grandson's liberty. But
when this money came to Dara, the Emperor heard of the bargain and
forbade it: saying that Roman wealth must not be given to the
barbarians. Not long after this, John fell ill and departed from this
world, whereupon the Governor of the city forged a letter which, he
said, John had written him as a friend not long before, to the effect
that he wished his estate to go to the Emperor.<br />
<br />
I could hardly catalogue all the other people whose estates these two
chose to inherit. However, up to the time when the insurrection named
Nika took place, they seized rich men's properties one at a time; but
when that happened, as I have told elsewhere, they sequestrated at one
swoop the estates of nearly all the members of the Senate. On everything
movable and on the fairest of the lands they laid their hands and kept
what they wanted; but whatever was unproductive of more than the bitter
and heavy taxes, they gave back to the previous owners with a
philanthropic gesture. Consequently these unfortunates, oppressed by the
tax collectors and eaten up by the never-ceasing interest on their
debts, found life a burden compared to which death were preferable.<br />
<br />
Wherefore to me,- and many others of us, these two seemed not to be
human beings, but veritable demons, and what the poets call vampires:
who laid their heads together to see how they could most easily and
quickly destroy the race and deeds of men; and assuming human bodies,
became man-demons, and so convulsed the world. And one could find
evidence of this in many things, but especially in the superhuman power
with which they worked their will.<br />
<br />
For when one examines closely, there is a clear difference between what
is human and what is supernatural. There have been many enough men,
during the whole course of history, who by chance or by nature have
inspired great fear, ruining cities or countries or whatever else fell
into their power; but to destroy all men and bring calamity on the whole
inhabited earth remained for these two to accomplish, whom Fate aided
in their schemes of corrupting all mankind. For by earthquakes,
pestilences, and floods of river waters at this time came further ruin,
as I shall presently show. Thus not by human, but by some other kind of
power they accomplished their dreadful designs.<br />
<br />
And they say his mother said to some of her intimates once that not of
Sabbatius her husband, nor of any man was Justinian a son. For when she
was about to conceive, there visited a demon, invisible but giving
evidence of his presence perceptibly where man consorts with woman,
after which he vanished utterly as in a dream.<br />
<br />
And some of those who have been with Justinian at the palace late at
night, men who were pure of spirit, have thought they saw a strange
demoniac form taking his place. One man said that the Emperor suddenly
rose from his throne and walked about, and indeed he was never wont to
remain sitting for long, and immediately Justinian's head vanished,
while the rest of his body seemed to ebb and flow; whereat the beholder
stood aghast and fearful, wondering if his eyes were deceiving him. But
presently he perceived the vanished head filling out and joining the
body again as strangely as it had left it.<br />
<br />
Another said he stood beside the Emperor as he sat, and of a sudden the
face changed into a shapeless mass of flesh, with neither eyebrows nor
eyes in their proper places, nor any other distinguishing feature; and
after a time the natural appearance of his countenance returned. I write
these instances not as one who saw them myself, but heard them from men
who were positive they had seen these strange occurrences at the time.<br />
<br />
They also say that a certain monk, very dear to God, at the instance of
those who dwelt with him in the desert went to Constantinople to beg for
mercy to his neighbors who had been outraged beyond endurance. And when
he arrived there, he forthwith secured an audience with the Emperor;
but just as he was about to enter his apartment, he stopped short as his
feet were on the threshold, and suddenly stepped backward. Whereupon
the eunuch escorting him, and others who were present, importuned him to
go ahead. But he answered not a word; and like a man who has had a
stroke staggered back to his lodging. And when some followed to ask why
he acted thus, they say he distinctly declared he saw the King of the
Devils sitting on the throne in the palace, and he did not care to meet
or ask any favor of him.<br />
<br />
Indeed, how was this man likely to be anything but an evil spirit, who
never knew honest satiety of drink or food or sleep, but only tasting at
random from the meals that were set before him, roamed the palace at
unseemly hours of the night, and was possessed by the quenchless lust of
a demon?<br />
<br />
Furthermore some of Theodora's lovers, while she was on the stage, say
that at night a demon would sometimes descend upon them and drive them
from the room, so that it might spend the night with her. And there was a
certain dancer named Macedonia, who belonged to the Blue party in
Antioch, who came to possess much influence. For she used to write
letters to Justinian while Justin was still Emperor, and so made away
with whatever notable men in the East she had a grudge against, and had
their property confiscated.<br />
<br />
This Macedonia, they say, greeted Theodora at the time of her arrival
from Egypt and Libya; and when she saw her badly worried and cast down
at the ill treatment she had received from Hecebolus and at the loss of
her money during this adventure, she tried to encourage Theodora by
reminding her of the laws of chance, by which she was likely again to be
the leader of a chorus of coins. Then, they say, Theodora used to
relate how on that very night a dream came to her, bidding her take no
thought of money, for when she should come to Constantinople, she should
share the couch of the King of the Devils, and that she should contrive
to become his wedded wife and thereafter be the mistress of all the
money in the world. And that this is what happened is the opinion of
most people.<br />
<br />
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..http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-89329379751086866391970-05-29T18:17:00.000-07:002015-08-09T10:48:27.690-07:0013 - Perceptive Affability and Piety of a Tyrant .<br />
Justinian, while otherwise of such character as I have shown, did make
himself easy of access and affable to his visitors; nobody of all those
who sought audience with him was ever denied: even those who confronted
him improperly or noisily never made him angry. On the other hand, he
never blushed at the murders he committed. Thus he never revealed a sign
of wrath or irritation at any offender, but with a gentle countenance
and unruffled brow gave the order to destroy myriads of innocent men, to
sack cities, to confiscate any amount of properties.<br />
<br />
One would think from this manner that the man had the mind of a lamb.
If, however, anyone tried to propitiate him and in suppliance beg him to
forgive his victims, he would grin like a wild beast, and woe betide
those who saw his teeth thus bared!<br />
<br />
The priests he permitted fearlessly to outrage their neighbors, and even
took sympathetic pleasure in their robberies, fancying he was thus
sharing their divine piety when he judged such cases, he thought he was
doing the holy thing when he gave the decision to the priest and let him
go free with his ill-gotten booty: justice, in his mind, meant the
priests' getting the better of their opponents. When he himself thus
illegally got possession of estates of people alive or dead, he would
straightway make them over to one of the churches, gilding his violence
with the color of piety-and so that his victims could not possibly get
their property back. Furthermore he committed an inconceivable number of
murders for the same cause: for in his zeal to gather all men into one
Christian doctrine, he recklessly killed all who dissented, and this too
he did in the name of piety. For he did not call it homicide, when
those who perished happened to be of a belief that was different from
his own.<br />
<br />
So quenchless was his thirst for human blood; and with his wife, intent
on this end, he neglected no possible excuse for slaughter. For these
two were almost twins in their desires, though they pretended to differ:
they were both scoundrels, however they affected to oppose each other,
and thus destroyed their subjects. The man was lighter in character than
a cloud of dust, and could be led to do anything any man wished him to
do, so long as the matter did not require philanthropy or generosity.
Flattery he swallowed whole, and his courtiers had no difficulty in
persuading him that he was destined to rise as high as the sun and walk
upon the clouds.<br />
Once, indeed, Tribonian, who was sitting beside him, said his greatest
fear was that Justinian some day by reason of his piety would be carried
off to heaven and vanish in a chariot of fire. Such praise, if not
irony, as this he treasured fondly in his mind.<br />
<br />
Yet if he ever remarked on any man's virtue, he would soon revile him as
a villain; and whenever he abused any of his subjects, he would next as
inconsistently commend him, with no reason for the change. For what he
thought was always the opposite of what he said and wished to seem to
think.<br />
<br />
How he was affected by friendship or enmity I have indicated by the
evidence of his actions. For as a foe he was relentless and unswerving,
and to his friends he was inconstant. Thus he ruined recklessly most of
those who were loyal to him, but never became a friend to any whom he
hated. Even those who seemed to be his nearest and dearest associates he
betrayed, and after no long time, to please his wife or anybody else,
though he was well aware that it was only because of their devotion to
him that they perished. For he was openly faithless in everything,
except indeed to inhumanity and avarice. From these ideals no man could
divert him. Whatever his wife could not otherwise induce him to do, by
suggesting the great profits to be hoped for in the matter she intended,
she led him willingly to undertake. For if there were an ever infamous,
he had no scruple against making a law and then repudiating it. Nor
were his decisions made according to the laws himself had written: but
whichever way was to his greater advantage, and promised the more
elaborate bribe. Stealing, little by little, the property of his
subjects, he saw no reason for feeling any shame; when, indeed, he did
not somehow grab it all at once, either by bringing some unexpected
accusation or by presenting a forged will.<br />
<br />
There remained, while he ruled the Romans, no sure faith in God, no hope
in religion, no defense in law, no security in business, no trust in a
contract. When his officials were given any affair to handle for him, if
they killed many of their victims and robbed the rest, they were looked
upon by the Emperor with high favor, and given honorable mention for
carrying out so perfectly his instructions. But if they showed any mercy
and then returned to him, he frowned and was thenceforth their enemy.<br />
<br />
Despising their qualms as old-fashioned, he called them no more to his
service. Consequently many were eager to show him how wicked they were,
even when they were really nothing of the sort. He made frequent
promises, guaranteed with a sworn oath or by a written confirmation; and
then purposely forgot them directly, thinking this summary negligence
added to his importance. And Justinian acted thus not only to his
subjects, but to many of the enemy, as I have already said.<br />
<br />
He was untiring; and hardly slept at all, generally speaking; he had no
appetite for food or drink, but picking up a morsel with the tips of his
fingers, tasted it and left the table, as if eating were a duty imposed
upon him by nature and of no more interest than a courier takes in
delivering a letter. Indeed, he would often go without food for two days
and nights, especially when the time before the festival called Easter
enjoins such fasting. Then, as I have said, he often went without food
for two days, living only on a little water and a few wild herbs,
sleeping perhaps a single hour, and then spending the rest of the time
walking up and down.<br />
<br />
If, mark you, he had spent these periods in good works, matters might
have been considerably alleviated. Instead, he devoted the full strength
of his nature to the ruin of the Romans, and succeeded in razing the
state to its foundation. For his constant wakefulness, his privations
and his labors were undergone for no other reason than to contrive each
day ever more exaggerated calamities for his people. For he was, as I
said, unusually keen at inventing and quick at accomplishing unholy
acts, so that even the good in him transpired to be answerable for the
downfall of his subjects.<br />
<br />
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..http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-10523493853503411381970-05-29T18:16:00.000-07:002015-08-09T10:50:15.055-07:0014 - Justice for Sale .<br />
Everything was done the wrong way, and of the old customs none remained;
a few instances will illustrate, and the rest must be silence, that
this book may have an end. In the first place, Justinian, having no
natural aptitude toward the imperial dignity, neither assumed the royal
manner nor thought it necessary to his prestige. In his accent, in his
dress, and in his ideas he was a barbarian. When he wished to issue a
decree, he did not give it out through the Quaestor's office, as is
usual, but most frequently preferred to announce it himself, in spite of
his barbarous accent; or sometimes he had a whole group of his
intimates publish it together, so that those who were wronged by the
edict did not know which one to complain against.<br />
<br />
The secretaries who had performed this duty for centuries were no longer
trusted with writing the Emperor's secret dispatches: he wrote them
himself and practically everything else, too; so that in the few cases
where he neglected to give instructions to city magistrates, they did
not know where to go for advice concerning their duties. For he let no
one in the Roman Empire decide anything independently, but taking
everything upon himself with senseless arrogance, gave the verdict in
cases before they came to trial, accepting the story of one of the
litigants without listening to the other, and then pronounced the
argument concluded; swayed not by any law or justice, but openly
yielding to base greed. In accepting bribes the Emperor felt no shame,
since hunger for wealth had devoured his decency.<br />
<br />
Often the decrees of the Senate and those of the Emperor nominally
conflicted. The Senate, however, sat only for pictorial effect, with no
power to vote or do anything. It was assembled as a matter of form, to
comply with the ancient law, and none of its members was permitted to
utter a single word. The Emperor and his Consort took upon themselves
the decisions of all matters in dispute, and their will of course
prevailed. And if anybody thought his victory in such a case was
insecure because it was illegal, he had only to give the Emperor more
money, and a new law would immediately be passed revoking the former
one. And if anybody else preferred the law that had been repealed, the
ruler was quite willing to reestablish it in the same manner.<br />
<br />
Under this reign of violence nothing was stable, but the balance of
justice revolved in a circle, inclining to whichever side was able to
weight it with the heavier amount of gold. Publicly in the Forum, and
under the management of palace officials, the selling of court decisions
and legislative actions was carried on.<br />
<br />
The officers called Referendars were no longer satisfied to perform
their duties of presenting to the Emperor the request of petitioners,
and referring to the magistrates what he had decided in the petitioner's
case; but gathering worthless testimony from all quarters, with false
reports and misleading statements, deceived Justinian, who was naturally
inclined to listen to that sort of thing; and then they would go back
to the litigants, without telling them what had been said during their
interview with the Emperor, to extort as much money as they desired. And
no one dared oppose them.<br />
<br />
The soldiers of the Pretorian guard, attending the judges of the
imperial court in the palace, also used their power to influence
decisions. Everybody, one might say, stepped from his rank and found he
was now at liberty to walk roads where before there had been no path;
all bars were down, even the names of former restrictions were lost. The
government was like a Queen surrounded by romping children. But I must
pass over further illustrations, as I said at the beginning of this
chapter.<br />
<br />
I must, however, mention the man who first taught the Emperor to sell
his decisions. This was Leo, a native of Cilicia, and devilish eager to
enrich himself. This Leo was the prince of flatterers, and apt at
insinuating himself into the good will of the ignorant. Gaining the
confidence of the Emperor, he turned the tyrant's folly toward the ruin
of the people. This man was the first to show Justinian how to exchange
justice for money.<br />
<br />
As soon as the latter thus learned how to be a thief, he never stopped;
but advancing on this road, the evil grew so great that if anyone wished
to win an unjust case against an honest man, he went first to Leo, and
agreeing that a share of the disputed property would be given to be
divided between this man and the monarch, left the palace with his
wrongful case already won. And Leo soon built up a great fortune in this
way, became the lord of much land, and was most responsible for
bringing the Roman state to its knees.<br />
<br />
There was no security in contracts, no law, no oath, no written pledge,
no penalty, no nothing: unless money had first been given to Leo and the
Emperor. And even buying Leo's support gave no certainty, for Justinian
was quite willing to take money from both sides: he felt no guilt at
robbing either party, and then, when both trusted him, he would betray
one and keep his promise to the other, at random. He saw nothing
disgraceful in such double dealing, if only it brought him gain. That is
the sort of person Justinian was.<br />
<br />
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..http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-44000861505898394611970-05-29T18:13:00.000-07:002015-08-09T10:52:14.968-07:0015 - How All Roman Citizens Became Slaves .<br />
Theodora too unceasingly hardened her heart in the practice of
inhumanity. What she did, was never to please or obey anyone else; what
she willed, she performed of her own accord and with all her might: and
no one dared to intercede for any who fell in her way. For neither
length of time, fulness of punishment, artifice of prayer, nor threat of
death, whose vengeance sent by Heaven is feared by all mankind, could
persuade her to abate her wrath. Indeed, no one ever saw Theodora
reconciled to any one who had offended her, either while he lived or
after he had departed this earth. Instead, the son of the dead would
inherit the enmity of the Empress, together with the rest of his
father's estate: and he in turn bequeathed it to the third generation.
For her spirit was over ready to be kindled to the destruction of men,
while cure for her fever there was none.<br />
<br />
To her body she gave greater care than was necessary, if less than she
thought desirable. For early she entered the bath and late she left it;
and having bathed, went to breakfast. After breakfast she rested. At
dinner and supper she partook of every kind of food and drink; and many
hours she devoted to sleep, by day till nightfall, by night till the
rising sun. Though she wasted her hours thus intemperately, what time of
the day remained she deemed ample for managing the Roman Empire.<br />
<br />
And if the Emperor intrusted any business to anyone without consulting
her, the result of the affair for that officer would be his early and
violent removal from favor and a most shameful death.<br />
<br />
It was easy for Justinian to look after everything, not only because of
his calmness of temper, but because he hardly ever slept, as I have
said, and because he was not chary with his audiences. For great
opportunity was given to people, however obscure and unknown, not only
to be admitted to the tyrant's presence, but to converse with him, and
in private.<br />
<br />
But to the Queen's presence even the highest officials could not enter
without great delay and trouble; like slaves they had to wait all day in
a small and stuffy antechamber, for to absent himself was a risk no
official dared to take. So they stood there on their tiptoes, each
straining to keep his face above his neighbor's, so that eunuchs, as
they came out from the audience room, would see them. Some would be
called, perhaps, after several days; and when they did enter to her
presence in great fear, they were quickly dismissed as soon as they had
made obeisance and kissed her feet. For to speak or make any request,
unless she commanded, was not permitted.<br />
<br />
Not civility, but servility was now the rule, and Theodora was the slave
driver. So far had Roman society been corrupted, between the false
geniality of the tyrant and the harsh implacability of his consort. For
his smile was not to be trusted, and against her frown nothing could be
done. There was this superficial difference between them in attitude and
manner; but in avarice, bloodthirstiness, and dissimulation they
utterly agreed. They were both liars of the first water.<br />
<br />
And if anyone who had fallen out of favor with Theodora was accused of
some minor and insignificant error, she immediately fabricated further
unwarranted charges against the man, and built the matter up into a
really serious accusation. Any number of indictments were brought, and a
court appointed to plunder the victim, with judges selected by her, to
compete with themselves to see which one could please her most in
fitting his decision to the Empress's inhumanity. And so the property of
the victim would be straightway confiscated, and after he was cruelly
whipped, even if he perhaps belonged to an ancient and noble family, she
would callously have him sentenced to exile or to death.<br />
<br />
But if any of her favorites happened to be caught in the act of murder
or any other serious crime, she ridiculed and belittled the efforts of
their accusers, and compelled them, however unwillingly, to quash the
charge. Indeed, whenever she felt the inclination, she turned the most
serious matters of state into a jest, as if she were again on the stage
of the theater.<br />
<br />
Once an elderly patrician, who had been for a long time in high office
(whose name I well know, but shall carefully refrain from mentioning, so
as not to bring eternal ridicule upon him), being unable to collect
from one of her attendants a considerable sum of money owed him, went to
her with the intention of asking his due and imploring her just aid.
But Theodora was warned, and told her eunuchs, as soon as the patrician
should be admitted to her presence, to surround him in a body and listen
to her words; telling them what to say after she had spoken. And when
the patrician was admitted to her private quarters, he kissed her feet
in the customary manner and, weeping, addressed her:<br />
<br />
"Highness, it is hard for a patrician to ask for money. For what in
other men brings sympathy and pity, in one of my rank is considered
disgraceful. Any other man suffering hardships from poverty may plead
this before his creditors, and receive immediate relief from his
difficulty; but a patrician, not knowing whence he can find the
wherewithal to pay his creditors, would be ashamed in the first place to
admit it. And if he did say this, he could never persuade them that one
of such rank could know penury. And even if he did persuade them, he
would be making himself suffer the most shameful and intolerable
disgrace imaginable.<br />
<br />
"Yet, Highness, such is my plight. I have creditors to whom I owe money,
while others owe money to me. And those whom I owe, who are pressing me
for payment, I cannot, for the sake of my reputation, attempt to cheat
of their due; while my debtors, for they are not patricians, deny me
with unmanly excuses. I charge you, therefore; I beseech and beg of you,
to aid me in what is right, and release me from my present trouble."<br />
<br />
So he said, and the Queen answered musically:<br />
<br />
"Patrician Mr. Such-and-such-" whereupon the chorus of eunuchs sang:<br />
<br />
"Your hernia seems to bother you much!"<br />
<br />
And when the man entreated her again, making a second speech similar to
his first one, she answered as before, and the chorus sang the same
refrain: till, giving it up, the poor wretch bowed and went home.<br />
<br />
Most of the year the Empress resided in the suburbs on the seashore,
especially in the place called Heraeum, and the numerous crowd of her
attendants was subjected to great inconvenience. For it was hard to get
necessary supplies, and they were exposed to the perils of the sea:
especially to the frequent sudden storms and the attack of sharks.
Nevertheless they counted the most bitter misfortunes as nothing, so
long as they could share the licenses of her court.<br />
<br />
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..http://www.blogger.com/profile/06902486287411065690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-354332120008839701.post-21631133417407918121970-05-29T18:11:00.000-07:002015-08-09T10:53:57.765-07:0016 - What Happened to Those Who Fell Out of Favor with Theodora .<br />
How Theodora treated those who offended her will now be shown, though
again I can give only a few instances, or obviously there would be no
end to the demonstration.<br />
<br />
When Amasalontha decided to save her life by surrendering her queendom
over the Goths and retiring to Constantinople (as I have related
elsewhere), Theodora, reflecting that the lady was well-born and a
Queen, more than easy to look at and a marvel at planning intrigues,
became suspicious of her charms and audacity: and fearing her husband's
fickleness, she became not a little jealous, and determined to ensnare
the lady to her doom.<br />
<br />
So she forthwith persuaded Justinian to send Peter, alone, to Italy as
ambassador to Theodatus. When he set out the Emperor gave him the
instructions I described in the chapter on that event: where, however, I
could not tell the whole truth of the matter, for fear of the Empress.
But she gave him this single secret command: to remove the lady from
this world with all dispatch; bribing the fellow with the hope of much
money if he performed his order. And when he arrived in Italy (for man
is not by nature too hesitant at committing murder, if he has been
bribed by the promise of high office or considerable money), by what
argument I know not, he persuaded Theodatus to make away with
Amasalontha. Consequently raised to the rank of Master of Offices, he
achieved immense power and universal hatred. And so ends the story of
Amasalontha.<br />
<br />
Then ,there was a secretary to Justinian named Priscus: an utter villain
and Paphlagonian, of a character likely to please his master, to whom
he was more than devoted, and from whom he expected similar
consideration. And accordingly he very soon became the owner of great
and ill-gotten wealth. Finding him insolent and always trying to oppose
her, Theodora denounced him to the Emperor. At first she was
unsuccessful; but before long she took the matter in her own hands:
embarked the man on a ship, sailing to a determined port, had his head
shaved, and compelled him against his will to become a priest. And
Justinian, pretending he knew nothing of the matter, never asked where
on earth Priscus was, nor ever after mentioned him: remaining silent as
if he had utterly forgotten him. However, he did not forget to seize
what property Priscus had been forced to abandon.<br />
<br />
Again, Theodora was overtaken with suspicion of one of her servants
named Areobindus, a barbarian by birth, but a handsome young man, whom
she had made her steward. Instead of accusing him directly, she decided
to have him cruelly whipped in her presence (though they say she was
madly in love with the fellow) without explaining her reason for the
punishment. What became of the man after that we do not know, nor has
any one ever seen him since. For if the Queen wanted to keep any of her
actions concealed, it remained secret and unmentioned; and neither was
any who knew of the matter allowed to tell it to his closest friend, nor
could any who tried to learn what had happened ever find out, no matter
how much of a busybody he was.<br />
<br />
No other tyrant since mankind began ever inspired such fear, since not a
word could be spoken against her without her hearing of it: her
multitude of spies brought her the news of whatever was said and done in
public or in private. And when she decided the time had come to take
vengeance on any offender, she did as follows. Summoning the man, if he
happened to be notable, she would privately hand him over to one of her
confidential attendants, and order that he be escorted to the farthest
boundary of the Roman realm. And her agent, in the dead of night,
covering the victim's face with a hood and binding him, would put him on
board a ship and accompany him to the place selected by Theodora. There
he would secretly leave the unfortunate in charge of another qualified
for this work: charging him to keep the prisoner under guard and tell no
one of the matter until the Empress should take pity on the wretch or,
as time went on, he should languish under his bondage and succumb to
death.<br />
<br />
Then there was Basanius, one of the Green faction, a prominent young
man, who incurred her anger by making some uncomplimentary remark.
Basanius, warned of her displeasure, fled to the Church of Michael the
Archangel. She immediately sent the Prefect after him, charging Basanius
however not with slander, but pederasty. And the Prefect, dragging the
man from the church, had him flogged intolerably while all the populace,
when they saw a Roman citizen of good standing so shamefully
mistreated, straightway sympathized with him, and cried so loud to let
him go that Heaven must have heard their reproaches. Whereupon the
Empress punished him further, and had him castrated so that he bled to
death, and his estate was confiscated; though his case had never been
tried. Thus, when this female was enraged, no church offered sanctuary,
no law gave protection, no intercession of the people brought mercy to
her victim; nor could anything else in the world stop her.<br />
<br />
Thus she took a hatred of a certain Diogenes, because he belonged to the
Greens: a man urbane and beloved by all, including the Emperor himself.
None the less she wrathfully denounced him as homosexual. Bribing two
of his servants, she presented them as accusers and witnesses against
their master. However, as he was tried publicly and not in secret, as
was her usual practise in such cases, the judges chosen were many and of
distinguished character, because of Diogenes's high rank; and after
cross-examination of the evidence of the servants, they decided it was
insufficient to prove the case, especially as the latter were only
children.<br />
<br />
So the Empress locked up Theodorus, one of Diogenes's friends, in one of
her private dungeons; and there first with flattery, then with
flogging, tried to overwhelm him. When he still resisted, she ordered a
cord of oxhide to be wound around his head and then turned and
tightened. But though they twisted the cord till his eyes started from
their sockets and Theodora thought he would lose them completely, still
he refused to confess what he had not done. Accordingly the judges, for
lack of proof, acquitted him, while all the city took holiday to
celebrate his release. And that was that.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
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