By Patrick Hunt – Most readers of history will recall how the mighty juggernaut Assyria finally fell at the hands of the rebel Babylonians and how Nineveh was sacked in 612 BCE at the able hands of Nabopolassar, Babylon’s new warlord king. Fewer readers know he rebuilt temples in […]
Author: patrick
The Rhine Castles of Werdenberg, Vaduz, and Schattenburg
By A.C. Williams – The feudal age of castles is well represented in the Rhine Valley in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Austria. Scattered throughout the mountainous terrain and usually near the base of these ranges are numerous remains of the castles and forts that once ruled and dictated this Alpine passage […]
Hannibal and Me: A Review
By Patrick Hunt The subtitle of Andreas Kluth’s insightful book Hannibal and Me is “What History’s Greatest Military Strategist Can Teach Us About Success and Failure”. It has more than just Hannibal wisdom, as expected from a writer for whom history is family and family is history: his great […]
Electrum Book Prize 2012
Electrum Magazine 2012 Book Prize The Sponsors, Editors, and Staff of Electrum Magazine Announce a Book Prize for 2012 for Fiction and Non-Fiction Prize of $5,000.00 US Award split 50/50 between one fiction and one nonfiction author (or not split if only one category is deemed worthy) Submissions from […]
The Role of Silenus and Isabella d’Este
By Patrick Hunt Silenus is one of the most enigmatic characters in Greek Mythology. He can be recognized in art by his visual iconography as old, fat and balding, slumped over while usually riding a donkey, often almost sliding off if not held up by someone – often another […]
“Between a Rock and a Hard Place” and More: Famous Myths Used in Common Speech
by Patrick Hunt How often do we use idioms as part of common speech, figures of comparison that easily sum up an experience or trial by extension? That many of these seem idioms are devoid of actual context doesn’t deter us from peppering our language with them. Some are particular […]
Beyond the Shadows through the Instruments of Our Souls: Education through Platos Allegory of the Cave
By Bianca Caprice Aguirre C.S. Lewis suggests through his idea of Shadowlands that the world we live in is full of shadows rather than the deeper realities. Although shadows that we see in the world are real and not metaphysical, there is a greater significance to them brought out by […]
Goethe in the Roman Campagna and Its Antecedents
By Patrick Hunt Along with his many other sometimes astonishing accomplishments ranging through history and archaeology to science and literature, polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was crucial to the reception of Europe, especially Germany, for its reappraisal of classical antiquity. His 1786-87 itinerary as distilled from correspondence in Italian […]
Asteria Early Music : Living a Dream in Burgundy
By Sylvia Rhyne and Eric Redlinger Editor’s Note: Sylvia Rhyne, Soprano, and Eric Redlinger, Tenor and Lutenist, are the musical group Asteria (Late Medieval Vocal and Instrumentalists) who share a Courtly Love story in following their passion and dream in Burgundy. Learn more about them and their music on their […]
Plato’s Circle in the Mosaic of Pompeii
By Katherine Joplin Although the literary foundation of Western philosophy, Plato today is almost a legendary figure, his very name sparking the image of higher learning, truth, and perspicuity. How ironic then that in a mosaic of Plato’s Academy, the biggest quandary might be which figure is Plato. The […]