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I woke up today with Cicero's first oration against Cataline thundering in my ears
Which is strange, even for me, especially as it's been years since I studied Latin.
When we did read it, I don't recall that we had much background, which is a pity because honestly, it's fascinating stuff. Even the brief Wikipedia summation makes it sound like a fascinating TV miniseries, but somehow, all the Roman stuff on TV seems to focus on the Empire instead of the Republic, though of course the end of the Republic is just as sordid.
Really, my education in ancient history is lacking all over. As a product of the American school system, I have an extremely firm grounding in American history, and a pretty good grasp of world history (particularly those parts that took place in Europe or America) from the 1500s on, but other than that...?
The trouble with knowledge is its fractal nature, you know. You can write books just as long about Cataline as you can about the whole of human history. But if I wanted to focus on ancient history (of the western world), what's a good place to start? I don't care if it's specific or overviewtastic :)
When we did read it, I don't recall that we had much background, which is a pity because honestly, it's fascinating stuff. Even the brief Wikipedia summation makes it sound like a fascinating TV miniseries, but somehow, all the Roman stuff on TV seems to focus on the Empire instead of the Republic, though of course the end of the Republic is just as sordid.
Really, my education in ancient history is lacking all over. As a product of the American school system, I have an extremely firm grounding in American history, and a pretty good grasp of world history (particularly those parts that took place in Europe or America) from the 1500s on, but other than that...?
The trouble with knowledge is its fractal nature, you know. You can write books just as long about Cataline as you can about the whole of human history. But if I wanted to focus on ancient history (of the western world), what's a good place to start? I don't care if it's specific or overviewtastic :)