from the houses and walls of the city,—from the lives and fortunes of all the citizens; and overwhelm all the enemies of good men, the foes of the republic, the robbers of Italy, men bound together by a treaty and infamous alliance of crimes, dead and alive, with eternal punishments.
This person really wants to make sure that the people Catiline killed get their justice.
I will not make such a motion—it is contrary to my principles, and yet I will let you see what these men think of you. Be gone from the city, O Catiline; deliver the republic from fear; depart into banishment, if that is the word you are waiting for.
I thought he was going to kill him?
But yet this, which ought to have been done long since, I have good reason for not doing as yet; I will put you to death, then, when there shall be not one person possible to be found so wicked, so abandoned, so like yourself, as not to allow that it has been rightly done.
It seems to me that Catiline has done something very wrong to this person, they seem very mad.
You ought, O Catiline, long ago to have been led to execution by command of the consul. That destruction which you have been long plotting against us ought to have already fallen on your own head.
Do you think the people he is killing are innocent?
he Melians surrendered at discretion to the Athenians
The Athenians were right when it came to their confidence in winning.
Your strongest arguments depend upon hope and the future, and your actual resources are too scanty, as compared with those arrayed against you, for you to come out victorious.
The Athenians use facts and the Melians use the possibilities as their argument.
Thus, as far as the gods are concerned, we have no fear and no reason to fear that we shall be at a disadvantage.
The Athenians are very confident.
But do you consider that there is no security in the policy which we indicate? For here again if you debar us from talking about justice and invite us to obey your interest, we also must explain ours, and try to persuade you, if the two happen to coincide. How can you avoid making enemies of all existing neutrals who shall look at case from it that one day or another you will attack them?
The Melians seemed to believe in equality and being able to defend yourself when the situation allows.
thirty ships of their own, six Chian, and two Lesbian vessels, sixteen hundred heavy infantry, three hundred archers, and twenty mounted archers from Athens, and about fifteen hundred heavy infantry from the allies and the islanders
That is a lot of equipment!
"In teaching there should be no distinction of classes."
Right! Everyone should be able to learn and have the right to education.
"He who requires much from himself and little from others, will keep himself from being the object of resentment."
Very true! Those who stay within themselves do not owe anyone else anything.
"I do not murmur against Heaven. I do not grumble against men. My studies lie low, and my penetration rises high. But there is Heaven;-that knows me!"
I believe he means that he does not boast about his teachings, but people still follow him. He is not extremely popular, but people still know who he is.
"The virtuous will be sure to speak correctly, but those whose speech is good may not always be virtuous.
Very true! Some may be good at talking and keeping you interested, but you realize you didn't actually learn anything from them in the end.
'A man without constancy cannot be either a wizard or a doctor.' Good!
Very clever!
"Good government obtains when those who are near are made happy, and those who are far off are attracted."
Very true!!!
"Though a man may be able to recite the three hundred odes, yet if, when intrusted with a governmental charge, he knows not how to act, or if, when sent to any quarter on a mission, he cannot give his replies unassisted, notwithstanding the extent of his learning, of what practical use is it?"
This is something to think about, especially when it comes to school. What is the point of studying and memorizing something if you can't apply it in the end?
"A Little while ago, I had an interview with our Master, and asked him about knowledge. He said, 'Employ the upright, and put aside all the crooked;-in this way, the crooked will be made to be upright.' What did he mean?"
This is very interesting. I believe what he is saying is to focus on the good and improve the good and the bad will follow suit.
"When internal examination discovers nothing wrong, what is there to be anxious about, what is there to fear?"
This is definitely something to think about when feeling anxious. I have never though about it this way before!
not to do to others as you would not wish done to yourself;
I have heard this saying so many times, I am happy to see where it comes from!
I even go this far, to grant a three-day stay for those in prison who have been tried and sentenced to death. During this time their relatives can make appeals to have the prisoners' lives spared.
He seems to be a very generous man.
Dhamma
What is the Dhamma? I've seen it mentioned multiple times, but not explained.
stone so that it might endure long and that my descendants might act in conformity with it.
This is an interesting statement, it is obvious that he wanted to be able to influence many people.
But now because Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi promotes restraint in the killing and harming of living beings, proper behavior towards relatives, Brahmans and ascetics, and respect for mother, father and elders, such sightings have increased.[9]
If only it were that easy, especially in today's world.
style of government as an ideal to be followed.
After reading this, I do agree that King Asoka seemed to be one of the best rulers to have ever lived. He seemed to be a very understanding and fair person.
He seems to have genuinely hoped to be able to encourage everyone to practice his or her own religion with the same conviction that he practiced his.
This is very cool. I feel like many rulers during ancient times made it a law that everyone had to serve the same God that they did.
Asoka died in 232 B.C. in the thirty-eighth year of his reign.
38 years is a long time considering our presidents are only in office for 4-8 years at a time.
Having been forgotten for nearly 700 years,
Wow! 700 years is a long time to be forgotten.
None of these stories were taken seriously --
I understand why someone wouldn't believe some of these stories, I would be more of a "see it to believe it" person when it comes to something like this.
King Asoka, the third monarch of the Indian Mauryan dynasty, has come to be regarded as one of the most exemplary rulers in world history
That is a very bold statement. King Asoka must have been very influential.
Anyone who is offered them for purchase is requested to notify the seller that the sculptures were removed illegally from Nineveh, and to ask the seller to turn them over to an Iraqi embassy or interests section, Interpol, or to a customs agency, so that they may be returned to Iraq.
I guess making the sale of these sculptures illegal would be a good way to identify those who are stealing them.
this appears to be disorganized pilfering, probably carried out by desperate locals, and the sculptural fragments are very likely sold for a pittance, since such well-known pieces have no value on the international market.
I think it would be easier for a local to pull off something like this because are familiar with the pieces and their price.
In 1994 this sculpture was sold by the school at auction for $12 million, by far the highest price ever paid for an antiquity.
That is a lot of money! No wonder people were trying to sell pieces of these.
The method by which large wall slabs were converted into small marketable fragments is noteworthy. As mentioned already, each piece is a portion of a large slab.
This is similar to what they did to the Berlin wall. I have a piece of the wall that I got while in Berlin.
Each fragment came from a different slab, and most of them had been broken from the middle of a slab, suggesting that the looters extracted the best-preserved bits, destroying the remainder in the process.
This is crazy to me, how could someone be so greedy to completely ruin an entire historical piece of art. They should have just stolen the entire slab (which is probably very difficult, maybe even impossible) to preserve its historical significance.
where visitors could tour one of only two preserved Assyrian palaces in the world
I think it is amazing how there are only two preserved Assyrian palaces left in the world. It's great that people were able to preserve them so that we are able to get an idea of what one would look like.
We have yet to definitively identify a homeland for them
What if the Sea Peoples didn't have a homeland? What if their boats were the only place they lived?
enemy ships approaching,
This statement leads me to believe that the Sea Peoples were like pirates.
It did indeed take about a century for everything to collapse
It was obvious that this civilization was trying so hard to push through the hardships that kept happening one after another. If it takes close to a century for the entire civilization to collapse.
Sea Peoples,
I had never heard of the Sea Peoples, but after researching them a bit I have a feeling they were like pirates.
Certainly some of the members of the general public who have left reviews of my book on Amazon seem to want that still, and are miffed that I even-handedly go through the evidence and then conclude that there isn’t a simple solution.
I like how Cline points out that the public are unhappy with his multiple solutions. Sometimes there can be multiple solutions to an issue.
At twenty leagues they broke for some food, at thirty leagues they stopped for the night.
Do they use leagues to tell time?
But now let Utanapishtim and his wife become like us, the gods!
Why did Utanapishtim gain immortality?
Seven and seven cult vessels I put in place,
The number 7 seems to be a common theme, just like the bible.
The gods were frightened by the Flood,
I find this comical, "The gods were frightened by the Flood." But they were the ones who caused the flood, right?
The hearts of the Great Gods moved them to inflict the Flood.
Who told Utanapishtim, the Faraway about the flood?